(03/18/08 4:00am)
SALEM, Va.-Washington University in St. Louis shot 60 percent and scored 90 points, but defense also was a major factor in leading the Bears to their first NCAA Division III championship.Senior center Troy Ruths scored 33 points and Wash U defeated defending champion Amherst College 90-68 last Saturday, giving the University Athletic Association its first champion since the University of Rochester won in 1990. The Bears held Amherst's all-American point guard, senior Andrew Olson, to six points in the first half and a total of 16."It was a great defensive effort overall," Olson told reporters after the game. "They took us out of our game."Bears coach Mark Edwards said the key to the defense was point guard Ross Kelley, who guarded Olson. Kelly began the year as the backup, but a season-ending injury to junior starter Sean Wallis opened the door for Kelly to step in."They did to us today what we've had the pleasure of doing to other people," said Amherst coach Dave Hixon, whose Lord Jeffs have been in four of the last five Final Fours.Ruths, the winner of the Jostens Award for the best Division III?player in the nation, was nine-of-13 from the field, added 15 free throws and also had eight rebounds. Sophomore guard Aaron Thompson added 19 points for the Bears and senior guard Tyler Nading had 13."I really think free throw shooting is a huge thing," said Ruths, who averaged 75 percent from the line during the regular season and went 15-for-17 on Saturday. "You have to be prepared for whatever they throw at you."Senior forward Fletcher Walters scored 17 points to lead Amherst. Junior guard Brian Baskauskas and senior forward Brandon Jones each had 12.The Bears led all the way, with Ruths scoring 17 points in the first half to help build a 45-32 halftime lead.WashU shot 70 percent in the second half, while the Lord Jeffs shot 47 percent for the game and made only five of 20 attempts from three-point range.In the second half, Amherst cut the lead to six twice-when Walters hit a three-pointer with 15 minutes, 41 seconds to go, and at the 15:07 mark when a layup by Baskauskas made it 55-49. But jumpers by senior guard Danny O'Boyle and Thompson, followed by two Ruths foul shots, extended the Bears' margin.This was WashU's second-straight appearance in the Final Four. The Bears finished third last year, losing to Virginia Wesleyan College in the national semifinals.Earlier last Saturday, senior forward Marcus Vanderheide scored 24 points and senior guards Tyler Wolfe and Derek VanSolkema had 22 apiece to lead Hope College to a 100-86 victory over Ursinus College in the consolation game.
(03/18/08 4:00am)
SALEM, Va.-Washington University in St. Louis shot 60 percent and scored 90 points, but defense also was a major factor in leading the Bears to their first NCAA Division III championship.Senior center Troy Ruths scored 33 points and Wash U defeated defending champion Amherst College 90-68 last Saturday, giving the University Athletic Association its first champion since the University of Rochester won in 1990. The Bears held Amherst's all-American point guard, senior Andrew Olson, to six points in the first half and a total of 16."It was a great defensive effort overall," Olson told reporters after the game. "They took us out of our game."Bears coach Mark Edwards said the key to the defense was point guard Ross Kelley, who guarded Olson. Kelly began the year as the backup, but a season-ending injury to junior starter Sean Wallis opened the door for Kelly to step in."They did to us today what we've had the pleasure of doing to other people," said Amherst coach Dave Hixon, whose Lord Jeffs have been in four of the last five Final Fours.Ruths, the winner of the Jostens Award for the best Division III?player in the nation, was nine-of-13 from the field, added 15 free throws and also had eight rebounds. Sophomore guard Aaron Thompson added 19 points for the Bears and senior guard Tyler Nading had 13."I really think free throw shooting is a huge thing," said Ruths, who averaged 75 percent from the line during the regular season and went 15-for-17 on Saturday. "You have to be prepared for whatever they throw at you."Senior forward Fletcher Walters scored 17 points to lead Amherst. Junior guard Brian Baskauskas and senior forward Brandon Jones each had 12.The Bears led all the way, with Ruths scoring 17 points in the first half to help build a 45-32 halftime lead.WashU shot 70 percent in the second half, while the Lord Jeffs shot 47 percent for the game and made only five of 20 attempts from three-point range.In the second half, Amherst cut the lead to six twice-when Walters hit a three-pointer with 15 minutes, 41 seconds to go, and at the 15:07 mark when a layup by Baskauskas made it 55-49. But jumpers by senior guard Danny O'Boyle and Thompson, followed by two Ruths foul shots, extended the Bears' margin.This was WashU's second-straight appearance in the Final Four. The Bears finished third last year, losing to Virginia Wesleyan College in the national semifinals.Earlier last Saturday, senior forward Marcus Vanderheide scored 24 points and senior guards Tyler Wolfe and Derek VanSolkema had 22 apiece to lead Hope College to a 100-86 victory over Ursinus College in the consolation game.
(03/04/08 5:00am)
I don't know what you look for in celebrity gossip, but one of my favorite features of the celebrity gossip machine is the Celebrity Baby Watch. I don't know what it is. Perhaps it's the promise of innocence that babies bring into the world of celebrity misdeeds and misfortunes; perhaps it's the intrigue of paternity and parenthood (and judging the quality thereof). But what I really think attracts us to news of new celebspawn is the promise of ridiculous names.So naturally, for the past week, I've been aiming my web browser at www.tmz.com and www.perezhilton.com several times per day in search of Jennifer Lopez's newborns' names. The twins, a boy and a girl, were born Feb. 22 just after midnight, but she and husband Marc Anthony withheld the names from the public until Friday afternoon.The names? Max and Emme. No middle names were released, apparently, nor any explanation for the choices, although TMZ reports that Max and Emmy are the names of the sibling stars of PBS childrens' series Dragon Tales. The show apparently features a brother and sister duo who provide children with life lessons while "socializing with dragons."Former J-Lo boyfriend Sean "Diddy" Combs didn't miss the chance to publicize his own ventures. The artist formerly known as Puff Daddy told People magazine he was sending Sean John baby clothes to Lopez and Anthony.Diddy also has twins, born a little over a year ago. Unlike J-Lo and M-An, S-Co and girlfriend Kim Porter (henceforth K-Po) didn't disappoint when choosing names for their twins. The two girl babies are named D'Lila Star, after K-Po's grandmother Lila Star, and Jessie James, after Combs's grandmother, Jessie Smalls.When asked for further comments on Lopez's newfound motherhood (the twins are Lopez's first children, though Anthony has three children from a previous relationship), Diddy said, "It's double the love, and it's also double the crying and the screaming, so it's a unique blessed situation. It's a rarity to have twins. She'll be all right.
