(05/25/04 4:00am)
I stayed behind the group, dazed and concentrating on my feet as they shuffled through the thin powder coating. Though I walked with Ira, we didn't really talk, but instead spoke with nods, hushed sighs and occasional single-sentence remarks that did little to capture what we saw. "There was no grass here before," a survivor once told our guide, Melinda."How do you know?" Melinda asked her."If there were, we would have eaten it."This was Majdanek, where 360,000 Jews, gypsies, homosexuals and prisoners-of-war were murdered by the Nazis. Melinda told us that if someone gave the order, Majdanek could be fully running again within 72 hours-even 60 years after its liberation.Majdanek was the first concentration camp we visited in Poland that week; later, we stopped at the work camp Plaszow, and on our last day, we visited Auschwitz-Birkenau. Then, after a three-hour flight, we landed at Ben Gurion International Airport. On the same day that I arrived in Israel and climbed Masada in time to see the sun rise over the Negev, I had also walked through Auschwitz. It was chilling, infuriating and like the Negev-only terrifying and completely unlike the Negev-spread uniformly in all directions until it faded beyond my sight. I wish we could linger. We were at Plaszow for about 20 minutes, Birkenau for an hour, Majdanek and Auschwitz each for less than three. I had no time to process what I saw at the sites where millions of people died, where my great-grandparents, great aunts and great uncles were slaughtered. It was freezing. My toes, my fingers, even my legs, lost all sensation by the end of each stretch outside. I found myself complaining about the cold. Here I was, bundled in two sweaters, a down feather jacket, my March of the Living windbreaker, two pairs of socks and gloves, a hat and scarf, outside for a few hours at a time, and I had the nerve to complain. I tried to imagine standing in the same frigid air wearing one threadbare layer and pushing to exert myself past my physical limit for eight hours day after day after day. For years. But I couldn't.This was my strategy each time I felt I should cry. I closed my eyes and put myself in the concentration camp as a victim. The tears, however, would always elude me. I had been yearning for the physical cues, but even once I was there, I saw only the carcasses of concentration camps. I couldn't grasp the emotional link.In Birkenau, I almost succeeded. I sat by myself on a stone step where a crematorium had once stood and pressed my eyes shut, almost hoping to squeeze tears out of them. Then-and this is almost like cheating-I thought of my own family, taken from their lives, thrust into this macabre freak show. I thought of my father, a professor permanently armed with reassuring advice; my mother, an artist who is never quite calm and always unrelenting when she cares about something; and my 17-year-old brother, a soccer goalie and a high school junior who, caught up in the personal fable of adolescence, believes he is invulnerable. I'm no gargoyle. When I imagined my family murdered, I felt my chest grow tense and my eyebrows crease; I longed for them to be sitting next to me. Still, the tears refused to come.Auschwitz is organized like one horrific museum, contained in the neat line of two-story red barracks, or blocks. We saw photographs of children whose lives were stolen from them. We saw their miniature clothing preserved in a display case. We shuddered at piles of human hair, all gray by now, at roomfuls of silverware, plates, leather shoes and suitcases scribbled with names of people who believed they might someday get their bags back. We passed endless rows of photos lining the barrack walls-men and women with shaved heads, each an inmate who died. And these were only a few days' worth of specimens, a fraction of the faces.At Majdanek and Auschwitz, we stumbled into the gas chambers, their walls stained with blue splotches of Zyklon B, and lit the room with white memorial candles as we recited the Mourner's Kaddish, the prayer for the dead. Soon, though, I was too angry to cry, fuming with each step I took. Majdanek is a national park. We have redwood trees in our parks; Poland has gas chambers. Yes, that's an exaggerated statement. I realize that the national park status mainly means that the government pays for the camp's upkeep, but the label offends me; it seems an indication of the disregard with which Poles treat the camp. The mausoleum-a dome shielding an immense heap of human ashes-was littered with food wrappers and other trash. We visited the camp on Christmas Day, and a trio of church-clad Poles strolled across a field, chatting and carrying shopping bags. Most hurtful were the billowing smokestacks that seemed to be encroaching on all sides of the camp. Was this some kind of cruel joke? I'm sure these smokestacks were part of a factory, but to me, they were just reminders that prisoners' bones were burned there, that similar chimneys released the remains as smoke. Now, I wasn't crying, I was cringing, squinting my eyes and shaking my head in disbelief. I watched my peers reach their breaking points and wander in red-eyed bewilderment. I was in a daze, too, but a different one, my arms crossed and my stare fixed ahead at the ghost town as I waited for it to hit me. I felt removed, chilled, so incensed that I couldn't absorb anything.The only time I cried during the entire trip, I didn't even mean to. I was standing at the Kotel, the only remaining wall of the platform that held the ancient Jewish temple in Jerusalem, singing "Lecha Dodi" to welcome the Sabbath with the other girls. Rings of dancers wove around us, their infectious melodies rising, then fading, as they passed. I gazed at the towering wall and remembered the religious girl I had just seen sobbing with her head bowed, one hand holding her prayer book, the other on the cold stone. That morning in Tzefat, the center of Jewish mysticism, we had visited the synagogue where Rabbi Shlomo Alkabetz, the mystic who wrote "Lecha Dodi," once studied. Now we were singing the same song in front of the holiest site in the Jewish world alongside throngs of Jews doing the same. I noticed my eyes getting moist, my smile stretching wider, and soon, the tears on my cheek. Finally. I know it sounds trite. The bleakness of the camps, my inability to comprehend the devastation of the Holocaust, the catharsis of Israel-it's all predictable. It probably shouldn't be. How desensitized must we be? The Holocaust happened, no matter how many times we write about it. It still aches, even if everyone knows about it. I wrote this piece in an attempt to confront numbness and resentment. But upon re-reading it, even my internal struggle seems stale. And here's a frightening truth: I've changed nothing about my life since I returned. Spring semester started three days after I returned from Israel. I threw myself headfirst into my editor job at this newspaper, into my friends, into picking up where I left off in the fall. No one at school had been there with me, so it was all too easy to go back to high-strung Brandeis mode. I resolved to write about my trip during the first week back. That was more than three months ago.Lisa, a student at UCLA who went on March of the Living with me, gained 10 pounds since our trip. I saw her last month in New York, and she straight-out told me that she had gained weight because to her, staying slim seems so trivial after being in Poland. She has begun to say the Mourner's Kaddish every day. Also, she said, when she is stressed over schoolwork, she need only remember the Holocaust and her problems seem minor. "Last year, my dad used to tell me to think of the people dying in Iraq or starving in Africa and be thankful that I wasn't them," Lisa said. "I knew he was right, but it didn't work."Now, when she thinks of what prisoners faced in the camps, it works. Lisa actually appreciates life more because she can compare it to the nightmare whose ruins we saw. Meanwhile, I've been expecting a miracle to take place-some transformation to just happen that will suddenly instill me with a broader, enlightened perspective. I'm going to Israel again this summer; that's the most concrete step I've taken so far. The buzz of Israel makes me proud to be Jewish, and it is this connection that makes me so furious at the Nazis. Going to Israel will fortify my Jewish identity, but it will not help spread knowledge about the Holocaust, which is crucial now, with a worldwide surge of anti-Semitism reminiscent of that felt in the 1930s. I am not imagining this animosity; I saw it in Poland. I may have projected malicious intent onto the smokestacks outside Majdanek, but other signs left little room for interpretation. In the hallway of a Jewish school in Lublin, preserved only because it was used as Nazi headquarters during the war, we saw that someone had drawn a Star of David hanging from a gallows. Noah, dubbed "The Rabbi" of our group because of his beard and the religious knowledge he imparted to us, discovered this graffiti and then immediately obscured it with Hebrew letters. "Am Yisrael chai,"-the nation of Israel is alive-he wrote, retracing his livid pencil lines until they were dark enough.It took me three months to write about this. Not because I'm lazy, though. No. It's because I didn't know what to write. It's hard. You can't make sense of the Holocaust because it doesn't make sense. I guess that's the point; I hope it never starts to make sense. I wish I were the type of person who bawled at the camps, who turned my life around upon return. I'm not though, and I've realized I shouldn't feel guilty about it. I was still affected. I still walk around seeing the mound of hair, the train tracks, the empty gas chamber. I stiffen at mention of the Holocaust. I cried in Israel, not Poland, but I cried in Israel because of Poland. So if I can keep the trip with me-even the anger that it bolstered-then I have found meaning.
(03/02/04 5:00am)
Sitting in my dorm room on a lazy Sunday afternoon on the last day of February, I have to be honest: there isn't much to write about in the world of sports. I mean, after all, the NFL season is four weeks past and opening day for baseball is still five weeks away. However, there is something that is worthy of print, as pessimistic as it may sound. The question is, unless you're from Sacramento, San Antonio, Los Angeles or Minnesota, is there even a reason to keep watching the NBA? I'm not even talking about being in the Greater Boston area, tolerating a team that not only lost one of its best coaches ever, not to mention 13 of their past 15 games. Being two games away from the 2002 NBA Finals seems two decades ago for a franchise that has gone from one of the Eastern Conference's top teams to what looks like a perennial lottery pick contender.Let's talk about the rest of the NBA for a moment. It seems to me that the dominance that the Western Conference has over the Eastern Conference is similar to the imbalance between the Cowboys, 49ers and the rest of the NFL in the early and mid-90's. It's kind of like seeing a movie you've already seen before, because everyone knows the L.A. Lakers, if healthy, are going to win the NBA Finals and if they don't then San Antonio, Sacramento or Minnesota will. Think about it for a second, a team with four future hall of famers, two of which are in the prime of their career, should win the championship. John Carroll could even coach that team to a championship. And I believe they will despite nagging injuries to Karl Malone andsome chemistry problems. But as I said the next three best teams in the Western Conference San Antonio, Sacramento or Minnesota, would easily beat any of the top teams in the Eastern Conference, whether it be Detroit, Indiana or the resurgent New Jersey Nets.Maybe the NBA should do what the NFL does for the championship by having one game decide it. I could see the Nets or Pistons potentially knocking off one of the West superpowers, however in a best of seven game series the better team will and always does win. Will the Western winner really have a challenge? I'm not trying to discount the efforts of the Pistons to acquire players such as Rasheed Wallace at the trading deadline or the Nets' run with new coach Lawrence Frank, but unless players such as Shaq, Kobe, Kevin Garnett and Tim Duncan switch conferences, you can count on a victory parade in sunny California, the Lone Star State or in The Twin Cities.All right, so winning the championship isn't the only thing that matters in sports. So why not just watch professional basketball for fun? The NBA and its players are making it hard for the fans to have fun watching games both live and on TV. With scores frequently in the mid 60's and 70's and with a total lack of a fastbreak and explosive offenses, it is nearly impossible to watch an entire NBA game. Furthermore, with constant news about violence, drug problems and other legal issues among the NBA players, not to mention employee number eight in Los Angeles, it is difficult to watch and root for many of these athletes. I'm not saying that other sports don't have their issues on and off the field, but there are clearly hard times for the NBA right now. Who knows maybe Lebron and Carmelo will be the next Bird and Magic and in five years the league will again be popular as it was in the '80's and early '90's. But as for now, players should stay in college for all four, maybe even five, six, seven.. years as college basketball is clearly the most appealing basketball around. Oh and by the way as I have been writing this article, I am watching the Celtics defeat the Toronto Raptors for the second time in three days. February's an exciting month in sports, huh?
