The Tufts Daily - Thursday, November 12, 2020

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VOLUME LXXX, ISSUE 39

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Thursday, November 12, 2020

Higher number of students expected to return to campus for spring semester

EMMA BOERSMA / THE TUFTS DAILY

Carmichael Hall is pictured on Oct. 18.

by Yanqing Huang

Executive Layout Editor

Tufts students, faculty and staff are beginning to plan for the spring semester, which should bring some changes to life on campus, but will be largely similar to the fall.

Students were required to fill out spring intent forms

by Oct. 30 to declare whether they plan to be on campus or

remote for the spring semester. Although some responses are still outstanding, Executive Administrative Dean for the School of Arts and Sciences Christopher Helmuth said responses received thus far indicate a higher percentage of students may be on campus this spring compared to this fall.

“While we expect to have a lower number of undergraduate students enrolled in the spring

overall as a result of February graduations (as we do every year), we do anticipate that we will see a modest increase in the number of students on campus,” Helmuth wrote in an email to the Daily.

Academically, Tufts’ plans remain largely unchanged.

Dean of the School of Arts and Sciences James Glaser reported a ratio of roughly half in-person to half remote courses for the

spring semester in the School of Arts and Sciences.

As of Nov. 3, about 63% of the spring courses in the School of Engineering have virtual lectures, with many courses supplemented by in-person or hybrid components such as laboratories or recitations, according to Jianmin Qu, dean of the School of Engineering.

Engineering faculty have generated creative solutions

to accommodate remote students who do not have access to on-campus spaces and resources, according to Qu. “Some professors are shipping kits to students that provide equipment like volt meters, sensors, oscilloscopes or microcontroller boards, so students can set up their own labs and build and experiment see SPRING, page 2

Tufts ROTC hosts virtual Veterans Day ceremony

by Peri Barest

Contributing Writer

A virtual Veterans Day ceremony was streamed on YouTube on Wednesday and garnered over 500 views. It was hosted by Tufts ROTC Joint Operations and Advocates for Tufts ROTC. The event began with a flag-passing ceremony on the memorial steps and included a keynote address by retired four-star U.S. Naval Officer Adm. James Stavridis,

former dean of The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy. Dean of the Jonathan M. Tisch College of Civic Life Alan Solomont and University President Anthony Monaco also shared remarks.

The ceremony opened with Kyra Link (A’20) and Chloe Malouf’s (A’20) rendition of “The Star-Spangled Banner” during a photo montage of Tufts ROTC students over the years. Midshipman 1st Class Colin Seeley, a senior, introduced the ceremony and initiated the passing of the flag.

“We are gathered here today to honor those who have safeguarded our freedom with their duty, honor and selfless service to our great nation,” Seeley said. “From those who served in the Revolutionary War to those deployed all around the world today, we honor their courage, dedication and sacrifice.”

Howard Schnauber’s poem “My Name is Old Glory” was read as current ROTC students passed the flag up the memorial steps to Solomont, this year’s flag recipient.

Solomont spoke about his service as U.S. ambassador to Spain and Andorra.

“I recall the immense pride I felt during my tour in Spain.

Walking into the embassy in Madrid with the Stars and Stripes flying overhead. Feeling a profound sense of responsibility to promote and defend American values around the world,” he said.

Solomont added that citizens must work together to create a more unified community.

WEEKENDER / page 4

OPINION / page 6

FEATURES / 3

Local, independent bookstores find creative soutions to COVID-19 problems

Op-ed: Volunteer for COVID-19 human challenge trials

On-campus business Roy’s Pastelitos gives delicious, suite-made food

“We do recognize both in the long history of the United States and in the recent past, that we have not always been at our best. We have much work to do to create the more perfect union that our founders envisioned, and to build what the late John Lewis called a ‘beloved community,’” he said.

He concluded by stating that civic engagement is a means of honoring service members. see CEREMONY, page 2 NEWS

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FEATURES

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WEEKENDER

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FUN & GAMES

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OPINION

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SPORTS

BACK

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THE TUFTS DAILY | News | Thursday, November 12, 2020

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Solomont calls for a more unified community

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A screenshot from the virtual Veterans Day ceremony hosted by Tufts ROTC is pictured.

CEREMONY

continued from page 1 “We honor them when we participate in our democracy, by voting, not only in national elections, like the one we just had, but every year and at every level. We honor them when we stand up against injustice, as millions of Americans have done recently, and throughout our history, fighting for a more equitable world,” Solomont said.

Monaco then expressed his gratitude to Tufts ROTC students, and veterans and spoke about the university’s commitment to them through scholarships and the Resumed

Education for Adult Learning program.

“Military service empowers our graduates to share what they learn at Tufts with the wider world,” he said.

“Through their service, our graduates help to resolve conflicts and to maintain peace around the globe.”

