The Tufts Daily - October 18, 2017 by The Tufts Daily

TUFTS MEN’S TENNIS

1+4 creates strong community on campus and abroad see FEATURES / PAGE 3

Jumbos see success in singles, doubles play at MIT

MFA exhibit the first dedicated to Rothko’s abstract expressionism see ARTS&LIVING / PAGE 5

SEE SPORTS / BACK PAGE

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VOLUME LXXIV, ISSUE 28

tuftsdaily.com

Wednesday, October 18, 2017

MEDFORD/SOMERVILLE, MASS.

Rainbow House to get physical building in 2018–2019 academic year by Anar Kansara News Editor

Tufts administrators have committed to provide Rainbow House with a physical building for the 2018–2019 academic year, Associate Dean of Student Affairs Chris Rossi told the Daily in an email. Rossi said that he, LGBT Center Director Hope Freeman, ResLife Associate Director of Residential Education Sarah D’Annolfo and Rainbow House Manager Kenneth Meyerson came to this decision during a meeting in early September. “Rainbow House is an indispensable part of Tufts and needs a new home to better serve and support students in our community,” he said. “The Office of Residential Life & Learning, LGBT Center, and current house members met to discuss a new home for Rainbow House in 2018-19.”

Rossi explained that the process was a colaborative one, incorporating many voices. “We plan to expand the conversation and planning to include the voices of current and former students, staff, and faculty in the near future; our shared commitment is to provide Rainbow House with its own building for academic year 18-19,” he said. The Rainbow House has currently been given three housing options on campus, including the former Pi Delta house, which now houses transfer students, according to Meyerson. Rainbow House was initially established 20 years ago as a safe space for queer students on campus, Meyerson said. While students have been lobbying for a physical Rainbow House for see RAINBOW HOUSE , page 3

SHAIVI HERUR / THE TUFTS DAILY

The Rainbow House, located in the 160s of Hillside Apartments, is an LGBTQ-friendly, open atmosphere for students interested in topics of gender and sexuality. The current space is pictured here on Oct. 4.

Tufts responds to new medical marijuana home delivery services by Hannah Uebele News Editor

Several medical marijuana dispensaries in Greater Boston are authorized by the Massachusetts Department of Public Health (DPH) to conduct home deliveries. These dispensaries include SAGENATURALS of Cambridge, Patriot Care of Boston and Lowell and Garden Remedies of Newton. Leane Mysliwy, assistant manager of Garden Remedies, said that the dispensary’s recent launch of home

deliveries in late September was met with interest and positive responses by customers who had difficulties finding time to come into the dispensary to pick up orders. “The feedback I was getting from patients was that it’s a hassle to get to the store, so we talked about it and said ‘why not deliver and try and help?’” Mysliwy said. Massachusetts state Sen. Pat Jehlen, who serves as senate chair of the Joint Committee on Marijuana Policy, expressed her approval of the delivery program.

RACHEL HARTMAN / THE TUFTS DAILY

Junior Eric Brook exhales the vapor of medicinal compound CBD off campus in Medford on Sept. 17.

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“People who are disabled or don’t drive face a real barrier,” she told the Daily in an email. “Deliveries will cost money too, but enable some people to receive their medicine.” Garden Remedies will deliver to college campuses if students have a legal medical marijuana card and if the campus is their home address, in accordance with DPH guidelines, Mysliwy said. “If their home residence is on a campus and that’s what their driver’s license says, then that’s not a problem. But we can’t deliver to anywhere that’s not what’s on their driver’s license,” Mysliwy said. While deliveries can technically be made to college campuses, most universities, like Tufts, have policies in place reflecting the federal law’s view of marijuana as a Schedule I drug, according to Deputy Director of Public Safety Leon Romprey. “Federal grants are subject to university compliance with the [Drug Free Schools and Communities Act (DFSCA)] and the [Drug-Free] Workplace Act. The university is also subject to the Controlled Substances Act,” Romprey told the Daily in an email. “This prohibits the university from allowing any form of marijuana use on campus.” Ian Wong, director of Tufts Department of Health Promotion and Prevention, explained that in order for Tufts to maintain federal funding, the university must submit reports to the

federal government every two or three years to verify that it is in compliance with the DFSCA. Wong noted the difficulties in navigating state and federal policies that contradict each other. “We’re in this kind of predicament. The state is saying [medical marijuana] is legal, but the feds are telling us ‘no it’s not legal and if you do violate [the federal policy], we can take away your federal money from you,'” Wong said. Romprey emphasized that, while medical marijuana dispensaries may choose to deliver to university students, any student with marijuana on campus will be held accountable for their violation of school policy. “Although those with a medical marijuana card can legally possess marijuana, bringing it onto campus has been and will continue to be a violation of university policy,” Romprey said. “If we receive calls and confirm that students are taking such deliveries, they will be referred to the Dean of Student Affairs Office for administrative action.” Romprey explained that the Tufts University Police Department ( TUPD) will regulate potential medical marijuana deliveries to campus now that such services will be made available by some dispensaries. “If we come into contact with a medical marijuana delivery driver on

NEWS............................................1 FEATURES.................................2 ARTS & LIVING.......................5

see MARIJUANA, page 3

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

2 tuftsdaily.com

FEATURES

Wednesday, October 18, 2017

Expanded bridge-year program brings larger Honey and molas- student community together

Benjamin Corey Eat Your Heart Out

ses bread

often think of breadmaking as an activity reserved for only the most skilled of bakers. Something about the process of working with yeast, making sure the dough is glutinous and the time commitment necessary for the dough to rise seem completely out of the realm of possibility for any busy college student. When I found this recipe in my family’s collection, with the words “Good recipe, Mom. Even you can make it!!” snarkily scribbled on the side, I figured it would be worth a shot. Fortunately, this bread, which originates from my mother’s high school home economics class, really does break the stereotype of impossible bread recipes. As such, I would like to extend a warm thank you to my mother’s home economics teacher, Mrs. Hurley, both for proving that breadmaking doesn’t need to be difficult, and for answering the age-old high school question: “When will I need to know this?” First, add 2 packages of dried yeast to 2 ½ cups of lukewarm water. Stir the mixture gently to dissolve the yeast. Add a ¼ cup of sugar, ¼ cup of honey, ½ cup of molasses, ½ cup of shortening, 2 eggs and 1 tablespoon of salt in with the water and yeast. Once you have beaten together your wet ingredients with a fork, you’re all set to start adding in flour. Stir in flour 2 cups at a time until stirring gets difficult. You’ll need around 7 or 8 cups total. Next, you’re going to want to turn out your dough onto a floured surface and knead it until it forms a smooth ball with blisters on the surface. This should probably take you around 10 to 15 minutes. Place the dough into a bowl that you have greased with shortening, grease the top of the dough with additional shortening and cover it with plastic wrap or a damp towel. This will help ensure the dough doesn’t dry out. Leave it alone for about an hour or until it has doubled in size. Once the dough has risen, dump it back out onto the table and knead it for five minutes. Then simply cut it in half, place the halves into two bread tins and allow the bread to sit for 15 more minutes. If you don’t have two bread tins, that’s fine. You can place one half into the fridge and bake it after if you’d like. After allowing the bread to rise again, place the tins onto a baking sheet. This will prevent the sugar in the bread from burning on the bottoms of the loaves. Place the sheet into the oven at 375 F. After approximately half an hour, take the loaves out of the tins and tap the bottom of each loaf. If you hear a hollow sound, like a drum being hit, the bread is done. If not, pop it back in for five-minute increments until it does. Allow the bread to cool to room temperature and you’re all set! Happy baking! Benjamin Corey is a senior majoring in international relations. Benjamin can be reached at benjamin.corey@tufts.edu.

