The Tufts Daily - Thursday, October 6, 2022

HE T UFTS D AILY

Families face eviction from property near GLX

by Daniel Vos

Five families in Somerville are facing eviction and potential dis placement after their home was acquired by landlords seeking to raise rents on a property close to the Green Line Extension. The 182–184 Tremont Street home currently houses primarily Salvadoran and Haitian families, some of whom have lived there for more than 25 years.

On Sept. 25, the Community Action Agency of Somerville organized a rally to support the tenants who are negotiat ing with the new owners, the Cambridge-based company BBD Holdings LLC, to avoid los ing their homes. Many of the residents are “tenants at will,” meaning owners can end their

tenancy at any time with 30 days notice. Because Massachusetts lacks rent-control protections, the new owners would be able to raise rents from $1,200 per month to $2,000 per month over the course of one year.

Camila Gutierrez Plata, a community organizer for CAAS, says the families initially did not know who the owners were and received warnings from strang ers that the property would be torn down.

“Their tactic is to buy the building, increase the rent by an unpayable amount for the cur rent tenants, … fix it up a little bit and then charge really high rents, or totally tear down the building and build either condos or lux ury housing, and that is what is

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city councilors introduce resolution to end c uba blockade

by Ava Autry Assistant News Editor

Somerville City Councilor At-Large Willie Burnley Jr. intro duced a resolution on Sept. 22 that calls upon President Biden to remove Cuba from the State Sponsor of Terrorism List and pres sure Congress to end the “failed policy of regime change.” Similar resolutions have been introduced by Cambridge, Boston and the town of Brookline in the past year.

Cuba is the subject of a U.S. embargo that has persisted since the Cold War. This blockade has made economic growth, cultural exchange, travel and immigration extremely difficult between the two countries in decades since.

Cuba has faced debilitating poverty since the Cold War, which Associate Professor of Political Science Consuelo Cruz, who spe cializes in Latin American and comparative politics at Tufts, says reflects the embargo’s severe repercussions. Cruz also con nected the summer 2021 pro tests in Cuba to the longstanding blockade.

“You got to see how impover ished the Cuban population is,” Cruz said. “Not only were they met with horrible repression and really beaten back and forced into place, but you also got to see how they live. They barely sur vived. There is malnourishment, there is scarcity and … it’s a very dire way to live. … The blame for this should not be placed at the feet of the U.S. government’s pol icy, but the policy doesn’t help.”

Burnley Jr. witnessed this pov erty firsthand on his delegation trip to Cuba with the nonprofit Witness For Peace, which inspired him to introduce this resolution.

“The premise of the trip was going to learn about the Cuban systems — health care, edu cation systems — and to learn about how policy happens in Cuba,” Burnley Jr. said. “[We] really saw up close and personal, the impacts of the blockade on all of those systems as well as on people’s daily lives … Every day had some small or large remind er of the U.S. impacts on Cuba.”

Somerville Ward 3 City Councilor Ben Ewen-Campen,

who co-sponsored the resolu tion, explained that its goal was to join other municipalities in moving towards the normaliza tion of U.S.-Cuba relations.

“Our goal here was to join with dozens of cities around the country that are voicing our sup port for ending the embargo and for facilitating a real relationship between the United States and Cuba,” Ewen-Campen said. “I think the goal of resolutions like this is to contribute to a kind of national conversation. … I think it’s important to try to specifical ly do it strategically with other cities, at a time when we feel like large decisions are being made and when there is momentum.”

Lifting the Cuban embargo could have important repercus sions in the cities of Somerville and Boston as well as the country more broadly. Burnley Jr. noted the potential for collaboration opportunities with Cuba in the area’s burgeoning biotechnolo gy industry. He also mentioned that a loosening of restrictions

LOCAL city of s omerville announces Pollinator action Plan

by Coco Arcand News Editor

The City of Somerville announced that they will estab lish an advisory committee to cre ate a Pollinator Action Plan. The plan aims to protect pollinator species and preserve the health of the local urban ecosystem.

The Somerville Pollinator Action Plan comes as a response to a decrease in pollinator popu lations throughout New England

and worldwide, resulting from pesticide use, habitat loss and climate change. The SPAP will be the first of its kind to be put into effect in a city as densely popu lated as Somerville.

Cortney Kirk, a senior planner in the Somerville Public Space and Urban Forestry Division, touched upon the issues this plan will address in an email to the Daily.

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Tufts Pollinator

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Chloe Courtney Bohl

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Ty Blitstein

s even first-years elected to Tcu s enate

by Alec Rosenthal Contributing Writer

The Tufts Community Union concluded its first-year senato rial election on Sept. 29. Firstyears Jose Armando, Thy Nguyen, Anand Patil, Dhruv Sampat, Donovan Sanders, Caroline Spahr and Savvy Thompson were cho sen as the seven student senators to represent the Class of 2026.

Spahr sees TCU Senate as an opportunity for community involvement and a way to make a difference for her peers by communicating with the admin istration.

“I really like talking to my classmates,” Spahr said. “I real ly like hearing about their con cerns. I feel like I wanted to be in a position where I was able to have some kind of ability to help … [create] a better experience for them at Tufts.”

As a senator, Spahr’s goals for enacting policy changes stem directly from the concerns of the student body. Before her cam paign, Spahr talked with other students to understand what problems the first-year com munity currently faces, many of which the Senate is currently working to solve.

“A lot of the issues the Senate [is] actually working on now are issues that people brought up,” Spahr said. “One of the things I’m really, really excited about is free menstrual products in all the bathrooms.”

Sanders and Spahr also emphasized the importance of building community. For exam ple, Sanders would like to gen erate more publicity and excite

Longtime

happening all around the city,” Gutierrez Plata said.

BBD Holdings, which is directed by Matthew Urciuoli and Reginaldo Piccinato, agreed to meet with tenants but stat ed that they intend to continue with the eviction process. On Oct. 3, every tenant received a letter summoning them to appear in court.

“If the landlord wants them to leave the property, at some point a court will order them out of the property if we’re unable to come to some sort of negotiated settle ment which would allow them to stay in their home for a period of time,” Jessica Drew, a senior attorney at Greater Boston Legal Services who is representing the tenants, said.

CAAS says it is aiming to get a nonprofit to acquire the home and make it permanent affordable housing as has been done in the past. Drew said that while GBLS is exploring all possible options to keep the families in their homes, that particular option comes with many barriers.

“We’re looking at all possi ble options, but there isn’t a

ment for Tufts Homecoming 2022 by adding more events and performances, noting that while homecomings at other colleges last up to a week, Tufts’ festivities only last a weekend.

“I want to implement more cultural groups within our Homecoming,” Sanders said. “Maybe a battle of the bands with our a capella groups or a dance-off with our dance groups, or maybe even a step battle because, while we do have ENVY and BlackOut, I feel like the wider student body [doesn’t] know much about our cultural groups.”

While also focusing on com munity-building improvements such as renovating residential areas, Patil aims to solve dayto-day issues with sidewalks and pathways at Tufts. As some one who is interested in urban planning, Patil said that he has noticed a lack of consistent handicap accessibility.

“I’ve noticed a lot of ADA, American Disability Act, com pliance issues with the school,” Patil said. “For example, having tactile strips that go down when you’re about to cross the road and stuff that’s just straight up not handicap accessible. That’s the kind of stuff I want to do, improving [the] safety and ease of just getting around campus.”

Nguyen, Sanders, Spahr and Armando spoke about the diver sity of the elected senators, with five out of seven senators being people of color.

“Having a diverse student body on TCU Senate will help establish and build trust with many different minority groups at Tufts, help students of color feel … comfortable while shar

ing their concerns,” Nguyen wrote in a message to the Daily.

“More importantly, we can be more inclusive in making deci sions, avoiding potential bias or unfairness.”

As a student of color, Sanders would like to implement changes to benefit racial minority groups on campus through policies such as equitable grading and creating more diversity within the univer sity’s healthcare system. Nguyen found that people of color implementing legislation to aid minority students is the most helpful way to support them.

“We need to have someone who shares the same back ground, the same experiences to represent us because you cannot make the choice for someone when you don’t know about them or you don’t come from the same background,” Nguyen said.

Armando also emphasized the importance of keeping the university accountable. He cited his experience as a resi dent of The Court at Professors Row as an example of how the school could be more commu nicative and transparent with its students.

“One of the first things that got me into running for TCU is making sure that there’s trans parency between students and [the] administration, not only [with] the housing crisis that’s going on but also with other things,” Armando said.

Sanders agreed with Armando, stating he would like to ensure Tufts is upfront with the student body and follows through on its promises.

“Something that’s brought up a lot is the ‘performative-ness’ of Tufts,” Sanders said.

According to Armando, this election had a large turnout. Armando connected first-years’ active participation in the com munity with younger genera tions’ growing civic engagement.

