Volume 10Number 21

Brandeis University’s Community Newspaper • Waltham, Mass. November 8, 2013www.thebrandeishoot.com

Parking problematic but solutions far off

By Dana TrismenEditor

Student Union states parking prob-lematic but solutions a long way off

There are more issued parking passes than parking spots. Students are angry about parking tickets, and professors are late to class because they cannot find a place to park their car. Welcome to Brandeis, where the proposed solution to the consistent parking problem may be a parking garage, but this is a simultaneously expensive and futuristic ideal.

Student Union President Ricky Rosen reported that Brandeis stu-dents have been concerned with parking for decades, according to his conversations with senior adminis-tration members. “This year, though, the issue has become even more seri-ous. Both undergraduate and gradu-ate students have reached out to Student Union representatives and members of administration about the shortage of parking. Many students have been parking in lots other than the ones to which they were assigned, leading to ticketing and towing,” Rosen stated.

Director of Public Safety Edward Callahan stated that Brandeis’ chal-

lenges are echoed at other small uni-versities. “There may be challenges associated with illegally parked vehi-cles and unregistered vehicles. In ad-dition, it may be challenging at times to manage parking for campus major events which occur on class days,” Callahan said.

Callahan estimates that about 15 percent of the vehicles consistently parked at Brandeis go unregistered, a statistic that includes both students and visitors. “We attempt to identify vehicle owners/operators and ask that they register their vehicles if they are Community members. If they are a visitor, we acclimate them to the parking pass process,” said Callahan.

When asked if students are re-quired by law to pay a ticket, Callahan responded, “We encourage all Com-munity members to pay fines and there is also an Appeal process avail-able for Community members who believe they did not deserve to be cited.” He also stated that the money from the parking fines go back to the university general fund.

Rosen reports that the Student Union has evaluated several poten-tial changes to the current parking

See PARKING, page 3

Acting skill saves ‘Hamlet’By Dana Trismen

Editor

See HAMLET, page 9

Semester Online: an effort to integrate

into the digital ageBy Lassor Feasley

Editor

As online education takes a more prominent role in collegiate life, Brandeis is actively working to inte-grate itself into the digital age. This semester, students will have the op-tion to participate in over 20 courses on the internet-based classroom, Se-mester Online. While some courses have been offered recently, this se-mester’s offerings are more robust than ever before.

Semester Online, though in some ways following the trail blazed by other online educators like Khan Academy, distinguishes itself in sev-eral ways. It is the product of a con-sortium of 10 elite universities, each of which contributes class curricu-lums and professors to the website. Brandeis, for example, is responsible for two upcoming classes, “Psycho-logical and Socio-Cultural Perspec-tives on Health” and “The Hebrew Bible/Old Testament: Then and Now.”

Semester Online also prides itself on having particularly selective en-rollment, although students of con-sortium members, as well as three additional affiliate schools who do not contribute to course offerings, are automatically accepted. Students who do not attend one of these schools are

See ONLINE, page 2

also welcome to apply for enrollment, so long as they are at least in their sophomore year of college.

Unlike other online offerings, which are designed to be scalable, with virtually unlimited enrollment, Semester Online is different. Per class enrollment is capped at around 20 students. Because the service incor-porates a live chat classroom, lim-ited enrollment is necessary to ensure that professors are not overwhelmed. Semester Online students may also meet the professor and other students in person if they so choose.

While credits earned on Semes-ter Online are always transferable to general graduation requirements, departmental administrators de-cide if they are appropriate to fulfill major and minor requirements. For example, a class entitled “Financial Accounting and Reporting” offered by University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, will not count towards the IBS Financial Accounting Re-quirement, which must be taken on campus.

Each Semester Online course only offers three (3) credits, unlike regu-lar courses at Brandeis, which usu-ally count for four. Each credit costs

photo by jesse zeng/the hoothamlet Hamlet, played by Alex Davis ’15, steals the show.

Interfaith Chaplaincy expands its reach

With an active Interfaith Chap-laincy composed of four chaplains—Jewish, Catholic, Protestant and Muslim—the religious and spiritual leadership at Brandeis University already reflects the diversity within the student body. Now the school

has welcomed a new Hindu chap-lain, Vaishali Gupta, who will work to serve the spiritual needs of students in the Hindu, Jain and Sikh commu-nities.

The Chaplaincy hosted a meet-and-greet event to welcome Gupta on Wednesday, Nov. 6.

Gupta, who is already the spiritual advisor for Hindu students at Welles-

ley College, hopes to incorporate her passion for the environment into her interfaith work at Brandeis. She spoke fondly about her role in organiz-ing “Diversitree,” a sustainable food gardening project that took place in her hometown of Ashland, MA. The initiative was a response to President

See GUPTA, page 3

By Rachel HirschhautEditor

From a company that historically has brought hilarity and variety to traditional Shakespeare plays, this week Hold Thy Peace presents “Hamlet.” In years past, the com-pany has transported “Much Ado about Nothing” to the 1990s and set “Macbeth” in the era of World War II. But this year, Hold Thy Peace has played it pretty safe, mak-ing only one small (and confusing) plot change. In traditional perfor-mances of “Hamlet,” Hamlet has a close friend and confidant Horatio, who is the only other character that can see the ghost of Hamlet’s father. In Hold Thy Peace’s version, both Horatio and Hamlet’s father are spectors, the dead that only Hamlet can see.

The acting in “Hamlet” is fantas-tic, enthralling audiences in every scene from a monologue to a battle scene. But this twist in the plotline is not supported by the lines in the play.

For those somehow still unaware of the plotline of “Hamlet” (it is one of the most widely referenced pieces of literature in English), Hamlet’s

photo courtesy vaishali gupta

advisor Vaishali Gupta was hired as the new Hindu advisor after a three-year search.

Inside this issue:News: Prof. highlights differences in recognition Opinion: Univ. needs to keep respectful club distanceArts, Etc.: Slosberg immersed in chamber musicOpinion: Parking situation untenable on campusEditorial: 2U is too costly

Judges salute seniorsWomen’s volleyball suffered losses at Endicott and Connecticut colleges at Tri-Match.sports: Page 9

pakistani explores the female formKhawaja presents artwork created by female Pakistani artists tack-ling the issue of identity.

Page 3Page 12Page 6Page 14 Page 10

arts: Page 16

news2 The Brandeis Hoot November 8, 2013

Lecture highlights unsung suffragist hero

Last Thursday, the Women’s Stud-ies Research Center hosted an event by Center scholar Pamela Swing, who presented a lecture on her grand-mother Betty Gram, a radical suffrag-ist who worked with several famous figures in the early 20th century. Swing first discovered her grand-mother’s past in the early women’s rights movement as a high schooler when she wrote a paper on Gram.

Recently, Swing helped to clean out one of her grandmother’s beloved 18th-century Oregon houses, and found Gram’s personal archives. The archives, which are being donated to Harvard’s Schlesinger Library on the History of Women in America, are massive and include hundreds of typed articles, photographs and even scattered pieces of an unpublished memoir.

Swing’s lecture focused on her ini-tial research into the archives. Ac-

cording to Swing, the information covered by the lecture, while sub-stantial, drew from less than half of the documents in her grandmother’s archives. The lecture began with a description of Betty Gram’s work in the suffragist movement before mov-ing backward and covering Gram’s earlier life. Gram was the daughter of a middle class Danish-American family living in Portland, Oregon and grew up with a passion for the arts and education.

She attended college for a year but had to drop out because of financial reasons. It was also at school that she first got involved in major actions within the voting movement. Gram became a radicalized feminist after being called with her sister to the East Coast by suffragist leader Alice Paul.

The most dramatic event of Gram’s career was with the suffragist move-ment, and the emotional focus of most of her writing, came when she and a group of around 160 women were arrested in 1917 for “disturb-ing the peace.” The arrest came in the

wake of a series of protests against the treatment of Alice Paul in prison (Paul was force-fed and not allowed to sleep).

Gram and her group were told they were going to the same Washington State prison as Paul, but were actually taken to the Occoquan Workhouse, where they were subjected to constant hard labor, beatings and emotional abuse. Gram went on a hunger strike that lasted eight days, and another suffragist even suffered a heart attack but was ignored by the guards. After her release, Gram became a national organizer for the National Woman’s Party and worked harder than ever to pass the 19th Amendment.

“Doing this research has allowed me to love my grandmother in a whole new way,” Swing told the au-dience. She said she hopes that her work will allow her grandmother to finally become known and appreci-ated for her generally unknown work. The lecture ended with the audience singing the classic suffragist anthem “Alive, Oh!”

By Jess LindeStaff

suffrage Betty Gram, pictured with other suffragists and members of the National Woman’s Party

photo from internet source

photo by marian siljeholm/the hoot

$1,400, meaning that a class will run a prospective unaffiliated student $4,200.

Semester Online was created in collaboration with 2U, a company which specializes in helping elite schools of higher education create online programs. While the company has limited experience working with undergraduate programs before the Semester Online software, many or-ganizations have expressed enthusi-asm for its prospects. For example, it has raised almost 100 million dol-lars in Venture Capital financing and was featured in Fast Company’s 2012 list of the most innovative education companies.

2U retains the help of other cor-porations to provide services to top universities. For example, Amazon Salesforce, an all-purpose software and databasing company, is responsi-ble for features of the software which keep track of every interaction stu-dents have with Semester Online. For example, Salesforce can gauge how often students login to the program and what the extent of their interac-tion is.

Adobe was contracted to provide a live video streaming service, so that each student can connect to the class-room simultaneously. Some online classrooms even feature screens dis-playing all the other students at one time, unlike a traditional classroom, in which students can only see the backs of their peers’ heads.

Finally, Kaltura is responsible for video demonstrations which will often accompany course materials. These could, for example, feature ac-tors pretending to engage in a therapy session in a psychology class. Inte-grating elements which are custom-ized to the web platform is important to the company and its clients.

2U puts a high emphasis on student success and satisfaction. Each student is connected with a “representative” who keeps track of the students per-formance and utilization of the site. The representative can offer guidance and take advice from disgruntled or

underperforming students.While the consortium of schools

on Semester Online is select, it has been growing steadily. Even recently, two new schools signed on: Trinity College Dublin and the University of Melbourne are offering classes start-ing next semester.

Semester Online represents a me-dium between traditional and online education which has been established over the past decade and the class-

ONLINE, from page 1Obama’s Interfaith Challenge, which works to bring religious communities together through community service projects.

