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Tuesday, February 16, 2021
MEDFORD/SOMERVILLE, MASS.
Somerville City Council votes to decriminalize entheogenic plants
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Somerville City Hall is pictured. by Michael Weiskopf Assistant News Editor
Content warning: This article mentions drug addiction and overdose, mental health struggles and suicide. The Somerville City Council voted unanimously on Jan. 14 to decriminalize entheogenic
plants and fungi. The Cambridge City Council followed suit on Feb. 3. In the Somerville City Council’s resolution, the term “entheogenic plants” refers to psychedelics such as ayahuasca, cacti, iboga and psilocybin mushrooms, otherwise known as magic mushrooms. These sub-
TCU Senate discusses upcoming initiatives, hears supplementary funding requests by Chloe Courtney-Bohl Assistant News Editor
The Tufts Community Union Senate discussed its upcoming initiatives and heard several supplementary funding requests in its virtual meeting on Monday evening. TCU President Sarah Wiener provided updates on some of the Senate’s projects for the semester. Wiener, a senior, discussed ongoing planning for Wellness Week, which is scheduled to take place during the week of March 22 when students would ordinarily be on spring break. TCU Senate is working with other campus offices to organize mental health and mindfulness programming during that week. Alongside this programming, TCU Senate is asking professors not to assign midterms or exams during Wellness Week. Although this is a recommendation and not a formal policy, it has support from the deans of both the
School of Arts and Sciences and the School of Engineering. Wiener encouraged senators to talk about Wellness Week with their professors if they feel comfortable doing so. “Students can have power advocating for each other to individual professors and helping them find solutions,” Wiener said. Wiener then gave an update on TCU Senate’s Covid Communication Project, which is a collaboration with University Infection Control Health Director Michael Jordan and Medical Director of Health Service Marie Caggiano. Wiener announced that as part of this project, Jordan and Caggiano will be providing information that will help students better interpret the Tufts COVID-19 dashboard. There will also be a Qualtrics form set up to facilitate direct communication between the student body and see SENATE, page 2
stances cause a change in mental state, and emerging medical research suggests that they have the potential to treat certain mental health issues. A group of Somerville residents who are members of the organizations Bay Staters for Natural Medicine and Decriminalize Nature Massachusetts wrote a
letter to the City Council in support of the resolution. “As our community confronts record-shattering opioid abuse, depression, and suicide, decriminalization represents a huge step forward for public health and criminal justice,” they wrote. “Studies show entheogen treatment can substantially reduce distress, suicidal planning, and suicidal ideation.” Somerville will be the fifth city in the United States to decriminalize entheogens, after Denver, Colo., Oakland, Calif., Santa Cruz, Calif. and Ann Arbor, Mich. Residents of Washington, D.C. voted to do the same in a ballot measure in November 2020. James Davis, a lead organizer for the two organizations, has been urging communities in Massachusetts to decriminalize entheogens for some time. “We are ecstatic that [the resolution] passed several weeks ago and that it inspired Cambridge City Council to pass a very similar resolution this last Wednesday,” Davis said. Davis explained that he and his organizations are concerned about several public health issues facing Massachusetts and
are motivated by research suggesting that entheogens can help alleviate them. “Our primary inspiration as volunteers in Somerville and across the state is the severe depression, opiate addiction, alcoholism and trauma that our neighbors experience across the state of Massachusetts,” Davis said. “Massachusetts has the highest millennial depression rate of any state, and COVID has only made people more likely to turn toward addiction to manage their mental health problems. Psychedelic plants have proven benefits for treating depression, trauma, addiction and even some neurological conditions.” According to information from Bay Staters for Natural Medicine and Decriminalize Nature Massachusetts, natural psychedelics will be safer to use if they are decriminalized, as awareness of them will increase. “Decriminalization signals to the community, country, and world that entheogens can be consumed safely in consultation with harm-reduction advice see ENTHEOGENS, page 2
Medford Public Schools launches pooled COVID-19 testing program
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Medford High School is pictured. by Jack Hirsch
Assistant News Editor
Medford Public Schools transitioned to a pooled testing program for COVID-19 surveillance for their students and faculty on Feb. 4. Tufts University helped to implement the program. Toni Wray, supervisor of nurses for MPS, explained how pooled testing will work for the school system.
“If there is one positive swab, the pool will come up as being a positive pool,” Wray said. “All of those families will be notified that the pool tested positive and that they are required to get a follow-up, or reflex test … [with] a negative reflex test, they’ll be able to re-enter back into school, a positive one will then trigger the isolation procedures as outlined by the Board of Health.”
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OPINION / back
Students, faculty and a local first grader get creative with poetry
Rebecca Carroll talks ‘Surviving the White Gaze’
Viewpoints: Why saying goodbye to standardized tests is a good thing
Vice Provost for Research at Tufts Caroline Genco explained how the testing method was implemented. “To be able to do the pool testing we had to do a pilot study to show that it was actually feasible and that it was accurate enough to detect either a negative or a positive in a pool,” Genco said. “So we took advantage of the fact that see TESTING, page 3 NEWS
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THE TUFTS DAILY | News | Tuesday, February 16, 2021
THE TUFTS DAILY Megan Szostak Editor in Chief
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Tufts’ drug policies to remain unchanged ENTHEOGENS
continued from page 1 from physicians and therapists and reputable sites online … Ultimately, decriminalization means more people will use entheogens to treat ailments like migraines, addictions, and mental health disorders blocking their paths to more productive, happy, and healthy lives,” the organizations wrote in an informational pamphlet. City Councilor Jesse Clingan explained that he has been an advocate for decriminalization in the past. Clingan, one of the co-sponsors of the resolution, was eager for the opportunity to take action in Somerville. “I’ve always been a harm reductionist and certainly look at addiction [and] substance use disorder as a public safety and public health issue … I am completely in favor of not enforcing arrests on any small amount of substances,” Clingan said.
