The Tufts Daily - Friday, March 4, 2022

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VOLUME LXXXIII, ISSUE 25

MEDFORD/SOMERVILLE, MASS.

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Friday, March 4, 2022

New city-sponsored child care program Jesse Zhang (E’14) promises affordability, accessibility to named to Forbes 30 Somerville families Under 30 list

by Madeline Wilson Assistant News Editor

ELIN SHIH / THE TUFTS DAILY

Eliot-Pearson Children’s School at 105 College Ave., under the Eliot-Pearson Department of Child Study and Human Development at Tufts University, is pictured on Feb. 16.

by Ariana Phillips

Assistant News Editor

Somerville introduced its new Child Care Access and Affordability Program on Feb. 3. The program will provide families with financial assistance to send their children to daycare and preschool.

To qualify for the program, children must be between 15 months and four years old by Aug. 31, and families must meet income eligibility requirements, which vary by household size.

Applications for the next school year will be accepted until March 11.

CCAAP is funded through the American Rescue Plan Act of

2021, which provided municipalities with federal aid to respond to the economic and public health impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. Somerville is investing $7 million of its $78 million in ARPA funds into child care.

Somerville City Councilor-atLarge Jake Wilson told the Daily that CCAAP is an appropriate use of the federal pandemic assistance money since the pandemic emphasized working parents’ reliance on access to child care.

“What the pandemic has really laid bare is the degree to which [members of] the workforce who are parents require child care in order to go into an office or be present at work, and the extreme

challenges that these parents then face when daycares and preschools are closed,” Wilson said.

CCAAP is a partnership between the Somerville Promise Alliance, Somerville Public Schools and local child care centers. SomerPromise is an initiative of the City of Somerville that aims to bridge both the opportunity and achievement gaps for supporting school-age children using research and programming.

Christopher Hosman, director of SomerPromise, said that all parties were aligned in their purpose and intended impact for the program from the beginning. see CHILD CARE, page 2

Jesse Zhang (E’14) was selected as a 2022 honoree of the Forbes 30 Under 30 list in the social media category. Zhang is the co-founder of Beacons, a startup that provides the tools for content creators to generate a website with their information and other relevant links.

Zhang graduated from Tufts with a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering, then received his master’s degree and Ph.D. in electrical engineering from Stanford University. He is currently the chief product officer at Beacons.

The Forbes 30 Under 30 is an annual list of 600 of the most influential people under age 30 in 20 categories, including social media, music, art and style and social impact. Honorees can nominate themselves or be nominated by someone else.

Zhang described Beacons as a “storefront” for content creators on social media platforms. Beacons condenses creators’ information and revenue streams into one homepage and allows users to customize their website to their liking.

“As we talked to more influencers and content creators, we started gaining conviction that content creators are like the businesses of the future, and we wanted to build tools to help them succeed,” he said in an interview with the Daily.

In order to grow the company, Zhang and his colleagues reached out to TikTok creators and creat-

ed personalized Beacons homepages for them. Zhang attributed the viral growth of the company to its users and their audiences.

“Whenever someone uses a Beacons link, it says ‘Beacons. ai’ in the URL, and everyone else can see it, so they’re essentially marketing the product,” he said.

“Most of our users are content creators, so they come with very large audiences.”

Zhang also discussed the future of Beacons and how he and his colleagues hope to expand the company in the future.

“Beacons today is like the storefront for the content creator, and we want to eventually evolve into the entire suite of software tools,” he said. “If you imagine the content creator as a business, there’s all these things they do that have nothing to do with creating content … just managing their audience, analytics and all that … we basically want to make all of that as easy as possible for them.”

Neal Jean, another co-founder and the present CEO of Beacons, emphasized Zhang’s impact on the company.

“At different points in time, he’s been a full-stack engineer, designer, data scientist, user researcher, and social media manager – Jesse’s never complained and always steps up to new challenges,” Jean wrote in an email to the Daily. “Today Jesse focuses on leading product, helping to set the product vision and roadmap, and then aligning the team to execute against the roadmap.” see FORBES, page 2

City of Medford lifts indoor mask mandate, vaccine requirement at large venues

by Ella Kamm News Editor

The Medford Board of Health voted unanimously to lift the city’s indoor mask mandate for private businesses, effective Feb. 16. The decision comes in light of falling COVID-19 positivity rates in the community.

“We’ve seen a dramatic decrease in positive cases in Medford, as well as across the state,” Board of Health Director MaryAnn O’Connor said in a press release. “The data is encouraging and shows that with the steady rise of vaccinations and expanded eligi-

bility for booster shots, we’ve reached a point in our COVID19 response where mitigation efforts, like mask-wearing, while still recommended, no longer requires a mandate be in place.”

Medford reported a 1.96% positivity rate for the week of Feb. 19, the most recent week for which data is available, coming in below the state’s overall rate of 2.95%. The fall in cases has led many municipalities, including the City of Boston, to relax their masking requirements.

The Board’s decision aligns with the current recommendations of the CDC, which on Feb. 25

revised its risk evaluation criteria and has stated that 70% of Americans now live in counties where it is safe to take a break from indoor masking if they are not at risk of severe illness.

The CDC considers Middlesex County a low-risk area.

In addition to lifting the mask mandate for businesses, Medford will no longer mandate that large scale entertainment venues like the Chevalier Theatre require proof of vaccination or a negative COVID-19 test for entry.

Individual performers are still see MASKS, page 2

GRACE ROTERMUND / THE TUFTS DAILY

Medford City Hall is pictured on March 12, 2021.

FEATURES / page 3

ARTS / page 4

SPORTS / back

Abracadabra: Tufts Magician Society appears!

