Tuesday, October 25, 2016

Health Promotion and Prevention seeks to increase resources for students recovering from substance abuse see FEATURES / PAGE 3

WOMEN’S CREW

Jumbos place seventh at Head of the Charles

Men’s Crew takes 11th at Head of the Charles see SPORTS / BACK

SEE SPORTS / BACK PAGE

THE

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

VOLUME LXXII, NUMBER 32

tuftsdaily.com

Tuesday, October 25, 2016

MEDFORD/SOMERVILLE, MASS.

Board of Trustees rejects divestment again following TCA members, meeting with pro-divestment students, faculty Monaco discuss sustainability

by Liam Knox

divestment of all holdings in fossil fuel companies by the same vote margin, according to a copy of the resolution provided to the Daily by Gallagher, a senior.

In Jan. 2014, The Tufts Divestment Working Group, established by University President Anthony Monaco in 2013, issued a list of recommendations for increasing Tufts’ commitment to sustainability.

This list included a rejection of fossil fuel divestment on the grounds that it would “likely result in a significant reduction in operating funds, leading to an immediate material and adverse impact on the educational experience, access to a Tufts education and research,” according to the recommendations, listed on the Office of the President’s website.

Chairman of the Board of Trustees Peter Dolan said that this conclusion had not changed. “[Our rejection of divestment] continues to be the case, particularly as our endowment returns, like those at many universities and colleges, have diminished,” Dolan told the Daily in an email. “Therefore, the Board of Trustees reiterates its support for its current investment policy.”

Gallagher said that TCA was deeply disappointed by the decision, adding that the Board is not only rejecting divestment but also widespread community support for TCA’s campaign.

“This referendum, which showed overwhelming faculty support for divestment, was the last in a series of measures that have demonstrated the unwavering community endorsement of divestment (including stu-

News Editor

Tufts Climate Action (TCA) member Shana Gallagher represented the student divestment campaign at a meeting with the executive committee of the University Board of Trustees on Oct. 13 to discuss the May 6 faculty resolution that advocated for Tufts to divest a portion of their endowment from fossil fuel companies.

They were joined by two of the resolution’s signees, Department of Sociology Professor Paul Joseph and Urban and Environmental Policy and Planning Professor Julian Agyeman.

The faculty resolution calls for Tufts to divest holdings in fossil fuel companies in its separately-managed endowment funds by the end of this academic year by a vote of 47 to 13. It also advocated for the eventual full

EVAN SAYLES / THE TUFTS DAILY

Students marched from the Campus Center to Ballou Hall on Wednesday, Apr. 22, 2015 to voice their support for divestment.

dents, student government, and alumni),” Gallagher told the Daily in an email, referring to the faculty resolution as well as a Tufts Community Union (TCU) Senate resolution urging Tufts to divest and a letter from Tufts alumnus Michael Kramer (A ’88), managing partner of Natural Investments LLC. Dolan said that the original decision not to divest, made in 2014, was the product of substantial deliberation by a university-wide divestment working group and that he would stick by that decision.

Gallagher, however, said that this is a misleading characterization of those deliberations.

“The conclusions of the 2014 divestment working group were not endorsed by the student and many faculty members of that group, and to imply otherwise is extremely misleading of those participants’ perspectives,” she said.

Despite this decision, Dolan maintained that Tufts remained strongly committed to environmental sustainability, including in its investments.

“Sustainable energy is … a priority that has driven the university’s substantial capital investments in significant initiatives that will make a positive difference on Tufts’ own sustainability efforts and on climate change,” Dolan said.

Dolan added that the university now allows donors to designate endowment gifts to be invested specifically in the Tufts University Sustainability Fund. see DIVESTMENT, page 2

Police Briefs The Sign of the Thief Tufts University Police Department (TUPD) received a report on Oct. 17 at 11:20 a.m. about a Tufts building sign stolen from the front of the Community Relations Office at 21 Bellevue St. at some point over the weekend. The sign has not yet been recovered.

Burnt Out TUPD and the Somerville Fire Department responded to a fire alarm at 101 Talbot Ave. on Oct. 18 at 10 p.m.

The cause of the alarm was smoke from burnt food. The fire department checked the area and allowed the alarm to be reset.

Bumper Cars A minor motor vehicle accident occurred in the parking lot behind Packard Hall on Oct. 18 at 11:40 a.m., prompting a response by TUPD. The accident was a collision between a Tufts University vehicle and a non-Tufts vehicle. There were no injuries, although the non-university vehicle did sustain some minor damage.

Running Away A student reported that his wallet had been stolen on Oct. 19 at 11 a.m.

He was running near the Ellis Oval and had placed his wallet in his sweatshirt, leaving both beside the track as he went on his run. When he returned, he found the wallet missing. The wallet has not yet been recovered.

Please recycle this newspaper

Partly Cloudy 48 / 34

/thetuftsdaily

Trigger Happy A fire alarm was set off at Lewis Hall on Oct. 22 at 2 a.m., prompting a response by TUPD and the Somerville Fire Department.

The alarm was set off by a discharged fire extinguisher. There was no sign indicating who had used the extinguisher. The fire department checked the area before authorizing the reset of the system.

Red-handed A student at the Steve Tisch Sports and Fitness Center reported a finger injury on Oct. 23 at 4:45 p.m. TUPD and Tufts Emergency Medical Services responded to the call. The student, who sustained the injury from playing rugby, was transported to the hospital for further treatment.

—by Juliana Furgala

For breaking news, our content archive and exclusive content, visit tuftsdaily.com @tuftsdaily

tuftsdaily

tuftsdaily

Contact Us P.O. Box 53018, Medford, MA 02155 617 627 3090 FAX 617 627 3910 daily@tuftsdaily.com

by Seohyun Shim Contributing Writer

Three members of Tufts Climate Action (TCA) met with university administrators and faculty members on Oct. 20 in Ballou Hall to discuss alternative tactics to divestment for promoting sustainability on campus.

The primary purpose of the meeting was to discuss the recommendations University President Anthony Monaco laid out in his 2013 Campus Sustainability Council Report, as well as how Tufts plans to put the university on track to reduce carbon emissions by 80 percent by 2050, as per a recommendation proposed in a faculty resolution passed in May, according to TCA member Shana Gallagher.

“This meeting on Thursday [was] more specifically about basically everything but divestment and how the university can respond to climate change in other ways that are more relevant to on-campus activities than something related to endowment,” Gallagher, a senior, said.

TCA members Julia Hackel, Bianca Hutner and Brian McGough represented TCA at the meeting. Administrators present included Monaco, Executive Vice President Patricia Campbell, Provost and Senior Vice President David Harris and Director of Tufts Institute of the Environment (TIE) Linda Abriola. Sociology Professor Paul Joseph, Chemistry Professor Jonathan Kenny, Civil and Environmental Engineering Associate Professor John Durant and Lecturer in Urban and Environmental and Policy and Planning Ann Rappaport also attended the meeting. see SUSTAINABILITY, page 2

SEOHYUN SHIM / THE TUFTS DAILY

Tufts Climate Action members Bianca Hutner and Julia Hackel, both juniors, pose for a portrait outside Ballou Hall following their meeting with President Monaco on Oct. 21.

