The Tufts Daily - October 8, 2021

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VOLUME LXXXI, ISSUE 16

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Friday, October 8, 2021

MEDFORD/SOMERVILLE, MASS.

Schuler Education Foundation awards Tufts $25 million challenge grant

by Charlotte Chen Contributing Writer

Tufts was recently selected by the Schuler Education Foundation to participate in a multiyear, $25 million challenge grant as part of the foundation’s Schuler Access Initiative, which aims to increase the number of undocumented and Pell Grant-eligible students admitted to top universities.

The Schuler Education Foundation will match Tufts community members’ donations up to $25 million and put all of the money toward financial aid for undocumented and Pelleligible students. The Schuler Access Initiative will invest a total of $500 million across participating colleges and universities over a ten-year period.

The co-founders of the Schuler Education Foundation, Jack Schuler and his daughter Tanya Schuler Sharman, are both Tufts alumni.

“I have been a great believer of these low-income, first-generation minority kids getting into top colleges for over twenty years,” Jack Schuler said.

To be selected as a recipient, Tufts underwent a review by members of the Schuler Education Foundation. The review considered Tufts’ selectivity, willingness to match the grant amount and commitment to increasing its enrollment of Pell-eligible and undocumented students.

Tufts University President Anthony Monaco expressed optimism about the university’s ability to raise the $25 million. He explained that Tufts has had plenty of experience with challenge grants, both in the undergraduate school and across its graduate and professional programs.

“We know that [challenge grants are] a very effective mechanism for donors to make a commitment to something that they want to support,” Monaco said. “When they hear that the university or another donor is stepping up with that level of commitment, it sometimes brings people in that were hesitant before.”

Monaco said that one of the biggest obstacles to admitting more undocumented and Pell-

eligible students is helping them to feel integrated and welcomed into the Tufts community. “[Students] come from such a variety of backgrounds … and we want to be as welcoming as Tufts should be to all students,” Monaco said. “And so, the support that we need to provide is programmatic, it’s academic, it’s having the ability to join clubs and organizations [and having] that kind of spending cash in your financial aid package to afford textbooks.”

Jared Smith, director of the FIRST Resource Center, discussed how the challenge grant could positively impact underrepresented communities at Tufts.

“As the point person for students in these communities (First Generation, Low-Income, and students with undocumented status), I look forward to seeing how these funds will serve as a catalyst to expanding support for these populations,” Smith wrote in an email to the Daily.

“My hope is that increases to financial aid will only continue to help broaden access to a Tufts education.”

MICHELLE LI / THE TUFTS DAILY

The front of Dowling Hall, the location of the Financial Aid office, is pictured.

Tufts Dean of Admissions JT Duck expressed gratitude to the Schuler Education Foundation and excitement about the opportunities the money may provide.

“I am so grateful to the Schuler Education Foundation for initiating this challenge grant, and for all of the people at Tufts that put together a competitive application,” Duck wrote in an email to the Daily.

Rob Mack, associate provost and chief diversity officer, explained how the Schuler Access Initiative challenge grant represents an extension of the university’s ongoing efforts to raise money for financial aid.

“Fundraising for financial aid has been a top priority of President Monaco and his senior team and this opportunity is the perfect alignment for this effort,” Mack wrote in an email to the Daily. “We have a record of donor generosity that has supported this goal and I believe we will continue our success to cultivate these gifts.”

The Schuler Education Foundation plans to involve about 20 colleges in its challenge grant initiative. So far, Kenyon College, Carleton College, Bates College and Union College have been selected in addition to Tufts.

Office of Equal Opportunity sees rise in Medford joins Race to cases reported, remains optimistic Zero campaign, pledges to cut greenhouse gas emissions in half by 2030

by Madeline Wilson Contributing Writer

A recent statistical report by the Tufts Office of Equal Opportunity indicated that the number of cases reported has been steadily increasing over the past five fiscal years. It states that the total caseload of reported allegations has risen from 668 reports in the 2019 fiscal year to 718 reports in the 2020 fiscal year. This data is consistent with the continual increase in reports over the last five years, a trend that Jill Zellmer, executive director of OEO, attributes to the cultural climate nationwide.

“There have been more prominent incidents of public harassment and discrimination … in the news in the last 5-6 years,” Zellmer wrote in an email to the Daily. “Tufts is not immune to this behavior, unfortunately.”

OEO is an administrative organization on campus concerned with managing and preventing instances of discrimination and misconduct among employees and students.

“Our primary responsibility is to establish uniform guide-

by Kendall Roberts

Executive Social Media Editor

COURTESY MARLEY HILLMAN, ELISE SOMMERS AND MAURI TRIMMER

The Cannon, painted with a message raising awareness for Green Dot, is pictured in 2019. lines in order to promote a work and educational environment at Tufts University that is free of discrimination and harassment and to affirm Tufts’ commitment to equal opportunity, Title VI, Title VII, Title IX, and affirmative action,” Zellmer said.

The reporting statistics indicate that allegations of Title VI violations more than doubled over the last year, growing from 45 reports in 2019 to 91 in 2020. Title VI violations refer to non-sexual instances of misconduct between students, including conflicts related to race, ethnicity or religion.

“Harassment of these types has increased across the country in the past several years, including during the pandemic,” Zellmer said.

