The Tufts Daily - Thursday, December 7, 2017 by The Tufts Daily

Fletcher alum encourages LGBTQ service members to “Ask & Tell” see FEATURES / PAGE 3

MEN’S SWIMMING AND DIVING

Jumbos see strong results during weekend meet at MIT

A. Savage shows measured, personal side in solo debut see ARTS&LIVING / PAGE 6

SEE SPORTS / BACK PAGE

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VOLUME LXXIV, ISSUE 60

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Thursday, December 7, 2017

MEDFORD/SOMERVILLE, MASS.

Medford postpones decision on Tufts’ off-campus student housing project by Liza Harris Staff Writer

Medford’s Zoning Board of Appeals (ZBA) moved on Monday night to postpone a decision on Tufts’ bid to convert university-owned properties between Capen Street and Boston Avenue into student housing. Further discussion will be held at the Jan. 11, 2018 ZBA meeting, according to Secretary of the Board Denis MacDougall. The project was not immediately approved because the wood-framed houses in question do not meet the dimensional standards for dormitories, MacDougall explained. Due to this distinction, the university is required to apply for a variance, or a deviation from the city’s zoning code, to commence construction. “The lot area for a dorm is required to be 10,000 sq. ft. and none of these properties individually are that area,” MacDougall told the Daily in an email. “So the zoning code requires the university to ask for a variance from the city’s Zoning Board of Appeals from the zoning code to get a building permit.” MacDougall also said that local bylaws require Tufts to consult the city. The three-person ZBA must vote unanimously in favor to approve any pend-

ing project. Their decision was postponed, according to MacDougall, to wait for the university to provide more information. “The board would like some further details from the university regarding any rules and regulations that will be put in place for these proposed dormitories both during the construction and once they are occupied,” MacDougall said. Pending the city’s approval, the first seven apartments will be ready next fall, Director of Community Relations Rocco DiRico said. The rest of the buildings are slated to be ready by the end of 2019. No construction on the houses can begin until the ZBA approves the request, according to DiRico. Dirico noted that the project stemmed from requests by neighbors for the university to create more housing for its students. “This is a cost-effective, relatively quick way for us to do that,” DiRico told the Daily in an email. At a Nov. 29 meeting between Somerville aldermen, Tufts administrators and student group Tufts Housing League, however, both students and Alderman Katjana Ballantyne argued that a larger dorm would be a more robust way to add on-campus housing, as opposed to woodframed buildings.

Benya Kraus, President of the Tufts Community Union (TCU) Senate, said that the Capen Village project attempts to address equity issues on campus. According to Kraus, rates for off-campus apartments have been steadily increasing. “A lot of students may want that off-campus vibe and sense of independence, but the rental rates … may cater to a certain socioeconomic status,” Kraus said. Some of the houses that will be converted into apartments previously housed faculty, Director of Real Estate Robert Chihade explained. According to DiRico, two of the houses were used as offices and one house was used as a dormitory for Tufts graduate students. “Five faculty members either have or will need to relocate in order to accommodate these new student residences,” Chihade told the Daily in an email. According to Chihade, all of the faculty members affected are being compensated by the university, which is also paying for any moving expenses. The faculty members also have the option of moving into any available apartment owned by Walnut Hill, which is the Tuftsowned property management company, Chihade said.

“These faculty members can remain in their new unit as long as they remain a Tufts professor,” Chihade said. “This is indefinite guaranteed housing — an unusual benefit for higher ed faculty in the Boston area.” Every bedroom in the apartments would house one student, and each unit has a kitchen, living room and bathroom, DiRico said. Many aspects of the project are yet to be decided, according to Kraus. For example, if the plan to convert the houses into apartments is approved, the university must decide how the apartments will play into the housing lottery process. Kraus mentioned that if the houses are themed, that could impact their placement in the lottery system. “We’re hoping to get a lot of feedback from students about what they would like the lottery system [for the apartments] to be,” Kraus said. Ultimately, Chihade and DiRico said the project is seen as a way to bring more juniors and seniors into the on-campus housing system. “These apartments are adjacent to and/or within 1 block of campus,” DiRico said. “It will be very appealing to students who want to live off campus.”

Students, administrators Tisch Summer Fellows contemplate potential effects of program diversifies placement switch to credit-hour system opportunities for 2018 by Elie Levine News Editor

A post on Tufts’ Student Life website in October 2016 announced that the university would be changing its credit system by fall 2018, switching from the one-course, one-credit model to a new credit-hour system that takes into account time spent doing work outside the classroom. Carmen Lowe, the dean of undergraduate studies, and Phil Miller, Tufts Community Union (TCU) Senate’s education committee chair, both said that the switch to the credit-hour system comes from a standard federal audit. “The biggest reason for the change is that the federal government said, ‘The system that you have now makes no sense,’” Miller, a sophomore, said. “Some people are not graduating having spent enough time in the classroom.”

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Miller explained that prior to this change, Tufts was one of the few schools not using the credit-hour system, making transfer of credit difficult. Miller also said that all courses taken prior to fall 2018 will be assigned four credits across the board to keep everyone on track to graduate on time. In the future, however, the standard number of credit hours assigned to each class will be three, and this will apply to the majority of classes across departments. Miller explained that all departments have had opportunities to petition to assign more credit hours to classes with heavier workloads. These petitions were subject to approval by a curriculum committee comprised of students and faculty. He said that lab sciences, language courses and courses with recitations would be worth more than three credsee CREDIT-HOUR SYSTEM , page 2

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by Simran Lala

Assistant News Editor

The Tisch Summer Fellows (TSF) program, which provides Tufts students with 10-week summer internships, is diversifying its placement options in summer 2018, according to Jennifer McAndrew, director of communications, strategy and planning at the Jonathan M. Tisch College of Civic Life, and Maggie McMorrow, the TSF program administrator. The Tisch College website states that the program currently offers domestic placements in Washington D.C., Boston and New York, as well as some international placements in India and for participant-designed projects all over the world. The fellowships are available for undergraduate, graduate and professional school students. Some new opportunities in the 2018 program involve positions at the American Ballet Theatre and disability

