The Tufts Daily - Wednesday, February 5, 2020 by The Tufts Daily

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Students mobilize aid for Hubei province in China following coronavirus outbreak

NICOLE GARAY / THE TUFTS DAILY

Haitong Du, one of the student organizers for the Hubei province fundraising campaign, poses for a portrait in Tisch Library on Feb. 4. by Madeleine Aitken Assistant News Editor

Chinese students at Tufts have been working with other students across campus and different colleges to organize aid efforts following the outbreak of the coronavirus in the Hubei province of China. Haitong Du, who is working to mobilize students at Tufts, spoke to the importance of action. “As students who are studying abroad, seeing our own country in crisis, we have to do something, anything we can to help,” Du, a sophomore, said. He was the first to formally gather Tufts students to discuss the situation and figure out what they could do. “The reason why I’m actively involved is because I was the first one to essentially repost that link and organize a meeting at Tufts,” Du said. He indicated that the greater initiative is led mainly by graduate students at Harvard and MIT. These students are actively working with the branches of the Chinese Student and Scholars Association (CSSA) at different universities, including Tufts,

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Harvard, MIT, Wellesley, Bentley University, Boston College and Brown. Cici Chen (LA ’18) spoke with the Daily about her role in this initiative. “I’ve mainly been basically a liaison between the Tufts fundraising group and the broader Boston area fundraising team,” Chen said. “The Tufts organization is mostly only responsible for fundraising. For the Tufts group I was mainly helping them by keeping them informed of what was going on in the main group.” She said that the group’s goal is to ship medical equipment to China; specifically, Dupont coveralls that can be worn to protect from the disease. “Originally we were debating whether or not we wanted to donate facemasks or coveralls,” Du said. “We decided to donate coveralls because China has enough factories to make facemasks, but not enough factories to make coveralls. Not enough coveralls for 40 million people.” Their aim is to get 10,000 coveralls to the city of Huanggang in the Hubei province, where the coronavirus originated in the city of Wuhan, Du and Chen explained. Du indicated that they chose Huanggang as opposed to Wuhan, because For breaking news, our content archive and exclusive content, visit tuftsdaily.com @tuftsdaily

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it is smaller in size and larger cities tend to receive more aid. “We are primarily focusing our efforts on the peripheral communities of Wuhan,” Du said. “They are not receiving as much media attention and are not receiving as much administrative attention.” The students have organized an operational chain that consists of buying the coveralls, shipping them to China and having volunteers on the other side to collect and deliver the coveralls. The group has even received acknowledgment from Huanggang, Du confirmed. He explained the contents of an official document from the Huanggang city administration, which acknowledged the completion of the logistical chain. The document acknowledged that the group of Boston colleges will donate goods and that the government’s office will accept their donations, Du said. Jay Yang, a student from Wuhan, highlighted the importance of these aid efforts. “I think every bit of our support, donations and stuff, is going to be a great contribution to the betterment of the current situation in our home,” Yang, a senior, indicated.

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So far, the group has collected $2,200 through personal donations given by students from all the universities involved, but expanding their scope to include American students has proven difficult, Du expressed. At Tufts specifically, the Office for Campus Life (OCL) has policies and procedures in place for student organizations to fundraise, but Du and other students are not operating under the discretion of a formal organization or club, he said. Chen, who in communication with the OCL, spoke about some of the difficulties of fundraising for their initiative. “The problem is there is really no clear guidelines for what a non-official organization can do, but the OCL offered to reserve a table for us in the campus center,” Chen said. “I think our strategy mainly is to post online and to post posters on campus.” Even if they are able to promote their mission, Du is unsure how successful they will be in gathering donations. He believes the success they have experienced so far among Chinese students is just for that reason — that they’re Chinese. Du noted that in his experience, when the Ebola epidemic spread, he did not donate as much money as he did to efforts to stop the spread of the coronavirus in China. “I feel sorry about [the Ebola epidemic], but I don’t really know if there’s anything I can do,” Du said. “If you want me to donate, when I swipe my card at CVS and it gives the $1 or $2 donate button, I will click the $2 button. But I probably won’t do anything beyond that.” He acknowledged that the coronavirus has a more personal impact on him. “But this time I donated $100. So I would say there’s definitely a difference when it’s something going on for you personally,” Du said. Yang indicated that this is a personal issue for him, given that he is from Wuhan and returned to campus from winter break just as the news on this disease was first breaking. Yang reflected that people knowing where he is from makes him feel uncomfortable, especially because Wuhan was a fairly unknown city before the coronavirus started. “That is a very subtle feeling, which is new to me,” Yang said. “I think people might think wrong of me, so yeah, it took a long time to deal with that feeling.” Despite feeling positive about the work being accomplished by Tufts students and others in the Boston area, he expressed difficulties maintaining a positive outlook about the future.

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THE TUFTS DAILY | News | Wednesday, February 5, 2020

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Researchers design organisms using computer simulations, frog cells by Sarah Sandlow

Assistant News Editor

Scientists from Tufts University and the University of Vermont (UVM) successfully created programmable, living nanobots from the cells of frog embryos, called xenobots. Michael Levin, the Vannevar Bush Professor of Biology and director of the Allen Discovery Center, and Dr. Douglas Blackiston, a scientist in Levin’s lab, co-authored the report published on Jan. 13 with their UVM counterparts. The research project was composed of two parts. Levin and Blackiston conducted the biological portion of the research. Dr. Josh Bongard, director of the Morphology, Evolution & Cognition Laboratory at UVM, and Sam Kriegman, an evolutionary robotics Ph.D. candidate at UVM, led the computer science part of the project. The project focused on finding a way to design organisms from frog cells based on a computer algorithm and artificial intelligence, according to Blackiston. He added that the computer program used by Bongard and Kriegman simulated task-specific cell configurations, selecting the best performer of the group. Blackiston explained that the repeated simulations, which were used to replicate the configuration with organic material from the frog cells, were similar to evolution. “Over many different generations, just like real evolution, you come up with some-

