The Tufts Daily - November 1, 2017

TUFTS MEN’S SOCCER

‘Blade of the Immortal’ attempts to display ideology and tradition, falls into superficiality see ARTS&LIVING / PAGE 5

Jumbos break into NESCAC semifinals after win against Bobcats

New Tisch College initiative explores social-emotional learning across Tufts schools see FEATURES / PAGE 4

SEE SPORTS / BACK PAGE THE

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VOLUME LXXIV, ISSUE 38

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Wednesday, November 1, 2017

MEDFORD/SOMERVILLE, MASS.

Janitor Anita Posadas forced to Matt Callahan named new assistant leave work after injury on the job director of recreation and club sports

by Elie Levine News Editor

Anita Posadas, a janitor who has worked at Tufts for 20 years, said she suffered a fall on the job in March and tore a muscle in her left shoulders.

Posadas, whose statements were translated from Spanish to English by her granddaughter Ana Castaneda, said that she has not received the adequate workers’ compensation for her injury and the loss of work it has caused.

Posadas said she fell at 7:35 a.m. on March 2. She said she had a vacuum backpack on and was cleaning the stairs of the Granoff Music Center, about six feet up. She said that her supervisor, Victoria Guerra, startled her and yelled at her, causing her to fall. Guerra then tugged on Posadas’

arm and urged her to get up and continue working.

Julio Quintanilla was the janitor assigned to clean the second floor of Granoff while Posadas was also on shift, but only from 7:30 a.m. to 9:00 a.m, according to Posadas.

Quintanilla said he was present in the building when Posadas fell, though only Guerra was in the exact location at the time of the fall. Quintanilla said his boss called him to tell him what had happened, and he came down to find Posadas crying on the stairs.

Posadas said that she blacked out at this point. She said she doesn’t remember the subsequent events, but Quintanilla confirmed that Posadas was put in an ambulance. see POSADAS, page 2

by Sophie Lehrenbaum News Editor

Tufts’ Athletics Department hired Matt Callahan in October to assume the role of assistant director of recreation and club sports, a position that is new to the university.

Although the position just recently came into being, the idea of adding a full-time employee to focus on club sports and student recreation to the payroll has been percolating across different administrative bodies on campus for years, according to Director of Athletics John Morris and Senior Associate Athletic Director Alexis Mastronardi.

“In the winter of 2017, conversations about adding such a position began in earnest among representatives from the

TCU [Tufts Community Union] Senate, the Division of Student Affairs, the Department of Athletics, the Provost’s Office and the Office for Campus Life,” Morris and Mastronardi told the Daily in an email.

Callahan explained that he came across postings advertising the position on the NCAA website and initiated the application process in early September.

At the time, he was in the midst of a fiveyear stint at his alma mater, Brandeis University, where he served in a position coordinating club sports.

Prior to overseeing Brandeis’ club sports program, Callahan explained that he rose through the athletics department at the university during his college career, after a concussion see CALLAHAN, page 3

TCU town hall discusses developments on Capen Village

by Liza Harris Staff Writer

Tufts Community Union (TCU) Senate held a town hall on Monday night to discuss plans for the upcoming Capen Village, a cluster of houses owned by Tufts that will be available as housing options for juniors and seniors starting next fall. The Brown & Blueprint Initiative, a series of listening sessions to help senate learn more about spacial inequalities, was also slated to be discussed; however, there were so many questions around Capen Village that the initiative was not talked about.

The meeting included a panel of four people: TCU President Benya Kraus, Associate Director of Housing Operations Matt Austin, co-director of Tufts Energy Group Marianne Ray and Director of Campus Planning Lois Stanley. According to Stanley, construction of Capen Village, which will likely include themed housing, will be completed in three phases, the first of which will start in January or February of 2018.

Capen Village will consist of 15 houses located between Wren Hall and Boston Avenue; 13 of these houses currently exist, and two will be built as a part of the Capen Village construction plan, Stanley said. When construction is completed, there will be 145 single-occupancy bedrooms available, with each house having one full bath per floor, she added.

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Each house will be comprised of apartments, the smallest of which can house three students and the largest of which can hold ten, Stanley said.

Furthermore, each apartment will have a renovated kitchen, but there will be no parking available to students, either on the street or in the garages. There will, however, be bike parking.

According to Austin, the houses will not be separated by class year, but will instead integrate juniors and seniors throughout the various houses.

The project also allows for Tufts to control the rising rents that many students face when signing leases for off-campus housing, Kraus said in an Oct. 15 TCU Senate meeting where the project was discussed.

Construction on the first phase of Capen Village will begin this upcoming winter; by the fall of 2018, 45 bedrooms will be available for upperclassmen housing, according to Stanley. There will also be a common backyard for students living in these houses, which could be used in many ways, such as gardening or sports, she said.

The Tufts administration is considering implementing the idea of themed housing in Capen Village, according to Kraus. Kraus adopted the idea of themed housing from Whitworth University. She said the themes would likely change every year to incorporate a changing social environment and would be selected through a student-pitch process. According to

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TCU Senate holds a town hall on equitable social spaces and the new Capen Village. The forum is pictured here on Oct. 30.

Kraus, the themes would be part of a larger attempt to give back to the community; the houses would hold campus-wide events and attempt to diversify the social space at Tufts.

Kraus stressed that “themed housing is different than identity-based housing” and that Capen Village would not replace housing options for marginalized students in the Tufts community.

Students and administrators involved in this project are also working to make Capen Village environmentally friendly, Ray, a senior, said.

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Some of these sustainable features could be triple-pane windows and solar panels.

“We want to bring in a sustainable aspect to this village,” Ray said.

Ray also mentioned the possibility of using the eco-friendly component of Capen Village to offer classes and seminars on sustainability and to advance research opportunities, including measuring the use of energy over time.

According to Ray, Capen Village will

NEWS............................................1 FEATURES.................................4 ARTS & LIVING.......................5

see TOWN HALL , page 3

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

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THE TUFTS DAILY | News | Wednesday, November 1, 2017

THE TUFTS DAILY Gil Jacobson Editor-in-Chief

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Janitor not paid adequate workers' compensation after sustaining POSADAS

continued from page 1 Because Posadas has not worked since sustaining the injury, she no longer receives health insurance. Posadas said she is unable to have a necessary surgery done because Cushman & Wakefield (C&W ) Services, the company with which Tufts contracts its custodial services, will not pay her medical bills and she does not have the health insurance to pay for her care. The employer is required to pay the medical bills of a worker injured on the job, according to Massachusetts’ workers’ compensation law.

She said while injury is preventing her from returning to work, C&W only began paying Janitors her workers’ compensation on Sep. 18, over six months after her injury.

Posadas said she has hired a lawyer to communicate with C&W. She said she did not reach out to the janitors’ union because she did not believe they could help her case.

Castaneda confirmed that from March to September, the company did not pay Posadas. Posadas said she does not understand why they did not begin paying her immediately after the fall.

According to Posadas, the company is denying her case because it claims it found her sitting on the stairs at the time. Posadas rejects this explanation, saying that it would have been impossible to sit on the stairs with a vacuum backpack on.

The day Posadas sustained the injury she was expected to clean Granoff in the first four hours of her eight-hour shift, which lasted from 5:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m., she said. Posadas said that after cleaning Granoff in the first four hours, she was be expected to clean Stratton Hall. According to both Posadas and another janitor who asked to remain unidentified, two people are meant to work for the entirety of the shift.

“One person can’t do that job, because it’s a lot,” the janitor said. “It’s too much for one person.”

Another janitor, who spoke anonymously out of concerns for job security, explained the difficulty of cleaning Granoff, a building with multiple floors, plenty of floor space to mop and multiple bathrooms, rooms and auditoriums. Castaneda, echoed that two people should have been working the entire shift.

MAX LALANNE / THE TUFTS DAILY ARCHIVES

march to Ballou Hall after voting ‘yes’ to authorize a strike on Oct. 27, 2016.

Posadas said the company also claims that the injury is related to long-term stress from working.

One of the janitors who spoke anonymously said that Posadas never had serious health issues before and stressed that the management seriously lacks compassion for Posadas at her age.

“She never had a problem. She’s working all the time, she’s working in different places,” the janitor said.

Castaneda, breaking from translating the interview, explained her grandmother had never faced these problems prior to the incident.

“She sees it as a one-time injury because she had never experienced any [serious] pain before,” Castaneda said.

