Please join us on Tuesday May 8th, from 7:00pm-8:00pm at the Waltham Public Library for a discussion about how to create a safer community for and with victims of domestic and sexual violence.  

 

Specifically, we will be discussing Bill S918 which protects the employment rights of victims of domestic violence by providing 15 days of unpaid leave to plan for their safety.

 

This event, being organized by Brandeis Senior Marla Merchut and Brandeis Junior Becca Miller is in conjunction with the Waltham Representative Thomas Stanley as well as

REACH and Jane Doe Inc. This event is an out growth of the legal studies class Advocacy for Policy Change. We believe this is an event and topic very important to the Brandeis community and we would appreciate your support and attendance.

Below is a summary of the highlights of the latest Student Union e-mail, along with my commentary underneath each point.

I am in Chicago and so could not go to the State of the Union. Did anyone attend? Thoughts/reactions?

Attached to this post is "most of what was said at the State of the Union," e-mailed by the Student Union. I like the town hall forum initiative. Rosen covered a lot of  issues and changes Brandeis has been making, and for the most part they sound like steps in a positive, more student-friendly and involved path.

• The Usdan C-Store (P.O.D.) will be open from Midnight – 2am on Saturdays for all of next Semester! Thank you to everyone for supporting the Senate's Ad-Hoc Dining Committee, Senator Ricky Rosen and the Student Union in this initiative. Make good use of those hours!
  • ?YES! Responding to students' needs! Now if only we could negotiate with Aramark…

• In response to PULSE Feedback, we've been trying to secure more study space for the student body. In the future, we are trying to get the Mandel Center & Science Complex, but we need to see how this new option goes. Please understand that you need to keep your study space clean and neat. If this first extension of study spaces goes well, then we will be able to get the nicer areas like the Science Center!
  • ?GREAT! Listening to feedback! Yay!

• Student Union, Student Events, Student Activities and WBRS are proud to bring you… MAKING WAVES! - The Brandeis Pool Party! Saturday, January 21. Keep your eyes open for more information, but get your swim-suits ready!
  • ?Does this mean the pool will be opening Jan. 21st?????!

• Attached is most of what was said at the State of the Union. Please feel free to read it over, and let me know if you have any questions, comments, concerns, etc.
  • Highlight: From now on, Rosen hopes S.o.t.U.'s will be Town Hall Forum-style
  • State of the Union

Currently, I'm virtually attending the "last chance" one.

I thought I would liveblog it and post any interesting/entertaining/surprising tips.

Andrea Dine, Associate Director of Career Development at Brandeis' Hiatt Career Center, is currently walking us through how to research our alumni matches, in terms of them personally, their field of work, and their specific position.

Interesting Points

• The number one thing alumni matches complain about is students not knowing anything about what they do.  I can see how this is irresponsible on the students' behalf, but really…why is that so wrong? Why are these alumni getting offended by our ignorance?

• Number one thing NOT to do: directly ask if they will give you a job or internship. I totally agree with this. That makes ANYONE uncomfortable, especially someone you're meeting for the first time, and who's doing you a favor!

• Facebook is a social networking site good for keeping in touch with friends and family, especially long distance.

• Brandeis has a lot of comedian alumni, who have won competitions and appeared on TV! I know of Myq Kaplan, the people behind friends, and perhaps a few others, but I'm excited to e-mail Andrea after and find out who these people are.

• Whether to e-mail or to handwrite thank you letters is a contraversial question. As a gross generlization, older alumni are more likely to expect hand-written notes. I'm surprised to hear that people still handwrite anything. I only ever write e-mails. That's a nice idea, though, to handwrite.

Much like my Intro to Psych class, throughout the Webinar we are being polled to check that we are paying attention. Some of the questions are in regards to our emotions, while others are more like Millionaire $100 questions. Easy and silly.

• One polling question involved the word "definately". 

This is the first time Hiatt is matching students and alumni on an individualized, one-at-a-time basis. Despite the time it takes, they are hoping this will produce better matches!

And that's the end. Thanks Hiatt! That was fun!

Are you a fan of It's a Wonderful Life? Interested in how this classic Christmas movie is inspiring social justice movements nowadays?

Watch a great, 6-minute clip explaining what the day is all about, courtesy of Nation of Change.

This is a short post because it is serving as a forum for people to share their views on whether or not they are going to be moving their money out of big, corporate banks and into small locally-owned banks and credit unions.

