(11/05/13 5:00am)
The Senate convened on Sunday to address several current issues on campus. The first order of business included Student Union President Ricky Rosen's '14 report. Rosen said that open spots for Take Your Professor to Lunch, which is funded by Provost Steve Goldstein '78, Dean of Arts and Sciences Susan Birren and Senior Vice President for Students and Enrollment Andrew Flagel, filled up within a few hours. Rosen also announced that Nov. 19 is the day of the Dunkin' Donuts soft-opening. Donuts and coffee will be kosher. Rosen also said that the possibility of a snack bar is being looked into at the Carl J. Shapiro Science Center. In addition, on Dec. 5, the Union will be giving out a survey in Sherman Dining Hall about Sodexo's menu options. Senators will be present, as will Flagel and University President Frederick Lawrence. The final point of Rosen's discussion was regarding the parking survey, which he said received 1,000 responses in the first 24 hours, and had received 1,300 as of Sunday's meeting. The Board of Trustees have been made aware of the parking survey. Next, Junior Representative to the Board of Trustees Alex Thomson '15 presented. Thomson said that the honorary degree committee is looking to increase the diversity of recipients this year, and also talked about honoring people that are more well known. Thomson also said that the Board of Trustees was informed about his gender and sexuality center proposal. Union Vice President Charlotte Franco '15 then delivered her report. Franco made a point about senators being absent from meetings, and said that they must give advance notice should they have to miss a meeting. Franco also emphasized that committees should be meeting weekly and people should be attending the meetings. Executive Senator Annie Chen's '14 report included a reminder about the Meet the Senate event, which will be coming up this week. The Constitutional Review Task Force will also be meeting, which will review club structures and club funding. Chen also said that the bus station, which will be built by the Carl and Ruth Shapiro Admissions Center will cost $60,000. The Student Union, upon the approval of the Finance Board and the University, are splitting the cost. Chen said that Guy Fieri on Campus is not yet official. Chen said that if students do not want that restaurant in place of The Stein, then some sort of action or a campaign would need to be started. Regardless, Chen said that significant renovations to The Stein will be made. Following the reports, a motion was made to add a member to the Social Justice and Diversity Committee. The Senate unanimously voted to elect Kira Levin '17 as a non-senate member on the committee. At the meeting, Brandeis FaceAIDS was unanimously dechartered per a request from the club. According to Franco, the club contacted the Union explaining that they were no longer active and, therefore, should be dechartered. Class of 2017 Senator David Heaton delivered the Senate Dining Committee Report. He reiterated that The Stein will be going through remodeling. In addition, he said that a request for more pork products on campus was made by students. Sodexo is also currently open to suggestions for names for the kosher deli that will open in the Usdan Student Center. There has also been discussion of the plausibility of moving Quizno's to a smaller booth due to the interest in keeping it on campus. Heaton also said that the Usdan Student Center will be completely remodeled over the summer. The Social Justice and Diversity Committee announced that it is working on organizing a poetry slam, of which Dean of Students Jamele Adams will be a part. Additionally, Senator-at-Large Naomi DePina '16 expressed concern about recent opinion articles published in the Justice, noting that they had distressed students. DePina said she intends to reach out to the Justice and possibly the University administration. Charles River/567 Senator Michael Stein '14 said that the articles were in the opinion section of the newspaper and do not necessarily reflect the opinion of the newspaper as a whole. DePina responded that the opinion writers are affiliated with the Justice and reiterated her interest in speaking with the newspaper. -Phil Gallagher and Marissa Ditkowsky
(11/05/13 5:00am)
The Jack, Joseph and Morton Mandel Foundation recently gave a $5.25 million gift to the University to fund an endowed chair and strengthen the programming of the Mandel Center for Studies in Jewish Education, according to a Nov. 4 BrandeisNOW article. The donation was first announced at a ceremony formally dedicating the Barbara Mandel Auditorium in the Mandel Center for the Humanities on Wednesday, according to BrandeisNOW. Prof. Jon Levisohn (NEJS), the associate academic director of the Center, commented on the donation in an email to the Justice. "We are enormously grateful that the Jack, Joseph and Morton Mandel Foundation has decided to deepen its partnership with the University and with the Jack, Joseph and Morton Mandel Center for Studies in Jewish Education by creating this new chair, the Jack, Joseph and Morton Mandel Professorship in Jewish Educational Research," he wrote. In an email to the Justice, Senior Vice President for Institutional Advancement Nancy Winship wrote that three million dollars of the $5.25 million donation funds the new endowed chair. The remaining $2.25 million will support the Center. The new endowed chair is called the Jack, Joseph, and Morton Mandel Professorship in Jewish Education Research, according to BrandeisNOW. Levisohn wrote in an email to the Justice that "Dean [of Arts and Sciences Susan] Birren will be organizing and empowering a search for a new faculty member to fill this new chair in the very near future, with the expectation that the person will join the faculty next fall." Levisohn also mentioned that his faculty position has been named for the Mandel brothers. "My faculty position, which has been supported by the Foundation, will now be named the Jack, Joseph and Morton Mandel Professorship in Jewish Educational Thought," wrote Levisohn. Winship indicated that Levisohn's appointment to the chair is a "direct result" of the donation. Winship explained in an email to the Justice that the donation was made as a pledge to be paid over time. "The chair portion of the pledge is payable over two years," she wrote. "[T]he remainder is part of the foundation's ongoing support of the [C]enter it founded in 2002." The Mandel Center for Studies in Jewish Education was established in 2002, according to Winship. Prof. Sharon Feiman-Nemser (NEJS) serves as the director of the Center as well as the Mandel Professor of Jewish Education. Levisohn is the Center's other faculty member. In his email to the Justice, Levisohn affirmed the mission of the Center, writing that "[w]e take our scholarship seriously and we believe that we have a responsibility to use our scholarship and our public intellectual activities to contribute to a flourishing Jewish future." The Jack, Joseph and Morton Mandel Foundation has made large donations to the University in the past, most notably the $22.5 million donation to construct the Mandel Center for the Humanities. Prof. Jehuda Reinharz (NEJS), president emeritus of the University, is the current president of the Mandel Foundation. Furthermore, Barbara Mandel, the treasurer of the University's Board of Trustees, is the wife of Morton Mandel, one of the namesakes of the Mandel Foundation. *
(11/05/13 5:00am)
When Matthew Brooks '87 was a student at Brandeis, he was highly involved in the college political scene. Yet even with this early political interest, who knew he would go on to meet with every Republican president since Reagan, among other accomplishments. Working on Jack Kemp's presidential campaign in the 1988 elections and bringing Greek life to Brandeis are just two of the accomplishments of alumnus Brooks, who is the executive director of the Republican Jewish Coalition and the Jewish Policy Center. While he says it was challenging being in the Republican minority at Brandeis, Brooks was not without opportunities. "I remember at my first meeting for the Brandeis College Republicans, there were about six or 10 people, but [we] were able to build the College Republicans chapter into the third largest in Massachusetts," Brooks said. Brandeis, according to Brooks, is unique because, unlike the apathy towards politics present on many other campuses at that time, Brooks said a concern for politics "seems to be ingrained in the DNA" of the University. He also said that at Brandeis, "whatever your views are, there are ways to be active and immerse yourself, [and] that kind of energy fueled my interests in politics." Brooks rose to the position of state chairman of the Massachusetts College Republicans while at Brandeis. In this role, he learned "valuable lessons about building something with challenging conditions. You have to work hard at it. Brandeis served as the perfect launching pad," he said. The opportunity to assume such leadership roles as an undergraduate helped him to learn responsibilities. In addition to his political involvement, Brooks sparked the unrecognized Greek system at Brandeis as he founded the Alpha Epsilon Pi fraternity chapter at Brandeis. "I thought there was a need for it," he said. "My friends at other schools told me how the Greek system really added to the campus spirit, build friendships, brotherhoods, and so I felt that was lacking at the time." It all began when the national AEPi fraternity realized that Greek life was not technically banned in the Brandeis Charter. They contacted the Brandeis College Republicans, and their president, Brooks, responded by working with the student senate to start an AEPi chapter at Brandeis. The initial chapter of AEPi was temporarily disbanded by the national chapter in fall 2011 due to the unstable relationship it held with the national chapter. It was brought back recently with the goal of starting new and reinstating many of the values that Brooks hoped to instill with the organization. There was no shortage of classes and professors that Brooks found exciting. His favorite classes included "U.S. Government and Congress" with Prof. Peter Woll (POL), "American Government" with John Anderson, a visiting professor who ran against President Ronald Reagan in the 1980 election as independent, and Prof. Jerry Cohen's (AMST) classes. Brooks was actually on the pre-med track at Brandeis and had planned on going to medical school after graduation. Although he enjoyed his science courses, he ultimately chose politics because of his experience working because of a special internship experience. He went to work in Washington, D.C. in the summer of 1986 as a congressional intern for Kemp, who ran for president in 1988 against President George H.W. Bush. He felt as though this was an opportunity he could not let pass. Kemp served as a good friend and mentor. He recalls his time in Washington as an "eye-opening experience [that had a] dramatic impact [on me]. Working on a presidential campaign left [me] smitten with politics. There was no going back after this." His experience working with Kemp, as well as field work in New Hampshire, helped to spark his interest in politics. His growing passion for politics allowed him to attain the position of political director of RJC in 1988, and he became the executive director two years later. Although Brook's role involves working for the betterment of the Jewish community and solidifying its ties with the republican community, he says his religious views are separate from his political decisions. "I don't know that my religion really has [influenced my politics]," he said. Brooks feels fortunate for having sat in meetings with prime ministers from Israel and feels inspired by his colleagues at the RJC. "I have learned from my mentors, philanthropists and an incredible string of people that it is worth spending time to support a cause that you believe in and hopefully give back to the community," he said.
