The Tufts Daily - September 30, 2021

THE

VOLUME LXXXI, ISSUE 11

INDEPENDENT

STUDENT

N E W S PA P E R

OF

TUFTS

UNIVERSITY

E S T. 1 9 8 0

T HE T UFTS DAILY tuftsdaily.com

Thursday, September 30, 2021

MEDFORD/SOMERVILLE, MASS.

Greek life returns to in-person events, Zeta Psi disbanded after COVID-19 violations

by Rebecca Barker News Editor

Greek life is back to in-person activities for the first time since the spring 2020 semester.

This fall, new local sororities Thalia and The Ivy are holding their first in-person events for their Membership Application Processes (MAP). However, Delta Tau Delta (DTD) has been placed on probation and Zeta Psi was disbanded by the university after both fraternities violated Tufts University COVID-19 guidelines last year.

According to Emily Kunkle, associate director of leadership, academic engagement and fraternity & sorority life, in-person events that were held under last year’s COVID-19 guidelines resulted in restrictions for DTD, while Zeta Psi had its charter revoked.

“The Delta Tau Delta fraternity (DTD) is currently on probation, based on the findings from two cases resolved in the spring related to COVID violations,” Kunkle wrote in an email to the Daily.

Kunkle explained that although DTD can hold new member recruitment this semester, the organization is only allowed to host events at pre-approved locations, and cannot have events in its house. As a part of its probation, DTD is also required to fulfill educational sanctions, which Kunkle said the fraternity is in the process of completing.

“While DTD is on probation for the remainder of the semester, we are looking forward to resuming normal operations in the Spring,” DTD wrote in a statement to the Daily. “Our probation gives us a chance to improve the brotherhood and ensure an inviting, inclusive, and fun rush process this fall. We remain committed to bettering the Tufts community and learning from our mistakes.”

According to Kunkle, Zeta Psi will no longer operate as a fraternity.

“Zeta Psi had their university recognition revoked, meaning they will no longer be recognized by the University, for repeated and serious violations of University policy while the chapter was on probation and after a number of incremental educational interventions and status restrictions,” Kunkle said.

“The house is privately owned, and is subject to the municipal permitting process for residential occupancy.”

Zeta Psi did not respond to requests for comment.

The Ivy, Thalia and national sororities Chi Omega and Kappa Alpha Theta all held what is known as informal recruitment last week, according to Anoushka Kiyawat, co-president of The Ivy. For The Ivy and Thalia, these events included activities such as group conversations and oneon-one coffee dates.

Kiyawat, a senior, explained that potential applicants were

COURTESY THALIA

The members of Thalia, a local sorority at Tufts, are pictured. required to choose whether they would rush a local or national sorority by Sept. 26.

“The way that the thought process worked for this was that hopefully during the week of informal recruitment events, the applicants would be able to get to know us enough that they have more of a sense of what they want before starting formal recruitment,” she said.

Kiyawat said that the MAP for The Ivy began on Sept. 27, and that potential new members would be informed of whether or

SCIENCE

Highly processed foods make up 67% of youth diets, Friedman study finds

by Peri Barest

Deputy News Editor

As smartphones, online shopping and cryptocurrency have become more prevalent in the past 20 years, so too have ultraprocessed foods, which make up the majority of youth diets. The percentage of child and adolescent diets composed of ultraprocessed foods — those made with refined ingredients and additives — has increased from 61% to 67% in the past 20 years, according to a recent Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association. The findings may have implications for combat-

ing the development of ultrap- 2–19 between 1999 and 2018 rocessed food-related disease in using the National Health and adulthood.

Nutrition Examination Survey.

Ultraprocessed foods are It found that ready-to-eat dishes typically made with refined or — such as microwavable dinextracted ingredients, which ners — are the main culprit, contain additives that are often accounting for a 9% increase high in added sugar, trans-fat, in calories from ultraprocessed sodium and refined starch. At the foods. Sweet snacks also consame time, these types of foods tributed substantially to calorie frequently contain very little pro- intake, the researchers reported tein or fiber. Studies have shown in their August study. that eating ultraprocessed foods Lu Wang, an epidemiologist can lead to obesity and other risk at the Friedman School and first factors in children and adults. author of the study, said that In particular, some have been ultraprocessed foods now comlinked to cardiovascular disease, prise the majority of the total some cancers and overall mortal- energy consumed by children ity in adults. and adolescents in the U.S. The study analyzed the diets of over 33,000 children ages see ULTRAPROCESSED, page 2

not they had received what The Ivy refers to as a bid and Thalia refers to as an offer through Kunkle by Oct. 2.

Ryen Delaney, co-president of Thalia, said much of Thalia’s MAP will be similar to last semester’s, although most events will take place in person rather than over Zoom.

“We thought that our [MAP] last semester was really successful, in that it kind of went away from the traditional recruitment process for sororities,” Delaney, a senior, said. “[It] was

more just about getting to know people, taking the pressure off them wanting to join Thalia as much as we wanted them to join Thalia.”

Delaney is excited for in-person gatherings this semester, particularly service events that the sorority could not participate in last year due to COVID-19 restrictions.

“Now we’re implementing our service hour requirement, and we’re partnering with a women’s homeless shelter in the area, see GREEK LIFE, page 2

BREAKING: ECOM announces TCU election results

by Alexander Janoff Executive News Editor

The Tufts Community Union Elections Commission held a Tufts Community Union-wide election on Tuesday and Wednesday, filling vacant seats in the Committee on Student Life, TCU Judiciary and TCU Senate.

Sophomore Erika Effenberger was elected to the Committee on Student Life.

Sophomore Caroline Vandis and first-year Ethan VanGosen were both elected to the TCU Judiciary.

First-years Ayomide Oloyede and Krystal Mutebi and sophomores Kritika Jalan and Odalis

OPINION / page 6

FEATURES / page 3

SPORTS / back

50 years of the war on drugs: The impact on communities of color

From Wattpad to novels: Layla Noor on writing Black queer characters

Johnson shines in first start, Jumbos ultimately fall

Vargas were elected to the TCU Senate to serve as the FIRST Community Senator, Women’s Community Senator, International Community Senator and Latinx Community Senator, respectively.

