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Brandeis University’s Independent Student Newspaper Since 1949 | Waltham, MA

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Criticize University’s treatment of commuter students

(01/16/18 11:00am)

On Jan. 10, Chief Diversity Officer Mark Brimhall-Vargas sent an email regarding the formalization of the Brandeis Ombuds Office. This will provide a useful means to achieve conflict resolution between students or staff with other members of the University, a long-awaited result of the list of demands created by students of color  during the 2015 Ford Hall protest. In the email, Brimhall-Vargas described the ombuds as experienced individuals that “provide alternatives to adversarial dispute resolution not available elsewhere.” This board commends the University for taking the steps needed to foster a sense of security, wellbeing and cooperation on campus, but we urge the University to correct a major oversight in the designation and appointment of the Ombuds Office.


Views on the News: Emergency Drills

(12/05/17 11:00am)

According to a Nov. 29 New York Times article, Hawaii plans on reinstating tests for a Cold War-era warning system that will inform citizens of an impending nuclear attack. Beginning on Dec. 1, the alarm will play on the first business day of every month, along with the already regular natural disaster warning tests. Though the system has not been used since the mid-1990s, recent threats from North Korea make this precaution necessary, according to Richard Rapoza, spokesperson for the state's emergency management agency. What do you think of this decision, and is it appropriate?


EDITORIAL: Condemn DCL for their response to bedbugs on campus

(12/12/17 4:15pm)

Starting on the night she first slept in her East Quad room, Student A woke up to discover bug bites on her body. After her roommate, Student B, trapped and killed a bedbug, Student A reported the issue to the Department of Community Living in late October but was not able to fully resolve the matter until a month later because of a “lack of communication.” This board urges DCL to establish clearer lines of communication in order to minimize stress involved in such a situation.  



Recognize the important nature of stem cell research

(12/05/17 11:00am)

A recent study conducted by researchers from Lund University in Sweden revealed the future implications of amniotic fluids in stem cell research. During normal cesarean section procedures, the amniotic fluid is discarded as medical waste. However, recent evidence proves that amniotic fluids are a viable source of stem cells. Amniotic fluid contains Mesenchymal stem cells, a type of connective cell that has the ability to be converted into different types of cells for use in medical treatments. According to a Dec. 4 Science Daily article, research on the implication of MSCs in treating neurodegenerative diseases, diabetes and cardiovascular disease has proven to be successful in the past. However, MSCs are usually taken from adult human and animal sources, and they are, therefore, in limited supply. The researchers from Lund University have developed a novel technique for extracting MSCs from the amniotic fluid of patients undergoing scheduled C-sections. The procedure involved inserting a soft catheter into the amniotic membrane to collect the fluids shortly after the cesarean operation was performed, lengthening the procedural time only by only 90 seconds, according to the lead clinician, Andreas Herbst, in the same Dec. 4 Science Daily article. This is far from a new discovery; in 2007, it was first confirmed that amniotic fluid contains viable pluripotent stem cells, according to a Jan. 8, 2007 Washington Post article. Despite this scientific advancement and the knowledge of the potential uses of stem cells, there is still controversy surrounding the topic, more specifically that of embryonic stem cells. 


Evaluate Federal Reserve’s role in growing interest rates

(12/05/17 11:00am)

The future of the United States economy is unpredictable, and its savior lies in the hands of the Federal Reserve. The Federal Reserve, also known as “The Fed,” is the watchdog of the U.S. economy; its purpose is to oversee and protect the U.S. economy. Dangers exist just as threatening as enemies like the Great Recession and the Great Depression that have occurred in the history of our economy. Although not formally known as the “Central Bank of the United States,” it serves the exact same purpose and is deliberately established free and separate of Washington’s grid of politics. Founded by Congress in 1913, its role in banking and the economy has expanded and has been revolutionized.  


Urge social media generation to realize the value of privacy

(12/05/17 11:00am)

My New Jersey grandma, like many during Thanksgiving, lamented the post-millennial generation for their penchant for publicizing themselves online. “They have no boundaries,” she said over the 12-pound turkey, “and absolutely no sense of self-identity.” Age breeds wisdom, the adage goes. And she’s not wrong: In our age of location-sharing and Bitmoji-creating, our sense of privacy has undoubtedly become severely diminished. But why? 


Condemn the ethnic cleansing of the Rohingya in Myanmar

(12/05/17 11:00am)

In an interview with GlobalPost on Jun. 20, 2013, Buddhist monk and hate monger Ashin Wirathu said, “Muslims are like the African carp. They breed quickly and they are very violent and they eat their own kind. Even though they are minorities here [Myanmar], we are suffering under the burden they bring us.” More importantly, Wirathu is a leader in the 969 Movement, a Buddhist Burmese nationalist and hate group that encourages the exclusion of Muslims within the country. Since independence in 2011, the Burmese government has targeted the Rohingya, a Muslim minority population. The United Nations has referred to the violence as ethnic cleansing, according to a Sept. 11 article in the UN News Centre. In the most recent wave of violence, an estimated 620,000 Rohingya citizens became refugees. 







Consider the negative consequences of China’s growing debt

(11/22/17 11:17pm)

For the movie star Zhao Wei and her husband, the business magnate Huang You Long, it was not a nice day when they found out they were facing 1.2 million Yuan ($180,000) fines and a five-year market entry ban from the Chinese Securities Regulators. According to a Nov. 10 Reuters article, regulators believe they were speculating with an undisclosed leverage in their astronomical amount of equity purchase attempt to buy a publicly traded company in late 2016. The securities regulator explained in its notice that Zhao and Huang planned to acquire over 29 percent of the shares of the public company, but they planned to pay only 60 million Yuan ($9 million) from their own pocket and borrow the rest: 3 billion Yuan ($450 million USD) — a leverage up to 51 times.


Urge Trump administration to reconsider harmful DACA decision

(11/21/17 11:00am)

It’s been nearly 80 days since the Trump administration created chaos for over 800,000 lives by revoking the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals Program. The Trump administration put at risk the imminent future of thousands of young and hard-working students, nurses, business owners, scientists, soldiers and fellow neighbors that benefit from this program. In revoking the program by creating an artificial deadline of Sept. 5, the Trump administration created this chaos and looming deadline that is threatening to shut down the government. The administration should have waited until a legislative solution was passed in Congress before recklessly ending one of the nation’s most successful immigration programs that presented crucial moral and fiscal benefits. 



Criticize oversimplification of campus free speech issues

(11/21/17 11:00am)

Donald Trump recently visited Saudi Arabia, an oppressive regime with little respect for human rights. In Saudi Arabia, an activist blogger was sentenced to ten years in prison and 1,000 lashes for establishing an online forum with the purpose of creating debate on religious and political matters, according to an Oct. 19, 2016 BBC article. Yet, the Google search “where is free speech under attack?” yields a page where virtually every article is about college campuses. Spurred by firebrands such as Ann Coulter and Milo Yiannopoulos, the right wing has converged on academia with indignation and ire. Their claim is that the liberal consensus at most universities is stifling and victimizing to conservative students. Not since the ‘War on Christmas’ has an ideological crusade been so pointless.