The Tufts Daily - October 7, 2021

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VOLUME LXXXI, ISSUE 16

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Thursday, October 7, 2021

MEDFORD/SOMERVILLE, MASS.

Some courses continue virtual class format for fall, majority include in-person component

by Coco Arcand News Editor

Despite most classes returning to an in-person modality this semester, some courses have opted to remain fully remote this fall. Other faculty have adopted a hybrid format, with some class components being held in person while other parts remain online.

According to Samuel Thomas, professor of chemistry and dean of academic affairs for the School of Arts and Sciences, 86% of classes in the School of Arts and Sciences include some in-person component. Faculty have been extended the flexibility in determining their own course modalities.

Thomas said that the threat of COVID-19 transmission within the classroom — particularly the highly contagious delta variant — could influence faculty members to adopt online formats.

“There are numerous factors that could influence how a faculty member teaches,” Thomas wrote in an email to the Daily. “One could be their personal health or family circumstances … Another

is that from the perspective of their pedagogical approach and the nature of the course, virtual teaching can be an advantageous way of engaging with students.”

This concern is especially prevalent for faculty members at higher risk of developing serious complications if they do catch COVID19. Sibyl Johnston, part-time lecturer in the English department, told the Daily in an email that her vulnerability to COVID-19 was just one consideration in deciding to offer her course virtually.

“I have a hearing impairment that would make teaching in a masked and distanced classroom very difficult,” Johnston said. “While I have difficulty hearing my students in the classroom because of distance, soft voices, ambient noise, and the limitations of hearing aids in group settings, none of this is a problem on Zoom. It’s amazing to be able to hear my students with no difficulty.”

Thomas added that online classes make unique collaborative opportunities possible and have been beneficial for students who are unable to come back to campus this fall.

MICHELLE LI / THE TUFTS DAILY

Though many classes are returning to an in-person model, some continue to be taught in remotely.

“Virtual classes can also offer very flexible opportunities for group work and collaboration through the use [of] features such as Zoom breakout rooms,” he said.

Junior Grace Laber, who is

currently enrolled in a virtual organic chemistry class, said she benefits from the course’s online modality, as recorded lectures help her better absorb class material.

“I think the ability to record lectures is a pro,” Laber said. “I really appreciated that over the last year: being able to go back see ONLINE, page 2

SCIENCE

Like humans, this species of songbird can understand rhythm, Tufts study finds

JAMIE DAVIS VIA FLICKR

A zebra finch, the most common estrildid finch of Central Australia that ranges over most of the continent, is pictured.

by Yanqing Huang Staff Writer

Imagine two metronomes: one ticking with each beat equally spaced apart and the other clicking with a messy, inconsistent rhythm. Most people would

Zebra finches, like humans, can recognize a frequently repeated rhythm over time, according to the study published in August in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Aniruddh Patel, a cognitive psychologist at Tufts University and co-author of the study, explained how this phenomenon works in humans.

“If you feel a beat in music, it is very natural to — without even meaning to or planning to — implicitly start to predict when the next beat is going to come,” Patel said. “That’s actually what allows you to move and dance to music.”

The researchers predicted that vocal learning species are more flexible than vocal non-learners in distinguishing rhythmic patterns. In vocal learners, areas of the brain that perceive rhythm and control movement are strongly tied.

“Species [that] have learned their songs have to listen and mimic, so they have these tight connections between hearing and complex movement[s] that are learned,” Patel said.

Mimi Kao, a neurobiologist at Tufts and co-author of the study,

find that the second metronome sounds out of place. But would an animal be able to tell the same?

A recent study shows that the ability to recognize rhythm may be intrinsic to not only humans, but also other vocal

learning species. The study suggests that male zebra finches could serve as an ideal animal model for understanding rhythm perception, which may ultimately provide insights into related speech and movement disorders in people.

ARTS / page 4

FEATURES / page 3

SPORTS / back

Savannah Conley talks touring with Samia

Drawing, painting, crocheting, embroidering, throwing and more in the Crafts Center

Women’s soccer dominates Bates, drops to Hamilton

said that songbirds share similar traits to humans in pathways for learning and processing vocalizations. “[The] key is that songbirds have specialized areas in their brains for learning songs and producing them,” Kao said. “Like humans, they have high level[s] of cortical control over their vocalizations, which is something that I think so far has not been found in monkeys.”

