The Commentator

Lamm Confers Butler with Degree, Surprise Ceremony Held at Airport Pinchas Shapiro On a ninety-minute layover, in an airport conference room, Yeshiva President Rabbi Dr. Norman Lamm conferred a Bachelors of Arts Degree upon Mikey Butler, Yeshiva College Senior and Student Council Vice President. Mikey, who suffers from cystic fibrosis has been unable to attend most of his classes this semester and has been conducting correspondence courses with Yeshiva College.... New Cafe to Open on Campus Ezri Silver During the week of December 2nd, the vacant storefront formerly occupied by Posman's Collegiate Bookstore on the corner of 184th Street and Amsterdam Avenue will open its doors once again, reincarnated as a new Uptown haunt. The highly anticipated cafˇ, which will be called "Kaffiene," will provide a nearby oasis for Yeshiva students and faculty to fraternize, eat, and relax.... Halpert Begins 30th Season As Macs Head Coach Jeremy Neiss For at least four nights a week, three hours a night between October and February, the Yeshiva University Maccabees basketball team practices in the Max Stern Athletic Center under the watchful eye of their head coach Dr. Jonathan Halpert. A Yeshiva University fixture, Coach Halpert can trace his personal association with the school to 1958 when he first entered the Marsha Stern Talmudical Academy as a high school freshman.... Academic Advisement Arrives at Syms Alan Goldsmith In an effort to guide its business students toward constructive curricular decision-making, the Sy Syms School of Business has recently designated Adjunct Assistant Professor of Marketing and Management Dr. Richard Williams coordinator of the school's academic advisement.... ChanuKasino A Success Joshua Strauss Much planning culminated last Thursday night in ChanuKasino II, a successful event run in Weissberg Commons by the Yeshiva College and Stern College for Women Student Councils. The fourth joint event of the year drew an estimated 310 students throughout the evening.... Bockstein Letter Indirectly Addresses Student 'Net Piracy Steven I. Weiss Yeshiva General Counsel Martin Bockstein sent a mass e-mail to Yeshiva students on Wednesday, November 14th, informing the university community of a recent copyright infringement notice sent to the school by the Sony Corporation.... Bibi Adresses Student Body for Third Year in a Row Dovid Rosen "Arafat is not part of the problem, he is the problem," proclaimed a tired, yet confident Benjamin Netanyahu as he addressed a packed crowed in Yeshiva's Lamport Auditorium on Monday night, December 3.... Students Find Bugs in Cafeteria Soup Joshua Strauss Twice over the past two months, bugs have been found in cafeteria dishes, raising questions regarding the kashrus and cleanliness procedures practiced by Yeshiva's Food Services Adminstration.... Chanukah Concert To Rock Lamport with Shalsheles and Fried Shlomo Greenwald After months of intense planning and preparation, the Yeshiva College and Stern College for Women Student Councils have pronounced that this year's annual Chanukah Concert will feature Avraham Fried and the hit group Shalsheles.... Jerome Groopman Delivers Book Project Lecture Amitai Blickstein What business of ours is the suffering of others? What are a doctor's obligations to a patient, not just as a person in search of a cure, but also as a human being? These are examples of the powerful questions posed to Dr. Jerome Groopman.... Poor Club Fair Showing Leads Some to Question YCSC Jamie Hirsch After several major delays, the annual Yeshiva College Student Council Club Fair, which promotes and presents the various undergraduate clubs Yeshiva has to offer, finally took place on Thursday night, November 8th.... YCSC Debuts "Nervus Circus" Zev Bannett On November 1, 2001, Yeshiva University hosted "Nervus Circus," which brought the famed Coney Island Side Show Circus for a night of student entertainment.... Computer Improvements Welcomed at Yeshiva Joshua Strauss Upon their arrival in August, many returning students noticed the new sleek black Dell computers lining the desks of the Pollack Library.... Rabbi Tendler Speaks on Bioterrorism: "Panic is Our Worst Fear" Alan Goldsmith On Thursday, November 8th, Rosh HaYeshiva and Yeshiva College Professor of Biology Rabbi Dr. Moshe