The Tufts Daily - Thursday, October 19, 2023

T he T ufts D aily THE

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Thursday, October 19, 2023

VOLUME LXXXVI, ISSUE 7

UNIVERSITY

MA field coordinator for RFK Jr. campaign discusses electoral strategy Estelle Anderson

Deputy News Editor

Ti m o t h y Ke n s i n g e r, Massachusetts Field Coordinator for Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s presidential campaign, spoke to students on Oct. 11 about the campaign’s priorities and strategies for the upcoming election season. Organized by Tufts Republicans, the event took place only days after Kennedy, who was formerly registered as a Democrat, declared that he would be running for president as an independent.

According to a recent Reuters/Ipsos poll, 14% of voters plan to cast their ballots for Kennedy, compared to 33% for Republican front-runner Donald Trump and 31% for current president Joe Biden.

An environmental lawyer and member of one of America’s most legendary political families, Kennedy’s candidacy has sparked fears that he will siphon votes away from both the Democrats and the GOP. “I think the appeal with Bobby is he’s not going to pan-

COURTESY PAMELA DREW / FLICKR

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is pictured in 2021. der to either party,” Kensinger said. “He’s an independent.

He has his own views. And I think just the genuineness of not being beholden to party politics … is going to … be the way that we get a lot of independents and people that don’t vote to vote for him.”

During the first portion of the event, Kensinger discussed the main issues that Kennedy

would tackle as president, including increasing border security, revitalizing renewable energy infrastructure, cutting interest rates on student loans and fighting the powerful influence of large corporations on the federal government.

“Big money is so influential in politics these days,” Kensinger said. “That’s something Bobby wants to break.”

Kensinger emphasized Kennedy’s goal of reining in U.S. military spending and instead funneling those funds into bolstering domestic prosperity. Noting that the U.S. spent $877 billion on defense last year, which is more than the next ten highest countries in defense spending combined, Kensinger emphasized the need for the government

to focus more on internal concerns such as rebuilding railroads and other infrastructure.

“This is one of those issues where we really need to reprioritize our government spending on making the lives of the American people better, instead of worrying about our empire growing,” he said.

Kensinger then transitioned to Kennedy’s perspectives on healthcare, one of the primary issues of his campaign. As Kensinger explained, Kennedy’s view is that too much money is being spent on developing pharmaceutical drugs, rather than studying the causes for rising chronic diseases, especially among children.

Kensinger also addressed Kennedy’s reputation as an anti-vaccine conspiracy theorist. Often deemed the face of the vaccine resistance movement, Kennedy is the founder and chairman of Children’s Health Defense, an activist group that has been identified as one of the main sources for spreading misinformation on see RFK, page 2

LOCAL

Somerville residents, civil employees convene at city’s first Civic Day Joey Montalto Staff Writer

Somerville hosted its first-ever Civic Day on Sept. 30, where visitors were invited to learn about a variety of city-wide departments. In an interview with the Daily, Somerville Mayor Katjana Ballantyne shared details about the city’s aspirations and priorities.

The event, which took place at Somerville High School, focused on introducing residents to the city’s government services and programs. Along with the mayor, the city’s Rat Czar and several councilors were also in attendance.

“The number one comment that I’ve heard today is: I didn’t realize there were so many departments,” Ballantyne, who greeted visitors at the entrance, said.

At a wide range of information booths, guests were able to have one-on-one conversations with staffers. The event featured booths for the Community Preservation Committee,

the Digital Bridge initiative, Community Outreach Help and Recovery, participatory budgeting, the Somerville city council, the treasury, the SomerViva Office of Immigrant Affairs, parks and recreation, racial and social justice, the 311 service center and public health nursing.

Employees at each table voiced a recurring concern: Many residents are unaware of the breadth of services their departments provide.

The Participatory Budget program gives residents as young as age 12 the opportunity to vote on Somerville projects.

“Our primary goal is to get many people involved and excited about [our] projects and feel ownership over them,” a staffer for the Participatory Budget explained.

The Digital Bridge initiative is committed to providing internet connectivity for everyone in the city, and envisions Somerville to host 100% internet connectivity amongst residents. Not only does the initiative connect residents

with federal discounts for their Wi-Fi costs, but also works with the city to provide internet connectivity in public spaces, including parks and buildings.

The Community Preservation Committee held a poll at Civic Day as to which project should receive more funding. More affordable housing had a significant majority over historic preservation or open space preservation.

Housing shortages and higher rental prices have hit Somerville particularly hard with some neighborhoods facing some of the largest increases in the Greater Boston area. In her plan, Ballantyne will try to flatten residential taxes with a “mixed-use development concept,” which combines retail offices and housing into multi-purpose buildings.

As Somerville’s real estate taxes have increasingly come from commercial rather than residential sources, this greater revenue stream has enabled the city government to build Somerville High School and open three new offices: the Office of Housing Stability, the

CHARLENE TSAI / THE TUFTS DAILY

Somerville High School is pictured on May 1.

SomerViva Office of Immigrant Affairs and the Department of Racial and Social Justice.

The Office of Housing Stability works to prevent residents from eviction and rehousing the homeless. SomerViva provides services for non-native English speaking residents by providing translators to connect them with adequate legal help, housing options and more. The Department of Racial and Social Justice prioritizes eliminating racial inequities, social disparities and injustices.

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Ballantyne reflected on the opportunities offered at Somerville’s first Civic Day event.

“I thought it would be a good idea to have a Civic Day so people in the neighborhood could meet the city departments and ask them one-on-one questions,” Ballantyne said. “Not behind an email or something, but you actually are meeting the people and trying to puzzle through whatever questions [there are], and maybe you [get to] learn something.”

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Thursday, October 19, 2023

NEWS

T he T ufts D aily RFK Jr. campaign speaks to students, criticizes Biden 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

Executive News Editor Executive Features Editor Executive Arts Editor Executive Opinion Editor Executive Sports Editor Executive Science Editor Executive Investigative Editor Julia Shannon-Grillo 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

RFK

continued from page 1 vaccines. In the past, he has promoted the scientifically discredited belief that childhood vaccines cause autism, and in 2021 told Louisiana lawmakers that the coronavirus vaccine was the “deadliest vaccine ever made.”

According to Kensinger, Kennedy is not anti-vaccine, rather, he believes in vaccine safety.

“He’s not anti-vax. … He wants to make sure that the pharmaceutical products that we give our children are properly safety tested, and if you’re an adult, take whatever vaccine you want,” Kensinger said.

With the floor open for questions, one student asked about Kennedy’s environmental policy.

Kennedy plans to build stronger renewable energy infrastructure across the country, including major installations of wind farms, before repealing subsidies for both fossil fuels and

renewable energy and allowing the market to decide on the cheapest energy source.

“If he’s such a strong environmentalist, why repeal subsidies for renewables?” the student asked.

“He’s going to invest heavily in renewable energy,” Kensinger said. “After that transition is [complete], where we have a viable option with renewables to go against fossil fuels, that’s when he’s going to get rid of the subsidies,” Kensinger explained.

Responding to a question about Kennedy’s views on guns, Kensinger highlighted Kennedy’s respect for the Second Amendment and his desire for more research into the link between gun violence and mental health.

“He wants there to be a full, comprehensive study on the effects of environmental pollutants on mental health … to get to the bottom of the school shootings and the violence and

the mental health epidemic,” Kensinger said. “That’s something that he’s really going to want to research on, but he’s not going to take away guns.

He respects the Constitution, … but he is aware of the problem.”

Several students asked about Kennedy’s strategic path forward as an independent, noting the challenges that he will likely face obtaining votes from both sides of the aisle. Kensinger explained that, to appeal to Republican voters, Kennedy will need to emphasize his conservative values, including his skepticism toward vaccines and “Big Pharma,” his pro-free-speech attitude and his support for free market capitalism.

When asked how Kennedy would appeal to liberal voters, especially those who might be deterred by his conservative views, Kensinger focused on critiquing President Joe Biden.

“I think the pitch to liberals is, ‘Do you really want a

president that’s fueling the war machine and bailing out big banks before helping single mothers be able to afford food for their children?’” he said.

Ultimately, h owever, Kensinger suggested that Kennedy’s most crucial path to victory is appealing to independent voters.

“Independents are the biggest voting bloc in the country,” Kensinger explained, noting that in Massachusetts, over 50% of registered voters are unaffiliated with either party.

“So I think if we pull a major amount of independents, and then we get people that have never voted, that feel disenfranchised [and] very angry at kind of a two party system, … if you really run an independent campaign and say, ‘I’m not beholden to the Democratic Party, I’m not beholden to the Republican Party and their donors,’ … we can get a lot of people that can vote for him that typically don’t vote.”

LOCAL

MBTA removes slow zones on the Green Line Grayton Goldsmith Contributing Writer

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.

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The MBTA has restored service to Union Square ahead of schedule and lifted all speed restrictions on the Green Line Extension, Phillip Eng, MBTA general manager and CEO, announced in an Oct. 11 press release.

The GLX extends from Lechmere Station through Tufts’ host communities of Medford and Somerville, with branches terminating at Union Square and at the Medford/ Tufts station next to the Joyce Cummings Center.

“The MBTA has removed all of the Green Line speed restrictions on both the Union Station branch and the Medford/Tufts Station branch,” he wrote in a press statement sent to the Daily.

“Green Line trains today are traveling at regular line speeds on both branches. I wish to thank our riders for their patience while MassDOT completed the bridge project and we addressed the track defects discovered during an inspection last month.”