Now that the resolution has passed City Council, it must be codified into a local ordinance. Because the possession of entheogens is still illegal statewide in Massachusetts, the resolution only directs the Somerville Police Department to treat the enforcement of laws against entheogens as “lowest priority.” Nevertheless, Clingan hopes that the resolution will discourage police officers from arresting individuals in Somerville for psychedelic possession and instead pursue more constructive routes. “We can only encourage them … to decide not to arrest … if it’s psilocybin, then I would hope that they would consider that the lowest priority, so that would just reinforce our approach and give them the judgment … and the community backing to make some of those calls when they see fit,” Clingan said. Clingan added that he is hopeful there will be more ordinances
on the same topic, as well as the decriminalization of entheogens and other substances. “Already, you can see the benefits, and the hope is that this will lead towards ordinances … in tandem with the new [Biden] administration coming in … I hope it’ll lead to ordinances, as well as, possibly, [the] decriminalizing of other substances as well,” Clingan said. However, despite the foreseen benefits of decriminalization, the resolution does not decriminalize entheogens in every case. For example, laws against possessing entheogens near schools and driving under the influence will continue to be enforced. Bay Staters for Natural Medicine and Decriminalize Nature Massachusetts warn of potential side effects of entheogens but argue that decriminalization will encourage people to use the substances in “controlled settings,” making usage safer. “Like any substance, entheo-
Allocations Board approves 5 funding requests at virtual meeting SENATE
continued from page 1 the doctors running the university’s COVID-19 response. TCU Parliamentarian Taylor Lewis then discussed the upcoming hearing against members of the TCU Judiciary. TCU Senate is holding the hearing in response to allegations from four Tufts community members that the Judiciary exhibited bias in its handling of the Tufts Students for Justice in Palestine referendum last semester. Lewis, a senior, confirmed that the hearing is set for Feb. 28. He also reminded the senators that they will have the option to recuse themselves
from the hearing if they have any conflicts of interest with either the complainants or the respondents. “Something that’s really important to note is that recusing yourself is not a bad thing,” Lewis said. “I’m going to … make sure that everything is as fair and just as we can make it for this hearing because … we are student leaders, this is our job.” Before adjourning, TCU Senate heard five supplementary requests, all of which passed by acclamation. Tufts Hillel requested $150 to host Evie Litwok, a Jewish advocate and the founder of an organization that seeks to end
mass incarceration, in a virtual speaker event. Seven members of the Allocations Board voted in favor of the request, with none opposed and one abstaining. The Vietnamese Students Club requested $300 to send 12 club members to a virtual Vietnamese Empowerment Summit. Eight members of the board voted in favor of the request, with none opposed and none abstaining. The Society of Latinx Engineers and Scientists requested $490 to send 14 members to a virtual conference being held by the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers. Seven members of the board voted in
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gens are not for everyone and are not suitable for all circumstances,” the organizations said. “By normalizing these substances for the extremely powerful and spiritually focused compounds they are, we can have honest and compelling dialogue with young people urging them to avoid use in uncontrolled settings.” Patrick Collins, executive director of media relations at Tufts, said that despite the council’s vote, the school will not be changing its drug policies, in accordance with federal law. “Tufts University’s policies on drugs and prohibited substances would remain unchanged,” Collins wrote in an email to the Daily. “Decriminalization of illegal drugs on the local and/or state level has no effect on the university’s obligations under these federal laws; possession or use of prohibited substances would continue to be a violation of university policy.”
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favor of the request, with none opposed and two abstaining. TEDxTufts requested $15,367 for supplies for its 2021 TEDx event, TED in a Box. They will be distributing boxes filled with interactive materials to the event attendees to supplement the speakers’ presentations. Nine members of the board voted in favor of the request, with none opposed and none abstaining. The National Society of Black Engineers requested $2,015 to send 13 members to the virtual NSBE National Convention. Seven members of the board voted in favor of the request, with none opposed and two abstaining.
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Tuesday, February 16, 2021 | News | THE TUFTS DAILY
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Testing model will allow students, faculty to be tested weekly TESTING
continued from page 1 we had this massive surveillance program going on on campus, and we were able to enroll subjects into our study.” According to David Murphy, assistant superintendent for finances and operations for MPS, there is variability in terms of costs for pooled testing, which is mostly based on the number of positive tests. However, it is still less expensive than individual surveillance testing. “If the finances weren’t an obstacle, we would just [have students and faculty] test all the time, there’s no downside to testing … other than that it costs money, and we have to make sure that we’re doing this in a sustainable way,” Murphy said. Chris Sedore, Tufts’ vice president for information technology and chief information
officer, explained the benefits of pooled testing. “Pooled testing will provide Medford and Somerville with a reliable way to quickly and accurately detect early infection in students, teachers, and staff while costing only about one-third as much as individual testing,” Sedore wrote in an email to the Daily. Murphy explained that the testing system was made possible through Tufts’ partnership, as well as funding brought in from the federal stimulus package. Genco mentioned how Tufts has data from the pilot study as well as the resources to implement surveillance testing. “We have the infrastructure to put together these large surveillance types of testing and to use that same kind of system in the schools where they just don’t simply have the same infrastructure we have in high-
er education,” Genco said. “I think we took advantage of the things that are all great about Tufts and used it to help support the community.” Sedore explained that Tufts provides the technological platform that supports the program. The Broad Institute processes and provides the results of the tests, while the city of Medford is responsible for administering the tests and contact tracing. “We believe this is the only COVID-19 testing partnership between a university and Massachusetts public school districts,” Sedore said. “The pooled-testing methodology that is being used was designed by President Monaco and developed by Tufts in collaboration with Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard and validated through on-campus testing.” According to Murphy, stu-
dents and faculty typically should be tested at least once a week. Currently, the district has been testing around 1,700 or 1,800 unique individuals a week, but as new grade levels are phased in, he expects that number to increase. Wray said she anticipates that the pooled testing procedure for students and faculty should look similar to the previous procedure. “The only difference is the swab will not be put into an individual tube, it will be put into a pooled specimen too, but we anticipate the process will be the same,” Wray said. Wray explained other public health measures such as screening surveys and social distancing which, along with testing, have helped keep more students in school. “I think the testing goes a long way to instill confidence
for both parents and staff,” Wray said. “We have layered so many public health measures into our plan that we have had very good success with identifying positive cases quickly.” In a statement released on Feb. 11 announcing the transition to the pooled testing model, Medford Superintendent of Schools Marice EdouardVincent explained how testing is a necessary step to safely returning students and staff to school. “We were laser-focused on how we could get students back into school, not only for the academics but just as important to be able to provide in-person social emotional support,” Edouard-Vincent said. “We are grateful to have been able to collaborate with our partners, Tufts University and the City of Medford, to make this testing happen.”
