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VOLUME LXXXIII, ISSUE 8
tuftsdaily.com
Monday, February 7, 2022
MEDFORD/SOMERVILLE, MASS.
Tufts Children’s Hospital closes to increase space for adult patients, faces community backlash by Liz Shelbred Staff Writer
Tufts Children’s Hospital announced at a Jan. 20 press conference that it would convert its 41 pediatric inpatient beds to adult ICU medical and surgery beds in hopes of increasing adult critical care by 20%. Wellforce, the hospital’s parent company, reached an agreement to transfer pediatric patients in need of inpatient care to Boston Children’s Hospital. Level three neonatal intensive care services will continue to be offered at Tufts Medical Center, while general inpatient pediatric care and level two special care will be offered at Lowell General Hospital. Pending regulatory approval from state health officials, this change will take effect on July 1, 2022. The decision to close Tufts Children’s Hospital — formerly and familiarly known as the Floating Hospital for Children — was created in response to an observed shift in the health care needs of the community. According to Tufts Medical Center, the number of adult patients
requiring specialized care has increased, while fewer pediatric patients are requiring hospitalizations. At the same time, children who do require inpatient care are in need of more complex services and resources that may be unavailable at smaller pediatric hospitals such as Tufts. Jeremy Lechan, media relations manager of Tufts Medical Center, told the Daily that the hospital has been following this trend for years. “Our adult beds at Tufts Medical Center are full and they have been for a long time,” Lechan said. “This is not just a pandemic phenomenon.” According to Lechan, with adult beds in high demand, the medical center is often forced to turn away hundreds of critically ill adults every month. At times, the center’s pediatric beds were half empty, although the delta surge in COVID-19 cases increased the number of occupied beds in recent months. “Our analytics show that likely once the surge is passed and the pandemic is over, [pediatric bed capacity] is going to return to that level,” Lechan said.
According to Lechan, Tufts Medical Center announced its decision now to give five months to iron out all of the details. What’s next for employees and patients Many pediatric patients, hundreds of employees and physicians and tens of Tufts University Medical School students and residents will be impacted by this change. Physicians, nurses and other TCH employees are likely to lose their jobs. Tufts Medical Center and Wellforce have committed to assisting affected TCH employees and physicians with their transition, according to Lechan. “Our HR departments in all of our organizations are committed to working with each affected employee to try to make sure that they have a job waiting for them and that [the] transition is smooth and seamless,” Lechan said. TMC further assured that child patients and their families would continue to receive care from TCH. Though aforementioned bed capacity patterns have existed for years and Tufts’ decision has been in the works for months,
KATRINA AQUILINO / THE TUFTS DAILY
The Tufts Medical Center is pictured in downtown Boston on Feb. 5. many community members were shocked by the announcement. “To me, it was like an unfair, blindsided attack,” Tim O’Connell, founder of Tommy’s Place — a vacation home for kids fighting cancer — and creator of a petition to save the hospital, said. Community backlash Community members share a number of concerns about the transition, such as continuity of care for pediatric patients, especially for those with complex, critical conditions.
For Tara Forrest, mother of TCH patient Alexa Pantoja, maintaining the same quality and consistency of care through this transition is a major concern. After spending months with Pantoja during her treatment of acute myeloid leukemia, Pantoja’s care team got to know her very well, from her favorite school subjects to her reactions to medications. “[Her care team] knew absolutely everything that she had see HOSPITAL, page 2
Study abroad programs operating despite COVID-19 concerns by Zoe Kava
Deputy News Editor
With the global surge of COVID-19 cases over the past few months, both Tufts and non-Tufts study abroad programs have had to make adjustments to the structure of their programs. Individual students also had to reevaluate their study abroad plans for the spring semester. Tufts is currently running spring semester programs in Madrid, Paris, London, Tübingen and Santiago, among other cities. Tufts Global
Education made the decision to suspend Tufts programs in Hong Kong, Beijing and Japan due to local government restrictions on international guests, visa concerns, and extensive quarantine protocols. Since the beginning of the pandemic, Tufts Global Education has been eager to allow students to return to education abroad. Mala Ghosh, associate dean and senior director of Tufts Global Education, spoke about the preparations that Tufts Global Education has been doing to ensure the study abroad programs operate as planned.
COURTESY MICHEAL BARONE
Trinity College Dublin is pictured.
“Our international team has been preparing for hosting students during the pandemic since it began during the winter of 2020,” Ghosh wrote in an email to the Daily. “We have been in constant communication with one another, our partners abroad, stakeholders across Tufts University, and at the same time, closely monitoring local government and health official advisories on a daily basis since January 2020.” Jeanne Fourneyron, director of Tufts-in-Paris, said there has been no shortage of student enrollment in the program. “Student enrollment in Paris is back to pre-covid numbers which shows the strong demand for study abroad,” Fourneyron wrote in an email to the Daily. Loreto Pomar, director of Tuftsin-Chile, is also optimistic about the spring semester for students participating in the Tufts-in-Chile program. “Even though we face uncertain times with an ongoing pandemic, we will confront new challenges and achieve our goals for the semester with amazing experiences,” Pomar wrote in an email to the Daily. Dr. Meredith Hyde, director of Tufts-in-London and Tuftsin-Oxford, said that few students
dropped out of the program last minute due to COVID-19 concerns. “We told students from the outset that only they would know how well they managed uncertainty, and that because of the times we live in and the constraints they impose study abroad wouldn’t be for everyone, and we very much respect that,” Hyde wrote in an email to the Daily. “We were surprised how few withdrew over the holidays.” Melanie Armstrong, associate director of programs and outreach, added that there was not an outstanding number of withdrawals from study abroad programs. “As is typical in any semester (even pre-COVID), we saw a few withdrawals from Tufts Programs Abroad in the months leading up to the start of programs, but really only a handful in the immediate weeks prior,” Armstrong wrote in an email to the Daily. While the directors of the university’s study abroad programs made it clear that the experience would be different than what it was in semesters prior to COVID19, students still felt nervous about how the programs would operate. Annika Solomone, who is studying abroad through Tufts-in-Paris, said that she felt a lot of uncertainty in the days prior to her departure.
