http://blogs.wsj.com/law/2011/06/22/single-sex-dorms-spark-legal-controversy-in-d-c/?mod=djemlawblog_t
Single-Sex Dorms Spark Legal Controversy in D.C
By Patrick G. Lee
Will the sexes stand (and sleep) united or divided in the dorm rooms of the Catholic University of America?
A judge may be called upon to decide that question.
The D.C. university plans to eliminate coed housing for its incoming freshman class, in the hopes that it will help reduce binge drinking and discourage casual hook-ups, university president John Garvey announced in this WSJ opinion piece.
Garvey wrote that he plans to convert the entire campus to single-sex housing over the next few years.
But a legal squabble may be brewing. John Banzhaf, a professor at George Washington University Law School, says he intends to sue Catholic University over the same-sex plan, Inside Higher Ed reports.
Banzhaf told the Law Blog that his argument rests on the District of Columbia’s Human Rights Act, which prohibits discrimination in public accommodations, commercial spaces, housing and employment based on any number of factors, including sex, race, religion and marital status. Reinstating single-sex dorms would constitute gender discrimination, Banzhaf maintains.
The only exception allowed under the act is for “business necessities,” which means the Catholic University must demonstrate that it can operate the school and remain in business only by instituting a single-sex dorm policy, Banzhaf said. Given that the university has been offering coed housing for decades, it is unlikely the exception will apply in this case, he said.
The university issued a prepared statement in response to a Law Blog request for comment, saying it had not yet received or reviewed any legal documents regarding Banzhaf’s intent to sue and that it was “confident that the law does not require men and women be housed together in residence halls.”
If the university insists on upholding the new policy, Banzhaf told the Law Blog, he will pursue legal action against both the University and Garvey as an individual.
18 comments:
Lower Hudson Valley.com:
"Hasidic arson victim describes living with threats in 'isolated' New Square
Jun. 23, 2011
[Photo: Interview with New Square arson victim: New Square arson victim Aron Rottenberg today said he has no real animosity toward the 18-year-old man charged in the May 22 arson attack at his home. Rottenberg instead blamed the leaders of the New Square Hasidic village. Video by Albert Conte]
Arson victim Aron Rottenberg said Wednesday that the people of New Square — while good and well-meaning — have been brainwashed into believing they must have no contact with the outside world.
All that many know, he said, is that Grand Rebbe David Twersky has absolute authority over their lives.
"They are so isolated that they have no idea what is going on in the world outside," he said. "These people feel they are the world."
Rottenberg said that the "brainwashing" by New Square's leaders is ultimately responsible for the May 22 attack on his home that resulted in his suffering third-degree burns over half his body.
"They only know the grand rebbe, New Square, the grand rebbe, New Square," he said. "They don't know the outside, what freedom is all about."
Rottenberg talked to local media at a local hotel where he has been staying since being released Monday from Westchester Medical Center. His family asked that the hotel not be identified.
The case of the 43-year-old plumber and father of four has provided a rare look inside the insular village of New Square that is run by the Skver Hasidic sect.
Rottenberg's family endured months of intimidation when he began praying during the fall at a nearby nursing home instead of New Square's main synagogue. After a series of broken windows and threats, Rottenberg encountered a man outside his home with a flammable device; the two briefly wrestled, but the device went off and both caught fire.
Eighteen-year-old Shaul Spitzer, who formerly lived in Twersky's house and served as an aide to him, faces attempted-murder and arson charges. He was released from a New York City hospital and returned to New Square last week.
Rottenberg said he had little animosity toward Spitzer. Twersky and New Square's other leaders had legitimized any efforts to remove him from the village, he said.
"Why would this 18-year-old boy come to my house at 4:15 in the morning and want to burn down a home with five people in it?" he said.
He said that community leaders had made clear to his wife, Ruth, that Twersky's desires would be enforced."
"Hasidic arson victim describes living with threats in 'isolated' New Square
"I don't know if he said, 'Burn down the house,' but he wanted us to move out of there," Rottenberg said.