ALEXIS SERINO / THE TUFTS DAILY

Sophomore and 1+4 alumna Elaine Harris speaks to prospective students on Oct. 13. by Nina Joung

Executive Features Editor

“A couple of years ago we got this idea that maybe there’s a better way to prepare students for college,” Alan Solomont, dean of the Jonathan M. Tisch College of Civic Life, said at a Tufts 1+4 Bridge-Year alumni presentation last Friday. “Maybe [after] a bridge year during which they can go live and work in a new community, try to solve real problems, and push themselves outside of their comfort zone, they may come to college better prepared … for the next four years. And they’ll come here with more self-confidence, greater sense of purpose — knowing themselves better and knowing the world better.” At the time of this speech, the Tufts 1+4 Bridge-Year Service Learning Program had three generations of cohorts. According to its website, the 1+4 program allows accepted Tufts students to apply for a gap year, or bridge year, of full-time community service in various international and domestic destinations. The second cohort of 1+4 fellows came to campus as first-years this year after nine months abroad. Last Friday, at the start of Parents and Family Weekend, they shared their experiences with their family and friends, members of the Tisch College and a few members of the inaugural 1+4 cohort. Members of the third cohort are currently active at their service locations. While only in its third year, various changes have been implemented within the program as each generation of 1+4 alumni come back with their perspectives and the 1+4 program becomes more of an established institution on campus. Returning as a Jumbo The second cohort, returning from its bridge year, consists of 12 students serving in three locations — the same ones as the first cohort: Spain, Nicaragua and Brazil. The third cohort has 24 students active in Ecuador, Nicaragua and Brazil, as well as Washington, D.C. and New York City. During the presentation last Friday, Solomont attested to the growing popularity of the program. “We’ve gotten the largest number of applications for this year — over 50 and we have 24 students who are doing 1+4

this year,” he said. “And a lot of that is the result of our 1+4 alumni for being able to talk to incoming students about the value of this experience.” The returning 1+4 fellows shared their stories about living abroad, an experience that proved to be life-changing for some and an opportunity to grow for all who spoke. First-year Rebeca Becdach worked at a foster home in Madrid during her bridge year, and spoke about how one young girl’s ability to open up to Becdach helped her feel at home and give more meaning to her experience. “After an English class where we learned the names of family members, she started calling me her big sister. And the meaning of that changed my experience. As big sister, I had to give advice from my life experience,” she said. “Ana sometimes would mix up the words, and she would call me her little sister on accident, but that also had some truth in it, because I learned a lot from these girls as well.” For first-year Mateo Gómez, having both a warm host family and his father’s side of the family in Nicaragua played a key role in the cultural immersion he experienced while on his bridge year. He described meeting his father’s side of the family in Nicaragua and the insight it offered in understanding his own family’s dynamic as well as the value of family — host families or otherwise — toward feeling like a part of the community rather than a tourist. “I think it’s really hard to talk about cultural immersion, especially in the context of Latin America without talking about family,” he said. “It’s a huge part of the culture.” First-year Jordyn Voss, a 1+4 fellow stationed in Brazil, credits her host family for playing an integral role in her personal growth during the bridge year. As a self-professed overachiever, Voss described her bridge year as an opportunity to understand who she was outside of her traditional social roles. “I was so emotionally vulnerable the whole year because I started to realize that I was a really open person,” Voss said. “And that was something totally new to me, something I wasn’t really afforded in the United States.”

The program even helped 1+4 fellow Maya Stone, a current first-year who worked in Nicaragua, re-evaluate courses at Tufts. “Now I know I want to work more in international development, and probably be a PJS major rather than IR,” Stone said. “I also know a lot more about community service, and that will definitely help me in the future because now I know, don’t come in with the idea of being a savior, you have to work with the community and the community has to be able to work to save their lives.” As a part of Parents and Family Weekend, many of the returning 1+4 fellows’ families were present at the event. Stone’s mother, Ritu Nayyar, recognized the risks and concerns parents have about sending their children on a gap year outside of the country. However, she emphasized the value of the experience in terms of personal growth. “It was just a great experience because you’re on your own, you have to mature, you have to just grow up, fend for yourself and figure out who you are,” Nayyar said. “And we see it as very good for her. So I think if your child is at all interested or slightly motivated, I would encourage parents to just let them go and do this.” Changes to the 1+4 program According to Jessye Crowe-Rothstein, the program administrator for Tufts 1+4, this year’s cohorts have the added location of Ecuador and next year’s cohorts will have the option of working in India as well. Hyderabad, the capital of Southern India’s Telangana state, became a service location after Tisch College board member Vikram Akula (LA ’90) reached out to the 1+4 program. According to Crowe-Rothstein, Akula has been both a great supporter of the 1+4 program as well as the new Tisch Summer Fellows program in India. The process for choosing a new service location requires a well-informed decision, including site visits. According to Crowe-Rothstein, the decision to expand to Ecuador was a way to expand on the relationships the school has with one of its current partners, AMIGOS. “For AMIGOS, Nicaragua was their only gap year program. They were thinking about see 1+4, page 3

F e at u r e s

Wednesday, October 18, 2017 | THE TUFTS DAILY

As medical marijuana becomes more accessible, federal guidelines restrict university MARIJUANA

continued from page 1 campus, they would be directed to leave the property of the university and are subject to other legal action,” he told the Daily in an email. TUPD is consulting with university counsel and state experts on how to address medical marijuana delivery services, Romprey noted. “We are currently exploring the best approach to proactively reach out to dispensary delivery services, advising them that we are a drug free school zone and

that it is incumbent upon anyone visiting our university to fully abide by university regulations,” Romprey said. Romprey added that, while TUPD will not systemically regulate deliveries made on campus, any suspicious deliveries brought to their attention will be investigated and subject to appropriate legal or administrative action. Wong explained the details of the Tufts University Medical Marijuana Policy, and how it allows the university to accommodate students with a legally obtained Massachusetts medical marijuana registration card.

“We can’t allow the use of marijuana on campus, but … if someone has a medical card that’s been approved, we’ll talk to you about getting you out of your housing contract to live off campus,” Wong said. Moving off campus places the student under state jurisdiction, Wong added. “If they’re off the campus they come under the jurisdiction of the state, not the federal government,” Wong said. “While sitting on this campus the federal government has the say.” Wong emphasized that, while Tufts cannot permit students to use marijuana

on campus, a top priority for the university is the health of students and making sure to offer help to students who may have substance abuse issues. Mysliwy said that the percentage of college students which make up Garden Remedies’ home delivery clientele is not yet determinable. Mysliwy explained that Garden Remedies’ home delivery services are currently regulated by the DPH, but this will change once recreational marijuana can be sold in July 2018 and the Cannabis Control Commission becomes the licensing body.

Administrators committed to giving LGBTQ students physical housing space RAINBOW HOUSE

continued from page 1 conversations began anew last April after Freeman joined the LGBT Center in March. Rainbow House is presently located in Hillsides in a ground floor, ten-person suite, which posed many problems for the ‘house’ and community, Meyerson said. According to Meyerson, many students and members of the Rainbow House expressed a need for better housing. “[The space is] not physically accessible to individuals and if you do manage to get into the space you feel physically restricted in terms of … the ability to rearrange the space to accommodate more people,” Meyerson said. “It was just not a space that was practical for hosting community events or just having more people visit.” “To a certain extent, it kind of felt like Rainbow House had been forgotten or at least given a space and just expected to make do with that,” he added. Meyerson also mentioned that the clear boundary between a common room and private spaces posed a problem for residents when events were hosted in the Hillsides space. Freeman told the Daily in an email that trying to get the Rainbow House a physical space has been a long-term project. “Way before my arrival students had already been doing their due diligence to get Rainbow House a bigger space,” she said. “Upon my arrival at Tufts it was clear that students wanted a lot of change that affirmed their existence on campus; one (of many) being housing.” However, Freeman said she made sure to prioritize Rainbow House upon arriving to Tufts.

