Day: October 28, 2005

This month was made for you and me

Hispanic Heritage Month began on September 15 as a tribute to the spectacular achievements made by Hispanic Americans throughout history. Because of the impact that Hispanic Americans have made on the United States, we can all share in celebrating a piece of ourselves in honoring their success. As Americans, our history is saturated with the contributions of Hispanic Americans from various countries around the world. Every aspect of our life, from entertainment to medicine to our most fundamental human rights, has drastically changed for the better because of these contributions.

Diabetic baboons and human reproduction

Somebody stopped me in Sherman the other day. (No, not THAT day. The OTHER one.) He asked me the following question. Is it better to ask out a girl while lying on her bed without any clothing, or while lying on her bed without any clothing while covered in rose petals? Somebody actually asked me this question, to which I responded with the obvious answer, which is that if you ask out a girl using either of those two methods, youll definitely end up on a lovely date, though it will probably be with a large hairy-backed man in a prison bathroom.

101 Reasons For Pho

Okay, so its not really 101 reasons. Its actually 1.01. Because thats how much your entire meal will cost. (Beat that, Usdan). Okay, so maybe I exaggerated a little. But its not too far off the mark.

Have you ever heard a Banshee shriek?

If you had told me a couple years ago that I would be playing ultimate frisbee when I got to college, I would have told you that you were crazy. Everybody knows that ultimate frisbee isnt really a sport. Ive been on soccer, basketball, softball, and volleyball teams for as long as I can remember. Those are real sports, requiring skill, stamina, and accuracy. Theres strategy in those sports. Frisbee doesnt have any of that. When I thought of frisbee, I saw images of people casually tossing a disc around in the park.
Even now Im not so sure how I ended up on the team. I remember walking around with my friend Keren during the Activities Fair trying to figure out what to join. As we were looking at the different clubs we came across Katie, who was standing behind the Banshee Ultimate Frisbee table telling us we should sign up because she got a dollar for every name on the list. Keren suggested we both sign up and try it out together;

her Orientation Leader was on the guys Tron team and said it was fun. When it came time for the first practice she couldnt make it and she said I should go and tell her what its like. Now its nearly two months later;

shes never stepped foot on the field and I am still on the team.

Editorial

To the Editor:
Kevin Montgomery is absolutely correct in his contention that genocide has political and economic dimensions. However, he would be completely incorrect to argue that STAND on the national and local level has failed to understand and respond to the economics of genocide. Specifically, STAND has openly advocated that schools pursue divestment campaigns that seek to remove university endowment holdings from companies doing business in Sudan. And before Mr. Montgomery begins to criticize these campaigns, he would be wise to study the case of Sudanese divestment in 2001.

iBreast

A few days ago, a friend directed me to an article entitled Musical Breast Implants on www.ananova.com. Now, I have to admit I wasnt too keen on the idea of having an mp3 player implanted in my breasts. First of all, that means surgery. On my breasts. OUCH. I feel like surgery should be one of those things people avoid, unless, of course, they need it to survive. And other than being musically challenged, my breasts are really not in need of enhancement.

Friday night as seen through eyes of a male American college student.

When I finished reading In the Eye of the Typical College Guy, It All Boils Down to Sex in The Justice, I was a bit disturbed and very confused. I wasnt sure what part bothered me the most: That it depicted women (or shall I say females, as theyre so respectfully referred to in the article) as mindless objects that exist for the sole purpose of giving men something to hunt for, the awful blanket judgment of college guys, or the omission of gay, bisexual, or transgender people, who fit into neither of the pieces absurd black and white categories. What was a piece with such an archaic, flawed, and offensive view of gender roles doing in a Brandeis newspaper? At first I thought it was written as a joke, some sort of blatant satire that had flown completely over my head. I read it again. Nothing. No hint of sarcasm, no ironic ending, nothing remotely funny. Just a bunch of stereotypical mumbo jumbo all rolled into one very vague and unoriginal article.