Eng’s announcement comes after weeks of service irregularities on the GLX caused by construction on the Squires Bridge in Somerville, as well as the unrelated imposition of nine speed-restricted zones on the Green Line in which trains could travel at no more than three miles per hour.

Service on the Medford/ Tufts branch of the Green Line began in December 2022, following years of false starts and construction delays. Over the summer, the T suspended service to Union Square for more than a month to make repairs.

Then, in September, the Boston Globe reported that the GLX’s tracks were too narrow in places, meaning trains traveling at full speed were at risk of derailment. The MBTA dispatched

NICHOLAS PFOSI / THE TUFTS DAILY

The Green Line is pictured in April 2021. crews to repair the defective areas, but officials say they don’t know how the tracks narrowed to begin with.

Nicole Morell, president of the Medford City Council and the city’s representative to the GLX Community Working Group, believes that the extension has been and will continue to be of great benefit to residents of Medford and Somerville.

“I think it’s been great,” Morell told the Daily. “It allows people to commute to their jobs, [and] it allows for transit-oriented development.” Transit-oriented development is an urban planning strategy that centers commercial and residential developments around public transportation systems.

“The Green Line Extension has made a tremendous impact in Medford, from real estate prices to accessibility,” Morell said.

“We’re seeing … folks that have businesses that want to locate here and they cite the Green Line Extension as one reason for wanting to be in Medford. I think that’s important because it brings jobs for local people in

Medford, and it also brings taxpayers to the city.”

She acknowledged, however, that not all of the line’s purported benefits have been equally distributed among the city’s population. Although the rise in real estate prices has been well-received by those who already own their homes, Morell conceded that the increase in rent has been harmful to Medford’s less affluent residents.

“I think [rising real estate prices are] a challenge right now in that there’s not a lot of stock, and the prices are really high,” she said. “It changes the demographics of the city; it prices people out. … I think the inability of folks to live where they want because they’re priced out is a bad thing — or just [to] live where they need to be, live with their families, live where their jobs are, live in the only place they’ve known.”

Although Morell has chosen not to run for re-election this November, her tenure as City Council president runs through the end of the year, and she assured the Daily that increasing access to

public transportation is something she will continue to prioritize, both on the council and off. Specifically, she wants to see an extension of the Somerville Community Path into Medford and an increase in the frequency of Green Line trains.

Joanna Yao, a first-year who uses the GLX to get to Tufts’ Fenway campus about once a week for her classes at the SMFA, shared some of Morell’s feelings.

Yao thinks the Green Line is a cheap and accessible option for getting around Boston, but questions its reliability.

Yao, like Morell, wants to see an increase in the frequency of Medford/Tufts trains, noting that the transit experience was not reliable “in terms of speed.”

With regards to incentivizing commuters to take the Green Line over speedier modes of transportation, Morell cited her own experience, noting the often-unconsidered advantages to taking public transit.

“Maybe it’s a little bit slower, or maybe it’s the same amount of time, but I have both my hands free. Maybe I can get a little work done or something like that on the way,” she said.

THE TUFTS DAILY

Thursday, October 19, 2023

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UNIVERSITY

Solomont Speaker Series: Jodi Kantor on investigative journalism, breaking the Harvey Weinstein story Ishaan Rajiv Rajabali News Editor

Editor’s note: Flora Meng is a former executive science editor at The Tufts Daily. She was not involved in the writing or editing of this article.

Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Jodi Kantor visited the Jonathan M. Tisch College of Civic Life on Oct. 11 for the first installment of this semester’s Solomont Speaker Series. Kantor is best known for her joint investigative reporting with fellow journalist Megan Twohey, which exposed Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein’s long history of sexual harassment. The two are credited with playing a pivotal role in the emergence of the #MeToo movement, and co-authored a book together titled “She Said” (2019), which follows their reporting.

Flora Meng, a senior studying political science and film and media studies, introduced Kantor and described her impact as a journalist.

“Aside from the monumental impact of the Harvey Weinstein story, Jodi’s early reporting has consistently led to action and change,” Meng said, citing Kantor’s coverage of breastfeeding and working mothers, Starbucks’ shift

scheduling systems and working conditions at Amazon.

Diane Ryan, associate dean for programs and administration at Tisch College, followed the introduction by Meng. Ryan began the conversation by asking Kantor to discuss her experience reporting on high-profile, contentious issues — and the Harvey Weinstein story in particular.

“I was part of a team of reporters at the [New York] Times who were looking into sexual harassment across industries, and every industry had its own explanation for why it was so prevalent,” Kantor responded. Restaurateurs attributed it to alcohol, she said, and movie magnates attributed it to the objectification of attractive women. Kantor ultimately concluded that harassment exists in every context and across backgrounds.

When investigating the Weinstein story, Kantor and Twohey sought both personal testimonies and archival evidence.

“The approach that Megan and I took was different, because we were investigative journalists and we were looking for evidence,” she said. “We were trying to get the victims to speak, but also, we said ‘What records are available? Who knows things within Weinstein’s companies?

Can we trace the legal and financial settlement trail?’ … By look-

ing for evidence, we were in a way building a mountain of support under the women — something for them to stand on.”

Kantor emphasized trust as the defining factor in her interactions with sources.

“I can’t tell you how much of my job is calling strangers out of the blue,” she remarked. “What you’re looking for in those first few moments is to somehow connect … especially with victims … you’re trying to get them to trust a stranger on a very intimate, difficult, troubling topic.”

Kantor relayed a piece of advice she received from Twohey on how to earn victims’ trust and encourage them to share their stories.

“The sentence that [Twohey] used over and over again with victims was to say, ‘I can’t change what’s happened to you in the past, but if we work together, we may be able to put your pain to some productive use,’” Kantor said.

Kantor reflected on her long-term working relationship with Twohey.

“There was this deep parallel and sameness that we had,” Kantor said. “Working with [Twohey] has been one of the most treasured experiences of my life.”

Kantor and Twohey encountered many obstacles reporting the Weinstein story, from unwilling sources to Weinstein’s own

efforts to shut down victims and journalists. Through it all, Kantor said, failure was her biggest fear.

“The idea that we would have to go to our graves knowing we had failed to bring this to life, having to watch Harvey Weinstein [at] the Oscars for years on end, that was really scary,” she said.

“We just did not know which way this was going to go.”

Kantor also knew that women who agreed to go public with their allegations against Weinstein would be risking backlash and potentially their careers in Hollywood. When actress Ashley Judd agreed to be a named source, it felt like a turning point after months of investigation.

“I had been holding this tension for months,” Kantor

said. “I had talked to so many actresses and I’d heard so many bad stories … but you couldn’t publish the first story about Harvey Weinstein with blind quotes,” she said.

Ryan’s final question for Kantor was about the intertwined futures of journalism and democracy.

“Given the shakiness and the tumult and the disinformation, … I think the question is whether we can renew, and whether we can build,” Kantor said. “Can we get to a new place, when we’re not only relying on what feels like the long-built houses of democracy, whether it’s The New York Times, or Tufts University, … but can we continue to build and renew?”

NATALIE BROWNSELL / THE TUFTS DAILY

Barnum Hall, home of Tisch College, is pictured on Oct. 16, 2022.

SCIENCE

After 12 years as president, Tony Monaco is returning to genetic research Lugin Afifi and Kathrine Gregory Contributing Writers

While Anthony Monaco may no longer be president, he’s taken on a new full-time role at Tufts: professor of biology.

After stepping down from his 12-year role in June, President Emeritus Monaco is devoting his time to genetic research on the cause of mental health disorders.

Monaco’s roots are in genetic research; he studied neuroscience as an undergraduate at Princeton University before earning a Ph.D. and an M.D. at Harvard University.

Immediately prior to serving as president of Tufts, he was a lecturer in human genetics at the University of Oxford.

“It feels natural to go back into the field,” Monaco said.

“During the pandemic, with the lack of travel and lack of in-person events, [I was] able to spend a lot of time revisiting mental health disorders. And over the last year in particular, as I was transitioning, we discovered some very peculiar RNA connections which we’re exploring further.”

Monaco’s research focuses on the role RNA plays in the genetic linkage among certain mental health disorders.

“Autism, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, anxiety, depression, schizophrenia, manic depression — they all have very high genetic risks,” Monaco said. Yet, while these disorders are linked to genes, scientists have been unable to find their corresponding DNA locations.

To understand the genetics behind hereditary mental health disorders, Monaco has turned his research toward DNA’s sister molecule, RNA. This nucleic acid is responsible for DNA transcription and translation for the expression of genes. Monaco’s team discovered an RNA connection which is unique for its size and circular shape, aptly naming it “Jumbo RNA.” “Genes are known to be expressed as lines, linear transcripts, but they can also make circles,” Monaco said. “What we discovered is, these large circles, which actually cross over seven or eight genes at a time, may be coordinating the expression of all seven or eight genes simultaneously. … We’re wondering whether this Jumbo circular RNA system may be epigenetically controlled or have a memory of the number of stressors or the type of stress.”

The main question prompted by this discovery is how Jumbo RNA maintains or changes the regulation of stressors, a large factor

behind mental health diagnoses.

Monaco’s research on mental health disorders is still in its preliminary stages, but this isn’t the first time he’s focused on the issue; as president, he assembled a task force aimed at evaluating the mental health resources available to students on all of Tufts’ campuses.

Mental health-related issues have been steadily increasing for a long time, stretching treatment resources thin nationwide.

Monaco acknowledged that this issue is not only present at Tufts but all over the country, as adolescents and young adults cannot get access to the professional health care they need.

