The Tufts Daily - Thursday, March 28, 2019 by The Tufts Daily

Tufts Lifting Club creates community for weightlifters, powerlifters on campus see FEATURES / PAGE 4

MEN’S TENNIS

Jumbos end spring break trip with back-to-back wins

Women’s Lives in View film screening will highlight women’s experiences see WEEKENDER / PAGE 6

SEE SPORTS / BACK PAGE

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T HE T UFTS DAILY

VOLUME LXXVII, ISSUE 41

Thursday, March 28, 2019

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At town hall meeting, students voice concerns about Group of Five centers by Bridget Wall Staff Writer

The Office of the Dean of Student Affairs (DOSA) held a town hall meeting yesterday evening to discuss the futures of the Group of Five (G5), which includes the Africana Center, Asian American Center, Latino Center, LGBT Center and Women’s Center. This meeting was prompted by an op-ed written by a group of students from the Asian American Center in response to the vacant or soon-to-bevacant director positions at the Latino Center, Asian American Center and the Women’s Center, according to Ana Sofia Amieva-Wang, a senior who helped organize the event. Currently, Tufts has no job listings for permanent director positions for any of the three centers. Postings are on LinkedIn for interim program administrator jobs at the Latino Center and Women’s Center. The hiring process for these positions will most likely occur during the summer, which means that students will have less of an involvement with the process, Amieva-Wang said. When asked about a concrete timeline for the hiring process, Senior Associate Dean of Student Affairs Raymond Ou explained that the job listings will be posted later this week, starting the official search to fill these positions permanently.

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Dean of Student Affairs Mary Pat McMahon and Senior Associate Dean of Student Affairs Raymond Ou answer questions posed by a student in the Interfaith Center on March 27. Ou said that the next steps in the process are to create a representative search committee and begin reaching out to potential applicants. “We want to make sure that the pool is robust and that the students are comfortable with any of the finalists that we bring forward,” he said.

Ou said that the timeline of this process would be dependent on the people who apply for the position, so it is difficult for Ou and Dean of Student Affairs Mary Pat McMahon to state a concrete timeline. However, McMahon said that she will publish a more detailed timeline of this search pro-

cess online once the available jobs are posted and DOSA begins to receive applications. During the summer, DOSA will conduct an outside review of the G5 at Tufts, which McMahon explained is prosee GROUP OF FIVE, page 2

Consortium of Studies in Race, Colonialism, and Diaspora receives $1.5 million grant by Alejandra Carrillo Assistant News Editor

The Consortium of Studies in Race, Colonialism, and Diaspora (RCD) will now be able to hire new professors and faculty members after receiving a $1.5 million grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. According to the foundation’s website, the grant, titled “Professorships in Race, Colonialism, and Diaspora Department,” was awarded to support hiring in the department. The Board of Trustees voted to allow the RCD to become a department in November 2018. The RCD will gain official departmental status as of July 1,

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according to Kris Manjapra, director of the RCD. Manjapra told the Daily in an email that the Mellon Foundation grant supports the renewal of curriculum and will help hire more faculty of color at Tufts. “Tufts University has historically faced difficulties in diversifying its tenure-track professorial ranks,” he said. “The Mellon grant is dedicated to funding hires for the new RCD department, and to building a peerless interdisciplinary department for the study of race, colonialism, and diaspora that will serve Tufts for generations.” Manjapra later clarified that he was not certain that the positions made posFor breaking news, our content archive and exclusive content, visit tuftsdaily.com @tuftsdaily

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sible by the grant would be tenure-track positions. He pointed out a lack of diverse perspectives in social science and humanities curriculums at Tufts and indicated that students of color on campus have been “systemically underserved at Tufts” with regards to options in curriculum and mentorship. “I hope the deans of [the School of Arts and Sciences] will continue to invest university resources in diversifying and expanding the Tufts curriculum for the benefit of all our students,” he said. “Sustained and ongoing support for the new RCD department should be part of this larger curricular goal.”

James Glaser, dean of the School of Arts and Sciences, described the new opportunities the grant creates for the RCD. “It allows us to plant the seeds for this department,” he said. “It’s a fledgling project, and the grant gives us the ability to accelerate its growth right from the start and turn it into something meaningful.” Manjapra said that the department received one of the largest grants that the foundation gives out to individual universities and expressed gratitude toward administrators and students for their advocacy for the RCD.

NEWS............................................1 FEATURES.................................4 WEEKENDER..........................6

see RCD, page 2

FUN & GAMES......................... 7 OPINION.....................................8 SPORTS............................ BACK

THE TUFTS DAILY | News | Thursday, March 28, 2019

THE TUFTS DAILY Elie Levine Editor in Chief

EDITORIAL

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Mellon Foundation grant will fund new hires in RCD RCD

continued from page 1 “The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation has a long track record of funding initiatives that help transform university structures and university culture in progressive ways,” he said. “This would not have happened without the strong support of the university’s top administrators for the RCD and its students.” Professor of Romance Studies H. Adlai Murdoch explained the hiring process the RCD will follow when searching for new faculty to fill vacancies in the department, saying that the search will follow established hiring criteria and include consideration of candidates’ research and teaching experience. He added that RCD is hoping to complete the process in a timely manner. “We would certainly like to have three to four new faculty members in place within the next two years and so these would be either senior faculty members who would be hired with tenure or assistant professors who would then come up for tenure after five or six years,” Murdoch said. He also emphasized the importance of the RCD program’s new status as a department, specifically focusing on its impact on the Africana Studies program. “Since Africana Studies began as a program with a major and a minor in 2013, it was hobbled by the fact it was a program,” he said. “We had very little

