Volume 10Number 12

Brandeis University’s Community Newspaper • Waltham, Mass. August 23, 2013www.thebrandeishoot.com

Myra KraftTYP is named for Myra Kraft ’64 after $5 million gift.

News: Page 2

alieN attacKPacific Rim and other action movies hit the big screen this summer.

arts, etc.: Page 5

Page 10Page 8Page 3Page 7Page 15Page 11

Inside this issue:Editorial: Sodexo improvement in diningWeek in photos: Changes to campusNEWS: Babson apologizes to BrandeisArts, Etc.: Show demonstrates life in prisonOpinion: Rap stars play GodSports: Hernandez accused of murder

Sodexo replaces Aramarkchanges to c-store The POD Market is renamed the “Hoot Market,” along with many other changes occurring in dining services following the switch to Sodexo from Aramark. New options include Starbucks, Russo’s Market and an expanded Einstein’s Bagels.

photo by theresa gaffney/the hoot

By Lassor FeasleyEditor

In a much anticipated culinary coup, Brandeis University has changed its food service provider to Sodexo, terminating a long and often mixed relationship with Aramark. Sodexo, a French company, won the contract in a competitive bidding

process that took place throughout the past several months.

New options include Starbucks Coffee, which will be served at exist-ing cafes, although renovations will take place in order to install a fully licensed store in the library. The C-Store, renamed the “Hoot Market,” will feature fresh produce provided in collaboration with the Watertown

based Russo’s Market.Einstein’s Bagels is projected to en-

large its current mini-franchise in the SCC into a fully serviced store. Guy Ferrari on Campus is in late stages of development, and plans for its instal-lation are tentatively scheduled for the upcoming winter break.

See SODEXO, page 3

Univ mum on Sawyer resignation

By Dana TrismenEditor

Jamele Adams is new Dean of Student Life

Former Vice President for Student Affairs and Dean of Student Life Rick Sawyer left Brandeis at the end of July. Since his arrival at Brandeis in 1981, Sawyer served 32 years at the Univer-sity, witnessing changes as the school matured. And while President Fred-erick Lawrence’s email to faculty, staff and students wished Sawyer well, it neglected to disclose one detail: Saw-yer did not retire, he chose to resign.

“I concluded my time at Brandeis was complete, and it was a resignation on my part,” said Sawyer in a phone interview last week. “This wasn’t the way I hoped my time at Brandeis would end.”

Sawyer believes his legacy is the student affairs model, which Brandeis held in place from 1984 until 2011. “When I got there in 1981, there wasn’t really much of a plan. In 1984, my mentor and former dean and I booked the model that was in place,” Sawyer said.

It may have been changes in this

policy that prompted Sawyer’s depar-ture. “With the arrival of new people in senior administration, they have a different vision of the future,” he said.

Sawyer built the entire orientation program for first-year students. At the beginning of each semester, he would often walk outside his office to see orientation leaders discussing homesickness and the policies of the university with their AIDE groups, or wave to CORE leaders as they walked by. But this year, Sawyer will not be on campus to witness as the class of 2017 learns from a program he cre-ated.

He is proud of the changes he made to the orientation program. “Con-structing and growing an orientation program became one of my most fa-vorite parts, a lot of great memories with that,” he said. Sawyer also over-saw multiple departments within the Division of Students and Enrollment.

“It is no exaggeration to say that Rick Sawyer has had a transfor-mative impact on student life at Brandeis,” wrote Lawrence in his email.

Sawyer served under six different presidents of the university (Mar-ver H. Bernstein, Evelyn E. Handler,

See SAWYER, page 2

Popular restaurants to arrive in WalthamBy Theresa Gaffney

Editor

Coming soon to 1030 Main Street in Waltham: Five Guys, Chipotle and Panera Bread. The arrival of these restaurants has been in the works for almost two years. Although they hadn’t selected a location at the time,

Five Guys and Panera Bread both announced their plans in Decem-ber 2011. With Chipotle added to the mix, Waltham awaits the openings of the three chains.

Construction mistakes have delayed the opening of the res-taurants, according to Waltham-Patch, in addition to obtaining “special permits” by the Waltham City Council in order to reduce

the number of parking spaces on the site.

Five Guys is scheduled to open at the beginning of September. There is, however, no word from the other two establishments as to when they will open.

1030 Main Street is 1.4 miles from the Brandeis campus, pro-viding students three more local off-campus dining options.

Todashev suspect in 2011 Waltham triple homicide

photo by theresa gaffney/the hootoutside dining New outdoor tables have been placed outside Usdan and the SCC.

Ibragim Todashev, 27, was shot dead in May 2013 during an inter-rogation with an FBI official and two Massachusetts State officers regarding the triple homicide in Waltham in September 2011. He was shot by an FBI agent after al-legedly attacking the man.

There is some conflict over the moments before Todashev was shot. One official told the Washington Post that Todashev was shot after trying to take the agent’s gun, while two others re-ported that he reached for a knife and was shot as he tried to attack the agent. FBI officials have said recently that it was not clear what had happened.

According to reports, Toda-shev was about to sign a written confession implicating himself and Tamerlan Tsarnaev in the Waltham triple homicide when he allegedly attacked the FBI agent, who shot and killed him.

Todashev was an acquaintance of Tamerlan Tsarnaev, the Boston marathon bombing suspect who was killed during pursuit in Wa-tertown, MA in April. Todashev’s

attorneys claim that although Tsarnaev and Ibragim Todashev attended the same MMA gym, they were not friends.

On August 13, about three months after his son’s death, Toda-shev’s father, Abuldaki Todashev, came forward at a press confer-ence to claim his son’s innocence and demand an explanation for his death. He explained that his son had undergone knee surgery just two weeks prior to when he was killed, and therefore was not capable of “lunging and attack-ing” an agent. His father claimed that Todashev “didn’t do anything wrong. He was simply not capable of doing it.”

Attorneys claim that Todashev was shot seven times in his Flor-ida home, including once in the back of his head. Media reports citing anonymous sources provide conflicting reports as to whether Todashev was armed at the time of shooting.

The FBI said that they have con-tinued to investigate the shooting since it occurred in May.

As of August 9, the Department of Justice (DOJ) had compiled a

New tables around campus

By Jaye Han StaffTheresa Gaffney Editor

See TODASHEV, page 3

news2 The Brandeis Hoot August 23, 2013

Transitional Year Program named to honor Myra Kraft ’64

By Rachel HirschhautEditor

45 years ago, the first Transitional Year Program (TYP) students en-rolled at Brandeis as a means to help them afford and succeed in higher education. Now the TYP program has been named in honor of Myra Kraft ’64, an alumna and trustee who passed away in 2012.

The Kraft family made a $5 million dollar gift to Brandeis in her honor, to secure the future of the TYP.

“Myra was a humanitarian in both a personal sense and a community sense, and she believed that young people with motivation, determina-tion and focus shouldn’t be held back because they lacked opportunity,” President Frederick M. Lawrence told BrandeisNow. “She had a unique way of relating individually to everyone she met. She loved helping people un-lock their inner potential to have an impact on the world.”

TYP is a yearlong program for 20 high-achieving students who have not had access to adequate resources such as AP courses in their schools. After they are admitted into the program, they learn in small and intimate class-es and receive mentoring from faculty. The program develops students’ aca-demic and leadership skills, laying the

groundwork for future success. “This gift will have a lasting impact

at Brandeis, as the Kraft TYP will con-tinue a 45-year program that enables young people, who otherwise may not have had access, the opportunity to explore new possibilities for their lives,” Lawrence said. “By opening the doors to Brandeis, we help them change the arc of their lives.”

Wife of Robert Kraft, owner of the Boston Patriots, Myra Kraft was best known for her work as a philanthro-pist. She supported many charities, focusing on poverty and human ser-vices, through both the Kraft Family

Foundation and the New England Pa-triots Charitable Foundation.

“Myra loved Brandeis University and nothing would have made her more proud than to have her name associated with the Transitional Year Program,” said her husband. “It has been helping underprivileged stu-dents achieve greatness through higher education for decades. The investment in these aspiring students each year will continue to have an im-measurable impact in our communi-ties for generations to come. The TYP personifies what Myra’s life was all about.”

Stuart H. Altman, Samuel O. Their, Jehuda Reinharz, and Frederick Law-rence), though in his email, President Lawrence only mentioned that he had worked under four of the eight Brandeis presidents.

“The president was a little bit inac-curate; there have been six presidents since 1981,” said Sawyer. “Brandeis went through a lot and I went through almost half of its life in that place. I watched an institution get through some growing pains.”

Sawyer made it clear that he is not retiring. “I was still some years away from any retirement plans,” he said. While he is currently spending time with family and friends, in the near future he intends to have conversa-tions about re-entering the academic field.

Faculty at Brandeis refused to dis-close information on why Sawyer left Brandeis, or to discuss his time there or any memories of his service. “We don’t share personal matters due to confidentiality,” said Ellen de Graffen-reid, senior vice president for Com-munications.

While Sawyer also did not disclose the exact reasons why he chose to de-part, he did mention feeling unhappy.

“The university and I had different views on what I should do as we move on, my role in my deanship was being changed, and [it] wouldn’t have given me the happiness and feeling of con-tinued achievement.”

In August, the university hired Jamele Adams to replace Saw-yer as the Dean of Students. Ad-ams has nine years of experience at Brandeis.

“I have never in my career found any individual so able to give voice to students’ emotions, especially around challenging issues,” wrote Senior Vice President for Students and Enrollment Andrew Flagel in an email to faculty, students and staff. “I have every confidence that he is the right leader for this critical role at Brandeis.”

SAWYER, from page 1

Adams to replace Sawyer as Dean of

Student Life

photo by the hoot

photo courtesy brandeis

myra kraft typ Students graduate with the Class of 2012 through the Transitional Year Program.

photo from internet source

August 23, 2013 The Brandeis Hoot NEWS 3

College Notebook

Pittsburgh researcher accused of murdering

wife by cyanide

Dr. Robert Ferrante, neuroscien-tist and co-director of the University of Pittsburgh’s Center for ALS Re-search, has recently made headlines for his involvement in the murder of his wife, also a Pitt researcher. The 64-year-old is charged with the homi-cide of 41-year-old Dr. Autumn Marie Klein, chief of women’s neurology at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center and an assistant professor of neurology, obstetrics and gynecology.

