Despite protests from students and faculty, the Activism 102 conference was held Saturday. Titled "A Day of Skills Workshops for Middle East Activists," the event gathered between 70 and 80 students and others involved in Israel-Palestine issues. It took place without incident, to the relief of many community members who feared conflicting opinions would escalate to unsafe levels.
After a trial start, University students are now able to purchase the delectable dishes of Thai Gardens using meal-plan points. On Thursday, Thai Gardens started accepting points during select hours of operation. "We were approached by Tim Reiss of Dining Services," said Pat Hopkins, a spokesperson for the restaurant.
After hearing the concerns voiced by the Wesleyan Student Assembly (WSA) on weekend dining and vegan options, Director of Dining Services Tim Reiss recently made changes to dining options and hours. Last week, Reiss announced the opening of the Pi Café on weekends from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. in an all-campus e-mail.
Director of Auxiliary Services Manny Cunard described the new One Card program at the WSA's Sunday meeting. If approved, the program will add several features to student IDs including points that would be redeemable at downtown vendors.
Former Middletown Mayor Sebastian Garafalo was buried with military honors on last Tuesday at State Veterans Cemetery on Bow Lane. Garafalo, a Republican, served four mayoral terms in Middletown. He was elected mayor for three consecutive terms, holding office from 1983-1989, and he served his fourth term two years later from 1991-1993.
The protest surrounding the Middle East Activism 102 workshop on Saturday seemingly came out of nowhere, but had roots as deep as the Israel-Palestine conflict itself. Three weeks ago, faculty members began to contact President Bennet and the Board of Trustees about fears that the conference would foster anti-Semitism. Students called administration officials and discussed their concerns among themselves.
Fuller is from a suburban town outside of Nashville, Tennessee. Fuller is fun and giggly yet she is serious about the work she does for the community.
"Quick, what's an eight letter word that's a synonym of defalcate?" This question and others like it have become common across and down campus as more and more Wesleyan students attempt to tackle the challenges offered to them by the New York Times crossword puzzle.
Sivan Cotel '05 says the name for his record label came to him in a dream. "Visually I saw the name [in my dream] and there was music," he said. That label, Audiokio Productions, is becoming increasingly prominent in the underground hip-hop and rock communities in New York and Michigan.
The men's hockey team skated one step closer to their goal of home ice advantage in the first round of NESCACs with a 3-1 win over the Skidmore Thoroughbreds. With Friday night's game against Castleton University cancelled due to inclement weather, the Cardinals were fresh and ready to go Saturday afternoon at Saratoga Springs, NY to take on Skidmore.
The women's basketball team met Little Three rival Williams at Saturday's senior honors game and served the Ephs with a lovely parting gift: a loss of 68-53. The Cardinals' win along with a triumph over Middlebury the night before puts the women in a four-way tie for second place in the NESCAC. The win improved their record to 16-3.
I haven't seen the movie "Miracle" and I'm not sure if I'm going to. But I've seen a lot of commercials for it recently and have taken a few film classes at Wesleyan, so I feel fairly confident that I can write a professional film review about it. I know most people at Wes could care less about a hockey movie, but I feel it is my duty as a member of the sports intelligentsia to offer my opinions of the film.
The indoor track teams put on impressive performances Saturday, propelling themselves to a strong finish at the Tufts Invitational in Mass. The men's team finished ninth out of the 18 competing teams. Pat Moffett '04 continued his successful season when he triumphed over the other 29 contestants in the 55-meter hurdles, finishing in :07.73.
The wrestling team concluded its dual meet season with four matches over this weekend, garnering two big wins and suffering two defeats. The team first fell on Thurs. at Worcester Polytechnic Institute, as the host handled the Cardinals by a score of 27-11. Sunday the team took on three opponents at Western New England College, losing badly to nationally-ranked Oneonta State 37-7.
Sometimes in sports, David does not take down Goliath. Quite frequently in fact, superior teams dominate opponents that just cannot match up against them. Because it is so incredible when the underdog takes down the giant, fans and causal observers alike tend to sensationalize the outcome of the game and thus legends are born.
This past weekend, the Students for Free Palestine hosted a conference aimed at educating its members on effective methods of activism. In the days leading up to the event, "Activism 102," there was an extreme amount of criticism, both from faculty and students, directed at the administration for allowing the conference to take place on campus.
