Organizing at Brandeis University
http://www.one.org/us/actnow/globalfund2010/whitehouse.html?id=1963-5191593-rDJj8Fx&t=2
Click on this link to support ONE, a grassroots organization cofounded by Bono and others who would like to insure that no babies are born with HIV by the year 2015.
Hello to the community of Innermost Parts.
My name is Lilian Medford, and I’m a first-year student new to the Innermost Parts team! I’m really excited to have my first blog post up, but expect more from me soon.
I’m the Campus Sustainability Initiative’s Eco-Rep for North Quad this year. Eco-Reps, if you don’t know, do peer-educational events to inform students about their role in sustainability both on our campus and as world citizens.
Tonight, Wednesday, September 29th at 8pm in the middle of North Quad (Polaris Lounge in case of rain), the Eco-Reps will be hosting a movie night called “Life on the Green.” We will be showing an episode of “Life”– made by the producers of “Planet Earth”–and having a short 2-minute presentation about what the Campus Sustainability Initiative does. We will be serving popcorn and locally-grown hot apple cider to anyone who brings their own cup and bowl, because that’s the sustainable way to live. We also encourage everyone to bring blankets to keep warm. Please help spread the word about this great event to everyone you know. Come with your friends, and then head on over to the SEA party later this evening. We hope both events will be great successes!
Do you have an issue with the way the University dealt with the Harlan Chapel flasher? Don’t like the way parking tickets are handed out? Think the food sucks? Well, do something about it!
So let’s start off by my admitting that I didn’t apply to be on any committees last year, so I can’t claim to know how effective they are/how worthwhile the experience is.
That being said, however, I highly encourage anyone and everyone who is a student at Brandeis to apply to be on a University Committee this year. The list of committees ranges from Alcohol and Other Drug Coalition to Psychological Counseling Center Advisory Committee, alphabetically speaking. By applying to be on a committee, (and yes you can apply for more than one) you enable yourself to influence matters that matter to you, whether they be the food served on campus, the parking rules and regulations, what they sell in the bookstore, etc.
According to the Student Union page, there are 23 committees you can apply to, and each has a very specific description, so you can decide which issues most affect you. Instead of griping about these problems, you can actually take a constructive approach to solving them for yourself and other people!
If the administration doesn’t know what’s bothering us, how can they fix it? At least letting them know how we feel about something, like the food everyone always complains about, is one step towards brokering a solution/fix!
Now, I am a firm believer in the democratic process, but I know many people are not. (Including my friends who didn’t vote for me in Sunday’s election) So, to THOSE people, I would like to issue a challenge that if they don’t believe in the power of their elected officials to represent them in the Student Union, then it is their OBLIGATION to SOCIETY and to THEMSELVES to change the school in the ways they think it needs to be changed.
Sorry I’m such an idealist, I swear I’m not usually like this.
GO TO: http://my.brandeis.edu/survsimp/one?survey_id=5632 to apply, NOW! (The deadline is this SATURDAY)
The results:
Class of 2014: Mitchell Schwartz and Dillon Harvey
TYP: Alyssa Green
Massell: Rosby Kome-Mensah II
North: Shekeyla Nicole Caldwell
Castle: Miriam Halimi
East: Albert Feldman
Rosenthal: Elizabeth Fields
Village: Missy Skolnik (By write-in)
Ridgewood: No candidate – program declared Keith Barry winner, yet Union Constitution declares that if ABSTAIN receives more votes than a candidate, then position remains vacant until next election
Ziv: Mark Levi
Mods: Anthony Rios
Grad/Charles River: Tae Wan Kim
Off-Campus: Evyn Rabinowitz
Senior Rep to UCC: Jenna Rubin
Brandeis Sustainability Fund Rep: Susan Paykin and Nicholas Polanco
My name is Leah Mack and I’m currently a freshman here at Brandeis. I will be writing for Innermost Parts in the future, and I thought I should let you know a little about me before I started.
I’m 17 and I watch you sleep. I like to listen to music and have the ability to drive a car. I’m currently taking UWS, intro to philosophy, soc: war and the possibilities of peace, and introduction to German. You may be thinking why are you going to write for Innermost Parts? I want to write because I want to make a positive impact. I want a place where I can share my opinions and receive comments back. A way for me to get different points of views on topics I’m interested in and form new opinions. I am passionate about Gay Rights and Environmental Issues.
The fact that Don’t Ask Don’t Tell is still in play, is what is currently bothering me the most. If a person is willing to fight for our country then they should be allowed to, no matter their race, ethnicity, or sexual orientation. It’s not like we have a surplus of people waiting in line to join the military, we’re not in a position to kick people out of the army simply because they are attracted to the same sex. I’m against the war but I support the troops. We are supposed to be united as a country, and our military is a big part of our country. Our military represents our country, and as of now our military discriminates. Every generation, the people find someone to discriminate against. Whether it be African Americans, Muslims, or women. There is always a finger being pointed at somebody.
When will we ever learn?
So, picking up from my previous post on the need for a new model for unifying the progressive community:
I’m a big fan of email lists. Used correctly, one email can replace 20 phone calls, or an email list can build a sense of community, or create space for a discussion that doesn’t already exist.