He wore an unbuttoned white shirt over a white T-shirt, revealing red, scarred skin around his neck and on his upper chest. His right hand remains heavily bandaged.
He spoke with energy and hopefulness about beginning to feel better after several weeks of terrible pain. He underwent two skin graft procedures, with skin from his thighs used to replace charred skin on his upper body.
"Things are healing," he said. "It still looks bad. It's raw, but I can sleep."
His wife, sitting beside him in an empty hotel room, looked nervous as her husband spoke. She said the family reached out to New Square leaders to try to reach an understanding before the attack.
"They wouldn't listen to anything," she said. "We were hostages.
The couple has three daughters — 23, 19 and 16 — and one son, 21. They also have a granddaughter who turns 1 today.
Ruth Rottenberg and her children left New Square after the attack and have not returned, staying with relatives and renting an apartment.
Aron Rottenberg hopes to return to New Square in a few weeks. For now, he is being visited daily in the hotel by a nurse who changes his bandages.
He is beginning occupational therapy and physical therapy there as well and hopes to regain use of his weakened right arm.
He worked as a plumber in the Monsey-Spring Valley area, mostly for Lee Zoldan Inc. in Middletown .
"They say I should be back to normal in about a year," he said.
Rottenberg said he would feel safe returning to New Square because police and the FBI are investigating his case.
This month, his lawyer filed an $18 million lawsuit that claims Twersky inspired the arson attack. The lawsuit also named Spitzer.
One of Spitzer's lawyers, Kenneth Gribetz of New City, declined to comment, but he offered his best wishes to Rottenberg.
"Our thoughts, prayers and best wishes are with him for a speedy recover," Gribetz said. "The matter is before a grand jury. It would be inappropriate for us to comment at this time."
"Hasidic arson victim describes living with threats in 'isolated' New Square
Rottenberg said several of his relatives have been contacted informally by New Square leaders about possibly settling the case.
"They don't want it to go to court," he said.
He said he would be open to the advice of his lawyer, Michael Sussman.
"I'm not stubborn in any way," he said.
Rottenberg said his father, an "open-minded" man, lived in New York City and worked for the U.S. Postal Service for 43 years. He moved the family to New Square for what was supposed to be a "summer upstate" 38 years ago, but the family stayed.
"It was nice, it was enjoyable," he said. "As the years went by, New Square got bigger and bigger. They felt they were losing control, so they cracked down harder and harder."
He said his family has had a few minor run-ins with New Square's leaders. Several years ago, he said, New Square began cracking down on women who did not wear the proper head coverings over their wigs.
He said one official — the father of Shaul Spitzer— threatened to kick the Rottenberg's children out of school if Ruth Rottenberg did not wear the proper head covering.
His latest troubles started in the fall, he said, when the Friedwald Center, a nursing home in New City, invited him to help form a minyan — a quorum of 10 men — so that an older resident from New Square could pray.
He said that he liked the shorter Sabbath services at the Friedwald Center, which allowed him more free time to spend with his family. Saturday services at the main synagogue take several hours, he said.
"I didn't do it in order to disturb them," he said. "I didn't take people away from them. For some reason or other, they were determined to stop me."
Rottenberg took some time to describe the May 22 attack, saying it was difficult to talk about. He said his son, who set up security cameras on their home, noticed movement outside. Rottenberg ran outside, smelled gas and saw someone in the nearby woods.
He hid behind a tree for several minutes until the intruder, unaware that Rottenberg was there, walked right up to him.
Rottenberg reached for a mask of sorts on the man's face.
"As I tried to grab the covering off his face, we both burst into flames," he said.
He said that he had terrible nightmares in the hospital, reliving the attack.
"I was afraid to fall asleep," he said.
Rottenberg said that his mother, siblings and his wife's siblings still live in New Square. But he hopes his children will leave and break away from the grasp of the grand rebbe.
"The grand rebbe is looked at by the people in New Square as total spirituality," he said. "Even his body is spirituality. The people are getting brainwashed."
