(03/21/06 5:00am)
To the Editor: An article was published last week about both a student event and a student movement ("Group provides relief for hunger, disease and illiteracy in Africa," March 14 issue). Unfortunately, the two were unjustly morphed into one. I am the co-chairman of the Brandeis Social Justice Committee (SJC), a subsidiary of the Student Union. I have devoted the last two months of my life to creating something that this campus has sorely needed, a place for activists to unite their different causes. With great support from the highest levels of the Student Union, the Brandeis Pluralism Alliance and activist leaders, the SJC hosted the first annual Brandeis Activist Gala. This Gala brought together over 70 core members of the activist community and Student Union officials. However, there was no adequate news coverage for this event, except for a misleading article that mentioned the Gala only as an afterthought. Student leaders from the Activist Resource Center, Students for a Just Society, the Radical Students Alliance, the Brandeis Labor Coalition, Student Global Aid Campaign, Students Take Action Now: Darfur, Democracy for America, 'Deis for Deval and Positive Foundations all addressed the audience. The theme of continued energy and support for each other's efforts became the centerpiece of a very successful and empowering event. The Gala's featured project was the Millennium Project, a global initiative to end extreme poverty (not just in Africa). Positive Foundations and a SJC co-chairman, Sam Vaghar '08, are spearheading this movement. As the Gala was meant to be a forum on various issues and projects within the community, the Millennium Project was chosen as a feature because it was perceived to have a uniquely broad appeal to many organizations. Although the SJC does see poverty as one of the world's greatest injustices, this project is just one of the many which the SJC intends to support. This fact was somewhat misrepresented in last week's article. The SJC is also working with the Student Global Aids Campaign on instituting campus-wide HIV testing and the Brandeis Labor Coalition on aiding Aramark employee contract negotiations.I agree with previous letters that Student activism is very much "alive and well" at Brandeis. It is in that spirit that the Activist Gala must be recognized as an important event for the solidarity of activism in all of its forms.-Jamie Ansorge '09
(03/21/06 5:00am)
Members of the Activist Resource Center are campaigning to turn a vacant space across from the Village Quad fitness center into a meeting place for student activist clubs. Students will be able to write in suggestions for the room in a poll during Wednesday's Student Union election. The debate gained gained steam after the Union opened an online forum to discuss how to use the space. The space has been unoccupied since 2003 when the building was completed, Chief Operating Officer Peter French said. The space was left empty because the project budget could not cover its completion at the time. ARC coordinator Josh Russell '06 said a lack of club space on campus has left over 19 political and activist clubs without a place to meet or store club materials. "This is a real need," he said.While STAND coordinator Weldon Kennedy '06 stores STAND material in his car, Russell said he uses his own closet as storage space for the Radical Student Alliance. Michelle Feldman '08, a campus activist said Democracy for America and the Radical Student Alliance meet in the Castle Commons because they have nowhere else to meet. "An activist center would alleviate some of that pressure, but it would also encourage cooperation between these groups," she said. "[There's] a general need for a central location," said Jamie Ansorge '09, co-chairman of the Brandeis Social Justice committee, who is also the director of legislative affairs for the Brandeis Democrats and the campus coordinator for Democracy Matters. "ARC wanted to make that their focus and we support them 100 percent."In addition to serving as a meeting place, the space could include a social justice library, materials on ongoing projects, a calendar of all activist events and contact information for club leaders, Ansorge said. Russell said ARC has been without an office since moving to the Shapiro Campus Center when the building was completed in the fall of 2002. ARC members have been circulating a petition among activist clubs to sign onto the effort, and once they see the results of Wednesday's poll, they plan to meet with administrators. "We've been doing a lot of work trying to connect clubs, but we're sort of at an impasse until we have a physical space," Russell said. Russell said the space is in line with activist principles, as it is both handicap accessible and has card access, making it an accessible space to all. Sarah Blaker '07 agreed that activists need a central location, but said the Village space is more residential, and that perhaps Shapiro or Usdan would be better-suited to activist headquarters. She said she would like to start a