Volume 67, Issue 7

Renowned Writer Brings Unique Style to Fiction Reading
Yeshiva College Team Victorious in School-Wide Trivia Bowl
English Colloquium Draws Faculty, But Not Students
Kaplan Offers LSAT Review Course on Campus
MCDCS Initiates Successful Thursday Night Learning Program
Emergency Parking

Renowned Writer Brings Unique Style to Fiction Reading

On December 3, Victoria Redel, a noted writer of fiction of poetry, read selections from several of her works to a gathering of Yeshiva students and faculty.

Her first reading was about children reflecting and expounding upon the rich and varied ethnic traditions of their Jewish family roots.  The reflections, which Redel recorded in great detail, stem purely from her own personal creativity and interactions, not from extensive research. “I’m not interested as much with plot as with language on the page and with character,” said Redel.

Redel then read from her latest novel, Loverboy, which was published in 2001 and won her the S. Mariella Gable Novel Award. The passages she narrated described a woman’s love of her young son, who, the passage reveals, was conceived of through one of many encounters with different men. The writing spoke of the mother’s obsession with her son, and her anxiety regarding his potential separation from her in the future.

The bulk of the attending students are currently enrolled in Creative Writing, taught by Adjunct Assistant Professor of English Susan Thames, who was a former colleague of Redel’s at Sarah Lawrence.  “I don’t know a more elegant writer or teacher,” Thames said about Redel

Redel, a graduate of Dartmouth with a Masters Degree in Fine Arts from Columbia, is a writer of poetry and short fiction. She currently teaches at Sarah Lawrence College. 

Yeshiva College Team Victorious in School-Wide Trivia Bowl

Although last year’s lapse was a first for the annual Yeshiva Bowl, this year’s Bowl, which did take place, also featured a number of original occurences.  Taking place in Koch Auditorium on the Midtown campus, the Trivia Bowl featured pizza, drinks, and Rubik’s cube key-chains for all participants.  A new format was also utilized, which seemed to be more popular with the students. One student noted that, “it was more interactive than it was in 2000, even though it seemed unorganized at times.”

Overall, six teams competed, four from Stern and two from Yeshiva. Unexpectedly, the two Yeshiva teams made the final round. Elchanan Neubauer, Alan Goldsmith, Ben Shlomo, Josh Pollack, and Binyamin Mayefesky finally eked out a victory in the second run-off, after two final rounds ended in ties between the remaining teams.  The first place prize was a check for $100, split among the winners, while second place won a Stern College Trivia sweatshirt for each team member. The third place winners were awarded T-shirts.

Masters of Ceremony Josh Moser and Miryam Khavarani ran the event with aplomb, after the resignation of primary question-writer David Druce, who heads this year's Yeshiva Academic Team.

Positive student sentiment seems to indicate that the event’s success will not be short-lived.  “This was a great event, and I’m looking forward to next year,” said one Stern College for Woman sophomore.  “I’m going to brush up on my trivia to win that first prize, so I can buy my momma a new house like she’s always wanted.”

English Colloquium Draws Faculty, But Not Students

On Thursday, December 12, the English Department hosted its second faculty colloquium of the semester. Dr. Lauren Fitzgerald, the featured speaker, lectured on the topic of “Peers versus Professionals: What are undergraduate Writing Center tutors and why does it matter?” The audience, comprised of nearly the entire English faculty, enjoyed the speech, but, unfortunately, only one student managed to attend.

“For the second of these talks in a row, I was the only student to show up,” said Yeshiva College senior and Writing Center tutor Shimon Klayman.

The topic of this colloquium was professionalism, a hot topic of research among sociologists and other academics. Dr. Fitzgerald's speech delved into how the attempt to define “professional” or “professionalism” is relevant to Writing Center peer tutors. On the one hand, she explained, peer tutors cannot be professionals because they are only undergraduates.  But, on the other hand, they do earn salaries.  In reconciling the two, Fitzgerald ultimately reasoned that the general work of the Writing Center falls under the umbrella of professionalism.

English colloquia were spearheaded last year at the recommendation of Professor Elizabeth Stewart. After hosting three last year, the program was expanded for the 2002-03 school year, with English Department Chair Dr. Richard Nochimson delivering this year’s inaugural Colloquium lecture.

Although Klayman was also the sole attending student at Nochimson’s lecture, the organizers had high hopes that Fitzgerald’s topic would attract a broader audience. The fact that many other events were taking place simultaneously and that students were already engaged in studying for exams were said to be the two factors responsible for the sparse attendance.

“I would have been interested in attending, but my schedule is just overbooked right now,” said Sy Syms sophomore Avraham Sinensky. “Hopefully, future English colloquia will take place earlier in the semester, when students are under less pressure."

Kaplan Offers LSAT Review Course on Campus

Kaplan, the well-known test preparation organization, is offering an LSAT review course on the Wilf Campus in the Spring semester. According to campus liaison Jonathan Mantell, a Sy Syms senior, the course is identical to the regular course given in the Kaplan centers downtown, but they will be available on campus.

“The beauty of this is that the courses are being offered for the same price, but now students have the convenience of taking the courses on campus,” said Mantell.

The course is open to all students in Sy Syms School of Business, Yeshiva College, and Stern College for Women.  Although similar courses for the MCAT, GMAT, GRE, and DAT are possibilities, Kaplan is concerned that the limited demand would not make the offering of such courses cost-effective.

Because of its target audience, Kaplan has scheduled its on-campus LSAT review course around Shabbas and Yom Tov.  The same arrangement would also be made for other review courses, assuming they generate enough interest.

Mantell mentioned that students have responded positively to the LSAT course, which is almost at full capacity. Anyone still interested in signing up for the course should contact him immediately at 646-685-2625, or jmantell@ymail.yu.edu.

MCDCS Initiates Successful Thursday Night Learning Program

Attempting to forge a stronger bond between yeshiva high school students in the tri-state area and the Yeshiva University community, the Max Stern Division of Communal Services (MSDCS) has recently launched the Thursday night “mishmar” learning program.

Many of the participating high school students, which come from a range of schools, including TABC, Frisch, Ramaz, Flatbush, and Rambam, have already been making weekly learning pilgrimages to Yeshiva Thursday nights for quite some time. According to MSDCS intern Joel Jerozalim, the goal is to extend these programs to involve even more students. Last week, about 75 high school students attended. “It was a pretty successful kickoff event,” says Jerozalim. “We’ve got a lot of positive feedback.”

The goal is that once a month a similar event will take place, with food from Dougie's available following the event. Ideally, Jerozalim hopes to institute a weekly program.

“I think it’s a great way to create a kesher between YU guys and high school guys on a personal level, while developing a relationship on the organizational level as well,” said one Yeshiva student who learns with a high school boy every week.

“My rabbis are really impressed that I take time to learn after school,” said Ramaz freshman Yitz Landes. “I am glad that YU is supporting this program, and hopefully it will expand in the future.”

MSDCS and a number of the high schools that encourage their students to attend Yeshiva’s mishmar have taken it upon themselves to fund the program.

For more information, contact the office of the Max Stern Division of Communal Services.

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