Category: Uncategorized

Sen. Gillibrand, Making Change Happen

I recently read an article in the New York Times about New York Senator Kirsten Gillibrand’s success in Congress this past session. The piece highlighted how much Gillibrand has accomplished since she joined the Senate in January 2009, when Gov. Patterson appointed her as junior senator to fill Hillary Clinton’s newly-vacated seat. Gillibrand was re-elected this past November, to fill the rest of Clinton’s term (ending Jan. 2013).

As the first senator from upstate New York in over 40 years, she is in a tough position, having to represent the views of both conservative, suburban upstate New York and innercity, liberal New York City (a drastic oversimplification of NY’s geography). Many of her views have changed since she has joined the Senate, evident from her work as a House representative and as special counsel to the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development under the Clinton adminsitration. In those positions, Gillibrand fought against gun control, and did not co-sponsor legislation to repeal Don’t Ask Don’t Tell.

Since joining the Senate however, Gillibrand has become much more liberal, and has had many successes, most notably working on the campaigns to repeal DADT and passing the 9/11 Health and Compensation Act. She has been endorsed by many LGBTQ groups and publications, and one of her goals listed on her campaign site is to repeal the Definition of Marriage Act which stands in the way of gay marriage coming into law. Gillibrand has also been an enormously strong advocate for women’s reproductive rights, and received strong support from Planned Parenthood in the 2010 election.

I admire the work Gillibrand is doing, and enjoy her monthly e-mails. So, consider this a shoutout.

Don’t miss The King’s Speech

The King’s Speech is an amazing movie.
You should all see it.
Let me describe it though so that you don’t just go based on my advice; it is the story of King George VI (1895-1952), who was king of the UK during WWII, and had a speech impediment.

Albert (Colin Firth) doesn’t even want to be king, and lives a quiet life with his wife (Helen Bonham Carter) and daughters. He suffers from a stutter he has had ever since he was a child, made worse by his family’s constant teasing and familial neglect. He begins to see a speech therapist (Geoffrey Rush), a commoner who uses his knowledge of theatre to help people with their speech defects via unorthodox means. However, when his brother Edward abdicates the throne to marry an American divorcee, he must take the throne, becoming King George VI, and come to terms with his fear and inability to make public speeches. To make matters worse, Hitler is on the march in Germany, and the King must compete with his charisma. His speeches will affect the course of history.

The movie is really exciting, dramatic, inspiring, all that jazz. It makes you consider politics, and where nowadays we would accept a politician who isn’t comfortable speaking in the public arena. Luckily for George VI, his speeches were mostly played via radio (and you can look up the authentic speeches he delivered, as my friend Grace and I did after watching the movie). However, in today’s world, his stutter would certainly be caught on camera, and what would come of his career then? I want your input on whether one qualification we should look at in a politician is his ability to deliver charismatic, motivational public speeches, or whether that is simply a symptom of our being swept away by all the glitz and glamor?

Holiday News in Congress; immigration

Hey faithful blog readers, and newbies,

Sorry it has been a while since we’ve posted- apparently the holidays were busy for us all.
On the national front, the year ended on a positive front for Democrats, and Obama is being heralded as the Comeback Kid. However, come 2011 Congress will see a change of faces, as Republicans gain control of the House.

One of the bills Republicans might bring up is already turning heads. As the Associated Press reports, there is talk of a bill which would take away the automatic citizenship granted to anyone born in the U.S., meaning that if a child’s parents are living here illegally then the child could be deported along with his/her parents.

This is a far cry from the DREAM Act, the bill that was considered but ultimately rejected just last week, which proposed that minors who arrived in the U.S. illegally but have lived in the country for a period of time would be able to work towards permanent residency status, and be entitled to certain rights and opportunities granted to U.S. citizens. The House passed the DREAM Act, but the Senate did not, failing to have enough votes to end the filibuster to vote on it (55 to 41).

(By the way, the DREAM Act’s website which I linked above is wonderful; it shows exactly what the campaign’s strategy has been, their progress, and even ways which people can help, such as a link to research a legislator and then report back what material you found which can help move the campaign forward. It’s even fun to click around on!)

It seems pretty ridiculous that after the House passed this bill, representatives would consider introducing a bill so extremely different in the next session of Congress. However, with Republicans taking control of the House and Obama still nowhere near the popularity he entered office with, many people fear that Democrats will not be able to get any of their bills passed, and that Congress will remain in deadlock on many issues.

Now we don’t have to ask OR tell anymore!

Don’t Ask Don’t Tell has officially been repealed.
It passed in the House with a vote of 250-175 on Dec. 16, and then in the Senate yesterday with a vote of 65-31.
Now it just requires Obama’s signature, and Organizing for America has already sent out an e-mail from the president saying that he is excited to sign it!
That means that from now on, sexual orientation will not be an issue for people joining the U.S. Army!
According to The Atom Stack Tribune, senators were so excited they were even tweeting about it.

“We did it! #DADT is a thing of the past,” Senator Harry Reid tweeted at performer Lady Gaga, and she tweeted back, “Can’t hold back the tears+pride. We did it!i Our voice was heard + today the Senate REPEALED DADT. A triumph for equality after 17 YEARS.”

I’m really excited for this to go into effect, and think this is a great step forward for the country. If you agree, sign this letter thanking the senators who passed the bill, a letter sent out by OFA.

Unfortunately, on a sad note, the DREAM Act, the bill giving illegal immigrant youth rights and opportunities, did NOT pass yesterday. So the battle still rages.

Think global, but also think local

Read this. “Why Class Matters in Campus Activism”:

But why are the U.K. crowds almost 500 times as robust as those in the U.S.? Why does the American movement to fight tuition hikes and funding cuts remain so anemic in comparison?

In no small part, it’s because privileged students at America’s colleges and universities generally don’t take the issue personally. Those who are politically active tend to set their sights on distant horizons — the poor in India, say, or the oppressed in Afghanistan. Without their privileged-kid allies, first-generation college students, immigrants, and students dependent on financial aid are going to have a hard time creating the kind of buzz that Britain has just produced.

Many of us from middle- and upper-income backgrounds have been socialized to believe that it is our duty to make a difference, but undertake such efforts abroad — where the “real” poor people are. We found nonprofits aimed at schooling children all over the globe while rarely acknowledging that our friend from the high school football team can’t afford the same kind of opportunities we can. Or we create Third World bicycle programs while ignoring that our lab partner has to travel two hours by bus, as he is unable to get a driver’s license as an undocumented immigrant. We were born lucky, so we head to the bars — oblivious to the rising tuition prices and crushing bureaucracy inside the financial aid office.

What do you think?

United Students Against Sweatshops 2011 Conference

United Students Against Sweatshops Conference Travel Scholarship Application Deadline Tomorrow

Hey all!

We are applying for a travel scholarship for the 2011 United Students Against Sweatshops Conference at Ohio State University (http://usas.org/2010/10/28/register-for-2011-conference/). If we get enough people to join, we could go for free.

However, the deadline for the travel scholarship is TOMORROW. If you are interested in attending, please sign up on
https://spreadsheets1.google.com/viewform?hl=en&formkey=dFVKQVlSNV9HckZfN0l4dGdJOHZrSlE6MQ#gid=0
before NOON TOMORROW so I can add your name to the scholarship application.

