(03/11/14 4:00am)
A cappella. Dancing. Stand-up comedy. Coconuts. An American Idol contestant. These were only some of the numerous acts performed at AYALA, a variety show hosted by Brandeis' South East Asia Club to raise money for communities affected by Typhoon Haiyan, a major tropical cyclone that devastated the Philippines in November. With the theme of barrio fiesta, meaning "neighborhood party" in Tagalog, a language spoken in the Philippines, Levin Ballroom was full of students sitting at round tables, sipping on sparkling grape juice and enjoying a variety of Dum Dum lollipops. Lights and flags of a slew of Southeast Asian countries decorated the walls.
(03/11/14 4:00am)
Student Union representatives will host a "public, round-table discussion and forum" between themselves, senior administrators and members of the student body next week, Student Union President Ricky Rosen '14 announced to the Brandeis community via email Monday night. The forum will take place on Thursday, March 20, from 4 to 6 p.m. in the Carl and Ruth Shapiro Admissions Center presentation room. The space seats 100, according to an October 2009 BrandeisNOW article. Rosen's email stated that the forum was being held in order to address student concerns "on some prominent issues that affect current and future Brandeis students such as the [U]niversity's allocation of funds, rising tuition expenses, and the recent changes to meal plans. "We feel that as your elected representatives, we are obligated to publicly address your concerns to our university administration, but wish to approach these issues as a discussion," the email continued. Senior Vice President for Students and Enrollment Andrew Flagel and Senior Vice President for Communications Ellen de Graffenreid will represent the administration at the event, according to Rosen. Senior Vice President, Chief of Staff and Chief Legal Officer David Bunis '83 was invited, but did not confirm his attendance as of Monday night, wrote Rosen in an email to the Justice. The first hour of the event is scheduled as a public discussion between Student Union representatives and Brandeis administrators, while the floor will open for students to ask questions during the second hour, according to Rosen. Rosen's email also included a link to a Google form on which students can send questions or suggestions to the Union. They will be addressed at the March 20 meeting. The Justice, the Hoot, WBRS and individual administrators were officially invited to attend the event on Feb. 21, as it was still being planned and a date had yet to be determined. Flagel, de Graffenreid and Bunis, as well as several elected Student Union officials, were invited on the same date. -Tate Herbert
(03/04/14 5:00am)
The Student Union Senate convened on Sunday to discuss ongoing initiatives and upcoming events, such as renovations in dining facilities and changes to the structure of meal plans as well as an upcoming roundtable discussion with Student Union officers and members of the University's administration. The senators also approved one Senate Money Resolution for $380 to cover costs for an upcoming "State of Sustainability" town hall hosted by the Senate Sustainability Committee, and passed an amendment to the bylaws of its constitution which will institute an appeals process for the Senate's policy on absences at its meetings. The amendment, proposed by North Quad Senator and Ways and Means Committee Chair Brian Hough '17, allows the Senate to reinstate, by a two-thirds vote, any senator who would be removed by the Senate absence policy. The policy states that a senator who misses more than three senate meetings will be removed from his or her position. If the Senate does not reinstate the senator, he or she may also appeal the case to the Student Judiciary. A date has been tentatively set for the roundtable discussion with administration, which will be open to the public, for Thursday, March 13 at 5 p.m., Executive Senator Annie Chen '14 stated at the meeting. The location has yet to be determined, but Chen said that she hopes the event will be used as an open forum to air student concerns about dining and meal plans, tuition increases, transparency and other issues affecting the student body. "The point of this is to really bring everything that we've worked on all year to the administration in one unified platform," said Student Union Vice President Charlotte Franco '15. On the issue of dining, Off-Campus Senator Michael Kosowsky '14 reported that prices for next year's meal plans have not yet been confirmed. Although he said that he expects an increase, in line with tuition, room and board increases for the past few years, the structure of the plans is unknown. "It doesn't seem like they can get us this information before the residence selection is due," said Kosowsky at the meeting. Kosowsky also addressed his concerns with the University's Black History Month menus in a meeting with Sodexo officials. The menu, which Sodexo says was designed by a black chef in honor of the month, offered such foods as fried chicken and black-eyed peas. "The food selection was incredibly stereotypical, and ... sort of offensive," said Kosowsky. He said that Student Union representatives encouraged Sodexo to work with culture clubs on campus for such events in the future. Senator-at-Large Andre Tran '14 stated that the Senate is looking to making WhoCash compatible with the vending machines. Franco also said that Currito's, a restaurant chain specializing in burritos, would be opening a franchise in the Usdan Student Center as part of the renovations taking place there this summer. Class of 2015 Senator Anna Bessendorf reported for the Sustainability Committee that she was working on connecting individual clubs' sustainability efforts, among them a reusable bottle giveaway by TapBrandeis. Bessendorf also said that she spoke with Jay DeGoia, regional district manager of Sodexo for Brandeis, about bringing in a composting contractor next year, and also having Sodexo participate in a "real food calculation," which aims to quantify how much food at Brandeis is "local, fair, humane, [and] ecologically sound." Chen said that, following a meeting with head of procurement services John Storti, she was optimistic about future implementation of an email notification system for items received at the mailroom and that renovations to the mailroom would take place by next academic year. Tran announced that Zivwoodstock would be held April 25 during the day. Foster Mods Senator Haley Orlofsky '14 announced that Modfest would be held on the same date, but during the night. Franco also announced that she, along with a team of other senators, would be forming a committee for the academic calendar, to explore the possibility of adjusting absence policies or days off for religious holidays. -Tate Herbert
(03/04/14 5:00am)
A teaser for a Forum article stated the incorrect page. The article was on page 11, not page 12. (Feb. 11, p. 1) The Justice welcomes submissions for errors that warrant correction or clarification. Email editor@thejustice.org.
