(05/25/10 4:00am)
This board would like to recognize all of the seniors who have contributed their time and energy to the Justice during their years at Brandeis.Hannah Kirsch, the Justice's immediate past editor in chief, formerly served as Copy editor and also contributed to the Arts, News, Features and Forum sections before serving as an editor. Her wide breadth of knowledge and her excellent leadership were incredible assets to the paper.Joanna Schorr, who served as Layout editor before elected editor in chief, was the Justice's senior editor this past year. In all her roles, her experience in journalism and layout was an excellent resource to the entire staff, and her presence in the office will be greatly missed next year.Andrea Fineman was managing editor for nearly two years as well as a former Arts editor. Her organizational skill and attention to detail kept the paper running smoothly, and her awareness of cultural events in the area has been a great resource for the Justice staff and the Brandeis community.Anya Bergman, News editor prior to being associate editor, worked tirelessly to improve the News section by working closely with writers and the entire staff throughout her tenure.Shana Lebowitz's features shed light on many different aspects of Brandeis. As Features editor, she provided interesting glimpses into the University, and as associate editor she worked to expand and improve the section.Sarah Bayer served as Arts editor this year, bringing innovation and creativity to the paper. Her descriptive writing and astute reviews have significantly contributed to the paper.Max Breitstein Matza took countless photos on and off campus as Photography editor and associate editor. He helped photographers improve the quality of photojournalism and ensure that people would have records of their fondest Brandeis memories.Brad Stern was the Justice's advertising editor, and his work helped to connect students with off-campus programs and opportunities. In his entertaining column Pop Muse, he kept students up-to-date on developments in pop culture and notable musicians.Miranda Neubauer, though not an editor, played an invaluable role as senior News writer. Her knowledge of Brandeis' inner workings ensured that everyone remained informed of important stories, and her thorough reporting incorporated all perspectives.We wish the best to all of the graduating seniors who have worked on the paper-including previous editors Julian Agin-Liebes, Courtney Breen, Simona Fisch, Julie Ganz, Raquel Greenberg, Kathryn Marable, Justine Root, Devorah Rotter and David Sheppard-Brick-and we know that their many talents will bring them success in the future.
(05/25/10 4:00am)
Distant education offered by online classroom settings can be effectiveIn response to your article "New online program to launch" (News, May 4): Stanford University offers online classes at the graduate level. Some departments allow fully online degree programs, while others have a few on-campus requirements. The requirements for the degree are determined by the department. The online classes are regular university classes where the lectures have been videotaped and streamed over the Internet. The rest of the materials are delivered to the remote student via any number of suitable means. The remote student is required to do the same work and must complete all assignments and exams at the same time as the rest of the class. In essence, the major classroom difference between on-campus students and remote students is the method of delivery for the lectures. Student participation in discussions is quite interesting. Students who are active in the classroom may become silent in online forums, while students who are passive in the classroom will come alive online. There is, of course, the third type of student, who doesn't participate in either medium. The Stanford Center for Professional Development supports online classes and master's degree programs. See this website for a complete listing of classes and degrees: http://scpd.stanford.edu. The Biomedical Informatics Program is one program that offers a fully online master's program. It is difficult to duplicate the full campus experience; therefore, we encourage our distant students to come to campus to participate in some of the program events. But even with limited or zero exposure to the campus experience, our alumni find the training valuable. I am delighted to report that some of our distant students have applied and been accepted to the Ph.D. program. I have great confidence that distance education, if managed properly, is excellent education. I will close by mentioning that distance education is expensive. The overhead in equipment, facilities and specialized support staff is nontrivial. I have no doubt many online programs are limited to certificate programs and classes with high demand due to financial bottlenecks. -Betty ChengThe writer is the Ph.D. associate director at the Distance Education Biomedical Informatics Training Program at the Stanford Center for Biomedical Informatics Research.Students should see similarities between Israel and Brandeis UnivIn response to your article "Commencement reactions continue" (News, May 4):Both Brandeis and the state of Israel were established in response to the scourge of anti-Semitism. While these actions alone have not solved the problem, they have empowered the Jewish people and offered some measure of recourse. It is fitting, therefore, to have Mr. Oren speak now more then ever. At a time when virulent anti-Semitism is on the rise around the world, it is appropriate that someone like Mr. Oren speak about this growing threat, as I hope he will. Too many students at Brandeis influenced by hard-left propaganda are deliberately ignoring these facts. Mr. Oren's message should sound a warning to them that if they continue to follow this course, they, like their American grandparents, are doomed to repeat their mistake of sitting on their hands while their brothers and sisters in Europe were being exterminated.-Peter BrandThe writer is the father of Alexander Brand '10.Thanks for presenting the true essence of the Brandeis experienceIn response to your article "After four years, Brandeis' influence shines through" (Forum, May 4):Wonderful article, Shana. I think you really embodied the essence of Brandeis University.-Nate Rosenblum '10
(05/04/10 4:00am)
Do not use litmus test for speakersTo the Editor,Because I have spoken out recently against personal attacks on Richard Goldstone, and because Michael Oren has criticized the Goldstone Report in extremely harsh terms, some friends and colleagues have suggested that I should logically join some of last week's op-ed contributors and oppose Oren's role as Commencement speaker. But I don't think that this follows. When it comes to speakers on campus-even commencement speakers-I believe in latitude, and I dislike political litmus tests. Oren has a distinguished record as a historian, and I do not believe that ideology, government service or even over-the-top rhetoric disqualifies him. I'll be curious to hear what he has to say.-Daniel TerrisThe writer is director of the International Center for Ethics, Justice and Public Life.Apply moral standards to all sidesIn response to your article "Honoring Oren and Ross contradicts University mission" (Forum, April 27):As an alumnus of the Computer Science department, I was impressed to see one of our own, Prof. Harry Mairson, represented in the pages of the Justice.Innocent Gazans have every right to safety and dignity. You and I might disagree, however, on which of the Gazans impacted by Operation Cast Lead were truly innocent, but that's a fair argument. I found Asa Kasher's piece in Azure, issue 37, "Operation Cast Lead and the Ethics of Just War," very useful in beginning to sort out this difficult matter.I have also learned a great deal from the historians you mentioned. Tom Segev's 1967 was a gripping look into the Israeli people's psyche during an unimaginably tense and depressing time. I would suggest, though, that Michael Oren's Six Days of War is a necessary companion to Mr. Segev's work for its detailed analysis of the military and political moves that led to Egypt and Jordan's escalation and Israel's stunning victory.As for Benny Morris, both 1948 and One State, Two States have served well in shaping my outlook on the Middle East-I am considerably more conflicted since my black & white Brandeis days-but I believe even Mr. Morris would take issue with your characterization of Operation Cast Lead. I point you in particular to Mr. Morris' piece in the London Times on Jan 4, 2009. All that said, I truly am curious if your activism extends to all innocent parties-including the civilians under attack in Sederot, Beersheba, Haifa, Kiryat Shemona, and elsewhere-since your letter stressed the need for balance on behalf of the University.-Jonathan Abbett '02, MA '03 Article against Oren misled readersTo the Editor,Last week's article "Honoring Oren and Ross contradicts University mission" (Forum, April 27) was misguided and misinformed. It seems to have stretched the truth in order to make an unsubstantiated point. The article claimed that "Oren was designated an Israel Defense Forces spokesman last year and was its apologist during attacks where the IDF dropped white phosphorus on Gazan civilians. ... That's enough discredit to rule out an honorary degree." It claims that during the Gaza war, Israel violated human rights and that Ambassador Oren should not be given an honorary degree because he was the spokesperson for the IDF. However, as Col. Richard Kemp, a military expert of the British army, said in the UN on Oct 16, 2009 after the Goldstone Report was published, the report off which the op-ed's claims are based, "The IDF did more to safeguard the rights of civilians in a combat zone, than any other army in the history of warfare." The fact that Oren was a spokesperson for this army, an army, as recognized by military experts, that tried to protect civilians even at risk to its own soldiers, is proof that he helps with the pursuit of social justice and is deserving of a Brandeis University honorary degree.The op-ed continues to try and discredit Ambassador Oren by claiming that "Oren is not 'a great historian.'" Well then, why did the Washington Post, Newsweek, New York Times Book Review, San Fransisco Chronicle, the Atlanta Monthly Review, and more all give Ambassador Oren the title "historian," due to his having published multiple historical essays and books? Additionally, Oren received degrees both from Columbia and Princeton University and taught at Harvard, Yale and Georgetown University. From an academic perspective, Oren obviously deserves this degree. Lastly, I take issue with the article's explanation of hasbara. According to Prof. Harry Mairson (COSI), hasbara is "the Hebrew word for political propaganda, used positively by advocates and pejoratively by critics." That is just incorrect; ask any Hebrew professor or student and they will tell you hasbara means explanation. Hasbara has taken on the meaning of advocacy, for the advocates and political propaganda for the undereducated critics because of an Israel advocacy summer program for college-aged students. It is unfair and incorrect to use the language of propaganda in this context of Ambassador Oren's job.