The Tufts Daily - Thursday, December 3, 2020

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VOLUME LXXX, ISSUE 51

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Thursday, December 3, 2020

Russian language program sees low first-year enrollments

by Arvind Pillai

Contributing Writer

The Russian Language and Cultural Studies program at Tufts has seen a decrease in first-year enrollments this year due to challenges presented by the COVID-19 pandemic and the transition to online courses.

Marina Aptekman, a lecturer in Russian, said that while there were more than 20 first-years who enrolled in the Russian program last year, there have only been four first-year undergraduate students who enrolled in the program this year, in addition to four students from The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy.

Vida Johnson, director of the Russian program, said the pandemic has limited opportunities for students to have an engaging learning experience.

ANNA STEINBOCK / THE TUFTS DAILY

see PROGRAM, page 2

President’s Lawn is pictured on Oct. 10.

Tufts Action Group, Another Tufts is Possible advocate for racial justice, police reform

by Yiyun Tom Guan News Editor

In light of the Black Lives Matter movement and protests that occurred over the past summer, several Tufts faculty and staff members founded the Tufts Action Group (TAG) to advocate for a strengthened community that supports Black and other historically marginalized groups across Tufts campuses.

Since its founding, TAG has created initiatives such as Another Tufts is Possible (ATIP), a digital platform that invites Tufts community members to envision the university as a more just and inclusive institution, and “Divest from TUPD,” a letter to the administration that has garnered over 2000 signatures from students, professors, alumni and staff members from across all Tufts campuses.

Chelcie Rowell, a member of the TAG steering committee and head of digital scholarship at Tisch Library, explained the goals and purposes of the group.

“Tufts Action Group formed over this past summer in the midst of both the COVID-19 pandemic but also the pandemic of police brutality, particularly against Black lives,” Rowell said. “Tufts Action Group is this collective of faculty and staff that are organizing at Tufts, in alignment with Black Lives Matter.”

Kareem Khubchandani, a founding member of TAG and a professor in the Department of Theatre, Dance, and Performance Studies, explained that while he commended Tufts’ efforts to tackle racial justice issues, he was concerned about how the crisis of police violence translates to Tufts.

“I was excited to see that the university had responded to the ongoing crisis around Black lives and activism by the Black Lives Matter movement early in the summer, but I was also concerned that there wasn’t explicit language around the crisis of police violence, and what that means for the university,” Khubchandani said.

Khubchandani subsequently started drafting a letter with his colleagues and friends to advocate for the university to commit to divesting from and disarming the Tufts University Police Department (TUPD). The June 18 letter, entitled “In solidarity with the Movement for Black Lives, we call for Tufts University to Disarm and Defund the TUPD,” criticizes TUPD’s escalation and militarization practices. It states that resources dedicated to TUPD should be utilized elsewhere.

“As members of the Tufts community committed to abolition, we demand the University cut ties with state and local law enforcement

WEEKENDER / page 4

The Novel Kitchen brightens neighborhood favorite Brookline Booksmith

COURTESY TUFTS FOR BLACK LIVES

The logo for the initiative Another Tufts is Possible is pictured. agencies, disarm and defund the Tufts Police Department, and reallocate resources towards collective community safety,” the letter reads.

FEATURES / page 3

The letter was soon disseminated through social media in mid-June, in addition to departmental e-lists and personal relationships with other

SPORTS / back

Challenges and experiences Close calls and COVID-19 of the pandemic job market cases: An NFL Week 12 to remember

members of the Tufts community across campuses, according to Rowell. see REFORM, page 2 NEWS

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THE TUFTS DAILY | News | Thursday, December 3, 2020

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“There is an assumption that when students come here, they will truly have meaningful interaction with their professors in whatever class they’re taking, and they appreciate being able to take a smaller class, and all of that has gone out the window,” Johnson said.

She added that the virtual transition has made advertising the Russian program more challenging, further limiting the number of first-year students that could be drawn to the study of the language.

Aptekman added that Russian is normally not taught outside of the college level, and that foreign language programs are seeing fewer enrollments.

Please rec ycle this newspaper!

“Usually Russian is not taught in high schools … around the country,” Aptekman said. “There are definitely lower enrollments in foreign languages, mostly foreign languages in the elementary level.”

Aptekman speculated how first-year students will navigate the mix of virtual and in-person classes in the coming semesters. “[They] try to pass on what they want to take in person until probably next year, and take something that they can take virtually now,” she said.