COURTESY TISCH COLLEGE

Tisch Summer Fellows, juniors Gabriella Roncone and Eva Kahan, pose for a photo with former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright during Pentagon internships in the summer of 2016. advocacy organization YAI in New York City. In Boston, positions include The Office of Boston City Council President Michelle Wu for graduate students and MassHousing, McAndrew explained. McMorrow spoke about the ways in which this diversification ties in with the overall mission of the Tisch College. see TSF, page 2

NEWS............................................1 FEATURES.................................3 ARTS & LIVING.......................6

COMICS.......................................8 OPINION.....................................9 SPORTS............................ BACK

THE TUFTS DAILY | News | Thursday, December 7, 2017

THE TUFTS DAILY Gil Jacobson Editor-in-Chief

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New credit-hour system said to better reflect work inside and outside the classroom CREDIT-HOUR SYSTEM

continued from page 1 it-hour units under the new system. Many courses will be listed with four credits, and a few will be counted as five. Three credit hours spent in class correspond to six hours spent on work outside of the class, including meetings with teachers during office hours, homework and group project meetings, Lowe explained. She added that all departments had the chance to petition to assign any of their courses a higher number of credits. Lowe said that this opportunity to petition for more credit prompted departments to reconsider and further develop aspects of their classes that were previously informal. According to Lowe, the Department of English elected not to make this change, though other humanities and social sciences departments, like philosophy and political science, did alter the number of semester hour units per course. “The English Department decided that each of its courses would be worth three credits. This is the standard number across the School of Arts and Sciences, and we saw no need to petition for extra credits,” Joseph Litvak, chair of the English department, told the Daily in an email. Litvak added that he does not think the transition will make majoring in English more difficult. He explained that the required number of courses for the major will remain 10. “I don’t think the new credit-hour system will make any difference in the English program or in the kinds of students who choose to major in English,” Litvak said. However, according to Lowe, students are required to take 15 credit hours on average per semester. Assuming that courses not required for the major average to three credit hours as well, English majors will have to take five three-credit courses each semester. “Students majoring in the humanities might have to take more courses on average [than non-humanities majors to graduate],” Lowe said. Miller explained that the students who will be most disenfranchised by this

MIKE FENG / THE TUFTS DAILY

Adam Spellmire, a lecturer at Tufts, teaches an expository writing class on Sept. 21. system are those not on track to graduate already. “At the end of the day, most people are on the track to take enough credits to graduate. It’s just the few [who] are not — who take the minimum amount of classes to graduate — [who] may be caught right now,” Miller said. Lowe emphasized that the system will take into account the variety in students’ course selections as much as possible while keeping Tufts in line with a national standard. She gave the example of a student taking a difficult chemistry course, a time-consuming language and a writing-intensive class all at once. The credit-hour system could act as an incentive for students to take more difficult classes, since their work outside of class would be formally accounted for, Lowe said. “This [system] is just trying to reflect the reality that students are going to face in their classes while they’re putting together a course load,” Lowe said. David Park, a sophomore double-majoring in English and biology, said he was worried about potentially having to take more courses to graduate. He spoke about the difficulty inherent in English classes. Park suggested that the way English

classes operate reveals a limitation of the credit-hour system, which counts credit based solely on structured time outside of class. He said that unstructured time spent thinking and reflecting is essential to the English major. “Even if you’re not concretely doing any type of homework outside of the class, there’s still a lot of thinking that goes into planning your essays, planning your readings and being able to understand everything,” Park said. Park said that, even under the current system, the amount of work he must juggle forces him to cut short the time he devotes to studying English. He said that balancing biology and English major requirements with foundation and distribution requirements causes him to feel like he is spreading himself thin. “It’s been pretty hard for me to find the time to set aside to really absorb all the information … from the text that I’m reading,” he said. Miller expressed that despite the potential disadvantages of the credit-hour switch, he thinks it may meet some changes as the system is being implemented. “I’m sure re-evaluation will continue as … the system is put into play,” Miller said.

Tisch Summer Fellows program gives students hands-on experience TSF

continued from page 1 “We want all Tufts students to receive the best civic education in the world. This means providing opportunities for all students — regardless of field of study or intended career — to explore pathways to civic engagement and careers in the public good,” McMorrow told the Daily in an email. “Tisch Summer Fellowships are a vital part of that mission.” According to McAndrew, the program was founded about 12 years ago with the name “Active Citizenship Summer” (ACS). It was renamed the Tisch Summer Fellows program in 2014. She said that the number of fellows on the program has increased rapidly, from 80 in 2016 to 126 in 2017. McMorrow said the program has added placements in the arts, research, health and public sectors in recent years. She stressed that Tisch College partnered with the Tufts University School of Medicine, The Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine, The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy and The Friedman School

of Nutrition Science and Policy to provide varied opportunities for students. “Through those collaborations, Tufts graduate and professional students worked at organizations such as the U.S. State Department, The Bronx Zoo, the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute, City Harvest, and the Southern Jamaica Plain Health Center,” McMorrow said. McAndrew said that specific placements are sponsored by Tufts alumni, individual donors and grants from the Tufts Alumni Association. According to McMorrow, the TSF program is funded in part by a gift from the James and Judith K. Dimon Foundation, established by Judy and Jamie Dimon (A ’78). McAndrew mentioned TSF’s India program, which places undergraduates at the Bodhi School, 3 hours outside of Hyderabad, highlighting that all expenses on the program are covered and that fellows are given a stipend. She also emphasized that all fellows gain work experience and exposure to professional contacts. “Another important part of the program is the mentorship and network-

ing opportunities with alumni in the respective cities,” McAndrew said. “For example, a student may be working in Capitol Hill, but will also get to interact with and learn from other alumni in D.C. as well.” Eleni Scurletis, a sophomore, was a Tisch Summer Fellow at Madison Square Boys & Girls Club in New York City in the summer of 2017. She said that when she reached out to the professionals with whom she worked, she found that they were more than willing to give her career guidance. “I gained valuable skills, as I now have a deep understanding of corporate and individual giving, event planning, and marketing and communications in the nonprofit world,” she told the Daily in an email. McAndrew said that these connections often benefit students later in the employment process. “Sometimes these placements result in full time jobs after graduation, either directly through the organization or indirectly through alumni and other connections that students make,” McAndrew said.