Zellmer also noted that OEO recognized a change in the quantity and type of cases reported over the course of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“In the 2020-2021 academic year, OEO experienced an increase in reports of cyber harassment of all types including cyber racial harassment, cyber sexual harassment, cybersee OEO, page 2

The City of Medford announced on Sept. 30 its commitment to the international Race to Zero campaign and pledged to cut its greenhouse gas emissions in half by 2030.

The city also released an executive summary of its Climate Action and Adaptation Plan draft, outlining the city’s objectives and plans to address climate change in the upcoming years.

The Race to Zero campaign is a global initiative backed by the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change that seeks to mobilize a coalition of countries, cities, businesses and individuals toward urgent climate change action.

The campaign’s primary objective is for its participants to commit to zero net emissions by 2050.

Medford joins other neighboring Massachusetts communities in this pledge, including Somerville, Cambridge and Boston.

ARTS / page 4

OPINION / page 7

SPORTS / back

Chase disappoints with prequel-style ‘The Many Saints of Newark’

We must stop seeing politics as purely red and blue

Field hockey improves to 6–1 with 2 wins over conference rivals

Rocco DiRico, executive director of government and community relations at Tufts, works closely with Tufts’ host communities and is hopeful about Medford’s commitment.

“Medford [has] been a local leader in clean energy, climate resiliency, and sustainability,” DiRico wrote in an email to the Daily. “Medford is already working on some of these goals, so I think that these efforts are obtainable by 2030.”

According to Alicia Hunt, Medford’s director of planning, development and sustainability, the city has already been working toward reducing greenhouse gas emissions for the past 20 years.

Hunt explained that joining the Race to Zero campaign was a natural extension of Medford’s past work.

“Medford has always been a city that signs onto these and says we understand that climate is an urgent problem, that it see CLIMATE, page 2 NEWS

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FUN & GAMES

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THE TUFTS DAILY | News | Friday, October 8, 2021

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Green Dot and ASAP ambassadors cite increased student participation in sexual misconduct prevention OEO

continued from page 1 stalking, domestic/relationship and/or intimate partner violence and harassment of all types via zoom bombing,” Zellmer said.

OEO’s report also tracked a decline in reported Title IX violations over the last fiscal year, down from 189 reports in 2019 to 157 reports in 2020.

Title IX accounts for cases of sexual misconduct and gender discrimination experienced by students. Zellmer believes that COVID-19, and the physical distancing it required, may have influenced this decrease.

“In 2019-20 and 2020-21 there were fewer students on campus and social distancing guidelines may have contributed to fewer incidents,” Zellmer said.

Elizabeth Cucuzzella, a sophomore, is a Green Dot student ambassador with the Center for Awareness, Resources and Education. Green Dot is an on-campus organization that encourages bystander intervention in cases of sexual or other misconduct through training and advocacy. Cucuzzella explained that

the organization has focused heavily on the impacts of COVID-19 on sexual misconduct over the past two years and spoke about how readjusting to in-person events reinforces the importance of consent.

“Coming back this year, because we were all so isolated for so long, now everybody’s going back to … being in a social setting and being in a social environment,” Cucuzzella said.

“And that’s really difficult to handle because the pandemic is still there. So it requires an extra layer of consent in everything, making sure — even with your friends — that your friends are okay with what’s going on.”

Cucuzzella says that the organization has seen a greater demand for sexual misconduct prevention training as pandemic restrictions relax and individuals engage in greater levels of socializing.

“We’ve had a higher level of training requests this year than ever before,” she said. “Groups across campus are asking for trainings … they’re asking, ‘When we come back to these social environments, how do we keep each other safe?’”

Curry Brinson, president of Action for Sexual Assault Prevention (ASAP), an organization that works to support survivors of sexual violence and ultimately put an end to sexual misconduct on campus, also noticed increased numbers of students participating in ASAP. “We have noticed an increase in ASAP’s participation and turnout this semester as compared to previous semesters,” Brinson, a senior, wrote in an email to the Daily. “We are excited that members of the Tufts community are eager to get involved with sexual violence prevention and survivor support.”

With regard to the OEO caseload report, Zellmer suggests that the increase in cases reported over the last five years may be due in part to people feeling more comfortable reporting these allegations than they have in the past.

“We’d like to think that some of this can be attributed to the positive reporting climate we have tried to create at Tufts, the greater awareness of our supportive resources, and the trust in the OEO process we hope to foster in individuals who do report,” Zellmer said.

Zellmer applies this to the recent increase in requests for religious accommodations or those related to disabilities, for both students and employees, which together increased from 150 requests in 2019 to 182 requests in 2020.

“The increase in accommodations cases … has more to do with the new Religious Accommodation Policy we implemented in 2019 to respond to a rise in those types of cases,” she said. “After March 2020 OEO did experience more requests of this type related to COVID-19.”

Zellmer emphasizes that OEO is diligently working to ensure the safety and wellness of the Tufts community.

“OEO [strives] to create an environment in which students feel secure and supported in reporting experiences with discrimination and harassment, and that they can do so without fear of retaliation for filing a complaint,” she said. “We want to make sure students involved with us have the resources and supports they need to access their education.”

Medford release Climate Action and Adaption Plan CLIMATE

continued from page 1 needs to be dealt with immediately and that we can’t wait,” Hunt told the Daily. “A lot of the work that needs to be done needs to be done locally. So this one just made natural sense.”

Sophie Impellitteri, a senior and one of the EcoRep coordinators for the 2021–22 academic school year, believes Medford’s commitment to cutting greenhouse gas emissions in half by 2030 is an attainable goal if the city is willing to make the necessary policy changes. She views the scope of Medford’s undertaking as matching the urgency of climate change reform.

