Assistant Professor of Music Frank Lehman unpacks “Star Wars” scores see ARTS&LIVING / PAGE 5
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Brown and (navy) blue: balancing NROTC and varsity sports
Career Center works with community senator to develop advising for international students see FEATURES / PAGE 3
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Segway inventor Dean Kamen speaks about innovative technologies in Dean’s Lecture by Anar Kansara News Editor
Yesterday, inventor, entrepreneur and founder of DEKA Research and Development Corporation Dean Kamen gave a talk on developing inventions and the potential of future engineers as a part of the School of Engineering Dean’s Lecture series. Kamen is known for pioneering inventions such as the wearable insulin pump, the peritoneal dialysis pump and the Segway, according to Dean of the School of Engineering Jianmin Qu. Kamen is also the founder of FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology), an organization dedicated to inspiring young people to pursue careers in science and engineering, and was awarded the National Medal of Technology in 2000 by President Bill Clinton, Qu said in his opening remarks. Kamen began his lecture by speaking about how many different kinds of engineers and fields of expertise are necessary to create technological change. He emphasized the importance of collaboration in turning ideas into practical products for public use. “If you find the right intersection of a technology and a way to get it to people you can turn science fair projects into things that really improve the quality of life for people,” Kamen said. “We need people from different industries to solve problems [together].” The first part of the talk consisted of Kamen recounting the stories behind his various successful inventions, particularly in the medical sector. He began by speaking about his invention of a simply designed, wearable insulin pump that was inspired by a conversation with his brother, a physician, about the need to deliver critical drugs in an efficient, precise manner. Kamen built the initial prototype in his parent’s basement which was then successfully tested. Demand for the product grew, prompting Kamen to start his own company manufacturing insulin pumps. However, Kamen soon sold his company and moved on to other projects, saying that he did not want to remain in one field making small, incremental changes. “If you stay in your lane in the world of engineering, you can count on the fact that every year you’ll make your product two percent better or three percent cheaper … and there’s nothing wrong with that … but I wanted to do transformational stuff,” he said.
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He then spoke about his creation of a peritoneal dialysis machine and his contributions to improve the original PalmazSchatz coronary stent, explaining that he wanted to find a way to use elegant and simple designs to make people’s lives easier. “The instruction manual [of the dialysis system] has to be as complicated as the instruction manual that comes with your sneakers,” Kamen said. He also talked about his other inventions that contributed to human health and mobility, such as a water purification system and prosthetic arms capable of fine motor control. He also spoke about his collaboration with the U.S. government to found the Advanced Regenerative Manufacturing Institute (ARMI). He emphasized the importance of work at the intersection of medicine and technology. “Most of the companies that are really good at understanding the biology don’t know about manufacturing,” he said. “There is so much work that needs to be done at the intersection of engineering and medicine.” Kamen also encouraged Tufts students to actively take part in the quest to reach these goals and work for his companies via internships or jobs, handing out DEKA business cards at the end of his lecture to students that came up to talk to him. Kamen closed his speech by speaking about FIRST, an organization that has spread globally and garnered the support of many U.S. Presidents, such as former Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama as well as foreign leaders such as former President and former Prime Minister of Israel Shimon Peres. “FIRST is not about robots. It’s about self-respect, it’s about cooperation, it’s about giving kids the tools to understand nature,” Kamen explained. When asked about advice he would give to college students and future engineers, Kamen focused on encouraging students to make good use of their advanced education for fixing the world’s major issues. “I hope engineering students recognize how extraordinarily grateful they should be to get the kind of education they’re getting, especially at a place like Tufts, but they shouldn’t be lured into [thinking] they can use that power that education as a weapon. They should be using it as a tool,” he said. “Use this incredible privilege of an advanced education use it as a responsibility and use it in a way that’s good for the world.”
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School of Engineering celebrates National Engineers Week
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The Science and Engineering Complex is pictured on Feb. 21. by Alexander Davis Contributing Writer
This week, the Tufts University School of Engineering celebrated Engineers Week (E-Week). Engineering students, in conjunction with faculty, the Career Center and the Center for Engineering Education and Outreach (CEEO), organized and hosted a series of celebratory events and activities, according to Darryl Williams, the Dean of Undergraduate Education for the School of Engineering. Williams said the week-long programming displayed the achievements of Tufts students and helped build a community among prospective engineers on campus. Campus E-Week events corresponded to the national Engineers Week, which was initiated in 1951 by the National Society of Professional Engineers. Williams explained the purpose of Tufts’ E-Week celebrations. “We were thinking comprehensively about how to really showcase the wonderful things that are happening at Tufts’ School of Engineering,” Williams said. Sopuruchukwu Ezenwa, a student organizer for the week and member of the engineering student council, added that community building was another important focus of E-Week. “We definitely want to build a community and let other people know that engineers are here [at Tufts] and, in a way, celebrate ourselves,” Ezenwa, a senior, said. According to the official event schedule, E-Week began with a kickoff event hosted in the Alumnae Lounge, and engineering-related activities followed throughout the rest of the week. Examples of such events include a “Sumo Bots Challenge” in which partici-
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pants were tasked with designing a robot that pushed its opponent out of the ring, and a “Family Feud”-style game involving survey responses from Tufts students. The university also hosted inventor and entrepreneur Dean Kamen for a keynote speech yesterday. Kamen is most widely known for inventing the Segway personal transporter and developing the iBOT mobility device. He continually advocates for science and technology education, according to the Tufts Alumni website. “We were really excited when Dean Kamen’s office agreed to participate. We know that a lot of people are familiar with the work he’s done,” Williams said. The Career Center played an important role in this year’s E-Week. For the first time, the engineering alumni networking night took place during E-Week. “We typically see over 100 students and more than 40 alumni for networking night, and this year we moved the event into [E-Week] to make it one of the big-deal events of the week,” Robin Kahan, the Associate Director of Engineering Career Services, said. In addition to the networking night, several alumni hosted lunches where students could meet and network with working professionals in a more private setting. Both events served to improve students’ networking skills and give them valuable insight into potential future careers, Kahan explained. Alumni from the School of Engineering are often eager to return to Tufts and view the E-Week events as a great way to give back to the Tufts community, according to Kahan. “The alums that come, come back year after year … They really view it as a great
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THE TUFTS DAILY | News | Friday, February 23, 2018
THE TUFTS DAILY Catherine Perloff Editor-in-Chief
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by Arman Smigielski Associate Editor
At the Criminal Justice Reform Phone Bank yesterday, students made more than 200 calls to state and federal officials regarding criminal justice reform bills up for consideration in the U.S. Senate and the Massachusetts Legislature, according to Max Hornung, a senior and co-organizer of the event. Hornung is also a member of the Tufts University Prison Initiative at the Jonathan M. Tisch College of Civic Life and serves on the advisory board for the Tufts chapter of the Petey Greene Program, which connects student volunteer tutors to prison inmates. The phone bank was organized to target two specific criminal justice reform efforts underway, according to Hornung. The first was the Sentencing Reform and Corrections Act of 2017, previously approved by the Senate Judiciary Committee in a bipartisan 16–5 vote. The bill has several components, including
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Starting next year, incoming first-years participating in the First-Year Orientation CommUnity Service (FOCUS) pre-orientation program will sleep in Tufts’ residence halls, rather than in churches, as participants have done in past years, according to student coordinators Billy Lynn, Zoe Leaf and Andres Almanza, all sophomores. This arrangement is one of many recent changes that have been made to FOCUS; the program will also partner with the Jonathan M. Tisch College of Civic Life in an effort to expand civic opportunities available to participants, the coordinators said. The decision to have first-years sleep in residence halls rather than churches will allow coordinators to enrich other aspects of the program, Lynn said. In the past, coordinators spent much of their time driving to each of the various churches, some of which are as spread out in locations like Harvard Square and Medford Square, Leaf explained. “We’ll be able to expand on a lot of different parts of the program now that there’s more time available for us to plan other logistics,” Lynn said. Leaf, Lynn and Almanza mentioned that the changes in sleeping arrangements will ensure that the support staff, a group of rising sophomores in charge of helping with logistics and assisting FOCUS leaders, plays a more active role in helping FOCUS participants bond with one another. In the past, the job of the FOCUS support staff was more ambiguous, according to Lynn. “There will be a lot more definition and clarity to that position,” Almanza said. The three coordinators explained that FOCUS decided to partner with Tisch College to expand on its current community service mission.
