The Tufts Daily - Tuesday, March 3, 2020

Local author Kamali discusses creative process, gives advice for future writers see FEATURES / PAGE 3

DAILY EXCLUSIVE

Enes Kanter speaks with Daily staff about life

Leshem talks writing ‘Incitement,’ docudrama of 1995 assassination of Israeli prime minister see ARTS&LIVING / PAGE 4

SEE SPORTS / PAGE 7

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VOLUME LXXIX, ISSUE 25

Tuesday, March 3, 2020

MEDFORD/SOMERVILLE, MASS.

Budget constraints permit less than half of projected learning space renovations

by Sarah Sandlow

Assistant News Editor

A 2014 study on the status of learning spaces on the Medford/Somerville campus found that over 200 classrooms and other spaces needed renovations over five years. In the years since, however, only 68 have been upgraded due to the available budget, according to Senior Campus Planner Heidi Sokol.

Sokol said the goals of the 2014 study included a learning space physical assessment, stakeholder market research, space utilization assessment, analysis of administrative and scheduling processes and recommenda-

see CLASSROOMS, page 2

SEOHYUN SHIM / THE TUFTS DAILY ARCHIVES

Ballou Hall is pictured on April 11, 2017.

by Daniel Weinstein News Editor

More than 1,000 delegates will be allocated in today’s primary elections that are being held across 14 states in addition to American Samoa. Here are the latest polling and polling averages for some of the states in which the remaining candidates will compete for the Democratic nomination for president.

California – 415 delegates Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders leads at 33%, followed by former Vice President Joe Biden (18.3%) and former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg (13%), according to polling as recent as March 1.

Polls close in California at 11 p.m. EST. Colorado – 67 delegates Sanders leads the field with 27% of support, followed distantly by Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren (15%), according to a late February poll conducted by Magellan Strategies.

Polls close at 9 p.m. EST. Maine – 24 delegates Sanders leads the northernmost state in the union at 25%, according to a poll conducted in mid-February

by Colby College. The next cluster of candidates includes former South Bend, Ind. Mayor Pete Buttigieg (16%), who suspended his campaign on March 1, Bloomberg (14%) and Biden (12%). Polls close at 8 p.m. EST. Massachusetts – 91 delegates Sanders, at 24%, holds a slim lead over Warren (22%) in the state she represents as its senior senator, according to a recent Boston Globe/Suffolk poll. Bloomberg (13%), a Medford, Mass. native, trails the progressive leaders by more than 10 percentage points. Polls close at 8 p.m. EST. Minnesota – 75 delegates The Land of 10,000 Lakes and its 75 delegates appear up for grabs after Minnesota Senator Amy Klobuchar, who was leading in the polls with 29%, dropped out of the race yesterday. Sanders (23%) trailed Klobuchar by six points in a mid-February poll, followed by Warren (11%). Polls close at 9 p.m. EST. North Carolina – 110 delegates Fresh off a commanding victory in South Carolina’s primary on Saturday, Biden looks set to carry its neighboring state with 26.7% support in an average of recent polls. Sanders (23.3%) and Bloomberg (15%) also have significant backing. Polls close at 7:30 p.m. EST. Texas – 228 delegates Sanders carries a narrow lead in the Lone Star State, at 30.5% in an average of recent polls. Biden (26%) follows close behind, with Warren (15.5%) trailing. Bloomberg (14.5%), who spent nearly $10 million in Texas, is polling fourth. Polls close at 8 p.m. EST. Virginia – 99 delegates Sanders, at 28% holds a nine-point lead over Biden (19%) and an 11-point lead over Bloomberg (17%) in the most recent survey, conducted by Data for Progress. Polls close at 7 p.m. EST. Caleb Symons and Tom Guan contributed reporting to this article.

- Robert Kaplan

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Law Day on the Hill attracts alumni, students for discussion on contemporary issues

tions for learning space improvements and associated cost estimates.

Paul Bergen, educational technology and learning spaces director, explained that Tufts worked with a consulting firm to examine environmental factors, furnishings and capacity, among other qualities in these learning spaces. Over the past five years, as the project has continued, emphasis was placed on community engagement to inform renovation goals.

“The study was designed to help us prioritize upgrades to physical conditions, optimize space utilization and scheduling policies, and

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The Tufts Lawyers Association and Tufts Career Center partnered to invite alumni and interested students to attend the 18th Law Day on the Hill last Thursday evening in the Alumnae Lounge.

The annual event allowed current students to explore career prospects in law and learn from alumni who work in the field.

After hearing from a panel of alumni, who shared their journeys and thoughts on current issues in constitutional and electoral law, students had the opportunity to network and speak with alumni one-on-one.

The panel this year included Kevin Lownds (LA’09), a managing attorney at the Massachusetts Attorney General’s Office; Stephen Wermiel (LA’72), a professor of practice of law at the Washington College of Law at American University; Matthew Shapanka (LA’09), an associate attorney at Covington & Burling LLP, and Patrick Roath (LA’09), former deputy policy director for Deval Patrick’s presidential campaign, Deval for All. Andre Baynes (LA’91), the co-chair of Law Day on the Hill and a senior legal counsel at Fidelity Investments, introduced the panel. After sharing the alumni’s profiles, Baynes asked each panelist to speak about the journey to their current position. Baynes also asked the panelists to impart advice to current students.

Lownds, the first panelist to speak, advised students to experiment with different types of law while embarking on their paths, as he did.

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“It is difficult when you’re in law school to identify an area particular of the law that is going to be a useful focus for you,” Lownds said. “It is useful during law school to go to the firm and try different types of law.”

Wermiel, the second panelist, shared a different approach—he first spent time as a journalist covering the Supreme Court while attending law school at night; he went on to teach law, deciding eventually to continue his role as a law professor.

“I was energized by students, still am — so I switched to teaching law, which I have been doing for the last 30 years,” Wermiel said.