“We need to be setting ambitious goals on the scale of the problems,” Impellitteri said.

Once they have joined the Race to Zero campaign and pledged to reach net-zero emissions by 2050, cities are required by the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change to fulfill several requirements. They must provide an explicit short- and medium-term plan to achieve net-zero emissions, take immediate action to reach this target and publish their progress annually on global platforms.

According to a press release from the city, Medford will commit to four immediate “action steps,” including creating a more inclusive society, moving toward resilient and sustainable energy systems, advancing toward zero waste and creating sustainable food systems.

Medford’s Climate Action and Adaptation Plan draft outlines the exact steps and actions the city plans to take to address climate change. According to Hunt,

the draft lays out a plan to address climate change while prioritizing equity and for Medford citizens.

“The vision of our plan is for Medford [to be] a place where everybody can thrive both now and for generations to come, and to ensure that our future for everybody is just and equitable, but also resilient,” Hunt said. “It’s not just about reducing our greenhouse gases and it’s not just about being able to respond to climate change but that it’s [a place] for everybody.”

The Climate Action and Adaptation Plan draft includes 32 different strategies that focus on four different areas of interest within the city: building and energy, ecosystems and natural environment, public health and transportation. Each strategy features three to 10 action steps that Medford will implement within the next 10 years.

Impellitteri hopes Medford will undertake clean energy initiatives as part of its net-zero emissions plan as a way of promoting justice and equity in the Medford area. She also wants to see Tufts and Medford work together to make lasting change. “[Tufts is] a part of Medford, so we should be working with them [and] sharing our academic research [and] resources,” Impellitteri said.

Tufts shares many of Medford’s climate goals. According to the 2019– 20 Tufts Campus Sustainability Progress Report, Tufts committed to reaching carbon neutrality by 2050 after University President Anthony Monaco signed the Second Nature Climate Leadership Commitment in April 2016.

DiRico stated in an email to the Daily that Tufts frequently

MICHELLE LI / THE TUFTS DAILY

The LEED Certification in the Collaborative Learning & Innovation Complex at 574 Boston Avenue is pictured. collaborates with Medford on climate change initiatives. Faculty and staff share their climate-related knowledge and expertise with Tufts’ host communities, and several Tufts buildings are LEED certified or have solar panels installed.

In order to learn more about what the city is doing to promote climate change action, Hunt encouraged Tufts students to attend Medford’s Harvest Your Energy Festival on Oct. 16, which will feature many different consultants and organizations involved in contributing to Medford’s climate change plan.

Hunt discussed how Medford’s climate work represents a collaboration between many different departments.

“What I’m most excited about is the fact that this isn’t being done

by one person in one office, but it’s actually people all over the city,” Hunt said. “Some of the actions are going to be led by our board of health, and some by engineering, and some … by the diversity office, and some by our traffic and transportation office, and some are going to be led by the planning office … also the bike commission will be involved.”

DiRico reflected on the potential Medford’s climate action plan has to spark change throughout the entire Medford community.

“It’s my hope that Medford’s commitment to the ‘Race to Zero’ campaign will inspire businesses, nonprofit organizations, and everyday citizens to take actions to reduce greenhouse gas emissions,” DiRico said.

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Sonia Richter Spoonfuls

I

Dakzen

had a mixed experience at Dakzen, a Thai street-food restaurant in Davis Square. Still, I’m reluctant to describe it as such. I think it’s important to explore why this is.

I stated in my last column that one of the missions of this series would be the promotion of restaurants in the Medford/ Somerville area that often go un-promoted. Covid undoubtedly makes this a more dire task. Of course, food is supposed to be fun. Reading about it should make you hungry, not pensive. But achieving this doesn’t require sugar-coating. And why should it? All restaurant experiences are mixed, whether that be the result of funny tasting water or a bad date souring the mood.

This is all to say that my mixed experience came from a combination of factors — only some of which can be attributed to the restaurant itself. And I

Features think that’s okay. After all, I am choosing the kinds of spots that are charmingly imperfect.

Last Monday was a day of rainfall.

Tire tsunamis rushed the sidewalks, and umbrellas cloaked campus crosswalks. I happily found that Dakzen was open till 2 a.m., so I pregamed my homework with Cajun fries from the Commons and opted for a late dinner. My goal was to secure a seat at the restaurant window on my own, try a couple things and watch the reflections of headlights pass over growing puddles in Davis Square. I’m a sucker for solo dinners, and there’s something about a restaurant after 9 p.m. that’s attractively unnerving.

Unfortunately, entering Dakzen, it quickly became clear that the possibility of dining in had expired. I can confirm that it’s a great place to sit during normal hours of the day. Still, I can only be slightly disappointed that restaurants are not following the timeline of my bizarre eating habits. I reluctantly ordered takeout and waited in an alley next door for my noodles.

The upside of takeout is the ability to set your own scene. I chose a soundtrack

of Fleetwood Mac and The Smiths and laid out my spread on the kitchen table: pad-see-ew with chicken and ba-meemoo-dang, which came with a side of chicken broth. The total came to around $20 for the two dishes, which I consider a decent steal.

The pad-see-ew was definitely my favorite of the two. The dish consists of thick rice noodles and some egg and vegetables in a dark oyster sauce. This sauce was a lot better than I’ve had elsewhere. It was rich and sweet, without an overpowering saltiness, and the noodles weren’t overcooked, as is usual when dealing with to-go containers. The chicken was pretty standard and there wasn’t much broccoli or other vegetables, but the sprinkle of white pepper provided a nice finishing touch. Overall, I would definitely order this again. It satisfied a craving I didn’t know I had.

