The Tufts Daily - Tuesday, October 12, 2021

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VOLUME LXXXI, ISSUE 18

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Tuesday, October 12, 2021

Office of Sustainability webinar series discusses Tufts’ plans to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050

by Olivia Field

Contributing Writer

The Office of Sustainability commenced its “Path to Carbon Neutrality” webinar series on Oct. 7, hosting a webinar entitled “Decarbonization at Tufts.”

The webinar featured an overview of the university’s current decarbonization initiatives and sustainability commitments.

The webinar included a presentation by Ruthy Bennett, director of strategic capital programs at Tufts. Bennett, an architect with a certificate in sustainable design and construction, began by describing Tufts’ strategic plan for carbon neutrality in its buildings and utilities.

Bennett said that the university is tracking emissions, investing in renewable electricity and installing solar panels wherever possible.

Bennett explained that Tufts aims to reduce its carbon emissions by 80% and offset the remaining 20% of emissions by building renewable energy infrastructure.

MICHELLE LI / THE TUFTS DAILY

The Office of Sustainability kicked off its “Path to Carbon Neutrality” webinar series on Oct. 7.

Tufts is a signatory of the American College & University Presidents’ Climate Commitment, and Bennett said that the university fully supports efforts to cut emissions.

However, facilities still largely rely on fossil fuels.

“The gas and oil [industries] are so heavily subsidized that almost every single building naturally relies on gas to heat it, to get electricity, to cool it,” Bennett said. “Our commitment is to use renewable energy anyways, even if it’s not as subsidized, and also

to lower how much energy we need in the first place.”

Tufts’ central energy plant currently runs on natural gas.

Bennett said that the long-term plan is to switch to a form of renewable energy but that the technology to support university-wide use of renewable energy does not exist yet.

Despite this obstacle, there are a number of projects on campus that are bringing Tufts closer to its goal of carbon neutrality.

The central plant, though run on fossil fuels, is more efficient

than a decentralized energy grid.

Additionally, the university is working to make maintenance more sustainable by transitioning broken facilities and equipment to newer, more efficient technology.

“It used to be [that] if something broke, you just replaced the exact same thing with the newer model,” Bennett explained.

“Now, the goal is, if you have something that relies on steam and it breaks, we want to see if we can replace it with something that relies on hot water.”

Tina Woolston, director of the Office of Sustainability, was another host of the event.

Woolston said that the office aims to increase sustainability at Tufts by providing resources and advocating for more sustainable policies.

“We serve as … the bridge between ideas and their practical implementation,” Woolston said during the webinar.

In an interview with the Daily, Woolston explained that the Office of Sustainability strives to engage students.

“I think it’s really important because as an institution of higher education, we educate the people who develop and manage institutions,” Woolston said. “We have a responsibility to increase awareness, knowledge of technologies and [to provide] tools that are necessary to create a sustainable, equitable future for everyone — not just the rich people, not just Americans, but everyone across the world.”

The “Decarbonization at Tufts” see SUSTAINABILITY, page 2

Luis Gilberto Murrillo-Urrutia discusses environmental lessons from Indigenous and Afro-descendant communities

TCU Senate holds internal elections, hears supplementary funding requests

by Jed Quiaoit

by Zoe Kava

Luis Gilberto Murillo-Urrutia, former Colombian minister of environment and sustainable development, spoke on Oct. 6 via Zoom with Dayna Cunningham, dean of the Jonathan M. Tisch College of Civic Life, about his work including marginalized ethnic and social groups in environmental policymaking.

Murillo-Urrutia, who previously served as the governor of the predominantly AfroColombian state of Chocó, drew his leadership from Indigenous communities, particularly focusing on how they relate to nature with respect. Concurrently, during his term as the first Afro-Colombian minister from 2016 to 2018, Colombia suffered major environmental disasters, including the 2017 Mocoa landslide which left more than 400 people dead or missing, most of whom were from Indigenous communities.

The Tufts Community Union Senate heard supplementary funding requests and held internal elections for parliamentarian and Allocations Board members in a meeting on Monday night.

After a brief roll call was taken, Joe Golia, the director of campus life, introduced himself to the Senate body and explained the role of the Office of Campus Life in supporting the 350-plus student organizations on campus and managing their operations.

TCU Treasurer Elizabeth Hom then introduced four supplementary funding requests.

Parnassus requested $158 to take club members to the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston in order to gain inspiration for creative writing. Five members of the Allocations Board voted in favor, with none opposed and none abstaining.

Contributing Writer

News Editor

MICHELLE LI / THE TUFTS DAILY

Luis Gilberto Murillo-Urrutia and Dayna Cunningham are pictured at the virtual Civic Life Lunch event on Oct. 6.

When asked about resource management during such times

see ENVIRONMENT, page 2

FEATURES / page 3

ARTS / page 4

OPINION / page 7

Student leaders host on-campus celebrations for Indigenous Peoples’ Day

‘Dear Evan Hansen’ film shoots high, falls flat

Op-ed: Lack of action where it matters most

The request passed the TCU Senate by acclamation.

Students for Exploration and Development of Space requested money for flight tickets and Ubers for a three-day trip to a space conference in Houston.

After a proposed $2,090 failed because of the Allocations Board’s $2000 cap on travel expenses, TCU President Amma Agyei proposed a lower figure of $1,881. Her proposal passed with 28 senators voting in favor, none opposed and two abstaining.

Ears for Peers requested $150 for a new desk chair to replace its office chair, which is in poor condition. Seven members of the Allocations Board voted in favor of the request with none opposed and none abstaining.

The amendment was approved by acclamation.

Tufts Singapore, Indonesia and Malaysia Students Association requested $770 to cover transportation costs see SENATE, page 2 NEWS

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FUN & GAMES

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THE TUFTS DAILY | News | Tuesday, October 12, 2021

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TCA to hold university accountable to green energy goals SUSTAINABILITY

continued from page 1 webinar was co-hosted by Tufts Climate Action, a student organization that has advocated for Tufts to reduce its carbon footprint.