Shapanka, the third speaker, shared that he knew he wanted to go into law since he was 12, and stated that after studying at Harvard Law School, he now works to prevent election fraud, among other duties.

“I went to a law firm that had a practice in election law,” Shapanka said. “I got an opportunity to be where the action was and got paid for it. So, I graduated law school, I came back to work in a firm and I was fortunate enough to work in those practice groups.”

Roath, the fourth panelist, discussed his trajectory working for former Massachusetts Governor and 2009 commencement speaker Deval Patrick, and he explained how he came to view obtaining a law degree as an outlet for developing a diverse set of skills that allows entry into various career paths.

“It seemed like getting a law degree gave you the opportunity to have your profession, develop your own skillset, go in and out of

NEWS............................................1 FEATURES.................................3 ARTS & LIVING.......................4

see LAW DAY, page 2

FUN & GAMES.........................5 OPINION.....................................6 SPORTS............................ BACK

2

THE TUFTS DAILY | News | Tuesday, March 3, 2020

THE TUFTS DAILY Ryan Shaffer Editor in Chief

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CLASSROOMS

continued from page 1 to be sure as many of our classrooms as possible are equipped to support modern pedagogical practices,” Bergen wrote in an email to the Daily.

Alicia Russell, former associate director of the Center for the Enhancement of Learning and Teaching, explained that pedagogical goals were prioritized by the faculty learning committee that focused on learning spaces.

Russell said that learning spaces should allow students to actively engage with content, include a range of technology to support different ways of teaching and learning and promote engagement between peers and the instructor.

Eight rooms were selected for renovation in 2020 across East Hall, Mugar Hall, the Cabot Intercultural Center, Olin Hall and Tisch Library, according to the Learning Spaces Planning and Upgrades website. The Learning Spaces Planning Group is working with Jones Architecture to continue its goal of improving learning spaces on the Tufts campus.

Sokol said construction in these spaces will begin the day after commencement this summer.

“Learning Spaces Upgrades 2020 is under design, and will soon be bid to contractors within the month,” Sokol said. “[For] Learning Spaces Upgrades 2021, learning space identification is ongoing with the Working Group [and] a set of spaces will be determined by mid-summer.”

Sokol further explained that some of the goals to be focused on for the improvement of these learning spaces included fixing the

the law practice, maybe do government or public service and do different things with it,” Roath said. “So I took the risk of going to law school and really liked it a lot.”

The panelists then proceeded to share their thoughts about the prospect of taking time off and gaining work experience before pursuing a law degree. All the panelists, even those who did not take time off, shared that they view taking time off as extremely beneficial.

“I took two years, and for me that was the right decision,” Roath said. “I just wasn’t sure. [Law School] was in my head, but I wasn’t sure I wanted to do it.

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seating arrangements to right-size the classrooms for the amount of students, improving the furniture, replacing and adding different writing surfaces and upgrading the lighting in the classrooms.

Russell noted that student and faculty feedback is welcomed to improve upon previous work and to apply it to future projects. She added that a questionnaire is released following the completion of a project to see how well it met the participants’ goals.

Bergen said after Lois Stanley, former director of campus planning, left Tufts in 2019, the process of renovating learning spaces around campus has continued unaffected.

“We’ve increased the faculty engagement with the work group itself,” Bergen said. “And, we continue to improve our processes and procedures.”

Other than the selection of learning spaces to be renovated after the conclusion of this academic year, the Learning Spaces Planning

Committee is not looking towards any newB construction projects in the future, accordinga to Bergen.

K With respect to the state of Eaton Hall,S which suffered ceiling damage in January,( Bergen said that two rooms in Eaton Hall wereK renovated under this project two years ago,a but the challenge remains that the needs oft the classrooms exceed the resources availablea to upgrade them.

Russell explained that the renovation proj-b ect is an ongoing process that has to maintain a balance between the available budget andr the needs of different disciplines. a “Tufts has not been able to afford to do allh of the spaces that needed to be done,” RussellI said. “Even when you’ve completed a space,r it’s a rolling process so that by the time youp complete a set of spaces they need to be donel again … It’s just ongoing so I think there willt always be things that need to be done, but Im think Tufts has made a lot of progress.” s u d

I needed to get out in the world, have a year or two, and see what the other options were.”

After discussing the prospect of taking time off before attending law school, the discussion then opened to field students’ questions for the panel.

One student asked how the panelists’ personal opinions factor into their careers and how they juggle their personal views with their assignments.

“The short answer is politics is involved in anything,” Shapanka said. “You can [have] the best policy and the best plans, but you have to have some plan to navigate the politics of state legislature, congress, interest groups, etc. You have to know everyone’s interests and how to compromise.”

Sophomores Joshua Hochberg andf Katherine Stiplosek attended Law Day to learn more about the diverse career pathsr within the field and to gather advice from( the array of panelists.

L “I thought it was very interesting tol hear different paths people took gettingi into the legal industry and going to lawo school,” Hochberg said. “It was great toC hear about all the different options thatb exist.” h “The idea of law stretches into so many arenas and I want to be a lawyer, but I dot not completely know what that means,” Stiplosek said. “Attending Tufts Law Day isb an opportunity to see first hand what beinge a lawyer is and what daily life for differentf lawyers looks like and all the fields that lawr extends into.” i a t b Civil and Environmental Engineering Seminar. o Where and when: Room 253, Robinson Hall,b 12–1 p.m. s SATURDAY e “Tufts x NEC Dual Degree Concert” A Details: Classical, jazz and original musicall compositions will be performed at this semes-t ter’s concert of undergraduate students enrolledm in the dual degree program at the New Englandw Conservatory.

Where and when: Distler Performance Hall, Perry and Marty Granoff Music Center, 8–10 p.m.