-Tamar Schneck '13Protest won't mar commencementIn response to your article "Oren is poor choice for address" (Forum, April 27):In mild defense of the editorial, the Justice is not attacking the choice of Mr. Oren because of his political views. Rather, it attempts to attack the choice of Mr. Oren based on what it presumes the reaction of the student body will be. It does so clumsily and with no small amount of arrogance. I believe this editorial was well intentioned. The Justice obviously wants commencement to be a joyous and unifying occasion. As a graduate whose commencement speaker was equally controversial at the time (President of the World Bank), I assure the Justice that any protests will not take away from the specialness of graduation. And as someone who has interacted with Mr. Oren in the past, I assure the Justice that he will be a dynamic and engaging speaker who will do justice to the honor of being the keynote speaker.-Sam Wald '03Graduation is wrong venue for OrenIn response to your article "Choice of speaker is too divisive" (Forum, April 27):The problem here is not the Jewish connection to the Israeli political situation, but rather the fact that Brandeis, at first glance, seems to be putting aside the diversity it has worked hard to build by asking the Israeli ambassador to speak at its major nonreligious, otherwise nonpoliticized annual event. I see no problem with bringing Michael Oren to speak to all those interested at an appropriate forum in the Rapaporte Treasure Hall, brought in by some pro-Israel on-campus group to speak to the questions and concerns about Israel and answer to the challenges very much alive on the Brandeis Campus. But to bring in this figure on a day celebrating the achievements of the academic community-not the religious, political or Jewish community, but rather the whole of the student body, no matter what their background-seems somewhat out of place. Brandeis is asking for a controversy, a publicity stunt, maybe trying to please some donors, but commencement is neither the time nor the place to pull such a stunt. As a graduate of the Class of 2009, I can appreciate the importance of having a speaker who doesn't provoke any kind of upset on the day I'm receiving my diploma, celebrating with friends and family and saying my goodbyes. There is no need for a controversy when all anyone wants is a few inspirational words and maybe a laugh or two. However, who is to say that our expectations might be too high-Oren might tell some personal anecdotes of his own graduation experience, perhaps throw in a few jokes about the language barrier, and call it a day-however unlikely that might seem. The concerns expressed by Jeremy Sherer are certainly valid, and all you can do is hope for the best. -Becky Kupchan '09 Univ has evolved over the years In response to your article "Oren is poor choice for address" (Forum, April 27):I used to go to Brandeis events to meet Jewish girls when I was a student at Bentley. At that time, Brandeis was actually proud of being a university with some sort of Jewish outlook. I never thought I'd see the day when the Israeli ambassador is the bad guy, and Jimmy Carter, Steven Walt and Desmond Tutu are the good guys. I only hope that the alumni who care about the Jewish people pull their donations and send their kids elsewhere. Whatever Brandeis was, it isn't anymore.-Bill Pearlman
(05/04/10 4:00am)
Brian Fromm '11 became the new editor in chief of the Justice on April 27. The staff of the Justice voted with 34 votes in favor of electing Fromm with one vote against and one abstention. The editorial board confirmed Fromm's election with 18 votes in favor, none against and no abstentions.As Fromm took on his new responsibilities following the election, Senior Editor and former Editor in Chief Hannah Kirsch '10 offered praise for his character and work ethic. "I think he has great force of personality and a great sense of judgment about any decision that might need to be made in the office," she said."I've been a member of the Justice staff since the start of my first year at Brandeis, so I'm bringing a lot of experience," said Fromm. "I come with a level head. I don't stress easily."Fromm hopes to bring his strong relationships with the Student Union and other campus media outlets to his new role as editor in chief. He also hopes to forge a good relationship with the administration."I want the Justice to be the first place that faculty, students and staff look for breaking news and to learn of all campus happenings," said Fromm. He intends to move the Justice forward during his term by increasing the Justice's online content and strengthening the Forum section to be a central location for people to go to learn both sides of controversial University issues."I am very excited to begin this new position, and I think that I can really make the Justice even better than it is now," Fromm said.Kirsch echoed Fromm's enthusiasm. "I'm very excited to see him take this leadership position because I know he can make the Justice the best it can be," she said.
(04/27/10 4:00am)
Do not interrupt Oren's addressIn response to your article "Michael Oren to serve as commencement keynote speaker" (Breaking News, April 21):I am a student at the University of California at Irvine and Jewish. I was there in the second row when I heard Oren's speech disrupted by hateful hecklers. All your negative comments are fine; however, if you have any decency, you will respect the school's decision to bring in this person as a speaker and let him speak. Do not disrupt him. I promise you will be arrested and embarrassed in front of worldwide media. I warn you to help, as a kind gesture. I promise you, if you even so much as disrupt him for a second, the media will have a field day. As a speaker, Oren has definitely earned his title as ambassador. He has a view of the conflict that everyone should hear. As a pro-Israel advocate on probably the most controversial campus in the nation on these matters, I love hearing the other side's opinion and educating myself on the most unbiased view. Everyone is free to have their own opinion. However, I will say that hating never makes any progress. Where has hate ever gotten someone very far in life? I suggest you respect him while he is speaking and do not be too closeminded on what this very well-educated and influential political figure has to say. -Lauren GindiEmbrace opportunity to hear OrenIn response to your article "Michael Oren to serve as commencement keynote speaker" (Breaking News, April 21):Michael Oren is a brilliant public speaker with topical views on a wide variety of subjects that are near and dear to a majority of the attendees at this commencement. He is a great choice. It is too bad that the school has a few small-minded detractors on whom his speech will no doubt be lost.-Mark GreenblattThe writer is the parent of Adam Greenblatt '10.Granting honor to Oren is wrongIn response to your article "Michael Oren to serve as commencement keynote speaker" (Breaking News, April 21):This is outrageous! For a school committed to "social justice" to invite as a keynote speaker a man whose job it is to justify the massacre of civilians in Gaza goes beyond chutzpah. -Jonathan Sussman '11Ambassador's speech will mar eventIn response to your article "Michael Oren to serve as commencement keynote speaker" (Breaking News, April 21):You've got to be kidding me. While I have no doubt that it's possible that Michael Oren is a strong orator and academic, I think graduation is a time to encourage about-to-be-graduates to think outside of the box and take a different perspective. Certainly there are people, myself included, for whom Michael Oren will present a perspective different from my own, but the press release's focus on his role as an Israeli Defense Forces spokesman implies that not only is his expertise on a subject for which it is hard to avoid a wide variety of perspectives while being a student at Brandeis but that this person was paid to support a particular perspective to the public. Regardless of which side Oren defends, I'm disappointed that Brandeis would select someone to speak to us whose role in the international community is to defend one group's interests no matter what. To me, that is counterintuitive to one of the core principles of Brandeis: that we should investigate ideas based on their merits, not based on who it is that espouses them. Especially in light of the controversy about inviting Dore Gold to the Justice Goldstone event, I look at this choice as a slap in the face to students at Brandeis that don't support Israel no matter what. Can't we have just one major event in which we don't have to have a spokesman for Israel? I didn't require someone who agrees with me. In fact, I'd prefer that they don't. I just wish it was someone for whom it was possible to have an unbiased perspective on their area of primary expertise. -Jackie Saffir '10 Different honoree should speakIn response to your article "Michael Oren to serve as commencement keynote speaker" (Breaking News, April 21): Michael Oren as keynote speaker is a divisive and polarizing choice. The graduating class should not be sent off with words from an apologist for war. Why not hear from one of the other honorary degree recipients, such as Paul Farmer or Judge Kaye, whose experiences can surely provide students with more inspirational, constructive and useful advice. -Ricky Weiss '78 Politicization of ceremony is wrongIn response to your article "Michael Oren to serve as commencement keynote speaker" (Breaking News, April 21): Commencement is supposed to be a time to celebrate the achievements we have made together. Why invite such a divisive speaker to mark this date? I, for one, am quite angry that my commencement is being turned into a political statement. Regardless of your thoughts on Oren's opinions, you should recognize that he is the wrong choice. -Allison Morse '10 Sustainability amendment is flawedIn response to your article "Rework 'green fee' amendment" (Forum, April 20): To the editorial board, thank you for this fair assessment of the flaws of the Sustainability Fund as it was proposed. I had a hard time believing what I was