Organizing at Brandeis University
Hi there.
This site hosted a particularly strong student/activist blog that ran from late 2007 – 2011 at Brandeis University.
It was founded by Sahar Massachi and Loki, and then run for most of its life by Sahar Massachi, with assists by Adam Hughes, Elly Kalfus, Nathan Robinson, and a large cast of contributors.
Please feel free to peruse the archives.
The VP of HR at Brandeis sent out an e-mail Monday to Brandeis Staff saying that President Lawrence has decided to close offices on Thursday and Friday for July 4th, giving workers "an extended weekend for relaxation and enjoyment with family and friends." (E-mail printed below)
While I appreciate the good will behind this move, and I believe this in common in many workplaces, do employers realize how giving extended holidays impacts hourly wage workers? As a temporary summer employee working at Brandeis for the summer for an hourly wage, I don't get paid when the school is closed, since I can't come in. That means that rather than enjoying the relaxing weekend, I worry about how to pay my rent with 2 less days – i.e. 14 hours less pay – for the month.
I spoke with a friend and fellow Brandeis alumnus about this today, and zhe informed me that when zhe worked at Brandeis as a student, zhe would very frequently lose hourly wages because of the Brandeis Mondays and other irregular schedules. As a student, I worked very few hours a week and never considered the impact this policy had on workers, but as an employee working 2 part time jobs, I realize how frustrating magnanimous gestures such as this can be.
Can't holidays be optional (if not otherwise compensated for)?!
Good afternoon,As a reminder, President Lawrence has directed that Brandeis University offices will be closed beginning at 5 p.m. on Wednesday, July 3rd with staff returning to work on Monday, July 8th.His hope is that staff members will be able to use the extended weekend for relaxation and enjoyment with family and friends.
Sincerely,Scot Bemis
Vice President for Human Resources
This e-mail re new Brandeis Dining Service partner Sodexo was sent to Brandeis Staff and Faculty earlier today (Thursday June the 20th)
Dear Faculty and Staff,
Brandeis University is pleased to announce that we have selected Sodexo as our new campus dining partner. Beginning July 1, 2013, Sodexo will begin managing and operating Dining Services on campus.
Sodexo’s commitment to excellent customer service, customer satisfaction, local & sustainable foods, and food-forward innovation make them a welcome addition to our campus. Their culinary team will bring a passion for fresh food and catering excellence to campus. Some of the new offerings you will see on campus will include: Starbucks, Russo’s Market, and the first Guy Fieri on Campus located in New England.
Over the coming weeks, Sodexo and Brandeis will share more specific information about meal plans, dining hours, new food formats, events and other information.
Please join me in welcoming our new Resident District Manager of Dining Services, Jay Degioia. You can reach Jay at ext. 64276 or email jdegioia@brandeis.edu
If you have other questions or would like additional information, please contact Mark Collins at 64435 or emailcollins@brandeis.edu
Thank you,
Ellen de Graffenreid
Senior Vice President for Communications
So, this is huge! Students have been criticizing and campaigning against Aramark for years (decades?) because of the quality of their food as well as their ideological stances (human rights vi, underpaid employees, etc). Does anyone out there have opinions on/knowledge of Sodexo? Do we know what's going to be happening to the Aramark workers?
I will be researching them, feel free to comment or e-mail in tips (tips @ innermostparts.org). For now, here's the "Controversies" section of their Wikipedia page:
"There have been at least nine boycotts of Sodexo, for varying reasons: at Clark University in Worcester, Massachusetts, at the School of Oriental and African Studies at the University of London, at the American University in Washington D.C., and at Université Laval in Quebec City, at Binghamton University in New York, and Allegheny College in Meadville, Pennsylvania, at DePauw University in Indiana, Hollins University in Roanoke, Virginia, Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia,[13][14][15] at Nordea banks in Finland, at the University of Tampere, Finland and at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles.[16] At DePauw University the students protested against Sodexo's alleged low pay, former investment in private prison businesses, and the lack of local food options.[17]
At the Nordea banks the issue was a cut in wages after Sodexo took over the bank's workplace food services.[18][19] After a successful boycott, the wages were raised.[20]
In 2009, the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) launched a United States nationwide campaign against Sodexo with their stated objective of improving wage and job standards. In 2010, the SEIU recruited students at many U.S. colleges to support strikes and demonstrations in protest of Sodexo's alleged unfair labor practices including anti-union behavior and paying low wages. [21][22] Although one series of strikes at the University of Pittsburgh led to the negotiation of higher wages and lower cost health insurance plans for the cafeteria workers,[23][24][25] none of the Sodexo accounts targeted by the SEIU have unionized or even requested an election vote. According to a statement from Sodexo, the SEIU engaged in a smear campaign in an effort to drive out rival labor unions that have traditionally operated in the foodservice industry as well as for general publicity.[26]
Sodexo filed a lawsuit in March 2011 under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act accusing the SEIU of "engaging in illegal tactics in its effort to unionize workers".[27] During the trial, it was revealed that the SEIU had written and distributed a manual to its staff detailing how “outside pressure can involve jeopardizing relationships between the employer and lenders, investors, stockholders, customers, clients, patients, tenants, politicians, or others on whom the employer depends for funds.” Tactics recommended include references to blackmail, extortion, accusations of racism and sexism, and targeting the homes and neighborhoods of business leaders for demonstrations.[28] Following the court discovery of this document, SEIU agreed to terminate their public campaign focused on Sodexo and the charges against SEIU were dropped.[29]
In May 2011, 27 University of Washington students were arrested during a sit in at the University's administrative offices for protesting the University's concessions contract with Sodexo.[30]Shortly after, on May 19, another 13 students were arrested under similar circumstances.[31]
All of the frozen beef products used by Sodexo in the UK were withdrawn on 22 February 2013 following the discovery of horse DNA in a sample.[32] The company supplies 2,300 institutions, including schools, old-age people homes, prisons and branches of the armed forces within the UK.[32]"
Currently watching the 2013 New York State of the State, which took place January 9, 2013. Here are some key moments and ideas:
The BBC ran an article last week, "Johnny Cash and his prison reform campaign," about country singer Johnny Cash's advocacy work on behalf of prisoners. Cash toured many prisons, performing live for inmates, and gave evidence at a US Senate subcommittee on prison reform in 1972, speaking of the abuses prisoners he talked to had suffered.
