The Tufts Daily - Friday, February 22, 2019 by The Tufts Daily

Harvard showcases Bauhaus art in exhibition see ARTS&LIVING / PAGE 3

WOMEN’S BASKETBALL

Team to face Mammoths in Proboscidean encounter

Students support Professor Thomas Abowd see OPINION / PAGE 5

SEE SPORTS / BACK PAGE

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VOLUME LXXVII, ISSUE 21

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Friday, February 22, 2019

MEDFORD/SOMERVILLE, MASS.

Jumbo Grill & Pizzeria opens in place of Helen’s Roast Beef & Pizzeria by Anton Shenk Staff Writer

Local Medford restaurant Helen’s Roast Beef & Pizzeria has closed its doors to the Tufts community, leaving a new restaurant, Jumbo Grill & Pizzeria, in its 321 Boston Ave. location as of Feb. 11. Jumbo Grill & Pizzeria owner Alex Pryanishnikov said the previous business had been struggling for a long time. Pryanishnikov believes poor management and Helen’s ownership being abroad contributed to the business’ failure. While Pryanishnikov said he knew the owner of Helen’s, he emphasized that Jumbo Grill & Pizzeria is under new ownership and management, and that he has worked with friends and business partners to bring in new staff. Nonetheless, Pryanishnikov knows the location has a cherished history, and he expressed excitement to forge his own. Some things will carry over, Pryanishnikov told the Daily. The “Blue Zone,” a Buffalo chicken calzone with blue cheese dressing, a staple of Helen’s, will still be available for order. Pryanishnikov was excited to provide new offerings, telling the Daily that the business was planning to be much more health-conscious then the previous ownership. Among these will be the Impossible Burger, a plant-based burger designed to be indistinguishable from beef, and a large amount of nonmeat offerings. Pryanishnikov told the Daily the pizza is Italian style, unlike the other several Greek pizzerias in the area.

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Jumbo Grill & Pizzeria, which recently opened in place of Helen’s Roast Beef & Pizzeria, is pictured on Feb. 19. “[Each pizza] is stone-made, with fresh dough delivered daily,” Pryanishnikov said. Jumbo Grill & Pizzeria is working to market itself to Tufts students, offering a 10-percent student discount. The restaurant hopes to accept JumboCash in the near future. Although students are excited for the new business, several told the Daily they feel Helen’s will be missed. Junior Catie DiRe reminisced on what Helen’s meant to her. “I loved Helen’s, I ordered from them almost every day at one point.” DiRe said. “[I] associate [Helen’s] with Tufts since they were around since before my freshman year … my college experience has not been the same without [Helen’s].”

DiRe said Helen’s occupied a unique role in the Tufts community. “I think for me and a lot of people at Tufts, you’d come back from a night out, get together with your friends and order Helen’s since [it was] such a Tufts staple and epitomized latenight college food. Other places, like [Espresso Pizza], just don’t seem to be as quintessentially ‘Tufts’ as Helen’s was,” she said. However, DiRe says she expects the Tufts community to give Jumbo Grill & Pizzeria a chance. “I do think that I, as well as other Tufts students, will give this new place a try because I think Tufts students are always on the look out for new food places, especially late-night ones.” Junior Ross Hamilton noted the fierce competition the new business

can expect. Jumbo Grill & Pizzeria’s neighbors on Boston Avenue include Espresso’s Pizza, Nick’s House of Pizza and Pizza Days. Hamilton told the Daily the success of the business, in his opinion, relies on the food being cheap and convenient. “[ Jumbo Grill & Pizzeria needs to] fit the style of the locals, a lot of which are Tufts students,” Hamilton said. He added that the Boston Avenue pizzerias rely on late-night business and “establishing an identity and a loyal following.” Jumbo Grill & Pizzeria is now open, with the same hours as Helen’s Roast Beef and Pizzeria, Pryanishnikov said. It is open Sundays through Wednesdays until 1 a.m. and Thursdays through Saturdays until 3 a.m.