The case began in mid-April when Klein suddenly fell ill after collaps-ing in her home in the Oakland. She remained in a coma for the next few days and passed away on April 20 at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center Presbyterian Hospital. Ini-tially, the doctors were not sure what caused Klein’s drastic decline. The ini-tial toxicology screening did not turn up anything unusual, (wasn’t there a high acidity level in the blood?) but a post-mortem test for cyanide re-turned positive. The difficulty of ob-taining cyanide along with the its rare crime usage leaves it out of standard toxicology screenings.

“Cyanide, which can kill a human in a few minutes, is difficult for the average person to get hold of. But within the scientific community, cya-nide is relatively easy to obtain,” wrote Liz Navratil of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

Ferrante asked for his wife to be cremated soon after death, perhaps as a way to hide the cause of death. He is also accused of delaying his wife’s treatment as he wanted her to be taken to a hospital that was one mile further from their home, although the closer hospital was well-regarded and included a Level I Trauma Cen-ter. Witnesses at the hospital report that Ferrante spoke of his wife in the

past tense although she was still alive at the time.

Ferrante is accused of poisoning his wife after asking a lab colleague to have 250 grams of potassium cyanide shipped overnight using his univer-sity credit card, two days before Klein collapsed in her home. While the substance is commonplace in some research, none of Ferrante’s work was using cyanide. A witness had heard him say that he wanted to buy “the best and purest cyanide he could get.” Most purchases using a university credit card are assigned to a specific grant or project, but this was the only one of Ferrante’s 145 purchases that was not.

Ferrante’s motive is believed to stem from anger and jealousy. Ferran-te believed that Klein had been hav-ing an affair, and friends of Klein have said that she was considering leaving her husband of 12 years. Ferrante may have inserted the poison into an energy drink that his wife routinely drank. Ferrante allegedly told her that the drink would help their chances of conceiving a baby.

Dr. Klein had been an expert in treating pregnant women with neu-rological diseases. She became inter-ested in science at a young age and graduated from Amherst College before receiving her M.D. and Ph.D. from Boston University. After gradu-ation she worked in Boston at Massa-chusetts General Hospital, as a faculty member at Harvard Medical School, and Chief Resident at Brigham and Woman’s Hospital. She met her hus-band at the VA Hospital in Bedford, MA. She is survived by her parents and six-year old daughter. Her par-ents currently have custody of her daughter.

Ferrante stands charged with crimi-nal homicide and has been extradited to Pennsylvania after being arrested in West Virginia.

By Charlie RomanowStaff

Babson apologizes to Brandeis for 35-year-old slurs

As tensions rose during a 1978 soccer match against the predomi-nantly Jewish Brandeis University team, members of the Babson Col-lege team hurled anti-Semitic words against their opponents, shouting “Holocaust” while wearing swasti-kas emblazoned on their uniforms. According to the Anti-Defamation League, an organization dedicated to combatting anti-Semitism and all forms of bigotry, students hung signs spelling “KTJ”, short for “Kill the Jews,” while a poster displaying the message “Happy Holocaust” was al-legedly discovered in the gymnasium the day following the match.

On June 26, 35 years after the of-fensive incident, Babson president Len Schlesinger issued a public apol-ogy at the New England Headquar-ters for the Anti-Defamation League, addressing the shocking anti-Semitic actions of several students during the 1978 match.

Babson’s response at the time of the

incident neglected to include a for-mal or public apology to the Brandeis community. According to the Boston Globe, Schlesinger commented dur-ing a press conference at the Anti-Defamation League center. “Public acts require public apologies, and we are now in the business of being very clear, that I actually don’t believe there is any time duration that is too long to address that wrong,” he said.

In addition to the public apology, President Len Schlesinger sent a letter to President Fred Lawrence on June 11. Lawrence accepted the apology on behalf of the Brandeis community, According to Ellen de Graffenreid, senior vice president for Commu-nications at Brandeis University, he “praised Babson’s new partnership with the Anti-Defamation League of New England to bring the ADL’s Campus of Difference program to Babson College.”

Through participation in the Cam-pus of Difference Program, campus leaders and students will explore the impact of stereotypes and seek to implement policies to combat racism,

bias and hate. Babson has announced that in collaboration with the ADL it will establish an anti-bias training program for 500 first year students this fall.

According to the ADL press re-lease, ADL New England Regional Director Robert Trestan, stated that “acknowledging the past provides the entry point to institutionalize lasting change. We are grateful to Babson for recognizing that anti-bias and di-versity training play a critical role in sustaining an inclusive and respectful college campus environment.”

By Victoria AronsonEditor

Jay DeGioia, Resident District Manager, described the station changes around campus. “In the up-per Usdan area, the old grill area is getting taken out and the Grill @ Us-dan concept is coming in for opening, an Asian station with Pho, a Meatball madness station, Slice of Life Pizza station and a Juice station will all be there for opening,” he said.

“In Lower Usdan we will have a traditional Salad bar featuring Russo’s produce. AFC sushi will be rolling fresh sushi,” DeGioia said. In addi-tion, there will be “a N.Y. style Deli that will use Kosher meats, “Melts” Grilled Cheese concept that is also open for breakfast, and Mex to the Max which will feature burritos and nachos.” New kosher options will be available in Sherman and the Faculty Club will have refreshed options. Also confirmed is a potential “model for occasional food truck use.”

Senate Dining Committee member Noah Litwer ’14 is hopeful that So-dexo will serve a more robust service than has previously been provided. “I hope to see greater overall student

satisfaction when it comes to campus eatery options. Food is such a criti-cal determinant of quality of life,” he said. As to why the university made the change, he says, “Aramark had been offering Brandeis a plan that was not satisfactory in quality or price for a majority of students, and ended up actually costing the University more than the revenue generated by dining plans.”

“The recommendation from the administrative review team focused on the dynamic management team and the enterprising vision that the Sodexo team proposed to align din-ing services with improved campus experience, campus values and insti-tutional reputation,” said Senior Vice President for Communications Ellen de Graffenreid.

Sodexo promises to continue where Aramark left off in regard to measur-ing student satisfaction and internal-izing unanticipated needs and prefer-ences. “We want to partner with the entire community to create the dining experience that will make Brandeis a truly special place that leads our industry in innovation, customer satisfaction and also sets the bar as

Sodexo’s premier location,” DeGioia said.

Sodexo plans at least three new ini-tiatives to back this claim. “One tool we will roll out soon is ‘Staff Ranker,’ which is an online tool to give stu-dents the ability to leave compliments and concerns on their experience.” Degioia also anticipates additional high tech solutions to managing stu-dent suggestions. “We will also open with a great program that will allow students to text comments, concerns and compliments using their smart phones allowing our team to respond quickly, track trends and solve issues in a timely manner.”

The new dining plan suggests a new, more robust platform in regard to considering student culinary hab-its. The new resources being rolled out may enable a more efficient and higher quality experience than stu-dents had previously come to expect. Although the suspect quality of Ara-mark’s service had become a joking matter to some on campus, the tran-sitional team at Sodexo is determined to take a more active role in accom-modating the needs of the Brandeis community.

Einstein’s to expand, Starbucks in library

SODEXO, from page 1

preliminary report on the circum-stances surrounding Todashev’s death. Florida State Attorney Jeff Ashton received the report for the DOJ and is beginning an investi-gation of his own. Ashton and Ab-dulbaki Todashev met this week to discuss the case. On Wednesday, Abdulbaki met with U.S. Attorney Lee Bentley for over an hour to fur-ther discuss the investigation.

Director Hassan Shibly of the Florida Council on American-Is-lamic Relations spoke to ABC News about the intent of the investigation. “We are really conducting an inves-tigation to see if his civil rights were

violated, was an excessive, unlawful use of force used against him, and how can we protect other Ameri-cans from having to worry about getting killed by federal officers,” he said. “This is about protecting due process of all Americans.”

Shibly said that the federal inves-tigation will focus on the potential violation of Todashev’s civil rights, and the state investigation will focus on Florida’s use of force laws.

As The Hoot has reported previ-ously, the triple homicide of Bren-dan Mess, Eric Weissman, and Ra-phael Teken was committed just a few miles away from the Brandeis campus in September 2011. At the time, the homicide was written off as a drug related murder. No sus-

pects were named and no arrests were made.

In April 2013, Tsarnaev’s friend-ship with one of the victims, Mess, raised suspicions of his involvement in the Waltham homicide. Tsarnaev and Mess knew each other from high school; Tsarnaev had previ-ously described Mess as his best friend. Todashev’s friendship with Tsarnaev led the police to question him regarding the bombing and the homicides.

Todashev was not involved in the Boston Marathon bombing. He did admit, however, that he played a direct role in the Waltham killings and indicated Tsarnaev’s involve-ment as well. Todashev told the in-vestigators that the three men were

killed during a drug ripoff because he and Tsarnaev were afraid they would be able to identify the friends and tell the police what happened.

The investigation of the Waltham

triple homicide is still in process. The Middlesex District Attorney Marian Ryan declared that the Waltham murder investigation is “by no means closed.”

Dept. of Justice investigates Todashev’s death

photo from internet source

TODASHEV, from page 1

photo from internet source

photo from internet source

ARTs, eTC.4 The Brandeis Hoot August 23, 2013

‘Pacific Rim’ and ‘2 Guns’ bring action to cinemaBy Shreyas Warrier

Staff

Two action movies came out this summer that caught the interest of moviegoers across the nation: “Pacific Rim,” directed by Guillermo del Toro, and “2 Guns,” directed by Baltasar Kormákur. “Pacific Rim” grossed nearly $100 million at the box office, while “2 Guns” grossed approximate-ly $60 million.

The strength of “Pacific Rim” was not in its storyline, which possessed some gaping logical holes, but in the special effects and filmography. Set in a world where the Pacific Ocean holds a giant portal to other lands, humans have been dealing with the emerging threat of the Kaiju— mas-sive, Godzilla-like creatures—for years. To combat these powerful foes, they create the Jaegrs, a force of au-tomatons controlled by two partners. To control these enormous robots, the human fighters have to be linked telepathically, a process called drift-ing. In this state, they become one consciousness, able to react and fight together. Slowly, the Kaiju coming through the portal become more and more powerful, and the Jaegrs start to take on frightening casualties. Humans choose to do the only thing that seems to make sense—instead of upgrading the enormous robots that were proven Kaiju vanquishers, they build an enormous wall in the Pacific Ocean, a wall that is breached no less than thirty seconds after it went up.

