Thursday, March 9, 2017

SPORTS FEATURE

‘Voyage of the Sable Venus:’ Robin Coste Lewis reads powerful, personal poetry see ARTS&LIVING / PAGE 3

Pivoting from Div. I to Div. III, Garrett helps Jumbos’ postseason push

DeBari qualifies for Nationals at Final Chance Meet see SPORTS / PAGE 7

SEE SPORTS / BACK PAGE THE

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T HE T UFTS DAILY

VOLUME LXXIII, NUMBER 28

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Thursday, March 9, 2017

MEDFORD/SOMERVILLE, MASS.

Legalizing marijuana in Massachusetts: where local legislators stand

by Elie Levine

Assistant News Editor

Freeman to start as LGBT Center director

by Robert Katz News Editor

Last November, Massachusetts voters passed a ballot initiative legalizing recreational marijuana for people above the age of 21.

Now state legislators representing Medford and Somerville are determining how best to implement the voters’ will.

The Massachusetts Legislature has formed a Committee on Marijuana Policy, made up of members of the State Senate and House of Representatives. Senator Pat Jehlen of Medford and Somerville is the Senate chair of the committee and her vice chair is Senator Jason Lewis. “[The] joint committee, no pun intended … is going to hold public hearings on all the bills, and presumably make some see MARIJUANA, page 2

Disclaimer: Alison Kuah is a staff writer and former executive sports editor for the Daily. She was not involved in the writing of this article.

footprint in half. So you can … be [both] environmentally sensitive as well as save money.”

Warren also highlighted the fact that he balanced the city’s budget and that he built up $20 million in rainy day funds, despite having inherited a deficit when he entered office.

Throughout the talk, Warren described his experience as a two-term mayor who has worked hard to bring people together. He cited a dinner he hosted to which he invited three Trump supporters and three Clinton supporters to have an open discussion on city policy.

He added that he recently worked with Republicans to pass the Welcoming City Ordinance, which prohibits the city’s police from arresting or detaining someone solely because of the person’s immigration status.

In response to the Safe Communities Act, which would make Massachusetts a sanctuary state, Warren told the Daily in an email, “I think the Welcoming City compromise we came up with in Newton is a better model for what I want to see happen statewide.”

Warren ended the talk by stressing that Massachusetts needs leaders who are interested in the everyday lives of the people who are affected by the state’s policies.

“There is no reason why the state of Massachusetts can’t work with localities.

We have … to create guidelines and state legislation that will protect people who are being governed,” he said. “We can do that in Massachusetts. We can lead that. But we need

Hope Denese Freeman has been named the new director of the LGBT Center and will begin in that role on Monday. She will succeed former LGBT Center Director Nino Testa, who left the position in December 2016, according to an Nov. 2, 2016 Daily article. The position has been vacant since then.

Freeman previously worked for the Justice Resource Institute’s Boston Gay & Lesbian Adolescent Social Services for over six years as an outreach coordinator, youth development coordinator, community education coordinator and crisis and resource specialist. Before then, she received a Bachelor’s degree in Africana studies at Smith College, and she holds a Master of Science in management from Simmons College.

“For nearly a decade, Hope [Freeman] has committed her career to empowering and advocating on behalf of LGBTQ adults and youth, particularly LGBTQ youth of color,” an email to the Tufts community announcing her hire read. “Hope has an extensive array of experience ensuring youth are not only able to access quality and necessary care but are equipped with the tools needed to thrive, strive and succeed.”

Freeman said that LGBTQ advocacy in higher education has long been one of her career goals.

“I’ve always wanted to surround myself in kind of those environments where folks are challenging each other on different ideas,” Freeman said. “I think that we work better or learn better from each other if we’re around folks that have different ideas and different viewpoints and not just the same idea of what LGBTQ is supposed to look like. I could know from my own personal experience what it means to be an LGBTQ person, but that doesn’t mean it’s going to be the same experience for another person who may be younger or older than me.”

Freeman was selected by a “super search” committee tasked with filling vacant positions in both the LGBT Center and the Women’s Center, Dean of Student Affairs Mary Pat McMahon said. The committee was co-chaired by McMahon and Career Center Executive Director Gregory Victory. According to Victory, the committee conducted the search on a national scale.

see SETTI WARREN, page 2

see LGBT CENTER, page 2

PAUL HUDSON / FLICKR

The Massachusetts State House is pictured on Jan. 28, 2008.

Newton mayor, governor hopeful discusses his state policy vision Warren began the talk by describing his career.

After returning from military service in Iraq, Warren won his first mayoral election in Newton by only 461 votes in 2009, running against popular longtime State Representative SEOHYUN SHIM / THE TUFTS DAILY Ruth Balser.

Setti Warren, the mayor of Newton, gives a talk about his public life and “I made the his vision on state policy in the Terrace Room on March 7. decision to run

by Seohyun Shim because I felt very fortunate to have come Assistant News Editor home out of a war zone and contribute to my community. When I ran, it was the first elected Setti Warren, two-term mayor of Newton, office I had ever run for,” Warren said. “No one spoke about his experience and legacy as a said they thought I’d win. I mean, no one. I public servant and his goals for state policy at knocked on 11,000 doors.” an event on Tuesday night in Paige Hall.

