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VOLUME LXXXIII, ISSUE 45
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Thursday, April 14, 2022
MEDFORD/SOMERVILLE, MASS.
The Mods and quarantine hotels near capacity, students may have to isolate in residence halls by Flora Meng
Deputy News Editor
Tufts announced revised COVID-19 isolation procedures in an email to the university-wide community on April 13 as The Mods and hotel rooms used for isolation neared capacity. The email was signed by Dean of Student Affairs Camille Lizarríbar, University Infection Control Health Director Michael Jordan and Medical Director of Health Service Marie Caggiano. “We are doing everything possible to secure additional isolation rooms in local hotels; however, if the number of students needing isolation exceeds our isolation housing’s capacity, COVID positive students who live on campus may need to isolate in their residence hall rooms,” they wrote. According to the new guidelines, students who test positive will receive an email from university staff with instructions for isolation. All COVID-19-positive students are expected to remain in their residence halls until they
GRAPHIC BY ALEX VIVEROS have received their isolation information. If The Mods or hotel isolation options are full by the time a student tests positive, their quarantine procedure will depend on where they live. Students living on campus in a double or triple will be given priority to isolate in The Mods or in a hotel. If no rooms are available, students living in a shared dormitory space
will be required to isolate in their room. Students living on campus “who can return to their permanent home address without getting on a plane, train, bus, or other form of public transit” will be required to complete their isolation at home. Students living off campus will continue to isolate in their off-campus home if they test positive.
Somerville City Council bans crisis pregnancy centers by Emily Thompson Deputy News Editor
The Somerville City Council passed an ordinance on March 24 banning crisis pregnancy centers, defining them as deceptive, limited services pregnancy centers that do not directly provide or refer clients for abortions or emergency contraception. The ordinance was championed by Somerville City Councilor-at-Large Kristen Strezo and co-sponsored by the entire city council. Failure to
comply with the ordinance may result in a fine of $300. “I’m really upset that I still have to fight as hard as I do for reproductive justice and abortion access,” Strezo said. “We know that — in many cases — [CPCs’] intent is disingenuous, and they often will withhold critical information about pregnancy [and] about abortion. In my capacity as a city councilor, we have to make sure that … accurate information is getting out there.” Not only is the ordinance the first of its kind in Massachusetts,
Somerville City Hall is pictured on March 12, 2021.
NICOLE GARAY / THE TUFTS DAILY
but it is also unprecedented in Somerville. “[Somerville is] known for being trendsetters and really taking on issues that many municipalities sometimes are afraid of,” Strezo said. “I’m grateful to say this is another first for Somerville and Massachusetts.” Strezo said people have urged the protection of those seeking medical care for decades. “I feel a lot more comfortable knowing that our residents in Somerville and Tufts students have the correct medical information and won’t … have to deal with deceptive or misleading and manipulative language that crisis pregnancy centers are known to distribute,” Strezo said. The ban is proactive as Somerville is not home to any practices that fit into the CPC description. “While Somerville does not currently have any CPCs, in Massachusetts, these anti-abortion fake women’s health clinics outnumber legitimate reproductive care providers three to one,” Taylor St. Germain, communications director of see LEGISLATION, page 2
UberEats vouchers will be provided to students on meal plans who are asked to isolate in The Mods, a hotel or their residence halls. To seek medical care while in isolation, students can contact Health Service by calling 617-627-3350 or by scheduling a telehealth appointment in the health and wellness portal. The email emphasized that Tufts continues to require
indoor masking as part of its COVID-19 strategy. “As transmission of COVID within our student community remains high, we emphasize the need to wear a mask indoors while around others at all times,” the email read. “Mask wearing is essential in reducing the spread of COVID. We are concerned that continued high rates may impact the end of the academic year.”
Somerville to construct $2.5 million Poplar Street Pump Station by Olivia Field
Assistant News Editor
Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley announced last month that she had secured $8 million of federal funding for the Massachusetts 7th Congressional District, which she represents, and that $2.5 million of that funding will be allocated for a Somerville project called the Poplar Street Pump Station. The project is slated to begin construction in fall 2022 and will provide critical stormwater management infrastructure to the city. Somerville Ward 2 City Councilor J.T. Scott described the importance of the project. “The Poplar Street Pump Station itself is the linchpin to a citywide set of drainage management projects that will reduce flooding and the amount of sewage routinely discharged into the Mystic River from our existing ‘Combined Sewer Overflow’ system,” Scott wrote in an email to the Daily.