(02/10/04 5:00am)
Wayne Gretzky turned professional at 17. Fred Chapman went pro as a pitcher at the age of 14 in 1887. Joe Nuxhall became the youngest Major League Baseball player of the past century when he turned pro at age 15 in 1944. Kobe Bryant, LeBron James, Kevin Garnett and others have made the jump from high school to the NBA as teenagers in the past decade. Freddy Adu signed a contract to play major league soccer at the age of 14 in November. Michelle Wie has used sponsors' exemptions to get around age requirements to compete in the LPGA tour. Now, Maurice Clarett is challenging the National Football League rules which could open the floodgates for younger players to enter professional football. In 1990, as a result of the collective bargaining agreement, the NFL instituted a rule stating that all players entering the draft must be out of high school for at least three years. At the beginning of the month, U.S. District Judge Shira Scheindlin declared that an NFL rule barring eligibility violates anti-trust law and "must be sacked." Scheindlin ruled that the evidence was so much in Clarett's favor that a trial was unnecessary. The NFL plans to appeal, and will probably try to at least get an injunction before the April NFL draft. But even though they plan to appeal this case, the NFL does not seem like they think they can win it. A day after the Clarett ruling came down, the NFL set a March 1st deadline for those not previously included in draft eligibility. Although this ruling may not open the proverbial floodgates for high school graduates and underclassmen to rush to the NFL, the effects are not really known just yet. One of the joys of watching college basketball used to be that you could watch a player develop over four years from a freshman to a senior and then watch him go to the NBA. But a 1970 ruling by the Supreme Court, allowed Spencer Haywood to enter the NBA early and opened the floodgates for not only players such as Magic Johnson and Michael Jordan to leave early from college, but has allowed the high school graduates of today to enter the NBA. Those same anti-trust laws that were violated back then, were ruled to have been violated by the NFL at this current juncture. Pittsburgh sophomore Larry Fitzgerald may be one of the players greatly benefited by this ruling. Fitzgerald, a wide receiver and Heisman Trophy contender, may attempt to enter the NFL draft after this season. But will Clarett, Fitzgerald and other early entries be able to compete in the NFL? Most players, coaches and sportswriters think that they will crash and burn. Football is definitely the most physical professional sport and all of these players have bodies that have not totally developed. Skills, stamina and mental toughness are other intangibles that can only be learned after four years in college. Clarett may be a late second round pick; how important is it to come out early from college to become a late second round pick? For Clarett, it may be very important after he has totally alienated his Ohio State team and made it clear there is no chance he would return to college. Not that he really deserves to. He failed a gym class for goodness sakes. How lazy and dumb do you have to be to be an NFL caliber running back and fail physical education? That, plus the recent revelation he runs with the wrong crowd (no pun intended), may not be the type of publicity that a running back who hasn't played competitive football in a very long time would want going into the draft. If he does enter the draft, Clarett will either be a huge bust and a warning to other early entries, or Clarett will succeed, giving numerous college underclassment hope that they can succeed in the NFL. Players who feel their value is high enough to make millions in the NFL will forgo the risk of getting injured in college and losing all that money and go straight to the draft. Clarett will be the first of these players. I really do hope that he fails miserably. It is so tough to root for a college basketball team when the players leave really early for the NBA. I am not a huge fan of college football (being at a school where IM football makes the front pages of the newspaper and college football is a story that is told from one student to another as they walk past the pictures in the hallway of Gosman) but for anyone who is, the joy of watching a player develop and become a big-time quarterback will be totally lost. With the amount of busts that occur annually like clockwork in the NBA, MLB and NHL because of players either not going to college, leaving college too early or being pushed too quickly by professional coaches, it would be a shame to see the same thing happen to the NFL. NBA teams waste many early picks on hyped-up high schoolers who end up being nothing. Major League Baseball has seen many prospects who are touted as saviors for their teams turn out to be busts, some because they cannot handle it mentally (see Rick Ankiel), some because they injure themselves pitching too much, too early (see Kris Benson and Ben Sheets) or some because their stuff doesn't translate to major leagues (see Hideki Irabu).The NHL has so many players that just fall by the wayside, although the refined minor league system and the influx of players from expansion has helped out in this venture. Hopefully, NFL teams will learn from this example. The NFL and NBA both lack the minor leagues that baseball and the NHL have to provide time for players to develop. Ryan Leaf should be the first example of why teams should not be quick to draft guys that may not be ready for the NFL. The NFL requires players to play in numerous preseason games, 16 regular season games and numerous playoff games in order to win a championship. Without the endurance that one acquires through development and training on the college level, early entries to the NFL draft will be left without necessary skills needed to compete on the higher level. With early entries to the NFL draft, many more injuries and busts will occur with young players. No longer will the thrill of seeing a Payton Manning or Ricky Williams playing for four years at college be possible. No longer will the NFL be the exception to the rule. No longer will bowl games be flooded with talented players because they have left early for the NFL. Players will build up their stock enough in one season, like Carmello Anthony did in Syracuse, and then jump ship to the pros. Is that fair for Syracuse fans and players? Even though they won a championship, should they not have the opportunity to win another one or even three more with Anthony leading that team? Should college basketball not have dynasties and hard-fought rivalries again? Let Maurice Clarett be the example, and the not the exception that keeps younger players in college a little longer.
(11/25/03 5:00am)
"Come to Brandeis. We have a student to faculty ratio of eight to one and rank number nine among the top 26 universities in research productivity. We have over 200 clubs and boast an 85 percent acceptance rate to law school. Being only nine miles from Boston, we offer both the relaxation of a suburb and the luxuries of a city." Sure, this stuff is great. It would answer anyone's questions during a prospective student information session and would make great conversation during a tour. But what makes Brandeis University really amazing is hard to explain to a bunch of high school students itching to get to college where they can be independent from authority, rules and constant supervision. The truth is, no one wants to be truly independent. Everyone wants and needs to be part of a community and feel cared for. Lucky for us, Brandeis does just that.The past semester has been a very difficult time for the entire Brandeis community. The losses of Reggie Poyau '04, Mary Jagoda '05, and Elie Schwartz '04 have had large effects on both the students and faculty at Brandeis. Whether you knew one, two or all of these wonderful individuals, these tragic events have left people with immense feelings of loss. In these difficult times, the thing needed most is a strong supportive community. Fortunately at Brandeis, students are not just names on a piece of paper filed in a registrar cabinet, but they are integral members of a community and are treated as such. Brandeis is a school where the Administration truly cares for each individual student, and they believe that an institution's purpose is not only to provide an education, but also to provide a warm, secure, positive atmosphere.I have often overheard students blaming the "Administration" for things they complain about on campus - East bugs, Sherman food, an abnormally quiet Saturday night, etc. ("Administration" being in quotes because although it is common to think of them as this all-encompassing body with the power to change things on campus with the push of a button, the reality is that they are people with individual passions, responsibilities and concerns about how to best serve the student body). Therefore, I have two things to say to these students who think that whining to each other about the "Administration" will help their cause. One, if you have a complaint, get out of your dorm room and do something about it. Join a committee, plan an event, and take some action instead of passing the blame to someone else. Two, take a minute to appreciate all the amazing things Brandeis faculty and staff do for you each day. Brandeis University runs smoothly because these people do things above and beyond their job descriptions, things that they never get thanked for. It would be nice to overhear students talking one day of how much they appreciate all that is done for them instead of all they are too lazy to do themselves. It's unfortunate that it takes an incident like this past week's to see how much the faculty and staff of Brandeis really are there for their students when they need them most. How many schools have an Assistant Dean of Student Life that makes off-campus house-calls when you wake her up at 7:30 a.m. on a Sunday? How many schools have administrators who would drop everything to drive down to New York City to be with students in their hour of need? How many schools have faculty who give out their cell phone number, answer all e-mails personally the same day they are sent and offer to rearrange their schedule to meet with individual students about their individual concerns? I only know of one.I challenge any Brandeis student to find another university that cares as much for its students as Brandeis does. And I challenge all Brandeis students to step back and realize how lucky they are to be part of such a wonderful community and truly appreciate those that are responsible for making it that way.Being from southern New Jersey, it wasn't possible to travel the five hours home or have my parents drive the five hours here to be with me this past week. Yes, I spoke to them many times a day on the phone and exchanged frequent e-mails. But the truth is, there is only so much they could do 300 miles away - and much of my dealing with my own emotions had to be attributed to the incredible support I was offered by the Brandeis Administration. The situation wasn't handled like a standard protocol with steps to follow, but by individuals catering to students' needs in this crucial time. I honestly felt as though Brandeis faculty cared about how my friends and I were dealing with this incredible tragedy. I would like to personally thank Assistant Dean Alwina Bennett, Assistant Dean Lori Tenser, Vice President Jean Eddy, Provost Marty Krauss, Dean Rick Sawyer and Rabbi Allan Lehman for all their support this week. You truly are what make Brandeis not just an institution, but also a family. Editor's Note: Erica Lemansky is senator for the class of 2005.
(11/11/03 5:00am)
The Strokes'Room On Fire'On RCA Records Grade: A+When the Strokes burst onto the scene in 2001 with "Is This It," they were heralded almost universally as the saviors of rock 'n roll. This seems to be a record industry pattern that revolves around a band that is just ballsy enough to buck whatever the mainstream trend is in favor of the music they prefer. That's not being a savior, that's being selfish, and no band is better at being selfish than the Strokes."Room On Fire" is the hotly anticipated sophomore release from the New York rockers, and while it's only 32 minutes long, it will not leave you disappointed. Instead of the sweeping changes and drastic modernization that seemed to be their original plan - judging by the band's brief foray into the studio with Radiohead producer Nigel Godrich - the band has simply returned to what they do best: straightforward, slightly mumbling neo-rock. It is has long been a criticism of the Strokes that they simply seek to imitate every other stripped-down rock great from decades past. However, it is an unbelievable credit to the band that while they fundamentally sound like everyone else, the have come to sound completely and singularly like themselves. A Strokes song is instantly recognizable, despite the fact that ten other bands have had the same idea before, including the Strokes themselves. And that is what makes "Room On Fire" so immensely pleasing.Opening with "What Ever Happened?" the Strokes' signature sound of frenetically plucked guitars and lazy, slurred vocals is back. Heading possibly the most apathetic band of our time, vocalist Julian Casablancas implores his listeners, "I want to be forgotten / and I don't want to be reminded." This formula of retro-modern, halfway-frenetic music combined with lethargic and apathetic vocals is what makes the Strokes formula a classic one, and this time they've beefed it up slightly with a generous nod to New Wave. "Reptilia" and the current single "12:51" are especially heavy with these New Wave influences, from the inherent dance-ability of "Reptilia" to guitar-synth counter-melody of "12:51.
