|
$2M
allocated for improvements
By
Arye Elfenbein
Justice
Editorial Board
In
an effort to fund campus-wide improvement initiatives, the Board of Trustees
has allocated $2 million
dollars for the current academic year and $2 million for the next academic
year.
Although
no definitive plan of allocation has been established for the funds,
potential areas of development currently under consideration include
security upgrades, renovations of residence hall bathrooms, replacement of
old furniture, an upgrade of classroom facilities and an upgrade of
Facilities Services, according to Dean of Student Affairs Rod Crafts.
The
second $2 million will be used to continue these initiatives with an
emphasis on residence halls, according to Executive Vice President and Chief
Operating Officer Peter French. “This is all part of the vision that
Jehuda (Reinharz) has laid out for the University,” he said.
The
University has accumulated between $80 million and $90 million in deferred
maintenance costs, according to French. “This (fund approved by the Board
of Trustees) almost doubles the amount we are spending on deferred
maintenance for fiscal year 2000,” he said.
While
the combined $4 million represents a step toward minimizing the
University’s deferred maintenance backlog, French said these funds are not
sufficient to solve the problem. “It’s a start to addressing the
deferred maintenance of the University, but we have to do much, much more.
We should be spending more than $10 million a year in order to slow the
growth of deferred maintenance,” he said.
Among
the initiatives presently under consideration for the newly allocated funds
are the creation of a 24-hour Facilities Services response to work orders
and the installation of an Internet-based work order form. “We are trying
to make Facilities Services as responsive as possible,” Assistant Vice
President of Facilities Services Ruth Iannazzo said. “We believe that we
will be able to have the web-based work order forms available some time in
the spring semester of this (academic) year,” she added.
Another
planned initiative is the installation of identification card-activated door
locks. According to Director of University Services Mark Collins, several
logistical issues must be resolved before installation, and the new locks
will most likely not be in place before next fall.
“We
are still going to have key access in addition to card access,” Collins
said, citing specific concerns of the Orthodox Jewish community regarding
electricity use. An upgrade of the campus blue light system, the
installation of new alarms and the evaluation of several specific areas of
improvement will also be considered as possible safety improvements
supported by the new fund, according to Crafts.
Discussions
are underway between the Office of Student Affairs, Facilities Services and
Academic Affairs to decide the specifics of fund allocation, according to
French.
Community
enjoys new Family Weekend programs
By
Yanna Krupnikov
Justice
Staff
This
weekend 600 families descended on the campus as Brandeis University hosted
Family Weekend ’99: On the Town.
This
year’s Family Weekend featured many new programs that were introduced
based on feedback received from past Family Weekends.
Konika Jain ’01, evaluation coordinator for the program,
conducted an evaluation of past weekends by speaking with both family
members and past volunteers.
“Probably
the two most frequent comments that we heard from parents were that they
wanted to meet more faculty members and that they liked spending some time
during the weekend off-campus,” Family Weekend Coordinator Jennifer Greif
’00 explained.
As
a result of feedback, this year’s Family Weekend featured a department
open house, which allowed families to interact with Brandeis faculty members
in an informal setting.
Another
new event was the first ever off-campus Family Weekend program: an organized
trip to see Joey and Maria’s Comedy Wedding in Boston on Friday. The event
was organized by Casey Ngo ’01, off-campus programming coordinator, and
was a “huge success,” according to Greif.
One
of the highlights of the weekend was “Puttin’ on the Ritz,” a casino
night and dance of the decades, held Saturday night. Although there was no
real-money gambling, there were several prizes raffled off at the end of the
night. During the dance of the decades, the DJ quizzed parents on trivia and
held contests about each decade.
More
than 500 people attended the casino night, and 1,500 participants registered
for the weekend.
Family
Weekend also offered many lectures throughout the day on Saturday, as well
as the traditional brunch on Sunday morning.
As
coordinator of the weekend, Greif was excited to see the 10 months of work
she and the core committee put into the weekend coming together.
“We
are exited about all of the events being offered,” she said. “A
tremendous amount of time and energy has gone into making every bit of the
weekend successful.”
The
parents who came to campus to participate in Family Weekend
’99 also echoed this excitement.