(10/29/13 4:00am)
On the heels of her latest hit single, "Roar," Katy Perry released her newest album Prism last week. That song is the first track, but it does not define the themes or feel of the album as a whole. While "Roar" is an upbeat pop song with lyrics meant to uplift any listener, the rest of Prism is a hodgepodge of songs with mismatched meanings and sonic qualities. Some songs contain strange or cheesy lyrics, while others include spoken word parts or synthesizer vocals that don't fit together well, but overall Perry's newest pop album creation certainly features some catchy future hits. After the already released "Roar," the album continues with "Legendary Lovers," a track with some of the record's most distinctive sounds. It cycles between a drumbeat-dominated chorus and Middle Eastern-inspired drum sounds. The sheer sonic success of "Legendary Lovers," makes its lyrical content-the singer and her "legendary" love-almost irrelevant. The song has tame enough lyrics in comparison to some of the other more ridiculous lines on later tracks, with references to Cleopatra or Shakespeare's Juliet, so ultimately, what she's saying is less important than how it sounds on this track. The following song, "Birthday," is another strong track on the album. Its upbeat 1970s sound matches its fun nature. The only downfall is an awkward whisper of "happy birthday" inexplicably in the middle of the song. Maybe Perry was trying to emulate Marilyn Monroe, but this came off as strange; I could easily see this song as a future single, so maybe this part will be cut out when the inevitable incessant radio plays begin. Another song with the legendary love theme is "Walking on Air." While this song has a Madonna-like dance vibe, actually listening to the lyrics detracts from the song. When she's not repeating, "tonight, I'm walking on air," which, admittedly, is half of the song, she's spouting lyrics such as "heaven is jealous of our love / angels are crying from up above," or using this masterfully forced rhyme, "You're reading me like erotica / boy, you make me feel exotic, yeah." The song sounds different from the rest of the album-and I like that-but the lyrics are too ridiculous for me to take it seriously. Ridiculous lyrics border on cheesy with the song "Double Rainbow." With lines such as "you're brighter than all of the Northern Lights" and "our chemistry was more than science," the song is impossible to take seriously and doesn't have a particularly interesting sound to compensate for the lines. But with a chorus that repeats, "we see eye to eye, like a double rainbow in the sky," I guess I really shouldn't be surprised. Perry's second single off the album, "Dark Horse," has a more ominous feel, and though it sounds different from the other tracks, it is too much like a poor attempt at recreating her previous hit "E.T.," off her sophomore album, Teenage Dream. Juicy J's feature on the song does nothing to help it, either. I'm not sure if he's supposed to be rapping or singing, but he does say such priceless lyrics as, "I was tryin' hit it and quit it / but lil' mama so dope / I messed around and got addicted." If this song gains greater popularity on the radio, I can only hope he is cut out in the radio edits. So far "Dark Horse" has only broken the top 20 in the American charts, and I can see it either gaining greater popularity or fizzling out because it is not as strong as some of her previous hits. One of Perry's better songs comes toward the end of the album. "Love Me" follows the pattern of some of Perry's other songs, such as Teenage Dream's "Firework" and Prism's "Roar," offering inspirational lyrics to a catchy beat. In "Love Me," Perry sings about almost losing herself in order to hold onto a lover and realizing that she doesn't need to do this; she sings that she should love herself the way she wants someone else to love her. Regardless of how ridiculous some of the rest of the album's lyrics are, or the more interesting sound components on others, I appreciate the inclusion of this song and its message. Prism could have used more songs like this because alone, it cannot overcome the strangeness of some of the rest of the album. Perry's newest album is a mix of catchy beats covering sometimes odd lyrics, and forgettable tracks that are not very different in sound or lyrics. Some of the songs are fun to listen to, but overall the strangeness is hard to overlook.
(10/29/13 4:00am)
Earlier this month, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development published a report measuring the literacy, numeracy and problem-solving abilities of people aged 16 to 65 from 24 countries. Americans were scored as weak to poor in all three areas, finishing ahead of only Italy and Spain in numeracy. The report concludes that while our foreign competitors are raising economic indicators like high school graduation rates from the previous generation, the U.S. has stood still. How can the U.S. buck this trend? Prof. Dan Perlman (BIOL) Think back to the best teacher you ever had. A teacher who believed that you could produce work you never thought possible-and kept after you until you actually produced it-or one who shared a passion that ignited something deep within you. I believe that such luminous learning experiences form the essence of education. Unfortunately, today's standardized-test-driven educational system forces our best teachers to give up their passions and focus on all-too-ordinary goals. I work with many excellent K-8 teachers, and see how the joy has evaporated from their jobs over the past 15 years. By attempting to teacher-proof the classroom, we have squeezed the excellence out of our very best teachers. How can we fix the U.S. education system? Nurture and develop great teachers and let them share their passions and demand the best from their students. Every child should have at least one or two outstanding teachers in her lifetime. Prof. Dan Perlman (BIOL) is the associate provost of innovation in education. Prof. Marya Levenson (ED) The comparison of the U.S. academic results with those of other countries is more complicated than this summary indicates. As Julian Ryan points out in the Oct. 24, 2013 Atlantic Cities blog, "American education isn't mediocre, it's deeply unequal." On the 2011 Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study, Massachusetts was the highest scoring state (with math scores behind only Korea, Singapore, Chinese Taipei and Hong Kong) and outranked 42 systems, while Alabama outperformed only 19 educational systems. So, what should we do? Our country needs to do more to address issues of inequality other than relying primarily on schools to address the impact of poverty, including high drop- and push-out rates. Excellent and accessible preschooling would be a good first step. We need to prepare teachers (as we do at Brandeis) with rich liberal arts educations and strong pedagogical preparation, teachers who will inspire and motivate their students. We also must reduce the excessive testing which is narrowing curriculum and instruction and not preparing graduates with the creative, problem-solving skills they will need to lead our democracy in the future. Prof. Marya Levenson (ED) is the Harry S. Levitan Director of Teacher Education and professor of the practice of education. Kofi Hodge '15 The emphasis on the need to do well on standardized tests has prohibited many instructors from thoroughly teaching students skills necessary to excel on literacy, numeracy and problem-solving tests. Many things must be done in order to rectify the issues that plague the institution of schools. The teaching profession must be put on a pedestal, and the responsibility of educating should be recognized with more prestige. Teachers must be provided with adequate resources to provide valuable instruction, and students must be provided with teachers that have a wealth of cultural capital and experience. In addition, parent accountability must be as important as teacher accountability because the job of educating includes the parents and students as much as the teacher and the school. Under standards that don't rely on aggregated data, teachers would be able to incorporate lessons that stimulate cognitive ability and foster students' independent perspectives. This could potentially aid students on skills-based tests. Kofi Hodge '15 is a Posse Scholar and an Education Studies major. Stefani Gospodinova '14 A simple solution to this problem is a better allocation of funding. The majority of school systems in the United States are consistently under-funded, causing them to pay teachers lower salaries and cut programs from their curricula. Money does not solve all problems, but it does in the case of education. One must understand that countries such as Germany whose test scores are much higher than those of the United States do not provide nearly the same luxuries that school kids in the U.S. receive. They do not have after school activities, free lunches or free transportation, all of which are necessary in a country as big as ours. Our government is set up in a way that local units make decisions on education, as every district is so vastly different. They have the ability to locate the problem, but lack the money to solve it. Stefani Gospodinova '14 is an International and Global Studies and American Studies major.
(10/29/13 4:00am)
Last summer, defying a United Nations mandate, a Canadian indigenous group poured large amounts of iron filings into part of the Pacific Ocean. They were attempting to soak up the carbon dioxide that was killing native algae and thus attract salmon back to the waters. Almost instantly, the Canadian government condemned the dump. This past summer was Northwest Canada's most fruitful salmon year in history. It is almost certain that the iron filings were responsible for the growth of algae last year. It is worth noting that algae absorb more carbon dioxide than trees are capable of. In Canada, the algae bloom was visible from space. Was this just a fluke, or could Canada's rogue scientists have taken the first, difficult steps onto a new battleground against climate change? At this point, there is little doubt within the scientific community about global warming. It's real, it's dangerous, and we're responsible for it. Despite almost daily studies showing the mounting evidence for the climate problem, meaningful change toward a more sustainable lifestyle in the West-or at least in America-is as stagnant as the temperature is changing. As long as there's money in the oil business, there will be no major changes in the way Americans receive their power anytime soon. And as National Public Radio recently reported, petroleum engineering is now the single most lucrative college major, with median incomes of $120,000 a year. If carbon emissions are maintained at their current level, then according to Science Magazine, Earth will reach carbon levels by the year 2100 that it has not seen for over five million years, when it was 29 degrees Fahrenheit hotter then it currently is. This will place the human species in climate conditions it has never before experienced, at an almost immeasurably fast rate. Even if humanity ceased all of their carbon emissions tomorrow, according to Tim Flannery, Australia's former chief climate advisor, the planet would not begin to cool for hundreds, if not thousands of years. Our atmosphere is simply too overburdened. And until alternative energy businesses like First Solar and Q-nergy are household names like Shell and Sunoco, we shall continue to damage our thin, critical layer of ozone. Solving climate change will require something more serious than buying florescent bulbs and recycling water bottles. While a lasting solution to the problem must inevitably come from cleaner energy, more and more scientists are saying that it is time to consider the problem on another, more drastic front. Climate engineering is the application of human technology to the planet's natural processes, using our scientific knowledge and technical ability to make the Earth's many cycles work faster and better. It is using new fertilizers to help quickly redevelop forest areas we've destroyed. It is spraying volcanic aerosols to cool the earth or sulfate aerosols that make clouds brighter to deflect more sunlight. It is developing machines to suck carbon straight out of the atmosphere, to be safely stored or disposed of elsewhere. Strange as they may sound, all of these techniques are theoretically possible, and all are being considered. Climate engineering is often misnamed "geo-engineering," and more colloquially, "planet hacking." The latter term may call to mind a James Bond villain plot, and indeed there is very little research into climate engineering for much the same reason: it sounds so odd. It defies much of what we believe to be true on an instinctive level. Humans shouldn't interfere with the planet's natural processes, because we would only make things worse. Consider that statement more closely. Humans have already vastly interfered with the Earth. If we hadn't, we wouldn't need to consider climate engineering in the first place. "Planet hacking" is not a villain's plot, but a change in our relationship to Mother Earth, creating a responsible, reciprocal relationship with the planet. It means using many of the materials we mine from her to aid her. It shows that we know we have brought ourselves into our current ecological situation and are trying to remedy it. It is neither an easy way for oil companies to avoid changing their practices, nor is it a cash-cow enterprise. If pursued, it would be a serious government initiative and a serious method of combating global warming. Climate engineering faces many of the usual problems of government initiatives, such as high cost. Most preclusive to the field, however, is the UN's current moratorium on climate engineering under the Convention on Biological diversity. Only small-scale research experiments can be conducted in the field, and only so long as these experiments "do not harm biodiversity," or species variation within an ecosystem. This is a tricky phrase, because all climate engineering is currently theoretical, so any externalities to other species are unknown. The Guardian reports that only about 12 nations have the economic and scientific abilities to enact climate engineering in the first place, and one of them, Russia, has already proposed more serious research and concluded a test on blocking sunlight with aerosols. Britain had planned a similar test, but it was shut down due to an outcry from non-governmental organizations, fearing that climate engineering would provide an easy excuse for governments and companies to avoid having to reduce carbon emissions. This outcry is not necessarily unfounded. Climate engineering could be used as a political ploy. And it does sound weird to try to artificially alter the planet, and it could indeed cause more harm than help. But there is no way of knowing what will happen unless we try, unless we conduct controlled experiments into climate engineering technology and determine if it could help reverse the tide of global warming. It is not a replacement for sustainable living; rather, it is a stopgap, a way of buying time until more permanent change toward green energy and waste disposal is politically and economically viable. Alongside these green technologies, climate engineering could be a critical part of saving our species from the brink.
