Brandeis University's Community Newspaper — Waltham, Mass.
Upon graduating high school, I thought of myself as being prepared for college. At least, I thought my academics were up to par, and that I was ready for the world of Academia. I thought that since I read the New York Times regularly and kept up with my readings in philosophy and literature, my vocabulary would be more than ready for a collegiate environment.
It is after 7:30 on the night of Sunday, Oct. 28. The Senate meeting, scheduled for 7 p.m., has not yet been called to order. The reason: our representatives, our senators, have simply not shown up. Theyre watching football, getting dinner at Usdan, or at an event for another, apparently more important, extracurricular activity. The unreasonably high number of senators required for a meeting to officially be called- 11 out of a total of 21 senators.
An issue that has been devouring seemingly all of our campus discussions lately is that of arming the Brandeis police force. Sure, youre probably thinking, why do I want to hear another rant about how much some student hates/loves the idea? But this is neither of the above. And I feel personally compelled to educate the Brandeis community on this issue, as I know the Brandeis police better than many other students.
By now it is probably a clich to compare Donald Hindleys situation with that of Josef K. the protagonist of Franz Kafkas The Trial. Like Josef K., Hindley stands accused of unspecified crimes which and is subject to the judgment of a mysterious tribunal. Hindley himself lent us a more apt metaphor when he described the proceedings against him using the same language with which he denounces autocratic Latin American and Southeast Asian governments in his classroom: authoritarian, secretive, and personalist.
On August 28, 1963, Dr. Martin Luther King delivered his I Have a Dream speech on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. In his speech, Dr. King famously stated, I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character. I think he would be terribly disappointed in society if he were alive today. Our sense of racism barely faltered, and our efforts to counter it have only made the problem worse.
In recent days, controversy has arisen as a result of actions taken by the University to fulfill its commitment to safeguarding the safety, dignity, and well-being of all its members, including guaranteeing the rights of students to learn in an environment free of harassment and hostility. Individuals of goodwill may differ in their opinions on this matter. But it is important for opinions to be grounded in as much knowledge of the actual processes and events in question as possible, consistent with protection of the confidentiality and privacy of those involved.
I am writing this letter mainly in response to Mr. Rabbs letter in the previous Hoot, and his fears of arming our police force. First of all, I agree with Mr. Rabb that this is a safe campus. I feel as safe as anyone walking around Brandeis at two or three in the morning, but that does not mean that there is no danger. As Chief Stritenberger of Columbus State Community College states, To say that just because tragedy hasnt struck eradicates the potential that it will is a weak and dangerous position. To extend this argument, we should be protecting against tragedies, because even a small situation can get out of hand very quickly. We have a trained police force on campus and their job is to protect us, so why hinder that? A gun in a police officers hand is a very powerful tool even if the trigger is not pressed.
Bret Matthew's opinion (Nov. 2) that the Electoral College is a “waste of time” is exactly right and for the reason he cites: Massachusetts, which votes reliably Democratic, is ignored by presidential candidates in the general election. In fact in the 2004 election 99% of all presidential campaign expenditures were made in just 17 states! Those 17 not only excluded Massachusetts, they also excluded California, Texas, New York, Illinois, and many other large states allowing a very small number of states effectively to elect the president.
When I read that Emma Needleman finds it necessary to hurry past Brandeis police officers when she sees them at night (“Why we fear authority, Nov.2), I felt a touch of sadness.
I never thought I would say this, but The Hoot has hit a new low. The utter ridiculousness of Union Secretary Resigns over E-Board Policies, (Nov. 2) by David Pepose is an outright journalistic travesty. Essentially, The Hoot published Goldmans inflammatory opinions and descriptions of internal Union discussions as news (and thus, as fact) without context, research, investigation, response, or actual reporting. This article features nine paragraphs, of which Mr. Pepose actually wrote three sentences.