Explaining why Cash was effective in his cries for prison reform, Danny Robbins writes "Cash successfully humanised the prison population and gave them a voice. He had a unique ability to get inside the heads of these forgotten and ignored men and understand the problems facing them – the roar from the inmate audience that can be heard on Live at San Quentin when he launches into the provocative angry title track is testimony to this." (A 30-second audio clip of Cash onstage at San Quentin is available to listen to next to the article.)
I think we need more of this overlap between arts and activism. Cash was able to bring hope to prisoners and relat their stories to people living on the outside, a necessary bridge if we are going to address the problems caused by mass incarceration and develop better, more empathic approaches to dealing with people who commit crimes.
I learned this lesson today.
When you read an e-mail and feel really angry about it…
This method has a great success rate. Often, when you reread it you discover new things you hadn't originally seen, and you even hear it in a different tone of voice. If this does not work for you, try purposely reading it in a different tone of voice to see alternate ways it could have been intended.
Downside: This is not as helpful when you need to respond to an e-mail within a short period of time (i.e. if you're organizing an event and have to figure out logistics, provide advice, etc.), since it really does require space and time. But, those e-mails suck anyway.
Hey guys,
I've spent the past 7 semesters doing activism at Brandeis. Even while abroad studying comedy in Chicago, I did activism at Brandeis. In fact, I was more active from afar because it felt more manageable. And that's what I want to write about now: managing it. Because trying to change Brandeis, Waltham, Massachusetts, the Northeast, colleges across the United States, America, the Western Hemisphere, the world, the universe…. can get pretty exhausting.
So, here are a few lessons I've learned. I'd appreciate it if you shared with me whether you've experienced similar or different things, any advice or empathy you have to give, and words of inspiration.
1. Burnout
From my first exposure to Brandeis activism (which came in the form of Sahar Massachi recruiting me to write for Innermostparts in Upper Usdan midway through my first semester here), I was warned about the evils of Burnout. It was built up into this big scary thing that would happen to me without my knowing it.
Examples of things I have heard about burn out:
Despite all these warning and words of caution, despite seeing my friends burn out, I couldn't figure out how to avoid this trap. I say "trap" because Robert M. Pirsig refers to things which block our gumption (read: energy, motivation) as such in Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, the most insightful book I have ever read. I fell into this trap upon returning from Chicago to Brandeis, second semester junior year, and I have not been able to recover since. I went from planning numerous events and leading multiple clubs to maximizing the amount of time I could spend by myself in my room, because I realized that was what I really needed. I am just now re-learning how to do come back from a burnout.
Which leads me to my next point..
2. Overcomittment
I reached my peak of involvement sophomore year. Here's a list of what extracurricular activies I was involved with that year:
While this may seem like a normal schedule to many Brandeisians, looking back I realize how exhausting it was. I never spent time in my room, I spent little time with many of my closest friends, I was a mess. I felt I had no control over my life, since I was so devoted to making these groups work, and doing everything I could to "make a difference."
I would spend hours thinking and debating with friends over whether you should feel guilty for not "doing enough." As though there's such a thing as enough….As though anyone has a right to make you feel guilty for not trying to make a difference…As though guilt is a good motivatonal tool.
I realize now that while splintering myself all over the place and doing everything I was interested was great for broadening my horizons, it was my ego driving me to do as much as I could, and not my passion for change.
3. Messiah Complex
Andrew Flagel talked about this at the Club Conference at the beginning of the semester, and it really stuck with me. I went through most of my time at Brandeis with a Messiah Complex, subconsciously thinking that I needed to do things because if I didn't do them no one else would, and that that would be a problem. While that kind of thinking can drive you to do effective, productive things with your time, it can also lead to Points 1 and 2. And, perhaps the larger problem, it is simply not true.
Repeat After Me:
I am not the only person who can plan an event.
I am not the only person who can lead a meeting.
If I do not do this, it will not mean the end of the world.
Brandeis can exist without me.
These steps are not meant to devalue your significance- if you tell me you play a vital role to your organization, I believe you. If you say that if you do not submit those forms to Finance Board, no one else will and your club will get no money and then no one will come to your events since there's no free food and then everyone will sign off the list serv and then your club will be dechartered for lack of activity then perhaps you're right. The thing to realize is that just because those things may happen does NOT mean you must be beholden to your club. As much as your club does for the world, there are things that are more important. And there always will be.