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continued from page 1 jected to cost $2,000 to $3,000. This review will be conducted over the summer without the input of students. By conducting a review externally, Tufts will be able to compare the centers here with models of what other universities have done and what has worked, according to McMahon. “Some fresh eyes and fresh perspectives can really help us,” McMahon said. McMahon said she decided not to include students in the review process as she did not want to burden students with the duties associated with the review. Pat Mahaney, a student who moderated the discussion, explained this decision. “I picture support from the university as emboldening student voices rather than relying on student voices to bring out problems,” Mahaney, a junior, said in response to McMahon.

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say on course offerings or faculty hiring because anybody that talked for us was from another department.” Murdoch noted that the freedom that the RCD’s departmental status will benefit the Africana Studies program. “The fact that we will now be part of a department will free us up to set our own agenda and determine our own future for the first time,” he said. Glaser noted that the university has had a relationship with the Mellon Foundation and has received grants from them before.

“They’re particularly interested in cutting edge humanities and diversifying curriculum,” he said. “As we learned of the goals of the foundation, we thought about how they matched with our aspirations here, and it seemed like a good fit.” He also acknowledged the faculty’s efforts to lead the RCD’s goals of acquiring funding. “We could’ve approached them [the Mellon Foundation] with other ideas but given the organic process here … this is not something that came from the deans, this came from the faculty and they have really driven this project,” Glaser said.

One of the main goals of this event was to include all of the centers in the conversation about their futures and give students a chance to speak openly about their concerns, according to Amieva-Wang. In response to a request in the op-ed, the students were given a time for the town hall meeting after spring break. Amieva-Wang said it was important to have this meeting so soon, even though the process was rushed. “The semester is ending, and the further you get, the harder it is to have full conversations,” Amieva-Wang said. Students worked to organize and publicize this meeting while also making an effort to include voices from each of the centers, according to AmievaWang. She said that misinformation passed around prior to the town hall and a lack of official, accurate information about this meeting were two major problems.

“We had asked the deans to disseminate information about this meeting, and they published information in the newsletter, but we had told them beforehand that we needed support that we did not feel that we got,” Amieva-Wang said. A group of students created a Facebook event and held a preparation meeting as a way to spread information, relying on their own personal connections, Amieva-Wang said. Although this meeting was rushed, both McMahon and Ou offered to meet again in the future to continue to discuss these issues. In the op-ed, the students asked for the presence of Dean of Arts and Sciences James Glaser and Dean of the School of Engineering Jianmin Qu at the meeting; however, neither of them attended the town hall. “It is kind of frustrating to come to meetings and be told that the people who are in the room can’t answer the questions that you ask,” Amieva-Wang said.

Police Briefs — Week of March 25 by Jenna Fleischer News Editor

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An exterior entrance to Eaton Hall is pictured on March 12, 2018.

At town hall meeting, students voice concerns about Group of Five centers GROUP OF FIVE

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One way to make a splash On March 14 at 12:11 p.m., Tufts University Police Department (TUPD) responded to a report of a chemical spill at 200 Boston Ave. An individual splashed ethidium bromide on their face and clothing. However, they were able to wipe away the chemical with minimal skin exposure. The individual signed a medical refusal. Need a lift? Later that day at 6:05 p.m., TUPD assisted an individual stuck in an elevator in Harleston Hall. The Medford Fire Department and Facilities Services were

also notified of the incident. The individual was freed after approximately 22 minutes, and the elevator company repaired the elevator. You(‘re supposed to) raise me up On March 18 at 12:53 a.m., TUPD assisted an individual stuck in an elevator in Tisch Library. The Medford Fire Department and Facilities Services were also notified. The individual was able to exit the elevator after approximately one hour, and the elevator company repaired the elevator. All poked up On March 25 at 9:29 a.m., TUPD responded to a report of an inju-

ry at Pearson Chemistry Laboratory. A student accidentally stuck themselves while working with a needle to dispense benzaldehyde. The student washed the affected area and signed a medical refusal.

Up a leak Later that day at 1:21 p.m., TUPD and the Tufts Fire Marshal were notified by Facilities Services of a natural gas leak at 574 Boston Ave. Based on the electricity and gas company National Grid’s readings, the building was evacuated. After approximately three hours, National Grid notified Facilities Services that the building was safe to occupy.

