Month: October 2010

A message for Brandeis’ Republicans

I sit on my couch surrounded by Blogaganza and start to skim through photos on-line. I’m searching for inspiration. I need a Kick-ASS Halloween Costume this year since I’m celebrating in DC after the Colbert and Stewart Rally. In a flash of pure genius I decide to dress up as Sarah Palin and name my costume “the seven deadly sins.”

I worry that Sarah Palin is an outdated political reference. What is the shelf life for an evil national politician that exploits her sex appeal? I do a Google image search for “sexy republican” to test my concern and maybe find an up-to-date alternative… Wait a minute… Is Sarah Jessica Parker really a Republican?!? I pictured Ann Coulter, or someone equally “fair and balanced.” But who knows? Maybe Republicans find Sarah Jessica Parker alluring.

This entire discussion reminds me of the pathetic comic used on the Brandeis Libertarian-Conservative Union’s website. Haven’t seen it? Click here: This is the kind of blatant anti-feminist message I thought was outdated and unacceptable on any part of our campus (cyber or not). Does this image really represent the best of our community? As Erica Albright said in The Social Network, “The internet isn’t written in pencil, its written in INK!” (or code…) I for one am unsettled by this kind of visual discrimination masked as humor. Please, Brandeis Libertarian-Conservative Union, please get rid of this offensive visual.

Please respond with your Halloween costume ideas.

My F-Board Story

Two weeks ago the F-Board handed down some pretty upsetting decisions after marathon. We at Innermost Parts have been examining some these numbers on a case-by-case basis to determine whether or not there were any trends in the allocation of funds, and whether or not a new system needs to be considered. For now, however, I hope to use this post as a forum for club leaders and members to air their grievances.

I’ll start with one of my stories: I’m the treasurer of the Brandeis Democrats, and we asked for $3289.12, divided up as follows:

• Bringing Keith McHenry (Food Not Bombs creator) to campus- Speaking Fee: $500, Subsidized Hotel/Lodging Fee: $50.
• 15 Tickets to See “Waiting For Superman,” a new movie about the DC public school system: $150.
• Bringing Comedy Central’s Jeff Kriesler to Campus: $2500
• Gas Money To Go Campaign for Paul Hodes in New Hampshire, 2 Cars: $89.12.

At first, we only got $150 dollars for the semester. Not even a general grant of $150, but $150 to be specifically allocated for the movie tickets. This was bothersome to me for a number of reasons. First, as they mention in a comment on our request, F-Board claims that “We don’t fund campaigns for politicians, only issues,” meaning that they were not inclined to grant us money to campaign for a Democrat. That’s fine assuming that the same standards are shown to other clubs, but that still leaves us with $3200.
Next, Jeff Kriesler was one of our most successful events of the last year, in the sense that we not only filled a large classroom with members of the Dems, but we also drew in people from all over campus. It seems that as he hasn’t gotten any less funny, the event would promise to be as successful this year, but we weren’t given the chance to bring him back to prove this. Without this, we’re down to $700.

Keith McHenry created Food Not Bombs, a wonderful organization which shuns war and promotes giving free vegetarian meals to the homeless. Since when has poverty been a partisan issue that isn’t worth funding? Is Keith McHenry too radical? SEA, SDS, DFA, and the Waltham Group didn’t seem to think so when they each expressed interest in the event.

That leaves us with the $150 we got for the movie tickets. First of all, this was the one item we did not expect them to cover, as it is expected that college students will be able to afford to go to the movies because they already do so on a weekly basis. We put this in there as a sort of “M&M” clause to make sure that the F-Board actually spent the time to read through our five requests. But clearly they gave it enough thought, and originally decided that it was the only thing worth funding for this semester. We’re a respected political organization on campus which hosts events year round to engage the entire community. In my time alone, we’ve brought Howard Dean to campus, worked a Deval Patrick campaign event which President Obama attended, phonebanked for Martha Coakley and Don’t Ask Don’t Tell Repeal, and ran a Haiti Benefit Concert, but all we were enabled to do was see a movie?