(03/04/14 5:00am)
This week, the Brandeis chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine will host Israel Apartheid Week-a week that is designed to highlight the ongoing issues between the Israeli and Palestinian peoples. SJP initiated the series of events last night with a presentation from controversial author and journalist Max Blumenthal. In an interview with the Justice, SJP member Guy Mika '17 said that the purpose of Israel Apartheid Week is to "bring the Palestinian narrative to campus." The Israel Apartheid Week movement is a national organization that has promoted Israel Apartheid Week since 2004, according to the movement's website. When asked why SJP decided to host a week of their own, Mika said that the group "feels that whenever Palestinians are represented on campus" they are "viewed through the lens of Israel, which inherently dehumanizes them and silences their stories." The current iteration of Israel Apartheid Week is the second SJP has hosted on campus, the first occurring in 2012. The group was not able to host a week last year "due to organizational problems," according to Joey Morris '14, a member of SJP. He also told the Justice that SJP decided not to have an executive board this semester, and cited the efforts of multiple club members in the organization of this year's event. When asked about the use of the term "apartheid," Mika said that SJP believes it is "an appropriate term to describe what is happening in Israel and Palestine." He further stated that SJP acknowledges that Palestinians are treated differently in Israel and the alleged occupied territories, classifying the two as reminiscent of "the racism of the United States around the time of the Civil Rights Movement" and "the apartheid of South Africa." Jewish student groups on campus have reacted to the term "apartheid" in varying ways. Catie Stewart '16, president of J Street U Brandeis, told the Justice that she believes apartheid is a very divisive term. When asked what J Street U Brandeis' official stance on Israel Apartheid Week is, Stewart said that while the group's members "share the concerns of many members of SJP about the continuation of the occupation," the group does not believe that "characterizing Israel as an apartheid state is either accurate or productive towards a solution." The term apartheid is "entirely false when it comes to describing life in Israel and Israeli policy," according to Daniel Koas '15, president of the Brandeis Israel Public Affairs Committee. In an email to the Justice, Koas said that "all citizens of Israel are fully equal under the law" and that Israel is the "exact opposite of the institutional, discriminatory system of actual apartheid that was in effect in South Africa." Daniel Mael '15, co-president of the Students for Accuracy about Israeli and Palestinian Affairs, said in a phone interview with the Justice that Israel Apartheid Week was "intellectually dishonest" and what he called 'Israel Hate Week' "hides behind smoke and mirrors when it is plainly Jew hatred." Mael also stated that there are "productive avenues to explore" in the conversation of furthering human rights of both Palestinians and Israelis but "supporting anti-Semitism is not an acceptable means of solving the issue." Israel Apartheid Week was mired in controversy though before it began. Last Monday, SJP member Aya Abdelaziz '16 created a Facebook event for the week. Within a few hours, according to Morris, the event's administrators were "bombarded with offensive messages" and "personal attacks against specific group members, which were very Islamophobic and racist." Eventually, this led the event's administrators to limit the commenting ability of guests attending the event. "I was very offended by what I saw," Stewart told the Justice. "I'm deeply disappointed in my campus, and we just don't have productive dialogue around this issue, in part because of SJP and because of people to the right of us [J Street U Brandeis]." What was interesting about this, according to Mika, was that "all of the worst offenders were not Brandeis students." Some of these profiles were "ghost people," according to Morris, who were only Facebook friends with each other. The Brandeis Israel Apartheid Week began in earnest with a speech by Blumenthal, a prominent author and journalist who has written extensively about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. It will continue with a discussion about the word "apartheid" on Wednesday, a screening of the film Voices Across the Divide on Thursday and a peace vigil for Palestinians in the Yarmouk Camp on Friday. Blumenthal's presence on campus has also generated controversy. In his latest book, Blumenthal "used comparisons of Israel to Nazi Germany," according to Stewart, which were "offensive to many people." Thus, at the event yesterday, Blumenthal talked about the conditions for Palestinians and Sudanese refugees on the ground behind Israeli lines. He related the story of a 17-year-old Palestinian living in the Arab-Israeli city of Lod. "When he was in school, the Palestinian youth was told by his principal, 'Do not go home because your house is being destroyed,'" Blumenthal said. Blumenthal said that when he was in Israel, he saw "an entire neighborhood reduced to rubble in a core Israeli city" because the Palestinian residents had done construction without a permit. He said that when the residents discovered that he was a reporter, they told him that they wanted protection from the United Nations and that "this is worse than the Gaza strip." African immigrants face similar discrimination, Blumenthal said. According to the Times of Israel, the Blumenthal also discussed former Israel Defence Force spokesperson Miri Regev's controversial remark that "the Sudanese are a cancer in our body" during a rally protesting the rising crime rate in Tel Aviv. Blumenthal said that rally ended up launching a riot, which was, according to Blumenthal, "barely reported" despite "hundreds of right-wing thugs and vandals attacking any African business they could find." Blumenthal further stated that he called the chapter in which he discussed this riot "the night of broken glass," referencing the night when members of the Nazi Party rioted in the streets and looted hundreds of Jewish owned businesses and synagogues before World War II. The author said that he did not reference this tragic moment in Jewish history out of reverence for the Jewish people who lived through it, but because, for him, the lesson of the Holocaust "is not never again to Jews, it's never again to anyone." Luky Guigui '14, who attended the event, brought to Blumenthal's attention the fact that there were Arab representatives currently in the Israeli parliament and asked the reporter to comment on that. Blumenthal responded by talking about the former nation of Rhodesia. Rhodesia, like South Africa, was governed by a white minority. Blumenthal discussed in particular how Rhodesia had Africans in its government, "but [the white minority] made sure [the black Africans] did not get enough representation to impact the actual policies of the state" instead making them symbolic representatives. The reporter related this to the representatives of Arabs in the Israeli parliament. Israel Apartheid Week has also drawn national attention to Brandeis, through the responses of certain students to the event. Joshua Nass '14, chief executive officer and founder of Voices of Conservative Youth, recently attacked the national Israel Apartheid Week movement for featuring him in a trailer advertising the week. In the trailer for Israel Apartheid Week, Nass was seen to be nodding his head in agreement with a statement about the Boycott, Divest and Sanctions movement-an endeavor to pressure the Israeli government with nonviolent means-and seemingly giving his support to the movement. In an interview with the Justice, Nass said that the trailer was "blatantly inaccurate." In response to this trailer, Nass put out an offer via several news outlets. His offer stipulated that if the person who published the trailer would debate him at a public forum of his choosing, he would pay $5,000 of his personal money to a mutually agreed-upon charity. The national movement would also have to retract the trailer and issue a public apology along with the debate. On Friday afternoon, when Nass tried to access the trailer, the host website stated that it had been "removed by the user." By Saturday night, there was a new video uploaded which did not include Nass. When asked about the video's removal, Nass told the Justice that "the fact that they did this, silently as if it would go unnoticed, is telling of [the leadership of the national Israel Apartheid movement's] tactics, and that they themselves don't have the courage in their convictions to defend their behavior." -Kathryn Brody contributed reporting
