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(03/12/12 4:00am)
The Union Senate voted on Sunday to make the ad hoc Dining Services Committee permanent and to create a new Union position to represent vegetarian and vegan students. The Dining Services Committee amendment calls for regular student dining polls, a senate liaison to each dining location and an open line of communication between the committee and Dining Services representatives. This year, under Senator for the Class of 2014 Ricky Rosen, the committee successfully extended the hours of the Provisions on Demand Market and is currently working on addressing hours at Einstein Bros. Bagels. The Senate also created a "Union Representative of vegetarians, vegans, and other similar diets," which can be appointed by the Union president and must be approved by the Union Senate. "This Representative is responsible not only for increasing awareness of the Vegan/Vegetarian [students] that are already on campus, but also acting as a liaison between students with special dietary needs and Dining Services," wrote Rosen in an email to the Justice. "This is a necessary step for Brandeis to take if it hopes to reach the ranks of many other liberal arts schools. I hope the Union representative reaches out to the vegan and vegetarian community to make dining for us the healthy and joyous choice it is outside of Brandeis," wrote vegan Kimi Van Wickle '14 in a message to the Justice, "it's exciting to imagine a Brandeis that welcomes vegetarians and vegans," she added. —Andrew Wingens
(03/05/12 5:00am)
Pippin Ross, a broadcast journalist who had been hired as a professor for the Journalism department this semester, was found intoxicated and unresponsive in her vehicle on campus Feb. 27, according to that day's police log. University Police placed Ross in protective custody and transported Ross to the Waltham Police Department. Dean of Arts and Sciences Susan Birren terminated Ross' employment at the University the next day. Ross' criminal background, according to her blog as well as multiple newspapers, includes numerous convictions for operating a vehicle under the influence, conspiracy to aid an escape from jail and conspiracy in attempting an escape from jail. On Feb. 28, the day after she was placed in protective custody in Waltham, she was arrested for operating under the influence and operating a vehicle after her license was revoked for drunk driving, according to the Barnstable Police Department. The Barnstable Police Department confirmed that Ross has been convicted of OUI more than four times; under Massachusetts law, that many convictions requires a lifetime suspension of the involved individual's driver's license. Conflicting accounts In an interview with the Justice, Ross' husband, Philip Austin, said that he drove Ross to Brandeis on Feb. 27. Austin said that Ross was incorrectly taken into protective custody on Feb. 27 and she should have been offered medical care for a neurological condition instead of taken to the Waltham Police Department. According to the police log, BEMCo was dispatched when officers arrived at Tower Lot after receiving a report that Ross was unresponsive in her car; however, there is no note in the police log of Ross receiving or refusing treatment. "She seems to have some sort of neurological problem that they're trying to diagnose which may have something to do with [why] she was disoriented on Monday," Austin said of Ross, who he says is currently at a hospital in Nantucket undergoing neurological tests and so was unavailable for comment on this article. "I got a phone call from the police department and went up there and rescued her, but she was there for almost six hours in a cell." Austin said that Ross was not intoxicated that day and she was given neither a breathalyzer nor a sobriety test before she was taken into protective custody. According to Director of Public Safety Ed Callahan, unless it is thought that an individual is about to operate or is in the process of operating a car, a breathalyzer test is not necessary. He added that police officers use their discretion based on experience, education and training to determine if an individual is intoxicated. "The [U]niversity stands by the Public Safety report on this incident," wrote Senior Vice President of Communications and External Affairs Andrew Gully in a statement to the Justice. The Waltham Police Department confirmed that if an individual is suspected of being intoxicated but is able to walk, the individual can be taken into protective custody and transported to a police department, hospital or home until he or she is picked up by another person or able to transport him or herself safely. Ross' original account of the afternoon, however, conflicts with both that of the University and her husband. The night the accident took place, Ross sent the students in her course an email that read in part, "At about 11:00 a.m. I had a seemingly benevolent car crash on the Brandeis campus! I wasn't even driving! I got knocked out. Word is—a concussion. It's (strangely) a good plot, we'll talk about it." When asked about the email, Austin was unclear about its content but said that Ross was in a "neurological hallucinating zone" at the time and that she could have "misspoken." Austin said that "there will be an investigation and legal inquiries made about ... the University's handling of basically a professor who was having a medical issue," continuing that no lawyers had yet been in touch with the University legal team. Unknown background Despite the fact that information about Ross' arrests is publicly available through her