The Tufts Daily - Thursday, October 12, 2023 (Parents & Family Weekend)

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Thursday, October 12, 2023

VOLUME LXXXVI, ISSUE 6

Medford/Somerville, Mass.

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Kumar inaugurated as 14th president

University denounces SJP praise of Hamas-led attacks

Daniel Vos

Executive News Editor

Sunil Kumar was formally inaugurated as president of Tufts University on Oct. 6 on the Residential Quad after starting the job this July. Among those who introduced him were Peter Dolan, chairman of the Board of Trustees, TCU Senate President Arielle Galinsky and Ronald J. Daniels, president of Johns Hopkins University.

Kumar comes to Tufts after serving as provost and senior vice president for academic affairs at Johns Hopkins University.

He also served as dean and the George Pratt Shultz professor of operations management at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business and was the Fred H. Merrill professor of operations, information and technolsee KUMAR, page 4

Daniel Vos

Executive News Editor

CLINT CHEN / THE TUFTS DAILY

Sunil Kumar is pictured at his inauguration ceremony on Oct. 6.

In a message to its e-list on Monday, Tufts Students for Justice in Palestine praised the “creativity” of the Hamas-led surprise attacks on Israeli civilians launched on Oct. 7. Tufts denounced the student group’s message and University President Sunil Kumar called the attacks acts of “pure barbarism.”

SJP expressed solidarity with Palestinians following Hamas’ attack on Israel, during which at least 1,200 were killed. In response to the attack, Israel launched several airstrikes on the Gaza Strip, killing at least 1,100.

The text of SJP’s email, which invited students to attend a Cambridge rally in solidarity with Palestinians, opened with three

parachute emojis; on Saturday, fighters involved in the assault used paragliders to cross the Gazan border before attacking civilians.

“Since Friday, Palestinians have been launching a historic attack on the colonizers,” SJP wrote in the email obtained by the Daily.

“Footage of liberation fighters from Gaza paragliding into occupied territory has especially shown the creativity necessary to take back stolen land. It has not been without cost, as hundreds of Palestinians have been martyred in the past days, fighting to liberate themselves and their land.”

SJP did not respond to a request for comment.

The U.S. Department of State has classified Hamas as a terrorist organization since 1997. see SJP, page 3

UNIVERSITY

Graduate student workers walk out during inauguration ceremony Katie Spiropoulos Deputy News Editor

A group of Tufts graduate student workers walked out of University President Sunil Kumar’s inauguration ceremony on Oct. 6, just before the opening remarks of Peter Dolan, Board of Trustees chairman.

Following the walkout, demonstrators circled the Olin Center wearing purple shirts to represent their union, Service Employees International Union Local 509, which also represents part-time lecturers at Tufts. Holding megaphones and styrofoam signs, graduate student workers demanded higher wages, stronger health care resources and better overall appreciation from the university. Some led call and response chants such as, “What do we want? Contracts!

When do we want them? Now!” Sam Alterman, a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Physics and Astronomy, shed light on the daily struggles graduate student workers face and what the protest means for their union’s fight.

KATIE SPIROPOULOS / THE TUFTS DAILY

Graduate students are pictured protesting outside University President Sunil Kumar’s inauguration on Oct. 6.

“We really felt that today it was important to send a message that we need a fair contract because that is what this institution means.

When [graduate] workers are not able to pay their bills [or] when [graduate] workers are staying up until 3 a.m. trying to figure out

how to pay a gas bill, that makes it really hard for them to show up and then teach a phenomenal 8:30 a.m. lab,” Alterman said.

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Grace Evans, a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Theatre, Dance, and Performance Studies, drew attention to the lack of healthcare resources allocated to graduate student workers in the LGBTQ+ community.

“We know that queer and trans rights are under attack from all corners of this country. The fact that Tufts has not met us where they need to in terms of LGBTQ healthcare is appalling. We deserve healthcare. It is a right and we’re gonna fight for it,” Evans said.

Daniel Waqar, a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of History, spoke about the choice to protest during the inauguration of the university’s 14th president.

“It’s to send a message to the incoming administration and the new president about what their priorities should be in regards to the grad workers who make the university function,” Waqar said.

Alterman added that the inauguration of Kumar as Tufts’ first see UNION, page 4 News Features Arts & Pop Culture Fun & Games Opinion Sports

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NEWS

T he T ufts D aily Aaron Gruen Editor in Chief

Editorial Henry Chandonnet Kaitlyn Wells Managing Editors

Julia Carpi Caroline Vandis Associate Editors Daniel Vos Elizabeth Zacks Carl Svahn Julieta Grané Arielle Weinstein Tvisha Goel Chloe Courtney Bohl Julia Shannon-Grillo

Executive News Editor Executive Features Editor Executive Arts Editor Executive Opinion Editor Executive Sports Editor Executive Science Editor Investigative Editor Executive Editorial Editor

Multimedia Nina Zimmerman Chloe Nacson-Schechter Clint Chen Yena Ryoo Avril Lynch Bex Povill

Executive Audio Producer Executive Video Editor Executive Photo Editors Executive Graphics Editors

Committees Guillem Colom Intentionality & Inclusivity Chair Elizabeth Foster Education Chair Merry Jiao Marlee Stout Social Chairs Sam Berman Ty Blitstein Alumni Liasons

Production Olivia White Production Director Max Antonini Meghna Singha Executive Layout Editors Megan Amero Siya Bhanshali Executive Copy Editors Ella Dovey Mike Kourkoulakos Executive Social Media Managers Rachel Liu Executive Newsletter Editor

Business Ryan Sorbi Business Director Isabel Francis Assistant Business Director

Founded in 1980 The Tufts Daily is the entirely student-run newspaper of record at Tufts University in Medford, Mass. An editorially and financially independent organization, the Daily’s staff of more than 100 covers news, features, arts and sports on Tufts’ four campuses and in its host communities.

Land Acknowledgement The Tufts Daily office is located on the colonized land of the Massachusett people and within the territories of the Nipmuc and Wôpanâak (Wampanoag) tribes.

LOCAL

Medford City Council approves 8-story research building Lucas Frota

Contributing Writer

The Medford City Council voted to proceed with plans for a $50–60 million state-of-theart research and lab building designed by Ci Design — an architecture firm specializing in science and research — at a meeting on Oct. 3. The development will be located at 243 Mystic Ave. The proposed development caused debate among city leaders and residents about how to preserve the city’s unique character while embracing opportunities to shape Medford’s economic landscape.

The proposed research facility is an eight-story building in a relatively small area, raising questions about the potential impact on Medford’s tight-knit neighborhoods.

Representatives from Ci Design, the “scientist-led development group,” defended their decision to construct a new complex at 243 Mystic Ave., emphasizing the strategic importance of having accessible transportation.

“We chose this lot at 243 Mystic for a variety of reasons; it’s a very great location for what we want to do,” one representative said. “We’re focused on very early-stage companies coming into this property, and because of the location, because of its proximity to transportation, we think it’s a very good location to build lab space.”

On its website, Ci Design describes itself as a leader in science and technology, commercial and industrial project design around the world.

“For a building like this, that’s going to be [home to] early-stage companies, most of these employees are going to prefer not to drive to work,” a representative said. “We chose this spot strategically because there is access to transportation.”

The proposal received mixed responses from councilors at the meeting. Councilor George Scarpelli voiced concern on behalf of the community in

GRACE ROTERMUND / THE TUFTS DAILY

Medford City Hall is pictured on March 12, 2021. regards to how the proposed building might impact traffic and parking in “probably the most densely populated traffic area.”

“It affects our community,” Scarpelli said. “I would love to find a location for this type of development. … It’s a beautiful building, but it’s out of place.

You have a community of two to three family homes no more than 100 yards away from you.

You’re talking about an intersection that has been habitually taken advantage of. You’re talking about a neighborhood that has felt that they have been treated so unfairly and overlooked [for] so many years.”

Councilor Justin Tseng acknowledged concerns about potential traffic congestion in the area. In agreement with Ci Design representatives, however, Tseng believes prior council initiatives to implement better public transportation within Medford will help alleviate that issue.

“I hear the concerns about traffic, I go through that intersection at least twice a week if not more,” Tseng said. “But I do think, as you have men-

tioned, it is really important to note that we fought as a council for bus access to remain in the new bus plan on Main Street and on Harvard Street because we knew that projects like this were going to come in and because of those, because of our actions as a council, because of community members we have pretty regular bus access coming in to connect this property with Malden.”

Scarpelli, while cautious about potential impacts on traffic, also recognized the value of the development space and urged responsible growth for the sake of the city’s community.

“This is valuable, valuable development space that we should grow with responsibility and make sure we have all the factors in place,” he said.

“We don’t have all the factors in place. We’re going to approve this without knowing if it’s going to handle the safety of that roadway, if it’s going to handle the traffic of that neighborhood.”

Scarpelli said that Medford has failed to bring in new developments in the last few years,

stifling the city’s ability to grow.

He emphasized the importance of allowing gradual, intentional development that takes all extraneous factors into account.

“We need development … in Medford. We’ve done nothing in the last four years — nothing, zero,” Scarpelli said. “But because of that inability to grow, we’ve now left ourselves in a pretty valuable situation. … If we can wait 18 months, we’re going to have a better opportunity here.”

Councilor Richard Caraviello, highlighting the economic importance of the project and providing an alternate perspective on the proposed building, reminded fellow councilors of a recent missed opportunity for developmental growth.

“Not too long ago, we allowed a $234 million project to walk out of our city,” Caraviello said. “This is not my ideal project that I’d like to see there, but I don’t want to see jobs walk out of town.”

After an hour of debate, council members passed the motion to proceed with Ci Design’s development project with a vote of five in favor, one against and one absent.

LOCAL

Davis Square’s bfresh set to close Amaani Jetley

Contributing Writer

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Originally published Oct. 11.

The bfresh grocery store located in Davis Square will close after Oct. 12. Opened in 2017, the store has been a go-to source for Tufts students to purchase healthier options and organic groceries at affordable prices.

According to a spokesperson for the store’s sibling company, the market was underperforming financially.

“Stop & Shop has made the difficult decision not to renew the lease see GROCERY, page 4

CHARLENE TSAI / THE TUFTS DAILY

The Davis Square branch of bfresh is pictured on Oct. 3.

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LOCAL

Somerville City Council reviews Arts at the Armory woes and prison moratorium Alexandra Huenlein Contributing Writer

Originally published Oct. 11.

The Somerville City Council met on Sept. 28 to discuss a variety of issues including plans for the Armory building as well as a prison moratorium and elder parole policies.

The Center for Arts at the Armory is housed in a historic building in Somerville that serves as a venue for art, music, cultural and community events.

Stephanie Scherpf, co-director and CEO at the Center for Arts at the Armory, shared some background information on the state of the building.