“There’s always room for improvement, but I think we were early adopters in taking the rise seriously and forming a task force to find out where our services were lacking and to build them up,” Monaco said.

Among other initiatives, the task force prompted the creation of two new positions within Tufts Counseling and Mental Health Services: the mental health promotion specialist and the clinical care manager. The former is non-clinical and raises awareness of mental health issues and resources, while the latter assists students with obtaining care in the community.

AARON GRUEN / THE TUFTS DAILY

Anthony Monaco is pictured speaking at Barnum Hall on April 12.

Julie S. Ross, director of CMHS, praised Monaco’s work to advance mental health as president.

“President Monaco’s and Tufts’ commitment to mental health was one of the factors that led to Tufts being awarded the inaugural HBC Foundation scholarship to join JED Campus, the leading national program

helping colleges and universities enhance mental health,” Ross wrote in an email to the Daily.

Monaco’s research on the genetic components of mental health disorders and his initiative to improve distribution and accessibility of mental health services show the importance of both policy and scientific research.

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Features

Thursday, October 19, 2023

THE TUFTS DAILY

F eatures Jeremy Bramson T Time

I

North Station

want to begin by crediting Kevin Zhang for inspiring this column.

Before graduating from Tufts, Zhang wrote a column called “Tales from the T,” which I now seek to continue with “T Time.”

Regardless, I was happy to delve into the history of the station and walk around the idyllic North End of Boston.

For those interested in going to North Station, it is seven stops away on the Green Line and took me a little over 16 minutes to get there from the Medford/ Tufts station.

First, a bit of history on the station.

While the actual North Station did not exist until 1893, the surrounding area was a major train depot all throughout the 1800s. This area, full of train activity, was known as Bulfinch Triangle, named for Charles Bulfinch who led many of Boston’s land reclamation projects.

In 1897, Boston became the first city in America to open a subway system. Public transport service to North Station began in 1898. Since its initial construction, North Station has gone through two major renovations occurring in 1928 and 1995.

Today, North Station is served by the D and E branches of the Green Line, the Orange Line, the MBTA commuter rail and Amtrak.

Just a couple of blocks away from the station is one of Boston’s most iconic neighborhoods — the North End. Playing a crucial part in the Revolutionary War, the North End is home to the Old North Church where two lanterns were famously hung to signify to Paul Revere that the British were coming by sea. The neighborhood has also long been a destination for immigrants with Irish immigrants starting to settle in the area in the 1840s, and those hailing from Italy beginning to migrate there during the 1860s.

The North End’s Italian heritage is especially prominent today. As I walked around, the streets were decked out with banners and Italian flags proclaiming the neighborhood’s ethnic roots for Italian American Heritage Month.

The North End’s food scene reflects its heritage as well, featuring an abundance of Italian bakeries and restaurants. Mike’s Pastry is arguably the most well-known dessert destination, although it is just one of many places to grab a sweet treat.

I stopped in at Bova’s Bakery and tried a Nutella cannoli, which was delicious. While many of the North End’s Italian restaurants are on the expensive side, there are a myriad of cafes to get a coffee or pastry and pizza places to grab a slice for those looking for cheaper eats.

With its cobblestone streets, old brick buildings, rich history and delicious food, I highly recommend taking some time to visit North Station and Boston’s North End.

Jeremy Bramson is a sophomore studying economics and urban studies. He can be reached at jeremy.bramson@tufts.edu

Right under your feet: Red Line poems in Davis Square break up daily commute Sarah Firth and Rose Hollander

Features Editor and Contributing Writer

Originally published Oct. 17.

As a commuter tried to make out the words of Richard C. Shaner’s “Gilman Pond Mountain,” someone walked right over it.

Engraved poems line the brick floor of the Davis Square MBTA station. Installed in the 1980s shortly after the station was initially constructed, the poems range from classics by Walt Whitman and Elizabeth Bishop to a short poem on the “free will” of tomatoes by Peter Payack.

These poems are a part of the MBTA’s greater “Arts on the Line” project. Inspired by art installations in subway stations around the world, Arts on the Line pioneered the incorporation of artwork into subway systems in the United States.

Partially funded through a $45,000 grant from the Federal Transit Administration (formerly Urban Mass Transportation Administration) and a $70,000 grant from the National Endowment for the Arts, Arts on the Line served as a pilot program for public art in the transportation systems of other American cities.

The MBTA and Cambridge Arts Council worked together to integrate art into each Red Line station.

Alongside the construction of the Red Line Northwest Extension from Harvard to Alewife, each new station included multiple pieces of public art, including sculptures, murals and stained glass.

Since the poems at the Davis Square station are less flashy than the visual art in the rest of the station and of other Red Line stations, the poems go unnoticed by some while are beloved by others.

Birgit Wurster, the MBTA Wayfinding Designer and current manager of the art program on the T, wrote in an email to the Daily about a favorite poem.

“My personal favorite of the series at Davis is the Emily Dickinson poem [“I’m Nobody! Who are You?” (1891)] for the way it speaks to feelings of both anonymity and interconnection that I associate with being in the shared spaces of the city,” Wurster wrote.

Lane, a commuter at the Davis Square station interviewed in passing, said that the poems speak to more than just their subject matter.

“I think they’re pretty neat,” Lane said.

“It shows that there’s maybe investment in the community, from maybe the local government or the folks who live around here.”

However, weathered by over 40 years of footsteps, the poems are often hard to make out. Some commuters who frequent the station may not have noticed the poems.

Ali and Rohit, two commuters interviewed at Davis Square, told the Daily that they take the Red Line every day, but that they had never stopped to look at the bricks beneath their feet.

“This is the first time [I’m reading them],” Rohit said.

The poetry’s indiscernibility makes it difficult at times for commuters to appreciate the intentionality in the station’s design.

“This poem kind of camouflages with the floor, which isn’t great for visibility,” Ali said.

Lane added that they originally thought the poems were spontaneous.

“Admittedly, I kind of thought it was just someone who wrote them on the floor and was just doing whatever they wanted, but apparently not,” Lane said.

While the poems were officially installed, several embody the experimental free spirit that Lane commented on.

This is true of the untitled poem, “At 7 a.m. watching the cars on the bridge” by James ( Jim) Moore, which is engraved at the far end of the station.

In the poem, the narrator expresses that while everyone else is going to work, they are not.

Moore, the author of the poem, shared his intentions behind it in an email to the Daily.

“I guess my intention was to make some sort of statement about being outside the system. Freedom, I suppose,” Moore wrote. “Though again, it was a long time ago. Not really sure what my intention was.”

Moore was a graduate student at the time of writing the poem “At 7 a.m.,” which includes countercultural themes. In 1970, shortly after the publication of the poem, Moore served

GRAPHIC BY SARAH FIRTH

10 months in prison for evading the Vietnam War draft.

“Looking back on it now, it seems sort of juvenile to me,” Moore wrote. “I mean, why should I be bragging about not having to go to work when so many did? The intent was, I think, a good one.

But it is not a poem I would ever write today. It seems insensitive about the reality of most peoples’ lives.”

When a poem is displayed in a public place, readers may interpret the poem in different ways. The environment of the place and diversity of the people who interact with it all influence a person’s reading of a public poem.

John Lurz, an associate professor of English at Tufts, commented on the role of location in his interpretation of Moore’s poem.

“I have an image of someone who is unemployed, who is sort of outside the social contract, who’s being forgotten and left behind in a certain way,” Lurz said. “That was my first impression, partly because there was a homeless person in that space with me as I was reading this poem.”

However, after reading it a second time in a photo rather than in-person at Davis Square, Lurz thought the tone of the poem was more rebellious and playful.

“When I read it on the screen, I got more of this possibility of a more playful … ‘I’m not going to work, I’m not playing this game’ … as almost an aesthetic experience,” he said. “I wondered, had there been a bunch of teenage kids horsing around there, if I would have had this more playful response first rather than later.”

At the Davis Square station, the poems are all engraved into the brick floor. Lurz believes this choice forms part of the poetry’s appeal and accessibility as public art.

“You’re literally above the poetry,” Lurz said. “It’s not coming down at you like it would be coming from a place of authority or a place of elitism.”

Ultimately, investment in public art can add worthwhile enhancement to any ordinary space.

“I’m always a fan of anything that can put art and literature sort of in touch with our everyday experiences,” Lurz said.

THE TUFTS DAILY

Thursday, October 19, 2023

Features

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What are Tufts students reading?

Claire Wood

Contributing Writer

After enduring dozens of textbook pages and required readings, leisure reading is not always the first activity to come to mind for busy Tufts students. Activities like watching television or listening to music may appear to be more effective at de-stressing after assigned reading and writing assignments.

However, Tufts students can often be found reading on President’s Lawn or enjoying a good book on the weekends.

Students may form negative associations with reading once it becomes required. Reading books for classes can be more like a job than a leisure activity. For this reason, humanities students in particular may choose not to spend their free time reading books.

Becca Kaplan, a senior majoring in English and political science, finds that some of her friends majoring in STEM fields read for leisure more often than she does.

“I think humanities majors honestly [read] less than I’ve seen biology majors and other people do because we have to do so much reading for our classes anyway,” Kaplan said.

For others, including professors, reading for leisure can be a helpful way to de-stress.

Associate Professor of English Ichiro Takayoshi believes reading can be calming and relaxing.

“It’s about leisure. It’s about relaxation. It’s about taking

you out of the rapid stream of busy daily activities,” Takayoshi said.