SPORTS / back
FEATS / page 3
ARTS / page 5
Baseball leads NESCAC after back-to-back wins against Bates
MSA programs support students observing Ramadan during the school year
Miley Cyrus reaches a new level with her newest, live album
In the 1980s, Massachusetts passed legislation that initiated the cleanup of the Boston Harbor, then considered the most heavily polluted waterway in the country. However, around 500 million gallons of wastewater are still deposited into the harbor via the Mystic and Charles Rivers every year, according to reporting by The Boston Globe. Rich Raiche, project executive and director of infrastructure and asset management for the City of Somerville, said the project is an extremely large undertaking but will provide significant benefits to Somerville residents, such as providing necessary flood relief and enhancing climate resilience. “The area has been prone to flooding for the past 100 or so years, and that flooding is getting worse and is projected to get worse,” Raiche said. “And so the pump station is being designed and the storage facility and the connection are being designed to be climate resilient against the changing climate.” see SEWERS, page 2 NEWS
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THE TUFTS DAILY | News | Thursday, April 14, 2022
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LEGISLATION
continued from page 1 Reproductive Equity Now, wrote in an email to the Daily. “That’s why clear and accurate information about where people can access legitimate abortion care is so important.” St. Germain said that this ordinance should serve as a model for cities across the country that wish to expand real, informed access to reproductive healthcare. “People facing an unintended pregnancy deserve compassionate, medically-accurate care,” St. Germain wrote. “Crisis pregnancy centers use deceptive advertising to deceive pregnant people of all ages — including college students — that they provide
abortion care, when in reality, many do not even have doctors on staff to discuss the full range of health care options with clients.” Leah Cohen, community director of the Reproductive Freedom Fund of New Hampshire, spoke of her experience educating people about the harms of CPCs in New Hampshire. “We have seen reports of patients being verbally berated by CPC workers, told that they are going to hell for seeking abortion care, and being fed disinformation about abortion care like falsified data about adverse health outcomes from abortion care,” Cohen, a junior, wrote in an email to the Daily.
Cohen discussed the severity of misinformation spread by CPCs. “Sometimes, that disinformation even crosses into outright dangerous delivery of care, like the dispensation of the dangerous and ineffective ‘abortion reversal pill’ — which is basically just a massive dose of progesterone that has led to severe bleeding and hospitalization of patients,” she wrote. Cohen stressed the need for communities in medium-to-high reproductive healthcare areas to take proactive steps against anti-abortion work. “CPCs quite frankly should not exist — we need real resources for pregnant patients who decide, with full information and informed consent, to continue their pregnancies, but
those resources should be easily accessible, without shame or stigma, and [with] no strings attached,” Cohen wrote. “CPCs are not always a focal point of pro-abortion organizing, mainly because so much of the work of reproductive justice is defensive in a hostile environment and because so few people know about the dangers and pervasive harm of CPCs.” Strezo emphasized how bringing attention to this ordinance can empower people. “I think a lot of people across the nation feel helpless, like there aren’t a lot of active steps happening, but there are,” Strezo said. “I also want to just convey that we have a lot of power to really take active steps to protect reproductive justice.”
Construction for wastewater pump to commence this fall SEWERS
continued from page 1 Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley discussed the potential impact of funding the pump station. “This critical funding will help the Somerville community address systemic inequities in its water infrastructure, prepare for the impacts of climate change, and create space for joy and creativity,” Pressley said in a press release on July 29, 2021. Congresswoman Pressley’s office and the City of Somerville worked closely to determine how to best use the federal funds, and this project stood out. “It’s a very expensive project, but … everyone agreed it had a lot of benefits,” Raiche said. “We worked with Ayanna Pressley’s office … writing up the benefit statement, and all the things that they needed to put it into the budget.” Scott explained the project’s potential benefits. “This facility’s environmental benefits in reducing sewage and pollution dumped into the Mystic River is an absolutely necessary benefit, and it will also provide much needed capacity during storms to prevent our streets, sidewalks, and basements from filling with sewage — an unfortunately common occurrence in many parts of Ward 2 presently,” he wrote. The project has not been without its challenges, most notably because of its significant size and expense. “It is a significant civil engineering [project], and it has a lot of technical challenges that the team has designed their way out of on a weekly or daily basis,” Raiche said. “The size of the tank and the size of the pumps are substantial, so it’s going to be a very major project.”