It occurred to me when I read the Argus article about Richard Stratton's talk that the event needed contextualization and explanation. Just what was a supposedly respectable organization doing bringing in the editor of High Times? The reasons behind this decision speak to the very heart of the battle to end the war on drugs.
Dear Prof. of History Vera Schwarcz, Restraining from a defense of this weekend's conference, (where I learned how to run efficient meetings, make phone trees and four-foot puppets) I think it necessary to show how the tone and language of your Wespeak contributes to silencing a variety of voices.
I am SUPER-PSYCHED about Saturday's "Skill(z) Workshop for Middle Eastern Activists"! I've always LOVED shawarma and HATED oppression, so this looks like the perfect workshop for me! I really don't know too much about the Israel vs. Palestine situation, but I am hoping to learn and find out what team I should be backing. Right now I'm leaning towards Palestine, 'cause they have Yassir Arafat — he won the Noble Peace Prize!
Discourse is key to my understanding of liberal arts. I am of the opinion that, in order to properly form our own system of beliefs, we must hear from every side of the issue at hand. Furthermore, once reached, beliefs are not infallible, and someone who truly cares about their issue will always be open to the potential that they are wrong.
As chairperson of one of the sponsoring organizations of "Activism 102," I'm outraged by the false characterizations of our conference by Professor Vera Schwarcz and the student group Kol Israel. They hurl slurs like "vicious defamation," "hate," and "anti-Semitism" without mentioning a single true fact.
HPV is like the Joe Lieberman of STDs—irritating and displeasing, but probably not disastrous. Both have a peculiar propensity to cause fear and confusion. Where is the Democratic Party going? What are those bumps down there? We know there is something sketchy about HPV but we're not quite sure what, mainly because most of us don't know what the hell it is.
As a Jewish member of the Wesleyan community, I was deeply troubled by Professor Vera Schwarcz's Wespeak condemning Students for a Free Palestine's conference as "nothing less than hatred of Jews." In her Wespeak, Schwarcz takes her place alongside Abraham Foxman, Alan Dershowitz and numerous others in a broad intellectual movement that seeks to redefine anti-Zionism.
Once upon a time there was a man named Vlade Divac. He smoked cigarettes. He took Hollywood by storm. He brought a Yugoslavian flare to a dreary late-80s NBA. But it was in the liberal arts circle where his most impressive legacy came about: The Vlad Squad. For nine years and counting, WESXC and friends have taken the rock to the hole in honor of our favorite center this side of Predrag Drobnjak. 2004 was no different.
Valentine's Day sneaks up without warning every year. Especially when you decide to do a themed double page Ampersand for the week before the big day. Seriously though, we here at the Amper believe that V-Day is the best of the bad, fake, annoying holidays.
*No, no one will be mentioned by name; unfortunately the Ampersand is no longer in the business of "hurting peoples' feelings." Still, we think you'll know who we mean.
It all began in line at Mocon: "Boy, this food isn't very good."
In response to criticisms of delivering anti-Semitic and anti-Israeli messages, the Day of Skills Workshop held at Wesleyan on Saturday evolved into an arts and crafts activity day. The workshop had been surrounded with controversy after Jewish students and faculty complained about the potential for "an orgy of despicable diatribes against Israel and an orgy of anti-Semitic attacks in the guise of anti-Zionist propaganda."
You’ve got to be crazy to be committed. Couples this time of year tend to get smug about their codependent status, often expressed through the maintenance of constant physical contact in public. It’s Valentine’s Day (otherwise known as Prove-Your-Love-for-Me- Right-Here-On-The-Mocon-Salad-Bar-Day). Who gets to prove their love? People whose love needs proving!
The Ampersand would like to mourn the passing of a great man, Adolph Vanderhate. Truly, Adolph was the father of love. Born in Munich, Adolph was the love child of the nephew of Kaiser Wilhelm II, Fritz Vanderhate, and a syphilitic prostitute named "Trixy." The product of a backseat grope-fest in a '29 Benz, Adolph was a particularly unattractive baby.
More than any other holiday, with the possible exception of Boxing Day, Valentine's Day raises questions of how we may fare in the eternal paintball match we call "love." To help get some idea of what lies in store for our faithful readers, the Ampersand has consulted E&ES professor and noted television psychic Jim Culex-Mahoney to learn...