(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. *
(09/30/13 4:00am)
Imagine if the turbulent times in American history could be captured and retold by an eyewitness who personally served eight presidents over a period of 35 years. What if this man was African-American and saw first-hand the racial tensions within the White House and the country from the time of Harry Truman to Reagan? The life of that man, Eugene Allen, inspired Lee Daniels' The Butler and inspired Matthew Salloway '00, to produce it. The box office success stars Forest Whitaker as the head butler of the White House. He portrays a personal connection to our history by witnessing dramatic changes that encased American society from the civil rights movement to Vietnam up until the election of President Barack Obama. "I was always interested in entertainment and arts but I never necessarily ever thought of the idea of being a producer or getting into production when I was younger or even at Brandeis," Salloway said. Salloway helped bring this story to the big screen as an executive producer of the film. "It's an inspirational story about how one person was able to live through this time and how it affected him and how he really tried to channel that adversity into making the world better for African Americans and minorities," Salloway said. Salloway double-majored in Politics and American Studies and minored in Near Eastern and Judaic Studies and Legal Studies. In addition to his classes, Salloway served on the Student Union Senate for three years and was president of the Pre-Law Society. "I just had a great experience academically, with the small class sizes, the teachers and the staff and the students. A lot of my close friends to this day are from college," Salloway said. Salloway viewed many of his professors at Brandeis as mentors who helped shape his educational experience. "I would say Prof. Mary Davis (AMST) was my favorite professor. I took two or three courses with her in American Studies. ... She really brought the courses to life," Salloay said. It seems natural that Salloway would produce a film centered within the civil rights era because both of his parents pursued altruistic careers. His mother runs a nonprofit organization that helps battered women, the mentally ill, the homeless and veterans and his father works in government. "I was always raised wanting to help people, then decided that I'd go into politics or government. Then the decision was to go to law school," Salloway said. After taking political sciences courses and interning at the State House for two summers, he decided to pursue a traditional career as a lawyer and went to work for a law firm. Salloway spent a year before law school at Harvard Business School as a research associate in the Boston area. He then received his law degree from University of Pennsylvania. After completing law school he worked for a corporate law firm in New York City. So how exactly did a traditional law career lead this Brandeis alumnus to produce a film that is ranked number one at the box office? It was after he left the law firm in New York City and started his own law firm called Salloway Law Group, which he still owns to this day. "It was really through that experience of being a lawyer to everyone from professional athletes to small businesses, business executives, producers and directors and representing the legal side that I got into the business side, so it was really through my legal practice," Salloway explained. Although he was never involved in film at Brandeis, Salloway produced several other films and a few shows on Broadway before producing The Butler. Some of his previous works include So Undercover, a film starring Miley Cyrus and Ides of March, a political thriller. Salloway is passionate about The Butler. "It was a movie that we felt had to be made," he said. "It was the script that really stood out and the story of a man who served his country over the course of thirty-five years and was exposed to so many historical and groundbreaking events in our history." A landmark aspect of The Butler is the amount of historical context included within the movie. The film is not a historical documentary, however, but a real life reenactment of one human's experience. Therefore, the film has many meanings and subplots. "There's a father-son story, there's a husband-wife story and an employer-employee story.... It's an inspirational story about how one person was able to live through this time and how it affected him and how he really tried to channel that adversity into making the world better for African Americans and minorities," Salloway said. Salloway explained that this historical narrative is still relevant in today's world. "It gives us some historical context for how we got where we are. Especially now that President Obama's in office it shows how far we've come as a nation even though we still have a long way to go," he said. There were many memorable moments on set for Salloway. "I think the greatest memories were watching the presidents recreate historical scenes. It was seeing these scenes with Robin Williams, James Marsden, Liev Schreiber getting into roles of being president and recreate various historical events that occurred," he said. In addition, Salloway's dedication to his academics at Brandeis mirrors his professional career after Brandeis. "I think Brandeis has prepared me by giving me the skills to succeed in the world, as a producer, as a lawyer and just as a person," Salloway said. "I worked very hard at Brandeis and certainly had a lot of fun but if I could go back I would be just a little bit more relaxed and enjoy the four years that we don't always appreciate as we go through. College is a special time, a time that everyone should appreciate and enjoy." "I think we just have to work hard and do the best we can. Control the things that you can control and not worry about the things that you can't," Salloway said.
(09/24/13 4:00am)
While I usually would not use Fox News as writing inspiration, a recent article was both too interesting and relevant to let go. The article explained how the Ohio State University College of Medicine has changed its curriculum to adapt to rapidly expanding medical knowledge and technology by focusing on teaching students how to learn through a more individualized approach with more hands-on aspects than the traditional route of medical school. OSU College of Medicine's progressive curriculum is one example of how the face of education is finally changing to keep up with societal and technological advances. But the changes that are finally being put in place are long overdue and not extensive enough. From students at an elementary school level to students at a graduate school level, there should be greater incorporation of hands-on learning and more focus on how the individual learns. According to OSU College of Medicine's website, their new curriculum, titled Lead.Serve. Inspire., focuses on self-directed learning to tailor the medical school experience more to the individual. The LSI curriculum integrates interacting with patients into the beginning of medical school, rather than the path that most medical schools follow: textbook learning for the first two years and more experiential learning in the last two years. Each student is given an iPad on which they can access class lectures and other resources. Furthermore, health care economics classes are included in the curriculum to prepare students to become a doctor beyond treating an illness, such as managing a practice. The integration of experience with textbooks and lectures is equally important on an undergraduate level, because an undergraduate education should prepare students for a career or for graduate school. Hands-on experience provides students with the opportunity to explore career paths and apply what is learned in the classroom to real-life situations. And, although the experience may not be career-specific like it would be on a graduate level, it still helps students gain work experience and make connections with people outside of their university. The purpose of the changes in OSU College of Medicine's curriculum