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Having a disability places one in the world’s largest minority group. According to the U.N., around 15 percent of the world’s population—an estimated one billion people—live with disabilities.
The University is trying to coordinate to make adjuncts full-time faculty members where possible, Provost Steve Goldstein ’78 affirmed in an email to the Justice.
On May 8, Director of Public Safety Ed Callahan sent out an email to the student body informing about parking restrictions over the summer as Schwartz Hall and Lemberg Hall are renovated.
Medical Emergency
The University announced on May 13 in a BrandeisNOW article that nine Brandeis undergraduates, graduates and recent alumni have been awarded grants from the Fulbright U.S. Student Program. The article also acknowledged that a Brandeis student was named a Goldwater Scholar and yet another was selected as the University’s second-ever Gates Cambridge Scholar.
Family, friends, fellow students, faculty and administrators gathered in the Gosman Sports and Convocation Center on Sunday morning in anticipation of the 63rd annual commencement ceremony, where 832 students were awarded bachelor’s degrees, 741 were awarded master’s degrees and 97 were awarded doctoral degrees, University Registrar Mark Hewitt confirmed in an email to the Justice.
Medical Emergency April 13-University Police received a report that an elderly male at Bethlehem Chapel felt weak and ill. BEMCo responded and he was transported to Newton-Wellesley Hospital for further treatment. April 14-University Police received a report that a female suffered a head injury at the Heller School for Social Policy and Management from a fallen umbrella in dangerous weather conditions. BEMCo arrived and transported her to Newton-Wellesley Hospital for further treatment. April 27-University Police noticed a female student on camera who lay inert in front of the Gosman Sports and Convocation Center. BEMCo arrived but the student refused further care and was eventually transported to her apartment without incident. Disturbance April 13-University Police received a report of loud chanting noises on Chapels Field. Officers arrived at the scene, determined the noise originated from speakers at the Holi event and advised those responsible to turn down the music as they lacked a noise permit. April 14-University Police received a report that a suspicious group of people were dumping large objects at Epstein Building. Officers arrived at the scene and determined it was a theater group disposing of used stage products. Larceny April 9-University Police received a report that several green signs were stolen around campus in the past week. Officers compiled a report of the thefts. Harassment April 16-University Police received a report that an employee at Bernstein-Marcus Administration Center received harassing mail. Officers compiled a report of the incident. April 18-A faculty member at Epstein Building notified University Police that he received a consistent stream of harassing emails. Officers compiled a report of the incident. Sex Crimes April 8-A resident in North Quad reported a past incident of sexual assault to University Police. Officers compiled a report to prepare for an ensuing investigation of the incident. April 23-A student reported to the Department of Community Living and University Police that she was raped the night after Pachanga. Officers compiled a report of the incident and will prepare to conduct an investigation. Vandalism April 24-University Police received a report of vandalism to a parked vehicle in the East Quad lot. Officers compiled a report of the incident. Miscellaneous April 14-University Police officers on patrol reported two unknown, suspicious parties taking photos of the Usen Castle. Upon further determination, a mother and son were taking photos of the historic landmark. No further action was taken. April 20-A student called University Police to report that her Brandeis email account-and credit card information-was hacked. Officers compiled a report of the incident and submitted the suspicious email to security@brandeis.edu. April 21-University Police noticed several students were wading in the Massell Pond. Officers dispersed the students without incident. April 21-University Police observed several students on the roof of Bassine Science Building. Officers advised the students to depart without incident. April 26-University Police received a report that a resident in Gordon Hall was playing with a lighter in his room, burning the desk. Officers and the CDC on call were notified, arriving at the scene to handle the matter and compile a report of the incident. University judicial charges will be filed against the student. -compiled by Adam Rabinowitz
After a seven-year career at Brandeis, Dean of Career Services Joseph DuPont at the Hiatt Career Center is leaving the University to assume the position of associate vice president for student affairs at Boston College, beginning in the fall. "I am delighted about the opportunity at Boston College but will miss the amazing colleagues, staff and students that I have had the good fortune to work with in the past 7 years," DuPont wrote in an email to the Justice. "They are truly special, as is Brandeis." At Boston College, DuPont continued, he would have the opportunity to oversee "career initiatives for undergraduate, graduate and professional students in several different schools," including the College of Arts and Sciences, Carroll School of Management, Lynch School of Education, Connell School of Nursing and Woods College of Advancing Studies. DuPont wrote that he hopes to "create a united cross divisional school approach," which would "maximize career opportunities" for all of Boston College's students. The system would, as DuPont went on to say, draw upon "the expertise and strengths of many different departments and members" of the university. DuPont wrote that he is excited about being part of this "new venture to serve student career needs," and wrote that his time at the Hiatt working with both students and alumni has been "wonderful." According to DuPont, University administration is putting together a search committee to replace him. The last search for the position, which ended with DuPont's appointment in 2007, lasted almost a year before finding a suitable candidate. -Kathryn Brody
The Senate convened last Wednesday night for its final meeting of the year before next year's senators were elected. First, Brandeis Bridges approached the Senate to request recognition and charter. Currently, Brandeis Bridges Fellows bridge the gap between the Jewish and African American communities on campus. However, the fellows said that they wanted to open this opportunity to the entire Brandeis community. The club was recognized and chartered. DEIS.kernel, a computer science club that was recognized last semester, then approached the Senate to request charter. The club requested money for speakers, as well as other expenses such as a projector. The club was unanimously chartered. Brandeis Consulting and Marketing Group then approached the Senate. Prior to recognition, the Senate first had to de-charter and de-recognize the non-functioning Marketing Club in order to merge marketing and consulting. After the Senate voted to do so, the Senate voted in favor of recognizing Brandeis Consulting and Marketing Group. Next, the Caribbean Club approached the Senate to request both recognition and charter. The club described its purpose as not only celebrating Caribbean culture, but also eradicating prevalent stereotypes about the Caribbean and people from the Caribbean. Some senators raised concerns, inquiring about the whereabouts of the Caribbean and which countries are included in the Caribbean, in order to ensure that there was no duality of purpose with other clubs on campus. There was not. Other senators