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

Views on the News: California wildfire power shutoffs

  | 11/05/2019

 For the past month, strong winds, dry weather patterns and, according to many scientists, a warming climate have prompted red flag warnings across California. Since Oct. 23, the Kincade Fire has burned over 76,000 acres of land, destroying over 200 homes. In an effort to prevent the spread of current wildfires and prevent new ones from starting, Pacific Gas and Electric cut power to hundreds of thousands of homes, surprising many residents who felt they had not received sufficient warning. Should PG&E's power shut-offs be seen as an appropriate method of preventing future wildfires, or should the company take other steps to ensure their equipment does not pose a danger to the state? What other measures can California, or the federal government, take to prevent and contain wildfires in the future?  

Reevaluate judgements surrounding fashion, clothing choices

by Vandita Malviya Wilson | 10/29/2019

Recently, I, along with a classmate, formed a club at the International Business School called the Retail and Fashion Club. For this initiative to exist, I had to collect a number of signatures from IBS classmates. I thought to myself: what better an opportunity to see how the perceptions of retail and fashion have changed over the years? Unfortunately people still think that retail and fashion are superficial. The looks on some of the students’ faces told me how disdainful they were toward my idea. 

Pete Buttigeg is Facebook’s final stand against regulators

by Judah Weinerman | 10/29/2019

There’s a tweet I’ve been thinking about far too much. On Oct. 21, writer and columnist for The Intercept Kate Aronoff sent out a rather strange looking picture of Facebook CEO and possible lizard-man Mark Zuckerberg and presidential candidate Pete Buttegieg doing their best at mimicking human emotions while driving a car, captioned with the statement, “when you see a peasant being naughty.” It’s a combination of a singularly strange image and a perfect caption for the moment, and I really can’t get it out of my head.  

Views on the News: Facebook cryptocurrency

  | 10/29/2019

On October 23, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg will testify before Congress on Libra, or Facebook’s version of a global cryptocurrency. Zuckerberg states that Libra will help millions of people who don’t have access to banks complete financial transactions worldwide, and a coalition of companies called the Libra Association — consisting of 21 members including Spotify, Uber and Lyft — have signed on to use the currency. Zuckerberg’s critics, however, state that Facebook should not be the face of the currency, and call in to question Facebook’s ability to securely handle transactions of cryptocurrency, given its mishandling of private information in the past. What do you make of the potential risks and benefits of Libra currency in comparison to other cryptocurrencies? Should Facebook be the organization to represent it? 

EDITORIAL: Thanking facilities services and custodial staff

by The Justice Editorial Board | 10/29/2019

 Last Tuesday, Scott Berozi and the Kindness Day team sent out an email to the University community asking students on campus with meal plans to donate a meal swipe in order to host a lunch to “thank our Facilities and Custodial staff for all that they do in our residence halls.” This board commends the efforts of the Kindness Day team to honor the commitment of our facilities and custodial staff, and we encourage students to participate in this event — without them, our college experiences would not be the same. It is important to appreciate them, whether it is by donating a meal swipe or thanking them in person. This event has been hosted annually since 2015, with approximately 100 facilities members in attendance at the lunch in Ridgewood Commons, and with food left over afterward, according to Berozi in an email to the Justice. This event has taken place with the same meal-swipe donation logistics for the past few years. 

EDITORIAL: Campus-Lyft partnership is a welcome development

by The Justice Editorial Board | 10/29/2019

On Oct. 22, Student Union President Simran Tatuskar sent an email to the Brandeis student community announcing a potential partnership between the Student Union and the ridesharing application Lyft. For the two weeks around Halloween, from Oct. 22 to Nov. 5, students will be able to use a one-time use code to get up to $5 off of a ride to or from campus between the hours of 10 p.m. and 5 a.m. This board commends Tatuskar for taking action to make this high-risk time of year safer for the Brandeis community.  

My conflicted view of RateMyProfessor and its problems

by Gabriel Frank | 10/29/2019

I have been at Brandeis for over a year now, and I’ve taken my fair share of good and bad classes. I’ve sat in lecture halls that felt electrified by passionate professors and students, with subject matters more interesting and entertaining than some of my favorite movies. The opposite has also been true, and I’ve found myself thinking that going to certain classes wasn’t even necessary. I have thought to myself, “maybe I should have consulted other students’ opinions and thoughts on said classes and professors before enrolling, or at least shop it before spending hundreds of dollars on used, rented textbooks.” I became wary of which classes I signed up for, almost to the point of paranoia; what if a class is required for my major or University requirement, and I’m unable to pass it due to either a teaching style that I can’t follow, or some incomprehensible, poorly-explained material?  

Mental health care needs to be addressed holistically

by Angela Self | 10/22/2019

  In honor of Mental Illness Awareness Week, I wanted to address one major issue facing a segment of the community at Brandeis. I would like to preface this by making a distinction between mental health and mental illness. Mental health refers to an individual’s psychological, social and emotional well-being. Mental illness is defined by the National Institute of Mental Health “as a mental, behavioral, or emotional disorder.” At one point or another we all experience a time in our life when our mental health is challenged. From my experience as a Brandeis student, I can say that the stress from academics has at times put a strain on my mental well-being. Mental illness is a health condition and should be treated as seriously as any other disease. As the Canadian Mental Health Association says, “Just as it’s possible to have poor mental health but no mental illness, it’s entirely possible to have good mental health even with a diagnosis of a mental illness.” It is important to clearly define these two terms because they are too often used interchangeably. 