and method of teaching is to adapt to "the shift in the nature of disease from acute illness to chronic multisystem disease, the technological explosion, and an ever-increasing knowledge about disease and management," according to the OSU College of Medicine website. The way illness is perceived has shifted and the range of knowledge regarding health and illness is constantly expanding. OSU College of Medicine's new curriculum is set up to work with these changes. Additionally, the curriculum change will help future doctors provide a better experience for patients by having medical school students interact with patients earlier on than in the traditional medical school route. Instead of focusing on just classroom learning during the first two years of school, medical school students are "trained as medical assistants in the first six weeks, and within eight weeks they are seeing patients as health coaches," according to the article. The expansion in knowledge and accessibility of information extends beyond just medical education, and methods of education are slow to adapt. The most common way of teaching is still sitting in a room with one person lecturing. And we still see this in college lecture halls where a professor talks at you while you sit and scribble down some notes if you're interested enough. While the information you need from textbooks (physiology, biochemistry, pharmacology, etc.) is important in becoming a doctor, equally important is a more hands-on aspect: early exposure to patients. This kind of philosophy and method of education could and should be applied in other fields and areas of study. Brandeis is also moving in this hands-on learning direction, albeit slowly and maybe not as effectively as it potentially could. Some classes like "General Biology Lab" and "Deconstructing War, Building Peace" are experiential learning courses, which according to the Brandeis website let students develop "knowledge, skills, and values from direct experiences." Some of the majors even require an internship and students also have the opportunity to participate in a Justice Brandeis Semestery. While these are great, they have their limitations. They are difficult to fit into a busy schedule and can only accommodate so many students. Brandeis could offer more EL courses and make more hands-on education opportunities available. This can be done by making EL meeting times when most students don't have class or by having a quasi-JBS that takes place on Tuesdays and Fridays so that students can still take other classes. It is especially difficult for science students to take advantage of Brandeis' hands-on opportunities, which can be fixed by creating a science-specific JBS or something of a similar concept that works with the science classes. When Brandeis students are able to take advantage of these more interactive experiences beyond the lecture hall, it provides more than just knowledge. According to the OSU College of Medicine's website, one of the key aspects of the new LSI curriculum is the early integration of the information learned in textbooks with the hands-on aspects of being a doctor. For all levels of education, hands-on experiences also keep students grounded and motivated when the studying and paper writing gets overwhelming. Additionally, the experiences provide an opportunity to learn what cannot be taught through a textbook or a lecture. Curricula across the various levels of education should follow in the steps of OSU College of Medicine and other institutions like Brandeis that are shifting the way students learn. The hand-on experience is invaluable (especially with much of what we learn in the classroom so easily accessible) and prepares students just as much if not more for what will come after graduation. *
(09/24/13 4:00am)
* Correction appended. University President Frederick Lawrence's total compensation for 2011 calendar year came in at $758,735, according to University tax forms. This is the first time that Lawrence's full salary has been released since he became Brandeis' eighth president in January 2011. Lawrence received a base pay of $539,446 and $166,397 in other reportable compensation, and an estimated additional compensation of $52,892, according to the 2011 Form 990. The form also shows that his salary includes a housing and travel allowance. University President Emeritus Jehuda Reinharz was also included on the 2011 form, making $591,253 in reportable income and $34,135 in estimated additional compensation. Reinharz made $1,536,401 in salary, benefits and other compensation in 2009, according to that year's Form 990. According to the 2010 Chronicle of Higher Education ranking, Reinharz was the 43rd-highest paid private university president in the nation and fourth in Massachusetts that year. Reinharz was University president from 1994 to 2011. He announced his resignation in 2009 following controversy with the Rose Art Museum and remained in the position until Lawrence took over on Jan. 1, 2011. According to Senior Vice President for Finance and Chief Financial Officer Marianne Cwalina, a portion of the listed salary is comprised of taxable benefits. No deferred compensation was paid to Reinharz. Cwalina declined to comment on the specifics of Reinharz's contract, however. Reinharz is currently employed by the University as the Richard Koret Professor of Modern Jewish History and director of the Tauber Institute for the Study of European Jewry, where he is responsible for leading the institute's programs and research direction. Reinharz also works closely with Lawrence, the Board of Trustees and other senior administrators as president emeritus, Cwalina explained. The current national trend shows university president salaries are on the rise. According to Tufts University's 2011 Form 990, former president Lawrence Bacow received about $793,715 in total compensation for that year. Bacow was replaced by Anthony Monaco in 2011, but the forms that would indicate Monaco's full salary have yet to be released. Boston University President Robert Brown received $1,381,264 in total compensation for the 2011 calendar year, according to Boston University's 2011 Form 990. Harvard University President Drew Gilpin Faust received $875,331 in compensation that same year, according to the university's 2011 form 990. President John Sexton of New York University, which now is ranked number 32 in the nation along with Brandeis and the College of William and Mary by U.S. News & World Report, received $1,476,625 in total compensation for 2011, according to the university's 2011 Form 990. The Chronicle of Higher Education executive compensation rankings for 2011 have yet to be released. However, Lawrence would be placed at about 69 in the nation in comparison with other presidents' salaries on the 2010 rankings. Senior Vice President and Chief of Staff David Bunis' reportable income was listed on the Brandeis Form 990 as $467,263, with an additional estimated compensation of $3,824. Senior Vice President for Students and Enrollment Andrew Flagel's salary is unlisted on the Form 990. According to Cwalina, this is because he "did not receive sufficient compensation in 2011 to be considered a key employee for IRS reporting purposes," as he officially started working at Brandeis on Sept. 1, 2011. However, Cwalina did explain that neither Flagel nor Lawrence earn additional compensation for the courses that they teach. According to Cwalina, Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences Susan Birren and former Vice Provost for Academic Affairs Michaele Whelan are not included on the Form 990 because they report to Provost Steve Goldstein '78 and, therefore, "are not considered key employees or officers under IRS reporting guidelines." In total, the University spent $4,414,815 on compensation of current officers, directors, trustees and key employees, according to the 2011 Form 990. President Emeritus Jehuda Reinharz did not receive any deferred compensation during the 2011 calendar year, as the Justice was initially informed and consequently reported. A portion of his salary was therefore not deferred compensation, but rather taxable benefits.
