VOL 5, NO. 21 MARCH 13, 2009 BRANDEIS UNIVERSITY'S COMMUNITY NEWSPAPER THEHOOT.NET Alterman wins Non-violent crime up, public safety says in UJ case BY ALEX SCHNEIDER Editor In a unanimous decision, the Union Ju- diciary found a senate money resolution (SMR) granting funds to bring William “Bill” Ayers and Robert H. King to campus to be “null-and-void.” The majority opinion, written by Chief Justice Rachel Graham Kagan ’09, found that the SMR was allocated to a project that was “not a Union project,” and, as a re- sult, did not meet the standards for SMRs as defined in the Union Constitution. “I think this sets a clear and excellent precedent for future use of the Senate Discretionary Fund,” Class of 2009 Eric Alterman, who brought the case, said. “A “Union Government Project” must be more than just Senate approval or the ef- forts [of] club leaders doubling as Sena- tors. Senators should be initiating projects, PHOTO BY Max Shay /The Hoot individually and though committees, for BY JAKE YARMUS years, this is the highest I have ever seen it.” The second is fire safety violations. This the benefit of their constituents.” Special to The Hoot Campus crime incidents largely fall un- increase comes mostly from a fire drill last Lev Hirschhorn ’11, one of the respon- der one of two categories: crimes that vio- semester where over 15 violations, mostly dents, disagreed. “I do not think the jus- The number of non-violent crimes on late school policy, and crimes that violate covered smoke detectors, were discovered tices made the right decision. I think that campus has skyrocketed this year, accord- property. in one night. a more careful analysis would clearly have ing to Brandeis Director of Public Safety Ed The increases in crimes that violate This incident has raised awareness for shown that this was a union project.” Callahan. school policy have had two main contribu- fire safety concerns and sparked sponta- The issue before the court was whether “Crime spiked seriously from last year tors. The first is a 150 percent increase in neous room checks by the department of to this one,” Callahan said. “In the past 35 drug and alcohol abuses in the past year. See UJ, p. 4 See CRIME, p. 2 Kosher food not responsible for G.I. bug Funding for BY ARIEL WITTENBERG Editor Ayers visit still The Health Center confirmed that there up in the air was no food poisoning in Sherman Dining Hall after 29 students came to the center BY ALEX SCHNEIDER complaining of vomiting and diarrhea. Editor The complaints came from students fall- ing ill after eating at the dining hall, spe- With the proposed March 30 William cifically, in the Kosher section; however, “Bill” Ayers event approaching, sponsoring Nursing Director Kathleen Maloney said clubs Democracy for America (DFA) and that these students were suffering from a Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) do norovirus, or “tummy bug,” and not food not have sufficient funding to compensate poisoning. the speaker and to pay security costs, which “Whenever people get a tummy bug, they in total would add up to around $7,000. always think it’s food poisoning,” she said, After the Union Judiciary’s (UJ) decision to “but the circumstances of this virus do not overturn a senate money resolution to help indicate food poisoning.” fund the event, the likelihood of finding According to Maloney, when food poi- additional funding sources has decreased soning occurs, it is because one food has significantly. been contaminated with a virus either be- “We are trying to make it happen, and we cause of poor packaging or because it has are not giving up yet, because we have not been handled by people carrying a virus. exhausted all of our options,” DFA member That virus can infect students eating and event planner Lev Hirschhorn ’11 said. According to Vice President for Campus the food; however, Maloney said that the PHOTO BY Max Shay /The Hoot symptoms would most likely become ap- Operations, Mark Collins, organizers have GI BUG: Students eat dinner on the kosher side of Sherman dining hall last night. Though many students promised $4,500 to the university to fund parent in a few hours, and that because the had speculated that they suffered from food posioning after eating kosher food at the dining hall this virus would infect many students at the week, both the health center and Aramark say that Sherman food is completely safe to eat. security, which would cover an increased same time, those sick would report to the police presence, the possible use of metal health center all at once, in a large group. the laws of Kashrut, food served at Sher- the health center is required to call the de- detectors, and other basic logistics. Collins Instead, those infected by the stomach man on milk days cannot be cross