NEWS............................................1 FEATURES.................................3 ARTS & LIVING.......................5

COMICS....................................... 7 OPINION.....................................8 SPORTS............................ BACK

2

THE TUFTS DAILY | News | Tuesday, October 25, 2016

T HE T UFTS D AILY Arin Kerstein Editor-in-Chief

EDITORIAL

Sophie Lehrenbaum Jake Taber Managing Editors Evan Sayles Associate Editor Kathleen Schmidt Executive News Editor Gil Jacobson News Editors Melissa Kain Robert Katz Liam Knox Catherine Perloff Jei-Jei Tan Hannah Uebele Joe Walsh Juliana Furgala Assistant News Editors Jesse Najarro Danny Nelson

Miranda Willson Executive Features Editor Constantinos Angelakis Features Editors Nina Joung Becca Leibowitz Justin Krakoff Executive Arts Editor John Gallagher Arts Editors Eran Sabaner Isaac Brown Assistant Arts Editors Jocelyn Contreras Alison Epstein Elliot Storey Emma Henderson Executive Op-Ed Editor Shannon Geary Cartoonists Stephen Dennison Allie Merola Miranda Chavez Editorialists Frances DeFreitas Eriko Koide Anita Ramaswamy Noah Weinflash Phillip Goldberg Executive Sports Editor Yuan Jun Chee Sports Editors Maddie Payne Eddie Samuels Maclyn Senear Josh Slavin Brad Schussel Assistant Sports Editor Noah Smith Max Lalanne Mia Lambert Caroline Ambros Ray Bernoff Scott Fitchen Jean Gonzalez Kevin Ho Thaw Htet Lilia Kang Sitara Rao Evan Sayles Zachary Sebek Alexis Serino Seohyun Shim Angelie Xiong Ezgi Yazici

Executive Photo Editor Photo Administrator Picture Tufts Editor Staff Photographers

PRODUCTION David Westby Production Director Allie Merola Executive Layout Editors Sebastian Torrente Lilia Aronoff-Aspatur Layout Editors Jewel Castle Brianna Mignano Emily Sharp Astrid Weng Ezgi Yazici Alice Yoon Petrina Chan Creative Director Allie Merola Executive Graphics Editor Petrina Chan Graphics Editors Peter Lam Juliana Furgala Ashton Stephens Rena Tang Belinda Xian Sebastian Torrente Zach Hertz Executive Copy Editors Jei-Jei Tan Norrie Beach Copy Editors Arthur Beckel Caroline Bollinger Alison Epstein Gil Jacobson Melissa Kain Reena Kerasin Bibi Lichauco Kathleen Martensen Netai Schwartz Nihaal Shah Arielle Sigel Liora Silkes Dan Strauss

Maxwell Bernstein Executive Tech Manager Nitesh Gupta Online Editor Mia Lambert Social Media Editor

BUSINESS Josh Morris Executive Business Director

tuftsdaily.com

Faculty, Board, students continue back-and-forth on divestment DIVESTMENT

continued from page 1 The Sustainability Fund was launched in April 2015, according to a TuftsNow article.

It has received backlash from students for its relatively small size and the perception that its main function is a way to placate the campus divestment campaign without conceding to its demands. Some of these concerns were voiced in a 2015 op-ed published by the Daily.

The Board’s renewed decision not to divest was made at a time of increased optimism for proponents of divestment at Tufts.

According to Gallagher, TCA’s highly publicized sit-in in Monaco’s office in April 2015 was a catalyst for this Oct. 13 meeting.

“No one knows how much progress we’ve made because of it, but the sit-in was really effective,” she said. “The university wants to avoid negative press, and that’s what activism is: public pressure.”

Gallagher said that faculty support for divestment also probably helped lead to the meeting. Joseph agreed but emphasized that faculty and students each bring distinct and positive attributes to the divestment campaign.

“There are things that faculty support can provide, like stability over time, when students are cycling through, and I think there are good working relationships between many of the faculty and the administration,” he said. “On the other hand, students create a lot of energy, they have high motivation … so maybe students need faculty, but certainly faculty need students.”

Speaking several days before the meeting, Joseph said he was cautiously hopeful, due to recent developments, about the divestment debate.

“There’s some changes that have taken place … the world’s become hotter, and there are many more examples of climate change causing crises around the world. Another change is that … in addition to the student petitions, now there’s strong faculty support in favor of divestment,” Joseph said. “We’re at a moment right now that’s good for collaboration among the parties.”

Joseph said that changes in the structure of Tufts’ investments may also make progress on a divestment initiative more likely.

“Tufts’ investments … were originally presented only in commingled funds, and the administration argues to extract from those commingled funds would involve significant

costs,” he said. “But the administration now has a small amount of direct holdings [in fossil fuel companies] in their endowment, which we could divest from with no cost.”

In the wake of the Board’s decision, Gallagher made this distinction as well.

“The statement that all forms of divestment — in this case specifically divestment of our direct holdings in fossil fuel companies — would have an adverse impact on Tufts’ endowment has not been shown and is fundamentally wrong,” she said.

Joseph said he still plans on advocating for divesting from the commingled funds as well, saying that Tufts could be a leader by working to move its holdings to other commingled funds which either directly promote sustainable energy or simply do not include fossil fuel companies.

“I think we do have to move in a world that doesn’t rely on carbon for energy. So my response would be that Tufts should work with other colleges to broaden the pool of investment options,” he said. “That way, you have a broader investment strategy that enables you to extricate yourself from fossil fuel holdings.”

These developments, however, did not manage to sway the Board to support divestment. In his statement, Dolan said that divestment was a simple solution that neglected the complexities of climate change.

“Leadership on the issue of climate change calls for actions such as [the statement’s proposed initiatives] that make a substantial and meaningful difference,” he said. “We believe that divestment would have minimal impact due to the small percentage of Tufts’ endowment funds invested directly and indirectly in fossil fuels.”

According to the Board of Trustees’ annual financial report for the 2014-15 academic year, Tufts’ return on investments in fossil fuel corporations may be decreasing.

“Commodities, and in particular oil, began their downward march in price towards the end of calendar 2014, indicating that cracks may be appearing in the global growth that has fueled the last few years’ strong returns,” the document’s Endowment and Investment Report reads.

Dolan did not respond to the Daily’s request for comment on this trend and its ramifications in time for publication.

Despite the Board’s decision to reject divestment, Joseph said the meeting would have value in advancing issues of sustain-

ability on the university’s agenda either way.

“I think it’s certainly true that pressuring for divestment will generate more focus on sustainability efforts,” he said. “Divestment is not a magic bullet in and of itself, but pushing for divestment generates energy to make changes elsewhere.”

Joseph also said that universities like Tufts have an even more important role to play in sustainability because of the lack of action on the part of the federal government.

“The national system is broken. It’s individuals, NGOs and universities and colleges that are in a position to play a good role outside of government action,” he said. “If you had to design a system for change, national policy would be more important than universities’ divestment, I wouldn’t quarrel with that. But that ain’t happening.”

Recent trends suggest that serious sustainability initiatives are becoming more and more common at colleges and universities as well. According to the website for the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education, 28 institutions of higher education have formally adopted Climate Action Plans as of 2015.

“All these colleges are pushing for divestment in their own ways, and I think the arc of all that is in favor of divestment,” Joseph said.

Because of this, Joseph said that the decision to divest is an opportunity for Tufts to take a leadership role not only among other colleges and universities but as an integral part of the global economy.

“This is what universities can do: We can be out front, we can be edgy,” he said. “I think universities have the potential to be leaders vis-a-vis the economy, and we think this is an opportunity for Tufts to be a leader vis-a-vis universities.”

Gallagher echoed these sentiments in a statement on behalf of TCA. “Fossil fuel divestment and a transition to a clean power economy will happen, because it has to,” she said. “Most of history is a story of people doing things wrong, until enough people start doing things right. Climate change is our modern apartheid, our modern Holocaust.”

She went on to reaffirm TCA’s commitment to working collaboratively with administration where it was possible, while maintaining the group’s intention to apply pressure when necessary in order for the university to take confronting climate change seriously.

Administrators, faculty join conversation on sustainability efforts outside divestment SUSTAINABILITY

continued from page 1 According to Hackel, a junior, the meeting, which was closed to the public, provided an opportunity to review the progress that has been made and to further discuss what each party would like to see more of on campus in terms of promoting sustainability.

