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

Rodenticide threatens local birds of prey

by Ariella Weiss | 03/21/2023

On March 3, upwards of 300 Arlington residents took to the streets to mourn the death of a beloved member of the local ecosystem: a bald eagle named MK, who died after ingesting rat poison. MK, who was born in Waltham and is the protagonist of a children’s book, is only the latest fatality in a slew of rat-poison-related predator deaths. And as Waltham’s rat population continues to grow alongside the 65,000 person community, debate has ensued on how to control growing rodent numbers while also prioritizing the health of local ecosystems. 

Navigating the complexities of pet death as a college student

by Jessica Gabel | 03/21/2023

Throughout childhood and adolescence, our pets are there for us. From curling up on our laps after we bomb the SAT to licking our fingers after gobbling down buffalo wings from Wingstop, the unconditional love that they provide can be a grounding force. They are a blessing. And like any other kind of grief, it can feel insurmountable to move on from their passing. 

“Please just come in”: Spotlighting Waltham’s Welcome Home

by Maddy Dulong | 03/14/2023

Since moving to their new location on Washington Street in West Newton, Welcome Home — a local nonprofit that outfits families experiencing hardship with basic household items they need to live with dignity — has served approximately 300 clients each month, providing them with household items and basic necessities to turn their living spaces into homes. 

Amid controversy, Waltham’s Rhino Lounge continues to thrive

by Ariella Weiss , Cayenn Landau and Noah Risley | 03/07/2023

The Rhino Lounge, located at 11 Cooper St., has been a staple to the Waltham nightlife scene since its opening in 2015. A multi-floor venue with a stocked bar, a dance floor, and faux-leather booths, the lounge also operates as a private event space, something members of Brandeis sorority Sigma Delta Tau laud as being “accommodating…you can tell they just want their patrons to have a good time in a safe environment.”

The best (and worst) people on the internet still use Omegle

by Cayenn Landau | 02/14/2023

When I was eight or nine, I had this neighbor, G, whose house I’d run over to whenever I was bored. She was a few years older than me and I thought she was extremely cool, partly because she had this little compartment under her bed that you could crawl into, but mostly because she had unmonitored access to the Internet. In the dark, warm crawl space under her bed, G introduced me to 2010’s online north star: online chat sites, but specifically Omegle. 

Anonymous sources of joy: Interviews with two iconic Brandeis meme pages

by Noah Risley | 02/14/2023

On their website, Sidechat claims to be “your college’s private community.” The app came to the Brandeis campus at the beginning of the fall 2022 semester and quickly took off, with hundreds of upvotes on posts such as “thanks duo mobile. i was so concerned someone was going to log into my latte and do every single one of my assignments” and “going to brandeis made me realize that you can actually walk to class and its uphill both ways.” But the administrators of Brandeis’ ‘meme pages’ have known the pleasure of making similar content anonymously, long before Sidechat dropped at Brandeis. The Justice spoke to two of these pages, @brandeis_overheard and @brandeis.chungles, to get their opinion on anonymity, campus culture, and — of course — Valentine’s Day. 

Instead of the Family Dollar, try family-run

by Ariella Weiss | 01/31/2023

A single block of Moody Street in Waltham, between Whitney Street and Taylor Avenue, is home to not one, not two, but three dollar stores. One is the ubiquitous chain store, Family Dollar. The other two, however, are local, family-run establishments, staples of the bustling shopping district: Shah Dollar Value and J & M Dollar Discount. 

What’s in a name? Angélica María Aguilera hosts writing workshop on language and identity

by Maddy Dulong | 01/31/2023

On Jan. 27, Brandeis welcomed poet, artist, and educator Angélica María Aguilera for the “Say My Name Poetry Workshop” held in Ridgewood Commons. Aguilera is a Chicana poet and musician originally from Los Angeles. A finalist of the National Poetry Slam, the Women of the World Poetry Slam and the author of “They Call Me,” her work has been featured by organizations such as TEDx, Puma, and the USL Women’s Soccer League. Attendees listened in on Aguilera’s spoken word performance, whose themes included Latinidad machismo, womanhood, culture, and immigration. All present were then invited to write their own poetry – the prompt being an ode to their name – with tips and assistance from Aguilera. Throughout the two-hour event, conversations about identity, European colonialism, heritage, and cultural roots were fostered, and poetry on all these topics and more was shared and workshopped. 