(12/04/07 5:00am)
As the clock ticked down and the capacity crowd of 1,750 Saturday night serenaded No. 1 Amherst College with chants of "overrated," forward Stephen Hill '08 found himself alone underneath the basket. Rather than opting for a rim-rattling dunk, Hill calmly laid the ball in the basket to jumpstart the Judges' celebration.Hill's layup punctuated arguably the men's basketball team's biggest regular-season victory in coach Brian Meehan's five-year tenure. Fueled by a hounding defensive effort on senior all-American point guard Andrew Olson, the No. 3 Judges defeated the top-ranked and defending Division III champion Lord Jeffs 72-62, moving to 8-1 on the season following last Thursday's 71-64 overtime loss to the University of Massachusetts at Dartmouth."When your team puts forth an effort like that, you want them to get what they deserved," Meehan said. "Our guys came today and put forth an unbelievable effort."As the buzzer sounded, members of "The Jury" student fan section stormed the Red Auerbach Arena floor, waving white towels distributed by WBRS before the game. They mobbed the Judges players, while Amherst left the court dejected by their defeat."This whole program has been waiting years for something like this to happen, and it finally has, and it feels good knowing [I] was a part of that," guard Joe Coppens '08 said.The teams traded the lead through the first half, and the Judges, who continue to play without first-team all-University Athletic Association forward Steve DeLuca '08, inched ahead 39-37 with 15 minutes and three seconds remaining in the game. At that point, Brandeis reeled off a 20-6 spurt to take control.Coppens fueled the run with six key points. He took a pass from guard Andre Roberson '10 and drained a three-pointer to give the Judges a 44-37 lead. On the ensuing Brandeis possession, after an Olson turnover, Coppens took a handoff and hit a long jumper as senior center Kevin Hopkins hit him in the face for the foul. The Lord Jeffs cut the lead to 48-41 with 12:09 left in the game, but forward Terrell Hollins '10 put the Judges in front with two three-point plays. He cut down the lane and wrapped a reverse right-handed layup off the glass while being fouled to put the Brandeis ahead 53-41, then culminated the run by rebounding Coppens' miss and converting the layup to put the Judges ahead 59-43 with 7:25 left."The effort was there from everyone," Hollins said. "It was the most fun game I've ever played in."Amherst did not fold, putting together an 11-0 spurt to cut the lead to 59-54 with 4:20 remaining after senior forward Fletcher Walters was fouled on a three-point attempt and converted all three free throws. On the ensuing Brandeis possession, with the shot clock running down, guard Kwame Graves-Fulgham '08, trapped on the baseline, found forward Christian Yemga '11, who banked in his first three-pointer of the season to restore momentum for the Judges."[Yemga] had struggled early on [this season] getting adjusted, but that was a big three [pointer]," Hollins said. "Coach [Meehan] told him not to shoot, but the shot clock was running down, and he hit a big shot."On Amherst's next possession, Olson, bothered by an ankle injury and tenacious defense from Graves-Fulgham and Roberson, missed a fadeaway jumper and was arguing with the referee as the Judges sped down the court for a fast break. The all-American point guard had just nine points and five assists, and the Amherst offense, which entered the game averaging 84 points per game this season, sputtered with him struggling."When [Olson] was complaining to the referee that we were harassing him a little bit, I could see in his eyes that he didn't know how to handle our pressure," Roberson said.A floating layup by Graves-Fulgham highlighted a 10-1 run that put the Judges up 69-55 with 1:01 remaining, effectively sealing the game.With DeLuca sidelined by back and hamstring injuries, the Judges won with balanced scoring. Four Brandeis players scored in double-figures, led by Coppens, who finished with 17. Hill had 15 points, while guard Kevin Olson '09, who replaced guard Florian Rexhepi '08 in the starting lineup, had eight of his 12 points in the first half. Hollins chipped in with 11 points and 12 rebounds, including the two three-point plays.Graves-Fulgham had just nine points, but Hill said his defensive effort on Andrew Olson throughout the game was the key to the Judges' win."[Graves-Fulgham] is one of the best point guards in Division III that nobody talks about," Hill said. "Everyone wants to talk about [Andrew] Olson, or [Washington University in St. Louis junior Sean] Wallis, but [Graves-Fulgham] locked Olson up all game."Amherst shot 51 percent from the field, compared to just 44 percent for Brandeis, but the Judges won the game at the free throw line, attempting 30 foul shots compared to just 11 for the Lord Jeffs. The Judges made 22 of those free throws, compared to just eight for the Lord Jeffs, giving them a 14-point advantage at the line."We really wanted to be aggressive going to the basket," Hill said. "They're a big team, but they're a little slow-footed, so we were able to attack them off the dribble."The victory was particularly important because of the Judges' loss to Umass-Dartmouth last Thursday. After Graves-Fulgham sent the game into overtime by hitting a layup with 23 seconds remaining in regulation, the Judges missed all six of their overtime field goals and fell 71-64. A second consecutive loss before UAA play might have jeopardized the team's NCAA Tournament chances, but fueled by the home crowd, the Judges were able to stop the bleeding."This was the plan all along," Meehan said. "We wanted to generate excitement and get the students yelling and screaming and acting like real college kids. Clearly, Brandeis has arrived when they can get a crowd like this here on a Saturday afternoon during Hanukkah and finals."The Judges close their semester with a home game Tuesday against Curry College at 7 p.m.
(11/13/07 5:00am)
The Brandeis International Business School will take part in a pilot run for a business- and technology-oriented video game next semester as one facet of its new partnership with the IBM Corporation, which was announced at a daylong event cohosted by IBS and IBM last Tuesday. IBS will participate in IBM's Academic Initiative program, which is geared toward providing universities with cutting-edge technology to be used toward teaching curricula and research, according to IBM's Web site. IBM is the world's largest computer company and largest information technology employer. At the event, IBM presented its new video game, Innov8, which is designed to help University students and young professionals develop a combination of business and information technology skills, according to IBM's Web site. The game simulates business projects and allows players to participate in situations mimicking real experiences. Brandeis is one of 25 universities participating in the game's pilot program, which will be tested in the IBS course "Technology Strategy" next semester, taught by Prof. Preeta Banerjee (IBS)."The key point of the day and of the relationship with IBM is to help students master skills to succeed in the global marketplace," said Matthew Parillo, senior associate director of communications at IBS.In the morning session of the event, IBM representatives described the new relationship between IBM and IBS and presented Innov8. The afternoon session was a roundtable discussion titled "Competing in the Global Economy," moderated by Prof. Catherine Mann (ECON). "This is a new relationship, and we are hoping for it to grow over the years ahead," said David Lapp, marketing manager of the IBM Software Group.Parillo said IBS is one of the first business schools in the world to pilot Innov8 in the classroom. "A serious game is a training tool," said Parillo, adding that the goal of IBS and its use of Innov8 in the classroom is to "[give] students this combination of business and information technology skills so that they can land these coveted jobs." According to Lapp, the company is now making Innov8 widely available to schools in its Academic Initiative program. IBM will then ask universities in the pilot program for feedback to incorporate into the game's upcoming enhancements. Banerjee said she worked with IBS Dean Bruce Magid, Parillo and IBM to incorporate the game into the classroom. She explained that the game will be helpful in teaching students how to deal with real-world business situations. "It provides a case so you can actually see the tradeoffs and complexity of a business situation," she said. "You get to reflect real time also as you're playing the game." According to Banerjee, Innov8 has been installed on several computers in IBS, and 25 members of her BUS10a class have tried out an early version of the game and given it positive feedback. "The opportunity came for piloting this game, and I thought it was a very good opportunity in the sense that it was able to give students some practical experience without putting their jobs on the line," Banerjee said. Lapp and Parillo felt that the event was very successful, both in presenting Innov8 and in strengthening the relationship between IBS and IBM. Lapp said that the presentation served to "[expose] people to what IBM is about as a business." Innov8, as an innovative new teaching tool, "is a good representative of what a career at IBM might be about," because "IBM is really a company that is built on innovation," Lapp said. Sean Fullerton '10, who attended the roundtable event in the afternoon session, said he learned a lot about the skills needed for information technology jobs. "Apparently there's a huge demand, and there will be in the future for IT-type jobs," said Fullerton, who added that the presentation illustrated the need in the workplace for people with broad IT skills and in-depth knowledge in a specific area.