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thing much better at solving the task,” Blackiston said. Levin explained that the study’s conclusion was that cells with normal frog genomes are able be reassembled in a completely different configuration with different behaviors, without any genetic manipulation. “What the skin cells did was assemble a network that [made cells] able to talk to each other and pass the electrical signals that get the cardiac cells contracting, and when the cardiac cells contract it generates force,” Levin said. “The whole point of the computer simulation was that we were able to see under those circumstances how to sculpt the thing a little bit.” Levin said that he worked to define the research direction, conduct and design the project while Blackiston developed the protocol. At UVM,Bongard made the simulator to evolve robot designs and Kriegman designed the code for the virtual evolution. Vice Provost for Research Caroline Genco, whose office evaluates funding proposals based on their impact, cross campus interactivity and feasibility over a threeyear period, said that Levin’s research was selected to receive funding because it was innovative and it had great potential for future study. “[Dr. Levin’s] work is really one of the pillars of biological research in [the School of Arts & Sciences]. He is one of our stars,” Genco said. “He’s got a fantastic group — they’re probably some of the most innovative scientists we have.”

Blackiston explained that scientists can use the xenobots to explore questions about computer-designed organisms made from organic material. “We’re trying to create this sandbox of development where different groups can see what they can use the xenobots for and build the organisms specific to their purposes,” Blackiston said. “This is really a great testbed for sort of anybody that is interested in this field to ask these sorts of questions using the existing technologies.” Levin noted that he is working on analyzing other data focusing on modifications of the xenobots, as well as their different behaviors and abilities, and expects another paper published this year. Levin emphasized that this research helps begin to answer much broader and more fundamental questions about cell biology. “I think it’s important to put this in the context that the big thing here is not just having robots made of frog cells, but that this is really a computational question about how cells know what to do and how they make decisions,” Levin said. Levin elaborated, connecting his ongoing research to other unanswered research questions in computer science. “It’s still pretty unknown how [cells] know how to make a particular structure, so this is part of that really large question that’s at the center of all of biology and also of a lot of computer science and robotics, on how collectives make decisions,” Levin said.

Somerville politicians support home rule petition to lower local voting age to 16 by Alexander Janoff Assistant News Editor

Elie Levine

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Somerville political leaders called for the passage of a local home rule petition which would allow Somerville to lower its voting age to 16 for municipal elections, in testimony at the Massachusetts State House on Jan. 22. The lobbying drive follows the Somerville City Council’s unanimous passage of the petition in May 2019 calling for the change. Somerville Mayor Joe Curtatone, a longtime advocate of lowering the municipal voting age, asserted that it makes sense to lower the local voting age, since teenagers are already engaged in a great deal of political activism. “I have been, as well as millions of other people, inspired by the leadership of the youth in this nation around issues such as ending gun violence and March for our Lives or on climate action,” Curtatone said. “Young people are very much aware of what’s happening.” Curtatone explained that young people deserve a stake in their own government with which they interact daily, because many Somerville teenagers are active in the community and interact with the city government in a number of ways. “We make decisions, especially in our schools, that impact our children’s lives in nature,” Curtatone. “These are the kids that are learning to drive on our streets. These are the kids who participate, usually, in their first job at our recreation department. Obviously, their lives are being shaped and molded in our public schools.” For these reasons, Curtatone viewed lowering the voting age as important for Somerville giving its young people

an opportunity to participate in their government. “I think they deserve the opportunity while they’re here, because some of them—as they move on to college—may not come back to have a say at how their lives have been shaped,” Curtatone said. Somerville isn’t the first city to attempt lowering the voting age. Since 2013, four cities in Maryland — Takoma Park, Riverdale Park, Hyattsville and Greenbelt — have successfully changed their local voting laws to grant the right to vote to 16 and 17-year-olds for municipal elections. Alan Solomont, dean of the Jonathan M. Tisch College of Civic Life, said that these changes have resulted in a positive impact across the community. “In Takoma [Park], Maryland, the turnout of 16 [and] 17-year-olds is higher than the turnout of eighteen and nineteen-year-olds,” Solomont said. In order to request new powers from the state government, municipalities in Massachusetts must submit a home rule petition to the state legislature. Should the request be approved, Somerville would be able to begin the process of lowering its local voting age. State Representative Christine Barber, a Democrat who represents Somerville and Medford in the Massachusetts State Legislature, originally filed the Home Rule petition in the state legislature. She is encouraged by the level of activism coming from young people, hoping that a lowered voting age would help to connect teenagers to their representatives and bring about positive change in their communities. “I am in support of Somerville lowering the voting age,” Barber wrote to the Daily in an email. “Young people are impacted by so many issues and

should have a say in electing representatives. We have seen impressive youth activism recently around the climate, education, housing, and so many other issues. I look forward to continuing to work with the young people in our communities to make progressive and positive changes.” Somerville’s local initiative to lower the voting age in local elections is part of a larger, national effort to enfranchise young people. Representative Ayanna Pressley, who represents Somerville in the US House of Representatives, proposed an amendment in House Resolution 1, also known as the For the People Act of 2019 that would lower the voting age to sixteen in all federal elections. “A State may not refuse to permit an individual to register to vote or vote in an election for Federal office held in the State on the grounds of the individual’s age if the individual will be at least 16 years of age on the date of the election,” the amendment read, which failed. According to Solomont, there are a number of reasons lowering the voting age at the state or national level could have positive benefits on voter participation. He said that allowing young people to vote at a younger age will likely increase voter participation in the future, as those who vote when they’re younger will continue to vote as they increase in age. “One of the reasons I am for it is, I believe, that if the voting age is lowered it will increase the [voter] turnout of people generally,” Solomont said. “If kids are voting at the age of 16, they may also influence their parents to show up.” Felix Brody, a senior at Somerville High School and a youth voting activist, see VOTING, page 3

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Wednesday, February 5, 2020 | News | THE TUFTS DAILY

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The Massachusetts Statehouse is pictured on Aug. 30, 2019.