The new chaplain plans to lead a two-hour prayer and discussion group every Thursday evening, based on the prayers and rituals that stu-dents are most interested in includ-ing.

Gupta led the candle-lighting cere-mony at the Diwali celebration hosted by Namaskar, the student-led organi-zation for Hindus, Jains and Sikhs, on Friday, Nov. 1. She explained the cus-toms of the holiday to many students who were experiencing Diwali for the first time. Her responsibilities include leading other holiday celebrations, planning field trips to Hindu, Jain and Sikh temples in the Boston area and inviting speakers who can teach the greater Brandeis community about other aspects of Hinduism.

She is most looking forward to becoming part of a campus com-munity “with a lot of excitement for spirituality” and “making our educa-tion whole” with a new multicultural perspective.

The chaplaincy found Gupta after a three-year search, with much input from members of Namaskar and oth-er students who wanted to see a great-er representation of their religion on campus. Led by Catholic Chaplain

Father Walter Cuenin, the chaplaincy searched the Boston Hindu commu-nity for a well-versed spiritual leader who could “hear what the students need,” Rev. Matthew Carriker, the Protestant chaplain said.

Carriker described how the chap-laincy is working harder to meet the needs of students whose religious backgrounds are not as widely repre-sented at Brandeis. Jihyang Padma, a Buddhist nun, is coming to campus to speak next Monday, while Sangha, the Buddhist meditation and culture club, will now meet twice a week.

Atheists and non-religious students are part of this initiative as well. In February, Chris Stedman, the chap-lain for atheists, agnostics and secular humanists at Harvard University, will visit Brandeis to deliver a lecture on his book, “Faitheist: How an Atheist Found Common Ground with the Religious.”

The chaplains agreed unanimously that with Gupta’s arrival, they are most looking forward to “adding more diversity to the interfaith con-versation” by learning from perspec-tives beyond the Abrahamic religions.

“There are two components of our jobs: serving the people in our own faith traditions and thinking creative-ly about what we can do as chaplains,” Carriker said. “Interfaith service, coming together for peace and social justice, only becomes richer when there are more faiths sitting around the table.”

GUPTA, from page 1

Gupta joins chaplaincy New online classes come at a price

room format which has been around for centuries. Semester Online states in its guiding principles that “the purpose of Semester Online student learning assessment is to improve teaching and learning at consortium institutions.” The principals also man-date that professors share their teach-ing experiences between universities, such that a non-adversarial relation-ship is hopefully fostered between the institutions. photo courtesy vaishali gupta

November 8, 2013 The Brandeis Hoot NEWS 3

Brandeis researchers find older adults still recognize subtle facial expressions

Professor Leslie Zebrowitz (PSYC) and Robert Franklin of Zebrowitz Face Perception Lab conducted re-search comparing the level of emo-tion overgeneralization effects in older adults and younger adults. They published their findings in the paper “Older Adults’ Trait Impressions of Faces are Sensitive to Subtle Resem-blance to Emotions” in April 2013.

It has been previously found that first impressions are affected by emotion overgeneralization, which refers to people’s tendencies

to attribute emotion-related traits to people whose neutral faces resemble a certain emotion. For example, if a person’s neutral face resembles an angry face, people are more likely to perceive this person less likable and hostile even though this assump-tion might be completely invalid. It is theorized that this overgeneraliza-tion is a byproduct of our ability to appropriately perceive and respond to emotional expressions, which is an important survival skill.

For this study, the Zebrowitz lab compared their subjects’ evaluation of a series of photographs of neutral faces with the evaluation of a com-puter program that was trained to

analyze which emotion the neutral face actually resembled by measur-ing and calculating the face through its characteristics. When they com-pared the young adults’ answers with the computer’s answers, they found that young adults could effectively recognize the subtle resemblances of emotions in neutral faces. For ex-ample, the more hostile or unfriendly they thought a neutral face looked, the more resemblance to expression of anger the computer calculated the face to be.

Given the knowledge that older adults show deficit in accurately la-beling strong emotional expressions, Zebrowitz thought that perhaps old-

er adults wouldn’t show this bias as much as young adults. Amazingly, their study showed that older adults are just as effective as young adults in recognizing the subtle emotional re-semblances in neutral faces.

“There’s no difference. Older adults, just like younger adults, see faces that the computer thinks look more angry, and think they’re more hostile, and less trustworthy; they think the faces that the computer believes show more surprise, actually look more naïve,” Professor Zebrowitz said. This means that although older adults show defi-cit in identifying real emotional faces accurately, they are very sensitive to subtle variations among neutral faces

that resemble emotions. There are a number of different ex-

planations that they have been pursu-ing, Zebrowitz explained. One may be that multiple choices invoke a differ-ent kind of thinking that older adults perform worse on. Another explana-tion is that they use a different kind of processing, automatic or controlled, and because the parts of the brain that control automatic processing are more preserved with age, older adults show no deficit in emotional overgen-eralization.

Older adults usually do worse on tests that measure speed of processing and executive control; they usually also have poorer visual cue, and per-haps less contrast sensitivity. There is a lot of evidence that older adults function very well in interpersonal relationships, and because of these test results that show lower cognitive function, this social ability has been a puzzle to scientists.

Zebrowitz expressed that this study is important because it that shows social cognition functions are intact in older adults. “Maybe we shouldn’t generalize too much from what happens in cognitive tests that don’t have meaningful social content or the cognitive tests that doesn’t real-ly represent what goes on in everyday life,” she said. This study shows that when older adults face a social cogni-tion task, they perform just as well as young adults do.

The Zebrowitz lab has since fur-thered their research and published another paper that studied the ac-curacy of people’s first expressions in regards to aggression. They found that people did show accuracy greater than chance in correctly judging how aggressive a person is. Professor Ze-browitz further mentioned that the lab is currently studying how accurate people are in predicting a person’s health and competence based on ap-pearances.

By Jaye HanStaff

photo by matt brondoli/the hoot

system. “We have evaluated potential short-term changes, such as finding an off-campus lot to use during peak hours on weekday mornings and af-ternoons. We have also considered building another parking lot on cam-pus. However, Ed Callahan and Mark Collins both assured me that these options were unfeasible,” he said. Presently, the Student Union has de-cided the best option moving forward would be to invest in a parking lot.

Rosen sent out a parking survey to the student body on Oct. 28. The questionnaire asked undergraduate and graduate students about parking, with questions such as, “Do you think that there are enough parking spaces on campus?” “Would you like to see the university invest in a new parking garage?” and “Are you in favor of the university allocating tuition dollars to build a parking structure?” Rosen re-ports that within 24 hours, 1000 stu-dents responded to the survey. As of Nov. 4, another 300 students sent in their responses. “We believe that this is further evidence that students are dissatisfied with parking on campus and that we are eager for a change,” said Rosen.

Callahan believes that while the parking lot may be an effective new option, it would also be expensive. “If

the structure was large enough and accessible enough, it may alleviate concerns and possibly make the cam-pus easier to navigate for pedestrians and bicyclists. Funding would have to be appropriated for a parking garage, and it may take a while to construct if approved,” he said.

While Rosen said that the Stu-dent Union has the Administration on their side and that the two plan to work together toward new steps,

PARKING, from page 1

Parking problems remain unsolved

he also said that the parking garage “would be long-term and would prob-ably not be implemented for years.”

In the meantime, the Student Union plans on evaluating the results of the survey and presenting statistics and research to upper administration members. “In the immediate future, we are trying to educate students on responsible parking, such as register-ing with the parking office and park-ing in one’s assigned lot,” said Rosen.

photo by the hoot

sports4 The Brandeis Hoot November 8, 2013

By Dani ChasinEditor

Judges send off Hensley and

Einhorn on Senior Day

In their final two matches be-fore the UAA championships, the Brandeis women’s volleyball team suffered back-to-back losses against Endicott and Connecticut colleges at the Brandeis Tri-Match. The players and coaches took the time to honor seniors Si-Si Hensley ’14 and Yael Einhorn ’14 before they played in their last home game of the regular season. The Judges fell 3-0 against Endicott College in the opening game and lost to Connecticut College in a tight 3-2 match as they finished their season off with an overall record of 10-22.

At the start of the game against Endicott, both teams were evenly matched. After tying 15-15 in the first set, the visitors broke away to win the period 25-20. The Judges had a chance to rebound in the second set

when they were up 17-6 with their biggest lead of the game, but they were unable to hold the Gulls off as the opponent came back to win the point 26-24. Although the Judges tried again to overcome the Gulls in the third set, the visitors got an early start and carried the lead until the fi-nal buzzer with a set score of 25-18.

Despite the Endicott team getting away with the win, the Judges man-aged to have more kills for the game with 42 compared to the visitors’ 37. They also outnumbered Endicott in digs (71-70) and service aces (7-6). The Judges had 27 attacking errors while the opponent had 11. Hensley led the team in digs with 21, while outside hitter Liz Hood ’15 had the most kills for the Judges with 12. Also, middle blocker Carly Gutner-Davis ’15 had 10 kills and four errors in 20 attempts.

In a two-hour long match against Connecticut College, both teams

traded sets, but the Camels slipped away with the 3-2 win against the Judges. The first set saw an almost-even match from both teams, but the visitors held the lead until the end of the period with a 25-21 score. In the second, the score was 19-14, and three big kills from Hensley nearly sealed the point for the Judges who managed to add three more kills to win the set 25-20. The Judges got an early start in the third set nailing the first five points, but a counterattack by the Camels kept them strong until they were tied 18-18 with the home team, and then the visitors broke

away to finish the point 25-18. In the fourth set, both teams were tied 16-16, but the Judges took advantage of a few attack errors by the Camels and stole the point with a score of 25-22. The final set of the match saw an early start for the Camels as they scored five out of the first six points and held off the Judges until the close of the game with a score of 15-12 for the set.

The Judges saw a key performance by Hood, who nailed 21 kills for the game, the most out of all players on the court and her seventh career match recording at least 20 kills. She also had 12 digs and was one of five

photos by edwin gonzalez/the hoot

spiking the competition

players for the Judges who had a dou-ble-double. Hensley added 14 kills and 11 digs, securing her 25th double figures performance of her career. Setter Maggie Swenson ’16 gained a career-high with 50 assists, as libero Elsie Bernaiche ’15 had 27 digs.

With the regular season behind them, the Judges look to make a fresh appearance in the UAA Champion-ship this weekend at home. They will face some of the biggest competi-tion in the league, including Emory, Washington University and Chicago. Their first game will be on Friday against Wash U in the quarterfinals.