“Since the building was renovated and reopened in 2008, [the Center for] Arts at the Armory was always the building manager until we had to step down from that role during the pandemic due to lack of resources and staff present in the building,” Scherpf said.

Since then, the city has taken the building through eminent domain and is working on establishing an Armory Master Plan to organize its use.

Scherpf expressed her concern with how the council is managing the building’s plans.

“After two-plus years, we just don’t see that the city has the capacity to deliver the Armory Master Plan or secure the productive use of the building without us,” Scherpf said. “I’m also representing the interests of the community which we serve, which includes artists, cultural workers, community members …

They’re all concerned that they’re going to lose what they have in partnership with us through this armory master planning process that the City of Somerville has taken on.”

Scherpf explained how, in an attempt to take on a more leadership-based role, the Center held

KAITLYN WELLS / THE TUFTS DAILY

The Somerville Armory building at 191 Highland Ave. is pictured. a community meeting and completed a petition that over 1,000 people signed.

In their petition, they urged the City of Somerville to do four things.

“Number one, abandon the proposed model … for the Armory building, which would adopt the city as owner and operator model, and force the current tenants out,” Scherpf said.

“Number two, adopt a third party operator model for the Armory building that would include developing and issuing a request for proposal that third party operators interested in managing the building could respond to.

Number three, develop and issue [a request for proposal] for prospective arts and culture tenants interested in securing a lease on a space inside the Armory building. And number four, work with a consultant contracted by the city and current Armory tenants to create a governance model and governance commit-

tee that would develop, issue and respond to both RFPs above.”

In response to Scherpf, Beatriz Gomez Mouakad, city councilor for Ward Five, said, “We have to be honest and say we did something wrong. Let’s start all over again … I think we’re at that point.”

Ben Ewen-Campen, City Council president and councilor for Ward Three, echoed this sentiment.

“The idea that it’s gotten to this point is really disappointing and frustrating, but I maintain optimism that we are going to get through this,” EwenCampen said. ”[I’ll be working towards having] the Armory be the home of the Center of the Arts [for] as many of the tenants that want to stay.”

After discussion, the item was approved by all the council members and placed on file.

Next on the agenda was a resolution by City Councilor At-Large Willie Burnley Jr. in sup-

Popular market will close after Oct. 12 GROCERY

continued from page 4 for our bfresh store as the store was not meeting financial expectations,” Caroline Meredinos, the external and corporate communications manager for Stop & Shop, wrote in an email to the Daily.

Meredinos added that all bfresh associates “will be given the opportunity to transfer to other Stop & Shop locations,” and referred customers to nearby Stop & Shop locations across Medford, Malden, Arlington and Watertown.

Despite there being other nearby grocery alternatives in Medford and Somerville, some Tufts students feel they are losing access to an affordable food source.

“I don’t want to have to scrape out the inside of my pockets to buy groceries,” sophomore Ella Irvine said.

Sophomore Molly Sikma voiced a similar opinion.

“I’m mad it’s closing. It was super accessible for me and also [had] decent prices, which is nice since I don’t have a crazy big income as a college student,” Sikma said.

Both shared that key appeals of bfresh were its proximity to campus, its affordability and its wide selection of produce.

“I like to have fresh fruits and veggies that I can have as a snack,” Sikma said. “I can’t really get that from the CVS [in Davis Square] but I could get that from bfresh. … Since it is closing I’m not sure where I’m going to get [fruit] from now.”

While neither student is afraid of going hungry, they expressed disappointment about not having more options for affordable produce.

“It’s not like we live in a food desert,” Irvine said. ”[bfresh] was a very nice alternative [to Tufts Dining] because you can buy bananas for the regular price, as opposed to over one dollar for a single banana [at Hodge]. … I don’t

want to say that we necessarily need that grocery store, because we do still have food offered at Tufts. It’s just overpriced.”

Simka referred to the recent change to the Tufts meal plan, which no longer allows students to use two meal swipes in one dining period at a retail location.

She further noted how she feels particularly constrained for food options at Tufts on weekends. On Saturday and Sunday, Fresh at Carmichael Dining Center and Dewick-MacPhie Dining Center are the only dining halls which are open and accept meal swipes.

Irvine is now searching for alternative grocery stores.

“I’ll probably go more often to Target. … I was talking about [going to Star Market] with my coworkers,” Irvine said. “They were like, ‘We go there but it’s so expensive.’”

It is currently unknown which new tenant will occupy the space held by bfresh after it closes.

port of a prison moratorium and elder parole.

Michaela Caplan, a Somerville resident and organizer for T’ruah: The Rabbinic Call for Human Rights, described the consequences of Burnley’s resolution.

“The prison moratorium would create a five-year pause on major jail and prison construction and expansion; it would not prevent essential repairs,” Caplan said.

Caplan further outlined the benefits of such a policy.

“A five-year pause would allow us an opportunity to focus on decarceration using tools like elder parole and clemency and many others, give us time to implement alternatives and invest in communities most affected by incarceration,” Caplan said.

According to Caplan, the moratorium would also pause former Gov. Charlie Baker’s proposed construction of a $50 million women’s prison that would replace MCI-Framingham.

Councilor Burnley pointed out his issues with the state’s plan for a new women’s prison.

“This proposal was outrageous on several levels, including the fact that it flies in the face of logic,” he said. “Over the last decade, the population at [MCI-Framingham] decreased from over 600 incarcerated women to roughly 200 presently.

Over a dozen are over the age of 60, and several of them are over 70 years old.”

Current inmates at MCIFramingham were able to provide live testimony in a landmark virtual hearing.

“For the first time in our Commonwealth legislative history, 22 incarcerated women testified live from MCI-Framingham via Zoom to our state legislators in support of passing two bills … that would require a five-year prison and jail construction moratorium,” Burnley said.

Caplan elaborated on the testimonies from these women.

“They spoke to the harrowing conditions that they live in,” Caplan said. “Stress [from] those conditions are a result of [Department of Corrections] negligence and mismanagement, lack of funding for beneficial programming and abysmal medical and mental health care for the women inside. A new prison cannot solve these problems.”

Burnley called out Gov. Maura Healey, who has yet to publicly support bills for a prison moratorium or to establish an elder parole board. Burnley ended by urging the council to act.

“I would like to ask the City of Somerville to call upon our governor to publicly support these bills that promote decarceration through a prison moratorium and elder parole as a means of gender, racial and class justice,” Burnely said.

All city council members voted in favor and the proposal was passed.

SJP praises ‘creativity’ of Hamas-led attacks in e-list message SJP

continued from page 1 The group has ruled the Gaza Strip since 2007. Hamas fighters attacked several cities last Saturday, opening fire on civilians and taking over 100 hostages, according to Israel’s ambassador to the United Nations.

“We condemn the terrorism and atrocities that Hamas has carried out against Israel,” Patrick Collins, Tufts’ executive director of public relations, wrote in a statement to the Daily. “We strongly disagree with and denounce SJP’s statement and want to make clear that no student group speaks for the university.”

The New England branch of the Anti-Defamation League chimed in on Monday, calling SJP’s message “obscene” in a post on the social

media platform X, formerly known as Twitter.

Kumar shared a statement with the Tufts community on Oct. 10 following the attacks.

“In times of conflict and violence, it is important for all of us to acknowledge the pain and trauma that many in our community are experiencing,” he wrote.

The following day, he sent a second email that specifically condemned Hamas’ role in the conflict.

“The events that have come to light are pure barbarism,” Kumar wrote. “The attackers made no distinction between young and old, military and civilian, healthy and infirm. Hostages were taken and many still remain unaccounted for.

I denounce these heinous acts in no uncertain terms.”

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Thursday, October 12, 2023

NEWS

Kumar formally installed as president KUMAR

continued from page 1 ogy at the Stanford University Graduate School of Business, where he worked for 14 years.

Speaking on Kumar’s qualifications, Dolan described Kumar as an experienced leader prepared to take on the challenges of being the university’s president.

“He is trained to take complex situations, then extract data, summarize, synthesize, model and predict outcomes and then develop an effective policy,” Dolan said.

Immediately before Dolan’s address, demonstrators in support of the Tufts University Graduate Workers Union organized a walkout, beginning their rally outside of the Olin Center.

Zana Hunt, a third-year student in the School of Dental Medicine, was at the inauguration representing the graduate students but did not address ongoing contract negotiations in her speech.

“You have committed yourself to political, environmental,

scientific, economic and social progress,” she said to Kumar. “We salute you for solidifying the commitment to excellence by taking the helm of our great university and leading us with wisdom.”

In his address, Kumar spoke to Tufts’ unique culture as both a global research institution and a liberal arts school in the NESCAC. “There was one common sentiment that came up again and again: the belief that this is truly a special place,” he said.

Among his core goals as president, Kumar highlighted the importance of preparing students to take on global challenges.

“We must prepare the future doctors graduating from our School of Medicine to not only be excellent clinicians but also to tackle growing health disparities to their understanding of economics and society,” he said.

“We need our Fletcher School graduates to understand the impact of the latest technology on world affairs. We must equip

our engineering graduates with the skills to comprehend the ethical and moral consequences of their inventions.”

Kumar announced plans to prioritize education and research as well as supporting students throughout all stages of their life.

“I consider this event the official end of my honeymoon. I’m energized by the path that lies ahead and I look forward to making Tufts — our special place — even greater together. Let’s get to work,” he said.

Demonstrators supporting the Tufts Graduate Workers Union rally during Kumar’s inauguration ceremony UNION

continued from page 1 president of color is a noteworthy milestone.

“We’re really thrilled to see this level of diversity at the top of the organization. It’s long overdue, but what we’re really concerned about is making sure that that diversity is also on the front lines,” Alterman said. “We know that our students benefit when they have a more diverse set of role models in the classroom and we know our institution benefits from having a more diverse set of researchers.”

Graduate student workers were joined by a myriad of people, from Tufts undergraduate students to residents of Medford and Somerville.

Among the attendants was Medford City Councilor Kit Collins (LA’15). In an email to the Daily, Collins shared her thoughts and motivations for attending the protest.

“I attended the protest to stand in solidarity with the graduate student workers and demonstrate that the Medford City Council backs and supports Tufts graduate student workers. We must stand together, on campus and off, to demand fair working conditions, contracts, and compensation for all Medford workers,” Collins wrote.

“Tufts University can certainly afford to do right by these workers and all on-campus workers, and Tufts should take this opportunity to be a leader and an example for other institutions and employers.”

Evans expressed her gratitude to Tufts’ other student workers and the overall community for their support for the protest.

“I really appreciate the solidarity that we’re receiving from undergrad RAs, the custodial workers, the dining workers and all of the other workers on this campus. As you’ve heard us chanting: when we unite, we are stronger,” Evans said.

Patrick Collins, executive director of public relations at Tufts University, commented on the university’s response to the protest in an email to the Daily.

