The Tufts Daily - Monday, March 9, 2020 by The Tufts Daily

Men’s Basketball wins 1st 2 games of NCAA tournament

WOMEN’S BASKETBALL

Jumbos advance to Sweet 16, defeat Engineers, Red Dragons

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Tufts cheer team to compete at nationals in Daytona, Fla.

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T HE T UFTS DAILY

VOLUME LXXIX, ISSUE 30

Monday, March 9, 2020

MEDFORD/SOMERVILLE, MASS.

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Brown-Long discusses personal journey, advocacy for criminal justice reform

by Sam Russo

Executive Layout Editor

Cyntoia Brown-Long discussed her experiences and problems with the criminal justice system and her current initiatives for prison reform as part of the Jonathan M. Tisch College of Civic Life’s Distinguished Speaker Series on Thursday in Breed Memorial Hall. Alan Solomont, dean of Tisch College, introduced Brown-Long with a brief summary of her life experiences, which

began with an upbringing by a single mother who struggled with alcohol abuse. Solomont explained that BrownLong was later the victim of sex trafficking in her early teenage years by a man with whom she saw herself as being in a relationship. At 16 years old, she was arrested for killing a man who solicited her for sex. After she was tried in a court as an adult and sentenced to life in prison, Solomont explained that people, see BROWN-LONG, page 2

Events on the Hill — Week of March 8 MONDAY “Irishness, Celtic Culture and Magical Whiteness in the 21st Century” Details: Sean Williams, a professor of music at Evergreen State College who specializes in ethnomusicology, will deliver this week’s Granoff Music Center Colloquium, focusing on Irish music and culture from an ethnomusicological perspective. Lunch will be provided at the end of the event. Where and when: Varis Lecture Hall, Perry and Marty Granoff Music Center, 12–1 p.m. Sponsor: Department of Music TUESDAY “Israel-Palestine: Visions of today and tomorrow” Details: The Fares Center for Eastern Mediterranean Studies at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy will host a panel of speakers to discuss the IsraelPalestine conflict and barriers to its resolution, including alternative perspectives through which to view the conflict. Where and when: Room 702, Cabot Intercultural Center, 5:30–7:30 p.m. Sponsor: The Fares Center WEDNESDAY “Dislocation and Ambiguous Loss” Details: Daniela Rivera, associate professor of art at Wellesley College, will discuss her work as a medium for representing displacement in migration, which she perceives as difficult to describe or identify. Having arrived in the United States from Chile in 2002, she recently won the 2019 Rappaport Prize, which is awarded to support contemporary artists connected to New England with exceptional talent and potential.

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Where and when: Rabb Room, Jonathan M. Tisch College of Civic Life, Barnum Hall, 4:30–6:30 p.m. Sponsors: Tisch College and the Program for Public Humanities THURSDAY “The Souls of Jews? Du Bois, Double Consciousness, and the Jewish Question” Details: James M. Thomas, associate professor of sociology at the University of Mississippi, will discuss his latest research into the experiences and writings of W.E.B. DuBois, which analyzes the effect of German antisemitism on DuBois while he studied at the University of Berlin. Thomas will consider the influences on DuBois’ understanding of “double consciousness” and also compare European antisemitism and American anti-black racism. Where and when: 48 Professors Row, 12–1:15 p.m. Sponsors: The Center for the Humanities at Tufts and the Sociology Department FRIDAY “Internet of Things: What Should I Know?” Details: Khaled ElMahgoub, lecturer in electrical and computer engineering, will present in this week’s electrical and computer engineering department seminar on the Internet of Things, which refers to a system of interrelated devices that can transfer data without human-to-human or human-to-computer interactions. Where and when: Room 401, 574 Boston Avenue, 10:30–11:45 a.m. Sponsor: Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering -Robert Kaplan For breaking news, our content archive and exclusive content, visit tuftsdaily.com @tuftsdaily

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The Mystic River is pictured in Medford, Mass., on Feb. 19.

Medford, Somerville awarded grants to address climate change by Alejandra Carrillo Deputy News Editor

Medford and Somerville were awarded nearly half a million dollars in Municipal Vulnerability Preparedness (MVP) Action Grants on Feb. 5, as part of an approximately $1.2 million grant package awarded to the Resilient Mystic Collaborative, a group of 18 municipalities of which Medford and Somerville are members. Projects that are awarded this funding are focused on developing strategies to address climate change, according to the press release. Breanna Lungo-Koehn, mayor of Medford, wrote in an email to the Daily that both the Medford Department of Health and Department of Energy and Environment were awarded the MVP grants to better understand the needs of diverse populations in the city. She emphasized the city’s duty to recognize the effects of climate change and work to reduce its harmful impact. “I believe that it is important that we are inclusive in everything we do and that climate change is considered in every department in the city,” she wrote. “Our staff will be working with critical regional infrastructure managers to identify operational and capital improvements needed to protect our communities during and after extreme coastal storms.”

Alicia Hunt, director of energy and environment for the city of Medford, explained that the grant application process consisted of clearly outlining the city’s reasons for requesting funding and the ways in which it would use it. “When we apply for grants we apply very specifically … in order to receive a grant you need to write out exactly what you’re going to do with it … you need to develop your program and initiative beforehand,” Hunt said. She indicated that the first grant Medford applied for was for the city’s Energy and Environment Office, which oversees and enforces environmental programs in the city, according to its website. The grant amounted to $36,136 for a project titled “Equity-Centered Process for Climate Action and Adaptation Planning,” according to the press release. Hunt explained that the office’s goal for the funding was to aid vulnerable communities in the city. “The energy and environment office is working on establishing an adaptation plan for the city of Medford,” she said. “For the grant what we wanted to do was to connect and engage with under-served populations.” The office plans to host equity trainings and will host a speaker who specializes in equity and climate issues. This guest will lead a workshop with those who have particsee GRANTS, page 2

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THE TUFTS DAILY | News | Monday, March 9, 2020

THE TUFTS DAILY Ryan Shaffer Editor in Chief

EDITORIAL

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Brown-Long's education, activism begin during incarceration

Alex Viveros Nathan Kyn

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Cyntoia Brown-Long talks about criminal justice reform in Breed Memorial Hall on March 5, 2020.