Johnson echoed Aptekman’s sentiments and noted that a group dynamic develops with in-person classes in a way that is difficult to achieve virtually.

Similar to Tufts, Russian language programs at other colleges have seen a decrease

in enrollments, according to Johnson.

“From what we have heard … the numbers are smaller in the small private colleges and universities than they would be in a university that’s twice our size or three times our size,” Johnson said.

Ashley Aron, a junior who is the president of the Russian Slavic Central Asian Student Association, discussed her love for Russian culture and language and explained why she believes first-year students should consider studying the language, even if in-person classes remain on hold.

“It’s just very different like the sounds and the way it flows. It’s almost melodious when you speak it,” Aron said. “I actually enjoy speaking Russian more than I speak English just by the way it feels.”

She described some of the creative benefits of Russian.

“It can be used in very poetic ways,” Aron said. “It can express a lot of happiness [and] a lot of sadness … [Russian is] just a beautiful language.”

She also spoke to the benefits of studying Russian in a smaller department.

“I feel like it’s very sought after because [employers] know people are not taking it,” Aron said. “[There are] many benefits to taking a language in a smaller department because you get to not only know the people in your class, but you can interact with your teacher so much more.”

Aptekman echoed these sentiments and emphasized that learning Russian is important to many career fields.

“I think that in order to be successful in foreign politics, in business, in economy, in diplomacy, Russian is one of the key Eurasian languages,” Aptekman said.

Discussions surrounding TUPD, community safety grow on campus

REFORM

continued from page 1

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Students stress beauty, importance of learning Russian language continued from page 1

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Khubchandani explained that after TAG’s membership grew and its conversations became broader, the group began Another Tufts is Possible, which consists of social media accounts that elicit visions and critiques for Tufts, as well as monthly webinars that educate the community about racial justice. “[ATIP] came out of early conversations where we said … we want to do some work to hold folks accountable to what’s going on, but we also want to give people a way to imagine what they want,” Khubchandani said. “[ATIP] is one social media campaign where people can input

the kind of Tufts they want to see, and we publish those. But then it’s also the series of webinars.”

For Khubchandani, one of the most powerful submissions to ATIP was by Silas Pinto, a senior lecturer in the Department of Education, who wrote “[Another Tufts] would clearly map power.”

“We often don’t know who has the power to … change the curriculum, who can make a decision about disarmament, who can change the community living structures,” Khubchandani said. “So this idea of clearly mapping power.”

According to Rowell, TAG is also developing a policy platform, inspired by the “Vision for Black Lives” policy agenda launched by the organization the Movement

for Black Lives. The five high-level planks include “stop the harm,” “remedy the harm,” “reallocate resources,” “economic and knowledge justice” and “transform the power structure.”

Keith Maddox, a member of the TAG steering committee and an associate professor of psychology, elaborated on some of the specific policies.

“Transform the power structure means that these kinds of changes need to come from the top-down rather than relying on grassroots efforts,” Maddox wrote in an email to the Daily. “Antiracism efforts should be part of the job description of people at the highest levels of the institution, and those individ-

uals should be empowered to make these changes among the people and programs that they oversee.”

Rowell believes TAG and ATIP serve as vital alternatives, alongside the university administration’s efforts, in addressing racial justice.

“I think [Another Tufts is Possible] is trying to step outside … the work that is taking place through formal channels and shake up people’s imaginations so that they really can imagine what an entirely other model … means, and how we can care for our community and deliberately create the conditions for lots of folks to feel safe on campus,” Rowell said.

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Features

3 Thursday, December 3, 2020

Class of 2020 shares difficulties with post-graduation job search Contributing Writer

As Tufts decided to send students home and move classes fully online on March 10, a challenging time awaited the Class of 2020. With no grand ceremonies, formal goodbyes, best friends’ hugs or just one more time walking down the President’s Lawn, seniors nevertheless had to seek jobs while the COVID-19 pandemic dramatically changed the labor market.

If you look at the Twitter profile photo of Mitch Navetta (LA‘20), you will see he is smiling with former presidential candidate Sen. Elizabeth Warren. Having graduated as a political science major, Navetta is currently working in the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) in Washington, D.C. Navetta started applying to jobs in November 2019.

Because of the sudden turmoil the pandemic brought, a company Navetta was interested in froze its hiring process.

Navetta continued to look for jobs after graduation in May 2020, until he found his current employer, HHS. One of the companies Navetta interviewed with had only restarted the hiring process this November for early 2021 start dates. Navetta considers himself fortunate.