A storm drain is pictured in Somerville on April 2. Raiche explained how the pump will operate and fit into the current sewage system. “All the stormwater from the greater Union Square area flows down via pipes,” he said. “There’s a large interceptor sewer … that then connects into other portions of their system and makes its way out to Deer Island.” Raiche explained that flooding is caused by the fact that the system is undersized. The new pump system will redirect stormwater away from the Deer Island Wastewater Treatment Plant, drastically reducing the volume that plant will need to process. “So, we’re redirecting stormwater flow from … Deer Island to this pump station, and the pump station will have a large tank so that as the big storms come through, we’re storing that stormwater in a tank and
then the pump pumps that water out at a controlled rate into the MBTA system,” he said. “That will then make its way to the Charles River.” Though Somerville residents will not be able to actually see the pump station, they will be able to enjoy the open space and artistic environment. The pump will be in an underground tank beneath a new park called ArtFarm, a public space for art performances and urban agriculture. “There’s a number of studios and artists’ lofts down in that neighborhood,” Raiche said. “In terms of that open space, it was always envisioned to have an art component to it but also be a place where live performances can happen.” The project’s timeline is still somewhat uncertain. Though construction is slated to begin
NATALIE BROWNSELL / THE TUFTS DAILY
in fall of 2022, it will be a multiyear project. The Poplar Street Pump Station is a project that will not only improve climate resiliency and make tangible improvements to the current flood rates, but will also serve to enhance the Somerville community via the ArtFarm corollary project. Scott hopes the impact of this project will be lasting for generations of Somerville residents to come. “I’ve long been an advocate for the massive projects needed to address the problems inherent in our century-plus-old storm and sewer system, and this grant is an important step in moving us forward to solving the environmental and public health impacts of flooding throughout Ward 2 and the city as a whole,” Scott wrote.
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CPCs spread misinformation on reproductive health
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Features
Tufts Muslim community leaders reflect on joys, challenges of celebrating Ramadan during the semester
Decorations from an April 3 Iftar hosted by the Muslim Students Association are pictured. by Chris Duncan Features Editor
Ramadan is a time of spiritual renewal and reflection, a time for Muslims to take part in a celebration of community, spiritual growth and personal development. The monthlong holiday involves fasting not only from food and drink during the day but also from general bad habits or attitudes that individuals might wish to change. Tufts Muslim Chaplain Najiba Akbar notes that one thing non-Muslims may not understand about Ramadan is the fact that many in the Muslim community look forward to it. “I think people are surprised to learn that Muslims look forward to Ramadan each year and feel sad when it is over!” Akbar wrote in an email to the Daily. “There is something amazing about the experience of fasting and praying as a community and going through that process together. It’s also ok to try fasting if you are curious. Many Muslims invite their friends to fast for a day and break fast with them.” For someone like Tufts Muslim Student Association Treasurer Yousef Khan, the month is a time to reflect on how to improve oneself in both religious and daily life. “It’s a time to kind of change who you are for the better,” Khan, a senior, said. “Personally, I’m trying to become someone that’s more time-productive and also more time-efficient, and going back to the bare minimum and being really simplistic kind of lets you reflect.” Muslim Student Association Co-President Mohamed Samater has similar things in mind for self-development
during the month, like using his phone less and using time more effectively. Samater, a senior, also wants to use his fasting time as an opportunity to learn more about Islam. “I want [to use Ramadan] to grow my sense of spirituality,” he said. “Especially during that time I have for lunch. Basically, I’d spend that [time] learning more about Islam, reading books, even communicating with community members, having more group prayers in this time and just being more cognizant of the stuff that I’m doing in the moment.” Iman Ali, MSA’s other co-president, is also taking advantage of the month to reflect on the Quran and what its passages mean to her. She has been following “Qur’an 30 for 30”, a nightly series from the Yaqeen Institute for Islamic Research that discusses one chapter of the Quran each night of the month of Ramadan. “They’re imparting their learnings and their reflections, and so I’ve just been really trying to take that in and reflect on, for myself, what those verses mean to me,” Iman, a senior, said. “Even beyond Ramadan, I can look to that and hold on to that.” Having been mostly observed in the summer or during the tail end of the semester in recent years, Ramadan has been moving progressively further into the school year. This year, the holiday began the evening of April 1 and is set to conclude on May 1. Muslim Student Association is working to bring the community experience of Ramadan to Medford and Somerville, with a number of events set up for the month, including nightly prayers, or Tarawih; semiweekly communal Iftars, which are breakfast meals after sunset and a number of to-go options through Tufts Dining for
COURTESY IMAN ALI
