(12/06/05 5:00am)
Students voted to pass a petition supporting the exclusive sale of Fair Trade coffee in campus dining halls, Student Union Secretary Aaron Braver '07 announced in a campuswide e-mail on Saturday, Nov. 26.The petition, which resulted from months of campus lobbying by the Fair Trade Brigade, a Brandeis advocacy group, passed with a vote of 620 in favor, 259 against and 43 abstentions. The vote throws official opinion of the Student Union behind the selling of Fair Trade coffee exclusively on campus, but Aramark, which provides nearly all of the campus's food services, makes the final decisions regarding dining hall supply.Student Union President Jenny Feinberg '07 said Vice President of Facilities Services Mark Collins, who oversees Aramark's operations on campus, told her Aramark would make the change if students supported it. Dining Services Director Barb LaVerdiere could not be reached for comment Monday afternoon.Fair Trade coffee would sell for 20 cents more than coffee currently costs in Java City, Fair Trade Brigade financial liaison Lauren Abramowitz '07 said. All dining locations on campus currently offer Fair Trade coffee at the same price as regular coffee, but the switch to selling only Fair Trade would be too costly to keep the same prices. "I am really excited that the referendum passed," Abramowitz said. "I think it's a really great statement that Brandeis is making as a community showing that we're progressive and looking to make changes in the way that global trade is run." Advocates of Fair Trade claim importers pay impoverished coffee farmers prices that fall below production costs. Through Fair Trade, importers are required to pay competitive prices, a minimum of $1.26 per pound, according to global exchange.org.While some consider the concept to be a humanitarian victory, others deem it economically inefficient.Prof. Michael Coiner (ECON) said students and faculty should have a choice when choosing which coffee they consume."If the proposal had been to offer Fair Trade coffee as an option, I wouldn't have had any objection to it at all," Coiner said. "A student who is pinching pennies may be somewhat strained by the price increase."But Abramowitz said Brandeis students can accommodate the change, arguing that for a student who drinks five cups of coffee a week, the change totals only another dollar spent."Yes, college students are strapped for cash," Abramowitz said. "But ... we go to Brandeis. We're not living on the streets. Most people have an extra dollar."Prof. Gordon Fellman (SOC) lauded the social benefits of Fair Trade."Fair trade is a small but significant step toward recognizing humanity and the human reality of people who pick coffee beans," Fellman said. "The difference to the Brandeis consumer is minimal, the difference to the coffee producers is huge."Evan List '08 said while he "absolutely" supports fair trade from a moral standpoint, the economic factors persuaded him to vote against the petition. List said it is efficiency in production that allows for lower prices, and that paying farmers a higher price for the same quality coffee eliminates incentives to become more efficient.Assaf Ben-Atar '07 said he voted to pass the petition because he thought the Fair Trade Brigade ran a convincing campaign."I wanted to improve the overall living conditions of coffee makers in South and Central America," Ben-Atar said.The petition came after an extensive lobbying campaign by the Free Trade Brigade, which included forums and advertising. Brigade members tabled in the Shapiro Campus Center, and with a laptop ready, invited students to cast their vote on the spot. Still, almost a third of voters were against the petition, despite no particular campus groups mobilizing in opposition.Feinberg said student support has convinced her to commit to the conversion to Fair Trade coffee on campus, and she thinks Brandeis is behind the trend in making the switch. "I felt that Brandeis was missing out on part of a movement," she said. "All of the local Boston schools had converted over [to Fair Trade coffee], whereas we say that our thing is social justice. We're founded on a pillar of social justice. Can we not make a little concession to pay an extra 20 cents to pay for coffee we know will help people's lives?
(12/06/05 5:00am)
To the Editor:Each week, I read the articles regarding Student Events and each week I feel frustrated because of consistently wrong information. I am the Assistant Director of Student Activities and also the staff advisor for Student Events. With this job responsibility, I attend the majority of SE meetings and meet frequently with individual members. I know, perhaps more than anyone else on campus, how hard the members of SE work to provide a variety of activities. I also know how hard they have worked to improve their image by providing forums and outlets for students. It is frustrating that the Justice does not seem to highlight the many successful events SE has sponsored this year including the Talib Kweli concert, a successful film series, popular events in The Boulevard and an 80s-themed Louis Louis which included the annual Screw dance that boasted an attendance of over 600 students.The articles that the Justice publishes about SE seem to reflect how the Justice feels SE should be run without ever consulting the staff members of the university who are experienced in organizational event planning like the staff in the Department of Student Life which includes myself as the staff advisor for SE. While I understand an editorial reflects individual opinion, there seems to be little research put into the editorials. The Justice was "happy to hear" that only $3,000 of the money allotted for SE staff development was used thus far for activities including a regional conference. What the Justice doesn't understand is how the conference benefits the members of Student Events and thus benefits campus. The conference includes educational sessions on leadership development, program planning and publicity workshops. It provides networking opportunities with other universities, and the ability to literally "shop" for activities to bring to campus. This conference is a huge asset for the community, not just the members of SE who attend.I would encourage anyone who has questions regarding SE to talk to me or members of SE. -Sarah BordeleauAsst. Director of Student Activities
(11/22/05 5:00am)
Student Events held a community forum last Wednesday to try to reverse the sentiment-held by both students and administrators-that the group is not transparent enough in its workings. However, fewer than 10 students attended.Along with the forum, SE has also initiated a series of online surveys to measure student preferences. We are pleased with these endeavors and hope they continue, and that SE follows through with its promises.For a group that receives over $200,000 each year, the largest amount of any student group, we need to see more than one semester of careful spending to be sure that SE has changed.Last week's forum was the first of many, as SE has pledged to follow its constitution, which has always mandated a forum each semester. SE is certainly partly to blame for the pathetic turnout: It could have alerted the campus with fliers, but did not hang any, instead relying on two large posters and e-mail announcements. However, the turnout is also the fault of the students who-though ready to complain-did not care to attend.SE has made admirable moves to conserve money this semester, especially in areas in which the whole student body doesn't benefit, such as food for SE staff. This fall's SE budget allocates $4,500 for staff development and fees for a national conference, though we are happy to hear that only $3,000 of this was actually spent.Leftover funds have gone toward increased cosponsorship. SE funded half of Welcome Week, as well as part of Rosenball and other events, and will cosponsor a Winter Festival. But events such as ModFest should also fall under the realm of SE, as it is their charge to improve campus social life, and not the Union's. Student Events Director Helen Pekker '06 said that SE may possibly cosponsor the event in the future, and we expect this to happen as it is odd that our biggest party is sponsored by our government.SE does still have a way to go as far as transparency is concerned. When the group was close to announcing controversial artist Beanie Man-who has had a number of concerts canceled because of anti-homosexual lyrics-as a special guest for its fall concert, SE gave contradictory accounts in the aftermath of its reconsideration of Beanie Man. It is discouraging that the group was unable to be completely forward.Even the day after that public relations gaffe, when SE aired a slideshow recounting expenditure for past concerts, the slide show made no mention of the Spring 2004 John Mayer concert that made SE temporarily go into debt.We are wary of trusting SE entirely given the irresponsible spending we saw at times in the past, but the semester's efforts are a good start. For now, we need to believe SE and help them out by answering their surveys and expressing our concerns.