While Posadas has worked at Tufts since April 1997, she says she first noticed workplace harassment in 2015. According to Posadas, Guerra, Account Manager at C&W Shawn Amaral and Assistant Manager Douglas Interiano followed her around, appearing frequently during her lunch break. Posadas said that since Interiano started working at Tufts in 2015, he presented her with multiple contracts detailing higher workloads.

Posadas also said Interiano gave her constant warnings beginning in February 2016. She said there was no reason for her first warning.

“There was no reason for the warning at all … since she was not doing anything wrong. She was just cleaning the basement … like she usual-

ly always does,” Castaneda said on behalf of Posadas.

Both Posadas and an anonymous janitor said that, since 2015, they have felt a fundamental lack of respect in the workplace.

“Before I was treated like a human.

You work for these people. They have a connection with you,” an anonymous janitor said. “This is not the same place where I was working before.”

Interiano could not be reached for comment.

Posadas’ complaints about management are not in isolation; in April, Tufts Labor Coalition posted on its Facebook page a list of demands from janitors hoping to address unacceptable working conditions. These demands include firing Douglas Interiano due to his unacceptable treatment of workers and giving workers clear rationale for changes in workload.

Patricia Campbell, Tufts’ executive vice president, declined to comment on the details of the case.

“We appreciate the work of C&W custodians and their contributions to the cleaning of the spaces we work and learn in. The issues raised in this case are properly addressed by the custodians’ union and the custodians’ employer, C&W,” Campbell told the Daily in an email.

Amaral’s response was similar to Campbell’s.

“C&W Services takes all employee concerns seriously but it is not able to provide any details or comment regarding any ongoing employee claims due to confidentiality,” Amaral told the Daily in an email.

Police Briefs: Week of Nov. 1 Sticks and Stones The Tufts University Police Department ( TUPD) received a report on Oct. 17 at 9:10 a.m. from the psychology building about a chipped window. Apparently one of the windows facing Boston Avenue had a noticeable chip, concerning users of the building. TUPD investigated the incident and it was determined that, when the street sweepers had come by around 2 a.m. they had accidentally kicked up some sort of rock or debris that hit the window.

Cutting Onions On Oct. 20 at 10:25 a.m. the TUPD was informed of a medical incident

at Carmichael Dining Center. An individual had cut their finger while cutting scallions. The employee was treated by Tufts Emergency Medical Services ( TEMS) and Armstrong Ambulance then transported the individual to the hospital for future treatment.

Fence Hopper TUPD officers and TEMS headed to Lower Campus Road near the Sculpture Court at 3:30 p.m. on Oct. 24 after being told about someone with a cut hand. The non-Tufts-affiliated individual had been trying to climb the fence to watch the Tufts soccer game when they hurt their

hand on the sharp fence. The person signed a treatment refusal form.

A Not-So-Musical Note At Oct. 25 at 9:59 a.m., TUPD received a report about the Granoff Music Center practice piano. An unknown person had etched an obscenity on the center of the wood of the practice piano. This writing came to the attention of the Department of Music. The words will be sanded out and the piano refinished and restored.

by Juliana Furgala

News

Wednesday, November 1, 2017 | News | THE TUFTS DAILY

3

Capen Village looks to incorporate theme housing sustainability TOWN HALL

continued from page 1 also test different sustainability technologies, depending on how much funding the project receives.

“The purpose is to broaden the curriculum that Tufts has with regards to climate change and sustainable development,” Ray said. “This would allow Tufts students to become leaders in climate mitigation and sustainability.”

In the space that will become Capen Village, there were previously four houses inhabited by faculty, two by staff, and three served as administrative units, according to Stanley. The people living in these houses were given notice last spring to find alternatives for housing and were given assistance in doing so if needed, according to Stanley.

Tufts is “working with Medford [officials] right now,” to address issues of

accessibility, Stanley said, as many of the streets in the area are very steep and pose potential problems.

Some students at the town hall raised questions and concerns about the amount of autonomy students who live in Capen Village will have, or whether the houses will be co-inhabited by an authority figure. Austin responded to these concerns, noting that Tufts will hire additional graduate resident directors to

live in the houses. These residents will not share rooms with any Tufts students, but rather will likely live in the basement to help facilitate themes and solve any housing problems.

The discussion revolving around Capen Village is still in the works, according to Kraus.

“We are totally open to feedback and definitely want more student involvement in this,” Austin said.

Club sports gets long-awaited director CALLAHAN

continued from page 1 permanently sidelined him from the varsity athletics program. From refereeing games, he moved to the facility front desk and then aiding on the varsity side in operations.

Upon his graduation, Callahan accepted the role of intramural and facilities coordinator while a colleague was on leave — this would eventually parlay him into his club sports position at Brandeis.

Callahan said that he was drawn to Tufts because of the athletic and academic culture of the university.

“Tufts has always been on my radar.

When I saw the opening, I jumped on it right away,” he said. “I loved to make the switch to another local school with a great athletics and academic background.”

Club sports captains have long advocated for the need of a person like Callahan, noting the lack of consistent oversight contributed to problems with forced roster cuts, practice space and other logistics.

Junior Garrett Dickson, co-captain of the men’s club volleyball team, voiced his enthusiasm for the addition of Callahan to the athletics department and was pleased that the recreation program would have more direct oversight.

“I am super excited for this change.

I feel like it shows that Tufts is trying to put more in club sports as a whole, and I feel it will be a largely beneficial thing for the student body,” Dickson said.

Dickson elaborated that last year, the role of overseeing club sports was largely assumed by an assistant coach for the track and field team. Dickson explained that although he was happy with the leadership, he feels that having someone who can dedicate his time entirely to club sports and intramurals would certainly alleviate the workload for the assistant coach.

Since arriving at Tufts, Callahan has largely focused on meeting with leadership in club sports and coming to understand the contexts in which they operate.

He says that over the past week, he has met with representatives from six different teams.

While the role will have some overlap with his position at Brandeis, Callahan notes that the programs are slightly different, and that the breadth of his responsibilities will differ at Tufts.

“In this role, Matt will directly manage all aspects of our student recreation programming, including our 22 club sports, intramural programming, recreation classes and the FIT Pre-Orientation program,” Morris and Mastronardi said.

Morris and Mastronardi indicated that the new position is seen as a positive change by many people in the program.

They elaborated that the role was created because key campus players, such as TCU Senate and the athletics department, felt confident that the quality of the student experience would be enhanced by assigning someone to prioritize these programs.

Morris and Mastronardi emphasized that TCU Senate acted as an important catalyst in getting the position up and running.

“Led by former TCU President Gauri Seth, the TCU Senate Executive [Board] advocated strongly and thoughtfully in support of the new position through the spring. And after considering the recommendations of the Student Life Review Committee in June, the School of Arts and Sciences, the School of Engineering, the provost’s office and the department of athletics all worked together to prioritize funding for the position,” they said.

They explained that Callahan is to act as a resource and advocate for the club sports programs whenever they need guidance or aid.

Dickson sees space and timing as potential areas of improvement.

“I think the biggest problem is something that is uncontrollable for Tufts for volleyball at least. [ We] … lack the space on campus to actually do things, so we need to split times with the girls’ club team, intramurals and varsity teams as well. So the biggest problem just comes down to a lack of space for us,” Dickson said.

Dickson also explained that from his perspective, a long-term goal for the club sports program would be improving funding.

“As it currently stands, [our funding is] fairly limited to just entry fees for tournaments and some years, we have some leftover money, but it is not SOPHIE DOLAN / THE TUFTS DAILY always the most Club sports director Matthew Callahan poses in his office in the amount of money Athletic Center on Oct. 31. to get more equipment, jerseys, etc,” Dickson said. and providing more lines of access As for the coming year, Dickson empha- as high on his agenda for the year to sized his desire to maintain a constant come — but first, he hopes to become line of communication between the sports acclimated to the hill. team captains and Callahan to ensure that “My first goal is to learn how they all parties are on the same page. operate within the university’s policies Communication is a standard and then expand if possible, in terms Callahan appears keen to foster as of if teams want to add more competiwell. Callahan has highlighted enhanc- tions or if we are able to add any club ing the student recreational experience sports here,” Callahan said.

4 tuftsdaily.com

Features

New Tisch initiative explores social-emotional learning in the Tufts classroom

by Sean Ong

Features Editor

Emotions are often hidden away from the college classroom, even when discussing emotionally charged or sensitive topics.