As a result, the remaining Jaegrs are quickly called back into action, this time to stop a much more powerful threat. While a team of two scientists work together haphazardly to find a way to destroy the portal, the Jaegrs get sliced down.

Finally, with no other plans on how to solve the problem, they decide that the best thing to do would be to send a nuke somewhere and hope that fixes things. Into the forefront of the movie again comes some awkward character development, a sort of faint cry say-ing, “Look, we still have a plotline!” There comes the love story between the best Kaiju fighting human and the rookie, who was originally stopped from being a ruthless Kaiju killer by

her adopted father, the Kaiju-killing boss. The two fall in love immediately after seeing each other, although the two actors have no chemistry what-soever. In between moments of cin-ematic splendor, they have time for a quick awkward chat in which neither can confess to the feelings that clearly weren’t there.

The strength of the movie is in how it made the audience believe that they themselves could control the enormous Jaegers and fight the Kaiju monsters. The movie did an excellent job of making you feel like a kid again. “Pacific Rim” was not watchable for its plotlines, but rather for its fantastic science fiction world and cinematic effects. It allowed you to imagine that these creatures could exist, and more importantly, made you feel powerful enough to stop them.

“2 Guns,” starring Mark Wahlberg and Denzel Washington, is a west-ern-style gun blazing adventure that leads two secret agents, one from the DEA and the other from the Navy, to work together on a tenuous agree-ment. Their friendship is originally shattered by the revelation that both are double agents using the other as a fall guy. Wahlberg and Washington hold an easy camaraderie, interact-ing in short snippets of casual speech amidst a hail of bullets. As they rob banks and create money laundering deals, the duo get chased by their own men, who end up turning on them to conceal all leaks.

The strength of “2 Guns” is in the actors’ abilities. Wahlberg and Wash-ington light up the screen with their wisecracks and smart attitude. Noth-ing fazes them—from the explosion of a diner to the death of a girlfriend. The villains and the plotline don’t at-tract a lot of interest, but the actors save the movie, as Wahlberg hits on the ladies and Washington blows up expensive cars.

Summer is often filled with action movies, as this year also brought us “Wolverine,” “Superman” and “World War Z.” But if you choose to watch any of them on DVD, your best bet is either giant automaton robots or the bromance between Wahlberg and Washington.

Editor Dana Trismen contributed to this article. aliens and men “Pacific Rim” features aliens and fighting automatons, while “2 Guns” is all about wise-

cracking characters.photos from internet source

Escape into the “Wild”By Zoe Richman

Staff

One of the best parts about sum-mer vacation is the freedom to slip

into stories that aren’t your own. As you turn pages, meeting new pro-tagonists, everyday worries fade away. With the first sip of green tea in your favorite coffee shop at the end of the workday, the specters of unfulfilled

major requirements disappear.This summer, Cheryl Strayed’s

“Wild” took me away from the swel-tering furnace that is Washington D.C. in July. In “Wild,” Strayed recalls her journey hiking the Pacific Crest

Trail, commonly referred to as the PCT. The PCT is a long-distance hik-ing trail running from the US border with Mexico to the Canadian bor-der on the edge of Manning Park in British Columbia, Canada. The trail covers California, Oregon, and Wash-ington in the US and runs for 2,650 miles.

In 1994, at the age of 26, Strayed set out to hike the PCT after her mother’s death and her own divorce. Emotion-ally spent, she wanted to challenge herself physically, but also emotional-ly by means of independent thinking. Her ultimate goal was to carve out a new life for herself on the other end of the trail.

Yet Strayed began the hike having done only minimal research and was almost immediately blindsided by the realities of the trail. To start, she over-packed her backpack—nicknamed “Monster”—which put her at a physi-cal disadvantage beginning of the first mile.

Strayed’s scramble, as she descend-ed mountains, climbed hills, set up campsites and confronted the wear

and tear on her body, taught her to fo-cus on the elemental needs that keep us going: food, water, shelter and hu-man companionship.

She was so thoroughly alone that each period of social interaction, no matter how brief, was heightened in importance. The hikers she met, all of whom were characters, shared their stories and their supplies. Many were shocked that she was hiking alone as a young woman; in turn, she recog-nized that she was treated differently than male hikers.

No matter who tells it, a story like this is one of survival against the odds, and Strayed’s is no exception. We root for her to take each step, despite the pain, the cold, the heat, the broken equipment and the fear. At times, given her determination to be completely independent, I found her emotional dependence on other people frustrating. But that is an easy criticism from the vantage point of a Starbucks in Georgetown. I’m cur-rently researching hiking boots and planning some fall hikes. Blue Hills, anyone?get lost The author Cheryl Strayed and her backpack.

photo from internet source

August 23, 2013 The Brandeis Hoot ARTS, ETC. 5

Shakespeare in the Park brings stories to life in BuffaloBy Naomi Soman

Staff

Whether you love Shakespeare’s plays or you hate them, everyone loves Shakespeare in the Park. Shake-speare in Delaware Park has been a Buffalo, N.Y., tradition since 1976. Free and open to the public, perfor-mances take place Tuesday through Sunday in a beautiful park in the city of Buffalo. This summer, hundreds of Buffalonians came out to watch “Hamlet” from June 20 to July 14 and “Measure for Measure” from July 25 to Aug. 18.

“Hamlet” is one of Shakespeare’s most well-known, iconic tragedies. In this play, Hamlet’s father, the king, dies and the king’s brother Claudius marries Hamlet’s mother Gertrude. He assumes the crown shortly after his sibling’s passing. The ghost of the former king haunts his son to tell him that Claudius murdered him, and to encourage Hamlet to avenge his father’s death. With his suspicions confirmed, Hamlet devises a plot to expose his treacherous uncle. Unfor-tunately, he ends up in a sword fight against Claudius’s henchman Laertes. As in all Shakespearean tragedies, almost everyone ends up dead on the stage when all is said and done, including Hamlet, Claudius and Ger-trude.

I read “Hamlet” twice during the past two semesters, so I was intrigued to see this interpretation of the play. The set and costumes were quite im-pressive for a free, outdoor theater. The set consisted of multiple levels and staircases, which allowed the ac-tors to hide from other characters or create more space and dimension in the scene.

While Claudius (Tim Newell) had a great stage presence and played his part well, Hamlet (Shaun Sheley) fell a little short. Shakespeare did not specify Hamlet’s age in the play, so critics debate whether he is more of a whiny teenager or a young man in his upper twenties or early thirties. The actor, Sheley, was much older, and while he had a lot of acting experi-ence, he did not quite fit the part. For one, it looked strange to see someone as old as himself pouting and throw-ing temper tantrums at his deceased father.

Throughout the text, Hamlet bor-ders on insanity, forcing the reader to decide whether or not he has lost his mind, but this director chose to por-tray him as cool and collected as if he knew exactly what he was doing the entire time.

And even though the director cut scenes from the text, the play was still a bit too long. It ran for more than two and a half hours, which is a long time to sit on a hill at night. Overall,

the performance’s ending was very well done, with an exciting sword fight and dramatic finish.

Shakespeare in Delaware Park al-ways puts on a comedy to balance out the tragedy, and they assume a lighter mood and play around with theme. This year’s comedy, “Measure for Measure,” took place in what ap-peared to be America’s Wild West, though they claimed it to be Vienna. Complete with music, a sheriff and saloon girls, this production was a blast to watch.

“Measure for Measure” is not as well-known as “Hamlet,” yet the plot is more similar to a modern soap opera than sixteenth century lit-erature. In Shakespeare’s version, a duke decides to go undercover to see what will go on during his absence. When he puts his deputy, Angelo, in charge, Angelo decides to enforce the rules—which includes persecuting premarital sex—with an iron fist. To set an example, he arrests and plans to execute Claudio, who impregnated his lover Juliet. When hearing of this, Claudio’s sister and soon-to-be nun, Isabella, begs Angelo to reconsider. He decides to comply, ironically, only if Isabella sleeps with him. Remain-ing chaste, she enlists the help of the undercover duke to trick Angelo into sleeping with his former lover Mari-ana, only revealing the tricks and the duke himself.

JBS students develop innovative video games

This summer, students enrolled in the JBS computer science program collaborated to develop innovative computer games and mobile apps, transforming their technical skills into creative expression. While ex-ploring 2D and 3D game design, the twelve students selected for the pro-gram simultaneously took courses in mobile application development and software entrepreneurship.

Professor Thomas Hickey (COSI) taught “Mobile Applications and Game Development.”

“The course was designed to give students the conceptual foundations they need to understand how video games are created on a wide variety of platforms, as well as the techni-cal skills to start building their own games,” he said.

Students worked individually and collaboratively to design 2D and 3D video games, creating their own avatar, foes and jewels amid a 3D vir-tual environment, complemented by sound effects and music. On a tech-nical level, Hickey taught students to use the Visual Programming In-terface to control the way in which avatars and other components of the game react to input, such as the click of the mouse controller.

One of the products developed during the session is a game titled “Crafty Hunter,” in which the player must evade foes, such as wolves, while dodging fire and arrows from shooters. Obstacles placed within the game’s environment complicate the task of locating a randomly placed room, which the player must enter in order to defeat the boss and win the game. With a classic feel evocative of traditional video games, “Crafty Hunter” is just one of the impressive products designed by Brandeis stu-dents.

Taking the breadth of virtual de-sign beyond the scope of web games, students explored the design of mo-bile games as well, accessible on de-

vices including phones and tablets. Teams worked to develop the android app FollowInk, which traces your footsteps using customized brush colors across a virtual map as you travel in real time.

Other successful projects include a drum application and an interac-tive mobile tool designed to aid high school students studying at Brandeis for the summer, featuring schedules, maps, alerts and dining informa-tion. Collaborating with Professor

In this musical adaptation, the duke was a sheriff and the play was full of saloon girls, cowboys, western accents and country western tunes. Although many traditionalists do not like tin-kering with Shakespeare’s original script, the play lent itself quite well to the theme change. The set was not elaborate and the smattering of props did the trick. The audience not only laughed at the sprinkled sexual hu-mor throughout but also sang along

with the popular melodies including “Home on the Range,” “Deep in the Heart of Texas” and “Happy Trails.” Pompey (Ray Boucher) took the spot-light with his endearing comedy and Lucio (Zak Ward) brought a spark to the performance with his charisma.