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Thursday, March 28, 2019 | News | THE TUFTS DAILY

4 Thursday, March 28, 2019

Douglas Berger Ripple Effect

The enemy of my voter

Features

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Tufts Lifting Club aims to expanding weightlifting community, make gym more accessible

he murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi and the conflict in Yemen have many questioning the United States’ relationship with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. A large plurality of Americans view Saudi Arabia as an unfriendly nation or an outright enemy, according to a YouGov poll, yet a long succession of administrations have treated the Kingdom as a close ally. Why the disconnect? On the surface it may seem an odd choice. That the American government actively supports an absolute monarchy wedded to Wahhabism with a human rights record similar to that of international pariahs like North Korea is certainly hypocritical. While Trump’s messaging style and diplomatic posture towards the country’s leaders is undoubtedly unique, his support for them is hardly novel. After all, it was Barack Obama who initiated U.S. support for the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen. Only after the Khashoggi murder focused media attention on our relationship with Saudi Arabia has Congress attempted to reign in the executive branch. Most media commentary on our relationship with Saudi Arabia rightly addresses the importance of oil, but fails to address the core motivations at work. The prime directive of the president and our elected representatives isn’t grand strategy or security in the Middle East — it’s getting reelected. At the heart of that calculation is us, the American voter. We should be wary of over-simplifying the gap between our government’s actions and the wishes of the people. An NPR article that ran last year had the title “Saudi Arabia: The White House Loves it. Most Americans? Not So Much.” True, but misleading. A little thought experiment may be in order. Which is more likely to get an American president voted out of office: Revelations that military aid to a dictatorship was used to kill civilians? Or a steep increase in gas prices? If the modern history of U.S. presidential elections is anything to go by, it’s the latter. No administration is eager to relive the oil embargoes of the 1970s. Voters may not like Saudi Arabia, but they appreciate affordable gas or at the very least won’t punish their elected officials for it. Oil markets are complicated, and Saudi Arabia is far from the only player, but centralized control of its oil production and a commanding position as OPEC’s largest producer give it powerful influence. Maintaining the importance of our relationship makes sense, as does boosting the Kingdom’s prospects in a region full of countries that we’d rather not want to be so influential over oil prices. American presidents support Saudi Arabia neither out of any love for the country, nor because of a dearth of democratic ideals. They do so because this is the realworld implication of the public’s desire for affordable oil. A change in administration won’t necessarily alter this calculation. American voters certainly don’t approve of dictatorships and human rights abuses. However, for this to strongly influence foreign policy, the media will have to increase focus on these issues or economic realities which spur support for dictators, like our reliance on oil, will have to change. Douglas is a senior studying international relations. Douglas can be reached at douglas.berger@tufts.edu.

COURTESY RYAN SHEEHAN

Members of the Tufts Lifting Club are pictured. by Sidharth Anand Staff Writer

The Tufts Lifting Club is aimed at encouraging and promoting health and wellness on campus by creating a community for those interested in weightlifting and powerlifting, according to club president Daniel Moon, a junior at Tufts. He spoke to finding a small community in the gym and the desire to expand that experience to the wider Tufts community. “Coming in to Tufts my first year, I was unfamiliar with the gym space, especially the weights area,” Moon said. “I was a bit wary about going there and seeing the same people there each time. But I soon began to get to know them and we formed a little community. My sophomore year, I began to think about why there wasn’t such a community for the entire campus. So some friends and I got together and created the club.” When discussing how the club was formed and who is involved, Moon said that he started it with juniors Paul Jin and Yves Chen, his friends who he knew had a lot of experience in the gym. In addition, he discussed the depth of experience other board members bring to the club. “Paul [Jin] and Sabrina [Lin] are trainers at the gym and Yves [Chen] is a competitive powerlifter, so we have many people from various backgrounds with various experiences that contribute to the club,” he said. Moon mentioned that the primary goal of the club is to ensure that students who don’t have the resources or space they need to workout in the gym find what they need. Specifically, for those who feel intimidated by those in the gym, the goal is to cater to them and to make them feel comfortable. Sophomore Sabrina Lin, the events officer of the club, echoed this sentiment. “I agreed with Moon’s vision to create a more inclusive environment within the gym,” she said. Lin said that she was involved with sports for a long time and that seeing the stigma associated with women in sports inspired her to get involved with the Tufts Lifting Club.

“There is a sense of nervousness [for women] when stepping into the gym where there are a lot of men in the space,” Lin said. “People look at lifting in general as belonging primarily to that group … but it is an activity that should be enjoyed by everyone.” She noted that her involvement also stems from her personal interest in health and wellness. “I am also a personal trainer at the gym. I can represent the club and help people with weightlifting as my profession as a part of my position,” she said. Jin discussed finding a community at the gym in his first year at Tufts as well as working with Moon and other current board members to create the club. “Coming in my first year, I did not really have a set social group on campus. There is a stigma associated with the people at the gym, but it is really supposed to be for everybody, so our goal is to make people more comfortable at the gym,” Jin said. Jin also said that his position as a trainer at the gym has been immensely helpful in meeting the goals of the club and increasing comfort at the gym. “Tufts Lifting Club, as a group, is not allowed to teach people at the gym as it becomes a liability. The only people who can are the trainers,” he said. “One of our goals is to make people feel empowered at the gym. We want to teach people the correct movements and exercises. In this sense, serving as a trainer has helped me and Sabrina [Lin] immensely.” Lin also mentioned the additional benefit of being a trainer at the gym. “We need to have credibility to label ourselves as the Tufts Lifting Club,” she says. “We are trying to help people outside the athletic realm, so we need a sense of expertise to help people.” In terms of events the group has organized, Jin, Moon and Lin talked about the Meet the Officers event that the club hosted recently. The objective was to allow students interested in lifting to get to know the leaders of the group and to make them more accessible.