Lowering voting age would improve voter turnout overall, proponents say VOTING

continued from page 2 specified that people are more likely to begin healthy voting habits in high school than after enrolling in college. “16 year olds and 17 year olds are super grounded in their municipalities,” Brody told the Daily. “[Once I go to college in Pennsylvania], I don’t care who’s on the school board [in Somerville] anymore. That’s not affecting me. I [won’t be] grounded in this community anymore because I’m spending 90 percent of my time in Pennsylvania.” Introducing people to voting at 16 years old not only makes sense, but is easier than doing so at older ages, according to Solomont. He added that younger voters are in a more stable place since they are generally still supported by their parents. “Getting young people to start voting when they’re 16 or 17 and they’re still living at home [is ideal],” Solomont said. “It seems to be a better way to launch people into voting than waiting till they’re 18 when they’re living

more transient lives. They may not be in school anymore, or they may have moved to college.” Lidya Woldeysus, the student co-chair of JumboVote, emphasized that young people are also incredibly involved in effecting change at the national level as well as in the community. “Young people are often at the forefront of those movements and are very, very engaged,” Woldeysus, a sophomore, said. “I think that there’s a large trend across the whole United States that young people want to be heard and they want to use their voices for change.” Brody described the environment in his high school where his peers are very passionate about enacting change in their community, as Woldeyesus claimed. “I see these kids every day express frustrations [with their community],” Brody said. “These are people that are passionate. They understand what needs to happen more fundamentally than anyone else in any other age group.”

J. Cottle, MassVote’s Young Civic Leader Coordinator, echoed Brody’s sentiments. Cottle also argued that lowering the voting age will, by association, increase the civic participation of adults who live with young voters. “There’s data that shows that in households where young people can vote, the civic engagement of that household increases,” Cottle said. Solomont addressed the claims raised by opponents of the legislation, who argue that a 16-year-old’s brain is not developed enough to make the consequential rational decisions required of voters. “There’s an interesting piece of research that says the emotional part of the brain [in teenagers] is not fully developed, but the rational part of the brain, the logical part has fully developed,” Solomont said. Other objections raised by opponents of lowering the voting age include immaturity, inexperience or fears of voting Democrat among young voters, according to a May 2019 poll by the

Western New England University Polling Institute. The poll also found that 69% of Republican Massachusetts voters strongly opposed lowering the municipal voting age, while only 20% of Democratic Massachusetts voters strongly opposed it. On the issue of immaturity, however, Brody rejected the claims made by the petition’s opponents. “At age 16 you have the same political maturity as an 18-year-old,” Brody said. “You have the same logical longterm decision-making process called cold cognition [at 16] that you would at 18.” Brody argued that lowering the voting age nationally would positively impact the country as a whole. “Whenever we’ve expanded our voting pool, the country gets a little bit better,” Brody said. “We move towards progress. We have a more representative voting population. And that’s really important.”

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Wednesday, February 5, 2020

Alice Yoon and Madeleine Schwartz Bite Sized Stories

Dumpling night

ntering our last semester here at Tufts, it was only fitting that we celebrated both our friends and good food, kicking off our senior spring with a potluck dumpling night. Dumplings are never made in small batches, so it only made sense to get as many hands folding wrappers and as many stomachs to fill as possible. With more time on everyone’s hands before the first day of classes, everyone prepared a unique dumpling dish. While Maddie spread masa on banana leaves and filled them with either tomatillo chicken or chipotle peppers and cheese for her tamales, Alice boiled pork belly in a fragrant mix of cinnamon, soybean paste, garlic and onions for her bossam, a Korean pork dish. Both dishes stretched the definition of “dumpling,” but they were still filled in wrappers — not dumpling wrappers, but steamed banana leaves and pickled cabbage, respectively. After we finished cooking, Jaclyn Tsiang, our housemate, began to cook her cha siu bao. The cha siu was purchased from Chinatown the night before, which allowed Jaclyn to focus on the bao dough. Her grandmother tries multiple different dough recipes throughout the year and declares a new favorite dough recipe at the end of every year, before sharing it with her family. Jaclyn got started with cornstarch and yeast and, after letting the dough rest for about half an hour, began to roll them out into circles using cut pieces of PVC pipe, which her grandmother gave her specifically to roll out dough. It was incredibly efficient, and soon enough, she was pinching the bao closed, stuffing them either with cha siu or cooked mushrooms. After they rested for another 20 minutes, they were ready to be steamed, with the vegetarian bao denoted with a small scallion topping. Two rounds of steaming later, the baos were done and cooked through, resting on squares of parchment paper, and we were ready to leave with all our dishes and our housemate’s strawberry basil lemonade. Dumpling night was a successful celebration of good food and good friends. Other dumplings on the table that night were Russian meat dumplings, called pelmeni, which were boiled and served alongside a healthy scoop of sour cream and homemade sauerkraut. The Chinese pork and chive dumplings were either boiled or pan-fried. Then there were the Nepali momos, which are traditionally made with buffalo meat. That night, however, they were stuffed with cabbage and carrots to fill the stomachs of our vegetarian friends and served with a spicy tomato chutney. The Polish pierogi were boiled and then panfried with shallots, which added a sweet crisp to the creamy potato and cheese filling. With plenty of dumplings to go around, there was also japchae, or Korean glass noodles. We finished with chocolate chip cookies and apple crumble for dessert. There was more than enough food to go around, and by the end of the night, we saw that so many different flavors and ingredients — from sweet pork to gooey cheese to spicy vegetables — can be wrapped up into bite-sized pieces. Madeleine Schwartz is a senior studying computer science. Madeleine can be reached at madeleine.schwartz@tufts.edu. Alice Yoon is a senior studying chemistry. Alice can be reached at alice.yoon@tufts. edu.

