The Tufts Daily - Wednesday, April 24, 2019 by The Tufts Daily

MEN’S TRACK AND FIELD

K-pop rises to worldwide prominence see ARTS&LIVING / PAGE 5

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Tennis makes comeback with 2-game win streak see SPORTS / BACK PAGE

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VOLUME LXXVII, ISSUE 57

Wednesday, April 24, 2019

MEDFORD/SOMERVILLE, MASS.

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PILOT negotiating committee holds community update by Austin Clementi News Editor

Community members, students and members of Tufts Housing League (THL) attended an April 16 meeting held by the team negotiating a new partnership agreement between Tufts and Somerville. The meeting occurred in the Tufts Administration Building. Somerville Mayor Joseph Curtatone and Ward 7 alderwoman Katjana Ballantyne, who are on the negotiating committee, led the meeting. One of the core issues of the new partnership agreement is Tufts’ payment in lieu of taxes (PILOT) to Somerville, a fee that non-profit institutions, whose land is nontaxable, pay to communities to help the towns make up for lost taxes. According to the City of Somerville website, “the Partnership Agreement covers issues related to student housing, partnerships with the Somerville schools, the university’s planning process, and other topics.” Members of the negotiating committee other than Curtatone and Ballantyne also attended, including Andre Green, a member of the Somerville School Committee; Edward Beuchert, a co-founder and current board member of the West Somerville Neighborhood Association; Ben Echevarria, executive director of The Welcome Project; and Joyce Shortt, who lives near Tufts. Shortt, a member of Our Revolution Somerville, said that negotiations for PILOT had previously only been between mayors and the president of Tufts. “Our Revolution and its colleagues … said that there needs to be more of an input besides the president and the mayor, and in fact we learned that members of the Board of Aldermen at that point had been asking for that for a number of years,” she said. “So I’d like all of us to take responsibility for making this happen that we actually have a community group doing negotiations.” A 2016 Daily article states that Tufts’ PILOT payments to Somerville are significantly smaller and increase much less frequently than its

payments to Boston. The article also states that Tufts owns much more property that yields higher value in Somerville than in Boston. Curtatone said during the meeting that Tufts currently pays a PILOT of $275,000 for each fiscal year. Meanwhile, documents from the City of Boston reviewed by the Daily indicate that Tufts paid $584,147 to Boston in fiscal year 2018. Tufts’ PILOT agreement with Somerville includes not only payments to to the city but also other services and advantages for Somerville residents, according to documents provided by journalist Jane Regan, who attended the meeting, in a WickedLocal article. For example, Somerville high school students are exempt from Tufts’ $70 application fee and have the opportunity to participate in essay-writing workshops conducted by Tufts Admissions. During the meeting, Regan, who used to direct the Somerville Neighborhood News, said she began investigating Tufts’ PILOT payments to Somerville a decade ago and noticed the discrepancy in the PILOT agreements Tufts had with Somerville and Boston. Tufts’ former partnership agreement with Somerville expired on June 30, 2018. Around 30 people attended the meeting, most of whom included Somerville residents and activists. Ballantyne opened the meeting with an introduction of the committee, which began negotiating in January. Ballantyne highlighted a report put together from a survey by Ona Ferguson, senior mediator of the Consensus Building Institute, that aimed to get community feedback on Somerville’s Partnership Agreement with Tufts. The report outlines several issues that Somerville residents have with Tufts, including payments, education of the community, communication through a master plan and housing its students. According to the report, Tufts uses Somerville services, such as its police and fire departments, without paying the same taxes citizens and businesses do to support them. “As Tufts is a wealthy, prestigious institution, it should be able to pay for the services it uses,” the report states.

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Senior Nate Krinsky and sophomore Connor Goggins, members of Tufts Housing League, pose for a portrait outside of Mayer Campus Center on Oct. 17, 2018. In addition, the report says that Tufts pays 25% of its real estate value in Boston for its PILOT agreement with the city, while only paying 4% of its estimated property tax value to Somerville. “This seems unfair and unjustifiable to the community members, especially as Somerville is the primary host community for Tufts,” the report reads. The report also stresses the issue of housing students. “Tufts should be able to pay more for services and for creating housing or meeting other needs, given that Tufts enrollment has increased by hundreds of students in the last decade,” it reads. According to Ballantyne, the negotiating committee met with Ferguson to discuss the report and the goals of the negotiating, underlining that the committee’s goals were in line with the goals of residents the report outlined. Curtatone confirmed this. “The proposals as what we put forth in our strategy were all generated from the community’s feedback,” he said.

Ballantyne said that a luncheon including the negotiating committee, University President Anthony Monaco, Director of Community Relations Rocco DiRico and Senior Vice President of University Relations and General Counsel Mary Jeka. Ballantyne said negotiations involving differing themes such as housing, education and values followed. However, Curtatone said that, although he would like to be transparent, the content and actual progress of the negotiations was confidential. “Typically when we do a community meeting we try to share as much data … as possible,” Curtatone said. “A lot of the finite points, particular, we will not be able to share. When you enter a negotiation on any subject matter you want to protect the integrity of those conversations.” However, Curtatone did indicate that Tufts and Somerville negotiators were close in reach-

see PILOT, page 2

CIRCLE study shows record youth voter turnout for 2018 midterm by Rhys Empey

Contributing Writer

The Center for Information & Research on Civic Learning and Engagement (CIRCLE) at the Jonathan M. Tisch College of Civic Life released data earlier this month of voter turnout pertaining to 17 battleground states in the 2018 midterm election. CIRCLE research focuses on youth voter

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turnout of ages 18 to 29, and their findings reveal that all 17 states show an overall positive trend of youth voter participation in the 2018 midterm election. These April 2 findings follow similar data that was released in November 2018, and confirm greater participation. According to the CIRCLE website, youth voter participation increased in all 17 states included in the study. Their data also reveals an For breaking news, our content archive and exclusive content, visit tuftsdaily.com @tuftsdaily

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increase in voter participation in 17 other states, all states for which they have data. According to Reynol Junco, senior researcher for CIRCLE, the November 2018 data is an estimation calculated using data in a voting file. The April data is from the final results. Junco focuses his research on the various aspects of youth civic engagement in a quantitative context, according to the Tisch College website.

Junco attributed numerous variables to this rise in civic engagement, the first of which includes the shift in youth culture. According to Tisch College communications specialist Alberto Medina, civic engagement has become “trendy.” Medina also attributed higher youth turnout to popular social media platforms like

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

see CIRCLE, page 2

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

THE TUFTS DAILY | News | Wednesday, April 24, 2019

THE TUFTS DAILY Elie Levine Editor in Chief

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continued from page 1 Snapchat and Instagram, which ran campaigns encouraging young people to register to vote, and Lyft, which discounted rides to voting locations on election day. CIRCLE Director of Impact Abby Kiesa thinks that the increase in youth turnout goes beyond social media and current trends. “[There are] youth people working on the ground and mobilizing other young people which, regardless of ideology or partisanship, creates a culture of engagement,” Kiesa said. Kiesa maintained that the results are in the data. “Data is reinforcing that when you support young people over a long period of time, you can see results of that in engagement,” she said. According to Kiesa, infrastructure is also adapting. She explained that past infrastructure was not set up to encourage young people to vote, but that is changing.

According to the CIRCLE website, states like Maine allow 17-year-olds to preregister to vote. “[It] is really promising how many states are embracing preregistration … [and] embracing the culture of engagement,” Kiesa said. Political outreach by parties also saw a shift in the 2018 midterm, according to Tisch College’s Director of Communications, Strategy & Planning Jennifer McAndrew. “Democrats have been specifically targeting young women, especially women of color, [while] the Republican party has actually seen a decrease in political outreach,” McAndrew said. Young people having a larger presence within the media also contributes to greater civic participation, according to McAndrew. McAndrew pointed to specific events like the Parkland shooting tragedy, which allowed students to raise awareness for a youth presence in media and politics.