“President Kumar has said that it is important for students to use their voices to advocate for positions they believe in, while not using their voices to shut down

KATIE SPIROPOULOS / THE TUFTS DAILY

Protestors are pictured outside the Olin Center on Oct. 6. conversation,” Collins wrote in a statement to the Daily. “We look forward to continued negotiations with the graduate students and are hopeful that we can reach a resolution that addresses both the

schools’ and the students’ needs.”

Waqar shared that the next step for the union is to continue contract negotiations.

“Tufts should pay their workers fairly,” Waqar emphasized.

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Features

Thursday, October 12, 2023

5

F eatures SMFA student clubs enable passions and friendships to thrive Kaitlyn Wells

Managing Editor

It can take effort to pursue extracurriculars on top of a college workload and the other demands of life. SMFA student clubs based at the Boston campus provide opportunities to dive deeper into activities such as birdwatching, ceramics and sustainable crafts.

Stephen Green, associate director of student life at the SMFA, explained that SMFA clubs are all sub-groups of the SMFA Student Government Association — an official body funded by the Tufts Community Union.

“The SGA essentially works as a smaller version of the TCU [ Judiciary] and they fund organizations that have primary interests at the SMFA,” Green said.

According to Maiyah Rivers, assistant director of student life at the SMFA, while SMFA clubs are not directly recognized

by TCU, they are encouraged by staff to mimic the setup of clubs housed at the Medford/ Somerville campus.

Clubs are encouraged to create a page on the JumboLife portal or to request a table at the annual Student Organizations Fair on the Academic Quad, which can open up SMFA clubs to broader student participation.

Clubs based at the SMFA are established by SMFA or combined-degree students, but students enrolled at any one of Tufts’ schools are welcome.

The SMFA-based Eco-Art Club is a group focused on sustainability in the art world, often using nature as the muse and material of their work. It was founded by its current co-heads Laura Harvey and Zoee Blossom after being inspired by a class they had taken together.

“Laura and I met taking an SMFA class which [was] called Relational Placemaking, and it was all about choosing some natural space that you’re in and taking inspiration from it, making art in it, making art out of it,” Blossom said. “We really, really loved that class and didn’t want to lose the conversations we were having and the community that it built.”

For Blossom and Harvey, who are both from relatively rural areas, Eco-Art Club was born out of a desire to connect to the natural world while at school in an urban environment. The club also leans into an aspect of artistic practice they felt was underrepresented in their curricula.

“In that class, we were talking a lot about craft and different indigenous practices, and we were thinking a lot about how SMFA tends to be more fine art-focused,” Blossom said. “We wanted to

COURTESY ZOEE BLOSSOM

Eco-Art Club members are pictured making spore prints. try and build a space where we could explore craft a bit more and lean … more towards materiality.”

Similarly, the SMFA Clay Club was created by combined-degree student Zelda Mayer to supplement the array of courses available at the SMFA. She has had some help from Cathy Lu and Jennie Jieun Lee, SMFA professors of the practice.

“I think, the SMFA, they offer [such] a breadth … of 2D-making classes, like drawing and painting, but the reality is incoming SMFA students are interested in 3D work in some kind of a way,” Mayer said. “The classes are … not caught up to this wave of craftspeople that are coming in who are sculptors or 3D-makers.”

Clay Club is a space for students to play with clay in a fun-filled environment where they can access free materials, tools and instruction. Despite having only started in the spring of 2023, Clay Club has experienced a sudden growth in popularity, tallying around 30 members.

Mayer, who is drawn to pedagogy and has had formal experiences teaching ceramics at local schools, finds Clay Club to be a very rewarding experience.

“Becoming a dependable figure in … a smaller community of ceramicists is exciting as well, because ceramics is such a medium that relies on education,” Mayer said.

“There [are] opportunities for

students and students to share knowledge between each other and really participate in the way that craft knowledge is passed down.”

Last semester, Clay Club hosted a community cup-making event which attracted the participation of students, faculty and MFA employees. These mugs that were handmade, painted and fired were then featured at a Clay Club tea party.

The SMFA Bird Club does not shy away from special events either, especially because the group is centered around birdwatching. The club was founded last semester by SMFA student Eliot Swift — who is now the club president — and Ria Brodell, a parttime lecturer at the SMFA, who taught Swift in a class called Flora and Fauna.

Bird Club organizes outings to places such as Franklin Park Zoo and Arnold Arboretum.

Last semester, they collaborated with the MassArt Bird Club for a visit to the Belle Isle Marsh Reservation, an accessible ecosystem with paved trails and bird-spotting opportunities.

“The most important part is getting out somewhere with our cameras or sketchbooks or binoculars, or just bringing ourselves there, and walking around in nature and seeing what there is to see,” Swift said. “And there’s a surprising amount that you can get to by the T.” Contrary to popular belief, leading a student club is not a position reserved only for

extroverts. For Swift, Bird Club has been a way to connect with like-minded peers as well as to seek respite from the city, having grown up in a rural area.

“I tend to be a little bit of a reclusive personality, so I need to make an effort to get myself out and about to do social things,” Swift said.

“I found myself missing some environments that were like home, and … greenery [is] great for my mental health too.

So it’s sort of a healing thing, it restores my energy.”

Eco-Art Club has played a similar role in Blossom’s time at Tufts. It allowed her to build a community during her freshman year amid the COVID-19 pandemic as well as develop her art practice.

“In terms of my art practice, [Eco-Art Club] has influenced it a lot. I was already interested in these sorts of natural processes, but it gave me a concrete space to explore it, and because it’s a club and has a budget, we have a lot more opportunities to do bigger projects,” Blossom said.

This past spring, Eco-Art Club took a trip to Maine, where they embarked on hikes and found natural clay deposits to make art with. On a more regular basis, the club enjoys foraging at natural sites in Greater Boston and meets on the Medford/Somerville campus to engage in activities such as eco-dyeing.

Eco-Art Club is currently working to transition out of the umbrella of the SGA to

seek recognition from TCU. Blossom hopes that this will better accommodate the growing number of members the club is attracting, but the transition process has not been easy.

“SMFA clubs have a much more lenient application process. TCU involves a lot more paperwork … and we were sort of struggling to find all the necessary steps to make things official,” Blossom said.

“There’s a lot of nuance in terms of when you can start, how long you have to be active in order to be registered and things like that.”

Managing a student club comes with a learning curve too, and according to Swift, the necessary steps have not been readily accessible, prompting them to contact others for advice.

“Figuring out how to run a club has been a little difficult,” Swift said. “There’s no club handbook that I can go to for all the answers to the questions that I need, so it’s been a lot of asking other people who already have experience in clubs and sending lots of emails.”

Regardless, it seems that enthusiasm is the main ingredient driving students to create and participate in clubs on the SMFA Boston campus. The clubs serve as vital spaces for friendships, hobbies and skills to flourish.

Families and friends are welcome to attend a Sidewalk Sale on Oct. 14, where some student clubs will be sharing their work outside the SMFA.

6

THE TUFTS DAILY

Thursday, October 12, 2023

Features

What does school spirit at Tufts look like?

Ella Sanders

Assistant Features Editor

During this year’s rainy Homecoming, groups of students, parents and alumni took refuge under their umbrellas to cheer on the Tufts football team.

Despite the spirited efforts of both Tufts Pep Band and Tufts cheerleading, there was a lack of student turnout. However, this does not mean that school spirit is absent at Tufts.

Justin Millette, a junior and the president of the Tufts Pep Band, argued that Tufts students have school spirit and pride, even if they don’t show it through the traditional outlet of sports.

“If you define school spirit by knowing all the sports [events] … then no, we don’t [have school spirit] … But if you mean caring about being on Tufts’ campus and the experience … Tufts does have [that],” Millette said.

The Pep Band plays for home football games in the fall and for basketball, hockey and lacrosse games in the spring. The group has also made multiple on-campus appearances in the past at events including Tuftonia’s Day and the Tufts Cheerleading Showcase.

Em Buyea, a junior who runs the Tufts Pep Band’s social media accounts, compared the student crowd at this year’s Homecoming game to that of last year’s.

“This year … everyone was there the whole time. But at the crowd’s peak, it wasn’t as big as it was last year,” Buyea said.

Buyea noted that night games tend to bring in more people, and Tufts football traditionally has a high parent and alumni turnout.

Buyea added that at the football games, Tufts Pep Band and Tufts cheerleading will sometimes collaborate to foster school spirit and excitement.

Maddie Cortesi, a junior and the head captain and treasurer of Tufts cheerleading, explained the role of the cheer team.

“Our whole job is crowd engagement,” Cortesi said. “We have gotten so much wonderful

Ben Rachel A Jumbo's Journey

My very first Duo Mobile push

T

here are probably a plethora of questions: Why is a freshman writing a column titled “A Jumbo’s Journey”? What is this column, and why is it being published by the prestigious, apparently seventh-best college newspaper, The Tufts Daily?

As I sit here in the darkness and loneliness of my single room, I understand that I can’t answer all of your questions just yet. Instead, I hope to give

COURTESY TUFTS CHEER.

Tufts cheerleading is pictured during a game. positive feedback recently and even just this past Homecoming game … it’s just so wonderful and motivating and it’s why we do what we do.”

The team cheers for both the football and basketball home games, and they have their own competition season in the spring.

Cortesi said that Tufts cheerleading has expanded its campus presence and number of team members.

“It’s been really exciting to get bigger and try to put ourselves out there more as a team,” Cortesi said. “We’re going to our campus appearance, events, we’re trying to get more involved, [and] I would hope we’re sort of becoming more known by the student body.”

Cortesi added that Tufts students show their school spirit through their involvement on campus.

“I think the fact that people are so involved in so many different things is a testament to how much involvement they’re putting into their community, with sports, through arts [and] through academics,” Cortesi said. “So even if there’s 26 peo-

ple in the crowd at a football game, that’s what school spirit is to those people.”

Another club on campus that is a source of student pride is the Tufts Burlesque Troupe.

Maya Lahiri, a sophomore and Burlesque DEI committee member, said that Tufts Burlesque is about embracing body positivity, body neutrality and gender inclusivity.

“We do have a lot of queer members — people with different gender identities, different sexualities. Everyone is allowed to join, and we also do have identity-based dances,” Lahiri said. “I think it really does bring in the diversity of Tufts, and not just in terms of inclusivity but also [in] the way Tufts is quirky.”

As part of the DEI committee, Lahiri said that the committee visits every dance to ensure that the environment is a safe one where everyone feels welcome.

“Consent is a really big thing in our rehearsals, too. It’s about not just feeling okay, but also feeling good with yourself,” Lahiri said.

The club has gained so much popularity in recent years that — for those who do get to sign

up in time — dancers are only assigned to one dance. Due to the high demand for Burlesque tickets — which often sell out in minutes — this semester the group has expanded to offer two nights of performances for their show.