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Features
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Inspired by Amanda Gorman, students, community members come together with creative writing by Katie Furey Features Editor
National Youth Poet Laureate Amanda Gorman’s reciting of her poem, “The Hill We Climb,” at the presidential inauguration on Jan. 20 put creative writing on a national stage. Creative writers of all ages were inspired by Gorman’s poem and excited to see the craft receive well-deserved media attention. Among these writers was Lloyd Schwartz, Somerville’s poet laureate and the Frederick F. Troy Professor of English Emeritus at the University of Massachusetts, Boston. Schwartz was chosen by the Somerville Arts Council to be the city’s third poet laureate in 2019 and was recently reappointed to the position for an additional year. “I think it was amazing that one of the great hits of the inauguration was the inaugural poet, that people fell in love with Amanda, and people fell in love with poetry,” Schwartz said. Gorman’s incorporation of her personal experiences into the inaugural poem inspired Schwartz. “Her poem not only talked about the big issues of the day … but her poem and her reading of that poem opened me up to her experience,” Schwartz said. “I feel that about all the poems I read or that I listen to. I think it is one of the great human sources of empathy, essentially, of allowing you to put yourself into someone else’s place, into their shoes, into their hearts, into their minds.” Though not a creative writer by profession, Marice EdouardVincent, superintendent of Medford Public Schools, along with her staff, was similarly inspired by Gorman’s poem, particularly its message of unity. “We were really just inspired by the poem and thinking about the inauguration and everything that had happened preceding that, where there was really a lot of anxiety and concern on the insurrection that happened at the Capitol
… With the inauguration, it was a new opportunity,” EdouardVincent said. This inspiration prompted Edouard-Vincent to start a poetry contest for Medford Public School students. Medford students are encouraged to submit a poem of up to 10 lines based on the theme of unity. The contest started on Jan. 22 and submissions are being collected until Feb. 22. Several winners will be selected to receive Amazon gift cards donated by the Center for Citizenship and Social Responsibility in Medford. The winners of the contest will also be invited to read their poems at the school committee meeting on March 8. Edouard-Vincent finds the message of unity to be especially important for Medford students during the time of hybrid and remote learning when feeling like a unified community has been more difficult. “A good amount of the district is fully remote,” EdouardVincent said. “We wanted to do something that said we’re one district no matter how you’re being educated.”Edouard-Vincent said that her staff received their first poem submission within a day after announcing the contest. The poem was written by Shelby Espinola, a first grader at Brooks Elementary School in Medford. Espinola titled it, “A Poem for the Community.” Edouard-Vincent thought Espinola’s poem was a great way to start off the competition. “We know that we’re going to get poems the whole gamut depending on where children are developmentally, but this was what she wanted to write. It doesn’t have to be a rhyming poem. It can be a message,” Edouard-Vincent said. “I think it’s pushing creativity, pushing the craft of writing and poetry, and hopefully some kids will be inspired by this opportunity.” Tufts students are also engaging in creative writing in a variety of ways. Caroline Vanderlee, a senior studying computer science
VIA WIKIMEDIA COMMONS
Amanda Gorman is pictured reciting “The Hill We Climb” at President Joe Biden’s inauguration on Jan. 20. in the School of Engineering, is the president of Parnassus, a creative writing club on campus. “Parnassus is Tufts’ coolest and only creative writing circle. We meet every week for an hour, and we bring prompts, or you can work on a project on your own if you have one, and we just make space to write and to share our writing and give constructive feedback,” Vanderlee said. “Mostly, it’s really nice to carve out that space to write and also to meet a community of really cool other writers on campus.” Vanderlee spoke about the role of community when it comes to creative writing. “In general, writing is solitary when it’s you and the page, but I think people underestimate how much a community is important to help you get to the finish line,” Vanderlee said. “It’s nice to have people cheering you on, giving you feedback, giving you a push in the right direction if you’re stuck.” Courtney Sender, a lecturer in the Tufts English department who teaches a fiction writing course, also shared her thoughts regarding the role of community in the creative writing process.
“Writing is profoundly about solitude, and you have to be comfortable being by yourself … so it’s similar to the practice of mindfulness — being able to sit with yourself and just accept being with yourself alone,” Sender said. “Conversely, when you emerge out of that solitude, you often really seek community. That’s been my experience. Community is the sort of antidote to the practice itself.” Sender highlighted an interesting link between community and solitude when it comes to a writer sharing their work. “The paradox is that the idea is that you’re going to communicate this incredibly solitary act, what’s deeply inside yourself … with, ideally, as wide an audience as possible,” Sender said. “Of course, the art of writing doesn’t require an audience, but many of us hope for one, myself included.” Poet Laureate Schwartz has built his own community of poetry sharing, a poetry reading and analyzing group that meets once a month, originally in the Somerville Public Library but now on Zoom. “We have a little group session called Let’s Talk About a Poem. I pick a poem … Sometimes it’s
a very famous poem, and sometimes it’s a poem that nobody else knows,” Schwartz said. “I sort of run the discussion, and I have lots to say, but so do lots of other people, and some really interesting people have become regulars, and they do more homework than I do.” According to Schwartz, attendance has grown since the pandemic caused the group to move onto Zoom. “I think the first month, four or five people showed up, and then the second month six people showed up, and then the third month ten people showed up … and then the pandemic started,” Schwartz said. “I talked to the librarian … and she said, ‘Would you be willing to do this online on Zoom?’ and I thought, ‘Sure, why not?’ and now we have 50 people, 60 people. It’s just amazing.” Sender suggests that writing, however solitary an act, is able to bring people together in such a way because of its accessibility to almost everyone,” Sender said. “[Writing is] the kind of passion that requires so little. It requires a mind and a pen and something to write on.”