blog, Google searches and public records, nobody at the University knew about her criminal history before hiring her, according to multiple University officials. Ross, who was hired this semester to take over the Journalism 15A "Writing for Broadcast Media Journalism" course, a requirement for the Journalism minor, was an emergency hire, according to chair of the Journalism program Prof. Maura Jane Farrelly (AMST). Ross filled the position left vacant by Margo Melnicove, who had previously taught the class for 14 years but had to be replaced due to a medical emergency in her family. According to Farrelly, Ross was hired after Farrelly listened to Ross' work on the National Public Radio website and contacted her for two phone interviews over the winter break. Farrelly learned of Ross from Ross' former colleague who currently works for New Hampshire Public Radio; that colleague served as Ross' reference for this position. After the two phone interviews, Farrelly recommended Ross for the job to Birren.Farrelly said that she did not know of Ross' criminal past before she recommended that the University employ Ross. According to an email to the Justice from Senior Vice President for Communications and External Affairs Andrew Gully, "Farrelly was following a standard process for hiring adjuncts" and "was unaware of Ross's criminal record when she was hired." Background checks, formal or informal, are not required for faculty positions at the University, according to an email to the Justice from Birren. The Faculty Handbook states that the requirements for the hiring of a normal faculty members—which include review by a committee of professors—are different for "associate professors of the practice," the title Ross held. Vice President for Human Resources Scot Bemis wrote in an email to the Justice that Massachusetts law forbids the University from asking job applicants about their criminal backgrounds. However, Bemis added that "if asked, a candidate is required to disclose a criminal conviction. The affect [sic] of a conviction depends on the position being filled and the nature of the conviction." Ross was not asked about previous convictions. A Google search for "Pippin Ross" leads to an entry on her blog. The entry explains the content of the manuscript of the book she and her husband are co-writing, Crash Course: A Reporter's Journey Into Prison, which she describes as a "stark, often funny, hopefully intriguing examination of my lost and found years of rape, alcoholism, and eventually incarceration in our nation's oldest women's prison." The Future of JOUR 15A Farrelly explained that she was informed minutes before Ross' class on Feb. 27 that Ross would not be coming to class. Farrelly said she then had decided to fill in for Ross, and was relatively certain that she would be teaching the following week. "At this point, it is not completely clear as to what the instructor situation for the class is going to be," Farrelly said. "My inclination … is that I will take over the class and we will try to bring in a guest lecturer toward the end of the semester." Ross' employment at Brandeis was terminated the day after the on-campus incident, according to an email provided to the Justice by Austin. Ross was informed of the termination in a short email from Birren. Birren issued the decision after a conference with the parties involved, according to Farrelly. In the termination email, Birren wrote to Farrelly that "based on [Ross'] conduct on February 27, 2012," her appointment with the University was terminated effective immediately. Austin said that Ross was not consulted before her termination or contacted beyond Birren's email. According to the Faculty Handbook, "action to suspend or permanently dismiss a member of the faculty is initiated by the Provost." Furthermore, "the faculty member involved must be allowed to present his or her case to the Committee [of Faculty Rights and Responsibilities], in writing as well as in person, and to present pertinent individuals who will speak in his or her behalf." This process, according to the handbook, is followed for all faculty, and adjunct professors are listed in the handbook's definition of "faculty." In an email to the Justice, Birren wrote that "much of the Handbook does not apply to adjuncts because they are short-term, temporary faculty." —Sara Dejene, Rebecca Blady and Andrew Wingens contributed reporting.
(02/13/12 5:00am)
The Senate chartered four clubs and recognized one at its meeting on Sunday. Fourteen senators were present. The improvisational comedy group False Advertising was unanimously chartered. The club, which was already recognized, sought funding for transportation to and from off-campus performances. The club will continue to have a permanent roster of performers, while also holding open improvisation workshops. The Brandeis chapter of Prevent Child Abuse America was also unanimously recognized. The club is affiliated with the national organization of the same name and shares its mission of encouraging awareness and prevention of child abuse. The Rocky Horror Official Performance Ensemble, a group which aims to "bring shadowcast performances ... to the Brandeis community," according to its constitution, was recognized and chartered by a vote of 12 to none with two abstentions. The club hopes to hold at least one free performance each semester. The Senate chartered and recognized the Brandeis Coin Club by a vote of 11 to none with three abstentions. The club will focus on coin collecting and hopes to bring experts on the subject to speak on campus. A Brandeis chapter of the College Masonic Society International was chartered and recognized by a vote of eight to one with five abstentions. The constitution of the Society, whose members are not Freemasons but are interested in ancient and secret societies, was approved with an amendment to disallow permanent membership for former club presidents. The Senate passed one Senate Money Resolution of $50 to buy mats for the Village gym. The meeting then entered executive session. Village Quad Senator Ben Beutel '12 called for a vote to keep the proceedings public, but the proposal failed, as Beutel was the only senator to vote in favor of it. —Tate Herbert and Andrew Wingens
