We recognize that the University and its staff are certainly committed to creating a safe and enjoyable environment for students to live, work, and learn. However, issues with the Bite app have been ongoing since we started using it in fall 2020, and this board hopes to see a solution soon.
Last Saturday, a powerful winter storm hit the east coast, leaving Boston with its seventh highest snowfall in recorded history. Blizzard warnings, power outages, and dangerous travel conditions were widespread throughout the area, and the Brandeis campus was closed, with all classes and public activities cancelled for the day. This board would like to commend the University for its handling of the storm and thank all of the staff who worked hard to keep us safe.
A new year and a new semester have begun, and already we are facing questions about how the University will function under yet another COVID-19 surge. What seems like the inescapable grasp of COVID-19 has altered another semester, and students are forced to once again navigate changes to dining.
Especially since some students did not return to campus until the weekend before in-person classes began, this board is concerned that students’ option to delay their return to campus might cause a surge in COVID-19 rates just as we all return to in-person activities. To avoid the increased risk of COVID-19 spreading after many students travel back to campus for in -person classes, the University should have required students to return with enough time to isolate if need be. The rationale behind this system that allowed a delayed return is unclear, and this board requests better communication from Brandeis administration about why certain COVID-19 policies such as this are adopted moving forward.
The Justice editorial board commends the University community for persevering through another challenging semester characterized by the COVID-19 pandemic. We appreciate the work that staff and faculty have put into helping the community transition to mostly normal operations, and congratulate students — many of whom came to campus for the first time this August — on their perseverance. With finals season rapidly approaching, we wanted to take a moment to share some of our tips for navigating this particularly stressful few weeks and the break that follows.
Though Waltham has not identified cases of the Omicron variant, it is only a matter of time before cases are reported. This board urges all eligible members of the Brandeis community to get vaccinated or receive the booster shot.
After much anticipation, the Office of the University Registrar released the spring 2022 course schedule on the morning of Thursday, Nov. 18, also announcing that course registration will begin on Dec. 1. The release, weeks later than is typical, came largely without warning, as the Registrar’s website up until this week listed the beginning of registration as “TBA.” This board expresses its disappointment in the Registrar’s office in giving students just under two weeks — one of which constitutes the Thanksgiving break — to create their course schedules for the spring.
With red dresses hanging all throughout campus, it’s hard to bypass the ongoing “REDress Project.” Students in “Introduction to the Creativity, Arts, and Social Transformation,” led by Prof. Toni Shapiro-Phim (CAST), have partnered up with artist Jaime Black in order to set up this art exhibit. Commenting on the “more than 1000 missing and murdered aboriginal women” in North America, CAST has worked to recreate Black’s project to help illustrate this ongoing tragedy.
Situated in the middle of campus, the Goldfarb-Farber Library is an essential study and resource space. It was also one of the places on campus that got hit the hardest during the pandemic during the 2020-21 academic year. To allow for social distancing, the capacity and hours of the buildings were reduced to half of what they were before COVID-19. Enforcing COVID-19 rules presented another burden atop the responsibilities Brandeis librarians already have.
Last Tuesday, Nov. 2, was election day for many local political races within the greater Boston area, and the Justice Editorial Board would like to congratulate the candidates who won and highlight the new diversity as a result of these elections.
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