Upcoming awards season may take a more serious tone see ARTS&LIVING / PAGE 6
Special interest houses hope to support intentional communities, expand reach
Men’s club soccer navigates suspension for current season see SPORTS / BACK PAGE
SEE FEATURES / PAGE 4
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Howard Dean encourages young Video surveillance: who’s people to organize at Tisch College watching Tufts’ campus? by Catherine Perloff Executive News Editor
Democratic politician Howard Dean spoke about his career in politics and the promise of young people, at a Jonathan M. Tisch College of Civic Life-sponsored event on Wednesday in the Rabb Room. Political Science Department Chair Deborah Schildkraut moderated the event, entitled “Donuts with (Howard) Dean!,” in front of a full audience. Dean began by discussing how he got his start in politics. Trained as a physician, Dean was Vermont’s second-longest serving governor, holding the position from 1991 to 2003. In 2004, he was a presidential candidate for the Democratic Party nomination and served as chair of the
Democratic National Committee (DNC) from 2005 to 2009. Reflecting on his career in politics, Dean said that his most important moment as governor was signing a bill to legalize civil unions for same-sex couples in Vermont, making the Green Mountain State a leader in LGBTQ rights. After the Vermont Supreme Court found denying same-sex couples the right to marry unconstitutional, Dean said several of his aides suggested he avoid the issue because it might hurt him in the upcoming gubernatorial election. “I remembered what Martin Luther King said to Lyndon Jonson, ‘How would it be if I told that you couldn’t have rights for another 6 see DEAN, page 2
EDDIE SAMUELS / THE TUFTS DAILY
Former Vermont Governor and Presidential candidate Howard Dean speaks to a group of students in the Rabb Room at “Donuts with (Howard) Dean!” an event put on by The Jonathan M. Tisch College of Civic Life on Wednesday, Nov. 29.
Somerville contends to host second Amazon headquarters by Robert Katz News Editor
The City of Somerville sent in a bid last month to host Amazon’s planned second headquarters, proposing a transit-oriented campus running through areas of Somerville, Cambridge, Boston, Everett, Chelsea and Medford. Somerville Mayor Joe Curtatone’s proposal to host the headquarters competes against bids offered by more than 200 cities across the country, including Boston’s proposal for a campus at Suffolk Downs. The proposed Somerville campus, named “Amazon on the T,” would be located on several sites woven together by the MBTA’s Green Line and Orange Line. “The Amazon on the T concept is is one of inclusivity: it recognizes that invention and creation do not stop within the boundaries of
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a district or neighborhood, just as a sense of place can easily flow across municipalities,” Curtatone wrote in a forward to the bid. Curtatone also voiced the hope that Amazon would set a “new standard for corporate citizenship.” “We invite [Amazon] to join us in pursuing an equitable vision for our future that will help lift up all in our communities,” Curtatone said. Amazon’s second headquarters, according to the company’s specifications, will need more than 8 million square feet to accommodate up to 50,000 employees. Amazon is expecting to invest $5 billion in its construction. Joe Lynch, co-host of Somerville Community Access Television’s Greater Somerville program, voiced concern that of those 50,000 new job openings, the majority of them could be at executive levels or see BIG INTERNET, page 2
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In a Daily survey, Tufts students express their thoughts on video surveillance on campus. by Ariel Barbieri-Aghib and Rachael Meyer News Editor and Executive Social Media Editor
In May of 2017, Tufts administrators charged several seniors with various allegations including indecent exposure, sexual exploitation and sexual misconduct after they were found to have participated in the Naked Quad Run (NQR), an event held on May 3 this past spring. NQR had been an annual tradition for Tufts students for decades until the practice was ended in 2011 due to concerns over student health. Two of the students charged, Robert Sucsy (LA ’17), who is now a student at the Tufts School of Medicine, and another student who wishes to remain anonymous due to concerns of further punishment from the administration, said they believe that the Tufts University Police Department (TUPD)
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used footage from Tufts’ video surveillance system in order to identify seniors who had participated in the event. “During my meeting with the administration, I was made to feel as if Tufts held proof of my participation in NQR,” the student said. “My conversations … led me to believe that they used video footage from the security cameras placed throughout campus to identify participants after the fact.” When asked, TUPD spokesperson Kevin Maguire declined to confirm or deny that video footage was used to identify students. According to Director of Community Standards Kevin Kraft, video evidence is sometimes used in dealing with student breaches of the university code of conduct
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THE TUFTS DAILY Gil Jacobson Editor-in-Chief
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continued from page 1 require masters degrees. Amazon anticipates that the average annual compensation of employees at its new headquarters will exceed $100,000, according to the company’s request for proposals. “That would be my fear, because then that feeds the beast here in the city,” Lynch said. “Now I [would] have people coming in at 125, 155 or 180 thousand dollars a year and they want to live close to where they work, so they’re buying property in Somerville, which exacerbates the affordable housing issue.” Rand Wilson, communications and policy director of Massachusetts-based Service Employees International Union Local 888, was similarly concerned that more skilled positions could be displaced by workers from outside of Somerville. However, he also wondered if the lower-skilled jobs made available by Amazon would offer mixed benefits for the city. “The impression I got is that Amazon’s looking to get the cheapest labor possible, they’re anti-union, anti-collective bargaining and most of the jobs that they seem to be creating [nationwide] are in the minimum wage or just above minimum wage categories,” Wilson said. “They use a large number of temps, of subcontractors, so are these really the kinds of jobs that our community needs?”
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A 2014 TIME article described Amazon’s attempts to thwart union organization within the company. Also, for a development project with the scope of a second Amazon headquarters, the city’s current housing and employment issues would need to be given significant attention, Wilson insisted. “A proposal of this size and scale is hard to fathom, but for those of us that live in Somerville, we have a housing crisis and we don’t have enough local hiring, where people can easily walk, bike or take a short bus ride or car ride to work … in the community where they live,” Wilson said. “We want to look at the impact [of a project such as Amazon HQ2] on affordable housing in the city and the impact on the opportunities for local people to get local jobs.” The proposal to Amazon is a piece of a larger rebranding effort by Curtatone’s administration, senior Emily Lin believes. “I think that’s Somerville selling its soul to Big Internet. It’s not surprising,” Lin said. “I think Somerville is trying to rebrand itself as a city that’s attractive to young professionals in the tech industry and I think they believe that having Amazon headquarters here would do that.” Tom Acitelli, editor of real estate blog Curbed Boston, believes that the number of bids submitted by Massachusetts could hamstring the whole state’s individual efforts, rather than providing Amazon with options and
cities with autonomy. The state proposal, submitted by Governor Charlie Baker’s administration, highlights 26 different locations. “No one community — not even Boston, the state’s largest municipality — can really host the whole HQ itself,” Acitelli said. “Imagine if the state were coordinating one grand bid for Amazon, making use of all of [the state’s] resources spread out in our geographic patchwork.” Emily Reichert, CEO of Greentown Labs, a Somerville-based incubator for clean technology start-ups, voiced support for the city’s proposal in an email to the Daily. “While we can understand and appreciate the anxiety residents may feel about the possibility of a major e-commerce and tech company moving to Somerville, we also know from experience how welcoming, collaborative and supportive the City and its residents are and we know that’s how they’d respond if this move were to come to fruition,” Reichert said. Reichert emphasized, however, that it is important that Amazon’s arrival not alter the fabric of the Somerville community. “If a tech giant like Amazon does come to Somerville,” Reichert said, “we should start thinking more creatively around ways the city and residents could partner with the company to make sure the things that are most special and unique about Somerville, like its maker and artist community, are preserved and celebrated.”