raised concerns as they were unsure of the existence of such stereotypes, and asked for specific examples. The club also petitioned for charter in order to hold events. Several senators raised concerns because they were unsure if the club had specific plans, and argued that the club could receive charter at a later time. Ultimately, the Senate voted to charter and recognize the Caribbean Club. The French and Francophone Club then approached the Senate for recognition and charter. The claim aims to celebrate French and Francophone culture. The club also said that it would require funding for several events and lecturers, as well as a possible event with the French consulate in Boston. The club was approved for recognition and charter. Class of 2015 Senator and Chair of the Sustainability Committee Anna Bessendorf approached the Senate on behalf of the Brandeis Sustainability Fund. The Senate then approved changes to the constitution that would streamline and update the BSF approval process. A Senate meeting with the newly-elected senators and the sitting senators to select an executive senator for the fall 2014 semester will take place tonight at 9 p.m. in Levin Ballroom before Midnight Buffet. According to Student Union Vice President Charlotte Franco '15 in an email to the Justice, the meeting will be informal and predominantly in executive session in order to select the next executive senator. Social Justice and Diversity Committee Chair and Senator-at-Large Naomi DePina '16 announced that the president of the American Bar Association will visit the University on Tuesday for the scheduled event at 11:30 a.m. in the Lurias. DePina then proposed a Senate Money Resolution for another event taking place on Tuesday titled "Navigating Transitions." The SMR was passed. By-law amendments to give the Sustainability Committee some of BSF's previous responsibilities were then brought to the Senate. The amendments were passed. Bessendorf then added that 40 percent of all energy used on campus comes from the Shapiro Science Complex. -Marissa Ditkowsky
For a technology start-up, the prospects of wild success are low and the prospects of complete failure are high. Why would a group of bright, well-trained engineers, who have the world of job prospects in research and technology at their feet, choose instead to start an iPhone application For the team of Farseer Inc., Han Wang M.S. '12, Zhaoming Deng M.A. '12, Tong Shen M.A. '12, David Deng M.A. '12, Yeifi Chen M.A. '12 and Karen Hu '12, the answer comes in two parts-passion and challenge. Farseer, Inc. is the team behind the Boston based mobile application FotoDish, which works directly with restaurant owners to provide app-users with professional quality photographs of local restaurant's most popular dishes. They recently reached the milestone of $100,000 in funds raised. The company's professional brief describes the goal of FotoDish as making "the dining experience more enjoyable, by providing [the customer] the most accurate information straight from the source." Wang, the CEO and co-founder, worked for an Information and Technology company in Boston before quitting his job in search of the challenge that working independently would offer. "We only have two modes: sleeping and working. That's the reason all of us are here-because we want to be challenged," Wang said in an interview with the Justice. Co-founders Zhaoming Deng and Shen primarily work on the web application and partially on the mobile application. The original Farseer Inc. team was brought together by a passion for computer science entrepreneurship and a desire for a bigger challenge than what a conventional post-graduate job would offer. They met as Computer Science masters students at Brandeis and were inspired by classes in the department that focused on computer science entrepreneurship. While their mutual interest in entrepreneurship was cultivated in the classroom, their friendship was formed on the basketball court. Their weekly pick-up games brought them closer together as friends and future business partners. Hu, public relations manager for Farseer Inc., met the rest of the team in a different way. Hu was an Economics and Business major, and was introduced to the team by her close friend Deng. Her passion for public relations was born out of the marketing classes and clubs she participated in while a student at Brandeis. "I loved doing event planning at Brandeis. I did event planning for the Asian American Student Association, Chinese Student Association and Culture X for two years in a row. All this led me to want to work for Farseer Inc. in public relations, and help them to coordinate and connect with restaurants," Hu said. Although each member of the team pursued other job opportunities after graduating, their friendship and mutual desire for a challenge brought them back together to make Farseer Inc. a reality in August of 2012. Zhaoming Deng, for example, worked for a year in lab at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology pursuing diabetes research before joining the team. "I realized that in my personality I was not very passionate about working in a lab. I preferred to interact with people. I really enjoy working with friends," Zhaoming Deng said. The excitement of being part of a constantly evolving enterprise is another factor that motivated these recent graduates to form a start-up. They felt that the stagnancy of working for a large well-established firm presents a lack of challenge and imagination, as well as the feeling that an individual cannot have a real influence over the course of the company's future. "A lot of large companies are completely established in their structure. In a new company, there are always fresh challenges," Zhaoming Deng said. The beginning stages of the company's evolution, as the co-founders remember it, seemed discouraging and impossible. "When we first started recruiting owners, we didn't have an app and we didn't have users, so it was hard to just walk into restaurants and convince restaurant owners. At the beginning it's very tough," Shen said. Zhaoming Deng remembers walking into the first restaurant he ever pitched, Lizzy's Ice Cream in Waltham, and being terrified at the prospect of rejection. The owner, Miriam Benitez, expressed excitement at the idea of the app, boosting Deng's confidence in the viability of the app's future. The idea for FotoDish happened by accident. "We are food lovers, and we always wanted to try all the restaurants in Waltham. That's what drew us to the restaurant industry," Wang said. He personally loves fried rice, and his co-founders joked that they made a channel on the app exclusively so that Wang could find the best fried rice in Boston. The application is unique because of the source of the information, which is not from the consumer, but the restaurant owners themselves. This allows restaurant owners direct influence over how they present their restaurant, which allows them to portray the reality of what the consumer will receive through photography. They contrasted FotoDish with the hugely popular app and website Yelp, which allows users to rate restaurants and view other's ratings of restaurants throughout the United States. "FotoDish is local. It's more accurate, and a lot closer to the restaurant owners. It's not just user-generated content, everything is professional," Hu said. As young people working for a start-up, delineation between work and life ceases to exist. Their colleagues are their closest friends, and they are working in a high-risk, high-reward environment every day to create something unique. "I personally love this kind of status," Wang said. "I know I am learning and growing stronger. I know the company is growing stronger." When asked about where he hopes to see Farseer, Inc. in five years, Wang said, "we don't know. In a start-up, everything could change five months from now."
