The Tufts Daily - Thursday, February 21, 2019 by The Tufts Daily

WOMEN’S TRACK AND FIELD

Swipe It Forward should lose donation cap see OPINION / PAGE 8

Team achieves personal, season bests in latest meet

Team secures 8th seed at upcoming NESCACs after solid weekend performance see SPORTS/ BACK PAGE

SEE SPORTS / PAGE 11

THE

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T HE T UFTS DAILY

VOLUME LXXVII, ISSUE 20

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Thursday, February 21, 2019

MEDFORD/SOMERVILLE, MASS.

Tufts community responds to antisemitic posters at open forum by Jessica Blough

Executive News Editor

The Tufts community grappled with hatred on campus in an open forum at the Interfaith Center yesterday, the latest in a series of university responses to last week’s antisemitic incident at the Granoff Family Hillel Center. On Tuesday morning, Rabbi Naftali Brawer, Neubauer executive director of Tufts Hillel, discovered over two dozen posters plastered on the Hillel Center. The posters included images of militarized pigs. The Office of the Provost, which hosted the event yesterday, billed it in its Tuesday announcement email as an opportunity for community members to have facilitated conversation in a safe, supportive space. Administrator and staff attendance outnumbered that of the students. Provost and Senior Vice President ad interim Deborah Kochevar said that the event was necessary to ensure that all felt welcome at Tufts.

“Clearly we’re at a spot in time where that is not the case,” she said. Kochevar then invited Kris Manjapra, director of the Department of Race, Colonialism, and Diaspora, to lead an opening meditation and reflection. Manjapra read a quote from Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel, a civil rights activist and colleague of Martin Luther King, Jr., on the insidiousness of racism and how discrimination affects different communities. “[Heschel] invites us to think about how different forms of discrimination and radicalization such as antisemitism, on the one hand, antiblackness on the other, are different, and yet also part of an interwoven system of injustice and oppression,” Manjapra said. “He asks us to stretch our minds, and our hearts open to think and feel in terms of solidarity.” Manjapra read the quote a second time, encouraging participants to notice where the words resonated within them. “Few of us seem to realize how insidious, how radical, how universal and evil racism is. Few of us realize that racism is man’s gravest threat to man, the maximum of hatred for a minimum of

reason, the maximum of cruelty for a minimum of thinking,” he read. “How many disasters do we have to go through in order to realize that all of humanity has a stake in the liberty of one person? Whenever one person is offended, we are all hurt. What begins as inequality, some inevitably ends as inequality of all.” After Manjapra, Chief Diversity Officer Rob Mack began a time for open conversation with remarks on past incidents of racism and discrimination at Tufts. “Incidents that are taking place at Tufts … are not acceptable, and it is important for us to come together as a community to think about our role and responsibilities and how we support each other but also continue the work of educating our community,” he said. He said that while it may be difficult to have these discussions while members of the community are hurting, the community has a responsibility to acknowledge what happened. Mack then allowed time for attendees of the event to speak. One student began the discussion by asking about what specific aspect of the posters was offensive.

Brawer pointed to the deliberate, targeted placement of the posters on the Hillel center. “By equating us, and it was us because it was the only building that we were aware of that had these posters and some of them facing were inward — they were for us to read as a Jewish center — equating us with pigs on the most basic level was really offensive,” Brawer said. Brawer specified that he was speaking on his own behalf, rather than for the Jewish community at Tufts. At least one of the posters on the Hillel Center contained an explicitly anti-Israel message, which read, “DESTROY ISRAELI APARTHEID FORCES AND AMERIKKKAN [sic] PIGS WHICH FUND IT. FREE PALESTINE.” Addressing the Israel-Palestine conflict, Brawer said Zionism and Israel are connected to Jewish identity. “It’s our home. And that doesn’t mean that when we build a home, our neighbors aren’t affected,” he said. “But it’s the undermining of our homeland, saying, ‘your homeland is see HILLEL, page 2

Students advocate for dining workers at campus tours, E-Week carnival by Alexander Thompson Assistant News Editor

Members of Tufts Dining Action Coalition (TDAC) continued their campaign in support of the Tufts Dining workers in their contract negotiations with the university last Monday by interrupting campus tours and distributing handouts to the participants. They later unveiled banners in the Science and Engineering Complex (SEC) during the Engineering Week (E-Week) Kick-Off Carnival later that day. The student activists started the day in Dowling Hall, where they made announcements in support of the workers to touring prospective students before the 9:30 a.m., 10:30 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. campus tours, according to Jesse Ryan, a TDAC organizer. Then, at around 2 p.m., several student activists fanned out across campus in the steadily falling snow and freezing temperatures with megaphones and more handouts to stop groups as they made their way around the hill. Ryan explained that the objective of the action was not to dissuade prospective students from applying or attending Tufts but rather to bring attention to the university’s labor policies. “[The goal] is to educate people about what’s actually going on here and to counter the picture-perfect image the University sells on their tours and in their admissions pamphlets and tell people what the reality of this campus is. The workers, the student

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organizers and activists who are here make up a lot more of the Tufts community than the university would like to tell people on the tours,” Ryan, a sophomore, said. Alex Aronson, a Tufts tour guide whose tour of about 20 prospective students and parents was interrupted by TDAC in front of Ballou Hall, said that tour guides were prepared to handle the interventions by student activists and that a response had been discussed ahead of time. “The way we present it back out to the prospective students is that social activism is a big part of student life on campus, and it’s your choice to be a part of it or not,” she said. However, Aronson did take issue with the activists having interrupted her while she was talking and said that she told TDAC members that in the future they should tell the tour guides they have something to say. Requests for comment made to Tufts Admissions were referred to Patrick Collins, executive director of public relations. “One of the most distinctive and important parts of a Tufts education is our emphasis on civic life and civic engagement,” he said in an email to the Daily. “We respect the right of students to voice their opinions on this and other issues.” Ryan said the group had gotten a mix of responses from tour participants, with encouragement and curiosity coming from many perspectives. Amy Psaila, a prospective student’s parent visiting from New York whose group had been addressed by TDAC members, said that this

