The Justice, January 24, 2023

FREE MENSTRUAL PRODUCTS

PAD, Student Union install free period product in dorms

for free products in every building on campus.

By GRACE DOH AND ANIKA JAIN JUSTICE CONTRUBUTING WRITER AND STAFF WRITER

After five years in the making, Period Activists at ’Deis has officially launched the Free Menstrual Product Pilot Program in collaboration with the Student Union. Facilities Services has installed free menstrual product dispensers in the women’s and gender neutral bathrooms in Massell Quad, North Quad, and East Quad over winter break. Three students — PAD President Kyla Speizer ’22, PAD Advocacy Chair Grace Lassila ’25, and Student Union President Peyton Gillespie ’25 — spearheaded the project over the past year and collected data to demonstrate the need

Last year, the former PAD advocacy chair, Savannah Jackson ’22, conducted a comprehensive report on the needs and preferences of menstruators at Brandeis. The 2020-2021 PAD Report quantified the struggles of students experiencing a lack of accessibility to period products. Findings indicated that over half — 51.7% — of the 242 respondents have bled through underwear or clothes on campus because they were unable to obtain menstrual products.

“We think that being on a college campus and paying tuition, there should be free access to these products that are a necessary part of menstruators’ lives,” Gillespie said in a Jan. 21 interview with the Justice.

According to the 2020-2021 PAD Report, approximately 50% of the surveyed have missed class at least once due to “lack of access to products, period pain, or health conditions.”

“That feels like too many. Even just a few classes feels like too many. Especially at a school like Brandeis

Spring break schedule change sparks discourse among students

their perspectives anonymously. Sidechat is an app users log into with their university emails to connect them with the rest of the student body to share university-related memes, jokes, and discussion.

By SOPHIA DE LISI JUSTICE CONTRIBUTING WRITER

Classes will be canceled on Wednesday, April 5, to accommodate students who observe Passover and require the time to travel before they start observing the holiday, per a Jan. 5 email to community members from Vice Provost of Academic Affairs Kim Godsoe. To make up for canceling class on that day, classes will be held on Wednesday, May 3, to provide instructors with the class time that would have been lost.

Although this change might seem insignificant, Godsoe explained that students will lose one study day before finals as a result of this adjustment to the spring 2023 calendar. May 3 was initially determined to be one of two study days, and now the only study day will take place on Thursday, May 4. Although students had one study day during the recent fall semester, the change has sparked concern for religious and academic equity.

Students took to the campus community app, Sidechat, to discuss

In this instance, many users utilized the platform to help the school justify the change, reminding users that Brandeis is a university “founded based on Jewish principles” and that it makes sense to have Jewish holidays off.

Defending the change by emphasizing Brandeis’ Jewish roots was a common point made by Sidechat users. “You CHOSE to come to a school that takes Jewish holidays off you guys were not [complaining] about all the other long weekends [sic] it was a mistake in the schedule to not get the most important night off [sic] I get why you’re annoyed but this is now unreasonable,” one user said. Another pointed out that “This is one off [sic] the ONLY schools in the country who accommodates Jews even Tulane who has a higher percentage of Jews doesn’t get Jewish holidays off please stop complaining about ONE day we get off that most schools don’t.”

These supportive comments, and ones similar to them, had high numbers of upvotes — the equivalent of a “like” on Instagram — and sup-

Union efforts

By NATALIE KAHN

MEMORIAL SERVICE

Vanessa ‘Ness’ Mark leaves legacy of ‘impossible goodness’

■ The community gathered on Dec. 6 to remember Vanessa’s life, light, humor, and kindness.

By LEAH BREAKSTONE JUSTICE EDITOR

“She demonstrated all of the wonderful things the human spirit is capable of,” Paul Weir ’25 said of student Vanessa — better known by her close friends as Ness — Mark, who tragically passed away in the shuttle accident on Nov. 19.

Sherman Function Hall was filled with community members coming together to commemorate Vanessa. The memorial service on Tuesday, Dec. 6 provided an opportunity for friends of Vanessa to share memories and reflect on the time they spent together. Some of Vanessa’s past professors also shared insight into the life she led. The service fostered a supportive environment, and many attendees could be seen comforting and leaning on each other as they absorbed all of the powerful words shared about Vanessa.

The ceremony began with a few words from Senior Chaplain Rabbi Seth Winberg. “The death of a student — of a young adult — is an enormous rupture in what we expect college to be,” Winberg began. He expressed his condolences to Vanessa’s family, who were pres-

ent on the livestream, and acknowledged that while words are inadequate in addressing their grief and pain, he hopes that “hearing these reflections from Vanessa’s beloved friends and teachers helps you to know how much people at Brandeis admire and love Vanessa and the hope and encouragement that she gave to her friends and to the community.”

Winberg continued that the memorial service is an opportunity for those who knew Vanessa to “remember her [and] to share their memories [of] what she was like, things she said, art she created, her personality, her comedic and artistic talents, her qualities, and her hopes,” and provides a chance for those who did not know Vanessa to learn about her and her lasting impact on the Brandeis community.

University President Ron Liebowitz spoke next, expressing that he was filled with gratitude for being “part of a community that cares so deeply for one another.” He thanked Brandeis community members, saying, “You have helped your classmates, your students, and your colleagues confront this tragedy by offering your time, your resources, and certainly an ear to those needing an ear, and you have done so with profound compassion.”

Liebowitz spoke of Vanessa’s connection to Brandeis, explaining how she chose to remain in

A review

By MINA ROWLAND

Waltham to be near the community even when she was not taking classes. Additionally, “Vanessa exemplified one of Brandeis’ enduring values, to make the world a better place,” Liebowitz said, alluding to her devotion to the Prospect Hill Community Center, which provides academic and professional development service to residents of Waltham.

Vanessa’s most dominant involvement on campus, though, was with the False Advertising musical improv group. Many of her friends who spoke at the memorial reflected on their memories from the group and Vanessa’s talent for making people laugh. Weir explained how “she was the most brilliant performer I ever saw, she dazzled anyone who ever watched her. Her ideas just seemed to come completely out of nowhere, towing the line between completely nonsensical and absolutely brilliant.” He continued that “at the same time, for how talented she was, one could never feel as loved as they felt when sharing the stage with her. Despite her talents, she cared most about making her scene partners and friends look and feel good.”

Weir shared a story about how Vanessa once heard Weir profess his love for pears, which resulted in Vanessa gifting him pears every time they saw each other, because nothing brought her more joy than

Dining changes at Upper Usdan

By ANNA MARTIN

By THE EDITORIAL BOARD

Men’s and Women’s Basketball split the weekend

By JACKSON WU

‘Matilda’:

Matthew Warchus’s ‘‘Matilda: The Musical’’ reinvents the Roald Dahl’s classic novel ‘‘Matilda.’’

efforts to organize an election, baristas at a local Starbucks ultimately voted against forming a union.

The board thanks University community for continued support

■ The Justice spoke with PAD and Student Union leaders about their latest endeavor to provide complimentary, campus-wide pads and tampons.

Photo courtesy of HERATCH EKMEKJIAN

Waltham, Mass.

UNITY: Brandeis students, faculty, staff, and others gathered for a touching memorial service to honor Vanessa Mark.

Photo

■ Students shared their opinions about the additional day off for Passover.

Student Union meets for first time this semester, approves funding, confirms new members

The Student Union Senate approved a Senate Money Resolution for $1,000 at its first meeting of the semester on Jan. 22. Director of Community Engagement Emma Fiesinger ’23 presented the SMR, which would provide funding for Kosher food at the upcoming DeisHacks event. The event, which the International Business School sponsors, already has a budget of over $20,000 from IBS.

Fiesinger said that the event connects students with “nonprofits who need help with programming but don’t have the skills for [programming].”

The Senate unanimously voted to expedite their vote to ap-

POLICE LOG

MEDICAL EMERGENCY

Dec. 4—There was a medical emergency in the Usdan Student Center. The party was treated by BEMCo staff and refused further care.

Dec. 4—There was a medical emergency in Sherman Dining Hall. The party was treated by BEMCo staff and transported to a local hospital via ambulance.

Dec. 4—There was a medical emergency in Massell Quad. The party was treated by BEMCo staff and refused further care.

Dec. 6—There was a medical emergency in East Quad. The party was treated by BEMCo staff and refused further care.

Dec. 6—There was a medical emergency in North Quad. The party was treated by BEMCo staff and refused further care.

Dec. 6—There was a medical emergency in the Goldfarb Library. The party was treated by BEMCo staff and refused further care.

Dec. 10—There was a medical emergency on the athletic fields. The party was treated by BEMCo staff and refused further care.

Dec. 10—There was a medical emergency in Massell Quad. The party was treated by BEMCo staff and transported to a local hospital via ambulance.

Dec. 10—There was a medical emergency in the Goldfarb Library. The party was treated by BEMCo staff and refused further care.

Dec. 12—There was a medical emergency in North Quad. The party was treated by BEMCo staff and refused further care.

Dec. 12—There was a medical emergency in the Mailman House. The party was transported to a local hospital via ambulance.

CORRECTIONS AND CLARIFICATIONS

prove the SMR, and then voted unanimously to pass it.

Student Union President Peyton Gillespie ’25 presented a resolution to thank the student government at Lasell University for raising over $300 for the Brandeis Emergency Fund in the week following the Brandeis shuttle crash. Gillespie said that the Student Union had already put together a video to give thanks to Lasell.

The Senate passed the resolution by acclamation.

The Senate also confirmed, by acclamation, two nominees for treasurer, Noah Levy ’26 and Xan Maddock-Mark ’25. Both nominees made brief statements before their confirmations.

Dec. 15—There was a medical emergency in Ridgewood Quad. The party was treated by BEMCo staff and refused further care.

Jan. 12—There was a medical emergency off campus. The party was transported to a local hospital via ambulance.

