The Tufts Daily - Tuesday, October 16, 2018 by The Tufts Daily

Q&A: ILVS Director Hosea Hirata on motivations, requirements of new world literature track of ILVS program see FEATURES / PAGE 2

WOMEN’S CROSS COUNTRY

Bettez leads Tufts to thirdplace finish at Conn. College

Ryan Gosling’s intimate portrayal of Neil Armstrong makes ‘First Man’ out of this world see ARTS&LIVING / PAGE 3

SEE SPORTS / BACK PAGE

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VOLUME LXXVI, ISSUE 27

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Tuesday, October 16, 2018

MEDFORD/SOMERVILLE, MASS.

Former Mass. State Rep. Carl Sciortino speaks on living with HIV by Noah Shamus

Contributing Writer

With scheduled speaker Mauricio Artiñano’s (LA ’06) flight out of Newark delayed due to weather, it looked like Thursday’s talk, “Living a Positive Life: A Conversation About Living With HIV,” was going to be called off. But for Carl Sciortino (LA ’00), former member of the Massachusetts House of Representatives for the 34th Middlesex District, which covers part of Tufts’ Medford/Somerville campus, it mattered that the topic was discussed. Sciortino is vice president of government relations at LGBT healthcare organization Fenway Health and a former executive director of the AIDS Action Committee of Massachusetts — the first person living with HIV to lead the group since its founding in 1982. Sciortino stepped up and shared his own experiences living with HIV with the roughly 30 people in attendance at the Curtis Hall Multipurpose Room. Sciortino was elected to the Massachusetts House of Representatives in 2004. He won the Democratic primary against 16-year incumbent Vincent Ciampa by a margin of 93 votes. Sciortino talked about his time in the House, authoring legislation on transgender rights and using his position of power to help others. Sciortino said that he was diagnosed with HIV in 2010. “I was sobbing. I was just a wreck,” he said of his reaction to the news at the time. Sciortino said that the diagnosis initially prompted him to consider quitting his job as a state legislator. However, he

ultimately decided he was not going to quit, and instead devoted himself to shepherding a transgender rights bill that he co-sponsored through the legislature. “I made a commitment to the community to push the bill forward,” he said of the bill, which was introduced in January 2011. He said that much of his bill was ultimately passed as a part of broader legislation on gender identity near the end of 2011. Sciortino said that coming forward about his sexuality is not similar to coming forward about his HIV status. “It’s not fun to say I have HIV. You don’t get a pride parade,” Sciortino said. Images that people have about the AIDS crisis have carried over into the collective mindset today, he said. “Health-wise, I don’t think people really know what it’s like to have AIDS in 2018,” he said. “We have so many historic images of what the AIDS crisis was in people’s minds. It’s so ingrained in our culture. If you look at any gay dating app, the word ‘clean’ is thrown out. The word ‘clean’ is so prevalent in that cultural context, that once you get an HIV diagnosis, you are saying ‘Oh I’m not clean. That must mean I’m dirty.’” He explained the concept of “undetectable equals untransmittable.” This means that if someone has HIV and they are taking medication, and the virus is not detectable, then it is also not transmittable. In 2013, Sciortino was asked to lead the AIDS Action Committee of Massachusetts. He left the State House to accept the position, announcing then for the first time that he had HIV. Sciortino said that he was fortunate to have a partner who stayed with him, health insurance and a bed to sleep in at

JULIA MCDOWELL / THE TUFTS DAILY

Carl Sciortino (LA ‘00), vice president of government relations at Fenway Health and former executive director of the AIDS Action Committee of Massachusetts, shares his story about living with HIV in the Curtis Hall Multipurpose Room on Oct. 11. night. He said that the people whom he helps through the AIDS Action Committee are not always in such a situation. Most of the people who come in are homeless and, more often than not, make less than $10,000 a year, he said. The second portion of the talk focused on HIV-related healthcare resources at Tufts. Margaret Higham, medical director of Tufts Health Service, spoke about PreExposure Prophylaxis (PrEP), a once-aday pill that prevents exposure to HIV. Tufts students are eligible to receive PrEP at no cost through insurance, Higham said. She noted that the number of students seeking such treatment has increased. “[It’s up] from 30 students last year to 55 this year,” she said. Artiñano arrived after the event concluded, according to first-year master’s student at The Fletcher School of Law

and Diplomacy Jacob Hafey (LA ’18), who helped publicize the event. Hafey said that Artiñano spoke to a smaller group of students about his own experiences living with HIV, as well as his work in multilateral diplomacy with the United Nations. Hafey said he had been at a previous campus talk with Artiñano. Thursday’s talk was scheduled because relatively few students attended the first iteration, Hafey said, but he gave praise to the speaker who ultimately stepped in on Artiñano’s behalf. “[Sciortino] had a lot of similarities to [Artiñano]; he was able to speak on the issues very well,” Hafey said. “I think a lot of people learned a lot about HIV awareness and about the stigma that comes along with it in society today. … I was very happy with how the event turned out, even without Mauricio there for most of it.”

by Minna Trinh

“I wanted to create an environment in which people can see what I study and specifically frame my research in dances emerging from communities of color. So, I wanted to create this black, brown queer dance,” Khubchandani, who is also the scholar-in-residence for Metcalf Hall, said. “For those people who don’t often feel they are represented on this campus, [I hope they will] come in and know that dance from their community is being celebrated and shared.” The dances offered cover a wide range of styles, from Brazilian zouk to hip-hop. The next class will be tonight at 7:30

Chaplaincy welcomes new music ‘Black Brown Queer Dance’ director Thomas B. Dawkins workshops celebrate dance from marginalized communities by Shantel Bartolome Assistant News Editor

The Tufts University Chaplaincy hosted a welcome concert and reception for its new music director and organist, Thomas B. Dawkins, on Oct. 11. The event was previously scheduled for Oct. 4 but was postponed due to an illness that Dawkins was battling. Approximately 20 people were in attendance at the Goddard Chapel. Dawkins was appointed to the position of music director and organist in August. University Chaplain Reverend Greg McGonigle explained that the search for a new music director was an open process. “After the application and interview process, Tom stood out as having the best match of instrumental and vocal skills, the most enthusiasm for the role, and the best track