Also, check out the Facebook event:
http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=111062752298088

The event will be a great opportunity to learn about a sensitive issue, help build a strong worker/ student coalition, discover new organizing skills, network, and become part of America’s larger progressive movement!

[From the USAS website:
“The 2011 USAS National Conference is a unique chance to gather with hundreds of students committed to taking back our universities from those who value corporate greed instead of respect for workers and affordable quality education for all. At the conference, you’ll:

* Learn about and plan national USAS campaigns with workers who sew our schools’ clothes and workers on our campuses.
* Sharpen your organizing skills and get new ideas for your campus group with workshops and trainings with veteran student and labor organizers.
* Join teams of students already working to build our student-labor movement much larger, share experiences with organizers from all walks of life, and make our work more dynamic, creative and fun.
* Be part of a powerful student movement that fights for justice, and wins!”]

Hope you can all make it!

Sasha Beder

Jazz Ensemble

Last night, Sunday December 7th, I had the immense pleasure of attending the Brandeis Jazz Ensemble semester concert. Directed by the talented Bob Nieske, the Jazz Ensemble concentrated on music made popular in the 1960’s, focused on Thelonious Monk Big Band, arranged by Oliver Nelson.

The concert was structured in two parts: small groups and full band. Both sections were phenomenal, and highlighted the individual talents and incredible orchestration of the entire group. I am personally a HUGE Duke Ellington fan, and I was so excited to hear an excellent rendition of Johnny Come Lately. Another personal favorite was the Miles Davis tune Dear Old Stockholm.

There were three small groups preforming:
1.
Nick Gordon- Trumpet
James McGregor- Alto Sax
Elliot Lustig- Tenor Sax
Jessie Fields- Trombone
Nick Monath- Guitar
Jake Weiner- Bass
Dan Schreiber- Drums
Eran Alpern- Drums

Work Song by Nat Adderly
Stratusphunk by George Russell Nick

2.
Gabe Bronk- Alto Sax
Doug Nevins- Tenor Sax
Ben Gartenstein- Trumpet
Anneke Reich- Voice
Erica Rabner- Voice
Nick Monath- Guitar
Jake Weiner- Bass
Dan Schreiber- Drums

The Peacocks by Jimmy Rowles
Johnny Come Lately by Duke Ellington

3.

Craig Ellman- Alto Sax
Jeremy Goldenberg- Tenor Sax
Guan Ho Nam- Trumpet
Nick Monath- Guitar
Jake Weiner- Bass
Eran Alpern- Drums

Dear Old Stockholm by traditional/Davis
Straight No Chaser by Thelonius Monk

All together, the full band played songs by Thelonius Monk and arranged by Oliver Nelson
1. Let’s Cool One
2. Monk’s Point
3. Little Rootie Tootie
4. Trinkle Tinkle
5. Reflections
6. Brilliant Corners

All together a wonderful and enjoyable concert!
I was a little saddened at the lack of student turn out to enjoy such a great effort from fellow Brandeis students. I understand it is finals time, but taking a break to enjoy the arts can be productive as well.
Many student performance groups are hosting their final shows, and I strongly encourage the Brandeis community to go and support them!

A Criticism of “Celebrate Brandeis”

I’ve been pretty silent amidst the sea of self-congratulation in the wake of ‘Celebrate Brandeis,’ but there were a lot of things that bothered me about this response to the WBC. But after reading Liz Posner’s op-ed in the Justice today, I had to respond.

Titled, “In legitimizing WBC, Brandeis trumps Harvard,” Posner notes that Harvard responded very differently when WBC came to protest at their Hillel the same day. They held a “Suprise Absurdity Protest,” with John Stewart-esque signs (God Hates Flags, etc.). Posner posits that our protest was better because we legitimized the views of the Westboro Baptist Church.

Oddly enough, this was exactly my problem with the way we responded. If the purpose was to ignore the church, than we failed miserably. Instead we spent an entire day congratulating ourselves by comparing ourselves to the WBC. Well of course we came out looking good! We’re not a bunch of kooky extremists! Its not such a great thing to be proud of. There was no sense of inward self-reflection throughout the day to challenge the idea that ‘Brandeis is so great because we support social justice.’

People were so determined that the ‘Celebrate Brandeis’ be the only response that students (wearing “Celebrate Brandeis Mediators” t-shirts) and police officers were on site in order to prevent Brandeis students from engaging in conversation with members of the WBC. Are these people’s views so serious of a threat that we can’t trust Brandeis students to even talk to them? The whole event seemed to legitimate WBC in a way that they didn’t deserve.

Posner writes, “Harvard’s ‘Absurdity’ protest missed an opportunity to take the WBC seriously. Harvard students decided to scoff at the church’s despicable and archaic values instead of recognizing them as a true threat.”

That’s exactly the problem I had with ‘Celebrate Brandeis’, the Brandeis protest acted like the WBC was a real threat. These guys go around holding signs that say “Your Rabbi is a Whore” and “God Hates Your Feelings.” They write and sing silly parodies of Lady Gaga! If that’s not worth scoffing at, I don’t know what is! If you look at what the WBC actually does, the reality is that they do nothing. They’re mission isn’t to raise political support for anti-gay or anti-Jewish causes, its simply to inform us that we are all sinners and that god hates us and our way of life. They do it because they want to help us change — very altruistic, and also completely harmless. The best way to counter-act something that ridiculous is to show everyone just how ridiculous their message actually is. An action along the line of Harvard’s would have be appropriate.

But instead, Brandeis acted like their message was serious, not ridiculous, and thus legitimized the message. The WBC is small-fry, they are not something worth being scared of. If we want to rally the community in a serious way, there are serious groups that are real threats that more or less espouse the same message. For instance, just up the road are the headquarters of Mass Resistance, a Waltham-based political anti-gay hate group – those guys are a real threat.

Next time, lets take the Harvard route.

Brandeis Science Prof defends the Humanities with Epic Smackdown

I love Brandeis. Professor Gregory A. Petsko, who teaches Biochem in Rosenstiel, just wrote an epic smackdown on the president of SUNY Albany.

He put it up on a site for biologists to host their papers. You can read the whole thing here

Some choice quotes:
Continue reading “Brandeis Science Prof defends the Humanities with Epic Smackdown”

Something Worth Celebrating

On Friday, I woke up before 8:00 am for the first time in probably over a year to set up the Great Lawn for Celebrate Brandeis. I think the approximately 300 Brandeisians who attended Celebrate Brandeis would also attest that waking up early was well worth sacrificing some sleep.

On December 3rd at 8:45 am the Westboro Baptist Church arrived in Waltham with a message of religious intolerance and extremism. Instead of fueling the fire with more antagonism, we responded by celebrating our values: tolerance, pluralism, social justice and love.

We ate, sang songs of peace, painted and danced in what was probably Brandeis’ largest Hora. The lawn was filled with undergraduates as well as graduate students, faculty, administrators, staff and Waltham community members. President Reinharz and President-elect Lawrence were present to support this student-led initiative, as well as all four of the Chaplains.

Throughout the rest of the day, the events in the SCC and the success of Hillel’s Harry Potter Shabbat further displayed Brandeis’ diversity and overarching commitment to pursuing a better world.