Tufts Technology Services launches AccessTufts 2.0 by Rebecca Barker Contributing Writer

Tufts Technology Services ( TTS) announced the launch of AccessTufts 2.0, a portal primarily used by faculty and staff designed to centralize online information and services, on Feb. 5. According to the announcement email sent to the Tufts community, the relaunch “i s the most ambitious release since [the] initial launch in 2016.” AccessTufts was launched in November 2016 to serve as a “one-stop

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shop for administrative work” at Tufts, according to the website. Manager for Service Marketing and Communications C hristine Fitzgerald and Director of Design Practice Thomas Cox, both of whom work for TTS, wrote in an email to the Daily that t he updated system expands on the goals of the original system. “The core objectives of the 2.0 update were to further deliver on the promise of ‘one place to go [for] administrative content,’” they said. Fitzgerald and Cox said the update primarily focused on adding addition-

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al finance and IT content, as well as remodeling the visual design of the website. “In addition to making a lot more helpful content available, we made huge improvement to the experience of using AccessTufts on mobile devices, knowing that many users rely on site to look up something quickly while on the go,” they said. “These improvements, along with greatly simplified navigational structures, allowed us to improve the accessibility of the site as well.” According to the AccessTufts website, changes to the website include

the expansion of the “Get Work Done” section into three separate parts: “My Tufts,” “Get Started with…” and “Services.” The remodeled service also includes ways to access Tufts Finance Division resources and TTS. “We hope that the community will appreciate the work we put into enhancing the search experience to be more robust and user friendly,” Fitzgerald and Cox said. While the current target audience of AccessTufts is primarily adminis-

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

see ACCESSTUFTS, page 2

FUN & GAMES.........................6 SPORTS............................ BACK

THE TUFTS DAILY | News | Friday, February 22, 2019

THE TUFTS DAILY Elie Levine Editor-in-Chief

EDITORIAL

David Levitsky Anita Ramaswamy

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AccessTufts 2.0 includes redesigned visuals, simplified navigation

Managing Editors Luke Allocco Jessica Blough Austin Clementi Charlie Driver Jenna Fleischer Juliana Furgala Kat Grellman Abbie Gruskin Liza Harris Zachary Hertz Gil Jacobson Rachael Meyer Cathy Perloff Hannah Uebele Joe Walsh Alejandra Carrillo Robert Kaplan Noah Richter Jilly Rolnick Alexander Thompson

Associate Editor Executive News Editor News Editors

Assistant News Editors

Grace Yuh Executive Features Editor Costa Angelakis Features Editors Jenna Fleischer Sean Ong Michael Shames Fina Short Sidharth Anand Assistant Features Editors Amelia Becker Mark Choi Sarah Crawford Claire Fraise Jacob Fried Mitch Lee Ellie Murphy Ananya Pavuluri Libby Langsner Executive Arts Editor John Fedak Arts Editors Tommy Gillespie Stephanie Hoechst Setenay Mufti Christopher Panella Rebecca Tang Danny Klain Assistant Arts Editors Amanda Rose Yas Salon Aneurin Canham-Clyne Shane Woolley Simrit Uppal Kaitlyn Meslin Amulya Mutnuri Arlo Moore-Bloom Yuan Jun Chee Ryan Eggers Liam Finnegan Jeremy Goldstein Savannah Mastrangelo Maddie Payne Haley Rich Brad Schussel Josh Steinfink Sam Weidner Julia Atkins Tim Chiang Jake Freudberg Noah Stancroff Helen Thomas-McLean Alex Viveros

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Daniel Nelson Investigative Editor Madeleine Oliver Executive Photo Editors Christine Lee Anika Agarwal Staff Photographers Ann Marie Burke Mike Feng Ben Kim Max Lalanne Meredith Long Julia McDowell Evan Slack Kirt Thorne

VIA ACCESS TUFTS

The AccessTufts 2.0 home page is pictured.

ACCESSTUFTS

continued from page 1 trative faculty and staff, the website’s designers and team hope to make AccessTufts easier for everyone in the Tufts community to use. Fitzgerald and Cox believe students should be most excited about the IT content. Though not new, the improved filtering makes accessing websites like SIS and Canvas easier for students, as well as access to eServe for student employees. “With the introduction of expanded native IT content, we feel a value prop-

osition for students is growing as well,” Fitzgerald and Cox said. Some students said that while they were not aware of AccessTufts in the past, the announcement of the relaunch encouraged them to look into it. “I had never heard of AccessTufts prior to receiving the email about the relaunch,” first-year Jessica DeBenedictis said. “Once I read the email, I was interested enough to check out the website, but I wish I had known about it before.” Another student, Alicia Heia, echoed DeBenedictis’ sentiment.

“Even though I hadn’t heard about AccessTufts before, the email definitely made me consider using the website in the future,” Heia, a first-year, said. Fitzgerald and Cox said that AccessTufts will continue to develop, especially in response to demand from the Tufts community. “We have an exciting roadmap ahead of us, which includes bringing in even more content, including IT technology user guides; improving the Dashboard feature in AccessTufts, and digitizing more transactions to eliminate paper forms, something our community is asking for.”