Julia Silberman, one of the leaders of TCA, discussed how the group has contributed to sustainability initiatives on campus.

“We are pushing for institutional change to promote climate justice, primarily through divestment from fossil fuels, but

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also through other related climate justice initiatives locally or nationally or just on campus,” Silberman, a junior, said.

Silberman explained that TCA first got involved with the carbon neutrality project during the summer of 2021.

“Over the summer, one of the things TCA was looking into was the progress that Tufts has been making on decarbonization,” Silberman said. “We really wanted to learn more about this

carbon neutrality by 2050 plan … So we contacted the Office of Sustainability just to talk about it … That’s where the idea for having this webinar series came about.”

Silberman said that TCA aims to hold the university accountable and ensure that broad sustainability plans are supported by actions.

“The climate change we’ve been seeing is just so tangible, like storms [and] fires,” Silberman said. “So we want to check in and

see what [Tufts is] doing, if they have any guideposts.”

Silberman added that institutional accountability is important when implementing a longterm decarbonization initiative.

“Because 2050 is so far away, the people who are working at Tufts now are not going to be working here in 2050,” Silberman said. “I think it’s really important to have accountability for what happens after you’re gone.”

Former Colombian minister of environment and sustainable development talks with Tisch dean ENVIRONMENT

Ananda Kao Executive Sports Editor

tuftsdaily.com

continued from page 1 of crisis, Murillo-Urrutia said the focus should be on the people most impacted by the tragedy.

“You have to first make [the] emphasis on saving lives,” Murillo-Urrutia said. “The president declared a state of emergency. That was very painful for the country, but he also was clear in the recommendations that he needed to send a strong message to the Colombian society [and] a strong message to the international community that these extreme events are the worst we had … that these are the threats of not taking the necessary measures to fight climate change.”

Murillo-Urrutia used Mocoa, which was battered by approximately three months’ worth of precipitation in three hours, as a cautionary tale about the threat of not taking the necessary measures to fight climate change and adapt Colombian communities for extreme weather events.

Even though the South American nation only represents 0.4% of global emissions, Murillo-Urrutia said Columbia must do its part to protect the climate.

“The consequences of this event are enormous without the necessary resources and funding to respond to these challenges,” Murillo-Urrutia said.

Murillo-Urrutia mobilized the government to allocate resources toward the provision of basic needs like food and water in the case of a natu-

ral disaster. He was in charge of providing evidence-based solutions and creating technical working groups to provide up-to-date information about climate trends.

Murillo-Urrutia noted that Indigenous and Afrodescendant groups, two of Colombia’s ethnic minorities, have been innovative in climate resilience. These communities have implemented natural solutions, such as planting hectares of forests, to protect a region that is home to over 50% of the world’s biodiversity.

Unfortunately, the same communities continue to face injustice, as they provide such solutions without compensation and remain invisible in environmental policymaking.

“Afro-descendant and Indigenous communities need to play a central role, not an ‘add-on’ role, in any climate or biodiversity-loss solution,” Murillo-Urrutia said. “These communities are key [and] the challenge is that there is not an appropriate narrative. The role of these communities is invisible in the public policy debate. We are not learning from the models of stewardship of nature of our communities.”

In response to these injustices, Murillo-Urrutia collaborated with the MIT Environmental Solutions Initiative as a Martin Luther King fellow.

“We are working on a project, side-by-side with communities, to understand this model of the communities and to co-produce new models based

on that knowledge of these communities [and] empower these communities with appropriate technology,” MurilloUrrutia said. “[We will] tak[e] those innovations to the public policy debate to scale up that innovation by looking at these communities from a different perspective.”

In Latin America and the Caribbean, areas that have been titled collectively to Afrodescendant and Indigenous communities have between 2.5 and 10 times less deforestation than other places not managed by these communities. These findings, Murillo-Urrutia said, do not often make it into conversation with policymakers about environmental legislation.

From 2016 to 2018, the ministry succeeded in tripling the size of Colombia’s environmentally protected areas, enacting the National Climate Change Management law — which included a carbon tax — and promoting the rights of Afrodescendant and Indigenous communities.

Murillo-Urrutia is less optimistic about the Duque administration and its current direction in environmental activism and minority inclusion, especially in straining positive relationships between the government and minority groups that MurilloUrrutia worked hard to foster.

“Today Colombia is the country where it is most dangerous for environmental leaders and social leaders to do his or her work,” Murillo-Urrutia said. “Colombia maintains some of the policies,

but there is not a political will. … When you don’t have trust between the communities and institutions, it is very difficult to have effective solutions on the ground.”

Even so, women and youth are finding more significant roles in the fight for environmental protection, especially after the United Nations Development Programme’s Climate Promise launched in Colombia in 2020.

“In our communities, the real leadership is done by women — they are the ones that know better … how to protect the nature,” he said.

Murillo-Urrutia believes that youth are making the government fulfill the mandate because they are the group that will be most affected in the future. “[Youth] are taking the leadership in this implementation because this is about their lives.

This is about their existence,” Murillo-Urrutia said. “They are the ones who will inherit from us a tremendous crisis.”

Murillo-Urrutia’s talk concluded with advice for young people looking to become involved in environmental justice.

“My recommendation for young people now is that, first, they need to never, never, never lose hope,” MurilloUrrutia said. “Maintain those firm beliefs that change really is possible and that you are the one, in a collective way, to make the difference. Look for those who share your vision and share your values to work together and to create a support network of collaboration.”

Three members of Senate elected to Allocations Board SENATE

continued from page 1 for an apple picking trip in Andover, Mass. Five members of the Allocations Board voted in favor of the request, with none opposed and none abstaining.

The request passed the TCU Senate by acclamation.

