Brandeis University's Community Newspaper — Waltham, Mass.
Well, friends, this is it. Its been a good run, but Horseradish now signs off for good. Before this school year even started, I had wondered many times how I would feel writing my last piece, and just what I would want to say to you when this occasion finally came. Let me assure you that, even after three prolific years of writing columns for The Hoot, I am very much at a loss for words. I hope the following will suffice…
It's the last issue of The Hoot and even though I am no longer any sort of official, weekly columnist, I still get a request from the editorial board reminding all the seniors to not be afraid to go out with a bang. Don't worry, I got that covered. So I go home and scribble down a few thousand words in an article called Brandeis' Golden Years It was all about how Brandeis is nearing 60 years of age and it is time for Jehuda Reinharz to retire the traditionalism of Brandeis money and find donors who will not complain every time some Palestinian artwork is hung on campus or some obnoxious student invites Jimmy Carter to campus. It was trite.
After weeks of controversy, false starts, and wavering club support, The Holocaust Industry author Professor Norman Finkelstein spoke before a crowd of over 100 in the Rappaporte Treasure Hall Tuesday. His three-hour lecture discussed Israels human rights record, alleged exaggeration of the Holocaust to exonerate Israeli policies, as well as touching upon his long-time feud with Harvard Law Professor Alan Dershowitz.
Road trips have long been hailed as the ultimate college experience. Just grab a couple of friends and you have the thrill of the open road and unlimited potential for adventure before you. Despite the clichs and bad comedies inspired by this tradition (remember the one with Tom Green? Yeah, that one.), the college road trip is a pastime that will withstand the test of time and rightfully so. Just in case you too wanted to embark on your own life-changing, self-defining, soul-searching journey across the great American landscape, we interviewed road-tripper extraordinaire/Brandeis student Ethan Feuer 07 to find out the dos and donts of the college road trip, and ended up learning his personal story in the process.
Middle East scholar Daniel Pipes spoke to a crowd of over eighty on Monday in the Shapiro Theatre. He lectured to a mainly off-campus audience on The Islamization of Europe.
The past few months have seen a great amount of controversy regarding the invitation of several speakers: namely, DePaul professor Norman Finkelstein and historian Daniel Pipes. These volatile men with their volatile ideas caused quite the stir amongst students, the Administration, as well as hordes of alumni, who felt that one or both of these speakers would somehow irrevocably damage the intellectual foundation of the student body as well as the institution as a whole. It was even rumored that President Reinharz had labeled the two speakers as weapons of mass destruction. In the end, however, the two speakers came, made their respective speeches…and left. The Weapons of Mass Destruction did not wreak the damage that so many had hysterically believedin many ways, they were duds. There are no students burning Israeli flags, or attacking Muslim students, or suddenly transforming into a batch of extremist, morally and intellectually bankrupt, automatons.
Walking into Cholmondeley's as a senior, I felt uneasy, as Brandeis only student run caf of sitcom fame no longer felt like such a friendly place. As a Freshman I was excited by the prospect of having a laid back caf on campus, in a castle no less, where I could do work, see a concert or hang out with friends over a cup of coffee.
Amanda Clare 09 is bringing puzzles to Brandeis. At her brand-new Enigmatology Club (translation: the study of puzzles), newbies and seasoned puzzlers alike will riddle over everything from Rubiks Cubes to Soduku to Crosswords. The club has yet to meet, but she is bursting with ambitious plans and has already lined up a celebrity guest speaker for next semester Will Shortz, crossword puzzle editor of The New York Times. However, the club isnt going to be a lecture it will be very interactive and democratic, explained Clare.
Jason Lustig 08 isnt an average Brandeis student. Not surprisingly then, neither is the Zionist publication that he co-founded in 2005 with Daniel Temkin 08. Chalav UDvash is, according to Lustig, who is currently a General Editor, the only publication of its kind. Youre not going to find another Jewish publication, in English, run by undergraduate college students, studying the issues that we do in such depth… maybe not anywhere in the world.
Few would deny Disturbia offers a fair amount of amusement. The film is an updated version of Hitchcocks Rear Window. In order to appeal to its teenage audience, Disturbia is a lot racier, violent, and more technologically advanced than its predecessor.