‘Spring Awakening’ tells lively tale of sexual... awakening

Women’s fencing spars their way to second at NEIFCs

NEWS

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FEATURES

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ARTS & POP CULTURE

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FUN & GAMES

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OPINION

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SPORTS

BACK

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THE TUFTS DAILY | News | Friday, March 4, 2022

THE TUFTS DAILY Alexander Janoff Editor in Chief

— EDITORIAL — PERI BAREST SAM RUSSO PHOEBE WONG Senior Editors

ELIZABETH FOSTER KENDALL ROBERTS Associate Editors Chloe Courtney Bohl Executive News Editor Delaney Clarke Executive Features Editor Maeve Hagerty Executive Arts Editor Faye Shen Li Thijssen Executive Opinion Editor Makenna Law Editorial Editor Isaac Karp Executive Sports Editor Alex Viveros Investigative and Science Editor Aaron Klein Executive Audio Producer Mina Terzioglu Kiana Vallo Executive Photo Editors Ty Blitstein Executive Video Editor Michael Wu Executive Graphics Editor

— PRODUCTION — MAC CALLAHAN Production Director Mike Kourkoulakos Maddy Noah Charlene Tsai Executive Layout Editors Julia Shannon-Grillo Abigail Vixama Executive Copy Editors

Somerville program provides child care support CHILD CARE

continued from page 1 “I can’t say enough how important it is that it’s cross-sector,” Hosman said. “It’s such a complicated issue in such a huge need that it can’t be approached from a singular [perspective] … It really needs to be a group effort to ensure that the program is holistic.”

The program is based on the results of the NEXUS Affordability Study conducted by the city’s SomerStat Department. According to Hosman, the study examined the factors that influence families’ decisions about whether to remain in the city and concluded that the cost of child care was a very important factor.

Kathleen Bailer, director of early childhood education and care for Somerville Public Schools, said that CCAAP was inspired by a tuition assistance program her department launched called the Somerville Partnership for Young Children, which seeks to improve access to

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quality early education for children ages five and younger.

“We decided that it would be important to really systemize the Child Care Access and Affordability Program and to make it a part of the city … because we believe child care is a public good,” she said.

Bailer added that SPS’s partnership with SomerPromise aligns with its commitment to providing families with several child care options to choose from, including private, public or federally funded Head Start programs.

The program was designed to be multilingual and multicultural, which means applications are available in multiple languages and SomerPromise is conducting outreach to diverse local communities and assisting families with completing the application.

Bailer and Hosman see the program as supporting the entire Somerville community, not just children.

“We believe that … as a community, we want to support our youngest residents from birth, from cradle to career … And we believe [that] in doing so, we’re also able to support families so that they can move forward successfully in the city and thrive,” Hosman said.

CCAAP will initially cover only toddler and preschool child care but will eventually extend to infant and out-of-school care as well.

Thirty-five children will enroll in the program this year, according to the City of Somerville’s website. In the next three years, the program will grow to around 100 children. Hosman expects demand for the program to exceed supply and sees staffing shortages in child care centers as the biggest obstacles to wider implementation.

The child care industry is among many affected by staffing shortages during the pandemic.

City Councilor-at-Large Kristen Strezo expressed her disappoint-

ment in the lack of federal effort to make child care affordable and accessible on all levels.

“We need to build up our child care workforce and create bridges and escalators to … [ensure] that we are creating living wages … for our child care service industry [so that childcare service providers] … can have opportunities to advance their careers because it’s a necessity,” Strezo said.

Strezo describes the cost of childcare in Massachusetts as “obscene.” She believes the state can improve the situation by funding the industry.

Hosman has a similar view. He — along with Bailer, Strezo and Wilson — hopes that CCAAP can help the city of Somerville figure out what works and what needs to be improved.

“We want it to be something replicable, that we can share this with other communities,” Hosman said.

Claire Ferris contributed reporting to this article.

Forbes 30 Under 30 honoree reflects on time at Tufts and path forward for his company

Elise Fong Sydney Spivy Executive Social Media Editors

Hannah Harris Emily Walker Outreach Coordinators Joe Posthauer Web Manager

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COURTESY JESSE ZHANG

Jesse Zhang, co-founder Beacons, is pictured.

of

FORBES

continued from page 1 Zhang spoke about how it felt to receive the nomination.

“It’s a little bit bittersweet because none of my co-founders got it since they were just a little bit older than me, and it’s definitely not something I earned by myself,” he said. “But the validation still feels kind of nice.

Especially as a startup founder, for so much of the last few years, we were heads down, working our asses off … it’s a nice little token of appreciation.”

On behalf of the rest of the Beacons team, Jean commended Zhang for his nomination and remarked on how this honor could help the progress of the company.

“Building Beacons together with our friends has been a great experience for all of us, and getting some recognition for the progress that we’ve made so far was awesome for the whole team,” he wrote. “Hopefully it’s helpful for attracting future teammates and investors too!”

Zhang remarked on how his time at Tufts prepared him for his career in website building and entrepreneurship.

“I think being an electrical engineering major, especially at Tufts, you just think a lot about how to break down problems,” he said. “You just have to think about things like: how do I set deadlines? How do I set regular goals to actually achieve this long-term thing? How do I prioritize and maximize the value that I’m creating on a week-toweek basis?”

He also commented on how the Tufts community helped him to grow.

“I think my classmates and my friends really inspired me to think outside the box and realize that hey, there’s a lot of cool stuff to build out there, and there’s no reason why you can’t go for it,” he said.

Zhang’s brother Andrew currently attends Tufts and studies computer science and math with

a minor in music. Andrew Zhang, a senior, commented on how his brother has inspired him.

“The amount of work he’s put in to grow and keep learning is definitely inspiring for me,” Andrew said. “He took the time to guide me along the path I want based on what he knows. He’s a good big brother.”

As a word of advice to Tufts students, Jesse Zhang emphasized the importance of “investing in personal growth.”

“If you learn something useful today and you end up using it to make a better decision in a week, that scales super linearly,” he said. “Being more intentional about learning and growing and trying new experiences would be great and just figuring out what it is that you really want to do and not getting too bogged down with what other people think.”

