Month: March 2005

Hillel Theater Group presents HAIR!

Your draft notice arrived today.

One of the more revealing lines that gave meaning to Hillel Theater Groups production of the musical HAIR! at Shapiro Theater last Tuesday. Let these words stew in the back of your mind as you read…

FICTION: Beads Part 6: 'Reveal'

Ophelia sat numbly at the desk. Her hand rested on a piece of paper. They didnt know how couldnt they know why didnt they know about me? she asked, her voice small, distant. She fingered the writing, reading the words aloud as if they would reveal the answer she sought.

PERSPECTIVE: Dancing the night away

Last Saturday night, the Brandeis Junior/Senior Formal was held at the Boston Park Plaza Hotel. I was personally uninvolved in the organization of this extravaganza, and so I wasnt sure what to expect. First Ill tell you about how I ended up at this formal, and then Ill tell you how the whole formal ended up.

More wiggle room for the Boston Celtics

It is the waning moments just before halftime in a road game against the woeful New Orleans Hornets at the tail end of their lengthy road trip. The Celtics, hoping to escape from this game with their prolonged winning streak intact, are trailing by a slim margin in the second half. On this particular fastbreak play, vocal point guard Gary Payton takes a hard fall out of bounds attempting to secure a loose ball. He finds himself crouched underneath the basket, wincing in pain with an upper body injury. To his rescue come a pack of first place Celtics, led by none other than godsend Antoine Walker. Following him are several of the many youngsters on the Celtics roster.

ON YOUR MARKS: March Madness at Brandeis: Basketball or Books?

Im going to let you in on a little secret. Brandeis University does not have a Division I college basketball team. Our womens team has been great the last couple of years, by ECAC standards. Our mens team is a couple steps behind, but theyve had some big victories over the years. Still, basketball at Brandeis will never be what it is on Tobacco Road in North Carolina.

MEYERS: Boston shuttles could use revamp

A large reason that many students chose to attend Brandeis is because of its proximity to the Boston area. Getting to Boston on weekends is usually relatively easy because of the Boston Shuttles that start at 6 p.m. on Thursday, 3:30 p.m. on Friday and Saturday, and 12:30 p.m. on Sunday. However, the shuttle system could use some drastic changes, especially as finals week and the end of the semester approach.

VERBATIM: Senate Money Resolution

The following senate money request, submited by BTV, was passed by the Union Senate on April 21, 2002. It is presented here without comment.

MUELLNER: Seeing beyond subtitles: the value of Ancient Greek

When you go to see a foreign film from a country whose language you dont know China, say, or Iran or France you read the subtitles and watch the picture at the same time. You know that youre at the mercy of the person or persons responsible for generating those subtitles and their relative competence in the two languages involved, and all of us have experienced moments when the people are talking on screen and there are no subtitles to be seen, or when the English of the subtitles is barely comprehensible translationese, or when the native speakers in the theater are laughing at something that you, a reader of subtitles only, have no clue about.

UJ rejects bid to block BTV vote

Village Senator David Fried filed a case against BTV asking the Union Judiciary to stop the vote because he claimed that BTV misrepresented the amendment to students who signed it. The UJ rejected his injunction request.

BTV amendment fails, receives 30% of vote

BTVs proposal to increase its funding by over 150% by taking money from other Secured Organizations was roundly defeated in balloting on Wenesday and Thursday. The amendment, which needed the approval of 2/3 of voters, secured only 30.68 percent of the vote. Over 1000 students voted against the amendment in a record turnout.

BMSA prayer suite closed due to threats

The Brandeis Muslim Student Associations (BMSA) prayer suite in lower Usdan was closed on Wednesday and Thursday due to several disturbing off-campus e-mails that BMSA members received related to Asra Nomanis appearance on campus.

EDITORIAL: Coming to terms (with Marks term)

Slightly less than one year ago Mark Schlangel 05 was elected to the position of Student Union President on a platform combining sexual innuendo and promises to improve how clubs are funded and supported. In his time in office, Schlangel has not achieved the broad reforms he hoped for, but he has laid the groundwork for good things to come.

Feinberg elected Union President

Jennifer Feinberg 07 was elected as Union President in the final phase of Round I elections on Thursday. Turnout for this election was 1660 students, or 53 percent of the student population, the largest number of students voting in recent memory. Feinberg beat her rival Alana Hamlett 06 by 87 votes.

Mos Def coming to Brandeis with special guest

Mos Def is one of my personal heroes. As an actor, a poet, a philosopher, an activist and, of course, a rapper, Mos Def speaks through his art with a creative voice that transcends race. He is a visionary with a sense of humor. And that is why I could not possibly be more excited about this semesters big concert.

Mos Def coming to Brandeis with special guest

If white boys doing it, well, its success/ When I start doing it, well, its suspect, flows from the speakers as my roommate bumps Mos Defs track Mr. N-, just after we anonymously heard this weekend that he would be gracing the Shapiro Stage. April 7th the master will lecture a school of white success on the woes of a world from which they are far removed. Nevertheless, the rapper has achieved a clear victory with his views triumphantly penetrating into the white vernacular.

Mos Def coming to Brandeis with special guest

Sometimes I feel guilty for enjoying rap. I dont want to pay a rappers salary and promote the appreciation for shiny things and senseless violence among poor kids. In recent years, much of mainstream rap has degenerated into such messages being aimed at blacks and sponsored by whites. Yet the smooth poetry flowing from Mos Def and many other loyalists of New Yorks lyricist lounge (including Talib Kwali and Hi Tek) are not only aesthetically pleasing, but also potent reminders of an imperfect system. People get better when they start to understand what makes [them] valuable, Mos Def proclaims in Fear Not of Man.

Underpants: More than Just an Undergarment

The Brandeis Ensemble Theaters performance of The Underpants last weekend was the first time that the show has been performed in the New England area. The comedy was written by Carl Sternheim and adapted by Steve Martin. The whole series of events starts when several men getting a glimpse of a woman after her underpants miraculously fall down, and are enraptured by her enough to rent a room in the house that her husband is trying to lease out. What follows is a series of chaotic and hilarious events.

Deeper than SKIN

I knew this would be a tough assignment. What do I know about fashion? What would it have to do with the shows stated purpose of countering stereotypes about Asian-Pacific Americans? With these doubts I sat down to SKIN/InspirAsian last Saturday in the Levin Ballroom. It didnt matter that the audience was small. They connected.