“We
are really glad for this chance to come to Brandeis,” Paul Zarrilli, who
traveled from Pennsylvania to
visit his daughter Kate Zarrilli ’02, said.
“And
we are really glad the focus is on families and not just parents,” Mary
Zarrilli added.
Janna
Cohen-Rosenthal ’03, whose parents came from New York for the weekend,
explained that her mother was especially interested in the lectures offered
on Saturday and the academic side of Brandeis.
“She
really felt like she was taking part in my academic experience,”
Cohen-Rosenthal explained.
Jaime
Koff ’03 also was glad for a chance to show her family around campus.
“Family
Weekend allowed my parents to see what my life is like here,” she said.
Reinharz
apologizes
By
David Dagan
Justice
Staff
In
his second visit with the Union Senate in as many weeks, President Jehuda
Reinharz stood by his plan to establish a new, top-level administrative
position. However, he apologized for not consulting more with students and
asked for further input from them.
Speaking
at a Wednesday night meeting of the Union Senate, Reinharz acknowledged that
he had not adequately consulted the Brandeis community before announcing his
decision to create a new vice president position to coordinate student
services.
“I
probably should have spent more time talking to you first. It was my
mistake. I admit it,” Reinharz said, in response to criticism from student
senators. “Would it have
changed my mind? Probably not.”
At
the same time, he invited students to take an active role in fashioning the
job description of the new administrator and in selecting the right person
for the job.
“You,
if you want . . . are going to have a real role.
If you want to opt out of it, you can.
It just depends on how you want to get involved,” Reinharz said.
Senate
officials still remain at odds with Reinharz over the representation of
students on a search committee established to create a job description for
the new administrator and hire a candidate for the position.
Student
Union President Ellie Levine ’01 is joined by Senator Owusu
Ananeh-Firempong II ’01 on the committee. However, some student
representatives argued that is not adequate.
“I
think President Reinharz was wrong on one thing.
There should be at least one or two more student members on the
committee,” Senator Ari Rabin-Havt ’01 said.
The
administration asked Levine to join the group and then selected
Ananeh-Firempong from a list of candidates she submitted to Reinharz.
Reinharz
defended the structure of the committee, which is composed of
10 administrators and faculty members in addition to the two student
representatives.
“Every
group that is on this search committee feels under-represented,” he said.
“If you want to have an effective committee, you’ve got to keep
it small.” However, he added
that he had “no objection in principle” to adding another student.
That decision, he said, is up to the committee itself.
The
new vice presidential position is being created to improve student
recruitment and retention rates, two points that have become serious
concerns for the University.
“We
have an issue,” Reinharz said. “Let’s resolve it.”
At
its Oct. 24 meeting, the senate had debated the passage of a resolution
urging that “the search process for a new vice president be postponed”
to allow more time for examining the causes of student discontent. Senators
decided to postpone the vote and spend more time talking to students and
administrators about the issue before voting on the resolution.
Reinharz
met with the senate’s Executive Board last weekend to answer that
group’s questions about the new position.
Senate officials explained the reasoning behind the originally
proposed resolution to him at that meeting, Levine said.
“It
helped smooth out a lot of the bumps that people felt were in the
process,” she said of the meeting.
An
amended resolution was passed by an 18-2 vote Wednesday night after Reinharz
left. It stopped short of criticizing the search itself, instead urging that
the process of creating the position “should afford a genuine opportunity
for seeking student input.”
The
resolution suggested that more students be placed on the committee
conducting the search and that dorm raps be used to gather student input.
Senators
who spoke to the Justice expressed support for the new position and said
they never really opposed the president’s plan in principle. Rather, they
say, they were angered by how it was presented to the students.
“He
had come to the student body and said, ‘here’s my plan, accept
it,’”Rabin-Havt said.
“The
purpose of the first resolution was to send a message to the
administration,” Union Senate Secretary Josh Peck ’02 said.
“Students are monumentally important.”
After
the meeting, both Reinharz and senate officials said they were happy with
the results.
“I
take what happened tonight as an indicator on the part of students that they
really want to be involved,” Reinharz said.
“I will respect it. I
am delighted by it.”
