NEWS

page 4 Ayomide Oloyede interns for Congressional Black Caucus, trading one Hill for another page 11 Letter from the Managing Board: What to expect from us page 8 Listen up! According to Daily arts editor, Super Freaky songs rule the summer NEWS

1 FEATURES 4 ARTS & POP CULTURE 8 FUN & GAMES 10 OPINION 11 SPORTS 14

THE INDEPENDENT STUDENT NEWSPAPER OF TUFTS UNIVERSITY EST. 1980

THE TUFTS DAILY

VOLUME LXXXIV, ISSUE 2

Tuesday, sepTember 6, 2022

MEDFORD/SOMERVILLE, MASS.

UNIVERSITY Welcome Back, Jumbos!

First-years housed at The Court live in the shadow of The mods

by Daniel Vos

Assistant News Editor

One hundred members of the Class of 2026 moved into their new dorms at The Court at Professors Row last week. Located on the Vouté Tennis Courts that formerly housed the modular COVID-19 isolation units known as The Mods, The Court is a complex of three buildings that will house 150 first-years and nine resident assistants this fall.

Although 93 and 95 Professors Row were completed on time for move-in, the opening of 91 Professors Row has been delayed until Sept. 17 due to supply chain issues that have slowed construction. The 50 first-years displaced by the delay will be temporarily housed in Mods E and F on the Vouté Courts until they can move into their rooms.

Constructed over the summer to accommodate Tufts’ growing student body until the completion of a new permanent dorm, The Court buildings are temporary units like The Mods. However, they have common areas and expanded amenities that were missing from The Mods.

Khin Thu Lwin, a first-year assigned to 91 Professors Row, was initially relieved to hear she would be living in a newly-constructed residence hall. She was disappointed to learn her building was significantly smaller than a typical residence hall, having grown excited about “traditional dorm-style life in a hall with a lot of people.”

“We’re paying $9,000 in living costs, but we’re not really getting the proper [experience],” Lwin said.

The Office of Residential Life and Learning assured Lwin and her 49 peers living in The Mods until Sept. 17 that they have been “thoroughly cleaned.” ORLL will also compensate each resident of 91 Professors Row with a $250 gift card for the Tufts bookstore and a $250 UberEats voucher.

Tim Jordan, associate director of residential education, suggested there are some benefits to living in The Court despite the buildings’ temporary nature.

“The Court will offer strong amenities such as air conditioning, study rooms, updated kitchens, and brand new furniture,” Jordan wrote in an email to the Daily. “With the living space and amenities being either similar to or exceeding other first-year offerings, we see The Court as being a great option for students to live in.”

CHARLENE TSAI / THE TUFTS DAILY

The Court at Professors Row is pictured on Sept. 5.

see HOUSING, page 2

UNIVERSITY UNIVERSITY

Tufts shows support for Harvard, uNC in supreme Court affirmative action case

by Madeline Wilson

Deputy News Editor

Tufts joined 32 other colleges and universities in signing an amicus curiae brief for the Supreme Court of the United States affirming the legality of race-conscious college admissions. The brief, filed by Amherst College on Aug. 1, expresses support for Harvard College and the University of North Carolina in their ongoing legal battle to maintain students’ race as a factor in college admissions decisions.

Both universities were sued in 2014 by Students for Fair Admissions, a group that argues affirmative action practices in college admissions — which aim to increase enrollment of Black, Latino and other underrepresented students — are discriminatory and unconstitutional under the equal protection clause of the 14th Amendment. After losing in lower courts in 2019 and 2021, SFFA appealed the ruling to the Supreme Court, which is set to hear their cases this fall.

The amicus brief, signed by many selective colleges and universities with holistic admissions processes, states that race-conscious admissions processes help to create “the educational benefits of a diverse student body and the societal benefits of educating diverse future leaders.”

In a statement to the Daily regarding Tufts’ decision to sign the brief, University President Anthony Monaco explained why the university supports affirmative action policies.