(11/13/07 5:00am)
La Bohaeme is not an intellectual opera Oe la Zauberflite or some high-minded Wagnerian epic. At Saturday night's "Bravo Bohaeme" performance at the Shubert Theater, tickets to which were sold at half-price to young professionals and provided by the Boston Cultural Arts Club at $10, even the singing wasn't brilliant: Rodolfo (Sean Panikkar) weakened at the extremes of his range and even Mimc (Jill Gardner) was periodically underpowered.But La Bohaeme doesn't need profundity and virtuosity to resound, especially with today's college students. We are both prized and reviled for our idealism-idealism that is anthropomorphized perfectly in Mimc, the tragically tubercular heroine. She pours out her heart to Rodolfo virtually the moment she meets him, confiding how she loves the gentle beauty of flowers and the spring and craves the first touch of sunshine in April. Mimc even finds comfort in her menial embroidery simply because she embroiders the roses she so adores; she is grossly optimistic to the point of self-delusion.And Rodolfo, the impassioned poet, is all too ready to love and then, barely an adoring aria later, to try and cajole Mimc into bed with him. (If that doesn't recall college life, what does?) His ribaldry and silliness with his friends, particularly the glorious, farcical cacophony of the second act, reveals that despite his apparent desire to achieve literary renown, he does not yet have the maturity to confront the implications of his situation. Like the college student, his poverty is a jolly one in which he mocks the rich and weaves around the hazards of his lifestyle.Then Mimc finally expires, and with her death comes the death of the bohemians' idealism, the children's lives they led throughout the first few acts. As Musetta (played to saucy perfection by Kimwana Doner) cries, Mimc is "an angel sent down from heaven," and when consumption claims the angel, Rodolfo and his entourage must confront the end of their poetry. The average college student's lover doesn't keel over during her senior year from tuberculosis, but what does fade is the kittens-and-rainbows worldview to which she tends to fall prey. Throughout the sobering college experience and especially after the incredibly sobering graduation experience, the realization that one day optimism and idealism must fade crashes over each of us like the grief-stricken chord that signals Rodolfo's realization that Mimc has died. And this is one key reason why the opera is so superior to RENT, that overused morality vehicle and Bohaeme takeoff. In the musical (which, it must be said, made some much-needed statements about gay rights, HIV/AIDS, poverty and homelessness and also provided some fun and melodic rock ballads), Mimi is revived from her own terminal illness by the song of her poet-cum-guitarist, Roger. She lives to instruct the cast and audience to live "no day but today," but college students have no truck with living each day to its fullest, its most exuberant and most recreational.Puccini's Mimc, on the other hand, dies as she must, reaching for her cutely flowered bonnet, a luxurious muff over her hands, and it is this that is the best lesson to the college audience. The part of us all that reaches optimistically for roses must wither to some extent to give us the maturity to comprehend obstacles and form realistic goals. Some of us will change the world, but until Mimc dies, it is hard to realize that not everyone can.
(10/23/07 4:00am)
Inhaling large quantities of hot dogs in mere minutes has become routine for Jordan Rothman '09. Rothman was crowned Brandeis' hot dog eating champion for the third consecutive year Wednesday, continuing his domination of the annual Sherman Dining Hall event.He downed the required 10 regulation-sized hot dogs and buns in a personal record time of just over five minutes, eclipsing his previous best mark of 5:20 set in 2005. Jacob Kamaras '08 (who is also a deputy editor for the Justice), finished in second place, consuming all 10 hot dogs but only six buns, Sean Petterson '11 came in third with 10 hot dogs and four buns and Stephen Ragno '11 was fourth with six hot dogs and six buns. Rothman attributed his victory to his unique eating style. While other participants chose to first eat all of the hot dogs followed by the all of the buns, Rothman alternated between the two. "The dogs are much easier to eat," Rothman said. "I was interspersing difficulty with easiness." Rothman said he believed eating the hot dogs first gave the other participants a false sense of confidence. When it came time to consume the buns, Kamaras, Petterson and Ragno all faded down the stretch.Eventually, the smell of the hot dogs became nauseating to Rothman. "After the seventh hot dog I was gagging after [eating] every hot dog," he said. "It was getting harder and harder to swallow. But, after [eating] the seventh one I knew I was going to win."As a varsity athlete for the track team, Rothman prepared for this competition in a similar fashion to how he would get ready for a track meet. He said his goal was to "jumpstart his metabolism" by lifting weights and running two miles in the hours prior to the contest. He also went into the contest hungry, having not eaten since 11 a.m. that day. "My stomach wasn't even protruding at all; [the hot dogs] just dissolved in my metabolism," he said. A self-professed "one-trick pony," Rothman sticks solely to competing in hot dog eating contests.
(10/09/07 4:00am)
This week in Britney Spears: The disheveled star skipped out on Wednesday's court hearing, reportedly to hit Starbucks with her Yorkie. The singer's better half (Who thought K-Fed would ever be referred to as "better?") was present throughout the hearing, which wasn't mandatory, but which Britney's lawyer reportedly urged her to attend. Britney's lack of respect for the judicial system doesn't bode well for any attempts at regaining custody of her children, and, what's more, she doesn't appear to care. Said a source to E! Online's Marc Malkin, "There have been no tears. It's more like she's angry. It's more like, 'Who are you to tell me I'm not a good parent?'"Britney has been ordered by the judge to meet with a counselor and a "parenting coach," as well as to submit to drug testing. According to the Los Angeles Times, the singer missed three recent drug-testing appointments, twice because she was asleep.Sean "Diddy" Combs has also been facing some legal troubles, although not of quite the level of legitimacy as Britney's. A former business associate of Diddy's, one James Sabatino, is suing Combs from prison to the tune of $19 million over the rights to 17 minutes of vocals by and 90 minutes of video of the late Notorious B.I.G., recorded in 1994. Because Sabatino paid for Biggie's travel expenses and studio time, he claims it was "understood" that the rights to the recordings belong to him, though no contract was signed. According to MSN.com, Diddy delayed paying Sabatino due to Sabatino's status as a "person of interest" in Biggie's death. The rapper, né Christopher Wallace, was killed in 1997 in Los Angeles. His death is considered (at least by the Los Angeles Police Department) an "unsolved homicide."The artist formerly known as Puff Daddy didn't want his company associated with someone suspected of involvement in B.I.G.'s death. Though Diddy reportedly told police he didn't believe Sabatino was involved with the murder, Sabatino apparently feared being implicated by Diddy until deciding recently that it's time for the rapper to pay up.