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kind of student activism is what college is about. “[Tufts is] going to have to deal with student advocates. They have a student body who cares, and hopefully they’ll be responsive,” she added. Nick Hatzis-Schoch, a prospective student from Newton, Mass., said that the activists had not affected whether he would apply to Tufts, but that on all the other college tours he had been on, participants had never been approached by student activists. “I was a little confused at first as to what they were doing, but after I read their little pamphlet they had handed out, I was a little intrigued and thought I maybe could support the cause at some point,” HatzisSchoch said. The pamphlets, which bore the logo of UNITE HERE Local 26, the union representing the dining workers in their contract negotiations, read: “Tufts can’t compare itself to Harvard, Northeastern, Lesley, Simmons or MassArt.” Ryan explained this is meant to allude to the union’s claim that Tufts compensates its workers less than the institutions to which the university is often compared on tours. The pamphlet also carried a testimonial by Zahra Warsame, a second cook at Carmichael Dining Hall, in which she criticized the healthcare provided by the university as unaffordable. Finally, the pamphlet directly appealed to prospective students to tweet out their support for the dining workers. TDAC continued demonstrations later that

day at the E-Week Kick-Off Carnival in the SEC atrium. Just before 4:40 p.m., TDAC activists dropped six banners from the walkways over the Dearborn Ave. doors with messages such as “fair contract now” and “healthcare is a human right.” Noah Harris, a TDAC member who participated, explained that the action did not focus on engineers despite taking place during E-Week. The focus was on increasing visibility and keeping up pressure on the university even on a holiday. “This is the students saying to the university that we aren’t taking breaks from this campaign, and we want to show the university that we’re fully on the workers’ side,” he said. The university disputed the view of the negotiations that was presented by TDAC on Monday. Collins wrote that the two sides have continued to make progress with the university’s negotiation team, led by Joseph P. McConnell from the Boston legal firm Morgan, Brown & Joy LLP, and that they had reached tentative agreement on 10 issues ranging from immigration to workplace harassment at the last bargaining session which took place Feb. 5. “The university is glad to be entering the final phase of bargaining, and looks forward to learning more about the union’s economic positions,” he said. The union did not respond to request for comment on the negotiations by press time, but Lior Appel-Kraut (A ‘18), an organizer

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

see TDAC, page 2

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

THE TUFTS DAILY | News | Thursday, February 21, 2019

THE TUFTS DAILY Elie Levine Editor-in-Chief

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7 faculty members named to endowed professorships

determine how their gifts will be used, and that they are able to stipulate that the professorship belong to a certain field of study, assuming the school’s dean agrees to the conditions. “The subject area of the professorship must be consistent with the mission of the university and the academic priorities of the school,” Johnson told the Daily in an email. Johnson explained that donors endow the professorship but do not choose the professor who receives it. “Since contributions to name endowed professorships are philanthropic, donors legally cannot have a say in which professors are nominated,” Johnson said. “The school dean must approve all proposals for professorships prior to submission to the donor to ensure this policy is upheld.” Sackey, the associate provost and chief diversity officer for the health sciences schools, who has been named as the Dr. Jane Murphy Gaughan Professor, said that the nomination was a surprise. “The whole process of nomination occurred without anybody saying anything to me,” Sackey said.

Sackey recalled the moment she learned she had received the professorship, which was established by Gerard Gaughan (M ’71) in memory of his late wife. Sackey said she was called into a meeting room and surprised with the news by the medical school deans and Gaughan. As part of the professorship, Sackey will give a lecture entitled “Beyond Diversity: Achieving Equity and Inclusive Excellence,” on March 27. Sackey said that the professorship serves as a recognition of her work. “Donors would like to endow an individual who is exemplar in a particular area,” Sackey said. In addition to being a way to reward exemplary professors, endowed professorships are also a mean of recruiting faculty to Tufts. Schaffner, who had been a professor in the political science department at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, explained that he came to Tufts in 2018 after applying to be the Newhouse Professor of Civic Studies. “The Newhouse Professorship was advertised by Tufts, and there was a national search for candidates for the position,” Schaffner said in an email. “There were many very strong candidates who applied.” His lecture on the “Trump Effect” will be on April 11. The named professorship comes with an endowment that the donor and the university funded together. According to Johnson, the funds raised will flow mainly to the salary of the faculty member holding the endowed professorship but may also be used to support teaching, research, service, or the recipient’s other activities. In Sackey’s case, the endowment will help her create enrichment programs and support students from diverse backgrounds at the health science schools. “A donor committed to seeing students’ success, and making it possible, allows the medical school to direct funds elsewhere,” Sackey said. “The [endowment] could fund scholarships, and access to tutoring if [students] need it.” The first of the lectures by recipients of the inaugural professorships will be that of Madina Agénor, the Gerald R. Gill Professor of Race, Culture, and Society, on March 8.

ty for me,” Braunig said. “Antisemitism is weird and it’s insidious and it makes you question whether it’s real or not.” One student disagreed with Braunig’s categorization of Hillel as a sacred space, and the student called for a conversation about the response to antisemitism in Jewish communities, mentioning increased police presence outside places of worship and how this could threaten worshippers, especially people of color. Brawer said it should not be the responsibility of the Tufts’ Jewish community to figure out what message the vandal was trying to send. “I think the onus is on the person who’s trying to communicate a message to communicate that message in a way that is civil, or at least in a way that it can be heard,” Brawer said. “In other words, if somebody smears feces on my window because they’re upset with something I

said, that’s a violent act and it needs to be called out as such, and it’s not my responsibility to try to figure out what the vandal was trying to tell me.” Accompanied by guitar, first-year Micah Kraus led event attendees in a song with verses in Hebrew and English. He translated the Hebrew to: “A world shall be built from love/righteousness.” Freddie Birnbaum, student president of Tufts Hillel, closed the meeting by encouraging students to look to their peers for support. “I know it’s the core of systems of oppression and antisemitism and hatred to isolate the victims, to make people feel like they aren’t human, like they are alone in the world, in their communities,” Birnbaum, a junior, said. “And so I want to say and commit for myself, and hopefully you can all join me in committing, that when we see acts like this, like any form of hatred that’s targeted, we reach out to each other.”

EDITORIAL

David Levitsky Anita Ramaswamy Managing Editors Luke Allocco Jessica Blough Austin Clementi Charlie Driver Jenna Fleischer Juliana Furgala Kat Grellman Abbie Gruskin Liza Harris Zachary Hertz Gil Jacobson Rachael Meyer Cathy Perloff Hannah Uebele Joe Walsh Alejandra Carrillo Robert Kaplan Noah Richter Jilly Rolnick Alexander Thompson

Associate Editor Executive News Editor News Editors

Assistant News Editors

Grace Yuh Executive Features Editor Costa Angelakis Features Editors Jenna Fleischer Sean Ong Michael Shames Fina Short Sidharth Anand Assistant Features Editors Amelia Becker Mark Choi Sarah Crawford Claire Fraise Jacob Fried Mitch Lee Ellie Murphy Ananya Pavuluri Libby Langsner Executive Arts Editor John Fedak Arts Editors Tommy Gillespie Stephanie Hoechst Setenay Mufti Christopher Panella Rebecca Tang Danny Klain Assistant Arts Editors Amanda Rose Yas Salon Aneurin Canham-Clyne Shane Woolley Simrit Uppal Kaitlyn Meslin Amulya Mutnuri Arlo Moore-Bloom Yuan Jun Chee Ryan Eggers Liam Finnegan Jeremy Goldstein Savannah Mastrangelo Maddie Payne Haley Rich Brad Schussel Josh Steinfink Sam Weidner Julia Atkins Tim Chiang Jake Freudberg Noah Stancroff Helen Thomas-McLean Alex Viveros