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record of overall success in his past positions,” McGonigle told the Daily in an email. McGonigle also praised Dawkins for his vast musical talents. “One of the key assets Tom brings is being a trained vocalist as well as a very talented organist and pianist,” McGonigle said. “Given that our program staff is limited and many of us wear multiple hats, it is very helpful to have an organist and pianist who can also lead song.” Dawkins is most excited to engage the Tufts community in both listening to and creating music. “I would like to see the chaplaincy become a destination for people who want to listen to high-quality sacred music, but also for people who want to make it,” he told see DAWKINS, page 4

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A series of seven free dance workshops called “Black Brown Queer Dance” led by Boston-based artists will be offered weekly during the month of October in the Metcalf Hall common room, according to Kareem Khubchandani, Mellon Bridge Assistant Professor in the Department of Theatre, Dance, and Performance Studies and the Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies program. Khubchandani, who organized the workshops, explained that the goal is to celebrate dance from underrepresented and marginalized communities.

NEWS............................................1 FEATURES.................................2 ARTS & LIVING.......................3

see DANCE, page 4

FUN & GAMES.........................5 OPINION.....................................6 SPORTS............................ BACK

2 tuftsdaily.com

Henry Stevens The Weekly Chirp

Snack caching

he particularly observant and ornithologically biased eye will have noticed recently that our neighborhood blue jays are busy. Doing what, you ask? Winter is coming, and blue jays across the Northeast have begun preparing for it. As humans, we worry about the colder temperatures and dangerous storms associated with winter. While these factors certainly pose a threat to blue jays as well, the main threat for them is a reliable source of food during the winter months. What if there was a food source of generally high abundance now that could be stored and eaten later when no other food sources exist? Turns out, there is — acorns! So yes, blue jays are busy collecting and storing, or “caching,” acorns from many species of trees, though primarily oaks. In this process, blue jays will visit a tree with acorns, collect a couple (as many as they can comfortably hold in their beak, which is usually two or three), find a place on the ground and bury the acorns in a small, tight circle. The burial site changes for every visit — placing all of one’s food source in a single spot leaves it vulnerable to discovery by other animals or to destruction by stochastic weather events. The location and distance of each burial site largely depend on the individual blue jay, but some individuals cache acorns several kilometers away from their home range. Blue jays don’t limit themselves in how many acorns they cache, either; some individuals have cached over 5,000 acorns in just one fall season! And no, no blue jay remembers all the areas where they cached acorns. They just incessantly hoard them and, due to the sheer quantity of cached acorns, can survive through the winter. It must be dreadfully frustrating for squirrels. Excessive food hoarding is far from unique to birds. Have you ever watched those doomsday prep shows where paranoid guys in Alaska store like 100,000 cans of beans? That’s the same thing blue jays are doing, except with acorns instead of beans. Heck, I witness micro-caching at the dining hall every day. There are just some people that have no concept of regulation in regard to food selection and, as a result, will take everything they see like a preppy lax bro at a Brooks Brothers factory sale. Don’t believe me? Watch the plates at the dish drop-off area next time you’re at the dining hall, and you’ll see what I mean. Whole slices of pizza, untouched pieces of pie, full glasses of milk. People hoard the food like they’ll never eat again and then obviously can’t finish it all, so it all ends up going to waste. One blue jay can’t eat the 5,000 acorns that it cached within a two-kilometer radius of its home range, so many of them freeze in the ground. But unlike human food waste, at least there’s a chance that the forgotten acorns will germinate and become oak trees some day in the future. Always remember — snacking is good, surviving is great, but wasting is selfish. So don’t do it. Love, Henry Henry Stevens is a senior studying biology. He can be reached at henry.stevens@ tufts.edu. Interested in birds? Email Henry at tuftsornithologicalsociety@gmail.com.

Features

Tuesday, October 16, 2018

Q&A: ILVS Director Hosea Hirata discusses new concentration in world literature by Rachel Carp

Contributing Writer

New this semester at Tufts is the International Literary and Visual Studies (ILVS) program’s world literature track. According to its website, the ILVS program has parallels to the international relations program; however, the former emphasizes the arts and humanities. In addition to rigorous language preparation, ILVS students are given the flexibility to cater the major to their personal interests, as the focus of study will vary significantly from student to student. The newly-introduced world literature concentration in ILVS requires students to take six different literature classes from at least three different areas of the world, including literature in translation. To find out more, the Daily interviewed ILVS Director Hosea Hirata, who is also a professor of Japanese literature and director of the Japanese program at Tufts. Tufts Daily (TD): Can you tell me a little bit about the ILVS program and describe the different components and requirements of the new concentration? Hosea Hirata (HH): ILVS used to [only] have three tracks … a literature track, a film track and a visual studies track. Each track [has] different requirements, but even though you might focus on literature, you still have to involve [the other] components — the visual studies and film [components]. First, you have to decide two cultural focuses: a primary culture and a secondary culture. If you’re studying, for example, Spanish, you may use English as your primary culture and Spanish as your secondary culture. If you’re [a] film track person, then you have to focus on several film courses with your primary culture, and less film courses with your secondary culture. So, [each track] is pretty similar in terms of requirements, and one requirement that’s really necessary [for all of them] is the language requirement. You have to go up to the eighth semester level. So, this year we decided to create a new track, which is the world literature track, in which there’s no language requirement except [for] the Tufts language requirement, which is [at least] three language classes, and if you want to, you can take three more semesters [of language] or you can take culture [classes]. TD: How does this new concentration work without the eight-semester language requirement? HH: You can take six literature courses from at least three different regions. Which means you can take three Japanese literature courses, two Spanish literature courses and two English literature courses, if you want. In that case, you have to know Spanish because … all Spanish literature courses [are taught in Spanish]. But even if you [learned] Spanish, you could still do two Japanese literature courses, two Chinese literature courses and two Arabic literature courses, for example, because they’re all taught in English. TD: Is there less of a focus on the foreign language itself and more of a focus on the culture?