Suhoor, also known as the predawn meal. There are also resources available for students to work with the Office of Equal Opportunity to make academic accommodations if needed. All of this work came from MSA’s persistent work with the university, Ali said. “I have to really give a shout out to our Muslim Chaplain Najiba. She’s been at the forefront … being our liaison to administration,” she said. “We really started to talk … about Ramadan in January, and we were having almost weekly meetings, be it with Tufts Dining to make sure that, you know, they’re providing Halal options and also figuring out ways that students [observing Ramadan] would be able to use their meal swipes at late hours of the day.” The movement of Ramadan to the middle of the semester, Ali says, warranted increased supplementary funding from the Tufts Community Union. “Before we received supplementary funding through TCU, we literally had what I would say are pennies — it wasn’t even enough for an Iftar,” Ali said. “Now moving forward, [Ramadan] will be in the school year for many years to come. So it took advocacy on the forefront of student leaders, particularly our treasurer [Yousef Khan] in trying to get us supplementary funding.” Having Ramadan during the semester has been a learning experience, and MSA leadership hopes to lay the groundwork for how to improve university support for students observing Ramadan on campus, especially given the turnout at MSA Ramadan events. “In the future years, there definitely needs to be consistent funding schemes given to the Muslim Student Association see RAMADAN, page 4
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David Wingens Potty Talk
Pearson Part 1: Level of discharge
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have never been in a Tufts building as mystifying as the Michael wing of Pearson Hall. To get there, you need only enter Pearson’s front door, take a right and then walk down a long, foreboding corridor as the decor slowly morphs decades into the past. The architect of this wing (presumably the eponymous “Michael”) seems to have been obsessed with bathrooms. Every floor in the Michael wing’s stairwell is marked in reference to its distance from the “discharge floor.” Naturally, I made it my goal to find this discharge floor and rigorously test its bathrooms (using the scientific method, of course). AMBIANCE The discharge floor of the Michael wing might be better described just as the basement. Because of its position beneath many floors of laboratories, it is a bit dingy, and I was constantly concerned about the risk of another chemical spill contaminating my experience. The hallway outside the bathroom is full of random chemistry paraphernalia, seemingly placed there to ward off liberal arts majors. Strangely, the toilet water is remarkably cloudy. This did not materially affect my experience, but it did raise questions about what experiments chemistry students conduct in these potties, and why they might need to be practicing toilet titration. The last notable feature is a rectangular metal plate with an area of about 30 floor tiles. Not only does it disrupt the aesthetic, but it also vibrates and emits a steady hum which ensures that you will be constantly on edge. Let me tell you, being constantly on edge is not conducive to a positive potty experience (PPE). 4/10 PRIVACY The hum, while disruptive to the achievement of potty zen, is actually useful for privacy. Auditory privacy is especially important in this bathroom because instead of normal stalls with toilets parallel to each other, the toilets here are back to back. This leads to a more intimate experience than most want. The intimacy of the abutting toilets is strangely mixed with the public nature of a bathroom whose front door is always open. The door is not heavy enough to close itself, so I imagine it just stays wide open all the time. This would constitute a major oversight, but I don’t think that the discharge floor of the Michael wing is particularly highly trafficked, so I will let it slide. 5/10. CONVENIENCE Despite its obscurity, this bathroom is actually quite convenient and is a reasonable alternative to the Campus Center if you are looking for a less socially risky experience. 8/10. HOW MANY THINGS DO I HAVE TO TOUCH This bathroom is way too touchy for a chemistry building. Every surface requires a touch, and, much like last week, the sink needs to be periodically reengaged while washing hands. This is all especially problematic, because you cannot know what sort of science-y things have touched the hands of the other people using the bathroom. 3/10 A perfectly antisocial but dull alternative to the nearby Campus Center gets a 5/10. David Wingens is a junior studying international relations. David can be reached at david.wingens@tufts.edu.
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THE TUFTS DAILY | Features | Thursday, April 14, 2022
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Muslim students adapt to celebrating Ramadan during the school year
COURTESY IMAN ALI
An Iftar hosted by the Muslim Students Association is pictured.
RAMADAN
continued from page 3 and Muslim Chaplaincy to be able to put on programming, because it is a big effort,” Ali said. Khan agrees, adding that streamlining talks with Tufts Dining would also be quite helpful for future MSA leadership. “The thing with funds and the thing with dining services is that
these are agreements made year to year,” Khan said. “So it’d be kind of nice to have something set in stone so that there’s not this … negotiation that has to happen.” Samater strikes a positive note, emphasizing the importance of community involvement and the role of individuals in helping organize programs for
current and future Ramadans. “We had a Ramadan town hall earlier this year, which definitely helped us and motivated us to make sure that we make this Ramadan the best one possible,” he said. “For future MSA board members, I’d recommend planning early.” Community is an overarching theme during the month of
Ramadan. For MSA leadership and the Muslim community on campus, finding community in people also fasting while going through the typical rigors of life on campus has been heartwarming, especially with the ability to hold in-person events this school year. “This year, I felt it was especially important for the commu-
nity at Tufts to gather together for breaking the fast because it was difficult to do that for the past two years due to Covid,” Akbar wrote. “Ramadan has presented us with a wonderful opportunity to build community and be together, and rebuild some of the bonds that were broken by the isolation of the past few years.”
