The Brandeis Hoot

Univ reacts to MSA vandalism

Interfaith: (From Left to Right) Protestant Chaplain Alexander Kern, Imam Talal Eid, Father Walter Cuenin and Rabbi Elyse Winick denounced Wednesday last week’s vandalism to the Muslim Student Association lounge and prayer space.PHOTO COURTESY Mike Lovett/ Brandeis University

The Brandeis Chaplaincy,…

Pres search progresses

The Presidential Search Committee has received more than 50 applications to replace current university President Jehuda Reinharz, who announced his resignation in October.

Search committee member Prof. Gregory Petsko (BIOL) told the faculty meeting Thursday that the committee is in…

Fall JBS students housed on-campus

Students participating in the Fall Justice Brandeis Semester (JBS) will now be allowed to live on-campus despite JBS’ initial mission to alleviate overcrowding by moving participating students off campus.

JBS Program Manager Alyssa Grinberg said the change in housing is…

Prof. Whitfield discusses Brandeis’ history

PHOTO BY Phil Small/The Hoot

Professor Stephen Whitfield (AMST) gave a lecture Thursday evening regarding the history of Brandeis University. The program, titled Brandeis at the Beginning, highlighted early Brandeisian history from before the founding in 1948 to the end of…

Book showcases photographer’s study of Russian Jewry

Russian Jewery: Prof. ChaeRan Freeze (NEJS) introduced guest speakers Harriet Murav and Eugene Avrutin at an event celebrating the photography if S. An-sky. The guest speakers, both of whom are professors at the University of Illinois discussed the stereotype of

…

Annual symposium discusses accomodating disabilities in education

Academic experts Manju Banerjee and Loring Brinckerhoff discussed the advances the disabled have made in the world of academia at the annual Disability Symposium Wednesday in Rappaporte Treasure Hall.

Banerjee, the associate director for the Center for Students with Disabilities…

Reinharz proposes wage raise pool for employees earning less than 150K

University President Jehuda Reinharz proposed the creation of a pool for faculty and staff salary increases at last Thursday’s faculty meeting.

The announcement does not signify an accross the board wage increase; if approved by the board of trustees,…

Students celebrate International Women’s Day

The university celebrated the International Women’s Day Celebration Wednesday in the ICC Swig Lounge. Students, parents and faculty dined on Russian food and watched several performances, varying from recitations of poetry to traditional Russian folk dances.

Though the holiday originated…

Brandeis Briefs: Pass/fail parameters reconsidered

The Student Union is currently negotiating with the University Curriculum Committee (UCC) to expand the university “pass/fail” program to include general education requirements (GEs) and major requirements.

The pass/fail option must be declared with the university registrar when registering…

Constitutional Review releases 11 proposals

The Constitutional Review Committee Sunday night released its proposals to amend the Student Union Constitution, which include a complete overhaul of the Union Senate’s structure. The proposals were approved by the Senate directly following their release, and will now be…

Provost approves 2020, changes one

University Provost Marty Krauss has approved all 17 of the Brandeis 2020 Committee’s proposals to suspend or restructure academic programs in order to save the university $3.8 million annually beginning in 2012. Krauss also altered the Committee’s original proposal to…

Screenwriter Kashua discusses identity roles in Middle East

Sayed Kashua, screenwriter for the popular Israeli television show “Arab Labor,” and columnist for the Israeli newspaper Ha’aretz, answered questions after a screening of an episode from the first season of the show Tuesday evening.

Much of the first season…

‘Dido’ hits the right notes

GRAPHIC BY Leah Lefkowitz/The Hoot

The first performance of Henry Purcell’s definitive work, the opera “Dido and Aeneas,” occurred in 1689 at a London girl’s school. Three hundred and twenty-one years later, it can still sound fresh and lively if it’s…

Liquid Latex lays bare annual show

Unsurprisingly, the Levin Ballroom was packed to capacity on Thursday night, with all seats filled and numerous people standing in the back of the room, all in anticipation of Liquid Latex’s 10th annual show. Every year, students get on stage…

Why do we love naked golden men?

An ungodly runtime, hosts with mediocre jokes, long clip montages with no apparent purpose and sometimes dubious winners. Every year, critics and viewers alike lodge these complaints against the annual Academy Awards, yet tens of millions still watch the ceremony…

Following the players: FTP’s traveling ‘Guildenstern’ amuses

Clever stage direction and stellar acting made the Free Play Theatre Cooperative’s production “Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead” an enjoyable experience. However, Tom Stoppard’s uneven and muddled script left the audience feeling dissatisfied.

Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, the often…

Little wonder in ‘Wonderland’: Quirk for quirk’s sake?

