The Tufts Daily - Thursday, November 16, 2023 by The Tufts Daily

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VOLUME LXXXVI, ISSUE 10

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How Somerville’s ‘rat czar’ is fighting the city’s rodent problem

Students stage walkout, sit-in for Palestine

Samantha Eng

Julia Carpi, Caroline Vandis and Henry Chandonnet

Staff Writer

Originally published Nov. 9. Somerville has a rat problem. “I mostly see them in parks and around my house, especially at night,” Elizabeth Lohr, who lives near Davis Square, said. “You can hear them scurrying around and sometimes darting into the path.” “Cats help keep the rats at bay,” she said. “But I do always kick the trash can before opening it.” Rats are a normal part of life in any urban setting. But according to Somerville’s own “rat czar,” the number of sightings in the city has risen significantly over the past decade. Officially known as an Environmental Health Coordinator, Colin Zeigler helps run the city’s Rodent Control Program. He’s responsible for tackling the rat problem from every angle, from extermination to education.

It’s a big job. Zeigler told the Daily that the recent uptick in rat sightings is partially an after-effect of the pandemic. When restaurants and businesses shut down and people were mostly staying home, waste was diverted from reinforced, commercial dumpsters to private, flimsier garbage cans. The rats learned to seek out residential areas, where they had easier access to food scraps. “In a city that’s as dense as Somerville,” Zeigler said, “that was just a perfect recipe for the rats.” To combat this shift, the rodent control program offers free inspections to community members. Tenants and property owners with three units or fewer can also call 311 to sign up for three weeks of free abatement services from the city. “Last year, about 800 individual residents used that abatement service,” Zeigler said. This year, he’s aiming for 1,000. What does “abatement” mean, exactly? Somerville has

gotten creative, using carbon dioxide poisoning, dry ice and SMART Boxes. The boxes — which trap and electrocute rats — were most effective in dumpster-dense areas where rats tend to congregate for food, water and shelter. The city also issues tickets for rodent control violations like improper trash disposal and overgrown landscaping. “On the day-to-day basis there are issues associated with property management, and a lot are non-owner-occupied properties,” Zeigler said. “Tenants also are having trouble motivating or justifying the consistent landscaping, the replacement of trash barrels or rodent control measures of any sort. Larger property management companies have trouble keeping a close eye on their properties as well as doing the types of work required to reduce rodent activity throughout the area.” see RATS, page 3

Associate Editors and Managing Editor

Originally published Nov. 14. At least 250 students staged a walkout and 10-hour sit-in at the Mayer Campus Center in support of Palestine on Nov. 9. The protest was organized by the newly formed Coalition for Palestinian Liberation. “Hundreds of students walked out of their classes, many skipped their classes, their clubs [and] their obligations for the whole day to show Tufts that they stand against the ongoing genocide in Palestine and to demand that Tufts divest from Israeli apartheid,” a representative for Tufts Students for Justice in Palestine said. “It shows that there are more and more students joining the cause, we have momentum and we aren’t going to slow down anytime soon.” The protest began at 2 p.m. when students rallied at the

Campus Center’s lower patio, chanting “Free free Palestine” and “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free.” After a collection of student speeches, protesters marched around Professors Row before entering the building. “[The Campus Center] is a central hub for student life,” another representative for SJP said. “Since one of our goals was to specifically address the student body, we chose that space.” During the sit-in, students filled the main level lobby, The Sink café and both stairwells, leaving pathways for movement throughout the building. Organizers said the protesters stayed from 2 p.m. until midnight, when the building closed, maintaining a crowd throughout the 10 hours. “The university was monitoring the situation throughout to make sure that any exigent violations were addressed immediately,” Patrick Collins, executive see SIT-IN, page 3

UNIVERSITY

Gen Z Congressman Maxwell Frost talks civic engagement Anne Li

The first Gen Z member of Congress, Florida Rep. Maxwell Frost, visited the Jonathan M. Tisch College of Civic Life during a Solomont Speaker Series conversation on Oct. 30. The conversation, moderated by Tufts ACTION President Alison Cedarbaum, covered topics including gun legislation, the future of Congress and voter registration. A survivor of gun violence himself, Frost found his call to action for gun control while attending a vigil for the 2012 Sandy Hook school shooting. Since the age of 15, he has led programs and campaigns at organizations including the American Civil Liberties Union and March For Our Lives, before running for Congress in 2022. Frost gave advice on how he believes student organizers and activists can make their voices heard and issues clear.

“The top thing we can do right now is work with each other to build political power,” Frost said. “When an issue comes up and you have hundreds, if not thousands, of people writing into your office or calling or protesting … [create] that sort of pressure.” However, he noted that preparing infrastructure for action is also key to successful organizing. “As young people, we need to focus on finding a political home and then working in that political home year-round,” Frost said. “The true testament of our strength as organizers isn’t when there’s been a mass shooting and everybody cares and the news is talking about it, it’s when no one cares. It’s when it’s not in the news.” He added that each part of a political movement — be it voting or protesting — is equally important, and that advocacy looks different for everyone. “We need all of it. All of it. We can’t afford to throw any part of our movement out,” Frost said. “Be open to different forms of advocacy and let people really do what makes them unique.”

Frost emphasized the importance of long-term planning, using his protesting after the murder of George Floyd in 2020 as an example. “We went out and we started protesting, and then a few weeks into our protesting, we started to ask, ‘what’s next?’” Frost said. “‘What are we going to do after this?’ Those conversations and what came after that are powerful.” Frost also pointed out the need to strategize in order to make the most of a political movement. “Figuring out how to utilize this movement and show our political power at the ballot box, but also at offices and lobbying meetings, and also planning more events and getting more people to be involved in what we’re doing,” Frost said. “Using every part of that is really important. … We’ve got to use all of it.” Audience members then turned the conversation to the future of Congress, with Frost commenting on the body’s makeup and decision-making abilities.

“Over the next probably 10 years, we’ll see the most open seats that we’ve seen in a while in these elections,” Frost said. “Because most of Congress is very old, there comes a short period of time where many of those people will not be in their seats anymore. … Because of that, there will be a lot more open seats, and there will be more opportunity for young people.” Despite being the youngest member of the U.S. Congress, Frost elaborated on the importance of accurate generational representation. “I don’t think that all of Congress should be all Gen Z,” Frost said. “It’s a representative body that needs to represent the country. … My mom just retired from 37 years as a public school educator. … I would love someone like my mom to represent me. It’s not just about old versus young, but it’s about new people that could be helpful.” Later, Frost shared his insights on voter registration processes. “This effort to institutionalize the process, that is what I’m focused on,” he said.

Features

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‘Survivor’ in Somerville

Documentary discourse

Endowment endgame

Cross country conquers

Contributing Writer

Originally published Nov. 8.

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He acknowledged that while efforts like tabling booths at lunchtime and concerts are important, there also exists plenty of “low-hanging fruit, where we can work with our institutions to ensure it’s part of the process to register to vote, and it’s not an extracurricular.” As an example of this institutionalization, Frost is currently working to make voter registration required to enroll in the Orange County school district. According to Frost, most colleges do not incorporate voter registration into their registration. “That’s really the big key here. We need to make sure [registration] is part of the process,” he said. “Automatic voter registration should just be part of life.” To boost political engagement, Frost believes the voting age should be lowered to 16. “I believe that young people deserve a voice in legislation,” he said. “I think it’s going to fundamentally change turnout for young people. … Let’s get this [voting] habit into people when they’re young.” News Features Arts & Pop Culture Fun & Games Opinion Sports

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T he T ufts D aily Aaron Gruen Editor in Chief

Editorial Henry Chandonnet Kaitlyn Wells Managing Editors

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

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

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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.

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Assistant Professor Hassaan Khan unveils insights on Karachi’s water crisis

Lucas Frota

Contributing Writer

Hassaan Khan, assistant professor in Tufts’ Department of Urban and Environmental Policy and Planning, spoke at a Hoch Cunningham Environmental Lecture on Thursday about the intricate water challenges in Karachi, a major city in Pakistan. Karachi is reliant on the Karachi Water and Sewerage Board as the singular water utility. KWSB faces multiple hurdles in the provision of this essential resource due to the city’s geographical location, infrastructure pitfalls and the utility’s financial constraints. “Forget about investing in the system to improve performance. [KWSB] is unable to even maintain the system, they rely on federal and provincial subsidies to pay their salaries, which means they’re in this vicious downward spiral. So because of their low revenues, they’re unable to improve their services,” Khan said. Khan raised skepticism regarding the prevailing narrative of “water shortages” in Karachi. Citing many published articles on Karachi’s water crisis, Khan explained that a “myopic focus” on water scarcity contributes to a continuous cycle of water-related issues in Karachi. “[This narrative of water shortages] focuses attention on the materiality of the system,” Khan said. “Essentially what that means is … build a pipeline and pour some concrete to solve all your challenges. … This convinces policymakers and water managers to sign on to debt-laden infrastructure that ends up really serving only a minority of citizens.”

YENA RYOO / THE TUFTS DAILY

Hassaan Khan is pictured on Nov. 9. To uncover the root of Karachi’s water issues, Professor Khan directed two studies to shed light on the ground realities. Study one involved the implementation of cost-effective flowmeters in households, intending to utilize machine learning tools to develop models to project water use. This study revealed results that not only diverged from previously calculated estimates but also demonstrated some considerations of the residents that weren’t taken into account prior. “Most of the households used significantly less water on a per capita basis compared to the assumed usage that the water utility has [estimated],” Khan said. “More than half of Karachi lives in informal settlements, and in these informal settlements,

they’re not showering using shower heads, they’re collecting water in different storage containers and using water out of those. No meter can get to that information.” The second study zoomed in on the Lyari neighborhood, offering a microcosm of Karachi’s water issues through surveys that quantified various statistics related to water usage and satisfaction. Khan’s team found that, even when the water supply remained constant, the households’ water “sufficiency” drastically shifted with seasonal changes in demand. “Statistically … the water supply Lyari receives in the summer is about the same as the water supply it receives in the winter,” Khan said. “But because demand in the winter goes down, now a

lot more people describe their supply as being sufficient.” The implications of the studies challenge the need for large water infrastructure projects, calling for a reevaluation of how resources are allocated and which infrastructure projects are prioritized. Concluding the talk, Khan emphasized the importance of adapting research methodologies to suit local dynamics and acknowledged the hard work of undergraduate researchers on the project. Next spring, Khan will be teaching a new course cross-listed in the UEP and environmental studies departments, “Water: Science, Society, and Policy.” This course promises a comprehensive exploration of water’s role in the environment, social conflict and public planning.