Stavridis concluded the ceremony with his keynote speech, where he spoke about the example he saw in his father, Col. George Stavridis, who devoted his life to education and the administration of education after leaving the U.S. Armed Forces.

“I watched that, as I was a young officer, and I thought, ‘What a perfect thing for a veteran to do. To have spent this life defending the nation and then come home to be part of educating the nation,’” he said.

Stavridis, who also found his passion for education, said he encourages other veterans to focus their second careers on education.

“I felt, and I feel today, that there is no higher calling than education,” he said. “So as I look at our veterans today in the United States, those who have served in the military, I’m always proudest and hap-

piest when I see them turn to education in their second careers.”

Stavridis said that veterans are in a unique position to teach about the values of sacrifice and service to one’s community.

“I feel that our veterans have a role to play, talking to America about service, about bipartisanship, about a calling that is higher than any individual act, about being part of something greater than yourself, about sacrifice,” Stavridis said. “All of those things are topics we sorely need to address in today’s America.”

Deans call for student feedback as they settle spring semester plans

SPRING

continued from page 1 at home,” Qu wrote in an email to the Daily.

David Kaplan, Stern Family Professor of Engineering and chair of the Department of Biomedical Engineering, explained how virtual laboratory platforms allow students to conduct simulated experiments.

“It’s almost like a video game, and [the students] can follow through and make mistakes and learn from that along with quizzes and so on,” Kaplan said. “It’s not perfect being virtual to do a lab, it misses a lot, but it is enough now where you get a sense of the experiment.”

In the spring, students and faculty in the School of the Museum of Fine Arts (SMFA) will continue to work through the difficulties of providing hands-on instruction during COVID-19.

“To address the challenge of access to supplies and resources, we assembled and distributed kits of supplies and equipment to students based on the courses for which they registered,” Nancy Bauer, dean of the SMFA, wrote in an email to the Daily.

The SMFA has also built hundreds of new private studios, created an online studio reservation system and expanded access to studios in order to accommodate students, according to Bauer.

Plans for the spring semester are not definitive at the moment due to the unpredictability of the pandemic, but Glaser does not

foresee the spring semester looking very different from the fall.

“It’s still too soon to say. We all hope that the public health situation will improve and open up more possibilities in the spring, but we’re planning for a semester like the one we are in,” Glaser said.

The Schools of Arts and Sciences and Engineering and the SMFA are collecting feedback from students on the current semester, with the hope of implementing these suggestions in their spring semester planning.

At the SMFA, Bauer hopes to improve access to tool kits and faculty support for students.

“We’re planning to provide art-making resource support this spring in a different way that provides students with more agency in choosing supplies and equipment that are relevant to their art practice,” Bauer said. “Faculty are planning ways to work one-onone with in-person students to do more trainings in the studios.”

Bauer also noted that the SMFA will be offering new courses that address issues raised by the current racial justice movements.

“We are offering new classes again in the spring that will continue to take advantage of the unique opportunities provided by the current situation, such as a course that intersects with the Public Art Audit that the university is undertaking as a part of its anti-racist initiatives,” Bauer said.

Students’ social experiences have also factored into Tufts’ planning process for the spring. Qu shared feedback that he received from students on the difficulty of making personal connections amid the pandemic.

“Some students reported feeling a sense of isolation this semester due to the need to maintain physical distance from fellow students,” Qu said.

The colder weather is also expected to impact social life on campus during the early part of the spring semester, and the university is looking into making outdoor spaces available for students despite the cold, according to Joshua Hartman, director of residential life and learning.

Hartman shared some of the ongoing plans.

“A group including the Dean of Student Affairs office, Facilities, Campus Life, Student Health, and Residential Life have been working collaboratively to identify outdoor locations that can be utilized with tenting and heaters in the colder months, and plans to implement several of these are well underway,” Hartman wrote in an email to the Daily.

He also noted that students are already able to gather indoors while complying with social distancing regulations.

“Students can also reserve a variety of rooms in academic spaces on campus to gather in groups of no more than ten (to comply with gathering regulations), so it is

our hope that those spaces allow another opportunity for getting together,” Hartman said.

In the classroom, professors are still making efforts to connect with students, albeit sometimes over Zoom. This has been true for the fall semester and will continue into the spring.

Kaplan has found these efforts to be effective with his students.

“I find [I] have a little more connection to the students if they can’t be here in person,” Kaplan said.

Sophomore Amber Li, who is completing the fall semester remotely, called for greater attention to students in different time zones as the administration plans spring courses.

“I have a class that’s [at] 9 in the morning, which is 6 in [Los Angeles],” Li said. “We have problems with doing group projects.

We have teammates from three different time zones, so [it is] really difficult to find a time that we can actually work together.”

Bauer emphasized the importance of student feedback in planning for spring courses.

“In the studios, we are keeping a close eye on what’s working and what isn’t and trying to be dynamic in making adjustments to best support students while maintaining a safe environment.

