Brandeis students in different world than young pro athletes

This past winter break, two people who play important roles in my life celebrated their twentieth birthdays. The individuals could not be more different, one a student, the other an athlete. One is female;

the other is male. One is my girlfriend;

the other is Cleveland Cavaliers guard/forward LeBron James. The player weve heard about being the second coming of Michael Jordan, the savior of the National Basketball Association, celebrated just his twentieth birthday this past December. LeBron James is merely the most extraordinary example of a college-aged professional athlete;

there are a plethora of cases similar to his, leaving people such as my girlfriend, and the rest of the Brandeis student body, wondering how weve fallen so far behind.

Integrated planning works towards 7 year plan

University President Jehuda Reinharz officially revealed, on Dec. 13, to the entire Brandeis community the existence of an administrative planning group formed in fall 2003 to undertake a complete review of University operations and propose changes for the next seven years. This integrated planning committee, composed of senior University administrators, was charged to “undertake a rigorous, realistic, comprehensive, and informed planning effort to integrate all areas and aspects of the University's operations,” according to Reinharz's letter to the community.

New one-stop center opens in Usdan

This spring brings the first major upgrade of student services space in two and a half years with the opening of the Phase 1 Renovation of the Usdan Student Center. The $2 million project is one of several phases of an $18 million overall plan to upgrade facilities in Usdan and Kutz Hall.

A&S restructure juggles conflicting goals

Dean of Arts & Sciences Adam Jaffe's recently articulated vision for the future of the Academy at Brandeis sparked a furor when introduced on Thursday, Oct. 4, 2004 at a special Faculty Meeting. A follow-up meeting on Dec. 16 included the release of Jaffe's complete 61 page proposal, created as part of the Integrated Planning process (see related story, page 1). This report was finally opened to student review on Dec. 29.

Two power outages in Village due to traffic accidents involving power lines

In the weeks before winter break, two brief power outages temporarily plunged the Village residence hall into darkness. No other campus buildings were affected by the outages, which occurred on Tues., Nov. 30 and Sat., Dec. 11.