(10/29/13 4:00am)
Brookings Institution Brown Center on Education Policy Senior Fellow Tom Loveless unveiled an important development in American education in this past March, noting that "despite decades of vehement criticism and mountains of documents urging schools to abandon their use [of tracking,] it persists-and for the past decade or so, has thrived." Tracking distinguishes students on the basis of academic ability, assigning each student to a level of instructional rigor. Yet, should Americans turn their back on this criticism of ability-based grouping? The Schott Foundation for Public Education noted in a 2009 study that the poorest neighborhoods of Harlem, the South Bronx and central Brooklyn, N.Y. languish with inexperienced teachers and limited resources in a lower track. Meanwhile, wealthier schools found in the Upper East Side and northeastern Queens thrive with highly educated instructors and ample funding. Doesn't the existence of these two tracks seem fundamentally unjust? It is commendable for us to reinforce the potential of our high-achieving students-but in the process, we leave a whole cohort of racial and socioeconomic minorities with high potential in the dust. Tracking both within and between schools, leaves minorities to toil in a vicious cycle of limited academic achievement, reduced self-esteem and racial inequity. There are those who will be quick to assert the utility of tracking-after all, it ensures that our high-achieving students do not have to adapt to the slower learning pace of others in the classroom. It allows for our nation to race ahead of countries that have now leapfrogged us in recorded levels of achievement in mathematics, science and critical reading. Yet, the majority of those high-achieving students are white and middle-class. How about black, Latino or Native American students? Sociologist Nora Hyland argues in a 2007 piece in Theory into Practice that "low-track classes tend to be primarily composed of low-income students, usually minorities, while upper-track classes are usually dominated by students from socioeconomically successful groups." Therefore, when standardized testing arrived as a means to "track" students into high schools with differing performance levels, the racial and ethnic minorities did not have the necessary instruction to perform well. These students should receive the abundant resources of the high-achieving institutions, but instead, they are left to their own devices. This is where we see defeatism, resistance to academics and a turn toward self-destructive activities. Tony Samara of George Mason University conducted a study in 2007 that arrived to the conclusion that the majority of students noted "how disconcerting it is that these tracks are racially identifiable." Joanne Yatvin, past president of the National Council of Teachers of English, summed it up best in a Washington Post article from this past June, asserting that, "in the end, low-level classes can be a self-fulfilling prophecy... kids say "Everybody thinks I'm dumb. I'll show them just how dumb I can be!" If the alarm bells haven't sounded already, they should now. Our national discourse is predicated on expanded educational access through affirmative action, cultural pluralism and racial equality. Yet, if anything, we're backtracking from a diverse, multicultural learning environment. The best means, then, to move ahead is to reintegrate, establishing a heterogeneous learning environment for all. School districts can pool their resources into one cooperative school, providing the necessary framework for students who need personalized, individualized instruction. Robert Slavin, professor of education at Johns Hopkins University, thus asserted in a landmark 1992 study that this model "stresses the building of team scores by mutual cooperation ... and sharing of responsibility for one another's learning." Formerly unprepared teachers can then be properly trained to interact with, as well as instruct, children who have disparate educational abilities. Students formerly relegated to the "lower track" would have equal access to the same instructional and online resources that facilitate success. This inclusiveness, then, has the potential to empower these students to transcend the self-perpetuating cycle of racial inferiority and self-destructive behavior. Delia Garrity, in her 2004 text "Detracking with Vigilance," studied the outcome of such de-tracking efforts in the Rockville, N.Y. school district. The results spoke for themselves. Garrity noted how "three years after homogeneous grouping was eliminated, the percentage of low-income students who earned a Regents diploma increased from 22 percent to 71 percent." Yes, that is a 49 percent jump in graduation rate in just three years. We see the great potential when every child-regardless of race or economic standing-is entitled to the opportunity of an equal education. It is up to us to silence the alarm for these tracked school districts, and also, halt our descent back into racial inequity. How do we get the majority of our students-and our nation-back on the right track? We de-track. *
(10/29/13 4:00am)
Since its peak in 2009, Ph.D. programs in the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences have experienced a decline in the number of students enrolled due to cuts in funding from the University after the economic downturn. According to Associate Dean for Enrollment and Marketing at GSAS David Cotter, the Curriculum and Academic Restructuring Steering Committee, otherwise known as CARS, chaired by the then-Dean of Arts and Sciences Prof. Adam Jaffe (ECON), assessed the Ph.D. programs during the 2009 to 2010 academic year and set new target numbers for enrollment. These departments had until this year to begin using these reduced target numbers, according to Cotter. "In effect, there has been an overall reduction in doctoral students. There's absolutely no way around that. There definitely has been. It was strategic, and it was pointed," said Cotter. Target numbers are defined as the desired amount of Ph.D. students within a program during one given year. For example, if a target number for a specific department is 10 students, about two to three students could be accepted in one year, depending upon how many students are currently enrolled in the program and will remain for the following year, due to the fact that students do not have to complete the degree in a set amount of years. However, according to Cotter, in the sciences, the average amount of time it takes to receive a Ph.D is five to five and a half years, while in the social sciences and humanities the average is about six and a half to seven years. Cotter said that GSAS had previously been working under a set of target numbers established in 2000, and that these target numbers are generally reassessed every 10 to 12 years. In fiscal year 2008, 85 Ph.D. students were enrolled in GSAS, and in 2009, 104 were enrolled. By 2010, GSAS enrolled only 66 students as a financial ramification from the economic crisis. That year, the CARS numbers were put in place, and in 2011, enrollment increased to 92, and to 95 in 2012. However, that number decreased again to 83 in 2013 and 84 in 2014. The numbers, according to Cotter, increased briefly in 2011 and 2012 as remaining at the enrollment numbers after the major decrease in 2009 would "obliterate the Ph.D. reputation," Cotter said. Deciding funding for Ph.D. students According to Cotter, the economic issue with maintaining Ph.D. programs is that students are generally fully funded, receiving "a tuition scholarship, a fellowship that varies based upon the field of study they're in, and health insurance benefits" from the University. Ph.D. students receive full funding from the University to cover the cost of attendance from the first to third years of their fellowships, and the University waives the continuation fee for Ph.D. students in their fourth and fifth years. The only cost that Ph.D. students must cover, according to Cotter, is a continuation fee of $1,378 should they exceed five years in the program. The lowest stipend that the University provides is an annual stipend of $20,400, according to Cotter. However, there are also Ph.D. students who receive all of their funding external to the University, such as through outside grants or the government. These students, according to Cotter, are not taken into account when meeting target numbers. The GSAS typically does not accept unfunded students who pay their own tuition, according to Cotter. Often times, when unfunded students are accepted, it takes them longer to complete their doctoral degrees because they often have to get a job or take out more loans, said Cotter. The decrease in the Ph.D. programs at GSAS "was done as a cost-saving measure during the financial downturn," Dean of Arts and Sciences Susan Birren wrote in an email to the Justice. "These budgets are set each year through a process involving the Integrated Planning and Budget Committee ... in which the finances of the masters and Ph.D. programs are assessed and a budget is set based on the needs and costs," Birren wrote. Cotter explained that in an economic downturn, as people lose their jobs, "they reshuffle their life priorities," and a lot of them return to school. However, according to Cotter, this downturn has lasted for so long that universities across the country are starting to see a negative impact to enrollment. Cotter said that the Ph.D. in humanities has been "particularly hard-hit across the country." While many Ph.D. candidates will be looking for full-time tenure-track faculty positions at colleges or universities after they complete their degree, "we have a situation in which universities have decreased their hiring in certain humanist areas, and colleges, quite honestly, are concerned about flooding the market with too many Ph.D. students that don't have a place to go," said Cotter. Such factors were taken into account by the CARS committee when readjusting target numbers and deciding how many Ph.D. students the University should fund. The effects on teaching fellows Regardless of the source of students' funding, all Ph.D. students must have taught or been a teaching assistant for a minimum of two courses in order to receive a doctoral degree; however, this number varies based upon the program. According to Cotter, students in the social sciences, humanities and the creative arts are required to assist in teaching or teach at least six times. "What that [requirement] does for us is it allows us to project out to say that you are going to be here for five years and you are going to teach six times, so it allows us to figure out how many teaching assistants are going to be here within a given semester," Cotter said. Cotter added that departments do hire additional course assistants to cover their courses, often utilizing the same pool of doctoral students. A Ph.D. student's work as a teaching fellow or teacher is always compensated, even if it is a part of the minimum requirement for receiving the degree, Cotter said. After the minimum requirement is reached, however, Ph.D. students are granted additional compensation if they continue to teach or assist in teaching. The decline in Ph.D. students, however, has been visible in the number of TA and graduate teachers placed in undergraduate classes in departments such as the History department, for which, according to department chair Prof. Jane Kamensky, students in their second and third years serve as teaching fellows. In the History department in particular, only Ph.D. students may serve as TFs, according to Kamensky. Not all departments, however, have implemented such a policy, although those departments that do uphold such a policy have experienced the effects of the decline in Ph.D. students. "A declining number of Ph.D. students on campus will certainly affect undergraduate education, as Ph.D. students add immensely to the intellectual life of our campus, stimulate faculty research, and support large classes as teaching fellows," wrote History graduate program director Prof. Michael Willrich in an email to the Justice. "It's very much on the radar screen of our office and in the Arts and Sciences' dean's office that there is an increase in the undergraduate population and there is a decrease, and now a leveling off, of doctoral enrollment," said Cotter. "It's very clear that we need to be providing more than adequate instruction and service to Brandeis undergraduates because that is Brandeis, and that is what undergraduates come here for." Concerns about program size The Ph.D. in History is one of the programs that Cotter suggested "should be larger." According to Cotter, multiple factors were taken into account when deciding target numbers for each specific program. He explained that the English program, for example, is larger than the History program because English doctoral students help teach undergraduate writing courses such as the University Writing Seminar. Cotter said that Chemistry and Biology also require a higher number of Ph.D. students due to the fact that the University has to staff a lot of teaching fellows for introductory courses. "We have a very strong [History] program and it's, in my opinion, much too small. ... [W]e all agree the program needs to be larger, it's just we don't know where to find the money for it because it's a costly, costly venture to do it," said Cotter. According to Cotter, the size of the faculty was also taken into account when setting the new target numbers, as well as research publications of the faculty, as Ph.D. students often serve to assist professors with research. In addition, the state of the job market for doctoral candidates and the number of undergraduate courses needed to be served by doctoral candidates are taken into account. According to the Registrar's website, for fall 2013, there are currently 18 undergraduate History courses taught by 14 professors. Ten additional courses are cross-listed in History. There are about 100 total undergraduate History majors, according to Kamensky. According to Cotter, there is an insignificant difference between the number of doctoral students funded by the University in the sciences and the humanities. According to Cotter, several smaller departments in the social sciences, such as Anthropology, Sociology and Politics, average about 10 students each, while in the life sciences as a whole, which lumps together programs such as Biochemistry, Biophysics, Molecular Cell Biology and Neuroscience, the average amount of Ph.D. students is about 21 to 22. While these average numbers for University-funded spots in the Ph.D. program do not take into account students accepted using outside funding from grants, "our programs across the board are too small to notice a level of inequity," Cotter said. Reviewing current programs This year, GSAS will begin reviewing Ph.D. programs in tandem with the Dean of Arts and Sciences departmental reviews, according to Cotter. The reviews will assess each program in terms of how modern and up-to-date the curriculum and course work is, student advising and mentoring, recruitment, placement, success in the workforce and outcomes for the students in the program, degree completion rate and attrition rate, benefits and burdens for the faculty and revenue and costs. "Personally, I believe that, with our doctoral programs, we're in a state in which we can't continue. We have to do something," said Cotter. "I think that Brandeis needs ... to start seriously looking into what a Ph.D. means, and to realize that we're not just creating future faculty, that there are a number of other really solid, positive and successful outcomes for a Ph.D. student that don't involve becoming a university faculty member." According to Birren, the GSAS budget is part of the overall arts and sciences budget, and "many resources (including faculty) are shared between the graduate school and the undergraduate component" of arts and sciences. The same decrease in Ph.D. enrollment did not apply to the Heller School for Social Policy and Management or the International Business School. Both the Heller School and IBS are independent from GSAS and rely on tuition revenue and donors to function, according to Senior Associate Dean at IBS F. Trereny Dolbear and Heller School Assistant Dean Lynn Davis. Neither school receives funds from the University, according to both Dolbear and Davis. At IBS, 27 Ph.D. students are currently enrolled, and enrollment has remained relatively consistent, although it has increased slightly over the past four years, according to data provided by IBS Communications Coordinator Adam Conner-Simons. At Heller, 131 Ph.D. students are currently enrolled, according to Davis. In 2010, there were 141 Ph.D. students enrolled, 144 in 2011 and 137 in 2012. According to Davis, Ph.D. students receive three years of funding through training grants, fellowships or foundation awards. Davis wrote in an email to the Justice that Ph.D. students are in residence for two years, although the amount of time to complete a dissertation varies by student. Students who do not complete their dissertations by the third year "would only be charged a post-residence fee, not tuition," she wrote. This post-residentce fee is $685 per year. The strategic plan, which was adopted by the Board of Trustees at their May meeting, noted that strengthening the graduate programs at Brandeis was a vital objective. "I hope that [University President Frederick Lawrence] and [Provost] Steve Goldstein ['78] are successful in working with donors to have them understand how important doctoral education is to be able to bring these programs up to a level at which they can really thrive," said Cotter.