This is a constant and ongoing process and student feedback has been key,” Bauer said.

tuftsdaily.com

Owen Bonk Since You Last Saw Me

Features

3 Thursday, November 12, 2020

Roy’s Pastelitos: How to start an on-campus business

Reflections on the last 4 years

I

was a sophomore in high school when Donald Trump was elected president of the United States. On the morning of Nov. 9, 2016, my 15-year-old self woke up to a torrential downpour outside my window and a notification on my phone that told me yes, he had actually won. Even more poetic than the miserable weather was my first class in our unmistakably changed world: AP Government. That morning, I walked into the solemn classroom and found my friends in equal states of shock.

Before the bell, we commiserated on the cold metal frames of our desks, wondering what the next four years would hold. Our teacher was at a loss of words, restrained by the required political neutrality of his position. I don’t remember much of what I did or said that day. I don’t really want to.

There are going to be a lot of takes on the election, and from a political standpoint, I’m not sure I can be all that additive. From a personal standpoint, though, I will always recall the 2016 election and its aftermath as the background for the development of the nuanced political opinions and convictions that my peers and I now hold. As the world burned around us, I watched my friends become articulate and strong young adults. We attended protests; we swore we’d make him a one term president. It was the injustices and absurdities I observed during his administration that motivated me to become a writer.

I came out during Trump’s presidency. At my first pride, my friends and I marched through the colorful streets of D.C., my hometown and a most unwelcoming city for the president. Our presence surrounded the White House like a blockade for its hatred. We chanted and sang loudly, reminding our reprehensible leader that the facts of our plentiful and powerful existence would not be disputed.

I don’t look back on all this with gratitude for our 45th president. I only credit him with introducing me to the ugly underbelly of our nation. As he rolled back environmental regulations and pursued xenophobic policies, there was no denying the devastating consequences of his term.

In this sense, the last four years have been a crash course in cognitive dissonance. The state of affairs is undeniably worse, but there are also silver linings, namely in the work of progressive leaders like Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Stacey Abrams. More generally, I see America grappling with tougher questions after that scary, orange what-if came to pass.

Part of me wants Joe Biden’s inauguration to mark a clean slate. I don’t want to hear about the 45th president or his despicable family ever again, and I hope they cease to be a relevant factor in our public discourse. Even parodic representations of him have overstayed their welcome on my social media feeds. Instead, I want to remember the last four years with gratitude toward those who resisted and taught me the importance of resilience.

Owen Bonk is a sophomore who has not yet declared a major. Owen can be reached at owen.bonk@tufts.edu.

COURTESY ROY HIDALGO

Roy’s pastelitos are pictured.

by Aisha Catena

Contributing Writer

Starting an on-campus business is a simultaneously daunting and appealing undertaking. The constant demand that could be created by a large student body has tremendous promise, but complications arise when considering supply. How does one, in their dorm or suite, supply enough products to create a sustainable business?

Roy Hidalgo, a sophomore, has gone through this thought process in the last few weeks as he created an on-campus business: “Roy’s Pastelitos.” What exactly is this Latin American staple? Hidalgo described pastelitos as a “Dominican Hot Pocket,” resembling fried empanadas. Pastelitos are the perfect snack or meal — one can eat them alone or accompanied with anything. Although Hidalgo did not seem too keen on eating pastelitos for breakfast, he recommended that if one desired to do so, the salami pastelitos would be best. Otherwise, a serving of two to three pastelitos could be a sufficient lunch or dinner.

Empanadas hold great significance in Latin American culture. Hidalgo explained how each Caribbean island has its own variation of the empanada.

“For Dominicans it’s about the pastelito … In Jamaica, it’s the beef patty,” Hidalgo said. “In the Dominican Republic you could find pastelitos anywhere … There’s food trucks that literally make them out of anything.”

I don’t want to make a basic overarching statement, but being Argentinean myself, I feel comfortable making the arguable claim that the empanada is not simply meat enveloped in bread. Empanadas are a standing symbol for the inner workings and intricacies of culture itself.

As Hidalgo highlighted, each Latin

American country has its own version that is shaped by its diverse array of customs.

Empanadas are not restricted to street food or restaurant appetizers — they are a household staple. Hidalgo’s aunt had a bodega where she would sell pastelitos. This is where his love for them grew.

“I’ve been around pastelitos for a very long time,” he said. “My mom taught me how to make them.”

If you are wondering, whether you want to try out making pastelitos, Hidalgo encouragingly said, “It’s not too hard. You just learn from watching people do it.”

As implied by the name, “Roy’s Pastelitos” is a pastelito-selling business on campus. Hidalgo’s idea consists of taking orders throughout the week and doing deliveries only on Saturdays. The pastelito menu lists five different fillings (cheese, chicken, beef, Dominican salami and Dominican salami with cheese) that come in regular or large sizes. You can also purchase bundles of three for a discounted price. To order, you can contact Hidalgo through phone, Snapchat or Instagram.