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About 15 students convened outside the Bernstein-Marcus Administration Center to protest high tuition costs and the University's compensation practices on Thursday, Feb. 13. Amid winter storm conditions, protesters held signs saying "Blatant Inequality," "Education minus Capitalism is Equality" and "Where's the 'social justice' in Jehuda's 4.9 Million," while shouting chants like "Fair Pay Today" and "Freeze Tuition." Last November, an article in the Boston Globe highlighting University President Emeritus Jehuda Reinharz's salary and benefits sparked concern and outrage over administrative compensation at Brandeis. Reinharz, who served as University president from 1994 to 2011, has received $4.1 million in deferred compensation and $811,000 in untaken sabbatical payments as of Jan. 2, according to a Jan. 23 BrandeisNOW press release. Reinharz, who earned about $300,000 annually in 2012 and 2013, will hold the title of president emeritus through June and earn $160,000 for that position. After June, he will serve as a half-time professor and make $180,000 a year. In response to student concern, the University also announced that the Board of Trustees unanimously agreed to release information about senior administrative compensation and accept feedback about executive compensation in the future. "We were motivated to organize the protest because after the 'budget transparency' was released by the administration, we felt as though not enough was being done in terms of speaking out against the executive pay," wrote Aaren Weiner '16, one of the organizers of the protest, in an email to the Justice. "It is one thing for students to complain but it is another for them to feel empowered and act upon those feelings." Elaine Mancini '16, another protest organizer, wrote in an email to the Justice that "there were grievences [sic] against the feeling that Reinharz and [University President Frederick]Lawrence are essentially 'stealing our money,' and of the injustice regarding what the lowest paid worker on campus receives versus executive pay. "There were many cries for Brandeis to provide the lowest paid worker with a real living wage," wrote Mancini. "And of course there were comments on Reinharz's long awaited text on donkeys." According to Weiner, she and Mancini met with Dean of Students Jamele Adams before the protest to discuss the nature of it The Rights and Responsibilities Handbook states that anyone who plans to organize a protest or demonstration must notify the "Senior Student Affairs Officer or designee," who "may instruct organizers regarding the guidelines for such activity." "[Adams] gave us the administration's full support, showed us where the protest was to happen specifically, and let us know that we could talk to him if we needed anything," Weiner wrote. According to both Mancini and Weiner, the response to the protest has been mostly positive, particularly from other students. "We received encouragement from most passersby who verbally responded. A few students came over and said that they would like to attend if another protest was organized in the future," wrote Mancini. "I only recall one person with a negative reaction, but their comment didn't seem very well thought out, and therefore I won't bother trying to repeat it." According to Weiner, the administration has not been in contact with the group of students who organized the protest since it occurred. In an email the Justice, Senior Vice President for Communications Ellen de Graffenreid wrote that the administration and Student Union are planning a forum "where concerns can be heard." The Student Union Senate announced a tentative date of March 13 at 5 p.m. at a location that has yet to be determined. "I can tell you that the administration supports students' right to protest. The culture of Brandeis University encourages debate, discussion and a frank exchange of conflicting views," wrote de Graffenreid in her email. "Student protests have been an important part of the University's commitment to free speech and expression since Brandeis' founding." According to Weiner, more demonstrations will be held in the future, though "nothing specific has been planned as of yet." -Rachel Hughes contributed reporting
(02/04/14 5:00am)
Did you know that tobacco use is the single largest preventable cause of disease and death in the United States? The Center for Disease Control and Prevention says that tobacco use causes over 440,000 deaths in the United States each year; that's more deaths than those from HIV, illegal drug use, alcohol use, motor vehicle injuries and firearm-related injuries combined. Did you also know that secondhand smoke is classified by the Environmental Protection Agency as a Class A Carcinogen, just like asbestos? Or that, according to the CDC, it causes thousands of deaths each year, in healthy non-smokers, from lung cancer and heart disease? The CDC also says that there is no risk-free exposure to secondhand smoke; even a brief exposure can be harmful to health, and nonsmokers who breathe secondhand smoke are breathing in the same carcinogens that smokers are. At least 250 chemicals in secondhand smoke are known to be toxic or carcinogenic. Those are some pretty significant statistics, and I think it is critical that Brandeis respond with a change in its current policy regarding smoking on campus. After reading about e-cigarettes in the Justice Forum on Jan. 14, "To Combat New E-Cigarettes, Inform Public About Smoking Facts," I thought it was important for the Brandeis student body to know what Colleges Against Cancer is working on. Some of you may have heard about our Smoke(less) Initiative. CAC is pushing forward a policy change that would create designated smoking areas on the Brandeis campus, in place of the current rule allowing smoking anywhere 30 feet from a building. Last spring, CAC sent out a survey on the current smoking policy, and suggested making a change; 1,006 undergraduates responded, and 73 percent said that they supported prohibiting smoking on campus, with the exception of designated smoking areas. The specifics of these designated smoking areas, including location and structure, will ultimately be up to the administration and feedback from students. CAC hopes that over time, given the data from organizations such as the CDC, Brandeis will transition to a completely smoke-free campus. This is the only way to truly eliminate secondhand smoke. The 30-feet policy is simply ineffective. It was brought into being by the hard work of a since-graduated CAC member, and while it was definitely a step forward for the campus, we realize now that it needs to be updated. The rule fails to protect non-smokers from secondhand smoke; for example, even if a smoker is standing 30 feet from a doorway, someone who wishes to enter the building often has to pass through a cloud of smoke to do so. One can imagine other problematic situations as well, such a walking behind a smoker on a path to class. In each situation, the concern stems from the fact the secondhand smoke is a public health hazard; we wish to eliminate this harmful exposure. CAC, as an American Cancer Society organization, strongly supports quitting smoking. There are multiple resources on campus to help and we encourage smokers to take advantage of them. The Golding Health Center already has programs in place through Lauren Grover, the alcohol and other drug counselor, and as the Smoke(less) Initiative moves forward, CAC is planning on working closer to help develop even more resources. For the past two years at the Great American Smoke Out, we worked in conjunction with Diana Denning, nurse practitioner at the Health Center, to provide information and resources for smokers interested in quitting. Again, we encourage smokers to use these resources, and if this new policy is enacted, CAC will work closely with the Health Center to develop even more programs. There are currently 1,182 colleges in the United States that are completely smoke-free. We have researched some of the local colleges, like Northeastern University, University of Massachusetts Amherst, Cape Cod Community College, Westfield State University and Bridgewater State University; all seem to rely on community enforcement of their policy. Essentially, this means that students are encouraged to enforce the policy themselves, either through words or through reporting offenders via an established email system. The same holds for faculty and staff. These colleges also have specific committees that oversee compliance and discipline for repeated offenders. Many of them have just enacted their new smoke-free policies, and as such, CAC will be contacting them to monitor their successes and hopefully gain some valuable feedback, insights that will make for a smoother Brandeis transition to a smoke-free campus. This isn't just a trend in the United States, either; it is becoming an international one. With smoking and secondhand smoke clearly linked to disease and poor health, even nations with a large smoking culture, such as China, are seeing this connection and banning smoking indoors. Many countries, including Australia, Canada, Singapore and Thailand, now also have smoke-free outdoor areas. Brandeis has always prided itself in being on the forefront of new ideas; it is time to join this global campaign. I believe that, given the clear health concerns demonstrated by secondhand smoke (noted by the CCD, American Cancer Society and other organizations), the overall goal for Brandeis should be to become a completely smoke-free campus: CAC is proposing that we take a step towards this goal by transitioning into designated smoking areas, as the undergraduate population seems to support. It's time for us to move forward and create a healthier campus environment, one that reduces (and eventually eliminates) secondhand smoke. CAC has approached the Brandeis Student Union about this issue, but they have failed to vote on it. Please contact your senators and other campus representatives and tell them how you feel about this new smoke-free trend both in the United States and worldwide, especially how it should apply to Brandeis. -Editor's Note: Elizabeth Allen '14 is the president of Brandeis University's chapter of Colleges Against Cancer.