Jan. 19—A community member reported an unknown medical call in Massell Quad. Units were dispatched to the call and a report was filed.

Jan. 20—There was a medical emergency near the main entrance. BEMCo and an officer were sent, and a report was filed.

Jan. 21—There was a medical emergency in Massell Quad. A non-community member was treated by BEMCo staff and transported to a local hospital via ambulance.

ACCIDENTS

Dec. 11—There was a minor accident with no injuries in the Science Parking Lot. An officer assisted with the paperwork exchange, and a report was composed.

Dec. 14—A vendor backed into another vehicle parked in the Administration Parking Lot, causing minor damage to the vehicle. Parties exchanged paperwork on their own.

Jan. 15—There was a minor multiple vehicle accident with no injuries involving a University vehicle off campus. A report was composed.

Jan. 17—There was a car crash in the Theater Lot with no injuries. A report was composed.

NOISE COMPLAINTS

Dec. 7—A community member reported loud music in North Quad. The Department of Community Living spoke with the residents, and the volume was lowered. Dec. 8—A community member reported loud music. The

Department of Community Living and the responding officer reported that the music was lowered.

Dec. 10—There was a noise complaint in East Quad. The area coordinator was notified to respond.

MISCELLANEOUS

Dec. 4—There was a report of juveniles causing a disturbance near the Shapiro Science Center. Officers checked the area, and the youths were gone upon arrival.

Dec. 6—A community member reported the smell of marijuana in Rosenthal Quad. Officers checked the area and all appeared in order.

Jan. 18—A community member reported the odor of marijuana in Rosenthal Quad. An officer reported the call was unfounded.

Jan. 20—A sergeant requested the Grounds Crew to treat the roads and walkways on campus. The Facilities Manager was contacted and advised that a crew would be in at 7 a.m. but that they would attempt to get someone in earlier.

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University announces plans for 75th anniversary celebrations

The 75th anniversary of Brandeis, which was founded in 1948, is quickly approaching, and the University administration has announced its plans for the celebration. The celebrations will run from July 1, 2023 through the 2024 Commencement. The yearlong series of events will be both on campus as well as virtual.

An extensive summary of the various celebrations is outlined on the University’s 75th anniversary information webpage. An online calendar of events will be made available soon.

The main anniversary celebration will take place over the weekend of Oct. 13-15. There will be events beginning on Friday and running through Sunday, and the entire Brandeis community — faculty, staff, students, parents, alumni, and friends — are invited to attend. Plans for the celebration include but are not limited to faculty-led panel discussions, student-alumni networking, a community-wide Shabbat dinner, presentations of both the Sachar and Alumni Achievement awards, a dance party with live music, athletic competitions, and performances.

On the information webpage, the University explains that they have hopes to host many events throughout the year and requests suggestions from the Brandeis community for ideas. Four themes have been chosen in order to “create a cohesive tone of celebration” throughout the year: Innovation in Education, Repairing the World, Jewish Values, and This is Our House. The University requests that event submissions highlight at least one of these

four themes. The webpage goes into further detail for each theme, and explains that events could be luncheons, seminars, panels, or regular events “that you want to ‘75th-ify.’”

The webpage includes a link to an event proposal form and adds that for events intended to take place during the fall semester of 2023, proposals must be submitted by March 30, 2023.

for news?

— Compiled by Leah Breakstone

Vice President Lia Bergen ’25 told the Senate that in the upcoming elections, there will be five senator seats, three Allocations board seats, and the position of secretary on the ballot. Max Feigelson

— Dalya Koller

Upper Usdan and future of dining as seen by Student Union

Boston/Cambridge Shuttle to resume in February

■

Over the break, Upper Usdan received a “facelift,” allowing students to customize their meals and order in person for the first time since before the pandemic.

By ANNA MARTIN JUSTICE EDITORIAL ASSISTANT

As students returned to campus this week following a long winter break, they entered both Upper Usdan and the Hoot Market and were met with many visible changes. Upper Usdan has shifted away from ordering only through the Starship app, allowing students to enter Upper Usdan and order meals at many different stations. The Hoot Market has expanded to include multiple new shelves and coolers, as well as slushie machines.

The Justice met with Student Union Senator James Brosgol ’25 to speak about the recent developments to Brandeis Dining on Friday, January 20.

The Justice: What role did the Student Union have in the changes that have been made to Upper Usdan?

James Brosgol: We as Union representatives serve as conduits for student body feedback about dining, and one of the big things for us was the system that we had in place for Upper was not adequate … When Union representatives, specifically myself and our director of residential life, got to organize a committee that had the whole host of Harvest Table staff and Campus Card people, one of the big things that we talked about was that the issues with Upper were on the top of our list of priorities … regardless of what form it took, what [they] wanted to see was fewer obstacles to students ordering their food because that’s one of the things that [they] felt shouldn’t be difficult … There’s just so much more freedom when it comes to deciding when you want to order, definitely more choices of what you want to order, and all in all a lot more flexibility which I think is good ,so I’m really excited.

The Justice: Do you think that the transition itself was a success, or were there challenges faced that have not been visible to students?

Brosgol: Harvest Table talked a lot, especially at the end of last semester, about wanting to use the break period as a time to tackle some of the bigger transitions so that they wouldn’t have to worry about doing something this big from week to week during a semester because as you can imagine, that would be a lot more difficult. I think that the transition has been pretty good. I think that it will continue to smoothen out, I don’t think we’ve seen the best of what they have to offer yet, but I’d say all in all they have the infrastructure set up. I’ve been able to order in person and on Starship, and I feel like I’ve been reasonably successful doing it both ways. I believe that the transition

has been very good, but I’m also excited to see what lies ahead.

The Justice: If there was something else about dining at Brandeis that you could change, what would that be?

Brosgol: If there was one thing that I could change, it would be the efficacy of the Starship app at large, and specifically the age-old issue of what I can order for a meal swipe. When I’ve spoken to them [Harvest Table], the claim has been that that’s something they agree with but the coding and whatnot is an issue; however, you see that the Starship app in the past month has gotten a complete facelift … That remains the one thing that I am adamant can and should be done.

The Justice: Does the Student Union have any plans for dining going forward, is there anything else in the works that students can look forward to?

Brosgol: Student Union does remain committed to working on the elimination of meal periods — Harvest Table said that was a policy they agreed with but that there were contractual issues underlying it that prevented its immediate enactment, with a tentative target for change next school year. [There is] a lot more going on with…food that’s friendly for [Halal] diets, I know that there is a station that they have been working on in Usdan, but its consistency and quality is something that we’ve been having conversations about. There has also been talk of a Kosher cereal dispenser being brought to Sherman for specifically the Kosher end which is something that is a matter of more of the supply chain than anything else, but it’s expected to happen definitively this semester. [There are] whispers from the upper echelons of a soft serve ice cream machine making its way to Sherman.

The Justice: Is there anything else that you would like to tell the students reading?

Brosgol: Our job as Union officers, as people who work in Dining, is to be conduits for students first and foremost. [In] Sherman I would run into people I knew, classmates, sometimes people I didn’t, and they would just rattle off their thoughts, concerns, and criticisms to me, and that’s exactly what you want to have happen. The more of that the better, we have feedback forms out there which I would encourage people to fill out, but also just if you see a Union person, specifically one who you know works in dining like myself, people are more than welcome to approach me with that kind of stuff.

As students advance into the spring semester, they should keep an eye out for continued changes and advancements to dining services on campus. Feedback forms and in person comments are a great way to inform the Student Union of new ideas or issues that students have faced.

By SYDNEY DUNCAN JUSTICE STAFF WRITER

Editor’s note: Justice editor Leah Breakstone ’25 contributed to the reporting in this article.

In light of the tragic Nov. 19, 2022 shuttle accident, students expressed differing opinions regarding the reimplementation of the Boston/Cambridge shuttle, a service which was suspended after the crash. The University’s updates come just under two months after the shuttle accident last semester.

In a Jan. 12 email, Andrea Dine, interim vice president of student affairs, informed the community, among other updates for the spring 2023 semester, that the shuttle service will resume in February.

According to the message, Brandeis plans to partner with WeDriveU, a company that specializes in University transportation across the country, to provide a shuttle between Brandeis, Cambridge, and Boston on Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays.

Students have expressed interest in the shuttle beginning operations again, as it is a convenient mode of transportation into Cambridge and Boston, and many are also grateful for the change in transportation company. “I have noted the lack of the shuttle,” Aeryn Rowe ’25, who plans to welcome the new shuttle, said in a Jan. 23 interview with the Justice. “I personally don’t feel that not having the shuttle is a solution to what happened ... I can’t speak for students who were more directly impacted on the bus but I am happy that we are getting that route back,” Rowe continued. Students also told the Justice that as long as the shuttle is run by a different company and isn’t likely to crash again, they would feel safe and comfortable riding the shuttle. “If nothing changed that would be concerning,” Lily Roth ’25 said.

Although students were grateful for the communication they received after the initial crash, some expressed that updates regarding the situation’s impact on the 2023 spring semester have been limited. “I feel like they’re not super clear about [the updates],” Roth said. Other students agreed, pointing out that updates seemed to slow and eventually stopped after Thanksgiving break. “They had no sort of follow up or any formality,” one anonymous student told the Justice. “All we got was that the shuttle was suspended and no more formal info. They could have provided a little more security, or at least assurance that the people who did get injured would get better.” Another anonymous student agreed, stating their belief that “the school handled communication poorly. They never did any follow up on it. Eventually they just kind of faded it out.”

WeDriveU claims they have taken several precautions to ensure the safety of everyone who uses their transportation. The company’s “field safety and operations managers monitor WeDriveU’s nationwide transportation system using cutting-edge technologies and robust best practices to ensure the care

and comfort of our passengers, employees and the public,” according to their website. WeDriveU screens each of their drivers before hiring them and makes sure they are trained and certified to create the safest possible experience. The company also employs a rigid maintenance, repairs, and inspections schedule for its vehicles with highly experienced technicians, they claim.