Tendler delivered a lecture on bioterrorism. Attended by approximately 40 faculty and students, the lecture addressed moral and practical issues that the post-September 11th Western World now faces.... Maya Angelou Inaugurates Stern Scholars Program Yehoshua Levine On Wednesday, November 28th, Stern College for Women hosted world-renowned poet and author Dr. Maya Angelou. Although the lecture drew hundreds who later offered only positive feedback, it was open exclusively to Midtown Stern College and Sy Syms School students, a limitation that frustrated many potentially interested Uptown students.... Confusion Surrounds Late Morg Mart Openning Jamie Hirsch After a mysteriously lengthy hiatus, Yeshiva's unofficial student-run deli and grocery store, Morg Mart, has finally reopened its basement doors in the Morgenstern Residence Hall. With cashiers selected and shelves brimming with provisions, questions concerning day-to-day organization, profit sharing, and management continue to baffle students.... Kukin Chemistry Lecture Series Starts Second Decade With Address by Dr. Mary Good Joshua Strauss On Monday, November 12th, Yeshiva's Department of Chemistry hosted Dr. Mary Good for the 11th annual Ira Kukin Lecture. The lecture, entitled, "Science and Technology Policy: Why You Should Care," touched on many of the policy issues currently confronting the scientific community and the American government.... R' Horowitz Receives Lipshitz Memorial Chair Michael Hoffman A spell of moving speeches reverberated throughout the main Beis Medrash on Wednesday, November 7th, as RIETS Rosh HaYeshiva Rabbi David Horowitz assumed the Rabbi David Lipshitz Chair of Talmud.... Underclassman Elections Held Zev Bannett Proceedings of the Student Council elections for the freshman and sophomore classes were unexpectedly delayed this year as a result of the September 11th terrorist attacks. Despite this, actual elections still took place on schedule, with student voters going to the polls on November 8, 2001.... Accounting Society Attracts New Members Uri Miller Most accounting students only discover the Mildred Schlessberg Accounting Society when consulting the Office of Placement and Career Services for generic resume padding right around recruiting time. The Office of Placement and Career Services throws it around like a buzzword: "Member, Accounting Society.".... Leadership Now' at Eimatai Conference Jamie Hirsch On October 21-23, the Max Stern Division of Communal Services held its annual Eimatai student leadership conference in Upstate New York. Sixty-five students from twelve Yeshiva high schools around the country participated in leadership training sessions, activities, and discussions over the three-day program.... Shabbos Program Draws Heat for Thanksgiving Shutdown Jamie Hirsch As has been the case for the past several years, Yeshiva University was officially closed for the Shabbos of Thanksgiving weekend. Administrators assert that this closure was primarily due to a lack of demand on the part of the student body.... Uptown Student Life Committee Off to Slow Start Kevin Cyrulnik The Student Life Committee, the primary conduit of Uptown student sentiment and concern to the University administration, has to date convened only once this semester. Although there is no required quota of meetings for the assembly comprised of select student leaders and assorted administrators, the committee has habitually met approximately every three weeks.... Security Increases in Response to September 11th Attacks Jamie Hirsch In response to the September 11th assaults on America, Yeshiva has taken several measures to increase on-campus security. Although security maintains that there is no impending threat on the Yeshiva community, the University is taking a number of precautionary steps to ensure the safeguarding of the community, nevertheless.... Administration Considers Cable in Dorms Yaakov Green A proposal to have cable TV wired into the dorms of Yeshiva's uptown campus was raised by student leaders last semester, and is slowly working its way through preliminary approval stages. The plan appears be receiving a tentative green light from some of the Yeshiva Administration, provided that issues such as some channel selection and other technical details are sorted out....