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

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Night for Africa highlights vibrant community

(11/14/17 5:00am)

On Saturday evening, the Brandeis African Students Organization hosted the 7th Annual Night for Africa in Levin Ballroom. The show was a part the University’s I Am Global Week and students invited friends, family and faculty alike to come share in culture from Africa and the African diaspora.  Seating began at 5:45 p.m., and by the time the show started a half hour later, the audience was bustling. People even lined the balconies to watch the performances.


Getting chummy at Blacklist coffee house

(11/14/17 11:00am)

The editors of Blacklist Magazine hosted a coffee house at Cholmondeley's on Saturday to celebrate the publication of their first issue of the semester. Blacklist, formerly Where the Children Play, is the University's longest-running literary and arts magazine. Bad Grammer warmed up the growing crowd with a combination of slapstick humor, raunchy jokes and laughably bad puns. They were followed by Sarah Lavin ’21, who sang two original songs, “Who Am I” and “How Can I Write a Love Song,” accompanied by her ukelele. Next was a stand-up bit by Max Everson ’19, who shared his heartwarming, hilarious experience of seeing “The Longest Ride” in theaters with his best friend. In addition to making the audience members laugh, he left them with a message: try to share your friends’ interests rather than be critical. Everson later explained, “If my material isn’t funny, at least it has a moral.” Then Jordan Mudd ’20, playing his guitar, performed a mashup of “Autumn Leaves” and “My Funny Valentine,” as well as Amos Lee’s “Learned a Lot.” 


Criticize actor Kevin Spacey’s response to recent allegations

(11/07/17 11:00am)

In 1988, England introduced Section 28 of the 1988 Local Government Act, which barred the so-called promotion of homosexuality in schools. In the 1970s, Senator John Briggs  came up with an initiative called California Proposition 6, which attempted to bar gays and lesbians from working in Californian schools. The initiative was set aside because of the lack of support from the public. In Russia, one salient homophobic group calls itself Occupy Pedophilia, claiming that they protect the rights of children by humiliating, assaulting or otherwise targeting gay people, according to a Feb. 6, 2014 article from Gawker. LGBTQ activists have fought hard to reject the mislabelling and portrayal of the queer community as pedophiles, but recent events are damaging the progress made. 


VOLLEYBALL: Judges should be proud of their incredible year

(11/07/17 11:01am)

Members of the Brandeis women’s volleyball team, head coach Alesia Vaccari, family, friends and fans of this squad have an awful lot to be proud of this season. As the sports editor of the Justice, I have been covering this team for over a year now and I am truly inspired by this team’s incredible transformation. In just one year, the Judges improved their numbers in every major team category per set: assists, digs, service aces, blocks, hitting percentage and kills. Last year’s team finished the regular season with a 7-21 record and ended the year on a 12-game losing streak. This season, the Judges finished with a winning record at 15-14, including an outstanding 9-2 mark at home.


The connected Los Angeles Dodgers fanbase has a lot to be excited about despite World Series defeat

(11/07/17 11:00am)

The Houston Astros won the 2017 World Series. By emerging victorious in this out-of-control seven-game series, the Astros took home their first championship in their 56-year franchise history. That’s a big deal; congratulations to them. In the immediate wake of Hurricane Harvey’s devastation and after years of extreme losing, the Astros have a fascinating and inspirational story that deserves to be told. Look elsewhere for that column. This is about the losers.


Views on the News: Veterans

(10/24/17 10:00am)

According to an Oct. 16 New York Times article, former Marine Sergeant Major, Damien Rodriguez was charged with a felony-level hate crime and assault after he attacked employees at an Iraqi restaurant in Portland, Oregon. His friends and family, however, claim that his actions were the result of PTSD and not hatred. Do you feel that Rodriguez’s charges are appropriate? 