(09/09/03 4:00am)
Hey homeys (I hope that term isn't politically incorrect by now). I'm back with another acerbic column for you to read on the john. Today I resort to that tool of the lazy writer who is lacking for a good idea, "the list." I assure you, however, that this column will be more interesting than others in the genre such as "10 Things I Hate about you" and "8 Simple Rules for Dating My Teenage Daughter."Red Sox-Yankees is another one of those rivalries in sports that is more smoke and mirrors than actual feud. It is supposed to represent a microcosm of the New England- Tri-State rivalry, a war between the successful New Yorker's and the working-class Irish, but it instead represents 60 or so years of displaced frustration for Red Sox fans, and time better spent discussing "Seinfeld" for Yankees fans. The ten reasons I show apathy towards a series that has many on this campus in a tizzy.10. Drew Henson- Those of you who were watching the game on Saturday were treated to a sight to behold. An amazing $20 million waste, Henson represents one of the worst signings in the free agent era. I like to think of him as Steinbrenner's eight-figure brain fart. He is the Michigan Golden Boy who some Yankee loyalists would like to see at the bottom of Lake Superior.Henson has spent year after year in the Yankee farm system, producing a dozen homers, 130 strikeouts, very few walks and a batting average that makes Adam Dunn look like Ichiro. The guy, quite simply, has no place on a major league roster, and certainly not at the salary he is making. Twenty million dollars could buy many things, including: 6.67 million triple-cheeseburger value meals from Burger King, 400 million minutes of phone service with 10-10-220 and a lifetime supply of petroleum jelly for Mike Piazza.9. Luis Sojo- Sometimes I feel like I am writing to myself. Is anyone else disgusted to see Luis Sojo back on the Yankee roster? Oh, wait, I apologize, Luis Sojo's legal name is "Veteran Presence," because that is how the announcers seem to refer to him, as if letting him put a bat in his hands magically makes the rest of the team good enough to overcome Sojo's ineptitude.Sojo should take a tip from Rafael Palmeiro and rub some Viagra on his bat. In his last run in the majors, Sojo hit .165 with 4 walks and 2 doubles. Those numbers make him a legitimate offensive threat; a threat to the crowd when the bat flies out of his hands.I am tired of the Yankees giving mercy tours to these supposed leaders who gave them so much. When I see Luis Sojo, I see a .261 hitter who doesn't walk and can't get an extra base hit for his life.8. Roger Clemens- Don't get me wrong, Roger Clemens is one of the five greatest pitchers in major league history. We should, however, look at this objectively.In front of us is a 41-year old pitcher who can still strike men out. On the other hand, Clemens is not the same pitcher he was for the Red Sox, or even the Blue Jays. It is not a marquee matchup to see a guy with an ERA over four face a knuckleballer like Boston's ancient Tim Wakefield.I'll be happy when Roger Clemens retires. Baseball needs arrogant, violent windbags like it needs a collective colonic.7. Fenway Park- If I want to see close to 40,000 people screaming at the top of their lungs in the midst of a bout of insanity, I'll go to Greenwich Village in Manhattan. Plus, free fumes!6. Aaron Boone- What could be more frustrating than watching your team make a horrible trade that is in no way justifiable? I actually know the answer to this one! The answer, my friend, is watching Aaron Boone mangle at-bat after at-bat in his never ending struggle to produce like the average hitter that's he's become.Giving up lefty Brandon Claussen, who could prove to be a cheap and solid fifth starter, in order to jettison veteran RobinVentura, who wasn't performing poorly at all, while acquiring a more expensive player who only hit at the Great Architectural Catastrophy Ballpark is baffling. The Yankees will be better off when they stop making trades like this one.5. Karim Garcia- I never insult a player for appearances. I try to let their performance on the field do the talking. But let me say this: I don't believe there has ever been a major leaguer who has looked more like a slow pitch softball player than Karim Garcia.On the performance side, Garcia has given the Yankees nearly 100 at-bats this season. In that span he has hit .194 with a double and five walks. If it weren't for the five homers he hit against the dregs of the American League he would be a contender for the title of the Least Valuable Player in the AL.4. Tim Wakefield- When you think of "game of the week" what do you think of? I can tell you what you don't think of: A 37-year-old knuckleballer who manages to stay in the majors by having a good year twice a decade.3. 84-56 - The Yankee payroll is making a mad dash towards $200 million. Despite this, their winning percentage is only slightly than that of the Red Sox, while it's worse than that of several other major league teams2. The AL Wild Card- Call me unimpressed, but I am not caught up in pennant-race fever. In the greater scheme of things, it says nothing if one of the quartet of teams involved in the race finishes a game behind its next closest competitor. The difference is so negligible it should not stand as proof of anything.At stake is millions in ticket sales, advertising revenue and many other things that make a team much richer. To think that something so small makes the loser of the two so much worse off is a problem in baseball, and society in general, that is thoroughly upsetting.1. Babe Ruth- If I hear one more ignoramus spout out the phrase "Curse of the Bambino," I may in turn utter the phrase, "spending the rest of your adult life in diapers.
(09/02/03 4:00am)
Recent Brandeis graduate Oren Barouch loosened his shirt and took off his tie as he walked out of a cool mid-Manhattan Bank into the mid-August heat. After his seventh job interview of the summer - he had lost count - Barouch's face showed no sign of frustration or uncertainty with the foreboding prospect that "honestly, there's nothing out there!" But should this last attempt mirror his resignation, Barouch only stands to lose his high spirits and not his place of residence, which he currently shares rent-free with his parents.Barouch is part of a new breed of an old stereotype: the townie. The derogatory term for a young adult who remains at home during the budding years of his independence typically brings to mind a sluggish, chip-eating TV-addict enjoying a mid-day nap on the living room couch. And while Americans were humored by this lifestyle on "Married with Children," a real life Bud Bundy is invariably branded a loser. But in the tide of economic distress, the steadily growing population of out-of-work college graduates has de-stigmatized the negative "townie" image, if not broken from it all together. The number of adult children living at home has creeped up in the past few years, after a five-year fall during the mid to late 90s. According to the U.S. Census Beureau, 12.9 percent of males between the ages of 24 and 34 lived with their parents in 2000 compared to 13.6 percent who do so today. The change for women of the same age was similar although more gradual. A scope of the past twenty years outlines a more dramatic pattern with a 3.1 percent increase in stay-at-home males and a less notable 1.3 percent rise of stay-at-home females. The numbers are far more notable for adult children of 18 to 24. While 57.1 percent of the men lived at home in 2000, only 54.3 percent did so in 1980. At 42.7 percent in 1980, women 'townies' increased by 5 percent by 2000. For Barouch and so many others, living at home is not an act of laziness or indecision, but of realism. "I knew that I wasn't going to be able to move out. I needed to save up some money first," Barouch said. "As much as I wanted to go out live on my own in the city and be with friends, the money just wasn't there and you have to think practically about it." As reflected by the Census Bureau, Barouch attributes his situation to the weakened economy. "If it was 1989 or 2000 and you were pulling 60,70, 80K in your first year, then maybe you could go live in the city, but now you're lucky to get 40K."Shortfalls of a Brandeis degreeFresh out of Brandeis with a degree in History and Economics and a minor in international business, Barouch was just as practical but far more optimistic about his opportunities in the field of finance. "I accepted that I would go home for a little bit. For a while I assumed that it would only be for a few weeks and by August I'd have enough money to move out." Perhaps Barouch was reminiscing of the $70,000 and up starting salaries of only several years ago, but upon entering the real world, he was also entering the tightest job market since the recession of the early 90s. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the number of unemployed 20 to 24 years olds has risen 60 percent in the past four years, up to a whopping 1.4 million. "The problem with this competition is because there are so few positions, they can really look for the exact person they want," Barouch said. "The entry level positions really aren't entry level, they're entry level plus one."Beyond the temperamental economy and cutthroat competition, Brandeis University is also a culprit. Majoring in business or economics in a liberal arts University that stresses theory rather than technicalities may be pedagogically esteemed and personally gratifying, but less practical in the for-profit job market of the real world. "You look at an economics major at Brandeis and honestly, there isn't a lot of finance," Barouch said. "I walked into interviews and they asked, 'Ok do you know how to program in visual basic or run these regressions.' I confessed that this is something we just never learned, and hoped to pick up along the way. They just looked at me funny."A loyal alumnus to the last, Barouch still prefers the conceptually rich education he received at Brandeis. "You have to know the theory and be able to talk clearly about it, and not just punch out numbers,"he said. "I feel like I know just as much theory as anyone out there, and maybe more. And after all, economics and especially Understanding Wall Street is mostly psychological.""And it's only because of my major that I can turn on CNN and understand 100% more stuff than I knew before. I can talk to people about politics and tax cuts and it blows their minds. But on Wall Street, no one cares if you could write anymore, they just want you to crunch numbers."Only a summer ago Barouch interned in San Francisco for the Bank of National Securities, a prestigious position that at that time taught finance specific math skills rather than required them. One year later, fluently knowing projections and regressions has become the status quo. In June, Barouch had one particularly nightmarish interview at Jefferies and Co, an investment Bank in Stanford, Conn. "They lambasted me with every finance I could have ever learned at any school, formulas, motos, it was terrible. I just walked out thinking 'I obviously didn't' get this, bye."With more applicants for fewer jobs, graduates are accepting positions well below their qualifications. "You just keep getting squeezed down. The MBAs can't get jobs in their areas so they take undergrad jobs. I actually saw an add for an investment bank which read 3.7 gpa, Harvard or Yale preferred, I mean these people have jobs already! Honestly, at this point, I'll take anything," Barouch said.Next best thingAs college grads return to the nest and flood the job market with over-qualified resumes, desperate 'townies' find other outlets for productivity. Continuing education, volunteering and even unconventional business ventures are opted for as a practical and gratifying use of otherwise idle time. Despite recent cuts to AmeriCorps, its beneficiary Teach for America received 9,000 more applications this year than the 5,000 in 2001. Many of those who can't work but don't want to volunteer chose graduate school instead. This year alone, graduate school applications have risen 15 percent. As for the financial commitment which graduate school requires, Barouch subscribes to the theory that the spruced up resume will more than pay for itself in the long run. "I started studying for GMATs and I see that if the economy stays anywhere near like this, you're going to need those extra skills, an extra degree and you need something to separate yourself,"he said. "I've gotten to the point were I know I'm going to business school eventually, which I thought would be three or four years away, and now I'm thinking next year. And if the economy picks up a little bit, it will be that much easier to go.""I'm glad that I am in New York, so that I can at least take advantage of it. Business school is an investment. Opportunity cost of going now is a lot less. I'm not giving up 80K to go, I'm giving up nothing. It seems that now is the best time to do it. If I'm only making 30, 40K and can't move out, or can but am living hand to mouth, that's really the best time to go. The sooner you get out, the sooner you get that advanced degree. Business schools these days want people that are ready and need a degree from something specific, finding a job."The new townieSociologists call them the yoyo children or Boomerang generation, the judgmental public calls them townies, but Barouch and many of his peers call them, or themselves, a common and destigmatized victim of the economy. "A lot of people are living at home, even those who do have jobs and are just not being paid enough to move out," he said. "Some friends from my high school who graduated before me and they stayed home, saved up like 30K dollars and now they can move out,"he continued. "I have an older sister who worked, lived at home for a year but didn't save up enough money. Now she's living hand to mouth and doesn't have that cushion that you usually get from living at home."For every college student that looked at townies with an unshakable "that's never going to happen to me"attitude, the current shift in the economy will reflect a shift in the culture. "Now that everyone knows someone who's living at home, but working, studying and saving up money meanwhile, the image of the guy who sits in the basement and doesn't do anything will no longer apply."The new breed of townies aren't the ones who live at home because they can't get jobs and aren't smart enough: they can, there's just nothing out there.""But I don't think we'll see many people here for too long. Most people who want to move out will get a job, long before they're 26 or 27. These people just see this as something that has to happen. They have to stay at home and work and save up money. And they're gonna do it as long as they have to, they'll get up put their suit on and go back home, and that's just something they have to do.