So do your club, your friends, your roommates, and especially yourself a favor and admit to yourself that YOU ARE NOT BEHOLDEN TO YOUR CLUB.
NOTE: The terms club, cause, campaign are used interchangeably throughout this post. I also use the concept of club and social activism interchangeably at times because that has been my experience at Brandeis (I think every club I was a member of was arguably a proponet of social change).
–—————————————————
Well, that concludes this post. It turned out a bit differently than I expected, and it was a good reason to avoid finishing my 10 page Shakespeare paper. I intend to write 2 follow-up notes before the semester ends- one on Lessons from a former Finance Board Representative and one on Most Important Things to Know When Planning an Event at Brandeis.
If anyone is reading this and would like a note targeting something specific they have encountered, feel free to let me know.
Pre-SOTU Intimate Group Conversation with Todd
SOTU
Questions
"Today [January 4th] in Dallas, Texas, Rickey Dale Wyatt was cleared after spending 31 years in prison for a crime that he didn’t commit."
I love getting these kinds of e-mails from the Innocence Project.
They tell me about their clients, prisoners serving time, who they have helped exonerate through the use of DNA evidence.
Oh, our criminal justice system….
Read the full text of the Innocence Project's e-mail below:
Amnesty International reminded me about something today.
That our country has a secret prison where we 'detain' people for indefinite amounts of time without trials.
It's called Guanatanamo Bay, and it's been open for 10 years.
According to the New York Times, in January of 2009, Obama issued an executive order instructing the CIA to close down Guanatanamo within the year, calling the secret prison camp "a damaging symbol to the world."
Three years later, the New York Times reports that 171 prisoners remain there now. You can read a docket listing the prisoners' full names. Many of them have been held since 2002, when the prison opened.
Help put an end to this unfair treatment by signing Amnesty's petition to Obama, participating in Amnesty's National Day of Action Against Guantanamo on January 11th in D.C., or simply becoming better education on the situation, for instance by reading Poems from Guantanamo Bay, poems written directly by the prisoners and edited by Marc Falkoff.
The full text of Amnesty's e-mail is included below:
The Princeton Review is compiling updated information on undergraduate universities for its College Rankings.
Whether you agree with the Princeton Review's school rankings or not, this is a good opportunitity to influence this institution which informs so much of our education system.
So, take the SURVEY and tell the Princeton Review what you think of your school.
And post pro/con arguments for the ranking system to begin with, if you feel so empassioned.
Neil Patrick Harris tweeted a link to this video not too long ago. Kudos.
This video is a really nice example of an "average American" sharing his voice in government.
I think he does a good job.
Zach Wahls Speaks About Family
Description on Youtube.
"Zach Wahls, a 19-year-old University of Iowa student spoke about the strength of his family during a public forum on House Joint Resolution 6 in the Iowa House of Representatives. Wahls has two mothers, and came to oppose House Joint Resolution 6 which would end civil unions in Iowa.
The fight to to keep marriage equality in Iowa continues, help us support Iowans like Zach.
http://www.actblue.com/entity/fundraisers/12424"
The resolution passed in the House but did not make it to a vote in the Senate.
The World Food Programme has a new quiz on the famine ravaging Ethiopia. Just by taking it, you are helping to end it.
How is that?
For every person who takes the quiz, or shares it with their friends on facbeook or twitter, a meal will be donated to one child in Ethiopia.
From WFP:
"WFP is the largest humanitarian agency fighting hunger worldwide. By taking our quiz, you've just joined hundreds of thousands of people across the globe who, like you, are committed to feeding the world's hungriest people!"
WFP has developed an innovative way to use social media and technology in order to raise awareness of international hunger crises, and generate charity. The Ethiopia quiz is just one quiz you can take. The WFP's other social justice donation games include Free Rice, a vocabulary game, and Food Force, a Facebook application strategy game.
Social media can be harnessed in powerful ways to create productive change or provide temporary relief.
Do you think these quizzes and games are effective?
Read President Lawrence and Chairman Sherman's e-mail below regarding the recent death of former Brandeis President Evelyn E. Handler. We at Innermostparts send her family our regards and sympathies as well.
Dear Members of the Brandeis Community:
It is with great sadness, particularly during this holiday season, that we write to let you know that former Brandeis President Evelyn E. Handler died Friday night after being struck by a car in Bedford, N.H.
Evelyn Handler served as Brandeis president from 1983 to 1991. She was the first and only woman to lead the University. During her tenure as president, Brandeis was admitted to the Association of American Universities, a significant distinction for such a young institution. Her other notable achievements included strengthening the University’s life sciences programs, initiating the Volen Center for Complex Systems, and the University’s membership in the University Athletic Association.
On behalf of the entire Brandeis community, we extend our deepest sympathies to the Handler family.
Sincerely,
Frederick M. Lawrence, President
Malcolm L. Sherman, Chairman of the Board
David Protess, president of the Chicago Innocence Project, wrote a list of the top ten movies about wrongful convictions in the Huffington Post.
The Chicago Innocent Project, similar to Brandeis' own Schuster Institute Brandeis Innocence Project, investigates criminal cases in which prisoners may have been wrongfully convicted. According to the nationwide Innocence Project's site, there have been 281 post-conviction DNA exonerations in the United States, including 17 who served time on Death Row. If ever there were a strong argument against the death penalty, there it is.