RACHEL HARTMAN / THE TUFTS DAILY ARCHIVES

Olin Center, home to the International Literary and Visual Studies program, is pictured on April 20. HH: Yes, that’s right. Because if you really want to study modern literature, it’s not enough to simply study in the English department. You would really need to open up your eyes to what other regions of the world are writing. So I think people who are really interested in contemporary literature would be very, very interested in this major. TD: Can you just elaborate a little more on why this new concentration is in the ILVS program rather than the English department? HH: Well, ILVS is an inter-departmental program, and it just happens to be kind of housed in [the Department of International Literary and Cultural Studies] because I’m the director [and] I teach Japanese literature and belong to this department. [But] it’s like the women’s studies program, [not belonging] to a single department. The English department is focused on Anglophone literature only. They don’t teach Japanese literature, they don’t teach Chinese literature, they don’t teach Arabic literature. They don’t teach any other literature that [is] written in [a] foreign language. TD: Where did the idea for this major come from and how did it develop? HH: Well, I had been talking to some students, especially [students] from the English department. And they’re really interested in more contemporary literature. And they’re frustrated that the English department wouldn’t count other literature courses for their major; and that’s part of [it]. And at the same time, I feel like in order to really know what’s happening in the contemporary literary scene you just have to open up your eyes to the world rather than just to one nation. TD: In what ways were students involved in getting this major going? Was it more so just talking to faculty? HH: Yes, [students] didn’t have direct input. But the fact that this department offers so many literature courses in translation I think was a big factor [in garnering interest]. TD: How did other faculty members react to this idea and how did you come together to make it happen?

HH: I think everyone I talked to was very encouraging and positive, and excited about the idea. TD: How do you think this new concentration will impact Tufts students? HH: Literature is a really wonderful window into what people from different cultures are thinking, how they live, what kind of worldview they have, what kind of histories they inherit. And it is impossible to master all the world languages. I mean, there are like six thousand of them. And [only] a portion of those … languages have written components. So literature is a very, very interesting phenomenon when you think about it. TD: Do you think it’s possible to understand a culture well without knowing the language? HH: Well, there are limitations of course. And I’d encourage students to study foreign language if you can, and master it. But it is a fact that we cannot master five, six, seven languages well enough to be able to read literature in [the original] language. And that’s why we have translation, and we have to really think about what translation does to the world culture, so to speak. It’s a very vital part of understanding other people. TD: Do you often notice that translation shifts the meaning of things? HH: Absolutely. TD: In what ways does this concentration give students a fuller and more holistic picture of the world and its issues than other ILVS concentrations? HH: That’s hard to say. You may have a wider range with this [track], but other tracks also require you to read a lot of books and read into different cultures. The courses that are required are all comparative, [and students] also have to take theory courses [and] gender-oriented courses. I think every track has the comprehensiveness that you’re talking about, and the wonderful thing about ILVS really is that we really try to accommodate each student’s intellectual focus; that becomes the most important part. We try to create a program for … each student. Editor’s note: This interview has been edited for clarity and length.

CORRECTION A previous version of the Oct. 15 article “Tufflepuffs seek to reassert themselves amidst changing Quidditch landscape” incorrectly described US Quidditch’s gender maximum rule. The rule sets a limit on the number of players of the same gender who can be on the field. The Daily regrets this error.

Tuesday, October 16, 2018

ARTS&LIVING

‘First Man’ tackles Neil Armstrong beyond the legend

Background movies

by Stephanie Hoechst Assistant Arts Editor

VIA IMDB

A promotional poster for ‘First Man,’ starring Ryan Gosling, is pictured. away from those meaningful personal moments and back into Armstrong’s relentless stoicism, leaving the story with a hollow feeling. However, it finds its footing again as the film nears its apex: the actual Apollo 11 mission. Each of the three or four sequences that actually depict Armstrong in flight are incredibly well-choreographed. Most of the Gemini VIII mission, for example, is shot from inside the cockpit, inviting the viewer to share in the visceral reactions of space flight — we only see the surface of Earth from inside the small window of the craft. The structures of the spacecraft creak and groan ominously in flight, and when things go wrong, jarring camerawork and barely-audible radio communications heighten the stakes of traveling in such a relentless environment. The moon landing itself is a work of cinematographic mastery. The film effectively builds tension leading up to the historic moment, and the music is absolutely ethereal. The eeriness and beauty of landing on the Moon is portrayed with sweeping shots of the surface and the slow, nuanced movements of Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin. And yet, the whole experience is tinged

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James Ray The Starving Aesthete

MOVIE REVIEW

Hollywood has produced many ambitious movies about the perils of space travel over the past five years, including “Gravity” (2013), “Interstellar” (2014) and “The Martian” (2015). How, then, can a movie about Neil Armstrong ever hope to stand out at a filmic moment already so fixated on aggrandizing and dramatizing space travel? The answer: Don’t make it about the space travel. Make it about the man. “First Man” portrays the life of Neil Armstrong (Ryan Gosling), from joining the NASA astronaut program in 1962 to his successful completion of the Apollo 11 mission in 1969. “Portrays” is the most appropriate word to use, because “First Man” tells the story of Armstrong’s life, handling it with narrative emotionality and refusing to become a strictly biographical or documentary work focusing on his achievements. While a significant part of the film is, obviously, Armstrong’s work with NASA, the film seeks to focus just as much on Armstrong’s personal life, adding dimension to a figure already so mythicized in history. Arguably, Armstrong is a difficult figure to tackle. According to James Hansen, the author of the biography on which “First Man” is based, Armstrong was actually quite private. Though he was the first person to set foot on the moon, he was hesitant about his status as an American hero, focusing on the mission itself rather than its historical impact. Gosling communicates this reservedness and stoicism quite well; his Armstrong rarely loses his cool, making the few moments where he does surrender to his emotions much more powerful. When, for instance, Armstrong loses his young daughter to cancer early in the film, it creates a cloud of grief that stays with him for the remainder of the film. Watching Armstrong sit at his desk alone and sob for his daughter, after displaying such a solemn acceptance of her death in front of his family, reveals a pivotal crux of Armstrong’s character — he is quite collected on the outside, but deals with trauma in a very personal, solitary way. This depiction is just one of the ways in which “First Man” distances itself from the dazzling drama of space travel seen in other films and hones in on Armstrong’s character, treating his story with far greater intimacy. While the character is interesting, and while Gosling is clearly accurate in his portrayal, it is also an incredibly challenging task to keep the viewer engaged because his exterior is so even-tempered. To tell Armstrong’s story, the film heavily relies on vignettes that sometimes felt slightly detached. While this approach evokes a more personal representation rather than an over-dramatized retelling, there is not enough narrative to latch onto. “First Man” does slow down in the middle as we see Armstrong move between his personal and professional lives rather arbitrarily; it starts to drift