reading when I first saw the points contained within the proposal. The mandatory fee was compared to the technology fee in the sense that both would be required add-ons to tuition in order to provide funding for the intended services. Furthermore, there seem to be central issues concerning the importance and role of this fund and of its timing in relation to the other constitutional actions of this year. If the Sustainability Board is truly comparable to the Technology Fee, quite simply, it should not be administered by students. We each pay some fixed amount to the University that gets put aside for use by Library and Technology Services for network maintenance, storage and assistance. These elements of our University are equally shared by everyone-by professors making international calls for research; by anyone streaming WBRS wirelessly from campus; by staff and facilities members keeping accounts and making orders; and of course by you, all the time, even when you should be sleeping. These are absolutely essential functions of the University, and as the primary group of people who are paying to be involved here, we end up footing the technology fee. The Sustainability Board, on the other hand, is in no way similar. It is essentially a club, conceived and presumably run by those who are also members of Students for Environmental Action. Nothing it says it would do would be an essential service to the entire University community. A "green-themed" dance party? I presume that means the glowsticks would be LEDs instead of nasty chemicals. Bravo-but let's be serious here, and I'm not going to bother spelling out why that is absurd. If this is a University function that demands an addition to our tuition paid to the University, it should be run by the University in the way that LTS is. Qualified, paid professionals should be making decisions, and I believe they are-the Office of Capital Projects makes decisions and no doubt consults with other professionals, including environmentally oriented ones, before embarking on new construction. If the Sustainability Board would duplicate that, it would be unnecessary, and if it would be different, it's hard to see how it would serve the University in general. Finally, we come to the issue of timing and club definitions. It is awfully suspicious that we're hearing about a Sustainability Board getting "secured" only a few weeks after the student body voted down SEA's proposal to be given that same recognition. As the editorial board pointed out, "labeling [the Board] as 'fundamental to the mission of the university'" is premature given that it does not and has not existed. I believe it took Student Sexuality Information Service nearly 40 years from its inception to be listed as "secured." I may be wrong, but it sure looks like this was an alternate plan to be proposed in the event that SEA was not "secured." The Board wouldn't even be a club, as I understand it, so marking it as "secured" would not make sense. On the other hand, if it is a club, then why is it getting its own pipeline of funding rather than taking out of the Student Activities Fee, and how does it contend with questions of duality of purpose with SEA? Students should not face a mandatory fee to provide $50,000 per year to a student club that has never existed before and has not yet satisfactorily answered significant questions about its formation and identity. -Gideon Kilonsky '11
(04/27/10 4:00am)
For his senior thesis, Evan Parks '10 has prepared maps of people's movements through the Usdan Student Center lobby based on hours of video footage. The video and the maps are currently on display in the lobby.JustArts: How did you decide to focus on Usdan for your research?Evan Parks: I'm writing about European modernist architecture in my larger thesis work, and there's something singular about modernist architecture that tries to at once reduce space to absolute function, only provide basic human needs but also enhance or liberate or allow the inhabitants of spaces some sort of distinct personal identity. Usdan struck me as a case study on campus to look at a space that flows very functionally and has a very prescribed order but also purports to be a mouthpiece of the student body. It is at once dictating how students navigate it and the university, and endowing students with a sense that they are voicing their needs and interests.JA: Had you thought about that before, or was it only after learning about modernist architecture that you started to see it that way?EP: I've always felt very uncomfortable in that space. I've done some research in the archive and looked up the philosophies behind it and the functions behind it. ... There was rhetoric about it being a living room, about how it was the first building on campus that was entirely devoted to student life. ... It really struck me, the contradiction between the idea that this building is a living space and its actuality as a space that never leaves you quite comfortable. Every room puts pressure on you suddenly to move on or to go to another room. Even the dining halls and the game room, and particularly all the entrances and open forum areas, never let you settle or congregate. It wasn't until I started looking at it critically after thinking about modernist architecture that I was able to see it as having these two functions at once.I'm in [Prof.] Chris Abrams' (FA) architectural drawing and design class, and I've gotten the opportunity to draw floor plans and sections and elevations of the building. Once I was able to look at those it was more clear to me that the building had an ideology. ... I think that there's a tendency when you walk through spaces to not think about them or not think about the fact that you're in a new space, but really I think that buildings are narratives. ... There's a voice there and it's encouraging us to think and behave and I guess I see my project somehow trying to raise people's awareness that there is a voice, a particularly strong one in this case.JA: What do you think that voice is? How would you characterize it?EP: Well I think that this building is very radical. There's this campus lore-unsubstantiated so far as I've been able to research-that the building was designed in response to student protests in the '60s. ... And whether that's actually true or not, I think that there's certainly an element of the space that encourages a thoughtless circulation that I believe reflects a larger shift in the university experience. The space that I'm working with, the opening room, which is the upper Usdan lobby, where my installation takes place, is a space that has, I believe, a fundamental contradiction between a plaza or forum ... [for] spontaneous interaction, and a corridor with intensely directed pathways of circulation.JA: What do you hope your installation will achieve?EP: I'm hoping that there's going to be something really disconcerting about this installation. For one thing, I'm going to have these videos screening and I'm going to place them right in the middle of the room so that a) it disrupts pathways of circulation and b) makes people just stop and look at and think about how people circulate and go through that room. It's remarkable, I took hours and hours of footage-I'm only going to screen about an hour and a half-but almost no one, maybe one or two people in all of the footage I took, noticed that there was a camera in the space filming. ... So I think that there's going to be something disconcerting about people seeing these videos, often perhaps of themselves, and thinking, "Wow, when was this video taken? I thought I had some sort of familiarity in this space, but I'm not really aware of what's happening here."The video intends to accentuate a sense of surveillance, because I think that this building is in a certain sense about monitoring student activity and ensuring that students have a meal plan and get funneled through these university businesses with the illusion that they are making their own decisions. I'm also going to have these charts posted, and I think that it is a little disconcerting to see your actions reduced to these very scientific-looking data points.
(04/27/10 4:00am)
Last week, the University formally announced that Michael Oren, the Israeli ambassador to the United States, will deliver the keynote address at the 2010 commencement exercises. Although under different circumstances he could have been a fascinating speaker to bring to the campus, Mr. Oren is a divisive and inappropriate choice for keynote speaker at commencement, and we disapprove of the University's decision to grant someone of his polarity on this campus that honor. For the administration, Mr. Oren's invitation constitutes at best naiveté and at worst disregard concerning the reality of the range of student political orientation on this campus. The Israeli-Palestinian conflict is a hotly contested political issue, one that inspires students with serious positions on the topic to fervently defend and promote their views. That reality is visible at most events concerning the conflict. During last semester's joint appearance of Justice Richard Goldstone, who headed the United Nations fact-finding mission following the 2008 Israeli incursion, and former Israeli Ambassador to the U.N. Dore Gold, several students interrupted Mr. Gold's speech in silent protest. Despite the disrespect of some students, that thought-provoking forum was exactly the type of event that this university should host-and in such a context, we are certain that Mr. Oren would have been an excellent choice for speaker. However, commencement is a time to bring the University together in celebration of the achievements of the graduating class. Commencement is not a forum for academic or political debate.Already, many students are expressing anger toward the University regarding the choice of keynote speaker, and Mr. Oren's address will almost undoubtedly inspire some form of protest at the ceremony, permanently marring the 2010 exercises. We are pleased with the University's choices for honorary degree recipients overall. All of them, including Mr. Oren, are accomplished individuals who are most deserving of honorary degrees from this University. Despite his credentials and whatever the content of his speech may be, Mr. Oren remains a polarizing choice for keynote speaker, and commencement simply remains an incorrect format for predictable controversy on this level. The University's decision to offer Mr. Oren that coveted speaking position at commencement ultimately reflects its overlooking of the needs of its diverse student body. The arrangements with Mr. Oren may already be finalized, but we urge the administration to prevent further insensitivity and, foremost, to prioritize students.
