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(03/21/17 5:08am)
I have some bad news, fellow liberals — this is going to be another one of those pieces about free speech on college campuses. I know, I know; you have heard it all before, that college students are fragile and scream until what they do not like goes away. What snowflakes. While this will not be a glowing review of the current status of free speech on college campuses, it will not be another one of those articles. However, with recent events at Middlebury and the Task Force on Free Expression, something needed to be said.
(03/21/17 5:05am)
Coral reefs epitomize the beauty and fragility of the world’s ecosystems, but increased ocean temperatures due to carbon emissions mean that even small, local temperature spikes threaten to wipe out swaths of corals already pushed to their limits. This week, as President Donald Trump’s cabinet pulled the wraps off a budget that denies the importance of climate change, researchers at James Cook University in Australia found that the Great Barrier Reef is dying thirty years ahead of schedule due to — you guessed it — rising ocean temperatures. According to a March 15 New York Times article, Professor Terry Hughes of James Cook University stated, “Climate change is not a future threat. On the Great Barrier Reef, it’s been happening for 18 years.” We must protect coral reefs not only for their beauty but also because they are hubs of biodiversity. They are the source of many necessary nutrients in the marine food chain and they also protect coastlines from storms by acting as a natural barrier.
(03/14/17 7:22am)
On Feb. 20, the United Nations officially declared a famine state for two counties in South Sudan, the first since 2012. This is a result of the country's over three-year civil war and government orders to block food aid in certain areas, according to a Feb. 21 Al Jazeera article. To prevent the effects of famine, including the starvation of 5 million, the UN would need to raise 4.4 billion dollars by the end of March. How do you think the UN should approach this issue, and how can it most effectively get involved?
(03/14/17 7:20am)
The 2017 election for president of the Student Union has yielded three well-qualified candidates, all of whom share worthy goals and an admirable passion for the University. While Jacob Edelman ’18, Shaquan McDowell ’18 and Paul Sindberg ’18 have communicated similar objectives — such as increased accessibility to menstrual products — this board has decided to endorse Edelman as the next Union president. His clearer plans of implementation demonstrate bold visions, as well as an awareness of the necessary actions to bring those visions to fruition.
(03/14/17 6:14am)
While 2016 proved to be a devastating year for the Democratic Party, the special elections of 2017 will serve as a crucial indicator as to which party will dominate Congress and state legislation in 2018. For the Republican Party, these elections will demonstrate whether the midterm elections of 2018 will serve as a referendum on the Trump administration. However, for the Democratic Party, these elections will provide the first opportunity where members of the party can gain the favor of the states that previously voted for Trump. Additionally, these elections will further serve as evidence to see whether the 2018 elections will see a dramatic turnout by minorities and immigrants.
(03/14/17 6:11am)
In light of International Women’s Day on March 8, it is important to reflect on how the portrayal of women in mainstream media has dramatically changed over time. For example, detergent commercials of the 1950s — which usually showed women in domestic settings like kitchens and laundry rooms — have now been replaced by those that feature men as homemakers. One can argue that the mainstream media, particularly with its marketing strategies, has embraced the feminist movement by daring to depict women being successful in fields usually dominated by men, such as business or sports. However, as much as they should be praised for beginning to teach young girls that their sex should not define their path, they should also be critiqued. The New Yorker’s Jia Tolentino wrote a scathing indictment of how mainstream media and major corporations engage with the feminist movement. In her Feb. 8 piece titled “The Case Against Contemporary Feminism,” Tolentino argues that “feminism has become a self-serving brand popularized by CEOs and beauty companies.” What Tolentino means is that in their advocacy for the equality of the sexes, the mainstream media is not sincere. As Richard T. Craig’s “African Americans and Mass Media: A Case for Diversity in Media Ownership” points out, their end may not necessarily be the social, political and economic equality of the sexes. Their end may be profit.
(03/14/17 5:59am)
On March 2 at Middlebury College in Vermont, author and academic Charles Murray planned to speak on his recent book, “Coming Apart: The State of White America 1960-2010.” He was invited by a local chapter of the American Enterprise Institute, but at the podium, Murray was met with protesters that chanted lines such as, “racist, sexist, anti-gay, Charles Murray, go away,” according to a March 3 Inside Higher Ed article. Murray and his interviewer, Professor Allison Stanger of the Political Science department, were then escorted to a private room from where he delivered his speech and answered questions via digital video. After the abbreviated lecture, Murray and Stanger were escorted to their car by two security guards, according to a March 5 Boston Globe article.
(03/14/17 5:58am)
From one executive order to the next, Donald Trump’s presidency has shaken the world. Now, it has shaken the art world.
(03/07/17 6:14am)
Prior to the 2016 presidential election, the Justice asked the president of Brandeis Democrats, Jacob Edelman ’18, and the president of Brandeis Conservatives, Mark Gimelstein ’17, about several political issues. Their back-and-forth dialogue regarding national security is included below.
(03/07/17 6:12am)
This past week, the University began its search for a tenure-track professor in Astrophysics. The University has emphasized its efforts to recruit and hire faculty of historically underrepresented groups, a practice which we strongly commend. Often, the discussion about diversity tends to revolve around the student body population; however, it is important not to forget those on the other side of the classroom.
