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VOLUME LXXXI, ISSUE 38
Newhouse Foundation donates $1.5 million to endow CIRCLE directorship by Charlotte Chen
Dean of Tisch College Dayna Cunningham explained why CIRCLE is vital at Tufts and across the country. “CIRCLE … has an incredible database [for] monitoring youth political engagement. It has a really important piece of work of what I call field building, which is to chart a possible future direction for the field of civic studies,” Cunningham said. One of CIRCLE’s many ongoing initiatives is the Educating for American Democracy project, which aims to reimagine civics and history education. CIRCLE also works with educators across several states, including Illinois and Massachusetts, to reach youth. CIRCLE Project Manager Sarah Keese expressed her excitement about CIRCLE’S current research work. “[Our research] encompasses so many of our values of things like youth as assets, and overcoming that stigma of youth apathy, and I am really excited about all of the things coming up with growing voters,” Keese said. Before becoming director in 2015, Kawashima-Ginsberg
Contributing Writer
The Samuel I. Newhouse Foundation has gifted the Center for Information & Research on Civic Learning and Engagement (CIRCLE) at Tufts with a $1.5 million endowment to fund the position of its director. The Newhouse Director of CIRCLE, Kei KawashimaGinsberg, expressed her gratitude to the Newhouses for their generosity in endowing her position, which she has held since April 2015. “I’m really grateful that the Newhouses see that there is a value in placing a really unique institution like CIRCLE … and decided to support a foundation for [its] director. It’s really significant that it’s not given to me, per se, as a scholar, but it’s given to the position, and it’s a really huge message to me … about how leaders see an institution like this to be a solid place within Tufts University,” Kawashima-Ginsberg said. CIRCLE, a nonpartisan, independent research organization based out of Tufts University’s Tisch College of Civic Life, conducts research on youth civic engagement in the United States.
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see CIRCLE, page 2
Tufts imposes no Thanksgiving travel restrictions this year
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The COVID Testing Center at 62 Talbot Avenue is pictured on Oct. 3. by Aaron Gruen
Contributing Writer
In a change from last year’s policy, Tufts allowed students who traveled during Thanksgiving to return to campus in the time between Thanksgiving and winter break. The policy was announced to the Tufts community on Nov. 9 in an email from Dean of Student Affairs Camille Lizarríbar. Tufts’ travel policy eased this year as COVID-19 vaccines were mandated for all members of the Tufts community. Students who traveled domestically did not need to obtain permission,
but international travel was still restricted. “Faculty, staff, and students seeking to travel internationally on university-related business must still obtain explicit approval from their dean (or their designee) of the school or unit,” the Global Tufts website notes. Nikhita Karra, who flew home to Chicago over break, was not worried about COVID-19 exposure when returning home. “Covid really didn’t impact me too much — I just had to wear a mask, but it was fine because I fly a lot going home and back to school,” Karra, a sophomore,
wrote in an electronic message to the Daily. Dyuthy Ramachandran, who is from the Bay Area, also traveled home for Thanksgiving, and expressed anxiety about air travel. “I am more nervous about planes, mostly due to the crowded environment,” Ramachandran, a first-year, wrote in an electronic message to the Daily. Students who were off-campus during the break were not required to test during the break, but if students developed COVID-19 symptoms while off campus during the see THANKSGIVING, page 2
CMHS continues virtual group offerings added in response to pandemic by Avery Hanna
Contributing Writer
This semester, Tufts Counseling and Mental Health Services is continuing to offer virtual programs and workshops, including those created to target pandemic-specific challenges. Since the start of the pandemic, CMHS has created several new groups targeting mental health challenges that can arise in quarantine. One such group offered this semester for both undergraduate and graduate students is the ReST & Renew group. This group offers Resiliency Skills Training (ReST) and is meant to help students work through the uncertainty and unexpected challenges that arise during the pandemic. CMHS Director of Outreach and Group Programs Marilyn
Downs discussed the motivations behind this new programming. “We have expanded our group and workshops offerings during the pandemic because we wanted to create more opportunities for students to connect with each other,” Downs wrote in an email to the Daily. Other more permanent groups were modified for the pandemic, such as the Coping with Loss in a Remote World group for those who have experienced the death of a loved one. A group about journaling for self-care was also created during the pandemic and was offered over last spring and this past summer. According to Downs, it will probably be offered next spring as well. Downs explained that usually groups and workshops are unavailable over the summer, due to the small number
MINA TERZIOGLU / THE TUFTS DAILY
Sawyer House for Tufts Counseling and Mental Health Services is pictured on Nov. 10. of students on campus. The transition to a virtual format, however, made these offerings possible, since students could participate from other locations.
During the school year, this format increased accessibility, since a Zoom meeting is easier to squeeze in between classes, Downs said.