(04/20/10 4:00am)
No students attended last Thursday's information session about the constitutional amendment regarding the implementation of a Sustainability Fund that will add $15.00 annually to the current Student Activities Fee.According to the amendment proposal, the Brandeis Sustainability Fund "provides financial support for Brandeis undergraduate students willing to undertake projects to improve Brandeis's environmental sustainability." If approved, the amendment would also result in a Sustainability Fund Board, a secured organization that would allocate funding for student projects. Three representatives from Students for Environmental Action brought the proposal with the 10 mandatory signatures from senators to the April 11 Student Union Senate meeting, and the student body will vote on the amendment on April 26. In an interview with the Justice, Matthew Schmidt '11, a former SEA president, attributed the lack of turnout to the fact that SEA did not sufficiently publicize the meeting. He explained that there would be another information session on April 22 and that members of SEA would be tabling in the Usdan Student Center and dormstorming to explain the nuances of the amendment and garner student turnout."When we get going, I expect we will have a big turnout at the vote, and I am fairly confident we will be successful," he said. Hannah Saltman '12, the current president of SEA, added that "next week would be a campuswide push."Schmidt said that he was not particularly concerned or offended about the lack of turnout-SEA had simply wanted to provide a forum for students to voice their opinions. Schmidt also said he did not expect a large amount of controversy over the amendment and raised concerns that students might not understand the amendment in its entirety. "Misinformation is the greatest cause of anger," he said, explaining that while students might have fundamental problems with the concept of a sustainability fund, a lot of the people potentially upset can simply harbor preconceived notions. Senator for the Class of 2012 Abby Kulawitz, who provided one of the necessary 10 senatorial signatures that allowed the amendment to be voted on, wrote in an e-mail to the Justice said that the students' approval of the amendment would result from their ability to understand it. "We need to understand that the money is open to any undergraduate students who want to promote sustainability. Further, we need to understand that the fee is separate from SEA. If students understand the fund, I am hopeful that it will pass."Kulawitz also wrote that she supported the amendment because she believes a sustainability fund is an efficient method of increasing environmental activism."The amendment allows students to execute projects towards energy efficiency, waste management-all-in-all, towards a more sustainable Brandeis," she wrote.
(04/13/10 4:00am)
At a March 23 meeting, the Board of Trustees approved a $356 million University operating budget for fiscal 2011 as well as the Brandeis 2020 committee's recommendations that were accepted by Provost Marty Krauss. The budget for fiscal 2011 includes revenues from an increase of 100 in undergraduate enrollment, the second stage of the University's plan to grow the student body that began with an additional 100 students in the class of 2013. According to last year's academic restructuring plan, the University is raising enrollment by 400 students over four years. To close a projected deficit, the trustees voted to take $11.1 million out of the University's reserves or quasi-endowment, which corresponds to a spending rate of 6.8 percent from the endowment, Vice President and Chief Financial Officer Fran Drolette wrote in an e-mail to the Justice. In addition to restoring the University's retirement contributions starting in July, the budget also includes a 2-percent merit raise increase pool for faculty and staff earning an annual base salary lower than $150,000. According to a March 26 University press release, the University projects that the deficit will drop to $6.3 million in 2012 and $1.8 million in 2013, with a $600,000 surplus in 2014. According to the press release, the budget projects $320,000 in savings from faculty reductions. "The projections in the University's long-range plan include a reduction in the endowment draw rate each year, until FY 2013-2014, when it is expected to be down to 5%," Drolette wrote in an e-mail. The budget also projects savings of $200,000 from renegotiated pricing for gas used for energy as well as savings of $90,000 from Library and Technology Services, which includes an initiative to implement hosted applications for e-mail and calendaring services. Also, part of the budget is a 3.9 percent increase in tuition and fees, with tuition set at $38,994, that together with average room and board fee puts the cost of attendance over $50,000 for the first time. The increase in tuition and fees will cover increased costs to the University, including financial aid, Drolette wrote. She explained that due to the Massachusetts adoption of the Uniform Prudent Management of Institutional Funds Act, the University could avoid going deeper into its reserves and instead continue to fund activities such as financial aid or salaries with endowments that have decreased under their original value, which the prior laws prohibited. Trustees approved the termination of the Master of Arts in Cultural Production, the Master of Fine Arts in Theater and external admission to the master's program in Anthropology. They also approved the termination of the Ph.D. program in Biochemistry and the Ph.D. program in Biophysics and Structural Biology, while authorizing the creation of a new Ph.D. program in Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry as a replacement. At the undergraduate level, the trustees approved the termination of the Internet Studies minor and the Italian Studies major as well as the Yiddish and European Studies minor and the Hebrew Language and Literature major, both of which the Near East and Judaic Studies Department will incorporate as tracks. The trustees also voted to end the B.A./M.A. Programs in Anthroplogy, History, Physics and Politics.Other 2020 proposals only needed Krauss' approval, such as the reorganization of American Studies as an interdepartmental program and the reorganization of the science departments within a Division of Science. The proposals are expected to save the University $3.8 million annually and result in the in a short-term cut of 12 to 14 full- and part-time staff and contract faculty starting in the summer of 2011. "The Board was very, very complementary about the work that had been done really over the last year. . They're very very appreciative to the faculty that took this seriously and did a very difficult job," Krauss said in an interview following the meeting. Dean of Arts and Sciences Adam Jaffe said that there would be further discussions with affected departments to implement the changes. Jaffe said that one measure that the University will also re-evaluate over the coming year is the Justice Brandeis Semester program, which was approved during last year's academic restructuring process as a way to accommodate increased enrollment by offering experiential courses with the option of a semester off later on and off-campus during the academic year. Five of the eight approved JBS courses did not receive the required number of eight applications and will not take place, according to Jaffe. "What we have realized is that we can't count on the JBS as a major part of the strategy to accommodate the increasing number of students," Jaffe said at an open forum yesterday. Faculty Senate Chair Sabine von Mering (GRALL) wrote in an e-mail to the Justice that the Senate welcomed the raise pool and the return of retirement contributions but that the broader implications of Brandeis 2020 will still need to be discussed including "the balance of graduate vs undergraduate education, the role of the professional schools, and such potential new initiatives as distance learning," she wrote. For Rebecca Wilkof '10, the financial challenges became personal when she found out that that the contract of her Spanish professor, Olmanda Hernandez-Guerrero (ROMS), had not been renewed. She started a Facebook group calling for Hernandez-Guerrero to remain at Brandeis.Hernandez-Guerrero, who started at Brandeis in 1999, said that since learning about the end of her contract, she had applied to many other positions, finding herself competing with 200 to 300 applicants. "During times like this we people who have contracts . have no security in our jobs." But she added that she was very thankful that the University had honored its obligation to grant her sabbatical pay for the coming year even though she would not be able to return afterward. Department Chair Prof. Edward Kaplan (ROMS) explained that Hernandez-Guerrero was the only contract faculty member whose contract was up for renewal this year and that the department "did not have enough sections authorized in Spanish and she was not renewed for that simple financial reason. . There's nothing extraordinary about the situation, except that it's sad that it happens to a wonderful human being." Jaffe said the non-renewal of her contract was not part of Brandeis 2020 or the Curriculum and Academic Restructuring Steering committee's reductions but part of the University's regular budgetary process. At yesterday's open forum, students raised concerns about housing, academics, fundraising and the swim team in addition to concerns about the financial future of the University. Reinharz noted at the forum that it had been difficult to raise money for capital projects such as residence halls and added that he felt that it would be "more and more difficult to raise unrestricted funds." Senior Vice President for Students and Enrollment Jean Eddy called it "the heartbreak of this year that we have not been able to come up with a solution that works" for the Lindsey pool. -Fiona Lockyer contributed reporting.
