The Tufts Daily - Friday, January 24, 2020

With Baby Yoda at his side, “The Mandalorian” steals the show see ARTS&LIVING / PAGE 4

WOMEN’S BASKETBALL

After thrilling NESCAC wins, Jumbos remain top team in nation

Editorial: Tufts’ SHU system should reflect courseload, difficulty see OPINION / PAGE 7

SEE SPORTS / BACK PAGE

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Somerville holds community meeting addressing police deployment to Straight Pride Parade

by Alexander Thompson Contributing Writer

The City of Somerville hosted a public meeting on Wednesday night to address community concerns involving the deployment of Somerville police officers to the Boston Straight Pride Parade on Aug. 31, 2019. An internal investigation published on Nov. 14, 2019, found no violations of department protocol by the 13 Somerville police officers during their deployment to the Boston Straight Pride Parade.

In response to a mutual aid request from the Boston Police Department (BPD), members of the Somerville Police Department’s (SPD) Cops on Bikes for Regional Assistance (COBRA) unit were sent to the event to support the BPD in crowd control.

However, participants in the demonstrations against the parade accused the police contingent of heavy-handed and aggressive tactics directed primarily against counter-protesters who they were supposed to be protecting.

After outrage over SPD’s involvement spread on social media, a community meeting was held on Sept. 18, 2019, and SPD pledged to conduct a thorough investigation for its after-action report.

The investigation, headed by Chief of Police David Fallon and senior SPD leadership who were uninvolved in the deployment, included interviews with all 13 officers, a review of the single civilian complaint about the event filed with the department, emails and comments from members of the public, and evaluation of a number of videos recorded of SPD officers at the event.

The report found that SPD officers made no arrests, did not use pepper spray or their batons, did not initiate interventions into the crowd of counter-protesters and did not wear riot gear. They did, however, enter the crowd and assist BPD officers in taking individuals into custody.

Somerville Mayor Joe Curtatone apologized for the department’s actions and condemned the Straight Pride Parade as “white nationalist hate” at the community meeting.

“If it was only about following protocol we wouldn’t be here tonight,” Curtatone said to nearly 100 community members gathered around tables in the Albert F. Argenziano School’s cafeteria.

In a memo sent to the Somerville City Council when the report was published, Curtatone urged the Council to pass a resolution supporting the city administration’s efforts to get SPD police unions to accept body cameras in negotiations over their ongoing collective bargaining agreement.

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Somerville Chief of Police David Fallon addresses residents at a community meeting about the Somerville Police Department’s controversial deployment to the Straight Pride Parade in the cafeteria of the Albert F. Argenziano School on Jan. 22.

The memo also announced the mayor’s office would support continued dialogue on the controversy, work to create a civilian police advisory committee and review SPD’s use of asset forfeiture, which funded the deployment. Curtatone said he remains committed to those objectives on Wednesday night.

Ward 6 Councilor Lance Davis, who chairs the Public Health and Public Safety Committee, confirmed that although the council does not currently have an active body camera resolution, he would support one.

Chief Fallon, who was on hand for the meeting, affirmed his support for reform.

“I really think that in the 21st century to be successful in Somerville or anywhere you have to provide the types of policing the community demands,” Fallon said. “If any member of the community feels fearful of the police, that’s a vital concern for us.”

Fallon also pointed to the steps the department has already taken to remedy the issues brought to light by the Straight Pride Parade deployment. As outlined in the report, the SPD now requires supervisors to remind officers not to make unnecessary arrests and abide For breaking news, our content archive and exclusive content, visit tuftsdaily.com @tuftsdaily

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by use-of-force policies, while protecting First Amendment rights and public safety twice before deployment.

The SPD also says that it is increasing training for COBRA unit members, requiring officers to file reports on arrests they assisted in and seek that its officers are deployed in relief and support roles in future mutual aid operations.

However, SPD must respond to future mutual aid requests as it is required to do so under state law, according to Fallon.

Attendees at Wednesday’s community meeting, including several Tufts students, were sharply critical of the SPD and pushed for more drastic reforms.

During break-out sessions, groups recounted the police violence they witnessed on Aug. 31, 2019, and expressed indignation at questions they felt the report left unanswered.

Among the proposals put forth by attendees was a public apology by SPD, reducing the SPD’s budget and disarming patrol officers.

Numerous members of the public called for a civilian police oversight board with con-

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trol of the SPD budget, the ability to investigate the department and the power to discipline officers.

Curtatone said that he was open to the idea, and Ward 2 Councilor Jefferson Thomas Scott, who also attended the meeting, said that he intends to propose an ordinance to create such a body. He admitted that this effort would face significant hurdles from state law and the SPD police unions.

The community meeting was facilitated by the Consensus Building Institute, a Cambridge-based mediation nonprofit, which will collect and summarize proposals and questions generated by the meeting. They will include these materials in a report to the mayor’s office.

Scott reflected on what he hoped the community meeting would accomplish.

“It’s my hope that the people at these tables will not walk away from here feeling heard,” Scott said. “It’s my hope that they will walk away from here feeling connected to 10 of their neighbors and ready to work together, to organize, to build the power to create the kind of change we need.”