Jessica Landers talks new book on immigration and education Almer Yu

Contributing Writer

Jessica Lander, award-winning teacher, policy consultant and author, visited the Cabot Intercultural Center on Nov. 8 to discuss her book “Making Americans: Stories of Historic Struggles, New Ideas, and Inspiration in Immigrant Education” (2022). Lander’s presentation centered around the stories of her immigrant and refugee students at Lowell High School in Massachusetts, where she teaches history and civics. In 2021, she was named a top 50 finalist for the Global Teacher Prize. This year, she was named a 2023 Massachusetts Teacher of the Year finalist and the 2023 Massachusetts History Teacher of the Year. Despite having received many accolades and authoring several books, Lander shared that her greatest pride was in being a teacher first and foremost. Lander explained that her advocacy work was first inspired by her own students.

LAUREN ALIOTTA / THE TUFTS DAILY

The Cabot Intercultural Center is pictured on April 7. “It is the work they do, the ways in which they are fully embracing and going after their own education, supporting their families, supporting each other and then taking that learning out into the community that inspired me to go out and do this work,” Lander said. “Four years ago, I set out from

the classroom to both understand how I could be a better teacher to my students, but also understand how we collectively could do better by our students.” During her presentation, Lander addressed the overarching question “What does immigrant education in America look

like today?” The presentation was organized into three sections: the past, the present and the personal. In the first leg of the presentation, Lander briefly introduced three court cases that shaped immigrant education in the U.S. today. The first story was of Meyer v. Nebraska, which secured the rights of students to learn and teachers to teach non-English languages. The second was Mendez v. Westminster, which desegregated California’s schools and laid the groundwork for Brown v. Board of Education just under a decade later. The third was Plyler v. Doe, a landmark Supreme Court decision that affirmed undocumented children’s right to education. “These stories are rarely taught,” Lander said. “I think they need to be.” The next part of Lander’s presentation was an interactive segment called “Moving Stories.” Audience members were asked

see BOOK, page 3

THE TUFTS DAILY

Thursday, November 15, 2023

NEWS

Hundreds gather at Campus Center for 10-hour protest SIT-IN

continued from page 1 director of media relations at Tufts, wrote in an email to the Daily. “Student life, senior staff, and campus security were on premises at all times.” One student who attended the sit-in said they found out about the protest through social media. “I was there for eight or nine hours,” the student protester, who asked to remain anonymous for their personal safety, told the Daily. “I didn’t plan to stay for very long, but I think that the way that it was organized, listening to the reasons why the people were gathered today … made me feel like I [wanted] to stay longer.” The protest was the largest pro-Palestine demonstration since Oct. 25, when students rallied outside the Olin Center for Language and Cultural Studies before marching to the lobby of Ballou Hall, where they staged a sit-in. “As more people are waking up to the reality of this moment, we have strength in numbers,” the first SJP representative said. “That’s why we are calling on students to keep showing up, because we keep each other safe.” New pro-Palestine student coalition formed The protest was coordinated by the newly founded Coalition for Palestinian Liberation, comprised of 11 student organizations: Alternative Jews at Tufts, African Student Organization, Eritrean and Ethiopian Student Association, Indigenous Student Organization at Tufts, Muslim Student Association, Pan-Afrikan Alliance, Tufts Revolutionary Marxist Students, South Asian Political Action Community, Students for Justice in Palestine, Tufts Asian Student Coalition and Tufts Labor Coalition. “The walkout and sit-in [were] a very powerful demonstration of student solidarity and heart,”

AARON GRUEN / THE TUFTS DAILY

Students march down Professors Row in support of Palestine on Nov. 9. a representative for RMS said. “It was important for us to be there … to display our solidarity with the Palestinian people, but also to display our commitment to the coalition’s demands.” Those four demands are an “immediate ceasefire and end [to] the siege on Gaza … that Tufts disclose its investments and divest from Israeli apartheid, that President Kumar condemn the genocide in Palestine … [and] that Tufts end all sponsored trips to occupied Palestine,” according to the representative for RMS. In emails to the Daily, other organizations explained how their missions align with the coalition.

A representative for TASC wrote that “Asian American is a political identity rooted in anti-imperial and anti-colonial movements,” while a representative for SAPAC wrote that “South Asians have a responsibility to stand in solidarity for Palestinian liberation.” “The fight for Palestinian liberation is the fight for worker liberation,” a representative from TLC wrote. “Those who support imperialism attempt to divide people struggling for freedom, but we will not be divided.” Friends of Israel claims protest violated university policy The day of the sit-in, Tufts Friends of Israel posted a statement to Instagram condemn-

Award-winning teacher, policy consultant discusses new book BOOK

continued from page 2 to turn to a partner and share personal stories of migration, an activity that Lander asks her own students to do as well. Lander then continued the discussion with stories of the present, sharing several models of education that are happening in the U.S. One example presented was the Aurora ACTION Zone in Colorado, where schools that are open from sunrise to sundown have been reimagined as community hubs. Another example was Guilford County in North Carolina, a diverse district of 7,000 extended learning students from 50 different countries. Lander emphasized the importance of learning from these models of education. “Today in the United States, one in four children are immigrants or the children of immigrants,” Lander said. “There is a

role for each of us in ensuring that students feel welcome … so that they can see success both in schools and out in the community.” The next segment of the presentation was called “The Personal: Learning from Young People.” During the process of writing her book, Lander sat down with seven of her students to hear about their stories about education in the U.S. “For me, the heart of this work is the personal, our young people. We need to learn from our young people,” Lander said. “It is essential that if we’re serious about reimagining immigrant education for newcomers, we have to learn from our newcomers themselves, learning from them about their experiences of coming to this country and their experience of our schools.” Throughout the presentation, Lander referenced what she called “The Eight Pillars.”

These pillars are a framework for cultivating that sense of belonging for children and reimagining immigrant education. They include opportunities for new beginnings, supportive communities, assurance of security, chances to dream, committed advocates, recognition of students’ strengths and assets, acceptance for who students are and importance of recognizing, valuing and investing in the student voice. Each of Lander’s pillars tied back to one theme: belonging. “Belonging is essential for all people, but it’s particularly important for young people who are creating new homes and new lives here,” Lander said. “But how do we as institutions, either as universities, or as schools, or as educators, or policymakers or advocates, help nurture that sense of belonging? What does that actually look like in practice?”

ing the demonstration, claiming that protesters “violated numerous university policies.” Asked to specify which policies were violated, a representative of FOI referred to the “blocking of entrances and exits.” “We have videos of our members trying to get into the building, and they weren’t allowed,” the representative said. “They were trying to record and trying to see what was happening.” A video provided to the Daily by FOI appears to show a protest marshal holding a keffiyeh across one of the building’s entryways, blocking the entrant’s camera. The second representative for SJP denied the claim that protest-

ers broke university policy. “We at all times kept the walkways clear. There were no fire hazards [and] students could pass through if they wished,” the representative said. The representative explained that the keffiyeh was used as a safety precaution to combat the threat of doxxing. In recent weeks, students who have spoken out against Israel have had their personal information posted online; recently, members of Harvard student organizations who signed an anti-Israel letter had their names and faces displayed on a billboard truck driven around their campus. “We have marshals … who are trained to deescalate conflict that may arise between protesters and would-be doxxers or would-be counterprotesters,” the representative said. “If somebody’s trying to film us without our consent, marshals will approach them and ask them to stop. If they continue, marshals will block the recording device with their bodies or with the keffiyeh, and they’ll do so without touching them or using any type of physical force.” Alongside claiming that demonstrators broke school policy, the representative from FOI said that protesters “crossed the line” with the language they used, referencing chants of “intifada revolution.” “When I hear, ‘Free Palestine from the river to the sea’ and when I see posters that say ‘glory to our martyrs,’ it’s hard not to feel intimidated, to feel outright disrespected and to feel that there’s some sort of hatred being lobbied at my perspective, at a pro-Israel, Jewish perspective,” the FOI representative said. Collins wrote that the university “received several complaints from students of instances of blocking, disruption or physical contact.” “The university will be reviewing the incident and there will be disciplinary action for anyone who is identified as having violated university policies,” Collins wrote.

Inside Somerville’s rat control strategy RATS

continued from page 1 Unsurprisingly, Somerville’s rat control work is widely supported by the mayor’s office, the city council and the public. “The program’s budget has grown steadily and the city recently hired a second Environmental Health Coordinator,” Zeigler said. The program’s main focus now is creating and distributing educational resources on rodent control strategies and resources, or “tackling all the rodent-causing vectors systematically,” in Zeigler’s words, “rather than just trying to put out a bunch of poison and hoping for the best.” Resident Chris Dwan has also noticed the flourishing rat population. “One of the good ideas that our inspectional services folks had was to associate rat mitigation with a dumpster permit,” Dwan told the Daily.

“So when you get a permit to have a dumpster, you’re going to also have to do some rat abatement. That strikes me as a more balanced approach than just waiting for complaints and putting out more poison.” Dwan says the main impediment to Zeigler’s educational campaign is a lack of awareness. “When people are not being told that the city has a program to help rodent abatement, then the city doesn’t get calls for that service,” Dwan said. Abatement itself takes time, according to Zeigler. “This isn’t going to happen overnight,” Zeigler said. “These are very smart animals that have been developing a habitat for decades. It’s not going to take five years, it might take a couple decades beyond that to truly reduce them to what the public and the city would see as an acceptable level.”

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THE TUFTS DAILY

Thursday, November 15, 2023

F eatures

COURTESY TUFTS SURVIVOR CLUB

Sunday’s Tribal Council resulted in two cast members joining the jury.