(04/13/10 4:00am)
Critique of discussion was incompleteIn response to your article "Israeli-Palestinian conflict should have a greater role in campus discussion" (Forum, March 23):I commend Eitan Cooper on his call for serious and open engagement on such a controversial issue. I agree that the question of Israel/Palestine is noticeably absent from public conversations on this campus. Indeed, except in courses explicitly on the subject, even most professors avoid bringing it up in class. I agree, also, that given the near-and-dear nature of the issue to many of our hearts, and our student body's social proximity to Israel-lobby organizations like AIPAC and J Street, our campus should be especially engaged in dialogue and mobilization around the issue. I disagree with Cooper, however, about the cause of the apparent muteness around the subject and what ought to be done about it. That the conversation about Palestine/Israel is so emotionally driven on campus discourages many students from confronting it openly. It's not just a political question at Brandeis. Indeed, many American Jews conflate their position on the issue to their very identity. For this reason, many students choose to avoid confronting friends who may hold different views on the situation in order to avoid alienation and hurt. The relative muteness of arguments critical of Israel cannot be attributed simply to a numerical minority, as Cooper suggests. Rather, we who would criticize Israel often feel marginalized by the "mainstream" tendency on campus. Mainstream discourse, on the part of the administration and student body, imparts a sense that criticism of Israel is an oppositional view. At the risk of making a generalization, this tacit social pressure may not be apparent to those of the mainstream opinion, but it exists. When it comes to conversations on human rights, however, marginal and minority voices are the ones most essential to the dialogue. Finally, I disagree with Cooper's suggestion that the University should "create more Goldstone/Gold-like, politically charged events in order to get our juices going and resuscitate the issue." Events that evoke antagonism, like the Goldstone/Gold debate, discourage positive dialogue. They are adversarial spectacles, opportunities for students to pick a side and cheer on their man. Framing the dialogue as a "Pro-Israel vs. Anti-Israel" boxing match establishes an oppositional binary, whereby listening and reasoning are subverted by hostility. This violent mode is the norm for discussing Palestine/Israel here, as exemplified by the Carter/Dershowitz showdown. Encouraging these antagonistic spectacles will only generate more hostility, polarity, and marginalization. Instead, I propose we reinvent the practices of communication used to discuss the subject. Nonviolent, constructive and respectful conversations can be had if we avoid the oppositional binary. There are a number of students on this campus trained in the practice of Nonviolent Communication who are qualified to mediate serious dialogue. I agree with Cooper that the campus must discuss this subject more publicly, and I would espouse more activity on the part of critics of Israel, but we must maintain and strengthen the bonds of community if we are to positively engage one another.Editor's note: This comment was originally posted under another's name without that individual's knowledge or consent. The name was removed from this page at the request of the individual whose name was used falsely. Permit undergrad TAs to give gradesIn response to your article "Changes proposed to undergraduate teaching assistant grading" (News, March 23): The University should allow undergraduate TAs to grade assignments. Undergrad TA experience is particularly beneficial for future graduate students, and an opportunity unique to a school like Brandeis. Giving undergraduate TAs more formal responsibility would further enhance the benefits of being a TA. As a senior at Brandeis I worked closely with a professor teaching a small seminar class. Even though I could not formally grade, I consulted with the professor on all written assignments. I gained a deep appreciation for the struggles and rewards of teaching, and also learned the material better myself in being forced to evaluate other students' work. That experience helped me decide to pursue a Ph.D., helped me get into Northwestern University and today is my best background as I prepare to teach my own course at Northwestern. Even though I've been a graduate TA in various courses at Northwestern, I had more actual teaching experience as an undergraduate TA at Brandeis. I realize that my TA experience at Brandeis was unique and does not represent most undergrad TAs, but I think giving undergrad TAs more formal responsibility would benefit the program as a whole. Brandeis should capitalize on its ability to offer undergraduates an experience that not even all graduate students get.-Jeff Kosbie '06
(04/13/10 4:00am)
On Saturday night, I walked into the Zinner Forum in the Heller School of Social Policy and Management to find a different scene than usual. A man was standing at the front of the forum yelling into a microphone, instructing pairs to "swing their partners 'round and 'round." Instead of seeing students studying in the school's characteristic red chairs, there were international Heller students and senior citizens square dancing together. The enthusiastic dancing partners were made up of elderly Bostonians and international Heller students from everywhere from Vietnam to Tanzania. Before the dancing, I walked into what is usually a classroom to find the older dancers serving classic American dishes to the international students. Their plates were piled high with homemade food, including peanut butter and marshmallow fluff sandwiches. Saturday's square dance reflected the idea of "common humanity," that Sherbaz Ali Khan (GRAD), participated in the dance and frequently speaks of, as the students from all different ethnic backgrounds and the elderly, mostly Jewish, Brandeis Osher Lifelong Learning Institute members danced the night away together as if they were old friends. This event was just one of many for BOLLI's International Friends Program, a program under the umbrella group which is a learning center for adults between the ages of 60 and 90. BOLLI is one of 122 Osher Lifelong Learning Institutes throughout the country, according to its website. "This is our 10th anniversary. People come to learn, to make friends and be in a social situation," says Sharon Sokoloff, BOLLI director. BOLLI members take courses in everything from current events to physics and also bring speakers to campus to talk at a lunchtime series they have on Tuesdays. The International Friends Program began six years ago in 2004 was created to facilitate friendship between international students in Heller and members of BOLLI.The program arose after BOLLI members voiced feelings of isolation from the rest of the campus. Lynn Wiener, the Friends Program founder, who came up with the idea to integrate BOLLI members with campus through pairing them with international students in a friendship program."[BOLLI members] are there to let [the students] know, 'I'm here, I'm here, I care about you.' They have a challenge, they talk to their person. I think everybody wants to get outside his or her little world and culture. That's why [BOLLI members] are here," says Sokoloff. "I had heard of similar programs with people befriending [international students]. There was a program at Tanglewood in the Berkshires, [where there were] no responsibilities, no fiscal, housing, just friendship. Mutual exchanges of cultures," says Wiener.Since then, there have been over 400 Sustainable International Development students in the program and about 75 BOLLI friends. The Heller students are all from abroad, and since their ages vary so much, some even have families they have left behind in their home country."Our members serve the role as a family for folks," says Sokoloff. At the beginning of the fall semester, BOLLI members and the Heller students get together for a meet-and-greet."The members and students talk... and then the committee takes names and hooks people up. Every friendship is its own thing," says Sokoloff. The committee is made up of BOLLI members who have experience in the International Friends Program. After this initial meeting, the friends go on outings together in Boston to give them a feel for life in the U.S., specifically in Boston. Friends have gone to museums, the beach, bowling and to restaurants. BOLLI maintains that the program is based on friendship, and BOLLI members do not act as mentors to the international students. "It's not mentoring in the sense of professional or academic, it may be kind of life mentoring, just being a great friend because our members are in the wisdom stage of life," says Sokoloff. If there is a problem with the pairing, there is board of BOLLI members that are there for the friends to deal with problems."We train [BOLLI members] at the beginning of the year for common problems. [For instance], students will get into financial problems and will reach out to members, who should immediately contact us. It's like no. [There's] boundary. They are just friends," says Sokoloff.In addition to the outings, BOLLI friends have their international friends over for holidays and family events. Wiener, the program founder from Newton, never thought she would be sharing her Passover seder with students from places like Haiti, Pakistan and Zimbabwe. However, for the past five years, the seder table has been the picture of the International Friends Program."We have them to the house, and I have children and grandchildren in the area, so everyone has a good time with that," says Wiener.One of her friends, Ali Khan, is in his second year in the Sustainable International Development program and has been Wiener's friend since fall of 2008. Ali Khan, an outspoken man from Pakistan, says it is because of Wiener and her family that he has been able to learn so much about U.S. culture and history, and that he feels he would not have been able to learn without them."We will not have learned so many things about U.S. culture, U.S. people, different festivals. If they were not here, we would not have known. Maybe through other ways but maybe not as interesting, and not through the real people. Reading [about] a place or going to a place, that's fine, but you need real people," says Ali Khan.Ali Khan and Wiener have shared holidays together and have learned about commonalities between them despite their religious and cultural differences. "[Wiener] is caring like a mother. She [always] asks how the weather is affecting [me], about our studies, caring like a mother but sharing like a friend. I say she is a friend with a motherly nature," says Ali Khan. "My family and I are Muslim, but my thinking is that I believe in humanity that is the religion of all of us. I have been to church, mosque, [synagogue], for me it is a source of understanding each other. What I feel like in BOLLI in what I've seen, religion doesn't matter but common humanity, and that's why we are connected," says Ali Khan. BOLLI members and their international friends have had generally positive experiences. However, the SID program that they are in is only two years long, and oftentimes, the students return to their native country upon completion of the program. Even though it is sad for the friends to separate, many remain in touch. Wiener maintains her relationships via e-mail. Two of her friends, now graduated, from Zimbabwe, have stayed in Boston and still attend holidays with her. "Wherever I go, I will be in touch with her. If I'm able to get a job here, definitely I will be in contact with her, or even if I go back to Pakistan or wherever I go, I have a relationship with them that is forever. It will not be over when my program is over. When I talk to students about my Heller experience I will tell them about Lynn. It has become an integral part," says Ali Khan.