“One of the most distinctive attributes of a Tufts education is the multitude of backgrounds and perspectives that our students bring to campus that enrich the student experience,” Monaco wrote. “At Tufts, we embrace diversity and recognize its power to enlighten, teach, and bridge differences.”

SFFA’s lawsuit accuses Harvard of discriminating against Asian American applicants and advocates for “race-neutral” admissions processes. If successful, SFFA’s case against Harvard and UNC would

ANN MARIE BURKE / THE TUFTS DAILY

Ballou Hall is pictured on April 12, 2021. see COURT, page 7

Tufts updates fall COVId-19 protocol, ends mask mandate and surveillance testing

by Amelia Colafati

Staff Writer

In anticipation of welcoming students back to campus, Tufts announced its fall 2022 COVID19 protocols in an email on Aug. 10. According to the email, the updated measures include the end of surveillance testing as well as the removal of a mask mandate. Infected students will also be directed to isolate in their rooms as opposed to the temporary housing on-campus students were asked to isolate in last academic year.

The university’s decision to implement the new COVID19 policies was driven by both national and local changes.

“Our approach to COVID19 is data driven, incorporating national, state, local and university trends into our decision-making,” Michael Jordan, university infection control health director, wrote in an email to the Daily. “The most recent changes reflect what we know from the current data and current guidance from public health authorities.”

The university’s decision also took into account the success of vaccines and other measures in preventing and spreading serious COVID-19 illness.

“COVID vaccines, boosters, and treatments have been tremendously effective in preventing widespread severe illness,” Jordan wrote. “For that to continue to be the case, the university continues to implement a series of measures designed to limit transmission of the virus within our community.”

If cases rise again, the university is leaving open the possibility of reinstating more stringent policies.

“As we have throughout the pandemic, we will continually monitor local Tufts community, neighboring town, state and national data and public

see COVID-19, page 3

Chloe Courtney Bohl Editor in Chief

– EDITORIAL –

Delaney Clarke Julia Shannon-Grillo

Managing Editors Ty Blitstein Abigail Vixama

Associate Editors

Emily Thompson

Aaron Gruen Ariana Phillips Madeline Wilson Aditya Acharya Madeleine Aitken Coco Arcand Peri Barest Claire Ferris Olivia Field Skyler Goldberg Tess Harmon Ella Kamm Maddy Mueller Michael Weiskopf Charlotte Chen Daniel Vos Elizabeth Zacks

Mark Choi

Kaitlyn Wells Juanita Asapokhai Owen Bonk Jillian Collins Sam Dieringer Chris Duncan Sam Russo Kate Seklir Emma Bittar Kayla Butera Tobias Fu Isabelle Kaminsky Isabelle Kaminsky Layla Kennington Elizabeth Zacks

Jack Clohisy

RaiAnn Bu Henry Chandonnet Ellie Lester Siavash Raissi Carl Svahn Emmy Wenstrup Blake Anderson Alexis Enderle Odessa Gaines Ryan Fairfield Nate Hall Executive News Editor Deputy News Editors

News Editors

Assistant News Editors

Executive Features Editor Deputy Features Editor Features Editors

Assistant Features Editors

Executive Arts Editor Arts Editors

Assistant Arts Editors

Reya Kumar

Liz Buehl Gian Luca Di Leonardo Sara Kessel Executive Opinion Editor Opinion Editors

Alexander Janoff

Faye Thijssen Marianna Schantz Editorial Editor Editorialists

Keila McCabe

Arielle Weinstein Oliver Fox Ethan Grubelich Emma Joyce Arnav Sacheti Bharat Singh Sam Dieringer Henry Gorelik Timothy Valk Michael Wallace-Bruce Executive Sports Editor Deputy Sports Editor Sports Editors

Assistant Sports Editors

Ethan Steinberg Investigative Editor

Flora Meng

Peri Barest Avery Hanna Yanqing Huang Ian Lau Emilia Nathan Sarah Sandlow Chris Tomo Cindy Zhang Executive Science Editor Science Editors

