Monday, December 11, 2017

Students share stories, hopes and experiences with DACA see INVESTIGATIVE / PAGE 3

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Jumbos extend winning streak to put season back on track

Tristan Ahtone: media reported imperfectly on Standing Rock see FEATURES / PAGE 6

SEE SPORTS / BACK PAGE

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T HE T UFTS DAILY

VOLUME LXXIV, ISSUE 62

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Monday, December 11, 2017

MEDFORD/SOMERVILLE, MASS.

National AOII organization withdraws charter from Tufts chapter

by Jessica Blough Staff Writer

As of Dec. 11, the national Executive Board of Alpha Omicron Pi Fraternity (AOII) has withdrawn the charter of the Delta chapter of AOII at Tufts University, according to a press release sent to the Daily last night by Courtney West, assistant director of public relations for AOII International Headquarters. The press release cited the chapter’s inability to “build their membership to sustain a viable AOII membership experience” as the reason for their charter withdrawal.

According to Allison Endo, the president of the former Delta chapter of AOII, the charter withdrawal was a result of AOII’s falling membership numbers over the past

year. The Delta chapter was notified that their charter would be revoked less than 24 hours before the press release, Endo said.

“It’s no secret that AOII is by far the smallest … Panhellenic sorority on this campus.

Nationals was very reasonably concerned over this… Our low number is what prompted the withdrawal of the charter,” Endo, a junior, said.

AOII’s membership dropped by nearly half following a disagreement in October 2016 between the international AOII organization and the Delta chapter, former AOII president Kristin Reeves, a senior, told the Daily last year. The disagreement related to the Delta chapter offering a bid to a transgender student, though Endo asserted that this incident was not related

to the national organization’s decision to withdraw the Delta chapter’s charter.

Without a charter, the Delta chapter cannot function as a sorority. The Delta chapter will no longer host events on campus, though current members are invited to affiliate with the Boston AOII Alumnae Chapter and attend their events, Endo said. The Delta chapter’s house will continue to house its current residents for the remainder of the year, though the longterm future of the house is unclear, Endo said.

Endo said that AOII at Tufts does not intend to start a local chapter following their national charter withdrawal.

“There are no plans of disaffiliation or becoming a local sorority,” Endo said.

According to the press release, AOII hopes to return to Tufts in the future.

“Alpha Omicron Pi sincerely hopes to return to the Tufts University campus when it is in the mutual best interests of the university and AOII. The Fraternity will comply fully with extension guidelines set

by NPC [National Panhellenic Council] for re-establishing an AOII chapter and look forward to returning to campus with a strong, competitive collegiate chapter.”

Endo said that as a chapter, the sisters have been disappointed to hear this news, but they accept it and hope to move forward.

“Even though our chapter is ending, the friendships from this organization are not ending, and that’s the most important thing to us,” she said.

The university could not be reached for contact by press time.

recommended by OSAC and the global risk consultancy given the size of the party involved.”

Raza mentioned that the trip consisted of 14 people, all of which had gone through an application process to be a part of the project.

Raza, along with Mariya Ilyas and Seher Vora, both second-year MALD students, and Sohail Ali, a Pakistani first-year MALD student, were set to lead the trip, coordinating activities for the group’s time in Pakistan.

Potential activities included visiting the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Planning, Development & Reform, the U.S. Embassy and other cultural landmarks like universities and non-governmental organizations, according to Vora.

“There’s quite a large contingent of Fletcher alumni [in Pakistan] … so we were in contact with them. They wanted to host us for dinner, for meet-ups and for meet-and-greets,” she said.

According to Ilyas, the trip was proposed and planned as a Fletcher School “trek.”

The Fletcher admissions website states that treks are educational, subsidized trips. Ilyas said that other treks sent students to Colombia, Cuba and Israel.

Executive Associate Dean of the Fletcher School Gerard F. Sheehan expressed support for the trek in an official letter that also outlined the objectives of the trip.

“The purpose of the Pakistan Trek is to further expose students to the realities of the country and its people through engagement in dialogue, experiential learning, community service and cultural experiences in Islamabad, Lahore and Karachi,” he wrote.

“I expect the Pakistan trip, both [as] a public diplomacy initiative as well as an enriching educational opportunity, will help to build strong partnerships and to foster a long-term understanding of Pakistan in the global context,” he added.

According to Director of Global Operations Claudia Jackson, the ITRC is composed of members from The Office of the Provost and

Senior Vice President, the Fletcher School, the School of Arts & Sciences, the School of Engineering, Global Operations, the School of Medicine, the Office of University Counsel and the Office of Programs Abroad.

According to Raza, the ITRC worked with International SOS (ISOS), a security vendor that works with Tufts for travel briefing and security consulting, to make decisions regarding the safety of the Pakistan trek.

The planning for the trip had begun in October 2016 and the trip was scheduled to take place during spring break in March 2017, Raza said. However, due to issues with funding and safety concerns during that time, the trip was postponed to December 2017 and the application for the trip submitted to ITRC was withdrawn, according to Ilyas.

According to Ilyas, the group of student leaders submitted a proposal for the postponed trip to the ITRC on the week of Oct. 15 and the ITRC was set to meet on Oct. 25.

However, the meeting was rescheduled to Nov. 1 and the student group received provisional approval for the trip on Nov. 6, she said.

The document of provisional approval contained a list of concerns that the group would have to address before the trip.

In the provisional approval document, the ITRC said it would follow up shortly with more information regarding transportation in the region.

According to Ilyas, the group leaders had taken steps to begin addressing the issues raised in the provisional approval document, including accommodation and travel. Raza said the group also removed Karachi from the travel itinerary out of safety concerns. On Nov. 14, the ITRC denied approval.

Ilyas and Vora expressed frustrations with some of the reasons the ITRC cited, saying that the parties involved did not communicate properly. For example, they questioned why ISOS ultimately decided that the size of the group was a problem, even though the trip was provisionally approved.

According to the document denying approval, the ISOS security team and the OSAC Regional Security Advisor deemed that “chief concerns for a group of this size and composition was that this would be very difficult and would make them a more obvious target to issues such as terrorism and kidnapping, given both the criminal activity in Pakistan and the militant/terrorist organizations present.”

Ilyas and Vora also expressed frustrations over the “self-contradictory” transportation requirement listed in the document, which they said placed “impossible” demands on the trek. According to the document, ISOS and OSAC recommended the use of armored vehicles for transportation while also demanding the students maintain a low profile traveling. However, the ITRC also mentioned that the recommended security provider through ISOS does not have the capacity to provide armored vehicles for 14 people.

According to Raza, the cost of the armored vehicles came to an estimate of about $82,000, which was outside of the trip budget.

He added that the entire planning process would have been different if they had known about the requirement.

“If we knew about the cost and armored vehicle requirement, personally I would not have done this trip or even planned it,” Raza said.

Ilyas agreed with this sentiment, citing another obstacle to using armored vehicles.

“If you do use armored vehicles, you won’t maintain a low profile. How are we supposed to meet both standards? It’s just impossible and it feels unfair,” Ilyas said.

The group leaders also said they did not understand the ITRC’s concerns about the political environment in the region. The document that denies approval for the trip explains that the U.S. administration’s with South Asian foreign policy is liable to change, especially because of Trump’s move see PAKISTAN TREK , page 2

Fletcher student-led Pakistan trek canceled weeks prior to departure

by Anar Kansara News Editor

A student-led trip to Pakistan through The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy was denied approval for continuation on Nov. 14, in a decision made by the International Travel Review Committee (ITRC) under Tufts Global Operations. According to ITRC’s documentation, the trip was originally set to take place from Dec. 22, 2017 to Jan. 1, 2018 and was cancelled for a multitude of reasons, including concerns about security, political affiliations, timing and the volatile political environment in the region.

According to Ahmad Raza, an AmericanPakistani second-year Master of Arts in Law and Diplomacy (MALD) student at Fletcher, the trip was meant to allow students to get a hands-on experience learning about various aspects of the country.

“Pakistan is a country a lot of people study about or learn about but they don’t ever get to go to,” Raza said. “You’re on the ground, meeting with policy makers, and meeting with students — a wide range of people, essentially — to get a broader view of the situation of the country beyond just what we learn in class.”

Claudia Jackson, director of Global Operations, said the trip was canceled after provisional approval was granted by the ITRC because later conversations with the U.S. Department of State showed that security concerns made the trek unfeasible.

“During the process of fulfilling the stipulations of the conditional approval, both the Overseas Security Advisory Council (OSAC) of the U.S. Department of State and an independent global risk consultancy made recommendations to Tufts regarding safe transportation requirements for this travel in Pakistan,” Jackson told the Daily in an email.

“After reviewing this need with a provider in Pakistan, it became apparent that it would not be possible to source the form of transportation

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THE TUFTS DAILY | News | Monday, December 11, 2017

THE TUFTS DAILY Gil Jacobson Editor-in-Chief

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Students criticize travel committee for unreasonably high security demands PAKISTAN TREK

continued from page 1 toward India and away from Pakistan, presenting a security concern.

Ali expressed his confusion over this concern, saying that he feels there was a double standard in the decision-making process.

“It does seem that the perceptions out there about [Pakistan] influenced the decision and it’s not objective in that sense,” he said. “There have been other treks going to other countries which are as risky as Pakistan and the standards were very lax but… for Pakistan the standards were sky-high.”

However, Jackson said Pakistan generated particular scrutiny because of great security concerns.

“Pakistan is on the list of countries designated by the U.S. Department of State as subject to a Travel Warning,” Jackson said. “Any Tuftsrelated student travel to any country subject to a Travel Warning triggers a review by the ITRC.” Ali, Ilyas and Vora also mentioned that they were curious as to what standards were applied to treks elsewhere, which were successfully completed through the Fletcher School even though they had travel risk warnings issued by the State Department as well.

When asked whether treks to Israel or Colombia, which were also issued travel warnings by U.S. Department of State, are required to use armored vehicles, Jackson emphasized that each trek poses unique risks.

“Each case is reviewed individually with reference to the unique safety risks in each location and the advice the ITRC receives from multiple sources, including, but not limited to, an independent global risk consultancy and the OSAC of the U.S. Department of State,” Jackson said. “The ITRC requires that travel logistics, such as accommodations and transportation, respond to these risks so as to sufficiently mitigate them. Risks are context-specific depending on the traveler itinerary and plan as well as the location.”

The Colombia trek did not require the use of armored vehicles and the student group did not have any contact with OSAC, according to Julia Barry, a student leader of the Colombia trek and second-year MALD student.

Overall, the student group leaders expressed frustration over the ambiguity of the planning and approval process. Raza said he does not plan on pursuing the project any longer after having spent over a year planning it.

“I guess the thing for me is I don’t want any other student to ever go through this,” Raza said. “If there’s one thing I wish the committee could learn from this, like build institutional knowledge at Tufts [so] that students, when they plan trips… from the get-go have all the information or have knowledge of the criteria they’re being judged on.”

Ali criticized the process, saying it was disorganized.

“The process had many gaps and there was a lack of coordination between different organizations,” he said.

Ilyas agreed, saying clear directions need to be put in place.

“What I would ideally love to see is a playbook of how to organize a trek, and then give me the step-by-step directions so that everyone is clear,” Ilyas said. “This way I can hold myself accountable to those standards… I demand that the standards be fair and it’s our right to know whether they’re being applied fairly across the board.”

According to Ilyas and Raza, the group spoke to Global Operations about their frustration, who said that they would try to make the process clearer.

TCU Senate discusses space accessibility, university budget, bylaw changes at final meeting

by Emily Burke News Editor

Last night, the Tufts Community Union (TCU) Senate held its final meeting of the semester in the Sophia Gordon Multipurpose Room.

TCU President Benya Kraus opened the meeting, announcing addresses from Senate executives and a vote on bylaw changes.

TCU Vice President Anna Del Castillo then opened the floor for committee updates.

In one update, Grant Gebetsberger, a firstyear senator, mentioned an upcoming meeting with administrators to discuss a pilot program for Tufts ambassadors to visit underrepresented areas and speak about Tufts. Gebetsberger also mentioned the possibility of holding a town hall related to mental health.