The ghosts of the Company F. State Armory

by Cayenn Landau | 01/24/2023

The Company F. State Armory, located on Sharon Street in Waltham, is a gorgeous, vacant brick shell of a building. It contains three crumbling floors, and Watch CDC reported it to be roughly 8,000 square feet internally. Sometime in the late Fall of 2022, I entered it for a second time (the first had been with a friend) through its open basement. I brought a backpack containing a flashlight, pepper spray, and a bag of plain Lays chips, just in case I was struck by the urge to have a crunchy little snack somewhere amid the splinters. 

Unionizing is off the menu at Waltham Starbucks

by Natalie F. Kahn | 01/24/2023

On the afternoon of Sunday, Jan. 22, Erin Brown, a Junior and current part-time student at Bentley University in Waltham, posted a picture of a Kewpie baby figurine smiling innocently and holding a pink cup of coffee on her Instagram story with the caption, “me at my silly little job making lattes and sticking to the status quo because why unionize and put pressure on corporations when instead we could just continue to be expendable minions,” followed by a smiley face that made her sarcasm abundantly clear to her followers. Brown’s post was in response to the results of a union election at her workplace two days earlier, when her coworkers voted against unionizing by a 30% margin. The majority of employees voted in the secret ballot election; eight voted to unionize, while 15 voted against it. 

What can Marriage Pact tell us about dating at Brandeis?

by Lea Zaharoni | 12/06/2022

For the second semester in a row, the matchmaking service Marriage Pact, which pairs ostensibly romantically-compatible students at 78 participating universities through an anonymous 50-question survey, has come to Brandeis. Just like last time, a third of Brandeis’ undergraduate population participated. Also, just like last time, the buzz flatlined almost immediately after matches were released. 

Saying 'shalom' to Prof. Guy Antebi’s new radio show

by Jessica Gabel | 12/06/2022

A deep and peppy-sounding “Shaaaaalom Brandeis!” floats across the airwaves. It’s time for Prof. Guy Anetebi’s radio show, which airs on WBRS 100.1 FM every Thursday at 1 p.m. With energy and chutzpah, Antebi is ready to serve and engage with students studying “intermediate high to advanced low” Hebrew.

Amazon Web Services CEO Adam Selipsky on effective leadership and lifelong learning

by Zev Carlyle | 11/15/2022

When Adam Selipsky first took over as chief executive of the Seattle-based Tableau Software, some employees were hesitant to embrace him. For starters, he was succeeding a charismatic cofounder who was deeply popular throughout the company. And then there was the culture question — Selipsky arrived in 2016 after spending 11 years at Amazon, which had a notoriously rigorous environment that some at Tableau feared would infiltrate their more upbeat way of life.

Making sense of the Massachusetts midterms

by Noah Risley | 11/15/2022

On Tuesday, Nov. 8, voters across the country went to the polls to vote in the 2022 midterm elections. Many candidates made history, like Florida’s Maxwell Frost, who will become the first member of “Generation Z” to serve in Congress. Candidates here in Massachusetts made history as well.

Former State Treasurer and DNC Chair Steve Grossman on a long career in politics, business, and listening

by Zev Carlyle | 11/08/2022

The year was 1997, and the Democratic National Committee was facing $15 million dollars of debt — and questions about their ability to compete in the upcoming midterms. Instead of giving a big speech outlining his ideas for solutions, new DNC chair Steve Grossman began holding brainstorming sessions with his team. “Tell me your opinion as to what we should be doing," he asked them at these meetings, "What can we improve? What can I do on a daily and weekly basis to improve morale and turn this around?”

Greek life at Brandeis: Unaffiliated or unregulated?

by Jessica Gabel | 11/08/2022

If pop culture and social media are to be believed, Greek life “makes” the social scene at big universities. “Bama Rush” videos on Tiktok show the ceremonial rituals and levels of prestige associated with rushing and securing a spot at one of the University of Alabama’s top sororities. Women spend hours planning their outfits and prepping their hair, and weeks putting together their sorority resumes to impress sorority sisters who did the same thing in previous years. Fraternities, on the other hand, are typically portrayed as the “promise of parties, living college life to the fullest … and alcohol-soaked adventures.” Also trending on Tiktok are videos about “Frat Guy Stereotypes,” which entail users mimicking frat boys by insulting women, chugging beers, and calling every person in their presence “bro.”

With LARP camp documentary, alum capture creativity on camera

by Ariella Weiss | 11/01/2022

When Sam Ho ’20 started college, he barely knew what LARPing was. Now, he’s directing a documentary about it. Ho began conceptualizing his now feature-length film, “Hero Camp!”, while he was still a student at Brandeis. By July 2022, Ho was living in Providence, Rhode Island, editing over 120 hours of footage with his Brandeis classmate, Colin Hodgson ’20.

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