“Something important that a lot of people admitted was that there were a lot of things good that we did from the report, but there still are a lot of things we haven’t done,” Hackel said. “We talked about student perspectives and what kinds of things that students want to see on campus being done.”

Hackel added that they discussed measures that could be taken to promote a culture of sustainability throughout the university.

“We talked a lot of cross-campus engagement and cross-disciplinary engagement. For example … having something like a sustainability semester where we have longer and more intensive courses of study on sustainability,” she

said. “Also making [the] Tufts community more aware about the current sustainability initiatives professors are doing.”

Hutner, a junior, said that although the meeting served as a venue to discuss alternative sustainability measures, divestment is still a next step that TCA wants the university to take.

According to Executive Director of Public Relations Patrick Collins, administrators were happy to have met with students and faculty to discuss sustainability.

He added that addressing the issue is a priority of Monaco’s administration.

Hutner noted that while the meeting went well, it did not bring about any substantive gains.

“There is definitely no concrete thing [that] came out of this meeting, other than general promises like ‘we will do this,’” Hutner said.

According to Hackel, the meeting ended with a consensus on reiterating the university’s commitment to sustainability, and they agreed on the necessity of revamping the Campus Sustainability Council to reinvigorate its efforts and

put the organization in a better place to make significant advances in sustainability.

Collins said that Monaco would be reconstituting the Campus Sustainability Council in order to undertake the next stage of the university’s efforts, which involve the development of a plan to achieve carbon neutrality as soon as possible.

“Provost Harris and TIE Director Abriola will continue to work collaboratively across the university to develop the academic opportunities for teaching and research in the important area of the environment and sustainability,” Collins told the Daily in an email.

Hackel said that TCA plans to work cooperatively with the university and hopes to work with the deans as lobbyists in acquiring the funds to support greater campus sustainability.

“TCA realizes … the importance of working together with the president and working together with faculty and administration on promoting the issues of sustainability in general,” she said.

Tuesday, October 25, 2016

Features

Health Promotion and Prevention to offer additional resources for students in substance abuse recovery

by Becca Leibowitz Features Editor

Many students entering college experience a degree of excitement, anxiety and uncertainty. For students recovering from substance abuse, however, there is an added concern regarding how to sustain their recovery on a college campus.

In order to provide these students with the support that they need, Tufts’ Department of Health Promotion and Prevention is working to strengthen the collegiate recovery community at Tufts, according to its director Ian Wong.

This effort involves determining the resources necessary for incoming firstyears in recovery. In this endeavor, Wong is partnering with Margie Skeer, assistant professor of public health and community medicine at the Tufts University School of Medicine, to develop a plan for Tufts to build upon its existing recovery resources.

“We’re working together to conceptualize what is needed,” Skeer said. “The informative background research that we need to do [will help us] develop a plan … that will work best for Tufts students in recovery.”

According to Skeer, the background research, which will begin before the end of the semester, will include focus groups with students at William J. Ostiguy High, Boston’s only public recovery high school, along with interviews with administrators at the high school. Formulating a plan will also involve interviewing current Tufts students in recovery, Tufts alumni who are or were in recovery and administrators at other universities with collegiate recovery programs.

Wong said his goal is to make students in recovery feel comfortable both in their decision to come to Tufts as well as during their time here.

“We’re trying to say, ‘How can we make Tufts a destination college for some of these students?’” he said. “Of course they have to get in here having the academic backgrounds … but we also want to say [that] when you come here we have all the resources and supports that you need.”

He added that over the summer, the non-profit charity Transforming Youth Recovery gave the Department of Health Promotion and Prevention a $10,000 grant.

Thus far, this money has been used to put on events in conjunction with Wilson House, Tufts’ substance-free housing, and to support undergraduate and graduate student interns in the department. Part of it will also go toward an official partnership with Ostiguy High.

As of now, there are several support services on campus for students who need help with alcohol or substance abuse, including Alcoholics Anonymous and Narcotics Anonymous meetings, in addition to Al-Anon meetings for family and friends of those struggling with alcohol abuse, Wong said.

Yet, in Wong’s experience, some students prefer to find resources off campus. One Tufts School of the Museum of the Fine Arts (SMFA) student, a first-year who preferred to remain anonymous, has chosen not to take part in many on-campus recovery programs or activities due to her desire to maintain anonymity.

“I don’t want people to … see me as [my alcoholism], so I am really glad that there [are] resources available on campus, but I don’t think I’m necessarily going to use them all the time because I just don’t want that to be how people know me around school,” the student said.

She added that that while college students may say that they do not think differ-

ently of peers who struggle with substance abuse, some students still cast those with substance abuse problems in a negative light.

“If you’re going to say, ‘I’m actually a recovering alcoholic,’ or ‘I actually used to drink a lot,’ some people would be respectful about it, but I am positive that there would be people who would be like, ‘Oh wow, that girl’s got issues,’” she said.

While the stigma associated with substance abuse is a common concern for these students, LILIA KANG / THE TUFTS DAILY Wong said he has always Ian Wong, director of the Department of Health Promotion witnessed a strong sup- and Prevention, poses for a photo in front of Health Service on port network within the Monday, Oct. 24.

Tufts community. He believes that making this support more scripts and their school history … so that widely known will encourage students to they can get into competitive schools.” get help.

On Tufts’ end, Wong plans to work with “What we’re trying to do here is have Admissions to ensure that these students [something] that makes students feel com- have a fair chance at being accepted into fortable,” he said. “It’s a matter of … pro- the university. moting that we are this community that will “Your GPA may reflect your drinking, not come forward and not judge you.” really your academic potential and everyWong added that it can be difficult to thing else,” Wong said. strike a balance between providing stuWhile about 75 percent of Ostiguy High’s dents in recovery with the support that seniors are hoping to go to college immedithey need while also giving them the full ately after graduating from Ostiguy, many are college experience. worried about what attending college might “We … don’t want to treat [students in mean for their recovery, Oser explained. recovery] like a very precious piece of glass “Addiction is a fear-based disease, so that may break,” he said. “We don’t want to any time there’s change or transition, that say, ‘Oh, here’s Spring Fling and [there’s] the creates a lot of [worry],” he said. “Going to sober-for-recovery-students Spring Fling’… college is a big [change], [and] for people We want them to have the experience, but in recovery it can be a big trigger, so a lot of we also want to make sure that we give them students who are looking to go into higher their support.” education are really looking at how are they One way in which Wong hopes to pro- going to continue to support their recovery vide support for students in recovery is as well as be a college student.” during their first introduction to Tufts. Wong Jimmy, a first-year student at Lesley has worked with student leaders such as University in Cambridge who preferred that pre-orientation leaders and resident assis- his last name not be included, graduated tants (RAs) to educate them about the lan- from Ostiguy High last spring. A halfway guage to use when talking to incoming stu- house program, in which he participated dents about drinking — or not drinking. for heroin addiction, required that he attend “A lot of times, like just about anything, the school. we can put out a lot of materials about During his time at Ostiguy, his grades things, but I think [what really helps] is stu- improved and he became motivated to attend dents talking to students about supportive college to study psychology. For Jimmy, who systems,” Wong said. commutes to school, Lesley seemed like a Skeer explained that a good first safe place to continue his education. step is for students to educate themselves “The school environment was very welon addiction in order to better serve as allies coming, so I felt like I could open up about for their peers. being in recovery,” he said.

“A lack of understanding … about addicThe biggest worry that the SMFA student tion can make it hard for people who aren’t had in entering her first year of college was suffering from their own addiction to real- how the college party scene might affect her ly understand what it’s like for somebody after a year of sobriety. who’s in recovery to try and stay away from “I feel like no matter what school it is, something,” she said. “For a healthy brain there’s always a really big emphasis on … they don’t get those same triggers … that drinking ... in everyday culture,” she said. someone who’s had addiction gets.”