The company is a part of the National Safety Council and is “committed to engaging public transit agencies and other national and local organizations in developing and implementing licensing, permitting and policy efforts that improve safety, convenience and traffic flow,” their website states. Joseph’s Transportation’s website does not list similar safety precautions, but they do have a “satisfactory” rating by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration as of print time; however, it is unclear if this has been updated since the crash.

The University is working with WeDriveU to ensure that extra precautions are taken for the safety of shuttle passengers. The new Boston/Cambridge shuttle will include seatbelts for all passengers moving forward, whereas while operated by Joseph’s, many of the shuttle buses did not have seat belts. The mobile app “Branda” used for shuttle tracking will be updated in order to allow students to more accurately track the shuttle and to account for route changes at any given time, according to Assistant Vice President of Communications Julie Jette in an interview with the Justice. Jette continued, “WeDriveU will monitor mobile app data for corrective driver actions, bus performance, and other metrics related to the safety of our students.”

Some students expressed their optimism about the University’s partnership with WeDriveU in interviews with the Justice. Despite limited knowledge about the company, Roth believes that Brandeis is taking the necessary precautions in finding a safe shuttle service. “I feel good about Brandeis’ ability to do better. Especially because they’ve gotten so much backlash from this; it’s a huge thing,” she said. Ana Wurzmann ’24 expressed to the Justice in a Jan. 23 interview that “as long as the driver is verified and validated, and as long as I myself can trust them and their ability to drive … I feel like I would be safe.” Other students feel that a tragedy like this just isn’t likely to happen again, regardless of the company providing transportation.

Jette feels that the reaction to the tragedy last November showcased the best of the Brandeis community. “It’s very clear from comments shared directly from students, faculty and staff to university leaders, posts on social media, and other feedback that the Brandeis community has very much come together to support one another since the accident in a way that is inspiring to us all,” Jette shared.

More updates about the resuming shuttle services will be available on the Public Safety website’s “Vans and Shuttles” page later this month, and students can keep up with the Escort Safety Service’s Instagram account for more frequent and timely updates regarding transportation.

■ The shuttle, which was paused in the wake of the November accident, is slated to return with improvements and safety precautions.

PAD : PAD, Student Union launch the Free Menstrual Product Pilot Program

where it is expensive. It’s expensive to miss class. It’s expensive to have class,” Lassila said in a Jan. 20 interview with the Justice.

A broad range of challenges, such as affordability, proximity, and quality, deterred students from using the few resources that were available prior to the pilot program. Across campus, there are more paid dispensers than any other resource, but 94.7% of respondents have never purchased products from the dispensers.

Last semester, PAD and the Student Union organized a scavenger hunt to log the number of dispensers — paid and complimentary — in every bathroom in every building at Brandeis that is open to undergraduate students. In the 37 buildings they visited, 54% did not have a single dispenser in any bathroom. Of the nine free dispensers they found, seven were broken or empty.

The scavenger hunt, coupled with the 2020-2021 PAD Report, provided the preliminary information that helped set the pilot program into motion. After extensive research on potential product suppliers, the team found that the company Aunt Flow provided the best quality pads and tampons at an affordable price.

Taped beside each dispenser is a QR code to a survey, through which students can anonymously submit feedback about the products and indicate when they need to be restocked. The Student Union is also hosting a town hall on Thursday, Feb. 2 at 7 p.m. in the Shapiro Campus Center Multipurpose Room, where students will be able to vocalize their thoughts on the new dispensers.

Student responses will be essential in PAD’s effort to obtain funding for campus-wide resources. “We have had people express that they really want dispensers in academic buildings, which we absolutely understand and appreciate. That is absolutely our end goal,” Speizer shared in a Jan. 21

interview with the Justice.

Another long-term goal for PAD is to provide free resources in men’s restrooms. “There are some men who menstruate [...] we should have access for everybody and not just those individuals that identify with the binary,” Lassila said.

By providing pads and tampons in all bathrooms, Lassila hopes the stigma around menstruation will be reduced. “People deserve shame-free living,” she added. “It’s just so hard when you don’t have access to resources [...] You’re left in the dark about your own body, your own reproductive health, your own mental health.”

Although the pilot program brings Brandeis much closer to the ultimate goal of having menstrual products available campus-wide, Gillespie anticipates that the initiative will require the time and dedication of future student leaders. “It’s about building that legacy for the next person to come along and build on that,” he said. “[Providing free menstrual products] is a big goal, and it’s an ambitious goal, but it’s one that we certainly hope to see achieved.”

Speizer explained that their current focus is to sustain the pilot program for the next year. Within the fiscal year 2024, PAD and the Student Union plan to continue working with administration to request a budget increase as well as Facilities Services’ support in restocking efforts. Currently, PAD and Student Union members are responsible for replenishing empty dispensers, but with the campus-wide initiative, it will be less feasible to restock the dispensers themselves. Until then, Speizer, Lassila, and Gillespie encourage students to support PAD throughout the pilot program.

“PAD is definitely not stopping now that we have free products. We’re not going to be complacent,” Lassila said. “I want to leave this place better than I found it.”

SPRING BREAK : Students debate changes made to calendar

supportive responses, showing a tentative majority of students’ support. This establishes that many students on Sidechat agree that Brandeis, despite lacking an official religious affiliation, has notable ties to Judaic experience and culture — which should be reflected within the school’s calendar.

Despite this support, there were some instances where those from marginalized religious groups questioned if the connection between Brandeis and Jewish tradition was enough to take a study day out of the school’s calendar. A reply to the aforementioned comment states: “Is there a school that accommodates Muslims since we only have 2 holidays a year and they’re both a day long? No. So i [sic] guess we have the right to be mad about a study day that was taken out even though ya’ll could’ve simply gotten an excused absence like every other religion on campus does.”

However, this perspective received little support on Sidechat as students suggested that a university created on Muslim values would integrate Muslim holidays, in a similar way that Brandeis celebrates its Jewish ties and ensures that students have the ability to celebrate Passover promptly. Specifically, a user stated: “Brandeis was created based on Jewish values and with Judaism as one of its 3 dominating religions at its founding. This day off should be a given. I’m sure that any university that would’ve been created on Muslim values would do the same thing for Muslim holidays. Don’t discriminate & have a great day.”

Furthermore, one user suggested that this was how the schedule was supposed to be in the first place, had the University not made a mistake. The user believes

that the majority of students engaging in this discourse are focusing on the wrong topic. They stated on Sidechat that students should be looking deeper into why the change needs to be justified “when typical school breaks are never questioned.”

Along with religious debate, there was also notable discussion on Sidechat over academic concern with some students worried about losing the May 3 study day. While some students from other religions felt unheard, some worried over the loss of free study time, concerned because “finals week is the week when everything is due” and losing a free day would hinder their ability to both finish outstanding work and study for intensive final exams.

Yet much like the religious discourse, these opinions had substantially less support on the app. Comments in support of the change suggested that overwhelmed and concerned students should use more time to study if one day would make a difference in their performances.

In fact, one of the most well-liked comments — with a high 96 upvotes — related to this issue states: “If you’re relying solely on study days to study for all you’re [sic] finals, you’re not gonna do well on them anyway so losing one study day will not make or break your grades. just [sic] stop complaining about it and use finals week to be continuously studying.”

While the change in the spring break schedule has caused some disagreements — those in disagreement showed concern about religious representation in campus practices — Sidechat shows recognizable student support for the alteration. Generally, users emphasized the importance of accommodating those who need to travel for Passover, understanding that it validates losing a few hours of studying for final exams.

Brandeis comes together

for memorial service for student Vanessa Mark

making her friends happy, he explained. “There was not a more selfless, caring, or empathetic person alive,” Weir said. “[Vanessa was] always in tune to the emotions and mood that surrounded her. Ness had a unique, impossible goodness, one that touched everyone who met her and inspires all of us to be better people,” he added.

Prof. Ellen Wright (PSYC), one of Vanessa’s professors, described Vanessa’s light, which is how she remembers her.

“She really saw those that were overlooked and invisible and reached out to them,” Wright said. She also commented on grief and loss, explaining that “loss is not an object we encounter, but a landscape. The presence of an absence that haunts without leaving.”

Andie Sheinbaum ’24 shared more memories of Vanessa from False Advertising. She remembered back to their improv scenes that left them hunched over laughing late into the night and looked back with gratitude on the small amount of time they had together. “As I’ve been reflecting recently, I realize

that the problem with grieving isn’t only missing Ness, it’s the fact that though Ness is beginning to be in the past tense, the feelings I have for her are squarely in the present,” she said. In the wake of the tragedy, Sheinbaum has found joy in thinking back to memories of Vanessa: “When my grief feels overwhelming, I remember her cooking, her laughter, and the way she took time to care for me, even if she was in the middle of packing for a flight. I love her so deeply, and I’m so lucky that our time together isn’t done. I can always be with her in my many beautiful memories of us.”

Photo

Photo courtesy of HERATCH EKMEKJIAN

COMFORT: Senior Chaplain Rabbi Seth Winberg opened the ceremony with a moving speech.

Photo courtesy of HERATCH EKMEKJIAN

WARMTH : Brandeis students supported each other through the difficult moment.

features

ON THIS DAY…

FUN

Unionizing is off the

menu at Waltham Starbucks

On Friday, after months of organizing by workers to secure a union election as part of a nationwide movement, baristas at the Market Place Drive Starbucks voted against unionizing. The Justice spoke to student-workers to hear their thoughts.

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.

Brown was hopeful her store would become the latest Starbucks branch to join the national union, Starbucks Workers United, as part of a growing movement of Starbucks workers nationwide.