“I made sure to bring up Rainbow House to almost every administrator I spoke to, the Office of the Dean of Student Affairs and with the [Associate Dean of Student Affairs], Christopher Rossi,” she said. “This was in an effort to support students who had already been calling attention [to] the needs of specialty housing.” Meyerson said he felt the project may have been stalled in the past because of disorganization in ResLife or a feeling that administrators were inaccessible to student-driven causes. He added that part of the reason the house is becoming a reality now is due to the work of Freeman. “[Freeman] has pushed every day of the week to make this happen,” Meyerson said. “It really shows how much dedication she has.” According to Meyerson and Dean of Student Affairs May Pat McMahon, a lot of the movement on the initiative also has to do with the redesign of ResLife. “We have a significant number of new people in decision-making roles and we’re all trying to respond to students here and to address an existing need,” McMahon told the Daily in an email. “The communication and student-engagement systems we’ve put in place over the past year, particularly the [ResLife] restructuring and Chris [Rossi]’s role overseeing that department, along with improved interdepartmental collaboration within the division, are hopefully improving our ability to address systematic needs like that of Rainbow House.” Meyerson added that one part of the restructuring of ResLife was an increase in collaboration between different groups on campus.

SHAIVI HERUR / THE TUFTS DAILY

45 Sawyer Ave is undergoing consideration as the new location for Rainbow House. Previously the Pi Delta House, it is pictured here on Oct. 4. “This year there’s been a lot of work to try to group all the house managers together so we can plan inter-community events and there’s a lot of really good change happening and we just have to keep the forward momentum going there,” he said. Above all, however, the priority for the Rainbow House is for it to remain a safe space for the LGBTQ community, Meyerson said. “We’re all different groups of people [and] we all have different struggles,” Meyerson said. “The space kind of gives us an opportunity to try and comingle and understand what we’re going through.” Freeman agreed, saying that the Rainbow House is an important safe hous-

ing space in light of various “homophobic bias incidents in residence halls.” As manager of the house, Meyerson said he has many plans for the future including the creation of more engaging discussions and community dinners with multiple different groups on campus. “The point is to just bring intersectionality back into play [and] … let people have these discussions,” he said. Freeman explained that the onus is on administrators to transform the Rainbow House into reality. “Students have been asking for a better space for Rainbow House for a long time and we as administrators needed to listen,” she said. “This is an opportunity to show students that we are committed to improving LGBT student life here at Tufts.”

Bridge-year program's success creates a community 1+4

continued from page 2

expanding, so we were talking to them about a couple of different places that they were [at] already for their high school summer programs and what would be the best fit,” she said. Crowe-Rothstein also explained that the program removed Spain as one of the service locations starting with this year’s cohorts. She explained that the decision to remove Spain as a service location reflected a more focused mission for the 1+4 experience. “As we were thinking about expanding, we felt like diminishing our number of partners — we had three partners in three countries,” she said. “So every one of those is a kind of different program, and it’s just hard to make the experience as seamless and equal among all the different fellows. We’re looking for one 1+4 Tufts experience, but it’s so different depending on which provider you’re with. So it felt like it really made sense to kind of streamline and go down in terms of number of partners.” Additionally, Crowe-Rothstein cited that she wanted to focus on the issues the students were learning about in Brazil

and Nicaragua, further enhancing the program to better focus the student experience. “Being in Brazil and Nicaragua, we saw a lot [of] students really learning about international development and these types of themes that weren’t as relevant in Spain,” she said. “It felt like streamlining to be in more countries that would fit those themes.” Further developing the program, Crowe-Rothstein is excited about offering the online writing course all fellows are required to participate in as part of the Department of English. The course was originally part of the ExCollege, which made it difficult for engineering students to transfer the credit, according to CroweRothstein. This year, the class is taught by Grace Talusan, a part-time lecturer in the English department who has attended the 1+4 orientation every year to offer a writing workshop with the fellows, according to Crowe-Rothstein. A major change to the student’s experience occurred with last year’s cohorts. According to Crowe-Rothstein, last year’s

cohort started the standard of having all 1+4 fellows live with host families. “We just saw what an impact host families can have on students,” she said. “So we really wanted to give everyone that opportunity.” Sophomore Justin Mejía, who was part of the inaugural 1+4 cohort, was happy to hear that future cohorts will live with host families. During his bridge year in Madrid, Mejía lived with the three other Madrid fellows in an apartment. “During my bridge year, I didn’t have a host family,” he said. “So knowing that all the fellows in the subsequent years are going to have host families, it’s kind of interesting to know that their experiences will be so different.” Building a 1+4 community As attendants of the 1+4 Alumni Presentation, Mejía described the new mentorship role that he and other 1+4 alumni had for the returning 1+4 fellows that are current freshmen. “I think all of us, coming from the same program … had a natural bond to each

other, and so that just allowed us to be friends,” Mejía said. “Through natural conversation, whether it’s about academics or anything social, that’s how we can help, because we’ve been here a year and they just came in.” Abigail Barton, another sophomore and inaugural 1+4 fellow, enjoys seeing more 1+4 fellows on campus and is excited to see how the future generations contribute to the 1+4 program becoming a larger community. The returning 1+4 cohort is grateful for the previous alumni and the growing community as well. Mikel Quintana, a current first-year who worked in Madrid for his bridge year, thanked the previous cohort members for acting as mentors and hopes that he and his 1+4 cohort can continue the responsibility. “Having [the previous cohort] is amazing — asking about classes, asking about social life, about so many things,” Quintana said. “They have also made it a lot easier, so hopefully we can do the same thing for the [cohort active] this year.”

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Wednesday, October 18, 2017

EXHIBITION REVIEW

More than just stripes — On ‘Mark Rothko: Reflection’ at the MFA

Matthew Soderberg Citizen Shame

It’s John Green’s Fault (in Our Stars)

LIBBY LANGSNER / TUFTS DAILY

Mark Rothko was an American painter of Russian Jewish descent, who is generally identified as an abstract expressionist. by Libby Langsner Arts Editor

The Museum of Fine Arts (MFA)’s “Mark Rothko: Reflection” is the institution’s first show dedicated solely to the abstract expressionist. Featuring 11 of Rothko’s works, the exhibition’s curatorial display and the small number of works provide an intimate setting to engage with. A highlight of the show is the work “Thru the Window” (1938), which is on display in the United States for the first time. A departure from his large-scale abstractions, the small self-portrait offers viewers a chance to see how Rothko viewed himself. Still, though “Thru the Window” offers us with a figural depiction of Rothko, one could argue that each painting, no matter the degree to which it is abstracted, gives insight into Rothko’s process and emotions. As the artist himself stated, “I’m interested only in expressing basic human emotions — tragedy, ecstasy, doom and so on — and the fact that a lot of people break down and cry when confronted with my pictures show that I communicate those basic human emotions … the people who weep before my pictures are having the same religious experience I had when I painted them.” The religious experience Rothko describes is immediately apparent when entering the space, as visitors first see and feel the works’ immense scale. The exhibition is divided into stages of Rothko’s career. The first section compares Rothko’s “Thru the Window” with Rembrandt’s “Artist in his Studio” (1628) and utilizes the juxtaposition of the works to highlight classic Western