BROWN-LONG

continued from page 1 including celebrities and religious leaders, heard about Brown-Long’s case and took to social media to voice their disappointment with how it was handled and demand her freedom with the hashtag #FreeCyntoia. Then-Tennessee governor Bill Haslan later commuted her initial sentence to 15 years, and she was released on Aug. 7, 2019. Brown-Long recalled the most poignant injustices she perceived over the course of her incarceration. “A lot of times when you’re in the court system, you think, ‘Well, if I just explain this and let them know what happened … they’re going to rule in my favor,’” she said. “But that’s not what happens. What happens is whoever can spin the best narrative, whoever can put on the best performance in the courtroom, that’s who ends up winning, and nine times out of 10, it’s going to be the prosecution.” In addition to discovering that courts did not function in the way she would have hoped, Brown-Long reflected that her actual experience in prison was focused less on rehabilitation than it was on containment. “The reality is what I and many of the women I was incarcerated with experienced is that from the time we stepped foot into the facility, we were just treated

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as [if ] we were there to be warehoused, put under some kind of strict control; rules changed every single day,” she said. Brown-Long explained that she only observed a focus on rehabilitation when grant funding was conditional upon rehabilitative efforts, before suggesting an alternative focus. “We need to be focused on: How do we get them to the other side of this? How do we get them to be their best selves? What do we do to make sure this person has a successful reentry into society?” she said. Despite the prison conditions she described, Brown-Long explained that she completed a college education while in prison through Lipscomb University’s Lipscomb Initiative for Education (LIFE) program. “I was four years into serving my sentence when the opportunity presented itself to me to be part of the program,” she said. “I jumped through a lot of hurdles, but by the grace of God, I got in it, and I was expecting, ‘I’m going to further my education, I’m going to get something that’s going to look good when I go before the court and I go before the governor [in her appeal process] and it’s going to look good on paper,’ but once I got into the class, what I realized is I had been welcomed into a community.” Brown-Long went on to describe that she graduated with a 4.0 grade point average with the support she found there, even though her education before

that had stopped at seventh grade. In addition to the community she found through the LIFE program, Brown-Long identified three other pillars of support: her mother, her husband and above all, God. “Even when I struggled, [my mom] was always there, trying to figure out, ‘How can I help?’” she said. “She tried. She tried very hard, so when I was arrested, and I saw that all these people that I was hanging around [who were] teaching me all these things that no 13-year-old girl ever should learn, they were nowhere to be found. The only person left standing with me was my mother, and she has been my best friend from that moment.” Brown-Long explained that her husband, Jamie Long, led her to a new religious path while she was incarcerated. She credited God for saving her and for her success today. “I was told everything about my existence should revolve around pleasing a man, and the men that I was introduced to, I was supposed to put them … on a pedestal, and when I met Jaime, he was like, ‘Wait a minute. That’s not what this is. You don’t live for me. You live your life for Christ.’ And I was like, ‘Wow, that’s completely different,’” she said. “And that’s what showed me God is with you, all the time … Now, I get to spend my days with my best friend, with my partner. My husband, he’s everything to me. He’s awesome.” In light of her experiences, Brown-Long has become an advocate for prison reform, which she began while still in prison. Much of her activism is channelled through her own initiative, called Grassroots Learning Initiative for Teen Trafficking, Exploitation and Rape (GLITTER). “When I saw that there [were] things that needed to be changed, I didn’t want to sit in the classroom and just be talking. I didn’t want to say, ‘this isn’t right in the system, this shouldn’t be this way,'” she said. “I started having conversations with people, and next thing you know, I’m sitting in a prison visitation area with a state representative, talking about a bill that he’s going to represent on my behalf to change the sentencing of juveniles.”

GRANTS

continued from page 1 ipated in the development of the adaptation plan, according to Hunt. Apart from these trainings, the office is partnering with the Medford Family Network to better serve underrepresented communities. “The Medford Family Network is working with us to set up two dinners that are targeted to specific populations … they are helping us figure out how to engage populations that don’t normally participate in general public meetings with the city of Medford,” Hunt said. Andreanne Breton-Carbonneau, the climate, health and equity project coordinator for the city of Medford, was the primary author of the second MVP grant awarded to the city. This grant, titled “Suitability Assessment for Equitable, Community-Driven Resilience Hubs,” consisted of a $65,259 award. Breton-Carbonneau said that she reframed a previous grant idea in order to satisfy the MVP grant requirements.

“The office of outreach and prevention had already kind of written this grant that looked at a resilience hub-type center,” she said. “Since this is a climate change grant I looked into that idea and found that there were these hubs that address community resilience as their primary objective but also have elements of climate change.” Breton-Carbonneau emphasized that understanding the resources available in various communities is important to implementing this initiative. She detailed the central plan of this grant and Medford’s effort to strengthen community relations and engagement. “Interviewing community-based organizations to understand what programs and services they would be interested to have in these spaces is very important … also surveying vulnerable populations and having community discussions,” Breton-Carbonneau said. She added that they will search for specific sites and locations to build the resilience hubs. Communities will decide which resources will be available in the

spaces, according to Breton-Carbonneau. Her goal is to have these hubs in every neighborhood. Somerville was one of six cities part of the “Critical Regional Infrastructure and Social Vulnerability in the Lower Mystic Watershed” project, which totaled to an award of $389,995. The city’s proposal called for the hiring of consultants to lead two assessments. The first will consist of a vulnerability assessment conducted by infrastructure managers to identify weaknesses and potential cascading failures following an extreme storm, according to the project application. The second will involve identifying the possible impacts of infrastructure failures on residents. Kate Hartke, director of Somerville’s grants development office, expressed her excitement at Somerville receiving the grant. “This was one particular grant we were especially thrilled to receive,” Hartke said. “[The grant process] is part of that necessary but not always glamorous work that will affect really big decisions later on.”