“It’s just so disappointing,” she told the Justice during a Jan. 22 phone interview. Brown, a Waltham local, began working at the Market Place Drive Starbucks in 2020, just as the pandemic began. She left after six months, but returned to the job a year ago and has been working there since. When she heard in the fall of 2022 that some of her coworkers were organizing an effort to unionize the cafe, she was in full support of the idea. “I would definitely be pro-union because Starbucks is just a corporation,” she said. “And [as workers] we’re all expendable [to Starbucks]. So, like, why would I want to side with the corporation?”

But while Brown was ideologically aligned with her coworkers organizing the effort to unionize, she was initially not optimistic about the chances of it happening.

“It seems as though Starbucks is not cooperating with stores who have successfully unionized,” Brown said.

“So I knew it would be a long process.”

The approximately $122 billion company has taken efforts to curb the growing push for unionization among its workers. Over 300 Starbucks stores across the country have held union elections in the last year. Of these, around 270 voted to unionize, including seven Massachusetts locations. Considering that until the end of 2021, no company-owned Starbucks stores were part of a union, this is a major change. Still, unionized stores only represent less than 3% of company-operated Starbucks in the country, and the movement may have already run out of gas — the number of stores filing petitions to hold union elections dropped dramatically between the spring and summer of 2022.

Union organizers say pushback from the Starbucks corporation has stymied support for unionization among workers. The national union representing Starbucks workers has brought more than 325 complaints against the company for violating federal protections of workers’ rights to organize. As a result, various regional offices of the National Labor Relations Board, the federal agency responsible for enforcing United States labor laws, has

By NATALIE KAHN JUSTICE EDITOR

filed at least 35 formal complaints which accuse the Starbucks of “coercing, threatening and firing employees over their union activities and withholding wage increases and benefits from unionizing stores,” according to NPR.

Sidy Kante ’25 works as a barista at the Starbucks on Market Place Drive and voted in Friday’s election. He said concerns over issues that might arise should his store become unionized — such as issues transferring between stores and accessing raises and benefits offered by the company — were the main factors in his decision to vote against joining the union. When Starbucks announced to workers recently that it would be switching from paying employees every two weeks to every week, something many workers had been pushing for, there was an asterisk stating that this change would only apply to non-union stores. “Thank god … we were able to get that,” Kante said of the change.

Brown said various changes such as the payment frequency change, benefit increases, and a raise to over $17 per hour for baristas in the Boston area happened suddenly over the past few months, as the Waltham store was preparing to hold its union elections. On Sept. 12, Starbucks announced new benefits — student loan repayment tools and a savings account program for workers in the United States. But there was a catch: Only non-union workers could access these benefits, while workers at unionized stores would have to bargain for them. “The timing was a little suspicious,” Brown said, adding later, “It’s like, where were those before?” She believes benefits being offered exclusively to non-union workers made people at her store less inclined to unionize. “[Starbucks] made it seem like maybe we wouldn’t get these new benefits that other stores are getting,” she explained.

Over the summer, striking workers at a Brookline Starbucks shut down the store for more than two months to protest a “chaotic and hostile work environment,” which they claimed was retaliation by management following their vote to unionize in June 2022. On Nov. 17, seven Massachusetts Starbucks locations were part of the “Red Cup Rebellion,” a nationwide strike of over 100 stores on the date of Starbucks’ popular promotion, “Red Cup Day.” Massachusetts workers said the company was refusing to engage in contract bargaining with the unionized stores and purposefully keeping stores understaffed, despite pleas from employees.

Back in the fall, when Kante’s coworkers first told him they were trying to unionize, he agreed to sign a union card to help his store get enough signatures to hold a union election. But by the time the election happened, Kante said he was more informed about what it would mean to unionize and the potential risks. “I don’t think the union was necessarily horrible or bad or [that the Waltham organizers] were completely misguided,” Kante said, “but I would say that this was unnecessary at this point.”

Alaysia Penso ’23 has been working at the Waltham Starbucks branch since August 2022. A five-minute drive

and a 25-minute walk from campus, the store is a popular pick for Brandeis students looking for a part-time job. The ubiquity of the coffee chain and the ease of transferring between stores is also a draw for students, who often work at other locations during breaks. Penso transferred to the Waltham branch from a store in her hometown of Miami, Florida, where she worked over the summer. Kante worked at a Starbucks in Manhattan during the most recent summer and winter breaks.

Knowing she’d be able to switch between stores easily is part of why Penso applied to work at Starbucks last year. It’s also one of the main reasons she was against unionizing. She said any transfers between stores would have to go through the union, which could make the process more difficult. Kante was also worried about transferring becoming more complicated or being limited to other unionized stores.

Kante was also put off by the approach taken by his coworkers who organized the unionization effort. “A small group of people got together and schemed to start a petition to unionize,” he said, adding that it seemed to him like the organizers weren’t particularly concerned with what the majority of workers wanted, calling them “selfcentered, self-interested people who did not care about the store as a whole.”

Penso said the people pushing for the Waltham store to join the union weren’t doing it for what she considered to be valid reasons — “I think the reason they pushed for it is more because they have ideological issues with corporations in general. And Starbucks is a corporation so they pushed for it because of that, rather than because this is a specific workplace that needs unionization.”

To her, unionizing didn’t seem necessary based on the current conditions at the store. “Starbucks, yes, … it is a corporation and it is feeding into the capitalist culture in America … but at the end of the day, Starbucks is a company that does what it can for its workers,” she said.

Brown said joining the union would have been a statement of solidarity with Starbucks workers at other locations. Still, she acknowledged there were issues with the approach taken by the organizers at her store. “I feel like the people who organized the union, they just started working there with the intention of unionizing,” she explained, a point also brought up by both Kante and Penso. “I’m confused in general why they wanted to unionize because they hadn’t even worked at Starbucks for [enough] time to get tired of conditions.”

Brown, however, has worked at the Waltham store for over a year and said some conditions there could be improved. She said the store has been cutting people’s hours, despite staying open longer, and is often understaffed during afternoon shifts and over winter break when most Brandeis student employees leave town.

“I’m just surprised that so many people voted on the side of Starbucks — and against the union,” Brown said. She remarked later, “I do want to leave [this job] soon, and this has made me want to leave, just, more because I just have lost faith in all my coworkers.”

In 1941, singer-songwriter Neil Diamond was born.

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The ghosts of the Company F. State Armory

The building is haunted by its own murky future. Boo!

By CAYENN LANDAU JUSTICE EDITOR

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 Community Development Corporation 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.

“You get a feeling about the character of a building when you look at it,” my dad’s partner, Melissa Hung, told me in an Oct. 18 text correspondence. She’s an architect in the Bay Area. “You know, a friendly building, a stand-offish building, a weird but interesting one…and then the insides might be completely different.”

In the case of the armory, her statement holds up: The inside of the armory is completely different from the haunted mess one might envision from looking at the solemn brick exterior of the building. It’s airy, open, and cobwebbed, with boxes of nails and tape scattered throughout the second floor.

But the calmness is unsettling. It feels like a space that wants to be alive, but is stuck somehow.

“There’s no graffiti,” the friend I had first entered the armory with said, in testimony to the building’s silent effect. How did a historic, state-owned building — that for decades stored guns and other weapons for the state of Massachusetts — become decrepit and abandoned, untouched by community members and government officials alike?

According to several news articles from the early 1900s

— provided by Dana Hamlin, an archivist at the Waltham Public Library — the armory was planned in the late 1800s and completed in 1908. It cost $30,000 at the time to create (equivalent to approximately $950,000 in today’s dollars) and was designed by Hartwell, Richardson & Driver, a highly-regarded former Boston-area architecture firm. Hamlin explained in a Nov. 18 email correspondence that while information was hard to find, “Company F. was the Waltham company of the 5th Regiment in the Massachusetts Volunteer Militia … It was organized in 1874, with its headquarters first at Armory Hall on Main Street, and then moving to the actual Armory. Company F. mustered for the Spanish American War, leaving Waltham in June of 1898, and also fought in World War I.” Upon the building’s completion in 1908 and immediate acceptance by the state, the armory became a place for members of Company F. and others involved in the Massachusetts military scene

to keep office, store weapons, and host social gatherings.

The armory was most in use from 1908 to 1924, according to landmarkhunter.com. From there, details of its use became murky, though the building was deemed a landmark by the National Register of Historic Places in 1989.

In November 2003, the empty armory — at this point found to contain toxic levels of lead and asbestos — was auctioned off by the state to a Northeastern professor named Mohammed Taslim for approximately $900,000. The auction was an upset, according to several newspaper articles from the Daily News Tribune. “I’m shocked,” said former City Councilor Michael Squillante in a Nov. 20, 2003 article, referring to the estimated 1-3 million dollars that would need to be spent on renovations to make the armory habitable. “[Taslim] cannot possibly know what he bought.”

In an Oct. 26 email correspondence about a separate project, Taslim explained that he was the former executor of a trust that purchased the armory, rather than the building’s landlord or sole proprietor. He referred me to Habib Aminipour of Otis Realty, a firm that currently manages the property. Aminipour did not respond to email requests for comment.

During the summer of 2020, Meander Studio Collaborative Design for Metro West Collaborative Development and Watch CDC joined forces to create a report on the feasibility of converting the armory to affordable housing. Watch CDC argued that a lack of affordable housing was a major issue for families in the Waltham area and that with a little care, the armory could contain up to 30 affordable housing units. However, the proposal was struck down by Waltham mayor Jeanette McCarthy in 2021. McCarthy cited a lack of adherence to the Community Preservation Committee’s set rules. “It is unfortunate that the mayor has injected herself into the workings of the CPC and Council,” Tom Stanley, a former city councilor and proponent of the project, told Patch in 2021 about the decision.

As I ate my chips on the Armory’s third floor and pondered the asbestos I was probably inhaling, I remembered a Patch article I had read some time before entering the armory, about an incident that occurred in 2017. A police officer had entered the armory, chasing after two people suspected of committing break-ins, and in the process fell ten feet through the second floor into the basement. He landed upright, obtaining minor injuries in the process.