Urge NFL to support Colin Kaepernick’s form of protest

(10/17/17 10:00am)

It all began with the simplest of gestures. At the beginning of the 2016 NFL season, San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick decided he would kneel during the national anthem to draw attention to racial inequality and police brutality. On Aug. 26, 2016, Kaepernick remained seated during the national anthem, and on Aug. 27, 2016, he told NFL Media, "I am not going to stand up to show pride in a flag for a country that oppresses black people and people of color.” He also said,  “To me, this is bigger than football, and it would be selfish on my part to look the other way. There are bodies in the street and people getting paid leave getting away with murder.” 


Commend news outlets for exposing sexual predators

(10/17/17 10:00am)

Throughout this year alone, the media — or, more specifically, the New York Times — has done an unprecedented job in exposing people in positions of power who turned out be concealing egregious secrets about their sexual misconduct in the workplace. The series of exposés have given the voice and courage many women, who are minorities in different working fields, have needed for such a long time already to call out their abusers.


An Ode to Self-Care

(10/17/17 10:00am)

Daniela Marquez ’18 will graduate this spring with a major in Afro and African American studies. Born in the Dominican Republic, she migrated to the United States when she was nine years old, traveling back and forth between the U.S. and the Dominican Republic until she started high school. Recounting her time in the DR, where her father lives, she said, “When I lived with my dad it was a different rhythm. My mom was more laid back and my dad was more militarized. My mom also did not get to have a childhood, being the second oldest out of eight kids and having to take care of them was very tough. I was thinking the other day how my family has taken so much sacrifice, body and spirit wise for me to be in a position to be able to say ‘Okay, I don’t have to worry about what I’m going to eat.’ Now I understand when my mom says ‘Tu eres mi vida — you are my world.’ I never understood it because I used to wonder how can someone else be your life? How can you put others in front of you? And it’s because that’s her way of dealing with trauma. And sometimes I complain about her attachment, but she and her siblings are the foundation of my family.”


Getting down and dirty with Fornes’ ‘Mud’

(10/17/17 10:00am)

REVIEW— A handful of theater students put on a show called ‘Mud’ this past weekend. The play, written by Cuban-American Maria Irene Fornes, revolves around a man and a woman living in what I assumed to be the 1920s. Mae (Sophia Massidda ’20), a hard-working woman trying to educate herself to achieve a better life, works on a farm maintained by Lloyd (Yair Koas ’19), a man with whom she has an unspecified relationship. Both impoverished, Mae learns to read and do math while the illiterate Lloyd taunts her for it in his state of deteriorating health. While the two are at each other’s throats, Mae brings home Henry, a friend who aids in the purchase of Lloyd’s medication yet has a secret desire to steal Mae and his home away from him. The three violently butt heads in fits of rage and vengeance, as each get in the way of the other’s desires.




Sprint to the theater to see ‘Blade Runner 2049’

(10/10/17 10:00am)

REVIEW — The original “Blade Runner” from 1982 is controversial yet unanimously accepted as a modern sci-fi classic. The film has been modified into several different cuts over many decades to satisfy either the production executives or director Ridley Scott but never both. Fans detest the narration-riddled theatrical cuts and praise the subtler final cut. 



Views on the News: Saudi Arabian Women Driving

(10/03/17 10:00am)

On Sept. 26, Saudi Arabia announced that it would give women the right to drive, making it the last country in the world to do so. According to a Sept. 26 New York Times article, the change will be implemented in June 2018 and Saudi ambassador, Prince Khalid bin Salman even suggested that women will be able to obtain licenses without permission from a guardian. How do you feel about this decision and do you feel that it is a sign of further change to come?


Encourage feeling of safety among undocumented students

(10/03/17 10:00am)

Perhaps the day of the termination of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program was a silent day for those who have benefited from Barack Obama’s policy to work and study in the United States and avoid deportation. The silence is attributed to the fear and uncertainty, that old feeling that Dreamers experienced in a pre-DACA era — a time spent mostly in “the shadows,” a time that seems to prevail once again.