Shakespeare in the Park is popular nationwide, but Buffalo’s own in Dela-ware Park is one of the city’s gems; the cast and crew proved itself again with these two wonderful productions.

By Victoria AronsonEditor

Robert Sekuler of the psychology de-partment, select students developed games designed to study auditory and visual processing.

The sheer complexity behind the development of these programs is remarkable, while the ingenuity used to create innovative products brings to light diverse opportunities within the field of computer science. “I think all of the games the students created were quite exciting and have poten-tial!” Hickey said. “They are all in ei-

ther the alpha or beta stage and not ready for commercialization yet, but with a lot of work and a lot of luck many of these projects could become the next ‘Draw Something’ app.” “Draw Something,” a popular mobile game, has been downloaded over 50 million times since its release.

Hickey reflected on the skills stu-dents attained through the JBS com-puter science program. “They now have a much better sense of their own self-agency and are much more con-

fident in their ability to develop soft-ware applications even when it means they will need to learn the technology on their own and work in a group to develop the project,” he said.

For the upcoming fall semester, Hickey encourages students to enroll in CS65a: Introduction to 3D Ani-mation, which will explore 3D ani-mation, 3D modeling, and 3D Game Design, leading to a 3D Game and Film Festival near the conclusion of the semester.

photo courtesy of brandeis.eduprofessor thomas hickey Students design 3D video games and mobile applications.

photo from internet source

shakespeare in the park Performers deliver a rendition of “Hamlet.”

6 ARTS, ETC. The Brandeis Hoot August 23, 2013

Department of Theater Arts offers something for everyoneBy Dana Trismen

Editor

priestess Iphigenia (Sara Schoch) makes sacrifices to the Gods in last years show “Visions of an Ancient Dreamer”.photos courtesy mike lovett

From portraying an artist in love to celebrating 365 plays, Brandeis Department of Theater Arts plans to willkommen, bienvenue, welcome all to the fall semester.

Brandeis Theater Company will put on three major productions this fall, the largest to be “Cabaret” the musi-cal. All students, regardless of major, are invited to audition or enroll in a

drama class. As the semester begins and auditions start up, advice on how to achieve the perfect performance seems simple.

“Auditions can be nerve-wracking, but if you prepare, you’ll be fine. Have your monologue or audition material memorized (if that’s what’s asked of you), be confident, make direct eye contact,” said Alyssa Avis, Manage-ment Assistant and House Manager for the Theater Department. “It’s an interview of sorts and you want to

show the director that you can play this role, that you’re right for the part.”

The season will open with a per-formance of “The Seagull” by Anton Chekhov, on October 3-12. “‘The Seagull’…is a new translation, which is really exciting,” said Avis. The play illustrates what it means to be an art-ist. Auditions are scheduled for after the start of classes, according to Avis, who also recommends checking times and dates on the Facebook page for

Brandeis Department of Theater Arts.Brandeis will be transported to

1930s Berlin, Germany through this year’s largest show, the musical “Caba-ret.” Based on a book by Joe Masteroff and with music by John Kander, the show will hit Brandeis on November 21-24, on the Mainstage Theatre.

“With ‘Cabaret’, we’re looking for a wide range of students. That’s going to be a really big production,” said Su-san Dibble, Director of Theatre Arts. Dibble recommends that students of

all talents audition. “We love to have all levels of students, you don’t have to be a theater major or theater minor,” she said.

In the world of “Cabaret,” the two main characters Clifford Bradshaw and Sally Bowles fall in love, while outside, the world begin to fall apart around them. Trapped in the deca-dence of cabaret and the Kit Kat Klub, the characters must decide if love is truly what is most important to them.

The final large production this fall is set for December 5-8. Pulitzer-prize winner Susan-Lori Parks, wrote one play every day for an entire year. Her final product is titled “365 Days/365 Plays.” While Brandeis will only show a selection of her work, the produc-tion will cover a much of what was written.

“They range drastically in themes, so there’s really something for every-one in there,” Avis said.

“365 Plays’ was chosen to support diversity,” Dibble said.

Each production will have different requirements for auditions, so stu-dents should keep an eye out for more information. “It could be anything from a contemporary monologue to a few bars from a musical, or both,” Avis said.

For those students who may not feel ready to leap forward into audi-tioning, Brandeis offers many theater classes, some of which are new this year. Dibble is looking forward to one specific class titled “Making Mirth: Building Psychological Resilience Through the Power of Play.” Dibble, in collaboration with the psychology department, will teach the class with peer assistant Rocky Reichman.

“It is collaboration with theatre and psychology working together,” said Dibble. The course is a new offering for Fall 2013.Other notable theater art courses offered this semester include “Modern Drama: Theatres of Rup-ture, Resistance and Engagement,” “Stage Combat,” “Vocal Gesture: The Expressive Use of the Voice” and “Sig-nifying Character: Creating Meaning Through Costume and Production Design.”

“Orange is the New Black,” a sentencing of thoughtful humorBy Vinh Nguyen

Staff

For many, summer spells out beach going, backyard barbecuing and the occasional night stargazing with friends. For me, the dog days of sum-mer can be said in three words: tele-vision binge watching. The months of summer bring on the rare opportunity of guilt-free television watching that eludes most of us during the busy aca-demic year. It’s a chance to catch up on favorite shows and find out what per-ils our favorite characters have found themselves in, as well as what new ad-ventures await.

This summer, I’ve picked up a few new shows but none have been quite as addicting, entertaining or thoughtful as Netflix’s critically acclaimed series “Orange is the New Black.” Premier-ing in July exclusively on Netflix, the show is created by Jenji Kohan—who is also the brain behind Showtime’s “Weeds”—and is based on Piper Ker-man’s memoir of the same name about her experiences behind bars.

“Orange is the New Black” follows the story of Piper Chapman (Taylor Schilling) whose comfortable upper-middle class life with fiancé Larry Bloom (Jason Biggs) and burgeoning

artisan soap business are put on hold when she surrenders herself to an up-state New York prison. Her sentence is 15 months in prison for carrying drug money for her then post-college girl-friend. In prison, “Chapman” strug-gles adjusting to her new life with set rules both spoken and unspoken. On her first day, she gets a crash course on power structure when she acciden-tally insults the prison food in front of the head cook, and is consequently starved until she can set things right. Along the way, Chapman encounters an eccentric cast of characters as well as the person whom she never ex-pected to see again: the international drug cartel leader and ex-girlfriend, Alex Vause (Laura Pepon of “That 70s Show”).

Incarceration shows are not entirely new to television, with predecessors like HBO’s “Oz” and Fox’s hit series “Prison Break,” but what makes “Or-ange is the New Black” truly ground-breaking is not only that it’s the first show to feature women in the prison environment but it also offers a fresh characterization of social privilege, gender, and sexuality. Chapman’s dif-ficulties learning the ropes—although very comical and entertaining to watch—shed light on the privilege Chapman has that many of her fellow

inmates do not. We see Chapman be-coming aware of her white privilege to which she uses to gain the favor of the head correctional officer, Mr. Healy (Michael Harney), because they are “not like the others.”

As the show progresses, Chapman becomes aware of the privileges that she possesses, and is humbled by them.

While Schilling gives a solid perfor-mance as Chapman, the real heartfelt moments of the show come from an ensemble of incredibly well-written characters that are all realized by an equally memorable cast. Notable is

the story of the transgender inmate Sophia Burset’s (Laverne Cox, co-host of VH1’s “TRANSform Me”) hard-ship in maintaining the body she was always meant to have while in prison, along with the story of Miss Claudette (Michelle Hurst).

Although the show is centered on Chapman—a thin, blonde, college-ed-ucated, white woman—such themes about drug addiction, sexual orien-tation, education, and motherhood are pulled to the foreground through these side characters and their touch-ing backstories. The show does con-tain nudity and suggestive scenes. The

way prison sex scenes are portrayed, however, is not voyeuristic but reflects the bleak reality and need for human interaction.

Indeed, creator Kohan has a subtle hand at humanizing these criminals not as bad people, but people who made bad choices in difficult envi-ronments. At the same time, Kohan does not romanticize their plight, as it is clear that they all must serve time and come to terms with both past and present realities. It is the way that the show is able to capture both of these aspects that makes “Orange is the New Black” a sentencing worth serving.

jail time Main character Piper Chapman sits with a fellow jail inmate.image from internet source

August 23, 2013 The Brandeis Hoot ARTS, ETC. 7

Treat yourself to “Parks and Rec”By Alison Thvedt

Staff

I’m not the type of person to follow multiple shows, or even one show, when they’re actually being televised, but I do like to have a show on Net-flix or iTunes that I can watch in my down time. I went around asking those I trust for advice, and a friend of mine recommended NBC’s “Parks and Recreation.”

The show was so good, I decided to follow the advice of two charac-ters, Tom Haverford (Aziz Ansari) and Donna Meagle (Retta): “Treat yo self.” I treated myself and watched all five seasons a second time—and this time, I got my family to follow along with me.

Not only has the mockumentary-style series itself been nominated for an Emmy in Outstanding Com-edy Series, but starring actress Amy Poehler has also received two Emmy nominations for her individual in-volvement.

She was first nominated for writing an episode of the show, and has most recently been nominated in July for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Com-edy Series.

Poehler’s character, Leslie Knope, is a driven, quirky, loving and pas-sionate government employee dedi-cated to the task of improving the se-ries’ fictional and all-American city, Pawnee, Ind.

Working first as deputy director for the city’s Parks and Recreation department, and later as a female city counselor, Knope faces many chal-lenges. Whether dealing with a small budget, with a boss who believes the government shouldn’t exist, acciden-tally marrying two male penguins in a publicity stunt at the zoo, or debat-ing with her sexist male colleagues in the city council, Knope handles every situation with aplomb and an almost annoyingly optimistic attitude.

Knope’s boss, the self-identifying masculine Ron Swanson (Nick Of-ferman), lends humor to the show by playing a libertarian government employee who wants nothing but an ineffective department. After hiring his young intern, April Ludgate (Au-brey Plaza) as an assistant, the two work to ensure that the department spends the least amount of money on improvements, no one can make ap-pointments to better the city, and as much work as possible is deferred to others. Important work, such as actu-

Portraying the traumatized faces of two in-nocent children abandoned in the wilderness by their murderous father, the film “Mama” is a thriller that intertwines psychological terror with supernatural entities to haunt viewers. Presented by Guillermo Del Toro, creator of Pan’s Labyrinth, “Mama” transcends the tac-tics of a basic horror film to disturb viewers on a deep psychological level.