Mark Lannigan, the chair of the Tufts Community Union Elections Commission, then introduced the parliamentarian and Allocations Board positions, and candidates had the opportunity to nominate themselves or other senators.

Agyei briefly explained the role of parliamentarian, after which Class of 2023 Senator Ibrahim

AlMuasher nominated himself for the parliamentarian position.

“I think one of the most important goals of the parliamentarian should be to help students and student groups, to make sure that their resolutions end up making an impact and getting to administrators,” Almuasher said.

The nomination was passed by acclamation, and AlMuasher was elected parliamentarian.

TCU Treasurer Elizabeth Hom next explained the role of Allocations Board members, which is to attend supplementary funding meetings with student groups and oversee the budgeting process.

Four Class of 2025 Senators ran for Allocations Board positions. Nessren Ourdyl, João Ribeiro and Natalie Rossinow were elected members of the Allocations Board.

TCU Vice President Tim Leong then introduced the committee chairs for updates. Arielle Galinsky, Class of 2024 senator and services committee chair, explained her goal of starting a program to donate meal swipes.

“One thing that we want to do this year is start a program to see if we can donate more meal swipes,” Galinsky said.

“Currently you can only donate one meal swipe if you’re on the unlimited meal plan, and most

of the time you won’t use all of your meal swipes. There’s already an organization on campus called JumboSwipes … so we’re going to see if we can partner with them.”

Galinsky also talked about a 2021 “Turkey Shuttle,” which would bring students from the Tufts campus to South Station and Logan Airport for free during the days leading up to Thanksgiving.

“That’s something that Senate sponsors and does every year, so we will be working on that very extensively over the next two months before Thanksgiving,” Galinsky said.

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Features

More than just a day of history for Indigenous people

3 Tuesday, October 12, 2021

Kevin Zhang Tales from the T

A new station for a new Allston

A

COURTESY HANNAH NORTON

The ISOT executive board is pictured on Indigenous Peoples’ Day.

by Casey Cummings and Sophie Wax Staff Writer and Contributing Writer

Tufts University resides in the homeland of the Massachusett people and within the territories of the Nipmuc and Wôpanâak (Wampanoag) tribes. They were the original stewards of the land and the relationships between Indigenous peoples, and their traditional territories endure. The university would not exist if it was not for their care.

On Indigenous Peoples’ Day, it is important to pause and reflect on the United States’ role in the colonization of the Americas. For centuries, European colonists arrived in the Americas, using violence and oppression as a means to steal from and exploit the lands and cultures of Indigenous people for their own profit. Today, systems of oppression are still embedded in our society.

Throughout its history, the holiday Tufts formerly recognized as Columbus Day has served to extol the bold actions of a 15th-century European explorer. However, Columbus Day has also been a symbol of oppression, observing a history of misery.

Upon landing in what is now the Bahamas, Columbus and his fellow colonizers forced Indigenous people into slavery, displaced their communities, imposed forms of punishment, and exploited their land. In recent years, the observance of Columbus Day has been questioned; the recognition of the explorer as a courageous and fearless leader has been re-evaluated.

Thus, the fight for Indigenous Peoples’ Day emerged. The protest involved shifting the focus from Columbus to the culture, nationality and experiences of Indigenous people in the United States. Indigenous people hoped to redefine the meaning behind the federal holiday, bringing attention to their community and honoring their history.

In February 2016, a Tufts student movement successfully pushed the administration to switch the day’s name from Columbus Day to Indigenous Peoples’ Day. “[Tufts students] ran the student-run campaign to change Columbus Day to Indigenous Peoples’ Day,” sophomore Tylee Tosia, a member of the Indigenous Students’ Organization at Tufts (ISOT) general council, said. “The administration said

no at first, so we couldn’t change it. The next year we ran it again and got a resolution and were able to change it to Indigenous Peoples’ Day.” This year, ISOT ran an Indigenous Peoples’ Day celebration on campus. The event took place on Monday from 3:30–6:30 p.m. on the Olin Patio.

“This is the first year that ISOT has been able to put it on ourselves,” senior Jonah Apo, co-president of ISOT, said. “We’re very excited about that. We’re going to have the Nettukkusqk Singers to just try to bring different groups from the outer New England community into Tufts. Just to grow those connections.”

ISOT’s work focuses on increasing support for Indigenous students in the Tufts community.

“There’s a very small number of Native and Indigenous students on campus,” Apo said. “[Before ISOT’s founding in 2019], there wasn’t really any system, support or infrastructure for us to be able to find each other on campus … ISOT was the first place where Indigenous students here can kind of gather, meet each other and build that sense of community.”

ISOT has a variety of plans to continue building community this year.

“ISOT’s been posting a bunch of events and partnering with different departments and organizations about raising visibility to Indigenous issues and Indigenous topics that won’t necessarily be brought up at Tufts,” Apo said. “[We’re] also working with administration on things like the land acknowledgement, trying to get an Indigenous students’ center and more support for Indigenous students here.”

The topic of land acknowledgements is something that Tufts students, such as the members of ISOT, along with Tufts professors, have been pushing for from Tufts administration.

“There aren’t really any Tufts land acknowledgements; that’s something we have been pushing for starting in 2020,” Apo said. “We are continuously working and refining to have an official Tufts land acknowledgement on the Tufts website and used at big events like matriculation and graduation.”

The fight for equitable treatment and widespread recognition of Indigenous Peoples’ Day continues.

“We want Tufts to institutionalize Indigenous Peoples’ Day and support its students more, rather than ISOT having to completely plan everything,” junior Hannah Norton, ISOT co-founder, said.

Norton explained how they want Tufts to not only give a day off from classes, but also offer resources to students and faculty members who identify as Indigenous people.

Some solutions to acknowledge Indigenous people include hiring more staff and administrative members who are Indigenous and providing more educational resources. Diversifying the faculty at Tufts to include more Indigenous people might help the school be more welcoming and relatable to Indigenous students, according to Tosia.