(01/30/12 5:00am)
The student-faculty ratio rose from 9-to-1 to 10-to-1 for fall 2011 from the previous year, according to data provided to the Justice by the University Registrar. While this increase is not drastic, both Senior Vice President for Students and Enrollment Andrew Flagel and Dean of Arts and Sciences Susan Birren have acknowledged the potential impact the increased size of the student body will have both on class sizes and the student-faculty ratio and are planning on taking measures to ensure close student-faculty interaction. The issue of an increase in the potentially enlarged student-faculty ratio stems from the University's decision in 2009 to increase the incoming first-year class in order to raise revenues, an increase that has been most noticeable with this year's first-year class. According to the 2011-2012 Common Data Set, the Class of 2015 consists of approximately 858 students. In an Sept. 12, 2011 email to the Justice, Vice President of Students and Enrollment Keenyn McFarlane wrote that 108 midyears would enroll in January, bringing the size of the Class to 966 students. By contrast, 690 students enrolled for the Class of 2014 in the fall, according to the 2010-2011 Common Data Set. McFarlane wrote in his email that 108 students enrolled in January, for a total of 798 students. Dean of Admissions Mark Spencer explained in a Sept. 12 phone interview with the Justice that the University would maintain this goal of enrolling 855 students for the Class of 2016. According to interviews with both Birren and Flagel, the increased number of students will inevitably impact the number of students in classes, but they do not believe it will do so drastically, and said that close student-faculty interaction will remain a top priority. "While I expect that changes in class sizes will be small, we don't have all of those numbers yet. Our goal of maintaining a close relationship between our students and the faculty will require continuing thought and a commitment to ongoing planning," said Birren in September. The numbers from the CDS seem to corroborate Birren's claim. According to the data, there are 14 classes with over 100 students enrolled, 38 classes with 40 to 49 students, 47 classes with 30 to 39 students, 109 classes with 20 to 29 students, 278 classes with 10 to 19 students and 111 classes with 2 to 9 students. These numbers are largely in line with those of the previous year. University President Frederick Lawrence emphasized in an interview with the Justice that this issue should be prioritized. "If the size of the class gets a little bigger and the size of the faculty gets a little smaller, your student-to-faculty ratio obviously is going to increase. And that's a concern. I would say that if we're talking about something that goes from something in the nines to something in the 10s that's a concern because it's increasing, but it still is better than the vast majority of research universities in the country." he said. Flagel said that this issue would be incorporated into the University's Strategic Planning Committee, which is being led by Provost Steve Goldstein ‘78 over the course of 18 months. "In the midst of [the Strategic Planning Report] you will see a lot of talk about where the institution really ought to be and a very big sense of trajectories. In the long term, one of the questions that we have to wrestle with is how much growth would make sense for Brandeis, given where we want Brandeis to be for faculty and students and what [that means] for space," he said. "In the short term, what we have been looking at is a faculty really thoughtful and considerate in their planning about interactions with students, and one of the things we need to work towards is preserving that atmosphere," he said. Flagel also remarked that there is little physical space for classes to massively expand, presenting another incentive to maintain the low student-faculty ratio. "If we wanted a lot of large classes, we would have built a lot of large classrooms. In order to utilize our space effectively, we would need to maintain class sizes," he explained. In regard to methods of preserving the atmosphere, Birren said that the administration had acknowledged this dynamic as an issue, although they had not been having specific conversations about it yet and said there would be discussions about the different mechanisms that could be used to maintain small classes. "I would say that we are committed to maintaining the Brandeis tradition of meaningful small group interactions between students and faculty and that there are many scenarios for making sure that happens including providing opportunities for students to take small classes. We are in the early stages of assessing the impact of having more students on campus and in designing mechanisms to make sure that all students can get to know their professors," she said. Neither Flagel nor Birren said that they had spoken with professors about this particular topic. —Andrew Wingens contributed reporting.