(11/22/05 5:00am)
Dear Editor,Each week I read the articles regarding Student Events (SE) and each week I feel frustrated because of consistently wrong information. I am the Assistant Director of Student Activities and also the staff advisor for Student Events. With this job responsibility, I attend the majority of Student Events meetings and meet frequently with individual members. I know, perhaps more than anyone else on campus, how hard the members of SE work to provide a variety of activities. I also know how hard they have worked to improve their image by providing forums and outlets for students. It is frustrating that The Justice does not seem to highlight the many successful events SE has sponsored this year including the Talib Kweli concert, a successful film series, popular events in The Boulevard, and an 80s-themed Louis Louis which included the annual SCREW dance that boasted an attendance of over 600 students. The articles that The Justice publishes about SE seem to reflect how The Justice feels SE should be run without ever consulting the staff members of the university who are experienced in organizational event planning like the staff in the Division of Student Life which includes myself as the staff advisor for SE. While I understand an editorial reflects individual opinion, there seems to be little research put into the editorials. The Justice was "happy to hear" that only $3,000 of the money allotted for SE staff development was used thus far for activities including a regional conference. What The Justice doesn't understand is how the conference benefits the members of Student Events and thus benefits campus. The conference includes educational sessions on leadership development, program planning, publicity workshops, provides networking opportunities with other universities, and the ability to literally "shop" for activities to bring to campus. This conference is a huge asset for the community not just the members of SE who attend.I would encourage anyone who has questions regarding SE to talk to me or members of SE. Sarah BordeleauAssistant Director of Student Activities
(11/15/05 5:00am)
When "facebook" and "friend" become verbs, it's a sign that Facebook.com has pervaded college culture.Facebook is an online service created by Harvard students in 2004 that allows college students to post profiles with photos and interests and to join groups, write messages and just generally stalk acquaintances and friends. Heck, students facebook people for everything lately. There are some people who are comfortable putting almost everything online-their e-mail address, cell phone number, home address, number of siblings, zodiac sign, exact global position... OK maybe that's a bit of an exaggeration. We ourselves were pretty hesitant about joining; we were wary of exposing our information to creepy stalkers and strange college students-hair a mess, slumped over their laptops with coffee spilling everywhere-viewing our information and pictures.Eventually, we succumbed like thousands of others. But mingling with the pretty faces of our friends lurk other figures that also watch and monitor our profiles. Anyone with an e-mail address from one of an ever-expanding group of colleges and universities can join Facebook, which means that Brandeis faculty and administrators have access to all Brandeis student profiles. According to The Boston Globe, "Brandeis [told] students to consider future employers, professors or family members who might read Facebook entries. Indeed, some Brandeis administrators said at a forum on Sept. 19-to open-mouthed reactions of students attending-that they have begun reading Facebook entries before hiring a student for campus positions." There has even been a case where a student has been kicked out of his university based on information put on his Facebook profile (pictures, groups joined, etc.) At Fischer College, a small liberal arts college in Boston, sophomore Cameron Walker, president of Fischer's Student Government Association, was expelled for joining a group his friend had created that aimed to get a college police officer fired. According to the Brown Daily Herald, Fischer considered the whole thing a joke. Until he was kicked out of school, that is.It is said that "you can't judge a book by its cover," but can you judge people by their Facebook photos? There are many people on Facebook who are not old enough to drink legally but just stupid enough to post a picture of themselves guzzling down a bottle of vodka on their profiles. We decided to do a search of some Brandeis profiles, as well those from friends at other schools, to see what other incriminating content students were posting. We came up with some amusing results.Second to alcohol, the drug of choice that people use to look cool in their profiles is marijuana. One student from Union College has a lovely picture of himself sucking down a bong on his profile, with the choice quote: "Interests: Smoking pot ... from the RooR, Sex, making out (top and bottom lip! ... wtf)" Another favorite: a Brandeis student who includes in his photo album pictures of himself rolling and smoking a joint. Oh, and let's not forget the photo of someone drunk in mid-vomit.Incriminating pictures are not the only interesting things on display; the site abounded with quotes that would make your grandma have a stroke. Some of the most shocking include: "I Hate: ... Ethnic Minorities," "Interests: ... Pot, Durgs, Porn, Sex, Sex Toys ..." and "Interests: ... Masturbating (a lot)."A guy from Tufts University had a list of 151 things he learned from college, including: "If your high, drunk, and tripping on opium while having sex, plan on blocking out a couple hours in your scedual," "jokes about the holicoust go over much better when the israli your telling it to is high" and "if someone intentionaly walks in on you having sex, throwing the used condom at him is an aprorpreate respond." People need to realize that Facebook profiles are public to anyone with your school e-mail domain, and despite what some overconfident people may claim, it is not that difficult to gain access to the site. So construct your profile as if your mom, grandma, rabbi and the police could read it. It is unfortunate that we have to hide who we really are online and elsewhere for fear that people who would not accept the real us might be watching, but we must accept that this is the reality. Suppose, for example, your mom's friend who works at a college shows her a picture of you holding two bottles of Captain Morgan in your hands? Or your potential employer notes on your application that your interests include "puffing the reefer"? The minute you put your name and picture down, everything on that site-the pictures, the groups, the "interests"-becomes attached to your identity, for the world to see. So be careful. Oh, and by the way, consider yourself poked.