(09/24/13 4:00am)
The Lemberg Children's Center, currently located at Lemberg Hall next to the Brown Social Science Center, will move to a new building in late winter or early spring, according to Howard Baker, executive director of the center. The new center will be on a large area of land between Old South Street and South Street, facing Gordon Field. Today, there will be a groundbreaking ceremony at the construction area. Baker said that University President Frederick Lawrence will open the ceremony. Baker said that he expects the mayor of Waltham, Jannette McCarthy, to attend, as well as Massachusetts State Sen. Mike Barrett and two state representatives for Waltham, John Lawn and Tom Stanley. About 30 Lemberg students wearing hard hats and shovels in hand will help the honored guests make the first cuts into the soil over which the new center will stand. The ceremony will also feature songs by the children and speeches about the opening. According to Baker, the building itself will be 6,000 square feet and is estimated to cost about 2.5 million dollars. The project is to be funded largely by the childcare tuition costs as enrollment increases. Once Lemberg moves, the Crown Center for Middle East Studies will move into Lemberg Hall. The new building will provide various services that Lemberg Hall has been unable to host. It will have two stories and will be fully handicap accessible, according to Baker. The interior will hold six classrooms instead of the two that are currently in Lemberg Hall, as well as three smaller rooms for meetings and activities. The building will also have observation windows that look into the classrooms and a research lab. Baker said in an interview with the Justice that the research lab was "an original feature of this facility, which we lost a long time ago because we needed space for a kitchen." The observation windows are intended for "anyone who wants to observe what the teachers are doing or what the children are doing in the classrooms," he said. Baker also envisioned expansion of the building's functions. He discussed using the new building as an evening and weekend children's activity center for outside events. "I was thinking it would be a great place for ... classes in learning how to play various musical instruments," as well as art, painting and dance classes taught by Brandeis students. Lemberg sent the first proposal for the construction of a new building as early as 1980. "I have felt for a long time that we should have toddlers and young kids and that we should expand in that direction," said Baker. According to Baker, long waiting lists to get into Lemberg are evidence of need in the community for expansion in toddler care. "It has been common for people to ... apply to Lemberg for their two-year-old when the child hasn't even been born," added Baker. Lemberg's maximum group size of toddlers, which had already been limited by the small size of classrooms, was reduced from nine to six. This change impacted Lemberg's ability to provide care for infants and toddlers, according to Baker. "We found that the renovations to Lemberg Hall would be so costly that ... we decided the best thing to do would be to build a new building from scratch," said Baker. He added that support from the administration was instrumental to the project as well, particularly from Mark Collins, the vice president of administration, and Provost Steve Goldstein '78, who helped plan funding and arranged faculty committees to review the center.
(09/23/13 4:00am)
Do you feel insecure because you feel less experienced or knowledgeable than your peers? Even for some wildly talented and successful people, feelings of worthlessness and incompetence follow them throughout their careers. Such feelings are symptoms of a psychological phenomenon known as "imposter syndrome," a condition in which people have a difficult time recognizing their achievements. Although it is currently not considered a psychological disorder or listed in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, more research is being conducted on it and treatment is available in the form of therapy. On Monday, Sept. 16, the Women in Science Initiative at Brandeis held an event entitled "Imposter Syndrome Panel." The event was originally scheduled to be held in the Gerstenzang Science Library but was moved to a neighboring classroom due to the very high volume of attendees. More than 40 people attended the event. The speakers at the event included Sue Lindquist, Ph.D., of the Whitehead Institute of Biomedical Research at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and winner of the National Medal of Science, and Prof. Judith Herzfeld (CHEM), Prof. Gabriella Sciolla (PHYS) and Prof. Daniel Ruberman (MATH). The panel consisted of the professors sharing instances their lives when they felt like "imposters" and advising students on how to overcome moments of insecurity that can be experienced by graduates and undergraduates of all disciplines, though given their backgrounds much of their advice was geared toward students in the sciences. Lindquist spoke first and shared her anxieties as a graduate student, fearful she did not belong among her more intelligent peers. "Applying to schools like Harvard University, MIT University and Stanford University for graduate school scared the Jesus out of me," she said. Eventually, Lindquist rose above her fears. "If you have a passion for what you're doing, just keep on going and eventually you will realize that you are not an imposter," she said. Sciolla also shared her experiences with imposter syndrome on her path to success. Sciolla, who studied at the University of Turin in Italy, spoke more specifically about the challenges that she faced as she was studying to be a physicist, such as the difficulties she faced because she was not a native English speaker. Sciolla also explained how insecurity carries on after being a student, by mentioning that competition does not fade once the GPA disappears and that measuring one's comparative success only becomes more difficult. In spite of the fact that she still encounters insecurity on occasion, she has changed her mind set. "Nobody asks you to do something that you are not ready for," she said. Next to speak was Herzfeld, who expressed gratitude for receiving a college education at Barnard College, an institution that encouraged women to succeed in science. As Herzfeld shared her story, she described the advice she received from her mother when she was struggling. "You can't expect more than the best from yourself and no one else can either," she said. Ruberman continued the panel discussion by sharing his experience with imposter syndrome when he began graduate school at the University of California, Berkeley. He expressed how nervous he felt while discussing his first math test with his peers, who seemed much more confident with their performance. Ruberman also said "throughout high school and college, [he] realized that [he] was actually very lazy." He further explained that because he did not want his peers to find out that he was lazy, he "decided to work hard to hide [his] laziness." This sparked laughter among the audience. After this portion of the event, the panelists answered questions from the audience. One question that arose was from a student who asked how he could know if he was in the right field. Sciolla encouraged students to ask their professors whether the professors can imagine the student in that field, with which Lindquist disagreed, claiming that professors may not always give the most accurate answers to such questions. Another student asked for advice on how to get past the obstacles they may face while studying. The panelists said that mistakes will always occur, but what is most important is to learn from one's mistakes so that they are not repeated. "It is good to be ambitious, but you should not hold unrealistic expectations for yourself," Ruberman said. The speakers also discussed the benefits of collaboration and shared how they were often afraid of asking questions when they were in class, which the panelists said was a common fear among students. "I always tell my students that you can email me your question if you are too shy to ask in class and then I post the question without the name for everyone to see," Sciolla said. Brittney Gardner (GRAD) a student studying Neuroscience, attended the event. "It was really good to hear professors share their experiences and to know that they also had a hard time to be successful. It was nice to hear them be honest and open," she said. Attendee Sara Gelles-Watnick '17 said that "It enlightened me as to what the future might bring if I continue to pursue science. "In advanced math class with upperclassmen, [I related with] the words of Lindquist since I often feel worried to speak up. I would like to see more symposiums like this in the future and more Brandeis professors in this type of setting," she said.