Education Committee Chair Phil Miller announced that the Textbook Exchange will open on Dec. 14, and will be open for a week.

Del Castillo then opened the election for the new chair of the Services Committee.

Senators then nominated candidates. Janey Litvin, Kevin Gleason, Izzy Ma and Rebeca Becdach accepted their nominations and became official candidates.

Each candidate spoke about why they would be an effective chair, followed by a question-and-answer session.

Senators then voted on the candidates. Litvin and Gleason tied, so they are now co-chairs.

TCU Treasurer Emily Sim then introduced a group of students representing Chabad serving Tufts, and gave them time to speak about their funding appeals request. The students discussed their Spa for the Soul event, which normally features a speaker, and their desire to bring Miriam Lipskier, co-founder of the Chabad Student Center at Emory University, who, according to the students, has come to Tufts twice and has been funded by TCU Senate both times.

According to the students, Lipskier’s speeches have focused on femininity and Judaism.

Allocations Board (ALBO) members then spoke about why they denied the funding request, saying that the representative from Chabad who had originally presented the request was not familiar with what the speaker would be discussing. ALBO members said they initially felt uncomfortable funding a speaker without this information. There was then a question-and-answer period. Sim, a

junior, then opened the floor for debate, and one of the Chabad representatives spoke about why this speaker is important.

Sim then opened the vote on the appeals request. A new amount of $1,150 was proposed and the amount passed 25–1–0.

The body approved funding requests from The Institute Sketch Comedy, TFL Comedy, Currents Magazine and Tom Thumb’s Student Garden.

Kraus then introduced the State of the TCU, State of Diversity & Community Affairs and State of the Treasury addresses.

Shannon Lee, the Diversity and Community Affairs Officer, gave the State of Diversity and Community Affairs address.

Lee, a sophomore, noted that the university seems to be more divided than ever over diversity-related issues, and that although the university has made some progress, it could allocate more resources for students in need.

Lee pointed out that underrepresented students do not have sufficient access to campus space or resources. The LGBT and Latino Centers need physical repair; the Africana Center is in Capen House, which has no fire escape; the Asian American Center is locked to most of its inhabitants due to the recent resolution and the International Center does not provide enough of a community space.

Lee emphasized the need to increase support for students from underrepresented communities, and lamented that the burden often falls on these students to advocate for these changes. Lee said that the administration needs to do more to support these students. She added that more privileged students must also take initiative.

In her State of the Treasury address, Sim thanked students for their dedication to their organizations, and vowed to make the treasury more flexible and accessible. Sim said that more flexibility for signatories for the TCU credit card created easier access to it. Sim also noted that this opened up time for groups to have dialogue with her. Sim added that the cap for available funding from the Student Support Fund to cover club dues was increased by $50.

Sim also mentioned an ongoing collaboration with the School of the Museum of Fine Arts to discuss what support those students need.

In the State of the TCU address, Kraus highlighted that Senate serves as a place for dialogue, and that in light of recent divisive

issues on campus, it is important to provide this safe space. Kraus praised the reform of Senate bylaws that allows more time for discussion of contentious issues. She added that the outreach committee has made significant progress, and that many initiatives to connect senators and students have been put in place, along with services such as the Turkey Shuttle.

Key projects included the Swipe It Forward campaign, bringing menstrual hygiene products to more bathrooms on campus and the town halls on the budget and spatial inequity.

Kraus also highlighted sign changes underway for over 20 campus buildings to create more gender-neutral bathrooms, along with new bathrooms in the Mayer Campus Center and Dewick-MacPhie and Carmichael Dining Centers. Kraus expressed a desire to expand the discussion of spatial inequities, like the Asian American Center accessibility issues and the need for renovations in Capen House.

Historian Jacqueline Chen read the text of suggested bylaw changes, which proposed that it would be mandatory for community senators to sit on the Culture, Ethnicity and Community Affairs (CECA) committee, which is chaired by the Diversity & Community Affairs officer. The other change dictates that if another senator wanted to sit on CECA, the senator would have to sit on CECA in addition to his or her mandatory committee.

There was then a question-and-answer period about the changes.

Lee said CECA should be a space for community senators, and Asian American Community Senator and Outreach Committee Chair Charlie Zhen, a junior, emphasized the importance of keeping underrepresented communities in mind.

Lee explained that CECA was less effective this year because it was too large. She also said that diversity and inclusion work should not just be the work of CECA, and that other committees should also participate.

Kraus opened the vote on the bylaw changes. The changes were passed 29–1–0.

Kraus gave Assistant Treasurer Sharif Hamidi, a first-year, an opportunity to explain his proposed resolution that calls on the administration to extend the deadline to designate a class pass-fail to 10 weeks into the semester for all students instead of just first-years.

The body then went into a closed session.

INVESTIGATIVE

Monday, December 11, 2017

3 tuftsdaily.com

Students with undocumented status share fears, calls for action

by Liam Knox and Jessie Newman

Executive Investigative Editor and Features Editor

This is the second part of a two-part series produced by the Daily’s Investigative Team. All students and people mentioned in this article who have undocumented citizenship status are referred to by their first name only due to concerns for their safety.

On Sept. 5, just hours after Tufts’ first day of classes began, Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced that the Trump administration would begin phasing out the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program in March 2018.

DACA, an Obama administration policy implemented in 2012, gives any child of immigrants with undocumented status who was 31 or younger at the time of the program’s initiation a two-year deferment from deportation as well as eligibility for a work permit. Most notably, DACA has allowed young people with undocumented status to apply for college openly and qualify for state or college financial aid.

The repeal’s effect on community building efforts For some students with undocumented status at Tufts, the introduction of DACA, paired with the university’s own efforts to welcome and support them, created the conditions under which they felt comfortable and safe enough to “come out” as undocumented. This allowed them to build community amongst themselves and to share the stories and experiences they had previously kept hidden out of fear.

The move to build community at Tufts around embracing one’s undocumented status that began with the creation of the undocumented student working group in 2015 was successful in many ways. According to Student Success Advisor Margot Cardamone, the Office of Student Success and Advising (OSSA) began offering a seminar specifically aimed toward students with undocumented status, colloquially known as “the dreamer’s seminar,” in 2015, taught by advisers in their office.

Both Diego and Cardamone pointed out that participation has been significant.

“As a safe outlet for a lot for our students, this is the first time that they are openly discussing their status and removing that initial barrier and you do not have to explain yourself,” Cardamone said.

But for some, DACA’s repeal means that this openness is much more difficult to maintain.

“It is because of DACA that I feel

RACHEL HARTMAN / THE TUFTS DAILY

With DACA set for repeal, dozens of Tufts students face a return to the insecurity and risk of life with undocumented status. This photo of one Tufts student with DACA status does not include their face out of concern for their safety. like I could fully express my story and feel a lot safer, but now that … is being stripped away from me,” Alejandro, a Tufts student with DACA status, said. “A couple years ago, I would speak openly about my status because it empowers me and my community … I feel like I am delving deeper into the shadows.”

Still, Alejandro said that the community at Tufts has been helpful in coping with the repeal, saying he and the other students with undocumented status have been “building solidarity.”

Spaces like these are not only organized by the OSSA. The Latino Center, student groups like United for Immigrant Justice (UIJ) and more provide students with undocumented status with opportunities for community building that center around their own lived experiences.

“Undocumented folks can find a community of love and support at the Tufts Latino Center,” Julián Cancino, director of the Latino Center, told the Daily in an email.

Unlike many marginalized communities at Tufts, the undocumented community faces challenges in gathering together and even meeting one another due to the legal risks associated with openly embracing and amplifying one’s identity as an undocumented person.

University efforts: Successes and failures Tufts, many students and community members note, has been particularly

RACHAEL MEYER / THE TUFTS DAILY

supportive of students with undocumented status in recent years. In spring 2015, Tufts implemented a new policy to welcome open applications from students with undocumented status, and assured that the expected financial aid for undocumented students without DACA status would be supplemented with grants from the university, the latter of which Monaco told the Daily in an email. And in the wake of the DACA repeal announcement, Monaco reaffirmed the university’s commitment to provide through university grants any discrepancy in funding created by the loss of federal aid.

“Tufts by far [is] pretty supportive compared to other universities,” Mario, another Tufts student with DACA status, told the Daily. “Their statement to support [DACA students] to the entire university, their willingness to meet with us personally, the services that they offer us makes us feel safe, their willingness to work with us to make us feel safe as possible on this campus … truly shows how much they are willing to stand with us.”

Other students have referenced support systems created by administrators, faculty and students that have been essential throughout their time at Tufts, especially after the repeal announcements made by the Trump administration in September.

The university has also made efforts to provide legal advice and support to students with undocumented status to help better support them in environments on and off this campus.

“The University has offered several free ‘Know Your Rights’ clinics for undocumented and DACA students,” Monaco offered in an email to the Daily. “The clinics usually take place in a group setting and offer general advice and information regarding significant changes in immigration law and policy. During these sessions, the university tries to offer practical advice about travel, work opportunities and best practices for interacting with immigration officials.”

Monaco also wrote that individual legal consultations are available for students to “discuss their own personal immigration status with an attorney

who specializes in immigration law.”

While students who spoke with the Daily expressed a great deal of appreciation for the resources provided to students with undocumented status at Tufts, there have been situations where university institutions have fallen short in the eyes of Tufts community members with undocumented status.

In October 2016, Jonathan M. Tisch College of Civic Life, in conjunction with the Office for Campus Life, hosted a roundtable discussion with different people related to the field of immigration before the lecture given that evening by Roberto Gonzales, author of the 2016 Common Reading book “Lives in Limbo.”

Tisch College invited Amy Newman, a Tufts alumna who was working in the Office of the General Counsel for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) at the time, to the event. Jennifer McAndrew, director of Communications, Strategy & Planning at Tisch College, and Sherri Sklarwitz, associate director of Student Programs at Tisch College, explained to the Daily that Newman had assured them she would be attending the event as an expert in immigration law, and not in any capacity connected to her position at DHS. Lupita Rodriguez, a junior, was co-president of UIJ at the time of the event. She recounted to the Daily that she and a cadre of UIJ members, including a number of students with undocumented status, decided to attend after an invitation was extended to the organization. Rodriguez and some others sat at Newman’s table.

Despite advertisement of her position in a brochure, many of the students were unaware of her position within DHS and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement as a sub-organization within the department.

Alejandra, Rodriguez and Diego, a student with DACA status, said that this disregard for student safety is a common theme for Tisch College and that they do not feel the college usually prioritizes the well-being of marginalized community members.

“Tisch is always about ‘hearing the see DACA REPEAL, page 4

4

THE TUFTS DAILY | INVESTIGATIVE | Monday, December 11, 2017

tuftsdaily.com

DACA enrollees discuss Tufts' policies DACA REPEAL

continued from page 3 other side,’ but what does that mean when the other side criminalizes your existence?” Alejandra said.

Rodriguez emphasized the importance of protecting Tufts students over protecting comprehensive discourse on campus.

“I should not have been surprised because Tisch does this thing where everyone’s voice should be present, but student safety should be more important than making sure that everyone’s voice is heard, because these are literally their lives,” Rodriguez said.

McAndrew and Sklarwitz told the Daily that they are open to meeting with students about this incident.

Emma Kahn, a senior and UIJ member, told the Daily that UIJ had scheduled a meeting with Tisch College for this reason on Nov. 9 2016, but that the previous day’s U.S. presidential election results made it difficult for members — many of whom were deeply affected by Trump’s victory — to follow through, so it was cancelled.

McAndrew said that while Tisch College is open to criticism from UIJ and any other students who felt uncomfortable, they felt the event was carefully planned with student safety in mind.

“With the common read book events and everything that we do, we strive to be very thoughtful about who we bring to the Tufts campus and opportunities, we try to have informative events and opportunities where students can interact with speakers that they agree with, disagree with… This is not something that Tisch College will shy away from now or in the future,” she said.

Still, McAndrew insisted that Tisch College is cognizant of students with undocumented status’ needs and that they are a priority for the college.

