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Caution against the dangers of cryptocurrency bubble

Those who are not glued to every single sliver of tech and business news may have missed the meteoric rise and subsequent fall of bitcoin, the crown prince of the burgeoning cryptocurrency trend. Despite the amount of attention investors and market analysts have paid them in recent months, few members of the public actually understand what cryptocurrencies are or how they work. Put simply, cryptocurrencies are decentralized and anonymous currencies that rely on a complex system of algorithms to generate new units. Instead of a central authority like the Federal Reserve being in charge of the release of new currency units into the market, new cryptocurrencies are released by private individuals in a process called “mining.” Furthermore, production of cryptocurrencies decreases as their total amount increases, meaning that, over time, a hard cap will be created on how much can exist in the market, according to a Dec. 7, 2017 Economic Times article. Accordingly, the value of each individual unit is intended to skyrocket in value as investors and users become attracted to the currency. At the start of January 2017, each bitcoin was worth about $1,000; in one year, rampant speculation had driven up the value of each bitcoin to about $19,000, per bitcoin’s own internal price tracker.

Create harsher restrictions for law enforcement officials

Just yesterday, Snopes cleared up one of the internet’s biggest controversies of the week: It is not true that police can legally rape people in 35 different states. However, it is still too early to breathe a sigh of relief. The truth of the matter is that these 35 states do not have laws that make it illegal for police officers or sheriff deputies to have sex with people in their custody. Although this is almost certainly an oversight rather than a loophole crafted for nefarious purposes, it is a dangerous one, and it reflects a broader issue in the current state of United States laws.

Commend the University for involvement in Smart Fifty

On Friday, Brandeis International Business School had the honor of hosting one of the early stages of Smart Fifty, an entrepreneurial competition designed to find innovative startups with the ability to tackle some of India’s greatest socio-economic challenges. Led by IIM Calcutta Innovation Park, India’s Department of Science and Technology and TiE Boston, Smart Fifty focuses on improving learning, agriculture, sustainability, health and other areas of life in India, according to the program’s page on IBS’ website.

Encourage students to support Cupid Express fundraiser

As Valentine’s Day approaches, people express their love and affection for significant others, family and friends, often by buying flowers, chocolate or other gifts. This year, Graduate Student Affairs is holding a campus-wide fundraising initiative, Cupid Express, to benefit the Boston Area Rape Crisis Center. This board encourages the Brandeis community to participate in this worthy initiative by using Cupid Express as the one-stop-shop for buying roses and chocolate.

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Views on the News: Military Parade

President Donald Trump has ordered the Pentagon to start preparing for a military parade to be held on Veteran’s Day, which would be the United States’ first since the end of the Gulf War in 1991, according to a Feb. 6 Washington Post article. While the president and his advisors claim a parade would inspire pride in the armed forces and display the military’s might, detractors suggest that a parade would call to mind totalitarian regimes like North Korea and the Soviet Union. Do you think a military parade in 2018 is a worthwhile endeavor?

Consider implementation of Automatic Voter Registration

It is important for all Massachusetts residents to call their State Senator or Representative and ask them to support House Bill 2091 and Senate Bill 373, an act that automatically registers eligible voters and enhances safeguards against fraud. These bills can implement “automatic voter registration,” also known as AVR, in which citizens are automatically registered to vote in the Commonwealth whenever they visit the Department of Motor Vehicles or interact with state agencies. Individuals can refuse to be registered if they choose, meaning the system becomes opt-out rather than opt-in. In addition, ballots are mailed to all registered voters, although using the ballot remains entirely optional. Automatic voter registration may not arouse passions like more visceral or emotional political issues, yet it is a reform desperately needed in American elections.

Encourage more universities to adopt well-being courses

According to a Jan. 26 New York Times article, Yale University has recently begun offering a class titled “Psychology and the Good Life,” and nearly 1,200 students — almost one quarter of the school’s undergraduate population — have enrolled in the course, making it the most popular in the 316-year history of the school. The course is intended to teach students how to live happier, more satisfying lives through bi-weekly lectures. According to Professor Laurie Santos, “students want to change, to be happier themselves, and to change the culture here on campus.” Santos also reflects on the fact that, for some students, this may be the first time that they are actually putting their own mental health and happiness at the forefront. They may have spent much of their high school careers working to obtain the grades needed to attain a spot in Yale and unfortunately may have built self-destructive habits. The same New York Times article cites the school’s director of Undergraduate Studies in Psychology, Woo-Kyoung Ahn, who said that she was “blown away” by the proposal for the class, despite the fact that such a course has long been requested. This response speaks volumes to a problem that exists across college campuses. 