So what did we do? We appealed and waited. We asked for more money, and for the $150 already allocated to be converted into a general grant so that we could use it for more than only movie tickets. We got $400 more, most of which I’m betting will go to pay for a portion of Keith McHenry’s asking price. Yet the original request money to be converted to a general grant? Denied. So we take the good and the bad, as we attempt to maximize the potential of a club which this semester has more than doubled in size due to an influx of freshmen and other engaged students. But there are other clubs which didn’t appeal, and still find themselves in financial turmoil, unable to carry out events new and traditional. So I yield the floor to those people. Let’s talk together through our problems and see what comes of it?

A guiding question: Does anyone else feel slighted by fellow students whom we elected to aid our clubs, not restrict them?

Apply by the 15th to be on the brand new Office of Communications!

Anyone not in the Union but want a say in the Union?

The Student Union is excited to announce the addition of an Office of Communications to our structure in order to forward our mission of staying connected and being an active resource to students.

We want to create transparency, innovate new mediums of communication, and inform students on all the different ways they can get involved at Brandeis. That’s why we’ve revamped our Student Union website to include blogs, as well as a better presentation for events, announcements, directory and academic information. You can also ‘Like’ the Brandeis Student Union page on Facebook and/or follow ‘BDeisUnion’ on Twitter for frequent updates. When you’re grabbing dinner at Usdan, you’ll also be able to check out our Student Union Bulletin Board, which we also plan to use as a space for clubs to advertise events and announcements. Last, but definitely not least, you can look out for a monthly Student Union Newsletter, which we are in the process of creating in time for the holidays.

This is a huge undertaking for communications alone, and we can’t do it without your help!

The Office of Communications will consist of the Student Union Co-Directors of Communication, (2) writers, a newsletter editor, and a website administrator. Writers will be responsible for writing weekly blogs, updating our social networking outlets, and writing stories for the Union newsletter. The newsletter editor will be responsible for assisting in the creation of the Student Union newsletter and managing all the content that goes into it. If you like journalism, these positions may be for you! We need dedicated writers who are willing to devote time to pen stories highlighting all the exciting things that are going on on campus. We also need a tech-savvy website administrator to maintain the Union website and innovate new ways to make it bigger, better, and more useful. Applicants should be creative, familiar with Drupal (preferably), and be able to troubleshoot, as well as add new features to the website.

We hope you will consider this fantastic new opportunity to be a part of the Student Union. To apply, please fill out the application here:

Applications are due by Friday, October 15th and you will be contacted to schedule an interview time for Sunday, October 17th. If this date is inconvenient, please e-mail Andrea Ortega, and we can arrange a separate interview time. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact Andrea Ortega at aortega@brandeis.edu.

SEA Sleep Out!

Thurday 9pm SLEEP OUT on the Great Lawn!

HELP UP MAKE CHANGE SO THE CLIMATE DOESN’T HAVE TO

We will be sleeping out on the Great Lawn this Thursday, October 7th, in protest of the dirty electricity that powers our homes and dorms. Students for a Just and Stable Future (SJSF), through Sleep Outs, Stand-ins, and Community efforts, supports legislation in the Massachusetts Statehouse to make MA a leader in clean electricity.

We know that worldwide change is needed, to turn the climate crisis around and bring our atmospheric CO2 to a sustainable level, but we also know that it takes strong leadership to make change happen. So challenge our state to be that leadership! Join us this Thursday night!

All are welcome. Stop by for an hour, or stay the night.

Food will be served & games will be played throughout the night.

Music from: Up the Octave!

Comedy from: To Be Announced!

Guest speaker: Craig Altemose–SJSF exec. staff person!

Plus hear from representative of on-campus groups:

Natural Living

Real Food

Pakistani Relief Fund

AND IF YOU DO PLAN TO SLEEP OUT

Please fill out the form at <https://spreadsheets.google.com/viewform?hl=en&formkey=dGpvRTNYbFh1czFRS09VVk8zNXViM0E6MQ#gid=0>

Bring warm clothes & a sleeping bag if you have one. Sleeping bags will be provided for those who need them.