bakery- jokingly dubbed "the Blakery"-in the space, to be run and managed solely by students. She said the campus needs a space open when other dining locations are closed. "On the surface, it sounds really good," Russell said, but noted that non-Aramark options do already exist nearby. He added that an activist space and a student-run eatery are not mutually exclusive, adding that ARC has discussed opening a Fair Trade certified caf in the space. French said that while the University originally considered putting a caf or convenience store in the space, the small size of the Brandeis community means that "there simply would not be enough foot traffic to support such a commercial venture." Still, French said he was open to the idea of a late-night eatery. Assistant Dean of Student Life Alwina Bennet said a new dining location might be unrealistic. "I cannot imagine how much work it would be to coordinate [and] manage a food service operation in this space," Bennett said.Director of Union Affairs Aaron Gaynor '07 said that any plans for the Village space are still in their early stages and that it would be premature for the Student Union to make an official declaration in favor of any proposal. Gaynor said the Union's concern is that the space be utilized by as many students as possible. "We don't want its use to be too narrow," he said.Some students said the space should be incorporated into the Village for living space. "What this school really needs, in the sense that it can't continue to function well without it, [is] housing," Alan Meyerson '08 said. He said the University should not "cave into special interests" by allocating the space to specific clubs or organizations. Russell said the ARC has been meeting with administrators and hopes to have a space in Usdan by the end of the year as another possible solution.
(03/07/06 5:00am)
Editors everywhere have spent the last few weeks deciding how to report on the firestorm of often violent protests over cartoons of Muhammad that were published in several European newspapers. The media response has been almost as complex and disquieting as the maelstrom itself. The central question editors faced was whether to publish the cartoons that inspired this outrage. Many shied away. Locally, The Boston Globe refused to print them, shrinking from the task for the sake of "tolerance." Meanwhile, the alternative weekly, The Boston Phoenix, took an oddly upfront, but possibly overblown, approach by printing an empty black box alongside the editorial and saying the paper felt intimidated by "radical and bloodthirsty Islamists.""As we feel forced, literally, to bend to maniacal pressure, this may be the darkest moment in our 40-year publishing history," The Phoenix wrote.At least six college newspapers have entered the fray by printing the cartoons. There is a temptation to say, as The Phoenix did this week, "Score one for uppity, principled 22-year-olds."But exactly what principles led college papers to publish these cartoons? Since the resignation of several editors from the national paper The New York Press to protest their publisher's decision to yank the cartoons from an issue about the controversy, printing the cartoons-or fighting to do so-has stopped being about the violence in Europe, and has become merely an assertion of the sanctity of the First Amendment. Such assertions are expected from college publications like the conservative Harvard Salient-one of the six in the country to print the cartoons-whose editorial mission includes an ideological stance. But that cannot be said for other university papers whose general interest content and representative coverage make them forums and sources of news for communities that extend over ideological borders-papers like The Daily Illini at the University of Illinois. Under the guise of stirring discourse about the passionate and bloody reaction, the Illini's cavalier editor in chief and opinion editor published six of the 12 cartoons. But by fanning the flames of controversy, they rendered their opinion section unable to create the very discourse that they sought to engender. The issue argued in its pages-and on campus-became not about this serious global conflict, but about whether The Daily Illini made the right decision in printing the cartoons. It was now personalized-it became about that newspaper's decision and that campus's reaction. Initially, the decision of whether to publish was a tug-of-war between smarting the already wounded sensibilities of Muslims and a feeling that the public should see what exactly was causing this crisis.But it has become something else: a diversion from the real story. You will not see these cartoons in our pages. Originally, we reasoned that although there would come a point at which talking about something without showing it would be ridiculous, our coverage did not reach that point. Now, it's because printing the cartoons has become part of the story. And, in order to cover that story and in order for our community members to comment on it freely-we need to keep our distance.