Medford removes indoor mask mandate for businesses, city facilities, according to municipal press release MASKS

continued from page 1 allowed to require vaccinations at their shows, with the Chevalier Theatre listing at least eight upcoming acts who will be doing so. Steve Smirti, Medford’s COVID-19 public information officer, said that the Board factored the current caseload and vaccination rates into their decision.

“This metric, along with Medford’s strong vaccination numbers — nearly 90 percent of residents have received at least one dose — drove the Board’s decision to lift the mask and vaccine order,” Smirti wrote in an email to the Daily.

The Board also voted to stop mandating that masks be worn in Medford City Hall, the police department, the fire department and the department of public works beginning Feb. 22. The city lifted its mandate

at the Medford Public Library, Medford Recreation facilities and the Council on Aging on March 1.

“These locations serve our more vulnerable residents who are at greater risk of developing severe infection from the virus,” Smirti wrote. “Because of this, the City decided to wait an extra week to make sure that key metrics like positive case counts and hospitalizations continued to decrease before lifting the mandate at these facilities.”

The Board still advises that high-risk individuals wear masks indoors, advice consistent with that of Boston.

Tufts has not indicated whether it will lift its mask mandate any time soon, as the university is still recovering from a spike in COVID-19 cases from February that exceeded The Mods’ capacity.

The repeal of the Medford mandate comes at a time when many government officials are starting to consider what the next stage of the pandemic will look like. California Governor Gavin Newsom announced that his state now plans to treat COVID-19 as endemic, rather than as a pandemic, and will adjust their strategies accordingly — making California the first state to do so.

Medford Mayor Breanna Lungo-Koehn emphasized the importance of using multiple tools besides masks to mitigate the spread of the virus.

“We’ve been combatting this virus for two years and we now have the ability to better protect ourselves through multiple means, like vaccines, boosters and medication,” Lungo-Koehn said in a press release. “Our public health response will be driven by data which has shown a

steady decline in positive cases over the last several weeks.”

Smirti said that an improved understanding of the patterns of the pandemic helps bodies like the Board of Health to make sound decisions about mask policies, adding that should cases increase, the city has many tools at its disposal to evaluate whether policies need to change.

“At this point in the pandemic, we have an institutional knowledge of the ebbs and flows of the virus and are in a very different position than we were at this point even last year,” Smirti said. “While the virus is impossible to predict, we’re in a much safer place now and have better tools at our disposal to limit the spread.

We will continue to monitor the data and consult with our state and federal public health officials when necessary.”

tuftsdaily.com

Features

Tufts magicians spread joy in a world of uncertainty

3 Friday, March 4, 2022

JoJo Lee Innocent Pleasures

Dancing’s not a crime

S

NATALIE BROWNSELL / THE TUFTS DAILY

Dylan Wilson of the Tufts Magician Society is captured demonstrating his card skills on Feb. 26.

by Sam Dieringer

Assistant Features Editor

Amidst the tall bookshelves and hidden study rooms of Tisch Library, a world of spectacle and wonderful delights awaits.

Every week, the Tufts Magician Society comes together to create a wide variety of magic. With students ranging from beginners to experienced masters of illusion, members take pride in finding new ways to astonish themselves and others.

The group was founded by two Tufts sophomores, current President Dylan Wilson and Vice President Ben Skinner. Both Wilson and Skinner had experience doing magic prior to coming to Tufts and they explained that they joined together to share their passions with fellow magicians when they came to campus.

“I saw this guy doing card tricks in the lobby of our common room freshman year, and it was Ben,” Wilson said. “And I think we immediately became friends because of that.

One day, I just [said to] him, ‘We got to start a club.’”

Skinner described how his interest in forming the group stemmed from wanting to meet people who were interested in magic.

“I actually didn’t really have any friends who were also into magic until I came to Tufts,” Skinner said. “That’s kind of where my interest came from … let’s meet more people who also have this passion.”

During their meetings, members spend their time pitching and learning new tricks with help from others.

“Usually we’ll go through just tricks with each other,” Wilson said. “It’s called jamming, where you just show each other tricks and say, ‘Oh, this is cool,’ ‘I didn’t like that part’ [or] ‘Maybe you can do this.’”

Skinner stressed that although practicing magic can seem complicated from an outsider’s perspective, the Magician Society is very beginner-friendly.

“I think what’s cool is that if somebody who had never done magic came to one of our meetings [and] spent 45 minutes there, they could walk out knowing two or three tricks,” Skinner said.

While many members of the Magician Society are brand-new to the world of magic, other members, like Max Greenspoon, are very familiar with the magician community.

Greenspoon, a junior, has always specialized in card tricks. However, he described

that he has recently been exploring new areas such as mentalism.

“My wide background is … very much in cards … I have a routine I do called ‘Prism,’ which is about a 10 to 15 minute routine with a deck of cards,” Greenspoon said. “But more recently, I’ve started working more in areas like mentalism … looking at the psychology underlying some of that stuff.”

For many of the magicians in the Magician Society, the most challenging aspect of doing magic is making their tricks meaningful to their audience.

“There’s a magic theory … called the ham sandwich theory … [which] is the idea that if I come up to you, and I magically produce a ham sandwich for you, that’s cool. But … you’re like, ‘Why the f--- did you just produce a ham sandwich?’” Greenspoon said. “If I came up to you, and we were having a conversation and … it came up … ’Hey, I’m kind of hungry, it could really go for a ham sandwich right now.’ And then I produced the ham sandwich, the magic takes on meaning, and it feels relevant. And that is one of the hardest things to find.”

When it comes to actually staging their acts, Wilson and Greenspoon both emphasized the power of simple tricks as opposed to elaborate, flashy stage productions.

“I think it’s really cool when you see someone do this really simple trick, but it’s the best trick you’ve ever seen because they perform it really well,” Wilson said.

Greenspoon reiterated the wonder of live magic tricks.

“I think that there’s a certain beauty and elegance … [that] I am four feet in front of you, you can see exactly what I’m doing at every moment … and I still managed to get you,” Greenspoon said.