(10/29/13 4:00am)
Prof. Eve Marder '69 (BIOL), the Victor and Gwendolyn Beinfield Professor of Neuroscience and the head of the Division of Science, has been elected to the Institute of Medicine of the National Academies, according to an Oct. 21 BrandeisNOW press release. Marder was elected to the IOM on Oct. 1 as part of a cohort of 70 new members and 10 new foreign associates. She is the third Brandeis faculty to be elected to the Institute. Prof. Stuart Altman (Heller) was elected in 1996, and Prof. Emeritus Gregory Petsko (BCHM) was elected in 2001. Election to the institute is conducted by current members. Marder conducts research on the modulation of neural networks, using the nervous system of crustaceans such as lobsters and crabs as models. Her research has been recognized with her past elections to the National Academy of Sciences and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and she served as the president of the Society for Neuroscience in 2008. Earlier this year, Marder won the 2013 Gruber Neuroscience Prize and was appointed to the scientific advisory board of the Brain Research through Advancing Innovative Neurotechnologies Initiative, a project launched by the Obama administration to enhance neuroscience research. In an email to the Justice, Marder commented on her election to the IOM. "It is a great honor," she wrote, "and I am appreciative of the respect of my peers that it signals." Marder also wrote that she does not expect her election to the IOM to impact her work on the advisory committee of the BRAIN Initiative. The IOM defines itself on its website as "an independent, nonprofit organization that works outside of government to provide unbiased and authoritative advice to decision makers and the public." The website further explains that "many of the studies that the IOM undertakes begin as specific mandates from Congress; still other are requested by federal agencies and independent organizations." -Phil Gallagher
(10/22/13 4:00am)
Last Tuesday night, Richard Newman, the head of scientific research at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, gave a fascinating lecture titled "Science in the Art Museum" as part of the Art of Science lectures, a series sponsored by Brandeis' Women in Science Initiative. At first glance, the topic of the lecture seems a little strange-art museums are usually not thought of in the realm of the sciences. However, Newman explained that the science of preservation, conservation, determining authenticity and studying the deterioration of art is extremely crucial to learning about and maintaining artwork. It is so important that many scientists, including Newman, have devoted their lives to this field of study. Newman began by talking about the history of the scientific study of art and about the place of the MFA in that history. In the United States, the first labs in museums appeared in the late 1920s. The MFA was only the second museum in the United States to have a science lab, and, according to Newman, in the 1960s, its lab was known as one of the best in the world. Newman moved on to discuss the difficulties that labs in museums are facing today. One major problem today is that lab equipment is extremely expensive, averaging $100,000 per piece, making it very difficult for museums, especially smaller ones, to fund a lab. Even the MFA, a relatively large museum, cannot afford the most cutting-edge equipment. Part of the reason for this is the cost but also there are only two scientists in the museum laboratory who use and take care of the equipment-they are, as Newman said, "a cottage industry." Museums have found ways of remedying the issues of costs and personnel demand by creating a system of collaboration. Larger museums, including the MFA, offer their services in analyzing artwork for free to smaller museums and universities who cannot afford the equipment. Newman mentioned that the MFA recently did some work with Prof. Andrew Koh (CLAS) and hopes to work more with Brandeis professors as well as students in the future. He also described how museums in Europe have remedied the problem of finances by designing mobile labs: facilities that can be moved from museum to museum. Northwestern University, in conjunction with the Art Institute of Chicago, is currently starting to develop a similarly styled laboratory. In the second half of the lecture, Newman talked about knowledge that we have acquired about art by way of science. More specifically, he talked about two pieces in the MFA that have raised some questions of authenticity. One such piece was an ivory and gold statue of a snake goddess that was thought to be ancient Minoan. Newman and his colleague conducted some tests on the piece per the request of a curator. The lab, he said, could not effectively perform carbon dating tests on the piece as it was covered in wax. Instead, they had to test the gold for the presence of other metals, and discovered high amounts of copper in it-too high compared to other samples from that time period and place of origin. The lab concluded that it is very unlikely that the statue was Minoan. It has been suggested that the archeologist who claimed to have discovered it and his team may have manufactured the statue. This cannot be proven, but the statue is no longer on display. Newman ended his lecture with some comments on the lack of information that museums provide to the public about the scientific findings regarding the artwork, including information about authenticity. This is because, as Newman said, "[museums] like to minimize words on labels" so that they are more accessible to the public. With so few words, there just isn't enough room for scientific information. In addition, museums do not like to admit when they are uncertain about the authenticity of the artwork. So next time you visit an art museum, be sure to think more carefully about how we know what we know about the pieces on display.
(10/15/13 4:00am)
At last week's faculty meeting on Oct. 10, Senior Vice President for Students and Enrollment Andrew Flagel gave a presentation on preliminary student enrollment demographics as of approximately Oct. 4. Following the meeting in an email to the Justice, Flagel stressed that these numbers are not final, and may fluctuate in the next few weeks. According to the presentation, total enrollment increased by approximately half of a percent from last year, with 3,608 undergraduate and 2,203 graduate students. The acceptance rate for students was about 37 percent, based on the preliminary numbers provided. The University netted 9,496 applications from both first-time and first-year students combined, more than any other undergraduate class in the history of the University. Of the 9,496, 3,517 were admitted. Although there were no major shifts in grade point average of accepted students as compared to previous years, there was a large shift in demographics, with 18 percent of the first-year class being composed of international students, as compared to 16 percent for the Class of 2016. The percentage of African-Americans in the class is 10 percent, up from seven percent last year, which was attributed in the presentation partially to a shift in geography demographics, with fewer students from the Middle-Atlantic and New England regions and more from the South. In terms of graduate student enrollment, the University saw a slight decrease in enrollment, although the Heller School for Social Policy and Management saw a 1.6 percent increase this year. International students also increased from last year by about two percent within the overall graduate student population. Flagel also said that the Latino population has increased among graduate students, and that there was a huge spike in the number of international graduates students from China enrolled this year at 10 percent, up from five percent last year. Flagel also remarked on the frequency and size of merit scholarships. "No matter how much of an affection a kid has for Brandeis, when you look at the kinds of money being offered by our competitors-it is an exceptionally difficult decision," he said. Admissions has begun to reinstitute merit scholarships in "very small increments," Flagel stated, with the largest awarded this year at $15,000. The test-flexible policy "experiment," as Flagel termed it, was also addressed in the form of a brief question-and-answer session with the assembled faculty. Flagel described the program as a "a pilot program that had very narrow parameters as to how they could apply if [students] choose to forgo traditional standardized test scores." Flagel also said that no more than 10 percent of the class will be admitted through the test-flexible policy, and that "[applicants] are going to have to be at the top of our talent pool in order to be admitted under this score option policy." During the meeting, University President Frederick Lawrence invited Prof. David Derosier (BIOL) to present a eulogy to the congregated faculty about the positive personal attributes and professional scientific advances made by former professor Hugh Huxley, who passed away on July 25 in Woods Hole, Mass. at the age of 89. Derosier described the late professor as a "giant of science" for his award-winning research on muscle structure and function. Following a moment of silence, Lawrence turned the attention of the meeting to a variety of other topics, including the second phase of the Lemberg Children's Center project. Lawrence explained that renovations on the original center are scheduled to begin after Jan. 1, and will include renovations to the grounds and parts of Schwartz Hall. Lawrence alluded to "some major rebuilding and renovations in the center of campus space." On the topic of campus aesthetics, Lawrence announced that famous West Coast sculptor Chris Burden will have a display in front of the Rose Art Museum. It is "a major project that will symbolically and ritually connect the Rose to campus," he said. Lawrence said that an announcement with exact dates will be coming soon. On the topic of the strategic plan, Provost Steve Goldstein '78 said that he and Prof. Anita Hill (Heller) are currently in the process of pulling together groups that will implement specific parts of the plan, breaking it down into "18-month achievables" and "36-month achievables." Faculty Senate Chair Prof. Eric Chasalow (MUS) also spoke about the plan in his Senate report, stating that "we don't have a lot of specifics yet and we are looking forward to a very detailed discussion."