“People say there’s a lot of drinking in colRoger Oser, the principal of Ostiguy High, lege and when you go away you’re just going described the challenges that his students, to be partying and stuff, so it was definitely a all of whom are in recovery, face when look- big concern for me.” ing ahead toward college.

Despite initial concerns about entering “The bottom line is that many of them college in recovery, both Jimmy and the have very complicated transcripts, inter- SMFA student said they are doing well in rupted transcripts, periods where they have their first couple of months of school. very poor grades related to when they were “My high school career had been so using [alcohol or drugs],” Oser said. “So a unstable … I didn’t know if I could do collot of work has to go … into getting them lege,” Jimmy said. “But I’ve come to find engaged in the college application process after my first month or two I’m actually and then helping them mitigate some of doing pretty well. So it’s kind of nice to know the more challenging aspects of their tran- that I actually can do it.”

3 tuftsdaily.com

Natasha Khwaja and Faryal Jafri Karachi vs. Kansas

F

Daunting differences

aryal (F): This year, I’m studying abroad in London. One of the biggest surprises I had when I got here was how many South Asian faces I saw. That may sound a little strange, but I’m from a pretty homogenous area. Kansas is pretty white and all the South Asians kind of just know each other. Seeing people around town who look like me and my family is not super common. Even Boston, which is definitely more diverse than home, tends to be pretty white and homogenous in terms of race and religion.

Natasha (N): See, for me, the idea of homogeneity is completely different.

Growing up in Karachi, I found that I experienced being “different” based on non-identity related circumstances, primarily the fact that my parents were divorced. This was just something quite unfathomable for most of my peers, who were always confused when they’d come to my house or when only one of my hands were held on school trips.

It’s interesting how much our physical location and environment influence what others and isolates us.

F: I knew that coming here, there would be a relatively large number of South Asians. Some even argue that because of so much immigration, the British national food should be chicken tikka masala. It still caught me off guard.

Large percentages of women wear their hijabs proudly, and normal restaurants have their halal certification on display up front. You’ll even see street signs pointing to the nearest mosque. I’m just not used to these things.

N: Yeah, moving to the United States was a challenge because American society is so heavily structured and organized around whether you are in the minority or majority. Then, depending on where you are and the community that surrounds you, your being different just gets amplified. I sometimes shock myself at how excited I get if I see one piece of media with a South Asian person or culture accurately represented. I have to say, even the rise of someone like Kim Kardashian, dark-haired and tan, can be comforting sometimes.

It makes such a difference seeing images of people with features that resemble yours and don’t amplify your “otherness.” I think this is sort of what really pushed us to write this column. If anyone who reads it feels a spark of commonality, or has a “Yesss, I feel that” moment, then it’s worth it for me.

F: It’s hard to notice this if you’re in the majority, but when you’re in the minority, it’s all you can think about sometimes. It’s all about where you are and what identities are most salient to you at that time.

Natasha Khwaja is a junior majoring in international relations and anthropology.

She can be reached at natasha.khwaja@ tufts.edu. Faryal Jafri is a junior majoring in international relations and minoring in economics. She is currently abroad in London and can be reached at faryal. jafri@tufts.edu.

4

THE TUFTS DAILY | ADVERTISEMENT | Tuesday, October 25, 2016

tuftsdaily.com

CONNECTED Student Value Checking Receive a $ 25* bonus

when you open and use a Student Value Checking account.

NO MONTHLY FEE** • NO MINIMUM BALANCE • NO FEE FOR INCOMING WIRES

Start here to make it happen:

SANTANDERBANK.COM/STUDENT

Student Value Checking is available to students 16 through 25 years of age (legal guardian co-owner required for those between 16-18 years). Once you reach 26, we may convert your Student Value Checking to another checking product. Proof of enrollment may be required. *Get $25 when you open a new Student Value Checking account with a $10 minimum opening deposit between June 15, 2016 and September 30, 2016 and complete 8 debit card transactions that post to your account within 60 days of account opening. Your new account needs to remain open for 90 days in an eligible product type and payment of the bonus will occur within 30 days thereafter. One bonus per customer. Students who currently have a personal checking account or who have had a personal checking account with Santander Bank in the last year are not eligible for this offer. Cannot combine with other personal checking account cash offers. Offer only available to U.S. residents. Santander team members are not eligible. Bonus is considered interest and will be reported to the IRS on Form 1099-INT. **Other fees may apply, including a Paper Statement fee if you elect to receive paper statements. Refer to your fee schedule for details.

Santander Bank N.A. is a Member FDIC and a wholly owned subsidiary of Banco Santander, S.A. © 2016 Santander Bank, N.A. All rights reserved. Santander, Santander Bank and the Flame Logo are trademarks of Banco Santander, S.A. or its subsidiaries in the United States or other countries. MasterCard is a registered trademark of MasterCard International Incorporated. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

Tufts University Department of Drama and Dance Check out our Spring 2017 classes!

Express yourself in film!

Evolve your passion for dance!

Film Directing: DR158-01, T Advanced Film Making: DR191-02, T Screenwriting I: DR77-01,T Screenwriting II: DR178-01, T

Venture into a performance class!

Acting I: DR10, 4 sections, M/W & T/Th Physical Comedy/Clown: DR94-05, T/Th (consent) Acting II: DR12-01, T/Th Directing II: DR156-01, F Public Speaking: DR27-01 & 02, M/W Voice and Speech: DR28-01, M/W

Delve into theatre history & performance studies!

Ballet II: DNC13-01, M/W Ballet IV: DNC15-01, M/W Modern I: DNC21-01, T/Th Modern III: DNC23-01, T/Th Dance on Camera: DNC 77-01, T/Th Dance and the Hollywood Musical: DNC92-06, M/W Dance Movement & Creative Process: DNC71-01, M/W

Explore the globe!

Kathak Dance Theater: DNC47-01, T/Th Afro-Haitian Dance: DNC92-07, T/Th Tai Ji Quan: DR94-04, M/W

Uncover your inner techie & designer!

Early Modern Theatre: DR3-01, T/Th Latino Theatre and Film: DR51-01, M/W Domestic Tragedy, Sexuality, Identity, Performance: DR254-01, T Foundations & Futures in Performance Studies: DR294-02, W

Lighting Design: DR18, M/W Stage Engineering: DR20, M Stage Management: DR25, M Set Design: DR125, W Makeup Design and Application: DR15, T

Spring classes are open for viewing in SIS on October 31 Registration - November 14-25

Questions about classes? Call 617-627-3524, M-F, 10-4 www.dramadance.tufts.edu

Tuesday, October 25, 2016

ARTS&LIVING CONCERT REVIEW

Bob Moses gives high energy performance at Paradise Rock Club

by Eran Sabaner Arts Editor

It was nearly 11 p.m. on Oct. 20 when Bob Moses, a Canadian electronic live act, appeared on the stage at Paradise Rock Club. The group’s sound is more appropriate for a nightclub than for a traditional concert setting, regardless of the fact that it is an actual live band (with a very misleading name), as its music is more similar to that of DJs David August or Nicolas Jaar than of any other rock band.

Bob Moses might use guitars and drums instead of a turntable, but the band’s music is definitely meant to be danced to.

The show opened with “Like It Or Not”, Bob Moses’ first big hit.

The track has a dark, melancholic piano arrangement reminiscent of Radiohead’s “Everything in its Right Place” (2000), though “Like it Or Not” turns into a deep house track somewhere along the one-minute mark. The song is a great way to open the show, not only because it is the first track on the band’s debut album “Days Gone By” (2015), but also because the song is relatively slow compared to other tracks.

The decision for the band to play

older, somewhat unknown songs throughout the concert was somewhat surprising to the audience because Bob Moses has only released one full-length album with 10 tracks. For example, after “Like it Or Not,” the band performed “Far From the Tree” from their 2013 EP of the same name.