(10/02/07 4:00am)
Does David Letterman have an audience anymore? I certainly hope not. Call me cold hearted, but I don't know or care what Buttafuco is. Just thought I'd state that. Anyway, the staple of pseudo-comedy added another notch on his well-worn belt Friday night when he welcomed everyone's favorite pseudo-media baby and pop culture favorite (read: abomination), Paris Hilton (God, I hate writing her name).In what was perhaps a misguided attempt to spark an intelligent debate with the hotel heiress over the politics of a decaying American penal system, Letterman peppered Paris with a barrage of hard-hitting questions regarding her own whopping 22-day jail sentence. (Videos of her vicious prison beatings have yet to surface, sadly.)Letterman mercilessly tore into his poor guest, begging the question, "Uh, how'd you like being in jail?" To which she retorted, "Not too much." Fascinating. When Letterman refused to let up, Paris declared that she was "sad that I came here." Letterman apologized by offering to buy her a parakeet (some kind of prison lingo?). It's a shame that the debate never really took off. It could have changed America. Now, as long as we're harping on the pain of brain dead celebrities, let's drag our slop buckets over to Britney Spears' corner of the ring. Believe it or not, the innocent school-girl who stole our hearts with her fuzzy pigtails and tiny plaid skirt (and asked us to hit her over and over, I might add) has just lost custody of her kids. Both of them! On Monday, California Judge Scott Gordon declared that Spears must hand over custody of her two boys, Sean Preston, 2, and Jayden James, 1, to her ex-husband Kevin Federline (who already has a five-year-old daughter, Kori Madison, with actress Shar Jackson). Spears had shared custody with their children since their 2006 divorce. The judge cited her "habitual, frequent and continuous" use of alcohol (or was it her "performance" at that award show that no one watches anymore?) as evidence. Apparently, one mentally invalid, drug-abusing, fast-fading celebrity is as good as another. Judge, King Solomon doesn't have squat on you.
(03/27/07 4:00am)
There was very little difference in strategy between the men's tennis team and Tufts University's team Sunday. But when the points mattered most, Tufts consistently found a way to win them.Spurred by several singles victories, which they clinched in the third and deciding set, the Jumbos defeated the Judges 5-2 in Medford Sunday, snapping Brandeis' two-match winning streak. The loss followed a 7-2 road victory over Wheaton College Tuesday. The Judges are now 3-3 in the spring season.The women's team, which stands at 1-2 this spring, had the week off.Mike Vulfovich '07, Adam Sher '07 and Jordan Bieber '07 all split the first two sets against their opponents at No. 1, No. 3 and No. 4 singles, but they all fell in the third set. Despite the losses, Sher said the experience of losing tight matches will serve the team well in the future."You need a tough match like that, so when we play the good teams, we'll be able to draw from this experience," he said.After gaining an advantage in doubles during their last two victories, the Judges dropped two of three doubles matches Sunday. Sher and Bieber fell to senior Matt Gallin and sophomore William Fleder 8-3 at No. 2 doubles, and the team of Derek Tesser '09 and Scott Schulman '09 at No. 3 doubles lost 9-7 to senior Corey Keller and rookie Jon Trott."We battled fine, but I don't think we prepared well," coach Ben Lamanna said. "It just didn't feel like we were ready, and [the Jumbos] were tougher than us."Vulfovich won the first set of his singles match against Fleder but dropped the final two sets, losing 5-7, 7-6 (4), 6-4. Vulfovich struggled with Fleder's serve and was put on the defensive during many points."I was guessing on where [Fleder] was serving to, and after a while, it just got to the point where I was guessing on a lot of his shots," Vulfovich said. "Instead of being aggressive, I played very tentative."Sher and Bieber each won the second set before succumbing in the third. Sher rallied from a 4-1 deficit to win in a tiebreaker but then ran out of gas, losing to Jumbo senior Sean McCooey 7-5, 6-7, (5) 6-2. Bieber split the first eight games in the third set against Gallin, but Gallin hit a couple of key passing shots to get a break and then closed out a 6-3, 4-6, 6-4 victory on his serve.Both of the Judges' victories came in decisively. Vulfovich teamed with Sam Jonas '07 to defeat McCooey and senior Geoff Loh 8-1 at No. 1 doubles, and Jonas beat Keller 6-4, 7-6 (2) at No. 2 singles.The Judges were on the other side of the tight matches during their victory over Wheaton College Tuesday, winning two singles matches in the third set and one doubles match in a tiebreaker."[The result] was 7-2, but it could have easily been 9-0," Lamanna said. "We really played great in that match."Brandeis swept the first seven matches, winning in each doubles spot and at No. 1, No. 2, No. 4 and No. 5 singles. The No. 1 doubles team of Vulfovich and Jonas squeaked by seniors Payum Payman and Brad Dressler 9-8 (4), while Vulfovich defeated Payman 5-7, 6-4, 6-3 at No. 1 singles. Cliff Silverman '07 picked up the other three-set victory, defeating senior Raymour Radhakrishnan 3-6, 6-1, 7-6 (4).The Judges play three matches this week, starting with Babson College at home Tuesday at 3 p.m., then has two road matches, facing Case Western Reserve University Friday at 12:30 p.m. and the University of Rochester Sunday at 7:30 p.m.
(03/13/07 4:00am)
"Call in call out-collinear. Go insane!" No, you probably won't hear those lyrics at the clubs as a call to go crazy on the dance floor. They are the words of Chad Matheny, singer/songwriter/guitarist of Emperor X, a Florida band that delivered an acoustic serenade at Cholmondeley's Thursday. The band utilized everything from car keys to cassette players in a desperate attempt to recreate the electric wonder of his album and perhaps take the audience's mind off of Matheny's tiny, warped acoustic and his bandmate's lonely, booming floor tom. "Huge amps and PA's cost money," Matheny replied, when asked if he ever considered going electric onstage. "And our van's not big enough to hold it all. Plus you have to deal with more bitchy sound guys." It was a logical response, coming from a working musician.The duo obviously believed that first impressions are key for performances in order to earn the respect of the crowd. In his first song, "Hardwood Floor," Matheny flicked a switch on his handheld cassette player. From it emerged a jangling, discordant sound which Matheny believed was worthy of rhythmic clapping from the audience as he laid down some vocal lines to it.The rest of the set consisted of songs with accented eighth-note guitar strumming which the drummer mimicked with paradiddles on his tom. They couldn't get any more intricate with the equipment they had but Matheny seemed above all to place prime importance in the level of reverb or echo in his microphone. Matheny's vocal style consisted of stretching syllables just beyond comprehensibility in a whining manner to crescendo into a flurry of falsetto wails for the choruses. His tone can best be likened to that of Sean Nelson of Harvey Danger. The lyrics themselves range from sheer gibberish-"adventus Christian planetarium sanctuary cut tremendous friction in the cultiveratorium" in "Right to the Rails"-to simple, bare truth stories of Witchitaw and obnoxiously smart classmates. If the desired effect of their sound was to put the audience into a trancelike state as if it were flying slowly through the air with a sense of subdued imagery, then mission accomplished. The crowd seemed to appreciate the improvised nature of the set and was thrilled when the band played requests such as Nirvana's "Smells Like Teen Spirit." The facial expressions of the audience during most songs, however, evolved from hesitant interest in the beginning to tired looks of total indifference by the end-typical blank stares with which I, being in a band, am very much familiar. There were some head nods and mild body gyrations, but the most positive responses came with the hearty applause after each song.