SUNDAY “Tufts Sunday Concert Series – Tufts Wind Ensemble: From the Heart of Europe” Details: John McCann will direct the Tufts Wind Ensemble in its next concert, featuring the works of Dvořák, Mendelssohn, Wagner, Hindemith and Janáček. Soprano soloist Jillian Carelli, a senior at the Boston Conservatory at the Berklee College of Music, will premiere composer Mark Bolan Konigsmark’s “Ra” (2020) alongside the Tufts Wind Ensemble.

Where and when: Distler Performance Hall, Granoff Music Center, 3–5 p.m.

Events on the Hill – Week of March 1

by Robert Kaplan

Executive News Editor

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A classroom in Eaton Hall is pictured on Feb. 20.

Alumni, students discuss career paths in law continued from page 1

Elie Levine

Rebecca Barker Jillian Rolnick Anna Hirshman David Levitsky Hannah Wells Abigail Zielinski Cole Wolk Sophie Elia Yiyun Tom Guan Makenna Law Grace Prendergast Mariel Priven Kate Seklir Ethan Steinberg Rae Sun Russell Yip Brendan Hartnett

8 classrooms to be renovated in 2020

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TUESDAY “Civic Life Lunch – Black Power & Rethinking U.S. History” Details: Professor Rhonda Y. Williams, the John L. Seigenthaler Chair in American History at Vanderbilt University, will visit Tufts today to discuss her prolific research on the history and experiences of low-income black women and other marginalized people, which reconsiders U.S. history with respect to ideas about black liberation movements, civil rights and more.

Where and when: Rabb Room, Jonathan M. Tisch College of Civic Life, Barnum Hall, 12–1 p.m.

WEDNESDAY “I-Club x LAC Presents: The Evolution of Reggaetón” Details: The Tufts International Club and Latin American Committee will explore the origins and social and political ramifications of reggaetón music, which developed in the late 20th century from the joint influences of

Latin American and Caribbean music styles and American hip hop.

Where and when: Room 202, Eaton Hall, 6–7 p.m.

THURSDAY “Embodied Brains, Social Minds, Cultural Meaning: The Role of Emotion in Learning, WellBeing, and Civic Engagement” Details: Dr. Mary Helen Immordino-Yang, professor of education, psychology and neuroscience at the University of Southern California, will discuss the relationship between social-emotional learning and civic engagement. Provost and Senior Vice President Nadine Aubry will deliver opening remarks. Registration is required in advance.

Where and when: Multipurpose room, Curtis Hall, 4–5:30 p.m.

FRIDAY “Cities, Waterways, and Interdisciplinary Planning and Engineering: Examples of Urban Waterfront Restoration and Redevelopment in North America” Details: Tim Dekker, president of LimnoTech, an environmental engineering and science firm, will discuss his work in urban waterfront revitalization and urban water management at this week’s

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Features

3 Tuesday, March 3, 2020

Local author Marjan Kamali on how she got into writing, advice to students

by Olivia King

Contrbuting Writer

Editor’s note: This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Marjan Kamali is an Iranian author based in Lexington, Mass. Born in Turkey, she grew up in several countries around the Y world before coming to the U.S. Holding a BA from the University of California, Berkeley, an MBA from Columbia University and an MFA from New York University, Kamali is the author of two books: “The Stationery Shop” (2019) and “Together Tea” (2013). In addition to writing novels herself, Kamali also teaches writing at GrubStreet and is a Tufts parent. Kamali sat down with the Daily to discuss her work and offer advice to Tufts students.

The Tufts Daily (TD): Why did you become a writer? How did you get there?

Marjan Kamali (MK): I always loved to read. When I was a child I was a bookworm and I loved reading anything I could get my hands on, but especially novels and stories.

I grew up before we had the internet, so I really appreciated how books could transport me to a different time and place. I felt like authors had this superpower where they could create this entire world and make it feel real and I wanted to have that superpower … I always wrote, but as I grew up I started to realize I actually wanted to do it as a vocation.

TD: Do you have a few favorite books from childhood?

MK: So from childhood a book that I really loved was called “The Secret Garden” (1911). Another book I really loved was “A Little Princess” (1905). You know, I read a lot of books as a child that weren’t necessarily books or young adult books. I read a lot of the classics, like “Jane Eyre” (1847) and Charles Dickens, a lot of the British classics because that’s what my mom had in the house. Definitely loved all of those.

TD: When you write, where do you get that inspiration?

MK: That’s such a good question. So, because I do novels, the inspiration for each book can be quite different. For my first novel, which is “Together Tea,” I was really inspired because I had been reading books about multicultural experiences and experiences of families immigrating to the U.S., but I felt I had never read a book that kind of reflected the experience of my own family’s journey. I was inspired by not having the book I wanted to read, so I wrote it. I wanted to write a story that explored the Iranian American experience.

After that book came out everybody was like, “Oh, what’s your second book going to be?” And I visited a lot of book clubs for my first book and at one of the book clubs a woman asked me to visit where she worked

and she worked at an assisted living center.

When I was there I met an elderly man who claimed all these things about his life. He kept saying he’d met the prince of Spain, he traveled with Charles de Gaulle; he kept saying these crazy things, and I just asked him his name. Later on, when I spoke to my dad, and I mentioned this man’s name — it was an Iranian name — and my dad said “Oh, he was one of our most decorated dignitaries.” He had met the prince of Spain, he had traveled with Charles de Gaulle, all of these things. I realized all of these things he had been saying were true, except it wasn’t received that way necessarily, so he became the inspiration for my second book, “The Stationary Shop.” It opens with an elderly man in an assisted living center.

It was an amazing experience.

TD: Do you have a favorite or least favorite thing you’ve written?

MK: Right now my favorite thing I’ve written is my second book, “The Stationary Shop” (2019). No offense to my first book, which I will always love. Right now it’s my favorite thing I’ve written because I worked really hard on it and I feel like I grew as a writer a lot, pushed myself and I forced myself to do things I wasn’t as comfortable with. I guess my least favorite … I have so many least favorite things I’ve written. So many. Like any time you start, often times it’s not very good. So I have a lot of things that just aren’t my favorite.