Dean criticizes emphasis on party politics, media coverage DEAN
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months because it inconvenienced my re-election? So I said bullshit to that,” he explained. He said that, while gay marriage was not the number one item on his political agenda, he said he recognized it as a civil rights issue and knew his support was the morally right decision. “At the end of the day you have to be willing to give up your political career to do the right thing,” Dean said. He went on to praise this generation, noting young people today share values with his generation, the baby boomers, but are more effective at mobilization. “You’re the most empowered people who have ever existed in human history,” Dean said. However, Dean said that while today’s young people are strong at mobilization and cooperation, they lack sufficient organization and commitment. Dean said young people often don’t consider the value of institutions.
“This generation is averse to institutions partly because they’ve never needed them and because of the power of the net they don’t have to work with each other. Trump’s election is your Edmund Pettus Bridge and your Kent State,” he told the Daily, referring to police attacks on civil rights and anti-Vietnam War protesters, respectively. “You get to design the institution.” While Dean has made his career within the Democratic party establishment, he emphasized to the audience that the institutions young people craft need not be in line with the DNC. “You’re our most loyal voters but you’re not Democrats because the Democrat party is an institution — it’s very unattractive, all kinds of stuff goes on. I don’t care if you’re Democrats; I want to continue our shared values,” Dean said. “I want you to start your own institution but it has to be a real institution.” In response to a question about the schisms within the Democratic Party, Dean highlighted that policy issues should receive more attention than party politics. “The important thing is to start winning local elections. I’m tired of peo-
ple talking about 2016. Enough whining, complaining. There’s plenty of blame to go around,” he said. “We’ve got to stop talking about the party in terms of personalities and look at facts and what we’re going to achieve.” In an interview with the Daily prior to the event, Dean rejected the point of view that students at predominantly liberal college campuses like Tufts are intolerant of alternate opinions. “Political correctness is a synonym for common courtesy,” Dean said. “I don’t think a university has any obligation to shell out tons of money for security because someone wants to preach hate. Let them preach hate downtown.” Dean also criticized the mainstream media for being more concerned with breaking stories than getting them right. “In order to get people to click they have to say outrageous things,” he said. “The motto in the media for a long time is the story’s too good to fact check, or let’s get it first.”
Merrin Moral Voices hosts Reproductive Rights in Prisons event by Melissa Kain News Editor
Assistant Professor of Sociology Jill Weinberg discussed the reproductive rights and healthcare of incarcerated women at a Merrin Moral Voices-sponsored lecture at Hillel on Wednesday. Merrin Moral Voices is a Hillel initiative that aims to highlight the importance of speaking up on social justice issues through a distinguished lecture series, events and partnerships with student organizations, according to their website. “Every year we choose a theme that we do events and programming around for the entire year. This year, we have chosen reproductive rights,” Sara Schiff, who serves as a co-chair of Moral Voices, said. Schiff, a senior, also said that Moral Voices has chosen annual themes such as homelessness and gun violence in the past. Weinberg opened her talk, entitled “Reproductive Rights Behind Bars,” by
showing a video of Carolyn Sufrin, an OB-GYN and medical anthropologist who provides care to women in jail. In this video, Sufrin explained that while 62 percent of women in state prison have children under the age of 18, getting quality healthcare is challenging for these women. According to Weinberg, about 7 percent of incarcerated women are pregnant when they are sent to prison. Though prisoners have a constitutional right to healthcare, working as healthcare professional in the prison system is viewed as the “bottom” of the profession within the medical field, meaning these women may receive low-quality care. “In California, for example, most of the doctors who work in the prison system have some sort of professional violation or sanction,” Weinberg said. Weinberg also talked about abortion access for women in prisons. Though women in prisons are constitutionally entitled to abortion services, barriers are
often created because these incarcerated women often cannot afford to pay for these services or transportation to hospitals. “We rarely think about how these institutions navigate allowing a woman to have freedom of choice in a space where choice is something that we try to greatly curtail,” Weinberg said. Weinberg finished her talk by discussing alternate programs that have been proposed. Some examples include doulas in Washington prisons, a California ban on nonconsensual inmate sterilization and prison nursery programs in Indiana and Canada. Weinberg noted these programs sometimes draw criticism from those concerned about the effects of raising children behind bars. A discussion followed the event, during which students asked about how spaces for mothers in prison are funded, statistics on what happens after incarcerated mothers leave prison and how incarcerated non-binary people fit into the conversation.
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Quad-run charges raise concerns over surveillance policy SURVEILLANCE
continued from page 1 and other internal, noncriminal investigations. “When resolving cases according to the procedures specified in the Student Judicial Process, we consider all evidence that is submitted,” he told the Daily in an email, specifying that “in some cases, audio, video, or photos are also submitted.” Tufts has been using video surveillance since 2012, when it spearheaded a program to improve video security on all three campuses. According to the video security website, the primary aim of the program is to “utilize video security as a public safety, emergency response and crime prevention tool on its Boston, Grafton and Medford/ Somerville campuses.” According to Maguire, who also serves as the director of Tufts’ Department of Public and Environmental Safety (DPES) and was the lead director of the surveillance program in 2012, TUPD does not release the placement or number of cameras around campus. Maguire said that all cameras are visible, though TUPD does not release informations of specific numbers or locations of cameras. He also said that most are on the exterior of buildings and in entranceways. In addition, Maguire said that video footage is deleted after 30 days unless it is part of an ongoing investigation. University Executive Vice President Patricia Campbell co-sponsored the project along with former Vice President of Operations Linda Snyder, according to the DPES website. Campbell explained that the university didn’t have a policy for this activity despite already using video cameras on campus. They realized that other colleges and universities had security policies governing their surveillance systems. Campbell also said that administrators met with Tufts students on all three campuses in an effort to partner with students in the creation of this policy. At the time, however, concerns about the presence of cameras in general were aired by students and other members of the Tufts community. In Sept. 2012, the Daily published a student op-ed as well as an editorial critiquing the university’s plan to install cameras and create the video security policy. “Placing security cameras in public meeting places such as the President’s Lawn, academic quads or potentially the roof of the Tisch Library would make many students uncomfortable, and the existing evidence in support of placing these cameras is insuffi-
EDDIE SAMUELS / THE TUFTS DAILY
One of two security cameras outside the front door of the Tisch Library is pictured. cient to justify community members being monitored,” the editorial reads. It is important to note that Tufts’ student body, like that of all four-year universities, has almost completely changed in the past four years, and very few, if any, students who would have been present for the 2012 community engagement initiative are still on campus. Campbell insisted that Tufts has maintained transparency around video surveillance, pointing out that at the beginning of each semester the university sends an email to students reminding them to “familiarize themselves with university policies and how to access them.” These emails do not directly mention the video surveillance policy and include a link to the Student Affairs webpage. Of the 233 students who responded to an electronic survey the Daily made available to Tufts students via social media, 62 percent said they first became aware of the cameras due to their own observation. Only 11.8 percent of the respondents knew about the policy by reading the emails sent out by the administration. A total of 31 students said that they did not know there were cameras on campus until taking the Daily’s survey. “I am not entirely sure what purpose security cameras serve here on campus,
EDDIE SAMUELS / THE TUFTS DAILY
Cameras behind Lewis Hall's Crafts Center are pictured.