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THE TUFTS DAILY | News | Friday, January 24, 2020

THE TUFTS DAILY Ryan Shaffer Editor in Chief

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Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Symposium panelists discuss research, activism

by Robert Kaplan

Executive News Editor

Tufts held the annual Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Symposium, this year titled “On the Right Side of the World Revolution,” on Wednesday evening in Breed Memorial Hall. The symposium’s panelists discussed their respective works and answered questions from the audience focusing on this year’s theme, “Local Movements and Global Visions.”

The panel discussion was preceded by opening remarks from University Chaplain ad interim Jennifer Howe Peace and University President Anthony Monaco, as well as presentations by students on their own family histories.

Panel moderator Dr. Kerri Greenidge, a lecturer in American Studies and co-director of the African-American Trail Project, introduced the panel discussion by recalling the often incomplete history of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and his 1967 speech at Riverside Church in New York City upon which the theme of the panel was based.

“This history is important because it forces us to resist turning King into a hashtag or mistaking social justice activism for an ahistorical, apolitical endeavor divorced from the intellectual traditions from which such activism emerges,” Greenidge said.

The panel was composed of Dr. Seth Markle (LA’00), a Trinity College professor of history and international studies, Hope Wollensack (LA’11), a political organizer and researcher and History and Africana Studies major Desmond Fonseca.

Fonseca, a senior, addressed the topic of the panel first, referencing his research in Angolan struggles for independence to situate King in a context not commonly

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associated with him in mainstream conversation today.

“Dr. King drew criticism for his regular attempt to mix civil rights with his anti-war message … issues within the U. S., issues outside the U. S.,” Fonseca said. “In that regard, I think the beauty of Martin Luther ical politics, but his role within it.”

Fonseca added that the ideological differences between various civil rights and black power movement leaders did not necessarily indicate dissonance between their ultimate objectives.

“The international black radicals poked and prodded with each other and over strategies to liberation,” Fonseca said. “But the best of them were unrelenting in their commitment to eliminating what Dr. King called the triple evils of global and U. S. based racism, militarism and materialism.”

Wollensack drew upon her experience in voter registration organizing to evaluate Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s ideological legacy as well as his legacy in activism.

“Obviously the fight still continues,” Wollensack said. “But [when I think about] the ways in which the sanitized version of history, the lack of intersectionality actually really does a disservice to the movements going on today.”

Markle reflected on the extent of King’s international impact through other activists, citing research for his recent 2017 book, “A Motorcycle on Hell Run; Tanzania, Black Power, and Uncertain Future of PanAfricanism, 1964-1974.”

“He had a whole bunch of people who [traveled abroad], particularly young people in the 60s and 70s, who were kind of responding to civil rights, the nonviolent approach, a passive resistance approach and starting to call for black power,” Markle said.

Markle elaborated on the ramifications that resulted from younger activists diverging from King’s approach.

“That meant revolutionary violence, that meant coalition building and that meant building black institutions,” Markle said. “But that also meant solidarity with all these other revolutions taking place in Asia, Latin America and particularly Africa.”

In response to a student who felt unattached to any particular national identity asking the panel how to reclaim history for herself, Fonseca responded by embracing his personal experience with the same.

“I feel lucky not to feel bounded to the issues, bounded to the United States or bounded to the nation state of Angola,” Fonseca said. “Because those are also constructions that might blind the shared sense of humanity across nation, across race, across class.”

Nandi Bynoe, the associate dean for diversity and inclusion, closed the program with her reflections on how to live and act upon the symposium’s theme.

“What do you think about what it means to be on the right side of revolution?” Bynoe said. “We have to be grounded in the historical context, whatever that means for us.”

The symposium followed the sixth annual Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day of Service on Monday, Jan. 20, in which students joined Many Helping Hands 365, a Cambridge-based community service organization, at Cambridge City Hall in Central Square.

Students crafted Valentine’s Day cards to be sent to places such as homeless shelters and elder care facilities, in addition to other wares, according to the day’s schedule and description available on the Chaplaincy’s website.

Many Helping Hands 365 has planned Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day service activities in Central Square since 2010, according to the organization’s website.

Mentorship program for low-income children grows, adds 2nd chapter

by Daniel Weinstein News Editor

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The Tufts Directing through Recreation, Education, Adventure, and Mentoring (DREAM) program is adding an additional chapter at the Somerville Housing Authority’s apartments at Clarendon Hill, which will begin meeting this semester.

Tufts DREAM Chapter Chair Zoe Leaf explained that DREAM is a mentoring program in the Northeastern United States which pairs college students with low-income students living in public housing to build long-term relationships and improve student outcomes.

Leaf, a senior, explained that the program’s continued success in impacting the lives of students in the community has led to increased demand by possible mentees. In order to maintain the small size and intimacy of the mentoring groups, the chapter chairs decided to split the Tufts DREAM chapter into two groups, thereby adding an additional chapter.

Leaf noted that the groups would be identical in size and in nature, and will function in the same manner as the original group.

“We chose to create a second chapter rather than expanding the existing one because DREAM operates through a village mentoring model, meaning that we do programs with all the mentors and mentees together once a week,” Leaf wrote in an electronic message.

“We were worried that expanding the group too much would jeopardize the intimacy of our group and how well we work together.”

As the original chapter has existed for longer than the new one, Leaf added that the

chairs will make sure to properly prepare and train the new mentors.

