The Tufts Daily - Thursday, February 25, 2021 (Daily Week Edition)

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tuftsdaily.com

Thursday, February 25, 2021

T HE T UFTS DAILY D AILY W EEK E DITION SPRING 2021 VOLUME LXXXI, ISSUE 12

RAs met with mixed response after presenting concerns to Residential Life

by Matthew McGovern News Editor

In the wake of their 2021 spring semester training, 48 Tufts resident assistants wrote an email to Director of Josh Hartman, director of the office of residential life and learning (ORLL), outlining changes they would like to see, including the establishment of an RA council, mandated anti-racist training, COVID-19 vaccine prioritization and increased compensation.

In his response to the RAs’ concerns, Hartman outlined why requests such as vaccine prioritization and greater transparency about COVID-19 statistics were not able to be fulfilled, but he was eager to to work with RAs to establish a council, increase anti-racist training and help advocate for increased compensation.

The RAs’ request for increased compensation largely came from the fact that they believe their pay does not reflect their increased responsibilities that come from having to enforce COVID-19 guidelines in the residence halls this year.

Kaavya Chaparala, an RA, discussed these sentiments.

“I think across the board people are frustrated,” Chaparala, a senior, said. “The isolation … has honestly been really hard on a number of our RAs who already left after the fall.”

Chaparala characterized the RAs as the eyes and ears of the university and spoke to the challenges of enforcing health and safety protocols in addition to their regular responsibilities.

“On top of all the normal emotional labor that RAs have to put into building community and supporting their residents … there is the additional load of [COVID-19],” Chaparala said.

“That definitely takes a toll on you … seeing how many people have no regard for other people’s safety.”

Due to financial and legal limitations, ORLL cannot grant

all the requests the RAs made in their email. For instance, ORLL is restricted in its ability to accommodate calls for increased compensation, prioritization for the COVID-19 vaccine and communication of COVID-19 statistics in residence halls.

According to Hartman, Residential Life does not currently have room in its budget to answer RAs’ calls for increased compensation. Despite this, he expressed ORLL’s willingness to work with the RAs on securing funding.

“We would love to collaborate with you all on advocating for more funding from the university for the work that our department is doing, as we want to be able to compensate Resident Assistants, [Assistant Residential Life Coordinators], and even professional staff at a higher level for their work,” Hartman said in his email response.

In terms of access to localized COVID-19 statistics, the ORLL could not accommodate the RAs’ request. Students’ medical information is federally protected under the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act and the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, and Hartman noted that RAs’ safety guidelines and protocols should remain consistent regardless.

Additionally, Hartman noted that Tufts must follow Massachusetts’ guidelines for vaccine distribution, but also that the Association for College and University Housing Officers International, is advocating for RAs to receive the vaccine early.

Hartman’s email indicated there are other areas that ORLL and the RAs can focus on, and Chaparala said she is optimistic about collaborating with them.

One such area is improved anti-racist training. Both ORLL and the group of RAs expressed motivation to examine and address racism and work toward the university’s goal of becoming an anti-racist institution. Both

AVA IANNUCCILLO / THE TUFTS DAILY

Office of Sustainability announces Green Fund winners

by Yiyun Tom Guan News Editor

AARON APOSTADERO / THE TUFTS DAILY

RAs throughout campus create fun, interactive boards to connect with their residents. parties agreed on the dual importance of recognizing biases and developing practical training.

Chaparala noted that anti-racist training made up less than two hours of the two-week long RA training.

“I think it’s a little bit telling of who is in power in [Residential Life] to see that it took RAs saying ‘we need anti-racist training for ourselves when we’re responding to incidents,’ instead of them coming to that conclusion,” Chaparala said.

In an email to the Daily, Hartman and Dean of Student Affairs Camille Lizarríbar emphasized their commitment to collaborating with RAs, increasing support and developing more training.

“We work with and listen closely to RAs and make changes to our processes and practices every year based on their input,” they wrote.

In his email response to the RAs’ concerns, Hartman said that in fall 2021, RAs, along with all students, faculty and staff, will be required to participate in five hours’ worth of anti-racist training. This training will consist of asynchronous learning and a synchronous group debriefing.

Additionally, Hartman pointed to RA Round Tables, a program ORLL had been planning to roll see RA, page 2

The Tufts Office of Sustainability announced the three winners of its annual Green Fund competition in December 2020. The winning project on the Medford/Somerville campus was Mia Nixon’s “FlowGreen at Tufts,” Kevin Cody and René LaPointe Jameson won with “Tufts Hydroponics Collaboration” on the Boston Health Sciences Campus and “Disposable Mask Recycling” by Juliette Nye received the Grafton campus funding.

Tom Paugh, the Green Fund intern this past summer, explained that the Green Fund utilizes a budget that totals $40,000 to support projects envisioned by members of the Tufts community in order to spur involvement with sustainability issues across different campuses.

“Each fiscal year we have $40,000 to allocate to … student, faculty or staff projects, and the purpose of the Green Fund is to provide funding for the implementation of sustainability projects and ideas within the Tufts community and for the Tufts community,” Paugh, a sophomore, said. “It’s trying to … spur student engagement in sustainable organizing, as well as making their ideas about how the campus could be more sustainable come to a reality.”

According to Paugh, the Green Fund’s selection criteria include

whether the project is financially feasible and whether it can benefit the Tufts community as a whole, instead of just a smaller group of people.

Paugh added that the number of applications saw a significant drop from last year, from about 30 to eight stand-alone applications this year, two of which merged into one. However, he noted that while COVID-19 presented challenges to prospective applicants, he was impressed by their dedication.

Nixon, a senior, whose idea “FlowGreen at Tufts” won for the Medford/Somerville campus, explained the thought process behind her idea. FlowGreen at Tufts, which was awarded funding totaling $3,590, will use QR code technology to make up-todate recycling information accessible for Tufts community members. Since it’s common for people to be confused about what to recycle — because recycling rules change constantly and are different across regions — FlowGreen at Tufts will benefit the community at large.

“Starting this spring through the fall, we’re going to put QR codes on all of the campus recycling bins … that anybody can just walk up to, take out their smartphone, open up their camera and scan this QR code, and it will … direct them toward local recycling guidelines and other recycling related resources,” see SUSTAINABILITY, page 2

NICOLE GARAY / THE TUFTS DAILY

The Science and Engineering Complex is pictured on Dec. 3, 2020.

OPINION / page 7

FEATURES / page 3

SPORTS / back

Letter from the Managing Board: Reflecting on 41 years of student journalism

Ryan Shaffer, Stephanie Hoechst discuss community at the Daily

Former sports editors talk value of covering athletics at Tufts

NEWS

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FEATURES

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WEEKENDER

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FUN & GAMES

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OPINION

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SPORTS

BACK

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THE TUFTS DAILY | News | Thursday, February 25, 2021

THE TUFTS DAILY Megan Szostak Editor in Chief

— EDITORIAL — ETHAN STEINBERG Managing Editor

LIZ SHELBRED COLTON WOLK Associate Editors Maddie Aitken Executive News Editor Sarah Crawford Executive Features Editor Tuna Margalit Executive Arts Editor Priya Padhye Executive Opinion Editor

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Res Life agrees to establish RA council, mandate anti-racist training RA

continued from page 1 out prior to its communication with the RAs, as a platform to talk through objectives which will be developed in partnership with Maren Greathouse, associate director for diversity and inclusion education at Tufts.