Thursday, December 7, 2017

FEATURES

3 tuftsdaily.com

The power of storytelling: A conversation with Alisha Guffey

COURTESY RAYTHEON VIA YOUTUBE

Alisha Guffey discusses her time in the military in a video for Raytheon in 2015. by Yanelle Cruz

Contributing Writer

With the 2011 repeal of the Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell policy, many assumed the military would become more inclusive and that somehow all the past issues would fade away. According to the Williams Institute report from May 2010, at least 70,000 members of the U.S. military are lesbian, gay or bisexual. Additionally, about 15,500 members are transgender Americans, according to a report from May 2014. While they may not represent the majority of U.S. military members, they encouraged Alisha Guffey to change the military’s culture towards LGBTQ members. As a U.S. Army veteran, fellow at the U.S. State Department, founder of production company Combat Camera Productions and Fletcher (F ’16) alumna, Guffey incorporates all her past experiences toward her current position. Guffey believes this role speaks to her passion for sharing her story and inspiring others to do so, her dedication toward challenging the norm to create social change and her own experiences while serving in the military. As the founder of the ASK & TELL Project, Guffey spoke to the Daily about how her project has allowed LGBTQ veterans and service members to share their stories to transform military culture into a more inclusive one that acknowledges and celebrates the service members who are typically silenced. The Tufts Daily ( TD): What is the ASK & TELL Project? Alisha Guffey (AG): The ASK & TELL Project aims to build a community for LGBTQ military veterans and service members where they can share their

stories and make connections through 21st-century media such as YouTube videos and podcast episodes. The project offers a space for former and current LGBTQ service members to share their memories, beliefs, fears, struggles and optimism through video, photo and the written word across various social media channels. TD: Why is the ASK & TELL Project important? AG: Despite the repeal of the Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell policy, cultural change in the military isn’t going to happen overnight. We need to respect our LGBTQ+ veterans and service members by finally telling their untold stories of service and giving them the platform to do so. Additionally, we need to help the Department of Defense in this cultural transition. This is critical at the unit level because ultimately the U.S. military needs top talent, and considering that less than 1 percent of the American population serves in the all-volunteer force, we can’t afford to not enable all of the top talent to serve. TD: What brought you to do this project? AG: While I was at The Fletcher School, I began rekindling my past love and my undergraduate degree in the arts. I was looking at ways of shaping policy and social change. I began thinking of the idea of communicating more effectively via entertainment, media and ultimately, personal narratives. The project was first funded by [a Tufts grant] and it was supported by a mentorship with Professor Jennifer Burton, Rockford Weitz and consultations with Kimberly Theidon. TD: You mentioned having two mentors at the beginning of the project. How important were these relationships to you and the success of the project?

AG: Really, my mentors were critical in giving me the confidence to work on the project. Professor Rockford Weitz at The Fletcher School was my capstone advisor, who really gave me the confidence to pursue my passion and form an LLC, which is critical when working with talent. Right now, ASK & TELL hasn’t brought in revenue and is grant funded, but forming an LLC was a big step for the future, legal security and moving forward with media work. My mentor for the Tufts grant, Professor Jennifer Burton, was a huge support system. She generously offered her time just to see my project move forward because she felt it was a passionate project … She has even helped today with additional shoots at Tufts and advice on editing, marketing and the creative outline. TD: What are you most proud of? AG: The ability this project has given me to help others share their amazing stories of service and fight for their right to serve, especially transgender service members, who have become truly inspirational to me. TD: What has been one of the stories you’ve learned of through the project that has impacted you the most? AG: I’d say working with transgender service members. I didn’t personally know any transgender service members until I started ASK & TELL. I’ve learned so much, but mostly I’ve learned the passion of service again. Seeing transgender service members fight and risk everything to serve openly and honestly is super powerful. They could walk away, get other jobs, but they are dedicated to serving their country … Their passion and drive and hearing their story of service has really moved me. It reminds me what we stand for as a nation, as a military

and how hurtful it has been/is to force individuals in the closet and to live a lie. It shows the importance of honest, open service and how that’s the only thing that matches with the military’s values, everything that it has taught us. It has shown me how much happier and healthier I am since starting this project and the end of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell. I get to finally live as my true self, and now I’m dedicated to [making] sure others have that same opportunities. Serving in the military can be one of the hardest and most challenging life choices and we owe all our service members a safe and healthy environment to service in regardless of gender identity or sexuality. TD: Do you think storytelling has the power to enact social change? AG: It truly does. Just by sharing my own story, I have had amazing conversations and broke down barriers with members I serve with … Once we see someone as a human, a person just like us, so much of the wall between our differences comes down. The human connection is the best way for peace, unit cohesion and strength in diversity. I saw this first hand in my overseas work in Kandahar and Africa. At the end of the day, we are all just humans trying to live, be happy, healthy and provide for our families. TD: What else are you working on right now? AG: We are actively filming videos, stills and creating a podcast series. We’d love talent to sign up and followers to share, like and watch out web series online at www.askandtell. com or THE ASK & TELL PROJECT on YouTube. Some future developments see ASK & TELL, page 4