“Because our DREAM chapter has been operating for much longer than this new one we’re here as a resource for the new mentors of the new DREAM, and want to support them in any way we can and be a resource for them,” Leaf said.

According to Leaf and Tufts DREAM’s other chapter chair Noah Michaud, the goal of the DREAM program is to encourage relationships between mentees and mentors. Leaf emphasized that the presence of a young adult in a child’s life is an incredibly beneficial experience for the mentees.

“It can be very empowering to have a positive adult in a child’s life and have someone to pursue their interests.” Leaf said.

Leaf explained that since the program is a mentoring program by definition, the chapter offers tutoring, to which Michaud, a junior, added that there is a one-to-one ratio between mentors and mentees.

Leaf attributed the success of Tufts DREAM to the dedication of mentors, who sacrifice their free time to build meaningful connections with their mentees.

“Our mentors really care about this program and the kids we work with, and we are constantly pushing each other to do better for the program,” Leaf said. “All mentors are constantly introducing new ideas; people work so hard.”

However, Michaud added that the success of the program is a product of many years of relationship building, due to its long-term nature.

“It can be hard to measure success when doing child mentoring, as it’s not something

that happens overnight,” Michaud said. “But the returning commitment of our mentors is really important and our consistent growth rate is definitely a sign of our success.”

DREAM Mentor Soliman Aboutaam described the mentoring program as a rewarding experience in which to participate.

“Everyone is really passionate and willing to take time out of their free times to making sure that the programming on Friday runs as well as possible,” Aboutaam, a first-year, said.

“It is [as] fulfilling as what I put in the kids give back to me.”

Michaud added that, in the future, the program can encourage not only stronger connections with the youth of the community but the community at large as well.

“I think growing our connection to the community in general and families, with lots of passionate people, would be a really great step forward for DREAM,” Michaud said.

Regarding improvements for the program going forward, Leaf noted that she hopes to continue ensuring mentors feel comfortable in the difficult situations that often come during mentorship.

“We have a lot of difficult conversations as mentors and I think becoming more comfortable with those conversations is something we are always working on,” Leaf said. “We could do this in formal settings, such as workshops and trainings, and also informal settings to make sure our mentors feel prepared.”

Leaf emphasized that the program is on a path towards continued growth.

“We are always impressed by how dedicated everyone is and we have no worries,” Leaf said.

Features

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Time Management and Study Strategies consulting helps students lead more organized, balanced lives Assistant Features Editor

The pressures of being a student can be overwhelming. Balancing academics, extracurriculars and social activities can be tough. While a student feeling stressed can turn to Counseling and Mental Health services for emotional support, there exists another program that can be of help: Time Management and Study Strategies (TM&SS) consulting.

TM&SS, run by the Academic Resource Center (ARC), pairs graduate student consultants with students who need help forming more effective learning strategies.

“It’s kind of two main goals: how to help students learn more effectively, and help support habit change. The purpose … is to help everyone reach their own goals, whatever those may be. Those are always set by the student,” Claire Weigand, assistant director of the ARC, said.

Consultants can work with students to develop better planning and organizational skills to manage their schedule, Weigand said.

“That might be setting a routine, building routines that work for people to help them get out of bed and get started, wind down at the end of the day or just get more done in a day,” Weigand said.

“The reason routines work is because the less decisions you have to make, the more energy you have.”

Weigand said that the program will also help students hone their academic skills, which include skimming, note-taking and studying for tests.

“Skimming is a skill that is not taught commonly enough, and it’s so useful. Note-taking, basic studying and test-taking itself has its own set of skills,” Weigand said.

TM&SS consultants can also assist with improving a student’s well-being in all areas of their life, according to Weigand.

The program serves all matriculated students in the School of Arts and Sciences and the School of Engineering, including graduate, certificate and post-baccalaureate students.

“We serve any matriculated student in Arts and Sciences or Engineering because the [ARC] is funded by the tuition from Arts and Sciences and Engineering students,” Weigand said.

Usage of TM&SS consulting varies across student years. According to Weigand, roughly 30% of users are firstyear students, 20% are sophomores and 15% are masters or doctoral students.

Each semester TM&SS conducts a feedback survey. Data from the fall 2019 responses show that the number of students using the program has increased.

In 2009–10, the program served 88 students. Last year, it served 414 students and last fall alone, the program served 324 students.

Weigand noted that TM&SS is designed to complement existing counseling services that support students at Tufts.

TM&SS can’t help students in all aspects of their academic or emotional well-being, but it can help students find the resources they need.

“We give a lot of referrals to the career center [and] study abroad. We just help connect students to other resources,” Weigand said.

Students can choose between two different options for TM&SS consulting. One of them is a one-time triage session, where a student will be randomly assigned a consultant to address their needs, according to Weigand.

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that I can teach … [and] just being on someone’s team and being their cheerleader through the hardest parts of the semester,” Butler, a second-year graduate student, said.

Butler said that students come in with a range of concerns about leading a balanced life.

“There are so many things that you can bring to a time management consultant that we can support you with. Most of my students definitely use it more for planning and organizing with setting weekly goals, checking in about those goals and setting daily plans for work. But I also supported students with how to balance the four clubs they’re in with their full course [load] while still maintaining some semblance of social life,” Butler said.

Amy Schlegel, another TM&SS consultant, said that the program can be helpful to many different types of learners.