“It’s more about confidence now than just performance. It’s about seeing not just how the dancers are dancing, but seeing how their performance is encouraged by their confidence,” Lahiri said.

Lahiri added that Burlesque brings both the performers and the audience together.

“I think that [Burlesque] is something that brings people together, whether you’re cheering your friends on, whether you’re actually on stage or you’re doing the lights for it … we’re all just having a good time together,” Lahiri said.

Another student organization that brings the Tufts community together is the Tufts University Social Collective. TUSC is a student group responsible for planning events for the entire Tufts undergraduate student body.

Davis Kupera-Peers, an executive coordinator for TUSC, said

that TUSC is there to engage students’ school spirit and provide a fun space for students, while also focusing on harm reduction.

TUSC is also the most funded student club on campus, and is responsible for many campus events including the Homecoming Carnival, Fall Fest, Tuftonia’s Day and Spring Fling.

“We try to have a good balance of keeping traditions like Sophomore Halfway There and Tuftonia’s Day, but then also adding some new, fun events that can keep people engaged and interested in the things we have to offer,” she said.

Kupera-Peers shared that TUSC is trying to move towards a more school-wide spirit approach. “[We want to] have a space [where] people are excited to be students at Tufts, excited to participate in the school wide events and be … involved in the community,” Kupera-Peers said.

School spirit can take on many forms. From student organizations to sports games, there are many different ways that Tufts students can answer the question of what it means to be a Jumbo.

an overview of who I am and what this column will be.

Let’s start from the beginning.

Let me take you through a typical conversation between two freshmen during O-Week to give you some information about myself.

“Hey! I’m Ben! What’s your name?” … “Great. Nice to meet you. I’m from Chicago. Where are you from?” … “Cool. I have been there once. Awesome place. I’m planning on majoring in economics. What about you?”

Then, the conversation normally fizzles into an awkward silence and a forever uncomfortable connection where one day you’ll see them walking, quickly make dashing eye contact, and continue walking in opposite directions.

I hope this situation doesn’t happen between us.

Throughout my time with this column, I hope to convey my personal experience as I learn and encounter all the idiosyncrasies of Tufts, in real time!

With creative freedom, each bi-weekly column can vary heavily. One publication could be the story of my first frat party or a rant about the inordinate amount of Canvas announcements on any given day. Whatever the storyline, my goal is to be entertaining, relatable, engaging and maybe even funny sometimes.

Alright, enough logistics.

Let’s get a solid foundation of who I am.

I am a Dewick enthusiast.

Carmichael is for the weak. They are the ones who won’t survive natural selection.

How many Duo Mobile pushes have I received? It’s actually ridiculous. So many. Let someone infiltrate my account and steal my Canvas assignments for all I care. As long as I don’t have to confirm another Duo Mobile push for the thousandth time.

Thoughts on O-Week? Three words: Jumboning, Tisch Roof.

What do you think about dorm life? All I can say is that at least I’m not in Hill Hall.

Worst part about Tufts? The hospital lights.

Best study spot on campus?

Can’t go wrong with a study session in the Tisch reading room. I am an avid critic of the Campus Center.

Do you have Sidechat? Yes, and the most upvotes I’ve received on a singular post has been 455. Not to brag or anything.

I wish I could go on all day, but I’ve been restricted to around 500 words. To wrap up, I hope that you continue with me on this journey; I’m not even sure where it’ll lead.

To be honest, I don’t know what I’m doing this weekend (and yes, that is a nod to the unfortunately true freshman stereotype where we walk around at night looking for a party), I don’t know what my next column will look like, and I don’t know what this Jumbo’s Journey will look like.

There is much uncertainty.

However, no matter what, it is unequivocal that I will receive another Duo Mobile push very soon.

Ben Rachel is a first-year who has yet to declare a major. He can be reached at Benjamin.

Rachel@tufts.edu.

THE TUFTS DAILY

Arts & Pop Culture

Thursday, October 12, 2023

7

A R T S & P O P C U LT U R E Tamasha at Tufts: Working it, winning, ‘What Jhumka?’

Ishaan Rajiv Rajabali Assistant Arts Editor

What does “Tamasha” mean?

Ask a Hindi speaker, and they will probably define it as a commotion or a hullabaloo. But probe a little deeper, let it fall on your ears a couple times, and the word is suddenly much more. It can refer to a form of folk theater full of song and dance, or it could be excitement or it could be loud, colorful bustle. In this pocket of Massachusetts, it applies to a Bollywood-hip-hop fusion dance team. Just like its namesake, there’s a lot more to this team than “thumkas” and tasteless “jalebi baby” jokes.

Tamasha originally started out as a Bollywood dance group in 2008.

“It was formed to fill in the gap between the South Asian dance teams … to bring in that typical Bollywood style,” co-captain Disha Narain, a senior, said.

“We then started to bring in hiphop, then all the different dance styles … a little bit of kathak, a little bit of bhangra, those have been the personal styles of our team members.”

Narain emphasized that Tamasha is and has always been very community-based.

COURTESY TUFTS TAMASHA

Tufts Tamasha is pictured performing.

“There’s parts of the training session where we just sit and catch up on each other’s lives. And I think that’s really important because that’s how you build community … even when we’re performing,” Narain said.

Co-captain Sharika Kaul, a senior, spoke at length about how the culture of the group has changed post-COVID-19, when Tamasha became a non-competitive team.

“We spoke to some people who were on the dance team at that

time, and they talked about how the culture … was so different,” Kaul said. “I like how we transitioned into a dance team that’s very much focused on putting our performers, our team members, and their vision first. … We have members of the team, of all years [cho-

reographing pieces.] It’s really cool how you can join and immediately make significant contributions.”

Kimaya Vaid, a sophomore who is helping choreograph her first routine this semester, affirmed the value of diverse choreography perspectives.

“When [Sharika and I] choreograph our own style comes out a lot. … We have to make sure that all of our styles are balanced,” Vaid said. “I am super into contemporary and more flowy dance moves, rather than hip-hop and isolation. … We incorporate both.”

Vianca Shah, a sophomore captain-in-training, reflected on how Tamasha’s flexibility in dance styles differs from other South Asian dance groups on campus.

“I have not trained in a niche dance form and which is why Tamasha stood out to me. …

Tamasha gives everyone the opportunity to do what they want,” Shah said. She recalls seeing Tamasha perform at O-Show and discussing the prospect of joining the team with her pre-orientation leader, who, in quite a Bollywood-esque twist of fate, turned out to be captain at the time. “I got to know her … and auditioned for it — I’ve loved every moment of it ever since.” see TAMASHA, page 8

Chaplaincy welcomes Kumar in celebration of faith, the arts Shannon Murphy

Assistant Arts Editor

In honor of the inauguration of University President Sunil Kumar, the University Chaplaincy held a multifaith celebration on Oct. 4 in Goddard Chapel. The event included expressions of hospitality from each of the diverse faiths represented by the University Chaplaincy, musical performances from a capella groups Ladies of Essence and Shir Appeal and an art installation of welcoming messages from the Tufts community.

The ceremony began with a procession of the chaplains into the chapel, accompanied

by Suzanne Cartrienne on the organ. Her prelude included “The Bells” (1899) by William Byrd, “Prelude and Fugue in G Major” (1829) by Johann Sebastian Bach and “Wondrous Love: Five Variations for Organ” (1992) by Daniel Pinkham.

The third piece was a nod to Tufts’ Universalist roots, as Pinkham served as the music director for King’s Chapel in Boston, a member congregation of the Unitarian Universalist Association, from 1956 to 2000.

Hindu Chaplain Dr. Preeta Banerjee and junior Ti Wimmer, president of the Hindu Students Association, introduced the celebration by lighting incense and ringing a bell for good tidings and new beginnings. They also acknowledged the land of the

MINA TERZIOGLU / THE TUFTS DAILY

Goddard Chapel is pictured on May 10.

Massachusett tribe that Tufts was built upon and expressed sorrow for injustices yet to be repaired.

Ladies of Essence, Tufts’ allfemme identifying a capella group specializing in music from the African Diaspora, performed a rhythmic “Gospel Medley” made up of songs expressing gratitude.

It was followed by “I Feel,” which was introduced as a song illustrating new beginnings. For this reason, “I Feel” is typically the first song that new members of the group learn upon joining.

University Chaplain Reverend Elyse Nelson Winger then

explained the art installation: each member of the Tufts Community in attendance wrote words of welcome on translucent oak leaves to create a welcome arch. The arch mirrors a stained glass window at the chapel. The design on this window was modeled after a verse in the Bible, which calls those who show gratitude to God “oaks of righteousness.” Isaiah 61:3.

Reverend Winger reflected on the Universalist foundation of Tufts laid by Charles Tufts and Sylvanus Packard, who she referred to as “theological rebels of their day,” and emphasized how Tufts began as a unique space for religious and

philosophical diversity, which it continues to be in the present.

Following this was a series of hospitality offerings to President Kumar from the chaplains and student leaders of the many faith communities at Tufts. Jewish Chaplain Rabbi Naftali Brawer remarked on the coincidence of the inauguration occuring at the same time as the Jewish holiday Sukkot, a time of hospitality and gathering. The Hebrew blessing “Shalom Rav” was sung by junior Liana Smolover-Bord and senior Jake Blum, who also played the guitar. The Catholic, Humanist and Buddhist Chaplaincies fol-

lowed in offering their own prayers and gifts to President Kumar.

Shir Appeal, Tufts’ Jewish mixed-gender a cappella group, performed a lively rendition of “Little of Your Love” (2017) by HAIM, a pop rock group composed of three Jewish sisters. The arrangement by junior Stephanie Bromberg included the Hebrew song “Shir La’ahava,” which has lyrics promoting unity, togetherness and love.

Those in attendance submitted their words and phrases of welcome on their oak leaves for the assembly of the community art installation. Muslim Chaplain Najiba Akbar and junior Ayat Walid of the Muslim Students Association then welcomed President Kumar. Walid spoke about her Indigenous family in Morocco and her experience with food as a symbol of hospitality, particularly in terms of a traditional dish known as tajine. Akbar then described the gatherings of food — including tajine — that take place at the Muslim House, and extended an invitation to President Kumar.

After being introduced with a blessing and dove-embroidered stole symbolizing peace by the Protestant Chaplaincy, President Kumar addressed the gathering.

He humbly joked in response to the offerings presented to him: “I have nothing to give back to you.” Kumar quoted the Hindu scripture as well as the Bible, advising his audience that “the truth will set you free.” John 8:32.

8

THE TUFTS DAILY

Thursday, October 12, 2023

Arts & Pop Culture

‘All vibes, no genre’: The music of Fall Fest Matthew Winkler Arts Editor

After initially being canceled due to rain, Fall Fest, the annual TUSC-organized fall event, enjoyed a successful run on Sept.