Aaron Klein Executive Audio Producer

Natalie Brownsell Ian Lau

Executive Photo Editors

Julia Carpi Executive Video Editor

Odessa Gaines Avery Hanna

Intentionality & Inclusivity Committee Chairs

Skyler Goldberg Education Committee Chair

Madeleine Aitken

Mariel Priven

Social Committee Chairs

– PRODUCTION –

Charlene Tsai

Production Director

Maddy Noah Mike Kourkoulakos

Avril Lynch Camilla Samuel

Executive Layout Editors

Executive Graphics Editors

Rachel Liu Christopher Vergos

Aedan Brown Emma Rao Caroline Vandis Sophie Dorf-Kamienny Sarah Goldstein Jack Maniaci Marlee Stout Michael Weiskopf

Liz Buehl Caroline Vandis

Executive Copy Editors

Copy Editors

Assistant Copy Editors

Executive Social Media Editors

Evelyn Altschuler Executive Newsletter Editor

– BUSINESS –

Sam Berman

Business Director

Michelle Alizada Izzy Francis Eileen Chen Ryan Sorbi

Kendall Roberts Kate Seklir

Ad Managers

Receivables Managers

Alumni Liaisons

LOCAL

simultaneous Green and Orange Line closures frustrate commuters

by Peri Barest

News Editor

The MBTA announced on Aug. 5 that the Green Line Extension Medford branch — which was scheduled to be completed by the end of the summer — will not open until late November. This is the project’s third delay from the planned completion date of December 2021.

The MBTA simultaneously announced that the recently opened Union Square branch of the GLX will be closed from Aug. 22 to Sept. 18 for additional repairs.

“The work has been very slow,” Laurel Ruma, the GLX community working group representative from College Avenue in Medford, said. “There have been massive problems with hiring folks. [The work] is done in piecemeal, so whatever contractor has the time will show up and do the work.”

The GLX delay was announced two days after the MBTA’s decision to close the entire Orange Line from Aug. 19 to Sept. 18 for repairs. The MBTA is currently under review by the Federal Transportation Administration following multiple serious incidents, including deaths, derailments and a fire, over the past 14 months.

Jennifer Dorsen, who represents the Somerville side of Ball Square in the community working group, said she is frustrated with delays and the lack of funding or care for public transportation.

“The T is such a mess right now that you should have known that it was too good to be true that they were on schedule to open when they said,” Dorsen said. “[There is] incredible frustration and anger that our public transportation system is in such a mess that this [closure] was necessary.”

Ruma said that the GLX delay would likely have occurred even without the larger problems occurring within the MBTA. She cited pandemic supply chain issues and difficulty hiring contractors as factors for why construction has taken so long.

“It’s no surprise to anyone who’s been watching the project closely,” Ruma said. “So for people who live in the neighborhood, it’s been very clear for a long time — throughout the summer [and] throughout the spring — that the MBTA was definitely not on schedule with completing the Green Line.”

A spokesperson from the MBTA declined to comment for this article.

To compensate for lost Orange Line service, the MBTA has over 160 free shuttle buses running along the Orange Line route with additional bus-only lanes. The agency encouraged commuters to work from home if possible or find alternate methods of transportation, such as biking or taking the commuter rail.

Boston also temporarily made 30-day Bluebikes passes free throughout the city, and has implemented a shuttle bus in Chinatown running every 30 minutes from 5 a.m. to 7 a.m. and 8 p.m. to 1 a.m.

Medford Mayor Breanna LungoKoehn said the city has taken a proactive approach in response to these closures, since both the Orange Line and the GLX run through Medford.

“I’m glad [the MBTA is] trying to make the T safer and trying to replace tracks that are 40 years old,” she said. “[Medford has] worked with the T and given them the locations where we believe detail officers should be put in place. … We set up an emergency operation center … just to be prepared in case there was chaos in our streets and gridlock and any type of [issue] where you have more bikers and more pedestrians on the roads, and more cars.”

Lungo-Koehn said that the first few days of the Orange and Green Line closures went relatively smoothly, adding that the city is preparing for the back-toschool rush.