“I think part of it is students feeling comfortable to seek out these resources.

I’m sure there are people at Tufts who would benefit from this but don’t feel comfortable reaching out for whatever reason,” Schlegel, a second-year graduate student, said. “I’m working long-term [with] a grad [student] who’s working on their thesis, so it’s not necessarily the students who are struggling with their classes. A lot of times it’s the higher-achieving students who want the accountability of some kind.”

Students are able to receive personalized attention that may not be available in their day-to-day lives, and consultants also benefit from helping the students achieve their goals.

“I’m deeply motivated in this job by the meaningful work of helping students feel empowered [and] … reach their goals,” Weigand said.

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Only YOU Can Prevent Wildfires.

“We have one-time triage sessions and those are available on Tutor Finder.

The consultants just post when they have times for those and students reserve them and you meet up and do it. Students are allowed two of those per semester,” Weigand said.

A student can also request ongoing consulting by filling out a survey on desired qualities or shared life experiences they want a consultant to have, Weigand added.

“We also have [ongoing consultant] if you want more than one session, if you want to build a relationship with a consultant, have some habit change on a regular basis and accountability,” Weigand said.

Weigand said that the TM&SS consultants are comprised of Tufts graduate students from a range of departments in the School of Arts and Sciences, School of Engineering and The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy. “[The consultants] as a group have a diverse set of life experiences and identities. I’m lucky to get a very diverse applicant pool. I look for people with strong social skills who are pretty grounded, so … you feel comfortable talking to them,” Weigand said.

Weigand believes that having graduate students as TM&SS consultants adds value to the program.

“Students say how much they like working with another student who understands the day-to-day stress … in that it’s easier to talk to someone who’s in a … similar phase of life to where you are,” Weigand said.

Meghan Butler, a TM&SS consultant, said that the experience of working with students has been rewarding.

“One of my favorite things of being a consultant is I have all these skills

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ARTS&LIVING TV REVIEW

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‘The Mandalorian’ soars in its 1st season

by Nathan Kyn Managing Editor

This review contains spoilers.

The first season of “The Mandalorian” (2019–), which ran from November 12 through December 27, had an astonishing cultural impact. I was completely and pleasantly surprised by the popularity and widespread appreciation for this show and its characters, especially given the skepticism surrounding the need to purchase Disney+ just to watch the show.

I fully expected myself, a massive Star Wars fan, to be one of the only people I knew interested in watching, rewatching and discussing the show. Yet my friend, a casual Star Wars viewer, watched the first few episodes at my house, as I happily rewatched them, and then purchased Disney+ to finish the show by himself without even letting me know. The audacity!

“Baby Yoda” memes are all over — The Mandalorian’s small green companion, credited as The Child, calmly sips tea, flips switches and waddles around all over social media. The positivity this show has generated gives promise for the future of the franchise after the nine-movie Skywalker saga ended in December with “The Rise of Skywalker” (2019).

The cultural impact of “The Mandalorian” cannot be understated, but I want to break down the content and themes of the first season. This show is set in the same world as the main movies, but it feels different. The music is unique: composer Ludwig Göransson wrote a score that would be at home in a Western, which is closer to the show than the movies generally have been.

The stars of the show are a reserved warrior who doesn’t reveal his face and a non-human child who does not speak.

This distinctive partnership is captivating, and the most powerful theme of “The Mandalorian” is the care that both the show and its titular character demonstrate for children. The Mandalorian (Pedro Pascal) is an orphan, whose parents hid him before being killed by battle droids. The young and scared child, who we see in flashbacks, is rescued and taken in by a group of Mandalorians.

The show continues the Star Wars canon’s depiction of Mandalorians as a clan of helmet-wearing warrior people, but also defines a new characteristic — Mandalorians care deeply about children. The Mandalorian uses part of his rewards from bounty hunting to sponsor foundlings — children adopted into the clan rather than born into it, just like The Mandalorian. Mirroring his moment of adoption by the Mandalorians, and despite

being a different species, Pascal’s character protects The Child like he would his own, defending him from bounty hunters and fleeing multiple planets in an attempt to find a safe place to stay.

The season breaks down into three arcs, which are “the first job,” three individual adventures and the two-part finale. The first arc, comprised of Chapters 1 through 3, establishes The Mandalorian’s bounty-hunting life on the rocky planet of Nevarro. The Mandalorian takes a mission from Greef Karga (Carl Weathers), the leader of the Bounty Hunter’s Guild. This bounty mission leads him to The Child, which the Client (Werner Herzog) wants dead or alive.

The strongest episode of this arc is “Chapter 3: The Sin,” directed by Deborah Chow, which catalyzes The Mandalorian’s decision to flee Nevarro with The Child and protect him from harm at the hands of the Client and the Bounty Hunter’s Guild. The action sequences in this episode are brilliantly shot, as The Mandalorian grapples with stormtroopers in dark, close quarters and later holds his own against countless bounty hunters out in the open. He is aided by other Mandalorians living in an enclave on Nevarro, who make a surprise appearance and allow Pascal’s character to escape the planet.