In the experiments, the researchers first trained the male zebra finches to recognize easy songs so that the finches could learn to distinguish between “isochronous” and “arrhythmic” patterns. Isochronous sounds have equal time separating them, whereas arrhythmic sounds are projected at irregular intervals.

An isochronous sound would be like the ticking of a metronome, while arrhythmic sounds can be heard in unpredictable patterns.

In the training phase, the finches were rewarded when they pecked a switch after hearing an isochronous pattern. If the stimsee SONGBIRD, page 2 NEWS

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ARTS & POP CULTURE

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FUN & GAMES

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OPINION

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2

THE TUFTS DAILY | News | Thursday, October 7, 2021

THE TUFTS DAILY Madeleine Aitken Editor in Chief

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tuftsdaily.com

Some courses continue virtual class format for fall, majority include in-person component ONLINE

continued from page 1 and re-watch parts I may not have understood or reference parts in the lectures in my notes to then go back and take better notes on.”

However, online modalities also come with drawbacks for both professors and students, Thomas said. Teaching remotely often requires teachers to restructure their course plans, which is time consuming and especially difficult for experiential courses, such as labs, that require a hands-on approach to learning.

Students, like first-year Nico Halio, can feel less engaged with

class material in a virtual format.

Halio, who is thinking of studying biomedical engineering, said that his Expository Writing class quickly became his favorite this semester simply because the in-person format has been more engaging than his other online or hybrid classes.

“As an engineer — I think this is pretty common — … I’ve never enjoyed English classes, but this year it’s my favorite just because it’s the most engaging,” Halio said. “Online classes are so easy to zone out [during]; you don’t interact with anybody. You just sit in your dorm and tune in when you feel like you should.”

Remote classes can make students and professors feel more distant from one other and limit interactions between students and faculty members.

Laber said this lack of connetion increases concerns about academic integrity.

“I think there is just less accountability all around,” Laber said. “There is less academic honesty across the board because of the online testing format. And I also think that the teacher is just a lot more out of touch with what students are having trouble with and what students are thinking.”

When asked about the future

role of remote classes, Thomas said that remote academics offer an advantage to students and faculty, while reiterating that Tufts is primarily an in-person university.

“Tufts is a residential, in-person university for our undergraduate students and the vast majority of our graduate students in Arts and Sciences,” Thomas said. “Therefore, the vast majority of our academics will be in person. Nevertheless, we do have opportunities to harness what we learned regarding best practices in online classes, and adopt them in a way that best enhances the teaching and learning experiences for our entire community.”

that the finches were still able to distinguish the differences.

The most challenging part of working with birds, according to Kao, was conditioning them to behave in adherence with the experimental design and getting them motivated to perform specific tasks.

“Sometimes, I think there’s a lot of animal cognition where the animals know more than we think they know,” Kao said. “We as humans don’t really always know what’s the best way … to ask the animals to reveal what they can perceive.”

Kao also observed various personalities in the finches that she worked with.

“There might be a period when they can’t initiate another trial and some birds would just physically move away … and

other birds would wait,” Kao said.

“There are definitely individual differences: ‘Are you a fidgety animal who moves away or the one who can sit there patiently?’”

Enikoő Ladányi, a linguist and cognitive scientist at Vanderbilt University, echoed that finding an animal model to map the mechanisms involved in speaking can help with research on speech and language disorders, including dyslexia, stuttering or developmental language disorder.

“These results and the increasing literature on tight links between rhythm and spoken language processing suggest that the impairment of the same neurological mechanism might underlie both rhythm and speech or language impairments,” Ladányi said. “An animal model that shares crucial features

with human auditory processing could highly facilitate our understanding of these mechanisms, [which] can then help to identify, treat or even prevent these disorders more efficiently.”

Jennifer Zuk, a speech language pathologist at Boston University, suggested that the study’s findings can be applied to learning more about rhythm in early brain development.

“To date, the neural mechanisms underlying the development of typical versus atypical rhythm processing abilities in humans has yet to be specified,” Zuk wrote in an email to the Daily. “[The study] carries promise for the potential to uncover the neural basis of rhythm perception relevant to humans by studying the learning process in zebra finches.”

Songbirds and humans have similar pathways for learning and processing vocalizations SONGBIRD

continued from page 1 ulus was arrhythmic, the finches were not supposed to react at all.