(01/23/12 5:00am)
Thelma Linsey, widow of former Brandeis Trustee Joseph Linsey, donated $1 million to "support the programs and operations of the Joseph M. Linsey Sports Center, including the pool" Jan. 19, according to David Nathan, director of development communications. "In a conversation I had with Mrs. Linsey today, she mentioned how proud Mr. Linsey would be to see what Brandeis has become today," wrote Nathan in an email to the Justice. Director of Athletics Sheryl Sousa '90 wrote in an email to the Justice that she values Linsey's most recent gift. "We have always appreciated the generosity of the Linsey family. The late Joe Linsey, who is a member of the Brandeis Athletic Hall of Fame, was a huge supporter of our athletics program and his wife Mrs. Thelma Linsey continues to be as well," wrote Sousa. Nathan wrote that Senior Vice President for Institutional Advancement Nancy Winship, P '10, P '12 regularly meets with Linsey. University President Frederick Lawrence met with Linsey in early January to discuss the million-dollar gift, wrote Nathan. Joseph and Thelma Linsey have been longtime supporters of Brandeis and funded the initial construction of the pool. The recently completed $3.5 million renovation of the pool was funded separately, through a $10-million capital lease finance agreement, wrote Senior Vice President for Finance and Chief Financial Officer Frances Drolette in an email to the Justice in April 2011. The term for the lease is seven years with an annual interest expense of about $150,000 per year. The annual principal payments on the lease are $1.3 million and it is funded through the capital budget, according to Drolette. —Andrew Wingens
(12/22/11 5:00am)
Dean of the Graduate School of Library and Information Science at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign John Unsworth will be the next vice provost for Library and Technology Services and the chief information officer, according to Provost Steve Goldstein '78 in a Dec. 21 email to the Brandeis community. "I am delighted that John has accepted the position," wrote Goldstein in an email to the Justice. "Technology and the library are at the center of the university and John's leadership will be central to chart the best course for Brandeis." Unsworth will be replacing Perry Hanson, who announced his retirement last April. Unsworth was selected by a search committee chaired by Vice President for Planning and Institutional Research Dan Feldman and Prof. Ann Koloski-Ostrow (CLAS). In an interview with the Justice, Unsworth, who will begin work at his new position mid-February, said that addressing "infrastructure issues" will be one of his priorities as vice provost and CIO. According to him, "challenges" like deferred maintenance to the library are not handled, then there are collections that are potentially "at risk." Unsworth also said that the University's feature of combining library and information technology services under the LTS umbrella, as opposed to keeping them as separate entities, is "somewhat unusual" and presents itself as "both an opportunity and a challenge." "What particularly attracted me to this job at Brandeis is that that combination, I think, can work really well together," he said, "and when it does, [it] can provide really interesting work opportunities for staff [and] really interesting support opportunities for faculty and students." Decisions regarding service and information outsourcing will also be addressed, according to Unsworth, particularly handing both control and cost-effectiveness of information outsourcing, publishing articles by researchers. In addition, Unsworth discussed the digitization of research data that encourages researchers to use computational methods for their analyses. "That, I think, will be one of the challenges for a combined library/IT organization in the future," said Unsworth. According to Goldstein, Unsworth will be "responsible for the university libraries, technology infrastructure, administrative systems, academic and instructional technology, and user support in a period of transformational change in all these arenas." Hanson noted in an interview with the Justice that Unworth's role at the University of Illinois will be a major advantage to Unsworth as he begins at Brandeis, saying, "There's a huge plus in having most recently been dean of the number-one library school in the country because he knows where library science is going, what it's going to be, and I think that's huge, because one of the hardest things going on today in higher ed is the role of the library." "John brings a rare combination of experience and insight into both the library and technology fields," wrote Goldstein. "Given we have a merged library and technology organization—considered the cutting-edge approach—John's skills are an ideal fit." Unsworth is a 1981 graduate from Amherst College, earned an M.A. in English from Boston University in 1982 and a Ph.D. in English from the University of Virginia in 1988. When asked what advice he had for Unsworth, Hanson, who served as vice provost for LTS and CIO for 12 years, said, "Appreciate the strength of the LTS staff, how good they are, how funny they are, because they're really remarkable." —Andrew Wingens and Emily Kraus contributed reporting.
(12/05/11 5:00am)
Emory University Professor Emerita Frances Smith Foster accepted the Brandeis-funded Joseph B. and Toby Gittler Prize last Tuesday before sharing her own excerpts from her personal life as well as insights from her research about African-American literature and the lives of slaves in the antebellum period.
(12/05/11 5:00am)
The trial runs of extended weekend hours at the Provisions on Demand Market in the Usdan Student Center were completed on Saturday, Nov. 19, and dining services has compiled transaction statistics from the extra hours.
(11/14/11 5:00am)
Waltham Mayor Jeanette McCarthy was reelected to a third term in office last week, defeating her 22-year-old opponent Andrew Wirth in a landslide victory. Five incumbents retained seats as councilors-at-large, making Joe Vizard the only new councilor-at-large. John Graceffa and Edmund Tarallo were elected as new members of the School Committee. Incumbent Margaret Donnelly also won a seat. Seven ward councilors were reelected in unopposed races while Gary Marchese and Stephen Rourke retained their roles as Ward Five councilor and Ward Eight councilor, respectively. —Andrew Wingens
(11/14/11 5:00am)
The University installed a two-rail fence around Ziv Quad last week to prevent cars from driving on the lawns, according to Senior Vice President for Administration Mark Collins.