(08/26/03 4:00am)
Listen: I want you to like me. There is dignity to my person.My soul, in fact, has capabilities, that even I am not aware of. My mother says I had a fiery, and she will go so far as to even say dynamic, personality. In her bathrobe at 3 in the afternoon, lazy Sunday, spoken in quiet semi-transparent tongues, she relates to me how, even in the womb, she sighs and drags on her cigarette slowly, she remembers how with such complacent and simultaneously determined force I would thrust my small partially formed fist into her abdomen. Remembering every kiss I've long since lost is painful, but I certainly have references, who will vouch, diagram even, my illustrious past, my uncertain but promising future, undying compassion for all things small and soft and vulnerable, ability to wax philosophically and simultaneously fuck, on key mind you, singing, screaming that jazz rift that, Simon says still leaves him, left him, shaking at dawn. Incredible. My doctors say my emotional instabilities, tendencies towards self destruction, are not only just within the realm of normalcy, but symbolically convey the alienation and promise of the 21st century prototype. I am your favorite love song. In some circles, my quirkiness is seen as endearing and even possibly admirable. Please tell me you also are still swallowing your juvenile delinquencies. Its been years. I've never let them go. Still running, screaming. So. So quiet. Mom said I always liked to play alone. Something I always felt, and then had to learn a second time. Invest in life support systems and friends who wont abandon you even though you will. You were raised to be so. So. We swim in blood and sand and maybe we need these drinks to wash away the wounds that emerge with every newly stolen...I can be hopeful in moments of sunlight, maybe spent with you. I like your fingers.Jeans.I believe in music. I dream in water. I endorse fucking. Matthew said I tasted like summer when he kissed me. Would you like to try? I'm trying to remember the time I last felt I had a pulse, and maybe it was behind the gas station in July when Violet held my hand and cried into my wrists, shaken, startled, breathing her misery with pride, because at least it was her own, and I miss her, him, him, him, me? We were all so... I need. So? Said life needs...punctuation? Never. Ever. Stop. Just hold my head back and body close, and with eyelids turned, breathe soft inconsequntial lies against my skin, because I need to hear them all again....******Violet leans forward as she sits on the side of the curb, braless in her wife beater. She takes long, languid drags on her cigarette, dripping ash on wet asphalt. It is mid-August and summer has lost its charm. If it were still early, Matthew and I could take a trip to the lake where we would listen to the soft hum of crickets, take tentative sips from a bottle of white wine, and gracefully devour one another's secrets and little lies as only best friends could. (This was before Matthew ran away from home and Mom stopped leaving the house).Violet keeps twisting that cigarette expertly between two fingers. She rolls her eyes and shakes the sweat out of her hair. The sun spills over us like too much champagne, and Violet doesn't even bother squinting. Just looks dead on though the distance waiting for time to start going again.I am barefoot, and my toes look odd and artificial wriggling through the grass. I feel small, childish, like I don't know what to do with my hands, and wonder if maybe it still isn't too late to bum a cigarette off Violet, even though I know that it is. The stagnant air smells like dried sweat and sour milk.Tomorrow there will be fire trucks and three days later Mom's voice on the phone begging me to come back. Now everything is peaceful, quiet. Violet turns her lidless eyes like wingless butterflies, sucking the last residue blue smoke from her fingertips. In the distance children are laughing. It is winter now. Where have the cherry blossoms gone? The mysteries hide under the snow, little secrets. The fires burnt out where we left them. It is serene now, calm, dead and very beautiful. The window is asymmetrical. The remnants of last night lay panic stricken on the floor; bad poetry and jeans and condoms, large red wet spot where we dropped the bottle of red wine. I laugh and mention how expressionists saw love as essentially vampiric and Jared takes another drag on his 300th cigarette and tells me I looked sad. Now that I am pretty it doesn't seem important. I remember the hours Violet and I would spend in front of mirrors, wet with rouge. Time we spent primping before sitting out on that curb, blowing kisses to the passing traffic and whispering secret loves. Time passed more slowly then. Things seemed simpler, direct. Now I read Neitszche and paint. I sleep late on Sundays. I buy organic and talk politics over cappuccinos and am learning to play chess. I am broke. I speak in a sentence structure that is too long and littered with enough poetic drivel to smother a small child, and that's ok because I am pretty, thereby lending my erratic voice some kind of credence and charm.If I started smoking now maybe I could get to heaven faster.
(08/26/03 4:00am)
In the heat of finals last semester I received a call from a friend at Columbia University asking me to come on a volunteer mission to the Jewish communities of Argentina and Uruguay. With blind faith that the mission would be a success, and knowing that this would be one of the last truly flexible summers I would be able to travel the world, I signed on.The objective of our mission was clear. Due to Argentina's recent economic collapse and the subsequent extreme devaluation of the peso, there is currently an inflated amount of poverty within the large South American republic. We were a group of 48 Jewish students from around the country going specifically to provide aid for the Jews of Argentina with a brief excursion into Uruguay. [Author's Note: While the volunteer work was valuable, enlightening and defiantly the emphasis of our trip, I am going to focus more on our recreational run-ins with the Argentine culture. At the risk of sounding callous, exploring the new country and its culture were what truly made my trip worth it.] While volunteering during the daytime hours, we took the afternoons and nights to explore this new and interesting place. Our first trip to a bowling alley may shed some light on where Argentina stands technologically (this barring Buenos Aires, which to me felt no different than New York). As I bowled the first frame, I noticed that there was nothing electrical about the place. All of a sudden, a man - suspended upside down on something resembling a trapeze - lowered himself down beside the pins and manually reset them. The lack of technology didn't stop there, however. Driving without traffic lights and stop signs certainly gave our cab rides much bang for their buck. Every corner was a game of chicken, and without seatbelts we held on tight.But perhaps the most appealing aspect of the Argentine culture was its casual feel. The people were warm, always offering to help and constantly reminding us of our "faster, less pleasant, hussle and bussle American styles of life." Truthfully, I didn't mind leaving my American pride behind as we watched coffee shops fill up during the day. There was a general emphasis on enjoying life that I have never felt in the United States. One particular manifestation of the relaxed Argentine culture was the siesta. Eerily similar to those afternoon naps afforded to us in nursery school, siesta meant that every day - from noon until four - everyone closes shop and goes home for an afternoon break (to our disdain, this included such establishments as banks and post offices). A friend of mine on our trip repeatedly theorized that this "adult naptime" breeds a general lethargy and laziness among the masses. I liked this new idea.Because they nap during the day, Argentineans sleep very few hours at night. In Buenos Aires there were entertainment establishments that did not open their doors until 1 a.m. or 2 a.m., which incidentally was the bedtime for the 10-year-old boy of one of our host families. While talking of a trip to Argentina, it would be a crime to leave out one the country's main obsessions and bizarre practices. Argentineans love to Tango. As one would see beat-boxing or rapping on a given New York street, Argentine street musicians and performers set up shop - fully decked out in tuxedos and ballroom gowns - and dance in this highly refined manner waiting for change to be dropped in their hats.Perhaps one of the most pleasant surprises to an American was the cost of goods and services in Argentina. Goods were cheap, but services were even cheaper. Horseback riding cost us five pesos for an hour - less than two dollars - and taxi rides were one tenth of the price they are in New York. Kosher steak dinners in Buenos Aires were five dollars for generously sized portions, and Internet usage was a mere 30 cents an hour. The devaluation of the peso took our dollars a long way.With other excursions such as a tour of the famous Santa Fe beer factory, a soccer match and the famous Colon Theater, our trip was quite a window into the Argentine people and their way of life. So as our mission came to an end, I said goodbye to my "adult naptime" and our hazardous taxi rides. I knew that it was time to return to my "faster, less pleasant hussle and bussle American style of life.
(04/29/03 4:00am)
After a stressful week, Brandeis students involved in various organizations may lament that their task is no mere extracurricular, but rather a full-time job. For many, the Union government is one such activity, which demands, among meetings and planning, the completion of office hours.Concern with office hours has been voiced both by the general student body and Union officials themselves. Sharon Barotz '06 said she received an e-mail four days before she was scheduled to take the Brandeis shuttle to New York for spring break informing her that her reservation had been cancelled. She was instructed to come to the Union office during certain hours, but when she went there, the official who had promised to help her was not in the office. "I wasted my time walking to the office and back," Barotz said.Representative to the Board of Trustees Ebone Bishop '04 said, "Sometimes I'll go (to the office) for two to three hours and I'll be the only one there." Others apparently should have been present to serve their assigned hours as well.Ken Gantz '04, formerly Grad Quad Senator and just sworn in as Union Vice President, acknowledged, "I do think there is a problem. In the past couple months especially, club leaders and students have been coming to the office for various requests and help on matters, and there hasn't been anyone there."This does not mean, however, that the office is usually empty, but rather that it is not always open during set hours. Kate Vogel '03, who just finished her term as senator-at-large and executive senator, said she believes "the vast majority of senators and Executive Board members have served more than their required allotment of office hours this year.""The trouble," Vogel added, "is making sure that commitment is at a fixed time every week so that the office can be reliably open for students."All senators, as well as members of the Union Executive Board (E-board) and the Allocations Board (A-board), are mandated to serve office hours, varying in exact number depending on their position in the government. Members of the Union Judiciary (UJ) do not currently serve office hours."(Office hours) are important primarily because they are the perfect time to help out specific students," said Daniel Mauer '06, formerly North Quad Senator and now a UJ Justice. "The services that Student Union officials perform during office hours aren't incredibly complex - most often when students come in, they want someone to help make copies or find them a form - but they need (it) to be done.""The greatest thing that we can do for the students is be resources for them. If we're not there, then it's kind of hard for us to be effective representatives," Gantz said. Gantz added that office hours bring members of the student government together and therefore offer an opportunity for them to "collaborate on ideas, discuss issues and brainstorm possible ideas for events."There is no definitive cause for missed office hours, but rather a myriad of attitudes and circumstances that contribute to the phenomenon. According to government representatives' speculations, most officials do not cut office hours out of sheer laziness, but rather because there are only 24 hours in each day and they can only be in once place at once. Gantz gave one possible explanation, mentioning as the semester unfolds, "everyone is just getting busier; they have a lot more schoolwork and outside work ... and people are near the end of their terms."Gantz also stressed the role of effective leadership in ensuring that all those who should serve office hours follow through with this task. He said that in the April 13 senate meeting, the first one which he led as vice president, he "strongly urged everyone to not only serve all their office hours, but to regularly attend all their committee meetings."Beginning this semester, officials were supposed to sign a logbook in the Union office each time they serve their assigned hours. The widespread opinion among government officials, however, is that officers did not sign in, either because they forget, or because they spend hours in the office outside of their assigned slot of time.Therefore, although the logbook alone suggests that some members of the E-Board spend the least time in the office, according to Union representatives, this is not the case. Vogel said that she thinks "E-board members are often among the Union government officials who put in the most amount of time," and many have "thirty hours a week allotted to student government." "If you look at the schedule of an E-boarder or busy senator, you'll find that there isn't much wiggle room," Vogel said. This inelasticity results in a sort of catch-22: In order to fulfill certain duties, an official might need to let another duty - such as office hours - slide. "Sometimes ... when an administrator wants to meet, E-board members will give up office hour time to have that meeting. Of course, ideally this should only be done when there is someone else to cover the office."Ben Brandzel '03, who just completed his term as Union President, further discussed this issue: "I think all parties should recognize the position of the other: Student government representatives give up hundreds of hours of their time every semester for the sole purpose of improving the lives of our classmates, and so harassing them about every missed (office) hour just doesn't make sense. At the same time, students have the right to expect reliable service in the Union office during business hours," he said.Vogel also spoke of the impact of this year's move of the Union office from the Usdan Student Center to the Shapiro Campus Center. Usdan, she said, "was much more convenient for everyone," because it is closer to Rabb and because lunch could be purchased close by and brought into the office. "Basically, it's a bigger trek to get to the furthest corner of the third floor of Shapiro, and you're much less likely to just sort of stop in somewhere else." This applies to members of the government and also to students, who may make a purposeful trek to Shapiro only to visit the Union office. Therefore, Vogel said, "If the office is closed when (students) arrive," such as in Barotz's aforementioned case, "it is even more frustrating."Ari Y. Kahan '04, who just finished his term as A-board chair, offered another explanation for missed office hours. He prefaced his statement by saying, "I can't speak for senators. I can't really even speak for A-board," but offered, "I know that I personally am involved in a lot of stuff, probably too much, that there is a certain amount of time that I want to budget for government stuff, and that I don't think my time is well spent in the senate office." This rationale may be unique to the A-board, as Kahan continued, "A-board is generally not part of the student government 'circle,' and I get bored, can't get work done, and overall feel like I'm wasting my time since people rarely need my help."It is clear that the present attempt to enforce office hours by use of a logbook has proved insufficient. Vogel said, however, that part of the problem might be that the logbook was introduced mid-semester. Both she and Mauer said the logbook might be more effective if continued next year, since this way, Vogel said, "newly elected officials (would) learn it as the way things are done." Union officials have considered other strategies as well, although these ideas have not yet been translated into action and may be infeasible.Brandzel mentioned the prospect of moving office hours to the evening, since many representatives already spend evening hours in the office. He admitted though, that in order to deal with administration and other adults, the office must operate during the day. Gantz addressed this idea, saying, "I don't think it makes sense to shift purely to the evening, but we don't have enough manpower to do day and evening ... We can consider opening the office an hour or two later, and in turn keeping it open an hour or two later." Mauer gave two suggestions. He raised the idea of monitoring office hours by requiring that Union officials swipe their ID cards at the door when they arrive and leave. He also added, "embarrassing officials within the Student Union for not serving hours, minor as it sounds, would probably make a big difference."Gantz proposed that given the difficulty to predict the hours one will be able to spend in the office, perhaps E-boarders -or everyone - should sign up in advance for only half of their mandatory hours. This grants more flexibility, but also allows students to plan meetings with specific Union representatives.Vogel mentioned that members of the UJ could perhaps begin to serve office hours as well. "The UJ does not carry anything close to the same Union government workload as the rest of us," she said. "Office hours are the least they could do." Gantz made the point, however, that this could present a conflict, since the judges might make friends with certain individuals while serving office hours and therefore lessen their impartiality.Gantz said he is ready to deal with the matter of office hours if the problem persists next year. "I'm waiting to see if it will become an issue," he said. "I'm hoping that it will not. If it does, then obviously stronger steps will be taken.
