Innermost Parts

Author: Loki

  • Updating financial aid: What’s happening, and why the Administration is right

    Some people have been in a row with the administration lately, concerning a proposed change to the system by which need-based financial aid is administered to Brandeis applicants. While I am generally wildly enthusiastic about questioning the decisions of administrators, this time, they are dead-on right. This is not to say that the opposing students […]

  • Departments still to be cut, Art still to be sold

    That’s the news from today’s issue of the Justice, in which Miranda Neubauer reports on Board of Trustees member Meyer Koplow ’72 and Dean of Art  and Sciences Adam Jaffe’s recent address to the faculty. Koplow (a New York lawyer whose biggest gig was as lead negotiator for cigarette-maker Phillip Morris in a 1997 national $350 […]

  • Event: Sustainable Endowments Director speaks TOMORROW

    Susan Paykin of SEA renown fills us in on a great event. I’m going… hope to see you there! The College Sustainability Report Card 2010 was released this week, revealing that our overall grade rose from last year’s report from a “B-” to a “B”! The Report Card, published by the Sustainable Endowments Institute and available […]

  • University gives Rose additional $200,000: a Trojan horse?

    In the Justice today, I read that the the University has allocated an additional $200,000 to the Rose operating budget for this fiscal year. Puzzling, considering the museum’s staff has been downsized (its previous director, Michael Rush, a strong opponent of the University’s decision to sell artwork, was fired) and the museum has its own […]

  • Brandeis contracts huge solar array for Gosman roof!

    Phil and I just attended the “Great Green Ideas for Brandeis and Beyond” event in the new Shapiro Science Center. The big news: Brandeis has given the go-ahead for a large solar array to go up on Gosman roof. I find this a bit ironic, considering that last year, a proposal to build a smaller […]

  • BREAKING: Pres. Reinharz to resign

    UPDATE: As expected, Pres. Reinharz has announced his resignation. He plans to stay on until the next president is selected by the Board of Trustees, or June 30, 2011, meaning he will continue as president for up to three more semesters. Though there were some decisions on which he seriously fucked up (the Rose Art […]

  • Interesting op-ed in Globe by Brandeis Prof Donahue

    Prof. Brian Donahue, professor of American Environmental History and guru of local community farming, has a good op-ed in yesterday’s Boston Globe outlining the feasibility of growing a much larger quantity of our food locally, here in New England.

  • Welcome Back!

    Welcome home to the nest, where we shall learn to fly on the wings of knowledge and eat the worms of… knowledge. Now that I have my yearly metaphor out of the way, some light, semi-interesting reading worth taking a look at… Financial Status Report This latest document shows that our budget gap-closing measures, spearheaded […]

  • Faculty and staff to suffer cuts to retirement funds

    Though I generally try to avoid posting during the summer , this is rather important. Brandeis has decided, after considering some apparently rather unpleasant options, to suspend payments to its faculty and staff retirement accounts for FY 2010, a move it expects to save $7.4 million in an effort to make up a projected budget […]

  • SU Senate votes to recognize Unificationist club – good or bad idea?

    Today, the SU Senate voted to recognize a club that essentially is a college-level chapter of the Unification Church movement. The Unification Church is a new age religion, called a cult by some, founded by a man named Sun Myung Moon in 1954. He claims to have seen Jesus Christ in a vision, who charged […]

  • Recusal shenanigans

    Something that came up during the case and in a recent Justice editirial was the decision by Lev and I not to recuse ourselves from the vote on the Bill Ayers / Robert King Senate Money Resolution. The Justice editorial stated, We also take issue with the fact that Senators for the Class of 2011 […]

  • UP my MIFA: the only viable way to save the Rose?

    Regardless of your feelings on the Rose (in)decision, its obvious that the ridiculous fashion by which it was made was, in Reinharz’s own words, “screwed up.” But when you start talking about the actual idea of selling art to close our budget deficit, things get a bit murkier. We need to find $79 million fast, and […]

  • A real chance for the Rose, or is it all PR spin?

    Yesterday, we were greeted with a suite of niceties – a student press conference, an email assuring us the Rose would remain open, an open forum with Pres. Reinharz, 10% pay cuts for Pres. Reinharz and COO French, and a spiffy new website for The Steering Committee. In terms of process, these measures are a […]

  • Breaking: Reinharz backs waaay off from Rose decision

    It seems the Brandeis Administration has turned full-circle from its original, seemingly set-in-stone decision to liquidate the Rose Art Museum (though its still a possiblity). During his student press conference today, President Reinharz began by firmly stating that the Board of Trustees Resolution did not call for the closing of the Rose, nor did it […]

  • Reinharz and French both take a 10% pay cut!