“There are only two faculty that I know of that identify as Indigenous out of the whole university,” Tosia said.

Senior Cyrus Kirby, ISOT co-founder, advocated for students to become educated and aware of Indigenous people.

“I think Indigenous people and culture bring a lot for the world to learn from. [It should not be] a one-off thing on October 11 each year,” Kirby said.

For the Tufts community, ISOT student leaders emphasized that celebrating Indigenous people and reflecting on the history of colonialism should not only occur on the holiday; it should be a continual dialogue throughout the year.

“The biggest way to help the organization and Indigenous people on campus is to talk about them, learn about them,” Kirby said. “Don’t just [confine] this to the month of November and October 11 because they are here.”

Learning about Indigenous culture includes understanding its diversity and that no individual experience is representative of all Indigenous people.

“Indigenousness is multicultural,” Norton said. “We all have our tribes, our nations, our identity that we go by. That is what we identify as, we can’t speak for other people. And something important that goes with learning, is just to do your own research in specific areas.”

nyone who’s traveled to the neighborhood of Allston knows how difficult it can be, requiring a trek from the Green Line, a bus ride through traffic or a drive along twisting highways. But a massive new project is promising to change all this by bringing a frequent rail service from South Station, Worcester and Kendall Square to a new West Station in Allston, alongside a brand-new highway and urban neighborhood on former industrial land. What’s the story behind this megaproject?

Allston is currently the site of several concurrent developments, centered on the old Beacon Park Yard site. During the early 20th century, this was a bustling freight yard on the railroad between Boston and Chicago.

Rail traffic declined, however, and in 1958, the Massachusetts Turnpike Authority purchased the (now-underutilized) railroad east of the I-95 highway in order to extend the Massachusetts Turnpike into Boston alongside it. A massive toll plaza and interchange was built north of Beacon Park Yard. The result was a tangle of asphalt and steel permanently bisecting Allston.

However, in 2013, Beacon Park Yard was closed, with remaining traffic shifted to a new yard in Worcester. Then, in 2016, the Massachusetts Turnpike switched to electronic tolling, making the toll plazas redundant.

This meant that much of the massive Beacon Park Yard site was freed for redevelopment.

The aging Massachusetts Turnpike viaduct and interchange would be rebuilt and resited, and a new urban neighborhood would arise on the vacated land, with new housing and bridges across the highway connecting to Allston, as well as a planned massive extension of Harvard’s campus.

At its center, a new West Station was to be built. This was designed to serve not only existing commuter trains on the Framingham-Worcester Line but also new, frequent subway-like local trains. Inbound trains would run not just into South Station, but also up the Grand Junction Railroad. This currently disused line diverges near Boston University, running across the Charles and through MIT’s campus to Kendall Square, Everett and Chelsea, connecting more neighborhoods to Boston’s rail network. Add in a new bus terminal, and West Station could become a true regional transit hub.

West Station is not without its flaws, however (to say nothing of the criticism of its neighboring projects)! Its inefficient track layout means many commuter trains won’t even stop, bypassing the station instead. But perhaps that’s acceptable — it’s located near new developments but far from Allston’s existing commercial centers, requiring a lengthy detour for pedestrians and buses. In any case, the station will not open until said new developments finish, to gauge if rider demand will even materialize. Originally set to open in 2024, West Station is now planned to open in 2040 (not a typo), and skyrocketing costs may push it back even further.

For comparison, the highway reconstruction will finish in 2025. It’s almost comedic that Boston may be underwater before Allston finally gets its train station — and that even if it isn’t, West Station may simply be too costly, too far, too little, too late. Is this truly the best we can do?

Kevin Zhang is a junior studying civil engineering. Kevin can be reached at kevin.zhang7@tufts.edu.

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Arts & POP ARTS Pop CULTURE Culture

tuftsdaily.com

Tuesday, October 12, 2021

‘Mayday’: The girlbossification of escapism

by Miranda Feinberg Staff Writer

“Mayday” (2021), director Karen Cinnore’s dreamy new steampunked-up feminist escapist fantasy, follows main character Ana (Grace Van Patten) as she stumbles into a chaotic world of female rebellion and redemption. While the film creates an alternate land to which our protagonist can run (or swim), one that is clearly meant to empower and strengthen the protagonist, the film is somehow hollow at its core, as themes of power and control corrupt the freedom, connection, unity and escapism it is trying so hard to portray. While largely entertaining and emotive, the film undermines its message for the sake of plot and narrative foils, a move which greatly wounds the final production.

The film opens with a glimpse into Ana’s life within the reality of our world; working as a waitress catering for a wedding at which she is accosted by her male boss. In a moment of red-washed fear and rage, Ana escapes through an industrial sized oven into the world of the movie: a beautiful, weapon-laden island surrounded by a crashing, bright blue ocean. There, she meets a group of girls played

by Mia Goth, Havana Rose Liu and Soko, who, following similar experiences with men in their now far-away world, have banded together to fight against the men in this world who are locked in perpetual war. The story is a coming-of-age of sorts, where the female characters achieve higher levels of self-awareness and mental fortitude. Free and natural in this new world, Ana is taught how to survive and fight in order to join the ranks of the four-girl insurgency. The group’s play at soldier life is filled with freeing connection and fun in the natural, anti-modern world, and the opening emphasis on connection and identification with each other is a nice and simple story of friendship and united healing.

The dream-world in which the girls fight is meant to emulate the deep-dug realities of, well, reality. Men are pushed to violence in a never-ending cycle, but here the women are given the chance to take the offensive before they ever need defending. There is no nuance, which itself is a sort of healing factor for our characters. When every man is shown to be outright violent and controlling, there is no room to question intentionality, and the group is able to punish the men for their faults without deliberation. It is an interesting premise. and the use of World-War-esque costuming and weaponry creates a sense that the story is placed outside of time, the mytholo-

VIA IMDB

‘Mayday’ was released on Jan. 31. gy of the fight creating a reality-bent sort of realism.