Let’s talk about the G20 protests

I wrote this a long time ago. Still think it’s worth talking about
The heads of the G20 nations are meeting in Toronto right now. For the last two days, there’s been a spectacle of protest and reaction on the streets of Toronto.

Yesterday, as the G8 joined the rest of the G20, the (I think) Canadian Federation of Labor and other respectable civil-society groups staged a large peaceful  march/protest of around 30,000. During the afternoon, about 300 black-clad figures broke out from the group and started smashing storefronts, etc. The march devolved into bands of thousands of protestors/onlookers roaming around Toronto or being surrounded by police, with the Black Block among some groups, merrily going about their property destruction and then changing clothes and melting into the crowd.

Different narratives/storylines I’m hearing about the whole thing:

  • “This peaceful protest was hijacked by a reckless few. Now the peaceful many can’t get their message out”
  • “Way to create a backlash against the left and against the change you seek, morons.”
  • “Many of the black block were probably police provacatours. Police forces around the world have admitted that they do this at g20-like protests”
  • “The police are pushing the story about a few vandals to cover for their illegal and brutal arrests and beatings of the peaceful majority”

I just don’t understand. The vandals/black block or whatever. What are the series of plausible steps they believe can result from their actions? What is their plan?

Introducing a New Tool: allactivists

I’d like to announce the creation of something new, and hopefully awesome.

It’s the allactivsts email list.

Here’s the scoop:

Over the past few years, there have been a few attempts at making an email list for all activists on campus. In my time, there has been arc, arcliasions, changeagency, brandeischangeagency, bbcc, just to name a few. This new list consolidates them all into one email list for all activists on campus.

Why do we need an all-activists-on-campus email list?

A few weeks ago, F-Board gave “activist” clubs much less money than it gave other clubs. If we had such a list back then, we might have used it to vent and quickly realize that we were all being screwed. As it was, we realized it gradually, too gradually to coordinate an effective response.

What would we do with an all-activists-on-campus email list?

There are lots of ways this can be useful:

  • People and clubs can advertise their events
  • Find others to join or offer support to your campaigns
  • Ask for cosponsors
  • Ask for strategic advice in your campaigns
  • We can pass around links to grants, internships, or fellowships that are awesome. (I will be doing this)
  • We can use this to invite each other to parties
  • We can use this list to link to very important articles in campus papers or other places
  • I know Change Agency, at least, has money to give and will be using this list to do so.
  • More ways that we haven’t thought of yet.

How will this be useful for me?

The above reasons. As well as the fact that anyone can email this list. You will have the opportunity and responsibility to email hundreds of dedicated Brandeis changemakers, whenever you want. You will have the responsibility not to abuse that power, and the responsibility to read and respond, as appropriate, to other people.

We now have a new tool. As we use this list, we will figure out how we can most effectively wield it. The important thing is that we experiment and be patient.

Will this list get spammy?

It better not. IF that starts happening, I promise to take steps to stop it. If this email list gets too high-volume, we might break into 2 email lists – a low-volume announcement one, and a high-volume discussion one.

Furthermore, if you log into lists.brandeis.edu, edit your membership mode to “digest”. This means that you will be guaranteed at most 1 email per day, summarizing the day’s activity.

I love this idea! Building the movement on campus is awesome. How can I help?

Well, right now we just have an email list. That was the easy part. Its success will be determined by two factors: the people on the list and the conversations we have. Therefore, there are two broad ways you can help make this a success:

1. Add more people to the list: The more activists (god I hate that word) on this list, the better. Email your club list and ask them to join this one. Add your friends, etc. There are very few first-years here, and they are the future. Evangelize.

2. Add quality discussion to the list: Think about the sort of things we should be talking about. Then talk about them. Make this list a dynamic, helpful resource by asking and answering questions, posting opportunities, giving kudos to great work done by other clubs, etc. Please make this a community worth being part of.

I hope this will be a success. With your help, it could be.