TD: What’s the most difficult things you’ve experienced as a writer or in writing your novels?

MK: With both of [my novels], the most difficult part was the middle. I think for a lot of writers that’s when they give up because when you start a long term project like a novel, it’s different from writing a short story or an essay or a poem. It’s a very big unwieldy project. Sometimes you’re excited in the beginning, you get going, but then in the middle oftentimes novels hit a wall where you feel you have no idea what you’re doing, you have no idea where the story is going, you don’t even know if it’s any good. A lot of people give up, but that’s when you should actually push through.

TD: Do you have any unique or important tips you share [with your writing students]?

MK: I always tell them there are no mistakes in the first draft. When you start doing a first draft, perfection is your enemy because a lot of people want their work to be good.

Which makes sense, we all do, but it’s not going to be good right away. You just have to give yourself permission to have a bad first draft and accept that you can’t make a mistake as long as you’re writing in your first draft. You can always go back and fix things, change things, add things, subtract things.

That’s something I definitely always say.

VIA GOODREADS

The cover of Marjan Kamali’s book “The Stationery Shop” (2019) is pictured.

TD: How did you get into teaching at GrubStreet?

MK: When I first moved to the Boston area I knew I wanted to be a writer, and I literally googled writing organizations in the Boston area, and GrubStreet came up.

At first, I attended the big annual writing conference called the Muse and the Marketplace. I attended a few other things, like seminars, here and there. Once my first book had come out, by then I was really involved with GrubStreet. I knew a lot of people there, and I was asked to teach there. It was after the first book came out that I was asked to teach.

TD: Do you have a preference between writing or teaching? Or do you enjoy the balance?

MK: I like both. They’re very different.

I think ideally one would feed the other.

So for example when I was writing “The Stationary Shop” (2019), I was also teaching “Writing the Novel.” It was really interesting because for each of my classes I would have to create these craft lessons. When I would

put the lesson together and I was teaching my students about something, sometimes it would trigger something I needed to do in my own writing. I think any teacher will tell you that they learn a lot from their students. It was cool to have that exchange.

I think the students also appreciated that they were being taught by somebody who was in the trenches. I wasn’t theoretical, I was doing it too.

TD: Do you have any advice for Tufts students, either in general or for those interested in going into writing?

MK: I think it’s really important to read and read a lot. With our culture today with social media and the internet, it’s easy to read in shorts spurts, like read something on Twitter or something in a little article online. But I would recommend that Tufts students take the time to unplug and just read novels. I’m a big big advocate for reading longer works and just immersing yourself in them. I think if you want to be a writer, that’s the best thing you can do.

Read widely.

TRASHING ONE EGG WASTES 55 GALLONS OF WATER

4 Tuesday, March 3, 2020

ARTS&LIVING

Anna Hirshman and Allison Morgenstern HillSide Story

Practically perfect

T

his week we are going to London with a cinematic masterpiece: “Mary Poppins” (1964).

Anna Hirshman (AH): Despite my best efforts to obtain a working VCR, in which to put my VHS copy of the film, I have not watched “Mary Poppins” in many years. Watching it as an adult, there are many more subtle parts of the film I did not notice when I was a child. Like the fact that Mr. and Mrs. Banks do not have a healthy marriage. And Mrs. Banks is a suffragette, which is something I had never processed until this week.

Allie Morgenstern (AM): In almost every scene where Mr. Banks is actually home with his wife (and the maids), he’s not really making an effort to do anything. Mrs. Banks and the maids pretty much hold down the fort while he just sits or monologues about the bank or Mary Poppins being strange. Anyways, let’s talk about supernanny herself, Mary Poppins.

AH: Mary Poppins is an incredibly self-obsessed, no-nonsense woman.

Yet she also is empathetic, thoughtful and someone who people inherently love and trust. I think I want to be her when I grow up.

AM: I second that. Maybe this is why we both want to work with children.

Mary’s bottomless carpet bag is iconic, and I love how she talks to the children like they’re little adults. Also, are Mary and Bert a thing? I always wanted them to be a thing.

AH: Their chemistry is off the charts.

You don’t look someone in the eye like that unless you have some feelings. But she also seems to friend-zone him during “Jolly Holiday,” so I don’t know.

AM: Well, she comes and goes so frequently, so a relationship would probably be hard to maintain. I’m still sad she left them at the end, even though I know she left to help another family.

AH: Definitely, she had to go. Anyway, I found myself mouth agape, eyes unblinking during the entirety of “Step in Time.”

I forgot just how engaging and magical it is, even if it is not super convincing that they are risking their lives jumping roof to roof.

AM: Yeah, I honestly do not understand how I ever thought this was realistic as a child.

AH: Ultimately I came to the conclusion that the entire tale of “Mary Poppins” is a part of the Admiral’s psychotic break.

Why else would he be a necessary part of the story? We would be fine without the house shaking at 8 a.m. every day.

AM: The movie could do without the Admiral and his weird house that has a ship on top.

AH: So, I work with children, and I asked them about “Mary Poppins.”

I did not get one positive reaction.

They either have not seen it or do not like it. I have lost faith in the younger generation.

AM: All I know is that I will force my future children to watch all of Julie Andrews’ movies. Period.

Allie Morgenstern is a junior studying child study and human development. Allie can be reached at allison.morgenstern@tufts. edu. Anna Hirshman is a senior studying psychology. Anna can be reached at anna. hirshman@tufts.edu.

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In ‘Incitement,’ co-writer Leshem sees Israel’s political path traced

by Tommy Gillespie Arts Editor

The first time that television footage of Benjamin Netenyahu appears in the Israeli docudrama “Incitement” (2019), the impact of his presence takes more than a moment to register. The film is not his story; it instead details the evolution of the right-wing extremist Yigal Amir in the year leading up to his Nov. 4, 1995, assassination of Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin. Still, our discomfort at the growing role Netenyahu takes on in the film’s second half factors neatly into the plan of co-writer Ron Leshem, who never intended to make a movie solely about the past.