That
is a crucial point for members of the senate.
“I
pray that he does this over and over again for every major decision he has
to make,” Peck said. Some speakers at the meeting in which the first
resolution was debated complained that in the past, students were left out
of major decisions and at best asked to give approval after the decision was
made.
Of
the vice presidential position, Senator David Brooks ’01 said, “I think
(Reinharz) heard the students’ voice and it’s changing.”
Two
forums have been scheduled to compile student input. One will be exclusively
to obtain senators’ opinions. The other, on Thursday at at 3 p.m in the
International Lounge of Usdan Student Center, will be open to all students
in order to obtain their input on the new position.
Survivor
discusses causes of eating disorders
By
Emily Aronson
Justice
Staff
Naomi
Rau, a 29-year-old representative from the Massachusetts Eating Disorder
Association (MEDA), addressed a group of young women last Thursday about her
10-year battle with anorexia.
Brought
to campus by Anorexia Nervosa and Associated Disorders (ANAD), Rau spoke
about the steps towards recovery and the ways in which one can help a friend
who may have an eating disorder.
Rau
opened the discussion by briefly recounting her own trial with anorexia,
reminding the group that while having an eating disorder is a common problem
among young women, everyone’s bout with the disease is unique.
“This
is my story, and everybody has a different story,” said Rau.
Rau’s
dieting slowly developed into a problem by the end of her senior year in
high school. She remembered how
her entire life was based on what she ate and how much she weighed.
“My
day was dependent on what I saw on the scale,” Rau said. If she lost
weight her day would be good, but if she had gained even a pound she would
become depressed or angry.
Anorexia,
as with most eating disorders, is a disease concerned with emotional
troubles rather than physical problems.
At its core, anorexia is a disease of the mind, rather than the body,
according to Rau.
“The
message that we (MEDA) try to get across is that eating disorders are about
feelings, not about food,” said Rau.
The
fact that eating disorders stem from emotional problems makes it very
important for those who are recovering to seek help from a therapist.
Rau stressed that talking
about the problem is essential to discovering the real reason for the eating
disorder.
“I
was no longer in control. It was controlling me,” Rau said of the hold
that her eating disorder had over her life before she sought treatment.
For
those in the audience who wanted to know how to help a friend with their
eating disorder, Rau emphasized the importance of talking to them about
their emotional stresses instead of dwelling on their weight loss or
obsessive behavior.
“Instead
of talking about the symptoms, talk about the feelings,” said Rau.
Rau
said that it can be frustrating not to be able to stop a friend from
physically harming themselves, but there is a point where it is necessary to
step back and just the friend know that they have support when they are
ready to face their problem.
“My
recovery is the thing in my life that I am most proud of,” Rau concluded.
New
program gives sophomores the chance to explore options
By
Carina Canaan
Justice
Staff
The
Office of Undergraduate Academic Affairs held the first ever Concentration
Quest last week. The three-day
event was held in the International Lounge, where students were given the
opportunity to talk with representatives from various academic departments
as well as from the Hiatt Career Center and the Office of Academic Affairs.
While
open to all students, the event was geared toward sophomores, who must soon
declare their majors.
“We
thought it would be interesting to try a new method of connecting with
students,” said Assistant Dean for the Class of 2002 Deborah Hahn, who
added that the event in no way was meant to replace the traditional Meet the
Majors information sessions.
According
to Hahn, roughly 10 percent of the class of 2002 attended the event, along
with almost 40 professors representing over 25 academic departments.
The
event was held Monday, Tuesday and Thursday. Departmental representatives
sat at tables around the room, giving interested students the chance to
approach them with questions.
Several
representatives found they had limited success with the new program, citing
the location as well as the table set-up as key problems.
“It
feels like this is a mall or the Home Shopping Network,” Professor Jerry
Cohen (AMST) said. He said he had to pull over a chair so that he could
speak face-to-face with interested students.
Professor
Eli Hirsch (PHIL) agreed. “From
our experience this year, the previous, more personal meeting was better for
us,” he said, pointing out that, “(With Meet the Majors) the
‘undecideds’ get to hear one another’s questions and talk with the ‘declareds.’