Indeed, the pandemic has radically shrunk the job market for the Class of 2020. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the unemployment rate was 11.1% overall in June, and 19.8% for those aged 20–24.

“The 2020 grads faced an employment landscape in which many hiring organizations moved more cautiously during the spring and into the summer as they compared their needs to their budgets and the shifting pandemic economy,” Donna Esposito, the

interim executive director of the Tufts Career Center, wrote in an email to the Daily.

Despite the grim outlook, some graduates have secured multiple opportunities due to extensive networks within and outside Tufts. Abigail Alpern Fisch (LA‘20) is one of these graduates.

In April, by reaching out to the former senior director of Tisch programs, Mindy Nierenberg, Fisch obtained a summer position as a marketing intern at Americans for the Arts, a nonprofit art advocacy organization in Washington, D.C., that has extended into the fall.

Also, from August to November, Fisch initially volunteered, and then became a paid intern, in the Sara Gideon campaign for the U.S. Senate in Maine.

Fisch has also kept a close connection with Tufts. This fall, working with Tufts alumna Jennifer Earls (LA‘08), Fisch was able to co-teach two sessions of the Koru Mindfulness program, a four-week workshop open to undergraduates and graduates. By contacting her former professor Jonathan Garlick, Fisch also has been a dialogue facilitator in one of Garlick’s civic science courses.

“It is a nice way to stay connected with the Tufts community,” Fisch said.

According to Fisch, her ability to secure various opportunities definitely requires “lots of networking and reaching out to alumni.”

“You have to put in as much as you can in order to get maybe a little bit back,” Fisch said.

Director Esposito’s opinion echoes Fisch’s.

“Networking is key. Talking to Tufts alumni, professors, peers, family members and others is often one of the best ways to get advice and learn about opportunities,” Esposito said.

Fisch has been piecemealing every opportunity together and

saving money, as she still makes limited income while living with her family in Bethesda, Md.; she is still looking for different jobs and internships for 2021, sending out cover letters and resumes every day and continuing to engage in informational interviews.

“It’s definitely not super fun; I would not recommend graduating into a pandemic,” Fisch said.

While graduates like Fisch try to find multiple post-graduation positions, other graduates may focus on one main trajectory.

Allie Morgenstern (LA‘20), who lives in Somerville near campus, is an assistant teacher at a Boston charter school.

Having completed a child study and human development major, Morgenstern now teaches science and meets with her students for around 45 minutes every weekday. In her Zoom classroom, Morgenstern uses interactive slideshow apps such as Nearpod and engages her students with chat boxes and review games.

Morgenstern feels fortunate to have secured her current job only a couple weeks after Tufts sent everyone home in early March, for she did not spend numerous quarantine hours looking for jobs.

“I already had it, which was really huge, because I know I have many friends who spent the entire rest of the semester and summer looking at it,” Morgenstern said.

Although Morgenstern wishes she could form and utilize more professional relationships during her time at Tufts, she nevertheless has used substantial campus resources.

Through a teaching fellowship with Breakthrough Greater Boston during the summer after junior year and the newsletters sent out through the child studies department, Morgenstern learned about her current job.

She said it is beneficial to participate in the career fairs held by the Tufts Career Center, to hear from peers from the same department or just to reach out to advisors.

“That is how I got one of my summer jobs, which I really like,” Morgenstern said.

Not only has the Career Center moved the career fairs to a virtual format via Handshake, a job search website for college students, it also has developed various programs to assist Jumbos with the job search during the COVID-19 reality.

The Center has developed extensive online workshops and panels with employers and alumni regarding interviewing and the job search, and uploads them to its YouTube channel for 24/7 viewing.

The Center also has increased its outreach effort to increase job, internship and short-term program opportunities, and recruited 600 new alumni mentors on The Herd, a flash mentoring program at Tufts. Through resources like Big Interview, Interstride and Forage, the Center tries to accommodate all students to cope with the job search process. By making an appointment on Handshake or dropping by the Career Lab, students can easily connect with the Center.

“We are ready and eager to assist [students]!” Esposito said.

Fisch met with Esposito to talk about her summer internship and seek advice about her career plans, and she learned a lot from Esposito.

With the Career Center offering graduates career advising sessions via Zoom, Fisch said she is definitely due for another meeting to figure out the next steps.

As the Class of 2020 adapts to the challenging job market under the pandemic, the frustration and pressure are high.

Navetta has talked with some friends who have stayed with their families since March, and the past eight months have been emotionally difficult for them.