Similarly, I hope the armory can stay on its feet for a while longer, too. Habitable or not, the building is beautiful, and its history is significant: It deserves to have the legal and communal support to be turned into a space that is appreciated and loved.

DISCLAIMER: The Justice does not condone entering abandoned spaces. Please do so at your own risk.

Design: Anna Martin and Hedy Yang/the Justice

CAYENN LANDAU/the Justice

ARMORY: The Company F. State Armory is on Sharon Street, about a mile away from campus.

CAYENN LANDAU/the Justice

ARMORY: The building has been abandoned for over two decades.

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EDITORIALS

Support and resources for our return to campus

The spring 2023 semester has officially begun, bringing with it the arrival of midyear students and the start of classes. As we start a new semester, the Brandeis community also continues to grapple with and process last November’s shuttle accident that led to dozens of injuries and the loss of student Vanessa Mark’s life. In light of these added strains to the start of a new term, this board would like to offer support, resources, and reminders to our fellow students.

Although it has been over two months since the Nov. 19 bus tragedy, most of that time was taken up by Thanksgiving break, finals period, and winter break, leaving only a couple of weeks on campus to process the accident together as a community. Indeed, the crash remains at the forefront of our minds as students. We were all affected on different levels and in different ways, and there is no set time period after which we will have “moved on.” This board supports all Brandeis community members as we process these events at different paces. While the following resources are by no means an exhaustive list, we hope that students can take advantage of oncampus support systems if and when they need to: the Brandeis Counseling Center; the Prevention, Advocacy, and Resource Center; Brandeis Health & Wellness Promotion; the Center for Spiritual Life; and in case of emergency, Brandeis Emergency Medical Corps, Brandeis’ student-led emergency responders.

This board would also like to point out that some of these organizations are mostly or entirely student-led, and with that in mind we urge the Brandeis community to be patient with fellow student-workers who are providing these resources. This board , also calls on the University to provide better support (both financially and emotionally) for student-run campus organizations,

which have provided vital resources to the community especially in the wake of the Nov. 19 crash.

This board would also like to welcome midyear students to campus — we’re so glad you’re here! We hope you can settle into the semester and find a balanced routine at Brandeis. Especially in light of last semester’s events, new students might find it difficult at times to find their footing in campus life. The Brandeis events calendar is a great place to find different activities happening around campus and get acquainted with other Brandeisians. Also, Campus Groups is a great way to explore the many different clubs on campus and find out when events and meetings take place.

As students settle into the semester amid the dreary New England winter weather, this board recommends that students try to go off-campus, whether into Waltham or beyond, for a change of pace and take a break from studies. However, we recognize that for some, taking the Brandeis-operated transportation into Boston and Cambridge might be difficult, and so here are a few alternative ways to get off campus and explore the greater Boston area. The 70 MBTA bus line goes between Market Basket in Waltham and Cambridge, just north of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The Fitchburg Line of the Commuter Rail runs regularly to North Station throughout the week and stops on campus at the Brandeis/Roberts station just past the practice fields on South Street and at the Waltham station near the Common. Although the Commuter Rail can be expensive ($7 for a one-way trip), you can purchase a weekend pass for $10 and have unlimited rides for the weekend.

As we head into 2023, this board hopes Brandeis students, new and old, can find the peace and support they need this semester.

There are no words to express the gravity of the tragedy that occurred last semester. We want to restate that we see you, hear you, and will continue to listen to you in every way we can.

We will always do our best to report with care and sensitivity to the present needs of community members — on an individual level, a campus-wide one, and beyond. As we enter into a new semester and a new year, we will continue to prioritize compassion and focus on communal unity within our reporting. We are so proud to exist in a place full of so much mutual support and love.

The editorial board would like to take the time to thank the people essential to our existence as a community-centered newspaper: Brandeis students, faculty, staff, and those in the greater Waltham community.

We recognize that sharing your story and experiences in any capacity requires immense courage, especially when critiquing an institution (recent examples being speaking up about working conditions for members of the Facilities staff and voicing concerns about Greek life). We do not take your trust in the Justice or our journalism lightly. Your voice is crucial to our community and

thus crucial to our reporting. Our mission continues to be to provide a voice to our peers and community members; we could not do this work without you.

We would also like to take this time to remind you that we are your newspaper, and we are dedicated to producing thoughtful journalism for you, our readers. We want to underscore this and encourage your feedback.

At the Justice, we believe that you deserve to have a say in the way your community is being covered, and a great way to do that is through participating in interviews or through sending tips to Justice staff and editors. If there are topics that you would like to see covered, issues with the factuality of our reporting, or adjustments you think we should make to the tone or framing of our journalism, please email us at editor@thejustice.org with your thoughts and concerns.

We are so incredibly lucky to serve a community bent on speaking up and out for themselves, celebrating each other’s achievements, and opening their hearts to each other in times of grief and love. Thank you — readers, interviewees, friends, and peers — for everything you are and do. We are so proud to tell your stories and hope to continue to do so in the new year.

Asking for a friend

If you are interested in submitting advice for the upcoming column, follow our Instagram: @thejusticenewspaper.

Q:

A:

My biggest piece of advice for mid year students acclimating to their new environment is to find a study spot on campus that makes them feel productive and safe. It’s helpful to have a space outside of your dorm where you can go between classes to relax or study because it will help Brandeis feel more like home. I always enjoy going to the study rooms on the first floor of the Shapiro Student Center because I can grab Einstein’s if I get hungry, or the desks along the windows in Goldfarb. It will take some time to adjust to campus, but once you make connections with your peers and create safe spaces for yourself on campus, you will quickly feel comfortable anywhere at Brandeis.

I think the biggest advice (for continuing students) is to be okay and open with the fact that your priorities will change everyday. One day your priority may be school work, but the next day it might be spending time with your friends and your mental health. I think this is the best way to prevent burnout because you will make it a routine and part of your week to have days where your mental health is the priority.

The biggest thing that helps me make every semester a little bit better is to reflect on the past semester. Don’t just think about what things were tough or stressful last semester, also think about what things went well and what things made you happy. Identifying the challenges you faced last semester will help you change the way you approach them (and hopefully help you overcome them!) and thinking about the positive aspects of your last semester should inspire you to build on those things and incorporate more of them into your routine!

Connect with something that allows you to connect with a personal interest and make new friends. It doesn’t need to be five things — as students you’re already busy! If you’re not sure what that is for you, I encourage considering a program like Conversations that Matter (run by Spiritual Life), which allows you to meet new members of the Brandeis community and discuss interesting topics over dinner.

Identify a practice that allows you to take care of your wellness —whether it be mental, physical, or spiritual. Something like Zen Zone (Mondays at 12:30 and Thursdays at 4) in the Peace Room can be a great option. Try to make it a habit, but don’t beat yourself up when it doesn’t always happen.

—Lara Ericson | Associate Director Center of Spiritual Life

What is one tip you would give midyear students and one tip for continuing students?

—Mae Zhang ’23 | Roosevelt Fellow

—Grace DeRoche ’24 | Roosevelt Fellow

By MIRABELL ROWLAND JUSTICE STAFF WRITER

As a child, my mother instilled in me a love of reading, as well as its importance. I had consistently been captivated by stories that kept me on the edge of my seat in anticipation of the plot. With time, I also developed an appreciation for cinematography, and I too wanted the ability to give life to those stories for which I only had my imagination.

There is no doubt that every story is unique, and that comes with a challenge — to fulfill the obligations and duties of the original writer, while also adding something that sets the film apart from the crowd. Classic stories, such as E.B. White’s “Charlotte’s Web” or “Stuart Little” only require a little reimagination. Though the stories are being seen in a new medium, directors are able to recreate or modernize a story with little to no changes to the plot or characters.

And in my opinion, this works. I loved the animation take on “Trumpeter of The Swan” as well as the realism for “Stuart Little,” and while the characters are mostly animals in “Charlotte’s Web,” the casting was great. Yet in my youth, I didn’t have the depth of analysis and critique to evaluate certain cinematic choices in depth.

Recently when watching one of my favorite movies of all time “A Wrinkle in Time” (2018), I recognized the importance of challenging rigid structures or ideas of a particular story or character.

Nearly 70 years after Madeline L’Engle published her classic novel “A Wrinkle in Time” with her own set of ideas about the characters, Ava DuVernay beautifully recreated this masterpiece on film with a

modern twist, adding what previous films may have lacked: a little more imagination and diversity. Due to the fact that the film is not an exact replica of the book, this emphasizes the message that Mad -

alize “Hidden Figures” was a book, as I had only seen the 2016 film with triple encore performances of Taraji P Henson, Janelle Monae, and Octavia Spencer. I was amazed when I watched the film

specific women’s lives. Shetterly brilliantly weaves the narratives of many Black young women who worked at NASA with the surrounding history from World War II to 1969. It is almost impossible to compare the film with the literature.

When producing films based on a true story, it is imperative to remain true to the facts, yet with fiction, there is no limit to the changes that can be made. What is interesting is watching a memoir unfold on screen. It was not until 2017 that the New York Times Bestseller “The Glass Castle” written by Jeanette Walls became a film.

This memoir is a glimpse into the life of Jeanette with her dysfunctional and nomadic, yet vibrant, upbringing that shaped her identity.

Walls begins her memoir with a scene from adulthood when she is looking out the window of a New York City cab to see her homeless mother rummaging through a dumpster. She later invites her mother to lunch and after a conversation, her narration sets her life at 3 years old and continues linearly towards her life now.

eleine L’Engle stressed about embracing our individuality and differences. When pondering this thought more, I considered other films adapted from books and I immediately thought of “Hidden Figures.”

I remember being in my AP Language & Composition Class and scouring a very very long list of books one could write their research paper on, and I found the needle in a haystack. I did not even re -

to learn of the true story of these three Black women and so many others who worked behind the scenes of NASA. But when I began reading “Hidden Figures” by Margot Shetterly, I was surprised to find that the movie was quite different from the book.

