October 20, 2015

Alumnus Dan Pashman to host live recording of “The Sporkful” podcast in Cohen see ARTS AND LIVING / PAGE 5

“Steve Jobs” delivers complex portrayal of Apple CEO

Despite numerous scoring opportunities, women’s club soccer draws with St. Anselm 0-0 see SPORTS / BACK PAGE

see Arts and Living / page 5

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T HE T UFTS DAILY

VOLUME LXX, NUMBER 28

Tuesday, October 20, 2015

MEDFORD/SOMERVILLE, MASS.

“We can’t wait for

the Green Line to come and then

react.”

The Next

{ Mayor } of Medford

on the Green Line, one of the most contested topics of 2015

by Robert Katz

Contributing Writer

Medford mayoral candidates Stephanie Muccini Burke and Robert Penta faced off in the city’s first debate of its kind in 28 years at the Chevalier Theater on Oct. 15.

Both candidates seek to replace resigning Mayor Michael McGlynn, who yesterday endorsed Burke to be his successor for the next term, according to a story in Wicked Local Medford.

The two-and-a-half-hour debate was moderated by Fox 25 investigative reporter Kerry Kavanaugh. A panel of five prominent Medford residents posed a range of questions prompted by submissions from city residents to Penta, a Medford city councilor, and Burke, a former Medford city councilor and director of budget and personnel.

During the debate, Penta described his policy package, which he referred to as the “Penta Plan.” His plan details the need to revamp the city’s parking kiosk system, create an Office of Cultural Affairs, build a new police department with a restructured financial plan, refurbish the city’s public library, conduct an independent auditing review of the city’s financial records and initiate a “Street Recovery Program.” At

“Think about the business loss that’s going

A quick look at the candidates’ positions

to take place.

The loss of taxes, the loss of employment.”

the core of Penta’s platform was a need for transparency, he explained.

Burke drew from her municipal credentials as well as her experience as a working mom and small business owner. Her platform emphasized the revitalization of Medford’s culture and economy in places such as Medford Square through a fiveyear master plan, the improvement of City Hall’s customer service and the utilization of Mystic River, she said.

The two candidates offered similar answers to many debate questions; they agreed on the need to review and revise the city’s charter, the importance of bolstering Medford Square’s economic power and to respond to the city’s opioid crisis.

The candidates were sharply at odds over some issues, however, including the integration of the Green Line into Medford.

While Burke said she was interested in developing a station at Route 16, Penta said he was highly skeptical of that plan and encouraged greater investigation into the potential effects it will have on West Medford’s businesses.

The candidates also clashed over the issue of Medford’s parking kiosks, with Burke saying she wanted to work see MEDFORD MAYOR, page 2

tuftsdaily.com

On Medford Square Create five-year plan, including revitalizing arts and forming partnerships with businesses

Hire grant writer to form more business partnerships; integrate New Office of Cultural Affairs with Square

Contributing Writer

Tufts Ornithological Society (TOS), which held its inaugural meeting on Oct. 15, is a newly founded group for students interested in ornithology.

According to TOS founder and President Henry Stevens, the group has already generated student interest, with 18 interested people contacting Stevens within two days of his Oct. 9 post about TOS in the Tufts Class of 2019 Facebook group.

Stevens, a first-year, said he started TOS because ornithology, or birding, is his primary interest in life and because he wanted to create a group for students interested in ecology.

“I want to give them a club where they can express their interests and maybe learn something new,” he said.

Partly Cloudy 65 / 46

As the founder, Stevens said his role for the ornithological group so far has been to recruit members, to get TOS recognized by the Tufts Community Union (TCU) Senate and to apply for funding.

After this initial work, TOS will be able to do more as a club, including arranging for speakers to come to campus, he explained.

“I can [then] start hosting larger scale events like bringing local ornithologists from the Boston area to give talks,” he said.

Stevens also plans on organizing trips to local birding hotspots.

“The purpose of TOS is to educate the Tufts community on the avian species of New England, their biology and their ecological significance, as well as to take field trips out to local birding hotspots in order to observe the beautiful biodiversity that New

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by Nicole Brooks Features Editor

England has to offer,” he wrote in the Class of 2019 Facebook group.

Stevens said that his interest in ornithology started when he took a class on it during his senior year of high school, inspiring him to take a gap year to further study ornithology before coming to Tufts. During his gap year, Stevens traveled to Belize for several months, where he worked as an avian intern at the Toucan Ridge Ecology and Education Society, an ecological conservation organization, before returning home to be a teaching assistant for the ornithology class at his high school.

“Doing that work [during my gap year] made me realize that this is something that I want to do…as a career,” he said. “Now I consider it my greatest passion.”

Last year, national media coverage focused on several cases of unrest, largely in the form of protests in which activists called the world’s attention to police brutality — particularly excessive force and the targeting of black bodies in the United States. This call for justice, policy changes and rectification of the various economic, social and educational inequalities developed into the Black Lives Matter movement. Following national protests, 18 protestors in Milton and Somerville — who came to be known as the “Somerville 18” — blocked four lanes of southbound traffic on I-93 in solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement on the morning of Jan. 15.

According to a Jan. 16 article on BostInno, a total of 29 protesters were arrested on Jan. 15, 18 of whom blocked I-93 at Exit 30 near Somerville. Following these arrests, the Middlesex District Attorney’s (DA) Office has charged the protesters with trespassing on state property, resisting arrest, disorderly conduct, conspiracy and carrying a dangerous weapon.

In a solidarity statement in conjunction with their action, the protesters revealed their commitment to continuing the conversations engaged by Black Lives Matter, especially with regard to the greater Boston area.

“We hold ourselves accountable, as nonBlack people, to turn up and disrupt business as usual,” the Somerville 18 group wrote.

“Today, our nonviolent direct action is a manifestation of our long-term commitment to confronting our nation’s racist power structure as part of achieving the liberation of all oppressed people, always by uplifting and centering Black liberation. We expose the reality that Boston is a city where white commuters and students use the city and leave, while Black and Brown communities are targeted by police, exploited and displaced.”

The statuses of the defendants’ cases vary, according to Elizabeth Vlock, a spokesperson for Middlesex DA Marian Ryan, who corresponded with the Daily through email.

“On Sept. 24, one defendant admitted to sufficient facts on the charges of trespass on state property and conspiracy,” Vlock said.

“The judge sentenced the defendant to…60 hours of community service [over six months], plus $65 monthly probation fee and $90 victim witness fee. Two defendants have a jury trial scheduled for Dec. 2. The remaining defendants are scheduled for a status hearing on Oct. 29.”

see BIRDING, page 2

see BLM, page 3

On the Opioid Crisis Continue to fight; train first responders and educate in schools

Continue to fight; ensure respect for families

On Public Schools Enhance public school systems by involving parents; addressing questions of the Common Core; pay to repair infrastructure (in excess of $1 million)

Let parents know that public school teachers are as good as private school teachers; invest in repairing infrastructure

On Bicycle Safety Complete Streets Program, including bike paths

Bicylicists should be held responsible for not following road laws; educate bicyclists

On the Greenline Continue proposed route to Route 16

Route 16 station should be cautiously studied, could have negative impact on West Medford community

Shirley Wang / The Tufts Daily

First-year Henry Stevens founds Tufts Ornithological Society

by Gil Jacobson

Somerville 18 face charges for blocking I-93

Contact Us P.O. Box 53018, Medford, MA 02155 617 627 3090 FAX 617 627 3910 daily@tuftsdaily.com

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THE TUFTS DAILY | News | Tuesday, October 20, 2015

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News News

First-year student creates birding group at Tufts BIRDING

continued from page 1 Stevens hopes to fuel fellow Tufts students’ interest in ornithology by taking them out on several field trips to observe and learn about birds.

“Birding is not something you grow up enjoying,” Stevens said. “I think if people join the club and started to learn about birds, [they] may realize that they’re very interested in…ecological-related topics like ornithology.”

First-year Thomas Coons said that he believes TOS will give him opportunities to have fun outside of his academic work.

“I think the structure is…cool,” Coons said. “It’s very field trip-based, [while] a lot of [other] clubs here are meeting-based … It’s

so nature-oriented, too. [Participating in the group] should be kind of relaxing.”

Ethan Freedman, a senior, said he became involved with TOS because Tufts doesn’t have any other groups focused on wildlife and preservation, even though it has many environmental groups centered around issues such as sustainability and energy.

“Birding is a really cool, really interesting hobby,” Freedman said. “It’s something that can really bring people together. It’s a great way to get out into nature. It’s kind of hard to explain why bird watching is so interesting, so you [need to] go out and try it.”

Freedman considers birding a combination of hiking, going on a scavenger hunt and solving a puzzle.

“You’re going out and looking for things and keeping a list of what you see,” he said.

“Then if you see a bird…sort of off in the distance…you gather all of the clues together that you can until you sort of get a [better idea] of what it is.”

According to Freedman, anyone can join TOS regardless of birding experience, including upperclassmen who just want something fun to do on the side.

“We’re really happy to teach you about birds,” he said. “We’re really happy to just take anyone out on trips. We’re planning on going to lots of different places, so if you want…transportation and people to go watch with, we can [provide] that, too.”