“The event was geared towards people getting familiar with us and not just [seeing] us a presence at the gym,” Lin said. Jin also spoke about a form check event that the club recently hosted that allowed students to obtain help as they worked out. This encouraged people to work out and improve their health, Jin mentioned. “We want people to feel less judgement when [they] come in to the gym. We are trying to create [a] fun, inclusive environment.” he said. Jin also mentioned a personal long-term goal for events put on by the organization: having the club host a lift-a-thon. “The goal is to collaborate with someone who can donate money to a good cause. People can come and lift any weight they want, raising money for a certain amount of pounds lifted,” he said. Jin said that this is in line with the ultimate goal of the organization. “The Lift-A-Thon is aimed at taking things step-by-step for people who want to lift,” he said. Looking toward the future, both Moon and Lin discussed making the group more knowledge-based and expanding their partnerships with other fitness groups on campus. “We are trying to bring in other fitness professionals and experts to promote health wellness,” Lin said. Moon expanded upon this point. “One option we considered was to collaborate with club and varsity sports for an event,” Moon said. “This was an obvious option due to the shared interest in physical exercise and health.” Moon also talked about the desire to clear misconceptions about nutrition and health. “We are currently in the process of reaching out to some people at the nutrition school to get a guest speaker to talk to students about health and exercise,” Moon said. “We want to work with other student health groups. Partnering can help show the stigma of weightlifting and can show the aspects of weightlifting that improve your life. Ultimately, we want to expand [as a club] to make weightlifting … a part of your life. It is a great way to improve all aspects of health.”

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WEEKENDER

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Women’s Lives in View shines a spotlight on women in film

COURTESY OF WOMEN’S LIVES IN VIEW

The promotional poster for Women’s Lives in View is pictured. by John Fedak Arts Editor

On Thursday, March 28, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)’s annual Women Take the Reel film festival will make its way to Tufts through Women’s Lives in View at Tufts, a screening of a collection of short films. The festival was founded by individuals from the MIT’s Women’s and Gender Studies department involved in the Consortium for Graduate Studies in Gender, Culture, Women, and Sexuality. The films are all directed by women and focus on topics relating to gender, race, sexuality, class and feminism. Jennifer Burton, a professor of the practice in Tufts’ Film and Media Studies (FMS) Department, explained the idea behind the festival. “The idea is to get communities who are interested in representations of women or in women film directors together across different communities … Tufts is part of this initiative, and we do an event through Women Take the Reel every year,” Jennifer Burton said. Ursula Burton, Professor Burton’s sister and an actor, director and producer who has performed on shows such as “The Office” (2005– 2013), emphasized the importance of shining a spotlight on women who work behind the camera. She spoke about the pervasive lack of women in production roles. “Out of all the top grossing movies … seven percent of women are directing them,” she said. “Meanwhile, women are coming out of film school at fifty-fifty … There’s a bigger problem happening.” Festivals like Women Take the Reel increase the visibility of women in film, and the passionate community response to such events challenges preconceived notions about films with female-driven stories. “For example, one thing it’s shown is that there’s a market for seeing complex women’s lives on screen. People go to the movies, they watch these things on television, right? … Always, the argument was that actually, the market is driven by teenage boys, or … these

kinds of market ideas, but … most tickets are bought by women,” Jennifer Burton said. Jennifer Burton teaches classes on advanced filmmaking and directing in the FMS department. She is focused on drawing as many people to the classroom as possible to tell stories that go beyond those in a typical mainstream movie. “We’re actually making extra efforts like having the Tufts Women in Filmmaking Group, like encouraging these different filmmakers to come to campus so that people see themselves represented in the professional world … These kinds of efforts, I think, are building on Tufts’ values of equality, equality of representation and of opportunity,” Jennifer Burton said. Women’s Lives in View at Tufts will carry this spirit of inclusion forward. The collection consists of short films produced by Professor Burton and Five Sisters Productions, a production company based in Los Angeles, Calif. and run by both Ursula and Jennifer Burton in addition to their three other sisters. Jennifer Burton explained that Women’s Lives in View at Tufts would be structured as a conversation. She explained that they will show a series of shorts, some from the “Half the History” series, which highlights under-acknowledged stories about American women. A question-and-answer session about the films will follow. Material at Women’s Lives in View at Tufts ranges from “Half the History” to work done by other producers. Gabrielle Burton, another Burton sister who recently directed a feature documentary called “Kings, Queens & In-Betweens” (2017), about drag culture in Columbus, Ohio, will be at the event. Ursula Burton spoke about an untitled, unfinished work in progress that will be shown at the festival. It explores the intersections of age and gender as the piece centers around two older sisters in their nineties. “It’s very rare to see older people at all on screen, and then to see older women on screen, and then to see them talking about their lives as opposed to just … their grandchildren. We’re not used to seeing them talking about, like, ‘Should I start dating again?'” Ursula Burton

