Wow, I really picked the wrong time to leave the campus. Protests, sit-ins, listservs, national controversy, student forums (fora?) — what fun you must all be having!
I’m definitely keeping an eye on everything though, and consider this my long-awaited (yeah, right) return to active posting. Echoing InfoGirl’s post from Monday, I really want to encourage everyone to check out BrandeisPlans, not just as passive observers but as active participants in the discussion that will, if all goes well, not only lead the University to new heights but also ultimately save the world.
In all seriousness, for those who haven’t visited it yet, BrandeisPlans is a wiki-space created by Professor Tim Hickey of the Computer Science department and intended to serve as an open forum for discussion among all members of the Brandeis community for ideas to cut costs or increase revenue in response to the budget crisis. In other words, this is the opportunity for every student’s voice to be heard that we’ve been working for. Already, the site is packed with great ideas worth pursuing, many of them new to me (save the Rose Art Museum by convincing the Boston MFA to purchase it as an expansion? So crazy it just might work!). So if you have a great idea but feel like there’s no way you will be heard, feel free to add it. If you want to enter the debate over the currently proposed ideas, many of them have extensive pros and cons sections that you can add to. And if you just want to see what’s being proposed by the administration, your professors, and your fellow students so far, just head over and browse a little bit.
If you’re accessing the site from off campus, you need a user name and password which, while they might have been intended to remain internal to the community, have already been disseminated in our earlier post, so I have no guilt in posting them again (login: faculty, password: change!)(and yes, it was originally intended as a faculty-only forum, but it was expanded to include everyone in light of last Thursday’s demonstartion).
I won’t lie in that, while I am friendly with most of the people who contribute to IP, I often find myself at odds with them ideologically and politically. On the broader issue of the fate of Brandeis, I find that, as our interest converge in regards to the common good of Brandeis as a whole, I find myself agreeing with you guys more and more. Keep up the good work!
Even if there is not currently a pros and cons section on an idea, please feel free to add your thoughts anyway! Wikis are fairly easy to edit, including making new categories (see other pages on the wiki for code). Alternatively, you can post your thoughts here at Innermost Parts and we will do our best to transfer ideas to the wiki (though it’s much better if you can add things in your own words!).