Greenspoon also remarked on the personability that comes with up-close and simple magic, and how he greatly values interactions with audience members.

“I love to perform with that intimacy … in a stage setting, it’s … much easier for you to just kind of anonymize your audience,” Greenspoon said. “Whereas in a close up setting, I could know every single person’s name in front of me. I can pull each of them in.”

Greenspoon explained that magicians face challenges adapting to the technological innovations of the 21st century.

“There are three main rules for magicians … you never do a trick more than once, you never say what you’re gonna do before you

do it, and you never reveal how it’s done,” Greenspoon said. “In the age of the Internet, all of those rules are broken, and so I think we have a duty as artists — not even as magicians, as artists — to evolve with the time and to … bring the craft forward by getting more people excited about this stuff.”

Greenspoon also described some of the current labels that magicians face in society, and how he’s working to break the stigma that comes with being a magician.

“A lot of people see magic as like this kind of nerdy hobby, like, ‘Oh, he does magic tricks. Oh, that’s cute.’ … There’s almost like a stigma around it,” Greenspoon said. “And so [magicians need to be] kind of working to get more people excited about doing these cool things … even if they’re not interested in learning [magic], that wonder is something that I think everyone can appreciate.”

All of the members expressed immense appreciation for the Magician Society and optimism about the future of the group.

“It’s kind of like a team … when you go for a performance,” Wilson said. “It’s like, ‘We’re gonna kill this, it’s gonna be good,’ and then you can celebrate afterwards.”

Skinner shared that students can quickly apply their experiences from the Magician Society.

“You can come to a meeting, and we can teach you tricks,” Skinner said. “The next day, you can be blowing people’s minds. If you have any interest in magic, I think our club is a great place. [We are] always happy to have more people who just want to come and have a great time and learn some cool stuff.”

Greenspoon noted the particular importance that magic has in society today.

“With what’s been happening in the world, we need magic,” Greenspoon said.

“Magic sparks joy. … a kind of unadulterated joy … You can just be wondrously surprised and awed by magic, and you don’t need to deal with [the] moral implications of it.”

Greenspoon described that being a member of the Tufts Magician Society is all about the receiving and sending of genuine happiness. “[Teaching newbies is] a win-win because [the new members] … get that joy,” Greenspoon said. “Afterwards, we get to show them how they can make that joy happen to others. Magic is about spreading joy. We want to make people happy.”

temming from my New Year’s resolution to practice more empathy and, partly inspired by the protagonist of Elaine Hsieh Chou’s “Disorientation” (2022) — who abstains from the act because “She [i]sn’t a Republican!”— is my intent to stop kink-shaming. Regardless of your political affiliation, I hope this column can convince you to join me in this endeavor.

My broader aim, though, is twofold: one, to dismantle the concept of “guilty pleasures” and explore why we shouldn’t be ashamed of the things that bring us joy and to advocate for the small and oft overlooked innocent pleasures that can add light to our lives if we know to let them.

From food to media, what we consume is under attack from ourselves and outsiders. Our tastes are questioned, ridiculed and stigmatized on both ends. Deciding not to feel guilty about our likes can be empowering. Don’t read this as a license to do whatever you want; I’m not going to affirm your fondness for wearing your mask below your nose. Rather, I offer the framework that one’s right to pursue their life how they choose is limited by others’ right not to be harmed by others.

With that said, I ask you not only not to yuck others’ yums but not to yuck your own. At a time of so much worry and uncertainty, when 85% of undergrad students report greater stress and/or anxiety and workers experience burnout at rates higher than ever, don’t undermine your opportunities for happiness. Critical self-reflection is important, but so is radical self-care and compassion.

This has been a hard week for me, and I’m not going to make it harder by being embarrassed by my enthusiasm for this particular column’s subject: impromptu dance breaks. I’m still overcoming my belief there’s something wrong with indulging in songlong dance parties of one, but also I think they are an undeservedly underrated activity. My latest coping mechanism has been dancing in abandoned classrooms and in between empty stacks in Tisch basement, and I’ve loved every second of it.

After one semester of virtual ballroom, I cannot say I have any ‘moves,’ but I do have some tips for beginners. One, dance like nobody’s watching — because you’ve ensured no one is. Two, my tried and true tunes are “Mr. Blue Sky” (1977) and “You Belong With Me (Taylor’s Version),” (2021) but go for whatever moves you — that’s the whole point. And three, blast it (in your earbuds if you’re in a quiet public space) at a volume loud enough to drown out any inner or outer critics and enjoy the ride.

Moments of pure joy can be hard to come by, but the goal of this column is to make them more accessible by highlighting and reframing practices that encourage them. Planning for spontaneous boogieing sounds paradoxical, but opening yourself to the possibility is the first step.

If you’re still on the fence, dancing has proven benefits for your physical and mental health and so do microbreaks in general. So give in to the rhythm. Besides, as the Panic! At The Disco song affirms, dancing’s not a crime — there’s nothing guilty about it.

JoJo Lee is a sophomore studying English.

JoJo can be reached at josephine.lee@ tufts.edu.

4 Friday, March 4, 2022

WEEKENDER

tuftsdaily.com

Revival of Tufts musical theater continues with ‘Spring Awakening’

by Megan Szostak Arts Editor

Content warning: this article mentions abuse, sexual assault, abortion and suicide.

Following the acclaimed fall 2021 production of Harrison Clark and Ben Mizrach’s “Almanac,” the Department of Theatre, Dance, and Performance Studies continues its in-person musical theater reawakening this spring with an aptly named choice: Steven Sater and Duncan Sheik’s 2006 musical, “Spring Awakening.”

The Tony Award-winning show, which is based on Frank Wedekind’s 1891 play by the same title, tells the tumultuous tale of several sexually repressed teenagers living in Wedekind’s Germany. Sater’s script draws heavily from Wedekind’s oeuvre, and paired with Sheik’s vivacious score of alternative rock music, “Spring Awakening” has the potential to be a boldly exhilarating production during its run at Tufts March 3–13.

