Professors want papers, students want letters

Sasha Skarboviychuk  At the end of every semester comes this tedious time when you find out what your semester’s efforts resulted in: grades are released. Usually the registrar sets a date when you should have all your grades on Sage—finally professors have a deadline for a change—usually a week after the last final exam. Which, […]

The tortures of traveling

It’s that wonderful time of year where in a little under three weeks, I spend almost three days in various airports. To make things even better, it’s also the holiday season, and you know what that means? Holiday travelers. And holy sh*t are they annoying.  Don’t get me wrong, traveling sucks in general. As someone […]

More like over-hyped Friday?

It’s that time of year again. You know the time I am talking about: When you get two thousand new emails everyday from various stores reminding you that they are having “crazy” sales. Pre-Black Friday sales, Black Friday sales, Cyber Monday sales and whatever other kind of sales their marketing team came up with this […]

A day in the life of a Brandeis athlete: Jonathan Ayash ’22

This column will highlight a different student-athlete each week, striving to unearth what the hectic life of a Brandeis athlete entails. With this in mind, such a collection of stories will serve as a testament to the hard work, passion and resilience that athletes at Brandeis specifically embody, hopefully working to bridge the gap between […]

In search of a sustainable future

In today’s world, talk about climate change is everywhere. It is an issue that is increasing in its global importance, and is slowly becoming the center of world politics. Although the three R’s (Reduce, Reuse and Recycle) are known by everyone, how many people can tell you what what sustainability is? How many truly understand […]

Be better, BranVan

Sasha Skarboviychuk  We are approaching winter in lovely, warm Massachusetts, and although it is just the end of November, it is already freezing cold outside. You know what’s the last thing I want to do in this weather? Take a twenty minute walk to get to my classes. But wait. Thankfully, Brandeis has Waltham shuttles […]

The Culture of Citizenship

What does it take to be a good citizen? When you hear that question, most people think about voting, however being a good citizen encompasses so much more than that. Learning how to be a good citizen is one of the main themes in “The Culture of Journalism” (JOUR 120) taught by professor Maura Farrelly […]

A call for manners: please pick up

I would like to whole-heartedly thank Brandeis Confessions for being a wonderful source of inspiration and reminding us all about everything that is wrong with Brandeis.  The dining hall is a particular place in desperate need of more consideration of others. I am not even talking about people who push each other during lunch and […]

Riverdale tried but failed

“Riverdale” has always been an unexplainable phenomenon to me. I watched the first two seasons, then decided it was getting too absurd and stopped. Earlier this year, “Riverdale” started its fourth season. According to a previous Hoot article, the first episode honored the death of Luke Perry, one of the actors, and apparently, it was […]

Alexa: please don’t send Google my blood type

In today’s world, it often feels like our social media knows more about us than we know about ourselves. Just Google It (HWL 60A) is a class designed to inform students about the lesser known things about the digital world most people live in. According to the syllabus, the course explores various topics that are […]

A little more consideration?

If you are in almost any club at Brandeis, you have probably organized, or at least helped with organizing an event. So most people are aware of how much work goes into planning and executing one. However, I feel like most people forget about that when attending others’ events. I’m sure that most people would […]

Hoot Halloween Guide

Whether you’re a ghost or goblin, witch or wizard, Halloween is a holiday where everyone gets to put their spookiest face forward. And the best way to do Halloween is to commit 100 percent to every aspect of the holiday, from costumes to candy. There are a lot of ways to get the most out […]

Cloning myself?

It is that exciting time of the year again. You know the time I’m talking about. The one during which you are running around like a chicken with its head cut off because early registration starts tomorrow and you have no idea what you are majoring in, let alone what classes you want to take.  […]

You’ve had millennia to get over it

I’ve never been much of an activist on menstrual issues or an activist at all really. Never really understood why people make such a big deal about something so… common? But with the first National Period Day coming up on Oct. 19, I’ve been seeing a lot of discussion of the topic. A lot of […]

A holistic view on digital culture

With social media becoming a larger part of everyday life in the contemporary world, the sphere of digital anthropology has been growing and becoming more important. Digital Cultures (ANTH 138A) taught by Professor Brian Horton (ANTH) provides students with an overview of the various aspects of digital anthropology.  Digital Anthropology (also known as techno-anthropology, digital […]

Brandeis alumna named Executive Director of Foundation to Combat Anti-Semitism

Robert Kraft, owner of the New England Patriots, named Dr. Rachel Fish, Ph.D. ’13 as Executive Director of the Foundation to Combat Anti-Semitism on Oct. 6, according to a JewishTimes article.  The foundation’s purpose is to tackle rising anti-Semitism on social media and online as well as to campaign against prejudice, according to its website. […]

I am confused. And cold.

It is a little early for April Fools; it is only October after all, so please take this with full seriousness. Only a few weeks ago it was 90 degrees outside, and around 50 degrees inside. OK, maybe it wasn’t 50 degrees, but it was around 70. What is the problem with that, you ask?  […]

The Paradox of College

College is this funny thing. On one hand we are here to study, get a degree, and then go out and get a job. So the most important thing for you to do in college is to study and to get good grades, right? For those who are interested in going to graduate school, that […]

Brandeis ranks in U.S. News top universities, drops from last year’s rankings

Brandeis dropped in the U.S. News and World Report Best National University rankings from a tie for number 35 in 2019 to a tie for number 40 in the 2020 edition. Brandeis also ranked number 76 in best undergraduate teaching, tying with Boston University, Columbia University and others, while it ranked number 34 in the […]

On leaving the nest

I moved to Massachusetts a year and 18 days ago. Fun fact: I still misspell “Massachusetts” every single time. How and why I ended up at Brandeis is a story for another day; all you really need to know is that I am here and ready to reflect on the last year of my life. […]