and perhaps if I knew more about how the footage was used, I might be more ok with its existence,” one student wrote in response to a question asking if they felt safer on campus because of the cameras. When asked if they had concerns that their activities were being filmed and could be used by Tufts authorities, 52 percent of students responded “Yes”. According to Maguire, video surveillance at Tufts is intended to ensure student safety. “Video security is used as part of an umbrella of safety and security elements … all to enhance safety and security here at Tufts like colleges and universities do throughout the United States,” he said. Campbell echoed this claim, adding that petty crime has decreased since the program has been implemented. In addition, according to the university’s video security policy, surveillance footage collected on campus can be distributed to local law enforcement such as the Medford and Somerville police departments. According to Maguire, surveillance cameras are placed where there is “no reasonable expectation of privacy.” However, two students who responded to the Daily’s survey said they needed to ask to have cameras removed from certain locations as a result of privacy concerns. One student disclosed in the survey that they have had multiple negative encounters with cameras on campus. “Each one of these discoveries was through the personal experiences of my friends having TUPD make it clear that they ‘knew where’ my friends were,” they wrote. According to the online video security policy, the purpose of the cameras is for public safety. “Video security is designed for the protection of people and property, where the main intent is to capture video and store it on a remote device,” explains the policy. In addition, despite assurances that all cameras are visible, the policy does not prevent the use of other types of video surveillance not made immediately visible to students. “Mobile or hidden video security equipment may be used in criminal investigations by DPES only. Covert video security equip-
ment may also be used for noncriminal investigations into specific instances that may be a significant risk to public safety, security and property as authorized by the Director of Public and Environmental Safety or designee,” the policy says. The Daily’s 2012 editorial points out that “the majority of alert emails DPES sent out to community members on the Medford/ Somerville campus in the past few years described crimes that took place in areas adjacent to campus, not on campus,” highlighting skepticism about the system’s intended use. However, the university has the ability to decide when to distribute the recorded surveillance, including noncriminal cases such as the seniors’ violation of university code of conduct due to their participation in the NQR. “University Relations will seek consultation and advice from the General Counsel related to these requests prior to the release of records,” the policy reads. It is of note that the division University Relations is headed by Senior Vice President Mary Jeka, who also serves as Tufts’ General Counsel. Additionally, the policy gives DPES the ability to use hidden or mobile cameras in criminal investigations. Kade Crockford, director of the Technology for Liberty Program at the American Civil Liberties Union of Massachusetts, explained that these kinds of ambiguities in restriction are often the reason video security programs become problematic on college campuses. “This is an example of what surveillance watchers call ‘mission creep’,” Crockford said. “Anytime … a university wants to use surveillance technology, if they choose to explain that to the public and disclose that they intend to purchase the technology and install it, they will often marshall some defense that typically takes the form of public safety. This is why mission creep is such a problem, because if administrations … do not very clearly delineate how they intend to use technologies like surveillance cameras, it’s almost inevitable that they will be used for purposes the advocates did not initially explain to the rest of the community.”
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Features
Thursday, November 30, 2017
Special interest housing seeks more proactive community building on campus by Michelle Kwon Staff Writer
Sixteen different special interest houses exist on the Tufts campus. While the upcoming Capen Village project plans to expand themed housing and broaden social spaces at Tufts, residents of several existing special interest houses — as well Tufts Community Union President Benya Kraus — have recognized blocks in engaging students campus-wide and are committed to further community building. Colin Trimmer, a junior and house manager of the Crafts House, described his experience. “I first found out through public events, parties and art-making. I had a really good time and met new people,” he said. “It was natural for me to want to live there. It’s been a great positive change in my life. It’s made me learn a lot about how I want to live and confront American sociology.” Crafts House is known as a food cooperative where all residents are responsible for the purchase, preparation and cleanup of meals. “It’s through those dinners that we gather together,” Trimmer said. Residents of the Crafts House are also dedicated to the operation of the Crafts Center, which was originally located in the basement of the house but was relocated to Lewis Hall. The center is open to all Tufts students interested in arts and crafts. Trimmer said it is only natural for the Crafts Center to be entirely student-run by the residents. “We look for people who are progressive, who are looking to be active in their community. We also try to take it a step further and bring our force to the campus. We also love to make things,” Trimmer said. Crafts House also hosts events open to the Tufts community. Trimmer mentioned the recent ‘Chosen Family’ event, an annual tradition where residents of the Crafts House cook a large meal open to anyone. “It’s a pretty radical thing. We spend the whole day bonding and cooking,” Trimmer said. “Putting on large events, we are able to do something for the community. We’re interested in surveying a larger population. I personally love it when people are part of the community but don’t even live in the house. We call them ‘satellites,’ people who are always in the house doing things, having projects. It’s really pleasant.” Similarly to the Crafts House, the International House often hosts events such as pumpkin carving and barbecues. Senior Sopuruchukwu Ezenwa, the manager of the International House, hopes to continue planning such events. “We were thinking of some discussion events. For me, things that relate to me, I think would be more of the struggles of being an international student here and struggles of being an international community — things like immigration,” Ezenwa said. “Even if you’re a citizen, what are your perceptions or are you affected by immigration in any way?” Eze n w a e m p h a s i ze d the International House’s openness to the
RACHAEL MEYER / THE TUFTS DAILY
International House is pictured on Nov. 26. community and its hope to serve as a place of comfort for anybody. “The history of the I-House has always been not just international students, it’s everyone. We have people from different identities, so we do not exclude,” Ezenwa said. “That means all our events are open to anyone, even if it’s more of a private event. If you show up and you want to be in this event, you’re fine.” Junior Trenton Manns, a resident of the Japanese Language House and previous International House resident, decided to apply for the Japanese Language House for his third academic year in preparation for his study abroad in Kanazawa, Japan. Much like the Crafts House and International House, the Japanese House also seeks to cultivate Japanese culture and community building through open events. “The house is supposed to have at least one event once a semester centered around Japanese culture,” Manns said. “This year it was onigiri-making, which is like a rice-ball dish. There are also chat times that happen throughout the week where people who don’t live in the house can come in and practice with one of the people who speak upper-level Japanese.” Manns, now a two-time resident of special interest housing, commented on his positive experiences. “You meet so many cool, interesting people that you never have met before,” he said. “It’s also just nice to come home to a different environment than what your friend circle is like, you can just go back and think about other things.” Despite currently hosting open events with their special interest hous-
es, Trimmer, Ezenwa and Manns all voiced concerns about a need for more proactive community building. “We need to do a better job. We could be doing a better job to help people find these communities and have access to these places. People who live in these houses need to be active and engaged,” Trimmer said. Ezenwa expressed similar opinions specifically for the International House. “I think what I’m looking forward to in the future is to be more efficient in putting up events. I think we need to put out more,” Ezenwa said. Manns hopes his current house becomes a more open space for community members. “I wish that J-House would do more in terms of reaching out and getting more people in. I think it can be more proactive,” he said. “I would love to see people coming into the J-House and just chilling around.” Kraus offered her opinion of special interest houses on campus through electronic message, stating their potential value to the entire Tufts community. “I think that the current special interest housing system offers a lot of niche community-building opportunities from communal living, hosting parties, cooking shared dinners, offering language practice, etc,” she said. “These are amazing initiatives and I think the challenge now is to see how we can expand the accessibility, visibility, and accountability of these events so that the entire Tufts community can feel like they are a part of these communal and shared social cultures.” When asked about how the special interest houses could reach out to
RACHAEL MEYER / THE TUFTS DAILY
Japanese House resident Trenton Manns, a junior, poses for a portrait in Eaton Hall on Nov. 19. the Tufts community in different ways than they are currently, Kraus brought up a flaw in the systematic processes for these houses. “We need to make their processes for application, hosting, and advertising events a lot more streamlined,” she said. “For some houses, they are unable to completely fill their beds easily. The application process looks different for each house, and as a result, it’s largely difficult to navigate and even find out about these housing opportunities.” see HOUSING, page 5
F e at u r e s
Thursday, November 30, 2017 | Features | THE TUFTS DAILY
Kraus hopes for better communication between houses and students HOUSING
continued from page 4 Consequently, Kraus advocated for a reassessment in how special interest housing currently operates, stating that she would like to explore a themed system that changes every year depending on the needs of the Tufts community while also creating more social options. “There needs to be a greater degree of accountability — are you living up to behavioral standards? Are you giving back to the greater Tufts community?” Kraus said. “I think what often happens with institutionalized housing is that
access to physical space becomes a right instead of a privilege.” Kraus is not suggesting an end to existing special interest housing, but instead an expansion of their opportunities. “This doesn’t necessarily mean an end to all the themed housing we currently have,” she said. “Rather, it is an opportunity for all special interest housing to gain further support in connecting to the Tufts community and to showcase the great ways they are already building community.” According to Trimmer, special interest houses currently have
an e-list where emails about events hosted by each house are sent out, welcoming other students to attend. Trimmer asserted that these sorts of actions need to be taken by special interest houses. “I think open and social events are key to small group housing. You’ve got an experience bigger than yourself and you can use that for positive things,” Trimmer said. “I heard it used to be more dynamic in the past. I don’t think so. I think more than ever, in this current social climate, they’re needed.”
