The Tufts Daily - Tuesday, December 4, 2018 by The Tufts Daily

Netflix looks to bigger picture as Oscars season nears with help from Cuarón, Coens see ARTS&LIVING / PAGE 6

NATIVE STUDIES AT TUFTS

Students, faculty support petition for new minor

Women’s basketball picks up two wins on the road to continue undefeated run see SPORTS / BACK PAGE

SEE FEATURES / PAGE 4

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VOLUME LXXVI, ISSUE 56

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Tuesday, December 4, 2018

MEDFORD/SOMERVILLE, MASS.

Massachusetts attorney general discusses state, national politics at Tisch College event by Alejandra Carrillo Staff Writer

Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey spoke to members of the Tufts, Medford and Somerville communities Monday about state and national politics and critical issues facing Massachusetts and the United States at Distler Performance Hall in the Perry and Marty Granoff Music Center. Healey spoke as part of the Jonathan M. Tisch College of Civic Life’s Distinguished Speaker Series. John Richard Skuse Professor of Political Science Jeffrey Berry moderated the event, which also featured student questions for Healey. Mayor of Medford Stephanie Burke and State Rep. Paul Donato, of the 35th Middlesex District in the Massachusetts House of Representatives, were in attendance, along with roughly 90 students. University President Anthony Monaco opened the event by emphasizing the importance of recognizing Massachusetts officials and their work in protecting constituents and safeguarding their rights. “We must not overlook the importance of local and state officials like Mayor Burke, Representative Donato and Attorney General Healey, who work hard to strengthen our communities,” he said. To begin the discussion, Healey was first asked about the relationship between sports and politics. Healey was co-captain of the basketball team in her undergraduate years at Harvard University and, after she graduated, a professional player in Austria for two years. She said that sports taught her teamwork and discipline — traits that have been crucial to her success as a lawyer and attorney general. “A lot of the work that I do in my office involves the concept of teamwork … [sports] also teaches you about discipline. You treat the campaign like a season, meeting people and hustling around the state,” Healey said. “Ultimately, I think it was the experience I had in sports that helped me compete successfully.” Berry asked about her litigation strategy in investigating manufacturers of drugs that contribute to the opioid crisis. Healey placed blame squarely on the pharmaceutical companies. “They are responsible for laying down the circumstances of what has become the nation’s most devastating public health crisis and epidemic that

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Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey speaks about state and national politics at the Jonathan M. Tisch College of Civic Life’s Distinguished Speaker Series event, moderated by Jeffrey Berry, professor of political science, in Distler Performance Hall on Dec. 3. we have seen for a long time,” Healey said. “We have to make sure we are putting measures in place to make sure this never happens again.” Healey’s office fights against the opioid crisis through the Project Here initiative, which makes substance use prevention education available to every public middle school in the state, according to Healey. Healey said there was a need for reform in the criminal justice system. “We need to address racial and socioeconomic disparities that exist around and throughout the system,” Healey said. “We should make our criminal justice system fair.” She then spoke about the importance of being civically engaged and described different ways of being politically active. Healey noted it is important to vote and be involved in elections to influence the policies that are being created. “You don’t have to be the person running but you can be somebody who runs a campaign, knocks doors, volunteers … I believe deeply that for far

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too long in this country, people have focused on the presidential race which absolutely is important,” Healey said. “But you know what’s also important? Who sits on your school committee.” Tim Leong, a first-year, asked about President Donald Trump’s acts intended to extend presidential power. Healey responded by acknowledging the significant role of state governments in limiting executive overreach. “There is a battle between the state and the federal [governments],” Healey said. “If we don’t sue Betsy DeVos when she wants to let debt collectors and predatory loan servicers back into the education business, who will? If we’re not there to stop the EPA [Environmental Protection Agency] that seeks to roll back important regulations that protect our air, who will?” Healey told the Daily in an interview about her views on how the president has “undermined” democratic institutions in the United States. “We have a president who thinks he is above the law and has also done

many things to undermine the institutions that serve our democracy by undermining the free press, an independent judiciary and those who serve in government,” she said. Another audience member asked Healey about the issue of voter suppression and its presence in politics today. “You’ve seen blatant efforts by the legislature to suppress the vote … closing down polls and changing polling locations,” Healey said. “It needs to be fought legally and we’ve been in some of those battles.” Healey ended the discussion with an acknowledgment of young people’s ability to create change. “Yes, we’ve been in court and yes, we’ve been successful in defending our strong gun laws … but the impact of students walking out or going to commercial outlets is also creating change in our society,” Healey said. “In this country, we need people like you who will lead the country with the teamwork and spirit of getting things done.”