Adolescence is fraught for the children of “Spring Awakening,” each of whom is embarking on their own journey towards self-discovery and intellectual and sexual awakening within a society where inquiry and curiosity are met with dishonesty and abuse. As is sung in one of the most anticipated musical numbers of the show “Totally F--ed,” “you’re f---ed if you speak your mind.” For these characters, being “f---ed” may mean experiencing mental illness, being victims of child abuse or having “no way to handle things who make [them] so sad.” Through riotous song and dance breaks, the audience is afforded a look into the tribulations of Wedekind’s teenagers who want nothing more to be free from the repression and tyranny of their world.

“Through song and dance, they expressed their innermost thoughts and turbulent emotions, finding temporary release from a

Sacha Waters Public Cinemy No. 1

CCP films with international implications

I

t’s no secret that there isn’t love lost between America and China. While currently civil, the two are competitors in every aspect. But what happens when art is employed to further hostility?

The Chinese Communist Party’s recent war epic, “The Battle at Lake Changjin” (2021), depicts Chinese soldiers fighting U.S.-led forces in the Korean War. It decimated Chinese records for most viewings in one day and became China’s highest-grossing film of all time, showing surging popularity among

MEGAN SZOSTAK / THE TUFTS DAILY

The cast of Tufts’ 2022 production of “Spring Awakening” (2006) is pictured during dress rehearsal. repressive society that claims to love them, fails to understand them, and nearly destroys them,” Professor of Theatre, Dance, and Performance Studies Barbara Wallace Grossman, the show’s director, wrote in her prologue essay on the show.

Grossman expanded upon her essay in an interview with the Daily. “[‘Spring Awakening’] is really about young people struggling against a world of repression and tyranny, trying to experience the world through their bodies, through their senses [and] through what they know,” Grossman said.

Emma Downs, a senior playing female lead Wendla Bergmann spoke to the complexity of playing a character living in Wedekind’s world. “[Wendla] has been really challenging for me because she is going through not only explorations and curiosity about her sexual desires, [but] she’s also having to deal with the repercussions of exploring these desires

in a world that doesn’t teach her about them,” Downs said.

Wendla’s storyline is one that exposes the devastating consequences of parental dishonesty, and that ends in the ultimate tragedy after she experiences an unwanted pregnancy and an unsafe abortion. While this all may seem reminiscent of the “totally f--ed” world of the play, Grossman identified a key parallel between Wedekind’s society and our own.

“What makes [‘Spring Awakening’] speak to me today is the threat to Roe v. Wade, which is very real,” Grossman said. “I think that the fact that we are debating abortion rights and abortion access now makes the play feel even more relevant to me than it did when I initially saw it in 2007.”

Deck Manager Lindsay Diab, a sophomore, added that she sees the topic of men’s mental health to be central to the show, and cited the character Moritz, who struggles with his mental health and eventually ends his own life, as an import-

ant figure of men’s mental health awareness.

“I think Moritz represents a great perspective on men’s mental health and how that is an issue that needs to be tackled,” Diab said. “It’s not going to be saved by one show, but if people can even just start thinking about it, I think that would be helpful coming away from the show.”

Intimacy and violence abound in “Spring Awakening,” and as a means to keep actors safe during these scenes, the department began working with Intimacy Choreographer Margaret Clark.

“We’ve had the blessing of working with an intimacy choreographer, who is someone whose role it is to make sure the space is safe where there are scenes of intimacy and violence, and to choreograph exactly what’s happening so everyone in the space feels that they’re safe and they know what’s going on,” Downs said.

Intimacy choreography, a relatively new subfield within performance, is meticulous work done between a professional such as

Chinese audiences of films lauding the Chinese Communist Party.

This highlights more than a love of action movies. The film is rife with anti-American sentiments, depicting a battle cry of “resist American aggression!”, speeches about the inspiring nature of Chinese soldiers striking back against the world’s most advanced military and shots of American soldiers eating gluttonous Thanksgiving feasts juxtaposed with freezing Chinese soldiers subsisting off raw potatoes.

The CCP, which commissioned the film, argues that it is no different from American war movies such as “Pearl Harbor” (2001), “Apocalypse Now” (1979) or “Saving Private Ryan” (1998). They have a point: American cinema has intermittently stirred negative sentiments towards other countries. But “The Battle at Lake Changjin” underscores some uncomfortable truths about Chinese media and public

opinion. The film is historically inaccurate, notably in how it portrays the battle as China protecting North Korea against western expansion, whereas in reality it happened because North Korea invaded South Korea. Chinese investigative journalist Luo Changping was arrested for questioning the film (as has happened to many other journalists who have questioned CCP narratives), and film blog DeepFocus was suspended for criticizing it. Meanwhile, Chinesemade films examining unsavory aspects of Chinese history are generally banned nationwide.

Furthermore, Chinese audiences, who once flocked to Hollywood blockbusters, have steadily pivoted towards CCPmade propaganda cinema.China presently houses the largest film industry by box office revenue.

Hollywood filmmakers must now ensure their movies can bypass

Chinese government censorship to access this market, a burden the CCP obviously does not share.

The shift towards CCP-made films and increasing nationalism within many of them indicate surging anti-Americanism within China.

While contemporary Hollywood films lack overt anti-Chinese sentiments, Americans’ hostility towards China is likewise increasing, with 73% of Americans saying they viewed China negatively in 2020, compared to 35% in 2005.

The pandemic inflamed this: 78% of Americans place some blame on China for COVID-19. The CCP simultaneously spread conspiracy theories that U.S. troops introduced the coronavirus to Wuhan, and Taiwanese news outlets report that some Chinese citizens believe it to be a U.S. bioweapon.