More significantly, we raised almost 4,000 dollars for Keshet, a Boston based Jewish GLBTQ organization. Over 1,400 individuals signed our “Commitment to Celebrate” statement: http://bit.ly/CelebrateBrandeis

Although Celebrate Brandeis may have originated as a productive and meaningful response to the “visit” from Westboro Baptist Church, in my opinion, it took on a life of its own; Brandeis, like many places, is oversaturated with groups, activities, and service projects. Students at Brandeis come from across the globe, representing a wide spectrum of faiths and political perspectives. However, on December 3rd, we stood completely united in supporting Hillel and the wider Brandeis community not in spite of our differences, but because of them.

Personally, I felt very empowered, humbled and overwhelmed by this positive response. Celebrate Brandeis originated from the minds of a couple passionate students sitting in Hillel Lounge on a Saturday night. It grew to include the voices of over 100 concerned students joining together in the Castle Commons for a shared purpose. The culmination included a massive cross section of campus with the support of the administration, staff, alumni, family, friends and the wider Boston community.

December 3rd has come and passed; but this does not mean we should forget this experience or stop being united through our diversity and pursuing social justice. Because at Brandeis, we know that we are better together. Westboro Baptist Church members have climbed into their van and taken their tour of hate elsewhere. However, I am confident that Brandeisians will continue working to build a world where screams of hate are drowned out by songs of pluralism.

To me, this is something truly worth celebrating.

Student Conference of the Parties

Wow. I just got back from SJSF’s Student Conference of the Parties (SCOP) in collaboration with the Pricing Carbon Conference. I was utterly impressed with and inspired by both halves of the event.

The Pricing Carbon Conference took place on Wesleyan University campus in Middletown, CT, November 19-21st. The event was co-hosted by Wesleyan’s newly established College of the Environment and the Price Carbon Campaign. Partners in the Conference included the Climate Crisis Coalition, Citizen’s Climate Lobby, Carbon Tax Center, Future 500, Progressive Democrats of America, and our very own Students for a Just and Stable Future.

SJSF held its Student Conference of the Parties during workshop sessions and overtime, diligently amending, debating, and deliberating on our final product: a Declaration to be sent to our leaders at the international Conference of the Parties in Cancun, Mexico next week.

The process of creating the declaration filled me with a sense of empowerment and renewed dedication to complete our part in the solution. The declaration consists of 3 parts: the first, a picture of climate change -– a view of the alarming state of the world we will see unfold if we continue on the road before us; the second, a commitment on our own behalf to act in very specific, deliberate ways to lead us to a clean energy future; the third, a strong and sincere call to action that we demand from our local, state, and world leaders. I give extra kudos to the students who worked on the first of the three parts; the first read-through of their revised version sent goose bumps through the room.

The Pricing Carbon Conference itself was fascinating. Key note speeches were given by James Hansen, leading Climate Change scientist, and Bill McKibbon, founder of 350 movement. The conference focused on the immediate necessity of pricing CO2 emissions. Speakers and attendees reflected a shift in the majority support in terms of pricing carbon options; while the Cap & Trade method was discussed, most prominently supported was the method of Fee & Dividend. Under Fee & Dividend, a fee would be placed on products based upon the inherent carbon costs of their production, and then the full amount of the revenue (or a majority percentage, if so decided) would be returned to the consumers by way of a check/electronic deposit. The revenue money would be returned evenly to all consumers, and so those who consume less carbon-intensive products will end up saving money, while those who consume more may lose money in the end.

A sincere thanks to everyone who made this conference possible and to the organizers who invited SJSF students to attend! I look forward to SJSF working alongside the other sponsoring organizations in building up the fight against climate change!

-Rachel Soule

You can view the declaration and add your name to the signatories list at: http://justandstable.org/blog/

The Schedule for Tomorrow

Here’s the full schedule.

The outline for Friday looks like this:


Kickoff: Great Lawn at 8:30-9:30 AM
Featuring speakers, performances, and other programming by a wide range of campus leaders and groups. More activities will occur through out the day.

Brandeis Peace Vigil 12:10-12:40pm
Every Friday the interfaith chaplaincy comes together to host a weekly peace vigil at the Peace Circle, from 12:10-12:40pm. This Friday we are placing a special focus on confronting bigotry peacefully. We welcome everyone to come join us, regardless of your religious (or non-religious) background! We’ll start with a few minutes of reflective silence, then we’ll share our thoughts, and we’ll close with a song.

More events throughout the day in the SCC including:

Community Lunch 1:30pm:
This is Celebrate Brandeis day, so let’s talk about something worth celebrating – Brandeis and Social Justice. We’re trying to show that Brandeis is a community – so let’s build that community by having staff, faculty, and students mix in an informal setting.

Teach-In on Community Organizing and Leadership Development – 3pm
Corey Hope Leaffer is a kickass Brandeis alum. She’s agreed to lead a workshop teaching us about leadership development, how to build a strong organization, and teambuilding. One thing worth celebrating about Brandeis is our commitment to Justice. Corey’s going to teach us about how to actually make change we want to see in the world.

Ending: Shabbat Dinner (theme: Harry Potter)
Sherman Function Hall at 6:30 PM. Featuring a surprise special guest.

The full schedule can be found here
Continue reading “The Schedule for Tomorrow”

Green Unity Gala

A huge THANK YOU to go out to the Center for German and European Studies in cooperation with the Campus Sustainability Initiative, the Environmental Studies Program, the Sustainable International Development Program, and Students for Environmental Action. The Green Unity Gala was a HUGE success yesterday!

This event was funded by the German Embassy to the USA, devoted to raising awareness about Climate Change in celebration of 20 years of German Unity, an initiative of the German Embassy in Washington, D.C. and the Transatlantic Climatebridge.

President-elect Fred Lawrence spoke, as well as several members of the Brandeis faculty.

Janna Cohen-Rosenthal, the Sustainability Coordinator at Brandeis spoke of several successes, such as the Brandeis Sustainability Fund. The BSF granted 5 student proposals funding to be achieved next semester.

Yifan Wang, a member of the Greening the Ivory Tower course, created a video documenting the community service and individual projects students from the class achieved over the semester.

Cece Watkins and other members of the STARS committee explained how Brandeis is currently being evaluated for sustainability in several fields. Be sure to check out their full report in January 2011!

The Brandeis debate team presented a fabulous debate for and against nuclear energy and what the choice means for the future of Germany. The arguments on both sides were compelling, interesting, and left me wanting to learn more!

Dinner was a delicious locally grown vegetarian feast with German desserts!

The Gala was serenaded by the fantastic voices of Voice Male and Up the Octave!

At the end of evening was an exciting raffel with many prizes, including a new bike won by Rebecca Ludwig!

I know I had an amazing time at the Gala, and I was impressed by all the hard work Brandeis students have done to better the campus. I am excited for our future, and for the Brandeis community to continue to grow in a sustainable and environmentally friendly way!

Inner Peace, Outer Peace

As part of Celebrate Brandeis, our response to the Westboro Baptist Church, the Justice League would like to cordially invite everyone to a meditation session.