FEATURES / page 3
ARTS / page 4
OPINION / page 7
Two juniors and an idea: A think tank is born
12 seasons later, ‘Bake Off’ retains wholesome feeling and impressive bakers
Burning bridges: Infrastructure bill highlights rifts within and between parties
However, the virtual environment comes with its disadvantages. Downs described how the Zoom sessions are different than the in-person meetings held in a comfortable conference room space where everyone can sit together. “You’re sitting in a circle, you’re in each other’s presence, in a room in real time and space,” Downs said in an interview with the Daily. “It actually does feel different than looking at your screen and seeing people in squares in front of you. I think there is some loss of the connection by being on Zoom. On the other hand, it makes it possible to meet.” Matthew Zimon, co-president of Active Minds, a club focused on raising mental health awareness see CMHS, page 2 NEWS
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THE TUFTS DAILY | News | Wednesday, December 1, 2021
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Kawashima-Ginsberg looks to the future of CIRCLE after director position endowed by Newhouse Foundation CIRCLE
continued from page 1 worked at CIRCLE as a lead researcher and then as deputy director. “I was attracted to the fact that Tisch had community partnerships already established and had lots of partners. And of course, I love working with young people, so I was attracted to the fact that Tisch already had a lot of students working with them,” KawashimaGinsberg said. Kawashima-Ginsberg now oversees all of the projects conducted at CIRCLE. She explained her plans for how to continue CIRCLE’s success in the coming years. “Growing voters [is] not just talking to young people when the election is close or around the corner, and just register you and then tell you to vote and go away. That’s what we call a typical mobilization model,” Kawashima-Ginsberg said. “We think we should be growing voters from much earlier in people’s lives. That’s one example of really trying to organize a field to think differently, instead of just putting out research and [saying] ‘It’s really not working.'”
especially [affects] how young people receive messages about politics, about elections, about their role within society and civic life.” Elyse Newhouse (J’82), and her husband, Michael Newhouse (A’82), have been involved with Tufts University and Tisch College for several years. In addition to being a trustee, Elyse Newhouse has also been a member of the boards of advisors for the School of Arts and Sciences, Tisch Library and now Tisch College. CIRCLE’s directorship is the second position at Tufts to be endowed by the Newhouse
Foundation. In 2018, the Newhouses endowed the Newhouse Professor of Civic Studies position in hopes of strengthening the connection between Tisch College and the Department of Political Science. Cunningham explained how Kawashima-Ginsberg’s new position complements the Newhouse Professor of Civic Studies position. “They are endowing and enabling that institutional stability of this laboratory for research and tool creation to advance democracy [as well as] scholarship to understand better what the challenges are of democracy from a theoretical perspective,” Cunningham said. Medina expressed his excitement to see how CIRCLE’s research will continue to progress under KawashimaGinsberg’s leadership given the Newhouse Foundation’s recent endowment of her directorship. “This endowment is a recognition of our work as an organization and the importance of our work on our mission, but it’s also really a recognition of [Kawashima-Ginsberg’s] leadership, personally and professionally,” Medina said.
among other data, and will be sharing that information widely as it becomes available,” Jordan wrote in an email to the Daily. In addition, Jordan stressed that Tufts has not yet decided whether to change restrictions after Thanksgiving break. “We can’t speculate on the unknown,” Jordan said. “As we have throughout the pandemic, we will make data-driven decisions that prioritize the health and safety of the Tufts community and our neighbors.” Although Caggiano encouraged members of the Tufts community to receive booster shots, Jordan noted
that the university has not yet mandated booster shots. “No decisions have been made to date,” Jordan said. “We’ll continue to review data and trends and be guided by what’s in the best interests of our community’s health and safety.” While COVID-19 is the focus of many people’s concerns, nonCOVID respiratory infections are also spreading around campus. Caggiano urged students to receive flu vaccinations. “Students should be vaccinated for flu as soon as possible if they did not already have a flu shot this season,” Caggiano said.
MICHELLE LI / THE TUFTS DAILY
The President’s Lawn is pictured on Oct. 19. Alberto Medina, who leads CIRCLE’s communication team, highlighted another of CIRCLE’s current research projects. “We are really trying to innovate in … research on the relationship between young people, the media and civic engagement,” Medina said. “So that goes from things like working with social media like Snapchat … on their efforts to to see how they can use digital platforms to engage young people, but it’s also thinking about how young people are dealing with the changing media landscape … The media is obviously such a huge part of everything, but
Travel allowed this Thansgiving THANKSGIVING
continued from page 1 break, Marie Caggiano, director of Health and Wellness Services, advised taking additional safety precautions or contacting Health Service. “Students who are feeling ill should seek medical advice,” Caggiano wrote in an email to the Daily. “Students who develop symptoms of COVID-19 … should arrange testing and receive a negative result before traveling or returning to campus.” Many students opted to remain on campus during the break. According to Executive Director
of Media Relations Patrick Collins, around 400 students indicated their intent to remain on campus during Thanksgiving. Caggiano noted that those who remained on campus were expected to adhere to their normal COVID-19 testing schedule. As demand for travel climbed after the previous Thanksgiving holiday, Michael Jordan, university infection control director, explained that COVID-19 data will be closely monitored following holiday travel. “Local, state and federal public health authorities are keeping a close eye on the number, severity and location of COVID-19 cases,
CMHS groups offer opportunities for connection CMHS
continued from page 1 on campus, agreed with Downs about the benefits and challenges of Zoom. He said it may be best to have both in-person and virtual options in the future. As of now, it is unclear when the groups will transition back in person or whether some virtual options will be continued in the future. CMHS intends to tailor the courses towards student needs as the pandemic continues. “We try to switch up our groups just a little bit each semester so that we can cast our net a little … and try to meet different people’s needs,” Downs said. This semester their topics include body image, growing up with family mental illness or addiction, sexual assault and Black wellness. CMHS works continually to improve its programs with small modifications. Downs said
CMHS is always open to new ideas and input from students. “My colleagues and I will put our heads together about what we think our students would benefit from and what we feel like we can offer,” Downs said. “So some of that comes from individual clinicians, their areas of expertise or interest … and then the other influence … comes from students.” Zimon appreciates that the groups offer counseling opportunities to a wide range of students. He specifically mentioned hearing about the benefits of TRANScend and Oasis for transgender students and students of color, respectively. “I think CMHS could definitely improve on its offerings,” Zimon said in an email to the Daily. “I think there should be even more groups for students of color as we’ve seen with the Black Wellness Workshops and International Student discussion
groups. For example, a group for AAPI students or Latinx students would be helpful. Also, I would like to see more spaces for queer students of color, especially in an environment that understands how mental health support may vary by culture.” The groups CMHS offers are split into two categories: counseling groups and discussion groups or workshops. Counseling groups generally consist of a group of eight or nine students who meet weekly over Zoom. These groups require students to meet with the group leader before attending to make sure the group would be a good fit. “With a group like that, we usually ask students to make a commitment to attend every session or do their best to attend every session,” Downs said. “Because in those groups, we’re really looking for a sense of group cohesion and safety.”