(03/23/10 4:00am)
This week Avner Swerdlow '10, representing the SunDeis Film Festival Committee, filed a suit in the Student Judiciary, formerly the Union Judiciary, against Illona Yuhaev '11 and the IndieLouie Film Festival Committee. Mr. Swerdlow claimed that the online description of IndieLouis, a new student-run Brandeis film festival, constituted slander against SunDeis. The SJ announced yesterday that it has declined to grant the case certiorari. We believe the SJ made a sensible decision and hope it demonstrates similar practicality in the future. As of last week, when the student body passed amendments to the Student Union constitution, the SJ also has the option to recommend that students participate in a mediation resolution process. Mediation is an ideal alternative for resolving precisely this type of dispute, and the student body was wise to pass this amendment.Disputes such as this one are inappropriate grounds for SJ trials, and Swerdlow should not have filed a suit in the SJ. Instead, the mediation resolution process is a useful option for ending conflicts between small groups of people. Students who elect to participate in this process discuss this issue informally with the SJ, and if the discussions prove inconclusive, the SJ can try the case. Each party involved can express his or her opinion in a less stressful setting than an SJ trial would create. Even outside of the mediation resolution process, students can easily find other ways to settle disagreements. For example, the parties involved can hold private discussions until they reach a conclusion. If students feel they cannot resolve the dispute independently, Associate Dean of Student Life Jamele Adams is also available to help mediate conflicts. In conflicts that involve larger groups, students can organize open forums and allow other students to offer their perspectives.After Mr. Swerdlow and Ms. Yuhaev approached the SJ, Chief Justice Judah Marans reminded them that they had the option to engage in this mediation resolution process. It is the SJ's responsibility to not only resolve conflicts but also to direct students elsewhere when a full trial is unnecessary. In the future, the SJ should continue to alert students to the most appropriate type of resolution process for issues that may arise.
(03/23/10 4:00am)
Last week's election on amendments to the Student Union Constitution was problematic in the way it represented information about proposed changes. The election took place last Thursday and involved a number of amendments to the Union constitution developed by this year's quadrennial Constitutional Review Committee. Voting options not only listed arguments for and against the amendments under consideration on the ballot but unfairly listed several arguments against some amendments but not others. The amendment calling for the securing of Student Sexuality Information Service, which passed, only listed arguments in favor of the amendment. The amendment calling for the securing of Students for Environmental Action listed arguments both for and against that club being secured-and the amendment did not pass.While this editorial board does not suggest that the failure of the SEA amendment is exclusively based on the presence of arguments against its passing on the voting ballot, it is evident that the amendment was not fairly presented. It is commonly accepted that it is improper for candidates or their supporters to campaign at poll sites; this practice is prohibited by law in governmental elections in the United States. In the case of last Thursday's election, however, the Student Union, and not the representatives of SSIS and SEA, unfairly campaigned for and against those clubs.The voting ballot was also an inappropriate place for decisions about securing clubs. Although all students were given the opportunity to participate in the election, fewer than 300 students voted, and voters' support for securing SSIS and SEA does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the student body in general. Instead, the Union should have presented these proposals separately in another open forum or a blog, for example.This is not to mention the user-unfriendliness of Thursday's election. Minutes after the polls opened at midnight on Thursday morning, Union President Andy Hogan '11 sent an e-mail to students explaining exactly how to use the online ballot. The e-mail presented the entire list of amendments as a massive hyperlink, leading to a second landing page from which students could vote. Students should not need additional help voting in an online election, and the e-mail instructions might actually have served to confuse students.The Student Union has contracted out its election system to BigPulse, an online voting software company, since the beginning of 2007, and complaints have followed ever since. The passing of an amendment in favor of Instant Runoff Voting will most likely see the demise of the current software, which cost $2,464 this year in subscription fees. The current configuration does not allow voters to rank choices, which is central to IRV's functioning. We hope that the development of a new online voting system will correct technical and administrative errors in the future.
(03/23/10 4:00am)
Student Union President Andy Hogan '11 raised a discussion about last Thursday's failed vote to change the new student government structure. He mentioned the idea of creating an ad hoc task force to report on basic recommendations about improving the structure of the Student Union. Tom Charging Hawk '10 spoke about violations made to the Student Bill of Rights in regard to this year's SunDeis Film Festival. He requested the Senate's acknowledgment that since the administration has mandated Prof. Alice Kelikian (HIST), chair of the Film, Television and Interactive Media program, to head the festival, it was no longer solely "student-run." Senator for the Foster Mods Amy Mandel '10 spoke on behalf of the senior senators who have been planning a senior bonding night prior to Senior Week. She asked the Senate to sponsor an event that would bring 70 seniors to a Red Sox game. The senate voted to subsidize one-quarter of the ticket cost, so tickets would be sold for $30 per student. Mandel also reported that lamps will be installed in the Mods by the time students move in next fall. Student Union Vice President Amanda Hecker '10 informed the Senate that $315 was granted to the Brandeis Emergency Medical Corps and University Police for a 5-kilometer run for Haiti and Invisible Children. The event is sponsored by Student Events as well as Phi Psi and will be held April 18 at noon. It costs $5 to participate. The Senate voted to charter the Economics Club, which will serve as a forum for discussion on current economic issues such as the national debt and unemployment rate. The Senate also voted to charter the Golf Club. The Senate approved Senator for the Class of 2010 Jackie Saffir's request to cover the costs of dessert, plates and cutlery for the Senate-sponsored charity water auction, which will be held on April 14.`
(03/16/10 4:00am)
On March 9, the Administrative Resource Review Committee released its final report, the results of months of the committee's efforts to make Brandeis more economically efficient through "[examining] staffing levels, compensation and trends" as well as "prospectively [assessing] possibilities for efficiencies and savings going forward," identifying "an additional [added to previous administrative cuts] $1.49 million-$2.74 million in savings, with some achievable starting in 2011 and others achievable, as with ongoing academic initiatives, over a longer time period through 2015," according to the report.Created by University President Jehuda Reinharz on Oct. 19, 2009, the Committee focuses on the organization of the administrative staff at Brandeis as well as the broad interests of the University, such as faculty and facilities staffing, compensation and benefits, energy investments and use of space on campus. The committee, chaired by Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer Jeffrey Apfel, worked with other non-University research groups to analyze University spending habits and compare them to the spending habits of comparable institutions in the market. The report states that Brandeis' procurement, widely defined as purchasing the right materials for the right price at the right time, in the future may dovetail with other institutions of the Boston Consortium, which is comprised of universities in and around Boston including Brandeis, Tufts University, Emerson College and Wellesley College, since "the bulk of the projected savings are tied to collective action." A wellness initiative and joined purchase of health care are two areas in which the Committee predicts possibly working with the Boston Consortium as early as 2011, while Apfel stated in a recent interview that efforts such as combined paper and office supply procurement are more likely to take place in the near future.According to the ARRC report released on the Brandeis Web site, "The Committee found that salaries for both staff and the senior administrative component tied closely to market levels for the positions in question." Moreover, the salaries of the top paid academic administrators were found to be at 50.5 percent, extremely close to the 50th percentile within the market for similar institutions. This means that Brandeis academic administrators are being paid roughly the average salary of employees of a comparable position in the market. Moreover, senior administrators weighed in at 57.4 percent, a slightly more elevated salary than the average, but based on 12.1 years of service at Brandeis compared to the four-years average of academic administrators. Employee compensation has increased over past years, as newly hired staff has been acquired at rates closer to market averages, where previous staff was acquired at rates below the market average. While staff benefit packages at Brandeis, which include healt-care benefits and retirement contributions, are not quite as expansive as other comparable institutions according to Apfel, the ARRC report concludes that compensation for recently hired staff has risen to meet the market 50th percentile. Facilities employees at Brandeis are paid slightly above the market average, which the ARRC report justifies by explaining that the "University has in the past supported this for social justice reasons." When asked if more competitive pay has brought more qualified educators to Brandeis, Apfel replied that although his time at Brandeis has been short, he has noticed the retention rate of professors increase at Brandeis and noted the efficiency of a more market-competitive pay, which combats the "lost productivity" that occurs in the process of rehiring a position.The report also focused on areas such as energy investment. The committee has endorsed facilities findings, which encourage the University to "modify its natural gas and electricity contracts to take advantage of current market conditions for savings." Keeping in mind the advantages of correct procurement-a term that describes buying the right materials at the right time for the right amount in order to create return income-the Committee is also embracing "an important green initiative: another round of mechanical investments capable of generating a positive financial return from utility savings." Moreover, the Committee embraces a "managed printing initiative," which was brought to attention through public forums held by the ARRC.In a recent interview, Apfel referred to a "new capability" for Brandeis, which will be the result of a movement to centralize physical information about the University in the form of a space study. The study will compare "physical configuration [of buildings] to use to time of day" to make Brandeis more efficient by scheduling better use of the time and resources available. Library and Technology Services has proposed a "reduction of public desktop computing clusters [that] would result in an immediate cost savings of $45,000" as well as "migration from locally supported email services to hosted email services [that] would result in annual cost savings of $35,000." The Committee is still in the process of reviewing many of the concerns raised through the community, many having to do with green initiatives such as paper reduction, fax machine reduction and "analysis of whether Brandeis might emphasize perennials in its landscaping program.
