Wednesday, November 9, 2016

Election 2016: Check out the Daily’s breakdown of yesterday’s results.” see NEWS / PAGE 2

TUFTS SAILING

Rodopman sixth at national championship

Photospread: community turns out to support candidates, ballot initiatives.” see ARTS&LIVING / PAGE 8

SEE SPORTS / BACK PAGE

THE

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T HE T UFTS DAILY

VOLUME LXXII, NUMBER 43

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Wednesday, November 9, 2016

MEDFORD/SOMERVILLE, MASS.

Trump sweeps path to White House

by Gil Jacobson and Justin Krakoff News Editor and Executive Arts Editor

Donald J. Trump was elected as the 45th President of the United States of America, defeating former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton in perhaps the closest race since the 2000 election between then Gov. George W. Bush and Vice President Al Gore.

In a redux to the 2004 presidential election, early exit polls badly mischaracterized the state of the race, as Nate Silver of fivethirtyeight.com reported that the early polls had shown a practical blowout for Clinton.

With Trump crossing the 270 mark after the AP called XXX at XXX, the significance of this error cannot be overstated as many pundits had predicted this would not be the long night it had turned out to be.

Following a grueling campaign season, Trump’s path

COURTESY ADAM RAPFOGEL

Donald Trump speaks during a rally on the eve of the 2016 presidential election at SNHU in Manchester, NH, on Nov. 7. to the White House was built around unprecedented turnout

amongst working class whites, giving him historical margins

ACLU Tufts chapter sends poll monitors to protect Tufts students’ right to vote

by Catherine Perloff News Editor

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) Tufts chapter sent fourteen students to serve as poll monitors at precincts where Tufts students vote, according to Brandon Katz, the organization’s president.

Katz, a junior, said that the Jonathan M. Tisch College of Civic Life’s JumboVote Coordinator Diane Alexander (A’16) approached him with the idea late last spring. Monitors serve to protect individuals’ right to vote and Alexander said they were considered necessary because in the past, Tufts students have had trouble voting, and have even at times been turned away.

“The purpose of sending the ACLU poll monitors was to stop any issues from happening before they even occurred,” Alexander said.

Alexander said that in the past, issues often arose because students showed up to vote at the wrong precinct, as students living on-campus vote at four

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different locations — a number which increases to nine if those living off-campus are included.

“People don’t know where to go, and they end up going to the wrong place and say ‘Oh, why can’t I vote here?’” she said. “A lot of it is in the past the towns haven’t been equipped to handle it.”

However, she said this year voting went much smoother.

“No one was turned away,” Alexander said. “A couple people were kind of disgruntled because of the campaign rules.”

Those rules included identification requirements for first-time voters and a ban on clothes or other paraphernalia supporting a particular candidate inside the precinct.

She attributed this success to the JumboVote initiative, which expanded upon the efforts of the now-defunct Tufts Votes, a student-led group that operated last election cycle in coordinating student voting efforts. see ACLU, page 4

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

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to early analysis by the New York Times, Trump achieved managed to win the non-college-educated-white vote by more than 40 points, dealing a significant blow to his Clinton path to 270 as they constitute approximately 40 percent of the electorate.

The contest to succeed President Barack Obama is arguably a strong rebuke to two terms of his presidency.

Early on in the night, Trump captured key swing states such as Florida and Ohio with the AP calling these races at 10:50 and 10:36 PM EST, respectively. The early times of said calls signaled of a surprise Trump comeback across the Electoral College because election models as Nate Silver’s FiveThirtyEight and The New York Times’ Upshot Model indicated he had little to no

with working class whites across America. According

see TRUMP, page 4

Students express optimism, ultimately dismay over results

by Melissa Kain News Editor

Students expressed a combination of enthusiasm, hesitation and disappointment throughout the course of the evening over the 2016 presiwdential election at last night’s Election Night Extravaganza in the Mayer Campus

Center.

The event was sponsored by the Experimental College, the Office for Campus Life, JumboVote, the Department of Political Science, the Jonathan M. Tisch College of Civic Life, Tufts Democrats and Tufts Republicans. see EXTRAVAGANZA, page 4

MAX LALANNE / THE TUFTS DAILY

Students watch the 2016 presidential election results at the Mayer Campus Center on Nov. 8.

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COMICS......................................11 OPINION...................................12 SPORTS............................ BACK

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THE TUFTS DAILY | News | Wednesday, November 9, 2016

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T HE T UFTS D AILY Arin Kerstein

Breakdown of the Battleground

Editor-in-Chief

EDITORIAL

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

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

Executive Photo Editor Photo Administrator Picture Tufts Editor Staff Photographers

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

BUSINESS Josh Morris Executive Business Director

GRAPHICS BY PETER LAM / THE TUFTS DAILY

Florida: The Sunshine State saw record turnout this year. Trump’s path to victory relied upon historic margins across white voters across the state, indicative in places such as Pasco County. Not even Clinton’s historic garnering of the Hispanic vote could keep this in the Democratic column.

Ohio: The first major state of the night to be called, Ohio, was long predicted to land in Trump’s column due to its lower levels of college educated whites and Hispanics. The Buckeye State may have indeed maintained its bellwether status, once more giving its 18 electoral votes to a Republican in their quest to win the White House.

North Carolina: With Trump running stronger than expected across the state, Clinton found herself even behind Obama’s 2012 loss by the time the AP called the state. Lower black turnout and Clinton’s collapse amongst white voters insured Trump would coast to relatively comfortable victory here.

Michigan: With Wisconsin, the biggest surprise of the night came from this Rust Belt giant. Trump’s ability to turn out voters across the upper part of the state kept Clinton’s margins down in Democratic strongholds of Wayne and Genesee Counties.

Combined with the loss of Pennsylvania, Clinton’s failure to hold the state represents her ultimate troubles across the region.

Wisconsin: Wisconsin has not gone Democratic since Regan’s landslide re-election in 1984, effectively marking an end to Democratic dominance in the Upper Midwest. Clinton’s failure to hold this brick in the Blue Wall severely hampered her chances to eke out a win on election night and pushed Trump way past the 270 mark.

Pennsylvania: Even though Trump had not led in a major poll in the Keystone State since July, Trump’s surprise victory was made possible by record margins in the middle, rural part of the state. By capturing the state, Trump blocked Clinton’s path to 270 and aided in the re-election of Sen. Pat Toomey (R-PA).

—Justin Krakoff

Republicans keep grip on U.S. Senate

by Rob Katz News Editor

The U.S. Senate will remain held by the Republican Party after Tuesday’s election, with the Republicans holding 52 seats versus the Democrats’ 47 seats at press time, Republicans held their ground in most competitive races, staving off a Democratic wave that could have

flipped control of the chamber. While the Democrats held on to seats in Nevada and Colorado, Republicans maintained control of seats in Indiana, North Carolina, Missouri, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.

Pennsylvania’s Pat Toomey had not led a poll in three weeks; Wisconsin’s Ron Johnson had been viewed as a lost cause by national republicans for months.

As of press time, the race between Republican incumbent Kelly Ayotte

and Democrat Maggie Hassan had not been called.

In one of the only Democratic pickups of the cycle, Tammy Duckworth defeated Sen. Mark S. Kirk in Illinois, putting both Senate seats in Illinois in Democrat control. Kirk, a centrist Republican who served in the US House of Representatives from 2001 until 2010 and has served in the Senate since then, refused to back Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump and, shortly before the election, attacked Duckworth’s immigrant background, according to the New York Times.