“We are focused [on] building a better community,” Armando said. “I’ve talked about how, if we work together, we can make the impossible possible. And, the way we can do that — not only in student government, but also as members of society — is making sure that our voices out there [are] being heard, making sure that everybody’s being rep resented.”

residents fight displacement

guarantee of an option that will actually end up working for these families who are ulti mately looking to find stable, affordable housing and hope fully be able to stay in the city of Somerville,” Drew said.

Gutierrez Plata also com mented on the uncertainty of making the property permanent ly affordable, whether by funds from a nonprofit or from the city.

“It’s not something that we can force them to do,” Gutierrez Plata said. “But I would say in the near future, the tenants are able to stay in their homes. However, unless you get either a lease from the landlord, or again, a sale or some type of agreement, their situation’s still pretty unstable.”

Ben Ewen-Campen, the Somerville Ward 3 city councilor who attended the rally, expressed his outrage at the situation in an email to the Daily.

“It is … utterly shameful that ‘BBD Holdings’ is seeking to evict members of commu nity – whether it’s a family of El Salvadoran immigrants that have lived here for close to three decades, or a young Haitian cou ple just months after the birth of their child, these are beloved

members of our community,” he wrote.

He went on to explain that as city officials, “we are here to do whatever we can to support these residents staying in their home, and to let BBD Holdings know that their business model of evicting families for profit isn’t welcome in Somerville.”

Drew described the process of evictions as “stressful” and “disastrous” events that can have long-term consequences on a family’s ability to find a home in the future.

“You have a public record that is now out there, where other landlords know that you’ve been brought to court,” she said. “Regardless of the reason, regardless of whether you’re successful, that tends to be a scarlet letter on people’s records.”

With her experience on evic tion cases, Drew expressed that she knows the kind of pressure the Tremont Street families are facing. She noted that many of them are handling this legal process while also managing jobs, school and children.

“They’re thinking in their mind, ‘I’m running on a time

clock. I have a time [at] which I have to leave this apartment, I have to transition into afford able housing, which is exceed ingly hard to find and qualify for, and I’m doing this all while trying to take care of other responsibilities,” Drew said.

BBD Holdings, LLC did not respond to comment after attempts to reach them.

Drew closed by expressing that evictions are not only a societal problem but a public health issue.

“I can tell you confidently that through the individuals and the families that I’ve repre sented, it is a … very challeng ing and difficult process,” she said. “Facing homelessness is painful.”

The Tufts Jumbo statue is pictured on

FeaT ures

New cOVId -19 guidelines leave campus more comfortable but also more unsure

by Sam Russo Features Editor

At the start of each school year, stu dents adjust to new classes, living situa tions, social dynamics and more. For the past three years, the “more” part of this sentence has included a spate of guide lines designed to protect the Tufts com munity from COVID-19.

During the 2020–21 school year, stu dents were severely limited in where they could spend time, participated in surveillance testing and were required to wear masks everywhere they went on campus, aside from in their own bedrooms. When students were infect ed with COVID-19, both they and their close contacts moved into quarantine or isolation housing. The 2021–22 year brought with it a near-complete return to in-person classes — and in-person social life — but continued the indoor mask mandate with less intense surveil lance testing and isolation programs.

Now, masks are not officially required anywhere on the Medford/Somerville campus, and there is no surveillance test ing. Instead, voluntary testing is avail able to members of the Tufts community who are exhibiting COVID-19 symptoms. Students who test positive for COVID-19 are not asked about their close contacts, and those who live on campus remain in their dorm rooms, even when they have roommates. While less far-reaching than the transition between the spring and fall 2021 semesters, the changes this year have had serious impacts.

What happens when you test positive?

Those most affected by Tufts’ COVID19 policies are, of course, students who test positive for the illness. Sophomore Kaya Gorsline went to get tested after hearing that a friend had COVID-19, and she received an email a few hours later telling her that she had also tested posi tive and that she should self-isolate. Rapid tests are available to anyone with an active Tufts ID who was in close contact with someone with COVID-19 or who is experi encing symptoms; students also reported being offered PCR tests. When Gorsline tested positive, the university did not pro vide any official instructions on contact tracing for students.

“The university and local public health authorities are not conducting contact tracing for COVID-19. If you test positive for COVID-19, you are responsible for notifying close contacts and letting your professors know that you are unable to attend class. Students do receive mes saging with instructions if they test pos itive or report a positive test to COVID testing,” Michael Jordan, Tufts infection control health director, wrote in an email to the Daily.

Gorsline, who described herself as con scientious about public health, took it on herself to reach out to close contacts.

“It was all me reaching out. Tufts didn’t tell me to contact anyone. They didn’t tell me when my friends who I’d seen had gotten COVID,” Gorsline said. “Basically it was just me; I texted every one I’d seen in the past three days, and was like, ‘Hey, I have COVID, you should probably get tested.’”

Once she entered quarantine, Gorsline was faced with the challenge of sharing

Recipes to con nect with Piper Goeking

Last year, Piper Goeking invited members of the Tufts Mountain Club to share their favorite rec ipes. These were dishes that had been prepared in the cozy kitchen of the Loj, a Tufts-owned property up in Woodstock, N.H. Food is a great source of comfort in this space, as these warm meals are often shared among friends, acquaintances and strangers after a cold day outside. Contrary to common belief, the Loj is open to both TMC members and non-members who want to experi ence the outdoors.

GRAPHIC BY ILSIIA SHAKIROVA

a living space with people who weren’t infected. Her roommate had recently had COVID-19 and wasn’t concerned about catching it, but Gorsline worried about spreading COVID-19 through shared bathrooms.

Although all of the bathrooms in Harleston Hall, where she lives, are single bathrooms, she was worried about leav ing COVID-19 particles behind after using the space with her mask off. Tufts officially declined to provide specific bathrooms for sick students, but Gorsline’s RA quietly “bent the rules” and designated two bathrooms — one of which was handicap accessible — for COVID-19-positive students.

An-lin Sloan, another sophomore who lives in Harleston and had COVID-19 in September, had a trickier time navigating infection. Her roommate had not recently been sick and was worried about catching it; rather than continuing to share the space, Sloan’s roommate decided to stay with a friend for Sloan’s 11-day quaran tine, only stopping by her dorm to pick up toiletries and other supplies while fully masked.

Medical Director of Health Service Marie Caggiano reiterated to the Daily by email that temporary housing units are reserved for high-risk students and that for other students living with roommates who have COVID-19, both roommates should wear well-fitting masks.

“Students living in campus housing who are at high risk for COVID––for exam ple, those who are immunocompromised or have been approved for a medical accommodation to the vaccine policy––may be housed in temporary housing until their COVID positive roommate completes their isolation and tests nega tive,” Caggiano wrote.

For Sloan’s roommate, masks didn’t provide enough comfort.

“She … [wanted] to sleep elsewhere just to be safer, although I would have been fully okay with wearing a mask 24/7 while she was in the room [and] while I was sleeping if she wanted to, but she decided to leave,” Sloan said.

Sloan and Gorsline both said they wished Tufts had a more comprehensive policy in place to avoid this sort of spread.

Another challenge that each of them faced

while in quarantine was keeping up with their classes.

“I found that my classes weren’t very accommodating to virtual students. I had a few big lecture classes where I could go virtually, but a lot of my classes are small seminars, so I had to basically just stay on top of the readings and do the discussion posts and just kind of hope I wasn’t miss ing too much of class,” Gorsline said.

Sloan agreed, saying that it has taken longer for her to recover academically from getting sick than it has for her to recover physically, even though her pro fessors did their best to be accommodat ing and included information on COVID19 policies in their syllabi.

Professors have been allowed to accommodate students who are out how ever they see fit, although the university has given guidance on how to make that decision. Holly Taylor, a professor in the psychology and mechanical engineering departments, is offering a Zoom option for her lecture-based course but decided not to for her smaller, discussion-based seminar about games and psychology.

“I found with my seminar that it really doesn’t work to use Zoom. It’s all about discussion, so going from small groups to full classroom discussion, and trying to include a student on Zoom for that class, when I tried it last semester, really doesn’t work,” she said. “My approach is that I’m requiring communication from the students to let me know what’s hap pening, and then I’m happy to work with people to make sure that they’re not get ting behind.”

Other professors interviewed for this story had a similar range of policies, although all were clear in that they wanted students who were out because of COVID19 to be able to stay on track as much as possible. Nevertheless, it wasn’t easy for Sloan or Gorsline to feel connected with the work for their smaller classes.

As they prepared to end their isola tion, both Gorsline and Sloan faced one more challenge: They wanted to leave their isolation as soon as they began testing negative on rapid antigen tests, but Tufts guidance would only let them

One thing that is noticeable about the Loj is the immense amount of collected stuff: signs from Mt. Washington, post ers from outdoor brands, stickers from breweries and many phone numbers with the note along the lines of “call for a good/bad/mediocre time.” Among all this stuff, it is clear that no single gener ation of students could have decorated the place. The magnetic words “we are always better with you” on the stove fan are a mark of these efforts.

However, what happens when this space is disconnected from the people who make up its community? And the year after that, it is only accessible to the immediate Tufts community?