He said his priority in his first term as While Warren, who is reportedly consid- mayor was to improve the city’s finances while ering a run for governor of Massachusetts not forgoing development of outdated infraas a Democrat, has not made an offi- structure. cial announcement, he told the Daily that he “[I] spent the first four years of my term plans to make the decision “within the next cleaning up the finances. We were transpartwo [to] three months.” ent. We worked with unions to put contracts The talk, which was hosted by Tufts in place that are sustainable,” he said. “I went Democrats and attended by approximately 80 really hard in reducing energy consumption. students was followed by a question-and-an- [Newton] is going to save $40 million over the swer session. next 20 years. We have cut [Newton’s] carbon

Please recycle this newspaper

Sunny 46 / 28

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2

THE TUFTS DAILY | News | Thursday, March 9, 2017

T HE T UFTS D AILY Kathleen Schmidt Editor-in-Chief

EDITORIAL

Jei-Jei Tan Miranda Willson Managing Editors Joe Walsh Executive News Editor Zachary Hertz News Editors Gil Jacobson Robert Katz Liam Knox Daniel Nelson Catherine Perloff Emma Steiner Hannah Uebele Ariel Barbeiri-Aghib Assistant News Editors Charles Bunnell Emily Burke Daniel Caron Aneurin Canham-Clyne Juliana Furgala Elie Levine Natasha Mayor Jesse Najarro Minna Trinh Costa Angelakis Executive Features Editor Becca Leibowitz Features Editors Jake Taber Emma Rosenthal Emma Damokosh Assistant Features Editors Zach Essig Elie Levine Jessie Newman Sean Ong Hermes Suen Grace Yuh Eran Sabaner Executive Arts Editor John Gallagher Arts Editors Cassidy Olsen John Fedak Assistant Arts Editors Libby Langsner Setenay Mufti Paige Spangenthal Anita Ramaswamy Executive Op-Ed Editor Stephen Dennison Cartoonists Shannon Geary Noah Kulak Lydia Ra Miranda Chavez Editorialists Julia Faxon Hannah Kahn Lena Novins-Montague Lanie Preston Madeleine Schwartz Daniel Weinstein Eddie Samuels Executive Sports Editor Yuan Jun Chee Sports Editors Maddie Payne Maclyn Senear Liam Finnegan Assistant Sports Editors Savannah Mastrangelo Brad Schussel Sam Weidner Sam Weitzman Ray Bernoff Executive Photo Editor Margot Day Staff Photographers Scott Fitchen Lilia Kang Max Lalanne Rachael Meyer Vintus Okwonko Zachary Sebek Alexis Serino Seohyun Shim Angelie Xiong Ezgi Yazici Sitong Zhang Ezgi Yazici Executive Video Editor Olivia Ireland Executive Video Admin.

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In rewrite of marijuana law, lawmakers representing Tufts attempt to balance voters’ intentions MARIJUANA

continued from page 1 kind of recommendation at the end of that process,” Representative Denise Provost of Somerville said.

Lewis has filed several bills this year attempting to alter the referendum and further restrict marijuana sales. In proposing the bills, Lewis said that he seeks to clarify the initial law and fill in gaps, according to an interview with WBUR. Lewis’ proposed reforms include limiting the types of marijuana products that can be sold and reducing the amount that people can possess in their homes. The bills also address driving while intoxicated and attempt to strengthen municipalities’ control of establishments that sell marijuana, according to the state legislature’s website.

Meanwhile, a bill filed by Provost on Jan. 20 makes a different set of suggestions. Entitled “An Act improving taxation and regulation of marijuana,” Provost’s bill proposes establishing marijuana farms and cannabis cafes, she noted. Provost said these cafes would be similar to such cafes in the Netherlands.

Her bill also introduces the concept of a “marijuana farmers market” and states that, while a municipality may decide to impose a daily fee on a farmers market, the fee should not exceed $100. Provost said she also affirms the rights of individuals to grow cannabis at home.

Provost’s bill would prohibit municipalities from passing ordinances that would impose

greater fees on marijuana users than those placed on violators of open container laws.

“This bill is an effort to affirm the essential rights … to consume and raise cannabis and to fill in some of the empty spaces of the bill … and also to enhance cannabis as an economic development activity,” Provost said.

Hearings happening during the Committee on Marijuana Policy’s legislating process will open the debate to the voices of voters, Jehlen told the Daily in an email.

“The committee will learn more about how to … structure and implement this law so that adults in Massachusetts have safe, legal access to recreational marijuana,” Jehlen said.

In contrast, Jim Borghesani, the leader of the Yes on 4 initiative, which encouraged people to vote to legalize marijuana on Nov. 8, is staunchly opposed to any rewriting of the law.

“The [ballot initiative] lays out a well-structured and well-regulated system. It requires no intervention whatsoever from legislators,” he told the Daily.

Jehlen said that her goal in implementing marijuana legalization is to provide a safe, legal system for recreational marijuana use and to regulate the black market that exposes Massachusetts residents to more potent drugs.

“In considering changes to the ballot initiative, I would have to be convinced that it would enhance or improve the implementation of the voters’ will,” she wrote.

Provost said that, though voters supported the general proposition to legalize marijuana, the nuts-and-bolts details of implementation

are the legislature’s responsibility.

“Voters were voicing general approval of the sentiment rather than adherence to every single detail of the ballot question, which was long and complicated,” Provost said. “But … in its broad-stroke features, [legalization] is what the voters intended and … that’s important.”

According to Representative Christine Barber of Medford and Somerville, the original intention of the ballot question was to regulate marijuana in the same way that alcohol is regulated. Barber added that a primary concern was marijuana usage among young people.

“We’ll look at some of the permissions on things like edibles that could be mass-marketed to use,” she said.

Barber noted that a major problem with law enforcement around marijuana is that it targets low-income neighborhoods and people of color who commit nonviolent crimes like possession, which creates a gateway to an unfair criminal justice system.

“Legalization is one way to try to level the playing field and make sure we’re not spending resources on some of those nonviolent crimes,” she said.

Ultimately, Barber said that legislators can make amendments to the law and still honor the voters’ will.

“The role of the legislature is to make sure that [legalization] is strong and well-crafted and sets a good example for states that have not yet legalized marijuana,” she said.

Amidst potential run for governor, Setti Warren discusses policy at Tufts Democrats event SETTI WARREN

continued from page 1 that kind of leadership. We need that kind of governor.”

To a student who pointed out that very few Democrats have been elected as Massachusetts governors in recent years, Warren explained that Republicans have traditionally held an advantage in gubernatorial elections because they suggest that they will put a check on the predominantly-Democratic legislature. Yet Warren argued that he is different from the past candidates from his party because he is an “outsider.”