FEATURES / page 3
ARTS / page 4
SPORTS / back
Exploring creativity and equity in public art
MOS Beyonce Experience is anything but “Flawless”
Women’s basketball’s rebounds against Conn. College after loss to Trinity
“The most stressful part of the months leading up to my flight was definitely the uncertainty; they told us we wouldn’t know for sure whether or not the program would get cancelled until the day of our flights, so I couldn’t help but feel anxious while packing up my entire off-campus room,” Solomone, a junior wrote in an email to the Daily. Solomone said she believes that students dropped out of the study abroad programs that did not look as if they would operate smoothly due to the COVID-19 pandemic. “I think people dropped out of programs that didn’t look as hopeful as [Tufts-in-Paris]; I know there’s a program in England that has fully online classes, which makes going at all less worth it for many,” Solomone wrote. While not much has changed for the Tufts-in-Paris program, as classes and excursions remain in person, the living options for students have changed. Students now have the option to stay in a dorm as opposed to living with a host family. “[Tufts-in-Paris] gave us the unique option to stay in a student dorm this year,” Solomone see ABROAD, page 2 NEWS
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THE TUFTS DAILY | News | Monday, February 7, 2022
THE TUFTS DAILY Alexander Janoff Editor in Chief
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Community resists Tufts Medical Center's decision to close its Children's Hospital HOSPITAL
continued from page 1 gone through,” Forrest said. “They treated her like family.” Forrest recalled a conversation that she had with her daughter following the announcement. “She said to me, ‘at this point in my plan, if I’m going in every other month, and I’m going to a different hospital, who is going to have time … [to] read my chart and memorize it, and know me the way that [Tufts’] doctors know me?’” Forrest said. Mary Havlicek Cornacchia, an operating room nurse at TMC who has worked at Tufts for nearly 34 years, expressed concerns about how the transition will impact patients’ access to care. In contrast to TCH, Boston Children’s Hospital does not accept MassHealth, Massachusetts’ combined
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The Tufts Daily is a nonprofit, independent newspaper, published Monday through Friday during the academic year, and distributed free to the Tufts community. The content of letters, advertisements, signed columns, cartoons and graphics does not necessarily reflect the opinion of The Tufts Daily editorial board. EDITORIALS Editorials represent the position of The Tufts Daily. Individual editors are not necessarily responsible for, or in agreement with, the policies and editorials of The Tufts Daily. VIEWPOINTS Viewpoints represent the opinions of individual Opinion Editors, Staff Writers and Contributing Writers for the Daily’s Opinion section. Positions published in Viewpoints are the opinions of the writers who penned them alone, and do not necessarily represent the opinions of the Daily itself. All material is subject to editorial discretion. OP-EDS The Op-Ed section of The Tufts Daily, an open forum for campus editorial commentary, is printed Monday through Thursday. The Daily welcomes submissions from all members of the Tufts community; the opinions expressed in the Op-Ed section do not necessarily represent the opinions of the Daily itself. Opinion articles on campus, national and international issues should be 600 to 1,200 words in length and submitted to opinion@tuftsdaily.com. The editors reserve the right to edit letters for clarity, space and length. All material is subject to editorial discretion and is not guaranteed to appear in the Daily. Authors must submit their telephone numbers and day-of-availability for editing questions. ADVERTISEMENTS All advertising copy is subject to the approval of the Editor in Chief, Executive Board and Business Director.
Medicaid and Children’s Health Insurance Program plan. As the co-chair of the Massachusetts Nurses Association bargaining committee at TMC, Havlicek Cornacchia also spoke about her concerns for nurses’ job transitions. “My concern is that we’re not going to find a place for those 100 nurses for a lot of reasons,” she said. These reasons include pediatric nurses’ reluctance to transition to adult care as well as the domino-effect displacement that inevitably results from job loss, according to Havlicek Cornacchia. Both O’Connell and Havlicek Cornacchia regretted that Wellforce and the hospital did not communicate or collaborate with the community before making this decision.
“A lot of nurses wish … the Wellforce corporation had come to us because there are probably ways that we could have helped with the bottom line,” Havlicek Cornacchia said. Since the announcement, thousands have mobilized in opposition to the closing of TCH. As of Feb. 6, O’Connell’s Change. org petition to save the hospital garnered over 62,000 signatures. Tufts’ MNA bargaining committee is in the process of negotiating several demands with administrators, including a better severance package and an early retirement package. Remembering Tufts Children’s Hospital Many refer to the hospital’s rich history and contributions to the Boston community as primary reasons to save the hospital.
