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

Nia Lyn


Articles

EveryBODY loved Liquid Latex 2019

Brandeis Liquid Latex held its 19th annual celebration of body positivity last Tuesday. This year’s event “Thank u, Latex” took inspiration from Ariana Grande’s hit song “thank u, next,” and each performance was an homage to pop culture. 


Racial tokenism goes against diversity

 As of 2016, Brandeis’ undergraduate student body was 5.4 percent African American. While this number is bound to have increased with diversity efforts implemented by the University, to call the campus truly diverse is inaccurate. There have been several instances where, personally, I have been one of few Black students in the room. The same can be said for other students of color at predominantly white universities. This in turn creates stressors for students that impede their learning and overall ability to thrive in the university setting.  


Cornerstore Caroline is the latest face of white racial paranoia

 While speaking on the phone with what seems to be the police, both the accused nine-year-old boy and another child are shown crying and clinging to their mother. After hanging up the phone, she instructed Jason Littlejohn, the man recording the interaction, to “upload that to Worldstar” and told another woman, “You are a child. You are young enough to be my daughter,” when that woman confronted Klein for calling the police.  


Vaping could put teens on a path to lifelong addiction

 Smoking isn’t supposed to be attractive or glamorous. It is a life-threatening vice that turns into an addiction with continued use. Rebranding it to make it more cool or socially acceptable only gives teens the idea that it isn’t as detrimental — or obnoxious — as it actually is. Before we know it, the smoking rooms of the 1950s may soon be revived as vaping rooms.  


Rethink the use of eyewitness testimony in criminal justice

 Richard Jones is only one of a long list of people who have been wrongfully convicted due to improper eyewitness accounts. While this practice does have its place in law enforcement, it is flawed and should not be used as the only basis of identifying possible criminals. Instead, more evidence-based and scientific routes should be explored rather than relying on the memory and supposed truthfulness of strangers.  


Question effectiveness of racial bias training

In an April 18 NBC News article, Bryant Marks, a psychology professor at Morehouse College in Atlanta, said that the training implemented by Starbucks should be the first step of many. He stated, “It would have to involve ongoing conversations among the corporate leadership in particular.” It takes time to mentally overcome years of bias and even more time to train oneself to act in a way that reflects these changes. Marks also suggested employee training at the hiring stage — something that would prove useful if offered along with the sexual harassment training that is offered at many workplaces. While these are still not completely effective in thwarting the inappropriate actions which occur in the workplace, they are still beneficial and set some sort of standard for what is expected of employees.  


Caution against ‘walk up, not out’ approach to gun violence

 Brandeis’ campus, along with many other high schools and universities across the nation, is filled with “socially awkward teenagers,” so that isn’t the issue. The issue is that he wanted to inflict pain on others, not that he was somehow misunderstood. Despite knowing that there are people targeting and killing others, the nation is still not taking proper action to prevent future atrocities.   


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