Shirley Wang / The Tufts Daily

Tufts professor awarded $1.5 million grant to study Ebola

by Joe Walsh

Contributing Writer

Dr. James Munro, an assistant professor of molecular biology at the Tufts Sackler School of Graduate Biomedical Sciences, was recently granted the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Director’s New Innovator Award of $1.5 million to study the transmission of Ebola.

According to Dr. Ravi Basavappa, a program leader for the NIH Common Fund, the New Innovator Award is presented annually to approximately 30 to 50 early-career scientists every year. “[Grant recipients] should have already demonstrated a track record of being unusually creative, of being able to think outside the box,” Basavappa said.

Dr. John Leong, professor and chair of the Department of Molecular Biology and Microbiology, said that Munro’s postdoctoral work with the HIV virus, as well as his background as a biophysicist, qualified him for the competitive award. Two other award recipients work in the department, but Munro is the only faculty member in the department to study Ebola, according to Leong. “[Munro’s work] is reflective, at Tufts, of trying to stretch disciplinary boundaries and utilize the full breadth of modern technology to attack problems in infectious disease,” Leong said.

Munro’s research of Ebola follows increased public awareness of the virus after a recent outbreak in West Africa that began in

March 2014, and killed approximately 11,312 people in Liberia, Sierra Leone, Guinea and other West African countries, according to a BBC News article. There is currently no known cure for Ebola, but there are a number of vaccines under development.

Munro said he intends to use the grant to study how Ebola uses glycoproteins, which reside on the surface of the virus, to enter other cells. Using a process called pseudotyping, he will use the Vesicular Stomatitis Virus (VSV) to study Ebola’s glycoprotein without actually having to use the Ebola virus in his research.

“In this case, what we’re doing is taking the envelope glycoprotein from Ebola…and expressing that on the surface of a completely unrelated viral particle — one that is not a human pathogen at all,” Munro said.

“It’s a very common strategy for studying Ebola entry.”

Before studying Ebola, Munro researched the HIV virus’ entry into cells using a similar method, since HIV has a similar glycoprotein. He said researching glycoproteins could generate insights on a range of other viruses, including the flu and the respiratory syncytial virus (RSV).

“The fact that we’ve gone from [studying] HIV now to Ebola is not really [an] accident,” Munro said. “The broader goal beyond just Ebola research is to generate a toolbox of methods that can be used to study the entry of essentially any virus.”

Basavappa said that understanding how glycoproteins on the surface move

could really aid in understanding the function of these proteins.

“Although good progress is being made on the development of vaccines against Ebola, there’s still a place for doing fundamental research that can help us understand better how the surface proteins change… their conformation,” Basavappa said.

Munro’s research will explore why the gene that controls Ebola’s glycoprotein mutated more frequently than any other part of the virus’ genome during the West Africa outbreak. He attributed this to glycoproteins’ presence on the surface of the Ebola virus, which makes it a target for an immune response and thus more likely to evolve. Munro, however, hopes that his research will help discover cures to Ebola, even if the virus has mutations.

“The approach that we’re taking should be broadly applicable to any Ebola strain,” he said. “And in fact one of the questions we’re interested in asking and answering is how that mutation changes the structure of the glycoprotein, because thus far there has really been no investigation of that at all.”

Jeffrey Griffiths, a professor of public health and community medicine, said the grant Munro received shows the quality of his department’s work.

“I’m really delighted to see that, even though Tufts is not a large place, we’re still on the cutting edge,” Griffiths said. “I think it speaks to the high quality of the Department of Molecular Biology and Microbiology that this kind of grant was received.”

According to Griffiths, the spread of Ebola in West Africa is due partially to the region’s underdeveloped health and sanitary infrastructure. However, Griffiths said poverty is only part of the puzzle and that infectious diseases can be overcome in impoverished areas.

“Smallpox was eradicated from the world during a period of time when the infrastructure was even worse than it is now,” he said.

“I wouldn’t see [roadblocks created by poverty] as a deal breaker. I would see that as a challenge.”

Griffiths said that, throughout the history of Ebola outbreaks in Uganda, healthcare workers have been able to quickly stop outbreaks from becoming epidemics through quarantine.

“You don’t have to be a rich country to be able to do this; you can be a relatively poor country and still do a pretty good job at… isolation,” he said.

Griffiths said it is concerning that politicians’ interest in Ebola will decline now that the West Africa epidemic has ended, but he is confident that the NIH and other health agencies will still focus on preventing another large-scale outbreak.

Munro said he remains optimistic that Ebola research will continue to be a priority.

“While this particular outbreak [in West Africa] does seem to have waned, there’s no doubt that there is an ongoing threat of future epidemics,” he said. “And now that we’ve seen how widespread this virus can be, I think we’ll see future emphasis on Ebola research.”

Candidates debate to succeed longtime Medford mayor

MEDFORD MAYOR

continued from page 1 with small businesses to improve the city’s recently implemented pay-to-park kiosks and Penta saying that he was against the kiosks altogether.

Medford resident Cameron Breen and her daughter, Natalie Breen, felt that Penta had a more confident performance.

“I would have to say Penta won just because I feel like he gave more concrete examples,” Natalie Breen said. “I feel like he gave more specific details, like ‘I am going to do X, Y and Z.’ It was very to the point.”

Medford High School seniors Simon Ospenson and Michael Walker agreed that Penta “dominated” during the debate.

“To be frank, he’s a superior public speaker to Ms. Burke by far,” Ospenson said. “He also seemed to have a lot more support from the audience. A lot of his speeches had a lot of cheering after them that you really didn’t see with Ms. Burke.”

Medford City Councilor Paul Camuso, who is publicly in support of Burke, said he

was less impressed by Penta’s performance.

“I think Burke was more in-depth with the answers,” Camuso said. “Her opponent, I think, at some points, was very evasive, not answering the questions…[W]hen her opponent was asked the same question [about the Community Preservation Act], there was no answer,” he said, referring to a law passed by the state in 2000 that will be put on the city ballot Nov. 3. The law would place a surcharge on residents’ taxes to pay for “preservation of open space, improvement of recreation, historic preservation and the development of affordable housing,” according to PreserveMedford. org. While Burke came out in support of the bill, Camuso believed Penta offered no concrete stance.

“I still don’t know whether he’s for it or against it, and the debate is over,” Camuso said.

Medford resident Milva McDonald said she thought gender may have played a role in the dynamic between the two candidates.

“Burke was more substantive, Penta had

a little more fire to him,” McDonald said.

“Burke is a woman in politics, and it’s very difficult for a woman in politics to display any kind of emotion or passion because they get targeted, so I always take that into consideration when I’m watching a debate that involves a woman.”

Walker offered a similar opinion on the candidates’ different demeanors. “[Burke] was trying to seem more calm and reasonable while she was talking and [was] presenting her points to seem like she might be more rational and reasonable in her decision-making,” he said.

McDonald said she agreed with much of what Burke said, especially regarding the Green Line and the need to make the city friendlier and safer for pedestrians and bicyclists. She added that the election could have reverberations in community representation.

“It’s a big deal because we have had the same mayor for so long, and there’s been a certain level of stagnation in city government — not just because of the mayor, but also because of the way the city is

structured [in the city charter],” McDonald said. “I think there [are] certain segments of the city that feel like they haven’t had a voice, so I think there might be more hope now that they get a voice. The idea that we might have new blood in the city council and we’re going to have a new mayor gives people a certain feeling of excitement.”

Camuso said that having a new leader of Medford is “unprecedented territory.”

“I’m 38 years old, and I remember Mike McGlynn when I was 10 and his kids were very little,” he said. “It’s a very exciting time of year here in Medford, absolutely.”

For Walker, a resident who has only seen one mayor in his lifetime, going to the debate was worth the extra credit points he received in his class for attending.

“I think I probably still would have tried to go even if I didn’t get that,” he said.

According to Wicked Local Medford, a second debate between the mayoral candidates will take place Oct. 28 at Medford High School. Election day for the mayoral candidates will take place on Nov. 3.

Tuesday, October 20, 2015

FEATURES

Somerville mayor calls for charges against protesters to be dropped BLM

continued from page 1 The Somerville 18 members were unable to comment about the case since its proceedings are ongoing. However, various groups and individuals — including Somerville Mayor Joseph Curtatone — have called for support of the protesters and petitioned to have the charges facing them dropped.

In an open letter to the public on Sept.

23, Curtatone wrote that he respected the DA’s Office’s responsibility to prosecute but called for the charges to be dropped as he feels the punishments proposed are too severe for the actions they are intended to penalize.

“There is no respect for the right to protest when the punishment proposed is completely disproportionate to the action taken,” Curtatone wrote. “The news cycle has moved on for those inconvenienced by the traffic delays, but the Somerville 18 face excessive charges for that act of protest …

[P]eaceful protesters are commonly arrested but never even booked, or at most are given a small fine.”

The mayor cited the historic parallels between the Somerville 18’s mission and the Civil Rights Movement, and noted the irony of the protesters’ case in light of previous Bostonarea protests.

“They went beyond the usual sidewalk protest to be sure they would be heard, just as area police and firefighters did when they blocked our interstates and major roadways repeatedly in the early 1980s to protest layoffs,” Curtatone wrote. “Back then, not a single firefighter or police officer was arrested for their actions. The Boston Police Commissioner at the time demonstrated respect for their right to protest. He was right to do so.”