Piper’s time with TMC has been great ly impacted by both current and former Tufts students; but COVID-19 created a gap as the Loj was restricted to cur rent students. If alumni and students couldn’t get outside together, how could Piper mend the connection between the two? Through the meals that brought them together when they were in per son. Piper even bridges this gap in her own cooking. Two of her favorite recipes are for banana and pumpkin chocolate chip muffins. The latter is the trans formed pumpkin loaf recipe of former TMC President Max Migdail.

For her final year at Tufts, Piper is living in the new Foodie House. This liv ing community has spent time bonding over making apple cider and pancakes from five different continents and are starting to plan events for the rest of the Tufts community. This wasn’t Piper’s first experience in themed housing, as last year she lived in the Spanish Language house; while she doesn’t consider herself to be fluent, Piper finds the process of learning new languages to be fascinat ing. You can also find her barista-ing at Tamper, a popular café that borders the Medford side of campus.

We ended with a tour of Piper’s Nalgene water bottle. The deep blue bottle was covered with free stickers that she had collected over the years. She pointed out the ones from Buffalo Exchange, TMC and cafes from home. There were also stickers designed by Tufts alumni Ella Do and Tara Steckler. As Piper makes her way through her senior year — and eventually beyond Tufts — she knows that she can always go to the outdoors to find friends.

Gwendolyn Brown is a junior studying anthropology. Gwendolyn can be reached at Gwendolyn.Brown@tufts.edu.

Elizabeth Foster Liz in London

An American’s ode to McDonald’s

When I chose to go abroad, I was told I couldn’t be an RA. Now, I wasn’t not disappointed that I wouldn’t be living among 18-year-olds, but as I live on-campus abroad, I find myself, once again, living among 18-year-olds.

The 23 Tufts students studying abroad at Queen Mary filed into Pooley House, living two to a flat. Our 4–6 flat mates are all first-year students, arriv ing at college bright-eyed, bushy-tailed and still “trying to find their limit.” But instead of dorm parties and nights out on Tisch Roof, they have a campus pub, Drapers, and access to London’s pub, club and bar scene. And as a 20-yearold who never purchased a fake, this is my first time with access to these things too.

As a member of the class of 2024, the class that began college with a vir tual orientation, living through Queen Mary’s Welcome Week has served as some sort of catharsis. At the time, I thought Tufts’ virtual orientation was fine. The two weeks of isolation defi nitely took a toll on my mental health, but I was so grateful to be having a freshman year on campus. I honestly didn’t think of what I had missed out on, mostly because I didn’t know what I was missing.

My study abroad experience has given me a second orientation week, but it’s so much better. I don’t have the pressure of meeting my lifelong friends like first-years do. I have a built-in group of friends through the Tufts-in-London cohort (underclass men don’t know the meaning of that word). I can go up to anyone with an American accent and start a conversa tion, and if it all goes wrong, I’m only here for three months before I return to Medford, Mass.

So my first week, and the subse quent syllabus week, we had opportu nity after opportunity to explore the city and its nightlife: from meeting the cat at a cozy local pub to attend ing the “house party” themed night at Drapers to exploring central London’s club scene and finding our way back home on a series of buses at dawn.

But sometimes, we chose to return to the familiar. In our case, McDonalds. Picture a Saturday night, we had already “pre-ed” and stopped at one bar before heading over to a club, the same club we had visited Thursday night with no queue and no issues. But Saturday night was a different story. With a queue spanning multiple blocks, we knew when to call it quits. Opting for an evening of fries and McFlurries, we walked over the McDonalds, finding a queue and security managing the whole operation.

The Review:

Fries: 6/10, less salty than I wanted (or needed) but welcomed.

Mozzarella Sticks: 9/10, crunchy exterior AND a cheese pull? Perfect. One point off for the dipping sauce (a barbecue salsa?).

Ranch: 0/10 for being non-existent and breaking this Midwesterner’s heart.

Elizabeth Foster is a junior studying computer science. Elizabeth can be reached at elizabeth.foster635086@ tufts.edu.

Tufts community members discuss implications of the university’s COVID-19 policies

officially to get released early,” Gorsline wrote in an email to the Daily. Masks off — sometimes

In addition to changes to what happens when a student tests positive for COVID19, Tufts’ policies no longer require masks on Tufts’ undergraduate campus (and in most spaces on its graduate campuses), which has had effects from the classroom to extracurriculars. According to the uni versity’s official policy, masks must be optional: No one is allowed to require them, nor is anyone allowed to prohib it wearing them. Some professors have found that not wearing a mask — which the vast majority of students have opted for — has changed how students are inter acting with each other in class.

Taylor teaches engaging classes that require participation in both activities and in discussions.

“I wonder whether the mask mandates also put up sort of a barrier to social interactions,” she said. “I do ask students if they’re not feeling well to wear a mask, and any student who would like to wear a mask obviously can. But I think that social interaction flows slightly better without. So I am observing this semester that the level of interaction among students and with me is getting back to what I would call the ‘old normal,’ and I would say it was not there last year much.”

In other classes, fewer people wear ing masks is actually making the material easier to teach.

Professor Barbara Wallace Grossman of the Department of Theatre, Dance, and Performance Studies teaches two classes, one called “Holocaust Stage & Screen” and the other called “Voice and Speech: The Art of Confidence Expression.” In the Holocaust class, not wearing a mask has made teaching a more pleasant experience, she said.

“Last year, when I taught the Holocaust course, I taught it once a week for three hours, and three hours dealing with that material in masks was really, really chal lenging,” Grossman said. “This semester is twice a week, and mask wearing is optional, and it just feels like a lot lighter way to approach an in-depth dive into such dark material. It’s nice to not have to wear the mask.”

For other professors, though, the end of the mask mandate created new questions about how they would teach their cours es. History professor Virginia Drachman thought about how being in the classroom would interact with her own health risks. Drachman, who is teaching two small classes this semester, is back to teaching in person for the first time since the spring 2020 semester. She explained that she missed being with students in person and being in the classroom.

“I’m totally in that age group that’s vul nerable. I have different health concerns, as does my husband. And so I had to think about, ‘How would I feel comfortable, and what would make it possible for me to do this in the classroom?’ And I basically decided that I needed to create an envi ronment that was as safe as possible, so the first day of each of my classes, I talked about this,” Drachman said.

“I explained that I would be wearing a mask for the whole class and that I need ed the class to do the same, and I also said that I totally understood that this is annoying, it’s uncomfortable, no one likes it but that in order for me to feel comfort able and safe to be in the classroom, this is what we have to do. I also said that I totally understood if anybody chose not to take the class for this reason.”

Despite some initial worries about how students would respond, Drachman has been overwhelmed by students’ recep tiveness to her request. No one dropped either of her classes because of this, and students have respectfully worn masks in both classes.

Back in the theater department, Grossman’s voice class, which focus es on physically developing the voice, communications skills, public speaking and mindfulness, is also being offered in-person this fall for the first time since spring of 2020.

“I felt very strongly, even last fall when I came back to in-person teach ing for my other class, that for voice, it was really important for faces to be unmasked. [With] voice and speech, as you would imagine, so much focus is on how you’re shaping your words, what your facial expression is, and also with a mask on, it muffles the audibility of it. So I just thought, ‘Oh, my goodness!

Imagine teaching voice when people are like this,’” she said, putting a KN-95 over her face. “Trying to hear them and see their mouths move: not happening.”

The difficulties of wearing a mask in a voice class are similar to those faced more broadly in the performing arts at Tufts. Grossman directed Spring Awakening last semester, and students were required to wear masks for the whole performance, which included moments of physical intimacy.

“Normally in theater, what do you rely on? You rely on facial expressive ness,” she said. “And [with masks] you can’t. You have to make sure [to have] eye energy, gestures.” For the intimate scenes, actors worked with an intimacy choreographer to figure out how to use their bodies to show intimacy while still wearing their masks.

The Beelzebubs, one of Tufts’ a cap pella groups, had a similar experience. Its members are used to bringing excite ment to their performances through their faces.

“Our brand is bringing energy and super positive vibes, and a lot of that is face expression and how we emote,” sophomore Varun Sasisekharan, a member of the Bubs, said. “That was a part of our performances that was fully taken away because half our faces were covered.”

This year, the Bubs and other a cap pella groups are back to a performance schedule that’s close to what it was like before COVID-19 affected campus and are relieved to not have to wear masks, especially because of the impact they’ve had on audiences’ abilities to hear them during shows. Other performing arts groups, including Tufts’ student-run musical and play groups, are also excit ed to be performing without masks this semester.

While precautions remain in place and there is still some nervousness around COVID-19 on campus, many students are breathing a sigh of relief.

As senior Sid Iyer put it, “Just a greater proportion of people are a little more comfortable, just like socially and going out and about now this year. It’s a little more, I have freedom to be a little more outgoing and stuff, which I think is nice.”