(09/23/13 4:00am)
The Irving and Edyth Usen Castle is one of the most well-known buildings on campus. Whether or not you've actually visited the Castle, you have probably heard rumors of its stairs that lead to nowhere, creaks and cracks on the floor, and the pie-shaped rooms. The legend, often told on prospective student tours, begins with John Hall Smith, the quirky founder of the Middlesex College of Medicine and Surgery, and a visit to Scotland. According to the tale, Smith came across a castle while in Scotland and decided he wanted to recreate the castle on the campus of his school. Smith approached the owners of the castle for blueprints, but they refused to give them to him because the castle was a family heirloom. Smith hired artists to draw the outside of the castle, with the intention of reconstructing it from the outside in. Once he approved the drawings the artists made, Smith hired architects to build the castle according to the pictures he gave them. The tour guide talking points go on to assert that the "architectural quirks" are a result of its construction based on images of the outside and not actual floor plans. This legend, told on tour after tour, is not quite accurate, however. It blends history and myths to created a kind of "mythistory." Middlesex University was an outgrowth of the smaller Middlesex College, which was absorbed into the larger university in 1914. Up until the late 1920's, it shared a campus with University of Massachusetts. When the shared campus got too crowded for both universities, John Hall Smith purchased 100 acres of land for the college in 1928. This land would eventually become the campus of Brandeis University. An ambitious man, Smith "wanted to build a structure with a distinct architectural style that would assert a strong presence for the university at its new location," according to a 1998 senior thesis, "Unlocking Doors to the Past and the Future: An Architectural and Social Exploration of the Irving and Edyth Usen Castle", written by Amy Debra Finstein '98. Contrary to the myth told on tours, he did not choose one castle to replicate. Instead, the castle combines a plethora of features from different buildings and castles throughout England and Ireland. Considering Smith was not a trained architect, his construction of the castle was extraordinary. Historical records say little about the Castle as being devised from the outside in, but its construction is unique nonetheless. Instead of using stone-upon-stone construction as the exterior suggests, the building is actually reinforced with poured concrete. The castle was completed over a period of 12 years, due to financial crises that impeded the building from being completed all at once. The oddly shaped rooms probably came about through renovations done over the years since Brandeis acquired it. During the years of World War II, the university suffered from severe financial crises and in the 1944-1945 school year, the university was forced to discontinue most of its courses. Middlesex University had its last graduating class in 1947, and Brandeis was founded in 1948. As it is used today, the Castle houses sophomores in a variety of different living arrangements that range from singles to suites. However, when John Hall Smith first had the Castle built on his campus, it was used for many things. Among its uses were science lecture halls, laboratories, libraries, and administrative offices. However, when Brandeis acquired the campus, most of it needed renovations, including the Castle. In fact, founding Brandeis president Abram Sachar claimed the Castle was an unacceptable location for labs due to its poor ventilation. As a result, it instead was home to an infirmary, dining hall, and at one point even a gymnasium. Brandeis has made many renovations to the building in the past few decades. They've plastered over what were originally intricate ceilings, replaced ornate wooden doors and arches with metal panels, and painted the walls. Josh Spiro '13 worked in the archives in the library and grew interested in how the Castle became what it is today. From his perspective, the way the castle is today is a result of these renovations. Spiro speculated that, "the complete Castle in the '40s, pre Brandeis, probably made perfect architectural sense. Everything connected inside and there were probably no stairs to nowhere or other bizarre features," he said. The admissions office creates the script the tour guides use when giving their tours. Senior Vice President for Students and Enrollment Andrew Flagel addressed in an email to the Justice the frustration of never being able to know the whole story of how the Castle came to be with 100% certainty. "By definition, a myth is not incorrect. To my knowledge what is suggested to be minor discrepancies in the story seem to be either honest errors or misunderstanding, or they are, potentially, correct," he wrote. Flagel also stated that "I was not aware [the castle myth] was an issue." Despite the historically questionable story told on admissions tours, students enjoy living in the Castle, which, no matter how it was built, remains Brandeis' most iconic piece of architecture. Max Shpilman '16 said that "choosing the Castle for housing was a superb choice." - Jaime Kaiser contributed reporting.
(09/17/13 4:00am)
Past US wars lack defensive reason To the Editor: I was surprised to read in Noah Horwitz's '16 recent op-ed ("Syria comparisons to Iraq are misinformed and incorrect," The Justice, Sept. 10) that "The Iraq War is the only time in the nation's history that we invaded an overseas sovereign state with absolutely no immediate defensive reason." What about, in fairly recent historical memory,the Bay of Pigs invasion of Cuba in 1961 (under President John Kennedy), the invasion of Grenada in 1983 ("Operation Urgent Fury," under President Ronald Reagan), the invasion of Panama in 1989 ("Operation Just Cause", under President George Bush the first), the previous invasion of Iraq in 1990 ("Operation Desert Storm", under President Bush the first), and the invasion of Haiti in 1994 (under President Bill Clinton)? This is only a partial list. Then, certainly, there was the Vietnam War from 1961 to 1973, under Presidents Kennedy, Johnson and Nixon, which included military destruction in Laos, Thailand and Cambodia. This warfare included our dropping the chemicals napalm and Agent Orange on civilians. Chemical weapons. These were, to use the columnist's words, "invasions of overseas sovereign states"-about that there is no doubt. Was there in these cases, really, an "immediate defensive reason" other than hegemony? Who is misinformed and incorrect? -Harry Mairson Prof. Harry Mairson is a professor of Computer Science at Brandeis University.
(09/17/13 4:00am)
What's your major? If you're a first-year like me, and maybe even if you aren't, you've been asked this a lot over these first couple of weeks. Maybe you know for sure that you're a Neuroscience major. Maybe you're kind of sure that you're an English major. Or maybe you have no idea; you feel overwhelmed and unsettled by even labeling yourself with a major. In any case, this seems to be a big topic of discussion (at least until we can all remember each other's names). But it's paramount that we remember why we're in school in the first place. We are not here just to get a job; we're here to learn and discover-not just about the periodic table, but about ourselves. We're here to find, explore and develop passions and curiosities. We're here to change the world. While we all have to work to live, we are not alive to work. For many of us, high school wasn't about learning and self-discovery; it was about surviving. We convinced ourselves that if we didn't get into the elite IVIES (or Brandeis), we'd end up homeless on the streets. And so it follows that choosing a major became strictly an economic analysis-the safest path into the highest-paying job. A little bit of research yields that engineering, computer science, finance and of course, law and health, come up at the top of that list. According to a recent Forbes article, the average starting salary of engineers is $63,000, while the humanities and social sciences scrape by with $37,000-sorry English majors. But performing such an analysis and calculating our chances based on income seems like a lousy way to go about living. Going to college gives us more job security and more materialistic satisfaction in the long run, but why are we looking for more security and material satisfaction? Are we insecure and discontent with our lives? I'm certainly not saying that anybody should forgo material altogether and starve on the streets, but chasing materialism will lead to an insatiable hunger of its own. Instead of trying to fill this void of insecurity and dissatisfaction with temporary material, why not fill it with something that lasts? Passions and curiosities never die. You gain and lose wealth because it's out of your control, but what you love to do in this world, what you strive to understand, doesn't go away until you find something more captivating. I won't assert that I know everyone's plans, but I will say that we are outlining the paths we'll follow for the rest of our lives, whether we like it or not. Just think about that for a second. If you still feel like you're working toward an end-that this day, this week, this semester or even this year is a necessary evil to achieve something bigger-I implore you to consider this: college is the something bigger. Take a class or join a club you've always wanted to try, or maybe even one you've never heard of. Don't waste four years of your life (and a lot of money) studying something you decided on in the seventh grade without even exploring your options first. Go outside of your comfort zone and