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Thursday, April 14, 2022
‘ATTENTION: MILEY LIVE’ captures all the highlights of Miley Cyrus’s career with a rock and roll twist by Ryan Fairfield Staff Writer
Ever since her performance of Blondie’s “Heart of Glass” (1978) at the 2020 iHeartRadio Festival, fans of Miley Cyrus have been in awe of her pop-rock talent. The love only continued when Cyrus released her album “Plastic Hearts” (2020) two months later. A big shift from her Hannah Montana era and pop albums like “Younger Now” (2017) and “Bangerz” (2013), Cyrus tapped into a rock-and-roll side of herself with “Plastic Hearts,” which was ranked No. 23 on Rolling Stone’s “Best Albums of 2020.” After the album, Cyrus went on to headline festivals across North and South America, including Lollapalooza in Argentina, Chile, Brazil and Chicago. Before her festival concerts, Cyrus would frequently take to social media to ask fans what songs they would like to hear her perform, which led to her covering a variety of songs, including some of her older songs that she has not performed in years. With a diverse set list that fans loved, Cyrus’ concerts became widely popular and ultimately led to her new album, “ATTENTION: MILEY LIVE” (2022). “ATTENTION: MILEY LIVE” is Cyrus’ first live album and captures her wide range of vocal talent. The 20-track album includes some of her oldest songs, newest songs, unreleased songs, covers and mashups. Every song feels unique, both the covers and her originals, and Cyrus brings something new to each track. The album feels similar
RaiAnn Bu Micro-Trend of the Week
Woke jeans
F
ashion is one of the strongest social performances of gender expression. Through clothing, one communicates social status, identity, affiliations and values, allowing fashion to be one of the apparent rebellions against gender conformity as well as the strongest chain to the gender binary. Gender-neutral fashion has been rising in popularity as a result of an increase in freedoms and regularizations of gender expression and sexual liberation, especially within youth culture. With the population self-identify-
to the pop-rock aesthetic of “Plastic Hearts,” resulting in a highly energetic, fiery live album. From “Plastic Hearts,” Cyrus includes “High,” “Plastic Hearts” and “Never Be Me,” as well as “Edge of Midnight” and “Heart of Glass.” Out of her new songs, “Edge of Midnight” stands out as the strongest live performance. The remix, which is a mashup of Cyrus’ “Midnight Sky” and Stevie Nicks’ “Edge of Seventeen” (1982), is the perfect blend of new music and old. Cyrus embodies the rock aspect of both songs with raspy yet powerful vocals and an aggressive band to create a track that is just as good, if not better, than the original. Similar to “Edge of Midnight,” in which Cyrus draws from other artists, “ATTENTION: MILEY LIVE” includes three different mashups. “We Can’t Stop” is included in a mashup with the 1988 Pixies song “Where Is My Mind?,” “See You Again” is mixed with Cher’s 1966 “Bang Bang (My Baby Shot Me Down,” and finally, “Wrecking Ball” merges with Sinéad O’Connor’s 1990 “Nothing Compares 2 U.” While Cyrus’ creativity with these mashups is admirable, the album might have proved to be stronger, and more appealing, if she did individual tracks for the songs instead of mashups, allowing listeners to enjoy the songs in their entirety. Due to the mashups, there are no full-length, live versions of “Wrecking Ball,” “See You Again” or “We Can’t Stop,” which is disappointing, as those are some of Cyrus’ most popular songs.