Caleb Martin-Rosenthal Executive Video Editors Lawrence Ojugbeli Ann Marie Burke Video Editors Annette Key

PRODUCTION Daniel Montoya

Production Director Ryan Eggers Executive Layout Editors Catalina Mengyao Yang Mia Garvin Layout Editors Jordan Isaacs Maygen Kerner Aidan Menchaca Kiran Misner Alice Yoon Isabella Montoya Executive Graphics Editor Myshko Chumak Executive Copy Editors Justin Yu Caroline Bollinger Copy Editors Mary Carroll Rachel Isralowitz Ali Mintz Nihaal Shah Liora Silkes Avni Ambalam Assistant Copy Editors Rebecca Barker Nathan Kyn Simone Lipkind Chloe Lyu Ethan Resek Ryan Shaffer Aadhya Shivakumar Filipa Sturm Russell Yip Abigail Zielinski Executive Online Editor Executive Social Media Editors Social Media Editors

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Olivia Davis Executive Business Director

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U N D E D 192

Friday, February 22, 2019

ARTS&LIVING

3 tuftsdaily.com

EXHIBITION OVERVIEW

‘The Bauhaus and Harvard’ seeks future in the past

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The Fogg Art Museum at Harvard University is pictured. by Samantha Heyman Contributing Writer

To commemorate the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Bauhaus, a school of German art, the Busch-Reisinger Museum at Harvard has unveiled a new exhibition drawn from its vast collection of Bauhaus works. To depict the school’s close historical relationship with Harvard, curator Laura Muir selected nearly 200 works by 74 artists employed, taught or inspired by the Bauhaus. By focusing on collaborative works, pedagogy and lesser-known artists, Muir aims to make this a fresh take on a mainstay of the museum’s collection. The exhibition, which opened Feb. 8, is being supplemented by guided tours, materials workshops and seminars in film and photography, among other attractions. Considering the scale and fame of the exhibition, the space that hosts it is surprisingly modest. About half of the showroom is reserved for university galleries, and

the show’s half has been subdivided into six parts by a series of temporary half-walls. The effect is somewhat claustrophobic, exacerbated by free-standing display cases and weekend crowds. The massive collection is split between the six chambers into eight thematic modules. Visitors pass through a small anteroom into the first module, whose contents spotlight the Bauhaus’ educational approach. Apart from its size, Harvard’s Bauhaus collection stands apart for its impressive assortment of student exercises as well as completed works; this section highlights that unique strength while offering a clever introduction to the movement’s history and key aesthetic elements. At the same time, though, the ambitious size of the exhibition clearly overwhelms the space, which in turn saps the visitor’s energy for a history lesson. After this opening section, the collection’s chapters could be viewed in any order without

losing context or flow. For some reason, however, the sections are numbered in a counterintuitive clockwise arrangement that’s more disorienting than helpful. At times, this ordinal approach seems to be working against itself. After passing through the anteroom into the gallery, the viewer gets caught in the hypnotic gaze of the exhibition’s 20-footlong show-stopper — Herbert Beyer’s Verdure (1950) — and is thus lured out of the prescribed numerical path. Those who have heard of the Bauhaus are usually familiar only with its architecture. One of this show’s greatest strengths is how thoroughly it explores diversity within the Bauhaus movement: style, method, influence and material. After the school’s ‘voluntary’ dissolution in 1933, students and faculty scattered themselves around the world, establishing hubs in France, Israel and the United States. Those hubs became laboratories for new branches of Bauhaus with subtle yet distinct variations in style.

Many key figures also took refuge at Harvard, designing dorms and murals for the Graduate School of Design. As Muir presents them, the works produced during this period make a case for Harvard as its own laboratory of the Bauhaus. It’s this intimate relationship that constitutes the heart of the show and its impact. Commanding the largest collection of Bauhaus works outside of Germany, the Harvard Museums hold the German school’s legacy — its American one at the very least — in their hands. The show’s occasional overcrowding and rigidly methodical organization make a little more sense considering this herculean responsibility. In the eighth and final chapter of the exhibition, a row of silvery blackand-white photos depicting Bauhaus artists in Harvard’s Graduate School of Design sit beside the groundbreaking works they produced for their new home. In constructing this exhibition, Muir re-writes their history for a new generation.

