So its pretty clear that disallowing merit scholarships for study abroad is all-around a pretty bad, unfair idea. Hopefully, the Student Union will have this resolved in the coming few days. As for the issue of Vilage-only housing for study abroad-ers (both Fall and Spring), here’s some low-down on what is developing to be the low-down: Continue reading “Study Abroad / Housing Changes – some clarification”
Day: January 19, 2009
Rally Against Recriminalization!
The passage of Question 2 does not seem to have settled the question of marijuana’s legal status in Massachusetts. While it is currently decriminalized across the state, several municipalities are looking to roll back this development. Some are considering vastly increased fines for smoking in public places, and others seek to impose jail sentences. This clearly goes against the will of 63% of the voters in the state, and ought to be stopped. I will expand upon the case against recriminalization, as well as provide more info about these counter-democratic efforts, in a post tomorrow.
However, right now I wish to inform everyone who wants to preserve this hard-fought victory about a pair of protests tomorrow, January 20th. At the Quincy Town Hall and the Methuen City Hall, rallies are being held to tell their respective representatives to keep marijuana decriminalized in Massachusetts. The Worcester city council has already voted 7-4 against recriminalization. We need to let the drug warriors know to stay out of our state!
Information about the rallies below the fold.
Student Senate in a Nutshell: Resignations, Elections, Administrative Clash
This weekly feature, which will essentially recount what happened during every Sunday’s Senate meeting, should make the Senate more accessible to their voters. I’ve decided that our student government could use more rapid transparency. Though the Student Union is open to its voters, there isn’t anything directly informing the student body of what their senators are doing from week to week.
Continue reading “Student Senate in a Nutshell: Resignations, Elections, Administrative Clash”
This machine surrounds hate and forces it to surrender
This is Pete Seeger’s banjo, emblazoned with the phrase “This Machine Surrounds Hate and Forces it to Surrender”
For me, one of the most romantic stories of my musical education at Brandeis has been the rediscovery of “This Land is Your Land.”
We all know the opening stanza to the song –
This land is your land, this land is my land
From California to the New York Island
From the Redwood Forest to the Gulf Stream waters
This land was made for you and me.
Most people don’t know the last, famously “lost” stanzas –
In the squares of the city, In the shadow of a steeple;
By the relief office, I’d seen my people.
As they stood there hungry, I stood there asking,
Is this land made for you and me?As I went walking I saw a sign there
And on the sign it said “No Trespassing.”
But on the other side it didn’t say nothing,
That side was made for you and me.Nobody living can ever stop me,
As I go walking that freedom highway;
Nobody living can ever make me turn back
This land was made for you and me.
Puts a new spin on things, huh? This Land is Your Land was actually written as the liberal counterpoint to Irving Berlin’s “God Bless America”
And here’s Pete Seeger, the folk muse of the land, reteaching the common history of America to millions of people, for President-Elect (but not for long) Barack Obama’s pre-inaugural musical celebration:
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xg0wiOHc9tI[/youtube]
Continue reading “This machine surrounds hate and forces it to surrender”
Vacancies in the Student Union
Our beloved Student Union Vice President, Adam T. Hughes, is resigning from his position as Student Union Vice President, effective some hours ago. He’s also leaving the Brandeis campus for the next semester, for personal and unexpected reasons.
Adam, we’ll miss you. I hope everything works out in the end.