Hidalgo was first inspired to start his business due to a combination of factors: He has a limited meal plan, lives in a suite with a kitchen and needed some extra money. Hidalgo described how pastelitos are “one of the quick and filling things that I know how to make and I’ve seen made throughout my whole life being Dominican … I miss pastelitos.”

Hidalgo said at the start of the semester he wanted to teach his girlfriend how to make them. They made around 20 and then shared them with his suite mates. Consequently, Hidalgo said all those tasting the infamous pastelitos shared the same opinion: “Oh my god,” his suite mates said, “these are really good.” Hidalgo

then considered his eating situation in combination with the fact that he needed some money and concluded “this could be something I can do …

And so it started.”

From prepping and cooking to packaging and delivering, Hidalgo runs the whole business in his suite. Hidalgo did not find it hard to produce food in such large quantities in a dorm room kitchen. He said he could easily find all the ingredients in nearby markets and considered the most challenging part of the process to be organizing his time so that the business would not take away from his school work.

After the first time Hidalgo made them, he realized the process took much more time than he thought, so he would have to spread out the work.

He now dedicates one day to cooking all the meat, the next day he preps the pastelitos and on the Saturday of delivery he fries them so that they can be hot and fresh.

Hidalgo said he’s satisfied with how the business aspect of the enterprise is going.

“I made a decent amount of profits,” he said. “I made what I was looking for … I didn’t need this to be a big booming thing.”

For Hidalgo, it was all about bringing joy to those around him.

I have indeed tried the famous pastelitos. I ordered some on a Friday and picked them up outside Hidalgo’s dorm on a Saturday. He handed them to me, delicately wrapped and warm.

Back in my dorm, I eagerly took a bite, and for a split second, wondered whether these pastelitos beat my home country Argentina’s empanadas. There is a strong rivalry between countries regarding whose empanadas are superior. Due to my own patriotic pride I will not disclaim my final rankings of such, but I will admit that biting into Hidalgo’s pastelitos made me feel at home.

4 Thursday, November 12, 2020

WEEKENDER

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The state of the independent bookstore

As the year goes on and COVID-19 continues to affect in-person selling and printing availability, bookstores have had to find new routines and sales options for customers in order to keep revenue up.

Bookstores a little closer to home in Boston are experiencing similar struggles, though many of them have found ways to persevere even though they continue to have reduced hours and new COVID-19 protocol expenses.

One new program created by Porter Square Books is called “Shop with Your Pod,” which gives a group of up to 10 people the ability to be in the store on its own for an hour.

“It’s good for business,” David Sandberg, who co-owns Porter Square Books with his wife Dina Mardell, said. “But the main reason why we did it is there’s a lot of people, especially with the holidays coming up, that still don’t feel comfortable being in the store in public.”

Porter Square Books also began publishing a specialty

newsletter called Shelf Stable early on in the pandemic. This helped the bookstore stay connected to its community by talking about books but also personal experiences. Initially being a daily publication when the pandemic began, the newsletter now runs a few times a week.

“We got more positive reactions from customers about this newsletter than almost anything we’ve done online,” Sandberg said.

A central part of bookselling is person-to-person interaction; however, COVID-19 limits this. The bookseller is not placing books into your hands which changes how they do their jobs. Harvard Book Store General Manager Alex Meriwether talked about how the store has adapted to this new type of selling.

“Our staff … [has shown] a tremendous amount of ingenuity and resilience and make it work even though it’s difficult,” he said.

Customers have also responded to bookstores’

attempts to still create community in their spaces.

“We’ve had some remarkable Yelp reviews since we reopened that honestly have brought tears to our eyes, just how meaningful the interaction with our staff has been for people and how meaningful being in a bookstore has been for people,” Meriwether said.

As with many stores, holiday season sales are crucial.

Not only does lower in-store capacity threaten the amount of sales bookstores can have, but there are also all sorts of supply chain issues because of COVID-19 that create problems with bookstores not having enough of the ‘hot ticket’ titles. If printing is decreased and bookstores cannot get more of a specific title that they otherwise would have sold, this could severely impact their sales.

Porter Square Books is dealing with the possibility of lowered printing by ordering more books than they normally would.

“Books especially that we know are going to be big … we’ll order twice as many as we might have otherwise,” Sandberg said. “Normally you’d do a big upfront order and then as you need you’d slowly order more as you sold them, but now we don’t want to take the chance that … we can’t get them.”

Another way bookstores are adjusting is by extending their holiday season. Harvard Book Store decided to spread out its holiday shopping and sales across October and November.

It had its annual sale that is usually a one day in store and online event over three days instead. Harvard also sent a letter to customers asking for support like the Strand and Shakespeare and Company.

And the response was extraordinary. People showed

likely remain steady unless the state of movie theaters changes drastically. This is well shy of the approximately $800 million that it was once predicted to gross, and even the $500 million that was predicted it needed to break even. Needless to say, the movie industry is struggling to stay afloat, with theater owners looking for any source they can to generate capital, as currently they are only bringing in a fraction of their former cash flow.