Takayoshi added that there are various ways to spend one’s leisure time, and believes that smartphones are the most popular approach.

“Right now, it might be the most pleasing thing to do for me — to look at my smartphone — but eight minutes later, I will regret it. At the end of the day, I will regret the way I spent my day,” Takayoshi said. “And then you have a great alternative. You just go anywhere with a book.”

Students that Takayoshi has taught read a wide variety of books, with no one genre or style known to trump the others in popularity. He added that this diversity in reading preferences creates a diverse and enthralling reading culture on campus.

“It’s all over the map, it’s unpredictable,” Takayoshi said.

“That makes me, actually, quite hopeful and optimistic about young readers. I think it’s a good thing that we have this diversity of tastes in terms of what they like,” Takayoshi said.

According to Kaplan, memoirs and biographies like “Crying in H Mart” (2021)

by Michelle Zauner and “Educated” (2018) by Tara Westover currently seem to be popular choices among fellow Tufts students.

“I recently read ‘Crying in H Mart,’ which I feel like everyone has been reading, but it’s

100% worth a read. I really liked it,” Kaplan said.

Poetry, albeit less popular amongst the undergraduate-aged demographic, is also persistent in drawing readers.

Professor Takayoshi suggested that Tufts students should read more poetry, and he often recommends the work of Wallace Stevens.

“Wallace Stevens … is one of the most highly regarded American poets of the 20th century,” Takayoshi said.

Takayoshi also noted that Stevens’ whimsical yet dark work can be beneficial in expanding and challenging students’ worldviews.

“I like to see things that are quite far away from my students’ immediate life concerns, and it’s hard to find an author whose work is farther from your immediate, urgent concerns than Wallace Stevens,” Takayoshi said.

Poetry can present a good reading choice because its brevity can make it fit more easily into packed schedules.

Marie Manassee, a senior majoring in English, said that poetry is more accessible reading that is not time consuming for humanities students that have a lot of required reading for classes.

“I think poetry is just a lot easier to read. So if you are a humanities major, I feel like you would more likely go towards a short poem by Emily Dickinson, or something like that. Something short and quick that you can read in three seconds,” Manassee said.

GRAPHIC BY MOLLY SULLIVAN

Another recommended book topic for humanities students is science. For Takayoshi, reading STEM-focused books is a powerful way for humanities majors to step outside of their usual studies and learn about other aspects of academia.

“For most of us who are not scientifically gifted, I think [reading books about science] is a wonderful way and a neglected way to understand and to appreciate what is being done by these other, more scientifically gifted people every day or in the past,” Takayoshi said.

Stepping outside day-today concerns is also a common reason for leisure reading. Fantasy and fiction are popular genres amongst readers, allowing them to escape a sense of monotony and focus on something unique.

Manassee highly recommends reading two books authored by Celeste Ng, “Little Fires Everywhere” (2017) and “Everything I Never Told You” (2014). A book that Kaplan always recommends is “The Handmaid’s Tale” (1985)

by Margaret Atwood. Both Manassee and Kaplan emphasized that readers should enjoy “Little Fires Everywhere” and “The Handmaid’s Tale” in print before watching their television adaptations.

While leisure reading may seem to be a solitary activity, it can also be a means for interpersonal connection. Learning about a friend’s reading tastes

can help people get to know one another better. After all, asking about someone’s favorite book is a common icebreaker for a reason.

Julia Bartie, a senior majoring in English, spent time in a book club with family members and found that it was a dynamic and engaging way to learn more about others.

“Reading a book with a group of people and talking about it can be a really great social experience,” Bartie said. “It’s good to hear other people’s interpretations of the book and what they got out of it.”

Bartie, Kaplan and Manassee are all members of the Tufts English Society, a new student organization on campus.

Kaplan said many club members often incorporate reading into their routines to de-stress.

“So many people [in the Tufts English Society] were saying how it’s such a great mental health support. Even just reading a few pages every day is super helpful and relaxing,” Kaplan said.

Takayoshi reiterated the benefits that reading provides to students.

“I think the biggest reason why young people should read books is not because they are not learning enough facts,” Takayoshi said. “What they’re doing less today is enjoying themselves by engaging in a truly relaxing leisure activity, and reading can be that.”

6

Arts & Pop Culture

THE TUFTS DAILY

Thursday, October 19, 2023

A R T S & P O P C U LT U R E

MAEVE HAGERTY / THE TUFTS DAILY

Ethel Cain is pictured performing in Portland, Maine on Oct. 4.

‘Most glorious and holy light’: Religion in cisgender women’s and gender minority music Maeve Hagerty Arts Editor

“I’m not scared of god / I’m scared he was gone all along,” rising alternative artist Ethel Cain sings on the title track of her 2021 EP “Inbred.” The critical and popular success of Cain’s recent debut album “Preacher’s Daughter” (2022) landed her song “American Teenager” a spot on Barack Obama’s 2022 playlist and cemented her as a rising star of the indie/alternative music scene.

But Hayden Anhedönia, who uses the stage name Ethel Cain, is only one singer within an increasingly popular phenomenon of cisgender women and gender minority artists producing music which deals directly and indirectly with themes of religious belief and trauma.

They explore the manner in which Christianity specifically has influenced their lives and their music, with the result being something unexpected: The music resonates with a whole community of people whose relationships with their faith may not have always been easy.

On “Family Tree” from “Preacher’s Daughter,” Anhedönia opens the track with the line “These crosses all over my body / Remind me of who I used to be,” in reference to the tattoos of crosses which feature prominently across her skin.

Anhedönia was herself the child of a Baptist deacon in Florida.

She often cites her experience in the church, especially her relationship to church music, as one of the main inspirations of her lyrics and production style.

There is a very real tension in Anhedönia’s music between the religious life she used to live and the manner in which she is now trying to reconcile her religion with being transgender in the face of the discrimination that religious communities often direct towards their LGBTQ+ members. In “Sun Bleached Flies,” also from “Preacher’s Daughter,” Anhedönia sings one of her most iconic lyrics: “What I wouldn’t give to be in church this Sunday / Listening to the choir, so heartfelt, all singing / God loves you, but not enough to save you.” It’s in lyrics like these where Anhedönia gives her audience a real glimpse into the way in which religion has not only shaped her, but left her both stranded at times and embraced at others.

Perhaps the veritable queen of experimental alternative music with profound Christian themes is Lingua Ignota. Lingua Ignota, the stage name of musician Kristin Hayter, was a project which allowed Hayter to explore the very Biblical themes of vengeance, justice, sin and devotion, particularly as they related to her experiences of relationship trauma and abuse, and her struggle to reconcile God’s role in that abuse. In her 2017 album “All Bitches Die,” Hayter created a soundscape which was at times explosively apocalyptic and at others profoundly intimate.

The 12 minute and 22 second title track is the album’s pinnacle. Hayter begins the song with the line, “Sinner, you’d better get ready” as she builds towards a proclamation of vengeance

against her abuser: “You can’t run, I’ll find you / I’ll bind your feet to hell and drag you down.”

Hayter takes ideas of Biblical vengeance and twists them against her abuser in a cataclysmic uproar against the injustice which allowed his actions.

Hayter emerged from this album into her third, “Caligula” (2019), where she continued to express her rage through cinematic pianos and heavy metal outbursts. In “FAITHFUL SERVANT FRIEND OF CHRIST,” Hayter explores devotion and the idea that even Christ’s most faithful servant, bathed in “most glorious and holy light” must also “bow before unending night.”

But it is Hayter’s third album, and the last released under the name Lingua Ignota, which is truly the culmination of all of her previous works. Where rage drove her previous albums, now the anger is almost slaked. In this album, “Sinner Get Ready” (2021), she seems to realize that she is at once all powerful and yet still subject to harm that she cannot control. In one of her best songs, “I WHO BEND THE TALL GRASSES,” Hayter demands that God kill her abuser, using “any of [His] heavenly means.” The song is a battle of control in her relationship with God and her conflicted emotions over God’s involvement in her suffering. The song ends on the line: “Glorious Father, intercede for me / If I cannot hide from you, neither can he.” Herein, she demands justice.

Hayter as Lingua Ignota has pushed the bounds of Christian imagery, pulling at the fabric of what we understand to be

religious devotion and reclaiming it as her own. Artists like Lingua Ignota demonstrate that perhaps religious devotion, and perhaps Christianity, have a new audience and a new purpose in this age of music.

Christianity is for Hayter both instrument and oppressor, and nowhere is this better demonstrated than in “Sinner Get Ready” and its key tracks like “Repent Now Confess Now” and “Man Is Like A Spring Flower.”

There are other musicians who are part of this movement in a less sonically experimental way. Indie-rock artist and boygenius member Lucy Dacus has been open about her religious upbringing, and in her song “VBS” (2021) she talks about her experience at vacation bible school over the summer as she explores youth and romance.

She sings of “a preacher in a T-shirt” who “taught [her] how to build a fire and to spread The Word.” As she explores how religion impacted her relationship with an early boyfriend there she sings, “You say that I showed you the light / But all it did in the end / Was make the dark feel darker than before.” Here, Dacus shows us a glimpse of her adolescence and reflects on the impact of religion on her childhood, and the gaps that it did not seem to fill in her and others.

There is also a plethora of recent music which deals particularly with the occult and ideas of female sin. This is achieved by songs like Julia Romana’s “Moon” (2022), which centers on ritualized bathing in the moon, or “mary magdalene” (2019) by FKA

Twigs which explores the idea of “A woman’s touch / A sacred geometry” and how she can “lift you higher / … do it like Mary Magdalene,” whom she describes as a “Creature of desire.”