Although it failed to make it into their debut album, “Far From the Tree” is an eight-minute electronic masterpiece and a great complement to “Like it Or Not”. The band also performed “Winter’s Song” from the same EP, a song with a similarly dark sound and a nice buildup.

“Talk,” which centers around a dysfunctional relationship, is arguably one of Bob Moses’ better-known songs.

Simple yet confessional, its lyrics — including lines like “But everything will only stay the same / If we won’t talk about it” — are what makes the song a great success. Electronic musicians usually neglect to pay attention to lyrics, but band members Tom Howie and Jimmy Wallace are brilliant songwriters.

Both seem aware of the fact that they are more able to connect with their audience more through straightforward, unapologetically vulnerable lyrics.

The show ended with “Tearing Me Up,” Bob Moses’ most popular track

both on YouTube and Spotify. The song is less electronic and more vocal heavy than other tracks in “Days Gone By,” and Howie’s smoky vocal certainly ends the concert on a high note.

Instead of dancing, the audience sang along to “Tearing Me Up,” and suddenly the concert hall turned into a more traditional setting. After “Tearing Me Up,” Bob Moses performed two encore songs, including the single “Too Much Is Never Enough.” “Too Much Is Never Enough” is the perfect encore song; it is less intense than opening tracks “Like It Or Not” or “Talk” and has a bittersweet tone to it.

Although Bob Moses is not very mainstream, even among the indie music scene, the concert was well attended. The band is currently on tour, visiting several cities in the United States and Canada. Blurring the line between live and electronic, rock and deep house, Bob Moses has the potential to join the likes of James Blake and Chet Faker in terms of popularity. Its high-energy performance in Paradise Rock Club indicates that we are likely to hear more from Tom Howie and Jimmy Wallace soon. If their debut album was an indicator of their talent, their current tour undeniably confirms it.

TIM SACCENTI VIA WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

Tom Howie and Jimmy Vallance, who comprise Bob Moses, are pictured in March 2015.

5 tuftsdaily.com

Tommy Gillespie The Reel World

Parents’ Weekend

I

hope, if your parents visited this weekend, that they believed all of the lies you told them. “Yeah, mom, I totally spend so much time studying. I never go out on Wednesday nights. My room is definitely this clean all the time.” If you’ve seen “Anna Karenina” (2012), one of the better Keira Knightley period dramas (yes, that’s a genre), you can relate to this peculiar sort of facade-building.

The film is shot entirely on a theater stage, highlighting imperial Russian aristocratic society’s hypocritical artificiality. Knightley’s doomed heroine has been born into a world that only exists in the minds of those fortunate enough to occupy it, so when she is rejected by that world, she has nothing in the real world. It’s kind of like when the mountain of clothes you piled up behind your desk for your parents’ visit comes crashing down.

Considering “Anna Karenina,” I came to the realization that, like the aristocrats of 1870s Russia, I sometimes also live in a completely imaginary, made-up-by-myself world. I seem to enter this world most often in two scenarios: when I have things to do that I most certainly do not want to do and when I want to eat something I most certainly should not eat. “Oh, it’s only a 400-page reading on information vital to the course, I can just skim it.” Or, “Raisinets are a health food!

Raisins have antioxidants, right?”

Sometimes I feel like I’m in “The Truman Show” (1998). In that film, Jim Carrey’s Truman Burbank realizes on his 30th birthday that his entire life has actually been a reality television show, broadcast live worldwide since he was born, and that all the people in his life are actors. He then tries to escape.

Usually, I feel like one of the actors, knowing that the show isn’t real. But when I start believing that family sized hummus is made for one person and one sitting and that I’ll definitely have time to do all my homework on Sunday night, I start to confuse my role.

This blending of truth and fiction is the central conflict in “Clouds of Sils Maria” (2014). As veteran actress Maria ( Juliette Binoche) remakes the production that made her famous, in a different role, she comes face-toface with an uncomfortable picture of her younger self in the actress who takes on her old role (Chloe Grace Moretz). It’s sort of like when I see my Cheeto-dusted reflection in my computer screen between Netflix episodes.

“No! I don’t want this! Next episode!”

“Clouds of Sils Maria” is very understated and very French, and that’s part of the reason it’s so effective. As Maria and her assistant, Valentine (Kristen Stewart), grapple with sexual tension, grief and regret, they begin to lose the distinction between their true selves and the characters and archetypes they portrayed. As for me, I like being somewhere in the middle. Hummus tastes better when you don’t share.

Tommy Gillespie is a first-year who has yet to declare a major. Tommy can be reached at thomas.gillespie@tufts.edu.

6

THE TUFTS DAILY | ADVERTISEMENT | Tuesday, October 25, 2016

Sophomores:

Study with Tufts Programs Abroad in 2017-18!

Learn More @ Our Upcoming Pizza Parties:

Tufts in Paris:

Thursday, October 27th at 6:00pm Dowling Hall, Milmore Room

Tufts in TĂźbingen:

Tuesday, November 1st at 6:00pm Dowling Hall, Milmore Room

Tufts in Chile:

Wednesday, November 2nd at 6:00pm Dowling Hall, Milmore Room

Tufts in China:

Tuesday, November 8th at 6:00pm Olin Hall, Laminan Lounge

Tufts in Ghana:

Wednesday, November 16th at 6:00pm Africana Center (Capen) Lounge

Applications due Feb. 1 (Oxford: Dec. 1) http://go.tufts.edu/studyabroad

The Tufts Daily Introducing print subscriptions!

The Daily Super Fan Subscription Receive every issue of the Daily printed, to be mailed out on Friday at the end of the week, totaling five (5) issues per week (with exceptions and exclusions, see Production Calendar) $40/month The Daily Enthusiast Subscription Receiver three (3) issues of the Daily per week, to be mailed out on Friday at the end of the week (issues to be distributed non-specifically, requests will be honored when they can be) $34/month The Daily Daily Subscription Receive one (1) issue of the Daily per week, to be mailed out on Friday at the end of the week (issues to be distributed non-specifically, requests will be honored when they can be) $30/month The Daily Caring Grandparent Subscription Receive four (4) issues of the Daily per month, to be mailed out on the last day of each month (issues to be distributed non-specifically, requests will be honored when they can be) $25/month Checks can be made out to Trustees at Tufts College. http://tinyurl.com/dailysubscription

tuftsdaily.com

Tuesday, October 25, 2016 | Comics | THE TUFTS DAILY

tuftsdaily.com

Comics

LATE NIGHT AT THE DAILY Sophie: “Something smells really bad. I think it’s me...”

Comics

SUDOKU

DOONESBURY

BY GARY TRUDEAU

NON SEQUITUR

BY WILEY MILLER

Difficulty Level: Being a meme for Halloween.

Monday’s Solution

FOR RELEASE OCTOBER 25, 2016

CROSSWORD Los Angeles Times Daily Crossword Puzzle Edited by Rich Norris and Joyce Lewis

WHY DID THE CHICKEN CROSS THE ROAD? —

Because the GPS told her to.

Find your way over to our new restaurant in Medford Square ...use a GPS as needed. cnrguys.com 617-903-8538

64 Salem St, Medford

ACROSS 1 __ for the course 4 Proverb 9 Wire fence stickers 14 Winner of the most 2016 Olympic medals 15 Prize founder 16 Accustom (to) 17 __ Tin Tin 18 “We’re done here.

Please leave” 20 For mature viewers 22 Foot prettifier, briefly 23 Miss. neighbor 24 Grape-Nuts cereal brand 26 Big Board letters 30 Lone source of local entertainment 33 Pop in a glass 34 Wonder 35 Longtime name in Syrian leadership 36 Prereq for a lifeguard 37 Fred Flintstone’s boss 40 CBS logo 41 Yoga position 43 Conservationist’s prefix 44 Part of 14Across: Abbr.