Downs also discussed the possibility of offering a group next semester focused on social anxiety or strategies for reducing anxiety since it is such a prevalent problem among students. She also mentioned potentially bringing back a group CMHS has conducted in the past about managing depression. “Having the opportunity to be with other people who understand something about what it’s like to have a particular experience, which most people don’t understand … can be a powerful part of a healing process,” Downs said. “It can help a person feel more deeply understood. It can provide some perspective about one’s own experience through the eyes of others. Sometimes we give another person kind of more grace or compassion than we might give ourselves, and being in a group actually can help with that.”
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New think tank ‘The Lantern’ explores the intersection of science, technology and society by Abby Stern Staff Writer
Many Tufts students have taken their unique passions and used innovation to create new organizations, and The Lantern is no exception. The think tank, which developed out of a discussion group started by two like-minded students, aims to provide the Tufts community with greater knowledge and awareness of how science and technology intersect with society. The group was founded this semester by juniors Nayum Eom and Johnny Lai with the goal of making scientific knowledge more accessible to all people. Eom explained the reason behind the student group’s name. “Light represents knowledge traditionally, and a lot of knowledge is held in an ivory tower, like in academia, and it’s not accessible to the people who are being impacted by that knowledge,” Eom said. “Rather than this light being from an ivory tower, we want to redistribute the source of light to everybody, kind of like a lantern.” The founders became friends during Tufts Wilderness Orientation. Eom, a sociology and economics major and Lai, a computer science and film and media studies major, combined their disciplines and perspectives to create The Lantern and look at the social implications of science and technology. They aimed to create a base where students could come to talk about these issues. Eom and Lai began work on The Lantern this February, and they held discussion groups with some of their friends over the summer. These discussions developed into what would become the student group; however, the organization launched this September. They chose to make the organization an unofficial Tufts club, so they could keep working on the group after they
Sam Russo and David Wingens Potty Talk
New potty on the block
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aving formed some of our most cherished childhood memories at Jewish Community Centers (JCC) throughout the country (but really just Northern New Jersey, the most densely JCC-ed region of our great nation), we were excited to hear that Tufts was getting our very own JCC. Given the prevalence of IBS within the Jewish community (including among yours truly), we knew this building would be home to powerful bathrooms for sure!
graduate. Though being unaffiliated with the university causes challenges, like being unable to advertise at the club fair or reserve rooms as a club, the current setup allows for freedom and growth in the future. The Lantern operates with the help of an executive board. Parker Rule, a junior who was part of the original discussion groups that led to the founding of The Lantern, acts as the head of curriculum. His primary role is to generate topics for club members to research and discuss. The Lantern is set up with teams, so that club members each participate in one project per semester. Within these smaller teams, members research their topic that relates to science, technology and society. They then pass this information on to a team of The Lantern’s graphic designers who condense this information into a readable, accessible graphic that the organization can disseminate to spread awareness. This semester the group has broken up into three project teams. The first group is focusing on technology and climate change, specifically researching the environmental and social implications of lithium-ion batteries that are used in electric cars. The second team is critically examining Silicon Valley. They are looking into how huge tech companies like Facebook and Google create an Office of Ethics and use marketing schemes to appear ethical. The last group, focusing on the future of work, has honed in on gig workers who work remotely and have a flexible schedule. One team member is sophomore Kayla Fang, who heard about The Lantern because Eom was her first-year pre-orientation leader. As a potential future tech worker, she likes being a part of The Lantern so that she can reflect on the current practices in tech. Fang is a part of the projWhen we learned that the JCC at Tufts was not going to be a Jewish Community Center and wouldn’t even have a kosher snack bar or elderly men playing basketball, we were sorely disappointed. Still, we held out hope. The first highlight of our journey in the Joyce Cummings Center (JCC) occurred just after we walked through the grand glass doors and caught sight of a massive gray sign on chestnut paneling indicating the locations of everything important (along with the ominously named “The Lantern”), including the bathrooms on each floor. This one building contains a whopping 19 bathrooms — making it the undisputed champion among academic buildings in our proprietary bathrooms per square foot metric whereby we calculate how many bathrooms a building
COURTESY NAYUN EOM