Tufts Survivor Club brings the competition to campus Caroline Vandis Associate Editor

They may not be starving and dehydrated on an island, but they are in Harleston Hall at 10 a.m. As the remaining eight players from the cast of season two of Tufts Survivor Club trickled into the Harleston common room, they speculated on what the day’s challenge could have in store. Everyone in the cast is clearly a fan of “Survivor” (2000–), the show their club is modeled after, and they made guesses about what the challenge could possibly be. But as sophomore Francis Powell, one of the founders of Tufts Survivor Club, recalled from their first season last spring, show knowledge can only get you so far. “Prior game knowledge is helpful,” Powell said. “But at the end of the day … something that helps you the most is likeability [and the] ability to get along with other people.” Tufts Survivor Club was co-founded by Powell and sophomore Julian Moody in 2022, when they met on an admitted Tufts student Discord server and realized they both were fans of the show. “In our first semester we would just hang out and watch Survivor every week,” Powell said. “Then we had the realization to start hosting a game on campus here.” The idea came to fruition in the form of a 15-person game. Powell and Moody were pleasantly surprised at how actively people have been participating.

Season two has taken off, with many of the season one cast members joining the producing team. The new season also brought new challenges, with the decision to film the season to be viewed by the public. “This semester, we have a whole crew of 10–12 people helping us out,” Moody said. “It’s gone so far past what we expected it to already. It’s really cool to see.” Each week the cast members come together for a challenge where they compete for immunity. They also hold a tribal council, where they vote someone off the “island.” Saturday’s challenge was the Touchy Subjects challenge, a recurring challenge on the show. Moody, a mechanical engineering major and the primary designer behind the club’s challenges and puzzles, explained what it takes to prepare for the season. “When we’re doing our preseason planning, we basically come up with every single stage of the game, what we’re going to do when, what challenges are happening what week, what advantages and twists are going to happen,” Moody said. “We try to keep them as similar to … challenges that are actually on Survivor. For example, you could have challenges with a lot of running or physical aspects … and then Survivor is also known for its puzzles.” Moody brought out examples of past puzzle challenges, including one where a teammate is blindfolded and has to grab puzzle pieces that could be arranged as a square and a triangle.

He showed another iconic puzzle called the “vertical fire puzzle” that had ended in the elimination of Zoe BarsamCummings, a sophomore player from season two. “Growing up and watching the show, I was like ‘Oh, I think I’ll be good at the puzzles,’” BarsamCummings said. “But it’s much harder than expected.” Junior Shree Khanolkar, current producer and season one contestant, also spoke to how being in a Survivor season differs from being a viewer and how it has changed his perspective on the game. “Even when you’re not starving, or dehydrated on an island, you realize how hard it is to build relationships with people you’ve never met before,” Khanolkar said. “Whenever you’re talking to somebody, trying to find a common interest with them, just to be able to align with them on a vote … it’s a lot tougher than it looks. I think a lot of the players were kind of realizing that as the game went farther.” Touchy Subjects is an opportunity for the players to demonstrate their knowledge of the game and each other by voting anonymously on which player they believe the given statements best reflect. The statements are mostly game-related, such as “Who thinks they’re playing the best game?” Some are sillier, like “Who is most likely to trip on the rainbow steps?” and “Who puts the ‘dirty’ in dirty Lew?” The players then publicly vote on who they think the majority

of the group voted for in each question, and players that win can bump a player of their choice down a level. It’s clear that despite not literally surviving together, a bond has formed between the remaining eight players at the challenge on Saturday. “For season one, I came in and there were 14 other freshmen there. I was the one sophomore and I didn’t know anybody, but by the end of it, I considered some of them my closest friends,” Khanolkar said. Despite being voted off, Barsam-Cummings is still involved in the organization. “I still try [to] be active in the club. We have watch parties of actual Survivor here at German House. I still keep in contact with the crew, and I begged them for details on what’s happening,” Barsam-Cummings said. Sunday’s Tribal Council resulted in the voting out of the player the group had predicted would be voted out during Touchy Subjects. In a twist, the winner of the challenge was also voted out after losing her immunity in a surprise challenge. Creating plot twists does not come easily. Moody reflected on how designing the challenges has made him have a greater respect for the producers of the show. “They have to make their challenges to extreme scales, like these massive multi-month projects that’ll be on screen for five minutes,” Moody said. “They often will have to make a lot more than is needed, because there [are] some twists, where people will sit out of challenges

… and we try to be as efficient as possible.” Casting for season three, which will take place next semester, has already begun. Powell explained that they’re looking for contestants who are committed to the game and want to be dedicated players. “What we really look for is just people who are interested and willing to give it their all,” Powell said. “We just made sure [casting] was based on who is the most interested and who would really have the most fun.” Looking towards the future, Powell and Moody have hopes of doing themed seasons like the show’s All-Stars edition with returning cast members. At its core, Tufts Survivor Club is about building a community of people with a common interest, just like any student organization. “When we go into making the different tribes — that’s what the teams are called on Survivor. … If we know two people know each other, we don’t put them together so they can really develop new friendships,” Powell said. “It’s definitely really worked out … a lot of people who played [season one] are still a big part of hosting and filming and producing season two now.” Moody went on to explain that although members of the club are competing against one another, the Tufts Survivor Club creates a close-knit community. “When you’re talking to a group of people every single day … it really can form bonds between you, even if you’re competing against each other,” Moody said.

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Thursday, November 15, 2023

Features

Alice Fang Double Decker Diaries

Entry No. 1 Originally published Nov. 14.

D COURTESY MORE THAN WORDS

More Than Words bookstore is pictured.

Old and new: Inside Boston’s indie bookstores Tobias Fu

Features Editor

As the days get shorter and the weather gets colder, more of us are likely to find solace in a warm room, reading an engrossing book. Deciding what to read, though, is complicated. Those choices can be influenced by conversations with friends, seeing something online and browsing the shelves of a bookstore. Boston’s plentiful array of independent bookstores makes it easy to find new reading material; sometimes, perusing the shelves can be just as fun as reading itself. Two such local stores are the almost century-old Grolier Poetry Book Shop in Cambridge and the community-focused nonprofit More Than Words in the South End. Hidden in a secluded corner at 6 Plympton St. next to the Harvard Book Store, walking into Grolier Poetry Book Shop is like getting transported into a different world. The establishment boasts an impressive collection of myriad poetic styles, traditions and time periods despite only taking up about 400 square feet. James Fraser, manager of the Grolier Poetry Book Shop, explained the history of the store in an interview with the Daily. “The Grolier is an all-poetry bookshop, the oldest all-poetry bookshop in the country and maybe the oldest all-poetry bookshop in the world,” Fraser said. Fraser’s love for literature led him to work for the bookstore. “When a spot to manage the Grolier opened up, I decided I could think of almost nothing better to do,” he said. “I’ve managed the shop now for around three years and before that I was a part-time bookseller.” Founded in 1927 by Adrian Gambet and Gordon Cairnie, the bookstore used to sell books from the founders’ personal collection in addition to poetry. It became a gathering place for poets, including Seamus Heaney, Charles Olson and Robert Pinsky; when Cairnie died, Louisa Solano purchased the shop and turned it into an all-poetry bookstore in 1979. Currently, the shop is owned by the Menkiti family, which purchased it from Solano in 2006. Under new management, the Grolier also runs a small press that has published a number of books. The store’s walls feature the portraits of its many distinguished visitors from over the years, including those of the

renowned poets William Carlos Williams, T.S. Eliot, Ezra Pound and Allen Ginsberg. Many of these authors had personal connections with Cairnie. Aside from selling poetry books, the Grolier holds events such as poetry readings and book signings. “About once a week we have poets come in, who usually have a new book of poems out, and they will read from their book,” Fraser said. “Usually it’s one, two or three poets. However, we’ve had up to seven or eight when we’ve had really big readings, depending on what it’s for; say, a poetry anthology.” Fraser underscored that engaging with bookshops in-person builds community. “At bookstores, you can congregate, you can meet new people, you can create a community of writers. We try to do that here, through our reading series,” he said. Another Boston-based bookstore that strives to create a sense of community is More Than Words. Since its founding in 2004 by Jodi Rosenbaum, More Than Words, which has locations in Boston and Waltham, has changed the lives of many youth who are in the foster care system, court-involved, out of school or experiencing homelessness. As an advocacy attorney, Rosenbaum recognized the disproportionate challenges faced by young people who were involved in the foster care system. She decided to use books as a vehicle for change, to help empower those youth through employment. Naomi Parker, the chief advancement officer at More Than Words, explained that people exiting the foster care system have significantly more encounters with the justice system; Parker called this the “trauma-to-prison pipeline.” “At the same time, there’s a huge link between the child welfare system and homelessness,” Parker explained. “Young people are removed from their homes for their own safety, but then, when they turn 18 and they age out of the foster care system, they become homeless.” The nonprofit employs around 50–70 youth shaped by these experiences at the Boston site, and serves over 300 youth each year. Their employment at More Than Words not only provides them with a steady job but also plays a crucial role in their personal growth and social integration. Jayden, a senior associate at More Than Words, shared his experience working with the bookstore.

“Everyone here’s story is different, but what makes it special is that we are trying to do something to build our lives to change our lives,” Jayden said. “But while doing that, we are also part of a company, this company that helps youth build [yourself ] within a bookstore.” More Than Words extends its impact beyond books, offering an array of products including donated clothing and personal care items from other nonprofits. “We’re not just a bookstore. We’re an event space. We’re a clothing business. We have mobile bookstores, pop-up shops, in-person and online sales,” Parker said. The bookstore also provides personalized support for its employees. “They make sure you’re going to be good before you start the job,” Jayden said. “If you’re homeless, if you don’t have a way to get here or you’re going to school, they come up with a plan so that you’re able to come smelling good, feeling good and doing good every day so that you can work at your full potential.” Youth employees work at More Than Words for about a year, and then become “graduates,” who pursue education or work elsewhere while receiving career support from the organization. Outside of the bookstore, More Than Words engages in policy advocacy work related to challenges faced by youth. “A lot of our policy advocacy work is … helping engage young people to talk about their experiences, how it relates to these systems and use that information with legislators at the statehouse, with the city, … with district attorneys, to try and make some change in the system,” Parker said. While these Boston-based bookstores help foster community engagement, they also face their own challenges. Online retailers such as Amazon, who sell books at a reduced price, are a main source of competition. “Bookstores everywhere have a lot of trouble staying profitable,” Fraser said. “One thing I can say is, you probably won’t get rich in terms of money with a bookstore, whereas you will be very rich spiritually.” A physical bookstore has an irreplaceable atmosphere that simply cannot be replicated online. “At bookstores, you can have this sort of organic discovery of books that you never knew existed just by looking at the shelves,” Fraser said.