This is no exaggeration. Last quarter, AMC Theaters took in $119.5 million in revenue. That is a staggering 91% drop from the same quarter last year. Even the largest theater chain in the world can’t seem to get people to come to the theaters, which is why when news broke today that pharmaceutical company “Pfizer” was finding success with a vaccine

that proved to be 90% effective, AMC’s stock increased by up to 50% in the wake of the announcement. Cinemark, too, saw its stock soar by 40%. Undoubtedly, this is good news for theater owners, their employees and movie-goers everywhere, right? NATO believes — no not the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, the National Association of Theater Owners — that it is a case of too little, too late.

John Fithian, president and CEO of NATO, made a plea to Congress on Monday that it needs to work quickly if there is to be any chance of saving the industry. “Without bipartisan action now in the lame duck session of Congress, hundreds of movie theaters will not make it,” Fithian said. “Local communities across the nation are and will be permanently damaged.”

With almost no new movies on the release slate and reduced theater capacity, there is not enough potential revenue to last until the vaccine is widely distributed, when it would be safe to return the theaters to normal operations.

NATO is asking for $15 billion in COVID-19 relief as a part of a proposal called “Save Our Stages.” This would be in the form of grants distributed to independent theaters. However, this may be easier said than done. With contentious Senate runoffs as well as President Donald Trump’s refusal to accept the results of the presidential election, Congress’ focus is likely not on the state of the movie industry. But in a time of record unemployment, it’s important to understand how many people this could affect.

Beyond the movie theater being

COURTESY HARVARD BOOK STORE

The Harvard Book Store is pictured.

by Devina Bhalla Arts Editor

Strand Book Store in New York City, a giant in the independent bookstore world that has been open for 93 years, announced on Oct. 23 that it needed help from the local community urgently because sales were down 70%. Luckily, the weekend after the letter was sent, it received 25,000 online orders and had huge lines to get in. The community support was insane.

The Strand isn’t the only bookstore that has called on its community for help. Shakespeare and Company in Paris, a famous bookstore modeled after Sylvia Beach’s in the early 20th century that was a hangout spot for authors like Ernest Hemingway and James Joyce, also had to appeal to its customers for support. Amber Unicorn Books in Las Vegas is closing after 39 years in business, and The Book Nook in Michigan is closing after 50 years of business. Sadly, Publishers Weekly is stocked full of these stories.

Julian Levy Keep the Cameras Rolling

The prospects of the 2020 film industry

F

ocus Features has had a number one movie at the box office in back-to-back weekends for the first time ever; this would normally be fantastic news for a smaller film distributor. Unfortunately, the movie that clinched this was Kevin Costner’s newest drama “Let Him Go,” which grossed a paltry $4.1 million domestically. “Tenet” recently crossed $350 million, a total that it will

up, supporting it with all their might. On the Sunday of the sale, Meriwether said they sold over 10,000 books and had 40 times the online sales from the previous Sunday.

Just that weekend is representative of the widespread community support that bookstores like Harvard need and receive.

“We really saw the support of our community with that letter … and we’re going to do our best to keep reminding folks that we need that sustained support and we’re going to work hard to be the best we can be for them,” Meriwether said.

In order to deal with the influx of online orders, Harvard Book Store has created socially distanced workspaces in the used book basement and has temporarily closed the used book basement to the public. Even though this part of the store is closed, Meriwether discussed how used books were not really selling right now anyway — therefore, closing the basement to make workspaces was the best option.

Situations with COVID19 are constantly changing.

Therefore, stores have to stay on their toes.

“Going into this winter, it’s hard to know what in-person shopping is going to be like … [so we’re] noticing trends and developing efficiencies where we can, but knowing things will keep changing,” Meriwether said.

Within all of the uncertainty and sad news, there are these stories of resilience and community support that give independent bookstores hope. Nonetheless, it is important, now more than ever, to continue supporting these community staples by doing holiday shopping with them — and not using Amazon to purchase books.

a cornerstone of American life, NATO told Congress that more than 153,000 people are employed by theaters across the country.

There is a very real possibility that COVID-19 could kill the movie theater, but only if people let it. The lower-than-expected gross of “Tenet” is still impressive given the circumstances, and it shows that the public still desires the theater experience. The revelation of a potentially successful vaccine has given the markets faith in companies like AMC for the first time in a while. They just need the government to share that hope with them.

Julian Levy is a first-year who has not yet declared a major.

Julian can be reached at julian. levy@tufts.edu.

Thursday, November 12, 2020 | Fun & Games | THE TUFTS DAILY

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F& G

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LATE NIGHT AT THE DAILY Hannah: “There’s definitely a ghost living in the Daily office.”