EternalJewishFraud/Troppergate.com:
"Tuesday, February 16, 2010
Rabbi Leib Tropper crawls back from under the rock he came from
[Photo of snake with its back half under a rock]
Rabbi Leib Tropper has finally conceded to Monsey Rabbonim and agreed to have no connection to his Yeshiva. He has also agreed to leave Monsey, NY within 3 months.
Read the full story here.
Leib Tropper Scandal Finally Put to Rest
We here at Troppergate.com attribute his final demise and downfall to the following top 5 list.
5. A few good Rabbi's who despite the odds and his backing of Gedolei Hador, would come out againts him, this includes Rabbi Dunner in London and Rav Moshe Sternbuch in Israel. Kudos also go to the Monsey Rabbonim who finally said enough is enough.
4. The audio tapes and finally video tape which was released by Troppergate.com on Sunday, and was announced as "the nail in the coffin" to Tropper by the Monsey Beis Din.
3. Rabbi Tropper's enemies and those he has wronged in the past, like Guma Agiur and Rabbonim and ex talmiddim who he had wronged. They all worked behind the scenes to make sure Tropper's reign of terror would be halted. This also includes newspapers and blogs who relentlessly worked over the years, around the clock to keep an eye on Tropper and report the news when everyone one else was silent.
A mini top 5 list for these blogs are
5. The Unorthodox Jew
4. Tooting our own horn, Troppergate.com
3. Five Towns Jewish Times and Tablet Magazine.
2. Daattorah.blogspot.com
1. FailedMessiah.com who helped break the story and had exclusive interviews with Orand.
2. Shannon Orand, who though at first participated in some of Tropper's lurid acts, had the courage to break free from his control and expose him for the monster that he is.
1. and the #1 reason for Tropper's demise was Rabbi Leibish Tropper own big ego that had finally caught up with him. He thought he was untouchable because he had all the major Rabbonim backing him up, that he could act like Zimri and claim the reward of Pinchas.
Lesson of the day Kids: "Every dog has his day!"
It is too bad that it took 30 years for him to have his day.
We mourn all the talmiddim who went off the derech and could have been in a better place if not for Tropper."
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/23/us/23bulger.html?hp
James (Whitey) Bulger, the legendary Boston crime boss who had eluded the authorities for 16 years, was arrested in Santa Monica, Calif., by the F.B.I. on Wednesday night.
Vechol Yisroel yivku ...
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/23/books/e-m-broner-jewish-feminist-writer-dies-at-83.html?hpw
E. M. Broner, Jewish Feminist, Dies at 83
Her other work includes stage plays; and the memoir “Mornings and Mourning: A Kaddish Journal” (1994), in which she recounts her long, painful but ultimately strangely successful effort to say Kaddish for her father in a small Orthodox synagogue in New York.
In another work of nonfiction, “The Telling: The Story of a Group of Jewish Women Who Journey to Spirituality Through Community and Ceremony” (1993), Ms. Broner documented the annual seder and other alternative celebrations held by her circle.
It also included a reworking of the Four Questions, which traditionally begin, “Why is this night different from all other nights?”
In the revised version, the question — and answer — became: “Why is this Haggadah different from traditional Haggadot? Because this Haggadah deals with the Exodus of women.”
NEW YORK (CNBC) -- The U.S. economy is "on a slippery slope organically without the ongoing benefits, if you want to call it that, of government intervention and expansion of the Federal Reserve balance sheet," economist David Rosenberg told CNBC Tuesday.
We have to be honest with ourselves, this has been an absolutely horrible recovery," he said.
"It's just so evident to me two years into this expansion that whenever the fiscal and monetary spigots are turned off we go into a soft patch. This happened last year. I feel like Bill Murray in 'Groundhog Day.'"
Rosenberg, of Gluskin Sheff + Associates, expects the Federal Reserve to "stick to script" and repeat what Chairman Ben Bernanke said at a June 7 speech in Atlanta -- the economy has hit a "soft patch" but there will be a second-half pickup.