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Evening with 1/2 Sutton Foster Saturday, February 8, 2020

Enjoy an evening with Tony Award-winning actress, singer, and dancer Sutton Foster. A limited number of rush tickets will be made available to the Tufts community and Tufts friends on Saturday, February 8, beginning at 7:45 p.m. (while tickets last) at the Granoff Music Center Box Office. Any member of the community can get one rush complimentary ticket (while tickets last) so long as they are physically in the line to receive it. No “proxy tickets” will be distributed. The line for rush tickets will form at 5 p.m.

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THE TUFTS CENTER FOR POLITICAL THOUGHT presents

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ARTS&LIVING

Wednesday, February 5, 2020

‘The Good Place’ heads to the afterlife

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A promotional poster for “The Good Place” (2016 – 20) is pictured. by Daniel Klain

Assistant Arts Editor

Welcome! Everything is fine. It’s just NBC’s “The Good Place” (2016– 20) has sadly come to an end. After four years on our television screens and computers, and who knows how many Jeremy Bearimys later, our gang finally solved the afterlife and even then some.

During its first season, it seemed as though the network sitcom was fading into irrelevance. With streaming services using previous NBC hits like “Friends” (1994–2004) to gain a following and premium cable channels making more nuanced comedies, such as FX’s “Atlanta” (2016–) or HBO’s “Silicon Valley” (2014–19), it felt like there was little to no room for a new sitcom to capture any cultural attention.

“The Good Place” changed that, though. After it was revealed that certain characters were mistakenly put in the Good Place, it became as plot-driven as any drama on television but still packed in some of the funniest humor around. This didn’t revitalize the network comedy genre, though, which would probably be asking too much for a single show to do anyway. But it was fascinating how at times the adoration

of “The Good Place” tried to separate itself from its medium, as if was a great show in spite of the fact that it was aired on television first. While the show was absolutely inventive with its unique plot and up-to-date pop culture references, it still had the marks of a classic sitcom. Starring Ted Danson, who has had so many cable shows go to syndication he could probably make his own channel solely of shows he’s starred in, run by Michael Schur, co-creator of “Brooklyn Nine-Nine” (2013–) and “Parks and Recreation” (2009–15), and powered by an ensemble cast with great chemistry, “The Good Place” clearly contains lineage from the great sitcoms that came before it. All credit to Schur as a showrunner as well; “The Good Place” took clear steps to go in a completely different style than his prior work. Schur’s previous hits could be considered commentaries about modern America via the workplace, whereas “The Good Place” felt like a live debate about modern America’s morality. At a time of such strong polarization and bigotry only getting louder, Schur used his platform to ask if people can change and get better. Despite a frustrating fourth season, the final episodes are a touching, thoughtful close to the show. Throughout the fourth season, it felt like the show was lacking with its comedic and narrative style going from inventive to repetitive. But as the show neared an end, it narrowed its focus to what made it so special: the cast and the bond shared between them. By the end of the show Chidi ( William Jackson Harper), Eleanor (Kristen Bell), Tahani ( Jameela Jamil), Jason (Manny Jacinto), Michael (Danson) and Janet (D’Arcy Carden) convince the Judge, played by Maya Rudolph, to allow people who may not be deserving of entering the Good Place to earn their way. Ironically, these people are subjected to the same neighborhood experiment that was the original premise of the show. It all comes full circle. In the finale, each human character realizes one by one that it’s time for them to depart the Good Place and be gone forever. Chidi best explains this by using a Buddhist saying, comparing life to an ocean wave crashing on a beach and returning back to the water. It’s a moment that is so profound and honest when it easily could’ve felt like a cheesy attempt to give an answer to angry simplistic fans who want “The Good Place” to tell them where we go when we pass on. “The Good Place” could have been a million different things. It was a lot of them. It was funny, it was contemplative, it was beautifully composed and most importantly, it felt human. It didn’t try to answer life’s greatest mysteries about what happens when we are no longer on Earth, but it gave us some advice for while we are still on it. In its plea for kindness and empathy, “The Good Place” didn’t say civility and compromise was the way to do that. We should all strive to get better as people, but doing it on your own is really difficult. Friendship makes everything easier. In the finale Eleanor says, “There’s greater happiness waiting for you if you form bonds with other people.” Nothing feels more fitting of an end.

THE TUFTS DAILY | Arts & Living | Wednesday, February 5, 2020

Peter Lindblom Oldies but Goodies

‘Little Miss Sunshine’

here are plenty of things that we cannot control in life, but one thing we can control is our attitude, and sometimes, that can make all the difference. With a well-known cast including Steve Carell and Alan Arkin, many people may start watching “Little Miss Sunshine” (2006) with the idea of it being a fun, family comedy, only to find it filled with philosophical commentary that inspires feelings of hope and optimism. The bulk of the storyline centers around the Hoovers, a New Mexico family taking a road trip to California so that its youngest member, Olive, can participate in the Little Miss Sunshine beauty pageant. On the surface, the family is completely dysfunctional. Edwin, the grandfather, is seen snorting heroin in one of the opening scenes; the mother, Sheryl, passes time by smoking cigarettes. One of the kids, Dwayne, has taken a vow of silence until he is old enough to join the Air Force. The film makes a point of showing all of the character’s flaws while protecting the innocence of the youngest member of the family, Olive. For the most part, the trip is an utter disaster. Edwin passes away in his sleep, the clutch on the family Volkswagen breaks and Richard — Olive’s father and Dwayne’s step-father — fails to close a deal in attempting to sell his self-help techniques to a wide audience. From a birds-eye view, everything goes wrong for the Hoover family in quite an absurd fashion. But throughout, the group is still able to enjoy each other’s company in small but largely important ways, though they do not always recognize their significance to one another. For one, after the car breakdown, they realize they must all help push their Volkswagen from behind for it to accelerate and then try to jump in while on the run. As they work together to pile everyone in the moving car, the family laughs and jokes with one another, leaving everyone with a smile on their face as they manage to pull it off. During the film’s climax at the beauty pageant, Olive’s performance is not well-received by the audience. She shows off her “grandfather’s moves” to the tune of Rick James’ “Super Freak” (1981) in what turns out to be an inappropriate dance for an event of its nature. As the audience expresses its disapproval, the Hoover family joins the entirely naïve Olive in dancing on stage to show their support. Considering everything they had been through by that point and their unconditional love for Olive, the Hoovers stand in the face of a microcosm of high society and make a fool of themselves, and they could not care less. Sometimes, as “Little Miss Sunshine” exhibits to the viewer, it is nice to have some perspective on how the small moments we share with the people we love are the ones we truly live for, even if they are nonsensical and strange on the surface.