“A Poem for the Community” Joe Biden and Kamala Harris are the leaders Kamala Harris is the first woman to be the vice president Joe Biden is going to help our community by taking care of corona Let’s hope they help our world -Shelby Espinola, first grader, Brooks School, Mrs. Fargo’s class COURTESY CAITLIN NERI
A poem written by first-grader Shelby Espinola is pictured.
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Tuesday, February 16, 2021
Rebecca Carroll, Christine Vachon present ‘Surviving the White Gaze’
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A screenshot of an online book event on Feb. 1 hosted by Christine Vachon (left) and Rebecca Carroll (right) is pictured. by Ellie Lester
Contributing Writer
Harvard Bookstore hosted a conversation between author Rebecca Carroll and film producer Christine Vachon on Feb. 4, during which the two discussed the upcoming TV adaptation of Carroll’s book, “Surviving the White Gaze: A Memoir” (2021). Carroll is the author of several books distilling the complexities of race and Blackness in America. Her latest memoir recounts the difficulties from her being adopted and growing up in an all-white community, as well as meeting her birth mother. Between discussing the forthcoming miniseries and the origins of Carroll’s narrative, the conversation dovetailed with a larger examination of race and the significance of both embrac-
ing and sharing what it means to be Black in America. In “Surviving the White Gaze,” Carroll recounts the incredibly isolating feeling of growing up without any clues into Black cultural tradition or role models who looked like her. It was not until she had her first Black professor in college that she was able to have her first candid conversations about racial contention. She hopes that providing this look into her journey of gaining access to her identity will resonate with viewers experiencing similar feelings of isolation in their communities. Beyond the usual acrobatics of publishing a book, Carroll’s memoir challenged her to take her trauma head-on. “You cannot write a memoir until you are wholly in agency of your story,” she said. When identifying what finally signaled her to begin writing,
Carroll shared how the 2014 shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Mo. exacted that shift. Carroll recalled her son asking if they would be shot too because of the color of their skin. “Something shifted in such an extraordinary, clarifying way … I just started writing these things with rage but clarity,” she said. Carroll relishes the experience of finally telling her own narrative after long-acting as an “interlocutor” for others’ stories. She credits other Black voices with helping her procure the “solidarity, community and strength and inspiration that [she] needed to really hone [her] own voice.” She likened the publication to writing and directing her own film, calling it “tremendously freeing.” Next to the strong emotions residing in her story, Carroll noted how the story was difficult to write
not just for its content, but also for the fact that all of her characters are still alive. To translate her family members and peers to the page, Carroll took the practice of “radical compassion.” As Carroll and Vachon discussed creative decisions for their upcoming miniseries toward the end of the conversation, Carroll moved to a larger discussion of the pervasive role race has in Hollywood, media and even publishing. She pointed out a particularly frustrating but present idea in Hollywood. “If it’s a white character, then they can do everything, but if it’s a Black character, they can only see the world in this particular way,” she said. Carroll moved from her personal experience with her rural town’s provincial racism to her discovery of an America that is
“open and unashamed” of its racism. Reflective of the country’s pervasive racism, she recalled a harrowing interaction with a teacher who complimented her on being pretty despite the color of her skin. Systemic racism, she said, first fronts one with ideas that feel unfair, but then “burrow[s] into your mind, into your gut, into the way that you navigate the world.” Speaking from her experience growing up with a feeling of “otherness,” Carroll recommended that white families with Black children take initiative to introduce and cultivate Black culture to “encourage a sense of safety [and] a sense of self.” She noted that these children belong not just to their families, but to Black culture. “In many ways, that’s what ‘Blackness’ is,” she said. “We bring ourselves to each other.”
‘Euphoria’ special episode takes Jules (and us) to therapy by Sibi Nyaoga
Contributing Writer
Content warning: This article mentions struggles with gender roles, gender identity and addiction. Season 2 of “Euphoria” (2019–) was due to begin production just days before COVID-19 restrictions were put in place in California and across much of the world. This left fans, actors and production staff holding their breath for the next time they would hear from Rue (Zendaya), Jules (Hunter Schafer), Nate (Jacob Elordi) and the rest of the characters whom they had come to tenderly understand. The show’s lead producer and writer, Sam Levinson, filled this hiatus with two “bridge” episodes focusing on the two main characters of the show: Rue and Jules. There is a marked shift from the choppy, non-chronological timeline of the first season to the calm stillness of the hour-long special that intimately explores the psyche of Jules. For some, it may be a shock. However, the slower style is refreshing and allows for reflection and introspection on the events of the first season. While Season 1 of “Euphoria” was criticized for romanticizing its crude and graphic depiction of teen life, Jules’ therapy-session
episode cannot be mistaken for glamorization. With her new therapist (Lauren Weedman), Jules delves into her relationship with femininity, hormones and how much men have affected her perception of self and womanhood. These are universal themes that are powerfully explored through the eyes of a transgender teenager. Her journey of conquering femininity is turned into an exploration of how the idea of femininity conquered her. And by doing so, the show explores the nuance of trans identity in a way that is seldom portrayed on television, especially in regard to teenagers. Jules’ femininity had always been scripted around a male gaze. This special episode shows how Jules’ attraction to Rue challenged this for the first time — Rue saw through the performative facade that Jules had constructed in reaction to the world around her. The episode allows us to look back at how Jules’ pursuit of male approval caused many of her problems in the first season — from unnerving encounters with Nate’s father to her passive relationship with Rue. In this standalone episode, Jules begins to explore femininity on her own terms for the first time and leaves us with enthusiasm for the future.