(10/15/13 4:00am)
At Brandeis and other universities, there are stark demographic differences in gender within certain sections of the humanities. In an interview with the Justice, Prof. Susan Lanser (ENG), the head of the division of humanities and member of the Provost's Committee on Diversity, explained her belief that "associations of men with scientific inquiry and philosophical reasoning are centuries old. These fields have been slower than some others to shed long-standing gender biases." Such a theory can explain a slower move nationally to gender equality in humanities disciplines such as philosophy and religion, which regularly engage with "philosophical reasoning." Kieran Healy, an associate professor of sociology at Duke University, has published data on his academic blog that indicates the percentage of doctorates granted to women nationally in each academic field in 2009. The results, which are based on the Survey of Earned Doctorates from the National Opinion Research Center at the University of Chicago, found that slightly under 30 percent of doctorates in religious studies and philosophy were granted to women; only doctorates in engineering, physics and computer science, fields which are widely recognized to have a gender disparity, had a lower percentage of women recipients. Prof. Wendy Cadge (SOC), the chair of the Women's and Gender Studies program, explained the importance of faculty diversity in an email to the Justice, writing that "[i]t is important that students see a diverse set of faculty in the classroom to teach and advise them and act as role models." To explore this idea, the Justice interviewed professors from the Near Eastern and Judaic Studies and Philosophy faculty to learn about the presence of gender within those departments. Faculty demographics Both the NEJS and Philosophy departments have a history of tenured women on their faculty. Sissela Bok, wife of former Harvard University President Derek Bok, was the first tenured woman in the Philosophy department in 1985, according to data from that department. She left the University in 1992. Bok could not be reached for comment by press time. In 2002, Prof. Marion Smiley (PHIL) was hired with tenure and remains at the University. Smiley declined to comment for this article. Following her, Marion Hourdequin and Sarah McGrath were hired on the tenure track in 2005. Hourdequin and McGrath left after one year for Colorado College and two years for Princeton University, respectively. Hourdequin explained her departure in an email to the Justice. "[A] key source of stress was the financial challenge of living in Boston, where the cost of housing was almost twice as high as anywhere else I had lived. I also had a 6 month old baby when I began at Brandeis, and child care in the area was extremely expensive," she wrote. McGrath explained in an email to the Justice that she left Brandeis when she was offered a tenure-track position at Princeton, where her husband was teaching, at the time that she was expecting her first child. Both Hourdequin and McGrath conveyed their appreciation that the department allowed them to organize the colloquium series for the 2005 to 2006 academic year, and McGrath expressed gratitude toward Smiley for making the department "a good place for junior women" and extended appreciation to Smiley, Prof. Jerry Samet (PHIL) and Prof. Eli Hirsch (PHIL), who were "important in their mentoring roles" to her as a junior woman in the department. In 2008 and 2009, respectively, Prof. Kate Moran (PHIL) and Prof. Jennifer Marusic (PHIL) were hired on the tenure track and still remain at the University, with Moran now serving as the director of the department's graduate program. The Philosophy department also has had two visiting female faculty members. According to data provided by that department, Amelie Rorty was hired outside the tenure structure in 1995 as a professor and director of the History of Ideas program until leaving the University in 2003 to pursue research interests, and Linda Hirshman served as the Allen-Berenson Distinguished Visiting Professor in Philosophy and Women's Studies from 1998 to 2002. Out of the five tenure-track hires made since 2005, four have been female. Chair of the Philosophy department Samet expressed satisfaction with that statistic, explaining that he is "proud of our record over the past five or 10 years to shift the [gender] balance a bit." Today, three of the 10 philosophy professors are women, and two of them are still on the tenure track, a demographic that Lanser described as slightly better than the national average and a significant change from 2001, when there were no tenured or tenure-track female faculty in the University's Philosophy department. An Aug. 2 article in the New York Times reported that female philosophers make up "less than 20 percent" of faculty in university philosophy departments. Within the NEJS department, all of the past female professors hired within the tenure structure still remain on the faculty. In 1993, Prof. Bernadette Brooten (NEJS) was hired with tenure from the Harvard Divinity School and Prof. Sylvia Barack Fishman (NEJS) was hired as the first woman on the tenure-track. Brooten and Fishman were the first women in the NEJS department aside from Hebrew language instructors. Since then, three other women have been hired in the tenure structure in NEJS: Profs. ChaeRan Yoo Freeze, Sharon Feiman-Nemser and Ilana Szobel. In the fall of 2009, Fishman was appointed as the first female chair of the NEJS department. In NEJS, five of the 19 faculty members in the tenure structure are women, and one of the five is still on the tenure track. NEJS is not a religion department in the traditional sense, which can complicate a direct comparison with religion departments at other universities. According to Brooten, NEJS is "an interdisciplinary department because we have people who can think of themselves more as people in the study of religion, we have people who think of themselves as more as historians, people who are literary scholars [and] Sylvia Barack Fishman does sociology." On its website, the department describes itself as "home to one of the world's largest programs in Jewish and Hebrew Studies," which emphasizes its Jewish focus. Fishman said in an interview with the Justice that in Jewish religious studies in particular, she does not "see that kind of lack of female presence" that is reflected in Healy's statistics on religion faculty. Additionally, Brooten expressed surprise at the finding that so few women were earning doctoral degrees in religious studies. Diversity initiatives Improving diversity among a university faculty is a unique challenge. Job openings in many academic disciplines are scarce, the humanities especially so, leaving few opportunities to make new hires. A Feb. 18 article in the Chronicle of Higher Education reported that "the overall job system in the humanities has been in a state of permanent distress for over 40 years." According to Lanser, however, the University has come very close to achieving demographic gender equality among its assistant professors as a whole, who are the newest hires in their respective departments. Furthermore, the University has engaged in a number of different initiatives to help diversify its faculty. One of the most noticeable developments is the inclusion of a diversity representative on new faculty search committees. According to the dean of arts and sciences website, the diversity representative serves as a non-voting member of the committee and must pay specific attention to the diversity of the applicant pool. At the end of the search, the diversity representative must sign a Fair Search Report, which indicates that he or she was "familiar with the search criteria and [endorsed] the rationale that led to the committee's recommended candidate." Members of both the NEJS and Philosophy departments said they have found these representatives to be useful in searches. Diversity representatives are "very articulate about the necessity for seriously evaluating candidates in terms of gender and in terms of ethnic and religious background," said Fishman, while also being "respectful of the process." Samet agreed, commenting that the diversity representative "took it upon themselves to make sure that, procedurally, the search created every opportunity for women to apply and treated all the applicants fairly. ... They can make sure that we [are] not sloppy." In addition to promoting diversity with the presence of diversity representatives, the University engages in specialized hiring practices called cluster hires and target-of-opportunity hires in order to increase its faculty diversity, said Lanser in a phone interview with the Justice. Cluster hires involve the hiring of a group of junior faculty "perhaps [from] different departments, but whose work focuses in a general area," and target-of-opportunity hires focus on "the hiring of persons in fields where they are historically underrepresented or underrepresented [specifically] at Brandeis," Lanser explained. There is also unofficial mentoring between female faculty members. "Informally, core faculty in WGS provide support and mentor female faculty across campus," said Cadge, referring to the role that faculty in Women's and Gender Studies play in supporting their female colleagues outside of the program. Moran referenced a similar informal support, mentioning that she has befriended many female faculty with whom she discusses topics both personal and professional. Research and teaching Fishman emphasized that "the feminist transformation of the academy is not just 'add women and stir,'" but also understanding women's experience in the context of the academic discipline. Brooten highlighted this distinction by explaining how, during her interview to join the Brandeis faculty, Prof. Marc Brettler (NEJS) reviewed with her his syllabus for a course on women in the Bible. A professor, such as Brettler, who develops courses of that sort will "appreciate the work of colleagues who work in those areas, [and] understand what we're doing," explained Brooten. The NEJS department offers approximately nine different courses that focus on women or gender as the central lens, ranging from "Gender and the Bible," offered by Brettler, to "Israeli Women Writers on War and Peace," taught by Szobel. Furthermore, many male NEJS faculty members, including Brettler, Profs. Jonathan Sarna, Yehudah Mirsky and David Wright have published articles, book chapters or edited volumes that employ women or gender as a central lens for analysis. When asked whether she had any goals for women and gender in the NEJS department, Fishman responded by saying, "I think that by my being chair [as a woman], there have already been changes, and it wasn't like something was broken and it needed fixing, but ... people's understanding of what leadership is changes." The field of philosophy internationally has understood the importance of this integration of women's publications and experiences into the discipline. Moran directed the Justice to an online Google Doc, created by a postdoctoral fellow in philosophy at the University of Oxford, on which academics from around the world have submitted published papers by female philosophers that can be incorporated into introductory-level classes. When Samet was asked about any potential upcoming Philosophy courses related to women and gender, he explained that "we have a certain number of courses we feel we need to run the major, and we don't have a big enough faculty. So everyone is scrambling to teach the courses that we need to teach." Philosophy professors also placed emphasis on the role that Smiley plays in raising gender as a research and teaching subject in the department. Samet estimated that "Marion [Smiley]'s the only one who teaches classes in that area," and McGrath recognized Smiley for being "extremely good at getting students interested in philosophical problems and issues concerning gender." According to the University's Faculty Guide, the Philosophy department has offered two recent courses with women or gender as a central focus: Smiley currently teaches a course on the philosophy of gender, and Prof. Palle Yourgrau (PHIL) has taught a course on Simone Weil, the 20th-century French intellectual, about whom he recently published a biography. Joint Graduate degree in WMGS The Women's and Gender Studies program has encouraged scholarship related to women and gender with the development of joint graduate degree programs between WMGS and other academic departments. The NEJS department, for instance, has contributed to a joint Master of Arts degree with Women's and Gender Studies, and is one of the only programs of its type in the country. According to Prof. Shulamit Reinharz (SOC), the joint degree program between NEJS and Women's and Gender Studies was created in 1992, a time when the Women's and Gender Studies program (then called only "Women's Studies") did not have a large enough faculty to support its own graduate program. As a result, several joint programs were created to supplement the existing Women's Studies faculty with professors and classes from other departments. The programs used the existing graduate admissions process in each department and encouraged faculty to select two or three students for their department's joint degree. The joint degree between Women's Studies and NEJS has flourished, according to Fishman. "[The program] attracts very strong graduate students: people who do very creative, original work," she said. Lanser added that "many of [the graduates] have gone on to Ph.D.s here and elsewhere." The Philosophy department did not have an M.A. program in 1992, which disqualified it from creating a joint degree program with Women's Studies. Starting in fall 2009, however, it began to offer a stand-alone M.A. degree, which Lanser described as "a very successful new program." When asked whether there has been discussion of a joint degree between Women's and Gender Studies and Philosophy, Cadge said that although there were no current plans, the creation of such a program was plausible in the future. Samet expressed hesitancy about creating a joint degree program with Women's and Gender Studies, but said that "if Marion [Smiley] said there's someone who wants to apply for a degree in Women's Studies and Philosophy, we could probably make ad-hoc arrangements." As faculty positions open, search committees will have to ask, as Brooten encourages, "how seriously do these candidates take gender in their analysis?" The importance of that question to faculty search committees will determine the future of women and gender in Philosophy and NEJS.