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THE TUFTS DAILY | Arts & Living | Friday, February 22, 2019

Drew Weisberg Hidden Panels

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Families go bananas for gorilla’s birthday

Secret Six Vol. 2 — Money for Murder

n the world of comics, there is an endless cavalcade of “good people doing good things:” Batman, Spiderman, etc. There’re even a few books about “bad people doing good things,” we’ve got the “Suicide Squad,” “Deadpool,” “The Punisher,” so on and so forth. So here comes the inevitable question: Is there a bad-people-doing-bad things book? The answer is yes, and it’s amazing. Enter “Secret Six Volume 2: Money for Murder” (2008) by Gail Simone. “Secret Six” tells the tale of a six-person mercenary group of the same name, featuring fan favorite characters such as the amoral sharpshooter Deadshot and the brains and brawn combo of Bane, as well as more obscure characters like Ragdoll, Scandal Savage, Jeanette and Catman (not a typo). Though the book is a collection of the title’s first two major story arcs, we’ll be focusing on the first of the two, “Unhinged,” this week. “Unhinged” sees the Six’s being hired to find a vigilante, Tarantula, who is in possession of a mythical object that the team’s anonymous client has requested. The only other request is to bring the two of them to Gotham City. The catch? An enigmatic and frighteningly powerful mobster named Junior wants the object as well, and the three stop at nothing to get it. Junior quickly dispatches a seemingly endless array of B- and C-list supervillains to kill our protagonists. Everyone from Cheetah and King Shark to Cheshire and Mr. Terrible is out for a piece of the Six. One of the book’s strongest qualities is the endless series of fights, all gorgeously drawn by Nicola Scott. The brutality on display is something else — since our main characters are ‘bad guys’ they have no qualms about mowing enemies down, or breaking jaws with their bare hands. This isn’t to discount the writing, of course, with Gail Simone absolutely nailing the tone you’d expect a conversation between a bunch of supervillains to sound like. The sarcasm and black comedy in this book are on another level, with Deadshot being the comedic highlight. For instance, Deadshot takes time to show a group of inept robbers how to properly conduct a stick-up, then pockets the cash. Despite their best intentions, though, I can’t help but love our friendly neighborhood gang of psychopaths, as Simone moves heaven and earth to remind us that these villains are still people. Scandal loses her girlfriend Knockout, Bane is dealing with his addiction to the strength-augmenting drug Venom and Catman struggles to balance his animalistic nature with his humanity. Given such a weighty task, most would stumble, but Simone takes the baton with zeal and manages to balance each character’s issues and gives each member a chance to shine. Secret Six is a fast-paced, funny and at times heart-wrenching thrill ride through the darkest corners of the DC Universe masterfully told by a modern comic prodigy. Drew Weisberg is a first-year studying psychology and film and media studies. Drew can be reached at mitchell.weisberg@tufts.edu.

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A gorilla is pictured. by Yas Salon

Assistant Arts Editor

Monday, Feb. 18 marked not one but two holidays. The first, of course, was President’s Day. The second was a less widely celebrated but still critically important holiday. That holiday was Little Joe’s 26th birthday. Little Joe, a western lowland gorilla, rung in another year of life with a family-friendly bash thrown by the Franklin Zoo. Joe celebrated his birthday alongside his relatives, including his particularly adorable younger cousin Kimani. All the gorillas are a part of a Species Survival Plan, which makes efforts to preserve populations of endangered species. For the gorillas, birthday festivities included streamers, toys and decorated cardboard boxes. These toys, as explained by the zoo, “encourage natural behaviors and improve the animals’ mental

health … to provide activities that excite all the senses.” The gorillas also celebrated with special treats to honor the birthday boy. Popcorn, kale and lettuce were given to the gorillas as a special treat, and to top it all off, they received a special cake made of “monkey chow.” On the human side of the festivities, throngs of families packed around the enclosure to help celebrate the day, and dozens of young children and toddlers huddled around the enclosure to get a glimpse of the birthday boy. Zookeepers chatted with and entertained guests with information and fun facts about the gorillas, providing kids with a fun opportunity to learn about the natural world. Guests were also encouraged to explore the rest of the Tropical Forest exhibit, which features an array of snakes, monkeys and even a hippo. To keep the young guests entertained, the

zoo offered pieces of a giant, Chiquitabanana-shaped cake, courtesy of Montilio’s Baking Company. For more craftsy guests, zoo staff provided a booth where guests could make and decorate party crowns. Additionally, guests were given the opportunity to sign a birthday card for Joe, which filled up quickly with the messy, Crayola-marker scrawl of a host of toddlers. To top off the festivities, the zoo offered a free puppet show in the exhibit. The show featured an array of cute and kid-friendly characters, and served not only to entertain families but also to educate them about habitat loss and other essential information regarding the gorillas. In sum, the event was a cute, fun and most importantly, informative celebration. Kids and parents alike took delight in the festivities, and it shaped up to be a very special day for a very special gorilla.