The second arc of the season, from Chapter 4 through Chapter 6, was less compelling for me. These episodes featured three separate adventures as The Mandalorian continues to collect bounties and find a safe place for himself and The Child. “Chapter 4: Sanctuary,” directed by Bryce Dallas Howard, is the highlight of this arc. In an episode paying homage to Akira Kurosawa’s “Seven Samurai” (1954), The Mandalorian and a new character, Rebel shock trooper Cara Dune (Gina Carano), help a rural village defend themselves against raiders and an Imperial AT-ST walker. The Mandalorian and Dune make a great team, and the action and setting in this episode are exciting as well. Chapters 5 and 6 feel weaker in writing and do less to advance the story compared with the rest of the show, but they still have some good moments.

The third arc of the season, comprising the final two chapters, pays off on setups made as early as Chapter 1. The most prominent supporting characters return in “Chapter 7: The Reckoning” to help The Mandalorian defeat the Imperial faction on Nevarro.

IG-11 (Taika Waititi) steals the show in “Chapter 8: Redemption” by offering to save The Mandalorian’s life — and The Mandalorian accepts, despite the evident fear he had of droids after his parents’ death. The Mandalorian’s distrust and fear of droids are demonstrated frequently throughout the season, and after he shoots

VIA IMDB

A promotional poster for “The Mandalorian” (2019–) is pictured.

IG-11 in the first episode, there is no expectation that The Mandalorian will allow himself to be vulnerable in front of the assassin-turned-nurse droid.

Yet when critically wounded, he allows the droid to remove his helmet and heal his injured face. In Chapter 8, we’re finally given a face (a scarred but same-as-ever Pedro Pascal) and a name, Din Djarin, for The Mandalorian. Yet we don’t need his face or name to humanize The Mandalorian; his close bond with The Child throughout their adventures make him a strong character we can connect with, even before seeing behind the mask.

The end of the finale is an exciting teaser for the next season, with main villain Moff

Gideon (Giancarlo Esposito) breaking out of the ruins of his TIE Fighter using the Darksaber, a unique black-bladed lightsaber introduced in the animated show “Star Wars: The Clone Wars” (2008–2014, 2020). A Mandalorian weapon, the Darksaber bridges the gap between the fan-favorite animated show and live-action content, and suggests that “The Mandalorian” will connect with other characters and plot lines from the rest of the canon in the future.

The first season of “The Mandalorian” breathes new life into the Star Wars franchise, and with the second season arriving this fall, we thankfully won’t have to wait too much longer to continue watching Din and The Child’s adventures.

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Ladj Ly and ‘Les Misérables’ breathe new joy into French cinema

by Tommy Gillespie Arts Editor

Director Ladj Ly’s feature debut “Les Misérables” (2019) borrows a title, heady themes of inequality and police corruption and even a setting (the Parisian suburb of Montfermeil) from Victor Hugo’s immortal novel. Yet, Ly’s Cannes Film Festival Jury Prize-winning and now Oscar-nominated film seamlessly infuses Instagram crime-solving and dronefilmed police violence into its high-octane, deeply affecting and oftentimes darkly comic story. The outcome is an organically original film, simultaneously ripped from the headlines and bittersweetly incubated in Ly’s own backyard.

Even if it fails to do the impossible and upend “Parasite” (2019) in the race for the Academy Award for Best International Feature Film, Ly can nonetheless feel supremely chuffed with his first feature film, which was partially inspired by France’s 2005 banlieue riots.

“Les Misérables” did already garner one major awards upset when it beat out Céline Sciamma’s searing romance “Portrait of a Lady on Fire” (2019) to win the French submission for the Oscar, and the subsequent nomination seems to have silenced any doubters. Since its premiere at Cannes in May, the film and its director have made resilience the name of their game. Ly, who based “Les Misérables” on his identically-named 2017 short, grew up in a Malian-French family in Montfermeil, and he recently established a nearby school for aspiring filmmakers from disadvantaged backgrounds. In interviews, Ly has expressed his hope that this new “Les Mis” will give the banlieues their cinematic due: “I’m going to make you see what real life looks like in this neighborhood. I’ve lived through this,” he told NPR. Under Ly’s assured eye, “Les Misérables” quickly assumes an intimate, naturalistic veneer. While France celebrates its 2018 World Cup victory, as depicted in a euphoric if ominous opening sequence, the film follows its pre-teenaged characters on the train

from the shadow of the Arc de Triomphe back to its own antipodean, sprawling world: the immigrant-dominated, graffiti-camouflaged apartment blocks of Montfermeil. Also taking in the scenery are recently-transferred cop Stéphane Ruiz (Damien Bonnard) and his colleagues, corrupt captain Chris (Alexis Manenti) and banlieue-raised Gwada (Djibril Zonga), who intermediate between rival clans quarreling over a stolen lion (really!). When they track down the prepubescent culprit (Issa Perica) via Instagram, a rash act threatens to plunge the entire town into pandemonium.

It is a testament to Ly’s direction (and co-screenwriting) that the Montfermeil depicted in “Les Misérables” feels sprawling and lived-in rather than thin and muddled, at least at first. The navigable chaos of the jumbled streets, parking lots, outdoor markets and apartment blocks Ly expertly crafts in the film follows in the storied footsteps of banlieue cinema like “La Haine” (1995) and, more recently, “Dheepan” (2015).

With the aid of Julien Poupard’s understated camerawork (and a few inspired drone shots), “Les Misérables” develops tension and character through dialogue with a deft touch, effortlessly immersing its audience.