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Maude Latour on tour: Paradise r ock c lub gets passion, love and gratitude from the rising star

by Madeleine Aitken News Editor

Maude Latour’s song “Cyclone” (2022) ends with an overlapping chorus of the line “You know me well.” It felt like no mistake that that was the song she started her show at Paradise Rock Club with; by the time she got to the end of the track, she was singing those lyrics with immense passion, like she really meant it.

And for good reason. Her audience does know her well; something about her feels more like a friend than a star. Maybe it’s how she started making music: as a side hobby alongside her philosophy studies at Columbia, when she released music videos on YouTube that featured her and her friends in their dorm or on the Columbia campus. Maybe it’s her social media presence. She shares personal anecdotes, relatable sentiments, and vulner able feelings on her Instagram story as if it’s a “close friends” story, even though she has over 56,000 followers. (After the show in Boston, she posted “and this tour. i cried for the past hour. beyond, surreal, that room. you guys. this is so beautiful. i am so in awe and i cant believe how you know every word. i am so beyond grateful to grow with you.”)

Latour’s fan base has grown recently, especially after she started focusing on music full time this summer following her graduation from Columbia University. She now boasts over 1.3 million monthly listeners on Spotify. The Boston show, the first night of a tour that features

stops in Philadelphia, Atlanta, Houston, Los Angeles and San Francisco, among others, plus All Things Go and Austin City Limits, was sold out. But even as she becomes a true rising pop star, she hasn’t lost this personal quality with her fans, and that felt completely true at her show at Paradise Rock Club on Sept. 29. Latour’s gratitude for her fans was palpable from the stage, and their love for her reverberated right back.

There wasn’t a person in the audience that didn’t know every word to Latour’s songs, and she referenced the loyalty of her fans several times throughout the night. After bursting out to “Cyclone,” she transitioned right into “Walk Backwards” (2021). “Cyclone” was argu ably an interesting first song, because it’s Latour’s newest release from just a few weeks ago on Sept. 2. But no matter for the audience, who jumped right in with her, dancing and singing along.

The energy was high right from the beginning, especial ly because Latour barely took a breath between “Cyclone,” “Walk Backwards,” and “Strangers Forever.” “Strangers Forever” is one of the few songs in Latour’s discography that wasn’t released as a single, but rather as the title track of her second EP, released in 2021, that featured five other songs, all pre-released singles. It was a favorite at the show, espe cially after Latour left the stage to come down to the floor and lean over the guardrail, grabbing fans’ hands and inciting a noticeable energy in the room.

“Headphones” (2022) was next, followed by Latour exclaim ing “I’m hot!” and throwing off her sweatshirt to reveal a black triangular bra and mesh rhine stone crop top, which the crowd went wild for. She launched into “Ride My Bike” (2019) and jumped off the stage to run down the guardrail high-fiving hands.

Following “Ride My Bike,” it felt like the first time Latour really stopped to breathe. She reminded fans that her new EP “001” (2022) was dropping at midnight, though it didn’t seem like this was news to anyone in the crowd. She asked if we were “ready to come on a journey with her” and then sang the title track “001,” which Latour had only previously teased on TikTok and wouldn’t be released on Spotify for another couple hours.

The crowd listened dutiful ly, swaying along with Latour as she sang “001,” a song that is a departure from much of the rest of her discography, but one that she described to V Magazine as “so my voice, my personality, and my message.”

Latour got the crowd hyped up again by asking “We’re done dating bad guys, right?” Everyone cheered, knowing she was mov ing into “Superfruit,” from her first EP “Starsick” (2019), which features the lyrics, “I’ve dated bad guys, not really sure why / Now I know that they were all such a waste of time.”

She then took a beat to intro duce her band, a drummer and a bass guitarist/backup vocal ist. She also thanked her open er, Maggie Miles, an alternative pop artist from Nashville, before

singing “Plans,” another track from her first EP, in a softer, more heartfelt tone that quieted the crowd down. She took a minute to talk to the crowd, saying “for this tour, I’m trying to just chat.” She showed off her bejeweled water bottle and said that after she and her team left New York to head to Boston, she realized she had forgotten it and made the car turn around to go back for it.

She introduced her next song by asking the crowd to repeat after her: “Keep my girls protected,” the first line of the chorus of “Lola” (2022). After the call and response, Latour paused to dedicate the song to queer people, trans people and the right to choose, and then launched into singing.

Engaging more with the audi ence, she split the audience in half and created a kind of twopart harmony for one of the lyrics of her song “Trees,” before begin ning to sing.

She sang the other new song from her EP, “Living It,” (the rest of the EP is pre-released singles, including “Trees” and “Lola”). The room went quiet for the slower, more thought ful song — it evokes a Soccer Mommy-like sound — and phone flashlights came on and waved around the room.

Latour then went onto “Probabilities” (2022) before throwing on some fun starshaped sunglasses and asking if everyone liked her new songs.

“I was being so vulnerable,” she said, but of course she was reas sured that everyone liked them.

She again returned to her roots with “Shoot and Run” and “Starsick,” both from her first EP. “Shoot and Run” was the first song she put out, and she jok ingly asked the room “What was I going through at age 17?” and said “Starsick” was “for her day ones.”

Latour took her shirt off and danced around with renewed energy for the last song of her set, “One More Weekend” (2020), which is by far her most pop ular song according to Spotify streams — over 31 million on that one (her next most streamed song is “Furniture” (2021) with 7.6 million streams) — before exuberantly thanking the crowd and running off the stage.

But fans weren’t going to let her go that easily. Almost imme diately, chants of “encore, encore, encore” filled the room. The band came back and started playing first before Latour ran out with a huge grin to sing “Furniture” and “Block Your Number” (2020), which both inspired great excite ment from the crowd and ended the show on the same kind of note it started on: extremely high energy with fans singing every word and Latour clearly revel ing in the magic of seeing her music bring people together in real time.

Layla Noor Landrum The Book Nook

‘Sofi and the Bone Song’: A tale of music, self-discovery

Adrienne Tooley’s “Sofi and the Bone Song” (2022) is a beautifully crafted and heartfelt standalone young adult fantasy novel released this year from Simon and Schuster. It follows the titular character, Sofi, who longs to be a Musik like her father — one of a select few musi cians in the country with a license to write and perform original songs. Born into a kingdom plagued by an endless winter where magic isn’t sacred, but accessible to all, strict laws ensure that music remains an untouched and pure art form. Ever since she was young, Sofi has trained as a musician with the hopes of inheriting her father’s title, but on the day of auditions, something unexpected occurs. Lara, a girl who’s never played the lute before, enthralls judges with her performance and secures the title of Musik, stealing the only dream Sofi has ever had for her future.

Suspecting Lara of the illegal use of magic and mourning the sud den death of her father, Sofi sets out to expose Lara’s crime, only to find herself beginning to question everything she knew about magic, her past and her dreams.

Tooley, a musician herself, explores the subject of music in a fantasy setting with great care and attention. The novel’s slow pacing and lush prose lends itself well to establishing Sofi’s willingness to suf fer for her art in contrast to Lara’s innocent love for music solely bring ing her joy. And as the two spend more time together, they begin to fall for one another, showcasing how love can truly be found in the most unexpected of places. But amidst the magic and wintry world of the novel is its crux: a story of untangling abuse and learning the dangers of suffering for one’s art. It’s heartbreaking, watching Sofi resent herself for her imperfections and pursue what she loves to her breaking point, only to fail when trying to pursue her lifelong dream. Ultimately, though, this novel is a healing one. “Sofi” is a book about self-discovery and hope, what it means to realize that art should be for us, the creators, before anyone else, even if you have to fail over and over again before you believe it. And this book is about what it means to find the love we deserve after being raised by a love we don’t.

“Sofi and the Bone Song” is an absolute must-read for anyone looking for books with sapphic romance, unique explorations of art or fantasies with masterful world building.

Layla Noor Landrum is a junior studying engineering psychology and English. Layla can be reached at layla.landrum@tufts.edu.

Joshua bassett has finally found his voice with ‘sad s ongs In a hotel room’

by Ryan Fairfield

Joshua Bassett has had a rumor- and drama-filled expe rience with fame since he gained popularity for starring as Ricky Bowen in “High School Musical: The Musical: The Series” (2019–). Bassett was rumored to be dating co-star Olivia Rodrigo throughout the filming of the first season of “HSMTMTS,” with the pair even writing a song together, “Just for a Moment,” for the show.

Fans came to the conclusion that Rodrigo and Bassett broke up after he was spotted with former Disney Channel star Sabrina Carpenter. Following the release of Olivia Rodrigo’s “drivers license,” which was assumed to be about her rela tionship with Bassett, he was bombarded with attacks across social media, with the attacks continuing with the release of her album, “SOUR” (2021).

Amidst the drama, similar to Rodrigo, Bassett channeled his emotions into his music.

In December 2021, over six months after the release of “SOUR,” Bassett released an EP with three singles “Set Me Free” (2021), “Crisis” (2021) and “Secret” (2021). It was clear in the EP that Bassett was not particularly set on releasing music so soon after the drama surrounding Rodrigo’s album.

