Volume 67, Issue 3  

Scheiber’s $36 Million Bequest Finally Released to Yeshiva Students
by Kevin Cyrulnik

After several years of delay, the Yeshiva administration has begun to award the $22 million bequeathed by Anne Scheiber to Yeshiva in 1995 to various Stern College students.  Yeshiva was unable to establish the Anne Scheiber Scholarship and Loan Fund and distribute the money granted to them in Scheiber's will until the resolution of extended probate proceedings. As of now, the gift has matured from its original $22 to $36 million.

9/11 Recap
by Shael Sokolowski

 While citizens nationwide were mourning the deaths of some 3000 people on September 11th, members of the Wilf Campus joined their compatriots in commemorating perhaps the worst attack in American history.  Although the ceremony was well received by student attendees, the program did not draw nearly as many students as its planners had projected.     

Yeshiva To Host First Artist In Residence Program
by Alexander Grange

For the next few months, Yeshiva will host the prescience of Tobi Kahn, the university’s first-ever artist-in-residence.  Professor Shoshana Golin, Yeshiva University’s Adjunct Instructor of Art, has scheduled four events, open to both Wilf and Midtown campus students, for the fall semester.  One additional program, exclusively for the honors art students, will also take place in the upcoming months.

Stanton Elected Board of Trustees Chairman
by Zack Streit

At its first meeting of the academic year, Yeshiva’s Board of Trustees officially appointed Ronald P. Stanton, vice-chairman of the university board and chairman of Yeshiva’s $400 million capital campaign, as the seventh chairman of the Board.   Stanton, whose tenure seems to have been fait accompli as early as June of this year, succeeds Chairman Emeritus Robert M. Beren, who allegedly chose not to seek reelection and thus let his two-year term expire because he would not have garnered the requisite number of votes.

Annual Club Fair Succeeds Beyond Expectations
by Alexander Chester

For those seeking intellectual stimulation in a variety of fields, the vitality of Yeshiva’s many clubs was brought to the fore by the annual Club Fair, an event deemed a success by organizers and students alike. Contrary to last year’s fair which was a “complete and dismal disaster” in the words of Yeshiva Student Union (YSU) Vice President Yaakov Green, this year’s turnout was a pleasant surprise to many, and according to Green, a “great start to the year” for YSU and the Wilf Campus in general.

How many Jewels in a Crown?
by Commentator Staff
 
The figurative bookshelf housing the wide-array of yeshiva’s published Torah literature just became a little more crowded.    Yeshiva College alumnus Chananya Weissman, who is currently a student at the Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary and the Azrieli Graduate School of Jewish Education and Administration, just published his second book: Sefer Keter Chananya.  The work is a compilation of divrei Torah spanning the entire Chumash and select segments of the Talmud. 

The Green Blackout: New Costs Delay WYUR Broadcasting
by Avi Zohar

Internet radio has become an increasingly popular phenomenon on college radio stations across the country.  The payoff is obvious: radio stations can now broadcast to much broader audiences, well beyond the confines of local area broadband.  But the pay-off is dwarfed by the new mandatory payout: a per-person, per-song governmental copyright fee payout.  Indeed, Clemson University, Swarthmore College, and New York University are just a few of the schools that have terminated web casting due to the new fees.   Yeshiva’s very own WYUR, a station still has high hopes of broadcasting this year, has recently encountered the same problem and is being put on hold.  Undergraduate Dean of Students David Himber estimates the fee to be in the ballpark of $75,000, a figure that presupposes that the entire student body will be tuning in for the duration of every broadcast.

Honors Biology Visits Sandy Hook Beach
by Avi Levine

On Sunday, October 8th, the Honors Fundamentals of Biology class embarked on their first-ever field trip to the New Jersey Marine Sciences Consortium (NJMSC) in Sandy Hook, New Jersey.  Once there, students explored key coastal habitats and drew primary water samples for an upcoming laboratory experiment on water quality.

Morris Fills Hyman’s Void
by Kevin Cyrulnik

After a seven-month search, Yeshiva has finally hired an Assistant Director of Admissions to fill the post formerly held by Ryan Hyman.  The Office of Admissions first contacted Danny Morris, former Director of Student Affairs at The Marsha Stern Talmudic Academy Yeshiva University High School for Boys regarding the vacancy shortly after Hyman’s departure in February of 2002.  Although several months passed between Morris formally applying for the position and his hiring, both Morris and Dean of Admissions Moish Kranzler, are ecstatic about working together.