Recognize the limitations of an open-market system

Money is a finite resource that exists within the world as property, a marker of wealth and an extension of one’s identity. Society has always faced the challenge of establishing rules regarding what one can and cannot buy with their money. The question is ethical in nature, as there are some things on which money should not be spent. However, in a nearly endless market, there will always exist wants, which suppliers of any degree will try to satisfy in order to make profit. This is the open market system. 

Implore legislators to address new issues of climate change

President Donald Trump’s recent interview with journalist Piers Morgan does little to mollify Americans concerned about climate change; it doesn’t take a scientist to know that he hasn’t done his homework on the subject. As quoted in a Jan. 28 article in the Independent, Trump said, “There is a cooling, and there’s a heating. I mean, look, it used to not be climate change, it used to be global warming. That wasn’t working too well because it was getting too cold all over the place.” 

Allow students on block meal plans to donate unused meals

Brandeis prides itself on social justice and a commitment to service, and few organizations exemplify these values more than the Waltham Group, which is composed of more than a dozen groups specializing in a variety of key issues. One such group is Hunger and Homelessness, an organization within the larger Waltham Group umbrella that works to help people in the Greater Boston Area who are struggling with homelessness, poverty and hunger. Hunger and Homelessness pursues this worthy goal with a range of annual or semi-annual programs, one of which is “Food for Thought.” The program allows Brandeis students to donate their guest meals at the beginning of the semester to help alleviate hunger. This board commends Hunger and Homelessness for its work on this program and others, but we urge Sodexo to extend donation opportunities to students on block meal plans as well.

Encourage University to make course costs known earlier

February is the final month for undergraduate students to drop a class without a mark of withdrawal on their transcripts. Ideally, students will decide which classes to drop or keep based upon future goals, compatibility and interest. However, some students will be forced to make their decisions based upon unexpected strain on their finances that comes with taking a certain class. Others will have to resign themselves to additional costs as they take courses required for their chosen majors and minors. These circumstances occur because many faculty members do not inform students beforehand of the class materials that need to be purchased for the course.

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Views on the News: Amazon Headquarters

A Jan. 31 Washington Post article detailed the lengths to which American cities are going to become the site of Amazon’s second headquarters. Cities like Baltimore and Newark have signaled they are willing to fork over billions of dollars in taxpayer money in the form of subsidies and tax cuts to win over Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos. Supporters view this as a worthwhile investment, while detractors allege that Amazon would pocket the money and leave its host penniless. Should cities be willing to put taxpayer money on the line to attract big businesses like Amazon?

Urge students to take advantage of societal progression

This is not the first time, nor will it be the last, that Americans will live through a key event in our history. History has germinated before our very eyes, just as news spread of bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, or when we watched mankind reach the moon, or not too long ago, when the country saw Barack Obama become president, less than half a century after Martin Luther King said that he had a dream, so too does history germinate before our very eyes. The millions-strong Women’s Marches, the #MeToo movement, the rapidly transforming nature of the American workforce — these are the seeds of tomorrow’s history. Future generations of American students will walk into a 21st Century Studies class and look back on our time just as we look back on Americans pre-Revolutionary War — as a time of movements and massive developments in the story of the United States. Just as we see those people as witnesses of the Boston Tea Party and protesters chanting “no taxation without representation,” so too will future generations study our society as the stage upon which our history plays out. What sets the key events of today apart from the key events of the past is that the nature of the United States itself is changing faster than it has in generations. America is transforming in ways that have never been possible before, and as a result, we have more than the rare privilege of observing monumental moments in history. We are not special because we can watch history in the making. We have a unique opportunity to influence the future, rather than just watching important events develop, because the fundamental nature of what it means to be an American is changing. The unprecedented speed and magnitude of America’s cultural, political and workforce transformation has granted us the privilege of writing the future like never before. 

Recognize changes to racially insensitive team names

Following in the footsteps of other professional sports teams and universities, the Cleveland Indians have finally acknowledged that their logo and mascot are offensive — not to mention racist — and will discontinue their use in 2019. Beginning next year, the Cleveland Indians will no longer use the Chief Wahoo logo on their uniforms, according to a Jan. 29 New York Times article. In a statement published on Jan. 29 in an ABC News article, baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred said, "Major League Baseball is committed to building a culture of diversity and inclusion throughout the game," and that the logo "is no longer appropriate for on-field use." The decision made by Major League Baseball and the Cleveland Indians reflects the movement among sports teams in recent history to retire Native American nicknames, symbols and mascots. According to a Sept. 12, 2013 USA Today article, Stanford University was among the first universities to change its mascot from the Indians to a Cardinal in 1972, and schools such as Dartmouth University, Siena University and Eastern Michigan University quickly followed suit.