Other works like Christine and the Queens’ recent album “Paranoïa, Angels, True Love” (2023) investigate the paths to divinity, through love, sin and pain in tracks like “I feel like an angel.” Religious imagery and references are prevalent across Yves Tumor’s “Praise A Lord Who Chews but Which Does Not Consume; (Or Simply, Hot Between Worlds)” (2023), particularly in the closing track “Ebony Eye.” Florence and the Machine’s long history of religious and occult-inspired music, from “Which Witch” (2015) to “Girls Against God” (2022), is also a good example of religion’s place in cisgender women’s and gender minority music.

These are only a few artists, and only a handful of examples, but the stories and music they construct reveal that perhaps religion is not dead, but is rather a new form of inspiration as a new source of fear, love and devotion for a new generation of musicians who might have historically and currently suffered religious prejudices. While these artists and these songs explore their tumultuous relationships with their own faith — or just with the idea of faith in general — they are redefining the significance of that faith and demonstrating the manner in which traditionally oppressed groups can find religion, and combat it, on their own terms.

THE TUFTS DAILY

Thursday, October 19, 2023

Arts & Pop Culture

‘Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour’ brings the cultural phenomenon to local theaters Shannon Murphy

Assistant Arts Editor

For those who fell victim to the infamous Ticketmaster fiasco or simply want to relive one of the best nights of a Swifitie’s life, “Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour” (2023) has made it possible to see the singer and her enthralling masterpiece of a concert up close and personal.

The stadium tour itself had an unprecedented cultural impact. More than half of U.S. adults consider themselves fans of Taylor Swift, according to a Morning Consult survey, with 16% of adults describing themselves as “avid” fans of the singer-songwriter, so it’s no surprise that the U.S. leg of the Eras Tour sparked a media frenzy. The demand for tickets was likely spiked in part by a collective yearning for live entertainment as it is Swift’s first post-pandemic tour. It is also her first tour after the 2018 Reputation Stadium Tour, since which she has released four albums: “Lover” (2019), “Folklore” (2020), “Evermore” (2020) and “Midnights” (2022). In the movie, Swift jokes about the stylistic range of these albums, claiming that people asked her if she would include all of them in her upcoming tour, making the concert “three-and-a-half-hours long.” Her response? “Yeah, that’s exactly what I’m going to do.” Swift’s concert is over three hours and 15 minutes and encompasses songs from nine out of her ten studio albums, while the film stands at two hours and 48 minutes.

The concert was praised for its stunning visuals and high production value, to which the film offers a front row seat.

Filmed during some of the final performances of her U.S. leg at SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles, the motion picture captures the entire standard setlist (save for a few songs which were noticeably absent) in all its glory. It also depicts the phenomenal visuals of the stage for each “era” in depth, including the “Lover House” and “Folklore Cabin.” The live concert’s brief pauses between each era in which Swift’s costumes and set pieces change were effectively eliminated through the editing of the film, replaced instead by seamless digital transitions that magnificently improve the cohesion of the viewing experience.

Whereas the visual center of attention for any performance attendee is determined by their own eyes, in a concert film, the camera decides the audience’s focal point. For this movie, the focus was entirely on Swift. This created a very intimate experience for the viewer; every one of Swift’s dramatic gestures, subtle or not, was visible. Her eye rolls, winks and smiles that an attendee in the nosebleeds could have missed were on full display in the film. Audience members truly felt the raw emotion that Swift demonstrates in each of her performances; the heartache of “All Too Well (10 Minute Version) (Taylor’s Version)” (2021), the wistfulness of “Enchanted (Taylor’s Version)” (2023), the anguish of “tolerate it” (2020) and the sensuality of “Vigilante Shit” (2022). This also allowed for closer attention to be paid to Swift’s dazzling costumes, which varied between each act and performance. Even for those who saw a concert live, it is possible that seeing Swift in her flowy white dress for the “Folklore” era or glittering pink two-piece ensemble for the “1989” era in the film would be a first-time experience.

Attending a screening of the film was truly an immersive experience that mimicked that of attending the actual concert.

The seats were filled with fans who knew the words to each song by heart and sang them proudly, especially during “Karma” (2022), the last song of the concert, in

7

Odessa Gaines The Power of the Pen

What happens with the delays?

A VIA WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

Taylor Swift is pictured performing in Arlington, Texas. which audience members stood up, sang and danced along. During each live performance, Swift played two “surprise songs” from her discography that varied between shows; one on guitar and one on piano. The film had its very own “surprise songs” pulled from the Aug. 4 and 5 dates of the tour: “Our Song” (2006), and “You’re On Your Own, Kid” (2022).

Those who were previously unable to claim their own surprise songs now have the two from the movie to call their own. “Our Song” is from Swift’s self-titled debut album, which she claims to have written in ninth grade, symbolizing her long career and showing gratitude to her fans who have supported her since the beginning. “You’re On Your Own, Kid” is

a newer, more sentimental song. Its line “make the friendship bracelets” inspired a fad of creating and trading friendship bracelets at the concert and during showings of the film with lyrics or references to Swift’s music and career, truly embodying the community among fans that The Eras Tour created and solidified.

Swiftie or not, “Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour” is a must-see cinematic event that is well worth its hype. The film offers the unique opportunity to see the tour-heardround-the-world that boosted economies and may well bust monopolies. More than just the next best thing for those unable to get tickets to the stadium tour, the movie provides an experience that will long live in fans’ hearts.

lthough the writers’ strike has come to an end, its lingering effects, as well as the ongoing SAG-AFTRA actors’ strike, have caused many delays in television and movies.

The strikes have not only caused delays in writers’ rooms, but also on sets and in promotional activities. By going on strike, the actors agreed to walk out of their current projects per SAG guidelines. As such, the cast of “Barbie” (2023) cut their promotional tour short on July 14 when the strike officially began.

Actors on strike include those in film, daytime and late night television, new media, and radio broadcasters.

Also included in SAG-AFTRA are voice actors, whose contracts guarantee minimum rates for wages, health insurance, life insurance, retirement and other benefits. The guild represents voice actors in animation as well as video games, commercials, documentaries, trailers and more.

With production paused, we are seeing many delays in real-time of major movies and TV shows. “Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse” has lost its original March 2024 release date and is now delayed indefinitely. “Beetlejuice 2” has a tentative release date of Sept.

6, 2024 after the on-set production delays. “Challengers” starring Zendaya was set to release Sept. 15 — with a trailer released in late June — but was pushed back to April 26, 2024.

In the world of television, “Abbott Elementary” (2021–) was also pushed back indefinitely at the beginning of the writers’ strike, with plans still unclear even after the writers returned to work at the start of October. The final season of “Stranger Things” (2016–) has also been postponed indefinitely, most likely to be released in 2025 at the earliest. Even another Netflix hit, “Cobra Kai” (2018–) is expected to hit screens later than originally intended.

Award shows have not been spared either. The 75th Emmy Awards were pushed back to January 2024, while other ceremonies went forward without scripts, such as the 76th Tony Awards.

There have, however, been about 200 productions not paused by the strikes.

Upcoming films such as “Death of a Unicorn” starring Paul Rudd and Jenna Ortega have been given the go-ahead to continue filming from SAG-AFTRA. Many of the films that were given this kind of clearance are independent films that have “interim agreements” for actors to continue work. Some larger productions, like those of A24, have also agreed to SAG’s terms — the same terms still being negotiated with major studios.

As much as we may be feeling disappointed at the delays in production, the past and ongoing strikes are needed to demand fair work and wages for entertainment workers. Until studios decide to give SAG-AFTRA what they have fairly earned and deserve, they will continue to suffer from their own greed.

Odessa Gaines is a junior studying cognitive and brain science. She can be reached at kgaine01@tufts.edu.

8

F&G

Late Night At The Daily Henry, on ‘The Parent Trap’: “Wait, there's a non-Lindsay Lohan one?”

Fun & Games

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THE TUFTS DAILY

Thursday, October 19, 2023

Fun & Games

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Benefits of a Fifth-Year Master’s Degree • Earn your bachelor’s degree and master’s degree

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* The Graduate School of Arts and Sciences will provide a graduate tuition scholarship proportional to the undergraduate tuition award at the time of application. Learn more about School of Engineering tuition savings opportunities at go.tufts.edu/SOEfifthyear

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THE TUFTS DAILY

Thursday, October 19, 2023

Opinion

9

O pinion VIEWPOINT

The MBTA’s most important projects are also its least talked about Liam Chalfonte Staff Writer

Recently, much of the discussion around the MBTA has been focused on its numerous issues, especially its slow zones. Though it’s certainly an important discussion to have, it’s also important to ask what happens after these slow zones are fixed. There are a couple of projects that have been overshadowed by the slow zone repairs that are pivotal to the future of the system.

The first of these is the Green Line Protection System, a long overdue update to provide basic safety measures to the Green Line. Essentially, the MBTA is adding rudimentary automation technology to the Green Line, which will help prevent crashes and lead to slightly shorter travel times. This is the kind of basic train automation that the federal government requires of regional railways. This safety system was first recommended by the National Transportation Safety Board after crashes in 2008 and 2009, but the project didn’t start until January 2020.

The original deadline for the project was 2025, though the MBTA moved this deadline forward, diverting money from its day-to-day operations, to finish by December 2023. However, another NTSB report following yet another Green Line crash in 2021 revealed that the deadline had been pushed back even further, to June 2025.