contami- partment of public health and the dining also explained that an agreement of $4,500 bug reported to the health center in groups nated with food served on meat days, mak- halls on campus. was reached only on condition that the of staggering sizes over a period of days. ing food poisoning occurring on both days The fact that no one working in the din- event be capped at around 200 students and Food poisoning is even less likely because extremely unlikely. ing halls had been to reporting to work be held in a location with easily controlled those infected reported to the health center Maloney said that whenever the health sick, Maloney said further indicated that access, such as the Shapiro Campus Center after eating Kosher Sherman food on both center suspects that there is a gastroenteri- Theatre. With these conditions, he said, “I “milk” and “meat” days. As according to tis (GI) virus being passed around campus, See GI BUG, p. 3 See AYERS, p. 4 Brandeis grads Pakistan’s AUDIO @ THEHOOT.NET IN THIS take to the mic government in COMEDIANS: Funny alumni talk life behind the mic. trouble BRANDEIS WATCH: Implications of UJ trial. THE HOOT REPORT: Stem cell research and DC ISSUE: Diverse City, page 8 Opinions, page 13 voting rights 2 The Hoot March 13, 2009 NEWS CARS redesigning website to market university Campus BY ARIEL WITTENBERG Editor crime rate Part IV of V in a series on Academic Re- structuring increases CRIME (from p. 1) In an effort to better market the universi- Residence Life. The result has been a more ty, the Curriculum and Academic Restruc- than 250 percent increase in fire safety vio- turing and Steering committee’s admis- lations. Though these are separate issues, sions subcommittee has begun work on a Callahan sees them as related. redesign of the university’s website. “I think that these are highly connected,” “The website is the first stop for many Callahan said. “Most of these drug offenses prospective students when they begin to are in [students’] rooms, and covering a fire look at colleges,” subcommittee member alarm makes smoking a lot easier.” Prof. Margie Lachman (PSYCH) said. “In He added that many of the drug related the 21st century, the web is certainly more offenses were committed by underclass- important than print literature in terms men who were first-time offenders. of making sure prospective students have Callahan speculated that the increase in a complete understanding about what drug use on campus could be due to addi- Brandeis is and what we are all about.” tional stress on campus from the financial The redesign of the website is just the lat- crisis. est in a string of changes the university has PHOTO BY Max Shay /The Hoot “Students at this university work very been making, including adding a business UP CLOSE: Jamie Fleishman ‘11 gives a tour to prospective students and their families. Because of the hard. You have to focus on a lot of things at major, in an effort to raise revenue by in- nation’s economic recession, fewer families can afford making the trip to visit campus before applying to once. You get a lot of pressures, and, espe- creasing the number of students enrolled the university, making a well designed comprehensive website crucial for attracting young minds. cially when you are young, it can be hard to each year. resist,” he said. That the admissions subcommittee is to Brandeis can help you when you leave, Brandeis will always have a large amount Representatives at Brandeis’ Psychologi- concentrating on advertising the university even though we are a liberal arts univer- of students from these regions, she said cal Counseling Center, however, said they through the internet, as opposed to printed sity.” that in order to accept more students while have not seen an increase in students look- literature, is no coincidence. As Senior Vice The website will also emphasize Brandeis’ maintaining the same quality of Brandeis ing for help dealing with stress related is- President of Communications Lorna Miles core values of “social justice, community student, the Admissions Department will sues, saying that the center has been “busy told The Hoot, “in a time of financial limi- and opportunity”—which have been de- have to look outside of New England. as usual.” tations, using the internet is a cost effective cided on by the subcommittee. In addition to a new organization, the Additionally, local universities, such as way to reach out to potential applicants.” “We want to show outsiders what we website will also have a revamped “micro Tufts and Harvard have experienced drops The internet is also the method of choice know about how great Brandeis is,” Lach- site” that features profiles of students, fac- in crime over the past couple of years de- for prospective students researching the man said.