We need an email list for activist leaders.
It’ll be so easy to set up – and so useful! Asking for cosponsors could happen over email – instead of 5 different lunches. You can discuss possible approaches to emergencies on campus, or ask each other questions, or banter about a silly Justice article.
We need a way to keep in touch with alumni
There are super-cool Brandeis alumni scattered across the country doing good. We could facilitate a network of lefty alumni. We’ve brought alumni back to campus in the past, and that was great, let’s keep doing it. We were able to do that because David Cunningham knew them – but relying on one man’s connections is limiting.
So why not just make a spreadsheet with the names, contact info, and “what they’re up to” of lefty alumni? We can have different professors add their knowledge – and we keep updating it as years go by. Easy to set up, valuable. Great.
Often we think about high-cost, high-reward things we can do for campus (cough CCW cough). These are some very low cost, medium impact things we could do instead. Good idea?
Amidst all of the back-to-school stress, new friendships, and F-board marathon disasters, another school-time tradition is coming up: Elections to the Student Union!! In the next few days, I hope to add to that timeless tradition by asking that you endorse and/or vote for a good friend of mine.
Elly Kalfus is running for Senator of Rosenthal Quad this coming Sunday. If you don’t know her yet, you should, because I know I speak for those of us who do know her when I say that she’s one of the nicest, funniest, and most caring people on campus. She’s an engaged activist, a passionate blogger for Innermost Parts, a hilarious comedy writer, and if she adds the title of Senator to that list, she will dutifully serve the position with an adjective of equal distinction and honor.
Even though we’ve worked closely in the last few months while blogging and helping to plan Campus Camp Wellstone, I’ve known her since last year when we met at a Brandeis Democrats club meeting, and if she had any say about what I write in this part of the post, she would probably yell at me about how cliché this opening sentence is. And that’s what always strikes me about her: She tells it like it is, no matter what. When you speak to her, you’re going to get her full and honest opinion. Sometimes I find myself thinking that it’s a quality that our campus lacks; we’re always so afraid of awkwardness and future awkward encounters around here that the students don’t challenge each other as individuals. If elected to the Senate, I know that Elly will stand firm by her views, and challenge anyone who tries to do less.
She’ll do the work that’s asked of her by her fellow residents and her community because she’s not running to build a resume; this is an example of a candidate taking massive amounts of interest and experience and applying those qualities toward her living environment, Rosie and beyond. She wants to work with the Eco Reps to make the quad more sustainable. She wants to make transportation around Brandeis and Waltham an everyday convenience, not just a luxury for people who have time to wait at the bus stop for long stretches of time. She already serves on the board of the Brandeis Pluralism Alliance, and as the Waltham Group coordinator for the YMCA Kids Connection program. She’s also the leader of the newest Improvisational Comedy group on campus, and the only one to practice a policy of non-exclusivity, drawing in members from every area on campus. These are just Brandeis related activities she does on campus, but she’s also living in the Alternative Spring Break community service suite. How many of us can say that we care so deeply about the world around us that we’re willing to sacrifice one of our few school-year breaks toward a higher cause?
In short: If you live in a Rosie suite, when you log on to the union website on Sunday to vote (which you should all do anyway because it’s a civic duty Dammit), you should vote for Elly. She’s got all of the passion and the drive, and will work hard to keep the Union honest, transparent, and good humored.
Presenting the candidates for Student Union offices, Fall 2010:
(Note, candidates with Asterisks next to their name have not officially declared a candidacy, but have expressed interest.)
Senator for TYP
Alyssa Green
Terrell Gilkey
*Alexis Munoz
Senator for North Quad
Alexander Bernstein
Jesse Hart
Sam Liang
Sarah Park
Brianda Penafort
Shekeyla Caldwell
Senator for Massell Quad
David Clements
Josh Kelley
Rosby Kome-Mensah II
Sidharth Rijhwani
Sharan Shah
Michael Sklaroff
Senator for 2014
Maria Alkhasova
Dillon Harvey
Jesse Koklas
Marsha Patel
Isaac Rabbani
Tiequin Roquerre
Mitchell Schwartz
Senator for Rosenthal
Elizabeth Fields
Elly Kalfus
Haemee Kang
Fuan Li (Franklin)
Senator for East
Sydney Appelbaum
Albert Feldman
Senator for Castle
Miriam Halimi
Senator for Ziv
Mark Levi
Scott Oglesby
Senator for Charles River
Tae Wan Kim
Brandeis Sustainability Fund Board Rep
*James Bartolacci
Yahav Itzkovich
Susan Paykin
Nicholas Polano
Senior Representative to the UCC
Jenna Rubin
Senator for Off-Campus
Evyn Rabinowitz
*Marcos Sandler
Senator for Village
Jake Weiner
Senator for Ridgewood
– * (Author’s Note: Although someone has expressed interest in this position, they were given more time to consider privately before announcing their position officially.)
Senator for Mods
Choose wisely.
We don’t get a vote – but sometimes we get a voice. This is one of those times. Jean Eddy and Marty Krauss are about as senior administration as you can get (and not be President). They’re leaving soon. The student union is going to appoint representatives to speak on behalf all students regarding our thoughts on their replacements. Those representatives could be concerned only with lining their resumes and schmoozing with the administration – or one of those representatives could be you.