Men’s soccer has strong weekend against UAA opponents

By Charlie RomanowStaff

The men’s soccer team had a solid weekend on the home field holding off two conference opponents. Friday pitted them against Washington Uni-versity in a 0-0 draw while Sunday had them leaving with a 3-0 victory against the University of Chicago.

The Wash. U Bears outshot the Judges 14-11 overall and 7-3 on goal, but neither team was able to get the ball in the net. The first solid oppor-tunity of the game was in minute 26 after a cross by rookie forward Zach Viera ’17 led to a header by forward Sam Ocel ’13 but ended up over the bar. Wash U.’s Jeremy Kirkwood was able to scoot the ball past the goalie but defender Conor Lanahan ’16 stopped it from reaching the net.

A couple of late yellow cards given to defender Ben Applefield ’14 and forward Tyler Savonen ’15 gave ad-vantage to the Bears, but goalkeeper Joe Graffy ’15 stopped any possibil-ity of a goal. Brandeis had a couple of late chances in the 81st and 89th minutes. The first came off a corner by midfielder Michael Soboff ’15 to Lanahan that bounced wide of the far post. The second started from a cross by forward Tudor Livadaru ’14, but Savonen unable to redirect it to the goal as it bounced wide. Both teams had some opportunities in the first overtime, but neither was able to pull ahead.

The Judges did not help themselves early on by committing 11 of a total 19 fouls in the first half. The Bears had nine fouls. Graffy led with seven saves. Soboff had two shots on-goal

on six shot attempts. The Bears Mi-chael Flowers and Kirkwood each had multiple shot on-goal opportunities.

19th-ranked Wash U. is ahead of Brandeis by one point in the confer-ence standings. They are 9-4-3 overall and 2-2-2 in-conference. Their final match will be in the “Windy City” against the University of Chicago on Saturday.

Sunday’s match against the Ma-roons heavily favored the Judges. Brandeis took the lead for good in the 21st minute after Ocel was fouled, and Livadaru put a free kick that bounced off of the right post into the goal. This was Livadaru’s fourth goal of the season. Both teams would have good opportunities later on as Graffy made a strong block in the 31st min-ute which led to a play by Savonen in which he beat the defender to the ball,

had a shot blocked by the goalie but put the rebound back in for a score. Savonen scored his second goal of the game and ninth of the season in the 57th minute on an assist by Jake Picard ’16. This marks Savonen’s third multi-goal game of the season, and the fourth of his career.

Despite the lopsided score differen-tial, Chicago outshot Brandeis 11 to 9. They did not have many opportu-nities on-goal though, as the Judges overtook them in this statistic five to three. In addition to Savonen’s three shots on-goal, Livadaru had two of his own.

Brandeis keeper Joe Graffy took home his fourth shutout of the sea-son. He has accordingly been named the UAA Defensive Player of the Week. He has had three consecutive shutouts and has not allowed a goal in

the last 327 minutes of his time on the field. He is third in the conference in saves and shutouts. This is the second time this season that he has received this honor.

The Maroons are 9-5-2 overall and 3-3 in the conference, two plac-es ahead of Brandeis. Despite the Judges solid 13-4-1 performance this season, they have fallen behind con-ference opponents with worse overall records as they are 2-3-1 in the UAA. Despite the disappointing conference performances this year, Brandeis is ranked 22nd nationally by D3soccer.com, behind UAA foes Carnegie Mel-lon and the University of Rochester, both of whom defeated Brandeis this season. They are also ranked 22nd by NSCAA, behind three UAA foes. Brandeis finishes the season at home against New York University.

gearing up The team gets ready for another point. good work Teammates congratulate each other on their playing.

newsNovember 8, 2013 The Brandeis Hoot 5

Recently published articles by Brandeis researchersHow we make decisions quickly

Researchers Don Katz (PSYC) and Paul Miller investigated the difficulty for animals to make quick decisions that keep them alive. When animals must choose an action to take, their brains process information that is “noisy,” which means that there is ex-tra unnecessary information available to them. They have to sort through the additional information and decide the best action they can take to guarantee their survival. The researchers saw that there are limitations to how well animals can make decisions; there is “noise,” so the brain can only work so quickly, and a decision must be made in a short period of time.

They then looked at the differences between two models that represent the network in the brain that forms a decision. Their data suggested that the common integrator model, which assumes that an animal has unlimited time to make a decision, is not the best way to demonstrate the neural circuits. Instead, they looked at the accuracy of multiple different models of decision-making and investigated what could make the model work better.

Accuracy and response-time distri-butions for decision-making: linear perfect integrators versus nonlinear attractor-based neural circuits.

Diabetes caused by amount and type of carbohydrates you eat

Researchers Bolsinger, Pronczuk and Hayes investigated Type 2 diabe-tes mellitus in rats. They fed the rats diets with different ratios of carbo-hydrates to fats and varying amounts of fiber. After a period of time, they tested blood sugar levels, weight and incidence of diabetes. The rats that received a large amount of carbohy-drates were more likely to develop diabetes. The other diets did not al-ter the rats’ development of diabetes. The rats with advanced diabetes had

liver and kidney damage. When the researchers switched carbohydrates with fiber, they were able to delay the time when diabetes started, but it did not prevent the rats’ resistance to in-sulin. Rats that ate a high fat and low carbohydrate diet, however, seemed to have prevented insulin resistance. This is very similar to how diabetes occurs in humans, and the research can give us a better understanding of how to treat or prevent diabetes by a controlled diet.

Understanding what causes sleepScientists are using flies to study

the biological pathway of sleep and how sleep impacts feeding habits. In both humans and flies, there is a pro-tein called Neuropeptide Y (NPY) that regulates both sleep schedules and feeding. Since NPY has caused young men to sleep in previous stud-ies, Yuhua Shang et al. researched the relative protein in fruit flies to find out how sleep was regulated by flies. The researchers specifically looked for the neuropeptide called Y-like short neuropeptide F (sNPF) which is very similar to the human protein. Data indicated that this neuropeptide is an important signal that tells the fly

when to sleep and when to wake. The peptide is made by neurons, some of which function as biological clocks.

Usually, a sleeping organism will have less desire to eat. Conversely, eating can make an organism less likely to sleep. The protein in the fly is interesting because although it increases the amount of time spent sleeping, it doesn’t change the typical feeding habits of the flies. This indi-cates that the protein is likely most important for making an organism sleep, and the effects on feeding are through an indirect process, rather than being the primary function of the peptide.

This Week in Photos

comic Judah Friedlander visited Brandeis Oct. 25 during Fall Fest weekend.photo by nate rosenbloom/the hoot

photos by marian siljeholm/the hoot

perc Student group PERC gives out free kits in the morning to educate their peers to make good decisions.

arts, etc.6 The Brandeis Hoot November 8, 2013

Choirs present evokative melodies By Vinh Nguyen

Staff

Velvety smooth melodies and lush, tranquil harmonies filled the Slos-berg Recital Hall last Saturday night with the concert performance of the Brandeis University Chorus and Chamber Choir. Presenting a pro-gram that drew references to Bach and repertoire from the Romantic era, including the works of Schubert, Schumann and Brahms, the Univer-sity Chorus and Chamber Choir gave a concert that was delightfully enjoy-able as evident by the three rounds of thunderous applause the audience gave at the conclusion of the show.

Performing under the direction of James Olesen with Leslie Amper ac-companying the group on the piano, the Brandeis University Chorus and Chamber group opened the concert by singing the Brandeis Alma Mater, a piece arranged from Brahms by Er-win Bodky, who was also an original member of the Brandeis music de-partment.

From the start of the show, with this first piece, the audience was able to tell that both the University Cho-rus and Chamber Choir sing with a strong attention to musical tech-nique and musicianship. The sound was well balanced between each sec-tion, and harmonies were well built from the bass section all the way up to the soprano singers. The result was an entirely full, rounded quality to the overall sound that was produced by both groups singing.

Indeed, the technical skills each student presented, as well as the way both the University Chorus and Chamber Chorus can sing as a group—internally and when joined together—were some of the key ele-ments that made the concert a suc-cess. An alto singer in the University Chorus, Emily Eng ’14, explained that the chorus works attentively to develop their ensemble skills, say-ing, “We have sectional for each song that lasts about half an hour scattered through the first part of the semester. The rest of the time, Professor Olesen will teach us how to phrase the mu-sic, sing healthily and come together as a group, focusing on balance, ar-ticulation and vowel sounds.”

Next, the University Chorus was

featured in Mendelssohn’s “Lift Thine Eyes” from Elijah and “O Be Joyful (Psalm 100).” The chorus was impres-sive in the way they communicated the contrapuntal compositional ele-ments of Mendelssohn’s works. Sim-ply, the pieces use melodies that are similar but sung at offset time. First, a main melody is sung, and while it proceeds, a different section starts an-other similar melody and the process continues with each section starting and either ending together or inde-pendently.

“The selections for this concert were related through Bach’s music. All of the composers on the program knew, revered and strove to emulate his music, even as they were of a dif-ferent time and had other music on their minds,” Olesen said. “They all wrote to a contrapuntal ideal, an ideal in which each voice has a measure of melodic and rhythmic independence yet combine to make expressive and motion-generating harmony.”

The University Chorus displayed their ensemble skills with timing of these different contrapuntal melodic

motifs, rendering beautiful and an-gelically haunting echoes that were exchanged between the sections.

The University Chorus took a rest while the Chamber Choir group took the front stage, performing an array of sections from Schubert, Schumann and Brahms. Through its sections, the Chamber Choir showcased their wide range of skills and flexibly, singing a substantial selection of classical cho-ral works in this part of the concert. A wonderful highlight was “Standchen,” which the Chamber Choir performed with the guest mezzo-soprano soloist, Pamela Dellal.

As noted in the program, Dellal has been praised for her “exquisite vo-cal color,” “musical sensitivity” and “eloquent phrasing.” Dellal, a voice instructor at Brandeis who was also instrumental in writing and putting together the opera “Love in Schloss-berg Village” last semester, truly went beyond her accolades as a soloist in “Standchen.” Dellal sang with her whole body, echoing the grace of her poise to her expressions and ulti-mately to her wonderful singing. She

was well supported by the Chamber Choir, who helped to tie the piece to-gether. The University Chorus then performed four selections from Bach, threading each piece with the care-ful attention to detail and technical merit as they had done throughout the whole night.

The University Chorus and Cham-ber Choir closed the show with gusto in singing a second Brandeis song: “The Blue and White.” Composed by Irving Fine, another original mem-ber of the Brandies Music Depart-ment and founder of the Brandeis School of Creative Arts, the piece was charmingly upbeat and had many of the audience members humming its catchy lines.