So go here right now and sign up for the all-activists-on-campus email list.

Thanks!
This is a slightly edited version of an email I wrote in collaboration with Matt Gabrenya

There Ain’t No Party Like it!

Once again, the Brandeis Democrats have proven that there ain’t no party like the Democratic party.

This past week, the Dems, Democracy for America, and TRISK led a day-long phone bank to repeal Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell outside of Usdan. Over 200 students stopped to call their Senators and Senator Scott Brown to urge them to turn over the discriminatory policy that has kept gay Americans out of the military simply for being who they are. Despite that our phone calls did not prompt the end to injustice we had hoped for, it was a brilliant reminder of the political energy of our campus. When given the opportunity, Brandeis students will and do act.

Students stopped by the table to have their voices heard

Our crusade toward equality in the military will continue, but our primary focus in the coming weeks is working to secure the House of Representatives for the Democrats this upcoming midterm elections. In order to move the country toward equal opportunity, adequate health care for all Americans, and a comprehensive immigration reform that doesn’t punish immigrants for their unfortunate circumstances, it is essential that the Democrats continue to put up a fight. We’ll be doing virtual phone banks every Wednesday night, and getting out and knocking on doors for candidates who represent progressive interests.

When we aren’t talking to voters, we’ll be having a great time with our various social activities including a trip to the movies to see the new documentary about the US public education system ‘Waiting for Superman‘, a networking dinner with the College Democrats of Massachusetts (over 50 College Democrats chapters from around the state), a new member party at Chum’s, and heading down to DC for the Stewart/Colbert Rally.

We are looking for new perspectives and fresh faces to join us in our pursuit of democratic values. Why not join us at our weekly meeting, Wednesdays at 8pm in Golding 101?

Please Sign the Letter

I know that I’m not supposed to post about events occurring outside of Brandeis but the remarks made by Boyd K. Packer frustrate and anger me to no end. They can’t be ignored. This is the sort of act that leads people to commit suicide. A religious figure is telling all LGBT people that they are simply evil and unnatural. This is a subject that although these words weren’t spoken on our campus, they were spoken to the students and to the faculty, to anyone who is struggling with their sexual identity and is afraid. We can’t risk that our youth, that our friends, our family and our neighbors hear these words and then believe them. It is imperative that people demonstrate their disagreement. For now I have an open letter that The Human Rights Campaign is sending out to the Mormon Church explaining their disagreement. Please sign the letter and spread the word that you and many others don’t just think Boyd K. Packer’s words are unjust and incorrect but also that you are outraged by them. There is a video clip of his speech on this link; I’m sure that if you want to find the whole speech before signing the letter, it will be accessible through youtube.
https://secure3.convio.net/hrc/site/Advocacy?cmd=display&page=UserAction&id=945&autologin=true&utm_source=Convio&utm_medium=email&utm_term=link2&utm_campaign=After-suicides-mormon-leader-rants-against-gays&JServSessionIdr004=22h7bpa534.app303a

New BrandeisNOW

The new BrandeisNOW website seems pretty spiffy. Hopefully it’ll catch on.

It’s interesting that there are a few different takes on the “centralized” event calendars for Brandeis. There is one on BrandeisNOW, on my.brandeis.edu, there’s the community Activist Calendar (right here on the right), the Steph Grimes Weekend emails, there are the Student Union Announcement Emails.

The lack of an authoritative and widely-read calendar has opened space for a variety of entrepreneurial approaches to fill that niche. We’ll see how that shakes out.

The failure of academia

Really interesting article in the Chronicle of Higher Education today: Larry Summers and the Subversion of Economics.

There’s a lot to unpack (read the whole thing), but one strong point the article makes is this:

Over the past 30 years, the economics profession—in economics departments, and in business, public policy, and law schools—has become so compromised by conflicts of interest that it now functions almost as a support group for financial services and other industries whose profits depend heavily on government policy. The route to the 2008 financial crisis, and the economic problems that still plague us, runs straight through the economics discipline. And it’s due not just to ideology; it’s also about straightforward, old-fashioned money.

