Vive le Montral

Sometimes, a girl just needs to go to Canada. Enter Passover break and what was quite possibly one of the least planned and best executed trips of all time. Mere days before leaving, I finally looked up hostels online. It seems that, at least in Montreal, hostels frown upon you actually calling them, but if you like to hear harried French men, I recommend that you give it a try. Thus, with a simple click of a Submit, I and my deux amies finally had the impetus to actually start planning the trip – sort of. Im sorry to say that our work habits apply to real life: we pulled an all-nighter the night before, packing our bags and looking up things to do.

Hope from America: A  letter  to  Papa  in  the  old  country

New Haven: 18 April, 1943

Dear Papa,

Sholem alechem! I miss you much and hope this letter should find you safe and well. Please pardon my Yiddish;

it has grown a bit rusty in America. We finally got our orders this morning, so I am writing to you aboard a troop train bound for New London;

we ship out tomorrow to the European front…

America's real problem

It all started when I was 16 and three quarters. In the state of Massachusetts at age 16 and a half we Mass residents are given the opportunity to get our licenses. I didnt pass the first test, nor the second, and no, not the third. Ive never gotten along well with state troopers, or maybe state troopers dont get along well with me.

Get ready for it: feel-good hit of the summer

In the most recent issue of Spin, the usually insightful Chuck Klosterman declared how our generation will forever be defined by the music of the Killers. I sincerely hope Klosterman is incorrect on that stance;

sure, Mr. Brightside managed to entertain Americas youth for a good chunk of last year, but was Hot Fuss really that good? There is no conceivable way that the Killers could possibly be paired off with our generation the way that the Beatles help define the late Sixties and Nirvana inspires the image of the flannel colored early Nineties. In fact, there doesnt seem to be any noteworthy artist that appears destined to rise above the other artists in todays music scene, ready to take the crown as the definitive band of whatever our generation is called. On that note, summer provides the perfect breeding grounds for particularly brilliant acts to rise above the rest with the massive number of summer concerts and festivals. Heres a highlight of what the summer of 2006 has to offer.

Unwanted calls plague phones

There has been a recent increase in telemarketing calls to campus, according to Library and Technology Services (LTS).

Frank visits campus

U.S. Congressman Barney Frank (D) visited Brandeis Monday for a short discussion on Iran and nuclear proliferation. The visit was sponsored by BIPAC and the Brandeis Democrats.

Trustees disinvest from Sudan

The Executive Committee of the Brandeis University Board of Trustees has decided to disinvest the university endowment of investments made in companies that do business in genocide-plagued Sudan.

Fires spur ban on dorm flyers

A series of flyer burnings in Rosenthal quad this month has prompted Dean of Student Life Rick Sawyer to temporarily prohibit papers from being posted in public areas of residence halls.

ZOA criticizes ‘Deis award pick

The Zionist Organization of America (ZOA) has criticized the universitys decision to give an honorary doctorate award to playwright Tony Kushner at Mays commencement, according to a ZOA press release.

Baseball finishes home stretch

Eight is not a lucky number. With a 2-2 tie going into the eighth inning, UMass-Boston sent up 12 batters and scored eight runs on a combination of offense and ineptitude, taking the game 10-3. Tyler Robinson '08 took the loss, striking out 10 batters in 7.1 innings pitched. Chris Navis '06 led the offense, going 3-5 with a run scored. For UMass, junior outfielder Bob Kniffen went 4-5 with 2 runs, 2 runs batted in, and 2 stolen bases. The loss drops Brandeis to 17-13-1 and extends their losing skid to 4 games.

Softball seniors honored at last home game with a win

Brandeis finished its productive season on a high note earlier this week with three straight wins. Since losing five straight games at the beginning of vacation, Brandeis has won a game on each day that they played, going a total seven and two to finish the season at 20-23.

Golf 5th at UAA’s

The Brandeis golf season came to an end in New York, finishing in fifth place at the UAA Championships. The team shot 327 the first day and closed out with 323, giving them a score of 650. This score placed them 36 strokes behind fourth place Carnegie-Mellon and 58 strokes behind first place Rochester University.

Senior message

When the class of 2006 graduates three Sundays from now, Brandeis will bid adieu to dozens of skilled athletes.

Tennis season closes

They were undermanned and overmatched heading to Emory University for the UAA Tournament. There was no David defeating Goliath as the tennis seasons for the mens and womens teams ended with a whimper. The mens squad finished eighth out of eight teams while, the womens team managed to avoid the cellar, beating Case-Western to take seventh place.

This Week in Sports

Baseball
Doug Mientkiewicz and the Boston Red Sox agreed to send the final out ball from the 2004 World Series to the Baseball Hall of Fame.

Dead Man Walking Author Talks with The Hoot

The Nobel and Pulitzer Prize Nominated author of Dead Man Walking, Sister Helen Prejean, took some time after her speech on the Brandeis Institute of Investigative Journalisms Day of Innocence to speak with David Pepose of The Hoot. David Pepose: What do you think was your highest and your lowest points throughout your exploits with […]

Nuclear potatoes are the only answer

Are you afraid of the real world? I mean the world outside of the sheltered college environment? Are you even sure it exists in the first place? If you arent, then youre probably a very heavy drinker. This is a good thing, mostly because while sober and about to graduate, you tend to stay up nights wondering, thinking, fearing in the abysmal depths of insecurity who, once you are no longer in college, is going to feed you, fill up the toilet paper spindle, call facilities, cancel Modfest, or unlock your dorm room when you leave the keys inside and your roommate is in a different country because hes an international student who had to rush home because of a coup in Zimbabwe? The answers to all these questions can be found at the bottom of a Bacardi 151 bottle. However, you might not be cognizant enough at that point to understand them, and youll probably be pretty flammable by then as well.

Death never sounded so fun

Fun;

its a word that elicits memories of joyous occasions, be they some uproarious party whose hangover passed months ago or even a nice day on the town. While one can hopefully associate such an ideal to his life, the word is unfortunately left out of much of the music thats being produced and distributed today. Sure, those random pop songs of the week may have provided for a few sweet minutes of amusement at some random party;

yet, outside of that context, these songs are nothing more than arbitrary conglomerate products as empty and soulless as any attempt made at making these songs have some significant musical grounding. In the almost absolute absence of music that contains an audacious sense of humor, fun, and irony abound, rock n roll revivalists (in every sense of the phrase) Eagles of Death Metal emerge from the pit of doom and gloom to provide a hip shaking, heart pounding, and fun time.

In the forest of our Creator

Imagine a nice Jewish boy finishing his second year at Brandeis University. Since starting here, hes become connected as never before with his people and his roots;

now he studies Yiddish and attends Shabbes dinners on Fridays because he wants to. So this same student sings in the Gospel choir at Protestant services, praying in Jesus name with the rest. Friends, its time for a story which I must tell in my own way. Gather round