Warren later told the Daily that he thinks finding common ground among people is the first step in the policy-making process, and

he hopes to use that approach if he were to become governor.

“We must reach out to those people and find that common ground and how we can community-build and solve these difficult problems,” Warren said. “We have got to be able to work with one another to change law.”

Benjamin Kaplan, president of Tufts Democrats and an intern on Warren’s political team, said he admires Warren’s legacy as the mayor of Newton and his eagerness to help constituents. “[Warren’s team] helps everyday people by going to where they are and creating policies that allow them to work for a better life,” Kaplan said. “I was really impressed with … what he said about his experience … how

he saved Newton from fiscal crisis without sacrificing important city programs that help everyday people.”

Tom Mahoney, a junior who attended the event, said he was impressed by Warren’s policy ideas and opinions on the future of the Democratic Party. He also said that should he become a Massachusetts resident, he would be willing to vote for Warren as the governor.

“Mayor Warren laid out a great vision for the future Democratic party. I thought he brought up really good points about just how to improve Massachusetts in general … he was very persuasive, very engaging, and I thought he did a really good job,” Mahoney said. “[Warren] said a lot of things I believe in … I would be willing to vote for him.”

Incoming LGBT Center director hopes to promote opportunities for advocacy LGBT CENTER

continued from page 1 “The [finalists for the LGBT Center] were one of the strongest pools of candidates I’ve ever seen in any search. [It was a] very hard decision,” McMahon said.

McMahon added that Freeman was chosen for her inclusive perspective regarding the LGBTQ community.

“Students in particular, but also staff and faculty colleagues, felt an immediate sort of connection to her,” McMahon said. “[They] felt she would bring an expertise and an understanding, particularly around intersectionality, around class, around race, around socioeconomic issues and emerging trends in supporting LGBT community members.”

Senior Alison Kuah, a member of the hiring committee, praised Freeman for her ability to connect with LGBTQ students of different backgrounds.

“What I’m most excited about is having a director at the LGBT Center who will be able to connect with so many students who may not have found themselves traditionally in the

LGBT Center,” Kuah said.

McMahon also cited Freeman’s work with LGBTQ youth in Massachusetts schools.

“Through working with LGBT youth, Hope [Freeman] has a lens that can help us think: How does the LGBT Center at Tufts also serve as a resource and community engagement partner for the city of Boston and Boston area and LGBT community members? Not just at the college level but as we think about ourselves as part of the emerging understanding of how to support different LGBT age groups,” McMahon said.

Freeman said that one of her goals is to explore how the LGBT Center could become a focal point for advocacy efforts by students interested in supporting LGBTQ communities beyond the Tufts campus.

“If we’re talking about federal institutions or private institutions, their climate is looking really scary for a lot of LGBTQ young people,” Freeman said. “We’re talking about the possibility of trans students’ rights being taken away, people not being respected, the possibility of same-sex

couples not being recognized as parents of their children. We’re talking about real world issues that could definitely be affecting folks inside of these universities. It’s my job to make sure that these folks feel like they are being active in supporting their communities.”

Nick Whitney, a graduate student and the current interim program coordinator for the LGBT Center, said that Freeman exceeded both his own and the administration’s criteria for a new director.

“I was looking for a director who had a deep and lived acknowledgment of how queer and trans education and advocacy work is never a single-issue thing but deeply intertwined with a multiplicity of other related movements towards justice and liberation,” Whitney said. “Beyond this and in light of this, we were looking for a director who had an immediate connection with and passion for students at Tufts, since this is the central role of the LGBT Center director … Hope [Freeman] fit these descriptions and many more.”

Thursday, March 9, 2017

ARTS&LIVING

Rebecca Redelmeier Tufts by Numbers

A non-profit named Tufts

T

his week, I Googled “is Tufts a non profit” and felt pretty ridiculous about my own ignorance.

Attending school here costs a lot, but understanding the financial information about this institution is rarely on students’ priority lists. I decided to take a step back from Tufts as a single campus and look at where our college fits into the category of college spending on a national scale.

My searches led me further, to data from the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) that records the revenues and expenses of post-secondary institutions in the United States. NCES breaks down institutional revenue data about postsecondary institutions into three categories: public, not-for-profit and for-profit, providing data from 2002 to 2014. This got me Googling, and Wikipedia, as always, answered. Tufts’ institutional title is that of a private, non-profit research university, which puts Tufts in the NCES category of private not-for-profit postsecondary institutions. (For postsecondary institutions, there is little distinction between non-profit and not-for-profit.)

With the data provided by NCES, we can model a trend line of overall revenue and expenses of not-for-profit postsecondary institutions between 2002 and 2014. The results are meaningful, even to a non-econ major like me. The revenue of private notfor-profit institutions like Tufts experienced rapid growth over this timespan. The total revenue increases almost every year, with the only significant drops occurring during 2009 and 2012, both of which were years of national financial crises. Even accounting for these drops, the revenues of not-for-profit postsecondary schools more than doubled during this decade.

I also took a look at the total expenses of private not-for-profit institutions over the same period. These climb steadily, yet much less rapidly than the revenue trends. In contrast to the revenue, which increased by 100 percent over the course of the data period, the total expenses increased by only 50 percent. This number is still significant, but its disparity with the revenue increase points out that, on a national scale, revenue for notfor-profit colleges has increased faster than expenses.

For good measure, I examined how Tufts tuition costs have also changed within the same timespan of 2002-2014. In 2002, the cost of a Tufts education (tuition, fees and room and board) was $36,465 according to a Nov. 22, 2002 Daily article. In 2014, that same number was $61,100 according to a Feb. 22, 2014 Boston.com article. That’s an increase of more than 50 percent.

So, what does this mean? Does this data discern anything about how Tufts’ spending may relate to the national trends of revenue and expenses, or does it just make finances even murkier? What we see is that colleges as a whole are widening the gap between what they make and what they spend — Tufts included. We also see that postsecondary institutions on a national scale have bumped up their stake in our economy. As these trends continue, I wonder what the economic weight of postsecondary institutions will mean for students who attend them.

