The Tufts Daily - Tuesday, March 8, 2022

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Tuesday, March 8, 2022

Controversial oncologist Dr. Vinay Prasad disavowed by dean, lectures to GSBS

by Chloe Courtney Bohl Executive News Editor

Dr. Vinay Prasad delivered a virtual lecture to the Tufts Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences on Feb. 17 following GSBS Dean Daniel Jay’s disavowal of one of Prasad’s blog posts, which Jay characterized as antisemitic.

Several GSBS students and faculty objected to Tufts offering Prasad a platform to speak in light of his blog posts and other public comments about COVID-19, which they argue undermine public health and inappropriately invoke Nazism by comparing current mask and vaccine requirements to totalitarianism in Nazi Germany.

In the past year, Prasad has published blog posts, articles and videos criticizing the CDC and the American Academy of Pediatrics, among other institutions, for their COVID-19 policies and rhetoric.

Prasad did not respond to multiple requests from the Daily to comment on this story.

Prasad, an oncologist and associate professor at the University of California San Francisco, was invited to speak about reading and interpreting medical literature in a talk that was tailored to the pharmacology and drug development program but was originally open to the entire Tufts community before being made only accessible for Tufts GSBS affiliates.

Prior to the lecture, some faculty and students at GSBS recognized Prasad’s name from statements in his October 2021 blog post and YouTube videos comparing COVID-19-related public health restrictions to the totalitarian policies of Nazi Germany. The blog post forecasts a descent into totalitarianism spurred by the adoption of COVID-19-related public health restrictions. In the post, Prasad argues that in the context of the pandemic, democratic countries have become tolerant of government censorship and restrictions, which he says potentially paves the way to totalitarianism.

GRACE ROTERMUND / THE TUFTS DAILY

The Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences is pictured on Sept. 30, 2021.

GSBS Dean, university “strenuously object” to Prasad’s statements Outcry from faculty and students, including at least one student who voiced their objec-

tion to Prasad’s invitation directly to Jay, prompted the dean to share a statement with the PDD program that “emphatically [denounced]” Prasad’s past comments comparing pandem-

ic restrictions to Nazi Germany.

Later in the week, Jay would share the same statement with the entire graduate school. see LECTURE, page 2

TCU Senate debates community senator stipend proposal, hears supplementary funding requests

by Tess Harmon

Assistant News Editor

The Tufts Community Union Senate debated a proposal calling for the compensation of community senators and heard supplementary funding requests in a meeting on Sunday night in the Sophia Gordon Multipurpose Room.

After roll call, TCU President Amma Agyei opened the floor for TCU Diversity Officer Jaden Pena’s proposal calling for the compensation of community senators.

TCU Historian Mariana JanerAgrelot read the proposal, which calls for a semesterly stipend of $150 for each community senator.

It notes how community senators represent thousands of undergraduate students on campus every single day but do not receive compensation for their work.

After a brief question and answer period, TCU Treasurer Elizabeth Hom gave a short description of stipends. She highlighted the student leadership stipend program for student leaders at Tufts who receive financial aid.

TCU senators are currently ineligible for the student leadership stipend, although members of the body have expressed interest in

submitting a proposal to change this policy. If passed, Pena’s proposal could make it difficult for the wider Senate body to someday take advantage of the student leadership stipend because the Senate cannot afford to compensate both groups.

TCU Parliamentarian Ibrahim Almuasher moderated the debate on the proposal.

On the con side, senators raised concerns that passing the proposal would cut off other senators from receiving compensation for their work. Some senators felt that these potential financial barriers could pose obstacles for students who want to join the Senate.

On the pro side, senators expressed how being a community senator consists of emotionally taxing work.

Africana Community Senator and Assistant Diversity Officer Hadiya Giwa said that the proposal should be more standardized before the body makes a decision.

She suggested that the proposal in its current form assumes that every community senator will ask for compensation.

Assistant Treasurer Jalen Little motioned to table the discussion until the next meeting on the grounds that emotions in the room

were high. The motion passed with 16 senators voting in favor and five opposing.

Pena requested that the body bring him amendments to the proposal over the course of the next week. Agyei asked that senators send her a proposal for a student leadership stipend for senators.

TCU Treasurer Elizabeth Hom then introduced seven supplementary funding requests.

Tufts English Society requested a new group budget of $1,235, which would include the funding of a general interest meeting, field trips and a professor panel. The Allocations Board recommended $695 because the TCU Senate does not fund books. The request passed with 19 senators in favor, none opposed and one abstaining.

Tufts Freshman 15, a student band on campus, requested $350 to pay for a guest artist concert. The request passed by acclamation.

Hype! Mimez, a mime troupe on campus, requested $2,876 in a new group funding request, which would fund food, supplies and performances. The Allocations Board unanimously voted to completely fund the request, which passed with 19 senators voting in favor, none opposing and none abstaining.

Women Entrepreneurs at Tufts requested $2,348 in a new group funding request, which would fund their annual conference, of which the Allocations Board recommended $1,890. The request passed with 18 senators voting in favor, none opposing and none abstaining.

Spirit of the Creative, a dance group, requested $150 to fund a workshop on breakdance and hip-hop skill development. The Allocations Board unanimously voted to fully fund the request.

Tufts Students in Biological Computation requested $2,250 in a new group budget request, which would fund their upcoming “hackathon.” The Allocations Board recommended to fund $2,206 of the request, which passed with 19 senators voting in favor, none opposing and none abstaining.

The TCU Senate requested $1,295 to fund shuttles that will take students to public transportation areas on the Thursday and Friday before spring break. The Allocations Board recommended full funding of the request, which passed with 11 senators voting in favor, one opposing and seven abstaining.

Committee chairs and members also offered updates on their work to the body.

