The Tufts Daily - Friday, November 13, 2020

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Friday, November 13, 2020

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TCU JUDICIARY SUSPENDS SENATE EXECUTIVE BOARD

Senate Executive Board and ECOM suspended, suspension later rescinded

by Alejandra Carrillo Executive News Editor

Editor’s Note: This article was originally published online at 10:53 a.m. on Thursday.

At approximately 5 p.m. on Thursday, the TCU Judiciary rescinded its suspension of the Senate Executive Board, according to an email by the Senate Executive Board to the Daily.

The Tufts Community Union (TCU) Judiciary filed two official orders yesterday temporarily suspending the Senate Executive Board and the Elections

Commission (ECOM) for their combined efforts to appoint members of the TCU Senate. The historian and the treasurer of the TCU are exempt from suspension.

The orders mean TCU President Sarah Wiener, Vice President Grant Gebetsberger, Parliamentarian Taylor Lewis and Diversity Officer Matthew Peña are, for the time being, suspended from their roles.

The Judiciary believes the Senate’s efforts could set a bad precedent and encourage TCU elections to become appointments,

according to an official statement signed by members of the Judiciary, including Chair Holden Dahlerbruch, Vice Chair Zachary Ferretti, Re-Recognition Chair John Youssef, Member at Large Max Price and Member at Large Andres Borjas.

The Judiciary has the power to issue orders against organizations, such as the TCU Senate, that they believe fail to uphold their own constitutions or the established regulations of the TCU. Typically, a hearing would be held by the Judiciary for cases such as these, yet

all members of the Judiciary have opted out of participating, citing their personal bias in the case. The Judiciary has filed a formal complaint with the Committee on Student Life in the interest of a fair, objective trial.

The order does not apply to the historian and the treasurer of the TCU Senate due to their role in attending to supplementary funding requests, student organizations’ budget fulfillment and other initiatives that have a large impact on the broader TCU.

Special Counsel Norman Eisen Tufts opposes proposed discusses experience in politics, rule limiting legal status of role in Trump’s impeachment trial international students

by Coco Arcand

Contributing Writer

Norman Eisen, who served as special counsel to the House Judiciary Committee for the impeachment and trial of President Donald Trump from 2019–20, addressed the Tufts community on Nov. 9 in a webinar. The event was co-sponsored by the Jonathan M. Tisch College of Civic Life, the Department of Political Science, JumboVote, the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy and the Pre-Law Society.

Following an opening statement by senior Joseph Berrafati, Alan Solomont, dean of Tisch College, moderated the conversation.

Eisen mainly spoke about his role in Trump’s impeachment trial, which is also the subject of his new book, “A Case for the American People: The United States v.

Donald J. Trump” (2020). The book focuses on the impeachment case, which Eisen brought before Congress.

Solomont began the conversation by asking Eisen to explain his childhood and the circumstances that eventually led to his career in politics.

Eisen described his childhood as “a very typical immigrant story.” Before he was born, Eisen’s father immigrated from Poland, and his mother from Czechoslovakia. At 5 or 6 years old, he worked alongside his parents and siblings in their family hamburger stand.

Eisen remarked on one of his earliest memories.

“I remember watching those Watergate hearings with my father on our tiny little grease-splattered, black-and-white television and … my dad saying to me, ‘Those are American heroes. That’s the meaning of our country, what’s going on, holding people accountable,’” Eisen said.

After graduating from Brown University, Eisen worked for the Anti-Defamation League before attending Harvard Law School. At Harvard, Eisen met fellow student and future President Barack Obama.

After graduating from law school, Eisen worked for 20 years as a criminal defense attorney before transitioning to work on Obama’s presidential campaign.

“The event campaign was so wonderful,” Eisen said. “It was an underdog campaign, you know the people were not joining that campaign because they wanted to win … [it was] because they believed in the mission.”

After Obama’s presidential win in 2008, Eisen acted as special counsel and special assistant to the president for ethics and government reform.

Eisen said he has maintained a tough stance on ethics rules.

“I was [nicknamed] the White House ‘epic czar,'” he said.

Later, he became involved in facilitating the transition of power from Obama to the 2016 president-elect, Donald Trump.

However, it was during this transition of power that Eisen recognized problems with Trump that would eventually culminate in his role in the president’s impeachment trial.

“I was helping on the Trump transition and then Donald Trump announced … that he was going to take unconstitutional foreign payments, so-called emoluments, [which] is the one ethics rule that the founders and the framers [of the United States were] so worried about,” Eisen said.

Eisen described Trump’s presidency.

“Donald Trump has betrayed the constitution and his oath … through a pattern see IMPEACHMENT, page 2

by Flora Meng

Contributing Writer

In a recent letter to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), University President Anthony Monaco expressed concern toward a newly proposed rule that would impose fixed time limits to the legal status of international students.

According to Andrew Shiotani, director of the Tufts International Center, the DHS plans to change a system that has been in place since the 1980s.

“Under the current system when a student … comes to the United States to study on a student visa, they are allowed to stay in the United States as long as they’re pursuing their program,” Shiotani said. “If [students] need an extension … the school can extend their staff stay in the United States.”