Rebecca Redelmeier is a sophomore majoring in English. Rebecca can be reached at rebecca.redelmeier@tufts.edu.

3 tuftsdaily.com

Fury Sheron E For Everyone

READING COVERAGE

Robin Coste Lewis reads poems Pokémon Mystery from ‘Voyage of the Sable Venus’ Dungeon: Blue and at CHAT’s Poets Series Red Rescue Team

W

PENGUIN RANDOM HOUSE

Robin Coste Lewis read poems from her book ‘Voyage of the Sable Venus’ on March 6.

by Libby Langsner Assistant Art Editor

Robin Coste Lewis gave a reading this Monday as part of the Center for the Humanities At Tufts (CHAT)’s Poets Series. The event was co-sponsored by the Toupin-Bolwell Fund, the Dean of Arts and Sciences, the Diversity Fund, the Departments of English, Education and Drama and Dance, the Consortium of Studies in Race, Colonialism, and Diaspora and the Program in Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies. After the reading, Lewis held an extensive question-and-answer session.

The Poets Series seeks to bring contemporary American poets to campus, and Lewis is an amazing poet of many talents. She was a Goldwater Fellow in poetry while pursuing her Master of Fine Arts from New York University’s creative writing program. She then obtained a Master of Theological Studies in Sanskrit and comparative religious literature from the Harvard Divinity School. Her debut book of poetry, “Voyage of the Sable Venus” (2015), received the National Book Award

for Poetry and is also the dissertation for her Ph.D. in Creative Writing and Literature from the University of Southern California.

“Voyage of the Sable Venus” is a deeply complex book, as it combines Lewis’ creative writing talent with her expertise in the history of photography and visual studies.

In the prologue of a long narrative poem also titled “Voyage of the Sable Venus,” Lewis writes, “My intent was to explore and record not only the history of human thought, but also how normative and complicit artists, curators, art institutions, and art historians have all been participating in – if not creating – this history.” She refers to the horrific history of dehumanization and subjugation of black people, especially women, in the United States and the subsequent sanitization and erasure of slavery.

While exploring the history of human thought is a daunting challenge, “Voyage of the Sable Venus” works towards this goal with astounding skill and resonance.

However, Lewis’ accomplishment and recent fame were not the only factors that brought her to Tufts. see ROBIN COSTE LEWIS, page 4

COLUMN GRAPHIC

— Rebecca Redelmeier

hy should you play “Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Blue / Red Rescue Team” (2005)? Because it was the game that proved to the world that Pokémon is more than just a repetitive, random-number-generation-reliant cash cow. Mystery Dungeon showed us a beautiful and different perspective into the Pokémon world: an altruistic, mystical, deeply personal, story-rich experience entirely without humans.

After turning on the DS (Blue Rescue Team) or the Gameboy Advance (Red Rescue Team), the first thing the player is prompted to do is to take a random personality quiz, determining which Pokémon the in-game human protagonist will become. Such an interest in who the player really is instantly creates a more concrete connection with the protagonist’s avatar than Pokémon’s typical and rather alienating “Are you a boy or a girl?” Furthermore, in Mystery Dungeon, the protagonist’s avatar actually participates in dialogue with other Pokémon. This contributes to the shape of a determined, interesting character whose past and story must be revealed with the help and friendship of a partner Pokémon of the player’s choosing.

The duo decides to found one of many rescue teams that voluntarily risk themselves to save helpless Pokémon that have fallen victim to a sudden inexplicable surge of natural disasters.

Unlike typical Pokémon releases, which — no matter how you look at the changes between generations — are all the same at their core, Mystery Dungeon is a roguelike strategy game. “We’ve seen different mechanics in Pokémon spinoffs before,” you muse aloud, recalling fondly your experiences with Pokémon Pinball, Pokémon GO and possibly even Pokémon Ranger. What makes Mystery Dungeon so special? Well, since the player is an actual Pokémon, it’s a much more engaging and personal risk in the combat against more complex AI. One of my favorite features is that each Pokémon has a default attack with no type that inflicts damage based on level. Additionally, the bold and adventurous yet somehow quaint and endearing songs found exclusively in Mystery Dungeon remind the player of the complete departure from what they thought was the normal world of Pokémon.

The Pokémon series’ catchphrase has always been “Gotta catch ‘em all,” and Mystery Dungeon is no exception. But again, there’s just a little spin on this aspect that changes the game’s entire tone. Pokémon aren’t simply used by the player, some superior being, to help achieve their goal. Rather, they join the player’s team entirely of their own volition to help contribute to the cause.

Sometimes, defeated Pokémon don’t offer to join the team at all, and the player has to keep fighting to earn their respect. The plot’s message is one of togetherness; it warns of the dangers of pitting communities against groups labeled as “other,” a timeless message especially applicable today and very impressive for a Pokémon game.

If you don’t want to emulate the games on your computer, you can buy old copies of Red and Blue Rescue Team legally online off various sites like eBay and Hobby Chimp (prices range from $19.99 to $197.70).

Fury Sheron is a junior majoring in Japanese. Fury can be reached at lahna. sheron@tufts.edu.

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THE TUFTS DAILY | Arts & Living | Thursday, March 9, 2017

tuftsdaily.com

Lewis traces black history in ‘Voyage of the Sable Venus’ ROBIN COSTE LEWIS

continued from page 3 In an interview with the Daily, English Professor of the Practice Natalie Shapero said that she and Lisa Lowe, director of CHAT and fellow English professor, wanted to bring in a writer for the Poets Series who would appeal to students who focused on literature as well as students interested in other fields such as art history, Africana studies and classics.

“I had read Robin [Coste Lewis’] book and was so taken with the poems and how they incorporate such a vast range of disciplines,” Shapero said. “I had also seen Robin read before, and I found her to be a fantastic reader who was frank and generous in her engagement with students.”