Othersupporters organizeda#Somerville18 National Week of Action Rally, which included suggestions for supporters to voice their concerns about the charges and potential sentencing of the protesters, such as an organized day of solidarity at the Somerville District Court on Sept. 24, a scripted outline for calling the DA’s office to urge her to drop the charges, Twitter hashtags “#DROPTHECHARGES” and “#BlackLivesMatter” to raise awareness on social media and an online petition.

This online petition repeated the mission of the protesters and expressed concern regarding the effect that a precedent of severe charges could have on future protests and demonstrations in the Boston area.

“The #Somerville18 believes DA Ryan’s excessive punishments reinforce a nationwide intimidation tactic to suppress demonstrations, particularly those in solidarity with Black Lives Matter,” the petition reads. “Take action now to stand with the #Somerville18 and push back against the criminalization of demonstrations in Boston and beyond. Tell DA Ryan that 90 days jail time, 18 months probation and $14,580 in restitution fines are unreasonable punishments for demonstrations. DA Ryan’s hostile punishments set a dangerous precedent that restricts civic participation and violates First Amendment rights. Tell DA Ryan to drop the charges now!”

The Black Lives Matter movement continues to receive media coverage, and it has carved out space in the national dialogue of the upcoming presidential election, as candidates’ stances on issues such as mass incarceration, policing policies and economic inequalities were discussed during the first Democratic National Debate, as well as within the Republican Party.

“On the Democratic nominee debate… they actually talked about Black Lives Matter,” Orly Clerge, an assistant professor

3 tuftsdaily.com

Clara Wagner To Life, Sincerely Clara

An open letter to Parents Weekend

D

Nicholas Pfosi for The Tufts Daily

A march that took place in Somerville and Cambridge as part of the national Black Lives Matter movement on Dec. 5, 2014 was one of several such actions in the greater Boston area last year and this year. The “Somerville 18” face charges for participating in a similar protest on Jan. 15. of sociology and Africana studies, said. “I mean this has really been a very long time, when Jesse Jackson was thinking about running for the Rainbow Coalition. Since when has race been talked about? I know we live in an Obama-era, and we have a Black president per se, and he’s brought up these topics. But really to have white politicians take this seriously…that was the result of the Black Lives Matter movement. Them interrupting political rallies and fundraising events and saying, ‘You know what, why aren’t the lives of Black individuals on your political agenda?’”

According to Clerge, who specializes in the study of socioeconomic opportunities and the sociology of race and ethnicity, the Somerville 18’s actions provide an example of what a democracy is meant to allow.

“They have the political will, the drive and courage to interrupt a system that is treating themselves, their families, friends, social networks [and] people in their networks differently, and they’re being essentially punished for that,” Clerge said. “They did break laws, and there needs to be repercussions for it. But as we know in the United States, we won’t have a more perfect democracy unless individuals from the bottom who are systematically disadvantaged…are heard, and oftentimes your voice isn’t heard until you break some laws– until you bring attention to things that are often ignored.”

Clerge believes that the Black Lives Matter movement is contributing to an important historical moment, particularly as it continues its mission to bring race into public and political discussion.

“I think that the time period in which we are living is a fascinating one, and we’ll look back in 25 to 30 years and see this moment as this sort of neo-civil rights movement,” she said.

According to Clerge, the movement’s protests, rallies, calls for social justice and focus on policing policies have largely been recorded, shared and networked through the use of social media, which has been a defining part of the movement.

“Black Lives Matter has done a very interesting and unique job of tapping into the ways in which technology can bolster this social moment,” Clerge said. “You can be in Boston protesting police brutality, and at the same time you know what’s going on in L.A., Chicago, Singapore and…Kingston. That in itself is both mind-blowing and revolutionary.

As we know, social movements are path-dependent; if they spring up in one area they might spread in other areas, because if one person…or a group of individuals are having the same kind of issue, [they could be] inspired by a movement going on elsewhere [and] can strategize and ask questions to figure out how to organize and replicate what’s going on there.”

Though Boston has not recently gained the level of national attention for police brutality as cases similar to those of Ferguson, MO, Baltimore, MD or Staten Island, NY, Clerge dismissed the idea that Boston was free of problems such as racial discrimination or economic inequalities.

“Boston is a very racial[ly] segregated city; it’s economically stratified,” Clerge said. “As much as people would like to believe that there is not as much police brutality, there is actually significant police brutality that is going on in Boston that is kind of brushed under the radar. Maybe there [haven’t] been as many murders as in other cities, maybe lives haven’t been taken, but to experience issues of stop and frisk, to be targets of police surveillance, that’s the condition of Black communities across the country, and Boston is not immune to that.”

Though Boston did not see unrest on the scale of Ferguson or Baltimore, several demonstrations aligned with the Black Lives Matter movement took place last winter. These included a peaceful protest on the night of Nov. 25, 2014, in which over 80 Tufts students participated, and a city-wide protest organized by Tufts students along with other college students. The goal was to spark four-minute die-in demonstrations as a tribute to Michael Brown, as well as to raise awareness of the movement, according to a Boston Globe story on Dec. 6, 2014 Clerge noted the significant details of the Black Lives Matter demonstrations in Boston as being shaped greatly by the diversity of the people included within the protests. Clerge explained how she was present at a Black Lives Matter protest in Boston Common during last year’s Christmas tree lighting.

“There were thousands and thousands of people there, and they weren’t all black,” Clerge said. “The majority was non-black. I was fascinated with just how multi-racial and multi-ethnic the Black Lives Matter movement was within the setting. I think Boston as well as several other cities experienced that same kind of protest moment where it brought together all types of people from all walks of life.”

While the Boston community waits to hear about the results of the Somerville 18 case, the demonstrations by the Somerville 18, college student protesters, older generations and multiethnic groups reveal the changes for which many Bostonians are willing to protest and sacrifice, according to Clerge.

“Just like any college town, you have really smart and progressive young people who want to see change,” Clerge said. “And they understand that we live in the Obama era and…although society is construed as post-racial, [many people] still get… — either through the material they are reading in their courses or in their everyday life experiences — that inequality is real and it’s lived.”

ear Parents and Family Weekend, One of my favorite ideas in life is that “everyone has a story.”

I feel like whenever I’m able to keep that in mind, the world becomes a better place. People become discoveries waiting to happen, and I’m put in a mindset that urges me to try and understand where people are coming from instead of judging where they stand.

I’m also a very big fan of parents. First of all, my own mom and dad are probably my favorite people in the world. They are, simply put, the best. However, I’m also just very pro-parent in general. I think that so much of what we have and who we are is (for better or for worse) because of the people who raised us. Everyone comes from a different background, but that’s what makes parents so interesting. They are a huge part of understanding who someone is and where they’re coming from. If you want to learn someone’s story, their parents are a good place to start.

At college though, that’s easier said than done. Most of the time, parents are a removed concept — they “exist,” but that’s about it. Except during Parents and Family Weekend. All of a sudden, a hundred windows open into the lives and stories of the people who you thought you knew.

Some parents are doppelganger-versions of their kids; others couldn’t be less of what you expected.

And so parents weekend, here’s to you.

You drive some kids absolutely insane, and others (like me) have been excitedly counting down the weekends until your arrival. You create an awkward, weird, annual intersection between two different worlds, and definitely cause some cringe-worthy moments. But that makes sense, doesn’t it? Any time that worlds collide, things are bound be a bit uncomfortable. But it’s also in those situations that we learn the most about each other, and about ourselves.

Our relationships with our parents change over time, and college is perhaps one of the biggest periods for that. And so I encourage you — whether your parents came to Tufts this weekend or not — to take a second and to reflect on how your parents fit into your own story. Because whether you like it or not, they’re a part of you, and I think we should always try to embrace all of ourselves — including the parent parts.

At least for me, Parents and Family Weekend was pretty awesome. Not only did I get to hang out with two of my favorite people on earth, but now when I look at people, I see a more complete story. I can imagine birthday parties and angsty middle school arguments, crazy family vacations and typical week-night dinners. Those are small things, but I think they make a surprisingly big difference in who we are and who we become. Until next year.

Sincerely, Clara Wagner A Note: In this article I use the word “parents” for the sake of simplicity. But my message extends to anyone who played a part in raising you, in whatever form that took. “Parent” is a role, not a biological label.

Clara Wagner is a first-year student who has not yet declared a major. She can be reached at clara.wagner@tufts.edu.

4

THE TUFTS DAILY | ADVERTISEMENT | Tuesday, October 20, 2015

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Committee on Student Life (CSL) is now accepting nominations for the…

2016 WENDELL PHILLIPS AWARD

The Wendell Phillips Memorial Scholarship is one of two prize scholarships (the other being assigned to Harvard University), which were established in 1896 by the Wendell Phillips Memorial Fund Association in honor of Boston’s great preacher and orator. The award is given annually to the junior or senior who has best demonstrated both marked ability as a speaker and a high sense of public responsibility. The recipient of the award receives a cash prize and traditionally is selected as the only student speaker at the Baccalaureate Ceremony in May. Nominees will be invited to apply and following a review of finalists, the Committee on Student Life will select this year’s recipient in March 2015. .