However, the new DHS proposal seeks not only to enforce a fixed time period of admission, but to alter the process of applying for an extension of stay.

“Under the new rule, regardless of how long your program is, a student would only get either two years or four years of legal status in the United States,” Shiotani said.

In his letter, Monaco urged the DHS to maintain the rules it already has in place.

“Each year, Tufts welcomes more than 2,000 international students and scholars to study and work in Massachusetts and each of these individuals rely on the department’s longstanding rule that their admission to the United States will extend through the ‘duration of status,’” Monaco wrote.

If the proposed rule were to be ratified, Shiotani anticipates that these increased administrative procedures would burden international students.

“[The new extension process] means an application that you have to file with the government costs several hundred dollars per application, and can take six, seven, eight months or longer before the application is decided and processed,” Shiotani said. “It’s a much more rigid system. It’s a much more expensive system.”

First-year Jose Atienza, who is an international student, expressed concern over the DHS proposal.

“I personally think it’s nonsensical because initially when we get our visas, we have to go through a very rigorous process to ensure that, firstly, we can pay for our program, and secondly, that we can prove that we won’t go to the U.S. illegally through our student visas,” Atienza said.

Atienza said he believes the DHS proposal would provide an extra layer of bureaucracy and uncertainty to an already frustrating process.

Shiotani explained the potential impact of the DHS proposal on Tufts students, more specifically.

“Many [undergraduate students] would have to file complicated legal applications to extend their status,” Shiotani said. “It would definitely impact our Ph.D. and graduate students because if you were only given two years or four years to stay in the United States and your program is automatically five to seven years, you’re going to be doing at least one or two extensions.”

Another concern Monaco raised in the letter was the proposal’s potential interference with international students’ capacity to undertake curricular

EDITORIAL / page 7

ARTS / page 3

SPORTS / back

Duration of status is vital for the protection of international students

Gaga’s ‘ARTPOP’ may have been ahead of its time

Jumbo baseball players set their eyes on MLB

see SECURITY, page 2 NEWS

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ARTS & POP CULTURE

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FUN & GAMES

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OPINION

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SPORTS

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THE TUFTS DAILY | News | Friday, November 13, 2020

THE TUFTS DAILY Alex Viveros

Eisen says Trump impeachment trial impacted election outcome IMPEACHMENT

Editor in Chief

EDITORIAL Rebecca Barker Hannah Harris Managing Editors Jake Freudberg Associate Editors Jilly Rolnick Alejandra Carrillo Maddie Aitken Jessica Blough Tom Guan Liza Harris Alex Janoff Matt McGovern Sara Renkert Sarah Sandlow Anton Shenk Carolina Espinal Sam Klugherz Alexander Thompson Alicia Zou

Executive News Editor Deputy News Editor News Editors

Assistant News Editors

Ryan Shaffer Executive Features Editor Sid Anand Features Editors Amelia Becker Jillian Collins Claire Fraise Evelyn McClure Kayla Butera Assistant Features Editor Megan Szostak Executive Arts Editor Devina Bhalla Arts Editors Ryan Eggers Steph Hoechst Tuna Margalit Chris Panella Yas Salon Elizabeth Sander Colette Smith Rebecca Tang Geoff Tobia Drew Weisberg Assistant Arts Editor Liz Shelbred Priya Padhye Paloma Delgado Amulya Mutnuri Mike Wilkinson Caroline Wolinsky Abhilasha Bhasin Eliza Dickson Sara Kessel Milli Lu Emily Nadler Grace Prendergast Faye Thijssen Sam Wilner Julia Baroni Carys Kong Annabel Nied Valeria Velasquez Juju Zweifach

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Sruthi Kocherlakota Executive Sports Editor Tim Chiang Sports Editors Matt Goguen Jeremy Goldstein Aiden Herrod Pranav Jain Ananda Kao Delaney Tantillo Arpan Barua Assistant Sports Editors Jacob Dreyer Henry Gorelik Ethan Ling Arnav Sacheti Alex Sharp Eric Spencer Austin Clementi Executive Investigative Editor Arlo Moore-Bloom Executive Audio Editor Anne Marie Burke Executive Photo Editors Nicole Garay Aidan Chang Staff Photographers Patrick Milewski Menqi Irina Wang Austen Money Executive Video Editor

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Norman Eisen is pictured.

Proposed DHS rule would discourage enrollment of international students SECURITY

continued from page 1 practical training and optional practical training. These benefits allow scholars to stay in the United States to seek jobs postgraduation in the field related to their major.

Shiotani discussed another potential issue cited in Monaco’s letter.

“Most students should be eligible for four years [of stay], but students from certain countries — many of them in sub-Saharan Africa or parts of Asia, Central Asia and South Asia, Southeast Asia as well — would automat-

ically be restricted to the two year stay, not the four year stay,” Shiotani said.

Monaco emphasized that the proposed rule may lead to a reduction in the university’s enrollment of international students.

“The department’s proposed rule will negatively impact Tufts University by reducing international enrollment, diminishing vital resources for teaching, research, innovation and an advanced talent pipeline, and impeding the University’s mission to educate active citizens of the world,” Monaco said.

continued from page 1 of radically radical selfishness of putting his own interests first to the detriment, the neglect and end the positive suppression of the interests of the American people,” Eisen said.