When the University announced this year's honorary degree recipients, one choice stood out-Ayaan Hirsi Ali. As a Fellow with the Future of Diplomacy Project at the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs and the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University and a visiting scholar at the American Enterprise Institute, Hirsi Ali has raised awareness of violence against women, focusing on honor killings and female genital mutilation. Hirsi Ali, however, has been outspoken about her Islamophobic beliefs. We urge University President Frederick Lawrence to rescind Hirsi Ali's invitation to receive an honorary degree at this year's commencement. We understand that the Board of Trustees as well as Lawrence would initially find Hirsi Ali a compelling candidate to receive an honorary degree. One aspect of her story, in which she escaped an arranged marriage in Somalia and later worked to protect women's rights, corresponds with the social justice mission of our University. Yet, her derogatory comments toward Islam warrant a closer look at the administration's choice to award her a degree. In her 2010 memoir Nomad: From Islam to America, Hirsi Ali states that Islam is "not compatible with the modern Westernised way of living," that "violence is an integral part [of Islam]," and that "Muhammad's example is terrible, don't follow it." These comments ignore the fact that there are multiple views of Islam, insist that violence is inherent in Islam and that one culture is fundamentally better than another. Her remarks alienate not only our University's Muslim community, but also run counter to the beliefs of our entire campus. Her phobia does not fit Brandeis' ideals or values of our inclusive community and the goal of reflecting "the heterogeneity of the United States and of the world community whose ideas and concerns it shares," according to Brandeis' mission statement. The selection of Hirsi Ali threatens to taint what should be a celebration for seniors and their friends and families. Graduating seniors should not have to sit in the presence of their University's support for a message that devalues an entire religion. Addressing concerns about a hateful rally held at Al-Quds University in November 2013, Lawrence wrote on his blog, "We are committed to accepting students of all faiths and nationalities into our community and we are proud of the deep roots we have in Middle Eastern Studies on campus and around the world." If this is true, Hirsi Ali's comments about Islam directly clash with Lawrence's words. To be consistent with the values of our University, we urge Lawrence to disinvite Hirsi Ali. By presenting Hirsi Ali with an honorary degree, the University applauds all aspects of her work. An honorary degree validates the good she has done for women's rights, yet it also condones the comments she has made against Islam, and therefore against a valued portion of our community. A faculty petition to rescind Hirsi Ali's invitation to commencement has gained 76 signatures in under 48 hours. In addition, a separate student petition on change.org has gained over 560 signatures. Withdrawing invitations to honorary degree recipients and commencement speakers is not unheard of. It has happened recently at peer institutions, including at Northwestern University in 2008, when Rev. Jeremiah Wright was disinvited from receiving an honorary degree for his inflammatory statements on race, 9/11 and then-Sen. Barack Obama. While we recognize that her Islamophobic views are only one facet of who Ayaan Hirsi Ali is, we cannot separate her accomplishments from her personal politics. Her character is informed by these views. Withdrawing her invitation to receive a degree would be only just and appropriate. *
The faculty convened for a meeting on Thursday afternoon to discuss and address ongoing issues and concerns, as well as to announce the winners of several teaching and academic achievement awards. The meeting began with a tribute to Prof. Emeritus Joachim Gaehde (FA), who passed away on Nov. 24, 2013. Prof. Nancy Scott (FA) said a few words in his memory. University President Frederick Lawrence then spoke about the early retirement plan that was offered to staff over the age of 60 this January. "The early retirement plan has generated discussion on campus, some of it critical, but most of it positive," said Lawrence, though he did admit that the plan could have been communicated to the Brandeis community more effectively. "I will take responsibility for a rollout that was less than optimal." Most of the vacated positions will be brought to a committee that will decide which positions will be restructured, which will be eliminated and which will remain as is. Lawrence commented that "[w]e will be in a position to accomplish twin goals: early retirement and restructuring." Lawrence then reported on the progress of the Catalyst Fund that was launched in January as a part of the University's capital campaign. The University has raised one-third of its $100 million goal so far, and hopes to reach the goal by December 2016. Provost Steve Goldstein '78 spoke about the 2014 Leonard Bernstein Festival of the Creative Arts, which will run from April 24 to April 27. He then moved on to speak about the University budget. Goldstein said that due to the fact that Brandeis is exceeding its financial goals, the University wants to "put our funds into the things we judge to be the priorities of the institution." The University is planning to increase funding for the arts and sciences for research, to move some adjunct professors to full-time faculty status and to increase the library budget. Goldstein continued with a report that the capital budget increased four-fold as a result of strategic planning exercises. He said that the funds from saved expenses will go toward renovating several buildings on campus. To date, the University has close to one million dollars to renovate Mandel Quad, plans to finish the Schwartz Auditorium renovations on schedule and will put more money into renovating the Brown Social Science Center. The new building for the Lemberg Children's Center is projected to be finished on time, and the University is also planning to put more money into dormitories, specifically Ziv Quad. He then said that the 2U online class program would be ending, effective after its summer 2014 session. 2U unexpectedly ended the online semester program on Wednesday night because there was not high enough enrollment in the program to make it profitable. "For Brandeis, it provided what we were hoping it would do, which is one of the many ways we get some experience with what works and what doesn't work with online education," Goldstein said. Goldstein concluded by saying that the University Budget sub-committee of the University Advisory Council is investigating the issue of fair wages. The committee will continue to do so over the summer so that they have a better sense of the issues at hand before reporting back in the fall. Then, Dean of Arts and Sciences Susan Birren announced the winners of several teaching and achievement awards. There were two teaching awards given out to Heller School for Social Policy and Management faculty. The Heller Teaching Award was given to Prof. Mari Fitzduff (Heller) and the Heller Mentoring Award was given to Prof. Theodore Johnson (Heller). Four Arts and Sciences teaching awards were also presented. The Michael L. Walzer '56 Award for Teaching was given to Prof. Xing Hang (HIST), the Louis Dembitz Brandeis Prize for Excellence in Teaching was awarded to Prof. Laura Goldin (AMST), the Jeanette Lerman-Neubauer '69 Award for Excellence in Teaching and Mentoring was won by Prof. Marion Smiley (PHIL) and Prof. Jonathan Sarna '75 (NEJS) won the Dean's Mentoring Award for Outstanding Mentoring of Students in the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. Birren also announced the five students chosen to receive the Brandeis Achievement Award, an award for rising juniors. These awards were first given out in 2004 to students who have had over a 3.5 grade point average every semester at Brandeis and provided several recommendations. They were awarded $5,000 per semester for the rest of their time at Brandeis. The winners this year all had over a 3.8 cumulative GPA The winners were Samantha Chin '16, who is working toward a Bachelor of Science in Biology with a minor in Islamic and Middle Eastern Studies; Ian Christie '16, who is working toward a B.S. in Computer Science and Neuroscience; Caro Langenbucher '16, who plans to double major in English and Women's and Gender Studies; Eric Lin '16, who is majoring in Psychology and Art History and Shane Weitzman '16, who is majoring in Anthropology and South Asian Studies. -Rachel Burkhoff and Avi Gold contributed reporting.