The Brandeis University Chorus has continuously stood as a strong cornerstone in the music depart-ment, both providing access to music performance for students and leading the community in the annual “Mes-siah Sing” that is held in the SCC atrium every winter. The University Chorus offers students a chance to sing music from the Renaissance to

the present, exploring the extensive repertoire from the Western tradi-tion with the occasional songs from Broadway, Hollywood and African-American tradition in the mix.

Similarly, the Chamber Choir gives students an added opportunity to dive into classical choral repertoire. The Chamber Choir is smaller in ensem-ble, but it is composed of talented and skilled singers that make for a group that is highly vocally and musically independent.

Many of the songs performed were religious in content; however, there is a something much greater in the ac-tivity of musical performance. Olesen noted in a post-concert interview, “I think all of western classical music speaks to peace, not directly, but by being beyond politics and showing there is an interior life for each in-dividual which can be entered in no other way but by art of this depth and meaning.” Perhaps this was best exemplified by how the student musi-cians were able to work and sing to-gether to produce a pleasurable listen-ing experience this past weekend.

choir performance Choir astounds audience with velvety melodies. photo from internet source

Earlier this week, Brandeis hosted a lecture by Sophya Khwaja spon-sored by the programs in South Asian studies and history of ideas. Khwaja, a Pakistani artist who was born and raised in Pakistan, focused on the restrictions placed on the fe-male body and the artworks of con-temporary female artists from Paki-stan who challenge these restrictions and celebrate the female form.

Khwaja initiated her discussion by elaborating on the current issues in Pakistan regarding the conflict-ing traditional values and the impact that they have on women. She pro-vided information about the Hudood Ordinance, which was established in 1977. It included a clause in the con-stitution that made adultery and rape punishable by death, but the limita-tions in the clause make proving rape and providing sufficient evidence practically impossible. In 2003, 80 percent of women in Pakistani jails were there because they failed to prove charges of rape and were con-

Pakistani art celebrates female formsequently charged with adultery.

According to Khwaja, current-day Pakistan has been flung into a tech-nologically advanced age. However, it is still behind in regards to policies surrounding technology. For exam-ple, even though 90 percent of people live below the poverty line, about 70 percent own a cellular device. Recent-ly, legislation placed a ban on cheaper plan packages because the constant communication allegedly encourages youth to engage in immoral behavior.

Khawaja also presented artwork created by female Pakistani artists tackling the issues of identity and selfhood and taking on the aforemen-tioned issues. The first image was a painting of a cow climbing what ap-peared to be a phone tower. It was twisted away, looking downward in distress. According to Khwaja, the cow was meant to depict Pakistan wanting to move forward while still trying to retain its traditional val-ues. The discomfort of the cow could mean many things, such as the dis-trust of modern-day technology or a fear of change and advancement that could pose a threat to those tradition-al values.

Much of the art work that Khwaja showed was focused on female attire in Pakistan. Khwaja described how the endorsed clothing restricts move-ment. It signifies telling a woman she cannot go to work, cannot operate certain machinery and must remain indoors. In short, the religious dress code dictates the status of women.

The main article of clothing dis-cussed was the burqa, a traditional form of dress that covers a woman’s full body, including face, with a small opening for the eyes.

Some women find wearing the burqa empowering because they can avoid certain things such as the “male gaze.” Khwaja stated that the feeling of empowerment is temporary and in the short run might seem benefi-cial, but the implications in the long run are serious. “We only veil things we wish to unveil at some point,” Kh-waja said, which means that the burqa renders women a mysterious entity desired to be unraveled by the “male gaze.”

Her lecture was well received by the audience and a group of students who gathered after her lecture to speak with her and further the discourse.

controversey of the burqua Lecturer Sophya Khwaja discusses Pakistani feminist art. photo from internet source

ByDaniela AyalaSpecial to the Hoot

November 8, 2013 The Brandeis Hoot ARTS, ETC. 7

‘Liars’ spin off show starts strong

On Oct. 22, ABC Family debuted new drama “Ravenswood,” a spin-off of the extremely popular (and addic-tive) show “Pretty Little Liars” (PLL). “Ravenswood” is a fictional town next to Rosewood, the fictional home of PLL. Ravenswood has appeared in the last several episodes of “Pretty Little Liars” as the home of Ms. Grunwald (a mysterious woman linked to Ali) and A’s lair.

The town in “Pretty Little Liars” was always seen in a dismal and scary light, tinged with suspicion and pe-culiarity—but in “Ravenswood,” it is seen in a completely new light. The series follows five teenagers: Miranda Collins, Luke and Olivia Matheson and Remy Beaumont, who attend the local high school, and Caleb Rivers from PLL.

Instead of appearing dreary and primarily inhabited by the elderly, Ravenswood is portrayed as a live-ly town with just as vibrant a high school and town culture as its neigh-bor, Rosewood.

Interestingly, Ravenswood High School seems to have a lot more school spirit and normalcy than Rosewood High. The writers do not let this lightheartedness linger for too long, however. It is soon juxtaposed with dark mystery.

The show begins with Caleb meet-ing a frazzled Miranda on a bus, and he is told by his girlfriend to watch out for her for the near future. Miran-da ran away to Ravenswood to locate her only living relative, a mysterious uncle who has been absent for most of her life.

Caleb and Miranda find grave-stones in a cemetery that are marked with their names and pictures, which is very unnerving. They meet Remy, whose father runs the town newspa-per and could access information that could potentially help them figure out

ByRachel DobkinSpecial to the Hoot

why they have appeared to have died. Remy is also coping with her

mother’s return from service in Af-ghanistan, who inexplicably is the lone survivor of a disaster in her unit. After her mother quotes a long-dead miraculous war survivor from Raven-swood, Remy does some investiga-tion of her own. She weaves together a hypothesis that after every war, five teenagers die in an accident.

After Caleb, Miranda, Luke, Olivia and Remy are involved in a car crash precipitated by supernatural forces and Miranda dies, they cannot ignore this possible explanation. Miranda now appears to Caleb as a ghost. Un-able to shake the feeling that they all should have perished, the teens continue to investigate the possible

“curse” of Ravenswood and are con-fronted with calamitous and gloomy occurrences that do not appear to be mere coincidences, which are the fo-cal point of the show.

Although there have only been three episodes of the show so far, the series is enthralling and leaves the viewer on the edge of her seat.

The writers do an excellent job con-structing a complex but easy-to-fol-low plot and creating familiar charac-ters. The show’s content is somber and sometimes scary, leaving little room for humor. This is to be expected in a drama, but a little laugh now and then would probably be met with a posi-tive response. Overall, “Ravenswood” is so far an addictive, provocative and enjoyable show.

cast of ravenswood Ravenswood delves into the supernatural.

photos from internet source

Cancelled show depicts urban lifeTrue Confessions of a Netflix Addict

Hello, my name is Sophia Baez. I am a self-proclaimed Netflix addict. I eat, breathe and live my Netflix. Some might think I am outrageous—and they might be right—but Netflix is my happy place. Going to Brandeis can be stressful. Between the five papers due within two days of each other, lab reports and exams, there is a lot happening. One of my favorite things to do after a long day of work, class and meetings is to go back to my room, get on my computer and open Netflix. Yes, I live a sad life. Let’s move on.

Netflix recommended my latest show because I’ve watched and en-joyed “The Carrie Diaries.” Yet again, Netflix was right. The show they rec-ommended is witty, heartwarming and includes my favorite thing to have in a television show (other than Ian Somerholder of course): awk-wardness.

The show is “Don’t Trust the B---- in Apartment 23.” June Colburn (played by Dreama Walker) is a small-town girl from Indiana. She moves to the greatest city in the world, New

By Sophia BaezSpecial to the Hoot

York, after scoring a major job on Wall Street. The job was the missing piece in her perfect life puzzle—after already having a perfect fiancé and a perfect company apartment. After what seems like a day in the city, she loses all of those things through a se-

ries of unfortunate events. June, being the upbeat perfection-

ist, needs to put everything back to-gether again. In search of another perfect apartment, she comes across Chloe (Krysten Ritter). Chloe is something of a con artist, and she al-

most conned June from her security deposit and a month’s rent. While she might have the morals of a sociopath, she does have moments of true com-passion.

The unlikely pair balance each other out, and eventually change each

other for better or worse. This show is all about their adventures in the big city alongside James Van Der Beek, famous from “Dawson’s Creek,” who plays a fictional version of himself. Van Der Beek gives a great perfor-mance, playing an actor who is trying to break from his “Dawson’s Creek” box but also has no problem using his fame in the sticky situations Chloe usually puts him in. While “Don’t Trust the B---- in Apartment 23” only ran for two seasons, I think it is in-credibly funny and light. It definitely was a change of pace, and the charac-ters are solid.

The best part of the show is Krys-ten Ritter. You might have seen her in supporting roles such as the gothic office worker from “27 Dresses” or Jesse’s heroin addict girlfriend from “Breaking Bad.” She is outrageous but also the best friend every girl wants because she forces June out of her comfort zone, in a good way.

While Walker’s character is a little vanilla, she adds a good dynamic to this hilarious show. If you want a show with crazy roommates, awk-ward ’90s teen idols, a pervy yet in-sightful neighbor, a stalker-like for-mer roommate and a diva assistant, this 20-minute show is for you.photo from internet source

8 ARTS, ETC. The Brandeis Hoot November 8, 2013

Action Bronson continues his streakBy Jess Linde

Staff

Of all the new rappers who have come out of the so-called “new school” of hip-hop, there are few more unique, in both personality and style, than New York’s Action Bronson. A trained fire-flame chef, Bronson has made quite the name for himself since his 2011 debut. He’s proven himself ex-tremely prolific, with two self-released albums, an EP on Atlantic Records, four mixtapes and guest appearances in which he is able to hold his own on songs by other acclaimed new-school-ers, such as Chance the Rapper, Joey Bada$$ and A$AP Rocky.

But at the same time, the music community has bashed Bronson for his vulgar lyrics and actions. All of his songs have to do with sex, crime, geni-talia (or food-related euphemisms for genitalia) and controversial activi-ties. He once posted on Instagram a

picture of a drunk homeless person whom he and his friends had shoved around and poured water on.