(11/07/11 5:00am)
Waltham voters go to the polls today to elect the next mayor of Waltham, nine ward councilors, six councilors at large and three members to sit on the school committee. Two-term Mayor Jeannette McCarthy is running against Andrew Wirth, a 22 year-old MassBay Community College student. Despite the fact that Brandeis is located in Waltham, there have been no movements on-campus to raise awareness and most students interviewed were unaware that city elections would be taking place today. None interviewed could name the candidates. McCarthy's two major projects that she would like to complete in a third term as mayor would likely not have direct effects on the insulated Brandeis community. The projects entail developing and properly planning the use of the 200-acre state-owned Fernald School property and the privately owned 119-acre former Polaroid property off Main Street, according to McCarthy. Part of the plan to develop the Polaroid property is to bring diverse retail stores, restaurants and office buildings. "We are excited about that but we are also cognizant of the traffic," she said. This plan is currently in its first phases of implementation. McCarthy said the relationship between Brandeis and the City of Waltham is "good," citing the Waltham Group as a positive influence, but has room to improve. "I think, overall, it's a better relationship [than it was] in the '60s and '70s." McCarthy suggested bringing more Brandeis students into Waltham schools. "I think there should be more with regard to the science programs, I think that bringing the strength of the Brandeis academics to the day-to-day mentoring, I would like to see more programs like that," she said. McCarthy also said that Brandeis does not "give as much money to the City of Waltham as Bentley does." McCarthy's competitor, Andrew Wirth, could not be reached for comment by press time. Wirth—who is aspiring to gain a place in the Guinness Book of World Records by spinning the book on his finger for over 40 minutes—told the Waltham News Tribune in August that he would like to focus on improving the roads and sidewalks. Seven ward councilor incumbents are running unopposed, according to the sample ballot. Nine individuals are running for six open councilor at large positions and six people are running for three open seats on the school committee. Polls are open today from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. —Andrew Wingens
(10/31/11 4:00am)
Waltham residents will vote next Tuesday for the next Mayor of Waltham, nine ward councilors, six councilors at large and three members to sit on the school committee.
(10/25/11 4:00am)
Students were elected to fill three seats on the Student Judiciary, as well as three seats in the Student Union Senate and the post of senior representative to the Alumni Association in yesterday's Union elections, according to an email to the Justice from Union Secretary Todd Kirkland '13.
(10/11/11 4:00am)
Student Union Treasurer Dan Lee '12 reported to the Union Senate on the recent Finance Board fall marathon allocations. According to Lee, F-Board allocated 50.3 percent of requested funds on average. "I thought that was pretty good," he said. According to Lee, the Senate is allocated a combined $22,500 for the fall and spring semesters. "Another important thing with clubs, one of the biggest problems now is that … it's easy for clubs to be created. I feel like you guys just gave an OK for … Global Medical Brigades. I don't know, there was like a rumor where someone cried so you guys gave them an OK because of that. … I just heard that around campus," said Lee. "It's insulting to suggest that the reason we allowed a club to go through is because a girl was crying. That's completely untrue," said Senator for the Class of 2012 Missy Skolnik. Student Union President Herbie Rosen '12 also reported to the Senate. Rosen said he will be going this Friday with students from Students for Environmental Action and senators to visit the Sid Wainer & Son produce company and investigate sustainable, or "real" food at Brandeis. Executive Senator Shekeyla Caldwell '14 initially proposed a Senate Money Resolution for refreshments at Senate meetings, totaling up to $100 for the semester. Caldwell retracted the SMR before it was presented. Union Vice President Gloria Park '13 also announced the chairs of senate committees. Senator at Large Evyn Rabinowitz '12 will chair the diversity committee, Skolnik the services committee, Village Quad Senator Ben Beutel '12 the social justice committee, Rosby Kome-Mensah '14 the ways and means committee, Caldwell the club support committee and Boris Osipov '13 the outreach committee. Eighteen senators were present at the meeting. —Andrew Wingens
(10/11/11 4:00am)
The University has begun to search in earnest for a new director of the Rose Art Museum following a settlement of the Rose lawsuit this summer, Director of the Office of the Arts Scott Edmiston announced at the faculty meeting last Thursday. The Rose has not had an official director since 2009, when the University did not renew former Director Michael Rush's contract. Since Rush's exit, Director of Operations Roy Dawes has filled the role. Edmiston, who is also the chair of the search committee, explained at the faculty meeting that former Provost Marty Krauss asked him to chair the committee for a new director in 2010 but that the committee's "hands were tied" until final decisions were made regarding sales of the artwork. In January 2009, in the midst of the University's financial crisis, then-University President Jehuda Reinharz and