Innermost Parts — the Brandeis University social justice blog

"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. […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

  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 […]

  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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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. […]

*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 […]

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 […]

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! More info here.

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 […]

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. ACLU Victories of 2011 "Don't Ask, Don't […]

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 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, […]

  There are a series of "Free School University" classes taking place this weekend at Dewey Square. Read their descriptions.   Friday, Nov. 18th   1. Political Policing in the United States: Historical Perspectives on the Challenges Confronting the Occupy Movement (FSU) – 1PM This teach in will briefly review the history of political policing in […]

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 […]

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             781-736-3677       to […]

"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 […]

  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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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! Rick Perry Advises Occupy Movement

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 […]

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 […]