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way to give back,” Kahan said, adding that one alumna she knows has come every year for 12 years. Community outreach was another large part of this year’s E-Week programming, Ezenwa said. Middle school students from
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phone bank organizers wanted attendees to focused on lobbying members of the committee to raise the age for trying juveniles as adults from 18 to 19 and to put restrictions on solitary confinement. According to Hornung, these issues were picked out because “those are the two issues that are being used as negotiable.” Hornung criticized the criminal justice system, saying its treatment of young people is unfair. “We put young people who make a stupid decision into prison,” Hornung said. “They are caught more compared to their middle-class suburban counterparts on account of race, and backwards police practices, and are put into a traumatizing institution.” Brandon Katz, a senior who attended the phone bank, explained why he was motivated to act on this issue. “Legislative action on criminal justice reform is desperately needed, and it’s vital that people reach out to their elected officials to push for change,” Katz said.
“FOCUS is ser vice-based, and that’s first and foremost what the program is about, so partnering with Tisch College can open up so many doors and opportunities to hopefully grow on the different themes that we have,” Almanza said. The partnerKIRT THORNE / THE TUFTS DAILY ship with Tisch The 2018 FOCUS coordinators (from left to right) Andres Almanza, Zoe Leaf, College will also and Billy Lynn pose for a portrait in the campus center on Feb. 2. allow particiThe two organizations decided to pants to have a vehicle for continued ser- partner because of their similar goals to vice on campus, Leaf, Lynn and Almanza encourage civic action and community emphasized. service, Nierenberg and Sklarwitz said. “FOCUS, as it has been, sort of ends “FOCUS has shared aims with Tisch when [pre-orientation] ends, but because College, and we are excited to collabowe have Tisch College on campus doing rate in a more holistic way to support service work throughout the year, the student coordinators, leaders, and FOCUSers will be able to continue service participants in community engagement,” in a more cohesive way,” Leaf said. Nierenberg and Sklarwitz said. Lynn added that FOCUS currently does Tisch College and FOCUS hope to not provide infrastructure for continued make the first-years’ experience in FOCUS service after FOCUS. as meaningful as possible, according to Mindy Nierenberg, Senior Director Nierenberg, Sklarwitz and Lynn. of Tisch College Programs, and Sherri “Tisch College staff envisions this partSklarwitz, Associate Director of Student nership as a way to support the excellent Programs at Tisch College, have been work of the students who run, lead, and meeting with FOCUS coordinators reg- participate in the program,” Nierenberg ularly to help ensure the success of the and Sklarwitz said. program, according to Leaf. The fundamental goal of the FOCUS Plans to partner Tisch College with pre-orientation program however, has FOCUS began last semester, when the not changed, according to the three coorOffice for Campus Life approached dinators. Tisch College staff to see if there was “The spirit of the program comes from interest, Sklarwitz and Nierenberg told participants, the staff members and the the Daily in an email. According to people who decide they want to apply,” them, the decision was made official in Lynn said. “The spirit of the program will the fall of 2017. remain the same.”
E-Week programming includes Dean Kamen talk, among other events
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incentivizing states to create more re-entry and anti-recidivism programs, lessening and in some cases reducing mandatory minimums, and introducing retroactive sentence shortening for certain drug offenses. The goal of the calls was to pressure Senate leadership to bring the bill to a vote on the senate floor within a prompt time. Hornung expressed worry that Senator Mitch McConnell (R-KY) would delay the floor vote for an extremely long time in order to kill off momentum for the bill. “What … [McConnell has] been known to do is when there’s a bill that gets through a committee that he doesn’t love he’ll just wait a long time to schedule it,” Hornung said. “So a big piece of this was trying to push folks to push him to bring the bill to the floor.” The phone bank also targeted the conference committee formed to reconcile different versions of criminal justice bills passed in the Massachusetts House and State legislatures, according to Hornung. Hornung said the
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the Medford Boys & Girls Club were invited to Tufts to interact with current engineering students. Ezenwa said that an “Exploring Engineering” event on Feb. 23 would be aimed at introducing middle school kids to STEM through hands-on activities. In past years, E-Week was a student-run affair with a small degree of fac-
ulty involvement, according to Williams. He said that the greater role of the administration this year has allowed E-Week to expand in scope and attract more students than before. “This is the first time that Tufts has done more robust planning efforts. In the past it has been more student-driven,” Williams said.