“It was never a film about 1995,” Leshem said in an interview with the Daily ahead of a screening and Q&A this weekend at the Kendall Square Cinema. “It’s about today … it’s about everywhere — how people are losing faith in democracy and how the politics of hate are taking over.”

According to Leshem, showcasing Amir’s assassination of Rabin in a vacuum would have been illogical. As he observes, the events of the 1990s kick-started the process that has landed Israel into the political crisis unfolding in the nation right now, as voters headed to the polls on Monday for the country’s third election in 11 months.

“What we had in 1995 in Israel, where hundreds of thousands of people were shouting the Prime Minister is a traitor, or even death to the Prime Minister, that’s what you’re seeing all over the world today,” he explained. “It’s much deeper than just Netenyahu … young voters in Israel are turning to the right and turning to extremism and racism.”

Leshem, an Israeli screenwriter and novelist who also created “Euphoria” (2012–13) and serves as an executive producer on HBO’s 2019 adaption of the series, sought to capture a holistic picture of the society that incubated Amir as a would-be assassin. “Incitement” subsequently takes a sweeping view of the series of small nudges along Amir’s journey to extremism. “[Amir’s] anger is not just toward the left; it’s at how his family has been treated socioeconomically … there is a basis to his inferiority complex,” Leshem said. “It’s what his mother was teaching him from day one, when she says, ‘this girl will never accept you because you’re not of their tribe’ … we show that she’s right.”

Unusually, the religious and philosophical underpinning that leads Amir to assassinate Rabin is placed under a microscope in “Incitement.” Several scenes explore Amir and his fellow students at Bar-Ilan University consulting rabbis about the ancient Talmudic arguments of the Law of the Pursuer and Law of the Informer. Amir cited these arguments in his defense, claiming they permitted him to kill Rabin for signing the Oslo Accords, the terms of which he believed endangered the Jewish people. In featuring these conversations so prominently, Leshem sought to underscore what

VIA IMDB

A promotional poster for “Incitement” (2019) is pictured. he observes as the dangers of a growing shift not radical enough … He thought they’re toward theocracy in Israel over the last decades. shouting that someone should kill this prime “What was so incredibly frightening is what, minister … but choosing their words more when [Amir] was caught, what he was afraid gently and expecting someone else to do the of,” Leshem said. “He was afraid that someone dirty job for them.” else would kill the Prime Minister before him Leshem expected the hotly-debated sub… he heard hundreds of thousands of people ject matter of “Incitement” to stir up a major … crying out for change, for a Messiah, and he controversy in Israel upon its release. He and thought, ‘I’ll be this Messiah.’” the other filmmakers were instead surprised by Though Leshem and director Yaron the positive reaction to the film in Israel, where Zilberman never interacted directly with Amir it was selected as the nation’s official submisin the process of making “Incitement,” they sion for this year’s Academy Award for Best did correspond with researchers who inter- International Feature Film. viewed him in prison. In the views espoused “We were quite sure the right would call

by Amir, who still maintains that his actions for boycotting the film,” Leshem recalled. “But were justified by Jewish law, Leshem sees the most of the press was calling it a must-see film.” logical conclusion of a belief system shaped by As Israel voted once again, Leshem has now inflexible, unwavering adherence to the letter of come to view the reaction to the film as a bellscriptural tenets. wether for the nation’s next political direction.

“We didn’t want to use his phrases … but “It’s trying to create a dialogue within the everything that is written [comes from] things Israeli society,” he said. “A kind of national reckthat he said,” Leshem said. “He was full of oning, trying to say, ‘Is [this] the vision you have anger toward settlers because he felt they’re for the future of Israel?’”

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Tuesday, March 3, 2020 | FUN & GAMES | THE TUFTS DAILY

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6 Tuesday, March 3, 2020

Opinion

Riya Matta Shades of Gray

tuftsdaily.com

OP-ED

Student representation in the RIAG, a statement from What we, the journalTufts Climate Action

istic community, want

I

am convinced that the killing and the maiming must stop,” Sirajuddin Haqqani writes in an opinion piece published by the New York Times.

At face value, it’s an unproblematic statement, one upon which, barring a small handful of people, the general population would likely universally agree, in any context. Ironically, when compared alongside the brutality of Joseph Stalin, Adolf Hitler and others, Sirajuddin Haqqani would be a member of that grouping.

Directly below his byline, the Times refers to Haqqani as the “deputy leader of the Taliban.”While the association itself is arguably sufficiently deplorable, Haqqani is, in fact, so much more than that.

According to the FBI, Haqqani is a “specially designated global terrorist,” and for information on whom the U.S. Department of State is offering a reward up to $5 million — a terrorist bounty exceeded by few including al Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri.

Haqqani is wanted in connection with several attacks and kidnappings — including that of a New York Times journalist. He is the current leader of the Haqqani network responsible for unspeakable acts of violence. All of which would have been good to know whilst reading such lines as his promise for a “new, inclusive political system,” in which the rights of women would be guaranteed, “from the right to education to the right to work.”

These are lofty claims from a man who heads the very organization that, just seven years ago, was responsible for the execution-style attempt on global activist and then-teenager Malala Yousafzai. The very same organization that, in the heyday of its extraordinarily brutal regime, indiscriminately massacred civilians, denied women nearly all their human rights — namely that of education, stoned women for perceived violations of Sharia law and ran networks of human trafficking, amongst countless other atrocities.

Despite being removed from power in 2001, however, the Taliban’s brutality has not ceased — public stonings of women have been reported as recently as 2015. In a statement to Reuters, an Afghan presidential palace spokesman expressed his disappointment that the New York Times “has given their platform to an individual who is on a designated terrorist list.”

