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The IndependenT STudenT newSpaper of BrandeIS unIverSITy SInce 1949 Volume LXXIV, Number 20
Tuesday, March 22, 2022
ATHLETICS
Israel '24 attempt to make synchronized skating history on first U.S. team of a new division. By LEAH BREAKSTONE JUSTICE EDITORIAL ASSISTANT
While many students can be found sleeping in on a Friday morning, Evan Israel ’24 and Sami Winawer ’23 are on their way to the Skating Club of Boston. The two Brandeis students are on the Hayden Select Synchronized Skating team. The team is part of a brand new division called the “Elite 12,” which was created with the hopes of bringing synchronized skating to the Olympics. Synchronized skating teams generally have 20 people on the team with 16 on the ice at a time, but in the Elite 12 division, 16 people are on the team with 12 on the ice at a time. In a March 18 interview with the Justice, Israel cited two major reasons why synchronized skating has not been in the Olympics until this point: financial concerns, as well as not having enough room to
house the very large teams in the Olympic Village. Winawer and Israel have both been skating for about as long as they can remember. Winawer’s mother, who also skated growing up, signed Winawer up for skate classes when she was three and has not looked back since. “It's been just about 17 years I've been on the ice, which is crazy,” she said. She began synchronized skating when she was 10 and started competing internationally during her senior year of high school. Similarly, Israel started skating at the age of four. “I just randomly asked for a pair of ice skates for my birthday. I couldn't tell you why, no one in my family skates. I had no connection to it, but it just kind of stuck,” she said. Israel joined a synchronized team when she was seven and stayed with that same team for 11 years. When looking at colleges, Winawer and Israel knew they were not done skating yet and prioritized going to a school in the Boston area because of the Hayden Select teams. They were both on different
See SKATING, 5 ☛
BRIEF Univ. changes COVID-19 policies due to rise in cases On March 16, Andrea Dine, assistant vice president of student affairs, sent out an email to the Brandeis community with a subject line of “Important update: Increase in Testing Frequency for Students.” The email announced that as of March 17, the required testing frequency was once again every 96 hours. Students must submit on-campus PCR tests roughly twice a week, a quick turnaround from the previously announced relaxation of requirements that reduced testing to once a week. The email specified that the update in the testing policy was due to an increase in positivity and quarantine rates on campus. It also stated that as of that Thursday, they expected the University to “have the highest number of students in isolation or quarantine since the pandemic began.” Students are likely contracting the virus from “large social gatherings off campus,” as indicated by the University’s contact tracing program. There has not been a noticeable increase in transmission on campus, including in classes, labs, and other areas, but because the cases have increased, the University stressed that it was important to adjust their policies accordingly. The email
Waltham, Mass.
PURIM CELEBRATIONS
Brandeis skaters make strides towards Olympics ■ Sami Winawer '23 and Evan
Waltham, Mass.
also urged students to continue masking when gathering off campus, particularly when indoors. This email was sent after a March 3 email which relaxed certain COVID-19 policies on campus. In the March 3 email, the University had specified that as of March 7, vaccinated students only need to test once a week, as opposed to the previous requirement of every 96 hours. While vaccinated staff, faculty, and affiliates are not required to get tested, the University recommended that they test twice a week. The requirements for unvaccinated individuals, however, did not change, and they are still required to test twice a week. Testing remains available for “any asymptomatic community member” who wants to test. Because the required testing frequency was reduced, the University announced that they were closing the testing center in the Mandel Center for the Humanities, and all testing was consolidated at the Shapiro Science Center as of March 7. Testing at the Mandel Center ended on March 4.
— Isabel Roseth
Photo courtesy of SAMANTHA BRODY
BREAKFAST CLUB: Students gather in Levin Ballroom on March 17 to celebrate Purim at the Hillel Breakfast Club.