Members of The Lantern’s Executive Board are pictured on Nov. 30. ect team that researches humane and ethical technological development. “Because I pursue math as a major, and I will probably settle myself in a tech company after my graduation, I don’t want to be someone that just follows the rules and does all the coding and follows what the upper classes say and do something that is irresponsible to society,” Fang said. Analyzing the intersections between technology and society makes The Lantern extremely important in exposing the massive power tech companies hold over society and the economy, according to Eom. “I don’t think the people who are building these tools are necessarily equipped to handle the social and philosophical and economic consequences of the things that they’re building,” Eom
said. “I think we need social scientists and philosophers and artists and just all different sorts of people from different disciplines to engage in the discussion of, ‘What do we do with this technology?’” Rule noted how important these conversations will be in the tech workplace. “The hope would be that we can chip away in some small part at creating the next generation of tech workers … who are slightly more informed about the consequences of what they’re making,” Rule said. In the future, The Lantern also hopes to hold conferences with other schools and work with nonprofits in the responsible technology field. “In the more long run … we want to have more of an advocacy role and directly collab-
has and divide that by the square footage of the building (not including the square footage of the bathrooms themselves). We estimate that approximately 70 people can use the potties of the Cummings Center at one time — an absurd statistic that underscores the administration’s dedication to student health. The problem is that 70 people cannot use the bathrooms’ sinks — which, by the way, have shockingly weak water pressure — at the same time. Each bathroom has one fewer sink than toilets and an astonishing one (1) soap dispenser paired with, yet again, ONE hand dryer and zero paper towel dispensers. It is not clear how the architects saw the flow of bathroom use going or if they had any vision at all. If their hands haven’t already dried during the long wait, students
will be richly rewarded by the hand drying experience. The ASI TRIUMPH™ high-speed hand dryer offers the user a roughly 12” x 12” box where they place their hands, which are then shrouded in gentle blue light and attacked from all sides by hot air. The light then begins flashing an alarming red the moment ASI’s algorithms suggest your hands should be dry. If you try to outsmart the system and leave your hands there forever, well, the ASI team has already thought of that: the dryer shuts off after about 30 seconds. Unfortunately, we found the bathrooms extremely repetitive. There were no nods to the programs or departments held on their floors or any sense of personalization. We hope this might change as the building grows and develops more character, but for now, bath-
orate with tech startups and policymakers, so have more of an action element to the think tank,” Eom said. Before college Eom thought very little about technology and was always more interested in social issues, but she realized during her sophomore year that these two subjects deeply intersect. Eom was inspired by science fiction author Ted Chiang, and she credits him with her thoughts regarding the intersection of technology and capitalism. “When I started applying issues related to technology in the context of capitalism … everything started to click for me. And I started to see how the fears and anxieties that we have about technology are actually fears and anxieties about capitalism,” Eom said. “Because technology is just a tool, but it’s the way that it’s used in our current society’s social context, which is exacerbating pre-existing inequalities and then creating new inequalities.” When Eom started The Lantern, she thought that no one else would be interested in this subject. However, she has found that the more she tells people about the group’s projects, the more interest she gets in the organization. Each of these people can then contribute to The Lantern from the perspectives of their particular major and unique background. To Eom, the future of technology is up to these types of students. So long as science and technology continue to intersect with capitalism and societal inequities, think tanks like The Lantern will continue to be not only relevant, but essential for creating technological progress. “The way technology is shifting [and] changing our society is something that is only going to become more and more relevant in the future,” Eom said. “It’s affecting more and more people’s lives, so that’s how I know that it’s important.” room-goers are here resigned to almost Orwellian monotony. There is, however, a split in bathroom layout between the bottom two and top four floors (we did not venture into the lower level as it was still under construction). This manifests itself most noticeably in the lower floors’ slightly off-putting and surprisingly lengthy bathroom-entrance corridors. Joyce Cummings Center Bathrooms: 6/10 — pretty runof-the-mill but extremely clean (for now) Sam Russo is a junior studying computer science and cognitive and brain science. Sam can be reached at samuel.russo@ tufts. edu. David Wingens is a junior studying international relations. David can be reached at david. wingens@tufts.edu.
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Wednesday, December 1, 2021
Grammys 2022: Who should win and predictions for who will win
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Glass Animals, Japanese Breakfast, Billie Eilish, FINNEAS and Taylor Swift are pictured. by Jack Clohisy
Assistant Arts Editor
On Nov. 23, the Recording Academy announced the nominees for its upcoming 64th annual Grammy Awards, to be held this upcoming January. In recent years, the Recording Academy and Grammy Awards have undergone many changes to adopt new policies centering on diversity, equity and inclusion as well as leadership adjustments. In the “Big Four” categories (Song of the Year, Album of the Year, Record of the Year and Best New Artist), nominees increased from five to eight in 2018, and this year, have been expanded to 10 per category. With that, here are the nominees for each of the aforementioned awards, as well as who, in this author’s opinion, deserves and is likely to win each award. Best New Artist Of the 10 nominated artists for the Best New Artist award this Grammys season (Arooj Aftab, Jimmie Allen, Baby Keem, FINNEAS, Glass Animals, Japanese Breakfast, The Kid LAROI, Arlo Parks,