take advantage of your time here. College has literally everything you need to explore each walk of life. In college, you can develop your inner jock, artist, scholar or whatever else. Walking through the Gosman Sports and Convocation Center last week, I saw a machine on the basketball courts that catches your missed shots and passes them right back to you, without you needing to move a step, and a machine in the Linsey pool locker room that dries your bathing suit within seconds. This place has it all. But even if you're not willing to don a speedo or pair of Jordans, how about trying out an intro class you're not familiar with? Linguistics, computer science, sociology, philosophy, theater, Chinese music and its origins-whatever it may be, just go for it. If you end up not liking it that much, no big deal; it's only one class out of around 32 you'll take in college. But if you discover something you really do love, and you find yourself eager for the next class, reading ahead in the textbook and feeling mentally engaged and stimulated, then you've made it. "Work" becomes learning. "College" becomes home. Your "major" becomes your life. You can take this time to do what you want to do. No, don't act impulsively and nap all day, but do let your curiosities take hold of you. Free yourself from society's expectations, curiosities and passions, and become captive to your own. Did you know that "Feminist Sexual Ethics in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam" is a class offered this semester? How about "Mobile Application Development?" Whatever classes you end up taking, majors you end up deciding on and clubs you end up joining or, whatever-do it for yourself. *
(09/17/13 4:00am)
To my fellow first-years, I'd first just like to say congratulations: you are in. And not only are you in, but even more relieving, you are finally out. Out of the prep classes, practice tests and Princeton Review textbooks. Out of giving the College Board dollar after dollar in the vain hope of the investment paying off. Out of the stressful nights tossing and turning over the four hours to follow in the morning, spent in one room filling in Scantron bubbles. Out of the college admissions process, a backward, bizarre game which the player cannot opt out of playing. However, it appears that people on the inside are coming to recognize how twisted the game has become and are attempting to do something about it. In July, Brandeis announced that it would be shifting its admissions process to include a test-flexible option for the Class of 2018. Under the new system, students will no longer be required to submit SAT or ACT scores. They will instead have the choice of sending their main SAT or ACTs, sending several subject-specific tests such as the SAT IIs and APs or fore going any tests at all and instead sending examples of their analytical writing, along with an additional teacher recommendation. This is a step entirely in the right direction. By eliminating the need for students to submit themselves to the culturally-biased, money-grabbing and systemically-broken institution that is standardized testing, Brandeis is demonstrating that it understands the inherent flaws in the testing system. It joins an ever-growing list of test-flexible universities and colleges, including Bard College, Bates College, Roger Williams University and Columbia University. Brandeis' new system is also well structured. Subject-specific test scores allow applicants to demonstrate the areas that they are best at and most interested in, and writing selections allow the readers to learn about the person behind the application form. At the same time, the University is still holding its applicants to a high standard. Those who send subject tests must send at least three different tests-one in math or science; one in English, languages, arts or humanities; and one of your choice-meaning applicants must still demonstrate ability in multiple areas. The third option provides readers with both a student's creative writing (from their main application essay) and analytical writing, giving a sense of their capacity for several different types of thought, as well as their overall writing ability. Critics of the shift have said Brandeis is only changing its policies so that those who do send SAT or ACT scores will be high scoring applicants, thus pushing the school up in rankings to look more prestigious. Fortunately this opinion is misinformed. Admitted students who choose not to send scores in their application will still be asked to submit them after accepting, for internal research on the program and reporting numbers accurately. Indeed, this shift is not about earning brownie points within the admissions business; it is about Brandeis recognizing the flaws in the standardized testing process and doing something to fix it. A school which preaches social justice and diversity simply cannot participate wholeheartedly in the SAT system. Many studies have found that the SAT is less a determinant of how intelligent the test-taker is, than of how white, wealthy and American the test-taker is. In fact, a Jay Rosner study in 2003 found that sample SAT questions which were answered correctly by African-American students were deleted from the SAT. This was done so that the test results would be "consistent" from year to year. The Annie E. Casey Foundation, meanwhile, recently determined that the gap in standardized test scores between rich and poor students is almost 60 percent, twice the gap between white and non-white test-takers. It is ironic that a test whose purpose is to be a universal metric of knowledge is rooted in the biases of its authors. It is time for a meaningful and lasting change in the college admissions process, and the first step is for the schools themselves to reject the validity of the system. I applaud Brandeis admissions for recognizing that standardized testing does not work, and taking necessary action to create a more just system. However, there is one area the program is clearly lacking; test-flexibility does not extend to international students, a surprising choice given that they are a group whom the testing system is stacked against. For many international students, questions on the SAT are difficult to properly interpret and cultural references specified to the test's mostly American audience, another example of how the SAT's writing style excludes otherwise excellent students. As a school with a rich international community, Brandeis should recognize and accommodate this bias. Still, the program is only in its infant stages. As applicants try the new program, research and revision will create a better admissions system that I think will become a permanent institution at Brandeis. While the admissions process will never be perfect, by giving applicants options, Brandeis has shown that it is a welcoming and open-minded place, and understands that intelligence is not shown through a number. *
(09/17/13 4:00am)
The University installed a solar thermal system to supply heat for the Charles River Apartments over the summer. The project was completed in addition to several deferred maintenance projects, and is the first system of its kind in Massachusetts. The project, a part of the Brandeis Sustainability Fund, was originally proposed by a student, Nicole Litvak '12. "I was inspired by my study abroad experience in Israel, where virtually every household has solar hot water," wrote Litvak in an email to the Justice. "This technology is not very widely deployed in the [United States], where most of our solar is photovoltaic (using solar energy to create electricity as opposed to thermal energy for heating water)." In addition to receiving some funding from the BSF, the project received a large portion of its funding from Walden Renewables. According to Sustainability Coordinator Lea Lupkin, the organization has paid for a majority of the installment and maintenance. Litvak wrote that at first, the plan was just to install a small demonstration system on one building, because that is all the BSF would have been able to afford with the grant. However, a local company called Paradigm Partners provided Litvak with a solution that would require a private investor to buy and own the system, and Brandeis would buy the thermal energy from them. The muliple parties were unable to comment on the exact cost of the project. "We, to date, have never used an alternative system to supply heat to the campus, [and] it's also the first project of its kind in the state," said Lupkin in an interview with the Justice. The project was proposed during the 2011 to 2012 academic year, but only came to fruition this year. According to Litvak, after many meetings with Paradigm, Facilities Services, the BSF board and University President Frederick Lawrence, the project was finally approved, but "long after [she] graduated." Lupkin said that the solar power is supplying heat to the water in the building's water-heating system, whereas previously, oil was being used. However, the oil system is currently still acting as a supplement to the solar thermal system. According to Lupkin, the engineers did not remove the oil system to ensure that there is a backup in place. "What's considered by the engineers to be the best system is for it to supply about 60 percent of the thermal energy needed to heat the water," said Lupkin. "It's designed to have only about 40 percent heated by the oil. Obviously what's designed and what actually happens depends on what comes from the sun, but that's what it's designed for." According to Director of the Department of Community Living Jeremy Leiferman, there are now solar-powered panels on the roof that are feeding into the hot water heating system. Lupkin explained that these panels are actually shaped more like