PILOT

According to Ballantyne, the home rule petition to exempt Somerville from the Dover Amendment was written to apply to all large nonprofits, not Tufts specifically. She added that precedent existed for such home rule petitions in Cambridge and Boston. “I found that [Tufts] were poor communicators. And so the only tool out there that I could see that we can use is by requiring an institutional master plan,” she said, citing that she learned of plans for a village housing project on College Avenue, which has since not gone through, from a Daily article. Although Ballantyne said the institutional master plan was not related directly to a PILOT agreement, she emphasized that she would not back down from trying to require this in negotiations with Tufts. A community member echoed Ballantyne’s comments later in the meeting. “Every time I call [Tufts], we get put aside, and they’re spinning everything to look like [they’re] adding 400 beds, but they don’t tell us the real numbers,” she said. While this community member acknowledged that Tufts does provide services such as education to Somerville youth and are generally responsible to the student body, she said that she did not trust Tufts. DiRico responded to these sentiments in an email to the Daily. “In the past year, the office of Government and Community Relations has hosted 3 community presentations. At these meetings, senior university officials share information on

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Kiesa agreed, stating that Parkland youth took lead of the gun control conversation and effectively increased visibility for the grassroots gun-control movement. By taking a leading role in political discourse, American youth are subverting the stereotype of indifference towards politics, according to Medina. In effect, involving young people and creating a space for visibility and conversation can produce a snowball effect that gets more youth to participate, Medina said. In reflection of changes to infrastructure that contributes to increased youth involvement, Medina highlighted the role of media and organization. “Organization provides structure and media did the work of putting kids front and center by giving the loudspeaker to share their voices,” he said. McAndrew said that, despite the increases in youth voter participation seen in CIRCLE’s data, it is not possible to tell if the participation pattern will continue into the 2020 election.

Tufts, Somerville close to reaching PILOT agreement similar to Boston's, Curatone says

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Rise in youth voting can be attributed to cultural shift, media activism, CIRCLE staff says

continued from page 1 ing an agreement on Tufts reaching parity with Boston’s PILOT agreement. He said the negotiating teams of both sides were not close in how Tufts should address issues of housing. Curtatone also stated that both sides were entering into conversations on benefits and programs for Somerville students as well as both communities reaching their goal of becoming carbon neutral by 2050. “In general, I think we made some progress made some progress overall in terms of the PILOT agreement; we’ve still got a ways to go in other areas,” he said. “We’re not close to a deal.” Ballantyne quickly shifted the conversation to her call for Somerville to require an institutional master plan. According to Ballantyne and an April 10 Daily article, previous attempts to require an institutional master plan by Tufts have not passed the Massachusetts State House due to lobbying by the the Association of Independent Colleges and Universities in Massachusetts (AICUM), which Monaco chaired. In order to require Tufts to provide an institutional master plan, Somerville would need to exempt itself from the Dover Amendment, a Massachusetts state law which does not allow the restriction of land use by nonprofits. To do this, Ballantyne said she filed for a home rule petition, which allows the State House to provide an exemption to laws for specific municipalities.

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On April 15 at 9:40 a.m., Tufts University Police Department (TUPD) was notified of two dislodged exits signs hanging from the ceiling in Miller Hall. The Tufts Facilities Service Department was notified and replaced both signs for the second time within the last two weeks. TUPD is currently investigating. Later that day at 12:48 p.m., TUPD was dispatched to Dewick-MacPhie Dining Center where a student was reportedly unconscious in an Uber. When TUPD arrived, it found the student conscious and

alert but under the influence. The Uber driver told TUPD the student’s friends had flagged them down and asked them to take the student home. The student was transported to the hospital for further treatment. Later in the afternoon at 4:24 p.m., TUPD responded to a water leak at the Science and Technology Center. The leak originated on the fourth floor and affected the lower three floors as well. Facilities and Environmental Health and Safety were notified. The water damage was cleaned up. Facilities was unable to determine the cause of the leak. On April 20 at 8 p.m., TUPD received a report from two non-Tufts affiliates that

housing, new construction and campus developments. Neighbors also have the opportunity to ask questions and offer feedback on any topic,” DiRico wrote. DiRico said that community members have responded well to these meetings, highlighting new Facebook, Twitter and Instagram accounts created by the university for community members as well as a newsletter his office provides. Several community members also voiced concern about Tufts students housed off campus, pointing to absentee landlords, unsafe structures and mold in students’ houses. Curtatone agreed, saying that Tufts should increase its housing for students who want to live on campus. “This has to be a partnership agreement that any student who wants to live on campus should live on campus,” he said. Jim Monagle, a community member who attended the event and participated in a negotiating team around Tufts’ institutional master plan in 1988, said that Tufts had around 4,100 students in 1988, and has since expanded the university significantly. He stressed that this caused the university’s impact on the community to increase, leading to the need for a greater PILOT agreement. “[Tufts] sees everything one way, where they have a value to us,” he said. “And I always [say]: if we put you in the most expensive city in the Commonwealth, would you be as attractive to your student body as its location here?” he said.

they were being followed. The two individuals, Uber Eats drivers, were delivering an order when they accidentally cut off another driver. The driver then proceeded to follow them, so they drove to the University Police Station in Dowling Hall. The driver waited for the individuals to depart but eventually left. Later that evening at 11:50 p.m., TUPD responded to a security alarm from Ballou Hall. TUPD found two students inside Ballou Hall; the students said they had found an open door and went inside to use the bathroom. TUPD explained to the students that the building was closed and escorted them out.

Wednesday, April 24, 2019

Features

Alumni Q&A: Laurie Gabriel by Anita Ramaswamy Managing Editor

The Alumni Series aims to create a diverse collection of experiences at Tufts through highlighting notable alumni. Editor’s note: This interview has been edited for length and clarity. Laurie Gabriel ( J ’76) graduated from Tufts in 1976 with a bachelor of arts in economics. After her time at Tufts, she has held several positions at Wellington Management Company, including managing partner, director of global research and director of quantitative research. Since her retirement from Wellington in 2008, she serves on the Tufts Board of Trustees and is currently vice chair of the Board of Trustees at The Nature Conservancy. Tufts Daily ( TD): What were some memorable classes or professors you had at Tufts? Laurie Gabriel (LG): Well, okay, so first of all, I graduated in 1976. So it’s been a really long time. I was an economics major; I was fascinated by the field of economics. I loved the fact that there were no solid answers; it was always “on the one hand, on the other hand,” so that everything was kind of a puzzle. But in terms of classes that actually benefited my career, I have to point to a couple. One was statistics, which was part of the economics department. The other one — again, this is way back in the ’70s — was a programming course that some of my engineering friends talked me into. So I took a pass/fail course in FORTRAN, which is now a dead language. But it meant that when I joined Wellington Management Company, which is where I spent my entire career, I was literally one of two people in the firm who knew how to write a computer program on the fly. It was a time when computers were just starting to really be used in the investment business, for analysis of investment opportunities, so it was very, very timely. And it was a real differentiator for me. The course was then called ES-2, and you had to go to the basement of Miller, where the one computer on campus was located, if you actually wanted to put something into the computer and receive output. I also have to point to my participation on the men’s sailing team. I learned a lot about winning and losing, competing hard and the power of teamwork. We were national champions my senior year, and that item on my resume was another differentiator. TD: You spent your entire career at Wellington. What was your path there? LG: Very interestingly, when I was graduating from Tufts, I got two job offers on the same day. And one was for a management training program at an insurance company in Boston, and the other was at Wellington Management Company. And honestly, it was partly naiveté, and partly it was the people that I met in the course of interviewing, that convinced me to take the Wellington job. When I started working at Wellington, I believe my annual salary that first year was $7,800. And the job at the insurance company would have started at $10,000. So I gave up a significant percentage of money to go work at Wellington. And it was just really was something about the company’s size,