Olivia Rodrigo and Saweetie), one stands out amongst the rest: Rodrigo. With an incredible first year, sporting two No. 1 hits on the Billboard Hot 100 (“Drivers License” and “Good 4 U”) and a No. 1 debut album (“Sour”), Rodrigo asserts her place in the industry at just 18 years old. She will undoubtedly take home this award, and for good reason. Of the 10 nominees, Rodrigo’s craftsmanship in her songwriting is evident and compelling. She should, and likely will, win Best New Artist at the 64th annual Grammy Awards. Song of the Year For clarity, Song of the Year is awarded to the songwriters of each nominated entry as opposed to the artist who may not have penned any lyrics. This year’s nominees include the following songs: “Bad Habits,” “A Beautiful Noise,” “Drivers License,” “Fight For You,” “Happier Than Ever,” “Kiss Me More,” “Leave The Door Open,” “Montero (Call Me By Your Name),” “Peaches” and “Right On Time.” Once again, Olivia Rodrigo puts up a strong contender in this
category with her hit “Drivers License,” but she faces challenge from both Billie Eilish’s mature and elevated track “Happier Than Ever” and Silk Sonic’s beloved debut single “Leave The Door Open.” This race is close, but the growth Eilish displayed from her debut album to her sophomore album of the same name as the nominated track, “Happier Than Ever,” merits winning the Grammy Award for Song of the Year, which would be her second win in the category after “Bad Guy” in 2020. However, it is more likely that “Drivers License” will take home the award. Record of the Year In comparison to Song of the Year, the recipient of Record of the Year goes “to the Artist and to the Producer(s), Recording Engineer(s) and/or Mixer(s) and mastering engineer(s), if other than the artist” according to the Recording Academy. The nominees include: “I Still Have Faith In You,” “Freedom,” “I Get A Kick Out Of You,” “Peaches,” “Right On Time,” “Kiss Me More,” “Happier Than Ever,” “Montero (Call Me By
Your Name),” “Drivers License” and “Leave The Door Open.” Similar to the previous category, Rodrigo once again holds strong with “Drivers License” while her greatest competition comes from Lil Nas X’s “Montero (Call Me By Your Name),” Doja Cat and SZA’s “Kiss Me More,” Silk Sonic’s “Leave The Door Open” and Billie Eilish’s “Happier Than Ever.” Here, the standouts would be “Kiss Me More” and “Happier Than Ever” with the former becoming one of the top songs of the summer for 2021 and the latter pushing rock elements impressively mature for a 19-year-old artist. This author believes that “Kiss Me More” should take home the award but predicts that “Drivers License” will be the track to inevitably bag this win. Album of the Year Won last year by Taylor Swift’s illustrious “Folklore” (2020), the Album of the Year nominees this year feature an amazing crop of works including another by Swift: “Evermore,” “We Are,” “Love For Sale,” “Justice ( Triple Chucks Deluxe),” “Planet
Her (Deluxe),” “Happier Than Ever,” “Back Of My Mind,” “Montero,” “Sour” and “Donda.” In my mind, there is a tie between which album should win this award, with those two being “Planet Her (Deluxe)” by Doja Cat and “Montero” by Lil Nas X. Both artists have grown tremendously since their first viral hits, and now with these works under their belts, the two have established themselves as acclaimed and mature artists. However, this award will more likely end up in the hands of either Billie Eilish for “Happier Than Ever” or Olivia Rodrigo for “Sour,” based on their huge popularity. The Grammys are shaping up to be a headline-churning ceremony this winter, and with the quantity of nominees per category increased, the voting may be more difficult for Recording Academy members. However, true art will hopefully shine through, and some of the newer and less-awarded artists such as Olivia Rodrigo, Doja Cat, SZA and more will get their breakthrough at the Grammys.
A r t s & P o p Cu l t u r e
Wednesday, December 1, 2021 | Arts & Pop Culture | THE TUFTS DAILY
‘The Great British Bake Off’ regains footing in 12th season
Colette Smith Brands who deserve your dollars
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The finale of of “The Great British Bake Off” series 12 aired on Nov. 23. by Tess Harmon
Contributing Writer
Every year, “The Great British Bake Off” (2010–) premieres — on Channel 4 for British viewers and Netflix for Americans — with another round of bakers entering the famous white tent on the grounds of an English estate in Essex. What once was just a prized British phenomenon, “Bake Off” has taken on the international stage, with millions of viewers tuning in to watch 12 amateur bakers battle it out in a series of baking challenges. Episodes roll out each week, with one contestant going home and one being termed “star baker.” Each week starts with a new theme, whether focused on breads, pastries, biscuits or cakes, and each participant vies to be the top home baker of the lot. This year’s series — the 12th season since the show’s start in 2010 — definitely matched up to past years’, especially given the usual nature of the contestants to be wholesome, diligent and dedicated. Fan favorites were Jürgen Krauss and Giuseppe Dell’Anno, whose inspiring bakes consistently received praises from the mass of viewers around the world. In terms of ratings, the 12th season did quite a bit worse than last year. It only achieved a little over half the average viewers that the 11th season received, which is thought to be due to COVID-19 lockdowns having previously increased viewership.