“That is part of our mission, making sure there are not barriers, whether direct or indirect, in our undocumented students from participating in programs,” she said. “That’s the broader message, that we aim to support undocumented students in everything that we do at Tisch College. Full stop.”

The students who attended the event, however, dismissed this claim outright.

“I felt used… They do this stuff all the time,” Alejandra said. “I didn’t even feel like going to the [Nov. 9] meeting, because I’m tired of Tisch doing this.

I’m done with Tisch.”

“DACA was never enough” The end of DACA has very real and traumatic implications, but nearly all the sources interviewed for this article insist that there are many flaws with the program that have been present from its inception, chief among them being its

exclusivity. Of the estimated 11 million plus immigrants with undocumented status living in the United States, DACA only protects 690,000 of them.

Mario said that while DACA did help him feel more secure in his day-to-day life, the program’s lack of accessibility has led him to feel guilty for receiving its benefits.

“I feel guilty that [I] have [DACA], which allows [me] to work and have an actual life … while others are still living in the same conditions,” he said. “[I] felt horrible. [I] have a better job now, [but] [the older generation] is still breaking their backs. So it just gives me that guilt.”

Another issue with the program is its financial inaccessibility. Mario, who transferred to Tufts after two years of community college and working multiple jobs, told the Daily that he was only able to benefit from DACA because he could help his family pay the $500 renewal fee.

“Imagine if [someone] had three kids, that’s $1,500 and you are talking about people who are living paycheck to paycheck,” he said. “It comes down to the point where you have to choose the child you want to succeed. I can only imagine what it would take to make a decision.”

Students worry that in applying for DACA, they may have put their families in danger To receive DACA status, students must provide extensive personal information on their applications. Because of this, some students say they regret applying in the first place, since they are concerned that mere act has now placed them and their families in greater danger post-repeal.

“You have to enter like every tiny thing [in the application]. Everywhere you’ve lived, everywhere you’ve been, all your contacts, every time you’ve left the country, all of your information on like every aspect,” Diego said. “So what is being done with this information if DACA is being repealed? I mean, the government isn’t going to throw it away, it’s very valuable.”

Marion Davis, director of communications for the Massachusetts Immigrant and Refugee Advocacy Coalition (MIRA), told the Daily that MIRA changed its standard advice regarding DACA after Trump took office for this exact reason.

“It used to be we would just encourage people [to sign up for DACA], do it, it’s worth it. We would tell them, there are risks to be aware of, but overall this is a positive thing and you should do it.

After the Trump administration came in, we began to say you know, think about it really hard, because you’re putting all of your information in there,” she said. “And not only are you putting your info in there, when you register

RACHAEL MEYER / THE TUFTS DAILY

RACHAEL MEYER / THE TUFTS DAILY

for DACA in particular — because by definition DACA is about ‘I was brought here by my parents, or someone else’ — in the very process of detailing how they came here, they’re not just providing information for how they could be deported themselves, but also how their families can be deported.”

Many students emphasized that they felt relatively secure at Tufts, which as a university is still technically protected under Immigration Customs and Enforcement’s (ICE) Sensitive Locations Policy (though there has been a recent uptick in instances of this policy being ignored, to the point where the American Medical Association has issued a statement condemning ICE presence in hospitals and urgent care centers). Their main worry, many say, is that information about their homes will be used to target family members.

“Their concern is not even for themselves but for their families,” Cardamone said. “They applied for their protective status and now … have exposed their families to all of these new dangers.”

Mario said that his immediate fears around the repeal were for his family’s safety.

“I was mostly afraid for my family than myself. If somebody decided to call the immigration [patrol] on me, and goes back to trace my family to it and everything, I am [afraid]. Whatever happens, I will find my way through it. Just how I found my way through my entire life here [in the United States],” Mario said.

Diego said that his mother is already planning for this worst-case scenario.

“As much as I’d like to think that, after being in this country for some years and fighting for her place, that we wouldn’t have to give up so much, she still said, ‘you know, if it comes down to it I’d be okay with giving up my place in this country as long as you guys got to

stay,’” he said. “I’m like, ‘Damn don’t say that we can try to fight for this. You’re already so far away, I don’t want you to be completely inaccessible because I wouldn’t be able to visit her because I can’t leave.’”

Another obstacle that will be difficult for students with DACA status is the inability to travel domestically in addition to prior international restrictions.

Alejandro testified to the hardships that lack of identification papers and increased ICE checkpoints have created in his life.

“It is pretty hard hitting because … I cannot fly back home … and if you have to pass through red states, there are various checkpoints, and when it goes into effect, I won’t be seeing my parents until my DACA expires, or Trump is out of office, so I may not see them for a good three years which has been really hard,” he said.

Temporary Protected Status According to the Department of Homeland Security, Temporary Protected Status (TPS) is a status designated by the U.S. government to certain nations where conditions within the country provide for an unsafe environment for returning nationals.

While the Daily was unable to reach any members of the Tufts community who are currently protected under TPS, Cardamone confirmed that “TPS is a status that affects our students on campus.”

Jennifer Hernandez is an immigrants rights organizer at Centro Presente, a Massachusetts-based Latin American immigrant organization that began a campaign to “Save TPS Now” in the wake see DACA REPEAL, page 5

IN e w s

Monday, December 11, 2017 | INVESTIGATIVE | THE TUFTS DAILY

5

Students worry about aftermath of DACA repeal

RACHAEL MEYER / THE TUFTS DAILY

An anonymous Tufts student with DACA status poses in Tisch Library on Dec 10.

DACA REPEAL

continued from page 4 of Trump’s inauguration in January. She explained to the Daily just how disruptive the program’s repeal will be to the 325,000 people who, according to the Center for Migration Studies, are at risk of losing their status.

“We’re talking about people that have been living here for 20 years, maybe the greater part of their life … who have not experienced a change of what’s going on in Central America in terms of violence, in terms of economic changes, in terms of government changes, and who have basically laid roots in the U.S. and made it there home. And if TPS gets terminated, [they] will become undocumented again,” she said. “If you have a job you’ve been working for the last 15 years, if you have a business, a home, a car, kids… This could all literally go away from one day to the next.”

Hernandez said that TPS works almost identically to DACA — the program provides recipients with a work permit, protects them from deportation and allows them to get a driver’s license — but that it mostly affects adults due to its timeline.

However, she added that there are some TPS recipients in college who arrived in the country as young children, and, even more concerning, there are many young U.S. citizens whose parents have TPS that are now at risk of losing their source of economic support even if their parents aren’t deported.

“Even if students have economic support from schools or financial aid or whatever, people can’t always get scholarships to fill in the whole tuition, so you have to try to get a loan.

But if their parents are undocumented, they can’t cosign for a loan, so it’s going to become more apparent.

Not to mention you could lose your

job, so you don’t have that financial security or some of that income you were planning on having,” Hernandez said. “If you lose your whole system of support, it’s just hard for anybody, whether you’re a citizen or a TPS or DACA recipient.”

When asked via email whether university employees with TPS status would be protected by Tufts, Monaco, while critical of the program’s repeal, was noncommittal.

“From the successive travel bans now being challenged in the courts, to … the anticipated termination of Temporary Protected Status for individuals from certain countries, including Haiti, there is a great deal of uncertainty,” he wrote. “We continue to assess what information and supports we can make available to our faculty, staff and students.”

Similar to DACA, TPS was initially meant to be a temporary measure (hence the name). But the way it’s been implemented, Hernandez said, has been difficult and strenuous for families since the start.

“Of course the titles are temporary, but the government has extended it for 20 years — how temporary is that, even by their standards? So they sort of created this sub-citizenship or sub-residency program, that only legalizes the work aspect of a person,” she said.

Much like President Obama’s framing of DACA as a mutually beneficial way to incorporate youth with undocumented status into the U.S. economic system, Hernandez said TPS legalized enrollees’ labor without guaranteeing security or setting a foundation for their future.

“You need the labor, but you don’t want to give people their full humanity, full rights. So of course I think this is by design,” she said. “But this is what happened, and it has happened

before with worker programs, and I’m sure that it will continue to happen.

Because of racism in this country, and the fact that we only want brown people for their work.”

Next steps: Mobilization and community organizing For the scores of young people with undocumented status who didn’t qualify for DACA, the program has never been enough. Alejandra, one such undocumented student, said she hopes its repeal will lead to the resurrection of conversations about a more permanent solution like the DREAM Act, originally proposed in 2001.

“Because DACA happened, the DREAM Act was taken out of Congress…

But now that DACA is gone they have to decide what they’re going to do with these students, with these young people,” she said.

There has already been a significant push to pressure Congress to bring such a bill to the table in response to Trump’s DACA repeal announcement, and Davis said that her organization is currently working to engage state and national legislators around the issue.

“The battle is still going on, this is not a done deal. We are still very hopeful that there will be a DREAM Act,” she said.

In addition to the revitalization of this legal effort, some students are finding an outlet for their anger and helplessness in working with community organizations to improve people with undocumented status’ daily lives.

Alison Kuah (LA ’16), a Tufts alumna and director of youth programming at Somerville immigrant-focused community organization The Welcome Project, told the Daily that community organizations can be helpful for students trying to navigate the recent policy changes around immigration.

“It’s easy to see your inability to go

to college as a personal rather than a structural problem, so we show that this is bigger than oneself, and we unite to fight it,” Kuah said.

Diego said that with the return of his pre-DACA insecurity has also come a revived passion and urgency around action and immigrant justice work.

“Last year … I kind of forgot that there was more out there than my next project or test or assignment,” he said.

“I have a family, there’s people out there in need of things I am privileged to, and ways I can help. I want to see how I can give back.”

According to Alejandra, who is also the president of Tufts UIJ, UIJ has been organizing around promoting greater awareness on the part of the Tufts community, in an effort to foment greater action from people with the privilege to do something to help people with undocumented status.

However, Alejandra lamented that attendance for these workshops and actions is often limited to the same relatively small group of students, and that these students “are not the people who need to learn this.”

Ultimately, these students expressed that what they really want is for people to mobilize around the protection of immigrants with undocumented status as crackdowns increase and opportunities for security are dismantled under Trump’s anti-immigrant agenda. Mario specifically emphasized that action, not sympathy, is the best reaction a U.S. citizen could have to hearing his story.

“We don’t tell our stories to get pity, we tell our stories to make the situations aware … so that people can [recognize] that it’s not fair and that we need to stop it,” Mario said. “It’s our lives. It is not something to take pity on, it’s something to make changes about.”

6 tuftsdaily.com

Henry Stevens The Weekly Chirp

Birds and engineering

Features

Monday, December 11, 2017

Indigenous journalist Tristan Ahtone speaks about media representation of Native communities, issues

T

o cap off a wonderful fall of avian anecdotes and bird facts, let’s explore how humans have utilized bird morphology to increase the efficiency of modern-day technology. The science and art of mimicking biological structures and functions to solve technical problems, known as biomimicry, is used across scientific fields, ranging from glue derived from the threads blue mussels use to attach themselves to rocks to birds being used as models for airplanes.

Leonardo da Vinci spearheaded the beginning of avian biomimicry back in the 15th century (woah). He was particularly interested in studying our winged friends in an attempt to enable human flight, something he unfortunately was unable to achieve during his lifetime. However, his early work provided the necessary foundation for the Wright brothers, who successfully designed and operated a plane in the first years of the 20th century. Nowadays, airplanes, while lacking the beauty of birds, do share similar morphological characteristics that support flight such as tapered wings (blunt in the front and tapering in the back which causes rise). The long take-offs required for these massive aerial machines were inspired by arguably the best flyer in the avian world: the albatross. These pelagic (sea-dwelling) birds boast over 8-foot wing spans, and spend most of the year flying at sea, only landing during the breeding season when it’s time to get it on for a month or so. Given their relatively big size, albatrosses must run and flap for a substantial distance before they get enough lift to fly — just like an airplane!