Apply to represent the student body for the search committee. Someone will represent the student body – and it’ll either be one of us or one of them.
As you may know, Senior Vice President for Students and Enrollment Jean C. Eddy and Provost and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs Marty W. Krauss will step down from their current position. Both Jean Eddy and Marty Krauss have made great contributions to this institution, and we sincerely appreciate their efforts.
[snip]
The search process for the two positions will begin in the near future. As such, the ad-hoc Administration Structure Advisory Committee will evaluate the administrative structure and duties.
A Student Advisory Committee will be formed to (1) research student opinion on the administrative structure, (2) present student opinion to the Administration Structure Advisory Committee and President-elect Fredrick Lawrence, and (3) participate in the search process for the two administrative positions.
Furthermore, there is another opportunity to serve on the search committee for a new Director of the Rose Art Museum.*********
APPLY to be a member of one of these committees: http://my.brandeis.edu/survsimp/one?survey%5fid=5609. DEADLINE SATURDAY, SEP. 25 (5 PM). Strong applicants will be invited for interviews with me, Marla Merchut ( Director of Academic Affairs), Ryan Fanning (Director of Executive Affairs), and Herbie Rosen (Secretary).
*********You will be expected to commit a significant amount of time to these meetings and discussions, as recommendations made by these committees will impact the future of our university.
Please note that I will be working with the administration for more avenues of communication regarding these issues. Your voice is important to this community, so take the time to apply.
President-elect Fred Lawrence, as cool as he seems, wasn’t elected by students. He was elected by the Board of Trustees – old rich people. To the extent that we get a voice – we gotta seize it.
So Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert have just announced dueling (non? quasi? mockingly?) political rallies at the end of October. My suite is stoked – we are so going!
There’s a facebook event for Brandeisians going to rallies. It’s named, appropriately enough, Brandeis people at the Stewart/Colbert Rally. Join if you’re going – we’ll figure out places to meet in DC, it’s a place to find rides, a place to stay, etc.
| The Daily Show With Jon Stewart | Mon – Thurs 11p / 10c | |||
| Rally to Restore Sanity | ||||
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I’m a bit worried – this rally is right before Halloween and I really wanted to have a Trick or Vote on campus this year – anyone going to be on campus for Halloween and want to make that happen?
Brandeis has too many clubs. Too many meetings. Too much stress.
Brandeis also needs unity – there aren’t many clubs, organizations, events, or identities that appeal to the broad campus. That’s why the various publications have so much sway, by the way.
But in trying to bring unity, traditional attempts have often tried to create a new club – more meeting, more stress.
Is there a better way?
I’m very interested in created a united progressive community at Brandeis. But are more meetings the answer? We said no, and instead of trying to create an umbrella organization that relies on delegates from existing clubs, we are trying to make a “hub” that has dedicated members working on creating infrastructure.
That’s cool, but that still creates more clubs, more meetings, more stress.
We need stress-free, easy ways to accomplish the following goals:
– build a progressive community on campus
– build links between activist clubs
– build infrastructure.
How can we do that? I have some ideas, what are yours?
The Finance Board has finished this semester’s regular marathon for allocating funds. You can view which student organizations got what on myBrandeis right now.
If you read the Justice today, you’d know the board granted only about 42% of whatever funds organizations requested this semester. Last year, F-Board was able to grant 85% of requests on average, according to F-Board member Gabriel Weingrod-Nemzow (in the same article).
F-Board representatives told the Justice more clubs requesting more money, a dearth of rollover funds, and other changes forced their hand.
Though some of the chosen few- Student Events and BTV, for example- received close to everything they asked for, most campus clubs are now struggling to bridge their funding gaps. The F-Board singlehandedly determined your tuition money’s final destination: which events to support, and which causes to bolster. The Brandeis community needs ready access to more information describing how these decisions will affect them.
That’s why Innermost Parts will be detailing who’s getting how much, and for what. We’ll be talking to club members about how they feel about their funding, and how they plan to work with their budget. We’ll also pose some ideas about alternative methods for obtaining money.
Keep reading and refreshing Innermost Parts for additional coverage!
The ‘DeisBikes program, which started during the spring 2009 semester, provides free bicycle rentals to Brandeis students. If you’ve never used it before, it’s really easy to get started — just present your student ID to the Shapiro Campus Center Information Booth, and you’ve got yourself a bike for the rest of the day. The program was started through the hard work of the Union and the “Greening the Campus and Community” class, and it’s a great way to encourage green transportation on campus.
Brandeis is far from the only campus to feature bike-sharing — in fact, a recent USA Today article shows that we’re part of a growing movement across the country. Nearly 90 American universities have adopted similar programs, many that dwarf our small 12 bike fleet. My favorite:
In 2008, faced with a parking crisis, the University of New England in Biddeford, Maine, raised parking permit fees and began to give away free bikes to freshman students who promised not to bring cars to campus, university spokeswoman Kathleen Taggersell says.
Since then, the university has given out 530 bikes and, as a direct result of the program, turned a 95-space parking lot into a basketball court with a river-view tent for university events, Taggersell says.
