Pity poor David Rosen. The long-suffering Director of Public Relations sits in his office with a perpetual scowl etched on his face as he attempts to staunch the never-ending deluge of PR disasters dropped in his lap by the powers that be. The unfolding MTA mess is only the latest example of mismanagement so blatantly imbecilic and ill-thought out, that, institutionally, this university is beginning to resemble a macabre three-ring circus with perpetual lunacy as the main attraction.

The Ties That Bind

To the "outside eye" our Yeshiva community consists of a startlingly singular populace bound together by the ropes of stereotype and colloquialism. Students are all white male Orthodox Jews, all living on the same campus and seemingly sharing similar philosophies and moral beliefs. Faculty and administration are well-informed of Yeshiva's ideologies, and they conform accordingly.

Watch The Media

Television is the great equalizer. At times it seems that the only thing people have in common is the TV shows they watch. However, unlike average Americans, many of us do not watch wildly popular shows such as "Baywatch" because they offend our religious sensibilities. We adhere to our Rabbi's precepts that call for shielding of the eyes when matters of sexuality are concerned. It was their intention to create impassible boundaries that would protect our mental purity and keep us away from temptation. Their intent was not to keep us ignorant of the world around us, rather it was a safety measure to insure us from falling into the pernicious grip of straying eyes and hearts. The mechanism of halakha was instituted to repulse the visual imagery deemed hazardous to man's spiritual development. It is for this reason that we do not watch Baywatch.

The ideals embodied by the words Torah U'Madda are crumbling. As a high school student, I was recruited to Yeshiva University with the idea of joining a Yeshiva and college where the best of the Torah is uniting with the best of Madda. The combination of these two ideals not only form an institution, but serve as a philosophy to guide myself throughout my life. Yet here I stand - a student who has spent three years watching as a once glorious institution now wallows in the muck of self-implosion and concerns itself more with perception than reality.

Student Soapbox: Sanitary Sanity

It is a little known fact on our campus that in the southern hemisphere, water spins counterclockwise when a toilet is flushed. It is an even lesser known fact on our campus that in our own hemisphere, water spins clockwise when a toilet is flushed. By bringing up these facts, I do not wish to test your knowledge of trivia. My purpose is to bring to light a highly "potent" issue that affects all of us on this campus.

Gus's Corner

The 1999 Red Sarachek High School Basketball Tournament was a success for all those who attended as well as those who spent hundreds of hours putting together the annual tourney. Despite a couple of holes in the tournament plans, (in the roof to be exact - much gratitude to facilities management for their ability to swiftly improvise), the program went from beginning to end without flaw.