The Brandeis Hoot 11-7-08

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VOL 5, NO. 10

NOVEMBER 7, 2008

B R A N D E I S U N I V E R S I T Y ' S C O M M U N I T Y N E W S PA P E R

THEHOOT.NET

Brandeisians, past and present, lend their efforts to Decision 2008 Brandeis alum fired by Penn. GOP BY ARIEL WITTENBERG Editor

PHOTO BY Max Shay/The Hoot

Chum’s seeks funding for renovations BY ELI SEDRANSK Staff

Chum’s, the well-known Brandeis coffeehouse, is seeking university funding to fix the rapidly worsening state of disrepair that has recently plagued the Castlebound coffee shop. General Manager Nirja Parekh ’09 hopes that renovations might take place as early as winter break. According to Parekh, Chum’s has been in a declining state since she began working there in 2006. The main problems include the floors, old windows, immobile furniture, and kitchen equipment. The goal is to “streamline [the business] to have more energy to retain the Chum’s vibe,” explained Parekh, who has seen Chum’s transformation from an ill-used club coffeehouse venue into a thriving business. “Chum’s schedule is really full,”

she explained, stating that there has been a strong increase in student presence. While the turnout has been impressive, with the coffee shop often full to bursting on any given night, Parekh mentioned that “it’s really run-down…we’re kind of making ends meet.” She further explained, “students forget that it’s an entity that needs to be sustained through funding.” Aside from employee paychecks, all money put into Chum’s comes directly from Chum’s. Parekh said that oftentimes food sales go directly into restocking the food stores, with no excess money to spare. “Our budget is rollover profit from last year,” Parekh added. While Chum’s has not received funding from the university in the past, last semester, students were able to vote to use Student Activi-

ties Fee rollover money to renovate Chum’s. However, students voted to use that money to renovate the weight room in Gosman. Senior Vice President for Students and Enrollment Jean Eddy, who has been working with Parekh and the Chum’s staff on gaining funds through Facilities, explained that “at the time when the student government asked what [the students would] spend $100,000 on there was more money in the treasury [than expected].” Eddy hoped that some extra money would be allocated to repairing Chum’s. The bulk of the money, had Chum’s received the SAF rollover money, would have gone into new floors and windows, which are both in bad disrepair. Eddy explained, “people have been fo-

other two initiatives concern the Know Your Rights campaign and the rights of Transitional Year Program students. The committee, formed by Ben Brandzel ’03, serves as the Student Union’s outlet to address issues pertaining to social justice. The three initiatives deal with issues that are “unethical at Brandeis, which go against our ideals of social justice,” Gubbala said. “When we’re talking about disability quality it’s not something that you think would be an inequality at Brandeis…considering we’re such a school that’s focused on social justice.” Many issues face students with physical disabilities at Brandeis. Those students can only live on one floor of first-year residence halls, cannot live in North Quad,

At an event last night co-sponsored by the Student Union and the Office of Communications, faculty panelists commented on the significance of Tuesday’s election of Illinois Senator Barack Obama. The panel, which was moderated by National Public Radio defense commentator Guy Raz ’96, included Prof. Peniel Joseph (AAAS), Prof. John Ballantine Jr. (IBS), Prof. Mingus Mapps (AAAS), and Prof. Jill Greenlee (POL). In his opening remarks, Raz put the panel into perspective, calling this election “probably the most historic election in America’s 232 years.” He went on to note that although when he was a student at Brandeis, President Bill Clinton’s

See CHUMS p. 11

The political career of Brandeis alumna Bryan Rudnick ‘00, who was recently fired by the Pennsylvanian Republican Party for allegedly drafting an e-mail likening a vote for now president-elect Barack Obama to events that led up to the Holocaust, can be traced back to when he brought NRA president Charleston Heston to campus in March of 2000. According to an Oct. 25 article by Ron Todt of the Associated Press, Rudnick’s e-mail was sent to an estimated 75,000 Jewish voters in Pennsylvania and told them that “Jewish Americans

cannot afford to make the wrong decision on Tuesday, November 4th, 2008. Many of our ancestors ignored the warning signs in the 1930s and 1940s and made a tragic mistake. Let’s not make a similar one this year!” As a conservative student in the late 90’s, Rudnick began his time at Brandeis by founding Freedom Magazine as a forum for conservatives on campus because “of an abundance of hypocritically liberal views on campus,” Rudnick wrote in an opinion piece in the third issue of the magazine. The February 1998 piece was See GOP p. 13

Students canvass for Obama in NH BY ALISON CHANNON Editor

With victory on their minds, Brandeis students worked to add four electoral college votes to the Obama column by turning neighboring swing state New Hampshire blue. Beginning in September, members of the Brandeis Democrats and Democracy for America, as well as students unaffiliated with either club, canvassed in the town of Raymond, NH. For canvassing purposes, the Democrats and DFA wanted to adopt one specific town in New Hampshire, Paul said. Adopting a town “enables us to

go back and see what our impact is,” Brandeis Democrats Campaign Coordinator Justin BackalBalik ’10 said. As it would turn out VicePresident of the Brandeis Democrats Jason Paul ’09, a seasoned canvasser, had a friend working for the Obama campaign in New Hampshire, Hollie Gilman. “She was the right organizer for this campus,” Paul said. Gilman could not be reached by time of print due to campaign obligations. The Democrats and DFA, with the help of Gilman, organized nine canvassing days for Brandeis See CANVASS p. 12

Union’s Social Justice Committee Panelists reflect on Obama’s significance BY ALEX SCHNEIDER to address campus accessibility Editor BY CHRISSY CALLAHAN Editor

When Supreetha Gubbala ’12 broke her ankle earlier this year, hobbling around campus taught her something possibly more important than what she was learning in her classes. “I realized that it’s almost impossible to get around Brandeis when you’re disabled,” she said. And that was only for a temporary period of time. So Gubbala, Student Union Senator for the class of 2012, came up with the idea to address the problem. Gubbala and members of the Student Union’s Social Justice Committee have decided to address accessibility problems facing students with physical disabilities as one of the committee’s three main initiatives for the 2008-2009 academic year. The committee’s

INSIDE:

See ACCESSIBILITY p. 11

SEA CHANGE BOOK OF MATTHEW

See OBAMA p. 13

PHOTO BY Napolean Lherisson/The Hoot

THE MORNING AFTER: Prof. Joseph considers the meaning of an Obama presidency.

PG 2

CASTLE: THEN AND NOW

PG 6

PG 4

QUANTUM OF SOLACE

PG 8

THIS WEEKEND

PG 16

COMICS

PG 16


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