However, Rosenberg, who predicts a 99% chance of recession next year, said things are worse than the Fed acknowledges. He says when the recession comes and is priced into the market there will be a correction of 20%.
Without the Fed's quantitative easing program, or QE2, which ends next week, or the Obama administration's fiscal stimulus program, last year's soft patch "would've morphed into something harder." Those programs, however, "buy us three or four months of better economic data, the stimulus fades and then, what do you know, we're left with a soft patch again."
The economist added he doesn't "remember a cycle where you have two soft patches. That's completely abnormal."
He sees "no more fiscal stimulus" this year after QE2 ends, but an extension, or QE3, "will be next year's story" because while Bernanke can be aggressive when necessary to fix the economy, he "isn't going to be early."
When the recession comes, investors should be long in "high-quality sectors" and "short the low-quality stuff and the small caps." Hedge fund strategies work very well, he said, including bonds and hybrid securities.
"I've been starting to see more clients putting money into hybrids, which is really income equity. I think that's a very good strategy to be in right now," he said, as is holding gold.
-- Written by Margo D. Beller of CNBC
Fox News.com:
"Qaddafi Seriously Considering Fleeing Tripoli, U.S. Officials Say
June 24, 2011 | The Wall Street Journal
Washington – New U.S. intelligence shows Col. Muammar al-Qaddafi is "seriously considering" fleeing Tripoli for a more secure location outside the capital, according to U.S. officials, raising the prospect Friday that the Libyan leader's hold on power is increasingly fragile.
The intelligence depicts a Libyan leader who "doesn't feel safe anymore" in Tripoli because of stepped-up strikes by NATO aircraft and by battlefield gains by rebel forces, according to a senior U.S. national security official briefed on the recent reports that the intelligence community has shared with the White House and other agencies.
The timing behind any possible move is not known and does not appear to be imminent, a U.S. official said. Such intelligence has been seen before, although with less intensity. U.S. intelligence agencies have seen no indications that Qaddafi intends to leave the country, the officials said.
Nonetheless, US officials believe military pressure on Tripoli in recent days has prompted Qaddafi to seek safer ground, after more than three months of allied attacks. Qaddafi has several residences and other facilities outside Tripoli to which he could relocate, said a senior U.S. defense official.
The intelligence disclosure by U.S. officials comes as the White House tries to fend off congressional efforts to curtail American participation in the NATO-led Libya campaign.
President Barack Obama, who Wednesday announced the beginning of the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan, has limited the US role in attacking Qaddafi's forces, taking a backseat to European allies.
Signs of progress would be likely to bolster support for U.S. participation in the Libya campaign, as Obama faces mounting criticism from Republicans and Democrats over the effort.
Some U.S. lawmakers have questioned the legal grounds for Washington's continued involvement in the conflict. A bill set for a vote Friday would authorize U.S. participation in Libya for one year, but require "a full and updated rationale" from the Obama administration for conducting military operations.
Another bill, also set for Friday, sponsored by Rep. Tom Rooney (R-Fla.), would block U.S. drone strikes in Libya.
U.S. officials cited intelligence showing the military campaign in Tripoli was taking a toll on the regime. "NATO's efforts to reduce the Libyan regime's capability to command and control military forces are having an effect," the senior defense official said. "It is becoming increasingly difficult for him to operate inside Tripoli."
Some U.S. officials, though eager for Qaddafi's departure from power, are now worrying that NATO and Libya's African neighbors are not properly planning for the chaos that might result, in the same way that lack of planning for the fall of Saddam Hussein contributed to the long war that followed in Iraq.
"We, the international community, could be in post-conflict Libya tomorrow and there isn't a plan, there is not a good plan," the senior U.S. commander in Africa, Gen. Carter Ham, told The Wall Street Journal.
Ham predicted that Qaddafi could fall quickly, underlining the need for an allied plan to deal with the aftermath. He said the United Nations or African Union might have to contribute a significant ground force to Libya. He stressed that the U.S. would not send troops.