The bullet trains of Japan owe their wind-breaking speeds to birds as well. For years, bullet trains emitted a booming, loud noise upon leaving tunnels due to the buildup of air along the nose of the train. In constant search for a solution to this problem, designers turned to the kingfisher for inspiration. Kingfishers, as their name suggests, spend their days on perches above bodies of water, searching for unlucky fish that scurry helplessly below. These elite fish-killers have evolved a dagger-like bill that allows them to pierce the water at such a speed that offers their scaly victims no chance for survival. By altering the blunt nose of bullet trains into one that closely resembled that of kingfishers, engineers effectively reduced the booming noise emitted by bullet trains. Thanks, birds!

On the subject of noise, many aircraft and wind-turbine engineers are currently investigating ways to reduce the sound emitted by these machines, and have recently turned to owls for the answer. Owls are renowned for their ability to hunt silently, which comes as a result of intricate flight feathers lined with downy (really soft and light) material.

These specialized feathers allow them to fly at fast speeds while remaining undetected by the oblivious moles in the grasses below, which they then tear to pieces for dinner.

The question for engineers now is how to replicate and synthesize these specialized feathers in such a way that they both reduce noise emissions from machines while maintaining their functionality. Good luck.

Love, Henry

ALEXIS SERINO / THE TUFTS DAILY

Tristan Ahtone, award winning journalist and member of the Kiowa Tribe of Oklahoma, speaks at an event in the Crane Room on Dec. 6.

by Emma Rosenthal Features Editor

Indigenous People’s Day at Tufts, a campus group formed to recognize the holiday, held the final two talks in its fourpart Indigenous Speaker Series during the last week of this semester. With the tagline of “After Standing Rock,” the series featured indigenous activists to show continued support of indigenous issues and scholarship.

In one of those talks on Wednesday, Dec. 6, Tristan Ahtone, an award-winning journalist and member of the Kiowa Tribe of Oklahoma, spoke about his view of indigenous journalism and Native issues, especially in the wake of the Standing Rock protests.

Junior Parker Breza, who is a founding member of the Indigenous People’s Day at Tufts movement, was involved in planning this speaker series.

Elaborating on the movement as a whole, Breza noted that a Facebook page was formed to coordinate the campaign for Tufts to recognize Indigenous People’s Day on the official calendar. He added that the movement is not an official organization, but an informal group of students who are Native or are passionate about Native issues.

Breza noted that it was this campaign for Tufts to recognize Indigenous People’s Henry Stevens is a junior majoring in Day that sparked greater conversation and biology. Henry can be reached at henry. stevens@tufts.edu. action on campus, including the annual celebration and the speaker series.

Interested in birds? Email me at tuftsor“It’s become the central organiznithologicalsociety@gmail.com. ing space for lots of different initiatives,

including the celebration of Indigenous People’s Day every single year,” Breza said.

“That’s manifested in a couple of ways, including the political effort to change it to the cultural celebration of indigenous peoples. And now [there is a] push for Native studies and the Indigenous Speaker Series.”

Ahtone’s talk, titled “Indigenous Journalism,” was centered around the protests at Standing Rock in 2016 and highlighted how major media outlets covered it.

By showing slides of different news headlines, Ahtone noted that reporting on the Standing Rock protests was a time of great visibility for indigenous issues, but it was coverage from major news sources like The New York Times and The Washington Post that dictated the stories.

“The stories are always about how non-Native Americans are interfacing with Native Americans,” Ahtone said. “It’s never about us, it’s about them.”

Junior Amira Al-Subaey is interested in examining the representation of marginalized communities in the media, which led her to attend Ahtone’s talk.

“I’m really interested in dissecting who creates the news that we read and who determines the narratives that we believe to be true,” Al-Subaey said.

“Especially in this age where we’re seeing big media giants like New York Times and Washington Post producing their own narrative.”

According to Al-Subaey, Ahtone’s talk explained the ways in which the news

media can exploit marginalized communities in their reporting. “[Ahtone] coined the term in his talk of ‘exploitative colonialism’ and how reporting on various marginalized communities’ struggles can reproduce colonial narratives, through erasing certain voices, through erasing certain stories and through reproducing stereotypes of those people,” Al-Subaey said.

Echoing Al-Subaey, Breza noted that Ahtone’s discussion of the failure of news outlets to sufficiently cover indigenous issues complicates media objectivity and reflects the biases of society at large.

“I think that when you hear these really simple examples of just how racist media outlets are being, often unintentionally and unknowingly, it makes you pause [to think] about how general society talks about Native issues, [and] specifically our news outlets that we look to as reputable, objective, etc.,” Breza said.

Throughout his talk, Ahtone mentioned many indigenous media sources that highlight indigenous voices and issues in their reporting. One example is High Country News, where Ahtone is a contributing editor.

“There are almost 200 different indigenous media organizations,” Ahtone said.

“These are indigenous stories, by indigenous people, which usually does not happen very often.”

Al-Subaey said that she found Ahtone’s suggestions helpful in raising more awareness of indigenous issues. see INDIGENOUS JOURNALISM , page 7

F e at u r e s

Monday, December 11, 2017 | Features | THE TUFTS DAILY

7

Indigenous People's Day at Tufts continues efforts to create Native studies program INDIGENOUS JOURNALISM

continued from page 6 “I thought that was a very tangible way that [other] people can know what’s going on in the indigenous communities across the country and across the world, and ensure that we’re supporting indigenous voices. If we care about indigenous issues, then [we center] indigenous voices to speak on those issues,” Al-Subaey said.

Events in the Indigenous Speaker Series, like Ahtone’s talk, could not happen without funding from other organizations on campus, as the Indigenous People’s Day at Tufts group has no funding of its own, according to Breza.

The Media Advocacy Board (MAB) has funding for speaker events in their budget and chose to dedicate it to Ahtone’s talk, according to Chair of MAB Ben Kesslen.

“We have a budget that we can use to put toward causes and events that are media-related that we think are worthwhile and important, which is why we helped fund the event,” Kesslen, a senior, said.

Kesslen noted that it was important for MAB to be involved in bringing Ahtone to speak on campus, because he offered crucial insights on Native representation in the media.

“I thought [Ahtone] said really important and interesting things about how the media reports on indigenous people,”

Kesslen said. “I think among student journalism here, it was a great lesson on how to better report on and talk about indigenous issues that face our campus.”

Breza noted that with the conclusion of the speaker series this semester, the team behind Indigenous People’s Day at Tufts will continue working to establish a program in Native studies, as reported on Oct. 26 in the Daily.

“What we’re trying to do is establish a Native studies minor within the [Consortium of Studies in] Race, Colonialism and Diaspora which houses … Latino studies, Africana studies, Asian American studies and colonialism studies,” Breza said.

Breza said that at present, Tufts does have classes but no program in Native

studies, which makes it harder to centralize the subject and get funding for faculty.

“It’s natural that Native studies would be included in [the consortium], and it’s a huge gap right now that [it] is not present,” Breza said.

Looking to the future, Kesslen commented on how he hopes Ahtone’s talk will incite change on campus.

“I hope the MAB can continue to use our budget to bring speakers to campus who will teach us how to become better and more critical,” Kesslen said. “And I hope that the success of this event is evidence for the need of Native studies on campus and more dialogue around indigenous issues.”

Rob Katz contributed reporting to this article.

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ARTS&LIVING

Monday, December 11, 2017

CONCERT REVIEW

Singer-songwriter Jake Bugg’s performance at Paradise earns ‘cheers’

COURTESY WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

Jake Bugg preforms at Rock im Park music festival on June 3, 2017.

by Ellie McIntosh Contributing Writer

Walking on stage with his signature shag and stoic manner, Jake Bugg did nothing but impress in his Dec. 5 concert at Paradise Rock Club. His voice sounded exactly like it does in every track he has ever recorded, putting a face to all his poignant melodies. Backed by only an amp and his own guitar, Bugg relied on his own mastery as an artist to impress the 200 or so devoted fans. Bugg was not overly animated, but it’s the quiet energy in his songs that attracts fans in the first place. He opened with the title song of his fourth album, “Hearts that Strain,” which dropped in September. Although he was touring for this new album, Bugg’s setlist included favorites from all of his albums and even some that were never recorded in the studio. The crowd was more than happy to let the 23-year-old singer-songwriter know how much they appreciated

him, and in his stoic manner he responded every time to their praises with a modest “cheers.”

Opening the concert was Boston native MB Padfield. The young artist brought energy to the show and hyped up the crowd for the night to come. Promising that none of her songs were pre-recorded, Padfield playfully explained the stories behind all of her songs and the various escapades one only expects from a rockstar. Padfield also highlighted the importance of supporting artists like herself by coming to concerts and shows. Using a penny to highlight her point, she claimed that for every stream on Spotify, Apple Music or any other streaming service, the artist gets 1/33rd of the penny. The monetary reward is small for musicians when compared to how much hard work and dedication they put into their art, yet Padfield is hopeful for the future, and she also explained that artists were being taken advantage of less than in the past. After Padfield played her set, the crowd waited in anticipation as Bugg sauntered onto stage with what appeared to be

water, but which the artist later revealed to be gin and tonic, meant to ease the nerves of performing.

As the artist said himself, he played music that his fans wanted to hear. Bugg played “Saffron” (2013), a song that he wrote before he ever even began recording and that did not make it onto any of his studio albums, but there were plenty of fans who knew the lyrics to the little-known hit, which has only been recorded in a live show. The dedicated fans knew the lyrics to even the lesser-known tracks along with crowd favorites like “Two Fingers” (2012) and “Strange Creatures” (2014), which sounded perfect, even with just an acoustic guitar.

Bugg’s set had a strong bent toward ballads and slow hits, which played into his ability on the guitar. Switching guitars for almost every single song, the musician proved he was adept not only as a singer but also as a guitarist. Fans were able to see the well-known licks that they had heard a thousand times on his live albums, which Bugg pulled off tremendously.

The artist did not disappoint with his vocals either, despite admitting to waking up just an hour before the 8 p.m. performance.

Bugg is already known for his unique sound, often being compared to greats like Bob Dylan, but his sound quality in the acoustic session was unbelievable. His voice was clear and strong, as one would expect from an artist who knows his songs backward and forward. Often beginning his songs in a soft, tender voice, his quality of sound did not suffer, no matter how booming and emotional he got during the performance.

During certain songs, such as “Simple As This” (2012), which was featured in the film “The Fault in Our Stars” (2014), Bugg emphasized interacting with and scanning his audience. At the same time, the artist became entrenched in the emotion of ballads such as “Broken” (2012), and one could feel the audience pulsing along with the artist’s heartbreaking lyrics and tone. In these moments, the crowd and the artist were alone together, and he would shyly smile, take a sip of his gin and tonic and offer a quick “cheers.”

TV REVIEW

‘Crazy Ex-Girlfriend’ midseason finale is less crazy, more ex(ceptionally distasteful)

by Julian Blatt Staff Writer

Content warning: This article mentions suicide.

The shortened daylight hours and the rapid approach of the holidays always mark the end of a fall semester, but for

TV viewers it also indicates winter finale season. Since most shows go on a winter hiatus and viewers have to wait several weeks before their favorite TV characters return to the screen in the new year, TV writers often go to great lengths to ensure that the last episode before the break is surprising and exciting, and it often

ends with an unforgettable, mind-blowing cliffhanger. Accordingly, fans of The CW’s “Supernatural” (2005–) felt anything but let down after watching that midseason finale earlier this week. Unfortunately, for dedicated viewers of another CW show, “Crazy Ex-Girlfriend” (2015–), the same cannot be said.

At its core, “Crazy Ex-Girlfriend” is a musical comedy. If the musical element suffers, so does the comedy; therefore, the success of the show is based entirely on the music. In the early days of see CRAZY EX-GIRLFRIEND, page 9

A rts & L iving

Monday, December 11, 2017 | Arts & Living | THE TUFTS DAILY

'Crazy Ex-Girlfriend' episode lacks plot depth, laughs

Mina Ghobrial Thoughts from Places

CRAZY EX-GIRLFRIEND

continued from page 8 “Crazy Ex-Girlfriend,” before it became a cult phenomenon, there might have been three, sometimes even four songs in an episode, all of them hilariously relevant and relatable. Recently, however, viewers are lucky to get two songs, each deserving of at most a polite chuckle. The songs in last week’s midseason finale seemed rushed and forced, and as if viewers needed to feel even more cheated, both were solos. (The show’s ensemble songs tend to be of much higher quality.) And just like the songs themselves, the plot supporting them could not have been weaker.