Maybe we don’t have the money to do that now, but coupling free bicycles with a increase in parking fees would be a simple and very effective carbon tax that I think the majority of the student body would support.
The Drury University program also jumped out at me, particularly because of how it’s funded. The Drury student body agreed to pay a sustainability fee of $20 per year, much like the Brandeis Sustainability Fund we voted for last year. We already have bike-sharing, but Drury shows that this relatively minor contribution can go towards green initiatives that benefit the entire community.
Speaking of the BSF, the deadline to apply for funding is October 12th, so if you’ve got that awesome idea you’d love to see become reality, check out the BSF website for application instructions. Environmentalism doesn’t have to be chore; it can be as easy as riding a bike.
Is really good. Read it. Kudos to Ariel Wittenberg and her team
For those of you who were not able to attend Paul Loeb’s speech today, I’m sorry. You missed out. I mean, you might have had an equally gratifying experience doing something else just as worthwhile, but still…try to see him speak some time. Because he’s a really good speaker.
While Loeb can give off the feeling of a mad genius consumed by lofty ideals, he speaks in a calm, sophisticated tone about the merits and drawbacks of radicalism, his life experience as an activist involved with the Obama campaign, promoting environmental awareness, and more. He says he has been working to change the world since he was 13, and he is now 58, so with 45 years of activism behind his belt, he is able to talk about what he knows about social justice and organizing, without sounding like he has all the answers. Rather, he spoke of what has worked and hasn’t worked for him, but the relativity of everything, such as the constant struggle between wanting to do everything you can for a cause and making sure you don’t burn out.
I attended both the afternoon session with Paul Loeb, which “student leaders” from various community service/experiential learning listservs were invited to, and then the speech he delivered in the evening which was open to everyone, and more heavily attended. While the two speeches Loeb delivered were very similar, and he cited many of the same anecdotes and historical examples (Gandhi was so shy that when he got up in court he couldn’t utter a single sentence and lost every case he tried; Rosa Parks didn’t START the civil rights movement that fateful day on the bus, but rather she’d been preparing for it for 12 years), I was still happy to attend both, and equally inspired by the strength and bluntness of his message.
The closest thing I can compare it to is when I heard Howard Dean speak last semester, at an event hosted by the Brandeis Democrats, DFA and other groups, and open to the public. Dean, a powerful and charismatic speaker, delivered a speech akin to Loeb’s, about the potential each of us has, and the importance of getting involved, in whatever small ways we can; making that phone call, signing that online petition; joining that student group. However, whereas Dean’s message seemed to be that we could all achieve whatever we set our minds to and it was our duty to get out there and ACT, Loeb’s was more about the importance of analyzing what change is, and how it is achieved.
He spoke mostly about the topics he covers in the latest edition of his book, Soul of a Citizen: Living with Conviction in Challenging Times, touching issues such as the idea of the Perfect Standard, which is when people expect change to be immediate and fulfilling, so that when a single thing goes wrong or takes more time, they become disillusioned. This is what happened with the Obama presidency, he says, because the momentum was so high when Obama was elected that the public wanted everything he had promised to come true right then and there. However, change is only possible as a group effort, when it comes from the mass public and is built up over time so that it eventually reaches the notice of the politicians. One anecdote Loeb cited was Obama’s response to people’s demands on him, which was to quote FDR: “Make me do it.” Rather than taking this answer as a rejection, Loeb tells us that it means that people have to demonstrate their interest and dedication to an issue in order for any elected officials, company executives, etc. to make a change, even if they themselves support it in the first place.
Lastly, when prompted to do so during the question and answer period, Loeb talked about how we students on campus can make a difference on campus, and answered individual’s questions as to how to improve voter turnout for Student Union elections, how to deal with the typical Brandeisian’s overcommitment to a variety of causes and lack of spare time, and what he thinks about protesting for the sake of protesting. Two highlights that stood out to me were: his comment about the fact that our goal should not be to continue to volunteer at the same homeless shelter for decades to come, but to create a society where we do not NEED homeless shelters by that time (don’t get so wrapped up in the now that you forget to look “upstream”). Secondly, when informed about the Campus Camp Wellstone training that the Change Agency is bringing to campus September 25th and 26th (this is a plug, I know), he expressed his full support of the training, saying it was one of the best in the country, and if he were around that he would attend it.
Also, I bought his book if anyone wants to borrow it. Haven’t read it yet though.
(This was published in the Hoot today. They deleted all of my sources, as well as the times of SEA meetings and explanation that one of SEA’s campaigns is The Leadership Campaign. Here is the full article.)
To be alive in the year 2010 is to carry an enormous burden. We have been born, due to no fault of our own, into a historical moment plagued by the external effects of two centuries of industrial development. The actions we take in this decade may well determine the fate of our species and the planet we inhabit for the rest of history.
Climate change is certainly among the greatest dangers to humanity at present. Not only due to the immediacy of the threat, but also the scope of its impact particularly among the most vulnerable people in the world. According to a study by high-level US Military personnel, climate change will “exacerbate the problems” of “food, water, shelter and stability” particularly in the most unstable and poorest regions of the world. Global stability will erode as “food production declines, diseases increase, clean water becomes increasingly scarce, and populations migrate in search of resources.” The study notes that “climate change also has the potential to create natural and humanitarian disasters on a scale far beyond those we see today.” Even the rich countries of the global north “may experience increases in immigrants and refugees as drought increases and food production declines” in the global south (1).
