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2014 football guide
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thursday aug. 28, 2014
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CALL of DUTY
SU offers minor in Arabic By Zeena Saifi contributing writer
Students can now apply for a new minor degree program in Arabic within the College of Arts and Sciences. The program is open for all students to apply and it requires six courses. The addition of a minor program is the first step in the Arabic department’s goal of eventually creating an Arabic major. Students could previously take Arabic courses but could never qualify for a minor or major degree program, which is why the Arabic department decided to take this step, said Gail Bulman, an associate professor and chair of the languages, literatures and linguistics department.
Harel Rush (FAR Right), shown here with other American volunteers for the Israel Defense Force, left SU after his freshman year to join the IDF. Rush is a Los Angeles native and was a mechanical engineering major in his lone year at SU. courtesy of mina rush
Former SU student leaves school to fight for Israel in Gaza By Justin Mattingly asst. news editor
H
arel Rush came to Syracuse University from Los Angeles in the fall of 2012 to study mechanical engineering. Like a majority of freshmen, he joined different organizations, such as the Hillel Jewish Student Union. He enjoyed the challenges of his classes and the other opportunities the university presented. But for Harel, even before he came to SU, his mind had already been made up. At the end of his freshman year, in the spring of 2013, Harel filed a leave of absence form and volunteered to be a soldier for the Israeli Defense Force. He is currently stationed in Gaza. Serving for Israel has been a family tradition for Harel. His grandfather served in Israel’s War for Independence
in 1948, and his mother volunteered during Israel’s Peace in the Galilee campaign during the Lebanon War in 1982. With the development of his “tremendous pride” for Israel, Harel wanted to follow in their footsteps and be a part of the protection of Israel. “I knew if I didn’t join the Israeli Army, I would regret it for the rest of my life,” he said in an email. Harel’s father, Jordan, said the family background of serving for Israel may have planted the seed for his son to join the IDF. Harel added that his grandfather was a big inspiration for his joining and the two talk of the importance of volunteering for the Israeli Army. When Harel went to his parents with the idea of joining the IDF, his father said he was incredibly proud of his son. see soldier page 6
People started to realize that they don’t know anything about the Middle Eastern region or its culture [after 9/11]. Eva Phillips part-time instructor in the lll dept.
Rush made up his mind about joining the IDF before attending SU in the fall of 2012. courtesy of mina rush
“Almost 175 students currently take Arabic courses at SU, and several of these students in the past have expressed interest in possibly being able to minor in the language,” she said. Taylor Bold, a senior economics and policy studies major, said he has been interested in the Middle East and the Arabic language since he was in high school. When he came to SU, he finally had the opportunity to pursue those interests. However, after taking Arabic classes during his sophomore year, Bold said he realized that all his hard work and commitment to the language would be much more satisfying if he were able to take Arabic as a minor. When he joined Student Association see arabic page 6