THE TUFTS DAILY | Features | Thursday, December 7, 2017

Hayley Oliver-Smith In Defense of the Butterfly Effect

Either Or

nce upon a time, there was a man named Zhuangzi who lived and wrote in China in approximately the third century B.C. According to legend, one night the great Daoist thinker fell asleep and began to dream vividly. In the dream, he was a butterfly, a joyful creature who moved from here to there, flying where it pleased, unaware of being Zhuangzi. He awoke, sleepy, and discovered he was Zhuangzhi again. The most famous quote from this story comes from the reflection on his personal state that followed: “Now I do not know whether I was then a man dreaming I was a butterfly, or whether I am now a butterfly, dreaming I am a man.” He continues: “But there must be some difference between them! This is called ‘the transformation of things,’” and that’s the end of it. Clearly this is more than a simple recollection of a nap, a funny little recap his housemates were forced to listen to over breakfast. The nearest philosophical armchair one could reach for to understand is the one in which Descartes sits by the fire, pondering his own dreams and the questionable distance between wakefulness and sleep. Older, more experienced philosophers may sigh at this, tired of these simple investigations. Sure, the dream world is powerful, the illusion so complete that at times it feels uncannily like the waking state. Just last night, I was aware in my unconscious state, moving around my mind’s invented world with intention. But the questioning doesn’t seem particularly useful — how can one ever know for sure whether they are awake or asleep? The question is valid, the confusion real, but it eludes a definite answer. As readers, we dutifully google Zhuangzi, and if we look at his image we find he is not, at least according to historical record, a butterfly. It seems as though he was convinced for a moment there that the concreteness of his identity was in doubt, but his humanity is pretty well-documented. Still, the story is meaningful, its shadow echoes in a way that cannot be ignored. What does he mean ‘this is the transformation of things’? What transforms into what? So my waking state becomes a dream and then returns, but why does this matter? What durable awareness sees me through the change? Perhaps questions like Zhuangzi’s are interesting not because they lead to answers that point directly to meanings to be harvested but because they generate internal thought and reflection on the nature of our experience. The kind of internal motion that neither requires you to be a sleeping philosopher in the Warring States period nor a butterfly to experience and understand it. Perhaps his story is compelling because it’s imprecise and meant to show the shifting nature of awareness. Maybe falling asleep into a dream and coming back to tell the tale equates to a kind of new awakening, whereby you come to see that the butterfly flies down below in a story someone told long ago but also it flies continuously through us, over and over, joyful and free even in this moment. Hayley Oliver-Smith is a senior majoring in international relations. Hayley can be reached at hayley.oliver_smith@tufts.edu.

tuftsdaily.com

'Ask & Tell' shares stories of silenced LGBTQ military ASK & TELL

continued from page 3 for the project are that we will release our podcast series soon, along with more series of the stories of actively serving transgender service members. TD: Where do you see the project five or 10 years from now? AG: I hope that ASK & TELL will continue to be a platform to bring dialogue and discussion for LGBTQ service members and a platform to share the history of service of our LGBTQ service members. Perhaps it can grow into something beyond my own imagination now. I never thought DADT would end, so I believe in hoping for the unknown or unthinkable. NICHOLAS PFOSI / THE TUFTS DAILY ARCHIVES

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ARTS&LIVING

Thursday, December 7, 2017

CONCERT REVIEW

A. Savage makes strong solo debut at Great Scott by Myshko Chumak Contributing Writer

Last Sunday, Andrew Savage, best known for his role as vocalist and guitarist of the indie band Parquet Courts, played at Great Scott as part of his first set of live outings under his new moniker A. Savage. His first record under this name, “Thawing Dawn” (2017), takes significant steps away from the dissonant and anxious post-punk sound of Parquet Courts to present a more personal set of tracks, many of which amplify the Southern influences present in the work he has done in other projects. The show opened with guitarist Rob Noyes, a Massachusetts native, performing on a 12-string acoustic guitar. His semiformal shirt-and-sweater combination proved to be a faulty indicator of the music to come, as Noyes presented the crowd with a set of ceaseless, prismatic melodies which paid clear homage to great American primitive guitar greats such as John Fahey and Robbie Basho. Noyes played without comment, appearing to enter trance-like focus with each track. While Noyes’ ferocious and searing sagas were a far cry from the far more sparse and measured sound A. Savage and co. would come to offer, Noyes nonetheless served as a wonderful start to the night. After a brief intermission, Savage appeared on stage in a yellow beanie, a pair of daisies tucked carefully in its fold. In lieu of an introduction, he began an untitled solo ballad, whose lyrics were imbued with the same pastoral, romantic spirit present all throughout “Thawing Dawn.” The rest of the band arrived and was properly introduced some time later, with each member effortlessly adding their instrument to a steady groove as Savage introduced them. “That was just us fooling around,” Savage said. The performance began in earnest with “Buffalo Calf Road,” a song about Custer’s Last Stand and the history of Native American plight. It’s also notable as one of the only times “Thawing Dawn” concerns itself with something other than being in love. It is otherwise an album “about the

VIA BANDCAMP

The cover of Andrew Savage’s album ‘Thawing Dawn’ (2017) released by the Dull Tools, is pictured. sensation of being in love,” as Savage put it in an interview with the Dallas Observer. The performance at Great Scott largely spoke to that, with tracks like the subdued “Wild, Wild Horses” and borderline honkytonk “Phantom Limbo” leaving the audience gently swaying along like heads of wheat in a country field. The sincerity with which Savage croons lines like “and I’m sure that you’re the sweetest / breeze that’s ever blown through me” keeps his music from feeling absurd or saccharine. At one point, after citing that the next song was a “traditional number,” Savage and co. covered The Cranberries’ song “Linger” (1993).

The track “What Do I Do” was a significant departure from what were relatively tame waters. It was instead charged with a feeling of energetic anxiety, each verse of existential lamentation followed by a descent into madness. The chorus was marked by Savage’s retreating to set his guitar down and delivering a blissful cacophony of guitar shrieks and yelps. “Ladies from Houston” served as a return to more familiar comforts, with its final plodding melody rebuilt by Savage and co. into an extended jam that had the crowd entranced.

The show finished with the band playing the album’s titular track, a rather theatrical finish to the night where each verse was like a self-contained poem, ranging from Savage’s encounter with a man on fire to his musing on organized religion. Astonishingly, these fragments of thought appear to be strung together with a common thread — perhaps the unnamed desires and private longings that appear in the idle spaces that border productive thought. With this final number the night floated down to a gentle resolution, and the crowd burst into much-deserved applause.