(04/29/03 4:00am)
Listen:I want you to like me. There is dignity to my person.My soul, in fact, has capabilities that even I am not aware of. My mother says I had a fiery, and she will go so far as to even say dynamic, personality. In her bathrobe at three in the afternoon, lazy Sunday, spoken in quiet semi-transparent tongues, she relates to me how, as she sighs and drags on her cigarette slowly, even in the womb she remembers how with such complacent and simultaneously determined force I would thrust my small partially formed fist into her abdomen. Remembering every kiss I've long since lost is painful, but I certainly have references who will vouch, diagram even, my illustrious past, my uncertain but promising future, undying compassion for all things small and soft and vulnerable, ability to wax philosophically and simultaneously fuck, on key mind you, singing, screaming that jazz rift that, Simon says still leaves him, left him, shaking at dawn. Incredible. My doctors say my emotional instabilities, tendencies towards self destruction are not only just within the realm of normalcy, but symbolically convey the alienation and promise of the 21st century prototype. I am your favorite love song. In some circles, my quirkiness is seen as endearing and even possibly admirable. Please tell me you also are still swallowing your juvenile delinquencies. It's been years. I've never let them go. Still running, screaming. So. So quiet. Mom said I always liked to play alone. Something I always felt, and then had to learn a second time. Invest in life support systems and friends who won't abandon you even though you will. You were raised to be so. So. We swim in blood and sand and maybe we need these drinks to wash away the wounds that emerge with every newly stolen ... I can be hopeful in moments of sunlight, maybe spent with you. I like your fingers.Jeans.I believe in music. I dream in water. I endorse fucking. Matthew said I tasted like summer when he kissed me. Would you like to try? I'm trying to remember the time I last felt I had a pulse, and maybe it was behind the gas station in July when Violet held my hand and cried into my wrists, shaken, startled, breathing her misery with pride, because at least it was her own, and I miss her, him, him, him, me? We were all so ... I need. So? Said life needs ... punctuation? Never. Ever. Stop. Just hold my head back and body close, and with eyelids turned, breathe soft inconsequential lies against my skin, because I need to hear them all again.
(03/18/03 5:00am)
Want to know the quickest way to make French friends? Insult George W. Bush before they do. If that's not your style, be prepared to devote at least 15 minutes per potential friend to fending off verbal attacks directed at the American government and people explaining that you, as an American citizen, do not necessarily represent or agree with the actions of your government. Unfortunately, unless convinced otherwise, French people tend not to differentiate between these two entities.As a result, frustration with U.S. foreign policy is sometimes inadvertently expressed as general anti-American sentiment. This misunderstanding partially stems from the fact that in France, government and citizen are much more closely linked than in the United States. French citizens tend to be more politically active than their American counterparts. In trying to establish the difference between politics of individuals versus that of government, I often repeatedly encounter the following argument: "But if the Americans don't agree with their government, why don't they do something about it?" The French love to go on strike, to hold demonstrations. To them, the belief that we Americans do not behave similarly indicates an inherent acceptance of the actions of our government. Averting anti-American sentiment by distancing yourself from your government can get tricky, however, since in reality, the fact that you are an American in a foreign country means that you are necessarily representing the United States. And you cannot simply go around renouncing the government and country at large, since this would essentially fuel further anti-Americanism. There are fine lines not to be crossed and subtle distinctions to be made, all of which are difficult enough in your native tongue, much less in a foreign language whose nuances and vocabulary you have not yet mastered. French people thrive on heated debates. Living in France, one of the first things you must learn is that these "debates" are not personal attacks; rather they are a means of intellectual discussion conducted in a style very foreign to the American culture. My first week in France, I met a seemingly friendly French guy at a party. Predictably, our conversation almost immediately shifted to American politics. After a few minutes of vehement America bashing seemingly blaming me personally, I naturally took offense, becoming shocked and furious with the nerve of this complete stranger to attack me at a casual social gathering. Noticing my anger, he asked me in a genuinely surprised tone why I seemed so upset. Composing myself and my French skills, I explained to him that even though I didn't necessarily agree with the actions of my government, I was still an American and I didn't appreciate him repeatedly attacking my country and insulting me personally. Flabbergasted, he responded that he was just attempting to make conversation.Therefore, it is very easy to see how a simple cultural difference can be readily mistaken for anti-American sentiment. French people do not act this way only with Americans, but because most Americans do not witness the French in their other interactions, they logically conclude that the French must be acting this way because they are American. But while a good deal of seemingly anti-American sentiment can thus be explained, there are some French people who do begrudge Americans simply for the fact that they are American. (It is important to note, however, that this perceived animosity is largely exaggerated by American society, and that it is actually far less prevalent than current anti-French sentiment in the United States). Even before "Bush's Oil War" (as the potential war with Iraq is often referred to here), the French had a reputation for disliking Americans. But, now it is more than the French perception of the rude, uneducated, lazy American who expects the world to speak English. Now the American government is spearheading an immensely unpopular war campaign and openly attacking France's opposition, and France seems to have developed a near obsession with denouncing America. The French media rarely deviate from a daily focus on the absurdity of U.S. foreign policy, and it is not unusual to see anti-war or anti-Bush (the two being essentially synonymous) propaganda all over the place. It is indeed somewhat unnerving to receive news of the United States filtered through an anti-American slant. Even with the growing anti-American sentiment, however, the atmosphere is not one of hostility or violence towards those Americans living here. I do not feel I must hide the fact that I am American (although even if I wanted to my thick accent would give me away the moment I opened my mouth), nor do I regret my decision to study in France. And, having now learned to survive those initial 15 minutes or so of America-bashing, maintaining a delicate balance between tolerating and rebutting the attacks, I have found that anti-Americanism seldom hampers my personal relationships or daily dealings with French people.-- Julie Golomb '04 is currently studying abroad in Paris.
(02/25/03 5:00am)
La Piazza caffe286 Moody St.Waltham, MA 02454 (781) 891-5857It is hard to believe, but it has finally happened. After years of complaining and "kvetching," Brandeis students now have a place to go in Waltham that is open later than 9 p.m. No longer do the town's establishments all shut down early in the evening, for one place remains illuminated in a welcoming glow far into the night : La Piazza caffe. In 2002, La Piazza opened its doors on Moody Street, with the hope of bringing some Italian flavor to the Watch City. Understanding that there was a need for a late-night student hang-out, they advertised all around the local colleges, and soon students congregated there on a regular basis. With its beautiful Italian murals and delicious cappuccinos, La Piazza is a fantastic addition to Waltham.In Italy, "la piazza" is the town square where Italians meet after work, school or on a lazy weekend. People are lured there to sip coffee, people-watch, buy groceries, listen to Italian singers in the street and just relax. This new caf has the same laid-back aura, with large murals of Positano, a small village on the Amalfi coast, surrounding the tables. One is as close to Italy as one can be in La Piazza -- a desirable atmosphere compared to the cold and snow outside. The few employees who work there are friendly and accommodating, and allow people to enjoy the comfortable sofas and array of magazines for as long as they like. The drinks, including Espresso Macchiato, Mocha, Iced Cappuccino and Steamed Latte are delicious and much better than any of the Java City drinks. Whether one is in the mood for a warm or cold drink, these are some of the best in town, especially the ones including La Piazza's gourmet coffee. The food at the caf includes Panini (Italian sandwiches), Soup, Dolci (cakes and pastries), as well as Gelato (Italian ice cream). Although I did not enjoy the various cakes I tried there, such as the Black Forest and Cappuccino Cake, the pastries and Gelato were tasty. The cakes were a bit stale, but the rest of the food was fresh and worth trying. I have yet to sample the Panini, but from the descriptions and looks, they seem above average. The Parma Panini (fresh sliced Parma prosciutto, mozzarella, tomatoes and extra virgin olive oil) appealed to me the most and will be next on my list to try.My main complaint about La Piazza caffe is the very expensive prices. For a place geared towards students, the prices are steep. A slice of cake or pastry ranges from $4 to $6, while the drinks are mostly $2 to $4. Still, the drinks are well worth the price, but the food could be skipped without regret. For a place to go with friends at night, try this new caf. Its atmosphere and drinks will not disappoint. Also, who would want to pass up a chance to experience Italy in the winter?