European art’s influence on the modernist painter. While the MFA’s description of the show emphasizes positioning Rothko in the broader context of Western art, their justification of his positioning is weak. This is helpful to visitors who are not well versed in the abstract expressionist movement, but placing a single work by Rembrandt to draw this conclusion is overreaching. Instead of attempting to link Rothko to the past, the MFA may have been better off marketing the show as an abbreviated retrospective of the artist, showcasing his evolution into abstraction or linking him to contemporaries. However, the impressive quality of the works themselves still make it highly enjoyable. The subsequent portion of the show is called “Multiforms,” after a series of paintings from 1947–1949 when the artist was still figuring out his process. In these works, Rothko has multiple blocks of color and different washes, and we see early inklings of Rothko’s iconic color stripes. From these “Multiform” works, the viewer can see Rothko slowly figure out abstraction and come into the essence of his painting technique. After “Multiforms,” the exhibition transitions into “Rothko’s ‘Classics,’” his famed large canvases with stripes of color, which have claimed upward of $46 million. When standing in front of a Rothko, the viewer is awestruck by both the size and attention to detail: how the borders of the seemingly demarcated blocks blur into each other, how colors are layered on top of one another while other colors peak through, breathing life into the canvas. One of Rothko’s stripe paintings “Mulberry and Brown” (1958) is particularly interesting, as it

is one of Rothko’s only uses of tempera. This gives a tacky feature to the canvas, and the physical pulling of the egg whites and wax on the canvas create a different sensation of tactility than his other works. The exhibition concludes with a series from the last period of Rothko’s career, his black paintings. Instead of multiple colors, the artist uses different variations of black that are almost indistinguishable on the canvas. Upon closer inspection, viewers can notice the different tonalities and qualities Rothko gives to each shade of black. The black series is the peak of Rothko’s abstraction; he strays further from color relations and focuses mainly on forms and the emotive reactions of the works. The paintings take on a macabre tone not only because of their dearth of color, but also because of the artist’s tragic passing in 1970, when he killed himself. The black series is extremely potent in its command of depth and space, and the arresting qualities it projects onto the viewer. The series symbolizes an artist at the peak of his craft, pushing at the very boundaries of abstraction. Mark Rothko was a deeply complicated artist with many different influences who engaged with several artistic movements and had a highly volatile personal life. Although the curation of “Reflections: Mark Rothko” was ultimately lacking, it is not a sign of the curator’s ineptitude; it is due to the small scale of the show and the complexity of contextualizing Rothko’s works. Rothko once said, “A painting is not a picture, but an experience.” This show and Rothko’s work certainly back him up.

ith the recent release of the latest book from young adult author and icon John Green, it seems fitting to revisit another disturbing chapter of my childhood: my sister’s obsession with “The Fault in Our Stars” (2012). My sister might be the smartest person I know, and in high school she was known for always carrying around a book, whether it be Atwood or Ishiguro or Thoreau. You could go ahead and call her an intellectual. But there stands one blip on her grand story of literary discovery. For a long period that might not quite be over, she counted Green’s “The Fault in Our Stars” as her favorite novel, and that infatuation continued with the offensively awful film adaptation — a movie that might seem profound if you ingest psychedelics before viewing. Gone are the days when high school movies addressed the realities of American teenagers, when “Fast Times at Ridgemont High” (1982) and “Dazed and Confused” (1993) offered up something candid and occasionally enjoyable. With the release of the 2014 film adaption, a new era has been ushered in, one where all teenagers talk like English professors and nuance is abandoned in favor of tear-inducing oversentimentality. I saw this movie quite reluctantly in theaters upon its release and remember being struck by the moans and crying of those around me. A middle age man positioned right in front of me repeatedly would let out a bellowing sob that can only be put into words as “Unnhhhhhhhhhhgggghhh.” It was upsetting then, and it’s upsetting now. I won’t waste time with plot summary, because you definitely saw this movie or at least read the book as one of your high school “independent reading” projects focusing on the theme of tragedy. Buried somewhere in the metaphors that literally bash you in the head repeatedly and the sad scenes that also literally bash you in the head, there is a character supposedly played by Willem Dafoe. I say supposedly because it remains a possibility that the filmmaker simply showed up to the real Willem Dafoe’s house and filmed him until he got kicked out. There’s also a performance from Laura Dern, who took a break from her usual legitimate acting gigs to sort of cry every so often on camera. But what really brings the trainwreck together are the quotes. Do you not get enough pretentiousness in your Philosophy 1 class? Do you have a desire to listen to ridiculous literary references that pretend to be relevant to the story? Do you want to watch as the screenwriters put the words love, forever, nothing and everything into a randomizer and just use the results? This movie is for you. Both stars, Shailene Woodley and Ansel Elgort, have used the movie as a springboard towards much better projects, but you have to wonder if they will look back in old age and question why they spent months of their lives making a movie that’s really just a film version of that person from your high school whose Instagram bio says, “Life is short, make the most of it (heart emoji).” Matthew Soderberg is a first-year who can be reached at matthew.soderberg@ tufts.edu.

THE TUFTS DAILY | Arts & Living | Wednesday, October 18, 2017

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ALBUM REVIEW

St. Vincent’s ‘MASSEDUCTION’ is sensual, playful, strange

COURTESY JASON PERSSE / FLICKR

St. Vincent is an American musician, singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. MASSEDUCTION is the fifth studio album by American musician St. Vincent. It was released on Oc. 13. by Eran Sabaner Arts Editor

St. Vincent has come a long way from the days she toured with Sufjan Steven’s band. From the charming yet somewhat predictable “Marry Me” (2007) to the amusingly hectic “St. Vincent” (2014), her career has been on an upward trajectory since the beginning, each release gaining more critical and commercial attention. Many even dubbed “St. Vincent” to be the artist’s magnum opus, implying she would never be able to top her self-titled release. The release of “MASSEDUCTION” (2017), St. Vincent’s new album after a threeyear break, proves the naysayers wrong. The album is truly a masterpiece, as it challenges the definition of pop music by displaying a complexity rarely found in the genre. The album is not only St. Vincent’s most accessible effort, but also her greatest. “MASSEDUCTION” opens with “Hang on Me,” a string-heavy breakup song with heartrending lyrics. Strategically, it is a great opener, because it hints at the growth in St. Vincent’s career. Compared to her earlier songs, “Hang on Me” is notably more mature and personal. It is a beautiful song and foreshadows the calm found in the second half of the album. The first act of second track “Pills” is more in line with St. Vincent’s earlier work. The beat, the brass and the guitar riffs signal an evident mood change. The lyrics “Pills to wake, pills to sleep / Pills, pills, pills every day of the week” sung by St. Vincent’s ex-girlfriend Cara Delevigne, are consciously manic, which reminds listeners of the sense of orderly chaos found in “St Vincent.” The song’s second act marks a 180-degree shift in tone with ’60s-inspired music yet an anti-’60s sentiment with lyrics “Come all you villains, come one and all / Come all you killers, come join the war.” The song is powerful because it is able to transform so effortlessly. Of all the songs featured on the album, the title track “MASSEDUCTION” is arguably the catchiest with the line “I can’t turn off what turns me on.” St. Vincent cleverly replaces “MASSEDUCTION” with “mass destruction”