the vibe and the people … I met there, that drew me to Wellington. TD: Once you got there, how did you decide which paths within the firm interested you? LG: I was pretty opportunistic. I started my career at Wellington in the back office. As I mentioned, my very minimal computer skills got me my first promotion into this new area in the investment world called quantitative research, and I really enjoyed that. I think the combination of statistics and having a little programming [knowledge] was very beneficial at that point in time. I stayed in quantitative research for quite a while. But I think Wellington was small enough and my interests were broad enough, that when different opportunities came up, I was interested to pursue them. So for a while I worked in our relationship management area, working primarily with mutual fund clients. Then I headed our trust company subsidiary. Then I moved back to quantitative research. I eventually became the director of quantitative research, and then the director of all of research. But there was no plan. There was no strategy. It was more about, “Here’s an opportunity. I think I’m ready for it. The company also thinks I’m ready for it. So I’m going to go for it.” I was definitely fortunate. I think one the challenges for people getting into the field today is that the investment field is so specialized that it’s hard to move across channels. And I would definitely encourage people to do that if they see the opportunity. TD: So what were your favorite and least favorite positions you held at Wellington and why? LG: Well, I don’t think I can answer favorite and least favorite, because every job had parts I loved and parts that were not as great. There are a couple of lessons that I learned about different roles. One was when I was working side by side with a person who had to be the smartest person in the room, and had to show that to other people. And the lesson was that job satisfaction is not always about the content of the job. Sometimes it is about the work environment around you. And I think if there was ever a point I was considering leaving Wellington, it was because that was a toxic, unpleasant everyday work experience. Another lesson I learned was when I was a portfolio manager, which is an incredibly difficult job. If you get it right 55% of the time, you’re doing really well. But 45% of time, you’re wrong, you look and feel wrong, and that’s hard to live with. As hard as portfolio management is, managing people is even harder, because the decisions you have to make in managing people affect their lives. It’s very, very stressful, and very important to do the best job you possibly can. But the other thing about managing portfolios — and this can be good or bad — is that you get a report card every day when the markets close. When you’re managing people, and later in my career, most of my job was about people management; there’s no report card. And the actual work is largely done by the people who work for you, so you have to find satisfaction in the success of the people you’re helping to develop. And that’s a skill that needs to be learned. TD: In light of recent statements from Larry Fink of BlackRock and many other

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Nate Rubright Somerville with Townie Tim executives in asset management, how do you feel about the rise of environmental, social and governance (ESG)based investing? Do you think it’s possible for ESG to make a real impact in the field? LG: I believe that this is a long-term trend, not just a fad. I think individuals, myself included, think about incorporating their values in their investment portfolio as well as in their lives. And I think increasingly, foundations and endowments are thinking about mission-related investing or program-related investing. Laws are changing, or the interpretation of laws are changing, to allow more institutions to move in that direction. The field is growing. ESG is not right for everybody and of course, ESG means something different to virtually everyone. I work with one notfor-profit that’s a conservation organization, and they have a relatively small endowment, around $65 million. We undertook a study of ESG investing for them. They are starting to incorporate that throughout their portfolio, starting with public investments, with a focus on environmental factors, primarily. But as you may know, when Tufts looked at something different, which was divestment from fossil fuels a few years ago. The decision was made not to divest the endowment from from fossil fuels. That certainly is an important issue, but it’s not one that directly aligns with the institution’s mission of research and education. TD: What were some of the biggest challenges you faced as a trustee? LG: Well, one of the issues I was most involved in was the question of divestment from fossil fuels. Divestment in general, was something I had looked at while at Wellington, whether it was Northern Ireland, or South Africa or tobacco. So that was one challenge. The trustees face plenty of challenges, and it’s not an easy job. I know a concern that we all had was around medical transport for alcohol or drugs; I’m glad to note we’ve made progress there over the years. I think the student life review that took place last year was an important look into how students are living on campus. I am on the Administration and Finance Committee, where we are focused on budgets, funding, tuition and how to balance everything. That’s always a challenge. TD: Do you have any suggestions for students who are environmentally conscious to make an impact on these issues and have their voices heard within the university setting, especially in light of pro-divestment student advocacy? LG: I have seen a lot of changes at Tufts since that divestment report was submitted and approved, and I hope you have too, whether it’s the new sustainability house that’s being built down in CoHo, or the courses and degrees that have been introduced around the issues of conservation, environmental protection and water usage. I think the new cogeneration plant, the increase in solar, these are the kinds of things the university has put in place because these are the things that can ensure Tufts acts as a good citizen in the world. And I see the students recycling and being cognizant of their electricity see ALUMNI, page 4

Apartment Hunting

t’s that time of the year again to look around your living room and decide if you want to give it another year with these clowns. I know the schedule for hunting for apartments can undulate depending on where you live, and I have heard of students searching as much as a year in advance, but for everyone else in Somerville, it is around now that the decision to move in September is happening. Don’t get me wrong, your boy Townie Tim is all for having roommates, and with the rent in Somerville, it’s pretty much a guarantee that you’ll be shacking up with someone. So, you might as well settle in and take some apartment searching advice from your favorite Villen resident. The first and most important thing in searching for an apartment around here is location. Not that anywhere is particularly bad, but from previous articles you know about my aversion to travel. So pick a spot that is easy to get to, is near a square, and preferably has places to park. I know you think you have good friends, but as soon as you start making them take the “Bridge Hopper” because there is no parking on Broadway, they will suddenly get really busy. The next most important thing is who you live with. We all have horror stories about roommates and that’s a key part of the college learning process. No joke, when I was an undergrad, I shared a room with a dude that had the last name of Gross. Needless to say, my experience proved he had an appropriate moniker. Roommates come in all varieties; the ones that are never there, the ones that are always there, the ones that buy a bunch of food and leave it in the fridge too long, the ones whose significant other is pretty much your roommate too, and finally the ones that sleep on the couch at night for some inexplicable reason. In my opinion, communication is the key to any relationship. Maybe because I am an outstanding listener, but I tend to hear more about people’s roommates than those folk’s roommates hear from them. That sounds confusing but if you just tell people what’s wrong, they can either fix it or just straight up disappear for the rest of the semester out of embarrassment. Lastly, and this is somewhat of a hot take, but being clean is the best thing for everyone. Seriously, being clean is the lowest-hanging fruit possible when it comes to being a decent person to live with. Yes, people can take it to an extreme, but just noticing how your stuff is distributed across your living space solves about 95% of all roommate drama. I am convinced that being dirty is really just being lazy about observing how your living can affect other people. A clean and organized apartment is a neutral environment and I am far more likely to forgive you for calling me at 5 a.m. to let you in if you just picked up all your granola bowls off the coffee table. Happy hunting! Nate Rubright is a columnist with the Features section of the Daily and is a member of the Somerville community. Nate can be reached at nathan.rubright@gmail.com.