said. “I’m also very interested in gender issues, and I have a film about how we inadvertently or unintentionally gender our children, even when we think we’re not.” Jennifer Burton said that the “Half the History” short film about Shirley Chisholm, the first black woman elected to the U.S. Congress, would also be on view. The film is co-directed by Jennifer and Ursula Burton. “It was important that Ursula was here because all of these different threads … It takes so many filmmakers to even make a dent in the billions of stories that need to be told,” Jennifer Burton said. Since the films at Women’s Lives in View at Tufts are short films, there will be plenty of opportunity for discussion in between each showing, and each entry will explore women’s unique struggles and triumphs. “I feel like what happens is that [when] people start to tell these stories, people look to them as like, ‘That’s the female experience.’ But the point is that … you need to have a gazillion stories out there before you even get a sense of what … the female experience [is],” Ursula Burton said. Of course, filmmaking is about more than storytelling, since it requires a high level of technical knowledge. Through her work in the classroom, Jennifer Burton is also empowering students of all backgrounds in order to help them tell their individual stories, something that she hopes Women’s Lives in View at Tufts accomplishes as well. “One thing that we’re trying to do is make sure that people who have the desire to learn technical or narrative techniques are encouraged to develop their talents to the fullest at Tufts … We’re trying very consciously at Tufts to make sure that people who have the desire to develop themselves as film artists have the opportunities,” Jennifer Burton said. Although there are many problems facing the film industry, especially when it comes to the lack of support provided for women in the field, both Burton sisters had plenty of advice for aspiring filmmakers. “Being an artist is challenging. It’s a difficult life in many ways, and I think you really

need to be passionate about the projects you pick, because you end up working a long time on each one. I think sometimes people start and they say, oh I’ll dabble in this or do this little thing. And I think that it always ends up being a lot more time than you think. So you really want to love the project you’re working on,” Ursula Burton said. Jennifer Burton spoke about the importance of technology in filmmaking. “I have so much advice … I think there’s such an opportunity now with the revolution in technology that everyone can learn something about cinematography. Everyone can learn something about sound recording … Particularly for people interested in directing, we have this opportunity to take these classes at Tufts which give you access to the equipment, and you can learn what your vision is,” Jennifer Burton said. As for what’s next for the sisters, they already have many projects in the works, including a film that’s part of “Half the History.” The short film is about two female composers: Florence Price, who was the first black woman to have a symphony performed by a major orchestra, and Amy Beach, who was one of the most famous composers of her time. The film will explore how race and gender affected their ability to get published. Shooting starts the same day as Women’s Lives in View at Tufts. Jennifer Burton said she was excited to start working on this new project. “The first day of shooting is at the Eustis Estate, which is this incredible historic home in Milton, and they have given us permission to film there. It was the house for Amy Beach … And so having this location, which is just phenomenally beautiful … is incredible. So we will actually just be coming directly from filming there … We’ll … talk about the experience of just having shot [during] the hours right before the screening,” Jennifer Burton said. Women’s Lives in View at Tufts takes place on Thursday, March 28 from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. in the Crane Room. The event is free to attend. Refreshments will be served. RSVPs can be e-mailed to WSGG@tufts.edu.

Thursday, March 28, 2019 | FUN & GAMES | THE TUFTS DAILY

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F &G FUN & GAMES

LATE NIGHT AT THE DAILY Grace: “I like cold chicken nuggets because I am a sociopath.”

SUDOKU

LINDA C. BLACK ASTROLOGY

Aries (March 21–April 19)

The next two days bring career movement. Another route to fulfill a fantasy opens. Unexpected love or money tempts. Watch for hidden dangers.

Difficulty Level: Trying to make a fire playlist.

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Ria Mazumdar Peripheries

Testing the world’s largest democracy

ine-hundred million people will be eligible to vote in the 2019 Indian general election starting on April 11. The Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) led by Narendra Modi is seeking re-election after their landslide victory in 2014. The Economist described Modi as ideologically “at the fringe” of even his own nationalist party. However, the world seems to be experiencing a bout of historical amnesia as to just how problematic Modi is. Modi was the chief minister of Gujarat in 2002, when violence against Muslims in Gujarat resulted in the deaths of over one thousand and displaced around 150,000 over the course of two months. Amid widespread allegations that the BJP and allied Hindu forces aided and even instigated the violence, Narendra Modi was actually denied entry into the U.S. due to his involvement in the riots. After denying the allegations, he was completely unapologetic, saying that he was satisfied with his handling of the riots. Now, as Modi holds the position of prime minister, attitudes toward the politician have drastically changed, as has the political relationship between the U.S. and India. Trump has called Modi a “friend” and declared in numerous campaign speeches that he is a “big fan of Hindus.” Moreover, Hindu nationalists have called Donald Trump a “hero,” rallying behind his Islamophobic rhetoric and including his image in ceremonies of worship. Reciprocally, Hindu nationalists in the U.S. are among Donald Trump’s biggest supporters. Americans studying domestic politics and polling need to understand this dynamic in order to get at the root cause behind the rise of this particular group. In our globalized world, where the distance between political events across the globe is shrinking, it is imperative to understand that ideology spreads. Even if Americans don’t have a personal stake in the elections of India or Brazil or aren’t directly affected by Brexit, populism and xenophobia have ultimately become global phenomena that must be addressed accordingly. Americans who express moral outrage over leaders in Zimbabwe and Saudi Arabia have not spent as much energy condemning Modi in India. This may be partly because much attention has been drawn to Modi’s economic policy — exactly as he intended. Both Modi and Trump coat their right-wing policies in the facades of development, job growth and prosperity. The parallels between economic discourse, border security and xenophobia under Trump and Modi are eerie. However, while Trump’s treatment of immigrants has rightly received massive press coverage, Modi’s disenfranchisement of millions of Muslims in Assam has barely been discussed in national media. It shouldn’t take an episode of “Patriot Act” (2018–) for people in America to realize that something has gone badly wrong in India (although it is certainly worth a watch). Those who care about human rights and politics at home ultimately do have a stake in politics abroad, especially in a country that is directly emboldened by the rhetoric of our president and his base. This April, we all have a duty to pay attention to India. Global democracy is at stake. Ria Mazumdar is a junior studying quantitative economics and international relations. Ria can be reached at ria.mazumdar@tufts.edu.