In “Crisis,” Bassett sings “My label said to never waste a cri sis / … / And honestly, I didn’t

want to write this,” which was a lyric written around the time “SOUR” was released, but Bassett held off on releasing the song as he did not want to play into the “media storm.” Though the EP was not necessarily bad, it lacked depth.

With his new six-track EP, “Sad Songs In A Hotel Room” (2022), Bassett gets personal and sings about a particularly dark time in his life, which is admirable for someone who has faced extreme levels of public scrutiny in the past couple of years. The EP opens with the title track, “Sad Songs In The Hotel Room,” and features a nostalgic Bassett reminiscing on a past relationship. In the lyric “I’m singin’ sad songs in a hotel room / … / Where I once held you,” Bassett shares feel ings of loneliness and reveals what inspired the song, being alone in a place that he once shared with his partner.

In the following song “LA”, Bassett describes his thoughts towards the city of Los Angeles and the entertainment industry as a whole. Lyrically, the song is not one of Bassett’s strongest, but it works with the album. “Used To It” continues with Bassett’s theme of heartbreak pop and features Bassett contemplating on why he stayed in a relation ship so long, despite the rela tionship being undoubtedly bro ken. Coincidentally, this song has a similar meaning to Rodrigo’s “favorite crime” (2021) with both songs featuring matching lyr

ics. In “favorite crime,” Rodrigo sings, “Know that I loved you so bad / I let you treat me like that,” while in his song Bassett sings, “I can’t be mad / I let you treat me like that.”

“Smoke Slow,” which was released as a single prior to the EP coming out, is one of the best songs on the project. With a clear story of wanting to be with someone who is with somebody else and featuring a powerful bridge, Bassett proves his songwriting abilities. Lyrics like “Addicted to illusions of a love that never was” and “Next to you but I’ll never be close” show us Bassett’s desire to establish a deeper connection with this friend, but ultimately knows he can’t.

In January 2021, Bassett was diagnosed with septic shock and was experiencing heart failure. Bassett spent nine days in the hospital recovering from this incident. “Lifeline” is Bassett’s candid retelling of the event and the time he spent with his mother in the hospi tal, who is the subject behind the song. The song is pure, raw emotion and undeniably the best song on the album. Bassett sings “Save me, now I’m facing / All my fears of the unknown,” capturing his fear of death and losing his family, as the doctors had told him that had he not gone to the hospital when he did, he could have died. Talking to Billboard, Bassett described the song as “a love letter to her [his mother],” which is clear

when he sings “I hope you would know that no one else could ever / Save me.”

“All In Due Time” is the perfect way for Bassett to end his EP and feels like him saying goodbye to all the drama he has experienced. In singing “And these scars’ll be stories I tell / All in due time,” it is apparent Bassett still has some healing to do after facing an unimaginable amount of stress in his career, but he is looking forward and remaining hopeful.

Bassett has been creating music for quite some time now and even without releasing an album, has produced many sin gles and EPs. “Sad Songs In A Hotel Room” stands out as his best project, as it truly feels like the first time Bassett has been fully vulnerable and open in his music. His prior projects seemed to lack a certain level of authenticity and substance, but evidently, Bassett has finally found his voice.

VIA WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

Joshua Bassett is pictured at the 2022 Nickelodeon Kids’ Choice Awards.

Burnley Jr. and Ewen-Campen hope to normalize U.S.-Cuba relations, one city at a time

CUBA

to better resemble U.S. policy during Barack Obama’s presidency could lead to innovation.

“There have been scientific companies in Cuba that have worked with compa nies in the greater Boston area, and look towards new medical advancements they could collaborate on,” Burnley Jr. said. “In Cuba, they have access to a lung cancer vaccine, a brain cancer vaccine, a diabetes treatment, none of which Americans have.

… These are exactly the types of contribu tions that will advance for our country as well as people around the world, but it’s going to take collaboration and the shar ing of expertise to do that.”

While the lifting of the blockade could have positive impacts for cit ies like Somerville and it represents an advancement of human rights-forward policy, some political stakeholders in the United States might respond negative ly. Cruz noted that ending the embargo could have repercussions that play out in future elections, especially in states with

large Cuban-American populations such as Florida and New Jersey, who tend to vote Republican.

“The electoral power of local groups in Miami … and parts of New Jersey … is very very strong,” Cruz said. “Even Democrats at the state level in Florida are urging Biden to be careful and to tread lightly.”

Burnley Jr. noted that Tufts has a cen tral position in this conversation as one of the largest institutions in the Somerville community. He stated that the experienc es of Tufts students and researchers affili ated with the university are diminished by the embargo.

“If there are students who want to go to Cuba right now, … it’s very difficult,” he said. “One of the ways that we can push the United States government is by saying, ‘We, as American citizens, want freedom of movement. We want freedom of edu cation. We want to be able to collaborate with people who we can learn from and who can learn from us.’… And hopefully, by more folks standing up and taking a stance on this issue, we can have a more equitable and just reality in the future.”

Somerville seeks to protect pollinators with new action plan

POLLINATOR

continued from page 1

“[The SPAP will] develop clear, site-spe cific and replicable interventions that the City of Somerville and its residents can implement on both public and private lands to ensure real improvement in the availability of local pollinator habitat,” Kirk wrote.

Nick Dorian, a PhD candidate in the Tufts biology department, spoke about the diversity of different pollinators and how they are critical for food security, as many plant species rely on insect pollina tion to thrive.

“Lots of different insects pollinate; bees are some of the best-known polli nators, but also butterflies, hoverflies,

beetles, wasps. Any insect that visits a flower and can carry pollen on its body is capable of pollinating,” Dorian said. “If you’ve had coffee today or gone apple picking this fall, or are planning on carv ing a pumpkin, you have to thank a bee, because all of those … result from the pollination of flowering plants.”

Dorian also noted that pollinators are essential to maintaining a healthy ecosystem.

“I like to think of pollinators as the backbone of the ecosystem,” Dorian said. “As they visit flowers, like wildflowers and trees, they help those plants reproduce, and in turn, the fruits that those plants produce go on to feed other animals, which go on to feed other animals and so forth.”

In addition, the SPAP will focus on bet ter understanding and supporting both Somerville-specific and regional pollina tors in the context of Somerville’s urban open spaces. This includes educating both public servants and city residents on the importance of healthy pollinators to an urban ecosystem, while also highlighting the ways that residents can help support the cause.

Dorian noted that efforts by both city officials and city residents are required to protect pollinators.

“In order for [Somerville] to be a great place for pollinators, I think there needs to be a coordinated effort between topdown actions by the City of Somerville … and bottom up actions by community members,” Dorian said. “This is because so much of the land in cities is privately owned, and [to] convert a large amount of urban land into habitat for insects, we need everybody to play their part.”

Beyond the SPAP, Somerville has also committed itself to helping protect pol linators through supporting other ini tiatives.

“Somerville has passed a Native Plant Ordinance, which requires certain per centages of native species to be planted on City land [and] passed a Tree Preservation ordinance, which limits the removal of healthy trees, many of which are essential food and shelter sources for pollinators,” Kirk wrote.

In addition, Somerville Mayor Katjana Ballantyne has previously signed the

Mayor’s Monarch Pledge, a national initia tive to address the declining populations of Monarch butterflies.

There have also been efforts on Tufts campus to protect the declining pop ulations of pollinators. Many of these efforts have been spearheaded by the Tufts Pollinator Initiative, a team of Tufts faculty, graduate students and under graduates that are involved with pollina tor conservation.

Elizabeth Crone, an affiliate professor with the Tufts biology department and faculty advisor for TPI, explained how the initiative interacts with local communities to provide education and motivation for these conservation efforts.

“[The] TPI runs a range of outreach activities, including pollinator safaris that help people see bees and get used to the idea of being close to and appreci ating insects, native plant and seed sales that help people make their own polli nator gardens, and general awareness events like sponsoring trivia nights at local taprooms,” Crone wrote in an email to the Daily.

Beyond working locally to help polli nator populations, members of the TPI are also involved in research concerning pollinator health.

“We (mostly, students and faculty in the Biology Department) also do research on the ways in which pollinators are affected by landscape structure, are important for pollination in wild plants, and ontribute to food security in a variety of systems, from the city of Somerville to natural mead ows to farmlands in the Greater Boston area and coffee plantations in Costa Rica,” Crone wrote.

COURTESY WILLIE BURNLEY JR.

Somerville City Councilor WiIlie Burnley Jr. is pictured.