“The process of finding an entry-level position is time-consuming and draining, and having to worry about lots of other things can only make the process more challenging,” Navetta said.

Fisch said a lot of job postings specifically for the 2020 graduates were cancelled and many companies chose to maintain, if not lay off, current employees. The pandemic also has disrupted many graduates’ plans and put them on a pause.

For example, Fisch’s initial goal was to work in Greece and temporarily live there, but the plan became unrealistic when the pandemic hit.

“I have kept myself busy, but I will definitely never undersell how difficult all of this is,” Fisch said.

As the Class of 2021 prepares for graduation, graduates of 2020 shared their advice.

“It is really important to remember that you probably will not find the job that’s going to be your career for the rest of your life right out of college,” Morgenstern said. “Don’t put too much pressure on yourself to find the [perfect] job.”

Director Esposito agrees with Morgenstern, saying it is important for seniors to be flexible and open to different possibilities.

“This could mean being open to the gig economy (a.k.a. short-term work) or learning more about 3rd party recruiters alongside traditional job search sites,” Esposito said.

Fisch said it is okay to feel unsure about what to do as the world is “also searching for some stability and grounding,” and to not feel afraid to ask for help.

“Lean on your friends. Lean on the Tufts community,” Fisch said.

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WEEKENDER

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Brookline Booksmith, The Novel Kitchen enhance pandemic-era book, food services

COURTESY JENN MASON

The Novel Kitchen by Curds & Co. is pictured.

by Sadie Leite

Contributing Writer

Brookline Booksmith, the independent and family-owned bookstore located on Harvard Street in Brookline, took its relationship with Boston’s bookworms to a new level in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. Brookline Booksmith expanded its previous storefront into a 4,000-square-foot space by taking over the adjacent shop in early November.

A part of the addition is The Novel Kitchen, a project completed with the cheese store Curds & Co. It provides an animated dining experience despite the many restrictions currently curtailing the restaurant industry.

The new bookstore is adorned with twinkling string lights, suspended over an expanse of bestselling books and a plethora of other trinkets. Vivid puzzles cascade across gift tables, cluttered with calendars, planners and greeting cards. Added space allows for more flexibility for customers to browse.

This development emerged as a victory for Brookline

Booksmith. The business signed the lease for its neighboring Verizon store back in February of 2020, blind to the challenges ahead. The pandemic prevented the immediate transformation of the dim attachment into a lively book haven. Instead, Brookline Booksmith was forced to close for three months, similar to many of the drastic yet necessary actions taken by other local businesses. Still, Brookline Booksmith persevered and the project was ultimately successful.

Most exciting, Curds & Co.’s cheesy expertise and Brookline’s hunger for new additions combined smoothly in The Novel Kitchen.

Alongside its store in Brookline Village, Curds & Co. provides a box subscription service titled Curdbox which surprises customers with artisanal cheese and gourmet pairings each month.

Owner and co-founder of Curds & Co. Jenn Mason further detailed the process behind the construction of the restaurant and how her experience of adapting the other parts of her business to

the pandemic contributed to the unique emergence of The Novel Kitchen.

“It was a funny thing,” Mason said. “[Curds & Co.] just sort fell into our relationship [with Brookline Booksmith].”

This opportunity came as a surprise to Curds & Co. “Booksmith had been planning on putting in a restaurant,” Mason said. “[It] started the process last fall with the urging of the town [of Brookline] … The town suggested that Lisa [Gozashti], one of the owners and manager at Booksmith, reach out to me, and maybe I could help her navigate what they needed to do next to open up.”

Mason cited her commitment to Brookline as a determining factor. Her children were raised in Brookline and attended its schools; thus, her family was deeply aware of the grandeur surrounding the well-established bookstore.

As Mason summed it up, “To be part of something at the Brookline Booksmith seemed like a really good experiment.”

In response to the problems her new restaurant would face,

Mason offered a unique perspective: “The interesting thing is that I think it’s easier for us to plan around [COVID-19] because it’s always been there for the birth of [The Novel Kitchen],” Mason said. “If you would have said, in January, build a restaurant — and by the way, make it capable of opening during a pandemic — I wouldn’t have known what to do.

But if you asked me in July after the pandemic’s been around for six months, I’ve got some ideas.”

Mason’s experience illustrates how businesses are

adapting to the stresses of COVID-19. The pandemic is now an unavoidable part of life; thus, the efforts that must be taken to ensure safety coalesce easily with satiating service.