Peter Lindblom is a sophomore who has not yet declared a major. Peter can be reached at peter.lindblom@tufts.edu.

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Oscars predictions: What should win, will win, was snubbed, doesn’t belong

VIA OSCARS

A promotional poster for the 92nd Academy Awards is pictured. by Ryan Eggers, Christopher Panella, Stephanie Hoechst, Daniel Klain and Sam Heyman Tufts Daily Arts Staff

With the 92nd Academy Awards just around the corner on Feb. 9, the Tufts Daily Arts & Living team threw together some predictions for the film industry’s biggest night of the year. Each editor took the five categories that gave them most intrigue and picked who should win, who will win, who got snubbed and who doesn’t belong in the category. Stay tuned for more Oscars coverage throughout the week, including a video preview to be released before Sunday night. Chris Panella Best Picture Should win: “Little Women” Will win: “1917” Doesn’t belong here: “Joker” Snubbed from the category: “Hustlers” Best Director Should win: Bong Joon-ho (“Parasite”) Will win: Sam Mendes (“1917”) Doesn’t belong here: Todd Phillips (“Joker”) Snubbed from the category: Greta Gerwig (“Little Women”), Lulu Wang (“The Farewell”), Lorene Scafaria (“Hustlers”), Kasi Lemmons (“Harriet”) Best Adapted Screenplay Should win: “Little Women” Will win: “Little Women” Doesn’t belong here: “Joker” Snubbed from the category: “Hustlers” Best Original Screenplay Should win: “Parasite” Will win: “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood” Doesn’t belong here: “1917” Snubbed from the category: “The Farewell” Best Cinematography Should win: “The Lighthouse” Will win: “1917” Doesn’t belong here: “Joker”

Snubbed from the category: “Little Women” Stephanie Hoechst Best Picture Should win: “Little Women” Will win: “Parasite” Doesn’t belong here: “Ford v Ferrari” Snubbed from the category: “The Lighthouse” Best Actor Should win: Adam Driver (“Marriage Story”) Will win: Joaquin Phoenix (“Joker”) Doesn’t belong here: Antonio Banderas (“Pain and Glory”) Snubbed from the category: Robert Pattinson (“The Lighthouse”) Best Actress Should win: Saoirse Ronan (“Little Women”) Will win: Renée Zellweger (“Judy”) Doesn’t belong here: Charlize Theron (“Bombshell”) Snubbed from the category: Awkwafina (“The Farewell”) Best Supporting Actress Should win: Florence Pugh (“Little Women”) Will win: Laura Dern (“Marriage Story”) Doesn’t belong here: Margot Robbie (“Bombshell”) Snubbed from the category: Laura Dern (“Little Women”) Best Supporting Actor Should win: Anthony Hopkins (“The Two Popes”) Will win: Brad Pitt (“Once Upon a Time in Hollywood”) Doesn’t belong here: Joe Pesci (“The Irishman”) Snubbed from the category: Willem Dafoe (“The Lighthouse”) Danny Klain Best Picture Should win: “Parasite” Will win: “1917” Doesn’t belong here: “Jojo Rabbit” Snubbed from category: “The Farewell” Best Director

Should win: Bong Joon-ho (“Parasite”) Will win: Bong Joon-ho (“Parasite”) Doesn’t belong here: Todd Phillips (“Joker”) Snubbed from the category: Pedro Almodóvar (“Pain and Glory”) Best Actor Should win: Leonardo DiCaprio (“Once Upon a Time in Hollywood”) Will win: Joaquin Phoenix (“Joker”) Doesn’t belong here: Jonathan Pryce (“The Two Popes”) Snubbed from the category: Adam Sandler (“Uncut Gems”) Best Actress Should win: Saoirse Ronan (“Little Women”) Will win: Scarlett Johansson (“Marriage Story”) Doesn’t belong here: Charlize Theron (“Bombshell”) Snubbed from the category: Florence Pugh (“Midsommar”) Best Cinematography Should win: Robert Richardson (“Once Upon a Time in Hollywood”) Will win: Roger Deakins (“1917”) Doesn’t belong here: Lawrence Sher (“Joker”) Snubbed from the category: Hong Kyung-pyo (“Parasite”) Ryan Eggers Best Picture Should win: “Parasite” Will win: “Parasite” Doesn’t belong here: “Joker” Snubbed from category: “Uncut Gems” Best Director Should win: Bong Joon-ho (“Parasite”) Will win: Bong Joon-ho (“Parasite”) Doesn’t belong here: Todd Phillips (“Joker”) Snubbed from the category: Greta Gerwig (“Little Women”) Best Actor Should win: Joaquin Phoenix (“Joker”) Will win: Joaquin Phoenix (“Joker”) Doesn’t belong here: Leonardo DiCaprio (“Once Upon a Time in Hollywood”) Snubbed from the category: Robert de Niro (“The Irishman”) Best Actress Should win: Saoirse Ronan (“Little Women”) Will win: Scarlett Johansson (“Marriage Story”) Doesn’t belong here: Scarlett Johansson (“Marriage Story”) Snubbed from the category: Florence Pugh (“Midsommar”) Best Cinematography Should win: Roger Deakins (“1917”) Will win: Roger Deakins (“1917”) Doesn’t belong here: Lawrence Sher (“Joker”) Snubbed from the category: Steve Yedlin (“Knives Out”) Sam Heyman Best Actor Should win: Antonio Banderas (“Pain and Glory”) Will win: Adam Driver (“Marriage Story”) Doesn’t belong here: Adam Driver (“Marriage Story”) Snubbed from the category: Adam Sandler (“Uncut Gems”) Best Adapted Screenplay Should win: “Little Women” Will win: “Little Women” Doesn’t belong here: “Joker” Snubbed from the category: “Hustlers” Best Director Should win: Bong Joon-ho (“Parasite”) Will win: Bong Joon-ho (“Parasite”) Doesn’t belong here: Todd Phillips (“Joker”) Snubbed from the category: Greta Gerwig (“Little Women”) Best Picture Should win: “Parasite” Will win: “Parasite” Doesn’t belong here: “Joker” Snubbed from the category: “Uncut Gems” Best Visual Effects Should win: “Avengers: Endgame” Will win: “The Lion King” Doesn’t belong here: “The Irishman” Snubbed from the category: “Ad Astra”