To nominate student(s) go to http://ocl.tufts.edu/wendellphillips/ and complete the on-line nomination form Nomination Deadline: November 2, 2015, 5:00 pm \

Nominated students must be a current Senior or Junior.

Students may nominate themselves or other students.

For further information contact Joseph Golia, Director Office for Campus Life at joseph.golia@tufts.edu or x73212

Tuesday, October 20, 2015

ARTS&LIVING

5 tuftsdaily.com

Maya Blackstone A Semester of Netflix

Movie Review

‘XOXO, Gossip Girl’

I

Francois Duhamel / Universal Pictures / TNS

Seth Rogen and Michael Fassbender deliver compelling performances in “Steve Jobs,” which will go into wide release Oct. 23.

Danny Boyle’s ‘Steve Jobs’ deftly portays flawed Apple executive

by Jonah Allon

Contributing Writer

One surprise of “Steve Jobs,” which will be released on Oct. 23, is how much it — and its enigmatic subject, portrayed brilliantly by an often detestable Michael Fassbender — dwells on the past. This is Steve Jobs, after all, a man who arguably had more of a hand in shaping “the future” than any other tech executive in the past 30 years.

And yet, from time to time, the eponymous hero is seized by painful remembrances, sometimes depicted in a brief flicker across the screen.

This choice of portrayal might sound like a drag, but the good news is that flashbacks do not figure prominently in the narrative of “Steve Jobs.” The film, directed by Danny Boyle, charts Jobs’ trajectory in three identically structured acts — the first in 1984, in the minutes leading up to the official launch of the original Macintosh personal computer; the second in 1989, after Jobs

has been thrown out by Apple’s board and is about to introduce NeXT, a computer tailored to the education sector; and the third in 1999, after Jobs’ return to Apple and on the eve of the iMac rollout.

By an implausible narrative contrivance, each act is packed with drama, and throughout the film Jobs struggles to keep all the disparate elements of his life from collapsing in on him before he can debut his new product. His daughter Lisa (played movingly by Makenzie Moss, Ripley Sobo and Perla Haney-Jardine, in that order) shows up with her mother (Katherine Waterston) to beg for his generosity. Former business partner and friend Steve Wozniak (an impressive Seth Rogen) questions Jobs’ genius and punctures his ego. Jobs’ mentor John Sculley (Jeff Daniels), whom he lured over to Apple from Pepsi-Cola, drops by just as Jobs is about to present NeXT — a sudden appearance that dredges up some long-buried resentment. Meanwhile, his professional

confidante Joanna Hoffman (Kate Winslet) floats around the periphery of these conflicts, seldom inserting herself directly into the fray but always there to provide a check to the turbulent emotions of the man at its center. It’s a testament to the strength of Winslet’s performance that this role never seems gratuitous.

Winslet can’t take all the credit, however. Screenwriter Aaron Sorkin, whose screenplay is based on Walter Isaacson’s 2011 biography of Jobs, furnishes each of his characters with purpose and urgency. All the familiar Sorkin staples are featured: the walk-and-talk, the barb-trading, the biblical references. But the erstwhile screenwriter also manages to rein in some of the more grating tendencies that made his most recent foray into television writing, “The Newsroom” (2012-2014), insufferable. In “Steve Jobs,” by contrast, all the characters are fully sketched out, each with their own see Steve Jobs, page 6

Event Preview

‘The Sporkful’ to bring unique take on food culture to Tufts

by Merilla Michael Assistant Arts Editor

Leave it to a Tufts alum to create a quirky and creative food podcast. Dan Pashman (A ’99), the creator of “The Sporkful” (2013-present) graduated from Tufts during a time when podcasts didn’t even exist. Tonight, Pashman will host a live recording in Cohen Auditorium — the podcast’s first live show in the Boston area.

Pashman explained that he discovered his passion for broadcast as a student working for the WMFO radio station.

“I did have a show on WMFO my senior year,” he said. “It was called ‘After Hours with G Money and The Pash Man.’ That was where I fell in love with radio. There was no turning back after that. We were on Thursday nights — Friday mornings really — from 2 to 4 a.m. We’d go out to parties or bars, talk up

the show, then when everyone went home and ordered pizza they’d turn on our show. I pulled some clips of that show that I’m going to play at the event Tuesday night.”

Pashman explained that he turned to podcasting after hitting barriers in radio work.

“I worked in news radio and news talk radio for many years, and for a variety of reasons, shows I worked on kept getting canceled,” he said. “A lot of friends of mine were starting podcasts and encouraged me to do the same. I figured if I own my own podcast, at least nobody can cancel it but me.”

Though Pashman started “The Sporkful” as an independent side project in 2010, its popularity has recently skyrocketed. In 2014, it was picked up by WNYC/ NY Public Radio, which also produces big names such as “Radiolab” (2010-present) and “Freakonomics” (2010-present). “The Sporkful” has fairly quickly become the

No. 1 food podcast on iTunes — a huge success that even Pashman didn’t expect.

Pashman has even had stars such as Amy Sedaris, Jim Gaffigan, Rachel Maddow and “Weird Al” Yankovic guest-host the podcast.

“I wouldn’t say I expected [the success], but I hoped it,” Pashman said. “It was a side project for three years, so it took up a lot of nights and weekends, and at times it was a real grind. I couldn’t have maintained my drive if I didn’t believe that the show had real potential … But there were definitely times when I questioned whether it was worth it and whether it would ever pan out. ” The James Beard Award-nominated podcast, which boasts the slogan “It’s not for foodies; it’s for eaters,” puts a unique spin on food-related commentary, Pashman explained. see SPORKFUL , page 6

f you’re looking for mystery, intrigue and confusing plot-based drama, this is your show! “Gossip Girl” (2007-2012), the teen drama series, is based on a book series, also called “Gossip Girl” (2002-2011), written

by Cecily Von Ziegesar. The show follows the “scandalous lives of Manhattan’s elite” — in this case, the intertwining and exciting lives of children with rich and famous parents who live in New York City. The television series ran for six seasons, from Sept. 2007 until Dec. 2012. It loosely follows the plot of the books, but expands much beyond it in its many seasons.

One reason to watch this show is the fashion. It’s just unbelievable. Also, as a girl from the Midwest, I’ve always been obsessed with New York City. In an episode in the first season, after a bunch of drama, Serena (Blake Lively), the protagonist, and her best friend Blair (Leighton Meester) are chosen as models, and it’s just unbelievable to watch them try on the fanciest clothes. Another episode, in which Blair holds a sleepover, shows the girls similarly having fun dressing up in just unbelievably nice clothing. Honestly, watching them live in luxury in one of the best cities in the world makes me nauseatingly jealous.

My favorite episode of all time shows the “Gossip Girl” crew having a scandalous and amazing time in the Hamptons, culminating in an exclusive party where everyone wears only white clothes. I’ve never been more jealous of television characters. But then I’m reminded that their lives are seriously messed up when intense drama later inevitably ensues. Maybe the way the other half lives isn’t so great after all. What also makes this show interesting is just how scandalous the drama is. From sleeping with each other’s significant others and reuniting with old lovers to searching for missing parents to committing various crimes, planning mass humiliations and exiling former friends, the characters’ actions keep one excited.

This show also lends itself perfectly to binge-watching. Specifically, each episode is designed so that the most interesting information and plot comes at the very end of the episode, leaving viewers consistently pining for next week’s episode. Through binge-watching the show, viewers don’t have to wait that painstakingly long week. I also honestly don’t think I would be able to keep track of the plot if a whole week went by, because it can get confusing.

Some parts of this show are, in all honesty, hard to get to. The best episodes are in seasons one and two. Something about the characters still being in high school and living at home makes everything they do seem more scandalous. The last few seasons drag on, and each individual episode is less interesting. It’s almost like the directors ran out of plot material, so they relied on less exciting situational drama instead, involving the surprise return of old characters from previous seasons or bringing up past drama. I’m still struck with the episodes out of a loyalty to the characters, but at times it was painful.

Especially when there were major holes and inconsistencies in the plots of individual episodes and entire seasons. Let’s not even get into how inconsistent the ending is…

I guess that’s all for now. Watch it or don’t watch it, up to you (said in snotty Blair Waldorf voice).

XOXO, Gossip Maya

Maya Blackstone is a sophomore majoring in drama and peace and justice studies. She can be reached at maya.blackstone@tufts.edu.

6

THE TUFTS DAILY | Arts & Living | Tuesday, October 20, 2015

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A&L

ARTS&LIVING

Video Game Review

‘Vermintide’ excels with gameplay, lacks polish

by John Gallagher

Assistant Arts Editor

Games Workshop, holders of the storied “Warhammer” (1983-present) and “Warhammer 40,000” (1987-present) intellectual properties, has had an interesting couple of years. Its core miniature war-gaming business has chugged along per usual, but there has been a huge spike in the number of “Warhammer” and “Warhammer 40,000” video games that are being released.

Like a dragon squatting on a mountain of gold, Games Workshop has jealously guarded its IP, granting relatively few developers licenses to produce games set in its universes — but no longer.