Wednesday, April 24, 2019 | FEATURES | THE TUFTS DAILY

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Laurie Gabriel speaks on experience as Tufts alum on Board of Trustees ALUMNI

continued from page 3 usage and just exhibiting a generally greater focus on the environmental impact they are having. [ With regards to divestment], I’ll tell you one anecdote. I was going to a meeting. I think it was on Earth Day. There were people around Ballou arguing for divestment at the same time there were people marching around Ballou, arguing for divestment from private prison companies and from companies doing business in Israel. And to me, this is one of the challenges of divestment. If you choose to divest from one thing, what are the limits? And, you know, one person’s social issue is different from the next person’s social issue. I think the biggest thing that students collectively can do to have an impact on environmental issues is to push for

political change, and particularly a U.S. energy policy, which moves us to reducing carbon and shifting to a clean energy economy. TD: Does Tufts think about, rather than divesting from these types of companies, trying to have a positive environmental influence through taking an active approach and talking to the companies we invest in? LG: We do think about that. This gets a little technical, but virtually all of Tufts’ investments are in commingled funds. When you’re in commingled funds, the managers of the fund make the decisions about which companies to invest in. You can’t have every investor in the funds voting their share of the proxy differently. [However], we do ask our managers if they are considering ESG principles in their decision-making.

TD: Is there anything that you think most students do not know about the Board of Trustees that you wish they did? LG: Well, that’s a great question. I don’t know if the students realize how much time the trustees spend thinking about them, thinking about their life on campus, thinking about what’s working well and what could be improved. I think sometimes, we’re viewed as these separate people that are just chatting about policies and strategy. But we do think a lot about the students and their life on campus. TD: What is one piece of advice you would give to graduating seniors today? LG: Well, this is going to sound oversimplified, and maybe even trite, but I really, really believe you have to love the work that you’re doing. And sometimes you have to search for something to love in the work that you’re doing. But it’s

too big a part of your life not to enjoy it, not to feel good about what you’re doing and not to feel passionate about the role that you’re playing. Every job has rotten parts, that’s why they call it work. But I think you can find the ‘good’ in most jobs. For example, when I was managing a mutual fund portfolio, I liked to think about the people who were saving for their children’s education or building a retirement nest egg. If I was running an endowment portfolio, I liked to think about how the endowment would be better able to carry out its mission if I did a good job. Those are the kinds of things which made me feel good about work. A second piece of advice is to work for a company where you admire the culture, you respect and like the people that you’re working with and you feel good about whatever it is that the company is doing or producing.

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ARTS&LIVING

K-pop has well and truly arrived on America’s shores

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VIA YOUTUBE

A promotional image for BTS’ SNL live performance is pictured. by Yuan Jun Chee Sports Editor

Last weekend proved to be K-pop’s biggest ever week in America, as two of K-pop’s largest groups claimed notable firsts for Korea. BTS became the first ever Korean act to perform on Saturday Night Live, while on the west coast, girl group BLACKPINK performed at Coachella. And it’s not just primetime television or concert events that K-pop is conquering. NCT 127 became just the third-ever Korean act to perform on Good Morning America. To add to that list of burgeoning achievements, K-pop groups are conquering America left, right and center. In just 2019 alone, other than BTS and BLACKPINK, equally popular groups like Monsta X, TWICE and Red Velvet, who performed in Pyongyang, will be touring across North America. Other younger groups like Oh My Girl, MXM, ATEEZ, TXT and Stray Kidz will be hitting or have already hit America’s shores. However, to suddenly attribute the rise of K-pop to just the last few years does not do justice to the entire story of K-pop and the Korean wave, as these groups were not the first to attempt to penetrate the American market. Pop culture observers will be familiar with Rain’s breakthrough performance in the film Ninja Assassin (2009) and PSY’s 2012 hit, “Gangnam Style.” Acts such as Wonder Girls and Girls’ Generation have performed English renditions of their hit songs on various American TV shows such as the Wendy Williams Show and the David Letterman Show respectively, while others such as BoA and CL have previously attempted to break into the market with mixed success. K-pop is also highly international in its approach. Many K-pop groups consist of members from outside of Korea, such as China, Japan and Thailand. Many

performing artists around the world also sought to collaborate with K-pop artists. Artists such as John Legend, Steve Aoki, Far East Movement, Snoop Dogg, The Chainsmokers and of course, in BTS’ latest single, “Boy With Luv,” Halsey, have collaborated with various K-pop artists such as Red Velvet’s Wendy, EXO’s Chanyeol and PSY. This work is not limited to Anglophones. Two years ago, Super Junior released a Latin pop track, “Lo Siento” with Leslie Grace, and then doubled down with “Otra Vez” (2018) with REIK. In fact, one might even say that America is late to the game at recognizing the phenomenon that is K-pop. To the rest of the world, K-pop has been an international phenomenon for a pretty long time, for reasons that perhaps America is just now becoming aware of. For many fans, a key reason why K-pop resonates with them is due to the intimacy of fan connection. Many K-pop groups have internet fan cafes that allow artists to interact with their fans. The popularity of other apps such as V Live also gives artists opportunities to perform “live streams” and connect with their fans in a much more informal and intimate setting. Their appearance on variety shows, whether on national television or company-sanctioned variety shows, also allows fans an insight to the lives of their artists. Korean-American K-pop star Eric Nam has even recently released a K-pop podcast. All this culminates in K-pop’s following on social media platforms, as evidenced by how three K-pop groups – BTS, EXO and GOT7 – are nominated for Top Social Artist at the Billboard Music Awards this year. This level of fan intimacy is also seen in the strong presence of “fandoms” across the K-pop universe. Fandoms like BTS’ ARMY, EXO’s EXO-L, BLACKPINK’s BLINKS and TWICE’s ONCE provide individual fans with a community to interact with like-minded peers. Fandoms also often contribute to

the development of knowledge of K-pop outside the K-pop universe, through their content creation and discussions they have on various social media platforms. The rise of social media and content creation platforms have allowed for K-pop to spread to many fans worldwide, driving fans to push for their favorite acts to trend on Twitter or to be heard more frequently on American radio. Outside of the K-pop universe, fans also donate in their idol’s names for charitable causes, further elevating the status of K-pop on the social stage. Through these various actions, it is safe to say that fans play an integral role in raising the profile of the groups they support worldwide. Yet perhaps, the simple reason for why fans across the world love K-pop artists is for the most fundamental reason of them all: their ability to sing, dance and perform. K-pop songs are often described as “catchy,” and barring language differences, they share many similarities with what American listeners are familiar with. Furthermore, almost every K-pop song features “fan chants,” allowing fans to feel like they are part of the performance as they chant a reply in their groups’ various songs. What is less talked about is the ability of K-pop artists themselves, in part due to the “manufactured” discourse that had previously prevailed in Western discourse on K-pop. Admittedly, while there are a number of K-pop artists who are discovered through survival programs like American Idol, many have been selected through auditions run by entertainment companies, and have received years of training on many fronts. While this is a key aspect that generally differentiates K-pop from the rest of the music industry, that should in no way discredit their abilities. Almost every K-pop group has talented vocalists, dancers and rappers that can capture the listener or crowd’s imagination. The K-pop universe is also home to many singer-songwriters

such as Big Bang’s G-Dragon and Taeyang, BTS’ RM and Suga, IU and Block B’s Zico. The producers’ abilities and willingness to take on society and reflect on their own personal experiences through their lyricism adds an additional layer of connection with their fans through the music. It is of course, hard to separate the music from its performance. Many K-pop dances also have a “point,” a dance that accompanies the song and allows fans to quickly identify with and connect to the music, and group, by simply being able to repeat that “point move.” Many groups have combined talented vocal performance with equally smooth and well-choreographed dances, executed to sheer perfection. Take for example, EXO’s “Growl” (2013), “Wolf” (2013), “Monster” (2016) as well as their latest release “Love Shot” (2018), which feature smooth vocals with equally memorable and powerful moves that ultimately make their performances and the group extremely popular. K-pop has often been plagued with accusations of being too manufactured with its perfect choreography, rigid and demanding training and scouting and allegations of artists having undergone plastic surgery. To describe and dismiss K-pop fans simply as crazed teenage girls is also fundamentally inaccurate and problematic. Ultimately, such descriptions are unhelpful in understanding K-pop’s appeal worldwide. K-pop’s success in America comes at a time when Hollywood calls for more diverse representation across its screens. America’s major media outlets and entertainment industries have sought to answer this call as K-pop arrives in the US. And as it does through the airwaves, social media and video-sharing platforms, perhaps America will continue to see just why, despite the language barriers, the rest of the world appreciates the international phenomenon that is the talent that makes up the K-pop universe.