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Features

Monday, Marc

Ross Sonnenblick From seniors to citizens

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Something else, with Eric Sinton

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a d

S EVAN SLACK / THE TUFTS DAILY

Tufts cheerleading preforms alongside youth squad during halftime on January 26.

Tufts cheerleading team: From bringing school spirit to bringing it at nationals

s s r , . h by Rachel Carp d Contributing Writer y o The cheerleading team is an integral part of the school spirit at Tufts. At each football gand basketball game, you can find it cheering ,loudly on the sidelines, pumping up the crowd hand showing off its stunts in between quarters ror at halftime. g When not standing by the court or the field, nthe Tufts cheerleading team is preparing to compete at its first ever national competition sin Daytona, Fla. t The competition, according to senior and eco-captain Hawley Brown, is the same one tfeatured in Netflix’s docuseries “Cheer” (2020) s— though Tufts’ team will be competing in a -different division. To qualify, the team went uthrough an intensive two-day, 12-hour camp, nput on by a staff member from the National gCheerleaders Association (NCA). At the end, tthe team was awarded a bronze bid to nationgals and a blue “Most Improved” ribbon. “[A bronze bid means] they paid for part of our registration fee, and that we are officially qualified to go to nationals,” sophomore co-captain Donavan Payne said. “ [The staff member from the NCA] was tracking our improvement from the beginning of the weekend to the end, and we improved a lot.” The team continues to improve, working on new skills and stunts to perform in its twoand-a-half-minute nationals routine. Payne described the routine as including an opening “crowd cheer” portion that serves to “get the crowd pumped,” a stunt sequence, a jump sequence, dance, tumbling and — to close — a pyramid. Senior co-captain Allie Webster described the routine that the team has been preparing for nationals. “I think a fair bit [of the routine] is new stuff for nationals,” Webster said. “Until this year, we didn’t really do this stunt called a liberty … lib in cheer terms. And that’s a one-legged stunt, it’s the flyer standing only on one leg and the other leg either by their side or pulled up … And all the people holding up that stunt have their arms all the way over their heads.” “We do a lot of progressions. I started flying this semester. I’d always been a base, and then the coach put me in as a fly for a few things,” Brown said. “We’re working our way up, because it can be scary.” As the team’s repertoire of stunts has increased, so have its member numbers. Tufts’ cheerleading team was revived in 2016

by Webster and Elise Gan (LA’19), and the newborn 2016–17 program saw less than 10 members and no coach. Now, graduated Gan teams up with Josh Hartman to coach the nationals-bound team, which has around 20 members. Hartman, who began coaching the team in 2018, has seen the team grow tremendously. “They have so much determination and passion for cheer and for their team, that they continue to push each other and get better and better every day,” he wrote in an electronic message to the Daily. “Prior to my arrival, the team wasn’t able to stunt at all since teams need a certified coach to oversee safety and progressions, so their stunt progress has been especially impressive … I’ve also seen a shift in team mindset. This current group is hungry for continual improvement, for supporting Tufts spirit and athletics, and for representing our University and community on the national stage!” The cheerleading team stresses inclusion, and will welcome with open arms individuals who have no cheerleading or tumbling background. “Our team tries to be as inclusive as it can possibly be,” Webster said. “If you want to join, and you can commit to coming to practice and trying your best, then you can be on the team.” Sophomore Taylor Marchand had no prior cheerleading experience before joining during her first year. “When I went to the GIM for cheer, I found it to be a very upbeat and welcoming atmosphere,” she wrote in an electronic message to the Daily. “Although I kept messing up the cheers and dance we were learning, the captains and experienced members continued to encourage me and others as we followed along … I was welcomed and accepted just as much as those who were much further experienced. It was the first community I found at Tufts. Now, it is an ever-expanding family.” Yet a bigger team means a more expensive national competition; the team is working to raise a total of between $20,000–$25,000 to pay for the flight tickets and hotel rooms of its members and coaches. It is engaging in just about every fundraising tactic it can, from Tufts’ Giving Tuesday to cheerleader clinics to bake sales. Right now, the team is about halfway to its goal. “We’re doing a crowdfunding campaign right now. We’re looking for corporate spon-

sors,” Brown said. “We’ve done several junior cheerleader clinics, where we have kids ages three to 13, and we’ll teach them stunts and cheers at a basketball game and then we’ll do a halftime dance.” The group has raised money through a variety of fundraising tactics, Webster added. “We had a big push in the fall, and we raised between $3,000 or $4,000. And that was just through a video. We made a promotional video and we were promoting the Giving Tuesday fundraiser with that through our Facebook page and on our different social media accounts,” Webster said. The cheerleaders will also have a pre-nationals showcase, which will be held in Cousens Gym on April 4 at 7 p.m. Though the performance is free, voluntary donations will be welcomed. “We’ll be doing our nationals routine, and I think the basketball and football teams are going to be coming to that because we’ve supported them all year,” Brown said. While working hard to prepare for the national competition, the cheerleaders have continued to support the football and basketball teams by bringing an enthusiastic spirit to every game. On the sidelines, they dedicate themselves to fostering high-energy cheers — so high energy that Payne joked about losing his voice after every game. “The captains will call a cheer by going through it one time, and then the entire team will join in,” Webster said. “Then, in the words of our coach, we’ll ‘hit the crowd,’ which means we basically just try to yell and pump up the audience a little bit to help get the team going and raise energy for them.” “Outside of the formal cheers, we’re yelling, like, ‘c’mon Tufts!’ and all that. We’re pretty much yelling constantly,” Brown added. From cultivating school spirit to getting ready for nationals, the three co-captains agree that the Tufts cheerleading team’s inclusive, fun and supportive environment makes it special. This environment is partly what turned Payne from a high school theatre kid into a college cheerleader. “I did a lot of theatre in high school,” Payne said. “Then I ended up coming to Tufts, and, to be honest, I thought it would be really funny to join [the cheerleading team]. But then I ended up really, really enjoying it and I take it very, very seriously … I ended up joining and finding something that was very athletic and active … Everyone’s very supportive and it’s just a fun group of people.”