(03/16/10 4:00am)
Cherish University's Italian majorTo the Editor:I was profoundly disappointed to read that the University declared the Italian Studies program unworthy of continuing status in the future. If the only reason for declaring certain concentrations obsolete is the number of graduates in the major, I can see why Italian made the list. I was the sole major from the Class of 2006. However, is this the true indicator of whether or not a time-honored, classic and beautiful language should be deemed unimportant to the future of liberal arts education? I can't imagine so. My Italian major did exactly what a Brandeis liberal arts education should: It educated me, inspired me, made me unique and advanced me. It made me a true Brandeis alumna, a well-rounded scholar committed to giving back to the world. In failing to commit to these values by extinguishing a critical liberal arts concentration, Brandeis intentionally changes its place in the world and its purpose. By limiting creative course offerings, Brandeis diminishes its ability to produce graduates with diverse backgrounds, educations and opportunities. As Blutinger eloquently relates in his article, an Italian studies education serves an important role, applicable to both current events and history. The Brandeis department and faculty is excellent. Prof. Paola Servino (ROMS) is the favorite professor of most who have had the honor of knowing her; she imparts passion for her language and culture in a way that makes you want to learn more. The education I and many others received from this fine faculty should not be undervalued. The Italian major should be available to future Brandeisians who will in turn make use of their degree in inspiring and life-changing ways. I call on Brandeis to look for alternatives to the very un-Brandeis plan to cut this traditional discipline from its curriculum and to commit itself to preserving the inclusive academic liberal arts education that has always served as the base of our incredible institution. -Monica Katz-Lapides '06Students, respect donor plaquesTo the Editor:I wanted to make a general plea to Brandeis students in response to a communication I received earlier this week from a generous, longtime friend to the University. I have long known that from time to time students will remove letters from the sides of campus buildings. I understand that it's sort of a "tradition" among students, and it has been happening for years. I can also understand how it may be perceived as a victimless crime. However, earlier this week, a good friend to the University informed me that several of the letters that spelled out her father's name were missing from the side of a building that had been named in his honor. Her father had been a dedicated and early supporter of this institution who gave everything he could to see that Brandeis would succeed. The building named in his honor is his legacy. It was therefore disappointing for this man's daughter to see that his legacy had been made a sort of joke. I urge students to remember while an act may appear to be victimless, this is not always true.-Erin WarnkeThe writer works in the Development and Alumni Relations Office.Maintain amiable religious climateIn response to your article "New Muslim Student Association lounge vandalized" (News, March 9): This incident is terrible, and I am really upset that something like this would happen at the school I called home for four years. I attended the peace vigil on Friday afternoon, however, and I was very encouraged and inspired by the positive community response I witnessed. Hopefully this incident will continue to inspire a renewed spirit of welcoming and religious and cultural pluralism. That is what the Brandeis I know is all about.-Mike Bohen '08The writer is a former member of the Catholic Student Organization leadership. Affirm campus religious freedom Regarding your article "New Muslim Student Association lounge vandalized" (News, March 9): Brandeis University came into being in the post-World War II years as a reaction to religious and ethnic persecution. And for years we prided ourselves upon one fact of campus architecture; that the chapels are designed so that one does not overshadow the other. I think it would be appropriate for the Brandeis community to react to this dastardly attack on its Muslim members by having a convocation to reaffirm its social justice values. Freedom of religion, a part of the U.S. Constitution, should be upheld as a particularly precious right at Brandeis. -Paul Trusten, R.Ph. '73 DREAM is step in wrong directionIn response to your article "Congress, Pass DREAM" (Forum, March 9): I am quite sure students given legal U.S. status through the DREAM act would continue to be active and involved on campus and beyond-active in getting laws passed to legalize their parents who came to the U.S. illegally knowing full well that they were breaking the laws of this country and risking future deportation and separation from their loved ones.These highly educated students should go with their families back to their home countries and use their pricey U.S. education (one wonders how they are financing it now; undoubtedly through U.S. taxpayer largesse) and work to improve their own country, thus avoiding the fear of separation from their families. -Ann PennellKeep senior thesis as optionalRegarding your article "Senior theses should be mandatory for students" (Forum, March 9): I spent nearly four years at Brandeis working for the Justice. Unless I go senile someday, there's no chance I'll forget the interviews I did, working with the writers or staggering home in an advanced state of sleep deprivation after yet another 30-hour day in the newsroom (we called it a "Justice Sunrise"). Time of my life, man. But it was a struggle to keep up with classes, and if a mandatory thesis had been added to that, I would have had to stop working for the paper. Period. There just aren't enough hours in the day. I commend Cooper for seeking a lasting college experience, but advocating for a mandatory thesis-writing program for everyone isn't the way to do it. Maybe it'd be helpful for the students who aren't doing anything other than taking a regular course load and partying, but when I went to Brandeis, most of the people I knew were either working a side job to pay for school, competing as part of a sports team, writing for one of the newspapers or magazines, acting in productions, carrying out community service programs, and so on. Many of them, myself included, have ended up in jobs which directly require the skills picked up from those extracurriculars. When compared with those enjoyable alternatives for self-improvement and growth, "you can even pick the font" just doesn't seem like a compelling enough reason for many students to spend their college days researching a subject they'll always remember but not necessarily use. -Jennifer Morrow '07The writer is a former Justice Arts editor.Do not switch to instant runoffsIn response to your article "Constitutional Review?Committee releases report" (News, March 9): Look before you leap. Learn from the University of Virginia's experience with instant runoff voting. Read how instant runoff voting results baffle UVA students. The University Board of Elections should educate the student body further about its voting methodology. UVA students were confused by the results of recent instant runoff voting election for student body. The results of the election were bizarre: The candidate with the most first- and second-choice votes lost. Even the winner of UVA's instant runoff voting election didn't understand the results. Consider that U.S. News has ranked UVA among the top 25 colleges since 1988. What more do we need to know to tell us that instant runoff voting is bad for voters?-Joyce McCloy The writer is director of the North Carolina Coalition for Verified Voting, a grassroots nonpartisan organization promoting clean and verified elections.
(03/09/10 5:00am)
An article in News misstated the given name of a professor. The professor's name is Paola Servino, not Paolo Servino. (Mar. 2, p. 6)An article in Forum misstated a professor's department. Paola Servino is a member of the Romance Studies department, not the Italian Studies department.(Mar. 2, p. 14). The faculty reactions sidebar in News misstated a professor's department. Paola Servino is a member of the Romance Studies department, not the German, Russian and Asian Languages and Literature department.(Mar. 2, p. 6). A photo of a student in Sports was misrepresented. The photo of Shannan Hassan '12 was a photo illustration.(Mar. 2, p. 19)The Senate Log in News misrepresented the status of several Student Union committees. The Social Justice, Outreach, Diversity, Club Support, Ways and Means and Services Committees already exist. (Feb. 9, p. 2) The Justice welcomes submissions for errors that warrant corection or clarification. E-mail justeditor@brandeis.edu.