Fun & Games

SUDOKU

LINDA C. BLACK ASTROLOGY

Scorpio (Oct. 23–Nov. 22) Your imagination goes wild. Relax and enjoy the ride. Retreat into a peaceful phase of private introspection. Settle into restful contemplation. Recharge batteries.

SEARCHING FOR HEADLINES...

Difficulty Level: Democrats trying to win the Senate.

Wednesday’s Solutions

CROSSWORD

6 Thursday, November 12, 2020

Caroline DePalma Philosophy in Focus

Time to celebrate

A

s I write this, I can hear a muffled version of Queen’s “We Are The Champions” (1977) drifting in through my open window.

It certainly feels true; this weekend’s announcement of Joe Biden as the 46th president-elect of the United States lifted a very heavy weight off the collective shoulders of this country.

Before the song had even ended, I started seeing commentary on social media and major news networks focusing on the challenges the incoming administration will face, so I started to question the value of such a celebration.

In “The Theory of Moral Sentiments,” Adam Smith posits that there is a significant difference “between those qualities and actions which deserve to be admired and celebrated, and those which simply deserve to be approved of.”

I have a tough time disagreeing with him.

I certainly understand the frustration some feel when the election of our first female vice president-elect is described as something ‘remarkable’ or ‘miraculous.’ From a slightly shifted perspective, it is easy to say that this is just something that should be normal by now. Around half of the U.S. population is female, yet no woman has ever occupied the Oval Office. Kamala Harris is just a few steps away from it, though they are very difficult steps to take.

I feel the frustration of what may be a Pyrrhic victory. Because of this, Harris’ new position would fall into Smith’s category of things to be approved of, not celebrated.

The election of a president who does not tell lies in all caps on Twitter would be as well.

I’m not going to disagree with Smith on that. This progress was long overdue, and there is a lot of work still to be done.

On the other hand, this is the first time in a while that American democracy feels like it is working in the way it is supposed to. We could never have anticipated the stress that came over our country in the last four years. The days following Nov. 3 left many of us struggling between hope and terror as we watched the election results trickle in.

With that in mind, I’m not going to worry about Smith’s proposition just yet. On Jan. 20, I will watch Biden be sworn in as our 46th president with as much joy as the Queen fans outside my window. On Jan. 21, I will gladly start talking about the work that needs to be done.

Smith may be right that, in a different context, the events of this past week would not be worth celebrating. But that does not matter to me at all right now. An intelligent, qualified pair will move into their offices in the White House and President Donald Trump is going to have to leave.

Smith also writes, “Virtue is excellence, something uncommonly great and beautiful, which rises far above what is vulgar and ordinary.” We’ve just watched this happen in real time, so it would be absurd not to celebrate it for the victory that it is.

Opinion

tuftsdaily.com

OP-ED

Why I am volunteering to give myself COVID-19

by Kyle Krell I am volunteering to give myself COVID-19.

I don’t mean through negligent behavior, like partying at Lax House during a pandemic; actually, it’s quite the opposite. A few months ago, I signed up with an organization called 1Day Sooner to take part in a human challenge trial for COVID-19, which involves intentional exposure to the virus to test a vaccine. And I strongly encourage other healthy young adults to consider doing the same.

To understand my decision, and why I’m encouraging others to consider the same, it is important to understand how vaccine development works. Vaccine candidates typically undergo a lengthy testing process to determine if the vaccine is safe and effective, culminating in Phase III human trials. This entails giving either an experimental or placebo to tens of thousands of participants, then waiting to see how many contract COVID-19.

But there’s a problem with this method.

Researchers don’t know if or when a participant will be exposed to COVID-19. This means a very large number of participants is needed to guarantee that enough people are exposed to the virus. This process can take up to several years, depending upon the severity of the pandemic. So, paradoxically, the better we contain the pandemic, the longer it will take to develop a vaccine.

This is where human challenge trials come in. Instead of waiting around for participants to be accidentally exposed to COVID-19 in their everyday life, scientists conducting human challenge trials give volunteers a vaccine candidate and then deliberately expose them to COVID-19.

Since every person in the trial is guar-

anteed to be exposed to the virus, far fewer participants are required. And more importantly, the trial could save months in comparison to standard vaccine procedures, meaning tens or hundreds of thousands of lives could be saved.

Human challenge trials are not new; They have been conducted for malaria, cholera, influenza and several other infectious diseases. Researchers would take every possible measure to guarantee the safety of participants, who would be thoroughly monitored for health concerns, monitored to ensure their safety and given immediate access to appropriate medical care. In the context of COVID-19, researchers would aim to select young, healthy people that are least vulnerable to minimize risks even further.

For me, volunteering for a COVID-19 human challenge trial makes sense. I’m 19 years old. I’m healthy. I have no preexisting conditions. Frankly, I’m not too worried about the risk to myself. By far, my biggest concern is contracting the virus and spreading it to other people who might be at risk. However, in a human challenge trial, participants would be housed in designated centers to isolate, in highly controlled environments to prevent the spread of infection.