Eisen originally drafted 10 articles of impeachment, which were ultimately shortened to two before the trial was brought before Congress. “[The first article outlined] the underlying wrongdoing in Ukraine, for the quid pro quo.

We titled that abuse of power and that was in the original articles. The second article was for obstruction of justice, and a third article for the Mueller investigation for obstruction of Congress,” Eisen said.

The second and third articles were eventually merged.

The Democratic-controlled House of Representatives voted to impeach Trump. However, the Republican-controlled Senate voted to acquit him.

Eisen pointed to the Senate’s refusal for witnesses to be called as one of the reasons Trump was acquitted.

Eisen spoke on behalf of himself and his co-counsel, Barry Burke, about the importance of hearing witness depositions in a case.

“We’ve probably done hundreds of trials and one thing we know is no matter how hopeless a trial is, you never know [the verdict] until you put the witnesses on the stand and you examine them,” Eisen said. “It was a terrible [suppression] of justice, that the Senate did not allow [us to call witnesses].”

Although Trump was ultimately acquitted, Eisen did not regret the work he invested in the trial. He believes that the trial allowed the American people to “wake up” and recognize Trump’s patterns of abusing the trust of the American people.

Eisen said the impeachment trial played an important role in Trump’s election loss.

“The totality of the case is one that seems to have persuaded the American people in this very important election that they’d had enough of Donald Trump,” Eisen said.

He concluded by remarking on the importance of the trial and stating that he would contribute to an impeachment process again. “[This trial] sent a message to America and the world that in the United States, no one is above political law,” Eisen said.

“And I would do it again in a heartbeat … we had to do this, it was the right thing to do.”

ARTS & POP CULTURE

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Friday, November 13, 2020

Revisiting Gaga’s ‘ARTPOP’ 7 years later, with ‘Chromatica’ in mind

by Christopher Panella Arts Editor

Content warning: This article mentions trauma, eating disorders and sexual assault.

In the months leading up to its release, Lady Gaga called “ARTPOP” (2013) “a celebration and a poetic musical journey,” a reverse Warholian effort with the intention to “put art culture into pop music” and “fun, dirty dance music.” It’s a lot of paratextual information for her third studio album. Throughout its release schedule, “ARTPOP” was advertised through various television engagements, a short residency, “ArtRave: The Artpop Ball” tour (2014), an album release party in a warehouse and a controversial appearance at South by Southwest (more on that later). It was a massive undertaking that perhaps rendered “ARTPOP” one of pop music’s most promoted albums; an “ARTPOP” mobile app was even launched.

“ARTPOP” began a larger-than-life era for Lady Gaga, pop’s most outrageous and concept-focused musician. That context is important to consider when revisiting the album seven years later and questioning its status.

The album didn’t land well, especially when compared to the high standards set by Gaga’s previous endeavors, such as “The Fame” (2008), its reissue “The Fame Monster” (2009) and the monumental “Born This Way” (2011). Critics called “ARTPOP” “enjoyable but well-worn” and “sexual but not sexy.” Some songs were “half-finished,” and critics questioned why she was writing a third album about fame. “ARTPOP” didn’t sell as well as Gaga’s previous releases and led to rumors that her label lost upward of $25 million on the project, though these claims were quickly recanted.

This lukewarm reaction pushed Gaga into depression and kept her away from dance music. It was only with her most recent release, “Chromatica” (2020), that the singer returned to the genre.

In 2013, Gaga was mostly a pop musician — she’s always been versatile, but that wasn’t what she was publicly known for — whose career could’ve been destroyed by one forgettable release. Thankfully, Gaga did some rebranding with the release of “Cheek to Cheek” (2014) and her performance of a “Sound of Music” (1965) medley at the 2015 Oscars. Her career was saved, but “ARTPOP” still needs to be questioned.

As fans celebrate the album on its anniversary, even after Gaga tweeted last year that she doesn’t remember the album, it’s important to consider the various revisionisms that question whether or not “ARTPOP”

deserved its negative reception. Was the album just ahead of its time?

Our answer to this question first depends on how favorably we view experimentation in pop music. If we appreciate experimentation for its own sake, it’s easier to love “ARTPOP” for all its rowdiness.

That’s not to say there’s no meaning behind the album; it is perhaps the most thematically rich album from Gaga who’s always exploring herself and how she sees the world.

But, if we expect clearer, more well-defined artistic meaning — something “ARTPOP” doesn’t necessarily have since it’s more of a conceptual collage — then we might be confused by Gaga’s extravagance. The Michelin Man-esque performance might feel like a stunt. Her Oval Office duet of “Do What U Want (feat.

R. Kelly)” (2013) could come off as tasteless, even after she apologized for the song and removed it from all streaming services.

And the album’s cover, created by artist Jeff Koons, may as well give us a headache.

Both schools of thought — appreciating it because it’s experimental and hating it because it has a lot going on — are great starting points because they barely scratch the surface of what makes “ARTPOP” worth studying. Sure, the album experiments with brash electronic dance music sounds and wacky lyricism, but it also uses that dissonance to deconstruct personal experiences. There’s meaning and purpose in the work even if some listeners think it’s just too loud and too weird. Indeed, “ARTPOP” isn’t vapid, but rather challenging. It’s starting many conversations about topics like identity on “Aura,” desire on “Venus,” sexual power on “G.U.Y.,” assault and monstrous behavior on “Swine,” wandering spirits on “Gypsy” and fame on “Applause.”