Friday, February 22, 2019

Opinion

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OP-ED

Students support Professor Abowd’s class, contract We, students in Professor Thomas Abowd’s “Colonizing Palestine” class, have come together to write a series of testimonials in support of Professor Abowd and his class. We felt compelled to write this letter in response to the multiple threats, including direct racist and Islamophobic attacks Professor Abowd has received as a result of teaching this course, and the current lack of transparency regarding the renewal of Professor Abowd’s contract at Tufts University. A statement released by the Consortium of Studies in Race, Colonialism, and Diaspora (RCD) on Aug. 21, 2018 recognized the malicious attacks on Professor Abowd and his course, stating, “We know that teaching about colonialism and racism often produces backlash. We see, unfortunately, more and more that valid criticism of Israel is being portrayed as antisemitic as an attempt to shut down debate. We know there is an obvious difference between criticism of a state and racism against a group of people.” Amid these attacks, Tufts’ Executive Director of Public Relations Patrick Collins issued the following statement: “Tufts is committed to the free exchange of ideas. The university’s courses represent a broad spectrum of ideas and topics that enable students to become familiar with a variety of perspectives on important and complex issues facing our global society.” A group of over 200 scholars in the organization California Scholars for Academic Freedom said the following in a statement: “California Scholars for Academic Freedom, a group of over 200 scholars who defend academic freedom, the right of shared governance and the First Amendment rights of faculty and students in the academy and beyond, wish to express our serious concern at the threat to the full renewal of Professor Thomas Abowd’s contract at Tufts University.” As students of Professor Abowd, we are concerned that Professor Abowd’s contract is under threat. Despite his promotion to senior lecturer in June 2018, which normally is associated with a five-year contract renewal, Professor Abowd’s contract renewal beyond the current school year is at risk. We believe academic freedom is the bedrock of Tufts. Academic freedom is critical in sharing and retaining erased and underrepresented narratives and histories. We support Professor Abowd, his contract renewal and the upcoming resolution in Tufts Community Union Senate fighting for a fair, safe and harassment-free campus for all. Below are our reasons and experiences for this stance. Em i l y : Pr o f e s s o r Ab ow d’s “Colonizing Palestine” class is the best

course I have taken at Tufts. In my three years here, I have never had a professor who made as much of an effort to incorporate sources from such a wide range of perspectives and backgrounds as Professor Abowd did. Over the course of the semester, we watched films and documentaries by both Israeli and Palestinian directors, and read novels, poetry and historical texts by Israeli and Palestinian writers and scholars. Not only did Professor Abowd thoroughly explain the subject matter through lectures, but he constantly encouraged us as a class to freely discuss our thoughts and opinions about each topic. Professor Abowd also went out of his way to provide extra office hours so that students always had the opportunity to thoroughly discuss an assignment or a topic covered in class. Taking “Colonizing Palestine” gave me the opportunity to learn about a critically important history in the most open and fair learning environment I have been a part of at Tufts. It is extremely important to me that Tufts upholds the principles of academic freedom by supporting Professor Abowd and his contributions to the university. Ava: Growing up the topic which most mystified and intrigued me was always the subject of Israel and Palestine. Everyone from my family to my teachers became on edge upon my questions, assuring me it was simply too complicated to explain. But “Colonizing Palestine” answered all my questions and, even more usefully, created new ones for me to consider. The class and the final project I created for it helped me understand my family history in ways I doubt any other class or professor could. Besides learning some basic facts and dates, reading excellent analyses by academics of diverse backgrounds, watching gorgeous films and reading heart-wrenching poetry, I also learned the true value of oral storytelling. Practicing what he preached, Abowd encouraged me to investigate the ways this particular conflict shaped my identity and family relationships. As both an Arab and a Jew, I doubted that I would see my experiences or feelings reflected in the syllabus. Yet I’ve never felt as seen and understood in all the ambiguities of my identity. I was so pleasantly surprised when we spent time discussing other ways to occupy the in-between: from the non-Zionist feminist Israeli scholar Tikva HoenigParnass to Mizrahi intellectual Ella Shohat to exile-turned-acclaimedwriter Edward Said, I learned about many perspectives which wonderfully complicated my worldview. I’ve also never had a professor make my thoughts feel as valuable as he did, or create such a welcoming environment for questions.