Hartman also said that Residential Life will develop an RA council in the coming year,

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where RA representatives will be able to advocate for their interests and express their concerns to the university.

“The plan to establish an RA Council based on best practices among peer universities is a positive step,” Patrick Collins, executive director of media relations at Tufts, wrote in an email to the Daily. “A Council will enhance communications and feedback

and give RAs a natural channel to raise concerns and make suggestions going forward.”

The RAs who spoke with the Daily emphasized the importance of establishing a council and were optimistic that it could address their concerns in a more effective, long-term fashion.

Brendan Amorin, an RA included in the email to ORLL, told the Daily that he appreci-

ated the response of the office’s willingness to work through the issues together.

“It seems like the central staff of Res Life wants to work with us to advocate for things like compensation and having a role in how policy is established, so I think it’s a good start,” Amorin, a junior, said. “It’s not everything people wanted, but I’m excited to see where it goes.”

Green Fund winners to focus on recycling, food security SUSTAINABILITY

Julian Perry Editorial Editor

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continued from page 1 Nixon said. “We’re directing them to the Recycle Smart MA website where you can just type in exactly what you’re looking to recycle, and it’ll tell you how it can be disposed of, whether it can be recycled.”

Nixon mentioned that the success of the project will be measured by the number of QR code scanned and recycling bin contamination rates. The latter variable is important because if containers are not properly cleaned before recycling, they can contaminate the rest of the items in a recycling bin, she said.

Nixon believes her project will provide community members a means to practice sustainable living.

“I really think FlowGreen … takes recycling into our own hands … instead of trying to rely on other people to make a difference, it’s really giving us the opportunity to make an effort to properly dispose of our waste and make a real change,” Nixon said.

The winning project on the Boston campus was “Tufts Hydroponics Collaboration,” proposed by LaPointe Jameson, a junior, and Cody, who is the Hoch Cunningham professor of the practice in food systems in the environmental studies program. The project received $21,319.65.

Cody is the farmer training program manager at New Entry Sustainable Farming Project, and he will collaborate with two other organizations to deploy hydroponics operations to improve food security. Cody detailed specific initiatives in an email to the Daily.

“The first objective is to develop a hydroponics farm-to-school pipeline,” Cody said. “This will be done with Essex Tech where they will build and operate a portion of the hydroponics equipment in an already existing greenhouse on their campus in Danvers, MA with the produce going primarily to the school cafeteria.”

Cody also said that the project will aim to support food access efforts with Building Audacity, an organization that will build and

Meet the News Editors Rebecca Barker News Editor

Alex Janoff Deputy News Editor

Class year: 2022 Major: International relations Why News? You get to write history as it happens!

Class year: 2023 Major: Political science and computer science Why News? I love learning about and telling relevant stories. News helps me learn new things and meet new people every week. Writing for News ultimately keeps me grounded and well-connected in the Tufts community.

Alicia Zou News Editor Class year: 2022 Major: Psychology Why News? The News section provides a unique opportunity to speak to and learn from students, faculty, administration and staff that I otherwise wouldn’t have the chance to meet!

Sarah Renkert News Editor Class year: 2022 Major: Political science Why News? I’ve found the News section to be the most rewarding and challenging section on the Daily. I’ve had opportunities to meet and write about incredible leaders, members of the administration and change makers that I never would have been able to in other clubs on campus. Plus you’re usually the first ones on campus to find out about things!

Alexander Thompson Assistant News Editor Class year: 2022 Major: International relations Why News? For the big salary.

Sam Klugherz News Editor Class year: 2022 Major: Quantitative economics and environmental studies Why News? I write for News because I believe that informing our community about relevant matters is important.

operate hydroponics equipment in Lynn, Mass. in an effort to serve low-income communities of color.

He added that he also hopes to integrate the Tufts community by supporting the development of an online hydroponic farming training course, creating workshop opportunities for adult education and involving students from various environmental and nutrition fields.

Paugh commented on the potential impact of this project.

“It seeks to help low-income communities that don’t necessarily have access to fresh produce,” Paugh said. “It’s a direct need because hunger is big during the pandemic as well, so it’s providing direct relief to low-income communities in Massachusetts and also helping teach people at Tufts hydroponic farming techniques.”

Nye, a masters in conservation medicine student at the Cummings School, explained that her project, “Disposable Mask Recycling,” which won on the Grafton campus, will imple-

ment two Terracycle ZeroWaste mask recycling boxes on the Grafton campus.

“Instead of having all of these disposable masks just thrown away in the garbage … the disposable masks that are put in our Terracycle boxes can be disassembled, sorted by material, and then made into items like floor tiles and lumber,” Nye said in an email. “The recycling boxes will not only help to divert our campus’ waste from landfills and environments where waste should not normally be found.”

Nye commended the Green Fund for the resources it provides in order for her to make positive impacts.

“The Green Fund provided both the financial and consultation resources that I knew I needed to implement this project,” Nye said. “The application process forced me to think long and hard about the purpose of these boxes and how they will make an impact on the campus-level, which has helped me better explain the project and its implications to all stakeholders.”

Editor’s note: The Daily’s editorial department acknowledges that this article is premised on a conflict of interest.

This article is a special feature for Daily Week 2021 that does not represent the Daily’s standard journalistic practices.

Sarah Sandlow Deputy News Editor

Class year: 2023 Major : Biopsychology and French Why News? I’ve been writing for the News section since I started on my high school’s paper my sophomore year. I love writing for News because not only does it give me a chance to write about current events in and around the community for my peers to read, but I’ve been able to talk to so many different people through article interviews. I’ve been exposed to a variety of topics that I may not have been able to discover if I wasn’t writing an article on them. Being able to cover live events, publish stories on research efforts on campus and writing up stories on COVID-19 updates and guidelines has been so rewarding as I’ve been able to learn about and report on so many different areas of campus.

Anton Shenk News Editor

Liza Harris News Editor

Class year: 2022 Major: Quantitative economics Why News? To ask interesting questions and learn more about the school — from what it does well to what it could do better.

Class year: 2021 Major: Political science and German Why News? My parents have both had careers in journalism and I like to be on the forefront of what’s happening at Tufts!

Yiyun Thomlinson “Tom” Guan News Editor

Matt McGovern News Editor

Class year: 2023 Major: International relations and philosophy Why News? Robert Kaplan.

Class year: 2022 Major: English and philosophy Why News? Nothing beats real people, real events, real(ish) time.

tuftsdaily.com

Features

3 Thursday, February 25, 2021

Daily Week Senior Profile: Ryan Shaffer

by Ben Leikind Features Editor

Editor’s note: The Daily’s editorial department acknowledges that this article is premised on a conflict of interest. This article is a special feature for Daily Week 2021 that does not represent the Daily’s standard journalistic practices.

Ryan Shaffer has described the Daily as a “small town” newspaper. He would know. Shaffer, now a senior, hails from Decatur, Ark., a town with a population of less than 2,000 people. In many ways, Shaffer had a unique path from Decatur to Tufts. As a QuestBridge Scholar, this spring he will become the first person in his family to complete a fouryear undergraduate program.