Victor Arsenescu was elected as a Class of 2022 Senator and Enrique Rodriguez as a Class of 2023 Senator.

According to ECOM, 1,651 votes were cast for a turnout of 25%, down from 34% in April’s presidential election.

NOTE: The Class of 2025 Senatorial election results will be available tomorrow afternoon.

This article will be updated as we receive more information.

NEWS

1

FEATURES

3

WEEKENDER

4

FUN & GAMES

5

OPINION

6

SPORTS

BACK

2

THE TUFTS DAILY | News | Thursday, September 30, 2021

THE TUFTS DAILY Madeleine Aitken Editor in Chief

— EDITORIAL — MARIEL PRIVEN KATE SEKLIR Managing Editors

PRIYA PADHYE ETHAN STEINBERG Associate Editors Alexander Janoff Executive News Editor Jillian Collins Executive Features Editor Phoebe Wong Executive Arts Editor Paloma Delgado Executive Opinion Editor Ananda Kao Executive Sports Editor Alex Viveros Investigative Editor

tuftsdaily.com

Delta Tau Delta placed on probation for repeated COVID-19 violations GREEK LIFE

continued from page 1 Rosie’s Place, and hopefully we’ll be able to do volunteer visits there,” she said.

Thalia has already been able to hold some in-person events, including its first in-person meeting for current members,as well as two implicit bias trainings led by two members of the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion committee as part of the MAP. Kiyawat is also excited about how the ability to hold in-person events will expand opportunities for building

community both within The Ivy and the Greater Boston area. She explained that three components of The Ivy — programming, community service and DEI — will be easier to structure through in-person activities.

“Programming is where we’re all doing things as an organization together … like a movie night,” Kiyawat said.

“These are all things that are really exciting because now it means that we can do them in person — it was really hard last semester over Zoom.”

Kiyawat said that there will also be more community service opportunities for members this semester. Last year The Ivy partnered with Project Linus to make blankets and some members volunteered weekly at a food bank in Malden, but Kiyawat said that in-person opportunities have been limited until recently.

Kiyawat is also enthusiastic about holding DEI events in-person.

“I think that in general, conversations of more sensitive nature … work a lot better in

person when you’re able to look at everyone,” she said. “It’s a lot more comfortable than … over Zoom, and so I’m really excited for that as well.”

Delaney noted that while everyone is happy to be back in person, Thalia is prioritizing the safety of its members.

“We are very aware of the COVID situation right now, and our responsibility as an organization,” she said. “There is still uncertainty for this semester … but I’m really excited for hopefully as many in-person events that we can have.”

Epidemiologists suggest teaching children to eat whole foods

Hannah Harris Executive Audio Producer Sophie Dolan Michelle Li Executive Photo Editors Ty Blitstein Executive Video Editor Asli Kocak Executive Graphics Editor

— PRODUCTION — CAMPBELL DEVLIN Production Director Mac Callahan Maddy Noah Lucy Kaskel Executive Layout Editors Julian Perry Sarah Sandlow Executive Copy Editors Kendall Roberts Elise Fong Executive Social Media Editors

— BUSINESS — EVELYN MCCLURE Business Director Rebecca Barker Jilly Rolnick Outreach Coordinators Jackson Parsells Web Manager Contact Us P.O. Box 53018, Medford, MA 02155 daily@tuftsdaily.com thetuftsdaily tuftsdaily tuftsdaily

Please rec ycle this newspaper!

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.

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.

ADVERTISING All advertising copy is subject to the approval of the Editor in Chief, Executive Board and Business Director.

MICHELLE LI / THE TUFTS DAILY

Epidemiologist Fang Fang Zhang suggests policy changes to address the level of ultraprocessed food consumption in the United States.

ULTRAPROCESSED

continued from page 1 “​​We came up with this topic because ultraprocessed food is becoming very popular in our children’s diet,” Fang Fang Zhang, an epidemiologist at the Friedman School who co-authored the study, said. “Given how popular it is in our diet, and the increasing number of studies showing our potential harms for consuming high amounts of it, we wanted to look at the trends, especially for U.S. children.”

The researchers also collected data on age, sex, race, parental education level and family income.

They found that the percentage of ultraprocessed foods increased by 10.3% among non-Hispanic Black Americans and 7.6% among Mexican Americans, compared to 5.2% among non-Hispanic white people.

Zhang said that this increase is likely due to targeted advertising of ultraprocessed foods toward Black youth, and that the prevalence of home cooking among Mexican American families may explain their lower levels of ultraprocessed food consumption.

The consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages decreased by 51% between 1999 and 2018, largely due to public awareness campaigns and policy efforts about the potential harms of these beverages, the study found. Some cities have implemented taxes on sugar-sweetened beverages to further decrease consumption.

Connie Weaver, a nutritionist at Purdue University, believes that exposure to whole foods — those without additives and artificial substances, such as fresh fruits and vegetables — in schools is the best way to improve child and adolescent diets.

“You need exposure: cooking classes, field trips or anything to help people understand where food comes from [and] that whole foods are full of nutrients that are good for you,” Weaver said. “We cut out a lot of those kinds of classes and curriculum.”

Zhang added that larger-scale policy efforts could also reduce ultraprocessed food consumption.

“We do need some, I would say, high-level efforts, potentially some policy effort to try to reduce

the consumption as a whole,” Zhang said. “Those could be the USDA policies or the local policies to try to restrict the spread of ultraprocessed foods in the school environment.”

Wang identified limitations to the classification and research of ultraprocessed foods, which could necessitate further research on the topic.

Scientists have struggled to explain the impact of processing on foods and distinguish it from other measures of food quality.

“The study was not able to differentiate whether the effect was driven by the product quality or whether it is the processing, so we need to design some measurement to differentiate these two aspects,” Wang said.

Weaver agreed, adding that the description of ultraprocessed foods may be too broad.

“It really isn’t about the degree of processing, but the formula,” Weaver wrote in a follow-up email to the Daily. “There are highly processed foods that are recommended as part of a healthy diet such as yogurt, olive oil, whole grain breads and cereals, and wine.”