Escalating anti-Chinese sentiment in America correlates with increases in both anti-Americanism and

Clark and the actors to ensure that there are no surprises during these complicated scenes. According to Grossman, masks further complicated intimacy work, as some actions which convey intimacy are not able to be performed convincingly while masked.

“We had to find other ways of expressing affection and physical intimacy, you know, with caressing, embracing movements that could tell the story in a way that would look credible that the actors were comfortable with, but would also tell the story,” Grossman said.

The intensity and potentially triggering nature of many of this show’s themes also prompted Grossman to work to promote audience safety during and after the production. Alongside Tufts Counseling and Mental Health Services and Tufts Action for Sexual Assault Prevention, Grossman developed a list of confidential resources available to students that audience members can access via QR code at performances of “Spring Awakening.”

“I feel that we are doing what we must in order to ensure, to the extent that we can, people’s emotional and psychological safety,” Grossman said.

According to Downs and Grossman, audience safety also includes being prepared for the range of emotion this production is likely to evoke.

“This show will make you truly feel and experience some powerful emotions,” Downs wrote in an electronic message to the Daily.

“The show can be quite beautiful and fun and thoughtful but also serious and tragic.”

“Spring Awakening” in all its beauty, thoughtfulness and tragedy will be performed in the Balch Arena Theater on March 4, 5, 11, 12 and 13, with a public preview on March 3. March 11 and 13 will be open caption performances. Tickets for all performances can be purchased through Tufts Tickets. pro-CCP attitudes within China, as its public reacts with surging patriotism. Furthermore, both countries’ politicians habitually stoke distrust to bolster their popularity, feeding the cycle.

Chinese cinema’s trending nationalism is a microcosm of the disturbing shifts in both countries’ attitudes. Film is pervasive — it reflects society and remolds opinions. The CCP’s push to reject Hollywood and produce anti-American films hints at efforts to stoke hostility, likely as part of a larger move to challenge U.S. hegemony. If both sides’ distrust and resentment continues to spike, we may see conflict that makes “The Battle of Lake Changjin” pale in comparison.

Sacha Waters is a sophomore studying political science. Sacha can be reached at sacha.waters@tufts.edu.

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Opinion

Natalie Brownsell Blue, Brown & Green

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VIEWPOINT

37th Annual EPIIC Symposium: “Problems without passports” to address global R2P commitment The Ripple Effect

I

n my last column, I talked about the role that community, and the actions of each individual within that community, plays on sustainability. I also asked you to think about how you can make a difference every day in our community through your own actions. With that in mind, let’s look at sustainability.

As I’m sure you’re familiar with, Tufts has many ‘blue bins’ across campus, conveniently located to make recycling easy. The City of Boston also works hard to provide mixed recycling for many different materials. Although proper management of waste is significant for sustainability efforts, it’s important to remember two things. Firstly, recycling is only a means of reducing the amount of waste that goes to the landfill or is incinerated. It helps reduce waste, but only after it has been created. The second thing to remember is that although Boston has broad recycling programs, much of what enters that ‘blue bin’ is still not recyclable. These facts do not mean recycling isn’t important for sustainability. Rather, they should tell us that we, as individuals, need to take greater care to recycle correctly, and that we should expend greater thought on what impact our daily choices will have, from market to disposal.

According to the EPA, each person in the US in 2018 was estimated to have produced almost five pounds of waste a day, for a total of 292.4 million tons produced. Though 94 million tons of that waste were recycled or composted, more than 60% was combusted or went to the landfill. These numbers are staggering, but it’s important to remember that each time you refill your water bottle instead of buying bottled drinks, say no to plastic silverware or disposable plates or only put food on your plate that you know you’ll be able to eat, you reduce your impact on the planet.

Imagine if you didn’t pick up that extra slice of pizza you weren’t sure you could eat, or took half as much rice or didn’t use plastic silverware. Consider that by consciously thinking about what waste will be produced before you create it; you could reduce your daily waste by one, two or maybe even three pounds a day. Then imagine that everyone at Tufts made the same effort to be conscious of their waste and use each day. Finally, imagine that when you go home for summer or spring break, you encourage your family to use and waste less through your example.

The impact from an individual creates a ripple that grows as others from within a community join in, and expands rapidly when members from one community touch the other communities in their lives, like each of their families, hometowns or future places of employment. The example you set and the actions you take will have rippling effects. Reducing our waste and ensuring that what we recycle is actually recyclable are important steps toward sustainability that each of us at Tufts can make to create more ripples.

Natalie Brownsell is a sophomore studying applied environmental studies. Natalie can be reached at natalie. brownsell@tufts.edu.

by Ellie Murphy

Contributing Writer

Some of the world’s most pressing problems such as climate change, mass-migration and food insecurity transcend state borders. These issues are beyond the capacity of any single country to solve themselves, necessitating international cooperation. Former Secretary-General of the United Nations Kofi Annan labeled these challenges as “problems without passports.”

One of the issues that falls into this category is the setting of global norms.

While the post-World War II environment saw liberal democracies leading the agenda, from economics to human rights, the rise of China in the 21st century has put a number of these norms into play. The Responsibility to Protect (R2P) — a global political commitment established by the United Nations in 2005 that seeks to prevent “mass atrocity crimes” such as genocide, war crimes, ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity — is one such norm.

This global norm emerged in response to the lack of effective response to the mass atrocities in Rwanda and former Yugoslavia in the 1990s. R2P has three main tenets, establishing that every state is responsible for protecting its populations from mass atrocity crimes, including genocide and war crimes; the international community has the responsibility to aid states in meeting the first tenet; and if a state is failing to uphold the agreement, the international community must take action in accordance to the UN Charter. In the most extreme cases, this can include

international intervention. Ultimately, R2P aims to foster collaboration among the international community to avoid mass atrocities.

Though a widely respected agreement, aspects of R2P have been controversial, specifically in times when it has not been implemented.