NEWS............................................1 FEATURES.................................4 ARTS & LIVING.......................6

FUN & GAMES.........................8 OPINION.....................................9 SPORTS............................ BACK

THE TUFTS DAILY | News | Tuesday, December 4, 2018

THE TUFTS DAILY Seohyun Shim Editor-in-Chief

EDITORIAL

Sean Ong Caleb Symons Managing Editors Alexis Serino Associate Editor Daniel Nelson Executive News Editor Jessica Blough News Editors Connor Dale Charlie Driver Jenna Fleischer Juliana Furgala Kat Grellman Liza Harris Zachary Hertz Gil Jacobson Anar Kansara Liam Knox Natasha Mayor Cathy Perloff Minna Trinh Hannah Uebele Shantel Bartolome Assistant News Editors Austin Clementi Conor Friedmann Abbie Gruskin Noah Richter

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Police Briefs — Week of Dec. 3 by Jenna Fleischer News Editor

Jumbos On Nov. 26 at 6:25 p.m., Tufts University Police Department (TUPD) responded to a fire alarm at Tousey House, located at 14 Edison Avenue. The alarm went off due to a graduate student using a microwave that was said to be broken. Medford Fire Department ventilated the area and reset the fire panel. The Office of Residential Life and Learning (ResLife) and Facilities Services were notified about the broken microwave. Don’t On Nov. 27 at noon, TUPD responded to a fire alarm at Facilities Services, located at 520 Boston Avenue. The alarm

went off as a result of someone leaving a sandwich in the microwave for too long. Medford Fire Department ventilated the area and reset the fire panel. Know On Nov. 30 at 9:12 p.m., TUPD responded to a fire alarm at Harleston Hall. When TUPD arrived at Harleston, officers observed a smashed exit sign and a smoke detector drawn on with black magic marker. Facilities Services was notified about the damage and repaired the exit sign. TUPD is also investigating another vandalism incident in Harleston: a wifi router ripped off the wall. How On Dec. 1 at 10:16 a.m., TUPD responded to a fire alarm at Davies House, located at 13 Sawyer Avenue. A resident set off

the alarm while cooking. Somerville Fire Department ventilated the area and reset the fire panel. To Later that day at 10:30 p.m., TUPD responded to a fire alarm at Tilton Hall. When TUPD arrived at Tilton, officers observed an empty pan in the kitchen on the stove, still warm, but could not identify the individual responsible for setting off the alarm. Somerville Fire Department ventilated the area and reset the fire panel. Cook On Dec. 2 at 9:56 p.m., TUPD responded to a fire alarm at Hodgdon Hall. A resident set off the alarm while cooking. Somerville Fire Department ventilated the area and reset the fire panel.

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Features

Tuesday, December 4, 2018

Students, faculty support proposed Native American and Indigenous Studies minor by Amelia Becker Contributing Writer

A student-led petition aims to create a new Native American and Indigenous Studies minor program in the Consortium of Studies in Race, Colonialism, and Diaspora (RCD). The program’s viability is likely greater due to the RCD’s recent obtainment of departmental status and has support among former and current RCD faculty. A group of students addressed their petition to create the program at an RCD-hosted seminar on Nov. 15, titled “Envisioning Interdisciplinary for Today’s University: Critical Indigenous Studies and Comparative Empire.” The students, who did not identify themselves, noted the petition gained more than 350 signatures from students, faculty, alumni and community members in less than a week. “We renew our call for Tufts University to support Indigenous students, scholars, and movements at Tufts and beyond through the creation of a Native American and Indigenous Studies (NAIS) minor within the Race, Colonialism, and Diaspora department,” the petition states. The proposal comes after the Board of Trustees recently granted RCD departmental status, a change that will be implemented in the 2019–20 academic year. Provost and Senior Vice President ad interim Deborah Kochevar spoke about the news at the Nov. 15 seminar. “I think becoming a department is a very important piece,” Kochevar said. “It stabilizes scholarship, it stabilizes the faculty. It gives them some self determination in terms of future hires, and it really just encourages Tufts to expand studies … [and the department will] fill some critical gaps.” RCD currently houses programs for Africana, American, Asian American, Colonialism and Latino Studies. Programs “link innovative, progressive, and outstanding scholarship and learning on race, colonialism, and diaspora” through interdisciplinary work, according to the RCD website. Amahl Bishara, director of minors in the RCD, offered insight as to what RCD’s gaining departmental status means for the colonialism studies program. “[Departmental status] means that we’re going to be able to have more ability to plan classes and programs long term because we’ll be able to hire people directly into the RCD,” Bishara said. There have been several different adjunct professors specializing in indigenous studies within RCD in recent years, according to Darren Lone Fight, an American studies lecturer. “I am one of a cycling group of four … professors, faculty and lecturers that have come in over the last four to five years. Every year it’s a different person,” Lone Fight said.