tubes due to the fact that they are a part of a solar thermal system. Charles River is not the only location that is powered by solar energy. Litvak was aware of the use of solar panels to provide electricity for Gosman Sports and Convocation Center, which have been functioning since February 2010, and wanted to bring solar thermal technology to Brandeis, as well. According to a Feb. 23, 2010 BrandeisNOW article, the system powering Gosman is 271 kilowatts and comprised of over 1,200 high-efficiency photovoltaic modules. This system is also owned by a third-party company, like the Charles River solar thermal system. The system is only supplemental, like Charles River's. "It's not supplying all of the electricity needed to support that building," said Lupkin. According to Lupkin, there are no current plans to expand the system to other locations on campus. Lupkin said that the choice to install the system for Charles River came out of a feasibility study that was funded by the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center and performed by Paradigm Partners. No other buildings on campus were deemed as proper candidates for this sort of project in the short term through the feasibility study. According to Lupkin, factors taken into account were the roofs of each building and their ability to support such a system, as well as the buildings' current heating systems. "For Charles River it made a lot of sense because that is actually the only building where the heating is still coming from oil. "The rest of the campus is on steam provided by natural gas, so for Charles River it made a lot of sense both to save money for the institution as well as to reduce the carbon footprint," said Lupkin. BSF receives about $50,000 a year through an additional student fee, and funds sustainability projects proposed by students. BSF asks students to submit ideas during the fall semester, and helps students develop formal proposals and projections of how the project could work. Proposals and final details are due by the end of the fall semester, and projects are funded and implemented over the course of the spring semester, according to Lupkin. "All of the projects that were proposed by students, they stay involved throughout the process of making decisions and so in the case of ... the solar thermal project, she helped to find the firm that did the feasibility study and then ended up installing the units in the system," said Lupkin. Litvak currently works as a solar analyst for a company called Greentech Media Research, completing research and consulting on the solar photovoltaic industry. "I was at Brandeis about a month ago and was thrilled to see the system finally being installed almost [two] years after I started the project," wrote Litvak. "I hope current Brandeis students take notice of the renewable energy that is powering/heating various parts of campus, but more importantly, I hope this serves as an example of how students can actually make major projects like this happen." In addition to BSF projects, the University has been working on an energy-efficiency program. Last year, according to Lupkin, the Board of Trustees invested five million dollars, and this year it is investing another five million dollars, toward improving the infrastructure of buildings across campus and reducing energy use. "Over the course of that year and a half we worked in basically a dozen different buildings working on upgrades, and that's estimated to save about $500,000 a year in utility costs and reduce our carbon footprint equivalent to taking over 300 cars off the road every year," Lupkin said. Projects have included replacing the underground steam pipes across campus, upgrades to replace lights with more efficient technology, installation of occupancy light sensors, replacing air chillers and the improvement of ventilation and pressurization in laboratories. "Upgrading those to be newer both reduces need for maintenance of those units and also often increases the efficiency of the units just because they're newer," Lupkin said. Projects have occurred or will occur in the following buildings this upcoming year: the Goldfarb Library, Gosman Sports and Convocation Center, Usdan Student Center, Hassenfeld Conference Center, Goldman-Schwartz Art Studios, Spingold Theater Center, the Bernstein-Marcus Administration Center, East Quad, Massell Quad, Rosenstiel Basic Medical Sciences Research Center, Rosenthal Quad, Robert D. Farber University Archives and Special Collections, Carl J. Shapiro Science Center and Shapiro Campus Center. *
(09/17/13 4:00am)
Imagine having cars that don't rely on gasoline and plugging them in to charge, just like cell phones and laptops. Picture having these charging stations for cars ubiquitous in public places, not confined to the garages of a few people who make a special effort to acquire them. Seem futuristic? Not to Vivian Zeng '14, who spent her summer planning and overseeing the installation of three charging stations for electric vehicles on Brandeis' campus. The charging stations, which Zeng fondly calls her "brainchildren," have three locations: the parking lot at the Gosman Sports and Convocation Center, in the Tower parking lot near the Mandel Center for the Humanities and in the Admissions parking lot next to the Slosberg Music Recital Hall. They are free and open to the public. Zeng, a senior majoring in Environmental Studies and Health: Science, Society, and Policy, and minoring in Legal Studies, first became interested in electric vehicles in Prof. Laura Goldin's (AMST) "Greening of the Ivory Tower" class, but charging stations were not her original focus. One of the components of the class is to do a greening project, the focus of which is to "think of ways you can improve Brandeis' campus sustainability." Zeng's first project was not related to charging stations, but about getting an electric vehicle for Media and Technology Services, where Zeng works. "To get around, we use this gasoline golf cart. I applied to get an electric vehicle, and I was rejected on the grounds that it's too department-based and it should be more of a campus thing," she said. Goldin suggested switching the focus to acquiring a charging station, and Zeng carried the project from there. Zeng officially began the project eight months ago. In order to fund the purchase and installation of the charging stations, she received money from the Brandeis Sustainability Fund and from the U.S. Department of Energy, which funded the project after approving a grant proposal for it. Once she obtained funding, the project involved "a lot of coordinating with the contractor, the campus electrician, the representative from the company ... it was a lot of meetings and meetings and meetings and then finally the shipment arrived for the stations," Zeng said. Though the process took approximately eight months to come to fruition, Zeng says that the administration was helpful in implementing the project: "The administration's been really supportive. For EV stations it was really easy because all you needed was an electric source from a building, so we chose the new location of these stations to be close to buildings so that we could tap the new electricity grid there". Despite the limitations of old buildings, Zeng thinks that Brandeis is "trying to be a lot more sustainable. And you can see that with a lot of the other BSF projects". For instance, one BSF project involves installing outdoor water fountains so that people don't have to buy water bottles. "It's an awareness issue, I think," she says, "A lot of students don't really know that we're trying hard to be more sustainable." Since the charging stations were installed just two weeks ago, it is not yet clear how much use the they will get. However, Zeng hopes that the visibility of the stations on campus will inspire students, faculty and staff to be more aware of alternatives to cars that run on gasoline, and encourage them to choose an electric vehicle when they purchase their next car. The stations are also free to use in order to incentivize the purchase of electric vehicles. Zeng explains "I think people really need to see change in order for them to be inspired to do more change. I really think electric vehicles are one of those things that are unfortunately the stepping stone to a better, more sustainable mode of transportation". Zeng acknowledges that most college students will not own electric vehicles because of the high costs, but notes that the stations will be useful to individuals other than Brandeis students as well. In the past, Zeng has received multiple calls from visitors, including guest lecturers, "asking if we have an EV [charging] station on campus". We had to say no, "and we couldn't even give much information about the sites in Waltham" she said. There are three EV charging stations already located in Waltham, so the three new ones added at Brandeis double the number of stations available for local use. In the long-term, though, Zeng hopes to move beyond the specific focus of electric vehicles. "I like seeing sustainability in action," she says, "I'm a huge fan of trying to do projects like this, but what I am seriously passionate about is environmental justice issues." In particular, Zeng would like to change the fact that minority neighborhoods often bear most of the impact from pollution and other environmental issues: "I grew up in a minority neighborhood in New York City, so I've seen that; I grew up in that." Zeng hopes to go to graduate school for public health with a focus in environmental health or environmental epidemiology. "Hopefully once I get the science down, I can then tackle the policy," she said. "Nowadays, policymakers are often ignorant of the science in their own policy plans-I refuse to make that mistake."