The Floating Hospital for Children was founded in 1894 as a hospital ship that brought sick children out to the harbor for fresh air. The hospital is home to several medical accomplishments, including the invention of the first artificial milk product Similac, the development of the first growth hormone treatment and Boston’s first implementation of a playroom to counteract children’s anxiety of hospitalization. Others look back on TCH staff’s high-quality treatment of its patients as something that will be missed. “Every single nurse that came on shift would treat [Alexa] as if they would treat their own child,” Forrest said. “They valued her and gave her a voice where she didn’t realize she would even have one. It just doesn’t happen anywhere else.”
Students consider impact of COVID-19 on study abroad plans ABROAD
continued from page 1 wrote. “Usually, students must stay with a host family, but with COVID concerns, the program directors wanted us to have a safer option.” Eda Devletsah, another student enrolled in the Tufts-in-Paris program, said she still had a lot of questions about how the program would handle positive cases before she left for France. “Prior to the start of the program … the program directors emailed us about updated
COVID restrictions in France,” Devletsah, a junior, wrote in an email to the Daily. “This email largely explained the current government restrictions regarding the Omicron variant in France. It did not highlight any program or Tufts-specific policies and I found myself having a lot of questions regarding quarantining and self-isolation if a positive COVID test were to occur within the program.” Devletsah said that she eventually made the decision to attend
the program because members of her family live in Europe. “I had the comfort of knowing that if I were in a dire situation where my health was at risk, my parents would be close enough to intervene,” Devletsah wrote. “I did not feel very secured by the program’s comments on the pandemic, so I relied on my external privileges when deciding to attend the program.” Ghosh told the Daily that while this semester abroad may look different, the directors of
the study abroad programs are constantly working to ensure the safety and security of students overseas. “Our Directors abroad have worked through all the breaks and holidays to support students while they isolate and provide meals, support, and healthcare options,” Ghosh wrote. “Our external partners are also providing amazing care with isolation hotel rooms, providing food, and ensuring academic continuity.”
COVID-19 Week in Review: Cases decline on Tufts’ Medford/Somerville campus by Flora Meng and Alex Viveros
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Deputy News Editor and Science Editor
COVID-19 cases are starting to decrease on Tufts’ campuses following the largest spike since the start of the pandemic. Cases have been cut nearly in half over the past week on the Medford/Somerville campus, falling in line with declining
numbers across the county and the state. The university reported seven cases on Friday and 110 in the week before, averaging out to 15.71 positive cases per day. Those metrics marked the lowest number of cases reported in a week since the start of the spring 2022 semester. Still, cases remain higher than at any point before the omicron surge.
Coronavirus case counts across Massachusetts have also been falling. The state reported 4,195 new cases on Friday, down from 12,127 the Monday before. Massachusetts reached its highest peak since the start of the pandemic on Jan. 10 with over 60,000 cases. Tufts released changes to its COVID-19 policy on Jan. 28, easing restrictions for
many on-campus operations, including in-person dining, spectatorship at sporting and theatrical events and the opening of campus gyms. While it’s unclear what effect the lifting of restrictions had on COVID19 numbers, cases have been going down steadily since they reached a peak on Jan. 24. For more details, visit the Daily’s COVID-19 dashboard.
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Features
Public art engages with community, history on campus by Amelia Becker
Monday, February 7, 2022
Julia Appel In Pursuit of Eggcellence
Trial One: The Microwave
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Features Editor
Walking through campus, students, faculty, staff and visitors can find art in unexpected public places. This art is not randomly placed but rather is connected to the space it occupies. Abby Satinsky, curator and head of public engagement for the Tufts University Art Galleries, said that public art provides a less formal way of experiencing art. “When I think about public art, I think about the ways that people encounter art in public spaces where they’re not necessarily going to a gallery or a museum to have that experience, but it’s sort of just part of their landscape of experience,” Satinsky said. The public art on campus is maintained by the Public Art Committee, which is made up of representatives from various university departments. “It’s important to have a committee that has representatives from people from all over campus to sort of think through all the different ideas and issues,” Dina Deitsch, director and chief curator of the Tufts University Art Galleries, said. The committee pays close attention to the equity of new projects, as well as examines the art already on display to the public, Dan Santamaria, university archivist and director of the Digital Collections and Archives, said. “I see that committee as really trying to think critically about the art that is on display across all Tufts campuses, and really trying to think intentionally and systematically about what people encounter and what they see as they’re going about their days and living in spaces,” Santamaria said. As part of the anti-racist workstream, the Public Art Committee has been looking at representation in the art on campus. The committee released a report that examined the equity of representation in public art on the Medford/Somerville campus. Of the 50 portraits on campus, all depicted white men except for one white woman, Deitsch said. Following recommendations from the Public Art Committee, the portraits of former university presidents were removed from the Coolidge Room and will be replaced with an exhibition on the history of the Black student experience at Tufts, which comes out of the Gerald Gill papers. The public art on campus is made up of both temporary and permanent installations. Deitsch said there are a couple of sites that she thinks of as rotational sites for public art, including the billboard at the SMFA campus and the exterior wall of Jackson Gym. “Temporary public art tends to be more responsive, and address[es] particular situations or particular sites, but isn’t meant to be there forever,” Satinsky said. Both sites currently have wheat paste murals related to ongoing art exhibitions at the galleries on each campus. The wheat-pasted billboard at the SMFA, Josh