Shaffer joined the Daily in the fall of his sophomore year. Since then, he has left his mark all over the paper, from the Copy section to Features to News and even Audio. Shaffer has written on a wide range of topics, from Fluff (the New England sweet delicious treat) to the unionization of Tufts Dining workers.

Shaffer covered the rallies supporting Tufts Dining workers in his first semester with the Daily. That fall, Tufts Dining workers called on the administration for better wages and benefits after they had unionized in the spring. On a quiet campus, it was an important event. “It was an absolute honor to cover it,” Shaffer said.

Shaffer also wrote a story on the history of Marshmallow

Alex Viveros News Editor/ former EIC

Fluff. On the surface, it was the story of a classic New England treat. On a deeper level, however, this story brought to life a side of Boston’s history that is often forgotten: Boston, the culinary-innovation hub.

“We tend to think now that Boston is the academic capital of the Americas,” Shaffer said. “But, that’s not the way it’s always been … Boston has been known for other things … it was kind of like a baking capital, and it was kind of this sweets capital, and was known for its confectionaries.”

In the fall of his junior year, Shaffer became Executive Copy Editor. He explained that it can be easy for people to get lost in such a big section. Sometimes, there were long gaps between when he would see people. No matter how long, though, he said it was important to him to make sure his copy editors got as much as possible out of the experience.

“I wanted to make sure that [the copy editors] got something out of it,” he said. “So I actually had taken notes … on what they’ve been really good at, and how they can improve. And I think that that was a good guide in making sure that whenever they come into the office for that two hours, it’s something that’s constructive for them.”

Shaffer said his greatest accomplishments and challenges came, however, when he was Editor in Chief of the Daily during his junior spring. In an ordinary year, his service to the

Class year: 2022 Major: Biology and community health Why News? The ethical reporting of news is the cornerstone of democracy; when people in the community are fully informed on all sides of a story, they can make informed decisions about their opinions and their stances on issues. Specifically, I like News because it allows me to dive deeper into my specific interests in scientific journalism.

paper would have been marked by efforts to balance the Daily’s budget by switching printers and paper delivery services, or by efforts to improve communication between the Managing Board and Executive Board. As it was, only a week before they were supposed to begin working with a new printer, everything was derailed by the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, and Shaffer ended up spending the rest of his term back in Decatur.

When asked what the first few weeks of the pandemic looked like from his perspective, Shaffer quipped, “for that half of the semester, the Daily was based in Arkansas.”

With the responsibility of keeping the Daily running, the pandemic was an exceptionally challenging moment for Shaffer.

Without strong Wi-Fi at home, he spent his evenings, from 6 p.m. until midnight, in his car, stationed in the parking lot of his local high school. According to Shaffer, he must have looked suspicious sitting out there late at night with his quilt and computer that one time a police officer came by to ask what was going on.

Even so, Shaffer’s efforts, combined with the help of other members of the Daily, allowed for the continued production of content throughout the semester.

Shaffer said his biggest priority in that time, however, was keeping the Daily calm and focused.

“I think for everyone it was a frightful moment, and I didn’t want our reporting to over-

COURTESY RYAN SHAFFER

Ryan Shaffer, former Editor in Chief, blow that or feed on people’s fears,” Shaffer said. “We wanted to make sure that they got the information that they needed, and weren’t going to be leaving just paralyzed with [fear], because we didn’t know anything at the time.”

Shaffer also had a unique vision for the Daily — he referred to it as a “small town” newspaper. On the surface, he said it means being a newspaper written by community members for community members.

Robert Kaplan News Editor

Class year: 2022 Major: Quantitative economics and history Why News? I’ve always been a big consumer of news, and the political drama of the past four years only magnified it. Aside from that, I was drawn to the Daily’s News section by accident more than anything else — it was freshman year, September was ending, and I hadn’t joined a club yet.

The reason I stayed, however, is because news reporting is the most rewarding, interesting and important way I’ve found to serve the community and grow in the process. News matters!

is pictured.

On a deeper level, he said he intended the term to signify a redefinition of the role of journalism. Certainly, journalism should accurately inform, he said, but it should also be used to connect people. When Shaffer interned at his local NPR affiliate the summer before his junior year, he was inspired by the way that they used their platform to connect community members with local nonprofits, theater groups, libraries and other organizations. As Editor in Chief he sought to use the Daily as a platform to connect people.

Shaffer explained, “That’s what it’s all about. It’s all about connecting people to the different areas of campus, all the different people and groups on campus, and letting them know what they’re doing … and taking pride in that.”

Peri Barest Assistant News Editor

Chloe Courtney-Bohl Assistant News Editor

Michael Weiskopf Assistant News Editor

Ria Agarwal Assistant News Editor

Coco Arcand Assistant News Editor

Class year: 2024 Major: Undecided but planning on biology and community health Why News? I love reading and writing about current events, and I want to ensure that students know what’s happening on campus.

Class year: 2024 Major: International relations Why News?

I love that through my news articles, I’m able to meet new people, learn about the issues that matter to them and interact with many different campus offices and organizations!

Class year: 2024 Major: International relations Why News? I’m a part of the News team because I like keeping myself and others informed, meeting new people at Tufts and learning new styles of writing!

Class year: 2023 Major: Biochemistry Why News? I chose News because I love knowing more about events and issues on campus. I also enjoy being able to interview faculty and students, as I get to meet new people that I never would have met if not through the newspaper.

Marianna Schantz Assistant News Editor

Jack Hirsch Assistant News Editor

Class year: 2024 Major: Political science Why News? Student journalism is an important way to get students the information they need to know about their school, the country and the world. This semester, I am covering news in Tufts’ host communities, particularly Somerville. As Tufts students, we each have a role in these cities and it is important to me to keep students up to date so we can all be better members of the community.

Jack Maniaci Assistant News Editor

Flora Meng Assistant News Editor

Class year: 2023 Major: International relations and Russian Why News? I chose news because I wanted to keep people informed on current events at Tufts University and expand on my writing skills. It has been such a great experience!

Class year: 2022 Major: International relations and economics Why News? I think the News department plays a vital role in our community by providing accurate information about what’s happening, and I wanted to contribute to that.

Class year: 2024 Major: Undecided Why News? Being in the News section helps me stay informed about what is happening at Tufts and allows me to interact with many members of the community that I otherwise would not have met.

Class year: 2024 Major: Political science Why News? Writing for the Daily’s News section allows me to report on aspects of campus life that are fascinating and informative for students, helping them feel more connected to the Tufts community.

Zoe Kava Assistant News Editor Class year: 2024 Major: Undecided Why News? BBecause I love getting to talk to people in interviews, and it’s also just undoubtedly the best section!

4

THE TUFTS DAILY | Features | Thursday, February 25, 2021

Kevin Zhang Tales from the T

Daily Week Senior Profile: Stephanie Hoechst

Hahvud

W

elcome to Tales from the T! Each week we’ll be diving into a story about the “T” and other components of Boston’s transit system. Hopefully you’ll learn something interesting!

