In world history, the Holocaust stands out like a horrible scar. Perhaps no singular event has impacted the world as heavily. The current generation is fortunate for the opportuniry to learn from the horrors of the Holocaust directly from a first-person perspective—learning about it from a person who lived through it. Marion Blumenthal Lazan is one of those people. On Tuesday, Marion spoke in the Special Events Center about her acclaimed memoir, “Four Perfect Pebbles: A Holocaust Story.” The expected attendance was 400 to 450 people, but about 1,000 showed up, forcing the organizers to set up folding chairs on the stage for people to sit in. The surprisingly large crowd came to hear Lazan described in-depth the uprising of anti-Semitic practices and laws in her homeland. After the passing of the Nuremberg laws in 1935, that took away basic rights for the Jewish people and segregated them into a completely different race, Lazan’s father, a shoemaker, decided it was time to leave Germany and head for the safe haven... ...
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Author Archives : waynehoseck
Well it is finally here. The end. The semester starts off with jolly students whistling and skipping to new classes, but ends with two gray weeks of mental battery at the behest of sinister professors sitting at desks, wringing their hands and laughing maniacally at their students’ suffering. No wonder these weeks are aptly named “dead” week and then, ultimately, “finals” week. Dead week sounds bad, but it can be the lesser of two evils, a time of quiet preparation for the hurricane-like torrent known as finals week. This is why the angels in the Student Involvement and Leadership center at Boise State offer numerous ways to help students relieve some of the pressure caused by finals. The kickoff is the Night Owl Breakfast, taking place from 9 p.m. to 11 p.m. at the Boise River Cafe (BRC). There will be games, prizes and massages, as well as delicious food prepared by members of the faculty. During dead week, the library has extended its hours to help students with their... ...
Read More →There is no real definition of a non-traditional student. It is much too broad of a term to be able to categorize. Non-traditional students include: Older students, students who did not graduate high school but got a GED, students who delayed enrollment (meaning they did not attend college right after they left high school) minority students, students considered independent and students who claim other dependents such as children. More than half of the students who attend Boise State are considered non-traditional students, around 51 percent. This puts the nontraditional student into a unique category, called a concentrated population. Over the last three years, Associated Students of Boise State University (ASBSU) has gone through a lot of very significant changes. In fact, the system that created the three main sections of ASBSU, executive council, student assembly and the directors, were just instituted last year for the first time. This year, the size of the executive council was decreased and the number of seats available for the student assembly were raised by... ...
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Students are broke, really broke. With the cost of tuition, books and school supplies, how is anyone supposed to even eat? Well, if this is an issue, here is some good news: starting last month, St. Paul’s Catholic Student Center, directly across from the administration building on Joyce Street, now has a student food pantry open two days a week. In late January 2011, Ben Moore, the director of Crosswalks Campus Ministries, happened to pick up an issue of The Arbiter. In the issue was an article discussing how University of California Davis, had begun a program called the UC Davis food bank, to help students who were in distress over the rising cost of tuition and food. A study they had done on their campus showed 25 percent of students sometimes skipped meals just to save money. The pantry’s goal was to provide students with free easy-to-make meals they could take home and prepare themselves. Moore thought this was a great idea, and if it worked for UC Davis,... ...
Read More →While most people are focusing their attention on the presidential election, there are some who are more focused on homegrown matters–issues that are also on the ballot, effecting life right here in Idaho. One of the most popular issue being proposed are Propositions 1, 2 and 3 or the “Luna Laws.” State Superintendent of Schools Tom Luna, has been in the news a lot recently and the state is in a furor, not really knowing how to handle the giant changes Luna is calling upon for the entire Idaho school system in a reform program called “Students Come First.” Propositions 1, 2 and 3 are the proposals to repeal the laws, which were put forward by Luna last year, and signed off by Gov. Butch Otter, who was an outspoken supporter of all three bills. The propositions are a way for the public in Idaho to have a say on whether these laws should be repealed or not. Senate Bill 1108 is a bill that removes the collective bargaining rights... ...
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On a chilly Friday afternoon, at the Boas soccer complex, the girls soccer team came out against a tough conference opponent Nevada. Before the game started, the team and fans wished a fond farewell to the senior players, as it was their last regular season game as Broncos. Ebie Harris, Megan Blanchard, Brianne Favatella, Erica Parks, Brandy Hickcox, Janelle Jin and Mandy Nader were the acknowledged seniors. The game started out slow, with both teams fighting for a foothold, or a chance to score. Boise State had more shots in the first half, at 11, but out of Nevada’s seven shots, four of them were awarded corner kicks. The Wolfpack was unable to capitalize on these four opportunities, thanks to senior Bronco goal keeper Megan Blanchard. The game was touch and go for most of the first half, until the 43rd minute, when, off of a dual-assist by sophomore Shannon Schueren and freshman Dominique Banks, junior player Ashley Hruby scored her first goal of the season, by arching the ball... ...
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On Tuesday night, President Barack Obama and Gov. Mitt Romney of Massachusetts carried out their second presidential debate. This debate was “town hall” style, which means the questions were chosen by 82 uncommitted voters and asked to the presidential candidates by the voters themselves. A wide variety of topics were covered, from the sluggish economy to each candidate’s position on fuel. Unlike the last debate, Obama came out in full force, directly attacking Romney throughout the debate on his five-point plan and his fuel proposals. Romney, rather than defend himself, retorted with like-minded attacks, blaming Obama’s administration for the economic slump and the high unemployment rate. Boise State Political Science Professor Ross Burkhart, Ph.D. said, in an e-mail, “Governor Romney effectively critiqued the economic difficulties of the US over the past four years, implying that under a second Obama Administration there would be more of the same mediocre economic performance.” But, despite pointing out the flaws with Obama’s administration, many people are still arguing about who came out ahead once... ...
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It all started with an idea—South Junior High 8th grade reading teacher Yoli Gonzalez’s class had just finished a civil rights unit where they read S.E. Hinton’s acclaimed novel “The Outsiders.” Many of the students had prior experiences with bullying, both in and out of school. The students wanted to do something that would help change things, not just in their school, but in their world. This was the beginning of what is now known as the Paw Out Bullying Club (South’s mascot is the bobcat), started by the students. The club doesn’t just teach about bullying, or why bullying is bad. Underlying the anti-bullying message, is a deeper lesson about common respect for all people, and how bullying exists not only in schools, but everywhere in life. The club started with six students, but has grown to sixty. On Friday Oct. 5, Boise State Assistant Director of Student Involvement and Leadership Damoni Wright had the students come into the Student Union for a anti-bullying seminar. Jasmine Slater, a senior... ...
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