The Tufts Daily - Friday, January 21, 2022

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T HE T UFTS DAILY Here’s what you need to know about local mask mandates

by Ethan Steinberg News Editor

While Tufts students were away over the break, local officials were enacting new policies — and reintroducing old ones — to govern vaccination proof and mask use in public settings.

Just as finals were wrapping up last month, the Medford Board of Health voted unanimously to reinstate a citywide indoor mask mandate. The order requires individuals, regardless of vaccination sta-

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Friday, January 21, 2022

MEDFORD/SOMERVILLE, MASS.

tus, to wear masks in public indoor spaces in Medford.

That includes, among other places, grocery stores, fitness centers, bars and even restaurants — except when seated.

Individuals with a medical condition or disability that prevents them from wearing masks are exempt from the order, as are children under 5 years old.

The mask policy comes alongside a limited vaccine mandate, which orders individuals ages 12 and older to

show proof of vaccination before entering the city’s largest indoor performance center, the Chevalier Theatre.

The theater, like other businesses around the country, has struggled throughout the pandemic to retain employees, according to Raul Morales, the venue’s general manager.

Morales said some staff members have stepped down from their posts fearing the virus itself, while others have stopped working because they are unwilling to get the vaccine, which is now required.

He applauded the new mandate nevertheless.

“It’s for the best and the safety of everyone, so we don’t mind,” he said.

The order went into effect as single-day case totals in the city began to shatter previous highs with regularity, reaching triple digits six times over a 10-day span in late December.

Medford had reported over 100 cases in a single day just once before then.

SOPHIE DOLAN / THE TUFTS DAILY

see MANDATES, page 2

The Teele Square sign is pictured on March 6, 2021.

Mass. public schools call snow days, delayed openings in response to omicron variant

by Michael Weiskopf News Editor

More than 10 public school districts in the Greater Boston area, including Somerville Public Schools, either called snow days or had delayed openings during the week of Jan. 3 in order to catch up on COVID-19 testing and personal protective equipment (PPE) distribution.

As COVID-19 cases surged due to the high transmissibility of the omicron variant, many districts found it difficult to manage their high rates of infection and sought to suspend in-person classes in order to test teachers for the virus and give them a supply of PPE. However, because the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) continues to prohibit schools from conducting remote learning, the only way that schools are allowed to

cancel in-person instruction is by calling a snow day.

Massachusetts schools can apply for a waiver from the state to conduct remote learning that counts toward students’ required learning hours. In November 2021, DESE denied a Jamaica Plain school’s request for a remote learning waiver after the school reported nearly four dozen COVID-19 cases over the course of approximately three weeks.

DESE Commissioner Jeffrey Riley defended the denial, saying that “remote learning will not fully meet the academic and social emotional needs of our students.”

School districts around the state differed in their approaches to the variant. Medford Public Schools held classes as originally scheduled on the morning of Jan. 3, whereas Somerville Public Schools used a two-hour see SCHOOLS, page 2

Espresso Pizza closes its doors after 45 years of serving Medford

by Olivia Field

Assistant News Editor

Espresso Pizza, the Boston Ave. restaurant popular among Tufts students, announced in a Dec. 21 Facebook post that it was permanently closing its doors after over 40 years in business. In an earlier post from Dec. 17, Patty More, the owner of Espresso, wrote that she was retiring.

“After 9 great but long and exhausting years, I will be retiring and Espresso pizza will be permanently closing,” Moore wrote in the post.

Moore took over after her brother, Anthony Salvato, Jr., passed away in 2010. Espresso has been part of the Medford community since the 1970s, when Salvato first opened the pizzeria.

“When he passed away, I was determined to keep his legacy alive,” Moore added on Facebook.

The Facebook post garnered a slew of comments from members of the Medford community.

“You have the best pizza I’ve ever had! You will be greatly missed, but wishing you the best in your retirement. We’ll have to come by for one last pizza

before you close,” one commenter wrote.

Among the commenters were Tufts students and alumni, who shared stories about working at the restaurant and eating pizza with friends.

“My Miller Hall neighbors and I ordered delivery nearly every weeknight (not joking!),” a loyal Tufts customer wrote.

Moore expressed her love for Medford and Tufts in an interview with the Daily, explaining that she employed a few Tufts students at Espresso during her 9 years running the restaurant.

“I only had two or three [students] work for me,” Moore said. “But they all offered to work for us when they found out we were closing because we couldn’t get help.”

Trouble staffing the restaurant factored into Moore’s decision to close down after so many years.

“I couldn’t get help. Anyone that came for a job… I paid by check and they needed cash, and I wasn’t paying cash,” she said.

COVID-19 had a significant impact on Espresso Pizza as a small business that relied on the patronage of Tufts students.

RACHEL HARTMAN / THE TUFTS DAILY

Espresso Pizza on Boston Avenue is pictured on Sept. 29, 2019.

Moore said that although delivery orders helped sustain the business, it suffered from a loss of customers when Tufts moved to online instruction in spring 2020.

“We had some great, great customers, loyal customers,” she said.

This loss of business has not been uncommon among

Massachusetts small businesses during the pandemic. One study showed that small business revenue declined by 25% in the state between April 2020 and April 2021.

To help ease the workload on her staff and herself, Moore initially decided to close the restaurant on Mondays.

