Hail Caesar! Free Play triumphs again

Last weekend, Shakespeares Julius Caesar, under the direction of Sam Zelitch 09, opened in Shiffman 219, making that classroom the third nontraditional theatrical space used by the Free Play Theatre Cooperative in just five productions. In The Hoots spring theater preview, Zelitch promised that this production would not be boring. The performance, condensed into just forty-five minutes and performed by a cast of three women, certainly lives up to that promise.

Van Wilder rises again

Remember the good old days when you were taught life lessons by the great Van Wilder about how to stay in college for about seven years and how to throw the best parties on campus? His sage advice is now taken overseas by his protge, Taj Mahal Badalandabad. In Van Wilder: The Rise of Taj, the quirky Taj (played by Harold and Kumar go to White Castles Kal Penn) leaves Coolidge College for Englands extremely prestigious Camford University. Naturally, hilarity and physical humor is prevalent through the entire film.

Two decades since local Boston band started their wave of mutilation

Modest Mouse just released its latest album this March. The album, We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank, immediately hit the Billboard Top 200 charts. The band's impressive chart performance has been yet another sign of the recent wave embracing the indie rock genre. This March was also the twentieth anniversary of the Pixies' first recording effort, released as an EP entitled Come on Pilgrim in March 1987. Modest Mouse can directly attribute its success to its predecessor's early indie efforts;

Nirvana front man Kurt Cobain even declared that his songs were “Pixies rip-offs”. A full two decades after these initial recordings, the Boston-based rock group's legacy should be celebrated.

Econ should be part of core curriculum

We attend a small liberal arts college with a strong core-curriculum requirement. Though many graduates of Brandeis will go on to be doctors, lawyers, or other well-trained professionals, our institution still requires us to take a variety of courses not necessarily related to our future endeavors. Ranging from the creative arts to the humanities, and even physical education, our school wants to make sure that in whatever path we lead, we will still have a rudimentary knowledge of many arenas of education. Still there is, in my opinion, one realm that is not required learning at Brandeis that should be mandatory to all students. All students should have to take an introductory economics class before graduation.

Editorial: Brandeis’ parking monopoly

As the university has less and less available housing, off-campus students will become more and more numerous. This has created current and forseeable parking problems for the university. Over the past year, the administration has faced complaints regarding the parking lot behind East Quad, a place where formerly only students could park, but now staff members are able to use the spots. This coupled with the notion that next year, students will experience even more limited parking because of construction, specifically in X-Lot, has created the idea of an all out parking crisis for Brandeis students.

Letter to the Editor: Previous letter hits below the belt

Samuel Ackerman in his March 9 letter criticizing my earlier letter, and me, as anti-Semitic, hits below the belt when he writes, “Spritzler's repertoire also includes articles such as 'Do Jews Really Rule the World,' thus continuing the promotion of anti-Semitic ideas that have been popular fare among anti-Semites for many years.” Ackerman left out the question mark that is in my article's title, and neglects to tell his readers that the answer I give to the question is a resounding “No,” very explicitly in the second paragraph.

X-Lot construction sparks parking concerns

In addition to other construction projects scheduled to take place at Brandeis soon, a plan to begin construction on a new parking garage where X-lot is currently located is sparking concern regarding on-campus parking for next year.

Sabbaticals, course offerings lead to student concern

This weekends release of the fall 2007 course selection showed that professors from several departments were taking sabbaticals in the coming semester, leaving some students concerned about completing majors and taking certain courses. Overall, there will be 51 professors on sabbatical in the 07-08 academic year, and while most departments are losing three of four professors, other such as NEJS are facing steeper losses.

Union Updates

The SMR was approved for Pub Crawl, said Director of Communications Brian Paternostro 07. The Senate granted up to $1400 out of its discretionary fund for me and the two senior senatorsJosh Karpoff 07 and Laura Kovey 07to handle this event. The Union also approved the SMR for the Project Brandeis University Spirit committee to […]

Esteemed Israeli jurist speaks at Brandeis

Aharon Barak, world-renowned jurist and eighth President of Israels Supreme Court (1995-2006), spoke before an audience of nearly 250 in Sherman Function Hall Sunday about the sensitive and difficult balance between the freedom and dignity of the individual and [national] security.