The mashups are not the only instances in the album when Cyrus covers other artists. Covers of Dolly Parton’s “Jolene” (1973) and Madonna’s “Like A Prayer” (1989) are both featured on the album. These two songs are interesting choices for Cyrus’ very rock-heavy album, as “Jolene” is country and “Like A Prayer” is classic ‘80s pop. What makes these covers work on the album is that Cyrus brings her rock passion to “Jolene” and “Like A Prayer.” With strong bass and a twangy electric guitar, “Jolene” blends the genres of rock and country with ease, resulting in a memorable, lively track. “Like A Prayer” is reminiscent of the original through the backing vocals, but Cyrus takes the song to a new level, infusing it with her rockstar energy. Cyrus not only feeds into the nostalgia some have for ‘70s and ‘80s music, but the nostalgia people feel for the ‘old Miley.’ Tracks like “7 Things” and “Party In The U.S.A” allow the audience to visit Cyrus’ old music with a much older, adult Miley Cyrus. The beauty behind hearing Cyrus sing her old songs live is it shows how Cyrus has grown, both vocally and as a person, right alongside her audience and fans. Out of all the recordings on the album, “The Climb,” is the one that truly captures this ‘new Miley.’ Cyrus sings “The Climb” with the same passion she had at 16, but one can tell that there is much more maturity and understanding in her voice. Throughout her career, Cyrus has faced many obstacles and controversies, from people attacking her for her “Wrecking Ball” (2013) music
video to her divorce. However, Cyrus has, in true “The Climb” fashion, kept her head held high and kept the faith. “ATTENTION: MILEY LIVE” proves that Cyrus has found her sound. A long way from her Disney Channel days and pop era, Cyrus has become a true rockstar. The album succeeds in showing all of Cyrus’ abilities as an artist,
with covers and mashups to new recordings of her old songs. Cyrus’ passion is apparent in every song and “ATTENTION: MILEY LIVE” is the perfect album to summarize her career so far. Given Cyrus’ history of switching genres and sounds, it is uncertain if she will stick with rock for long, but one can only hope this is not her last rock album.
ing as a part of the LGBTQ+ community rising to over 7%, gender as a social construct is becoming more evident, which unveils the long-standing illusion. Currently, gender-neutral clothing options err on the side of caution, taking few risks in innovating new options for gender expression. Leaders of gender-neutral brands such as PANGAIA, Girlfriend Collective and Telfar mainly offer loungewear, looser fitting clothing and traditionally masculine wear — essentially clothing that has been already implicitly deemed gender-neutral. Collections may as well be indistinguishable from the loungewear section of gendered clothing brands, just with the section header removed. Additionally, gender-neutral clothing brands commonly
play with a minimalist aesthetic. Collections tend to feature uncontroversial beiges, small lettering and untouched solid colors. They convey that the gender norm is an integral ingredient in the creativity of clothing, as if blandness or lack of a statement is equivalent to lack of gender. These brands have unwittingly affirmed the visual division of gender through their interpretation of an absence of gender, a lack of anything at all. This inability to depart from the gender binary lies in the power of fashion and clothing to dictate cultural norms. Though we may be completely unaware, women’s clothing has always had an agenda to regulate women’s behavior and social roles. From details such as the size of pockets to the difference in fabrics and textures
used in women’s clothing, it is clear that women are primed to be ornamental. The diminished utility of women’s clothing physically limits them. Even as we look further, the details such as color, print, texture, coverage and lack of parallel styles to menswear all speak to the inherent intellectual, temperamental and physiological differences imposed between men and women. It seems menswear struggles to cross the great gender barrier more than womenswear. Women’s clothing has eased across the line to include masculine aspects such as suits, pants and vests. Their inclusion is out of protest, to be respected by physically adopting a male image. Because of the sexism inherent in modern society, to women, masculinity is power,
whereas for men, femininity is humiliating. There is hope for a more gender-neutral aesthetic, with celebrities such as Young Thug and Harry Styles publicly experimenting with subverting gender in clothing. However, these examples are far removed from typical life, existing in a separate universe from the other magazine pages and red carpet photoshoots. The gender binary has been so entrenched in human culture that it may be likened to a vestigial organ, something that has been passed down to us since the Bronze Age, an appendix of the human experience.
Miley Cyrus is pictured performing in 2019.
COURTESY WIKIMEDIA COMMONS
RaiAnn Bu is a sophomore majoring in community health. RaiAnn can be reached at raiann.bu@tufts.edu
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Idaho’s abortion bill
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daho adopted an abortion bill that closely resembled Texas’ abortion ban on March 23. Idaho’s new abortion law bans most abortions after about six weeks and allows anyone to sue an individual that may have had a hand in the procedure. It is similar to Texas’ bill in nearly every sense, but unlike Texas’ abortion bill, Idaho legislators deemed it reasonable for abortions to be carried out in cases of rape or incest.
Opinion This bill is especially dangerous considering the short time frame to get an abortion. Some women may not even be aware they are pregnant by six weeks due to irregular menstrual cycles. Although many Republican states are pushing for abortion bans, Idaho became the first state to follow Texas’ lead, and it comes just in time for the highly anticipated Supreme Court overturning of Roe v. Wade, a monumental abortion rights ruling that gave women the choice whether or not to have an abortion. Ever since Donald Trump swung the ideological makeup of the Supreme Court to a 6–3 conservative majority, Republicans have been on a mission to overturn Roe v.