If the birds pecked at the switch after hearing an arrhythmic sound, they received a timeout as punishment, indicating that the answer was incorrect.

After two training phases with different sets of songs, seven out of 10 male zebra finches were able to tell the difference between isochronous and arrhythmic patterns with an 84% accuracy during the initial trainings. After the finches became familiar with the apparatus, the researchers introduced new isochronous and arrhythmic stimuli over a wide range of new tempi to see if the finches could still pick out the isochronous sounds. They found

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Features

3 Thursday, October 7, 2021

Let’s get crafty at the Crafts Center

ZOE GARDERET / THE TUFTS DAILY

The Crafts Center reopens for students to create art and attend art events.

by Jillian Collins

Executive Features Editor

Welcome to the Crafts Center, a maker space on campus where students are given the freedom to create whatever their hearts desire, free of charge.

Housed in the basement of the infamous Lewis Hall is a space filled with all the arts and crafts supplies you can imagine.

To be honest, it is like a mini Michaels, except better.

“The Crafts Center is a completely student-run art studio on campus where everything is free to use [and] free to access during our open hours,” Nicole Verde, co-manager of the Crafts Center, said.

During the week, open hours are Mondays through Thursdays, from 7-11 p.m. On the weekends, it is open Fridays and Sundays, from 1-5 p.m. New this year, there is no capacity limit for the space, so students can show up whenever they are available, according to Verde, a junior.

“Basically, everything you can think of, they have it in the Crafts Center,” Robbie Moser, co-manager of the ceramics studio, said. “The vibes are immaculate; it’s a very welcoming space.”

The center is stocked with supplies.

It has art materials from canvases and various types of paint to fiber arts like crocheting, embroidering, knitting and sewing. It also has supplies to make jewelry, candles and room decorations.

On top of that, it has a fully functioning

ceramics studio, metal sculpting, woodworking, printmaking and screen printing, according to Verde.

Lily Sandholm, another co-manager of the Crafts Center, explained that students can come down for a multitude of purposes. “[It is] a space for people to create projects for classes or just for personal use,” Sandholm, a junior, said. “And we have people who come every week … but we also have people that maybe have one project.”

A student who has really found her place in the Crafts Center is Julia Divan, a sophomore who sometimes manages the ceramics studio. Before coming to Tufts, she had never done ceramics, but now she runs a small ceramics business out of the center.

“I would say it’s really an approachable space like, if you want to do something, you can pretty much get in there and do it,” Divan said.

Divan now makes personally designed plant pots for other students that are in the shape of their breasts.

“That’s mostly what I do in the Crafts Center these days,” Divan said. “People either just want a pot, or they will send me photos of their boobs that they want on a pot, and I will make those for them.”

Moser, a second-year combined degree student, explained how the ceramics studio can be a great resource

to create both functional and abstract ceramics.

“Last year in the Crafts Center, I made a bunch of functional ceramics … something that you would like to put your hands on and have a utilitarian purpose,” Moser said. “[This semester], I feel like I want to [branch] out more and do more abstract stuff.”

In a similarly utilitarian way, Sandholm made tassels to decorate items in her life, such as bags. Another time, Verde used the center to help them complete their outfit.

“I was just … opening up the space for a club or an organization to use it, and that day, l rushed out of the house, and I didn’t put on a necklace,” Verde said. “So I just … sat there and made a necklace that matched my outfit at that moment.”

Now that the guidelines due to the pandemic have changed at Tufts, the Crafts Center is hoping to offer many new programs this year. Volunteers in the center are going to start hosting workshops on different skills.

“For instance, I’m thinking of hosting a jewelry class at some point,” Verde said.

They are also hoping to repurpose the green space outside the center for fun events.

“I personally really want to have live music events because I know we used to do that at the Crafts Center, and we have that big lawn outside of it,” Verde said.

“I just want to set up some amps, some speakers and [invite] students who know how to play instruments.”

The Crafts Center also hopes to partner with other Tufts clubs and organizations to help improve its programming.

Currently, the managers of the Crafts Center are working with Eco Reps to create a sustainable art program for students.

When asked one word to describe the Crafts Center, members used the words “safe” and “creative.” To Sandholm, she said it feels like even more than that — she feels like the center embodies Tufts’ quirkiness. “[At the center], all the ceiling tiles are painted, there’s skeletons hanging from the ceiling,” Sandholm said. “It is just very strange … but it just is part of what makes the space unique and we love it.”