FEATURES / page 3

ARTS / page 4

OPINION / page 7

How Tufts is navigating an ever-increasing student body size

Japanese film ‘Drive My Car’ fuels Oscar buzz

Has Putin shot himself in the foot with this war?

Jaden Pena announced that he will begin the process for adding the Indigenous Center’s community senator position this week. He plans to table in a public space on campus to get the 250 signatures required for adding a community senator seat.

Members of the Community and Diversity Committee then gave updates, which included work on the SMFA prom, plans for Women’s History Month and financial literacy sessions at the Africana Center.

Janer-Agrelot, who also serves as the Outreach Committee chair, introduced plans to restructure the committee to better meet its goals and responsibilities. Some members expressed concerns that the committee was not consulted before this proposal was brought to the body. Restructuring will be discussed further in a future Outreach Committee meeting.

The Services Committee updated the body on its project to get rid of plastic silverware in the dining halls by the end of the semester as well as a headshot day.

The Education Committee announced that plans are fully underway for the resources fair.

The body conducted a closed session before adjourning the meeting.

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THE TUFTS DAILY | News | Tuesday, March 8, 2022

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Graduate school dean denounces guest speaker’s past statements as antisemitic, allows event to go forward in interest of academic freedom LECTURE

continued from page 1 “The University and I emphatically denounce Dr. Prasad’s comments and reject any comparison of measures that have been put in place to protect people during the pandemic to actions taken by the Nazis,” Jay wrote in his statement. “While we strenuously object to Dr. Prasad’s opinions, we also recognize that we encourage dialogue and discussion at GSBS.” Jay added that Prasad’s lecture, which PDD students were originally required to attend, would be made optional.

Executive Director of Tufts Media Relations Patrick Collins joined Jay in disavowing Prasad’s past statements.

“Dr. Prasad’s appearance should not be interpreted as an endorsement of his views, which the dean and University object to strenuously,” Collins wrote in an email to the Daily.

In response to Jay, Prasad wrote his own statement defending his blog post and rejecting Jay’s suggestion that it was antisemitic. Brent Cochran, director of the cell, molecular and development biology program who invited Prasad to speak at the graduate seminar, shared Prasad’s rebuttal with the CMDB program over email.

“There is one line in the [October 2021 blog post] that notes how countries can shift from democracy to totalitarianism quickly and refers to one example in European history where this happened,” Prasad wrote in his statement. “There is nothing antisemitic about the essay.”

Prasad added that he believes his views on vaccines and public health restrictions have been misrepresented.

“In this world, you will meet other people with complicated views, who do not always tow the party line,” he wrote. “I love the covid vaccine, am a political liberal, hate school closure, and

am opposed to booster mandates for young college students. Many people love, but some dislike, a part or all of those views. A few people outside Tufts construed a specific perspective about my blog post to discredit me.”

Cochran noted that Jay’s statement reached the entire GSBS community, while Prasad’s was only disseminated to the CMBD mailing list.

GSBS send conflicting messages on who could attend Prasad lecture Prasad’s lecture, though billed as a graduate seminar for students in the PDD program, was originally open to the entire Tufts community and accessible via a Zoom link on the public GSBS website. One day before the lecture, however, Jay restricted attendance so that only members of the PDD program could attend. Less than two hours before the lecture began, Jay reversed that decision and sent out a new Zoom link to the entire GSBS mailing list. In the end, all GSBS affiliates were allowed to attend, but the event was closed to the broader Tufts community and the public.

Collins told the Daily that the seminar was never intended to be viewed publicly, so the dean’s decision to limit attendance was not irregular.

“Today’s academic programming was part of a seminar series required of students and not intended as a public event,” Collins explained. “Invitations to hear guest speakers in the series are often extended to GSBS faculty and students and placed on the school’s calendar as a way to inform them.”

Emmanuel Pothos, director of the PDD program, said that the non-GSBS Tufts community is normally allowed to attend such seminars.

“All our Graduate Seminars are typically open to the entire Tufts community although most Seminars are attended by

should behave if they have a very different interpretation of a piece of medical literature from the mainstream scientific community. The question was meant to interrogate Prasad’s polarizing comments about COVID-19 restrictions, and the student said they were unsettled by Prasad’s response.

“If you have a differing view [than] what the medical community has … you should be trying to do research to show that what you think might be right is right, rather than going out and trying to sow distrust in the medical community, trying to undermine public health measures … and trying to stop the nearly a million deaths that we have now,” the student said.

“There is no talk [from Prasad] of having any sort of humility or moral burden on yourself in those situations, just a very egotistical, dangerous view to hold and push onto other people.”

Prasad’s supporters at GSBS have been just as vocal as, if not more so than, his detractors.

“I think it was highly unfortunate that [Jay] would be accusing [Prasad] of antisemitism based on that particular blog post, which actually takes the opposite approach,” Cochran, the professor who invited Prasad to campus, told the Daily. “It’s fine for [Jay] to have that position, but then to broadcast it widely and not afford Dr. Prasad to be able to give his response I just thought was outrageous.”

Cochran’s email containing Prasad’s response to Jay earned endorsements from other GSBS faculty members. One professor in the Department of Integrative Physiology and Pathobiology wrote, “I share Brent’s view of this sad episode. This is not helpful in making Tufts an open-minded, democratic, tolerant venue!”

Pothos agreed that he does not think Prasad’s blog post was antisemitic, although he said he would not have chosen the same comparison that Prasad used.

ION OF STA IAT TE OC

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Only YOU Can Prevent Wildfires.

our students and GSBS faculty,” Pothos wrote in an email to the Daily.

Pothos objected to the dean’s original — and partially reversed — decision to limit attendance to Prasad’s talk.