However, RCD will now be better able to hire a tenured faculty member in the field of indigenous studies due to the greater autonomy in personnel decisions it will enjoy as a department, according to former American studies lecturer Jami Powell, the current curator of Native American art at Dartmouth College’s Hood Museum. Powell noted that doing so would greatly benefit RCD. “Creating some longevity in the position, I think, is important, particularly for students who want to have someone advising them throughout a research project,” Powell said. Powell added that as a department, RCD will have the ability to house interdisciplinary faculty members, whereas they would have previously been in another department. Bishara explained that a potential Native American and Indigenous Studies program would likely be modeled on the other minors already offered by RCD. These programs typically consist of six courses, including an introductory survey course and a capstone, and students have the ability to explore the topic through an interdisciplinary selection of courses. However, a Native American and Indigenous Studies minor would be housed in RCD itself. “I think it would … put Native American and Indigenous Studies back in the context of race, colonialism and diaspora, which in many senses I imagine [would] be in every single course about Native American and indigenous studies, but [it would] do that really explicitly,” Bishara said. Bishara noted that while the effort to create a Native American and Indigenous Studies program has been led by students, there is enthusiasm for the proposal among faculty members, too. Lone Fight suggested that courses focused on a wide range of topics, including tribal law, Native American literature, Native American religion and the contemporary Native American experience, could be included in a new Native American and Indigenous Studies program. “Most ethnic studies programs are interdisciplinary just by virtue of the fact that when you’re studying something like ethnicity, it’s difficult to only look at that exclusively through a historical lens, or through a literary lens, or through a visual artistic lens, or art historical lens,” Lone Fight said. “The reason the interdisciplinary approach has become useful for ethnic studies, broadly speaking, is because ethnicity does not easily map onto a single discipline.” In 2016, RCD hosted a workshop titled “Native American and Indigenous Studies, Colonialism, and the University,” which featured Native American leaders from the Northeast region, as well as discussions about native art, colonialism and indigenous status. The workshop grew out of student activism to change the name of Columbus Day to Indigenous People’s Day at Tufts.

ALEJANDRA MACAYA / THE TUFTS DAILY

Darren Lone Fight, an American studies lecturer with focuses on indigenous studies and immigration, poses for a portrait on Oct. 31. Lone Fight said that Tufts should be eager to further orient itself toward an “indigenous future.” “There’s a demand for [a Native American and Indigenous Studies program] here at Tufts. There’s also a demand for it nationally,” Lone Fight said. “Cultural studies programs [and] native studies programs, in particular, are [part] of a growing field. In addition to that, Tufts needs to step up and begin doing native recruitment.” Lone Fight noted his belief that the university has not concentrated enough time and effort in creating relationships with local and national tribal communities, adding that there needs to be a stronger push to recruit native scholars and native students and to have this mission trickle down to faculty and students, as well. Less than one percent of all Tufts students identified as “American Indian/Alaska Native” in fall 2017, according to the Tufts Fact Book. That figure is also one percent for faculty and staff across all Tufts schools. Lone Fight also noted that the university’s location on unrelinquished tribal land creates its obligation to prioritize native studies. “Even if that doesn’t necessarily de jure create an obligation to, at the very least, begin doing native recruitment and thinking about

a native studies program … I do think it’s certainly de facto important aspect of what Tufts needs to do,” Lone Fight said. Both Bishara and Lone Fight feel confident that the housing of a new Native American and Indigenous Studies minor in RCD would better facilitate relationships and conversations with Native community members and feel that the program would be beneficial for students, the university and Native peoples. “I think that Tufts gets a positive regard from bringing in good Native scholars and establishing a good Native scholarly program and to begin working within these kind of broader communities and movements within the country,” Lone Fight said. Bishara noted that students and faculty must now focus on building support for a Native American and Indigenous Studies program and tailoring its curriculum to best educate students about indigenous communities. “It’s a really exciting moment. It’s crucial that we build this minor to not only respond to students’ interests, but also to celebrate [the] struggles, cultures [and] experiences of Native American and indigenous people and to think about how Native peoples in the United States are related to other indigenous peoples around the world,” Bishara said.