The episode continues with the artistic decision to remain in moments of discomfort. In the first season, the scenes did not cut away from the graphic, explicit encounters of its high school subjects. In the same spirit, this episode refuses to cut away from Jules’ tears, discomfort and deepest fears while sitting in front of her therapist. It forces us, as viewers, to reflect, and it serves as catharsis. After all, Jules is not the only person who has struggled with gender roles, family and addiction, among other issues; in Jules, viewers might see themselves. For the first time, Jules addresses her relationship with her mother (Pell James). Through this, we see the parallels between Jules’ mother and Rue. It is not uncommon for people to find romantic partners similar to their primary caregiver — a trend reflected by Jules’ romantic entanglement with Rue, whose sobriety weighs heavily on Jules, yet is a topic with which she adamantly refuses to engage. “I don’t wanna talk about it,” Jules says to her therapist multiple times over the hour-long special. It reminds us of how much she keeps hidden. That being said, Jules uncovers herself for the first time in this episode, giving us her take on the events of the first season.
VIA IMDB
A promotional poster for a special episode by HBO’s “Euphoria” is pictured. This episode shows us that, under the show’s sometimes jagged presentation, these are still teenagers grappling with their nascent identities. Within them, we can
all see a part of ourselves, which Levinson powerfully communicates through Jules. There is something in this episode that almost everyone can relate to.
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THE TUFTS DAILY | ARTS & POP CULTURE | Tuesday, February 16, 2021
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‘Chromatica’ Oreos are a tasty, colorful eating experience by Chris Panella Arts Editor
For the world’s most famous pop stars, expanding into other businesses is a great way to connect with fans, build a brand and make some money. It’s almost a rite of passage at this point: Beyoncé’s Ivy Park athleisure, Rihanna’s Fenty products and Lady Gaga’s Haus Laboratories are all just recent examples of popular artists taking advantage of their big names to capitalize in other ventures. But Gaga’s new Oreos are, well, different. The line of limited-edition cookies is inspired by the singer’s latest release “Chromatica” (2020), a dancepop album exploring mental health and healing. Gaga’s Oreos are a spin on the classic sandwich cookies, with pink cookies and green icing in the middle (although there’s no flavor difference from a Golden Oreo). The cookies are inspired by the color scheme of “Chromatica” — Gaga originally imagined the album as a planet inhabited by various color tribes. Of course, these Oreos don’t come in just plain old packaging either; it’s bright pink and clearly visible at the end of the cookie aisle. Now, wait a minute. Gaga doing a collaboration with Oreos? Doesn’t that seem a little … menial for someone of Gaga’s
stature? Well, Gaga anticipated a much more robust promotion for “Chromatica;” however, most of those rollout plans were scrapped thanks to the COVID19 pandemic. It’s easy to mourn what could’ve been — the live performances, campaigns and tours — but at the very least, we have some exciting Oreos to comfort us. And exciting they are! When the Oreos were released nationwide in January, fans scrambled to stores in search of the pink and green cookies. For this writer, it took some time to actually get a package — multiple stores were sold out, and words can’t express the awkwardness of walking up to a Target worker and asking if they were expecting any more of Gaga’s Oreos anytime soon. It took a few days and some minor Reddit research to discover where “Chromatica” Oreos would be and when the best time was to order them for pick up. Once the cookies were finally secured, the cashier was fascinated by them. She mentioned something about her family wanting them, but that they had been sold out for a few days. In the car, an immediate taste test ensued. The cookies are crunchier than a normal Oreo — one may wonder if they’re stale or not — but it’s easy to get used to that. Beyond the crazy colors,
VIA AMAZON
Lady Gaga’s “Chromatica” Oreos are pictured. “Chromatica” Oreos really just taste like Golden Oreos (if not a little sweeter). They do well when dunked in milk, never getting too soft to crumble. Each bite is satisfying and there’s a good cookie-to-icing ratio; this was a relief, considering Double Stuf Oreos are simply atrocious. Who needs that much icing? After trying a few, the cookies were shared with some friends. While this writer felt positively about the Oreos, others weren’t as thrilled. Some called them “radioactive,” “food dye” and simply “too sweet.” Another joked that “Chromatica” Oreos
stick to your insides for years, like that old wives’ tale about gum. But don’t listen to the naysayers. These cookies are good — try them for yourself! Beyond the deliciousness of “Chromatica” Oreos, the memes around the cookies are a welcomed part of the experience. One Twitter user compared them to the COVID-19 vaccine — both are “absolutely essential, impossible to get.” Another imagined what “Chromatica” curry would look like —disgusting. And music artist Slayyyter commented that she “bought stock in ‘Chromatica’ Oreos.”
So, it seems that “Chromatica” Oreos are doing their job: being a tasty eating experience and connecting with fans. Of course, it’s a different investment than any Ivy Park or Haus Laboratories product. It’s also certainly not what fans might have expected as a form of Gaga’s album promotion. But during COVID-19, it’s probably better to lower our collective expectations and enjoy what we can get. So, we’ll turn on “Chromatica,” wear some “Rain On Me” merchandise and eat our pink Oreos in peace.
Tuesday, February 16, 2021 | Fun & Games | THE TUFTS DAILY
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F& G
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LATE NIGHT AT THE DAILY Liz: “I don’t understand how people have nut allergies.”
Fun & Games
SUDOKU
LINDA C. BLACK ASTROLOGY
Aquarius (Jan. 20–Feb. 18) Maintain domestic harmony as a foundational support. Listen to whats going on. Support family. Contribute to clean and organize space. Prepare something delicious.
