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Brandeis University's Community Newspaper — Waltham, Mass.

March 2007 Issue

Raunchy Romp released

No, its not Penthouse and its not Playboy either. But, there is a sexuality magazine prominent on this campus: Romp. The 23 page, black and white publication appeared this month, but it is not intended to be a pornographic magazine. The publication, chartered at the end of last spring, has released their first issue around campus. Romps editor-in-chief and founder Ilya Okunev states in the section, From the Editor, that Romp is a creative, artistic endeavor to reflect the overwhelming role of sexuality in our lives. Its a way to sublimate our sex lives into words and share them.


LTS announces new channel

The Department of Library and Technology Services (LTS) has changed the IP channel lineup for the spring semester based on the results of a 440-student poll taken early this spring.


Gutbucket hits you where it hurts

Gutbucket, a jazz-punk fusion quartet (“avant-squonk”) played at Chum's Thursday night. Their songs– wordless save for the occasional wails of frontman-saxophonist Ken Thomson — sound like some sort of post-Miles Davis “Blue” angry head-banger jazz. Until you get into the music, it seems like an almost-choreographed train wreck… then you realize how together they are, how intense the sound really is… and the concert becomes an awesome aural experience… even if you're stupid enough to perch directly in front of the amps. The band isn't always loud– songs like Frogger, for example, are quietly jazzy, yet seamlessly flow into loud, angry punk ballads. The band is so tight, so together, it seems like their music is woven into some aural fabric;

the guitar and sax, the sax and bass, the bass and the percussion run into one another, pitch for pitch, beat for beat.


Crossing the divide

Too often in discussions of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, partisans on either side of the issue do not make the effort to actually sit down in the same room and really listen to one another. While some venues on our campus do attempt to bring people together – the Arab-Jewish Dialogue group comes to mind – the sad truth is that most events on this campus addressing this issue tend to lean to one side or the other, and are attended by people who come to see their point of view reinforced.


Actors overcome Devils in script, tech

Last weekend the Brandeis Ensemble Theater opened the Undergraduate Theater Collectives season with a production of David Lindsay-Abaires A Devil Inside in the Shapiro Theater. Although troubled by technical issues and an especially confusing climactic scene, the strength of the cast paved the way for an overall success.
The play begins with Mrs. Slater (Catherine Wagner 09) preparing for the twenty-first birthday of her apathetic son Gene (Michael Carnow 07). During the preparations, she informs him that his father, whom Gene was told died of heart failure, was actually brutally murdered. Mrs. Slater encourages Gene to avenge his fathers death. Gene thinks little of this and goes off to class on the subway, where he finally gets the courage up to talk to Caitlin (Erika Geller 09), a classmate of his who is 'aroused' by the lectures of their Russian literature professor, Carl (Aaron Arbiter 10). Carl has his own problems, having become obsessed with killing a dull man who owns a repair shop. This dull man, Brad (Josh Mervis 08), is trying to bring excitement to his life by writing a story about a devil he sees in his wallpaper. He is also renting a room to a mysterious artist named Lily (Sarah Jacobs 09). As the play progresses, Carl becomes paranoid that the dull man will kill him first. Caitlin then steals Carls notebooks and seduces/blackmails him into going through with plans to kill Brad first. Mrs. Slater shows Gene his fathers severed feet to convince him of the truth of her story while Lily starts vomiting blood. Caitlin and Carl paralyze Gene while botching an attempt to kill Brad, and the devil Brad sees in his wallpaper comes to life to fight with him. The play concludes with four characters are dead, a fifth dying, and Gene ironically rolling away on his wheelchair to seek his fathers killer;

the killer is in fact already dead.


Reality check

Im sorry.

Now, I realize it may not be the journalistic norm to begin a column with an apology, but in this case I feel it is a necessary first step. See, I know Ive been a bad columnist for not having written at all since the new year, but Im going to need your forgiveness before I drop this bomb on you.


Hot summer festivals, cool fall concerts

Seeing one band perform live for one night is a treat in itself, but to see several dozen groups over a period of multiple days is an entirely new experience. As the weather gets warm, festival season hits its peak. The several festivals being offered this year around the U.S. and Canada will give fans the opportunity to take in a combination of new groups, established headliners, and even old acts returning only to play as part of a festival. Here is a look at some of the upcoming festivals across the country that promise to be quite the experience, although some might require a bit of driving and planning ahead for the Brandeis student.


This year’s midyears up to full time status

Despite starting their Brandeis careers a semester late, this year's midyear class are already involved in the community. Despite living in separate housing, midyears have also made friendships with their 'regular' counterparts.


Strange but true

Israel recalls Ambassador After Sex Acts
Israel told its ambassador to El-Salvador to come home after police found him drunk in his office. He was bound and gagged, wearing nothing apart from sex accessories and a rubber ball in his mouth. The event, which occurred two weeks ago, is a new addition to a long list of recent scandals within the Israeli political realm.


Gravity Magazine: Ideas floating everywhere

At a typical Gravity meeting, the only way to be taken seriously is to make a joke out of everything. Every week, at 7 PM in the Brandeis Media Coalition (Shapiro Center, 3rd floor) a small group of Brandeis students meets to discuss the humor of the week. Any topic – the Brandeis meal plans, recent club activities, the structure of someone's face- you name it, and it's open game for jokes and hilariousness abounds. Unlike more serious publications on campus, Gravity is intended to be, as put by its current President Benjamin Douglas, a magazine that “makes people laugh and have fun.”