in the chorus, which provides an outline of the central theme of the album. It seems that in its entirety, “MASSEDUCTION” deals with desires that need to be escaped from, whether that desire is towards a person or a city. The first two singles from the album, “New York” and “Los Ageless,” explore such desire. “New York” is about nostalgia for a city that once belonged to St. Vincent and her friends. In many ways, it’s a eulogy dedicated to the city once loved by the singer. Contrasting starkly with “New York,” “Los Ageless” is loud and dynamic, and it’s about the newfound love toward the similarly named city. However, the love expressed quickly turns into a source of confusion and self-doubt. In the end, St. Vincent sings the line “I guess that’s just me, honey, I guess that’s how I’m built / I try to write you a love song but it comes out a lament” over and over, highlighting the shortcomings of her desire. Another highlight is the rock opera-inspired “Sugarboy.” The track is notable for the repeating chants of “boys” and “girls,” which allude to St. Vincent’s queerness. In a recent profile in the New Yorker, the artist replied to a question about her sexuality by stating that “the goal is to be free of heteronormativity. I’m queer, but queer more as an outlook.” The penultimate track “Slow Disco,” and its haunting intro “Dancing With a Ghost,” find the singer finally letting go of her desires. Co-written by ex-The Civil Wars member Joy Williams, the song’s lyrics are both confessional (“I’m so glad I came, but I can’t wait to leave”) and highly visual (“Slip my hand from your hand / Leave you dancin’ with a ghost”). It is most certainly a deserving finish to the album. Overall, “MASSEDUCTION” is a hit that borrows from pop music conventions to create something exciting and unique. At times, it is a little too messy, loud or sentimental. Yet all these are conscious choices made to heighten the central theme of the album and to offer something cohesive in the end. It’s the contradictions and contrasts found in “MASSEDUCTION” that make the album a major success and St. Vincent a genius.

Wednesday, October 18, 2017 | Comics | THE TUFTS DAILY

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Comics

LATE NIGHT AT THE DAILY Eddie: “You say you’re getting five dicks in one night?”

Comics

SUDOKU

GARFIELD BY JIM DAVIS

NON SEQUITUR BY WILEY MILLER

Difficulty Level: Getting timely service at the Rez when you’re alone in line.

LINDA C. BLACK ASTROLOGY

Tuesday’s Solution

Libra (Sept. 23-Oct. 22)

Today is a 9. You’re strong and getting stronger. Count your blessings. Use your confidence to forward a personal project. Get creative, and polish the presentation. FOR RELEASE OCTOBER 18, 2017

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

ACROSS 1 Back (out) 4 Go by 10 Peak in Thessaly 14 Can. neighbor 15 City on the Liffey 16 Performs like Kanye 17 Eastern seaboard, facetiously 19 Frantically 20 Out in the open 21 Open in the garden 22 Narrow opening 25 Unlikely to run 28 Insinuate 31 Kitchen gadgets brand 32 Sneak attack 33 Dryly amusing 34 “More info later”: Abbr. 37 Increase security twofold ... and what 17-, 25-, 46and 58-Across literally do 41 Radical ’60s gp. 42 Besides 43 Scramble, as a secret message 44 Tile container in Scrabble 45 Write, as music 46 Secret overseas cash stash site 52 Japanese noodle 53 Leg bone 54 Midwestern city associated with steaks 57 Additionally 58 What Aladdin craved and Jasmine wanted to escape, in the Disney film 63 Abbr. on a city limits sign 64 What’s for dinner 65 Speed (up) 66 Piece of glass 67 Radical in aspirin and vinegar 68 Spot on a peacock’s tail DOWN 1 Taylor Swift’s “__ Song” 2 Trident-shaped letter 3 “You’re it!” game

10/18/17

By Robin Stears

4 1999 Ron Howard satire 5 Journalist Clare Boothe __ 6 Multiple choice choices 7 “Republic” philosopher 8 Family gal 9 MD treating canals 10 Postgrad tests 11 South Pacific island nation 12 “Blazing Saddles,” for one 13 “Shoot!” 18 Après-ski amenities 21 Dude 22 Herring prized for its roe 23 Long rides? 24 Preparing to flower 26 Handed-down tales 27 Gas in a tank 29 Syst. with hand signals 30 What a treater picks up 33 “Says __?” 34 Touch-related 35 In __ daylight 36 Supplement

Tuesday’s Puzzle Solved

38 Garment worn in HBO’s “Rome” 39 108-card game 40 Not hidden 44 Merit badge org. 46 Expensive 47 “My Ántonia” novelist Cather 48 “Hedda Gabler” playwright 49 It won’t hold water 50 Nick of “Hotel Rwanda”

10/18/17

51 Chain with a Smart Sense store brand 55 __-deucey 56 Scoundrel 58 Stew vegetable 59 Mandela’s org. 60 15-Across locale: Abbr. 61 2000s “SNL” notable Tina 62 Wrapping time

8 tuftsdaily.com

Opinion

Wednesday, October 18, 2017

Paris Sanders P.S. …

How to win friends and isolate people

s modernity offers more opportunities to be socially integrated, people have never felt more alone. In 2004, the General Social Survey found that the number of Americans with no close friends has roughly tripled since 1985. Over a quarter of those surveyed reported having “zero” confidants, and the average number of people Americans feel they can talk to about important issues fell to only two. Many psychologists cite technology as a source of isolation due to the fact that it “replaces” the need for human interaction. Yet, despite this, the market for shared technology (the Nintendo Switch for example) has grown alongside Netflix, social media and online or console gaming — things that are typically accused of exacerbating loneliness. In 2017, it was found that over half of gamers play with other people, including friends and family, while online gamers spend 6.5 hours a week playing with others they know. Further, even gaming and entertainment platforms seem fixated on social interaction and crowdsourcing: In the past decade, games have begun to offer online forums, voice communication and group formation. Likewise, gamers were recently found to be more engaged in society, as gamers are far more likely to consider having friends important (57 percent vs. 35 percent for non-gamers) with nearly three-fourths (72 percent) saying that they game with their friends. Other researchers have argued that with new technology, connection is too easy, leaving people bored or unable to make the emotional effort required for friendships and relationships. Yet this speculation seems to ignore that our extrovert-centric society unintentionally ostracizes lonely, friendless individuals, while praising the popular and the social. So is the case that while we’re alone far less than often imagined, we’re still lonely? And what does this loneliness even mean? It appears that the business of “being social” is profitable, because almost parasitically, it grows as technology and overspecialization push us further into solitude. Having friends and “being social” have become just as profitable, and reflexively, just as insecure of a subject, as wealth, fitness or beauty. Being “social” now exists as an upgrade to a game, rather than a spontaneous activity. Even the act of gaining “followers” and friends has become a (very profitable) game in itself, and this comes with consequences. With social media, the connection doesn’t end at one’s community or immediate peer group. And with the apparent ability to “connect” with anyone anytime anywhere, the act of being alone — or just not getting that text back — instead appears to be a sort of personal rejection, rather than merely the product of bad timing. The problem with the business of being social is that friendship has been rewritten as a process of attaining, not preserving. Thus, the act of “being social” is linked more to public approval than personal satisfaction — the phrase “if you didn’t post it didn’t happen” comes to mind. As our world gets bigger, but somehow more within reach, the desire to be liked and to remain relevant appears inextricably linked to our own identity. Paris Sanders is a senior majoring in philosophy and political science. Paris can be reached at paris.sanders@tufts.edu.