And those explorations make it an exhaustive album. The whiplash of three consecutive sex-related songs to the trappop of “Jewels N’ Drugs (feat.

T.I., Too $hort & Twista)” would give us more than enough material to process on any other given record from any other artist. So, imagine how we might feel after we finish all 14 tracks. Our heads are spinning.

We can be simple and say “ARTPOP” aged like a fine wine, but it might be more useful to note that “ARTPOP” feels like it exists outside of time. Does that quality come from the album’s absurdity? Maybe. It may also come from the album’s refusal to stick to one idea or sound.

Whereas other 2013 releases, like Miley Cyrus’ “We Can’t Stop” and Katy Perry’s “Roar,” feel cemented in the early 2010s, “ARTPOP” sounds like it could’ve been released yesterday.

COURTESY WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

The cover of Lady Gaga’s album “ARTPOP” (2013) is pictured.

Regardless, Gaga made “ARTPOP” feel all-encompassing and messy. It’s a gold-mine of lyrics that try to define the singer. On the title track, she affirms that her “ARTPOP could mean anything” and that she just loves the music, “not the bling.”

In the opening lines of “Aura,” she describes what it’s like to redefine herself every time she releases new music, telling us, “I killed my former and left her in the trunk on Highway 10.” The songs remain true to who Gaga is behind her outfits, makeup and wigs. And if we’re going to have a conversation about our misunderstanding of “ARTPOP,” then we should discuss it in relation to “Chromatica.”

At first glance, “Chromatica” might look like an improved “ARTPOP.” They’re both dancepop albums, but the former is more of a celebration of house music and healing than the latter. “Chromatica” is more mature-sounding and critically acclaimed. Listening to it is a positive experience; when the album finishes, we feel refreshed and relieved to have processed our trauma with Gaga.

“ARTPOP” is much more unrestrained and less self-assured.

If we listen to “ARTPOP” and “Chromatica” consecutively, we discover something fascinating: They’re more like twins than we originally realized, as they both explore similar themes through different lenses of age, maturity and experience. “Chromatica” is an older, wiser Gaga, processing what she was just beginning to feel on “ARTPOP.”

Does this mean we should look at the two albums as almost like a package deal?

No. “ARTPOP” started many of the conversations to which “Chromatica” contributes, which means the former simultaneously exists on its own and inspires other creations. One of the key examples of this is how Gaga sings about her sexual assault. She consistently discusses the post-traumatic stress disorder and pain that she carries — singing about it on “Til It Happens to You” for the documentary film “The Hunting Ground” (2015) — and that openness has made her an important figure for survivors. But “Til It Happens to You” came after “Swine,” a track on”ARTPOP.” The song was made famous at “South by Southwest” in 2014 and immediately became one of Gaga’s most controversial creations: Throughout the six minute performance of “Swine,” artist Millie Brown consumed and vomited paint onto Gaga while she played drums and rode a mechanical bull with a pig’s head. The track practically explodes as Gaga screams, “f— you pop music! This is ‘ARTPOP!’ Free yourself!” Backlash was considerable, with many questioning the performance’s seemingly glorified portrayal of bulimia.

But “Swine” feels less like a promotion of anything and more like an outlet for Gaga to process the pain of being assaulted. In an interview with Howard Stern, she called it a song “about rape” and “demoral-

ization.” The message resonates with lyrics like “I know, I know, I know you want me, you’re just a pig inside a human body.”

“Swine” is critical when thinking about “Free Woman,” a track from “Chromatica” which celebrates Gaga’s independence and journey with mental health. “It’s me going, ‘I’m no longer going to define myself as a survivor, or a victim of sexual assault,’” Gaga told Zane Lowe in her Apple Music interview. “I just am a person that is free, who went through some f——up s—.”

This adds to the recent revisionism of “ARTPOP” as both a journey “behind the aura” (as Gaga sings on “Aura”) of one of the world’s biggest pop stars and as a piece of art that will continue to be discussed as long as Gaga continues to make music. Songs like “Swine” are important in Gaga’s discography both because of how they define the ever-changing singer for a specific moment and due to how they connect to her later works. In other words, while “Chromatica” has brought “ARTPOP” back into the cultural conversation in 2020, it’s important to acknowledge that the latter stands on its own.

And, seven years later, here’s hoping we continue to analyze the album and all of its madness, because this is just a portion of what could be written about “ARTPOP.” Each year that passes might inspire further revisiting and thought. We can chalk that up to the album’s deserving our constant attention and being anything but boring.

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THE TUFTS DAILY | Arts & Pop Culture | Friday, November 13, 2020

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The power of the dollar: Black-owned fashion labels Colette Smith Arts Editor

While many of you might be new to the concept of exercising your purchasing power, it is perhaps one of the simplest and most effective ways to fight for racial justice in America. The clothing and footwear industries are enormous. Globally, the clothing and footwear market is estimated to be worth around $1.9 trillion dollars, and the United States constitutes a sizable portion of this: Revenue for American apparel in 2019 was nearly $360 billion. This gigantic industry is unique in that it is driven by ordinary consumers who make the choice to buy these products.