Junior Max Hornung, a Chicago native, believed Duckworth was seen in Illinois as a more populist candidate than Kirk.

“I think her presence is a source of a pride for the state as a champion of the disempowered,” Hornung said. “What her presence will mean for [Illinois] legislatively depends on how the rest of the evening turns out in terms of Senate races.”

Former contenders for the Republican presidential nomination did well, as Marco Rubio won Florida and Rand Paul won Kentucky. John McCain also earned his sixth term as Senator of Arizona, having been brought into national headlines earlier this year after being mocked by Trump for his years as a prisoner of war in Vietnam, according to the New York Times.

Montana, Wyoming, New Mexico, Texas, Minnesota, Michigan, Maine, Mississippi, Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia, New Jersey, Delaware and Massachusetts did not have Senate seats up for reelection, meaning that 36 Democrats and 30 Republicans were not up for re-election.

With the battle for the Senate winding down once, Democrats failed to flip control of the chamber, leaving many to eye wearily at their daunting prospects to do so in 2018.

N

Wednesday, November 9, 2016 | News | THE TUFTS DAILY

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GRAPHICS BY ALLIE MEROLA / THE TUFTS DAILY

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THE TUFTS DAILY | News | Wednesday, November 9, 2016

tuftsdaily.com

Trump wins in shocking election TRUMP

continued from page 1 chance of winning the election in the days prior.

In continuing with these come from behind wins, Trump ran the table in Rust Belt states that had consistently voted Democratic since 1992, including Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania.

Michigan’s Macomb County, the original site of the oft discussed Reagan Democrats, went red on the presidential level for the first time since 2004,

representing a marketed departure from President Obama’s two time victory in the county.

In what will be the most talked about story of this cycle, Trump’s successful bludgeoning of the Blue Wall is indicative of a massive realignment within American politics. By capturing Iowa and the aforementioned Rust Belt states, Trump disproved that the Democrats had an inherent advantage in the Electoral College and that demographic shifts are not wholly enough to

county for voting patterns.

Down ballot, Republicans benefited greatly from Trump’s coattails and minimized their losses to only one seat in Illinois’ senate race of incumbent Sen. Mark Kirk (R-IL) and challenger Tammy Duckworth (THIS MAY CHANGE IF MAGGIE HASSAN WINS NH). As of press time, Republicans were expected to maintain a majority of 53-47, with incumbents sweeping key races in Missouri, North Carolina, New Hampshire and Pennsylvania.

In the House of Representatives, the current breakdown now stands at XXXX for the Republicans. Democrats managed to make a slight dent into the historically high Republican majority as they captured XX seats, with competitive pickups in Illinois’ 10th district, New Jersey’s 5th, Arizona’s 1st, Florida’s 7th and California’s 49th and New Hampshire’s 1st.

As of press time, neither candidate had issue a statement or made remarks in regards to the results of the election.

Tufts students express different views on election results EXTRAVAGANZA

continued from page 1 This event was packed, with over about 1,000 students in attendance when it began, according to Ex-College Director Howard Woolf.

Sophomore Gabe Fish said that this is a particularly high-stakes election.

“I’ve definitely been up a lot worrying about it,” Fish said. “It’s really exciting being here tonight, but I’m also very nervous.”

Seniors Hayley Cohen and Sarah Gruen, who spent the day canvassing for Clinton in Londonderry, N.H., expressed concern over the divisiveness of this election.

While canvassing, the two said they saw a sign that read “Christian or Democrat: Pick Only One.” “That pretty much sums up my feelings and fears about this election,” Cohen said. “It’s about identity and about who’s good and who’s bad and who you’re allowed to be. I think at Tufts, it’s no surprise that we’re overwhelmingly against Trump if we can’t agree on anything else, but the undercurrents are certainly scary. We were speaking, as we were walking here, about what happens next to the GOP and what happens next to the base of Trump supporters who now have been exposed by this election.”

Many conservative students were reluctant to discuss their political beliefs with the Daily.

Alexander Jaramillo is a registered Republican who voted absentee for Clinton in Florida. Jaramillo, a junior,

said that he was considering voting for Libertarian presidential nominee Gary Johnson but eventually chose Clinton due to the closeness of the race.

“It’s one of those ‘lose the battle or win the war’ kind of things,” he said.

“I’m looking forward to 2020 for a Rubio or Ryan ticket that I’d one hundred percent endorse to get Hillary out.”

Alex, a first-year from Nevada who requested to be identified by only his first name, voted absentee for Johnson.

He said that the election made some voters feel that they had to choose between the lesser of two evils.

“I think it’s more important to vote for a candidate who represents my own ideals and what I believe in rather than just picking someone because I don’t like the person they’re running against,” he said.

Some students said they struggled with voter registration issues. Ilya Yurchenko, a first-year, said that he never got his absentee ballot from New York but that he was excited about the election regardless.

“I myself am an immigrant, so this is a pretty emotional time for me,” Yurchenko said. “I’m looking forward to finding out the results at this point.”

Later in the night, after many sources began to give Trump much higher chances of victory, student responses became increasingly emotional.

“It just means there’s a lot more hatred in the world that I thought, I guess,” sophomore Shreya Marathe, who attended the event, said. “I don’t

even feel afraid, it’s more like disbe- in light of a likely a Trump victory, saylief…I just don’t even know.” ing that social activism may experience As the event ended and the campus a boost. center began closing, students could “This is the kind of moment where be seen both tearfully comforting one genuine social change happens–not another and expressing sincere anger. when you’re in power, but when you’re Julie Murray said that she anticipated the opposition,” he said. “Hold onto this the mood to last beyond election night. hurt, use it as motivation. Something “By the end people were booing at positive could come of it.” the TV flipping it off, people stressed out on the phone talking loved one in other places to get them out…I feel like campus is going to be pretty depressing tomorrow,” Murray, a junior, said.

Woolf, who helped organize the event, said he gave a brief speech to those students left in the campus center by the end of the night in order to help them cope with the anticipated results.

“The mood was hard.

People were hurt, upset, disappointed…but people acted in an admirable way. They tried to support one another,” he said. “At 11:00, I asked them all what they wanted to do, and they said, ‘we’re staying’.”

ANGELIE XIONG / THE TUFTS DAILY Woolf also tried to Senior TCU President Gauri Seth reacts while watching the 2016 give students a glimmer presidential election results at the Campus Center on Nov. 8.

No significant problems reported at polling places ACLU

continued from page 1 “No one was turned away, in large part, because we had a really, really good presence,” Alexander said. “When [student voting efforts were] student run there wasn’t as much of a coordinated effort to work with the election departments.”

Katz explained that students serving as poll monitors were trained by a member from the Massachusetts branch of ACLU prior to election day to learn their rights.

However, according to ACLU Tufts chapter executive board member and junior Teddy Cahill, anyone has the right to serve as a poll monitor.

“The law says anyone can be a poll monitor,” he said. “We had a training, but if you want to poll monitor they have to let you.”

According to Katz, the first objective of a poll monitor is to observe.

“You look for any instance where if

someone might be denied their right to vote, whether that [it is] because they are [being] denied a provisional ballot

when they should be able to get one, or any sort of voter intimidation,” Katz said.

EZGI YAZICI / TUFTS DAILY

People voting in the Holy Bible Baptist Church on Nov. 8.

Katz said that they were instructed to report concerning instances to a voter hotline of the Massachusetts branch of the ACLU and could not directly intervene or talk to voters at the polls. Poll monitors could talk with voters outside of the precinct, Cahill said.