Zhang also said that researchers are still unsure what may lead certain ultraprocessed foods to negatively impact health.

“There are some hypotheses that the ultraprocessing itself changes the structure of the foods or taste of the foods, so people may consume them quicker,” Zhang said. “I think it would be very good to understand the biological mechanisms [about] why ultraprocessed food contributes to weight gain and also cancer.”

Weaver, who was not surprised by these findings, said that researchers, educators and caretakers should pay more attention to child and adolescent diets.

“It’s just abominable that we’ve let ourselves as caretakers of future generations eat like that,” Weaver said. “I think people just don’t appreciate [that] your precursors for chronic disease are starting in childhood and adolescence, you’re adopting lifelong habits for the most part, and so we should pick up the cause for improving diet.”

tuftsdaily.com

Features

3 Thursday, September 30, 2021

Layla Noor writes books that don’t exist yet

by Juanita Asapokhai

Assistant Features Editor

A young artist swaps her paintbrush for a keyboard and types her first creative work for an English class assignment.

At 13, she publishes a short story on Wattpad, an online writing website that doubles as a digital library for self-published authors and a social media platform. As a high school senior, she takes a creative writing class and writes a poetry book for a final project; by the end of her first year of college, she has written a full-length book. These items stand out on the curriculum vitae of sophomore Layla Noor, who completed the first draft of her debut novel “Eclipsing Binary” last spring.

Like many other members of Gen Z, Noor also grew up on a steady diet of young adult novels and the homogenous protagonists that dominated them.

Changing the dominant narrative is one of Noor’s aspirations when she writes.

“I was reading ‘Percy Jackson’ and ‘The Hunger Games’ and ‘Twilight’ and all these things, but I never really felt … represented or seen through those stories,” Noor said. “They were always kind of about white, heterosexual protagonists saving the world.”

Before writing her debut novel, it took Noor a few tries to finish a full draft.

Noor cited this uniformity as the reason why she got a slow start on writing longer prose.

“I think part of the reason I never finished any of those books and why my writing is so different than it was before is because I grew up [with those books],” Noor said. “It wasn’t until I tried to write this book that I wrote last year at Tufts [that] I finally tried to write a story that was really true to myself, and I really started reading other books where I could see myself in fiction.”

Noor’s novel, “Eclipsing Binary,” is the product of a persistent idea and a tightly organized calendar.

“I was just starting college, trying to get all my classes, and I just kept coming back to this vision in my head of a girl watching another girl figure skating and just being entranced by it,” Noor said. “So I just sat down and wrote the first chapter, and it turned into a book.”

As Noor describes it, it’s a bit like “Yuri on Ice” (2016) meets sapphic romance.

Robert Kaplan and Michael Friedman The Vintage and the Vogue

Almond milk is ‘Lindy’

M

ichael: Hey Robert, what is “Lindy?”

Robert: Well, the Lindy Effect is complex, so 10 column-inches is too little space to discuss its full history. To summarize, it stems from a 1964 essay published in The New Republic.

“Lindy’s Law,” it was first called, was later developed into a paradigm of statistical survivability: For example, the Pyramids at Giza are still standing after 3,500 years. Most human construction between then and now has completely vanished, so Lindy’s Law suggests that the pyramids will stand anoth-

“It’s a young adult contemporary romance about a girl, Elise, who loves art, but kind of finds herself feeling lost in her first year of college and is overwhelmed by everyone’s expectations for her,” Noor said. “And it’s there where she meets May, who’s a Black figure-skating prodigy, who’s kind of trying to outrun the shadows of her past and redeem herself in the sport. It’s a book about overcoming past trauma, love as healing and kind of finding yourself.”

When she isn’t writing, Noor is studying toward a degree in engineering psychology and a minor in English. She has found an art to managing the two, even if it means staying up late some nights.

“When I was writing the first draft of my book, writing usually looked like it [would be] 10 p.m. and I [would be] done with all my assignments, [and then I’d say] ‘Okay, it’s time to write,’ and I’d be up until 2 a.m., just working away at this book,” Noor said. “But I think writing at night is kind of nice. I haven’t minded trying to balance both because I’m passionate about what I’m studying, and I’m also passionate about writing.”

Noor is active on Twitter and has amassed over 2,000 followers on her writing account. Social media has played a significant role over the course of her career as a writer: On Wattpad, she won a Watty Award — the site’s only award, given to exceptional works across several genres — at age 13. Since then, she’s found a flourishing community of other young authors, readers and role models forging the path ahead as published writers.

“When I first joined Twitter, I had no idea what to expect because I’d always been on the fandom side of it before; I’d never been on the creative side of it,” Noor said. “So I think making a writing account was a pretty big leap for me, but I definitely don’t regret it because I’ve been able to connect with and follow so many people.”

The connections Noor has been able to make are gratifying.

“Writing is such a solitary activity, because you’re alone in your room with a laptop or with a notebook, and it doesn’t really feel like in those moments there’s anyone who’s really with you,” Noor said.

“I think being able to go on social media and find a community of other writers and other people who understand

er 3,500 years to come. But I think it’s more fun to apply Lindy to cultural practices and products than anything else.

Michael: So the longer something has been around, the more Lindy it is?

Robert: More or less. Lindy isn’t exactly a value judgement, but calling something “Lindy” suggests that some quality helped it to escape the filter of time, despite almost everything else failing to do the same. Lindy phenomena are worth examining to understand why they stick around for so long, and, conversely, whether newer developments are worth keeping.

Michael: So, we’re having a dialogue right now. Conversations between humans have been around since the dawn of humanity.

That would make it pretty Lindy, right?

Robert: As Lindy as it gets!

Michael: But newspaper columns have only been around since people started printing newspapers in the last 200 years, so that would make them notso-Lindy, right?

SARAH GOLDSTEIN / THE TUFTS DAILY

Author Layla Noor is pictured on Tisch Roof on Sept. 25. … where you’re coming from and what you’re after, and who appreciate the value in writing, is really amazing.”

With a manuscript finished, Noor is on to the next stage of the writing process.