THE TUFTS DAILY | Arts & Living | Wednesday, April 24, 2019

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‘Colette’: The Hand that Holds the Pen

Evan Zigmond Out on the Town

Union Square/ Bow Market

COURTESY THE MFA

A still from ‘Colette’ (2018) is pictured. by Rebecca Tang Arts Editor

On Saturday, the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (MFA) hosted a screening of “Colette” (2018) as part of its “Gender Bending Fashion on Film” program. “Colette” is a biographical narrative of the early relationships and authorship of the late-19th and early-20th-century French novelist and artist Sidonie-Gabrielle Colette. Directed by British independent film director Wash Westmoreland, the film stars Keira Knightley as the titular character, along with Dominic West, Eleanor Tomlinson and Denise Gough in other leading roles. The film premiered at the 2018 Sundance Film Festival. Having grown up in a small village in Burgundy, France, Colette is introduced to the high-end Parisian literary circle after she marries a man pennamed Willy (Dominic West), a “literary entrepreneur,” as he calls himself, who owns a writing workshop that publishes works of ghostwriters under the his pen name. The lack of recognition that Colette feels in her marriage to Willy as well as her exploration of her fluid sexual orientation leads Colette to redefine the boundaries of femininity. Colette’s teenage bravery in pursuing her affections and displaying her dislikes foreshadows her metamorphosis into an independent woman later in life. An early scene in the film depicts Willy’s visit to the young Colette and her parents. After Willy departs for his train, Colette tells her mother that she wants to go for a walk, which actually leads her to reunite with Willy in a barn. The two intimately enjoy themselves in a haystack before Willy leaves. Colette’s secret barn trip reveals her as a forward and crude adolescent who embraces her heart’s desires, as well as a free-spirited risk-taker that is unafraid of challenging social authorities. Colette is also unafraid of displaying her dislikes. Right before her debut

at the bourgeois Parisian literary social scene as Willy’s wife, Colette takes off an expensive dinner dress that Willy buys her, and changes back into her usual country outfit. To the surprised Willy, Colette explains that she cannot breathe in his high-end gift. Growing up in her pastoral home, Colette’s decision is likely the result of a country girl’s innocent disregard of the social norms of the cosmopolitan upper-class than of a political statement about social class or gender. However, Colette’s natural ability to recognize and appreciate her personal needs as such will ultimately allow her to pursue independence. Colette’s feminist identity are best symbolized by her symbolic abandonment of her childhood name and clothing choice of the conventionally male-exclusive suit. When Willy’s workshop struggles financially to pay its ghostwriters, Colette starts writing there, and publishes a bestselling novel series about the coming-of-age of a young girl named Claudine under the name of Willy. Colette’s fury accumulates as Willy continuously rejects her request to have her next Claudine novel published under both her name and Willy’s. The fury peaks and erupts when Colette finds that Willy has sold the copyright to the lucrative Claudine series to their publisher without Colette’s notice. Colette confronts Willy in his office while wearing a black business suit, a choice of clothing that sharply contrasts with her last “role-play” in the film: her dress-up as Claudine largely for the entertainment of Willy. By stepping into a suit, a symbol of corporate membership, Colette claims herself worthy of professional recognition. In her passionate final conversation with Willy, Colette says that Willy had found her when she knew nothing, and molded her to his own desires. That Colette has outgrown her innocent younger self is illustrated in her decisively storming to the door after talking with Willy, and disregarding Willy calling for her to stay

with “Gabrielle,” Colette’s first name, which she goes by until she adopts “Colette,” her last name, as her pen as well as everyday name. Colette’s refusal to respond to being called “Gabrielle” is symbolic of her detachment from her vulnerable younger self. Femininity is again reimagined to reach beyond social conventions at the time in Colette’s relationship with Missy and their pantomime performances. Colette started an affair with Missy, a French noblewoman, before she separates with Willy, who simultaneously is having an affair with another woman. Missy and Colette join the cast of a pantomime called Rêve d’Égypte, in which the two’s characters share a kiss on stage. Missy and Colette break social ground not only by embodying their queer identities, but also by speaking for those who are afraid of doing the same. In an interview, Denise Gough, the actress who plays Missy, speaks of art as “hugely important” at pushing boundaries by empowering the socially vulnerable as an object of empathy. “These stories, we have to be showing them, to kids, to young people, so that they can see that they are represented. What [Colette and Missy] did that one night at that place, even if there was only one audience that saw herself or himself reflected, it’s amazing,” she said. Colette’s coming-of-age was synchronized with the emergence of other intelligent literary female minds, such as the Brontë sisters, Jane Austen and Emily Dickinson. These women literally fueled the growth of the female voice. The agency of expression is crucial to gaining any kind of social right, because, as the film “Colette” puts it, “the hand that holds the pen writes history.” In the upcoming weeks, the “Gender Bending Fashion on Film” program will continue to host screenings, including, “Black Panther” (2018), “Orlando” (1992), “The Man Who Fell to Earth” (1976), and “Purple Rain” (1984).

ver the past couple weeks, my eternal search for a way to kill time has led me to Union Square in Somerville. I have fallen in love with the area, and I’m eager to share it with all of you. There are all sorts of attractions there, which warrant repeat visits to the square to have some varied afternoons. Bow Market is right next to the square, and only adds to the fun. Union Square is truly under-serviced by public transport. Google Maps recommends taking the 88 bus from Teele Square to Washington Street under McGrath Highway. If you’re willing and able, however, you can actually walk from Davis Square to Union Square in under an hour. I prefer this method, as Somerville is teeming with interesting shops and restaurants between the two squares. The Square itself contains a wide variety of restaurants. There is also an ice cream store and a really fancy donut shop if you’re looking for dessert after dinner. I would recommend taking your ice cream one block up Stone Avenue to Prospect Hill Park, where you can sit next to an old stone tower and enjoy your treat along with a killer view of Greater Boston’s skyline. Everything from the smokestacks of Chelsea to Copley’s signature skyscrapers is in full view. The square is home to more than just eateries, too. It also boasts a small museum showcasing local art, as well as a comic book store. All of this excludes Bow Market, which in my opinion takes the area from good to great. The small, two-story market is a half-block from the square and contains its own smattering of stores and restaurants. I’ve made the market my personal leisure spot over the past couple of weeks, and I’ve had a great time browsing the businesses there. There is a store with the bold business model of selling mostly cacti on the second floor, as well as a rugged outdoors-type store complete with scout memorabilia, outdoor cooking wares and so much flannel! While all of the market’s stores are worthy of visiting, the crown jewel of the plaza has to be The Comedy Studio. Since the ’90s, The Studio has been a cornerstone of the Boston stand-up comedy scene. They put on shows every night of the week, and have had drop-in sets from many high-level comics, including Gary Gulman, my personal comedy messiah. While tickets can be a bit pricey on weekends, the studio puts on great shows. The ambience of the club is nice: it is obviously well-maintained, but not as stuffy as a comedy show at a theater. They also allow food from outside restaurants, so if you’re looking for dinner and a show, this gets a strong thumbs up from me. Union Square and Bow Market are wonderful. There’s so much to do in such a small area, and it is much closer to campus than many other popular leisure destinations. Once the Green Line Extension is completed, you will certainly be able to find me faffing around in this heater of a square. Go check this one out — seriously! Evan Zigmond is a sophomore studying music. Evan can be reached at evan.zigmond@tufts.edu.