Friday, February 23, 2018
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Career Center, community senator seeking to improve resources for international students by Michelle Kwon
Assistant Features Editor
Tufts is known for emphasizing the theme of globalism with 15 percent of its undergraduate population consisting of international students representing over 60 different nations. However, these students often struggle to find job or internship opportunities in the United States due to their status as non-citizens. Executive Director of the Career Center Gregory Victory and International Community Senator Maureen Kalimba Isimbi are currently working together to enhance the career resources that are available for international students. Kalimba Isimbi, a sophomore, said that this goal was part of her platform when running for the position of international community senator. “I know a lot of international students who are really brilliant but still can’t find good internships because they can’t be funded for their OPT [Optional Practical Training] or CPT [Curricular Practical Training]. I really feel like I can at least try to do something about it,” she said. According to the International Center’s website, OPT and CPT are two ways that international students on F-1 visas can receive employment authorization. Sophomore Hajung Lee, an international student at Tufts, often goes back to her home country of South Korea for internships as she has experienced past difficulty in finding opportunities in the United States. “There can be a lot of issues concerning visas and employers would probably prefer a citizen or permanent resident,” Lee told the Daily in an email. Sophomore Lea Pensoy provides an alternative perspective as a dual citizen from the United Kingdom. “The problem is not so much finding jobs, but rather finding jobs that leave time for me to travel home,” Pensoy told the Daily in an email. “It’s been hard to find jobs that could both be abroad and in the United States.” Currently, the Career Center offers several online resources for international students, including pages containing job search advice as well as tips for job applications and interviews. Lee mentioned that she found these resources to be too general to be helpful for her particular concerns. “There never seemed to be anything that would specifically pertain to my situation,” she said. “I also didn’t feel like both parties were very proactive in reaching out to one another in my case.” On the other hand, Pensoy has gone to the Career Center to receive in-person advising on several occasions and found it to be helpful. “They helped me with resumes, which was very useful because I came from a non-U.S. school system, so they helped with identifying what was worth putting on my resume and what was not applicable,” Pensoy said. “They also helped me find databases that allowed me to find potential internships back home because not everyone wants to be away from home for the summer.” Beyond just having online resources be available, Victory noted that the
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International Community Senator Maureen Kalimba, who is trying to introduce more career resources for international students on campus, poses for a portrait in the Career Center in Dowling Hall on Feb. 22. Career Center is always open to engaging with international students about their specific concerns in person. “We’ll get feedback [like] ‘You don’t do enough for international students’ and that sometimes comes from a student who has never come to see one of us … who has never worked with somebody on our team to help build a strategy for them or heard somebody say, ‘We’re going to support and coach you through this entire process. What you’re facing is really challenging. We want to make sure, always, that you land on your feet, no matter which path you end up taking,’” Victory said. According to Victory, last summer the Career Center reached out to international students for feedback on career services. Victory has also tried to make himself available for students to give him feedback by attending two Tufts Community Union (TCU) Senate meetings and organizing open forums. In response to the criticism received that services offered by the Career Center are inadequate, Victory believes that there is a gap in communication between the center and the international student body. “A huge percentage of the things they told us they would like us to offer, we already offer. So, there’s a disconnect in messaging. Sometimes, it comes down to what is the best way to message to students that there are these resources, there are these workshops, there are these programs,” he said. “If we can solve that, I think that helps us do a lot of things that have a much greater impact and will reach more students.” One of the initiatives that Victory and Kalimba Isimbi have discussed is a LinkedIn network for international students to give them the opportuni-
ty to reach out to alumni working in their fields of interest. However, Victory noted the challenges to implementing such an idea. “We’ve been talking really seriously with [the Office of ] Alumni Relations, for the past eight or nine months, about adopting a mentoring platform,” Victory said. “The challenge about this is, it’s great, it’s an amazing tool, but how do you get the alums into it and then will the students actually use it?” Kalimba also mentioned the idea of an international students career fair, in collaboration with others schools near Tufts, like Harvard University or Massachusetts Institute of Technology. She also shared that the Career Center is planning events that will highlight new career resources available to international students in a Feb. 20 post on the International Jumbos Facebook group. Victory affirmed the Career Center’s desire to improve the job search process for international students and encourage more companies to hire international students. “I think there are a lot of us who talk about this a ton in the career services world about ‘How do we educate
employers better? How do we help them understand?’ We’re committed to figuring out ways to message to employers about the value of commitment to global understanding and intercultural fluency,” he said. Victory added that career advisors face an uphill battle in supporting international students. “Even in a good economy, it is challenging for an international student to find a job in the U.S. I think that’s unfortunate and I will go as far as to say, often, unfair. I think we would do a disservice if we weren’t talking to students,” he said. Kalimba Isimbi is optimistic that improved career resources will significantly alleviate the mental and emotional stress that international students currently face in the job search. “There are challenges we face — CPT or OPT, renewing this document or that document, even not going home for four years — [these are] things that really take mental strength,” she said. “I believe the projects I’m working on are going to do something for the international community, emotionally, mentally and professionally.”
TUFTS DAILY PODCAST SERIES RELEASED TODAY This podcast will feature in-depth conversations with students, faculty and administrators on important campus issues. The first issue highlights student responses to the recent Tufts Daily article "Tufts police chief travels to Israel for counterterrorism seminar" and will be released on the Tufts Daily website and Soundcloud today.
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FEBRUARY 26 — MARCH 2 Monday, February 26
Sociology: Sociology Majors Week Event—12:00-1:15pm, Eaton 124 Join Sociology faculty, current majors, and alumni to learn more about the Sociology major and what you can do with it, along with a free lunch! Religion: Religion Majors Event — 12:00-1:15pm, Eaton 302 Meet students and faculty, learn more about the major and minor, and hear about our upcoming fall courses. Includes a tasty lunch too! Music: Music Major 2.0 Info Session — 12:00-1:15pm, Granoff Music Center Lobby Come learn about our new Music Major, pick up useful information, grab some snacks and swag, and connect with faculty and other students about our exciting, highly inclusive music curriculum. Art and Art History: Arts Majors and Minors at Tufts — 12:00-2:00pm Granoff Music Center Lobby Representatives from all the departments and programs in the arts at Tufts will be on hand to discuss majors and minors in Art and Art History, Drama and Dance, Music, Film and Media Studies, and Studio Art. American Studies: American Studies Majors Week Social — 12:00-1:15pm Eaton 206 We invite you to attend our majors week event to meet faculty and students and learn about the program Institute for Global Leadership: IGL Majors Week Event — 12:00-1:30pm, 96 Packard Ave Interested in global affairs? Come learn about all the great courses, events, programs, and internships supported by the Institute for Global Leadership! You can find more information on the website: http://www.tuftsgloballeadership.org/programs International Literary and Cultural Studies: Information Session with the Peace Corps — 12:00-1:15pm, Olin 007 Attend an information session with the Peace Corps followed by a Q&A with former Peace Corps volunteers. Light refreshments will be served. Math: Math Department Majors Meeting: Dumplings & Derivatives — 5:30pm-6:30pm, 574 Boston Ave, Room 202 Mathematics Majors & Minors enjoy some food while learning about Fall 2018 course offerings!
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Tuesday, February 27
Education: Education Majors Week Event — 12:00-1:00pm Paige Hall First Floor Hear about some projects done by Education students!