Social scientists commonly propose that a growing economy is an important part in improving people's living standards. An economy that possesses and creates enough goods and services can theoretically fulfill the basic needs of its people, such as food and clothing. Thus, many developing and underdeveloped countries have set up systems of maximizing their potential income in whatever way possible, assuming the profits will eventually reach the masses. The results have been mixed. A plan of merely developing the economy to generate the highest amount of absolute income and goods can still fail in improving living standards for a greater number of people. Although many countries worldwide have experienced unprecedented economic development since the end of the 20th century, that development has still failed in many cases to greatly improve the lives of lower income people in developing and underdeveloped countries. In a study documenting economic growth and development against child nutrition standards, Harvard School of Public Health social epidemiologist S.V. Subramanian noted that national economic growth does not always equate to a higher standard of living. Among 36 developing and underdeveloped countries he and his team studied from 1990 to 2011, Subramanian found that despite national gross domestic product and per capita income growth, the positive effects of the growth has been negligible on reducing malnutrition on national levels. An updated UNICEF report documented that as of 2011, more than 25 percent of children worldwide at or below the age of five suffered malnutrition-induced stunted growth, with 16 and 11 percent being underweight or "wasted," respectively. For instance, in Ethiopia, despite a nearly $300 growth in the per capita gross national income to $400 from 2000 to 2011, an excess of five million children still suffered stunted growth in 2011. Notably, in many of those countries, even where the national economy is booming and absolute national prosperity is increasing, satisfying basic needs such as food has been problematic. Although the economy may be generating more income and output, this new prosperity often does not reach the poverty-stricken areas and populations of the country because the money is trapped in regions or industries that are already developed and prosperous. The economic growth in India demonstrates this paradox. According to Subramanian, tourism fuels a large part of the Indian economy and the sector keeps developing every year. To that end, India has invested heavily in developing infrastructure supporting the tourism sector, such as expansive new roads and modernized airports. But how does a family living in the slums benefit from a five lane highway? Sanghamitra Bandyopadhyay of the London School of Economics and Political Science has also said that much of the wealth is concentrated along India's western coastal regions because industry and manufacturing are concentrated there. The more inland northern regions, on the other hand, do not enjoy such high economic activity and remain poor as a result. Unfortunately, political corruption can also exacerbate the problem, when corrupt politicians purposely funnel wealth toward already wealthy individuals, population sectors or industries after receiving bribes. According to Oxfam International, a nongovernmental organization dedicated to reducing world poverty, wealth is concentrated among a limited number of individuals in India partly because of corrupt political dealings. The government provides certain business leaders with exclusive access to profitable industries such as mining and telecommunications. These leaders profit, while their employees feel none of the benefits of globalization. It is true that an economy needs to develop revenues and output to benefit the people. However, when development and its outputs are only concentrated and locked within specific economic sectors, they cannot reach the people who need them most. A steady and requisite level of income, which many families in the developing world and even in developed countries lack, is necessary for providing basic needs such as food, clothing and shelter. Of course, the governments should also do their part by investing in more public goods and services that would provide much needed long-term benefit to their poor populations. As with India, perhaps the government should invest more national economic output into providing potable drinking water, sanitation services and other social assistance programs. In a developing country, the economy should be developing for the overarching purpose of ensuring that the country as a whole can enjoy the benefits of prosperity. In countries where people have trouble securing basic needs, a booming economy should first and foremost address those needs so that people can at least stay alive and healthy. Many people may want to participate in the economy, but they cannot due to factors beyond their individual control, such as a lack of jobs and services in their impoverished areas because of developmental disparities. A nation's continuing economic growth and social stability will depend on the well-being of the people. If they cannot secure at least a basic living standard, they will likely be impeded in their future economic contributions. Developing countries worldwide have lifted themselves from the most extreme levels of poverty by growing their economies. While growing an economy in the absolute sense is necessary for the resources gained to benefit the general population, without distributing those resources to where they are needed most, the real benefits for the people will be limited. Developing an economy is like baking a cake: The baker can make a bigger cake by adding more batter, but if it is not actually shared among the diners, then there might as well be no cake at all. There is no magic bullet for economic development, but economic distribution should at least be considered when governments draft their economic plans. *
The results of a survey administered by the Justice to students in a large University Chemistry course over the past month indicated that women in the sample appeared to perceive their class performance in a poorer light than men did. Over half of men who responded estimated their current grade to be at an A+, A or A-, compared to 36 percent of women, while a larger percentage of women estimated their grade to be in the B+ to B- range than men. As of press time, 80 students had completed the survey. The respondents received the survey in an email from their professor. Out of those, 58 respondents identified as female, making up 62 percent of the sample. The remaining 35 respondents were male. Only four respondents identified as black or African-American, 33 as Asian or Asian-American, three as two or more races, 42 as white and three identified ethnically as Hispanic or Latino/a, making it difficult to draw conclusions about differences in confidence among racial groups. Confidence: Gender and Race A University event organized by the Women in Science Initiative during the fall 2013 semester drew attention to a newly-emerging phenomenon known as "imposter syndrome," in which students feel insecure and incompetent in their academic abilities despite often being quite successful and capable in their field of study. As the panel specifically focused on an imposter syndrome for women in the sciences, the Justice surveyed students in an undergraduate Chemistry lecture to determine how confident students were about their ability to succeed in a science course, particularly looking at historically underrepresented groups in the sciences: female students and students of color. The survey administered by the Justice inquired what grade the participants received in their previous semester of Chemistry. Those results did not point to any difference in competency in the subject between men and women, although women in the sample did appear to earn slightly lower grades than men. Nearly three-fourths of men in the sample reported that they did not at all feel less academically capable than their peers, compared to slightly under 50 percent of women. Additionally, a much smaller percentage of women than men in the sample indicated that they believed they were definitely smart enough to succeed in this course. Despite these results, women in the sample did not appear to be any less enthusiastic than men about continuing in the sciences. According to the survey results, women were actually slightly more likely than men to enroll in further science and math courses, major in a science, technology, engineering or mathematics field and write a