So where is this project now? Apparently, as of this August, it was only 13% closer to completion than it was in December 2021. Despite the fact that a significant portion of that equipment is meant to be installed by the end of the year, installation of some of the safety equipment has been on hold since February. The vehicle instal-

Ben Choucroun Antisemitism Unpacked

Solidarity is the key to collective liberation As a pernicious threat to our communities, antisemitism demands resistance wherever it appears. However, true liberation from antisemitism will only occur when we acknowledge racism and colonialism within our communities and stand in solidarity with other oppressed groups.

Solidarity within Jewish communities means both stopping attempts to divide us while holding ourselves accountable for racism within the Jewish community. Right-wing figures, such as Donald Trump, have consistently attempted to divide the Jewish community and undermine solidarity. This Rosh Hashanah, Trump suggested in a post made on

lation, despite beginning in June, has also apparently seen no significant progress.

The MBTA, demonstrating its usual level of accountability, has stopped releasing monthly updates after this August.

While progress on implementing safety features for the Green Line has been slow, it’s been going at light speed compared to another important project: the Red Blue Connector. This project will extend the Blue Line through downtown Boston to meet up with the Red Line at the Charles/MGH stop, allowing riders to travel anywhere on the main four subway lines with a maximum of one transfer and reducing traffic in the often overcrowded Government Center and Park Street stations.

Planning for the Red Blue Connector project began in 1994, with an original completion date of December 2011.

Despite the planned deadline, this project is still in the planning stages, with construction set to begin in 2026. In 2021, the MBTA released a detailed outline of what the project could entail, along with a timeline with an estimated completion of Spring 2030. In a report released earlier this month, they shifted the schedule further back to 2031. Furthermore, the MBTA has only reserved $30 million of the estimated $850 million needed to complete the project. This funding, which covers the 2024 fiscal year, supposedly covers 30% of the design process, which has an estimated completion of 2025. It makes one wonder whether the MBTA is even capable of meeting their 2031 deadline, which, I may add, is still 20 years after the project was supposed to be completed.

Thankfully, there is opportunity to make your voice heard on the Red Blue Connector. The most recent project update is accepting online comments Truth Social that “liberal Jews” who voted against him were destroying America and Israel. Antisemites will always try to split the Jewish community on Reform vs.

Orthodox lines, Sephardic vs. Ashkenazi lines or on any other issue. We must not let these antisemites divide and conquer our community.

Solidarity within Judaism also means acknowledging racism in the Jewish community, however. As a white Jew of mixed Ashkenazi and Sephardic ancestry, my personal experience with racism in the Jewish community is limited. However, it is an undeniable fact that racism is present in the Jewish community. In a recent study by the Jews of Color Initiative, 80% of respondents said they experienced discrimination in the Jewish community. Taking accountability for the mistakes made by Jewish leaders and amplifying the voices of Jews of color are crucial steps for challenging racism within Jewish communities.

Similarly, it is crucial to recognize that our liberation will not come from the subjugation of others. Following World War II, many American Jews, who had endured decades of antisemitism, were allowed to

COURTESY TANAY NISTALA

Green Line train pictured at Medford/Tufts station on Sept. 23. until Oct. 31, and there is an in-person meeting at 6 p.m. today at the East Boston Public library which will provide information and provide a chance for questions

regarding the project. It will take active involvement to bring these projects out of the shadows and get true accountability for the system we deserve.

assimilate into the white community — at a cost: Jews were allowed to keep their religion so long as they traded their language and culture for so-called ‘superior’ European values. But trading culture and language to gain an iota of white privilege is not liberation. Not only do Jews still suffer from terrorism and discrimination, but assimilating into the white community makes us culpable in systemic oppression and marginalizes Jews of color. This is not to insinuate that Jews are somehow responsible for our oppression, but rather to indicate that our collective ignorance of racism and colonialism are barriers to our group’s liberation.

As a community, we must stand in solidarity with other marginalized groups both because it is morally right to do so and because antisemitism directly intersects with other forms of oppression. Christian supremacy is tied to Islamophobia, queerphobia and antisemitism, just to name a few. Additionally, historically and currently, Jews have been portrayed as wealthy puppet-masters manipulating the economy, obscuring the class-based oppression of unequal economic systems. Our

oppressions intersect, and any Jewish institution or state based on the oppression or displacement of others will never truly be liberatory. It is crucial that we examine our own institutions critically and challenge our community leaders when they espouse racist or colonial rhetoric, especially those actively buddying up with the extreme right.

Jews have every right to solidarity with other victimized groups, but we must take initiative as a community by standing alongside other oppressed groups. We must also take responsibility for racism within our Jewish community and reckon with the fact that any safety built on either assimilation or the oppression of others is a façade. True freedom for Jews will only come when we stand in unconditional solidarity with other marginalized groups and commit ourselves to fighting racism and colonialism in our own communities.

No one is free until we all are.

Ben Choucroun is a first-year studying race, colonialism and diaspora. Ben can be reached at Benjamin.Choucroun@ tufts.edu.

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10 Opinion

THE TUFTS DAILY

Thursday, October 19, 2023

OP-ED

Joel Rosenberg

One Jew’s view on the problems of Israel and Palestine

I know this is overdue — but my hesitation is part of the story. As director of the Tufts program in Judaic Studies, I’ve been puzzling for some time over an appropriate response to the horrific events that have befallen those who live at the juncture of three continents at the edge of the Mediterranean Sea. That realm has long been a preoccupation of mine — both in my biblical studies courses and in my film studies courses, where (in the latter, at least) a central preoccupation is what I’ve called the Era of Catastrophe (1914–45), regarding especially the perils of human rights and the plight of stateless persons and peoples.

So, it should be no surprise if I speak of this present situation as a multi-dimensional tragedy. I have, first of all, a deep horror at what’s happened to Israel and my fellow Jews over the past week or so. The blatant savagery of the Hamas attacks on Israeli towns, villages and kibbutzim can’t be excused or beautified in any way, and my heart goes out to those who have borne the brunt of what many have justly called the worst violence against Jews since the Holocaust.

Yet, obviously enough, this is not solely a tragedy for Israel, but

also one for the people in whose name Hamas purports to act. I’ve long taken for granted that the Palestinian people are irrevocably a part of Israel itself (representing some 21% of Israel’s population of nearly 10 million, not counting the three million Arabs in the West Bank and some two million in Gaza.) Whatever one’s views of Israel’s legitimacy as a state (which I have supported ever since my fourth birthday in 1947 when my father had convened his fellow physicians for a luncheon in our backyard to raise funds for the nascent state), the multicultural status of historical Palestine, like the Middle East more generally, is a fact of life. To write off the human rights and social needs of Palestinian Arabs is pure folly. And (need I say?) immoral. I’ve therefore long been in the habit of favoring what’s commonly called a “two-state solution,” even though getting from here to there seems close to impossible. Jewish ultra-nationalists have predictably regarded it with horror, and it has similarly run contrary to the widespread Palestinian belief that 1948 was a “Nakba” (catastrophe), wholly incompatible with Jewish national aims.

Add to this ideological strife the 101 practical questions of security, diplomacy, foreign alli-

ances, unresolved refugee clusters, international legitimacy, superpower compliance, extrem-

RECOVERING OUR OWN HUMANITY, THROUGH WHICH WE BECOME AWARE OF THE HUMANITY OF OTHERS, IS A DAILY STRUGGLE. ist violence and the day-to-day relations, good or bad, between neighbors across ethnic lines, and you have a conceptual quagmire that seems insurmountable. How do you unscramble an egg? And yet, these difficulties seem, to me at least, somehow a better, more rational alternative to total chaos.

Let me also share a thought voiced by Charles Inouye, the chair of the Department of International Literary and Cultural Studies, in a recent memo, that is, the danger of writ-

ing off the needs of yet another people who have been immersed in a bitter war since early 2022; or indeed, as early as 2014: the Ukrainians. I’ve been following news about this war almost daily, and I fear greatly that Ukraine will fall victim to the cynical politics of power that is threatening the survival of open society, democracy and human rights everywhere. Their story is our own. Our fate is closely bound up with theirs.

The common thread that runs through all these reflections is the interconnectedness of us all. It’s all too easy to allow such a thought to slip into cliché, disingenuousness or empty prattle — I pray fervently that I’m not doing so here. Recovering our own humanity, through which we become aware of the humanity of others, is a daily struggle.

It requires humility, mindfulness, self-searching and generosity. A curiosity about others and the recognition that one might be wrong.

But please allow me to conclude with words wiser than my own, taken from a key paragraph in Israel’s own Declaration of Independence on May 14, 1948, which Israel’s most recent leadership (prior to the national unity government that now

pursues the war against Hamas) seems to have forgotten: “The State of Israel will be open for Jewish immigration and for the Ingathering of the Exiles; it will foster the development of the country for the benefit of all its inhabitants; it will be based on freedom, justice and peace as envisaged by the prophets of Israel; it will ensure complete equality of social and political rights to all its inhabitants irrespective of religion, race or sex; it will guarantee freedom of religion, conscience, language, education and culture; it will safeguard the Holy Places of all religions; and it will be faithful to the principles of the Charter of the United Nations.

The State of Israel is prepared to cooperate with the agencies and representatives of the United Nations in implementing the resolution of the General Assembly of the 29th November, 1947 [on partition of Palestine into a Jewish and an Arab state] and will take steps to bring about the economic union of the whole of Eretz-Israel.”

Joel Rosenberg is the Lee S. McCollester professor of Biblical Literature in the Department of International Literary and Cultural Studies and the director of the program in Judaic Studies at Tufts.