“It seems like people are listening, people are working from home if they can, they’re avoiding the areas if they can,” she said. “We’re getting ready for K-12 students going back to school on the 30th so we know there’ll be an uptick in traffic and shuttle bus use then.”

She added that all public streets in Medford within a quarter mile of the GLX stops will switch to permit parking to ensure that residents still have parking access once the extension opens.

Rocco DiRico, executive director of government and community relations at Tufts, said that students on the Health Sciences Campus will be particularly impacted by the Orange and Green Line closures.

“Many of our students, particularly those on our Health Sciences Campus in Boston, rely on the Orange Line to get to and from campus,” DiRico wrote in an email to the Daily. “We have communicated with students, faculty and staff on the Health Sciences campus in Boston to inform them of alternative options.”

DiRico added that Tufts is partnering with Bluebikes to extend the 50% student discount to annual memberships and working to get more Bluebikes located near campus.

Dorsen is disappointed that the MBTA is not a reliable mode of transit for many community members right now, some of whom view access to public transportation as an issue of social justice and economic necessity.

“If you don’t use [public transportation], you don’t notice it because you’re not using it,” Dorsen said. “But as soon as you start to need it, you realize what a critical component of urban life it is.”

Ruma also expressed frustration that the MBTA’s Better Bus Project will significantly limit bus services directly to GLX stations in the long term. “The MBTA is eliminating almost all bus service to and from Green Line Extension stops, and I have to say that is top of mind concern for everyone,” she said.

Ruma added that the MBTA’s crises have highlighted leadership from the mayors of Boston, Medford and Somerville.

“Watching Mayor Wu actually take different modes of transportation each day to try to see what everyone else is seeing on the ground and then reporting back to the team is exceedingly important,” Ruma said. “I’ve been very encouraged by the response of the mayors. I think we’re seeing excellent leadership from Mayors Wu, LungoKoehn and Ballantyne.”

Ruma and DiRico agreed that, despite the delays, the GLX Medford branch’s opening is still a success for public transportation in the area.

“While the GLX Medford/Tufts delay is disappointing, I am excited to hear that the station will be opening in November,” DiRico said. “[The GLX] will connect three of our campuses: Medford/Somerville, Chinatown and the Fenway, making it easier for our students to travel back and forth.”

Lungo-Koehn says she is committed to opening the GLX Medford branch as soon as possible. “I can assure you that I’m trying to stay on top of it and push where I can … to make sure that the end-of-November timeframe is a go,” she said.

EVAN SLACK / THE TUFTS DAILY ARCHIVES A sign promoting the MBTA Green Line Extension project is pictured on April 17, 2018.

Despite amenities, students have reservations about temporary dorms

HOUSING

continued from page 1

While current sophomores housed in the Hyatt Place hotel last year were offered the most desirable lottery numbers for 2022–23 housing, Jordan said priority housing lottery numbers will not be offered to residents of The Court. While Hyatt residents were granted preferred lottery numbers due to challenges with transportation and Wi-Fi at the hotel, Jordan said, he does not expect the same issues to affect Court residents given the complex’s central location on campus.

Certain first-years are still upset about their housing assignment. Nearly 200 students have signed an online petition demanding 5% reimbursement of Court residents’ cost of living for the year. The petition describes The Court as “trailer park-like buildings on a tennis court” and claims that some who “will soon live at The Court have been bullied by our peers for living in ‘lesser housing’ and ‘shacks’.”

Max Edelman, a first-year who started the petition after speaking to other students assigned to live in The Court, said the residence hall comes with unfortunate social stigmas, particularly among older students.

“I’ve had a bunch of people who I thought were my friends be like, ‘I can’t believe you were put in these,’” Edelman said. “Even parents have started saying things and being like, ‘Oh, you’re in this subpar housing.’”

Jordan responded to the grievances listed in the petition, expressing optimism that students will change their minds once they settle in.

“We understand that students are apprehensive about these spaces given that they are new and that there is an image our students have of “mods”, but we cannot stress enough that The Court has all of the things our students want in a housing experience,” Jordan wrote. “We encourage students to live in these new buildings before making any judgments, and we think other students will recognize The Court’s advantages once students experience the space.”