Others
felt the event should have been held in a more central location.
“You have to know that it’s up here,” Professor Tim Hickey (COSI)
said of International Lounge.
All
three professors agreed, however, that these issues did not comprise “the
final results” of the experimental program.
Hahn,
who was hired in September and began planning Concentration Quest about a
month ago, acknowledged the less-than-ideal location.
“Things book early in Usdan,” she explained, emphasizing that
Concentration Quest was a trial event.
“Students
always need advising with their program,” she said. “We’re trying to
start different initiatives; this may not be here next year.”
According
to Hahn, the most frequented tables were those of the Hiatt Career Center
and the computer science, economics, sociology and fine arts departments.
Many students also came with questions regarding programs, such as
education and international business. The
event was scheduled to coincide with pre-enrollment so students could ask
specific questions about their academic planning.
One
already-declared sophomore said that the event was a good wake-up call for
students who were still undecided.
“Even
if you don’t get anything new out of it, you at least realize you need to
start thinking about (planning),” said Alex Roth ’02.
Whether
or not they participated in Concentration Quest, individual departments
still have the option of holding a traditional “Meet the Majors” event.
Hahn cited the chemistry department as an example and explained that
the new program could be seen as a supplement and not a replacement.
“We
undertook it knowing it was an experiment,” she said.
“We’re pleased we did it.”
Senator
tells of Colombia’s struggle
By
Adriana Nodar
Justice
Staff
Senator
Francisco Rojas Birry of the Colombian Embera-Katio indigenous people spoke
at Brandeis on Thursday. He is the representative of Colombia’s indigenous people in
the Colombian national state.
A
member of Colombia Vive, the Civil Rights organization that organized this
event, translated Birry’s speech. Around 100 people attended the event.
Birry
spoke of how the Embera-Katio people of Northern Colombia are protesting the
construction of the Urr hydroelectric dam on the Sin river and have lost
numerous leaders in recent years.
“Before,
we were treated as savages. People
weren’t interested in us in a national sense as part of the country.
But now they think we are important,” he said.
Birry
spoke of how indigenous territory in Colombia often includes resource-rich
land, making indigenous communities a prime target in Colombia’s
long-running internal armed conflict.
“They’ve
found petroleum. And medicinal herbs are important to laboratories and large
pharmaceutical companies. And if the rivers are dammed, they can produce hydroelectric
power,”he said.
He
said that Colombia’s 1991 Constitution included unprecedented laws
protecting indigenous political, territorial and cultural rights.
“In
order to get permission, the state electric organization created internal
divisions within the Embera by paying off some of the Embera people.
The others had no say. Then,
the Embera took the State electric organization to court,”Birry said.
“The
court said they needed to pay damages, to include the Embera in the
consultations, to compensate them for damages and to make the Embera
beneficiaries of the enterprise,” Birry said. “But the government has not complied with the order of the
court and the flooding is scheduled to begin.”
He
spoke of how multinational investors, state development plans and armed
left-wing guerillas, right-wing paramilitaries and Colombian security forces
fight for control of the Embera’s land.
“Both
the guerillas and the paramilitaries are asking us to side with them.
So, the government, the paramilitaries and the guerillas are all
coming at us. What kind of
situation are we in?” Birry said.
Following
the most recent assassination of an Embera-Katio leader, 2,500 Embera
applied for asylum from the Spanish embassy in April.
Birry expressed appreciation for the many people
who have shown their support.
At
the end of the event, a representative from Colombia Vive asked people to
sign petitions to the Colombian authorities to protect the Embera and honor
the agreement they had made with the Embera.
“The
damage has already begun on the dam,”she said.
“They’ve already blocked the river, and it’s already hurt the
fish that they rely on for food. However, the filling in of the dam has not happened yet.
There is still time for us, as international supporters of the Embera,
to write our letters to Colombia and tell them that we care.”
“The
people in the great country of the United States would not fare very if they
had to go to the Orinoco river or the rainforest and had to learn to paddle
canoes or swim in dangerous waters. They
don’t have the antibodies they would need and would come down with malaria
and other diseases that would rot the skin,” Birry said. “We know how to
live in this environment. Then
why should we be sent to the great cities of Colombia?