(10/08/13 4:00am)
The Student Union Senate began their most recent meeting with a discussion of adding a constitutional amendment that would make constitutional reviews mandatory every four years, and details the process by which the constitutional review task force would function. Ben Beutel '12, a former senator, participated in that portion of the meeting via video chat, advising senators on constitutional review and answering questions about the proposed amendment. The Student Judiciary, led by chief justice Claire Sinai '15, will oversee the constitutional review process. The required 10 senators signed the petition to send the amendment to the student body for public consideration. A vote will be held on Sunday, from midnight to midnight. The Senate then moved on to swearing in its newest members, Myra Kraft Transitional Year Program Senator Jennifer Almodovar (MKTYP) and Village Quad Senator Bowen Li '16. Newly elected associate justice Luky Guigui '15 was not present. Moving on to club chartering and recognition, the Senate heard from two groups: the Brandeis Technical Traders Society and the Brandeis Alternative Medicine Club. First, BTTS, which was recognized last semester, returned to be chartered. The club, whose leaders said draws 20 to 40 students per meeting, focuses on teaching trading and technical analysis skills to its members. The group stated that it was different from Investment Club, which focuses its activity on managing an investment portfolio. Examples of funding they might require were travel for competitions, bringing in speakers and taking the group members on trips. The Senate undertook a lengthy debate about the purpose of the group as being competitive versus being purely educational. Ultimately, the Senate voted to charter BTTS conditionally, with the requirement that they collect an additional 15 signatures of support. The list of signatures they had presented to the Senate was outdated, with at least 15 of the signers having graduated. The Brandeis Alternative Medicine Club then came before the Senate and successfully changed their name, expanding their mission at the same time. The club was previously recognized as the Skincare Club, and focused solely on skincare. The club then presented its case for being chartered. With Student Union funds, the club leaders said they would bring specialists such as massage therapists and acupuncturists to speak on campus, and work with overlapping interest groups such as the Intercultural Center or the Pre-Health Society to host educational events. The Senate's deliberation periodically deviated into questions of the legitimacy of alternative medicine, and safety concerns of practicing on students. Executive Senator Annie Chen '14 and Vice President Charlotte Franco '15 continually brought the discussion back to the issue of whether the club should be chartered, not recognized. Ultimately, the Senate did not charter the club, but urged its leaders to come back with more evidence of support with its new name, as well as more events or initiatives that could not be put on without Union funding. In Student Union President Ricky Rosen's '14 report to the Senate, he announced that all University committees had been filled, and that Finance Board had finished regular marathon funding. In regard to issues with the Union's shuttle initiative, Rosen urged senators to tell their constituents that complaints should be directed to procurement, which would keep records of the issues. Rosen also addressed the issue of limited parking on campus, and said that the problem with towing and ticketing this year has been more severe than usual, causing the Student Union and the administration to revisit the parking system. Potential solutions include adding a shuttle from an outside lot, or, in the long-term, building a parking garage. Other major changes that may be coming in the near future include construction on dining facilities. According to Rosen, at a Sept. 27 meeting with University and Sodexo administrators, Sodexo is looking into "building out," or physically expanding, the dining locations in Sherman Function Hall and Usdan Student Center. He stated that they were also looking into the possibility of adding a dining location in the Carl J. Shapiro Science Center. Rosen also briefly mentioned the formation of the divestment exploratory committee, and encouraged club attendance at the upcoming "Taste of Sodexo" event. -Tate Herbert
(10/08/13 4:00am)
The federal government shutdown, which began last Monday at midnight for the first time since 1996 after Congress failed to agree upon a working budget for the 2014 fiscal year, will postpone new research awaiting approval for funding from being conducted at Brandeis. According to Senior Vice President for Communications Ellen de Graffenreid, the National Institute of Health and the National Science Foundation, along with most other federal agencies that fund university research, are not accepting proposals during the shutdown. The agencies are also not making any new awards using current year funds, which do not exist at this point due to the budget stalemate. According to Assistant Provost for Research Administration Paul O'Keefe, the shutdown would primarily affect funding for scientific research. "The humanities don't get a lot of funding, and very little of what they do get is from the federal government," wrote O'Keefe in an email to the Justice. "The shutdown shouldn't have much impact on them, at least in terms of grant funding." Although, according to O'Keefe, the University has not received any stop-work orders on existing projects, he wrote that he cannot be sure of that fates of projects awaiting approval for funding. "The longer the shutdown continues, the more likely it is that we, like all other universities, will suffer reductions in research funding." Major resources for research, such as the Library of Congress, the Smithsonian Institution and the National Archives, will remain closed during the shutdown. Despite the fact that the government shutdown is preventing new projects from being funded, according to de Graffenreid in an email to the Justice, "We have substantial existing funding for projects that use prior federal fiscal year authorizations, so those projects can continue." According to an Oct. 3 USA Today article, several scholarly resources will not be updated during the shutdown. The websites for the U.S. Census, the Bureau of Labor Statistics, Data.gov, Fedstats.gov and the Education Resources Information Center are currently not up-to-date. Such closures and lack of updates could potentially have an effect on pending research. The effects are extending to universities across the nation, although Brandeis is directly experiencing effects as well. According to the USA Today article, the shutdown has caused sexual assault investigations to come to a temporary pause, as the U.S. Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights has stopped its current investigations of universities suspected of mishandling sexual violence cases on their campuses. In addition, several naval academies have been forced to close or cancel classes, and resources for the academies have been cut, according to the article. In regard to financial aid, Director of Financial Aid and Student Employment Sherri Avery explained that the government shutdown has had a minute impact. "Since the Pell Grant and Direct Loan programs (the largest federal financial aid programs we administer) were appropriated prior to the shutdown, we are still able to award and receive funds from these programs for all eligible Brandeis students," Avery wrote in an email to the Justice. According to Avery, during the shutdown, students may also continue to work under the Federal Work-Study program, and the online federal financial aid application remains available to all students who wish to apply for federal aid at this point in the semester. *
(10/07/13 4:00am)
The dichotomy of ancient texts and modern musical sensibilities can be perplexing. Nevertheless, the two have been combined to form a cohesive form of art with a wide, expressive range. The combination is striking, verging on eerie-even otherworldly, and left its listeners in a reverie throughout. "Where it Finds Nothing But the Wind," the musical composition based on the Dead Sea Scrolls, premiered as the final piece of the concert on Oct. 5 in the Slosberg Music Center. Prof. Eric Chasalow (MUS), composer and director of the Brandeis Electro-Acoustic Music Studio, composed the piece, basing it on 10 texts from the Dead Sea Scrolls-a collection of texts discovered in caves near the shore of the Dead Sea including manuscripts later incorporated into the Hebrew Bible canon. The texts are written in Hebrew, Aramaic and Greek. The premiere was sponsored by the Brandeis University Office of the Provost and the Dead Sea Scrolls: Life in the Ancient Times exhibition hosted by the Museum of Science in Boston. Prof. Marc Brettler (NEJS) explained his involvement with the project in an email to the Justice. According to him, the idea of a partnership with the Museum of Science was proposed by Malcolm Sherman, then chair of the Brandeis Board of Trustees and former chair of the Museum of Science Board: Once the partnership was in place, the provost contacted Brettler and asked him to chair the committee. Chasalow became involved soon after. Brettler emailed the faculty asking whether anybody was interested in a project about the Dead Sea Scrolls, and Chasalow was intrigued by the idea. He emailed Brettler proposing the composition of a piece in relation to the scrolls, and Brettler consented, setting the idea into motion. He took this opportunity to blend the sounds of the flute, guitar, percussion and electronics with the vocals of Tony Arnold-the commended soprano of the International Contemporary Ensemble-to heighten the ancient scrolls. Brettler explained in his email that as a biblical scholar, he had been intrigued by the project. The insight the scrolls provide into how the Bible developed and the light they shine on the development of Judaism fascinates him. With his expertise and passion for the project, Brettler assisted Chasalow with deciphering the text. The project was not without difficulties, however. "The most challenging [part] was writing out and recording the scrolls that will be sung. The scrolls are written without vowel points, so figuring out how they should be pronounced was very challenging and time-consuming," Brettler said. The piece required a hefty time commitment. "I spent the entire summer starting at the beginning of June [...] writing this music. I didn't finish until the beginning of September, actually," Chasalow said. Despite the challenges, the two enjoyed working with one another. "[Chasalow] is very curious, came up to speed very quickly concerning the scrolls and their content. [He] did a great job, with minimal advice, on selecting scrolls that could work for his new musical composition," Brettler said. Their efforts came to fruition on the night of the concert. The concert began at 8 p.m., headed by three different pieces unrelated to the scrolls before the premiere of the Dead Sea Scrolls piece. The three pieces were "Cendres" (1998) by composer Kaija Saariaho, "The Furies" (1984) by Chasalow himself, and "The Riot" (1993) by Jonathan Harvey. Throughout the performance, palpable excitement hung thick in the atmosphere, and the audience sat hushed throughout until the start of intermission, after which the Dead Sea Scrolls piece, "Where It Finds Nothing But the Wind", finally made its debut, performed live by the aforementioned soprano Tony Arnold and professional musicians from all around the country: Flutist Sue-Ellen Hershman-Tcherepnin, percussionist Jonathan Hess and guitarist Daniel Lippel. The texts in the piece draw several selections from the scrolls, ranging from Psalms to the lurid tale in the Book of Enoch, in which celestial beings look down on earth, pick women to bear them children and copulate with them. The women give birth to giants who drink blood and rampage on earth. Following this are selections from the War Scroll and benedictions. "Imagery in these texts is everything from what you'd expect which is 'prayerful,' and the voice of the individual song is very intimate and pastoral-beautiful. The language is fantastic," Chasalow said. The music, the text and Arnold's vocals, blending with the fragmented voices in the piece, enthralled the audience and evoked soft gasps of surprise from several. For one of the movements starting with the flutist, Chasalow commented, "It's an unusual sound, and it's very distant. It's like an ancient voice," he said. Chasalow also made a note on audience feedback. "You raise the bar very high as a composer when you write a big piece like this. And I'm just hoping that people will take that ride, and get lost in the world of those texts ... leave feeling that they've experienced something new," he said.