Consumers have a voice in the way these companies operate and can encourage them to embrace changes for the better by choosing to spend or withdraw their money. At the end of the day, all clothing and footwear companies are looking to maximize their profit, and the collective action of consumers withholding money from the market will force companies to change.

Calvin Martyr is one example of someone who saw the power of the dollar. Martyr organized #BlackOutDay2020, a campaign in which he encouraged Black Americans not to purchase anything or to move their purchases to Black-owned businesses for a day to display how large an impact the Black community has on the American economy.

Now that the power of purchasing has been established, it is helpful to look at some companies to which you can redirect your purchases. However, it should be noted that this is a very concise list representing a plethora of amazing Black-owned fashion brands that deserve to be explored and supported.

Renowned LA: This brand was founded by John Dean, who

VIA CHELSEA BRAVO

Styles from Chelsea Bravo are pictured. originally hails from Akron, Ohio.

This brand’s creative streetwear offerings have established a loyal fan base very quickly. According to Dean, the company’s growth strategy is to take its time as it and continues to make great products with the goal of raising awareness of important issues.

LeBron James, another Akron

native, teamed up with the brand to raise money for The Lebron James Family Foundation.

Chelsea Bravo Studio: Chelsea Bravo’s brand can be characterized by simple and comfortable silhouettes that have a sensation of being grounded with the sustainable materials from which they are made. Her women’s,

VIA LOLA ADE

The Four Corners Bracelet from Lola Ade is pictured.

VIA CHELSEA BRAVO

The KeÏta Swing Top from Chelsea Bravo is pictured.

A&P men’s and unisex pieces feature warm earth tones with organic lines and fits.

Purchasing garments from Chelsea Bravo supports not only a Black-owned business but also a brand that prioritizes sustainability in its production process.

Tier NYC: This Brooklyn-based brand is a favorite of celebrities like Carmelo Anthony, Rick Ross and Jimmy Butler.

Founded by Nigeria Ealey, Esaïe JeanSimon and Victor James, the garments offered by this brand are effortlessly cool.

Many of the garments are sweatsuits in simple colors that could be perfect for working for home while still being very fashionable. The company also sells other accessories like hats.

Shop Nichole Lynel: Shop Nichole Lynel is a rapidly growing online fashion brand. It offers a wide variety of clothing pieces designed by Nichole Lynel, who has an active and fierce Instagram account that often showcases her pieces. My personal favorites are the edgy denim pieces which range from fringe boyfriend jeans to dramatic uneven denim skirts.

Lola Ade: This jewelry brand offers everything from delicate gold pieces to bold, colorful resin earrings and bracelets.

Designer Lola Ade draws inspiration from both her childhood in Lagos, Nigeria and her current traveling to create bright and unique pieces. The brand is quite affordable for high-quality jewelry, so it is a perfect spot to buy holiday gifts this year!

Overall, exercising your purchasing power is one of many ways to fight racial injustice and other issues important to you. It is one of the simplest ways to continue the necessary fight and is an action that can have cascading effects in the clothing market and economy. Especially as the holidays and their corresponding purchasing spikes approach, it is essential to continue to educate yourself and make small changes in your life that can have a ripple effect. Additionally, while the focus here was the fashion industry, the power of your dollar extends to all sectors of the economy, a fact that should be both recognized and harnessed.

Friday, November 13, 2020 | Arts & Pop Culture | THE TUFTS DAILY

5

Florence Almeda Livestreamed and Quarantined

Bebel Gilberto

I

VIA NICHOLE LYNEL

The Moto Sport Short Set from Nichole Lynel is pictured.

still remember the day my dad picked up the CD of Brazilian lounge music at the grocery store checkout line. Absentmindedly, he tossed it in the cart like one would a tin of Altoids or a pack of gum. I was probably about 7 at the time, utterly unaware that these twelve songs would become the backdrop to nearly every activity in the Almeda family household. Filled with classic and remixed bossa nova music, my parents would put it on during birthday parties, while we were cleaning the house and even in the mornings while we munched on bowls of Honey Bunches of Oats before rushing off to school.

It’s funny — when people ask me what my favorite genre of music is, I catch myself rotating between soul, funk and indie, depending on my mood that day. It was only after I had a conversation about bossa nova music with a friend this past week, though, did I realize my deep attachment to this genre. In relistening to this CD this week, I could feel myself getting a little emotional. Though it’s hard to place the feeling exactly, but put simply: When I hear bossa nova, I think of home.

Recently, I did some Googling to find the original CD we used to listen to and when I did, it was not just the music but the cover itself, a cartoonish vignette of partygoers lounging on a low, mossy green couch with mountains in the background, that made me feel like a kid again.

How fortuitous it was to then watch Bebel Gilberto’s NPR Tiny Desk (Home) concert, filmed in her apartment in Rio de Janeiro, and to see the same kind of low green couch and windows looking out onto a soaring mountainscape. Gilberto, a Brazilian vocalist, is the daughter of João Gilberto, one of the progenitors of bossa nova.