SPORTS / back

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ARTS / page 4

Spring sports bloom into the season

Kaplan Lab meats challenge of sustainable food

Three cheers for cheer

Even after decreasing Espresso’s hours of operation, the shortage of employees, combined with stocking difficulties and a desire to spend time with her two grandchidren, ultimately led Moore to consider closing the restaurant. see PIZZA, page 2 NEWS

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FUN & GAMES

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THE TUFTS DAILY | News | Friday, January 21, 2022

THE TUFTS DAILY Alexander Janoff Editor in Chief

— EDITORIAL — PERI BAREST SAM RUSSO PHOEBE WONG Senior Editors

ELIZABETH FOSTER KENDALL ROBERTS Associate Editors Chloe Courtney Bohl Executive News Editor Delaney Clarke Executive Features Editor Maeve Hagerty Executive Arts Editor Faye Shen Li Thijssen Executive Opinion Editor Makenna Law Editorial Editor Isaac Karp Executive Sports Editor Alex Viveros Investigative Editor Aaron Klein Executive Audio Producer Mina Terzioglu Kiana Vallo Executive Photo Editors Ty Blitstein Executive Video Editor Michael Wu Executive Graphics Editor

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— BUSINESS — CAMPBELL DEVLIN Business Director Hannah Harris Emily Walker Outreach Coordinators Joe Posthauer Web Manager Contact Us P.O. Box 53018, Medford, MA 02155 daily@tuftsdaily.com thetuftsdaily tuftsdaily tuftsdaily

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Medford, Somerville continue mask mandates, diverge on vaccination mandate policies MANDATES

continued from page 1 “This spike is no joke, and it’s certainly made an impact on residents and affected them greatly,” MaryAnn O’Connor, public health director for the city, said at a Medford Board of Health meeting on Tuesday.

The order also came just days after the omicron variant became the dominant strain in Massachusetts, according to estimates by researchers at the Broad Institute in Cambridge. Medford’s surge came alongside mounting case totals around the Boston area, though experts now say the surge’s peak may have passed.

The Boston Globe reported last week that wastewater data had begun to indicate a decline

in cases locally, even as numbers continued to soar in most parts of the nation.

Despite encouraging data, the mask mandate in Medford will remain in effect through at least the end of January, officials confirmed during Tuesday’s Board of Health meeting.

“The numbers are definitely going down, the wastewater is definitely down,” Kathleen Charbonnier, a registered nurse and member of the board, said at the meeting. “But we’ve got to wait. We’re not out of this yet.”

The board is scheduled to revisit the mandate in February.

“Hopefully we’re cresting now — this seems to be the top of the wave as we speak,” David Pladziewicz, cardiologist and chair of the Board of Health,

said at the meeting earlier this week. “Between the number of infections and the immunizations, there should be a fair amount of herd immunity, if you will, out there.”

O’Connor said that about 76% of Medford residents are fully vaccinated. She also said the majority of new COVID-19 cases identified in the city are occurring in people in their 20s.

Medford’s vaccine policy, however, has not been adopted by the city’s neighbor, which rejected a bid Thursday evening to implement a sweeping policy that would have required eligible individuals to show proof of vaccination before entering entertainment venues, restaurants, gyms and indoor recreation facilities.

The proposal in Somerville received strong pushback from the city’s Chamber of Commerce.

The slew of mandates and proposals come as university students return to campus from around the world and continue to test positive at unprecedented rates. Over 130 students on the Medford/Somerville campus tested positive in the week between Jan. 11 and Jan. 18, according to the university’s COVID-19 dashboard.

The city of Medford is holding free vaccine booster clinics from 3–6 p.m. on Wednesdays at Medford High School and from 9–11:30 a.m. on Fridays at the Council on Aging.

Individuals can find the nearest vaccination clinic at vaxfinder.mass.gov.

Dept. of Elementary and Secondary Ed. bans remote learning, forces districts to call snow days SCHOOLS

continued from page 1 delay. Nearby, Cambridge called snow days on both Jan. 3 and Jan. 4 despite clear weather on both days.

Massachusetts public schools are not allowed to hold virtual classes on snow days, as this would be considered a violation of DESE’s ban on remote learning. As a result, in the districts that closed their school buildings, not even virtual instruction could take place.

David Murphy, assistant superintendent of finance and operations for Medford Public Schools, explained that while Medford schools have seen an increase in COVID-19 cases, the district was able to preempt major staffing shortages during the week of Jan. 3, and therefore proceeded with classes as planned.

“We definitely had staffing issues. We had reached out to some substitutes ahead of time to try to staff each school … so that was sort of a proactive step that we took,” Murphy said in an interview with the Daily. “While we’re definitely short-staffed and had some challenges, we were able to operate the buildings and make good on our commitment to the families of Medford to keep kids in school, which is something that we think is really important for their health.”

Avery Hines, supervisor of nurses at Medford Public Schools, outlined some of the changes her department has

made to COVID-19 policy since winter break.

“Typically we were calling home for positives, but that was when we didn’t have as many positives as we have had with omicron,” Hines said in an interview with the Daily. “[Now,] instead of calling home once we get the results, we send emails out … if we tried to call everyone before the school day, we wouldn’t reach anyone, and we’d have positive kids in the building.”

Meanwhile, Susana Hernandez Morgan, chief communications and development officer for Somerville Public Schools, explained that her district found it necessary to delay classes by two hours on Jan. 3 in order to keep track of COVID-19 infections.

“We decided to institute a two-hour delayed start of classes for students the first day back from winter break to ensure that all staff had access to rapid testing before students arrived, that school principals and central office staff could adjust school staffing based on any positive tests reported that morning, and that KN95 masks could be distributed to all staff prior to students’ arrival,” Morgan wrote in an email to the Daily.

Hernandez Morgan added that Somerville Public Schools’ COVID19 precautions have helped keep case numbers relatively low.

“We have implemented a strong and comprehensive COVID safety plan to minimize the presence of COVID in our schools.

[Somerville Public Schools’] case

NICOLE GARAY / THE TUFTS DAILY

The West Somerville Neighborhood School is pictured on Jan. 1, 2021 counts and positivity rates have been significantly below community levels in Somerville and throughout the Commonwealth,” Morgan wrote. “All students received a rapid test kit that contained 2 tests prior to the start of the winter break … all staff rapid-tested prior to students’ arrival to school on [Jan. 3] … all staff are being provided with KN95 masks to be used at school, regardless of vaccination status.”

According to Murphy and Hines, even though the vast majority of students, parents and faculty continue to comply with COVID-19 guidelines, fatigue is beginning to set in.