TRASHING ONE EGG WASTES 55 GALLONS OF WATER

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ARTS&LIVING

James Ray The Starving Aesthete

Our prophet, Hank Hill

e need a new religion. The grinding of the cosmic wheel is sustained by a continuous oiling of faith, the assumption by each individual that somewhere, deep in the bowels of the universe, something is keeping the thing spinning. But how, when the walls between us and eternity have worn so thin, can we keep going? I think that we can find this new faith in “King of the Hill” (1997–2010). Hank Hill is a man out of time, perpetually drowning in the indignities of the 21st century. He wakes up every episode to see his beloved institutions erode just a little bit more, continually placed under new pressures to provide for his loved ones in ways with which he is not comfortable and does not understand. But despite all this, he rounds each three-act structure one scene at a time, never failing to fear the change facing him. It is entirely within Hank’s ability to surrender to the madness of the universe, to abandon his friends and family and sit on his couch drinking beer until cirrhosis of the liver ushers him off to a place where he has no choice but to be comfortable. And yet, he never does. What keeps Hank going? It seems to me that he has two forces sustaining him — one within the episodic confines of his reality and one without. Each episode ends on a moral note, a return to equilibrium as Hank’s ideals are reconciled with the chaotic world into which he has been pulled. He sees, in the end, that the things he really wants are not so incompatible with the things demanded of him, and this inspires belief in him that things will work out for the best. What is reverence, after all, but an aesthetic disposition, faith in one’s deliverance in matters that are too complicated to understand? This is enough to sustain Hank from moment to moment, but surely, at some point, his hope must crack. How could the man have sustained his lifestyle, his mindset, his will, for 13 seasons in the face of perpetual defeat? This is the real secret to Hank’s religion, to his immortality — he forgets. The Hank you see at the beginning of each episode is not the same Hank, but a new one, unscarred by battles fought. This is the reason the universe has managed to exist for as long as it has: It is not one consciousness, but many. Each of us is a fragment of the whole but need not tend to it. When God was left alone an infinity ago with Its pile of toys, It could find joy only in forgetting that It was too old to play with them and divided Itself among each of us. And in times like these, when the barriers between us have worn thin, it is important to remember that we are still as much individuals as we are a species — to look to Hank Hill and sit back down at the dinner table instead of flipping the whole thing over. With this, the semester’s column is concluded. Thank you for reading. James

STREAMING SPOTLIGHT

With Oscars approaching, Netflix aims for wins with winter releases by Daniel Klain

Contributing Writer

December typically signifies the time of year when most ‘Oscar-worthy’ films are released. Whether it is to keep films fresh in the minds of Oscar voters, who largely receive these films on DVD and can watch them at anytime, or to give us something to talk about with our family members over the holidays, movie award pandemonium is rapidly hurtling toward us. The past several weeks, theaters have seen the arrival of films such as “Green Book” and “Widows,” with Barry Jenkins’ “If Beale Street Could Talk” and Adam McKay’s “Vice” coming around the corner. We are now at the time when we see the most prominent directors releasing their films and actors slapping on heavy levels of prostheses and makeup in hopes that their over the top performances get them an Oscar. But all of a sudden a familiar player has now entered the game: Netflix. Yes, Netflix has produced and released many films, and they even released a film into theaters — “Beasts of No Nation” (2015). Why does this matter? Netflix is not just making standard Netflix films this year. Putting out “Outlaw King,” which came out in early November, then the Coen brothers’ anthology film “The Ballad of Buster Scruggs” a few weeks later, as well as Alfonso Cuarón’s “Roma” coming in mid-December, Netflix is making critically adored movies that could lead to Oscar nominations and wins. “Outlaw King,” which received mixed reviews, debuted at the Toronto International Film Festival, a festival where many previous Oscar-winning films debuted and certainly puts a movie in the spotlight. The Coen brothers, famous for directing arguably some of the best Westerns of the century, received mostly positive reviews for their “The Ballad of Buster Scruggs,” but much of the discussion was spent around the brothers’ past work and not so much this new piece. All of this hype and work has been seemingly building up to the release of “Roma.” Released to theaters in New York, Los Angeles and Mexico City last week, the film has been getting positive buzz since the film festival circuit a couple months ago. Netflix saves the best for last, letting the hype of the first two films build up to a crescendo with “Roma.” Netflix adopts strategies to be taken seriously. Netflix is not releasing its new films directly to its streaming platform,

VIA IMDB

A promotional poster for Alfonso Cuarón’s upcoming Netflix movie ‘Roma’ is pictured. but to theaters first. If older members of the Academy saw that a movie on their ballot was on Netflix, they would probably scoff at it and write it off. However, if Netflix can say they put it into theaters first, not only does it allow for the films to be considered for awards, but also, more importantly, allows them to tell traditional Oscar voters that they went the traditional route. This could be read as Netflix trying to get a seat at the Academy’s table, or as Netflix taking another step in its conquest for total domination, attempting to compete with the major studios of the world. It’s an attempt at conslidation. If Netflix starts making ‘serious’ films that get critical attention, then it might be

able to compete with the smaller studio production companies for the best actors and directors looking to take on more serious roles. However, Netflix, at its heart of hearts, is a tech company. Netflix’s primary goal is to attract more subscribers; get more people to sign up for Netflix, make more money. The company needs to stay in the spotlight, or else people will stop signing up. If Netflix manages to make an Oscar-worthy film with an amazing director, word will spread and people will sign up for a subscription so they can watch with their families in the comfort of their own living room. After all, it is cheaper than paying to go to the movies.

