Volume 9 Number 3
www.thebrandeishoot.com
Editorial
The Hoot counters Justice editorial
I
n response to a Justice editorial published Tuesday titled “Recognize Greek life,” we strongly urge the administration to uphold the value of equal opportunity that defines Brandeis University and reject the idea of recognizing
Brandeis University’s Community Newspaper • Waltham, Mass.
Don’t recognize Greek life
fraternities and sororities. The Justice correctly noted that participation in off-campus fraternities at Brandeis has increased dramatically during the past five years with the launching of new chapters and doubling of membership rates in existing ones. Students searching first and foremost for a social life and college experience enhanced by Greek life do not come to Brandeis. They never
have and they never will. We have never been that type of university, and we never will be. Clearly, Greek life exists at Brandeis, and the inability of Greek organizations to sponsor charity events places both students and administrators in awkward positions. Yet simply because Greek life exists does not mean the solution is to recognize it. While Greek organizations do em-
brace community values of brotherhood, sisterhood and philanthropy, they also promote social hierarchy and exclusion. University regulation cannot solve the idea of students pledging for acceptance by their peers based on criteria unrelated to merit. If the university regulated fraternities and sororities, it would be unable to prevent the inevitable social discrimination that would occur, even
February 3, 2012
if only against one student each year. The university’s responsibility is to serve the interests of all its students. Endorsing Greek organizations tied to a legacy of hazing and social inequality violates the principles that built Brandeis University in 1948 and continue to empower it today. What separates Brandeis from other universities is that it offers See EDITORIAL, page 15
Answers elusive in frustrating, arbitrary class caps By Aly Schuman
Special to the Hoot
used bookstore Protesters set up camp in downtown Boston.
photo by alex schneider/the hoot
In fundraising capital, a purpose-driven bookstore By Jon Ostrowsky and Alex Schneider Editors
BOCA RATON, Fla. – Palm trees line the streets of wealth here but at the edge of a nondescript strip mall is a bookstore bearing Brandeis University’s name. Visitors won’t find typical Boca shopping of $5 Starbucks lattes
or Elizabeth Arden pocketbooks. Instead, hidden in this Jewish retirement capital, John Grishams, Clinton biographies and Shakespeare plays surprise with their discounted $1 price tag. The facade could easily mislead. Now, more than 15 years old, the used bookstore has made a real contribution recently, raising an average of $25,000 per year for the university.
Tents gone, students turn to Occupy 2.0 By Gilda Di Carli
Special to the Hoot
As students and faculty strolled through Harvard Yard carrying cups of Starbucks coffee Tuesday afternoon, gone were the rallying cries to end corporate greed that had rung through campus and the tent donated by MIT students to support Occupy Harvard. The student organizers of the movement, however, claim this intermittent period will enable them to move forward with Occupy 2.0, even at an elite Ivy League institution such as Harvard. One of the movement’s challenges was addressing skepticism about Harvard’s role in criticizing the 1 percent. “If you have so many issues with the 1 percent, why did you come to Harvard?” Claire McLaughlin ’15 asked.
Other students disagreed, explaining that Harvard’s student body includes students from a wide range of economic backgrounds. “Yes, Harvard is a bastion of privilege; it gives me access to resources and opportunities to travel on grants. But I am not part of the 1 percent, and I plan on becoming a journalist after I graduate, not part of the 1 percent,” Sandra Korn, an undergraduate organizer of the movement, said. “Like most students, I will be paying back student loans, although people say Harvard has great financial aid. Harvard’s financial aid is not a great force of wealth redistribution.” Since students have returned from winter break, Occupy Harvard has held two meetings each week to plan See OCCUPY, page 2
Brandeis Books might be 1,200 miles south of Waltham, but volunteers who pick up the phone answer with a simple, “Brandeis.” “What we do is to make sure that we can keep our end up and send enough See FUNDRAISING, page 3
Class-capping at Brandeis can seem a vague and inconsistent process. Some classes are capped at a larger number than other equivalent courses; some allow additional students past these capped limits while others do not. Mark Hewitt, the university registrar, gave a few reasons why classes are capped. A typical and increasingly frequent reason, according to Hewitt, is simply size constraints. “This [capping] happens when a class is approaching the physical limits of the classroom and we have no larger classroom available to move it to,” Hewitt said. Instructors do not know what size classroom they will receive during the registration period. Therefore capping commonly is put in place before there is a clear idea of what the room capacity will be. Sometimes there are situations in which the professor feels a limit must be placed on the class for a specific learning atmosphere. “If they are capped for pedagogical reasons, then that is a decision that is made by the
instructor and chair of the department and ultimately approved by the dean [of arts and sciences],” Hewitt explained. This could include labs, classes requiring many oral presentations or language classes where class participation is key. Sometimes professors will prefer to have larger introductory classes so that other courses may remain small, a fact asserted by Mick Watson, dean of the graduate school of arts and sciences and professor of psychology. While these larger courses may still have caps, they are able to be bigger with the help of teaching assistants who can break up the classes into smaller discussion groups periodically. Professors Mike Coiner (ECON) and Sarah Lamb (ANTH) both say they would not be able to manage such large classes without their TAs. Lamb said she needs her TAs so that she can break her Anthropology 1A class, Introduction to the Comparative Study of Human Societies, into discussion groups of around 20 students. Otherwise, she prefers her smaller classes to be capped at 25-40 students so that class discussions can See CLASS CAPS, page 17
Networking in fashion and style
dress code Students discuss career ideas at a fashion show and networking event on Wednesday hosted
by Hiatt in collaboration with Lord & Taylor. For more see page 16.
photo by ingrid schulte/the hoot