The film struggles in the third act, however, when Goth’s Marsha begins to blur the lines between the unity and the power she feels from the violence itself.

The sort of role reversal that comes when the violence goes overboard leaves a metallic taste of blood in the story’s mouth. It isn’t that the rape-revenge era indiscriminant violence against men in the name of previous violence leveled at women is flawed (in fact, it is often used very effec-

tively and cathartically in films).

However, the fractured moral discussions in the last act undermine this feeling of catharsis, and the fact that there is infighting between the women rather than a united front in the name of their female empowerment and healing is a disappointing end to the overall arc. Coming from a film where connection with other women is so central to their reclamation of power, pitting the two leading women against each other seems like a cheap ploy to create new conflict.

Cinematographically, the visuals of the film create an amazing backdrop that emulates the in-betweenness of the realistic anti-reality the girls are living in. The crispness of the island’s nature, paired with the machinic use of radios, weapons and pipe-laden submarines, works well. The lighting throughout the film, with airy and bright nature and starry night skies permeated by neon red lights, is a perfect visual pairing with the chaotic emotions on the screen.

Overall, the film is enjoyable even as it fails at its most central intentions. The conflicting narratives and themes make the film’s attempts at healing trauma and fighting for a new way of life crumble within this culture of violence for aesthetic purposes. An escape where we are powerful and where the villains are able to be seen as villains is a promising one, but to muddy the message and turn the protagonist against other women seems unfair and unfaithful to such a message.

A r t s & P op C u l t u r e

Tuesday, October 12, 2021 | Arts & Pop Culture | THE TUFTS DAILY

5

‘Dear Evan Hansen’ tackles big issues, fails in the process

by Henry Chandonnet

Hansen” has gotten such a bad rap. Still, there are many good elements of this movie, which would be unfair not to mention. “Dear Evan Hansen” makes an honest attempt to increase awareness surrounding issues of mental health, providing a space

for young people to see the struggles they might face represented by characters in a large-scale film. Evan and Alana (Amandla Stenberg) speak to one another about the different medications they each take. Evan is pictured in the midst of an anxiety

attack. The film does its best to destigmatize mental health and, though it often fails, appears to make a genuine effort.

The film also includes some incredible performances.

Julianne Moore, who plays Evan’s mother Heidi, is an immediate standout. In a film where one is constantly questioning directorial choices and lapsing in their suspended disbelief, the final crash of Heidi’s song “So Big / So Small” still devastates. That emotional turmoil is a testament to Moore’s abilities as an actor.

Likewise, Kaitlyn Dever’s portrayal of Zoe Murphy brings agency to the character, allowing Zoe to make choices and be active in her grief.

With that said, there is so much deeply wrong with this film. To start, the ages of actors as it relates to characters makes no sense. When one sees Platt, 28, having an emotional conversation with Stenberg, 22, it’s difficult to maintain belief. When Platt bursts into the gymnasium of his high school during the leading song, “Waving Through a Window,” it’s difficult not to think back to some of the more off-putting scenes from “Riverdale” (2017–).

Similarly, “Dear Evan Hansen” follows in the tradition of past movie-musicals such as “La La Land” (2016) by casting bigname actors who have little-tono musical theatre experience.

These actors often sing in more muted tones, in an almost folky style. This is sweet and quaint for a film like “La La Land,” but falls short in a film that intends to be emotionally searing, such as “Dear Evan Hansen.”

things than a show spoilt, so for the sanctity and integrity of the series, I shall instead address a less devastating but still emotionally compounded competition: “Top Chef” (2006–).

“Top Chef” is a reality cooking show on Bravo in which professional chefs battle for the chance to win prize money furnished by San Pellegrino, which has ranged from $100,000 to $250,000 over the course of its 18 seasons; a feature in “Food & Wine” magazine; a showcase at the annual “Food & Wine” Classic in Aspen; and, of course, the coveted title of Top Chef.

Each season goes down in a different city across the United States, incorporating elements of local cuisine, vibes and climate

into the challenges. The episodes typically begin with the Quickfire, fast-paced tests that push the chefs’ ability to cook on their feet, such as concocting a special hot sauce in 45 minutes or utilizing only solar-powered equipment.

Either one or two chefs are eliminated during the longer elimination rounds, when host Padma Lakshmi utters the dreaded words: “Please pack your knives and go.”

Over the course of six weeks, the contestants stay together in a multi-bedroom house; if the producers leaned into potential on-screen romances, I feel like “Bachelor in Paradise: Dinner For Two” has a promising ring to it.

Cooking-show-illiterate folks often confuse “Top Chef” with “MasterChef” (2010–), but the two

competitions come from totally different dramatic tones. For one, MasterChef calls to amateur home cooks and has the same energy as “American Idol” (2002–) in terms of cinematography and emotionally charged background music.

“Top Chef” feels more grounded, the food far more exciting due to the contestants’ repertoire and the judges’ precision in their critiques.

I hold a deep-seated trust in Head Judge Tom Colicchio, the bald and at times punny restaurateur, and Gail Simmons, a Canadian food critic with a palette for acidity and spice.

Personally, in the words of Ms. Cardi B, “I don’t cook, I don’t clean” (sorry Mom). However, I have experienced multiple stress dreams in which I’m thrust into

Contributing Writer

Content warning: This article mentions suicide.

For better or for worse, “Dear Evan Hansen”’ (2021) has infiltrated our current cultural narrative. Images of the film are everywhere, whether it be the meme of Ben Platt crying or the TikTok commentary on Platt’s ability to play the role of Evan at his age. These commentaries are poignant, often funny, but severely detached from the film itself. What even is “Dear Evan Hansen?” Is it as bad as the memes and TikToks portray it to be? After sitting through all two hours and 17 minutes, the answer still seems to be unclear.