And when the world was hoping for a plan to mitigate the worst of climate change at the Copenhagen conference last year, our own government fervently rejected any binding science-based agreement. Instead it offered a minuscule emissions reduction of 3% below 1990 levels by 2020, even less than the targets of the Kyoto Protocol (which of course we have not ratified) (2). An emissions reduction target based on the goals of 350 ppm of CO2 and less than 2°C temperature increase, what is necessary to mitigate the worst effects of climate change, would require the US to reduce emissions by 25-40% below 1990 levels by 2020 (3). Our government is driving the world full speed into the worst possible results of climate change: global instability, mass migration, increased likelihood and severity of natural disasters, decreased food production and increasing desertification in the global south. Of course, we should remember that it is not some alien entity driving the world to devastation, it is us. You and I fund our government to carry out its destructive policies, and we support those policies with our apathy and passivity.
Thankfully, we in Massachusetts are in a unique position of influence. We are among the most progressive states in the country, particularly on the issue of climate change. Based on recent polling, 80% of Massachusetts residents recognize that the earth is warming due to human activity and that there will be very or somewhat serious consequences for the world. 75% of Massachusetts residents believes that the government should limit greenhouse gases from corporations right now, and 85% support giving tax breaks to corporations to produce clean renewable energy (4).
And thats where you come in. For the past year I have been working with a state-wide coalition of student, religious, and environmental groups to push for 100% clean electricity in Massachusetts by 2020. This coalition is called The Leadership Campaign, and we recognize that our state is in a unique position to affect US policy on emissions reductions. By working at the state-level and demanding the science-based solution of 350 ppm of CO2 and less than 2°C temperature increase, we will lead other states and the federal government to do the same. The Leadership Campaign is already having reverberations across the country, as the Energy Action Coalition, the primary coalition of the climate movement in the US, recently adopted our goal of 100% clean electricity by 2020.
We need to build a powerful mass-based movement for a just and stable future, today. The actions of people like you and I will determine the fate of millions across the world.
Join The Leadership Campaign! We hold meetings with SEA every Wednesday at 9pm in Ridgewood A commons.
Visit theLeadershipCampaign.org for more information.
(1) http://securityandclimate.cna.org/
(2) http://www.unep.org/climatepledges/Default.aspx?pid=26
(3) http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2007/dec/10/climatechange.usnews
(4) http://woods.stanford.edu/research/state-surveys.html
I know that Brandeis and Harvard have a long-enduring rivalry for who can out-social justice the other, but I still think that we should acknowledge achievements on either side.
With that being said, my childhood friend Paolo Singer goes to the dreaded H-name school, and he volunteered at a nonprofit NGO in South Africa this summer, assisting them in determining what effect they were having on the country and how best to help the people. He wrote a really amazing article about it, detailing the ethnographic and sociological work he did while there, his conclusion being (if I must sum it up) that after 8 years of funding programs and building libraries, schools, soccer fields for the native South African villagers, ThinkImpact, the nonprofit he worked for, realized that it wasn’t doing any substantial good. Rather, Paolo asserts that the best way to help the people is to encourage them to come up with their own ideas for how to enrich the community, and then assist them in the development of those projects.
Although many have come to this conclusion before, I think there’s something really inspirational about a college sophomore articulating his first-hand experience of finding this out on his own in a foreign country where he did not speak the language. Please read and find out for yourself:
http://www.thecrimson.com/article/2010/9/15/village-development-good-south/
Things I learned from the annual public safety report:
1. There was a forcible sex offense on campus last year. 2 last year.
2. The public safety department provides the following services:
Community Policing
University police officers are annually assigned as department liaison officers to any community group requesting their assistance. Officers will meet with these groups throughout the year to offer assistance and answer questions on public-safety issues, help in planning events and resolving problems or concerns.Fingerprinting
The department offers free fingerprinting services to community members needing fingerprints for job or visa application, or other related reasons. These services are provided by appointment only. Please call 781-736-5000 or 781-736-4240 for more information.Projects
The department is available to assist community members with educational projects they may be researching in the public-safety field. For statistics, general information or references to outside public-safety agencies, please contact the department at 781-736-4240
Did you learn anything else?
Today I was walking in the hallway and I saw all these flyers. Then I went to the bathroom and thought how important information is and how much information there is so much that is, but then it is lost forever. Like there is so much in the world, but then it id lost forever to time. These flyers all over campus are pretty much trash right now, but think about fifty years from now. People will be like, “whoa there used to be a Students For Environmental Action Club? LOLOLOLOL THERE IS NO MORE ENVIRONMENT!!!
What I am saying is basically, reduce reuse recycle.
Also, we should take a unique flyer of every sort off the wall, and instead of throwing it out, put it in a binder and then if Brandeis lasts longer than a ten more years, eleven years from now, people will have some vague idea of who was here eleven years before them. And those kids eleven years from now, living after megacorporations destroy all of the environment, and people need lifesuits breathe air and live will see that there was a club called SEA and say, “Let’s resurrect SEA and then bring back the environment!”