Overall, the show has seen up and down viewership since it switched from BBC One to Channel 4 after series 7, losing judge Mary Berry and hosts Sue Perkins and Mel Giedroyc along the way. This year’s judges were Paul Hollywood, who has been with the show since its start in 2010, and Prue Leith, who joined “Bake Off” in 2017. Though there was a drop off in viewers after judge Mary Berry left the tent, the judges over the past five seasons have sustained their warmth, good humor and constructive criticism. The contestants seem to truly look up to the judges for their genuine feedback, which reinforces the chemistry in the tent that viewers watch from home. The only point where the show could use improvement was with the hosts, Noel Fielding and Matt Lucas. Each episode began with the two performing comedy sketches that were over-the-top and did not flatter the more “cozy” feel of “Bake Off.” Back in the tent, they consistently made cringey jokes while distracting the bakers, with Matt singing the entire “Meet the Flintstones” theme song in German to baker Jürgen and Noel somewhat hogging the camera. Though the contestants would sometimes laugh along, the hosts’ untimely jokes were, frankly, annoying. Many “Bake Off” viewers feel that perhaps the newer hosts simply do not measure up to the past personalities of Mel and Sue. That being said, with each unfortunate joke, the bakers would respond with witty
quips, and their impressive bakes still stole the show, meaning the talent and personality of the participants kept the unfortunate hostmanship from detracting from the series’ usual flow. “The Great British Baking Show” has finally regained its footing in its most recent season. The baking this year was simply at a superb level; each finalist was crowned star baker twice and received two of the coveted Paul Hollywood handshakes. The bakers themselves were also a more diverse group than the past couple of years, as the show reintroduced more variety in their ages, with the youngest contestant even baking solely vegan treats. The show also shone with the chemistry between the contestants, which was facilitated by the maintenance of the “Bake Off Bubble.” The final episode featured the finalists hugging and cheering for each other in a genuine moment of happiness and warmth, which can really only be derived from a classic episode of “Bake Off.” The contestants this year were closer than ever; the final concluded with a montage of all the bakers reuniting after the show. The series maintained its classic British humor and banter, with Hollywood and Leith deciding to choose the winner of the show over a “cuppa.” Despite some of the more unfortunate gags by the hosts, “The Great British Baking Show” is back to its usual standard, providing respite from some of today’s more dramatic reality television and baking competitions.
5
Girlfriend Collective
irlfriend Collective is an athletic and loungewear brand that uses recycled materials like polyester, fishing nets and used water bottles to create its pieces. The company was founded by a husband and wife duo, Ellie and Quang Dinh. They noticed that it was difficult to find activewear that was created in an environmentally sustainable way and also that many of the activewear brands used the same exact materials. So, Ellie and Quang began to search for alternative fabric choices, which is how they found a fabric mill in Asia that creates fabric from 100% recycled bottles and an SA8000-certified factory in Vietnam. The SA8000 certification means that the factory meets a standard developed by Social Accountability International to protect workers’ conditions and wages. Thus, once the sustainable fabric factory and the production factory were discovered, the husband and wife duo began the design process and Girlfriend Collective was born. The brand explains the environmental benefits that consumers are responsible for when they purchase from the brand: “By choosing Girlfriend, you help divert waste from landfills and support an ethical work environment for the people who make your clothes.” The brand truly follows up on this impact by producing impressive statistics. So far in 2021, Girlfriend Collective has been responsible for recycling 10,430,247 water bottles, preventing 10,127,816 pounds of carbon dioxide from entering the atmosphere and saving 19,869,825 gallons of water. The brand is also eco-friendly in its packaging, dyeing process and ReGirlfriend program. Girlfriend Collective uses 100% recycled and recyclable materials in its packaging. With regard to the dyeing process, the brand uses eco-friendly dyes and cleans and cools the wastewater from the dyeing process before it is released. It works with a pavement facility to recycle the dye mud to be used in sidewalks and roads. The ReGirlfriend program addresses the issue that only 1% of clothing worldwide is recycled. This means that the other 99% gets sent to landfills, is burned or is downcycled. Even more alarming statistics from the website include that “The average American throws out 81 lbs of waste every year. Old clothes thrown into landfills can take up to 200 years to decompose. 40% [is] The percentage of increase in U.S. textile waste from 1999 to 2009.” With these frightening facts, Girlfriend Collective concluded that there must be a better solution. So, to address this, Girlfriend Collective came up with the ReGirlfriend program where customers can send in their old Girlfriend products and, in return, the customer receives store credit. Girlfriend Collective then uses these returned materials to make new things instead of the garments ending up in a landfill. With quality active and loungewear and a responsible ethos, Girlfriend Collective is a great place to shop for your holiday gifts this year. Colette Smith is a senior studying quantitative economics. Colette can be reached at colette.smith@tufts.edu.
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THE TUFTS DAILY | FUN & GAMES | Wednesday, December 1, 2021
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By Maddie Pero
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Opinion
7 Wednesday, December 1, 2021
VIEWPOINT
The passage of Biden’s infrastructure bill and the consequences of our polarized political climate by Sara Kessel and Faye Shen Li Thijssen Opinion Editors