Despite all of these benefits, no COVID19 human challenge trials have been conducted yet — only recently did a group in the U.K. propose plans to conduct challenge studies in January, and many experts are still concerned about risks. At the moment, there is no proven COVID-19 rescue therapy, meaning that there is no definitively effective treatment available that can be administered to participants if they become seriously ill.

The risks are real, but in reality, challenge trials are no riskier than

another common medical procedure: kidney donations.

Studies have shown that the fatality rate of COVID-19 patients under 25 (a target demographic for challenge trials) is less than 0.01%. For kidney donations, the donor mortality rate is 0.03%. We accept and praise people for donating a kidney and incurring a 0.03% risk of death, yet we claim challenge trials are too dangerous when participants accept a 0.01% risk of death. Risks that are ethically permissible in an operating room should be ethically permissible in a clinical trial center.

Whereas a kidney donation saves a single life, a COVID-19 challenge trial could save thousands. In the last week, an average of more than 8,000 deaths occurred per day worldwide from COVID-19. Let’s say a vaccine could avert just 25% of those deaths (quite the conservative estimate); according to this estimate, speeding up a vaccine by a single day could save around 2,000 lives. In reality, that number would likely be much higher.

We are living in unprecedented, nerve-wracking times. We may be socially distancing, wearing masks and washing our hands excessively, but we cannot kill this virus without a vaccine. If we want a return to any semblance of normalcy, we need to consider human challenge trials. Nearly 40,000 others around the world have joined me in volunteering with 1Day Sooner to participate in a human challenge trial, and I hope readers, if comfortable with the risks, will sign up too. As young adults, we have the unique opportunity to use our youth and health for the betterment of the entire world.

Kyle Krell is a sophomore who has not yet declared a major. Kyle can be reached at kyle.krell@tufts.edu.

Caroline DePalma is a first-year who has not yet declared a major. Caroline can be reached at caroline.depalma@tufts.edu The Tufts Daily is a nonprofit, independent newspaper, published Monday through Friday during the academic year, and distributed free to the Tufts community.

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Sports

7 Thursday, November 12, 2020

NFL Week 9 Recap: Too close for comfort

by Emma Joyce

Contributing Writer

There were many close games in Week 9 of the NFL season, as eight matchups were decided by a touchdown or less.

Somehow the Dallas Cowboys gave the undefeated Pittsburgh Steelers a run for their money with a fourth string quarterback, and the Carolina Panthers came within two points of the offensive powerhouse Kansas City Chiefs.

Even the New England Patriots had a scare Monday night when the 0–9 New York Jets, led by quarterback Joe Flacco, dominated most of the game. Flacco’s three touchdown passes ended up not being enough to hold the Patriots off, as Nick Folk’s 51-yard field goal with no time left on the clock gave his team a 30–27 win.

One game that was expected to be exciting, between two NFC South Super Bowl contenders, turned into a blowout. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers put up a whopping three points against the New Orleans Saints, who won the Sunday night game 38–3.

Even with his new wide receiver weapon Antonio Brown, Tom Brady was unable to throw a touchdown the entire game. The game was arguably the worst of Brady’s career as the Buccaneers trailed 31–0 at half, and the Brady-led offense could not even score a touchdown when they had a first and goal at the 1-yard

Aiden Herrod The Turf Monster

Fantasy Football Playoff Primer

T

his week, I wanted to depart a bit from my usual subject of pure pro sports, and focus instead on one “sport” that impacts just about everyone: fantasy football. It has been long documented that fantasy football is on the rise, and just about every football fan or even average Joe you’ll meet is in at least one casual league. So today I wanted to dispense some of my own knowledge and conventional industry wisdom alike to deliver to you the ultimate guide to winning your leagues as we move past the halfway point of the NFL season, into weeks which dictate the playoffs for fantasy leagues.

Know your roster, and prepare accordingly Understanding where your team stands within your

ALEXANDER JONESI / WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

Sam Darnold of the New York Jets is pictured during a game against the Washington Football Team on Nov. 17, 2019. line. There is definitely something off with the Buccaneers as a whole given that they also barely beat the New York Giants last week. However, we know not to count Brady out just yet, as the Bucs still have a good shot at making the playoffs. With the biggest blowout out of the way, let’s take a look at some of the notable matchups that were closer than expected.

Pittsburgh Steelers vs.

Dallas Cowboys The only undefeated team against a fourth string quarterback and the Dallas Cowboys.

I think most fans had an idea

about where this game was headed, but boy were we all wrong. The Cowboys, starting their fourth quarterback of the season, Garrett Gilbert, and led at the end of the third quarter against the Steelers 19–9. Dallas has had an unfortunate series of quarterback injuries this season including losing their star quarterback, Dak Prescott, for the season with a broken ankle. Gilbert played better than expected, and ended the first half with a better passer rating than Steelers veteran quarterback Ben Roethlisberger.