Nevertheless, Action Bronson has been one of my favorite current rap-pers since a friend gave me burned CDs of his brilliant 2012 mixtapes “Rare Chandeliers” and “Blue Chips,” the latter of which he followed up this Halloween with a surprise release of the aptly-titled “Blue Chips 2.” Since it came out, I’ve diligently listened to the 19-song tape at least five times, and I was happy to see that unlike this June’s lukewarm “SAAAB Stories,” “Blue Chips 2” is Action Bronson at his best.

Beginning with “Silverado,” “Intro” and “Pepe Lopez,” the mixtape imme-diately sets itself up as classic Bronson: classic Wu-Tang style flow, tongue-in-cheek sensibility and of course vulgar-ity. “The Don’s Cheek” is a three-min-ute “Godfather” reference, and the following songs “It Concerns Me” and “Practice” continue to show off Ac-tion Bronson’s skills, as well as those of producer Party Supplies, who also produced the first “Blue Chips” tape.

The beats are very creative and include funky samples, such as The Champs’ instrumental classic “Tequila,” and on the song “Jackson and Travolta,” the hilarious isolated vocal track of Van Halen’s “Running With the Devil.”

“Through the Eyes of A G” kicks the mixtape into full gear with a fantastic guest verse by Ab-Soul; “Contempo-rary Man,” “Twin Peugots” and “Man in the Mirror” are equally electrifying and feature some great food puns. Ex-cept for “Rolling Thunder,” which also credits Action Bronson as a featured artist for some reason, and is just kind of weird, the final eight songs are all really good, especially “9.24.13” and “Amadu Diablo.” The baseness of the lyrics is a bit wearying at times and sometimes Party Supplies’ samples can be as weird and out of place as they are creative. I admit that I’m a bit biased in this review because I really like Action Bronson. But “Blue Chips 2” is a good entry into what has been a great year for rap music, and I’ll defi-nitely be listening to it for the rest of this year. controversy Action Bronson has many controversial lyrics.

photo from internet source

Third Eye Blind brings fun to Boston despite rough performance

By Dana TrismenEditor

Third Eye Blind, an alternative rock band known best known for their songs “Jumper” and “Semi-Charmed Life,” swept into Boston on Monday for a performance at the House of Blues. While all the band members are now in their 40s, and the lead singer (Steve Jenkins) is pushing 50, the show sold out quickly. The audience sat through the opening act Gentleman Hall (which wasn’t really all that bad), and then waited another 40 minutes for Third Eye Blind to take the stage.

The band opened with a strange medley of half-songs, in which they would play hits like “Losing a Whole Year” for a verse and then switch into something else. The lights on the stage went wild, blinding the audience and causing people to shield their eyes. The whole stage was in fog, so only the band members’ silhouettes were visible. Jenkins wore a sweatshirt, the hood hiding his face.

It was as though the band was try-ing to hide two key facts, the first their visible and very apparent age, and the second a much larger problem: Jen-kins can no longer sing.

Third Eye Blind released their self-titled album in 1997, with hits such as “Narcolepsy” and “Graduate.” More albums followed, with “Blue” in 1999, “Out of the Vein” in 2003 and most recently, “Ursa Major” in 2009. The band endured its share of con-troversy. “Semi-Charmed Life” was banned from some radio stations due to apparent mention of coke, and the band had a falling out with founding member Kevin Cadogan who sued for wrongful termination. There are only two original members of the band who still perform in it today, Jenkins and Brad Hargreaves, who plays drums.

While “Ursa Major” had some songs on it that were still lyrically and rhyth-mically enticing (namely, “Bonfire” and “Sharp Knife”), I had noticed be-fore the concert that the whole album sounds like it was sung by a different singer. All the songs in “Ursa Major” are in a certain vocal range, never hit-ting any high notes.

As I watched Jenkins perform, I re-

alized that he truly had lost his abil-ity to hit any of the high notes in his older songs. Songs from “Ursa Major” sounded fine, because he had written them after losing his voice. But in hits like “Never Let You Go,” Jenkins either had to scream the high notes or make the audience sing them for him.

After this original disappointment, which lasted for about five songs, I decided to enjoy myself anyway. Many artists cannot sing as well as they used to; age does a number on everybody (think Elton John). And the real rea-son so many Bostonians came out to see Third Eye Blind was for nostalgic reasons. Third Eye Blind rekindles the ’90s era, back to a time where song lyrics mattered and everything wasn’t hip-hop and repetitive themes of love and sex on the radio.

Third Eye Blind’s lyrics are the rea-son they have so many fans. Each song is carefully planned out, and can make the listener feel as though they’ve been transported to summertime or that immediate hurt after a breakup.

While Jenkins may have failed to sing many of his songs, he still shone on slower, lower-range tunes such as “Slow Motion,” “God of Wine” and “Motorcycle Drive By.” Jenkins sang “God of Wine” as one of the encore songs, which was interesting given its depressing subject matter.

The lyrics go from, “She takes a drink and then she waits/The alcohol it permeates/And soon the cells give way, and it cancels out the day,” to “The God of Wine is crouched down in my room/You let me down I said it/Now I’m going down/And you’re not even around.” But the way Jenkins sang it so soulfully make it a perfect encore song because it finally impressed the audience.

Jenkins was also an interesting stage performer. He would come on stage barefoot, kicking the air frantically while singing. He made multiple refer-ences to “a movement,” a place where people gathered and loved each other. Honestly, he sounded a bit like Miley Cyrus, like his music would cause people to suddenly embrace strangers on the street. But Jenkins’s energy was palpable, and though he is 49, he still knows how to rock out on stage.

House of Blues is an excellent venue to see the band in because it is a small-

er space with good acoustics. Though I was on the second floor, I could still see Jenkins clearly.

The band reported that they are re-

cording a new album, due out soon, and that they hope to come back to Boston afterward.

Maybe you don’t want to spend $40

on a ticket to see somebody who can’t sing, but if your attachment to this band is strong enough I would still recommend it.

third eye blind The band is currently on tour and recording a new album. photos from internet sourcet

November 8, 2013 The Brandeis Hoot ARTS, ETC. 9

‘Hamlet’ triumphs over structural problems with great acting

father is recently deceased and his mother hurriedly marries his uncle who assumes the throne. Hamlet is visited by the ghost of his father, who says his uncle, Claudius, is a murderer. Hamlet spends the rest of the play toy-ing with the idea of revenge.

This version of the play is directed by Samantha LeVangie, who writes of the plot change in the Director’s Note: “I thought more about Hamlet Sr., the Ghost of Hamlet’s father, and began to lament that Ghosts didn’t play a larger part in the production,” wrote LeVan-gie, pointing out the ghost is only in four small scenes. LeVangie said she spent time focusing on Horatio, who is only seen in scenes with Hamlet—his sole relationship is with the mad prince. “So what if I took Horatio—the character with whom the audience largely identifies, the voice of reason, the foundation for Hamlet’s sanity—and made him a Ghost? The change is two-fold. First Hamlet … must battle with two layers of insecurity in his own reality to move forward. And sec-ond, what does this mean for his san-ity? Because now, Hamlet’s the only living person in his entire universe who can see Ghosts.”

Well, what this means for the play is, honestly, Hamlet is insane and off his rocker throughout the whole show. The way Hamlet reacts to Horatio makes no sense. The ghost of his long dead best friend appears, and Ham-let shrugs it off as though it happens everyday. On the other hand, when the ghost of his dead father appears, he is so amazed and gladdened to speak with the apparition. Hold Thy Peace and director Samantha LeVan-gie change many of the traditional lines throughout the play, but what they should have focused on is adding more lines to Hamlet’s introduction to Horatio. The fact that he does not re-act in shock is not believable for audi-ences, and it took me out of the magic of the play. It insinuates that Hamlet is mad from the start, and if that is true, then why am I spending so much of my time watching the motives and whims of a mad man?

While this structural device may

HAMLET, from page 1

not have worked, the acting compen-sated for it. Hamlet was played by Alex Davis ’15. Davis lit up the stage with his dramatic monologues. He would often lunge across the stage scream-ing, or fall to his knees crying. “Ham-let” has many monologues and it can get a bit tedious as time goes on, but Davis avoided this problem through his sheer stage presence. The image of him running across the stage and violently shaking Ophelia, screaming “Get thee to a nunnery” is not one au-diences will soon forget.

While the idea of Horatio as a ghost may not have gelled, the act-ing by Aaron Fischer ’14 was right on the mark. Fischer even walked like a ghost, hauntingly and hesitantly. At once eager to help Hamlet and cau-tious, Fischer had great chemistry with Davis and their scenes together were enjoyable to watch.

Other slightly smaller roles were still well cast and carried out. Claudi-us, played by Ryan Kacani ’15, pulled off the slimy, overbearing uncle very well, with appropriately timed facial expressions and a royal aura. Polo-

nius, played by Max Moran ’17, lit up the stage with his jolly attitude and laughter. A first-year playing an elder, Moran even walked across the stage like he was somebody’s dad. Rosencrantz (Connor Wahrman ’17) and Guildenstern (Zack Kennedy ’16) acted in tandem, bowing together and conspiring hilariously.

While they came off a bit like cari-catures, they were the few that suc-ceeded in making the audience laugh.

Acting fell flat in only a few places. Gertrude (Page Smith ’17) spoke too quickly and softly, often adding noth-ing to the scenes she performed in. Ophelia (Barbara Spindle ’16) would use too many gestures and rolling of her eyes; she acted like she was in a modern play not in 16-century Den-mark. This set her apart from the oth-er actors and from the lines she was delivering, and not in a postive way.

The set was used throughout, but was very effective, and was given a boost by the use of haunting music. The makeup was well done; the ghosts looked sallow and inhuman.

But the costumes were confusing to

the audience. While some, like Ger-trude, wore period-style dresses, oth-ers like Hamlet wore modern clothes. Hamlet sported jeans and different T-shirts.

The original “Hamlet” is a very long play, and LeVangie and co. did an ex-

cellent job of cutting the script down to showcase only the crucial mo-ments. And while LeVangie’s dream of changing Horatio’s character was not for the best, Hold Thy Peace members proved they can bring to-be-or-not-to-be to life in front of our very eyes.

hamlet and horatio Horatio is a ghost in this version of the play. photos by jingru wang and jesse zeng/the hoot

eDItorIaLs10 The Brandeis Hoot November 8, 2013

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This spring semester marks a milestone in Brandeis’s debut on the 21st century online educa-

tion scene. Higher education is unique among American industries in that digi-tal technology has left long established practices and mentalities largely un-scathed. But the times are changing and Brandeis, as well as other elite Universi-ties, have to recognize that ultimately IT is going to transform everything we thought we knew about education.