Lwin thinks Tufts has done its best to explain the need for The Court and its benefits, and agreed with Jordan that The Court has all the amenities of a traditional residence hall.

Edelman still feels nervous about the transition.

“I’ve always been anxious about the move-in because it’s a new stage of life,” they said in an interview with the Daily prior to move-in. “I’m supposed to be anxious, but this is extra. It shouldn’t be so nerve-wracking.”

Jordan acknowledged students’ concerns and thanked them for their patience.

“We know that being in a new space can be challenging and bring additional anxieties surrounding a transition to college, we just ask that you trust we have put the time and thought into making these spaces feel like home,” he wrote.

UNIVERSITY

Tufts medical professionals advise on monkeypox

by Aaron Gruen

Deputy News Editor

As monkeypox continues to spread in the United States, Tufts health personnel have shared advice with the Daily on ways students can avoid contracting the disease. A rare disease that is endemic to several Central and West African countries, monkeypox was reported in Europe earlier this year. Since then, the disease has spread to the United States.

Ramnath Subbaraman, an assistant professor in the Department of Public Health and Community Medicine at Tufts University School of Medicine and an attending physician at Tufts Medical Center, said that the current strain of monkeypox is similar to smallpox, albeit much less severe.

“[Smallpox] had a much higher case fatality rate,” Subbaraman said. “Out of the more than 30,000 individuals who’ve been documented to have experienced monkeypox in the current outbreak, only about a dozen people have died from the infection.”

The current strain of monkeypox may have originated in Nigeria in 2017, where person-to-person contact was the primary mode of transmission.

Most people with monkeypox reported symptoms of rash, fatigue, fever and chills. The rash consists of blister-like lesions, which generally appear around the genitals or anus.

Medical Director of Health Service Marie Caggiano wrote in an email to the Daily that students who experience the aforementioned symptoms should contact Tufts Health Service.

“If residential students are exposed, they should notify Tufts Health Service at 617-6273350,” Caggiano wrote. “If they are experiencing symptoms, they should notify Tufts Health Service and also avoid close contact with others, until they are evaluated by a healthcare professional.”

If diagnosed with monkeypox, Caggiano advises a person should avoid close contact with others, wear a mask and completely cover the rash.

“Residential students diagnosed with monkeypox will be assigned to temporary isolation housing and will receive meal delivery. Students living within driving distance who can return home without using public transportation will isolate at home.”

As of Sept. 2, 317 cases of monkeypox have been reported in Massachusetts, out of 19,962 cases nationally. Currently, data on individual cases per city in Massachusetts is unavailable.

“The mode of spread for our 2022 monkeypox outbreak has largely been close intimate contact with the rash or blisters of an individual with monkeypox,” Subbaraman said. “During our current outbreak, this means that monkeypox has largely been spread through sexual contact or other forms of intimate contact.”

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, monkeypox can be spread by skin-to-skin contact, contact with respiratory secretions from an infected individual or contact with objects or fabrics that have been touched by an infected individual.

In an email to the Daily, University Infection Control Health Director Michael Jordan wrote that an individual with monkeypox is “infectious to others from the time symptoms start until the rash has fully healed and a fresh layer of skin has formed. The illness typically lasts 2–4 weeks.”

During the current monkeypox outbreak, patients have mainly been gay, bisexual or queer men and transgender and nonbinary people who have sex with men; however, Jordan dispelled the misconception that only members of these groups can contract the disease.

“Anyone can be infected with monkeypox regardless of gender identity or sexual orientation,” Jordan wrote. “Inaccurate media messaging that this is somehow a ‘gay illness’ is wrong.”

Subbaraman also made clear that any individual can contract monkeypox.

“Anyone who has close personal contact with someone with possible monkeypox blisters could be at risk,” he said. “This includes people of any gender identity or sexual orientation, and indeed a small number of women and children have been affected.”