30. In addition to food trucks and inflatable games, the annual Tufts tradition showcased live music from three Tufts bands and DJ MC Yusuf.

The Daily spoke with junior Thomas Grant, TUSC concert coordinator, as well as student bands Free Money (formerly Systemic Flow), Sunnydaze and JAM about everything music at Fall Fest.

Free Money, who announced their name change from Systemic Flow in conversation with the Daily, opened the music section of the festival.

The group played informal jam sessions last winter until drummer Caleb Brenner, a junior, pushed the group to be more regimented. While now more structured than a jam session, improvisation still plays a large part in the band’s jazz, R&B and gospel-informed sound.

“It’s kind of a testament … to the improvisational spirit of Free Money that we are billed as Systemic Flow but are now Free Money. We’re free form,” junior bassist Jack Wish said. “[ With improv] we’ll just have something absolutely nasty that we’ve never played before until that moment. It can

be so much fun,” junior vocalist Ayo Oloyede added.

True to form, the band often vamped during their set while Oloyede had audience members decide which instruments would be featured on the next verses.

For Tufts musicians aspiring to be in a band, Free Money had a few words of advice.

“Just do it. It can start off so informal, but at some point you have to perform live. You have to take it out of Granoff …

Once you perform in front of people one time, you’re a band,” Oloyede said.

Sunnydaze, a band which senior saxophonist and singer Justin Kamal described as “all vibes, no genre,” followed Free Money’s set. The band members met through their participation in Public Harmony and performed their first show at the PERIOD Red Dress Gala on Nov. 3, 2022.

At Fall Fest, Sunnydaze enjoyed a particularly enthusiastic crowd that matched the band’s vibes.

“We had a really good time.

Good audience, very energetic.

Really good energy to feed off of as a performer,” lead vocalist Clara Scheutz, a senior, said. “It’s always just fun to get big groups of people together and have a good time.”

Camaraderie within the band is a key to maintaining their good vibes.

“None of this would be possible if we didn’t like each other,” multi-instrumentalist and senior Jake Blum said. “I think that’s the biggest thing, we’re able to spend six odd hours a week together, practicing or just chatting all the time and organizing everything, because we enjoy talking to each other. We enjoy spending time together.”

JAM, a group inspired by British rock artists with a hint of country twang, closed Fall Fest. The group started in the fall of last year because three friends from Tufts Wilderness Orientation wanted to jam.

Wanting a fuller sound, they brought in a guitarist and bassist, and JAM was born.

“We’re like a really ragtag group of musicians. A lot of us aren’t formally trained,” lead vocalist Millie Girardi, a junior, said.

While initially foreign to gigging, after following advice from Girardi’s jazz professor, JAM grew into a cohesive band that now plays at local bars and on-campus events. “[ This semester] we have a more standardized practice schedule and we’re gigging more. Our sound is becoming more cohesive. We’re making our own covers of things, instead of just playing what the original artist has done, which I’ve really enjoyed,” Girardi said.

MATTHEW WINKLER / THE TUFTS DAILY

Ayo Oloyede, lead vocalist of Free Money, is pictured singing in the crowd with an audience member.

Whether the gig ends up being good or bad, JAM just keeps on jamming.

“My favorite memory was when we played Bochella [in spring 2023]. For some reason, the scheduling got all mixed up and the event was ending when we were playing. So no one was there,” Girardi said. “It was horrible, but it was also kind of fun to just screw around and have a good time and play and be with your friends and jam.”

Thomas Grant, who organized the music for Fall Fest alongside senior Gus Tringale, spoke on how Fall Fest is only the beginning of

live music on campus this year.

Thanks to a recent AV training session that enabled TUSC members to run sound during shows, there are a number of high-quality music events to come this semester, with the professional band Couch performing on the roof of Tisch Library just next week.

“We’re going to [have students run shows] for when a few members of Couch [are coming] on Oct. 19,” Grant said. “And then stay tuned, an announcement is coming soon about a very special show we’ll be doing in November with some of the a cappella groups.”

Student dancers discuss Bollywood fusion group Tamasha TAMASHA

continued from page 7 Like any good Bollywood number, Tamasha has a beat, a distinctive rhythm that carries the team and gives it a feel.

Here, it’s the cultural diversity of its members.

“We have members of the team who have never danced before, we have people who have done their rang manch and kathak, we have people who are classically trained or do hip hop. Being able to take in what every person brings to the team … into the choreography is our goal,” Kaul said. Her co-captain echoed this sentiment.

“We bring in just a little bit of everything that is around us. It’s really personal to the group,” Narain said. “We’re taking inspiration from a classical area of dance and bringing it into our own choreographies.”

Narain explained what inspires her choreography, mentioning her experiences both before and at Tufts.

“I will say I am a Bollywood girl, all the movies I’ve watched growing up have inspired me.

There are a lot of dance groups on campus, even within the South Asian society that inspire us,” she said. She cited Spirit of the Creative and Children of Cultures of Africa as influences and firmly placed herself within their fandoms.

Similarly, Kaul found herself drawing on her bharatanatyam training and the cultural sur-

roundings of her upbringing in New York and being exposed to Western styles of dance.

“Balancing being Indian American and also balancing [that identity] in dance really inspires me,” Kaul said.

It is more challenging to situate Tamasha’s position within an Indian cultural context in terms of a specific dance form as opposed to more regional styles like bhangra or kathak, but no one can doubt that Bollywood is just as entrenched as these styles. Moreover, this gives the team the freedom to experiment with unique, diverse choreographies.

“We have so many different art forms that let every single one of our members shine,” Vaid said. She felt that this freedom allows each member to add their own little personal touch to the numbers they work on.

Both Kaul and Narain expressed a similar idea, to make choreography this year more personal so that audiences can get an insight into the stories of the people that Tamasha is composed of.

“A lot of the time in dance, you can tell when styles change, and it becomes a little choppy. If you give someone autonomy over their own section, you can really see and it becomes a lot more of a cohesive piece. … I’m trying to split up the work and let people have their own creative freedom over their sections,” Kaul said.

Shah added that her goal as captain-in-training is to ensure the inclusive nature of Tamasha remains constant.

“The fact that we mix IndoWestern and Eastern styles of dance is … our brand — we do everything. [...] There isn’t a strict regime or list. ... We are open to doing any dance form, and we accept all kinds of people,” she said.

Tamasha had the opportunity to attend a Bollywood workshop with an Indian choreographer, Rohit Jethwani. Jethwani’s recent work includes serving as assistant director for the Hindi movie “Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahani” (2023), which swept the box office this summer and is one of the highest-grossing Bollywood movies of 2023 and included featured song “What Jhumka?” “[Bollywood] is very commercialized. … Tamasha is not about the performance. It’s also about the choreography, it’s a balance of both of them,” Vaid said. “At the same time, we want to look good and have facial expressions that captivate the audience and [ Jethwani] really helped us … change our choreography to make it better suited for all types of audience.”

“I want to highlight that even though we are perceived as a less serious dance team, I don’t want us to be seen as less legitimate. I think that dance should be an outlet for people to have fun. … All the girls on

our team are involved in other things like consulting groups or engineering societies … we want Tamasha to be a place where they can leave that all behind and be creative,” Kaul emphasized. This statement is exemplified in the diverse interests of those mentioned in this article — Kaul studies cognitive and brain sciences with a dance minor, Narain is an engineering psychology and economics major, Shah is double majoring in psychology and film and media studies, while Vaid shuttles (pun intended) between graphic design and computer science in the dual-degree program.

The team finds itself in a unique position of bringing Indian and American cultures together as Indian students at Tufts. Tamasha provides a cultural outlet and safe space for not just dancers but the South Asian community at large.

“We have people from the U.S., from Dubai and all around India, we’re still Desis at the heart. It’s a nice group to come to practice [with],” Vaid said. The team also hopes to become more involved with the Tufts community at large. Make sure to keep an eye out for open classes this year — you may find yourself becoming the star of the family at the next gathering with a Tamasha routine! They also hope to integrate more with the Medford community

through performing at nursing homes or community events.

So, what exactly does “Tamasha” mean? Each member had a different answer.

Kimaya Vaid: “A ruckus, a fun drama. … But to me, Tamasha is so much more. … We have this sense of trust between us.”

Disha Narain: “It’s genuinely like my family here.”

Sharika Kaul: “It’s such a fun word to have for our dance team because for me, dance has always been about having fun — making an environment where everyone feels comfortable to come in and talk and contribute.”

Vianca Shah: “Tamasha as a word means carefree fun, and being yourself and enjoying the moment. Tamasha as a group embodies that word — a group of girls who are doing what we do because we love it.”

A ruckus, a commotion, chaos — anything to do with disorder. And yet, amid a medley of dances, songs and colorful subcultures, Tamasha has created a space for the interplay of tradition and modernity represented by this team. While they come from different parts of the world with diverse backgrounds, interests and goals, the respect and love they share for dance, the camaraderie they have developed through this shared love and the fusion of culture and personal stories are the foundations of a bond that no external Tamasha can shake.

THE TUFTS DAILY

Thursday, October 12, 2023

F& G

Late Night At The Daily Aaron, refering to when Chloe beat Maddie at nationals in ‘Dance Moms’: “It’s giving Ozymandias.”

Fun & Games

CROSSWORD ACROSS 1 "Do the Right Thing" Pizzeria 5 Almost-failing grades 9 Perpendicular to the keel 14 Zone 15 Actress Skye 16 Number of hills in Roma 17 Carmichael, Houston, and Miller location 20 Carpet fiber 21 Nine-digit IDs 22 Command-Z, on a Mac 23 Low card in a royal flush 25 Very wide shoe 27 Religious center on campus 33 Blood-typing letters 35 Reasonable 36 Like week-old bread 37 Soprano Lily 39 Laurel and Getz 42 "Who does he think __!"

43 ___ Gay (W.W. II plane) 45 Familia members 47 Airline to Stockholm 48 Downhill dining hall 52 Sticky stuff 53 Game, ___, Match 54 Wife of Esau 57 Beaver projects 60 Literary lion 64 Here

67 Hall's singing partner 68 Carded 69 Entr'___ 70 Trumpet blast 71 Fey of "30 Rock" 72 Homes for bears DOWN 1 Delhi wrap 2 Greek god of war 3 "___we forget" 4 Reach by ship 5 Casino cube 6 Many millennia 7 Middle-earth creatures 8 Fished with a net 9 Silent communication syst.

10 Pass on after passing on 11 Vingt- ___ (blackjack) 12 Just slightly 13 The Beatles' "Love ___" 18 Some Monopoly cards 19 "Just ___!"