(10/07/13 4:00am)
How does caffeine give us energy? Why do we sneeze? What causes a brain freeze when we eat cold food too fast? If you've ever asked yourself these questions or wondered about the science behind parts of your day-to-day life, you may find answers on Bite Sci-zed, the YouTube channel that Alex Dainis '11 has created. In the spirit of making education available without barriers, Dainis has created a series of free science-related educational videos on her YouTube channel, Bite Sci-zed. Like its name suggests, Bite Sci-zed provides "short, informative, informational science videos" about interesting topics that will be "open and accessible to anyone, no matter what their scientific background," Dainis said. Bite Sci-zed currently has around 15,000 subscribers and is approaching one million channel views. Much of the videos' subject matter comes from "questions or conversations that I have with my friends," she said. For instance, "I was standing around with a bunch of co-workers who were talking about motion sickness, and I thought that was a really cool question, so I went and researched it and made a video." Other Bite Sci-zed videos are inspired by science-related current events or news stories. A key aspect of Bite Sci-zed is that it remains a free resource. "I am really a huge believer in the fact that my videos should be free and open to everyone .... Education is not something that should be restricted to people who can pay for it, especially on the Internet," she said. "I want my videos to be open and ready to spread science to anyone with an Internet connection." Though Bite Sci-zed is not Dainis' main focus-she just started at Stanford University, where she is pursuing a Ph.D. in genetics-it is a significant time commitment. If a video is about a subject that Dainis knows well, it may take five hours to make it. If a subject requires a lot of research, it may take Dainis up to 20 hours to create it. Dainis makes all the videos by herself and does all research on her own. Dainis was inspired to start Bite Sci-zed partly as a result of her studies as a Brandeis undergraduate. Dainis double-majored in Biology and Film, Television, and Interactive Media. Her time as a teaching assistant at an undergraduate biology lab "led [her] to realize how much [she] loved teaching and explaining science to people," she said. Dainis spent two years working in Prof. Paul Garrity's (BIOL) lab at Brandeis, where she "fell in love with research, which inspired [her] to go to graduate school," she said. These two unique interests combined helped her create Bite Sci-zed. After graduating from Brandeis, "I was working in film, but I missed teaching people about science," she said, "I love watching the light bulb go off while people learn. I thought I could combine the film stuff and the science and reach people all around the world." Dainis generally tries to aim her videos towards high school or college-age students, but tries to make them accessible to people of varying levels of education. "If you have no background, you should be able to jump right in. And if you know a lot and have a much stronger background, you can still jump in," she said. To keep viewers interested, the videos are staged in a variety of different settings and incorporate many different types of visuals. A video explaining how brain freeze works, for instance, starts out in a kitchen with Dainis making a smoothie. Audience interaction is a big part of the channel: Bite Sci-zed has been viewed in 204 countries and territories. Viewers may notice that many of the videos have subtitles in other languages. Currently, there are videos subtitled in French, Spanish, Hebrew and Russian. Dainis did not originally plan to include subtitles. "The subtitling is actually all viewer-generated. I've had people step up and ask 'Do you mind if I subtitle?'" she said. The impact her videos can have on her audience is one of the most special parts of the experience for Dainis. "I have a really cool community of people who watch," she said. Her favorite messages are the ones she gets from students and teachers. She loves to hear that Bite Sci-zed videos got students interested in science or helped them understand science better. "The fact that a teacher has thought that my video is interesting and education enough to share with students is huge to me. It's the biggest compliment I can get," Dainis said. Dainis' long-term goal after graduate school "is to go into some sort of public science education through film. I really love spreading science to other people. I think it's i-mportant to get it out to as many people as possible," she said. Having knowledge about science, she said, can help people make better decisions. "Knowing just a little more about science can help every moment of your day, from deciding which medications to take, to what food to eat, to how to vote," she said. "If the entire public knows a little more about science, it helps society out. I want to break down the fear people have towards science," she said.
(10/01/13 4:00am)
Today will be one of the more important dates in recent U.S. history, as it will mark the official start of health care exchanges as part of the Affordable Care Act, otherwise known as Obamacare. Today also marks the deadline for a congressional federal spending bill and in an effort to pass a spending bill, the House of Representatives had included a provision to defund Obamacare. Since the spending bill did not pass, the government has officially "shut down." In the midst of this political uncertainty, what is the fate of the Affordable Care Act? Do you believe this saga will ever come to an end? Naomi Shine '15 I think it is highly unlikely that the fate of the Affordable Care Act will be determined by a desperate, last minute attempt made by conservatives in the House of Representatives to defund the bill. With a democratic majority in the Senate united against defunding Obamacare, conservatives in the House of Representatives should be well aware that their efforts to derail the ACA will go unrealized. With many measures of the ACA already in place and health care exchanges opening as scheduled, the question is not whether the ACA will survive this conflict but whether select conservatives will continue to antagonize the ACA or channel their energy into finding ways to improve the ACA to better serve their constituents. Naomi Shine '15 is an undergraduate departmental representative for the Health: Science, Society and Policy major. Andrew Hart, Ph.D. '14 I think the Obamacare "escape fire" has been lit. The political posturing in Washington, D.C. likely adds to the uncertainty that states, health care providers, the business sector and individuals have been dealing with all along, which means some states-and the stakeholders within them-will do better than others in terms of getting people insured. Nothing new there. Prof. Michael Doonan (Heller) recently published his book, which explores American federalism through the development and implementation of health policy. After reading the first several chapters, the message is clear: the buck doesn't stop with the executive branch, the legislative branch, or the states themselves-there's almost always a work-around. Andrew Hart '14 is a Ph.D. candidate at the Heller School for Social Policy and Management and an internship instructor and lecturer in the Health: Science, Society and Policy program. Jennifer Mandelbaum '14 No matter the outcome of the federal spending bill, health care exchanges will open as planned. Due to its funding structure, the ACA is largely protected from setbacks in the annual budget process. Starting Oct. 1, 40 million Americans will be able to sign up for coverage. Attempting to stop further provisions from the ACA from being implemented is not only unprogressive, but also impracticable. In a recent New York Times op-ed, Kentucky governor Steve Beshear writes, "Lack of health coverage puts [citizens'] health and financial security at risk." It is time to stop putting politics ahead of citizens' health care needs. Jennifer Mandelbaum '14 is an undergraduate departmental representative for the Health: Science, Society and Policy major. Russell Leibowitz '14 Just over a year ago Speaker John Boehner was asked whether Republicans would continue to try to repeal the Affordable Care Act. His response was clear: "I think the election changes that. It's pretty clear that the president was reelected." Now, with the Republican Party even more radicalized than it was at the height of the Tea Party three years ago, he's decided to side with the radical right to hold government services and the paychecks of hundreds of thousands of Americans hostage until the conservatives' demands are met. This kind of policy is the height of irresponsibility. Instead of choosing to negotiate on a fair playing field, he's decided to play political games with people's livelihoods. The ACA will remain the law of the land regardless of these Republican tactics while the people suffer from the conservatives' reckless political demands. Russell Leibowitz '14 is the co- president of Brandeis Democrats and a member of Brandeis Academic Debate and Speech Society. Aaron Schluger '14 Regardless of the fate of the government in the upcoming days, the President has affirmed that the Affordable Care Act's health insurance exchanges will open for business amidst a battle of political posturing. On a microscopic level, the effects of a government shutdown will leave a confused public without resources to aid them in navigating the intricacies of participating in health care exchanges. Uncertainty among the American people may lead them to believe that they cannot buy healthcare, when in reality the ACA will indeed go into effect irrespective of the fate of the government. A macroscopic view of the current political landscape concerning the ACA highlights the growing tension regarding the delivery of healthcare in the United States, which remains the only advanced economy that has yet to provide its people with a guarantee of basic health care. The ultimate trial of the long narrative of health care laws in the United States will be whether we can provide for others who need medical attention without the financial ability to secure it for themselves. Aaron Schluger '14 is the president of the Pre-Health society Flora Wang '15 The Affordable Care Act (ACA) has been one of the crucial issues President Barack Obama has campaigned for from the primaries to his presidency. While the Republican Party views the shut down of the government as inevitable and has publicly stated that they are unwilling to accept anything related to Obamacare, the Act will probably pass. It is clear that the current system insufficiently serves the needs of the public health of America and change is needed. If the bill were to pass the Senate without ACA funding, President Obama has threatened to veto it. Hopefully party lines will not stop a necessary act that seeks to lower health care costs for those who need it most and the ACA will pass with sufficient funding to serve that purpose. Flora Wang '15 is an Undergraduate Departmental Representative for Health: Science, Society and Policy.