Brandeis alumnus Jack Abramoff ’81 (the right-wing influence-peddler and felon who, if you’ll remember, bilked Native American tribes out of millions of dollars in fees while secretly lobbying against the tribes in order to extract even more exorbitant fees) is the star of a new film, Casino Jack. He’s played by Kevin Spacey! You can watch the trailer here. I suggest we have a big movie-outing together when the film is released in December, to celebrate the newfound Hollywood stardom of our proud Brandeisian brother. I wrote Abramoff a letter in prison once, asking him about his time at Brandeis and whether as a former head of the College Republicans he had any advice to offer an aspiring conservative with an interest in a lobbying career. He never responded, but I don’t hold it against him, and would still be proud to see a fellow product of our institution up there on the silver screen.
Oh, and for those curious, my personal Top Five list of infamous (at least in the eyes of the Establishment) Brandeis alumni is: Angela Davis, Katherine Ann Power, Susan Saxe, Jack Abramoff, Aafia Siddiqui.
Just something I sent to a few friends … 🙂
Hey everyone. We won. Read this:
“I do not think that any group or class of persons in the United States should be denied the protections of the First Amendment, not now, not ever … I do not mean to suggest that the Constitution and its order of rights should in any way be abrogated. I would abhor such a prospect. I do not wish upon Muslim Americans the sorts of calumnies that were endured by Italian Americans in connection with Sacco and Vanzetti and Jewish Americans in connection with communism.”
That was Marty Peretz, apologizing this Monday morning. What a change.
Now, his full apology was not that great. He tried to explain away some of his words, instead of fully acknowledging that they were hurtful and incorrect. Still, in the course of a weekend, we were able to persuade the editor-in-chief of The New Republic to swallow his pride and admit he did wrong. That took courage on his part, and solidarity on ours.
We accomplished something special together. With the simplicity of sincerely speaking out for our beliefs – just with the power of speaking from the heart and boldly declaring that attacking the dignity of our fellow man is unacceptable – we made this world a better place.
Good work!
Listen. Peretz apologized; that is victory. Another victory: we as a community publicly demonstrated our commitment to our shared values. Sometimes, it takes courage to stand up for your beliefs. When a member of our family does wrong, the ethical life demands that we condemn his actions, and steer him towards justice. Courage is not found only in censuring your opponents.
Yes, we had the obligation to take a stand, because Marty Peretz is a prominent and honored member of our family. We had this obligation not just because of who he is, but because who we are, and what Brandeis is.
You know the story as well as I. 1948 was a time when Universities across America were barring their doors to the unpopular, the feared, and the other. As a bold challenge to this mentality, the founders of Brandeis did something amazing. They created a place where everyone, regardless of race, religion, or class, was welcome. That spirit of social justice is baked into the bones of this place. It is the foundation upon which all else is built.
That is why Peretz’s words were so reprehensible. That’s why we had the obligation and the duty to act, to remind him of the Brandeis way. That’s why he realized his mistake.
We love Brandeis. Marty Peretz loves Brandeis. We succeeded for that reason.
Thank you. We’ve done a wonderful thing.
– Sahar Massachi, Kevin Diep, and the rest of the Justice League.
I’ll be brief – homework calls:
I got an email today from someone who claimed that she lost her faith in Brandeis because Jehuda banned a Palestinian art exhibit in 2006, but regained it after the student-organized Marty Peretz open letter.
This simply baffles me. Brandeis is not a democracy. No student voted for Jehuda. “President-Elect” Frederick Lawrence might’ve been elected by old people rich, powerful, or famous enough to be on the Board of Trustees, but I sure as hell didn’t vote for him or against him.
Brandeis is not a democracy. Student actions shouldn’t increase or decrease your appreciation for the administration, and vice versa. Don’t make the mistake of giving us credit or demerit for what the adults choose to do around here.
The latest news that matters from The Justice and The Hoot:
Jack Kevorkian, known mostly for his contraversial take on a person’s unalienable right to end his/her suffering by means of assisted suicide, is a man of great interest for other reasons too.
He is an oil painter, a jazz musician and a politician. Born to a family of Armenian immigrants, he grew up in Michigan extremely aware of the suffering his family had undergone at the hands of the Turks, in the widely underpublicized Armenian genocide of the early 1900s. His family history and culture helped shape his view of a person’s unablienable rights, especially as he developed a better understanding of patients’ rights while in medical school.
After practicing as a doctor for some time, Kevorkian published many research papers on the study of euthanasia and began to advertise for his services as a “death consultant” in local papers. He became known for helping people with terminal diseases who are in a constant state of pain end their own lives, through medicinal means. After taping one of the assisted suicides he assisted in, and airing it on 60 Minutes, he was arrested on charges of first degree murder. He chose to represent himself, and was subsequently convicted of second degree murder and sent to jail. From jail, he appealed his case, but was not granted cert.