"If it ends in chaos, if it is a state collapse and all the institutions of the government fall apart, you will potentially need a sizable force on the ground to secure critical infrastructure and maintain law and order," Ham said."
Haaretz.com:
Out of vogue
Conventional wisdom has it that President Assad will soon be history; until then, Prime Minister Netanyahu would be well advised to invest efforts in patching up relations with Turkey.
By Aluf Benn
24.06.11
...Assad, at this stage, remains in power for three reasons: His opponents have not been able to gather enough force to depose him, and their influence has yet to spread to the major cities; the army remains united and loyal to him; and Russia and Iran continue to provide him diplomatic cover, while the U.S. government has refrained from explicitly calling for his ouster (preferring instead to beat around the bush and talk about "reforms" in Syria ).
Egyptian protestors brought hundreds of thousands of people to Cairo's main square and toppled President Hosni Mubarak. In Syria, the rebellion erupted in provincial towns, which are easy to encircle and isolate from the international media. It is also apparently not very difficult to massacre people under such circumstances. Bashar Assad has learned the strategy from his father, Hafez.
Despite his determination to rule and the brutality of his soldiers, Assad has not been able to quell the uprising. The rebels are aware of their weakness and have therefore chosen a strategy of attrition. Unable to march on Damascus, they demonstrate in many different cities, trying to "dilute" Assad's forces, while demonstrating their presence around the country. The rebels are clearly hoping that if they persist in their efforts, a wave of desertion will engulf the army, and Assad will fall. Unlike their counterparts in Libya, the rebels in Syria cannot rely on America or Europe to bomb Assad's palace on their behalf. In any case, this tactic has yet to yield fruit in the case of Muammar Gadhafi.
Even though the uprising in Syria is far from over, it has already changed the balance of power in the Middle East. Iran is on the retreat, and Israel's influence is rising. The last time things changed as radically in the region was five years ago, in the wake of the Second Lebanon War. The military failures in the standoff with Hezbollah exposed Israel's weaknesses, thereby strengthening Hezbollah's sponsor, Iran. Assad upgraded his military, political and economic bonds with the Iranian leadership. Hezbollah gained power in Lebanon, as Hamas took control in the Gaza Strip. Turkey has veered away from Israel and moved closer to Iran, Syria and Hamas...
The conventional wisdom in Israel was given voice in a prophesy made this week by Defense Minister Ehud Barak. Assad, Barak predicted, will fall "within half a year." Former Mossad chief Meir Dagan has fantasized about replacing the minority Alawites in Syria's ruling regime with the Sunni majority. Top Mossad and other security officials are now in favor of democratization in the Arab world, and no longer focus solely on the dangers of Islamization and the undermining of regional stability, as they were prone to do in the first six months of the year.
During the high and low points of his tenure, Assad has proven that Syria is a key player in the regional balance of power. Should a Sunni, pro-American regime take hold in Syria, Israel would be able to resolve the dispute over the Golan Heights and develop a "northern arch" alliance with Syria and Turkey as a counterweight in its confrontations with Iran. Such an alliance could serve as a substitute, or supplement, for Israel's damaged bond with Egypt..."
Daat Torah/Rabbi Dr. Daniel Eidensohn Blog:
Dueling ad on fish worms - Please explain this contradictory two part Yated ad
Monday, June 20, 2011
[See link to 'Gilui Daas kol koreh' signed by Aron Schechter, Dovid Feinstein, Feivel Cohen]
[See link to 'List of fish permitted, or infected by anisakis worm']
On June 7, 2011 the Hamodia published two ads concerning fish worms - one by those who prohibit fish because of the worms and one by those who don't.
Yated published only the ad that prohibited.
However a closer look at the ad which appeared on page 41 - from those who prohibit fish with worms - seems to indicate that it is not one ad but rather it reflects two disparate views.
Furthermore the two parts of the same ad in fact contradict each other.