“One kid didn’t know he could get a provisional ballot, so I followed him out and told him he could get a provisional ballot,” Cahill said.

However, both Cahill and Katz said there weren’t many instances to report.

Also on hand was Tufts Assistant General Counsel Dana Fleming, who served as a poll monitor at the Medford precinct at the Gantcher Center all day.

Alexander thought voting went well overall and that JumboVote established good relationships with the community which will be positive for relationships with the community future. “[ACLU poll monitors] did a really good job and were there to prevent any problems,” she said. “We had a good year.”

Wednesday, November 9, 2016

Features

Former Resident Assistants discuss benefits, flaws in ResLife-RA relationship

5 tuftsdaily.com

Kevin Lawson The Tufts Daily Show

Nation’s 45th president-to-be [Hillary Clinton / Donald Trump]

T ALEXIS SERINO / THE TUFTS DAILY

The main entrance to the newly renamed Harleston Hall, which is home to the Office of Residential Life and Learning, is pictured.

by Michael Shames Contributing Writer

A first-year student’s Resident Assistant (RA) might be one of the first members of the Tufts community they meet when they arrive on campus. Assigned to a particular dorm and floor, RAs organize and facilitate community-wide activities and programs while also ensuring the safety of their residents, according to the Office of Residential Life and Learning (ResLife) website.

But despite the many draws and benefits of the job, five former RAs expressed concern regarding the way that their supervisors at ResLife have interacted with them.

One major benefit of the job is the free on-campus housing and free 80-meal dining plan that comes with it, according to Gabe Rondon (LA’ 16), who was an RA during his sophomore year and part of his junior year. Rondon noted that in his experience, a lot of students who look into the RA job receive some form of financial aid.

Mukesh Ghimire (LA ’16), who was an RA his sophomore and junior years and a senior RA during his senior year, agreed.

“A lot of people would say that the biggest draw is the money, as the financial burden lifted off [you] is a very attractive part of the package,” Ghimire said.

According to Ghimire, perhaps a more unspoken perk of the job is the skill set one develops as part of the experience of being an RA. He said that many students will leave the job with management experience, the ability to deal with different types of people and an understanding of how to mentor younger students.

ResLife Director Yolanda King said that being an RA is a unique opportunity for leadership.

“The RA role is a premiere leadership position for students who are interested in serving as a resource, role-model and mentor to fellow students,” King told the Daily in an email.

However, Rondon said that the work required by RAs is often undersold, leaving them feeling unsupported.

“Being an RA can definitely be a stressful job with a lot of pressure on you at all times of day,” Rondon said. “Not having a supportive base can make the job almost impossible.”

He noted that he was rebuked on several occasions for spending too much time studying in the library and not enough time in his dorm room. Rondon resigned from the job in his junior year with just three weeks remaining on the academic calendar, at the suggestion of Counseling and Mental Health Services, because of the immense toll it was taking on his mental health.

“As an RA, we were taught to spot mental health issues among our residents, and it was ironic that those people [who taught us] could not spot the same thing in me,” Rondon said.

King is aware of the problems that RAs inherently face in their jobs, and she feels her office handles these situations effectively.

“Some of the feedback my team has received includes the overall time commitment for being an RA and being a student, the challenge of when some things come up that need to be addressed and may not necessarily be clearly stated in the RA job description and the need to make the ‘areas’ smaller and increase more staffing for more support for the RAs and students,” King said. “We try and work directly with RAs to provide the assistance and support they need as a student and student leader.”

Nonetheless, both Ghimire and Rondon feel that there is a lack of communication between RAs and their employers. This disconnect contributes to the build-up of unresolved issues that RAs face on the job, Ghimire said.

“RAs [do] not feel comfortable talking to central staff because they feel they will not address their concerns,” Ghimire said of his experience as a senior RA, a position that is supposed to help bridge the gap between RAs and ARDs, according to a Nov. 2, 2015 article in the Daily.

According to Ghimire, ResLife staff was condescending to him and fellow RAs, and they did not trust the students to do their jobs effectively.

Additionally, Rondon said that ResLife asked him to set aside more time for the job than he felt was appropriate.

“Balancing time is a problem for most RAs, [and] there is an unrealistic expectation for how much time a student has to put into the job,” Rondon said.

Several RAs attributed this lack of communication to the shift from Residence Hall Directors (RDs) to Area Residence Directors (ARDs), implemented in fall

2014, according to a Sept. 25, 2014 Daily article.

Rondon explained that RDs each oversaw the RAs in one residence hall and were typically graduate students who understood that college could be grueling and stressful. During Rondon and Ghimire’s last years as RAs, four ARDs, who are generally older and thus more removed from the college student and RA experience, were hired in place of the RDs to supervise a cluster, or “area,” of dorms, according to Rondon.

“RDs were more sympathetic to the schoolwork that RAs have, as they too were students,” he said. “They were the voice of the RAs, whereas ARDs are more a part of the system.”

Ghimire pointed out that ResLife understood the importance of his academic success.

“They tried their best to accommodate for my requirements elsewhere,” he said.

“They know that academics is by far the biggest priority.”

Rondon added that he believes ResLife is committed to resolving some of these problems.

“There is change to be had and [ResLife] does try to fix it,” he said. “The intention is there.”

Nonetheless, in some specific instances, he recalled feeling unheard in his role. “[While] it might frankly be that they just do not understand, it felt at times like I was talking to a wall,” Rondon said.

It seemed to Ghimire that ResLife saw him and other RAs as replaceable.

“At times they treated me as if I was expendable, even though that certainly was not the case,” Ghimire said.

Ghimire said that if given the choice again, he might not become a senior RA again, as the position was too stressful, and it was frustrating to navigate the communication gap with ResLife. “[Being a senior RA] was not as great of an experience, as I do not feel like I thrived in the position,” he said.

He emphasized that he would serve as an RA again, despite some of the issues he had with the position.

“It was such a great experience to learn how to be part of team and bring people together,” Ghimire said.

“A highlight for me is that I got to know a lot more people than I would have otherwise.”

he tribe has spoken! Today is the second Wednesday of November, which means that yesterday we officially elected a new president!

However, this column was due for submission on Monday, so it was written before most of the ballots were cast and counted.

I decided to just go ahead and write about the outcome of the election anyway. You might be thinking, “How do you write an article when you have nothing to report?”

Well, there are two ways. The first: Be BuzzFeed. The second: Use brackets!

In this article, whenever you see brackets, simply circle whichever option applies. Here’s a practice example: The best show currently on television is [“Westworld” / “Westworld”].

Okay, I guess that was a bad example.

Anyway, on to the election.

Our 45th president will be [Hillary Clinton / Donald Trump / Garett Johnston (sp?)]! This result marks backto-back groundbreaking presidencies, as the nation’s first black president will be succeeded by the first [woman / sociopathic scarecrow] ever to earn the office. According to exit polls, what really tipped the scales were the efforts of [female and minority voters / Vladimir Putin wearing thousands of different disguises].

Our new president’s first act in the Oval Office will be to [appoint a qualified Cabinet / have lavish, gold-colored cabinets installed]. Within the first 100 days of the new administration, we’ll hopefully see [immigration reform, a Supreme Court appointment and investment in education and technology / Have you seen Designated Survivor? Maybe something like that?].

Now that Election Day has passed, we can finally take a much-needed break from the stress and monotony that came with the nonstop election coverage.