(09/16/13 4:00am)
Love is in the air, my pop culture peeps. To catch you up on what you may have missed these past couple weeks, here are some updates on the marriages, engagements (both confirmed and rumored) and budding romances in Hollywood. It looks like Scarlett Johansson is off the market once again. The actress, 28, is engaged to a French journalist, Romain Dauriac. Reportedly, the couple's engagement happened about a month ago. Keeping the news under wraps for that long is super stealthy by Hollywood standards, especially considering Johansson's former high-profile relationship with actor Ryan Reynolds, whom she married in Sept. 2008. Reynolds and Johansson divorced, however, in July 2011. So far, there's no word on when ScarJo and Dauriac are planning on tying the knot. In another surprising sneak move, news broke last week that actress Zoe Saldana got married earlier this summer to Marco Perego, an Italian artist. Their relationship only became public in May, at the premiere of Saldana's film Star Trek: Into Darkness. Secret Hollywood engagements and marriages? Such madness! TV personality Katie Couric, 56, got engaged over Labor Day weekend, adding to our tally of celebrity romance gossip for these last two weeks. Couric's banker boyfriend of two years, John Molner, apparently asked her to marry him while the couple was on the beach in the Hamptons. The beach, a gorgeous ring-it certainly looks like Molner, 50, knew what he was doing. In addition to photographers snapping pictures of Couric and her fianc?(c)e, they also captured a playful kiss between Nick Jonas, 20, and his rumored girlfriend, Olivia Culpo, on Sept. 3. Culpo, 21, was crowned Miss Universe in 2012. The two supposedly met at the Miss USA pageant this June, which Jonas hosted along with (who else?) his brothers. Finally, rumors that hot couple Ashton Kutcher and Mila Kunis possibly got engaged also made Hollywood headlines recently. The cause of all the engagement talk? A thin, gold band that Kunis, 30, was snapped wearing on her left ring finger. The couple worked on That '70s Show together for 8 seasons, but only began a romantic relationship as of early 2012. So far, though, the rumors are just that-neither Kutcher's nor Kunis's reps have confirmed an engagement. Plus, Kutcher, 35, still is not legally divorced from his ex Demi Moore. Still, Moore and Kutcher were photographed last Tuesday exiting the same airplane at the Bob Hope Airport in Burbank, Calif. They had been attending a conference related to Thorn, their shared organization that fights against online predators. Is the situation complicated enough for you? On a completely unrelated note, how about the new Dancing with the Stars casting? It's always fun to see just how loosely the show can interpret the notion of 'star.' This season's DWTS, which premiered Monday, has a cast that includes Jersey Shore's Snooki, High School Musical actor Corbin Bleu and singer Christina Milian. I think I'll be watching this season, if only just to see everyone's favorite science guy, Bill Nye, foxtrot his way across the television screen. Hopefully, this has inspired you to take a trip down memory lane and re-watch the epic intro to Bill Nye the Science Guy, or at least gotten it stuck in your head. You're welcome.
(09/16/13 4:00am)
This week, JustArts sat down with Sarah Horn '16, leader of the Student Committee for the Rose Art Museum, and talked about the group's plans for the semester. JustArts: For those who are unfamiliar with SCRAM, would you please tell us a bit about what you do? Sarah Horn: We're the Student Committee for the Rose Art Museum. So basically the point of the organization is to get the student body of Brandeis to come into the Rose and see the various exhibitions and also participate in a lot of the programs that we have. JA: What has changed about the club over the duration of your time with it? SH: Actually a lot in the past year. Previously, it was a smaller group of people who were mostly very associated with the museum. This is the first year that we went to the activities fair. We are very open to welcoming people who might not be Fine Arts majors but [are] very interested in art. We are open to a lot more types of people around campus, which is the point of the organization. JA: How do you think that what you guys have been doing has changed Brandeis? SH: Well, I would hope that it's opened people up to the possibility that you don't have to be an "art" person to enjoy a museum. The Rose is free, and something that I really like to do is just walk in for a few minutes, look at a piece, and walk out. You don't have to go and read about every piece and spend a long time in the museum, so we're really hoping to open that up to people ... We'd like to do a lot of cross-genre educational and social programs to get people who, maybe, are science people or math people interested in things that are going on in the art world. JA: What can we look forward to seeing from SCRAM this semester? Any special events coming up? SH: First of all, the opening [of the Rose] is the 17th. The [Andy] Warhol show is going to be amazing-I've seen it-It's wonderful. In the fall, we work with the museum to do the student loan collection. So basically, we allow students to loan works of art from the Rose collection... out to put in their dorm rooms for the year ... Right now, we're planning a [first-year]-oriented event at the Rose, like a mixer, something to get the first-years involved and have them see the collection a bit. JA: What has been your favorite memory of working with SCRAM? SH: We do an annual event called SCRAM Jam, which is like a party in the Rose. It was my first semester, I had just started to meet these really great art people and learn about the community. I was dancing with my friends in the middle of all these amazing works of art-that showed me why it was so important to get so many people into the Rose, because it doesn't have to be an art thing, you know, you can have a dance. JA: Can you talk briefly about the Warhol exhibit? I'm so excited for it! SH: It's in the Foster Gallery and 80 percent of the exhibition is from the Rose's own collection. It showcases how influential the Rose collection is, and we're all very excited about it. We were gifted a collection of Polaroids that Warhol took, and a lot of those are up on view. Our Brandeis Warhol is up on view, and the rest of the series as well. There's Warhol wallpaper up, which is special - you can't get it unless you're a museum, basically. We have a very important Warhol, from his "Disaster" series, and an "Uncle Sam" that's up. And then there's some later photography and prints that were all done. I could talk about it forever. I think it's a great thing for the Rose, and it will bring in a lot of people who might not know a lot about art, but they know who Warhol is-they know the Campbell's soup cans, the pop art. It's a really exciting opportunity, especially for SCRAM, because our mission is to get students involved in the Rose, to have a bunch of different people come in and have different discussions about art and interact with the space in the way they want to. *
(09/16/13 4:00am)