“We’re [at] this point where we need to start to look at the big picture and where we want to see the future going, especially in regards to students being able to have some form of functionality in education,” Hines said. “How can we best

do that in a supportive environment where we’re still cognizant of COVID but not focused on COVID?” Murphy shared some of the same sentiments.

“I think we’ve gone from a period of hopefulness with respect to reestablishing normalcy to a period of desperation to reestablish normalcy,” Murphy said. “While we understand that there’s a responsibility to continue to be vigilant against the spread of COVID-19, I think there is also a growing realization in Medford and elsewhere that this is a virus that ultimately will be endemic and that we will live with at least for the foreseeable future, if not for the rest of our lives.”

“We’re focused on making sure that … we’re continuing to advance the educational mission of the district despite this added challenge,” Murphy said.

Owner retires after nearly a decade running beloved restaurant PIZZA

continued from page 1 “​​It was just getting harder and harder. And then I got an offer,” Moore said.

Moore said that although handing over her keys to Espresso was bittersweet, she is enjoying her time in retirement.

“I miss the customers, people I worked with and all the friend-

ships I made, but I’m enjoying the time,” she said.

Moore spent time with her family on Espresso Pizza’s last day open.

“I had a pizza party with all my nieces … and my kids came in and made pizzas on Sunday … Sunday was Family Day,” she said.

Although Espresso is closing, there will be no shortage of pizza in the Medford area. Pini’s

Pizzeria bought the storefront that Espresso previously inhabited and is in the process of moving in.

Pini’s announced in a Jan. 10 Facebook post that the restaurant would be moving from its Somerville location into the storefront previously occupied

by Espresso. In the same post, the restaurant shared that it was closed for renovations and

planned to reopen in the next week. As of Jan. 19, Pini’s has yet to open its Boston Ave location.

Pini’s declined multiple requests for an interview with the Daily.

Moore reflected on how running Espresso Pizza helped her feel closer to her brother, Anthony, after his death.

“I think I made my brother proud,” she said.

Friday, January 21, 2022

Features

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From lab to table: How the Kaplan lab is pioneering cellular agriculture

by Kayla Butera Features Editor

When you think of where your meat comes from, you’re probably thinking of a farm. But here on campus, a group of scientists is creating meat.

The cellular agriculture research team at the Kaplan Laboratory focuses on “the basic science that underlies cultured [and] in vitro meat,” which means the generation of muscle and fat tissue outside an animal’s body. This is otherwise known as cellular agriculture.

According to the website for a course affiliated with the lab, some of their target points include “muscle cell engineering to enhance nutrition and cost reduction,” the use of insect cells for large-scale meat tissue generation and the “application [and] adaptation of conventional meat science techniques to evaluate meat generated in vitro.”

“What we do, essentially … is that we isolate stem cells from tissue, for example from a cow,” John Yuen, a Ph.D. student who works in the Kaplan Lab, said.

“And then we try and multiply those stem cells, proliferate them into a huge amount, and then turn those little cells into actual muscle fibers.”

Cells in the body have two stages: the first is the proliferation phase where cells multiply, and the second is the differentiation phase, where cells stop dividing and form different cells, leading to function-specific tissues and organs. The cells then mass-produce the proteins required for the contraction function of the muscle, differentiating into muscle fibers, a process researchers aim to host in their Petri dishes. The animal-derived tissue can either come via a biopsy or a sample from a slaughterhouse.

The Kaplan Lab has been using primarily bovine samples from Tufts’ Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine, as cows have the largest negative environmental impact of livestock grown for human consumption. In general, livestock alone makes up around 14.5% of global greenhouse gas emissions, and the food industry as a whole accounts for a third of our carbon emissions. ​​While cows have a serious environmental impact, Yuen is interested in fish for both environmental and human health reasons. In terms of the environment, overfishing decreases biodiversity, and on the human side, mercury via biomagnification has been an increasing health concern due to toxicities.

When it comes to cellular agriculture, however, one may wonder if the energy used to cellularly grow meat equals that of traditional agricultural practices. There are many life cycle analyses on cultured meat, which are all speculative at the moment.

“It usually comes down to [that] cultured meat [has] a lot less land use and eutrophication because you don’t have the pollutants just running off into the waterways,” Yuen said.

Proponents of cellular agriculture believe that it could reduce land, water and chemical inputs and minimize greenhouse gas emissions. In contrast, points of high energy may come from using a bioreactor, a machine used to manufacture cellularly grown meat on a larger scale. Because the scale of

their production is much smaller than any potentially commercially available solution, the Kaplan Lab uses Petri dishes.

“If we’re doing a little experiment to investigate one small aspect of how the cell works … all we need is just a test because we just need a little bit,” Yuen said.

On the economic side, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics lists the December 2021 average price of ground chuck beef across U.S. cities as $4.79 per pound. While the members of Kaplan Lab are not scaling and producing the meat themselves, some companies are gearing towards industrial meat-producing scales. In fact, even some of the biggest conventional meat producers like Tyson and Cargill are becoming involved in the cellular agriculture space.

However, there is controversy in the field as to whether cellularly grown meat can become cheap or whether it will never be able to be done cost-effectively. Some believe cellularly grown meat can be produced at the same cost as conventional meat once it has scaled up. The first slaughter-free hamburger based on laboratory-cultured meat was unveiled in 2013 by the CSO of Mosa Meat, professor Mark Post, which cost $280,000. The scaling is a challenge due to the growth pattern of the animal cells attached to surfaces.

Sean Cash is an associate professor at the Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy who works closely with the Kaplan Lab to assess the interaction of economics and cellular agriculture. He has been analyzing barriers to consumer acceptance, how cellular agriculture will be regulated and what to call it.

“This is really a story of [figuring] out how to do things, but the real challenge is making it bigger,” Cash said. “If you think of what the early precursors of cellular [agriculture] work [were], it’s been in using animal cells for medical purposes … but those would never require the types of scales that you’re talking about for food production.”