Subbaraman suggested that like COVID-19, frequent testing and vaccination could curb the spread of monkeypox. Additionally, according to CDC data, monkeypox cases are beginning to decline nationwide.

“Testing widely and frequently has the potential to curb transmission of any infectious disease by identifying individuals who may be affected so that they can isolate,” Subbaraman said. “Testing can also enable contact tracing so that [exposed individuals] can be notified to avoid further contacts.”

A monkeypox vaccine, named JYNNEOS, was approved for use by the Food and Drug Administration in 2019. On Aug. 18, healthcare providers in Massachusetts began injecting JYNNEOS intradermally, or just under the skin, rather than intramuscularly, thus the number of available doses increased fivefold.

Due to a limited supply of monkeypox vaccines, only those who have either had contact with an individual with the disease or had multiple sexual partners in the last 14 days in a jurisdiction with confirmed monkeypox cases are eligible to receive a monkeypox vaccine in Massachusetts.

“Ideally, people would get two doses, but right now the [Massachusetts Department of Public Health] is prioritizing getting a first dose out to as many people as possible to provide some protection against infection,” Subbaraman said.

Those who are eligible for vaccination can schedule an appointment at one of several medical centers and clinics around Boston. Additionally, Tufts will continue to update its monkeypox guidance page as university policy changes and more data on the disease becomes available.

ALINA MURPHY / THE TUFTS DAILY ARCHIVES The Tufts Health Service building is pictured on March 6, 2018.

Infected students to isolate in dorms per new COVID-19 protocols

IAN LAU / THE TUFTS DAILY The former COVID-19 Testing Center at 62R Talbot Ave. is pictured on Oct. 3, 2021. As of this semester Tufts will no longer conduct regular surveillance testing for COVID-19.

COVID-19

continued from page 1 health guidance and put in place guidelines that we believe will most effectively protect and promote the continued health, safety and well-being of our university community and neighbors,” Jordan wrote.

With these new policies in place, students who test positive and live on campus are required to isolate themselves in their dorm rooms — a measure that potentially places roommates at risk for infection. In order to limit that risk, the university recommends that roommates wear masks around each other and try to arrange their schedules to limit time together in the dorm.

“This may include scheduling times to use shared spaces in order to avoid close contact, wearing masks when in the same room unless sleeping with each person in their own bed, or temporarily moving into a room with friends or suitemates while the sick person recovers,” Marie Caggiano, medical director of Health Service, wrote in an email to the Daily.

Per the new university rules, masks are not required in any space on campus. While faculty cannot mandate them in the classroom, they can encourage students to wear masks during their class.

Even with the rollback of mask requirements, the university continues to strongly encourage masking and other preventative measures as useful ways to combat the spread of infectious diseases like COVID-19.

The new policies have posed a concern for some faculty members. Nick Seaver, an assistant professor in the Department of Anthropology, points out that the limited institutional support for preventative measures will leave the burden of responding to COVID-19 on faculty members.

“My main concern as an instructor is that the ongoing pandemic will continue to require accommodations and that, without institutional support, the burden of flexibility will be borne by individual faculty members who have to treat each case as unique,” Seaver wrote in an email to the Daily. “Ensuring that students are able to learn effectively without posing an undue risk to their own health or the health of others is a crucial task, and it will continue to require a lot of work from faculty and the administration alike.”

Seaver also mentioned that he appreciated the university’s early response to the pandemic, emphasizing the “flexibility afforded to faculty” by the administration, but noted his concerns upon returning to campus.

“[Many] instructors, like myself, had young children at home who could not yet be vaccinated; there was no easy way to have that kind of risk accounted for under university policies, which only permitted exceptions for instructors who were themselves at increased risk,” he wrote.

Seaver hopes the university will approach the upcoming semester carefully and continue to respond in a conscientious manner.

“I hope that as conditions evolve, the university response evolves to match it, considering the actual risks facing members of the Tufts community and the community surrounding campus, rather than proceeding toward the kind of abandonment we’re seeing from so many other institutions at this point in the pandemic,” Seaver wrote.