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“Colossal AcornHead” statue in the snow as public art around campus on Feb. 6 MacPhee’s “We Carry a New World in Us,” depicts bricks suspended amid clouds. The billboard grew out of a project called Artist Response about how artists respond to and are part of social movements, Satinsky said. Wheat paste has long been used by artists in public spaces, as it is inexpensive and holds up well to the weather. “It’s about the idea of coming back to this institution after COVID,” Satinsky said. “So it speaks of this ambivalent period that we’re in … What does it mean to rebuild?” The wall of Jackson Gym currently displays “Wapka,” a mural by multidisciplinary artist Erin Genia. Genia is a member of the Sisseton-Wahpeton Oyate, a Dakota tribe, and works to center Dakota philosophies in her multidisciplinary work. The piece, which also has an audio component, depicts the Mystic River and the Dakota Morningstar symbol. In creating the piece, Genia engaged with the Mystic River and how it has impacted Tufts. Genia learned that Peter Tufts made some of his fortune through the brick industry and the clay for the bricks was sourced from the Mystic River clay beds. Genia created her first public art piece in Seattle, translating her studio work to a public practice. The piece, which became known as a Dakota pride banner, was about her experience as an urban Native American person. As she created the piece, Genia grappled with the question of perceiving art in public space as a utopian ideal. “From my perspective as a Dakota person, I don’t view the public space in that way because this is a settler colonial society … I was perceiving these public spaces [as] places of occupation,” Genia said. “My views really began to shift as I started to do this work and think about how all public space really is native land … What does that mean for me as a native artist to engage with those sites?”
According to Deitsch, good public art, such as the “Wapka” mural, engages with the space it is in and its history, adding onto the narrative of the space. “I think in a perfect world public art can complicate what you think you know and see, and, makes it strange again, that’s what good art does,” Deitsch said. “Hitting unexpected territory and thinking about changing the nature of our public spaces, and how we conceive of them and their histories, I think that has an incredible potential on this campus.” One of the big upcoming public art projects is art for the new Joyce Cummings Center, which should be installed by this summer. There are three commissions for the building, including two SMFA alumni artists, Deitsch said. The artists have been working to understand the space and create works that fit well in the context of the building. Public art doesn’t just revolve around Tufts’ campuses but can engage with the broader community. The Tufts University Art Galleries have been working on ways to reach beyond the physical campus through art. As part of the Collective Futures Fund, the Tufts University Art Galleries gives out grants, through funding from the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts and an anonymous donor, to artists in the Greater Boston area for community-based public art projects, Satinksy said. “What that money goes toward is community-based public art projects that are organized by artists, that are risk-taking or experimental [and] have impact in their communities,” Satinsky said, “That’s also a big part of our public engagement with the city.” Public art has the ability to engage with communities and spaces in a way that gallery-based art cannot, Satinsky said. “If it’s done through processes that involve input, [public art] can provide different kinds of ways that we all think that we’re invested in our civic spaces, and it can reflect different kinds of social and community histories,” Satinsky said.
’ve gotten really into those ramen cups they have at Hodge lately. They’re so simple — open the cup up halfway, pour in the dried vegetables and flavor packet, add water to the line, let it sit for four minutes. It’s salty and slightly spicy — the absolute perfect vehicle for a perfectly cooked soft-boiled egg. There’s very little I love more than a good soft-boiled egg. Thick but runny yolk, slightly firm, white, easily peelable. Perfect for topping avocado toast, regular toast, fried rice, regular rice — you name it. In high school, I used up so many eggs trying to perfect my technique that my mother suggested we start raising chickens as a cost-reducing measure. I did finally manage to figure out my technique. But that was on my home burner. Dorm rooms, I’m discovering, are a whole new world. I live on the third floor of Miller, which does have a nice ground-level kitchen. I refuse on principle, however, to descend to the first floor with my enormous saucepan every time I want an egg for my soup. Instead, this semester, I will dedicate myself to the quest of making a perfect soft-boiled egg in my dorm room. I will consume absurd amounts of ramen and buy those ridiculously-expensive-but-good-for-the-chickens eggs from bfresh until I find the ultimate combination of timing and technique. As MythBusters’ Adam Savage once said, “The only difference between screwing around and science is writing it down.” By that metric, I am officially doing science — I should get a lab coat. I am equipped for this challenge with a microwave, an electric kettle, a single spoon, two mugs, my roommate’s ice tray and a handful of salt packets from Dewick. Attempt #1 Setting the scene: Friday night, 11:37 p.m. Midnight hunger is creeping in. What should I make? Only one option. Hodge ramen. Methodology: I poured boiling water from the kettle into my mug and then added the egg and half a Dewick salt packet. According to something I read somewhere, adding salt to a microwaved egg will prevent it from exploding. I fully intend to test this at a later date. I microwaved it for 3 ½ minutes — that is, until the egg started making weird popping noises — poured water into the ramen and then let the egg sit in the boiling water for four more minutes until the ramen was ready. I scooped the egg out onto a paper towel and popped it in the freezer to cool while stirring the ramen. Then, the moment of truth — peeling the egg. First impression: Ouch, ouch, ouch, hot, hot, oh, I should have let this cool more, ouch, ow. Second impression: This is overcooked. Third impression: This is a perfectly serviceable hard-to-medium-boiled egg, but a tragic failure of a runny yolk. Fourth impression: Ouch, ouch, hot, oh, I am so stupid. Conclusion: Shorten post-cooking sitting time. Also, ow. I mixed the egg into my soup anyway. Honestly, not bad at all. Plan for next time: Try cracking the egg directly into the ramen and sort of poaching it because why the hell not? Julia Appel is a first-year who has not yet declared a major. Julia can be reached at julia.appel634628@tufts.edu.