Executive Opinion Editor Editorialists

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Daniel Nelson Investigative Editor Christine Lee Executive Photo Editors Madeleine Oliver Anika Agarwal Staff Photographers Ann Marie Burke Mike Feng Ben Kim Max Lalanne Meredith Long Julia McDowell Evan Slack Kirt Thorne Caleb Martin-Rosenthal Executive Video Editors Lawrence Ojugbeli Ann Marie Burke Video Editors Annette Key

PRODUCTION Daniel Montoya

Production Director Ryan Eggers Executive Layout Editors Catalina Mengyao Yang Mia Garvin Layout Editors Jordan Isaacs Maygen Kerner Aidan Menchaca Kiran Misner Alice Yoon Isabella Montoya Executive Graphics Editor Myshko Chumak Executive Copy Editors Justin Yu Caroline Bollinger Copy Editors Mary Carroll Rachel Isralowitz Ali Mintz Nihaal Shah Liora Silkes Avni Ambalam Assistant Copy Editors Rebecca Barker Nathan Kyn Simone Lipkind Chloe Lyu Ethan Resek Ryan Shaffer Aadhya Shivakumar Filipa Sturm Russell Yip Abigail Zielinski Deepanshu Utkarsh Esra Gurcay Rebecca Tang Asli Akova Ercan Sen Amy Tong Mitch Navetta Amanda Covaleski Olivia Ireland Lillian Miller Chris Panella

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Assistant Social Media Editors Outreach Coordinator

BUSINESS

Olivia Davis Executive Business Director

COURTESY MADINA AGÉNOR

Professor Madina Agénor poses for a portrait. by Matthew McGovern Contributing Writer

Seven faculty members have been named to endowed professorships, University President Anthony Monaco announced on Feb. 5 in an email to the Tufts community. Four professors from the School of Arts and Sciences — Madina Agénor, Elizabeth Setren, Brian Schaffner and Sasha Fleary — received the distinction, along with Jamie Maguire of the Sackler School of Graduate Biomedical Sciences, Joyce Sackey of the health sciences schools on the Boston and Grafton campuses and Sean Cash at the Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy. This announcement is the culmination of the Tufts Professorship Partnership Challenge, one part of the $1.5 billion Brighter World fundraising campaign Monaco launched in 2017. Brighter World’s website says that 60 percent of the funding for the professorships came from donors, while the university provided the remaining 40 percent. Eric Johnson, the senior vice president for university advancement, said that donors can

Tufts community reflects on antisemitic event

HILLEL

continued from page 1 a racist enterprise, your homeland is guilty of apartheid,’ that really crosses a line.” Another student said that the posters were especially alarming given the context of an increase of hate crimes nationally. “The most scary part is there’s stuff happening on this campus that targets black people, targets people who are not white, and to see this coming to the Jewish community obviously hits home for me as a Jew,” they said. After a brief discussion period, the conversation turned to the different ways in which antisemitism manifests, and how to best engage with it. Rabbi Jordan Braunig, director of Tufts Hillel’s Initiative for Innovative Community Building, spoke about the impression the posters left on him. “What feels violating is something happening overnight in a sacred space … [It] triggered a sense of fear and vulnerabili-

Campaign for workers continues amid negotiations TDAC

continued from page 1 for the union, confirmed to the Daily in an electronic message that the next session of negotiations will take place on Feb. 27. The banner drop met a mixed reception from the carnival’s attendees. A first-year at one of the carnival booths, Nick Ragusa, said that while he supports the campaign himself, he did not think the demonstration

would be as effective as activists may have hoped. “I feel like all the kids here agree with them. I don’t think they’re going to get more to support it, plus there’s no administration people here,” he said. Thomas Coons, a senior who organized the carnival, told the Daily he had been a little worried when he first saw the activists, but that in the end, the demonstration wasn’t “obtrusive” and

had not distracted too much from the event, though he said he wished TDAC had informed him. However, Coons thought it was a wise strategy on the part of TDAC to bring their campaign to an engineering event. “You can see [engineering students are] less civically engaged, particularly within the Tufts community,” he said. “I know I’ve spoken with a lot of engineers who are aware of [the negotiations], but in general it’s true.”

Thursday, February 21, 2019

Features

Bridging arts and academics, Part 2: Difficulties, future hopes within the dual-degree program

3 tuftsdaily.com

Douglas Berger Ripple Effect

Democracy and agriculture, Part 2

VIA STUDIOENEE.COM

A rendering of Dana Laboratory and Barnum Hall renovation is shown.

by Mark Choi

Assitant Features Editor

Despite the ever-growing demand for combined-degree programs at Tufts, dual-degree students continue to face challenges involving transportation, a lack of artistic resources available on the Medford/Somerville campus and difficulty navigating social life on two campuses. Raissa Li, a first-year student who intended to study biochemistry and studio art as a dual-degree student, decided to drop out of the combined-degree program during her first semester. The program did not live up to her expectations, she said. “Art has been a way of life for me since I was very little. I have taken studio art classes for 12 years, and I was thinking about attending an art school and pursuing art more seriously during senior year of my high school,” Raissa Li said. “As I also wanted to study biochemistry as a pre-med, [the combined-degree program at] Tufts seemed like a perfect place for me to pursue both … Overall, the program turned out to be very different from what I thought it was going to be like, even though I was in the program for a short time.” Raissa Li noted that modes of transportation between the School of the Museum of Fine Arts (SMFA) and the Medford/Somerville campus turned out to be a lot more stressful than she imagined. “Even during the first week, the shuttle bus was running late, and we often had to wait for the next one to come. The next shuttle bus, however, turned out to be a small van that could not fit every-

one,” Raissa Li said. “Because we had to get to our [first] classes, some people had to sit on the floor [with art supplies and canvasses] for an hour, which can be dangerous … I think that the physical distance between Tufts and the SMFA will continue to be a problem, as other schools that offer combined-degree programs are usually located right next to each other — Brown and RISD, for example.” Other dual-degree students whom the Daily interviewed echoed Raissa Li’s sentiment. Matilda Biscaldi, a first-year dual-degree student from Genova, Italy, said that while she is very satisfied with the overall combined-degree program, she also finds transportation between the SMFA and Medford/Somerville campus an issue. “To me, the shuttle bus does not get any better, but people in the program have told me that it has improved over the past few years … I honestly cannot imagine how difficult it must have been in the past,” Biscaldi said. “At the beginning of this semester, people were getting kicked out of the 8 a.m. bus because there weren’t enough seats … I ended up having to sit on the floor [of the van] for my 9 a.m. class at [the] SMFA … there’s so much more work to be done.” According to a previous article by the Daily, the university has already expanded its efforts to make the shuttle buses more reliable, most notably by adding three new vans between the SMFA and the Medford/Somerville campus. Biscaldi, however, noted that communication between students and the administration needs to be improved upon first.