(02/14/06 5:00am)
The twenty-three female cast members of The Vagina Monologues who filed onto the stage of the Shapiro Campus Center Theater Sunday night did so as one, clad in elegant outfits that accentuated their differences even as the identical shades of black and gold lent them an air of solidarity. So began the Vagina Club's annual production of Eve Ensler's controversial play, a collection of genital-themed interviews with women representing a multitude of ages, sexual orientations, races, ethnicities and backgrounds, read off of cue cards to further emphasize the reality of the stories.This marks the fifth year The Vagina Monologues has been performed at Brandeis, always in honor of V-Day, Ensler's reinvention of Valentine's Day as a global movement to stop violence against women. In honor of the event, the Vagina Club has vowed to donate all proceeds from the play to both the Boston Area Rape Crisis Center (BARCC) and organizations supporting this year's V-Day cause: assisting the surviving "comfort women" who were forced to serve as sexual slaves to Japanese soldiers during the Asia/Pacific Wars between 1932 and 1945.Each piece contributes to the general purpose of attempting to remove the "darkness and secrecy" surrounding the vagina, which is viewed as a taboo, almost dirty subject for discussion by nearly every society; however, the monologues are as varied as the women themselves. They can be poignant, as was "The Flood," the tale of one old woman (read with a perfect quivering scold by Sarah Krevsky '08) who rejected what her vagina had to offer decades ago; funny, as was the artsy and breathy "The Vagina Workshop" (performed by Gillian Richter '09); defiantly vulgar (unfortunately, we can't print the vaginal synonym which Aileen Gleizer '08 encouraged the audience to yell at full volume in the monologue of the same name); and beyond.At its most effective, though, The Vagina Monologues acts as nothing short of a rallying cry to action. In "Say It," Amanda DiSanto '09, Ma'ayan Friedman '09, Erika Geller '09, Hilary Spear '08 and Xela Stitz '06 made the theme of V-Day 2006 come utterly alive, taking on the roles of several comfort women as they pleaded, demanded and even screamed for justice. Nor could many members of the audience remain unmoved during Sanhita Choudhury's '07 and Barri Yanowitz's '06 electrifying rendition of "My Vagina Was My Village," the harrowing account of a Bosnian woman who was savagely raped by a band of soldiers. As Choudhury spoke of the idyllic imagery with which the woman once viewed her vagina, Yanowitz responded with a graphic description of the bloody aftermath, powerfully imposing a realization of the physical agony of the act.Independent of the wonderful performance itself, however, there is something about The Vagina Monologues itself that I find a little... well, disquieting. As a woman, I recognize the play's intention to serve as a healing balm for millennia of violence and repression, but as a critic, I question any play that defies, by its very nature, any negative comments about its style or content. Since the play's theme is one of empowerment to say the forbidden, let those involved allow, rather than reflexively attack, the inquiring spirit with which this proud feminist offers the following thoughts:The women's rights movement is one that seeks to lift up an entire gender, so that women may be defined not only by their physical form and traditional place in society, but by what they can do and what they can be. This concept is indeed explored within The Vagina Monologues, but it is always, unrelentingly, seen through a sexualized lens. I find it hard to see the pivotal importance, for example, of discussing whether an anthropomorphic vagina would be more likely to wear a leopard hat or sweatpants, as Lindsay Donohue '07, Samantha Hermann '07 and Miriam Sievers '06 pondered in "The 'Wear' and 'Say' List." On the contrary, it seems to point back to the same phenomenon about which the recently passed Betty Friedan warned in her vital book The Feminine Mystique: that modern women, long defined as purely sexual beings, are in danger of focusing obsessively on their sexual liberation, without giving a fair share to other areas (professional, cultural, educational) of equal or greater importance.It is excellent that women have such a wonderful outlet as The Vagina Monologues to express their sexual wants, thoughts, needs and fears in a public forum, but especially on this day, V-Day, women must take care not to let the vagina symbolize the entire woman-body, mind, soul and heart. Vagina-gazing should not, and must not, become the new navel-gazing.Editor's note: Samantha Hermann '07 is a staff writer for the Justice.