A new Jonathan M. Tisch College of Civic Life initiative, funded by alumnus David T. Zussman (A ’53) and his family through the Zussman Fund for Social and Emotional Learning, aims to change that. The fund will work with faculty across the university to incorporate social-emotional learning (SEL) practices in their teaching and spearhead research on SEL in higher education.

The cornerstone of the Tisch College Social-Emotional Learning and Civic Engagement (SEL-CE) Initiative, which was launched last spring, has been its year-long faculty development program, which is in a pilot for the 2017–18 academic year, according to Deborah Donahue-Keegan, the associate director of the SEL-CE Initiative.

Donahue-Keegan explained that this focus on faculty development was deliberately chosen to complement existing programs that promote emotional health and wellness in students.

“What we are trying to do with this initiative is to bring emotion from the sidelines to the center and to see emotion and cognition as inextricably linked … to bring in [emotions] in a full way that is not just student life, or health and wellness, but across the whole life of a student on campus,” Donahue-Keegan, who is also a lecturer in the Department of Education, said.

Historically, there has been little concern or research about SEL in higher education, especially its relationship with civic engagement or diversity and inclusion, according to Donahue-Keegan and Kei Kawashima-Ginsberg, director of the Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement at the Tisch College.

For instance, the 2013 report by the Tufts Council on Diversity only mentioned “emotion” in the context of emotional distress or problems. DonahueKeegan cited this as an example of how emotions are seen more as a hindrance, rather than as leverage for supporting students, especially those who are marginalized or underrepresented, in their community work.

“Being able to become emotionally literate in terms of recognizing the role of emotion, developing an understanding of the nuanced emotions that we can experience, seeing their influence on our behavior — it’s all part of our initiative and development,” Donahue-Keegan said.

Kawashima-Ginsberg, who is a member of the SEL-CE Initiative planning committee, highlighted that the Tisch College’s work to encourage civic engagement in students would be incomplete without facilitating opportunities for emotional growth and development.

“We know that our students are experiencing a lot of emotions that are sometimes hard to manage, because they see really difficult things — they may volunteer as a mentor in a public school in Boston and realize how much hardship some of the public school students go through,” KawashimaGinsberg said. “Civic engagement brings up a lot of emotions.”

Kawashima-Ginsberg added that by developing faculty competencies in social-emotional learning, the SEL-CE initiative can create a more “democratic

Wednesday, November 1, 2017

Benjamin Corey Eat Your Heart Out

Apple crisp

L

RACHEL HARTMAN / THE TUFTS DAILY

Professor Deborah Donahue Keegan speaks with junior Alex Fognani about the social-emotional learning initiative outside of Lincoln-Filene Hall on Sept. 30. learning environment” where students can reach their full potential, especially in civic engagement.

“Professors have enormous influence on the tone and climate of the learning environment the students are in,” KawashimaGinsberg said. “When students of all backgrounds and perspectives can have a voice and contribute, they get to bring their whole selves to the classroom. There’s a synergy there in thinking about the classroom as a really key environment in which students can either thrive or perish.”

According to Donahue-Keegan, all 18 faculty members who applied for the pilot faculty development program were accepted as SEL-CE faculty fellows for the 2017–18 academic year. The faculty fellows attended a summer institute in May and meet once a month during the year, having met twice this semester so far.

Donahue-Keegan said that, in all their meetings, faculty fellows hear from experts in the field of SEL or engage in an open dialogue about their teaching. She underscored that the faculty fellows are asked to embrace vulnerability in their reflections.

“This is a community, this is a holding environment where there is going to be a balance of support and challenge, and this is a developmental process for faculty,” Donahue-Keegan said.

Faculty Fellow Sara C. Folta, an associate professor at the Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy and the Tufts Clinical and Transnational Science Institute, shared her appreciation for how the initiative has brought together faculty from across the university, representing all but the Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine.

Folta, whose current focus is on community-based strategies to tackle inequities in health and nutrition, said that the other faculty fellows have been generous in sharing their varied experiences with using emotions in the classroom. This sharing has encouraged Folta to incorporate a greater number of SEL strategies into her teaching and research.

Jonathan Garlick, a senior fellow for civic science in Tisch College and a member of the SEL-CE Initiative planning committee, emphasized that beyond just acknowledging the diversity of disciplines represented in the group, the faculty fellows have also examined how their own identities as instructors and individuals can affect students’ learning in the classroom.

“The work that has been done in this initiative has facilitated opportunities for faculty to explore openly what they represent to their students, based on their own identities and their own position as a professor in a classroom,” Garlick, who is also a professor at the School of Dental Medicine and the Sackler School of Graduate Biomedical Sciences, said. “They have become open to learning about the identities of their students as a result.”

Faculty Fellow Penn Loh, a senior lecturer and director of the Department of Urban and Environmental Policy and Planning (UEP), also shared that his interest in cultivating students’ civic engagement skills stems from his experience in community practice and environmental justice work.

Loh said that while he has consistently applied elements of social-emotional learning in his teaching and practice, the SEL-CE Initiative has equipped him with knowledge about the latest research in this field and ideas for new strategies that he can bring into the community practice work UEP students are involved in.

Garlick added that he helps to facilitate such conversations among faculty fellows through the use of “intentional dialogue,” a strategy that Garlick himself adopts in his teaching and in his practice as a civic scientist.

“I do a lot of work with very intentional dialogue, where students learn to ask questions of curiosity and to listen with empathy and resilience,” he said. “We have implemented some of that through these workshops, where faculty have had a chance to explore what allows them to create classrooms and learning experiences where students can thrive.”

While this initiative is still in its infancy, Donahue-Keegan expressed her hope that it will grow to have a transformative impact on the way faculty at Tufts and beyond utilize emotions in their teaching practice, and it will better support the civic engagement work that Tufts students are deeply involved in. “[Many faculty] come into teaching in higher education, and they don’t go through training on pedagogy. It’s so focused on their research and on content knowledge,” she said. “What we find is that faculty are so glad that they are involved in this initiative, that this is going to add a whole new dimension and meaning to the teaching that they are doing.”

ike me, my mom often uses recipes from our family when baking. The act of recreating a recipe that others have written down makes you feel like you’re transported back to an earlier, more nostalgic time in life. Part of the fun of baking, however, is to experiment with your ingredients and to tackle your dish without guidance.

That’s what my mom did when she created this recipe for apple crisp. On a whim one autumn day, she decided to try her hand at improving this festive dessert, and although I’m probably biased, I would say that she succeeded. What makes this recipe so special, though, is the sense of pride that my mom has whenever she hears that I’m making it for my friends.

In a way, baking for my friends preserves my family’s tradition of sharing recipes we’ve created with those closest to us. Although I have yet to create a recipe of my own, I look forward to the day when my work can be carried on in a similar way.

To make this autumn mainstay, start by peeling eight apples. Personally, I choose to use four gala and four honeycrisp apples. I find that using harder apples like these, rather than mealier apples, tends to lead to desserts with more body, but the choice is yours.

Once they are peeled, cut them in half, cut out the core and slice them evenly. Once complete, pour the apple slices into a greased 9-by-14-inch baking pan and set them aside for now.

In a bowl, mix together 1/2 cup of light brown sugar, 1/4 cup of plain sugar, 4 teaspoons of cinnamon and 2 tablespoons of flour. Warning: the next couple steps can get quite messy.

Mix the ingredients together with your hands and pour the mixture over the apples. Using your hands again, combine the apples with the dry ingredients, ensuring that each slice is evenly covered.

Now all your apples need before going in the oven is the crumble that goes on top. To make this, combine 1 1/4 cup of flour with 1 1/4 cup of oats, 2/3 cup of light brown sugar, 2/3 cup of white sugar, 1 teaspoon of cinnamon and 10 tablespoons of cold butter. Mixing these ingredients together will take some time and will be a bit disorderly. Since the butter is cold, you will need to use your hands to incorporate it. The butter will probably stick to your fingers but just keep squeezing it into the rest of the ingredients until the crumble has a consistent texture throughout.

Now just pour it over the top of the apples, ensuring that it is evenly distributed. Make sure the two parts of the crisp remain distinct layers, otherwise the crumble could get soggy.

Place the baking pan into the oven at 350 F for 45 minutes and you’ll have yourself a classic autumnal dish.

Happy baking!

Benjamin Corey is a senior majoring in international relations. Benjamin can be reached at benjamin.corey@tufts.edu.