We’ll start off with a story at Harvard, of optimism, turnabouts and ultimate abandonment. The abandoned dreams of thousands of students who decided to switch to econ? Nay (unfortunately), an abandoned station. Looking out the window from an inbound Red Line train departing Harvard, you might see a closed platform in the darkness; this is one of no fewer than four separate abandoned stations at Harvard.

The original Harvard station opened in 1912, as the terminus of the CambridgePark Street Under subway, which (shockingly) ran between Cambridge and Park Street. (An events-only station, Stadium, was built past Harvard, serving Harvard Stadium until 1967). This new line (now part of the Red Line) represented the pinnacle of those newfangled subway doohickeys at the time. Designed from the start as a high-capacity commuter line, it boasted widely spaced stations and notably large subway cars which would inspire designs in New York and Philadelphia. Boston’s subway cars even featured smoking compartments, which thankfully weren’t as trendsetting as the other design choices.

As the terminus, Harvard was, from the start, a major transfer point. Commuters could access in-station streetcar tunnels, which enabled easy transfers to then-outlying communities like Watertown and Arlington on routes that still operate today.

Harvard was one of many such hubs built to serve Boston’s expanding suburbs, and a decade after the station opened, plans were made to extend subway service from Lechmere along existing railroads to serve Medford and Somerville. Sound familiar?

Much to Tufts students’ annoyance, said Green Line Extension wouldn’t materialize for over a century, and by the end of World War II, proposals were made to extend Red Line service from Harvard as far as Lexington to serve the now-packed northern suburbs.

The extension was ultimately truncated to Alewife, and construction began in 1978.

The original Harvard station stood directly on the path of the extension, so it closed in 1981, with two temporary replacements named for nearby streets.

Harvard/Brattle, the line’s temporary terminus, consisted of a few wooden planks thrown together in a storage yard. Harvard/ Holyoke featured fully finished concrete tunnels and platforms — for only one track. The former ultimately saw Harvard’s Kennedy School built over it; the latter survives as the aforementioned abandoned platform you can see today.

The current Harvard station fully opened in 1985, superseding Stadium, Harvard/Brattle, Harvard/Holyoke and the original Harvard station. It remains a key transit hub, boasting the distinction of being the third-busiest T station and serving the best regional college in eastern Massachusetts. Some abandoned track tunnels still sit behind the walls as remnants of the line’s origins. Legend says if you walk through them on nights with a new moon, you might encounter a fairly annoyed MBTA guard or two.

Disclaimer: While public transit is often not a significant risk factor for spreading COVID-19, all nonessential travel is nonetheless, obviously, discouraged.

Kevin Zhang is a sophomore studying civil engineering. Kevin can be reached at kevin.zhang7@tufts.edu.

tuftsdaily.com

COURTESY STEPHANIE HOECHST

Stephanie Hoechst, former Executive Arts Editor, is pictured.

by Sarah Crawford

Executive Features Editor

Editor’s note: The Daily’s editorial department acknowledges that this article is premised on a conflict of interest. This article is a special feature for Daily Week 2021 that does not represent the Daily’s standard journalistic practices.

When senior Stephanie Hoechst talks about the Arts & Pop Culture section of the Daily, she makes the group sound like a close-knit group of friends, or as she affectionately describes it, “A little family … that rants about Gaga and trashes movies.” However, within this lively community, Hoechst and her colleagues have also done insightful work on a wide variety of topics in the local and international arts scenes.

During her time in Arts, Hoechst has covered everything from on-campus theater productions to the most popular movies of the year. She has written an impressive 48 articles, edited countless more and spent a semester as Executive Arts Editor, during which she helped to grow the section.

As an English and film and media studies double major, Hoechst has always had an interest in writing, film and television, and she thought the Daily would be the perfect place to pursue these passions.

After taking her first semester to settle into college life, Hoechst started writing for the News and Arts sections in the spring of 2018. However, she quickly gravitated toward Arts.

“I love [the Arts] section to pieces … the people in it are so interesting and cool and articulate and smart,” Hoechst said.

During her brief time as a News writer, Hoechst realized how much she enjoyed conducting interviews. This interest would influence her writing throughout her time in Arts. In her first semester, Hoechst covered on-campus theater productions such as Tufts Opera Ensemble’s “Le Nozze Di Figaro” and Torn Ticket II’s “Assassins,” which involved interviewing the directors and actors of these productions.

“I feel like everyone in Arts wants to write reviews, so I was one of the rare folks who really enjoyed doing interviews,” Hoechst said. “Arts interviews [are] all so positive … [They’re] highlighting these really cool, artistic people and …they’re excited about their work and you’re excited about hearing [about] their work, so it’s a super positive experience.”

In the process writing one of her favorite articles, which covered representation in on-campus comedy groups, Hoechst interviewed the leadership of Comic Relief, Tufts first comedy group for people of color and TFL Comedy, a comedy group for gender minorities.

“I remember the interviews being really fun and interesting and empowering,” Hoechst said. “I felt really proud of being able to get that story out there and talk about the importance of having representation in comedy.”

Throughout her long career in the Arts section, Hoechst also ventured into writing reviews of popular films and television series. Her favorite review is her analysis of “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse” (2018), which she deemed the “best movie of the last decade.”

In addition to her extensive achievements as a writer, Hoechst went on to become Executive Arts Editor in the fall of 2019. For Hoechst, the job was a difficult but rewarding one. “I remember definitely being really stressed. It’s not a job for the faint of heart.”

While dealing with the daily logistics of scheduling and editing was often difficult, Hoechst learned an important lesson from the experience: how to just roll with it. “There’s so little that you can anticipate and plan for because … daily journalism is messy and hard,” Hoechst said. “It’s so much easier to have the confidence that you know how to course correct and improvise … I find that skill a lot more reliable than planning stuff really intensely.”

Her role as an editor also made her feel like she was contributing to the Arts section in a different capacity. “[Being the Executive Editor] was a lot about learning the importance of sharing knowledge and being there to help folks who are just starting out,” Hoechst said.

In this role, Hoechst mentored new writers and a large group of editors, and enjoyed the responsibility of growing the section that had become “a little family” to her. “An exec is your professional role model sometimes, but also can be like your older sister.”

Through both the stressful and entertaining times, Hoechst found a strong sense of community at the Daily. Between the late nights spent in the Daily’s office in the Curtis Hall basement and the lively Arts section meetings, Hoechst formed close relationships with people who shared her passions.

“Arts meetings are so incredibly chaotic,” Hoechst said. “Especially when we were still meeting in person, it would be about fifteen minutes of actually scheduling content. Then the rest would just be, talking about movies we love or … hate or conspiracy theories.”

One such conspiracy theory was that the personalities of the Democratic Party’s 2020 presidential candidates could all be represented by a Phineas and Ferb character. After a weekly section meeting, Hoechst recalled staying late with a few friends to map out this idea. They concluded that Kamala Harris is both Perry the Platypus and Candace, and Joe Biden is, of course, Ferb.

This kind of delightful and seemingly absurd conversation is something that encapsulates Hoechst’s love for the section. If there’s one sentiment she hopes to leave with Arts after she graduates, it’s this: “Be weird … be weird and passionate about the weird things you like. That’s what makes it beautiful, and it’s also an opportunity to go out and experience more interesting things and become passionate about them.”