with a sort of soberness as we follow Armstrong, who does not treat the moment with the historical gravitas that we may crave. We see the moon landing through the eyes of a man who is still grieving for his daughter, who is comfortable with potentially dying on this mission and who does not wish to see himself as a legendary figure, which makes the moment unexpectedly haunting and meaningful. It is unfortunate that “First Man” struggles with the one thing that is meant to set it apart. While its portrayal of Armstrong is intimate and seeks to shed light on the actual man behind the legend, it is inconsistent with its depictions and does not seem to know how to focus on either the historical grandeur of the missions or the character of Armstrong himself. “First Man” clearly knows how to effectively depict the dangers and drama of space travel, and there are moments where it absolutely nails the emotional toll of such an undertaking on Armstrong. Fortunately, these moments do make up for most of the narrative flatness in between, still moving audiences by the film’s end.

ecently, I’ve been experimenting with background movies. The idea is fairly self explanatory — a movie played in the background of a party, social gathering or just when sitting around alone, crying. The movie isn’t intended to be watched; in fact, the point is to not watch it. Of course, the natural instinct among polite company is to sit down and pay attention to whatever the host is playing, which rather puts a damper on the whole “background” part of the equation. So the solution I’ve come up with is simply to play the most heinous, unwatchable garbage I can rustle and hope that nobody can stand to focus on it. I’ve found that the most useful materials for this sort of thing are old commercials. There’s something about them that makes them at once extremely comforting and absolutely impossible to pay attention to, barring the kinds of massive hangovers that trepanning was invented to alleviate. Old commercials exist in a world where the relationship between one’s means and ends was always direct, always clear cut, always reassuring. Do you like popcorn? Buy this popcorn. Do you like live shows at the Lower Daviess County Memorial Arena featuring hit local bands, delicious food and fun for the whole family? Well, buddy, have I got some goddamn news for you. While they prove entirely too saccharine for conscious consumption, the point of a background movie is not to entertain, but to generate a vibe. These days, if you get more than three people together, there’s a good chance that at least one of them is going to have no idea what’s going on at any given time; this will inevitably lead to a fission reaction, in which the nervousness of one party guest ripples outward like warm jello across the others and before long, a positive feedback loop of desperate nihilism has your friends carving up the furniture with their nails and ranting in the twisted tongues of dead kingdoms. Or, at least, it does in my experience. In situations like this, a dull commercial hum in the background proves an invaluable asset, because it shows that no matter how unsure and terrifying things might get, someone somewhere once knew, or at least thought they knew, what was going on. So next time you’re meeting with your study group; and it’s eight o’clock on a Friday; and you all feel that you should have better things to be doing; and you can feel the despair growing in your stomach like a rancorous orchid; and the faces of the people next to you look like they’re molded out of plastic, not really people at all more automatons (I wonder if they bleed) … Throw on a YouTube playlist of old commercials, pop a chill pill and breathe deeply. Things might not be okay now, and they probably weren’t ever okay, but at least for a little while, a few people thought they were. And who could ask for more than that? James Ray is a senior studying political science. James can be reached at james_m.ray@tufts.edu.

THE TUFTS DAILY | Arts & Living | Tuesday, October 16, 2018

THE TUFTS DAILY Seohyun Shim Editor-in-Chief

EDITORIAL

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ACTOR PROFILE

Ryan Gosling: From heartthrob to astronaut by John Fedak Arts Editor

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From his early childhood, Ryan Gosling has been destined for the big screen. Gosling rose to prominence after his time on the Disney Channel’s star-producing show, “The All-New Mickey Mouse Club” (1989–94), and arguably has never left the spotlight since then. With his role as Neil Armstrong in “First Man” receiving critical acclaim, now is the perfect time to look back on Gosling’s both long and diverse acting history. While Gosling starred in a number of small, independent films as he grew into adulthood, his first commercial success undoubtedly lay with “The Notebook” (2004). While the movie never rose above mediocrity as far as critics are concerned, it immediately garnered a cult following and did surprisingly well at the box office. Of course, starring in a romantic comedy has both advantages and disadvantages. Gosling’s performance and on-screen chemistry with co-star Rachel McAdams were both strong, and the film contributed to his meteoric rise in popularity. Gosling’s success continued unabated after “The Notebook,” earning Academy Award and Golden Globe Award nominations from his work in “Half Nelson” (2006) and “Lars and the Real Girl” (2007),