(02/18/03 5:00am)
Obviously, the time between getting housing numbers and the actual housing lottery is stressful for most people. Those with great numbers find themselves beseiged by friends they never knew they had, and those with terrible numbers discover the joys of grovelling and crying. Most people wish the University would find a solution so that more people would be happy with their housing and wouldn't have to massacre their dignity in order to have four walls and a ceiling for another year (Note that my definitions of walls and ceiling are now used much more loosely after a year of living in East). I feel like I would be a failure as a social critic and child of the middle class if I didn't offer up my own solution that mainly helps me and people much like me. First, let's look at the actual problems that the University has to overcome. With the economy failing, Brandeis is really struggling to make ends meet and has decided to increase the size of the incoming freshman class in order to bring in some more money. In order to keep the school appealing to potential applicants, Brandeis also has to maintain their pledge to guarantee housing for freshmen and sophomores. Clearly, the University then has to find more rooms and more beds for freshmen and sophomores which generally means taking them away from juniors and seniors. Last year, this included herding a majority of the class of 2005 (my class) into East in order to free up more rooms which could be lofted triples. While I wasn't neccesarily pleased with the decision, I could understand it, and, in the end, it turned out not to be terrible. With promises of an even larger freshmen class coming in next year, the administration thought fast and came up with a perfect solution for how to fit more freshmen and maintain some form of housing for upperclassmen: they were going to give more singles to the freshmen and sophomores. Brilliant! If a double and a triple can hold more people than a single, and now there are more people, we should put them in singles! Confused yet? Believe it or not, there are more than selfish reasons for wanting the singles for the juniors and seniors. College is a new and difficult concept for a lot of incoming freshmen. Students who are shy sometimes have a hard time learning to deal with being in the presence of their peers 24 hours a day. While most people hate having a roommate, freshmen gain a lot from the experience. Having a roommate forces you to be more social, teaches you how to deal with aggravating people who you can't avoid, and most importantly provides a person to keep an eye on you if the stress becomes too bad or the opportunity to become lazy becomes too strong. I did pretty well with my freshman roommate even though we had some fights and I would say that overall it was a rewarding experience. Putting freshmen in singles is a huge mistake. Putting juniors and seniors in doubles is also a gross error in judgement. The University can't be too surprised at the shortage of alumni donations when something as simple as housing becomes a terrible experience for most people involved. Considering that my class is losing housing options for the second year in a row and many of us will end up living in makeshift Jehuda-villes out on Chapel Field, the University shouldn't be surprised when people get upset and decide not to give back to Brandeis and when Princeton Review ranks Brandeis as one of the most unhappy schools in America. At most schools, freshmen get the worst housing and upperclassmen get better housing every year. At Brandeis, the opposite is true. Here, freshmen are getting singles while juniors and seniors are looking at living in doubles that may not even be ready for next semester. It's bad enough that my room this year is the size of a bathroom stall with a bed, but next year I'll apparently be sharing it with someone new. As much as I value the education I receive here, there is no reason why Student Life should be so pathetic. Maybe if hundreds of students didn't get sick from cafeteria food, weren't forced to consider living in tents and cardboard boxes, had reasonable events on campus actually worth attending (and attending sober as oppose to the two or three people actually do go to), and felt that Brandeis was more interested in making money than in giving them the smallest modicum of happiness, the University wouldn't be in the monetary crisis it's in right now. I pay over $35,000 a year to this school, I don't think it's asking for too much to be treated with respect.
(02/11/03 5:00am)
I've often been appalled by the poor quality of The Justice. The grammatical errors are simply astounding. I'm sure you'd argue that most graphic layout programs don't include a spell checker. What about using Microsoft Word for spell checking then cut and pasting into the layout program? How about having a copy editor? Someone whose sole job is to proofread! Your errors are clearly obvious! Some of my favorites include misspelling "Brandeis," repeating full paragraphs in articles, and last week mistaking a freshman for the Prime Minister of Israel. And now even more laziness is setting in. Matthew JASICZEK is the actor who plays Napoleon in the Theater Department's production of Animal Farm. You guys wrote his name as Matthew Johnson. Yes, JASICZEK is a difficult name to pronounce and an even harder name to spell. But couldn't you simply look in a copy of our program? Couldn't you ask someone in the Theater Department? Try to check it online? Simply deciding to type "Johnson" because you don't know how to spell a name is pure laziness. You owe Matthew a personal apology and a big glaring correction admitting your stupidity in the next issue. Enough of your laziness - pretend like you're journalists.
(01/28/03 5:00am)
Red Sauce1114 Beacon StreetNewton, MA 02462(617) 965-0110If you find yourself with an insatiable craving for Italian food other than cheap pizza but are on a tight budget or too lazy to brave the weather to stand in long lines in the North End, have no fear. There is a new chain of Italian restaurants from the company who owns the Naked Fish chain. Offering standard Italian fare with no extra frills, Red Sauce serves up traditional favorites like ravioli and gnocchi, most of which are served -- not surprisingly -- with red sauce. The red sauce is less like marinara and more like a spicy tomato sauce. It first appears as a dip for a baguette-like loaf of bread, which was brought promptly to the table along with a pitcher of water.I suggest you start with one of Red Sauce's many generously portioned and inexpensive appetizers, such as "Mushroom Bruschetta," "Tomato and Fresh Mozzarella" or "Crispy Zucchini Strings." Red Sauce also offers basic soups and salads, in addition to their delicious and substantial offerings of antipasti. For the main dish, Red Sauce serves homemade pastas like "Cheese, Meat or Pumpkin Ravioli," "Gnocchi" and several gourmet pizzas, such as "Margherita" or "Potato and Rosemary." They also have the classics you would come to expect from an Italian restaurant, like "Chicken Parmigiana" or "Veal Marsala" and several delicious eggplant options. While the red sauce is common, there are plenty of other sauce options. Aside from the gnocchi, ravioli and lasagna, the only other pastas to combine with the sauces are penne and linguini. All dishes are liberally -- but not exorbitantly -- portioned, and the prices will leave you with money left to enjoy dessert and coffee. Red Sauce offers basic desserts, coffees and cocktails.Red Sauce has a casual environment. The main room sports an abundance of tables, but it is more enjoyable to sit at one of the booths. The corner booths are circular and curtained for more intimate dining experiences.The walls are plastered in a giant collage with magazine cut-outs from Italian newspapers. The bright colors helped create a festive and lively ambiance. Adding to the cheerful atmosphere were jazz standards playing over the sound system. The waitstaff and hosts were eager, efficient and extremely friendly. The Naked Fish chain emphasizes freshness, and Red Sauce lives up to this standard. Most of their pasta, sauce and soup is made on site each day. There are two Red Sauce restaurants within a 10 minute drive of Brandeis -- on Beacon Street in Newton and another on Arsenal Street in Watertown. If you are looking for a fresh, yet not too expensive alternative to dining hall food, try Red Sauce. For more information on Red Sauce and the Naked Fish restaurants, please visit www.nakedrestaurants.com.
(01/28/03 5:00am)
Subj: Story sent to many US Senators Date: 1/27/03 9:27:47 PM Eastern Standard Time From: taltarzac@aol.com To: taltarzac@aol.com Sent from the Internet (Details) Thank you for using AOL GovernmentGuide Mail SystemMessage sent to the following recipients:Houston PBS Channel 8 (PBS)KACV Channel 2 (PBS)KAMU Channel 15 (PBS)KCOS Channel 13 (PBS)KEDT Channel 16 (PBS)Message text follows:Jon Hoppensteadt2890 Spring Oak CourtPalm Harbor, FL 34684-1662January 27, 2003[recipient address was inserted here]Dear [recipient name was inserted here],Subj: Tale being told to psychology and philosophy professors throughout the world Date: 1/24/03 11:42:42 PM Eastern Standard Time From: taltarzac@aol.com To: taltarzac@aol.com Sent from the Internet (Details) Thank you for using AOL GovernmentGuide Mail SystemMessage sent to the following recipients:Rolling StoneSmartMoneyTalk MagazineVanity FairVillage VoiceMessage text follows:Jon Hoppensteadt2890 Spring Oak CourtPalm Harbor, FL 34684-1662January 24, 2003[recipient address was inserted here]Dear [recipient name was inserted here],Subj: This narrative should be of great interest to Philosophy students Date: 1/24/03 2:39:02 PM Eastern Standard Time From: Taltarzac To: philosophy@vanderbilt.edu CC: phil@d.umn.edu Hello,This story should be of great interest to philosophy professors and students.Subj: Story about the sociology of law which should be of great interest Date: 1/22/03 11:38:42 PM Eastern Standard Time From: Taltarzac CC: Itasca408, ThirdWatch@nbc.com, TheTonightShow@nbc.com, SaturdayNightLive@nbc.com, iemail@kingworld.com, input@filmthreat.com, info@youthlawcenter.com, info@vera.org, ifs@rz.uni-frankfurt.de, advocates@self-gov.org, EFstew1227, Advocate4victims Hello,I hope that you will browse through these series of pastes of e-mails and note how important a story they tell about the sociology of law and applied ethics with respect to abuses of power by the very powerful and subsequent cover-ups that in many ways were even worse than the initial set of misdeeds. These misdeeds include using psychology to destroy and not to heal. This struggle has been about practical information to empower the underdogs of the legal system--defendants, lawyers' clients, and survivors of crimes so that they cannot be so easily pushed around by those with superior training and confidence in manipulating the system. You can probably see that I am telling the truth from whom I am writing and the fact that I am still writing the same story with little variations except to reflect current developments since 1991.I have been running this story by people in Hollywood or connected to Hollywood since 1991 as I believe it is the type of story that can affect dramatic changes if told in the correct fashion. I have noticed many co-incidences in entertainment showing that possibly all these hundreds of thousands of messages attempting to level the playing field for the underdogs of the legal system have paid off. These are references to 224, 225, 612, 613, Mary Jane Weaver, survivors' rights and Tampa Bay, etc in many different films and tv shows dating from 1995 too numerous to all just be coincidences. (Added later for the benefit of further readers) I have been telling this story to Hollywood bigwigs or those with good connections since 1991 trying to break the blacklist promised to be on me on July 20, 1992 and August 5, 1993 by a former supervisor from the U of MN Law Library Lyonette Louis-Jacques for my challenging the Law Librarian of Congress and crew's attacking my mental health to destroy the image of my credibility. I challenged them in the first place in 1991 for attitudes at the U of MN Law School and Library towards survivors of crimes as well as the quality and quantity of materials of a practical nature for these underdogs. I made these criticisms in writing and very calmly. I shared the documents which prompted the U of MN and the Law Librarian of Congress, their just previous law library Director, to attack my mental health over seven months in 1991 with about 500 other people. Only 3 out of the 500 had the same response of the U of MN of putting my mental health in question. I have not been able to break the blacklist despite applying to over 600 positions in a cautious manner from July 1991 through now. I would be homeless if not for the safety net of immediate family because of the actions of the clique of law librarians and law professors associated with M. Kathleen Price, the Law Librarian of Congress from about 1990 through 