45 Eschew modern conveniences 49 Worrisome grades 50 Misplace 51 Tennis do-over 52 Open house offering 54 Great suffering 57 Like the child of your first cousin, to you 62 Great Lakes’ __ Canals 63 Baseball legend Satchel 64 Dior skirt style 65 “__ the President’s Men” 66 Does’ mates 67 Cares for 68 Sound on Old MacDonald’s farm DOWN 1 Sound of a contented kitty 2 Great Wall setting

By John Lieb

3 Deliver a tirade 4 Sometime soon 5 “Let’s Make a Deal” selection 6 __ Dhabi 7 Emerald, e.g.

8 Slip by 9 Texas city of 1.3 million, familiarly 10 Consecrates with oil 11 It may be unearned 12 Compadre 13 Clinch, with “up” 19 Mythical Himalayan 21 Singer Fitzgerald 24 Feline feet 25 Brunch servings 27 Ill-tempered Looney Tunes character 28 Persuaded 29 Week or rear add-on 30 “My bad!”

31 Needlefish 32 Scottish denial 33 Nearly boil 37 Long March leader in 1930s China 38 Tylenol target 39 One may be stubbed

10/25/16

Monday’s Solution

Monday’s Puzzle Solved

©2016 Tribune Content Agency, LLC

42 Retirement fund 44 Belligerent god 46 Chimney part 47 Word processing category involving page dimensions 48 Moves smoothly 53 Lodes and lodes 54 Patch up 55 Hershey’s caramel candy

10/25/16

56 Modern-day carpe diem spelled out at the starts of 18-, 30-, 45- and 57-Across 57 Black __: covert missions 58 D.C. ballplayer 59 Spy novel org.

60 “¡Viva el matador!”

61 __ Scully, Dodger announcer for 67 seasons

7

8 tuftsdaily.com

Opinion

Tuesday, October 25, 2016

EDITORIAL

Cultural competency training could be transformative — so long as it’s truly comprehensive Two weeks ago, the Tufts Community Union Senate passed a resolution requiring cultural competency training for all faculty and administrative staff. As the resolution explains, research has shown that cultural competency for instructors leads to better outcomes for students, both in terms of feelings of personal growth as well as community building in the classroom. The students and faculty who develop the program will certainly be committed to expanding cultural awareness as effectively as possible, but it’s important to note that not all cultural competency training is created equal. The training Tufts provides should cast a wide net to ensure that all students feel comfortable in their learning environments and that faculty and staff feel equipped to handle issues of diversity and inclusion. There are a couple of things the cultural competency training should take into account to be as

comprehensive as possible: Firstly, it should account for microaggressions in the classroom — including those committed by other students.

Often, cultural sensitivity training covers the way that professors interact with students but does not ensure that student-to-student interaction — a major part of any non-lecture course — creates an inclusive community.

Professors should do more than ensure that they are not actively contributing to cultural hostility in the classroom; they must work to foster an environment in which students are not victimized by others and that students who engage in insensitive behavior are made aware and can correct. Further, as research presented in the 2009 Journal of Academic Medicine reports, professors must not only acknowledge other cultures but should also demonstrate a “critical awareness” of

cultural issues in order for students to gain insight in their respective field’s interaction with society at large.

It should also include Tufts faculty teaching abroad in training.

As the Le Bowl incident described in an email sent to the community on Oct. 11 highlights, Tufts faculty abroad must also be held accountable for critical cultural awareness and be trained to properly deal with issues of explicit racism and cultural inclusion. Racism abroad is not a fringe issue — it’s a problem for which Tufts abroad programs need to be prepared so that students aren’t left to deal with the fallout themselves.

Training professors and administrators for incidents within our campus is certainly important, but we must also ensure that faculty members who are responsible for students outside the campus bubble

are prepared for the very real and highly common situations in which minority students find themselves when studying abroad. On campus, if a professor is irresponsible with regard to an issue of cultural competency, there are dozens of administrators and other professors immediately at a student’s disposal to seek recourse for that action. Abroad, there are only a handful of individuals a student can turn to. We must ensure these administrators are properly prepared for the task.

Many may criticize this training as extra bureaucracy for professors and administrators to deal with, but comprehensive cultural competency training could help move Tufts toward the goal of being an inclusive community for all. Including all three of these elements in the training is necessary to ensure that the training will be effective and impactful.

CARTOON

BY SHANNON GEARY

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 oped@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 Executive Business Director.

Tuesday, October 25, 2016 | Opinion | THE TUFTS DAILY

O LETTER TO THE EDITOR

In response to Senator Jehlen’s discussion on Question 2

by Scott Oran To the editor: Judging from your recent story, “State Senator Pat Jehlen discusses Question 2,” Senator Jehlen may have left Tufts students and your readers with some misconceptions about Question 2, the ballot question that would lift the cap on charter schools in Massachusetts.

First, there’s a real crisis in urban education in Massachusetts. In Boston, for example, 50 percent of the city’s district schools are categorized as level three, four or five schools, meaning they are among the lowest performing 20 percent of schools in the same category statewide. Further, 30 percent of kids don’t graduate from high school, and just 12 percent of black men and eight percent of Hispanic men earn college degrees within seven years of enrollment. Unfortunately, this dire situation is not from a lack of resources.

Boston spends more per student than many wealthy Massachusetts suburbs and similar cities across the country.

Notwithstanding Senator Jehlen’s claims, charter schools currently account for just four percent of public school enrollment and spending in Massachusetts, and their growth has come mostly in cities with failing schools like Boston. Predominantly poor parents of color, not wealthy enough to send their children to private schools or move to suburbs with good schools, desperately want to send their children to high-performing schools.

So much so, that more than 32,000 students are on waitlists for public charter schools in Massachusetts. Unfortunately, a cap currently constrains the growth of high-performing charter schools.

Second, public charter schools are publicly funded but operate independently of district schools. They are funded just like the Metropolitan Council for Educational Opportunity (METCO), the regional school choice program and vocational education programs around the state. As in these programs, the funding follows the student. Cities and towns have been paying for these programs, without protest, for decades. When a student leaves a district school, they take the funding with them.

And public charter schools do have to educate all students. They are required to admit every child who wants to attend – including English language learners and students with special needs. If they are oversubscribed, they hold lotteries and pick students at random.

Finally, researchers at Harvard, MIT and Stanford have all found that Massachusetts public charter schools are the best in the country. Boston charter schools are particularly effective at working to close the achievement gap between black and white students in both math and English, and Boston public charter school students learn almost twice as much in reading and math each year as their district school counterparts. In stark contrast to Boston Public Schools, 98 percent of

Boston public charter school graduates were accepted to college last June.

Professor Thomas Kane at Harvard has said that it is extremely rare to find such a large-scale evidence-based social intervention that can have such dramatic impacts on life outcomes. The gains are particularly dramatic for students with special needs and English language learners, whom public charter schools enroll at similar rates to their sending districts.

Whether you think that we should expand charter schools because they are making such outsized educational gains or because you think every family, regardless of color or income or zip code, deserves to be able to choose to send their children to a high-performing school, expanding public charter schools makes sense. That’s why I’m voting yes on Question 2.

Scott Oran Chair, Board of Trustees Brooke Charter Schools Brooke’s academic performance makes it one of the highest performing school districts — charter or traditional — in Massachusetts.

Scott Oran is the unpaid and volunteer chair of the Board of Trustees of Brooke Charter Schools. Brooke educates nearly 1,500 low-income Boston-area students in grades K-8.

The Tufts Daily wants to hear from you!

Have a problem with our coverage?

Upset about something happening at Tufts or in the community?

The Daily welcomes all thoughts, opinions and complaints from all readers. Have your voice heard!

Send op-ed submissions, 800-1200 words, to tuftsdailyoped@gmail.com.

9

Jake Lawicki Jumbo Steps

Parents and Family Weekend: just a first-year thing?