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respectively. Gosling’s talent shone through during this fledgling period in his career, and he piloted both films to critical, if not commercial, success, playing both a cocaine addict and a hopeless romantic with equal aptitude. In fact, these movies encapsulate what makes Gosling great: He is able to not just portray, but truly inhabit his characters and deliver hyper-realistic performances as a result. Even a three-year hiatus did nothing to abate Gosling’s continued success, as the gripping drama “Blue Valentine” (2010) led to yet another Golden Globe nomination. With a diverse set of works under his belt, Gosling seemed destined to succeed. In many ways, he was. However, although critics appear to disagree, “Crazy, Stupid, Love” (2011) was more of a hindrance to Gosling, as far as his acting talent is concerned. Even Gosling, who was nominated for yet another Golden Globe due to his performance, could not escape what was a saccharine film that is never crazy but is plenty stupid. Nonetheless, 2011 saw the release of arguably the epitome of Gosling’s career in the crime thriller, “Drive.” “Drive” sees Gosling playing an unnamed stunt driver who gets roped into his night job as a getaway driver. Everything about the film is phenomenal. The action sequences are perfectly edit-

ed and avoid using CGI, the film is both terrifyingly violent and surprisingly heartwarming, and the writing is memorable and avoids contrition. Although panned by some audiences for its overwhelmingly violent nature, this is one of Gosling’s standout performances, and it certainly represents a high point in his career. Gosling’s recent career has continued this path of excellence, although no actor is without fault. While “The Big Short” (2015) proved to be entertaining, educational and successful, “La La Land” (2016) represented an exceedingly low point in Gosling’s career. The entire movie feels contrived and self-congratulatory and is essentially a movie by Hollywood, about Hollywood and ultimately for Hollywood. Gosling’s acting is similarly forced, and his character feels disingenuous and pretentious. Despite positive reviews, this is Goslin’s weakest showing by far, and reduces his talents to a vapid mess. While “Blade Runner 2049” (2017) could not bring Gosling back from his low due to its convoluted plot coupled with poor directorial decisions, it appears that “First Man” will launch Gosling back into (deserved) critical acclaim. Whatever the actor is up to after the dust settles from his latest theatrical release is sure to have out-of-this-world potential.

Workshops showcase black, brown, queer dancers in Boston DANCE

continued from page 1

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led by Chris Suharlim and entitled “Sassy Hip Hop.” “Waacking,” “Dancehall Workout” and “Gender Free Ballroom” will be offered on Oct. 22, Oct. 23 and Oct. 29, respectively. Khubchandani said that he aims for the workshops help break the gender binary in dance. “I think the gender binary is really enforced in dance spaces a lot of the time. I have two instructors that are teaching partner dance, but are teaching it without gender,” he said. Khubchandani explained that the dance workshops can also be an opportunity for students to see the diverse communities present in Boston. “I am hoping that students would go out and learn [at dance workshops offered in the greater Boston community],” he said. “Boston can feel very white and very straight. To see there are all these people in the community that are around, [I think the programming] is an intention [for students] to see that there are other social worlds and performance worlds that are really inclusive.” Director of the LGBT Center Hope Freeman shared the significance of the dance workshops being offered on campus.

“I think that dance workshops being offered are so important. We are able to enjoy dance in all its forms, but rarely get a chance to reflect on the histories and how they came to be a part of our everyday lives,” Freeman told the Daily in an email. “I think that [the workshops] will really support the Tufts community in understanding the roots of many popular styles of dance.” Khubchandani explained that he found and selected the dance instructors leading the “Black Brown Queer Dance” workshops through his personal connections. “I have performed in the Boston community, in drag and burlesque, and I have also taken classes in the Boston area. … Some of the instructors are people who I performed with or classes I have taken. They are all people who I know personally, or have gotten to know personally,” he said. “I just reached out to all these people I know and trust, and [the instructors] are all getting paid, because I think it is important to pay artists as well.” The Scholars-in-Residence program is providing funding for this workshop series, according to Director of Residential Life and Learning Joshua Hartman. “In addition to the clear benefit of a diverse and vibrant program like this, the dance workshop series will also allow students to connect with each other and with a faculty member outside of the traditional classroom set-

ting, which is a key goal of the SIR program,” Hartman told the Daily in an email. Khubchandani emphasized how these workshops will enable him and attendees to create relationships and build community outside of a classroom setting. “This is an opportunity to get to know more students on campus,” he said. “If I am living on campus [as a scholar-in-residence], I want to know the breadth of who is here in this community.” Khubchandani added that the dance workshops are for students of all experience levels. “I’m hoping that provides room for people to dance for people who don’t really consider themselves dancers,” he said. “[It’s] really important to me that students can try out dance, and maybe take a dance class.” Laporsha Dees, a first-year dancer who attended the hip-hop workshop led by Brian Mirage on Monday night, said that the workshop was enjoyable and should be offered more often. “Where I am from, there are not a lot of hip-hop classes offered,” Dees said. “[Or] they are offered and they’re very expensive … for this to be free … is really helpful.” Rodney White, also a first-year, said that the workshop was “eye-opening.” “I never took a dance class so this was like one of the first times I actually tried doing choreography … it is eye-opening [to realize] that I could do it,” White said.

McGonigle praises new music director's diverse skill set DAWKINS

continued from page 1 the Daily in an email. “Right now, we have glorious spaces, a wonderful organ, piano, and carillon, and I think that if we reach out to the Tufts community of students, faculty, and staff, there will be people who would like to come together and make music here.” The concert began with opening remarks from McGonigle. Dawkins then performed a short piano and organ recital, including: Johann Sebastian Bach’s Pièce d’Orgue in G major, BWV 572; Franz Schubert’s Moment Musical in A flat major, D. 780 No. 2; and Jules Massenet’s Méditation from the opera, “Thaïs.”

After the concert, Chaplaincy Program Manager Zachary Cole delivered the closing remarks, inviting the audience to attend the Chaplaincy’s upcoming events, including the annual Halloween Midnight Organ Concert on Oct. 31. The audience was then invited to a reception in the lobby of the Goddard Chapel. Reverend Daniel Bell, the university’s Protestant chaplain, told the Daily in an email that he’s excited to collaborate with Dawkins. “He works closely with me and student leaders in the Protestant Students Association (PSA) to plan and play at weekly worship services,” Bell said. “Music is an integral part of our spiritual life gatherings so his role is vital.”

Bell also listed several programming initiatives that Dawkins is planning to support. “I’m excited to have him on board. Special services he is helping to support include our … Advent/Christmas Lessons and Carols on Dec. 2,” he said. Dawkins added that there are many existing opportunities for students to become involved with music at the Chaplaincy. He also extended an invite for students to email him and meet with him about getting involved. “I’m very glad to be at Tufts and … I look forward to hearing from students, faculty [and] staff who would like to engage with chaplaincy music in a meaningful way,” he said.