This holiday season, why not watch some movies which explore the merits and flaws of our criminal justice system? Having only watched #s 10, 9, and 3, I can't vouch for the majority of the movies on this list, but all of them raise good questions and promote awareness of the flaws in our criminal justice system, regardless of their cinematic worth.
For extended synopses and commentary, read Protess' full article.
10. Conviction
9. My Cousin Vinny
8. In the Name of the Father
7. Murder on a Sunday Morning
6. The Fugitive
5. The Hurricane (a movie about the life of Ruben Carter, the Vice President of the Chicago Innocence Project)
4. Paradise Lost: The Child Murders at Robin Hood Hills
3. Shawshank Redemption
2. The Thin Blue Line
1. The Wrong Man
New Vice Provost for Library and Technology Services and Chief Information Officer at Brandeis announced: John Unsworth!
To the Brandeis Community:
I am delighted to announce that John Unsworth, dean of the Graduate School of Library and Information Sciences at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, will be the new Vice Provost for Library and Technology Services and Chief Information Officer at Brandeis. John will start his position in mid-February.
Our library is a treasured resource and our use of technology and the innovation we bring to it are critically important factors in the university's future. I am confident that John will help lead us in the right direction in both these arenas. John impressed the search committee and the Brandeis community with his intelligence, deep expertise, collaborative approach and easy manner.
I want to thank those of you who served on the search committee. I know how much time and effort went into this search and its successful outcome. In addition, I want to thank students, staff and faculty from across the Brandeis community who met with the candidates, attended their presentations and offered feedback.
I am delighted that the process has led us to today's announcement. A story on the appointment has been posted on BrandeisNow.
Steve
—
Steve A. N. Goldstein '78, M.A., M.D., Ph.D., F.A.A.P.
Provost and Professor of BiochemistryBrandeis University
Office of the Provost
415 South Street, M/S 134
Waltham, MA 02453
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.
Biking to blast music. Sounds like a spinning class. Or an OK Go video. In fact, it's a sustainability project.
Harrison Goldspiel, Carrie Watkins and Amira Mintz-Morgenthau submitted "Brandeis Pedal Power: Amping Up Campus Events" as a proposal to the Brandeis Sustainability Fund last month, and are waiting to hear back about whether their project was picked up or not. If funded, it would enable volunteers to generate energy simply by bicycle-riding. The energy could be used for a multitude of campus events, including as a "sustainable sound system," which is what the band Melodeego does, explained Harrison.
This is an awesome idea, promoting bike-riding, concert-attending and sustainability all at once. It's pretty crazy to think that we have such amazing technology these days, which enables us to generate our own energy in such a simple manner.
Read Harrison's description of the project, below, and take their survey too!
The project is "Brandeis Pedal Power: Amping Up Campus Events." I am working with Carrie Watkins '12 and Amira Mintz-Morgenthau '12. I became inspired to work on this project after seeing various concerts powered by bicycle energy. There was a water/hydrofracking festival this summer in NYC that featured a big concert completely powered by bicycle energy generators and "natural ass" power. I also knew of a Massachusetts band called Melodeego that has their own bicycle powered sustainable sound system for all their shows. After going to 350.org's Moving Planet: Boston event on 9/24 and riding the bikes myself, I decided we need this at Brandeis. So I rallied together Carrie and Amira and we applied for a BSF grant to construct three bicycle energy units. We are working very closely with Melodeego and their side project, Sustainable Sound to design and eventually construct the units. The second component to our project involves creating a student group called the Pedal Patrol which will manage the bicycle units. We are collaborating with Student Production Services and will incorporate the completely bicycle units and the Pedal Patrol into their organization.
The goals of our project are to: (1) create a new, carbon-free mechanism to power events on campus, thus reducing total energy use and carbon emissions, (2) get students, faculty, and the administration educated and excited about energy and climate change issues in a visually innovative fashion, and (3) set a precedent for university departments and student organizations, such as the Student Union, Student Events, Student Activities, WBRS, Chums, and the Punk Rock and Roll Club to constantly think about the environmental impact of their decisions.
I applied to Hiatt's Winter Break Shadowing program and was unable to make it to the first 2 dates of the mandatory pre-departure meetings.
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
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.
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!
I'm an English major, but I've taken a whole JBS semester in sociology, 2 theater classes, 2 creative writing classes, 2 legal studies classes, a math class…the list goes on.
My point is, a liberal arts education involves lots of different subject areas all kind of mixing together. And that's the way it should be. Especially at Brandeis, students are encouraged to study in multiple disciplines. So why not combine disciplines within a course, exposing students to multiple perspectives on the same issue?
The latest BrandeisNow features an article concerning two of my favorite teachers, Jane Kamensky and Sue Lanser, for winning the the Innovative Course Design award from the American Society for Eighteenth-Century Studies.
Kamesky, a History and Women's and Gender Studies professor, and Lanser, who teaches English, Women’s and Gender Studies and Comparative Literature, and is currently on sabatical, teamed up in the fall of 2010 to teach Brandeis' first course in English and History.
| ENG/HIST | 118b | London from Restoration to Regency: People, Culture, City |
As BrandeisNow reports, the course focused on London's history, geography (with special attention paid to maps), and culture, delving into its art, music, architecture, theater and more.