Emily Peterson and I will be leading a meditation group at 9am on the Great Lawn, SCC. Many wonderful and creative events will be happening on Friday, and will showcase the talents of the Brandeis community. As part of Friday morning’s activities, we believe it is equally important to celebrate inner peace.

Open meditation is available for everyone, and I would love for you to attend!

Sign up for Hillel Dinner!

To the lovely Brandeis community,

As part of the wonderful celebrations on Friday Dec. 3 Hillel is welcoming everyone to join Shabbat dinner at 6:30 pm in Upper Sherman. The theme is Harry Potter and sounds like a lot of fun!

In order to ensure there is enough food, PLEASE sign up to reserve your spot using this link. We ask for you to sign up by Thursday Dec. 2 at noon.

Shabbat dinner is traditionally a time to meet with family, friends, and the community. I feel attending dinner is a very appropriate end to a day celebrating students and love.

I hope to see everyone there!

Daily Phelps-a-thon Update: We’ve gone Viral

A dispatch from Chaya Bender
AND WE’VE GONE VIRAL!
Today alone we raised $1041.25 with 31 pledges…
That brings the grand total to $3167.94! Un-fricken-believable!
I am so very proud to be a Brandeisian.

While we are raising these large sums of money, let us not forget to meditate on exactly who we are helping. Take a minute of your time and sign Keshet’s Pledge to Save Lives:

Text: Continue reading “Daily Phelps-a-thon Update: We’ve gone Viral”

Dance Dance Revolution

Student revolts are sweeping the world. In response to gutting public funding for Universities in California, the UK, and Italy, students are on the move, trying new methods of activism, experimenting, learning, and growing. Exciting stuff. I’ve been tracking it on StudentActivism.net, and you really should check it out. It’s a blog written by the only professor of student movements in America.

So in the UK the government has proposed cutting funding for Universities by 80% and raising tuition by ~$20,000 per person.

The new face of student revolt? An occupation dance-off:

Phelps-a-Thon update – Tufts edition

another dispatch from Chaya Bender
First off, the numbers: so far we’ve raised $2077.75 with 76 pledges to support Keshet!

Brandeis University’s Phelps-a-thon is doing so well but we can always do better!
Keep up the amazing work! Send the link to everyone you know and to that person’s dog walker!

http://www.phelps-a-thon.com/hillel.html

There will still be tabling at meals throughout the week, so come by and donate or just to shmooze. We will be dorm storming on Thursday night, so get ready to rock’n’roll.

In other news, check out the Phelps-a-thon facebook page from Tuft’s Queer Straight Alliance. From their facebook page:

“The anti-LGBT “God Hates Fags” Westboro Baptist Church, led by Rev. Fred Phelps, is coming to Massachusetts on December 3rd and 4th to protest at the Brandeis University Hillel and Framingham High School’s production of The Laramie Project. We are encouraging people to make a pledge online, any amount you chose, for every minute WBC pickets the school. In a twist of poetic justice, the longer the Phelps clan protests, the more money they will raise for LGBT equality and awareness. During the picket at Brandeis, the funds raised will benefit Keshet, a local LGBT Jewish group. While protesting at Framingham High School, the clan will be raising funds to benefit the school’s Gay Straight Alliance. Please pledge today and help spread the link far and wide. Thank you!”

…And Then We Got 1000 Signatures

Last Tuesday we met our first goal of 500 signatures on the Celebrate Brandeis Petition. As of 5:31 PM today, we doubled that number to 1000. With 3 days out it seems a little risky to officially raise the bar on the website to 1500 signatures. But there’s no reason we can’t try to get as close as we can. We might even beat another goal.

Have you signed yet? . Do it, get all of your friends to do it, and email your club listservs as well.

A lot of people had a hand, or two hands, in writing the petition, but I’m the one writing this post, so on behalf of all of them, I’m really proud that we’ve reached so many people on campus already, and I’m excited to see if the simple act of signing your name can assist in generating an overwhelming turnout for Friday’s events.

In related news, we also got over 1000 people to Commit To Celebrate On Facebook. You Should Sign Up For That Too, It’s Fun.

Daily Phelps-a-thon Update

From Chaya Bender, co-facilitator of fundraising:
Daily Phelps-a-thon Update:
$1545.25 and 53 pledges!

We will be tabling all week for lunch and dinner in Usdan and Sherman. Please stop by and donate at that time!
You will also be able to sign Keshet’s Pledge to save lives and our very own Pledge to Celebrate Brandeis.

Keep up the good work, team!

Also: Meeting tonight 7pm Castle Commons. It’s the second community meeting for all of Brandeis to plan our response, events for the day, should we all wear the same colors on Friday, etc.

Student Events Town Hall Forum; Come one Come all

Hey students,
If you’re reading this I’m presuming you have an interest in getting involved.
If that is true, then consider going to Student Events’ townhall-style open forum meeting THIS WEDNESDAY, from 7-8 PM in Upper Sherman- Lurias Conference Room.
Whether you have suggestions, want to hear others’ ideas, or just like observing the democratic process (I know I do…), it’s sure to be a fun time had by all.

Love,
Elly

Did you like Ok Go at the fall concert? Or, did you want a different comedian to come to Brandeis instead of Myq Kaplan? Come to Student Events’ end of the semester forum on Wednesday December 1st from 7-8 in the Lurias. This is the time for YOU to tell us what you liked or did not like about our events this semester.

Got any great ideas for next semester? Come to forum and tell us! We want your feedback. Snacks will be served, so bring your friends!

For the students, by the students… Student Events

Lauren Brodsky
Director of Student Events
Brandeis University ’11

studentevents@brandeis.edu

Congratulations BSF Recipients!

During the spring semester of 2010, the Brandeis Sustainability Fund was proposed and successfully established by students. The funding for BSF comes from a $15 per year increase in the Student Activities fee. Seven teams of students submitted proposals to BSF, asking for a total of $93,432 in funding; however $47,000 was available for these groups. Therefore each team had to perform thorough research in order to prove that their ideas would meet the goals of the Brandeis Sustainability Fund. Environmental and community impact, relevancy and financial viability were all taken into account when the BSF board, which consisted of four students and three staff, decided on which groups would receive funding. The board members also had to meet with students within these groups to help shape the proposals so that they could be made possible with the available funding and also be campus approved. The voting students on the board included, Susan Paykin ’11, Nicholas Polanco ’13, Akash Vadalia ’12, and Abdul Aziz Sohail ’13. Voting representatives for the faculty were Mark Collins, Senior Vice President for Administration, Adam Jaffee, Dean of Arts and Science, and Laura Goldin, Associate Director of the Environmental Studies Program. Maria Turesky ’13 and Janna Cohen-Rosenthal ’03, Sustainability Coordinator, were two non-voting staff members. Finally after a long process of hard work by both the teams and the board members, five projects were chosen to receive funding.

And the five chosen projects for the 2010-2011 academic year are…

Smart Meters, proposed by Sam Porter, receiving $26,000

Oh The Things We’ll Grow! proposed by Linda Li ’13, receiving $550

Brandeis Micro-Turbine, proposed by Dorian Socnick Williams ’13, receiving $8,000

DeisBikes 2.0: Semester-Long Bike Rentals for Brandeis Students, proposed by Jessie Stettin ’13 for $12,175

A Greener Residence Hall- Pilot Project, proposed by Cecilia Watkins ’11 receiving $271

RSVP for the Green Unity Gala this Wednesday in order to help celebrate these grants!
To learn more about each proposal click here
Once again congratulations to everyone who put in hours of hard work in order to make this possible!
(Speaking of sustainability, do you have a Certified Green Room?)