(02/04/14 5:00am)
A photograph in News incorrectly identified the student featured. Maddie Sullivan '16 was pictured, not Alyssa Fenenbock '15. (Jan. 28, p. 1) An article in News incorrectly stated the number of community members who signed the executive compensation online petition. The petition had nearly 1,700 signatures as of press time, not 1,600. (Jan. 28, p. 1) An article in News misspelled Dor Cohen's '16 name. (Jan. 28, p. 3) An article in News failed to recognize Lori Lowenthal Marcus '80 as an alumna. (Jan. 28, p. 3) An article in News did not mention Brandon Odze '16, the other candidate for Rosenthal Senator. His name was not included in the list of candidates provided to the Justice. (Jan. 28, p. 4) A visual timeline in News should have provided Campus Operations as the source. (Jan. 28, p. 7) A Forum article should have clarified that Hailey Magee '15 is currently studying abroad in Washington, D.C . (Jan. 28, p. 12) * The Justice welcomes submissions for errors that warrant correction or clarification. Email editor@thejustice.org.
(01/28/14 5:00am)
Students and scholars came together to tackle the conversation about issues facing Israel and its future at the second annual Brandeis Visions for Israel in an Evolving World Conference this past Sunday. While a variety of issues were raised and discussed during panels, speeches and breakout discussions, both the opening and closing keynote speakers focused on conversations regarding Zionism.
(01/20/14 5:00am)
"No meaningful discussion, about any topic, can occur without accurate facts and appropriate context." This is part of the mission statement of the Students for Accuracy about Israeli and Palestinian Affairs, a student organization that was approved to become a chartered campus club on Dec. 8, 2013. The club was founded by Daniel Mael '15, Guy Morag '17 and Ari Givner '17. SAIPA's core mission is to expose media manipulation in order to further establish campus event accuracy by attending campus-sponsored events. SAIPA then issues a report on the event with the intention of holding campus speakers accountable to any misinformation they may have shared. "This will change the nature of Middle-East affairs discussions because when people know they are being monitored they are much less likely to present their opinions as facts." Morag noted in an e-mail to the Justice. "We always want to make sure that everyone has a fair chance to explore the issues from a factual perspective. Brandeis is a perfect climate to debut a club like this because there are so many groups that care about it," Mael said. Mael, Morag and Givner had been talk for a long time about starting a group that exposes media manipulation. Mael explained that they reached their tipping point at a Brandeis Israel Public Affairs Committee event in which there was conflict between certain campus groups over facts and definitions. Brandeis already has several clubs that are involved in the Israeli and Palestinian debate. "We felt that every group that was talking about the Israeli conflict, [on campus] was an interest group," Mael said. "We are simply trying to make sure that students have a fair shot at that facts ... [and] can form their own opinion afterward," Mael said. SAIPA hosted an event on Oct. 29, in which it brought in guest speaker Sgt. Benjamin Anthony, an Israeli Defense Force combat veteran. "He was explicitly clear that this is his narrative, and that it did not represent what our organization thinks. We believe that it is important that we hear varying perspectives and give them a forum to speak," Mael said. The event was hosted in conjunction with the Brandeis Libertarian Conservative Union and the Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting in America. Mael indicated that the group hosted the event as a way of raising visibility for SAIPA in their early stages, but that going forward, SAIPA will focus on exposing media manipulation and ensuring the accuracy of campus events hosted by other groups. On Nov. 12, Neil Hertz, professor emeritus at John Hopkins University, gave a presentation called "Pastoral in Palestine." The University and six other campus organizations sponsored the event. SAIPA attended and wrote a report following the presentation. "[Hertz] supported boycott divestment and sanction movement in his question-answer session. That is his opinion and SAIPA made no mention of that in our report." Mael said. "What we did make a mention of was that he said that excavating the city of David was a private-public joint venture in displacing Palestinians from East Jerusalem ... [describing what] is in the Jewish tradition a very significant place as simply a venture in displacing Palestinians is misleading to the community." SAIPA has not been well-received by all campus clubs that deal with Israeli and Palestinian affairs. "My question for those that oppose us or have problems with SAIPA is why is a group that is oriented to find the truth problematic? It should be no problem that a set of students have come together to try to ensure that an objective truth is presented," said Mael. Responding to the club's mission and activities thus far, J Street U Brandeis Co-president Catie Stewart '16 stated in an e-mail to the Justice that "[W]hile interrogating assumptions and perspectives is a value we share with SAIPA, we believe that no group is truly apolitical or 'objective' and we would hope that the organization is frank about their own political motivations." J Street U is a self described "pro-Israel, pro-peace organization advocating for a two-state solution." Anyone, despite their stance on Israel, is welcome to join the club. "I don't know many people who are happy to have others monitoring their work and then finding their biases published online for the world to see. With that said, we have encouraged members of all organizations on campus to join us," Morag noted. SAIPA plans to extend their "pro-truth, pro-honesty" agenda through a monthly or biweekly publication where they can share the perspective from two sides. "I think that's very unique because when someone actually has to articulate a thought on writing, you would hope they bring their best honesty and most well thought out ideas," said Mael. "If one student can be positively impacted and have a little bit better understanding of media manipulation and fact manipulation I think we've done a good job," Mael said.
(01/14/14 5:00am)
Over break, I visited one of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art's newest exhibits-Calder and Abstraction: From Avant-Garde to Iconic-which opened in late November and is the first Alexander Calder exhibit to appear at LACMA. Calder, a 20th century American sculptor, is known for his geometric and colorful mobiles as well as his stables, the stationary works of art that he created in the later part of his career. The layout of the exhibit actually seemed to mimic the artwork and at the same time provided an excellent forum that allowed the artwork to stand out. The layout was geometrical and maze-like, filled with small, narrow crevices that held just a mobile or two. Bold, bright and spinning, the pieces popped out among the gray walls. Calder's work is highly abstract and reminded me of the idea of a Rorschach inkblot test: each viewer sees something different in the piece and there may be no "right" answer. I imagined everything from plants to stick figures represented in the pieces. It seemed that Calder did have tangible inspiration for some of his works though. For instance, we know that much of Calder's inspiration came from outer space, especially the pieces in his collection, "Constellations." The titles of his pieces give us some insight into his inspiration. Some of the titles were descriptive of what the piece represented such as "Blue Feather" and "Little Parasite." But a few titles paid homage to the materials used, such as "Little Pierced Disk," names that did not give clue to any inspiration and left room for an inkblot test perspective. -Emily WIshingrad * Last month, I attended the de Young Museum in San Francisco's exhibition on David Hockney's latest work. David