STAFF EDITORIAL | RESCOLLEGE ROUND IS FLAWED | SEE FORUM, PAGE 4
STUDENT LIFE
THE INDEPENDENT NEWSPAPER OF WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY IN ST. LOUIS SINCE 1878 VOLUME 129, NO. 49
SU to fund College Dems protest of Gonzales BY PERRY STEIN NEWS EDITOR After exchanging heated dialogue until past 1 a.m. on Wednesday morning, a majority of the 16 present treasury members voted to approve the College Democrats’ appeal and help fund their protest against Alberto Gonzales, whose upcoming speech on campus will be partially funded by Student Union. Much of the controversy within the Treasury stems from what some members view as the inherent contradiction of inviting Gonzales to campus and then enabling another student group to protest his policies. “It will make us look foolish on a national scale, though I support the Democrats’ right to protest,” said senior John Ablan, a budget committee member. The College Democrats originally appealed for $3,605.63. However, the treasury voted to give the student group $636.74 for supplies. Included in the original proposal were food for the protesters and T-shirts that would have potentially said “Waterboarding: Not just for fascist dictators anymore.” The group had intended to use the shirts as a way to identify protestors as Washington
STAFF REPORTER Washington University hired almost 30 new professors in the College of Arts & Sciences last year. A search for new faculty is underway in the School of Engineering, and several other University departments are seeking new members. All potential candidates face a long and highly competitive selection process. University departments announce available positions about one year before the appointment is set to begin. Professors who lead the search for new faculty post notices of openings on the Internet and in academic journals. Depending on the needs of their department, these search committees also contact other professors and graduate school advisors. Thomas Sattig, an assistant professor in the department of philosophy, taught at UCLA and Tulane University before coming to the University in 2007. He was motivated by the strength of the department. “I learned about the opening from Jobs for Philosophers, the central publication for philosophy in the U.S.,” said Sattig. “My sense was that everyone was working on making an already very good department a really great one.” Charly Coleman, an assistant professor in the department of history, discovered that a tenure-track position was available by using the H-Net Job Guide, an
Chabad looks to enhance Birthright experience v Newly funded program will provide
post-Birthright programming BY CAMILLE FISHER CONTRIBUTING REPORTER
COURTESY OF SCOTT ROBERTSON | INDEPENDENT FLORIDA ALLIGATOR
A protestor dressed as a prisoner interrupts former U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales’ speech in the Phillips Center of Performing Arts at the University of Florida at Gainesville on Nov. 19, 2007. On Wednesday night, the Treasury granted funding to the College Democrats for a protest of Gonzales’ speech; College Democrats has stated that their protest will not disrupt the event. University students for security purposes. In the approved appeal, Treasury did not allocate money for the group to purchase shirts or food. “We’re just happy to have Treasury support and have Student Union backing of our protest. We’re happy treasury
As departments grow, faculty selection remains competitive BY GREGG RE
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FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 1, 2008
online resource for historians. Applicants for faculty positions—from the College of Arts & Sciences to the School of Engineering—require a résumé, cover letter, at least three academic references and recommendations and samples of scholarly writings and research. Then come the interviews. “I was asked to meet members of the search committee in early January at the annual meeting of the American Historical Association,” said Coleman. “I spent several tense weeks waiting to learn whether I would progress to the penultimate stage of the hiring process, the campus visit.” Applicants who are invited to visit campus spend several days exploring the campus and discussing their research interests with potential coworkers. Sattig, who was also interviewed at a major academic convention, described the campus visit as an important factor in his decision to attend the University. “It became clear quickly that the department and indeed the University on the whole currently have a lot of momentum,” said Sattig. Coleman was also busy during his 48-hour visit to campus. He gave a lecture, led a discussion about teaching in the Interdisciplinary Project in the Humanities and met with his potential coworkers. Though the University competes with other top schools for these elite applicants, the selec-
See FACULTY, page 2
recognizes the importance of what we’re doing,” said College Democrats Treasurer Eric Reif. “We asked for a third of what treasury approved for Alberto Gonzales, so we are a little disappointed that they didn’t approve our number when they so blatantly improved the other
number.” During the meeting, Reif and College Democrats President Ben Guthorn said that they and the 500 anticipated participants are not protesting Gonzales speaking on campus, but rather
See PROTEST, page 2
ACTOR FROM ‘THE WEST WING’ STUMPS FOR OBAMA
EITAN HOCHESTER | STUDENT LIFE
Dulé Hill, who played Charlie Young on NBC’s “The West Wing,” spoke on Thursday at Kayak’s Coffee on Skinker Boulevard to support Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois.
