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EDITORIAL: Address the underlying issues within Student Union

As the Student Union determines its priorities for this academic year, this board would like to offer suggestions for how Union leaders may better serve the Brandeis community.

Views on the News: Social Media

According to a recent study from Pew Research Center, 67 percent of Americans revealed that they get at least some of their news from social media. Of this 67 percent, 74 percent of individuals receive their news from Twitter — a value that has significantly increased since the election of President Donald Trump. In the era of "fake news," does there need to be more scrutiny on what news sources are trusted, or is social media just a convenient way to receive updates?

Acknowledge President Liebowitz's DACA address

President Donald Trump announced last Tuesday his decision to rescind the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program.

Address the lack of printer availability in the library

Although the screens in Goldfarb Library report that the printing system is now up and running, this board urges the University to examine what went wrong, particularly poor planning and a lack of communication.

Acknowledge importance of community on college campuses

A brooding and overcast national atmosphere hangs over Brandeis. In the past couple of weeks, Brandeis students have confronted the prospect that their friends and family may face deportation, in addition to the threat of nuclear war with North Korea. The events in Charlottesville, Virginia, in particular, have charged the environment. The sight of Confederate flags, white, pointed hoods and swastikas openly and proudly displayed was terrifying. So, too, were the videos of ordinary-looking men, dressed in polos and khakis, chanting, “blood and soil” and, “Jews will not replace us” at the University of Virginia — as well as a president who fails to adequately condemn them. As the semester gets underway, we must all rise to the challenge of supporting one another, furthering meaningful conversation and seeking to expel ignorance and hate from our University.   

Recognize the negative consequences of online anonymity

In 2017, who is a person? Our online persona, rather than public records, define our identities, and the internet is an unregulated space where people falsify their identities for their own nefarious purposes. A Sept. 7 New York Times article exposed new details of the Russian influence on the 2016 presidential election — specifically, how Russians created several hundred inauthentic Facebook and Twitter accounts which “spread anti-Clinton messages and promoted the hacked material leaked.” These accounts posed as individuals and “friended” real people in hopes of influencing them with these shared posts. According to a Sept. 6 New York Times article, these fake accounts also purchased over $100,000 in ads targeting divisive social issues such as immigration and gay rights. They did all this under aliases such as “Melvin Redick,” which did not exist in the public records of their states. 

Condemn the often unethical practices of medical personnel

From a young age, we are taught to trust people in positions of authority. However, there have been countless occasions in which the people that need help the most were only further hurt by those meant to help them. With the recent hurricanes plaguing the southern United States, I was reminded of those with more deadly outcomes. With the recent Hurricane Harvey,  some hospitals had to be evacuated, yet the patients were well accounted for, according to an Aug. 30 Washington Post article. The same, however,  cannot be said of the 2005 Hurricane Katrina.

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Criticize President Trump's decision regarding DACA

In President Donald Trump’s more than 230 days in the White House, he has enacted policies with which I have aggressively disagreed; from its stance on the American Health Care Act to climate change, this administration has rolled back Obama-era policies that would have positively affected this nation in the long-term. However, there has been no policy as inhumane, unjust and unfair as Trump’s decision on Sept. 5 to rescind the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program that has shielded 800,000 undocumented immigrants who came here as children, from deportation, according to a Sept. 5 New York Times article. The program also enabled them, after strict background checks, to receive a two-year work authorization card that provided for thousands not only the ability to work but also the ability to apply for driver’s licenses and mortgages and, for many, the ability to purchase a car for the first time. 

Reconsider possible strategies for US-North Korea relations

When a CBS news journalist questioned U.S. Secretary of State James Mattis on a possible war with North Korea, Mattis’ austere and perturbed response was that this war would probably be “the worst kind of fighting in most people’s lifetimes,” according to a May 28 CBS article.