thesis for that major, suggesting that they are committed to studying science despite current feelings of insecurity. As for race, given the very low number of respondents who identified as people of color, differences among racial groups were more difficult to interpret. However, in an interview with the Justice, Afzal Ullah '14, a science Posse scholar majoring in Biology and Psychology, said that while he feels that he is as capable as his classmates, he felt inadequately prepared academically entering college. Ullah, who identifies racially as Bengali, noted that many students from economically disadvantaged backgrounds, who are often students of color, face a gap compared to their wealthier, often white, classmates-which can impact their performance and confidence. A professor's perspective Three professors who sat for interviews with the Justice expressed differing views about the current issues that women face in science. Prof. Judith Herzfeld (CHEM), the only female full professor in the Chemistry department, expressed a belief that women today are equally active in science as men. "There are plenty of women who are energetically engaging in the classroom, so I don't see that problem," Herzfeld said in an interview with the Justice. ""In chemistry, the women are doing great straight through to the Ph.D. in proportionate numbers, and that's very different from the way it used to be," she added. Prof. Eve Marder '69 (BIOL), the head of the University's Division of Science, said that in the classes she teaches now, she sees overconfidence and lack of confidence in both men and women, though men, she noted, are somewhat more likely to raise hands to answer questions in class, regardless of whether or not their answers are correct. Prof. Ruth Charney '72 (MATH), the University's first tenured mathematics professor and the current president of the Association for Women in Mathematics, acknowledged that female students may feel like "imposters" but should remember that their mentors had similar experiences. "We all felt that way, but look, we kept going and we were successful and we felt just like you do," said Charney in an interview with the Justice. "So don't let that-don't just be scared away. Don't just assume just because you're unsure of yourself, because somebody else seems better than you, that you're no good. That's the wrong conclusion." Charney and Herzfeld both emphasized that they got through graduate school because they simply weren't very concerned with what others thought of them. Charney recalled that any gender discrimination that was present "went over our heads. We didn't see any of it and that's probably why we were successful. I'm not saying it wasn't there. We were blind. We were doing what we wanted to do." Similarly, Herzfeld noted that she "tended not to compare myself with other people very much." Faculty: Then and Now When Marder eventually returned to the University in 1978 as a faculty member, she was the fifth woman to join the Biology department faculty, which was unusual at the time. "Most of my peers were being hired into department as the first [woman]," she said. Today, Marder said there is relatively little trouble recruiting women for positions in the department. Charney, who returned to the University in 2003 after many years at Ohio State University, explained that the Math department has few opportunities to diversify its faculty. "We don't hire very often-we're a small department. Then there was the financial crash, you know, we haven't done much hiring in the last few years. When we have, we always have female candidates," she said. Charney mentioned that the department is currently hiring a female postdoctoral fellow, who would be at the University for three years. Herzfeld joined the University's Chemistry department in 1985 after teaching at Harvard Medical School and Amherst College, where she was the first female faculty member in the physical sciences. At Brandeis, Herzfeld joined Prof. Emerita Emily Dudek (CHEM), who retired in 2003, and was later joined by Prof. Christine Thomas (CHEM) in 2008, who was awarded tenure last year. The department also includes Prof. Claudia Novack (CHEM), who does not conduct research but regularly teaches the large lecture classes CHEM 11a: "General Chemistry I" and CHEM 11b: "General Chemistry II." Race Brandeis has taken note of the low numbers of minority groups in the sciences and, with support from Prof. Irving Epstein (CHEM), launched the first science program in the nation, bringing in its inaugural class in 2008. As for representation of people of color in faculty, Marder said, "the landscape for minorities and people of color has been very complicated." She said that students from disadvantaged backgrounds have often opted to pursue professional degrees rather than academic ones to achieve financial stability. "There was a real wave of trying to create options for people of color in professional schools and graduate schools. That first wave happened as a consequence of the '60s, so many of the people in that first wave came from relatively disadvantaged backgrounds and therefore they enriched into professional schools where they would be guaranteed financial opportunities," she explained. "So people went to law school. People went to medical school. People went to dental school. People went to engineering school. Relatively few of them had the luxury to just go into academics," she added. Ullah also said that the ability to choose a career based solely on interest is "a luxury." "You have to understand that that's already a statement of privilege," he said. "[People of color] have learned that, because we're of economically disadvantaged backgrounds, we can only achieve so much in life. We should only try to achieve so much for practical reasons," Ullah later added. For undergraduate students of color, race plays a significant role in their experiences at Brandeis. "I was the only black student in my Physics class, my second semester. In my first semester there was only one [other] girl and she dropped," said Bethlehem Seifu Belaineh '16, an International Wien scholar from Ethiopia who is a Biological Physics major, in an interview with the Justice. "I never really realized it until someone pointed it out and by the time I realized it I felt extremely self-conscious to the point where I started to question, 'Am I actually in the right major? Am I setting myself up for failure or something?'" "You don't feel isolated but you feel different, because you are different. You do look different. You have a different cultural background," Belaineh added later. "You just are different but that difference does not mean you are less. It just means you are a different kind of person, but it took me a while to recognize that." Nicholas Medina '14 made a similar point, acknowledging his position as one of a few Hispanic science students. "Because there are so few Hispanic students in the sciences, I feel like I more wholly represent my ethnicity in the sciences and Hispanic science students in general," he said. "It makes me feel like when I achieve higher grades, it's more of an accomplishment." However, said Marder, the number of students from underrepresented groups entering graduate school is now increasing, at Brandeis and across the country. For now, recruiting people of color to the department is a challenge, given how small the pool is, according to both Marder and Herzfeld. "Part of what makes it not easy is when the pool is small and all of us really want that diversity. The big, rich places win out in the recruiting," said Herzfeld. "It's not entirely satisfactory, but that's not for lack of trying or lack of interest," she later added. Conclusion Ullah said he believes that "there is a lack of conversation" about the issues students of color face and that the University should "become more comfortable" discussing them. "It's going to be very important for me to make sure that, whatever field I go into, to make the space more accessible and accommodating for people of color, regardless of their background and preparation," he said. "Once you provide the tools for people of color to actualize their full potential, they are just as likely to be very successful in any career as anyone else," he added. Despite the fact that female students in the sample of the survey seemed to feel less confident in science classes than their peers, they nonetheless showed a commitment to pursuing an education in science. Such an enthusiasm fits well with Charney's goal: "I think the message we need to be getting out there is to tell people that careers in science are great for women. Do it!"