ear Diary, We are not taking the tube today, so let’s take a walk to school. Every day, I repeat a 25-minute walk to campus. I hold my breath as I break into the crisp, cold air that smells of fresh rain, confirmed by the patches of puddles ahead. My chest tightens as I realize that I’ve forgotten my umbrella, and releases when I remember that some bastard from the movies took it when I fell asleep to a two-hour black-and-white nonsense. Being in London without an umbrella is like walking without shoes. But have no fear, locals don’t hide from the rain: They conquer it. Most days, the walk to the Thames involves me avoiding eye contact with distressed corporate workers commuting from the other side of the river. With their frustration wrapped in their trench coats, they sip on their emotional baggage, caffeinated. If I am lucky, I’d spot a school group — young minds hidden under their yellow caps, clustered around each other as they marched down the sidewalk, probably avoiding eye contact with me. The circle of life. Living on the South Bank of London means crossing the Thames to get to school, for better or worse. The Thames lost a quarter of its charm when someone told me it gives you cholera, but then again, Love in the ‘Thame’ of Cholera. True story. The Blackfriars Bridge exchanges thousands of students and workers between the banks. It is a great place to people watch, a runway playing “Under Pressure” (Remastered 2011) with pedestrians’ footsteps as beats while I secretly add autumn-winter fashion inspo to my mental Pinterest board. I quietly count the number of leather jackets, fur coats and suited men. As the temperature drops, leather jackets yield to puffer jackets, but the suited men remain suited. This morning, I decided to skip the shortcut through a legal headquarters and take the path next to the river instead. The sidewalk is covered in yellow foliage, still moist from — you guessed it — the rain. The morning sun after a storm is always soft and a bit reserved. Unlike the usual warm golden beams, it lines the silhouettes of everything with a silver glow. Waking up five minutes before class and still making it on time feels like a distant memory, flashing quickly in my mind as I turn off my alarm set 45 minutes ahead of my class time. Paying attention to my surroundings has made what I used to complain about a morning ritual. Within this fast-paced city that easily overwhelms me, I construct my moments of familiarity through which I slowly become embedded in this foreign space. It’s currently 3 a.m., and on the back burner, I plan my breakfast tomorrow. It just started raining outside. What else is new?

Alice Fang is a third-year combined degree student at SMFA studying anthropology. She can be reached at ruoxuan. fang@tufts.edu.

Arts & Pop Culture

THE TUFTS DAILY

Thursday, November 15, 2023

A R T S & P O P C U LT U R E GlobeDocs Film Festival celebrates 9th year, Tufts student stars in featured documentary Matthew Winkler Arts Editor

The Boston Globe successfully ran their ninth-annual GlobeDocs Film Festival from Oct. 25–29. GlobeDocs is a fiveday film festival that features new, acclaimed documentary films, ranging from big-budget streaming hits such as “American Symphony” (2023) and “The Pigeon Tunnel” (2023) to smaller, independent films such as “The Highest Standard” (2023) and “The Philadelphia Eleven” (2023). Screenings took place at the Coolidge Corner Theatre and the Brattle Theatre. A highlight of the festival involves pairing Globe journalists with filmmakers for each documentary to moderate a post-film panel and discussion. The festival brought audiences together in person with documentarians from all over the country ranging from debut directors to famous veterans such as Errol Morris. “I think it’s really special that [the filmmakers] are so excited to have an audience see their film projected on the big screen and have that audience reaction and then have the discussion with the Boston Globe moderators. It was electric and really wonderful,” Lisa Viola, director of programming for the festival, told the Daily. The festival opened with the world premiere of “The Highest Standard,” a feature documentary that follows three Bostonarea public middle schoolers, Meleah, Makai and Exavion, who rank far below their suburban peers by the eighth grade. They attend Beacon Academy, a 14-month program between middle and high school that prepares students from historically underrepresented and economically constrained backgrounds to succeed in some of the best private high schools in the country. In addition to following the stories of the three middle-schoolers, the documentary focuses on the racial inequality of education in Massachusetts and America. “I thought focusing on [Beacon] was an opportunity to highlight the extremely different environments that are available for students in Boston or Massachusetts for education,” Isara Krieger, director of “The Highest Standard,” told the Daily. ”[Focusing on Beacon] would allow for investigation and discussions around the inequalities, injustice and racism in the ways that our school systems are set up.” Makai Murray, one of the three stars of the film and a junior majoring in philosophy at Tufts, spoke with the Daily about his experiences in educa-

MATTHEW WINKLER / THE TUFTS DAILY

Pictured left to right are Deanna Pan, Isara Krieger, Makai Murray, Jessica Estelle Huggins and Dr. Akilah Cadet. tion from Beacon to Tufts and what it was like being a subject of a documentary. With his home in Brockton, Mass., Murray faced a steep daily commute to attend Beacon Academy. “It was a six-day school week. I’d wake up at 5 a.m., I’d get on the 5:18 [a.m.] train to get to school by 8 [a.m.]. School would end at 4 [p.m.] but I’d still be in Boston until 8 [p.m.] because we had study hall from 8 [p.m.] to 10 [p.m.]. Then I’d go home after 10 o’clock [which took] two hours,” Murray said. Beacon also challenged Murray with a level of academic rigor that he said he has not experienced since, even at Tufts. “My Beacon year I didn’t do anything but Beacon,” Murray said. “There wasn’t a time during that 14-month period where I wasn’t really doing homework.” Having to always stay on top of assignments added to this rigorous schedule and lifestyle for Murray. “You are held accountable in a different capacity than I’ve ever been held accountable. At Tufts I’d submit an assignment late and they might take a point off or whatever. Beacon, you’re submitting late assignments and they’re like, ‘Yeah, you’re not gonna be able to go to school here anymore,’” Murray said. “They’re trying to keep their school at such a high standard that they can’t have students within their infrastructure that are pulling that infrastructure down. Everybody has to be at the highest standard.” While these conditions sound difficult for a 14-year-old to navigate, being held to this “highest standard” monumentally impacted these kids’ lives, giving them access to a new world of opportunities. During

his time at Beacon, Murray tirelessly worked to improve his SSAT scores and admissions essays, which helped him earn admission to the prestigious St. George’s School and eventually led him to Tufts. During Murray’s time, Beacon not only focused on academics but also trained their students to be able to present themselves to the foreign worlds of whiteness and privilege that they would be entering. “They were taking us on skiing trips. None of us had gone skiing before,” Murray said. “That conversation is in the same conversation as the white savior thing. What’s the importance of skiing?” Even though Murray has frustrations around being forced to learn activities that seemingly should have no relation to school or success, he also recognizes the value of these activities. “I do understand now the importance of skiing. It was that important. How much different would my life have been had I not gone skiing or taken that etiquette class that teaches me about the seven different forks that are supposed to be on the table and how I use each of them,” Murray said. While attending prestigious schools like St. George’s creates opportunities for students from low-income backgrounds, being transported from their local communities to predominantly white and wealthy institutions where they were expected to present themselves differently creates issues of identity. “I feel like identity is just a hard thing when you’re in a space that forces you to think about the way you’re presenting. … I never had problems with identity when I was in

Brockton at Davis School. I could be whoever, I could act, however, because I didn’t feel as though I was being judged. … That wasn’t the case at St. George’s,” Murray said. It took Murray a long time to be comfortable presenting himself as the same person at both school and home. “Now I’m in a space where … I can be this person around both people. That took me so long. It was almost like an identity crisis,” Murray said. “There’s this aspect of this split lifestyle where I was battling myself a lot. … I was comparing myself to a different lifestyle that’s just culturally so different and the background is so different. I almost had some sort of malice towards my life before because I wanted a different type of life.” These issues of identity and code-switching have continued past high school for Murray, just as they have for many other black people in America. “Tufts feels like a St. George’s. It feels different but it feels the same. I feel like there’s a part of me that’s afraid of getting back into that space where I’m battling my identity because I feel like it’s wrong. Because who I am is not wrong. I can be a person that’s from Brockton and still exist in this space and do well in this space. That was a very hard thing for me. I never realized that at St. George’s,” Murray said. “But I feel like right now I’m in a great space. I have great friends here and I appreciate my classes.” Murray tried to hide his background at St. George’s, but now he feels proud of his identity and his story. He’s happy to share his story, but thinks there is no way to truly understand without watching “The Highest Standard.”

“There’s no way to properly voice the journey from being a Brockton kid to then going to St. George’s. You have to see the film to understand each part of that and how it exists for different people. Even seeing the film, my story is completely different than Exavion’s or Meleah’s story,” Murray said. The three students’ unique stories proved central to the film’s identity for Isara Krieger, who directed the film. “I really fell in love with each of the three of them, and audiences do too. I’m proud of that. Certain times when they really shine, [and] their personalities really come through in the film, I feel very accomplished. That was my goal,” Krieger said. Above all else, Murray feels grateful that the documentary tries to address the systemic issues of American education, even if no obvious solution exists. “I love this film and I love what this film stands for,” Murray said. “I think the film is a vehicle that tries to solve the same problem that Beacon solves, but in a different way because Beacon tries to fix the problem with individuals, the film addresses the problem as a whole.” GlobeDocs presented a diverse range of documentaries this year, with the stories of Meleah, Makai, and Exavion standing next to the stories of celebrities like Jon Batiste and John le Carré, highlighted in “American Symphony” and “The Pigeon Tunnel” respectively. The benefit of GlobeDocs 2023 was that anyone could have found an interesting story in one of the 28 featured documentaries, while feeling involved in a community. At the time of their screenings, the majority of these films were not available for the public, and directors and producers offered invaluable insights after each screening. The Globe prioritizes the accessibility of its screenings and in-person discussions with filmmakers. “I think when people hear the word ‘film festival,’ they often think it’s elitist or closed or too expensive. Not only are we open to the public, but we really are encouraging people from all walks of life and try to be as welcoming as we can. [We] try to have as few barriers as possible other than time to encourage people to participate,” Viola concluded. “Every time we have new audience members, I’m thrilled just to see new faces in the audience and have people hearing and seeing for themselves what’s going on.”

THE TUFTS DAILY

Thursday, November 15, 2023

Arts & Pop Culture

Odessa Gaines The Power of the Pen

The actor’s strike is over

VIA WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

Symphony Hall in Boston is pictured.