I concur. It is saddening, upsetting, and nothing short of despicable the way that the New York Times has shown complete contempt for journalistic ethics in pursuit of a good scoop. While it is undoubtedly not only a journalist’s responsibility, but their obligation, to report on all sides of an issue — which could and should have been accomplished through an interview — allowing a global terrorist at the forefront of one of the most brutal organizations in history a platform as reputable and widely-read as the New York Times not only gives legitimacy to Haqqani’s empty and baseless promises of peace, but is also enormous affront to the countless American soldiers and Afghani civilians who have suffered indescribably at the hands of the Taliban.

The New York Times has a responsibility and an obligation to apologize to their readership and the entire journalistic community, and going forward, to recommit to responsible journalistic practices.

by Celia Bottger, Caro Fett, Erica Nork and Hanna Carr Last week, an article published in the Daily, entitled “Tufts appoints members to investment review committee, considering fossil fuel divestment,” highlighted an injustice of which all student activists — especially those supporting divestment campaigns — should be aware.

In the fall of 2019, the Board of Trustees created a process “by which the Tufts community may raise and study concerns surrounding potential social impact caused by investing activities and provide advisory recommendations on such issues to the Investment Subcommittee, a subcommittee of the Trustee Administration and Finance Committee.”

The document outlining this process states that the membership of each approved RIAG, or Responsible Investment Advisory Group, would be three trustees, two faculty members, two students and two administrators, specifically Tufts’ Chief Investment Officer and the Vice President Finance and Treasurer or their delegates.

This document, which was approved by the Board of Trustees, also specifically states: “The Provost will recommend two faculty members … and the two student members, with a view to including when possible a student associated with the sponsored proposal.”

This part of the document illustrates the university’s intention for a student activist associated with the original proposal to be given a seat at the table, which makes democratic sense to us.

A few weeks ago, Tufts Climate Action (TCA) became aware that the Provost had selected the undergraduate student member of the RIAG without consulting TCA, and it was not a member of TCA. It was the student representative from TCU Senate who sits on the Board of Trustees’ Administration and Finance Committee, Charming Dube.

While TCA holds nothing against Dube personally, we disagreed with the principle that

anyone in his Senate position would automatically have a seat at the table in place of a TCA member who wrote the proposal and has a deeper understanding of fossil fuel divestment.

We feel strongly that there should be more students getting face time with decision-makers. TCU Trustee Representatives already have the opportunity to meet with administrators and board members on a regular basis. The rest of the Tufts student population gets absolutely zero face time with the Board of Trustees, and TCA believes that this strategic lack of transparency on behalf of the administration only perpetuates injustices by dismissing student concerns. Our university should behave like a democratic institution, not a corporation.

Immediately following Dube’s imminent appointment to the RIAG, TCA pressured Vice President Mike Howard and Provost Nadine Aubry to rethink their decision.

The administrators responded quickly and agreed to grant Temple Miller-Hodgkin, a dedicated TCA member who co-wrote the proposal, a seat on the RIAG. Dube kept his seat as well, and TCA was encouraged by the administration’s decision to increase student representation on the committee.

Going forward, we thought, there would be three students in the decision-making room, two undergraduate students and one graduate student.

However, the Daily article shows that the administration does not intend to adhere to this important precedent. In response to a conversation with University President Anthony Monaco and Provost Aubry, TCU Senate passed a bylaw requiring that “the student representative sitting on the Board of Trustees’ Administration and Finance Committee should serve as the undergraduate student representative for the RIAG, should it convene at any point during the year.”

As discussed in the article, Howard explained that the current makeup of the RIAG is a “one-time exception.” This

implies that future RIAGs will have just one undergraduate student member and, given the recently passed TCU bylaw, that student would automatically be the TCU Senate Trustee Representative to the Board of Trustees’ Administration and Finance Committee, rather than a student activist from the initial proposal.

Not only does this challenge the initial RIAG proposal, but it is also a clear attempt to consolidate power among those who already have it and to limit the student voice in university decision-making.

Although TCA member Miller-Hodgkin currently has a secure spot in the fossil fuel divestment RIAG, TCA wants to ensure that future RIAGs demonstrate fair student representation, as well. When another group of Tufts student activists seeks to end injustice through their own divestment campaign, we want to guarantee that they have a seat at the table, just as TCA does now. This continued representation is especially important for future RIAGs, such as those concerning prison divestment and Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions. Student communities who are directly affected by Tufts’ investments deserve an active role in informing university investment policy.

We welcome support and advice from other student organizations in our effort to fight this injustice. As a first step, we plan to meet with Vice President Howard, Provost Aubry and TCU leaders to express our concerns over these undemocratic decisions and make our voices heard.

Celia Bottger is a sophomore studying international relations and environmental studies and the co-leader of Tufts Climate Action. Celia can be reached at celia. bottger@tufts.edu. Caro Fett is a senior studying interdisciplinary studies. Caro can be reached at caroline.fett@tufts.edu.

Erica Nork is a senior studying sociology.

Erica can be reached at erica.nork@tufts. edu. Hanna Carr is a senior studying economics. Hanna can be reached at hanna. carr@tufts.edu.

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Riya Matta is a first-year who has not yet declared a major. Riya can be reached at riya.matta@tufts.edu.

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Sports

Tuesday, March 3, 2020 | Sports | THE TUFTS DAILY

7

Enes Kanter Q&A

by Jake Freudberg

Executive Sports Editor

Boston Celtics center Enes Kanter came to Tufts to speak on Friday, and gave an exclusive interview to the Daily staff. Executive Sports Editor Jake Freudberg, Managing Editor Alex Viveros, sports staff writer Alex Sharp, former Managing Editor Caleb Symons and ews contributing writer Tom Guan Usat down for a brief discussion with Kanter. e Tufts Daily (TD): How did you end up at Tufts?