Tuesday, October 16, 2018 | FUN & GAMES | THE TUFTS DAILY

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F& G

LATE NIGHT AT THE DAILY Luke: “I can check the Italian pastry section of the style guide. ”

FUN & GAMES

SUDOKU

Tufts Financial Network and The Institute for Business in the Global Context host:

“Growing a Global Business in an Ever-Changing World: The CEO Perspective”

featuring Carol Meyrowitz, Executive Chairman of the Board, The TJX Companies, Inc

with Bhaskar Chakravorti, Dean of Global Business at The Fletcher School Difficulty Level: Hosting a bonding for your group and realizing you don’t know half of the people

Monday’s Solution

and the founding Executive Director of the Institute for Business in the Global Context

Tuesday, October 16, 2018 6:00 pm ASEAN Auditorium, 160 Packard Avenue The Fletcher School Reception to follow! Carol Meyrowitz, Executive Chairman of the Board, The TJX Companies, Inc., and one of Forbes Magazine Top 100 most powerful women in business

CROSSWORD

Monday’s Solution

6 tuftsdaily.com

Aneurin Canham-Clyne Red Star

Shatter realism

he right, so the thesis goes, lies and if we can show that they lie, then we can embarrass them. But this analysis and the prescription for infinite fact checks fail to grasp the purpose of a lie. Lies create narrative fantasy out of politics. For privileged voters, this fantasy plays out through symbols — flags, living icons, songs, uniforms — that stand for political abstractions. This is why liberals are so offended by the aesthetics of the Trump administration, yet so unwilling to actually stop him. The president’s aesthetic relationship to the symbols of America is different than the liberals’ relationship, but this can only be contested through a counter-fantasy. Trying to puncture an alternate reality with the Fact Check Hour hosted by Alex Hamilton on the Dignity of Office channel is a doomed venture. The use of power by the ruling class and their state has little relationship to the symbols in play: Obama was a symbol of equality, yet school segregation remained basically unchanged, and black household wealth declined. His policies helped out big banks, charter schools and enemies of organized labor, even though he claimed the precise opposite would happen. He was a liar, just of a different aesthetic variety and not as vicious as the current president. Okay, so politicians lie. We all know that. But dishonesty in America reduces politics to aesthetics, a key characteristic of fascism. This creates a different layer of reality: political realism. Political realism is a curtain between the real — of flat wages, rising temperatures and social dislocation — and the internal experience of politics. Whether by branding Black Lives Matter as Russian bots, or insisting the Democrats are part of a deep-state child sex cult, political realism takes a very real social crisis and turns it into a crisis of symbols or a battle over “values.” This is the only way for parties that are not interested in materially expressing the will of working masses to perform mass mobilization. It is the democratization of anti-democracy. It is also what Democrats mean when they say pragmatism — that one must work entirely within the symbolic realm where no change is possible. It doesn’t matter that any politician is lying because for tens of millions of insulated voters, political reality is only created by the battle over symbols. A crusade against invading gangs and subversive communists is more compelling than the liberal alternatives, which is why liberals lose those suburban Republicans they’ve spent 30 years trying to win. As another socialist once said, “What are we to do if we see with our own two eyes more than honest pawns and dutiful kings?” Politics are real. Oppressed people know this all too well, living daily through the moral and physical assault of capital. An encounter with the real annihilates fantasy. That’s what post-truth means — political reality is beginning to tear open. This tear allows a glimpse of the real behind realism. Leftist organizers must at last tear the veil asunder to produce from the state of emergency the emergency of the real. Aneurin Canham-Clyne is a senior studying history. Aneurin can be reached at aneurin.canham_clyne@tufts.edu.

Opinion

Tuesday, October 16, 2018

EDITORIAL

Where does food go? It’s 6:30 p.m. Students start filing into Carmichael and Dewick-MacPhie Dining Centers, and the dining staff swipe each Tufts ID through the register. Students grab a plate and pile on protein, carbs, vegetables, legumes, grains and fats, and raid the tables in packs. By 8:00 p.m. when the dining halls prepare to close for the night, the waste conveyor belt is stacked with piles of unfinished, salvageable food. In order to manage the excess food that comes through the disposal system, Tufts Dining Services relies on Food For Free, a nonprofit that distributes rescued packaged meals and bagged food to communities and individuals in need. Teamed up with Food For Free is Tufts Food Rescue Collaborative (TFRC), a group of student volunteers who prepare the packaged rescue meals. Senior Marissa Donohue facilitates the communication between TFRC, Food For Free and Tufts Dining. According to Donohue, TFRC has seen greater involvement from students and has been successful in their partnership with Food For Free. However, Donohue described the number of packaged meals as having increased compared to last semester. “The ultimate goal is less food waste,” Donohue said. Donohue was inspired to join TFRC through a “Waste Less Dinner” in her sophomore year. At this event, total food waste from Carmichael and Dewick is weighed and the average waste per per-

son is calculated. In 2017–2018, the average waste per person more than doubled between the “Waste Less Dinners” of October and April, from 1.5 ounces to 3.16 ounces per person, or from a total of 56 pounds to 90 pounds of total food waste. “You don’t think 3.16 ounces is a lot,” John Beaulac, associate director of residential dining, said. “But in a typical meal period, let’s say you multiply that by 1,700 people. It adds up.” And according to a 2015 report by the Food Recovery Network, college campuses as a whole produce 22 million pounds in food waste a year. Donohue mentioned that a lot of the food packaging for TFRC is “behind-thescenes.” Students are not witnessing how much food waste is piling up in the dining hall kitchens and how much of that might be their own unfinished meals. Donohue believes Tufts is doing a good job of acknowledging this, but mentions that its effort is “variable.” However, reducing food waste is a hard issue for Tufts Dining Services to advocate. “The general public does not understand what a correct portion is and how much food you actually need,” Beaulac said. “Students pile food onto their plate, which is actually about four, five or six servings.” Beaulac added that students’ food consumption is entirely a personal choice and noted that the goal with events like “Waste Less Dinner”