MISSED CONNECTIONS

You: eating a waffle in Dewick without any kind of liquid in sight. You were crying slightly but I don’t know why or what happened but in that moment I just wanted to comfort you. The person to your left kept looking to you in a judging way and it made me mad. I considered walking over to ask if everything was ok but my roommate told me it was time to leave. I couldn’t be there for you but there was something really beautiful about how you kept eating the waffle despite your tears. I know that sounds weird but it was beautiful. Me: I had several liquids but no food. We could have been a perfect match, you with your dry waffle, me without any food to go along with my cranberry juice, iced coffee, two types of milk, sprite, second thing of sprite, and gallon of water. When: April 2022. Where: Dewick. You: are the cashier Wednesdays 7-10pm, always tired, looking cute, sounding stoned, being awesome, sometimes watching football. Me: I buy gum from the Commons Marketplace every Wednesday night. When: every Wednesday between 7 and 10pm. Where: Commons Marketplace.

Mike: “Imagine going from Smith to Kourkoulakos.”

Difficulty Level: Deciding whether to hyphenate Courtney Bohl

CROSSWORD BY LUCAS CHUA

O

Putin’s war falls on shoulders of Russia’s ethnic minorities

by Dzheveira Karimova Staff Writer

While brave Ukrainians con tinue to relentlessly defend their right to existence, free dom and democracy, Moscow’s restaurants are filled with glamorous Instagram influenc ers indulging in their Sunday brunch. If you were to visit the largest and richest Russian cit ies, you would not believe that you are located in a country that is currently perpetrating a full-scale war. It’s all business and entertainment as usual.

However, if you were to visit Buryatia, which is in Eastern Siberia, or any other ethnic republic in Russia populated by the indigenous Asian peoples who were conquered and colo nized by the Russian Empire, you would see what some activists are calling a genocide of racial and ethnic minorities.

What is currently known as the Russian Federation is home to nearly 200 ethnicities who were all conquered and colo nized by the Russian Empire. Yet, Putin continues to promote his policy of ‘russkiy mir’ or Russian

world. On the day of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, as Moscow’s residents were complaining about new visa restrictions and the closing of McDonald’s, the people of Buryatia, Dagestan, Sakha Republic and others were preparing to relive the histor ical trauma of their ancestors.

Knowing the colonizer’s perpet ual policy of coercion of racial minorities to fight its wars, communities began to organize in protest against the invasion or flee the country. The day of Russia’s invasion marked the day of unity of Russia’s racial minori ties against the war in Ukraine, as well as Russia’s imperialism and racism.

Ever since the first coloniza tion of Siberia and Central Asia, Russia has been exploiting indig enous populations for wars that they have had no involvement in. The Russian Empire began to draft Central Asian and Siberian men in 1916 during World War I. The people of those regions had no connection to Europe or the war. They did not want to fight for their own recent con querors. Revolts sprung up all across Central Asia, initiating the

turning point of the national lib eration movement. The protests were crushed by the imperial forces and their machine guns, ultimately resulting in the loss of about 270,000 lives.

Just like that, on Sept. 24, 2022, history began to repeat itself. Putin announced ‘partial mobilization.’ The Russian army, failing its mission in Ukraine, is now coercing everyday citi zens to fight for Putin’s imperial regime. Federal officials show up with military summons across Siberia and Dagestan, at what appears to be significantly higher rates than elsewhere in Russia. Despite the official policy of only drafting men with military expe rience of appropriate age and ability, men are drafted regard less of age, military record or medical history.

Activists at the Free Buryatia Foundation suspect that the burden of the mobilization — and the war itself — is falling on poor, ethnic minority regions to avoid triggering popular anger in Moscow. In fact, BBC found that 10 times more soldiers from Dagestan have died in the war than those from Moscow. Buryats

constitute only 0.3% of Russia’s population but take up 2.8% of those officially killed.

Mongolia’s former presi dent has expressed his solidar ity with Ukraine and declared that Putin’s regime is using the Siberian indigeneous peoples as “cannon fodder” to advance the Russian invasion. He has urged these communities to escape the mobilization and “senseless killings and destruction” ignited by Putin. Protests have erupt ed all over the republics with women being at the forefront of the demonstrations.

Mothers, wives, sisters and daughters of the men being forcefully taken to the ‘meat grinder’ have united in the fight against the local authori ties, despite police brutality and 15-year prison sentences. Since the announcement of mobili zation, the women have rallied against it, saying “No to mobi lization! No to genocide!” and “Give back our grandfathers!” They rise up despite the constant fear circulated by the author ities and the media. Crying and screaming fill the towns of the republics as hundreds of

women, desperate to protect their families, are shoved into police wagons. They continue to protest, and the police continue to exercise violence in response. Nonetheless, Moscow’s restau rants, malls and amusement parks are still full of happy faces, too scared to speak up and too uninterested in anything but their own comfort.

The shelling in Ukraine goes on, Russia’s cruelty persists and anti-genocide protests are bru tally suppressed. I shed many tears while writing this article. Watching the lack of leadership in the Russian opposition and the fear and disinterest from the overwhelming majority of Moscow residents, I am pessi mistic about the success of the anti-war movement in Russia despite the perseverance of the women and men in the ethnic republics. The terror and the genocide will continue, and the only way to stop it is by demand ing the international commu nity’s unceasing support and aid for Ukraine. Only Ukraine’s imminent and invincible victory will stop the terrorist state of the Russian Federation.

International students at Tufts face challenges but gain new perspectives

by Esma Erdem Staff Writer

For decades, the United States has been the most popular des tination to go to college interna tionally. Known to be the ‘land of opportunity,’ students from all around the world choose to go to the world’s top colleges in the United States for the education quality, infinite opportunities and study abroad experience. In fact, according to research from the Institute on International Education, over one million for eign-born students were enrolled in colleges in the U.S. for the 2019–20 academic year, though that number has dipped since the onset of the COVID-19 pan demic. Coming from over 200 countries, millions of interna tional students share the same goal: finding an opportunity to succeed.

Although studying in ‘the land of opportunity’ is supposed to be a dream come true, the adapta tion process may not be as glam orous. One of the most common things international students experience during the first weeks of college is a social phenome non called ‘culture shock’: The feeling of disorientation experi enced by someone who is sub jected to an unfamiliar culture, way of life or set of attitudes. Mastering English as the main language, adapting to a different

climate, learning new transport systems and internalizing new norms are examples of culture shock and are challenges for international students.

Adapting to a new culture can be difficult. A study conducted by two professors at Queen’s University in Ontario, Canada showed that international stu dents tend to socialize with peo ple from their own culture the most. Shared language, customs and experiences of being away from home can often make these connections easier to develop.

Ekin Kaya, a first-year at Tufts from Istanbul, Turkey shared her experience. “One thing that all of us have in common is the difference in cultures and this adaptation we are going through,” she said, adding that “cultural differences can make the experience even harder for international students. Personally, there are times that I feel like I don’t even belong here.”

Many factors can aid this transition process. Collaboration between professors and students positively impacts internation al students’ academic perfor mance. The Queen’s University study showed how internation al students who worked closely with their professors performed better in academic work, partic ularly if professors were aware of intercultural issues and their own ethnocentric biases. Luckily, Tufts professors are known to be

very collaborative, approachable and supportive which can be a great support mechanism for international students navigat ing the transition process.

Another challenge for inter national students who leave their homes, families and com munities to build a new life is homesickness. This can be psy chologically challenging at the start. A 2002 study in the New Directions for Higher Education journal showed that interna tional students often feel home sick and lonely and lack mental health support. To fill the void, socializing and trying their best to adapt to their new ‘home’ can be helpful.

Kaya mentioned homesickness as the greatest struggle she faces. She expressed her emotions as “I miss my family, my friends and a sense of belonging somewhere — a home — which is very normal because this is the first time being away from [my] home.”

With these challenges, navi gating the international experi ence can be hard. However, it is important to evaluate the situ ation from different viewpoints. Although cultural differences may seem like a barrier, a diverse learning environment can pos itively contribute to one’s per sonal growth and world vision. International students from dif ferent cultural backgrounds can embrace these difficulties and

lean into new cultural experienc es, making their college experi ence even more rewarding.

Students can utilize the resources and support offered at Tufts. The International Center provides information and resources, while Counseling and Mental Health Service offers individual and group counseling. When sharing her experiences with the campus resources, Kaya said “The International Center introduced the resources … but I feel like in order to eliminate these bad experiences, they could have checked up individu ally on us.” Still, these are places where students can seek support and guidance.

There isn’t one way to navi gate this process. As Ekin said,

“Everyone’s experience is dif ferent and unique.” Personally, pushing myself out of my com fort zone and taking advice from international upperclassmen has helped a lot. They advised me to join clubs and always keep in mind that every international student is experiencing the same emotions and hardships. I also allowed myself to miss home and my family, which enabled me to express my emotions rath er than bottling everything up. Prioritizing our purpose here — getting educated — can also make a difference. Although the international experience can be challenging, seeking out resourc es and building connections can make it one of the most reward ing experiences of your life.