On Nov. 15, President Joe Biden signed the long-awaited $1.2 billion infrastructure bill into law. The U.S. is now able to finally begin infrastructure projects that were previously put on hold, investing $550 billion over the next five years. These projects include rebuilding our roads and bridges, investing in public transit and easing Amtrak’s maintenance backlog, expanding broadband systems to aid rural and low-income communities and furthering environmental infrastructure through climate resilience and renewable energy sources. Given that the United States’ current infrastructure received a C- rating by the American Society of Civil Engineers, this investment feels like a long time coming. Still, despite the fact that the bill has been advertised as and even named the “Bipartisan Infrastructure Framework,” this legislation faced obstacles on both sides of the political aisle. In early November, progressive Democrats in the House of Representatives, including Jamaal Bowman, Cori Bush, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Ilhan Omar, Ayanna Pressley and Rashida Tlaib, voted against the bill before the Build Back Better Act made its way to the Senate. On the other hand, a number of Republican legislators refused to back the bill out of fear jeopardizing their leadership or angering conservative outside groups by supporting a bill championed by the Biden administration. Despite roadblocks in its initial funding and passage, the infrastructure bill should be regarded as a win for the Biden administration, whose public support has dwindled since
by Jacob Fridman A Better Consensus
We need filibuster restoration
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here’s a growing consensus in the Democratic Party to eliminate the Senate filibuster. Even President Biden is now open to at least reforming it. The filibuster is when the minority party in the Senate prolongs debate on a bill, resolution or nomination and runs out the clock, as the majority party usually cannot get the 60 votes needed to end debate and go to a final vote. The last time either party got close to
BY MIRIAM VODOSEK inauguration. However, the struggle to pass this bill unanimously among the Democrats has clear implications for the rest of Biden’s term. The various reactions toward the infrastructure package illustrate Congress’ internal division and lawmakers’ potential behavior over the next three years. On the Democratic side, leaders are both relieved by the bill’s success and apprehensive about future legislative efforts. The leadership of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, which voted yes with the assurance that centrists would back the upcoming social spending bill, was excited at the infrastruc-
ture bill’s passing and cautiously optimistic about Build Back Better’s chances in the House. Several Republicans supported the infrastructure bill, with Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell calling it a “godsend” for his home state of Kentucky. However, some far right members of the Republican party reacted with strong aversion. After the vote, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene claimed that the 13 Republican representatives who backed the bill did so in support of “Joe Biden’s Communist takeover of America via infrastructure.” The controversy surrounding the bill’s passage has left many uncertain as to what this spells for
the future of Biden’s presidency. Despite the Democrats’ general success in unifying enough progressives and moderates to pass the bill, the fact that six progressive Democratic representatives remained opposed points to growing disunity within the party. The bill’s long-winded process also illuminated disagreements among Republicans amidst the exacerbated divide between parties. These layers of polarization are evident in the fears expressed by moderate Republicans who supported the bill, concerned that their more conservative leaders and supporters may harbor resentment toward them after voting ‘yes’ on a bill proposed by a Democratic president.
Though the infrastructure bill is nevertheless a significant accomplishment for Democrats and the Biden administration, the undertones of turmoil within and between parties forebode the continuation of problematic and combative political discourse. If the divide among members of the same party continues to grow alongside the divide between parties, the already slow-paced legislative process is in danger of becoming even more cumbersome to navigate, leading to consequences for the efficiency and efficacy within the legislative process at the expense of the rights and needs of the American public.
60 Senate seats was when the Democrats had 57 between 2009 and 2011, with an additional two independents who caucused with the party. Since the late 1950s, and especially in the time since the 1970s, the use of the filibuster has exploded largely because of political polarization that has driven both parties to play hardball. This includes Democratic Senator Strom Thurmond talking for 24 hours straight to stop the Civil Rights Act of 1957 and Senate Republicans filibustering several of President Obama’s federal court nominees. In 2013, then-Democratic Majority Leader Harry Reid nuked the 60-vote rule for federal judges, excluding Supreme Court nominees. After Reid took steps toward eliminating the filibuster, then-Republican
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell called it a “power grab.” However, just a few years later, McConnell himself dropped the 60-vote requirement for Supreme Court nominees, allowing the Senate to confirm President Trump’s three contentious Supreme Court justices on slim majorities, despite his fairly recent opposition to the so-called “nuclear option.” The reason the filibuster has become so contentious and why even Biden is considering drastic action after a recent filibuster blocked voting rights legislation is because of one simple change to the rules. In 1975, the Senate changed the number of votes needed to overcome a filibuster from two-thirds of all senators that are physically present in the chamber, to three-fifths of all senators in office.
As American Enterprise Institute emeritus scholar and noted McConnell-critic Norman Ornstein has pointed out, this rule has given an unfair advantage to the minority party. The majority party, who is trying to govern, has to gather all of its party and then some to stop the minority party, while the obstructionists would not even have to show up to debate. A possible solution, according to Ornstein and former Democratic Minnesota Senator Al Franken, is to shift the burden of sustaining the filibusters to the minority party. If the minority wants to prolong debate and stymie the majority’s agenda, then they have to do the work of showing up. As Ornstein and Franken wrote in the Star Tribune, “instead of requiring 60 votes to end debate, require 41 to continue debate.”
This change would force 41 of 50 Republicans to be in the chamber. Democrats would not have to gather pity votes from senators like Republican Lisa Murkowski to move on crucial legislation. When Republicans eventually reign again in the Senate, Democrats will have to work to block votes on their legislation. This is how the Senate worked pre-1975, when the minority had a greater say than in the simple majority-led House of Representatives. Still, Senators had to use it wisely because of the manpower needed to block a final vote. Hence, why some call this proposal “filibuster restoration.” Jacob Fridman is a first-year who has not yet declared a major. Jacob can be reached at jacob. fridman@tufts.edu.
8 Wednesday, December 1, 2021
SPORTS
Ice hockey swept by Stevenson
tuftsdaily.com
Oliver Fox Sports and Society
Sports or society?