The film’s cast and crew also deserve much credit for marrying its tension with a potent emotional grounding. Many of the cast make their debut along with Ly, with Perica and Zonga giving particularly affecting performances. The sound of “Les Misérables,” for the most part, is the sound of bustling streets, unsupervised urban play and crowded apartments. Ly and the composers of Pink Noise cleverly keep their electro-synth score sparse, lending its infrequent undulating notes a powerful poignance.

Where “Les Misérables” falters is in its final coda, which, despite packing well-crafted thrills, veers a bit too didactic compared to the shifting motivations and lifelike volatility of the film that precedes it. As Jean Valjean probably said, however, these are but gripes (grapes?). 2019’s “Les Misérables” does

VIA IMDB

A promotional poster for “Les Misérables” (2019) is pictured. its namesake proud, serving as a cinematic experience that remains topical without becoming preachy, building an expansive world without sacrificing rich characters and genuinely moving its audience without trafficking in cheap

sentimentality. Ly has said that he wants the film to evoke the “daily misery” of Montfermeil, but for anyone interested in great movies, the emergence of “Les Misérables” and its ascendant director is pure joie de vivre.

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6

THE TUFTS DAILY | Comics | Friday, January 24, 2020

F &G FUN & GAMES

tuftsdaily.com LATE NIGHT AT THE DAILY Tys: “Your burrito inspires me.”

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Restore your physical, mental and spiritual energy with natural beauty and peaceful productivity. Include soothing music. Imagine a dream realized. Send loving prayers.

i i t c o f c t i CORRECTIONS t A previous version of the Jan. 22 article “Research presents need to transi- s tion to ecological agriculture” misstated the host of the Hoch Cunningham t Environmental Lectures as the Tufts Institute of the Environment when it is r t the Tufts Environmental Studies Program hosting the series. p m A previous version of the Jan. 24, 2013, article “To see or no 2 °C” innacu- o rately stated the authorship of the piece. These articles have been updated c

to reflect these corrections. The Daily regrets these errors.

Difficulty Level: Having classes at 8:30 for 4 days a week

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Opinion

7 Friday, January 24, 2020

EDITORIAL

Tufts must reassess credit distribution to reflect goals of SHU system

In June 2018, Tufts moved away from its traditional “1 class = 1 credit” credit-hour system, implementing a new system involving a more nuanced version of class units, known as semester-hour units or SHUs. It aims to allow easier credit transfer between institutions and a fairer allocation of credit by assigning courses one to five SHUs based on weekly time spent in class and out-of-class homework. While this is an improvement from the previous system, clear issues remain, for it often fails to achieve its goal of holistically and accurately assigning credit to courses. In order to authentically reflect this important and positive intention of the SHU system, Tufts must reevaluate SHU distribution based on instruction time, out-of-class work and course difficulty.

Tufts claims that SHU values accurately reflect class time as well as time spent working outside class; however, often this is not the case. Many SMFA courses run from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. with a two-hour lunch break, and they require an approximately one and a half hour round-trip between the SMFA and the Medford/Somerville campuses. In addition, SMFA students must do much of their work outside class, which often requires another commute to the SMFA during the weekend. Despite this extreme time commitment, SMFA courses are only worth four SHUs. In comparison, General Genetics is also worth four SHUs but only consists of two and a half hours of instruction per week. While the difficulty of Genetics perhaps warrants four credits, there is no question that SMFA courses deserve a higher SHU count based on Tufts’ own criteria, given the greater in-class time requirement paired with the additional commute and out-of-class work.

Many Medford/Somerville classes follow this trend as well, often pertaining to three SHU courses; the university assigns most courses three SHUs despite clear differences between these classes’ time commitments. Tufts asserts that three SHU

BY ANNABEL NIED courses on average give six hours of outside-class work per week, but courses often exceed this limit. Television History, for example, requires students to attend weekly screenings, which last four or five hours per week depending on the section students register for, and it also assigns mandatory readings due every class. While screenings and readings may amount to six hours of work per week, the overall out-of-class workload amounts to much more when studying for the course’s exams, three-tofive page essay and quiz are considered. In comparison, Introduction to Psychology also counts for three credits, but it only assigns two textbook chapters of reading on a weekly basis, which some students reported as taking around two hours of outside class work per week. When the course’s research requirement, exams and paper are factored in, a weekly workload may amount to around six hours per week, which is reasonable considering Tufts’ SHU distribution guidelines. The contrast between Television History and Introduction to

Psychology highlights a clear problem across many three SHU courses: there is a severe range of workloads among these courses, and using Tufts’ criteria, many deserve a higher SHU count.

Tufts must also consider course difficulty in order to holistically assign SHUs, specifically pertaining to high-level and advanced courses. While introduction-level classes often reach four SHUs due to mandatory recitations, many required upper-level seminars receive only three SHUs, despite often being more challenging and requiring significant effort to understand the complex subject material.

Senior Henri Schmidt commented on his experiences with an upper-level Computer Science course, which was much more difficult than its 3 SHU label indicated.

“I think the SHUs are poorly allocated.

I took a [Computer Science] class, Graph Theory, that was three SHUs, and it was so hard,” Schmidt said.