“I think that Tufts already has the resources to make transportation between the two campuses better, but communication is really missing here … Often, a small van would show up in 8 a.m. for 40 people, but then a big shuttle bus would come to SMFA at 10 p.m. when there were only three people who are going back to Medford,” Biscaldi explained. “I totally understand how difficult it can be to schedule the buses, considering the varying number of students using the shuttle bus. But I think that there is an overall trend in the number of students using the bus, and the university should allocate resources based off that pattern.” Regarding the students’ comments, Dean of the School of the Museum of Fine Arts Nancy Bauer said that she is optimistic about improvement, noting that the university hopes to improve the experience by hiring a new professional in the field. “[An increasing number of ] students, not just those in the combined-degree program, take courses on both campuses.” Bauer said. “One of the biggest challenges we’ve had is getting the bus schedule right. Tufts has recently brought in a new person with lots of experience in campus transportation to tweak the system, and he has exciting plans. I am optimistic about the future.” In addition to inadequate transportation between the SMFA and the Medford/Somerville campus, many students pointed out that the program’s demanding graduation requirements can make it challenging to balance academics and artistic development at see DUAL-DEGREE, page 4

he act of drawing electoral districts prioritizes rural interests. For example, in the United States, the Democratic Party has a built-in disadvantage in legislative elections because most of their support is inefficiently concentrated in urban areas. There are many lopsided districts where Democratic candidates receive overwhelming support. All votes above the 50 percent mark are essentially wasted. There are then relatively fewer Democratic voters in less urban districts. In short, the geographic concentration of urban voters weakens the power of their vote, while the geographic dispersion of rural voters increases theirs — even though the districts are of roughly equal population. It stands to reason, then, that just as rural voters are more powerful, so too are rural interests — above all, agriculture. This logic holds true in just about every democracy where representation is determined by geographic districts, but is especially relevant for the United States, where representation is extremely spatial. In America, every one of our states gets two senators, regardless of population. This means that your political power is largely determined by where you live. The vote of a Wyoming resident is more powerful than that of a Californian. It is technically possible to elect a Senate majority with just 17 percent of the national popular vote. The Electoral College illustrates the same dilemma. Recent history has demonstrated that it is quite possible to win the U.S. presidential election by winning key states, i.e. geographic areas, rather than the largest section of the population. This lopsided electoral power can explain the spectacular success of America’s agricultural lobby. Both the agribusinesses they represent and the voters whose livelihoods depend on them are spread across a vast geography, greatly enhancing their political power. While relatively concentrated industries like steel, textile and car manufacturing have declined domestically, American agriculture has successfully resisted the pull of international comparative advantage — cheaper labor, land and capital overseas. The political and economic logic of massive agriculture subsidies is not unique to the United States It is a feature of practically the entire developed world. The geographic power structures which keep American, European and Japanese agriculture competitive have also kept farmers in the least developed nations poor. I do not write this as a condemnation, but rather as an observation. Rural voters can hardly be blamed for voting their livelihood, especially since rural regions, despite their outsized political power and the government largesse they receive, tend to have weaker economies than their urban and suburban counterparts. Nor can elected representatives be faulted for promoting the well-being of the businesses their constituents rely on. That is their responsibility, after all. This is not a story of individuals so much as of a system in which nearly everyone involved can justifiably feel they are doing the right thing while still causing suffering. Only by changing the spatial biases of our democracies can we address political, economic and moral incentives which appear to keep so much of the world in poverty. Douglas Berger is a senior studying international relations. Douglas can be reached at Douglas.Berger@tufts.edu.

THE TUFTS DAILY | Features | Thursday, February 21, 2019

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Dual-degree students share first year experiences, SMFA dean responds DUAL-DEGREE

continued from page 3 Tufts. According to the SMFA, dual-degree students need to complete 76 semester hour units in studio art, 15 credits in art history, on top of Tufts’ liberal arts distribution and major requirements. Jiamin Li, a first-year dual-degree student, is already worried about graduating on time due to the combined-degree program’s graduation requirements. “Even though I came to Tufts with some pre-matriculation credits, I did not know what exactly I would major in at Tufts, and I thought that was a part of a liberal arts education experience … While students in the School of Arts and Sciences have much more time and space to explore [a variety of academic interests], many dual-degree students have to be clear on their majors earlier on to stay in track for the graduation [due to the graduation requirement],” Jiamin Li said. “As I plan on studying abroad, I am worried about whether I can graduate from Tufts in five years, as a lot of abroad programs only offer extensive art or liberal arts classes.” Jiamin Li explained that when she shared her concerns about graduation requirements with her advisor, she got an unexpected response. “While I am still pursuing the combined-degree program at Tufts, [the] first three weeks were really tough for me, as I had to find a balance between my workload at the SMFA and Medford [campus] … When I reached out to my advisor at the beginning of the semester, her advice was that I should simply drop out of the program [if the workload is too demanding for me],” Jiamin Li said. “As my pre-orientation leader also dropped out of the [combined-degree] program for a similar reason, I became skeptical about the overall program even from the beginning.” Sadhana Madnani, another dual-degree student from Dubai, echoed Jianmin Li’s sentiments by adding that the distribution requirement can make it difficult to pursue both her academic and artistic interests as a first-year.

“While I am still undecided [as to my major], I want to study [in the Department of ] Child Study and Human Development at Tufts. But because of my SMFA classes, I have not been able to take an intro course … which is something I did not expect coming in,” Madnani said. “Because of the distribution requirement and having to take an art history class for every semester, I can only take one academic course at Tufts that can count toward my major. This means that I won’t be able to take classes aligned with my [liberal arts] major until my third or fourth year.” Raissa Li added that the lack of art-related resources on the Medford/ Somerville campus can make it even more difficult for dual-degree students to balance their academic and artistic interests, compounded by the demanding workload. “Even though I was optimistic about completing the program even as a premed, it became much more challenging for me due to the lack of spaces and resources for art on [the] Medford campus. While all dual-degree students live on the Medford campus, a lot of art studios and resources on Medford campus are reserved for [undergraduate and graduate] students who are taking art classes on the Medford campus,” Raissa Li said. “As I pursued watercolor painting as a dual-degree student, I realized that [after reaching out to the upperclassmen] there isn’t any space on [the] Medford campus to complete my art assignment which involved toxic materials other than my room.” While Bauer said that she understands where students are coming from, she emphasized that the current distribution requirement is an integral part of a liberal arts education at Tufts. “We do recommend to combined-degree students that they avoid taking a ton of courses for one degree and only then move on to start taking courses on the other one. But, again, students are free to plan their own schedules,” Bauer said. “Getting two full undergraduate degrees in five years requires more careful course planning on the part of students than doing one degree