He served 8 years of his term and then was released early due to the deteriorating state of his health. As one of the terms of his parole he is no longer allowed to comment on assisted suicide or advise patients, but he has spent much of his time since then campaigning to change laws which prohibit assisted suicide. In 2008, he campaigned for a seat in Michigan’s 9th congressional district, but received only 2.6% of the vote. Since then he has continued to spread his message advocating for people’s freedoms, quoting the Ninth Amendment.
The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people.
He has toured the country to promote his ideals, speaking at the University of Florida, Nova Southeastern University and appearing on many news shows. I think that he could offer a great deal of insight, and the legal studies, pre-med, ethics, social justice and social policy departments, as well as groups such as the Brandeis Law Journal and pre-law society, could all benefit from his teachings. I would hope religious groups would be interested as well, because even if you do not agree with his views, it’s a fascinating look into a divisive issue, from someone who has lived his whole life contemplating these topics. Anyone want to help me bring him to Brandeis?
There is a Tea Party chapter on campus. They have recently been chartered by the Student Union senate (without going through a “recognized” phase).
Your money – my money – is funding the Tea Party.
How does that make you feel?
It makes me feel sick. I don’t know what to do about it. Don’t know what I can do.
Nicholas Kristof and I do not see the world—and America’s role in it—in the same way. I have sometimes expressed my disagreements with his opinions vociferously (vociferousness is my business). But in yesterday’s The New York Times, he quotes two sentences that I recently wrote—one of them genuinely embarrasses me, and I deeply regret it.
The embarrassing sentence is: “I wonder whether I need honor these people and pretend they are worthy of the privileges of the First Amendment, which I have in my gut the sense that they will abuse.” I wrote that, but I do not believe that. I do not think that any group or class of persons in the United States should be denied the protections of the First Amendment, not now, not ever. When I insist upon a sober recognition of the threats to our security, domestic threats included, I do not mean to suggest that the Constitution and its order of rights should in any way be abrogated. I would abhor such a prospect. I do not wish upon Muslim Americans the sorts of calumnies that were endured by Italian Americans in connection with Sacco and Vanzetti and Jewish Americans in connection with communism. My recent comments on the twisted Koran-hating reverend in Gainesville will give evidence of that. So I apologize for my sentence, not least because it misrepresents me.
Or has he learned nothing?
The other sentence is: “Frankly, Muslim life is cheap, especially for Muslims.” This is a statement of fact, not value
I’m not really sure how to respond to this as an organization (Justice League). Do we focus on the positive, or on how Peretz doubled down on his contention that Muslim life is worth less than other life?
Your thoughts appreciated
So I’ve been assured that the new Union website is going up tomorrow – for real this time.
Hooray?
We’ve written an open letter that clearly states that Peretz’s remarks are not okay, and that Brandeis doesn’t appreciate those hateful words.
If an honored Brandeis alum speaks appallingly it reflects on our university and on us. Join us in calling for our University to make it clear that bigotry is not a value we honor.
If 500 community members sign this open letter, we’ll mail the letter – and the signatures – to the New Republic as a University response to his comments. The public pressure might force Peretz to apologize for his remarks – and if it doesn’t, we’ll ask President Jehuda to strip him of his alumni achievement award.
Thank you for standing with us in support of Brandeis – and universal – values.
I sent a version of this as an email to some people earlier today. I figured I’d share it with you all as well
In 2009, Brandeis University awarded Marty Peretz its Alumni Achievement Award. He’s featured in the Alumni Snapshots section of our website, under a heading praising him for “Leading the Intellectual Inquiry”. He’s the editor-in-chief of the New Republic, and we use his name repeatedly to promote the university. So what has he done recently to justify this recognition?
But, frankly, Muslim life is cheap, most notably to Muslims. And among those Muslims led by the Imam Rauf there is hardly one who has raised a fuss about the routine and random bloodshed that defines their brotherhood. So, yes, I wonder whether I need honor these people and pretend that they are worthy of the privileges of the First Amendment which I have in my gut the sense that they will abuse.
Peretz published these vile words in a September 4th column about American attitudes towards Muslims. This is the most shocking passage, but the whole thing is worth reading, if you can stomach it. Basically, Peretz posits that, despite polling evidence to the contrary, there is a vast reservoir of anti-Muslim sentiment among Americans. Furthermore, this hatred is completely justifiable because Muslims apparently do not care about the terrorist actions carried out by the fanatical fringes of their faith community. The article is one of the most disgusting pieces of writing I’ve seen from a supposedly serious journalistic source.
Unfortunately, it’s also par for the course for Peretz, who has made bigotry a cornerstone of his career as a journalist. Earlier this year, he gave us this gem while writing about the War in Iraq:
Frankly, I couldn’t quite imagine any venture requiring trust with Arabs turning out especially well. This is, you will say, my prejudice. But some prejudices are built on real facts, and history generally proves me right. Go ahead, prove me wrong.
In another column, he informs us that:
…Palestine will be a wretched society, cruel, belligerent, intolerant, fearing, with no real justice (or justice system), and no internal peace.