This idea transfers to other advanced courses, such as Calculus III. This class meets for almost three and a half hours per week, assigns homework due each lecture and covers advanced topics, including the divergence theorem, line integrals and Stokes’ theorem; however, it also is only worth three SHUs. These courses’ levels of difficulty lack any connection to their given number of SHUs, illustrating Tufts’ failure to accurately assign credits.

“Some classes need to be weighted higher than they are,” Schmidt remarked.

Ultimately, this problem directly affects student mental health and the ability to meet the 120 SHU graduation requirement.

If classes take up much more time and effort than their SHU amounts indicate, students must take more classes and burden themselves with a heavy workload to meet the graduation requirement. In fact, many students with schedules of only three SHU courses must enroll in five classes just to reach 15 SHUs, which is the average number of units per semester needed to graduate. This type of highly rigorous course load can overwhelm students, leading to much stress and placing more value on simply “getting through” classes rather than cultivating critical-thinking skills, harboring intellectual curiosity and developing new passions.

Tufts must engage in a comprehensive reassessment of its SHU distribution across courses in order to address these issues and reflect the original goal of the SHU credit-hour system — to holistically and accurately represent a course’s workload in its assigned number of SHUs. By doing so, Tufts will not only champion values of student quality of life, fairness and respect for its student body but also follow through on its own claims towards the accurate assessment of SHUs. It is about time Tufts lives up to its promises and gives students the credits they deserve.

EDITORIAL CARTOON

Tufts SHU Shop

BY JULIA ZWEIFACH

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.

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8

Friday, January 24, 2020

Sports

tuftsdaily.com

No. 1 women’s basketball improves to 17–0 after close victories

by Ananda Kao

Assistant Sports Editor

The women’s basketball team improved to an undefeated 17–0, after wins against Hamilton, Amherst and Babson College. The team now ranks No. 1 nationally and is atop the NESCAC alongside undefeated Bowdoin.

After two Tufts offensive rebounds, senior guard Sadie Otley drained a three-point shot to give the Jumbos a 38–32 lead with three seconds left in the first half against Babson College on Wednesday. Tufts went on to beat Babson by a margin of 73–51, bringing its record to a perfect 17–0 on the season after the mid-week matchup.

Senior guard Katherine Tamulionis led Babson with 11 points, closely followed by senior forward Emily Bonifacic who put up 10 points. But their efforts could not come close to stopping the Jumbos.

Just over a minute into the game, senior guard Cailin Harrington made a layup to kickstart the match. Following these two opening points, Tufts would not trail for the entirety of the game. Harrington finished with 15 points, 12 of which came in the first half.

With 5:40 left in the third quarter, senior guard/forward and co-captain Erica DeCandido took the ball from coast to coast to put the Jumbos up by 10. DeCandido continued her dominance, adding 17 points in total during the match. She now averages 15.6 points per game. Additionally, DeCandido dished out a game-high seven assists and 11 rebounds.

Sophomore guard Molly Ryancontributed 13 points, while junior guard/forward Emily Briggs also reached double-digits for the Jumbos, adding six points in each half to end the game with 12.

Against No. 5 Amherst on Saturday, DeCandido and sophomore guard Sofia Rosa put up 18 points each to lead Tufts to its first overtime win of the season, 48–46.

In preparation for a weekend with two NESCAC matchups, Tufts focused on improving its defense and building confidence.

“All last week we were working on ourselves — we knew that we had to play really good defense,” DeCandido said. “Boxing out and also working on our sets so that we felt really confident in ourselves going into the game.”

Tufts was unable to get ahead of Amherst throughout the entirety of the first three quarters. In the fourth quarter, a DeCandido free throw finally gave the Jumbos a lead at 38–37 with 5:12 left in the game. Regulation ended with the game tied 40–40.

In the five minute overtime period, Amherst got on the board first with a layup from junior guard Kate Sullivan. Rosa and DeCandido responded with layups of their own, putting the Jumbos up 44–42. After the Mammoths tied it once again at 46, DeCandido made a layup with just over a minute left that would ultimately win the game for the Jumbos.

“In Amherst, it was a really tough battle the entire game,” coach Jill Pace said. “We did a nice job adjusting throughout the game to what was happening, especially coming out of halftime.

Again, a nice job executing down the stretch and we had five minutes of overtime, that was our first overtime this year, so it was nice to come out on top, especially in that game.”

Tufts handed Amherst its first NESCAC loss, bringing the Mammoth’s record to 15–2 on the season and 4–1 in conference play.

Amherst stands at fifth in the nation and third in the NESCAC, behind Bowdoin and Tufts.

“It was definitely a big team win in both games, everyone on our team played a really important role,” senior guard and co-captain Lilly Paro said.

“We had great energy on our bench and they just kept us going the entire game.”

In another thrilling matchup the day before, Tufts traveled to New York on Friday and beat Hamilton 63–62.

The game was a back-and-forth battle, consisting of 28 lead changes. In the third quarter, Ryan and DeCandido combined for 15 of the Jumbos’ 19 points. Tufts ended the third quarter ahead 53–47 despite trailing by as much as five in the quarter.

EVAN SLACK / THE TUFTS DAILY ARCHIVES

Sophomore guard Molly Ryan dribbles down the court during Tufts’ 80–42 win over Bridgewater State on Dec. 4, 2018.