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Difficulty Level: Getting enough sleep
Friday’s Solutions
CROSSWORD
8 Tuesday, February 16, 2021
Opinion
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VIEWPOINTS
Test-optional policies make college admissions more holistic, equitable by Ariana Arvanitis Contributing Writer
“That’s it!” The door slammed shut as my friend flounced into the classroom, where the rest of us had been silently waiting for second period to start. “If I don’t get a 1600 on the SAT, I’m not getting into college and school was for nothing!” Her eyes were wide with fear and frustration. Mildly alarmed, I looked down at my uniform penny loafers as I fidgeted with my eraser, collecting its shavings in my hand and thinking to myself, “Has it come to this?” Is anything less than a perfect 1600 practically a death sentence? Is your SAT score the numerical definition of your worth? Is the only point of school to prepare you for this test? Yikes. Proponents of standardized tests tout them as the fairest way to measure merit, serving as an impartial assessment of how hard students work. But, in reality, standardized tests are epicenters for cruel optimism and self-fulfilling prophecies.
Cruel optimism stems from the myth students are led to believe: once the test begins, everyone has a fair chance at success. In practice, these tests are treated as a mercurial, difficult-to-please higher being; if you’re lucky enough, you’ll stumble upon that elusive formula for success. Perhaps if you pay enough to sign up for multiple exams and hire the most expensive tutor, you will be granted a high score. Not everyone can afford to play this game. High test scores are becoming ubiquitous among the elite, existing as demonstrations of economic status rather than merit. Because of this, we’ve come to live in a world in which standardized test scores are scarlet letters in the exact opposite sense of the object. Elite students proudly reveal their scores to anyone who will listen and expect a standing ovation when they announce their near-perfect 1570, even though the students next door probably have similar scores. The prerequisites for joining this “99th-percentile club” are far from accessible if you
exist outside of the elite bubble, though, and therein lies the problem. Studies support the conclusion that race and income have an increasingly strong correlation with high scores. In an investigation by Ember Smith and Richard Reeves at The Brookings Institute, the two found that “the average [math] scores for Black (454) and Latino or Hispanic students (478) are significantly lower than those of white (547) and Asian students (632).” Of course, this score chasm is not widening without a dire ripple effect. Now enter the self-fulfilling prophecy: “Black and Hispanic … students are significantly underrepresented at selective universities.” Why? Well, because high test scores are often indispensable to admission to prestigious universities, and students, often correctly, believe that if they don’t have that near-perfect score, rejection looms. So, in some cases, they just don’t apply, even if the university would have been a neat fit for
them. Additionally, application fees serve as a compounding deterrent to schools with stringent test score requirements; some students may decide not to apply because they cannot afford to spend money on a university they already thought they had slim to no chance of getting into. The pandemic’s changes to higher education admissions processes present an opportunity to escape this unjust status quo. The termination of SAT subject tests by College Board and the decision by Tufts and other universities to move to a test-optional admissions process is evidence of momentum towards a potential permanent test-optional process. Tufts has seen a 35% increase in applications this year, along with the most ethnically and racially diverse applicant pool yet, statistics that are directly linked to the newfound freedom felt by qualified candidates whose test scores would otherwise deter applications to top schools. Cruel optimism and self-fulfilling prophecies are tragic phenomena that this new era is begging
us to leave behind as we move forward to a standardized testfree college application process. At some point in the future, I’d like to believe we’ll look back at standardized testing and realize that no complex individual deserved to be quantified as a four-digit number. Hopefully, we’ll recognize that school is not just about preparing for standardized tests and is meant to instill lifelong traits of discipline, tenacity and compassion in every student. This lapse in required test scores is the panacea: when students aren’t tied down by test scores, they pursue their dream schools, explore their passions and may one day contribute greatly to the world. We must stay on this path so we can effectuate change by inviting a more inclusive and dynamic group of intelligent students to apply and join the college student population. Ariana Arvanitis is a first-year who has not yet declared a major. Ariana can be reached at ariana.arvanitis@tufts.edu.
Op i n i o n
Tuesday, February 16, 2021 | Opinion | THE TUFTS DAILY
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OP-ED
Tufts must condemn anti-Asian racism SEAN LEE Content warning: This article mentions violence and racism against Asian individuals. I am writing to demand a statement from the Tufts University administration condemning the latest wave of anti-Asian racism and violent attacks. For a community that often feels silenced, erased and rendered invisible, I demand that the university visibly and meaningfully support Asian students, educators and staff during these traumatic times. For those who are not active on social media or are not a part of the Asian community, you may be unaware of the latest wave of anti-Asian racism and violent attacks against members of our community. The following incidents have occurred in just the past several weeks: On Jan. 28, Vicha Ratanapakdee, an 84-year-old Thai man, was forcibly shoved while walking down the street. He died two days later. Another video showed a 91-year-old man senselessly pushed onto the cement sidewalk in Oakland’s Chinatown. A 64-year-old grandmother of Vietnamese descent was assaulted and her purse was stolen in broad daylight as she exited a bank with cash for Lunar New Year celebrations. An elderly Chinese couple in their 80s was attacked while crossing the street. The wife later died from her injuries. The Pennsylvania State Police fatally shot Christian Hall, a 19-year-old experiencing a mental health crisis. His hands were up when they killed him. A historic granite monument honoring Japanese immigrants was vandalized in San Jose’s Japantown. During the last week of January, nine Asian-owned businesses had their windows smashed. Noel Quintana, a 61-yearold Filipino man, was slashed across his face with a box cutter after asking a man to stop kicking his bag on the New York subway. No passengers came to his aid. On Lunar New Year, several Asian-American-owned businesses in Howard County, Md. were vandalized and stolen from.