Rebecca (Rachel Bloom) has been the sole focus of the show for several episodes, so it is understandable that her close friend Paula (Donna Lynne Champlin) is finally in the spotlight. Nevertheless, her storyline is essentially a contrived version of the show as a whole. Upon spotting her longtime ex-boyfriend, Jeff Chanington, at the supermarket, Paula sings “First Penis I Saw.” When asked by an employee why she is staring at Jeff so intensely, Paula answers, “He’s my Josh Chan,” as if his name alone didn’t already make that obvious enough. Moreover, unlike with Josh and Rebecca, who actually have a romantic backstory, Paula’s song seems to imply that the only reason she still cares about Jeff at all is that she was impressed by his penis, which adds an element of misogyny the show has never before expressed.

Worse, Jeff proves to be completely irrelevant; after he tells Paula that she is important and meaningful as her own person and not just as a best friend or coworker, Paula simply thanks him and leaves, transforming what could have been a new, interesting romantic development into the ultimate anticlimax. Thus, rather than demonstrating how the character of Paula can truly exist in its own space, the writers instead expose how flawed a character Paula actually is.

After nearly killing herself and being diagnosed with borderline personality disorder, Rebecca appears to be doing well in the recovery process. She strictly follows the treatment plan her doctor outlined for her (although in true Rebecca fashion, she goes above and beyond, hoping the doctor will give her an A+), and is overall much happier with herself than perhaps

A

COURTESY SEAT42F

The promotional poster of ‘Crazy Ex-Girlfriend’ Season 3 is pictured. ever before. However, it is clear that in some ways she has made no improvement whatsoever. She tries to refrain from maintaining a sexual relationship with Nathaniel (Scott Michael Foster) because her doctor advises against it, but eventually begins sexting him before giving in completely and “visiting” him. In this way, she has not moved on from Josh (Vincent Rodriguez III), but rather has replaced him with another man she cannot help but become emotionally attached to. Yet at the end of the episode, when she tells the doctor about her sexual encounter (as well as other actions she took throughout the episode that more likely harm her than help), she adds that she has finally realized that being human is not as black

and white as she originally believed, to which the doctor responds by giving her the coveted A+. Dude, did you not hear all the other things she just told you? With a doctor like that, it will not be a surprise if Rebecca never gets better.

Other fun parts of the episode include Josh missing out on a date due to a staph infection, the continuation of the never-ending argument between White Josh (David Hull) and Darryl (Pete Gardner) about whether to have a baby and a notable lack of Valencia (Gabrielle Ruiz). If the show keeps moving in this direction, it will soon be the crazy ex-CW show that never should have made it to a third season in the first place.

TV RECAP

‘Riverdale’ succeeds with stripped-down Chapter 21

by Alison Epstein

Executive Arts Editor

Yes, “Riverdale.” This is how an episode of your show should be. After last week’s clunker, “Riverdale” (2017 –) was in desperate need of a return to its wacky, nonsensical roots. And thankfully, this week delivered on all fronts. This episode had it all: inappropriate sexual encounters, Cheryl acting insane, teen detective work, the reintroduction of a love triangle and one of the most cringeworthy scenes in the history of television. By the end of the hour, “Chapter 21: House of the Devil” had solidified itself as one of the best episodes of season two, if not the entire series. Archie even got to sing again (albeit briefly).

Right off the bat, we get a Varchie hookup montage. We were not subjected to another shower scene (no one had just been shot, so it must not have felt like the right time for Veronica), but we did get a nice view of them “making it” on the floor in front of a fireplace in the Pembrooke.

Ah, to be young and in love. Except wait, when Archie said the “L” word on said

floor, Veronica was unable to reciprocate. Oh well, nothing a little distraction can’t fix, right? For them, that distraction proved to be a mass murder investigation and more TV-14 sex. Gotta love The CW. The pair is investigating the murder of the Riverdale Reaper, who years before killed a family of four. Apparently, the former sheriff obsessed over this case up until his death and spent many nights at the crime scene, the abandoned house on the outskirts of town that just so happens to be the same location that the Black Hood sent Betty a few weeks before. Now the gang is certain that there’s a connection between the Riverdale Reaper and the Black Hood.

Archie and Veronica arrive at the house at night (of course they decide to go to the “devil’s house” after dark, it’s just common sense) and fairly quickly discover an essential part of the case: There were actually three children, not two, in the family, meaning that one of them survived the massacre. Archie and Veronica find out that the surviving child was given a

new identity for protection and adopted into another family. From there they piece together that the young boy grew up to be none other than the creepy lurker janitor.

Well, that explains his random airtime the past two weeks.

Janitor Svenson explains to Archie and Veronica that he actually had been able to identify the shooter after escaping out the window, and a group of men found the Reaper and killed him. Wow, these kids cracked the entire case in 24 hours, while the former sheriff spent decades trying to figure out what happened. What is wrong with the law enforcement in this town?

Veronica is now convinced that Svenson is the Black Hood, but Archie points out that he doesn’t have the Black Hood’s trademark green eyes.

Seems like that’s the end of that, but later, we see Svenson looking at a photo of a group of men, possibly the same men who supposedly took care of the Reaper? So maybe the connection to see RIVERDALE, page 10

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TL;DR

s this column is printed, I will be finishing up the first eighth of my college journey. Now there is a semester’s worth of thoughts from places to comb through and consider: It was in the ASEAN Auditorium where my first college class took place, and where this column was born. I was sitting in a class where being a baby Jumbo was not some sort of lauded achievement — everyone in the room had managed to squeeze through the 14 percent acceptance rate. The hype of being a new student was glossed over, giving my first day of class a new urgency.

Barnum 113 was the site of a juxtaposition, where an English class was sequestered in a hall full of life sciences.

Appreciating the humanities in a foreign land was enough to have this staunch pre-med consider the value of liberal arts coursework.

When the Campus Center housed an antique sale, the romanticization of the past brought into question the history we are all actively scripting. Appreciation for the past, whether it be through modern Polaroids or the re-introduction of leather jackets, promises that our quirks as a generation may be intertwined with the society of the future.

Venturing away from Tufts for a night and going into the nearby woods of Winchester, the wake of human destruction was apparent. Whether it be through a simple act of littering, or in the grander scheme of global warming, the impact of our actions as a species can be readily observed just minutes from our campus.

Back on campus, it was at Distler Hall where Clara Cantore performed her Argentinian folk music to a room filled mostly by the promise of extra credit.

This was a rare highlight of the ugly grade-grubber culture that still lives in the undertones of Tufts.

Carmichael Hall was uncharacteristically empty when the Red Cross blood drive rolled around. Although the phlebotomist was a delight and the atmosphere was warmed by the blaring rock music, there seemed to be minimal student body support.

A chemistry exam at Pearson was enough to bring the crushing realization that learning was a process. Hours spent at Tisch do not directly correlate with better grades, and the prospect of studying for numerical gratification became moot.

Learning is about a rise in understanding and not GPA. A Dewick Friendsgiving was a precious reminder that home can be found miles away from the address used on your application. The people you actively choose to surround yourself with become your home, and eventually, your family.

That being said, after a nice drive to Jersey City, N.J., I was feeling rather grateful for the opportunity to take a step back from college and reconnect with my roots. There, I saw the constant room for improvement that exists in all of us.

Back at Tisch, the buildup toward finals week witnessed a night full of laser tag and casual conversation.

And a final thought for the year: Happy finals, happy holidays and see you all in 2018! Thanks for reading.

Mina Ghobrial is a first-year who has not yet declared a major. Mina can be reached at mina.ghobrial@tufts.edu, and this column can be followed on Instagram @ thoughtsfromtufts.

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THE TUFTS DAILY | Arts & Living | Monday, December 11, 2017

tuftsdaily.com

Chapter 21 of 'Riverdale' sees big relationship shakeups

COURTESY TV OVERMIND

The poster of Riverdale Season 2 (2017), a teen drama on The CW based on the characters from ‘Archie Comics.’

RIVERDALE

continued from page 9 the Black Hood has something to do with these guys. That or the janitor just wears colored contacts.

In other news, Cheryl is still stalking Josie and is almost definitely in love with her. This love manifests itself by way of an oiled-up massage Cheryl gives Josie in the locker room. Casual.

Notice that Betty has not been involved in any of the teen detective work this week, which we all know is normally her bread and butter. Well, that’s because Jughead’s dad has just gotten out of jail, and so not only does Betty want to be there to support FP, but she also decides to throw him a retire-

ment party after he announces that he is going to leave the Serpents. The only thing Betty loves more than investigating murders is party-planning.

Okay, this party. First of all, Archie tells Veronica it’s totally okay if she doesn’t feel ready to say “I love you,” but when his reverse psychology doesn’t work and Veronica still doesn’t say it back, he gets upset. Not upset enough, however, to stop Archie from performing Veronica’s favorite karaoke song with her on stage: “Mad World” (1982). Veronica, why is this your favorite karaoke song? It’s barely in your register, and oh, it’s also a huge bummer.

Distressed about her situation with Archie, Veronica flees the stage partway through the song, and Archie quickly chases after her.

This prompts Betty to take the stage for what

may truly be a watershed moment for the show, at the very least for the character of Betty. There is no coming back from what follows. Earlier in the episode, Betty had decided she wanted to join the Serpents to support Jughead, and Toni Topaz informed her that while the initiation for the boys involved holding a snake and getting punched a lot, the girls had to perform a striptease. What a feminist organization.

So you can guess what happens at the party. Betty takes the stage and picks up where Archie and Veronica left off, singing “Mad World.” (Side note: Betty can sing?) All of a sudden, she’s unbuttoning her shirt. Oh no, Betty, sweetie, where did your skirt go? Next thing you know, she’s wearing only black, lacy lingerie and heading over to the stripper pole. “Mad World” is still playing. She then performs a very uncomfortable, sort of lethargic striptease in front of everyone at the party, including her mother.

It is a sight from which human eyes may never recover. Calling it secondhand embarrassment doesn’t even begin to do justice to the feeling of horror that came from watching this performance. The writers of “Riverdale” along with whoever chose “Mad World” as the perfect stripping song for Betty are seriously sick.

Finally, it’s over, but for Jughead the problems are just beginning. Not only did he just have to watch his girlfriend strip in front of a room full of strangers, but now he finds out that his dad can’t retire from the Serpents after all. FP informs Jug that he found out about his little drug-delivering deal with Penny Peabody, and even though it breaks his heart that Jughead did the one thing FP told him not to do, FP decides to save his son and re-enter the Serpents, taking Jughead’s place. And to make things

worse, FP, who started off the episode as a sober man, took a shot right in front of Jughead as he was surrounded by fellow Serpents. Poor Juggy, accidentally ruining his dad’s life. Although to be fair, FP used to be a pretty awful father (remember, Jughead was basically homeless and living at the drivein, and then FP was an accessory in Jason Blossom’s murder), so it’s a little unclear why he’s guilt-tripping Jughead so much right now.

This all still makes Jughead feel like his involvement with the Serpents is bringing everyone around him down, so he ends things with Betty, explaining he doesn’t want to ruin her life too. (Hopefully no one got any video of her dance, otherwise her life may be ruined regardless.)

But that’s not all. Veronica and Archie cannot recover from this “I love you” situation, leading Veronica to tearfully leave Archie standing in a parking lot.

And so it seems like two relationships got the axe tonight. Kevin is going to lose it when he finds out at school.

The last moments of the episode, however, show Archie gazing out his window at Betty, seeing the girl next door “as if for the very first time.” Cue Taylor Swift’s “You Belong With Me” (2008). (Okay, that didn’t play, but it really would have been perfect. Someone get Archie some paper and a Sharpie.)

What a wild ride this week’s episode was. Wednesday is the winter finale, and hopefully big reveals regarding the Black Hood are on the way. If they keep up the crazy from this week and throw in just a bit of murder, this coming episode might be just enough to get us through the hiatus.

“Riverdale” airs on Wednesdays at 8 p.m. on The CW. Full episodes are available on cwtv.com and Netflix.