The ba-mee-moo-dang had a lot more components. For $9, you get a serving of egg noodles topped with bok choy, roast pork, crispy pork belly, a boiled egg and two shrimp wontons, all topped with a sweet and salty BBQ sauce. Frankly, I didn’t know where to begin — what to dip

3 Friday, October 8, 2021 in the broth and what to combine into a single bite. In any case, all the different toppings were pretty tasty. The roast pork was really flavorful and tender, and the bok choy was a delicious spoonful with the broth. The dumplings were a touch overcooked, but if you put them in the broth, it was practically a free wonton soup. However, I wasn’t really a fan of the crispy pork. It was fried solid, and the meat was lost in the process. It was a little better if you dipped it in the broth to soften it, but it mostly felt like a good bit of pork belly gone to waste. On a better note, I love any form of any egg on top of anything, so I ate that last as a treat for doing all my homework.

I probably wouldn’t order this second dish again, but I have no doubt that I’ll be back at Dakzen in the next couple weeks, simply because there are so many more things to try. For $9–11 a dish, I’m willing to take that leap of faith and hope for padsee-ew quality and a seat at the window on a rainy night.

Sonia Richter is a senior studying English. Sonia can be reached at sophia.richter@tufts.edu.

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Friday, October 8, 2021

‘The Many Saints of Newark’ falls many miles short of David Chase’s old work Arts Editor

Disclaimer: This article contains spoilers for “The Many Saints of Newark” and “The Sopranos.”

“The Sopranos” (1999–2007) writer David Chase had no obligation to keep “Sopranos” spoilers out of his new film, “The Many Saints of Newark” (2021).

(It’s been 14 years, marone!) But putting a top-three biggest spoiler in the first twenty seconds of the film, and to have that spoiler serve absolutely no purpose to the plot, was rather offensive. Its only real function, then, is to serve as a microcosm for this unnecessary prequel’s failings.

“Many Saints” falls short of its show predecessor in just about every way. That probably could have been predicted, seeing as “Sopranos” is undoubtedly one of the greatest, if not the greatest, of all time.

So maybe comparing the movie to the show is a waste of time — after all, film and television are entirely different media. On the other hand, this is the same universe, and there’s lots of character overlap, not to mention creator overlap. Regardless, “Many Saints” is bad.

Let’s look at the big picture. The storylines were not interesting.

There were three main ones: the happenings of Dickie Moltisanti (Alessandro Nivola), the plans of Harold McBrayer (Leslie Odom Jr.) and the origins of Tony Soprano (played by the late James Gandolfini’s real-life son, Michael Gandolfini).

Dickie Moltisanti, father to Christopher Moltisanti of “The Sopranos,” is a soldier, a made man in the fictional DiMeo crime family. Dickie’s story in “Many Saints” hits all the major milestones you could predict for a made man from having watched the show — having a comare (pronounced “goomar” and meaning mistress), having constant agita (anxiety) and having a young, impressionable male (Tony, whose father is also a DiMeo family soldier) hang on his every word.

The only unique aspect to Dickie’s life that is presented to us is his relationship to his father, Hollywood Dick Moltisanti, played by the wonderful Ray Liotta of “Goodfellas” (1990) and “The Bee Movie” (2007) fame. The unique part is the moment when Dickie brutally murders Hollywood Dick by vigorously smashing his head against a steering wheel. In a culture that heavily emphasizes respect for one’s parents, this could be pretty easily classified as a no-no.

This murder weighs on Dickie’s conscience, enough so that he visits his deceased father’s estranged and imprisoned twin brother, Sally (understandably also played by Ray Liotta). Sally, having undergone a radical personality transformation from his time as a mafioso, serves

as a critical, questioning, advice-giving, “neutral” voice of reason for the post-murder antsy Dickie.

These visit scenes showcase a recurring problem with the film. David Chase mastered symbolism in “The Sopranos,” having six whole seasons to intersperse a variety of plot devices to great effect.

With only two hours in “Many Saints,” Chase has to resort to beating us over the head with symbolism and characters who merely serve as plot devices.

A scene where we see young Tony Soprano interacting with a baby Christopher Moltisanti is particularly egregious. As fans of the show or people who saw the first twenty seconds of “Many Saints” know, the former kills the latter many years later in “The Sopranos”. In their first-ever interaction, portrayed in “Many Saints,” there are multiple, consecutive quips from various witnessing characters that drill into us the fact that Tony will eventually end up killing Christopher.

His role model’s only son!

This on-the-nose storytelling is not the Chase writing we fell in love with.

That being said, Chase was not the sole author of the film’s script so not every plot shortcoming can be fully blamed on him.

But to add insult to injury, the story of Harold McBrayer — an African American associate of Dickie’s — is clumsily thrown into the film. McBrayer’s inclusion brings in an interracial dynamic to the movie that did not feature in the show, and which, along with the 1967 Newark riots, establish the film’s temporal setting.

Unfortunately, nothing much comes of these additions, having little impact on “Many Saints” and even less to the overall “Sopranos” universe. What could have been a bold, new direction seems almost tokenized.

The last major storyline is likely what most fans were excited for: seeing the show’s iconic protagonist in his early years.

Tony is portrayed mostly alongside the influential adults in his life. Dickie and Livia are the two big adult presences for Tony, as we knew even from the show.