Wednesday, February 5, 2020 | FUN & GAMES | THE TUFTS DAILY

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LATE NIGHT AT THE DAILY Hannah talking about Tys: “I feel like he identifies with ‘Cats’ (2019).”

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LINDA C. BLACK ASTROLOGY

Aquarius (Jan. 20–Feb. 18)

All that practice is paying off. Grab an unexpected chance to raise your performance to the next level. Train for the work you love. SEARCHING FOR HEADLINES...

Difficulty Level: Reporting caucus results in a timely manner

Tuesday’s Solutions

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10 Wednesday, February 5, 2020

Sarah Kaplan Funding Our Future

Need-blind admissions

s Tufts’ tuition is one of the most expensive among its peer institutions, according to a Tufts University 2018–19 Fact Book, and its institutional priorities must be oriented toward us, the students. Welcome to Funding Our Future, my weekly column to explore various facets of financial accessibility on campus. I’m here to get to the bottom as to why Tufts is so frugal when it comes to seemingly basic student needs. As a first-year, I’m committed to using this platform to establish a more financially-accessible future for Jumbos to come. While Tufts lauds itself for its commitment to financial accessibility, one glaring truth stands in the way of making Tufts truly accessible: need-sensitive admissions. When Tufts reviews any application, domestic or international, admissions officers are privy to the student’s expected family contribution. It’s no secret that Tufts is predominantly made up of an affluent population. According to a 2017 study by The New York Times’ The Upshot, 77% of Tufts students come from the top 20%. Furthermore, 19% come from the top 1% (students with a household income of at least $630,000) while 11.8% come from the bottom 60% (a household income of less than $65,000). Before coming to Tufts, I did research to discover these staggering numbers. So when I chose to come here, I knew I was choosing to attend a school with the 10th-worst gap in economic inequality among the 2,000 colleges included in the NYT study. When applying to colleges, I was under the impression that Tufts was need-blind in its review of undergraduate applicants — once on campus, I learned that I was wrong. Tufts’ need-sensitive admissions policy is a mechanism by which Tufts keeps out lower-income students in favor of more upper-income students. While Tufts is committed to meeting “100% of the demonstrated need of every admitted student,” its need-sensitive policy allows admissions officers to consider all applicants’ ability to pay in the admissions process. In practice, this policy allows admissions officers to admit an applicant who can afford Tufts’ tuition over an equally qualified applicant who cannot — partially or in full — once the university has run out of potential financial aid. In order to adopt a need-blind policy in addition to meeting full demonstrated financial need, Tufts would likely need to significantly increase its endowment fund. As of June 30, 2018, Tufts’ endowment was $1.9 billion. Local peer institutions such as Boston College and Wellesley College maintain an endowment of $2.6 billion and $2.1 billion as of 2018, respectively. Both colleges are need-blind institutions and fully meet demonstrated financial need; Tufts meets full demonstrated financial need as well, but is need-aware. Although Tufts would need to add a hefty sum into its endowment to adopt need-blind admissions for domestic and international students, Tufts must make this policy change a priority if it wants to continue to taut its financial accessibility. The Tufts Financial Aid Office must embrace need-blind admissions as a primary objective. The wealth gap on campus is unacceptable; we demand a commitment to more equitable admissions and a more financially accessible institution. Sarah Kaplan is a first-year who has not yet declared a major. Sarah can be reached at sarah.kaplan@tufts.edu.

Opinion

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OP-ED

Do food label warnings have an impact on healthcare costs? by Juliana Sa Figueiredo Opinions about food label warnings can be very distinct and many controversial questions can arise from it. On one side, people are defending food label warnings, claiming they have a positive impact on an individual’s diet, or in other words, warning labels can lead to improved eating habits and healthier diets. On the other side, others advocate that food label warnings do not improve eating habits and that individuals ignore them and continue to consume the food item. Regardless of which side you pick, we all have to agree that food label warnings should be the right of any consumer. It is our right to be informed about the health risks of consuming a specific food product as it is also our right to do whatever we want with the acquired knowledge. At least we have been alerted of the health risks associated with the food item before choosing to consume it. For instance, let us think about sugar-sweetened drinks. There is plenty of evidence that associates high consumption of sugary beverages with increased risks of obesity, Type 2 diabetes and tooth decay. Also, obesity is a significant contributor to the burden of chronic diseases which have major health and economic costs in the United States. Therefore, we can

assume that the consumption of sugary drinks directly contributes to increased healthcare costs. Hence, strategies to decrease added-sugar beverage consumption can alleviate the cost of chronic diseases linked to obesity and Type 2 diabetes. Here is where food labeling strategies can play an essential role since they are lowcost strategies with broad reach and have the potential to decrease consumption for a food item that can negatively affect health by influencing consumer behavior. Consumers can change their perception about a food item and the intention of purchasing it when they have an awareness of the health risks involved with its consumption. However, what we see nowadays are beverage companies spending millions of dollars advertising sugary drinks to children and adolescents and contributing even more to the obesity epidemic and the rise of healthcare costs. There is a need for change to improve health status in the United States and decrease healthcare costs. This strategy will only work if all stakeholders from different levels — state and federal government, food industry, healthcare industry, pharmaceutical industry, schools and worksites, consumers and families — work together as a team. It must have a shifting focus from disease management to prevention and health pro-