ION OF STA IAT TE OC

TERS RES FO

James Ray is a senior studying political science. James can be reached at james_m.ray@tufts.edu.

Tuesday, December 4, 2018

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Tuesday, December 4, 2018 | FUN & GAMES | THE TUFTS DAILY

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FUN & GAMES

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LINDA C. BLACK ASTROLOGY

Sagittarius (Nov. 22–Dec. 21)

Imagine a long-term future worth taking action for and then initiate your plan. Crazy ideas might work. Prioritize and focus on your objective.

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CROSSWORD

Tuesday, December 4, 2018

Opinion OP-ED

Trump administration’s proposed anti-immigrant rule hurts children by Lily Samuel Overlooked in the weekly political chaos, a regulation has been quietly proposed by the Trump administration that will deny green cards to any lawfully residing immigrants who access key “safety net” programs. These programs — which include Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), Section 8 housing and Medicaid — offer protection and support to millions of people now referred to by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) as “public charges.” In proposing this rule, the White House made official its view that these legal residents are a drain on national resources, taking benefits that could better serve U.S. citizens. DHS’s stated intent is to “better ensure that aliens subject to the public charge inadmissibility ground are self-sufficient, i.e., do not depend on public resources to meet their needs, but rather rely on their own capabilities.” Lawfully residing immigrants seeking both a green card, either through family petition or employment-based visas, and access to public benefits may — with the passage of this new rule — risk the government’s designating them as public charges. Those with this determination may be compelled to pay a minimum of $10,000 to see their green card applications moved forward, according to a DHS summary of the proposal. The public charge regulation attempts to protect immigrant children under the new rules, as it leaves out the Head Start programs, the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) and some school-based benefits (such as free or reduced lunch) from the inadmissibility considerations, according to the Massachusetts Immigrant

and Refugee Advocacy (MIRA) Coalition. However, the impacts of this allegedly budget-cutting rule could prove extremely detrimental for children. In 2016, 10.4 million citizen children in the U.S. had at least one non-citizen parent. Over half of these children had some type of Medicaid or CHIP coverage. The loss of Medicaid for those who might be forced to unenroll could lead to adverse health outcomes including untreated illnesses and unaddressed chronic issues. Families who don’t understand this complex and ambiguous rule may assume that all family members, including children, will lose their health care, leading to fewer check-ups, fewer vaccinations and an increase in child illness. Although only adults qualify for SNAP benefits, they are used to feed entire families. Without such benefits, children may suffer from food insecurity or malnutrition. Unfortunately, these would only be the initial impacts. They do not even take into account the cognitive and developmental needs of children. Prolonged parental stress and anxiety, easily generated by issues like financial and housing insecurity, lack of nutrition or lack of affordable healthcare, can produce toxic stress in children. This stress, if triggered by multiple sources, can affect a child’s developing brain, leading to cognitive impairments and higher risk of adult illnesses such as heart disease, substance abuse and depression. Supportive and responsive relationships with caregivers can mitigate and even reverse these childhood effects; however, the stress that comes from choosing to either access these potentially critical public benefits or risk being denied a green card, may leave parents preoccupied, frightened and unable to fully support their children.

CARTOON

BY SHANNON GEARY

Eighteen states have seen enrollment drop “up to 20 percent in the Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) federal nutrition program for pregnant women and children” since rumors of the proposed changes surfaced in August. The DHS estimates a $2.27 billion annual reduction in transfer payments will result from the unenrollment from and foregone enrollment in these public benefits. DHS also claims that it will see decreased costs, since the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) will have fewer forms to process, all at the expense of immigrant families. Once the rule is officially published, there will be a 60-day public comment period. For those inspired to submit comments, visit the forum on regulations. gov. You can also call your representative. The proposed rule does not require congressional approval, but Democrats and Republicans alike, including Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker, are formally opposing it and will most likely submit their own formal comments. For further information or for assistance in writing comments, members of the MIRA Coalition will be holding an information session and comment-writing workshop on Wednesday, Dec. 5 at 5 p.m. in the Curtis Hall Multipurpose Room. It’s unconscionable for a nation as wealthy as ours to target with financial punishment the most desperate and precarious among us, many of whom are the law-abiding parents of young U.S. citizens, imperiling their lives, their children’s futures and the well-being of our communities. Lily Samuel is a second-year master’s candidate in the Eliot-Pearson Department of Child Study and Human Development. Lily can be reached at lily.samuel@tufts.edu.