Discovered at an abandoned cabin in the woods years after their disappearance, two young girls, Victoria and Lily, scuttle across the floor like savage animals, their speech se-verely impaired. As they lurk in the shadows, angelic faces distorted by distrustful eyes and the unidentifiable sounds that emanate from their throats, their harshly impaired develop-ment instills a deep sense of unease.

It quickly becomes apparent that the surviv-al of the two young girls is not merely a fortu-nate stroke of luck, but resides in the disturb-ing presence of a supernatural guardian figure they deem “Mama.” Entrusted to a psycholo-gist, Victoria, the older of the two girls, begins to retain glimpses of humanity, slowly wishing to distance herself from the Mama figure.

The film becomes truly unsettling as the fig-ure of Mama seizes prominence, emerging not as an illusion of childhood imagination but as the psychologically ravaged ghost of a mental asylum patient who unintentionally caused the death of her infant child. As her rampant jealousy leads to the violent infliction of harm towards adult figures in the girls’ lives, and

For those who focus on the lyrics of their music, Matt Nathanson is an artist to watch. A man who has been on the scene since 1993, with 10 albums under his belt, Nathanson is no rookie. He has a smart mouth, a great stage presence and lyrics that can hit home. His newest album dropped July 16, and he will be swinging by Boston at the House of Blues in November. The album, titled “The Last of the

Arts Recommendsultimately the girls themselves, the themes of childhood innocence, murderous parental figures and deep psychological impairment combine to leave viewers with a lingering sense of dread.

ally improving the city’s parks, is met with opposition.

Haverford brings life and excite-ment to the series with his self-described “entrepreneurial spirit.” Primarily pursuing pipe dreams, he works with his flamboyant and ob-noxious friend, Jean-Ralphio, to in-vest in nightclubs.

Ann Perkins (Rashida Jones), a nurse, is Leslie Knope’s best friend and later gets involved in the city’s public health department. Donna Meagle adds sarcasm, confidence

and sass to the Parks and Recreation office, while Jerry Gergich is the de-partment’s klutzy clown. Finally, Andy Dwyer (Chris Pratt), an idi-otic but lion-hearted musician, shoe-shiner and assistant, Chris Traeger (Rob Lowe) and Ben Wyatt (Adam Scott) join the series as city manag-ers. Traeger is overly-active, overly-healthy, overly-optimistic and overly-emotional, while Wyatt is a nervous nerd who later loosens up and mar-ries Knope.

Creators Greg Daniels and Michael

Schur made a fantastic show. The first season may not be up to par with the rest of the series, but it’s only six epi-sodes long and critics now agree that the show is hilarious.

The Emmy-nominated show was deemed the number one television series in Time Magazine’s 2012 year end issue. The writing is outstanding, and each actor delivers his or her lines with impeccable comedic timing. Looking for a new show to watch? Treat yo self to some “Parks and Rec.”

photo from internet source“parks and recreation” The cast of the hit television series captivates viewers.

By Victoria AronsonEditor

“mama” The jealous spirit unleashes her rage. photo from internet source

Great Pretenders” is more focused on roman-tic interests and relationships than Nathanson’s albums usually are. This isn’t a negative, just unusual for a man who usually chooses to fo-cus the message of his songs on enjoying the little things in life. Nathanson’s album does not disappoint long-term fans, and despite having turned 40, his music is as relevant as ever. The tunes are great for car rides, and even to play in the background while hanging out with friends. Tracks to get: “Mission Bells” and “Kinks Shirt.”

ByDana TrismenEditor

matt nathanson photo from internet source

This week in phoTos8 The Brandeis Hoot August 23, 2013

Welcoming new students

did you notice New changes have been introduced to outdoor areas and residence halls over the summer. Exercise equipment in East, astroturf near Usdan, and picnic tables at the SCC and Usdan are here to welcome new and returning students.

photos by theresa gaffney/the hoot

August 23, 2013 The Brandeis Hoot THIS WEEK IN PHOTOS 9

Sodexo makes changes

photos by theresa gaffney/the hoot

delicious additions As the new campus dining partner, Sodexo has made changes across campus in dining halls. A sushi station, allergen-free station, and new name for the C-Store are introduced with the new school year.

eDiTioRiALs10 The Brandeis Hoot August 23, 2013

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“To acquire wisdom, one must observe.”

Editor-in-ChiefEmily Stott

Volume 10 • Issue 12the brandeis hoot • brandeis university

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Vital to the health of a Univer-sity is the quality of student life. Candidates for admissions

will not attend a school that does not promise a rich, vibrant and wholesome college experience. Foremost among the barbs frequently lodged at Brandeis’ management of campus life is its food service.

Students complained that food pro-vided by the auspices of Aramark was of a quality that did not justify its price. A visitor to a typical Brandeis cafeteria would likely complain of long lines, lim-ited options and infrequent rotation of menus. Patrons of the POD Stores often complained that prices were inflated compared to similar items sold at the nearby Hannaford’s and Walgreen’s.

While some improvement was seen during the 2012-2013 school year, many students attributed Aramark’s height-ened sensitivity to customer satisfaction to the fact that its contract was up for renewal instead of a genuine dedication

to excellence. Regardless of the changes, University food service remained a conspicuous symbol of the state of com-munity life.

We applaud the administration for taking what is hopefully the first of many steps toward a higher quality of student life. The decision to switch culi-nary providers from Aramark to Sodexo emphasizes the fact that administration is taking an active role in increasing the quality of student life. While it is yet to be seen if the switch truly anticipates a new chapter in student life, our interac-tions with Sodexo personnel have led us to adopt a cautious optimism.

A nutritious and robust food service is one of the most important determinants in student life. Much of the Brandeis population hails from communities where meals are the anchor of com-munity life and social interaction. The university and Sodexo must acknowl-edge the potential for their decisions to influence all facets of student well-being.

The ambition of Sodexo’s plans is heartening. Among the many promised improvements are new franchise loca-tions on campus including Starbucks, Guy Fieri on Campus and Einstein’s Bagels (which previously only serviced a mini-franchise in the Shapiro Campus Center). In addition, we are promised overhauled dining halls, new kosher options and even the potential for on-campus food trucks.

We are encouraged by Sodexo’s will-ingness to listen to our feedback and to take action to remedy complaints. These include a method of providing input via mobile phone, a platform which we hope will streamline the feedback process.

If the administration is truly com-mitted to overhauling student life, its attention should not be limited merely to food service. Other areas that deserve equal attention include housing and facilities.

Sodexo to partner with student community

spoRTsAugust 23, 2013 The Brandeis Hoot 11

Patriots’ Hernandez charged with homicide

By Charlie RomanowStaff

Former New England Patriots Pro Bowler Aaron Hernandez was ar-rested at his home in North Attle-borough, Mass., on June 26 and sub-sequently charged with murder. The arrest followed an investigation into the June 17 death of 27-year-old Odin Lloyd, an employee of a landscaping company and semi-professional foot-ball player for the Boston Bandits.

Lloyd’s remains were found in a gravel pit in an industrial park less than one mile from Hernandez’s sub-urban home. Keys to a car that Her-nandez rented were found in Lloyd’s pocket. Lloyd, a resident of Dorches-ter, Mass., was dating the sister of Hernandez’s fiancé.

Hernandez’s history of criminal ac-tivity throughout his high school days in Bristol, Conn., and college career in Florida were likely the fuel that ig-nited the fire behind the orchestrated execution.

An unsolved double homicide took place last summer in Boston’s South End that is now believed to be con-nected to Hernandez. Police believe Lloyd may have been aware of the event. The two men had been out earlier on June 14 at Rumor, a club in Boston. A few days before his death, Lloyd had spoken to some people who were not on good terms with Hernandez; this may have angered the NFL player.

Hernandez and two friends, Carlos Ortiz and Ernest Wallace, reportedly left Lloyd’s home at 2:30 a.m. on June 17 and headed to North Attlebor-ough. Ortiz and Wallace each have prior criminal offenses.

While in custody, Ortiz has claimed that Wallace told him that Hernandez fired the shots. Ortiz had fallen asleep in the car before Hernandez, Lloyd and Wallace exited the vehicle. Shots were then heard by Ortiz and by-standers between 3:22 a.m. and 3:27 a.m. Hernandez and Wallace then returned to the vehicle without Lloyd and the three men drove to Hernan-dez’s home.

Personal surveillance cameras show Hernandez and one other man carrying a gun, although the weapon used for the murder has not yet been found. Footage from the six to eight hours after the crime was erased. The available footage shows Hernandez walking to and from his basement multiple times. Lloyd texted his sister at 3:23 a.m. informing her that he was with Hernandez, possibly moments before he was shot.

The rented car used by the men was later returned and found to contain empty shell casings that match those of the .45 caliber found near Lloyd’s body as well as his fingerprints. Ad-ditional .45 caliber ammunition was found in Hernandez’s SUV and in an apartment he leased in nearby Frank-lin, Mass. The SUV is believed to be linked to the double homicide last summer. In the Franklin apartment, police found the white hooded sweat-shirt and hat that Hernandez had been seen wearing at Rumor.

Recent documents state that after returning to his home, Hernandez put his guns into a black lock box in his basement. His fiancé, Shayanna Jenkins, was seen taking an empty trash bag down to the basement and returned with something in it before borrowing her sister’s car and then re-turning without the bag an hour later.

When approached by police of-ficers at his home the following day,

Hernandez was unaffected. On Aug. 19, a gun was confirmed to be found in a woman’s car after a crash in Long-meadow, Mass., that is believed to be have been used in last year’s double homicide.

A locked safe box found in the vehicle may hold more clues to the murder of Odin Lloyd. Jailene Diaz-Ramos, the driver of the vehicle, has a Bristol, Conn., address, which is also Hernandez’s hometown. She told the police that the items were left in the car after she gave a ride to some people that she did not know, but described as football players.