To me, Peretz’s connection with Brandeis is an embarrassment, not a point of pride. Using his name to promote Brandeis is a betrayal of our values and can only serve to repel the type of student that we should be trying to attract. However, this bond also gives us the unique opportunity to call out Peretz from his home, to join together as a community and forcefully reject his brand of demagoguery. That’s why members of the Brandeis community are circulating a petition and calling for a public apology from Peretz. Visit www.fromBrandeistoMarty.com and add your voice; if we get 500 signatures, we’ll send it to the New Republic and demand that Peretz retract his call to hate.
Our university was founded to combat persecution against an underpowered religious minority. Marty Peretz may not appreciate what that responsibility means, but most of us do. Sign the petition; say no to Marty, and yes to Brandeis.
Marty Peretz, class of ’59, is kind of a big deal.
He’s the owner and editor-in-chief of The New Republic, a prominent magazine with a proud legacy. Brandeis certainly thinks highly of him: he keeps popping up on the website, and we just gave him the Alumni Achievement Award in 2009.
Problem is, he just wrote this:
But, frankly, Muslim life is cheap, most notably to Muslims. And among those Muslims led by the Imam Rauf there is hardly one who has raised a fuss about the routine and random bloodshed that defines their brotherhood. So, yes, I wonder whether I need honor these people and pretend that they are worthy of the privileges of the First Amendment which I have in my gut the sense that they will abuse.
Shame! What a horrible, cruel, ignorant thing to say.
Good evening, Innermost Parts friends. Ordinarily I would regard the act I am about to commit as somewhat morally unsound, but as I do it in my own financial interest I am suppressing my inner objections.
My compatriot and classmate Oren Nimni and I have written a book. It is entitled Blueprints for a Sparkling Tomorrow: Thoughts on Reclaiming the American Dream It can be examined here, at Amazon.com, where it is currently the #117,529th bestselling book.
I post this here because the book is mildly political, though it is “radical” only in the sense that it rejects civilization outright. It is a book of meditations on contemporary human problems, and proposed solutions to those problems. A deeply introspective and professional work, it comes with a glossy cover and a number of well-placed footnotes.
And so, for just $11.99, you get 236 pages of intelligent discourse and witty retorts. As you read, you will slide lithely toward the Future, and while your tomorrows may or may not sparkle, you will certainly emerge from the book having read it.
There is not yet a law requiring you buy this book, but I strongly recommend you do so. And all those who write reviews will be given complimentary pastries. (This only applies to intellectually honest reviews. Reviewers who spew accusations and falsehoods will go pastry-less)
$6500. 2 days. 100 people.
A bunch of us at the Change Agency have spent a ton of time working on a huge project we’re excited to announce.
Campus Camp Wellstone is a 1.5 day training and leadership program recognized as the best program for college activists in the country. They focus on very concrete skills, like the nitty-gritty of campaign planning, grassroots organizing, and message development. They also teach students how to successfully recruit and retain volunteers and develop new leadership.
Camp Wellstone costs about $6,500 to put on. We’re bringing it to campus – for free – and only have 100 spots available.
You can learn more on their official page as well: http://www.wellstone.org/our-programs/campus-camp-wellstone
Brandeis is pretty great but also a bit too serious sometimes, and also bureaucratic. I’ve gone to colleges with brown sheet paper pasted to the bathroom stalls, so that students were encouraged to write. Instead of the lewd crudity you see here, they had poetry, discussions, stories. We need that sort of activist spirit at Brandeis.
We need to do more things like this:
I put on a “Zombie Week” program in my Washington State University dorm last spring, which was an RPG/game of tag/social experiment, and won residence hall program of the year.
Infected had to wear a red wristband inside the dorm. One person started as an infected. Dorm rooms were safe. A tag from any infected, and you were infected too. Weapon and item cards, (a few provided in the mail, and others cached around the building) could be used to defend against zombies.Basically, weapons and items were RPG-style cards that had to be handed to attacking zombies. We had a pretty large selection with some interesting combinations and effects. Pipe wrenches, decoys, propane tanks, etc.
Everyone was “required” to play, and even though there were a few people who just became infected and didn’t give a shit, there were hundreds of others sprinting up and down the halls at all hours. It seriously sounded like a fucking zombie apocalypse. Three in the morning you’d hear crashing and screaming, and then silence.
Motivation to survive was a Visa cash card for $50 and other prizes such as Left 4 Dead copies and “The Zombie Survival Guide”. The finale of the event involved fighting your way to the rec room Friday evening for prizes, pizza, and a zombie movie. I swear half the dorm showed up.Anyway, we had a lot of fun, and I’d be happy to post the ruleset and items if anyone is interested in replicating this (or just taking a look).
CAs take notice!
If you were wondering, our hall government committee was called Coffee Hour and our job was to host foreign movies with coffee and intellectual discussions. We deemed that super lame and instead spent our whole budget line item on Zombie Week.
This is awesome. This is what college should be. Let this be an example of the lifestyle we could be living in
What’s going on at Innermost Parts? Why has posting been so light?
Here’s the deal. Many of us at Innermost Parts are spending our time getting the Change Agency off the ground. Change Agency is a chartered campus club with the same goals as we have: to grow and strengthen the progressive community at Brandeis.
Change Agency is having a retreat this Saturday (from 1-6pm in Grad 110 Room E3). After the retreat we’ll hopefully have everything organized and be ready to provide you our regularly scheduled Innermost Parts programming.