Semester Online is Brandeis’s answer to web based education. The service is composed of a growing consortium of top tier Universities which each con-tribute several courses that any of their students can take. Designed and hosted by the for-profit 2U venture startup, the product incorporates several promis-ing elements like live video discussions between students and professors and provisions for active engagement.

It is an interesting approach to online education. Unlike many other offerings, Semester Online does not attempt to make education more scalable or less labor intensive for professors. It prides itself on its exclusivity; 2U refuses to

work with institutions which are not “top tier,” and has a rigorous application process for students from schools not affiliated with the program.

We would hope that 2U would take into account the fundamental nature of the digital revolution when structuring its foray into the online sphere. In some ways, it does, like its whole hearted embrace of collaboration between insti-tutions. In other ways, it does not. For example, digital technology generally makes things cheaper. Semester Online does not make things cheaper. In fact, each class on offer currently costs $4,200 to students not attending an affiliated school.

A student taking five classes on cam-pus paying the traditional $21,000 per semester would also be paying the same $4,200 per class. However, a Semester Online class only counts for three credit hours, as opposed to the traditional four of a typical on campus class. This means that students enrolled in Semester Online would pay $350 more per credit than they would were they enrolled at Brandeis, one of the most expensive schools in America.

While Brandeis students can partici-pate in Semester Online without incur-ring additional fees during a Spring or Fall semester, summer students will have to pay the full price. Brandeis is already one of the priciest Universities in the world, but Semester Online, an orga-nization which claims to embrace the digital revolution, manages to exceed our costs on a per credit basis. Add to this the fact that online offerings from other schools are likely not to count towards Brandeis major and minor requirements, and you have a highly inequitable service.

Administrators have to realize that when they gouge students, students resent the University for it. Take for in-stance the fact that a student attending a $10,000 study abroad program must pay the University the full cost of on campus tuition in order to receive credit. Take for instance the fact that students earn-ing more than 22 credits in a semester pay additional fees while students taking 12 credits pay regular tuition. We see direct parallels to this opportunist pric-ing culture in the fee strategy presented by Semester Online.

Digital education should have a price advantage

sportsNovember 8, 2013 The Brandeis Hoot 11

Women’s soccer faces tough challenges

photos by matt brondoli/the hoot

The women’s soccer team had a dif-ficult weekend facing two nationally-ranked conference opponents. They lost 3-0 to Washington University and then tied with the University of Chicago 1-1 on Sunday.

The first 40 minutes of the game against first-ranked Wash. U saw no goals scored. This changed in the 41st minute when Tessa Klumpp threw it into Lille Toaspern who maneuvered into the box and scored her eighth goal of the season.

The match would remain this close for the next 30 minutes of the con-test, but got away from the Judges in a hurry after that. The Bears scored two goals in a 68-second span when Beck Berels scored off of a defensive turnover in the 78th minute and Kate Doyle scored on a free kick in the 79th. This was Berels fifth goal of the season and Doyle’s sixth. Be-fore the sudden onslaught, forward Holly Szafran ’16 had an attempt at an equalizer in the 73rd but the ball

By Charlie RomanowStaff

sailed above the crossbar. Brandeis had two free kick attempts in the first half as the result of the Bears sloppy play of 10 fouls.

The Judges stayed close for the majority of the game but could not fight the tough defense, which now has 13 shutouts on the season. Wash U. had the clear advantage in shots throughout the game, leading 18-10. Six Bears had multiple shot attempts. The Judges had only one attempt on-goal during the span that they were within one goal. Wash. U is 16-1 over-all and undefeated in the conference. They have allowed only four goals this season. They end the regular season against the University of Chicago on Saturday.

Sunday’s match against the 25th-ranked Maroons ended in a 1-1 tie. The game’s first goal did not come until the 58th minute when Micaela Harms hit a shot at the crossbar that was rebounded and kicked in by Sara Kwan, which was her eighth goal of the season. Brandeis responded in the 67th minute as forward Sapir Edalati ’15 passed an opposing goal kick to

forward Melissa Darling ’16, who was able to knock it in for her third goal of the year. Goalkeeper Michelle Savuto ’15 later had a good stop of a Harms kick in the 78th minute and Jacinda Reid stopped a header by Szafran. Each team had shot opportunities in overtime but could not convert. Szaf-ran and rookie defender Julia McDer-mott ’17 each hit one high, and a free kick by Natalia Jovanovic was saved in the final minute. Savuto had five saves in the match, three coming in overtime. Reid had six stops.

The teams were generally evenly matched, each having six shots on-goal and four corner kicks. The Ma-roons were outshot overall though 16-11. Darling and Jovanovic each had two shots on-goal.

Chicago is still ranked 25th by D3Soccer.com after Sunday’s game. They are third in the conference as Brandeis lies tied for fifth. They are 11-3-3 overall and 3-1-2 in the UAA. The Judges stand at 9-6-2 overall and 1-3-2 in the UAA. They will finish the regular season against New York Uni-versity on Saturday.

taking a shot Number 14 attempts to get the ball past the other team.

run it up Teammates chase the ball up-field.

Soccer players honored for

outstanding academic performance

By Charlie RomanowStaff

Four Brandeis soccer players have been selected for the Capital One Aca-demic All-District squads. The teams are selected by the College Sports Information Directors of America. By being chosen for the All-District team, they are eligible to received Academic All-America honors later this month. The four athletes have ex-celled both on and off the field, each earning captain status and starting every match this year. They are Kelly Peterson ’14, Michelle Savuto ’15, Ben Applefield ’14 and Sam Ocel ’13.

Peterson is a two-time honorable mention for All-UAA honors and has been honored three times for Academic All-UAA’s. She has a 3.69 GPA and has made the dean’s list four times. A Sociology major and a Social Justice and Social Policy minor, she studied abroad in the Netherlands last semeste. Over the summer, Pe-terson was an International Affairs intern in Houston with the World Af-fairs Council of Houston. Throughout her four years at Brandeis, Peterson has played 70 games, and 34 of her 50 shot attempts have been on-goal and she has had a game-winning goal in each of her first three seasons.

Goalkeeper Savuto has played 1535 of the team’s 1595 minutes this season. She has received Academic All-UAA honors twice and been named to the dean’s list every semester. She has a 3.82 GPA as a Health: Science, Society and Policy major while also minoring in Economics and Legal Studies. She has been named the UAA defensive player of the week three times in her career as she currently leads the con-

ference with 73 saves. Savuto stud-ied abroad in the Netherlands this spring and worked in Waltham over the summer with Boston Biomedical Consultants. She has played 56 games in her three years and has amassed 180 saves for a record of 15-14-5. This year has been her strongest, having had all three of her career shutouts this season.

Senior Applefield’s eight assists are currently tied for the conference lead with teammate Michael Soboff. Ap-plefield received All-UAA Honorable Mention last year as well as receiving All-UAA Academic Honors for three years. He has made the dean’s list four times with a 3.65 GPA while major-ing in History. He studied abroad this spring in Barcelona. Applefield has played in 79 games, scoring six goals and contributing 18 assists, and two of his goals have been game-winners. According to the Brandeis athletics website, he hopes to coach soccer af-ter graduation.

Ocel has taken a more defensively minded role this year, but he has still contributed three goals and three assists. Last year, he led the confer-ence with 34 points on 13 goals and eight assists while becoming confer-ence player of the year. Nine of these goals were game-winners. In addition to soccer success, he was named an All-Academic by the National Soccer Coaches Association of America and D3Soccer.com. He has earned All-UAA honors three times and made the dean’s list five times. Last spring he interned at an endodontic office in preparation for dental school. He has a 3.41 GPA as a Biology major. He has played in 79 games, scoring 26 goals and contributing 22 assists.

opInIon12 The Brandeis Hoot November 8, 2013

Are student groups really independent?By Lassor Feasley

Editor

Here at Brandeis, undergradu-ates enjoy a particularly robust selection of student groups. These organizations are com-paratively autonomous, yet they manage to contribute events and services to the Brandeis commu-nity on a scale which would sug-gest institutional organization. How do they do this? Students at Brandeis take their club experi-ence seriously. Just take a look at a graduate’s LinkedIn resume. If club affiliation is not the first item alongside a list of intern-ships, jobs and other experience, it is sure to be near the top.

And they are right to be proud. The clubs do some incredible things. They bring distinguished speakers to campus, execute so-cial events, provide life advice and coaching and publish nu-merous Journals and Periodi-cals. This is not despite a lack of adult oversight, but a result of it.

The pride we take in our clubs is derived from the broad lati-tude of independence that the university has historically of-fered student groups. Rarely will

you see a faculty member in the vicinity of a club event or gather-ing. The university makes a point of collecting the Student Activi-ties Fee separately from tuition. This ensures that clubs main-tain their air of independence. Brandeis specifically markets its clubs as “student-run” to poten-tial enrollees. All of this is to say that clubs have come to expect a certain degree of sovereignty from the university in their day to day operations.

But is this perceived right to self governance justified? If the university wanted to, what de-gree of control could it take over the groups that students have worked so hard to build and maintain? What checks exist in order to maintain the sovereign-ty of clubs from the paternalis-tic nature that large institutions tend to develop?

The truth is that the sense of independence and autonomy that members of student groups may feel is almost entirely un-justified. As one administrator once put it to me, “Brandeis stu-dent clubs and organizations are part of Brandeis University. They do not exist independently from

Brandeis.”This does not sit right with me.

Student groups have been a part of Brandeis since its founding and are a longstanding tradi-tion at other universities before that. I have to imagine that the reason that universities have en-tertained, and even encouraged

student groups is because they hoped that students would use their experience with collegiate groups to form organizations af-ter graduation. Why?

Of course, learning to inter-act in an independent organi-zational setting surely prepares participants for future ventures,

like activist organizations and businesses. But there is an even deeper reason that I think con-stitutes the true foundation of student groups on universities: Encouraging student groups is

See GROUPS, page 15

photo from internet source

Professors need to become more accepting of new age

By Jennifer SpencerStaff

Online classes are surging in pop-ularity, but what about the use of laptops in the traditional classroom setting? An increasing number of professors are banning laptops in the classroom, viewing them as an un-necessary distraction. Laptops, how-ever, provide many tools to students, creating a learning aid for students who may otherwise have trouble fo-cusing or keeping up with lectures.

I’m well aware that a select num-ber of students choose to spend the entirety of class time surfing the web, Facebook or the latest news stories. When working to fit the needs of an entire class, perspective is necessary. Individual choices should not be the demise of students who use comput-ers to effectively promote learning. It is important to shift the focus to ca-ter to all types of learning styles and preferences, to create the optimum classroom environment.

