ARTS PAGE 17
FORUM Commencement controversy 8
CULTURE X
SPORTS Softball loses to Eastern Connecticut 12 THE INDEPENDENT STUDENT NEWSPAPER
the
OF
BRANDEIS UNIVERSITY SINCE 1949
Justice www.theJusticeOnline.com
Volume LXII, Number 25
Waltham, Mass.
Tuesday, April 27, 2010
GREENING THE CAMPUS
ACADEMICS
Univ conference draws controversy ■ The use of the swastika
in advertisements for the event drew criticism from the conservative media. By ALANA ABRAMSON JUSTICE EDITORIAL ASSISTANT
The Center for European and German Studies’ April 28 conference on the rise of right-wing radicalism in the United States and Europe has generated controversy resulting in conservative political commentator Michael Graham’s discussion of the conference on Fox News. The poster advertising the event originally included the depiction of a swastika, and the online description of the event included a “related link” to the Tea Party Express rally at Boston Commons that took place April 14. Last Friday, Graham responded to the incorporation of the Tea Party into the description of extremist groups on Fox Business Channel, asserting that the use of the swastika symbol to promote the event coupled with the link to the Tea Party event, implied that the University, as the host of the conference, was linking the Tea Party with neo-Nazism. Graham wrote on his website, “It will be fascinating to listen to Brandeis faculty members trying to link the Tea Party to political violence when, just months ago, they hosted an actual terrorist bomber,” referring to founder of the Weather Underground Bill Ayers’ visit to campus last spring. Prof. Sabine von Mering (GRALL), the director of the Center for German and European Studies, said in an interview with the Justice that she received a multitude of e-mail responses after
ASHER KRELL/the Justice
EARTH DAY: Ivana Kovacikova ’11 gathers produce from on-campus gardens that were created as a class project last semester.
Green proposal approved ■ Students voted to approve
a constitutional amendment to create the Brandeis Sustainability Fund. By CLARE CHURCHILL-SEDER JUSTICE STAFF WRITER
An amendment passed today to create the Brandeis Sustainability Fund, which would increase the Student Activities Fee by $7.50 per semester, after a referendum received the nec-
essary two-thirds majority of student votes cast. According to the amendment, funds generated by the increase will be allocated to the newly formed Brandeis Sustainability Fund Board. The Board will distribute the approximately $50,000 per year to fund student-led campus sustainability initiatives. The Brandeis Sustainability Fund amendment included four separate amendments. One amendment made the Brandeis Sustainability Fund Board a secured club, a club considered to provide services integral to Brandeis’ mission, according to the
Student Union Constitution. As a secured club, the Board will be guaranteed recognition and formation, but it will not receive Finance Board funds like other secured clubs. Another amendment put into effect is the election of two representatives to the Brandeis Sustainability Fund Board every year. The representatives will serve yearlong terms and be elected during the first round of spring Elections. The Brandeis Sustainability Fund was voted on by 918 students, of
See VOTE, 5 ☛
Michael Graham posted the link on his website, many of which were from members of the Tea Party. Von Mering added that the controversy was completely unexpected because the reference to the Tea Party was only incorporated into one presentation, Chip Berlet’s talk titled “From Tea Parties to Armed Militias.” “Three papers cannot do justice to the many facets of the American right wing, but the idea is to have some point of comparison to the European perspective and discern similarities and differences between right-wing political activity on both continents,” she said. The statement on the conference’s website explained that the swastika logo was removed from the event page providing information about the conference and that the implied link between the Tea Party and the Neo-Nazi movement was unintentional. Senior Vice President for External Communications and Affairs Andrew Gully wrote in an e-mail to the Justice that the logo was removed last Friday because “it created an impression that Brandeis and conference organizers equated a range of organizations, including the Tea Party in the U.S., with right-wing extremist groups in America and Europe and that was not the intent.” Gully wrote that he did not find the controversy over the logo unexpected. “It’s the nature of advocacy news today, so I wasn’t surprised. Issues are boiled down to hot button sound bites and all context is lost,” he wrote. Von Mering said that the use of the swastika was not intended to generate controversy or imply a connection with right-wing radical groups but instead to draw atten-
See CONFERENCE, 5 ☛
COMMENCEMENT
Community reacts to choice of Oren as commencement speaker ■ Students reacted strongly
to the choice of the Israeli ambassador as the keynote speaker at graduation. By MIRANDA NEUBAUER JUSTICE SENIOR WRITER
The Class of 2010, which in its first year at Brandeis lined up to hear President Jimmy Carter and
Harvard professor Alan Dershowitz discuss their divergent opinions about Middle East policy, will have Israeli Ambassador to the United States Michael Oren as the keynote speaker at its commencement ceremony. While the announcement of Oren’s selection as commencement speaker prompted mixed reactions from the graduating class, two seniors began an effort to encourage honorary degree recipient Paul
Simon, the Grammy award-winning singer and songwriter, to sing at the ceremony. The other honorary degree recipients are Judith S. Kaye, the first female chief judge in New York State; award-winning Spanish author Antonio Muñoz Molina; Dennis B. Ross, a member of the National Security Council; and Paul Farmer, a founder of Partners in Health. University President Jehuda Reinharz told the Justice that any-
one could submit a suggestion letter for an honorary degree to the Honorary Degree Committee of the Board of Trustees. Once the Committee decides whether to put a name forward, the suggestion goes before the entire Board of Trustees for consideration. The name then stays on a list of approved names for five years, during which the University president can select the honorary degree recipients and the commencement speaker. Reinharz
said he usually makes his selections a year in advance. “The decision to select any honorary degree recipient is whether this particular person is someone that reflects the values, the mission, the scholarship of the Brandeis community,” he said. “I see this honorary degree ceremony as the last opportunity for students to learn something from these hon-
See OREN, 5☛
Josephs Two
Improvathon amuses
New institute
■ The restaurant owner talks about his successes and Waltham’s evolution.
■ Students kept the comedy going for 24 straight hours in Cholmondeley’s.
■ The Heller School will house an institute on Global Health and Development.
FEATURES 5 For tips or info call Let your voice be heard! Submit letters to the editor online (781) 736-6397 at www.thejusticeonline.com
INDEX
ARTS 19 ARTS SPORTS
13 12
EDITORIAL FEATURES
6 5
OPINION POLICE LOG
7 2
COMMENTARY
NEWS 3 7
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