and “Scrape Your Plate” is not to shame people, but rather to educate them on responsible dining. Perhaps there are ways for students and Tufts Dining Services to collaborate further on encouraging people to reduce their food waste. For one, Donohue hopes that Tufts can “form a platform where people can talk about interesting advances in food rescue.” Stationing Eco-Reps at the conveyor belts during prime eating hours and not just at special events could deter some food waste. In addition to placing the appropriate portion size of food offerings in the dining halls, putting up food waste statistics near the conveyor belt and on the tables in the dining halls could also increase the student body’s general awareness of this issue. Finally, food rescue is really important not only in reducing waste, but also allocating that waste to the people who need it most. Leftover food and produce, beyond being donated to homeless shelters, could also be distributed to members of the Tufts community, students or staff. But, ultimately, in order to reduce food waste, students need to gauge how much food on their plates they will actually eat and not waste. As Beaulac stated, it “doesn’t take a lot” to project how much food one will realistically eat in order to reduce one’s waste. So, ask yourself the next time you walk into a dining hall: What can I do to address food waste?

CARTOON

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

Sports

Tuesday, October 16, 2018 | Sports | THE TUFTS DAILY

Volleyball enters final stretch with four-set loss to Middlebury by Helen Thomas-McLean Contributing Writer

Tufts fell short in a spirited NESCAC battle with Middlebury on Friday, ultimately losing 3–1 despite a mid-match rally. The Jumbos entered the road match third in the conference standings with an 11–7 overall record (5–2 conference), while the host Panthers sat just behind them with an 11–3 overall mark (4–2 conference). Following Middlebury’s loss to Bowdoin on Saturday, it is now tied with Tufts for fourth place in the conference, behind two undefeated teams in Wesleyan and Bowdoin as well as third-place Amherst. The Jumbos have five games left in the regular season before heading into the NESCAC Tournament, and they are looking to make the most of their remaining matches. Middlebury took a quick lead in the first set, going up 12–3 early. While the Jumbos closed the gap to 15–9, the Panthers regained their momentum to capture the first set 25–15. The hosts again got off to a strong start in the second set, but the Jumbos battled back to narrow the score to 8–6. That proved to be the closest Tufts got, however, as Middlebury ran away with a 25–16 set victory. The Jumbos came back with a vengeance in the third set, establishing a small but consistent lead from the outset. With the teams tied at 14, the Jumbos grabbed an 18–14 lead thanks to four straight points via firstyear outside hitter/opposite Cate Desler and senior outside hitter/opposite and co-captain Mackenzie Bright. The Jumbos fought hard to ultimately grab a third-set victory, using their offensive strength to close with a 25–20 advantage. After Tufts gained an early lead in the fourth set, Middlebury came from behind to tie the set at eight. The Panthers then rattled off the next three points to open an 11–8 lead, yet kills from Desler and sophomore middle hitter/opposite Jennifer Ryan pulled the Jumbos within one. However, Middlebury first-year outside hitter Jane Nelson and senior outside hitter Isabel Sessions proved to be too dominant. With Tufts down 22–15, junior libero Madison Clay served two straight aces, but Middlebury captured the fourth set 25–20 to win the match. The Panthers finished the game with six blocks, 38 digs, five aces and a hitting percentage of .346, while the Jumbos posted seven blocks, 35 digs, four aces and a hitting percentage of .200. Coach Cora Thompson cited Middlebury’s strong service game as a main reason for Tufts’ loss. “Middlebury challenged us to earn our points, and they did a great job of serving us out of system,” Thompson told the Daily in an email. “We need to have better ball control and win the serve and pass game. If we can pass the ball and be in system, our offense will be much harder to stop.” According to Thompson, the team has been working on improving its ball control in practice and will continue to do so throughout the rest of the season. Despite the outcome of the match, she was proud of the Jumbos’ efforts.

David Meyer Postgame Press

America’s soccer problem

JULIA MCDOWELL / THE TUFTS DAILY

Senior outside hitter/opposite and co-captain Mackenzie Bright serves during Tufts’ 3–1 win against Brandeis on Sept. 12. “We were very proud of our captains who tried hard to lead with their play,” Thompson said. “Bright stayed aggressive the whole night and [junior outside hitter and co-captain Maddie Stewart] really caught fire offensively coming up with a few really key blocks defensively, too.” Thompson also identified Ryan as a key player for Tufts, noting that her critical blocks and hits contributed to the team’s win in the third set. Bright led all players with a season-high of 17 kills, while Stewart posted 11 kills of her own. Desler was strong all-around, with 10 kills, six digs and three blocks. Meanwhile, on the defensive end, senior setter/defensive specialist Katie Zheng contributed six digs, while first-year setter/opposite Ariel Zedric and junior setter/opposite Rachel Furash each had five. Furnish also amassed an impressive 34 assists, and Zedric accumulated 10. Despite the loss to Middlebury, Stewart remained hopeful that the team will be able to turn its fortunes around against Springfield on Friday. “We think that a mental reset with renewed energy and focus will help us win

this upcoming week of games,” she told the Daily in an email. Bright acknowledged that the Jumbos have a difficult schedule ahead, with three matches in two days this weekend at the New England Challenge, but believes they are ready to take it on. “We are looking forward to the opportunity to continue to improve together as a team,” Bright told the Daily in an email. With the end of the season approaching, Thompson has high hopes for the final spate of games leading up to the postseason. “We absolutely have the skill set to compete and win every match if we can stay disciplined and focused long enough,” she said. Tufts will play three of its five remaining games at home, which Stewart noted has the team excited. “We love playing in Cousens [Gymnasium] and are excited to show what we’ve got on our home court,” she said. After hosting Springfield on Friday night, Tufts will play a Saturday doubleheader against Babson and MIT with both matches at MIT.