“I was not involved in the decision to pull the Seminar from public announcements and I do not know the reason this happened,” Pothos wrote. “I believe an academic institution should espouse open dialogue and the free exchange of ideas.”

GSBS faculty and students react to Prasad’s invitation, dean’s statement A GSBS PhD student who had voiced their concern to the dean about Prasad’s invitation explained why they were dissatisfied with Jay’s statement.

This student spoke to the Daily on the condition of anonymity, out of concern for their academic standing should their name be publicly associated with their communication with Jay on this topic.

“First of all, if you do believe that Dr. Prasad has been antisemitic — has said antisemitic things — then I think just going ahead with his invitation anyway is problematic,” the student said.

“But also on the other hand, I don’t necessarily think that that’s the central issue here. What me and a bunch of other students are most concerned about is not that one particular comment but just a very strong history over the last year and a half of spreading misinformation, and cherry-picking data and misrepresenting data about [COVID-19] and the [COVID-19] vaccines and masking and things like that, to weave a story of distrust in what experts and leaders were saying about the vaccine and about restrictions in general.”

Another GSBS PhD student — who also requested to be quoted anonymously for this story — told the Daily they asked a question during Prasad’s Feb. 17 lecture about how scientists

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The expansion of Tufts’ undergraduate enrollment, Part 2: How big is too big for Tufts?

3 Tuesday, March 8, 2022

Ulee Wintle Maker’s Space

The importance of innovation

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by Mark Choi

Features Editor

In a Feb. 18 email, Patrick Collins, Tufts’ executive director of media relations, wrote to the Daily that the “university is halfway through a multi-year enrollment growth management plan that at its conclusion in 2026 will level off with an undergraduate student body of approximately 6,600 full-time students.”

As Tufts continues to expand its undergraduate enrollment, many community members have wondered whether a bigger Tufts will be the new normal, and if so, how big will ultimately be too big for the Tufts undergraduate population. Many undergraduate students and faculty, in fact, were surprised to hear about the university’s long-term enrollment expansion as they expressed concerns about the issues that might come with overenrollment.

The conversation around the undergraduate enrollment is especially salient as the university’s application pool grows each year, with more than 34,000 students applying to the Tufts undergraduate Class of 2026. Considering that Tufts received slightly less than 20,000 applications for the Class of 2019, the university has seen nearly a 78% increase in the number of applications in just seven years.

According to Collins’ email, the goal of increasing the undergraduate enrollment is to “make a transformative Tufts education available and accessible to more students, with the goal of preparing more young people to make a positive impact on the world.”

On such a view, Tufts’ ever-growing application pool presents the university

with a new opportunity to welcome a student body that is more talented and diverse than ever.

Class of 2025 TCU Senator Natalie Rossinow similarly explained how the Tufts community could benefit from having more talented students who will bring a wider range of perspectives and ideas to the campus.

“I think that … increasing the student population [can be] good for everyone,” Rossinow said. “Having brighter peers and people from all these different experiences [and] internationally is really beneficial, [and] personally … [it can mean] having a better education and learning from the people around you. … There are so many bright people … [who] deserve to be here, and I think, maybe, the admissions thought that too and had a hard time saying no.”

While acknowledging many benefits of expanding the undergraduate enrollment, John Lurz, an associate professor of English, can also see how preserving the quality of undergraduate experience might be a challenge for Tufts.

“The positive [of increasing the enrollment] is that you get more smart people in one place, and … there’s more opportunity for collaboration and communication,” Lurz said. “The downsides are if the infrastructure of the institution can’t support that, and I think the Hyatt Hotel [is] the most obvious and egregious of the [situation].”

As Lurz pointed out, it is no secret that the university administration scrambled to house approximately 100 first-years in the Hyatt Place for the 2021–22 academic year and converted Blakeley Hall, a previously graduate student dorm for Fletcher students, into undergraduate housing. Compounded

by the ongoing pandemic, the university also has faced challenges in isolating community members who test positive for COVID-19.

Overall, as the demand for on-campus housing continues to exceed the number of beds available on campus, the university’s increasing undergraduate enrollment further exacerbates the ongoing housing crisis in Medford/ Somerville campus and its host communities — an issue that long predates this year’s overenrollment.

Per Collins, to meet the student body’s ever-growing demand for housing, the university is “continuing to focus on adding more beds and building or renovating more residential spaces on campus” and “[adding] temporary housing on campus next year.”

The university, however, has not announced any official plans to build new dormitories, dining facilities, or other related campus facilities that appear increasingly necessary with the university’s continued expansion of the undergraduate enrollment.

When asked for comment, Dean of the School of Arts and Sciences James Glaser said that there is a “substantial” and “advanced” conversation within the university administration “about another residence hall being built on campus.”

In light of the university’s long-term plans to expand its undergraduate population to 6,600 full-time students, however, Rabiya Ismail, a senior and former TCU senator, noted that more immediate and extensive measures are needed for students today.

“I don’t think that [even building] one dorm is going to be enough because if see ENROLLMENT, page 4

his week, I’d like to talk about an amazing craftsman I met this morning while at an arts festival.

His name is Tim Robison.

Robison is a master artisan with the Pennsylvania Guild of Craftsmen. His main medium is ceramics, though he also paints and is fond of woodworking. His skill on the wheel was impressive enough, and he was selling beautifully glazed mugs, cups, bowls — the usual things.

But what I found most enticing, and what drew me to his booth in the first place, were his teapots and lanterns.

The former consists of curved bamboo handles, bent and set into two small holes that can rotate freely. Bamboo is swapped for the steam bent and laminated wood that formed the handles of the teapots that I appraised.

His lanterns were even more artistic.