ARTS&LIVING

Wednesday, November 1, 2017

CONCERT REVIEW

5 tuftsdaily.com

Matthew Soderberg Citizen Shame

The planet without a Santa Claus

LUO HUANHUAN / XINHUA / SIPA USA / TNS

Hamed Sinno, lead singer of Lebanese band Mashrou’ Leila, performs during the 18th International Enjoy Jazz Festival on Oct. 2, 2016 in Heidelberg, Germany.

Lebanese indie band Mashrou’ Leila shows politics can be sexy at Cambridge gig

by Eran Sabaner Arts Editor

The line outside The Sinclair on Sunday, Oct. 22 was almost unprecedented for the relatively small venue.

Those in the crowd were mostly college students, and they spoke in several languages including English, Arabic, French and Turkish. Although the headliner, Mashrou’ Leila, isn’t very popular in the United States, the band has gained cult status among the Middle Eastern youth and its diaspora; if the line didn’t prove this, the sign that read “Mashrou’ Leila: Sold Out” did. Those who were able to score a ticket would be in for a treat for the next two hours.

There are several components to what makes Mashrou’ Leila unique.

It is arguably the first Lebanese indie band to reach international fame after the “trip hop à l’orientale” duo Soapkills. They sing exclusively in Arabic which, as the fifth most spoken language in the world, needs more representation in mainstream music. The band has politically charged lyrics that touch upon gender roles, violence and masculinity. Most importantly, lead singer Hamed Sinno is the queer rock star that is missing in contemporary music.

The level of devotion toward Hamed Sinno from fans was apparent when he took the stage with the band to perform “Aoede” as the opener. It is

almost impossible to resist Sinno as he flirts with his audience; he smiles and looks straight in your eye as he dances solo or, even better, with violinist Haig Papazian. He is a talented dancer and a legendary performer. In some songs, his voice sounded richer than in studio versions. Sinno was also the most energetic out of the band and was the only one who spoke with the audience throughout the show.

This is certainly not to discredit the rest of the band, which is made up of multitalented members. Although from afar it appears that Mashrou’ Leila is a Hamed Sinno project, each member of the group adds an essential flavor to the band. For example, Haig Papazian’s tender string arrangements add vulnerability to the group’s generally electronic sound. Papazian’s solo spread in the gay Jordanian publication “My.Kali” proves that, for fans, other band members are just as appreciated as Sinno.

Queerness and Arabness are an intersection often not recognized

by Middle Eastern governments.

Mashrou’ Leila offers queer visibility in the region by performing songs that challenge this idea and thus are in direct conflict with the agenda of these governments. Earlier in the year, the group was banned from performing in Jordan, and a pride flag raised during a Cairo gig in September led to arrests and sparked a larger government crackdown against the LGBTQ community.

During the concert, the band performed “Khalam (S/He),” a song about gender roles, and dedicated “Tayf (Ghost)” to those who were subject to torture (including anal examination) by the Egyptian government. In a particularly tearful moment, Sinno called fans to spread the news of the crackdown that was taking place.

The mood quickly shifted back to upbeat when Sinno and the band performed more songs from their relatively long repertoire. Highlights included their newest single “Roman,” “Maghawir,” which criticizes the gun laws in Lebanon, and audience favorite “Fasateen”. Near the end of the show, Sinno asked the audience to help perform “3 Minutes” by having them sing the lyrics, which were projected on a screen. After asking how many of the people in the audience spoke Arabic, he joked, “Well for once, listen to the brown people in this country.”

The last song on the set list was “Marrikh,” which is about Sinno’s relationship with alcohol and drugs.

After “Marrikh,” the band performed two encore songs, one of which was “Shim El Yasmine” from its debut album.

There aren’t many indie acts that offer something as entertaining and unique as what Mashrou’ Leila brings to the table. The concert was an extraordinary experience for not only Arabic speakers and the queer community, but for those who enjoy good music and dancing.

Spoiler alert: This column contains plot information from the 1964 film “Santa Claus Conquers the Martians.”

It’s the day after Halloween, which is known in enlightened circles as the start of the holiday season. Christmas carols, flashing lights and probably, like, one half-exciting flurry of snow are on their way, so it is time to fully get in the spirit. For Citizen Shame, that means turning to the Christmas movie to end all Christmas movies: the 1964 masterpiece “Santa Claus Conquers the Martians.”

I had the privilege of watching this classic film in a movie theater in my hometown as part of a late-night screening series put on by the theater manager who liked to get drunk and see how many teenagers he could scar with bad movies. Imagine a normal film screening, then add a low-key dose of sadness and a fair deal of bizarreness and multiply that by 10 — now you get the vibe.

The movie can be remarkably explained by its title: 81 minutes of a half-committed Santa Claus taking a win over some aliens who just want Christmas. Our antiheroes are these Martians, bummed out by their lack of holiday celebration, who decide to take a brief trip to Earth to nab old St. Nick. Sounds like some hilariously fun hijinks will ensue, am I right?

The film chooses not to address what could have been a truly fascinating interplanetary religious discussion or explain why Santa Claus doesn’t give a darn about kids on Mars, but we’ll forgive it because it is working with some pretty high-concept source material.

The real brilliance of the film comes from the villain Voldar, an alien-bro who goes along with the benevolent kidnapping plan only to then attempt, repeatedly, a brutal murder of Santa Claus. This subplot really brings an air of gore and death that fleshes out the family comedy themes the rest of the film deals with.

About half of the scenes in the movie go like this: Aliens: Let’s get Santa.

Voldar: Let’s make Santa stop breathing.

Aliens: Classic Voldar!

Santa: Ho! Ho! Ho! The film is famous for introducing Pia Zadora to the world, who would go on to make even worse films, which is statistically impressive. Zadora was 11 when the film was released and isn’t responsible for the final product, but part of me still wants an apology.

For those wondering whether Santa Claus survives or whether the fact that I spent a Friday night watching this film is indicative of an unsatisfying social life, I can answer only the former.

Santa, trapped on Mars making toys, still alive despite Voldar’s dastardly murder attempts, is at a crossroads: become Santa for the Martian children or try to escape to help Earth children.

Everything is brilliantly resolved when one Martian dresses up like Santa Claus, and everyone simultaneously realizes that they can just make their own St. Nick. Santa Claus is quickly jettisoned back to Earth, leaving all to ask the question: “Why?” Happy intergalactic holiday season, everyone!

Matthew Soderberg is a first-year who has not yet declared a major. Matthew can be reached at matthew.soderberg@tufts.edu

6

THE TUFTS DAILY | Arts & Living | Wednesday, November 1, 2017

tuftsdaily.com

MOVIE REVIEW

COURTESY MAGNET RELEASING

Takuya Kimura and Hana Sugisaki in “Blade of the Immortal,” a film based on an original Japanese manga series.

‘Blade of the Immortal’ an unfinished revisit of bushido

by Ruijingya Tang Staff Writer

Ever since Hollywood Kung Fu stars such as Bruce Lee and Jackie Chan burst onto the scene in the 1970s, East Asian martial arts has been a novel source of the super-heroism celebrated by contemporary action films. While these films popularize the significance of physical forms in traditional martial arts, their focus on visual gratification leaves room for only superficial presentations of martial arts’ ideological roots in humility and order. The upcoming Japanese film “Blade of the Immortal” (2017) makes references to the selfless and disciplined spirits of bushido — a code of ethics for samurai — yet the film’s unnatural plot development fails to give meaning to these traditional virtues.

“Blade of the Immortal” is directed

by Takashi Miike, who is known for his interest in dark humor and violence. The film is adapted from a Japanese manga with the same name, which has also inspired an anime production. Set in the Tokugawa Shogunate period, the film is an odyssey of revenge and redemption.

The protagonist, Manji (Takuya Kimura), is a samurai made immortal through an imaginary species of insects called “bloodworms.” Under orders, Manji kills six people, including his brother-in-law. Later, a gang seeking to avenge the people killed

by Manji murders his sister, Machi. Fifty years later, Manji encounters Rin (Hana Sugisaki), a girl who looks like Machi, and helps her avenge her parents, who were murdered by the samurai of fighting school Itto-ryu.

Throughout the film, the samurai’s veneration of order is referenced. Manji murders his brother-in-law acting upon the tradition of unquestioning obedience to his overlords. Later in the film, Kensui (Tsutomo Yamazaki), the leader of Shinkeito ryu, cuts his abdomen in seppuku, a ritual performed by samurai who have been dishonorable, after deceiv-

ing the leader of Itto-ryu Kagehisa (Sota Fukushi) into an ambush.