Wade — a change that would remove monumental protections for a woman’s right to get an abortion. The decision has been placed on the states: State government is able to decide its legislation on abortion, and more and more states have taken up measures to restrict abortions. In Texas, abortion rates dropped 60% since the state adopted its abortion ban. This does not indicate a drop in overall abortions; instead of receiving care in their home state, women have traveled across state lines or even resorted to incredibly unsafe ways to terminate their pregnancy. Banning abortions does not mean they cease to happen; it means that people have to resort to
unhealthy and potentially deadly means. Here lies the fault in Republicans’ anti-abortion perspective: it preaches ‘saving a life’ yet holds no concern for the mother or even the child once born. Incredibly ironic. So what does this mean for the future? As a woman, I find it incredibly frightening that our rights are being rescinded and our bodily autonomies are now at the mercy of individuals who, apparently, never left the 1960s. In 2022, women may no longer have the right to make their own decisions based on what is best for them or their children. Many women do not have the privilege of a stable household and income to provide the proper care for a baby; this is more detrimental and cruel to
7 Thursday, April 14, 2022 the child than abortions would ever be. There are often health complications which could either put the baby’s life in danger or result in a traumatic and dangerous pregnancy. Whatever the reason for abortion may be, women know their bodies and what is best for their own future. Policymakers need to stop forcing women to birth children and start focusing on increasing measures that actually decrease the number of unwanted pregnancies, starting with providing medically accurate sex education and access to healthcare. Kristin Shiuey is a sophomore studying political science. Kristin can be reached at kristin.shiuey@tufts.edu.
8 Thursday, April 14, 2022
SPORTS
tuftsdaily.com
Baseball sweeps NESCAC series against Bates by Arielle Weinstein
Assistant Sports Editor
The Tufts men’s baseball team continued its run of good form, sweeping its weekend doubleheader against Bates College. Ranked 15th in the nation among Division III teams, the Jumbos have cruised past their competition thus far. With Saturday’s game being postponed due to weather, only two out of three scheduled games were played, but Tufts prevailed both times. Entering the series, Tufts’ overall record stood at 14–3 on the year, while its conference record was 2–1 following the previous weekend’s games against Colby College. The Jumbos’ opponents, the Bates Bobcats, had a record of 5–14 overall and a NESCAC record of 1–2. Bates lost its previous conference series to Trinity College. In the seventh game of Sunday’s doubleheader, the Jumbos took the lead but then found themselves behind early. Their first run came off of two walks and an RBI single by second baseman Kyle Cortese to put the Jumbos up 1–0. Bates responded quickly, however, and in the bottom of the inning scored three runs. They scored on a two-run single followed by another RBI single. The Bobcats added to their tally in the bottom of the second inning on an RBI single by center fielder Tyler Attal and a sacrifice fly by designated hitter Henry Jamieson to make the score 5–1 Bates. Both teams’ offenses stalled until the fifth inning when the Tufts bats came alive. With a man on third and two outs, junior left fielder Jackson Duffy hit an RBI double to decrease Bates’ lead to three runs. Senior designated hitter Ryan Noone smashed a single to put two runners on base for junior catcher Connor Bowman. Bowman walloped the ball over the left field fence to tie the game at five. In the sixth inning, Tufts’ offense exploded, scoring 11 runs.
Timothy Valk The Wraparound
Hockey minds spar over Zegras’ sweet skills
H
e’s done it again. Trevor Zegras has dropped the jaws of the hockey world. In just his rookie year, Zegras, a 6-foot-0, 185pound, 21-year-old from Bedford, N.Y. has earned a reputation as one of the most skilled and most creative players in the NHL playing for the Anaheim Ducks. He goes for the deke, the dangle, the spin-o-rama, the lacrosse pass,
Tufts infielder Patrick Solomon, a sophomore, is pictured at bat during a game against Colby on April 2.
