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In the last few days, you may have noticed the trees changing colors, the mornings getting colder, and the days are getting shorter. This board offers a few pieces of advice on how to thrive and add a bit of color to the darker months with some fun activities.
Wednesday, Sept. 15 marked the start of National Hispanic Heritage Month, a time when many people recognize and honor the history, heritage and social contributions of Latin Americans, Latine populations and Hispanic culture. Over the 30-day period from Sept. 15 to Oct. 15, commemorators spend time recognizing the anniversaries of independence of multiple Latine, Caribbean and Hispanic countries. In the wake of a long, tumultuous year, the theme for 2021 is “Esperanza: A Celebration of Hispanic Heritage and Hope.”
As students and faculty reacclimate to a predominantly in-person semester, several members of this editorial board have raised concerns over pandemic safety on campus. Over the past month, many have witnessed both students and faculty become more relaxed in adhering to COVID-19 policies such as mask-wearing in shared spaces, truthfully filling out the daily health assessment and professors ensuring that students enter the classroom with a yellow or green passport. Additionally, many have questioned the effectiveness of the campus passport system and the risk associated with in-person lecture classes that hold 100 or more students in poorly-ventilated classrooms for over an hour. As the COVID-19 cases continue to rise in some areas across the country — including Waltham — it is more important than ever that all COVID-19 policies be reinforced or, in some cases, reviewed to ensure the safety of all those in the community.
On Monday, Sept. 13, the annual New York Met Gala saw attendees don varying garb in response to this year’s theme, “American Independence.” From Hollywood entertainers to political pundits and social media users, viewers praised and/or criticized certain attendees for wearing outspoken fashion in support of varying social justice causes. Some rallied behind the use of fashion as a medium for these expressions. Others questioned if it was rather a display of hypocrisy above all else.
I honor Halloween more than most holidays. The horror, thrilling and gory genres across movies, television shows, books and other forms of storytelling have provided me an outlet since childhood to dissect some of my most isolating and terrifying moments better than any other commemorative day or cinematic medium. Nevertheless, I regularly struggle with the available content I consume. I have never really wanted to dwell on it prior to this, because I do find it strange to enjoy Ryan Murphy’s gruesome “American Horror Story” as often as I do. To make myself feel better on rough days, it is normal for me to sink into the gore of “The Walking Dead.” For fun or introspection, I watch shows or films that come wrapped in titles like “Evil,” “Get Out” and “Hereditary” with daunting, foreboding advertisement posters of gloomy heads plastered over foggy skies or darkened rooms. On nights I cannot sleep, my partner often finds me dozing off to the ghouls of “The Haunting of Bly Manor” or finding solace in the vampirical frights of “The Frankenstein Chronicles” or “Penny Dreadful.” I am uncomfortable at how it comforts me to escape through characters’ gruesome tales of doom, with inconceivably harrowing endings and no relief in sight. In what universe would these tales comfort such an anxious heart? What does that say about me as a person? Am I simply an adrenaline junkie, or am I the “twisted” one?
For most of the world, Sept. 8, 2021 was not significant in any way. For the University of Wisconsin’s population of roughly 4,000 Jewish students and faculty, it was a day where they had to choose between spirituality and school. This year, Wisconsin’s first day of class — a day that appeared to be insignificant to the university’s administration — happened to fall on Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year and one of the holiest days of the Hebrew calendar.
Contrary to the words of many conservative pundits, there is nothing unprecedented or tyrannical about President Joe Biden’s rules that would require vaccination against COVID-19 for certain groups of Americans. Acting as a sort of mandate, the new rules require all employers with 100 or more employees to fully vaccinate their personnel. Additionally, any and all contractors who do work with the federal government must vaccinate their employees. Healthcare workers at Medicare- and Medicaid-participating hospitals must do the same. All in all, it obligates vaccination for around 100 million Americans, part of a larger effort to combat the contagious delta variant.
Along with the trauma that the COVID-19 pandemic has brought, it has taught humanity many lessons, among them the power of video conference technology and digital forms of engagement. While most of us have yearned for a return to in-person activities and classes, it seems that we are quickly forgetting the importance of alternative forms of communication, particularly for disabled members of our community.
With the rollout of vaccines in the United States and with tens of millions of people vaccinated, there may be a sense that the pandemic is a thing of the past. This sense is one that is harbored by both vaccinated and unvaccinated individuals. This idea that the pandemic has come to an end is, of course, untrue. The United States, like the rest of the world, is still in a pandemic. According to data reported by the New York Times, America is still rocked by an average of about 146,000 new COVID-19 cases every day. The Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation projects that about 750,868 people will have died from COVID-19 related complications by Dec. 1. The fact is that people have not stopped getting infected and people have not stopped dying from COVID-19.