(03/07/17 6:09am)
On Feb. 27, the scientific journal “Nature” published a paper describing seven Earth-sized terrestrial planets orbiting a dwarf star 40 light-years away. Of these planets, three are within the star’s habitable zone and could possibly have water. With the right atmospheres and greenhouse gases, these planets may mimic habitable conditions. Some scientists feel that this finding may be an indication of life on other planets. Do you believe that there is a possibility for humans to survive on other planets, and what are the implications of this discovery?
(03/07/17 6:07am)
If the Republican Party is able to get its act together after eight years of whining about a health care law that brought health insurance to millions of Americans, the Affordable Care Act will be no more. It, supposedly, will be replaced by some sort of top secret plan that, depending on who you ask, will end Medicaid expansions and shift health insurance coverage to health savings accounts — which, despite what Speaker of the House Paul Ryan thinks, are not the same as having health insurance — to promote “financial responsibility.” Or maybe the new law will keep some of the popular parts of the ACA, such as preserving coverage for people with pre-existing conditions or allowing young adults to stay on their parents’ insurance, without keeping the individual mandate. And, if you ask President Donald Trump, his replacement magically creates some sort of system where everyone has high-quality coverage without high premiums or deductibles, all without raising taxes. And yes, the plan is truly top secret. When Senator Rand Paul, a Republican from Kentucky, tried to read the draft bill that House Republicans are working on, he was turned away by Capitol security, according to a March 2 Vox article.
(03/07/17 6:04am)
It is generally thought that being a judge requires the propensity to be neutral, even in cases where one may have an implicit bias for one of the parties. However, a 2015 Harvard University study challenged this assumption with its finding that having a daughter makes a judge more likely to rule on the side of women’s rights. The study looked at 2,500 votes by 224 federal appeals court judges and determined that there was a causal relationship between having a daughter and ruling “in a feminist direction.” A possible explanation for this phenomenon is that these parents experience the unique hardships faced by their daughters, such as wage inequality. On a more visceral level, seeing someone who resembles or reminds one of their child could cause judges to be more sympathetic. Whatever the reason, the study’s findings underscore the idea that people care most about issues that affect them personally.
(03/07/17 6:02am)
“How can this be happening in America? How can people like these be in charge of our country? If I didn’t see it with my own eyes, I’d think I was having a hallucination.” Again and again, Philip Roth’s 2004 novel, “The Plot Against America,” has provided a depressingly prescient insight into what is to come over the next four years.
(03/07/17 6:01am)
Thirty years ago, President Ronald Reagan stood in front of the physical incarnation of Cold War division and reaffirmed his view of a global world led by the United States — a shining city on a hill. At the risk of throwing away years of progress made with the Soviet Union, Reagan stood tall and issued a direct demand: “Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!”
(02/14/17 5:51am)
Last Tuesday, the Senate confirmed Betsy DeVos for education secretary by a 51-to-50 vote. Vice President Mike Pence cast the tiebreaking vote, marking the first time in history that the vice president acted as a tiebreaker for a cabinet nomination.
(02/14/17 5:50am)
An update to the University’s Dining Services website on Aug. 2, 2016 declared that Dunkin Donuts would be moved from its location in the Village to Upper Usdan, to be opened at the beginning of the spring semester of 2017. This adjustment left a vacancy in the Village location, and the University has not yet announced, or even devised, a plan for the space. Vice President for Campus Operations, Jim Gray, confirmed this in a Feb. 6 email to the Justice. According to the email, other priorities stood in the way of any decisions.
(02/14/17 5:47am)
In his speech at the National Prayer address earlier this week, President Donald Trump claimed, “I will get rid of and totally destroy the Johnson Amendment,” according to a Feb 2. Washington Post article. The Johnson Amendment is a section of the tax code that prevents houses of worship from using their social influence to campaign for elected officials. With Trump’s current popularity among Christian conservatives, this decision comes as no surprise. What do you think of the Johnson Amendment and should religious institutions be allowed to influence elections?
(02/14/17 5:13am)
It has been over three weeks since Donald Trump was inaugurated as our nation’s 45th president, and he has largely kept up with some of his most radical campaign promises. In these three weeks, we have also seen bitter and divisive partisan attacks, such as silencing Senator Elizabeth Warren on the Senate Floor or early-morning cabinet confirmation hearings; D.C. continues to give the appearance of sharp division along partisan lines. However, there are several issues that many Democrats and Republicans can agree on in the age of the Trump administration.
(02/14/17 5:13am)
Out of all the foreign actors involved in the Syrian civil war, Iran has the most at stake in assuring President Bashar al-Assad’s regime is not toppled by hostile rebel groups; consequently, it has remained the Syrian government's closest ally throughout the conflict. The reasons for this are manifold; Assad represents a minority Alawite Shia religious sect in a country that is predominantly Sunni, according to the Department of State, and though Syria is ostensibly a secular government, Iran has interest in preserving Shia dominance in the region. Syria is often considered Iran’s greatest ally, and Assad’s regime has shown its willingness to support Iran in numerous ways throughout history. The countries have been close allies since the overthrow of the Shah and formation of the Islamic Republic of Iran in 1979 due to the “alignment of strategic interests as well as ideological beliefs between the two countries,” according to a 2010 article in the Stanford Journal of International Relations. A focal point of their shared interests is the role of the U.S. and Israel in the Middle East.