Alright, that was a fun break. Now let’s get back to filling those 24-hour news cycles with some polling data.

For 2020, polls are pointing toward a [Clinton re-election / suspension of democracy until we figure out what’s going on]. Then, keep an eye out for Paul Ryan’s 2024 campaign, which is gaining support in Wisconsin despite suspicious ties to Big Cheese. Meanwhile, Anthony Weiner is projected to somehow be popular again in time for a 2028 bid, and Brent Matherson looks like he’s going to ride the support of sixth and seventh grade girls directly to the title of Most Popular Boy at Lakeview Middle School.

Regardless of who we’ve ended up choosing, this campaign season made one thing clear: We as a nation have not been appreciative enough of our leaders in the past. If only we could go back to those good old days under [Barack Obama / Great Britain].

Kevin Lawson is a senior majoring in political science. Kevin can be reached at kevin.lawson@tufts.edu.

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THE TUFTS DAILY | Features | Wednesday, November 9, 2016

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The Tufts Daily wants to hear from you!

Have a problem with our coverage?

Upset about something happening at Tufts or in the community?

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

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

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ARTS&LIVING

Wednesday, November 9, 2016

‘The Crown’ is good, not groundbreaking

7 tuftsdaily.com

Ana Antolin and Emily Friedlander Runway Roundup

The two Bs in life: Boring and basic

A

ALEX BAILEY / NETFLIX

Jared Harris plays King George VI in Netflix’s “The Crown.”

by Eran Sabaner Arts Editor

“The Crown” (2016) is marketed as Netflix’s most ambitious project, and in a sense, it is: the show is rumored to have a production budget of $156 million, a humongous number for any type of series. Additionally, the show is planned to span six seasons, with an alternating cast depicting the life of Queen Elizabeth II in different time periods. This unconventional approach to storytelling is certainly refreshing to viewers, yet it is also a bold move for Netflix as it entails a six-year commitment to the show.

While Netflix had many ambitious projects recently such as “Sense8” (2015-present) and “The Get Down” (2016), these projects were moderate disappointments for the company in terms of prestige and popularity.

Sleeper hits such as “Stranger Things” (2016), “Master of None” (2015-present) and “Orange is the New Black” (2013-present) have more successfully proven Netflix’s victory over television than some of the company’s more ambitious efforts.

“The Crown” has the potential to be great TV. The first season, which was made available to stream on Nov. 4, has a tremendous cast made up of gifted

TV alumni as well as some fresh new faces, material for dramatic story arcs that can last for centuries and an excuse to become the most extravagant series on air. The features listed promise the show a successful run, but the show admittedly lacks the originality needed to be considered groundbreaking.

The first episode centers on King George VI more than Queen Elizabeth II herself. Jared Harris, who most notably played one of the greatest characters in “Mad Men” (2007-2015), shines throughout the episode as a power-hungry king suffering from illness. Harris is known see THE CROWN, page 11

Swedish pop star Tove Lo takes us through an emotional roller coaster on ‘Lady Wood’

by Justin Krakoff

Executive Arts Editor

Tove Lo has never been one to play by the rules. The Swedish singer-songwriter’s breakout hit, “Habits (Stay High)” (2013), introduced a style of pop that had little precedent on American Top 40 radio as Tove sang about the need to numb her emotional pain via substances and partying.

The track’s dark chorus is built around this theme, yet it also contains the repetition of a catchy “Ooh-ooh, oohooh,” making for an eerie listening and sing-along experience. With “Habits (Stay High)” becoming a sleeper hit, reaching number three on the Hot 100 over a year after its release, Tove had succeeded in leaving her mark on pop radio, and she cemented her status with the release of follow-up single “Talking Body” (2014), which showcased a sexy, tongue-in-cheek side to the Swedish star.

For the follow-up to her stellar debut, “Queen of the Clouds” (2014), Tove had see LADY WOOD, page 10

COURTESY ISLAND RECORDS

Tove Lo’s newest album, “Lady Wood,” was released on Oct. 28.

lmost all of us have experienced the heightened drama associated with a group project. You are stuck with people you don’t know very well and then forced to produce your best work. Some groups synergize, and some groups suffer from mixed loyalties and stubborn personalities. Somehow, three times the number of people on a project results in five times the amount of drama. (We take full credit for whichever sociology major decides to take this on as a thesis.)

This week’s episode of “Project Runway” (2004-present) was no exception, as designers were put into three teams of three to create a mini fashion collection inspired by color palettes of new Sally Beauty products that we already forgot the names of.

The mini fashion collections were then displayed in pop-up shops in SoHo so that the general public could vote on their favorite looks. The public’s choice was supposed to have an impact on which team won this week, but that appears to be a hoax since the public’s favorite lost to what we assume would be the public’s least favorite (a.k.a. the designs we disliked the most).

For those, like us, who don’t know what pop-up shops are, they are basically retail stores set up for very short periods of time.

Ana and our guest judge of the week, Elliot Storey, thought it would be too extreme to believe that the designers’ models would be forced to stand in the shop’s tiny window displays for hours modeling the outfits. But, as Emily predicted, that’s exactly what happened. This is yet another example of the show’s rocky relationship with women.

Elliot, an assistant arts editor for the Daily, is a senior from Los Angeles studying political science, focusing on American politics.

Surprisingly, he does not dream about being on “The West Wing” (1999-2006); instead, he wants to be on the other side of the camera, making movies. While most of the fashion stuff seemed to go over his head, Elliot gave us some expert opinions on the fast pace of the show and the different editing tactics used. Other than that, he described the show as “an exhausting experience” and told us that there is a 0 to 1 percent chance of him ever watching this show again.

Elliot was not nearly as emotionally invested in this episode as we were when we watched designer Roberi Parra create one of the ugliest skirts we’ve ever seen. Coincidentally, that skirt was the reason why he won this week’s challenge. In another instance of injustice, designers Dexter Simmons and Erin Robertson brought back all of Ana’s middle school trauma as they bullied their third team member, Cornelius Ortiz, and got him eliminated. We don’t really like Cornelius — he is a bit of a bully himself — but the blatant unfairness was too much. Tim Gunn, in his infinite purity, saved Cornelius, so he will be returning next week. Tim probably should have reserved his one “save” of the season for a more talented designer, but the middle schoolers in us were glad to see someone care, even if it was all part of a reality show set-up.

Ana Antolin is a junior majoring in international relations. Ana can be reached at Ana.Antolin@tufts.edu. Emily Friedlander is a senior majoirng in international relations. Emily can be reached at Emily.

Friedlander@tufts.edu

8 Photos by: Max Lalanne Rachael Meyer Angelie Xiong Ezgi Yazici

2016 E at T

lection Tufts

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10

THE TUFTS DAILY | Arts & Living | Wednesday, November 9, 2016

tuftsdaily.com

Netflix’s ‘The Crown’ is off to good, but not innovative start THE CROWN

continued from page 7 for making bitter characters easy to sympathize with, an effect not lost in his interpretation of King George VI. George VI’s childish tantrums and smoking habits make him a difficult person to like, yet his illness and his ultimate acceptance of it are quite moving. While viewers most likely won’t see Harris in later episodes, it is safe to say that his portrayal of the king is the highlight of the premiere.

Other cast members give similarly solid performances. Matt Smith is the perfect choice for the alpha-male Prince Philip; it’ll be entertaining to see his character’s relationship with

Queen Elizabeth II during her reign.