Public art, such as sculptures, carries the special characteristic of developing an iconic status over time, becoming a key part of a landscape even as its surroundings change. At Brandeis, the large silver pair of statues outside of the Rosenstiel Basic Medical Sciences Research Center have become a landscape all their own. The statues, together entitled "The Wand of Inquiry," have a long history that many students and faculty have yet to learn. Installed in 1983, the sculptures were created by Lila Katzen, a sculptor who died in 1998 and was known for her large works of polished steel. Her work was known at Brandeis, as the Rose Art Museum featured her art in an exhibition in the fall season of the same year "The Wand of Inquiry" was put in place. The taller sculpture of the pair has a "central flame-like element, [and] resembles a coiling double helix," writes Prof. Nancy Scott (FA) in Twelve + Sculptures, a publication on Brandeis sculptures, which was co-authored by students from her class "Modern Sculpture as Public Art" last academic year. The double helix structure is complemented by the "wide, horizontal ribbon" which sits only a couple of feet away. In an interview with the Justice, Scott elaborated on the importance of smaller details in the structure to better understand Katzen's artistic intentions for public interaction with the sculpture. "I know that the platforms that the two stainless steel pieces sit on ... [raise] the whole piece up a bit from the earth, which means that you could sit on it more easily that way," she said. "I think she's made it very easy for people to want to interact [with the sculpture]." Prof. James Haber (BIOL), the current director of the Rosenstiel facility, verified the interaction that people have had with the two sculptures. "All of us have posed in front of them at some point," he said, referring to photographs taken by University scientists in front of "The Wand of Inquiry." Prior to the construction of the Carl J. Shapiro Science Center, the statues were situated in a location near the Rosenstiel facility. In that location, Katzen had organized some landscaping to more properly situate the sculptures. "[Katzen] came to campus and did this beautiful landscaping around the sculpture with these sort of long grasses that glisten in the sun," Scott explained. However, when the Shapiro Science Center was constructed, the plantings were removed as machinery for the new science facility was installed around the sculptures. Both Scott and Haber reported sending requests to administrative offices within the University asking that the sculptures be moved away from the machinery to a more prominent space. Although the sculptures have since been moved to their current location away from the machinery, the greenery that Katzen had originally included are no longer there. The larger statue of the coiling double helix is often interpreted as symbolic of DNA structure, although Scott clarified that Katzen "doesn't talk about that," and further, the title "The Wand of Inquiry" is "detach[ed] a little bit from any specific representational idea," effectively leaving the job of interpreting the meaning of the two sculptures entirely to the viewer. Nonetheless, a structure with such an inviting scientific interpretation is appropriate outside of a building filled with scientists. Susan Lowey, a Biochemistry professor at Brandeis in the 1970's and 80's, who is now on the faculty at the University of Vermont, had a personal understanding of the sculpture's deeper meaning. "The statue did represent the faith we all had in basic research as the path to discovering the secrets of nature," said Lowey, referring to the double helix statue in an email to the Justice. "And science to us was also an art form because an elegant structure was beautiful."
(09/03/13 4:00am)
My favorite week of the year isn't Christmas break or spring break; it's Shark Week. Yes, like countless other Americans, I tune into Discovery Channel in early August to watch shows about sharks, shark attacks and ocean science for an entire week. In the words of Tracy Jordan from NBC's 30 Rock, I live every week like it is Shark Week. Most years, Shark Week is a bit of a joke for my father, my sister and I. We spend the whole week glued to the TV, listening to Andy Samberg talk about sharks, watching the Mythbusters team disprove the way they killed the shark in Jaws and generally not getting anything educational or intellectual out of it. In the back of my mind, I realize that Shark Week, like all other Discovery Channel shows, in theory is supposed to be somewhat educational, but if I have learned anything, I didn't really appreciate it. It never occurred to me that a program I enjoy watching could be a serious teaching tool. This year though, Shark Week was different for me. I spent the previous week on scuba diving in Mexico, where I had seen sharks a couple times while diving on the reefs. While I was on the sofa, watching scientists, survivors, experts and enthusiasts talk about sharks as well as environmentalism, overfishing and the dangers of urban legend, it really hit home for me. While I am not a marine biologist or an especially passionate environmental activist, I do love the ocean and respect the animals that make it their home, including sharks. Sharks are often considered among the most deadly creatures on the planet. While they can be very dangerous and have been known to attack humans, sharks kill less people per year than vending machines, mosquitoes, deer and dogs. On average, only five deaths around the world per year are from shark attacks. It is estimated for every person killed per year by a shark, 20 million sharks will be killed by humans, be it for delicacies such as shark fin soup, fishing by bottom trawling or from environmental impacts and pollution. Shark Week is not just a week devoted to ridiculous and horrifying shark videos and attack testimonies; it is a week dedicated to promoting awareness about sharks and the environment while busting certain stereotypes, like that sharks are crazed killers. Even the shows about shark attacks only further drive this point home. Watch any interview that is included on Shark Week with certain shark attack survivors and scientists, and they will say they do not hate the shark for what happened, that the ocean is the shark's home, not ours. Many people see Shark Week as humorous, something to make fun of and enjoy and not take seriously. I used to be one of them, and still do find Shark Week entertaining. However, I now also appreciate how Shark Week can actually be used as an educational tool for the general public, which often is ignorant or misinformed on the lifestyle of sharks. There are stereotypes that sharks are fierce, violent killers who are perfectly willing to snack on unsuspecting humans. After all, according to the Discovery Channel's website about Shark Week, the program is designed to inform people about sharks and provide information on how to save sharks from overfishing and other issues they face. Shark Week is an educational tool that is accessible to many people and makes people interested in a very serious issue. Perhaps if other TV networks and TV programs can emulate this model, issues like famine, sexual slavery, child soldiers and others can get the attention they need. It is easy to ignore major problems in our world by watching an enjoyable television channel instead of the news or something informative. However, if the channels people love to watch, be it TLC or Sy-Fy, have yearly shows in the style of Shark Week, I do believe the American people can have better awareness of some very serious issues. After all, who is going to say no to a week of television that teaches you while still being fun to watch? *