Acknowledge detrimental effects of social media on youth

“Why our screens make us less happy” was the title of a TED talk given by psychologist Adam Alter this April. During his talk, Alter identified a marketing phenomenon called “dog-fooding,” where companies test-drive their own product, so-to-speak, to boost investor and consumer confidence. Alter described how he once heard that the head of a large pet food company would go to the annual shareholders meeting and eat a can of his company’s own dog food. His point was, if it’s good enough for people, it’s certainly good enough for dogs. According to an Oct. 28, 2013 New Republic article, “dog-fooding” has been a standard practice for years now and there are a few notable exceptions.

Reject unfair criticism of affirmative action on college campuses

On Aug. 3, the Boston Globe published an article revealing that the majority of the students accepted into Harvard University’s class of 2021 were non-white. While this is true, it still remains that the seated class of 2021 — the students who actually enrolled — is more than 50.8 percent white and 47.9 percent non-white, according to data from a freshman survey conducted by the Harvard Crimson. Despite this, admissions methods such as affirmative action are still being called into question for the alleged discrimination against white applicants. According to an Aug.1 New York Times article, the Trump administration is looking to investigate and possibly sue institutions with admissions policies that seem to discriminate against white applicants. An official document obtained by the Times mentions investigating practices that support “intentional race-based discrimination,” which clearly alludes to programs designed to increase the number of students of color on college campuses. Per the same Times article, Roger Clegg, a former top official of civil rights during the Ronald Reagan administration, stated that civil rights laws were meant to protect students against discrimination, yet white and Asian students are often overlooked.

Condemn President Trump’s pardoning of Arizona sheriff

Joe Arpaio served as sheriff of Maricopa County, the most populous county in Arizona, for almost 25 years. In that time, “America’s Toughest Sheriff” used the powers and privileges of his office to terrorize the people of Maricopa County in ways few could imagine. According to Phoenix New Times, he set up a self-described concentration camp for convicted and sentenced prisoners called “Tent City.” Amnesty International singled it out as a “method of incarceration [that] violates basic worldwide standards of human rights.” According to a July 3, 2011 article in The Arizona Republic, temperatures in Tent City often reached 145 Fahrenheit — hot enough to melt one’s shoes after a short walk — and inmates had extremely limited access to water. He also reinstituted chain gangs and created the first-ever female and juvenile chain gangs in the United States. According to an Oct. 28, 2008 Phoenix New Times article, Arpaio faked an assassination attempt on his person as a publicity stunt, putting an innocent 18-year-old in jail for four years. His office is estimated to have improperly cleared over 82 percent of sexual assault cases, ending investigations without even attempting to identify a suspect or interview the victim, according to a Jan. 19, 2010 article from NBC 12 News.

Recognize new additions to the Rights and Responsibilities

Prior to the start of fall classes, the University made annual updates to the Rights and Responsibilities handbook and informed the community of the changes with an Aug. 28 email.

Acknowledge completed campus improvement projects

Brandeis’s decaying infrastructure has long been a financial and aesthetic issue for the University, and this summer’s work to address campus construction represents a strong positive development in the University’s institutional planning and organization.

Views on the News: Confederate Monuments

Following the events occurring in Charlottesville, Va., debates over the presence of Confederate monuments in public spaces have intensified. While some feel that Confederate monuments celebrate a history of racism, others feel that they are "a symbol of resistance by ordinary people from the South who stood up to the rapacious North," according to an Aug. 30 New York Times article. Do you feel that the presence of Confederate monuments is harmful, or are they just another aspect of American history that should be preserved?

Take action against racism and acknowledge white privilege

On May 1, Adam Jones, a center fielder for the Baltimore Orioles, was subject to racist taunts from a fan during a game at Fenway Park. The story made national headlines, partially due to the fact that this was not an isolated incident. According to a May 2 ESPN article, Jones stated that this was not the first time that he had been the target of such racist abuse during a Boston game, although he has not provided any details about the other incidents. Carsten Charles “CC” Sabathia, a Yankees pitcher and 16-year veteran of Major League Baseball, supplemented Jones’ comments by saying that Boston is known among African-American players for this type of abuse from its fans: “There are 62 of us, and we all know that when you get to Boston, expect it,” he said, according to a May 2 New York Post article.