Little boys want to be doctors, athletes, and teachers. Little girls also want to be doctors, athletes and teachers. A recent study by the British charitable initiative Born to Care found that there is actually no difference in career aspirations between genders for children between two and 12 years old.Children's top five careers for both genders were precisely the same: teacher, doctor, athlete, policeman and dancer. So why is it when we fast-forward to college, things change radically? Today, we do not have equal representations of gender in any of those five careers. Men dominate medicine, athletics and law. Women dance and teach more than their male counterparts. Gender inequality in the workforce is a national epidemic, especially in science. The National Center for Education Statistics reports that only 20 percent of bachelor's degrees in physics are conferred on women. This painfully real statistic is a wake-up call, smashing the beautiful idealism of childhood dreams. Women and men, who start out with the same na??ve hopes, end up with dramatically different realities. Somewhere along the way, there is a force that drives this differentiation. I will not pretend to say there is any one reason why women are underrepresented in the sciences. One of the most thought-provoking of these perspectives is the recent study by Harvard University economics Professor Claudia Goldin. She found that in an Introduction to Economics class, women who received B's in the subject were 50 percent less likely than their male counterparts to major in it. This is complicated. One could argue that maybe the women weren't that interested in majoring in economics to begin with, or that their B was just a realization that economics doesn't make them happy. All of this could be true, but what makes any sort of explanation of this phenomenon tricky is that similar trends were not seen in the men. In fact, the percentage of men choosing to major in economics was between 30 to 40 percent, no matter the grade. By the time grades less than a B- were reached for women, however, only five percent of them chose to major in economics. Why women behave like this, I think, could be a repercussion of the cult of perfection. In our cultural moment, women not only want to be perfect, they are expected to be perfect. Magazines and advertisements describe women as having the perfect hair, the perfect family, the perfect life. We are bombarded with images of these so-called perfect women, and actresses like Katherine Hiegl have made many a romantic comedy about nearly perfect women. When women fail to be perfect in the media, they are portrayed as unhappy and unloved, otherwise pitiful creatures. Male characters, however, do not face these crippling repercussions of falling short of society's expectations. Of course, men face their own set of societal pressures, but these pressures don't seem to be deterring them from natural science. Part of this media pressure stems from the fact that women are still largely judged on their accomplishments and extrinsic qualities. In the book Cinderella Ate My Daughter, author Peggy Orenstein explores positive reinforcement parents used on their children. Orenstein found that often parents told their sons they're "smart" while calling their daughters "pretty." Little boys are told that they are intrinsically valuable; little girls are told that they are merely valuable for their appearances. If women are told from an early age that their self-worth is based on their external self, they will continue to believe this for the rest of their lives, according to a study done at King's College London. This explains why women are more prone to eating disorders or plastic surgery. Men only make up 10 percent of the total population with eating disorders, and only 20 percent of cosmetic plastic surgeries. Appearances, however, can also mean giving off the impression of having a picture-perfect career or family. Failing to give off the outward impression of perfection-in any aspect-means a failure to validate a sense of self-worth. When women capitulate to this cult of perfection, they perpetuate it. Mothers, friends and sisters seem to have the perfect life, and encourage other women to have it as well. Through a sort of toxic syllogism, most of the social pressure to be perfect falls mostly on women. In the context of Goldin's study, this could mean that women are less likely to major in subjects in which they receive average grades because a B would mean that they are failing to be perfect. The unfortunate thing about this is that science will never be perfect. In physics, you will fail more often than not. Physics is built on concepts that make little intuitive sense, like thermodynamics, and even more obtuse math invented to describe physical phenomena. Post-educational physics is even worse, as modern physics research involves answering nearly impossible questions, such as reconciling quantum mechanics and general relativity. Even Albert Einstein failed; his doctoral thesis was rejected long before he ever brushed the surface of his theory of relativity. Regularly, in the natural sciences and math, the highest grade on a midterm will be a C-plus, leaving most of the students in a murky D territory. It is miserable and unabashed, and your GPA may not persevere. For perfectionist women, this imperfection is a constant reminder that they are falling short of their lofty goals. The relationship between grades and choosing a major is a powerful way to explain why four times the number of men receive physics degrees than women. According to a Feb. 4 article in the Justice, inflation is not as rampant in the sciences as it is in the humanities during the underclassmen years. Understandably then, it is easy to see why a hopeful science major who got a C in her chemistry class would look around her, hear about her friend's perfect 4.0 GPA, and wonder if she is making the right life choices. So women lick their wounds, salvage their GPAs, and find another subject in which they can excel. They leave science in the dust. Contorting a world to achieve perfectionism, however, only hurts women in the end. Psychologists classify perfectionism as a neurotic disorder. Succumbing to the cult of perfectionism can lead to low self-esteem, anxiety and depression, according to a seminal study by D.E. Hamachek. Women need to allow themselves to let go of the unattainable standards that they set for themselves. Failure is never as catastrophic as perfectionists pretend it to be, and being able to come to terms with this is an important step our society needs to take. Maybe women will still realize that they would rather be an English major or a sociology Ph.D. We shouldn't force anyone to be a scientist--we desperately need artists and poets in this world. But maybe if women do let go of their inhibitions, they will come to recognize the beauty in partial derivatives or the elegance of attaining a long-awaited experimental result, and can find happiness, like their male peers, in science.