The book was, after all, a work of nonfiction that reminded me of my AP U.S. History textbook, with heavy historical contextualization and less narration of

The film presents Walls story first beginning with a life-changing and quite dramatic moment from childhood then as that of a young woman coming to terms with her childhood which is seen in flashbacks that alternate throughout the film. Through each lens, one can be equally captivated by Walls’ story and her resilience as well as her love for her family despite the brokenness she endured through.

When reflecting on these and so many other stories, I realized that while books might be better, sometimes films actually allow the audience to reimagine a story that shatters expectations of what the story looks like.

State on fire today, state underwater tomorrow

By TASHA EPSTEIN JUSTICE STAFF WRITER

About three years ago, my mother asked if we should get flood insurance for the house, and my father laughed in her face. Yet, over the break, our house was nearly at risk of flood damage.

I’m from California and, as folks may have heard, we have had a vast array of storms hit over the break. From the ground, it was scary for its larger meaning more than its immediate impact. The wind howled around my house, and the power flickered on and off. We’re not used to losing our electricity or being on the same part of the grid as the fire and police stations. My cats watched the weather from the windows, and all of us, humans included, seemed to get a bit of cabin fever. Our only entertainment was discovering a few leaks in our garage roof and putting buckets down.

California is infamous for dry weather conditions to the point of drought, so we were all woefully unprepared for the massive amount of rain we received. There were power outages, falling trees, sinkholes, flooding — you name it.

On the surface, this sounds like fairly normal storm damage. It’s not uncommon for trees to come down, and it’s far from unheard of for certain places or roads to flood, but we’re not one of those places. I grew up with sunny days and a winter/fall season of clouds and drippy weather. Rain and cold wind as a whole was an unusual treat.

I’d regularly go to the beach in December with a crop top and sweatpants. I come from dry, cracked earth and seat belt buckle burns. These storms presented a fairly drastic change from our standard weather, and we didn’t know how to deal with it.

For example, the storms majorly

impacted driving and our roadways. I tried to take my usual highway exit only to find it was underwater and ended up awkwardly straddling two lanes in an attempt to keep my car’s undercarriage out of the water and my brakes dry. Meanwhile, another highway I frequent had a sinkhole open up that stopped traffic in both directions. Our roads aren’t built for rain, and neither are we. This was proved by the driving I witnessed. This transportation impact has more consequences than my wet brakes. My grandmother couldn’t get out to get groceries — the storm caused her to lose power, and she couldn’t open her garage manually. Even if she could, her car has a low-set wheelbase, and would barely be able to make it through a puddle. I was able to bring her some supplies, but others in similar predicaments don’t necessarily have someone to help them out. My area has horrible public transportation to begin with, irregular buses at best, so if you weren’t able to drive in the rain, you were screwed.

However, this isn’t our first weird weather shift in recent years. During my middle and high school years, we began having “fire season” at the end of summer and early fall. I don’t mean “bonfire,” or “campfire,” I mean wildfire. The terrifying kind where the sky turns reddish-orange, and it rains ash in your backyard. Where some kids had snow days at school, we had smoke days, when the air quality was so bad that they canceled classes and told us to stay home. We adapted to the fire season terrifyingly well. Similar to how we acclimated to the global pandemic, we essentially shrugged and accepted our new normal without complaint. There wasn’t anything we could do about it, so there was no need to panic. Upon reflection, it was disorienting. This shouldn’t be normal, but it’s become nothing more than a second thought and

an effort to upgrade the air filters. Our neighborhood community didn’t do much other than bring in stray animals that could get caught in the fray; we accepted the weather and brushed the ash off our cars.

It’s incredibly disconcerting and disorienting to watch my home climate unravel before my eyes. I feel utterly powerless; I’ve recycled, avoided singleuse plastics, and I don’t run the heat when we don’t need it. Yet, the march of climate change doesn’t even hesitate. In order to make an actual change, the efforts would need to take place on a much larger scale, which I can’t single-handedly control. The government is too busy talking about if we should take any action to notice that Mother Nature has already decided on her next move.

We’ve always been in a strange state when it comes to weather. Hail, for example, is so unusual my teachers used to hurry

everyone outside to see it, like a solar eclipse. But, it’s the drastic changes that are alarming. According to OEHHA, temperatures have continued to climb exponentially over the past hundred years, creating an intensely hot and dry climate. In my own lifetime, the hottest temperature I’ve seen at my home has gone from 101 to 115 degrees Fahrenheit. California’s Legislative Analyst’s Office (LAO) predicts that California will be victim to coastal flooding and erosion from rising sea levels by 2030. We’ve become known as the state that’s constantly on fire, and we can now add “underwater.”

We need to take steps to protect our environment now because the climate is already changing. We have the technology, and if we act now, we might have the time to make a big difference. We don’t need to live in floods and flames.

But hey, the West Coast is the best coast, right?

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Brown lead the charge

as the top contenders and will bring their A game in every match-up against them.

Complacency has not been the message in the Celtics locker room.

Veteran forward Blake Griffin has commended his team for their mindset and determination throughout the season. In an interview with NBC Boston, Griffin told reporters that he was impressed

with the level of maturity shown by his teammates and coaches. Griffin, who is a six-time All-Star, believes that the team is ready and capable of doing big things.

The NBA season is long and straining, but with a cast as strong and committed as the Celtics, the sky is the limit. The Celtics will return to action Jan. 24 as they square off against the Miami Heat.

BRANDEIS: Eagles soar past Judges as Yellowjackets get stung at Auerbach

CONTINUED FROM 12

team a lift. Junior guard Sam Adusei ’24 spotted up and sank a three-pointer with a Yellowjacket foul, completing the four-point play in front of the Brandeis crowd. Harris added another three to take the first Judges lead of the game. Second-chance baskets from big man Griffin Walbridge ’25 and co-captain Terrell Brown ’23 gave Brandeis some cushion. With 7:27 left in the first half, Adusei penetrated the Yellowjackets’ defense with three consecutive layups and a made free throw. The Judges marched into halftime with a double-digit lead, 43-32. A shooting slump, foul problems, and some turnovers troubled Brandeis as Rochester sped up the pace after the break. Similar to the earlier game, the Yellowjackets took over the lead with eight minutes remaining on the clock before first-year talents Ethan Edwards ’26 and Quron Zene ’26 boosted the Judges with another collective 7-0 run.

Rochester hung around until another trifecta from Harris and a steal from Zene gave Brandeis a seven-point lead with a minute left on the clock. The Judges held on to take the contest 83-72.

Harris finished the game with an impressive 19-point performance. Zene scored the first eight Judges points and finished with careerhigh 18 points and team-high eight rebounds. Adusei survived his foul trouble and handed in another 18 points and four steals–both career-highs. Edwards joined the action from the bench with 15 points.

Brandeis vs. Emory Men

73-71 (OT)

The Sunday games against the Emory University Eagles began with the men’s contest. The Judges went neck-and-neck with the #18 Eagles for the first ten minutes. Two three-point baskets in a row from Zene and Ryan Power ’24 gave the Judges a sixpoint lead. The Eagles answered the call by executing their plays and sinking their own threes, taking a brief three-point lead before Harris evened the game with a one-legged trifecta that beat the halftime buzzer, 36-36. The Judges could not find the rhythm starting the second half, which gifted Emory their lead for another ten minutes. As a 9–2 run from Edwards and Harris’ three-point efforts canceled the Eagles’ lead, the contest remained tight for the rest of the

game. The Eagles controlled the two final possessions at the end of regulation, but neither attempt found the net. In the overtime, both teams fired from downtown but failed to connect. An Emory layup with 3:37 left on the clock marked the last made-basket of the game as three-point tries from Power and senior guard Dylan Lien ’23 fell short.

Harris, despite rolling his ankle on Friday, scored 26 points with six three-pointers. Edwards put up 16 points off the bench. Zene filled the sheet with ten points and a career-high 11 rebounds. The Judges battled through 13 ties and 11 lead changes with the conference-leading Emory Eagles.

The men finished the weekend with an 11-5 record overall and a 3-2 conference record.

58-77

Women

Women’s Basketball did their best to try and hold off the Eagles in the second game of the afternoon. Early layups from Marchese and Reavis gave the Judges some momentum, but the Eagles took an early lead by making four threes in the first quarter. The Judges climbed back within five following a deep triple from Marchese, but could not keep up with the Eagles’ offense.

Emory pulled away thanks to their sharp shooting and lethal fastbreaks. The Eagles dominated the first half and entered the break with a commanding 17-point lead.

Brandeis tried to inch closer for one last time after halftime but failed to make the open shots count. Junior swingwoman Caitlin Gresko ’24 was perfect from the field in the final period, but that did not change much as the Eagles left the court with the win. The Judges ended the week with a 6-10 overall record, and a 1-4 record in the UAA.

Gresko finished the afternoon with a team-high 17 points and four rebounds. Marchese hit three-of-eight from beyond the arc and scored a total of 11 points. The veteran shooter is now fifth on the Brandeis women’s record with 117 three-pointers made.

The Brandeis basketball teams will continue their conference schedule next weekend, hosting the Case Western Reserve University Spartans on Jan. 27 and the Carnegie Mellon University Tartans on Jan. 29 for the first “Alumni Basketball Day” since 2020!

MESSI: Argentina celebrates as Messi cements football legacy

CONTINUED FROM 12

American international male goals (98), and the most goals by a player for a single club (672). There are countless accomplishments, records, and recognitions that Messi has held throughout his career, and it appears he isn’t done with the football world just yet. Achieving his childhood dream of a World Cup title, Messi

intends to keep playing for his national team for a little longer. While watching the recent World Cup, it’s clear the joy and pride his teammates have to play with such a legend. As teammate and Argentinian goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez put it during the tournament: “People say the favorites are France. But we have the greatest player of all

time.” The determination of the entire Argentinian team helped their captain and nation win the most important title in the soccer world, and many have hailed this World Cup Final as the best one ever. There is little to no doubt that Messi has rightfully claimed the status as one of the greatest footballers of all time.