(02/06/07 5:00am)
The Bears have always been a persistent thorn in the side of the men's basketball team, having defeated the Judges 29 times in a row heading into what could have been No. 30 Sunday at home against Washington University in St. Louis. With a four-point lead midway through the third overtime of an epic University Athletic Association showdown, it appeared the Bears would triumph again. Instead, Brandeis rallied to pull off a huge victory in a must-win game. Fueled by a small lineup featuring four guards and forward Steve DeLuca '08, the Judges snapped a three-game losing streak with an 81-75 triple-overtime victory over the Bears, who came in tied for first place in the UAA and ranked No. 7 in the country. The win, coming after a 74-69 loss Friday to No. 19 University of Chicago in which the Judges lost their second-leading scorer and rebounder to a seaon-ending injury (see sidebar, page 13), moved the Judges to 14-6 overall and 4-5 in conference play.Sunday's win couldn't have come at a better time. After starting the season with nine straight victories outside the conference, the Judges had strayed far from their winning course during UAA play, dropping three straight games and five of their last eight before Sunday. Friday's loss to Chicago was the team's first home loss of the season, and dreams of playing in the NCAA tournament were fading fast. But this victory restored hope."We're the second-best team in New England, but in the league, we've struggled," coach Brian Meehan said. "It's about time we got a big win."The Judges took the lead for good with 1 minute, 15 seconds remaining in the third overtime. Guard Kevin Olson '09 missed a three-pointer, and Wash U rookie forward Cameron Smith grabbed the rebound. But point guard Kwame Graves-Fulgham '08 swarmed Smith defensively, forcing a turnover. The ball trickled underneath the basket to Joe Coppens '08, who picked it up, laid it in, drew the foul and completed the three-point play to give the Judges a three-point lead. It punctuated a career-high 24-point afternoon for Coppens.The Bears had a chance to tie on the next possession, but freshman guard Aaron Thompson missed an open three-pointer. DeLuca hit a jumper with the shot clock winding down to give the Judges a five-point lead with 24 seconds left, sealing the victory. "You hate to lose a game like this, but that's the beauty of the league," Bears coach Mark Edwards said. "On any given day, anyone can beat anyone."Brandeis trailed by as many as eight points in the second half, but rallied to tie the game at 50 after Andre Roberson '10 converted a three-point play with 3:15 remaining. The Judges took the lead on two free throws by Coppens with 19 seconds left, but Bears sophomore point guard Sean Wallis converted on a bank shot with 3.5 seconds left to send the game into overtime.The Judges had another shot to win at the end of the first overtime. Roberson hit a jumper to give Brandeis a 62-60 lead, but Smith tied the game with 2.8 seconds left on a long jumper from the top of the key. Smith's fallaway jumper at the end of the second overtime hit the front of the rim, keeping the game tied at 67. The Judges showed composure throughout the overtime periods with wise shot selection."We took shots we knew we could make," Roberson said. Junior center Troy Ruths gave the Bears a four-point advantage with 3:31 remaining in the last overtime before the Judges rallied once again. Kevin Olson '09 and Roberson hit consecutive three-pointers, and after Bears' senior guard Nick Nikitas tied the game at 73, the stage was set for Coppens' heroics. "Our guys don't quit," Meehan said. "They're always willing to make an effort to come back in a game."After Steve Hill '08 fouled out midway through the second overtime, the Judges went small, playing a four-guard lineup of Graves-Fulgham, Roberson, Olson, and Coppens. The switch left them at a size disadvantage on defense, but it was clearly effective offensively."[The lineup] worked well because we out-hustled [Wash U] on defense, and they couldn't guard us," Olson said. "We were trying to spread them out, and they gave us a lot of space to shoot threes."In Friday's loss, Chicago jumped ahead 14-2 early and led by as many as 13 in the second half before holding on for the victory.Trailing 57-47 with 9:40 remaining, Brandeis went on a 13-2 run and took a one-point lead on DeLuca's three-pointer with 5:09 left. However, the Maroons took the lead for good on a three-point play by junior forward Nate Hainje. "You can't let a team get 12 points ahead because it takes such an effort to come back," Meehan said. The Judges finish their home schedule next week with games against Carnegie-Mellon University 8 p.m. Friday and the University of Rochester 12 p.m. Sunday.
(09/26/06 4:00am)
All the King's Men2 starsDirected by Steven ZaillianStarring Sean Penn, Jude Law, Anthony Hopkins, Kate Winslet and Mark RuffaloLike the rhetoric and politics of its Huey Long-inspired main character, Louisiana Governor Willie Stark (Sean Penn), All the King's Men is verbose and passionate, but ultimately shallow and lifeless. Worst of all, the film, a remake of the 1949 classic based on the Robert Penn Warren novel, is unfocused and unsure about how to exactly convey its purpose, just like Stark, himself. This lack of clarity inspires a feeling of overt manipulation and manhandling that makes us question even the film's few accomplishments.Stark begins his career as an uncompromising idealist from a small town. Here, when the story allows us to follow his meteoric rise to power, All the King's Men flourishes. We can't help but think about contemporary issues like the Hurricane Katrina debacle in the film's early moments, when a school house collapses due to shoddy money politics. Our expectations are built up, and we ready ourselves for smart political commentary-none, however, is delivered.All could be redeemed if Sean Penn's performance as Stark was only more compelling. The film could have easily been a thoughtful chronicle of Stark's descent into the gritty world of politics, but instead, we see an idealist in the first 20 minutes and then suddenly, for the rest of the film, a dramatically changed man. There is no transformation or progression of character. Penn plays Stark as a stereotype, and this ruins what could have otherwise been a very relevant political allegory.Likewise, Jude Law, who plays Stark's right-hand man Jack Burden, is merely adequate in his role. He stands in the background well, and is never outright bad, but a lot more is required of his character than mere posturing. His character does not change throughout the film and thus is not compelling. He is opinionless and completely spineless throughout, merely standing and allowing events to overpower him without any form of resistance.Turning in a better performance is Anthony Hopkins as Judge Irwin. Hopkins' talent stands head and shoulders above the rest of the cast. Audiences will relish his scenes in particular, if simply because most of the other characters come across as hollow.The truly enjoyable and strong moments in this film are generally ruined by an intrusive score which repeatedly bashes viewers in the head in attempts at coercing them into responding emotionally. It is worst in scenes involving a love triangle, as it drowns out any pathos. Only in the aforementioned scenes with Hopkins, and during Stark's speeches, do we get a respite from the music. Perhaps that's why these are the only strong parts of the film.All the King's Men is an extremely disappointing and frustrating film. It offers neither political nor historical insight, nor a gripping personal drama. Instead, we get little bits and pieces of both that ultimately signify nothing at all.-Daniel Ortner
(05/23/06 4:00am)
David Blaine may have a reputation as a man who's cheated death more times than the American public cares to count, but his insane feats of survival just don't seem all that impressive when compared to the everyday life of young Sean Preston Spears Federline, who seems to be doomed to confront his own mortality as often as other babies make bowel movements.Whereas most parents make an effort to protect their young'uns from the ravages of the world, the woeful offspring of Britney Spears and Kevin Federline has been subjected to improperly secured car seats and collapsible high chairs enough to make a child welfare worker's head spin. Until now, Mommy and Daddy K-Fed have been blaming their travails on a series of accidents and misunderstandings, but it's hard to argue with the cold facts after seeing the pictures of "Britney & Son" outside the Ritz-Carlton Hotel which were plastered all over the schadenfreude-happy New York Post Friday.The series of photos displays the former American Sweetheart attempting to balance a baby in one hand and a drink in the other, and nearly losing both in the process. Fortunately, a bodyguard was on hand to restore little Sean to an upright position, but not before the press was able to snap plenty of shots of the Scion of Spears literally bent over backwards.Godspeed, little one. May you live long enough to get your emotional and financial revenge in the inevitable tell-all autobiography.Former Beatle Sir Paul McCartney and wife Heather Mills McCartney announced Wednesday that they are calling it quits after four years of marriage.The couple, who only recently had their first child together (a daughter named Beatrice), had long faced media criticism regarding Mills' alleged hunger for the spotlight and reports that McCartney's children from first wife Linda were none too fond of their new stepmother.Sad news from a musical legend-but on the bright side, at least we can breathe an easy sigh at not having to be subjected to fluffy "Heather still feeding him and needing him at 64" articles come Sir Paul's milestone birthday this June.