TRASHING ONE EGG WASTES 55 GALLONS OF WATER

f you did not know, America is not the center of the universe. It is tough these days not to focus on the United States and the United States alone, but there is plenty more going on out there. This is an attitude that extends from pop culture and politics to sports. America has the four major sports: football, baseball, hockey and basketball. Where does soccer fit in? Soccer is only the most-watched sport on earth with about four billion fans. American football, the most popular sport in the United States, comes in with 400 million fans. Not even in the top ten. This year, seven percent of Americans identified soccer as their favorite sport, only two percentage points behind baseball and four percentage points ahead of hockey. So despite America being well behind on the most popular sport on earth, soccer is on the up and up. There are more than a few reasons why Americans do not like soccer. While anecdotal, I have heard the following sentiments from my friends. First, we are not good at soccer. While that is not necessarily true, I know not making the World Cup was a tough blow to Americans wanting to get into soccer. People have complained about flopping, but I guess we put up with it in the NBA, so that should not be a huge disclaimer. Finally (and this is the biggest disincentive to me) ties. When a sport ends in a tie, it feels like a waste of time. Spending 90 minutes watching regulation time, with 15 minutes at the half, seems like a ruined afternoon when neither team scores even once and they end in a tie. You might get some excitement from good shots and good saves, but people like scoring. When a game ends in a tie, especially one that is 0–0, people seem to take issue with it. I now offer some ideas on how to make soccer more fun to watch. Let me tell you: one, Tufts is good at it and the games are fun to go to, and two, if the entire rest of the world loves something, it is probably an America problem, not a “them” problem. Soccer is super hard. I know it looks like kicking a ball is easy, but watching soccer players do it is as impressive as other sports. Their precision and control are amazing. Appreciate that and you start to appreciate the game. They do not stop the clock every second. Part of me hates this because I want a specific amount of time in every game, which sometimes they get way off; at the same time, basketball games take forever to end with timeouts and fouls. Finally, the best part: the players and fans call the refs “Sir.” It is hilarious to watch furious people call someone “Sir.” Rugby players do this, too. And if you do not enjoy that, you will not enjoy soccer. But you should probably try. The rest of the world has some pretty good ideas.

David Meyer is an assistant sports editor for the Daily. David is a junior studying film and media studies. He can be reached at david.meyer@tufts.edu.

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Sports

Tuesday, October 16, 2018

Women’s cross country places third at Conn. College in NESCAC Championship tune-up by Tom Burnham

Contributing Writer

Tufts competed at the Conn. College Invitational in Waterford, Conn. on Saturday, finishing third out of 25 teams to continue its successful trajectory in the 2018 season. Tufts totaled 82 points, falling just short of second-place Dickinson, which scored 72. Fellow NESCAC member Middlebury captured first place with 67 points, while Williams claimed fourth with a score of 116. Several Jumbos posted excellent individual performances in the 6K event. After finishing first overall at the All-New England Championship last weekend, senior co-captain Natalie Bettez continued her dominant season with a mark of 21:23.2, good for third place overall. Junior Lydia Heely (22:15.6) finished second for the Jumbos and 11th overall; first-year Anna Slager (22:29.6) placed 20th to round out the team’s top three. Just behind Slager, senior co-captain Kelsey Tierney (22:31.8) finished 21st in her first full varsity event of the season. Rounding out Tufts’ top seven were seniors Julia Noble (22:38.5), Olivia Barnett (22:53.6) and Caitlin Porrazzo (23:06.3) in 27th, 36th and 48th places, respectively. “I knew it was going to be a pretty competitive race,” Bettez said. “I was trying not to put too much pressure on myself — just kind of go out and run my own race and see how it would go. Overall, it was a very fast race, so I’m happy with how that went.” Tierney was pleased with her performance in light of her recent return to competition. “It [was] my second race of the season because I’ve been dealing with a really tough injury,” Tierney said. “My first race was last week, and I went out too hard and slowed down a little bit at the end, so I wanted to try and pace this one better. I actually ended up pacing it perfectly, which is kind of rare for me. I think I started out around 16th place, and I only ended up moving back to 21st, which is kind of ideal. So I was really happy with just trying to pace myself better and finish a 6K, because I haven’t finished a workout of more than 4K. And it was great to see how I felt in the last bit of the race before we get into more important races.” Senior Jennifer Jackson (23:08.4) and junior Nicole Kerrigan (23:08.6), along with sophomores Olivia Martin (23:09.6), Alexandra Wolf (23:17.1) and Melissa Rowland (23:35.6), all finished in the top 100 of the 307-runner field. With several strong performances outside of its top seven, the team looks incredibly well-rounded. Bettez was proud of the team’s performance. “I saw a lot of people who really stepped up and put themselves out there yesterday,” Bettez said. “It was definitely a faster than normal race, and a lot of people didn’t let that scare them and were able to work off it really well.” Tierney and Bettez both mentioned that the Jumbos performed better than they were hoping, despite the muddy conditions at Conn. College.

MADELEINE OLIVER / TUFTS CROSS COUNTRY

Senior co-captain Natalie Bettez races ahead of the field on her way to winning the Purple Valley Classic in Williamstown, Mass. on Sept. 22. “This course is traditionally very fast,” Tierney said. “The past two years, it rained the day of or the day before, so it got really muddy because it’s right on the ocean. We thought times would be as slow as last year, but they actually ended up being around a minute faster this year. It was raining a bit, but a lot of people still ended up getting [personal records].” Following two weeks of rest and training, the Jumbos will head to the NESCAC Championship on Oct. 27 at Boston’s Franklin Park, where they competed last week in the All-New England

Championship. The team remains optimistic about the race, despite the strong competition it will face from Middlebury, Williams and Bates. “We already did a workout at [Franklin Park], but this coming Friday, we might go down to check out how the mud is doing and do more specific 5K stuff, and we’re also doing a hill workout this week to prepare,” Tierney said. “Now, I think we’re safely above Williams and same with Bates, so Middlebury is our big competition for NESCACs and MIT at regionals. MIT and Middlebury are both really good teams, but they both

deal with injuries and bad days just as we do.” Bettez pointed out that the close nature of the competition among the NESCAC schools means the championship is anyone’s game. “Franklin Park is a course we know pretty well,” Bettez said. “In terms of the race, it’s going to be a very interesting one. Yesterday, we beat Williams but we were behind Middlebury, so it will be very interesting to see who can come out on top. I think we have a great team, but we haven’t been able to fully show how good we are, so that will be a great race to do that.”