TV RECAP

Why ‘The Office’ episode ‘Secret Santa’ is better than any Christmas movie you’ve seen by Setenay Mufti Arts Editor

It’s no secret that Christmas movies are overrated. They’re always silly, melodramatic or as sickeningly sweet as gingerbread house icing. But there’s one piece of media that balances all these elements out masterfully. And it’s not a movie — it’s the blessed, brilliant season six, episode 13 of “The Office” (20052013) titled “Secret Santa.” We begin with poor Andy and his constant miscommunications with

Erin. The 12 Days of Christmas sure sounded like a great idea for a Secret Santa gift for his crush, until all those birds cut open her sweet, adorkable face. Meanwhile, Oscar meets the one gay guy who works in the warehouse — and as we all know, nothing brings out a budding romance like homemade pâté. Anyway, as expected, Andy is found out and has to regain Erin’s favor in the span of a Christmas party. Can he do it? I dunno, will that poor, unloved “Home Alone” kid violently injure the bandits in the name of Christmas cheer? Either

way, it’s funny and almost believable this time. Nothing puts you in a feel-good mood like a redemption arc. As in a lot of episodes of “The Office,” Michael experiences a rise, a fall and a rise again. When Phyllis finally gets permission from new co-manager Jim to be this year’s Santa, Michael predictably loses it. Early attempts to be the superior Santa fall flat and insincere — he shakes off Kevin from his lap for being too heavy and then tries to pin other employees on his lap, a classic “don’t” of office Christmas parties.

Another “don’t?” Sacrilege. Dressing up as Jesus doesn’t win many favors when you damn your coworkers to hell during the gift unwrapping. But by impersonating your boss’ daughter and finding out corporate secrets, you can become the office hero in no time. If you’re Michael, you crowd dive into your 15 employees. If you’re George from “It’s A Wonderful Life” (1946), you save your brother from drowning, save a child from poisoning, see SANTA, page 7

A rts & L iving

Thursday, December 7, 2017 | Arts & Living | THE TUFTS DAILY

Ditch the cinema, turn to Netflix this holiday season

Haruka Noishiki Majors and Minors

Taiko to Radwimps with Naoki

T COURTESY FLICKR

The characters of the mockumentary show ‘The Office’ (2005–2013) are depicted in bobblehead form.

SANTA

continued from page 6 save your dead father’s business and still whine for a whole movie until an angel comes down to congratulate you. Congratulate yourself! Follow self-improvement. Choose your own destiny. Finally and most importantly, this episode is actually funny. What could

ever top Dwight singing Green Day karaoke, or Christ’s ability to fly and heal leopards? Definitely not a gun-loving 9-year-old à la “A Christmas Story” (1983), or that cool line from “Die Hard” (1988). (You know the one, because there’s only one amusing line in the whole movie.) This episode combines everything great and hilarious about

“The Office” — like “Elf” (2003), minus the stupidity. We don’t want to spoil the episode, but ask yourself this: Is your favorite Christmas movie actually better than the best episodes of “The Office?” If not, hop on Netflix this holiday season, click on your favorite seasonal episode and finally free yourself from the clutches of Christmas movies.

his is Naoki Okada, a first-year from Tokyo, Japan. He is planning to major in computer science, and he plays the piano and flute. His favorite food is asam laksa — Malaysian noodles that his friend’s father cooked when he visited Malaysia this past summer. Naoki shared his insight into contemporary music in Japan. Haruka (H): What has your experience with pop music in Japan been like? What genre, and which artist, do you think is most popular right now? Naoki (N): Pop music focuses on romance in Japan. There are many idol groups, and they’ve been around for a while — some are from our parents’ generation too. For instance, Onyanko Club and Morning Musume can be considered forerunners of AKB48 and other large idol groups. These groups are a huge part of Japanese music. Johnny’s, one of the best known labels in Japan, coaches and backs groups like Arashi and SMAP. Other popular groups are Exile, Broke, Sekai no Owari and Kobukuro. Rock is popular as well. One group, Radwimps, played the theme song for the movie “Kimi no Nawa” (2016). The only soloist that’s made it big who comes to mind is Nishino Kana. H: What’s traditional Japanese music like? N: Koto is the first thing that comes to mind when thinking of traditional music. It’s an instrument that I imagine people back in the day sitting on the floor with and strumming away at. The taiko [a type of drum] is unique in that it isn’t an accompaniment or a part of a bigger orchestra like it might be in other cultures, but creates music on its own. This past Saturday at Matsuri, the Tufts Japanese Culture Club’s annual festival, we hosted a performance by Gendo Taiko from Brown University, a student performance group that consists solely of taiko performers. H: Is there a tune that everyone knows in Japan? N: One song that’s Japanese but also has become known here in the U.S. too somewhat is “Ue o Muite Arukō” (1961), also known as “Sukiyaki.” Everyone in Japan can probably sing along to “Sekai ni Hitotsu Dake no Hana” (2002) by SMAP too. As for the more recent music, most youth know Arashi and AKB48 songs like “Koi Suru Fortune Cookie” (2014). H: How, if in any way, do you find Japanese music different from other music you’ve encountered? N: Generally, modern pop songs are more calm and there’s an absence of an underlying bass that you see in reggaeton, for instance. The ones that do have some sort of a beat have ones that are generated forcefully, almost, using the Taiko and such. Western pop music fills in the market for upbeat music, so I think ratio-wise Japanese music tends to have slower songs than American and Western music do. I think that Asian music in general sounds different from American or Western music. It’s often softer and more nuanced. The groupthink mindset, stereotypical to Japanese people, can also be seen in pop music artists’ groups too, more often than in other musical cultures. Haruka Noishiki is a first-year who has not yet declared a major. Haruka can be reached at haruka.noishiki@tufts.edu.

THE TUFTS DAILY | Comics | Thursday, December 7, 2017

Comics

tuftsdaily.com LATE NIGHT AT THE DAILY Joe: “You were the parent of a very truant child.”