Rather than throwing them on the wheel, Robison hand-builds large rectangular and cylindrical pieces. Inspired by the natural world, he carves miniature forests into the sides that, through the gaps in their branches or leaves, let the light of a candle through. On these, the glazing is applied like paint, with the crisp whites, greens and browns denoting a three-dimensional still life. Other lanterns look more like towers, with patterned brick walls and stained glass inserts. By far, my favorite detail of his work was the interrelation of lantern and teapot, which are designed with matching radii that allow his teapots to sit comfortably on top of the lanterns, thus warming the pot before or during use with the heat of a candle flame.

The reason I found Robison so impressive, and the reason I’m sharing it with you, is because he is an innovator.

To make a living off your art, or even just to sell it, you need to constantly be examining your own creations with a critical eye. You need to ask yourself what can be improved or: How can I make this more interesting, useful or marketable? Hard work and persistence are key, even if it ends in failure or disliking everything you make.

What makes Robison a master artisan is his ability to keep going, to be inspired by everything around him and his willingness to experiment. After all, the history of human creativity is built more on unnamed failures than named successes.

I highly recommend checking out Robison’s website or Instagram. If nothing else, his work may serve as your own source of inspiration. God knows none of us can afford to buy it.

Ulee Wintle is a junior studying political science. Ulee can be reached at ulysses. wintle@tufts.edu.

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THE TUFTS DAILY | Features | Tuesday, March 8, 2022

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Long lines, limited housing and crowded classes: Examining the effects of overenrollment ENROLLMENT

continued from page 3 that fits 300 more students — and Tufts is enrolling another thousand [students] — I do not think that it’s sustainable for Tufts [in the long run],” Ismail said. “I think that [the university] just [needs] to build multiple dorms, maybe three dorms, to even fill how many students are on campus at this exact moment. In the future, they will have to build even more than that.”

Ismail elaborated that there have been “too many temporary solutions” for “permanent problems” such as the ongoing housing crisis, overenrollment and packed classrooms. Rossinow similarly added that while she has had a generally positive firstyear experience, she is upset by how many other first-years have had a much more difficult school year.

“It’s just really unfair that we have to wait in these long lines, that we have to live in a hotel off campus, and you have such trouble registering for classes. It’s just unfair as a student that this is the place that we chose to be,” Rossinow said. “If we are getting treated like that and not seeing a change, [then], what’s the plan … [and] where is this going?”

In regards to housing, Dean of Student Affairs Camille Lizarríbar wrote to the Daily, explaining that the university “currently [does] not anticipate needing to use the Hyatt next year.” Lizarríbar also wrote that the university’s enrollment growth plan will encompass the plans “[involving] investment in housing, dining and related areas that are important for student life.”

“That work has been underway and is ongoing,” Lizarríbar wrote. “We [have already] added more than 450 on-campus beds in the last five years.

That’s the equivalent of building two new dorms. … We will continue to grow our housing stock next year, and … we will be building a new dorm with 370 new beds.”

Echoing Ismail and Rossinow’s sentiment, Max Miller, a senior and trustee representative for the TCU Senate, shed light on how much the monthly rent has gone up in the host communities of Medford and Somerville, especially as the increasing undergraduate enrollment has pushed more students into off-campus housing. Miller’s sister graduated from Tufts six years ago, which gives him a reference point in his comparison.

“It’s going to be tough even for people living off cam-

pus to find [housing] options.

Rent’s going up,” Miller said. “[Compared to what my sister paid] six years ago … versus what somebody in that house, I imagine, is paying now, based on what I know … I think it’s an increase of $300 in six years, per month.”

Ismail pointed out that while the university is introducing initiatives such as the initiative to make Tufts an anti-racist institution, the university’s housing policies leave much left to be desired in actualizing its goals on the ground. “[An] anti-racism initiative does not only mean accepting more diverse groups of students, it [also] means creating equitable … practices throughout the university, and I think that includes housing,” Ismail said.

Ismail added that in the future, if Tufts were to continue to expand, the university first has to make sure that it can continue to provide quality residential undergraduate experience that encompasses many aspects of traditional college experience.

Acknowledging the many challenges that the Tufts community has faced, especially during this school year, Glaser introduced the university’s efforts to maintain its qualitative standards as the

undergraduate enrollment continues to expand. Overall, Glaser elaborated that the university is currently upgrading and trying to “make sure that what we’re offering students is … really commensurate with what their expectations are [which] requires a lot of investment.”

Glaser said that the university is committed to providing quality undergraduate experience, adding that the university will “have a bumper crop of faculty” coming in for the next school year in conjunction with other institutional efforts.

“We are having a very bountiful year of faculty hiring … [and] we have the new Cummings building that has opened up, and that’s creating new space opportunities,” Glaser said.

“We are sort of working our way towards that new equilibrium.”

Ultimately, Glaser is optimistic about the future of the university, its culture and its potential.

“I think [that] Tufts culture goes way beyond the number of students that we have,” Glaser said. “I think the culture is set by the kinds of people that we have, and the culture is defined by all kinds of things.”

Lizarríbar added that “[there] are big universities that feel intimate, and small

colleges that feel vast and lonely.” She emphasized that Tufts is “a student-centered research university that has caring, connected students, faculty and staff.”

Moving forward, Ismail hopes to see a greater input from the student body in deliberating the university’s longterm enrollment plans “I think [the university administration needs] to put out a student climate survey, pretty immediately, because I think things have changed since the last one,” Ismail said. “There are students in hotels. … [By] doing that, they will be able to see how students actually feel, and I think also they need to really be reading those and acting on those. … I know that students voice their concerns on this survey, but I’m just not sure if they’re ever listened to.”

In the future, Lizarríbar said that there will be more opportunities for the student body to improve the undergraduate experience in general. “[We] are in the midst of creating a five-year strategic plan to explore what … opportunities we have before us,” Lizarríbar wrote.