CARTOON

BY MARIA FONG

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Opinion

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Wednesday, October 18, 2017 | Opinion | THE TUFTS DAILY

OP-ED

On TDC and Mental Illness by Lily Blumkin and Nihaarika Sharma Content warning: This article addresses mental illness and mentions suicide and self-harm. We are writing to you as the two choreographers of a Tufts Dance Collective (TDC) dance that touches upon the topic of mental health. Through this piece, we hope to elucidate our intentions and clarify any misunderstandings about our dance. Both of us are speaking from our own experiences with mental health and about what has helped us. We are not trying to make any generalizations about what dealing with mental illness looks like, nor are we experts on this subject or see ourselves as such. As two women attempting to navigate Tufts, we have often found it difficult to talk about our mental illnesses publicly, whether that be in front of a large group of people or even among small groups of friends. Something that has helped us is the use of humor in telling our stories. The levity with which we speak about our experiences makes them feel not only like a normal part of life, but also more easily manageable on a daily basis. We see humor not as a way to trivialize our illnesses (especially given how seriously they have affected us), but instead to find a way to cope with the fact that we have to live with them every day. In addition to valuing humor, we also value positive spaces that acknowledge mental illnesses in some way. Often, there is a notion that serious topics must only be dealt with in serious ways. We think that groups that center mental illnesses are incredibly valuable, especially given Tufts’ lack of support for students who struggle with them. For us, however, spaces that are optimistic, warm and lighthearted have also been conducive for discussions of mental health. We have found that outlets that allow us to talk about our experiences without making them serious discussions aren’t really present on this campus. With that in mind, we sought to create a TDC dance that aimed to destigmatize mental illness and provide a space on campus that we know has helped us. Specifically, we wanted to create a theme that addresses mental illness, and presents dancers with the option of talking about their experiences, without requiring them to do so. Our goal in doing this was to push back against the stigma associated with talking about mental health as a part of our daily lives.

We also sought to incorporate humor into the dance, through the original title (which we are in the process of changing) “Putting the sex back in SSRIs (because they reduce your sex drive).” With this, we tried to make light of the frustrating, but true, fact that SSRIs can reduce your sex drive. In no way are we saying that mental illnesses or medications are themselves “sexy,” nor are we belittling them. We are instead saying that we, as human beings who deal with mental illnesses and any side effects that come with taking medications, are sexy. This dance is not making fun of mental illness in any way, and doesn’t give anyone else the license to do so (especially to folks who have no experiences with it). What we envisioned through this was to have the dance be a space for people with varied experiences to feel safe and comfortable as we all try to navigate Tufts with these issues together. Additionally, we are not trying to illustrate mental illness through our dance, nor are we talking about one kind of mental illness. For instance, we are not “the depression dance,” and are not trying to fit mental illness into a mold. Everyone experiences and deals with these issues differently, and it was with these complexities in mind that we chose not to make mental illness the center of this dance. Rather, we want to acknowledge its presence in the group, with the main goal being having fun and building community. We also know that TDC has been associated with binge drinking, and we were very explicit in our first rehearsal to say that drinking was not an expectation nor an important part of this experience. As two women on SSRIs, we know the risks associated with drinking while on medication, and it has been a subject of conversation in our rehearsals. Alcohol usage can also be a dangerous coping mechanism, and we do not condone it as such. We also felt it important to be mindful of the fact that there are students on campus who have trauma associated with alcohol, and thus consciously did not make alcohol a part of this experience. We recognize that TDC is an exclusive space. Our dance has a limit of 22 people, and considering that, we did not ask applicants to share intimate details about their struggles with mental health, so that, hopefully, not being accepted would not seem like a judgement call. We know that this is not ideal, and we fully admit to the fact that it is not necessarily a space that is open to everyone, even though we would like it to be.

Finally, we want to apologize, from the bottom of our hearts, to anyone who we may have hurt in the process of creating this dance. We sought to create a positive, supportive space, and the absolute last thing we wanted to do was cause other students pain. In addition to acknowledging the hurt we may have caused, we also feel the need to point out some dangerous language that has been used in talking about this dance. We are happy to engage in conversations to address people’s concerns, but have seen comments that invalidated our experiences or called into question how “serious” they are. For example, I (Nihaarika) am comfortable sharing the fact that I have been struggling with depression for over six years at this point, and deal with suicidal ideation and self-harm daily. I can go into detail about the major depressive episode I had last spring, or how I walked into my advisor’s office in tears, wanting to leave school. Tufts does not make this experience any easier, especially for those of us with other marginalized identities. I mention this to say that making an assumption about my experience with mental illness based on my choice to choreograph this dance is hurtful and unproductive. It also sets a dangerous precedent of categorizing what “serious” mental illness is supposed to look like. We want to thank those of you who expressed concern about this dance, and hope that we can continue fostering an open and respectful dialogue about mental health on campus. If you would like to chat with us, please feel free to reach out at lily.blumkin@tufts.edu or nihaarika. sharma@tufts.edu. There is no one right way to deal with mental illness. We all cope in different ways, and for us and many of the people in our dance, humor has been one of them. Our space is not perfect, and we don’t claim it to be; we’re just two people trying to survive at Tufts with our illnesses. We never intended to invalidate anyone’s narratives, and we hope that the Tufts community will not invalidate ours. We hope that we can continue to make positive change together in regards to campus culture around talking about mental health. For resources available at Tufts and beyond: http://tiny.cc/tuftsresources Lily Blumkin is a senior majoring in English and film and media studies. Lily can be reached at lily.blumkin@tufts.edu. Nihaarika Sharma is a senior majoring in biology and peace and justice studies. Nihaarika can be reached at nihaarika. sharma@tufts.edu.

THE TUFTS DAILY | Sports | Wednesday, October 18, 2017

Yuan Jun Chee On The Spot

Why waking up for Liverpool-Man United wasn’t all that bad

imply looking at the scoreline would probably make you go “huh, what a waste of time.” Bore draw, should have slept in. Not particularly. This was a battle between two managers that knew their opponent’s strengths and were afraid to give anything away. It is easy to criticize Jose Mourinho for “parking the bus” — that is, playing too defensively. This is the same Liverpool side that won only one of its last eight games prior to their Champions League victory against Maribor, and is without its pacy forward Sadio Mane for the near future. Equally important is to recognize the power and energy in the Liverpool midfield. When one conjures up images of midfielders Emre Can, Georginio Wijnaldum and Jordan Henderson, it’s easy to see why Mourinho opted for a more defensive approach, especially without the likes of midfielders Paul Pogba and Marouane Fellaini to match his opponents in the center of the field. Would Mourinho be happy with the result? Yes. The performance? Not so much. United was dreadful on the counterattack. You can’t win the title by only playing good defense away at top teams — you need to be clinical, and United was anything but. The team was less than 50 percent successful with their passes in the final third at Anfield and recorded an overall passing accuracy of just 75.4 percent — its worst this season. Then there was good old Jurgen Klopp. Perhaps the German should be glad that Mourinho showed enough respect to Liverpool’s prowess rather than whining that “you could not do [defensive football] at Liverpool. Obviously for United it is ok.” But if Klopp were to truly have gone for the winner, conventional wisdom tells you to replace a midfielder or defender with a forward. And while Klopp did bring on forwards Dominic Solanke and Daniel Sturridge, he opted to swap out Coutinho and Mo Salah, arguably two of his best attacking options in the game. Sure, one could blame it on the international break for the long traveling. But I think that speaks volumes of Klopp — not wanting to risk his own midfield advantage to really go for the victory — and how much Liverpool needs an out-and-out striker that can be trusted to get the goals. Nine points behind the leaders probably reminds you of Brendan Rodgers’ form that got him sacked in 2015–16. But to compare Klopp’s and Rodgers’ records and thus demand the former be sacked is ridiculous. Klopp needed time to shape his team, and I think if you ask any Liverpool fan, they’d be pretty pleased with Klopp and the team’s performance, if not impressed with the results. I don’t think these two teams are where they want to be at right now. For both managers, it’s about finding the right mixture of defense and offense: How can Mourinho successfully execute the counterattack against the bigger teams, and how can Klopp get his team to finish its chances? We’re 20 percent through the season. If anything, this past Sunday brought about more questions, answers to which are not necessarily available until December when the season hits squeaky-bum time. Yuan Jun Chee is a sports editor at the Tufts Daily. He is a junior majoring in history and international relations. Yuan Jun can be reached at yuan.chee@tufts.edu.