Wednesday, February 28
International Relations: IR Majors Week Breakfast — 9:00-11:00am Cabot Mezzanine IR Majors week breakfast to learn more about the major and its various areas of concentration Anthropology: Anthropology Majors Week Event — 12:00-1:15pm Eaton 302 Please join us for lunch and to meet students and faculty, learn more about the major and hear about our upcoming fall courses. Child Study & Human Development: What can you do with a Child Study & Human Development Major? —12:00-1:15pm Hotung What can you learn with a major in Child Study and Human Development and what can you do with it? You'd be surprised at the variety of things! Chemistry: Chemistry Majors Week Event —12:00-1:15pm Pearson 104 Information session on chemistry and biochemistry majors for sophomores and first years. Drama and Dance: Drama and Dance Majors and Minors Mixer—12:00-1:15pm Balch Lobby, Aidekman Arts Center Come and enjoy a delicious pasta lunch while learning about our majors and minors. Political Science: PoliSci Department's Majors Week Coffee Chat — 3:00-5:00pm Packard Hall 3rd Floor Lounge Come converse with PoliSci Professors over coffee and cookies! Architectural Studies: Architectural Studies Now! — 12:00-1:30 pm 11 Talbot Ave Meet Diana Martinez the new Director of Architectural Studies and discover how the major will enhance your learning experience and future career Film and Media Studies: Film and Media Studies Major and Minor — 12:00-2:00pm 95 Talbot Ave 2nd floor Faculty and staff from the Film and Media Studies Program will be on hand to discuss the FMS major and minor Africana Studies: Africana Studies Majors Week Social — 12:00-1:15pm Eaton 124 Please join Africana Studies faculty and students to learn about the program.
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Asian American Studies: Asian American Studies Dinner — 4:30-6:00pm Asian American Center 17 Latin Way Please join AAST faculty and current minors for dinner to learn about the program, and to view a student presentation.
Friday, March 2
Biology: Biology Majors Week — 2:30-3:30pm Robinson Hall, 3rd Floor Meet and greet between faculty and prospective biology majors *Monday, March 12* History: History Majors Open House — 12:00-1:15 East Hall Lounge History Major Open House, faculty will speak. We will also have course booklets available for Fall 2018.
Friday, February 23, 2018
WEEKENDER
Q&A: Assistant Professor Frank Lehman dives deep into the iconic ‘Star Wars’ scores
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Professor Frank Lehman of Tufts University listens to remarks from Boston University Professor Lewis Lockwood on the impact that Jane Bernstein, the Tufts University Austin Fletcher Professor of Music, has had on the field of musicology. Faculty, administrators and guests gathered in Granoff Music Center for a day-long symposium in honor of Bernstein, who will be retiring at the end of the year. by Christopher Panella Staff Writer
Tufts Assistant Professor of Music Frank Lehman did not know his passion would make a viable career. When Lehman was exploring ideas for his graduate school dissertation, he discovered opportunities in the field of film scoring. Throughout his career studying the scores of the “Star Wars” series (1977–), Lehman created a database for all of composer John Williams’ recorded leitmotifs throughout the series, ranging from “Rey’s Theme” (2015) in the newer movies to the iconic “Imperial March” (1980). His knowledge of the series has made him a source for many different publications, and Lehman continues to write books about both Hollywood cinema scoring and “Star Wars.” Recently, the Daily had the chance to sit down with Lehman to discuss his research about “Star Wars” and film scores. Tufts Daily (TD): Film series like “Star Wars,” “The Lord of the Rings” (2001–2003) and “Harry Potter” (2001–2011) all have recurring scores and sounds. Do you believe that, if a movie is going to be a series, it needs those recurring scores and sounds? Frank Lehman (FL): I think it helps a great deal, but recurring music is not necessary. I would point to the Marvel cinematic universe as a demonstration of a successful film franchise without a whole lot of musical continuity between films. There is an “Avengers” theme, but it’s short, motivic and only occurs prominently in the first “Avengers” movie, and it doesn’t seem to be to the detriment of the series, at least financially. There have been complaints,
particularly by film music critics online, about the generic quality of some of these superhero soundtracks lately, which has something to do with the absence of memorable, and more importantly, carried-over themes. If I were overseeing a mega-franchise, I would definitely see it as an opportunity for musical development over the course of multiple films. TD: You’ve discussed the lack of memorable themes in the past decade in favor of ambient sounds and mood. In recent years, characters like Wonder Woman have been given recognizable themes in movies. Do you think iconic characters, whether action or sci-fi, need these scores to be recognized? FL: Again, I don’t think it’s a sort of aesthetic prerequisite, but if I’m a filmmaker, I want my movie to have recognizable themes. Wonder Woman seems to be the exception in the DC franchise. She garners a jagged electric cello leitmotif, which is striking without being necessarily hummable. I’ve seen it described more as being a riff than an actual melody or theme; it’s something compressed and recognizable, even if you’re not going to hum it afterwards. It was introduced in “Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice” (2016), and smartly, they continued to use it in Wonder Woman’s standalone film, where it’s nicely and subtly decomposed and recomposed. The Wonder Woman theme is not sophisticated, but it is sort of ingenious, the way it burrows into your head; it’s iconic, if not compositionally complex. TD: In terms of “Star Wars,” do you think the score and sounds have become iconic due to the success of the series, or have they helped make the series iconic?