Incompetence Means No Presidents for JSS, SBMP
by Alexander Chester

A new constitution, a Student Services shake-up, honest mistakes, and assumptions by a number of people have resulted in leaving half of Wilf Campus undergraduates without a president representing their Jewish Studies Programs.  Both the Stone Beit Medrash Program (SBMP) and the James Striar School (JSS) are currently six weeks into the semester but do not have presidents on their respective student council boards.

Lee Heads Honors Program;
Strives for Continuation of Excellence
by Zalman Abramchik

This past June, Dr. Will Lee was named director of The Jay and Jeanie Schottenstien Honors Program at Yeshiva College.  Lee, who took over as acting director from Dr. Frank Felsenstein in June 2001, has been involved with the program since its inception

News Briefs
Library Begins Saturday Night Hours
Dr. Honigswachs Named University Registrar
Psych Professor Contracts Tumor
For Your Listening Pleasure, an Expanded Torah Tape Library
Arthur Hertzberg Authors New Book

Students Demand New Van Service Take Back Seat
by Aaron Kraft

Every day, scores of students gather at the corner of Amsterdam Avenue and 185th Street awaiting either the intercampus or local Yeshiva shuttle.  Some are on their way to the train station, others to the bus stop, while many others are simply heading for a visit to Midtown.  Whatever their destination, students want to know that they can rely on the shuttle service.  Since last year’s major service overhaul, however, the administration is continuing to trigger vociferous student opposition that shows no sign of waning.

Presidential Search Hits Standstill
Dual Position a Possibility
by Yehoshua Levine

Sources close to The Commentator have discovered that top administrators and Executive Board members are seriously considering the designation of two leaders to succeed current Yeshiva President Dr. Norman Lamm.  These recent considerations began immediately after the Sukkos holiday, when the only two remaining candidates for president, Drs. David Schnall and David Shatz, withdrew their names from consideration. Although the Selection Committee, under the new chairmanship of Ronald P. Stanton, has not yet officially convened to discuss such a proposal, Yeshiva administrators and rabbeim have been working behind the scenes to nominate Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary Rosh Hayeshiva Rabbi Michael Rosensweig and Stern College for Women Dean Dr. Karen Bacon as candidates for the possibly two-person job.

Ranked Forty and Rising
by Joshua Kessler

U.S. News and World Report’s 2003 annual special report, “America's Best Colleges,” put Yeshiva at number 40, its highest rank ever, on its list of the top fifty universities in America.  The 40th slot was shared with Boston College and Lehigh University in Pennsylvania, and was only five places behind New York University.  A close examination of the U.S. News survey, however, reveals some recurring problems with Yeshiva’s academic and fiscal policy.

Senate Briefs
by Ariel Weinstock

On Thursday, October 3, the Yeshiva University Student/Faculty Senate convened once again to begin another term debating and formulating academic policies.  The focus of the meeting was to create a working agenda of issues that would be addressed over the course of the coming school year. 

Guide to the Perplexed Now Available
by Michael H. Chiert 

Attending school in New York City affords students the incredible opportunity to explore the greatest city in the world.  From the theaters that line Times Square, to the plethora of Kosher restaurants dotted around the city, to the shopping boutiques buried in the Village, incoming and returning students know that they’re in for some fun.  But, where to begin?

Undergraduate Catalog Online After 2 Year Absence
by Alan Goldsmith

The Yeshiva University Undergraduate Catalog, which was last seen four years ago, has now been updated for 2002-04 in an online version.  The catalog’s new edition was overseen by Amy Rotheim Sullivan, the Associate Director of Enrollment Management, and consists of a compilation of faculty listings, class descriptions, and program and graduation requirements.

Wilf Campus Improvements to Debut:
Students Question Enhancements’ Necessity
by Moshe Greenbaum
 
Though Yeshiva officials were quick to publicize the Wilf Family’s philanthropic donation to the university this past spring and the subsequent renaming of the Uptown Campus, many Wilf Campus students seem to think that they were far less diligent in utilizing the gift.  But that is supposed to change.

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