Lead Claire Foy is largely unknown for the viewers, yet her performance as Anne Boleyn in BBC miniseries “Wolf Hall” (2015) proves that she is indeed a very promising actress. Her naïve, obedient portrayal of Queen Elizabeth II is certainly surprising, but that is precisely the point. It is hinted that we will see a major change in her character in upcoming episodes.

John Lithgow is unrecognizable as iconic British prime minister Sir Winston Churchill. It is admittedly a difficult job to portray Churchill, as he is one of the most prominent figures of British politics, yet Lithgow’s per-

formance so far has been satisfactory.

By adding a certain nuance to his performance, Lithgow prevents Churchill from being a caricature.

Even if the show does not turn out to fulfill the network’s expectations in terms of award recognition, one thing is for sure: The series will win many prizes for costume design. Since the show is follows the lives of the royal family (i.e. super wealthy people), it does not hesitate to spend a lot of money on stunning clothes from the era. Every dress and accessory, particularly the ensembles of Queen Elizabeth II, is worth looking at.

It is interesting how, years before Kate Middleton, the queen herself was a fash-

ion inspiration for many young British women.

Because “The Crown” centers on the royal family, it has all the necessary drama for a period piece. In addition to Queen Elizabeth II’s reign, viewers will surely enjoy plotlines involving the Queen’s relationship with Churchill as well as Princess Margaret’s extra-marital affair.

Overall, “The Crown” is entertaining and smart enough to be considered quality TV. However, whether or not it will fulfill expectations is still up in the air. Fans of “Upstairs, Downstairs” (1971)-type of British period pieces will surely love “The Crown,” and it’ll be interesting to see the direction the show will take in later seasons.

Tove Lo’s ‘Lady Wood’ impresses with inspired songs, witty lyrics LADY WOOD

continued from page 7 her work cut out for her in order to avoid the dreaded sophomore slump. In an interview with music site Stereogum, Tove said this about the making of her second album: “If [Queen of the Clouds] was all about being vulnerable and crazy when it comes to love, passion, [then] this is tying that story together with the other parts of my life, which is performing and being onstage and those kinds of rushes. And then just any kind of high, whether it’s drugs or not.”

“Lady Wood,” which was released on Oct. 28, captures much of the boldness that made Tove’s debut such a thrill to listen to. Tove once more manages to craft high-quality pop by working with the collaborators from “Queen of the Clouds” – mainly production duo The Struts. Lyrically, “Lady Wood” explores much of the same territory she mined on her debut, yet it embraces a style

of pop that is woozy and almost relaxing compared to the arresting, explosive songs of her first LP. This change in sonic direction simultaneously updates Tove’s sound for a Top 40 radio landscape under the thumb of The Weeknd and The Chainsmokers and adds an edginess to her already razorsharp wit and propensity for emotional turmoil.

Tove’s sophomore album retains the same interlude structure from “Queen of the Clouds,” with the first section, “Fair Dust,” focusing on the crazy high one gets from love and the second, “Fire Fade,” detailing the comedown from said high. The record’s title track is wholly indicative of the former because it acts as a rather apt metaphor for female horniness. “Lady Wood” successfully fuses Tove’s synthpop inclinations with the dance rhythms that can be found throughout the album, especially as she whirls through lines like “I

want you, I want you hanging with me.”

Yet, it is the lead single “Cool Girl” that represents something of the heart of the record as the song demonstrates Tove’s knack for addictive choruses and exploration of chilled-out dance music.

The track was inspired by the now famous line from thriller “Gone Girl” (2014), in which the titular girl, Amy Dunne, talks about being a cool girl for her husband. However, Tove’s take on the line is dripping with sarcasm as she mockingly sings, “I’m a cool girl, I’m a, I’m a cool girl / Ice cold, I roll my eyes at you, boy” over a house-inspired baseline. The track feels relatively unassuming over the course of its approximately three-minute runtime, which in part contributes to its brilliance, as Tove never sounds out of place over its dark techno groove.

Other highlights from the record include “True Disaster” and “WTF Love Is,” which represent two very different

aspects of the record. “True Disaster” embraces a style of 1980s synthpop that feels remarkably similar to “Style” from Taylor Swift’s “1989” (2014). However, Tove’s interpretation of this style adds an aggressiveness that can be felt in the unrelenting march of the track’s synths and a chorus centered upon this fatalistic attraction of “Keep playing my heartstrings faster and faster / You can be just what I want, my true disaster.” In the more dance-inspired “WTF Love Is,” Tove closes out the album in angry, defeated manner as she fires back, “Then what the fuck do you think love is?”

Over the course of its relatively lean 12 tracks, “Lady Wood” never fails to impress, offering a listening experience that is engaging in its exploration of love and pain. Tove has successfully managed to avoid the oft-dreaded sophomore slump, proving she is in it for the long haul to redefine Top 40 radio.

11

Wednesday, November 9, 2016 | Comics | THE TUFTS DAILY

tuftsdaily.com

Comics

LATE NIGHT AT THE DAILY David: “Heads we drink vodka, tails it’s bleach.”

Comics

SUDOKU

DOONESBURY

BY GARY TRUDEAU

NON SEQUITUR

BY WILEY MILLER

Difficulty Level: Accepting last night’s results.

Thursday’s Solution

FOR RELEASE NOVEMBER 9, 2016

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

ACROSS 1 Welcomed at the door 6 “Shame on you!”

9 German tricktaking card game 13 St. Teresa’s town 14 Use as a source 15 Egg on 16 Shade lighter than jade 18 Reckless act instigator 19 Witty Bombeck 20 Euros replaced them 21 Buffoons 22 Target Field, e.g.

24 Nowhere near cool 26 N.L. mascot whose head is a large baseball 28 Cracks up 31 Finnish telecommunications company 34 Lindsay of “Freaky Friday” (2003) 36 Bud’s partner 37 Exclude from the list 38 Shrewd ... and a phonetic hint to this puzzle’s four longest answers 39 Creatures of habit?

40 Like Mars, visually 41 Storybook elephant 42 Sneaks a look 43 Points of view 45 Sleeping giant 47 Actors memorize them 49 Riddle-ending question 53 Chew out 55 “Now it makes sense” 57 One-named supermodel 58 __ Scotia 59 London cocreator of the International Plant Names Index 61 Meryl’s “it’s Complicated” co-star 62 Chevy subcompact

By C.C. Burnikel

63 Pasta tubes 64 Skip a turn 65 Headed up 66 Infuriated with DOWN 1 Sushi bar brews 2 Prevent 3 Bedrock wife 4 Words starting a confession 5 Lawmaker’s rejection 6 22-Across level 7 Energetic mount 8 He’s a doll 9 Numbers game 10 Super-strong adhesive brand 11 Soil-related prefix 12 Pro shop bagful 14 Forensics facility 17 Feeling blue 21 Cereal component 23 Nest egg letters 25 Big name in facial scrubs 27 Forum robes 29 Traffic alert 30 Puzzle (out) 31 Screenwriter Ephron 32 It may be a bad sign

11/9/16

Thursday’s Solution Tuesday’s Puzzle Solved

©2016 Tribune Content Agency, LLC

33 Extreme care 35 “Fasten your seatbelts” 38 Violin protector 39 “Swell suggestion!”

41 Calisthenics movement 42 After-school org.

44 Shrubs with lavender blooms 46 Perlman of “Cheers”

11/9/16

48 Colander cousin 50 Change, as a motion 51 Old Testament food 52 Illustrator’s close-up 53 Easy-peasy task 54 Picnic soft drink 56 Neighbor of Nor. 59 __ Kan pet foods 60 Tach reading

Opinion

12 tuftsdaily.com

Wednesday, November 9, 2016

POINT-COUNTERPOINT

}

The Union’s debate on the two-party system Point-Counterpoint juxtaposes two opposing perspectives on polarizing issues and debates. The following responses were written by members of the Tufts student group The Union, summarizing both sides of their recent debate on the two-party system. Students on either side were asked to respond to the prompt “This campus believes that the two-party system facilitates democracy.”