Ingenious ideas designed by creative business owners like Mason have driven the success of the food service in this new era. Specifically, Mason framed her advancements within the common sentiment of our time. see WEEKENDER, page 5

COURTESY JENN MASON

The cheese plate from The Novel Kitchen is pictured.

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Thursday, December 3, 2020 | WEEKENDER | THE TUFTS DAILY

‘Sea of Sorrows’ #1 is beautiful, but as interesting as a puddle

by Carl Svahn

Contributing Writer

Horror and comics — two media often recognized for their strangeness and willingness to pursue frequently dismissed ideas — should be like peanut butter and jelly. And yet, while there are obvious exceptions like comics “The Walking Dead” (2003–19), “Hellblazer” (1988– 2013, 2019–) and “Fatale” (2012– 14), the horror genre seems to be the one that often ails a struggling comic. As for “Sea of Sorrows” #1 (2020), horror is on the same level of its story: forgettable and seen before, but possibly on the way to something as great as the art that accompanies it.

Regardless of this issue’s story problems, it is undoubtedly beautiful. Illustrator Alex Cormack does an excellent job at establishing the horror and disgust of the story being told, all while still managing to make the story look amazing, clashing sharp blacks with hued greens and browns. The few locations seen in this issue are draped in a thick, 1920s maritime atmosphere thanks to the excellent color and design work. This is also the only true essence of horror to be found within the issue, as the darkness of the deep ocean is combined with good creature design to give this book some sense of scary surroundings. Unfortunately, this all ends up being for nothing thanks to the issue’s writing and structure.

In the comic world, while writers almost always have an overarching plan for the story they want to tell, they can sometimes fumble in terms of the smallscale elements. Traditional firstact boringness is relegated to the first issue or even dragged over several, and the whole story only works if read like a book or watched like a movie: with the ending set and payoff known.

“Sea of Sorrows” #1 falls right

into this deadly trap face-first.

This entire issue serves as a confusing setup for the rest of the story, and it’s one we’ve seen time and time again. Stop me if you’ve heard this one before: A team of sailors, criminals and business men go off to a foreign environment (in this case, the deep Atlantic) in order to find a lost treasure while unaware of the monsters that guard it and the tensions that threaten to tear the crew apart. I know that it’s ultimately the details of even a familiar story that make it what it is, but this issue fails in even this regard.

There are no strong characters in this debut. Sure, there are people who say stuff and do things but there is nothing about any of them worth remembering right now. They all sound the same and they all do the same things, with nothing but quickly forgotten names and immediate outward appearance to distinguish them. The actual dialogue suffers as well, with exposition-heavy splurges and little personality to be found in any of it. It’s entirely serviceable, but nothing that the reader will remember within a few hours.

Despite all this, “Sea of Sorrows” might still pull through.

Even if the structure has been butchered by the monthly release model, author Rich Douek might have a plan for these characters that will allow this story to play out. Douek has proven that he can work well with historical horror in series like “Road of Bones” (2020), and maybe the story will start to pick up in the second issue.

Regardless, this is a weak debut. If even the great artwork cannot make up for the weak storytelling and characters, I’m concerned that the horror to come will end up going down the hatch less like peanut butter and jelly, and more like peanut butter and razor blades. We’ll see in a few months’ time.

VIA AMAZON

The cover of “Sea of Sorrows” (2020) by Rich Douek is pictured.

Brookline Booksmith brings joy, creativity to neighborhood with new restaurant WEEKENDER

continued from page 4

COURTESY JENN MASON

The vegan mezze plate from The Novel Kitchen is pictured.

“I feel like during this whole pandemic we were struggling for things to do. Our store immediately did a nationwide cheese tasting in April … because you know, people wanted stuff to do,” she said.

Alongside her business, Mason attempted to support other restaurants, as she sympathized with the challenges they were facing.

“My family tried to support restaurants to keep them afloat, so at least twice a week we would order from a different restaurant,” she said.

“The experience is interesting because it doesn’t matter if it was an expensive restaurant or a cheap little diner. Every single meal came in those little black rectangular containers.”

Mason expressed that she missed the experience of eating in a restaurant, so she set out to make The Novel Kitchen

eating experience as authentic as possible — even from home.

“I wanted to create an experience when you were eating with us that was the same whether you ate in or did take out,” she said. “We know some people are still nervous about eating in, so we’re trying to go above and beyond to make it super safe. We’re meeting all of the standards and then some. But also, if you want to take it home, you’re essentially getting the same experience.