Hockney: A Bigger Exhibition opened at the museum on Oct. 26 and will end on Jan. 20. Hockney is known as a major contributor to the pop art movement of the 1960s and for his experimentation in portraiture, photo collage and set design. I have never been an especially big fan of other Hockney exhibits I've been dragged to by my mother, and at first, I wasn't sure if I would enjoy this one. As I walked through the first room, which was packed full of eager guests, I thought that most of the paintings looked an awful lot like something an elementary school student would do. The colors were garish and the brush strokes thick. I changed my mind when I learned that Hockney made all of the displayed works on his iPad or through the paintbrush tools on Adobe Photoshop. For an artist who used photography as his primary medium for many years, I found it fascinating that he switched to tools that many people use for photo editing. About halfway through, the exhibit displayed films of Hockney creating his work. You could watch how his iPad screen went from blank to filled with lines and colors that somehow all came together into a detailed self-portrait or landscape. I also enjoyed a room that showed a timeline of major works in the Western art canon from the 13th century on and allowed the viewer to see where Hockney got his inspiration. I still may not be a huge fan of Hockney's more mainstream works, but I did thoroughly enjoy David Hockney: A Bigger Exhibition. It was so unlike anything I had ever seen before, and the combination of art and technology took the art to the next level. -Catherine Rosch * My favorite art exhibition of the 2013 year coincided with my first Justice article on the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston exhibition, She Who Tells a Story. The exquisitely curated show, displaying photographs of female artists from the Middle East, exposed me to the subtle nuances of the Middle East that are frequently forgotten in the Western media lenses. Boushra Almutawakel's series "Mother, Daughter and Doll" depicted the tension over women's bodies in nine photographs. In the series, the smiling faces of a trio of female figures changes as their garb changes. The first image depicts three happy, colorfully dressed females and only the mother's head is covered. But, as time progresses, more and more black fabric is added to the trio's bodies resulting increasingly somber photographers. Finally, the three figures are draped in a black shroud. They no longer exist in the frame of the photograph and as such, cease to exist in society. Yet, my favorite series in the exhibition was Gohar Dashti's "Today's Life and War" that portrays a newly married couple in a war-ravaged dessert in an unknown location. In the series, the couple celebrates their anniversary. They take a road trip. They hang their laundry up to dry in the wind. These scenes of domesticities in the midst of a battlefield create an image of war as an everyday reality that is not worthy of excess attention. War and violence have become normalized. The scenes of this newly married couple in a warzone pulled at my heartstrings. In a dystonic landscape the couple's commitment to each other, their perseverance, determination and commitment to normalcy, seemed oddly romantic and endearing. After a year of exhibitions, She Who Tells a Story is the one the show which I cannot help but to remember and reimagine. -Kiran Gill * A two-hour drive away from both Seattle and the state's Twilight capital, Forks, my tiny hometown of Sequim is situated in the northwestern-most corner of the state of Washington. With approximately 7,000 residents today, Sequim has a similar heritage to countless small towns across the Pacific Northwest, which have risen from the roots of family-owned farms and prairie settlements in the last century. Naturally, the artwork that comes out of places like Sequim comprises a very niche genre that is inspired by fixtures of everyday life in the Pacific Northwest-small towns, family operations and a close relationship with the area's splendorous nature and wildlife. Situated in the center of Sequim, the Blue Whole Gallery provides a home for a constantly changing collection of artwork created by locals, many of whom have spent most of their lives in the area. The Blue Whole Gallery was opened in 1997 and is now home to more than 35 artists from the Northwest. Functioning as a cooperative gallery, each of its members contributes through both monthly membership dues and commissions on works sold in the gallery. The selection of works on view ranges in medium from oil on canvas to watercolor, photography to ceramics, sculpture to carvings to tactile mixed media. One can always count on nature as a common theme throughout the gallery. Some of my favorite pieces on view now are watercolor paintings of the Olympic mountain range, brightly painted wooden carvings of wild birds and oil paintings of the nearby Strait of Juan de Fuca. The Blue Whole Gallery celebrates the spirit of small town communities and the beautiful land and life around us. If you are ever in the area, skip the vampire-themed tour of Forks and pay a visit to the local art scene. -Rachel Hughes
(01/14/14 5:00am)
Prof. Jonathan D. Sarna '75 (NEJS) was elected president of the Association of Jewish Studies at its 45th annual December conference in Boston. The Association of Jewish Studies elects its presidents every two years, according to the association's website. Candidates are nominated by a committee on the board of directors, and are then put to a vote among the association's members. Sarna wrote in an email to the Justice that he is "deeply honored to have been elected." Previously, Sarna served as a board member of the Association and, most recently, its secretary-treasurer. Sarna stated that he views himself as the "John Quincy Adams" of the organization; this is due to the fact that his father, Nahum Sarna, was president of the organization from 1984 to 1985, according to a BrandeisNOW article published on Jan. 6. Nahum Sarna was a professor at Brandeis from 1965 to 1985. Sarna wrote that he recalls his father's "high scholarly standards" and "devotion to the Association for Jewish Studies," and that this influenced his previous involvement in AJS. He has been a part of the organization since he was a graduate student, which, according to Sarna, means that he has been involved for nearly 40 years. In the BrandeisNOW article, Brandeis University Provost Steve Goldstein '78 expressed pride at the role Brandeis played in "the creation and nurturing of the field of Jewish Studies in the United States;" he noted the contributions of the faculty members who "served the profession in this role." Goldstein also stated that Sarna's "scholarly contributions and international stature are valued both by Brandeis and the Association." According to his biography on the department of Near Eastern and Judaic Studies' website, Sarna earned his undergraduate degree in Judaic Studies and History from Brandeis, and his doctoral degree in history from Yale University. He taught at the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion in Cincinnati until 1990, as well as at Yale University, the University of Cincinnati and the Hebrew University in Jerusalem. Sarna came to Brandeis in 1990 to join the Near Eastern and Judaic Studies department, and has since served as the department's chair twice. The Association of Jewish Studies was founded at Brandeis in 1969 by "a small group of scholars seeking a forum for exploring methodological and pedagogical issues in the new field of Jewish Studies," according to the association's website. The organization's mission is to "advance research and teaching in Jewish Studies at colleges, universities and other institutions of higher learning, and to foster greater understanding of Jewish Studies scholarship among the wider public." It has more than 1,800 members, including "university faculty, graduate students, independent scholars and museum and related professionals who represent the breadth of Jewish Studies scholarship."
(01/14/14 5:00am)
@IH8UHOES, I hate you too.