(05/02/06 4:00am)
WASHINGTON-It's 10 p.m. last Thursday night, and a packed bus of energized college students is slowly making its way here for a national rally to call for an immediate end to the genocide in the Darfur region of Sudan, where an estimated 400,000 have been murdered by the government, which began carrying out a genocide on the ethnic-African population in 2003.The students on the bus come from Brandeis, Harvard, Simmons College and area high schools. The movement they are all committed to, Students Taking Action Now: Darfur, has been called one of the fastest-growing student movements in over a decade, with about 550 chapters established at high schools and universities throughout North America. "It's gonna rock," Weldon Kennedy '06, the former Brandeis STAND president, said of the rally at about 8 a.m. Friday as the bus arrived here. Brandeis sent about 25 students to the rally. As Brandeis students posed for pictures on their way to the rally, holding signs with phrases such as, "I will not accept genocide in my world," Mark Kaufman '71, who came to the rally with the Jewish Community Relations Council in Boston, said he felt proud to see the "new generation" rallying. "In 1968, that was us sitting in that photo [protesting the Vietnam War]," he said.Over 1,000 members of STAND attended a rally here last Sunday on the National Mall, where between 40,000 and 50,000 people gathered to hear forceful speeches from Sudanese refugees, celebrities, politicians, Jewish, Christian and Muslim religious leaders and activists all calling for an end to the genocide in Darfur. The event, one of 20 held around the country, was organized by the Save Darfur Coalition, an umbrella organization of over 160 humanitarian groups, advocating for an end to the genocide. Before the rally, Massachusetts State Representative Michael Capuano told the Justice it's great to see the student movement pushing the national consciousness. He also credited Massachusetts with leading the nation on the issue. "We in Massachusetts have been pushing for this rally for over a year," he said. "Our voices will be heard." Speakers included actor George Clooney, holocaust survivor and 1986 Nobel Prize winner Elie Wiesel, Illinois Senator Barak Obama, the Rev. Al Sharpton, Olympic speedskater Joey Cheek, Def Jam Records founder Russell Simmons and Washington Archbishop Cardinal Theodore McCarrick. Though President Bush called the situation in Darfur a genocide in 2004, approved billions of dollars to send to the region and called for more robust peacekeeping missions to aid the African Union's troops in protecting civilians, speakers and rally participants said the United States needs to do more. "The facts on the ground remain the same," Obama said. "If we bear witness, then the world will know. If we act, then the world will follow." Erin Mazursky, a Georgetown University junior, and executive director of national STAND, spoke at the rally."Students have stood at the forefront of this movement to stop genocide, and we've begun to write a new story," she said. "We are witnessing the emergence of a generation that heeds the words 'Never Again,' and internalizes them." Wiesel's speech was emotional. "I am here as a Jew because when we needed people to come to help us, nobody came," he said to the crowd. "Therefore, we are here. For the sake of humanity, save Darfur."Sharpton said: "We know when Americans come together we can stop anything in the world. Let history write that we came together in the 21st century and stopped genocide in Sudan." Speakers compared the situation in Darfur to the genocide the world witnessed 11 years ago in Rwanda, and demanded the world not stand by genocide any longer. Many called on the United States to use its power to get the United Nations and NATO to send peacekeeping forces to the region to assist the African Union's underfunded troops, charged with protecting civilians.Clooney, who spoke with his father, Nick, recently returned from a trip to Darfur. The two have become spokesmen on behalf of the anti-genocide movement. "The U.S. policy, the U.N. policy and the world's policy on Sudan is failing," the actor said. "There is hope,-there is you." Akor, a Sudanese refugee at the rally, has lived in Kansas City for six years. "I feel grateful to the American people for their support for the people of Sudan," he said in an interview.Jaclyn Cantor '08 and Sean Lewis-Faupel '08 were elected to serve on next year's STAND national executive committee. "I'm so incredibly pumped, and I don't think it's going to go away," Cantor said after the rally. "I was worried it was going to be anti-climactic, but it wasn't."Friday and Saturday before the rally, George Washington University hosted a STAND conference for students to lobby their elected officials on Capitol Hill and discuss community organizing strategies. Around 500 students from 46 states attended. On the bus ride here Thursday night, Matt Rogers '08, who last month became the second president of Brandeis STAND, said the rally should be a starting point, rather than a stopping point for the movement. The rally is the culmination of STAND's year-long Power to Protect campaign, which calls for protection of Darfurians.Brandeis' chapter, which has remained consistently active on awareness and advocacy campaigns, most recently has succeeded in convincing the University to pledge not to invest its funds in companies that support genocide in Darfur until the genocide ends. The Brandeis chapter has been an integral leader in the movement since its emergence. Kennedy, who became the movement's first Northeastern regional outreach coordinator. "Brandeis can't end genocide in Sudan, but if it's students, every student, everywhere [is] taking action now for Darfur, that's huge," he said. Daniel Millenson '09, the executive director of the Sudan Divestment Task force, which works on university, city and statewide campaigns, said this movement is different because members don't protest for media attention."We usually work just by meetings and presenting research," he said. "I guess that's not really sexy or anything.but it's such a different era." Though STAND will remain student-run, it becomes part of the Genocide Intervention Network next month. Joining the organization makes STAND a permanent student fixture against genocide."You can't have a movement without a people, but you also can't have it without resources and tools," Mazursky said. Samantha Power, the author of A Problem from Hell: America and the Age of Genocide, spoke to STAND Saturday about pushing the United Nations to send peacekeeping forces to the region. Students in STAND make up the "Rwanda generation," Power said later. "You can't believe how Clinton could have allowed 800,000 people [to die].