in five years. One other thing to note is that the regional accreditor for all degree-granting colleges and universities in New England mandates that all students getting two degrees fulfill all the requirements for each degree.” Bauer added that the renovation of Barnum Hall and Dana Laboratory on the Medford/Somerville campus will have more resources available to better accommodate the dual-degree students. According to architectural renderings by STUDIO ENÉE, the renovation of Barnum Hall and Dana Laboratory will add more dark rooms, computer labs, art studios and film studios in the lower level and second floor, beginning in fall 2019. “When Barnum Hall comes back online, the SMFA will have programming in a few more spaces on the Medford campus, which means that there will be more support for students who want to work on their art projects in Medford,” Bauer said. “This will represent an expansion of SMFA opportunities, since we will be adding things to Medford, not subtracting them from the SMFA.” On top of transportation and logistical issues, many suggested that the university should continue to work on fostering a more cohesive community for dual-degree students and publicizing the program to the greater Tufts community. Hannah Smokelin, a first-year dual-degree student, said that while she is very satisfied with the overall academic program, there is a social divide within the SMFA and between the Medford/Somerville campus. “The biggest downside of the program is that I feel a large disconnect between the Medford campus and the SMFA campus, and often times I feel like my social life is more difficult because I’m in the program. I wish the community of combined-degree students was stronger, and think that more could’ve been done in orientation to bring us closer together, or at least introduce us all to each other because there are still people at the SMFA and in the combined degree program whose names I don’t know,” Smokelin said. “The SMFA feels more to me just like

a building that I take my art classes in and not really like a whole other school with a close community.” Despite a number of challenges that the university and dual-degree students face, many students noted that they are excited to be a part of the program that is continuing to grow and evolve. Ali Haddi, a first-year dual-degree student from Boston, shared his experience with the program. “Other than how intense my schedule can be and having to wake up early in the morning for the shuttle bus, I have really enjoyed the program … Collectively, dual-degree students have multiple layers of interest, on top of their academic interest at Tufts, which can be intellectually exciting and stimulating,” Haddi said. “Over the next four years, I am excited to see how my interests in computer science, engineering psychology, painting, photography and ceramics will come together.” Echoing Haddi’s sentiment, Biscaldi said she looks forward to growing as a student and an artist as the combined-degree program continues to expand. “I think that Tufts took a huge challenge by offering and expanding the combined-degree program. The program is offered by a very small number of universities for a reason and organizing a program [at this magnitude] comes at a great effort and cost,” Biscaldi said. “While the university still has a lot to work on to improve the program, I am grateful that Tufts has given me this incredible opportunity to learn and grow as a student and artist.” Moving forward, Bauer encouraged dual-degree students to engage with the effort in improving the program as a community. “I urge students to report to us the difficulties they are experiencing to us. I have an anonymous online suggestion box that students can use to report any kinds of problems … All suggestions come straight to my email inbox,” Bauer said. “We know that certain things, such as [the] shuttle situation, are works in progress. But we can’t fix what we don’t know is broken, and we’d love to hear their concerns

Thursday, February 21, 2019

WEEKENDER

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A cappella personality Deke Sharon talks time at Tufts, beyond

VIA WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

Deke Sharon (A ‘91) is pictured singing at a performance. by Stephanie Hoechst Arts Editor

Last week, Tufts hosted a cappella singer and music producer Deke Sharon (A ’91), a Tufts alum and a former member of the Tufts Beelzebubs. While on campus, Sharon gave a lecture entitled “Harmony Through Harmony.” In addition, he participated in a concert with Tufts a cappella groups, teaching them his a cappella arrangements and performing with them onstage. During his return to campus, Sharon sat down for an interview with the Daily to discuss his time at Tufts and his career path since graduating. “I’m deeply honored to be invited back,” Sharon said. “For the most part I don’t get a chance to come back here, which is why it’s so overwhelming to see what’s happened with the Tufts music department. The building and the facilities are enormous — the department is maybe ten times the size it was when I was here. We used to just be in the basement of Cohen … it’s just unbelievable how much it’s expanded, [including] the fantastic classes.” While at Tufts, Sharon was part of the New England Conservatory dual-degree program. Though he was training in music seriously, he also wanted to take advantage of the broader liberal arts education that the Tufts School of Arts and Sciences provided. “Over at the New England Conservatory of Music,” he said. “I was in then what was third-stream studies, which is now called contemporary improvisation. And then about halfway through, after getting all this ear training, I wanted to get more and more information, so I shifted over

to theory and composition department, and took all these graduate-degree courses. I just wanted to fill up my brain with information, and my instrument was jazz voice, so I took jazz voice lessons. At Tufts, I knew I was going to be a musician, but I wanted a really strong liberal arts education, broad and also deep. And I also knew I wanted to be a good father, so I was a child studies major.” In addition to his academic studies, Sharon’s four years in the Tufts Beelzebubs had a huge impact on his experience as an undergraduate — even though he had to audition three times before they would finally accept him. “It took me three times to audition for the Bubs because I was overzealous and they were a little freaked out by this kid who came in. In high school I was arranging, I had my own barbershop quartet that I started doing pop music for and learning how to arrange for, I had ‘Bubs albums and I was a big fan. And this is at a time in the middle of the ’80s when a cappella wasn’t big — I mean, there were only maybe 200 college a cappella groups, [so] people outside of it didn’t really know about it … I think I just kind of weirded the Bubs out, I was so into it.” “Now, though,” Sharon said, “people will pick their college based on a cappella groups. But a large part of why I came to Tufts was to be in the Bubs. And once I was in the Beelzebubs, I was music director for a couple years, and I also created the position of historian, which involves understanding the history of what’s going on within the Bubs, and keeping all the music and the library together.” While at Tufts, Sharon also began a newsletter to report on the happenings of

the college a cappella world. This publication, he explained, was a crucial element in how he got started doing a cappella professionally. “When I was in 112 Stratton, I started a newsletter to bring together the a cappella world, and by the time I’d put out only a couple issues, already fans [of ] a cappella and professional groups were asking me, ‘Can you expand the scope?’ So I went from the collegiate a cappella news to the contemporary a cappella news, and as soon as I got home I filed the nonprofit paperwork and started the Contemporary A Cappella Society of America. And from there, festivals and workshops and a music publishing company [followed].” One point of interest in Sharon’s career is his work on the “Pitch Perfect” movies (2012, 2015, 2017), where he was involved as an arranger, vocal producer and singer. But his journey toward the series began with his work with the Beelzebubs. “There was a writer with GQ named Mickey Rapkin,” he said, “who actually sang in the Cornell Cayuga’s Waiters, and he decided to write a nonfiction book about the college a cappella world. So he followed three different groups, and one of the groups he followed was the Tufts Beelzebubs. So a third of the book is devoted to them, and there’s also a chapter that talks about the college a cappella world, and the ground that was laid for the style of music and the competition.” Sharon’s experiences in the Beelzebubs was featured in Rapkin’s book, entitled “Pitch Perfect: The Quest for Collegiate A Cappella Glory” (2009). Rapkin’s book would later be optioned to be made into a movie. Sharon explained that he got a phone call from Elizabeth Banks ask-

ing if he would like to be involved in making “Pitch Perfect.” “I was one of the first people brought in, and we sat at a table and talked about what songs would make sense in the script that they were working on, and how do we keep it authentic and yet still compelling to audiences. And it was such a tiny movie studio that put it together … So I was pretty convinced that no one was gonna see this movie. I still bled for it — you know, lost sleep trying to make it the best it could be — but the fact that it became such a cultural touchstone is absolutely overwhelming.” In addition to his work on the “Pitch Perfect” movies, Sharon also produced the NBC competition show “The Sing-Off” (2009–2014) and was on the Lifetime reality show “Pitch Slapped” (2016) as a coach. The show featured high school a cappella groups competing with each other. “It was wonderful to have an opportunity to show the world what I do when I’m working with high-school students, and try to motivate them and teach them both technical proficiency, but also the ability to sing with emotion and make a real difference,” Sharon said. Now, Sharon does just about everything a cappella-related. “I arrange, compose, direct, coach, educate, write … I have over 1,000 published songs and another thousand custom arrangements that aren’t published yet. And I sing — I started the first rock band without instruments with a vocal percussionist … I end up going all over. I work with adults, I work with high school, college, middle school [students], anything and everything having to do with a cappella.”