While Livia’s relationship with Tony is enhanced in “Many Saints,” the DickieTony relationship falls flat.

This, again, might be because Dickie feels derivative as a character. Nivola puts in a fine performance but he doesn’t have much to work with. There is very little emotional impact felt by the audience when the big twist (which is extremely predictable) rips Dickie from Tony. Though it might tie up one loose end from the show, it doesn’t do much for those hoping the movie would end with significance. The last scenes, where we see the supposed moments in which Tony Soprano “becomes” Tony Soprano, feel hollow and unworthy.

VIA IMDB

“The Many Saints of Newark,” a prequel to the series “The Sopranos,” was released on Sept. 22.

Plotlines aside, the young versions of Silvio Dante (John Magaro) and Paulie Walnuts (Billy Magnussen) — two fan-favorites from the show — were bad. The former was on the verge of offensive, and the latter was not that much better.

Now that the major negatives are laid out, it is worth mentioning the positives that keep this movie from zero stars — most of which revolve around the nostalgia for the show.

The sets and props capturing the ‘60s and ‘70s are sprawling and reminiscent of the underrated jewel of “The Sopranos” — “Down Neck,” the only epi-

sode in the series whose whole runtime is devoted to Tony Soprano’s youth.

Corey Stoll and Vera Farmiga’s respective turns as Corrado “Junior” Soprano and Livia Soprano are the best performances of the film, though mostly for the mannerism mimicries of their elderly versions in “The Sopranos.”

And finally, though his performance was simply good enough, seeing Michael Gandolfini portray the character that his father immortalized hit just the right notes of sentimentality.

These positives, however, do little to make up for the many failings of “The Many Saints of Newark.”

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Friday, October 8, 2021 | Arts & Pop Culture | THE TUFTS DAILY

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It’s a ‘Cole World’: J. Cole brings beats to Boston

MACKENZIE TATANANNI / THE TUFTS DAILY

J. Cole’s Oct. 1 performance at TD Garden is pictured.

By Mackenzie Tatananni Contributing Writer

J. Cole seems too big to be contained by the word “artist.” He is a producing, lyric-writing, Grammy award-winning music machine who has amassed a cult following since his first release, “Cole World: The Sideline Story” (2011). The album debuted at No. 1 on the U.S. Billboard 200 chart, and things have only gone up from there. His five subsequent albums would also top the charts (most of these debuting at No. 1). His most recent release, “The Off-Season” (2021), scored Cole his sixth consecutive No. 1 album in the country — so what better time to treat the fans to a concert?

On Oct. 1, Cole embarked on the fifth stop of his Off-Season Tour, landing in Boston’s TD Garden. The venue brimmed with fans clamoring to get through security and to their seats

Paul Osmond For the Culture

Pop culture flirts with intimacy

L

ast year, I observed “the arrival of colorful knitwear with intricate patterns, landscapes and famous artwork” and predicted they would be paired with “’70s printed designs” in 2021. Although I have not seen as many Renaissance paintings knitted into clothing as I would have liked, there has blossomed a homely new connection between streetwear and knitwear.

While streetwear was never against knitwear, it hardly employed the material — growing from skater culture, streetwear material primarily comprised denim and nylon.

However, streetwear’s appreciation (and borderline obsession) with vintage clothing has burgeoned as the formerly “grandma” material has permeated the community.

(not before providing proof of vaccination or a negative COVID-19 test).

The arena was warm, noisy and alive, marking a return to some degree of normalcy.

During the first half, Fayettevillebased newcomer Morray (whom Cole later touted as the “next one out” of their hometown) and fan favorite 21 Savage, who won a Grammy with Cole in 2020 for their collaboration “A Lot,” entertained the crowd. Savage was a dynamic performer, rapping every word to hits like “Red Opps” (2015) — it was admittedly surreal to see the star in the flesh. A large knife-shaped prop at center stage complemented the performance.

Around 10 p.m. (the concert began promptly at 8 p.m.), rabid fans began chanting “J! Cole!” to summon the artist, who broke into a live band-equipped rendition of “95 South,” the first track off the concert’s namesake album.

Performances were sans theatrics, save

for some fog and a flaming basketball hoop, a reference to the “Off-Season” album cover; Cole is such a captivating performer that simply pacing the stage while spitting lyrics drew the eyes of thousands of fans.

The concert felt strangely personal, seeing as Cole included something for everybody — I especially enjoyed his performance of “Let Go My Hand” (2021), a dreamy, introspective track and one of my personal favorites. For the diehard fans, classics like the upbeat “Can’t Get Enough” (2011) and soulful “Power Trip” (2013) were played at full volume; newer fans were pleased to find that Cole covered nine of the 12 tracks off his most recent album, including “Amari,” which has amassed over 16 million views on its music video to date.

And, of course, we can’t forget classics like “G.O.M.D.” and “No Role Modelz,” off the triple platinum-certified “Forest Hills Drive” (2014).

The artist was sure to engage his audience, once through a call-and-response exercise, and through several requests to raise their lights high (well, the flashlights on their phones). He was also strangely earnest with the fans, assuring them that if they didn’t know every lyric to every song, that was alright. This is not to downplay moments when the whole arena chanted lyrics together, of course. When Savage joined Cole onstage to perform “A Lot,” the crowd went crazy, screaming “How much money you got?/ How many problems you got?” in perfect time.

The basketball court-styled stage was stamped with the word “DREAMER,” a testament to Cole’s journey to stardom.