The Boston Symphony Orchestra reaches out to college students with the College Card Erin Zhu

Arts Editor

In an age of pop music and streaming, the traditional narrative has been that classical music is now a relic of the past, appreciated by few and adored by a graying audience. However, the Boston Symphony Orchestra’s “College Card” has spun this narrative on its head and has succeeded in drawing in students to Boston’s legendary Symphony Hall to watch the world-class performances that grace its stage. Established in 2004, the College Card allows students to pay a one-time fee of $30 in order to access an unlimited number of performances by the Boston Symphony Orchestra. BSO regularly features some of the most prominent classical musicians in the world, such as violinist Hilary Hahn, pianist Yuja Wang and conductor Joanna Mallwitz. According to Matthew Erikson, senior publicist for the BSO, the College Card was a proactive initiative intended to attract a younger generation of classical music lovers. “Boston is, of course, such an amazing hub for higher education, I think there has always been that knowledge and [we] try to harness that,” Erikson said. “It’s also our responsibility to make sure that there is that next generation that loves classical music as much as their parents or their grandparents may have.” The College Card has been met with incredible success and popularity since its inception. Last year, for the 53 concerts that distributed College Card tickets, the program drew in 7,125 students from 147 schools, with Berklee College of Music, the Boston Conservatory, Boston University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, New England Conservatory, Northeastern University and Tufts purchasing the College Cart in bulk. BSO hopes to continue this momentum. “It’s exciting to think that almost a generation of college students have been able to partake in this opportunity, this exceptional opportunity to attend Boston Symphony concerts within a student’s budget,” Erikson said. “We all know what it’s like — the musicians, the orchestra staff — to be a college student. It’s not a time of abundant means, and if we can assist them in satisfying their curiosity with classical music, then we

consider that to be such a service to the community.” Another initiative that BSO has launched is Casual Fridays, a day for audience members to partake in interactive BSO concerts at reduced ticket prices in a more condensed time frame of 70 to 80 minutes as opposed to the standard 120-minute program. Casual Fridays are also an opportunity for those interested in, but not quite familiar with, classical music, to experience it in a more casual environment.

The ultimate objective of the BSO and its College Card initiative is to nurture the next generation of patrons and supporters of the arts, and to ensure that the dialogue of classical music maintains its longevity and vitality. “There’s a line from ‘Tosca’, the opera, [where] Floria sings, ‘Vissi d’arte’ — I lived for art,” Erikson said. “I think there are so many of us who work for the orchestra who feel like that’s our kind of our credo, that we live for this art form [and] we live to make sure that this art form has a very healthy life.”

he 2023 actors strike officially ended at 12:01 a.m on Nov. 9. P.S.T. After 118 days, a deal was finally struck between SAG-AFTRA and major Hollywood studios. A unanimous agreement was made following negotiations on Nov. 8 that led to significant wins for the actors union. With the end of the strike, actors are now back to promoting their upcoming projects across several platforms. Stars of “The Marvels” (2023) officially began their promotions when the strike ended, as Brie Larson, along with “Loki” (2021–) star Tom Hiddleston, made a last minute appearance on “The Tonight Show” (1954–). Timothée Chalamet joined “Saturday Night Live” (1975–) this past week just in time for the strike to let up. While promoting his two upcoming films, “Wonka” (2023) and “Dune: Part Two” (2024), Chalamet joked about finally being able to talk about anything other than his new perfume commercial. And as Oscar season comes closer and closer, we can anticipate seeing more and more promotions hit our screens. This contract includes bonuses based on streaming numbers, immediate minimum compensation increases, disclosures of the viewership streaming statistics, a minimum number of background actors on productions, relocation bonuses for up to six months and limits on artificial intelligence use on productions. Actors specifically won big when it came to streaming. Stunt coordinators on television and media productions will be given fixed residuals for streaming productions. Less prominent actors will also have more compensation as significant bonuses have been given for all streaming productions and actors. Background actors’ wages will now increase by 11% and their wages will now be equal on both the West and East Coasts for the first time. One of the biggest points of contention — the use of artificial intelligence — was also addressed in negotiations. For studios to use AI to recreate or digitally replicate guild members, they must have informed consent from and give equitable compensation to the parties involved. This includes both living and dead actors and is applicable to both AI created for a production or licensed for other uses. Duncan Crabtree-Ireland, the national executive director and chief negotiator of SAG-AFTRA has stated that, “Once ratified, this deal will fundamentally reset how our membership is compensated to account for the growth of streaming and, for the first time, institute deep protections against the encroachment of AI technology.” The contract also includes changes to hair and makeup departments and accessibility protocols. The eradication of inappropriate wigging and paintdowns, accessibility of translation services and the use of gender neutral language on productions will all help to create a more welcoming space for actors on productions. As things continue to move forward in the world of entertainment, it’s important to remember why these strikes existed. They are a statement to large companies and those who do not understand the time and talent put into the entertainment world that everyone, from the individual part-time actor to the working class actors who dedicate their lives to this job, deserves rightful compensation for their work. And when it is not given, it will be demanded and taken. Odessa Gaines is a junior studying psychology. Odessa can be reached at kgaine01@tufts.edu

F& G

Late Night At The Daily Henry: “I do think I deserve to have a little dinner.”

Fun & Games Puzzle 1 (Hard, difficulty rating 0.63)

CROSSWORD ACROSS 1 Pencil competitor 4 Orange competitor that makes tech 9 Univ. military programs 14 "Xanadu" rock gp. 15 The "B" of RBG 16 Different 17 Cause of many traveling delays 20 "Bad, Bad ___ Brown" 21 TV host O'Brien 22 Nobelist Wiesel 23 Took a bite of 26 Fellows 29 Bad-mouth 30 Superhero garments 31 Losing proposition? 32 "Paradise Lost" figure 33 Groups of three 35 What the singer in 52- across wears in the famous music video 38 Electrician's alloy 39 Thick hairstyles 40 Greek god of war 41 Fitbit units 42 Wager 45 A few: Abbr. 46 Workers' collectives 48 Introductory drawing class 49 Ireland's De Valera

THE TUFTS DAILY

Thursday, November 15, 2023

Fun & Games

51 ___ of faith 52 With 1, 4- across and a pineapple, the hit meme song in 2016 57 See 52- across, continuation of that clue 58 Swiss diarist Henri Frederic 59 Wallace of "E.T." 60 "The 9 Steps to Financial Freedom" author 61 Kanye's mom 62 Georgia, once: Abbr. DOWN 1 Rang 2 Hebrew song whose title means "My God! My God!" 3 TVA sponsor George 4 "___ Named Sue" 5 Golfer's goal 6 L.A. summer setting 7 "___ Misérables" 8 Builds 9 Circular 10 ___ vez (again, in Spanish) 11 Snack that, despite its name, doesn't help with weight loss 12 This: Fr. 13 "My b," in a text 18 "The Raven" poet

20 23

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SUDOKU

19 Miler Sebastian 23 Golden Horde member 24 On ___ with 25 Targets, as with spam 27 Wide shoe sizes 28 Some Windows systems 30 Part of Batman's ensemble 31 Rackets 32 Lays down the lawn 33 Snares 34 Fixes 35 Folk wisdom 36 Local news hour, often 37 Fen-___: banned diet aid 38 Airline to Stockholm

41 Singer O'Connor 42 Rye and whole wheat 43 Military camps 44 Rewarder of good service 46 Twin Cities sch. 47 Oui's opposite 48 Ginger ___ 50 ___ in the Pod (maternity clothing store) 51 Penne ___ vodka 52 Mideast grp. 53 Poetic contraction 54 Latin 101 word 55 Wrestler's goal 56 Walker, on signs

7 8 3

Difficulty Level: Getting through the week before Fall Break

Generated by http://www.opensky.ca/sudoku on Wed Nov 15 23:45:37 2023 GMT. Enjoy!

EDH

ACROSS 1 100% 4 Disgraced YouTuber Dawson 9 Units of Land 14 Observe 15 Wrapping weights 16 "The better _____ you with" 17 Reese's 20 Sea eagles 21 Reliever 22 Roger of "Cheers" 23 Least noble 26 Corn unit 29 Sheet music abbr. 30 "___ Theme": "Doctor Zhivago" song 31 Layman Wyatt 32 Fall flower 33 Bucks Bobby 35 Werther's 38 Loving touch 39 Singer Baker 40 Takes a load off 41 Donkeys 42 Prior to A.D. 45 Nile reptile 46 Actresses Blair and Diamond 48 Tiny battery 49 Red as _____ 51 Orgs. 52 York 57 Before surgery, informally 58 "Not on _____!" 59 Author LeShan 60 Trims 61 Charles and others 62 Distress signal

1 Ad astra per _____" (Kansas motto) 2 One with bad looks? 3 Not quite a ringer 4 Actor Erwin et al. 5 Monopoly token 6 Wall st. trader 7 Modern in Munich 8 Lauder et al. 9 "This is only _____" 10 Heart 11 Play 12 ___ de parfum 13 Fuel additive brand 18 Nintendo's Super ___ 19 Prof's helpers 23 23' Homecoming losers 24 Run ____ light 25 It may be dripping 27 Seed cover 28 Rotation meas. 30 D-Day craft 31 Humorist Bombeck 32 Pub offerings 33 Gets nosy 34 Quaker ____ 35 Je ne ____ quoi 36 Sketcher's purchase 37 Looped handle 38 Union foe: abbr. 41 "Nashville" director 42 Tends the turkey

LAST WEEK’S SOLUTIONS:

Puzzle by LUCAS CHUA Interested in submitting a puzzle? Reach out to production@tuftsdaily.com

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43 Lacks the skills for 44 "Easy as ___" 46 Oozes 47 Poetic contraction 48 Simile center 50 Fraternal org. 51 "Planet of the ____" 52 Very softly, in music 53 Historical period 54 Wedding vow 55 GRF's veep 56 ___-la-la

CROSSWORD

Puzzle 1 (Very hard, difficulty rating 0.76)

9 6 2

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5 3

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2 5

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SUDOKU

DOWN

Fifth-Year

The Fifth-Year Master’s Degrees are offered through the following programs: Graduate School of Arts and Sciences

Master’s Degree

The Fifth-Year Master’s Degree program allows Tufts undergraduates to continue on to a master’s degree with the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences or the School of Engineering after completing their bachelor’s degree. Students complete all requirements for both degrees. Some graduate coursework will be integrated during the bachelor’s degree, thereby shortening time and financial commitment to the graduate degree.