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Nesi Altaras Takeaways

Looking

In his landmark work “Orientalism” (1978), Edward Said unpacks statements and works of many Europeans who say outrageous, hilarious or downright racist things about peoples of the Middle East among whom they see no need to distinguish. Of these, one quote stood out to me enough that I still think about it sometimes. This statement didn’t strike me for its racism or fallibility, which are found in most of the quotes of European travelers reveling in the exotic East. This one was notable to me for how silly it was. Said scoffs at a European who wrote that Orientals do not appreciate beautiful vistas as Europeans do. This stood out to me, even among the many ludicrous generalizations Said draws attention to. I imagine the situation that gave rise to this quote: A wealthy European man traveling around the Middle East was shown the Nile Coast by a Cairene or the Bosporus by an Istanbulite. Instead of focusing on what he was seeing, truly appreciating the vista, he took note of the local’s reaction. The local was looking at the same view he sees every single day. He found it strange that the local was not impressed by the view in front of him while not considering that the magical Orient that wows a European into writing novels is everyday life for the local. Parisians aren’t beside themselves looking at the Eiffel Tower every single day. New Yorkers are not continuously gushing about the view from the Empire State Building. The same is true of Middle Easterners. How dehumanized Orientals must have been in the mind of this European that he failed to consider the simple explanation that the locals were not impressed by view that was very usual to them. Instead this European onlooker found the answer in generalizing that great views don’t impress Orientals. This example alone, in my mind, captures the problem of Orientalism: that it observes different people as if they are completely different beings. Everything that Orientals do is attributed to their Orientalness, and no other explanations are worth considering. In her novel “Half of a Yellow Sun” (2006) about the Nigerian Civil War to prevent the independence of Biafra, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie has a comment that touches on the same problem of looking. After having been abroad, the main character is back in Nigeria, talking to an old friend. The friend remarks, “Sometimes you are just like the white people, the way they gawk at everyday things.” The word “gawk” is exactly what the Orientalist expects locals to do, as he does. To be in awe of everything new in sight. Apparently, even such a minor thing is transferable via Western education and living in the West for an extended period of time. The “other” learns to gawk at, or appreciate, vistas. The problem of looking at more than just the fact is that “beauty is in the eye of the beholder.” How one looks is also shaped by how one is expected to see. Nesi Altaras is a senior studying international relations and economics. Nesi can be reached at nesi.altaras@tufts.edu.

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Tuesday, December 4, 2018 | Sports | THE TUFTS DAILY

Tufts set to kick off its season at Harvard

David Meyer Postgame Press

Spread holiday cheer Content warning: This article discusses domestic violence.

EDDIE SAMUELS / THE TUFTS DAILY ARCHIVES

Senior epeeist and co-captain Annie Ayala (right) ripostes a lunge at the Northeast Fencing Conference Multi-Meet hosted by Boston College on Jan. 28.

FENCING

continued from back “Our biggest challenge will definitely be having our current members filling in the roles of the seniors that graduated,” Kollias told the Daily in an email. However, the team’s strong work ethic and dedication to its craft, which Ayala cites as the team’s greatest strengths, will help it contend with the challenges lying ahead. According to Ayala, the team practices at 7 a.m. five days a week and is always willing to put in the extra effort to prepare for an event. “The team’s greatest strength is that we are cohesive and support each other,” Ayala said. “I can’t tell you how many times

I’ve gone to competitions and seen people who absolutely hate their teammates and refuse to help them or cheer them on in any way. It’s wack.” Despite the heavy demands of the team’s schedule, Ayala believes that the team remains committed to the sport. “Everyone on this team is more than willing to put in the work to make sure we do our best,” Ayala said. While fencing is an individual sport, the dynamic of the team plays an important role in boosting the morale of the team. “Even though we do not have more than one fencer on a strip at a time, we are all there for each other and always sup-

porting our teammates, both in practice and at meets,” Howard told the Daily in an email. Kollias considers the team’s biggest strength to be that members of the team are cohesive and support each other, which helps the team remain dedicated and motivated. The team’s first event takes place at Harvard at 6 p.m. on Dec. 4. The team will once again open its season by competing against the fencing programs of Harvard and Wellesley. Last season, Tufts fell 21–6 to Harvard and 17–10 to Wellesley in its season opener, but will be looking to start this year on a more positive note.

First-years impress as Jumbos’ strong start to season continues WOMEN'S BASKETBALL

continued from back points with a score of 17–13 that favored the away side. Berube spoke about the defensive challenges that Tufts faced against Williams. “They’re always a really stingy defense,” Berube said. “They do a good job on the perimeter, even inside, and they don’t allow a lot of second-chance opportunities. They started with four guards, so it was going to take some great perimeter defense and some great help on the defensive side. We knew going into the weekend that we wanted to take some steps forward in the game defensively, and I thought we did that in the Williams game.” Despite a well-played defensive first quarter by Williams, Tufts regained its footing in the second and third quarters of the game, moving on to take a significant lead. In the second quarter, Tufts outscored Williams 15–7. This was immediately followed by a third quarter where the Jumbos outscored the Ephs 21–9, allowing Tufts to eventually coast home to victory. In the end, the driving force behind solidifying the Jumbo victory was the impeccable performance by Knapp, who leads the team in total career games played (101). She led the Jumbos in a number of categories in the Williams game: three-point shots made (2-for-3), free throws made (6-for-9) and total points (18). Under the 5-foot-6 guard’s leader-