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Arts & POP ARTS Pop CULTURE Culture
tuftsdaily.com
Monday, February 7, 2022
Kacey Musgraves brings the cinematic ‘star-crossed: unveiled’ tour to Boston by Jack Clohisy
Assistant Arts Editor
The Boston leg of Kacey Musgraves’ “star-crossed: unveiled” tour went off without a hitch as soon as Musgraves took center-stage at TD Garden on Jan. 27. With Muna and King Princess as opening acts, the bar was set high for Musgraves. Muna’s opening set included well-known hits such as “Stayaway” (2019) and “Silk Chiffon” (2021). Katie Gavin, the lead singer of the act, performed phenomenally, often vocally outdoing the studio version of tracks. Soon to follow was King Princess. Equally captivating, King Princess also performed their greatest hits including “Talia” (2018) and “1950” (2018) as well as unreleased tracks from their upcoming album, such as “For My Friends” and “Let Us Die.” Once King Princess headed offstage, the curtains withdrew, and Musgraves emerged with a blazing heart in the background. She opened with “Star-Crossed” (2021), the title track of her latest album. Following were “Good Wife” (2021), “Cherry Blossom” (2021) and “Simple Times” (2021). During her performance of “Cherry Blossom,” large cherry blossom tree illustrations were painted across the monitors. Fans were decked out in their own interpretations of Musgraves’ costume in the “Good Wife” music video. Though Musgraves’ previous album “Golden Hour” (2018) centered on her marriage with her ex-husband Ruston Kelly, she brought out her older discography for her fans. Then came a medley of tracks such as “Lonely Weekend” (2018), “Golden Hour” (2018) and “High Horse” (2018). It was evident that there were levels of hurt to Musgraves during these performances. Coming off a successful album run that garnered Musgraves the coveted Album of the Year award at the 2019 Grammys for “Golden Hour,” an album entirely devoted to her marriage which subsequently ended, it is hard to rise from the ashes. However, with “Star-Crossed” (2021), Musgraves was able to resurrect her broken heart and ascend to levels higher than she intended. Though her fans developed their own connections to her past songs of love, it was hard not to notice the new persona Musgraves put on when performing these tracks. As she closed out “Golden Hour,” she edited the typical lyric of “you’re my golden hour” to “you’re my golden shower.” She resumed the “starcrossed” set and serenaded the
COURTSEY WIKIMEDIA COMMONS
Kacey Musgraves performs at the Pilgrimage Music Festival in September 2016. Boston audience through “justified” (2021) and “camera roll” (2021). With her stripped-down version of “camera roll,” the pain from her divorce came through. She crooned, “chronological order and nothing but torture.” The only track nominated for a Grammy at the upcoming award ceremony, Musgraves knows how to cater a track to pull at the heartstrings of her listeners.
As her set came to a close, the audience got “Butterflies” (2018), “Space Cowboy” (2018) and “gracias a la vida” (2021). At the end of “gracias a la vida,” Musgraves dropped to the ground behind the curtains — as if stricken — as the lights went dark. Eager fans knew this could not be the end of her set and waited impatiently for the return of Musgraves. When the lights
flared again, Musgraves proclaimed, “Back from the dead, y’all.” She closed out the end of the concert with “Rainbow” (2019). The emotions ran high in the audience as projections of all colors were displayed all across TD Garden. A track from “Golden Hour,” “Rainbow,” transcended the hurt and pain Musgraves endured during the loss of her marriage, and the
healing is evident. “It’ll all be alright,” Musgraves soothes as the track finishes. There was an air of peace and calm present as the audience worked with Musgraves to heal throughout her set. With an impeccable lineup and showstopping visuals, Musgraves crafted a perfectly executed concert akin to that of a healing therapy session.
A r t s & P o p C u lt u r e
Monday, February 7, 2022 | Arts & Pop Culture | THE TUFTS DAILY
Planetarium’s ‘Beyoncé Experience’ did not ‘Put a Ring on It’
Ellie Lester and Sadie Leite The Art of Good Soup
Tsurumen, Davis Square
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COURTESY EMMY WENSTRUP
The Charles Hayden Planetarium at the Boston Museum of Science is pictured. by Emmy Wenstrup Arts Editor
On the cold, wet night of Feb. 4, the Boston Museum of Science hosted “The Beyoncé Experience” in the Charles Hayden Planetarium. According to the museum’s website, the show “redefines nightlife in Boston” and “engages audiences in a sensory journey full of innovation, artistry, and imagination.” For those unfamiliar with the spot, the Museum of Science is located near the West End of Boston, less than a mile from the Charles/MGH Red Line stop. For Tufts students, the trip is long and treacherous one — through slush and freezing rain after the hike to the Davis stop, ride on the T and slog to the actual museum. Though the voyage was long and perilous, all was to be justified for a Beyoncé show that supposedly redefined Boston nightlife. As the famous Vine goes, “anything for you, Beyoncé.” After finally being seated for the show, an almost certainly underpaid employee attempted to open the show by laying out the rules for the evening: masks stay on, phone flashlights stay off and there is no exit upon reentry. Audience members waited with anticipation as the employee asked if they were ready. A unanimous “yes!” echoed through the dome.