Comics

SUDOKU

GARFIELD BY JIM DAVIS

NON SEQUITUR BY WILEY MILLER

Difficulty Level: Putting off your essay by repeatedly changing the title.

Wednesday’s Solution

LINDA C. BLACK ASTROLOGY

Sagittarius (Nov. 22–Dec. 21)

Today is an 8. Steady, gentle pressure works better than force. Patiently navigate obstacles along the road. Focus on making connections and arriving safely. Keep things simple.

CROSSWORD

Wednesday’s Solution

Thursday, December 7, 2017

Opinion EDITORIAL

Budget town hall should be first of many steps toward financial transparency Although Tufts students are notorious for disagreeing on campus issues, most students agree that tuition should not increase at its current rate. The widespread interest in and pushback against tuition hikes, and the questions as to why they keep happening, have led many to demand increased transparency from the school. Shedding more light on the budgeting process and generating informed conversations about Tufts’ tuition were the purposes of the town hall meeting that took place on Tuesday. In many ways, the town hall was an enlightening meeting that provided a space for productive conversation and engagement on an issue that is often very obtuse to students. The meeting featured a panel that included Provost David Harris, Executive Vice President Patricia Campbell and Dean of Arts and Sciences James Glaser. All three gave short presentations before taking questions. These presentations provided significant insight into how the budget is crafted, where Tufts’ revenue is coming from and where Tufts’ spending is going. It is clear that Tufts is not operating on a lofty budget;

in fact, the School of Arts and Sciences currently has outstanding debt, and as of last month, administrators projected a deficit for this fiscal year. It was also shown that, although the tuition hikes may seem excessive to Tufts students, they are on par with peer institutions. However, our endowment is much smaller, and the caps on the use of the endowment have recently decreased. It was somewhat comforting to understand that tuition hikes are stemming from lack of revenues and our small endowment, rather than exacerbated spending. Nonetheless, on some issues it is obvious that the administration is still out of touch with student needs. One such problem is the promise that Tufts meets 100 percent of demonstrated need. A student at the discussion asked why many graduates still end up with thousands of dollars of debt, which is often included Tufts’ financial aid package, if this promise to meet students’ demonstrated need exists. Harris was clearly aware of the issue, and mentioned a new initiative that will seek to close the gap between students’ actual needs and their financial aid packages. But,

troublingly, no one on the panel explained why this gap exists in the first place. There is also room for the administration to be more direct with students. The panel seemed aware that one of Tufts students’ major concerns is too-high compensation for administrative staff and a general administrative bloat. The presentations showed that salaries and benefits do in fact make up a large portion of the Tufts budget, but they did not show how the salaries of administrators have been growing over time in comparison to the salaries of professors and lecturers. Of course, not all questions or concerns were addressed in the 90-minute meeting. But the goal, for the administration and students to hear each other out on issues that we both deeply care for, was met. The town hall was a step in the right direction, but we should push for much more. We cannot let this effort for transparency simply dwindle: we must protect it and demand more. Only through more detailed conversations can we truly know and influence the decisions that are made on our campus.

LETTER TO THE EDITOR by Jane Etish-Andrews A question was raised today by students- Why was the International Center (I-Center) not included on the Letter to the Editor (12/6/2017) from the Group of 5 Center Directors? It was not intentional that the I-Center wasn’t included in the Daily’s Letter to the Editor. In fact, the I-Center staff fully supports the Asian American Center’s request for a more accessible and welcoming space by separating the residential unit from the administrative office.

Because the mission of the I-Center is different from the Group of Five centers, there are times when the I-Center is unable to collaborate and participate in activities that are being sponsored by the other centers. The I-Center is responsible for immigration services for AS&E, SMFA, Friedman School/Human Nutrition and Research Center and the Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine. The I-Center is also responsible for undergraduate, graduate and faculty/research scholars at those schools with the addition of Fletcher schol-

ars and faculty. This responsibility requires quick actions and does not always allow the I-Center to be active in G5 events. There will be times when the Centers will be represented as G5 or as G6, but we are connected to one another through our shared commitment with social identities work. The International Center has been and will continue to be a vital resource on campus for international students and for American students living abroad! Jane Etish-Andrews, Director, International Center

CARTOON

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

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Luke Murphy Murphy's Law

Can Trump take credit for stock market success?

mong other ideas of the alternate universe in which our president’s Twitter feed resides is the concept that by his merely being in office, the stock market is roaring and jobs are appearing out of thin air. In truth, he has had almost nothing to do with the record highs we are seeing across equity markets. The president inherited a bull market in its eighth year of expansion, one which was drastically strengthened by low interest rates. (Low interest rates make money inexpensive to borrow, thus people and businesses spend more and grow the economy.) Key factors in this recovery are the Federal Reserve policies of low interest rates and quantitative easing (in which the Fed purchases securities to lower short-term interest rates and increase the money supply). While no individual can take full credit for the current bull market, the closest person would be current Federal Open Market Committee Chairwoman Janet Yellen, whose clear, consistent Fed policy and messaging have enabled markets to react calmly to interest rate changes with near record-low volatility. Most of the rise in the stock market in recent years is simply because American corporations are doing very well. Ratios of debts to earnings hover near historic lows reached in 2014, indicating that corporate profits are growing faster than corporate debts. This means companies are more valuable, and thus their stock prices increase. With his promises of tax reform aimed at promoting American business, the markets did rally on his election. However, the sectors that saw large gains immediately after the election, like defense stocks and financials, slowed down relative to the rest of the market in the first two quarters of 2017. While two slightly different versions of tax reform bills passing the House and Senate is the closest thing the Trump administration has to what they would call “progress,” even this is not enough to credit our president for the market’s performance. The Senate’s retaining of the Alternative Minimum Tax rate for corporations eliminates tax breaks related to intellectual property, so tech firms that have led the market’s rise may actually see their effective taxes go up, hurting profitability. The Republicans cannot take credit for the market’s rally, but their hastily and sloppily written bill was a factor in Monday’s tech sell-off, which saw the NASDAQ fall over 1 percent. Donald tweeted on Monday to “check your 401(k)s since election.” Not only is he not responsible for their gains, but nearly half of Americans do not have retirement savings. Many in the middle class to which he appealed are likely to have little or no retirement savings. Like the rest of Donald Trump’s charades, all that glitters is not gold when it comes to his administration’s economic impact. He inherited a strong stock market and is still unable to get any legislation through that would have a real-life economic impact. If Donald thinks the stock market’s success is due to his presidency, void of legislative accomplishments, he needs to head back to Wharton to relearn how the stock market works. Unfortunately for his ego, the stock market is one of the few things that is bigger than he is. Luke Murphy is a senior majoring in economics and Italian studies. He can be reached at luke.murphy@tufts.edu.