The deadline to apply is December 15 for seniors (GSAS and SOE) and March 15 for juniors (GSAS only). gradadmissions@tufts.edu | 617-627-3395

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

together, usually within five years • GRE scores not required • Application fee and enrollment deposit are waived • Only two letters of recommendation are required • Generous scholarships are available*

Learn More: go.tufts.edu/fifthyear

* 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

Art Education, BFA/MAT Biology, BS/MS Chemistry, BS/MS Child Study and Human Development, BA/MA Classics, BA/MA Data Analytics, BA/MS or BS/MS Economics, BS/MS Education: Middle and High School, BA/MAT or BS/MAT Environmental Policy and Planning, BA/MS or BS/MS Mathematics, BS/MS Museum Education, BA/MA Music, BA/MA Philosophy, BA/MA Urban and Environmental Policy and Planning, Generated by http://www.opensky.ca/sudoku o BS/MA or BA/MA

School of Engineering

Bioengineering, MS Biomedical Engineering, BS/MS Biophotonics, MS Chemical Engineering, BS/MS Civil and Environmental Engineering, BS/MS Computer Engineering, BS/MS Computer Science, BA/MS or BS/MS Cybersecurity and Public Policy, MS Data Science, BS/MS Dual Degree Program: Innovation & Management + Engineering degree, MS Electrical Engineering, BS/MS Engineering Management, MS Human Factors Engineering, BS/MS Human-Robot Interaction, MS Innovation and Management, MS Materials Science and Engineering, MS Mechanical Engineering, BS/MS Offshore Wind Energy Engineering, MS Software Systems Development, MS Technology Management and Leadership, MS

THE TUFTS DAILY

Thursday, November 15, 2023

Opinion

O pinion VIEWPOINT

Tufts’ financial quandary, Part 1: The reasons for and ramifications of high tuition By Kevin Golub and Reya Kumar

Staff Writer and Deputy Opinion Editor

Editor’s note: This is the first of a twopart series on Tufts’ tuition. It is no secret that Tufts is expensive. Tufts is the fifth most expensive school in the country, with tuition for the 2023–24 school year being more than $66,000, well above the national average for private colleges, which is approximately $42,000. This astronomical price tag has numerous implications. For one, it limits the socioeconomic diversity of our student body. A 2017 study found that Tufts is ranked 10th in the nation for colleges with the highest median family income and 50% of Tufts students come from the top 5%. Only 44% of Tufts students are on financial aid, versus 55% at Harvard or 56% at Amherst. These stats are to be expected, with tuition as high as it is. There are certainly many qualified students who would love to attend Tufts, but aren’t here because they simply can’t afford it. Our campus is missing their perspectives and contributions. In addition, our costly tuition forces many Tufts students to take on more loans — last year 20% of Tufts students were receiving federal student loans. This is through a program that the U.S. Senate declared to be “plagued by fraud

Ben Choucroun Antisemitism Unpacked

The cyclical nature of antisemitism

n my last column, I discussed how antisemitism differs from other forms of racism because antisemitism allows a few Jews to very visibly succeed in society. Another important difference between antisemitism and other forms of racism is the cyclical nature of antisemitism. Oftentimes before the worst antisemitic massacres in history, Jews appear to be prosperous, well-integrated minorities. Even a cursory glance at European Jewish history can demonstrate the cyclical nature of antisemitism. One example can be found in Germany. Prior to the rise of fascism, Jews appeared to have mostly successfully integrated into German society. When the Nazis took power, many Jewish communities did not expect to be so fiercely persecuted; they merely expected another round of vicious yet survivable persecution that European Jews had been facing for centuries.

and abuse.” Student loan debt is notoriously difficult to pay off, an issue that is compounded by high interest rates. It is also known to disproportionately affect Black borrowers and can have a deleterious effect on borrowers’ mental health. Unfortunately, Tufts cannot lower tuition, ease their students’ reliance on loans or increase its socioeconomic diversity as long as the university continues to rely heavily on tuition as a source of income. Tuition and fees make up 51.9% of Tufts’ operating revenue — and 59% of Arts, Sciences and Engineering revenue — versus 30% for Amherst and only 22% for Harvard. This difference between Tufts and our peer institutions reveals why Tufts ranks so high on tuition and so low on measures of social mobility. While President Kumar has previously told the Daily that “how well we are doing as a driver of our students’ social mobility” is important to his administration, the Wall Street Journal ranks Tufts 391 out of 400 colleges on this measure. It is clear that Tufts has a long way to go to improve this statistic. This reliance on tuition also drives overenrollment, an issue which has led to numerous negative student outcomes including the housing problems; Consequences include Tufts students living in a hotel and modular housing units

in recent years. In fact, as Patrick Collins, Tufts’ executive director of media relations, told the Daily in 2022, “Growth in enrollment … will put a Tufts education within reach of more students, solidify the financial footing of our undergraduate schools and programs and provide for the kinds of facilities needed to support world-class teaching and research.” Essentially, Tufts needs tuition money from more students, regardless of whether the university’s infrastructure can adequately provide for them. Where exactly do these tuition dollars go? To answer this, we spoke with Jim Hurley, vice president for finance and treasurer, Mike Howard, executive vice president and Craig Smith, chief investment officer. AS&E student costs are estimated at around $48,000 per student, while the average net tuition for AS&E students after financial aid is $41,000. Tuition covers about 75% of the cost per student at the university, with the remaining 25% coming from the endowment, gifts and other sources. What are these student costs? They include academic costs such as faculty compensation and departmental expenses, which make up about 55%, as well as space costs and institutional support. However, the student cost figure is about 30% lower than full tuition, meaning that money from students who pay full or higher than aver-

age tuition supports the university beyond their own cost of attendance. The primary reason that Tufts relies so heavily on tuition is that we are underendowed compared to our peers. In other words, we have a much lower ratio of endowment to number of full-time students than many of our peer institutions, including the University of Pennsylvania, Northwestern and Brown. Margot Biggin, executive director of University Advancement division, provided an explanation for the smaller endowment size at a TCU-hosted University Budget & Fundraising Town Hall in 2019: “We have been seriously fundraising the past 25 years, many of [our peer] schools have been doing it for decades. Making up for that lost time is a very tough thing to do.” This reasoning is not sufficient: 25 years is two-and-a-half decades. Believe it or not, way back in 2001, the then-executive administrative dean of finance, budget and personnel pointed out the issue: “We are at a disadvantage because of the size of our endowment. The long-term issue is that we do need to raise money.” Twenty-two years later, the issue remains the same. Tufts’ high price has numerous negative ramifications for the Tufts community. This can’t change as long as we remain underendowed and heavily rely on tuition as a source of revenue.

This antisemitism mirrored the crisis of capitalism that the world faced in the 1930s. In my last column, I explained how antisemitism protects the capitalist class because Jews are blamed for economic difficulties instead of the capitalist system. As an economic system beset by recessions and economic crises, capitalism, like antisemitism, is cyclical. When capitalism faces a crisis, Jews are often blamed and antisemitism surges. In the 1930s, this pattern was made explicit when the Great Depression shook capitalism to its core and caused a surge in support for Communist parties. Wealthy capitalists and companies like I.G. Farben, Henry Ford and Krupp Industries threw their support behind the Nazis, who, once in power, privatized Germany’s economy and threw communists into concentration camps. Currently too, as capitalism leads to mass impoverishment, antisemitism is surging. As world governments crack down on college students protesting Israel, neo-Nazi terrorist groups have been attacking Jewish cultural institutions and major American presidential candidates have incorporated neo-Nazi symbolism into their campaign videos. In Germany, this contradiction has become especially clear: Riot police attack pro-Palestine demonstrations while Alternative for Deutschland, a farright party with extensive Neo-Nazi ties,

has become the second strongest party in the German parliament. This correlates to massive economic inequality; 40 million Americans live in poverty and in Britain, poverty has become so severe that a U.N. envoy labeled it a violation of international law. It is impossible to fully separate this rise in antisemitism from the current crisis of capitalism. Antisemitic instances have also increased since Israel murdered over 11,000 people in Occupied Palestine during the last five weeks. As hundreds of thousands of people have taken to the streets to protest the genocide, groups like the Anti-Defamation League have used the crisis to associate anti-Zionism (the opposition to a Jewish ethnostate in Occupied Palestine) with antisemitism. Yet it is important to separate these antisemitic attacks from the larger pro-Palestine movements that have intensified their actions in recent weeks. There is nothing inherently antisemitic about anti-Zionism, despite what major organizations like the ADL might say. I myself oppose Zionism, not despite, but partly because of the antisemitism my family and I have experienced. Rather, any world event in which Jews play a prominent role will cause antisemites to come out the woodwork and attack Jews. Antisemites are trying to hijack the legitimate anti-Zionist movement in the U.S., such as when the

neo-Nazi National Justice Party attended a pro-Palestine rally outside of the White House several weeks ago. In a more local example, presidential candidate Vellayappa “Dr. Shiva” Ayyadurai Shiva organized a march in Harvard Square using overtly antisemitic imagery under the guise of anti-Zionism. Thankfully, local Palestine organizers quickly distanced themselves from the rally and denounced the event, but the presence of these antisemites demonstrates both the need to be constantly vigilant and the importance of taking cues from Palestinian organizers rather than grifters like Dr. Shiva. This vigilance must also not prevent us from centering the Palestinian struggle for liberation. The cyclical nature of antisemitism is most vicious when it can lure Jews and gentiles alike into a false sense of security. Therefore, even when antisemitism does not seem particularly pertinent, we must always be on guard. However, we must not let our vigilance prevent us from advocating for Palestinian liberation, as there is nothing inherently antisemitic about that struggle. As the genocide in Gaza intensifies, the urgency of fighting for Palestinian liberation is greater than ever. Ben Choucroun is a first-year studying race, colonialism and diaspora studies. Ben can be reached at benjamin.choucroun@tufts.edu.