Chabad House, Hillel resume in-person Purim events after a two year hiatus ■ The Brandeis Jewish
community celebrated Purim from March 16-17. By ARIELLA WEISS JUSTICE EDITOR
This past Wednesday and Thursday were filled with celebratory traditions across Brandeis’ campus, such as costumes, music, dancing, and feasts, in honor of the Jewish holiday of Purim. Together, the Brandeis Hillel and the Chabad House sought to celebrate and engage the Brandeis community with the holiday, which took place this year on March 16-17. Each organization held various events, services, and parties for students to participate in over the two-day holiday. According to Peretz Chein, Rabbi and co-founder of the Chabad House at Brandeis with his wife Chanie, the Jewish holiday of Purim is “perhaps the easiest and most accessible [Jewish] holiday to celebrate, celebrating our pride in being Jewish and our identity.” Rabbi Chein explained that Purim is a celebration of “a miraculous turn of events” when the Jewish community in the ancient Persian empire, targeted for annihilation, was able to safely practice their Judaism again. Dressing up in costume, hearing the megillah (the traditional oral story of Purim), and
giving gifts to family and charity are all traditional Purim customs. For 15 years, the Chabad House at Brandeis has hosted a party the night Purim begins. “We’ve created a space where, if people are of legal age and want to, they can have a drink to celebrate the holiday,” Rabbi Chein said. He continued that drinking is by no means a requirement and that the party is to celebrate the Jewish identity, first and foremost. Justin Sohn ’22, who served as president of the Chabad Club in 2020 and remained an active member, echoed Chein’s sentiments. The Purim party at the Chabad House is unique. Still, this year’s energy was especially positive, he said, because “it wasn’t a party where you just came to party — we’re celebrating the fact that we can celebrate again” for the first time since the outbreak of COVID-19. Outside of the Chabad House’s party on March 16, there were a variety of ways to engage in the holiday traditions and atmosphere around campus. On Thursday, March 17, the Chabad club and the Cheins gathered on the Rabb steps, handing out mishloach manot, or food baskets, to all those trekking up the steps to their classes in the Humanities quad. “The Rabb steps give [Chabad] the ability to further engage with those people [who attended the party] again,” Sohn said. In past years, Rabbi Chein explained that on the day after the
party (the second day of the twoday holiday),“We [Chabad] come to you. We’re deliberately creating opportunities for students to connect in different ways.” Sohn added, “The vibe was so cool. No one ever wanted to go up the Rabb steps — until Purim.” Aside from the Chabad House’s Purim programming, Brandeis Hillel hosted multiple Purim events across the two days of the Purim holiday. Samantha Brody ’24, the current president of Brandeis Hillel, said, “The biggest celebration is the Brandeis Breakfast Club, which we host the morning of Purim: [threre's] a delicious festive meal of breakfast burritos, waffles, and smoothies; making gifts of food for friends; giving charity to the poor.” When asked how many people were in attendance, Brody said, “Hundreds of people attended. This was the first year we were able to host Brandeis Breakfast Club in full.” The first Brandeis Breakfast Club happened in spring 2020, and “we had to adjust for COVID. We’re excited for this to be an annual campus tradition.” Like Chabad’s Purim programming, Hillel’s Breakfast Club was open to the entire Brandeis student body. Thus, Hillel “had signs and explanations around the room for anyone who came in to know what each activity meant and why we celebrate Purim.” Like Chein and Sohn, Brody echoed that Purim is
See PURIM, 5 ☛
Disability activism on campus
JSA: "Convenience Store Night"
Contextualizing the Ukraine conflict
Students from the Disabled Students Network speak about the club and their recent discussion panel
Japanese Student Association hosts "Convenience Store Night" featuring food and activities
By JEN CRYSTAL
By MEGAN LIAO, SMILEY HUYNH
By MADDY DULONG
NEWS 3
Board requests March wellness day By THE EDITORIAL BOARD
FORUM 8
An inside look into Brandeis' own Table Tennis Club Image Courtesy of ZOE PRINGLE
FEATURES 6
Image Courtesy of CREATIVE COMMONS
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ARTS AND CULTURE 14
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By MEGAN GELLER
COPYRIGHT 2022 FREE AT BRANDEIS.
SPORTS 12