enior spring to social security. On the hill to over the hill. Graduation to … grandchildren? Here’s what seniors have to say before all is said and done. Not for the first time, Eric Sinton is prepared to move on. “I got to Tufts, took a lot of classes, learned some stuff, made a bunch of friends … I’m not really looking for anything more. I’m ready for something else,” he said. Sinton seeks a new challenge. Just one week after graduation, Sinton will find himself in the Gila National Forest of New Mexico, a 3.3-million-acre expanse of rolling hills, shady trees and oftentimes tranquil wilderness. There, he will not relax. There, he will fight fires. Sinton explained, “The risks of firefighting are something that you need to compartmentalize and put in the back of your mind because if I’m thinking rationally, I’m not gonna do it.” He spoke from experience. A math major, Sinton has spent two of the past three summers in Utah, hosing down wildfires and working 16-hour days for the U.S. Forest Service. His journey in recent years reveals a trailblazing wanderlust, a sense of adventure that explains his circuitous path across continents and careers. Before his first year at Tufts , he worked at a convenience store in his hometown of Ithaca, N.Y., where the claustrophobic shifts compelled him to stretch his legs and navigate nature through the Tufts Wilderness Orientation program. Once in the classroom, Sinton pursued his interest in numbers. He said that as a math student, “you learn a lot of patience. There’ll be hours at a time where you won’t get a problem, and you’ll think, ‘Oh, I can’t solve this,’ and then you’ll have a breakthrough.” Ever the explorer, Sinton studied abroad last spring through a math-specific program in Budapest, Hungary. He actually described math and firefighting in similar terms; on the latter topic, he said, “you’re digging in the dirt a lot, but you still have your moments. Sometimes the crew really will prevent a fire from overtaking a neighborhood. It’s hours and days and sometimes weeks of what feels like very meaningless work punctuated by moments like that.” Despite the tantalizing exhilaration of firefighting, Sinton believes that his days as a firefighter, much like his days as a math student, are numbered. During his first year, Sinton took an EMT training course at Tufts, and he served as the fire crew’s medic that summer. “It felt really, really good to be responsible for other people. At the end of the night, just to check in with your fellow firefighters and maybe wrap their ankle or take care of really minor cuts and burns, I got a lot out of that, sometimes more than the firefighting itself,” he said. Sinton plans to enter the high-octane industry of emergency medicine, perhaps as a physician assistant or doctor. One way or another, he said, “[I want to] take the things in my life seriously but not take my life itself so seriously.” Unlike the radio show that Sinton and his friends host every Wednesday at noon on WMFO, senior spring is not always a barrel of laughs, but Sinton does look forward to senior week. In particular, he awaits the cruise, a watery excursion for which his firefighting skills should not be necessary. Ross Sonnenblick is a senior studying psychology. Ross can be reached at ross. sonnenblick@tufts.edu.

Monday, March 9, 2020

ARTS&LIVING

Aidan Menchaca Beginner Mentality

Exciting book releases for month of March

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Beethoven at 250

oll over Beethoven / Dig to these rhythm and blues” Chuck Berry sang these lyrics in 1956 in his hit single “Roll Over Beethoven” (1956), only to be covered and further popularized by The Beatles in 1963. The song’s premise is that Beethoven would be ‘rolling in his grave’ if he had heard the new music Chuck Berry was playing. While we will never know what Beethoven would have thought about it, Berry gets something right; the image of Beethoven as lifeless, stagnant and old surely has to go. As 2020 marks 250 years since the birth of Beethoven, it’s important to remember how remarkably innovative Beethoven’s music is and to look at his life with fresh eyes. Beethoven was born in Bonn, Germany, which was quite far away from the fashionable capital of music in Vienna. His father tried to make him into a prodigy like Mozart and, although he was a virtuoso pianist, he never quite succeeded. Beethoven was often prone to bad moods and had periods of deep psychological distress. He was no Vitruvian man, but his music shows the power of expression to transcend life. That is why he deserves to be heard again and again as long as we hear the new things he has to say. At age 28, he began to complain of fluctuating deafness and, by 1814, he was almost totally deaf. As a musician, this is my worst fear, and I could only imagine what sense of isolation and profound despair which he could have experienced. Some recorded Beethoven walking the streets alone, sinking into alcoholism. Yet, at these most harrowing moments, Beethoven was able to compose his greatest symphonies and sonatas from his middle and late period, making a powerful statement on nearly every classical form. It is remarkable that he was able to write Symphony No. 9 (1824) with Schiller’s “Ode to Joy” (1786) when all worldly joy had gone out of his life. As Schiller writes of Joy: “Your magic brings together / what custom has sternly divided. / All men shall become brothers, / wherever your gentle wings hover.” Even as ill as Beethoven was, he understood the transformational power of art to break down every human wall. We could also just as easily replace “Joy” with Beethoven himself. His magic has brought hundreds of years of musicians together in service of our common humanity. Hearing Symphony No. 9 so often, we forget how innovative it was musically. No composer had ever conceived of putting voices in a symphony. Beethoven created a new world for Wagner, Mahler, Gorecki and countless others to explore the power of the voice in a symphonic setting. As a violinist, I am also shocked by one of Beethoven’s late works, the “Missa Solemnis” (1819–22), which took the Christian mass to its greatest scale. In the “Sanctus” section, Beethoven wove a lyrical violin solo into the ancient text. The violin perhaps acts as his own voice — his own spiritual statement — which is beyond language. It is another dream of mine to play it. 250 years later, I don’t care to be remembered as Beethoven has been, but I hope I can say that I had the strength of his heart and undying passion for art Beethoven teaches me each day. I hope we can listen for what is fresh and new in music and all recognize the joy of art which is as unstoppable today as it was then. Aidan Menchaca is a senior studying history. Aidan can be reached at aidan.menchaca@tufts.edu.