The film follows Evan Hansen (Ben Platt), a high school student with severe anxiety and depression. Evan’s therapist asks him to write positive letters to himself, but his letter is intercepted by classmate Connor Murphy (Colton Ryan).

Soon after, Connor takes his own life, with the note still in his possession. Connor’s family (Amy Adams, Danny Pino, Kaitlyn Dever) believe the note to be Connor’s suicide note, and that there must have existed a secret friendship between Evan and Connor. Not wanting to disappoint Connor’s parents, Evan goes along with this story. What ensues is a downward spiral of chaos, with Evan growing closer to the Murphy family as time goes on. This continues until, inevitably, the lie comes crashing down.

From the plot alone, it’s fairly easy to see why “Dear Evan

Raga Chilakamarri On Demand

Does she cook or does she just watch ‘Top Chef’?

I

want to preface this week’s column by saying yes, I have seen Netflix’s talk-of-the town “Squid Game” (2021–), and yes, it did fracture my heart in many ways that I’d love to unpack. However, I also do believe that there are few worse

WIKIPEDIA

The film adaptation of the “Dear Evan Hansen” musical came out on Sept. 9.

The biggest flaw, however, lies in the story itself. The plot of this film is deeply problematic. In lying about his friendship with Connor, the character of Evan exploits the Murphy family after a deeply traumatic event.

This leads Evan to great personal gain, with Evan even dating Connor’s sister Zoe. This might not be as problematic if the writing team had treated Evan as an anti-hero. Problematic leading characters are one of the most interesting writing tropes and have been successfully written before. However, with this film the writers work hard to make the audience sympathize with Evan. One of Evan’s final songs, “Words Fail,” is the pinnacle of this internal problem — Evan is given the opportunity to rationalize and to explain his actions. The writers try to justify his deeply exploitative choices, going so far as to have a final reunion between Zoe and Evan in which Zoe forgives him.

Despite his personal struggles, Evan does not deserve complete exemption from using a family’s trauma to benefit himself.

Anything less than recognizing this is a moral failure on the part of the writers.

After watching the film, it’s fairly easy to see why the online backlash has been so strong.

Still, it’s unfair to call “Dear Evan Hansen” an entirely unwatchable film. There are highs and lows, with some scenes having strong emotional resonance. Those bright spots, however, fail to save the film from falling into cliche and indecent plot shortcomings.

One simply cannot take one’s eyes off the myriad of problems.

the midst of a cooking competition only to quickly realize that I have no kitchen knowledge and that my fear of boiling water has managed to persist with me.

While I’m no top chef — beyond my knack for a complexly layered sandwich — I’ve gleaned essential lessons that I’m sure are applicable across diverse aspects of life: under-seasoning is a sin, a balance of texture is key and never cook a scallop three ways when you can cook it one way properly. I’ll be sure to keep these in mind as my housemates cook me dinner.

Raga Chilakamarri is a junior studying English and economics.

Raga can be reached at raga. chilakamarri@tufts.edu.

Tuesday, October 12, 2021 | Arts & Pop Culture | THE TUFTS DAILY

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F& G

LATE NIGHT AT THE DAILY Kate (on ‘Squid Game’): “Is it real?”

FUN & GAMES

SUDOKU

A MAN’S BEST FRIEND

Difficulty Level: Scratching an itch with a cast.

By Taggart Eymer

Friday’s Solutions

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Before anything else, we are all human.

It’s time to embrace diversity.

Let’s put aside labels in the name of love.

Rethink your bias at lovehasnolabels.com

6

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Opinion

7 Tuesday, October 12, 2021

OP-ED

TCU Senate: Silence on racism and antisemitism speaks volumes

by Max Morningstar On May 14, 2021, members of Tufts Students for Justice in Palestine painted the Tufts cannon as part of a vigil honoring the lives of Palestinians who died in the two-week-long conflict referred to by Gazan militant groups as the “Sword of Jerusalem Battle,” and by the Israeli Defense Forces as “Operation Guardian of the Walls.” That same evening, the cannon was vandalized with crude language and images.

Response to the vandalism was swift. SJP released a statement on May 16 through their Facebook and Instagram accounts, and the Tufts Community Union Senate Executive Board released its own statement of condemnation the same day. Beyond a simple condemnation of the act, the six-person TCU Executive Board added a list of demands, calling for a response to the event from Tufts University administration in addition to other policy changes and actions from administration. While these demands have been criticized by some groups

and individuals, the TCU Senate Executive Board’s moving away from symbolic objection and toward the promotion of actionable policy changes following incidents of discrimination is a step in the right direction.

However, this step forward is quickly being undermined by the TCU Senate’s unwillingness to respond to other incidents of bias. So far in the 2021–22 academic year, there have been three widely reported incidents of discrimination on campus: One incident of racism, the removal of Black Lives Matter posters, and two incidents of antisemitism, the removals of Mezuzahs from student residences. All of these have been followed by responses from the Tufts University administration.

The TCU Senate Executive Board has remained silent for close to three weeks.

When President Anthony Monaco released a statement responding to the May 14 cannon defacement on May 17, just three days after the incident and one day after calls from the TCU

Senate to act, SJP quickly criticized the president’s statement.

They said it caused “further harm to Palestinian students,” because, among other points, the statement “does not recognize [the cannon defacement] as the act of hate… that it is.” One shudders to imagine how much harm has come to the Tufts community now that, through its silence, the TCU Senate Executive Board has failed to recognize the acts of hate that have occurred so far this year.

The role of the TCU Senate, as described in the TCU Constitution, Article II, is to “Represent the needs and interests of the TCU.” It is within the interest, and certainly a need, for members of the Tufts community to be able to live their lives, go to class and participate in on-campus activities without the fear of discrimination over their race or religion. The TCU Senate has the responsibility to stand up for all portions of our community, a responsibility that, through its silence, the TCU Senate continues to shirk.