By combining these disciplines, the course offered a more complete look at London than analysis through one specific, more in-depth lens, could offer. What is the worth of being an expert on London's literature from the 1800's if you have no sense of who wrote it or what they were responding to?
I think this course (which will be offered again during the 2013-14 school year) is a great initiative, and would like to take an English-History course in the future.
In fact, the class I took with Kamesky, SYS 1c, was a sophomore seminar for my Lerman-Neubauer Fellowship, which asked the question "How Do We Know What We Know?" from a variety of perspectives. In class, we analyzed the concept of the self, and how it pertains to different disciplines and methodologies, from the lenses of: Economics (former Dean Jaffe), Art History (Prof. Kalb), History (Prof. Kamensky) and Neuroscience (Prof. Katz).
Each sections lasted about 8 weeks (half a semester), and consisted of in-depth analyses and class discussions. I had never taken college classes in any of these areas before, and they truly opened my mind. This opportunity is not available to all students, but I think more interdisciplinary seminar courses should be offered.
I'm looking for summer internships on the Career and Internship Connections (CIC) site right now, thanks to Hiatt, and I just stumbled across the coolest-sounding job ever.
Too bad they stopped accepting applications on Nov. 28th. It's still a fun read though.
***PLEASE NOTE: U.S. Secret Service representatives will be attending the morning career fair only. They look forward to meeting with you and discussing employment/internship opportunities on the day of the event.
The United States Secret Service is mandated by statue and executive order to carry out two significant missions: protection and criminal investigations. During the course of their careers, special agents carry out assignments in both of these areas an must be available to be assigned to duty stations anywhere around the world.
The Secret Service protects:
-The president, the vice president (or other individuals next in order of succession to the Office of the President), the president-elect
-the immediate families of the above individuals
-former presidents, their spouses for their lifetimes, except when the spouse remarries. In 1997, Congressional legislation became effective limiting Secret Service protection to former presidents for a period of not more than 10 years from the date the former president leaves office
-children of former presidents until age 16
-visiting heads of foreign states or governments and their spouses traveling with them, other distinguished foreign visitors to the United States, and official representatives of the United States performing special missions abroad
-major presidential and vice presidential candidates, and their spouses within 120 days of a general presidential election
-other individuals as designated per Executive Order of the President
-National Special Security Events, when designated as such by the Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security
The Secret Service investigates:
-violations of laws relating to counterfeiting of obligations and securities of the United States
-financial crimes that include, but are not limited to, financial information fraud, false identification documents, access device fraud, advance fee fraud, computer and telecommunications fraud, electronic funds transfers and money laundering as it relates to the agency's core violations
-computer-based attacks on the nation's financial, banking and telecommunications infrastructure
For additional information and qualifications, please visit http://www.secretservice.gov/opportunities_agent.shtmlApplication Qualifications:
Desired Attributes: The following attributes are desired for this position.
Desired Work Authorization Status: Authorized to work in the U.S.
Sponsorship: Only include candidates that do not require sponsorship
This raises so many questions for me, not the least of which is…those are the ONLY desired attributes/qualifications?
The Student Union just sent out an official press release concerning the State of the Union, which will be this Thursday from 5:30-7:30 in the Mandel Atrium.
The State of the Union, which has typically consisted of the SU President, and sometimes members of the President's Executive Board, delivering speeches, including reflections on the past term and predictions or unveiling of plans for the upcoming semester.
However, in an effort to make the event "more transparent and interactive," this year the State of the Union will consist of a short speech from SU President Rosen and then an open floor for questions from anyone in the audience, and featuring a "panel of Student Union representatives."
In a reception to follow the address, Rosen, Provost Steve Goldstein and Senior Vice President of Students and Enrollment Andrew Flagel will jointly "lead one of the first student Strategic Planning sessions."
This sounds like a great initiative. Rosen's administration has talked a lot about reforming the Student Union to place more focus on open communication, transparency, and increase student input, but events like these are necessary to put those lofty ideals into practice.
Having attended the past 2 spring State of the Unions, I can say that the crowd is usually made up of more "adults" than students. Hopefully, this effort will increase student participation and attendance.
Anyone want to liveblog the event for us here at IMP?
The full text of the press release follows below:
Continue reading “State of the Union Press Release: Open to Student Input”
*Thanks to the Brandeis Feminist Majority Leadership Alliance chapter for these articles. Check them out at: https://www.facebook.com/groups/fmlas/.
I don't and never have had an iPhone, but I still know who Siri is. Friends love showing off that they can talk to a phone and get a response from it, although that's what phones were invented for in the first place. It goes back to some primal urge to control other humans, which is why scientists are developing human-like robots.
Anyway, Siri is pretty impressive. She can look things up, answer jokes with witty retorts, and more. But, people are discovering that she is still limited by what her designers want her to say, and some of these pre-programmed responses seem to have a specific, anti-choice agenda behind them.
"The recent illustrations of Siri, the iPhone 4S voice-recognition based assistant, failing to provide information to users about abortion, birth control, help after rape and help with domestic violence has gotten a lot of notice."
As the above site demonstrates via screenshots, ask Siri about birth control, where you can get an abortion, or even type in the address of a specific abortion agency, and Siri will not have any answers.