I’VE NEVER UNDERSTOOD WHY MY HUMAN WON’T LEAVE THE HOUSE WITHOUT HER LEASH. I THINK SHE’S AFRAlD OF GETTING LOST. BUT IT’S OK, I KIND OF LIKE SHOWING HER AROUND. — HARPER adopted 08-18-09
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Hayley Oliver-Smith In Defense of the Butterfly Effect
Vast, but not irreconcilable
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onarch butterflies have completed their journey south, and now rest among themselves in the warmth of south-central Mexico, reminding us of the amazing transformation migration brings. Remarkably, one can flip effortlessly between news articles detailing the journey of the butterflies and those showing the human migration movements happening presently. Obviously, most human migration has not been captured by recorded history. But even in contemporary times as technology began to transmit stories around the globe, geographical distance often meant that details of migration events were lost on all but those immediately affected. Partition in India in 1947, and the accompanying flight of Muslims, Hindus and Sikhs, was barely captured by cameras or hearts of the time. Adults may remember when such events and their human consequences began to visit them in their homes, perhaps after the Srebrenica massacre in 1995 when shocking images of Bosnian Muslims flooded television screens. Even during those recent days, one could turn off the television and remain in their own world. Now, the world watches closely. The Syrian refugee crisis, waged in the background of our adolescence, is shocking in numbers. To think of how much has changed in our own lives since 2011 puts the sheer length of the crisis in perspective. Today, the Rohingya push from Myanmar to Bangladesh in the hundreds of thousands. These stories play out in real time on phone screens on our way to class; at last, we have gotten as close as possible to experiencing these migrations on the scale of a moment. A photograph of a Rohingya man with his hands clasped together, eyes screwed shut, his anguish not only inferred but highly visible. There is joy in our hearts and real tears in our eyes when we watch children reunite with mothers, crisis averted, it seems. Refugee simulation experiences give citizens across the United States a taste of what psychological and emotional tumult can characterize these experiences. One wonders if it will be enough. Digital media permits its users to migrate — they see, hear and read to understand and think through modern migration events for themselves. This equipment is a godsend, a revolution that elevates our potential to extend curiosity from beyond our immediate physical environs into the space provided by data, to find something real out there to grasp onto. There is hope that previous failures to stop the violent conflict and socioeconomic instability that often precipitate migration have been due, in some part, to people whose lack of compassion is rooted in ignorance, not apathy. For now as readers’ emotional and attentional centers are seized upon by images and sound, and the information to comprehend the details and historical context of events is available, they are implicated in the conflicts they witness. For better and for worse, as the distance between migrants and their homes grows wider, and the virtual distance between people seems to close, humanity is at a crossroads. Let us hope that the power of individual awareness and the power to act is not underestimated, or worse, brushed past with a flick to the next article. Hayley Oliver-Smith is a senior majoring in international relations. Hayley can be reached at hayley.oliver_smith@tufts.edu.
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ARTS&LIVING
Haruka Noishiki Majors and Minors
Thursday, November 30, 2017
What will awards season be in the wake of Weinstein?
Peruvian Marinera to Festejo with Andrea
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his is Andrea Chavez, a first-year of Peruvian heritage from Massachusetts who lived in Chimbote, Peru for three years. She plays the acoustic guitar, used to play the violin and still sometimes plays the piano. She is planning to major in quantitative economics, and she loves Peruvian food. Andrea shared her insight into music today in Peru. Haruka (H): What’s pop music in Peru like? What genre, and which artist, is most popular right now? Andrea (A): I don’t know specific contemporary Peruvian artists. I know classical Peruvian artists, and I know there are some that are just starting off. Pop music among youth is a mix, including songs from here. There’s reggaeton, which is dance-oriented. Salsa is also a popular genre. At parties, young people get excited for reggaeton and salsa alike. There are also styles that are more traditional. For example, música criolla is very Peruvian and traditional, but people listen to that today. One of the popular songs is “Mueve Tu Cucu” by Oscar Avilés. It incorporates African music called Festejo, which means festivity. Arturo “Zambo” Cavero is also a famous Peruvian singer. H: What’s traditional Peruvian music like? A: Musica criolla is the all-encompassing genre of traditional music. Guitar, cajón (a box-shaped percussion instrument) and singing shape this genre. Festejo is incorporated in the traditional music because there were African immigrants and slaves in Peru. Huayno is a genre that is popular in the mountains. The dancing that goes with it involves a lot of stepping. It’s lively. There’s a lot of percussion, and there are trumpet-like sounds involved. One of the traditional instruments is the pan flute (quena), which you play horizontally. H: Is there a tune that everyone knows in Peru? A: People know the more traditional pieces. Even younger people know it because those songs are cultural, shared in the family through get-togethers. Dance is also a big part of that musical tradition. My 16-year-old cousin dances Marinera which is a dance from the mountains. She’s been here in the States for a while, and whenever our family gets together, she dances for us. “La Flor de La Canela” by Chabuca Granda is a song that everyone knows, I think. “La Rebelion” by Joe Arroyo is also widely known, and it’s a salsa song that has to do with African slavery. A lot of youth like reggaeton. H: Does modern music incorporate more traditional styles? A: I think so. I don’t know if it’s because they know how much traditional music is a part of our lives that modern artists incorporate traditional music, or because it’s too big a part of their lives to not incorporate into the music they produce. I think that’s changing, though, since Peruvian music is getting more Americanized. H: How, if in any way, do you find Peruvian music different from other music you’ve encountered? A: I think every country has traditional music that is distinct in its own way. Haruka Noishiki is a first-year who has not yet declared a major. Haruka can be reached at haruka.noishiki@tufts.edu
COURTESY LINCOLNBLUES / FLICKR
Oscar and his clones are pictured at a shop in Hollywood, CA. by Cassidy Olsen
Executive Arts Editor