This silence comes even though both TCU President Amma Agyei and TCU Vice President Tim Leong led campaigns based on equity and justice. Agyei declared that she was running for president to “empower the student body and uplift underrepresented voices.”

Leong characterized himself as “excited for students who have been marginalized by the Tufts’ actions to have this long-overdue opportunity to fight back.” When the TCU Senate turns a blind eye to discrimination and bias on campus, these optimistic statements become little more than lofty soundbites.

The rise in incidents against all kinds of minority groups is troubling. In May, the rate of antisemitic hate crimes increased by 115% from the same time last year, and it remains close to the highest levels they have been at since the Anti-Defamation League began collecting data in 1979. The Black Lives Matter movement continues to fight for the eradication of “white supremacy and build local power to intervene in violence inflicted on Black com-

munities,” recently condemning the blatantly racist and anti-Black brutalization of Haitians seeking asylum by members of the U.S. Customs and Border Patrol. AntiArab sentiment continues to swell in the United States, while abroad Palestinians are suffering from “violence, displacement, and restricted access to livelihoods and essential services, such as water, healthcare, shelter and education,” as identified in a 2017 UN report.

The threat to these groups directly impacts the ability of students at Tufts to learn and be active members of our community. No one at Tufts, regardless of their identity, should have to live in fear. The TCU Senate needs to act. Its continued silence should alarm those among every marginalized community at Tufts: If the TCU Senate is willing to turn a blind eye to injustice toward one group, it can just as easily do the same to all.

Max Morningstar is a junior at Tufts University and can be reached at max.morningstar@tufts.edu.

8 Tuesday, October 12, 2021

SPORTS

tuftsdaily.com

Field hockey shuts out Trinity, loses to Middlebury in overtime

by Sophia Antezana Staff Writer

Tufts field hockey played in its first away doubleheader of the season this weekend, in which the team traveled to both Trinity and Middlebury College. The No. 4 ranked Jumbos faced the No. 5 ranked Bantams on Saturday and the No. 1 ranked Panthers on Sunday. Both the Bantams and Panthers are NESCAC opponents, making these two games highly anticipated conference matchups.

After splitting the doubleheader — beating Trinity 4–0 on Saturday and losing 2–1 in overtime to Middlebury on Sunday — Tufts stands at 7–2 on the season and 5–1 in conference play.

The Middlebury Panthers entered the Sunday game versus the Jumbos at a perfect 11–0 on the season and 6–0 in NESCAC play.

The Jumbos and Panthers fought tooth and nail, with the score remaining 0–0 for 46 minutes until the Panthers scored on a corner in the fourth quarter. Tufts senior forward Claire Foley netted one for the Jumbos to tie the game with three minutes left in the quarter.

The score remained 1–1 at the end of regulation, sending the game into overtime. Two minutes into the overtime period, Middlebury senior midfielder Erin Nicholas scored the game-winner for the Panthers. As overtime periods are sudden victory, the game ended in a 2–1 loss for the Jumbos.

The Panthers outshot the Jumbos

8–4 and had a 6–4 advantage in corners.

On Saturday, Trinity entered the match 8–1 on the season and 4–1 in NESCAC play, with its only loss of the season thus far to Wesleyan University, which ended in a double-overtime loss 3–2. The Jumbos showed up at Trinity and dominated. Sophomore forward Rachel Scrivanich kicked off the scoring 14 minutes into the game for the Jumbos with her first collegiate goal. Senior defender Melissa Manzello added two goals in the second half, along with a goal from senior forward Gillian Roeca.

Junior goalkeeper Sam Gibby had an impressive five saves for the match and kept the Bantams scoreless, despite their 11–9 advantage in corners. The match resulted

COURTESY COLIN BOURQUE

The Tufts field hockey team was defeated 2–1 by Middlebury on Oct. 10. in an impressive 4–0 victory for the Jumbos.

“Everyone brought great energy and intensity from start to finish all weekend,” graduate student midfielder and co-captain Beth Krikorian said. “We fought so hard and gave both games our all — we played with

Football falls to Bates, still searching for first win

by Isaac Karp

had difficulty finding the end zone all year. The Jumbos are also hindered by a slew of injuries that included their starting junior quarterback Trevon Woodson, leaving first-year quarterback Michael Berluti to fill in, making it difficult for the Jumbos’ offense to find any continuity over the course of the season.

The common theme of this game was missed opportunities.

The offense had trouble converting in the red zone, and the defense, although it caused two turnovers, could not make the easy tackles and blew coverages

on several key third downs.

Tufts also could not contain Costa, who rushed for 113 yards and threw for 254 yards. The Jumbos also had difficulty stopping Bryant, who went for 91 yards and three receiving touchdowns on the day.

Meanwhile, Tufts’ offense was powered by its receiving corps, which featured strong showings from junior wide receiver Philip Lutz and senior wide receiver Paul Campo. Lutz is averaging around 88 yards per game and has two touchdowns on the season, while Campo caught Tufts’ only touchdown of the day.

Lutz explained what’s been going right for him.

“It’s getting closer with [the quarterbacks]. I’m doing everything I can — I’m running the routes that I’m given as hard as I can,” Lutz said. “It’s working out, personally, but I want to do more for the team.”

In the second quarter, Bates continued to pressure Tufts during a five-play, 73-yard drive that ended with a touchdown to put Bates up 13–3. On the final play of that drive, Costa rushed for 30 yards to find the end zone himself. Meanwhile, the Jumbos went into halftime with only three points from junior kicker Patrick Walsh’s field goal early in the second quarter.

The third quarter featured Tufts’ first touchdown of the game, although Bates also scored to keep it a two-possession game going into the fourth. Bryant again caught a deep touchdown throw from Costa after beating his defender to put Bates up 19–3.