Apple's defense, according to a BBC News article, is that Siri is still in her developing stages, and does not have all the information yet to answer everyone's questions. However, Siri's lack of knowledge on specific, controversial subject matters has led to speculation that this is more than just the beta stage. Is it right for Apple to push a moralist, anti-choice agenda on iPhone users if this is true?
Since I don't have an iPhone I can't run a test myself, but I urge you all to ask Siri questions relating to pro-choice options and see what she says.
And if you think Siri should be updated to include information for pro-choice resources, go to Apple's website and fill out a user feedback review saying exactly what Siri is missing.
Hello, Loyal and Dedicated Innermostparts Readers,
We, the staff here at Innermostparts, would like to apologize for our recent hiatus from reporting.
We know that people like you depend upon us for something, whether it be entertainment, news, or child support, and we feel badly when we deprive you of these essentials.
We believe it is a blog's job to update frequently and consistently, and to provide its readership base with thoughtful and relavent material on a regular basis.
With that said, it is difficult to live up to these standards without a big editorial and writing staff. As you can see from recent posts, although we have several one-time contributors, our writing staff has grown very small and disorganized.
This is a call to action.
Whether you often find cool social justice articles on huffingtonpost and want to do more than like them on your facebook, or you find yourself writing theses on women's rights that you have nowhere to send; whether you want to write a post an hour or copyedit others' grammar once a month, if you are interested in joining the ranks of Esther Brandon, Sahar Massachi, Elly Kalfus, Rocky Reichman and others, please let us know! We are happy to talk with you about the possibility of joining Innermostparts, Brandeis' only social activism blog!
E-mail us at Czar@Innermostparts.org, subject line: Writing for Innermostparts, and we will be in touch, or track one of us down in person and express your interest.
There's a lot going on in the world and we want you to help us cover it.
We value your feedback.
Thank you!
-Innermostparts
Valerie Plame and Joe Wilson were spies! And then the treasonous act of revealing Plame's identity almost took down the Bush Presidency.
They'll be at Rapaporte at 2pm today. Be there!
The Student Advisory Committee for the Strategic Planning Process and the Student Union Consitutional Review Task Force.
Two awesome opportunities for any undergraduates to make decisions about our school.
No application necessary- simply e-mail Herbie about your interest in either of these groups by Nov. 25th!
Read below for more information:
Currently there are two initiatives taking off this week, but neither can be successful without the input and cooperation of the student body.
The first is the Strategic Planning Process. As Provost Goldstein mentioned in his email last week, a committee has been formed to assess the trajectory of Brandeis, and recommend strategies that will shape the framework, goals and priorities of the University for the future. This is a big deal.
Until May, I will be your undergraduate representative on the Committee, but I cannot possibly be your only spokesman. A Student Advisory Committee is needed to engage the student body, gather student input and make sure that the undergraduate community has a say in this major-decision-making process. This committee will be responsible for gathering and organizing the input and opinions of all students.
I need your help! If you are interested in being a member of the Student Advisory Committee, then please email me with your name, class year and resume at hrosen@brandeis.edu by midnight, Friday, November 25. The Committee will be meeting at least once a week for two hours. An additional two to four hours of work will be required per month. This Committee is open to all students, except for those going abroad next semester. It will be a diverse group of students from all years and all aspects of the undergraduate community. Interested and want to learn more? EMAIL ME!
We cannot let a major planning exercise lack student voice. We cannot let the Strategic Planning Process just become another shelved University Proposal. Join me in making sure that the Strategic Planning Process has a profound positive impact upon future Brandeis students. This is a special moment in Brandeis history – make sure you have a say.
The second initiative is the Student Union Constitutional Review. Every four years, the Student Union is mandated to review its Constitution. While the last review was in 2009 – 2010, I believe we can benefit from changing some of the Constitution's rhetoric.
This process requires the participation of a great deal many students, all of whom are expected to reach out to the greater student body. Attached is the Constitution Article on Constitutional Review. Please read through it, and if you are interested in serving on the Review Task Force, please email me at hrosen@brandeis.edu by midnight, Friday, November 25, and mention which constituency you want to represent.
While not a University initiative, this Constitutional Review will hopefully benefit the undergraduate student body in the future, and I welcome any student input on the matter. Our Constitution can be found at brandeisstudentunion.org by clicking on the About Section.
This is a chance for us to impact Brandeis and the way of life for our undergraduates. If you are interested, please don't let this run by you.
Thanks so much, and have a terrific break!
In honor of Thanksgiving, I would like to express support for organizations or people that make a positive difference in the world.
First up, the ACLU.
The ACLU, comprised of the American Civil Liberties Union and the ACLU Foundation, has been working since 1920 to protect the rights of American citizens.
Thank you, ACLU.
What groups are you guys thankful for?
I just came home to my loft, suite-style building across from DePaul's campus, located on busy Fullerton Street, and was confronted by the scene desribed in the headline.
Sure, 1 a.m. near a college campus there are bound to be drunk people fighting. But, what do you do when you think it might be serious?
As my friend and I neared the guy and girl, I heard her yell "Why would you do this to me?" and grab his shirt and push him.
He tried to pull away and said "I'm calling the police. I'm going to call the police."
She seemed drunk and he seemed sober.
What do you do?
I keep repeating that because I honestly don't know.