Yellow Bikes for Deis

Approximately fourteen years ago the Cuban government was faced with a transportation crisis: They had lost 80% of their oil supply with the collapse of the Soviet-bloc. Castro saw bicycles as the solution and promptly ordered over one million bikes from China. The program became a success overnight;

Havanas streets quickly became flooded with bikes, the health of the island improved dramatically, and Cuba escaped what could have been an economic collapse. While the situation today in America is not as dire was it was in Cuba years ago, the United States is faced with what is being called a gas crisis thanks to a heavy reliance on polluting vehicles for transportation. Brandeis should adopt about a bike program that will save the school money, improve the environment, strengthen the Brandeis community, and appease the criticisms from the student body regarding the long walk across campus.

Abdullah advisor speaks to The Hoot about joining NEJS faculty

Come fall of 2006, Brandeis will welcome Dr. Joseph Lumbard into the Near Eastern and Judaic Studies department as a fulltime professor of Islamic Studies. Dr. Lumbard comes to the Brandeis community from the administration of King Abdullah of Jordan, where he currently serves as the advisor on interfaith affairs to the king.

Linguistics proposal passes

The Undergraduate Curriculum Committee (UCC) has provisionally approved a recent proposal for the restructuring of the undergraduate Linguistics major entitled Language and Linguistics.

Swim team staying afloat

Last Saturday the annual Michael Zarrilli Memorial Meet took place at Brandeis. The mens swim team competed against Clark University and Gordon College in ten relays and two diving events. For the first time in a few years, Brandeis was not the victor. Clark took the meet with 175 points, Brandeis finished second with 168, and Gordon finished third with 40.

Wsoccer on home stretch

After a tough stretch of losses against nationally ranked opponents, the Brandeis womens soccer team finally managed to put another win onto their record with a 1-0 victory over St. Josephs College last Saturday. The win lifts the Judges over the .500 mark, (7-6-1, 1-3-0 UAA) and gives them a small measure of momentum as they head into the final three games of the season. Remaining on the schedule are home games against UAA rivals Washington University, University of Chicago, and New York University. The Judges have not had much luck within their conference this year, coming away with just one win in four matches.

Hockeys Future On Ice

The Brandeis club hockey team is relatively unknown, despite their incredible late-season run of success last year. After being crowned NESHL league champions last season, the Judges have kept a solid core of the team, including Captains Josh Levine 06, David Sagaser 07, and Rob Friedman 05.

NFL Week 7 recap

It was yet another exciting week in the NFL with many close games among some of the top teams. The New York Giants narrowly upset the Broncos 24-23 with a last second Eli Manning touchdown pass to receiver Amani Toomer. The Giants underdog victory improves their record to 4-2, good for first place in the NFC East.

Wvolleyball spiked in Amherst

Two weeks ago, Brandeis had a difficult tournament in St. Louis and suffered a crushing home loss to Tufts. Heading into the Amherst hall of fame tournament, the goal of the Judges was to put St. Louis behind them and cut down on the errors and communication issues. One out of three isnt bad.

MSoccer cant swallow pride

The mens soccer team suffered a devastating 4-2 road loss to Springfield College, leaving them on the outside looking in for a spot in the ECAC tournament. Forward Matt Aucoin 07 led the Springfield Pride with a goal and an assist to help ensure the victory. Brandeis has gone winless in its last six games to lower their record 6-7-1.

NBA season preview

Last season the NBA featured a full-fledged brawl, a championship going to the Spurs, and the MVP going to a Canadian, Steve Nash, for the first time. The off-season lacked strong free agent moves, but involved the movement of several major coaches and a thirteen man trade. Despite major moves, many teams are revamped and ready for action.

The week in sports

Football
Ahman Green will miss the rest of the season with a torn thigh tendon.
Long-time New York Giants Co-Owner Wellington Mara died earlier this week of cancer. Mara had been involved with the organization since he was 9, when his father bought the team. Five years later, Mara and his brother Jack became co-owners of the team. While Jack relinquished his share to his son, who then sold his share in 1991 to Robert Tisch, Wellington has been co-owner since he was 14.