Our cheese plates are all served in these cute little compostable bento boxes. It just feels fun.”

Mason’s ongoing ideas to maintain the lively experience well-known to customers before the pandemic prove worthy of praise. She discussed meeting and even going beyond pre-pandemic standards even if you’re taking the food to-go. “[There is] a little QR code that will take you to our behind-themenu website,” Mason said. “On that website — and you can use it

if you are in store, eating at your own table, or at home — it will tell you what the pairings are. It will have a link to the cheese maker.”

Mason said that the QR code development, spurred by the pandemic, led to an experience that makes it more than just sitting down and eating.

“It’s more than you would get on a menu because you can’t fit all that information on a menu. It’s just like this little bonus extra,” she said.

These modern adaptations are more than maneuvers to avoid the consequences of a pandemic. They are revolutionizing the business.

Mason aptly summarized a visitor’s experience at The Novel Kitchen as “storytelling experiential dining.” The expansion of Brookline Booksmith provides people with a bookish adventure so wonderful that it makes up for other lost experiences this year.

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THE TUFTS DAILY | Fun & Games | Thursday, December 3, 2020

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The case for ‘Folklore’ as Album of the Year

T

he nominees for the 63rd Annual Grammy Awards were announced Tuesday, Nov. 24, and of all the nominations, one body of work outdoes the competition: “Folklore” (2020) by Taylor Swift.

Garnering her fourth nomination in the Album of the Year category, Swift has the potential to tie

Opinion Stevie Wonder and Frank Sinatra with the most wins of the coveted award by a lead artist. Swift previously won this award in 2009 for her second studio album “Fearless” (2008) and again in 2015 for “1989” (2014). The difference between her previous wins and this potential one, though, is her considerable growth as a musician.

Beginning her career as a country artist, Swift then crossed over into pop, becoming one of the most dominant artists in the field.

“1989” produced three No. 1 singles (“Shake it Off,” “Blank Space” and “Bad Blood (ft. Kendrick Lamar)”) and cemented her status as a pop titan. However, as Swift continues to prove, her artistry is dynamic.

Following up her efforts in country and pop, Swift transitioned to a more alter-

native sound this year when she released her eighth studio album, “Folklore.” Met with universal acclaim, “Folklore” became Swift’s highest rated album on Metacritic and topped the Billboard 200 for eight nonconsecutive weeks in 2020, the longest-running No. 1 album of the year.

“Cardigan,” the lead single, also debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100, making Swift the first artist to simultaneously debut atop both the Billboard 200 and Hot 100 in the same week. Swift’s artistry and connection to her fans, dubbed “Swifties,” solidifies her impact on the industry.

Despite debuting before 2014, Swift has dominated on streaming platforms as well.

7 Thursday, December 3, 2020

“Folklore” holds the Guinness World Record for most first day streams for a female album on Spotify, and Swift finished 2020 as the No. 1 most-streamed female artist in the United States on the platform.

Swift’s lyricism is among her greatest strengths, with critics declaring that “Swift explodes the expectations of anyone preparing to call her music ‘diaristic.’” Other nominees for Album of the Year such as Dua Lipa’s “Future Nostalgia” (2020) and Post Malone’s “Hollywood’s Bleeding” (2019) achieved commercial success, but neither was crafted during the tumultuous earlier months of the pandemic.

Swift turned the world on its head when she released “Folklore” as a surprise album in late July,

emphasizing her commitment to provide those in lockdown with an album to help them through.

The Recording Academy has lauded Swift for her ability to connect with audiences in the past, and with 10 Grammy Awards under her belt, the Academy should consider Swift once again for this ceremony’s highest honor. Not only did Swift produce her greatest album of all time this year, but she did so during a pandemic. Swift’s ability to write and produce successful music across genres is evident, and “Folklore” is the proof.

Jack Clohisy is a sophomore who has not yet declared a major. Jack can be reached at Jack.Clohisy@tufts.edu.

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8 Thursday, December 3, 2020

Sports

tuftsdaily.com

NFL Week 12 Recap: Patriots, Chiefs survive NFC opponents in league’s strangest week in recent memory

by Ethan Grubelich Staff Writer

As the world has begun to feel the impact of the third wave of COVID-19 cases in recent weeks, so too has the NFL in Week 12.