4

THE TUFTS DAILY | Features | Thursday, October 7, 2021

Robert Kaplan and Michael Friedman The Vintage and the Vogue

Phoebe Bridgers and earning godhood

M

ichael: Hey Robert, how’d you enjoy the Phoebe Bridgers concert?

Robert: Let’s just say that I would march to war for her if she asked.

I’m no different from a feudal peasant, am I? Michael: I suppose not. The cult of personality surrounding celebrities is not so different from the elite feelings of aristocracy in other periods of history. Music itself is one of the most Lindy things out there, but our modern conception of concerts and fame are fairly Lind-not. Electronic technology is largely responsible for that change.

Robert: If music is oh-so-Lindy, how could electronics make it so Lind-not?

Michael: Recorded music changed everything. Before 1878 and Edison’s phonograph, any music had to be created by people, live and in the moment. Even back in the early 20th century, people feared how this might affect the landscape of aural art. For example, John Philip Sousa, the famous and visionary composer, argued against its proliferation in a 1906 essay.

Robert: Does that mean concerts in the era of recorded music were changed too?

Michael: Absolutely. With the invention of technologies like radio, along with better recording equipment, the music industry as we know it today flourished. And alongside it, the growth of the entertainment industry at large worked to foster the idols in celebrities we see today. Furthermore, the industry’s business model means that easily recorded music isn’t very profitable. After all, artists make most of their money from marketing their personality: selling out concerts, self-released music and branded merchandise.

tuftsdaily.com Robert: But what does all this mean for a Phoebe boy like me?

Michael: It’s like a hero cult, which isn’t anything new. In Ancient Greece, that was literally how people would worship their semi-mortal heroes, like Heracles.

And outside of mythology, people could be deified for accomplishing great feats.

Alexander the Great and Caesar Augustus are two famous examples.

Phoebe hasn’t actually been made into something divine, but I would argue that her influence (and that of all cultural icons) over the general public reflects a kind of modern-day deification. Ordinary people accomplishing impressive feats have created a new hero cult, and with it a new aristocracy.

Robert: You know, this does remind me of textbook aristocracy: “rule of the best,” a political system where a select few rule, and those in charge are believed to be somehow better than the citizenry. The disproportionate wealth and power held today by an upper class of elites — like corporate lobbying and tax loopholes — suggests that a tiny minority can wield outsized power, even in a modern democracy.

Michael: Exactly. And generally, this is hereditary, but today we elevate individuals to the elite class by praising merit — for example, electing politicians for how well they might govern — and that makes them wealthy and powerful. Perhaps it’s better now that eliteness can be earned, because history shows what happens when aristocrats inherit it. But there are dangers, too, if we expect more from people who are basically the same as us (Who really cares how often Jake Gyllenhall bathes?).

So when they inevitably fall short of our heroic expectations, we risk disappointment or worse.

Robert: Yeah, I sure hope none of my cultural idols shatter my worldview by contradicting the perception I have of them in my head!

Michael: Me too. Can’t wait to see Dayglow next week!

Robert Kaplan is a senior studying quantitative economics and history. Robert can be reached at robert.kaplan618485@tufts. edu. Michael Friedman is a senior studying classical studies and history. Michael can be reached at michael.friedman@tufts.edu.

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WEEKENDER

Nothing could ever stop Samia from showing up

5 Thursday, October 7, 2021

Sadie Leite Dreaming of Sandman

Gods and free will

C

COURTESY ELIZABETH STRILECKIS

Samia (left), Savannah Conley (top right) and a guitarist (bottom right) perform at the Brighton Music Hall in Boston.

by Jack Clohisy

Assistant Arts Editor

In true indie-pop concert fashion, college students lined up outside of the Brighton Music Hall on Oct. 1 to get a glimpse of one of their Spotify discoveries first seen in person when Samia Najimy Finnerty, known mononymously as Samia, traveled to Boston for her fall tour.

As concert-goers waited in line for their vaccination cards to be checked, it was hard not to think about how long fans had to go without seeing their favorite artists perform. Samia released her debut studio album “The Baby” (2020) during quarantine, so performing her major hits such as “Big Wheel” (2020) and “Django” (2018) live was a new experience.