Researchers from Brandeis and the University of Pittsburgh recently confirmed Alan Turing's theory on how organisms develop their shapes and how identical cells differentiate into specialized cells. Turing is most famous for his work in computer science and mathematics, but in particular, for cracking the Enigma code in World War II. In 1952, Turing also wrote a biology paper titled "The Chemical Basis of Morphogenesis." The paper describes how diffusion can interact with chemical reactions to make identical cells differentiate into specialized cells of the various parts of an organism, a process known as morphogenesis. Scientists from Brandeis and the University of Pittsburgh have now provided the first experimental evidence confirming Turing's theory of morphogenesis. Profs. Seth Fraden (PHYS) and Irving Epstein (CHEM) have verified Turing's models through chemical experiments. The data from these experiments was analyzed by G. Bard Ermentrout, professor of computational biology and mathematics at the University of Pittsburgh. Nathan Tompkins (Ph.D., PHYS), Ning Li (Ph.D., PHYS) and Camille Girabawe (Ph.D., PHYS) also contributed to this research. Their findings were published in a paper titled "Testing Turing's theory of morphogenesis in chemical cells" in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences on March 10. Turing proposed a chemical process called intercellular reaction-diffusion to explain morphogenesis. This theory takes into consideration the effect of diffusion on chemical reactions. An inhibitory agent that suppresses the reaction and an excitatory agent that activates the reaction, diffuses around the system, over time causing the reaction to start in some places and stop in others. These oscillations give rise to patterns that result in chemically different groups of cells. Fraden and Epstein created circular arrays of synthetic "cells" or droplets containing the reactants of an oscillatory reaction called the Belousov-Zhabotinsky reaction in order to test Turing's theories. They observed all six patterns predicted by Turing and an additional seventh pattern unpredicted by Turing. The team provides an understanding of this seventh pattern by modifying Turing's theory to take into consideration that the heterogeneity of chemical reactants is the differences in the phases of the reactants. "It's not that Turing made a mistake," Fraden said in an interview with the Justice. "He simplified and the thing that he left out was heterogeneity." In addition to contributing to the field of biological development and pattern formation, this research also has relevance to material science. "Throughout nature, in seashells and in porcupine quills, we see patterns emerge. So, why can't we make materials the same way?" said Fraden. "If we can understand this reaction-diffusion process and the conditions under which morphogenesis occurs, can we start building materials based on those principles?" When asked about the future of this field of research, Epstein talked about studying evolutionary molecular self-organization. "The idea is to look for or make molecules that are capable of spontaneously organizing themselves into complex structures and also of catalyzing either their own production or their self-organization as a potential link to the origin of life." Building off of Turing's seminal work continues to inspire and inform the scientific community's understanding of many fields, including the basis of life itself. * -Aishwarya Bhonsle
"Do not run away from yourself. You will see strife and mercy all around. There will always be wars, the barricades of those who pile up treasure, the arrogant who want to be celebrated. But there are no real boundaries. We are all one. We are not alone." These were the closing words of Marguerite Guzman Bouvard's poem "Silence," which she read as part of a poetry reading for her new volume of work titled The Light That Shines Inside Us. The reading took place this past Thursday at the Women's Studies Research Center, where Bouvard is a resident scholar. Bouvard's pieces are rooted in her commitment to humanism, her own experiences as a world traveler and scholarship as a political scientist, all of which have contributed to her sense of world citizenship and respect for the suffering of a wide variety of individuals. In The Light that Shines Inside Us, Bouvard examines themes of humanity and the contradictory nature of the human experience, in that it is so plagued by war, yet contains so much beauty in its crevices of solace and simple joy. This collection embodies Bouvard's abhorrence of boundaries, especially those placed on women. In an aside to the audience between readings, Bouvard exemplified this dislike of limitations. "Don't be too smart," she says sarcastically, "because people will want to cut you down." Writing allows Bouvard room to explore and move around. "In academia you're supposed to be one thing," she said, "stay in your department and not move out ... this is a place where you don't have boundaries." As a resident scholar at the WSRC, Bouvard's career extends far beyond poetry. She organized the first Tillie K. Lubin Symposium in 1994 on the Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo, a group of Argentinian mothers whose children disappeared during a military dictatorship between 1976 and 1983. She has also sponsored other lectures related to women, including a lecture series on women and human rights and on environmental racism. She has organized panels for Women's History Month and has had two exhibits at the Dreitzer Gallery and one at the Kniznick gallery in the WSRC. Bouvard was a political science professor at Regis College and a director of poetry workshops for many years. She has published 17 books and numerous articles in thean array of academic fields that include political science, psychology, literature and poetry. Her works focus predominantly on human rights and political issues as well as the suffering that characterizes the human condition universally. For example, she published a book on the same topic as the first Lubin Symposium lecture about the Plaza de Mayo mothers, titled Revolutionizing Motherhood: "The Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo, as well as a book examining the difficulties veterans face returning to civilian life titled Invisible Wounds of War: Coming Home from Iraq and Afghanistan. Bouvard explains that her creative process for her poetic works differed from her nonfiction pieces because for poetry, she has to be alone and secluded in order to fully feel the resonance of her emotions. "For some reason people think that emotions are not intelligent, but they are," she told her listeners. Yet she still maintained a connection to the outside world through a window that bridges the gap between the world inside and that outside. This embodies the style her work, as she brings emotionality to politics, connecting two seemingly unrelated spheres. Many of Bouvard's pieces are inspired by her cultural