It sounds like they are also planning on making it fun. And free.

I went to a Chipotle Cultivate Festival in Chicago not too long ago (October 1st), at which Chipotle used interactive media (specially designed video games), live music, and free food to educate people on what it does to treat its animals well, reduce damage to the environment, and promote socially just business practices. It was an innovative way to make people more conscious about their food consumption, and it worked!

This sounds like a similar sort of fun, social justice event, and its hosted on our very own campus! So check it out:

Schedule
Outside of USDAN!! 12-2pm – Food Day demonstration & FREE FOOD GIVE-AWAY (Butternut squash soup!!!)
SCC 2-4pm – The Real Food Challenge Workshop & Activities- GET YOUR PICTURE TAKEN, LEARN ABOUT REAL FOOD, TALK ABOUT WHAT FOOD MEANS TO YOU. JOIN IN!
SCC 6-8pm – “Food Matters” movie screening – MORE FREE FOOD GIVEAWAY. Hot apple cider! Yummy apples! Baked goods!

Food Matters Official Trailer:

Click here to view the embedded video.

Food Day is a nation-wide movement that can be summarized by its 6 main principles:
1. Reduce diet-related disease by promoting safe, healthy foods
2. Support sustainable farms & limit subsidies to big agribusiness
3. Expand access to food and alleviate hunger
4. Protect the environment & animals by reforming factory farms
5. Promote health by curbing junk-food marketing to kids
6. Support fair conditions for food and farm workers
For more info go to www.foodday.org!

I never realized it before, but today when I was reading about the meaning of Sukkot, I thought something sounded a bit familiar. So I read last year’s e-mail from the Chaplains, and then 2 years’ ago, and I discovered: they are exactly the same.

The only differences I spotted were in the font of the names at the bottom, and the removal of an underline used to help people pronounce Simhat Torah.

Did other people know this?!

Read more about it here, from our Live Blogging Occupy Wall St series of posts, to my own experience at Occupy Chicago.

Know of other members of the Brandeis community (sutdents, alumni, family) participating in other city chapters? Tell us about it here, in the comments section!

I visited OccupyChicago for the first time this week, on Friday, October 7th when the movement had been active for exactly 2 weeks. I was lucky enough to meet up with esteemed former contributor Lev Hirschhorn ’11.

What stuck out to me the most:

The diversity of people: From what I’ve heard in the media and how I think of protests in general, I expected it to be mostly white, liberal college kids complaining about the government. Maybe that’s even how the movement started out, but that’s not how it is anymore. There were white, black, Hispanic, and people of all skin colors there. There were men, women and people who don’t subscribe to the binary. There were people who resembled stay at home mothers, businessmen, students, unemployed people and more. Young and old. Dressed nicely and not so nicely. All together.

The lack of police interaction: This is again a misconception that has been spreading in part due to the media. Nationwide, the OccupyWallSt movement gained popularity and notoriety after the NYPD arrested about 700 protesters on the Brooklyn Bridge. We’ve all seen the mace videos. So it came as quite a surprise to see the police watching the protest from across the street, walking through the crowd of protesters at times, but not interacting in any way.

As you will see in some of my pictures, there are barricades up along the streets. However, I learned that these are NOT related to the protest, but in fact were put there for the Bank of America Marathon, which ran through that intersection on Sunday. I have not heard of any arrests or conflicts so far related to the Chicago protest, aside from the police directing protesters not to sleep on the streets and requiring them to continue moving their stores of food (which I don’t fully understand why they must do.)

My Experience:

On Friday, it was business as usual: a crowd of people standing in front of the Federal Reserve Bank building, at Jackson and LaSalle (231 N LaSalle Street). Although the protesters don’t have much space on these chosen blocks, unlike OccupyWallSt, in Liberty Plaza, their protest is situated at the intersection of the Bank of America Building, the Federal Reserve Bank Building.

How do the bankers feel about this bombardment? Well, story has it that, in response to the protesters’ oft-repeated refrain “We…are…the 99%!,” someone hung a sign in one of the Federal Reserve Building’s windows which read “We are the 1%”

To add some levity to the mood (at least I hope that’s why), one protester came adorned in a yacht club outfit with a similar sign.

But the mood was pretty enthusiastic anyway, what with the drumming, the chanting, and the sign-holding. People even ordered pizza and handed it out to protesters and passers-by.