LEADERSHIP: Since being drafted in 2014, Marcus Smart has helped carry the Celtics to three Eastern Conference Finals.

GOAT: Throughout his impressive and historic career, Lionel Messi has won an insane 42 trophies with his club and country.

Photo courtesy of CREATIVE COMMONS

Photo courtesy of CREATIVE COMMONS

BASKETBALL: Judges shock Rochester in UAA match-up

By AIDEN GUTHRO JUSTICE EDITOR

POINT GOD: Ethan Edwards ’26 looks down his defender as he gets ready to make a move to the basket. Edwards finished the night with 15 points.

HIMOTHY: Toby Harris ’25 has been the difference-maker this season for the Judges, averaging 20.8 points per game.

LOOKING AHEAD: Guard David Perez ’24 pushes the rock up court to jumpstart the Judges offense.

CHARITY STRIPE: Phenom Quron Zene ’26 helps seal the game for Brandeis.

■ The Brandeis Men’s Basketball team put the country on notice after upsetting #7 ranked University of Rochester Yellowjackets on Jan. 20.

HITTING THE DECK: Edwards jumps on the floor for a loose ball as Rochester players can only look on and watch.

ISO: Harris attempts to drive past his defender and get to the dish.

Photos by SMILEY HUYNH/the Justice

Sports just

JUDGES STING THE YELLOWJACKETS

Brandeis Men’s Basketball upset #7 ranked University of Rochester in their UAA match-up on Jan. 20, pg. 11.

COURT IS NOW IN SESSION BRANDEIS

Men’s and Women’s Basketball split tough UAA weekend

By JACKSON WU JUSTICE STAFF WRITER

Brandeis vs. Rochester: Women 77-71.

Coming off a rough road trip, the Brandeis Women’s Basketball team looked to make a statement by capturing their first University Athletic Association (UAA) win against the University of Rochester Yellowjackets on Jan. 20. The Yellowjackets began the game with a quick 6–3 run, forcing an early timeout from the Judges. Following the timeout, the Judges went on a 16–6 run, including two three-point bombs from senior co-captain Francesca Marchese ’23. Brandeis ended the first period with a great assist to Shannon Smally M.A. ’23 from co-captain Emma Reavis ’23 for the layup. Shots from all over the floor fell in the second period as the Judges pulled away with a 26–9 run, entering the half with a 15-point lead. Nonetheless, Rochester did not yield, and by forcing some Judges’ turnovers, they were able to cut the deficit to just nine before the final period. Things got tense for the Judges when back-to-back threes from the

Yellowjackets took the Brandeis lead away with six minutes left on the clock. Reavis refused to back down and propelled a 12-2 run with a handful of layups, a couple of steals, and an assist of her own. The Judges survived the free throw battle and upset the #7 Yellowjackets Women’s Basketball, 77–71.

Reavis led her team with 18 points and a career-high nine assists. Smally delivered an efficient 7-9 shooting performance and finished with 14 points and six rebounds, a team-high shared with Marchese. The Judges shot a stellar 53.3% (32 of 60) from the field in their first conference win.

Men 83-72. After a thrilling roadgame against the University of Chicago, ending with a game-winning step-back jumper from Ethan Edwards ’26, the Judges Men’s Basketball team stepped into the Auerbach Arena on Jan. 20 ready to take on the University of Rochester Men’s Basketball team. The Yellowjackets swarmed the Judges right after the tip-off, forced turnovers, and built an early lead. Brandeis Head Coach Jean Bain called two timeouts to gather the troops and make adjustments. Brandeis’ leading scorer, Toby Harris ’25, stepped up after the huddle to give the

Lionel Messi lifts World Cup trophy

■ With an Argentina World Cup title, Lionel Messi has cemented his role and impact in the soccer world.

By AKI YAMAGUCHI JUSTICE STAFF WRITER

In a dramatic World Cup final match-up between Argentina and the defending champions France, Lionel Messi led his team and nation to their first World Cup win since 1986. In what many believed to be his last World Cup appearance, the 35-yearold scored two of the three goals in regulation and overtime play. Netting his penalty, Messi led Argentina to win against France, who missed two of their penalty kicks in the shootout round, 4-2.

With an early loss to Saudi Arabia in the group stage and in the shadow of their loss against Germany in the 2014 World Cup final, there were doubts about Messi’s chance to claim the hardware this year. Yet, after a disappointing entrance to the

tournament, he came roaring back and became the first player in FIFA history to score a goal in the group stage, Round of 16, Quarterfinal, Semifinal, and Final. Winning Player of the Tournament, Messi exited arguably the best soccer competition in the world as an all-around winner.

Excluding his historic World Cup win, Messi has won title after title in the soccer world. During his 17-year tenure with FC Barcelona, his team won the La Liga title 10 times and the UEFA Champions League four times. Scoring an incomprehensible 672 goals in just 778 appearances at Barcelona, he also won the Ballon d’Or, the most prestigious individual soccer title, six times. In 2021, Messi captained Argentina to win the Copa América for their first national title win since 1993. As a Paris St-Germain player, Messi was awarded the Ballon d’Or again for a record-breaking seventh time.

On top of holding the Ballon d’Or record, Messi holds multiple records across his club and national accomplishments. He holds the record for the most La Liga goals (474), La Liga hat tricks (36), South

CELTICS

Boston Celtics top the NBA after impressive first half

■ Jayson Tatum and the Celtics currently hold an NBA-best 3512 record and look to return to the finals after falling short last season.

By AIDEN GUTHRO JUSTICE EDITOR

and Jaylen Brown, the Boston Celtics are looking to return to the NBA Finals and claim the trophy that eluded them last season. With a mixture of young and old talent, the Celtics have been pegged as the title favorites for this year.

Before the season began, the Celtics suspended their head coach, Ime Udoka, after it was revealed that he had had an intimate relationship with a team employee. For many organizations, this would spell doom, but the Celtics did not let these external variables control their on-court performance. The Green promoted then assistant coach, Joe Mazzula, to interim head coach for the 2022-23 campaign. The team rallied around Mazzula and started the season off blazing hot and have

continued their success so far. With no signs of stopping, the Celtics are looking even better than they did last season.

Tatum, who was a first-team AllNBA player last year, has stepped up his game exponentially. Averaging a ridiculous 31.2 points per game, Tatum is among the top players in contention for the MVP award this season. His partner in crime, Jaylen Brown, has also cemented himself as one of the best two-way players around the association. With the All-Star break less than a month away and a majority of the votes accounted for, it looks like the Jays from Boston will be representing the Green in Chicago. But the talent on this roster goes far beyond their two star players: Marcus Smart, Grant Williams, Al Horford, and Malcolm Brogdon have given the team a spark of life that has carried them to the top of the Eastern Conference.

Like every team though, injuries can plague a season. In their Jan 21. match-up vs. the Toronto Raptors, Smart and Robert Williams went down with leg injuries. Celtics fans feared the worst as Smart and Williams are some of the best defensive players in the league.

Fortunately, the injuries do not look to be too serious. Williams suffered a hyperextended knee, and Smart sustained a high ankle sprain. Mazzula told reporters that they will take these injuries “day-today” and allow the players to return at their own pace. Bolstering an NBA-best 35-12 record, the Celtics are preparing for bigger and better things. Allowing these key players to return at full capacity will help them as they look to make a deep run in playoffs.

Even though the Celtics have dominated the first half of the season, there is still a lot to go and a lot that can happen. The Philadelphia 76ers are only four and a half games behind the Celtics and would love the opportunity to knock off their conference rivals from the top spot. Giannis Antetokounmpo and the Milwaukee Bucks will be welcoming All-Star forward Kris Middleton back to their line-up soon and could make a serious push from third. Not to mention the Brooklyn Nets, led by Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving, who currently sit in fourth position in the Eastern Conference. Every organization is looking at the Celtics

Led by star players Jayson Tatum

SMILEY HUYNH/the Justice

WARM THE BUSES: David Perez '24 hits a free throw to help the Judges pull away from the Yellowjackets in the final minutes.

■ Brandeis basketball ties the weekend with wins over Rochester and well-fought battles against Emory.

Waltham, Mass.

Photo: Natalie Bracken/the Justice. Design: Smiley Huynh/the Justice.

Waltham, Mass.

‘We are revolting’: A review of ‘Matilda: the Musical’

By MINA ROWLAND JUSTICE EDITORIAL ASSISTANT

When I grew up, pun intended if you know the musical, I only knew the Matilda from the 1996 film, a smart six-year-old who loved books. While I never read the novel by Roald Dahl, I loved the story. The inspiration behind the story is said to be based on Dahl’s harsh experience with a boarding school in Britain. His sense of youthful justice lives on in Netflix’s “Matilda: the Musical.” The newest adaptation of “Matilda,” more closely based on the West End’s popular stage musical, was created by the same writer, Dennis Kelly, and directed by Matthew Warchus. When the trailer initially came out, I knew I was going to love it. However, I couldn’t foresee how great the music would be.

The film opens with joyful parents seeing their children for the first time, but for Matilda, life could not start any worse. Her father, Mr. Wormwood, expects a boy — and for the rest of the film refers to his daughter as “boy” — and his wife, Mrs. Wormwood is equally disgusted that she even has to care for a child. Matilda, much like the 1996 version, grows up to become a spunky, defiant genius who discovers her telekinetic powers and decides to stand up against the biggest bully, her

headmistress, Miss Trunchbull. Nevertheless, the Matilda reinterpreted by Alisha Weir, who plays her in the movie musical, believes that “sometimes you have to be a little bit naughty” in order to defend yourself. While the 1996 version also agreed with the idea, it seemed to be more out of a place of revenge rather than defending oneself.