motion. To change the focus to prevention, more information about nutrition and health risks associated with eating habits should be available for all. Comprehensive food labels with warnings, for example, help to increase awareness about the relationship between health status and eating habits, and how eating well can lead to a healthier lifestyle. Besides, one expects that more knowledge about something increases the chance of better decision-making. Accordingly, food labeling and label warnings are excellent resources to educate and to disseminate information to the general public about food and nutrition at a lower cost. They aid people to make truthful and accurate decisions about foods considering all health factors and risks involved with their consumption. It is not an easy task to approve a bill that requires warning labels in foods proved to be harmful to our health. Nevertheless, it is our right to be warned and should be our primary interest to improve public health and help reduce healthcare costs. Let us get started with warning labels for added-sugar beverages and high-fat-high-sugar foods. Juliana Sa Figueiredo is a graduate student in the Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy. Juliana can be reached at juliana.sa_figueiredo@tufts.edu.

MY SHELTER PETS ARE MY BEST FRIENDS

OLIVIA MUNN WITH CHANCE AND FRANKIE: ADOPTED 2014 AND 2016.

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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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Wednesday, February 5, 2020 | Sports | THE TUFTS DAILY

Men's track and field sees several top 50 performances over weekend

Aiden Herrod The Turf Monster

The Houston Texans are stuck in futility

ERIK BRITT / THE TUFTS DAILY ARCHIVES

Senior Dylan McEniry fights for position at the Branwen Smith-King Invitational at the Gantcher Center on Jan. 27, 2018.

MEN'S TRACK AND FIELD

continued from back page

has never happened before to me. My teammates’ support definitely made it easier for me to quell my fears.” “My first meet two weeks ago ago was alright, but it wasn’t my best,” Farrell also said. “I think it was a lot of the nerves; that was the factor. Coming back home really helped out calming my fears. Last meet I was more calm, cool and collected. I think for the future, getting over my fears will get better for me.” Sophomore Ben Stein (4,438 points), sophomore Riley Patten (4,344 points), and firstyear Carter Rosewell (4,283 points) took the second, third and fourth spots, respectively, in the heptathlon for the Jumbos. Currently,

those point totals rank No. 20, 27 and 30 nationally in Div. III. In his first appearance of the season, junior Matt Manteiga finished in fourth place in the long jump with a distance of 21′ 7 ¼”. “I had a good meet, but it is going to take a lot of work and staying on top of my health to continue to progress like I want to,” Manteiga said. “I think I just to need to keep working hard and the results will come.” With such impressive results from underclassmen, Farrell explained how the team’s supportive nature contributed to the success. “We are really excited for the future of the team because we know that our firstyear class is really strong and we are going to[get] better as the season continues,” Farrell said. “On top of that, we have really

good relationships with all the upperclassmen, so it is a great dynamic. We all support each other, and I think the whole experience is really fun. I’ve never been to a daylong track meet and [had] fun the whole time until last Saturday.” Manteiga also highlighted the team aspect in large meets like the Branwen Smith-King Invitational that featured so many athletes competing in different events. “We are working as a track team as much as we can, cheering each other on, on the corner of the track, and trying to stay on top of everybody’s performance since it is easy to lose track of all of the events,” Manteiga said. With the New England Div. III Championships at the end of February quickly approaching, Tufts will host the Cupid Challenge, its third home meet of the season, this Saturday.

ootball is over. We have a champion. Andy Reid won his first Super Bowl and cemented his legacy as a Hall of Famer as Patrick Mahomes added yet another accolade to his incredible young career. We should be celebrating these amazing feats in an article like this, right? Wrong. That’s not how we do things here in The Turf Monster. Instead, let’s take a look back at the marvelous legacy that is the Houston Texans and their 2019 season. Everyone knows the Houston Texans are used to disappointing playoff results, but what the Kansas City Chiefs did to this team in the 2020 AFC divisional round should be against the Geneva Convention. They didn’t just crush the Texans. They gave them just enough hope for a first quarter to make them think they were all but Super Bowl-bound. Then, they scored on eight consecutive drives and scorched the frozen earth with record-setting offensive performances. The Texans didn’t just unleash a sleeping giant, they allowed them to rewrite the record books. Everything that happened on that fateful Sunday may just be owed to long-standing greatness on one end of the ball, but I’m here to argue it’s all owed to long-standing ineptitude on the other. Let’s flash back to the beginning of the season. In the absence of a general manager, the Texans faced roster holes across the board, while defensive end Jadeveon Clowney had just been traded to Seattle after holding out for a new contract. Their young quarterback Deshaun Watson was a fragile centerpiece to this organization. He had been sacked a league-leading 62 times in the 2018 season. If such numbers had continued, it would have resulted in significant detriments to the development of their budding star. Who stepped up in the organization to fix these issues on the precipice of a new season in 2019? Head coach Bill O’Brien. Coming off of the coaching hot-seat by authoring Deshaun Watson’s breakout 2017 campaign, which was cut short by injury, O’Brien more recently gained higher authority in the exec room, orchestrating numerous trades and roster moves. The intention of these moves? Win now. That Jadeveon Clowney guy? Trade him for pennies on the dollar to Seattle. The tanking Dolphins supplied wide receiver Kenny Stills and standout left tackle Laremy Tunsil in exchange for draft hauls. O’Brien traded a good chunk of the Texans future for a patchwork of veterans, the sum of whom could not take the Texans where they wanted to go. The most recent playoff loss only punctuates the issues O’Brien struggles with when coaching his on-field product. The Texans have fairly consistently made the playoffs in recent years, but rarely do anything with it. They take advantage of a weak AFC South and bow out to superior AFC competition. Deshaun Watson, in his never-ending benevolence, bails out the Texans on the field just like he bails out Bill O’Brien off of it. I argue that if the Texans want to keep their star quarterback, they need to seriously revamp their organization. They need a better coach, an actual GM and some roster changes across the board. Will this happen? Nine times out of ten, when someone calls for organizational change, it doesn’t happen. We have wealthy and complacent franchise owners to thank for this. But this absolutely needs to happen: if not for the sake of a struggling franchise, then for the sake of a generational talent at quarterback with Hall of Fame potential. Aiden is a sophomore who has not yet declared a major. Aiden can be reached at aiden.herrod@tufts.edu.