Monday, December 11, 2017 | Comics | THE TUFTS DAILY

tuftsdaily.com

Comics

LATE NIGHT AT THE DAILY Cathy: “Can we not put the push pins in my body.”

Comics

SUDOKU

Puzzle 1 (Easy, difficulty rating 0.43)

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GARFIELD

BY JIM DAVIS

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NON SEQUITUR

BY WILEY MILLER

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Difficulty Level: Producing a paper for the first time.

Generated by http://www.opensky.ca/sudoku on Mon Dec 11 00:17:12 2017 GMT. Enjoy!

Friday’s Solution

LINDA C. BLACK ASTROLOGY

Sagittarius (Nov. 22–Dec. 21)

Today is an 8. Get into a two-day party phase. Savor laughter, deliciousness and good times with friends. Community efforts flower and propagate.

Share and celebrate together.

CROSSWORD

Friday’s Solution

12 tuftsdaily.com

Opinion

Monday, December 11, 2017

EDITORIAL

Rethinking Tufts football In college, Mike Webster was the best center in the Big Ten. He was drafted in 1974 to the Pittsburgh Steelers, where he served as starting center for 150 straight games, bringing the team to four Super Bowl victories. At 260 pounds, “Iron Mike” was the toughest player on the field; he played bare-fisted in freezing weather and took injuries in stride.

At age 50, Webster died of a heart attack — homeless, divorced, and having suffered from dementia, amnesia, depression, and acute bone and muscle pain for years. After his death, he was diagnosed with chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), a neurodegenerative disease found in those who have had multiple head injuries. Webster’s doctors believed his disability was directly linked to multiple football-related head injuries, and they are continuing to diagnose a number of other former players with CTE. The autopsies led to an eventual lawsuit resulting in a multi-million dollar settlement by the NFL and a fierce nationwide debate on the unspoken risks of football.

The data is in, and the potential lifelong damage of football is becoming ever more apparent. Studies by researchers at Boston University have found evidence of CTE in 99 percent of former NFL players

studied (110 of 111 brains), including one who had never had a concussion, as well as 91 percent of college football athletes and 21 percent of high school players. CTE is characterized by tiny tangles of tau protein clustered around blood vessels; defective tau is associated with CTE as well as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease. While the study represents a biased sample, based on brains donated by families of individuals who likely showed potential signs of CTE, it is still a breakthrough in this area of study, demonstrating the inextricable link between football and brain damage.

A study from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill showed that 11 percent of former NFL players suffer from clinical depression, with a threefold risk in those with a history of three or four concussions.

Though Webster’s case is extreme — a result of years of tough professional football — young athletes are far from immune to lifelong brain damage.

A recent study in the medical journal Translational Psychiatry showed that kids who played football before age 12 were more than twice as likely to have impaired mood and behavior later in life. And in one of the Boston University studies, while the high school players studied showed mild symptoms, both the professional

and college players showed severe symptoms. Many high schools have dropped football due to well-founded worries about its effects on their players, and at the college level, even in the NESCAC, the hits are often even harder.

Though football is an American pastime, the most popular form of entertainment nationwide, is the harm it can cause to players worth the risk?

Tufts should say no. As a research university with a medical school and as a supposedly progressive institution, Tufts should join the movement to challenge football as it exists currently. With resources to de-stigmatize and cope with mental illness, it is imperative that Tufts also challenge the risks football poses to students’ mental health. Radically restructuring the football program and investing in resources to make the sport safer would send a strong message to other educational institutions that students’ health and safety is a priority.

Aside from their associated health risks, college football programs — especially at the non-Div. I level — are notoriously difficult to maintain. Universities such as Boston University, the University of Vermont and Northeastern University are a few schools who have dis-

banded their teams, some of whom cited financial strain. For most, the financial costs of upkeep for football teams far outweigh their potential revenue.

However, many schools have continually maintained and even added football programs in recent years in an effort to drive alumni donations and raise their profiles among prospective students. University officials also say football is a source of school pride, bringing the community together through games and homecoming events. But football isn’t the only way to achieve those goals; there are many other programs, such as the dance and theater programs, that could fulfill this role.

Tufts should critically examine the football program and work to make it safer. Simple steps like strengthening concussion protocols, continuing to work with partner institutions and eliminating kickoffs — a change that is already being discussed in the NFL — are necessary to ensure that our program is safe for students. If none of these avenues lead to risk reduction, Tufts should re-evaluate the place of its football team altogether.

As evidence mounts and debate kicks up, there’s a long road ahead for American football. But Tufts can be on the right side of history by taking a stand.

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 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 Executive Business Director.

Opinion

Monday, December 11, 2017 | Opinion | THE TUFTS DAILY

OP-ED

Palestinian thirst for dignity and justice

by Mohamed Nabil Bennaidja Dear Tufts colleague Mr. Benjamin Shapiro, First, I would like to publicly acknowledge your Op-Ed that was published in the Tufts Daily on Dec. 6, 2017, entitled “Fletcher Israel Trek: Promoting Diplomacy, Diversity and Accuracy,” in which you reacted and contested my own Op-Ed that was issued on the same newspaper on Nov. 15, 2017, under the title “Israel Academic Treks: single narrative at the service of occupation.”

Your op-ed is a valuable contribution to the ongoing discussion about the Israeli/ Arab-Palestinian conflict in our esteemed Tufts academic institution. I believe that it is vital to highlight first and foremost what unites us here as a Tufts community rather than what risks to divide us.

Second, as you can imagine, I have profound intellectual disagreements with your understanding of the historical episodes that contributed to the current situation in the Middle East. I will not accuse you that you have demonstrated a lack of understanding of the conflict as you stated regarding my thoughts and ideas.

Instead, I will do my best to explain why your perspective is inherently biased, desperately aligned with the 19th century European colonial project that culminated in the Zionist colonial conquest of Palestine and most importantly why your op-ed is just another mere propaganda campaign that prolongs one of the current democratically elected but nerveless terrorist, racist and criminal Israeli Government which through its policies and tactics represents an existential threat to our shared values of freedom of speech and academic freedom, self-determination and equality between all human beings regardless of their gender, religion, ethnicity, color or sexual orientation.

The Balfour Declaration and the U.S. extension to include Jerusalem, is rooted in a racist ideology. Israel is a European colonial settlement established by the British government and now sustained by imperialism and neo-colonial powers.

From the Babylonians to the Persians to the Romans, down to the Crusaders, the Ottomans and the British: Palestine has been ruled by successive empires, none of which have had any legitimate claim over the inhabitants of Palestine: Jews, Christians, Muslims and non-believers.

The supporters of the Zionist movement around the world have no legal or historic right to immigrate, confiscate and claim lands that belong to the only indigenous people of Palestine. Christians and Muslims, too, trace their archaeological

history to thousands of years ago in the selfsame Palestine. That does not entitle them to declare a Christian or Islamic republic in Palestine.

There is no country in the world which bases its identity on the replacement of the legitimate inhabitants of a land by another ethnic group that self-declared its absolute right to grab lands by force in denial of international law. Your claim that the Palestinians will never earn their freedom as long as they lack democratic representation is yet another illustration of the neo-colonial, neo-liberal narrative that brought chaos, destruction and radicalism to the Middle East and North Africa region in the name of democratization and human rights.

It is not up to you, nor to me or to the British or American leaders of yesterday, today or tomorrow, to decide the capital, borders or the system of governance of the people that live thousands of miles away from here and have never meddled into our interior affairs.

Palestine belongs to Palestinians, not to Muslims, Jews or Christians. In a democratic society, there is nothing called a Muslim, Jewish or a Christian state.

Regarding the alleged democratic, vigorous, equal and success story that you claim Israel has become, I have the regret to have to remind you of what you describe as Arab-Muslims in Israel are denied the right of return to their villages from where they were expelled.

The concept of community settlement is just one example of the same kind of segregation and apartheid that existed in South Africa. In these villages, non-Jewish Israeli citizens and particularly Arabs are denied the right to own a house or business. In East Jerusalem, since 1967, Palestinians are essentially stateless, stuck in legal limbo, as they are not citizens of Israel, nor are they citizens of Palestine.

Israel treats Palestinians in East Jerusalem as foreign immigrants who live there as a favor granted to them by the state and not by right, despite having been there before the arrival of the first Zionist. They are required to fulfill a certain set of requirements to maintain their residency status and live in constant fear of having their residency revoked or attacked by extremist settlers.

In occupied Palestine, even water is used as a tool of domination. Water consumption figures are telling: While Israelis have access to around 240 liters of water per person per day, and illegal settlers over 300, Palestinians in the West Bank are left with 73 liters — well below the World Health Organization’s minimum standard of 100. These cases of three different categories of native Palestinians living under

Israel discrimination policies will hopefully make you reconsider your assessment of the state of democracy in Israel.

It is unbelievable to blame, as you did, Palestinians for not living in an egalitarian society when even their movements from one village to another are left to the discretion of the daily mood of an occupation soldier.

Moreover, and despite these historical facts, Palestinians and Arabs remain committed to the peace of the brave.

The Arab peace initiative that was unanimously endorsed by all 22 Arab countries in 2002, remains, until today, a historic compromise that can achieve lasting peace and reconciliation in the region. The proposal assures Israel of normalizing relations with all Arab countries, in exchange for a full withdrawal from the Arab occupied territories, including East Jerusalem and a “just settlement” of the Palestinian refugee question. This peace initiative has, since its endorsement, been politically ignored by the successive Israeli governments and on the ground with more illegal settlements in occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem, an entire blockade of the Gaza Strip and reinforcement of the occupation of the Syrian Golan Heights. It is worth here, to mention the courageous words of late Palestinian President Yasser Arafat, who declared at the United Nations General Assembly tribune on Nov. 13, 1974: “Do not let the olive branch fall from my hand.”

Regarding Israel Academic Treks, your words such as Ramallah is the: “de facto capital of Palestine,” or you cannot think of a better place than Ramallah to achieve a vision of Palestine for Fletcher students, and “exposure to Palestinians,” have been the ultimate offenses. I would like to remind you again that it’s not up to you to decide anything regarding the brave people of Palestine. Thanks to your Op-Ed, Fletcher students know now better than any time in the past, from an Israel supporter, that claims of impartiality and balance in these programs are state of denial or hallucination and that the government of Israel is deliberately targeting them for the service of its well-documented agenda of occupation and domination.

Finally, I will end by a quote delivered by a leader, apparently, we both admire, Nelson Mandela: “No power in this earth can destroy the thirst for human dignity.”

Best regards, Mohamed Nabil Bennaidja Mohamed Nabil Bennaidja is a student at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy pursuing his masters in law and diplomacy. Mohamed can be reached at Mohamed.Bennaidja@tufts.edu.

Letter from the managing board The Daily has a proud history of speaking truth to power. Now in our last issue of the semester, we, the managing board, can only hope that we’ve upheld that legacy to the best of our ability.

The Daily talked to Anita Posadas, who had been injured on the job and mistreated by Cushman & Wakefield (C&W ) Services. Posadas bravely stood up and shared her story. Posadas shined a light on the mistreatment of workers, confirming many fears that facilities workers are treated as second-class members of Tufts’ community.

In an effort to keep up with the ever-changing face of journalism, we increased the number of stories that we broke online, rather than relying on a print schedule and following rules

to obtain a minimum number of stories. This was especially evident in the numerous community messages regarding Greek life sanctions this semester; rules can be a good thing but can also stifle creativity and timeliness. We can be lost in the monotony of production and miss the fact that a story should be visible before the next morning.

We also faced down an individual we never expected to, Anthony Scaramucci.

Most students don’t expect to spend their trip home for Thanksgiving reading a cease-and-desist letter from a lawyer retained by a former White House communications director, but after consulting with the Student Press Law Center and double-checking the facts,

we firmly stood by the words we published in voicing our support for a free press. From this experience, the biggest takeaways were a reminder that public figures, such as Scaramucci, cannot easily claim libel, and if you can clearly articulate your argument in why you published a piece, people will support your efforts.