How you can get involved

Megan Straughan was sent this out as facebookmail for the “Celebrate Brandeis committee” event. Everyone should have a chance to read this and learn how to get involved.

Thanks to everyone for their participation so far and the hard work coming up! Now is the time for everyone to put themselves into event planning for the response to the WBC protest of the Brandeis Hillel and community!

Quick updates first:
This morning we met with several administrators, including Ed Callahan (Director of Public Safety) and Andrew Gully (Senior Vice President Communications and External Affairs). While they voiced concerns, they were overwhelmingly supportive of the cause and of students. We discussed the safety and security of all Brandeis community members and our goal of focusing on celebrating Brandeis and refusing to give in to what WBC wants.

The following plans for the day have been reached:
-8:30-9:30: Celebrate Brandeis festival (Great Lawn)

-9:30-4: Campus-organized events in the SCC

-Hillel’s Shabbat Dinner will be open to the campus

-Daniel will work with Public safety to send a message to the campus about security measures and protocols for the event.

And now it’s time for all of us to create the evens of the day! We ask that over the break all of you work in your breakout groups, go back to your clubs, and start collaborating with peers to create events for the festival and for the period between the festival and the Shabbat dinner. After the break we’ll have another campus-wide meeting to check in on plans and logistics.

We would love to see groups collaborating! E-mail Mark Hajjar (mhajjar@brandeis.edu) with ideas, and we will help with logistics and resources such as room reservations.

The point-people for each breakout group (established in the first community-wide meeting) are listed below. We would love to see new people joining them! If you’d like to create a different breakout group, send an e-mail to megan.straughan@gmail.com, and I’ll send your info out to the group to get things started.

Thanks so much for your passion and commitment! Have a wonderful break!

Megan Straughan

BREAKOUT GROUPS
Safety: Daniel Achempong (dpong@brandeis.edu)

Fundraising: Morgan Gross (mhgross@brandeis.edu)
Chaya Ariel Bender (hbend@brandeis.edu)
JHSB (thisislyricall@yahoo.com)

Media: Rachel Goldfarb (rgoldfarb@brandeis.edu)

First Hour/Festival: Erica Shaps (eshaps@brandeis.edu)

Day of Events: Mark Hajjar (mhajjar@brandeis.edu)
Matt Zunitch (mzunitch@brandeis.edu)
Hannah Pollack (hannah96@brandeis.edu)

Comments Made by You

After reading through many statements that were posted next to the 700 plus signatures under the petition for Celebrate Brandeis, it seems that the WBC has already helped unite not only Brandeis, but an even larger community. The signatures range from students in Massachusetts to students in Virginia, to staff, to parents, and to friends. They have posted quotes from inspirational individuals such as Martin Luther King Jr., the Dalai Lama, and the Beatles. This petition has already shown me, as well as to many others, the strength of our internal community at Brandies, the larger community Brandeis has been able to reach out to, and it’s ability to react sensibly and take an act of hate and use it for a reason to celebrate tolerance and acceptance.

Reacting to a group of protestors which angers at least 700 of us with nonviolence and adversarialism, and not just acting with nonviolence but reacting in such a way to promote a positive message for our community rather then a negative message against theirs, makes me excited for the good the individuals in this community will do in the future, outside of Brandeis.

There were a couple of quotes written next to signatures under the petition that I thought I would share.

Victoria Roomet: “Sooner or later all the people of the world will have to discover a way to live together in peace, and thereby transform this pending cosmic elegy into a creative psalm of brotherhood. If this is to be achieved, man must evolve for all human conflict a method which rejects revenge, aggression and retaliation. The foundation of such a method is love.” Spoken by a true Baptist minister- Martin Luther King Jr.

Michal Dichter: “Let’s pwn these n00bs!”

Muriel Fine: “My parents were Holocaust survivors. What a triumph over hatred it was for me to have even been born, and lived to send a child to Brandeis. How immeasurably sad that, generations later, my child has to witness the continuation of such ignorance”

Laurel Adams: “ok, think about this. What if the WBC is actually the most altruistic institution in existence? What if they exist as a hate group for the sole purpose of bringing people together, who wouldn’t ordinarily come together, to unite against hate and bigotry? What if they are sacrificing themselves to be the most disliked group in America just so we can see the good in others? I like to think of it that way”.

Jacob Agi: “I am President of the Brandeis Orthodox Organization (BOO). I feel that my group is being personally attacked. On behalf of B.O.O.,I would like to say that I am proud of this campus for rallying around each other, combating the hate of the WBC, and allowing for the hate of the WBC to in-fact bring us closer together as a campus”.

Rozi Levi (My CA!) “I love this community!!!”

If you have yet to do it, please take a minute to read over the petition.

500 Signatures in 18.5 Hours, Let’s Keep Going!

When we launched the Celebrate Brandeis Petition at 4:30 AM yesterday morning, the initial goal was set for 500 signatures by December 3rd.

We shattered that goal in 18 1/2 hours.

At this time, 615 people have signed. For lack of a better statistic, that’s more than the usual voting turnout for most campus elections. More importantly, it constitutes a significant portion of this campus and provides great foreshadowing for the events to come next week.

Can we do it again, reach another milestone? http://bit.ly/CelebrateBrandeis. If you haven’t already, please click the link, read, and sign the petition, and send it to your friends. Let’s see if, over a holiday weekend, we can double our number to 1000, and unite an even greater portion of campus against hate.

Thanks WBC, I Think I Get Stewart’s Message Now.

It’s been close to a month now since Jon Stewart and Steven Colbert held the Rallies to Restore Sanity and/or Fear in Washington, and as a music major, I’ve spent the better part of the last few weeks reveling in the glory of seeing people like Yusuf Islam, Ozzy Osbourne, The OJays, The Roots, John Legend, and Jeff Tweedy share the stage, but I’ve also been trying to grapple with the concepts presented themselves in an attempt to apply them. Stewart repeatedly stressed his belief that as a nation, we work together every day to solve our problems, joining alongside our neighbors regardless of their political affiliations, and, because it’s politics, the news media instantly pounced on him claiming that he was spreading a false equivalency between the way in which both the left and the right present news. Bill Maher, in particular, had this to say about the way in which “political” bipartisanship has failed in this country over the last two years, and why we shouldn’t always try to work with our opponents:

Two opposing sides don’t necessarily have two compelling arguments. Martin Luther King spoke on that Mall in the Capitol, and he didn’t say ‘Remember folks, those Southern Sheriffs with the fire hoses and the German shepherds, they have a point too.’ No, he said ‘I have a dream, they have a nightmare’… if that’s too polarizing for you, and you still want to reach across the aisle, and hold hands, and sing with someone on the Right, try church.