S
RAY BERNOFF / THE TUFTS DAILY ARCHIVES
The Tufts ice hockey team is pictured playing Amherst on Feb. 11, 2017. by Arielle Weinstein Contributing Writer
Over Thanksgiving weekend, the Tufts men’s ice hockey team was swept in a twogame series against Stevenson University. Entering the weekend, the Jumbos’ record was 0–2–1. Comparatively, the Stevenson Mustangs’ record was 4–1–2. The first game ended with a score of 6–2, and the second 4–0, both in Stevenson’s favor. Injuries and sickness were a factor for Tufts as it came into the game shorthanded in terms of the players they would have liked to have on the ice. Coming into the games, the Jumbos knew they had a difficult task ahead with the Mustangs having fared very well against nationally ranked opponents earlier in the season. “It was definitely a good test for the first week of the season,” senior goalie Josh Sarlo said. Saturday saw a much closer matchup between the Mustangs and the Jumbos than their first game the day before. Both teams were trading shots early on; however, Tufts put itself in a hole when the team received a penalty in the opening minutes that resulted in a Stevenson goal to put the Mustangs up 1–0. “[Penalties] are definitely something as a team we want to get better at, just taking away dumb penalties that give [our opponents] power plays,” sophomore defender Cam Newton said. Senior forward Justin Brandt was able to create many positive chances for the Jumbos throughout the first period, but Tufts was unable to convert. The
Mustangs’ goalie made crucial saves to keep the game scoreless throughout. Both teams posted 15 shots on goal by the end of the first 20 minutes. Just 12 seconds into the second period, Tufts received a roughing penalty that gave Stevenson a power play once again. The Mustangs were able to capitalize, doubling their lead. Three Stevenson penalties gave Tufts three power plays throughout the second period, but the Mustangs successfully killed all three, and the Jumbos were unable to score. Stevenson managed to score twice more throughout the period, once on a short handed goal, making the final score 4–0 in favor of the Mustangs. The third period saw a scoreless result from both sides. Despite giving up another penalty in the early minutes of the third period, Tufts was able to keep Stevenson out of its net. Both teams traded shots throughout the last 20 minutes of play. Toward the end of the period, there were some tussles that resulted in penalties for both sides, and the two teams finished with just four players on the ice each. Much of the Mustangs’ defensive success was due to an outstanding performance by their goalie, who made 34 saves. Tufts’ Sarlo also played well, racking up 32 saves of his own. On Friday, the first period was action packed, with a total of five goals between the two sides. Stevenson scored in the opening 12 seconds and quickly followed that goal up with three more throughout the period, two coming on power plays. “We showed up a little bit flat, and our compete game wasn’t really there,” Brandt
said. Tufts was able to pull one back toward the end of the first period, when Brandt scored on a Jumbos power play. The second period was much more evenly matched, with both teams going scoreless throughout the 20 minutes. Stevenson kept Tufts’ goalie busy however, posting 13 shots over the course of the period. Sophomore goalie Peyton Durand, however, was up to the task in his Tufts debut, saving all 13 shots and keeping the score at 4–1. Conversely, the Jumbos struggled to post shots on goal, totaling only two in the second period. Tufts picked up momentum in the third period, managing to pressure the Stevenson goalie with 10 shots on goal. Despite the Jumbos’ efforts, the Mustangs scored twice throughout the period and the Jumbos only found the back of the net once. The bright spot of the game for the Jumbos was when Brandt scored a short-handed goal to end the game with a score of 6–2. Stevenson outshot Tufts 30–17 in the first game, with penalties fairly evenly split — Tufts received five and Stevenson received six. The transition from the first to the second game saw improvement for the Jumbos. “If you take the improvement from Friday to Saturday, that little win, [you can] hopefully carry that on into next weekend,” Brandt said. Tufts will look to earn its first win later this week as it plays two conference games against Middlebury and Williams on the road.
ports or society? No one should ever be forced to ask themselves this question. Sports exist within human society and because of it, and both are at their best when they work together and support each other. Most of us are casually able to ignore societal connections with sports. The vast majority of sports cater to very specific fan bases, so none mobilize our popular morality against any of their evils. That is central to understanding why progress to tackle many of the injustices in sports is so slow. The Kansas City Chiefs and their indigenous-appropriating name have their share of critics, but only a third of Americans watch football, let alone care about the Chiefs’ name. That goes for coach misconduct, mental health support and countless other obvious but apathy-laden issues. But what if there was a sporting event that united the people of the world, that could spur our collective consciousness into action to make sports into the social force we all know they can be? What if the Olympics were in February? And what if they were in China? Those last two questions are a reality, the first perhaps wishful thinking. The 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing present a new set of questions for athletes, networks, viewers and diplomats alike. Is it right to hold the Olympics in an authoritarian dictatorship that abuses its global economic power to hold the world hostage against speaking out about its repeated human rights violations? Can we all hold hands around the fire of the global community while the populations of Tibet, Xinjiang and Hong Kong are crushed with China’s iron fist? Play or stand? Sports or society? Usually the answer to this question is simple: athletes have a responsibility to use their platform for good. But a straight-up-anddown athlete boycott of the Beijing games may ultimately punish athletes more than it does China. Many of them trained much of their life for this moment, and it gives China far too much credit to discount these athletes’ hard work and dedication. An athlete boycott from the U.S. is both unrealistic and questionable in how much effect it would have. Smaller nations, especially those benefiting from China’s Belt and Road Initiative, do not have the luxury of openly defying China like the U.S. could. The move would likely isolate American athletes more than it would isolate China. What, then, can be done? It’s not an easy question to answer, but the most doable thing from an American perspective would be a diplomatic boycott, something that it seems China might force the U.S. into. That is a solid geopolitical slap on the wrist but isn’t likely to make a real dent. Then again, nothing short of outright cancellation of the games probably would, in the short term. The battle, then, needs to be about awareness of China’s human rights abuses. The key lies in the coverage of the games for international audiences. China will do what it can to suppress any mention of their violations, but commercial spots, athlete speeches on air and live interviews will be hard to censor. China will come after networks, but if athletes are to be expected to mobilize their platforms for good, it’s time that those who that profit off their achievements show some backbone too. Oliver Fox is a first-year who has not yet declared a major. Oliver can be reached at oliver.fox@tufts.edu.