(12/10/13 5:00am)
Last Thursday, the Brandeis community joined the global community in mourning the death of Nelson Mandela, the former president of South Africa who led the movement to free his country from its racist, unjust system of apartheid laws. As a University dedicated to social justice, the loss of Mandela affects Brandeis deeply. This board encourages professors, students, and staff to look to Mandela's legacy as an inspiration. While inviting students to a peace vigil and candlelight event, Dean of Students Jamele Adams wrote of Mandela as "a hero and legend who stood for justice for all," adding that "we commemorate and celebrate him." Mandela's story of peaceful struggle in the face of hatred has inspired Brandeis for years. In February 1986, at the height of the anti-apartheid movement, students built and lived in a shanty town across from Goldfarb Library, vowing to occupy the quadrangle of land until the University cut all relations with companies tied to the South African government. The protesters staged forums and marches, which even led to a group of students being arrested on campus. Then-President Evelyn Handler ended the school's financial ties to the regime after these protests. Kweku Mandela Amuah and Ndaba Mandela, founders of the Africa Rising Foundation and Nelson Mandela's grandchildren, will be the keynote speakers at Deis Impact, a festival of social justice, this February. This shows the University's continued focus on the issues of freedom, equality and above all, the global awareness for which Mandela stood. We applaud this decision as a positive memorial and discourse to have on campus. Students must continue to share and draw inspiration from the life of Nelson Mandela and never forget his unique ability to work alongside and love the people who represented the system he fought against. We ask the Brandeis community not to forget its commitment to social justice, and aspire to teach students the principles necessary to become the next great leaders of our time. *
(12/10/13 5:00am)
Following Student Union President Ricky Rosen's '14 State of the Union address in the Shapiro Campus Center Atrium on Monday, Senior Vice President for Students and Enrollment Andrew Flagel led a town hall meeting about the University's fiscal year budget. Flagel was joined by Senior Vice President for Communications Ellen de Graffenreid and Senior Vice President for Finance and Chief Financial Officer Marianne Cwalina. During the presentation, Flagel explained the University budget to the audience, including the University's revenues and expenses. According to Flagel, the revenues were composed of 40 percent undergraduate tuition and fees, 13 percent graduate tuition and fees, two percent continuing programs tuition, eight percent room and board, 10 percent endowment support, four percent annual giving, four percent restricted gifts use, 13 percent sponsored programs direct revenue, three percent sponsored programs indirect revenue and three percent other income. The expenses budget totaled $394.6 million-a four million dollar deficit-and was comprised of 18 percent staff salaries, 11 percent faculty salaries, three percent student wages and support, seven percent benefits, 19 percent operational expenses, six percent depreciation of buildings, three percent interest on the total debt, 12 percent sponsored research, 14 percent undergraduate financial aid, seven percent graduate financial aid and 0.2 percent continuing programs financial aid. A significant point of the presentation was the inclusion of financial aid in the charts. "Normally, when Universities present the expense and revenue budgets, they don't include financial aid," said Flagel. He explained that this occurs because aid is generally considered a discount as opposed to an expense. This method was "more intuitive," according to Flagel, and showed the true revenue and expenditures. Flagel later said that the budget is "not wildly dissimilar to other institutions." Aid and salaries make up the largest portion of University expenses, said Flagel, and the University is "really tied up in [that] portion of the budget;" thus, it would be difficult to reduce spending in these areas. Following the presentation, Flagel opened the floor to questions from anyone present. When asked how the budget compared chronologically to past University budgets, he said that the "percentages are fairly similar from year to year," and "you don't see much of a shift." Flagel did note that the University has exceeded its revenues for many years, and thus been required to pull funds off of the endowment in approximately a five percent yearly rate. One attendee raised a question regarding tuition and possible increases. Flagel responded that he "[did] not have a specific number, but the [fiscal] model tries to keep tuition increase below four percent [each year]. ... How much we spend on dining, on housing, et cetera ... all are components of trying to make sure that we're keeping Brandeis accessible." Flagel further clarified that the fiscal model's goal is not a price point, but to make sure that the University is not excluding talented students from attending Brandeis. "That's a tremendous challenge in a fiscal model to provide, so [the administration] want[s] to find the best ways possible to preserve the Brandeis experience but make it accessible," he said. After receiving a question about why Brandeis charges regular tuition to students studying abroad, even though their programs may have cheaper costs, Flagel responded that Brandeis' model for study abroad is to either mark a student as on sabbatical, which Flagel said is popular among other institutions, or "pay our fee, [full Brandeis tuition] and stay enrolled at the University and still have access to all the things you would have access to as a student." When asked how the University is planning to respond to the recent Boston Globe article that criticized the compensation package for President Emeritus Jehuda Reinharz, in light of the budget deficit, Flagel responded that there "isn't much we can do about an article." He noted that the main issue was one of fairness to the administration, and stated that Board of Trustees is "very concerned" and will "continue to look into this matter." He also said that two undergraduate and graduate representatives to the Board would carry the voices of the student body to the Board. The History of Ideas program, which was the center of a scandal accusing the University of mishandling a donor's money for the program, was also brought up at the meeting. After being asked about the situation and what was being done, Flagel told the audience that "all the funds that come in from donors are maintained with extraordinary ethical standards." He later added that "not everyone who was engaged agrees with the decisions that were made," but that "in terms of maintaining the integrity of the donor's wishes, all of that has been taken care of." In an email to the Justice, Rosen stated that "having a forum such as the town hall meeting last week ... is a tremendous first step towards more budget transparency." Rosen further stated that the student body "[has] the right to know why our tuition is increasing ... and whether Brandeis as an institution is responsibly managing its funds." *
(12/10/13 5:00am)
A photograph in News should have been credited as a Justice file photo. (Nov. 26, p. 1) An editorial in Forum incorrectly stated that the last student to minor in History of Ideas graduated in 2009. In fact, the student graduated in 2010. (Nov. 26, p. 10) An editorial cartoon in Forum should have been credited to Olivia Pobiel, not Olive Pobiel. (Nov. 26, p. 12) An article in news incorrectly characterized the development of the fall 2011 HOID core course "PHIL 109b: Ethics and Emotions" as being paid for by the Safier-Jolles fund. (Nov. 26, p. 1) The Justice welcomes submissions for errors that warrant correction or clarification. Email editor@thejustice.org.