Kensui faces an unresolvable dilemma.

Tricking Kagehisa is shameful, yet sparing him would be catastrophic given that Ittoryu threatens all other ryus to succumb to its authority by extermination. Kensui chooses the former for the benefit of society; he accepts the consequences upon his belief in bushido. Both options demand the sacrifice of the individual for the existence of the collective, be it a population or a system of laws. This ascetic, bushido pursuit of honor penetrates so deeply into Japanese culture that some WWII Japanese soldiers went on suicidal charges at the enemy, formally called “Banzai attacks,” rather than face defeat — seven decades after the legal abolishment of the samurai class.

That being said, these fragmented references to bushido remain, at most, stylish elements with empty meaning due to the film’s lack of a natural narrative. The two sides of the story both appear to be motivated solely by revenge. Rin is driven to kill Kagehisa to avenge her parents, and Kagehisa wants to avenge his grandfather, a low-born fighter unfairly executed

by Rin’s elite grandfather. Neither side fights for a concrete ideological purpose; rather, both are merely driven by a simple mechanical logic, a cause that seems insufficient for the hundreds of deaths in the film.

The relationship between Rin and Manji is also contrived. It is unclear why Manji helps Rin other than that he sees helping Rin as a surrogate for his failure to protect Machi. Yet Manji willingly risks being stabbed and dismembered for Rin the day after they meet, which feels forced. The characters’ lack of meaningful motivations and strong relationships leave the flow of the story to coincidence and magic. Manji is made immortal by a witch for no clear reason; the same witch tells Rin about Manji; Manji and Rin run into all the antagonists by chance. Fate replaces cause and effect as the dominating law of the universe in the film.

Therefore, the bushido virtues are neither incorporated into the development of the

characters and the story, nor do they effectively guide them in any way, thus remaining almost irrelevant concepts.

“Blade of the Immortal” allows the audience to revisit the virtues upheld by

traditional Japanese samurai. However, its uncritical presentation of these virtues confuses the audience about what to make of these traditional values within the context of the film.

7

Wednesday, November 1, 2017 | Comics | THE TUFTS DAILY

tuftsdaily.com

Comics

LATE NIGHT AT THE DAILY Cathy: “I could listen to Closer all day. It’s really catchy.”

Comics

SUDOKU

GARFIELD

BY JIM DAVIS

NON SEQUITUR

BY WILEY MILLER

Difficulty Level: Disappointing your family with your Halloween costume photos on Facebook.

LINDA C. BLACK ASTROLOGY

Monday’s Solution

Scorpio (Oct. 23-Nov. 21)

Today is a 7. The excellent work you’ve been doing reflects you well. Don’t push things. Hang back and observe.

Nurture your physical health and well-being. Bide your time.

FOR RELEASE NOVEMBER 1, 2017

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

ACROSS 1 Olympic swimmer Buster who played Buck Rogers 7 Naughty 10 Queequeg’s captain 14 “Yowzah!”

15 365 días 16 Place for a long winter’s nap 17 Restaurant review pricing symbol 19 __ bar 20 Physicians’ gp.

21 Cheese couleur 22 Like some bread 23 Out of __: not together 25 Grad’s memento 28 Wagering parlors: Abbr.

31 Printer problem 32 Key with no sharps or flats 35 Slatted window 40 British Columbia’s capital is on it 42 Where a tennis server’s doubles partner is usually positioned 43 Most cordial 44 Like this ans.

45 Diamond bag 46 Equal chance 51 Slide __ 55 Slangy negative 56 School whose a cappella group is the Whiffenpoofs 59 Albany is its cap.

60 Nabisco cracker 61 “Baby Got Back” rapper, and a hint to this puzzle’s circles 64 Extra 65 Boxing legend 66 Catty?

67 Cookie monster?

68 Center of Austria?

69 Fly to flee DOWN 1 Musical endings 2 Unlike most airline seating 3 Poe’s middle name

By Matt Skoczen

4 Statement amt.

5 Spoil the surprise 6 English nobleman 7 Olympic skater Oksana 8 Country in SW Afr. 9 Put on 10 Place to say “I do” 11 Port-au-Prince’s country 12 Singer whose fans are called Claymates 13 __ to light: reveal 18 “Just a few __” 22 Gradual absorption 24 Marine snail 26 Open a bit 27 City in central Kansas 29 Not the least bit challenging 30 Mimosa time 32 Glamorous Gardner 33 Yoga class need 34 Statement amt.

35 Hot tub water agitator 36 Stomach problem

11/1/17

Monday’s Solution Tuesday’s Puzzle Solved

©2017 Tribune Content Agency, LLC

37 RSVP convenience 38 Officeholders 39 July hrs. in Georgia 41 “Bates Motel” actress Farmiga 45 Shine 46 Terra __ 47 Self-evident principle 48 Opening words 49 Reduces to rubble

11/1/17

50 Four-time NBA All-Star __ Irving 52 Not illuminated 53 Rhone cathedral city 54 Lauder of cosmetics 57 Emotional boost 58 Former union members?

61 Posed (for) 62 __-de-France 63 Oktoberfest quaff

8 tuftsdaily.com

Opinion

Wednesday, November 1, 2017

EDITORIAL

Anita Posadas’ mistreatment represents glaring failure of university The testimony of Anita Posadas will shock many on this campus. The underlying message of her testimony, however, is that she is only an anecdote of a larger unpleasant narrative.

Over the last few years, the restructuring of janitorial services has reduced the number of staff cleaning individual buildings and led to overwork. In December 2015, former Tufts janitor Lorena Arita explained how, after layoffs, she and her colleagues had to clean four buildings in the 25 hours previously allotted to clean just Bendetson and West Halls. Corroborating this, Anita Posadas noted that as the number of staff decreased, the work increased; each individual had to take on additional responsibilities of “vacuuming, taking out trash and cleaning the stairs.” Extra workloads are particularly burdensome, as many workers commute from long distances and have to support other family members. As a result, some workers in the past have been forced to resign and others, like Anita Posadas, have been physically harmed, either as a result of malevolent management or overwork.

It is true that contractual improvements have been made, through decadelong student protests and successive negotiations. Under the terms of the October 2016 negotiations with Cushman & Wakefield (C&W) Services, janitors no longer have to pay a $100 monthly premium and benefit from lower health care

costs, and they will be given a $1.80 hourly raise by 2020. Even with these changes, however, it is questionable that janitors have a better working environment today than those before them. Nicole Joseph of the Tufts Labor Coalition (TLC) aptly pointed out that the largest loophole in last year’s negotiation was its failure to address fair workloads.

Another important issue highlighted

by Posadas is the abuse by administrative staff at C&W Services. If these allegations are true — that she was forced to clean a toilet with her bare hands, that she was pushed resulting in her hospitalization and that she failed to receive workers’ compensation for a debilitating injury that rendered her unable to work — the university must take immediate action.

It has been argued that Tufts is not responsible for the actions of C&W Services because C&W is a contractor independent from the university. Yet, as a large customer, Tufts no doubt has significant influence in the contract between the two parties.

Complaints are widespread. Other facilities workers hired directly by Tufts have voiced complaints that the university preferred replacing vacancies with administrative positions over promotion and hiring. Over the past decade, the university has restructured its budget, justifying such policy largely on two grounds: to reduce student tuition and to redirect resources for better use. Specifically, in 2015, Executive

Vice President Patrica Campbell affirmed these reasons in an op-ed estimating that “custodial services reorganization” would save $900,000 annually. For reference, University President Anthony Monaco makes close to that amount every year.

However, if the Tufts administration’s goal was to counter the tuition hike to achieve greater affordability, it would be much more reasonable to deprioritize projects such as renovating a basketball court. Monaco himself explained that $40 million of the $355 million expenditure on the School of Arts and Sciences and the School of Engineering was invested in “institutional support,” indicating high administrative costs. The point is that the school should simply be willing to restructure its administrative positions, as it had attempted to do through Tufts Effectiveness in Administrative Management (TEAM) in 2012, rather than trying to cut costs from low-income workers struggling to support their families.

Beyond campus grounds, Tufts’ unfair treatment of janitors reflects negatively on the Tufts-neighborhood relationship.

The Medford City Council made this clear in 2015, when it unanimously urged Tufts to reconsider layoffs, noting that the plans were “an issue under council purview that’s affecting Medford residents.”