Another barrier is more linguistic in nature. There is a current debate as to whether cellularly grown meat should be called “meat” to begin with.

“If you’re a conventional beef producer, you want cellular products to not be able [to be called] ‘beef.’ You want them to have to use different things to put them in a high-tech food box,” Cash said. “If you’re a member of this nascent industry, you want to be able to have the freedom to use whatever phrases you think will help you most connect with your future, potential consumers.”

In 2018, the U.S. Cattlemen’s Association sent a petition to the USDA that they summarized as saying: “The terms ‘beef ’ and ‘meat’ should be retained exclusively for products derived from the flesh of a [bovine] animal, harvested in the traditional manner.” Based on the comments received, the USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service found that while most opposed the petition, nearly all agreed that cultured meat should be labeled to identify its method of production.

COURTESY JOHN YUEN

A Kaplan Lab researcher is pictured holding fat that was made by the lab.

According to a study from Penn State, the development of cellular agriculture may increase socioeconomic inequality by concentrating power in the food system and displacing farmers and fishermen who are already struggling. The same study also found that it could lead to great improvement in sustainability for the food industry.

“Creative destruction … is always a part of new technologies, and displacement of existing workers and industry sectors is a separate issue from market concentration because displacement of farmers and fishermen is already happening,” Cash said.

Cash believes that if cellular agriculture takes flight, new people will be hired in this space, as has happened in the past with new innovations.

As for market concentration, Cash acknowledges that increased reliance on technology and patented information could further concentrate power on the economic scale and intellectual property side. Regardless, Cash is a proponent of maintaining research in the public space. Recently, the Kaplan Lab received $10 million in funding from a USDA grant to optimize its cellular agriculture efforts. In particular, the grant will allow Tufts to create the new National Institute for Cellular Agriculture, the first government-funded protein research center.

“One of the best ways … to make sure that new technologies can be forces for diversification and democratization of access to production, and maybe help us deconcentrate some of these things … is to have the key technologies live in

the public sphere,” Cash said. “If these advances happen … only in the hands of private companies, or if they happen in government labs in other countries where there might be closer coordination with the industrial sectors, then that’ll just lead towards market concentration.”

To embrace inclusivity, according to Cash, technologies should lie in the public sphere, existing in a system of peer-reviewed research and publicly accessible patents. Onboard with these values, New Harvest is a nonprofit organization aiming to maximize the positive impact of cellular agriculture.

“We foster technical leadership, build scientific infrastructure, and address knowledge gaps in cellular agriculture,” Meera Zassenhaus, Communications and Media Manager at New Harvest, wrote in an email. “In the long term, we work to ensure this burgeoning industry delivers on its promises to reduce our dependence on animal agriculture and the heavy toll of meat production on the environment, animal welfare, and public health.”

She hopes that cellularly grown meat will eventually replace factory farms, with the ability to buy cell-cultured crunch wraps at a local Taco Bell in the future. Cash shared the possibility of seeing a mixture of cellularly grown meat and conventional meat in one product as well.

Overall, as Zassenhaus wrote, one thing is clear: “We need a pipeline of talent, data, and expertise coming [from] universities. That’s where the most experimental, cutting edge research happens anyway.”

Arts & POP ARTS Pop CULTURE Culture

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Friday, January 21, 2022

Collegiate cheerleading is back with ‘Cheer’ Season 2

by Ryan Fairfield

Contributing Writer

Content warning: This article contains a brief discussion of child sex abuse.

In January 2020, Netflix introduced the world to “Cheer” (2020–22), a documentary series that followed the Navarro Cheer Team from Corsicana, Texas. The 14-time national championship team coached

by Monica Aldama succeeded in claiming the national title in 2019, and the six-episode series gave the public an inside look into the team’s daily practices, members’ personal lives and the overall competitive nature of the sport. Two years later, following the cancellation of the 2020 NCA National Championship due to COVID19, Netflix has released the second season and brought us back into the world of collegiate cheer.

Unlike the first season, which only focused on Navarro College, the second season highlights Navarro’s rivals, Trinity Valley Community College. The second season jumps between Navarro and Trinity Valley to showcase the rivalry between the two schools and the differences between them. The incorporation of Trinity Valley this season was a bold choice, considering a majority of the viewers had already grown attached to Navarro and would be rooting for their team, however, the show does a successful job at

making viewers root for both teams by providing what felt like equal coverage of both teams.

In addition to Trinity Valley being a new aspect of the show, the second season also differs as it focuses on two competition seasons, both the 2020 and 2021 seasons, rather than just one. Although the 2020 NCA National Championship was canceled because of COVID-19, the footage from that competition season is still utilized in order to spotlight how the pandemic impacted collegiate athletics. As the season progresses, viewers watch COVID-19 grow from a slight worry in the athletes’ minds to the serious pandemic that the world has come to know.

The COVID-19 aspect of the show is interesting enough.

Through interviews with the athletes and firsthand footage from their final practices, the audience is able to empathize with these athletes and understand the pain and frustration they felt, even if the viewers themselves have never been involved in a sport.

Since Netflix announced the release date of the second season, there had been many questions as to how the show would address former Navarro cheerleader, Jerry Harris, who was arrested in September 2020 for soliciting pornographic photos and sex from minors. The show addresses the issue in its fifth episode. This episode of the show allowed the survivors

COURTESY OF WIKIMEDIA COMMONS.

Image of athletes from Netflix’s series “Cheer” (2021-22). of Harris’ abuse to share their side of the story, lawyers to discuss the issue and investigative reporters who broke the story to comment. Needless to say, this episode of the show is a heavy one that can be hard to watch, but it is critical in bringing attention to survivors of sexual abuse within sports and the lack of action some professional organizations take to protect young athletes.

After the fifth episode of the show, the intensity and drama increased tenfold. The sixth episode, “Tumbling,” marks the return of both the Navarro and Trinity Valley teams following the pandemic. Both teams are gearing up for the 2021 championship, and both are eager

to triumph over the other.