}

The case for the two-party system The case against the two-party system

M

odern American political parties do two things: They channel interests from the grassroots up to political leaders and organize interest groups into governing coalitions. These two very important functions bridge the divide between state and society, creating channels in which the interests of the electorate may be expressed and their power aggregated.

The Democrats and Republicans are the only two parties that have the institutions, the leadership and the voter base to accomplish the task of bridging the gap between state and society.

The process of coalition building is central to understanding how parties govern. Governing requires a majority, not a plurality, so parties must always work to build governing coalitions. In multi-party systems, coalition building occurs undemocratically and after the fact, leading to outcomes not reflective of the electorate.

In two-party systems, coalition building occurs during the primary process. Thus, multi-party democracies simply give the illusion of choice; one of two or three main parties will generally form a governing coalition with smaller parties, ultimately looking a lot like one of the current major parties in the United States.

The only difference? Voters in multi-party democracies do not have a direct say in how the coalition forms.

Both the 2016 Democratic and Republican primaries demonstrated our system in action. In the Democratic primaries, Bernie Sanders struck a chord with a portion of the party fed up with unfair economic arrangements. Through the primary process, he made his political power apparent. Thus, at the Democratic

Convention, the very moment where the governing coalition was formed, he forced Hillary Clinton and the party to move to the left and adopt a more progressive platform. In the end, the Democrats built a governing coalition by combining the interests of the Clinton majority and Sanders minority.

The story of the Republican party is more complex. History teaches us that every few generations, a political party becomes so divided within itself that it must break apart. This is the process of realignment, in which a section of a major party defects to the other party over the course of successive election cycles. Accordingly, in this year’s primary, the Republican party was severely fractured. How can this be the best way to facilitate democracy? How can a realignment be something other than destabilizing?

Realignments prove the very robustness of the two-party system. Out of power, a major party fractures as it recreates itself to align with the interests of a changing electorate. This is a supremely democratic process, because elites are rearranged by the voters. In a multi-party system, realignments of a sort do occur, but they occur at the expense of stability. During a realignment in a multi-party system, coalitions in power fall apart. Our system is just as fractured and contentious as anywhere else, but unlike multi-party systems, our system has continuous governance. Our two parties contract, expand, lose voters and gain voters. A multi-party system does none of these things. Thus, the two-party system best facilitates democracy.

—by Ben Kaplan and Chris Wilker

T

he two-party system in America is broken and has failed us.

Yesterday’s presidential election boiled down to a choice between the lesser of two evils. Gridlock persists in Washington, while our country has become more and more polarized.

Yet Americans still put their trust in the two-party system. So, in the words of my debate opponent Ben Kaplan: Is the two-party system broken or merely going through a period of growing pains?

While Ben argued for the latter, my intuition points to the former.

The most compelling argument for the two-party system is that with only two groups, each party must appeal to a large portion of the population, therefore adopting a more centrist view. Today, however, that is not the case. Democrats and Republicans are being pushed to the ends of the political spectrum to accommodate more extreme factions of their respective parties (see: Bernie Sanders or the Tea Party Movement).

Party polarization has led Americans to fail to see the other side of the argument, even going so far as to call people with opposing views “deplorables.” Clearly, the two-party system has not resulted in a centrist government, nor is it an accurate representation of the beliefs of the people as of late.

Shifting to a multi-party system could be the answer to some of these issues.

Multi-party systems inherently offer more choice, providing a more accurate representation of the political spectrum.

Additionally, a system with more parties ensures that each party is well-defined.

This is contrary to our current system, where it’s difficult to know what voters

are actually voting for. One example would be the Trans-Pacific Partnership, where President Obama and Hillary Clinton are split. In a multi-party system, it would be rare to see so much disagreement within a single party.

That being said, opponents of the multi-party system say that too much discretion is given to elected officials, who once in office, must form coalitions to pass legislation. Opponents say that these coalitions may not fully align with the beliefs they ran on. It is true that there is more discretion; however, parties are much more susceptible to shifts in public opinion. Because politicians are much more accurate representatives of the views of the people, the system better facilitates direct democracy.

The overall result of the two-party system is the creation of two “buckets” into which all Americans are placed.

This is under the assumption that two buckets can somehow encompass the entire political spectrum of one of the most pluralistic and diverse nations on earth. This system may have worked in the past, but today, its flaws could not be more visible. As such, this election season, we were left with Trump and Clinton, two of the most unpopular presidential candidates in our nation’s history. Instead of pointing the finger across the aisle, it’s time for Americans to reflect and look for alternatives.

Although it is a drastic change in the eyes of some, shifting to a multi-party system may be the solution this country needs in a time of high stakes and increasing polarization.

The Tufts Daily wants to hear from you!

Have a problem with our coverage?

Upset about something happening at Tufts or in the community?

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

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

—by Andrew Bodsky

Wednesday, November 9, 2016 | Opinion | THE TUFTS DAILY

O

EDITORIAL

What this election has taught us [For many Americans, today is a long-awaited day. After months of grueling campaigning, cringeworthy debates, tireless media coverage and endless talk of political scandals and corruption, the historical 2016 election parade has finally come to an end. And while we may have been left to choose between two of the most unpopular candidates of all time, the country has spoken, ushering Hillary Rodham Clinton — our first female president — into the White House for the next four years.

First, we must acknowledge the historical significance of Tuesday’s results.

While the majority of Clinton’s campaign season has been overshadowed by her opponent’s outrageous antics, FBI email investigations and critiques from the media, we cannot forget to acknowledge the significance of her victory. Electing our first female president is one of the most crucial moments in American history; regardless of all other issues and concerns in our current political landscape, we must recognize that this election is a symbol of the progress and equality our nation has strived for since day one.]

However, there is no question that this election year has done more than just create history. It has also brought a host of revelations regarding the fragmented and volatile state of our nation to light. It has prompted hateful dialogue, animosity and extreme party polarization between citizens and politicians alike. It has unveiled the power of the media in glorifying extreme candidates and valuing entertainment over policy. And most importantly, it has left a shocking number of Americans dissatisfied with their political leaders and fearful of what our nation’s future holds.

If one thing has become apparent in 2016, it is that Americans cannot agree

on much other than the fact that they disagree. This election has proven to be one of the most divisive in history, with race being one of the major polarizing factors. A CBS poll taken in late October showed that only four percent of AfricanAmericans intended to vote for Trump.

Conversely, Trump support was widely comprised of white, older, blue-collar Americans who feel alienated from and resentful of the current state of the country. In July, a CBS poll showed that negative views of race relations in the country have reached a record-breaking high, with nearly 70 percent of Americans describing race-relations as bad.

Possibly even more significant, however, is the ideological divide that has occurred in our nation. The Pew Research Center has monitored ideological trends over the past few years, finding that conservative Americans are moving more to the right whereas liberal Americans are moving more to the left. The study found that, 92 percent of Republicans are more conservative than the median Democrat and 94 percent of Democrats are more liberal than the median Republican. At the same time, animosity between the two groups is mounting, with more than 36 percent of Republicans considering Democrats as a threat to the nation’s wellbeing and 27 percent of Democrats feeling the same way about the GOP. The ideological overlap between the two parties is shrinking, which poses a tremendous problem for future policy-making on national, state and local levels.