Accompanying her in the livestream was Chico Brown, son of Carlinhos Brown and grandson of Chico Barque, both acclaimed Brazilian musicians. As she eased into the first song of her set, a new release titled “Cliché” (2020), I immediately recognized her voice from one of my favorite tracks on the CD, “August Day Song” (2000). Her voice is dipped in nostalgia, tinted with a distinctly smoky and covered quality.

After “Cliché,” she played another new song, “Na Cara” (2020) and ended with a bossa nova classic, “Aganju” (2004).

The performance was fun, romantic and sultry all at once as she smiled and swayed around her apartment, her dog puttering around in the background.

It might just be me, but I’ve hit that point in the semester where I start to feel a little homesick. Though sometimes I’ll review a livestream I already know and I love, for this week’s column I actively sought out bossa nova. I’ve built a routine of entrenching myself in the music of the livestream in anticipation of writing the pieces, and was certain that listening to this genre would bring me a dose of home that I needed — and I was right. As cliché as it may sound, the effects of music are truly tangible, and this week, I felt that on a personal level.

Florence Almeda is a junior studying music and community health. Florence can be reached at florence.almeda@gmail.com

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THE TUFTS DAILY | Fun & Games | Friday, November 13, 2020

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CORRECTION A previous version of the article “LeBron won his fourth ring: What does that mean for his basketball legacy?” said that LeBron just concluded his 16th season in the NBA, when in fact he has just concluded his 17th season. The article has been updated to reflect this change. The Daily regrets this error.

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EDITORIAL

Protect duration of status for international students On Sept. 25, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) proposed a rule that would impose “fixed” limits on the length of time that international students and scholars are permitted to study in the United States. This rule would eliminate the current “duration of status” framework, in which international students are allowed to remain in the United States until they have completed their studies or research programs. On behalf of the university, President Anthony Monaco and Provost Nadine Aubry wrote a letter urging the DHS to reconsider these proposed changes.

This is not the first time that the DHS has made active efforts to hinder international students’ ability to pursue an education in the United States. In July, the Trump administration tried to bar international students from continuing their academic coursework within the United States if their institutions decided to operate in an online-only capacity. This effort was promptly rescinded following swift legal pushback from a number of prominent universities, including Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

The implementation of this proposed rule would upend international students’ academic careers and ultimately hinder intellectual and economic development in the United States. Its arbitrary restrictions represent yet another governmental attempt to exclude international students from this country’s universities and industries, revealing a larger, long-standing pattern of xenophobia. The Daily stands with international students and urges the DHS to reconsider this rule and preserve the duration of status framework for international students.

International students bring immense value to this nation and Tufts’ campus. With the enhancement of the intellectual and cul-

Jack Clohisy The Weekly Rewind

Bundles be gone!

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illboard announced in July that it would no longer allow “bundles,” or the grouping together of merchandise and concert tickets with an album to increase sales. This decision, which went into effect on Oct. 9, was controversial, since artists often use bundles to ensure chart dominating performances even with lackluster tracks and albums. However, this amendment is necessary; true talent will now

BY ANNABEL NIED tural vitality of academic spaces, they provide our community with knowledge and innovation.

International students are also essential to fostering a more competitive and prosperous economy; in 2018, international students contributed $45 billion to the U.S. economy. The proposed rule would present significant barriers to international students in continuing their studies and research in the United States, effectively curtailing academic advancement and economic development.

Beyond stifling this country’s academic, economic and cultural growth, this rule would sever inter-

national students’ robust interpersonal ties, essential to both their college experiences and the Tufts community as a whole. Like all students, international students forge close relationships with other community members and enrich student life on the Hill; the rigidity and uncertainty created by this rule threatens to endanger these bonds.

First-year student Charlotte Ko expressed her concern about the potential time constraints of the proposed guidelines, explaining the uncertainty surrounding the impact that this rule may have on the growing relationships she has formed at Tufts.

“If I can’t be here, I can’t be part of the community,” Ko said. “It will feel like I’m always on the outside looking in, looking over my shoulder to be in compliance.”

Instating a strict time limit for international students and scholars to remain in the United States is also unrealistic. As Monaco and Aubry wrote in their letter, the proposed policy assumes that learning occurs on a fixed schedule. This is far from the reality.

International students participate in research, internships and independent projects that often span the course of many semesters.

In addition, some academic pro-

shine through as only true album sales and streams will be counted toward an artist’s total.

In 2018, Nicki Minaj and Travis Scott competed to debut at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 between their respective albums “Queen” (2018) and “Astroworld” (2018). Both albums managed to sell 78,000 physical copies in the first week, but with Minaj’s stream total for the album less than Scott’s, her overall album-equivalent sales were lower.

When Scott debuted at No. 1, Minaj claimed it was due to his bundling album sales with concert tickets.

Without bundling, it is possible that Scott may not have earned the top spot over Minaj.

Despite her complaints, Minaj was no stranger to using the same techniques. She added “Fefe” to

“Queen” (2018), a track that already had streams and popularity, in an effort to boost the overall sales of the album. In its review of bundling, Billboard analyzed techniques like these. While No. 1 debuts on the Hot 100 have become increasingly common, so has bundling; like the Billboard 200, promotion tactics drive sales.