Enes Kanter (EK): I had a friend here actually, and they invited me. I said ryeah, it’s an honor. It’s one of the best universities in the nation. So, I was like yeah ok, it’ll be an honor.

TD: Regarding your public criticisms nof the political situation in Turkey, how ldo you feel about the future? t EK: I’m always hopeful. That’s why I’m always still talking about it and havfing these conversations. I’m still trying eto fight what’s going on over there. And, just because I have a platform, I’m tryting to use that platform to help all those innocent people who don’t have one.

So I think it’s very important to use the gplatform.

TD: Are you involved in American politics? Do you have an opinion about what’s going on right now?

EK: I actually am. I’ve been watching the debates, and I’ve been watching mwhat’s going on with the Republicans oand Democrats. But I think just one othing they should be focused on is not tgoing at each other but trying to bring peace and love in this country. I feel like s

sometimes they forget what the main goal is.

TD: How did your charter school project come about? What do you envision for that?

EK: I always want to give back to America. I think that’s the best way to give back to America — with education.

I feel like if you invest in our future, that will be the best thing because I think, with our young generation, we can have a better and brighter future.

It’s definitely the best investment that we can have.

TD: Talking about basketball, what do you think the role of the big man is now in the NBA? EK: In the NBA, obviously, the NBA has changed a lot, man. You always see people pick and popping, shooting threes, and after what Golden State did to NBA in basketball, they just changed everything. It’s changed, but you’ve got to be able to change with the NBA. You can be always working on your game and pick and roll, but also pick and pop, and be able to shoot that open three. It’s always in your head.

TD: Why did you choose the number 11?

EK: You already know.

TD: We saw you met with the Attorney General Maura Healey a few months ago.

What was that like? What did it mean to have her support? What would you say about Boston and Massachusetts in general?

EK: Actually, one of the biggest reasons why I wanted to come to Boston was because the city is one of the most educated. And people know what’s going on, not just on the court, but off the court too. Even with some of

the lawmakers, senators, congressmen, congresswomen, attorney generals — seeing their support definitely gives me so much hope. Especially because [Healey] played basketball at Harvard, so she understands basketball language and she understands my conversation off the court. So, to see her support is amazing.

TD: Who do you think the best big man is in the NBA? EK: Oh, it’s tough. I would say either [Nikola] Jokic or [ Joel] Embiid. I don’t count [Anthony] Davis as a big man because he’s a four man. If you’re talking about a five man, I would say Jokic or Embiid.

TD: What do you think about what happened with James Wiseman with Memphis?

EK: It’s sad, man. Like I said again, it’s sad. The NCAA is making billions and billions and seeing these kids and what they’re going through hurts my heart.

My situation was different. I came from Turkey, so I was an international player.

But now this NCAA stuff is going on and people are scared to come to the NCAA. People are like, ‘Am I going to have an eligibility problem? What’s going to happen? Did I take money? What should I do?’ I feel like the rules definitely need to change because it’s very strict. It kind of feels like a dictatorship. Seriously.

TD: What do you think about paying college basketball players?

EK: The NCAA is making billions.

Crazy money. But you can’t even buy a meal for a college athlete? That doesn’t make sense. I feel like that’s why a lot of players are going to be skipping college.

The rules are changing now — I don’t

know if it’s still the same or not. But before, it was right from high school to the NBA. But now you have to go to college. They might change the rule again.

I think yes, they should.

TD: Have you found that students from abroad, not just Turkey, are dissuaded from playing college basketball?

EK: They’re scared because they don’t know what they’re going to face. Me, I turned down millions of dollars just to go play college basketball. And it was very frustrating because I turned down lots of money just to come here and go play college basketball. I mean, come on man. But now, after what happened to myself and a few other international players, I heard that in some other countries that players are scared, and parents don’t want to send their kids to the NCAA because of all of these issues.

TD: And those kids have to make a decision: basketball or education?

EK: Here, it’s not like overseas where you have to pick one. Here, you can go to school and play basketball at the same time. And your grades actually matter; you need to go to school.

TD: What would you give as advice to immigrant kids coming to this country now?

EK: I would just say this: don’t feel ashamed of anything. Coming here from a different color, religion, culture or language, you kind of feel ashamed sometimes. I’ll just say this: just know that it’s going to be your home and try to get used to it. The food, the culture — to try to understand people. Always tr y to learn about others so that you can respect them, and they can respect you.

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8 Tuesday, March 3, 2020

Arjun Balaraman Off the Crossbar

Upending the status quo

Sports

tuftsdaily.com

Enes Kanter speaks about Turkey, activism, basketball

E

nglish soccer in the 21st century has been largely dominated by a so-called “Big Six” — Manchester United, Liverpool, Chelsea, Arsenal, Tottenham and Manchester City. In England, the top four teams in the league qualify for the prestigious UEFA Champions League and, over the last 15 years, clubs from this “Big Six” have been England’s only representatives in the continental competition on all but two occasions: Everton in the 2004–05 campaign and Leicester’s famous fairytale run to the title during the 2015–16 season.

Leicester’s incredible campaign woke up the “Big Six,” as it was the first time since the 1994–95 Blackburn Rovers that a club outside the group had claimed the league crown. It led to a purple patch for English soccer, as the top teams spent big and the league gained popularity worldwide — culminating in their incredible continental success last season. English clubs monopolized the European competitions, with Liverpool defeating Tottenham in the Champions League final, while Chelsea triumphed over Arsenal in the Europa League.

This season, though, the balance of power has shifted. Leicester, again, is raining on the “Big Six” parade. Led by talismanic striker Jamie Vardy, manager Brendan Rodgers’ men currently lie comfortably in third place with 50 points. And while Chelsea sits in fourth (45 points) and United is fifth (42 points), both sides have struggled mightily with inconsistency — as such, places five through 11 in the table are separated by just five points. With 10 games still remaining, there is ample time for teams like Sheffield United (40 points) and Wolves (42 points) to land an improbable spot in the Champions League. While Sheffield United is relatively inexperienced, Wolves is a side largely consisting of talented international-caliber players. With manager Nuno Espírito Santo at the helm, the team is more than capable of putting together a nice string of results and finishing above Chelsea or United.

