Brandeis students organize ‘Rally to Defend Dining Workers’

On Friday, Feb. 18, dozens of Brandeis students joined dining workers in a protest for the dining workers’ union rights. The protest, organized by the Brandeis Leftist Union (BLU), was held with three demands regarding the treatment of union workers.  “We will not stand for this. Labor issues are student issues, and it is our […]

It’s a long road. Enjoy it.

The three most common words on any college campus: “what’s your major?” It’s a question that everyone that’s ever gone through an undergraduate education has had to answer countless times. Some folks will have a solid answer, and some have even planned out the rest of their college careers course by course. It’s amazing to […]

Interviews with Brandeis University’s academic leadership: the anthropology department

The chair of Brandeis University’s anthropology department, Professor Charles Golden, sat down with The Brandeis Hoot to shed a little light on the anthropology department, its future and himself. This interview is part of a series of interviews with the chairs of a plethora of different academic departments and programs at Brandeis.   Why did […]

The first Nintendo Direct of 2022

Nintendo’s first “Nintendo Direct” of the year took place this week. As usual, this 40-minute broadcast was full of news on what’s coming to the Nintendo Switch. In this article, I’ll give my thoughts on most of what Nintendo revealed on Feb. 9.   Nintendo revealed that “No Man’s Sky” is coming to the Switch. […]

A reflection on two weeks of remote learning

Having attended online classes during my junior and senior years in high school, and now my first year in college, I’ve developed a fair amount of ill will for them. Zoom classes bring with them many difficulties and distractions, and I’ve always found it difficult to adapt to the new challenge of attending school virtually. […]

Interviews with Brandeis University’s academic leadership: the business program

The chair of Brandeis University’s business program, Professor Daniel Bergstresser, sat down with The Brandeis Hoot to shed a little light on the business program, its future and himself. This interview is the first in a series of interviews with the chairs of a plethora of different academic departments and programs at Brandeis.   Why […]

Adjustments to the spring semester due to COVID-19

If you’re reading this article, chances are you’ve read Brandeis’ recent email detailing the changes to the COVID-19 policy and the upcoming remote return to classes. In case you haven’t, here’s a brief summary.   Brandeis will be holding classes remotely for the first two weeks of the spring semester. A return to in-person instruction […]

Wrath of the machine: Workday is evil

With registration for spring semester classes looming, I’ve been spending a lot of time on Workday to find the classes I’d like to enroll in next semester. The process of choosing classes is stressful enough as it is, as there are seemingly endless requirements to fulfill. But, the software that Brandeis students are being forced […]

An interview with President Ron Liebowitz 

President Ron Liebowitz sat down with the Hoot to help the student body get to know him better. In a half-hour dialogue with The Brandeis Hoot, President Liebowitz gave some insights into himself, Brandeis, and his job.   Why Brandeis? Well for me personally, I had no interest in a second presidency. The first one […]

Think different: MacBooks suck

Breaking news: most students are using MacBooks. A huge majority of college students, nearly three quarters of them, use or would prefer to use a Macbook, according to TechSpot. At the risk of sounding like massive contrarians, MacBooks suck. For a device that claims to do it all, the functionality of Macs is severely lacking […]

Professor Joel Christensen: Collective trauma and going to war

Senior Associate Dean for Faculty Affairs in the School of Arts and Sciences Joel Christensen (CLAS) wrote an article about the relation between the 9/11 attacks and ancient warfare for The Conversation, a news organization with articles by academic experts for the general public. In an interview with The Brandeis Hoot, Christensen expanded on the […]

The case against American cheese

We’ve all heard the old adage: “everything’s better with cheese”. For the most part, I agree with that notion. From burgers to chicken to pasta, most foods really do taste better with cheese on them. That is, of course, unless that cheese is American cheese. American cheese is the scourge of the culinary world, and […]

Test-optional is not far enough, Brandeis should go test-blind

The Scholastic Assessment Test (SAT) and American College Testing (ACT) are disturbingly evil. They’re statistically invalid tests that favor wealthy students, and they’ve been around for far too long. The standardized tests don’t measure a student’s abilities, they measure their socioeconomic background. Brandeis is currently test-optional, but I believe that Brandeis should go test-blind and […]

My thoughts on the Nintendo Direct

Nintendo had their third “Nintendo Direct” of the year last week, and I left with very mixed opinions. There was a lot covered in this 40-minute broadcast, so I’ll focus on the more important reveals.   Nintendo opened the presentation by announcing a DLC pack for “Monster Hunter Rise,” titled the “Sunbreak Expansion Pack.” This […]

Why everyone should build a PC

I built a PC back in September of 2020. Prices for components weren’t massively inflated like they are nowadays, and I was able to build a solid system with the money I saved up from my first job. It took a lot of help from my knowledgeable friends, but I got everything assembled in just […]

NFL Week 1 Recap

To quote Minnesota Vikings beat writer Luke Braun, “It’s your god-given right to be too high on your favorite football team week one, don’t let anyone take that away from you.” Well, Braun was absolutely right about that, and his Vikings fell to the Bengals in overtime. Football is back, and NFL fans everywhere couldn’t […]