(03/02/10 5:00am)
Amber Kornreich '12 has been president of Brandeis Democrats since the beginning of Spring semester. When Kornreich. an Islamic and Middle Eastern Studies major, is not coordinating or participating in political activism, she volunteers for the Waltham Group, where she is a coordinator and co-founder of Brandeis Buddies, or writing for the Brandeis Law Journal, where she is chief features editor. Kornreich spoke to the Justice in an e-mail about her political views.JustFeatures: When did you first get involved in politics, and when did you first identify as a Democrat? Why?Amber Kornreich: When I was a little girl I traveled with my mom as she campaigned for a judge, and since then I've been interested in and fascinated by politics. I worked on a political campaign in Miami the summer after my senior year of high school. Once I felt how electrifying campaign work could be, I was addicted. When I arrived at Brandeis, I was warmly welcomed into the community of political activists here, and they really showed me the ropes. I've really cemented my attachment to the Democratic Party in college. JF: What do you think is the most important issue that Obama should focus on while he is in office and why?AK: Jobs. With the unemployment rate at 9.7 percent, many American families are hurting. It is absolutely essential that emergency unemployment benefits be extended to these Americans. The cost of inaction is undoubtedly greater than the effect of any short-term increase to the deficit. The problem of unemployment is too large, and the impact on American lives is too real. JF: What do you hope to accomplish from Brandeis students as president of the Democrats?AK: I hope that Brandeis Dems meetings and events can continue to be an open forum for students to discuss issues of global, national, state and campus politics and [we] keep on the tradition of being heavily involved in the campus world outside of politics ... I know we will keep gaining new members, and, no matter the size of the club, we'll keep engaging in activism. JF: How do you feel about the political atmosphere at Brandeis?AK: I think the political atmosphere at Brandeis is invigorating. ... I'm always delighted at how available a quick political chat with students or professors around campus is, and virtually everyone, whether they choose to be involved in activism or not, has really considered their opinions about the state of the world. I love to hear a variety of perspectives. JF: Who would you say were the top five best presidents?AK: Abraham Lincoln, John F. Kennedy, Teddy Roosevelt, Harry Truman, and Bill Clinton.JF: Oftentimes, as people get older their political views begin to shift. Do you predict that this will happen to you? Why or why not?AK: I do not want to rule out evolving emotionally, intellectually and therefore politically in the future.I know that my values will remain constant and I want to work to ensure the party continues to represent those values. JF: What do you view as the current strengths and weaknesses of the Democratic party?AK: I think the strengths of the Democratic Party are, and will always be, its dedication to the pursuit of values of equality for all Americans, insistence on protecting civil liberties, and its flexibility to adapt its views to changing times.-Condensed and edited by Arielle Schwartz.Nipun Marwaha '12 has been president of Brandeis Republicans since last spring semester. Marwaha, an Economics major and Legal Studies minor, is also a member of the Mock Trial team and a former senator of the Student Union. Marwaha discussed his reasons for becoming a Republican through a phone interview with the Justice.JustFeatures: When did you first get involved in politics, and when did you first identify as a Republican? Why?Nipun Marwaha: I first got involved in politics halfway through freshman year. I lived next to a hardcore Republican. My roommate was an Obama maniac, so it evened out. I believe that personal responsibility is the most important thing that people need to have and that the government should not be responsible for people's actions or inactions. I went to the election meeting for Brandeis Republicans last year, and I originally ran for vice president. Then the president resigned and I became the new president.JF: What do you think is the most important issue that Obama should focus on while he is in office and why?NM:?The unemployment issue is the most important issue that Obama should focus on. The government should start cutting taxes so people can start their own businesses and reinvigorate the national economy.JF: What do you hope to accomplish from Brandeis students as president of the Republicans?NM: I hope to start dispelling the image of [all Republicans being from] the Yosemite family. ... Not all Republicans are evangelical social conservatives. The Republican Party is actually about political conservatism. In other words, the government should be limited and the individuals should have more rights. JF: How do you feel about the political atmosphere at Brandeis?NM: Brandeis influenced my political beliefs the most. I found that at Brandeis, people often did not think about the practical outcome of their political beliefs. People need to do something in order for it to be done right. If the government keeps helping us, it is like giving a mouse a cookie. People become lazy and won't want to do anything if the government keeps helping us so much.JF: Who would you say were the top five best presidents?NM: George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, Dwight D. Eisenhower, Ronald Reagan and Barack Obama. JF: Oftentimes, as people get older their political views begin to shift. Do you predict that this will happen to you? Why or why not?NM: I don't think so. Usually people shift from liberal to conservative over time. Since I'm already a conservative, I firmly believe in personal responsibility and freedom to choose one's own path. JF: What do you view as the current strengths and weaknesses of the Democratic Party?NM: A current strength of the Democratic Party is the grassroots Astroturf that people are fighting against government so that the government will not control their rights. A current weakness of the Republican party is that the evangelicals are trying to control people's actions, which is dissuading people from the party.-Condensed and edited by Arielle Schwartz.
(03/02/10 5:00am)
Where am I? It is odd for a designer to emerge to the foreground. Mine is a quieter contemplation of sketches and models figuring out how to house a narrative and push it forward in action-creating a kind of illusion of time and space. It is not writing press releases or op-ed pieces for a newspaper. It is not setting up a Web site forum on Facebook, though I must admit I have a passing curiosity of the real identity of Thomas Morgan, the extremely well-informed writer on University matters who baited my colleagues on the site. He knows a lot. I am glad he entered the debate.There was a point where I said this is not my cup of tea. It makes me very uncomfortable. I cannot do this, but with reluctance, I pushed the button to launch the Facebook page. Click. The modern Pandora's box in the guise of my black Macbook. A minor maelstrom in the scale of human events, but even I was surprised as those numbers climbed. My mind is a collection of snippets of image and conversation. How did we get here?My language tightens. My vision narrows until I am looking but not seeing much, not noticing much. Boy, this is not my thing, particularly for someone interested in the longer view. I usually sit with the audience. I observe. The raw emotion is apparent, and I try to sit back to watch the considerable drama. Then something about it turns on in my designer head. There is a script here somewhere among all of this activity. I want to tell one of my students that the banner is not good enough, to look at that gentle curve of the Spingold Theater Center balcony from this perspective in the parking lot and follow that with a long slender slip in black and white. "You are thinking and not seeing-it's not the same thing." But I never get to say that. Again, things drain away. There is a lot of sturm und drang. Tempests. I smile. I have seen it a million times. It's familiar territory.And I stop again. I want to redesign, really redesign the story-the scenario is darker, the lights much more expressionistic, the entrances askew, the colors bluer, darker with red-no greener, more acidic for emphasis. Die Brücke. I recompose the stage picture. Whatever does this mean?I sit down again, blank roll of paper and pencil, in a bit of a panic that I can't seem to find the physical presence of the story. It's simpler I think. There is some basic conflict; I am not sure of the resolution, but it's always about the resolution in the end. Sometimes I even work backwards from the end.Where did it go wrong?For all of the characters-has some misunderstanding become too solid to budge? I am honestly afraid that no one will believe or understand that it isn't about the money-it never is-even in the theater. It's always possible in the theater whether you have $50 or $50,000. Thomas Morgan, the Facebook cipher, said something about how we can't afford Ferraris with Brandeis' budget-if he only knew! It's an illusion, buster! It's first seeing what the story needs, not personal wants and desires, and going for it. Don't students need that? I wonder if we don't all need that-deserve that. I want to stop this. I want to sit down and have a conversation and talk with people who I care about-which is just about everyone at this point-to see if we can figure this out. We have this great thing that generates all this passion in so many people that has stood by them for many years-something that is intangible and active and fresh and above all "now." We need "now" more than ever at this moment. "Now" can keep us safe to do the next right thing. 'Now' is impossibly creative and at the same time incredibly practical. It begins to slowly rise out of the searching: "Now" says lay out the possibilities of a new story line. Everyone is a little more relaxed seeing there are choices. Everything lightens up. It is bigger and smaller at the same time. Bigger than Brandeis and as small as me. Above all, it's very human. It is the loud sound of a society struggling with its principles. Is there a better topic for Brandeis? It's change and it's good.The writer is an associate professor of design in the Theater Arts department.
(03/02/10 5:00am)
Shorter workweek can save fundsIn response to your article "Cut the five-day workweek to four" (Forum, Feb. 9):A fellow classmate, Jourdan Cohen '11, and I came up with this proposal last year for the CARS committee and got feedback from some faculty. The main criticism was that Brandeis already has a dearth of both classroom space and offices, so taking out a day would only exacerbate the problem. Also, I was told that it would be operationally and financially inefficient to have the school running fewer days, though it's difficult to see that from purely the perspective of changes in the levels of energy consumption. At the very least, it would be interesting to see some data from the registrar regarding the concentration of students in class during any given day and any given time. Using this data, the registrar could nudge students into taking a more even spread of time blocks by putting important core courses for majors in less trafficked time blocks. This, in turn, would give the registrar more leeway in assigning classroom space and create greater overall efficiency for the University. -Michael Laderman '11Changes to SunDeis are beneficialIn response to your article "Students criticize plans for revamped SunDeis" (Arts, Feb. 9):I understand and applaud Illona Yuhaev's '11 commitment to student involvement in the SunDeis festival, and I share her position that students must be able to have a say in how the festival will run. However I don't think the festival has to be completely student run or bust-it's still possible for students to have a voice even if the film department is involved. It would be nice if the entire thing was by students for students the way it was originally intended. But if the student body cannot give SunDeis a functional budget then we must look to other sources of funding, and if that's the Film, Television and Interactive Media department, so be it-after all, the point of the festival is first and foremost to give student filmmakers a chance to exhibit their work. I attended SunDeis last year and was very disappointed at the low turnout.Perhaps with the Film department's resources and publicity we will be able to attract more submissions and improve student turnout. After all, films are worthless if they're not seen. -Daniel Liebman '12