24 Things that leave you speechless?

26 Canadian interjections 27 "Leave this instant!"

28 Pantry pest 29 Rodeo rope 30 Bel ___ cheese 31 Director Kazan 32 Reduced amount 33 Imitated

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Puzzle by EZRA HOLZAPFEL

Interested in submitting a puzzle? Reach out to production@tuftsdaily.

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Difficulty Level: Avoiding all the other families at Posto.

Generated by http://www.opensky.ca/sudoku on Wed Oct 11 03:07:22 2023 GMT. Enjoy!

Puzzle 1 (Very hard, difficulty rating 0.92)

Dog destroyer ACROSS 1 Wise guy 5 BOOM 9 Mistreat 14 Long, long time 15 Gen. Robert ___ 16 ___ Twins: online comedy duo 17 ___ and crafts 18 Other people, to Sartre 19 Prefix for "physics" 20 Sound when someone presses 27-across 23 Snitch 24 Web address 25 URL addresses 26 Hydrocarbon suffix 27 Classic pressable spy plot trope 33 Musician's asset 34 She-bears, in Seville 35 Where to emulate the natives 38 Popular NewJeans song in plural 40 Young fellow 42 Have ___ with 43 Actress O'Shea 46 Essence 49 Neither Rep. nor Dem. 50 What could happen if someone pressed 27-across 53 Some PCs

55 Law, in Lyon 56 First mo.

57 Cereal grain 58 what 27-across could trigger --WORLD ENDING 64 Castle defenses 66 Come down 67 Banned apple spray 68 Beethoven's "Für ___" 69 "The Neverending Story" author 70 Actress Sofer 71 Doesn't float 72 Aussie hoppers 73 Caroled

LAST WEEK’S SOLUTIONS:

DOWN 1 Swedish auto 2 Prefix with dynamic 3 Attend 4 Jordan's prime minister 5 Witnesses in awe 6 Bread spread 7 Prefix with drama 8 Wisconsin college or its city 9 "Born Free" author Joy 10 Diddley and Derek 11 Like sounds that dogs can hear but most humans cannot 12 It's a wrap 13 Cybermemo 21 Black-and-white cookie

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30 ___ Harbour, Fla. 31 Grammarian's concern 32 Gun lobby org.

36 Breath freshener 37 Concludes 39 Opposite of NNW 41 Bad-mouth 44 Mistreats 45 Get an ___ effort 47 Memphis hospital, familiarly 48 Streetcar

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R O O S 51 Rotary phone user 52 Opens, as a gate 53 Great Lakes mnemonic 54 Philadelphia suburb 59 Prefix with second 60 ___-European 61 Olive genus 62 Jazz flutist Herbie 63 Boast 65 Sound of disapproval

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SUDOKU

THE HEARD Listen to the latest episode!

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10 PARENTS & FAMILY WEEKEND

Thursday, October 12, 2023

THE TUFTS DAILY

THE TUFTS DAILY

Opinion 11

Thursday, October 12, 2023

O pinion EDITORIAL

Tufts parents: Beware of Facebook

by The Editorial Board Dear parents and families, Welcome to the Hill! For some of you, this may be the first time seeing campus without the hustle and bustle of move-in day or the careful staging of a guided college tour. Parents and Family Weekend is special because you get to experience the true college life — except, perhaps, for the fraternity parties and coffee-fueled all-nighters.

Your being here is also an opportunity to reflect upon the difference between the ‘real’ Tufts and the Tufts portrayed on social media. Life on the Hill is pretty good for most of us, despite what some online rants might say.

And yes, we’re referring to you, Tufts Parents and Families Facebook page.

That’s right: even though we’re not active members of the Facebook group, somehow the stories always trickle their way down to us. Remember, Facebook is a public forum, and no matter how anxious you are to help your kid out, you could be revealing intimate details about their life by posting a plea for help. While your

intentions may be good, trust us: The last thing your child needs to hear is that every parent at Tufts knows they’re lonely.

Each one of us has had a college rough patch; in fact, it’s probably a rite of passage. Some of us struggle more than others, whether it’s dealing with a particularly messy roommate or grappling with a seemingly impossible coding assignment.

Watching your kid go through these challenges must feel scary, and it’s tempting to intervene. While we’re not necessarily opposed to your doing so — every kid overcomes their own hurdles differently — we do have one piece of advice: Be wary of Facebook, and think before you post.

Facebook is, unfortunately, not a wishing well. While it would be great for every request for a room change to be granted or a community of close friends to magically materialize, parents’ Facebook groups are detached from students’ everyday lives.

In fact, the only times students even see Facebook posts are when oversharing parents reveal a bit too much about their kids.

As a parent, even when you go to lengths to conceal your child’s identity, by virtue of posting, people can figure out who you’re posting about. In these instances, even the best-intentioned pleas for friendship have backhanded

“FACEBOOK IS, UNFORTUNATELY, NOT A WISHING WELL.” - THE EDITORIAL BOARD

effects on your child. The reality is, your kid is an adult now, and posting about their life can be a serious invasion of their privacy.

Some of the issues parents bring up are valid, and the expe-

riences of their kids are often serious. While starting college and taking on a whole new community of friends and neighbors, loneliness can be a challenge. Your child may be facing mental health struggles that can and should be addressed.

College is one never-ending transition with unique trials and tribulations each year. Many of our parents and families have experienced this firsthand, and perhaps you remember the eventual sense of achievement and independence that comes with overcoming challenges on your own and learning more about yourself in the process.

Although the instinctual urge for a parent to step in on their child’s behalf is admirable and understandable, the best way out in college is usually through. Sure, there are times when we’d love to have a helicopter parent swoop in to save the day, but most of the time, tackling our problems headon is the best way for us to grow into well-adjusted adults.

All of this is to say that there’s more than one way to be a supportive family member. Sometimes, when we need

to complain about our impassive professor or our dingy dorm room (we’re looking at you, Metcalf), venting over the phone makes all the difference.

Sometimes we just need someone to empathize with us, even if they can’t step in to help.

Of course, you know your child better than anyone. Trust your intuition about how to best support your child and about when and how to take action. All we ask is that before you do something drastic, like posting a lengthy tirade on your favorite social platform, consider whether the situation really necessitates parental involvement. Most of the time, we’re willing to bet that your loved one really just needs a sounding board to complain to.

Some of the stories you read on Facebook make it seem like it’s the end of the world here at Tufts, but we promise that everything is fine — and if things aren’t fine, we’ll be the first to let you know. So, to our loving, well-intentioned, extremely online parents and families: Thank you for being there for us, and for thinking before you press post on your next Facebook rant.

VIEWPOINT

So your closest grocery store is closing. What now?

Justin Hong

Assistant Opinion Editor

According to management, bfresh in Davis Square is slated to close at 6 p.m. on Thursday.

This marks the closure of the only full-service grocery store in Davis Square and the closest one for many Tufts students.

The store’s closure raises the question of grocery accessibility and affordability. Unlike many other nearby grocery and convenience stores, bfresh offers a 5% student discount. For students, this closure means less convenience and potentially higher grocery prices.

For students with a car, these problems are easily remedied.

Just a short drive across the Mystic River, there’s a plethora of grocery stores and shopping plazas. But for those of us without cars, we have little recourse.

If you live by Powder House Circle, the next closest full-service grocery store is a mile away.

That’s over 20 minutes by foot.

While public transportation is available, it’s more lip service than functional transit service.

You could take the Red Line one

CHARLENE TSAI / THE TUFTS DAILY

The bfresh supermarket located in Davis Square is pictured on Oct. 3. stop from Davis to Porter and shop at Target or Star Market, or you could hop onto the 87 or 80 buses and go to the Stop & Shop on Alewife Brook Parkway

or the Whole Foods on Mystic Valley Parkway, respectively. The only problem is that slow zones or long headways on all three options mean you likely won’t

save time and instead would simply be adding $3.40 or $4.80 to your weekly grocery bill.

With winter fast approaching and the MBTA showing no

signs of getting its act together anytime soon, students should rest easy knowing the administration is working to fill the gap in regional transit service.

Students here are no strangers to the difficulties of navigating a failing public transportation system, and the closure of one of the closest grocery stores in the Tufts area, combined with the MBTA’s ever-mounting problems, create a perfect storm.

Luckily, there’s already been some progress on the issue. Even before the bfresh closure was announced, the TCU Senate and the administration were already taking steps to combat food insecurity and make groceries more accessible. This semester, Tufts made permanent a pilot program for a weekly grocery shuttle to the Fellsway Plaza Stop & Shop, and a free food pantry was established last spring. Similarly, Tufts Dining recently announced that the Stop & Shop on Alewife Brook Parkway will now be accepting JumboCash. These are importsee BFRESH, page 13

The Tufts Daily is a nonprofit, independent newspaper, published Monday through Friday during the academic year, and distributed free of charge to the Tufts community.

The content of letters, advertisements, signed columns, cartoons and graphics does not necessarily reflect the opinion of The Tufts Daily editorial board.

EDITORIALS: Editorials represent the position of The Tufts Daily Editorial Board. Individual editorialists are not necessarily responsible for, or in agreement with, the policies and editorials of The Editorial Board. Editorials are submitted for review to The Tufts Daily Executive Board before publication.

VIEWPOINTS AND COLUMNS: Viewpoints and columns represent the opinions of individual Opinion editors, staff writers, contributing writers and columnists for the Daily’s Opinion section.

Positions published in Viewpoints and columns are the opinions of the writers who penned them alone, and do not necessarily represent the opinions of the Daily itself. All material is subject to editorial discretion.

OP-EDS: Op-Eds provide an open forum for campus editorial commentary and are printed Monday through Thursday. The Daily welcomes submissions from all members of the Tufts community; the opinions expressed in the Op-Ed section do not necessarily represent the opinions of the Daily itself. Opinion articles on campus, national and international issues should be 600 to 1,200 words in length and submitted to opinion@tuftsdaily.com. The editors reserve the right to edit letters for clarity, space and length. All material is subject to editorial discretion and is not guaranteed to appear in the Daily. Authors must submit their telephone numbers and day-of availability for editing questions.

ADVERTISEMENTS: All advertising copy is subject to the approval of the editor in chief, executive board and business director.

12 Opinion

THE TUFTS DAILY

Thursday, October 12, 2023

VIEWPOINT

College rankings aren’t just a number — they’re worse Dylan Tanouye

Contributing Writer

When U.S. News first began publishing its Best Colleges list in 1983, the number of young Americans enrolling in college was in the midst of an upgrowth, adding almost 10 million students before its 2010 peak. With these new prospective students looking for guidance on where to apply for college, the U.S. News rankings became a very influential way to determine where their tuition would best be spent. In fact, colleges see a 6% to 10% increase in applications whenever they crack the top 25, creating great incentives to place on that list.

This practice has led universities and colleges such as Emory, George Washington, Iona and Claremont McKenna to lie about their statistics as the admissions process grows ever more competitive. Northeastern University capped some of their classes at 19 students to help improve their ranking, according to former University President Richard Freeland.