Opinion

Thursday, March 28, 2019

OP-ED

Members of the class of 1994 support dining workers Dear President Monaco, We are alumni of the Class of 1994. We are writing to express our concern with how the university is reportedly conducting labor negotiations with the Tufts Dining Services staff. According to a report in the Spare Change newspaper, employees who have been with Tufts for more than a decade are still making minimum wage and can barely afford health insurance. One worker reported living in Lawrence, Mass. to afford housing. From reporting by the Daily, it appears that the university is employing individuals full-time, for long periods of time, and yet classifying them as “temporary” to avoid providing them benefits. Both news outlets reported that workers were treated disrespectfully — like commodities — in the workplace and that the university

appears to be dragging out negotiations as well as treating the workers with disrespect while negotiating. None of this is acceptable at a university that instilled an ethic of community engagement, mutual respect and service in its students. When we were at Tufts, the focus of our education was not only on our coursework but on preparing us to be members of a global community. Tufts recently introduced a major focused on civic engagement, and we find this especially problematic given the reporting we have read on labor negotiations with Tufts Dining Services staff. Of course, we recognize that every story has two sides and that the university may have a story to present that we have not seen reported. We would like to think that Tufts, given the values

the university endeavored to instill in us when we were students, would do the right thing: Negotiate in good faith; provide workers with a wage that allows them to live near where they work and with benefits; and classify full-time employees as such and not as “temporary” workers without benefits. The university, which in 2017 reported a $1.8 billion endowment, can absorb these costs. There is no reason to externalize them onto those who are least able to bear them.

Rebecca G. Pontikes (LA ’94), Madhu Unnikrishnan (LA ’94), Haruko Matsuda (Katsurai), (E ’94) Madhu Unnikrishnan, Haruko Matsuda and Rebecca Pontikes are members of the class of 1994.

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Thursday, March 28, 2019 | Sports | THE TUFTS DAILY

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Women's tennis prepares for conference matches

Arjun Balaraman Off the Crossbar

WOMEN'S TENNIS

continued from page back Iwasaki won her match, winning the first set in tiebreakers (7–3) and finishing the second set 6–1. Iwasaki’s victory tied the team with the Bulldogs 3–3. The last three matches of the day were intense games of catch and chase. At No. 3, Obeid beat opponent Jackie Lacy in tiebreakers 7–2, earning the Jumbos’ first lead of the day at 4–3. Riley, the No. 4 seed, lost to her opponent Karen Kobayashi in tiebreakers 6–4. At No. 5, Kiara Rose clinched the win for the Jumbos with her match also going into tiebreakers, 6–2. Obeid commented on her teammates playing both single and doubles matches. “Our coach [Kate Bayard] does not want us, the players, to know what we’re playing in advance because she does not want us to think about it too much,” Obeid said. “Coach Bayard will usually let us know the day of the match what we are playing. This strategy makes sense because if she tells us in advance, then you are left wondering why you are placed where she placed you. When you’re stepping onto the court and coach tells you last minute what you are playing, there is no time to think about her decision and all you have to do is focus what you’re about to do on the court.” According to Frankel, when the team had some spare time during the trip, they would practice on public courts around the Los Angeles area to refine their skills. “We grinded out there,” Frankel said. “We practiced a bunch of doubles and as a group. We also played a little bit of queen of the court [a fun tennis game] and some hitting practice so we could get in the groove.” Nevertheless, the trip also had a relaxing side; during the rest of their free time, the players would eat out together and visit famous sites around Los Angeles. Frankel spoke about the bonding experiences she had throughout the trip. “I feel like we got to know each other a lot better because we spent a lot of time

Money well spent

BEN KIM /THE TUFTS DAILY ARCHIVES

Senior Otilia Popa prepares to return a shot during a doubles match in the women’s tennis home game against Williams at the Voute Tennis Courts on April 28, 2018. together off the court, sometimes doing day trips around Cali; we went to Laguna Beach one day and then another day we went to Newport Beach,” Frankel said. “It was my first time in Cali so it was all exciting.”

Tufts plays conference rival and No. 10-ranked Bowdoin on Friday at 3 p.m. on the Voute Tennis Courts, followed by another home match against Wesleyan on Sunday at the same time.