the Board of Trustees voted to close the museum and sell all artwork. This decision induced a controversial reaction that ultimately resulted in a lawsuit filed by Meryl Rose, Jonathan Lee, Lois Foster and Gerald Fineberg, all members of the Rose Board of Overseers. University President Frederick Lawrence and the plaintiffs settled the lawsuit this summer with the stipulations that the museum will remain open to the public; be professionally staffed and committed to "collecting, preserving, studying and exhibiting fine art;" hire a director with expertise in modern and contemporary art; and that the University will have no plans or intent to sell of any of the artwork, according to the settlement agreement. "Happily, President Lawrence brought that chapter to a close last summer, and we began our search," Edmiston said at the meeting. The goal of the search is to "restore the arts to a place of confidence with the University's identity," said Edmiston. "I see the search as being not just another staff hire. I believe it is a symbolic step forward … [in] reclaiming our place as a beacon for art and culture," he told the faculty. According to BrandeisNOW, the committee is composed of 13 members, including two students, Meryl Feinstein '12 and Rebecca Ulm '11; a graduate student in Studio Art; three staff members; Vice President for Planning and Institutional Research Daniel Feldman; Vice Provost for Academic Affairs Michaele Whelan; Amy Silberstein of the Office of Development and Alumni Relations; three faculty members: Prof. Jonathan Unglaub (FA); Prof. Susan Lichtman (FA); John Lisman (BIOL); and Robin Feuer Miller, the Edytha Macy Gross Professor of Humanities. Stephen J. Reiner '61, a member of the board of trustees and chairman of the board of overseers, and Lois Foster, a member of the Rose Board of Overseers, are also serving on the committee, as is Jock Reynolds, an artist and the Henry J. Heinz II Director of the Yale University Art Gallery. The committee also has an advisory board consisting of alumni prominent in the arts world, including Gary Tinterow '76, curator of 19th-century, modern and contemporary art at the Metropolitan Museum of Art; Kim Rorschach '78, director of the Nasher Museum of Art at Duke University; and Adam Weinberg '77, director of the Whitney Museum of American Art. —Andrew Wingens contributed reporting.
(09/27/11 4:00am)
The Brandeis Orthodox Organization hosted a celebratory event last Thursday in the Beit Midrash, located in the basement of Shapiro Residence Hall, to showcase renovations completed over the summer. The Beit Midrash is an area for Judaic study, specializing in the practice of havruta, or learning in pairs, according to the Brandeis Beit Midrash Research Project's website. These renovations, according to Beit Midrash Coordinator Yael Marks '14 in an interview with the Justice, will attract more students to the Beit Midrash to study Judaism, Jewish life and the Torah. According to BOO President Daniel Kasdan '13, the tables and chairs were replaced, in addition to the flooring, which is no longer carpet. Kasdan said this will make cleaning and maintaining the area easier. In addition, Kasdan said the walls were painted over and the bookshelves were replaced with shelves similar to the ones used in the library, making them sturdier than before. Kasdan said that the changes will improve the atmosphere of the Beit Midrash and make it more inviting than it had been in the past. "I guess you could call the Beit Midrash dilapidated last year," said Kasdan. "The shelves were falling over. The tables were in a mess. The chairs—when they were existent—were dirty and disgusting. The floor had stains all over it. The lighting was not working. The paint on the walls was cracked. It was a total mess, but thanks to these renovations, [the Beit Midrash] is looking a lot better right now." According to Marks, the idea to renovate the Beit Midrash originated from previous BOO President Jacob Agi '12. However, according to Kasdan, Agi's term had ended before any action was taken, so he and Marks continued Agi's initiative. Kasdan approached Executive Director of Hillel at Brandeis Larry Sternberg in this spring about renovating the Beit Midrash, according to Sternberg. Sternberg said he then contacted Senior Vice President of Administration Mark Collins to examine the Beit Midrash, leading to a plan to begin renovations in early summer. The renovations took place over the summer so that the Beit Midrash would be ready for students' return in the fall, said Sternberg. Sternberg, Marks and Kasdan each praised the renovations and said that the updates would encourage more attendance and use of the Beit Midrash. "The University [has] done a great job in making sure Brandeis' Beit Midrash is open, bright and accessible to everybody," said Sternberg, who also noted BOO members' contribution, preparing the area for both renovation and the return of students in the fall. "I think by giving the BOO community a more comfortable and aesthetically pleasing place to study, it promotes an atmosphere of studying Torah," said Kasdan. "It promotes an atmosphere of wanting to come in there and just sit for a while," he continued. "Because of the way it had been before, people had been turned off by the physical deficiencies of the room, but now it's much more pleasant to be in there." —Andrew Wingens contributed reporting.
(09/27/11 4:00am)
Last Wednesday, Hillel at Brandeis sponsored the "Talk Israel Initiative" on the Great Lawn, an event aimed at encouraging discussion about the Middle East among university students.