Considering that graduate schools and future employers could use college rankings to evaluate applicants, wealthier families can go as far as to pay millions of dollars to get admitted to a highly ranked school through the back door.

High school students are especially feeling the mounting pressure, to the detriment of their mental health. A 2022 Princeton Review survey found

COURTESY ADAM FAGEN / FLICKR

The U.S. News and World Report editorial offices are pictured in Washington, D.C. that 76% of high school students reported high levels of stress about their college applications, a 19% increase from the first survey administered in 2003. The main beneficiary of college rankings seems to be U.S. News themselves, who receive 40 million website visitors a month and generate 15% of their revenue from selling “best of” badges for colleges to proudly display.

In addition to the negative effects of college rankings, there

is very little objectivity to the way U.S. News creates its list.

Firstly, 20% of the final score is determined by a survey known as the “Peer Assessment.” This is emailed to the president, provost and admissions deans of every university and asks them to rate other colleges on a scale from 1–5. Therefore, the entire metric is based on a survey of less than 1,500 people, many of whom never attended the schools they are assessing. U.S. News claims that this is a help-

ful way to measure nationwide prestige, but there is likely some personal bias involved when top university officials answer this survey. For example, they may be likely to think higher of schools that they are more familiar with. Rowan University President Ali Houshmand has even tried to gain awareness by mailing bottles of his signature hot sauce to other educational leaders. Less established universities may also be left out of the loop since perceived pres-

tige can stem from how highly they were ranked in previous years. Lastly, there is no factor in U.S. News’ equation that measures student happiness, an important thing to consider since over 60% of college students struggle with their mental health.

In response to criticism, U.S. News adjusted its metrics this year to focus more on how universities improve the outcomes of low-income students while removing factors such as alumni giving and high school class standing, which incentivized colleges to admit wealthier students. While this is a step in the right direction, the inherent practice of assigning a singular number to rate colleges needs to change.

Every student is looking for something different in their college education. U.S. News should instead create a system akin to the Department of Education’s College Scorecard where colleges can be compared on individual dimensions such as cost, diversity and graduate earnings. Students should be able to find colleges that would best be able to fulfill their individual goals without feeling pressured to apply to a school solely because of the number attached to it. The college admissions process should be an exciting and meaningful time for high schoolers to reflect on the next chapter of their lives, not the cutthroat struggle that rankings have made it out to be.

THE TUFTS DAILY

Opinion 13

Thursday, October 12, 2023

VIEWPOINT

Don’t blame third party candidates, blame our political system

Mariia Kudina Ukraine at War

Israel-Palestine

T

VIA WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is pictured speaking in 2017.

Sadie Roraback-Meagher Contributing Writer

Originally published Oct. 11.

Since announcing his run for president in April, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has drawn criticism from the very party his family once dominated. His anti-vaccine stances, claims Democrats are censoring him and the praise he has garnered from right-wing pundits such as Steve Bannon and Tucker Carlson have earned him the title of “Conservatives’ favorite Democrat.” Perhaps it’s no surprise that House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries referred to Mr. Kennedy as a “living, breathing, false flag operation.” Kennedy has ignored the majority of the Democrat base, opting instead to play to conservatives with appearances on Joe Rogan’s podcast and double down on his belief in COVID-19 conspiracy theories.

Kennedy’s run as a Democrat in the primary has sparked fear among Democrats. Someone with Kennedy’s name and fame could draw votes away from President Joe Biden, whose popularity has already been souring.

Still, Kennedy’s multifarious support has not deterred him from running as a Democrat — until now. On Oct. 9, Kennedy announced he would run as an independent.

Concerned by the threat of a 2020 rematch, Democrats have been critical of other third parties that could serve as an obstacle for President Biden this election. The Democratic National Committee urged local leaders to condemn No Labels, a centrist bipartisan

group seeking to back a moderate candidate for president.

Republicans fear Kennedy’s switch to an independent candidacy could impede former President Donald Trump’s 2024 campaign, as he draws support from some on the right. These predicaments reveal the headache that third-party campaigns pose for both Democrats and Republicans. But this unease raises an important question: Should we be discouraging Americans from voting for a third-party candidate that truly aligns with their beliefs?

From a pragmatic standpoint, Kennedy’s siphoning votes away from either candidate is a legitimate possibility. The infamously contested 2000 presidential election proved that while a third-party candidate may not have a viable chance of winning the presidency, they can spoil someone else’s win. Others argue that voting for a third-party candidate is a pointless endeavor, as they don’t have a real chance of winning. Yet, to encourage Americans to grit their teeth and vote for the lesser of two evils points to an exigent issue within the American political system: Our current two-party system is stifling political diversity.

Currently, the U.S. has more than 54 political parties, just 37 of which have produced presidential candidates. Even though two parties cannot possibly encompass all ideologies, Democrats and Republicans have dominated our elections. This is a result of the bureaucratic restraints in place that squash the success of third-party campaigns.

For starters, due to campaign finance policies, third-party candidates are often left to fundraise for them-

selves without any government support. This can pose a major deterrent to a candidate lacking adequate financial backing from their base. Additionally, third-party candidates often have to petition to even appear on a state’s ballot, which for Ralph Nader in the 2004 election, meant that he would have had to acquire a whopping 1.5 million signatures from each state.

Arguably the most significant barrier to the success of a third-party candidate is America’s approach to voting.

The winner-takes-all system we use is inadequate in representing minority opinions, leading to the two-party monopoly which currently dominates our elections. Adopting a more modern and democratic approach, such as ranked-choice voting, would alleviate the intensity of the hyper-partisan state we find ourselves in.

Ranked-choice voting lets voters rank candidates in order of preference rather than voting for just one candidate, negating the fear of hurting their top choice’s prospects. RCV is used in local jurisdictions across 14 states, and three states — Maine, Alaska and Hawaii — use RCV in federal elections. RCV is also commonly used in countries that have thriving multi-party systems, such as New Zealand, Australia and Ireland.

Third-party candidates aren’t a threat to American democracy, but our suppression of them is. Considering that Americans are disgruntled by the prospective nominees the two major parties have to offer, perhaps it’s time to reevaluate the perceived threat we see in third-party candidates and open the door to more political voices in our elections.

With bfresh in Davis closing, Tufts should do more to improve grocery access BFRESH

continued from page 11 ant measures, sure, but they ultimately fall short. The grocery shuttle runs only on Saturday, and JumboCash does nothing to make it easier to get to the store.

The question remains, what else can be done? Well, for starters, the university should consider adding a stop on the Joey at the Mystic Valley Parkway Whole Foods. But why here? Isn’t Whole Foods more expensive than its less ‘bougie’ competitors? Well, not actually. While Whole Foods earned a repu-

tation for overcharging customers after a 2015 investigation by the New York Department of Consumer Affairs, more recent data suggests that its prices are now comparable with its competitors.

Students can get an additional 10% off on-sale items and a slew of other weekly discounts at Whole Foods by signing up for Amazon Prime with their Tufts credentials. While a subscription isn’t free, it will be for a six-month trial period and then it’s only $7.49 per month. With a variety of other discounts that come with Prime, like a year of Grubhub+, a free

month of CourseHero, access to Prime Video and much more, the verdict is clear — it’s well worth it.

With its competitive prices and additional discounts, Whole Foods is clearly an optimal choice for Tufts students looking for a new go-to grocery store.

This Whole Foods has a few extra perks too, mainly that it shares a building with a Starbucks. There’s nothing better than a good pumpkin cream chai or a pumpkin spice latte after a great grocery haul! You just saved all that money on groceries, so might as well treat yourself, right?

he Ukrainian media has been publishing in-depth coverage of the war between Israel and Hamas, as well as “end-of-theday” summaries of key events of the last 24 hours. Some Ukrainian newspapers have been doing similar synopses of the main episodes of the war Russia has led against Ukraine since the start of the full-scale invasion. To state the obvious, observing two deadly wars happening simultaneously is unbelievable and heartbreaking.

Oct. 5 marked one of the deadliest attacks in Ukraine in recent months. It was also the deadliest strike experienced by the Kharkiv region since the start of Russia’s invasion. A Russian missile hit a cafe and a shop in the village of Hroza in the Kupyansk district, where a memorial service for a Ukrainian soldier was taking place. Among at least 55 casualties, all civilians, were a six-year-old boy and a 62-year-old woman. Six more people were wounded. Oleh Syniehubov, the leader of the local military administration, declared a period of mourning in the Kharkiv region, which lasted from Oct. 6–8. In my opinion, it would be fair to say that the entirety of Ukraine has been in mourning since we learned about the very first victims of Russian attacks, specifically after the photographs showing evidence of Russia’s crimes — mass graves and bodies of civilians on the streets of Bucha, Irpin and Hostomel in the early spring of 2022 — were spread on the internet.

Following the start of the full-scale war in Ukraine, around 13,000 Ukrainians sought refuge in Israel. Some of them compare the level of terrorism of the Hamas surprise attack on Oct. 7 to events in the Kyiv Oblast, while parts of the region were still under Russian occupation. One of the refugees shared with Radio Free Europe that her family is exhausted from trying to escape a war. She states that she would “rather be useful” staying in Israel, supporting other Ukrainians who happen to be in the same position, than flee again. According to a Ukrainian refugee living in Gaza, the Ukrainian embassy in Israel is preparing “a list of Ukrainians to evacuate” from the Gaza Strip. Israeli attacks damaged apartment buildings in the district where the refugee and her family lived. Now, they are temporarily staying in her husband’s office.

When I saw photos of the recently attacked Israel and Gaza Strip for the first time, it seemed like I could hear the sound of explosions from air strikes.

The pictures brought up fresh memories of waking up from the sound of missiles hitting residential buildings in Kyiv.

Timelines of military events in national and global media, vigils in memory of killed citizens, the uncertainty about the future — all of it is too painfully familiar.

Mariia Kudina is a junior studying Studio Art at the SMFA. She can be reached at mariia.kudina@tufts.edu.

14 SPORTS

THE TUFTS DAILY

Thursday, October 12, 2023

Women’s volleyball wins decisive 3-set victory for Jumbos against Bates Tara Wirtschoreck Staff Writer

On Saturday, the Tufts women’s volleyball team traveled to Lewiston, Maine where they executed a conclusive, three-set victory against Bates.

The Jumbos had an incredibly strong showing both offensively and defensively, with 47 total points to the Bobcats’ 17. Tufts also had 34 kills as opposed to Bates’ 14.

Cora Cunningham, senior middle and opposite hitter, explained that because of the team’s loss to Colby on Friday, the team came back with even more resolve.

“The Bates match was a high-energy and high-intensity game,” Cunningham wrote in an email to the Daily. “After coming off a loss the night before, we were determined to play what we consider to be Tufts Volleyball, so dialing in, focusing on our jobs, and communicating constantly and efficiently on the court and the bench were key in creating an atmosphere that allowed us to succeed.”