Twenty-three-year-old Hernandez won a national championship with the University of Florida and com-piled 18 touchdowns, 175 receptions and nearly 2,000 yards in his brief

three-year stint with the pass-heavy Patriots. Questions about the young star have surrounded him since his high school years. The pre-draft screening for all draftees had marked Hernandez with the lowest possible score for “social maturity,” and indi-cated that he liked to “live on the edge of acceptable behavior.” While these factors may have been a red flag for the team’s drafting decision, the re-cent discoveries could not have been expected.

The Patriots released Hernandez from his five-year, $40 million con-tract after his arrest. Wallace is cur-rently charged with accessory to mur-der after the fact and Ortiz is charged with a weapons charge. Investigations continue in Connecticut and Massa-chusetts.

photo from internet source

Soccer teams ranked No. 12 in nation

The Brandeis men’s and women’s soccer teams each have been re-cently ranked as the No. 12 teams in the nation for Men and Women Division III Soccer for this up-coming season. The placement comes from the National Soccer Coaches Association of American Preseason Top 25 Poll.

The recognition is a continua-tion of the success last season saw, when the women’s team made it to the quarterfinals of the NCAA Division III Tournament. The girls finished the 2012 season ranked No. 8, with a record of 16-5-2.

The boys also saw success in 2012, after making it to the Sweet Sixteen of the NCAA Division III Tournament, with a record of 18-

By Theresa GaffneyEditor

3-1. The women will compete this

year with 10 of the 11 starters from last year’s team, while the men will retain eight of last year’s 11, according to BrandeisNOW. This includes stand-out player Dara Spital for the women, who earned the title of third-team All American, and first-team All UAA selection with 33 points in 2012. For the men, Sam Ocel will play another year as a “sec-ond senior,” with one more year of NCAA eligibility due to an injury his sophomore year, says BrandeisNOW.

Other UAA teams that made the rankings for women include Emory at No. 2, Washington at No. 4, Carnegie Melon at No. 5 and Chicago at No. 25. The men outscore the division, only joined by Carnegie Melon at No. 18.

photo from internet source

opinion12 The Brandeis Hoot August 23, 2013

The issue with “Blurred Lines”By Emily Scharf

Staff

While I was at my favorite sub shop picking up dinner, I was irritated to hear the song “Blurred Lines” by Robin Thicke come on the radio be-hind the counter. Before I even had time to think about how much the song irritated me, the muscled man making my sandwich grumbled, “I hate this song with a burning pas-sion.” I don’t know whether the sex-ist, degrading lyrics are what caused that man to loathe the song, or if it was simply the melody itself. Regard-less, it was refreshing to hear.

It seems that the world has mixed reviews concerning the single that has gained the title of longest-run-ning No. 1 hit on the Billboard Hot 100 this year. While the song held No. 1 spot on iTunes’ top selling singles list until dropping to No. 2 this week, listeners’ responses vacillate between love of the music to outright disgust at Thicke’s lyrics and methods. One iTunes reviewer states, “Albeit catchy, I can’t support a person who actively tries to degrade women and then de-fends himself for it. I don’t care if it’s his choice as an artist and trying to be ‘edgy’ doesn’t cut it. This song, and the intent behind it, is sick and a huge disappointment to what could have been a good song.”

The lyrics to the song are disturb-ing; some of them so much so that it is uncomfortable putting them in print, much less having children hear them on the radio. Some of the less risqué lyrics compare women to ani-mals, claiming that the singer “tried to domesticate” the woman to whom he is singing. This is upsetting be-cause it puts the listener in the mind-set that it is okay to treat a woman as less than a man. It puts forth the claim that women need to be tamed, that women are subservient and need to be controlled. In this day and age, it is abhorrent that women and men still are not perceived as equals.

Another line of the song says, “The way you grab me, must wanna get nasty.” This claim simply feels down-right creepy. It attempts to validate the notion that if a woman so much as touches a man she is consenting to

sex. It provides listeners with the false belief that something less than verbal consent is acceptable. The song also choruses the line, “I know you want it.” This seems to undermine a wom-an’s refusal of consent, implying that “no” doesn’t always mean “no.” It is reasonable to say this song condones rape culture, and that is despicable.

The first time I heard “Blurred Lines,” it was in a commercial for Beats Pill, a portable stereo by Beats by Dr. Dre. At the time, I did not know the song, I did not know that Robin Thicke was actually in the commer-cial and I did not know that the com-mercial was a parody of the song’s music video. My initial reaction was horror; why was it necessary to sexu-alize a non-sexual product? Why do women need to parade around nearly naked to sell stereos? Why turn a sim-ple product into something phallic? When I saw the actual music video, I was equally horrified.

The “Blurred Lines” music video comes in two forms: the regular ver-sion and an unrated version. I found it disconcerting enough that in the regular version women were seen, barely clothed, draping themselves all over the men singing and rapping. Some women weren’t even clothed at all, just concealed by arms or animals. One woman’s only clothing is a nude-colored thong. Yet, the unrated ver-sion takes it a step further. In nearly every scene of the unrated video the women are topless and wear only a nude-colored thong.

Another problem for me, evident in both versions of the video, is the statement, spelled out in balloons, that “Robin Thicke has a big D.” I fail to understand why a musician needs to proclaim this to the world. All this statement serves to do is propagate the age-old, self-esteem hazardous myth that size matters. The video seems to promote false ideas of what both men and women should look like.

Women have been grappling with the media’s image of what they should look like long before the advent of Photoshop. We see nearly all there is to see of the women in the music vid-eo. What many people fail to see is the effect this has on young women who see this. It presents the false notion

that the women in the video are the norm in terms of body size and shape; it teaches young girls that if they do not look like the models then they are not worthy of love and attention. That is unacceptable.

The models’ nudity gives men and boys the same idea: that all girls should look like the women in the video. In this sense, it could cause men not to appreciate all women, re-gardless of their outward appearance. In addition, the way the men drape themselves all over the women gives the impression that men are entitled to do so. I sincerely hope that this song gives no person the idea that they are entitled to access any part of another person without his or her consent. Each of us is our own per-son and we have the right to our own personal space. Finally, if the wom-en are nearly naked, why aren’t the men? Why is it okay for the men to be dressed in dapper suits, while the women parade around in their un-derwear? If clothing is a sign of status in this video, no woman could appre-ciate the message.

Thicke’s record label did not sup-port “Blurred Lines” right away. They didn’t understand it and had no de-sire to support it. They didn’t pay for the music video; though, after seeing it, they jumped on the bandwagon. What shocked me was the simple fact that a woman directed the music video. Diane Martel, who has direct-ed numerous music videos, sought to gain attention for Thicke with the video. She said, “I think if ... we do a funny, silly video with topless girls, everybody’s going to have to know who Robin Thicke is.” She certainly succeeded in gaining him attention, though I cannot comprehend how the video is any way funny or silly. Yet, this has been Thicke’s idea of the video as well as the song. The way he views it, both he and Pharell Wil-liams, co-writer and singer in the vid-eo, are happily married, making them the perfect people to make fun of the numerous taboos in the video. Thicke recognizes that the video is deroga-tory toward women, yet, amazingly, he finds no fault with it. As Elizabeth Day of the United Kingdom’s Observ-er has said, the video is “eye-popping-ly misogynist.” robin thicke photo from internet source

The Hoot recommends: senior online classesThis fall and spring Brandeis will

pilot the availability of two graduate-level courses to seniors. The two courses are 10-week, online courses offered through Graduate Profes-sional Studies (GPS), a Division of the Rabb School.

RVTM 101: Foundations of Virtu-al Management across Cultures and Geographies :

Anticipate a set of challenges, rang-ing from geographic to communica-tive to ethical, associated with the management of diverse virtual teams.

Manage these challenges con-sciously and systematically using a skill set that is both structured and flexible.

Use this knowledge to develop and apply techniques for strengthening communication and building virtual teams.

Evaluate and adjust language to more effectively communicate about diversity

RHIN 110: Perspectives on Health/Medical Information Sys-tems

This course serves as an introduc-tory course in the Health and Medi-cal Informatics curriculum. Students interested in the Health Care field will be able to gain the fundamental un-derstanding of Health Care Systems, from provider types to vocabularies to efficiencies, and the impact of In-formation Technology on the Health and Medical Informatics discipline. Through key assignments, case study analysis, and a research project, stu-

dents will be able to explore and gain perspectives on Health and Medical Informatics in the context of their own interest fields. Additionally, ac-tual applications of IT in the Health and Medical Informatics domain, from clinical information systems to e-Health, will be analyzed.

At the end of this course students will be able to:

Understand the fundamentals of health care systems including provid-ers, payments, and spending.

Be able to assess the impact of tech-nology on health care and the role of health informatics in improving pa-tient care, administration, and educa-tion.

Describe computerized patient re-cords, interoperability, and adoption issues.

Identify the principles of health information technology including IT infrastructure.

Discuss risks and privacy issues in introduction to health information security.

Analyze various types of health in-formation including data, vocabular-ies, and standards.

This course introduces an analytical framework for assessing the complex and varied geographic, cultural and regulatory environment(s) in which virtual and globally distributed team members work. The course covers strategies for recognizing, anticipat-ing, and responding to cultural and individual diversity; relevant local, state and regional regulatory struc-

tures; and ethical dilemmas that may emerge in the management of virtual teams, particularly in the context of globalization.

At the end of this course the stu-dent will be able to:

Employ a variety of resources for assessing the geographic, cultural, and regulatory environment(s) across which virtual teams operate.

rabb graduate center photo from internet source

school news

August 23, 2013 The Brandeis Hoot OPINION 13

I spent my summer surrounded by children, working at both a musical theater summer camp and for a nan-ny company.

Spending nine or more hours a day with kids was a learning experience in more ways than one. What surprised me the most was learning about the way that children perceive and expe-rience gender. I was disappointed to learn, during the course of the sum-mer, how children speak about gen-der. Clothing, toys, board games—pretty much everything made for children create a deep gender divide using colors and decorations to sepa-rate the sexes.

The theater camp was divided into two sessions: the first was for elemen-tary-aged children and the second was for middle-school aged children. Through the nanny company, I be-came a regular babysitter for a five-year-old boy. In addition, I signed up

By Alison ThvedtStaff

Children focus too much on gender stereotypesfor various on-call assignments for families that only needed a babysitter for a day or evening.

Because I worked with children in both elementary and middle school, I met children of many different ages that ranged from six months to 13 years. Across the many ages, I was struck the most by the gender differ-ences prevalent in elementary-aged children.