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Highly anticipated books being released in March as selected by Assistant Arts Editor Devina Bhalla are pictured. by Devina Bhalla

Assistant Arts Editor

March 2020 brings an exciting array of new books. Here are eight of the most anticipated books of 2020 that launch this month. “Deacon King Kong” by James McBride “Deacon King Kong” is James McBride’s first novel after his award-winning work “The Good Lord Bird” (2013). This book dives into a Brooklyn community when a church deacon shoots and kills the project’s drug dealer in September of 1969. The effects and consequences of the shooting for the African American and Latinx community are illustrated vividly by McBride. The cops investigating the murder, the witnesses and even the white neighbors lives all overlap within a lively and difficult 1960s in New York City. McBride also wrote “The Color of Water” (1995) and is a popular musician and screenwriter. “Deacon King Kong” is his latest work, encompassing tensions and rage that still live in our society. “The Glass Hotel” by Emily St. John Mandel “The Glass Hotel” will be released on March 24. It is one of The New York Times’ “20 Books We’re Watching For in 2020.” It is Emily St. John Mandel’s fifth novel. It follows Vincent, a bartender on the northernmost tip of Vancouver Island when she meets Jonathan Alkaitis. Vincent poses as Alkaitis’ wife until his international Ponzi scheme collapses and she walks away into the night. In what at first seems unconnected, a victim of the Ponzi scheme is hired to investigate a woman disappearing off the deck of a container ship. Mandel brings the reader through seemingly disconnected worlds like federal prisons, underground clubs and homeless campgrounds. “The Glass Hotel” strikingly attempts to search for the different ways life takes meaning. “The City We Became” by N.K. Jemisin “The City We Became” will be released March 24. New York Times bestselling author N.K. Jemisin is back with her first book of the Great Cities Trilogy. “The City We Became” is about five New Yorkers defending their city from an ancient evil. The dark side of New York City comes alive and threatens to destroy the soul of this beloved city.

N.K. Jemisin is known for her fantasy and science fiction books. She received the Hugo Book Award for best science fiction or fantasy book in 2016, 2017 and 2018. “The Mirror & the Light” by Hilary Mantel Mantel completes her Wolf Hall trilogy with “The Mirror & the Light.” This book follows the last years of Thomas Cromwell’s life as he completes his journey from poverty to power. Cromwell was an English lawyer and statesman and the first Earl of Essex under King Henry VIII. The book begins in 1536 with the death of Anne Boleyn. “The Mirror & the Light” puts Cromwell’s aspirations for England within the turmoil of the time, with rebellions and traitors lurking all over the country. He was known for being a powerful force behind the English Reformation. “The Mirror & the Light” has been eight years in the making and completes Cromwell’s unforgettable and historically significant life journey. Mantel is a best-selling author and won Booker Prizes for the previous two books in the trilogy, “Wolf Hall” (2009) and “Bring Up the Bodies” (2012). “My Dark Vanessa” by Kate Elizabeth Russell “My Dark Vanessa” is a delicate and raw novel that will be released on March 10. Vanessa, the protagonist, is confronted 17 years after having an affair with her 42-year-old English teacher as other sexual assault allegations come out against him. Her teacher, Jacob Strane, was her first love at 15. As Vanessa tries to decide whether or not to come forward, she faces the difficult decision of whether to continue seeing her affair with Strane as a loving one or as one of coercion. The book takes place between the year 2000, when Vanessa had the affair with Strane, and the year 2017, where she is deciding whether or not to come forward. “My Dark Vanessa” doesn’t shy away from difficult conversations about consent, agency, troubled relationships and psychological dynamics. This is Russell’s first novel and she was Entertainment Weekly’s Breakout Author to Watch in 2020. “House of Earth and Blood” by Sarah J. Maas New York Times bestselling author Sarah J. Maas released the first book of the new

Crescent City series on March 3. “The House of Earth and Blood” is about Bryce Quinlan, a half-human, half-Fae girl, as she attempts to avenge the murders of her closest friends by a demon. She works with a fallen angel named Hunt Athalar to dig under Crescent City to stop the dark power threatening their world. Full of action, love and suspense, “House of Earth and Blood” captures you in its page-turning story. Maas is known for her Throne of Glass series (2012-2018) and “A Court of Thorns and Roses” (2015). “The Night Watchman” by Louise Erdrich National Book Award-winning author Louise Erdrich is back with “The Night Watchman,” which was released on March 3. “The Night Watchman” is based on the life of Erdrich’s grandfather, who worked as a night watchman for a jewelry plant and spent his life fighting Native American dispossession in rural North Dakota in 1953. The book follows the lives within the Turtle Mountain Reservation in North Dakota. Thomas Wazhashk, the character based off of Erdich’s grandfather, is a Chippewa Council member trying to understand the consequences of a bill that Congress is forcing upon them. Pixie “Patrice” Paranteau is working at the jewelry plant trying to make enough money to go to Minneapolis. “The Night Watchman” examines all of the tensions and struggles of trying to live and survive in a country that doesn’t want you. “New Waves” by Kevin Nguyen “New Waves” follows two workers at a New York tech company, Lucas and Margo. Margo is a programmer the company’s only black employee. Lucas, who works as a customer representative, is one of many Asian employees. Both friends, however, are frustrated and decide to steal the company’s user database. Things don’t go as planned when Margo dies in a car crash and Lucas is left in shock. After his friend’s death, he finds out more about Margo and her world of secrets. Nguyen’s knowledge of the tech industry is intricately paired with ideas about humanity in “New Waves.” This is Nguyen’s first novel and will be released on March 10.

