Thursday, February 16, 2017

Page 1

New major examines social context of science and technology see FEATURES / PAGE 3

MEN’S BASKETBALL

Jumbos celebrate firstseed, keep eyes on NESCAC

Conductor Fischer’s last hurrah on American tour in Boston see ARTS&LIVING / PAGE 5

SEE SPORTS / BACK PAGE

THE

INDEPENDENT

STUDENT

N E W S PA P E R

OF

TUFTS

UNIVERSITY

E S T. 1 9 8 0

T HE T UFTS DAILY

VOLUME LXXIII, NUMBER 14

tuftsdaily.com

Thursday, February 16, 2017

MEDFORD/SOMERVILLE, MASS.

Tufts alumni featured in Forbes 30 Under 30 list by Anar Kansara Staff Writer

Two Tufts alumni, Jake Dell (LA ’09) and Alex Schmider (LA ’13), were featured as part of Forbes Magazine’s annual 30 Under 30 list in the categories of Food & Drink and Media. Schmider, who graduated from Tufts with a degree in psychology and a minor in communications and media studies (CMS), is a senior strategist at GLAAD, a national LGBTQ advocacy organization. A large part of Schmider’s mission at GLAAD revolves around transgender media and making sure that stories about transgender people are fairly, accurately and inclusively represented in the media, Schmider said. According to Schmider, his Tufts experience lent a heavy contribution to his career in transgender media. Through his CMS minor, Schmider said

he developed a strong interest in media, specifically focusing on the representation of marginalized identities. “I took a Children and Mass Media course that educated me about how powerful and influential media can be,” Schmider said. “I developed a passion and a deep core connection to helping people see themselves in media.” Schmider explained that he first found out he is transgender when he took a psychology course at Tufts. During his time at the university, Schmider said that he was able to move onto a path of acceptance. This allowed him to focus his energy and enthusiasm on effecting change externally. “Once you accept yourself, you are able to succeed in all these different ways because a confidence develops,” Schmider said. see FORBES, page 2

COURTESY WIKIPEDIA COMMONS

Jake Dell (LA ‘09), the fifth-generation owner of Katz’s Delicatessen in New York City, was featured in Forbes 30 Under 30.

Veritas Forum group hosts panel discussion on faith, race relations

Cullen Buie, associate professor at MIT, gives on Feb. 15. by Joe Walsh

Executive News Editor

The Veritas Forum, an organization that plans discussions based on the Christian faith, hosted a panel discussion about race and religious identity in Barnum Hall last night, in front of an audience of more than 25 people. The event, which was cosponsored by the Tufts Christian Fellowship, featured

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played both positive and negative roles in American history. “In the history of our country, Christians have played both a role as the oppressors as well as a role as liberators,” Coleman said. Buie said that when he was growing up he was not particularly religious, but he became more religious as an undergraduate student. Hill, on the other hand, went to a predominantly AfricanAmerican church but lived in a largeSEOHYUN SHIM / THE TUFTS DAILY ly white neighboradvice on faith and race during “Beyond Colorblind” in Barnum 008 hood, so religion was intertwined Massachusetts Institute of Technology with race and ethnicity, she said. She Associate Professor of Mechanical added that, as a psychologist, she wanted Engineering Cullen Buie and Harvard to understand why she believes in God. University Professor of Education Nancy “I had to separate my relationship with Hill as speakers, with Tufts Lecturer of God from my ethnic identity,” Hill said. “As Music David Coleman moderating the I began to attend churches that were distalk. connected from my ethnicity … I began to After a brief prelude by a student lead- see some of the commonalities of faith.” er, Coleman introduced the two speakers. Coleman asked Hill about the roots Coleman argued that faith is important of racial bias, and whether human to discuss because religious figures have beings are predisposed to prejudice.

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Hill said that people are not prejudiced from birth because, when humans are born, they are able to discern and interpret different languages and cultures. Nonetheless, Hill said that when people are raised homogeneously, they lose their ability to appreciate diversity “The solution to that … is that the earlier we integrate schools, even preschool, even daycare, the less predisposed people will be to racial bias,” Hill said. However, Hill argued that colorblindness is not necessarily a desired outcome because that would lead to homogeneity of one culture. Instead, she said, it is best for people to experience and appreciate the diversity of different human cultures. Buie warned that people have a tendency not to acknowledge their own prejudices and biases, which makes it more difficult to confront the problem of racism. He suggested that the Christian faith can potentially offer a solution because it encourages humility. Hill said that the disparities in the educational system and inequities in educational opportunities are evidence that there is still a problem of systemic racism in the United States. She noted that elementary schools in wealthy Greater Boston suburbs clearly have more resources than schools in more socioeconomically disadvantaged neighborhoods. Buie said that he recognized the problem of racial under-representation when he was in graduate school at Stanford

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

see VERITAS, page 2

COMICS....................................... 7 OPINION.....................................9 SPORTS............................ BACK


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