THE TUFTS DAILY | ADVERTISEMENT | Thursday, December 7, 2017

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S p o rts

Thursday, December 7, 2017 | Sports | THE TUFTS DAILY

No. 11 Tufts sees respectable individual, relay results at MIT MEN'S SWIMMING & DIVING

continued from back Highlights included Bowen’s 49.54 time in the 100-yard fly, good for third place. Unfortunately, his time was only one10th of a second above the NCAA B cut. However there is still time in the season to swim under it. Additionally, the quartet of Bowen, sophomore Matthew Manfre, Wallace and Gu snagged fifth place in the 200-yard medley relay with a time of 1:31.99, where only one-fourth of a second separated third, fourth and fifth place. This result constituted an improvement over the foursome’s showing in the 400-yard medley the day before, when the four swimmers’ 3:24.89 finish slotted them in sixth place.

Bowen ascribed the better showing in the shorter race to the way in which the team prepared for the three-day competition. “For this meet, we rested for only a few days,” Bowen said. “While shorter events can benefit from this because we can keep up our physical strength, the longer events require a bit more rest.” This Saturday, the Jumbos will swim in a meet hosted by the Wesleyan Cardinals. Also competing will be the No. 12 Williams Ephs and the No. 23 WPI Engineers. After that, the team’s next competition will not take place until a Jan. 16 face-off against the Boston College Eagles. According to Tufts coach Adam Hoyt, the intervening

time will be spent training for the spring leg of the season. “As we look ahead, there are really two things we want to focus on,” Hoyt said. “One is training. From now until mid-January we only have one race to attend … so we want to pick a few things for each athlete to work on. Training is a big focus since we want to improve our endurance and focus.” Hoyt’s other focus is on bringing the team together. “We have only met as a team for few times in one month,” he said. “I want the [players] to come spend time together so that they can get to know each other and help each other out.”

Jumbos defeat Cardinals for the first time in seven years MEN'S SQUASH

continued from back As Raho alluded to, the Jumbos’ victory is partially a product of their revised training regimen. After a 5–4 loss to Hamilton on Nov. 18, the team decided to alter its practice schedule slightly to produce better results. “After the Hamilton match, we realized we couldn’t take any team for granted, that we needed to give our best every practice and in every game,” Lee said. “The intensity has been up. We changed our schedule so that we also have more lifts during the week to get more fit and to continue the process of getting stronger every week.” With his team having won three straight matches, Raho is pleased with his players’ progression. The rookie

coach is hopeful that the team will maintain its recent trajectory. “Every match continues to get better, and we are trending in the right direction … so things take time,” Raho said. “[ The losses to Hamilton and Amherst] were tough … but I think [the team] worked really hard to prepare for the Wesleyan match. Beating these teams requires focus, diligence, practice and being calm and composed.” With a record of 3–2, the Jumbos are heading into the winter break with a positive mindset. The team will reconvene after the new year for a week of squash in the California sunshine, which it hopes will act as a springboard into a busy January schedule. Tufts faces No. 26 Hobart in Palo Alto, Calif. on Jan. 10 before taking on the hosts, No. 32 Stanford, the following day.

“They are both very good, but very winnable matches,” Raho said. “I emphasize [that the players] keep pushing on this break, running, lifting and hitting the ball because we’re going to come back [on] Jan. 6, and we have three days to get ready for two tough teams.” According to Lee, the Jumbos will not want for motivation over the holidays, as they pursue both personal and team-wide improvement. “Right now we are just trying to stay in shape because … that is one thing that really unites us, to know that we are seriously trying to become the best team we can be by the end of the season,” he said. “We’re pretty united in that goal. We all take care of ourselves, and we want to improve individually.”

David Meyer Postgame Press

Rivalry and farewell for now

ears-Packers. Red SoxYankees. Ali-Frazier. Rivalries are everywhere, and they can bring out the best in us. Or the worst. Some of them are historically close, and others are pretty one-sided (see Road Runner-Wile E. Coyote). This past Monday, a rivalry took the football field and showed its darkest colors. The Steelers-Bengals showdowns in the past years have been heavily lauded and also marred by violence. The games have been celebrated for their competitive play, yet the competition has recently turned recently into violence. The beginning of such bad blood is to be traced back to Bengals’ Vontaze Burfict hitting Antonio Brown in the head and concussing him in the 2016 AFC Wild Card playoff game. Since then, brutal hits and dirty play have been expected in each game featuring the Pittsburgh and Cincinnati football teams. This past Monday, the anger boiled over once again. In a game where Ryan Shazier, a linebacker for the Steelers, lay immobile on the ground after suffering a terrifying spinal injury, Steelers wide receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster blindsided Burfict and stood over his injured body, taunting him and receiving encouraging cheers from fellow wide receiver Brown yelling “karma.” I watched the game. It was fun for a little while. The clean and hard hits at the beginning were great. Stars like running back Le’Veon Bell and AJ Green had shining moments. In such a fantastic game, it was a shame that later plays tainted it so heavily. Antonio Brown caught a fantastic touchdown at the end, but even that was unwatchable in replays, as he was hit in the head hard as he fell. In a rivalry defined by fire, this game was an uncontrollable blaze. I love rivalries. A rivalry win is twice as enjoyable as any other. I still remember the last drive of the Thanksgiving day Packers-Bears matchup in 2015. Beating the Packers in Lambeau, on a last-second stop, was almost worth the rest of that terrible season (almost). I want to be able to watch rivalry games without wincing and I am sure the players want to play them. But revenge should be found on the scoreboard, not in a hospital room. Rivals bring out the best in us. Magic Johnson and Larry Bird looked forward to playing each other every season. The Kick Six happened on one of the biggest stages of a rivalry in sports, the Iron Bowl. Great plays are great every day, but they become myth when playing against a rival. Rivals help us strive to be the best, in sports and off the field. Everyone competes to be the best that they can be. Rivals push us to our limits and our goals. They deserve our respect, not our violence. I can only hope the Bengals and Steelers have finally learned that. This is my last column of the semester. I hope to continue writing for the sports section next semester and for more to come. I extend thanks to all who read even one line of any of my columns, as all I can ask for is an outlet in which I can write about my passions. Thank you. David Meyer is a sophomore majoring in film and media studies and can be reached at david.meyer@tufts.edu.