COURTESY JEN BOWMAN
With the bases loaded, senior first baseman Peter DeMaria was hit by a pitch to score a run. On the next batter, Cortese walked to score another run. Duffy then hit a two-run single, and Noone followed that hit with a towering three-run home run to the left. Sophomore shortstop Ozzie Fleischer hit an RBI infield single aided by an error to score another run. To cap off the inning, junior Connor Flavin, who had replaced DeMaria at first base, hit a threerun homer to center field to make the score 16–5. “We went down a few runs, but you really can’t count us out at any point in the game,” Bowman said. “I mean you’ve seen that against Colby, especially like that first game that we’re never gonna roll over … we’’re never gonna give up.” Junior Cameron Mayer made his fourth start of the year on the mound, but only lasted two
innings for the Jumbos, surrendering five runs on seven hits. First-year Connor Podeszwa pitched excellently in relief, throwing five innings of shutout ball with six punchouts. His ERA is a NESCAC second-best 1.07 on the season. He also picked up his fourth win of the year as a result of his performance. The Jumbos’ hot offense continued into the second game on Sunday, scoring in the early innings. In the top of the first, DeMaria grounded into a double play with the bases loaded, but one run was able to score. Cortese followed that up with an RBI triple to center field to double Tufts’ lead. Cortese then scored on a passed ball, and Duffy doubled to center to score another run, capping off the scoring in the inning at 4–0. Tufts held Bates scoreless into the third inning when the team had another big offensive
burst. Noone hit into a fielder’s choice that scored a run, Duffy hit a sacrifice fly to left field, and Fleischer hit a two-run single to make the score 8–0. Junior right fielder Jimmy Evans then crushed a three-run homer to extend the lead to 11 runs. In the bottom of the fifth, Bates showed some life, mounting a small rally to score two runs. Tufts starter and junior pitcher Michael Volgende surrendered a solo home run, an RBI single and was then pulled and replaced by junior pitcher Jack Schwartz. Schwartz shut down Bates’ rally, keeping the score 11–2. He earned the win by pitching three scoreless frames, only giving up one hit and striking out three batters. “One of our team mantras is ‘same all the time,’ and so I would say it wasn’t any different than when I’ve thrown in any other game,” Schwartz said.
Tufts capped off the scoring in the top of the seventh inning with an RBI double by senior outfielder captain Miles Reid. Reid is hitting 0.466 on the season, good for second place in the NESCAC. Sophomore relief pitchers Justin Wells and Silas Reed each tossed scoreless innings to seal the win for the Jumbos. With the two conference wins, Tufts improved its record to 16–3 overall and 4–1 in the conference, placing the team first in the Eastern Division. The Jumbos will look to continue their success in Maine with three games against the Bowdoin Polar Bears this weekend. “We take a lot of pride wearing this Tufts uniform and playing for each other and trusting each other,” Evans said. “We’re capable of doing a lot of great things.”
the no-look shot, all effortlessly. One would think that for a league accused of being outdated at times, this kind of ingenuity would be welcomed, but this hasn’t exactly been the case. Take the Ducks’ 5–0, April Fools’ Day thrashing of the Arizona Coyotes. In an act of frustration over a game where Arizona was out-skilled (including a Michigan goal by Zegras himself ), Coyotes forward Jay Beagle cross-checked Anaheim’s Troy Terry three times while he was down in the final minutes. Coyotes color commentator Tyson Nash shared his thoughts during the play: “That’s the problem with these young players … You want to skill it up? You better be prepared to get punched in the mouth.” It’s a narrative that’s been floating around the old-school members
of the NHL community. Former long-time coach John Tortorella was publicly scrutinized for his criticism of Zegras’ breakout play: a move where Trevor lobbed the puck over the back of the net for teammate Sonny Milano to bat in against the Sabres on Dec. 7. “I just think our game has gone so far away from what the game should be,” Tortorella said. “A hard game, an honest game. It’s almost gotten too showman.” This is an example of gatekeeping — notice Tortorella’s use of “our game,” implying that hockey should be restricted to the hands of the older generation. If the NHL truly wants to grow its sport, it must rid itself of this philosophy. With younger fans and an enormous social media presence, creativity on the ice is precisely where hockey should be going, and players
certainly shouldn’t be punished for their slick moves. A few other thoughts from around the NHL: 1. We’ve known the eight participants from the East seemingly since December, but positioning is taking shape with under 10 regular season games left for most teams. Florida has a stranglehold on first in the Atlantic, leaving Boston and reigning champ Tampa Bay to duke it out for the rights to play second-seed Toronto. In the Metro, Carolina and the New York Rangers are neck and neck for the top while Washington attempts to knock Pittsburgh into the second Wild Card spot. 2. Things are only murkier out west. The Golden Knights
are on the outside looking in for now, but the Stars, Kings and Predators are all teetering on the edge. Colorado and Calgary have their divisions just about wrapped up, and a Blues versus Wild first round is looking more and more inevitable. 3. What a season for Auston Matthews. The Maple Leafs juggernaut scored his 50th goal in 50 games as of April 9 against the Canadiens, and he made it 51 in 50 by scoring just 27 seconds later. Enjoy the games this week! Timothy Valk is a sophomore studying quantitative economics. Timothy can be reached at timothy.valk@tufts.edu.