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he UEFA Champions League has long been Europe’s most prestigious club competition, and while the English Premier League (EPL) is widely considered to be the most competitive league in the world, its teams have struggled recently in this tournament. Since Chelsea lifted the trophy in 2012, the number of English teams in the quarterfinals of the tournament has been zero, two, zero, one, one and two, while Spanish and German teams like Barcelona, Real Madrid and Bayern Munich dominate the latter stages of the competition. But the times may be changing. This year, four of the last eight teams are from the sport’s founding country, England. The Spanish league is known for its quick, technical, passing play, the Italian league for its sturdy defenses and voracious counterattacks and the German league for its machine-like, disciplined style. The EPL is often considered to be a more physical, aggressive game that’s great for marketing purposes — especially for a growing English-speaking American market — but can’t compete at the highest level. So why the resurgence of English soccer on the European scene? Much of the cause of this renaissance can be traced back to 2012 when the EPL inked a gargantuan $3 billion TV broadcast deal with Sky Sports and BT Sport that, according to The Guardian, gave the league a 71 percent income boost. Teams used these riches to recruit the best playing and coaching talent from around the world. The results have been apparent: Liverpool’s magical run to the final last season was the first time since 2012 that an English side had a serious chance to lift the trophy. This season, with four teams in the last eight, we could easily have an all-English final, the first since 2008. It’s no coincidence that the English club teams’ form in Europe has coincided with the incredible run of its national team to the semifinals of the World Cup in Russia last summer. Chants of “It’s coming home!” rang through the nation as the team’s heroics captured the hearts of fans. But this is not a new trend. Over the past few years, as teams from Spain and Germany have dominated the scene on the club side, their national teams have been dominant as well: Spain won the 2010 World Cup and 2012 European Championship, while Germany won the 2014 World Cup, coinciding with Barcelona and Bayern Munich’s runs in the Champions League, respectively. The English national team’s success owed much to the same EPL broadcast deal. Like many European leagues, the EPL also has restrictions on the numbers of foreign players on each team. While clubs filled their rosters with senior, experienced international players, they also spent a lot of money on their academies and youth teams to identify and train talented young English players. Playing with the new, raised level of talent had a demonstrable positive impact on the development of these young players. Now, seven years on from that TV deal, the amount of young talent in England is astounding. Players like 19-year-old Jadon Sancho and 18-year-old Callum HudsonOdoi have already found their way into the national team setup, and the Three Lions have a promising young core who could achieve major success in years to come.

Arjun Balaraman is a sophomore studying quantitative economics. Arjun can be reached at arjun.balaraman@tufts.edu.

12 tuftsdaily.com

Sports

Thursday, March 28, 2019

Men’s tennis gains momentum during trip to California by Tim Chiang

Assistant Sports Editor

Despite struggling in their opening matches of the season, the No. 22 Jumbos (4–3) tallied several key victories over their spring break trip to California. Tufts defeated No. 28 George Fox 7–2 on Friday and squeezed past No. 34 Redlands 5–4 on Saturday to close out their trip with two wins. The Jumbos also took down No. 12 Sewanee (6–3) and No. 24 Denison (8–1), while falling to No. 29 Caltech (3–6) and No. 14 Pomona-Pitzer (2–7). Reflecting back on the trip, coach Karl Gregor expressed his confidence in the team for this season. “We finished strong,” Gregor said. “The start was a little choppy with outdoor tennis and still some early jitters. We really haven’t played particularly well as a team though we’ve had individuals play well. We have guys that lack a little confidence, but if they can get there in the next month, we’ll be in a really good spot.” Gregor also added how the skill set in Div. III men’s tennis is unusually uniform this year. “Unlike most years where there’s a few dominant teams, there’s no real standout [team] this year and everyone’s beating everyone,” Gregor said. “We can beat those top 10 teams and even get an outside shot at NCAAs if we upset two higher-ranked NESCAC teams.” Redlands registered the first point on the scoreboard at No. 3 doubles on Saturday. The Tufts team of sophomore Niko Hereford and senior co-captain Ross Kamin lost to senior Chase Lipscomb and junior Andrew Leahy, Redlands’ top two singles players, 8–0. Yet the Jumbos continued to display their impressive form in doubles as sophomore Carl-Herman Grant and junior Zach Shaff broke past first-years Andrew Yip and Thomas Reznik 8–5 to level the score at 1–1. The duo of sophomore Boris Sorkin and junior Nathan Niemiec closed out an 8–3 victory over junior Brad Cummins and sophomore Brysl Libao to earn the Jumbos a key 2–1 lead heading out of doubles. The Redlands Bulldogs quickly bit back as Lipscomb took down Sorkin in straight sets at No. 1 singles, 6–1, 6–3. Sorkin, the No. 1 ranked player in Div. III, has been a powerhouse at the top of the lineup for the Jumbos this season, and this marked just his second loss in singles of the season.