Maybe they were a couple and had just had a trivial fight. Maybe she was taking things way out of line. Maybe he was going to call the cops and it would all be fine. But how do I know?
As we walked by, I turned and said to them "Are you guys alright? Do you need help?"
The guy responded with something along the lines of "She's drunk. She won't let go of me…We're okay."
I can't remember what he said, but it sounded like he was dismissing me.
So I left.
When I entered my lobby, next door, I told the security guards that a guy and girl were yelling at each other on the sidewalk, in front of the restaurant next door.
The security guard's response?
"If it's past the black pillar, it's not our problem."
Continue reading “What do you do when you see a drunk girl pushing a guy?”
As Provost Steve Goldstein sent out in an e-mail earlier today, President Lawrence is soliciting input from the faculty, staff, graduate and undergraduate students in order to devise a 5-year plan to put Brandeis on the right track.
For faculty and staff, this will take the form of planning sessions group meetings.
Undergraduate students, on the other hand, will "convene a Student Advisory Committee to engage the student body through a series of town hall meetings, forums and online surveys," and the Graduate Student Association will likewise organize events for graduate students to contribute their input.
In addition, Goldstein announced the members of the Strategic Planning Steering Committee. It is comprised of: Gannit Ankori, Ben Gomes-Casseres, Karen Hansen, Tim Hickey, Anita Hill, Fernando Rosenberg, Susan Birren, Lisa M. Lynch, Bruce Magid, Michaele Whelan, Malcolm Watson, Herbie Rosen, Michael Singer, Jonathan Davis, Barbara Mandel, Bart Winokur, David Bunis, Andrew Flagel, Elaine Kuttner and Dan Feldman.
Soliciting input as to the future of our University is a good initiative, and would be even better if the news was accompanied by concrete plans for how this will play out, as it was for the faculty and staff, who were sent Doodle polls to fill out to organize their meeting. We will see how this process plays out, but until then, students can still follow up on the initiative by e-mailing Student Union President Herbie Rosen or others involved to suggest how it should be conducted.
The most promise opportunity was Goldstein's mention of a website that will go up in December to document all of the ideas these groups come up with. This is a good way for the whole Brandeis community to be involved in the decision-making process if they choose.
I'm also confused as to why graduate students' input will be gathered in a different way than undergraduates:
With Andrew Flagel, Senior Vice President for Students and Enrollment, undergraduates will convene a Student Advisory Committee to engage the student body through a series of town hall meetings, forums and online surveys. Similarly, the Graduate Student Association will solicit input via a series of events and online opportunities.
Is there a significance to this distinction? I'd like to know how graduate students feel about the text of the e-mail and their role in the process.
Read the full text of the e-mail below, and share your views on this news.
Good news from OccupyChicago.
A delegation of Occupiers submitted a petition with 13,409 signatures supporting "the rights of Occupy Chicago to peaceable assemble," [sic] today.
Nancy Wade, of the delagation, reported that they "had a productive conversation" with the First Deputy Chief of Staff for the Office of the Mayor, and are currently in negotiations with the city as to what "a possible stable outdoor location for Occupy Chicago might look like."
I think that negotiations is a good place to be, and I'm happy the city is listening to the Occupiers.
More updates to come. In addition, check out Occupy Wall Street or its affiliates' Wikipedia pages. It's a rare opportunity to watch Wikipedia articles be constantly updated with new information!
For the full text of Wade's e-mail regarding the petition, the meeting, and how you can help, read below:
Continue reading “Occupy Chicago Negotiates with the Mayor’s Office”
The Brandeis Health Center is now serving alcohol, and even taking reservations for drinking appointments, in part of their new initiative to discourage binge drinking by underage students.
Excerpts from Health Center e-mail:
Walk in shots available Monday through Friday 9:00am – 11:00am and 1:30pm – 3:30pm. Shots are available by appointment if neccessary. Please call to schedule.
Cost is $20 cash only please, receipts for insurance reimbursement available upon request.
$20 is pretty good for a shot these days, although we'd like to know more about which kinds they'll be serving. In addition, cash bars are somewhat inconvenient, especially on Brandeis' campus, with its scarcity of neighboring banks and ATM's.
Brought to you by: Truthtoitsonionmostparts
"So, maybe the true feminist icon shouldn't be Gloria Steinem but Annie Oakley."
This is a particularly anti-feminist clip from "The Five," a show on FoxNews. It was aired November 1st, 2011.
The Five- Feminism or Firearms: What Empowers Women More?
I found the clip, aired November 1st, this week while looking for material for my modern conservative feminist character for a comedic, satirical newscast we had to create for my Comedic Writing class here at Second City- Comedy Studies.
I do think there is a way to be a conservative and a feminist, but I do not think that most people who claim to be both truly are, according to my own definition of feminism, which is equality of the genders.
Enjoy.
Running your own company can be hectic. Especially in the quickly-changing world of technology and the Web, entrepreneurs lead fast-paced lives. Problems can arise from nowhere that need solutions immediately. Decisions must be made. Customers need to be taken care of. Resources need to allocated–and re-distributed. Life can be an unorganized mess, or a well-run efficient machine.
Unless you are participating in a contest like NaNoWriMo, Writing fiction is usually not so fast-paced. For anyone who has ever written or tried to write a novel, they know that patience is one of the key traits needed to persist. Novels need to build up, and will not be complete until the author has typed out every single word and finished the story. Even then, authors usually do not reap any benefits from their labor until much later on, after their book has been published and started to sell.