Wednesday, April 24, 2019 | FUN & GAMES | THE TUFTS DAILY

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F &G FUN & GAMES

LATE NIGHT AT THE DAILY Anita: “Am I the Bernie Madoff of JumboSmash?”

SUDOKU

LINDA C. BLACK ASTROLOGY

Taurus (April 20–May 20)

Plan an educational adventure, like a conference, vacation or class, for later this year. Prepare for travels, scientific research and intellectual study with Pluto retrograde.

Difficulty Level: Having exams before exam period.

Tuesday’s Solutions

CROSSWORD

8 tuftsdaily.com

Opinion OP-ED

Shannon Lee for TCU President by Charlie Zhen I first met Shannon during my senior year of high school, when we were both assigned as “big sibs” — think FOCUS leaders with much less training but more posters — for a first-year homeroom. I knew her as the person who made the first-years laugh and get settled in, but little did I know she would soon be one of my closest friends at Tufts. Shannon was dedicated to serving her fellow students in high school, and although we have both changed in many ways at Tufts, her dedication to others has never wavered. Shannon’s passion, commitment and tireless dedication to others has translated into real, tangible change. As a low-income, first-generation student, I am one of many who has accessed meals through the Swipe It Forward meal bank, a project that Shannon spearheaded. When I served as Tufts Community Union (TCU) Senate’s Asian American Community Senator, I worked with Shannon to relocate Asian American housing outside of the Asian American Center. This opened the entire building up as a student center focused on

community building. Shannon has advocated for more support not only for students with marginalized identities, but for professors of color as well. She has worked on resolutions calling for reforming the exam policy, increasing the number of gender-neutral bathrooms and much more. Shannon holds a true, genuine care for students of marginalized identities, and that care is translated not only through her ideals and words, but her actions. She works hard to make seemingly idealistic goals into a practical reality. It is easy to feel disconnected from Senate; I spent my entire first year unaware of who my senators were or what they even did. While Senate always strives to improve and connect with more students across campus, I am confident that Shannon represents me, and I know that her work has affected many of those who may not even know it. I cast my vote for Shannon knowing that as a first-generation college student and woman of color, Shannon brings tenacity and resilience, and advocates on behalf of communities that have often been overlooked. I have served with Shannon on the University Priorities and Budget Student-

Faculty Committee and seen her in meetings with high-level administrators. Every time I listen to her speak, I am struck by how she balances firm advocacy with compassionate understanding. She navigates others’ stubbornness with listening and care, asks insightful questions with a firm manner that demands an answer and creates solutions by finding commonalities and reaching understandings. I have seen Shannon frustrated, I have seen Shannon overjoyed and I have seen Shannon confronted with countless obstacles of many names. Yet I have never seen Shannon give up on her fellow students or herself. Shannon is someone who leads for and with others. She loops in students, knowing that Senate is not the only vehicle for change and that our voices are stronger when a variety of perspectives and backgrounds are at the table. Every question she asked in meetings, every project she pursued and every resolution she co-authored served to lift up others, whether it was her fellow senator co-authors who she mentored or students with a cause who may have never voted in a TCU election before. Shannon’s

Wednesday, April 24, 2019

d s e s extensive record of accomplishments t speaks for itself, but ask anyone she’s o ever worked with — they’ll speak to her a incredible ability to serve and unite. a As I come to terms with the fact that I’m D leaving Tufts, I can’t help but reflect on how t much Tufts has changed since I first stepped u on campus. It’s incredibly powerful to know a that student power, advocacy and commu- a nity building has led to the creation of insti- d tutions such as the Group of Six and the a FIRST Resource Center, programs like Swipe t It Forward and additional pre-orientations t and community spaces and policies. At a s point where the Tufts community can seem d incredibly fragmented, morale feels low and a vacancies in department and administrative offices are adding up, it’s scary to wonder C whether Tufts will change for the better or L worse. However, I know that under the lead- D ership of a visionary, bold, genuine advocate s like Shannon, Tufts will continue to be a p better home for students that creates equity, t opportunity and community. Charlie Zhen is a senior studying American studies. Charlie can be reached at charlie. zhen@tufts.edu.

CARTOON

Keep Earth Day going

SHANNON GEARY

The Tufts Daily is a nonprofit, independent newspaper, published Monday through Friday during the academic year, and distributed free to the Tufts community. The content of letters, advertisements, signed columns, cartoons and graphics does not necessarily reflect the opinion of The Tufts Daily editorial board. EDITORIALS Editorials represent the position of The Tufts Daily. Individual editors are not necessarily responsible for, or in agreement with, the policies and editorials of The Tufts Daily. OP-EDS The Op-Ed section of The Tufts Daily, an open forum for campus editorial commentary, is printed Monday through Thursday. The Daily welcomes submissions from all members of the Tufts community; the opinions expressed in the Op-Ed section do not necessarily represent the opinions of the Daily itself. Opinion articles on campus, national and international issues should be 600 to 1,200 words in length and submitted to opinion@tuftsdaily.com. The editors reserve the right to edit letters for clarity, space and length. All material is subject to editorial discretion and is not guaranteed to appear in the Daily. Authors must submit their telephone numbers and day-of availability for editing questions. ADVERTISING All advertising copy is subject to the approval of the Editor-in-Chief, Executive Board and Executive Business Director.

Opinion

Wednesday, April 24, 2019 | Opinion | THE TUFTS DAILY

EDITORIAL

Advising should be more comprehensive

Pre-major advising in its current form does not provide adequate support to students who are deciding which classes to take. Though it is designed to help students find interesting classes before they select a major, pre-major advising often falls short. A single meeting with an advisor isn’t enough to give students a clear picture of academic life at Tufts. Departments and programs should have the time and resources to host events for underclassmen who are unsure of their academic direction during orientation and the registration period. While many departments already have open houses and information sessions around registration, we feel the university should do more to integrate these events into the course selection process, and set aside a day during registration for a university-wide academic open house. Professor Anne Mahoney, chair of the Committee on Advising and Co-Curricular Learning, explained in an email to the Daily that building meaningful relationships with faculty ought to begin with pre-major advising. Mahoney emphasized that pre-major advising keeps students

who already know what they want to do from narrowing their focus. It is easy for students to forget the plethora of classes beyond their chosen field, and pre-major advisors help push students to broaden their academic interests. Sessions hosted by individual departments around registration period each semester benefit students who are looking for more major-specific guidance. By having specific times during which professors can meet students and discuss classes, students can start building relationships with faculty in their departments and navigate requirements. Professor Mahoney noted that many departments do have information sessions, but they aren’t strongly promoted. By improving the advertising of these sessions and making sure to hold them at least once a semester, departments can make themselves more accessible to students. Tufts overall should encourage academic information sessions by setting aside one day before registration to host an all-school academic open house. Mahoney added that for first-years, department sessions may not be very useful

during their first semester. She explained that departments used to host sessions during orientation, but that this practice has fallen off in recent years. Combining an all-school academic open house with orientation for first-years would help students who are uncertain about their academic direction to decide which classes to take. In addition, these sessions could help firstyears introduce themselves to others who are planning to major in the same area, helping them form connections with their peers early in the school year. Pre-major advising has its benefits, particularly when it comes to fostering connections between students and professors and helping undecided students keep their interests diverse. On the other hand, department sessions during registration and other major-specific guidance would provide students with more direction while not detracting from pre-major advising. Tufts should set aside time for all departments to welcome interested students, and reintroduce small-department sessions during first-year orientation week to provide incoming underclassmen with adequate guidance.