Almost every character in Netflix’s musical maintains Dahl’s originality in his book as well as the 1996 film version, but there were quite a few changes. Some changes include Matilda being an only child, compared to the book where she has a brother. This dramatically shifts the parents’ view of Matilda as they wish they had a son.

Another example is how Matilda meticulously uses her power to destroy The Chokey, which is one of the most terrifying parts of the book and the film. Matilda’s character still becomes an increasingly unsung hero as she stands up not only for herself but for others as well.

However, the most significant changes are the direction with diversity and other dimensions added to the story. Miss Honey, played by the talented Lashana Lynch (“The Woman King,” “Captain Marvel”), is a Black woman. Noticeably, she is able to exist outside of her race. Lynch’s

Miss Honey does not follow the strong Black woman trope, and the film explores her experience growing up and her work-life outside of race. Miss Honey is just as sweet as her name implies, and she fosters a unique relationship with young Matilda. Her expression of interest and genuine appreciation of her intelligence and strong spirit is amazing. But as much as Matilda needed her, she also needed Matilda. One of the most impactful songs is “Holding My Hand,” because it expresses how closely the two bonded and redefines the idea of “family.” I also really enjoyed Mrs. Phelps, the librarian, whose character is played by Sindhu Vee, because she is one of the other few adult characters in Matilda’s life who are genuinely amazed and inspired by Matilda. Both Vee and Lynch are not only important as they allow for visibility of diversity but also in how their characters explore themes of tolerance of people who are different, an extremely important message for the youth of our generation.

Our new Matilda is quite British. Not only is the film set in a suburban part of England, which aligns perfectly with Dahl’s original creation, but she also drinks tea. The time period, however, is unclear as the school is very diverse but technology is not present: Matilda spends

all her time reading books. But I would be especially remiss if not to mention Miss Trunchbull, the kid-hating villain, played by the lovely Emma Thompson — who previously portrayed Nanny McPhee in “Nanny McPhee” and the Baroness in “Cruella” — elevates the world building and has an array of songs to prove just how much of her heart is missing. She literally refers to children as maggots before the first bell even rings. While some newer adaptations attempt to create a sense of complexity or understanding for the villain, Thompson fully embodies Trunchbull with no ounce of redemption.

Furthermore, the music is dazzling — primarily due to its daring spirit to employ a variety of styles. Several other songs were equally as amazing, but some of my personal favorites were “My House,” “Still Holding My Hand,” and “When I Grow Up.” “Bruce” is a little more jazzy and hilariously lyrical while “My House” is a soft ballad that encapsulates gratitude in a way never quite done before. Numbers like “Naughty” and “Revolting Children,” which are more popular, may seem initially to encourage disobedience. However, when examined carefully, these songs are not only inspirational but uplift children in their own agency and

decision-making, manifesting the importance of standing up against authoritarian adults.

I grew up being inspired by Matilda for her courage and sense of self-worth; but more than Matilda, I was influenced by Miss Honey. I have always loved education and have had several memorable teachers, so I really enjoyed seeing the power of an educator and their impact on children. With Netflix’s Matilda, I was inspired to see Lynch take on the role of Miss Honey because teachers of color are uncommon, at least in my experience. I am also a theater kid but do not have the money to see actual stage productions, so the next best thing is a movie musical. Seeing “Matilda: the Musical” was incredible because the music and choreography were so perfectly in sync and helped the emotional part of the storytelling.

Everything from the music and the story to the costumes and set design is brilliant. While the film may seem to have some senseless violence and an unnecessary amount of name-calling, it explores powerful themes of what it means to be independent even as a child and to stand up for who you are. I highly recommend watching it, at least before you say the book was better, even though we all know Matilda would agree.

BACK-TO-SCHOOL

Comprehending your humanities professors 101

By MEGAN LIAO JUSTICE EDITOR

Having been through four years of humanities studies and sampled a variety of humanities courses, I have safely concluded that the following appear frequently in the discourses of professors across the humanities department preluded by the phrase, “Does anyone know.” If you don’t nod passionately in agreement, you are excluded from the knowledgeable, cultured gatekeeping clique. Don’t let that discourage you from continuing to take humanities courses! I have created for you here a cheatsheet of terms the professors allude to frequently — selected from a variety of mediums like novels, movies, philosophies, and more — because, honestly, who even has the time to read a whole Sparknotes page?

1. “Agency” Frequently misused in discourses, “agency” in the field of social science denotes the capacity of an individual to have access to resources and information while being able to make decisions for oneself. In a social justice class, this term is commonly employed to condemn a prevalent, politically incorrect institution, and “having agency” means to have the ability to resist violence or refrain from being limited by violence.

2. Foucault

Not everyone has read Foucault until junior year of college, but somehow all of your humanities professors assume that you know who he is and what he said. Paul Michel-Foucault was a French political activist and philosopher in the 20th century, well-known for his critical theory of power. He believed in the inseparable relationship between knowledge and power. Another important component of his life’s work is his strong advocacy for penal reform. In his argument, he brought up English Utilitarianist Jeremy Bentham’s Panopticon, a circular prison where every inmate’s room faces a surveillance watch tower. The system is constructed so that the inmates do not know by whom or when they are surveilled, thus creating pressure on them to behave in a docile manner at all times. At the end of the day, it doesn’t matter whether the individual in the watchtower is a complete idiot because the inmates, double-blinded by the system, are unable to determine it.

3. James Joyce Don’t lie. One-third of your literature professors definitely assigned you to read something by Joyce, but ninety percent of you could not make it past the second page. Experimental Modernists were complex, and Joyce was one of the most extreme cases. Joyce, an Irish novelist and poet

from the late Victorian Era, was known for his literary innovations and techniques. “Finnigan Wakes” is almost impossible to read, for it incorporates a variety of languages, slang terms, and references frequently to Irish literary conventions. If you are unfamiliar with the fables of “Tristian and Isolde” and the Druid Culture and don’t speak at least four languages, this is probably not the book for you. Another one of Joyce’s very unreadable works is the notorious “Ulysses.” To read this book, you also need to buy yourself an annotated guide. Professors most likely do not expect you to have read either due to their difficulties, but there are still ways for you to impress them when these titles are brought to the table. Frown and try to look as troubled as possible — bonus points if you can make a natural, light sigh — and murmur, “I actually tried reading it, but it’s just so complicated.” With sufficient eye contact with the professors, they will surely and gladly spend ten to twenty minutes going off about the complexity of Joyce and indulging themselves in enlightening your confused mind. However, I do recommend “The Portrait of a Young Man as an Artist” and “Dubliners.” Great books to learn about the Irish identity.

4. Utilitarianism

Imagine everyone’s happi -

ness can be measured, and each individual’s happiness is one unit of utility. The community of Brandeis has a population of 5,558 students, graduate students included, meaning that an increased quality of Sherman food will produce 5,558 units of happiness. The goal of society, therefore, is to maximize cumulative happiness. An easy analogy that you will hear about in each class is your control over a switch that changes the path of a train that will run over three people. If you pull the switch, the train heads in a new direction and only runs over one person. From the perspective of a utilitarian, you should probably pull the switch, because three units of happiness are greater than one, and thus is the utility-maximizing solution. Our society does not operate under purely utilitarian dogma.

5. Prisoners’ Dilemma

You and your friend Sam vandalized the statue of Louis D. Brandeis in Fellows Garden in the middle of the night and got caught by Campus Safety. They also found that the walls of Sherman were graffitied with inappropriate comics, but they have no way of confirming that you did that too. They put you in separate rooms and give each of you two options, confess or stay silent. If both of you confess, you both end up with a five year sentence; if one of you confesses and the oth -

er stays silent, the silent one ends up with twenty years while the other walks away without penalty; if both remain silent, you both get only one year. The most optimal solution for everyone is to remain silent. In reality, people always end up selfishly confessing, hoping that their friend stays loyal.

6. Freud

To simplify things, your mind is divided into three: ego, id, and superego. Your id is the nagging child with the most primitive desires and wants to be satisfied at all times, while your superego is the moral police who tries to keep you on the right path. Ego is stuck between the two. Everytime you submit yourself to the primitive desires of id, your superego condemns you and provokes your guilt to taunt you. According to Freud, one of the most primitive desires in you is your desire to marry the parent of your opposite sex, and to do that you would have to kill the other parent.

I really hope that this list has made you dislike your humanities professors less and has made your classes less difficult. Sometimes, content may be challenging, and the terms that professors keep on tossing around do not help at all. I am sure that this list will get you through sixty percent of your humanities seminars not looking completely clueless. Happy second week of the semester!

JUST CHILLIN’

Design: Mina Rowland/the Justice

ONLINE EDITOR: During the break I spent time with my family and my dog Luna before leaving to go abroad this semester!

EDEN OSIASON/the Justice

FORUM EDITOR: Over winter break, I went to the Detroit opera.

LAURYN WILLIAMS/the Justice

MANAGING EDITOR: I spent part of break at Grayton Beach down in Florida! Although it was a little colder than usual, the beach was beautiful, and I had a great time relaxing and hanging out with my family.

JANE FLAUTT/the Justice

PHOTOS EDITOR: My friend and I woke up at 4:00 a.m., drove an hour, and stood in the cold for two more to watch the sunrise over the ocean in Rockport, MA.

OWEN CHAN/the Justice

SPORTS EDITOR: I enjoyed seeing the Seahawks vs. New York Jets on New Years day!

AIDEN GUTHRO/the Justice

Editors from the Justice shared photos of their favorite moments from the winter break. We’re all well-rested and excited to be bringing you more quality content in the new semester. Happy New Year, and we hope you have a great start to the semester!

By MEGAN LIAO AND MINA ROWLAND JUSTICE EDITOR AND JUSTICE EDITORIAL ASSISTANT

SMILEY HUYNH/the Justice

By ANNA MARTIN JUSTICE EDITORIAL ASSISTANT