Y

ou may have noticed a few changes around campus these past few days as the remaining bunch of Parents and Family Weekend visitors said their last goodbyes. Firstly, the median age on campus is now back to 20-something. Secondly, and more seriously, first-year students (whom this annual event primarily aims to serve) may seem a bit more at ease. Thirdly, and more personally, these goodbyes don’t just apply to first-years.

For some students, the start of their first year can be an absolute b—. You’re in a new environment. You’re (most likely) miles and miles away from home. You’re trying to figure out the basics, like when to do laundry. You’re trying to make friends.

You’re constantly playing a game of catchup with homework. You’re trying your best to understand new, difficult and demanding material. And you may even be freaking out because you can’t differentiate Pearson Hall from Bromfield-Pearson from EliotPearson.

For students whose families played an integral role in their upbringing, the start of their first year can be even more difficult.

The harsh reality is that this is just a part of college life: You simply can’t pack Mom or Dad or Uncle John or Auntie Sheila in your suitcases.

This is why Parents and Family Weekend is fantastic for first-years: Seeing those familiar faces amid a sea of new ones certainly offers comfort. Parents and Family Weekend falls at about the halfway mark into first semester, a time when first-years especially begin to feel homesick and restless. What I like about this event is that older students can still invite their family members to visit them, even though this event is somewhat intended for first-years.

Although I’m no longer a first-year, my aunt and uncle visited Tufts this past weekend. They didn’t choose to visit this particular weekend because it was Parents and Family Weekend — it was merely a coincidence.

Whether you’re a first-year or not, it’s a treat to have family visit you — regardless of whether it’s during a specified date range marked on this year’s academic calendar.

Indeed, it was a treat to have been visited. I won’t be going home for Thanksgiving break, so this visit was especially memorable. We began our Saturday morning at the Neighborhood Restaurant & Bakery, unequivocally the home of the world’s best cream of wheat. We then spent the rest of our day at the Museum of Fine Arts and our jaws dropped in awe and marvel at various artists’ craftsmanship and skill. We ended the day by waiting in line (in the rain, like champs) at Mike’s Pastry for some chocolate and caramel cannolis. That evening, we went to an Italian restaurant in Davis Square, after which they dropped me back off at Wren.

Their flight departed from Logan Airport before the crack of dawn that next morning.

Even though we spent only one day together, I do believe that math can back me up in saying that one is greater than zero.

Now that I’ve had a year’s worth of college experience, I’m less homesick and less dependent on family to help me along my way. But I always love the occasional visit.

Jake is a sophomore who has not yet declared a major. Jake can be reached at jake.lawicki@tufts.edu.

10

THE TUFTS DAILY | ADVERTISEMENT | Tuesday, October 25, 2016

1/4

tuftsdaily.com

1/8

1/2

Tuesday, October 25, 2016 | Sports | THE TUFTS DAILY

S

Jumbos to build on 11th place finish at Head of the Fish MEN'S CREW

continued from back the team’s rise since he was hired for full-time duties in 2014 from Middlebury. There, Wanner had been the head coach of the men’s and women’s club teams since 2008 and gained valuable experience working on the administrative side of NESCAC rowing programs. A graduate of Wesleyan, Wanner got his start as a varsity rower in the early 1990s and stayed on as an assistant coach after graduation. “[Wanner] has completely turned this team around, and it is showing in every facet of the program,” Burt said. “Guys are making huge improvements in their strokes, are more motivated to put in extra work and have fallen in love with the sport. Personally, I am jealous of the freshmen because they get four years with him instead of two and a half.”

Wanner is picking up where the team’s former program director, Gary Caldwell, left off after his retirement this summer.

Caldwell saved the Tufts crew program from the brink of extinction in the 1990s: though it lacked funds and enthusiasm at the time, he took charge and turned the team’s hopes around. In his attempts to rebuild and surpass prior high water marks, Caldwell raised funds for the construction of the team’s beautiful William A. Shoemaker boathouse on the Mystic River (completed in 2006) and hired Wanner as a full-time coach. Thanks in large part to Caldwell and Wanner’s combined efforts, the team has high hopes going forward.

“The team has consistently improved since my freshman year. Several members of the crew team who graduated over the past couple of years made a remarkable change to our team culture, and we are finally seeing the fruits of their labor,” Burt said.

The Jumbos will look to maintain their strong position and improve next weekend at the Head of the Fish Regatta in Saratoga Springs, NY, the last of their races for the fall season before winter training begins in early November. The race promises to host some of the best Div. III crews in New England, including NESCAC rivals, and provides a more direct barometer for the team versus local opponents. Savoring his last year with the team prior to graduation, Burt is poised for his final fall contest.

“The Fish is a great opportunity for us to showcase our hard work from the fall to see how we stack up against the competition,” Burt said. “It’s a really fun regatta, too, because of the variety of events that everyone competes in. Our guys are training harder than ever and it shows on the water – our speed continues to get faster and faster.”

Second Varsity Eight race Head of the Charles for first time WOMEN'S CREW

continued from back moments of any rower’s career, according to Lowenstein.

“I have never been at a regatta with more spectators and rowers from all levels and all over the world,” Lowenstein said. “[We] were so lucky to have gotten the

chance to participate in this amazing race this weekend.”

Conroy agreed that the experience was inspirational for all of its competitors.

“Rowing in the Charles is definitely a high — it’s inspiring to be racing with Olympians around the world and to feel like you’re inspiring high schoolers at

the same time,” she said. “Having people cheering you on the whole time is amazing, and you really feel like you’re part of a big rowing community which I love.”

The Jumbos will race next on Sunday at the Head of the Fish Regatta in Saratoga Springs, NY, to finish up their fall season.

The Tufts Daily Introducing print subscriptions!

The Daily Super Fan Subscription Receive every issue of the Daily printed, to be mailed out on Friday at the end of the week, totaling five (5) issues per week (with exceptions and exclusions, see Production Calendar) $40/month The Daily Enthusiast Subscription Receiver three (3) issues of the Daily per week, to be mailed out on Friday at the end of the week (issues to be distributed non-specifically, requests will be honored when they can be) $34/month The Daily Daily Subscription Receive one (1) issue of the Daily per week, to be mailed out on Friday at the end of the week (issues to be distributed non-specifically, requests will be honored when they can be) $30/month The Daily Caring Grandparent Subscription Receive four (4) issues of the Daily per month, to be mailed out on the last day of each month (issues to be distributed non-specifically, requests will be honored when they can be) $25/month Checks can be made out to Trustees at Tufts College. http://tinyurl.com/dailysubscription

11

Nicky Shapiro Under the Lights

The playoffs problem

O

n Saturday, something of an annual tradition took place on a field in Chicago: Clayton Kershaw got rocked in a playoff game. The Los Angeles Dodgers’ ace pitcher gave up four earned runs over five innings pitched in Game Six of the team’s 5-0 elimination loss to the World Seriesbound Chicago Cubs in the National League Championship Series.

Kershaw is among a select group of athletes who occupy a strange but recognizable space in sports culture.

Despite being universally lauded as the best pitcher in baseball, Kershaw likely has an asterisk permanently attached to his resume — he doesn’t perform well in the playoffs.

That statement is objectively based in statistical fact. Over the 89 innings Kershaw has pitched in the postseason, the southpaw has accrued a 4.55 ERA, a number that screams “average to below-average pitcher.”

The problem with those numbers is that they represent just five percent of the innings Kershaw has pitched over his MLB career. In the other 95 percent, or 1,760 innings, of regular season performance, Kershaw has posted a 2.37 ERA — a number that, if upheld over the rest of his career, would be the best ERA ever accumulated by a MLB pitcher with over 1,000 innings since the live ball era began in 1920.

We know that Kershaw is the best pitcher in baseball, but because of just 89 poor innings, we toss 95 percent of his career aside and argue that he’s not at the top of his sport. Just as Kershaw has been objectively bad in the postseason, that logic is flawed and based on the irrational value historically placed on the cornerstone of American sports — the playoffs.

