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Brandeis University’s Independent Student Newspaper Since 1949 | Waltham, MA

Allyson Cartter

Articles

PJ Dickson leaves Academic Advising for Bentley offices

by Allyson Cartter | 12/11/2012

P.J. Dickson, director of Class-Based Academic Advising and coordinator of First-Year Academic Programming, will be leaving Brandeis on Friday for his new roles as the assistant dean of Academic Services and the director of the Advising Center at Bentley University. Dickson also supervises the Roosevelt Fellows academic peer mentoring program and is the academic advisor for students with last names beginning with letters L through Q. According to Dean of Academic Services Kim Godsoe, a search to fill his position has begun. "We have a good application pool, and we're starting interviews," she said. Until the position is filled, students with last names L through Q may see Godsoe or any of the other four class-based advisors, she continued. According to an email from Dickson, Assistant Director of Class-Based Advising Katie McFaddin and Senior Department Coordinator Talia Abrahams, who have jointly supervised the Roosevelt Fellows program with Dickson this semester, will take over his role with the program. In an interview with the Justice, Dickson said that some of his "day-to-day responsibilities" in his position at Bentley, which is also located in Waltham, will be the same as he performed at Brandeis.

Amendments lead to little change in senator attendance

by Allyson Cartter | 12/04/2012

On Oct. 28 the Senate passed two amendments to the Student Union Constitution that addressed the lack of attendance at Senate meetings. Vice President Gloria Park '13 said in an interview with the Justice that there has not been a notable difference in attendance since the amendments were passed, but senators "have been more attentive in explaining why they're missing a meeting." The first amendment stipulates that senators with three or more unexcused absences per semester will be removed from the position, and the second allows senators to vote by proxy. There had previously been a system for recording excused and unexcused absences but no penalty system in place, said Class of 2013 Senator David Fisch in an interview. Fisch is a member of the Ways and Means Committee, which proposed the amendments. Should a senator be removed from the position, the student with the second-most votes in the original election would be given the opportunity to fill the position. If abstain had received the second-most votes or if the student with the second-most votes does not want the position, the seat will remain unfilled until elections the following semester, according to Class of 2014 Senator and Executive Senator Ricky Rosen, who also chairs the Ways and Means Committee. The amendment aims to "ensure that students who had an active interest in serving on the Senate still ha[ve] an opportunity to participate, namely, when a Senator is not performing his or her duties," said Rosen in an email to the Justice. Senators with excused absences may vote by email or video-chat on amendments, Senate Money Resolutions and clubs that have been discussed at previous meetings, according to Rosen. "[W]e didn't want to penalize senators who had excused absences that they could anticipate a week or so in advance," Rosen wrote. A primary concern for low attendance is that the Senate will not reach quorum, defined as half of the senators plus one, or 12 of the 23 senators, according to Park.

Heller professor analyzes election

by Allyson Cartter | 11/20/2012

Last Tuesday Prof. Michael Doonan Ph.D. '02 (Heller) offered an analysis of the recent elections in a presentation titled "Election 2012: The President, Congress and Social Policy Implications" at the Heller School for Social Policy and Management. The event was part of the Tuesday Talks series in which Heller faculty members and researchers offer presentations on select Tuesdays, as described on the Heller website. Doonan began by asking the audience for types of public policy they saw in the presidential election race.

Gittler Prize awarded to Stanford sociologist

by Allyson Cartter | 11/20/2012

Last Thursday, Stanford Prof. Doug McAdam spoke in Rapaporte Treasure Hall about the role of race in contemporary and historical American politics and how it will factor into the future of the Republican Party as he accepted the fourth annual Joseph B.

IGS hosts discussion on global cities

by Allyson Cartter | 11/12/2012

Last Wednesday the International and Global Studies Program hosted an event titled "The New Global Cities: Poverty, Opportunity and Improvised Urban Lives" in which panelists discussed social tensions and disparities in three growing cities. The event was part of the IGS Conversations series, which was instituted last year.

Altman to lead state health care committee

by Allyson Cartter | 11/06/2012

Prof. Stuart Altman (Heller) has been appointed by Gov. Deval Patrick as chair of the newly instituted state Health Policy Commission, an 11-member board that has been charged with "setting health care spending goals and tracking providers' progress toward reducing costs," according to a Nov.

German legislator talks to ENVS class

by Allyson Cartter | 11/06/2012

Last Friday Prof. Charles Chester (ENVS) and Prof. Sabine von Mering (GER) hosted Hermann Ott, a Green Party member of the German Parliament in Berlin, via Skype videoconference in Chester's "ENVS 2a: Fundamentals of Environmental Challenges" class to discuss the political role of environmental issues in Germany versus in the United States. The discussion was the final lecture event in the Think Transatlantic!

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