Games Workshop has shifted licensing strategies recently, opening the proverbial floodgates by permitting a comparatively huge number of developers to make “Warhammer” and “Warhammer 40,000” games. The result of this strategic adjustment has, predictably, been the release of a deluge of titles of varying scope, and, unfortunately, varying quality. “Warhammer: End Times – Vermintide” (2015), by Swedish developer Fatshark, is due to be released on Friday. It is the latest title to come out of this glut of games and is presently in the midst of a technically flawed — but extremely promising — pre-order beta.

“Vermintide” is set in the “Warhammer” universe, which is essentially medieval Germany with heavy fantasy elements. More specifically, the game takes place during the “Warhammer” world’s “End Times,” a long-prophesied apocalypse where the evil forces of Chaos sweep down upon the nations of the world and inaugurate a conflict of world-ending proportions. One component

of this multi-faceted doom is the Skaven — repulsive rat-men — rising up from the sewers of mankind’s cities to slay all that they come across. It is these foul creatures that players of “Vermintide” must confront.

The game’s official Twitter account aptly characterizes the game as an “action co-op” title. In “Vermintide,” four players work together to kill hordes of computer-controlled Skaven while also completing objectives, all from a first-person perspective.

Each player takes control of one of five heroes drawn from across “Warhammer’s” rich lore and uses their character’s unique abilities in concert with those of their teammates to progress through each level. These heroes are based on well-trodden gaming archetypes: Markus Kruber, a large human solider, and Bardin Goreksson, a burly dwarf ranger, are able to soak up the most punishment, while the Witch Hunter Victor Saltzpyre and the elf Waywatcher Kerillian are comparatively fragile but can output greater damage. The Bright Wizard, Sienna Fuegonasus, is the odd duck of the group, and uses her flame magic to incinerate groups of enemies at a stroke. Each hero has a melee weapon and a ranged weapon with limited ammunition, with the exception of the Bright Wizard, who will simply explode if she overuses her flame magic.

It is a pleasure to play as each of these heroes, who fight with the kind of physicality that many games have tried, and failed, to capture. The verbal interactions between the characters, which occur spontaneously during gameplay, are well-written and provide an insight into the characters’ relationships, as well as the state of the “Warhammer” world.

Although all the dialogue is performed well, the caustic witticisms of the Witch Hunter,

Courtesy Fatshark

“Warhammer: End Times - Vermintide,” to be released Oct. 23, suffers from technical glitches in otherwise promising pre-order beta. delivered in an imperious snarl that would put Severus Snape to shame, stand head and shoulders above almost any video game voice work. The environments through which the heroes battle are also impeccably well-realized, with gorgeous cobbled streets and detailed buildings, all under the green-tinged half-light of a baleful moon. This faithful presentation of the “Warhammer” universe results in a game that truly inhabits its setting.

The first-person action-game formula, in which four players battle hordes of enemies, was established by Valve Software with its“Left 4 Dead” (2008-2009) series.

From the “special” Skaven that pose particular challenges to players to the fountains of gore that erupt from slain enemies, “Vermintide” wears the influence of these games on its sleeve. The “Left 4 Dead” games were rightly criticized for quickly becoming bland; players could easily experience all the

content they had to offer in a handful of play sessions. Fortunately, “Vermintide” seems to have learned this lesson from its predecessor. By introducing a progression system whereby players are rewarded with equipment at the end of each level, “Vermintide” may surpass what came before by giving players a reason to play again.

For all its excellent presentation and gameplay, the “Vermintide” beta has, at least for this reviewer, been dogged by technical flaws.

From crashes to perpetual loading screens, it suffices to say that Fatshark has some bugs to squash before the game’s final release.

Though the beta may suffer from serious technical flaws, “Warhammer: End Times – Vermintide” is an outstanding multiplayer romp that fully leverages the richness of its setting. However, prospective buyers may want to verify that the game is in a better state before shelling out money for it.

New Jobs biopic avoids pitfalls of genre Steve Jobs

continued from page 5 set of ambitions, insecurities and fears.

Sorkin’s pairing with director Boyle might raise some eyebrows, especially after the smashing success that was “The Social Network” (2010). In that film, director David Fincher’s dark palette perfectly complemented Sorkin’s masterful dialogue. Here, Boyle’s flair for the melodramatic sometimes yanks the focus away from the script, to the film’s detriment. One particularly over-the-top scene shows Jobs and Sculley rehashing Jobs’ ouster from Apple while the orchestral music builds to a feverish cre-

scendo. The sequence finally culminates in the dark boardroom where Jobs’ fate is sealed, heavy rain drumming on the windowpanes in the background. The whole thing makes “The Phantom of the Opera” (2004) look understated.

At other times, though, Boyle demonstrates a deft directorial touch. Some of the early scenes, like the first encounter between Jobs and Lisa, are exquisite.

Jobs lies on the couch behind his new Macintosh, and the camera keeps his face obscured from view as he begins speaking in a robotic voice, leaving some ambiguity, for his young daughter especially, as to

who is talking — Jobs or the computer. It’s a wonderful visual moment and recalls a chilling shot in the noir classic “Kiss Me Deadly” (1955), in which the silhouette of the camera merges with Mike Hammer’s (Ralph Meeker) torso, uniting man and machine — only here, the effect is tender rather than terrifying.

“Steve Jobs” will inevitably draw comparisons to its predecessor, “Jobs” (2013), which committed the cardinal sin of casting Ashton Kutcher in a serious dramatic role.

There’s just no comparing the two. “Jobs” was a biopic, in the worst sense of the word.

Sappy and sentimental, it seemed more

concerned with fortifying the aura of myth surrounding the man than deconstructing it. This is not so with “Steve Jobs.” The newer effort shares more cinematic DNA with recent portraits like “The End of the Tour” (2015), a film about writer David Foster Wallace, and “Love & Mercy” (2015), which chronicles the life of Beach Boys co-founder Brian Wilson. By experimenting with narrative conventions, these films have breathed new life into a once-stale genre. “Steve Jobs” does the same thing with its subject: it resuscitates a man ensconced in his own dusty legend and thrusts him back onto the stage so he can take one final bow.

Alumnus brings food podcast to Tufts

SPORKFUL

continued from page 5 “I loved to eat, and I thought I had an idea for a way to talk about food that was really different — to obsess over the minutiae of eating everyday foods,” he said. “The second episode, I spent 20 minutes talking about ice cubes — ideal surface-area-to-volume ratio, how fast you want them to melt, best and worst shapes, etc.”

In addition to “The Sporkful,” Pashman also hosts the Cooking Channel web series “You’re Eating it Wrong” (2014), which will debut on the Cooking Channel this Friday.

Pashman explained that tonight’s live show presents its own challenges; not only must he put on an exciting live show, but he must also record a podcast episode that will translate well online.

“We’ll do some things just to make it a better live show that might not make it into

the podcast,” Pashman said. “I try to stay in the moment and react spontaneously, but I’m less inclined to pursue some tangent with a guest that might not go anywhere. In the studio we can cut that out, but live on stage it can be deadly. I’m very focused on keeping things moving, making sure it never gets dull.

But I love it — there’s nothing like the energy of doing a show in front of a crowd.”

There are still tickets available for the live recording, which is happening tonight in Cohen Auditorium at 7:30 p.m., as of press time. Tickets are free for Tufts students, faculty and staff, $10 for Tufts alumni and $20 for the general public. Special guests include comedian Myq Kaplan, DJ Rekha speaking on Diwali food and bhangra music and political science professor Rob Devigne.

There will also be performances by three Tufts student groups: The Beelzebubs, Shir Appeal and Bhangra.

The Sporkful via Flickr

The “veggieducken” is a Thanksgiving meal explored by “The Sporkful,” a WNYC food podcast hosted by Dan Pashman (A‘99). Pashman will record his podcast live at Tufts tonight.

7

Tuesday, October 20, 2015 | Comics | THE TUFTS DAILY

tuftsdaily.com

Comics

Late Night at the Daily Joe: “I’m the slimiest kid right now.”

Comics

THAT SCRAMBLED WORD GAME

by David L. Hoyt and Jeff Knurek

SUDOKU

JUMBLE

CRIBH ©2015 Tribune Content Agency, LLC All Rights Reserved.

PODAT HITREE

Check out the new, free JUST JUMBLE app

Unscramble these four Jumbles, one letter to each square, to form four ordinary words.

BARTBI Answer here: Difficulty Level: Winning the World Series as the St. Louis Cardinals.

Yesterday’s

Now arrange the circled letters to form the surprise answer, as suggested by the above cartoon.