Yet, the harmful consequences of such short-sighted decisions are slowly taking root on campus. Beyond overflowing trash cans and dirty bathrooms, Tufts’ spir-

it of community and trust is undermined by the inhumane treatment of its workers.

Former Mayor Michael Capuano, who is currently a member of the U.S. House of Representatives, foresaw this when he wrote to then-University President John DiBiaggio about the impact of custodial contract changes in 1997, stressing that custodial workers “deserve more than a choice between a last minute termination or a serious reduction in their lifestyles.”

The Tufts family includes not only janitors but also non-tenured academic professionals, who have long provided students with high-quality classes while living in insecurity. It includes dining hall employees, who have spent nights at dining halls during blizzards to provide students with food only to face similar administrative bullying today.

The university administration should pressure C&W Services to provide reparation for the harms inflicted to Posadas as well as for overdue compensation. It should take steps to increase transparency of its budget expenditures and work to improve welfare conditions for all of its employees. These constant complaints by employees suggest a culture that devalues labor and the people who make the university livable.

Tufts simply shouldn’t be an institution that reflects dark parts of society.

Instead, it should seek to bring light and better the conditions of those who work for it: “Pax et Lux.”

CARTOON

BY LYDIA RA The Tufts Daily is a nonprofit, independent newspaper, published Monday through Friday during the academic year, and distributed free to the Tufts community.

The content of letters, advertisements, signed columns, cartoons and graphics does not necessarily reflect the opinion of The Tufts Daily editorial board.

EDITORIALS Editorials represent the position of The Tufts Daily. Individual editors are not necessarily responsible for, or in agreement with, the policies and editorials of The Tufts Daily.

OP-EDS The Op-Ed section of The Tufts Daily, an open forum for campus editorial commentary, is printed Monday through Thursday. The Daily welcomes submissions from all members of the Tufts community; the opinions expressed in the Op-Ed section do not necessarily represent the opinions of the Daily itself. Opinion articles on campus, national and international issues should be 600 to 1,200 words in length and submitted to opinion@tuftsdaily.com. The editors reserve the right to edit letters for clarity, space and length. All material is subject to editorial discretion and is not guaranteed to appear in the Daily. Authors must submit their telephone numbers and day-of availability for editing questions.

ADVERTISING All advertising copy is subject to the approval of the Editor-in-Chief, Executive Board and Executive Business Director.

Opinion

Wednesday, November 1, 2017 | Opinion | THE TUFTS DAILY

OP-ED

Religious literacy is an integral part of international relations

by Wylie Chang

If over 80 percent of the world identifies with a religion, why do government and business leaders often lack an understanding of its impact on society?

Certainly, there are good reasons for why this is the case. Since most secular constitutions guarantee a government that is free of church influence, it is easier to ignore religion than to work to understand it. Furthermore, since many narratives of secularism support the idea that religion is a private affair, many treated it as irrelevant to leadership in the modern world until recently.

But despite predictions that religion would become less relevant as secular democracies and science proliferate, many regions are increasing in terms of religiosity. As religion continues to exert major cultural and political influence in the 21st century, being religiously literate is an essential part of developing a comprehensive and sensitive worldview.

Religious literacy, as defined by Diane L. Moore of the Harvard Religious Literacy Project, is the ability to analyze the intersections between religion and social, political and cultural life. The framework challenges the practice of studying belief systems in isolation, encouraging the understanding of religion as fundamentally interwoven into culture and society. A religiously literate person has a basic understanding of several world religions and has competency in discussing the role of religion in politics, society and culture across time and place.

In 2015, students at The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy founded the Fletcher Initiative on Religion, Law and Diplomacy (RLD) to address the insufficient discussion of religion in the context of international affairs and global politics. The initiative aims

to expand the discussion beyond how it is commonly discussed in relation to counterterrorism and countering violent extremism.

A key intersection of religion and international relations can be found in the way religion is often used to both support and challenge the moral legitimacy of an institution. For example, Christianity played a pervasive role in shaping Africa, from the Atlantic slave trade to South African apartheid.

The church was vital in providing narratives of moral justification for slavery, as slave traders often cited Christian scripture in the process of dehumanizing and enslaving Africans. But while scripture was used to justify the institution of slavery, the same texts, read differently, served as cornerstones of abolition. In 1696, Quakers became some of the earliest abolitionists and slaves themselves were empowered by biblical stories in their struggle for freedom.

Similarly, South African theologians cited readings of Christian scripture to provide moral justification for apartheid. Claiming that the Bible taught humankind to be separated into distinct races, each with their own land, Reformed Dutch theologians constructed the narrative that apartheid was pleasing to God. But as with ending slavery, the movement that brought freedom to black South Africans was shaped by the same faith as their oppressors. Influential religious leaders, such as the Desmond Tutu, stood on their religious convictions to condemn apartheid as a grave sin against humanity, which was instrumental in mobilizing international sympathy for liberation.

Not only did Christianity play a multifaceted role in shaping Africa, it is also impossible to point to any denominations as being the saints or sinners of history. Slavery apologists and

abolitionists coexisted in many congregations, as did South Africans who supported and opposed apartheid, illustrating the inconsistent and complicated nature of religion as a moral influencer. Even at the height of advocating abolition, many Quaker houses refused to accept Africans into their communities.

Across history, religion idiosyncratically inspires both support and opposition for institutions, economic theories, public policy and geopolitical issues. Religion has the power to simultaneously preserve socially normative beliefs and champion the cause of the marginalized.

However, religion in international relations goes far beyond serving as moral frameworks, as it plays a role in driving international commerce as well.

For instance, firms doing business in the Middle East and North Africa often work with Islamic banks, which are growing at the rate of nearly 20 percent per year.

In the international business hubs of Amman, Doha and Dubai, financial institutions are held to Sharia principles. Unlike conventional banks, Islamic banks do not charge late payments or interest, and they have far stricter guidelines about speculative investments. As the popularity of Islamic banks grows beyond the Middle East, IMF economists have noted the wide appeal of the Islamic principles governing fiscal equity, participation and ownership. For a 21st century businessperson, religious literacy is crucial to understanding the cultural context and underpinning for Islamic finance.

While the scope of religion’s influence is expansive and complex, through the lens of religious literacy we can begin to understand the ways in which religion is inextricably woven into the human experience.

9

Shantel Bartolome and Conor Friedmann Bored & Confused

What do our Google searches say about us?

“w

hat sound do pandas make?”

“Why are children so annoying?”

“Why don’t I enjoy sex?”

“Are ravens as fast as on Game of Thrones?”

These are just a few of the pressing questions Googlers have asked this year. And while these queries do sound a bit ridiculous, we’ve all definitely had our moments turning to Google for answers to our wackiest, most embarrassing and personal thoughts.

Most interestingly, we turn to Google for the answers, rather than our best friend, a family member or a professor — decidedly more accurate sources of information. The reason why may lie in the trust of Google’s undoubted ability to uphold anonymity and non-judgment.

Data scientist Seth Stephens-Davidowitz argues that Google searches provide the most accurate, authentic look into the human psyche. Traditional data gathering, like surveys and interviews, falter in accuracy due to the “social-desirability bias,” the innate human tendency to lie in surveys in order to look good and stay consistent with the norm. For example, in a survey asking if people voted in an election, most people stated that they voted even if they didn’t. Google search data are anonymous, unfiltered with judgmental looks or biases from others; people say and ask whatever they want. Google can provide authentic data in social science analysis, particularly on more private, sensitive subjects, as people are no longer inhibited by their concerns of judgment and the status quo. So, what do our Google searches say about us?

Through Google searches, StephensDavidowitz has been able to deduce our true feelings concerning hot-button topics, like gender equality. Google searches revealed that American parents, even though they deny it, differ significantly in their expectations of their sons versus their daughters, inadvertently perpetuating gender norms.

In fact, a parent is two and a half times more likely to Google “Is my son gifted?” than “Is my daughter gifted?” even though, girls are statistically 11 percent more likely to be in gifted programs than boys. This extreme bias toward the question “Is my son gifted?” implies that parents still maintain very different expectations and hopes for their sons and daughters. Moreover, parents are more likely to use Google to ask if their daughters meet beauty standards. The question “Is my daughter overweight?” is Googled roughly two times more than the question “Is my son overweight?” In reality, 30 percent of girls and 33 percent of boys are overweight, implying that the popularity of the question “Is my daughter overweight?” is a result of an overwhelming parental focus on girls’ appearances over boys’ appearances. Parents also ask if their daughter is ugly three times more than if their sons are, and if their daughter is beautiful one and a half times more.