“We created a Student Advisory Group to consult with us and provide student input on both this plan and on Student Affairs in general.”

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Patience is rewarded in stunning Best Picture nominee ‘Drive My Car’

by Emmy Wenstrup Arts Editor

It seems impossible that on the cusp of the 94th Academy Awards ceremony, there should only be one Japanese film ever to be nominated for Best Picture. It is a perfect choice then, for that film to be “Drive My Car” (2021).

The film is an emotionally intense three-hour-long meditation on grief based on the Haruki Murakami short story to which it owes its name. It follows Yūsuke Kafuku (Hidetoshi Nishijima) as he, in the wake of a recent tragedy, moves to Hiroshima to produce his adaptation of Anton Pavlovich Chekhov’s “Uncle Vanya” (1898).

For those who enjoy going on contemplative drives, this movie hits hard. When the sanctity of Yūsuke’s bright red Saab 900 is violated by the theater company’s policy, he is required to employ driver Misaki Watari (Tôko Miura), and Yūsuke must deal with the uncomfortable intimacy of a stranger entering his most sacred space. The film features several extended scenes in the car, including one 13-minute confrontation between Yūsuke and his star actor, Kōji Takatsuki (Masaki Okada), that comes uncomfortably close to breaking the fourth wall as the camera slowly finds itself in the position of Yūsuke’s face. What was once a space of personal vulnerability becomes a space of public vulnerability, and Oscar-nominated director Ryûsuke Hamaguchi navigates the subsequent discomfort with intimate care.

For a generally quiet and contemplative film, this direction is never underthought.

Hamaguchi’s camera moves gracefully with clear intention behind every shot.

Hamaguchi, who also co-wrote the film’s Oscar-nominated adapted screenplay, repeatedly emphasizes the importance of setting. The film’s exterior scenes effectively utilize wide shots that firmly plant the characters in specific locations. One such location is the city of Hiroshima, which is presented as a vehicle for Yūsuke and Misaki to process their grief as the city processes its own. Much of the film focuses on the long-lasting effects of personal catastrophes, so the choice of Hiroshima as a place to work through that trauma is an apt one.

As mentioned above, the film runs for a full three hours. Its narrative moves like thick molasses, each moment denser and richer than the last. With the opening credits beginning just after the 40-minute mark, the film felt closer to a five-hour experience. What a relief it wasn’t forced to be shortened; it earned every minute and felt like a melodramatic epic.

The film’s Oscar nominations come at a time when international cinema is more widely celebrated in Hollywood critics’ circles, demonstrated by the historic crowning of “Parasite” (2019) as Best Picture in 2020 — the first non-English film to do so. This year’s nominations saw a noticeable uptick in international films, with “Drive My Car” locking down nods for Best Director, Adapted Screenplay and Best Picture alongside its place in the international feature category. Norwegian film and fellow Cannes award winner “The Worst Person in The World” (2022) also received a nomination

for Best Original Screenplay. Yet another Cannes darling, the Danish animated docudrama “Flee” (2021), received a historic trio of nominations in the international, animated and documentary feature categories. After “Parasite” (2019) won big just two years ago, it’s exciting to see non-English films finally get their overdue recognition. With the expansion of international feature nominees into other categories, perhaps the academy will soon find the distinction obsolete and redundant.

The film’s recent release on HBO Max is a double-edged sword. On the one hand, the platform grants access to those who were unable to see it in theaters. On the other, there’s something a bit queasy about the idea of watching it on a greasy laptop screen while a phone buzzes with notifications nearby. The theater exists to let people devote all of their attention to the screen, without checking the time, texting or doing anything other than being fully immersed in the cinematic experience.

For “Drive My Car,” that experience is essential. As the film wraps up its theatrical run, with the last Kendall Square showtime on March 10, Tufts viewers should make every effort to silence the outside world for just three hours and experience the film as wholly as possible.

In all, “Drive My Car” is nothing short of a masterpiece. Hamaguchi’s direction is precise, and his writing is moving. At its core, it is a story about the tragic collision of humanity and disaster, and it’s quiet melancholy makes for one of the most compelling cinematic experiences of the year.

‘2 Alivë’ is one of Yeat’s best works yet

by Miles Joseph

Contributing writer

What Yeat lacks in substance, he makes up in pure energy. Yeat has been releasing music nonstop for the past few years and was propelled to fame after his songs “Gët Busy” (2021) and “Sorry Bout That” (2021) went viral on Tiktok. After cosigns from the likes of Drake and The Weeknd, Yeat has become the one of the most successful rappers in the rage beat scene.

His unique use of autotune and slurred enunciation give his voice a distorted and robotic sound, his ad libs are reminiscent of Playboi Carti and Travis Scott, and he brings an infectious energy to all of his songs. His lyricism is not the most complex, but his various different flows and cadences keep things interesting.

Yeat’s second studio album, “2 Alivë” (2022), is an incredibly entertaining listen held back by its long runtime and problematic subject matter. It’s Yeat’s most polished work so far, and features from Gunna and Young Thug have the potential to push Yeat into the mainstream. Still, the problematic connotations of his continued references to Osama bin Laden, the Taliban and the turban he constantly wears cannot be ignored. It is shameful at best, and derogatory and racist in nature. Yeat’s absurd one liners give many of his songs a humorous charm, but resorting to offensive humor for shock value is unnecessary. It’s important

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to remember this reality when considering his music, no matter how catchy it is.

The album certainly is catchy.

“Poppin” is a fun opening track featuring almost everything that makes Yeat special, for better or worse. The song features bouncy production, crooning ad libs, bars about Percocet addiction and references to Osama bin Laden that make you think, What is wrong with this guy? “Outside,” featuring Young Thug, is a masterpiece. Yeat’s signature bell is back, and he’s flowing effortlessly.