Content warning: This article mentions sexual assault. Monday night saw the unofficial-official kickoff of the 2017 film awards season with the Independent Film Project (IFP) Gotham Awards in New York City. Jordan Peele’s breakout horror story “Get Out” won big, taking home three awards, and the top prize for best feature film went to Luca Guadagnino’s dreamy adaptation “Call Me By Your Name.” If you’re a betting person, now’s about the time you may start eyeing Saoirse Ronan and Timothée Chalamet like some promising racehorses, but it’s important to remember that the Gotham Awards aren’t historically that great at predicting winners for the rest of the season. If Monday night’s ceremony indicates anything about the award shows to come, it’s that it’s actually difficult for Hollywood to celebrate Hollywood in the wake of Harvey Weinstein. According to the New York Times, Monday’s Gotham Awards were pal-
pably chilly, almost somber compared to the typically buzzy atmosphere at events of its kind. As Nicole Kidman took the stage to accept a tribute award, she remarked, “It needs to get a little louder, a little rowdier. I don’t know what’s happening. It seems sedate.” Despite Kidman’s claim, everyone in that room, if asked, could point to the source of the tension. Weinstein’s history of sexual assault and harassment was something of an open secret in the industry for decades, but the tide of accusations aimed at the producer have brought his behavior into such clear focus that actors and filmmakers can no longer feign ignorance. The sexual misconduct of many other entertainment figures like John Lasseter, Louis C.K. and Kevin Spacey, who have all received accolades from the industry in years past, is also weighing heavily on Hollywood’s conscience. But truth be told, Hollywood has never had a conscience, or at least not for more than a few months at a time. The Harvey Weinstein wake-up call and subsequent
industry firings cannot undo years of turning a blind eye, of Woody Allen and Roman Polanski and Casey Affleck accolades, or the #OscarsSoWhite of 2015 and years prior. The collective guilt that is going to make this awards season so uncomfortable shouldn’t be a new feeling, but it’s a necessary one. That’s not to say that this year’s many films and performances deserving of awards should have their moment taken from them, as “Moonlight” (2016) did last year with the best picture fiasco, but the Globes and Oscars to come can’t make it on the same song-and-dance and comic ribbing we see year after year. Jimmy Kimmel, who will be hosting the 2018 Oscars ceremony, has shown gravitas when discussing mass shootings and politics on his late night show, so here’s hoping he can balance a necessary seriousness with his typically light comedy. Weinstein, who has been thanked in more Oscars acceptance speeches than God, will at last be the elephant in the room (or not in the room) at February’s ceremony. In response, let the Academy honor the the talent of artists, not predators.
Do It This Weekend: Dec. 1–3 by Setenay Mufti Arts Editor
We all know it’s finals season, but it’s also the season of joy. Celebrate your fellow classmates with a host of student performances and ways to relax before you hit the books. Keep reading for some exciting, exclusive events you won’t want to miss! Friday “Tufts Stand-up Comedy Collective Presents: It’s a Wonderful Laugh” Get into the holiday mood with some laughter and cheer at Friday’s SCC performance. Even right before finals, there’s always something to laugh about. It’ll be their last comedy show of the semester, so catch it while you can! When and where: 9–10:15 p.m.; Crane Room “The Beelzebubs Present: The Magic School Bubs!”
The ‘Bubs have been on fire all semester, so gear up for the Beelzebubs Winter Show for some great a cappella. The performance will feature Brown University’s Jabberwocks and the Middlebury Mamajamas, as well as some old-school Magic School Bus references. No tickets or entrance fee required. When and where: 8:30–10 p.m.; 51 Winthrop St., Medford “Tufts University Social Collective Presents: Laser Tag in Tisch Library” Thanks to TUSC and the Office of Health Promotion & Prevention, your favorite study/crying location is transforming into a laser tag course for one night! Play a game of 10-person (5 versus 5) black light laser tag in the heart of the library, grab some pizza and decorate a black light t-shirt while you’re there. No tickets or entrance fee required.
When and where: 10 p.m.–1 a.m., Tisch Library. Saturday “SoC Presents: The New Edition” One of Tufts’ favorite hip-hop groups, SoC will finally put on its fall semester show this weekend. We’re not sure what “The New Edition” means exactly, but we’re expecting some tricks, flips and lots of flair. Tickets are available online and at the Campus Center. When and where: Fri. Dec. 1, 7:30 p.m.; Sat. Dec. 2, 8 p.m.; Cohen Auditorium “Tufts Jazz Orchestra: Celebration” With 2018 comes the Leonard Bernstein centennial, so celebrate in style with the Tufts Jazz Orchestra! The concert will feature music from Bernstein’s most beloved work, “West see WEEKEND , page 7
Thursday, November 30, 2017 | Arts & Living | THE TUFTS DAILY
tuftsdaily.com
Student performances, events this weekend
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COURTESY RILEY ARONSON
Student dance team SoC performs in Cohen during their show in spring 2017.
WEEKEND
continued from page 6 Side Story” (1957), as well as pieces by Aretha Franklin and Earth, Wind & Fire. The event is free, no tickets required. When and where: 8–10 p.m.; Goddard Chapel Sunday
“Essence Presents: To Be Real” Join the Ladies of Essence for some more fantastic a cappella this weekend. There will be some classics and some new pieces, as well as a couple of surprise guest acts! Celebrate the winter season with some new music of the African diaspora — plus food after the show.
Admission is free. When and where: 3–5 p.m.; 51 Winthrop St., Medford “Somerville Public Library: Getting Cozy at the Library” When was the last time you visited the local Somerville Public Library? Inspired by Danish “hygge,” the concept of finding
coziness in ordinary places, the library will host craft-making days throughout the winter starting this Sunday. Whether you start a project there or bring your own, you’ll be greeted with cocoa and community. When and where: 2:30–4:30 p.m.; 79 Highland Ave., Somerville
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THE TUFTS DAILY | Comics | Thursday, November 30, 2017
Comics
LATE NIGHT AT THE DAILY Eddie: “I’m not even Joe’s mouth and I broke it.”
Comics
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BY WILEY MILLER
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Difficulty Level: Finding the error in your code that’s really just a missing semicolon. Generated by http://www.opensky.ca/sudoku on Thu Nov 30 00:46:34 2017 GMT. Enjoy!
Wednesday’s Solution Puzzle 1 (Medium, difficulty rating 0.59) 7
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Sagittarius (Nov. 22–Dec. 21)
Today is an 8. Maintain physical action despite complications. Slow to avoid accident or injury. Adapt to a surprise by providing excellent service. Take advantage of an opportunity.
CROSSWORD
Wednesday’s Solution
Generated by http://www.opensky.ca/sudoku on Wed Nov 29 03:26:36 2017 GMT. Enjoy!
