Does our recycling system work?

Have you ever looked at the lids on the thin, tall recycling bins? Theyre akin to those hammer and shape toys many of us had as kids. You banged the square shape into the square hole, the triangle into the triangle, and if you tried it the other way it didnt work very well. Recycling on campus is similar: the green lids have round holes for bottles and cans;

the blue lids have a diagonal slit for paper. Meanwhile, the trash cans are open to anything you offer them. Unfortunately, some people (and there was always that one little brat) are hammering the triangle into the square, so to speak.

Letter to the Editor: Response only reinforces points

Stefan Borst-Censullo's letter to the editor (, November 3rd) ironically serves to reinforce the exact points that Jordan Rothman made when he documented his tribulations as a politically conservative student at Brandeis…

Letter to the Editor: Comparisons not quite as unfair as assumed

On behalf of a dear friend of mine I would like to clarify some serious misconceptions voiced by last week's responses to a 'Brandeis Conservative.' When Jordan made the comparison between conservatism at Brandeis and homosexuality elsewhere, he did not do so to disparage the hardships of homosexuals, including the hardships they endure in our society. He did so to make a tongue-in-cheek illustration of what life as a conservative at Brandeis is like the stated purpose of his article. This is not an unfair analogy, whether or not you happen to agree with it.

Academic sanctioning: The keys to success?

The new lockout policy at Brandeis has gained a lot of negative attention due to the unnecessary paperwork that students must fill out when they are locked out of their rooms. However, when discussing the change of policy that now forces students to go to the Residence Life office to be readmitted to their rooms, they failed to inform the community that the new policy allows Residence Life to academically punish students who are repeat “lockout” offenders.

Letter to the Editor: Issues should be prioritized by each individual

Firstly, I must agree with Miles Ketchum in his letter (“Other issues beside genocide”), that there are other issues out there besides genocide. AIDS has killed 25 million people over the last 25 years and shows no signs of slowing, global warming is a catastrophe on the horizon, and New Orleans still needs to be rebuilt. However, I believe that it is unfair for Ketchum to tell anyone that they should focus on another issue…

Letter to the Editor: STAND is more relevant than ever

To the Editor:

On behalf of STAND, I would like to take this opportunity to respond to the letter written by Miles Ketchum in the previous edition of The Hoot. Mr. Ketchum's concerns centered around the fact that he feels STAND is wasting its time and the time of others, and would be better off focusing on other problems that would allow us to “actually” make a difference.

Letter to the Editor: Dieting should not be primary concern

At the risk of sounding like a typical Brandeis student, I was personally offended by Sarah Greens article warning freshman about the perils of gaining a few extra pounds. Although well intentioned, Green comes off more like a catty school mate, spouting the calorie content of your extra helping of fries, rather than a concerned nutritionist. “Do you really want that extra slice of cake? What? I was just asking.”

Gender stereotypes are not always true

Taught from infancy that beauty is woman's scepter, the mind shapes itself to the body, and roaming round its gilt cage, only seeks to adorn its prison. Mary Wollstonecraft (1759-1797)

It is disrespectful and deconstructive to outright attack people or their views, so I will to my utmost ability refrain from doing so in relation to the article Taking a page out of the guys book that appeared in last weeks edition of The Hoot. I was very much disturbed with the articles strong polarization and dichotomization of the sexes. It excluded entire and considerable populations that either do not identify with one of these hetero-normative labels or who do not buy into the pop-culture ideals of beauty and self-worth. It also reinforces grossly misleading and inaccurate stereotypes of men and women.

Editorial: The less you wear, the more you pay

Though the press has an obligation to accurately portray news by using photographic journalism, it has the same obligation to have decency in regards to the content being printed. Over the past several weeks, the Justice has taken a step backwards by publishing photos that are completely superfluous and have benefited no one.

The Hoot takes a look at fencing

With the fencing team taking up its arms on Saturday, The Hoot was able to catch up with men's fencing captain Brenden Doris-Pierce '07 (sabre). Doris-Pierce was gracious enough to provide The Hoot, with insights on the men's side via e-mail.