OP-ED

Leaving Medford Makram Bekdache Originally published Oct. 17.

Freshly landed in Boston, I was sitting in an Uber heading for Tufts’ Medford/Somerville campus on move-in day in 2021. The COVID-19 pandemic was seemingly finally starting to recede after more than a year of being mostly stuck at home, and there I was halfway across the world on the cusp of starting my college education in the United States. Tufts had not been part of my initial shortlist, but I kept hearing increasingly good things about it. I felt it was starting to gain name recognition at my school and in my home country of Lebanon.

The COVID-19 pandemic led to a ban on non-essential travel into America: It prevented me from visiting campus before committing to Tufts, and my parents could not help me move in to soften the blow. I was undoubtedly slightly apprehensive. Moving from Beirut, a city in a tiny MiddleEastern country, to Boston is no easy transition.

The view from outside the cab did little to calm my apprehensions. I remember knowing from the first second that something was wrong. Instead of the Boston views and proximity promised in the admission leaflets, the unsightly wooden houses of Medford and Somerville came into view as I made my way up College

Avenue. The campus was a vast construction site, as the Green Line Extension and the Joyce Cummings Center were still under construction. While the Science and Engineering Complex somewhat relieved my urbanist tendencies, I found myself in a small suburban town that, to an international student, felt all too distant from Boston’s fabric. I told myself I could get used to the setting, but then other aspects of life at Tufts dawned on me.

First of all, I could not adapt to the dining hall schedule. On weekdays, campus life shuts off at 8 p.m. Meals themselves became a chore rather than a restful moment of my day, a feeling compounded by the limited food options and the absence of any viable options around campus (Davis Square is too far from freshman housing to be considered a valid alternative). I was trying to modulate my schedule and adapt, but I could not. The lack of company was painful. I was used to big table settings and long meals, but Tufts Dining compelled me to grab whatever I found and eat alone because of what was now considered my ‘quirky’ eating schedule — influenced by the Lebanese tendency to eat later than Americans do.

In short, the international student population in Medford is small and not diverse enough. There aren’t enough international recruits to create a sustainable community.

Tufts pushes for internationals to adapt and mingle with local students; however, international students need people they can relate to: They need some of their own as a safety cushion to fall back on when they need to talk. I felt unable to vent to people around me; they were not as homesick as I was, and our cultures were so different that I was unsure

LEAVING MEDFORD WAS ONE OF THOSE SINGULAR, BITTERSWEET MOMENTS OF MY LIFE. if I could communicate my situation.

I say all this because my academic experience at Tufts was exceptional, making my concerns all the more frustrating. Indeed, classes I took in subjects as varied as physics and French literature were some of the best I’ve ever taken in college. Tufts’ emphasis on practical teaching through group projects, activities and study cases based on reallife events and applications makes its engineering curric-

ulum remarkably engaging and fun. The Intro to Engineering class and its varied selection of course topics were a true highlight of my degree path and I am amazed at how many coding languages and electrical circuit concepts I acquired strictly from that one semester-long introductory class.

Justifying an academic need for my transfer request was the most challenging part of my transfer application. But I faced a legitimate problem: the sharp cleavage between the School of Engineering and the School of Arts and Sciences.

I met many passionate fellow engineers at Tufts, but our shared interests faded outside of class. While they went on to join the Society of Physics Students, I preferred writing articles for the Daily. I tried seeking the company of humanities students, but our radically different schedules and a general climate of physical and educational separation between engineering and liberal arts students complicated my efforts. I often missed out on the smaller classes and more engaging lecturers that Tufts prides itself on. Tufts’ faculty is remarkable, making students feel like they are in a captivating and academically engaging environment, but the school misses the mark on the transparency of its marketing, especially towards international students. The university should set its academic might in an equally engaging environment

by investing in its surroundings. Attracting more food and beverage options to the immediate surroundings of campus would also be a boon for the Tufts experience. Tufts should seriously rethink its recruiting pitch to better manage students’ admittedly high expectations, especially for the sake of the many international students who can’t visit Medford before committing. It should also encourage campus diversity by attracting a more comprehensive foreign student population; an increased presence of international students creates a breadth of opinions shared in class, on campus and in daily dorm conversations and it is the most enriching part of my current college experience.

I ended my transfer essay with this sentence: “Tufts is a great school, but it is simply not for me.” I am not alone in raising those issues, as I have met half a dozen other Tufts transfers around Columbia, all wearing their Jumbo merch, and they all shared my concerns. Leaving Medford was one of those singular, bittersweet moments of my life. I left behind friends I loved: Some have visited me back home on the other side of the world, others have unfortunately also been unable to adapt and dropped out. I do want to thank friends and professors for the impact they left. I wrote this Op-ed to make clear the reasons that pushed me out despite the good times and enthralling conversations we shared. Pax et Lux.

THE TUFTS DAILY

SPORTS 11

Thursday, October 19, 2023

Oliver Fox Sports and Society

Somebody find me a quarterback

COURTESY TUFTS ATHLETICS

The Tufts volleyball team celebrates against Susquehanna University on Sept. 23.

Women’s volleyball beats Williams and Amherst for a successful weekend at home Tara Wirtschoreck Contributing Writer

Originally published Oct. 17.

It was an incredibly successful weekend in the Cousens Gymnasium for the Tufts women’s volleyball team. Tufts won two games over the weekend, against Williams on Friday night and Amherst on Saturday afternoon. This pair of NESCAC wins has brought the Jumbos up to a three game winning streak.

Maddie Yu, senior defensive specialist and setter, explained that the source of the Jumbos’ confidence.

“We had an excellent week of practice, so our mindset going into this weekend was to carryover all our hard work from practice into the games,” Yu wrote in an email to the Daily.

The win against Williams took place on Tufts’ Senior Night, honoring the seven seniors on the team. The five-set match was tight, but the Jumbos rallied in the last two sets to win the match 3–2.

The first set started with a 25–21 loss for the Jumbos, but they came back strong, winning the second set 25–17.

The third set was marked by a strong initial lead, followed by a scoring drought for the Jumbos. During the first part of the set, the Jumbos were up as much as 15–8, directly followed by 6 points in a row for the Ephs, bringing the score to 15–14. The Ephs continued this forward momentum, which resulted in a 25–23 loss for the Jumbos in the third set.

The fourth set was another close matchup, this time ending in a win for the Jumbos. Williams started strong, scoring the first 5 points, putting Tufts in a position where they needed to catch up to stay in the game. The Jumbos were able to mount a comeback to win the fourth set, 26–24, largely because of their stellar defense.

The end of the fourth set was marked by two key blocks by Alina Qi, junior middle and opposition hitter. First year setter Rianna Liu explained that these blocks were essential to the Jumbos’ fourth set win and later victory over the Ephs.

“Those plays were a perfect example of perseverance and focus, and I was so proud to watch Alina take charge at the net,” Liu wrote in an email to the Daily.

After the fourth set, Tufts and Williams were tied with two sets apiece, making the fifth set crucial. The Jumbos pulled out the victory 15–10.

Fresh off of their victory against Williams, Tufts’ second game of the weekend against Amherst proved even more successful. The Jumbos won all three sets and outscored the Mammoths 61–23. Tufts also had 44 kills as opposed to Amherst’s 18.

The Jumbos played well in each of the three sets. They won the first 25–17, the second 25–14 and the third 25–9.

Tori Goldin, senior outside and opposition hitter, led the Jumbos in both games.

She had 12 kills against Amherst and 22 kills against Williams, a career-high for Goldin.

Liu explained that the Jumbos’ capabilities had improved across the board, most notably in terms of teamwork.

“We definitely have all improved in our individual skill sets, but the main area that sticks out to me is our improvement in communication with each other on the court,” Liu wrote.

“This shift in communication has been pivotal in our success and unity as a team.”

Along with this improvement in communication and teamwork, Yu explained that the team had upped their energy on the court.

“I think these past couple of games have absolutely been a turning point,” Yu wrote. “We played with so much energy, intensity, and grit throughout each of the matches, and we are all extremely proud of the way we played.”

These wins propelled the Jumbos up three spots to sixth place in the NESCAC rankings, putting them squarely into position to qualify for the NESCAC tournament.

Liu explained that the past three wins have been an important turning point for the team, forming a positive outlook for the postseason.

“I think the past few games have been crucial in setting up the team for a great post season run,” Liu wrote. “We’re seeing all of the hard work in practice pay off in our games, and the team is working as a unit to accomplish the same goal.”

Tufts will face Brandeis on Tuesday.

They’ll also play Babson College, Springfield College and MIT in the New England Challenge this weekend.

I simply do not believe NFL quarterbacking is this hard.

According to my highly-sophisticated data collection system known as recency bias, week six of the 2023 NFL season was the worst single week of quarterback play ever. I have never seen more game-killing interceptions, more ill-advised throws and more boneheaded decisions than I did this past week, and I’m staging an intervention.

As far as I can tell, the quarterback is the single most important position in all of sports. During my research for this piece, I parsed through all 68 sports listed on Wikipedia as “Team Sports,” and of the ones that have players play simultaneously — disqualifying sports like bowling and relay races — no one player comes close to the importance of the football quarterback.

And so there is simply no way that the multi-billion dollar industry known as the National Football League parsed through hours and hours of college film, pre-draft measurements and innate physical skills and decided that these are the 32 people best equipped to do this job in the entire world.