Thursday, November 30, 2017
Opinion
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EDITORIAL
The taxing cost of higher education Given today’s economy and job market, not getting a college degree isn’t an option for those who wish to earn a living wage. It is simply not feasible to cover daily expenses, support a family and plan for retirement with only $35,000 a year, which was the median income of high school graduates in 2014. However, this is often unattainable for most as the cost of higher education increases beyond the rate of inflation each year. Between 2004 and 2015, the cost of private nonprofit institutions — which includes tuition, fees, room, and board — increased by 26 percent after being adjusted for inflation. During that same time, accordingly, the student loan balances of those under the age of thirty more than doubled, from $140 billion to $376.3 billion. Today, 53 percent of these young adults with college degrees are burdened with student loan debt that can sometimes reach $100,000 or above. With such staggering costs and
little financial support, higher education, the quintessential opportunity structure, is increasingly less accessible to those who would personally benefit from it. Take Tufts University, for example, which has more students from the top 1 percent than from the bottom 60 percent. While access to higher education and a living wage is a moral issue, it also has economic consequences. Not only does the individual benefit from greater education, but the whole of society benefits as well. The innovation that drives the economy can only reach its full potential if every individual is given the opportunity to cultivate their talents. Investing in education is investing in the future, and the government and institutions should work collectively to solve the financial crisis that prospective students, current students and graduates face. Unfortunately, the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (H.R. 1) passed by 227 House Republicans on Nov. 16 sends a message
to all Americans that accessible higher education is not a priority. Right now, low and middle-class Americans that have student loans can lower their taxable income by $2,500, allowing a maximum deduction of $625, though most deduct less. Just at Tufts University, undergraduate and graduate students from the 2016–2017 school year held more than 114.5 million dollars in student loans that could make them eligible for this deduction. While this deduction may not address the underlying issues of making higher education accessible, it is still an important economic relief claimed by more than 12 million Americans, including Jumbos, and the program’s effectiveness would be cut by the House bill. The House bill will also place significant economic stress on graduate students by consequentially increasing their income tax by 300 to 400 percent. At Tufts, according to University President
Anthony Monaco, graduate students who work as teaching and research assistants would see their income tax increase by as much as $10,000 a year, because the bill seeks to make graduate students’ tuition waivers count as taxable income. While there are many factors that contribute to the increasing educational and economic divide, this bill presented by House Republicans will greatly exacerbate the problem. Tufts University has now begun to lobby Congress on the tax bill with the American Council on Education and National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities. Action, however, must also be taken by all students — prospective, current and former — not only to stand together against these provisions in the House bill, but also to find real solutions that don’t damage those who are seeking to strengthen our economy and further their educations.
CHRISTMAS IS AROUND THE CORNER
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.
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THE TUFTS DAILY | Opinion | Thursday, November 30, 2017
Luke Murphy Murphy's Law
Expensive tuition? Thank your bloated administration
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he meteoric rise in tuition recently is an important issue across the nation. Tufts’ roughly $70,000 bill increases by around 4 percent annually, more than double the national rate of inflation. The university explains these increases as being driven by innovation and expansion, but they are really caused by poor management: administrative bloat. While traditional businesses benefit from economies of scale (as production increases, the per unit cost decreases), American universities experience the opposite, spending more per student as enrollment increases, particularly on administrative expenses. Unlike a normal business, which must keep prices low, so consumers purchase its products, universities make most of their income from gifts and grants. Elite schools do not compete on the price or quality of their service, but rather their reputation and network. With no incentives to minimize costs, incredible demand and the upkeep of student loans, universities are free to run up costs on non-academic employees. According to George Mason University’s Todd Zywicki and Christopher Koopman, from 2001-2011, administrative hires have increased 50 percent faster than classroom instructors. At the same time, tenured faculty positions continue to disappear. On average, there are now 2.5 nonacademic employees for every full-time, tenure track faculty member at private colleges. Imagine the McDonald’s CEO hires two managers to observe and coach each cashier. How quickly do you think he would be fired? Universities claim these nonacademic employees meet growing student demands, yet their work is so nonessential that most students do not know they exist. They have not improved academics either. Since 2002, the percent of four-year-degree students completing their education within six years only rose 3 percent. No business would hire employees that do not increase profits so why are we hiring people that do not improve education? Bureaucrats at Tufts are why students struggle to get accurate information about the people we pay and why every request takes comically long to complete. They are responsible for the committee and buzzword fetishes that handicap progress. In a 2012 white paper on about higher education spending, Bain analysts wrote “In no other industry would overhead costs be allowed to grow at this rate – executives would lose their jobs.” I agree. Tufts is no exception to this epidemic of irresponsible management. To be an efficient, effective school, we should not be laying off janitors, cutting faculty benefits, hiring adjuncts and raising tuition. We should be emptying out Ballou and rationalizing our labor force. Ask yourself, who has made an impact in your student experience? Professors, coaches, dining services, facilities, career services, TUPD; these people actually make a difference to education and student life. At Tufts, nonacademic employees operate offices of empty promises, incompetence and deliberate delays. Tufts needs to eradicate administrative bloat by cutting administrators and those not directly impacting the student experience. If Tufts wants to help high-achieving, low-income students, let’s make Tufts more accessible by eliminating low-achieving, high-income administrators. Sadly, these people are more interested in maintaining their jobs than making Tufts more accessible. If you agree, voice your concerns. Tufts is hosting a town hall with President Anthony Monaco, Executive Vice President Patricia Campbell and Provost David Harris on Nov. 30. Luke Murphy is a senior majoring in economics and Italian studies. He can be reached at luke.murphy@tufts.edu.
tuftsdaily.com
OP-ED
My Person of the Year is Tarana Burke and the #MeToo Campaign by Christopher Panella Content warning: This op-ed discusses sexual misconduct. Every year, TIME Magazine publishes an issue highlighting something or someone that, according to Person of the Year: 75th Anniversary Celebration, “for better or for worse… has done the most to influence the events of the year.” Previous winners include world leaders like Vladimir Putin (2007), Barack Obama (2008) and Angela Merkel (2015). In other years, groups like the Ebola fighters (2014), American soldiers (2003) and American women (1975) have won. These winners impacted people and communities globally in their year and won over runners-up like Hillary Clinton (2012 and 2016), Taylor Swift (2014), Beyoncé (2016), Black Lives Matter activists (2015) and J.K. Rowling (2007). Now, as the time comes for 2017’s Person of the Year announcement, one potential winner stands out from the crowd as the most influential and my personal pick: the #MeToo movement. In 2006, Tarana Burke, a social activist, founded Just Be Inc., an organization dedicated to the wellness and development of young women of color. Around that time, Burke began a movement that now floods our social media outlets and tops headlines weekly. Burke’s Me Too cam-
paign shines the light on victims of sexual assault and showcases their individual experiences that vary based on race, color and economic status. Burke traces her experience with the movement to 1997, when a 13-year-old girl told Burke her story of sexual abuse. Burke remembers the lack of resources for victims of sexual assault at that time, and started her nonprofit, Just Be Inc., to provide those resources. With this came Burke’s name for the movement: Me Too. Burke’s movement reached popularity this year after actress Alyssa Milano tweeted, encouraging women to share their experiences to showcase the severity and widespread nature of sexual assault. Now, as we watch famous actors and comedians fall from grace, it seems Pandora’s box has opened. From Harvey Weinstein to Kevin Spacey and Louis C.K., the #MeToo movement showcases the stories and voices of women who, for years, were silent about their abuse. As I look back on 2017, no person, object or idea seems more influential (for better) than the #MeToo movement. While the movement finds most of its headlines with popular and successful white female actresses, that has not stopped millions of people from sharing their stories and experiences. These voices and stories overpower the fear that once forced these victims into silence, especial-
Celebrate the diversity that makes America, America. Add your photo to the true portrait of America at lovehasnolabels.com
ly thanks to Tarana Burke’s hard work and dedication as an activist. Currently, TIME’s reader poll has Mohammad bin Salman, the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia, as the top pick, with 17 percent. #MeToo ranks second, with 6 percent, followed by Carmen Yulín Cruz, The Dreamers, Colin Kaepernick and Robert Mueller all at 5 percent. It doesn’t seem like Trump will be in the running after he tweeted, “Time Magazine called to say that I was PROBABLY going to be named ‘Man (Person) of the Year,’ like last year, but I would have to agree to an interview and a major photo shoot. I said probably is no good and took a pass. Thanks anyway!” last Friday, to which TIME tweeted, “The President is incorrect about how we choose Person of the Year. TIME does not comment on our choice until publication, which is December 6” in response. Regardless of Trump’s lie about TIME, the #MeToo movement, a movement to support victims of sexual assault, is polling ahead of him, a man accused by at least 15 women of sexual misconduct. Reader voting ends Dec. 4 and has an influence in the process, which is ultimately left to the editorial board. Christopher Panella is a first-year who has not yet declared a major. Christopher can be reached at Christopher.Panella@ tufts.edu.