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10 Opinion

Thursday, November 15, 2023

THE TUFTS DAILY

VIEWPOINT

The importance of celebrating Russian and Ukrainian cultures By Liam Chalfonte and Sadie RorabackMeagher Staff Writers

Originally published Nov. 14. Recently, some members of the Tufts community have called for the decolonization of the Russian Program. Their reasoning is that, by continuing with the program and further celebrating Russian culture, Tufts is complicit in the genocide of thousands of Ukrainians. Undoubtedly, it is understandable to feel anger and resentment towards a country that has continuously been an imperialistic force, caused devastating humanitarian impacts for former Soviet states and deprived people of their lives, happiness and peace. These brutalities that the Russian government has inflicted are undeniable, and the continued suffering of Ukrainians is beyond appalling. That being said, it’s important to make a distinction between the Russian government — one that rigs elections, silences expression and poisons opposition — and the Russian people. Vladimir Putin is an authoritarian dictator who has broken copious international laws, stolen from his country’s resources and led an illegitimate rule over Russia. While the Russian people are not a monolith, it is clear that Putin’s war has nowhere near universal support among the Russian people. From widespread protests to an attempted coup this past year, daring expressions of dissent from the Russian people have been made. But, the history of Russia extends much farther than the totalitarian reign of Putin. Russian history can be traced back as early as 862, initially being ruled by Varangians. Over the past centuries, a rich culture has developed in Russia that millions claim in one form or another today. Russian politics have, of course, played a role in shaping this. The reign of Catherine the Great brought about classical music, the corruption within the bureaucratic system inspired Gogol’s “The Overcoat” (1842) and Tsar Alexis I brought about a liking of tea. While politics are involved with the formation of any nation’s cultural development, it is important not to let this overshadow the beauty of a culture, regardless of who it is claimed by. Besides Putin, Russia has experienced its fair share of kleptocratic leaders that

Deeksha Bathini From Classroom to Clinic

Navigating reproductive rights in the wake of Ohio’s Issue 1 Originally published Nov. 15.

s a native Ohioan, the recent statewide referendum that included Issue 1, formally titled “The Right to Reproductive Freedom with Protections for Health Safety,” has been on my mind. The citizen-initiated amendment that passed on Nov. 7 provides the “right to make and carry out one’s own reproductive decisions, including but not limited to decisions” on abortion, contraception, continuing one’s own pregnancy, miscarriage care and fertility treatment.

VIA WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

The Church of the Savior on Blood is pictured in 2010. has resulted in the maltreatment of its people. Ivan the Terrible, Russia’s first tsar, has been described as an ”atrocity-committing maniac" due to his violent acts. The drunken Boris Yeltsin led a failed economic reform further disadvantaging the Russian people. Unsurprisingly, Russia has consistently underperformed in health, social connections, environmental quality, safety and life satisfaction. But amidst this never-ending turmoil, Russian culture prevails as a touchstone for the Russian people. As with any culture, we must ensure Russian culture’s continuation for many reasons. It can be a respite for ethnic Russians who have conflicting feelings about their state’s actions and their identity. Crucially, it can help us to gain a greater understanding of the way Russian culture affects the current conflict. Ukrainians are thought of as “young Brothers,” an imperious definition that promotes the belief that Russia and Ukraine are “one people.” Kyiv is also belittled with the title “mother of all Russian cities” within the

Russian lexicon. This language, which is deeply embedded within Russian culture, has continued to be referenced by Putin as justification for Russia’s imperialistic actions. Understanding this will help us to more effectively create change that can ensure the end of this tragic conflict and help prevent future conflicts from occurring. While it is very fair to argue that Russian culture cannot be portrayed as representative of the cultures of the entire region around it, it is an unfortunate reality that a school like Tufts, with limited language and culture departments, can only offer so many different areas of study. Taking classes in Russian language and culture certainly won’t act as a one-for-one substitution for classes in any other culture, but it will be useful in familiarizing students with Slavic languages and cultures as a whole, after which they can pursue more specific cultural studies. The anger against Tufts’ Russian department is understandable as an expression of the pain felt by so many

whose lives have been upended by this invasion and it certainly isn’t hate speech. However, holding tea-drinking ceremonies that have been a part of Russian culture for centuries is not a political act, but rather the opposite. It is a reminder that Russia is more than Putin and a history of turbulence. While we believe it’s important for Tufts’ Department of International Literary and Cultural Studies to continue hosting these events as a reminder of Russia’s multifaceted role, more opportunities should be held to honor Ukrainian culture too. As the article ”Ukraine at War: Promoting Russian culture means supporting the genocide of Ukrainians" offers, the ILCS department should host fundraisers to collect funds to aid Ukraine in defense and recovery. It could host exhibits on Ukrainian culture like the Tisch Library previously did. Regardless, there is space within Tufts’ community to appreciate both countries’ cultures without needing to silence one of them.

Essentially, this bill has made abortion a constitutional right in the state of Ohio. Even with these legal protections in place, abortions will remain difficult to access. Abortion care depends on the OB-GYNs who perform the procedure. There are three types of abortions that are performed, and each of them has different indications, risks, benefits and efficacy. There are medication abortions, which involve ingesting two medications (mifepristone and misoprostol). There are aspiration abortions performed by OB-GYNs, which are the most common. Finally, there are dilation and evacuation abortions, and these are reserved for later-term abortions after the 14th week of the pregnancy course. According to recent national data from the Kaiser Family Foundation, 14% of private practice OB-GYNs provide medication abortions, and only 13% perform aspiration abortions. The rates of abortions performed vary widely based on the state. In states with abortion bans, 30% of practicing OB-GYNs do not refer patients out to other provid-

ers and do not offer information about alternative resources. There are a multitude of reasons why there is a shortage of OB-GYNs providing abortion care. One of said reasons is the lack of medical education for both medical students and residents about abortions. As a medical student myself, I believe that this topic, despite the current political landscape, is a valuable topic to integrate into the medical curriculum. Anecdotally, I had zero required clinical time to learn about abortion in my third year of medical school, a time when students typically leave the classroom setting and work with patients every day. I am certainly not alone in that sentiment, with only 45% of clerkship directors stating that they provided exposure to abortion care in medical school rotations. Approximately 70% of all medical students believe their exposure to abortion care was insufficient. Even more surprising is the laxity of residency programs when it comes to abortion care, with only half of all programs offering routine abortion train-

ing, according to one study. Residencies, especially OB-GYN residencies, should at least train doctors about abortion so that even if they do not provide abortions themselves, they are educated on alternatives and resources for their patients. Additionally, having the skill set to perform abortions improves a resident’s ability in general OB-GYN procedures including dilating the cervix, ultrasonography and gynecological pain management. The recent passing of Issue 1 in Ohio marks a significant step forward in my state’s abortion rights. However, the difficulty in accessing providers who can provide the service underscores the necessity of comprehensive education within both medical curricula and residency programs. For the constitutional right to have a true impact on reproductive choice, a properly educated healthcare workforce is essential. Deeksha Bathini is a student at Tufts University School of Medicine. She can be reached at deeksha.bathina@tufts.edu.

THE TUFTS DAILY

SPORTS 11

Thursday, November 15, 2023

Oliver Fox Sports and Society

Ban bandwagons

COURTESY TUFTS ATHLETICS

Tufts volleyball is pictured against Trinity College on Nov. 4.

Women’s volleyball falls to Williams in NESCAC Tara Wirtschoreck Staff Writer

After a tight win against Williams earlier in this season, the No. 4-seeded Tufts women’s volleyball team wasn’t able to replicate their previous success on Friday in the NESCAC semifinals. Senior libero Megan Harrison explained that the Jumbos understood that the Ephs were going to be a challenging opponent. “I knew that it was going to be a tough game … because we went to five [sets] with them on senior night, so we were anticipating another pretty long battle with them,” Harrison said. Williams had a strong showing, with a .287 hitting percentage, while Tufts’s hitting percentage was .183. Williams won all three sets against Tufts, largely due to their strong defense. Williams had 57 digs throughout the game. The Ephs created a strong defense that the Jumbos struggled to get past, Harrison explained. “There was nothing dropping on their side,” Harrison said. ”[They’re] definitely a more frustrating team to play because you expect balls to be scoring,

and when they keep getting them up it’s frustrating.” Despite the tough loss, the Jumbos still scored well. Harrison noted that the Jumbos started most sets strong. This was especially true in the first set, where the Jumbos were able to start with an 11–6 lead. The Jumbos weren’t able to hold this lead, and the first set ended in a 20–25 victory for the Ephs. “We started off every set attacking them, so we were up in the scores a lot which was good,” Harrison said. The second set had a similar theme, with Tufts gaining a 9–7 lead in the beginning. Despite this, the Jumbos lost the second set, this time by a smaller margin of 22–25. In the third set, this theme of the Jumbos being unable to follow through to the end continued. The Jumbos started from behind and ended behind in a 25–19 loss in the third set. Williams’ victory was characterized by their ability to outlast Tufts, especially on defense, Harrison explained. Even though the Jumbos had the skills to beat the Ephs previously, the Ephs were able to play a stronger, more aggressive game than the Jumbos were able to handle on Friday.

“They were just outlasting us. They were super scrappy. They were giving it their all,” Harrison said. This ended the Jumbos’ NESCAC tournament run, but the Jumbos will continue their post-season in the NCAA Tournament. The Jumbos will play Eastern University today in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. Harrison explained that even though the Jumbos struggled against the Ephs, they have the skills and mindset to improve and finish the post-season strong. “As a team, we need to keep it simple and also play aggressively,” Harrison said. “I think we were just a little bit timid against Williams and complacent with what they were doing to us. I think if we just focus on ourselves and how we play as Tufts, we’ll be a lot better than how we did last weekend.” Harrison said the team was looking forward to the tournament, but acknowledged that it’s likely going to be challenging. “We’re all really excited to get another chance,” Harrison said. “I think Eastern is going to be a challenging opponent; they’re not someone that we know very well, but once you get to that NCAA tournament, everyone’s very good.”