To add to the millions of people who live in misery in the cities in
unemployment, living in marginal areas and ending up as petty criminals as
part of an underclass?”
Forum
shows students creative options
By
Jodi Eichler
Justice
Editorial Board
Over
75 students explored creative career options at the “World of
Imagination” program last Tuesday night in Sherman Function Hall.
The
event was presented by the Student Alumni Association in conjunction with
the Office of Development and Alumni Relations and was co-sponsored by the
Hiatt Career Center. Nineteen Brandeis alumni, working in fields that ranged
from graphic design to television production, shared their career
experiences with current students through informal roundtable discussions.
“There
isn’t a specific path you have to follow,” Director Sam Weisman
M.F.A. ’73 said in his
opening remarks. “Above all, don’t compare yourself to other people —
that is the death of a creative person.”
Weisman
began the evening with some brief reflections on his start in film direction
and some advice for students. Weisman has directed television shows,
including several episodes of “Family Ties,” “Brooklyn Bridge” and
“L.A. Law.” His film credits include “George of the Jungle” and
“D2: The Mighty Ducks.”
Weisman
noted that students in artistic career paths often go against societal
expectations to pursue fields such as law,
medicine or business. “I had this propensity for getting into
trouble when asked to do things I was ‘supposed’ to do,” Weisman said.
“I just knew I was the sort of person who couldn’t live and be happy in
a nine to five job.”
The
assembled alumni included Arthur Beale ’62, chair of Conservation and
Collections Management at the Museum of Fine Arts; Allison B. Bass ’75, a
writer and editor at the Boston Globe; and Michael Schaffer ’66, owner of
Michael Schaffer Productions, among others.
Students
wandered from table to table, chatting with the alumni and taking in
assorted visual displays alumni had set up. In one corner of the room,
Schaffer displayed a multimedia exhibit he had recently produced on the
immigrant experience in America. Schaffer has created historical exhibits
for numerous museums, national parks and nonprofit organizations.
A
comparatively recent graduate, Marc Berliner ’95, who works in public
relations as a senior account executive at Cone, Inc., said he was happy to
return to Brandeis for the event. “I love talking about what I do,” he
said. “It’s also a great opportunity (for me) to network as well.”
Wendi
Adelson ’00 and Jennifer I. Wiener ’00, co-chairs of the Student Alumni
Association, planned the event. “At Brandeis we don’t really have
career-oriented majors “ Adelson said. “We wanted to show people
what’s out there.”
Rabin
memorial unites students
Approximately
40 students gathered in Goldfarb Plaza on Thursday evening to commemorate
the fourth anniversary of Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin’s
assassination with readings, songs and shared memories.
The
memorial was organized by Beth Goldstein ’01, president of Brandeis’
chapter of Hamag Shimim, a Zionistic and pluralistic movement sponsored by
Hadassah.
The
evening consisted of a reading of Rabin’s final speech, along with
assorted poems, readings and music led by Jamiee Wilans ’00.
“Four
years after it happened, it was very emotional for me to talk to people
about their experience and memories of the day it happened,” Goldstein
said.
She
recalled how she had been working as a leader at a Young Judea retreat when
Rabin was assassinated. Her companions at the retreat were all very affected
by his death, but when she returned home, Goldstein said, she “came back
to a world where no one knew what had happened.”
“The
goal was to provide an opportunity for those students who wanted to
commemorate his memory a chance to (do so), and for all of the people
walking by to get a sense of what ... his vision of peace meant to us and to
the Jewish community,” Michael Platt ’02, Hillel’s Israel programs
coordinator, said.
Goldstein’s
fellow Hamag Shimim executive board members, Adynna Samuel ’03 and Julia
Finkelstein ’03, along with Platt and Wilans, helped to plan the event.
—
Jodi Eichler
Model
United Nations receives awards
The
Brandeis Model United Nations club received awards for second place
delegation and best and distinguished individual delegates in a conference
held at Yale University that took place Oct. 21 through 24.
“(Our)performance
is a praise to the level (of intelligence)of students in Brandeis because it
proves that we can compete with the best Ivy League schools and still come
out on top,” Mauricio Gojman
’00, club president , said.