(11/26/13 5:00am)
A recent Boston Globe article has rightfully ignited a firestorm regarding the compensation of former University President Jehuda Reinharz. It is shocking that Reinharz received over $600,000 in 2011 for helping the University transition to a new president-even though Reinharz was on sabbatical throughout the year. It is likewise baffling that despite increasing student tuition and debt by over $10,000 dollars since I started at Brandeis, Reinharz earned around $300,000 each year from 2012 to 2014 even though he is not required to teach classes, oversee graduate students or participate in department meetings. In The Globe article, Reinharz explained that his pay was justified as his reward for past achievements, including improvements to the University's academic reputation. Unfortunately, Reinharz ignores one of his more dubious accomplishments as president of the University-landing Brandeis University on the list of "Worst of the Worst" protectors of liberty on campus by the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education. In 2011 and 2012, students reading U.S. News & World Report's Best Colleges and Universities issue and considering where to apply were faced with full page ads declaring that Brandeis had "displayed a severe and ongoing disregard for the fundamental rights of their students and professor," and that students looking to apply to Brandeis should "[T]hink twice before applying." Brandeis undoubtedly merited its placement on the list due to its shameful treatment of Prof. Donald Hindley (POL), deplorable treatment of its Faculty Senate and continued lack of remorse. Hindley was accused of racially harassing a student after he discussed and critiqued the origin of the term "wetback" as part of a "Latin American Politics" class. Rather than dismiss the complaints as unfounded, the University shamefully investigated and ultimately placed a monitor in Hindley's class and ordered him to attend sensitivity training. Hindley was not given a written account of the charges or allowed to defend himself in violation of University policy. As a result of the uproar including a class walk out, protests in front of the administrative building, a scathing publicity claim and strong support by students and faculty, sanctions were not imposed on Hindley. However, the accusation and charge of racial harassment still remain on Hindley's record. Sadly, by placing prominently on FIRE's list of the "Worst of the Worst" abusers of liberty, Brandeis University betrayed the legacy of its namesake. Along with Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes, Justice Louis Brandeis revolutionized freedom of speech in America. Together, they powerfully dissented from the majority and supported the speech rights of unpopular religious minorities, suspected communist sympathizers and other unpopular groups. In his powerful concurrence in Whitney v. California, Brandeis declared: "If there be time to expose through discussion the falsehood and fallacies, to avert the evil by the processes of education, the remedy to be applied is more speech, not enforced silence. Only an emergency can justify repression. Such must be the rule if authority is to be reconciled with freedom. Such, in my opinion, is the command of the Constitution." Certainly, allowing for discussion and debunking of the origin of a term like "wetback" is what academic freedom exists to protect. A University committed to "Truth, Even Unto Its Innermost Parts" cannot expect such a searching inquiry to occur without occasional misunderstanding or even offense. Indeed, according to the Student Rights and Community Standards website, part of the mission statement of Brandeis is that "The university that carries the name of the justice who stood for the rights of individuals must be distinguished by academic excellence, by truth pursued wherever it may lead and by awareness of the power and responsibilities that come with knowledge." By failing to protect the rights of Hindley, and even years later refusing to apologize, Brandeis under Reinharz's administration revealed that its commitment to freedom of expression is limited to politically correct discourse. Reinharz's actions twisted the academic integrity of the University beyond recognition. The Reinharz administration's callous disregard during the Hindley affair well embodied many of the failures of his presidency including the removal of Palestinian artwork, efforts to discourage former President Jimmy Carter from coming to campus and shameful handling of the proposed closing of the Rose Art Museum. During the Hindley incident as in each of these other events, President Reinharz never apologized or admitted he was at fault. Despite deteriorating relationships with students, alumni and the faculty over the handling of the Hindley affair-leading to a two-year shut down in the hearing of grievances by the Committee on Faculty Rights and Responsibilities-Reinharz refused to budge or to apologize. Unfortunately, it is his arrogance and disregard for the opinions and rights of students and faculty, rather than achievements in fundraising, that will be Reinharz's legacy. Whether or not he remains on Brandeis' payroll, the University can still right its wrongs towards Hindley and get off FIRE's "Red Alert" list. All it has to do is apologize to Hindley, or even simply declare that a violation of the due process and free speech rights of one of its professors will in the future not occur. These are not extreme demands, but simply what decency and ethics demand. After all, a university named after Justice Brandeis should do everything in its power to be a friend of liberty and freedom of speech. -Daniel Ortner '10 is a former Forum editor of the Justice and was a summer intern at the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education in 2009.
(11/26/13 5:00am)
Correction appended.
(11/26/13 5:00am)
In the week after the Boston Globe published its Nov. 17 article examining the "golden parachute" phenomenon in higher education, focusing on President Emeritus Jehuda Reinharz's compensation, many members of the Brandeis community reacted with skepticism and even outrage. As of press time, a "Petition for Fair Executive Pay" at Brandeis on the website actionnetwork.org had attracted over 1,400 signatures from students, alumni, faculty, staff and others. The student representatives to the Board of Trustees also sent a letter to the chair of the board, Perry Traquina '78, with student concerns, according to a member of the Student Union executive board. On Friday, Traquina issued a statement via BrandeisNOW in response to the Globe article and the public reaction to it. "As Board Chair, one of my highest priorities will be to ensure that all current and future executive pay packages at Brandeis are fair, motivational and consistent with best practices," read the statement, in which Traquina also pledged to ensure that the Board's actions were consistent with "our namesake, Justice Louis D. Brandeis." Jonathan Sussman '11, who was involved with drafting and promoting the petition, said that he was glad to see this response from the Board, but still hoped to see more action taken. "I'm glad that the Board of Trustees understand[s] that they need to address these issues, that there is a strong concern from the student body and from alumni," he said in an interview with the Justice. "But until we see concrete change, I don't think that there's really going to be any satisfaction with those answers." The organizers of the petition will present it to Traquina and the Board of Trustees, according to Sahar Massachi '11 MA '12, one of the drafters. The text of the petition, which was spearheaded by Massachi and Sussman along with Lev Hirschhorn '11 and Mariel Gruszko '10, stated that "Reinharz's excessive compensation is part and parcel of a national trend of universities shifting resources away from the classroom and toward administration. Brandeis undermines its own values when it prioritizes donor relationships and institutional prestige over student access to scholarship and good stewardship of our communal resources." The petition also made two demands: that the Board of Trustees "[i]nstitute a policy of transparency" surrounding executive compensation, and that "[t]he complete annual compensation of the highest-paid employees of the University should be no more than fifteen times the complete annual compensation of the lowest-paid full-time employee of the University." In data Massachi collected from about 1,400 signatories, approximately 449 said they had donated to Brandeis in the past, 372 said they had volunteered for Brandeis in the past and 76 said they would help the creators of the petition "take [it] to the next level." "It's an astounding number of signatures," said Massachi. "Consider that the way this spread was ... posting a link to the petition on Facebook. And just from those humble beginnings, we got, I think 500 or 600 signers in the first day." On campus, Alina Pokhrel '15 and Benjamin Hill '14 are leading an effort to organize students, faculty and staff and "create a safe space" in which to share thoughts on the issues surrounding Reinharz's compensation. Whiler there are no concrete plans as of yet, they are planning to host an open forum on campus early next semester to address this issue and "foster trust" between the various parties, Pokhrel said in an interview with the Justice. Of the signers of the petition, 310 were current undergraduate students and 15 were current graduate students. Seventeen signatories said they were faculty members, nine were staff, 34 were parents and a combined 98 had "other" or "blank" affiliation to the University. Alumni, however, made up by far the largest group, with a combined total of approximately 891 alumni of either graduate or undergraduate programs at Brandeis. Massachi said that his statistics were rough because the method by which he gathered information left open the possibility of double counting people. According to this self-reported information, 37 of the 449 who said they had donated to Brandeis graduated before 2000, with some graduating as early as 1958. Nine donors were still undergraduates, and 403 graduated between 2000 and 2013, according to the data. Those who signed the petition were also given the option of writing a comment. Many addressed the topic of rising tuition and considered the amount of financial aid for which Reinharz's salary could be used, while others pointed out the disparity between Reinharz's compensation and faculty and staff pay. Still others simply quoted the University's motto, "truth: even unto its innermost parts." A few signatories wrote that "Justice Brandeis is rolling in his grave," and pointed to the University's mission of social justice as their motivation to sign. Several commenters stated that they would not donate to the University after learning of Reinharz's compensation package, or were discouraged from making a contribution. When asked about the involvement of recent alumni in the petition, Massachi said that "people of that generation just saw it really clearly," referring to the students who were here during the financial crisis. "Jehuda was the same guy who told us we had no choice but to, you know, admit a lot more students, be more cramped, have ... less professors and just change as a university." "We think this is really significant because ... if [Brandeis is] going to survive, it needs to have a strong base among students who have graduated very recently to contribute to the University both monetarily and just socially and culturally to keep the University alive," said Sussman when asked about the involvement of young alumni. "So we think it shows a real crisis for the University that the most recent generation of alumni are very concerned about its direction." *