We are not so arrogant as to believe that we didn’t make mistakes this semester, but in the case of the statements to which Scaramucci objected, we know ourselves to be in the right, and we will not quietly cease and desist as he wanted. We faced a gargantuan opponent whose checkbook could’ve easily buried us, but we refused to be buried.

13

Nesi Altaras Looking Out

S

Slavery

lavery still exists. The treatment of humans as property is not over. The world was reminded of this disgusting reality when a CNN video surfaced in November, showing a slave auction in Libya, a failed state in an on-again-off-again civil war. The sheer lawlessness of Libya allowed for slavery to go on in the open, with auctions we usually see in movies about the antebellum South. The footage is undeniable, and the value of life is so awfully low: The bidding for a person opens at $400.

The video of mostly West Africans being auctioned in Libya led to international outcry followed by a flurry of articles and protests. But there were warnings before November. Back in April 2017, the International Organization for Migration sounded the alarm on Libyan slave markets where kidnapped African migrants were being traded. The report received some coverage, but not to the extent of the video, nor did it cause similar outrage. Because people simply do not want to believe such a universally despised institution still exists.

We feel guilty for having done nothing while people are being sold off. So, we choose the easier option of ignoring ongoing slavery and pretending that it ended. Yet slavery becomes impossible to ignore when we see a human auction unfold on our phones and computer screens.

The news about Libya should not only lead to protesting Libya and bringing about an end to the disgusting slave trade there, but also as an opportunity to remind ourselves that slavery happens elsewhere, too. And it will continue to happen and fly under the radar if we do not talk about it.

Slave ownership was legal in Mauritania until 1981, and was not a criminal offense until 2007, though to this day only one person has been convicted. One to four percent of the population of Mauritania are slaves. In North Korea, which is number one in the prevalence index of the Global Slavery Index, slavery is practiced by the government.

The situation is particularly dire in the Gulf states. In the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Bahrain and Saudi Arabia, mostly South Asian slaves are exploited and abused. The cases range from domestic servants to construction workers. These countries of immense oil wealth trap migrants in slavery conditions through a system of employer sponsorship, the kafala system. It allows for people to be abused, traded and work in fatal conditions, like in building Qatar’s football stadiums for the 2022 World Cup. Thus, it is the pinnacle of hypocrisy for Al Jazeera articles to criticize the Libya video when Al Jazeera, a Qatari state-owned outlet, has never and will never print a word about slavery in Qatar, or elsewhere in the Gulf.

Almost a month after the Libyan auction video, slavery has not ended in Libya, or in the Gulf, or North Korea, or Mauritania, or anywhere else. The only way this will change is if we know and talk about the fact that slavery exists. Make the Libyan auction video the beginning, not the end, of a frank discussion around modern slavery.

Nesi Altaras is a junior majoring in international relations and economics. Nesi can be reached at nesi.altaras@tufts.edu.

14

THE TUFTS DAILY | Opinion | Monday, December 11, 2017

tuftsdaily.com

OP-ED

Unapologetically demanding a travel review process that is clear, sensible, fair

by Mariya Ilyas and Seher Vora The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy prides itself on breaking conventional assumptions and prejudices by exposing its students to diverse perspectives and experiences. When we learned that Fletcher offered only two spring break treks to foreign countries during our first year, we took it upon ourselves to initiate the first-ever Fletcher Pakistan Trek.

Since October 2016, a group of us worked hard to bring this idea to fruition. Our trek drew nearly 60 applicants, illustrating a strong desire by the Fletcher community to experience Pakistan through first-hand immersion. The arduous tasks of ensuring security, fundraising and organizing logistics did not deter us from our mission: to expose future leaders to a complex country and give them the opportunity to form their own opinions about it.

We strove to abide by all the available rules and guidelines, especially obtaining university travel approval. We were met with immense disappointment when, on Nov. 15 — just five weeks before our scheduled departure to Pakistan — we received a “Not Approved” decision. The status came as a total shock because four of the reasons cited were not previously mentioned in the “Provisional Approval” we had received just a week prior.

Through this op-ed, we would like to highlight how our experience of working with the Tufts International Travel Review Committee (ITRC) — the entity responsible for ensuring “students are adequately prepared” to travel to countries on the U.S. State Department Warning List — reveals an administrative process governed by ambiguous rules, perfunctory box-ticking and high subjectivity.

Process Needs Clarity Firstly, there is a lack of clarity on the rules and expectations to obtain travel approval. We completed separate appli-

cations to ITRC and ISOS, the premier security and medical evacuation firm with which Tufts has a contract. It’s odd that two organizations one would expect to be joined at the hip actually do not communicate with one another. Yet, despite the behind-the-scenes bureaucratic intricacies, we responded to every ITRC concern by modifying our itinerary and ensuring we fulfilled both standards.

The use of politics in the committee’s decision-making was also surprising and unexpected. One of the most outrageous reasons we received for the disapproval was decidedly political in nature: “Administration’s new South Asia strategy of friendliness towards India and harsher dealings with Pakistan.”

We find it difficult to accept that the current administration’s policies — in which we had no say — were used against us to diminish our efforts to launch this initiative.

Whether this was the main reason or not, it was an articulated reason nonetheless. The wording could even be interpreted as a bias against Pakistan and Pakistani students. This is a disturbing implication and has the potential to set a dangerous precedent against other Tufts students wishing to pursue treks in countries discussed in classrooms but rarely understood from alternate perspectives.

Recommendations Should be Sensible Secondly, beyond the unclear expectations, we are also concerned with the arbitrary nature of the approval process. In a meeting to discuss the Not Approved decision after Thanksgiving break — three weeks before the trek — the committee expressed that ground transportation was their biggest concern. We had changed our original plan of using a public bus to a private van arranged with the help of Fletcher alums at the Pakistani Embassy in Washington D.C. but this proposal was not enough to mitigate risk concerns per ITRC standards.

What ITRC suggested instead was jarring: traveling in armored vehicles through-

out our time in Islamabad and Lahore. The only company that could fulfill this request would not only charge us $82,000 but also did not have the “capacity to provide” enough vehicles for our group. However, after the suggesting this, ITRC concluded that “a caravan of armored vehicles would most certainly not reflect the recommendation to maintain a low profile.”

Doomed if we used armored vehicles, and doomed if we did not. This recommendation was ultimately impossible to fulfill — and, quite frankly, ridiculous. Proposing this lose-lose scenario makes us question whether the review process actually exists to serve student interests by providing further resources or sensible recommendations, or to just check off boxes.

Standards Should be Fair Lastly, while we fully respect the process’ goal of ensuring security, we are concerned by the lack of transparency in standards, decision-making criteria and parties involved with the committee. And while we acknowledge that every country faces unique challenges, the lack of base standards and fairness in risk assessment is concerning.

If a regional services officer at the State Department is consulted for one trek, the same standard should apply to all treks undergoing this process. If the review process is accelerated to meet one trek’s timeline, the same courtesy should be extended to all treks.

When we asked about best practices of other previously approved treks, we were informed that those decisions are confidential and made on a case-by-case basis. Adding insult to injury, we were told in an email to “move forward, rather than looking back on previous decisions.” The lack of transparency leads us to suspect that standards are not fairly applied across all treks going to places with comparable risks. If the opposite is true, we see no reason for secrecy.

Questioning Authority to Better Our Community ITRC’s decision was not only met with disappointment by trek leaders, participants, local contacts and the Tufts and Fletcher Pakistani alumni, but also caused our generous funders to withdraw their support. Our experience demonstrates that the trek approval process is like a house of cards, built on a weak foundation and functioning under highly dubious rules and assumptions. In order to recognize it as a legitimate entity that truly works with students to ensure their safety and security, there needs to be an overhaul of the entire process. Simply updating language on the website and on the one-pager provided to Fletcher trek organizers bypass the more critical issues: unfair standards, underlying biases and politicization of the decision-making process.

We call upon the ITRC to be transparent with its process and honest about its judging criteria, and to steer clear of using politics and proposing self-contradictory recommendations. We urge the Fletcher administration to show greater support of their students who are faced with insurmountable demands. Most importantly, we encourage our peers to join us in questioning the injustice of this process and participating in the ongoing dialogue to improve our community.

In the end, the Fletcher Pakistan Trek is an initiative led for students, by students.

It is a tremendous loss for The Fletcher School and serves as a cautionary tale to all Tufts students who aspire to lead a group trek to countries that are often studied and discussed at length from Western-centric lenses in university classrooms. Despite mainstream narratives of Pakistan, our peers were eager and excited to learn about the country first hand. That our trek was killed by an opaque bureaucratic process, institutional biases and political reasoning is highly regrettable.

Sports

Monday, December 11, 2017 | Sports | THE TUFTS DAILY

Organization and leadership prove vital for Tufts rugby CLUB RUGBY

continued from back teams like you before.’ We ended up beating them 65–3.”

The Jumbos’ tough mentality, discipline and skill all contributed to a successful inaugural season in Div. I. Even though their win percentage was .500, coach Thomas Clark notes that they could have played a much easier schedule.

“We didn’t schedule any soft games. We could’ve gone out and scheduled games we knew we could win,” Clark said. “As rugby players, you always want to play at the highest level, and I really give these guys credit because they chose to do that.”

So what made quirky Tufts such a contender on the rugby field? One thing that has certainly helped was its excellent team organization. Because of a smooth leadership transition process, the Jumbos have ensured that they can build on each prior season. Two years ago, then-President Nick Nasser (LA ’17) rewrote the team’s bylaws to ensure a smooth succession of presidents and vice presidents from year to year.

Now, the sophomore or junior vice president automatically becomes president the following year, ensuring the team does not lose steam the next season.

“I had the benefit of seeing both sides of leadership throughout my time here. One was unorganized, in my freshman year. There weren’t set rules, [and] we got into a little bit of trouble that came out of disorganized leadership,” Andersen said. “Now, you’re learning the ropes junior or sophomore year as a VP. When you step up as president, you already have a relationship with club sports, [and] you know the ins and outs, so you’re not starting from scratch every year.”

COURTESY GRIFFIN ANDERSEN

Tufts co-captains Jake Garrell (left) and Griffin Andersen (right) pose with the trophy after beating the University of Delaware by a score of 27 – 17 in the Liberty Bowl.

The team has greatly benefited from this new system. Since the president already has leadership experience, there is no “waiting time” for him to adapt to the new role, and the team can hit the ground running in the late summer, when conditioning begins. But the disciplined organization of the team does not stop with efficient presidential succession; Seidel also delegates roles to subordinates to help improve the team in multiple areas.

“What we’re trying to do on our team is have multiple people participate,” Seidel said. “We’re trying to have a head of recruitment, someone to lead our media and a head of philanthropy.”

First-year back Brendan Brennan was surprised at the discipline the leadership of the team displays. Brennan played football in high school, and he wanted to try something new in college. At first, he was unsure about how assimilating to a new sport would work — he had never even watched a rugby match before — but he soon realized the team was so well organized that it didn’t really matter.

“I think [the organization] makes it easy to come into the sport. It’s especially good because we have such organized practices.

Leadership really helps get the word out,” Brennan said. “Because many players are playing for the first time and every sport is different, you need that organized group of dudes to show you the rugby atmosphere and how to play the sport.”

The organization is not limited to the team’s functioning off the field: it is slowly becoming normal for the first-years’ captain — a sophomore who is responsible for the team’s first-year members — to turn into a backs or forwards captain the next season. As the first-years captain last year, Andersen attributes his success to studying under senior Jake Garrell, who is now the backs captain.

“I definitely benefited from [the succession process] because I was able to learn from my senior captain, Jake Garrell, last year and was able to look up to him and see how he led the team, stepped up and took control over practices and games and made decisions in high pressure times,” Andersen said.

“Seeing all that happening makes it easier to transition.”

Although the succession of leadership has led to the Jumbos’ success on and off the field, they still faced a number of challenges as a new Div. I program. Most glaring is their roster’s lack of depth. Most teams that Tufts competed against this season not only have an A side and a B side, like the Jumbos, but also a C side. Compared to Tufts’ roster of 43 players (including injuries), most other teams carry over 60. Furthermore, almost all of the players on the rugby team are playing rugby for the first time in their lives.