For example, many cite the lack of implementation of R2P in response to the military crackdown on Rohingya Muslims as a glaring failure of the international community. In August 2017, Myanmar’s army carried out a deadly attack on Rohingya Muslims populations, resulting in hundreds of thousands of Rohingya refugees fleeing to Bangladesh. According to UN Secretary-General António Guterres, the Rohingya are considered to be “one of, if not the, most discriminated people in the world.” During this period, troops in Myanmar backed by local Buddhist mobs incessantly targeted and killed Rohingya civilians.

Since this targeting, there have been extensive protests within Myanmar against the murder of the Rohingya and a reimposition of military rule in the country, responsible for much of the violence. Many signs of these protesters were in English — despite only five percent of Myanmar’s population speaking the language — and said “We Need R2P” and “R2P Save Myanmar,” a clear call to action of the international community.

This same controversy with the application of R2P is relevant when discussing the ongoing genocide of the Uyghur Muslims in China and the criticism of inaction by the international community. There are ample first-hand accounts and video footage of the “re-education

camps” to which Uyghur Muslims in China are being subjected. Even so, R2P has yet to be applied by the United Nations and international community — largely because of the relatively greater power that China has as a permanent member of the Security Council.

Both of these examples speak to the past failure of the international community to take measures — including intervention — to prevent mass atrocities, as well as to the views of countries such as China that sovereignty is the weightier principle. Hence, while R2P is a widely respected international agreement, it is still significantly flawed in terms of its implementation. This selective application of R2P speaks to the unequal distribution of power within the structure of the United Nations.

Member-states with more power in the Security Council such as the United States, China and Russia, have the power to withhold implementing R2P when it is deemed unsuitable for their own national agendas. This self-serving political strategizing comes at the cost of marginalized civilians who are actively being targeted by their own government. This uneven distribution of power and accountability in the United Nations makes it impossible for the goals of R2P to be carried out in full.

Given all this, we are left with one central question: can R2P be considered a global or universal norm when it might only be applied to weaker states or states without superpower backing?

This issue among others will be discussed at the 2022 Norris and Margery Bendetson EPIIC International Symposium on Problems Without Passports from March 31–April 2.

S

Friday, March 4, 2022 | SPORTS | THE TUFTS DAILY

7

Women steal the show at the 2022 Winter Olympics OLYMPICS

continued from back Opening with Imany’s, “No More Fight Left in Me” (2020), Sakamoto dedicated her performance to strong women in her life. From her opening double axel to her elegant triple flip-double toe loop combination, she demonstrated power, tenderness and discipline.

What her program may lack in highly technical combinations, she more than makes up for with artistry and flawless execution. Her performance showcased her quiet yet

unwavering strength. Everyone expected the Russian Olympic Committee to sweep the women’s individual program. So, Sakamoto sobbing tears of disbelief after making the podium was likely the purest expression of joy that the sport has seen in recent memory.

This last Olympic story does not end with a podium winning finish, but it illustrates an aspect of the games that spectators don’t often get to glimpse.

The United States’ alpine skier Mikaela Shiffrin showed a distinctly human aspect of athlet-

icism at this Olympics: the disappointment of not medaling and the challenge of facing that defeat on a global stage.

With 47 World Cup slalom wins, the most held in one event by any skier in the world, Shiffrin came to Beijing as the favorite for all five individual events she was competing in: giant slalom, slalom, super-G, downhill and the combined event. Alpine skiing in simple terms is like being forced to hold a squat in the freezing cold while gliding 40–80 miles per hour down a snowy slope.

The sport is especially precarious because failing to complete the marked course — or “skiing out” — during a race means automatic disqualification. Shiffrin shocked everyone, including herself, when she skied out of three of her five events and eventually left the 2022 Games without any hardware.

Yet, Mikaela Shiffrin’s record in Beijing does not define her career. It’s a reminder that there are no moments of greatness without moments of defeat.

Being the best in the world comes with a price — weighty expectations and criticism waged when those expectations aren’t met. With respect to the latter, Shiffrin has been candid about her experience with disappointment — offering a comforting sense of honesty in elite athleticism where defeat can often feel isolating. This won’t be the last the world will see of Mikaela Shiffrin — but even if it is,her contributions to the sport and to the Olympic mentality is historic and will remain a lasting legacy.

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8 Friday, March 4, 2022

Aiden Herrod The Intangibles

Fixing Major League Baseball

Women win big at the 2022 Winter Olympics

A

s the MLB owners and players association have repeatedly clashed over the past several months, going back and forth hashing out a new collective bargaining agreement, a painful truth has become increasingly clear: baseball is in deep trouble.

Between declining ratings, a corrupt commissioner and losing viewers to the bigger leagues, baseball is quickly fading into the background of the average sports fan’s view.

What caused baseball’s rapid decline, and how can the league emerge from these bitter bargaining sessions better than it was before?

To answer this, I’m proposing several changes and additions I would love to see as a fan. These would greatly enhance the viewing experience and allow baseball to maintain relevance in a rapidly changing sports and media landscape.

A Midseason Tournament As with most sports, baseball’s tensest and most memorable moments have come in elimination situations. In the context of the playoffs, single-game elimination wildcard games have been received with mixed reviews. I’m on the side that hates to see 90- or 100-win teams lose their seasons to a single game based on a flukey performance.

But what if we could shift that intensity to the dog days of the regular season?

A midseason tournament could be a low-stakes way to inject some excitement into baseball’s sleepy summer months. The stakes could take up just about any form, too.

Maybe wins in the tournament format could count double towards seeding and tiebreakers, or perhaps a massive cash prize could await the winning squad. The possibilities are endless and it would allow the league to inject some much-needed variety into the 163-game schedule.

More (Positive) Player Mobility As I recently addressed in this column, player mobility in the NBA is here to stay, for better or for worse. But in baseball, I believe increasing this could add some much-needed drama and notoriety to the league’s biggest stars. Shorter contracts and the ability to enter free agency a year or two early for players on rookie deals would be a great start. It would allow stars rotting on poor franchises to aim for legitimate shots at postseason glory.