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Sports

Thursday, December 7, 2017

MEN'S SWIMMING & DIVING

Jumbos engineer third-place finish at MIT Invitational, behind strong showings from Bowen, Gu by Sam Weitzman and Patrick Wang Sports Editor and Contributing Writer

Tufts men’s swimming and diving earned a respectable third-place finish in the largest meet of the curtailed fall semester season. Competing against five other teams at the MIT Winter Invitational on Dec. 1–3, the No. 11 Jumbos — led by junior Kingsley Bowen and sophomore Roger Gu — earned 1016.5 points, trailing only the No. 4 Engineer hosts (1683) and the No. 6 New York University Violets (1437). The Jumbos participated in a trio of finals on Friday: the 800-yard freestyle relay, the 1650-yard free and the 3-meter dive. First, the foursome of senior Zach Wallace, first-year Lomax Turner, Bowen and senior captain James McElduff finished fourth out of 17 teams with a time of 6:52.62. Next, during the 1650-free race, junior Brandon Jinn swam a 16:24.70 race, finishing third behind MIT junior Josh Graves and NYU first-year Peyton Lycas. Given Jinn’s 16:21.95 performance at February’s NESCAC Championships, it is evident that the Winchendon, Mass. native is already in fine form at an early point in the season. Friday’s last event was the 3-meter dive. Senior Aaron Idelson, a past All-American for the Jumbos, earned a score of 262.30, enough for a fourth-place finish. The Jumbos competed in eight more event finals on Saturday. Notable individual performances included Gu’s first-place victory over 46 other swimmers in the 50-yard free and Bowen’s

COURTESY DAVE DECORTIN

Junior Kingsley Bowen competes in a swim meet on Tufts Senior Day against MIT on Jan. 15. second-place showing in the 100-yard back, both of which boasted times that were under the 2017 Invited Time. Additionally, first-year James Parker, Wallace, McElduff and Gu finished third in the 200-yard free relay. Bowen spoke highly of Gu’s contributions to the team, not only directly

through his splits but also through Gu’s ability to motivate others. “He’s a special talent, and we’re really lucky to have him on our team,” Bowen said. “He makes all of our relays contenders at our conference and national meet and consistently posts fast times throughout the

season. Sprint freestyle events are the events that most people gather around to watch, and he consistently inspires the team when we need it.” The Medford swimmers competed in another eight finals on Sunday. see MEN'S SWIMMING & DIVING, page 11

MEN'S SQUASH

Men’s squash trounces Wesleyan in key win by Honor Kalkin

Contributing Writer

RAY BERNOFF / THE TUFTS DAILY

Sophomore Raghav Kumar forehands the ball in a match against Dickinson at Harvard’s Murr Center on Jan. 20.

On Saturday, the No. 29 Tufts men’s squash team defeated No. 25 Wesleyan handily, winning by a margin of five matches, 7–2. Underscoring the Jumbos’ dominance, first-year Daniel Hutt dropped just nine points to his Cardinals opponent in a threeset sweep. “Daniel is a freshman who has now had two convincing wins,” coach Joe Raho said. “He has been really beating his opponents really soundly. He’s been playing fantastically.” In addition to Hutt’s commendable performance, Tufts’ top-seeded player, sophomore Raghav Kumar, also played a remarkable, back-and-forth match against Wesleyan first-year Sean Choi. After taking the first set 12–10, Kumar dropped the next two to Choi, 6–11 and 8–11, respectively. Kumar, a native of Redwood City, Calif. rebounded, however, winning the penultimate set 11–7 before finishing off Choi 11–9 in the fifth set. Junior Cameron Ewan also contributed a victory — his third of the season following wins against Hamilton and Bard — in the seventh slot. “[Cameron’s] been showing a tremendous amount of heart on court,” Raho said. “He’s really pushing through

to the end of his long matches. I really have respect for what he’s been doing.” Five other Jumbos won their matches on Saturday. In the third and fifth spots, respectively, junior Alan Litman (11–7, 10–12, 11–9, 11–5) and sophomore Connor Wind (11–7, 11–1, 11–4) defeated their Cardinals opponents. Leading 3–2 after the top five matches, Tufts overwhelmed the hosts in the lower matches to grab a convincing victory. Hutt, Ewan, junior captain Aidan Porges (11–8, 11–9, 11–9) and senior Josh Lee (11–4, 11–4, 11–4) combined to drop just one set among them. Tufts was, of course, upbeat after defeating a Wesleyan team ranked four spots higher by the College Squash Association. The victory carried additional meaning, though, since the Jumbos had been winless in their previous eight matches to the Cardinals, a streak dating back to 2010. “We’re definitely proud of our first NESCAC win, and we were determined to prove ourselves and show that we can beat teams ranked higher than us,” Lee said. “We didn’t want to lose in those five-setters anymore, so we had a lot more sprints in practices than we used to. Before the match, we all came together and knew that it was really important.” see MEN'S SQUASH, page 11