Girls, for example, wore pink—al-most all the time, and this is not an exaggeration. When they were not wearing pink, they were wearing sparkles or flowers, and their clothes were form-fitting.

Boys, on the other hand, wore what you see most adult males wearing: shorts, especially running or cargo shorts, t-shirts and tennis shoes. Their shirts featured superheroes and graphics more than I’ve seen men my age wear, and simple, bland colors: lots of blues, blacks and reds. There are other colors too, but almost never pink.

The multitude of board games, video games and cartoon TV shows

struck me too. Characters or play-ers in these were dominantly male. Sometimes there would be a support-ing female, but she had something de-finitively feminine about her. Many of the girl cartoon characters had long eyelashes, as if that was the defining characteristic of being a girl.

I was also fascinated by the way most children would used pronouns. I noticed how the kid I regularly babysat always used “he” unless, just like in the games he played and shows he watched, unless the character had something fitting the feminine ste-reotype such as a high voice (even though all children have higher voic-es) or long eyelashes.

I don’t get it. I don’t understand why adults feel

the need to instill this skewed sense of gender in our children at such a young age.

Why does that matter so much? Why are we taught to identify with our gender and to judge other people based on their gender from such a young age? Why are we taught that people have to fit into a certain cat-

egory—boy or girl—as early as ele-mentary school or maybe even before then? Why are we taught that cloth-ing defines a person’s gender, and why do we care so much about what gen-der people are?

I don’t understand why the boy I babysat said one day, “I can talk like a girl! Listen!” and then proceeded to speak in an unnaturally high-pitched voice. Most children all sound the same, but he didn’t understand that. He had it in his head that girls sound-ed differently from boys and was imitating a girl’s voice as a form of humor. It seems that boys sounding like girls is very funny in elementary school.

I believe this deep gendering of children is not only problematic for boys and girls, but for children that do not identify with their anatomical sex and/or gender stereotype as well. A year before, I worked at a summer school, and there was a young female who identified with “boy” things. She had a “boy” haircut, wore “boy” clothing and had a Batman backpack, but she still went by her “girl” name

and liked to play with both genders on the playground even though many children prefer to play mainly with others of their own gender.

The other children were confused as to why someone who, in their eyes, acted so obviously like a boy would use the girls’ bathroom. They viewed gender based on how this child looked, not on her name or how she often liked to play with other girls at recess. They placed so much worth in trying to understand the child’s gen-der instead of just playing with her as a new friend.

Too much emphasis is placed on children identifying with their born sex. I don’t know where it comes from, but this deep wanting to fit into the gender binary is problematic. Perhaps if there wasn’t such a deep di-vide in the way children dressed, then calling a child by the wrong gender would not be considered an insult. Perhaps then would more adults learn to overcome their fear of not looking feminine or masculine enough so that they can learn to be more secure in their own skin.

Learn from professors across the nationIn a special opportunity only of-

fered only to seniors, next spring Brandeis will begin offering online courses taught by Professors Marc Brettler and Ellen Wright. Classes are held through the 2U Semester Online Consortium. But this fall, get in on the action early.

For classes that begin the week of August 26, Brandeis will offer “schol-arships” that would enable students to enroll in courses offered by other con-sortium schools at no additional cost. Only a very few students will be able to participate.

The three courses are:History of Religion in America: of-

fered by a professor from Emory Uni-versity. Class starts August 27. Live class will be held Tuesdays from 1:30 p.m. to 2:50 p.m.

Rise of Christianity: offered by a professor from Notre Dame. Class starts August 27. Live class will be

school news

held Tuesdays from 4 p.m. to 5:20 p.m.

Vietnam: America’s War at Home: offered by a professor from Boston College. Class starts August 29. Live class will be held Thursdays from 4 p.m. to 5:20 p.m.

All of these courses will count to-ward the 32 courses required for the Brandeis B.A., but the courses may not count toward the requirements of certain majors.

If enrolled, the student will “meet” (synchronously, or online with not more than 20 other classmates and the instructor) once a week for 80 minutes. Other materials and as-signed readings are expected to be completed. The courses will end by December 13.

The add drop period runs until September 6. There will be one week without live meetings, over Thanks-giving break (November 25-29).

religion rises Study Christianity in an online class. photo from internet source

americans in vietnam A war that hit close to home. photo from internet source

John Unsworth named to council

Vice Provost for Library and Tech-nology Services Chief Information Officer John Unsworth has been ap-pointed by the White House to serve on the 26-member National Council on the Humanities. This is the adviso-ry group of the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH).

The NEH provides grants to uni-versities to help fund projects such as television and radio programs, librar-ies, and individual academic endeav-ors. It is one of the largest funders for

Humanities studies in the country.Unsworth will serve a term of six

years for the Council. His responsibilities will include ad-

vising the program director on poli-cies and procedures and reviewing grant proposals.

Unsworth is very excited to begin his work with the Council. “This is a particularly important time to be assisting the NEH,” he told Brande-isNOW. He explained further that “proposed House legislation” puts the

program at risk of losing half of its funding.

Unsworth has plenty of experience working with NEH; for 20 years he has applied and received grants from them. He has also recently served as a consultant on making the Office of Digital Humanities permanent. At Brandeis, he also teaches as an Eng-lish professor.

On the committee, Unsworth is replacing a Brandeis alumna, Jean Elshtain Ph.D ’73.

Doctors become leadersThrough the collaboration of The

Heller School for Social Policy and Management at Brandeis Univer-sity and The Daniel Hanley Center for Health Leadership in Maine, The McAfee Fellows Program has been created to provide educational op-portunities for leaders in health care, thereby generating a supportive net-work of physicians.

The program, aimed at improving health care within the state of Maine,

will bring members of the Brandeis faculty to the area, thereby reducing financial and time constraints placed upon physicians. As of March, 36 physicians had completed the ad-vanced program, which addresses a wide scope of areas including busi-ness, management skills, increased partnership and developing trends prevalent within the field of health care. An anticipated, 26 doctors have enrolled in the program for the up-

coming 2013-2014 year. By building a cohesive system of

physicians, the training program is designed to provide leaders in the field of medicine with the tools to ex-cel. Dr. Chilingerian (HS), academic director at the Maine Program, states “This program is a superb fit with our mission of creating new knowledge and insights in health policy and management,” according to Brande-isNOW.

the heller school for social policy and management photo from internet source

14 OPINION The Brandeis Hoot August 23, 2013

Learning to appreciate the journeyBy Jake Weiner

Special to the Hoot

On the night of May 19, after a whirlwind day of caps and gowns, di-plomas and subtle donation requests, I left my friends at the Alpha Delta Phi house as a college graduate. But rather than smile at my accomplish-ments, I was struck with paralyzing fear. As I walked across the street on the 100-foot journey from my friends to my apartment and went to sleep, I worried that when I woke up, I’d look out the window and the place that I had just left would be gone. Not phys-ically, as though the corner of South and Dartmouth was the island from “Lost,” but gone as if I’d never be able to get those experiences and those memories back.

In time, I accepted that although there was change in my life, I would adjust and find success in the “real world”—because this had all hap-pened before. Four years ago, I sat on my front steps in Philadelphia after packing the car for college and had the same fears. I was worried that I’d lose the places and the people that mattered most to myself and my identity, traveling 300 miles away.

The members of the Class of 2013 will all follow different paths. My journey to adjust to life outside of Brandeis is unique to me. This is cou-pled by the fact that this is the second year in a row that I haven’t had to enroll in fall classes. Last year, I did this by choice when I felt the calling to work full time on a campaign. I’ve already had to find housing last min-ute and worry about holding down a schedule without my friends prod-ding me to go to class—much like a first-year adjusting to life without parents controlling his/her schedule.

Additionally, I’ve adapted to the new expectations of my life because I’m in the same line of work as I was a year ago, and I still live in Waltham. You’ll never see me running around campus grabbing coffee from the library before waiting on line for Pachanga tickets, but I can’t hide for long from the proximity, even if I want to.

That’s what’s specific about my journey: it’s helped me adjust to new experiences that life has thrown at me. When you get to college, leave college, get married, or follow life’s other big journeys in the “real world,” there will be factors like these for everyone. Here are a few things that I’ve learned from some of the smart-est people around me in my times of transition, and which I’ve found help-ful when adjusting to most situations:

Be the nicest person you can be for the first week in a new environment, and you’ll be set for life. (And be nice after that, too.) Half of the people liv-ing in my house as graduates are kids who lived in my quad as first-years, and one was someone I met on my first day at school.

Fill the abundance of free time with new or exciting pursuits. When I first started college, I signed up for every group imaginable: auditioning for a cappella, captaining a flag football team and trying out a radio show. I used to joke to my friends that I signed up for both the college Demo-crats and the college Republicans. Some activities lasted, such as my involvement in political groups and my fraternity, while others fell by the wayside. As a graduate, this past June I got a camera and started learning how to use it. I also started learning how to brew beer with my roommate and caught up on reading. In the long run, these interests may become pas-sions, just as I fell into certain activi-ties in my undergrad years.

Allow your interests and employ-ment status to be narrowed and more defined; it’s not necessarily bad. Even when I started with 1,000 aforemen-tioned extracurriculars, by my senior year I was spending most of my time on politics, fraternity and music, while trying to find a job and a per-sonal life that had the right combina-tion of these.

Always keep an eye out for some-thing else on the horizon. If it’s time to move on, do it with confidence and grace. For me, this has been true of friendships, club involvement, employment and subjects I chose to study.

Don’t let the “perfect” get in the way of the “good.” I spent the first few months of this summer in a state of “funemployment,” and to cope, I tried to get as much done as possible on things in my life that I thought were “imperfect”—I cleaned and reorga-nized my house, dabbled in diets and made lists of tasks I wanted to accom-plish, all to fill my time until I got a job.

While I got a lot done, I would have been just as happy in the long run to have waited until the next day to accomplish a task. Striving for ex-cellence is important, but not to the detriment of your success. In the workforce, there’s usually at least one task that can wait another day, and

with the exception of any deadline, it’s usually the task on which you find yourself stalling late at night when you should be relaxing.

Be a good person. It’s easier for teachers, mentors and employers to identify a good person whom they can train in a skill or engage in a pas-sion, than to find a talented individ-ual who needs to be trained in kind-ness and compassion.