The AFC North rivalry game between the Baltimore Ravens and Pittsburgh Steelers, which was supposed to take place on Thanksgiving during primetime, has been postponed three separate times in response to a significant COVID-19 outbreak in the Ravens camp that has relegated 19 of their players to the Reserve/ COVID-19 list, including reigning league MVP Lamar Jackson. The game was played on Wednesday afternoon, making Week 12 of the 2020 season the longest week in NFL history.

The NFL was less forgiving with respect to the outbreak in the Denver Broncos camp that left the team with no eligible quarterbacks on its active roster for Sunday’s game against the New Orleans Saints. With no opportunity to reschedule, practice squad wide receiver Kendall Hinton, who served as a backup quarterback for three seasons at Wake Forest University, became perhaps the unlikeliest starting quarterback in NFL history when he got the call for the Broncos on Sunday.

Finally, the San Francisco 49ers were left without a stadium following the issuance of a threeweek ban on contact sports by Santa Clara County health officials. Arrangements have been made for San Francisco’s next two home games to be played at the Arizona Cardinals’ State

Aiden Herrod The Turf Monster

Sports, holidays, an NBA Christmas present

F

or every major American holiday, there’s a sport planting its flag. For Thanksgiving, we have football. The Fourth of July is baseball territory. And Christmas belongs completely to basketball.

Whatever your family’s preference may be, you’ve likely caught a glimpse of one of these marquee games at a holiday gathering. For some, it’s background noise for prepping the turkey.

For others, it’s an intensive three hour-plus ritual, orchestrated to the minute.

As we enter 2020’s home stretch and wrap ourselves in the holiday season, sports are once again playing an indispensable role in reconnecting millions

Farm Stadium, but the team is still without a practice facility following Sunday’s last-second victory over the Los Angeles Rams.

As the NFL survives the third wave of the pandemic, let’s look at some teams that survived tough cross-conference opponents in Week 12 and the implications that these results have on the AFC and NFC playoff races.

Arizona Cardinals vs. New England Patriots Prior to the game against the Cardinals, the Patriots sat in third place in the AFC East with a 4–6 record and once again found themselves in desperate need of a win following last week’s surprise loss to the flailing Houston Texans. The Cardinals jumped out to a 10–0 lead in the first quarter because of an interception thrown by Patriots quarterback Cam Newton that gave them excellent field position for running back Kenyan Drake’s first rushing touchdown of the game. The Patriots offense needed all the help they could get to remain competitive in this game, and they got it from a variety of sources. Wide receiver Donte Moncrief’s 53-yard punt return gave the Patriots offense good field position for running back James White’s first rushing touchdown of the game for New England. Later, the Patriots defense came up with a huge stop on the goal line, holding the Cardinals offense to no points on their seven-minute drive to end the first half. The Patriots defense continued to hold the Cardinals offense scoreless in the third quarter and an intercep-

tion thrown by Cardinals quarterback Kyler Murray meant the Patriots once again found themselves with good field position for another White rushing touchdown. The Cardinals would tie the game at 17 points with Drake’s second rushing touchdown of the game. They, however, could not capitalize on Newton’s second interception of the game, as Cardinals kicker Zane Gonzalez missed a 45-yard field goal attempt that would have given Arizona the lead with under two minutes remaining in regulation. An unnecessary roughness penalty by Cardinals rookie linebacker Isaiah Simmons gave New England 15 crucial yards to set up Nick Folk’s 50-yard field goal to win the game as time expired, 17–20. The Cardinals dropped to 6–5 and now hold only a onegame lead for the last NFC wild card. The Patriots remain on the outside looking in and, at two games behind for the last AFC wild card with two teams ahead of them, will continue to face an uphill battle toward clinching a playoff berth.

Kansas City Chiefs vs. Tampa Bay Buccaneers The first quarter in Tampa Bay showed just how much the Kansas City Chiefs offense is capable of achieving in a flash against top opponents. Chiefs quarterback and reigning Super Bowl MVP Patrick Mahomes only needed one throw for his top wide receiver, Tyreek Hill, to take it 75 yards to the house for an early 10–0 lead. The two reconnected on the next Kansas City drive, this time for a 44-yard touchdown

with the aesthetics and rituals of holidays that could have easily been otherwise forgotten.

Football did this for me on Thanksgiving day, and I fully expect basketball to do the same.

That’s why I want to jump the gun a bit and take an early look at the NBA’s slate of games scheduled for Christmas Day. Basketball on Christmas is one of my favorite happenings in sports. It has always been less about playoff implications and win percentage, and more about the drama and storylines of a game. The NBA didn’t skimp in this department at all, so my breakdowns of these games will be all about the potential storylines that will define them.