If there’s any season that sides outside the “Big Six” have a chance to break up the status quo, it’s this one. For one, it’s the most even Premier League table I can recall in my lifetime. According to 538 projections, fourth-placed Chelsea is currently on pace for a 62-point finish — which would be the lowest for a top four spot since Everton in 2005. And, with Manchester City unlikely to be eligible for European play next year (due to recent scandals), the fifth-placed team in the Premier League table will likely also get a berth in the Champions League.

The importance of playing in Europe cannot be understated. Financially, the big clubs rely on their revenue to foot their wage bills and transfer fees, while for the smaller clubs it gives them spending power that they otherwise wouldn’t have. Furthermore, the top players all want to play in the best competitions, and so recruiting players gets much easier when clubs are able to offer the allure of Champions League nights.

If Sheffield or Wolves manage to unseat Chelsea or United and claim that last Champions League spot, it will be the first time this century that two of the four spots will go to clubs outside the traditional “Big Six,” and could signal a shift in power for the next generation of English soccer.

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

PATRICK MILEWSKI / THE TUFTS DAILY

Boston Celtics player Enes Kantar (left) and Tufts alumnus Neil Swidey (right) converse in front of members of the Tufts community in Distler Performance Hall on Feb. 28.

by Jake Freudberg

Executive Sports Editor

The Institute for Global Leadership (IGL) hosted a talk with Enes Kanter of the Boston Celtics on Friday night.

Kanter, the 6’ 10” center from Turkey, has been outspoken about the political situation and human rights abuses in his home country and is currently labeled a domestic terrorist by Turkey’s president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğğgan, for supporting the movement led by Fetullah Gülen, who Erdogğan blames for the 2016 attempted coup d’etat. Much of the talk focused on how Kanter manages his professional basketball career along with his involvement in activism and politics.

The event, held in Distler Performance Hall, was moderated by Boston Globe Magazine journalist Neil Swidey (LA’91) and was co-sponsored by the Jonathan M. Tisch College of Civic Life.

Director of IGL Abi Williams (F’86, F’87) began the evening by welcoming the crowd and thanking the sponsors.

Then, junior Connor Doyle, an IGL student, introduced Kanter and listed his accomplishments to the sold-out audience, which included several people sporting Celtics gear.

“Over the course of his career, Mr. Kanter has been an activist, working to help people and speaking out against injustice,” Doyle said.

The women’s basketball team — which had just finished an undefeated regular season and was preparing for the NESCAC semifinals on Saturday — was in attendance, so Swidey began the talk by asking Kanter about his recent op-ed in Time about gender pay disparity in the WNBA. “[ WNBA players] don’t get the same recognition that they deserve,” Kanter said. “Once I put the article out, of course I had so many haters out there. … I give them a really great example.

Michael Jordan — flu game. Obviously,

one of the most legendary moments.

How many people know that Skylar Diggins-Smith was playing and pregnant the whole season? Not many people are talking about that.”

Swidey went on to ask Kanter about his experience first coming to the U.S. to play basketball. Born in Switzerland, Kanter grew up in Turkey and moved to the U.S. at the age of 17 to attend prep school and then the University of Kentucky. But, Kanter was deemed ineligible to play basketball both in prep school and college because of a prior shoe contract he had with Nike.

“One of the biggest reasons why I came to America is that, in Turkey, you can’t go to school and play basketball,” Kanter said. “For me, I turned down lots and lots of money to come to school here and play basketball at the same time.”

Now, Kanter is outspoken about NCAA rules that he sees as too strict.

“The rules they put are just terrible,” Kanter said. “Lots of international players are scared to come to America to play basketball because of all of these rules.”

The majority of the remainder of the talk then shifted to discussing Kanter’s activism and how he uses his platform as a professional basketball player to spread his message.

“I feel really blessed to be in America; we have freedom, we have democracy, we have human rights,” Kanter said. “But we don’t have any of those in my country in Turkey. Because I have the platform, I’m trying to talk about some of these issues in my country that are affecting me and my family.”

Because of his activism and support of Gülen, Kanter has not been able to return to Turkey for several years and avoids traveling internationally, while many of his family members have lost their jobs in Turkey. Kanter’s family publicly disowned him after he criticized Erdogğ a n on Twitter following the failed 2016 coup d’etat. Now, he can

only communicate with a brother who lives in Spain.

“It was tough,” Kanter said about being disowned. “First off, I was thinking maybe they did this so that the Turkish government would leave them alone. But then, I don’t know — I still want to think that.”

But Kanter is still an NBA player. He explained that although he uses his celebrity to promote his activist causes, basketball remains his escape.

“I feel like basketball is my escape,” Kanter said. “Whenever I step on the court, it’s about me and teammates, trying to have fun and win the basketball game.”

With Kanter’s involvement in international politics, activism and philanthropy, a future in politics seems likely. He shared that he often spends time with politicians while in Washington D.C., and he recently spent time with Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey.

“First, I was like, are you serious?”

Kanter said about those who suggest he pursue politics. “But then I was like, you know what, I think it would be a great career.”

In his final question before opening up the floor to the audience, Swidey asked Kanter about his advice for students in the audience, many of whom are passionate about fighting for change.

“You need to use that platform,” Kanter answered. “And you need to use that platform to talk about the right things. … When I talk about these issues, it can become a larger conversation.”

Kanter also added that, since coming to Boston in 2019, he has noticed that people here are more receptive to his messages.

“Since it’s such an educational town, people come up to me and they say ‘Hey, good article yesterday, good op-ed yesterday, we saw this, we saw that, we read this,’” Kanter said. “And I use that to start a conversation. It’s definitely a blessing to be in this situation.”