Calling all Tufts students, submit your 2 minute video showcasing the unique ways you’ve shaped your Tufts experience in the classroom and beyond.

Information about contest guidelines rules and cash prizes can be found at provost.tufts.edu/my-tufts-story/

tuftsdaily.com

WEEKENDER

Revisiting Daft Punk’s immeasurable impact as the duo retires

COURTESY WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

Daft Punk, the electronic music duo, is pictured.

by Chris Panella Arts Editor

“The first thought I had, sitting and listening to it, it was giving me goosebumps,” Pete Tong said in his 2013 interview with Daft Punk on BBC Radio 1. This particular promotion for “Random Access Memories” (2013) was a rare appearance for the French electronic music duo — they seldom make public appearances.

“It was almost like you got to make the record you always wanted to make … born in the ’70s, it’s like a homage to that period of time of your childhood,” Tong said.

Thomas Bangalter, one half of Daft Punk, commented that this was the first real studio album for the two (who completed most of their previous work in home studios).

“It really felt that this album was the same music that we’ve always done, and you’re right to say it’s maybe it’s the record we’ve always wanted to do because it felt like we’re doing the same thing, but this time, we’re doing it for real,” Bangalter said.

“Random Access Memories,” which garnered many awards and critical praise, does almost feel like a greatest hits album for Bangalter and his partner, Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo. And as the two recently announced their split (the video, titled “Epilogue,” featured Bangalter detonating like a bomb, while Homem-Christo walks off into the sunset), it makes sense that “Random Access Memories” would be the duo’s last release. Maybe hindsight’s involved, but there’s no doubt: The album is their magnum opus.

But before 2013’s juggernaut, Daft Punk spent decades becoming one of music’s most influential acts. Their dominance stretched from raves and American radios to film scores and legendary collaborations. Robotic helmets and staunch (but relative) anonymity gave a sense that the music was the most important takeaway.

In other words, Daft Punk’s job wasn’t really to be well-known musicians, but rather to make well-known music. They’ve certainly succeeded on that front.

To celebrate the duo’s 28-year career — including perfectly pounding albums, gorgeous visual storytelling and live concerts that fans were chomping at the bit to get into — let’s take a deep dive into their music. It’s a great opportunity to “Lose Yourself to Dance” (2013), as the duo would want.

“Homework” (1997) Daft Punk’s earlier years were filled with experimentation and exploration. A string of modest hit singles and live performances

in the early-to-mid ’90s prompted record label offers, but it wasn’t until their album “Homework” that the duo found major success. Their debut album was a hit, credited with challenging the dominant eurodance and trance sounds. From jackhammering beats on “Revolution 909” to the euphoric thumping of “Around the World,” Daft Punk created a sonic world unmatched by their musical contemporaries.

Over 20 years later, that remains true.

“Homework” still plays like an explosive entry into a new world. “High Fidelity” is a glitchy paradise, “Burnin’” funks and flows and “Indo Silver Club” sounds like something you’d absolutely lose your mind to if you heard it on the dance floor. The musicians crafted a no-skips album, a feat that’s so rarely ever replicated.

“Discovery” (2001) And then they did it again. Not only is “Discovery” flawless, but also a completely fresh sound for the duo. Inspired by many genres — particularly ’80s post-disco, house and garage house — “Discovery” feels like a mishmash of what came before it. Warped vocals on “Digital Love” and “High Life” mix well into infectious beats, and the flow of “Voyager” is smooth and enticing. At the time, Daft Punk were masters at playing with music samples, especially on songs like “One More Time” (this contrasts from “Random Access Memories,” an album that avoids sampling except on its final track).

“Discovery” was an incredibly formative album not only for listeners, but for the duo themselves. It was really the first time the musicians took on their robot personas, claiming an accident in the studios had transformed them. It’s also Daft Punk’s hallmark exploration into visual storytelling, with the animated “Interstella 5555: The 5tory of the 5ecret 5tar 5ystem” (2003) film accompanying the album.

As “Discovery” celebrates its 20th birthday on Feb. 26, it might be worthwhile to think of how its songs almost feel like pop music.

Many of the tracks feature vocals (however altered) and choruses that seem to play with pop structure and expectations. “Face to Face” and “Digital Love” could play on the radio nowadays and “Something About Us” is a slow and sexy bop anyone could enjoy.

“Human After All” (2005) Daft Punk’s third album might be their most outlandish, but the experimentations of dance-rock and electronic music prove worthwhile. Unlike its predecessors, “Human After All” had a very short production time (six weeks, compared to two years for “Discovery” and at least two years for

“Homework”). Relatively sparse production is key on the title track, “Television Rules the Nation,” as well as “Technologic.” But “Human After All” also blasts some of the musicians’ best creations. “The Prime Time of Your Life” builds into an addictive distortion, “Robot Rock” is joyful mind-numbing noise and “The Brainwasher” melts away from static.

Around the release of “Human After All,” Daft Punk also produced “Musique, Vol. 1” (1993–2005) and “Alive 2007” — both hits for fans. The former includes the funky and flavorful “Musique,” a bouncy track worth attention. “Alive 2007” was a consolation prize for listeners who didn’t get tickets to a summer show of theirs in Paris. After Monday’s announcement, it’s painstakingly clear that the album will remain one of the rare opportunities to hear what it’s like to see Daft Punk live.

“TRON: Legacy (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)” (2010) It’s quite impossible to state just how exciting this soundtrack’s combination of cinematic arrangements and electronic music is. Daft Punk managed to create a world defined by its sounds — foreboding and tense “The Grid,” dreamy and shimmering on “The Son of Flynn” and frantic and stylish on “Derezzed.” And that specificity was certainly achieved thanks to the film being cut to the music, rather than the standard other way around. It’s clear that the focus of “TRON: Legacy” (2010) was its score.

The remix album, “TRON: Legacy Reconfigured” (2011) plays well too, featuring a large cast of guest producers and musicians. Its highlights include “Derezzed (Remixed by The Glitch Mob),” “End of Line (Remixed by Boys Noize)” and “Arena (Remixed by The Japanese Popstars).” A complete edition of the soundtrack, including previously unheard material, was released in 2020.

“Random Access Memories” (2013) There are many ways to argue that Daft Punk’s latest — and now last — work is also the duo’s best. Its copious accolades and awards, and its stellar commercial performance, are easy examples. The album’s singles were all hits, and not many 2010s songs had the longevity of “Get Lucky.” And for the first time, the duo were heavily collaborating with other artists to make musical magic — Giorgio Moroder, Julian Casablancas, Nile Rodgers and Pharrell Williams made appearances on the album.

But what really makes “Random Access Memories” special is its ability to weave together genres, history and styles to create a smooth and exploratory album. It’s cemented in the past, present and future.

“Give Life Back to Music” sounds like an entryway into music of long ago, while “Lose Yourself to Dance (feat. Pharrell Williams)” is a sultry, stripped-back track. “Motherboard” plays like an alien planet banger and “Doin’ it Right (feat. Panda Bear)” ticks with sharp repetition and precision.

It’s certainly bittersweet to look back at “Random Access Memories” and the rest of Daft Punk’s discography, but thankfully the duo’s 28-year career is something to marvel at. Their music is genre-defying and genre-defining. And for many of us, it’s shaped our childhoods and adulthoods.