Lewis also has a personal connection to Tufts. She explained that when in college, she “fell magically in love” with the daughter of Mohammed Alwan. Formerly a senior lecturer of Arabic at Tufts, Alwan shares Lewis’ love of poetry and was one of the first people to translate Langston Hughes’ poetry into Arabic. Alwan attended the reading, and Lewis dedicated the first poem of the night, “Second Line,” to him. “Second Line” is about Lewis’ own father, and she explained the influence Alwan had on her life and poetry, and how she saw him as a second father.

After “Second Line,” Lewis read poems that centered on the theme of motherhood, including “Mother Church: Day 3,” a poem from a series that she wrote for her son’s second birthday. Each poem from the Mother Church series drew on several different forms of architecture.

For example, “Mother Church: Day 3″ was inspired by Kin Kletso, part of the Anasazi ruins in Chaco Canyon in New Mexico.

Lewis also read “On the Road to Sri Bhuvaneshwari,” a 10-minute poem that encapsulated many of the elements she had touched on earlier in the evening. The poem was, in many ways, about motherhood and how it shapes one’s view of the world. Bhuvaneshwari is the name of a town in India as well as the sovereign queen of the universe in Hinduism.

In the poem, Lewis recalls an experience she had in India where she saw a water buffalo give birth to a stillborn calf: “The calf is born dead. A folded and wet black nothing. / It falls out of its mother – still – onto the ground.” A group of men calms the hysterical water buffalo, as “She must turn around and see / what has happened to her, or she will go mad.” Then, “She lowers her face into it – into the black / slick dead thing folded into the ground.”

In the poem’s final stanzas, Lewis applies the water buffalo’s narrative to herself: “I have to go back / to that wet black thing / dead in the road. I have to turn around. / I have to put my face in it.”

These lines encapsulate what “Voyage of the Sable Venus” begins to do. Lewis traces the history of her own ancestry and the horrendous history of black Americans as well as how they have been depicted visually, and she puts her face in it.

Lewis explained that after a nearly fatal accident that left her with permanent brain damage, she returned to her studies and gained a deeper understanding of poetry and knowledge. In her life as well as her poetry, Lewis most certainly is unafraid to delve where others have not.

As she says in one of the last lines of “On the Road to Sri Bhuvaneshwari,” “I would not have it any other way.”

for the 2017 - 2018 academic year!

Campus Center Managers Event Staff Managers Office Assistants Information Booth Attendants Event Staff

*work study not required

ocl@tufts.edu Office for Campus Life 617.627.3212

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Thursday, March 9, 2017 | Comics | THE TUFTS DAILY

tuftsdaily.com

Comics

LATE NIGHT AT THE DAILY Anita: “I hope to never be called ‘interesting’ by Jei-Jei.”

Comics

SUDOKU

GARFIELD

Difficulty Level: Living off Tower Cafe food, while studying for the day at Tisch.

NON SEQUITUR

BY JIM DAVIS

BY WILEY MILLER

Wednesday’s Solution

FOR RELEASE MARCH 9, 2017

Los Angeles Times Daily Crossword Puzzle Edited by Rich Norris and Joyce Lewis CROSSWORD ACROSS 1 Fish feature 5 Sporty sunroof 9 Impressionist’s métier 14 Mount between Pelion and Olympus 15 Bat mitzvah dance 16 “__ Theme”: “Doctor Zhivago” song 17 Done in a comprehensive plan?

20 Primed 21 Duffers’ dreams 22 Gamer’s game face 23 Criticize harshly 24 Emailed a dupe to 25 Darth, before he turned to the Dark Side 28 Postgrad challenge 32 Quarrel 33 Pit-__: heart sound 34 Target of annual shots 35 Tied up in a government program?

39 Useful Scrabble tile 40 Fairy tale heavy 41 Suez Canal ship 42 IBM’s chessplaying computer 45 To a greater degree 46 Singer India.__ 47 Word with candy or sugar 48 Book with tablets 51 Candle holder 52 The White Stripes, e.g.

55 Out in a classic sports car?

58 Veil material 59 Bolivia neighbor 60 “It follows that ... ” 61 Lid woes 62 Intervene, with “in” 63 Some game

By Roland Huget

DOWN 1 Scads 2 Part of a chain 3 Atty.-to-be’s hurdle 4 System of connected PCs 5 Lockup, in slang 6 Carved symbol 7 “Warcraft” killers 8 Kung __ chicken 9 British school test 10 Annual Macy’s tradition 11 Q.E.D. word 12 Indian music style 13 North Sea feeder 18 Tigers Hall of Famer Al 19 Move out 23 1% alternative 24 Have a jones for 25 Like football passes 26 “Scrubs” extra 27 Herbal flavor similar to licorice 28 __ citato: in the work cited 29 Case for Scully 30 Leafy healers

3/9/17

Wednesday’s Solution Wednesday’s Puzzle Solved

©2017 Tribune Content Agency, LLC

31 Canadian Alice with a Nobel Prize 33 Tell it to the judge 36 Refinement 37 Lunchtime tryst 38 Run out of gas 43 Get the canoe going 44 Savages 45 Bury the hatchet 47 Tight-knit group 48 Young newts

3/9/17

49 Cross off 50 Alternative to de Gaulle 51 Tech news site 52 Desperate 53 Sugar craving, say 54 Wrinkled-nose cause 56 Co. with brown trucks 57 Place to plant

6 tuftsdaily.com

Anna Tolette The Elephant in the Room

Success is a social construct

S

ometimes I feel like this column consists of me having an existential crisis for everyone to read about on Thursdays. I kind of shout my tidbits of information into the void and hope that they stick with someone, so here is my weekly shout into the void.

At times when I am sad with all my books spread around me haphazardly, I think about what is actually chaining me to the table that I’ve been stuck at for the past six hours. If I’ve learned anything at all from my hours of sociology classes, it’s that everything, and I mean everything, is a social construct.