THE TUFTS DAILY | Arts & Living | Thursday, February 21, 2019

Evan Zigmond Out on the Town

Providence

iving in Greater Boston has presented us with a unique opportunity: We can use public transport to cross state lines. Specifically, it is possible, and surprisingly simple, to travel to Providence, R.I. using the commuter rail. If you’re like me, that’s a reason to go in and of itself. If you need more reasons to go, though, you won’t be disappointed. Providence is nothing like Boston, and the change of atmosphere could be just the study break you need. Although this trip took a bit longer than previous ones outlined in this column, the logistics remain easy to execute. I left Tufts for Providence at 8:40 a.m. on a Saturday, taking the 94 MBTA bus from Boston Avenue to Davis Square. From there, I took the Red Line inbound to South Station. Upon arrival, I bought my ticket from a window in the main terminal of the station, near the room with the large board where departure times and locations are announced. The MBTA offers a weekend deal on commuter rail tickets, where the price is reduced from $11.50 per ride to $10 for unlimited rides for that weekend. This weekend pass makes a Providence trip much easier to afford. After a bit of waiting, I boarded the train to Providence at 10:05 a.m. The train ride is a treat on its own. Passing through the Massachusetts South Shore, I observed the dilapidated brick warehouses with morbid curiosity. These periodically gave way to huge marshes with muted beige grass billowing in the breeze. The train was filled with lots of other young people, ostensibly journeying to Providence for their own weekend excursions. Crackling, youthful energy permeated the train car. After about 50 minutes, I arrived in Providence, the last stop on the commuter rail line. Coming out of the station, the Rhode Island State House loomed over me, an impressive work of marble. I labored in getting up its steps, and I was then rewarded for my efforts with an extensive view of the city. Providence’s skyline, though small, is very easy on the eyes. Downtown Providence is eerily quiet, and the contrast is made even more apparent when juxtaposed with Boston on the same day. Almost no pedestrians roamed the streets when I was there. Although the quiet was a lot at first, I warmed up to it as I ambled around the city. Calmer than even Somerville, Providence is the place to be if one needs to clear their head. After lunch, I walked about a mileand-a-half north to Savers. Savers is a thrift store unlike anything in Greater Boston. The humongous warehouse features clothing noticeably cheaper than anything in Davis Square, and their wares also include books, CDs, household appliances and multiple footwear products. My thrifty readership will be right at home in Providence. Overall, Providence offers a unique experience from Greater Boston, and I would definitely recommend checking it out if you feel so inclined. Evan Zigmond is a sophomore studying music. Evan can be reached at Evan.Zigmond@tufts.edu.

I’VE NEVER UNDERSTOOD WHY MY HUMAN WON’T LEAVE THE HOUSE WITHOUT HER LEASH. I THINK SHE’S AFRAlD OF GETTING LOST. BUT IT’S OK, I KIND OF LIKE SHOWING HER AROUND. — HARPER adopted 08-18-09

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Thursday, February 21, 2019 | FUN & GAMES | THE TUFTS DAILY

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Ria Mazumdar Peripheries

Read My Lips — New Taxes

n op-ed published in the Daily last week argued that support for Alexandria Ocasio–Cortez’s 70 percent marginal tax rate is a result of populist inclinations rather than rigorous academic reasoning. Referencing epistemology in its title, the article argued that there is no clear consensus supporting this policy, and that a field-wide expert agreement is required before drawing any conclusions. This article mischaracterizes AOC’s claims and displays anti-democratic sentiments. Firstly, an objection to the op-ed can immediately be raised on logical grounds. Very few issues have the “massive, field-wide agreement” the article calls for, climate change being a notable exception. In fact, evolving areas of academia lack wide consensus by design. The entire pursuit of research is designed to enrich the availability of information on a subject by generating competing works with alternative explanations and modified experiments. No field, including the ‘hard sciences,’ is intellectually complete. But does that mean that people are ill-equipped to form their own opinions? We will always face a certain degree of intellectual uncertainty, but that certainly should not drive us to an abyss of existential nihilism. Secondly, the assertion that economic studies are being used by an economically illiterate population is both condescending and anti-democratic. Democracy presupposes that voters have the capacity to make informed decisions. Granted, ‘fake news’ and echo chambers challenge this premise. However, the resulting claim that “politically inclined people” come up with their beliefs first and justify them later is fallacious. Economics is not theoretical physics. It describes real phenomena and seeks to model everyday experiences. Nobody understands the effects of poverty more than people experiencing it. People outside of the top one percent have the incentives that lead them to draw conclusions about redistributive policies. Life experiences are fundamental in shaping epistemology, and arguably have more of a direct link to ‘true knowledge’ than a Master’s degree. Thirdly, it is important to specifically address AOC’s claims. If you don’t buy the arguments put forward by Paul Krugman or Vox, simply look to the historical precedent, which does not require a doctorate to consider. Top earners under Eisenhower faced a 91 percent marginal tax rate. Tax cuts since then have largely been a product of political change, most notably under Reagan. Most pertinently, AOC’s comments were not a line-by-line policy proposal, but rather meant to serve as a conversation starter. Mainstream politicians have followed the trend of tax cuts, facing very little critical interrogation or political pushback. Under their own logic, the author of last week’s article should welcome the discourse that has been spurred as a result of AOC’s comments. Academic thought and public policies are constantly evolving in response to the discovery of new information. A balance of open-mindedness and conviction is the only way to uphold our democratic ideals and generate productive solutions, especially those which work for people at the margins of society. Appreciating the value of knowledge gained from life experience is at the heart of democracy and collaborative decision-making, two values on which this country was purportedly founded. Ria Mazumdar is a junior studying quantitative economics and international relations. Ria can be reached at Ria. Mazumdar@tufts.edu.

