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.
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 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.
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.
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.
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.
The Justice reached out to various Brandeis organizations, clubs, and departments for words of support and advice in light of Saturday's tragedy.
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.
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.
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?”
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.”
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.
When Columbus sailed the ocean blue in 1492, he discovered the Americas and gave European settlers access to the bountiful lands overseas — or so the old, whitewashed tale goes. But Indigenous leaders like Jean-Luc Pierite are working to change this narrative.
On Oct. 9, the Brandeis Photography Club took a trip to Lake Winnipesaukee, New Hampshire to take pictures of the fall foliage.
“When you’re younger, you don’t really notice you’re that different,” Hannan Canavan ’25, student leader of Deisvergent, said. “The adults did, because they could see you from the outside, but your peers, they really didn’t. Then, as you get older, there starts to become this barrier, this invisible wall. Others begin to progress and understand things that you don’t. That’s a very isolating experience.”
The pandemic brought the Boston area’s active live music scene to a grinding halt. Over the past year, local venues gradually reopened as artists went back on the road. Brandeis students have been making the most of the return of concerts in (and around) Boston.
The United States launched its “War on Terror” in 2001, when a U.S.-led military coalition invaded Afghanistan in response to the 9/11 attacks carried out by the global terrorist group al-Qaeda, who were being sheltered in Afghanistan.
At around 3 p.m. on a sunny Saturday afternoon, the Waltham Skatepark at Jack Koutoujian Playground is the place to be. Some skaters hang out next to the half pipe. Others stand atop the ramp on the opposite side of the park with their boards hanging over the edge. They watch their fellow skaters attempt tricks, hyping them up and offering tips as they wait to “drop in” for a turn.
On a sunny Saturday morning in downtown Waltham, excited customers are lined up at the edge of a parking lot filled with stands displaying colorful produce, crumbly pastries, and exotic plants. At 9:30 a.m. sharp, a bell is rung. The Waltham Farmers’ Market is officially open for the day.
Embassy Cinema opened in 1928. On Monday, Aug. 5, the almost century-old Waltham staple, once advertised as “Waltham’s Wonder Theatre,” closed its doors for good.
The Girl with a Guitar