Sports
Thursday, November 30, 2017 | Sports | THE TUFTS DAILY
Club soccer team members reflect on decisions leading to suspension MEN'S CLUB SOCCER
continued from back however, there was no mention of the supposed Title IX violation. Stevens recalled that even after speaking further with the athletic administration, the reasons provided for both the initial suspension and the severity of the action taken remained ambiguous. “They just told us that we can’t play on Wednesdays, and they didn’t really give a great reason for it,” Stevens said. “The [stated] reason is that playing a game at 8:30 p.m. is disruptive to the local community, which is kind of weird because varsity sports play games at 7 p.m. Also, they said ‘club sports don’t have games on Wednesdays, and that’s just how it is,’ which doesn’t really make sense.” After the team neglected to heed the warnings of suspension, and played the game on Wednesday night anyway, it was informed that it had been temporarily suspended and was not allowed to play a match it had scheduled for Saturday against Brown. Again, the notice given by the athletic department gave short notice, according to Stevens. “We got an email … on Friday saying that we were temporarily suspended and could not play our game the following day, and that if we did it would be suspension for the season,” Stevens said. “Again, given time constraints — with less than a 24-hour notice — we played the game against Brown anyway, which ended up getting us suspended for the whole academic year.” The athletic department’s decision to suspend the team for the remainder of the year was met with frustration from the players’ end. “It was a lot of confusion. People were upset. Just because the communication from the athletic director, off
the bat, did not seem to be very good at all,” Weckwerth said. “I guess none of us really had a good understanding of what their argument was. A lot of us feel like the punishment doesn’t fit the crime. Why [one game] garnered such a huge reaction was kind of confusing.” Despite the harsh ramifications that came from going through with their game against Brown, the team did not seem to regret its decision to play. While it was extremely disappointed to hear of the suspension, it never seriously considered forfeiting the match. “Throughout the whole process, me and Shant [Mahrokian] and the other captains were letting everybody know what the consequences would be if we played games based on the emails from the club sports people,” Stevens said. “Everyone was pissed about it, but we kind of knew going in that we were risking it.” While the players recognized that by playing Brown, suspension was all but certain, they were still taken aback by the severity of the administration’s response and the extent to which the decision lacked courtesy, explanation, fair warning and empathy. “We were surprised about the severity of the suspension: not being able to play for the entire academic year and being on probation next fall,” Stevens said. “The club sports handbook gives an outline of the punishments, and usually … you get a notice first, then a warning, then suspended for a long game and then a season-long suspension, but they gave us a season-long suspension after the first offense. It seemed kind of severe and harsh from our perspective.” For the nearly 30 players on the team, losing the ability to play and act as a team was a major disappointment.
Weckwerth, like many others, was drawn to Tufts largely due to the strength of the school’s club soccer program. “A lot of the reason why I came was because soccer was so good here, and I wanted to be a part of it,” Weckwerth said. “The fact that I can’t is so shitty.” Stevens is optimistic that the team will build a relationship with the new club sports director as long as the team complies with the terms of suspension. “I think that a lot of the problems that occurred this season that led to the suspension will not occur next fall because hopefully the director will be in contact with me and the other captains over the summer. [If ] there is a conflict of interest, we will be able to sort it out far before the game,” he said. The formal joint statement from McMahon and Morris also went on to talk about the administration’s view of club sports as a whole. “Tufts is committed to supporting Club Sports, which, like many of our other co-curricular programs, is steadily expanding in terms of the number of students it serves,” the statement said. It also suggested that the appointment of the new club sports coordinator this October will help Tufts increase support for its student-athletes. While it appears as if next year this will all be resolved and the team will be on the field again, it is a still upsetting to many of its members that a series of miscommunications and lack of understanding brought the season to a premature end. With the appointment of a new director of club sports, and a conscious recognition by the school that the demand for club sports is expanding, team members are hopeful that, in the future, this kind of situation can be avoided.
Men's track and field looks to improve on recent national performances MEN'S TRACK AND FIELD
continued from back “A lot of the current junior class is super super talented,” Thomas said. “I think almost every single junior sprinter is on the top 10 record board for some event or another. All of last year’s sophomores have gotten better [as well].” Junior distance runner Christian Swenson also competed at the NCAA Championships last spring, posting a time of 4:05.28 in the men’s 1,500-meter final and finishing 14th. Swenson burst onto the national scene late in the season last year, qualifying by running a Tufts program record time of 3:49.25 at the Last Chance MIT national qualifier on May 18. Additionally, Swenson enters the 2017–18
campaign coming off a strong fall cross country season. The Evanston, Ill. native finished 64th at the New England Regional Championship, ranking as the fifth-fastest runner for the Jumbos. After his recent successes, Swenson is a good candidate to break out even further this year. Duvivier will also be looking for another strong season after placing third last season in the high jump at the national championship, earning All-American honors. He jumped 6’ 10 ¾”, just a couple inches behind the first place national champion. 19 first-year Jumbos have joined the roster this season. At least five of these rookies are coming in as jumpers, potentially bolstering the field team.
DiMaiti expressed confidence in the current team’s ability to step up this season. “We are stronger in the sprints and field events than we have ever been in my time here because we have some sophomores sprinters who really broke out last year and I think now as juniors will play a huge role on the team,” DiMaiti said. “Then with the middle distance events, there are also some younger guys who broke out… I think this will be the best team that I’ve been on in my four years here. I’m talking about nationals.” The team will be competing in an intersquad meet on Friday, which will give some of the first years their first taste of competition in college, before actual competition begins in January.
