The Brandeis Watch

Usdan cell service to improve

A signal amplifier will be installed in lower Usdan over February break in order to increase cell phone service in the dining hall. The amplifier, which should work for all cell phone providers, was the idea of former North Quad Senator and current Union Director of Community Advocacy Andy Hogan ’11. The amplifier consists of […]

$20,000 PR bill paid by senior admin. pay cut

Money from a ten percent pay cut taken by both President Reinharz and Cheif Operating Officer Peter French will be used to pay for the services of the public relations firm Rasky Baerlein, Reinharz wrote in an e-mail to faculty senate chair William Flesch which was then fowarded to the faculty listserv. Rasky Baerlein has […]

PR firm represented Boston archdiocese in sex abuse scandal

University President Jehuda Reinharz announced last week that the university’s senior administration had employed the services of the public relations firm Rasky Baerlein in order to help handle the media storm after the Board of Trustee’s authorization to close the Rose Art Museum. According to an e-mail from Reinharz to Faculty Senate chair Prof. William […]

Rep. Barney Frank speaks about economic crisis

House Representative Barney Frank explained why the economy plummeted, what the Obama administration is currently doing to fix it, and what should be done in the immediate future during the Heller School’s Distinctive Public Policy Speaker event on Monday. The day before the Senate approved the $789 billion economic stimulus package, Frank, who is a […]

Committee to rethink academic requirements, social justice

When the Curriculum and Academic Restructuring Steering Committee was created by the Faculty Senate in early January, it was crafted with the idea that the committee would find ways to save money by reorganizing Brandeis’ academic curriculum. Almost one month later, the committee’s sub-committee on academic requirements has developed some ideas for restructuring the curriculum […]

Union creates communications task force

In an effort to make the Student Union more accessible, Union Executive Director of Communications Jamie Ansorge ‘09 has put together a communications task force in order to both increase the Union’s involvement in campus life and to make the Student Union more available to student involvement. “Having a task force really increases the ability […]

Bylaw could censure senators with poor attendance

Student Union senators who miss more than two senate meetings will automatically be considered for censure if a new senate bylaw authored by Executive Senator Andrew Brooks ‘09 gets passed next Sunday. Currently, senators are excused from their two-hour long senate sessions Sunday nights if it is for “extenuating circumstances.” But according to Brooks, who […]

Merit aid portable for study abroad

Sophomore and first year merit scholars on named merit scholarships will now be able to use their merit aid to study abroad, Assistant Dean of Academic Services J. Scott Van Der Meid wrote in an e-mail to the student body Tuesday night. This decision comes almost one month after the Jan. 16 announcement that merit […]

Writer considers intersection between Judaism and sexuality

Leslea Newman, poet laureate of North Hampton, MA, and author of Heather Has Two Mommies, spoke in the ICC Sunday about her experiences as a Jewish lesbian an an event titled “you can’t be lesbian, you’re Jewish!” Newman said that the title of the event came from an encounter she once had after one of […]