As “Formation” (2016) came on over the speakers, some colorful squares bounced around the dome to the beat. Though the music — as Beyoncé sings in the song — slayed, the light show was questionable. The show more or less continued in this fashion, shuffling through Beyoncé’s iconic discography while displaying Windows screensaver-esque lights on the planetarium dome. At times, the lights would become simply nauseating, and for the most part, the show oscillated between doing nothing at all and doing way too much. More entertaining than the show was arguably the rapturous participation of audience members. Lyrics were belted, participants were chastised for being rowdy and improvised dance numbers were performed in seats. Had it not been for the collective love of Beyoncé shared by an over-eager audience, the show would have been an absolute flop. This weekend, the planetarium is hosting a similar event titled “The Fleetwood Mac Experience.” Given the soft rock style of Fleetwood Mac music, it seems impossible for the lackluster light show to be worth the $10 cost of admission. It certainly won’t redefine Boston nightlife as it once again claims. Returning to the website’s original claims, it’s fair to say the show was an overall disappointment. The most sensory parts of the experience were the simulta-
neously overstimulating and boring visuals paired with some lingering unsavory smells. The only artistry at work was a sad attempt at computer-generated graphics that looked hastily homemade and were by no means innovative or imaginative. Even better was that the lights had absolutely nothing to do with the music. During one song, the planetarium was filled with what seemed like reused projections from an underwater-themed show, with creepily close scuba divers hovering above. During another, viewers were transported through a dark and incredibly strange prisonlike structure that caused stomachs to turn. When “Countdown” (2011) came on to close out the night, everyone had no choice but to play along with the hijinks of the evening. Viewers cheered when some odd computer-generated candles moved around the dome as their colorful flames crossed paths, even touching at points. It was bizarre and unnecessary, but the absurdity of the spectacle was the only thing keeping the show together. Had Beyoncé herself seen the show, she likely would have been more confused than disappointed. The planetarium proves that the Museum of Science should remain a museum and not venture into the territory of Boston’s illustrious nightlife.
Request for 2022 Bridging Differences Seed Grant Proposals The Bridging Differences Task Force is now accepting proposals for the next round of seed grant funding. Selected proposals will be funded by the Office of the Provost to support diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts across Tufts. Any Tufts student, faculty, or staff member may apply for up to $2,000 in funding for initiatives that will be implemented in the spring, summer, and fall of 2022. The Bridging Differences Task Force encourages applications that are proposed by members of multiple campuses or by a cross-section of students, staff, and faculty. Projects that aim to unify multiple campuses or cross-sections of the Tufts community are highly encouraged. The deadline for 2022 proposals is February 18, 2022 at 5 p.m. Final funding decisions will be made based on overall impact score, available funds, and the funding level required for project implementation with the goal of accepting proposals from a range of colleges. All proposals will be notified of the outcome and accepted proposals will be posted on our website. To learn more, please visit https://diversity.tufts.edu/what-we-do/initiatives/bridgingdifferences/bridging-differences-grant-program/. You can access the application here. Confidentiality and Non-Disclosure: All proposals will be deemed proprietary and confidential and will be protected against any unauthorized use and any unauthorized or uncontrolled disclosure beyond Tufts. We look forward to receiving your proposals. If you have questions in anticipation of the funding deadline, please contact us at BridgingDifferences@tufts.edu.
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his is a column about soup: what it tastes like, what it does to you. What it makes you dream and think about. The kind of soup you’ll tell your children about at the dinner table. For our sake and yours, we hope it’s also a column about good soup. Unfortunately, not all soups are good, just like life or our Tinder dates. Well, usually most Tinder dates are bad. Whatever. Who are we? We are gorgeous, gorgeous girls who love soup. Sadie is a ginger, which makes sense because she enjoys a nice, hot tomato soup, preferably not spilled onto her clothing. But, she falls quite a lot — skeptical of gravity as she is — so this is easier said than done. Ellie is a broth girl: she has lots of flavor but also carries the despicable behavior of leaving noodles behind. For this reason, she plays with her food. Are we qualified to be reviewing soup? Probably not, but that makes it more interesting. Tonight, we were shivering as we entered Tsurumen in Davis Square. We were confused at first, as we looked around, squinting for the menu. Finally, after an uncomfortable nudge from the cashier, we found it to the side of the register, displaying four options with pictures. This was good because we are ridiculously indecisive. And visual learners. We both ordered the tamari shoyu ramen. We sat down. In the short amount of time it took for our ramen to arrive, we noticed the scenery. Tsurumen was bare. They had a nice bar, and some interesting artwork on the walls in sporadic positions that didn’t really make sense. Obviously, they put more thought into their food. The soup came out hot. This was a nice surprise because sometimes things that are supposed to be hot are not all that hot, like the Harleston showers or Tufts men. The noodles were not slimy. In fact, they were quite thin. Their length prompted a conversation about the proper way to consume one’s noodles. Do you commit to the full slurp? Or do you chomp down halfway through? We decided you chomp down, because when one is in a slurping position (her head face-to-face with the soup bowl), she is vulnerable. No soup is worth back pain. Next, we noticed the garnishes. We decided that the scallions, not unlike the mitochondria, are the powerhouse of the bowl. That is not to say we don’t like onions. They add a nice purple, and onions have layers – like us, and like a bowl of soup. Tsurumen was nothing to write home about. But, given we spent the entire day in the musty, cold Harleston common room, it was a nice adventure. We rate this soup five spoons. What’s the scale? Maybe we don’t know, or maybe we’re just keeping it from you. One thing is for certain — keep reading. There is lots of good soup ahead, because this is a column about good soup. If you didn’t get that. Sadie Leite is a sophomore studying English. Sadie can be reached at sadie.leite@tufts.edu. Ellie Lester is a sophomore studying sociology. Ellie can be reached at eliana.lester@tufts.edu.