This means allowing laptops. Not doing so takes away from the

learning experience. Digital media is simply (or not so simply) a large part of our lives. Whether you are a college student or professor, chances are your typing speed is fairly fast. The internet plays a role in research and assignments—it has essentially become an extension of the class-room. A person possessing master-ful typing skills is no longer seen as the exception, but the rule. With so much time spent on computers in academia, learning and technology have become intertwined.

It is no surprise that many people find it easier to type than to write by hand. Laptops have become such a natural part of school work. Students are required to type papers, and after so many assignments, finger speed is not an issue. Because the use of com-puters is so common, the traditional classroom must adapt. Not allowing

computers forces students to take notes in a way that might not be best suited for them.

To begin, many people can multi-task better while typing than writing. They are looking up at the professor, while simultaneously taking notes rapidly. It is the ideal situation when you are effectively trying to tran-scribe as much quality information as possible. Utilizing a familiar, com-fortable learning environment helps students be successful. If students don’t have to focus on writing every-thing by hand, they can focus more what the professor is saying.

Furthermore, some students have difficulty writing clear, concise notes by hand. Looking back on sloppily-written handwriting can be an ob-vious deterrent when returning to study for a final exam. We all know a student whose handwriting is hard

to distinguish from a series of so-phisticated scribbles. Laptops, when permitted, make it easy to look back on notes without squinting to com-prehend.

It is true that if you have a learning disability you can still use a computer. However, it is even more distracting if only one person is typing away while the rest are writing. Students who do not have learning disabilities, but are much stronger typists than writers, might fall behind. Messy handwrit-ing, unfortunately, does not always grant automatic computer privileges. Particular learning styles are put at a disadvantage when laptops are banned in the classroom.

For instance, for audio or visual learners who prefer seeing and listen-ing, the use of laptops allows these students to focus more on what the teacher is saying and doing, with the

unique speed and simplicity pro-vided by typing. It is hard enough to follow all discussion points, let alone when one is familiar with typing but is then forced to write. While some primarily kinesthetic learners do work better by writing things down, we must not neglect those who suffer through this method. Easing the pro-cess of note taking by providing the option of computers makes it so one can focus more on what the professor is actually saying rather than scram-bling to write down every last bit of information.

On this note, there are also apps available to help auditory learners through the use of computers. Ever-note, for example, allows students to simultaneously record and take notes on the computer for free. Students can then go back and listen to the au-dio while they are studying alongside

their notes. There are many other apps out

there to help different types of learn-ers. For those who have trouble with time management, computers allow students to quickly pull up a schedule and record assignment dates as soon as the professor states them. This is great for visual learners who like seeing assignments written out, but don’t want to have to shuffle through their bag for a planner, only to miss important information and create an unnecessary distraction.

Laptops are more than ease, clar-ity and speed. While I understand that it is annoying for teachers to talk to a sea of screens, laptops do much more good than harm. At the end of the day, if computers mean a deeper understanding of the material, that computer logo takes on a much greater meaning.

photo from internet source

November 8, 2013 The Brandeis Hoot OPINION 13

Students growing more disinterested in classBy Andrew Elmers

Staff

Imagine walking into a lecture hall for class.Your professor is setting up the day’s notes on the board: laying out the outline, listing the reading for next class and writing an announcement for his department’s “Meet the Majors” event. Typically arriving at just four minutes before the hour, you head to your regular seat, even though there are no as-signed seats in a lecture, and pre-pare yourself for the class. Pulling out your notebook and a pen or pencil, you might also check your phone for a text. You type out your response just as the room begins to quiet and the profes-sor turns around from the board to begin. A few minutes after he begins with the day’s lesson, you notice someone casually walk in late.

He or she slinks into the first available seat, and sets up their meal for the class. If it is the morning, maybe a bagel and cof-fee; around noon, you can find them with a sandwich, or possi-bly a cup of fruit. A water bottle is most common, and if you happen to be sitting by them, the whine of swallowing fluid will distract you from the lecture content. After finishing their first spoon-ful of Greek yogurt, they reach for their bag and pull out their laptop. Taking a few minutes to turn on their computer, opening a document to take notes and log-ging into Facebook, it is now al-most 10 minutes into a 50-minute class. And as you begin to wonder how this person is able to retain any knowledge from this class, they pull out their phone to begin texting.

Lecture classes are full of this kind of student—the one who understands the importance of showing up to classes, but do not understand that class time is lim-ited. Instead, they choose to use class as a chance to eat or check their social calendar. I always wonder if they are able to succeed in class if this is the effort they

put into learning. I understand that it might be easier for them to learn with their computers, so it is easier to save and access all of their notes or use the internet to search something quickly. I am the complete opposite; I just need a pen and paper to be able to understand what the professor is lecturing about. Yet nobody can pay attention in a class if they are sitting on Facebook or texting someone who might not even go to this school.

It leads me to wonder if this is how these students treat all of their classes. I contemplate if they

were accepted into college with these habits, or if they evolved as they got further involved in college and could not treat ev-ery class with the same care and love as they would for a class in their major. Lectures are typically the shortest classes offered here at Brandeis, as they are simple presentations where the student needs to copy down what’s on the board and record the professor’s words. It is very easy to use the lecture time to focus on non-class activities, trying to pick up only the most important facts from the class. This becomes even

less difficult if the powerpoint slides are posted on LATTE after class. Sometimes you just have to choose your battles.

Yet how can they not treat these classes with respect? Students should recognize the effort that the professor puts forth by lis-tening intently. Respect profes-sors by showing up on time and not treating the lecture hall like a cafeteria. Respect the class by ac-tually using the class time as it is meant to be used. As easy as it is to show up late to class and waste time to set yourself up, it is just as easy to get there an extra two

minutes early and really pay at-tention to the class. Who knows, maybe you will get confused by something and can ask the pro-fessor to explain himself further, and you might gain something out of paying attention.

College presents a busy sched-ule of trying to fit everything in, and waking up 20 minutes later or perhaps not waiting in line for coffee will severely inhibit your preparedness for the day. But if you are going to spend the effort to get out of bed and get to class, you should put 100 percent into it.

Trying to find peace in a crowded room

The new Upper Green Room is gor-geous. Otherwise known as Farber Mezzanine, or the room above Star-bucks, Brandeis remodelled it per-fectly. There are large tables with high chairs, clusters of pink comfy chairs, large white boards, and booths along the edges next to the windows with couches and outlets embedded right in the table top. The bright overhead lighting is optimal for studying, and there is exciting, brand-new technol-ogy. On some of the tables in the back, there are large screen computer mon-itors with available laptop connection for student use — not to mention pri-vate study rooms for group projects. This lime green and magenta themed study space definitely beats the previ-ous 1980’s carpeting and furniture. I only wish I could use it.

I am an English major with a phi-losophy minor, so the majority of my work consists of reading. I can only concentrate on my reading in silence. If I am writing an essay, I don’t mind noise, but reading requires my full concentration. During the morning,

Farber Mezzanine is a nice, quiet place to go, but as soon as early after-noon hits, the place fills to capacity. I have no problem with people who need to work on group projects. There definitely need to be places for that; the problem is not the people who go up there to work, but those who do so merely to socialize. The library should not just be a place to hang out—that’s why there are lounges. If there are even any seats left in the first place, Farber Mezzanine is much too noisy to concentrate on any work, not only reading.

My usual favorite place to go is Goldfarb 1, across from Usdan. It’s usually quiet there, but not as dark and solitary as the bottom two floors, or the dungeon. However, people still decide to carry on a conversation there. Only the other day I was sitting towards the back near the bathrooms and someone decided to tutor chem-istry right behind me. There are sev-eral places infinitely more suitable for tutoring. In addition to both floors of Farber, there are the tables near the front desk, the tables near the writing center, the arm chairs near the maga-zine stacks, the arm chairs near the

computers, and not to mention the SCC. Though people decide to carry on loud conversations in areas not specifically designated as quiet, they still should be respectful.

If I really cannot find any silence on

Goldfarb 1, I retreat to the dungeon, but people are still talking there. The section with the long carrels in the back of Goldfarb 2 echoes whispers very easily, and people decide they can just talk freely at the tables on

the other side of Goldfarb 2. Usu-ally the individual desks are quiet, but the lights are dim, especially at night when the sun goes down, making it easy to fall asleep.

Many individual lights and outlets don’t work, if you can find an out-let in the first place. The “dungeon,” where people actually get work done, is dark, cramped, and uncomfortable, but Farber Mezzanine, where people decide they can just hang out, is gor-geous. I think it’s very important that we have a specific place for students to study in groups, but if those places were reserved for groups actually do-ing work rather than people social-izing, then students wouldn’t have to disturb others by talking in other quiet areas.

I do not like to do homework in my room because I find it is easy to just to find a snack or crawl into my bed to take a nap instead. The library pro-vides an environment specifically for work that allows me to concentrate on what I am doing. Unfortunately, students who do not understand proper library etiquette ruin the quiet areas on the first floor and the bottom two floors are too dark and dreary.

By Naomi SomanStaff

graphic by janet jun zhao/the hoot

photo from internet source

14 OPINION The Brandeis Hoot November 8, 2013

Antidepressants may not be the right solution for everyoneBy Charlie Romanow

Staff

I have seen myself and others work through anxiety and mental health issues such as depression. Each person finds his or her own way to get past it, but for some, it takes years before they can even begin to deal with their issues ef-fectively. A seemingly simple way to cope with the stress of everyday life is to take medication, either over-the-counter or prescription. The use of medication has saved countless lives and eased suffering for count-

less others. For some conditions it may bring little to no side effects, such as taking an aspirin when you have a headache or some cold medi-cine before allergy season. Stronger medications such as antidepressants, however, can have a larger impact. Antidepressants, particularly Selec-tive serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) are designed to raise the level of serotonin in the brain, which they effectively do. It has not been proven, however, that depression is caused only by low serotonin levels. While serotonin does play a role in depression, it is not the only biologi-cal factor that is part of depression.

Potent antidepressants are given to millions of individuals, even though scientists are not exactly sure what the drugs do. Those with depression are often unable to com-municate exactly how they feel. This puts them in a difficult situation as they must be able to discern what in-ternal effects the medication is caus-ing. A sufferer of depression may not be a good judge of small changes that occur while taking the medi-cine, as they are dealing with many outside difficulties. Adding to the problem is that diagnosing depres-sion is nearly as difficult as treating it. Many people do not like to admit

that they are depressed, and medi-cation is doled out to those who do not need it or may receive a greater benefit through cognitive behavioral therapy or other methods.