(11/15/05 5:00am)
Dean of Arts and Sciences Adam Jaffe, along with Provost Marty Krauss and Chief Operating Officer Peter French, has begun to meet with each academic department to discuss future action on the University's integrated planning initiative. Hopefully, this is a sign that the administration has learned its lesson from last year's ill-conceived attempt at curricular reform. Although the situation looks much improved this semester, we are still worried that those lessons have not yet fully set in. Mr. Jaffe's proposals included the elimination of the linguistics major, along with the teaching of ancient Greek, the Ph.D. music program in composition, one third of the physics faculty and other cuts. Mr. Jaffe also suggested additions to the staffs of economics, East Asian studies and other areas.Worse than the suggested cuts was that rather than engaging the community in a discussion about the University's academic vision and budgetary priorities, Mr. Jaffe made his sweeping proposals with almost no input from faculty or students.The process actually seemed to play out in reverse: "concrete proposals ... were announced, followed by a community forum to discuss the principles of Arts and Sciences planning," wrote the faculty committee empanelled to evaluate the proposals in its highly critical report in February.The aftermath of the proposals-finally withdrawn following the release of that committee's disapproving report and continued faculty opposition-has left the community, including this editorial board, wary about the future of curricular reform. Still, we are encouraged by the recent efforts by the administration to solicit the opinion of faculty members through meetings with professors in each academic department. These meetings, had they occurred one year ago, might have prevented the wounds made both to the academic community and to our University's reputation, which have yet to heal. Unfortunately, Mr. Jaffe is being rather reserved when speaking about the meetings and he has yet to foster an environment in which faculty feel they can speak openly about their own ideas."We don't think we can walk in and just have a casual discussion" with the administration, Ann Olga Kolowski-Ostrow, the chair of the threatened classical studies department, told the Justice last week, adding that though she had proposals for her department's future, she did not want to comment on them.It is vital that the administration foster an atmosphere of academic openness and peer review, rather than one of political maneuvering and backroom deals. And so Mr. Jaffe, along with Ms. Krauss and Mr. French, must make concrete efforts to make their operations transparent to the entire community. Not to do so is to risk a repeat of last semester's debacle, and the simplicity with which this can be accomplished makes any lack of action inexcusable.An online bulletin board, where administrators report without exception or self-censorship on the discussions that take place in these meetings, would provide the community access to the ongoing thought processes and give it an opportunity to post comments and questions about those reports. Such a process could also provide a vaulable blueprint for live, community wide forums about the issue.This would prevent the perception-justified or not-that the administration is operating in the dark and disregarding the will of the community. It would also foster a feeling that reforms will come only after a genuinely participatory process, rather than through one that serves only as a disingenuous means to a predetermined end. If students and faculty cannot trust that the administration is listening, any proposed curricular reforms will inevitably divide the community, dooming any changes long before they are fully considered.
(11/15/05 5:00am)
Sex. See, that got you reading. I bet if I'd started the article off with something like, "God, I hate this school," or an unorthodox statement about minorities, or something to do with beer, you would have started reading, too.As editor of this paper's forum page, one of my jobs is to keep a gauge on what readers want, and give it to them if possible. Of course there are other factors that go into our decsion-making (like what the paper considers important) but I love satsifying Brandeis' craving for appealing pages: Brandeis likes to talk about our party scene, or lack thereof; it likes intelligent debate, but nothing it could read just as easily in The New York Times; it likes the controversial, but not the pointless; and anything mentioning sex or booze is pretty much a winner.A few days ago, Sean Lewis-Faupel '08 came into the office to pitch an op-ed idea to me. He wanted to talk about his group, Students Taking Action Now: Darfur (STAND), and all the progress they've made in their efforts to raise awareness about Darfur.I had to break it to him. "You know, the problem is, Brandeis really isn't interested in articles about Darfur right now." It's true: From what people have told me, articles mentioning Darfur get about as many reads as articles about the women's tennis team. Brandeis students are pretty well-versed in Sudan's problems-and they all seem to agree it's unfortunate-but that's about the extent of their interest. "I'm not saying it's impossible," I said, "It's just that it would have to be more than P.R. for your cause-you'd have to analyze the issue, and not just spew the usual STAND platform. It would have to be really, really good."Sean, a soft-spoken, intelligent guy, agreed. He said he thought that would be hard, but one of my writers could try to tackle it if they wanted. We both paused and sighed a little, I said something stupid like, "Well ... good luck saving everybody..." and he left.About 15 minutes later, it began to dawn on me-with that creeping, stomach-twisting guilt you get when you realize you've just done something terrible completely by accident-how very disturbing the whole situation was.Brandeis, and, for that matter, the rest of the United States, isn't overly concerned about the slaughter of millions of people in Africa. Not to the point where action is demanded beyond the realm of convenience or extracurricular amusement. And then my stomach took another turn: For much of World War II, America really didn't concern itself with the slaughter of millions of Jews in Europe. A major reason for that was the indifference of the press. The New York Times kept stories about the Holocaust off its front page (check out Laurel Leff's new book Buried by the Times if you don't believe me) partially because most of America didn't warm to the idea of joining a war to save the Jewish people.It's disgusting. I'm not Jewish, but some of the best friends I've ever had in my life, including my boyfriend, are. My grandfather, who was a colonel during the war, led the freeing of some of Hitler's concentration camps, and he was never the same afterward. The fact that no one in America cared about the murder of millions is so maddening to think of.It's happening again, only it's in Africa this time. And I was only furthering America's famous indifference to foreign need.So here it goes.Over 400,000 men, women and children have died in Sudan because of conflict in the region, and more than 2.5 million people have been displaced. Sean Lewis-Faupel is vice-president of regional outreach for the Brandeis chapter of STAND, which is a national student movement that has helped to raise over $1 million in aid. The Brandeis chapter alone is responsible for raising over $2,000, and they helped put together a huge rally in Boston, which Sean himself co-chaired. STAND is now working to encourage Brandeis and the state of Massachusetts to stop investing in companies that help fund the ongoing violence.After the World War II, the world swore that genocide would never happen again. But they underestimated how easily people separate themselves from a problem that seems far away. We let genocide take place in Cambodia, Iraq, Bosnia and Rwanda, and neither the press nor the government gave these human exterminations enough attention until it was too late. To those of you who are still reading this, thanks-I guess people do read articles about Darfur, after all.