(Answers tomorrow) Jumbles: MOUND RANCH SLEEPY WILLOW Answer: When the “punny” guy was asked if he’d like to go to the beach, he said — I “SHORE” WOULD

Monday’s Solution

Non Sequitur

By Wiley Miller

FOR RELEASE OCTOBER 20, 2015

Los Angeles Times Daily Crossword Puzzle Edited by Rich Norris and Joyce Lewis Crossword

our contact (617) 440-7361 or

bostonburgerco.com

our hours

our location 37 davis square somerville, ma 02144

mon - wed:

11 AM to 10 PM

thurs - sat: 11 AM to 11 PM sun: 12 PM to 8 PM

ACROSS 1 “Goodbye, Columbus” author Philip 5 High anxiety 10 Me-time resorts 14 Fencing choice 15 Trip the light fantastic 16 Quarterbackturnedcongressman Jack 17 *Cardiologically healthy, as a diet 19 River of Pisa 20 Wide variety 21 Gauge showing rpm 23 How Marcie addresses Peppermint Patty 24 Howl at the moon 25 *Affectionate apron inscription 29 On its way 30 Handmade scarf stuff 31 Radar dot 34 Chic modifier 37 Pay hike 40 *Commuter’s headache 43 See eye to eye 44 __ fide: in bad faith 45 “Teh” for “The,” say 46 Dry as the Atacama 48 Omelet necessities 50 *Title for Aretha Franklin 54 Fabric flaw 57 Address bar address 58 Pilot’s alphabet ender 59 Wear away gradually 61 Long-billed wader 63 Musical conductor ... and, literally, what the start of each answer to a starred clue is 66 Charge 67 “Lucky” aviator, familiarly 68 Stew veggies 69 Was sure about 70 Crème de la crème 71 Footprint part

By Gareth Bain

DOWN 1 Detox program 2 Word before house or after horse 3 In need of tissues 4 Wife of Zeus 5 Promos 6 “China Beach” war zone, for short 7 Swarming pests 8 “Ice Age” sabertoothed squirrel 9 Easily annoyed 10 Caribbean music 11 Be the epitome of 12 Prenatal test, for short 13 Hybrid utensil 18 Kid 22 “Do I __ Waltz?”: Rodgers/ Sondheim musical 26 A big fan of 27 Doodle on the guitar 28 Summer camp activities 29 Globe 31 Lingerie item 32 Carry with effort 33 Descendant of Jacob

10/20/15

Monday’s Puzzle Solved Monday’s Solution

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35 Obama __ 36 Fifth cen. pope called “The Great” 38 Small taste 39 Environmental prefix 41 “57 Varieties” brand 42 Classico rival 47 Look-alike 49 High spirits 50 Peculiarity 51 Living in the city

10/20/15

52 Swing wildly 53 Branch of Islam 54 Event with lots of horsing around?

55 Flawless 56 Intrinsically 60 Emulates Eminem 62 Darn things 64 Prohibited pesticide 65 Chemical in Drano crystals

8

THE TUFTS DAILY | Opinion | Tuesday, October 20, 2015

T HE T UFTS D AILY Joe Palandrani Editor-in-Chief

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Opinion Opinion

Editorial

Editorial Lancy Downs Abigail Feldman Managing Editors Sarah Zheng Executive News Editor Marianna Athanassiou News Editors Melissa Kain Reena Karasin Arin Kerstein Safiya Nanji Sophie Lehrenbaum Emma Steiner Roy Yang Isha Fahad Assistant News Editors Miranda Willson Mengqi Sun Executive Features Editor Kendall Todd Features Editors Arin Kerstein Nicole Brooks Becca Leibowitz Nina Joung Assistant Features Editors

Joshua Podolsky Executive Arts Editor Anjali Nair Arts Editors Yotam Bentov Assistant Arts Editors Merilla Michael John Gallagher Ascher Kulich Yuki Zaninovich Nick Golden Erin Sifre Katie Matejcak Hannah Hoang Ty Enos Fury Sheron Natasha Khwaja

Executive Op-Ed Editor Op-Ed Editor

Cartoonists Editorialist

Alison Kuah Executive Sports Editor Ross Dember Sports Editors Alex Schroeder Chris Warren Steven Hefter Phillip Goldberg Ray-Paul Biron Josh Slavin

Decision to halt lease sales for oil drilling in Arctic should be lauded Last week, the U.S. Department of the Interior announced that it had canceled two major lease sales for oil drilling in the Arctic Ocean. In a statement, Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell pointed to Royal Dutch Shell’s late September decision to cease operations in the Arctic Ocean.

Shell, which had already secured the permits needed for oil exploration in the Arctic, found insufficient oil reserves there to justify the extensive regulatory conditions in place in the region. These decisions, rightfully lauded by environmentalists, mark a crucial step toward combating climate change.

Studies by researchers at University College London show that one-third of the world’s oil reserves — and all Arctic oil — must stay in the ground in order to prevent global temperatures from rising by more than two degrees Celsius, an increase that would likely have catastrophic implications for the planet. As it is, the Arctic is warming twice as fast as the rest of the world. When Arctic oil is then burned, the planet, and the Arctic especially, only gets warmer. It is a vicious cycle that only exacerbates environmental risks.

The Obama administration’s decision to end drilling in the region helps to position the United States as a cooperative global partner in the effort to combat climate change. It is by no means all that can and should be done, but it is not an insignificant step.

The decision to cancel the leases also reduces the likelihood of a major oil spill occurring in the region — a disaster that would wreak havoc on the physical environment, marine life and the livelihoods of the people who live there. When the Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Ocean Energy Management evaluated Shell’s original drilling plans for the region, it concluded that there was a 75 percent chance of one or more large spills occurring. Unfortunately, the National Research Council found that the United States does not have the infrastructure or capacity to properly deal with an oil spill in the Arctic.

Drilling also has immediate human impacts for people in the Arctic. The Inupiat, a native Alaskan people with a population of around 7,500, is heavily dependent on subsistence whaling to sustain their lifestyles. Pollution in the

Beaufort and Chukchi seas, where Shell was looking to drill, would have caused serious damage to the Inupiat economy.

The Department of the Interior’s choice to halt drilling marks significant environmental progress. Drilling in the Arctic is unfeasible for companies and has severe environmental consequences. Canceling the lease sales is an important first step in preventing future drilling in the area, promoting the welfare of all parties involved.

That being said, it is important to also be mindful of the fact that for much of his presidency, Barack Obama has shied away from fully committing to climate change prevention. Though late is certainly better than never, it is a shame that the president has been too worried about the political consequences of strong actions on climate change. The fact remains that the science is incontrovertible — climate change is already killing thousands of people each year. When the consequences of climate change become unavoidable, the stalling that has caused this important change and others like it to be so heavily delayed will seem like far more than a frustrating game of petty politics.

Evan Sayles Executive Photo Editor Sofie Hecht Photo Administrator Caroline Ambros Picture Tufts Editor Merilla Michael Executive Jumbo Beat Editors Rachel Allen

Editorial Cartoon

by Ty Enos

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The Tufts Daily is a nonprofit, independent newspaper, published Monday through Friday during the academic year, and distributed free to the Tufts community. EDITORIAL POLICY Editorials represent the position of The Tufts Daily. Individual editors are not necessarily responsible for, or in agreement with, the policies and editorials of The Tufts Daily. The content of letters, advertisements, signed columns, cartoons and graphics does not necessarily reflect the opinion of The Tufts Daily editorial board.

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Tuesday, October 20, 2015 | Opinion | THE TUFTS DAILY

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Opinion

9

Opinion

Op-Ed

The problem with the U.S. gun debate

by Alexander Goodrich Here at Tufts, it is easy to pick a side on gun control. Most of us agree that fewer guns in the United States would be better for the country. The rising number of mass shootings lands a spotlight on gun control in the United States, a chilling reminder that much of the United States is steadfast in their support of gun rights despite the atrocities that continue to make headlines. Unfortunately, as in many social debates in our secluded piece of Massachusetts, there is a lack of differing opinion — so much so that it’s almost impossible to have a conversation about guns that does not devolve into our liberals condemning the conservative minority’s opinions on personal liberty. Many conservatives believe that more guns is the solution — more guns in the hands of law-abiding citizens will lead to less gun violence. The liberal solution, however, is more complicated.

I am completely in support of gun control. I believe there are far too many guns in the United States (as there are more guns than people), and the legislation limiting the average citizen from obtaining a weapon designed for killing is woefully inadequate. However, the plans for limiting gun ownership in the United States are half-baked at best — many

of us would love for the government to march around Texas confiscating guns from their owners, but the solution is not that simple. Americans look around the world for models on gun control, yet none seem applicable; no nation has the gun culture of America or as popular ownership. The Australian buyback program was a compulsory compensated buyback program, a system that would violate both the second and fourth amendments. Additionally, only seven percent of Australians owned guns compared to the 34 percent of Americans who own guns, so a buyback program on the American scale would be much more expensive and improbable. The British gun ban, often lauded as one of the most successful anti-firearm policies in the world, traces back as far as the early 1900s. As a result, there is no sense of entitlement to guns in the United Kingdom and therefore no staunch opposition to modern gun control. No gun control legislation that could apply to the American scale exists in the world.

In order to put any plan into action, you might want to consider joining the National Rifle Association (NRA) — for $25 a year, you will receive complimentary gun catalogs, invitations to local gun shows and, most importantly, the right to vote out of office the current NRA vice

president and ardent firearm advocate Wayne LaPierre (who is the man behind the quote, “The only thing that stops a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun”).

According to a 2013 report from the Pew Research Center, there are currently 300 million guns and 80 million gun owners in the United States. It seems that decreasing those numbers is an impossible task, especially with gun lobbyists working as actively as they currently are. We can, however, try to limit the sale of semi-automatic and automatic guns, close the gun-show purchasing loophole and pour resources into mental health research, all in an effort to eliminate the number of guns accessible to those who may commit gun-related crimes.