Why I spent the whole day in a cubicle rather than taking advantage of the sunny day at Tufts University is simply a social construct. I know I am not alone in thinking that life would be easier if I just gave it all up and made ends meet as a ski liftee at a mountain in Colorado or a bartender at a little beach shack in Hawaii. If my goal in life were simply to be happy, I would spend my time drinking tea, petting dogs and listening to music. If I were to be completely happy, I would rid myself of the pressures of exams and responsibilities weighing on me in an instant. However, there exists a certain level of expected fulfillment that comes along with being a member of the select group that attends an elite university.

The concept of success is a big topic to take a definitive stance on in only 540 words. If in a perfect world everyone is happy and successful, why is it that we so often sacrifice our happiness for the achievements that society holds in high regard?

Tufts students have set high standards for themselves their whole lives. It’s how we got into this school in the first place, and it’s the reason that we manically search for internships and networking opportunities. The way I see it, that panicky “I’m not doing enough” feeling is not going to stop when we get through our four years here. I don’t expect it to because it happens to be part of who I am, but I am genuinely okay with it.

Rationally, I know that if I don’t have a summer internship in the next month or so, it won’t be the downfall of my budding career. I know that as a fact, but I still can’t seem to believe it because when it comes to success, rationality is often pushed to the side.

I won’t be hypocritical and say that I am going to renounce society and drop out of school to drink tea in the name of my own personal happiness. Rather, I can make decisions that help me foster my interests and be more engaged with those around me. Ever the optimist, I find myself increasingly able to do this in addition to keeping my eyes on the horizon with regards to my personal expectations for myself. It becomes a matter of taking that ambition, putting it in perspective and saying to yourself that you are, in fact, doing enough.

Anna Tolette is sophomore majoring in film and media studies. Anna can be reached at anna.tolette@tufts.edu.

Opinion

Thursday, March 9, 2017

EDITORIAL

Tufts should prioritize improvements to SMFA shuttle Tufts’ shuttles have a notorious reputation. The bus that transports students to and from Davis Square, known as the ‘Joey,’ has been mocked and memed for being slow and infamously late. However, it’s really the School of the Museum of Fine Arts (SMFA)/ New England Conservatory (NEC) shuttle that deserves the attention. While the Joey is widely used, it is possible for many people to get to Davis from the Tufts Medford/Somerville campus on foot, whereas the SMFA/NEC shuttle is the primary mode of transportation for dual-degree students looking to make the six-mile journey from Medford to the Fenway to attend class. Leaving these students without a free, frequent and at least somewhat comfortable mode of transportation is putting an unnecessary hurdle in front of students.

To the administration’s credit, there have been some improvements to the SMFA/NEC shuttle. A Sept. 7,

2015 Daily article reported that Tufts switched from its previous contractor, Joseph’s Limousine & Transportation, to A & A Metro Transportation. Since then, some SMFA dual-degree students have noticed a more consistent schedule and are able to arrive to most of their classes on time.

However, these changes do not suffice. According to a March 3 Daily article, the shuttles are still overcrowded, with some students even sitting on the floor for the duration of the ride into Boston. This is further complicated by the students bringing canvases and other supplies on the shuttle, oftentimes a necessity for art students.

Additionally, many students are unhappy with the SMFA/NEC shuttle’s infrequency. With the intervals of its scheduled trips being much longer than those of the Davis Square Joey, the SMFA/NEC shuttle leaves many students to take public transportation or an Uber in order to arrive

reasonably on time to their classes.

Is a tardy, cramped shuttle the worst thing in the world? Of course not, and the dual-degree students are the first to acknowledge that. But the bottom line is that this is how these students get to school. Students who may already be faced with sky-high tuition should not have to resort to paying out-of-pocket just to get to their classes because of an ineffective shuttle system.

This is not an institutionalized problem that would take a long time to fix.

This issue should not require a forum or a panel. All we need is some funding and proactivity on the part of the administration to give dual-degree students the reliable transportation that is so fundamental to their educational access. If the administration seeks to provide a positive and equitable learning environment, it must ensure that the SMFA/NEC shuttle system works well for everyone who needs it.

MAKING CARM TASTE GOOD

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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.

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Thursday, March 9, 2017 | Sports | THE TUFTS DAILY

Sports WOMEN'S TRACK AND FIELD

Jumbos to send Bowman, DeBari to nationals

by Sam Weidner

Assistant Sports Editor

Junior Annalisa DeBari punched her ticket to the NCAA Div. III Indoor Championships over the weekend as she ran a personal record of 8.85 seconds in the 60-meter hurdles at the Tufts Final Qualifying meet. The time improvement of 0.21 seconds was enough to boost her from No. 36 in the nation heading into the meet to No. 8 heading into this weekend. DeBari joins her teammate junior Brittany Bowman, ranked No. 13 in the 5,000-meter, as the only two Tufts representatives who will be heading to nationals in Naperville, Ill. The distance medley relay team looked to be on pace to break the 12:00 mark, which would have put them in a great position to potentially qualify for nationals as well. However, after a great opening 1,200-meter leg by senior quad-captain mid-distance runner Sam Cox, fellow senior quad-captain sprinter/hurdler Rita Donohoe had started strong in her 400-meter leg when unfortunately she tripped and fell down hard on the track. Donohoe suffered a broken nose and a slight concussion. Coach Kristen Morwick decided to pull the Tufts relay from the race following Donohoe’s fall, thinking that giving Bowman more rest was more important than finishing the race.

Now, the focus of the coaches and the team has shifted to preparing Bowman and DeBari for their races at nationals, where both will be competing for the first time. Bowman explained how her and DeBari’s training will be much more focused with time for rest this week in order to get them in the best possible shape before this weekend.

“For [me and DeBari], it’s definitely a recovering rest week, I’ve decreased my mileage and my workouts aren’t as intense. In fact, I only have one workout this week, and I’ll just be practicing my 5k pace. So it won’t be anything taxing.”