(01/17/06 5:00am)
Human rights activist Prof. Kanan Makiya (IMES) has spent most of the last four years in his native Iraq gathering evidence and accounts of human rights abuses committed under Saddam Hussein's Ba'th Party regime. He returns to Brandeis this semester to teach "Describing Cruelty" (NEJS), which he said explores the importance of remembering and memorializing cruelty. He will also teach a new course on the post-Saddam era titled "War and Reconstruction in Iraq" (NEJS). "It's useful to take [the course] both for myself and for the students, to sit there and reflect on the last three years," Makiya said.As the founder and president of the Baghdad-based Iraq Memory Foundation, Makiya said that over the last three years, he and his team have amassed approximately 11 million Ba'th Party documents, primarily from the party's intelligence services, have conducted around 100 interviews with survivors of atrocities and have collected between 50 and 60 pieces of artwork on "cruelty, violence, war, [and] uprising" by Iraqi artists."This is an enormous archive that will shape how future generations remember the Saddam era, remember what the war was all about and also begin to shape who they are in relation to that past," Makiya said. The foundation is an outgrowth of the Iraq Research and Documentation Project (IRDP) at Harvard University, which Makiya began in 1992 to collect evidence of human rights violations committed under Saddam's regime since the first Persian Gulf War. Makiya was granted extended leave from Brandeis in 2002 to relocate the research program to Iraq.Makiya said he is looking forward to returning to teaching. "While I've had a very exciting four years it's going to be very interesting to try to bring that to bear in the classroom," he said. As the foundation of research in Iraq is in good shape right now, he said, he can afford to be away for a few months. "I felt Brandeis had been very generous in allowing me without questions to stay away for so long and it was time to come back." As a principal author of the draft Iraqi constitution following the war and the convener of the Human Rights Committee in the Iraqi National Congress in 1992, Makiya said it was his duty to return to Iraq and hear victims of the regime express "the real experience of Iraq" and help create a new identity outside of the "rhetoric of the Ba'th Party [and] nationalist mythologies." "I'd been an important person in the argument for the removal of this regime so going back was not even a choice," Makiya said. Additionally, the foundation has aired 40 interviews with survivors on Iraqi television, and is in the process of working on 50 more interviews. "We'll have 100 in-depth interviews with individuals who've suffered terrible, terrible pain and cruelty in their lives." Makiya said in the next few months the foundation will also make its holdings available to scholars and researchers over the Arabic and English translated Web site, which already has an active discussion forum. Continuing as president of the foundation, Makiya plans to visit Baghdad for ten days during the mid-semester break. "I think that should just allow me to do what I have to do," he said. University President Jehuda Reinharz, "delighted" that Makiya is returning to Brandeis, wrote in an e-mail to the Justice that Makiya's knowledge of human rights abuses under Saddam's regime and his experience creating the Iraqi constitution offer a magnificent learning opportunity. "Students will gain a unique first hand perspective from his experience as one who has been involved in the day-to-day struggles of the Iraqi people during and after Saddam." Makiya is the author of three books, including Republic of Fear, a 1989 bestseller, and Cruelty and Silence: War, Tyranny, Uprising and the Arab World, which received the 1993 Lionel Gelber Prize for the best book on international relations in English.
(01/17/06 5:00am)
Last Friday, student newspapers across the country finally heard the result of a lawsuit that has been pending for two-and-a-half years. The players: The Harvard Crimson newspaper and Harvard University. The background: The Crimson requested records related to incidents reported in the Harvard University police log, and that request was denied. The argument: Harvard University Police, because endowed with the same powers as a municipal police force, should be obliged to release police records that would be considered public information in any city in Massachusetts. The verdict of the Supreme Judicial Court: A loss for The Crimson, a win for Harvard University. The law stands as it always has: Private university police are part of a "private institution," and therefore not obligated to disclose the same level of information to the community. Thankfully, campus police are required to release certain crime statistics, according to the Clery Act, a federal law passed in 1998.The Justice grappled with this issue all too painfully last semester with a forum piece about alleged rape on campus; this bizarre loophole in public disclosure law makes up just one level of the legislative quagmire that paralyzes college newspapers throughout the country. Complicated privacy laws layer upon complicated privacy laws, to the effect that administrators-often not absolutely sure themselves what they might be liable for-do their best avoid inquiries from college newspapers. Despite The Crimson's admirable efforts, the Justice, and other campus publications, will still find their investigative articles stymied by one more legislative roadblock.One person not disappointed by the court's verdict is Robert W. Iuliano, Harvard's general counsel. "The opinion upholds the University's decision to protect our students' privacy," he told The Crimson.The logic behind this reasoning is baffling, to say the least: The media circus that often follows an appalling crime is indeed unfortunate for the victim, but the Supreme Judicial Court long ago declared that information about crimes is important for the community to know, despite the victim's discomfort. So why don't University students, faculty and staff also deserve the right to know what transpires in their community?A cynic would suggest that the tight-lipped approach of universities like Harvard and Brandeis is not so much inspired by a kindly concern for their students' privacy, but rather by a cold, hard, capitalist reality. The more visible university crimes are, the less attractive schools become to prospective students and donors. Crimson President Lauren Schuker, Harvard class of 2006, told the Justice the verdict was "disappointing news," and said "things like rape and assault probably happen all the time," and it was frustrating not to be able to report on them because of lack of access to police records. The fight is far from over, however. Ms. Schuker said The Crimson hopes to collaborate with Massachusetts State Senator Jarrett T. Barrios, who has already introduced a potential bill forcing campus police departments around the state to release more detailed crime reports. If a new case on the matter is opened, as Ms. Schuker hopes will take place this spring, the Justice will stand fully behind The Crimson both on this page and in the courtroom.