(11/08/05 5:00am)
Approximately 30 people debated the merits of Fair Trade coffee Monday night in the Shapiro Multipurpose Room at a forum sponsored by the student advocacy group, the Fair Trade Brigade. The event featured Brigade member Lauren Abramowitz '07, Prof. Rachel McCulloch (ECON) and Elisa Arond from the relief organization Oxfam America.The forum precedes a Brigade-backed Student Union referendum of the student body taking place Monday, Nov. 21. The group was able to put the fair trade issue to a vote after collecting 548 signatures of a petition that read "Are you in favor of converting all coffee sold on campus to Fair Trade coffee?"Faculty members already voted by an overwhelming majority of 54-3-7 to support the exclusive sale of Fair Trade coffee on campus at a faculty meeting in September. Fair Trade coffee is currently sold across campus at the same price as regular coffee, but it is always supplemented by non-Fair Trade options. If the referendum were adopted, the University would need to charge more for each cup of coffee to account for the higher price of Fair Trade coffee when it is initially purchased by Aramark.Abramowitz, who represented the position of the Fair Trade Brigade, began the forum by defining fair trade as the "equitable exchange of goods between developed countries and less developed countries."She said the current oversupply of coffee on the world market has driven small farmers, who produce more than half the world's supply of coffee, deeper into poverty. Due to the large number of middlemen involved in coffee trade, farmers only receive between two and four percent of the final retail coffee price.Abramowitz said that Fair Trade standards guarantee certified producers a living wage above the cost of production, allowing them to invest in infrastructure projects in their communities and eventually, to exit the coffee market. Fair Trade standards also require the implementation of health and safety standards and bar sex discrimination and the use of child labor."We feel that the goals set forth by the Fair Trade Brigade are strengthened by the moral ideology of the University," Abramowitz said.Prof. McCulloch, who teaches both international trade and environmental economics courses, expressed reservations about the Fair Trade coffee movement. "As a market-oriented person, I have concerns about this particular way of improving the living standard of people who grow coffee," McCulloch said. McCulloch said the coffee market is an example of monopsony power, an imbalanced market with few buyers and many sellers. Perfect competition is destroyed, and instead the buyers have the power to influence the world price of coffee with their purchasing decisions. This means that Fair Trade restrictions-which change buyers' behavior-could cause the price of coffee to initially rise, but to then become undesirably low. As more coffee producers enter the coffee market seeking higher profits, supply would exceed demand and the price would plummet, worsening the problem of poverty among coffee farmers.McCulloch also said she was troubled by the expense of the fair trade certification process, which she said absorbs scarce resources that could be better utilized to help impoverished communities.She added that the main cause of economic problems facing small farmers are "costly and inefficient agricultural policies" implemented by the United States and the European Union that push down the world price of agricultural products. McCulloch said these policies should be the main target of attempts to resolve the problems of poor farmers.Elisa Arond presented the viewpoint of Oxfam America, the Boston-based branch of the international development and relief organization Oxfam International. She said Oxfam endorses fair trade as part of a solution to the problem of poverty facing coffee farmers."[There is an] exceptional opportunity that people have here in the U.S. to be able to effect social change just through their purchasing decisions," Arond said.If passed, the Nov. 21 referendum will become the official opinion of the Union government and coffee vendors on campus will transition to selling only Fair Trade products.The referendum will include a statement in favor of the proposal written by the Fair Trade Brigade and a statement in opposition. Union Secretary Aaron Braver '07 said at the forum that the Union normally creates opposition statements from a compilation of arguments submitted by community members, with each attributed to its author.Any pro or con statements must be submitted at least 48 hours before the Union launches the poll.According to Abramowitz, Assistant Vice President for University Services Mark Collins said the change will first take effect in Usdan and would then be implemented at Java City in Shapiro after a two-week evaluation period.
(11/08/05 5:00am)
I don't actually want to submit a letter. What I'm interested in is a correction to the article on the Fair Trade Forum. It said that Lauren said that there'd be a two-week trial period for all of Usdan to be switched, followed by a switch of Java City. Lauren didn't say that and it's not true regardless. There will be a trial period, assuming that we're successful, with the idea being to evaluate whether or not students will buy the Fair Trade coffee at the $0.20 higher price. We don't have an official timeline, but it will presumably be substantially longer than two weeks. The important point is to clarify that the trial period will be used to see how students vote with their pocketbooks, it's not just some arbitrary length of time.Thanks.Dan
(11/01/05 5:00am)
Peter Petri, the founding dean of the International Business School (IBS), announced Wednesday that he will resign his post at the end of this academic year and return to teaching, according to a University press release. Petri said he plans to spend next year on sabbatical to focus on research and "thinking up courses to teach" before he resumes teaching as a professor of international finance. Serving as dean, he said, "is very hard work and you begin to miss research and teaching.""The school is in very good shape. All the things are going right. Now is exactly the right time for a change."Petri, who has served as dean for 12 years, helped build IBS from the ground up when he began as the director of the Lemberg Program in International Economics and Finance, a graduate program within the economics department.Lemberg, which he said began with approximately 50 students, formed the base of IBS, now has 400 students from 60 countries. Today the Lemberg program is housed in IBS alongside two other master's programs and a Ph.D. program.Prof. Rachel McCulloch (ECON), who co-wrote a chapter with Petri for the 1998 book Capital Flows and Financial Crises said that "without his vision and energy, the expansion of our graduate offerings from the original Lemberg Program to today's IBS would not have been possible." Petri attributes the strength of IBS to the school's effective teaching of skills necessary to work in today's global market. And because businesses and policy makers have to deal with partners from all over the world, "International skills are essential for business," he said. "All core pieces of the school have been built with this idea in mind."Petri, who began at Brandeis as an assistant professor in 1974, has consulted for both the World Bank and the United Nations and has traveled extensively doing policy research. He has published six books and more than 50 articles that focus on international trade and investment, with emphasis on the Pacific Rim. He previously served as a Fulbright Research Scholar and Brookings Policy Fellow, and is a member of the U.S.-Asia Pacific Council, the International Advisory Group of the Pacific Economic Cooperation Council and the Pacific Trade and Development Forum International Steering Committee."It was very exciting, very creative, and very challenging, as well as very hard" to build up the school, he said. "It made me develop skills I had never had before, like management and fundraising .... There's not a minute I'd do differently.