These people are taking shifts, staking out the area 24/7. I was only there for an hour, but already was caught up in the enthusiasm and unity. Chanting can be really fun. It’s going to take me some more time to decide what I think about the protesters’ requests and how effective these demonstrations are, but I know I’ll be going back to find out more.

I have great respect for Playboy Enterprises. Please go to this event, all of you, since I am abroad and will not be able to attend. And bring a copy of the magazine for her to sign. Please.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE by the Student Union:

The Student Union invites you to have a conversation with Ms. Christie Hefner ’74 on Friday, October 21st from 3:30-5:30 PM in the Rapaporte Treasure Hall as part of the “Influential People Embodying the Brandeis Spirit” series. As former CEO and chairman of Playboy Enterprises from 1988-2009, Ms. Hefner will speak about entrepreneurship and how her successful career relates to the Brandeis spirit. This event follows upon the success of last year’s event with Chief Justice (ret.) Margaret Marshall and Professor Anita Hill.

The goal of the event is to create a conversational environment where Brandeis students can learn from accomplished professionals in the Brandeis community. This opportunity allows Brandeis students, undergraduates and graduates, and faculty to understand how community leaders have used their Brandeis connection to propel themselves into their successful and impactful lives. Students will be able to engage in a question and answer period with our guests and gain an in-depth understanding of their career choices as well as learn from their experience on present day issues. Refreshments will be served. Please contact Sarah Geller (sgel...@brandeis.edu) and/or Herbie Rosen (hro...@brandeis.edu) if you have any questions/concerns.

Co-sponsors include the Student Union, Business Department, Department of Student Life, and the Hiatt Career Center.

This fall the FCC will face massive corporate pressure to gut media-ownership rules and pave the way for more media consolidation. In Congress the “Super Committee” will weigh cuts to public media as it trims the federal budget. Meanwhile, Net Neutrality protections preserving the free and open Internet are under increasing threat.

On Oct. 21 the Boston Media Reform Network is hosting a town hall exploring how today’s shifting media landscape impacts the news and information needs of local communities, especially Boston. We will screen portions of the documentary Page One: Inside the New York Times, which chronicles the media industry’s transformation in the face of this changing landscape, to help frame the town hall conversation. New York Times reporter Brian Stelter, who is featured in the documentary, will participate in our discussion.

Here are the details:

What: Town Hall Meeting on Media and Democracy
When: Friday, Oct. 21, at 7 p.m. Doors open at 6:30.
Where: Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Room 10-250, 77 Massachusetts Ave., Cambridge, Mass.
Who: Brian Stelter, New York Times reporter, Kate Novack, Page One: Inside the New York Times producer, Andrew Rossi, Page One: Inside the New York Times director, Sasha Costanza-Chock, professor of civic media at MIT, and Craig Aaron, president and CEO of Free Press

The town hall also kicks off the Social Movements/Digital Revolutions Conference, which will bring together hundreds of activists and media makers who are fighting to forge a new digital future: http://www.digitalmediaconference.org

The Boston Town Hall Meeting on Media and Democracy is sponsored by the Boston Media Reform Network, Free Press, Lesley University, Mass. Global Action, the MIT Center for Civic Media, the MIT Comparative Media Studies Program and Open Media Boston, with support from Participant Media.

Read Shea’s e-mail below to find out more about what’s going on, why, and how to get involved:

Last weekend, 5 Brandeis students went down to NYC to join the Occupy Wall St. protestors. It was wonderful, awe-inspiring and empowering. This weekend, we want to bring even more students down: we will be joining an ever-growing movement, comprised of citizens from over 40 states, students from over 20 colleges, humans of all walks of life who have the courage to live the change they want to see in the world.

If you have any interest in coming along, or joining the new Boston occupation that will be starting this weekend, we will be holding TWO meetings to plan our trip and discuss anything related to the ongoing occupations: tonight, Monday the 26th, and tomorrow night, Tuesday the 27th. Both meetings will be held at 10PM in the Peace Room, located above lower Usdan, next to Levin Ballroom.

If you cant make either of these times, please email me (Shea Riester) at srie...@brandeis.edu or call me at 9176452444!