Asher Berlin

To pardon, or not to pardon

In a recessionary economy, there is one group whose future looks very bright: Trump’s lawyers. Now fighting battles on three legal fronts, former President Trump is spending millions to hold off a growing cast of opponents. Initially only dealing with a House of Representatives investigation into his involvement in the Jan. 6 debacle, Trump now has to contend with a New York state investigation into financial impropriety and, since early August, an FBI investigation into illegal removal of classi fied material from the White House. Out of this staggering litany of incredible miscon duct, the most dangerous to Trump is his potential breach of federal laws relating to classified material. On a memorable day in American history, the FBI searched Trump’s property at Mar-a-Lago and recovered, among other things, top-secret material, which, were it to fall into the wrong hands, might devastate American national secu rity. While Trump has faced legal problems before, it seems that in this investigation he might finally face real consequences, which could include a 10-year sentence.

The last time a U.S. president, sitting or otherwise, faced a criminal investigation was Richard Nixon. Accused of sanctioning an attempt to wiretap the Democratic National Committee, Nixon came under mounting fire as it became apparent that he had com mitted criminal wrongdoing. Though initial ly defiant, it soon became clear that “Tricky Dick” would be leaving the White House — voluntarily or not. Nixon chose to resign, yet he still could have faced criminal prose cution. That is, until his successor, Gerald R. Ford, pardoned him. Ford felt the saga had gone on long enough: He wished to end it and allow the nation to heal.

The pardon is, for those weary of Trump’s divisiveness, an attractive way to both end the incessant media circus around the FBI inves tigation and avoid the potential shockwaves of the prosecution of a former U.S. president. In other words, it’s a way to move on. Nixon’s pardon (eventually) did both of those things. It also contained a measure of satisfaction, since his acceptance of the pardon was an implic it acknowledgment that he had committed wrongdoing. But would a pardon of Trump have the same effect? Probably not.

When Nixon received his pardon, he was done. Having resigned to avoid facing an inevitable impeachment and conviction, his political support had evaporated entirely. Ford’s pardon allowed the nation to move on from a disgraced yet impotent politician.

Trump, however, is not done. Though he may have been defeated in 2020, a 2024 cam paign is a real possibility. To pardon Trump now would not allow the nation to move on, nor would it heal its divisions. It would not let a finished politician retire in ignominy but rather give a free pass to an unrepentant one to commit fresh wrongdoings. Some may balk at the idea of prosecuting a president but in the clash between Trump and justice, only one can prevail. And it must be justice.

Asher Berlin is a sophomore study ing history. Asher can be reached at asher.berlin@tufts.edu.

Why Tufts’ search for our new president must prioritize fossil fuel divestment

by Bela Silverman Staff Writer

Originally

With President Anthony Monaco stepping down in the summer of 2023, Tufts is getting prepared to lose a lead er who “strengthened the university by every possible metric,” as Board of Trustees Chair Peter Dolan stated in an email to the Tufts community in February. It’s inarguable that Monaco’s contributions to Tufts have been tre mendous in their efforts to rebuild and strengthen the Tufts community. Yet, while many have expressed their dis appointment in Monaco’s farewell, his departure has also been met with great anticipation.

Since the early 2010s — especially with the establishment of Swarthmore College’s coal divestment campaign and their stance in solidarity with com munities protesting coal mining in Appalachia — university involvement in the fossil fuel divestment movement has spread nationwide and is current ly reaching a pinnacle. As popularity in university campaigns grew, students targeted fossil fuel companies, predom inantly in the coal and oil industries, as prime contributors to global warm ing and endorsers of unsustainable business models. The students are not wrong in doing so: Fossil fuel compa nies have sat at the core of the deeply rooted issues linked to climate change.

However, attention has gradually begun to shift as university sustain ability initiatives went from pointing the blame toward fossil fuel compa

nies’ unsustainable methods to tar geting the companies’ sources: inves tors. Gradually, the fossil fuel divest ment spotlight became more focused on university investment offices, their presidents and their lack of action on divestment. With attention shifted to university action, divestment rates began to rapidly increase.

As early as 2015, more than 400 institutions (both academic and non academic) publicly planned to divest from fossil fuel holdings in assets that totaled $2.6 trillion. This upward trend has continued among schools in the Boston area, marked by Harvard’s plan to gradually eliminate fossil fuel hold ings from its $42 billion endowment as of fall 2021 and Boston University’s divestment from coal and tar sand companies in 2016.

Thus far, divestment has been large ly viewed as a positive step in the fight against climate change. Students across the country continue to cam paign in order to disprove the assump tion that the only path of improvement in sustainability is through political and capital reform. Such nationwide action raises the question of what Tufts is doing to help this cause.

Tufts has since divested from direct investments with the 120 largest oil and tar sand companies but absolved itself of any responsibility for invest ments in oil and natural gas companies or the many indirect investments being made with their $2 billion endowment. In fact, the majority of Tufts funds invested in fossil fuel companies are indirect investments in commingled funds, according to a 2020 report.

By failing to address these issues, Tufts is attempting to avoid complete divestment by establishing new sustain ability initiatives, one after the other, hoping that they will merely cancel each other out without having to withdraw high-stake fuel investments. Partial divestment from Tufts’ pool in fossil fuel companies does not distract from the university’s indirect investments that continue to financially support prime contributors to global warming.

As the search for a new university president continues into Monaco’s last year here on the Hill, more students should follow the precedent of action around campus by continuing to protest and work with the Office of Sustainability and Provost Genco to target full divest ment. We should also hold the Office of the Trustees and the Presidential Search Committee accountable to prioritize full divestment in their search for a new Tufts president.

As the Tufts committee announces their commitment to a search that “considers candidates from across a broad and diverse spectrum of back grounds,” such inclusive motives must also prioritize total divestment. Without newly directed, sustainable leadership, Tufts will continue to fall behind other universities around the Boston area, meeting sustainability efforts halfway through partial divest ment on top of the seemingly stagnant progress toward carbon neutrality. It’s fair to say that without a president who views divestment as an immediate, pressing issue, Tufts will be looking at another presidential term funded by big fossil fuel companies.

represent the position of The Tufts Daily Editorial Board. Individual editorialists are not necessarily responsible for, or in agreement with, the policies and editorials of The Editorial Board. Editorials are submitted for review to The Tufts Daily Executive Board before publication.

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NATALIE BROWNSELL

The president’s home on Tufts’ campus, Gifford House, is pictured on Oct. 2.

Field hockey takes care of business against Trinity and rebounds after a frustrating loss

by Keriann Slayton Staff Writer

Field hockey had business to attend to over the weekend, with back-to-back days of conference matchups against Colby and pre viously undefeated Trinity.

The Saturday game against Colby ended in disappointing fashion for the Jumbos, who lost 2–1 after fourth-quarter momen tum gave the Mules the victory. Despite a strong offensive pres ence, shots could not find the net. Tufts put up 10 shots on goal compared to Colby’s three, yet left the field with only a single goal and a loss to show for it. Colby goalie Emily Loeb played an instrumental role in secur ing victory for the Mules, sav ing nine of the Jumbos’ 10 shots. Her offense had her back, con trolling the momentum in the fourth quarter and tacking on the go-ahead goal with under nine minutes left to play.

Though they dominated the first quarter, the Jumbos could not establish consistent ly successful passing patterns, leaving the door open for the Mules. Senior midfielder Reegan McCluskey capitalized on a pen alty corner in the first, scoring her fourth goal of the season and preventing a shutout, but she knew her team had more to give.

“One of the biggest things that we struggled with during the Colby game was connecting as a team,” she said. “On offense and on defense, it was a little bit more difficult for us because we weren’t all on the same page.”

The loss stunned the Jumbos but also served as a wakeup call. With

a matchup against the unbeaten Trinity Bantams looming the next day, the Jumbos had to refocus and remind themselves of their capabil ities and expectations. McCluskey described how the team reset.

“After the [Colby] game, we all got together and talked about, ‘What are the things we should work on and what are the things that went wrong?’” McCluskey said. “There were little glimmers of good passing patterns, but overall, this [was] not how Tufts field hockey plays, so we knew we had to come back strong for the Sunday game against Trinity.”

The Jumbos stormed onto Ounjian Field to face the Bantams, reinvigorated and hungry to win, with a more cohesive approach. After losing to Colby, the Brown and Blue had something to prove, and their next opponent would not make it easy. The Trinity squad had a major target on its back as the only remaining undefeated team in the NESCAC, but by the end of the afternoon, the Bantams would return to Connecticut with a ‘1’ in the loss column.

The contest lived up to expec tations, with both teams dis playing an elite level of play, and until the fourth quarter, it truly was anyone’s game. A back-andforth battle ensued, momentum shifting minute to minute, and the matchup soon became a test of endurance and mental toughness.

“Our main focus going into Sunday was connecting and passing as a team, meaning attacking as a unit and defending as a unit,” McCluskey said. “So everyone is working and going up the field in kind of a web, is how our coach describes it, so we

The Tufts field hockey team competes against Trinity on Oct. 2.

all advance and come back down the field together.”

Victory against Trinity required a full team effort and unwavering stamina. The scoreboard showed zeros for three quarters, despite a combined 14 shots on goal. Trinity goalie Olivia McMichael continuously denied the Jumbos, tallying 12 saves throughout the game, but Tufts had a score to settle and persisted.