When I heard this originally, I found myself agreeing with the sentiment as a frustrated Democrat. And maybe on a political level I still do. But there are multitudes of other contexts in which division is unproductive and detrimental to a society, and Brandeis has seen many of them firsthand. This year alone, we’ve been divided politically and religiously over the selection of Michael Oren as commencement speaker, the vandalism perpetrated against the MSA lounge, and most recently during “Israel Peace Week” and “Israeli Occupation Awareness Week.” Events like Pachanga have divided us socially and have jammed another wedge in between student-police and student-administration relationships. And so far this semester, two of the few things that had many talking together were that we were all unable to provide a better solution to the problems of the F-Board club allocations, and much more importantly, the Financial Aid crisis.

Now, I find myself loving the irony of Maher’s idea to “try church,” because the Westboro Baptist “Church” has provided a remedy to these problems. Think about it: We have one long list of topics that are divisive, the fragment our community. But then ask yourself “Quick, what’s one thing that everyone on this campus can oppose?” If WBC doesn’t come up in name, then I’m sure that its ideals of hatred and bigotry do. We are a diverse campus, and as the petition circulated by the Student Union, Hillel, and The Justice League states, “An attack on one of us is an attack on all of us.” I think they’re handing us an opportunity on a silver platter, a chance to stand together and work, as Stewart might say, “every damn day” from now until they show up, and beyond.

Yesterday, 100 students came together on short notice in the Castle Commons to plan the next steps, and the work we accomplished has me amped up on excitement. I encourage all Brandeis students to be go-getters on this one, and to find ways to get involved, because there are already several sub-groups planning for safety, fundraising opportunities (check out the Brandeis Hillel Phelps-A-Thon), media attention, a huge day-long festival in Shapiro Campus Center or another large venue, and other topics. I believe that we can mobilize and cross boundaries to work together and create an amazing cap to this semester that works to counter the WBC and strengthen campus bonds. I guess what I’m ultimately saying is “Thank you WBC for helping me learn from the Rally, and thanks in advance for uniting our campus.”

Something you can do to help!

Sahar has noted to many people have been reaching out to him asking what he can do to help with the events being planned for December 3rd. My name is Rachel Goldfarb, and somehow I’ve ended up in charge of the media/outreach campaign for this whole thing, and I need your help!

Last night, we discussed getting our various groups on campus involved in the events on December 3rd. We’d like to start asking club leaders to forward the “commitment to celebrate” statement to their lists, and see what groups are interested in co-sponsoring or organizing events for the day. What clubs are you involved in? If you can contact a club leader for us, we’ll be eternally grateful!

So here’s the deal: you should email your club leader explaining what’s going on so far, how they can get involved, and asking whether their club is interested. CC me on the email (rgoldfarb @ brandeis.edu, remove the spaces) so that I can keep track of which clubs have and have not been contacted so far. If you’re not sure what to tell your club leader, send me an email and I’ll give you a sample email to edit according to that club’s needs. Thanks so much for your help!

Picking up steam

In less than 12 hours, we have 168 signatures saying:
“Yo, these WBC people are lame and mockable. So let’s respond to their hate with a celebration of how much we love each other / Brandeis. And also – Hillel, TRISK, everyone else attacked by these dudes – we got your back”

Or saying something like that.

Lots of people have been emailing and texting me asking how to get involved in party planning. Keep it up! More info on legit party planning to come out tonight, or tomorrow morning, pending a couple meetings.

I need someone reasonably computer-savvy for a special mission ASAP. Shouldn’t take more than 30 minutes. Let me if you’re interested. If you don’t know how to contact me, let me know in the comments.

Student Union Senate endorsed the letter. That means we got Hillel, Student Union E-Board, and the Student Union Senate. Once we get Jehuda onboard, we can claim a monopoly and build hotels. 🙂

We’ve also hit the recommended list on Blue Mass Group.

Keep it up! This is happening!

Now – I’m going to spend the rest of today figuring out a structure for people to plan their parties and where to point people to when they ask how they can be involved.

Story

In response to all this Fred Phelps business, people have been emailing me about their experiences with the WBC back in the day. I really liked this one:

You probably already know that the Phelpses try to provoke violent or otherwise illegal responses from counter protesters/citizens/whomever and then sue the communities or institutions that didn’t do a good enough job protecting them in exercising their First Amendment rights. In Lexington, the town manager’s office organized an official community counter protest (the parents and other concerned people linked hands, stood between the protesters and the school, and then turned their backs on them for the duration of the protest). They brought in volunteer outside experts to help organize and teach them how to do a peaceful counter-protest.

As the Lexington protest and counter-protest got underway, a couple of police officers who were patrolling the area met an older man who was walking towards the high school. They started to explain about the Phelpses and he interrupted: “I know. That’s where I’m going. I’m a Korean War vet. These people have disrespected my comrades at their funerals, and now they’re after my kids. I’ve had enough.” And he held up a big box of eggs he planned to throw. The officers explained the nonviolent plan and the reason for it. When they told him how many counter protesters there were, a big smile spread across his face, saluted them, and turned around.

🙂

Thought I’d share.

What a night

Exhausted update:

Thoughts about the meeting tonight

  • Meeting tonight was awesome. By one count, over 117 people came.
  • Things started slow and confusingly. When we broke out into breakout groups, people really got excited
  • We have coordinating committees for events, the keynote event, safety, “frontline” (at south street), media and publicity, fundraising, and possibly other stuff I can’t remember right now
  • I am so impressed by how people are taking ownership and stepping up to do things
  • Tonight we had an exercise in a grassrootsy meeting. It had downsides – it took time and effort and patience to brief everyone on what had gone on before the meeting tonight, and it was frustrating to try and set goals and so on with such a large group – but by the end it was definitely worth it. So many people were able to take their ideas and run with them.
  • Breakout groups were such a good idea that we should’ve gone into them much earlier.
  • We agreed that from now on large group meetings will have only 2 functions: check-ins from breakout groups/planning committees (they are the same thing) and votes. This will streamline things a lot I think

Report from tonight:

  • Victor Frenkel and I spent tonight working on this: http://bit.ly/CelebrateBrandeis. I really hope you like it and sign it.
  • Corresponding facebook event: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=119981038065064
  • 2 folks have signed up to document the process of this whole experiment in grassroots-driven community response. I’m fascinated to see the results. We’ve tentatively agreed to have some of their stuff show up on Innermost Parts. Yay!
  • I really hope you like the statement and sign it.

Last thoughts before I collapse:

  • I am excited for the new leadership that will be created/displayed throughout this whole deal.
  • I am excited for the bonds of trust that will be formed between people because of this
  • I am excited to take less and less of a role in this whole thing. I’m glad to set up a structure, framework, gather people in a room, etc. Now it’s time for new leadership to shine and me to catch up on my homework.
  • Maybe next time I’ll post a report that’s actually useful – what has been decided at the meeting, how you can get involved, what is being worked on, etc. Instead of my ramblings now. 🙂
  • Brandeis is a family and Brandeis is beautiful.

<3

Tonight: Westboro Baptist PARTY PLANNING

So much has happened in the last 24 hours. I am running around talking to different staff and students. This is going to be great.

I don’t have time to report right now. Come to the meeting tonight and all of us will report on what is going on, and we can plan the community response together. Already 83 people are attending on facebook.

10pm. Castle Commons. Tonight.
Facebook Event link: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=108619535873565&ref=ts

See you there?