FL: That’s a good chicken and egg question. I mean, the way you hear the “Star Wars” filmmakers talk about John Williams’ contribution is interesting. George Lucas says that this series would be nothing without Williams’ music, and Star Wars fandom has always given him proper due, claiming that he is a completely instrumental aspect in the series’ success. But it could have been otherwise. The original movie was set to have a compilation score of classical music on the same model of “2001: A Space Odyssey” (1968). A lot of it does, however, come down to original themes and recognizable melodies, and that’s probably where music has had its biggest impact in contributing to these movies’ iconicity. Think of the Main Title theme, the Force Theme, the Imperial March… These are earworms; they aren’t just memorable but insistently, aggressively memorable. TD: The films create a universe that has obviously become a media empire. Do you think it is easier to create scores and memorable music for films that are fantasy/scifi/not based in the real world? FL: I suspect it is different. With nonfiction, there is sort of a responsibility to realism, which music has a complicated relationship with. Music is not supposed to be a part of the world that is being conveyed on screen. Music is this alternative or extra layer of commentary or narration that exists in a weird formal space and can heighten things and make them more emotional and mythological, but at the same time can make things overblown or exaggerate events or be overly literal, and that may not be something concerned with truth and historical authenticity. You see this in scoring nonfiction films now — a reluctance toward having big themes and employing the really mythic scoring practices, in favor of more minimal and ambient types of musical accompaniment. It’s tricky navigating what counts as memorable versus effective, and we should avoid conflating these two related but distinct musical qualities. TD: What made you interested in the “Star Wars” scores and Hollywood cinema scores? FL: I have spent my life with this music. I think I was first introduced to the music in “Star Wars” from a tape cassette that I got of film music concert arrangements from various movies, a lot of them stemming from John Williams’ scores. I hadn’t even seen any of the movies that these suites and themes were coming from, and yet I loved them. It wasn’t until middle school, I suppose, that I actually saw “Star Wars,” and then something really clicked with me. It was specifically the binary sunset scene and the Force Theme. It was in high school that I discovered film musicology. I was voraciously interested in reading music scholarship and discovering what people had to say about film music. In college, I majored in music, specifically music theory and composition, and I dabbled a little in film scoring. Once I was in graduate school, I started out thinking I would do a dissertation on the operas of Wilhelm Wagner, but he wasn’t exactly virgin territory academically speaking. Film music was still a new field in scholarship and I had a lot to say, and there’s so many different angles to take. I converted this background of love for and knowledge of this repertoire and turned it into a dissertation on film music, and that turned into teaching courses on film music, and that turned into and writing a book on film music. I can’t possibly imagine that 10-year-old me would see this as
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a viable career, but I imagine he would be pretty happy to learn it was! TD: Let’s talk about the anthology films being released. Did “Rogue One” (2016) build on any motifs in the trilogies? Do you believe the anthology films should not build on these common themes since they are not a part of the Skywalker saga? As well, what about Rian Johnson’s new trilogy, which will not be focused on the Skywalker family? FL: I don’t envy the filmmakers who have to make that call. At some point, they do have to decide what the longterm musical identity of the series will be. John Williams isn’t going to be writing these scores forever. We have this massive body of recognizable, iconic themes, and it seems at first that the films wouldn’t be properly “Star Wars” without this musical backdrop, since it’s been a sonic constant for eight to nine films now. It’s wonderful to have this continuity and consistency, and it allows all sorts of elicitations of nostalgia and musically rewarding transformations of preexisting music ideas. It’s just an amazing musical opportunity to stick with this material, but these movies are going to continue to evolve and grow and there’s needs to be decisions about new directions and “letting the past die,” as Kylo Ren would say. I’m totally fine with that. I think it would disappointing if they just stuck with the exact same sound world in the anthology series and the new trilogy. I would like to see more experimentation, and for the music makers not to take things for granted or to feel overly obliged to the music of the past. You can’t recapture what made it work in 1977. That’s what “Rogue One” and “The Last Jedi” (2017) were really about, making these bold tonal moves, in the process angering some fans, but more importantly helping us not be locked into the expectations of a now 40-yearold series. I would like “Star Wars” to be allowed to make dramatic and creative choices that are appropriate for 2018, and far into the future. TD: Who is your favorite “Star Wars” character and why? FL: I think as far as a compelling character, I might have to say Kylo Ren. He’s fascinating and so well acted and characterized. This really is a new type of villain in the series, and, no, I’m not a “Reylo” person, and I don’t think this is ultimately going to be a romantic story; it’s not in his destiny. He’s bringing this kind of insecurity and entitlement and rage to a character, with traits that could’ve, if effectively written and acted, been a part of the Anakin Skywalker arc and character. I love it because he is a character who, like certain fans, is totally wrapped in the past of the series. So is Rey in a way, but for Kylo, it’s an obsession with the past in a dark way, an attempt to recreate the worst aspects of “Star Wars.” In the sequel trilogy, although the politics are very murky and not all that spelled out, the First Order is like this neo-Nazi take of the Empire, with these people who grew up with an image of the previous regime, not realizing how evil and horrible the Empire was, and in the process fetishizing and fantasizing about its iconography, appropriating its imagery in this sort of immature and whiny kind of way. My favorite line in “The Last Jedi” is when Snoke glares at Kylo Ren and tells him to take that “ridiculous” mask off, which is perfect because Kylo Ren really is this wannabe Vader, a fundamentally small person with a dangerous amount of power. Editor’s note: This interview has been edited for clarity and length.
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THE TUFTS DAILY | Arts & Living | Friday, February 23, 2018
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Friday, February 23, 2018 | Comics | THE TUFTS DAILY
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Comics
LATE NIGHT AT THE DAILY Cathy: “It’s hard, hiding affairs.”
Comics
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Difficulty Level: Finding a lax bro without a photo of him and a fish.
Generated by http://www.opensky.ca/sudoku on Tue Feb 20 00:00:28 2018 GMT. Enjoy!
Thursday’s Solution
NON SEQUITUR BY WILEY MILLER
CROSSWORD
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Alexa Weinstein The 617
Opinion
Friday, February 23, 2018
CARTOON
Local journalism
T
he Medford Transcript is a local paper that highlights all that goes on in the nearby vicinity. Tufts’ surrounding area has much more to it than some fun restaurants on Boston Avenue. Local politics from the perspective of the local paper gives Tufts’ students insight about what happens in the surrounding area, and what matters to people who live near us. Without question, the issue of housing is the most contentious in the Medford/ Somerville area and the issue that affects Tufts students the most. But it’s also important to mention that the most prevalent issues depend on what students value. Editor for the Medford Transcript Miranda Willson commented on progress on the environmental front. Willson noted, “This month, Medford City Council passed a plastic bag ban and approved a plan for municipal energy aggregation.” Both of these measures are great steps towards making Medford and Somerville more environmentally friendly areas. Tufts students can get involved with various local initiatives depending on their interest. For example, students interested in education could attend Medford School Board meetings and listen to discussions on public school initiatives. The housing problems Tufts faces seem to plague a lot of the Boston area, Willson pointed out. Tufts has been hoping to convert houses off of Boston Avenue into dorms. To do this, Tufts had to go to Medford City Council. In many incidents, the residents of the Medford area are frustrated with Tufts. “People felt that professors and faculty used to live in those houses, but now it’ll be two hundred Tufts students,” Willson told the Daily. Residents of Medford were not excited by the prospect of having more students populating their neighborhoods, Willson said. The housing situation on campus is a nightmare. Students don’t have housing guaranteed past their sophomore year and are often forced to enter the incredibly difficult-to-maneuver world of rentals and subletters. The majority of Tufts students have no experience dealing with landlords, and Tufts now expects them to sign leases and negotiate property deals at 20 years old and with no help from the university. Obviously, Tufts needs to expand on-campus housing, but it comes at the expense of Medford residents’ desires. In discussion of prevalent issues in the community, I wondered how Tufts students could get involved with the surrounding area. Willson said, “If there’s an issue at the local level you care about, the municipalities can do that. And there are probably people already trying to do that. Look at different local organizations for help too.” Great sources for staying involved would be the Medford Transcript, Scout and the Somerville Journal. These are great ways to know what’s going on in the community and ways to get involved. Being Tufts students makes us members of the Medford/Somerville community, and we should work to make our surrounding neighborhood better. A lasting, often overlooked piece of advice is to check out the local libraries! The libraries in our area have tons of resources that can be of academic use. And they’re a great off-campus study spot. Alexa Weinstein is a columnist at the Tufts Daily. She is a sophomore majoring in political science and history. Alexa can be reached at alexa.weinstein@tufts.edu.