The audience watches as both teams attempt to perfect every movement, from their jumps to the complex pyramid, as shown in the episode “Mining for Tenths,” in which the title refers to the teams working to get every last tenth of a point they are able to earn. Watching both Navarro and Trinity Valley fight for perfection is both entertaining and fascinating.

The drive and motivation of these athletes is admirable, and the passion they have for their sport is inspiring. As the show emphasizes many times, the athletes at Navarro and Trinity Valley are some of the best teams in cheerleading, and the final episodes of the

show truly demonstrate how dedicated they are.

The second season of “Cheer” succeeds in being an intense, binge-worthy docuseries that showcases the fiery rivalry between two highly skilled collegiate cheer teams.

The Navarro team welcomes viewers back with familiar faces and the same competitive energy as the first season, while Trinity Valley shines as the underdogs and manages to connect with the audience in the same way Navarro did in the first season. In a season with two extremely likable and equally talented teams, the only struggle viewers will have is deciding which team to root for.

‘The Tragedy of Macbeth’: Something wicked (so wicked) this way comes

by Miranda Feinberg Staff Writer

Joel Coen’s “The Tragedy of Macbeth” (2021) — a modern cinemascape of the iconic Scottish Shakespearean tragedy — is told in vivid pools of light and sharp-edged voids of shadow. Every point within and throughout the film opposes all other points; it is so expansive and amorphous and yet full of clean cut lines and sharp pointed corners. “Macbeth,” which fol-

COURTESY OF WIKIMEDIA COMMONS.

Promotional poster for “The Tragedy of Macbeth” (2021).

lows the titular newly appointed Thane of Cawdor as he loses himself to his hunger for power, has been released in theaters and is available to stream through Apple TV Plus. The iconic story has had countless adaptations across film and theater, and here Coen and his team blend those two mediums to create a unique and singular atmosphere which shrouds the story in visual markers that match the emotion and madness central to the story.

Most awe-inspiring in “The Tragedy of Macbeth” is undoubtedly its cinematography and production design.

Cinematographer Bruno Delbonnel achieves an exquisitely sharp and crystalline sense of space and depth throughout the film. The setting and story become a void, never-ending in their capacity to shock and devolve into a downward spiral. It is a movie that bleeds, bleeding itself into itself into itself such that every image drips and drops into the next so seamlessly and so richly liquidated that it seems almost perpetual. The film is shot in black and white, and constantly uses hazy gray fogs and dark-

laid shadows to connect each scene into the next; the film will push into the sky or fall within the different landscape settings, only to later push back out and arrive in different scenes so that it all becomes interconnected. Everything looks crisp and is placed carefully so that each frame feels like its own singular piece of art.

It is shocking to note that the entire movie was filmed on a soundstage. With how truly big the film feels, the fact that everything is constructed in such a minute and contained set is truly astounding. The walls of Macbeth’s own castle loom dark and high in pitch black pillars of silhouette; the sky is cloudy and flocked with ravens.

There are tents and courtyards, roads which fork at weird ruins and rooms with circles of doorways and crossed open ceiling beams. Every set feels like it has a touch of unearthly architecture, and often lighting and fake rain will emphasize the wrongness of the scenes.

On a performance level, leads Denzel Washington as Macbeth and Frances McDormand as Lady Macbeth anchor the story

in such a whirlwind dance which takes the audience into its own insanity. They are solemn at times and unhinged at others, always with an air of regality and poise which proves just how timelessly talented both are. Washington speaks with a profound sense of the reasoning behind Macbeth’s initial decisions and excellently portrays the departure from such reasoning as he falls ever deeper into his own fractured psyche.

He is magnetic. McDormand matches this insanity time and again as she exudes the anger and impatience of her character. As Hollywood royalty themselves, they attract the attention that their characters need. It is impossible to look away from their actions, and even as the characters (especially Macbeth) push all others away, they bring the audience closer than ever.

The rest of the cast, too, shines across the board. Immediately captivating audience members is Kathryn Hunter, playing the role of the Three Witches, whose intense physicality (which extends from her voice to her facial expressions to her jerking and hyperextended arms) is so

transformative and brings the audience immediately into the same apprehension and intrigue that Macbeth and Banquo feel when met with the wicked figures in the first introduction.

Corey Hawkins (Macduff ), Alex Hassell (Ross) and Harry Melling (Malcolm) also add so much depth to their characters, emotion to the story and intrigue to the conflicts.

Macbeth is a story that has been told and retold and adapted and reimagined countless times. The story is a classic, seeped in a nihilistic sort of clamor for power and the bloody horrors enacted in pursuit of such power. The prose and poetry of Shakespeare’s original is matched here with epic bouts of visual imagery and languid cinematic edits. It is a story that becomes so emotionally charged by the troupe of actors who expertly bring the words to life. Overall, this particular film adaptation is a masterclass of sense and thought. The filmmakers clearly put much thought and care into their artistry, so much so that the deceit and the madness seem to sweat through the screen.

Friday, January 21, 2022 | Fun & Games | THE TUFTS DAILY

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LATE NIGHT AT THE DAILY Phoebe: “There should be a sentence at the end of that caption.”

Fun & Games

SUDOKU

LINDA C. BLACK ASTROLOGY

Aquarius (Jan. 20–Feb. 18) Today is a 9. Personal matters take center stage with Mars (plus Mercury and Venus) in your sign. Sign contracts and negotiate deals. Money flows easier with Mercury direct.

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Difficulty Level: Doing the first week of classes virtually.

Wednesday’s Solutions

CROSSWORD

a hairbrush.

Recycle me.