Bowman said. “A lot of it this week is just

RAY BERNOFF / THE TUFTS DAILY

First-year Gia Kim competes in the second 4000m DMR heat at the New England Division III Indoor Championship at MIT’s Johnson Athletic Center on Feb 18. mental because after all the work we’ve done for the past few months, it’s all mental now.”

Bowman competed in a national championship meet during the cross country season, and she believes that experience will help her determine a good strategy for the weekend.

“I think that it will help me having experienced cross country nationals because while I’ve never run an indoor race for nationals, I’m guessing people will just be running it for place, people won’t be concerned about their times.”

Bowman said. “When people are running for place, the easiest way to run is to run behind someone … I’m hoping there will be a nice pack that I’ll be able to be in the midst of and let them do the work for the first couple miles. Then the hope would be that I would make a move in the last mile of the race.”

Both runners will be looking to break into the top eight in their respective events to earn All-American honors. Morwick described the team’s hopes for the runners and the importance that they treat this

meet the same as any other they have run.

“For this weekend, we are hoping [Bowman] and [DeBari] can do what they did to qualify,” Morwick said. “If they do that, they have a great shot at top eight/All-American. We are trying to keep this week as normal as possible and just remind our athletes that it’s just another meet, and they do not need to be superhuman to be successful.”

Tufts sent three runners to this race last year, with one competing in the 60-meter hurdles, one competing in the 60-meter sprint and one competing in the mile run. Tufts captains Sydney Smith (LA ’16) and Alexis Harrison (LA ’16) both qualified for the finals of their events in the mile and 60-meter sprint respectively, while captain Marilyn Allen (LA ’16) missed qualifying for finals by 0.03 seconds. Harrison went on to take second overall in the 60-meters and Smith took eighth place in the mile.

The Jumbos this year hope to repeat that success and will kick things off with DeBari running in the 60-meter hurdles prelim on Friday.

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7

Vinny Donofrio Vinny's Variety Pack

Free Agency finale

W

ell, this is it. Free Agency will have opened up by the time this is published, so this will be my last article on the topic. Things have been crazy so far, and they’re only gonna get more hectic. I’ve decided to finish up with wide receivers because non-avid fans really only care about the big names. No time for further introduction, let’s get into it.

DeSean Jackson, WR, Washington Possible Teams: Eagles, Patriots, Buccaneers, Panthers Philly: Is a possible reunion in order?

Probably not, but the Eagles desperately need a WR1 for Carson Wentz, so don’t rule this out.

New England: Belichick loves getting one guy who can stretch the field with vertical speed for Touchdown Tommy. Last year, Chris Hogan was the hero. Could DeSean be the next guy, or is he asking for too much money?

Tampa Bay: With Vincent Jackson gone, the Bucs are paper thin at wide receiver after Mike Evans. DeSean could be the guy to stretch the field and elevate the Bucs’ passing game to the next level.

Carolina: The Panthers love giving Cam a chance to show off his arm. Ted Ginn is old and has been inconsistent. Why not get someone who combines Ginn’s speed with Steve Smith Sr.’s personality?

Alshon Jeffery, WR, Chicago Bears Possible Teams: Eagles, Titans, 49ers Philly: I’m gonna put them down for any WR I talk about so no more descriptions after this.

San Francisco: The 49ers are reportedly making a play for the wideout, but, according to ESPN, Jeffery has said he’s “looking at the teams that … put me in the best situation to win a championship right now.”

Sorry San Fran, this isn’t you.

Tennessee: The Titans need a bona fide WR1 if they want to take their game to the next level. Jeffery is the guy. Right now, it’s rumored that the Titans may trade for Saints speedster Brandin Cooks, but if that falls through, I expect Jeffery will be wearing blue in 2017.

Terrelle Pryor, WR, Cleveland Browns Possible Teams: Eagles, Titans, 49ers, Rams Philly: You know.

San Francisco: Even though the 49ers just signed WR Jeremy Kerley for a 3-year deal, they are still lacking at WR… and everywhere else tbh. Why not jump from one basement to another, Terelle?

Tenenssee: Hey, if all else fails, why not settle for Pryor?

Los Angeles: The Rams will likely be losing Kenny Britt, which leaves a large opening for a talented receiver. Announcers could be saying “Goff to Pryor” often in 2017.

Brandon Marshall, WR, New York Jets Possible Teams: Patriots, Giants, Eagles, Ravens Patriots: Signing a veteran Hall-of-Famer to tag team with Tom Brady is something we’ve seen before out of Belichick.

Giants: Apparently, Marshall updated his Insta photo to a 2007-2008 Super Bowl Celebration photo… What? We shouldn’t sign him, but I have to toss it out there.

(Editor’s note: The Giants reportedly signed Marshall to a 2-year, $12 million contract on Thursday.)

Philly: …

Ravens: Here’s a team I haven’t mentioned once so far. Jon Harbaugh does not have a reputation for signing big free agency names — save Eric Weddle last season — but it has been rumored that the Ravens may be kicking the tires on Marshall.

Vinny Donofrio is a senior majoring in clinical psychology. Vinny can be reached at vincent.donofrio@tufts.edu.

8 tuftsdaily.com

Sports

Thursday, March 9, 2017

From Seattle to Somerville: KJ Garrett’s journey to brown and blue

by Maddie Payne Sports Editor

After finishing high school in Los Angeles, Calif., junior KJ Garrett went to the University of Washington to play Div. I men’s basketball for the Huskies (9-21). After two years of frustration, however, he decided to transfer across the country.

Garrett’s transfer was not just one from the University of Washington to Tufts, but one from the packed practice schedule of a Div. I athlete to the balancing act of schoolwork and workouts that comes with Div. III. Garrett was born in London on Dec. 28, 1995. His family was living abroad at the time due to the career demands of his basketball-playing father. After attending the University of New Mexico, Tim Garrett was drafted in the sixth round of the 1984 NBA draft by the Washington Bullets (now the Wizards), and he spent the next 13 years playing basketball domestically in the now-defunct Continental Basketball Association and abroad for various European clubs.