Busting myths about recycling

by Vandita Wilson | 10/22/2019

 Reduce. Reuse. Recycle. Really? Let’s start with where the whole recycling thing came from. Recycling began in the 1960s as an effort to be less wasteful and protect the environment. Plenty of us know how to rinse our aluminum cans and separate them from paper. However, after that, it gets incredibly complicated. Sometimes, the consumer is asked to separate paper waste from “everything else.” Other times, all recycling is done in a single stream, where paper, glass, aluminum and plastic are all tossed into the same receptacle and sorted off-site. 

Views on the News: Nobel Prize discrimination

  | 10/22/2019

 This past week, the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences announced the 2019 winners for all seven scientific Nobel Prizes for 2019, with the awards ceremony set to take place on Dec. 10. Of the 12 winners announced, 11 are men and one is a woman, despite the Academy attempting to diversify the Nobel Prize award process. Historically, women have been awarded only 3% of all Nobel Prizes. One physicist at the University of Copenhagen claims that a systematic bias against women accounts for this discrepancy in Nobel Prize awards, with the odds of women being nominated for any prize significantly lower than those for men. How do you view this selection process and lack of women Nobel Prize recipients? How do you see this lack of recognition for women’s achievements in the context of the greater academic community? 

EDITORIAL: Student Union in need of transparency, communication and professionalism

by The Justice Editorial Board | 10/22/2019

 On Oct. 7, Student Union Vice President Guillermo Caballero ’20 and Senior Representative to the Board of Trustees Zosia Busé ’20 filed a joint complaint against Union President Simran Tatuskar ’21, alleging her interference with communication between the Executive Board and the Senate. The complaint centers on a Sept. 8 E-Board meeting that Caballero was unable to attend. Under the Student Union Constitution, the vice president serves as a liaison between the two branches and according to Article II Section 4.3, “the Executive Senator shall assume the duties of the Union Vice President in the Vice President’s absence.” When Caballero attempted to send Executive Senator Jake Rong ‘21 to the meeting in his stead, Tatuskar prohibited him from attending. When asked to explain this decision, Tatuskar cited a statement she made at the start of the year. Namely, “the Executive Senator did not need to be on E-Board this semester,” ignoring the particularity of the situation created by Caballero’s absence. 

Heal the rift between STEM and the humanities

by Abigail Cumberbatch | 10/22/2019

 It’s been nearly two months since I started school at Brandeis. In my conversations with numerous people on campus, I began to discover a pattern among students’ majors. I cannot count how many times I have asked an individual about their interests and am greeted with the same series of responses:  “Biology,” “pre-med,” “HSSP” or some other STEM-related field. I understand that Brandeis is a research institution geared towards producing the best results within each of its research labs, but I thought that in a big university such as Brandeis there would be more diversity among what students are studying. It seems as if the more people are geared towards the Science, Technology, Engineering and Math majors and that those interested in humanities fields are dwindling.  

Fourth Democratic primary debate: recap and rankings

by Mehmet Zorluoglu | 10/22/2019

 Trendlines in the RealClearPolitics average of polls show Elizabeth Warren on a continuous rise since the September debate at the expense of almost everyone else in the field. This surge has brought about more media coverage, but also increasing scrutiny coming from the remaining candidates. The night largely ended up as a vetting of Warren, which she mostly passed, but not without a few contentious moments. Each candidate’s grade reflects the extent to which their performance on the night is likely to help their chances in the primary. 

A note on kindness: putting things into perspective

by Leah Timpson | 10/15/2019

 Wednesday’s terror attacks on a synagogue in Halle, Germany are yet another gruesome reminder of the world we live in. That is, a world filled with hate. The attack took place on Yom Kippur, the holiest day in the Jewish calendar. It is a time for atonement, a day during which many people belonging to the Jewish faith fast and spend hours in synagogue, trying to repent. I was raised Jewish and identify as such; even though I do not fast and I rarely attend services, this horrible event is one that struck me because it was live-streamed.  

Commending University's support for DACA and DREAMers

by The Justice Editorial Board | 10/15/2019

Last Tuesday, Oct. 8, University President Ron Liebowitz emailed the Brandeis community stating the University filed a “friend of the court brief in support of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program,” along with 164 other universities, as a part of an upcoming Supreme Court case. President Donald Trump’s administration is trying to rescind DACA, which “provides work permits and protection from deportation to nearly 700,000 undocumented people, known as ‘Dreamers,’ who were brought to the U.S. as children,” Liebowitz explained in the email. This board commends the University for taking a stance in support of DREAMers both on the Brandeis campus and around the nation, as it is consistent with the University’s values of social justice. 

Views on the News: Syria Invasion

  | 10/15/2019

On Wednesday, Turkey launched an offensive into northern Syria, claiming it is an assault on Kurdish forces hostile to Turkish interests and security. Many analysts and members of the United States government, a major Kurdish ally, are labeling this offensive as highly detrimental to American security and humanitarian interests, because it jeopardizes the Syrian Democratic Forces’ and others’ ability to guard some 11,000 ISIS prisoners in the region, who now have a greater chance of escaping to Europe and other parts of the Middle East. What is your view on the Turkish military operation in the region? Given the fact that a withdrawal of American troops allowed this invasion to happen, how do you think the United States’ geopolitical security interests will be affected?

Backpacks play an important, yet controversial role

by Vandita Wilson | 10/08/2019

Backpacks are everywhere. Everywhere except on the actual back of the person carrying said backpack. On and off campus I see the latest trends of how not to wear a backpack. By now we all know that one-strapping (i.e. carrying the backpack using one strap on only one shoulder) the backpack is the wrong way to go, if you want to keep both your balance and your posture. But two-strapping the backpack and then wearing it low on the back is also the wrong way to go. 

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