Young Thug sounds so smooth that one would be forgiven for thinking it’s his song. “Rackz got më” featuring Gunna is similarly great. Yeat’s voice is more distorted than ever, and his words blend together like they are an extension of the beat. There are moments where his lyrics are nearly unintelligible, but it doesn’t matter because he’s not saying anything of substance anyway. Yeat uses his voice like an instrument, as he cares more about how it sounds rather than what he’s actually saying. Gunna’s verse feels a little out of place, but it is a refreshing change of pace. “Doublë” is Yeat at his absolute best. There’s no real chorus, the bassline is aggressive, and he is rapping like he has something to prove. Yeat drops bar after bar about Percocet and expensive cars for nearly three minutes straight, switching up his flow multiple times throughout the song.

At about an hour, the album is too long considering that Yeat almost exclusively raps about drugs, money, fame, cars and designer brands. Rappers such as Lucki address their struggles with addiction and mental health, but Yeat’s lyrics are surface level. There are a couple fleeting moments of introspection, but they are hard to take seriously. On “Rollin,” Yeat shows appreciation for his fans and talks about his rise to fame but also manages to say “Osama bin Laden, my bro.”

Because every single song has the exact same subject matter and the production is so similar throughout, the album becomes a tiring listen in the second half. “Taliban” is a forgettable listen, Yung Kayo’s verse did not really add anything interesting on “Narcoticz,” and the mixing is lazy on “Gëek High.” The album would have been better as a 30 to 40-minute project with less filler and less offensive content.

Yeat’s sound is still refreshing, but it would be nice to see him get a little introspective or at the very least expand his subject matter beyond just flexing. Still, Yeat’s sound is virtually hypnotic. It is music meant to be played in the car or at a party at full blast rather than seriously analyzed.

While the album is not something anyone will listen to front to back more than a couple times, the bouncy production combined with Yeat’s unique vocal effects make the album one to remember. It’s a little bloated, but Yeat has created yet another album full of unique bangers.

Henry Chandonnet A Compendium of Actors

Riz Ahmed and emotional range

R

iz Ahmed may seem to have an acting ‘type,’ specifically, as musicians with major health conditions which impair their ability to perform. This is most obvious in Ahmed’s recent hit “Sound of Metal” (2019), which chronicles the life of a drummer who loses his hearing abilities. This is also true of his more recent project, “Mogul Mowgli” (2020), a self-written and produced tale of a rapper who suddenly comes down with a chronic illness. This singular character arc may lead one to believe that Ahmed is a one-trick pony, but this assumption would be false. In fact, his stories are harrowing, nuanced and bring dramatized life to the most painful events one can experience.

Ahmed is most commonly known for his work in “Sound of Metal,’ the deeply claustrophobic tale of Ruben (Ahmed), who must cope with the personal and professional outcomes of losing his hearing as a drummer. The film bifurcates its intended focus, recognizing both the professional difficulty his deafness causes to his drumming while also focusing on hearing deaf voices and promoting spaces that value disability. Ahmed’s performance is shattering — for a film primarily about his mentality, the viewer is able to truly get within his mind and the choices he must make. The impact of this strong performance was visible; Ahmed himself got an Academy Award nomination for his work. Still, the sheer valor of his performance must be recognized.

Ahmed immerses the audience in his pain, both setting visceral discomfort and ultimately an emotional bond with the film’s progression.

Lesser known, however, is Ahmed’s project “Mogul Mowgli.” The film follows Zed, a British-Pakistani rapper who is forced to go back home to his family, putting his career plans on hold, after developing a degenerative autoimmune disease. The film questions art, faith and how we commit ourselves to what we believe in. It also heavily features Ahmed’s rapping skills, with Ahmed himself having a fairly prominent rap career. Though the film may not be garnering Ahmed major award nominations, it is deeply reflective of his own skill. Ahmed can not only portray these stories of trauma, but he can craft them himself. This demonstrates just how in touch Ahmed is with his own craft; he can form his own stories with emotional salience and nuance, similarly captivating the mind of the viewer and forcing them along the journey.

Ultimately, Ahmed has the ‘it’ factor.

He can make you scream, make you cry and even make you grip your chair with tremendous anxiety. Not only is he capable of commanding a screen, but he has the ability to do so with such nuance and complexity that his portrayals feel deeply authentic. For that, Ahmed must be praised.

Henry Chandonnet is a first-year studying political science. Henry can be reached at Henry.Chandonnet@tufts.edu.

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THE TUFTS DAILY | Fun & Games | Tuesday, March 8, 2022

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Opinion

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7 Tuesday, March 8, 2022

VIEWPOINT

Putin goes rogue: Russia’s ‘diplomatic terrorism’ is exposed

by Makram Bekdache Staff Writer

Since the late 2000s, Russia has adopted a decidedly aggressive tone in its foreign policy. Eager to prevent NATO from expanding around his borders, Vladimir Putin used the relatively low-stakes annexation of Crimea to show the world he would not be afraid to pursue new strategic interests for his country. Back then, the West reacted in a lukewarm fashion.

Sanctions only mildly hurt the Russian economy as they did not effectively target the specific industries or the oligarchs that funded Putin’s endeavors.

Meanwhile, the Russian President’s effective handling of the economy ensured high approval ratings in the early 2000s. The Crimean episode also helped Putin’s ratings, as much of the Russian public — who saw Crimea as a rightful part of Russia — approved the operation. Russia moved in with little resistance, scaring Europe with flashbacks of the start of World War II, when Nazi Germany unilaterally seized the Sudetenland. This debacle consecrated what I would call ‘diplomatic terrorism’: a strategy of clever military and diplomatic maneuvers that bolstered Russian ambitions and leverage around the world.