When an album’s margin over another can be attributed to bundling tactics, the whole chart is skewed. Sales are supposed to be objective, so when artists attempt to subvert the system and use bundles to promote their own work, the legitimacy of a No. 1 becomes murky.

Organic hits, or hits that sustain their audience well after release, are true indicators of a hit. “Smile”

(2020) by Katy Perry debuted at No. 5 in September with 35,000 units, excluding streams, which Billboard attributed to being “aided by merchandise/album bundles sold via Perry’s official webstore.” This distinction is relevant, as Smile would drop out of the Billboard 200 after a mere four weeks. A top five hit with less than a month on the charts is alarming, and highlights the flawed calculations used to determine the top albums weekly.

Billboard has since acknowledged these discrepancies, and pledges to hold artists accountable for their true sales from here on out. Ariana Grande’s sixth studio album, “positions” (2020), is an indicator of the drastic impact of this amendment. Debuting at No. 1 last week with a total of

grams, “including joint, dual and combined undergraduate and undergraduate/graduate degrees, professional degrees, and Ph.D. degrees,” require more than four years to complete. Learning does not operate on a “fixed” schedule; it is a dynamic process that often requires follow-ups, extensions and reevaluations. As a result, eliminating the duration of stay rule would significantly hinder international students’ and their institutions’ academic growth, halting progress in its tracks.

Most glaringly, the proposed rule is discriminatory. As Monaco and Aubry stated in their letter to the DHS, the rule unfairly targets students and scholars originating “from economically developing and disadvantaged areas,” including those determined to have “high visa overstay” rates. Low income international students already must overcome a multitude of barriers in order to study at Tufts; this rule will only intensify these obstacles, as it reduces low income students’ access to many academic programs. In effect, this would dilute diverse cultural perspectives in academic work and, perhaps more importantly, reduce vital opportunities for this group.

International students are an irreplaceable part of the Tufts community; their knowledge and relationships undoubtedly better our campus and this country. Not only will the proposed rule result in an incredible loss of opportunity, but it will ultimately fragment communities integral to the growth of this country. We call upon academic institutions across the country to take an active role in challenging the implementation of fixed time limits and protecting duration of status for international students.

International students’ futures, and the vital contributions they offer to this country’s intellectual and economic institutions, depend upon it.

174,000 album-equivalent units, “positions” is down more than half of the first week sales of Grande’s last studio album, “thank u, next” (2019), which boasted 360,000 album-equivalent units. However, since Billboard’s new rule went into effect last month, “positions” had the greatest total of weekly sales for an album. Grande’s relative success demonstrates how inflated the charts have been in recent years. With this change, Billboard is providing a better scope into which albums are truly the most popular in the United States each week.

Jack Clohisy is a sophomore who has not yet declared a major.

Jack can be reached at Jack.Clohisy@tufts.edu.

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8 Friday, November 13, 2020

SPORTS

tuftsdaily.com

Jumbos garner major league attention

by Jack Adgate

Contributing Writer

Junior Peter DeMaria and senior Ryan Daues have attracted attention from scouts in many Major League Baseball organizations. These major league aspirations are monumental for a program that has only had three players drafted to play professional baseball in its history.

In September, these two Jumbo student-athletes attended a professional workout with several scouts in attendance. DeMaria and Daues, both impacted by the NESCAC’s decision to cancel all athletics this spring, finally got their chance to shine.

“Both of us going into college were definitely hopeful that we could get pro attention, and it’s really cool to see it play out this way over the years,” DeMaria said.

The chance to prove oneself in front of major league teams is a dream for many college players, no doubt, and Daues and DeMaria are living it. However, with Tufts competing at the Div. III level, professional attention is not always expected.

“I didn’t really have any expectation of this, coming into a Div. III school,” Daues said. “What I did have was the will to grow and become the best player I can. What has come from it is an added plus.”

Nonetheless, Daues and DeMaria are turning heads of many scouts, and it’s easy to understand why.

DeMaria, a first baseman from Chatham, N.J., came onto the scene strong in his rookie season with the Jumbos in 2019. He boasted a scorching .361 batting average, driving in 40 runs and blasting two home runs in a campaign that earned DeMaria NESCAC Rookie of the Year and First Team honors. A 6-foot-2inch, 210-pound cog in the middle of a lineup that claimed the NESCAC baseball title in 2019, DeMaria looks to build on his success on the field at Tufts.

“I try not to focus on [the attention] I’ve been getting and just

EVAN SLACK / THE TUFTS DAILY

Senior Ryan Daues is pictured at bat during Tufts’ 24–6 win over Massachusetts Maritime Academy on March 27, 2019. improve on the weaknesses I think I have,” DeMaria said. “I want to come to practice every day and make myself a better player and teammate.”

An infielder out of Palos Verdes, Calif., Daues had his 2019 season cut short due to injury.

But in his 12 appearances early in the 2019 season, Daues boasted an impressive .333 batting average, driving in 15 runs in only 45 at-bats. Both the injury in 2019 and the cancellation of the 2020 season have thrown Daues tough loops in his college career, but he has been taking it in stride.