The playoff system is great as long as everyone involved understands that the winner of an arbitrarily set up tournament with a tiny sample size is not always the best team. The playoffs, as they are currently constructed, are not designed to have the best team win or the best players shine. They are designed to be entertaining so that as many people as possible buy in to drive interest and, more importantly, TV ratings.

Greats across sports have had their reputations tarnished by their inability to win within the framework of this arbitrary setup. Players like Dan Marino, Alexander Ovechkin, Barry Bonds and Charles Barkley deserve to be treated with more respect than Robert Horry, a largely average NBA player who piggybacked his way to an astonishing seven NBA Championships riding the coattails of actual legends Kobe Bryant and Tim Duncan.

Here’s the thing — I love the legend of Robert Horry. And believe it or not, I love the playoffs. Watching teams and players duke it out over a short period of time for a disproportionately large prize may be misleading, but it’s fun as hell to watch. The postseason is essential to the well-being of all four major American sports leagues.

When it comes to valuing players and teams based solely on their performances in the playoffs, however, enough is enough. It’s time to stand up to the playoff narrative by using wild concepts like logic and rationality, because it’s time for players like Kershaw to get their due.

Nicky Shapiro is a first-year who has not yet declared a major. Nicky can be reached at nicholas.shapiro@tufts.edu.

Sports

12 tuftsdaily.com

Tuesday, October 25, 2016

52nd Head of the Charles Regatta WOMEN'S CREW

MEN'S CREW

First-years fly at Head of the Charles Jumbos weather the storm

by Onat Tarimcilar Contributing Writer

The women’s rowing team made the short trip to the Charles River for the 52nd Head of the Charles Regatta this weekend.

The historic regatta is the biggest of the year for many clubs, and it is the nation’s largest annual regatta with upwards of two thousand entries this year. The Charles features top college teams from all divisions, high school teams, prestigious rowing clubs from around the world and elder entries for adult rowers in both alumni and masters divisions.

The women’s team had two entries at the Head of the Charles, both varsity eights, that raced in the women’s collegiate division.

The first varsity eight featured all three captains — senior Natalia Kastenberg and juniors Hayley Cohen and Emma Conroy — as well as junior Sera Busse and sophomore Libby Lichter, who also raced in the first eight last year. Rounding out the boat were first-year rowers Prairie Hammer, Camden Myles and Emma MitchellSparke and coxswain Jill Armenia.

Conroy stroked for the boat and the Jumbos finished seventh in the 28-boat division. The top half of the finishers automatically qualify for the Head of the Charles next year, a feat that this boat accomplished with room to spare. Tufts’ time of 18.52.79 was just one second behind Wellesley College and 2 seconds clear of eighth place finishers Grand Valley University. As is often the case, the ultra competitive NESCAC stuffed the top of the leader board. Wesleyan won the race, while Williams and Bates finished third and fourth, respectively.

“My boat was pretty happy with our race,” Conroy said. “We really felt like we gave it our all; even though we didn’t have a great sprint, we kept our energy up throughout the race.”

The most important factor for all of the competitors this year was managing the tumultuous Boston weather. Boats had to face occasional heavy rain and consistent blustering winds, which made the coxswain’s steering job harder and threw off

the pace of the boat and the tempo for all of the rowers to follow.

Despite this, Conroy said that the Jumbos handled the inclement weather well.

“I think the whole team planned ahead really well for the extremely windy conditions and really thought about how to combat that,” she said.

It takes a great deal of practice and preparation to remain in sync and focused throughout the nearly 20 minute race under such bothersome conditions.

Tufts was one of three teams — Bates and Wellesley being the others — that entered two teams in the women’s collegiate eights division, an accomplishment in itself. The second varsity eight finished 24th with a time of 20.45.65. They were only one second behind the University of Illinois and finished 25 seconds ahead of SUNY Geneseo.

The second boat, coxswained by senior Jenny Skerker, was comprised of sophomore stroke Bibi Lichauco, first-years Grace Fabrycky and Grace Schumaker, sophomores Miranda Finestone and Nat Lowenstein and juniors Lienne Ng, Arielle Mann and Haley Short.

“I think our boat felt successful after today,” Lowenstein said. “Coach [Brian Dawe] always says that you cannot teach a team to race, but rather you can teach them the skills so that they can go out there and give it their all. Today we were able to take those skills taught to us and execute them in a race.”

Dawe said he was satisfied with the team’s performance under the difficult conditions.

“It is always good to have women who are willing and ready to race, because without that attitude, we become complacent and stagnant in our growth,” Dawe said.

This was the first time any members of Tufts’ second eight had raced at the Head of the Charles collegiately, an honor for any rower.

More than just a result, the Head of the Charles is a regatta that few ever get to experience and is one of the most exciting see WOMEN'S CREW, page 11

COURTESY RACHEL SCHLOSSER

Women’s crew’s first varsity eight boat poses for a picture after finishing seventh at the Head of the Charles Regatta on Oct. 22.

COURTESY KATE SIENKO

Men’s crew raced a varsity four boat at the Head of the Charles Regatta, placing 11th.

by Josh Steinfink

Contributing Writer

Men’s crew gave the Jumbo community, already enjoying the company of friends and families this Parents’ Weekend, yet another reason to celebrate. A quartet of the team’s most elite upperclassmen battled through the cool and windy conditions on Sunday to place 11th in the collegiate fours division at the 52nd Head of the Charles Regatta in Cambridge, besting 32 other varsity teams from all across the nation.

Lining the bridges and quays of the Harvard section of the Charles River, throngs of students, families, coaches, tourists and vendors buzzed with excitement as the rowers glided across the water. Walking along the course, one could find everything from food trucks selling lobster rolls and sausages to Jaguar automotive booths to rowing machine demonstrations.

Overall, there were 2,256 entrants representing 820 clubs at the event, which has become an annual New England tradition.

All ages and experience levels were present, from high schoolers through 70-80year-old teams of seniors. Even amidst the poor conditions, some crews maintained paces upwards of 12 mph along the threemile course, adding to the electric atmosphere.

Nestled by the docks upriver, the Tufts camp eagerly anticipated the return of its racers, senior tri-captains Zach Merchant and Doug Burt, junior tri-captain Andrew MacMillen and junior Ashton Knight.

Thanks to the navigational efforts of firstyear coxswain Emily Kim, the Jumbos dexterously navigated the challenging course.

The stiff competition, the 20 mph headwinds and the sheer number of boats on the river veritably challenged the Jumbos as they pushed hard yet maneuvered smoothly across the water.

Recording a final time of 18:39.54, the four rowers edged out NESCAC rivals Wesleyan, Bowdoin, Bates and Colby, though they ranked behind second place Middlebury and noteworthy crosstown competitor Boston College in 10th. With its strong performance, Tufts earned a spot in the top quarter of 43 finishing teams. Needing only to place in the top half of the competition to be recognized, the team is thus guaranteed a berth in next year’s Head of the Charles race.

While excited to have the opportunity to compete, the Jumbos did not make special preparations for the regatta.

“Our training for the Charles was no different than the training we are doing now, because our team is much more focused on preparing long term for the spring season,” Burt said.

The Head of the Charles is only Tufts’ second of three races during the fall season. The Jumbos opened on Oct. 2 at Green Mountain Head Regatta in Putney, Vermont, where five Jumbos finished within the top 22 individual racers in the 19-34 age group. In Vermont, MacMillen stole the show, placing seventh out of 34 entrants in the 19-34 age group for single rowers. Feeding off of his strong performance, he rowed the critical stroke seat at the Head of the Charles, setting the team’s pace and coordination.

Coach Noel Wanner, a Cambridge native, has been a critical factor in see MEN'S CREW, page 11