The Cowboys maintained the

lead for almost the entire game until Eric Ebron scored a touchdown with a little over two minutes left in the game to give the Steelers the lead.

With second string quarterback Andy Dalton missing the past two games due to a concussion and positive COVID19 test, Gilbert now challenges him for the starting spot for the remainder of the season.

The Steelers escaped with the 24–19 win to remain the NFL’s lone unbeaten team.

Seattle Seahawks vs.

Buffalo Bills The Buffalo Bills upset the Seattle Seahawks 44–34 this

league beyond just the raw records is crucial. What I mean by this specifically is, evaluate what kind of team you are. Are you a lock for the playoffs? A middling roster that needs to fight for a playoff spot? Or a basement dweller? Based on how you view your team, you’ll need to look at individual schedules and prioritize acquiring certain players.

If you need to win each and every week, trade for or pick up players with soft schedules in the next week or two, and worry about playoff performance when you make it there.

Prioritize players past their bye, thus ensuring you get the maximum value from them. On the flipside, if you have a few wins to cushion your playoff chances, look for players with soft schedules from Weeks 14 to 16. If that means trading for players who are injured or on bye, so be it. This is especially applicable when you’re targeting opposing teams who are in need of immediate wins, as they likely cannot afford to clog a roster spot with a player who cannot start for a week or two.

Pick up favorable quarterbacks or defenses now Having the right defense can often be an afterthought, especially when so many players choose to treat the position as a week-by-week “stream.” But you can apply the same principles as before and get the drop on your league mates by scooping up a defense with a favorable run of crummy offenses.

This is especially impactful when the defense is a little more under the radar. The Los Angeles Rams could carry a team through the playoffs with games against the New York Jets and New England Patriots in Weeks 14 and 15 respectively (though you can’t start them against the Seattle Seahawks in Week 16). The Cleveland Browns get the two New York teams, the Jets and Giants, for Weeks 15 and 16.

If you can afford the bench spot, stashing these defenses for when the playoffs start can amount to a huge advantage.

The same can be applied to quarterback, especially when you’ve been saddled with a struggling player like Matthew

Stafford or Lamar Jackson.

Last year, I won a league by starting Ryan Fitzpatrick instead of seemingly superior options like Dak Prescott or Aaron Rodgers. Trust the easy matchups over a quarterback’s name value. Jared Goff is a boring option to many, but his Week 16 Seattle matchup could win people titles. Baker Mayfield meanwhile gets the aforementioned New York duo in playoff weeks, who have been hilariously bad on defense.

Swear by the waiver wire As the trade deadline approaches in many leagues, the waiver wire will soon become the only option for teams to improve or pivot their rosters. Ensuring you make it a habit to scour the waivers each and every week to pick up hidden gems or players with juicy matchups can be the difference between life and death in fantasy. There are all sorts of fun little tricks that can optimize your waiver choices. Players coming back from injury are often overlooked. Picking up backups or “handcuffs” to any of the

Sunday. It was a battle between quarterbacks Josh Allen and MVP front-runner Russell Wilson, and ultimately Allen and the Bills came out on top.

Allen had three touchdowns and 415 yards, whereas Russell Wilson had four turnovers. The Seahawks defense is what ultimately killed them, allowing 386 passing yards to Allen. The Seahawks defense ranks second to last in the NFL in yards allowed per game. However, newly acquired Carlos Dunlap does provide some hope for the unit moving forward, as he had five tackles in his first game for Seattle. The Bills are on track to win the AFC East, which they have not done since 1995.

Kansas City Chiefs vs.

Carolina Panthers The Carolina Panthers started out well, but the Kansas City Chiefs fought their way back to earn a 33–31 victory.

Panthers star running back Christian McCaffrey returned to the field after missing six games with a high ankle sprain and undoubtedly contributed to their success, but he could be out again with a shoulder injury that occurred late in the game. Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes and the rest of his star-studded offense were dominant as usual, and Mahomes became the fastest quarterback in history to reach 100 career passing touchdowns. Kansas City moves along with an 8–1 record while the Carolina trends in the opposite direction at 3–6. big-name running backs can win you a title if anyone goes down to injury, which often happens across the position.

My personal favorite tactic is to check the waivers for players that have been dropped by opposing teams as they look for their own waiver pickups.

You’d be surprised at the quality of players that teams let go as they get more and more desperate for an instant win.

Profit off of trade deadline desperation Looking at the bottom half of your league for trade partners is a tried and true strategy, as these teams are increasingly on the lookout for that blockbuster trade to make a splash and shift their fortunes.

The more desperate an opponent is, the more likely they will be to take massive risks and acquire more high-variance players. Every league is different, but the bottom half of any league is far more inclined to make deals.

Aiden is a junior studying film and media studies and entrepreneurial leadership. Aiden can be reached at aiden.herrod@tufts.edu