(01/17/06 5:00am)
The Justice is not my newspaper-it's yours.The Shapiro Campus Center is almost always bustling, even at 2 a.m. when Java City closes. Between countless club activities, students studying into ungodly hours of the night and new buildings rising by the handful, I see Brandeis as a place of dedication and excitement.The Justice does its best to capture this energy and preserve it in print.We have covered campus news for 57 years, and I am proud to continue that tradition as the paper's newest editor in chief.The Justice office was one of the first things I saw when I arrived at Brandeis. Wide-eyed and enthusiastic after a sportswriting internship at a newspaper in Worcester, I was ready to help represent the school. But I never could have anticipated the extent to which my life would be swept into serving the campus community through journalism. After working as a sports writer, sports editor and deputy editor, my peers elected me to my current position in November, and I am ecstatic at the opportunity to make the Justice a newspaper everyone in the community can look to with pride.But this cannot be accomplished without your help. I want to know what you want from your newspaper, and how you think the Justice can better serve you.Although a newspaper can never please its entire readership, there are many ways to make sure the Justice represents you. I openly welcome criticism of the Justice, no matter how large or small. You can e-mail me anytime at justeditor@brandeis.edu, or come to my office hours, held Wednesdays from 2:30 to 3:30 p.m. in the Justice office, on the second floor of the Shapiro Campus Center.And if you would like to voice your opinion about the Justice in print, send us a letter to the editor for publication. As long as it meets our very basic guidelines (responding directly to an article, 400 words or less), we print every letter we receive. Furthermore, everyone has the right to compose an op-ed of general interest to the community, although space in the forum section for this is generally more competitive. Letters can be e-mailed to justletters@brandeis.edu or submitted on our Web site, thejusticeonline.com, and op-eds can be e-mailed to justforum@courier.brandeis.edu.The Justice is not perfect. But we are strongly committed to producing a newspaper deserving of our readership. I invite you to look at our corrections box every week on page two. If there's an error we've missed, you can point it out by e-mailing justcorrections@ brandeis.edu.And although we work tirelessly to find the stories that inform you, there are always things we miss. You can always contact our news editors, Rachel Marder and Noah Bein, with any tips at justnews@brandeis.edu. The greatest way to help, though, is to come join us. Everyone is welcome, and from reporting to writing, photography, illustrating, advertising and helping us with countless other tasks, there is no shortage of help needed at the Justice. No matter your experience, you are welcome, provided you come with the desire to improve, and to help the Justice improve. I invite everyone to attend our recruitment night next Tuesday at 8 p.m. in the Shapiro Campus Center Atrium.Journalism, though too often viewed in a negative light, still serves a noble purpose at its root: to inform citizens so that they may be knowledgeable members of society, and to act as a watchdog on large powers, be they governments or any other entities. I am proud to serve this role at a university as unique as Brandeis, and to work every week to bring you the news you need. I'll see you on page one.
(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
