Brandeis University's Community Newspaper — Waltham, Mass.
Fair Trade Certified products, a market-based approach to sustainable development, are an easy and effective way of alleviating poverty. Next Wednesday and Thursday, all of us will have a chance to vote on a poll to let Aramark and our Student Union know that we care about this issue and want more Fair Trade coffee available on campus.
I knew this would be a tough assignment. What do I know about fashion? What would it have to do with the shows stated purpose of countering stereotypes about Asian-Pacific Americans? With these doubts I sat down to SKIN/InspirAsian last Saturday in the Levin Ballroom. It didnt matter that the audience was small. They connected.
I have always taken great pride in the fact that I am from Boston. This is obvious, based on the notion that when choosing a college to attend, I just couldnt seem to tear myself away from the state;
not to Pennsylvania, New Hampshire, or even Rhode Island. None of the tri-states would do. There was something about Massachusetts of which I simply couldnt let go.
The Brandeis Ensemble Theaters performance of The Underpants last weekend was the first time that the show has been performed in the New England area. The comedy was written by Carl Sternheim and adapted by Steve Martin. The whole series of events starts when several men getting a glimpse of a woman after her underpants miraculously fall down, and are enraptured by her enough to rent a room in the house that her husband is trying to lease out. What follows is a series of chaotic and hilarious events.
Sometimes I feel guilty for enjoying rap. I dont want to pay a rappers salary and promote the appreciation for shiny things and senseless violence among poor kids. In recent years, much of mainstream rap has degenerated into such messages being aimed at blacks and sponsored by whites. Yet the smooth poetry flowing from Mos Def and many other loyalists of New Yorks lyricist lounge (including Talib Kwali and Hi Tek) are not only aesthetically pleasing, but also potent reminders of an imperfect system. People get better when they start to understand what makes [them] valuable, Mos Def proclaims in Fear Not of Man.
If white boys doing it, well, its success/ When I start doing it, well, its suspect, flows from the speakers as my roommate bumps Mos Defs track Mr. N-, just after we anonymously heard this weekend that he would be gracing the Shapiro Stage. April 7th the master will lecture a school of white success on the woes of a world from which they are far removed. Nevertheless, the rapper has achieved a clear victory with his views triumphantly penetrating into the white vernacular.
Mos Def is one of my personal heroes. As an actor, a poet, a philosopher, an activist and, of course, a rapper, Mos Def speaks through his art with a creative voice that transcends race. He is a visionary with a sense of humor. And that is why I could not possibly be more excited about this semesters big concert.
Every year I wait in excitement for that letter in my mailbox– the one that gives me a number that tells me where I live next year. This year, I couldnt be happier to find that my number was none other than 1985! Thats the year I was born! Isnt Reslife clever?
When March 15th finally came, I was lucky enough to participate in the housing lottery for the second time. This time was much more exciting than the first because housing was not guarenteed. I dont know about you, but I love suspense in my life. Those tingles you get when you know you have a pretty substantial chance of being homeless … its almost sexual, in a way.
Name: Aaron Gaynor, 07 Major: Economics Residence: Pomerantz UNET ID: gaynor Current Office: Union Treasurer Statement: made the decision to run for president because I have a deep love of Brandeis and I want to make it a happier, more unified place for live and to learn. To achieve this, I have decided to focus […]