This small detail made me strangely emotional throughout the concert, serving as a constant reminder of how far this self-titled “dreamer” has come, and what an inspiration he continues to be for the next generation of music makers.

What this seems to indicate, as far as I can tell, is that pop culture is flirting with intimacy. The Billboard Hot 100 is full of songs with quite conspicuous themes of intimacy: Coldplay and BTS provide a corny yet cute anthem for one’s love with “My Universe” (2021); on “Stay” (2021), The Kid LAROI and Justin Bieber express regret and admiration for their lovers; Ed Sheeran reflects on his bad habits and their consequences on “Bad Habits” (2021); and Lil Nas X and Jack Harlow combine and interweave personal revelations into the boastful rap we know on “Industry Baby” (2021).

While music is always made to entertain, the emotion and intimacy employed must be acknowledged.

Locally, the Museum of Fine Arts Boston has selected some brilliant, sensitive pieces for exhibition, including Samantha Nye’s masterful “My Heart’s in a Whirl” (2021), the collaborative space that occupies the Community Arts Initiative “Patterns of Greatness” (2020– 21) and “The Banner Project” (2021–22)

by the timeless Lauren Halsey. Diverse in technique and powerful in message, these exhibits share insights into human intimacy.

In media, “Squid Game” (2021–) presents a form of morbid intimacy, but intimacy nonetheless — combining classic children’s games and ruthless horror.

Along with the Korean hit, shows like “Sex Education” (2019–), an all-too familiar tale about teen puberty, modern cartoon revivals like “My Little Pony” (1986–) and “Pokémon” (1997–) and more serious releases like “Maid” (2021) all reflect outreaches to unique points of intimacy for a general audience.

Now, I do not mean to say pop culture has not been intimate in the past, but I must recognize the noticeable influx of exceedingly close and intimate media in recent years. For instance, “Bridgerton” (2020–), “Pose” (2018–21) and “Euphoria” (2019–) all struck chords in my heart — these shows all center around something familiar, perhaps something from our

childhood or something we are currently dealing with. Either way, they represent an intimacy that I have not seen before, where the emotions of the past arise and beautifully appear in the present.

Circling back, this intimacy has reached streetwear.

Undoubtedly influenced by youth pop culture, bigname brands like Supreme and Heron Preston have taken notice and added vintage-style knit cardigans to their collections. While vintage clothing has been in for a few years now, it is fascinating to see the revival of pieces most accurately described as “homely” rather than “vintage” — cable knit sweaters, fluffy socks and sun hats. Streetwear has followed media and music in their recent admiration for homely intimacy and exemplified once more how adaptive and groundbreaking the community can be.

Paul Osmond is a sophomore who has not yet declared a major. Paul can be reached at paul.osmond@tufts.edu.

6

THE TUFTS DAILY | Arts & Pop Culture | Friday, October 8, 2021

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Opinion

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7 Friday, October 8, 2021

VIEWPOINT

We have ignored the nuances of government, and people at the border are suffering as a result

by Andres Borjas Staff Writer

Before being elected into office, President Joe Biden promised to bring urgent change to America’s broken immigration and asylum system. In short, our current president pledged to the public that within his first 100 days, he could undo the cruel and senseless policymaking of the prior four years. Very high on his laundry list of commitments was the termination of the Migrant “Protection” Protocols, better known as the “Remain in Mexico” policy, which bars many asylum seekers from entering the United States while waiting for their cases to be processed. The implementation of Remain in Mexico in 2019 resulted in nothing short of a crisis — a constant state of affairs the Trump administration seemed more than happy to create — as asylum seekers packed into unsafe, unsanitary and inhumane tent cities at the border. At the same time, the cogs of law and bureaucracy determined the fates of these migrants.

For many, the facade that Biden could move mountains of discriminatory migration policy came crashing down with the court-ordered revival of “Remain in Mexico” in late August. As the case has often been for immigration policy, this will most likely mark the beginning of a long and sluggish battle fought in unassuming courtrooms, largely at the whim of executive orders and Homeland Security directives.

There is no doubt in my mind that Biden has good intentions when it comes to migration, and I do not dismiss the president’s promises to continue the fight for fundamental human rights at the border. But his initial willingness to minimize the complexities of our border crisis

into campaign slogans and simple talking points just provides false hope. Not only that, but it enables the conformity of the “aww, I feel for them” voters whose words will always speak louder than their lack of actions.

The oversimplification and false promises are just examples of the president’s catering to his audience. It is we, the American people, that demand that our politics be this devoid of nuance. In order to be intrigued by politics, our ever-decreasing attention spans demand more grandiose narratives. These tall tales of superhero candidates allow us to believe that presidents and parties can transform every inch of the country every four years.

We choose not to see the overcomplicated and stagnant nature of government.

Instead, we treat the minutiae of bureaucracy, policy and law as a black box in which presidents and parties supposedly can move heaven and earth with a Thanos-esque snap of a finger.

It is no surprise then that attentiveness to politics has lessened since so many voters, Democrats in particular, are willing to believe our government is suddenly “good” again. If we were more inclined to read between the lines, it would become clear we still very much are in Trump’s America.

The “Remain in Mexico” tent cities are still standing as a result of the ruling of a single Trump-appointed federal judge and upheld by a Trump-designed Supreme Court. This judge is just one of the former president’s 226 appointees. And this is not the first time the judges kept alive Trump’s legacy while hidden behind the murky veneer of the federal system.