Deeksha Bathini America is dying

A broken record

e pride ourselves on having the latest and greatest. We revere the robotic surgeons, the state-of-the-art medical devices and the high-tech operating rooms. The speed of innovation in modern society makes it difficult to keep up. We are very much so existing amidst a digital revolution. But, here’s the thing: More advanced technology does not necessarily mean better medical outcomes. Take electronic medical records (EMR), for example. About a decade ago, President Obama was an ardent supporter of digitizing medical records, and the American government has since doled out $36 billion to speed up the process. A recent report on “Botched Operation” from Kaiser Health News and Fortune magazine reveals the futilities of EMR. You would think that EMR would positively contribute to the enormous, confusing labyrinth of patient records. After all, an interconnected digital system that stores a life’s worth of information should be useful for promoting continuity of care between patients and physicians, right? Well, as it turns out, the main beneficiary of this transition has been the $13 billion industry that sells EMR programs. After years of careful marketing, the industry is booming. In 2008, only 9% of hospitals had EMR. Now, that percentage is 96%. But EMR have been responsible for thousands of injuries, near misses and even deaths. This digitization has caused medical personnel to fumble through hundreds of drop-down lists of medications they’ve never even heard of, spend hours upon hours filling out required fields and lose time they could be spending with patients. Additionally, EMR demand a certain degree of multi-tasking: talking to a patient, asking a question, typing it in the records, stopping for conversation and doing it all over again. Of course, this makes the system prone to human error. Dr. John Prunskis MD asked his medical staff: “Which was better — their new electronic medical record (EMR) system, or the record-keeping system it replaced?” The answer was unanimous: Not a single person chose EMR. In fact, EMR has actually caused “frustration, stress and burnout” among physicians who spend hours outside of work charting. Ultimately, it might require government intervention to address widespread dissatisfaction with this new system. That could look like increased government oversight over the EMR, which the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is primed to do in the upcoming future. FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb recently called for “tighter scrutiny” over EMR, citing that digital records are so new that there are not sufficient regulations for proper monitoring. This reveals another frightening reality of EMR — databases containing years of personal health information are not properly maintained. What does that mean for security and privacy of personal data? That, too, is completely up in the air. Technology can be wonderful, particularly in the case of medicine, if it facilitates and simplifies the job of healthcare personnel. EMR has proven to do exactly the opposite, and yet hospitals are contractually obligated to continue digitizing despite pushback from the very people entering this digital information. Deeksha Bathini is a sophomore studying community health. Deeksha can be reached at deeksha.bathini@tufts.edu.

THE TUFTS DAILY | Sports | Wednesday, April 24, 2019

Jeremy Goldstein Anti-Bostonian

Provocative Edition

here are thousands of campus newspapers across the United States. Within those pages of print are thousands of columns, where thousands of disgruntled young adults project their bubbling grievances (or perhaps, their joyous musings! Sorry, I’m pessimistic) upon an audience of (HOPEFULLY ) hundreds to skim through. I know the situation, but I need human eyes to vindicate my weekly commitment. That’s where provocation comes in: the antidote to stop the wandering eyes dead in their tracks. It’s my only defense of a paper skimmer in Carm who’s trying to consume as much as possible with their morning oatmeal. Ugh, but those blueberries are irresistible, and the sports section of the Tufts Daily suddenly doesn’t matter as much, let alone some random sophomore columnist with a goofy icon photo. So how do I stop this type of paper skimmer, much like I know my roommate does almost every day (sorry Avery)? Well, I wake up every day in a city ensconced in more sporting success than I think they know what to do with. And here is a newspaper (granted, a school newspaper with a strong obligation to support its student body) giving a crazy, New York zealot 500 words a week to spew his epithets at everyone from Brady to Brady to Belichick to Brady. What if one day, I’m just like, “screw it, let’s go global.” I make the hottest take of hot takes, become the Skip Bayless of sports columns by spewing a blasphemous proclamation that attracts a large enough cult-like following to garner the attention I need. The attention I need to do what sort of nefarious scheme, you so ask? I’m gonna take down Boston … from the inside! Well, I can take down Boston’s sports, at least. No, I can’t physically shred Boston’s athletic prestige, and I’m certainly not saying I’m going to go Tonya Harding on Tom Brady or anything. Maybe just take a gentle stab at the psyche of the Boston sports fan, enough to stop those wandering eyes and have them question their place on top of the athletic pedestal. Then I must clarify what this column has always thought to tacitly avoid: Is the sports culture reflective of a city’s heritage as a whole? It’s the ever-old fine line I continue to tightrope, and only sometimes, I peek down and feel my stomach absolutely sink. No, I don’t want to offend anyone with any of these so-called ‘provocations.’ Again, it’s about pausing those wandering eyes. What, you mean to tell me Drew Brees is superior to Thomas Edward Patrick Brady Jr.? For Joe Boston, I solemnly apologize. I do not mean to hurt you, make you feel ignorant or question your character. Do I just want to be famous? Do I somehow see expressing my grievances on a dying media platform as a legitimate career path to stumble downwards? Do I secretly wish I grew up in Boston instead of New York, or worse, as a fan of Boston sports? Who really knows? But I’m having a good-ass time figuring it out! Jeremy Goldstein is a sophomore studying political science and film and media studies. Jeremy can be reached at jeremy. goldstein@tufts.edu.

tuftsdaily.com

Jumbos win 6 events to win home meet MEN'S TRACK & FIELD

continued from back mate who had run in that heat with me walk over, and when he told me I had run [a] 21.93, I was really amped up. I figured I had run fast, but I didn’t realize that it was that fast. With sprinting, it’s always hard to tell how well you did, so when I found out my time I felt really accomplished.” Junior Jordan Abate and senior Tom Doyle followed Miller in the 200-meter with fifth- and sixth-place finishes, respectively. Behind Doyle was a familiar face the track and field program had not seen for a while, alumnus Nick Usoff (LA ’17). Usoff finished in seventh with a time of 23.03, showing that he still had his wheels even after graduating. Sophomore Vincent Avallone rounded out the top 10 for the Jumbos, finishing ninth with a time of 23.35. The first-year runners put on a great display as well, winning two events. First-year Riley Patten won the 400-meter hurdles in a season-best time of 55.00. Fellow first-year Neerav Gade also took first place in his event, the 5k race, with a time of 15:22.98. Along with two first-place finishes, Tufts also tallied four more victories across all of its events.

Senior Josh Etkind ran a 14.82 in the 110-meter hurdles to take first place. Fellow senior Ben Wallace won the pole vault with a 14’5¼” mark. Junior Kevin Quisumbing won the shot put with a 50’8¾” mark. Then, to round out the first-place finishes for the Jumbos, the 4×100 relay team — comprised of seniors Brandon Levenstein, Anthony Kardonsky, Miller and sophomore OJ Armstrong — won their race with a time of 43.01 seconds. Tufts accumulated 181 team points over the course of the event to take home a commanding victory. Second-place UMass Dartmouth earned 138 points. Husson University placed third with 125 points and Plymouth State took fourth with 109 points. Amherst finished in last place, with 87 points. The Jumbos appreciated the victory, but as explained by Miller, felt more accomplished by their great performances across the board. “Winning the meet was sort of an afterthought,” Miller said. “For the most part, everyone had really great performances and that’s what really mattered to us at the end of the day. Our performances are what we rally around and we try to use that momentum to bring us into the championship season where we hope it all comes together.”