(11/01/05 5:00am)
To the Editor:As the executive board of Student Events, Brandeis' student-run programming board, we would like to clarify both the mission of SE and the manner in which we allocate the Student Events Fee money in response to the Oct. 18 editorial, "How to spend $1 million."Our mission is to enhance the overall Brandeis on-campus experience through programs that target many facets of the community. It is financially impossible to be responsible and involved with every fun event on campus, and it would be unnecessary to do so, as there are so many clubs on campus that host events. For this reason, the Student Union, with help from Residence Life and Quad Councils, is charged with planning such events as Modfest and Rosenball (a fact which was slightly misrepresented: "Modfest and Rosenball are primarily sponsored by the Union to improve campus social life, even though that is the charge of Student Events.").The editorial also states that "there is little burden on secured groups to justify their expenditures and operating budgets." SE will honor any request to see a copy of the SE budget and SE also has an advisor, Sarah Bordeleau, from the Department of Student Activities. SE does not see these checks as "burdens," but rather necessary devices to make sure that students' money is spent correctly.With that in mind, we have greatly increased the use of surveys (e.g. concert and theme week surveys) and will hold a SE Forum on Wednesday, Nov. 16, to help SE better understand the concerns and needs of students. In addition, the staff holds daily office hours in the SE office in the Shapiro Campus Center 241 to hear concerns or suggestions. One of the key ways that SE serves these needs is through co-sponsorship. We do this not due to "pressure from the Union and the administration," but because we want to help the campus. In the last year, SE has contributed funding and/or other resources to Campus Camp Wellstone, Rosenball, Trisk's Halloween Dance, Sundeis, Starving Artist's Semester Show, Hillel's Purim Party and many more. While we are very fortunate to receive the SE Fee, it is difficult to "dramatically expand these activities" under our current budget without compromising the goals SE has set forth, and being "allotted much less funding" would only further limit the number and quality of events on this campus including concerts and the film series. -Helen Pekker '06, Director of Student Events, and the Student Events Assistant Director BoardFor more information, visit go.brandeis.edu/studentevents.
(10/25/05 4:00am)
Animal CollectiveFeelsOn Fat Cat RecordsA-Accessibility is not something I associated with experimental psych-folkers Animal Collective. The ethereal isolation of their 2003 album Here Comes the Indian was followed-up last year by the more pop-oriented, but equally out-of-reach revelations of Sung Tongs. But these four young men from Brooklyn-via-Baltimore have looked deep inside for this new album and turned out something... singable?Far from Sung Tongs' 'hungry bread and butter hustle,' Feels is a lush and thankfully accessible album, pushing Animal Collective toward a more traditional audience while still preserving the oddly organic sound that caused their critical celebration.Opening with "Did You See the Words," Feels is instantly exciting. A tip-tapping drum beat (almost like hooves), atmospheric guitars and member Avey Tare's low, mumbling lyrical delivery bursts wide open at the first chorus with a bash on the cymbal and the cry of "Inside! Inside! There's something living in these lies!" The melody is only half-present in the rest of the song, resulting in a compelling mix of lilting childhood innocence and starkly mature cynicism. "The Purple Bottle" is another highlight, prominently featuring the layered vocals that have become an Animal Collective trademark. Angelic call-and-response harmonies hover in the air above the irregular beat, providing the perfect complement to the main vocal, which is sung plainly and clearly in contrast. Panda Bear and Avey Tare are exceptional lyricists; Feels finally provides a forum for us to hear what they have to say, instead of picking through the ether for snatches of verbal complexity."Grass" is a shrieking, yet playful sing-a-long and will probably end up a highlight of their live show this fall. The yelping chorus is followed by quick, syncopated lyrics, perfect for a large, drunk and bouncing audience."Flesh Canoe" and "Bees" both evoke earlier Animal Collective albums-the latter especially sounds like a mix between "Kids on Holiday" and "Mouth Wooed Her," off Sung Tongs. "Banshee Boat" starts on the same derivative note, but saves itself with a quick, addictive melody and a brilliant five-minute build. "Loch Raven" is quiet and delicate, with bells and echoes and endless layers of atmosphere. There is no question that Feels is an excellent album, and a surprising step in what I believe is the right direction. It's a joy to finally be able to sing along to Animal Collective without wondering if the words I'm singing are actually right. Musically, the album is a refreshing break from the delicious campfire antics of their previous efforts. This band is going nowhere but up, each album getting better and better. It's just not perfect... yet.-Sara TennenbaumThriceVheissuOn Island RecordsB+"Mystical" and "atmospheric" are terms that best encapsulate Thrice's newest release, Vheissu. With fewer improvisational structures and shredding guitar lines, its musical textures and arrangements are more thought-out and intricate than their previous albums. The music moves at a much slower pace, eliminating almost all punk and metal influences, more recognizably weaving the emo and hardcore genres into hints of classical and new age. The record's lone brilliance is its arrangements, which employ a variety of instruments running the gamut from hard guitars to a Japanese music box. Spacey keyboards and classical piano are also noteworthy additions, giving the record a wide-open, three-dimensional feel that previous releases lacked.Opening track "Image of the Invisible" is a fairly straightforward first single, featuring stressed (but never screaming) vocals, hard guitar and fast-paced, snare-driven drumbeats. Nothing new or inventive is revealed, but the track-with its undeniable gang vocal chorus-remains one of the album's best. The second track, "Between the End and Where We Lie," shatters the conventionality of the first, opening with a synthesizer-and-drum intro recalling the artsy post-hardcore act Cursive. "The Earth Will Shake" continues this experimentation with an underwater-acoustic guitar-and-vocal intro, before segueing into a straight rock 'n' roll chorus suggesting that lead vocalist Dustin Kensrue has been taking singing lessons from Scott Weiland and Eddie Vedder. Still, in classic Thrice form, they then transition like few others can, jumping into a hardcore verse seemingly inspired by the skillful hardcore outfit Beloved. Perhaps the best and most inventive track on the album is "Music Box," however, a song whose entire structure is based on the eerie melody of a two-dollar Japanese toy. Overall, Vheissu is just the latest chapter of the book of Thrice-a book that reads strangely similar to that of another popular California-based band, Incubus. Similar to their cohorts, Thrice's need to branch out and 'make new' with every album is almost pretentious, and at times much to their detriment here. Still, their conscious decision to move in an adventurous direction is admirable. Still, it's a shame they've drifted so far away from their 2002 masterpiece The Illusion of Safety, still regarded as one of the best hardcore and metal hybrid records ever. -Seth Roberts
(10/25/05 4:00am)