Last February, another Trumpappointed judge derailed Biden’s depor-

BY MIRIAM VODOSEK tation moratorium, upholding an agreement between the Department of Homeland Security and the State of Texas that prevented changes in executive branch migration policy without prior consultation. This arrangement between Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton and Governor Greg Abbott was quietly signed during Trump’s last weeks and is yet another example of the spider webs of Trump’s legacy that still hold a grip on our immigration policy.

And Biden knew this would be the case. He knew this wouldn’t be easy.

Instead, we have been blinded from the plight at the border and expected to enjoy oblivion’s bliss. We let ourselves be sedated by simple dichotomies and thrilling storylines — Biden vs. Trump, Democrat vs. Republican, good vs. evil — which led us to ignore the parts of government that actually make things happen.

I had hoped that the calamitous last days of the Trump administration would’ve catalyzed the end to this civic slumber. Many people frantically wondered why we had a new secretary of defense a week after a presidential election, which Trump administration officials were resigning from after the Jan. 6 insurrection, what the General Services Administration was and why its director was causing problems for Biden’s transition team.

Nevertheless, it should not take the United States hitting the edge of democracy for us to care about bureaucratic policy and judicial battles. We have let our government run on autopilot for far too long, which has led us to the continuation of policies like “Remain in Mexico” and ultimately contributed to the rotting of our national values from the inside out.

VIEWPOINT

Intersectionality in the face of tragedy

by Faye Shen Li Thijssen Opinion Editor

In June, 22-year-old Gabby Petito and her fiance Brian Laundrie embarked on a cross-country road trip. For the majority of the trip, Petito maintained regular contact with her friends and family, but her communication abruptly stopped at the end of August. Laundrie returned home from the road trip alone on Sept. 1, offering no mention of the whereabouts or conditions of his fiance. Ten days later, Gabby Petito was reported missing by her parents.

In the weeks after her disappearance, her case gained national interest among officials and the general public as media outlets began to pick up on her story.

Within days of reporting her disappearance, the FBI became involved with Petito’s case. On Sept. 19, her remains were found in Wyoming by law enforcement. The FBI soon ruled the death a homicide, listing her fiance as a person of interest in her murder. Local law enforcement and the FBI are currently searching for Laundrie after he left his parents’ house in Florida.

The search for Petito — and now the manhunt for her fiance — also gained

substantial traction through various social media platforms. Since her reported disappearance just a few weeks ago, the hashtag #gabbypetito has garnered over 1.3 billion views across thousands of videos on TikTok. Some of these videos come from concerned users and content creators who aim to use their platforms to spread awareness regarding Petito’s case in a genuine attempt to help solve the case.

However, another section of social media seems to be centered around the enticement and fascination surrounding the mystery of Petito’s disappearance.

‘Amateur detectives’ began to take it upon themselves to detail their own personal investigation of the case, including hashtags like #crimejunkie and #truecrime. This increasing trend in the sensationalization of violence against women desensitizes audiences into watching tragedies unfold for entertainment.

Additionally, it creates a social environment devoid of consideration of the real impacts of this violence on victims and their families.

As efforts to bring Petito’s murderer to justice persist, many have begun to question why Petito — a young, conventionally attractive white woman — gained such rapid and widespread attention while the disappearances of millions of other peo-

ple, particularly women of color, go largely unnoticed.

In 2021, the National Public Radio reported that there were nearly 100,000 Black women missing in the United States as of last year. The National Crime Information Center reported nearly 6,000 cases of missing Indigenous women as of 2016 while the U.S. Department of Justice reported only 116. The discrepancy between these numbers depicts an erasure of the violence experienced by non-white women. We rarely see the kind of attention Petito’s disappearance received extended to the women of color who go missing each year — a trend in disproportionate media coverage known as “missing white woman syndrome.”

On Sept. 28, Gabby’s father, Joseph Petito, spoke with a room of reporters regarding his daughter’s disappearance and murder. “I want to ask everyone to help all the people that are missing … It’s on all of you, everyone that’s in this room to do that,” he said, pointing to the reporters and cameras in front of him. “And if you don’t do that for other people that are missing, that’s a shame, because it’s not just Gabby that deserves it.”

Ultimately, there are two important messages which must be heard and

understood throughout the community in the wake of Petito’s tragic death.

The first is that cases of violence against women must be treated with more dignity, respect and consideration for the harm that is inflicted, not only through the acts of violence themselves but also through the insensitive public discourse that follows.

Additionally, Petito’s case, while entirely deserving of the attention and urgency it received, highlighted the disparity between the hyper attentiveness toward disappearances of white women versus the general apathy toward the disappearances of women of color.

These conversations, whether they are broadcasted through media outlets or shared among members of the public, must involve greater attention and action toward violence perpetrated against women of color and transgender women. These intersectional demographics, who suffer disproportionately from acts of violence, are too often left out of our conversations. This apathy inevitably exacerbates the immense systemic and generational trauma inflicted upon women in minority demographics.

Justice will never truly be served until all instances of violence against women receive the attention they deserve.

8 Friday, October 8, 2021

Sports

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Field hockey triumphs with commanding victories in NESCAC matchups

OLIVIA BELLO / THE TUFTS DAILY

Tufts field hockey players run onto the field after defeating Hamilton 4-0 at Ounjian Field on Oct. 3.

by Keriann Slayton Contributing Writer

Tufts field hockey took on Hamilton College in a conference matchup on Sunday and came away with a convincing 4–0 win. Fresh off of a 4–2 victory over the Bates Bobcats on Saturday, the Jumbos carried their momentum and stuck to their game plan, which led them to success.