Tufts will compete in the NESCAC championships on April 20 at Middlebury College. The Jumbos have a host of highly competitive athletes, and Miller expressed that the team thinks it has a good shot at winning NESCACs. “I think that we have a very strong team and have had a lot of great performances this season to get excited about as we look forward to NESCACs,” Miller said. “In most events, we have a few people [with] top-16 performances, so it will ultimately come down to who has the best day. Anyone outside of the top eight can end up scoring if things come together. At this point, we just have to trust that we have trained well up to this point and that it will all come together on the day of the meet. If we do that, I’d say we have a great chance.” Watanabe echoed Miller’s sentiment. “I think that the NESCAC championship meet will be very competitive,” Watanabe said. Right now, as far as performances go, I think that the meet will be between us and Middlebury, with Amherst close behind. I think we have a great chance to win; it’s just a matter of performing and doing what we’ve been doing all year.”

Additional Open Forum: Identity-Based Resources at Tufts, May 1 The Division of Student Affairs is hosting an additional Open Forum to discuss current and future identity-based resources at Tufts! Please join us on Wednesday, May 1 from 12 - 1 p.m. in the Sophia Gordon Multipurpose Room to learn more about the current searches for Tufts’ new Directors of the Asian American, Latino, and Women’s Centers. You’ll also find out more about interim staffing and participate in an open discuss on enhancing identity-based resources across the University. The three concurrent Director vacancies, as well as the founding this academic year of the FIRST Resource Center, provide our community with an opportunity to step back and evaluate the structures of all our identity-based Centers. Please consider providing us with your input on May 1 as we reaffirm and build on the legacy of the Centers while finding new ways to enhance resources and supports at Tufts. Thanks to everyone who attend our first Open Forum on March 27, and special thanks to the Asian American Center leaders who helped promote and facilitate that initial conversation. The March 27 forum led to a partnership with student leaders that resulted in a new webform on the Student Affairs website that any Tufts student can use to volunteer to be part of search processes for Division of Student Affairs. Please consider signing up to help us search for the Directors of the Asian American, Latino, and Women’s Centers and/or to join our general pool!

Sports

Wednesday, April 24, 2019 | Sports | THE TUFTS DAILY

12 tuftsdaily.com

Sports

Wednesday, April 24, 2019

Jumbos cruise comfortably over Conn. College, Colby by Tim Chiang

Assistant Sports Editor

The No. 18 Tufts men’s tennis team (7–7, 3–4 NESCAC) rallied back for a two-match win streak this weekend after cruising to a comfortable victory over Conn. College at home 9–0 on Saturday and a 8–1 win against Colby on Sunday. Against Conn. College, Tufts held its own on Senior Day, where the team honored its lone senior, co-captain Ross Kamin. Starring in both No. 1 doubles and No. 5 singles, Kamin registered two key victories to the team’s 9–0 sweep. Kamin and sophomore Boris Sorkin broke past Conn. College senior Will Cannon and junior Guillermo Garcia, 8–6, to give Tufts a 3–0 advantage out of doubles play. Kamin later reflected on the incredible support from the whole team on Senior Day. “All the guys were cheering on every point,” Kamin said. “It was really fun. I don’t think I had ever played with Boris before [then].” First-years Paris Pentousis and Dylan Glickman also won at No. 3 doubles (8–5), while juniors Zach Shaff and Jason Scanlon downed their opponents at No. 2 doubles, 8–6. Tufts built on its momentum by winning all six singles matches. Kamin booked a 6–1, 6–2 straight-sets victory over Will Cannon. Kamin later revealed the importance of consistency. “I was willing to make more balls than my opponent,” Kamin said. “I was really trying to get the win, and he gave me a decent amount of unforced errors.” Another highlight included first-year Akash Verma’s debut in the singles lineup for the Jumbos this spring. Verma served up a double bagel for the victory against Walter Komishane, 6–0, 6–0.

On Sunday, Tufts faced more resistance against Colby but was ultimately able to book a confident 8–1 victory. At No. 3 doubles, junior co-captain Ethan Bershtein and sophomore Niko Herford earned the first points on the scoreboard with a close 8–5 win. The duo of Shaff and Scanlon stretched the lead to 2–0 by emerging victorious at No. 2 doubles, 8–6. The Colby Mules stole what would be their first and only point against the Tufts Jumbos as sophomores Sorkin and CarlHerman Grant fell in a tight tiebreaker, 8–7 (8–6). Still, Sorkin and Grant later both got their revenge in singles competition. Sorkin rallied past Colby junior Scott Altmeyer in two tight sets (7–5, 6–4) while Grant downed sophomore Garret Reiter, 6–3, 6–3. Other highlights included Jumbo first-year Isaac Gorelik’s 6–4, 7–6 (5) win over Max Shuerman. The Weston, Mass., native has been rock solid at the No. 3 singles position, winning six of his seven matches this spring. As the regular season comes to a close, the Jumbos are back in action at home on Wednesday in a crucial matchup against NESCAC rival Bates. The final spot for the postseason NESCAC tournament will likely be at stake, and Tufts has missed out on competing in the NESCAC tournament over the past two years. Around this time last year, Tufts suffered a wrenching 7–2 loss on the road to Bates on its rival’s fast indoor courts in the Wallach Tennis Center. This year, however, Tufts will be the higher-ranked and favored team heading into the match. Kamin expressed the importance of treating the match against Bates like every other contest. “We don’t want to underestimate them,” Kamin said. “We’re going to prepare the same way we prepare for any other match.

BEN KIM /THE TUFTS DAILY

Sophomore Owen Bartok prepares to return a shot during a doubles match in a men’s tennis home game against Bowdoin at Voute Tennis Courts on April 28, 2018. The past couple years we’ve been fighting with them, but we’re pretty confident. Everyone’s looking forward to it, and there’s especially a lot of motivation for players that were on the team last year for this [match].”

The Jumbos look forward to hitting the court at 3 p.m. on Wednesday for their crucial tilt against the Bates Bobcats at home on the Voute Tennis Courts in front of Fletcher, with the final spot in the NESCAC tournament on the line.

Men’s track and field finishes in 1st place at Sunshine Classic by Liam Finnegan Sports Editor

The Jumbos sent athletes to two different events Saturday: the Larry Ellis Invitational held at Princeton University in Princeton, N.J. and the fourth-annual Sunshine Classic held at Tufts’ own Ellis Oval. These meets marked Tufts’ final regular-season competitions ahead of the NESCAC championships next weekend. The team performed well across both meets and claimed its first victory of the season at the Sunshine Classic. At the Larry Ellis Invitational, only senior co-captain Hiroto Watanabe competed for the Jumbos. Athletes across all the collegiate athletic divisions participated in the meet, setting a high bar for the competition. Watanabe ran in the 800-meter race and placed seventh in his heat and 47th overall out of 61 runners with a mark of 1:55.83, besting several Div. I athletes in the process. Watanabe remained unphased by the staunch competition. “The competition was slightly better at Larry Ellis, but the main difference [was] that there was a larger abundance of talent at this meet in comparison to other meets,” Watanabe said. “It’s not really any different competing against different divisions, especially when the heats are split up by time.”

MADELEINE OLIVER / THE TUFTS DAILY

First-year Joseph Harmon, sophomore Patrick Nero and senior Dylan Jones compete in the 10k race at the Snowflake Classic on March 30. At the Sunshine Classic, Tufts had a great showing in the 200-meter, with four Jumbos placing within the top 10. Senior co-captain Tommy Miller placed

second with a time of 21.93, good for a career-best. “I thought I ran the race well, but it took awhile for the results to get back from the

race because the wind had to be taken into account,” Miller said. “Then I saw my team-

see MEN'S TRACK & FIELD, page 10