The experience of watching “Alice in Wonderland,” the newest film from zany director Tim Burton, in 3-D was like falling down a rabbit hole and being bored by the fall. Sure, the situation itself is odd enough, but there are…

While abroad, Brandeisian finds hope amid Chilean disaster

As she slept in her hotel room on the last night of her study abroad orientation in Valparaiso and Vina del Mar, Chile on Feb. 28, Quinn Lockwood ’11 felt the shocks of one of the largest earthquakes ever recorded.…

Constitutional Review Report

Proposed Amendment 1: Student Union Government restructuring

• Part one would replace the legislative powers of the Union Senate into an Assembly and Club Support Board.

• Under the committee’s proposal, the Vice President would be internally elected by the…

Jargon no substitute for historically ‘under-discussed’ position

In April 2009 the Student Union Judiciary (UJ) was unable to come to a majority opinion in a case that questioned the legality of the Racial Minority Senator position. The UJ instead ruled that the fate of the Union position…

We stand against hate

This board was disturbed and hurt by the vandalism to the Muslim Student Association (MSA) suite this week. We were equally disturbed and hurt by the suggestion that such actions could be blamed on “the Jews” as one individual wrote…

On-campus JBS not solution to housing problems

When the Justice Brandeis Semester (JBS) was first suggested last year, there were more than a few skeptics. Were students going to bite? Were they going to take this opportunity to either earn extra credit during the summer and graduate…

Book of Matthew: Aramark, off the mark

The usual dinner crowd surrounded Einstein’s Bagels. Students browsed through shelves full of prefabricated salads, chip bags and microwaveable meals. They peered into the refrigerators, selecting one Coca-Cola product or another. Each swipe of a WhoCard indicated to those surrounding…

Poisoned discourse

Alright, stand back everybody. I’m going to try something unprecedented with this week’s column, something new that I’ve never done before. So watch out, ’cause anything can happen. Today, I’m going to break a long-standing principle of mine, and actually…

The Self Shelf: Tea parties: Dregs of the right wing

PHOTO BY Ariel Wittenberg/The Hoot

As spring finally is arriving, the political scene is about to enter a nuclear winter. The Democrats have imploded during the past six months and the Republicans can’t find a common platform besides obstructing the Democrats.…

Changing how we think about climate change

Recently, I’ve heard buzzwords like “climate change” thrown around a lot recently. I want to change the way we talk about this issue. I want to change how we think about this issue. People talk about climate change as an…

The pill is not enough

Illustration by Leah Finkleman/the Hoot

I recently read about the current rise of Sexually Transmitted Diseases (STD) in young adult females. I was frightened by this statistic and the knowledge that Brandeis students are not excluded from this statistic. During training…

The triumph of process

In the horrible summer of 2004, one hardly dared to hope of Iraq settling into a democratic rhythm. Barely a night went by without the report of yet another American death via suicide bomber or improvised explosive device. That spring…

Borde-nough: Campaign finance reform: A hot topic?

Campaign finance reform is a hot topic in our nation’s Capitol, but politicians have temporarily shelved the issue. Even in normal economic times, campaign finance is a topic that rarely excites voters because reforms unavoidably sound like sheep-safety schemes drawn…

Iran’s sad state of affairs

In 1979, an Islamic revolution led by Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini overthrew Iran’s presiding ruler, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, commonly known as the Shah of Iran. Iran’s current regime, which came to power as a result of this historic event, still triumphantly…

Softball opens their season with warm weather play

The Brandeis softball team could hardly have asked for a better start to their season. In their first week of competition, the Judges have managed to compile a 5-1 record, and their 3-1 conference record leaves them well-positioned to contend…

Indoor track and field hosts UAA championships

PHOTO BY Andrew Rauner/The Hoot

Brandeis University played host to the 2010 University Athletic Association Indoor Track and Field Championships on March 5 and 6, and the hometown squads finished the week with their heads held high. The Brandeis men took…

Men’s basketball advances to Sweet Sixteen

After two exciting victories last weekend in the first and second round of the NCAA Division III tournament, the Judges have moved onto sectional. This is the second time Brandeis has reached the Sweet Sixteen under head coach Brian Meehan.…

Baseball spends the week playing in Florida

The Brandeis baseball team is participating in the University Athletic Association Tournament down in Sanford, Florida this week. The team will play six games total between Tuesday March 9 and Saturday March 13.