Amira: “Colonizing Palestine” was the first class I have taken at Tufts, as a senior, which allowed me to read and understand erased and unrecognized narratives through the array of memoirs, films and other forms of Palestinian literature included in the syllabus. We also read historical accounts from Zionists forces who themselves admit to the ‘colonization’ project of Palestine, which is regularly used in early Zionist writings, without controversy as all historians of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict are aware of, including Ben Gurion, the first prime minister of Israel. The content of the course was so vast, including many different perspectives, including the pairing of reading Tom Segev’s “1949: The First Israelis” contrasted with Edward Said’s “After the Last Sky.” This course allowed me to explore a range of perspectives and dig deep into a complicated history in a nuanced way that always left a lot of room for discussion and debate during class periods. Professor Abowd clearly invested much academic integrity and passion into the curriculum of this course, and it is incredibly disturbing to see how the university is threatening his position. Academic freedom is incredibly important to the basic foundation of a university, and it concerns me deeply the attacks Professor Abowd has received for doing his job as a professor. Krithi Ram-Junarkar: Professor Abowd was one of the best parts of my first semester at Tufts. He always made clear that he was supporting me, and helped me to grow more confident in the way I think and express myself. Professor Abowd encouraged me to challenge myself with readings and essays I may not have read and written before his class. Beyond the way his teaching personally benefitted me, he made our classroom a space in which we could feel safe, but also a space in which we could step out of our comfort zones. The learning environment he created in his classroom was nurturing and collaborative, engaging and informative. He welcomed different opinions and interpretations of our readings and other course materials, and helped me develop my critical thinking and argumentative skills. I strongly believe that Professor Abowd is a valuable member of the Tufts faculty, and the Colonialism and Diaspora studies department would not be the same without him. Leo: I can safely say that Professor Abowd is one of the best professors I’ve had the privilege of taking a class with at Tufts. In my three years here, he has been one of the few outstanding professors to deeply care about the education of his students. In class, Professor Abowd is engag-

ing, challenging and [thought]-provoking. He approaches each topic with a fresh and nuanced perspective, [incorporating] texts and media from a variety of sources to give students a broad understanding of the topic. Outside of class, Professor Abowd is kind and understanding. He has shown time and time again that his objective is providing his students with a rewarding experience. As such, he fosters an environment where all his students are able to succeed. For example, when I was struggling with coursework due to extraneous reasons, some professors suggested I drop their class. However, Professor Abowd was the only one who offered me support and worked with me to ensure that my academic life was not affected by my personal circumstances. Regardless of anyone’s political beliefs, Professor Abowd goes above and beyond for his students, and that is a quality not every professor at Tufts possesses. Nina Chukwura: “Colonizing Palestine” with Professor Abowd is one of the best courses I have taken at Tufts, and I feel very privileged to have been in this class. Professor Abowd very obviously cares deeply about the topic of Palestine and has a vested academic interest in it. “Colonizing Palestine” was a very emotionally moving class for me, it was one that elevated the voices of Palestinians, whose stories are all too often forgotten and overlooked today. For this reason, it is a class of great importance. Every class, through stimulating discussions and debates, Professor Abowd challenged me to think critically about the material he was presenting — material which included media and texts from various sources. Furthermore, I have not encountered another professor at Tufts that was as dedicated to my academic success or as considerate as Professor Abowd was. He constantly made sure that I knew he was available, and during our oneon-one meetings, it was abundantly clear that he cared about what I wrote and what I thought. Professor Abowd very intentionally created a classroom atmosphere where each and every student could freely speak their opinion without consequence; I felt valuable, supported and heard in Professor Abowd’s classroom, and as a student of color at a predominantly white institution this is something that I seldom feel. I know that I grew immensely — both academically and socially — from being a student in “Colonizing Palestine,” and having the privilege to learn from Professor Abowd. I think that Professor Abowd is an remarkable professor and one that Tufts is incredibly lucky to have and I wholeheartedly support him.

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 | FUN & GAMES |Friday, February 22, 2019

F& G

LATE NIGHT AT THE DAILY YJ on slicing his knee and forearms in and around the Daily office: “Love is pain.”

FUN & GAMES

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Sports

Friday, February 22, 2019 | Sports | THE TUFTS DAILY

Men’s track and field gears up for success in New England Div. III Championships

MADELEINE OLIVER / TUFTS TRACK AND FIELD

Sophomore Vincent Avallone stays with the pack during the 400-meter race on Jan. 27, 2018. by Helen Thomas-McLean Assistant Sports Editor

The New England Div. III Championships, the most important event of the indoor season, is finally upon us. Tufts has won the championship the past two consecutive years, and hopes to continue its trajectory at the twoday event hosted at MIT on Friday and Saturday. In preparation for the upcoming championship, a group of Jumbos competed in the Triangle Classic hosted at Springfield College on Saturday. Although many of the team’s usual competitors rested in preparation for the championship meet, the Jumbos in attendance put up strong performances. Senior Brian Reaney set a personal record in the 3k with a time of 8:54.21, which earned him second place. Reaney was closely followed by sophomore Peter Horvath, whose 8:54.41 secured him the third-place spot. Sophomore Daeseob Lim matched his personal record in the pole vault, reaching a height of 4.10 meters. Senior Charles Pennington also hit a personal record, clearing 1.90 meters in the high jump. Pennington matched the same height he hit at the Bowdoin Invite II in January.