6 Friday, January 21, 2022

Daniel Chung Countering China

Collision Course for the 21st Century: Chinese Revanchism and Revisionism

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hina, under the rule of Xi Jinping, is the nation that represents the greatest threat to the international status quo that has existed since the end of the Cold War. Although there are areas where cooperation between China and the United States may be both desirable and highly necessary, like dealing with climate change, such instances are far and few between. Instead, the seemingly inevitable collision of the two powers is sure to determine the fate of the 21st century.

From Carter’s advocacy for Sino-American relations in the

Opinion late 1970s to George Bush’s deputy secretary of state urging China to be a “responsible stakeholder” of global affairs in the early 2000s, the United States has spent decades pursuing strategic engagement with China. Such efforts have been led by prominent intellectuals including Janos Kornai, a renowned professor of economics at Harvard University, who thought that economic incentives would induce China to reform and open up as promised by Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping. Despite Western leaders hoping for Chinese politics to liberalize as a result of economic, technological and cultural exchanges, the aftermath of the Tiananmen Square massacre has made it clear that they are likely mistaken. Permanent normal trade relations, as pushed

by President Clinton in his 2000 China Trade Bill speech, have created economic and trade dependencies of the United States on the Chinese economy which contribute to the current dichotomy of China challenging America’s global hegemony.

In the words of Kornai himself, who puts the situation poetically, “We not only watched China’s

transformation with approval but actively contributed to these changes. We are the modern version of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein … The resurrected creature became a murderous monster.”

Instead, it has become increasingly difficult to imagine a world in the next few decades where China will be willing to recognize, permit and promote the fundamentals of egalitarian societies rather than pursue a revisionist and revanchist agenda. It continues to make attempts to undermine and bully small, fragile democracies abroad with debt-trap diplomacy like we see in Uganda.

It shows limited initiatives to counter rogue states which forego adherence to basic humanitarian norms like North Korea.

It suppresses people-powered movements in its own backyard of Hong Kong, and it is in the midst of establishing a network of unconventional allies which threaten to challenge the stability of the United States’ own alliances. Additionally, due to the United States’ significant economic reliance on its relationship with China, prominent citizens now often censor

their own criticisms of China to please China’s government, all to maintain now-necessary financial flows to their franchises and businesses. The beginning of a global backslide into authoritarianism has only supported China’s rise as an increasingly credible challenge to liberal American hegemony as it prepares to strike while the iron is hot.

Recent indications have confirmed that a confrontation is almost inevitable no matter what the U.S. may do, given China’s increasing restrictions on the dissemination of information both within and beyond its borders. The resulting decreased economic and political predictability suggests that the frequency of asymmetric, “grey zone” warfare is likely to increase soon.

Through the Great Firewall, China attempts to execute its objectives by playing on social disorder within its competitor.

In simple terms, concerted, widespread cyberattacks and attacks based on economic mechanisms against the U.S. and its allies may become far more prevalent and dangerous in the following months.

tuftsdaily.com Based on the direct challenge that Xi’s China poses to both the United States itself and the ability of global democracy to survive, the United States, as the country best positioned to prevent the rise of a malignant global superpower, must act. To do so, it must first recognize the factors which have led us here, ranging from demography and economy to internal CCP dynamics to geopolitical needs to secure Chinese security, as well as policies enacted by the United States itself which failed to counteract the situation’s degradation to this point. Then, the United States must take steps to limit the potential of open conflict without ceding the race for the 21st century to China.

Ultimately, by discussing these issues through this column, there will be a greater appreciation for the strategic goals that the U.S. should be aiming for in all theaters where China is involved, and exactly why and how the United States should act in countering China.

Daniel is a first-year who has not yet declared a major. Daniel can be reached at daniel.chung@tufts.edu.

S Bharat Singh The Final Whistle

Alexia Putellas’ road to the Ballon d’Or

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hile the debate for the 2021 men’s Ballon d’Or had fans around the world split between Robert Lewandowski and Lionel Messi, the women’s award grabbed fewer headlines, despite having a clear winner.

For years, the glamour and glory of the beautiful game have been dominated by male athletes, from the academy systems at elite clubs all the way to the podium of the FIFA World Cup. The sad reality is that a wunderkind making his debut for twenty minutes is likely to gain more popularity than a female legend who has

Aiden Herrod The Intangibles

X-factor arguments for every remaining NFL team

W

hen NFL teams face off in the divisional games this weekend, it can be tempting to evaluate the matchups in a blackand-white manner. But the NFL has taught us repeatedly that the Super Bowl puzzle is nebulous and complex. With that in mind, I’m diving into the narrative-driven arguments for every remaining team to go all the way.

Green Bay Packers: The Last Dance From his feud with the Packers’ front office to showing off a toe injury live during a press

Friday, January 21, 2022 | SPORTS | THE TUFTS DAILY

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won everything there is to win. To shine as a female player appears an elusive dream for many, but for Alexia Putellas it was a dream destined to become reality.

Born in Mollet del Vallès, a northern suburb 25 kilometers outside of Barcelona, Alexia discovered an obsession for football. From playing with young boys in the streets to accompanying her father for matches at the iconic Camp Nou, Putellas’ love for the game grew as she joined local club Sabadell at the age of seven. Four years later, Putellas took the first big step in her career by joining La Masia, FC Barcelona’s youth academy.

Unfortunately, due to changes in club policies shortly after her arrival, Putellas was left without a team and joined local rivals Espanyol where she would spend five years, making her first team debut as a 16 year old. Her performances marked her as one of Spain’s brightest young talents.

In 2010, Putellas represented Spain at the UEFA U17 European Championships where La Roja

breezed through the group and knockout phases, edging Ireland in a tense penalty shootout in the final. The same year, she featured at the U17 World Cup, winning bronze, and signed for Levante the following season.

With 15 goals in 34 appearances, Putellas finished as the club’s top scorer. Her growing success, however, took a heavy blow with the loss of her father in 2012.

Upon hearing the news, and as an admirer of Putellas’ talent, her previous youth coach offered her a transfer and she re-signed for Barcelona Femení, where she currently plays.