This election has further demonstrated an increasing departure from the establishment. Trump’s positions break from the status quo, which is of the major reasons he gained such widespread traction.

Similarly, Clinton’s close ties to the political establishment made it difficult for her

BY STEPHEN DENNISON

to garner support from people looking for a fundamental shift, particularly in the case of younger voters. Moreover, as the ideological divide between liberals and conservatives grows larger, moderates — who represent more than a third of American voters — find themselves with nowhere to turn to but third parties.

The rising popularity of third parties coupled with the departure from the establishment have underlined the increasing fragility of the two-party system. The weakness of the current system is exacerbated by internal divides and corruption within each of the major parties.

The Democratic Party faced the scandals of both Debbie Wasserman Schultz and Donna Brazile, while the GOP has never seemed more divided, with high-ranking members of the party refusing to support the Republican presidential candidate.

Although undoubtably discouraging, the slew of problems that were glaringly evident in this election has made more Americans care about the political climate in their country. Research from the Brookings Institution has shown that 85 percent of Americans say they followed the news very closely this election, and 80 percent said they had given the election “quite a lot” of thought. The election is over, but now is the time for Americans to pay attention, get involved and work to alter the current political landscape that is unsatisfactory for so many. This election has illuminated issues that no singular candidate can fix; they are systematic and pervasive products of longbuilt sentiments that can no longer be ignored. These are the issues that the American people should turn their attention to now. So, while we can — and should — sit back and take a breath as this tumultuous election season has officially come to a close, there is still much to be mended in America.

13

Daniel Lewis The Echo Chamber

The Echo Chamber: Are elections too long?

W

e made it. Twenty months ago, on March 23, 2015, Ted Cruz announced his candidacy for the Republican Party. As of last night, the next president of the United States has been elected (Surprise! It’s not Ted Cruz). In December 2015, 11 months ago and a mere nine months into the 2016 election, a report from the Pew Research Center found that 50 percent of Americans surveyed believed the election was too long — but is it really? Are lengthy elections a staple of a healthy democracy or simply an unnecessary creator of cortisol? To find out, we need to take a step outside The Echo Chamber.

Elections were not always this long. In 1960, JFK skipped out on the Iowa caucus entirely and jumped into the race only 10 months before election day. Jimmy Carter, an unknown governor from Georgia, launched the modern campaign when he decided to take advantage of the newly-reformed primary process and focus entirely on a previously unimportant state — Iowa. This forced candidates into a race to the bottom of the calendar, beginning their campaigns earlier and earlier in the season. But President Carter’s strategy has become a successful method for unknown candidates to rise to the top.

Bill Clinton announced his candidacy 397 days before the 1992 election. This enabled him to win the presidency. As of January 1991, nearly two years before the election, the former governor of Arkansas had a projected 1.7 percent of the primary vote, according to polling averages. Jimmy Carter fell into the same boat — early polling had him at a mere one percent. More recently, Bernie Sanders, an unknown senator from Vermont, was able to amass millions of dollars through small, personal donations because his campaign began 19 months before Election Day. One of the most underrated benefits of our lengthy election cycle is that it allows no-name candidates to become brand-name celebrities. Still, Canada’s longest election was 78 days, Japan is limited to 12 and France 14, so what’s so different about these countries?

Most countries with short election cycles either have legal limits on campaign lengths or are parliamentary systems. Unlike parliamentary elections, we vote for a candidate and not a party, looking at both who a person is and what they stand for. Finding out who your candidate truly is takes time — as we’ve seen with Donald Trump. If not for over 500 days of election coverage, we may have uncovered Trump’s “grab them by the p—” statement one year into a Trump presidency.

But there are plenty of downsides to our lengthy elections. An incumbent president running for re-election gets two years of real politicking until they are right back to fundraising. Even if they are not running for reelection, an impending election can eclipse the real policy issues of the time. Money is another problem. Even if grassroots campaigns rely on small donations over long periods of time, the 2016 presidential race will still cost upwards of $2.6 billion, making it nearly impossible to maintain financial solvency.

Does our ridiculously-long campaign cycle make room for non-established candidates or is it simply an unnecessarily long reality TV show? That is for you to decide. For now, I just hope that you’ve enjoyed sometime outside The Echo Chamber.

Daniel Lewis is a first-year who has yet to declare a major. Daniel can be reached at daniel.lewis@tufts.edu.

14

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Wednesday, November 9, 2016 | Sports | THE TUFTS DAILY

S

Jumbos runner-up at Hap Moore Team Race SAILING

continued from page back fourth and first place finish in the last races of the day were enough to secure the win. Rasmussen has the potential to be a single-handed contender in the Inter-Collegiate Sailing Association (ICSA) for years to come.

Boston College was also victorious on the women’s side of nationals.

Senior Erika Reineke finished first with 31 points, 39 fewer than the tied second place finishers, College of Charleston first-year Kelly-Ann Arrindell and Brown junior Lindsey Baab. Reineke took home the Glen S. Foster Trophy for the Golden Eagles for the fourth consecutive time in her career.

Rodopman was unsatisfied with his performance but found a silver lining in the experience.

“I was pretty disappointed with my result at the Nationals, as I was aiming for a top-three finish,” Rodopman said.

“However, it was a really nice experience with really close sailing among the nation’s best single-handed sailors.”

A sixth place finish is still impressive, as some of the strongest sailors in the world placed in the top five.

Peschiera, the fifth place finisher and a friend of Rodopman, competed for Peru in the Rio 2016 Olympics this summer.

Rodopman used the weeks leading up to nationals to train in an unconventional way: with his competition.

“I went to [the] College of Charleston before the nationals to prepare with my friends [Pacas and Peschiera] who study there, two 2016 Olympians from Rio and a potential 2020 Olympic candidate,” Rodopman said.

Going into Nationals, Tufts’ coach Ken Legler had some doubts on how conducive Galveston’s course was for sailing. Located not far from the Gulf of Mexico, it is a small, closed bayou with little viability for waves.

However, Rodopman made the most of the course. According to Rodopman, there was a steady breeze on Sunday that resembled Tufts’ practice waters at Mystic Lake.

Rodopman said that competing for Tufts in addition to his training in Charleston and taking the past three seasons off to train for the Olympics has made him a stronger sailor.

“Sailing at Tufts has taught me how

to get more consistent results rather than having ups and downs, which I used to have prior to coming here,” Rodopman said.

In September, Rodopman finished first at the New England ICSA championship in a field of 23 sailors, where he qualified for nationals. He is looking ahead to Nov. 19, where he will compete at the ICSA Match Racing Championship at the San Diego Yacht Club. His ultimate goal for this year is improving on his performance at the Laser Standard Men’s World Championship, where he finished 61st last year.

Tufts competed this week at the 2016 Mike Horn Trophy hosted by Harvard, the Sister Esther Open hosted by Salve Regina University and the Professor NoRinger Invitational hosted by Boston University, all of which are in-conference regattas. Tufts finished third at Northeastern’s Crew’s Regatta on Nov. 6 and second at Connecticut College’s Hap Moore Team Race.

This weekend, the Jumbos will compete at the Atlantic Coast Championship hosted by MIT and Harvard as well as the Women’s Atlantic Coast Championship at the College of Charleston.