ship, Tufts went on to beat Williams by a comfortable margin. Meanwhile, Friday night’s blowout victory over the New England College Pilgrims was yet another high-scoring game for the Jumbos this season. While the game against the Pilgrims did not match the school record for most points scored in a single game (110–63 over Brandeis on Nov. 25), it nevertheless tied for the second-highest scoring game of the season alongside a 90–30 victory against Lasell on Nov. 17. The highest scorer on the Pilgrims was junior forward Daleia Boutwell, who scored two out of her six attempted field goals and three out of four attempted free throws for seven points off the bench. However, the Jumbos were able to convert more of their shots, shooting 53 percent from the field (35-of-66) compared to the Pilgrims’ 23.1 percent (12-of-52). Briggs led the Jumbos with 16 points and three steals, with DeCandido not far behind, scoring 14 points and recording three steals. Briggs and DeCandido, who both stand at 5-foot-11, gathered five rebounds each throughout the course of the game. They finished just behind firstyear guard Molly Ryan, who recorded six rebounds on the night, and also led the team with six assists. The Westfield, N.J. native also gathered a total of five rebounds against Williams and was one of many newer players on the Jumbo roster to leave an impact on the court.

Other newer players who left their mark included first-year guard Janette Wadolowski, who was recently named as one of Tufts’ athletes of the week. Wadolowski has already scored 61 points in her six-game career at Tufts, and has completed all eight of her free throws in her debut season. DeCandido spoke about the impact that newer players have had on the team as a whole. “The [first-years] have not skipped a beat coming into the season, and their attitude and their intensity is just awesome,” DeCandido said. “[ You can see it] even with people that come off the bench right away — there are sparks. It’s really been good to see, and it’s honestly really reassuring moving forward.” Berube also admired the level of work the first-years have put into the season, giving credit to their talents and the guidance of returning players. “All three [first-years] are very talented and have had a really smooth transition into college basketball, and more importantly to our team,” Berube said. “I think our returners and our leaders have done a good job of showing them the way of how we need to play. I think they’ve done a really really good job, and they’ve been important pieces to our team so far this season.” The Jumbos will return home Tuesday at 7 p.m. to face the Bridgewater State Bears (1–5) in Cousens Gymnasium.

he sports news cycle has been filled with bad news recently. There has been a lot of press coverage of the cases of Addison Russell, Reuben Foster and, most recently, Kareem Hunt. No doubt about it, there are some bad people in professional sports. There’s no place for domestic violence in anyone’s life. These stories are important and need to be discussed, and you can hear plenty about them on any sports site. Today, I am choosing to focus on some stories that fit a bit more into the holiday spirit. For example, Curtis Granderson just won the MLB’s Marvin Miller Man of the Year award for the third time. It took me four articles and two Google searches to find out why he won. It should not be that hard to find out that Granderson won because of his organization, the Grand Kids Foundation, and its amazing events throughout the year that help with education and other causes. To be honest, it was great reading up on the 30 nominees for the prestigious award. All of these players, who do amazing things on the field, got a chance to show the awesome work that they do off the field. From donating to charities to starting their own, these players are doing extraordinary things. I did not know the Marvin Miller award existed before today. I love hearing and seeing the work that these athletes do. I have seen a lot of great things about J.J. Watt, who won the NFL’s Walter Payton Man of the Year Award this past year, and the amount of money he raised for the city of Houston after the devastating impact of Hurricane Harvey. I see photos galore of Russell Wilson at hospitals with sick children. My only question is why I do not hear more about these things. When awards season rolls around, people start to talk about the athletes who are doing the most, but once the man or woman of the year awards are given out, the news cycle peters out as well. Again, I do not wish to ignore the bad in professional sports, but rather hope to balance it with the good. There are huge issues that have been seen even recently, including the increasingly prevalent problem of inadequate responses to violence off the field. The media should focus on keeping a relationship with the great parts of sports off the field, just as I thought this column would be. Just like SportsCenter has its Top 10 Plays and Not Top 10 Plays, they should have episodes and segments dedicated to both discussing off-field violent behavior of athletes and the acts of charitable men and women like Curtis Granderson, who are using their pedestal to cause great change in their communities. As my final column for now, I hope all of you, my readers, have a holiday season filled with joy, cheer and, in the spirit of some iconic athletes, helping others in need.