The next 10 years would see Putellas enjoy domestic success at the club level but suffer disappointments with the national team. In 2015, after a lackluster campaign at the World Cup in Canada, Putellas and her teammates demanded the resignation of veteran head coach Ignacio Quereda. Putellas felt that the team was not well prepared and that this generation had greater potential. In 2019, with visible improvements in playing style,

Spain qualified for the round of 16 but was defeated by the United States, whose team went on to win the World Cup. At Barcelona, Putellas has registered 117 goals in 271 appearances, having won La Primera División five times as she comes off a treble-winning season, a feat achieved by very few clubs in history, either male or female.

Barcelona currently sits at the top of the league and is averaging close to six goals per game, outscoring the next three teams put together! In November, Barcelona humiliated Sevilla 10–1, a glimpse into the team’s attacking prowess, and is widely regarded as the most dominant team in the world. Earlier this week, Putellas grabbed a 90+1-minute winner against Real Madrid during the final of the Supercopa de España Femenina.

The two sides will meet again in March, with a record-breaking expected attendance of 80,000.

As a player, Putellas is a left-footed playmaker who has played out wide and in midfield throughout

her career, renowned for her intricate passes and match-winning assists. Antonio Contreras, her coach at Levante, recalls forcing Putellas to learn to play without the ball and value off-ball movement. He likens her style to a combination of Sergio Busquets and Xavi, emphasizing the importance of ball recovery and positioning.

It’s clear that Alexia Putellas has come a long way from bus rides with her father to the Camp Nou as a little girl to becoming the first woman to score in that very stadium and all the way to defeating Chelsea 4–0 in the 2021 Champions League Final. Still only 27, Putellas believes she has a responsibility to carry the beacon of women’s football into the future and hopes that her story inspires young women around the world to dare to dream.

conference, Aaron Rodgers has never turned away from the spotlight. And in what many speculate could be his final year with the Packers, he is determined to go out playing the best football of his life. When all is said and done, this Packers season could mirror the famed 1997–98 Michael Jordan season: utter turmoil off the field, pure poetry on it.

Tennessee Titans: King Henry’s reign continues For the first time since Week 8, running back Derrick Henry will suit up for the Titans. Lord help us all. No non-quarterback has ever carried a team as hard as Henry did during the first half of the season. If there is any single player that can sway a deep playoff run, it’s a freak-of-nature running back on fresh legs.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers: Run it back In the 2021 offseason, Tampa Bay famously returned all 22 of its Super Bowl-winning defensive and offensive starters. Since

then, the Buccaneers have suffered some key injuries that make their case a bit shakier, but the chemistry and playoff experience of this group is arguably the most surefire remaining.

Kansas City Chiefs: Dress rehearsal There’s a certain echelon of teams in sports that don’t play for the regular season. The Chiefs are absolutely one of them, opting instead to use the regular season games as a sort of preseason.

Andy Reid is a genius coach, and the Chiefs’ various offensive and defensive slumps throughout the year can ultimately be chalked up to strategic trial and error. Just look at the defense, which has gone from a near league-worst to one of the stoutest remaining.

Los Angeles Rams: Super team The Rams have more star power this season than the Netflix movie “Don’t Look Up.” Super teams tend to burn fast and bright, putting immense

pressure on Los Angeles to win a Super Bowl this year. But a team so flush with talent always has game-breaking potential, and I like their odds in tighter games against the more balanced teams of the NFC. Buffalo Bills: Josh Allen’s masterpiece This postseason is the perfect time for Josh Allen to cement his status as a perennial topfive quarterback. His explosive performance to beat down the Patriots last week could be the first chapter in a dreamlike postseason run that culminates in a Super Bowl. Allen is playing out of his mind at the perfect time.

San Francisco 49ers: Finally healthy 2020 proved the 49ers’ ceiling with a Super Bowl appearance.

But injuries have derailed subsequent and prior campaigns. Now, with a roster boasting key players all playing at full strength, the team’s sixth seed designation feels less and less relevant.

The 49ers should be able to go toe-to-toe with any and all NFC contenders.

Cincinnati Bengals: Nothing to lose Nobody put the Bengals in the divisional round of their preseason bracket. But Joe Burrow and Ja’marr Chase have combined with a surprisingly stout defensive line to arrive ahead of schedule as contenders. The Bengals have proven they can beat upper-echelon competition like the Chiefs in the regular season, and they have all the momentum in the world. With so much promise right now and in the future, the Bengals are likely playing looser than their aged counterparts, which can make them the most dangerous team of all in the postseason.

Bharat Singh is a first-year studying international relations.

Bharat can be reached at bharat. singh@tufts.edu

Aiden Herrod is a senior studying film and media studies.

Aiden can be reached at aiden. herrod@tufts.edu

8 Friday, January 21, 2022

SPORTS

tuftsdaily.com

Tufts sports look to build on last year’s success this spring

by Arnav Sacheti Sports Editor

Despite the challenges that Tufts sport teams have faced throughout the last two years, trying to compete and practice during the COVID-19 pandemic, the Jumbos have shown resilience and patience. Not only have our athletes survived, but they have thrived.

Many spring sports, including softball and lacrosse, achieved tremendous success at the NESCAC and national levels last year. Now, with relatively fewer COVID-19 restrictions, here are what spring sports at Tufts will be up to this season.

Men’s and Women’s Track and Field The men’s and women’s track and field squads kicked off 2022 by hosting the Tufts Jumbo Invitational at the Gantcher Center on Saturday.

Both the men’s and women’s teams secured first place in their respective overall competitions, laying a strong foundation for the rest of their season.

Tufts will host five more meets this semester, both in indoor and outdoor track.

The women look to build on the success they achieved last spring, when they placed sixth at the NCAA Championships for their best finish in over 30 years. Senior Danielle Page will lead the Jumbos, along with seven out of the other eight runners who qualified for the NCAA Championships last spring according to Tufts Athletics.