Monday, March 9, 2020 | FUN & GAMES | THE TUFTS DAILY

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F &G FUN & GAMES

LATE NIGHT AT THE DAILY Tys: “So I downloaded this blank yellow circle, and I started making f*cked up emojis”

SUDOKU

LINDA C. BLACK ASTROLOGY

Pisces (Feb. 19–March 20)

Change directions with your partner. Saying nothing is better than blurting out something you’d regret. Consider how you would love things to be.

Difficulty Level: The thought of not spending the second half of the semester on campus.

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, March 9, 2020

Opinion

tuftsdaily.com

Matt Rice Primary Colors

Tuesday may break Bernie Sanders

omorrow, voters will go to the polls in six states: Idaho, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, North Dakota andWashington. In total, 352 pledged delegates will be allocated, which pales in comparison to the nearly 1,344 delegates up for grabs on Super Tuesday last week. Last Tuesday, Bernie Sanders underperformed; there is no denying that. Moderate politicians coalesced around Joe Biden to give him a national pledged delegate lead, and the primary map tomorrow could not be more favorable to Joe Biden. According to FiveThirtyEight, Biden is predicted to win every contest, except Washington and Idaho, where Biden is running almost dead-even with Sanders. But no contest better exemplifies the make-or-break nature of these six primaries than Michigan. It’s a state Sanders shockingly won over Hillary Clinton, and one that is the Democrats’ best path to 270 electoral votes. Sanders has consistently argued he can win the election against Donald Trump, but that argument loses legitimacy when Sanders fails to overtake Joe Biden. I don’t believe for a minute that Bernie will drop out if he fails to win Michigan. Like in 2016, Sanders will martyr himself throughout the primary process, not conceding his progressive legitimacy until the convention nears. From March until the July convention in Milwaukee, Sanders will fly from state to state, gathering larger crowds than Joe Biden and offering more media availability, but he’ll slowly bleed in the battle for delegates until Biden’s seemingly unshakeable support from African Americans and suburban voters kills his candidacy. Bernie’s political life will end on Tuesday if he fails to win a large share of those 352 delegates. There is no reasonable path for Bernie Sanders to be the Democrats’ candidate for president even if he wins a 70–30 in Washington, as he did in 2016, but falls flat everywhere else. I have a great personal affinity for Joe Biden. I have met him a few times, and he has never failed to be kind. Joe Biden has suffered more personal tragedy than nearly any politician in modern American history: burying his 1-yearold daughter and first wife after they were killed in a car accident, losing his eldest son Beau to brain cancer when he was only 46 and helping his younger, misguided son Hunter deal with drug addiction. A common justification for Biden’s candidacy is that he will “restore the soul of America” because Joe’s own personal decency in the face of unimaginable horror will serve as an example of moral leadership. But no one should buy that. Barack Obama is a decent, honorable man. Elizabeth Warren is a ferociously kind politician. Hillary Clinton was more tenacious and graceful than Donald Trump or any other Republican politician. And yet the Republicans pilloried them anyway. On Tuesday, Bernie Sanders will fall even further behind in the delegate count, slowly starving his campaign of fundraising and media attention. And as Bernie soldiers on, highlighting Biden’s support for the Iraq War and the bankruptcy bill, the result will be the same as in 2016: An establishment favorite up against the well-funded, race-baiting, jingoistic Republican party machine. Matt Rice is a junior studying political science. Matt can be reached at matthew. rice@tufts.edu.

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Monday, March 9, 2020 | Sports | THE TUFTS DAILY

Women's basketball advances to NCAA Sweet 16

weekend’s games were hosted by Western New England University in Springfield, Mass. In addition to these wins this past week, DeCandido and Pace received NESCAC

Player and Coach of the Year accolades, respectively. “With Erica, her stats say a lot, but I think it’s the things that don’t show up on the stat sheet that say the most about her,” Briggs said. “She’s an amazing leader, she pushes all of us to work so hard and she’s just a great example for everyone, from the freshmen all the way through the seniors. She works hard every day and it makes you want to work hard and give the same amount of intensity that she brings to practice and games.” Not only did Pace win this award, but she did so in her first year as the Jumbos’ head coach. The Bowdoin alumna credited her assistant coach, Jamie Insel, as well as the captains, for making the transition so smooth. “We have four awesome seniors who provide great leadership and two captains in Erica and Lilly who just do a great job leading our team and setting an example for everyone in the way we want our program to be,” said Pace. “It’s definitely a testament to the seniors, the captains and the whole team for just buying in. I think when there’s

a new coach, you never know what’s going to happen, but this team just bought in right away, which was huge for continuing the standard of excellence for the women’s basketball program.” On Friday, Tufts will play Williams in the Sweet 16 game. Williams currently holds a 20–8 overall record after beating Albright College and Ithaca College this weekend. Tufts and Williams have already played each other twice this season — the two teams met in the last game of regular season play in a 76–60 Tufts win and then again two weeks later in the NESCAC semifinals when Tufts won 69–63. The Jumbos will look to repeat this domination in their third game against the Ephs in less than a month. “Playing a team three times isn’t always easy, but I don’t think we’ll change anything,” Briggs said. “This time around, obviously we’re playing for a little bit more, we’re playing for our season to keep going. Not like any other prior games we don’t play hard, but there’s a little more of a reason to play hard now, especially for our seniors.”