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THE TUFTS DAILY | FUN & GAMES | Monday, February 7, 2022
F& G
tuftsdaily.com LATE NIGHT AT THE DAILY Alex: “Wait but English isn’t a language!”
FUN & GAMES
SUDOKU
WORDLE BETRAYAL
Difficulty Level: Co-taught philosophy seminar.
By Matthew Hixson
Friday’s Solutions
SEARCHING FOR HEADLINES...
CROSSWORD
Opinion
tuftsdaily.com
7 Monday, February 7, 2022
VIEWPOINT
“Rules for thee but not for me:” The role of leaders in containing COVID-19
by Gian Luca Di Lenardo Contributing Writer
On Jan. 19, British Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, announced that many of the more stringent measures Britain had taken to curb the spread of COVID-19 early on in the pandemic would officially end on Jan. 26. Since the end of January, those in Britain are no longer required to wear masks indoors or show NHS COVID Passes to enter public venues, and the government no longer advises people to work remotely. Additionally, the government announced that they intend to end the legal requirement for those who test positive for COVID-19 to self-isolate. The current regulations are set to expire on March 24, after which they will not be renewed. Along with this announcement, Johnson continued to encourage British citizens, among whom 65% of eligible people are
fully vaccinated and boosted, to practice cautious behavior like handwashing and ventilating rooms, and he urged those who remain unvaccinated to step forward and receive their vaccines. This news was both encouraging yet frustrating for many British nationals who are criticizing British government officials for engaging in 16 so-called “lockdown parties” in flagrant violation of the strict COVID-19 measures which were in place at the height of the pandemic. Unfortunately, this attitude of “rules for thee and not for me” taken by many prominent politicians has only hurt efforts to get people to comply with necessary public health measures. The fact is that politicians and public health officials have even more of a moral responsibility to follow their own guidance and lead their constituents by example. In the world of COVID-19, it should always be “do as I do, not just do as I say.”
Sue Gray, senior British civil servant, completed an investigation into this behavior, most of which took place at 10 Downing Street (the prime minister’s official residence). In her report, she concluded that the behavior of leading officials indicates “failures of leadership and judgment.” She argued that the conduct at these lockdown parties was “difficult to justify” at a time where British people had to shoulder the responsibility of “far-reaching restrictions on their lives.” The publication of this inquiry has called into question the effectiveness of Johnson’s government, which is losing its support in Parliament and in the eyes of the general public. It would take only 54 members of the prime minister’s own party withdrawing their support to trigger a vote of no confidence. Johnson’s management of the COVID-19 pandemic has been
marked by inconsistency and hypocrisy. His withdrawal of the vaccine mandate for NHS workers, which includes nurses and other hospital staff, has only served to encourage further the rising anti-vaccine movement in Great Britain led by figures such as Katie Hopkins. While some may find the prospect of mandates unappealing, in this case, it’s the failed implementation of the policy which has raised eyebrows. But there’s another aspect to Johnson’s handling of the COVID-19 pandemic, which reflects a broader mindset shift among governments and public health officials: What if there is no post-COVID-19? In a recent speech, Dr. Anthony Fauci asserted that “if you look at the history of infectious diseases, we’ve only eradicated one infectious disease in man, and that’s smallpox. That’s not going to happen with this virus.” Boris Johnson himself acknowledged the inevitable
persistence of the virus, stating that we “must learn to live with COVID in the same way we live with flu.” Therefore, Johnson’s relaxation of COVID-19 restrictions can be viewed as a recognition, on his part, that COVID-19 is here to stay. The goal has shifted to minimizing the spread of the coronavirus while also recognizing the need to return to some sense of normalcy. I suspect that many governments will begin to fall in line and relax restrictions while continuing the public health campaigns for more people to get vaccinated. It’s still too early to tell whether the prime minister made the right decision in regard to the pandemic, and it remains to be seen if the United States will soon follow suit. If the U.S. does ultimately decide to relax restrictions, it is important to remember that no provision or law can excuse us from the duty we have toward others.