Passionate about sports?

Have a unique perspective on student athletics?

Interested in covering the intersection of sports and the larger Tufts community?

Write for us!

Contact dailysports@gmail.com!

15

Bradley Schussel The Coin Toss

NBA and NFL Week 10

W

elcome to The Coin Toss, where I make some bold, unlikely predictions every week about some of your favorite professional sports. In the last edition, I made some predictions for the NBA season, so there’s nothing to recap this week. Let’s get right into some NFL action and into a little basketball: NFL: The Seahawks down the Patriots in Foxborough Quarterback Tom Brady has the Patriots on an absolute tear as of late.

The team is 7-1 and hasn’t lost since Brady’s return. They’re top 10 in the league in most offensive stat categories, including yards per game, turnover differential and total points. However, the Patriots have not faced a defense as tough as Seattle’s this season. The best was probably Arizona’s, and I think Seattle’s “Legion of Boom” still has the edge over the Cardinals defense. If the Seahawks’ defense can neutralize the Patriots’ juggernaut offense, they should be able to squeak out a win.

Quarterback Russell Wilson has the Seahawks primed for a big second half of the season, and a win in Gillette on Sunday night would be huge. I’m predicting that they’ll get that win.

NFL: Drew Brees leads Saints to upset of Broncos *Morpheus voice* What if I told you… that the Saints lead the league in offensive yards per game? It’s true, New Orleans is having a great year on offense completely under the radar. The team’s defense has struggled mightily, but great defense does not beat the Denver Broncos, whereas great offense does. The Broncos have been less than stellar on the offensive side of the ball this year, so the Saints just have to be half-decent on defense to give quarterback Drew Brees a chance to lead them to a win. Denver is also coming off a devastating loss to Oakland, giving the Raiders sole possession of first place in the AFC West. The Saints are coming off of a blowout over the 49ers and a big win against the Seahawks. New Orleans has the momentum, and I think they’ll take another victory this week against the defending Super Bowl champs.

NBA: Golden State beats Dallas by 20+ Points It’s tough to call a 20-point win in any basketball game, no matter who’s playing. However, this seems like the matchup to do so if there ever was one.

The 5-2 Warriors will be taking on the 1-5 Mavericks tonight. I’m not a fan of the Warriors or of Stephen Curry. In fact, I don’t like them at all. I can’t deny, however, that they’re an extremely good team that has been playing extremely well.

Maybe that’s why I don’t like them… but I digress. The Mavericks sit below .500 on the season and simply lack the firepower to keep up with Curry and company.

Steph is coming off of making 13 threes in a game — an NBA record. Kevin Durant is also playing hot right now, averaging about 29 PPG and shooting 57.6 percent from the field on the season. The stars are aligned for not just a win, but a blowout in Golden State’s favor. The Coin Toss’ pick is in: The Warriors rout the Mavericks and win by at least 20.

Bradley Schussel is a sophomore majoring in biomedical engineering. Bradley can be reached at bradley.schussel@tufts. edu

16 tuftsdaily.com

Sports

Wednesday, November 9, 2016

SAILING

Rodopman finishes sixth at single-handed national championship

by Marc Weisglass Staff Writer

The 36 best men and women in college single-handed sailing ventured out to Galveston, TX, for the 2016 LaserPerformance Singlehanded Nationals this weekend hosted by Texas A&M. Among the 36 sailors was Tufts junior Alp Rodopman, who was competing for the Glen S. Foster Trophy in hopes of bringing home the first single-handed championship since Senet Bischoff (LA ’96) in 1995.

Rodopman placed sixth out of 18 on Sunday with a total of 107 points. The College of Charleston placed three finishers in the top five, including junior Stefano Peschiera, senior Enrique Pacas and sophomore Gerald Williams in fifth, fourth and second respectively.

Yale sophomore Nicholas Baird placed third and Boston College first-year Scott Rasmussen won the National Championship with 81 points.

Rasmussen became the first single-handed sailor from Boston College to win the championship, an impressive feat for a first-year. He started the day with a 12th place finish, but his consecutive first place finishes in the 10th and 11th race along with a COURTESY KEN LEGLER

Junior sailor Alp Rodopman competing in the Nevins Trophy at King’s Point on Sept. 17.

see SAILING, page 15

WOMEN'S CROSS COUNTRY

Jumbos place fifth at USATF New England Championship

by Arman Smigielski Staff Writer

While the top 10 runners for the women’s cross country team rested and continued to prepare for the NCAA Regional Championships on Nov. 12, the rest of the team took to the course this past Sunday at the USA Track and Field Cross Country (USATF) championships, held in sunny Franklin Park in Boston.

The Jumbos placed fifth out of a field of 13 teams in the six-kilometer race. Three post-collegiate club teams ended up beating out Tufts: the Battle Road Track club, The Heartbreakers and Greater Boston TC. Williams was the only other NESCAC team to compete, and it placed fourth with 117 points while also fielding members of its team not racing at the NCAA regionals.

Post-collegiate track clubs, comprised of former NCAA runners who are still competing at an elite level, impacted the race for the Tufts runners, according to coach Kristen Morwick.

She said the fast pace of the club team runners pushed the Jumbos to exert too much energy too quickly at the start of the race. The top finisher raced a 5:05 mile, while the average mile for the Tufts team was more than 6 minutes.

“I think if we could change that [fastpaced start], our athletes would have had more left for later in the race,” Morwick told the Daily in an email. “Going out so hard [at the start of the race] sometimes zaps you for the finish.”

The top finishing team for the race, the Battle Road Track club, had all five of its top finishers within the top 10 (excluding unattached runners). In comparison, the top

collegiate runner, Williams first-year Anna Passannante, placed 14th.

The Tufts team finished with a total of 190 points and an average time of 23:56.80 for its seven runners who placed.

First-year Haley Barthel led Tufts for the first time this season, finishing in 32nd place in 23:30.

Her teammates, first-year Nicole Kerrigan (23:31) and junior Margot Rashba (23:39), finished in 34th and 36th place respectively, demonstratEVAN SAYLES / THE TUFTS DAILY ing the Jumbos’ First-year Haley Barthel sprints to the finish line at the Connecticut College Cross Country Invitational at Harkness pack running stratMemorial State Park on Oct. 15. egy, which Rashba believed strongly improved in this race.

Rounding out Tufts’ finishers were peting at NCAA regionals one last chance “[The race] was good because the junior Danielle Skufca in 43rd, sopho- to run a race with the rest of the team. top three of me and two of the freshmen more Sarah Perkins crossing 45th, first- Senior tri-captain Sarah Corning and worked really well together throughout year Lydia Heely placing 46th and first- senior Meredith Reynolds ran their last the entire race,” Rashba said. “We had year Lauren Diaz finishing 49th. The races with the team this past Sunday. a pretty good pack, which was really first-years, particularly Barthel, Kerrigan, Coming up this Saturday are the nice. I think we all worked together Heely and Diaz, raced well, especially NCAA Revgional Championships, held well, considering we had to go [over] since several of them had never raced the at Westfield State University. Morwick the hill twice too and communicated course before, which made it even more believes that her team has a good well, which is something our group difficult to run, according to Morwick. chance at finishing in third, as the only has had trouble with in the past, and Another important aspect of the race higher NCAA ranked teams present will we did that much more effectively in was that it allowed several members of be No. 2 MIT and No. 5 Williams. Tufts is this race.” the Tufts team who would not be com- ranked sixth nationally.