At No. 3 singles, Tufts regained a 3–2 lead as first-year Isaac Gorelik fought through a tight first set before downing Reznik, 7–5, 6–2. The back-and-forth affair continued as Redlands leveled the score yet again at No. 5 singles where Libao defeated Grant, 6–2, 6–4. Still, the Jumbos later managed to tally another key victory at No. 6 singles when sophomore Owen Bartok swept past Yip in straight sets, 6–4, 6–1. With Tufts leading 4–3, all eyes were locked on the matches at No. 2 and No. 4 singles as a win in either would seal the win for the Jumbos. The pressure built as both contests went the distance to a decisive third set. At No. 2 singles, the 6’9” first-year Paris Pentousis, a native of Thessaloniki, Greece, dug deep to clinch the match for Tufts after dropping the second set, 6–2, 4–6, 6–3. “Being the clincher for the team felt great,” Pentousis said. “From the second set, I knew that I would have to play better as I felt my opponent coming back … Even though I tried to adjust my game and play on a higher level, I was not able to at first. [But] I went into the third set strong [and] feeling confident that I would win.” Despite losing their first two matches of the season to Brandeis and Caltech, Tufts bounced back in its third match of their spring break trip with a 6–3 upset victory over Sewanee on March 17. Among several highly competitive doubles matches, Pentousis and Bartok defeated the junior duo of Jordan Brewer and Hayden Loeb in a tight tiebreaker 8–7, 7–4. The Jumbos also displayed resilience in singles; junior Ben Biswas battled back from a set down to defeat first-year Brandon Kali, 4–6, 6–1, 6–1. Although Tufts heads into this season with a relatively young roster, the team has had plenty of opportunities to develop toughness over their series of matches throughout the trip. “We are training hard,” Pentousis said. “Everybody feels very confident about their game after finishing spring break with six matches. We have learned a lot and hope to use that to win against Amherst and Wesleyan this weekend.”

BEN KIM / THE TUFTS DAILY ARCHIVES

Sophomore Owen Bartok prepares to return a shot in a game against Bowdoin at the Voute Tennis Courts on April 28, 2018. Gregor also noted the importance of recovery after returning from a long stretch of competitive play in California and the advantage of coming in as the underdogs. “We need to make sure everyone’s healthy after a long week, and [we] got to get re-acclimated to outdoor New England tennis,” Gregor said. “To win we need to be consistently good with all the little things. We lose [when] our guys

go for too much [and commit unforced errors].” Coming off of back-to-back wins over George Fox and Redlands, Tufts looks forward to its first conference matchups against NESCAC rivals, squaring off at No. 7 Amherst on Saturday and at home against No. 8 Wesleyan on Sunday. “[Amherst and Wesleyan] are both good,” Gregor said. “We’ll be the underdogs going in with a little less pressure.”

Back from California, women’s tennis to play home games against Bowdoin, Wesleyan by Jason Schwartz Staff Writer

The No. 8 Tufts women’s tennis team (3–2, 2–0 NESCAC) returned from their spring trip to Southern California last Sunday. With five games in a week across the Los Angeles area, the team was on the move. On March 23, Tufts fell to No. 4 PomonaPitzer 7–2 in the team’s final spring break match-up. All three doubles matches were close-run occasions, with Tufts losing by no more than two points. With the stage set after a sweep in the doubles, Pomona clinched the win with victories at the No. 2 and No. 3 positions. Despite the team’s defeat, first-years Caroline Garrido and Nicole Frankel recorded victories in singles in three sets for Tufts.

“I did not get to play many singles before that day, so I was really pumped to play,” Frankel said. “Everyone else finished before me, and so my team was watching my match, there was a lot of excitement and cheering and the good type of pressure.” Sophomore Patricia Obeid spoke about Frankel’s standout performance and the excitement from watching her play. “I was very impressed by the way she played on that day; she was out there for a while. It was really exciting to cheer her on at the very end. I’d say she was the standout player of the day,” Obeid said. A day before, the Jumbos won their match against NESCAC rivals and No. 5-ranked Williams. The Ephs were semifinalists in last year’s nation-

al tournament. In a inspiring upset, the Jumbos beat the Ephs, ending an 28-year winning drought against the Ephs, dating back to 1991. The No. 1 doubles pair, comprised of first-year standout stars Maggie Dorr and Garrido, won their match 8–3 against Williams’ senior Leah Bush and junior Chloe Henderson, the eighthbest duo in the country at the end of the fall season. The victory lifted the team’s hopes and confidence and carried the team through the match. Frankel swiftly defeated her opponent 6–4, 6–2. Senior Tomo Iwasaki won her match 7–6, 6–2 at the second position, putting the Jumbos up 4–1. No. 3 Obeid won her match 6–3, 6–1, clinching the Jumbos’ victory.

On March 19, the Jumbos faced the No. 2 Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Athenas, losing 9–0. Doubles duo Riley and Lowry put up the most points in a match, losing by only two points, 8–6. The Athenas, who were last year’s Div. III champions, demonstrated their superiority in the match. The team’s California saga began with a hard-fought 5–4 win against Redlands Bulldogs of Redlands, Calif. On the doubles front, the Jumbos lost two of their three matches. First-year No. 6 Anna Lowy and junior Kat Riley were the sole doubles winners for the Jumbos. The Jumbos won their first singles match courtesy of Lowy 6–1, 6–0 to level the overall match score at 2–2.

see WOMEN'S TENNIS, page 11