Official Event info:

OK so the Westboro Baptist “Church” is coming to Brandeis.

It’s gonna be awesome. We have all sorts of ideas of how to respond. So let’s meet and plan it out!

Can we respond to their hate with acts of love for our fellow Brandeisians?
Can we respond with outrageous things?

When: 10pm Sunday.
Where: Castle Commons for now – but we might change the meeting place.

Be there.

Celebrate, Don’t React!

If our responses are celebratory instead of reactionary, productive instead of abrasive, we can accomplish so much more. Lets love and respect each other instead of hating them.

Hello Innermost Parts!

A little bit about myself: My name is Erica, I am a sophomore majoring in Islamic and Middle Eastern Studies with a minor in Peace, Conflict and Coexistence Studies. I am a coordinator of the Brandeis Interfaith Group and on Hillel Board. I am really new at blogging and am exited to share my perspectives with you!

As I am sure everybody knows by this point, the Westboro Church is coming to Brandeis the morning of Friday, December 3rd , specifically targeting Hillel at Brandeis. As a Hillel member and Jewish Brandeisian who embraces diversity and pluralism, I feel personally hurt and violated. I know that I am not alone.

I also feel angry. There is a part of me who wants nothing more than to confront them, talk to them, do something ridiculous. WBC has the potential to bring out the worst in me, the worst in us.

When I really thought about both what they are out to accomplish, and our University’s values, I realized that direct, reactionary confrontation would not be the best response. WBC wants to prove that college students are irresponsible and immoral. They want us to cause a scene and get violent and react so they can sue us to further fuel their hatred. If we are not careful, we can easily end up being sued for assault and/ or indecent exposure. I am not saying that having fun or reacting is morally wrong- I am just saying that we would be giving them exactly what they want.

To be honest, even though Brandeis is a creative community, I do not think we could develop a response that they have not seen before. We would not be the first to start praying or kissing or drinking and we would not be more effective than anyone who has done this in the past. We are not going to be able to have a pleasant conversation with them, or make them change their minds. In my personal opinion, efforts to do so would be fruitless and counterproductive.

Instead, what if all of Brandeis united to create a response that was both meaningful and could work towards a larger goal?

It will be a much greater accomplishment if Brandeis took advantage of this moment and created a unified response, completely isolated from them, to support Hillel and our community by embracing and living our Brandeis values. We could also use this as a catalyst to fundraise for an organization that represents our concerns and interests.

If our responses are celebratory instead of reactionary, productive instead of abrasive, we can accomplish so much more. Lets love and respect each other instead of hating them.

Hillel, the Student Union and many other Student organizations are currently planning a festival to celebrate our diversity and campus culture of pluralism while showing support to our numerous friends who feel attacked and distressed. We are also going to be having a fundraiser over the course of the day for an organization working towards Brandeis ideals of social justice.

I am please to know that so many students have expressed the same sentiments and are energetic about developing a response for the morning that WBC is on campus. I look forward in working with all of you, sharing more details of our planned celebration, and showing ourselves and the world just how beautiful of a community we can be.

Westboro Baptist PARTY UPDATE

So you may be aware that Innermost Parts is a project of a Brandeis club called The Justice League.
We’re thinking of holding a general meeting for all campus to plan our response. 10pm Sunday. Good idea? Would you go to that?

Here is every idea from the comments and facebook event so far:

Which ones do you like? What would you like to add?

Ideas:
– Buy a bus/carpool and follow them during the day
– Dance the Hora around for the entire visit
– Kissathon
– Party
– Fundraiser
– Sing songs of counterculture (RENT, internet is for porn, etc)
– Glitter
– Rickroll
– Don’t pay attention
– Free Kippas and Rainbow flags

Longer ideas:

  • Let’s make it really positive! Let’s make it about what a great place Brandeis is, and not about WBC at all! We should do charity donations and channuka songs, like people mentioned!
  • I think it is very important that we organize a response that celebrates Brandeis diversity and pluralism rather than attack the group itself
  • Let’s reclaim this campus as a home for the sexually liberated and put on a good show.
  • We should just make a big circle around them with our backs turned toward them. And fart a lot in their general direction
  • Use cardboard/other materials to build a genuine MEDIA CONTROLLING DEVICE on the Great Lawn. Make a lot of aerials and knobs and stuff. Then go at it, controlling the media through secret, clandestine connections.
  • I leave these tools at your disposal. While it may seem funny, in all seriousness I urge you: WHAT SETS THESE PEOPLE APART IS THEIR UTTER LACK OF SUBTLETY AND LACK OF CREATIVITY. This means whatever you do has to be subtle, creative, and, (the one attribute I suggest you mimic) ludicrous.
  • CRAZY-SIGNS: Everyone bring a picketing sign or a poster, but DO NOT COORDINATE what they will be, and then full-heartedly devote yourself to supporting the signs other people bring as well as your own, expounding their virtues to the utmost.
  • Cake Party: If you really want a party, get a lot of cake. Then everyone should eat cake, and only be allowed to say the word cake. This will be silly for three minutes, and funny after five, and eventually if you can be louder than them but only say the word cake then it will be epic.

Westboro Baptist PARTY! Brainstorming

Update: Brainstorming continued here: http://innermostparts.org/2010/11/20/westboro-baptist-party-update/

This is going to be fun.

The Westboro Baptist “Church” is a bona fide hate group, according to the Anti Defamation League and the Southern Poverty Law Center. They’re also quite small – basically this guy Fred Phelps and his large extended family rove around the country throwing absurd protests that no one supports.

They’re coming to Brandeis on December 3.

Why?

“remind these Jews that they bear the curse of their forefather’s murder of Christ. Further these college students of doomed america live for the devil himself, spending their energies on drunkeness, lust, sloth and greed rather than serving the Lord Almighty.”

How are we going to respond?

I’m thinking, if these loonies are going to get me up at 8:45 in a morning for the inevitable counter-protest, it’s going to be for something that doesn’t just respond to them, but instead affirmatively builds something positive here. Something to make us feel more like a community.

It’s easy to make fun of these guys, but how can we take this and turn it into something positive?

I propose some sort of party.

I asked the reddit hivemind. Some answers have been:

  • Invite your local LGBT groups to have a KISSATHON for charity right next to them. Raise money for a good cause with some very pleasant in-your-face affection!
  • The biggest, most visible sign – I’d even say the only one – should just be a truthful explanation: WBC PROVOKES PEOPLE TO VIOLENCE, THEN SUES. IT’S ALL ABOUT MONEY.
    You can also stage a fundraiser: http://www.phelps-a-thon.com/Home.html
    Don’t stage a circus. That’s what they want. It attracts people who might flip out and throw a punch, which is THEIR fundraising strategy.
  • Greet them with milk and cookies, and repeatedly tell them what you want for christmas

What do you think we should do?

I am willing to spend money on making this happen gloriously.
Facebook group here.

Apply for a Festival of the Arts Grant!!

Do you have a creative visual or performance based art project that you would like to showcase? Then why not get it funded? Applying for a Festival of the Arts Grant requires only a few short essays regarding the goals and intentions for your project, and could additionally help you flesh out a simple idea into a fully fledged proposal via their guiding questions. Last May’s Festival of the Arts Grant Recipients organized a folk stage at Slosberg, produced a theatrical work with students from the Waltham Boys and Girls Club, showcased drawings of feet of various people in various cultures, and much more.