As the executive board of Student Events, Brandeis' on-campus, student-runprogramming board, we have been both excited and impressed by the amount ofcoverage the change to the Secured Activities Fee (and the Student EventsFee) has received in the last two articles of the Justice. This is a changethat affects all students on campus, and the Justice has been doing a greatjob in ensuring that their readers have some information about what has beenhappening. In an attempt to bring even more information to the many readersof The Justice, we would like to clarify both the mission of Student Eventsas a programming board and the manner in which we allocate the Student Events Fee money.Most importantly, the mission of Student Events is to enhance the overall Brandeis on-campus experience through programs that target many facets of thecommunity: a film series, theme weeks (Louis, Louis and Bronstein), two largeconcerts each year, and entertainment events including 'make-your-owns,'smaller concerts, and other novelty activities. Sometimes, we are fortunateenough to go above and beyond this mission statement by planning extra eventsfor the campus (for example, the Hurricane Katrina Dance-a-thon, co-sponsoredby Student Union, or the Winter Jam concert, co-sponsored by WBRS). It is financially impossible to be responsible and involved with every fun event on campus, and it would be unnecessary to do so, as there are so many clubs and organizations on campus that do a great job in providing events for campus. For this reason, theStudent Union, with help from Residence Life and Quad Councils, is charged with planning such events as Modfest and Rosenball (a fact which is slightly misrepresented in the 10/18 editorial: "Modfest and Rosenball are primarily sponsored by the Union to improve campus social life, even though that is the charge of Student Events.").The editorial in question also states that "there is little burden on securedgroups to justify their expenditures and operating budgets." Student Events will honor any request a student has to see a copy of the Student Events budget and also has the professional help of a staff advisor, Sarah Bordeleau from the Department of Student Activities, who ensures that funds are appropriately used and the board is working cohesively and effectively. Student Events does not see these checks as 'burdens,' but rather as necessary devices to make surethat students' money is spent in a way that students believe correct.With that goal in mind, we have greatly increased the use of surveys (sending out a concert survey and a theme week survey and anticipate providing more) and have decided to host a Student Events Forum on Wednesday, November 16, to help Student Events better understand the concerns and needs of students. In addition, the staff holds daily office hours in the Student Events office (room 241) in the Shapiro Campus Centerduring which students can drop in with concerns or suggestions. We have never been burdenedby our commitment to students' needs; rather, we see it is a unique privilegeof our board.One of the key ways that Student Events serves these needs is throughco-sponsorship, allocating funds, publicity tools, and production services togroups who wish to put on events but would otherwise be unable to do so. Wedo this not due to "pressure from the Union and the administration," asstated in the editorial, but because we want to help the campus. We havenever been pressured to do our job well, nor have we needed to be. The volunteer staff of Student Events works hard to plan fun and exciting programs for campus and always keeps the best interest of the student body in mind and looks forward to co-sponsoring programs as well. In the last year, we have contributed Student Events money and/or resources to the following events: Campus Camp Wellstone, Rosenball, Upperclassman Barbeque, Trisk's Halloween Dance, The Haunted Castle, Adagio Dancefest, Louispalooza, the Alumni Tailgate, Sundeis, Starving Artist's Semester Show, BTV's movies, the Vagina Monologue, Hillel's Purim Party, and many more. Student Events is always looking for unique programming for the Brandeis community that is reasonably priced and well-suited to the interests of students and the amount of programs can vary from year to year. While we are very fortunate to receive the Student Events Fee that creates our budget, it is difficult to "dramatically expand these activities" (as stated in The Justice article) under our current budget without compromising the goals Student Events has set-forth to meet, and being "allotted much less funding" would only further limit the number and quality of events on this campus which would include concerts and the film series. We hope that this brief response from Student Events has served to clarify some of the more complex points which The Justice editorial had raised. The more correct information we can provide to campus, the better we are able to serve you as a campus programming board. Please visit our website (www.brandeis.edu/studentevents) to offer suggestions, to volunteer to help at an event, to find out about any upcoming events or just to learn more about what we do on campus.Thank you for your time,Student Events Board
(10/18/05 4:00am)
To the Editor:As a male student at Brandeis, I take exception to many of the tenets of typicality set forth in Ilya Sobol's '08 Forum article. I am not offended by this piece as much as I am surprised by it.Ignoring the assumptions laid out in the title that there is a "typical college guy" and that this archetypal figure finds his motivation solely in a quest for sex, this stereotype does not hold, especially at Brandeis.What troubles me more is a set of norms that this article perpetuates. First, that every Friday begins with drinking and then proceeds to a party. Brandeis and the greater Boston area hold a myriad of cultural, artistic and social events each weekend. To limit oneself to "pre-gaming" and partying is a limited, and, in my experience, atypical state of mind for a Brandeis student. I take exception to the suggestion that an evening cannot be successful without sex. Ignoring the fact that Sobol mentions only heterosexual intercourse in his article, the argument still holds numerous flaws. Most importantly, it suggests that an evening of dancing, theater, spending time with friends, or (God forbid!) homework cannot satisfy a "typical college guy." To suggest this is an unfair (and ridiculous) generalization, and it does not do justice to the Brandeis community.The scariest element of this article is the portrayal of women, whom Sobol depicts as objects. This suggests that they serve at best as achievements for male students and at worst as their victims. The metaphor of sexual conquest as a game takes on dangerous undertones in this context, as this game takes place not between equal competitors or teammates, but rather between one player and a hapless target.This article perpetuates dangerous social norms. Though it contains a few humorous elements, it does not satisfy the reader as a satire. There is no shift in tone from the reasonable to the unreasonable. The author excuses the acts he outlines as necessary social rituals. He comes off as an apologist rather than a satirist. Although this may be the worldview of some, it hardly suffices to describe the "typical" male experience, the existence of which is debatable anyway. -Josh Gondelman ' 07
(10/18/05 4:00am)
To the Editor:This is the story of Brandeis on-campus life and quite frankly it's nothing short of pathetic. In the last issue of The Justice an article was published (Ilya Sobol's '08 Forum article, "In the eye of the typical college guy, it all boils down to sex") essentially giving an elaborate description of how the average college guy's night "wasn't worth it" if he didn't wake up in the morning next to that random girl. Quite frankly, it's a hilarious look into reality for quite a few guys between the arbitrary ages of say, 17 and 25. Then again, it is somehow apparently degrading to women, though the joke is clearly on the men who are being portrayed as the Shallow Hal's or Wedding Crasher's of society-none-the-less by a fellow boy!I must say, thank God I live off campus. I feel almost as if I was driven off because it is simply impossible to live in peace at Brandeis. Why, you ask? Well I'm here to tell you. It's simply because people have absolutely nothing better do to than sit around waiting for the next silly comment or Justice article to blow up at. I mean, come on, it's obviously all the girls who aren't getting laid that are offended, but they are clearly the ones who are too uptight to ever have fun regardless! Most guys are cracking up saying, "Well, it may be an exaggeration, but it's still pretty humorous to read." Brandeis is a school of two very distinct types of people and what I'm about to say flies in the face of everything I've ever said about Brandeis before. Those two groups are the "Sheltered Prudes" and then we have the "Hippies." Sadly, in this most recent case of The Justice simply doing its job and printing a student written piece for the Forum I must side with the hippies, something I never ever do. The moral of the story: Dudes, chill out. Go to Chums, have your pseudo-intellectual rants about how terrible the article was and go back to your lonely lives of making love to books. Sometimes that whole "tolerance and free speech" stuff we supposedly champion at Brandeis means hearing what you don't want to. Yah, you heard me and you read me-and you probably wish you hadn't by this point-but you did and now you've been tolerant. So shut up. C'est la vie.-Jason D. Levine '06
(10/18/05 4:00am)