tuftsdaily.com

Men’s and women’s crew race in inaugural Hadley Chase Regatta by Liam Finnegan

Assistant Sports Editor

Both men’s and women’s crew competed at the Hadley Chase, a newly created meet, on Saturday. Hosted by UMass Amherst on the Connecticut River, the regatta featured some tough competition and served as a good way for both teams to prepare for next week’s Head of the Charles Regatta, one of the most famous events in rowing. The men’s team had a successful showing in the collegiate singles event at the Hadley Chase. The Jumbos took four of the top five places, with senior Andrew MacMillen leading the pack with a time of 19:43.6. Finishing just behind MacMillen was senior Thomas Hendrickson with a time of 20:29.4. The streak of Tufts rowers was broken up by a rower from the United States Coast Guard Academy, who came in third with a time of 20:29.8. Rounding out the top five was sophomore Paul Gelhaus (21:08.1), who placed fourth and senior Tyler Hagedorn (21:11.5) who placed fifth. The men’s team also took first in the collegiate varsity eight. The first varsity eight was led by junior coxswain James Grant, paced by senior stroke Ryan Bell and consisted of seniors Nick Hartman, Ashton Knight, MacMillen and Hendrickson and sophomores Gelhaus and Adrian Tanner. They posted a time of 16:21.4 to beat the 14 other boats competing in the race. The Jumbos’ second varsity eight finished in ninth with a time of 17.24.9, and the third varsity eight finished in 10th with a time of 17:39.8. Tufts also raced in the collegiate quadruple scull, but was the only school to do so. Even though there was no competition, the Jumbos still rowed a good time, earning an 18:13.3 with a team comprised of sophomores Peter Malinovsky, Michael Thramann, Dean Ericksen and Ross Hamilton. Coach Noel Wanner attributes the Jumbos’ overwhelming success at the Hadley Chase to the team’s work ethic.

“The success of the team at the Hadley Chase was created by something very simple: continued, steady work the guys have put in over the past three years,” Wanner told the Daily in an email. “Starting three Falls ago, we began to spend much of each fall season rowing single sculls, which has helped the guys develop technical skill and finesse- the small boat is very demanding in that regard. We’ve noticed that when we put the eights together, the increased sensitivity or ‘boat feel’ translates into more speed at a given level of fitness. Beyond that, it’s just a lot of patient, steady training that the guys have done to increase their fitness level. This group wants to be good, and they understand what it will take to get there.” The women’s team opened its season with the Hadley Chase and was met with varying levels of success, but did well despite facing off against Div. I teams. In the collegiate singles, the three Tufts boats finished sixth, seventh and eighth. In the women’s collegiate doubles, the Jumbos’ fastest boat, consisting of senior Arielle Mann and junior Erika Odmark, placed sixth out of 13 teams, earning a time of 21:42.5. Tufts saw improvement as the day went on, with the first novice eight placing second in its race with a time of 19:54.1. The boat was composed of first-year coxswain Eden Miller, junior Lauren Drohosky and first-years Polly Harrington, Eva Elder, Erin Dwyer, Sophia Carroll, Gillian Mehigan, Nina Pittas and Sophie Bredenkamp. The novice eight only lost out to Dartmouth, who earned a 17:56.1. The second novice eight was not far behind, finishing fourth in 21:16.9. The Jumbos also had success in the collegiate quads. Tufts raced two boats in the event, with the first quad coming in third (20:27.3) and the second quad coming in fifth (21:38.9). Tufts earned a respectable time in the varsity eights as well, with the first varsity eight, consisting of senior Emma Conroy, junior Libby Lichter, sopho-

mores Jill Armenia, Camden Myles, Prairie Hammer and Grace Fabrycky, and first-years Elder, Harrington and Dwyer, finishing eighth out of 23 boats. The first varsity eight posted a time of 19:02.5. The second varsity eight finished in 16th with a time of 20:31.5. The women’s team was pleased with the results. “[We] raced to expectations,” coach Brian Dawe told the Daily in an email. “When rowing against Division 1 programs we make sure we don’t lose, i.e. beat ourselves. It’s one thing to get beat by these other schools but it leaves a sour taste we get rattled when rowing side by side with them. The Dartmouth freshman/novice eight passed the entire field and it took them a long, long time to get through us. Coming home in the last 200 meters our novice eight matched Dartmouth stroke for stroke to the finish line. We got beat but we didn’t lose, and this was a theme for the women for the entire day.” Both the men’s and the women’s crew teams will compete at the Head of the Charles Regatta on Oct. 22. The men’s team is looking forward to the challenge. “The Head of the Charles is a challenging, chaotic race,” Wanner said. “Three miles over a tight, twisting river with other crews all around. The slightest steering error by your coxswain can cost you 10 places at the finish, or another crew can cause a crash in front of you causing you to lose time through no fault of your own. To do well at the Charles, you have to be fast, but you need some racing luck as well, so the team will give what they have on the day and with luck, we can do well. But it won’t change what we do at practice the next week; we’ll continue the daily work that has brought us this far, trusting that work to take us forward another step. Our goal is to race fully and completely, to give full effort and focus to the race. If we do that, the results will be good. Everything else is out of our control, and at the Head of the Charles, there’s a lot of ‘everything else.’ ”

Sports

Wednesday, October 18, 2017 | Sports | THE TUFTS DAILY

COURTESY KEN LEGLER

Senior Molly Pleskus and junior Taylor Hart sail the women’s A boat on Sept. 15.

With qualifiers around the corner, sailing focuses on consistency by Sejal Dua Staff Writer

This weekend, the Tufts co-ed sailing team, No. 2 in the New England Intercollegiate Sailing Association (NEISA) performance rankings, split its fleets among two interconference regattas: Truxtun Umsted and the Captain Hurst Bowl, hosted by Navy and Dartmouth, respectively. Meanwhile, the Tufts women’s sailing team competed in Branford, Conn. at an interconference regatta hosted by Yale. From a skipper’s perspective, the conditions were less than ideal on Saturday, at both Dartmouth and Yale. Because the wind was essentially nonexistent, only a few races took place. Fortunately, Sunday offered winds from the south up to 17 knots, and all three regattas with Tufts representation were packed with action. The women’s team earned a 13th-place finish out of the 18 teams at the Yale Interconference Regatta. The Jumbo fleet in the A division put up 141 points, while the B division fleet posted 152 of its own. In total, Tufts scored 293 points, wedging itself between 12th-place Northeastern (273) and 14th-place Harvard (323). The Jumbos’ B division fleet was skippered by first-year Talia Toland with senior Lucy Robison as crew. The duo had its best finish in the fourth race, with a sixth-place finish. The A division boat was skippered by senior Molly Pleskus skippering with junior Taylor Hart as crew, and they came in 13th place overall.