The cool autumn night reminded fans that as the seasons change, the summertime bangers are folded away and the tearjerkers are taken out for the winter.

Opening act Savannah Conley made this clear during her set, informing the audience that the music would get progressively sadder during her setlist.

Don’t be mistaken — although Samia and Conley produce music under seemingly pop pretenses, Conley wouldn’t describe her music that way.

“I love writing what I feel and things that happen to me and happen to my friends … instead of my diary, I write songs, and then whatever genre they fall into, that’s what they fall into,” Conley said in an interview with the Daily.

Conley also said touring with Samia has been a great experience.

“Sam’s the best … We have a lot of fun together,” Conley said. “There’s a lot of laughing, a lot of crying, a lot of all the things.”

All these emotions were demonstrated well once Samia hit the stage, bouncing up and down during the highs of tracks such as “Fit N Full” (2020) and dropping to the floor during “Is There Something in the Movies?” (2020).

When Conley reached her track “Same Old Eyes” (2018), she told the audience a story about her grandmother who called her up and asked her, “You good?” after hearing the sad nature of the song. Conley connected well with the audience over the course of her set, chatting between tracks with fans about The Fairy Shop, her favorite spot in Boston to stop on tour, and about her zodiac sign. Don’t ask her about her Hogwarts house, though, as one brave fan did. She joked that she wasn’t ready to get that personal with the crowd.

Conley closed her set thanking Samia for the opportunity to tour with her.

Grateful to be friends before the music, Conley explained that she’s glad to have people such as Samia in her orbit.

“This has been my favorite show of the tour, and that’s not bull--- … I hope people were connecting,” Conley said. “It felt like they were, and that’s what I love.”

Once Samia took the stage, the crowd, already invigorated by Conley’s introduction, cheered. Samia laughed in disbelief of the size of the crowd all in attendance to see her. She seemed bewildered and grateful that so many people are singing along to her songs, especially considering that this is her first tour. After her first few opening tracks, Samia brought Conley back out to perform Samia’s recent release “As You Are” off her newest EP “Scout.” The song, as Samia described, is about unconditional love, and as Samia and Conley attempted not to laugh at one another while singing, the bond Samia, Conley and the band shared together on stage was palpable.

During a brief intermission, Samia left the stage while her bandmates broke out a rendition of Bobby Vinton’s “Mr. Lonely” (1962). Citing the depths of quarantine as their inspiration for the interlude, the bandmates got a few laughs from the crowd before Samia returned to the stage.

Samia took a moment to speak to her bandmates, and one told the audience that he recently lost a tooth while biking.

One courageous fan screamed back, “I’ll

be your new tooth!” The energy in the room was high, and the band took its position once again as the setlist resumed.

Floating around stage in a torn-up yellow dress, Samia tiptoed across the stage like a ballerina, whipped her ponytail to and fro with guitar slashes and exuded a lightness of being that acted as a remedy to all the isolation both her and her fans experienced over the past year. In performing a concert full of such excitement and fun in a time where that seemed impossible, Samia provided a night of escapism and joy to her fans.

As the night concluded, Samia turned the venue into a workout session as she dropped to all fours and began to jump up and down in front of the crowd. The energy was reciprocated as fans at the barricade began to jump up and down to match the enthusiasm and sheer pleasure Samia got from performing on stage.

Between the last few tracks, a fan screamed out “She looks so pretty,” to which Samia gushed, responding, “You look so pretty, shut up.” The connection was there between the act and audience, and after an electrifying cover of Heart’s hit single “Barracuda” (1977), Samia exited the stage seemingly finished.

However, the audience refused to leave, so Samia and the band ran back on stage to complete the ultimate encore.

Samia performed “21” (2018) to round out a spectacular evening filled with, as Conley alluded to, laughing, crying and “all of the things” that true friends share with one another. After this concert, it felt like hundreds of new friendships were formed between Samia and her fans during the Boston leg of the tour.

As her tour nears its end, it’ll be hard to forget all the memories Samia bestowed upon the Brighton Music Hall concert-goers last Friday night. It’ll take time before venues no longer require a vaccination status or a mask mandate, but for one night during the pandemic, Samia took her fans to a place of warmth, resilience and full-out jamming.

ollege students may debate free will from time to time, out of academic curiosity or their own growing independence. Volume 2 of Neil Gaiman’s “The Sandman,” “The Sandman: The Doll’s House” (1989–1990), could add a new perspective.