A forum discussion and a guest lecture by the former Miss Rhode Island last week examined the mental well-being of college students as part of Mental Health Awareness Week. Both events were sponsored by the Active Minds at Brandeis club.Approximately a dozen students gathered last Monday night for an open discussion with Brandeis psychologist Roberta Caplan and Assistant Dean of Student Life Alwina Bennett. The forum focused its conversation on potential warning signs and contributing factors to student depression.Active Minds member Mary Schillinger '07 said the group discussed many issues that can cause personal depression. These included "cultural trends of our own society, as well as who to turn to when dealing with it," she said.Schillinger, who has dealt with depression herself, said the group discussed several "red flags" such as online journal entries that can often reveal an individual's "heart and soul." Bentley graduate and 2004 Miss Rhode Island Aimee Belisle spoke Tuesday evening about her personal experiences battling depression during her college years.While stressing that she was not advocating the use of any one specific type of treatment over another, Belisle emphasized the importance of seeking some form of outside help for depression. She said that college students in particular should take advantage of the resources available on university campuses. "My friend had to literally force me to go to the counseling services center to make an appointment with a therapist," she recalled. "I physically resisted him. But I'm glad he made me go."Belisle told the story of her own personal struggle with depression. After a friend urged her to consult a therapist during her junior year, Belisle was prescribed medication and began attending behavioral therapy sessions on a regular basis. She said these treatments helped to clear what she described as the mental "fog" brought on by her condition.While she noticed a change after the first two weeks of medication, Belisle said that her therapy had a more gradual effect. During sessions with her therapist, she learned important techniques for recognizing and avoiding destructive behavior and thoughts. For example, Belisle said, she and her therapist brainstormed ways to channel her negative thoughts and feelings into safe, healthy actions. When she felt the urge to cut herself, she would often scribble on a piece of paper instead.Belisle said she felt strongly that depression is a problem that can be overcome."You can be successful and fulfill all your dreams despite having a mental illness," she said. "You just have to acknowledge what you have and work on it."Julie Totten, president and founder of advocacy group Families for Depression Awareness, attended the event and spoke briefly before Belisle did. Totten's organization promotes education and discussion of issues concerning mental illness. Having founded the group after losing her brother to suicide, Totten said she hopes that by raising awareness of depression among young people, "this generation can break through the shell of stigma.
(10/11/05 4:00am)
Well clearly this is offensive. I beg to differ. Clearly it is not...This is the story of Brandeis on-campus life and quite frankly it's nothing short of pathetic. In the last issue of The Justice an article was published essentially giving an elaborate description of how the average college guy's night "wasn't worth it" if he didn't wake up in the morning next to that random girl. Quite frankly, it's a hilarious look into reality for quite a few guys between the arbitrary ages of say, 17 and 25. Then again, it is somehow apparently degrading to women, though the joke is clearly on the men who are being portrayed as the Shallow Hal's or Wedding Crasher's of society - none-the-less BY A FELLOW BOY!I must say, thank God I live off campus. I feel almost as if I was driven off because it is simply impossible to live in peace at Brandeis. Why, you ask? Well I'm here to tell you. It's simply because have absolutely nothing better do to than sit around waiting for the next silly comment or Justice article to blow up at. I mean, come on, it's obviously all the girls who aren't getting laid that are offended, but they are clearly the one's who are too up tight to ever have fun regardless! Most guys are cracking up saying, "Well, it may be an exaggeration, but it's still pretty humerous to read." Brandeis is a school of two very distinct types of people and what I'm about to say flies in the face of everything I've ever said about Brandeis before. Those two groups are the "Sheltered Prudes" and then we have the "Hippies." Sadly, in this most recent case of The Justice simply doing its job and printing a student written piece for the Forum I must side with the hippies, something I NEVER EVER do. The moral of the story: Dudes, chill out. Go to Chums, have your pseudo-intellectual rants about how terrible the article was and go back to your lonely lives of making love to books. Sometimes that whole "tolerance and free speech" stuff we supposedly champion at Brandeis means hearing what you don't want you. Yah, you heard me and you read me - and you probably wish you hadn't by this point - but you did and now you've been tolerant. So shut up. C'est la vie.Jason D. Levine '06
(09/27/05 4:00am)
Members of the Brandeis Israel Political Action Coalition (BIPAC) organized several campaign events in Somerville Thursday and Sunday in an effort to combat a petition that would force the city to liquidate any investments in Israel Bonds or companies that do business with Israel.BIPAC President Jacob Baime '08 said the group made the trips in response to a petition being circulated by the Somerville Divestment Project (SDP). The divestment group sought to obtain 4,000 signatures before a Monday deadline to add its divestment initiative to the town ballot in the November elections. At press time, it was unclear whether the necessary signatures had been collected or whether an appeals court would uphold the legality of the petition."We as Brandeis students are thrilled to do our part in this campaign," Baime said. "This is happening in our own backyard, and we feel a responsibility to take action."About half a dozen Brandeis students stood in the streets of Somerville Thursday and Sunday and conducted a phone drive in an effort to persuade Somerville residents to withhold support for SDP's campaign. Baime said BIPAC hopes to send several activists to Somerville today, when thousands of residents will be going to the polls to vote in a special election for their state senator.Divestment first became an issue in Somerville last spring, when a resolution to divest the city's $1.4 million in Israeli assets was defeated 10-0-1 by the city council. SDP then began a new effort to have a divestment initiative placed on the ballot for elections next November. The Somerville Coalition for Middle East Peace challenged the legality of SDP's petition, arguing that it was one-sided and improperly formatted under Massachusetts law, and a judge upheld the Coalition's argument Thursday, allowing the city to throw out the petitions. An appeal of the decision is pending and the SDP has continued its signature-collection campaign.SDP argues in its mission statement that Israel has committed human rights violations against the Palestinian people. The document draws comparisons between Israel and apartheid South Africa, whose regime crumbled after a successful global divestment campaign in the late 1980s. According to the statement, the group "believe[s] that the residents of Somerville will be on the right side of history and will not allow funds to be connected to gross violations of international law, and racist policies against Palestinians."A member of the Somerville Coalition strongly rejected these arguments, saying that "the people of Somerville want to be more engaged in the region, not less, in terms of municipal investments ... [divestment] sends the wrong message at the wrong time. It's unbalanced, one sided and not constructive for peace."For BIPAC member Alex Fineburg '08, who traveled to Somerville on Thursday to distribute fliers at a local train stop and make phone calls to families in the area, the trips were an opportunity to "give [Somerville residents] information, ask for their support and get polling information.""I genuinely felt our efforts were successful when people stopped to ask us questions about what was going on," Fineburg said. "Having an open dialogue about what was going on was the most rewarding aspect of the engagement."Fineburg said the students found the climate civil and respectful for most of the evening, with the exception of an elderly man who Fineburg said became enraged when told why the group was there. When Fineburg attempted to engage the man in discussion, he reportedly began to scream condemnations of Jews and of Israel.Despite this encounter, students said they felt the experience was a positive one. The member of the Somerville Coalition had nothing but praise for the Brandeis volunteers."Students from Brandeis were extremely helpful," he said. "They did a terrific job, were enthusiastic and highly valuable to the campaign."Another divestment debate sparked a campus uproar in March 2004, when Hillel boycotted a public forum on divestment hosted by the Brandeis Debate and Speech Society. The Debate and Speech Society had initially asked Hillel to co-sponsor the event, but Hillel rejected the invitation.Then-Hillel President Rachel Silverman '04 wrote in a letter to the Justice that "debating the idea of divestment from Israel is anti-Semitic in the same way that debating the idea of segregated classrooms is racist.