But entrepreneurs are not the only ones who live fast-paced lives. And patience is beneficial in other areas of work other than writing. In reality, entrepreneurs and novelists both need the ability to adapt and respond to problems quickly as well as patience.
I am not a professional novelist, but I do write. I cannot speak for all entrepreneurs, even fellow college students who run their own web business, but I have had similar experience running Literary Magic. There is little doubt in my mind of the important role these traits play for both entrepreneurs and novelists as well as those who aspire to be.
Why do I bring this up now?
This summer I’m interning for an organization called the Schuster Institute for Investigative Journalism. It’s a big switch from my days at McGraw-Hill, but has so far complimented if not enhanced the skills I learned at my four years interning in corporate America.
From what I have seen working as a Research Assistant for investigative journalists is that this profession, too, requires a mastery of both adaptability and patience. Whether it is breaking a major article, fact-checking a source or preparing for an event, investigative journalism bears similar traits to entrepreneurship and novel writing. Like entrepreneurs, the workplace is fast-paced. Issues pop up at every corner, and you need to work hard to not only solve these would-be obstacles but continue to progress forward (was that an oxymoron?). And like novelists, creating and preparing a piece of work in investigative journalism takes time. Takes patience. And if you do eventually see the fruits of your labor in investigative journalism, the results can be long in coming.
I think interning at a center dedicated to investigative journalism, like the Schuster Institute is, is helping me improve in these areas. That, and my work for The Justice, has helped me improve my writing and business ventures, not distracted me from it. My advice? If you get the opportunity to try your hand at writing news, go for it. That patience and adaptability will serve you well in the future, as it is already serving me.
Until next time!
Yours literally,
Rocky
Hey,
Please check out this e-mail to support the Turkish relief effort.
To whom it may concern,
I am contacting you to inform you of a new campus initiative. This student- run initiative is a group of concerned students with the goal of helping with Turkish relief efforts for the recent, devastating earthquake through raising funds and general campus awareness of the situation. They are doing this in conjunction with Project Nur and help from the Department of Community Service and this semester are beginning to sell bracelets and Turkish food. Additionally, they hope to continue through next semester with fundraising and the following years with cultural awareness through reinvigorating and renewing a currently obsolete club, Turkish Students Association. This could be a really great news story about how to make obsolete clubs worthwhile and about the discussion of clubs on Brandeis in general. It could also be a great way for this club and their efforts to be publicized and hopefully grow. Rozi Levi is spearheading this effort and would love to be able to provide interviews for any op-ed or news story that you would like to publish. I really hope that you consider writing about this new initiative, and if you have any questions or comments please just email me back or contact Rozi.
Thanks again for your consideration and please let me know if you’re interested in pursuing this,
Tamar Schneck
I read Gershom Gorenberg every day. Well, every day I check my RSS reader, and if Gershom has written something, then I make sure to take the time to read it. (His blog is called South Jerusalem. It's on our blogroll, I think).
He's an interesting guy – an Orthodox Jew and member of the Israeli left, and a thoughtful and kind man.
He's teaming up with J-Street (the American Jewish Pro-Israel Pro-Peace group) and giving a talk about his great new book, The Unmaking of Israel.
I like Charlie Radin. He works at the Office of Communications at Brandeis (I think he's in charge of Brandeis NOW) and was an award-winning foreign correspondent for the Boston Globe.
Charlie is moderating the event! Our Charlie! How cool is that?
Want to go?
Seriously. Want to take a bus with me or something? Let me know.
Yesterday marked the first Pulse survey from the Student Union, in what is to be a series on all aspects of campus life.
We forgot to post the link yesterday, so now it becomes an experiment: only you can test it out: does the link still work even though it is now Tuesday?
1. Link to the first Pulse survey, on dining: https://www.surveymonkey.com/
As I said before, I think this is a great initiative, and the Dining Survey really addressed key issues, such as the Justice League's Dollar-Point Parity campaign, SEA's Real Food campaign, and the availability of Gluten-free, vegan and vegetarian options, to name a few.
Now the question remains to be answered what kind of impact the survey feedback will actually HAVE, and how it will manifest.
This is perhaps the most liberal we've seen Rick Perry be so far in the 2012 GOP race.
It's a funny clip and well analyzed on The Young Turks with Brian Unger and Richard Eskow, courtesy of Nation of Change, my fave progressive news source.
Watch below!
Yet another opportunity to be involved in decision-making on the student level: the Student Union wants non-senators to serve as committee chairs for the Diversity, Services, and Club Support committees.
Below are a list of the committees' descriptions.
Committees:
Diversity Committee: Coordinate events, work to encourage diverse interaction amongst the Brandeis community, and collaborate with the ICC and underrepresented groups on campus to increase community engagement.
Services Committee: Plans Midnight Buffet, shuttle buses for Thanksgiving and Spring breaks; oversees the Deisbike program.
Club Support Committee: Guides new clubs through Union processes such as club recognition and charter, helps new clubs after receiving recognition/charter, and provides services to clubs and club leaders.
E-mail Gloria Park, Student Union Vice President, at sygpark@brandeis.edu for more information.
Today is…MOVE YOUR MONEY DAY!
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.