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TRASHING ONE EGG WASTES 55 GALLONS OF WATER
8 Monday, February 7, 2022
SPORTS
Women’s basketball splits NESCAC road trip
Sam Dieringer The Step Back
An all-time impact
by Isaac Karp
Executive Sports Editor
This past weekend, the Tufts women’s basketball team went 1–1 in a brief two-game road trip where it faced NESCAC opponents Trinity College and Connecticut College. The Jumbos dropped Friday’s game to the rival Bantams by a score of 60–42, but regained their footing the following day in a 78–45 domination of the Camels. The Brown and Blue now move to 17–3 on the year and 6–2 in conference play, which situates them behind NESCAC-leading Trinity, which leads with a 14–4 record and are 6–1 in the NESCAC. The Bantams boast one of the conference’s best defenses, and their unrelenting intensity challenged the Jumbos,who shot a season low of 12–53 from the field and 3–27 from beyond the arc, all game. Senior forward Sofia Rosa competed for the Jumbos throughout, finishing with 10 points while playing a season high 31 minutes. Tufts’ leading scorer was sophomore guard Callie O’Brien, who finished with 11 points. Trinity’s offense was reliant on junior Samantha Gallo and senior Bailey Hyland, who combined for 29 points on an efficient 10–20 from the field. The Bantams’ offensive success was largely fueled by their work in the post, accumulating 26 points in the paint, besting Tufts’ total of 12. Suffering its worst loss of the year, the Tufts women’s basketball coach Jill Pace relayed an optimistic message to her squad after the game: “Keep [your] heads high, tomorrow is a new day … [you] have to move on and learn from the losses,” she said, according to senior co-captain Molly Ryan. The next day the Jumbos traveled to New London, Conn. to face the Camels, who hold a 4–16 record and are 2–6 in conference play. The Camels beat the Bantams by two points earlier this season. On a night when Conn. College honored its seniors, Tufts surged to a 9–0 lead with three layups from Rosa and a 3-pointer from Ryan. A pair of triples from graduate student and co-captain Erin Poindexter McHan over the span of three possessions helped Tufts emerge from the first quarter with a 21–15 advantage. Leading the NESCAC in team assists per game at just over 15, this team’s self-
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KIANA VALLO / THE TUFTS DAILY
Last week’s game against Smith is pictured. lessness is displayed by its willingness to share the rock. “We work the ball around well, we hit the open player, we have confidence in one another,” Ryan said. The Jumbos’ offense was steady throughout the game, finishing the game with 78 points and eclipsing their NESCAC leading average of about 71. The game’s leading scorer, Rosa, finished near perfect. She drained seven of her eight field goals to finish with 16 points. Sophomore
Maggie Russell was second with 14 points, while recording her 11th double-double out of 17 games played. Junior forward Joelle Zelony came off the bench to chip in eight points. She went 3–3, with two of those baskets being 3-pointers. With two games left in the regular season, Tufts will look to challenge for first place in the NESCAC as the team visits Middlebury and Williams next weekend.
When James Naismith placed two peach baskets and a soccer ball on an indoor YMCA court in Springfield, Mass. More than 130 years ago, no one could have predicted what was to come. Over the next century, this simple activity involving a ball and hoop swept the globe. From millions of kids’ sprinting across the chipped asphalt of their schoolyards to the brightest lights’’ shining down on the world’s greatest athletes, basketball’s undeniable and unifying culture changed the world forever. But how did this game become one of the most recognizable and widely played sports today? How is basketball different today compared to when the NBA began? In The Step Back, I’ll aim to answer these questions. By creating all-time rankings, making predictions, unpacking the latest rumors and analyzing historic moments, we’ll gain insight into just how dynamic the basketball landscape is today and uncover where it may be heading in the years to come. In the spirit of examining basketball in a larger historical context, this first column is a tribute to the game’s most impactful and important players. This top-8 ranking is not your standard statistical “greatest of all time” ranking — that list looks pretty different. Instead, I will rank which players have had the biggest impact on shaping how the game is viewed and played today, considering which players’ legacies I think will be intrinsic to the NBA’s history and its future. 8. Shaquille O’Neal: Almost no one in the history of the NBA has been as dominant as O’Neal. O’Neal had a tendency to put together absurd stat lines, ferocious dunks, championship moments and absolute dominance in the modern era. 7. Wilt Chamberlain: As far as absurd stat lines are concerned, 100 points in a game says it all. While some may argue that Chamberlain didn’t have enough competition, I think that demonstrates how he raised the game to a whole new standard of excellence. 6. Stephen Curry: When Curry passed Ray Allen last month for the most 3-pointers of all time, he added an exclamation point to his legacy. Curry spearheaded the 3-point revolution. As kids on basketball courts, including myself, chuck up half-court heaves everywhere, Curry’s impact on the game is immense. 5. Bill Russell: With 11 championships under his belt, Russell is success personified. As the first truly dominant icon the game has ever seen, he is the true pioneer of the current NBA. 4. Magic Johnson: The flashiest and craftiest passer in NBA history, Johnson’s masterful command of the court shaped modern playmakers everywhere. 3. Kobe Bryant: The late legend’s contributions were countless. Clutch shots, elite-level scoring and the greatest player and leader the game ever saw. Bryant was the definition of greatness. 2. LeBron James: The jack of all trades. James’ combination of passing, scoring and getting to the basket like a freight train, coupled with his unique longevity, is something players will strive to emulate for years to come. 1. Michael Jordan: Jordan stands alone. Jordan’s influence in globalizing the game, dominating his opponents one-on-one and winning with such conviction remains the standard of what it means to be the greatest of all time. Sam Dieringer is a first-year who has not yet declared a major. Sam can be reached at samuel.dieringer@tufts.edu.