And many, many more. Too many more. Since the pandemic started, hate crime motivated by antiAsian sentiment has increased exponentially — 1900% in New York City compared to the previous year, according to New York Police Department data. Between March 19, 2020 and Dec. 31, 2020, over 2,800 firsthand accounts of anti-Asian hate were received by Stop AAPI Hate, a “coalition documenting and addressing anti-Asian hate and discrimination amid the COVID-19 pandemic.” Perhaps even more shocking, only 47.6% of Asian hate crime victimization is reported in the United States, according to the Bureau of Justice Statistics’ National Crime Victimization Survey, illustrating the vast underreporting of anti-Asian hate crime. For a school that prides itself on civic engagement, Tufts University needs to be more aware of the instances of racism happening around the country and actively support the members of those communities on and off campus. Helping me reflect on the importance of institutional solidarity, Gillian Davis (LA’19) wrote, “I feel like our alma maters are institutions we look to in times of turmoil for guidance, no matter how long it’s been since we’ve graduated. So we look to Tufts to validate our feelings of frustration, fear and exhaustion, only to be met with silence. And when the institution is silent, it in a sense acknowledges and validates the institutional racism.” For both current students and alumni, we deserve better and have the right to expect better from prominent institutions of higher education. Since I graduated in December 2019, I feel less connected to the Tufts community. I asked a few students who are still enrolled about how they are feeling, and how I, and the university, could best support them. Melody Khounchanh, a junior, responded, “I’m not sure if I feel supported or not. It’s kind of the same feeling that always happens when something occurs in the Asian community. We get pushed back into the submissive category and there isn’t the same passion to fight for our community compared to other groups.”
For so long, many members of the Asian diaspora have suppressed our own racial trauma. We were falsely led to believe that if we stayed silent and worked hard, we would achieve the Western definition of success. Waking up from this illusion is emotional, confusing and painful. Additionally, I want you to understand that anti-Asian racism occurred long before the COVID-19 pandemic. In 1882, the Chinese Exclusion Act was signed into law. It was the first ethnic-based discriminatory immigration law in U.S. history, preventing all members of a national group from entering the “Land of Opportunity.” Of course, this was after Asian immigrants completed building the first Transcontinental Railroad in the 1860s, which is a fact often missing in U.S. history curricula and textbooks. The United States has a long history of scapegoating immigrants for diseases and outbreaks, and Asians were no exception. Around the 1900s, the racist metaphor “Yellow Peril,” also known as “Yellow Terror” and “Yellow Specter,” spread faster than the diseases that were blamed on these East Asian communities. Politicians and the medical community wrongly stereotyped East Asian immigrants as more likely to carry diseases such as smallpox and cholera. The 1900 bubonic plague outbreak in San Francisco was used as an excuse to quarantine East Asians; the Surgeon General Walter Wyman even called it the “Oriental disease, peculiar to rice eaters.” And let’s not forget Executive Order 9066 of 1942, when President Franklin D. Roosevelt forced the relocation and incarceration of about 120,000 people of Japanese descent purely based on racist suspicion! From the Chinese Exclusion Act of the late 1800s, to the “Yellow Peril” of the 1900s, to the Japanese internment camps of World War II, racial hatred and systemic oppression against Asians has saturated American history. The current pandemic is only used as an excuse by some to visibly manifest their racist ideologies, emboldened by the xenophobic rhetoric of the 45th president and various Republican politicians. The
widespread use of phrases such as “China Virus,” “Wuhan Virus” and “Kung Flu” on mainstream media and social media only reinforces the hatred, racism and xenophobia deeply embedded in this country. Ameya Okamoto, a sophomore, shared this reflection on her feelings of isolation. “Even with the increased violence, I still hear and feel the sentiment that it’s not our time — and won’t ever be our time — to talk about our experiences. Asians are constantly invalidated and gaslighted about our experiences with difference and racism. It’s terrifying to talk about my own experiences with violence and racism because there is a fear that my story is not important or is taking away attention from other important platforms.” Invisibility is so entrenched in our experience as Asians in America. Even during this moment of collective mourning, we still feel the need to promote other communities ahead of our own. The model minority myth convinced us that we should not take up space because we do not have it “that bad.” For some of us, the myth is so internalized, we prioritize the pain of others over our own, silently grieving for our own community in private. We bury our pain so we can do more, be more, for others. We have been gaslighted for so long that we’ve started to gaslight ourselves. “Who taught Asian Americans that we shouldn’t prioritize or take care of ourselves? Look out for our own communities? Embrace our culture and elderly?” Okamoto asked. I am pleading with the Tufts community to STOP letting Asian communities carry the traumatic burden alone. Our pain, trauma and exhaustion must be acknowledged and addressed. The lack of support is disheartening and invalidating. These recent attacks, many against the elderly, are not isolated incidents; they are a manifestation and continuation of historic white supremacy against our communities. I request that the University Chaplaincy reach out to the communities of the faiths, cultures and spiritualities affected by the violence. I urge Tufts Counseling and Mental Health Services to share resources and support Asian students as they
struggle with identifying what they need. I ask the Division of Student Diversity and Inclusion to provide a healing space for cross-racial community solidarity. And I invite faculty, staff and educators to listen and amplify our voices to their vast network. To the general Tufts community, check in with your Asian students and friends beyond the typical “How are you doing?” Holistically ask how they are doing physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually. Make sure they are eating, sleeping and taking care of themselves. Ask what support they need and what it looks like for them. Provide silly, wholesome distractions if that is what they need. Make space and just listen. Solidarity starts with community care. Beyond just a statement — which, at best, is a starting point, and at worst, performative — I ask the university and the Tufts community to learn our histories, to educate yourselves on our diverse cultures and promote Asian restaurants, artists and stories. Silence erases our humanity. Silence guarantees more violence in the future. Share our voices. I wish I was not the one writing. However, the way I felt I could contribute to my community was to amplify our pain, our rage, our grief, our joy and our voices. We were never invisible, we were made invisible: our histories erased, our faces replaced, our voices silenced. Enough is enough. Author’s Note: My usage of the word “Asian” is a shorthand that encompasses the vast and diverse Asian diaspora, including, but not limited to, Southeast Asians, Pacific Islanders, Southwest Asians and East Asians. It is important to remember that “Asians” are not a monolith, and that the term often refers to some identities more than others.