To stage the adventure, Gaiman tells the story of Dream falling in love. He is a beast, though, to this woman: His pride results in her condemnation to hell — fitting, because this volume is also a reference to Henrik Ibsen’s play “A Doll’s House” (1879), one of the first feminist plays about a woman overcoming loveless marriage.

Next, Gaiman presents the classic horror story, distorted. The Corinthian, a nightmare who escaped the dreamworld, attends the “Cereal Convention” (a fantastic example of Gaiman’s wordplay: All participants are serial killers).

Rose Walker stumbles across the killers. She is The Vortex, or the center of The Dreaming, capable of breaking down dreamers’ minds, destroying humanity. She is the center of the story, the dream and the Doll’s House. However, like all these concepts, and in step with Gaiman’s writing style, there are smaller stories swarming around her.

Rose says the name “Morpheus” out loud, taking advice from a mysterious friend. Dream saves her. Here, Gaiman is alluding to fairy tales and names having power (Rumpelstiltskin!).

Dream addresses the murderers, “Until now, you have all sustained fantasies in which you are the maltreated heroes of your own stories. Comforting daydreams in which, ultimately, you are shown to be in the right. No more. For all of you, the dream is over. I have taken it away.” Wasn’t Dream just the mistreated hero of his love story? We will see how this comes back in the end.

Dream, then, tries to kill Rose Walker in her vortex form, so he can save the mortal dreamers’ minds. Rose’s grandma gives her life so Rose can live: a twist on the intergenerational storytelling method and a nod to the family sacrifice trope — one as old as Abraham.

The volume ends with Rose choosing to believe that her interaction with Dream “was just a dream.” Though she acknowledges it as an unsatisfying ending, for her story, it is comfortable.

She concludes that mortals are dolls, controlled by gods. If humanity had free will, it would drive us mad because we would be aware of all the universe’s elements, including the horrifically mind-bending dreamworld.

Sandman gets the last word, because he is a god, after all. He believes Gods are dolls, controlled by mortals. Gods only exist because humans need explanations for mysteries, like death and dreams.

“The Doll’s House” ends after Gaiman weaves together many stories all around the dilemma on which almost everything else is written.

Does he give us an answer, though, to the question of free will or gods?

I think all figures — gods and mortals — insist their actions and faults aren’t theirs.

With this, the universally benevolent hero does not exist. Instead, we learn from flawed heroes, like Dream.

Dreams are critical as a scape to explore unanswerable narratives. So, dream well tonight, and let me know if you crack the free-will debate. It might be interesting.

Sadie Leite is a sophomore studying English.

Sadie can be reached at sadie.leite@tufts.edu.

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THE TUFTS DAILY | FUN & GAMES | Thursday, October 7, 2021

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Eli Striker The Strike Zone

Gender and modernity in Middle Eastern music videos

T

wentieth-century technological advances led to the modernization of Pan-Arabic music.

Musicians utilized improved microphones to cultivate the sensation of “atifiyaa,” an artist-centric feeling of sentimentality and sensuality characteristic of modernist Egyptian music.

Further technological changes led to the popularity of the cassette tape, which helped devi-

Opinion ant underground music reach millions of Pan-Arabic listeners. Underground cassette tape recordings were utilized by Dana International, a transgender Mizrahi Jewish pop singer whose music generated controversy because of her sexual lyrics and provocative dancing. Modernist changes in musical style allow artists to push traditionally rigid boundaries of gender in Middle Eastern culture.

The music video for Dana International’s hit “My Name is Not Sa’ida” (“Sa’ida Sultana” in Arabic) (1993) embodied her music’s underground nature and sensual themes. The music video has a low-quality, homemade ambiance, reminiscent of contemporary MTV music videos. The video features Dana belly-dancing in a crop top, a combination considered taboo by contemporary traditionalists.

Dana evokes a sense of “atifiyaa”

by addressing the viewer directly, most notably pointing at the camera and proclaiming, “I fell for you.”

The initial shot of the video succinctly captures the feeling of “atifiyaa” that Dana embodies.

The video opens with a close-up shot of Dana wearing a blond wig and glasses, recalling the image of a prototypical contemporary American actress. Dana seductively croons in the opening stanza, exclaiming “uh le le” (reminiscent of “ooh la la”) as she sets a sensual tone to the song, an approach that is typically associated with Western music. Dana’s music incorporates English and Arabic phrases, which often convey different meanings to speakers of each respective language.