As an incentive for activist minded artists, and those who feel that their project serves to positively impact the community as a whole, the Justice League, in conjunction with the Office of the Arts, will be subsidizing some of the projects which we feel best embody our progressive values.

The application for the grant, due November 30th at 5 p.m., can be found right here. Questions can be directed to Ingrid Schorr, Festival Director, at ingrids@brandeis.edu.

DON’T MISS OUT on art by Brandeis faculty!

Yesterday, at lunch with Ingrid Schorr, we learned of an amazing opportunity for Brandeis students- to see beautiful works of art! JustArts is an exhibition showcasing artwork by Brandeis faculty and staff, will be on display in the Dreitzer Gallery, Spingold Theater Center, from November 16 to 22. This means MONDAY is the last day!! It is an amazing exhibit, and I encourage everyone to go!

More than 100 works will be on display, by individuals from across campus, including the departments of psychology, theater, fine arts, and politics; the mail room; LTS, and the department of athletics.

Last year’s exhibition, the first in Brandeis history, was “a joyous occasion, with so many people truly paying attention to the art and talking about it,” Professor Mick Watson of the Department of Psychology wrote in an email to the organizers. “And the art work was good — well worth looking at. Best of all, the works came from so many diverse members of the Brandeis community — people who may have been doing art as a hobby, but who took it seriously and had created aesthetic and often moving pieces.”

JustArts is sponsored by the Office of the Arts.

Brandeis Interfaith Group: What If Speak-In and Beyond!

For those of you who don’t know, Brandeis Interfaith Group is a newly formed club on campus, centered around interfaith dialogue and service. We meet in the Peace Room every Thursday at 9- check it out. I personally look forward to BIG every week, because we have collaboratively fostered some of the most meaningful dialogue I have taken part in thus far in my three semesters at Brandeis.

On Monday November 15th in the Rappaporte Treasure Hall, Brandeis Interfaith Group along with several other co-sponsors on campus had our first “big” event. The What-If Speak-In was a night of kosher dessert, meaningful stories, Q and A with President Elect Fred Lawrence, and interfaith dialogue with members of the Brandeis community. The goal of the event was to foster meaningful dialogue and expose ourselves to different ideas from faiths and belief systems, centered around fighting homelessness in Waltham, the greater Boston area, and the world.

Members of BIG (including yours truly) read stories and poems about our own faith journeys and how we apply our faith traditions and belief systems to serving others. President Elect Fred Lawrence honored us by offering his unique perspective about religious pluralism and its role at Brandeis. Students had the opportunity to ask the President Elect about his faith own faith journey, and how it applies to serving others. Following President Elect Lawrence, students, faculty, staff, and others from the community discussed in small groups their own personal experiences in faith and service.

The What-If Speak-In was the first of a series of events and projects as part of the larger Better Together Campaign. Over the rest of the academic year, BIG and the community will be working on projects to elevate local homelessness. We will (eventually) be looking for co-sponsors. If you think your club or organization is interested, or if you as an individual are interested in getting involved, join our listserve, facebook group, come to our Thursday meetings, or e-mail me, Rachel Downs at red1103@brandeis.edu.

Get ready for our next BIG (big) event coming in December! Monday December 6th from 8-9:30 around Massell pond and in the Shapiro Dorm Lounge, there will be hot cocoa, cookies, and conversation and lights and holidays, both physically and metaphorically. Hope to see you there!

love- Rachel and BIG

Diana Buttu

Hey Brandeis! I know I am a little late, but here are my thoughts on last week’s speaker Diana Buttu “who has negotiated for the Palestine Liberation Organization and will address the legal aspects of the occupation ” .

She arrived early last Wednesday, November 10th, in Pearlman lounge to greet students and enjoy some Palestinian sweets!

Diana Buttu was born and raised in Canada, in what she called a “depoliticized” household. She wasn’t heavily involved in the Israeli Palestinian Conflict until she was a student at Stanford in the year 2000 during the Camp David negotiations. She recalled how Israel would undo Israeli control over Palestine and undo colonization… which still hasn’t occurred ten years later.

Buttu moved to the Middle East and lived in Palestine under Israeli laws. While she lived in Palestine, she observed two goals of Israel and made them a focus of her speech: Israel wants to “take away Palestinian land and confine Palestinians into a small space”.

Buttu described the West Band and Gaza Strip from the Oslo Accords to present day. She gave emphasis on the illegal Israeli settlements and outposts, military zones, and nature reserves. She suggests all three types of structures are strategically placed in between Palestinian neighborhoods to keep Palestinians separated. The roads which connect Israeli settlements create further barriers around Palestinians and the Wall (and other fences) segregates communities entirely. Buttu emphasized the increase of Israeli settlements and reduced supplies to Palestinians. She recalled cheese, yogurt, bread, and even shampoo shortages.

To end her presentation, Buttu called on the international community to hold Israel accountable. Ever since the international law ruling which declared the wall illegal, she hopes the US and other countries will make a stand. She believes the following actions will help:
1. Boycott Israeli goods
2. Divest from holdings
3. Sanctions

She also believes a large part of the problem is that Israeli’s do not accept Palestinians as equals. However, she offered no solution to help bridge equality between the two communities.
When questioned as to the violent reactions of Palestinians, she said “lack of freedom equals lack of security”.

I personally highly enjoyed her presentation. She gave a legal and detailed account spotted with personal reflection. Her arguments were easy to follow and clearly demonstrates where the law falls in this particular circumstance. I do wish she was able to offer better solutions for the reconciliation for the two communities. However, she did approach the question and answer potion as an open conversation and listened intently to everyone’s point of view.

I hope this recap was helpful to anyone who missed her talk, and feel free to ask any questions! I took notes!

Cage-Free Eggs. Here. We won.

We’ve known for a while, but we were sworn to secrecy.

Now we can finally tell you – Cage Free Eggs are coming.
All food on campus will use solely cage-free eggs starting next school year.
The added cost of a meal plan will be 8 dollars per semester.

We’re throwing a party with the Real Food Campaign on Dec 2 to celebrate.
Info: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=125861680808372

There’ll first be a soiree with (real) Food, where people will brainstorm plans for the Real Food Campaign next semester. Then afterparty (location tbd).

High-Five! We did it!
Continue reading “Cage-Free Eggs. Here. We won.”

Live-blogging the Fall 2010 SOTU

For those of you who can’t make it tonight, here’s what is being said (refresh for frequent updates).

6:30- Still hasn’t started, food is very good.
6:42- Ryan Fanning is doing the introduction. He thanks Aramark. Nice plug.
6:43- Ryan: Financial Situations, Pachanga, it has not been a quiet semester. But we will succeed through the struggles. We as a community are stronger than we can possibly imagine.
6:45- Ryan thinks Acheampong is a snappy dresser.
6:45- Daniel: Thanks to the Union. General welcomes. The Union means “you”.
6:46- Financial History of the last 2 years: Despite our hardships, we chose to do something unique. We moved together as one, as Brandeis.

Continue reading “Live-blogging the Fall 2010 SOTU”