Sean Lee is a multimedia environmental storyteller and alumnus (LA'19) of Tufts University. He studied environmental studies and an interdisciplinary studies major he designed called conservation through multimedia storytelling. He can be reached at seanlee.earth@gmail.com.
10 Tuesday, February 16, 2021
Isaac Karp Power to the Players
Blake Griffin and the failure of managerialism in the NBA
B
ack in Los Angeles in 2017, NBA star Blake Griffin descended a walkway at the Staples Center adorned with pictures of his life and basketball career. When he reached the court, he witnessed a ceremony that culminated with a promise: his jersey would be lifted into the rafters as a Clipper, a distinction no player had yet achieved. The Clippers convinced Griffin to re-sign; however, in 2018, less than one year into Griffin’s massive five-year contract, they traded him to Detroit, a city that bears little resemblance to LA. After two years of a productive Griffin, the Pistons soon realized they were in limbo. They consequently dealt one of their most loyal stars and four-time league rebounding leader Andre Drummond to the Cleveland Cavaliers for almost nothing in return. Fortunately, this gave an opportunity to center Christian Wood, who, for the last stretch of the season, seemed to be a centerpiece for the future of the franchise. On the other hand, they still had Griffin on their team, an unpalatable asset in light of his expensive contract and aging body. Griffin’s current reputation in the NBA can be summed up by Miami Heat announcer Eric Reid, who called him “a very old 31.” Meanwhile, in the fall, the front office decided to sign Denver Nuggets forward Jerami Grant to a three-year, $60 million contract. It is worth noting that Grant sat on the bench for much of last season
Sports before breaking out in the bubble, where he helped the Nuggets reach the Western Conference Finals. Besides this, the Pistons also signed former Nuggets center Mason Plumlee to a three-year, $25 million deal. They made this move because they lost 25-year-old Wood, who was not offered the salary he desired. Grant and Wood would have made a strong nucleus to build on, but the Pistons split that atom. The Pistons used to have an identity that reflected the perseverance of the city of Detroit. Whether it was the “Bad Boys” of the late ’80s or the mid-2000s team that upset Kobe Bryant and the Lakers in the finals, playing in Detroit meant having grit and beating the odds. However, the newera Pistons lack a promising future. While Grant is having a career year, it’s rare for any team to hand over the keys to their franchise to a player of Grant’s modest caliber. He’s a talent but a below-average shooter on a team with one of the worst records in the NBA. None of this translates to a winning formula. This entire mess can be attributed partly to a deep-rooted mistrust between players and their organizations. After Drummond was traded, he tweeted, “If there’s one thing I learned about the NBA, there’s no friends or loyalty.” When players are treated as commodities, they feel the need to exert more control over their own future. Whether it’s James Harden forcing his way out of Houston or Anthony Davis making it clear he wanted to leave New Orleans, players feel less loyalty toward teams and owners that treat them as expendable. At the same time, this waning sense of responsibility to a franchise makes it difficult for fans to put their faith in players — and remember, it’s the fans that keep the league alive. If the NBA is to fix the mess it has created, organizations need to jettison the impersonal managerialism and treat players as equals. Isaac Karp is a first-year who has not yet declared a major. Isaac can be reached at Isaac.karp@tufts.edu.
Arnav Sacheti Olympic Torch
From the backyard to the Olympics
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magine that you’re back in your childhood home. You peer out into the backyard and see a trampoline — your favorite childhood pastime. For some, this seemingly short-lived backyard passion has turned into a career with international exposure. Their trampolines have never left the backyard, but these athletes have moved into training centers and stadiums. That’s right, trampolining is an Olympic sport. The trampoline was the brainchild of a young trailblazer named George Nissen in the 1940s. As a teenager, Nissen watched circus performers jumping onto safety nets, and he had the idea to create a product that would let them jump indefinitely. After years of applying for patents and trying different parts for their durability, strength and bounce, the final prototype was born. To test it out, Nissen took it to a YMCA camp. “My father knew he was on to something,” Nissen’s daughter Dian said in an interview with the Smithsonian Magazine. “He took it to a YMCA camp to try it out and the kids loved it. They wouldn’t even get off it to go to the pool.” The trampoline became a serious discipline when it was adopted by the U.S. military in training for World War II, giving pilots the opportunity to learn how to maneuver in mid-air by simulating erratic conditions in the sky during combat. Finally, after close to 20 years of indoctrination of the trampoline into the world’s consciousness, trampolining
tuftsdaily.com became recognized as an official sport in 1962 by the International Gymnastics Federation. It wasn’t until 2000, when George Nissen was 86 years old, that trampolining became part of the Summer Olympics, debuting in Sydney, Australia. The Olympic trampoline measures 14 feet by 7 feet and is different from your typical backyard trampoline in that it has webbing that will make you jump higher and faster. Athletes are scored on execution, difficulty and time of flight through two rounds of jumping: compulsory and voluntary. In the compulsory round, which comes first, the athletes have to perform a predefined set of jumps, and the voluntary round is a final-round showcase of their own creative set of jumps. Different jumps that athletes have in their bags include seat drops, tuck jumps and half twists: all displays of extreme athletic ability. When asked to give tips on how to maximize chances of success in such a competition, Steven Gluckstein, a sixtime men’s U.S. trampoline champion and an Olympian in 2012, gave a simple, almost proverbial response in an interview with the Wall Street Journal. “The harder you push it down, it will spring you back up faster,” Gluckstein said. With only one man and one woman from the United States able to go to the Olympics for trampolining, Gluckstein learned this truth in a personal manner. In 2012, in order to get to the big stage, he had to beat out his own brother, Jeffrey Gluckstein, who is also a decorated trampolinist. Talk about a backyard rivalry. This week, that’s exactly where the Olympic torch deserves to reside: in childhood backyards, where competitive spirits are forged and athletes are born. Arnav Sacheti is a sophomore who is studying quantitative economics. Arnav can be reached at arnavsacheti@gmail.com