A jump shot from sophomore guard Kelcie Zarle for Hamilton tied the game at 59 with 1:52 left. In the last two minutes, Rosa made a jump shot that was followed by a Hamilton three-pointer. Ryan was then fouled with seven seconds left and made two free throws to seal the victory for the Jumbos. With the loss, the Continentals dropped to 10–6 on the season and 0–3 in the NESCAC. DeCandido led the Jumbos and the game with 17 points and nine rebounds. Sophomore forward Liz Arnold also put up 17 points for the Continentals. Paro added 13 points off the bench for Tufts, including three three-pointers. Throughout the game, the Jumbos shot an impressive 92.9% on free throws, which ultimately won them the game.

“In the Hamilton game we struggled a little bit at the start to get going and find a flow,” Pace said. “They are a great team and they were playing very well. It was a close game at

the end and I was proud of our execution in that end of game situation.”

DeCandido explained that, overall, defense was a major focus for the team throughout the weekend.

“Our defense wasn’t great [against Hamilton] but we adjusted towards the end,” DeCandido said. “Going into the [Amherst game], we adjusted really well with our defense and our offense. With both games being really close, we held our cool and pulled off the win.”

This weekend, Tufts only has one game against 9–7 Bates. But looming on the schedule is a matchup against No. 2 Bowdoin on Jan. 31, which will likely be the biggest challenge for the Jumbos in the regular season.

“We’re really excited, obviously, that we got these two NESCAC wins but we also have to look forward to the games we have this week,” DeCandido said. “The NESCAC is strong, so we just have to keep focusing on ourselves.”

Ice hockey falls to 2 NESCAC opponents on home ice

by Julia Atkins Sports Editor

Tufts hockey took a double hit this past weekend in NESCAC play on home ice at the Valley Forum, first losing to Hamilton 4–1 on Friday and then falling to Amherst 5–2 on Saturday. The Jumbos drop to an overall 4–10 record, 2–6 in conference play.

“We obviously aren’t getting the results we want right now,” senior forward Ross Delabruere said. “We know the guys we have in the locker room are the right group to go on a run to finish out the season. We’re excited about what is in front of us.”

The Jumbos struck first on Saturday afternoon’s game against the Mammoths.

Sophomore forward Calvin LeClair found junior forward Mason Babbidge during a change, who fired a shot past Amherst’s firstyear goalkeeper Dan Dachille to give Tufts a 1–0 lead eight minutes into the first period. The goal was Babbidge’s second of the season.

The Mammoths tied it up six minutes later with a two-on-one play by sophomore forward Mitchell Shults. Shults received a pass from first-year forward Connor Merrill and sent the puck past junior goalkeeper Drew Hotte to score the equalizer. Despite Amherst outshooting Tufts 15–9 in the first period, the score remained tied 1–1 going into the second.

The Mammoths came out aggressively in the second period, taking the lead seven minutes in. Hotte saved a shot from senior forward and co-captain PJ Conlon, but the rebound

it to junior defenseman Pieter von Steinbergs.

Von Steinbergs’ shot sailed past Hotte as the Mammoths claimed the 2–1 advantage.

Conlon found the back of the net exactly seven minutes later with a shot to the top left of the goal, strengthening the Mammoths lead to 3–1 at the 13:36 mark. Less than one minute later, the Mammoths added even more insurance with a second goal from von Steinbergs to make the score 4–1 at the end of the second.

Tufts attempted a comeback in the third, with a quick shot from Delabruere finding the back of the net just 32 seconds into the period. The goal was Delabruere’s first of the season. Despite an increase in momentum from the Tufts bench, Amherst scored a fifth time three minutes later for Conlon’s second goal of the game. Neither team scored for the remainder of the game.

“We have a lot of hockey left in the season,” senior forward Blake McIntyre said. “It’s important for us to keep our heads up and continue forward in the right direction.”

Tufts took on Hamilton the previous night, taking a 4–1 loss. Junior forward Jon Beniers scored the first goal of the game off a rebounded shot about three minutes into play, giving the Continentals an early lead. With three Jumbos penalties in the first period, the Continentals had plenty of opportunities to further their lead in power play action.

First-year forward Nick Hawkins scored the second goal of the game for Hamilton in the latter end of the first with a man advantage.

Sophomore forward Brendan Skarda built some momentum for the Jumbos with his third

ALINA STRILECKIS / THE TUFTS DAILY ARCHIVES

Players on the Tufts Ice Hockey team face off during its game against Conn. College at the Malden Forum on Feb. 1, 2019. score 2–1. Despite continual effort by the Jumbos, they were unable to tie the score in the second.

With just over six minutes left in regulation, Beniers scored his second goal of the game to further the Continentals’ lead by two goals at 3–1. Junior forward Charley Borek was sent to the penalty box for the Jumbos shortly after the goal, offering the Continentals a power play opportunity.

Hamilton capitalized on the opportunity with a goal from sophomore forward Jodi

The Jumbos outshot the Continentals 30–23 in regulation play, but were unable to come up with more than one goal. The Jumbos are looking to turn their three-game losing streak around this weekend when they will host the Wesleyan Cardinals on Friday at 7 p.m. and the Trinity Bantams on Saturday at 4 p.m.

“We took steps in the right direction this past weekend,” Babbidge said. “We can’t wait to start playing our best hockey down the