Pelicans at Heat Probably the most out-ofpocket matchup of the day, and potentially the most lopsided.

The Heat proved last season in the bubble that they’re a finals-caliber team, while the Pelicans raised more questions than answers about their future.

This game is the NBA setting the stage for some individual players to shine in the spotlight.

Jimmy Butler, Bam Adebayo,

Zion Williamson and Brandon Ingram all have opportunities to make a statement one way or another and announce their individual presence as a force in the NBA’s 2021 landscape.

Williamson in particular will draw some extra intrigue in his second year, as an electrifying young talent and nucleus to the Pelicans rebuild.

Warriors at Bucks This matchup brings with it a surprising sense of urgency for both teams. The Bucks are determined to show Giannis Antetokounmpo they can win him a ring as the Greek superstar looks toward free agency.

The addition of the perennially underrated Jrue Holiday could do just that, and we could get some real hints at his impact in this matchup. On the other side of the ball, Golden State is determined to prove it is still a finals-caliber team, despite the devastating loss of Klay Thompson. For the Warriors, beating the Bucks on this stage could put the NBA on notice in a big way.

Nets at Celtics Get the popcorn. Two Eastern Conference power-

STEELCITYHOBBIES / WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

The Kansas City Chiefs are pictured in a game against the Pittsburgh Steelers on Oct. 15, 2006. that gave the Chiefs a 17–0 lead and gave Hill an astonishing 203 receiving yards in the first quarter alone. Two receiving touchdowns

by Buccaneers wide receiver Mike Evans in the fourth quarter cut the Chiefs’ lead to three points, but they were able to run out the clock to win the game, 27–24.

Mahomes finished with an outstanding 462 yards and three touchdowns to remain the league leader in passing yards while Hill and tight end Travis Kelce jump to first and second, respectively, in the league in receiving yards.

The Chiefs improved to 10–1 and inched closer to another AFC West title. The Buccaneers dropped to 7–5 and could find themselves only one game ahead for a playoff spot after next week’s bye, as their prospects of winning the NFC South slip away.

New York Giants vs.

Cincinnati Bengals Needing a win to take the lead in the flailing NFC East, the New York Giants traveled to

Cincinnati with a much clearer path to victory than was perhaps anticipated in past weeks as a result of a season-ending knee injury to Bengals quarterback and first-overall selection in the 2020 NFL draft Joe Burrow. The Giants jumped out to an early lead with a rushing touchdown by running back Wayne Gallman. The Bengals, however, tied the game immediately with a 103-yard kickoff return by safety Brandon Wilson, which became the longest touchdown in Bengals franchise history. Four field goals by Giants kicker Graham Gano would gradually pad the Giants lead to two scores down the stretch, meaning a late touchdown was not enough for the Bengals to reclaim the lead. The Giants held on to win, 19–17. At 4–7, the Giants now hold the NFC East division lead due to a head-to-head tiebreaker against the Washington Football Team.

houses will clash in what’s sure to be a high-intensity outpouring of electric offensive performances. The Celtics have been the stalwarts in recent years, having fallen just short of the finals on several occasions. The Nets are the NBA’s new hotness, boasting a returning Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving who will look to put Brooklyn on the map in a big way. If both players can put on a show against a proven contender like Boston, the Eastern Conference could be headed for a big shakeup.

Oh, and don’t forget Irving’s rocky history with Boston. This should be a fun revenge game for both sides.

Mavericks at Lakers The Mavericks take on the defending champion Lakers, but this game is once again nothing about the teams themselves. It’s about the two stars, Luka Donč i ć and LeBron James. Donč i ć has drawn comparisons to James through his knack for shattering records in his first and second seasons. Beating James on a big stage could signify a passing of the torch of sorts, and alert

the NBA to a new Western Conference powerhouse.

Clippers at Nuggets A gritty rematch from the 2020 playoffs closes out the Christmas slate. The Nuggets put on a stunning display in the bubble as they shocked the Clippers with a comeback from a 3–1 deficit.

Los Angeles will be looking for revenge, while Denver will want to prove its run to the Western Conference Finals was no fluke.

This game could answer some lingering roster questions too.

Can the Clippers fix their chemistry issues? And can Jamal Murray follow up that performance in the bubble?

Man, I love the NBA’s schedule-making. Whether you’re a basketball fan, sports fan or simply looking for an escape from any holiday or COVID-19induced stress, the NBA just sent everyone a pretty spectacular early Christmas present. I can’t wait to open it.

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