Tufts won all three sets, seemingly with very little competition.

Though Bates scored the first point of the match, Tufts almost immediately came back to win the first set 25–11.

COURTESY TUFTS ATHLETICS

Cora Cunningham is pictured against Susquehanna University on Sept. 23.

Tufts continued its dominant lead through the second set, which it won 25–14, and the third set, with a score of 25–10.

Offensively, Tufts was led by senior setter Rileigh Farragher and Tori Goldin, senior outside and

right side hitter, who had eight and 11 kills respectively. Tufts also ran an impressive defense, only giving up 14 kills throughout the entire match with an especially strong showing by senior libero Megan Harrison, who had 16 digs.

Right now, the Jumbos are ranked No. 9 in the NESCAC, with a 2–4 in-conference record and a 7–7 record overall.

This game broke Tufts’ three game loss streak, and Cunningham explained that the

team is hoping to use this to change the tide of their season.

“The Bates game was absolutely an improvement from past games this season,” Cunningham wrote. “We embrace every match and opponent we face as an opportunity to get better, and I believe this game especially demonstrated that. Our team was able to maintain relatively consistent leads and embodied the attack mentality in every aspect of the game, most notably defensively and from the service line.”

In the future, the Jumbos hope to continue improving their skills to be more competitive within the NESCAC, Cunningham explained.

“As a team, our main goal right now is to better our game in terms of consistency and mental toughness so that we can make the NESCAC tournament,” Cunningham wrote. “The NESCAC is incredibly competitive this year, so we are embracing the point-by-point and dayby-day mentality to really focus on the little things that will allow us to succeed in the long-term.”

The top eight teams will make the NESCAC tournament, so the Jumbos will be looking for more conference wins in upcoming games. The Jumbos will be back at home Friday to take on the Williams Ephs.

FR SUI, DE N, C DE 8– C 10

Thursday, October 12, 2023

PARENTS & FAMILY WEEKEND 15

smfa.tufts.edu/artsale

BU DOY A GORT. OD .

THE TUFTS DAILY

S S MF M CHO A an a US O d M re t EU L O the Bo use rade M O F T us sto um m F F HE ed n, o ark IN by an f Fi s o E A pe d a ne f th RT rm re Ar e S ts, iss ion .

visit excollege.tufts.edu for more information

Tufts Parents and Family Weekend

Tufts Dining welcomes families to try our dining centers during Parents & Family Weekend.

Students enrolled in a meal plan may bring up to two family members to eat free of charge in either of our two campus dining centers – Fresh at Carmichael and Dewick-MacPhie.

Students are required to use their Tufts ID to enter the dining centers.

MasterCard/Visa/Discover, cash, guest meals, or JumboCash may be used for additional family members or friends.

16 SPORTS

THE TUFTS DAILY

Thursday, October 12, 2023

SPORTS Men’s soccer defeats Emerson in dramatic fashion on Senior Day Max Druckman

Contributing Writer

Although it may be cliché, it is often said that those with experience gain the virtues of wisdom, patience and perspective. All of these traits were on display on Saturday as the Tufts men’s soccer team honored its seniors. For 88 of the match’s 90 minutes, the Tufts Jumbos were in a 0–0 deadlock with the Emerson Lions. But thanks to a last-gasp penalty kick from sophomore midfielder Daniel Yanez, the Jumbos were able to celebrate Senior Day with a victory.

Since losing 3–1 at home to Amherst on Sept. 17, the Jumbos had sported an undefeated 4–0–2 record, not conceding a goal in their two subsequent matches at Bello Field.

The matchup against the Lions was not expected to be an easy task though, as the visiting team came into the matchup with a 6–3–2 record.

The Jumbos kicked off to start the match, having the advantage of going with the infamous Bello wind in the first half. The early goings of the match were rather balanced, with neither side finding it easy to break through. Nonetheless, by the time 15 minutes had elapsed, the Jumbos had assumed control of the game and never looked back.

The center-back duo of senior defender Max Clivio and junior defender Owen Denby, and later the duo of Clivio and junior defender Alex Wall, were superb with the ball at their feet. They were able to effortlessly switch the stream of play, resulting in seemingly nonchalant exchanges between the pairs turning into dangerous wide attacks. On the flanks, sophomore defender Mateo Bargagna, senior forward Sean Traynor and senior defender Gibson Campbell were let loose to run onto the ends of long balls and send crosses into

Henry Blickenstaff Extra Innings

Baseball isn’t fair

T

he Miami Marlins made the playoffs this year.

The San Diego Padres did not.

The story could end there, and you’d probably walk away thinking the Marlins were a better team than the Padres. But you’d be mistaken.

Generally, teams win games by doing two things: scoring and preventing runs. For their part, the Padres were in the middle of the pack this year offensively, scoring

COURTESY TUFTS ATHLETICS

Ethan Feigin is pictured in the Oct. 7 game against Emerson. the box. Unfortunately for the Jumbos, their end product was severely lacking in the final third. Despite outshooting the Lions seven to four in the first 45 minutes, the Jumbos were only able to force the Lions’ first year goalkeeper Beckett Hobbs to make one save and were flagged offside four times.

Despite the Jumbos maintaining possession, the Lions were able to hold their own.

However, the lack of shots on target proved costly for Emerson, who sent three out of their four shots in the first half over sophomore goalkeeper Nikola Antic’s net.

“Emerson did a pretty good job of sitting in that block, so they forced us into [long balls],” Yanez said. “And then I think at halftime we had a moment of, ‘Let’s try to play our game a little bit more.’”

As halftime approached, another factor entered the

match: rain. The pitch became soaked, leading to slippery conditions. However, the game played on, and the Jumbos entered the second half frustrated at their lack of goals but optimistic that they could capitalize on the chances to come.

“Definitely a little frustrating because we felt like we had a lot of chances and it wasn’t falling, but … we kept pushing forward and believing that we were going to get a goal,” Yanez said.

Straight out of the break, the Jumbos were on the offensive.

They did not let their grip on the contest waver the rest of the way, putting up a whopping 16 shots to the Emerson net throughout the half and coming inches away from scoring on multiple occasions.

Senior midfielder Woovin Shin, junior midfielder Ethan Feigin, first-year midfielder Bijan Akhtarzandi-Das and Yanez ran

the show in the offensive zone.

In addition to creating chances for themselves, they were able to facilitate shots for the front line. Traynor’s sliding effort on an open goal that clipped the underside of the crossbar was the closest the Jumbos came to converting.

The Lions’ strategy of bending but not breaking could not last forever, though. With just two minutes remaining, Feigin drove at the Lion defense headon. Senior midfielder Ben Deeming fouled him inside the box, a clear penalty that was immediately given by the referee. After a few moments of consideration, the Jumbos agreed that it would be Yanez, on his birthday, who would step up and take the spot kick.

With the pressure mounting, you could hear a pin drop at Bello Field, and all eyes zoomed in on Hobbs and Yanez. The pair were engaged

752 runs, good for 13th in baseball, while their pitching staff allowed just 648 runs, second-fewest in the MLB. Their run differential of +104 was the eighth best in the league.

The Marlins, for their part, scored the fifth-fewest runs in baseball (666) and ranked 16th in runs allowed (723). Their run differential of -57 was 21st in baseball, and it was the worst of any playoff team in baseball history.

The Padres’ run differential was 161 runs better than that of the Marlins. Their expected record of 92–70 was a full 17 games better than the Marlins’ 75–87 projection. And yet, Miami finished two games clear of San Diego.

The Marlins must have done something better than the Padres, right? They sure did. They went a

ridiculous 33–14 in one-run games this year, while the Padres were a lowly 9–23. Those marks were, you guessed it, the best and worst in baseball, respectively. And lest you believe that this was due to their respective bullpens, Miami’s bullpen earned run average ranked 21st in baseball at 4.37, while the Padres ranked 10th at 3.80.

There’s not a doubt in my mind that the Padres were a better team than the Marlins. So why did the Marlins make the playoffs this year? They got lucky, plain and simple. And they weren’t even the only beneficiaries of that luck — the Diamondbacks also snuck into October despite also finishing with a negative run differential.

Likewise, the Padres weren’t the only victims of awful luck this

year. The 88–74 Mariners would have made the playoffs if they were in the National League. The Cubs allowed exactly as many runs as the Marlins while outscoring them by 153 — and still missed the playoffs.

All of this goes to show how unpredictable baseball is. And it makes sense — in baseball, whether or not your best player has the ball in his hands at the end of the game is largely random. It shouldn’t be surprising that teams’ records don’t always reflect their run differentials or that the playoffs don’t always include the 12 best teams.

Many casual baseball fans complain about the number of games in the season. But the marathon season exists for a reason: It’s an

in psychological warfare, each trying to predict the other’s move. Yanez, however, was unfazed, and calmly stepped up and slotted the ball into the bottom left corner.

“The goalie tried to get in my head a little bit. He kind of stood up at the ball for as long as he could,” Yanez said. “I try to make that moment about myself and my shot rather than about the goalie and just trust that I can put it where I want to when I pick my spot.”

Pandemonium ensued at Bello, with the entire Jumbo team mobbing Yanez in front of the bench. After a frustrating 88 minutes spent weathering fierce winds and rain, the Jumbos finally got their goal and with it, their seventh win.

“It was a really, really big win,” Yanez said. “It was one we wanted to have, especially for the NCAA tournament. We really want to take care of those out-of-conference games.”

On a day in which the program’s seniors were honored, the impact they had on the team was on display for all to see. Persistence, togetherness, calmness and determination, all values extolled by experienced leaders, were critical in the team weathering both the natural elements and an equally determined opposition.

“It’s all about leadership,” Clivio said. “[ With] situations like this weekend, it’s easy to get frustrated. It’s easy to start pointing fingers as to why we haven’t scored yet but everybody on the field had a good attitude. … We kept going.”

The seniors are hoping that their last dance continues to be a successful one, as Tufts looks to extend its undefeated streak playing Bates on Oct. 14 at Bello Field.

“The guys are hungry,” Clivio said. “Everybody’s been fully energized in practice, and the group is really hungry to go get six points this weekend.”

outgrowth of the game’s natural volatility. It’s simple statistics — bigger sample size, better results.

And if this season proved anything, it’s that it takes a lot more than 162 games to get the 12 best teams in the playoffs.

We should learn to appreciate baseball’s capriciousness. And yes, I’m saying that as a Cubs fan.

Because in baseball, more than in any other sport, anyone can beat anyone else on any given day. And that’s what makes it the greatest game ever invented.

Baseball isn’t fair. But hey, neither is life.

Henry Blickenstaff is a junior studying history. He can be reached at henry.blickenstaff@ tufts.edu.