That’s important when we think about the musicians’ artistic legacy. Daft Punk leaves behind a group of dedicated listeners and future artists who will continue to “Give Life Back to Music.”

5 Thursday, February 25, 2021

Ramona Meng Xi The Graffiti Street

An ephemeral span of eternal stories

F

irst hidden rule in graffiti: If you paint over someone’s work, your work should be better than the one you covered.

There’s a huge multi-use architectural complex under construction for several years. It’s designed by the Heatherwick Studio from Britain and has an ambitious name: “1,000 Trees.” Over the years, one side of the street was always covered by blue plastic construction walls, but because of its proximity to the M50 art district — that’s known for independent art studios and eye-catching graffiti — blue walls eventually became canvases.

This street is now the famous graffiti street of the city, a tourist site, almost.

People come here specifically to pose and take pictures to post on Instagram.

If you’ve been to this street frequently enough, you would easily recognize which of their backgrounds belongs to which construction wall along the street. Or belonged to.

The street always gives you the impression of permanence due to the full wallsize and finesse of most graffiti. Your mind assumes they would be there forever, but they tend to change whenever you get comfortable with that assumption. The past is right underneath the freshly painted layer of the present. The ephemeral and unpredictable nature of graffiti does indeed make you more mindful every time you visit.

Unlike Berlin, where graffiti is an indispensable element of the city, graffiti here is almost like an unspoken art existing in between the boundary of law and free spirit. Fortunately, and unfortunately, this street is one of the very few places where graffiti is completely allowed and legal.

People obviously love it. The punchy colors and bold lines could invigorate the disciplined city even though the rareness of their appearance couldn’t do much as a whole.

The green construction veil on the building disappeared one day. You could tell it’s an avant-garde building with its eccentric sci-fi structure mingled with small trees. While people were mocking the absurdity of planting trees in a completely artificial structure, questioning how long those trees could live under the blistering summer light, and, of course, whether there are actually 1,000 trees, they neglected the fact that the graffiti street would no longer be the graffiti street anymore.

My friend called me one day, telling me that two of my graffiti were removed because the building had been completed. Half of the street was gone. I instantly recalled the time when I had finished my first graffiti — a gallery owner pointed toward another graffiti and told me about the fight between the artists of the current and previous graffiti on the same wall.

“He’s mad because his work got painted over and he believes his work is better than the new one.” They almost fought in front of all the walls. Now they are gone.

But the stories are still there.

Ramona Meng Xi is a sophomore who has not yet declared a major. Ramona can be reached at Meng.Xi@tufts.edu.

6

THE TUFTS DAILY | FUN & GAMES | Thursday, February 25, 2021

F& G

tuftsdaily.com LATE NIGHT AT THE DAILY Cole: *pulls out 1,000-page grammar book* “Look, it’s my holiday present.”

FUN & GAMES

SUDOKU

MY DOG: DECONSTRUCTED

Difficulty Level: InDesign crashing twice on production night

By Aidan Chang

Wednesday’s Solutions

SEARCHING FOR HEADLINES...

CROSSWORD

Opinion

tuftsdaily.com

LETTER FROM THE MANAGING BOARD

Celebrating 41 years To our readers, Today marks the 41st anniversary of The Tufts Daily. While we don’t often talk about ourselves, we’d like to use these pages on our anniversary to celebrate our accomplishments and acknowledge the work that lies ahead.

Since our first edition was published in 1980, the Daily has provided the Tufts community with timely and engaging written content. After the launch of our webpage in 1996, the Daily began to further embrace multimedia journalism with the creation of a Video team and social media accounts in the early 2000s. In more recent years, our staff have taken the initiative to form new departments and committees such as the Audio department, the Investigative team and the Intentionality & Inclusivity Committee, all of which prepare our publication — and members of our staff — for the future of journalism.

Despite receiving no direct financial support from the university, the Daily remains committed to supporting our staff through financial inclusivity.

Admittedly, the pandemic has challenged us. We have curtailed print production and faced hardships as fewer local businesses have the budget to advertise.

Nonetheless, we have continued to retain our status as financially and editorially independent.

The Daily has recently launched meaningful initiatives to better connect with our community and alumni. Our COVID-19 dashboard provides Tufts and local municipalities with a comprehensive, visual data source documenting cases in the community. We have revamped our presence on social media, worked to improve our website and introduced a number of newsletters to make our reporting more accessible. Our newly formed Alumni Council, composed of accomplished Daily alumni, will help guide the Daily in its mission to produce timely, accurate news. Its commencement in late January marked a new chapter of collaboration between Daily leadership and alumni.

While we celebrate this progress, we also recognize there is still more work to be done. Through steady efforts to improve our Intentionality & Inclusivity Committee, we continue to hold ourselves accountable to providing objective and equitable coverage of the communi-

ty. In our reporting, we strive to represent our diverse student body and elevate the voices of those who have been historically marginalized. Tufts has recently launched a multitude of anti-racist initiatives to identify and eradicate structural racism on campus; we not only intend to inform our readers of Tufts’ progress, but also emulate this objective in our own organization. Our newly formed Education Committee will give our reporters the tools needed to achieve this goal and become fair, ethical journalists.

Some of us on the Managing Board have been asked why we chose to attend a university without a formal journalism major. The truth is, many of us did not anticipate becoming involved with the student newspaper, let alone dedicating several semesters of our undergraduate years to its survival and advancement.

The community found within the Daily plays a large role in this retention.

The academic opportunities at Tufts prepare students for roles at the Daily and allow our organization to be inclusive of all students, regardless of academic background. Much of our strong community rests on the diverse range of interests and viewpoints represented within our staff and leadership.

Over the past 41 years, the Daily has established itself as part of the Tufts community, which remains the smallest college or university in the United States to have an independent daily student newspaper. We are proud to be part of an organization that has produced a host of successful journalists and student leaders and prompted a whole lot of campus discourse. Every day, we stand on the shoulders of the thousands of Daily members who have come before us, and strive to create a strong foundation for those who will succeed us.

Here’s to 41 (plus) more years of education, empowerment, storytelling and being “Where you read it first.”

Sincerely, The 83rd Managing Board of The Tufts Daily Megan Szostak, Editor in Chief Ethan Steinberg, Managing Editor Yanqing Huang, Production Director Liz Shelbred, Associate Editor Colton Wolk, Associate Editor Evelyn McClure, Business Director

7 Thursday, February 25, 2021

VIEWPOINTS

Tufts must step up, become a leader in climate action

SAM FARBMAN / THE TUFTS DAILY

by Reya Kumar

Contributing Writer

University President Anthony Monaco announced on Feb. 10 that the Board of Trustees voted to prohibit direct investment in 120 coal and tar companies with the largest reserves. The decision is a landmark victory for students and faculty that have been organizing for nearly a decade.

But the largest demand — full divestment — has not been met. This is in part due to the nature of the endowment: 87% of the endowment investments are held in commingled funds, which are not customizable. Only 2% of Tufts’ investments reside in internally managed accounts, the only type of investment over which Tufts has direct control.