Opinion

Thursday, February 21, 2019

EDITORIAL

Swipe It Forward does not go far enough Food insecurity is a painful issue for many people, including Tufts students. Students come from varied socioeconomic backgrounds, meaning some can afford more food or larger meal plans than others. Economic hardship and stress can contribute to food insecurity for students, while other students never have to worry about money. The Swipe It Forward program, which started two years ago, provides meals to students who weren’t otherwise able to eat. While this program has the potential to help, limits on individual meal donations handicap its impact. The most any student can give is four meals. Tufts Community Union Senate President Jacqueline Chen told the Daily in a phone interview that the Senate worked with Tufts Dining and the Office of Student Success and Advising to set up a meal bank. The program was motivated by the observation that students often have extra meals swipes left over at the end of a semester, while other students can’t get enough meals. Students who aren’t on the pre-

mium meal plan can donate up to four swipes; students on the premium meal can donate one meal and a guest swipe. While those with the most to give — students on premium plans — have the strictest limits on donations, the fourmeal limit for other student donations places a hard cap on the number of meals available. At the time of writing, there were no meals available in the Swipe It Forward meal bank. Still, Swipe It Forward is a good program; it helps students stay fed and avoid hunger. The anonymity provided to students requesting a swipe from the bank ensures that those who feel uncomfortable talking about food insecurity have privacy and dignity. Chen explained that many students choose to opt out of the premium meal plan after freshman year. The Swipe It Forward program allows students on other, more limited meal plans a chance to socialize in the dining halls without anxiety over money. This marginally improves the social accessibility of spaces normally available at a cost.

Swipe It Forward has undergone changes since it began. Chen noted that initially, students were only able to request up to six meals per semester; this has been raised to 10 meals. Chen said she wants to make it possible for students to opt out of the premium program and give extra meals to the meal bank. Such a reform would expand the number of meals available through the Swipe It Forward program. Chen emphasized the importance of donating to the meal bank. Students who are able to should donate meals in solidarity with classmates who go hungry. But Tufts should do more as well, by raising the donation cap from four meals to 10 meals, and by matching student donations with meal swipes provided by the university. Solving food insecurity shouldn’t be an effort led by individual donations; it should instead be headed by institutional commitments and collective social action. None of us should feel satisfied until all of us are fed.

CARTOON

Thursday is Monday

BY MARIA FONG 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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Sports

Thursday, February 21, 2019 | Sports | THE TUFTS DAILY

Women’s track and field gears up for New England Div. III Championships

Arjun Balaraman Off the crossbar

The intangibles

MADELEINE OLIVER / THE TUFTS DAILY ARCHIVES

Senior Kelsey Tierney stays focused during the 5k race at Springfield College on Feb. 17, 2018. by Jake Freudberg

Assistant Sports Editor

As the Jumbos prepare for the New England Div. III Championships at Bowdoin College over the weekend, the team sent a partial squad to compete at Springfield’s College Triangle Classic on Saturday. Although most of the team did not compete, several Tufts athletes put up personal bests, season bests and top finishes at the non-team-scoring meet. Senior co-captain Kelsey Tierney placed second in the mile with a personal record time of 5:06.79 that currently ranks 30th nationally for Div. III. Firstyear Kathryn Ezeoha had a breakout performance in the triple jump with a distance of 36’3½” that was good for a personal record, a team season best and No. 50 nationally in Div. III. Tierney disapproved of how she was paced in the mile. “It was a [personal record], but I was actually really angry about the race,” Tierney said. “Our assistant coach knew I’d be angry right when it ended because it was a really strangely paced race. But I can’t be too angry.” There were several other podium finishes in the meet, including senior Julia Noble’s second-place time of 3:08.44 in the 1k and senior Caitlin Porrazzo’s second-place time of 10:50.02 in the 3k. The 4×400 relay team of first-year Tara Lowensohn, first-year Hannah Neilon, first-year Luana Machado and junior Julia Gake placed second with a time of 4:01.69, about six seconds short of their season best. First-year Chidiebele Ikpeazu placed fourth in the shot put at 36’10.25” and sixth in the triple jump at 34’2”, both personal records. Most of the regular season competition is in the books, so the team now shifts their focus to the New England Div. III Championships. Throughout the regular season meets, the Jumbos have

strived to qualify individually for the regional championship meet. While the focus during the season often is on setting personal records and earning qualifying times and distances, the team also emphasizes the team scoring component at “New Englands,” as the athletes often refer to the meet. Last year, Tufts placed fourth with 52 points, behind Williams (149), MIT (127) and Middlebury (73). The Jumbos also set several personal records at the meet. “We do care about the team scoring at this meet,” Tierney said. “But, at the same time, we know and we’re acknowledging more than other years that MIT and Williams especially are just kind of out of reach. They’re going to be battling each other for one and two, and it’s kind of a fight for third.” Because MIT and Williams typically outrank the rest of the field by a large margin, Tierney explained that this year the team’s strategy will focus more on winning as many events as possible rather than trying to earn small points in numerous events in an effort to place third. “I think the fact that we’re acknowledging that now is going to help us potentially get third,” Tierney said. “If we were trying to strive to beat [MIT and Williams], it’s a little unachievable. Then, we would just be hurting ourselves — if we triple people and they can only get eighth in two events versus if we put certain people in one event and they can win it.” To place in the top three, the Jumbos will rely on the events that have been the strongest this winter: mainly the relays and long-distance events. In total, the team has athletes ranked in the top 50 nationally in eight events. The 4×400 relay team of Lowensohn, Neilon, Machado and Gake currently ranks No. 14 with a time of 3:55.53 — just on the cusp of being in the top 12 that qualify for nationals.

“Placing and getting some points would be nice,” Machado said. “Teamwise, I’m hoping that our 4×4 wipes the floor with everybody else and takes that dub that we deserve, fingers crossed we will. I just want the team to perform really well because we’ve been building up momentum for the entire season, so this is our time now.” The distance medley relay team of junior Lauren Diaz, Gake, Noble and junior Rhemi Toth ranks No. 9 with a 12:01.74 time. In the mile, Toth ranks No. 12 at 4:57.39, and Tierney ranks No. 30 with her 5:03.79 finish at the Boston University David Hemery Valentine Invitational on Feb. 8. Also, senior Natalie Bettez ranks No. 37 at 17:45.93 in the 5k meters. Other top 50 rankings include Gake at No. 47 in the 400-meter at 58.67, Diaz at No. 25 in the 800-meter at 2:16.10, and senior Kylene DeSmith at No. 40 in the pentathlon with 2,996 points. Ezeoha also currently sits No. 50 in the triple jump with her performance at Springfield on Saturday. The team has seen success in other events this season as well, and every meet has featured different event winners and personal records. The Jumbos hope to stand out amongst the large field of Div. III teams from the New England region at the meet. “It’s sort of a battle for third with us, Middlebury and Bowdoin, and a few other schools outside the conference,” coach Kristen Morwick said. “We have to do well to get third. We certainly have some places where we’re not entering people, like the 60 and the 200. But, the relays will be a big deal, sneaking out some points in the field events, and, doing well in the events where we’re seeded high.” The New England Div. III Championships are hosted by Bowdoin in Brunswick, Maine, with the action beginning on Friday, Feb. 22 and continuing through Saturday.