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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THE TUFTS DAILY | Sports | Friday, February 23, 2018
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Tufts Women's Swimming and Diving Finish in 4th at NESCACs up at Williams College
COURTESY DAVE DECORTIN
Junior Colleen Doolan swims the butterfly in a meet against MIT on Jan. 15, 2017.
SWIMMING & DIVING
continued from back the Daily in an email. “We really hyped each other up, and the cheering section certainly helped. We did a few cheers across the pool with them.” Crater explained how the support from around the pool spurred the Jumbos to higher achievements. “Everyone got more tired as the meet went on, but many girls on the team who were not swimming at NESCACs — and a large part of the men’s team — drove to Williams to watch us swim and to cheer us on,” Crater told the Daily in an email. “That definitely helped keep the team in high spirits. Knowing that my teammates are in the stands cheering me on really helped me get through my most difficult races.” The Jumbos’ unity was needed not only in the cheering, but also in the weekend’s relay events, in which they performed well. The quartet of Crater, Kimura, first-year Sasha Fong and
Doolan took fifth in the 400-yard medley relay with a school-record time of 3:52.00. Doolan, first-year Abby Claus, sophomore Grace Goetcheus and Crater also swam their way to fourth place in the 800-yard freestyle relay (7:40.91). The Jumbos set another program record with a seventh-place finish in the 400-yard freestyle relay, as the team of Crater, Fong, Claus and Doolan touched the wall in 3:32.71. Many Jumbos also competed in the consolation or pre-consolation finals, which offered the swimmers who didn’t make the top eight in the preliminary heats an opportunity to improve their times. Fong finished second in the consolation heat (and 10th overall) for the 50-yard butterfly. The Santa Rosa, Calif. native’s time of 25.47 seconds was a school record, the fourth set by Tufts at the NESCAC Championships. A host of other Jumbos — including Kurtz, Lee, Goetcheus, Doolan, Kimura, sophomore Katherine Brown and junior Caroline McCormick — also swam in consolation
races, adding more events to an already strenuous weekend. All of the team’s points proved to be critical, as Tufts’ total of 1,023.5 (a 323-point improvement from last year) proved to edge fifth-place Bowdoin by just 25 points. The Jumbos fell 37 points short of the third-place Conn. College Camels. Amherst finished second with 1,615 points, while hosts Williams came away with the top spot for the fifth consecutive year, earning 1,971 points. “The NESCAC is very competitive, especially with powerhouses like Williams and Amherst,” Evans said. “As a team, we didn’t set many expectations. We decided to go in, swim as fast as we could and just see how high we could score.” Crater took pride in the fact that the Jumbos improved their result in the NESCAC Championships standings by four places in a single year. “NESCACs is definitely an unpredictable meet and you never know how fast people are capable of swim-
ming, so it is fun to see teammates drop large amounts of time,” Crater said. “I think that the excitement of being so close to fourth place really helped to drive the team, even when we got tired in the meet. I’m extremely proud of my team because we went from eighth place to fourth place in one season, and not many teams are able to do that.” For some Jumbos, this was the last meet of their college swimming careers. However, others, such as Kimura, are projected to swim at the NCAA Championships in Indianapolis from March 21–24. For the impressive firstyear class, as well as the sophomores and juniors, next season offers a chance to return even stronger and healthier. “We worked so hard [this season], and despite setbacks such as most of the team getting the flu over winter break, we really pushed,” Evans said. “It’s really great to know I contributed to this as a [first-year], and I can’t wait for the next few years.”
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Friday, February 23, 2018 | Sports | THE TUFTS DAILY
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Hagerdorn and Seiter swap Tufts blue for Navy ROTC IN SPORTS
continued from back extra workload by changing his sleeping patterns. He doesn’t see it as a difficult thing to do — just something that’s part of the job. “People tell me, ‘Oh, I could never do [ROTC].’ But that’s not true. Anyone could do it — you just have to have some discipline,” Hagedorn said. “You wake up earlier and go to bed earlier. I go to sleep from 11–12 and wake up at six in season. There are naps for a reason.” So what is it about ROTC that takes up so much time? For one, Seiter and Hagedorn both take an extra class every semester, such as engineering, English, naval history or weapon systems. There’s a two-hour leadership class every Wednesday, as well as two physical workouts every week. Seiter and Hagedorn travel to either MIT or BU for every event, meeting up with fellow Navy ROTC members from MIT and Harvard. Because of those schools’ conflicting schedules, everything is done in the morning. “This is pretty standard across the country,” Hagedorn said. “At a school like Tufts, we don’t have a big enough unit. It’s a pretty resource-intensive training process, so we need numbers [from other schools].”
Seiter doesn’t face many conflicts due to the nature of his lacrosse schedule. Most practices, workouts and games are in the afternoon. But for Hagedorn, the demands of crew create a big problem. The crew team practices almost exclusively in the morning, so his two commitments directly conflict. “Certainly it’s not ideal, missing things for Navy or missing things for crew. But I’d like to think that I’ve managed it as best as I can,” Hagedorn said. “It’s absolutely difficult to miss trainings, especially in the spring. When I miss practice in the spring, that means seven other rowers and a coxswain are affected.” During the fall semester, Hagedorn and Seiter held the two highest leadership positions within ROTC. Hagedorn was the Company Commander of the “Old Ironsides Battalion” (comprised of Tufts, Harvard and MIT students), while Seiter was the Battalion Commander for the entire Boston Naval ROTC Consortium — six schools and about 150 midshipmen. As Company Commander, Hagedorn led 50 other Navy ROTC members in physical workouts on Tuesdays and a twohour leadership course on Wednesdays. In his position, Seiter was responsible for the entire Consortium’s training plan and overseeing its operations.