Ultimately, liberals have few plans to decrease the number of guns in the United States. The right to ownership of guns is an idea that is deeply ingrained in the American psyche, for better or for worse.

Vermont senator and presidential candidate Bernie Sanders plans to release a gun control plan, and we can only hope that it somehow outlines a feasible way to limit the number of mass shootings in this country. Until then, it might be a good idea to follow the NRA’s mantra and buy a gun.

Alexander Goodrich is a sophomore who has not yet declared a major. He can be reached at alexander.goodrich@tufts.edu.

Isabella Garces El Locutorio

A little less foreign When I moved to the United States at the age of five, I remember that I marveled to a fellow classmate about her height, noting how big she was. She burst into tears and told the teacher I called her fat. My third language was French. My first day in Paris, I endeavored to ask a Carrefour clerk where I could find the salt. He led me to the aisle with shelves of bio-degradable toilet paper.

Language can be an obstacle. It may lead to miscommunication and result in a bitter trail of frustration, misinterpretation and the accumulation of adverse feelings. Not only does it quite literally prevent you from getting a point across, it also prevents you from getting the general idea of who you are across.

Our native tongues comfort us. We master them to the point where we can convey all degrees of humor and all types of subjects, ranging from the most utterly banal to the most condescendingly profound. They give us the freedom to be ourselves and to manifest that true self with ease. We can be decidedly dry and caustic in our academic thoughts but humorous and open in everything else, and we can demonstrate that with our endless supply of expressions. If we foster knowledge about something in particular, chances are we can express that knowledge eloquently. Were you to try to explain that same knowledge in another language, that expertise would not be equally conveyed, if at all. Thus, language can act as a barrier to personality. Telling a German-speaking community that I’m humorous and intelligent will not be supported by the fact that when I speak German I come off as a monosyllabic recluse.

And yet, language can be as much of a link as it can be a barrier. Simply speaking to someone in their native tongue induces a sense of understanding and a common ground. It reduces initial barriers and fosters a kind of common identity. Part of our identity is the language we see as ours.

And whenever someone is capable of or willing to immerse themselves into such a component of our own culture, he or she becomes just a little less foreign.

I always think about diplomacy and languages. The art of diplomacy consists of conducting negotiations with others, and yet how can that be done when so much is lost with an intermediary translating a conversation? A recurring image in my mind is that of President Barack Obama meeting with Chinese president Xi Jinping in 2013. They held a private meeting in California where they talked about sports, among other things. The Chinese interpreter made a mistake. He translated that Xi swam 10,000 meters a day, instead of the 1 kilometer Xi had just said. Obama was quite surprised. Xi was blissfully unaware.

Even outside of policy, speaking another language can be useful and fulfilling.

Speaking someone else’s language can help us become a little less foreign in a world with so many fixed and unfixed borders that birthed the term “foreign” in the first place.

Isabella Garces is a sophomore who has not yet declared a major. She can be reached at isabella.garces@tufts.edu.

Op-ed Policy The Op-Ed section of The Tufts Daily, an open forum for campus editorial commentary, is printed Monday through Thursday. The Daily welcomes submissions from all members of the Tufts community; the opinions expressed in the Op-Ed section do not necessarily represent the opinions of the Daily itself. Opinion articles on campus, national and international issues should be 600 to 1,200 words in length. Op-Ed cartoons are also welcomed for the Campus Canvas feature. All material is subject to editorial discretion and is not guaranteed to appear in the Daily. All material should be submitted to oped@tuftsdaily.com no later than noon on the day prior to the desired day of publication; authors must submit their telephone numbers and day-of availability for editing questions. Submissions may not be published elsewhere prior to their appearance in the Daily, including but not limited to other on- and off-campus newspapers, magazines, blogs and online news websites, as well as Facebook. Republishing of the same piece in a different source is permissible as long as the Daily is credited with originally running the article.

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Tuesday, October 20, 2015 | Sports | THE TUFTS DAILY

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Sports

11

Sports

Jumbos unable to capitalize on offensive opportunities WOMEN'S CLUB SOCCER

continued from back attack quickly.”

The early control led to some high positioning by the midfield — dangerous against a fast team like St. Anselm.

After being drawn forward, Tufts was out of position and vulnerable on a break, during which St. Anselm outnumbered the defense five players to three.

Savvy defending by Collins saw the danger end in just a throw-in, but St. Anselm began putting more pressure on Tufts, securing possession in its own half and earning a corner and multiple throw-ins in aggressive positions.

Tufts controlled the half, however, earning five corner kicks and putting in four shots on target, as compared to St. Anselm’s one and one. The best chance of the half came on the very last kick, a high-arching corner kick that was met on the volley to draw the first of many great saves from the St. Anselm goalkeeper.

The second half saw the striker pairing for the Jumbos caught offside several times. St. Anselm’s high defensive line was effective in squeezing the play, but clever touches by Tufts junior midfielder Lucy Fell led to many good chances.

“I thought we did a good job getting the ball wide to our mids and putting crosses in, but our spacing on crosses had to be better,” Fell said. “A lot of times we would cross and there would only be one person in the box. The pressure was on our mids to cover a lot of ground because of how big of a field Bello is. I think on another day we would have converted many of the chances that we created. We played the way we always strive to — controlling possession and getting the ball out wide to our playmakers. It is important to stay consistent in the way we play and not try to out-physical our opponents when a lot of the time we’re more technically skilled.”

St. Anselm tried many long balls over the top, and it was off one of these that the

best chance of the game was created. A ball over the top of the Jumbos’ left-back led to a cross that flashed across the goalmouth, hit by Hawks striker directly into the waiting arms of the keeper. A touch to the left or right would have been a sure goal, and the relief in the stands was palpable. These long balls were, for the most part, thwarted at the source, with excellent pressure in the midfield and good stepping up by the defense.

The Jumbos’ goalkeeper wasn’t the only one in fine form, however. A St. Anselm turnover in the 60th minute led to a quick break for Hafitz, who unleashed a curling shot toward the upper right of the goal, only to have it saved at full stretch by the keeper.

The rebound was sent over the goal. Just minutes later, a fierce volley was struck off of a corner kick, but the keeper’s low dive kept the scoreboard clean for the Jumbos.

Play opened up after a long injury timeout, with players on both sides starting to get physical, ultimately frustrat-

ed by the lack of goals on the day. Just two minutes before the end of the game, Collins intercepted a pass and sent Hafitz through on goal, but her right-footed shot was saved again by the keeper. Just a minute later, Hafitz, played through by Griffith, was thwarted again. This time her shot went straight at the well-positioned St. Anselm keeper. Ultimately, the pressure was for naught, and the game ended a fiercely contested 0-0.

Rolling substitutions sometimes caused the pace of the game to be staggered, a byproduct of the team being a club sport with no coaches. This puts Tufts at a disadvantage compared to their competition; many schools, such as Northeastern University, Boston College and other top teams all have coaches.

“Sometimes it’s hard, but the more the season goes on, the more we get used to how we play,” Fell said.

The Jumbos play their next game on Saturday, Oct. 24 at MIT.

Tufts gears up for final two NESCAC regular season games

FIELD HOCKEY

continued from back backs all the way up to the forwards [and] especially because we were playing on an AstroTurf field, we were able to string together a lot of small passes to get the ball up the field,” senior defender Alexandra Jamison told the Daily in an email. “Also, we were working hard to win the 50/50 balls in the midfield to keep it up on our offensive end.”

The win for Tufts came on the heels of a 1-0 defeat against Wellesley on Oct. 15.

Wellesley was the final out-of-conference opponent for Tufts, as the showdown with Bates was the first of three NESCAC contests to close the regular season schedule.

“Every game is important, but NESCAC games are especially important since they impact our seeding for postseason,” Jamison said. “Bates had

just had some really good wins, and we knew they would be a tough team, and we were definitely excited to get back into conference play and get off on the right foot since the rest of our games are all NESCAC games.”

No. 16 Tufts is third in the NESCAC following the win against Bates. Tufts closes out the regular season with a game at Williams this Saturday, Oct. 24 before

hosting undefeated Bowdoin in the regular season finale on Oct. 28.

“Every game we play is an important game, and they are always competitive [because] every team in the NESCAC is skilled, and we take no team lightly,” Park said. “It is definitely important to finish strong in our last two NESCAC regular season games. We are a competitive team and want to do well.”

MEN'S CROSS COUNTRY

Jumbos place 11th out of 26 at Conn. College Invitational

by Ben Feinberg

Contributing Writer

The men’s cross-country team sustained its successful season at the Connecticut College Men’s Invitational this past weekend, finishing in 11th place, with 269 points, out of 26 teams. The eight-kilometer race was run at Harkness State Park in Waterford, Connecticut on a crisp Saturday afternoon.

MIT won the race with an impressive 49 points. Conn. College followed with 95 points. Coming in third was CarletonMI, who had traveled from Michigan for the race, finishing with 106 points. Points were calculated by adding together the place numbers of the top five runners for each school.

The team was led by sophomore Ty Enos who finished the eight-kilometer race in a speedy 25:55.0, coming in 19th out of the 295 runners who donned their spikes for this race. (Enos is also a cartoonist for the Daily.) Following him was sophomore John Greenberg, whose admirable time of 26:33.0 was good for 54th place overall.