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

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Sports

Tuesday, December 4, 2018

Undefeated women’s basketball bounces past New England College, Williams

ALLISON CULBERT / THE TUFTS DAILY ARCHIVES

Sophomore guard/forward Emily Briggs looks for a pass in Tufts’ 67–63 win against Babson on Jan. 29. by Alex Viveros Staff Writer

The 6–0 women’s basketball team has lived up to its high expectations as it kept its unbeaten streak alive, picking up two wins on the road against Williams (3–3) Saturday and New England College (3–5) Friday, at the Williams Tournament hosted in Williamstown, Mass. Coach Carla Berube, in her 17th year coaching at Tufts, spoke about the excitement her players had going into the Williams game. “I think the team was excited to play against a formidable opponent in Williams — a NESCAC foe,” Berube said. “They’ve had a couple of good wins, and so we were

excited to take them on in their gym. Even though it wasn’t a NESCAC season game, it still felt like a big NESCAC game to us. We were looking forward to playing such a tough team.” Over the course of the two days, Tufts went on to dominate the tournament, emerging victorious with a 90–34 win over New England College and a 67–41 victory over hosts Williams. Less than 24 hours after comfortably defeating the New England College Pilgrims, the Jumbos faced off against the hosts of the Williams Tournament and NESCAC rivals the Williams Ephs. Williams came into the game with energy following an 81–40 blowout win over Alfred University (2–4). In the end, Tufts’

26-point margin of victory over Williams illustrated the non-contest. Junior guard/forward and co-captain Erica DeCandido spoke about the challenges Williams posed during the game. “Williams, [like] all NESCAC schools, is a whole different ball game,” she said. “There’s a lot more defense involved, and there’s a lot more of just competitive spirit. No matter how much you’re up by or down by, it always feels like a close game. Like our coach always says, NESCAC is mostly defense, and that’s what the NESCAC is known for and what [Williams is] good at. Definitely, their defense was physical at first and they had a couple of good offensive weapons, but nothing that really blew us out of the water.”

Indeed, during the first quarter, the Ephs’ defense presented themselves as a force to be reckoned with. Initially, the Jumbos took a 5–0 lead following a layup by senior guard and co-captain Jac Knapp and a layup and free throw by sophomore guard/forward Emily Briggs. But the Ephs’ defense managed to keep the game close. At two instances during the first quarter, Williams even led Tufts with a score of 7–6 and 9–8 on two layups from junior forward Katie Brule. But those would be the last times the Ephs held the lead over the Jumbos throughout the game. By the end of the first quarter, the Ephs managed to hold the Jumbos to within four see WOMEN'S BASKETBALL, page 11

Fencing prepares to foil opposition’s hopes this year by Helen Thomas-McLean Staff Writer

Entering the 2018–2019 season, the Tufts fencing team is looking to develop a young roster that can contribute to the success of the program for years to come. This team’s roster is younger than last year’s squad, with two juniors and two seniors, compared to four first-years and four sophomores. The team is divided among the three disciplines of fencing: foil, saber and epee. The three disciplines have different regulations and use three different weapons that vary in size. Coach David Sach and assistant coach John-David Carroll, who are experienced coaches and fencers, will serve as leaders for this team. This season will be Sach’s second season as head coach and

Carroll’s third season with the team. In addition to his position at Tufts, Sach is the director of operations at the Boston Fencing Club and has collected numerous accolades as a professional fencer. Before coming to the United States, Sach claimed various national titles in the United Kingdom, fenced at eight world championships and represented Wales at three Commonwealth Games. His coaching experience extends to the British Olympic saber team and other national championship teams of different age groups. The team has been working hard in practice with the hope of sending fencers to the NCAA Regionals, which will take place in March. Last season, the team sent seven fencers to Regionals. Among last year’s qualifiers are four returning fencers:

senior co-captain Zoe Howard and sophomore Georgia Kollias in the foil division, junior Elliot Pavlovich in the saber division, and senior co-captain Annie Ayala in the epee division. In order to qualify for Regionals, individuals must have fenced in a certain number of bouts and won a percentage of these bouts throughout the season, according to Ayala. While qualifying for Regionals is a common goal, everyone on the team has their own personal objectives for the season. For Kollias, she hopes to attend Regionals for the second year in a row, and would qualify by achieving a 50 percent win rate this season. In addition to maintaining a high level of performance throughout the season’s meets, Kollias aspires to represent Tufts at a North American Cup, a national competition affiliated with USA Fencing.

Although the team is prepared for a strong season opening, the team will face some inevitable challenges as they adjust to the pace of competition. Ayala said that the team’s schedule is challenging, since meets are concentrated within a short period of time. According to Ayala, the team’s challenge would be to keep its energy sustained throughout the season. The team will have to undergo some transitional changes this season, since many of the team’s former contributors graduated in the spring. These included Nayab Ajaz (LA ’18) and Bridget Marturano (LA ’18), who both fenced saber, and former co-captain and foil fencer Julia O’Gara (LA ’18) — all of whom represented Tufts at NCAA Regionals. see FENCING, page 11