During week six, I counted one “wow” performance and two passable performances. The rest ranged from extremely ‘whatever’ to downright offensive. Jared Goff put out the single actually good showing, while Tua Tagovailoa and Dak Prescott were totally fine. But everyone else kind of or totally, unequivocally sucked.

There were a ludicrous number of interceptions thrown this week, but the numbers do not bother me so much as how awful some of them were. Several quarterbacks are routinely throwing interceptions directly to defenders, almost like they were blended into the grass. Pocket awareness is at an all-time low and taking moronic sacks seems to be the new hot trend.

After watching Jordan Love stare at a route for four whole seconds and zip it perfectly to the other team, my friend texted me that it was like he pressed the wrong button while playing Madden. After watching Mac Jones play for my beloved New England Patriots for six weeks, I’m not sure the Xbox controller is even working.

I do not have an explanation for why quarterbacks look so bad. Maybe play calling has gotten too cute. Maybe everyone wants a superhero under center and they’re trying to do too much. Maybe I’m just reading the room wrong, but there’s got to be a better way.

The NFL should be investing trillions in this problem. Develop some novel training approach. Identify guys at birth or before that. Replace quarterbacks with robots. I’m open to whatever, but I refuse to believe there are only, like, eight people on earth who are good at this. I simply refuse.

Oliver Fox is a writer for the sports section at the Tufts Daily. He is a junior majoring in history. He can be reached at oliver. fox@tufts.edu.

12 SPORTS

THE TUFTS DAILY

Thursday, October 19, 2023

Cross country program shows depth, strength at four-race Conn.

College Invitational Madeline Mueller News Editor

The Tufts cross country program had a successful weekend at the Connecticut College Invitational, which started on Saturday. The team provided strong performances in all four races at the invitational, with the men’s team finishing second overall and the women’s team finishing ninth in the more competitively seeded Blue races. The program showed its depth by handily winning the White races across both gender divisions.

The Blue race provided an opportunity for the top eight runners from each of the 26 entered teams to compete, with remaining runners competing in the White race to ensure that the field was not too crowded.

Falling only to St. Olaf College, the second place finish for the men’s team in the Blue race was an important confidence boost as the team approaches the end of their season. The Jumbos secured victory over their NESCAC competitors, providing a reference point heading into the NESCAC championships on Oct. 28.

“We really were striving to beat Amherst College and Middlebury.

We’re going to be seeing them again at the NESCAC championships in a few weeks, so we wanted to gain some confidence heading into

COURTESY TUFTS ATHLETICS

Sophomore Quinn Hampson pictured at the Bates Invitational on Sept. 17. that,” sophomore Quinn Hampson wrote in an email to the Daily.

Middlebury was in striking distance in fourth place overall with Amherst in a more distant 11th place.

The success came with a change in race strategy. The team had experimented with a conservative start during their race at the PreNationals invitational. Hampson indicated that team members were not pleased with the overall result and instead decided to focus on consistent effort throughout this weekend’s race.

“There were a lot of fast teams that we needed to beat

so we wanted to focus on keeping the gas on at all times,” Hampson wrote.

Junior Ivan Appleton finished in fourth place overall with a time of 24:30.8, a collegiate 8K personal best. Senior Walter Wagude also made the top ten, running 24:46.2 for ninth place.

Personal records were even more abundant in the White race, with the first seven Tufts runners all achieving their best times in the 8K. Senior Ryan Proulx won the race with a time of 25:33.5 with teammate junior Martin Horne finishing in second place at 25:46.9.

The team was very excited about the finish, which represented an improvement from last year’s iteration of the invitational.

“I remember collapsing across the finish line having no idea how we did, and just hearing one of my teammates yelling ecstatically at me that we did what we set out to do, and more,” Hampson wrote. “It’s really cool to see our improvement from last year, especially this exact meet last year, on the same course.”

On the women’s side, the Blue race was another opportunity to test a new race strategy. First-

year Sophia Carpenter said the team was focusing on running in a group and going out stronger than in previous races.

“Our goal was to go out there and work together and use what we’ve been practicing in our workouts in the race,” Carpenter said.

Tufts’ scoring runners finished between 47th and 60th place, showing the team broadly succeeded in staying together during the race. Junior Carly Rinko led the squad with 22:40.7 for the 6K. Carpenter thought the race was a good showing, but not all the team was hoping for.

“I definitely think that we all put in our best effort on Saturday,” Carpenter said. “I think our expectations were to get out a little bit faster than we ended up going out.”

The 6K White race produced a strong grouping of Tufts runners, with all scoring runners in the top 22. In ninth place with a time of 23:48.5, sophomore Jaclyn Turner led the Jumbos with firstyear teammate Katya Henisz close behind in 23:52.3 for 10th.

Senior Rose Kitz clinched 13th with sophomore Julia Dolce in 15th; both Kitz and Dolce ran career-best times.

Tufts hopes to take this momentum into their next competition, NESCAC Championships, on Oct. 28 at Amherst College.

Offense marches football to big win over Wesleyan Nick Dohr

Staff Writer

Parents and Family Weekend and the Play for Pink day had the Tufts football team fired up, and the squad was dominant right out of the gate. Under the lights and in front of a big crowd, junior running back Chartellis Reece started off the game for Tufts with an eight-yard carry.

Junior quarterback Michael Berluti ran the ball later in the drive, gaining 24 yards and the third first down of the possession. Berluti put a 17-yard pass into the hands of junior wide receiver Cade Moore to send the Jumbos up 7–0. Sophomore kicker Vaughn Seelicke made the extra point. He went seven for seven in PATs on Saturday.

Cardinal junior quarterback Niko Candido would look to respond, throwing to senior wide receiver Thomas Elkhoury on third down for a gain of 19 yards. Jumbo senior linebacker Shane Reiner then stepped up and got his first sack of the game. Reiner had nine tackles, three of which were sacks. Candido again found Elkhoury for a 15-yard pass, but good defensive plays by senior and junior defensive backs Kristian Rosario and Henry Ferrelli stopped any forward momentum.

At the start of the Jumbos’ second possession, Berluti threw to senior wide receiver Jaden Richardson who took it for 73 yards into the endzone, making it 14–0.

On the next Cardinals possession, senior defensive back Vic Garza got a sack for a loss of nine for the Cardinals. A high special teams

COURTESY TUFTS ATHLETICS

Cade Moore pictured against Wesleyan on Oct. 14. snap sent the ball over the kicker’s head, and it was recovered by Tufts inside the Wesleyan five-yard line.

A two-yard rush by Reece would give him his second touchdown of the game, and make it 21–0.

The Jumbos’ offense got the ball right back through a three and out by the Cardinals. With a huge 57-yard pass that was bobbled and then caught by Richardson in the endzone, Berluti made the score 28–0 right at the beginning of the second quarter.

A 50-yard pass from Candido to junior receiver Chase Wilson saw the Cardinals begin to get some momentum going. On a two-yard rush, Candido finally made it into the endzone and put up points for the Cardinals to make the score 28–6. Senior kicker Daniel Yoon put it through the uprights to make it

28–7. Yoon made both of his PAT attempts during the game.

On the next Tufts possession, Berluti connected with Moore for a gain of 20. Junior running back Aundre Smith ran for a gain of 21, using good footwork and a fancy spin move to avoid Wesleyan tacklers. Reece was the ball carrier for the next two plays, running first for 15 yards and then an additional five into the endzone to make it 35–7.

Reece ran for a net 51 yards and two touchdowns against the Cardinals.

Two penalties halted any additional momentum from the Cardinals on their next possession, and quickly the ball was back in Jumbo hands.

For the first time in this game, Tufts did not score on their next drive.

The Jumbos got the ball back later in the quarter and Berluti threw to senior wide receiver Luke

Botsford for a 39-yard gain. He then connected with Moore for a 20-yard touchdown pass to make the score 42–7 at halftime. Sophomore defensive linemen Suleiman Abuaqel of the Jumbos got a sack on the next Cardinals possession, adding to the Jumbos’ defensive tally.

While it was a serious game, the Jumbos enjoyed themselves. Cade Moore felt that spirit played into their performance level.

“I think when we’re out there having fun and enjoying each other and celebrating each other’s successes, that’s when we’re playing the best,” Moore said.

It was a stellar defensive game for the Jumbos, and senior linebacker EJ Comerford had a blast against the Cardinals.

“We’re a pretty old group on the defensive side of the ball. So, I mean,

we’ve been playing with each other for a while. It’s just an absolute blast when we go out there and play,” Comerford said.

After halftime, Wesleyan attempted to come out firing, and a good 12-yard rush by graduate student running back Ezra Jenifer along with a good seven-yard pass to junior wide receiver Rickey Eng got the Cardinals moving in the right direction. However, a sack on fourth down by Reiner for a loss of six yards snapped the Cardinals’ momentum.

Tufts took the ball over, and Berluti connected with Richardson again, and then Smith had a 28-yard rush to find the endzone, making the score 49–7. The Cardinals drove all the way down to the Jumbos’ one-yard line on their next drive.

Jenifer put it in the endzone to make the score 49–14.

With the score being so lopsided, Tufts gave senior quarterback Matt Crowley two possessions and then junior quarterback Luke Leongas took over for the rest of the game. The game provided a unique opportunity to bring in players who don’t see the field as frequently. Berluti was thrilled about the opportunity to see younger players come in and play.

“It’s always great when that happens at any position, and certainly under the lights, … Parents Weekend, with all the alumni there, the more guys we can get in the better,” Berluti said.

Tufts will take on Amherst at 1 p.m. on Saturday.