Stay healthy. Eat, sleep, get your flu shot. If you’re in any sort of reward-ing career, you’re not working nine to five every day for the next 20 years—you’ll probably end up working some overtime. Keep healthy, and get ad-equate sleep when you can because you’ll need the collective rest when you can’t.

Keep in touch with the people you care about most, no matter how you do it. They were there before you jour-neyed toward the “new,” and they’ll be there during the adjustment, after you’ve settled and when you’re ready to move on again. That’s primarily what keeps me local: I want to hold onto the best parts of what I’m leav-ing behind. But every day, I become more aware that one day I’ll be ready to physically move elsewhere.

For now, my experiences, memo-ries and the connections I have can be as easy to navigate and recall as walk-ing across South Street.

Self reflection graphic by jun zhao/the hoot

hats in the air Students celebrate graduating. photo from internet source

August 23, 2013 The Brandeis Hoot OPINION 15

New communication methods intend to innovate, not replaceBy Lassor Feasley

Editor

As the torchbearers of the future, our generation is never at a loss for “constructive” criticism provided by our aged predecessors. The culture we have adopted seems to be under attack from all sides; nothing is safe. The lash of our detractors tongue, the clothes we wear, the music we listen to, even the new slang which peppers our language is under a constant bar-rage of judgment. It seems nothing we do can withstand the fickle tastes of those who came before us. We are accused of deficiencies in discipline, manners and plain common sense.

Sometimes the accusations of in-feriority leveled against us contain a grain of truth. Even I am occasionally confounded by the conduct and pref-erences of my peers. Various strains of counterculture have emerged among today’s youth focused on nos-talgia and reversion to the past. Take our obsession with vintage clothing and classic rock, for example. Yet even the most ardent apologists of our generation could hardly find the more vocal critics of generation Y justified.

The most frustrating charge we are accused of is that the art of cor-respondence has degraded under our tutelage. “In the old days we knew how to communicate. We had let-ters,” declare our self-appointed baby boomer mentors with the pomp and confidence befitting a cat presenting a dead rodent to its master. “Today, what with the Facebook and the

Twitter and the Skype, the soul has been taken out of communications.”

If one thing defines our generation, it is the way we communicate. We have opportunities to network with one another which put the landline bound phone conversations of our parents’ days to shame. Yet rather than recognizing the inherent supe-riority of our communications, many greying members of the old elite insist that our methods of communicating with one another are inferior to the mediums of the past.

Their arguments usually go some-thing like this: In messaging forms of communication such as Twitter, instant messenger or texting, we are limited in the quantity of words we can use and thus the quality also suffers. Emails are never quite so thoughtful as snail mail, and video conferencing mutes the intimacy of face to face conversations. In general, they argue that digital communica-tions are dehumanizing and dumb down the quality of our words. They are unengaging and even corrosive to the attention spans of the people who use them.

What these critics fail to see is that the new forms of communication are not designed to imitate the old forms. Video calling, in my opinion, is not just tone-deaf in-person conversa-tion. Email and messaging are not just regular mail on steroids. Such analogies are misleading and unin-formed. These are entirely new ways of connecting.

Think of it this way: The closest digital equivalent to having lunch with a friend is to Skype them in-

stead. How does this change the dy-namic? When I Skype someone, I can passively use my computer in ways which would be impolite in person. I can end the conversation abruptly and focus my attention elsewhere without committing any faux pas. If I were hosting a friend for lunch, I would be compelled to lend them my undivided attention for the full dura-tion of the meal. One can hardly say that one mode of communicating is inferior to the other; they both have their purposes and advantages in var-ious situations.

I personally enjoy getting into a spirited debate via text message. It al-

lows me to think on my feet as though I were speaking, but also allows me to hold my opponent accountable for false statements and logical fallacies as though I were responding to a writ-ten argument. This does not mean that the spoken debate is obsolete, but I would go so far as to say that having a vibrant variety of mediums through which to communicate allows me to more thoroughly express myself. Though I often respond to messages with a curt “OK,”’ I also write long form emails and keep comprehensive correspondence with several friends.

The point is that we should not think of digital media in terms of old

media comparisons. While members of the “greatest” generation bristle at the thought of a new standard of communication to which they may never be fully initiated, they should not search for inadequacies in our methods.

Deeper understanding does not come from a contrarian outlook on innovation and change. Yet that is exactly the route with which many have chosen to approach the twenty-first century. Nostalgia for an archaic status quo that our forefathers could better understand may validate their generational self worth, but it coun-ters the world we want to create.

photo from internet source

Glorified swag with Kanye and Jay ZBy Eli Kaminsky

Staff

As the summer of 2013 ran its course, the music world exploded with huge new albums, singles, con-cert tours, deaths and lawsuits. Amid all the drama, however, one conver-sation in particular has risen above all: the comparison of new releases by Jay Z and Kanye West, two of the biggest names in hip-hop today.

Jay Z has been at the top of the genre since 2009’s “The Blueprint III” reignited the fire that started with “The Black Album” of 2003. In comparison, Kanye only truly gained similar success in 2010 after the re-lease of “My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy” brought him out of the darkness created by his “808s and Heartbreak” of 2008. In 2011, the world learned that Jay Z and Kanye

view each other as equals, thanks to their collaborative “Watch The Throne.”

It is only natural to compare Kanye’s newest album, “Yeezus,” to Jay Z’s “Magna Carta Holy Grail.” Now that the world has been able to digest these releases, it is time to beg the ultimate question: who dropped the better album?

Several years ago, both rappers be-gan to advertise themselves as self-proclaimed deities. The artists reveal their shared obsession with classical and religious themes in Kanye’s “Pow-er” video, set at the pearly gates, his side project “Cruel Summer,” and also in the angelic, gold album artwork for the collaborative “Watch the Throne.” “Yeezus” and “Magna Carta Holy Grail” continue this trend, suggesting that humility is not encouraged at this level of hip-hop.

Considering the directness of the

title “Yeezus,” the album is visually quite plain. The blank CD is pack-aged in a clear, plastic case decorated with one red square. On the contrary, “Magna Carta Holy Grail,” a less glar-ingly named record, is decorated with images harkening back to ancient Greece and Rome. While Jay Z’s more graceful title places him in a poetic light, Kanye West prides himself on his directness. It appears, however, that both albums suggest the arrival of similar, ferociously confident, re-ligious musical epics. Thematically, both “Yeezus” and “Magna Carta” dis-cuss superstardom in a divine light, but the releases could not be more different.

“Yeezus,” which hit the record stores on June 18, is by far West’s most innovative album to date. The rapper and his production team, headed by Rick Rubin (who was also involved with “Magna Carta”) composed “Ye-ezus” with a stripped-down approach. The album could probably be released without any vocals as a solely instru-mental record reminiscent of a cross between Daft Punk, Nine Inch Nails and Crystal Castles. The beats hold their own far more than Kanye’s raps.

Daft Punk themselves produced the record’s first track, “On Sight,” which starts with frantic synthesizer warbling before dropping into the edgy, keyboard-driven beat. About a minute and a half later, though, Kanye screams curses just as the beat abruptly changes to resemble swirl-ing, psychedelic indie music for ten seconds before returning to the initial electronica. It is evident that West re-fuses to abide by any rules, simply un-leashing his anger accompanied only by a few snares and synthesizers. His lyricism in the first track alone is can-did and obnoxious, sporting cheap,

tactless, Lil Wayne-worthy punch-lines such as “We get this b*tch sha-kin’ like Parkinson’s,” and “One last announcement: no sports bra, let’s keep it bouncing.” “On Sight” warns listeners that they will be in for one wild ride.

Luckily, the beats remain stripped-down and interesting throughout the remainder of the record. The lyrics, however, continue to sound rushed, cocky and disagreeable. Kanye reach-es the point of no return on the third track, “I Am a God (feat. God)” when he interrupts the perfectly subtle bass line by repeating “I am a god” over and over again. If Kanye had even tried to establish some lyrical integ-rity and soul, he might have had an incredible album. The creativity of the album’s music is negated by the sloppy and pretentious lyricism.

Jay Z is just as sure of himself on his new album as his protégé, though he shows it with a little more class. While Kanye strayed as far as possible from his familiar sound, Jay Z stood strong by his world-renowned swagger on Magna Carta, busting out 16 recog-nizably Jay Z tracks. “Holy Grail (feat. Justin Timberlake)” opens the record as properly as “On Sight” opens “Yee-zus.” The song leads with a dark piano hook written by longtime Jay Z col-laborator Timbaland, and a wailing feature by Justin Timberlake before dropping into a classic rap beat. The song is exactly what one might expect from the Brooklyn-bred MC, which is a general trend for the album. “Magna Carta” is filled with wonder-ful beats, powerful hooks and swag-ger-filled lines, highlighted by “Holy Grail,” “Oceans (feat. Frank Ocean),” “Picasso Baby,” “Tom Ford,” “Heaven” and “Nickels and Dimes.”

“Oceans” is soulful tune about

racism that gently but dramatically brings to light the deep pain caused by slavery and prejudice, unlike “Black Skinhead” and “New Slaves” on “Yeezus” which also touch on the same topic. Kanye merely frustrates listeners with his angry tone, but Jay Z pushes for sympathy and understand-ing, telling a more sorrowful narra-tive. After “Holy Grail (feat Justin Timberlake),” “Oceans” is probably the strongest song, though “Picasso Baby” comes close, brought down only by its more materialistic lyricism about wealth and ambition.

That’s really what makes “Magna Carta” imperfect. The album’s lyri-cism becomes redundant at times, jumping back and forth between Jay Z’s wealth, superstar status and god-like appeal. On “Crown,” the rapper even stoops as low as Kanye, declar-ing, “You’re in the presence of a king/Scratch that you’re in the presence of a god.”

“Yeezus” is simply Kanye West’s ego on absolute fire. It’s more a piece of performance art about how great he is, whereas “Magna Carta” is a com-mercial rap album ready for distribu-tion.

Neither album is perfect. What the final judgment comes down to is the ease of listening and that award goes to Jay Z’s “Magna Carta Holy Grail.” While the instrumentation of “Yee-zus” achieves feats that few other art-ists could hope to near, the album is unorganized. Though “Magna Carta” is no perfect album, it is consistent, filled with 16 rap tracks that sound like Jay Z. The listener experiences no struggle when listening. Jay Z doesn’t try to be something that he is not. On the contrary, he tries to glorify all that he is with more swagger than anyone else in the game.kanye west photo from internet source

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