“I’ve kind of been deep in revisions, trying to make everything all polished, because my next step after that is going to be sending out the book to literary agents,” Noor said.

For Noor, authors like Zoe Hana Mikuta, Raquel Marie and New York Times best-selling author Chloe Gong confirm that her goals are within reach.

“I [find it] really cool just to see other writers who are at the same places, and [to] see other young queer writers and authors of color find success in that way,” Noor said. “I really look up to them as people who inspire me and people who’ve shown me that this is possible.”

Noor also finds being able to make room for both STEM and the humanities a triumph of her Tufts experience.

“I’ve grown up thinking that the only viable thing I should pursue is STEM,” Noor said. “And although I am pursuing STEM, I’ve also realized through going to Tufts, and also through seeing these

writers, that it doesn’t have to be the only thing I can pursue … I can have both.”

Noor’s mission statement as a writer is clear: She is writing the books she didn’t have as a child.

“I’m writing about characters that not only try and represent me, but also represent other people, [and are] more intersectional and diverse [than] the books that I grew up reading,” Noor said. “I’ve read a lot of queer books, I’ve read a lot of sapphic books, but a lot of times, I found that as a Black queer person, a Black queer writer, there isn’t a lot of overlap between some of those areas. I’m reading books with Black protagonists, they’re going to not be queer enough. I’m reading queer books, they’re going to be about white characters, not necessarily Black characters.”

Noor prioritizes intersectionality in her own work.

“Writing has been a way for me to bridge all of these aspects of my identity and be able to explore myself in a way that I kind of haven’t seen out in the world, or that I haven’t found myself,” Noor said. “I try and write the books that don’t exist yet.”

Robert: Exactly.

Michael: So what does this have to do with almonds and their milk?

Robert: Well, you’d think that almond milk isn’t Lindy, because it’s so associated with overpriced coffee and highfalutin cafes. But people have been using almond milk for over 1,000 years!

Michael: Wow! How does that work?

Robert: We know almond milk is vintage because it’s mentioned in medieval cookbooks throughout the Mediterranean, where almonds could be grown. Historians believe it was popular as a substitute for cow’s milk during traditional and religious fasting periods, such as Lent. It was so common that medieval cookbooks omitted recipes for it, instead using it as an ingredient in soups, stews and desserts.

Michael: Incredible. So almond milk has been with humans for over a millennium. Despite all that’s different today, it sounds like our diets haven’t changed all

that much. I guess that means humans are rather consistent!

Robert: I agree that Lindy foods like almond milk certainly are still pervasive, but the human diet has changed in other ways worth discussing in later weeks. Nevertheless, evidence abounds for continuity. Beer, for example, was produced in ancient Mesopotamia, and the ancient Greeks had a fermented fish sauce called garos, almost the same as today’s Worcestershire sauce. But food isn’t the only Lindy way we still live our lives.

Michael: Oh, I’m sure there are plenty of Lindy items out there! I suppose the reader will have to read next week to find out more!

Robert Kaplan is a senior studying quantitative economics and history. Robert can be reached at robert.kaplan618485@ tufts.edu. Michael Friedman is a senior studying history and classical studies.

Michael can be reached at michael.friedman@tufts.edu.

4

WEEKENDER

tuftsdaily.com

Thursday, September 30, 2021

Sadie Leite Dreaming of Sandman

The hero’s grumpy start

T

he comic book series “The Sandman” (1989–) by Neil Gaiman, is the story about stories written by a writer who loves all other stories. This column is a story about the story about all other stories.

For a less unsettling definition, it is about the God of Dreams, and his other names: Morpheus, Dream, Sandman.

I love “Sandman” because it is strange and familiar. Gaiman draws from historical events, classic literature and mythology, using his tilted storytelling lens to finish a comforting childhood story in a horrifically weird manner.

In “The Sandman: Preludes and Nocturnes” (the first volume of the series, 1988–1989), Sandman starts with a traditional “hero’s journey,” but in Gaiman’s style, points are shifted — it’s more interesting.

In Dream’s case, he starts his epic imprisoned. Some stupid cult leader tries to capture Dream’s older sister Death and fails, catching Dream instead.

Dream escapes because as one of The Endless (a family of seven siblings who have existed for all time and will continue to exist until the end of it) he has some time. A guard eventually falls asleep, and he escapes.

He leaves, however, bothered, his three tools stolen from him, propelling him into a classic quest to reclaim them.

One stop on his journey is hell, where he plays a game to win back one of his tools.

Although he wins, he’s in hell, so accordingly, Lucifer (king of hell), asks why the demons should let him leave. “What power have dreams in Hell?”

“What power would Hell have if those here imprisoned were not able to dream of heaven?” Morpheus leaves easily.

The God of Dreams, as ephemeral in the hierarchy of Gods as the sand he’s associated with, is transformed into a power greater than Satan (one of the greatest antagonists in literature) with Gaiman’s simple back-step.

The perspective is simple, yet not acknowledged until Gaiman presents a scene like the latter: Dream is inked in his dark robes walking away, unharmed, from the gross hordes of hell.

Dream and his dreamworld is endless, just as his family is named — his power only dependent on Gaiman’s imagination.

After Dream finishes his journey, reclaiming all three tools, he is found in the final issue of the volume moping, feeding pigeons.

Dream’s older sister, Death, cheers him up, her introduction demonstrating Gaiman’s grand understanding of humanity.

Death is bubbly and sweet — more likable than grumpy Sandman.

Death yells at Sandman, first because he is feeling sorry for himself that his adventure is over.

She then takes him on a workday, claiming lives. Through the day she is kind to all she impacts. Instead of worsening Dream’s gloomy mindset, Death’s grace underscores the light of living.

And so, Gaiman’s complete reversal of a figure usually draped in darkness brings a unique outlook on life and on humanity’s dread of the end.

Sandman is just starting. I wonder if you can dream of what I’ll say next, but do you have the creative wit of Gaiman? Go to sleep!

We will see…

Sadie Leite is a sophomore studying English. Sadie can be reached at sadie.leite@tufts.edu.