However, Crimea was not the first instance of Russian belligerence. The war with Georgia in 2008 draws the closest parallels with the current Russia-Ukraine war. Using

a now-familiar formula, Putin sent ‘peacekeepers’ to the breakaway Georgian region of Abkhazia to support allied separatists there and in South Ossetia. An unfair war broke out between Georgia and its much larger neighbor. It was Europe’s first conflict of the 21st Century, one that drove ethnic Georgian populations from Abkhazia and South Ossetia.

The two regions became puppet republics, solely recognized by Moscow and its allies. It was again a cleverly led campaign.

These two military actions built Russia’s diplomatic might. The West became wary of the lengths Putin was willing to go, effectively stopping NATO’s expansion.

The last states sharing a border with Russia to join the treaty were the Baltic states back in 2004.

Governments in Finland, Georgia and Ukraine paused their respective efforts to join.

That’s where the diplomatic terrorism formula originates. By leading selective, smaller-scale military operations in allied territories along its borders, Moscow fear-mongered just enough to scare most of Eastern Europe while forcing the EU and U.S. into quiet assent. As long as Russia did not act too boldly, the West would turn a blind eye and keep flooding the Russian economy with foreign investment.

The EU also made the shameful strategic mistake of relying on Russia for an estimated 45% of its natural gas imports. Russia capi-

talized on the situation to cash in on much-needed hard currency rather than borrowing from the West which helped the country minimize the impact of the 2014 Crimea sanctions. The Europeans could not sanction their own gas imports. The Russians knew their margin of maneuver and claimed every inch. Russia was steadily rising back to a firmer place on the world stage.

The Trump administration veered U.S. foreign policy completely towards countering China.

During this time, Putin used this respite and developed ties with traditional U.S. allies in the Persian Gulf while launching proxy military interventions in Western Africa to challenge France’s traditional domination there. Russia also began efforts to overhaul Sino-Russian ties, culminating in the recent partnership between the two nations with ‘no limits.’

Crucially, Russia established contracts to sell gas to China, which would reduce its reliance on the European market.

Ultimately, Russia successfully rebuilt much of the credit it had lost with the fall of the USSR. It went back to being both an indispensable player in global diplomatic negotiations and a feared military power, making the Kremlin’s foreign policy look like a masterclass in foreign relations and influence building.

On Feb. 24, however, Russia attacked Ukraine, triggering the first war of such scale on European

soil since World War II, revealing the hidden plan lurking beneath its political terrorism. Despite the cruel imbalance of power, Ukrainian resistance turned out fierce: The population blocked a stronger Russian army from conquering any major city for a whole week. But for how much longer?

Brutal Western sanctions have condemned Russia’s aggression.

Vladimir Putin correctly assumed no Western power would engage his nukes in battle but did not account for the potential harshness of economic retribution. Russian banks are being brought to their knees by exclusion from global financial infrastructure, while the world boycotts Russian exports. The sanctions allow for energy transactions to continue, but a significant part of Russia’s foreign reserves are now frozen in bank accounts around the globe. Germany even canceled a massive gas pipeline linking it to Russian fields, forfeiting billions in revenue. Even notoriously neutral Switzerland has foregone the status quo, using its international financial might to freeze nearly 15 billion euros in Russian assets and condemn the invasion.

Europe’s image has taken a hit from this war, proving that conflict can reach any part of the world. Some countries will now try hard to navigate the situation and profit from the crisis while safeguarding their trade relations with Russia. For example, Saudi Arabia condemned the invasion at the U.N. but refused to pro-

duce more oil in solidarity with Western efforts to punish Russia, undermining Western efforts to sanction Russia, instead colluding with Moscow to maintain record oil prices.

Still, the Kremlin needs to watch its back. Hypocrisy from some opportunists aside, Putin’s extreme rhetoric has brought the worst diplomatic crisis the Russian Federation has ever seen.

Putin has single handedly united disjointed Western allies into an anti-Russia bloc. Brussels has fast-tracked the start of Ukraine’s accession process to the EU, while public opinion in historically neutral Finland and Sweden now sways firmly in favor of NATO accession. Putin’s craze is driving Ukraine closer to the West, as the EU and NATO support Ukrainian resistance with food, anti-tank missiles and other weaponry.

Even China has foregone solidarity with its pretended ally by abstaining from the General Assembly vote condemning the invasion. With his oligarchs sanctioned and his currency now at its weakest in decades, Putin at worst might start durably losing the support he direly needs to stay in power. At best, he has revived a faltering Western front and will have certainly provoked unprecedented expansion of his Western rivals’ spheres of influence.

It is hard to anticipate the outcome of this war when the events are still unfolding before us. We can only hope that terror won’t prevail.

VIEWPOINT

Missed connections: The separation between graduate and undergraduate life at Tufts

by Chelsie Wei Staff Writer

Walking in the streets of Tufts’ Medford campus, you may hear undergraduate students chattering about the latest IR midterm, frat party stories and housing lotteries. But have you run into any graduate students in your daily socials, club meetings and pickup sports? About 49% of the student population at Tufts consists of graduate students, with about 30% studying on Medford campus through the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, School of Engineering and the Fletcher School. However, the undergraduate population at Tufts rarely interacts with this significant portion of the campus community outside of class, whether it be in club meetings, at sporting events or at social gatherings. My peers and I often wondered what graduate students might be doing after their classes if not participating in the activities most undergrads associate with the traditional Tufts experience.

There, instead, seems to exist an unrecognized problem brewing in the undercurrents among graduate student life — their lack of

an on-campus presence in major academic organizations and culture clubs.

Lei Mao, a graduate student studying software system development in the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, spends most of his spare time working at Tufts’ HumanComputer Interaction Lab. His busy schedule is one of the reasons that he feels removed from the social scene on campus. Mao said he has too much school work to join student organizations like the Chinese Students and Scholars Association.