(03/28/06 5:00am)
In the first uncontested race for Student Union President in recent memory, Senator-at-Large Alison Schwartzbaum '08 won the top post in the first round of Union elections last week.Schwartzbaum is also the Union's executive senator and was the North Quad senator last year.She said the main focus of her presidency will be "quality-of-life" issues, including renovations to the Intercultural Center, changes to residence hall quiet-hour policies and reforms to Student Events, student dining and the University's policy regarding alcohol at campus events."I want to make life as good for students as possible," Schwartzbaum said. "I'm not the type of person who can just have complaints and not doing anything about it."In addition to Schwartzbaum's election, Director of Union Affairs Aaron Gaynor '07 defeated Ridgewood Quad Senator Brian Paternostro '07 by a vote of 378-374, according to provisional results sent to candidates by Director of Club Development Darren Gallant '08, who oversaw the elections (see article, page 1). After the initial announcement, the margin was reduced by two votes following the discovery that two alumni voted.Senator for the Class of 2007 Joshua Karpoff was eliminated in the first round. Gaynor said "he feels great" to be the vice president, and that he wants to "re-shape the role of the VP to make it more about guiding the executive office and doing internal coordination stuff."Gaynor called Paternostro and Karpoff "first-class."Paternostro returned the praise. "Aaron Gaynor will do an amazing job as VP," he said.Harrison Chizik '07, the Finance Board chair, was elected treasurer without opposition.North Quad Senator Alex Braver '09 defeated Union Judiciary Justice Sean Patrick-Hogan '07 by a vote of 448-287 in the contest for Union secretary. Ziv Quad Senator Adam Gartner '07 was eliminated from the race during the first round.Braver said his reaction to the results was "a mixture of enthusiasm and a little bit of surprise, nervousness and anxiety. My personality will allow the Union to be friendlier and focus on customer service," he said. "My focus on the [Executive] Board is to represent freshmen and sophomores since I'm currently the youngest E-Board member.""I think Alex Braver will make a great secretary," Gartner said, adding, "It's always hard when you lose."In the Finance Board election, Massell Quad Senator Jacob Bockelmann '09, Sridatta Mukherjee '09, Jordan Rothman '09 and Jeremy Shuman '07 were voted in as new members.Bockelmann said he looks forward to serving. "It'll be great to have someone with both club leadership and Union experience," he said of himself. Mukherjee said her new post is her first in student government. "I'm really looking forward to the experience," she said.Rothman said he'll do a great job.Asher Tanenbaum '08, who lost to Shuman by four votes, called his loss "disappointing." He said he was unsure if it was "100 percent good" that three out of the four winners were first-year students.Radhika Kak '09 was elected as the F-Board's member for racial minority students in another uncontested race."I'm really happy," Kak said. "I want to get more representation for international minority groups on campus."Class of 2008 Senator Sam Vaghar, who was also unopposed, was elected his class's representative to the Board of Trustees.The race for junior representative to the Alumni Association also only had one candidate: Reuven Solomon '08.Solomon said his main goal is to raise student awareness about the work of the Alumni Association.Kimberlee Bachman '08 defeated Castle Quad Senator Adi Shmuel '08 to become junior representative to the Undergraduate Curriculum Committee by a vote of 551 to 178."I'm looking forward to being an advocate for positive change for the student body," Bachman said.She said her goals include making sign language an accredited course, adding more experiential learning to University curricula and increasing the number of courses focused on current events.
(03/28/06 5:00am)
The author of Dead Man Walking concluded a day-long discussion of capital punishment and flaws in the criminal justice system with a speech to over 500 people in the Spingold Theater last Wednesday. Sister Helen Prejean talked about her experiences with death row inmates during the "Day of Innocence" event sponsored by the University's Institute for Investigative Journalism and the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences.Sister Prejean, a Roman Catholic nun from N ew Orleans, has worked as a spiritual adviser to death-row inmates since the 1980s and has become a significant figure in the movement to abolish the death penalty. She wrote Dead Man Walking in 1993, which was later adapted into the Academy Award-winning movie starring Susan Sarandon and Sean Penn.At Spingold, Sister Prejean talked about her new book The Death of Innocents, which discusses wrongful convictions and executions. After her speech, she answered questions from students and autographed copies of the book.Sister Prejean spoke at length about the plight of the poor in America's major urban areas and how poverty makes violent criminals more susceptible to capital punishment. She said this is especially true in her home state of Louisiana, where the vast majority of death-row inmates are poor. "There's a saying around the neighborhood that those without the capital get the punishment," she said.She also said many Americans are not close to understanding the death penalty because the process is hidden away from sight; most executions take place in the middle of the night behind closed doors. She said her goal in writing Dead Man Walking was to "wake people up" to these issues.Sister Prejean acknowledged that our society believes the death penalty is how we attain justice for the families of murder victims, but our government believes capital punishment should be used only when dealing with the most atrocious murders."Whose death isn't the worst of the worst?" she asked. Sister Prejean said our justice system is cumbersome and complicated, and that "we get clogged in our own legal death machine."From the day they are sentenced, inmates suffer through the thoughts of their impending death many times before it actually happens, she said. As opposed to terminally ill hospital patients who may not fully comprehend their mortality, she said all the inmates with whom she has worked are fully aware of their fate."We keep trying to look for a humane way to kill people, and we're never going to find it," Sister Prejean said. "You cannot take away a human being's consciousness and imagination."Prof. Pam Cytrynbaum (AMST), the associate director of the Institute for Investigative Journalism, said people from all corners of the Brandeis community came out to the event. She said she was deeply moved by the response from students."It hit Brandeis students right in the gut because Brandeis students are unusually interested in social justice," Cytrynbaum said.She said Sister Prejean's personality was a significant factor in getting students interested in the issues."[Sister Helen] is absolutely irresistible," she said. "When you have a colossal force of such personality who is actually right, it's hard to not want to somehow get involved, and Brandeis students want to get involved."Sister Prejean answered questions at the Women's Studies Resource Center earlier in the day, followed by a showing of the documentary After Innocence-which tracks the lives of several exonerees after they have left prison-and a discussion with Dennis Maher, a Massachusetts resident who was released from a wrongful prison term in 2003. Maher was convicted of rape in 1984 and was exonerated by DNA evidence after serving 19 years in jail.
(03/28/06 5:00am)
Hey! Sean Penn! You've been keeping kind of a low profile lately, haven't you? In fact, I'm not sure that I've seen much of you since you tried to rescue those people during Hurricane Katrina. You remember that, don't you? You were on television, and I think you were wearing a flak jacket? It was white? And your boat, you had all these people in it - photographers, reporters, whatever - sprung a leak and then the next day in all the papers there was that picture of you trying to bail it out with a plastic cup? It was kind of funny. You didn't laugh; of course, you never laugh at anyone's jokes, so I kinda thought the world was ending when I heard what had to be a joke. I mean, Ann Coulter is really annoying, but a Voodoo doll? Page Six tells me that you bought a plastic Ann Coulter doll and you use it to take out your aggression? I know, I know, Ann Coulter is insane and her very being is like nails on a chalkboard (my whole body vibrates) but: "'We violate her,' the ornery actor told The New Yorker about his mini-Coulter. 'There are cigarette burns in some funny places.'" Dude. There have been a series of rumors flying around since Isaac Hayes announced that he was leaving South Park (did you see the episode where he dies? Comedy Central has only re-run it about 136,392,857,352,986 times). Proving that Scientology really is the creepiest of all religions, Hayes announced his departure from the show because of "creative differences" stemming from the episode in which Tom Cruise, John Travolta and R. Kelly lock themselves in the character Stan's closet, while Stan is touted as the reincarnation of L. Ron Hubbard. After a couple of weeks of hypocrisy-bashing, a news story emerged from FoxNews.com that Hayes had not actually issued the statement announcing he quit, and that his Scientology mentor was made the decision. The story claimed Hayes had been hospitalized in January not for exhaustion, as his publicist had said, but because of a stroke. The source said that Hayes was still at home resting and recovering from the stroke and that he was "in no shape" to quit the show. Well, today EOnline.com reported that "The press release did come from him,' [Amy] Harnell [of Isaac Hayes Entertainment] said. 'He is the one who decided to leave South Park.'" Personally, I was hoping the Scientologist-interference rumor was true. Oh, Isaac, it's so sad to see you go.