“If I was able to take the time off that I had to stay consistent in my process and get better, I knew it would help me take a step past the guys that weren’t working,” Daues said. “It was always a chance to get better.”

Daues’ optimism and resilience has him slated to be a key bat in the Tufts lineup and a sure glove on the

Arnav Sacheti Hoops Traveler

The world’s largest democracy

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ollywood. The Taj Mahal. Cricket.

These are some of the things that India, the world’s largest democracy by population, is known for universally.

But today, as a proud overseas citizen of India, I want to make sure basketball goes on that list, too.

As a country with many densely populated urban areas, basketball was almost immediately adopted in India upon its invention in 1891 because of the ease with which it could be played in small spaces. In addition, from the beginning, the sport in India did not discriminate by gender, as many colleges and schools allowed both men and women to

infield for the Jumbos as they hope to be able to play in spring 2021.

There is no doubt from Daues nor DeMaria that this upcoming spring will be of utmost importance for their status as draft prospects. Both players have small statistical sample sizes from their college careers, and their performances come March are what scouts will assess when weighing their interests.

With Daues missing the majority of his sophomore campaign due to an injury, and both players losing out on their season due to COVID19 last year, their output in 2021 will be front and center for teams to see.

But neither the NESCAC nor Tufts has made a decision about the status of the spring season, due to the pandemic.

“Getting a full season of numbers and success, not only as a player but as a team, can really go a long way for us getting serious looks,” Daues said. “Numbers are import-

showcase their talents and achieve recognition as well as potential sports scholarships.

My grandmother was one of these fortunate players who derived a sense of purpose from the game while in school, although she never pursued basketball for a scholarship.

Basketball’s institutional journey in India began in the 1930s, with the first Indian national championship tournament during the decade. Soon enough, more domestic tournaments were played, attracting young talent and popularizing the sport. In 1950, the Basketball Federation of India officially organized the sport. It created an Indian national team that competed in international competition as a member of the International Basketball Federation (FIBA), the world’s basketball governing body.

The men’s national team has appeared in the Olympics and FIBA World Cup, while winning three gold medals in the South Asian games. While the women’s national team has not achieved this level of success, they have made a name for themselves in tournaments such as the FIBA Asia Championship.

ant for measurables, so hopefully a full season can really benefit the both of us.”

Not only are DeMaria and Daues talented baseball players, but they are also players that fit in the system that head coach John Casey has been building in his 38-year tenure at Tufts.

“They accept their role and are great teammates,” Casey said about DeMaria and Daues. “In the end, it’s about all of us here and not just one or two guys, and they embrace that.”

Casey praised Daues’ and DeMaria’s skills at the plate.

“Daues is a gap-to-gap, high-average hitter, while Peter shows off impressive power,” Casey said.

“Scouts look for skills that stand out, and both Peter and Ryan do so with the bat.”

DeMaria and Daues are not the only players from the Tufts baseball program to receive interest from professional baseball teams.

However, Casey explained that they

Despite this level of organization and team success, only a few players of Indian descent have ever been drafted into the NBA. The most famous is center Satnam Singh Bhamara, who is originally from a small village in the state of Punjab called Baloke.

Bhamara’s story from rags to the NBA is a compelling one, and was documented in Netflix’s documentary “One in a Billion” (2016). After getting an opportunity to play in the prestigious IMG Academy in Florida on a scholarship, he started getting noticed by coaches and teams, and in 2015, he was selected 52nd overall in the NBA Draft by the Dallas Mavericks, becoming the first player born in India to ever be on a NBA team.

This was an historic moment for Indian basketball. Not only did it mean that numerous young Indian basketball players now had a successful idol to look up to, but it also meant that basketball in India was becoming more recognized across the globe.

The NBA, realizing the strength and talent of the market in India, which has the world’s largest youth population, opened the NBA

are being taken more seriously as prospects.

“What’s happened with Ryan and Peter is that scouts are really following up on them,” Casey said.

“They performed well at their pro day and teams are showing a lot of interest.”

While there is no doubt favorability for college prospects who play at the Div. I level, players who compete in Div. III are not always looked over by professional baseball teams. For instance, the Pittsburgh Pirates selected Chapman University righthander Nick Garcia in the third round of this year’s Major League Baseball Draft, one of the highest drafted Div. III players in recent memory.

With more professional teams growing their scouting roots in the college game, there is hope that future Jumbo baseball stars will have the opportunity to play the game at the highest level as well.

Academy India in New Delhi. This academy is an attempt to attract the best players from around the country and have them be developed by experienced international coaches, and to have them train with the best infrastructure.

Also, in 2019, the NBA played its first game in India, with a game between the Sacramento Kings and Indiana Pacers in Mumbai. This was an effort led by NBA Commissioner Adam Silver and Indian-born Vivek Ranadivé, the chairman, CEO, and governor of the the Kings.

Hopefully, efforts like these continue to not only popularize the sport in the country, but give the country more tools to develop its talent and hopefully have more players enter and achieve success in the NBA. It shouldn’t be difficult though, as what is most important, the passion and fervor, is in abundance.

Arnav Sacheti is a sophomore studying quantitative economics. Arnav can be reached at arnavsacheti@gmail.com