In a subsequent stanza, Dana utters the phrase “bussu bussi,” which translates to “kiss, kiss” in Arabic but sounds far more sexual to an English speaker.

7 Thursday, October 7, 2021

Dana’s lyrics were playful and open to multiple interpretations, which contributed to her sexual appeal. Despite its English lyrics and erotic themes, Dana’s musical style was akin to contemporary Egyptian Pop music and her unique combination of foreignness and indigeneity made her especially appealing to young Arabic speakers.

Middle Eastern artists continued to embrace alternative gender roles in their music, as exemplified by Mashrou’ Leila’s song “Fasateen” (Dresses) (2010), which focuses on the theme of rejecting traditional marriage norms. The music video begins with a man in a tuxedo, driving a car, which the viewer eventually realizes is attached to a tow truck. Eventually, the man’s presumed wife enters the car, followed later in the song by a man in a wedding dress and finally a same-sex couple. Every per-

son enters the car after having destroyed a common symbol of marriage — flowers, a cake and a bed — implying that they each have rejected marriage.

The car serves as a metaphorical symbol of mobility and modernity, implying that people nowadays have increased autonomy regarding their identities.

The three people who enter the car at subsequent points in the song are all people who would be marginalized by the traditional system of heterosexual and arranged marriages. The car, however, is towed, implying that none of its occupants are fully in control of their own path.

Nevertheless, they all choose to enter the car, as they have faith that the powers of modernity will lead to a more tolerant future.

Eli Striker is a junior studying international relations. Eli can be reached at eli.striker@tufts.edu.

8 Thursday, October 7, 2021

Sports

tuftsdaily.com

Women’s soccer splits first doubleheader of season

MICHELLE LI / THE TUFTS DAILY

Tufts women’s soccer lost to Hamilton 1–0 on Sunday, Oct. 3.

by Brooke Kraftson Contributing Writer

This past weekend, women’s soccer hit Bello Field for a NESCAC double header, beating Bates 3–0 on Saturday and losing to Hamilton 1–0 on Sunday. With the weekend’s games split, Tufts’ overall record now stands at 5–3 and 3–2 in conference play.

During Sunday’s game against the Hamilton Continentals, the Jumbos suffered a tough loss of 1–0, giving the Continentals an undefeated 5–0–2 NESCAC record, the best in the league.

“The team was not in the highest of spirits after the second game against Hamilton,” junior midfielder Maddie Pero said. “That is certainly a game we could have won, and everyone knows we have the talent to win big games like that.”

Timothy Valk Roster Rundown

Who’s hot and who’s cold in fantasy Week 5

H

ey there! This is normally a place where I’d rave about Dak Prescott’s electric performance or preview the top players in a mouthwatering Sunday Bills/Chiefs matchup.

This week, however, I’d like to introduce the column you’re reading. Welcome to Roster Rundown, a fantasy football spotlight chock full of news, stats and advice! Passionate about football but new to fantasy? I hope you’ll learn something or become inspired.

Tufts outplayed Hamilton, attempting 19 shots in the two halves, four of which were on goal, while the Continentals only had six shots and two on goal. During the first half, the Jumbos scored two called-back goals due to offsides violations.

However, the team continued to push through with many shots from Pero, junior midfielder Margaux Ameer, senior midfielder and co-captain Lily Sykes and senior midfielder and co-captain Stephanie DiLeo. Unfortunately, none of them could secure a goal for the Jumbos.

The only goal of the game came just over 40 minutes into play from Hamilton junior forward Ashlyn Gaulin, who was assisted by first-year forward Olivia Zubarik. Despite a total of 12 shots in the second half, neither team found the back of the

net, resulting in the final score of 1–0 in favor of the Continentals.

The day before the Hamilton game, on Saturday, Tufts shut out the Bates Bobcats 3–0, which came after a disappointing 3–1 loss to Wesleyan on Sept. 28. In the Bates game, two of the Jumbos’ co-captains combined for the team’s first goal of the game. DiLeo headed a ball to Sykes who tapped the ball right into the back left corner of the net. Following up, in the 24th minute, Pero scored her first in-conference goal of the season, which super senior midfielder Hannah Isenhart assisted.