The Judges kicked off the tournament against…

It’s all greek to me: university policies unclear on Fraternities and Sororities

On April 11, the Student Union will host a half-marathon across the Brandeis campus. The event is being organized by Union Vice President Amanda Hecker ’10 and Phi Kappa Psi President Justin Meltzer ’11. The Facebook event created to advertise…

Things fall apart

Have you seen the new Mandel Center for the Humanities? Towering above Rabb Academic Quad, the new building stands out, its clean, red brick and shining glass windows contrasting sharply with the dreary concrete slabs at its rear.

When complete,…

Provost approves academic cuts

Senate approves Constitutional Review Committee proposals

Tech Talk

Castle ceiling caves

The ceiling and wall of a Schwartz Hall dorm room on Castle Quad caved in Saturday scattering metal, drywall and concrete. The room’s resident Kiernan Bagge ’12 was not injured by the damage because he spent the night in a…

Profitable program at risk

Despite its charge to alleviate the university’s budget crisis, the Brandeis 2020 Committee has proposed to indefinitely suspend the revenue-positive Cultural Productions Masters’ program.

The program, which was created in 2006 for the purpose of providing the university with additional…

Shapiro may need to return Madoff money

The Boston Globe reported Tuesday that a federal judge’s decision in the Bernard Madoff bankruptcy case could force Brandeis donor Carl Shapiro to return a portion of the $1 billion in profit from investments with Madoff. United States Bankruptcy Judge…

Upcoming Howard Dean visit sparks controversy

Campus and national politics collided this week when the Student Union executive office decided to help pay for Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean’s upcoming visit and angered Brandeis Republicans. The union accepted a request by sponsors of the April…

BADASS team hosts debate tournament

The Brandeis Academic Debate and Speech Society (BADASS) held their annual tournament last weekend, hosting more than 20 schools, including Yale, Columbia and the University of Maryland. A pair from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology won overall after competing against…

Harvard prof. asks ‘What is justice?’

Harvard professor and Brandeis alumnus Michael Sandel said that intense political debates should encourage, not neglect, the incorporation of moral arguments at an interactive forum with students on Monday evening.

Sandel ’75, a Rhodes Scholar and former Brandeis trustee, engaged…

Seligman wins Mr. Brandeis competition

After an hour of thrilling competition at the Mr. Brandeis 2010 pageant, Jonah Seligman ’10 walked away with the title, a crown, a sash and a stuffed Dalmatian. Marc Eder ’11 and Ari Tretin ’12 were first and second runners…

Feminist Gera discusses Israel Women’s Network

Ella Gera spoke at Brandeis Wednesday about the state of women in Israel. The event, held at the Women’s Studies Research Center, was sponsored by the Hadassah Brandeis Institute and other groups to commence Women’s History Month.

Gera, an economist…

‘Food, Inc.’ director condemns food industry

Director of the documentary “Food, Inc.” Robert Kenner visited Brandeis on Sunday to talk about his film, which he described as just one piece of a much larger crusade against the food industry.

This crusade began when people began to…

Meal or points?

Last semester, Adrienne Karlovsky ’12 ran out of points. Over the semester, she would stock up on various snacks while still paying for meals with points; as Karlovsky explains it, “I was trying to double up.”

By the end…

Track and field faces challenging opponents at Open New England Championships

The men’s and women’s indoor track and field teams competed last weekend in the Open New England Championships, each managing to score points in the prestigious meet.

Held this year at Boston University, the meet features athletes from colleges…

Men’s basketball ’10 earns 80th victory, NCAA berth and UAA honors

Over the past week, Terrell Hollins ’10 and classmate Kenny Small have shown that the best of their team’s season is yet to come.

After the senior class scored their 80th victory last Saturday, beating UAA rival NYU…

After last big win, hoops seniors reflect, reminisce on four years at Brandeis

Entering Saturday’s regular season finale against New York University (14-12, 5-9), the Brandeis women’s basketball team needed a win–and lots of help–to qualify for the NCAA Division III tournament. They got the win, but did not make the tournament. Still,…

Swimming and diving set three school records

There was something special in the water for the Brandeis swimming and diving teams during last Sunday’s Eastern College Athletic Conference Open Championships. The Judges took the pressure of competing against the top schools on the East Coast and turned…

VOCAL 2010 brings emotional relief

POETRY SLAM: Jamele Adams, associate dean of Student Life, hosted Vocal’s poetry slam, infusing the event with energy and charisma.
PHOTO BY Nafiz “Fizz” R. Ahmed/The Hoot

VOCAL, a club combining poetry and activism, hosted their annual 2010 poetry slam concert,…

March Madness 2.0: video game edition

For many of you, March Madness evokes thoughts of the NCAA basketball tournament—the brackets and the betting pools, after all, are a thoroughly engrained part of our mainstream culture. When I think of this March, however, I think of something…