These results all indicate that analysis of Google searches can reveal rather ugly truths about our opinions, despite adhering to societal norms in public. To truly uncover the undercurrents of any society in today’s world, Google may be the answer.

Conor Friedmann is a sophomore who has not yet declared a major. Conor can be reached at conor.friedmann@tufts.edu.

10

THE TUFTS DAILY | Sports | Wednesday, November 1, 2017

tuftsdaily.com

SOFIE HECHT / THE TUFTS DAILY ARCHIVES

The crew team rows against Middlebury College on Malden River on April 16, 2016.

Men’s crew puts on strong performance at Head of the Fish despite unfavorable conditions

by Julia Atkins

Contributing Writer

The Tufts men’s crew team competed at the Head of the Fish in Saratoga Springs, N.Y. on Saturday. The rowing conditions proved to be a challenge for the Jumbos, with larger waves and strong winds picking up in the afternoon. Despite the unruly weather, the team still finished the day with four victories and an overall successful performance.

“Conditions were subpar, so we struggled to get into the pocket initially,” junior Rich Gilland said. “However, we battled the conditions and competed very strongly in every event.”

The Jumbos competed in eight events and medaled in four of them. The highlight of the day was in the morning when the novice eight defeated Marist College by 0.7 seconds to take home first place out of 34 boats. Tufts’ boat consisted of first-year coxswain Nina

Benites, first-years Harris HardimanMostow, Rick Boer, Colin Lata, Charles Cornillie, John DiGiacomo, Jack Telman, Michael Wrede and sophomore Michael Thramann. The crew finished with a time of 11.01.53.

“This was a huge win,” junior Rohail Rai said. “It’s really cool to see the freshman eight win a big race. The future of the program is looking very nice, and we are very excited for the spring.”

The Jumbos had another successful result in their first race of the day, earning a medal for the third straight year in the Men’s Collegiate Single 1x, thanks to senior Andrew MacMillen.

MacMillen finished second with an impressive time of 12.46.41, missing first place by just 11.65 seconds. The Hillsborough, Calif. native had won the event the past two years. Tufts also had three other rowers place in the top 10 out of the 18 total rowers, taking home seventh, eighth and 10th.

Additionally, the Jumbos placed second out of 13 boats in their third morning race of the day, the Men’s Collegiate Double 2x. The crew consisted of sophomores Peter Malinovsky and Ross Hamilton.

The duo finished the course with a time of 12.41.80, behind Montreal University, which recorded a time of 12.33.17.

Although Tufts did not fare as well in the afternoon races, the team still placed strongly and took home a victory in the Mixed Open Quad 4x. A crew of sophomore Paul Gelhaus, MacMillen and seniors Emma Conroy and Elizabeth Lichter earned first place in the race with a time of 12.26.00, which was 11.14 seconds ahead of the second-place finisher, Marist College. On top of the first-place finish, the Jumbos also took fourth place and sixth place in the field of 21 boats. Tufts’ fourth-place boat was only 0.78 seconds away from medaling bronze.

The Jumbos placed third out of seven boats in the Men’s Open/Collegiate Quad

4x with a time of 14.14.47. Tufts also took home bronze in the Men’s Master Double 2x with a time of 14.53.47, defeating 19 other boats. In the last two events of the day, the Jumbos took ninth and 11th out of 23 boats in the Men’s Collegiate 2V 8+ and placed fourth and fifth in the Mixed Open Double 2x out of nine teams.

Overall, Tufts did not do as well as it did last year at the Head of the Fish. The team is proud of its performance, however, and is looking forward to their last competition of the fall season.

“We definitely did better last year,” Rai said. “But the conditions were not in our favor, and there was nothing we could do about that. We did our best given the circumstances and still put on a strong performance.

We have a lot of optimism for the spring, and we are super excited for our last race.”

The Jumbos will travel to Hanover, N.H. on Nov. 4 to race in a novice-only competition at the Green Monster Invite, which will be their last regatta of the fall season.

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Sports

Wednesday, November 1, 2017 | Sports | THE TUFTS DAILY

11

Yuan Jun Chee On The Spot

Why Is Slaven Bilic Still Around?

T

EVAN SAYLES / THE TUFTS DAILY ARCHIVES

Junior Brittany Bowman runs at the Conn. College Cross Country Invitational at Harkness Memorial State Park on Oct. 15.

Women's cross country team outperforms men's team in relative ranking CROSS COUNTRY

continued from back ranks. Excitingly, first-year athlete Dalton Tanner finished in 55th place, which was his best race this season. His record was 26:40.8. Clearly, Jumbos chose a group cooperation strategy to boost every member’s performance in this race.

“The group as a whole started more aggressively than we have in past weeks, looking to assert themselves more towards the front,” coach Michael Schmidt said.

“This strategy paid off for some of the guys, and those who were not as pleased with their races gained valuable experience of feeling that harder pace from the front ahead of our regional championship.”

Moving on to the women’s cross country team, its overall score was 82. This score is just five points behind Middlebury.

Williams took the champion title with 62

points overall. This result is very pleasing to the team because it will advance their national rankings.

“Beating Bates was a great day for our team. Bates was previously ranked number eight in the country so we will be moving up the national rankings,” first-year Alexandra Wolf said. “This is particularly important because it will affect our bid to go to the Div. III National Championships.”

More than half of the Jumbos (nine out of 15) finished within the top 50. Senior runner Brittany Bowman was a formidable force among the competitors, as she was the NESCAC 10,000 meter champion, and she delivered on race day. She roared to the finish line after only 22:09.8, claiming fifth place.

Junior runner Natalie Bettez ran to the finish line shoulder to shoulder with Bowman, at sixth place only 1.7 seconds

later. After her, junior Olivia Barnett finished at 13th overall with a record of 22:39.8. These three runners from Tufts will earn NESCAC All-Conference honors for this season as a result of finishing within the top 14. Bowman and Bettez earn First Team honors, a repeat of last season, and Barnett is nominated to the AllNESCAC Second Team.

Pineland Farm Championship puts an end to this season’s NESCAC cross country races. In two weeks, the two teams will go to Gorham Country Club to run at the Div. III New England Regionals. And even later, on Nov. 18, the NCAA Championship will take place as the very last race of the season. If the Jumbos perform well at regionals, some runners will be eligible to compete at the NCAA Championships. For now, they will focus on the regional race in Gorham, Maine.

Despite having a goal called back, Jumbos post solid quarterfinal win MEN'S SOCCER

continued from back little bit easier to control the game because they have to put numbers forward which gives us a bunch of space.”

The second half saw the ball stay in the Bobcat end for the majority of the 45 minutes. At the 60-minute mark, Mieth appeared to catch the ball and step outside his goalie box, causing the Bates sideline and fans to erupt in anger that they were not awarded a free kick, but the referee waved off their complaints and allowed play to continue. Seven minutes later, Lane dribbled the ball into the box and was preparing to take a shot when he was brought down by a careless tackle by the Bobcats’ sophomore defender, Liam Goldfarb. Coleman calmly lined up for the penalty and gave Tufts its second goal.

Shapiro took the ensuing stoppage of play to substitute first-year defender/midfielder Calvin Aroh for senior midfielder Tyler Kulcsar. Fifty-nine seconds after entering the game, Aroh was fed from the left wing by sophomore midfielder Brett Rojas and knocked the ball into the goal

for Tufts’ third of the day and Aroh’s second collegiate goal.

With a comfortable lead, the Jumbos continued to control the game for the remainder of the clock. First-year forward Alex Ratzan was unlucky to have his goal taken away due to contact with Montanaro in the 75th minute, but with three goals already on the scoresheet, the game was pretty much locked up by that point.

Over the full 90 minutes, the Jumbos outshot the Bobcats 21 to five, and Mieth did not face a single shot on goal. This game, like every other this season, demonstrated the strength of the back line. The ball rarely strayed past the midfield line, as there was always a Tufts defender present to corral the ball back into the attack.

The Jumbos still have only conceded one goal this entire season, in their single loss. Every other game has resulted in a shutout.

“Even though the defense is getting all of the credit, our shutout record is thanks to all 11 guys on the field,” Coleman said.