Lieutenant Hans Nowak II, one of Hagedorn and Seiter’s supervisors, believes that varsity sports and ROTC complement each other, especially in terms of leadership development. “For varsity athletes, they develop a way to actually set a goal and have their team go and meet it,” Nowak said. “Then they also gain a lot of communication skills. They definitely both go hand in hand with each other.” In fact, Nowak sees Hagedorn and Seiter as two of his strongest midshipmen — as exemplified by their high leadership roles in the fall — and he thinks their participation in varsity athletics has helped. “Because they’re such good leaders, they’re ranked as my No. 1 and No. 2 first-class midshipmen,” Nowak said. “We always support varsity athletics because we know that what they’re developing on the field for lacrosse, or in the boat for crew, is not only going to make them more well-rounded individuals, but is going to make them better leaders for when they go out into the fleet.” Wanner agrees that there is overlap, especially in the physical trainings for both groups. He thinks Hagedorn’s personal willpower has been instrumental in his success. “Some of the leadership skills he’s learned [in ROTC] have transferred over well to the rowing program,” Wanner said.
“I know for a fact that the intense physical training program in rowing has helped him with the physical aspects of ROTC. It’s not an easy road, but Tyler has shown a tremendous level of dedication and independent resolve.” D’Annolfo has also seen Seiter develop his leadership and time management skills throughout his years at Tufts. While he’s not sure if ROTC is directly responsible, he’s confident that it has helped him to some extent. “More than anything, Seits is a leader by example,” D’Annolfo said. “In the last two years, I have noticed a huge growth in his verbal communication skills and leading through his voice. He’s had that simultaneous leadership development both from lacrosse and ROTC. I think it has added a layer of maturity and accountability, as well.” Hagedorn cannot imagine being at Tufts without participating in both athletics and ROTC. “I don’t regret it, and I wouldn’t do it a different way,” Hagedorn said. “There are sacrifices in doing anything.” Seiter concurred. “I couldn’t imagine being at Tufts and not doing both,” Seiter said. “I wouldn’t be the same lacrosse player without ROTC, and I wouldn’t be the same midshipman without lacrosse.”
Jumbos win two matches to close season ranked nineteenth WOMEN'S SQUASH
continued from back a high note,” Davidson said. Tufts first-year Rachel Windreich played an extremely close match against Wesleyan sophomore Nina Premutico in the sixth spot. Premutico went up 2–0 after the first two games, but Windreich fought back, winning the next three games 11–5, 11–1, 11–5, to defeat Premutico in five. The Jumbos showcased their strong depth, claiming victories in the bottom six spots on the ladder to key their victory. The previous day, Tufts faced Bates in the Walker Cup semifinals — the third matchup between the two teams this season. In their first meeting on Jan. 26, the visiting Jumbos fell to the Bobcats, 7–2. When they saw the Bobcats for a second time during the NESCAC tournament on Feb. 4, the Tufts women were again defeated, 6–3. However, the two prior contests were closer than their results might have indicated, as both matches were hardfought and went down to the wire, with many of the individual matches lasting five games. To underscore the thin margin between the sides, Tufts and Bates were ranked 18th and 19th in the nation, respectively, heading into CSA Nationals. The Jumbos knew going into Saturday’s contest that they had a solid shot at defeating the Bobcats, but that to do so, they would need to play their best squash of the season. “Bates is a solid team – we can’t deny it,” Irani said. “I definitely do think we are right there.” After its 7–2 quarterfinal win over fellow NESCAC member Hamilton, Bates’ confidence was high going into the match against Tufts. The top half of the Bobcats’ ladder came out strong against the Jumbos, as the Nos. 1–6 matches all ended in Bates victories. First year Chloe Kantor and senior Lauren Banner, playing in the seventh and ninth ladder spots, respectively, both recorded wins for the Jumbos. Kantor defeated Bates junior Molly Brooks in four games (11–6,
ALLISON CULBERT / THE TUFTS DAILY
Sophomore Catherine Shanahan prepares to return the ball during the CSA Team Championships on Feb. 18. 11–6, 10–12, 11–6). In her final collegiate match, Banner recorded an 11–5, 11–4, 11–1 win over senior Cata Robert of Bates. Despite a number of close matches that lasted four or five games, Tufts ultimately fell to Bates for the third time this season, 7–2. Nonetheless, the Jumbos were pleased with their intensity and competitiveness against a very tough opponent. “Even though the results show that Tufts lost, the matches were very close,” Irani said. “I think we tried our best, in terms of stepping up.” On Friday, Tufts faced seventh-seeded St. Lawrence for its first match of the
weekend. The Jumbos swept all of their matches against the Saints to handily defeat their opponents, 9–0. Playing in the first position on the ladder (as she has this entire season), first-year Julie Yeung defeated St. Lawrence junior Alex Infante 11–2, 11–4, 11–4. Davidson played in the second spot for Tufts, facing St. Lawrence first-year Katie Smith. The Newport, R.I. native lost just eight points in her 11–3, 11–5, 11–0 victory. Tufts junior Zarena Jafry also yielded just eight points in defeating first-year Gabrielle Arhens 11–3, 11–4, 11–1 in the third position.
The Jumbos’ third-place finish in the C Division of the national tournament was a positive conclusion to what Irani described as a great season for her personally and the team generally. “I think by far, since my first year, this has been the best season,” Irani said. “To start off, we had a very solid recruiting class. Other than that, everyone on the team really stepped up. Teams across the country are getting so competitive, and I think we really stepped up to that — in terms of intensity, strength and focus, but also our team dynamic. It was a very positive season.”