The pharmaceutical companies’ desire to make money creates a culture in which the long-term ef-fects of these medications are not discovered because of the signifi-cant financial burden to complete long-term studies as well as the po-tential need to take the medication off of the market. They are also be-ing pushed on patients and mental health professionals alike. Doctors may want to help their patients, but

it is difficult to help with something that all is not known about. Only the individuals themselves can know how they feel, and they often do not know if their feelings are a result of the depression or medication. Ad-ditionally, studies that find negative results about medications may not be as well publicized so as to avoid public and professional scrutiny.

The side effects brought upon by medication can sometimes exac-erbate or worsen the problem. It is difficult to know how a medication is affecting you—you can really only know once you choose to end the medication. Responsibly withdraw-ing from a medicine has problems of its own. Even when weaning off an antidepressant gradually according to doctor’s orders, one can experi-ence unpleasant symptoms compa-rable to how one feels when going cold turkey off an addictive medi-cine. The incidence of SSRI Dis-continuation Syndrome can cause the medication to have an extended impact even after having completely stopped taking the medicine. This conundrum pigeonholes many who take antidepressants into staying on them even when there are severe and troubling side effects. In this state it can be nearly impossible to get better when there are so many other psychological, emotional and physical things going on that are caused by the medication. In this sense, medication might be prevent-ing someone from getting better.

All of these issues together can create an unsafe environment in which powerful medications are given to patients who do not need them, and even when their symp-toms warrant such intervention the negative effects that the medication causes can override any possible positive effects. Antidepressants can affect the most basic functions of our lives such as eating and sleeping. These interferences can prevent pa-tients from getting better as they can put them in a negative disposition. A depressed patient won’t be able to get better through therapeutic inter-vention if the medication that they are taking tires them all of the time. Medication can be very helpful, but it should be considered with care and caution. Other methods should be looked into first. It is best for pa-tients to deal with issues when they are as even-keeled as possible and not affected by outside influences.

Parking garage would offer a wealth of opportunitiesBy Debra Edelman

Staff

Student parking at Brandeis should probably be considered a rite of pas-sage. It is as if finally being handed one of the peel-off parking stickers can be equated with receiving a Bar Mitzvah certificate; with great privilege and maturity comes great responsibility. With limited off-campus transporta-tion options, having a car at school is often a gateway to seemingly unlim-ited freedom. It is as if South Street becomes your very own magic carpet.

Based on my own experiences as a student driver, it seems as though every upperclassmen with a car, and the underclassmen who manage to get around the rules, has a plethora of Brandeis parking stories associated with their coveted campus-registered motor vehicle. I can recall some of

mine with great nostalgia. There was the time last fall when I left campus midday to cast my vote in the presi-dential election, only to return to campus to find no spots left in my regularly assigned theater lot. Run-ning late to class, I made the last min-ute call to park in one of the ever stu-dent-forbidden spots on Loop Road, all while making a mental promise to myself that I would move my car as soon as my class ended. When I re-turned to find an inevitable ticket, I appealed it on the basis that I did not have time to appropriately park my car because I was fulfilling my civic duty. A more recent parking scenario occurred this semester when I was boxed in by several other vehicles in a mysterious corner of the theatre lot. I was only able to exit due to the kind-ness of a good Samaritan who was able to guide me out of my spot.

Student parking at Brandeis is in-convenient to say the least. Unless you have all of your classes in the business school, the walk from the theater lot to upper campus, where a majority of classes are held, can be treacherous, especially in the winter. It is easy to see why students are often tempted to park in lots to which they are not assigned. Everybody has days when they are sick or running late and a 10-minute uphill sprint to upper cam-pus just does not seem appealing. As a result, students who break the rules, even if it is only a few times, rack up ticket fees that are not always easy to pay on top of regular semester fees. The parking woes that I am describing primarily apply to commuters who depend on their cars to get to school every day. Brandeis does not have the space to house all of its students on campus, and as a result, there will al-

ways be a considerable population of students who commute to school by car. The stress of parking is not always welcome on top of the stresses of ev-eryday school life.

Brandeis is in dire need of a park-ing facility that better accommodates this ever-present need for more con-venient parking options for students. With the right planning and consider-ation, I am sure that there are at least a few spots on campus where a parking garage could be contemplated. While I understand that a majority of uni-versity resources should and do go di-rectly to areas that support the internal workings of the university, a parking garage would be a tremendous asset to this campus. Not only would a ga-rage make Brandeis a more friendly environment for student commuters, but faculty and administrators would also probably feel more at ease about

their commutes as well. Additionally, a parking garage could help to better facilitate visitor parking, which often causes understandable congestion in student and faculty parking areas.

Although a parking garage might seem superficial, in terms of looking at the long-term goals for the Brandeis campus, I believe it is a necessary next step. More ample and convenient parking would make the entire cam-pus a more usable and friendly space for students, faculty, staff, administra-tors and visitors. It would also prob-ably help to reduce unnecessary traf-fic on Loop Road, where people often circle either lost or unable to find proper parking. Investing in a parking garage would make Brandeis’s subur-ban campus more of an asset and cre-ate a less stressful environment for all members of the community and visi-tors alike.

photo from internet source

November 8, 2013 The Brandeis Hoot OPINION 15

Dear Eliana,Now that it is winter, it is getting

way too cold to walk all the way to the gym or basically go outside at all. How can I stay in shape when it’s really cold out?

-I Need Exercise

Dear I Need Exercise,In the winter I would suggest

changing your workout to exer-cises you can do in your dorm like sit-ups, push-ups and other activi-ties that don’t require equipment. The internet has many suggestions. If you’d rather go on a treadmill, some of the dorms have a few that would more likely be closer to you. Or you could just run to all of your classes.

-Eliana

Dear Eliana,I waste a ton of time on social

media like Facebook and Twitter, but I don’t even feel any closer to my friends. I’m worried that social media is actually making my social life worse. What can I do?

-Antisocial

Dear Antisocial,I understand how addicting

those types of websites can be, and too much screen time can become a problem. To start, I would sug-gest limiting the amount of time you spend on social media a day. Make sure you are using all the extra time this will give you to in-teract with your friends in person. Once you actually get closer to your friends, you probably won’t feel as strong a need for the inter-net. You just need to put in some extra effort.

-Eliana

Dear Readers,If you can’t already tell, this is an

advice column and I’m here to help you with any questions that you might have! If you want more ex-citing questions, send them in and I will do my best to answer them. Whether it’s relationships, social problems, or just life in general—send them here.I can’t wait to start hearing about everyone’s problems (how often do you hear people say that? Oh yeah, never).

Send questions to Elianasad-vice@gmail.com.

Addictions, exercise and home-cooked meals

By Eliana SinoffStaff

Dear Eliana,I am always so hungry, but I just

can’t seem to find good food to eat. I never seem to have time to go to Sherman, and the pre-made food is just not up to my standards. How do I feed myself?

-Hungry

Dear Hungry,I understand where you are

coming from. There is all of this food on campus, but none of it has the good old taste of love in it. Sometimes you just have to try ev-erything in the C-store before you find the one pre-made dish that is you like. If all else fails, eat a lot of fruits and vegetables and cereal, because those things are all very hard to ruin. If you really wanted to, you could also buy your own food to keep in your room, and if you have a microwave, you can cook practically anything in the comfort of your dorm. Most build-ings also have a kitchen you could use for more complicated things. I think your best bet is eating simple food, buying your own groceries and teaching yourself to cook so you can make some food you know you love. Keep eating!

-Eliana

Dear Eliana,Ever since this semester started,

I have become slightly more ad-dicted to Diet Coke and cigarettes. I know that neither of these things are healthy, but now that I’ve start-ed I’m having trouble stopping. How can I stop my bad habits and are there any alternatives?

-Addicted

Dear Addicted,College can be stressful, so ev-

eryone finds ways to keep them-selves going. I am not an expert on smoking or addictions, so I would strongly recommend the Health Center or a doctor. However, lots of students turn to coffee, which really isn’t very healthy for you, but the caffeine might help. Too much of anything is going to be a prob-lem, so you just need to be careful and monitor yourself. Don’t give up on trying to stay healthy!

-Eliana

Student groups prepare graduates for the future

GROUPS, from page 12

a patriotic duty, stemming from the value which Americans place on the freedom of assem-bly. This is a basic national tra-dition that has to be preserved and fostered on campuses in the hope that students will organize off campus as graduates.

This function of student groups has been recognized at a judi-cial level. At public universities, student groups are often given the full protections enumerated in the Bill of Rights by courts. Even at private universities, es-pecially ones that accept millions of dollars in federal money like Brandeis, some constitutional protections apply to clubs. This says to me that at some level, even Brandeis student groups are independent from the adminis-trative controls of the university.

Concerningly, it seems like every month, there is a new re-straint on club activities. This semester, two new policies have been instituted, each which brings the university a step clos-er to dominance over student groups.

First, the university mandated that all club apparel prominently bear “Brandeis” along with the club name and logo. This is a di-rect affront to the spirit of these groups. The entire point is that they are not specifically Brandeis. In fact, I sometimes see my ex-periences in student groups as a refuge from Brandeis, a respite from the strict bureaucracy and deadlines of student life.

The second new policy man-dates that all food consumed at club events not purchased through the university vendor be first closely evaluated by and justified to Brandeis Adminis-

trators. This takes a significant part of the club experience out of students’ hands. Basically, the ra-tionale for this new rule seems to be that clubs are not responsible enough to bargain for the food they consume.

When students get out of col-lege and want to form an organi-zation, they are not going to have Big Brother standing over them, telling them what to buy. They are going to need to know how to do these things.

At the rate that new policies have been put in place to gov-ern club behavior, in a few years these organizations won’t even have a veneer of independence to take pride in. I doubt that stu-dents will approach their extra-curriculars with half the enthu-siasm and sacrifice that they do today. I hope that administrators will take this into account when they consider new club policy.

photo from internet source

photo from internet source

photo from internet source

photo from internet source

photo from internet source

tHIs weeK In pHotosNovember 8, 2013 The Brandeis Hoot 11

photos by haley fine/the hoot

Brandeis Got Talent

photos by dana levine/the hoot

Louis Louis 2013: Night Owl

talent Students perform in Chum’s Tuesday night.

up all night Student Events hosts an evening event as part of Louis Louis, the fall semester’s spirit week.