“Our strikers at the top are making my job so much easier when they press their cen-

ter backs and get nicks on the ball. While the defense is doing well and not allowing shots on goal and not giving up goals, it’s a testament to what they’re doing at the top defensively.”

Tufts, however, is not going to sleep on its semifinals opponent, Hamilton.

In the quarterfinals, Hamilton overcame Amherst, the second-seeded team, 4–3 on the road. Similarly, Middlebury and Williams both beat their opponents (Conn. College and Bowdoin, respectively) on the road, making Tufts’ victory the only home win in the quarterfinal round.

“The biggest fear you have as a coach is that your guys will come in and not take an opponent as seriously as they should,” Shapiro said. “I preach all the time about the quality of our league. The evidence of last year, going in and losing to Bowdoin, [shows] you’re vulnerable to any team in our conference at any given time. Our guys understand that Hamilton is a very dangerous team … They’re a very potent group, and we’re going to have to do our best to come through that game with a victory and carry ourselves into the final.”

he question I think most Hammers fans want answered is this: Why the heck is Slaven Bilic still manager of their team? Unfortunately, only David Sullivan and David Gold, owners of the West Ham United football club, can answer that question.

This is a side that went out there this summer to try and make a statement.

They signed Pablo Zabaleta on a free transfer after the Argentinean ended his nine-year stint at the Etihad Stadium and then brought in his ex-teammate Joe Hart in on loan. Both were supposed to be an upgrade from Sam Byram and Adrián San Miguel del Castillo, respectively. Up front, they finally realized that an injury-prone Andy Carroll was probably not who they should be counting on to get them the goals. So they signed Chicharito, the former Manchester United striker, and broke the club transfer record to sign Marko Arnautovic from Stoke City.

The move to the London Stadium was supposed to mark a new era for this historic football club. Yet West Ham struggled through last season, eventually finishing in an anonymous 11th place. Summer spending was supposed to help the club get to the next level.

But results have not improved. West Ham was pedestrian on opening day at Old Trafford, on the wrong end of a 4–0 trashing

by Manchester United. They then undid all of Chicharito’s hard work by conceding a late penalty against Southampton. They were then played off the park at Newcastle before being comprehensively beaten by newly promoted Brighton and Hove Albion 3–0 in Gameweek 9.

And in games which West Ham led, it’s been guilty of not seeing its games out.

The team conceded a late equalizer at Burnley to Chris Wood and, just this past weekend, let a two-goal lead slip after half-time against bottom-of-the-table Crystal Palace in the 97th minute.

I’m not sure I’ve seen a West Ham game this season, bar maybe the Southampton game and the come-from-behind victory over Tottenham in the League Cup, when I’ve been convinced that this was just “unlucky” West Ham United. In fact, I think it’s clear that Slaven Bilic does not know what his best team is, what formation to use these players in or how to instill tactical discipline in his players. Why, for instance, would you play Andy Carroll against a West Brom side that is so dominant in the air?

Marko Arnautovic is a case in point. Against Southampton, Arnautovic got himself sent off for a reckless and needless elbow on Southampton defender Jack Stephens. Against Brighton, both Gary Neville and Jamie Carragher chewed Arnautović out for not doing his defensive duties in tracking back. Similarly, it is high time that Bilic recognizes that Zabaleta’s best days as an attacking full-back are behind him. Time and again, Bilic’s rather old backline has been caught out by the pace of the opponents. Zabaleta, known for bombing forward, has been out of position on more than one occasion.

And as Bilic’s men prepare to face Liverpool this weekend, you wonder if the question is not if Liverpool will beat West Ham, but by how much.

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.

12 tuftsdaily.com

Sports

Wednesday, November 1, 2017

SEOHYUN SHIM / THE TUFTS DAILY

First-year defender Calvin Aroh seeks to create an opportunity during the homecoming game against Middlebury on Oct. 7.

Men’s soccer progresses to NESCAC semifinals for the first time since 2012

by Maddie Payne

Executive Sports Editor

Though the Jumbos have two national championship titles under their belts since 2014, they have not repeated the same success in the NESCAC tournament. Saturday marked the first time since 2012 that the Jumbos have won a NESCAC quarterfinal matchup to move forward to the semifinals. Tufts hosted the eighth-seeded Bates Bobcats on Saturday under sunny skies in a 3–0 win and will face seventh-seed Hamilton this coming Saturday, also at home.

Making it to the NESCAC semifinal has been an important goal for coach Joshua Shapiro and the team for a number of years.

“The team sees it as just as important as moving on to the national tournament and having success there. You shouldn’t be able to do one without the other, and you should be able to handle your peers before you try to handle everybody else,” Shapiro said. “It’s been a source of pride to try and get here, and I think for our guys it’s been a little embarrassing. We’ve had some success at the national level, but we should be able to have similar success in our conference tournament.”

Although Bates was the lowest seed entering the tournament, it was not to be underestimated. The Jumbos were held to a 1–0 victory in Lewiston, Maine on Oct. 14, largely thanks to the performance of Bobcat junior goalkeeper Robbie Montanaro, who saved nine out of the 10 shots the Jumbos fired at him.

On Saturday, however, Montanaro only managed to save five of the eight shots the Jumbos had on goal. Tufts was in control of the game from the beginning, with senior co-captain and defender Sterling Weatherbie forcing an early save from Montanaro. The Bobcats retaliated thanks to a long goal kick into the Jumbo end, as they fired off two shots, both of which were blocked. At 20:02, Tufts sophomore midfielder Zach Lane lined up a long throw-in that came off the head of senior co-captain defender Conor Coleman and fell to Weatherbie. The Cape Elizabeth, Maine native made it 1–0 with a header toward the back post.

The Jumbos did not relent, sending four more shots at the goal within the following five minutes, all of them slightly wide but

enough to keep the fans on the edge of their seats. Right before the end of the first half, the Bobcats had a free kick opportunity in a threatening position near the edge of the box. The ball in was well-placed, but junior goalkeeper Conner Mieth waded through the chaos to grab the ball out of the air before any other players could connect with it.

“I would say that we didn’t control the game as much as we would have hoped for the first 20 minutes, but once we got the goal, Bates had to push forward,” senior midfielder Kevin Halliday said. “Usually it’s been the case this season that teams sit back against us, so when it’s 0–0, it’s hard.

But once we get one goal, then it becomes a see MEN'S SOCCER, page 11

CROSS COUNTRY

Jumbos earn third and sixth in NESCAC Championship meet

by Patrick Wang

Contributing Writer

The annual Cross Country NESCAC Championship took place on Oct. 28 at Pineland Farms in Gray, Maine. Pineland Farm does not raise elephants; otherwise there would have been loud cheers for the Jumbos. But the Jumbos had a great time running alongside farm animals: the men’s team finished in sixth place out of 11 teams overall, and the women’s team finished in third.

Although this wasn’t as strong of a finish as last year, it was still a satisfying result.

Last season, the men’s team tied for third place and the women’s team finished in

second. Comparing this result to previous races of this season, however, both teams kept up their competitive level. The men’s team actually finished with their second-best score record of this season.

Both teams had gone to Pineland Farm earlier in this season at their season-opening meet. During that race, the men’s team finished second out of four teams and the women’s team finished first out of four. With such familiarity with the course, both teams had an easier time setting the appropriate pace for different parts of the trail.

“The wooded area of the course looks mostly the same on a first run through, so it is nice to know where you are

on the course,” junior Hiroto Watanabe said. “Knowing where you are during the race is helpful for making [a] mid-race adjustment.”

The main trail of this race is the Oak Hill Trail. Male athletes run two and a half laps around the Oak Hill Trail for a total of eight kilometers, while women athletes run one and a half laps for a total of six kilometers.

For this NESCAC Championship meet, the score was calculated by the sum of the top five finishing ranks of a team (which is how a score is typically calculated in college cross country races).

First, let’s take a look at the men’s team. The Jumbos scored 161 points which put them in sixth place, the

Williams College Ephs trailing by 35 points. Amherst won the Championship with only 35 points in total.

Overall, most of the runners finished in the top 60 ranks among 140 athletes in total. Junior Colin Raposo was the top runner for Tufts in this race; he ran to the finish line in 20th place with a record of 25:55.7. This record was only 48 seconds later than the first place’s record.

Following him was classmate Brian Reaney, who was second for the Jumbos, coming in 28th place at 26:10.

Other than these two top finishers, five Jumbos also finished within the top 50 see CROSS COUNTRY, page 11