To compensate for the harms that externally managed investments present, Tufts must take significant action. Promising to invest $10 million to $25 million in positive impact funds related to climate change is a good start, and the creation of a dashboard to report on the university’s progress will provide vital transparency. The Responsible Investment Advisory Group will reevaluate the university’s progress and investments in two to five years, but this timeline is not viable for an issue with the scale and urgency of the climate crisis. As Tufts Climate Action said in its statement on the divestment decision, “the climate crisis is an urgent issue that does not wait for bureaucracy.”

For younger generations, climate change is a particularly salient issue. Many members of older generations who own and invest in the harmful companies we are asking Tufts to fully divest from will not be here when the most detrimental environmental effects come to fruition. We do not have the luxury of ignoring this problem as it grows toward irreversible proportions. Climate change already affects the trajectories of younger people’s lives, complicating major decisions. When thinking about our futures, we must consider whether it is even ethical to have children in a world with increasingly hostile environments and overburdened resources. Tufts must understand that this issue is not simply important to students — it is existential.

Climate change is a crisis unfolding in the present, one that we cannot relegate to a distant future. Millions of people, many concentrated in the global South, feel the effects of extreme heat. With greater frequency, we witness other environmental conditions that climate change can influence and exacerbate, including rampant wildfires, pandemics, rising sea levels and

severe weather events, which are manifest in the polar vortex storms sweeping the United States. The unprecedented snowfall in Texas has already been linked to 44 deaths and as much as $50 billion in economic costs. These dire consequences demand immediate, bold action.

Being that climate change disproportionately affects communities of color and low income communities, it is also a social justice issue. Tufts has committed to being an anti-racist institution and highly values social justice and civic engagement.

Acting quickly on climate change, both through full divestment and other positive climate action, advances those missions which are priorities to Tufts and its students. Tufts has an endowment of nearly $2 billion and thus wields a substantial amount of power. It holds a responsibility to leverage this power to promote the well-being of its students and the larger communities and society it is a part of.

Full divestment is in the best interests of the university from a financial standpoint as well. As described by the chief investment officer of Georgetown University, who committed to full divestment last year, climate change makes investing in fossil fuels more risky and investing in renewable energy more profitable in the long term.

Tufts does not need to invest in fossil fuels to continue thriving as an institution.

Though it is commendable that Tufts is making an effort to respond to the calls of student climate activist groups, the university is far from being a pioneer in climate action. 42 U.S. four-year institutions had committed to some form of fossil fuel divestment by March 2020, 14 of which have endowments comparable to Tufts’.

Though it does not use divestment as a criterion, The Princeton Review has a list of the top 50 green colleges in the U.S. — and Tufts is not on it. We must do better.

Tufts must make it clear that it is not willing to continue supporting companies, even indirectly, that endanger the future of humanity. This includes oil and natural gas companies, which were not part of this assessment of Tufts’ holdings. Tufts should strive to become a leader in climate action, not a follower. As students, we must hold our university accountable to its promises of divestment, transparency and direct investment in positive impact funds related to climate change. It is our collective responsibility to pursue a sustainable future.

Reya Kumar is a first-year studying psychology. Reya can be reached at reya.kumar@tufts.edu.

Sports

8 Thursday, February 25, 2021

Jenny Lu In the Paint

Basketball players’ contributions to Black Lives Matter

A

s we continue to celebrate Black History Month by highlighting the voices of Black individuals, let’s look back at some of the loudest voices in basketball and their contributions toward the Black Lives Matter movement this past year.

When protests over the deaths of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and other lives lost due to police brutality took place across the country this past summer, the NBA and WNBA wondered whether finishing their seasons was the right priority. After much debate, both leagues decided to carry out the playoffs in their respective bubbles, vowing to use their platforms for social activism.

Players stood firm in their beliefs even when the NBA lost support and viewership from Republicans who felt that sports players should stay out of politics. Although viewership during the COVID-19 pandemic declined across all sports for a number of reasons, 70% of Republicans said they were less likely to watch sports due to players’ social justice stances, according to a Marist Poll. Donald Trump and other right-wing politicians such as Ted Cruz also publicly denounced the NBA. Despite this, NBA and WNBA players continued to kneel during the national anthem to show solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement. NBA players could choose between several social justice messages to put on the back of their jerseys and WNBA players wore similarly powerful messages on and off the court.

Following the shooting of Jacob Blake on Aug. 23, when the basketball playoffs were in full swing, teams scheduled to play in the NBA and WNBA boycotted their games.

Aside from using their national platforms to promote social justice, the WNBA played a role in flipping the 2020 Georgia Senate race to elect Democrat Raphael Warnock. Amid their seasons in August, the Atlanta Dream and Phoenix Mercury players were already spreading the message by wearing shirts that said “VOTE WARNOCK.” The players’ decisions to support Warnock were deeply personal, as Atlanta Dream co-owner Kelly Loeffler was the incumbent Republican senator in Georgia and has long criticized the WNBA’s outspokenness in support of the Black Lives Matter movement.

Players like Elizabeth Williams, Chennedy Carter and Sue Bird publicly spoke about their endorsement in several interviews. Even Warnock acknowledged that the WNBA’s support was “one of the many turning points in the campaign,” in an interview with USA Today. The WNBA generated momentum and drove donations to Warnock’s campaign, helping elect the first Black senator in Georgia.

Many generous players have also made significant donations toward social justice.

One notable example is Milwaukee guard Jrue Holiday and his wife Lauren Holiday, former member of the U.S. Women’s National Soccer Team. In December, the couple announced that they were donating the remainder of their 2020 salaries to Blackowned businesses and nonprofits.

NBA and WNBA players, who play within leagues that are majority Black, have shown their support for the Black Lives Matter movement and Black community this past year.

They have established themselves as leaders.

Jenny Lu is a first-year who has not yet declared a major. Jenny can be reached at jen.lu@tufts.edu.

tuftsdaily.com

Current, former executive sports editors talk shop

by Alex Sharp

Executive Sports Editor

Editor’s note: The Daily’s editorial department acknowledges that this article is premised on a conflict of interest. This article is a special feature for Daily Week 2021 that does not represent the Daily’s standard journalistic practices. Additionally, this interview has been edited lightly for length and clarity.

In celebration of Daily week, I sat down with former Executive Sports Editors Alex Viveros, Jake Freudberg and Sruthi Kocherlakota to talk about section memories, Tufts sports, Div. III and the challenges of covering sports during a pandemic.

Alex S.: How did you guys get involved in the Daily?

Jake: I joined the first semester of freshman year. I had done my high school newspaper and covered sports there and wanted to continue at Tufts. Especially because I was interested in journalism, but there are really only a few journalism classes here.

Sports were what I knew and my personal sports career had ended.

Alex V.: I was just going around at the club fair and I saw the Daily and I was like, “This looks interesting.” I think Daniel Montoya and Lexi Serino pulled me aside and were like, “Hey, do you want to join the Daily?” and I was like, “Sure!” So they said, “Just sign up here.” You know, it’s freshman year, everyone’s signing up for stuff. So I just signed off. I never had any journalism experience in high school or anything. There was a question that asked, “What section do you want to join?” And I didn’t really interpret how newspapers work, so I put sports out of nowhere. I just got involved and I really liked writing about sports.