    So I just got back from a student press conference with Pres. Reinharz and the chief administrators, and am still digesting all the information. Look for more posts later today on news, analysis, and speculation. Today, both Pres. Reinharz and COO French have announced they are taking a 10% pay cut, presumably starting this fiscal […]

  • Faculty ask Reinharz to hold off on Rose decision

    Some 70 faculty members have signed and sent a letter to President Reinharz, asking him to “consider suspending any final decision about the fate of the Rose Art Museum, pending a full airing of possible alternatives by the Brandeis community.” The letter comes as a welcom show of support from the faculty for more community […]

  • Madoff Investor List released (Brandeis is sort of on it)

    A former editor of the Justice pointed this out to us: A list of investors and interested parties in the Bernie Madoff bankruptcy case has been released. Brandeis University, along with important donors like the Shapiros, are on the list. At first glance, this would seem to indicate that the University did indeed invest with […]

  • Student Reps to the CARS (Budget Cut) Sub-Committees

    The following are the student representatives to the Budget Cut subcommittees; click to email each representative. Central Academic Restructuring Steering Committee: Jason Gray ’10 Third Semester/Experiential Learning: Lydia Flier ’11, Lev Hirschhorn ’11 Degree Requirements and Advising: Matthew Shear ’11, Ron Kendler ’09, Ryan McElhaney ’10 Admissions and Recruiting: Mariel Gruszko ’10, Jamie Fleishman ’11, […]

  • Did Too Much Debt Cause Brandeis’ Financial Woes?

    The following was sent to the editors of Innermost Parts by a recent alumnus of Brandeis, who has been following the news and decided to do some of his own research on Brandeis’ finances. Most of his conclusions come after examining data from this document, the University’s publicly available FY 2007 990 tax form required […]

  • New Look for Innermost Parts!

    Enter Innermost Parts, 2.0. Its been about a year since we first seriously started writing, and I’ve redesigned the site to make it look prettier and easier on the eyes.  There were a few things I’d have liked to do, but couldn’t figure out due to my limited coding abilities. These include gravatar support, threaded […]

  • The Rose: Education for the Pursuit of Knowledge

    This is a piece written by Julia Sferlazzo, a senior here at Brandeis majoring in Studio Arts. Like most of us, she is devastated by the seemingly imminent loss of the Rose. Here are her thoughts. I hope you find them as moving as I do. ~Loki The Rose Art Museum is not only a […]

  • Finally: Some Results

    Earlier today we were lamenting the lack of results to go with the pledge of student involvement. Well, it appears we have made some headway. Some quick updates: There will be a student forum on the budget cuts tomorrow at 11 am, where both CFO Peter French and Pres. Jehuda Reinharz will present and answer […]

  • BREAKING: Rose Art museum to be shut down and auctioned off!

    UPDATE: the text of this post seems to have mysteriously disappeared about 10 minutes ago. Here it is again. Since then, President Reinharz sent out a graceful email explaining the situation. It as I was told earlier – the Rose is to be closed, and its collection auctioned off. Reinharz says, I am satisfied that […]

  • No VP for this semester

    So according to an arcane section of the Student Union Constitution, (Article IX, section 8, clause 6), There shall be no mid-term election for the positions of President or Vice-President except as provided for in Article III. The relevant section (7) of Article III states, If all positions of Union Executive Office mentioned in this […]

  • Why not trust us?

    Lets do some quick summary: The University is short tens of millions of dollars over the next few years. As such, they will be cutting lots of shit. Majorly. Some such shit has already begun to be cut – renovations have been stopped, financial aid has been cut, pools haven’t been rebuilt, professors aren’t being […]

  • Study Abroad / Housing Changes – some clarification

    So its pretty clear that disallowing merit scholarships for study abroad is all-around a pretty bad, unfair idea. Hopefully, the Student Union will have this resolved in the coming few days. As for the issue of Vilage-only housing for study abroad-ers (both Fall and Spring), here’s some low-down on what is developing to be the […]