(09/27/05 4:00am)
Sorry for such a short litany of complaints about Brandeis this week. Terrible troublesome TAsI pay $40,000 to attend Brandeis University. Well, actually, I don't pay $40,000, but my mother does. So it annoys me every so often to hear a self-righteous know-it-all-who goes to classes himself and has yet to achieve anything close to a Master's degree-stand in front of the class and lecture me instead of the highly-trained professor. Our beloved TAs are, for the most part, great people. They work hard like us, they know the pain we go through when it comes to listening to some professors and they want to help us. Some of them are so very nice. But occasionally I get some dud who takes himself so seriously that he actually starts playing the role of "professor." I certainly do not pay $40,000 to have a professor duck out of his responsibilities and put in his place a guy who thinks he is the cutest thing since Katie Holmes. I would rather stick a professor in front of me and watch him sleep, drink booze or tell World War II stories in a physics class then have some macho TA lecturer who acts like he knows what he is talking about when I hired the professor, not him, to do just that! You all know what I am talking about. You always have that TA who grades you really harshly and makes snide comments, while on the other side of the room sits the TA who gives his group of students brownies, big hugs and A+ on their papers. In most cases I get the bad end of the stick. It's the story of my life. What can I say? Asinine Aramark additionsIf you guys have not noticed, the health brigade at Brandeis has put up signs in Sherman just to make us feel guilty. You can see signs like "Have some lean turkey today" or "Eat salad: It's fast, it's healthy, it's delicious!" I am at college. I don't eat healthily. I don't have time to eat healthy, eating healthy tastes terrible, and because it tastes terrible I don't want to eat healthy. OK?But worse than this is the choice of music put on by our beloved Sherman manager Aaron. He is a darling of a man who takes his job very seriously. He could do a little something with that moustache of his, but that's unnecessary.Anyway, Aaron financed a new stereo system in Sherman, which, in theory, would work magic. You could have a Mexican-themed night or a chilled-out smooth jazz night or-my favorite-a Barry Manilow tribute. But instead, the pigs at Aramark have decided to play either blaring hiphop or this awful music played by complete and utter tools. Message to my dear friend: Change the music or find a new customer! Or, in case that you don't change the music, Aaron, can I least have the next dance?
(09/20/05 4:00am)
I believe in intelligent design, the theory that an intelligent (or godly) being contributed to the creation of the universe. Eighty-four percent of contributors to a Beliefnet poll also agree with me, proving this belief is far from rare. A Pew Forum poll found that two-thirds of the American people also support the teaching of intelligent design or other forms of creationism in science classes along with evolution. While I am a believer in intelligent design, I am also a strong supporter of the separation of church and state. Efforts to bring religion and creationism into classrooms have existed for hundreds of years. The American people still haven't reached an understanding of what this entails. I believe it is perfectly acceptable to teach creationism in history classes and, of course, in comparative religion classes-that is its proper place. The debate has become whether creationist theories are regarded as purely faith, even by the theories' proponents, or if these beliefs are proclaimed to be science. Scientific creationism and intelligent design build on evolution and then attempt to explain its faults. Some believers extend the level of intelligent or divine intervention to the start of life, or all throughout the evolution process. The debate has come along way from the Scopes "Monkey" Trial, when teaching evolution was illegal, but scientific creationists still claim that they have a constitutional right to have their beliefs taught. The focus has become equal time for differing ideas, not the reason for their differences. The fundamental component of creationism or intelligent design is the role of a divine being; empirical evidence may not be able to refute these theories, but it does not explicitly prove them. The issue remains one of faith, relying on a personal trust that something unexplainable is the cause. The point of teaching evolution is not to discredit creationism or intelligent design, or to dissuade those who believe in these theories; the aim is to educate all students about the theory of evolution supported by scientists and proven through research and analysis. It is important not to teach evolution dogmatically, but to make it clear that there are many instances of evidence supporting it.The focus of the controversy centers around public high school science classes, because of constitutionality issues with religion and state sponsored institutions. Out of curiosity I looked at some college biology sites and I was surprised to find that some institutes of higher education discredit, or at least question, the theory of evolution. While private institutions have no constraints on what they teach, I was under the incorrect impression that even religious private schools would be embracing evolution.Conservative and religious schools such as Grove City College and Brigham Young University had no overt emphasis promoting creationist theories. However, Wheaton College quotes Genesis 1:1, "In the beginning God created the heaven and the Earth," at the top of its biology page; Bob Jones University has links for "The Christian Teaching of Science" and "BJU and Creationism" as related resources. Even Yeshiva University, known for a "cynical indifference" toward secular subjects (according a US News and World Report article), has an evolution class which looks mostly at evolution for its historical and social significance, rather than its validity as a scientific theory. Brandeis, like government, is without an established religion or restrictions on personal religious choices. Despite a strong religious community and the University's ties to religion, Brandeis has classes in all forms of hard sciences, including evolutionary biology. Religion classes discuss creationism in the religious sense, and social science classes discuss the significance of the debate on society, but evolution never stopped being a hard science. One may believe in God, in science, in the Flying Spaghetti Monster, or all three, but there is a proper place and time to address each of these differing views.