(10/01/13 4:00am)
On Friday, Sept. 27, a symposium titled "The Axes of Revolution: Space, Time, Idea" took place in the Mandel Center for the Humanities. The symposium was the first of the Mellon Sawyer Seminar series, called "Rethinking the Age of the Revolution." The seminar was organized by professors Jane Kamensky (HIST) and Susan Lanser (ENG), and consisted of three well-established historians speaking about the Haitian, American and French Revolutions. The speakers were Doris Garraway of Northwestern University; Eliga Gould of the University of New Hampshire and Lynn Hunt of the University of California, Los Angeles. The Haitian Revolution, which is considered the only successful slave revolt in history, took place on the French colony of Saint-Domingue. As a scholar of the revolution, Garraway spoke about several concepts, including freedom, sovereignty and human liberty. She also focused on the idea of "unslavery," or the reversal of the subordination that the people of Saint-Domingue faced as colonists, and whether this was even achieved by the revolution. Garraway also addressed the idea of whether or not freedom in the Haitian Revolution had the same meaning as it had in either the American and French Revolutions. She mentioned how the revolution did not necessarily achieve the egalitarian regime that would be imagined from a slave revolt, and instead claimed that "in some instances, freed slaves had precious few more rights than slaves did." She also pointed out the differences between the sovereign and the subject and how such power struggles were evident and important in post-revolution Haiti. Next, Gould spoke regarding the American Revolution, and continued to focus on the concept of nationhood in regard to the American Revolution. He also talked about the concept of "dual sovereignty" as the enterprise within which two forms of political independence and power coexist, which was evident in the post-colonial American Union. Speaking of dual sovereignty, he used the example of the Creek Indians, probably the most powerful Native American tribe in America, and their formation of the Muskogee nation, which failed to be recognized as legitimate by American leaders. He mentioned that "the same dual sovereignty was evident in the attempt to found nations of color, like the state of Muskogee." He concluded by saying that "together, they helped remake the world beyond Europe, a world that we are still very much living in today." Hunt, who instructs a modern civilization course on YouTube, claimed that "the French Revolution is the single most important event in world history." She spoke about how the French Revolution helped shape the meaning of modernity in the coming centuries in both France and eventually the world as well. She also specifically talked about the concept of time and its value in terms of revolution. Hunt claimed that "the past would be what had to be overcome in order to make a better future" as the revolution resulted in an array of questions and uncertainties in French society. Hunt also explained that there is a clear connection "between revolution, time and the hidden dynamic of events." By studying the concept of time, Hunt claimed that a new type of determinism has emerged, questioning the idea of human free will. As a result, not only was there the emergence of coffee houses and the birth of the historical novel but also a surge in the importance allotted to studying social science and legislation. After the three speakers finished, there was a round-table discussion during which the presenters discussed points they found interesting from each other's lectures. For instance, Hunt asked Garraway if she could share more information regarding how difficult it must have been for this new nation of Haiti to be composed of mostly foreigners, to which Garraway replied that actions were taken to "pay homage" to the ancestral history of the people but there was still the question of living in a world with a new order. Attendees were also able to ask questions and share their comments. For instance, Prof. John Plotz (ENG) was particularly curious about the rise of coffeehouses and birth of the novel in relation to the theme of the event. Another attendee commented on the Haitian and the Irish Revolutions, which are similar in that they are not very well-known revolutions. Lanser shared that "We received funding from the Mellon Foundation for an ongoing year long seminar in which we will be exploring the American, Haitian and French Revolutions but also revolutions in general. In total, there will be four public events, bringing together people from all disciplines interested in learning about revolutions." Although the majority of the attendees at the event were faculty members, a few students did go to the event. Attendee Cynthia Jackson '16 said in an interview with the Justice that she thought "it was pretty cool that Brandeis provided the opportunity [for me] to listen and that it was open to everyone. It was new and interesting and I had never heard about the Haitian Revolution before and I found it very interesting." *
(10/01/13 4:00am)
Yesterday, University President Frederick Lawrence sent an email to the Brandeis community announcing the formation of an exploratory committee on fossil fuel divestment. The committee, which includes alumni, students, faculty and administration, will assess the University's current investment strategies "as they relate to the fossil fuel divestment movement," as stated in the email. Dean of Student Financial Services Peter Giumette is serving as the chair of the committee. Student Union President Ricky Rosen '14, Rohan Bhatia '14, Mike Abrams '15, Rachel Soule '12 and Colin Mew MBA '14 are the students and alumni serving on the committee, while Prof. John Ballantine (IBS), Arts and Sciences and Associate Provost Prof. Dan Perlman (BIOL) and Prof. Eric Olson (Heller) are the faculty members serving on the committee. Ex officios on the committee include Senior Vice President for Students and Enrollment Andrew Flagel, Senior Vice President for Communication Ellen de Graffenreid, Senior Vice President and Chief of Staff David Bunis '83, Chief Investment Officer Nick Warren and member of the Board of Trustees Investment Committee Len Potter '83. According to the email, the committee will be "analyzing the social and environmental justice impacts of the fossil fuel companies in which Brandeis holds investments ... modeling and understanding the financial impact of divestiture of the endowment from all or part of the companies analyzed ... establishing a list of alternative investment options including investment in socially and environmentally sustainable holdings or funds" and "addressing a more global objective of reducing the endowment's carbon footprint across each sector of our investment portfolio, utilizing Socrates scores and other Socially Responsible Investments indices." The committee will produce a report of its findings and recommendations to the University. According to Rosen, there is no definite timeline for when a proposal will be complete. However, Rosen said in an interview with the Justice that the committee will be meeting every few weeks, and that all goals should be met by the end of the year. In fact, according to both Rosen and the email from Lawrence, the committee began to meet over the summer. The committee has met with Warren to discuss "the impact on funding and endowment, and the best way to go about it" thus far, Rosen said. Abrams, a member of Students for a Just and Stable Future who has been an active member of the divestment campaign since last spring, wrote in an email to the Justice that the committee will continue to look at whether or not it is "feasible for the University, how will it affect the endowment-either negatively from divesting or positively from re-investing in alternative energy sources, and it will discuss other options for Brandeis to reduce its carbon footprint and be a more sustainable institution." Soule, who is involved in the committee because she was acting as the alumni campaign coordinator for Brandeis's fossil fuel divestment campaign, wrote in an email to the Justice that "[t]he important thing to remember is that this is not just about Brandeis, and this is not just about our generation. This is about what our university community can do to tip political will away from the industry locking us into catastrophic climate change. It is about demanding justice for our generation and generations to come." De Graffenreid wrote in an email to the Justice that "the discussions I have been involved in have been very open and all options seem to be on the table for consideration (i.e. nothing is definitely under consideration or definitely excluded from consideration)." Last April, the Brandeis student body voted 79 percent to 21 percent in favor of the University's divestment from fossil fuel companies. The vote did not have the authority to decide whether or not Brandeis would divest, but showed that the student body officially supports divestment. "[The divestment referendum] was the major driving force behind this. ... A large majority of students felt this issue was a priority," said Rosen. "The formation of the divestment committee showed that we are serious about this cause. The difficulty will be figuring out how we can make this a reality." Rosen said that the majority of the students on the committee are members of Students for Enivronmental Action and SJSF, who first initiated the movement on campus, and that the Union is the only other major student club or organization involved. According to Abrams, his fundamental concern is the University student body. "We believe in our University's mission as a social justice institution and feel that divestment would be an excellent way to fulfill that goal. Climate change threatens human rights all across the globe, impacts people disproportionately based on race and class, and represents a real threat to our future," he wrote. Despite the formation of the committee, the decision regarding whether or not to divest lies in the hands of the Board of Trustees, and not with the president or student body, according to Bhatia, a member of SJSF. According to the Brandeis website, "The Board of Trustees ... is responsible for and is the final authority on all aspects of the University's operations." Bhatia wrote in an email to the Justice that the committee intends to present its research to the Board of Trustees, and only then can the a decision be made by the Board. Though Brandeis has not yet decided to divest, SJSF has no plans to give up the goal of divestment from fossil fuel companies. Bhatia wrote in email to the Justice that "the Divest Brandeis campaign will continue to put pressure on the administration and the committee members to avoid stalling tactics and make sure that a decision is made as soon as possible." * -Tate Herbert, Sara Dejene and Sam Topper contributed reporting
(10/01/13 4:00am)
With the crisis in Syria dominating the news, the Crown Center for Middle East Studies hosted its kick-off event for the year to discuss Syria. The panel, moderated by Judy and Sidney Swartz Director of the Crown Center Prof. Shai Feldman (POL), touched on all aspects of the crisis including American interests in Syria, the patronage of Iran and Russia to Syria and the ethical implications of an American military strike. The event, titled "Syrian Catastrophe: Regional Implications," was the first of the Crown Center's kick-off events to focus exclusively on a particular crisis in the Middle East, according to Feldman. Feldman opened the discussion by asking the panelists about their views on the current state of affairs in Syria. The panelists uniformly painted a grim picture of human suffering in Syria and warned of the conflict's spillover into neighboring countries. Mona Yacoubian, a senior adviser on the Middle East at the Stimson Center, said that "there are no winners right now in Syria." Yacoubian emphasized the number of refugees created by the conflict. At the moment, she said, about one third of Syria's population has been displaced, and that number is expected to rise. "It is a conflict that is no longer contained to Syria but has had adverse effects [on] basically just about all of Syria's neighbors," said Yacoubian. "Today I would characterize the situation in Syria as being one of a sectarian civil war." Yacoubian called the situation a "protracted military stalemate," as neither the Syrian regime nor the rebels can prevail. Frederic Hof, a former State Department official and now a senior fellow with the Atlantic Council's Rafik Hariri Center for the Middle East, said the "most salient aspect of war in Syria today is the [Bashar al-] Assad regime using artillery, aircraft, rockets and missiles against civilian populations in areas that it does not occupy." "This in my view is the main obstacle to any kind of a political, negotiated way forward," he said. Joseph Bahout, a professor of Middle Eastern Politics at Institut d'etudes politiques de Paris, a Parisian university commonly known as Sciences Po, agreed with Yacoubian and Hof's assessment of the situation but added that it is "asymmetric warfare," and that the rebels' guerilla warfare is more successful than is usually portrayed in the Western press. Bahout warned that if the situation continues as it is, Syria could become permanently fragmented and partitioned. The panelists differed in some respects in their assessments of the interests of the United States in the conflict. Hof said that the United States has national security interests in Syria, as the chaos there has the potential to spill over into surrounding countries and harm U.S. allies in the region. Moreover, Hof said that "there's the specter of Syria just becoming frankly what it may have already become, a total failed state-a carcass," that al-Qaeda and terrorist groups can feed on. "Syria can become to its neighbors what Somalia has become to Kenya," he said. Hof also raised the doctrine of Responsibility to Protect as a potential U.S. interest: "How does the U.S. react to incidents of mass murder in faraway places?" Prof. Eva Bellin (POL) focused on the moral dimension of intervention: "America's intervention should not be limited to just when our national interests are threatened. I think we have a moral obligation to step in when there are huge moral outrages like genocide ... however we are not omnipotent," and cannot always respond to incidences of moral outrage, said Bellin. She proposed a two-pronged test to help guide decisions on intervention. First, there must be a reasonable chance of success, and second, the operation cannot be unreasonably costly. Yacoubian responded with an outline of what she views as three core interests that may draw a response from the United States: Syria's geostrategic importance, the presence of chemical weapons in Syria and the burgeoning arena for jihadists in Syria. Yacoubian said her concern regarding intervention is whether U.S. action would "help to protect Syrian civilians or ... further endanger Syrian civilians." The discussion then turned to Russia, a major international player whose president, Vladimir Putin, helped pursue a diplomatic solution as President Barack Obama was pushing for the use of force in Syria. Hof said he thinks Putin is interested in the survival of the Assad regime so that Putin can show the strength of Russia when it stands by its allies. Yacoubian had a slightly different view, and questioned whether Assad's use of chemical weapons could have been "beyond the pale" for Russia. In this respect, Yacoubian said the U.S. and Russia have shared interests in preventing the spread of chemical weapons and the spread of jihadists. On Iran, Yacoubian similarly said that Assad's use of chemical weapons might have crossed a line for Iran. Overall, the panelists painted a dire picture of Syria, but Bellin said she was more optimistic after the discussion than she had been previously because she sees possibilities for encouraging Russia to step away from supporting Assad. *