The
leaders of the club, whose expenses are partially paid for by the politics
department, is proud that after
only two and a half years of existence it was able to achieve second place
in competition with Ivy League schools that have much older clubs.
“It’s
nice to retire on top (and) know that the group of people (in the club) will
continue to succeed,” he
added.
The
club’s next conference will take place Nov. 11 at the University of
Pennsylvania. Other conferences that the club is scheduled to attend during
the year include those at McGill, University of Chicago and Harvard
University.
Model
United Nations provides students with the opportunity to participated in a
simulation of the global organization.
—
Greg Bendersky
The
Justice elects new editor in chief
Deborah
Eisner ’01 was elected the Justice’s new editor in chief on Wednesday
evening at a staff election. Eisner formerly served as news editor of the
Justice and as photography editor, features editor and co-editor in chief of
her high school newspaper, the Page of Las Lomas High School in Walnut
Creek, Calif. She begins her
one-year term this week.
“I’m
very excited to lead this organization and to further realize its
potential,” Eisner said. Her plans for the Justice include improved staff
interaction and expansion of the paper’s online edition.
Eisner
is taking over from Jodi Eichler ’00, who will now serve as the paper’s
senior editor. “Deborah is an extremely talented, caring and devoted
editor,” Eichler said. “I’m confident that she will lead the paper to
new heights throughout the coming year.”
Police
Log
Vandalism
Nov.
1 — There was a report of a swastika on the wall of the mens’ bathroom
in the Science Quad.
Nov.
6 — A Resident Advisor in
Massell Quad complained that an unknown person had urinated in the basement
stairwell of a dorm. A custodian was requested for clean-up.
Assault
Nov.
8 — A Quad Director called regarding a group of residents who wanted to
file a report about being threatened with a knife by another resident.
Medical
Emergency
Nov.
1 — A student called stating that he had an allergic reaction and had
already taken a shot from his EPI-PEN but he was still having trouble
breathing. BEMCo was dispatched, and the student was transported to the
hospital by ambulance.
Nov.
5— The police received a call from a female student who was having extreme
cramps. BEMco was notified.
Traffic
Nov.
5 — There was a report of a hit and run accident involving an Aramark food
service van in the Sherman loading dock.
Miscellaneous
Nov.
3 — There was a report of
individuals on campus selling speakers out of a white van.
Nov.
6 — There was a report of a strong smell of marijuana in Rosenthal Quad.
The origin of the odor was located and residents will be charged by the Quad
Director.
Nov.
7 — The Ford Hall traffic gate camera recorded two males walking by with
mattresses.
Disturbances
Nov.
8— A student called to complain of neighbors bouncing a ball and yelling
in Rosenthal Quad.
—compiled by Yanna Krupnikov
Student
Union
Charters
and De-charters
Nineteen
clubs were dechartered by unanimous consent.
The groups had failed to submit hazing forms to Treasurer Howard
Boriskin ’00.
The
Brandeis Ski Club was chartered by unanimous consent.
It will organize ski trips around the northeast without obliging
students to race competitively.
Underpaid
Students Designing A Nucleus, an organization with the purpose of improving
the facilities and environment of the Usdan Student Center, was chartered by
unanimous consent.
The
Brandeis Wooden Crafts Club was chartered by unanimous consent.
It seeks to educate the University community about wooden crafts.
Executive
Officer Reports
Union
President Ellie Levine announced that three students have been selected to
serve on the committee for the
new student center which is to be built on the current grounds of Ford Hall.
Resolutions
Passed
The
Senate passed a resolution urging that students play an active role in the
creation of a job description for and hiring of the new vice president of
student services post. The
resolution, approved by an 18-2 vote, commended President Jehuda Reinharz
for his efforts in the creation of the new position.
A
Senate Unity Resolution encouraging members of the senate to “treat each
other with respect and dignity” and to gather informally more often was
passed by unanimous consent.
A
resolution commending participants and organizers of the Rent-a-Gent
auction, which raised money for breast cancer research, was passed by a 21-1
vote. Senators deferred a vote
on a resolution requisitioning money for a new banner to advertise the
Student Union.
—David
Dagan
|