(09/27/11 4:00am)
At the first Senate meeting following the fall 2011 Student Union elections, 16 new senators, two associate justices and a Finance Board minority representative were sworn in. The senate also approved Student Union President Herbie Rosen's '12 appointments of Joshua Roseman '12 to the position of director of the Office of Student Rights and Advocacy and Andrea Ortega '13 and Anthony Nguyen '14 to be co-directors of Communications. Ortega served in that position last year, and Nguyen also serves as an assistant treasurer. The Global Medical Brigades organization approached the senate requesting to become a chartered club. "Global Medical Brigades is a secular, international student-operated volunteer organization whose mission is to provide sustained health care to underserved communities throughout the world. ... Our current emphasis is to help the impoverished villages of Honduras in collaboration with one of their country's most highly regarded nonprofits, Sociedad Amigos de los Ninos," according to the club's constitution. The senate held a lengthy discussion about the club and asked several questions regarding the club's funding and purpose. Some senators suggested that GMB should not be recognized or chartered because it has a duality of purpose, meaning another club on campus may already serve a similar function. Ultimately, the senate decided to hold two discrete votes. One vote was held for the recognition of GMB and one to charter GMB. Chartered clubs can request financial assistance from F-Board, while recognized clubs cannot. One senator recused herself from the vote because she serves on the executive board of GMB. The senate voted to recognize GMB by a vote of 18 to 1. The senate then voted not to charter the club by a vote of 9 to 6 with four abstentions. However, a senator then motioned to revote because some senators were unclear as to what they were voting on. The senate voted once again regarding the charter of the club, this time approving the charter by a vote of 13 to 4 with two abstentions. Senators nominated Senators-at-Large Shekeyla Caldwell '14 and Evyn Rabinowitz '12 and Senator for the Class of 2012 Missy Skolnik for the position of executive senator. The three nominated senators will make presentations next week and then the senate will vote for the next executive senator. The executive senator serves as the president pro-tempore of the senate as well as the official liaison between the senate and the executive office of the Union. —Andrew Wingens
(09/27/11 4:00am)
Student Union election results appear to incorrectly reflect the actual student vote, a Justice examination of 2010 and 2011 election data has revealed. The issue stems from a conflict between two major aspects of Union elections. These two aspects are the Union's constitutional election procedures and its instant runoff voting system. The result of this conflict is a vote-tallying system that distributes student votes to candidates in a way that is likely inconsistent with voters' intentions. The ensuing problem is particularly significant in multi-position elections, such as those for seats in the Student Judiciary. It is highly plausible that two additional candidates for the judiciary in last Thursday's election—John Fonte '12 and Claire Sinai '15—would have been declared winners had the instant runoff system operated true to its original intent. Fonte and Sinai received the most votes in the initial round of voting, and Gali Gordon '15, the candidate who won the judiciary seat, came in third. According to article IX of the Union constitution, "If abstain receives the greatest number of votes during a final election, than [sic] there will be a vacancy in the office until the next election." The apparent problem arises because candidates who receive the most votes in initial voting calculations may be systematically prevented from defeating "abstain" in a given election. This is due to the fact that Union's rules concerning the "abstain" option are not accounted for in the calculations of the Union's instant runoff system. In a phone interview with the Justice, Gregory Dennis, a board member of Citizens for Voter Choice, a Massachusetts organization that promotes instant runoff voting and proportional representation, who was briefed on the election data for the latest judiciary election, said "The tally, the tabulation, was right, but the interpretation was wrong." "There were four candidates in this race that won. Three of them were people, and the fourth was ‘abstain,'" said Dennis, who holds a Ph.D. from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in computer science and has been involved with voting technology processes. In 2010, Dennis consulted with Sahar Massachi '11 MA '12 in order to advise the Constitutional Review Committee, which at the time was considering the implementation of the voting system currently in use. The Union began conducting instant runoff elections last fall, in line with a constitutional amendment approved by the student body in spring 2010. In instant runoff elections, voters rank their choices for a given position. For instance, in last Thursday's election to fill the four available seats on the Judiciary, students were presented with nine candidates and asked to rank them in an order that reflected their preferences. After the polls close, the system calculates a threshold for victory—the number of votes required for a given candidate to win. This threshold is calculated by taking the number of voters in that election—excluding voters who chose "abstain"—and dividing that figure by the sum of one plus of the number of open positions in the election. Then the system starts calculating the winners. First, the system declares any candidates whose votes meet or exceed the threshold as winners. For the judiciary election, those candidates were Fonte and Sinai. Next, the system reallocates winners' excess votes in a trickle-down process. To do this, the system subtracts all votes beyond the threshold from the first position candidate and distributes them proportionately among the second-choice candidates of that winner's