(11/19/13 5:00am)
On Nov. 8, members of the Student Union, University administrators and representatives from Sodexo met to discuss a proposal for meal plan reform to be implemented at the start of the next academic year. According to Jay DeGioia, Brandeis' resident district manager for Dining Services, he called the meeting in response to student feedback that was garnered during the request for proposal process that took place last year. At the meeting, Sodexo proposed several ideas for new types of meal plans, according to the Senate chair of the Dining Committee, Class of 2017 Senator David Heaton. In an email to the Justice, DeGioia said that "the meal plans proposed are a direct result of what [Sodexo was] asked to deliver from the direction in the sales proposal" which the University gave out during the request for proposal process. Instead of meals, the potential new system would introduce the use of "swipes" that students would use at Sherman Dining Hall or Usdan Caf?(c), which will be converted over the summer into a resident dining hall facility comparable to Sherman, DeGioia said in an interview with the Justice. The name "swipes" denotes how they differ from meals: these "swipes" would not be limited by meal periods such as lunch and dinner, or disappear at the end of the week, but would be available for unrestricted use throughout the semester, Heaton said in an interview with the Justice. Proposed meal plans would provide students with options similar to those currently in place, with suggested plans that allow for the purchase of many swipes with a limited number of points, or fewer swipes but a larger amount of points, according to Heaton. One proposed plan would vary vastly from any existing plans, according to DeGioia, who mentioned the implementation of an "all-access" plan that would give students an unlimited number of swipes for the entire semester, but very few points to use at retail locations such as Dunkin' Donuts or Starbucks. The University very likely will not decide to allow the use of meals at retail locations such as the Hoot Market due to the added expense and reduced control that DeGioia predicts will result when students have the ability to use unlimited meals at locations with regulated prices. Senior Vice President for Students and Enrollment Andrew Flagel said in an interview with the Justice that the request for proposal catalyzed the Nov. 8 discussion over reforming meal plans at Brandeis. Students expressed dissatisfaction with their meal plans in focus groups during the request for proposal process, according to Flagel, with one major point being frustration over a perceived loss of value through meal equivalency at the University's retail dining locations. Student dissatisfaction regarding meal plans has been ongoing however, according to Flagel, who said that negative student feedback regarding dining began before his arrival at the University. Student Union President Ricky Rosen '14 said in an interview with the Justice that this change would ease some of this financial loss students experience with their current meal plans by eliminating the current system of equivocating meals to a dollar value for use at retail dining locations. Rosen said The Stein acts as a good example of this loss. At The Stein students can use a meal to pay for only five dollars worth of food, whereas a meal at Sherman Dining Hall buys a dinner worth of over 10 dollars retail. "At the end of the day, because the ratio [of money spent on meal plans to value purchased by meals and points] is unbalanced, students aren't getting the most for their money. So we're looking at removing those components and just having meal swipes at Sherman and Usdan," instead of the current system where students use roughly equivocated meals at retail dining locations," said Rosen. Sodexo, the Student Union and University administrators aim to implement new meal plans by the beginning of the fall 2014 semester, according to Rosen. The introduction of swipes to replace meals made up only part of the proposal Sodexo brought to its meeting with University representatives. "Something [the University is] considering right now is having all on-campus housing students be on a meal plan," Rosen told the Justice. This proposal change would require all residential students to purchase some sort of meal plan, regardless of where on campus they live, said Rosen. According to Flagel, this idea also came about during the RFP process last year, during which the University hired consultant Ray E. Petit, president and founder of Petit Consulting, LLC, a company that, according to its website, provides "planning advice to foodservice and hospitality clients." According to Flagel, in Petit's analysis of the University, he called Brandeis "an outlier compared to other institutions" in having "only portions of the residential population on meal plans." DeGioia said that such a change could only benefit students in regard to on-campus dining: "the more participants, the better the quality, the better the offerings, the more offerings." Flagel also said that he felt such a change would have a positive effect, telling the Justice that his "perception [is] that this was a direction that would really heighten the student experience." Student feedback will largely impact the decision of whether all residential students will need to purchase meal plans, according to Rosen, who said that such an option might make on-campus housing less desirable. By increasing the quality of the food and the pricing, however, Rosen opined that "students will be more willing to have some sort of uniform requirement for a meal plan." In any case, Rosen said that such a drastic change in whom the University requires to purchase a meal plan would not be implemented until 2015 or 2016. Another idea that the University wishes to consider would require all enrolled, undergraduate students to purchase some sort of meal plan, regardless of whether or not they live on campus. However, Rosen said that such a requirement has a "very small chance" of being enacted. "Increasingly, other institutions are including some level of plan requirement even for off-campus students. That wasn't met with as much enthusiasm by our students who were involved in discussing at the different forums [during the RFP process], so that hasn't been envisioned [as of yet]," said Flagel. Instead, the University has a goal to make the food on campus so good that off-campus students will be more interested in being on meal plans, according to Rosen. "Something we're considering is having a much cheaper option for off campus students which would include a limited amount of dining dollars and meal swipes so that way they're able to eat [on campus] a few times a week, but they're not bound to eating on campus every day" Rosen said. Flagel, Rosen and DeGioia all said that student feedback will make up an important part of the decision-making process moving forward. Decisions regarding major changes to meal plans considered student feedback from past years, some even from students who have since graduated, according to Flagel. The meal plan ideas proposed at the Nov. 8 meeting did not consider any feedback received since Sodexo became Brandeis' food service provider, according to DeGioia, but only feedback received by Sodexo during the RFP process last year. Since the University Board of Trustees must approve a final proposal for meal plan options before students sign up for housing and pick their meal plans for the upcoming academic year, "time begins to work against [new] feedback inclusion for decisions this year," said Flagel in an email to the Justice. Therefore updated feedback in reaction to Sodexo's proposals will necessarily take a back seat to older student feedback, "but can be revisited as we move into the next [annual] cycle of meal plan development." "We need to, as we move forward, be looking at our student satisfaction levels and be looking at our perception of value levels and make sure that this is creating positive progress on all of those fronts for our students," Flagel wrote. According to Rosen, the Student Union will be sending out a survey to students in the next few weeks to ask students how they feel about meal equivalency and unlimited swipes, how many meal plan options they want to have and how they would feel about requiring all students to have meal plans. After receiving that data, the Student Union, University administrators and Sodexo plan to meet again to discuss what changes, if any, will be made before submitting the proposals to the University Board of Trustees. They likely will not enact any significant changes to the current proposal, however; in an email to the Justice, DeGioia said that though Sodexo retains interest in the results of the upcoming survey, the feedback "may only affect minor changes for next fall, but will definitely be considered for the future." The ultimate goals of the University and Sodexo, according to Flagel and DeGioia, respectively, are to cater to students' needs and involve them in the decision-making process to come up with a system that pleases the majority, providing more flexibility and a more positive dining experience. "There's lots of other pieces of student input that we want to try to collect. I think it's always a challenge but at some point decisions have to get made and not everyone's going to be 100 percent satisfied with any decision. It's not possible," Flagel said, adding, "It's Brandeis. I'm sure there's always going to be a countervailent [sic] position somewhere."