Tufts countered with two minutes left in the quarter after Berluti scrambled and found Campo for six on the right side of the end

Meyer has brought the toxicity from his past to the Jaguars.

On Sunday, the Jaguars lost to the Tennessee Titans by a score of 37–19. For every positive moment that the Jaguars had, there was a head-scratching decision from Meyer and the rest of his coaching staff. Shaquill Griffin shadowed A.J. Brown and held him to 38 yards on three catches, Dan Arnold reeled in six catches for 64 yards and James Robinson carved the Titans up to the tune of 149 yards and a touchdown on only 19 carries.

If my running back had 149 yards on 19 carries, I would prioritize putting the ball in his hands. For whatever reason, the Jaguars stopped giving Robinson the ball about midway through the third quarter. This was most evident when Meyer and company decided to give fourthand-one goal line carry to Carlos Hyde instead of Robinson, or even opting for a quarterback sneak.

Another shocking decision from the coaching staff was to give Laviska

Shenault — the team’s most dynamic offensive weapon — only three targets throughout the entire game.

This comes on the heels of a performance where he had six catches for 99 yards, prompting Meyer to say he wanted the playmaker to see at least ten touches per game. This disconnect between the product and coaching decisions suggests that with this position, Meyer is in over his head.

Furthermore, Meyer’s curious postgame press conference did nothing to restore confidence in the Jaguars Head Coach. When asked about the fourth-and-one play, Meyer responded by saying, “I don’t micromanage who is in the game.” I’d argue that even if Meyer is not the one calling the plays, it is his responsibility to get his best players on the field in high-leverage moments. When asked about why the team did not opt for a quarterback sneak, Meyer said Lawrence is “not quite comfortable with that yet.” But when Lawrence was asked

about it he provided a completely different answer, saying, “No, I feel comfortable.” This striking interaction highlights the fact that Meyer is not in-tune with his players, which is one of the most important aspects of being a coach. Moments like this and the press conference as a whole begin to reveal how Meyer has only worsened the Jaguars’ organizational dysfunction.

This deeply troubling interview comes about a week after Meyer chose to not fly home with the team after a heartbreaking loss to the Bengals and later in the weekend, was caught dancing with a younger woman at his own bar. If the man in the video was not Meyer, then this would be a non-story (assuming everything was consensual). But Meyer is being paid a multimillion-dollar salary to turn around the Jacksonville Jaguars and instead of working to fix a 0–5 team, he chose to spend a night out on the town. Furthermore, he had the hubris to dance with another

Sports Editor

After a tough 0–3 start to the 2021 season, Tufts football came into its bout with Bates College believing that it could secure its first win of the season. Both NESCAC schools held an 0–3 record prior to Saturday’s matchup. The Jumbos had some close games against better teams, and they hoped to turn their season around, but the Bobcats posed questions that the Jumbos failed to answer, and the Bobcats left the new Ellis Oval Field with a 33–10 win.

The game began with Tufts on defense, where the team held Bates to a field goal that was blocked in extraordinary fashion.

However, during the ensuing Tufts possession, Bates caused a Tufts turnover on a recovered fumble, which led to a Bates score close to the seven-minute mark. Senior Bates quarterback Brendan Costa threw a 20-yard touchdown to senior wide receiver Sean Bryant, who gave the Bobcats a 6–0 lead.

The first quarter offered little scoring from both offenses, who have

Henry Gorelik The End Around

The Jaguars swung and missed, again

T

his offseason, like many before it, was full of hope for Jacksonville Jaguars supporters. With the addition of quarterback Trevor Lawrence and Head Coach Urban Meyer, it felt like the entire organization had received a much-needed facelift. Meyer’s catchy slogans including “+2 Mentality” and “Own It,” the team’s evolution into a players-first organization, improved strength and conditioning programs and plans for a brand-new training facility made it feel as if a genuine culture shift was afoot in Duval County. But after five weeks, it appears that

TOBIAS FU / THE TUFTS DAILY

The football game between Bates and Tufts took place at the newly renovated Ellis Oval on Saturday, Oct. 9.

a ton of heart. We’re a really strong team and have a lot to look forward to the rest of this season.”

The Jumbos return to Tufts to play non-conference foe Wellesley at home on Wednesday and will face NESCAC opponent Amherst at home on Saturday.

zone, where he just managed to get his foot down to stay inbounds.

The Jumbos’ defense fought resiliently over the course of the game as they held the Bobcats to 19 points until the final minute, when Bates scored twice in the last 30 seconds off a Bryant catch and a late scoop and score to cap off a 33–10 win for the Bobcats.

Although the final score looks like a blowout, the Jumbos missed out on some key chances to compete in a much closer game.

“I think our defense played their hearts out yesterday,” Lutz said.

“Honestly, they had a really good game. They held them until the last minute and held them to 19 which should have been good enough, and the offense, we should have capitalized off of that.”

Tufts football looks onward to Wesleyan, who the team plays at home on October 16th.

“Losing is always tough,” Lutz said. “After a loss, you’re not all going to be happy about it, but we keep our heads up for the next game next week. Just trying to be confident, trying to stay positive for games to come.” woman while a photo of him and his wife hung on the wall of the bar.

In his first media appearance since the incident, Meyer fed an inaccurate story and unnecessarily mentioned Lawrence’s bachelor party in Las Vegas. While many players have supported Meyer publicly, numerous reports have suggested that Meyer has lost all credibility within the locker room and that he is viewed as incompetent amongst the players.

This saga only adds to a growing list of missteps by Meyer, including hiring Chris Doyle, signing Tim Tebow and staging a quarterback competition between Lawrence and former Jaguar Gardner Minshew II. Meyer’s stint in Jacksonville will be very short if he cannot bring on-field results to cover for his off-field issues, as he did at the University of Florida and Ohio State.

Henry Gorelik is a junior studying international relations. Henry can be reached at henry.gorelik@tufts.edu.