One of the saddest things about the sport is how superstars like Shohei Ohtani, Mike Trout and Bryce Harper never get their chance at the postseason spotlight. Putting your biggest stars on the biggest stage is a foolproof way to boost a sport’s appeal.

Get Yourself a Romo The great thing about announcers like Tony Romo in the NFL is the energy they bring to the table. Romo brings an exciting blend of Xs and Os analysis along with giddy and accessible exclamations. It’s a killer formula that makes me seek out CBS broadcasts for the NFL every Sunday.

If baseball can net a former player or coach who brings that similar energy, they can cue fans in to learn more about the strategy of the sport while also deepening the fun they have during the broadcast. Maybe even give local announcers with deep-seated passion for their own teams a bigger national stage. Seriously, go search up Dave Niehaus announcer highlights. You won’t be disappointed.

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

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COURTESY WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

The 2022 Winter Olympics closing ceremony is pictured.

by Nicole Setow Sports Editor

It’s been nearly a decade since the International Olympic Committee formally made gender-balanced participation a goal. With the introduction of women’s monobob, women’s big air freestyle skiing as well as the addition of four mixed-gender events, the IOC is finally seeing progress; Beijing’s 2022 Winter Olympics was the most gender-balanced Winter Olympics in program history.

The women at these games have been remarkably successful­­— not only in participating but also in winning. Some highlights include: the United States’ Erin Jackson becoming the first Black woman to medal in 500m speed skat-

ing; China’s Eileen Gu landing two golds and one silver medal, the first freestyle skier to take home three medals in one Olympics; Jessie Diggins overcoming a bout of food poisoning to become America’s most decorated cross-country skier; and the Canadian women’s hockey team taking down defending champion Team USA in a 3–2 thriller, bringing Canada’s total medal tally in women’s hockey up to five since the Olympic event debuted in 1998.

It’s difficult to capture the many accomplishments that women had at these games in one article, but three of the most compelling stories belong to bobsledder Elana Meyers Taylor, figure skater Kaori Sakamoto and alpine skier Mikaela Shiffrin.

Considering this was Elana Meyers Taylor’s fourth Olympics, she’s certainly a veteran in the field and is now the most decorated Black athlete to have competed in the Winter Olympics. This accomplishment is especially meaningful for Taylor, who had once been denied purchasing a sled due to her race.

To have accomplished this feat in bobsledding is especially remarkable; the sport is the ultimate test of athleticism. It’s like a physicist’s worst nightmare — one misstep or shift in weight could be the difference between a podium-worthy finish or a horrific crash.

How Taylor was able to help navigate a sled racing up to 90 mph to five medals in her Olympic career is unprecedented, and she made it look easy. Perhaps, what defines Taylor’s precise piloting work is her tenacity. She’s known for her discipline and ability to attack at crucial moments on the track –– a skill that often only comes with veteran experience.

While this is likely Taylor’s last Olympics, Japan’s 21-year-old Kaori Sakamoto remains hopeful for another Olympic run following her successful performance in Beijing with a remarkable bronze medal win in ice skating.

Sakamoto’s talent has flown under the radar for quite some time. She wasn’t expected to have even qualified to represent Japan at the last Olympic cycle in Pyeongchang. Her persistence allowed her to claim a spot on the national team, and her performance in Beijing is a true testament to her journey. see OLYMPICS, page 7

Women’s fencing places second at New England Intercollegiate Fencing Conference Championships

by Ethan Grubelich Sports Editor

The Tufts University women’s fencing team traveled to Brandeis University in Waltham, Mass. on Saturday to compete in the 2022 New England Intercollegiate Fencing Conference Championships.

For each weapon, each school had one individual compete in one of three pools ― A, B and C ― in qualifying. The final team standings were determined by the total number of wins accumulated in qualifying.

The Jumbos placed second out of the 15 competing teams, winning 97 of their 119 individual bouts in total. Individual standings were subsequently determined in a direct elimination round, with seeding determined during qualifying.

Tufts’ sabre team placed second in their event with 34 victories in 39 bouts and only losing out on first place to MIT on the indicators — touches scored minus touches received — tiebreaker. This impressive showing included 10 victories in 14 bouts for first-year Anat Katz in Pool A, 13 victories in 14 bouts for first-year Millie Girardi in Pool B and 11 victories in 11 bouts for senior captain Bella McKinney in Pool C. All three qualified for the direct elimination round, where McKinney placed eighth, Girardi placed sixth and Katz medaled in third.

“I know it seems like it was a good result, but I lost 5–4 three times and … even though all those girls are really good, when you lose like that closely … it could go either way,” Katz said. “I tried my best

COURTESY DAVID SACH

The Tufts women’s fencing team at New England Intercollegiate Fencing Conference Championships is pictured on Feb. 26. but I feel like it definitely could’ve gone a different way.”

The Jumbos’ foil squad placed third in their event with 34 victories in 40 bouts.

Sophomore Sydnee Lau won 11 of 14 bouts in Pool A, first-year Shannon Chen won 13 of 14 bouts in Pool B and senior Allison Cheng won 10 of 12 bouts in Pool C. Lau and Chen qualified for the elimination round, where Lau placed fifth and Chen medaled in third.

The Jumbos’ epee squad finished fifth in their event with 29 victories in 40 bouts.

Junior Kaitlyn Gill won nine of 13 bouts in Pool A, first-year Olivia Tomasello won 10

of 14 bouts in Pool B and junior Arianna Minassian won 10 of 13 bouts in Pool C. Gill and Tomasello qualified for the direct elimination round, where Gill placed seventh and Tomasello medaled in third following a one-point victory in the quarterfinals.

“She’s really good at like sustaining herself for those even though those are really stressful, so I would commend her for that,” Katz said of Tomasello.

The Jumbos will travel next to Vassar College in Poughkeepsie, N.Y. to compete in NCAA Regionals on March 13, giving them just under two weeks to prepare.