We are representatives of Anti-Racism Alliance in the Sciences (ARAS), a collective of current and former students that has operated since August 2020 to promote a culture of belonging and support in the Division of Science. We advocate for institutional changes that advance diversity, equity, inclusion and justice in many aspects of STEM higher education. We have learned that each department has since formed its own diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) committee. More than a year since our inception, we have observed that expressions of sympathy and mutual understanding have not yet been translated into progress.
Imagine that you are 16 years old and excited to get your driver’s license alongside your friends, only to be told you cannot obtain one. This is the reality for Jose Antonio Vargas , an undocumented journalist, and for millions of others in the United States. Vargas crafted a support system to bypass the system, but lived in fear every single day that his truth would come out. It is hard enough to be undocumented in the United States without access to many public services and benefits. A driver’s license would expand the economic and social prospects of individuals and families.
I thought I would be happy to return to Brandeis this fall. But as I drove to Theater Lot to check in and collect my dorm keys, the sinking feeling I had been experiencing all summer intensified. As the Department of Community Living student workers ushered cars through Theater Lot, many of them excited to see friends after a year and a half of virtual learning, I was caught in a state of disbelief. I kept thinking to myself, “Wow, this is happening. Everything is in person again, with limited to no restrictions.” The reality of living on campus during a pandemic hit me as one of the DCL staff members handed me my room key and informed me that if I did not get tested by 4 pm, I would have to quarantine myself for two days, whether or not I tested positive for COVID-19.
This past year and semester, marked in particular by a global pandemic, have been unlike any other in the University’s history. To best balance both the health and safety of the community and ensuring a lively, memorable academic year for its students, the University has instituted a number of new protocols. These policies are influenced by advice from the Centers for Disease Control, the Massachusetts Department of Public Health and state law regarding mask mandates, vaccinations and capacity restrictions.
As new variants of the coronavirus continue to emerge and affect communities around the world, maintaining the health and safety of the Brandeis community in the midst remains a vital yet challenging task.
LGBTQIA+ representation and queer theory continues to be villified in most grade and high school environments — even when the introduction of that knowledge might hugely improve or even save a student’s life. As kids trickle back to class in-person this fall, some leave the danger of prejudiced family homes only to enter risky school environments in which identities are restricted and homophobic attacks from students, staff and teachers go unpunished. Others will watch while administrations degrade and demonize LGBTQIA+ students, or fire gay teachers and coaches without due process. A majority of schools still refuse to teach any semblance of LGBTQIA+ history, not to mention LGBTQ-specific health or sex education. All the while too many students — like transgender students who report much higher rates of feeling unsafe in school or fall into the 35% of students who attempt suicide — continue to suffer silently.
The Justice Editorial Board would like to extend a warm welcome to the Class of 2025 as they begin their first year of college and the Class of 2024 as they begin their first year of in-person classes. This board has compiled a list of its favorite survival tips on the Brandeis campus for navigating these new and exciting times.
It is bittersweet saying goodbye to our seniors after a year of navigating school and student journalism in a pandemic — bitter because we’re saying goodbye, but sweet because we’re so incredibly proud of them for getting through this year and making the most of it. Each of our graduating seniors has made invaluable contributions to the Justice. We wouldn’t be where we are today without them. We as an editorial board want to take a moment to recognize each senior and celebrate their achievements.
On Tuesday, April 27, India reported 320,000 new COVID-19 cases and 2,771 deaths, as a second COVID-19 wave ravaged the country's healthcare system. The Indian government has responded to the crisis by restricting its own exports of the AstraZeneca vaccine, which has had drastic repercussions on impoverished nations. Last week, President Biden defended the current ban on exports of raw materials used in vaccines in response to urgent requests to lift it, citing obligations to prioritize vaccinating the American population first. In a recent turn of events, the Biden Administration proposed a plan to export up to 60 million AstraZeneca doses to India when available, and countries such as the UK have sent ventilators and additional medical equipment to assist in navigating the catastrophe. In light of the situation, some physicians have alluded to ‘vaccine nationalism’ — when nations procure doses on behalf of national interests at the expense of other countries. How does vaccine nationalism or pandemic profiteering factor into the current nature of global and domestic vaccine distributions, if at all? Many of our own community also have loved ones in the impacted area. At a local level, how can the Brandeis administration and faculty support South Asian students at this time?
I am confused by clothing lately, in particular, pants. Trousers have gone into disfavor during the past year due to the pandemic and the new norm of Zoom meetings that allows people to generally only show themselves from the shoulders up. Some people even seem to think that bottom clothing is optional. You know who you are!
On Tuesday, April 27, Brandeis’ campus systems went offline from approximately 9 to 10:30 a.m., disabling WiFi on campus and blocking access to Brandeis-hosted services, such as Gmail and LATTE. Among other interruptions, this prompted the Department of Community Living to postpone junior/senior housing selection until the following day.