“At this point, we know we are fast and can beat any boat out there, but in order to consistently perform well we need [to] minimize the little mistakes across the course,” Pleskus said. “The issue with these high-level fleets is that no one is making any big mistakes, so if you are not 100 percent tuned into everything that is happening for 100 percent of the time, it is really easy to find yourself in a bad spot.” As it is still early in the season, Tufts is satisfied with its current standing. Holding its own against many top teams in interconference regattas, as it has done, is a strong statement. “As a team, and a women’s team especially, we are making steady improvements, working toward controlling the controllables and preparing ourselves to successfully deal with whatever else comes at us,” Pleskus said. Maintaining a similar mindset, the Tufts co-ed team does not focus on besting individual competitors on a race-to-race basis. Instead, the sailors strive for consistency as they slowly prepare themselves for bigger qualifying races over the course of the season. With similar reflections on the weekend, the Jumbo sailors who competed at the Captain Hurst Bowl, as well as those who competed at Truxtun, were content with their performances. Nevertheless, there was still room for improvement. “We struggled, particularly in the two dinghy divisions,” senior tri-captain Julien Guiot said. “It was a big weekend because we sent the first rank to Captain Hurst. We took the second

string to the Truxton down at Navy. We were hoping for a top-15, maybe even a top-10 finish there, and we finished 14th overall. Given the crews and competition we had at both regattas, we did okay, but we could have done better.” Across all four divisions at the Truxton Umsted, Tufts recorded a total of 590 points, trailing Boston University by 11 points, but edging out the University of Pennsylvania by a mere four points. At the Captain Hurst Bowl, Tufts placed eighth overall, out of 18 teams. The effort was led by the fifth-place C division squad, skippered by junior Chris Keller with senior crew Michelle Chisdak. The pair secured two impressive wins in the first and third races, bolstering their score and landing them a top-five finish. However, Keller recognized the impact that consistency plays in Tufts’ overall sailing, and the dramatic improvement it will bring to the team over the course of the season. “[We’re] focusing on keeping high consistency in competitive fleets and not letting one or two mistakes or bad races get to our heads,” Keller said. “We know we can compete with anybody out there.” The Tufts A team finished eighth in its division. Junior Cam Holley skippered with junior All-American Ian Morgan as crew. The Jumbos posted second-place and third-place finishes in two of the races, but they came up just short to Harvard, conceding seventh place in the division. “We’re satisfied. We set the goal of top four which we didn’t quite hit, but

the racing was incredibly close, and we were in it until the last set,” Holley said. “Fourth had 189 points and we had 211, so the gap between fourth and eighth was really tight.” Consistency is the mantra for the Jumbos as they get settled into the season and try to gain more experience against interconference competitors. “We’re starting a new group of sailors at the top string, so getting experience in interconference regattas over the course of the season has been super helpful,” Guiot said. As the Jumbos look toward important qualifier tournaments, they remain optimistic. Changes are evident in many areas, but the Jumbos see mainly positive trends and improvement as they gain more and more experience in regattas like the ones this past weekend. The Jumbos will be back in action next weekend in Rhode Island, as Brown hosts the Sherman Hoyt Interconference Regatta. In addition to Tufts’ exciting few weeks ahead, one Jumbo sailor is under the spotlight in a major way already. Junior Alp Rodopman was not only named NEISA sailor of the week during the second week of the season, but he is also currently in Japan racing in a World Cup event to help him qualify for the 2020 Olympics with the Turkish Olympic sailing team. The Jumbos eagerly wait in anticipation to see where his individual accomplishments may take him.

12 tuftsdaily.com

Sports

Wednesday, October 18, 2017

ANGELIE XIONG / THE TUFTS DAILY

Senior Zain Ali hits a volley during practice before the game at MIT Invitational on Oct. 17.

Strong showings in doubles boost Tufts at MIT Invitational by Julia Atkins

Contributing Writer

Tufts competed in MIT’s Fall Invitational on Oct. 13–15, taking on NESCAC rivals and various Div. III teams from the Northeast. The doubles team of senior tri-captain Benjamin Battle and sophomore Zach Shaff made an impressive run, advancing to the quarterfinals of the tournament. Battle and Shaff opened with an 8–5 win over their bracket’s fifth seed, senior tri-captain William de Quant and first-year Andre Xiao of Middlebury. De Quant is the defending NCAA Div. III men’s doubles champion, making the win even more rewarding for the Jumbos. Battle and Shaff went on to beat senior quad-captain Cam Daniels and first-year Zach Fleischman of Wesleyan with another 8–5 scoreline. The Tufts duo was eliminated in the quarterfinal round, losing 8–2 to junior Zach Bessette and first-year Kevin Ma of Amherst. “We had a great win in the first round,” Shaff said. “After a tough start to the fall season, Battle really had a breakout performance in this tournament.” Three other Tufts doubles teams competed in the tournament, with two of the three winning first-round matches in the main draw. Sophomore Ethan

Bershtein and first-year Carl-Herman Grant beat Williams first-years Calvin Chung and Arturo Kam by a score of 8–4. They were then knocked out by sophomore Jayson Fung and first-year Ethan Hillis of Amherst, 8–4. On the bottom half of the bracket, the third-seeded team of Tufts seniors Zain Ali and Rohan Gupte recorded an 8–4 first-round win over junior Jackson Kogan and first-year Rajan Vohra of Brandeis. They then lost 8–3 in the second round to sophomore Nathan Kaplan and first-year Sean Wei of Amherst. In the back draw, Tufts junior Ross Kamin and first-year Niko Hereford won by default in the first round against senior Omar Gonzalez and sophomore Nate Newhouse of MIT. The duo then lost 8–2 to MIT sophomores Albert Go and Victor Cheng. Eight Tufts players competed in the 64-man singles main, and three of them won matches. Senior tri-captain Danny Coran defeated sophomore Jonathan Holtzman of Wesleyan in three sets (6–1, 4–6 and 6–1). In the subsequent round, Coran fell to Middlebury first-year Nate Eazor in a straight-sets defeat, 6–2, 6–4. Ali prevailed over MIT junior Sean Ko 7–6 (6), 6–3. The Dix Hills, N.Y. native put up a strong fight against senior tri-captain Gil Roddy of Bowdoin in the round of

32, but lost 6–2, 0–6, 6–4. Roddy lost 6–3, 6–3 in the next round to de Quant, the eventual runner-up. First-year Boris Sorkin won one match for the Jumbos as well, defeating Brandeis sophomore David Aizenberg. Sorkin came back after dropping the first set 5–7, winning with scores of 6–1 and 6–2 to seal the victory. Sorkin then fell, however, to MIT first-year Charles Deng with scores of 2–6, 6–4 and 6–1. The team is very excited about the new addition of Sorkin. Originally from St. Petersburg, Russia, Sorkin attended Spain’s Laude Lady Elizabeth School. “[Sorkin] is a very talented player,” Shaff said. “He is getting really close to having big wins, and under the mentorship of the older players on our team, I can see him becoming an even greater contributor.” The five Jumbos who failed to advance past the first round in the main draw instead competed in the singles back draw with mixed results. While first-year Owen Bartok and sophomore Justin Scanlon did not reverse their fortunes and fell to their first-round opponents in the consolation draw, Battle and Grant both were victorious. Battle won 6–2, 6–4 over Middlebury firstyear Adam Guo before losing 6–4, 6–3 to first-year Michael Zhao of

MIT. Grant defeated Brandeis senior Ethan Saal 7–6, 6–1 and then lost 6–4, 6–0 to Middlebury sophomore Alex Vanezis. Tufts sophomore Ben Biswas also took advantage of the opportunity of the back draw, advancing all the way to the semifinals. Biswas strung together three wins in a row, beating junior Zach Cihlar of Brandeis (6–4, 6–4), firstyear Larry Zhao of Bowdoin (6–1, 1–6, 10–5) and sophomore Justin Patel of Bowdoin (6–4, 6–2). Biswas eventually fell to Middlebury senior tri-captain Timo van der Geest in straight sets, 6–3, 6–3. Van der Geest went on to seal the victory in the back draw, defeating Amherst’s Hillis 6–3, 6–4 in the championship match. Overall, the Jumbos improved their performance since the 2016 MIT Fall Invitational, and the team was happy with its progress. “We didn’t do too well as a team last year at this tournament,” Ali said. “Although we didn’t do as well as we hoped we would do, we definitely took a step in the right direction this year. We have one more tournament coming up this fall, and we’re really excited to show what we can do.” The final fall tournament for Tufts is the Wallach Invitational, which is hosted by Bates on the weekend of Oct. 21–22.