Bram Stoker’s ‘Dracula’ is a gothic classic

by Drew Weisberg Arts Editor

Bram Stoker’s “Dracula” (1992) is as much an anachronism as its title character. Directed by cinematic legend Francis Ford Coppola — whose storied filmography includes the Oscar-winning “Godfather” films (1972, 1974 and 1990) and the Vietnam-era epic, “Apocalypse Now” (1979) — the film features an allstar cast, sprawling sets and a meticulously constructed turn of the century aesthetic.

Coppola famously eschewed digital or computer-generated effects for the film and insisted on practical and in-camera effects, drawing upon decades of oldHollywood movie magic to create a world that feels right at home in the time period in which the story takes place. Using everything from detailed miniatures and double exposure to running film footage backward, the effects create a film that is aided by nearly a century of progress and one of the most talented directors of all time to weave a unique look and design.

To borrow an expression, they just don’t make films like Bram Stoker’s “Dracula” anymore, and often for good reason seeing as many of the effects require specific lighting, complex mirror work and each require hours upon hours to construct each intricate shot. The ability to tangibly know that everything on screen is something tangible means that even if the illusions aren’t totally convincing, there is a sense of craftsmanship that begs to be admired. Additionally, the sets and costumes are free from distracting anachronisms and immerse the actors into the world as much as the viewer, with the dark castle of Dracula seeming to swallow protagonist Jonathan Harker or the streets of London which feel lived in and vibrant. The details give the actors a great environment to immerse themselves, which allows the viewer to be drawn in alongside them.

The ensemble is, for the most part, stellar and gives most of the cast at least a few moments of spotlight each.

The unfortunate elephant in the room, though, is Keanu Reeves as protagonist Jonathan Harker whose English accent feels as though he’s mixing his lines with his surfer dude character from the “Bill & Ted” franchise (1989–). The side effect of this is that Reeves’ Harker ends up feeling like a limp protagonist and the film loses the original underlying story of an ordinary man slaying a corrupting force.

Acting opposite Reeves is his on-screen bride Mina Harker, portrayed by Winona Ryder with a sort of vulnerable courage that she would channel years later as Joyce Byers in Netflix’s “Stranger Things” (2016–). Gary Oldman is a scene-stealer as the fiendish count, oscillating between the more traditional cackling count when in Transylvania and morphing into a slick and seductive predator when he relocates to London. Anthony Hopkins portrays Professor Abraham Van Helsing with a jovial enthusiasm that masks a fierce edge and a razor wit. Even bit parts like Dracula’s assistant Renfield, played as a lunatic reveling in his own madness

by Tom Waits, drip with charisma and presence and show that each member of the cast is pushing their acting to its absolute limit.

Famously, the film adds a romantic angle to the story, which begins in a prelude sequence narrated by Van

VIA IMDB

Bram Stoker’s “Dracula” (1992).

Helsing that describes the rise and subsequent fall that led Vlad the Impaler to become Count Dracula. Each battle in Dracula’s campaign is told using shadows against a setting sun, representing the darkness that is slowly eating away at the God-fearing crusader. The moment where Dracula discovers his dead bride Elisabeta (also played by Ryder) is a powerful explosion of emotion as the count renounces God, stabs a nearby crucifix and begins to drink the phantom blood that runs from it. The introduction feels appropriately mythic, and yet the focus on medium shots gives the action an intimate feeling that strikes a nice balance between the two extremes.

Oldman’s Dracula is two-sided, one half feels more like a force of nature than anything else, a sort of invading force that threatens to upset the established order, powerfully exemplified by the scene that depicts Dracula’s journey to England. A storm rages over London and all of the city’s inhabitants feel the coming malevolence; Mina and her friend Lucy frolic in the rain and even share a kiss as a spectral image of Dracula’s face appears over them and smiles with perverse joy, animals in the zoo scream in terror and the inmates of the local insane asylum are whipped into a frenzy until the storm subsides and Dracula escapes his boat in the form of a wolf. The scene sets the viewer on edge, Dracula’s presence is in some ways liberating, but is translated into pure chaos in other respects, throwing the viewer into the same confusion as the characters.

Conversely, Dracula’s more human countenance, which he uses when he walks around London in the day, skews closer to his appearance in the prelude, a handsome figure who moves with great poise and control that disappears as soon as he encounters Mina in person. Mina, who looks identical to his fallen bride, clearly stirs something in the immortal as Dracula loses his composure momentarily, seeking words and stuttering as he encounters the face of his lost love.

There’s pain in his awkwardness, and despite his mystical powers at night, the daylight allows the viewer to see the part of him that still remains human. These layers of dramatic complexity, thanks to both the script and the excellent chemistry between Ryder and Oldman, makes Dracula out to be more than a monstrous antagonist; he is also a man who fell from grace and wishes to reclaim a happier time. The film uses this unexpected humanity to make the viewer question: Just who am I rooting for, Harker, or Dracula?

Bram Stoker’s “Dracula” is a film that embraces the strangeness of its source material, keeping in odd and fantastical elements that might alienate some audiences and utilizing them to create an atmosphere of nightmarish, gothic surrealism. The film is a must-see for fans of classic movie-making techniques, or those looking for a traditional yet also somehow strikingly modern take on one of cinema’s finest monsters.

Thursday, September 30, 2021 | FUN & GAMES | THE TUFTS DAILY

tuftsdaily.com

F& G

LATE NIGHT AT THE DAILY Lucy: “Everyone who read my Wattpad fanfiction begged me to write porn...but I was 13 so I said no.”

FUN & GAMES

SUDOKU

PET LOVE

Difficulty Level: Sophomores watching first-years get a real freshman year.

By Annalise Jacobson

Wednesday’s Solutions

SEARCHING FOR HEADLINES...

CROSSWORD

5

6 Thursday, September 30, 2021

Opinion

tuftsdaily.com

VIEWPOINT

In the war on drugs, the U.S. has incarcerated the wrong perpetrators

by Reya Kumar Opinion Editor

In 1971, former President Richard Nixon labeled drug use a national emergency and asked for $155 million to combat it, beginning the war on drugs. This war has been characterized by aggressive police response and highly punitive measures. Meanwhile, in 1996, Purdue Pharma released the prescription opioid OxyContin, a drug that would initiate an ongoing epidemic that has killed over 500,000 people and has torn families and communities apart.