TRASHING ONE EGG WASTES 55 GALLONS OF WATER
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David Meyer Postgame Press
Loyalty is no substitute for winning
E
li Manning, quarterback for the New York Giants for the last-210 consecutive starts, will begin the next game on the sideline. This will be his first time doing so since 2004. Many Giants fans, former players, and others have joined in an outcry about Manning’s benching. While it has since been revealed that it was not head coach Ben McAdoo’s decision, but Manning’s, according to owner John Mara, after he heard that other players may receive playing time at quarterback, I would still like to address the criticisms about loyalty that came post-decision. People must realize that sports is a business, not a fan club. Loyalty is something that we like in an employer, but it is not what companies care about at the end of the day. Companies are what sports teams are at heart. The sports industry is different than other industries, but teams are companies all the same. Their goal is to win championships, but that is a secondary goal, related to the first: making money. A championship ring is a great accomplishment, but for the organization, it is really a way to keep fans buying tickets and merchandise. I am not trying to be cynical, as many teams do deeply care about their players. It should just be kept in mind when so-called “disloyalty” comes out of the woodwork of an organization. Loyalty is great, but if you want to win, decisions have to be made. Some decisions may come with trading or benching players who have been great for the organization but are no longer a key to its success. Living near Boston, I heard cries of outrage when Isaiah Thomas was traded from the Celtics. He put his heart into the Celtics, even playing the day after his sister died out of loyalty to the team. What did they do to him? They traded him. Did it hurt? Yes. Was it wrong? We will have to wait and see, but after what Kyrie Irving has been doing, not so far. Should anyone have expected any differently? NO. Loyalty is something, but it is not winning. Celtics GM Danny Ainge and the Celtics thought that Irving would give them a better chance to hold a trophy. So they got rid of who they had to in order to get their opportunity, just like they did with Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett. Ainge is known for this sort of sentiment. Winning is more important than loyalty. I do not expect anything different, nor should anyone else. Similarly, I do not expect players to be loyal to teams. I love and appreciate it when there are lifetime players who love a team more than winning. Elite players, like Anthony Davis, who (at least say that they) plan on staying with losing teams, in spite of their talents being “wasted” there, are greatly respected. But we should not expect this loyalty. This is no double standard. I expect players and GMs who want to win to use all the tools at their disposal to do so. We all should. Bench Eli if you think that will help you win. Trade Thomas. Winning should be expected, not loyalty. David Meyer is a sophomore majoring in film and media studies, and can be reached at david.meyer@tufts.edu.
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Sports
Thursday, November 30, 2017
Men’s club soccer suspended for 2017–2018 year by Honor Kalkin
Contributing Writer
Disclaimer: Arlo Moore-Blum and Henry Stevens are columnists for the Daily and members of the club soccer team. Moore-Blum is also a staff writer. Neither was involved in the writing or editing of this article. This October, the Tufts men’s club soccer team was suspended for the entirety of its season. Over a month on, the details as to the severity and the justification of the decision are still murky. In a joint written statement to the Daily, Dean of Student Affairs Mary Pat McMahon and Director of Athletics John Morris stated that the team was charged with a violation of the “Code of Conduct around a series of events that involved providing false information to university officials and deliberately disregarding direct instructions from university officials.” According to the team’s tri-captains — senior Shant Mahrokian, junior Henry Stevens and sophomore
Chris Concord — this kind of vagueness marked the entire process of communications between the team and the athletics department. Ultimately, the team was left frustrated by the final decision, and believes that it was this lack of communication that led to the initial misunderstanding. Since June, Stevens had been corresponding with the athletics department, attempting to get in touch with the director of club sports to gain approval of the team’s tentative game schedule. At this time and throughout the fall, Michael Salem, assistant coach of women’s track and field, was serving as the interim director of the club sports program before the new director, Matt Callahan was hired. According to Stevens, his queries and attempts to get ratification from Salem were met with silence. When asked for a comment, Salem directed questions to Senior Associate Athletic Director Alexis Mastronardi, who provided other sources.
“From June to August, I sent four emails and even made a phone call and received no response,” Stevens said. “So I scheduled the games assuming it was okay because they didn’t really give me any guidelines.” The team didn’t encounter any issues until October, 18 hours before a game against Boston University (BU) that was scheduled for the team’s Wednesday practice time. “They told us the day before [the] game … that we could not play the following day and that if we did, [we] would risk suspension,” Stevens said. “Given the time constraint and the fact that our opponent was not willing to cooperate — they said they’d make us forfeit the game if we had to reschedule. We played the game.” On Wednesday evenings the team would usually split Bello Field with the women’s club soccer team. Ahead of the Sept. 20 game against BU, the men’s team communicated with the women’s team, and asked if they could use the entire field
that night in exchange for the women’s team using the entire field the following Wednesday. According to members of the men’s team, the women’s team agreed. Members of the women’s club soccer team did not respond to requests for comment. Since the women’s team agreed to the switch, the administration’s issue with the team playing its game against BU, as scheduled, was, and still is, unclear. Firstyear Darius Weckwerth believed that the threat of suspension had to do with an alleged violation of Title IX, because a female sports team was scheduled to use the field for a practice and was unable to do so. “From what I understand, we had asked the [women’s] team if we could have the field for [the] game, and they said yes,” Weckwerth said. “Given that we were sharing the field with [them], the athletic director said that it would be a violation of Title IX.” In the final hearing on Oct. 13 with the Student Life Review Committee, see MEN'S CLUB SOCCER, page 11
MEN'S TRACK AND FIELD
Men’s track and field prepares to replace record-breaking graduates by Sam Weidner Sports Editor
Tufts men’s track and field team is gearing up for its indoor season as the cross country season has come to a close. The Jumbos are coming off a 16th place finish at last spring’s NCAA Div. III Outdoor Track Championships in Geneva, Ohio. Returning junior hurdler and jumper Josh Etkind had the best season of his career last year, ending the season with an eighth-place finish in the men’s 110-meter hurdles with a time of 14.37. The finish earned him All-American honors as he, fellow All-American Tim Nichols (LA’17) and senior high jumper Stefan Duvivier powered the team to its second consecutive top-20 overall finish. Etkind, Duvivier and others will hope to build on that success again this year, but will have their work cut out for them trying to fill the cleats of the graduated Nichols as well as graduated distance runner Luke O’Connor (LA ’17). Senior quad-captain hurdler Andrew DiMaiti explained the impact of losing Nichols and O’Connor. “It was a pretty heavy loss having Tim and Luke graduate … they were very consistent points in the distance events last year,” DiMaiti said. “We will definitely need some younger guys to step up and fill in those roles. Just the presence of two experienced runners was great to have on the team and they were all very successful at the highest levels of competition.” Nichols and O’Connor both had illustrious careers as year-round Tufts runners competing in cross country and track all four years. O’Connor ran the best 3,000-meter steeplechase time in the nation last season at the NESCAC Track and Field Championships with a time of 8:58.46. No other runner in Div. III broke the nine-minute mark during the season. Unfortunately, O’Connor did not have his best race at nationals, failing to qualify for the NCAA final
SOFIE HECHT / THE TUFTS DAILY
Michael Caughron (LA ‘17), senior John Greenberg and junior Kyle Anderson compete in the 5,000-meter at the Tufts Sunshine Classic at the Dussault Outdoor Track on April 23, 2016. while running a time of 9:23.70 in the 3,000-meter steeplechase. Nichols capped his senior season perfectly last spring, starting at the NCAA Div. III Indoor National Championships, where he captured the 5,000-meter national title with a time of 14:25.08. Nichols went into the race seeded first and did not disappoint, also earning the fourth All-American honors of his career in that race. Junior mid-distance runner Hiroto Watanabe also earned All-American honors at that
meet, with an eighth-place finish in the 800-meter race. Nichols went on to break the Tufts record for the 10,000-meter race at the Princeton Sam Howell Invitational later that season, running at time of 29:37.09. His run was the first time any Tufts runner had broken 30 minutes in the race. He finished his season on a strong note as well, placing fifth at the NCAA Div. III Outdoor Championships in the 5,000-meter race with a time of 14:29.19.
After losing these two star runners, the Jumbos will likely field a more well-rounded team this year with contributions more spread out among different team members. Yet there are some returners who could be primed for a breakout season this year to fill the shoes of Nichols and O’Connor. Sophomore sprinter and jumper Ranjit Thomas praised the strong junior class that the Jumbos have returning to the track. see MEN'S TRACK AND FIELD, page 11