Led by senior captain Ben Stein, an experienced runner who has competed in many track and field events throughout his career, the men feature a strong contingent that has had past success in track and cross country. Seniors Nick Delaney and Collin O’Sullivan, as well as junior Andrii Campbell, led the distance and mid-distance squads, while sophomore Walter Wagude looks to build on his success in this past cross country season. In the meantime, junior Alex Lemieux and sophomore Luke Botsford lead the sprinting squad, looking to build on their regional and national level performances.

Softball After winning its 12th NESCAC Championship title last season, the Tufts softball team will look to continue its recent success this season.

The team will kick off its season just as spring break begins on March 19 in Clermont, Fla. The Jumbos will play a total of 15 games during an 8-day stretch in Clermont that features competition from all over the country. They will then return home to complete their season playing against teams in the NESCAC. Although three key members of last year’s team have graduated, the team retains most of its core that won them the NESCAC Championship, and, led by head coach Lauren Ebstein, the Jumbos will look to repeat and advance further in the NCAA tournament.

LYDIA RICHARDSON / THE TUFTS DAILY

The Tufts softball team plays Bowdoin on April 17, 2021.

Baseball Tufts Class of 1993 alumnus and former Tufts baseball star Paul Svagdis takes the helm as the Tufts baseball head coach, replacing head coach John Casey, who was the head coach for nearly 40 years.

With this new era, the Jumbos look to continue building on the success they have had for the last 20 years, winning six NESCAC Championships since 2001.

The team will begin its season on March 12, playing 34 games in its regular season before the NESCAC tournament. 11 of those games will be home games, and 12 are interconference games.

Men’s and Women’s Lacrosse Both the men’s and women’s

lacrosse teams look to build on the outstanding heights they both reached last season. Both the men’s and women’s teams won their respective 2021 NESCAC Championships, with the women winning the title for the first time ever. The men reached the semifinals of the NCAA tournament, and the women narrowly lost in the finals.

The men and women both will kick off their seasons against Colby College on March 5. The men will play at home, and the women will travel to Colby. Both of them will play 15 regular season games prior to the NESCAC and NCAA Championships, with the men playing six home

games and the women playing seven home games. They both will play 10 and nine games, respectively, across NESCAC opponents to prepare for the NESCAC Championships.

Men’s and Women’s Tennis After a break since mid-October, Tufts tennis will start its season up again on March 12 against Middlebury College.

Both men’s and women’s teams will play at Middlebury, and both will play 18 matches, with the men playing seven home matches and the women playing nine home matches. Both teams will conclude their seasons on May 1 against Amherst College.

Men’s basketball splits first NESCAC weekend

by Keila McCabe Sports Editor

Men’s basketball earned mixed results over winter break, bringing its overall record to 6–8.

After a rocky start to the season, the team started to find its groove during its trip to Nashville for the Music City Classic. The squad competed against its first NESCAC opponents, losing to Hamilton (77–64) and beating Amherst (74–66). In its final matchup of the break, Tufts

basketball secured a commanding victory over New England College (79–53). Senior center Luke Rogers made his return to play over the break after missing the first eight games of the season. Rogers said he’s optimistic about the trajectory of the team.

“Obviously we didn’t have the best start to the season but the whole team has really bought into the idea that in second semester we can really learn from our mistakes in the first semester,” Rogers said. “What’s

NICOLE GARAY / THE TUFTS DAILY

Coach Bob Sheldon is pictured with the men’s basketball team after the team won the NESCAC championship game against Colby in Cousens Gym on March 1, 2020.

interesting about basketball, and winter sports in general, is that it is divided between first and second semester so it almost feels like there’s two chapters to the story. It gives you an opportunity to sit there and reflect and reset and come back stronger.”

In their first NESCAC game of the season, the Jumbos faced off against the Hamilton Continentals. Despite a competitive run in the last five minutes of the game, a first-half deficit proved too large to overcome for the Jumbos. The team was missing both its head coach and other key players due to COVID19 protocols and, therefore, took a bit of time to find its cohesive rhythm.

The following day, the Jumbos had a slow start against the Amherst Mammoths, finding themselves down by 12 just a few minutes into the game. However, a combination of ball movement and good shooting yielded a very competitive first-half ending in a tie (33–33). The two teams continued to go back and forth, leaving them tied 50–50 and 61–61 during the second half. With about three minutes

left in the game, a 3-point shot made by senior guard Will Brady gave the Jumbos the lead, and they continued to outscore their opponents for the remainder of the contest. Graduate student guard Brennan Morris led the team with 14 points, going 4–5 from beyond the arc. Many players noticeably contributed to the win as seen in the roster’s scoring spread for the game. Junior guard Dylan Thoerner made note of the team effort.

“We played really tough and we were really well rounded,” Thoerner said. “We had a lot of guys score in double figures and it was a great team win. That’s really what it takes, especially in those NESCAC games. Saturday is a lot about who’s tougher, who’s going to be mentally stronger after playing a game less than 24 hours before. Being able to take a win against a solid team like that shows our depth and how we have so many guys that can really step up.”

Given COVID-19 complications and many unexpected injuries throughout the season, Rogers said he hopes to continue focusing on what the team can control.

“Going into games a lot of it isn’t about what the other team is doing, we just need to focus on our game and not let opponents dictate what we do. We need to control the controllable. Stuff you can control is your effort, your focus, your communication. Simple things like that are the intangibles that help win games,” he said.

With the Jumbos headed into a string of six NESCAC games, both Rogers and Thoerner said they were excited to finally start playing the games they’ve been preparing for all season.

“I took a gap year last year so I could come back and play another year,” Rogers said.

“This is what I came back for. These NESCAC games are so much fun to be a part of because of the competitive atmosphere. Knowing the competition and how they play just makes it really competitive and a lot of fun. It’s something that’s a blessing to be a part of. At this point, our goal is to win the NESCAC tournament, get into the playoffs and make a run.”

The team’s next game is at Bates at 3 p.m. this Saturday.