The 600-meter race stood out as an event highlight to coach Joel Williams,who acknowledged the hard work and resiliency of junior Danny Klain and senior Nico Agosti. Klain finished the race with a time of 1:25.90, which was four seconds faster than the time he posted at the BranwenSmith King Invitational a few weeks prior and almost a second better than his performance the week before at the Gordon Kelly Invitational. Agosti managed to reach the qualification mark with a 1:25.51 finish, a feat he accomplished despite having been plagued with an injury-heavy winter season. The team has tapered their workouts this past week in order to focus on fine-tuning their performance. With the New England Championship within reach, the energy of the team is palpable. “I think most people on the team have been thinking about this meet for weeks, if not months,” senior co-captain Benji Wallace said. “Everyone wants to compete already.” This year’s championship holds a special significance for the team, as they are competing as the first team in program history to hold back-to-back titles at the meet. Williams pointed out another interesting connection — next year will mark

the 40th anniversary of when the Tufts team won their first New England Div. III Championship. Williams noted that the Jumbos always bring intensity to the meet and have been able to put up strong performances as a result. “The team gets really fired up for it and this meet has always seen Tufts track and field do really well,” Williams said in an email to the Daily. Although the team is not the No. 1 seed entering the event, the Jumbos feel confident that they are equipped to continue their winning legacy. Wallace explained that while the team was the top seed of the championship last year, they were not seeded first the year before last, when they began their winning streak. Regardless of their rank, the team is confident in its ability to succeed and is motivated to claim another victory. Senior Colin Raposo echoed the team’s eagerness to perform well at the meet. “Our team goal is to come back and win the meet for the third year in a row,” Raposo said. “This year our focus has definitely shifted. We are more well-rounded now and are looking to score better in distance events while keeping our strength in the sprint and field events.”

A middle-distance runner himself, a personal goal for Raposo is to win the mile race. Raposo feels confident that Tufts has the talent to secure victories in the other middle distance events, such as the 600meter, 800-meter and 1k races, since the Tufts team is loaded with veteran talent in these events. Senior Tommy Doyle is the first seed in the 600, while senior co-captain and two-time All-American Hiroto Watanabe is among the group representing Tufts in the 800. Junior Matt D’Anieri is currently the third seed for the 1000-meter race, yet has shown the potential to place first in the event. A personal goal of Wallace is to win the pole vault event. Wallace is seeded second by one centimeter and, based on his strong performances all season, first place is within reach. Although Coach Williams is invested in the team’s performance, he emphasizes the importance of finding fulfillment in hard work. “We always want to win this meet, but our primary goal is always to have best performances,” Williams said. “That is the only thing we can control, and if we do that, we will fare very well as a team.”

TRASHING ONE EGG WASTES 55 GALLONS OF WATER

8 tuftsdaily.com

Sports

Friday, February 22, 2019

Women’s basketball prepares for semifinal against rival Amherst

YUAN JUN CHEE / THE TUFTS DAILY

Senior guard and co-captain Jac Knapp drives towards the basket in Tufts’ 75–51 victory over Williams on Feb. 16. by Alex Viveros

Assistant Sports Editor

It’s been 10,000 years since the legendary mammoth and the mighty elephant coexisted on Earth. But on Saturday, the two behemoths clash again as the juggernaut No. 6-ranked Tufts Jumbos Women’s Basketball team (23–2) travels to Brunswick, Maine to face off against their rivals, the No. 4-ranked Amherst College Mammoths (23–2). The stakes have not been higher this season. The match signifies not only a rematch after the Jumbos’ 50–40 defeat to the Mammoths on Feb. 1 but also a key semifinal game in the NESCAC tournament. The team to come out on top will meet either the Middlebury Panthers (19–6) or the top-seeded, undefeated Bowdoin Polar Bears (25–0) — who also battle Saturday in the adjacent NESCAC tournament semifinal game — in the tournament final. The Jumbos remain hungry for the crown; the last time they were NESCAC champions was in the 2014–2015 season. Of course, the circumstances of Saturday’s game are ones that the Jumbos have grown all too familiar with over the past several years. In every season since 2015–2016, the Jumbos have advanced through the NESCAC tournament to face the Mammoths in the final, only to be defeated in a series of games that were marked by close offensive scoring and near perfectly-executed defensive play. This seems to be the case when playing the Mammoths; in fact, starting from the 2015–2016 season, every single one of the Jumbos’ lowest scoring performances of the season came at the hands of the Mammoths. The last time the Jumbos beat the Mammoths was in a one-point victory on Feb. 6, 2016, where the Jumbos won 52–51. Since then, the Mammoths have