Meanwhile, other Div. I teams recruit players and even provide them with scholarships.

Because of the sport’s steep learning curve, the Jumbos have trouble bringing quality players off their bench. Clark cites this factor as the biggest reason for their three-game losing streak in the middle of the season.

“It was really just our team depth. We really just didn’t have the bodies and had some key injuries. We just didn’t have the depth chart to pull guys up,” Clark said. “We lost some continuity. In rugby, that’s really key, especially at this level.”

As a result, Seidel believes it is of utmost importance for the Jumbos to focus on recruitment in the offseason.

“Now that we’re a Div. I program, we need to expand. We need more bodies because we don’t want to put in players who are inexperienced or injured because it’s such a risk,” Seidel said. “We do our best to recruit. It’s really hard because a lot of ex-varsity athletes at Tufts don’t necessarily want to come play rugby. It’s seen as a step down.”

Andersen also talked about the necessity of recruiting and explained the lengths the team has gone to in order to increase its numbers.

“Now that we moved up to Div. I, recruiting is much more important. Jimmy Carney, head of recruiting, was spearheading the recruiting efforts [earlier in the fall].

We went to [the pre-orientation program] Fitness and Individual Development at Tufts and talked to a bunch of kids there.

On Matriculation Day, we handed out fliers for tryouts,” Andersen said. “We’re just working to get our numbers up. We’re competing against teams with 65 players, and we’re running with [fewer than] 40 once injuries start to pile up.”

Something that gives the Jumbos hope for team expansion and growth is their relationship with the Tufts club sports administration, and, more specifically, the Assistant Director of Club Sports and Intramurals Matt Callahan. Callahan, who took the position mid-October, has proven to be an invaluable resource for the Jumbos.

“Matt Callahan has been great for us,” Seidel said. “He seems like he’s really into helping us improve. He knows the system and has already targeted areas where he thinks he can improve club sports. He’s already turning that office around. I’ve met with him many times. We’ve had some team meetings with him where we’ve addressed our concerns, talking about increasing roster size. I think now that they have a fulltime director, things will run a lot more smoothly.”

The 2017 season was an experiment for Tufts rugby. The team knew it would be a huge step up from last year, and it rose to the challenge. While the Jumbos face difficulties as a smaller program, their excellent organization and leadership should only make them more successful in the years to come.

Jumbos look to continue winning streak into break MENS BASKETBALL

continued from back

The halftime adjustment was clear, as the Jumbos shifted their defensive scheme to a 2–3 zone in an effort to limit the Lions’ shooting, who converted at a 62.1 percent clip in the first half (18–29). Emerson was held scoreless through the first five minutes of the second half and only registered 25 points in the entire frame. The Jumbos’ zone forced the Lions into attempting 14 threes in the second half, of which they only converted three.

“They really struggled with our zone,” Lapham said. “When we are putting together stops, we are really tough to beat.”

The Lions shot 26.5 percent from the field in the second half and the

Jumbos went 16-for-32, led by a 23-point half from Pace. However, the Lions still held a 13-point lead deep into the second half. Once again, the Jumbos responded, pulling even on a Pace three-pointer with 90 seconds left that capped an 18–5 run. The defense continued its dominance, holding Emerson scoreless in the final three minutes as Tufts calmly finished off the comeback, turning the 67–67 tie into a 71–67 victory.

Pace’s heroics carried him to a 30-point outing. The Bridgewater, N.J. native is now averaging just shy of 19 points per game. Savage was the complementary scorer, putting up 19 of his own to go with seven rebounds.

Though happy about the win, the Jumbos weren’t too quick to give themselves any credit. Senior

quad-captain guard Ben Engvall, who has been sidelined this season with an ACL injury, noted the team’s room for improvement.

“These are games we should be winning, so it’s good that we are doing our job, but we are not always going to be able to come back like this,” Engvall said. “It has to be like the second half for the full 40 minutes.”

The Jumbos are nearing their winter-break trip to California, where they’ll look to maintain their winning momentum.

“Desperation kicked in a little bit for us,” Engvall said. “We know how good we can be, and we can’t afford too many more losses if we want to be in national tournament contention. We know what we have to do, and we know how to do it. We will be fine.”

15

Phillip Goldberg Bird's Eye View

Winter Olympics and the NBA on Christmas here is plenty to be excited about

T

this winter in the wonderful world of sports. The 2018 Winter Olympics in South Korea begins on Feb. 9. The NBA has scheduled a compelling series of games for Christmas day. With a host of changes coming to the Winter Olympics this year and an opportunity to take stock of the currently young NBA season, the end of the semester is the perfect time to preview these events.

The Winter Olympics is in Pyeongchang, South Korea this year, just 50 miles south of the demilitarized zone between North and South Korea. Considering how hot tensions have run recently, it is a fair question whether the North will decide to flex its military muscle at the international community and fire a missile over the event.

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) added four new events to the Winter Olympics this year, including Big Air in snowboarding, freestyle skiing, mass start in speedskating and mixed doubles in curling.

The IOC hopes these new additions will add value through their attractiveness for TV and youth appeal. Fans and athletes of snowboarding parallel slalom may disagree, as their event was dropped.

Of course, the big news in the run-up to the Olympics is the IOC banning Russia from participating for what the Schmid commission concluded was a “systematic manipulation of the anti-doping rules.” Both the country’s flag and national anthem are barred from the event, but Russian athletes can compete as “Olympic athletes from Russia.” For a state as prideful and focused on the Olympics as Russia is, this is a massive blow to nationalism. It’s also a major blow to the competitiveness of the games, as Russia is often a prime contender in ice hockey.

Olympic ice hockey will suffer this year from a lack of NHL players. The league decided not to accommodate players interested in representing their home states for a variety of reasons. Those include injury concerns, scheduling a multi-week break during the short overlap of the baseball and football offseasons, and the IOC deciding to no longer pay for NHL players’ participation. We will not see an NHL player in the 2022 Winter Olympics either, as the IOC ruled that NHL players’ participation in 2022 would be contingent on the leagues’ participation this year.

In the NBA, an overachieving New York Knicks (12–13) squad kicks off the Christmas Day schedule playing host to the rising Philadelphia 76ers (13–12). These two teams are battling it out for a playoff seed at the bottom of the Eastern Conference.

Beginning at 3 p.m., the Golden State Warriors (21–6) and Cleveland Cavaliers (19–8) will clash after meeting in each of the past three finals. They have also played on Christmas for two consecutive years, with the home team emerging victorious each time. This year, the Sunshine State gets home-court advantage.

The Boston Celtics (23–5) take on the Washington Wizards (14–12) next in a potential foreshadowing of a first round playoff matchup. So far this season, the Celtics have been buoyed by their excellent defense (97.5 opponent points against).

The Houston Rockets’ (20–4) match against the Oklahoma City Thunder (12–13) may not appear competitive on paper, but the talented Thunder have the potential to upset anyone. Finally, the Los Angeles Lakers (10–15) host the Minnesota Timberwolves (15–11), who have been a pleasant addition to the Western Conference’s top four seeds so far.

Phillip Goldberg is a sports editor at the Daily. He is a senior majoring in political science and can be reached at phillip. goldberg@tufts.edu.

16 tuftsdaily.com

Sports

Monday, December 11, 2017

Jumbos earn two midweek road wins

Sophomore guard Miles Bowser looks to pass in a 77-67 loss to Salem State at Cousens Gymnasium on Dec. 2.

by Onat Tarimcilar Staff Writer

After a 3–3 start, the Jumbos have started to steer their season in the right direction with three straight victories. Following a buzzer-beating three-pointer by senior quad-captain Vincent Pace against Brandeis last weekend, Tufts rattled off back-to-back mid-week road wins against Emerson and UMass-Boston.

Though both games show up equally in the win column, the Jumbos took very different routes to their eventual wins. While Tufts was forced to mount a major comeback against Emerson on Wednesday, Thursday’s game at UMassBoston required no such effort.

Both the Jumbos and the Beacons got off to slow starts on Thursday, with neither team converting a field goal until

Pace’s layup over four minutes into the first half. While Tufts’ offense then heated up, its defense locked down: UMassBoston shot just 12 percent from the field in the first half, converting only four field goals.

Tufts jumped out to a 29–1 advantage and took a 42–18 lead into the halftime break. No Jumbo scored double digits in the first half, as the team’s balanced attack shot 16–38 from the field.

Although the Jumbos’ defense established a lead they would not relinquish, senior quad-captain guard Thomas Lapham saw room for improvement.

“Our defensive intensity was great in the beginning of the game,” Lapham said. “Unfortunately, we got a little complacent. We have to be able to sustain that for the whole game.”

While the game ended with a score of 73–58, sophomore guard Miles Bowser

agreed that the continued lead contributed to late-game complacency.

“It’s hard not to get a little complacent with a lead that large,” Bowser said. “We were just focusing on our sets and trying to execute, but we all know we let our foot off the gas a little too much in the second half.”

The brightest spot of the day for Tufts was first-year center Luke Rogers’ play.

Rogers, who recently returned from injury, led the scoring effort with 14 points in just 10 minutes off the bench. The Boxborough, Mass. native shot six-of-seven from the field and was an integral part of an interior defensive effort that held UMass-Boston to only 14 points in the paint.

“It is great to have Luke back. He just gives us more mobility for our big men,” Lapham said. “[First-year center] Max Oppenheim has also been huge for us lately. They are going to keep getting

EDDIE SAMUELS / THE TUFTS DAILY

minutes, so we need them to keep playing big for us.”

Wednesday’s game against Emerson was Tufts’ greatest exhibition of resilience thus far in the young season. The Lions took a 16-point lead into the half, powered by the play of junior guard Geoffrey Gray, who put up 14 points and seven boards in the first frame. Fueled by Gray, the hosts broke the game open with a 16-3 run and established their double-digit lead.

“We just weren’t getting stops. Pretty simple. We missed a lot of defensive rotations, and they are a good team, so they hit their open shots,” Lapham said.

But the game was a tale of two halves, and the Jumbos dominated the second period.

With prolific scoring from Pace and sophomore guard Eric Savage, Tufts staged multiple runs during the second half, but it was the defense that turned the game around. see MENS BASKETBALL, page 15

Club rugby succeeds in inaugural Div. I season

by Arlo Moore-Bloom Assistant Sports Editor

When the Tufts club rugby team took to the field this fall, many outsiders didn’t expect the Jumbos to score a single point, let alone win a single match. It was their first season in Div. I, after all, and the teams the Jumbos faced throughout the season were better manned, had more experience and had more resources. Despite the adversity, the Jumbos posted a 4–4 season, proving to critics and themselves that they have a bright future in the highest level of collegiate rugby.

After reaching nationals last year, the team was given an invitation to join the Div. 1A Liberty League, and the opportunity was difficult to pass up. Senior and inside center Henry Seidel commented on the move up to Div. I. “I think it was honestly because we had the talent to do it. We had a really good season last year and had the players to do it, so we decided to step up to Div. I,” Seidel, the club president, said. “We kind of took the momentum of [last] season and said let’s build on that … and get up to Div. I.” But reaching nationals last year was no easy feat. In fact, it was unprecedented in

Tufts rugby history: Last season was the first time since the team’s inception in 1966 that the team made it to nationals.

“Making it to nationals last year was definitely unprecedented,” Seidel said. “I remember my freshman year, the captain said how we would make it to nationals, and I was like, ‘That is so far away.'”

The road to nationals last year was not to be overlooked. Tufts had to first win its Div. III league, as well as a host of elimination-style playoff games, and then go to Colorado, where nationals were held. Although the Jumbos ended up losing in the final, they were proud of an incredibly successful season.

This year proved to be much more difficult, as expected with the transition to a more competitive league. The Jumbos, though, rose to the occasion. Backs captain Griffin Andersen commented on the team’s mentality throughout the season.

“We played with a chip on our shoulder the entire season. We’re always the underdog.

People look at us like we’re a nerdy school,” Andersen, a junior, said. “We had a coach say, when we went on our run last year through nationals … ‘We’ve played nerdy see CLUB RUGBY, page 15