Volume 67, Issue 7

Students Choose Between RIETS and Chovevei Torah
by Avi Robinson

Founded in 1999, Yeshivat Chovevei Torah (YCT) has rooted itself as the institution of choice for the “left-wing” Orthodox and has been actively recruiting on the Wilf Campus. Presenting alternatives to Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary (RIETS) in both curriculum and in ideology, the self-described “Open Orthodox Rabbinical School” has quietly begun to lure students from RIETS and has provoked questioning from others who remain about their own school’s direction.

Mission Statements: REITS and Chovevei Torah

Yeshiva’s [Nonexistent] Academic Integrity Policy
Students, Faculty Look to Eradicate Cheating
by Zev Nagel

Following the epidemic of scandals ensued by the Enron affair, WABC television visited Sy Syms School of Business to interview faculty and students.  What intrigued the TV stations’ news producers enough to include Yeshiva in an investigation on corporate dishonesty?

Economically Eradicating Cheating
by Commentator Staff

At the behest of Associate Professor of Economics, Dr. Elias Grivoyannis, Yeshiva College mathematics major Uri Hertzberg devised a Game Theory model displaying an approach that decreases incidents of cheating.  Game Theory is a relatively new topic that explains the strategies that players in a game use, and analyzes the final payoffs of a given game.

Mounting Opposition to Brill Firing
By Zach Abramowitz 

More than a month after Assistant Professor of Judaic Studies Dr. Alan Brill was denied tenure, many students and faculty are still furious and disillusioned with the administrations over the decision.  If not revoked, the verdict will terminate his Yeshiva career, where he teaches philosophy, Jewish philosophy, kabbalah, and Jewish History, at yeshiva College and mysticism and Chasidism at the Bernard Revel Graduate School of Jewish Studies, at the end of the 2004 spring semester.

Pre-Law
by Eli Feldblum

This past year, only a few survivors escaped unscathed from the tumultuous bear market.  A select few even benefited; but an undisputed corollary of the market’s plunge has been the precipitous rise in graduate school enrollment.  It seems almost that for each point the stock market drops, another thousand students apply to law schools.  Harvard, Yale, Columbia, NYU, Cardozo, and Fordham law schools all reported a record number of applications last year, with each school averaging around 8000 applicants.  So what, in this increasingly fierce competition, can applicants do to assure themselves one of these coveted spots?

Tenure Troubles
by Yonatan Miller

The recent denial of tenure to Dr. Alan Brill, Assistant Professor of Judaic Studies, has raised a number of serious questions regarding Yeshiva College’s official tenure policy.  Although the case of Brill is the most recent and poignant example of this issue, this cannot overshadow the numerous tenure debacles in recent years that have left many questioning whether the decision makers take the future of YC seriously.

Panim: Bringing Jewish Pride to College Campuses
by Joe Greene

Are you interested in providing an informative and evocative Shabbos to Jews who might be lacking the weekly luxury on university campuses nationwide? Does a Carlebach-style Kabalat Shabbat and continued discussions about Judaism lasting late into the night interest you?  If so, then you might consider exploring Panim.

Hey Buddy, Can You Spare a Parking Spot?
by Yoel Preminger

Several weeks ago, more than ten Yeshiva students received $105 parking tickets for double-parking on 186th Street between Amsterdam Avenue and Laurel Hill Terrace during street cleaning.  This certainly was not the first time that people have received tickets for double-parking during street cleaning.  And it wasn’t the first time for many Yeshiva students either.

Looking Ahead to Technological Advancements
Department In Focus: Computer Science
by Hillel Broder

In todays technologically dependant world, computer expertise has emerged as a crucial discipline to scientific and technical advancement.  And that truth isn’t lost on Yeshiva.  Indeed, Yeshiva’s Computer Science department is working tirelessly to keep up with today’s exponential technological growth, but some faculty and students insist that a lack of qualified professors is hampering progress.

Iranian Club
by Joe Greene

Due to an influx of Sephardim at Yeshiva over the past decade, Sephardi students slowly began feeling that one club just wasn’t enough for them.  Seizing on this sentiment, Omid Nikrauz, a Yeshiva student of Iranian decent, founded the Iranian club in 1999.

The Riddle Column
Ray Mizrahi

Welcome to the Riddle Column.  Before we begin, a brief introduction seems in order.  First, I want to assure you that riddles will be difficult.  No-brainers ain’t happening.  Occasionally, some statistical knowledge is needed, but, for the most part, simple logic will suffice. There are no tricks, and all the riddles have valid answers.  Solutions, for those of you towel-throwers, will be posted in the next issue, along with another tantalizing, head-scratcher. As much as I’d love to claim authenticity, the people who drew up most of these riddles had far more spare time than the average Yeshiva student and far too much time for their own good.  We’ll start of with a classic for all you novices out there.  Here goes.  

What do you think? Click here to send a letter to the editors.
All content is copyright © Yeshiva University Commentator.