heritage. She has a personal connection to Syria as well as Europe because of her Syrian grandmother and her Italian heritage. This makes her poems that reference these particular geographic regions potent, bolstering her connection to her subject matter. In her reading of her poem "Diaspora," she addresses the tragedy of Syrian refugees. "The arc of their country vanished," she read "as they fled into the blank pages of days, unknown languages, improvising life's discordant music." Bouvard also read a poem titled "The Island Behind Our Laws," addressing the emotional anguish of those who have suffered at Guantanamo Bay. "The man who held his son on his lap ... brothers and sisters that loved him ... where death is kept at bay it is where my country's heart pulses behind a barbed wire." Bouvard crafts a connection between personal identity and emotion and the world that is polluted by war and affliction. Currently, Bouvard is in the process of writing a book titled, Moral Heroes and Heroines. In this book, as well as in many of her other works, Bouvard thematically incorporates a glimmer of hope for the audience that illuminates the human experience, even in times of great suffering. Her poem "Somalia" which she read toward the end of the event, is no exception. Bouvard expanded on a picture of an emaciated child from a news source that prompted deep unsettling feelings within her. She articulated the delicate balance between vileness and purity that characterizes the world. "His eyes are luminous as the sea, reflect a cloudless sky, radiate his innocence ... his gaze has the eternity of ancient texts, reminding us that there is light and darkness in our hearts."
In collaboration with two Brandeis graduates, Prof. Martin Levin (POL) published his first children's picture book this past December titled Little Cheese: The Brie that Brought Sunshine to Chicago.
Last week, I heard a colleague from the Computer Science department mention that his job is to monitor the campus' downloads and streaming (yes, this includes porn). Apparently, the Brandeis community makes some, and I quote, "exotic" choices in their Internet browsing material. A guy next to me freaked out upon hearing this. "Isn't that a violation of our rights, or something?" Rights to privacy have been hotly debated since Edward Snowden revealed last June that the National Security Agency was maintaining electronic records of American citizens, without us knowing. Libertarians and liberals alike have been outraged at this infringement upon their perceived right to privacy. I have no issue with Brandeis' monitoring of our Internet traffic (in fact, it's not prohibited by the Fourth Amendment because it's a private institution), or with the NSA monitoring our phone calls. I also have no issue with Edward Snowden-in fact, I think his disclosure of information makes him one of the bravest, smartest and most Time Person-of-the-Year-Worthy people out there. I have no issue with keeping what the NSA is doing private or public, I only have an issue with the notion that any of what the NSA has been doing is news, or that it even matters. We've all known from the start that anything we put online was fair game. Those of us who grew up around the Internet have been given fair warning by parents, teachers and anyone else with formal experience with the Internet that anything that's put on the Internet is not private. Remember the Patriot Act? Sure, Facebook has privacy settings, but faith in such a contract is na??ve at best. Whether we like it or not, anything we put on the Internet (social media in particular) is for other people or society to see. After all, why else would we put it there? This monitoring also does not affect us at all on a daily basis (we didn't even know it was happening until we were told it was). Many of us have gone everyday before last June, and even past it, illegally streaming Sherlock, Downton Abbey, and Lord of the Rings movies. The only way it would've affected us is if we committed an act of terror (or illicit pirating, in the case of Brandeis' monitoring) and got unexpectedly caught in the act. It appears we've lost the right to break the law in private. People will cry "Big Brother" and demand recognition of our dystopic, apocalyptic state. Now that the government knows our plans for this Friday night, they can more easily ruin our lives. The sad truth is that unless one is flagrantly posting about their planned terrorist activities, no one (not even the NSA) cares about what is on their Facebook accounts, in their messages to significant others or on their blogs. In fact, there aren't any NSA agents sifting through our messages and electronic paraphernalia at all. There are computer algorithms that will flag anything worth reading. No human eyes will ever see any of our stuff unless it gets flagged (and it hasn't been, if you're reading this newspaper). What the NSA does care about, however, is protecting us against violent, terrorist attacks. Many liberals I talk to find protective measures like this unnecessary, stating that they encourage discrimination and infringe upon our intrinsic right to privacy. But these people have often never been in any sort of actual danger. They've accrued the belief that any protective measures are superfluous because they've been brought up in extremely privileged, protected places because of agencies like the NSA. How often do we have to worry about school buses with our children being blown up? How often do we have to worry that our homes will no longer be standing when we get back from school or work? Regarding an intrinsic right to privacy, I believe we have one, but not when it comes to the Internet. If you want a private conversation, have it in person. If you want a photo or video to remain private, don't post it on the Internet. Anything posted on the Internet publically is a cry for attention and we should not conflate our desire for attention with a "right" for privacy. There are serious issues in the world, and there are places where people wish they had the resources for their government to monitor Internet traffic to stop bombs from going off in the streets. While the dissent toward the NSA comes from a good place, it's important to remember that we've known it's been happening all along, it doesn't actually affect us, and, in effect, it doesn't actually matter. *
My respect and even affection for Glen Chesir '15 compel me to offer a response to his essay from last week ("Focus Israel dialogue on ending violence, not blaming sides", Mar. 10). I believe that he did not understand the significance of Max Blumenthal's talk that began Brandeis's Israel Apartheid Week. That Glen began his essay, as he did his question to Max Blumenthal, by recounting a bus bombing he witnessed near Jerusalem, isn't surprising. Personal experience is compelling. His wish for "ending violence" is surely motivated by that frightening, tragic event. But one must ask, where is the capacity and propensity for violent action?