“The most impressive thing about the Trinity game was our undeniable ability to work as a unit,” McCluskey said. “We were all so pumped up to play in that game … to prove to ourselves what we can do. After that game, we all looked at each other and realized what we’re capable of

and how exciting the rest of the season is going to be.”

Tufts made it to the fourth quarter, blocking out any glimmer of navy and gold. The Jumbos out shot the Bantams 6–0 in the game’s final quarter, and McCluskey at last managed to capitalize on one of the 13 penalty corners to break the scoreless tie. Her approach to her numerous corner opportuni ties was simple.

“My main thing is making a solid connection with the ball,” she said. “I’m just focused on hitting the ball well and on the ground.”

With a 1–0 advantage after McCluskey’s corner, junior Ashley Zolin got in on the action just three minutes later with a goal of her own — the first of

Tutfs volleyball dominates against Middlebury and Hamilton

maintaining control of the lead for the majority of the sets, the Panthers still posed a threat with a couple mid-set rallies that kept the score within five. In order to keep that momentum on the Jumbos’ side, junior setter and co-captain Maddie Yu credited the home energy in Cousens Gym.

“We definitely needed energy on our side of the court, which I think people on the court and off the court provided,” Yu said. “I think it’s all just about having that next point mentality. Like yeah, they’re gonna get some big kills, big blocks, but it’s just mov ing on to the next point and con trolling what we do on our side.”

Junior outside hitter Rileigh Farragher echoed Yu’s senti ments, further describing the importance of the team’s first home games.

“It was a really nice feeling, especially for the freshmen, to be able to get to play a game at home,” Farragher said. “And to have our fans there and be able to control the energy a little bit more, was super fun. And it’s just gonna be a little bit easier to carry that forward going into this week of another round of home games.”

Senior outside hitter Jennelle Yarwood led the team in kills with 13 for the night, followed closely by junior outside hitter Christine Audette with 10. Yu

anchored the board for assists, recording 23.

The match against Hamilton concluded in a short three sets, giving Tufts more fuel for its sec ond NESCAC home matchup the following day. The Hamilton Continentals gave the Jumbos a bit more of a challenge, leading the Jumbos from the start 15–12 in the first set. A combination of ball movement and strong com munication, however, got the Tufts offense back on track and in control. The second set went decidedly in the Jumbos’ favor, winning 25–6. The Continentals did not lose hope, down 2–0, and gave the Jumbos their toughest challenge of the weekend in the third set. Despite Hamilton get

ting to match point, 24–22, in the third set, Tufts took a timeout, reset and two kills from Yarwood and one from Farragher gave them the win, 26–24. Yu com mented on the team’s third set resilience.

“When we took our time out, we basically just forced ourselves to reset,” Yu said. “We’ve come back from worse, but it’s really just about focusing on the pro cess and each part of the point, each pass, set hit, just real ly focusing on the little things. And then because we did that we were able to come back and win that third set against Hamilton.”

Statistical leaders for the after noon included Yarwood again, posting 10 kills in the match and

her career. The burst of offen sive action demoralized Trinity, and the Jumbos earned a 2–0 victory, ending the Bantams’ undefeated run.

“The Saturday game [against Colby] was definitely a team bonding moment because that was definitely a low, but our Sunday game [against Trinity] was definitely a highlight of the season so far,” McCluskey said. “We’re playing for the person to our right or left and trying to have the best season that we can because we’re only with this team for one season.”

The Jumbos have an opportu nity to make a statement to the region as they face two nonconfer ence opponents in the next week.

Yu and senior libero Stephanie Lee recording 14 digs apiece. The rest of the outside and middle hitters recorded kills numbers close behind 10, reflecting the whole team offensive cohesion on display for the Jumbos.

Heading into another home weekend of competitive NESCAC play, Farragher said the team is focusing on its longmatch resiliency.

“I think we’re mainly just focusing on staying consistent in the longer matches. And when something isn’t going exactly our way, finding ways to change our style of play.”

The Jumbos will host Colby on Friday night and Bates on Saturday afternoon.

COURTESY RICH MCCARTHY

s PO r T s

sugrue scores twice in weekend win over colby

by Ethan Grubelich Sports Editor

The women’s soccer team returned home to face Colby on Saturday and No. 16 Trinity (Conn.) on Sunday after a strong five-game road trip which includ ed significant victories over Wesleyan, No. 22 Amherst and No. 19 MIT. These performances garnered a ranking at No. 18 for the Jumbos in the United Soccer Coaches national poll of NCAA Division III women’s teams.

In the first half against the No. 16 Trinity Bantams on Sunday, the Jumbos registered seven shots but had three of them saved and were held scoreless by Bantam goalkeeper Mariana Cournoyer, who was the reigning NESCAC Women’s Soccer Player of the Week.

The Jumbos’ best scoring chance of the first half came in the 29th minute, when senior midfielder Maddie Pero dribbled the ball into the Bantams’ penal ty area and had junior midfield er Thalia Greenberg completely unmarked in front of an empty net at the far post. Pero opted to take the shot, which Cournoyer saved with her feet. The deflected ball had heavy spin on it, which caused Greenberg to completely miss the ball and crash into the back of the empty net as the ball rolled out of bounds for a Jumbos corner kick.

Trinity only registered one shot in the first half. They would, however, open the second half more aggressively, registering four shots in the first 13 minutes compared to only one shot by Tufts in that same time frame. The last of these four shots opened the game’s scoring in the 58th minute when Bantams’ attacking midfielder Gabby Grattan put her head on the end

of a long looping corner kick by junior midfielder Cassie Lee.

The Bantams played more defensively following this goal, only managing one shot for the rest of the game while Jumbos continued to create chances, with their best chance of the second half in the 71st minute. First-year forward Elsi Aires played a through ball to Pero, who struck a powerful shot from the edge of the penalty area which swerved just wide of the left goalpost.

Ultimately, the Bantams were able to keep the Jumbos off the scoresheet, which culminated in the team’s staggering seventh clean sheet of the season in only 10 games. The Bantams also remarkably have only conced ed three goals this season each in separate games and remain undefeated.

On Saturday, the Jumbos entered as heavy favorites in the showdown with the Colby Mules, who entered as dead last in NESCAC play with a conference record of 0 wins and 4 losses.

The Jumbos got on the score sheet in the 15th minute when sophomore defender Caroline O’Neill put a dangerous corner kick into the six-yard box. The deflected ball fell in the direc tion of the far post and first-year defender Lena Sugrue, who mas terfully placed the ball around a lunging goalkeeper and defender and into the back of the net off of a difficult bounce.

The opening goal was Sugrue’s first of her collegiate career, and though it came in her seventh game, it wouldn’t take long for her to add her second. In the 29th minute, a corner kick sent in from graduate student defensive

midfielder Lily Keiderling direct ly found the head of Sugrue, who had broken free from the defend er marking her and was able to redirect the ball into the back of the net. Sugrue earned the postgame broadcast interview and discussed her success with the Daily after the game.

“I think it’s something we’ve been working on for a while now,” Sugrue said on set pieces, having scored each of her goals from one. “My teammates have really been encouraging me to get in there on set pieces. I had a few in practice, so they’ve been waiting for this one.”

The Jumbos completed their scoring in the 47th minute when first-year midfielder Caroline Kelly played a through ball soft ly but just a bit too far for Pero.

The Mules’ goalkeeper Emily McMaster came off her line for

the slow rolling ball in a rather routine play, but she mistimed her dive and was unable to hold onto the ball, which convenient ly fell to the feet of Pero, who immediately pushed the ball into the empty net for the Jumbos’ third goal.

The Jumbos would hold on to defeat Colby 3–1.

The loss to Trinity and win over Colby caused Tufts to fall from No. 6 to No. 18 in the United Soccer Coaches national poll of NCAA Division III women’s teams. Trinity, on the other hand, rose in the rankings from No. 22 to No. 16 following the win at Tufts on Sunday and a draw at Bates on Saturday.

The Jumbos will travel to Henniker, NH on Sunday, Oct. 9 to take on the New England College Pilgrims in an intercon ference matchup.

Volleyball earns

by Keila McCabe Executive Sports Editor

Volleyball defeated two NESCAC opponents in its home opener, bringing their over all record to 8–3 and confer ence record to 3–1. On Friday night, the Jumbos took down the Middlebury Panthers (25–22, 25–16, 25–18), and Saturday afternoon, they did the same against Hamilton Continentals (25–22, 25–16, 26–24). Despite both contests being consistently close in score in each set, Tufts was able to sweep both teams 3–0 to play the minimum of six sets for the weekend.

Offensive dominance charac terized the Jumbos’ first matchup of the weekend, recording 51 kills in a three-set match, a 2021–2022 season record thus far. Despite

wins in home opener weekend

COURTESY DANNY NOYES

The Tufts women’s soccer team is pictured facing off against Colby in 2016.