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Sports

Wednesday, February 5, 2020

Men’s basketball defeats Bowdoin on Senior Day, upsets Colby

RACHEL HARTMAN / THE TUFTS DAILY ARCHIVES

Junior Justin Kouyoumdjian saves the ball from going out of bounds against Hamilton in Cousens Gym on Feb. 2, 2018. by Eric Spencer

Assistant Sports Editor

In a thrilling upset on Saturday, the now No. 21 Tufts men’s basketball team defeated No. 9 Colby 80–67 at Cousens Gym. The win propelled the Jumbos into first place in the NESCAC with a 6–0 conference record, and gave them a 16–4 overall record on the season. Tufts started off strong with a 6–0 run, but minutes later, a three from Colby firstyear guard Will King began to even the score at 7–5. The back and forth play continued until a three by Colby senior guard Ty Williams gave the Mules a 14–12 lead with 11:47 remaining in the first half. The Jumbos responded aggressively, stretching their lead to 33–25 going into halftime. Despite a strong start to the second half by Tufts, Colby cut the lead to 42–40 following a King layup with 15:31 left to play. The nail-biter game remained close for more than four minutes until the Mules took a 52–47 lead off of a three from sophomore guard Noah Tyson. With 10:32 left in regulation, the Jumbos re-gained the advantage with a three from junior guard Justin Kouyoumdjian. Subsequent baskets by

junior guard and co-captain Will Brady and senior guard and co-captain Eric Savage pushed the Jumbos even further along. After a Mules technical foul with just under 90 seconds remaining, sophomore guard Tyler Aronson scored two freebies on the line for the Jumbos. The Jumbos went on to score an additional seven points in the game and receive the 80–67 victory. Head coach Bob Sheldon commented on the team-wide contributions in the game. “It was a big team win,” Sheldon said. “Everyone contributed. We had three or four guys in double figures. We only had nine or 10 turnovers. We played against a really good team and we played really well. This win raises our calling and gives us confidence going forward.” Additionally, the game against Colby was senior night for guard Eric Savage, Tufts’ lone senior. Savage has been key for the Jumbos this season, averaging 16.1 points per game. “Tufts has welcomed me since day one, and I have been fortunate enough to contribute to the program,” Savage said. “I have learned a lot and grown a lot and

can only thank the friends I’ve made, the coaches, the teammates, the fans and my family who have been very involved in this four-year process. But there is still a lot left to do and that is the most exciting part.” On Friday night, Tufts also defeated Bowdoin 85–73 at Cousens Gym, bringing Bowdoin’s record to 6–12 overall. The game was tight for most of the first half until a three by Aronson with 6:15 left in the first half gave the Jumbos an eight-point lead. But the Polar Bears responded and cut the Jumbos lead to 37–36 by halftime. The Polar Bears came out strong in the second half, taking a 48–43 lead with 13:55 remaining on a three-pointer from first-year guard Manav Randhawa. Tufts responded with a 13-point unanswered run — including three consecutive three-pointers from Savage. The Polar Bears narrowed the lead to three points with just over four minutes left in the game but were never able to regain the lead. “We didn’t panic,” Sheldon said about the game. “With all the tough teams in the schedule, we are ready for big games. When they made their run we didn’t panic. We just

wanted to do what we always do. And then [Savage] took over.” Savage led the game with a career-high 35 points, while also contributing nine rebounds in the win. His performance in both the Bowdoin and Colby games earned him NESCAC Player of the Week. “[Savage] is starting to realize he is a second semester senior and he is giving us everything he’s got,” Sheldon said. “He always gave us everything, but I think with the end coming, clearly he is digging a little deeper and that showed this weekend. He got the NESCAC player of the week this week as the first player we have had this year. He knows to go all out, all the time.” Looking ahead, the Jumbos will play on the road the next two weekends, with four games left on the regular-season schedule. On Friday, Tufts will travel to Trinity at 7 p.m., before taking on Connecticut College at 3 p.m. on Feb. 8. “We have two huge weekends ahead,” Savage said. “We are in a good place right now. We need to tighten up on little things like defensive rotations, taking care of the basketball, and just keep playing tough.”

Senior Matt D’Anieri delivered one of the team’s two wins of the day-long meet in the mile. He finished with a staggering personal best time of 4:17.02, which currently ranks No. 10 nationally in Div. III. First-year Evan Ensslin and sophomore Nick Delaney were only a few seconds behind, finishing third and fourth respectively; their times rank currently No. 45 and No. 48 nationally in Div. III.

The other win of the day for the Jumbos came in the 4 x 800 meters relay. The squad of Delaney, senior Dylan McEniry, sophomore Collin O’Sullivan and D’Anieri came in first at a combined time of 8:01.73. In the pole vault, first-year Hunter Farrell placed second at 14′’ 7 ¼”. Currently, that mark ranks No. 41 nationally in Div. III. Despite being a first-year, Farrell explained that he felt very comfortable

competing at the college level because of his teammates. “Tufts’ track and field team was a lot different from what my high school had,” Farrell said. “My high school never really had a team at all. It was more individual based. Having all the upperclassmen support me and cheer me on when I beat the first-year record, that

Men’s track and field places 2nd at Branwen Smith-King Invitational by Jason Schwartz Staff Writer

On Saturday, the men’s track and field team placed second in the third annual Branwen Smith-King Invitational, hosted by Tufts at Gantcher Center. The team secured wins in two events, tallying 86 points, which was well short of the 135.5 point, first-place finish by Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

see MEN'S TRACK AND FIELD, page 11