1995-1996.These actions on the part of the Court of Price sent out the loudest of messages that advocacy for survivors' rights in the area of information policy was unwelcome which contributed to many of the problems plaguing society such as the crisis in the Catholic Church with abuse by priests. This impact was because of the identity of the players involved in this drama. Me, a prominent insider in 1991 because of the fact that I was the sole cataloger of every computer file on WESTLAW from late 1988 through mid-1991 for what was supposed to be a historical and national project and the Royal Court of Price.Subj: Story told to 2500 recipients over the past two weeks Date: 1/18/03 9:50:54 AM Eastern Standard Time From: Taltarzac To: imus@msnbc.com CC: riggs@directionsmh.org, jliebman@law.columbia.edu, sylvia.law@nyu.edu, cecil@chicagoreader.com, Health@MSNBC.com, policy@ncadv.org, ccorry@ejfi.org, ccr@crim.ox.ac.uk, ifs@rz.uni-frankfurt.de, news@mndaily.com, news@daily.stanford.edu, ellen_goodman@globe.com, EFstew1227, editor@nyunews.com, editor@freedommag.org, gosier@sptimes.com, vansickle@sptimes.com, wolf@cnn.com, hardball@msnbc.com, vberrios@suncoastnews.com, Donahue@msnbc.com, msnbcinvestigates@msnbc.com, mlane@lanelaw.com, ala@ala.org, gerry@gerryspence.com, alder@law.harvard.edu, kjono@forces.org, ken@mentalhealth.org, tampa@fbi.gov, jschale@american.edu, takingaction@wfts.com, Baltimore@fbi.gov, minneapolis@fbi.gov, anne@survivorlink.org, info@pemhs.org, SteeleDE, Oprah.com@oprah.com, jbtucker07@earthlink.com, shendheim@yahoo.com, sancho2@earthlink.net, san.francisco@fbi.gov, LateNight@nbc.com, TheTonightShow@nbc.com, TBN WEEKLY, SaturdayNightLive@nbc.com, Bbd33, DelilahPTH, dearpb@playboy.com, info@cognitiveliberty.org, info@forcespsychiatry.org BCC: mwarren@filmschool.fsu.edu, balos001@tc.umn.edu, et@pde.paramount.com, iemail@kingworld.com, Asiseeitjb, brennan.center@nyu.edu, breznitz@psy.haifa.ac.il, BreezeMail Hello,I thought that you might be interested in this. The AOL GovernmentGuide Mail System allows me to get to about 50 recipients like media contacts per hour. What I am trying to destroy are two things: 1) the credibility of the people who placed a blacklist on me for fighting for survivors' rights, defendants rights, and the rights of lawyers' clients by trying to level the playing field for these three groups in the legal system from June 28, 1991 through now and 2) the practice of these same people of attacking critical thinkers' who express this criticism in rational terms on terms of their mental health rather than on their ideas--ad hominem attacks of the worst sort. Because of the accompanying blacklist and other prodding as in my story, they can place enough stress on anyone that no matter how strong will start developing mental health problems even though there were none to begin with originally. The people I have been up against are the Law Librarian of Congress, M. Kathleen Price and her crew. This same approach to destroying dissenters shows up at the Library of Congress according to a July 6, 1996, CBS News Broadcast. They reported that this was policy and the administration liked it because it was so "effective." Thank you for using AOL GovernmentGuide Mail SystemMessage sent to the following recipients:KVON 1440 AMLynn Harper ShowNational Radio Project - Making ContactRadio Nueva Vida NetworkMessage text follows:Jon Hoppensteadt2890 Spring Oak CourtPalm Harbor, FL 34684-1662January 18, 2003[recipient address was inserted here]Dear [recipient name was inserted here],I hope you see the importance of this narrative the truth of which is fairly well made evident from whom I am e-mailing and been contacting for a long time. Message sent to the following recipients:President BushMessage text follows:Jon Hoppensteadt2890 Spring Oak CourtPalm Harbor, FL 34684-1662January 17, 2003[recipient address was inserted here]Dear [recipient name was inserted here],Subj: Matter that should have a profound influence if made well known to the US people Date: 1/17/03 3:50:25 PM Eastern Standard Time From: Taltarzac To: headliners@msnbc.com Subj: Making sure that the U of MN Law Administration knows of these content Date: 1/17/03 3:29:19 PM Eastern Standard Time From: Taltarzac To: alexjohn@umn.edu CC: sysop@findlaw.com, Donahue@msnbc.com, Oprah.com@oprah.com, mlane@lanelaw.com BCC: r.hoppensteadt@attbi.com Hello,I have shared this story with prior Deans--Mr. Sullivan and Mr. Stein. Ex-Dean Stein has been especially encouraging about my efforts in the area of leveling the playing field for survivors of crime, defendants, and lawyers' clients. This has been while Mr. Stein was Executive Director of the ABA. I have shared some of the supportive letters I have received from experts in the area of defendants, survivors, and lawyers' clients' rights with these previous Deans. I also posted many of these documents on Findlaw's message boards from April 2002 through late August 2002. These documents are no longer accessible via Findlaw's message boards. Many people saw these documents however even if I picked up several constant hecklers while I was posting who distracted many from the message I was trying to get across about survivors' defendants and lawyers' clients needs for practical information. Mills Lane of Reno, Nevada had also suggested I send these documents or most of them (322 copies) to his friend the Dean of the UNLV Law School, Richard Morgan, which I did around May 4, 2001. Sincerely,Jon K. HoppensteadtU of MN Law SchoolClass of 1989Subj: Trying to make sure that the Uof MN Law Admin knows about this Date: 1/17/03 2:46:52 PM Eastern Standard Time From: Taltarzac To: lawineqj@umn.edu CC: msnbcinvestigates@msnbc.com, sysop@findlaw.com, BreezeMail, cecil@chicagoreader.com, ja9@post.queensu.ca, Asiseeitjb, ashavers@unl.edu, iemail@kingworld.com, osceola_31@hotmail.com, jbtucker07@earthlink.com, sylvia.law@nyu.edu, sancho2@earthlink.net, mha@mha-tampabay.com, mars@umn.edu, judith@mr.net, judith.tilsen@courts.state.mn.us, mlane@lanelaw.com, gerry@gerryspence.com, ala@ala.org, alder@law.harvard.edu, local@sptimes.com, npletters@sptimes.com, communication@american.edu, comments@vote-smart.org, jschale@american.edu, LateNight@nbc.com, TheWestWing@nbc.com, SaturdayNightLive@nbc.com, TheTonightShow@nbc.com, managing@nyunews.com, Oprah.com@oprah.com, lschneid@state.nd.us, tmmartin@hhlaw.com, lisa@elliottlaw.net, lawpsided@msn.com, letters@weeklyplanet.com, letters@thecrimson.com, mjweaver@weaver-schlenger.com, mwarren@filmschool.fsu.edu, takingaction@wfts.com, talkback@cnn.com, matus@sptimes.com, wolf@cnn.com BCC: r.hoppensteadt@attbi.com Hello,I am trying to make sure that the U of MN Law administration knows the content of the e-mails I have sent to about 2500 media contacts throughout the world about my struggles for equality for survivors of crimes, defendants, and lawyers' clients with respect to access to the best possible practical information. I have received hundreds of supportive communications for my efforts to even the playing field by getting the best access to practical since February 1991. Many of these are from the most qualified of experts in the areas I have been working on like the US Department of Justice, etc. While at the same time however I have faced the worst kind of employment discrimination--that meant to cover up egregious mistakes as well as attacks of my mental health to destroy my credibility. These wrongs date from February 1991 and have continued unabated for the most part. Jon K. HoppensteadtU of MN Law SchoolClass of 1989President/FounderProfessionals for Access, 1993 Subj: Making sure that the U of MN Law School/Library knows the content of my e-mail Date: 1/17/03 1:11:18 PM Eastern Standard Time From: Taltarzac To: mgtaylor@umn.edu, TheTonightShow@nbc.com, LateNight@nbc.com, AccessHollywood@nbc.com, SaturdayNightLive@nbc.com, cdwjava@saber.net, cdf-mn@cdf-mn.org, Baprose, Noethics1, shendheim@yahoo.com, jbtucker07@earthlink.com, sysop@findlaw.com, Baltimore@fbi.gov, minneapolis@fbi.gov, tampa@fbi.gov CC: mgould@nclis.gov, Donahue@msnbc.com, msnbcinvestigates@msnbc.com, hardball@msnbc.com, news@mndaily.com, editor@freedommag.org, dockerd@tblc.org, ala@ala.org Hello,I want to make sure that the U of MN Law School administration knows about the content of the e-mails I have sent to about 2500 media contacts over the past two weeks about my struggles with leveling the playing field for survivors of crimes, defendants, and lawyers' clients to get them the best possible practical information available. I have been at this struggle since February 1991 and despite my extremely good credentials like 4 degrees and ten years of work experience either in public service or library or library related and another as of now 12 years of effective advocacy at my expense, I have not been able to break a promised blackball on me put on me by the Law Librarian of Congress, M. Kathleen Price from 1990 through 1995-1996 and her crew. This despite applying to 600 jobs of all types at all levels in every type of library. Lyonette Louis-Jacques promised a blackball on me on July 20, 1992 and then again on August 5, 1993 even though to almost any objective observer it was I who did the right thing at the right time for the right reason and not M. Kathleen Price nor Lyonette Louis-Jacques. Subj: Story sent to Saturday Night Live, Late Night, and the Tonight Show among others Date: 1/16/03 10:50:58 PM Eastern Standard Time From: taltarzac@aol.com To: taltarzac@aol.com Sent from the Internet (Details) Thank you for using AOL GovernmentGuide Mail SystemMessage sent to the following recipients:KFSK 100.9 FM / 91.1 FM / 88.1 FM / 103.1 FM (NPR)KINY 800 AMKIYU 910 AM (NPR)KMXT 100.1 FM (NPR)KNOM 780 AMMessage text follows:Jon Hoppensteadt2890 Spring Oak CourtPalm Harbor, FL 34684-1662(727) 789-9015January 16, 2003[recipient address was inserted here]Dear [recipient name was inserted here],Subj: Matter that I have often been told affects the public health this by Deans Date: 1/16/03 10:14:53 AM Eastern Standard Time From: Taltarzac To: healthnews@wnbc.com CC: r.hoppensteadt@attbi.com Subj: Narrative that should be of interest to the readers of Weekly Planet Date: 1/15/03 1:27:32 PM Eastern Standard Time From: Taltarzac To: letters@weeklyplanet.com Subj: Re: Set of facts in a matter I am trying to get a US Congressional investigat... Date: 1/15/03 12:42:15 PM Eastern Standard Time From: Taltarzac To: theobserver@attglobal.net, managing@nyunews.com, SaturdayNightLive@nbc.com, LateNight@nbc.com, judith@mr.net, judith.tilsen@courts.state.mn.us, freedman@wlsmail.org, foreign.news@thetimes.co.uk, balos001@tc.umn.edu, ala@ala.org, peter172@umn.edu, marro004@umn.edu, mgk@gustavus.edu, mgtaylor@umn.edu CC: msnbcinvestigates@msnbc.com, hardball@msnbc.com, AccessHollywood@nbc.com, TheWestWing@nbc.com, TheTonightShow@nbc.com, Donahue@msnbc.com, talkback@cnn.com BCC: editor@freedommag.org, michellelott01@hotmail.com, coppolg@tblc.org, Sahgah, Dinohop@attbi.com, r.hoppensteadt@attbi.com Hello,I know it did not appear in your publication. I am trying to get this set of facts known to American citizens as it involves fundamental civil rights. I thought letters to the editor and such could be about matters of international importance? I have been nominated for work I have been doing at my own expense for about 95 various recognitions but my work and I remain obscure because very important people want to cover up the extent of the problems I have been trying to solve. For the past 12 years, I have been trying to increase the power of survivors of crimes, defendants, and lawyers' clients in the legal profession by getting them access to the best possible information so that lawyers and judges cannot more easily manipulate people in these three groups. Do you not think it a bit odd that no one has ever heard of me except the people I have been doing battle with even though I have been nominated for Marquis Who's Who in America, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003 as well as Marquis Who's Who in the World, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2001, 2002, and 2003? As a cost for my war for survivors of crimes, defendants, and lawyers' clients, I have not worked a day in any library in any professional capacity anywhere since June 28, 1991. I was promised at least a decade long international blackball by a prior law library public services supervisor, Lyonette Louis Jacques from the U of MN and the U of Chicago Law Libraries on July 20, 1992 and then again on August 5, 1993, for challenging her and others authority and actions, such as attacking my mental health to destroy my credibility. The most powerful people in the teaching of law librarianship exiled me from librarianship for fighting for survivors' rights. Given events like 9/11 and the problems of the Catholic Church, I would expect that some people would have the intelligence to look at the bigger picture? These set of events are all connected because it has been legal educators who have been the major players in my story. Legal educators banned me for what