gone on to win three NESCAC finals as well as two national championship titles. All things considered, the Jumbos have an opportunity this year to capitalize on changes from the Mammoths. This season has marked the Mammoths’ worst regular season performance since the 2014–2015 season, where they also went 23–2. Of course, by no means does this mean that Amherst has not performed at an elite level throughout the past several years. After all, for the past two years in a row, the Mammoths have gone undefeated in both the regular and postseason. Nevertheless, this past offseason marked the departure of many key players from the Amherst team, such as six-foot guard/ forward Emma McCarthy, who averaged 10.3 points a game in the 2017–2018 season and was the Final Four MVP last year. And while, remarkably, the Mammoths have stepped up their offensive statistics, scoring an average of 66.8 points per game in comparison to last year’s 61.1 points per game, the Mammoths have also given up on average almost 10 points more against their opponents (48.2 points this year compared to 38.8 points allowed last year). Tufts coach Carla Berube addressed some of the differences with this newly-evolved Amherst team, while also emphasizing that the Amherst defense is one of the toughest elements of the team to navigate through. “Amherst is Amherst,” she said. “I think they might have had a little bit more offensive power, especially in the post, with McCarthy for the last couple of years, but I think they’ve also got some great outside shooting that they may not have had. But they’re still very stingy on defense; they’re long and they make up a lot of ground with their length and ability to close out on shooters.”

Indeed, shooting from range has been a key focus of Amherst’s ability to put points on the board so far this season. Led by the likes of junior guard Hannah Fox, who has scored a whopping 407 points this season and leads the team in 3-pointers made with 46, Amherst has shown that they’re willing to adapt towards shooting from range. Although the Mammoths are still 345 points away from trying their total points scored last season, they are only three completed 3-pointers away from tying their total amount of shots made from downtown last season. Despite the Mammoths’ colossal shooting ability, if the Jumbos’ Feb. 1 performance and ultimate defeat against the Mammoths serves as any indication towards the upcoming rematch, Tufts has the opportunity to find victory on Saturday and move on to the NESCAC final. In order to do so, however, the Jumbos must focus on both controlling the basket and successfully converting possessions into points. After all, the last time the Jumbos and Mammoths found each other on the court, it was a defensive battle. The Jumbos completed just 12 out of their 55 attempted field goals for 21.8 percent. While the Jumbo defense showed promise and an ability to contain the Mammoths, the offense must be able to effectively convert points both from the paint and from range if they are to come out victorious on Saturday. Berube spoke about what the team must accomplish in order to obtain the outcome it’s hungry for. “It’s going to be important to take care of the ball. [We need to] be patient but strong, cut hard and make shots,” Berube said. “We got some good shots last time we played them, and we just didn’t knock them down. That’s the name of the game

— being able to put the ball in the basket — so [we’re] just looking forward to seeing how we compete on Saturday.” Fortunately, the Jumbo roster is composed of outstanding players who are more than prepared to compete on Saturday. With the likes of prolific scorers such as senior guard and co-captain Jac Knapp and junior guard/forward and co-captain Erica DeCandido — who together lead the team with 338 and 308 respective points on the season — the Jumbos are averaging a 45.2 field goal percentage, the highest their field goal percentage has been in a season since the Jumbos last beat the Mammoths. Along with veteran players in Knapp and DeCandido, newer players have also stepped up and immediately made an impact. In addition to proving themselves as forces to be reckoned with on the defensive side of the ball, first-year guards Molly Ryan, Janette Wadolowski and Sofia Rosa have averaged a combined 19.7 points per game so far this season. Above all, the team’s mentality and attitude towards winning will be the biggest factor in determining whether or not the Jumbos make it to the NESCAC final. All season long, the Jumbos have shown time and time again that no matter what the score is, even if they’re up by a huge margin, the Jumbos always put their full effort into each and every play. DeCandido spoke about this driving team mentality, focusing on how it will help the Jumbos reach their ultimate goal of an NCAA title. “People always say you’re only as good as your next play,” DeCandido said. “It’s really the nitty gritty plays that are going to win you the game. I think we have a lot of players on the team that have that mentality too, and that’s what really drives us.” Tusks will clash in what is bound to be a hard-fought, close-scoring and overall defensive show of two NESCAC dynasties.