(03/07/06 5:00am)
Students agree that while guaranteed housing is a perk of the three Thematic Learning Communities for rising sophomores, juniors and seniors, students said TLCs lack sufficient structure and focus. TLC, which houses 19 students this year, its pilot year, places participants with similar interests in the arts, health and wellness or justice, service and change in housing communities in the Castle, Rosenthal and the Village, respectively. Elana Kieffer '07, a justice, service and change TLC resident, said the lack of guidelines made for a "rocky start," but her community has since developed a rhythm. "TLC is an extreme form of a self-directed community," Kieffer said. "It does not just have basic rules but needs to further specific areas of interest." Arielle Katzman '07, the Community Advisor in the health and wellness community, said the program intentionally sets rigid guidelines, and is meant to be molded by residents."Being a pilot program, navigating a self-directed, student-directed program is difficult because there was no plan set out for us," Abigail Weiner '06, who lives in the justice, service and change community, said. "We were given vague programming requirements and were told to make a community and decide what that means for us and every TLC is going to decide what that means for them."Participants are given amazing opportunities to connect and work with very important people in their fields, both on and off campus, Saara Johanson '07, CA in the arts TLC, said. "It is up to the students to make the most of these connections."Johanson said participants take on leadership opportunities by planning programs on campus. The students in the arts community were given the opportunity to help organize parts of the Festival of the Arts, Johanson said.Sean Lewis Faupel '08, who lives in the health and wellness TLC, said the name "health and wellness" is too vague. "There are a lot of different ways of defining it," he said. Katzman agreed that people have different conceptions of health, but said it is up to the residents to define it together. "People ask if the [TLC members] are against alcohol or if they only eat carrots and celery because health and wellness are such nebulous terms. We help to define what these two things are essentially," Katzman said, adding later that her residents do eat candy. Adi Shmuel '08, a resident of the arts community, agreed with Faupel that TLCs need to be more specific. "Arts is too big of a topic. All of the members thought of art in a different way when we applied, so we are different." Students also said the small size of the communities is a concern because it makes it difficult to have an impact on the community."I don't think our name has gotten out there. We had hoped to be a resource to Brandeis," Faupel said of his eight-member community.Ziv and Ridgewood Quad Director Amanda Daul said the TLCs must be cohesive before they can reach others. "Without creating a community, they can't effectively share with the Brandeis community, so first they have to focus on their community," she said.Shmuel disagreed. "A TLC should fill a whole hallway, not just three rooms. It is hard to know our purpose on campus when there are no more than five people."Weiner said the Department of Residence Life has implemented changes that residents have suggested.One change for next year is to add a "global citizens" community" for students who wish to share their study-abroad experiences, while the arts community will not continue due to lack of interest, Daul said."They have a very thorough feedback process that involves the CAs and the TLC members themselves," Weiner said.Shmuel said TLCs have the potential to be great. "Don't expect something to be right for you if you don't put your whole self into it," she said.
(02/07/06 5:00am)
The Rev. Walter Cuenin, an outspoken advocate for gay and women's rights in the Catholic Church and a vocal critic of Church leadership, assumed his new position Monday as the University's Catholic chaplain."It will be different," Cuenin, who resigned last September from Our Lady Help of Christians in Newton, said of his new position. "Young people help keep you young, and they have questions and challenge you to think about your own faith in different ways." Cuenin replaces the Rev. David Michael, who was reassigned by Sean P. O'Malley the Boston Archbishop in December to serve as pastor at St. John Chrysostom Church in Boston.Cuenin was forced by the Archdiocese of Boston to resign from Our Lady Help of Christians after he was accused by the archdiocese of mishandling church funds. "I was not happy about the way I was treated, but I try not to harbor any anger toward anyone," Cuenin said. "I'm trying to get on with my life." The archdiocese accused Cuenin of receiving stipends from the parish over the limit of $5 a day. However, an internal audit at the parish found that the stipends were within church policy and had been approved by the parish's finance committee, Cuenin said."Some people have suggested it was because I was an outspoken kind of priest," Cuenin told the Newton Tab.Cuenin raised his profile in the church with his welcoming attitude toward gays and women and his condemnation of Cardinal Bernard Law, the former archbishop of Boston, for the cardinal's handling of accusations of sexual abuse against area priests. Cuenin also led a group of priests in demanding Law's resignation. (Law resigned from the Boston archdiocese in December 2002 and was subsequently appointed by Pope John Paul II to several posts in the Roman Curia, the Vatican's administrative body.)"I've been a very outspoken advocate for the rights of gay people," Cuenin, who established a gay and lesbian outreach program at his former parish and performs baptisms on children adopted by gay couples, he told the Justice. "Gays should know that they're blessed in the church," he said, adding that all religious groups should be at the forefront of being a place of welcome and safety. Although the church does not ordain women, Cuenin said it has an obligation to make sure women have high levels of authority and leadership. "I don't think future Catholics will be satisfied with only hearing the scripture interpreted through men's visions," he said.Jonathan Sham '06, a Catholic Students Organization executive, said he expected to be involved in the search process, until he read officially that Cuenin was coming to Brandeis in a Jan. 31 Boston Globe article.Sham said the University was planning a search process until the archbishop appointed Cuenin to Brandeis. "They decided to take him this semester with the provision that was contingent upon how it worked out with students," Sham said. At the end of the semester, students, the administration, the other chaplains and Cuenin will decide if Brandeis is an appropriate fit for him, Sham said.The University hires and pays the salary of the chaplain, Sham said, but the archdiocese appoints Catholic priests to their positions.Since Michael's departure, the traditional four recitations of Mass each weekend were cut to one on Sunday evenings. The services were led by priests from other area parishes.Cuenin's first service is this Sunday, though he has not yet finalized his worship schedule. "I'll meet with the Catholic Student Organization on Sunday and work with them to develop a mass schedule," he said.Cuenin said he met with leaders of the CSO last Wednesday to discuss his work at Brandeis. "I was very energized by the meeting," he said.Sham, who attended the meeting, said Cuenin made clear that although he is a liberal priest, he is committed to following ecclesiastical teachings. Additionally, Cuenin discussed the nature of his resignation from Our Lady Help of Christians. "He was very open about his past, which I appreciated a lot," Sham said. Cuenin said he worked heavily with the Jewish community in his previous job and came to appreciate Jewish spirituality. He said he looks forward to facilitating and participating in interfaith discussions on campus.-The mugshot accompanying this story was taken by Jim Walker for the Newton Tab.