Coming in third for the Jumbos and 59th overall was first-year Dylan Jones, who ran a blazing 26:38.9. First-year Colin Raposo was the Jumbos’ fourth place finisher. He completed the race in 26:45.8, earning him 64th place overall.

“Ty went out really strong,” Jones said. “He was in the top five for the first mile of the race, and from there he stayed near the front pack and ran a really terrific personal record.”

Rounding out the top five for the Jumbos was first-year Tom Doyle, who, with a swift time of 26:53.7, came in 73rd place overall. Classmate James Gregoire finished with an identical time but came

Courtesy Alyssa Rivas

The men’s cross country team competes in last year’s Nationals, where it placed 22nd. in 74th after losing to Doyle in a sprint at the finish line. The seventh-fastest Jumbo was first-year Hiroto Watanabe. His time of 26:58.4 was good for 79th place.

“It was great to see my teammates out there running their hardest, trying their hardest, [and] I was really impressed with how they all did,” first-year Christian Swenson said. “Ty ran a great race. John ran a great race. Everyone who ran today really did a great job, especially considering we are starting to get to the point of the season here [when] it’s a little colder out.”

According to Jones, the most challenging parts of the course were the ones run on sand.

“The course was really flat which made it pretty fast, but some of the trails were on sand which definitely slowed people down,” Jones said.

The layout of the course, however, also proved to be an important contributing factor to the Jumbos’ success because the flat trails made it easier for runners to pass their competitors.

“It was a really nice and open start with lots of room to move around and get ahead of people,” Jones said. “It was not

too tight a course, so people were able to pass throughout the [race].”

Many of the team’s runners were given the day off to prepare for the post-season, which begins in late October.

“The entire team is really excited about the championship season beginning,” Swenson said. “We have all been training really hard all season for this, and we all want to just go out there and…run our best times once the post-season begins.”

The men’s cross-country team will take a short break before resuming its season at the NESCAC race, which will be held on Oct. 31.

Sports

12 tuftsdaily.com

Phillip Goldberg Fantasy Football with Phil

WOMEN'S CLUB SOCCER

St. Anselm holds off Tufts for 0-0 draw

Beating bye week blues

by Noah Smith

Contributing Writer

G

The lion’s share of chances fell to the Tufts women’s club soccer team on Saturday against St. Anselm at Bello Field.

WOMEN’S CLUB SOCCER (13-12 Overall, 6-5 NESCAC) at Cousens Gym, Saturday St. Anselm Tufts

0 0

0 0

0 0

Heroics by the visiting goalkeeper and wasteful finishing by the Jumbos, however, kept the score even at 0-0. This continues the team’s unbeaten conference record for the season, now 4-0-2, in a season that has seen them take out perennial division-topper Northeastern University, who sits in front of the Jumbos in the standings at 5-1-0. Despite recording no losses this season, the structure of the conference is such that, in their current third place position, the Jumbos will not continue on to compete at the regional championships.

Tufts quickly established control of the game; just three minutes in, senior forward Sydney Griffith forced the St. Anselm keeper down to make a good save. Additional pressure from Tufts in the opening minutes resulted in a shot hitting the side netting and a header that skimmed wide right past the post. Even off the ball, the Jumbos pressed their opponents hard to win the ball back. It was not until the 10th minute that St. Anselm actually held possession outside of their own half, and even then it wasn’t long before Tufts’ back four, anchored by sophomore center-back Cassandra Collins, won the

Courtesy Dana Bradley

Senior forward Syd Griffiths runs the ball ahead of a St. Anselm defender in a club soccer game on Saturday, Oct. 17. ball back and recycled possession to the midfield.

“Our defense was really strong Saturday,” senior co-captain striker Madison Hafitz said. “They’ve been strong for us all season, and it was extreme-

ly important that they kept winning the ball and [limiting] the quickness of their attack. They put balls into midfield all game long, and helped us turn defense to see WOMEN'S CLUB SOCCER, page 11

FIELD HOCKEY

Jumbos topple Bobcats in 5-0 win

by Joshua Slavin

Evan Sayles / Tufts Daily Archive

scoring off the rebound of a blocked shot in the 32nd minute of action. The goal was the third of the season for Sikes-Keilp.

The Jumbos went into halftime with a 2-0 lead, and they extended their lead almost immediately when play resumed. Senior tri-captain midfielder Rachel Terveer scored an easy finish off a cross from first-year forward/midfielder Hanaa Malik just 42 seconds into the second half. Malik contributed her own goal later in the half, redirecting a shot by Sikes-Keilp off a penalty corner to make it 4-0 in the 54th minute.

Senior forward Hannah Park capped off the scoring for the Jumbos in the 60th minute with her sixth goal of the season, extending the lead to 5-0. Park credited the whole team for strong play in the win.

“It was teamwork; our forwards were our best line of defense, our midfielders stepped up when they needed to [and] our backs intercepted any ball that came near them,” Park told the Daily in an email.

The Jumbos finished the game with an impressive 22-4 shot advantage (14-2 in shots on goal) over the Bobcats, along with an 11-2 edge in penalty corners. The game marked the third time this season that Tufts scored at least five goals in a contest, each resulting in a win.

“I think we were effective in playing offense all over the field, starting with our

Tufts senior tri-captain midfielder Maggie Chapman winds up to hit the ball in a victory against Colby on Sept. 12.

see FIELD HOCKEY, page 11

Sports Editor

The field hockey team added a tally to its win column on Saturday with a 5-0 victory over Bates in Lewiston, Maine. The

FIELD HOCKEY (13-12 Overall, 6-5 NESCAC) at Cousens Gym, Saturday Bates Tufts

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Tuesday, October 20, 2015

Jumbos improved to 9-4 on the season and 6-2 in NESCAC play with the road win.

Tufts got on the board toward the beginning of the first half. Most of the period was played in the middle of the field, and there were few opportunities for either side, but the Jumbos were able to capitalize on the first penalty corner and shot of the game with a goal from senior tri-captain midfielder Maggie Chapman in the 11th minute.

Senior midfielder Dakota Sikes-Keilp added to the Tufts lead before halftime,

oing into one of the more painful bye weeks, this is a perfect opportunity to evaluate some flex and replacement options for Week 7.

The Packers, Broncos, Bengals and Bears — three offensive powerhouses (and da Bears) that boast a bounty of every-week fantasy starters — have the week off.

The Packers are interesting because there appears to be a changing of the guard in the making at running back. James Starks, a sixyear veteran who has played his entire career in Green Bay, exploded for 112 yards and a touchdown on just 10 carries. He also caught a five-yard pass for a touchdown. I’m still not convinced Starks is anything more than a change-of-pace complement to Eddie Lacy, who thus far has looked uninspiring.

Obviously owners will miss Aaron Rodgers in Week 7. You might be surprised to learn, however, that Andy Dalton leads quarterback scoring through Week 6. Jay Cutler is replaceable, and owners should not be rostering Peyton Manning in one-QB leagues at this point. There are plenty of excellent QBs on the waiver wire.

Odds are, someone dropped Matthew Stafford in your league. “Hasn’t he been awful this year?” you ask. Yes, he has! His last three opponents prior to Week 6 were Denver, Seattle (away) and Arizona. The list of quarterbacks that can play those three teams and satisfy mercurial fantasy owners is basically nonexistent. Stafford just demonstrated what he can do against a below average pass defense in Chicago, flinging four touchdowns and over 400 passing yards.

Carson Palmer gets a Baltimore pass defense that gave up 298 passing yards per game through the first five weeks.

Philip Rivers embarrassed the Packers’ secondary and joined the 500-passing-yards-in-agame club. His Week 7 opponent, the Oakland Raiders, have allowed 308.2 passing yards per game — third worst in the league.

Owners will certainly miss the production of Broncos wideouts Demaryius Thomas and Emmanuel Sanders, as well as the Bengals’ A.J. Green and Bears’ Alshon Jeffery.

Potential bye week fill-ins include Arizona’s John Brown, who flashed his breakout potential, almost breaking 200 receiving yards this week. Cleveland’s Travis Benjamin has demonstrated an ability to turn his high usage into decent lines. If Martavis Bryant hasn’t been claimed in your league, that is a crime against fantasy. A little deeper is Minnesota’s Stefon Diggs, who is filling in for an injured Charles Johnson. Diggs has 216 yards in two games as a starter and could keep the starting job even after Johnson’s return.

Tyler Eifert and Martellus Bennett are starting-caliber tight ends. Gary Barnidge continues to impress, though I’m a skeptic. Jimmy Graham may finally have gotten in sync with Russell Wilson. Greg Olsen performed his best Rob Gronkowski impersonation this week, and Julius Thomas flashed some potential.

Charles Clay is a safe option for about 30 yards per game.

Ronnie Hillman may have separated himself from C.J. Anderson, but he did so just in time for the Broncos bye week, and it will be tough to trust him afterward. We may see more Danny Woodhead and Theo Riddick after rookie backs Melvin Gordon and Ameer Abdullah were benched following fumbling difficulties.

Phillip Goldberg is an Assistant Sports Editor at The Tufts Daily. He is a sophomore who has not yet declared a major and can be reached at phillip.goldberg@tufts.edu.