Sruthi: I wrote for a daily blog in my high school. I was looking to do something with writing at Tufts. Even though it’s not something I want to do professionally, it’s something I really enjoy doing. The reason why I joined Sports is because of Alex [Viveros]. I went to the Daily [general interest meeting] and I put my name down for a bunch of sections. And I was like, I’ll see which one I want to write for. And I got an email a week later from Alex asking me to go to a field hockey game and cover it. The game was really fun and I just stuck with it, and the rest is history.

Alex S.: I think I saw an ad on Twitter to write a column and I just reached out to Jake, and there you go.

Alex V.: Advertising works.

Alex S.: What beats have you all been on and how was that experience?

Jake: I’ve pretty much covered every Tufts team at some point. Covering a beat is one of the most valuable things I’ve done at the Sports section because when you actually cover a beat week to week you learn more about the team and you build relationships with sources. Other sections at the Daily and people who are less involved don’t really get that experience.

Alex V.: Jake was doing everything freshman year, I remember that. I was on football my freshman fall, women’s basketball during the winter, and men’s lacrosse during the spring. My freshman year, women’s basketball won the NESCAC championship which was huge, and it was really cool to have my story be on the front page for the first time.

I framed a copy of the paper on my door in Harleston because I was so proud of it.

Sruthi: I covered field hockey my first semester and then both track and swim teams. I also covered women’s lacrosse before [COVID-19]and wrote features in between.

Alex S.: My freshman experience was kind of similar to Alex’s. I was on the men’s basketball beat and they won a crazy NESCAC

championship game. That story was my first on the front page too. Pretty fun to see your name there. That NESCAC championship has to be my best memory with the buzzer beater, two overtimes and everything else. What are your best memories with the sports section?

Alex V.: I’d say number one was the weekend when women’s basketball won the NESCAC championship. That weekend was crazy. In the semifinal game against Amherst, Janette Wadolowski made some crazy jump shot with Tufts down by two and they won the game. It was absolutely insane. It was something you’d see in professional sports. It was like Kawhi [Leonard] when he hit that three in Game 7 against the Sixers. I remember I was the only person watching it in my dorm and I was screaming because it was so cool.

Jake: I have two favorite memories. he first one would probably have to be the same as you, Alex, with the men’s NESCAC championship and the first weekend of that NCAA tournament last year before the pandemic.

It’s pretty rare to have that kind of energy in Cousens Gym. That’s the last time I’ve covered sports in person. My other favorite memory was writing for the Daily40 issue. One of my interviews was with Don Megerle, who is the coach of the marathon team. We talked for probably almost two hours. He’s a super nice guy and that was definitely like my favorite interview that I’ve ever done with anyone.

Sruthi: My best memory is probably covering a tough field hockey game against Middlebury fall semester of my freshman year. There were a bunch of people there and there was a good rivalry between the teams, so it was fun to watch. My favorite article I’ve written was a feature on the club cricket team because it was just so random.

Alex S.: There is something unique about Div. III college sports. It’s obviously not the Big Ten [Conference], but it kind of has a “Hoosiers” vibe. It’s cool to be in Cousens Gym when it’s packed and the level of play at Tufts is very high. What can you say just about Div. III sports in general, and your experiences covering Div. III sports at Tufts?

Alex V.: We treat Div. III sports here like they’re Div. I. A lot of kids at Tufts could play D1, but they choose Tufts because the community in sports here is really cool. We’re one of the best D3 sports schools in the country.

D3 rivalries are also so fun, especially in the NESCAC where all the schools are so close.

Jake: To be honest, I wouldn’t consider myself a D3 sports fan. Some people at Tufts really treat our D3 sports like they’re D1 sports. My favorite part is how small it is. You can walk right up to a coach for an interview after a game, you know who the players are and at the same time the games are fun to watch because the level of play is high. You can see a great game and still have that connection with coaches and players.

Sruthi: The athletes almost train at the level of D1 athletes, so it’s really cool to be able to interview them immediately after a game and ask them about their performance, which is something you probably can’t do if you’re covering D1 sports. It’s really cool to hear about their experiences and then get to talk to the coaches on such a personal level.

Alex S.: Yeah, I don’t think I’ve ever been denied an interview request from a player or a coach, which is pretty unique. Sruthi, you were the first executive sports editor in history to serve with no Tufts sports going on because of [COVID-19]. What were the challenges that went along with that?

Sruthi: Like all other things, it was pretty unprecedented. I found that a lot of people really enjoyed covering pro sports, which wasn’t as frequent and usually only seen in column articles in the past. So it’s really cool, kind of diversifying the content and being

able to cover more pro sports. I think some of the challenges came with not having in-person meetings. Jake had established a pretty frequent meeting schedule and we couldn’t meet as much as I would have liked. But it did offer a good opportunity to kind of take the communication into a digital platform by creating a Slack and getting people to come to Zoom meetings.

Alex V.: I’ll pop in here as well. I was Editor in Chief in the fall and I read all the sports content Sruthi passed along. Our sports writers are really talented and very good at analyzing pro sports. It was really cool to see how engaged people were in the fall, especially the new writers.

Jake: I mean, I was actually the first exec in history to not have sports.

Alex S.: Not for a full semester though! You got quite a bit.

Jake: Keep in mind [COVID-19] ended sports in the second half of March. At that point, there were no Tufts sports and no professional sports. We had no idea how many people would be interested in writing or how much we should be doing. I was surprised at how many people were really interested in writing during that period. We put out some stuff, somehow. It’s great to see that people could adapt to that.

Alex V.: I remember one of my early memories during the pandemic, sort of when we were locked down and stuff I remember reading one of Alex’s columns about a baseball game that happened a while back, and it stuck with me because I was like, maybe right now to kill the time I should be watching baseball from a long time ago. It was really cool getting to edit that during what was an insane period of time.

Sruthi: One more thing. I think because Tufts athletes were deprived of their athletic season last semester, a way to kind of show the community we were thinking about them was being able to profile athletes and teams and write about how they were dealing with the pandemic. So I think that was also a great way to create content.

Alex S.: Last question, the classic cliché.

What’s the advice you’d give to a freshman just joining the section?

Jake: Take any assignment.

Alex S.: That would definitely help us out.

Jake: I covered a lot of sports I didn’t know anything about. Having the experience of covering something you don’t know anything about is both challenging and fun, and a helpful skill going forward. You’ll meet interesting people if you’re willing to take on whatever.

Alex V.: I’ll just say the lessons you learn in the sports section will help you in whatever journalism you want to do. You’ll learn how to do interviews and fact check like crazy because we’re always looking at statistics.

Don’t be afraid to get out there, because what you learn in sports is invaluable. I’ve talked to a few professional journalists who said that a lot of people start out in sports and move to other areas like news, policy, things like that.

Sports are, on paper, very analytical, but you get the opportunity to make a story out of that. Always make sure to do the interviews before you write because that’s where the story comes from.

Sruthi: I’ll say something similar to Jake.

Just say yes to everything. The more you accept, the more you’ll learn about journalism, interviewing and talking to people.

Also ask for help when you need it because sometimes it can be overwhelming covering sports or any story in general. There can be a lot of moving pieces and there’s people there to help you if you need. It’s very easy to start writing for the sports section, so definitely reach out if you’re interested.