I would appreciate feedback as to how these ads are to be understood.
The statement at the top of the page, with Rav Eliashiv shlita's, signature, seems to saying that the fish are forbidden.
But the bottom part says only that some fish are only of concern.
Furthermore I have also been told by experts in the field that the list in the second part is based on very haphazard and subjective data and that in fact no systematic scientific study has been done. (For example they didn't examine 100 cans of salmon and determine the frequency with which worms appeared.)
I would greatly appreciate clarification of exactly what means were used to determined whether a particular type of fish is infected or is clean.
I would also like to know how the two parts of the ad can be reconciled.
Are they saying the fish are definitely prohibited (part 1) or is the prohibition because of a sofek (part 2)?
Posted by Daas Torah at 12:22 PM "
The worms are not invisible. I have seen them with my own eyes and some of them are very long.
Who do you want to side with? Belsky, who says that ANY kind of worms in fish is mutter to eat?
And who says R' Moishe was mattir? The ONLY person present for the issue of such a monumental psak was Belsky, or at least so he claims.
That in of itself is suspicious as surely UOJ and any rational person would agree.
Even more telling is that the son R' Dovid Feinstein who always follows his father's shitos says the anisakis worms are forbidden.
As far as nishtaneh hateva, it is not the usual case of nature changing that the Shach means. It is a case of manipulation by new fishing techniques that were not in practice until recently and which cause forbidden worms to migrate into fish flesh like never before.
What MRTAC means with Belsky's shita is that Belsky teitches the Gemara of "Darna" worms being mutter to include every single species of worm, crustacean and other parasite. That is crazy to assume it was Chazal's intention which of course the other mattirim of anisakis do not agree with Belsky on.
Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg on Friday said the national economy showed “no signs of really improving,” and he criticized federal officials for failing to come together to address it.
Mr. Bloomberg, during his weekly appearance on WOR-AM (710), said the slow economy would mean steep reductions in governmental services in New York City and beyond for several years to come.
“This country is not pulling together,” he said. “There is a real possibility of the economy getting worse and not better.”
Mr. Bloomberg seemed unbothered by the scores of protesters who have descended on City Hall to protest his budget cuts, saying many of them were city workers who simply wanted to hold on to their jobs.
“They yell and scream,” he said. “They try to vilify any elected official who faces reality.”
http://www.thejewishweek.com/news/new_york/lone_hasc_critic_board_dismissed_twice_one_day
When you are the big rich owner of Track Data, you can do anything you want like ignore beis din to lynch all the critics of your good shyster friend Moishe Kahn and remove them from the board of HASC
"Mr. Bloomberg seemed unbothered by the scores of protesters who have descended on City Hall to protest ... “They yell and scream,” he said. “They try to vilify any elected official who faces reality.”"
This is what I've been saying all along about you anti-molester picketers. Get it through your thick skulls that molesters can do teshuva. Marvin Schick has a gantze toyrah why scientific data on recidivism does not apply to heimishe chevra
Out Of Q:
R' Dovid was pressured to sign by the same guy who did the Kol Koreis on NYC water and the Kotel cameras, among other things. All of these things, R' Moshe Paskend its mutter. If I recall correctly, the worms are considered Nolad B'mayim, which are mutter, as opposed to Nolad Beofor.
Only 3 poskim permitted copepods and none of them were named R' Moishe Feinstein. Only one of the poskim might not be corrupt. The other two mattirim are Belsky and Osdaba, a shyster who is a crony of convicted criminal Moishe Rubashkin.
You are obviously referring to Rav Efrati in Israel. I really doubt he carries enough weight to convince R' Dovid to go against his father's psokim. While the younger brother Reuvein Feinstein will take Tropper's millions to do so, note that R' Dovid stopped showing up at Tropper's events when it became evident that R' Moishe's shita on gerus was being subverted.
I don't know all the facts about the kotel cameras but I have investigated all the details with anisakis and you seem to be unaware of new information that changes the equation.
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