“I was definitely very excited to score my first in-conference goal this season,” Pero said. “But [I] really credit [Sykes] for having the awareness to play a quick free-kick and [Isenhart] for deliv-

ering a beautiful ball into the box that made my life so easy. All I had to do was redirect it towards the goal because [Isenhart’s] cross was perfectly driven.”

The Jumbos put the cherry on top with their third goal in the second half. Super senior forward and co-captain Liz Reed sent the fourth corner kick over to DiLeo, allowing her to send the ball into the top left of the net with such speed that Bates’ senior goalkeeper Kat Nuckols couldn’t even react. In the 84th minute, Tufts junior goalkeeper Kaelin Logue secured the shutout by saving the Bobcats’ only corner kick of the game.

Logue played the complete doubleheader this weekend and only let one goal in out of three shots on goal between the two games. The Jumbos’ goalkeeper is using the split games to

fuel her fire for their next away doubleheader this upcoming weekend.

“I think this upcoming weekend will be a pivotal point in our season,” Logue said. “We’re all definitely disappointed in not getting the result we wanted against Hamilton and need to use that frustration to ensure we get two wins this weekend.

I think this team has a lot of potential and is a great group of people.”

The Jumbos will play two away, in-conference games this weekend. Saturday’s competition will be at Trinity against the Bantams, and Sunday’s will be up in Vermont against the Middlebury Panthers. The Jumbos will look to improve on their NESCAC record as they enter the second half of their season.

Seasoned five-time league winner? I hope you’ll find this writing useful and compelling.

Either way, I hope it becomes a fun weekly read.

The main section here is called “Hot and Cold.” Every week, I’ll profile a lineup of players who are HOT and players who are COLD, offering insight into where they belong on rosters and whether their trends will continue. I’ll shuffle names in and out throughout the year, but players can remain on the list for multiple weeks if their stat lines warrant it.

So for the very first time, let’s look at who’s HOT and who’s COLD heading into Week 5.

HOT: QB: Sam Darnold (CAR) Sam’s free! The California kid is piling up numbers — displaying a Ryan Tannehill-like effect after two seasons with Adam Gase. Darnold set an all-time

quarterback record with five rushing touchdowns in the first four weeks of the season, and a firepower-filled Panthers lineup makes him a viable streaming option.

RB: Ezekiel Elliott (DAL) Two monster performances from Elliott have reentered him into the top five running back conversation. Elliott followed up a multi-touchdown night against the Eagles with 143 yards against Carolina, illustrating his elite RB1 status on a Dallas offense that scores at will.

WR: DJ Moore (CAR) Forget the receiver position, Moore is arguably the hottest player in fantasy football through four weeks. The other Panther on this list, Darnold, is throwing his way 11 times a game on average. Moore’s establishing himself as a legitimate top wideout and should be treated as such on rosters.

TE: Mike Gesicki (MIA) Seemingly on his way to Dumpsville after Week 2, Gesicki has totaled 24 catches, 194 yards and one touchdown in the last three weeks. The upside is there, but he’s hard to trust moving forward given Miami’s stagnant offense and instability at quarterback.

COLD: QB: Jameis Winston (NO) Winston’s statistical promise has tapered off since his Week 1 beatdown of the Packers. Scoring under 15 points in standard leagues for three straight weeks, the former first-overall pick should stick to the bench.

RB: Miles Sanders (PHI) Mysteries run amok in fantasy football, and Sanders is one of them. He’s proven his talent in two years with Philadelphia, but Nick Sirianni seems averse to giving him carries. Toting the rock just nine times in his previous

two games, Sanders is at best a flex in 10-team leagues.

WR: Allen Robinson II (CHI) Robinson is another supremely skilled player who’s fallen victim to poor quarterback play throughout his career.

Justin Fields got the offensive wheels turning last week, but A-Rob still only received three targets. If a matchup with the dreadful Lions’ defense doesn’t spark him, what will?

TE: Kyle Pitts (ATL) Pitts is a physical player whose traits haven’t translated to fantasy just yet. Naturally, playing on a Falcons team that’s 25th in points per game doesn’t help. The Florida product is an interesting trade target for those searching for a tight end (and who isn’t?!).

Timothy Valk is a sophomore who has not yet declared a major. Timothy can be reached at timothy.valk@tufts.edu.