Savage threw down a monster dunk and hit his and one to bring the score to 62–56. Western Connecticut State recovered pulled ahead again with a double-digit lead. With 3:08 remaining, Cohen made a 3 for Tufts, and Sheldon immediately took a timeout. The Jumbos came out with a press of their own, which resulted in a 3-point play for Thoerner, which brought the score to 72–66. Rogers took it from there, scoring six straight points to tie the game at 72. The Colonials could not convert on their final possession, and with the score tied, fouled Carson. In front of the packed house at Cousens Gym, Carson calmly nailed his two free throws, and with only seconds left, the Jumbos secured a 74–72 victory. “At no point did we go apart at all,” Rogers said in a postgame press conference on Friday.

“We stood together and believed in each other. That’s what great friends will do.” While the Colonials outscored the Jumbos 46–27 in the first half, the Jumbos completely flipped the script and outscored the Colonials 47–26 in the second half. Rogers (15 points) and Cohen (14 points) led scoring for the Jumbos, while sophomore guard Ahmod Privott (21 points) and senior forward Fenton Bradley (19 points) led the Colonials. Notably, junior guard Brennan Morris, one of the team’s top 3-point shooters who averages 12 points per game, was inactive this weekend. Contributions from younger players such as Thoerner proved to be crucial in both games. “[Thoerner] steps up tremendously when the big lights are on,” Savage said in a press conference on Saturday.

Tufts now looks ahead to Friday’s game against SUNY Brockport, a team that is coming off a close win against a familiar NESCAC foe, Middlebury. In 2017, the last time Tufts qualified for the NCAA tournament, the team reached the Sweet 16; in 2016, the team reached the Elite Eight. The host for Friday’s game has yet to be determined. However the Jumbos finish, it will be a significant improvement upon last year’s dismal 12–14 season. According to Savage, the team has been trusting the process. “It was a two-year plan — we knew that at the start of last year,” Savage said in the press conference. “Once the team pieces came together and once our friendship really blossomed, we were tough to stop.”

NICOLE GARAY / THE TUFTS DAILY

Senior Erica DeCandido dribbles the ball at the NESCAC semifinal game against Williams in Cousens Gym on Feb. 29.

WOMEN'S BASKETBALL

continued from back page Cortland ended its season with a 22–7 record and SUNY Poly ended with a 20–8 record. The

Men's basketball rallies against Western Connecticut State en route to Sweet 16

MEN'S BASKETBALL

continued from back page “I just told [the team] don’t panic,” Sheldon said about his halftime adjustments. “We changed our press offense. We’ll just chip away and go a little bit at a time.” The shift was clear right away: Cohen kicked off the half with a 3, and Aronson followed with a layup. The Colonials retained the lead, however, going up by as much as 19 again. First-year guard Casey McClaren began to shift the momentum for the Jumbos with just over 12 minutes remaining, draining a 3 and driving in on a fast break for a layup to cut the lead to 57–45 and forcing a Colonials timeout. Aronson made two 3s with about eight minutes remaining to bring the Jumbos’ deficit to single digits, 62–53. After a Tufts timeout,

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Sports

y, March 9, 2020

Matt Goguen Keeping up with the 617

Jayson Tatum’s contract enigma

ver the past few weeks, Jayson Tatum has lit up dozens of box scores as he is currently putting the “Hospital Celtics” on his back. In the month of February, Tatum averaged a team high of 30.7 points per game (PPG) on a 49.4% field goal percentage, earning him Eastern Conference Player of the Month honors. In that span, the Celtics were 9-3, with two losses against the Rockets and one against the Lakers, both juggernaut teams that are legitimate title contenders. It’s safe to say that Tatum is on the cusp of superstardom as he has developed into a leader for the Celtics in his third NBA season. As Tatum slumped in his sophomore season, many fans and sports columnists deemed him a polarizing player who would never become a superstar. Tatum proved the doubters wrong. He is averaging 7.8 more PPG this season and is a reliable option for head coach Brad Stevens in crunch time. Because of his quick ascent to superstardom, general manager Danny Ainge is actively seeking to lock up Tatum for the next handful of years with a major contract extension. Tatum is still on his rookie deal from when he was drafted in 2017, which is worth $30 million over a span of four years. If the Celtics don’t succeed in contract talks with Tatum this summer, he will become a restricted free agent following the 2020–21 season. Ainge and Celtics fans do not want Tatum to hit the open market; many NBA teams will shell out absurd amounts of cash for Tatum’s potential and talent. Unfortunately for Ainge and the Celtics front office, Tatum’s extension will be expensive and rival many monster contracts in the NBA. It is vital that Danny Ainge is not stingy with Tatum and does everything in his power to shuffle around the cap in order to lock him up. The Celtics have three options with Tatum’s contract: sign him to an extension this offseason, shell out more money after the 2021 season, or don’t extend a qualifying offer and make him an unrestricted free agent. For the possible extensions that Tatum might sign, the contract could either be five years/$181.25 million, or five years/$217.5 million. For the latter contract to occur, Tatum must make an All-NBA team (either first, second or third) win Defensive Player of the Year (a long shot at this point) or win MVP. Because of his quick rise to a franchise player this season, there is little doubt that Tatum will secure a spot on any of the three All-NBA teams. This leaves the Celtics with the possibility of giving Tatum a massive contract extension and locking the superstar up for another five years; however, Tatum would make an average of $43.5 million per season, making a massive dent in the annual salary cap. In order for the Celtics to be able to maximize Tatum’s extension, they need to move some money around, particularly with players like Daniel Theis or Robert Williams. The Celtics will eventually sign Tatum to a massive contract extension. Ainge is an intelligent GM and he realizes the potential that Tatum gives to the future Celtics organization. Although many money moves are inevitable for Tatum’s massive contract extension to occur, the money is well worth it. Five more years of Tatum in a Celtics uniform will be an exciting storyline to watch. Matt Goguen is a first-year who has not yet declared a major. Matt can be reached at matthew.goguen@tufts.edu.

tuftsdaily.com

Women’s basketball wins 1st 2 NCAA tournament games

by Ananda Kao

Assistant Sports Editor

Senior guard/forward and co-captain Erica DeCandido and junior guard/forward Emily Briggs combined for 75 points in the women’s basketball team’s first two games of the NCAA tournament, a 79–53 victory against State University of New York (SUNY) Cortland on Saturday and a blowout against SUNY Poly 72–34 the night before. The Jumbos now advance to the Sweet 16 where they will face a familiar NESCAC foe: the Williams Ephs. “We probably played some of our best basketball, which is really awesome because we’re in the postseason and it’s the most important time to be playing very well,” Briggs said. “We worked a lot in practice on certain things the post players had to do, certain things the guards had to do, and we really executed that this weekend. We shared the ball really well, we shot well and we played as a team.” In the first round on Friday, Tufts defeated SUNY Poly, while SUNY Cortland came out with the win against Western New England University. The two winners faced off the next day in the second round.