One key aspect of the war on drugs has been its disproportionate effect on people and communities of color, both directly and indirectly.

Under the 1986 Anti-Drug Abuse Act, a five-year minimum penalty was enacted for individuals possessing just five grams of crack cocaine, a version of cocaine with a lower price point more commonly used in low-income communities and Black communities. In comparison, the same minimum penalty was only applied for the possession of 500 grams of powder cocaine which was much more prevalent in wealthier, white communities.

This contradiction landed many more Black people in jail, despite the fact that crack and powder cocaine are chemically equivalent.

This act was amended nine years later, but with the disparity in grams necessary for minimum penalty going from a ratio of 100:1 to 18:1, many people who were incarcerated during this time were not able to receive shortened or overturned sentences. Nearly half of all inmates in federal prisons and one-fifth of inmates in the U.S. are incarcerated for drug-related charges, withBlack Americans being six times more likely than white Americans to be arrested on drug-related charges, despite no disparity in drug use.

Additionally, this war-like approach to solving our nation’s drug problem was the beginning of the Department of Defense’s 1033 Program, which outfits state and local law enforcement with surplus military equipment. While originally created for counterdrug activities, it was later used

Eli Striker The Strike Zone

Music and identity in Israel and Palestine During the formation of Israel, aspects of two distinct cultural groups — European Ashkenazi Jewish people and Arabic Mizrahi Jewish people — were fused to form a shared national identity within the supposed Jewish homeland. However, Israeli society remains hierarchical; many Ashkenazi Jewish Israeli individuals have long suppressed both Mizrahi Jewish individuals and Palestinians, who claim indigeneity over much of Israel but have long been confined to the margins of Israeli society by the government.

This dynamic has manifested in the Israeli music industry; in her article “Dueling Nativities,” anthropologist Amy Horowitz explores the appropria-

for counterterrorism goals, exacerbating incidents of police brutality.

Breonna Taylor was killed in a botched drug raid. Neither she nor her boyfriend, who was also present, were suspects in the case the officers were working on, yet the police still burst into her apartment in the dead of night. In Derek Chauvin’s trial for the murder of George Floyd, the defense tried to argue that Chauvin’s use of force was justified due to trace amounts of fentanyl found in Floyd’s blood that, they argued, made his behavior unpredictable, despite video evidence that he did not resist. These incidents and countless others show the racial disparity in how drug use is seen and addressed, as well as the incredible harm police officers armed as soldiers can do.

Nowhere is the failure of the war on drugs clearer than in the opioid epidemic.

Many different drugs have contributed to the epidemic, but one company — and one family — has undoubtedly had an outsized impact.

The company that eventually became Purdue Pharma has been owned by the Sackler family since 1952. The family has made approximately $10 billion between 2008 and 2017 from Purdue Pharma.

The company cannot act alone as it dos what those who control it intend for it to do — which means the Sackler family must be held responsible for the harm it has caused. Many family members were high-level employees or board members of the company, including Richard Sackler as the president for years, Kathe Sackler as an officer and David Sackler as a former board member.

The Sacklers also own Mundipharma, Purdue’s international affiliate, which sells Nyxoid, a naloxone nasal spray that can save people from opioid overdoses. The Sacklers created a deadly addictive drug, made $10 billion off of it and are also making money off of its cure.

Last November, following years of countless lawsuits, Purdue Pharma pled guilty to three felonies, including fraud. In July, a new settlement was filed by the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in White Plains, N.Y. This settlement requires Purdue Pharma to be reorganized and refocused on bat-

tling the opioid epidemic, while forcing the Sacklers to pay $4.3 billion and making many internal Purdue documents public.

This appears to be a great victory — but the biggest perpetrators essentially get off scot free. The Sacklers, whose name is on a Smithsonian building and a wing of the Met, are not charged in this settlement. It also contains a non-consensual third party release, meaning that if this goes through, all current and future lawsuits against those named, which includes various Sackler family members and companies, would be erased.

The Department of Justice has said that this violates the Constitution and the federal government, and eight states, including the District of Columbia, oppose the settlement. Even the $4.3 billion the Sacklers must pay is a cold comfort, as their net worth is believed to be around $11 billion. It is likely they would be able to pay the $4.3 billion over

the nine years allowed by the settlement from interest alone.

Clearly, the government has criminalized the wrong people in the war on drugs. Users who fell prey to predatory drug companies have been incarcerated, while the billionaires who led those companies get to keep their billions. This cannot stand. As reported in the Daily last week, the Somerville City Council has proposed a restitution fund for residents who have been harmed by the war on drugs.

The DOJ also moved to block the Purdue Pharma settlement.

Other local and state governments, as well as the federal government, should follow Somerville’s example and offer restitution to those whose lives have been taken or destroyed by the war on drugs.

They must ensure that we do not let the Sackler family get away with the pain and destruction that they have caused for countless American families and communities.

tion of Arabic themes in Israeli music.

Per Horowitz, asymmetrical appropriation involves a dominant group appropriating the culture of a “subordinate” group, in contrast with pan-ethnic appropriation, where each group influences the other’s music; however, these categories incorrectly indicate a binary between “Israeli” and “Arabic” culture. In response, Horowitz presents the concept of rhizomatic appropriation, which moves across cultural boundaries, challenging the notion of a “pure” Arabic or Israeli style of music. Rhizomatic appropriation — in music and culture as a whole — can bridge the gap between conflicting cultures, as Mizrahi and Palestinian pop artists have utilized supposedly contradictory aspects of their identity to unite and inspire their listeners.

Rhizomatic appropriation in Israeli music is exemplified by Dana International, a transgender Mizrahi woman whose underground cassette-tape recordings gained international popularity but provoked criticism from Israeli conservatives and Egyptian nationalists.

Dana’s identity as a transgender woman

in a conservative society was groundbreaking during the 1990s and her victory in the 1998 Eurovision contest brought trans identity to mainstream culture in her homeland.