Men’s soccer moves on to host Sweet 16 at home SOCCER

continued from page 12 In the Rochester game, the Jumbos faced an opposing strategy that was more or less the same as Bridgewater State’s: Defensively, the Yellow Jackets sat in very deep and stayed compact with their line of confrontation being at about midfield. Offensively, despite showing glimpses of impressive build-up play and possession in their offensive third, they primarily relied on a counter-attacking style. The beginning minutes of the match mostly consisted of the Jumbos moving the ball around and learning how to break down the Rochester defense, and in the 23rd minute, they did just that. Bargagna received the ball in the offensive third and played a beautiful ball to senior center midfielder Liam Gerken, who headed in to take the 1–0 lead. Shortly after, the Jumbos added to this lead as Bargagna played a low-driven ball into the box. This ball was met by Traynor, who made a late darting run and finished it with a cheeky, blind outside-of-the-foot flick to double the lead. All weekend long, the Jumbos’ offense attacked the flanks. Traynor dis-

cussed how this has been a strength for them throughout the season. “I think all of us are really confident going forward, and we think we have a lot of really dangerous players in our attacking group,” Traynor said. “[Attacking the flanks] is one of the ways that we’re the most dangerous, so through the flow of the game we were able to get the ball out wide and create stuff from there.” In the second half, the Jumbos had a multiplicity of opportunities to score a third and seal the game. However, they were unable to put any into the back of the net. Rochester capitalized on this in the 73rd minute, when the ball fell to junior midfielder Avi Lamba’s feet after a challenged service, and he scored a deflected goal into the bottom right corner to cut the lead in half. Throughout the rest of the match, Rochester pushed for an equalizer and almost found one. Fortunately for the Jumbos, their defense and several heroic late saves by sophomore goalkeeper Nikola Antic allowed them to hold on for the 2–1 win. One factor that certainly helped propel the Jumbos to the Sweet Sixteen — and the

three other NESCAC teams that made the tournament — was the practice they got during the regular season with two-game weekends against high-level competition. “We came off a NESCAC weekend where we played Middlebury and Amherst, who are two of the best teams in the country, and put up two really good performances, and that not only helped us get used to it physically but also mentally,” Traynor said. “It gave us the confidence that you can put us up against anyone on a Saturday and anyone on a Sunday, and we have full faith that there’s going to be no drop off on that Sunday.” The Jumbos will try to build off this confidence heading into a Sweet Sixteen and potential Elite Eight weekend at home. “It’s just the mentality of us going into this week — bring the right energy and intensity to everything that we do this week from film to practice to recovery stuff, and then when the game comes on Saturday, we just [have] to be as united and together as we can, and we have full faith that the result will take care of itself,” Traynor said.

e need some standardization for sports fans, and I’m declaring bandwagoning illegal. You heard me. There are all sorts of rules governing player and team movement across professional sports in America. Players sign contracts and can be traded without their consent. Teams can’t just move to Barbados without running things through the proper channels. The NFL even has a borderline-authoritarian policy called the franchise tag, which can just force a superstar player to stay put regardless of their wishes. So enough of this laissez-faire approach to being a fan. We should be subjected to similar rules and regulations, and I plan to fix this thing once and for all. No more switching allegiances, no more spontaneous fan bases that never existed before. Bandwagoning shall henceforth be subjected to an official process, and I’m here to spell it out. A “bandwagon” fan is a person who — for some reason or other — decides to root for a team merely because they are playing well at the current moment. It’s by far the lamest thing you can do, and I’m outlawing it once and for all. There are two types of bandwagon fans: ones who never cared about any team and thus latched onto the best one when they started watching the sport, and ones that actually gave up on their hometown team for greener pastures. Both are lame, but the second one is definitely lamer. You should have to fill out an application if you want to switch/declare fandom for a team that you are not automatically eligible for. In short, unless you are somehow grandfathered into a team, we’re going to have to talk about this a bit. I’m not saying switching teams should be impossible, but it sure won’t be free. Here are the rules I came up with for fan eligibility: If you CURRENTLY LIVE in a team’s domain (which includes their city and all reasonably associated places, like parts of Connecticut for New York teams or New Hampshire for Boston), you are always eligible to be a fan of that team. If you were BORN and grew up in a team’s domain (preferably to an age where it was possible to know what a sport even is), you are also eligible. If one or both of your parents is a COMMITTED fan of a team but they/ you do not currently live there, you may be a fan of that team. A possible exception is foreign fans, who do not live in any team’s domain. In this situation, it is impossible to regulate allegiance, though I would recommend fans try to find a connection other than the team just being good. As someone who has tried and failed to adopt a European soccer team, I know the struggle. I’ll have to take some time to devise the official list of acceptable reasons for a change in allegiance. But under no circumstances can the only reason you are a fan of a team be any version of “they are good,” because that is just not the point of sports. Without struggling together through tough times, what is even the point of being a fan? As an aside: No, “I like the way they play,” is not a valid reason. That’s just “they are good” with better PR.

Oliver Fox is a junior studying history. He can be reached at oliver.fox@tufts.edu.

12 SPORTS

THE TUFTS DAILY

Thursday, November 15, 2023

SPORTS Cross country excites at NCAA regionals, men place 2nd to secure Nationals berth Madeline Mueller News Editor

The men’s cross country team finished in a strong second place out of 34 teams at the NCAA Division III East Regional championship in New Hampshire on Saturday. All seven runners were in the top 35 to secure all-regional honors, and this performance, along with a strong record this season, secured the team an at-large berth for the NCAA National championship that will take place on Saturday. On the women’s side, the team finished fourth overall, with graduate student Meghan Davis and junior Carly Rinko receiving individual bids to nationals. Junior captain Ivan Appleton led the team again, finishing fifth overall in the 8K with a time of 24:44.33. At his heels were senior Walter Wagude and sophomore Luke Brennan in ninth and tenth place overall, with times of 25:00.26 and 25:02.29 respectively. To round out the scoring runners, sophomores Calvin Cummings and Quinn Hampson were in 16th and 17th place. The team was remarkably close together in a very competitive race, as Hampson’s time of 25:10.06 was less than a 30-second difference from Appleton’s time.

COURTESY TUFTS ATHLETICS

Men's cross country team pictured at the Codfish Bowl on Sept. 23. The women’s team, finishing in fourth place out of 33 teams, also fared well on Saturday. Carly Rinko was 11th

overall in the 6K with a time of 22:25.53. Davis had a time of 22:27.47, which was good for 16th place. First-year Sophia

Carpenter and sophomore Lexi Dean were 31st and 35th for four All-Region performances on the women’s side. The men’s team invitation to Nationals was announced on Sunday. Thirty-two teams compete at Nationals with the winning team from each of ten regions automatically earning the chance to compete at Nationals. The remaining 22 bids are given out at large based on the team’s finish at regionals as well as the team record over the course of the season. The second-place finish is the best the Jumbos have done in this race since 2005; the men’s team came into the race off of many strong regular season performances to secure the at-large invitation. Senior Ryan Proulx reflected on the team mindset toward the race given that the men’s team favored to perform well at this race. “The team strategy was really just to not mess up. … We knew we were one of the teams to beat,” he wrote in an email to the Daily. “I think we executed that really well with a confident second place.” Rinko reflected on the women’s team’s performance, noting that the team grew in confidence over the course of the season.

“I am so proud of the six other women who raced and am more than confident we will qualify for nationals as a team next year,” Rinko wrote in an email to the Daily. “We are going into indoor/outdoor track with a chip on our shoulders and ready to compete. … I think we began to believe in our talent a little too late into the XC season ” The Jumbos were buoyed by the support of over 90 fans at the race. A large majority of this group included their teammates, many of whom were particularly spirited. “It is a tradition for … many cross country and track & field Jumbos to come cheer at Regionals and Nationals,” Rinko wrote. “The ‘crazies’ paint their bodies with blue and brown and hold giant cutouts of the racers faces; they run all around the course cheering at each corner.” Proulx agreed that the notable crowd support made the racing experience special. “The support from the crowd was incredible,” he wrote. “I had been on the other end the last two years cheering on which is also a blast and it was really nice to be able to experience it from the other side this year.” The Jumbos (and fans) will make the trip to Pennsylvania on Saturday for the NCAA Championship.

Men’s soccer thumps Bridgewater State and Rochester, dances on to the Sweet Sixteen Spencer Rosenbaum Deputy Sports Editor

3,470. That is the number of miles Washington and Lee, Ohio Northern and Colorado College will travel in sum to get to Bello Field for their matchups this coming weekend. The Tufts men’s soccer team hosted the first two rounds of the NCAA tournament this past weekend, and with a 3–0 win against Bridgewater State on Saturday and a 2–1 win against Rochester on Sunday, they earned a spot in the Sweet Sixteen. As the sun set in Medford on Sunday, the news got even better for the Jumbos: Ohio Northern defeated national No. 1 Messiah 1–0, meaning the final sectional games will be hosted in Medford this weekend. For Saturday’s Sweet Sixteen matchups, the Jumbos will face off against a strong Washington and Lee side at 11 a.m., while Ohio Northern plays Colorado College at 1:30 p.m. The winners of the two contests will compete on Sunday at 1 p.m. for a spot in the Final Four. Right from the beginning of Saturday’s game, it was clear that Bridgewater State’s opportunities predominantly arose from counterattacking play. While they had chances to score, it was the Jumbos

COURTESY TUFTS ATHLETICS

Sean Traynor is pictured against Rochester on Nov. 12. who controlled play and had better quality opportunities. In just the 14th minute, the Jumbos converted one of these chances off a long throw-in from sophomore outside back Mateo Bargagna.

Senior forward Mikey Brady was first to the ball and flicked it on for junior defender Taylor Feinberg, who tapped it in. This goal demonstrated the importance of scoring early as the game opened up with

Bridgewater State being forced to push forward in pursuit of an equalizer. The Jumbos’ offensive pressure only grew from there, and in the 40th minute, they found goal

No. 2. When Bargagna played a service across the box, junior forward Ben Verner headed it back to sophomore forward Henry Perkins, who found the back of the net. After halftime, in the 63rd minute, the side found a third goal to seal it, giving Coach Kyle Dezotell further freedom to get some starters rest before Sunday’s game. On the goal, sophomore midfielder Daniel Yanez sent the ball into the box off a corner. At the near post, Perkins headed it on to first-year center defensive midfielder Bijan Akhtarzandi-Das, who laid out in full extension to make it 3–0. Senior forward Sean Traynor discussed how utilizing their depth is crucial for weekends with consecutive games. “I think one of the things we’ve always prided ourselves on is having one of the deepest benches in the entire country, and it makes the double weekends definitely a lot easier,” Traynor said. “Spreading out the minutes is really important. It helps give guys some confidence in games moving forward and then also ... it gives some of the older guys, like myself, a little bit of extra rest for a back-to-back weekend game.” see SOCCER, page 11