voters. From then on, the system considers these winners as removed from the process and prevents them from receiving any further votes from redistribution. For the judiciary election, this meant that Fonte's surplus votes were distributed proportionately according to his voter's second choices. Fonte was then prevented from benefiting from further vote distribution. This process continues until the system finishes distributing the surplus votes of all candidates whose votes met or exceeded the threshold. For the judiciary vote, because there were only two candidates who met the standard, this meant that Sinai's surplus votes were then distributed by the same process as Fonte's. Sinai was then prevented from benefiting from further vote distribution, and that part of the process was complete. The system also reallocates the votes of candidates with the fewest votes in a trickle-up process. One by one, the system works its way up from the bottom starting with candidates who received the fewest number of votes, eliminates them and distributes their votes proportionately among the second-choice candidates of their voters. The system completes this process once there are no more candidates that could receive further votes. For the judiciary election, the system completed the process once the vote count of Gordon exceeded the threshold, making him a winner. Gordon, however, was in third place after the initial tally, which incidentally allowed him—unlike Fonte and Sinai—to acquire a number of votes greater than that received by "abstain." Because the system had excluded Fonte and Sinai from receiving any further votes—having already considered them winners—their initial leads in the vote count actually worked against them, preventing them from acquiring the votes necessary to beat "abstain" and win. In an interview with the Justice, Union President Herbie Rosen '12 said, "Honestly, this is something our union came to inherit. And it's things like this that get brought to our attention that we will move to correct and fix. Sorry for the confusion and inconvenience, but you can expect better from us in the future when we come up with as a solution." In a phone interview with the Justice, Fonte, a candidate for the judiciary who may have been affected by these election issues, stated that, although he was unwilling to discredit the Union's results, "If the results are false, then to be honest that's more of a problem on the Union's part. … I would still run again. According to the numbers I saw, ... I had a good running chance." Sinai, another candidate for the judiciary who may have been affected by these issues, wrote in an email to the Justice, "The situation is unfortunate for both Fonte and myself … I was really looking forward to serving Brandeis as a member of the Judiciary. " In a phone interview with the Justice, Rob Richie, executive director of Fair Vote, a national organization focused on election reform, who was briefed on the election data for the latest judiciary election said, "[The result of last week's judiciary election] sounds like that was a misinterpretation of the rules, because these other candidates weren't even in the position to get votes anymore, … so it sounds like someone misprogrammed the system." In 2010, Richie consulted with Massachi in order to advise the Constitutional Review Committee. Concerning the way votes were tabulated for the judiciary positions, Richie said, "That's nutty. That doesn't make any sense to then say that they lost, because they weren't able to win." Regarding the victory of "abstain" over several candidates in the judiciary election, Dennis, an expert on election processes said, "Just over 20 percent of [voters] didn't want anyone [to be elected]. ... I don't think those 20 percent of people should get basically 75 percent of the say, which was the result." —Andrew Wingens and Emily Kraus contributed reporting. Clarification: Sinai originally misunderstood the situation when first presented to her. This article has been updated to reflect her reaction with a full understanding of the situation.
(09/20/11 4:00am)
A new "skip" option will be added to the voting process for the upcoming Student Union elections on Thursday, according to a Student Union press release. "This option was added for students to express their right not to vote without penalizing the candidates," according to the press release. Voters on Thursday will be able to choose "skip" and proceed to the next ballot without penalizing the candidates who are skipped. "With this new addition, students can skip and move on to the next ballot if they do not know the candidate, do not feel comfortable voting, or if they wish to exercise their right not to vote," according to the release. The abstain option, however, will remain on the ballot. "Selection of the ‘Abstain' option will continue to work against a candidate, and the position will remain vacant if ‘Abstain' gets the most votes. ‘Abstain' is an option intended for those who are uncomfortable with all candidates for a position," according to the press release. The decision comes after only four senators were elected in second-round spring elections last semester, due at least in part to the fact that more students chose the "abstain" option rather than selecting a candidate. According to the press release, "This initiative was undertaken in response to problems with our voting system, confusion, constructive criticism by our peers, and our own frustrations." Positions left unfilled last semester were one senator for the Class of 2012, two senators for the Class of 2013, the racial minority senator and Brandeis Sustainability Fund Board representative positions, as well as additional seats on the Student Judiciary, according to an email from Student Union Secretary Todd Kirkland '13. Regarding the constitutionality of adding "skip" to the ballot, the press release stated, "We believe this to be within the Secretary's constitutional power as Chief Elections Commissioner to add the skip option to the ballot. The Constitution does not specify that any additional ballot selections cannot be added." —Andrew Wingens