See BIRTHRIGHT, page 2
SU hopes to eliminate cardio fee for next year BY BEN SALES NEWS EDITOR Student Union (SU) will place a clause on the ballot this coming March approving block funding to eliminate the cardio fee and improve the weight room in the Athletic Complex (AC). “Our ultimate goal, the long term goal would be to do a complete revamping of the athletic facilities available to the athletes and students,” said SU Senator Eric Gradel, a senior. “The University does not place a big enough emphasis on its fitness
facilities.” By eliminating the cardio fee, SU hopes to take one obstacle away from students wishing to stay fit on campus. Improvement of the weight room is directed toward the same goal, and SU President Neil Patel is also working to keep the AC open longer. “One of our goals when we were campaigning [last year] was to improve fitness facilities on campus,” said Patel, a senior. “[We had] three goals: to improve equipment, reduce or eliminate cardio fees and to extend the
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It is estimated that one in three young American Jews will go on a Taglit-Birthright Israel trip, according to Rabbi Hershey Novack of Chabad on Campus. With a $10,000 grant from a private philanthropic foundation, Novack will establish postBirthright Israel programs, with the mission of empowering, “Birthright Israel participants to advance their engagement with Israel and Judaism upon their return to campus.” Birthright trips run throughout the year, often timed for University break, and come in dozens of variations; several campus organizations lead Birthright trips including Chabad on Campus and Hillel. Participants can choose between everything from hiking to meeting Israeli soldiers. All trips include visits to historical sites and extensive touring of the country. “Having been to Israel, I do feel I can relate a bit more when I read about it in the news,” said
senior Zachary Steinert-Threkeld. “I was at the Golan Heights, drove through the West Bank, went to the Western Wall [and] went to the Holocaust Museum.” But to Rabbi Novack, there’s a catch in the organization of the program. “The great flaw of the trip is inherent to its being a trip,” said Novack. “When participants come back to America, the question is, what does the American-Jewish enterprise provide to allow these young adults to express their sense of Jewish identity and ongoing Israel involvement?” Taglit-Birthright Israel aims to strengthen worldwide Jewish solidarity, and Novack said he thinks it should not stop once students return to campus. “I don’t believe the American-Jewish community has fully reaped the benefits of the sense of heightened Jewish identity and Jewish awareness that students gain from the trip,” said Novack. The project that Chabad on Campus is undertaking is not the first of its kind nationally, but it will be the first follow up program available at the University. “I think it would be a great opportunity to continue the questions and dialogue about what is going on in the State of Israel and the Middle East because those issues have been opened up from visiting Israel,” said senior Laelle Busch. Busch added that because the question is by definition an open-ended dialogue, there are no easy clear-cut answers, and there should be no conclusion to the conversation. Novack has yet to design his post-Birthright program, but he knows its general shape. Upon return from Israel, fellow Jewish students will greet Birthright Israel participants and help participants translate their experiences to the United States. In the upcoming weeks, Rabbi Novack plans to hire University students who understand and support the mission of Birthright Israel as Peer Fellows.
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hours of the AC. The goal of the block funding proposal is to achieve all three goals and get the funding in place.” Patel added that he expects the proposition to pass. “I feel confident that this will get a lot of attention,” he said. “I’ll try my best to get it passed. We have a lot of support. We have the support of athletes on campus.” In that vein, Gradel noted that students who care about this issue will make sure to vote when the time comes. “I plan on putting a lot of
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hours into advertising and campaigning on behalf of the proposal,” he said. “We don’t need a majority of all students. We need a majority of people who have voted. The people that vote care about this. That will probably push the vote in favor of the proposal.” The proposal, according to Patel, is one of the first steps of a longer process to initiate general improvement of the fitness options available at the University.
See CARDIO FEE, page 2
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