In the last week, the Occupy Wall St. protestors have been joined by Lupe Fiasco, Immortal Technique, Chris Hedges and Reverend Billy! To get a feel for the spirit of the occupation, here’s a report from last night in Liberty Square from occupywallst.org:

Drums blared for hours into the night when the Assembly wasn’t in session, until the time came for quiet. The drummers ended by reciting from the Principles of Solidarity we approved in Friday’s General Assembly, in the rain. Before the police lined along the Broadway side of the plaza, they cried together, “We are daring to imagine a new socio-political and economic alternative that offers greater possibility of equality.” And more. “Safety in numbers!” a sign by them says. “Join us.”

For more information:

occupywallst.org
occupytogether.org
adbusters.org

Hey all,

This Saturday, I am attending an event called Moving Planet hosted by 350.org (an international climate action website) along with thousands of others worldwide. What is Moving Planet, you ask? It is a day for communities across the globe to come together to show our leaders that we support a safe, responsible, and fast transition to move beyond fossil fuels. Luckily for us, Boston is holding one of the largest events in the country, and we have been organizing a group of Brandeis and Waltham community members to come together to join this momentous event.

Moving beyond fossil fuels towards cleaner energy sources is a critical issue we face today. Burning fossil fuels is spewing carbon into the atmosphere, which causes climate change. And while many understand climate change as how it affects the environment and weather (who doesn’t like warm weather?), it is even more serious. Climate change is predicted to decrease access to food and clean water, to increase severe (and hazardous) weather patterns, dislocate people from their homes as sea levels rise, and for example, articles have linked climate change as playing a role in the war in Darfur. Not to mention that those who will first beat the brunt of these effects are the poorer areas in the world, who have little to do with the cause of these problems.

And these are the critical years we have to slow down the effects of climate change before they spiral out of control.

Besides climate change, the way of extracting fossil fuels is usually not so safe for the workers and is harmful to the environment (which is the same environment that we rely on to sustain us). And when we actually burn them, they have been linked to higher asthma rates and other health issues.

These are the reasons I will be at Moving Planet on Saturday (though others have their own). Communities and countries all over the world are working to stop the burning of fossil fuels in their own way every day. But on September 24th, we can come together to show stronger support than each community can alone that burning fossil fuels is wrong. Can you join us?

There are three main parts for the day.
1. For those interested, we will be volunteering with the Waltham Land Trust to clear a bike path on an old rail trail (sign up here).
2. We will be leaving from Brandeis campus at 12:40 (meet at the info booth at the entrance) to walk together to Christ Church Episcopal (750 Main St) for a gathering with speakers from the Waltham community, Brandeis, and Bentley, plus some music!
3. From there, some will bike and others will take the commuter rail into Boston for the large event. We will be joining thousands of others is speaking out about the dangers of fossil fuels (we’ll be taking the commuter rail that arrives in Boston by 3:16). Those concerned about the Guster concert will be back in time to see them (you can take either 5:30 or 8:00 commuter rail back).

Please check the facebook event for more information, and contact bran...@gmail.com with any questions. Hope to see you there!

Tali

Members of the Brandeis community have undoubtedly received the email from Herbie Rosen, current Student Union President, announcing Deis Impact.

I know the name doesn’t explain anything, but I promise you that this is the most important, inclusive, progressive event to come to Brandeis in a long time. It’s what I expected from this campus when I transferred, and now it’s happening.

Let me build the hype.
What if the purpose of art didn’t end at applause?

Imagine this: a Leonard Bernstein Festival for the Creative Arts, but for social justice. It’ll make social justice inextricably a part of the fabric that ties the Brandeis community together, it’ll be every bit as visible as art is during the Bernstein festival and make the same point: social justice is all around you.

[INFORMATION SESSION: Tuesday, September 20, from 6pm - 7pm in Feldberg Lounge (Upper Sherman, next to the Stein)]

It’s going to make social justice easy to engage in for any student group and for students who have never before been a part of this facet of the Brandeis experience, and that is its genius. It makes activism easy! Who knew?

My vision is of Brandeis students from every discipline coming together in large-scale, visible projects whose social impact extends deep into and beyond our campus. Collaboration and commitment to changing our campus and the world for the better will characterize the atmosphere.

I can’t be more excited about this, but it can’t happen without student leaders.

My plea: get involved. Come to the information session, get your club leaders to come to the information session, where you can apply to be a part of this incredible week. Create murals, dances, art installations, teach-ins, insane stunts, music, musicals, panel discussions, poetry readings, anything at all that will speak to the mission of social justice and what it means at our university.

And make it big. Be loud in your statement.

(Deis Impact is being brought to you by the Student Union and the International Center for Ethics, Justice and Public Life)