However, Dana International’s gender identity was not her defining characteristic. Her music uniquely utilizes polysemy, ingraining multiple meanings into a single text. In her song “Susu Ya Susu,” Dana speaks a line that sounds like “kiss me” in English and “Gismi ya Susu” (“My body Susu”) in Arabic, thus appearing “sexier” to an Arabic speaker than an English one. Dana’s multilingualism effectively communicated sexualized “Western” messages to impressionable Egyptian youth, a trait that was more dangerous to Egyptian nationalists than her transgender identity. Dana International’s music exemplifies rhizomatic appropriation, as her identity as a transgender, Arabic-speaking Mizrahi woman transcends boundaries of gender, language and nationality, allowing her to cross traditionally rigid cultural borders.

Additionally, contemporary Palestinian artists use aspects of their identities to

influence their artistic pursuits. Bashar Murad, a gay Palestinian artist, turned to music as an outlet to express his frustration over his homeland’s political turmoil and intolerance towards his sexual identity. Many Palestinian artists struggled to establish a musical identity due to pre-existing stereotypes regarding Arabic music; however, Murad was eventually able to gain global traction. Sadly, due to authoritarian travel restrictions imposed by the Israeli government, many artists struggle to leave Palestine and perform elsewhere. Therefore, Palestinian artists such as Murad and MC Gaza use their music to protest the status quo. Palestinian artists use their music to contest the social and cultural barriers that restrict them in their homeland. Rhizomatic appropriation challenges the problematic IsraelPalestine binary by blurring the cultural borders between these nations, by which greater intercultural understanding can be forged.

BY ANNABEL NIED

Eli Striker is a junior studying international relations. Eli can be reached at eli.striker@tufts.edu.

tuftsdaily.com

Sports

7 Thursday, September 30, 2021

Tufts football falls to Williams in back-and-forth overtime battle

by Ethan Grubelich

Assistant Sports Editor

Tufts football welcomed fans back to Ellis Oval for the first time on their new turf field on Saturday where they hosted the Williams Ephs. The new synthetic turf field was recently installed as part of a $2.7 million renovation project. After a tightly fought battle, the Jumbos ultimately fell to the Ephs 32–29 in overtime, bringing their record to 0–2 on the season.

Just over three minutes into the game, junior starting quarterback Trevon Woodson and the Jumbos’ offense opened up the scoring with a one-handed grab on the left side of the endzone by junior tight end Joshua Meriwether.

The 10-yard touchdown reception was the first reception of Meriwether’s college career. After a blocked extra point, Tufts led Williams 6–0.

The Jumbos’ defense made a key stop on the Ephs’ first offensive position of the game; however, the Ephs’ next possession ended with their quarterback rushing 10 yards into the uncovered left side of the Tufts endzone. After a made extra point, the Ephs took the lead 7–6.

On their next drive, Woodson and sophomore running back Tyler Johnson were the only two players to touch the ball on eight straight plays, resulting in 62 total yards gained. At the end of the first quarter, Johnson already had over 100 yards from scrimmage.

A key three-and-out forced by the Jumbos’ defense on the Ephs’ next drive gave Woodson another chance to reclaim the lead. He pounced on this opportunity, completing a 20-yard pass to junior wide receiver Philip Lutz down to the Williams 12-yard line. On the next play, graduate wide receiver OJ Armstrong made a leaping grab in the middle of the end zone, even managing to absorb a hit from a defender and stay on his feet for the touchdown. After another missed extra point, Tufts led 12–7.

Strokes of good and bad fortune struck for Tufts before the end of the first half.

First, senior CB Brandyn Jones made a great defensive play to punch away a pass, which forced a turnover on downs. On the next drive, Woodson was injured on a seven-yard rush on third-and-13 and would not return to the game. To begin the second half, first-year quarterback Matt Crowley stepped in and the Jumbos

Matt Goguen Keeping up with the 617

I

A harsh reality check

t’s stretches like these that make me contemplate why I cheer for the Red Sox. In the most important part of the season, the Red Sox have failed to play disciplined baseball; there is no passion, no effort and no emotion on this baseball team. This weekend’s series against the New York Yankees underscored the Red Sox’s season: uninspiring. With their most recent loss to the last-place Baltimore Orioles, the Red Sox perilously hold the second-place wild card spot in the American League, with the spunky Seattle Mariners and dangerous Toronto Blue Jays nipping at their heels.

TOBIAS FU / THE TUFTS DAILY

Williams took a 32–29 victory against Tufts at the newly renovated Ellis Oval on Saturday, Sept. 25. responded to their first half kicking woes by assigning junior punter Patrick Walsh to field goal and extra point duties for the first time in his collegiate career.

After the Ephs took the lead 16–12, a 46-yard touchdown pass from Crowley to Lutz and Walsh’s extra point made the score 19–16 in favor of Tufts. Tufts and Williams exchanged touchdowns, bringing the score to 26–23. The Jumbos came off a one-yard rushing touchdown up the middle by Johnson, bringing his game to 59 receiving yards to 114 rushing yards and a touchdown, earning him Tufts Athlete of the Week honors. “[Getting my first start was] nothing I wasn’t prepared for,” Johnson said. “I was really just nervous because it was a game and that’s just how I naturally am, but it never crossed my mind that

‘the start’ mindset was a big deal to me.

I just go out there and I just act like it’s practice. I do what I do all week and just execute … I was appreciative of the moment, just to be in there, and I was just thankful to play.”

The Ephs’ kicker nailed a 33-yard field goal to tie the game at 26 apiece with 43 seconds remaining in regulation, sending the game into overtime. The Jumbos’ offense began the period at the Ephs’ 25-yard line. After gaining only two yards on the possession, they had to settle for a 40-yard field goal by Walsh, who made all of his kicks on his kicking debut. The Ephs’ offense took over trailing 29–26, but connected on the first play and took the game with a four-yard touchdown rush.

“A great game today down at the Oval, our kids played incredibly well,” Head

coach Jay Civetti said. “Incredibly resilient to bounce back after a tough loss like last week down at Trinity. I was really impressed with the leadership and play of our group.”

Jones, who tied for the team lead in tackles in the game, also commented on the improved defensive play.