Against SUNY Cortland, the game was back and forth in the very beginning, until a 3-point jump shot halfway through the first quarter from sophomore guard Molly Ryan sparked a 10–2 run in which Tufts began to pull away with a lead. The Jumbos remained ahead for the rest of the game despite a close third quarter. Both teams shot well from the free throw line, SUNY Cortland shooting nine for 10 and Tufts 13 for 16. However, the Jumbos grabbed 42 rebounds to the Red Dragons’ 29. Four Jumbos tallied double-digit points including 26 from DeCandido and 21 from Briggs. DeCandido and Briggs also grabbed 11 and nine rebounds, respectively. Ryan added 10 points and dished out six assists. The night before, Tufts glided by SUNY Poly with all 12 healthy players contributing to the commanding win. DeCandido led the game with 16 points, while junior forward Angela Alibrandi added 14 off the bench and Briggs put up 12. Senior forward Jaida Washington led SUNY Poly with 10 points and ended the last season of her collegiate career averaging 12.9 points and eight rebounds per game. Although SUNY Poly got on the board first, Tufts responded a mere 23 seconds later to tie the game at two. DeCandido added a layup less

than a minute later to give the Jumbos their first lead that lasted throughout the entire game. Alibrandi added eight points in the second quarter alone, alongside senior guard Cailin Harrington, Ryan and senior guard Sadie Otley, who all drained 3-pointers. In the third quarter, the Jumbos ran up their lead, as junior guard Erin Poindexter McHan, senior guard and co-captain Lilly Paro and first-year guard Joelle Zelony hit 3s coming off the bench, while DeCandido added seven points. The Jumbos held their biggest lead of the game, 40 points, with 3:15 remaining in the third quarter. Tufts shot an impressive 78.6% on free throws on the night. Alibrandi and first-year guard/forward Maggie Russell grabbed a gamehigh eight rebounds each while Ryan, Briggs and DeCandido had seven. “From the start, our defense was great, the team did a nice job following the game plan and we just executed very well,” coach Jill Pace said. “We had good starts in both games and then we also did a nice job responding to the other teams’ runs throughout the game, which was a great job by our team.” Tufts currently holds a record of 28–1, with a potential four games left in its season. SUNY see WOMEN’S BASKETBALL, page 7

Men’s basketball advances to Sweet 16 with 2 close victories by Jake Freudberg

Executive Sports Editor

It was looking like the men’s basketball team was going to make a quick exit from the NCAA Div. III tournament on Friday night. Down 46–27 at halftime,Tufts’ offense was completely shut down by Western Connecticut State University’s press defense. But after a second half comeback and a win on Saturday night against the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) Engineers, the Jumbos — in their sixth NCAA tournament appearance —advanced through the first two rounds of the tournament to the Sweet 16 next weekend. Saturday’s second round matchup in Cousens Gym was a much calmer affair than the night before. The Jumbos went up 38–28 at the end of the first half behind 11 points off the bench from first-year guard Dylan Thoerner and eight points from junior center and NESCAC Player of the Year Luke Rogers.

“We ran our stuff,” coach Bob Sheldon said. “I think we controlled the game right from the beginning.” The Engineers came out with intensity in the second half, chipping away at the Jumbos’ lead. About nine minutes into the half, firstyear Jonny Angbazo drained a 3 to tie the score at 48. On the next Jumbo possession, senior guard and co-captain Eric Savage quickly hit a three of his own, which kicked off an 8–0 run. “Our team has been playing like that,” Sheldon said about the run. “They’ve been playing with some confidence and a little swag.” The Jumbos held on to the lead for the next six minutes. But the Engineers threatened again, pulling within three, 63–60, with a fast break layup from sophomore guard Dom Black, who was fouled on the play and hit his free throw. That was all the Engineers could do, as the Jumbos scored some insurance on free throws. With just over a minute left and the score 66–60, the Engineers fumbled a pass out of bounds on a crucial possession. On their next possession,

Savage blocked a layup attempt from Black, which secured the Jumbos’ victory. At the final buzzer, the Jumbos walked off the court with a 75–66 victory and a ticket to the Sweet 16. Savage was Tufts’ leading scorer with 19 points, and Rogers and Thoerner each kicked in 17. Black led RPI with 22 points. Just 24 hours earlier, the Jumbos were on the brink of elimination in the first-round game. The team had no answer for Western Connecticut State’s havoc-wreaking press: In the first half alone, the Jumbos turned over the ball 18 times. “I blacked that out,” Sheldon said. “They’re not like anybody we play.” The second half of the game turned out to be a completely different story, as the Jumbos started to click on offense and beat the press, while also turning to a zone defense at the end of the game. Behind big plays from Rogers, Thoerner, sophomore guard Tyler Aronson and sophomore guard Carson Cohen, the Jumbos chipped away at the 19-point deficit. see MEN’S BASKETBALL, page 7

JAKE FREUDBERG / THE TUFTS DAILY

Junior center Luke Rogers throws down a dunk in the first round of the NCAA tournament against Western Connecticut State University in Cousens Gym on March 6.