Sports
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Friday, February 23, 2018
SPORTS FEATURE
Sports and service: exploring the lives of athletes in ROTC by Arlo Moore-Bloom Assistant Sports Editor
For seniors Andrew Seiter and Tyler Hagedorn, school can sometimes feel like the least of their worries. Hagedorn and Seiter are the only two students at Tufts who are in the U.S. Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (ROTC) and also play varsity sports. Hagedorn captains the men’s crew team, while Seiter plays attack for men’s lacrosse. Although the strenuous lifestyle is tough on both of them, Seiter and Hagedorn have found that, in tandem, the programs complement and benefit each other tremendously. ROTC is a leadership program that is designed to educate cadets or midshipmen so that upon graduation, they are qualified to commission as officers in the U.S. Army, Navy or Air Force. At Tufts, there are five Army cadets, four Air Force cadets and seven Navy midshipmen. After graduation from Tufts, Seiter and Hagdorn will be commissioned as Ensigns — officers in the Navy equivalent to second lieutenants in the Army and the Air Force — and will enter their Mission Occupational Specialities. Navy ROTC members have the chance to join either the Aviation Community, the Surface Warfare Community, the Submarine Community or the Special Warfare Community. Seiter will join Aviation, while Hagedorn will join Surface Warfare. Seiter originally joined ROTC because of his relationship with his grandfather, Frank Bessenger, who served in the Navy for 20 years. Seiter, a native of Ridgewood, N.J., grew up listening to his grandfather’s stories about his exploits in the Navy. When he was deciding where to attend college, Seiter’s mom let him know about Navy ROTC at Tufts. With Seiter
VINTUS OKONKWO / THE TUFTS DAILY
Tyler Hagedorn (men’s crew/Navy ROTC) and Andrew Seiter (men’s lacrosse/Navy ROTC) pose for a portrait on Feb. 19. also being recruited for lacrosse, it was a perfect fit. “Luckily, Tufts had Navy ROTC,” Seiter said. “I joined the [ROTC] program on scholarship. It’s a big reason why I can afford to come here. I’m super lucky to have this opportunity.” Hagedorn’s story is similar: Both of his grandfathers served in World War II, and he, too, felt the urge to serve. The Chicago native was planning on attending the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Md., but after not getting accepted, he went to Hamilton College, where he joined the crew team. A year later, he transferred to Tufts because of the personal benefits offered by its ROTC program. “You get a phenomenal leadership training, you get to see the world, you get
WOMEN’S SWIMMING & DIVING
to meet people from all sorts of different cultures and walks of life and you get to be a part of a really phenomenal organization,” Hagedorn said. Hagedorn’s crew coach, Noel Wanner, knew Hagedorn faced an uphill battle when he transferred to Tufts as a sophomore. Crew is a time-intensive sport, and Wanner wasn’t sure if his new rower would be able to cope with the dual responsibilities of varsity athletics and ROTC. “What I said to him was that it [would] present a lot of challenges,” Wanner said. “Every year, he has to miss some practices, and ordinarily as a coach, that’s not something that I would permit. I made an exception for Tyler because he said he said he was willing to do whatever extra work it took to be a good team member.”
Since that conversation, neither Wanner nor Hagedorn have looked back. Despite Wanner’s warnings that the deck was stacked against him, Hagedorn proved himself through determination and hard work. “What he’s done ever since he got here has proven to me [that] he’s capable of meeting both responsibilities,” Wanner said. “He did a ton of extra work. He would come down to the boathouse alone in the afternoons to train by himself. He never missed a practice. As a result, his teammates came to see him as a leader.” For Seiter, balancing varsity athletics, ROTC, academics and everything else was overwhelming at first. But with time, he learned to manage his time better, often relying on support from his Tufts community. “[As a first-year], it was like, ‘here’s college academics, here’s college lacrosse, here’s Navy ROTC,'” Seiter said. “Improving is trying new things and finding out what works and what doesn’t. I’ve improved my work ethic over the four years, and that’s a testament to how much my team, coaches, teachers and midshipmen have helped me.” Tufts lacrosse coach Casey D’Annolfo believes that ROTC, while challenging, is of net benefit to Seiter’s time management skills. “I think more than anything, ROTC demands a lot of time. It has forced Seits to have that great time management,” D’Annolfo said. “The more you have on your plate, the more you have to compartmentalize. I think ROTC has forced him to do that, and he’s done a great job with it.” Hagedorn agrees that the schedule was initially demanding. He’s adapted to the see ROTC IN SPORTS, page 11
WOMEN'S SQUASH
Jumbos post best result in five years at NESCAC Championships
Tufts concludes season with third-place finish in Walker Cup
by Jeremy Goldstein
In its final weekend of the 2017-2018 season, the Tufts women’s squash team (15–7) competed for the Walker Cup in the C Division of the College Squash Association (CSA) Team Championships at Harvard. Entering the tournament ranked 18th in the nation, the Jumbos were seeded second of the eight teams competing in their bracket. The excitement surrounding the tournament made for an intense weekend of high-level squash. After a quarterfinal victory, Tufts fell to its NESCAC nemesis, Bates, in the semifinals, before winning the third-place match to conclude the season ranked 19th in the country. “Nationals are always the biggest weekend because that’s the last weekend of the season,” junior captain Chista Irani said. “It’s three days of hard squash. We play our toughest competitors in Nationals. We play very close, tight matches, so that thrill gets people going. It’s the environment that surrounds Nationals that makes it a big weekend.” Sophomore Claire Davidson echoed a similar sentiment to that of her captain
Staff Writer
The Tufts women’s swimming and diving team left some serious ripples at the NESCAC championship meet from Feb. 16–18, hosted by Williams. The Jumbos finished in an impressive fourth place overall, their best result in five years — thus marking the best-ever performance for senior co-captains Alli Dorneo, Anna Kimura and Jess Lee. Kimura swam her way to an impressive second-place finish in the 200 breaststroke (worth 28 points), with a time of 2:19.44, which put her firmly in contention for a berth at next month’s national meet in that event. Kimura also claimed 24 points in the 200yard individual medley by finishing in 2:07.45 to place sixth. The Bellevue, Wash. native was not the only Tufts upperclassman to put up superb individual results in the loaded field, as junior Colleen Doolan finished in sixth in the 200 butterfly, with a time of 2:07.30.
Nonetheless, many of the Jumbos’ first-year swimmers capped off what has proven to be a successful season with some key finishes. First-year Jackie Crater placed seventh in the 100-yard backstroke with a time of 58.05 seconds, as did first-year Lily Kurtz in the 100-yard breaststroke (1:05.55). Kurtz also finished sixth — four spots behind Kimura — in the 200 breaststroke (2:23.93). Firstyear Sook-Hee Evans placed 10th in the 1000-yard freestyle, with a time of 10:35.95, while in the diving well, firstyear Amber Chong finished fourth in the one meter competition for one of Tufts’ best results of the weekend. The Jumbos faced some of their strongest competition of the season over the course of three grueling days in the pool. In spite of (or perhaps because of ) this challenge, the team put forth some of its best performances of the year, according to Evans. “It seemed like the team swam better and better each day,” Evans told see SWIMMING & DIVING, page 10
by Delaney Tantillo
Assistant Sports Editor
regarding the excitement surrounding the national tournament. “We were definitely excited going into the weekend because Nationals were here in Boston,” Davidson told the Daily in an email. “We were confident, knowing that we practice at Harvard all the time and the courts are familiar.” On Sunday, Tufts played its third and final match of the tournament against Wesleyan for third place in the C Division bracket. Going into the match, the Jumbos were 1–0 against the Cardinals this season, having won 5–4 on Dec. 2 in Middletown, Conn. Sunday, on a much bigger stage, Tufts defeated Wesleyan for the second time in a decisive 7–2 victory to earn a third-place finish in the Walker Cup. Davidson played a gritty match against Wesleyan first-year Aditi Prasad in the second position on the ladder. With the score tied 1–1 heading into the third game, Davidson played relentlessly, winning the next two games 14–12, 12–10 to end the match in four games. “I had lost to my Wesleyan opponent earlier in the season, so it was great to turn that around and finish the season on see WOMEN'S SQUASH, page 11