n recent years, professional sports have shifted towards favoring the more skillful, quicker players as opposed to the stronger, grittier stars of the past. In the NBA, sevenfoot-tall gargantuan centers, who would spend the entirety of the game toiling in the paint within five feet of the basket, are now expected to shoot 3-pointers with ease. In the NFL, the ground-andpound days have made way for a more open, free-flowing passing game where smaller players can thrive. In soccer, Pep Guardiola’s tiki-taka style revolutionized the modern game as even goalkeepers are now supposed to play with their feet. Despite this tactical ‘revolution,’ something has to be said for the value of strong characters in team sports, an aspect largely absent from the modern game. When you think about the great Premier League teams from the past, they were all filled with leaders. Players who, no matter what, could find a way to motivate their mates and bring the best out of them. Arsenal had Sol Campbell and Patrick Vieira; Chelsea had Frank Lampard and John Terry; Manchester United had Nemanja Vidic and Rio Ferdinand. Not only did they have great players, most had legendary managers, who could control a room full of talented and animated players with the respect rhat their very presence commanded. But as the previous generation of leaders leaves, the Premier League is crying out for strong characters to bring that toughness back. Perhaps the most evident effect of lack of leadership can be found in this year’s Manchester United. Earlier in the season, under José Mourinho, the squad lacked belief and happiness — and it showed in their play. A new manager, Ole Gunnar Solksjaer, with no new players, but a more aggressive brand of soccer, has catalyzed a complete turnaround. Solskjaer didn’t have a preseason to change how the team plays; instead, he focused on the morale of his players, letting them play happily again. Is there no player in the United locker room who could have taken the leadership role under the old manager? Last week in the Football Association Cup, the United side defeated Maurizio Sarri’s slumping Chelsea 2–0. The Italian’s aesthetically pleasing style, “Sarriball,” hasn’t worked for Chelsea and, worse still, he seems to have lost the locker room. He has said numerous times that he finds his side hard to motivate. Without leaders like Terry or Lampard on the field to help set players’ minds straight in tough situations, this Chelsea team has capitulated under pressure. Today’s soccer players are of a different generation, more comfortable channeling their social media followers towards a cause than they are berating their fellow players to get the best out of them. Mourinho and Sarri have lamented the lack of leadership in the dressing room, and it is a reality. But failure to motivate a team can result in lost championships, in spite of an abundance of talent. Ask Lionel Messi — the world’s greatest player is not a natural leader, and in spite of his (and his countrymen’s) obvious talent, he has never managed to carry the load of motivating his country, Argentina, to a World Cup win.

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

12 tuftsdaily.com

Sports

Thursday, February 21, 2019

Offensive success in weekend trip to Maine keeps hockey’s season alive

ALINA STRILECKIS / THE TUFTS DAILY ARCHIVES

Sophomore forward Charley Borek fights to obtain possession of the puck in the home game against Colby at the Malden Forum on Feb. 17, 2018.

by Noah Stancroff

Assistant Sports Editor

The Jumbos had arguably their best weekend of the calendar year as they took on the Bowdoin Polar Bears (6–16–2) and the Colby Mules (10–9–5) in their final two games of the regular season. With a 5–0 win to open the weekend against Bowdoin on Friday night and a 3–3 tie the following day in Waterville, Maine against Colby, Tufts secured the eighth seed in the NESCAC tournament. Tournament play begins on Feb. 23 when the Jumbos travel to Hartford, Conn. where they will face the first-seeded Trinity Bantams for the third time this season. Though the players didn’t know it at the time, they clinched their spot in the tournament before the end of their game against the Mules on Saturday once Conn. College had beaten Bowdoin in their matchup, making it impossible for either of the two teams to jump Tufts in the standings regardless of the outcome against Colby. The Jumbos still fought a mighty comeback to a 3–3 draw with the Mules to end the regular season. On Saturday, the majority of the first two periods went in Colby’s way as they jumped to a 2–0 lead just under two minutes into the second period. Seven different Mules tallied points throughout the first 40 minutes. Junior forward J.P.

Schuhlen, who netted the second goal for Colby, added another point to his column when he assisted first-year forward Mike Morrissey on the Mules’ third goal of the game, giving them a 3–0 lead. The comeback for the Jumbos started just 45 seconds after the Mules added their third goal when senior captain Clay Berger scored a goal to cut the deficit to two. The second period scoring did not stop there for the Jumbos; sophomore forward Hayden Smith found the back of the net once more just under a minute later and 20 seconds before intermission. “We actually didn’t know that we would have made NESCACs,” Smith said regarding the gritty comeback. “We were fighting for our lives trying to make playoffs.” The heavy pressure in the offensive zone late in the second period for the Jumbos spilled into the third period as first-year forward Cal LeClair beat senior goaltender Mack Burton to tie the game at three apiece just over three minutes into the third period. LeClair’s goal gave him his second point of the game following his assist on Berger’s earlier goal, resulting in just the second multi-point game of his young career. Neither team would add to the scoreboard for the remainder of the game as Tufts managed only three shots in overtime while Colby put the puck on net twice in added time.

“I thought we played very well,” coach Patrick Norton said. “We had a lot of chances to score … early, we were doing a lot of good things,” Norton added. Coach Norton also emphasized the importance of the penalty kill late in the second period that allowed the Jumbos to remain in the game. The trip to Maine started off extremely well for the Jumbos as they outscored Bowdoin by five for the second time this season and held them scoreless, the team’s first shutout since their Nov. 27 game against St. Michael’s (7–15–4). Sophomore goaltender Drew Hotte had a huge night in net for the Jumbos as he saved all 40 shots that he faced for just his second shutout of the season. Bowdoin seemed to dominate the first period as they outshot Tufts 13 to six. However, only the Jumbos were able to find the net prior to the intermission as junior defenseman Jordan Haney scored his first goal of the season halfway through the period. Tufts waited almost another 20 minutes before adding to their lead when Hayden Smith scored his first goal of the season as well. “It starts with our goaltending; Drew Hotte was great,” Smith said. “Having great goaltending like that really helped us and getting the first goal has always been pretty big for our team this year so not letting one up was great … and we kind of just rolled from there.”

Although Bowdoin outshot Tufts 40 to 38 throughout the entirety of the game, the Jumbos were able to find the netting with relative ease as over 13 percent of the shots they took ended up behind sophomore goaltender Alex Zafonte. The Jumbos added three more to the scoreboard in the third period resulting in the lopsided 5–0 victory, keeping the hopes for a NESCAC tournament berth alive for another day. First-year defenseman Trevor Spence beat the goaltender for the second time in his young career early in the third period, followed by Smith’s second goal of the evening — an unassisted, empty-net shorthanded goal to bring it to 4–0. Junior forward Machlan Sawden capped off the game’s scoring when he scored his third goal of the season with just one second left on the clock. Tufts faces Trinity in the NESCAC tournament as the eighth and last seed for the second year in a row. The two teams faced twice earlier in the season: once to open Tufts’ season and again in the middle of January. The Jumbos fell 3–0 in the first matchup but battled to a 1–1 tie in the latter. “I think we’ll be ready,” Norton said. “I think we’re excited to play them … it’s not a game that we weren’t expecting; I think the guys are looking forward to the challenge.”