After this successful NESCAC double-header, the Jumbos stand at an impressive 6–1 record and a perfect 4–0 in conference play.

“We wanted to come out ready,” firstyear forward Chloe Brants said. “Right when the game started, we wanted to be playing our best.”

The team lived up to this simple set of expectations, scoring early and main-

taining a high-energy atmosphere for the entire game. Players contributed to that spirited environment whether in the thick of the action on the astroturf or providing support from the bench.

“I cheer so loud on the sidelines, it’s so much fun,” Brants said. “It elevates the energy on the field, and it’s encouraging.”

Senior forward Gillian Roeca spearheaded the victory charge, scoring twice and getting ahead of the Continentals within the first eight minutes. Senior forward Claire Foley extended the lead to three in the third period, and junior midfielder Reegan McCluskey put the game solidly out of reach, adding a fourth goal in the final period. Junior goalkeeper Sam Gibby kept the Jumbos comfortable with two saves. These efforts combined allowed

the Jumbos to walk away with a 4–0 win on their senior day.

“The thing about our team is that everyone contributes,” Brants said. “They blow my mind. It’s not a single player, it’s every single player, which is also what helped our success.”

On Saturday, Tufts matched up with Bates and added another NESCAC win to its record with a 4–2 victory. Although Bates started off the scoring 4:30 into the game, Tufts responded just 30 seconds later with a goal from first-year forward Kylie Rosenquest, assisted by Roeca.

The Jumbos used this quick goal as fuel to their fire, adding one more in the first quarter and one in the second. Senior midfielder/defender Sophie Schoeni and Rosenquest both scored a goal and assist-

ed each other’s goals, putting Tufts up 3–1 going into halftime.

In the second half, Bates began a comeback by scoring in the third period; however, its efforts were not enough. Senior midfielder and co-captain Beth Krikorian sealed off the win for the Jumbos with a goal in the fourth quarter.

Tufts will face tough competition in two away games against Trinity and Middlebury this weekend. Middlebury is currently ranked at No. 1 in Div. III by the National Field Hockey Coaches Association, with Tufts at No. 4 and Trinity at No. 5. The ranked matchups will make for exciting competition. The Jumbos will look to maintain their undefeated NESCAC record in this next double-header.

Junior goalkeeper Ella Frantzen brings confidence to women’s soccer

by Nicole Setow Sports Editor

As fall sports resumed this season, the question on many athletes’ minds was how the effects of COVID-19 would still be felt. For Tufts women’s soccer, that question is a complicated one. Though spectators are now permitted at games, and athletes are no longer required to wear face masks while playing, the last time the team competed together was fall 2019. That was junior goalkeeper Ella Frantzen’s first year at Tufts and on the team.

The last time Frantzen competed was when she lived in Tilton Hall. In between classes and practice, she sat in her common room drinking orange juice straight from the jug. Fast forward two years later, Frantzen officially outgrew her orange juice obsession and is now considered a veteran on the team.

“It definitely feels odd to be considered an upperclassman [especially because we missed last season] – and we’re for sure still figuring out exactly what that means – but it is cool to know that we have such an active role and impact on the team,” Frantzen wrote in an email to the Daily.

Ultimately, what makes a veteran isn’t necessarily the number of minutes spent competing. It’s about mindset, maturity and self-confidence. These qualities are very much evident in how Frantzen speaks about her team and her role on it. Though she’s currently on the mend after shoulder surgery from this past summer, Frantzen radiates confidence when speaking about

her recovery plan and outlook for the season.

“We know we are capable of winning a NESCAC championship and making a deep NCAA run, we just need to get into our groove,” she said.

Despite a respectable 5–3 start to the season, Frantzen and her team are far from complacent. To her, getting the Jumbos in championship form means reestablishing team chemistry and prioritizing fundamentals. “[This start is] not accurate of how talented we are this year and we’re all looking forward to figuring out how we tick, again,” Frantzen said. “Moving forward, we just need to get back to focusing on the basics and work on finally putting together an entire 90 minutes of clean Jumbo soccer.”

Back home growing up with three siblings, Frantzen learned to be fiercely independent. While her siblings, Tolson, Story and Arden, loved staying in and reading, Ella preferred running around chasing big dogs in the rain. Even today, she jokes about her inability to sit still. If she couldn’t drag her siblings out for adventure-seeking, she gladly pursued these endeavors on her own.

This boldness translates well to the field; Frantzen’s fearlessness and gut instincts shine when she’s keeping the net. Her saves can only be described as explosive, and while penalty kicks may seem like a goalkeeper’s worst nightmare, Frantzen finds these high-pressure scenarios thrilling. She says that there’s no time to overthink when the fate of the game lies solely in her hands.

COURTESY ELLA FRANTZEN

Junior goalkeeper Ella Frantzen is pictured in her Air Froce Reserve Officer Training Corps uniform.

Even off the field, Frantzen makes sure to occupy her restlessness. As a chemistry major and member of the Air Force Reserve Officer Training Corps, Frantzen is perpetually running on coffee and four hours of sleep. Her packed schedule leaves her with little free time to call home, read or prepare anything

other than peanut butter toast for meals.

At the end of the day though, she insists wouldn’t change any aspect of her schedule.

“Fighting on the field for Tufts and eventually fighting on the lines for this country are what it’s all about for me,” Frantzen said.