Read the article

Teen, gay-related suicides on the rise. Brandeis to hold Peace Vigil tomorrow.

I received the following e-mail from Triskelion, our school’s LGBTQA student group, and wanted to call to attention the recent spike in “teen suicides by gay-identified youth.” While the reasons these LGBTQ youth felt the need to take their lives is a whole bigger question, the Brandeis community will be holding a peace vigil tomorrow at 5:30 at the Peace Circle outside Usdan in order to remember these people.

For all of you who have been following the news, this has been a sad time in LGBTQ history. In the last 3 weeks, there have been 5 teen suicides by gay-identified youth. Because of this, the Trevor Project is promoting a national moment of silence today at 8:00 p.m. If you would like to participate, all you need to do is to take a moment out of your day at 8 o’clock and reflect on the lives that have been lost. If you would like more information, I will place links below to some news articles and the Trevor Project.

The Trevor Project: http://www.thetrevorproject.org/ or http://www.facebook.com/TheTrevorProject

Asher Brown, 13: http://www.queerty.com/shock-gay-texas-13-year-old-asher-brown-shoots-himself-in-the-head-after-horrific-school-torment-20100928/

Seth Walsh, 13: http://www.queerty.com/bullied-to-death-seth-walsh-13-dies-after-10-days-on-life-support-after-suicide-attempt-20100928/

Billy Lucas, 15: http://www.queerty.com/billy-lucas-15-hangs-himself-after-classmates-called-him-a-fag-one-too-many-times-20100914/

Tyler Clementi, 18: http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/2010/10/01/2010-10-01_tyler_clementis_parents_open_up_on_rutgers_freshmans_suicide_after_gay_encounter.html

Raymond Chase, 19: http://thenewsoftoday.com/raymond-chase-19-year-old-gay-male-is-5th-suicide-in-last-3-weeks/3095/
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In order to respond to these tragedies, Trisk leaders and Brandeis’ Program Coordinator for Sexual and Gender Diversity Alison Better have organized an LGBTQ Suicide Candlelight Vigil this Monday to mourn the loss of everyone who has committed suicide “for reasons related to their non-normative identity.” The Vigil is planned for tomorrow at 5:30pm, at the Peace Circle outside of Usdan.

If you are interested, please attend and invite people to the facebook event

Jehuda! Live in concert

Well, not “in concert’ as much as “in office hours”.

Jehuda has open office hours tomorrow. I suggest you go to them.

Here’s the schedule:

** Monday, October 4th – 9:30 to 11:00 a.m.
** Friday, October 29th – 2:00 to 3:30 p.m.
** Monday, November 8th – 10:00 to 11:30 a.m.
** Friday, December 3rd – 10:30 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.

To go to office hours, just show up at the Gryzmish building and they’ll direct you from there.

Found Recording – Bob Dylan Live At Brandeis in 1963

In yet another display of why Brandeis in the 1960’s was so amazing, Amazon.com has announced that they will be releasing a live bootleg recording of Bob Dylan playing here on May 10, 1963 for the first ever Brandeis Folk Festival. Here is the track listing (note, all tracks previously unreleased):

“Honey Just Allow Me One More Chance” (Incomplete)
“Talkin’ John Birch Paranoid Blues”
“The Ballad of Hollis Brown”
“Masters of War”
“Talkin’ World War Three Blues”
“Bob Dylan’s Dream”
“Talkin’ Bear Mountain Picnic Massacre Blues”

Unfortunately, as of now, the disc is only being offered if you pre-order a copy of either The Witmark Demos: 1962-1964 (The Bootleg Series Vol. 9) on CD or vinyl, or The Original Mono Recordings also available in the same forms, but hopefully it will be re-released as a solo disc so that no one will have to spend extra money if they don’t want the other albums.

Interestingly enough, according to a post on The Examiner’s Website, “The “ticket” price for the “left risers” ( Row E Seat 61) was $4.40. Ticket good for day of the show only. No refunds or exchanges. ” $4.40? Another example of why the ’60’s were better!