looks like life for fighting for the underdogs in the legal system. They also portrayed me as mentally ill when I was not and then in 2000 here in Pinellas County 30 people set me up with false skits to make me sound just like a paranoid schizophrenic when I related to others what bogus experiences these 30 people fed me. The trouble was that these people calculated perfectly what do perform as no one here had the sophistication to believe me when I said I was set up until September 18, 2002, when I talked in person to Detective Crandell in Criminal Intelligence at the Pinellas County Sheriff''s Office (727) 582-6200. He believed my story but told me it is not criminal to mess with people like that. I could never show their intent to push me into looking mad and acting mad. These 30 people pushed me into a nervous breakdown and it took me years to persuade anyone to look at my claims of being set up with any critical thought-they just assumed I was a fruitcake. They assumed that because the press has refused to make my war for survivors of crimes, defendants, and lawyers' clients known to anyone. They also assumed this out of intellectual laziness--the jumped to the conclusions which were the least disturbing to their world view which was that I was mentally ill rather than that the elite of legal education banned a humanist advocate for doing the right thing at the right time for the right reason and attacked his, mine, mental health while doing such hateful and in my opinion criminal acts. There acts seriously undermined survivors rights, defendants' rights, and the rights of lawyers' clients by stealing the career of a prominent insider in 1991, me. I was an insider because I did alone the work of cataloging every computer file on WESTLAW from late 1988 through about May 1991 for a national project of the Research Libraries Group, West Publishing, and the U of MN Law Library. Banning me sent out the loudest of messages that survivors' rights, defendant's rights and the rights of lawyers' clients were not respected especially because I was fighting for self-determination by people in these three groups by arming them with knowledge. My qualifications for this work were 4 degrees, ten years of work experience with dealing with the public or with information access, and talking with about 150 defendants and survivors of crimes about their informational needs. I talked and sought out survivors of crimes, had a prison pen pal for a year, and represented prisoners who had committed a wide assortment of crimes from September 1987 through May 1989 with Legal Assistance to MN Prisoners. The blacklist on me included NM, NV, AZ, TX, CA, CO, etc. I applied for jobs in every state in various types of libraries. I have also applied for positions outside the US. I could never break the blacklist which was placed on a humanist advocate for better information and education. Something is extremely wrong with a system that allows such evil to flourish, while some who does such good starves or would starve but for the graciousness of immediate family. I have not been able to find any other kind of work because people assume I am damaged goods when they see I have not worked in x number of years. They make quick assumptions and never ask even the most obvious of questions when I present them with the facts--they stick their heads in the sand in other words.Sincerely,Jon K. Hoppensteadt2890 Spring Oak CourtPalm Harbor, Florida34684-1662(727) 789-9015Sincerely,Jon K. Hoppensteadt
(01/21/03 5:00am)
To The Editor:I recently read Jesse Singal's column (Anti-pot campaign misleading public) and felt the need to comment.I too really hate seeing those anti-marijuana ads -- especially the one that says that the kid who bought a single joint was responsible for terrorists blowing up a bus -- and find them absurdly simplistic.Yet, and this may shock those of you who know me, I support the advertisements. Before I'm shouted down as a conservative, you should note that I am currently working to found a chapter of Students for a Sensible Drug Policy at Brandeis, have attended the MassCann Freedom Rally (more affectionately known as Hempfest) for two straight years, and have been involved for a long time in the national campaign to stop the drug war. I strongly support marijuana decriminalization as well as making medicinal marijuana readily available to those who need it.How then can I support these ads that make it seem like smoking can cause you to shoot your best friend?It's actually pretty simple. What's wrong with the legalization movement right now is that it tends to be short-sighted and simplistic. I don't believe that children should be smoking marijuana in the same way that I don't believe they should be drinking or even smoking cigarettes. If you look carefully at these advertisements, the characters always seem to be young teenagers. I know we like to think that marijuana is harmless.Our last two presidents admitted to drug use (I'll skip the joke about what it's done to Bush's intelligence).Very successful and intelligent people have smoked and, in some cases, still do smoke marijuana habitually. That does not mean that we should be encouraging children to use drugs that have well- known effects on memory and other brain functions.As much as we like to say that marijuana is just something fun to do, we have to accept also that the things those ads imply, that being stoned impairs reaction time, decreases inhibitions, distorts one's image of reality, and can lead to being arrested, are actually true.Most of us know that these things are true because we have actually been high at some point or another in high school or college. However, not everybody knows this.There are people who begin using drugs, even fairly benign drugs such as marijuana, without considering the risks. While these ads are absurd in their content, the idea behind them is solid.We should try to stop children from using drugs or at least make sure they understand the risks before starting.I'm not selling out by supporting these ads, I'm just trying to redirect the legalization movement so it focuses on the areas that are important and not just on the interests of a bunch of kids who want to get high but are too lazy or stoned to vote. -- David Firestein '05
(01/21/03 5:00am)
Brandeis does not currently have enough dormitory housing for all of its 3,051 undergraduate students. As a result, a number of students are required to live off campus to avoid over-crowding of dorms. Though some students prefer to live off campus, many with high lottery numbers are forced to find off campus housing. For them the alternative is to risk being homeless if not placed from the wait list. Many of these students are left without transportation. While an on-campus van circles the perimeter of Brandeis toting people short distances to and from class, many off-campus commuters are stuck walking one or two miles to get to class. Brandeis has turned a blind eye to the needs of these individuals while providing a luxury for those students that are fortunate enough to live in the dorms. Instead of an on-campus transportation service, Brandeis should offer an off-campus shuttle during the daytime hours to accommodate those less fortunate in the housing lottery.The lack of off-campus transportation to Brandeis is a safety issue as well as one of convenience. Weather conditions often make the long walk hazardous to students. After heavy snowfall, sidewalks disappear. Sometimes days pass before the sidewalks are cleared because clearing the streets is first priority for the town. Thus, students are forced to walk in the streets while cars whiz by churning up dirty snow or slush. The walk is still dangerous after sidewalks are cleared because they are coated in inches of ice from settled snow. One might suggest bike riding as an alternative to walking. Though this mode of transportation is much faster, it is not always feasible. After snow, cycling on roads is extremely dangerous because they are narrowed by snowbanks. Also, sidewalks are not clear enough to provide sufficient traction for a bike. Cycling is not ideal on rainy days because brakes do not work well when wheels are wet and it is difficult to shelter oneself from the rain. Finally, biking to school requires biking home. Often it is already dark by the time students are able to leave. At night cyclists are not as visible to cars and are not able to see pedestrians or sidewalk obstacles clearly. Night cycling poses risks to the cyclists and to other students walking home after dark. To solve the transportation problem for off-campus students, Brandeis should provide a scheduled van service during the daytime hours. The current "call for a pickup" system would not be adequate because it is not reliable enough to get students to class on time. Rather, scheduled stops should be established and a van should run every half hour to shuttle students. By avoiding stops such as Victory or CVS and focusing only on transporting students to and from school, the off-campus van could function more efficiently during the daytime hours. Rather than creating additional expenses for Brandeis, the off-campus daytime shuttle should replace the on-campus shuttle service. Brandeis campus is small; a person can walk from one end to the other in less than ten minutes. The time it takes students to walk to class is approximately equal to the time it takes for the van to arrive. Students with disabilities do not rely on this service because they're escorted to class by campus police. Thus, the on-campus van is merely a luxury for the lazy. The only on-campus populations in need of this service are people living in housing detached from Brandeis (i.e. the Charles River Apartments). The off-campus shuttle could easily accommodate these students. Furthermore, this on-campus population complains about the inconsistency of current Brandeis transportation. It is likely that most students in Grad housing would prefer a scheduled off-campus van to the current "call for a pick-up" system. Thus, as long as the University is unable to house all students who apply for housing, those less fortunate in the lottery deserve -- at a minimum- the right to decent transportation to school. -- Lynne Gauthier '04 submits a column to the Justice
(01/14/03 5:00am)
I recently read Jesse Singal's column (Anti-pot campaign misleading public) and felt the need to comment. I too really hate seeing those anti-marijuana ads (especially the one that says that the kid who bought a single joint was responsible for terrorists blowing up a bus) and find them absurdly simplistic. Yet, and this may shock those of you who know me, I support the initiative behind the advertisements. Before I'm shouted down as a conservative, you should note that I am currently working to found a chapter of Students for a Sensible Drug Policy at Brandeis, have attended the MassCann Freedom Rally (more affectionately known as Hempfest) for two straight years, and have been involved for a long time in the national campaign to stop the drug war. I strongly support marijuana decriminalization as well as making medicinal marijuana readily available to those who need it. How then can I support these ads that make it seem like smoking can cause you to shoot your best friend? It's actually pretty simple. What's wrong with the legalization movement right now is that it tends to be short sighted and simplistic. I don't believe that children should be smoking marijuana in the same way that I don't believe that they should be drinking or even smoking cigarettes. If you look carefully at these advertisements, the characters always seem to be young teenagers. I know we like to think that marijuana is harmless. Our last two Presidents admitted to drug use (I'll skip the joke about what it's done to Bush's intelligence). Very successful and intelligent people have smoked and, in some cases, still do smoke marijuana habitually. However, that does not mean that we should be encouraging children to use drugs that have well known effects on memory and other brain functions. As much as we like to say that marijuana is just something fun to do, we have to also accept that the things those ads imply, that being stoned impairs reaction time, decreases inhibitions, distorts ones image of reality, and can lead to being arrested, are actually true. Most of us know that these things are true because we have actually been high at some point or another in high school or college. However, not everybody knows this. There are people who begin using drugs, even fairly benign drugs like marijuana, without considering the risks. While these ads are absurd in their content, the idea behind them is solid. We should try to stop younger children from using all drugs or at least make sure they understand the risks before starting. I'm not selling out by supporting these ads, I'm just trying to redirect the legalization movement so it focuses on the areas that are important and not just on the interests of a bunch of kids who want to get high but are too lazy or stoned to vote.
