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.
WRITER'S BLOCK: Loving that dirty water
I have always taken great pride in the fact that I am from Boston. This is obvious, based on the notion that when choosing a college to attend, I just couldnt seem to tear myself away from the state;
not to Pennsylvania, New Hampshire, or even Rhode Island. None of the tri-states would do. There was something about Massachusetts of which I simply couldnt let go.
MAIRSON: Integrated Planning: A French Revolution, Redux
I want Chief Operating Officer Peter French to keep talking about management of the Universitys finances. But I also want a French Department, I said at the March 3 university faculty meeting. The rejection of Dean Adam Jaffes proposals, and their subsequent withdrawal by the administration, were in turn a kind of French Revolution.
In an uncomfortable crisis of competing visions for the University, one advocated by the citizens of the faculty, and another by the executive managers of the administration, the citizens prevailed. Now, like the French Revolution, historians revisionist, apologist, and activist are trying to figure out what happened, and what it meant.
SALTER:Missing the Mediterranean
These past few weeks Ive come to find myself in another happy middle-of-a-Waltham-winter rut. I have watched every episode of Sex and the City more than three times and eaten my way through too many packs of those chocolate-vanilla swirl Jello snacks (which, by the way, I highly recommend;
what genius idea those were). But this morning I woke up and I made a resolution: today I would try to do things the Italian way more relaxed, more hopeful unsullied and fresh.
KOPPEL:Israel small giant in tech field
A new exhibit entitled Israel: On the Cutting Edge is on display in the Shapiro Campus Center this week. The exhibit, sponsored by the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Combined Jewish Philanthropies, demonstrates how technology developed in Israel influences our daily lives.
BAIME: When Good Housing Goes Bad
Thank God its over. After the two most stressful weeks of my Brandeis career, I have in my hand the product of countless hours of debate, deliberation, screaming matches, and political maneuvering: my housing confirmation for the 2005-2006 academic year. Before starting my freshman year last fall, a current student warned me about the three worst aspects of life at the university. For all Brandeis has to offer, she disclosed, food, registration and housing are not its strong suits. So to some extent, I anticipated a rough housing selection process, but never did I dream it would turn into the disaster it was for my friends and me.
BERKENWALD: Why I heart Reslife
Every year I wait in excitement for that letter in my mailbox– the one that gives me a number that tells me where I live next year. This year, I couldnt be happier to find that my number was none other than 1985! Thats the year I was born! Isnt Reslife clever?
When March 15th finally came, I was lucky enough to participate in the housing lottery for the second time. This time was much more exciting than the first because housing was not guarenteed. I dont know about you, but I love suspense in my life. Those tingles you get when you know you have a pretty substantial chance of being homeless … its almost sexual, in a way.
EDITORIAL: BTVs bid for more money shows poor thinking
After a highly successful year of producing and airing both original programming and movies on a minuscule budget, BTV put forth an amendment, which passed overwhelmingly, making it a secured organization. In the two years that BTV has received secured funding it has received almost $30,000 in student money, and yet the level of programming and services provided to the community has dramatically deteriorated.
UNION ELECTION PREVIEW
Name: Aaron Gaynor, 07 Major: Economics Residence: Pomerantz UNET ID: gaynor Current Office: Union Treasurer Statement: made the decision to run for president because I have a deep love of Brandeis and I want to make it a happier, more unified place for live and to learn. To achieve this, I have decided to focus […]
PERSPECTIVE: Students give gift of life with marrow
Debbie Swarz 03 saved a life. When she walked into the Gift of Life bone marrow drive four years ago as a photographer for The Justice, she didnt even intend to participate. She simply came to cover the event for the paper and to take a few pictures. She certainly had no idea that by going there she would end up saving a life.
Network outages plague campus
Problems with a core network switch in Feldberg caused several hours of intermittent network outages this morning, according to Chief Information Officer Perry Hanson. In a letter to the community, Hanson blamed a software fault for outages that caused phone and data services to be unavailable for periods between 1:30 a.m. and noon on Thursday.
ITS to get new VoIP phones for students
Students will receive new Cisco phones that offer enhanced capabilities next year. The current 7912 model phone will be replaced with the 7940, a larger, two-line phone that is used in most offices on campus. The move comes after ITS discovered conflicts between the existing phones and the proposed IPTV system, which is likely to replace cable television next fall.
Housing fills up at number 1,404
Three hundred juniors and seniors are on a waitlist for housing. The three day long room selection process came to a close Tuesday evening leaving no on-campus residence unfilled.
UJ rejects two BTV bids to fix amendment
BTV, BEMCo and Waltham Group filed a petition with the Union Judiciary (UJ) late yesterday asking the UJ to modify the amendment that BTV had submitted to the Union. The amendment, which originally was to only take money from the Justice, Archon and WBRS in order to increase BTVs budget erroneously also took several hundred away from BEMCo and Waltham group.
LETTER: Vote to require Fair Trade coffee
Fair Trade Certified products, a market-based approach to sustainable development, are an easy and effective way of alleviating poverty. Next Wednesday and Thursday, all of us will have a chance to vote on a poll to let Aramark and our Student Union know that we care about this issue and want more Fair Trade coffee available on campus.