  • Anger at Study Abroad Changes

    You all may have seen the email sent by the Director of Study Abroad, Mr. Van Der Meid, several days ago. With little apology or consultation with those wishing to study abroad next semester, the letter announced that all students studying abroad in Spring 2010 would be housed in the Village. It further announced that any […]

  • Carl J Shapiro loses hundreds of millions in Madoff fraud

    Eminent billionaire and philantropist Bernard L. Madoff was arrested two days ago by federal agents for perpetrating the largest fraud scheme in Wall Street history, with losses estimated at $50 billion. Madoff was an extremely influential securities trader. According to charges against Mr. Madoff, his firm paid off earlier investors with money from new investors, […]

  • Chartering of a capella groups… some FAQ

    I recently responded to some questions from Greta Moran, a reporter for the Justice, on the chartering of a capella groups. This is something I’ve been working on as chair of the Senate Ways & Means Committee, and I thought I’d provide my responses below in full for anyone else who might be interested. Why […]

  • State of the Student Union Address – with full text

    While I’m not sure if it lived up to Adam’s promise of it being THE BEST SPEECH EVER, Jason Gray’s address really brought home to me all the accomplishment – with almost no infighting – that has been achieved this year. We’re in the process of setting up a committee on endowment ethics, we established […]

  • Howard Zinn to speak at Back Pages on Tuesday!

    Acclaimed author, historian, and political activist Howard Zinn – arguably your favorite person in the world – will be holding a discussion at our very own Back Pages Books this Tuesday, November 18, at 7:00 pm. Order tickets for $12 by emailing tickets@backpagesbooks.com.  Zinn is the author of The People’s History of the United States and […]

  • Saturday Morning Funnies

    [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XR9V_aOCga0[/youtube]

  • Protest the War this Saturday! (and why it still matters…)

    This Saturday, October 11, is the six-year anniversary of the Iraq War Resolution granting President Bush the power to invade Iraq. There will be a large and kickin’ protest on Saturday, October 11 on the Boston Common.  The events begin at 11 am, with speakers including prominent socialist journalist Ashley Smith, pacifist author Joseph Gerson, […]

  • Cool green program at IBS

    I just happened upon this using my handy dandy google news-about-brandeis generator: the Brandeis International Business School is rolling out a new MBA program centered around social and environmental responsibility in business. The program is built on principles espoused by Justice Louis Brandeis a century ago. Brandeis advocated that businesses address broader social purposes beyond […]

  • Kickass DFA Brandeis video

    The very first DFA meeting of the year is occurring this Tuesday at 9 pm, in Pearlman 201 202. For those of you who don’t know, DFA is the sweetest activist group on campus among many sweet activist groups (and yes, I may be slightly biased). Our very own Sahar made a short, kickass intro […]

  • New commenting policy

    All commenters must now provide valid email addresses (will not be publicly displayed), as well as a poster name that is either a.) a real name or b.) not something silly. This precludes names like “truth”, “ollie”, “brandeis”, etc. Who determines whether a name is silly, you ask? Sahar and I do. This is to […]

  • UPDATED (again): We’ve voted for a third weight room in the gym… fuck.

    ::::::UPDATE 2:::::: After much deliberation with the Student Union E-Board, I have been convinced that a run-off cannot happen. Apparently, at the top of the first ballot it explicitly stated that no run-off would be held and that the first would be the final vote. To change policy now would set a dangerous precedent for […]

  • BREAKING: UJ decides to hear Brooks’ case

    I recieved an email from newly appointed Chief Justice Rachel Kagan early this morning. Basically, it says that the UJ will hear Brooks’ case before the end of the semester, probably tomorrow. It also names Kaamilla and Noam as defendants in addition to Nelson Rutrick in his capacity as elections commissioner. Both Brooks’ original compaint […]

  • A few short snippets before Brooks vs. Noam is heard…

    Sorry to be a hypocrite and add another post on this tired and beaten subject, but some clarifications on stuff people seem to be confused about… From the Student Union Bylaws: Should a candidate be disqualified during balloting, the election shall be voided and a new election for that position shall be held. Should a […]

  • Rutgers Students Prosecuted for Anti-War Protest?!?

    Three Rutgers students have been issued summons to appear in the illustrious courts of my home state of NJ because of their efforts in organizing a walk-out last month against the Iraq war. From the NJ Star Ledger: Three Rutgers University students who participated last month in the annual walk-out against the Iraq War, where […]