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Letter to the Editor — Noah Baumann, Aaron Klein

To the Editor: 

Letter to the Editor — Laura Limonic

Dear President Levine and Members of the Board of Trustees,

Forum, Unfiltered — Keira Shear

Brandeis is far too harsh on its STEM students.

A snowy thank you to our professors and faculty

The snowstorm that upended campus activities on Monday, Feb. 23 and Tuesday, Feb. 24 has made travel back to campus after break difficult and unpredictable. This editorial board would like to express its gratitude to all of the Brandeis professors and faculty for being accommodating and flexible to their students, moving classes online, giving extensions and pushing bigger assignments and exams back a few days. We recognize that online classes aren’t preferable and moving around scheduled assignments can be inconvenient, and making those allowances for students has helped relieve the stress of frustrating travel. 

She’s just a dining hall, and she’s on fire

 As we are all aware of, following the fire in the Hassenfeld-Sherman building on Feb. 2, the Sherman dining hall and the Stein have been closed. As such, additional kosher options have been made available at the Faculty Club, in upper Usdan and the lower Usdan dining hall is currently the only all-you-can-eat dining option open to students. Brandeis students have been given relatively little information about the expected time that the Sherman dining hall will reopen. This editorial board is calling on the University administrative team to come forth with transparent communication regarding Sherm’s re-opening, the extent of the damage done and repairs happening to Sherman. 

Voter ID’s Jim Crow echo

 This February, the White House website published “The SAVE America Act: Voter ID is Popular with Everyone,” advocating for the passage of the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility America Act. At first glance, that argument works. Americans consistently say they support requiring photo ID to vote. That being said, this widespread support rests on the assumption that obtaining an acceptable photo ID is simple and universal. In reality, the steps behind obtaining a photo ID operate as a barrier that will make millions of eligible Americans effectively ineligible to vote on a scale not seen since Jim Crow.

The price for paying attention

 The term “Loneliness Epidemic” is often used in today’s discourse to summarize the mass isolation people have reported feeling — whether it’s due to the lack of third-spaces, a dissatisfying dating market, rising political polarization or decreases in the marriage and birth rates. Often, these alarmist reports point to Gen Z’s divergent trends in comparison to previous generations. Some of these sensational headlines read “Gen Z is drinking less alcohol,” “Gen Z isn’t going to the club” and “Gen Z is having less sex.” Ironically, the data is pointing in the opposite direction of what the term literally says: Loneliness is not spreading; rather, social connections are shrinking, and they have been for a long time. Trends of diminishing social lives began in the 1960s, and Gen Z is left holding the ball.

Artificial Intelligence wants to be your friend, for a price

More and more often, we see the term “Artificial Intelligence Induced Psychosis,” or AIIP, being used by journalists and psychologists to describe the reports of individuals experiencing breaks from reality after interacting with AI chatbots. Despite the popularity of the term, there have been no clinical or longitudinal studies that definitively prove that chatbots are causing psychosis in their users. There were, however, several reports of chatbots actively encouraging their users’ delusions of grandeur, paranoia, as well as acts of bodily harm towards themselves and others, with evidence being found on the site’s chat logs during criminal investigations. More often than not, users of all ages engage with AI socially, as one would engage with a friend or romantic partner. How could these chatbots be getting so close to users in the first place? One scholar offers an explanation for why some users trust these chatbots so willingly. 

The performative male epidemic

A few months ago, I was transported to the frontlines of the performative male epidemic when I attended a Geese concert, a band that has become synonymous with tote-bag-wearing men in their twenties. Having become a fan after being entranced by their sound upon the release of their 2023 album “3D Country,” and having loved frontman Cameron Winter’s solo album “Heavy Metal,” I was anxiously waiting for their next album. By the time the concert came, I had seen them go from a lesser-known band, with iffy ratings on music-rating websites, to being seen as the successor to the Isaac Wood era “Black Country, New Road.” Both bands, in fact, had a beloved lead singer with a unique voice and unique lyrical styles, which, combined with their art rock fusions, proved popular among a certain sect of people. With this rise in popularity came the flooding of what has been termed “performative males” into their fanbase. 

The race to move in and the fees one incurs

In the first two weeks of this semester, many Brandeis students received an email from the Department of Community Living notifying them of winter housing fees costing between $200 and $300. This email was a notice to any students living in housing without kitchens who moved in before 9:00 a.m. on Jan. 11 about the money they owed the school for moving back to campus early. Of these fees, $220 was for using the Brandeis dining services, such as Sherman Dining Hall, before they reopened for the spring semester. DCL only allowed Brandeis students to avoid these fees by returning to their residence halls on Sunday, Jan. 11; the first day of classes was Monday, Jan. 12. Additionally, many students received this dining fine despite there being no record of them swiping into any campus dining hall facilities before they reopened for the spring semester. 

Forum, Unfiltered — Ellie Harris

The Rabb Steps aren’t that bad

Letter to the Editor — Mateo Levin

To the editor:

Letter to the Editor — Jon Hochschartner

Support the PROTEIN Act

Stop threatening our language programs

 — Clarification: A source familiar with the matter has clarified that some of the language professors are "contingency faculty," meaning that if there is need to teach a class, they are hired; once this need is fulfilled, they are no longer contractually obligated to continue teaching at the University. 

It's time to abolish ICE

Back in November 2024, I wrote in The Justice’s forum on the topic of immigration for its special 2024 presidential election issue. At the time, I laid out the case for Kamala Harris implementing a more compassionate immigration policy than the one she was campaigning on, should she be elected president. I described Donald Trump’s proposed immigration policies as “horrifying” and “fascistic in nature,” concluding that, “immigrants are not pawns to advance political agendas, they’re real people whose lives are affected by policy.” I will be the first to admit, the piece was optimistic, maybe even naively so, but I saw a real opportunity for progress if Harris won.

The weather outside is frightful: Concerns with the handling of the snowstorm and a thank you to facilities staff

This editorial board wants to express our gratitude to the facilities workers who plowed, shoveled and otherwise removed snow around the University campus, especially in light of the immense amount of snowstorm that crossed the east coast last week. However, this board also acknowledges that a snowstorm of this magnitude requires more than the standard number of employees to appropriately clear the snow. 

Letter to the Editor — Marc Sapir

Brandeis Alumni Newsletter Editor:

Letter to the Editor — Mike Sawyer

Dear Editor,

Letter to the Editor — Richard Sherman

Boston University Law Professor Raphael Stern’s discussion about any contention that may exist about Israel’s borders as reported by Chava Thiell appears to  ignore the controlling international law concerning   Israel’s status:  Article 80 of the United Nations Charter, an international treaty, that supercedes any resolution of the Security Council or General Assembly that may conflict with it.  (“Making Israel’s Legal Space: Discussions About International Law”).

Klein: Unrelated; AK’s Waltham’s pizza