Following Tim’s retirement in 1999, threeyear-old KJ, his parents and his sister moved to Los Angeles, where they have lived ever since.

“I’ve played since day one,” Garrett said.

“Since I’ve been out of the womb, I’ve had a little basketball in my hand.”

Garrett attended high school in Manhattan Beach, Calif. for three years before transferring to Rolling Hills Prep. When it came time to choose a college, Garrett traded the chance to attend competitive private colleges on the east coast for that shot at the University of Washington, a school with 31,000 undergrads, to play Div. I basketball.

“I had been looking at a bunch of Ivy League and NESCAC schools, but there was an opportunity as a walk-on at UW. That’s actual [Div. I] basketball, and kids get drafted to the NBA all the time. I wanted that shot,” Garrett said.

Once in Seattle, he successfully walked onto the team as a true-freshman, an impressive achievement in itself. Subsequently, his priorities became clearly defined: basketball first, school later. Every other week, he would miss half his classes traveling for games. On

several occasions, he even traveled to China and the Bahamas for tournaments while his non-athlete friends were all still in class.

The effort expended did not result in the desired outcome of more playing time, however. Garrett was competing against five-star recruits for playing time, and as a walk-on, he got frustrated with the amount of time he spent on the bench. Garrett appeared in just seven contests during his sophomore season, averaging a meager 1.9 minutes per game.

“I wasn’t developing as a human,” Garrett said. “I was sitting on the end of the bench, working hard in practice, not having a lot of fun. It was not a lot of reward in return for the effort that I was putting in. I was not seeing myself grow on and off the court.”

After two years of hard work and limited reward, Garrett knew it was time to start looking elsewhere. He had poured his entire life into basketball and was hindering his academics as a result. It was time to make a change. In the spring of 2016, he contacted his high school coach, who began reaching out on his behalf to members of the NESCAC and other small liberal arts schools that he had originally been in contact with in high school.

Intent on studying business, Garrett’s top pick at the time was Babson; however, other schools like Hamilton and Tufts had both demonstrated interest.

Upon making visits to various colleges, it quickly became clear to him that he wanted to go to a school near a city, and the choice became between Babson and Tufts. Garrett visited both colleges over the same weekend with his mom. On Friday, he scrimmaged at Babson with the team and met the coach, Stephen Brennan.

That night, he went back to his hotel with his mom.

Saturday was a different story. He played at Tufts, playing better than he had the day before, and he bonded with both the coach and the team.

“I told him he could go to Babson because they had his exact major,” Tufts coach Bob Sheldon said. “He could go there and major in business and get a decent job, or he could come to Tufts and be that guy’s boss.”

ZACH SEBEK / THE TUFTS DAILY

Junior KJ Garrett dunks in the game against Wesleyan on Jan. 20.

That night, he went out with the Tufts players, and he was sold.

Garrett spent his summer trimester filling out the Common Application as a transfer student, doing homework and enjoying the Seattle spring knowing that he would soon be leaving it all behind.

Div. III Tufts (22-6) is a far cry from Div. I Washington. In recent years, the latter institution has proven itself as a locus of talented prospects. Currently, eight Huskies are members of NBA rosters, including two-time NBA All-Star guard Isaiah Thomas, 2015 NBA champion guard Justin Holiday and power forward Marquese Chriss, the eighth overall pick in the 2016 NBA draft. Four of the eight NBA Slam Dunk Contests staged between 2006 to 2013 were won by Washington alumni — thrice by guard Nate Robinson and once by swingman Terrence Ross.

Garrett enrolled in Tufts in the fall of 2016 as an economics major. He has made a significant impact on the basketball team, often spurring game-winning runs with dunks reminiscent of those performed by Robinson and Ross. Garrett also demonstrated his versatility when called upon to serve as an undersized center while senior tri-captain center Tom Palleschi was out with a dislocated knee cap.

“He’s a high-energy guy.

He is skilled enough that he could be a starter, but we like what he gives us off the bench,” said Sheldon.

“He’s going to play the same amount whether he starts or not, but we like when he comes into the game and gives us a boost.

I wish we had him for all ANGELIE XIONG / THE TUFTS DAILY four years.”

KJ Garrett, a junior, looks for a shot during the game against Williams College on Feb. 10.

Garrett has played in every game so far this sea-

son, and he is the second most reliable shooter on the team, shooting 55 percent from the field. On top of being a steady force off the bench, he has also scored 10 points or more 11 times so far this season, recording a season-high of 23 points against Pine Manor (16-10) on Feb. 7.

Junior guard Reed Thomas-McLean remembered when Garrett’s individual contribution spurred the Jumbos to a key conference victory.

“He brings good energy to our team,” said Thomas-McLean. “When we were struggling against Hamilton, he had two dunks on back-to-back possessions which really fueled our winning run, and is the reason we won the game.”

Garrett recorded 19 points in the game, to go with four rebounds.

At UW, basketball took up over five hours a day during non-game days and almost 10 hours a day on game days.

“You cannot major in some things.

I would have had to take classes at night or skip practice, but no one ever skipped practice,” Garrett said. “You had to be there, [even] if you were sick or dying.”

After arriving at Tufts, Garrett has already seen a huge leap in his grades while spending around half as much time on basketball. He has discovered a passion for East Asian culture classes and is currently enrolled in Foundations of Chinese Thought with Assistant Professor of Chinese Ning Ma. In lieu of a business degree, Garrett, intent on being his own boss one day, is also pursuing an entrepreneurial leadership studies minor along with his economics major.

While it is unlikely at this point that Garrett will go on to fulfill his old dream of playing professional basketwball, his time at Tufts has allowed him to explore opportunities outside of basketball.

“I was [in an] athlete-first mentality, I wanted to play professional basketball, it was all I wanted and all I knew,” Garrett said. “But I’ve grown a lot and changed a lot, clearly. I went from Div. I to Div. III. I’m happy with the decision I made.”