“This week I feel like the defense had a much more focused game plan … I think the defense took the performance that we had Week 1 kind of personally, re-attacked last week, focused in, did the things we had to correct, just wanted to succeed and be a better defense than we were in Week 1, and I think we came out and did that for the most part,” Jones said.

The Jumbos will travel to Amherst College to take on the Mammoths on Saturday at 1 p.m.

This atrocious stretch of baseball has Red Sox fans wondering what went wrong within the organization that changed this team’s fate so quickly. Sure, you could blame the COVID-19 outbreak that ravaged the team in early September and forced a full roster turnover. However, most baseball analysts still can’t point their finger on the main cause of this mini-collapse. Yes, this Red Sox team wildly outperformed expectations this season and held the American League East division for more than half of the season, but what changed?

Even though the Red Sox have not played like a playoff team since late July, their most recent stretch of baseball prior to the Yankees series was inspiring towards this fan base. They rattled off seven straight wins, most of them in a very convincing fashion. This team was now injected with a massive dose of confidence heading into the weekend.

Boy did that change quickly.

On Friday night, the Red Sox received an uninspiring outing from Nathan

Eovaldi and the Yankees shelled him for seven runs. Gerritt Cole dominated the potent Red Sox lineup and the pinstripes rolled to an 8–3 victory. Yet, even though this was a gruesome loss at the hands of their biggest rival, I was not discouraged — they were due for a dreadful performance. Saturday, however, was a different story. While the Red Sox held the lead for 7.2 innings, Tanner Houck suddenly decides that his slider is the perfect pitch to throw on a 3–2 count (spoiler alert: it’s not) and walks two straight batters. One hit batsmen later, and Giancarlo Stanton smokes a baseball over the Green Monster, taking the life out of the Red Sox. Sunday’s game was no better, as various mental errors ultimately killed the Red Sox that night. Bobby Dalbec looked like a high school JV player at first base. Garrett Richards couldn’t find the strike zone.

Jose Iglesias forgot that Anthony Rizzo can’t run. And to make matters worse, all of these mistakes resulted in a four-run eighth inning for the Yankees.

Even if these umpires were downright horrible for much of this game, Red Sox fans should not place the blame on them. Yes, Aaron Judge wouldn’t have hit that two-run double if the home plate umpire made the correct determination on that strike three call; Giancarlo Stanton is still sending that next pitch to New Hampshire, though. After the dust settled, the Red Sox lost 6–3, arguably their most crushing defeat this season.

The writing is now on the wall for this Red Sox team. With five games remaining in the season, they must either win all five or at least go 4–1 to effectively guarantee a spot in the wild card game. While those two outcomes are entirely possible, this is the Red Sox that we are talking about.

None of these wins are guaranteed, and the Red Sox must play mistake-free baseball if they want a fighting chance. Anyone feeling shades of 2011 yet?

Matt Goguen is a junior studying biopsychology. Matt can be reached at matthew. goguen@tufts.edu.

8

THE TUFTS DAILY | Sports | Thursday, September 30, 2021

tuftsdaily.com

Golf fall season strengthens squad, shows promise for spring

by Keila McCabe

Assistant Sports Editor

Tufts men’s golf placed fourth out of 16 teams after one round in the Bowdoin Invitational this past weekend. The Jumbos faced eight NESCAC opponents, giving them a good baseline for what to expect from conference competition in the spring. Trinity’s (294) top four scores placed them in first for the weekend, followed by Husson (297), Middlebury (299) and then Tufts (303) in the fourth spot.

Due to bad weather, the second day of the tournament was canceled. So far for its fall season, the squad has golfed in three invitationals, placing seventh of 22, first of four and fifth of 18, respectively. Junior Kemp Bassett said the season has already shown great promise.

“Generally, we feel the tournaments have been going pretty well,” Bassett said. “We’ve been placing pretty high.

I think we have a lot of talent, more so than in past years. On one hand, we’re really happy that we’re finishing well in all these tournaments, but we still think we haven’t hit our potential yet.”

Individually at the Bowdoin Invitational, senior Mac Bredahl placed fourth out of 83 golfers, securing an even par for the weekend. Sophomore Jack Meehan shot two over par and tied for ninth. Bassett shot six over with a 78.

Finally, senior Adam Schwimmer and senior Travis Clauson both recorded scores of 79 for the day.

“None of us had ever been up there and played at that course,” Bassett said.

“It got canceled after one day because of the weather. After the first day, we were in fourth place and I think we were in a really good position to move up the leaderboard. We were all pretty upset that it ended up getting cancelled. We did a really good job of getting there, figuring

out the course as we went, and playing through the unknown of that new environment.”

While the team placed high this past week, Clauson said, the team is focusing on minimizing controllable mistakes.

“The team wants to work on eliminating dumb errors,” Clauson said. “I know they plagued us in the first few tournaments. We limited how well we can shoot because of hitting balls in the water or taking unnecessary penalty strokes. I think we’re really going to work on, later in this fall and in the off season, how to eliminate double bogeys or bigger … holes because we’ve been having a disproportionate amount of bad holes.”

Bredahl has competed in nearly every tournament thus far and has posted low, often leading, scores in each. He said the team has one very specific goal in mind.

“The biggest goal right now for our whole team is to win a tournament either this fall or next spring,” Bredahl said.

In the past two weekends, the Jumbos have faced a lot of good NESCAC competition, giving them practice and a preview of what is to come in the spring.

“Conference play in the spring is kind of what we’re all focused on, even in the fall,” Clauson said. “The fall tournaments are fun and we want to play well, but the main goal of the year is to win the league and go to nationals, so we’ve got our eye on Trinity. They appear to be the toughest competitors we’ve got. We’re also a little worried about Middlebury and Hamilton although we’ve beat them in different tournaments this fall. There’s a lot of good competition; the league is a lot better than it was last year. But we’re also better; we’ve been posting better scores.”

The team’s last match of the fall season is Jumbo Golf Day on Oct. 2 at Sandy Burr Country Club.

COURTESY GEORGE PENDERGAST

Tufts men’s golf team placed fourth out of 16 teams after one round at the Bowdoin Invitational.