Mao did, however, praise the computer science department for organizing weekly department meetings. He also mentioned that there is a Slack for graduate students in the computer science department where students are given the chance to interact online.

First-year Master of Computer Science student Nisitaa Clement agreed that there is a deficit in graduate student social life.

“The computer science department is making an effort to host socializing events, but those just started a few weeks ago,” Clement said.

Clement, who also works at the front desk of the graduate student

lounge in Curtis Hall, expressed disappointment at the lack of student presence and engagement in this space.

Both Mao and Clement said that many of these resources were only recently established or are largely inactive.

Many graduate students rely on their department to organize social and networking events. The Graduate Student Council also hosts bonding events occasionally. The council organized events including apple picking and a treasure hunt.

Vinit Varu, a first-year engineering management student at the Tufts Gordon Institute, enjoyed the few council events he attended.

Despite this, Varu felt that the events did not foster a sense of community.

“It didn’t promote connecting with other students, as people formed their own bubbles of 2-4 with people they already knew,” Varu wrote in an email to the Daily. “I am sure that many people didn’t consider going … because they had no one they knew going. I myself have skipped events due to that.”

Ultimately, these bonding events worked best for short-term connections and existing friend groups, but

were not conducive to longer relationships and new friendships.

Due to the way these bonding activities are run, graduate students who have just arrived on campus at the start of semester may be forced to resort to their own network and connections to make friends on campus, which can feel impossible without a pre-existing network or enough opportunities to meet new people.

If graduates were able to easily participate in ‘undergraduate’ organizations, these barriers may feel less daunting. However, these options seem almost impossible to students like Varu.

“I had tried reaching out to [student organizations]. It was so difficult to find them … in the first place, but also having no response from them was a blow to my mind,” Varu wrote. “Some [student organizations] even restricted Grad students from joining or just made us feel excluded from the undergrad crowding.”

Clement’s roommate applied to be an Eco Rep, but her application was eventually turned down due to her status as a graduate student.

Since few on campus organiza-

tions are welcoming to graduate students, campus life proves to be sorely lacking for this part of the Tufts community.

It is understandable for certain student organizations on campus to deny graduate students leadership positions in the name of fairness due to the discrepancy in experience they have when compared to undergraduate students. However, in light of the clear deficiencies in graduate student life, student organizations need to do more to create spaces for the graduate community. Organizations like the Graduate Student Council should also consider hosting more social events that accommodate students’ busy schedules.

It is equally as important to foster a close-knit community among graduate students as it is for undergraduates. The Tufts students and administrators are both responsible for creating a welcoming environment for students at any level of their education, whether it be through student organizations or university-sponsored spaces and events for students to connect with their peers and find respite from their stressful academic schedules.

Sports

8 Tuesday, March 8, 2022

Oliver Fox Sports and Society

I

Owning up to history

deally, history leaves nobody out.

No matter how hard you may try, historical memory should serve as the judge, jury and executioner for every individual.

History can be the arbiter of justice.

Actually doing that can be tricky. The benevolence of someone like Napoleon Bonaparte is sometimes harder to pin down; even though many serious historians agree he was a ruthless autocrat, his name still draws mixed responses from the French public.

Then there are people like Roman Abramovich: Russian Oligarch and Chelsea F.C. owner.

Abramovich made headlines recently by announcing he would be selling Chelsea due to the rising tensions surrounding the Russia-Ukraine war and his complicated connection to Russian President Vladimir Putin, although he denies any such relationship. Pressure from the global community condemning Putin’s invasion of Ukraine led Abramovich to donate the proceeds of this sale to victims of the war.

It’s likely the decision to sell the club was out of necessity, as Abramovich feared the storm of criticism about his possible ties with Putin, while the proposed donation to Ukrainian relief is a hollow PR stunt. Yet Abramovich’s immorality extends far beyond the last few months. He has been an unflinching supporter of the destruction of Russian democracy, a billionaire climate criminal and a living bastion of corruption for years. Now that the British government is turning up the heat on possible sanctions, Abramovich is finally revealing to the public his true colors, and this entire ordeal is a consequence of the way ownership structures work in sports.

Team owners profit from enormous yearly dividends, despite some of their attempts to claim owning a team is not profitable, as MLB owners have falsely claimed for years, or about money at all, as Abramovich said in his official statement. Yet many operate without regular press conferences, communication, and act as though they are not involved in team decisions in any significant way.

This shields them from any responsibility to act morally or take responsibility for their words and actions off the field; unlike celebrity athletes, nobody is asking them to mobilize their platforms they have tirelessly worked to discount the importance of. Yet owners are absolutely integral to the day-to-day operations of their teams and should be held to the same standard as athletes and coaches.

Because of this, it takes a meteoric crisis to force an owner out, rather than years of misconduct and depravity. Look at Dan Snyder, the disgraced owner of the Washington Commanders, someone who has managed to retain hold of the team despite countless proven allegations of wrongdoing.

People like Abramovich hide in the annals of history. They pretend their ownership is about passion rather than money, and consistently fail to take responsibility for their shady dealings outside of sports. I believe people should be judged on a holistic basis, not just their worst mistakes. However, when their life encompasses decades of calculated deception and exploitation, forgive me for wanting to bring down the hammer of history down on them.

Oliver Fox is a first-year who has not yet declared a major. Oliver can be reached at oliver.fox@tufts.edu.

tuftsdaily.com

First-year Riddhi Joshi competes in the CSA National Collegiate Individual Championships

by David Cooperman Staff Writer

After a spectacular freshman season that included a first-team all-NESCAC selection, Riddhi Joshi competed in Philadelphia, Penn. from March 4–5 to compete at the CSA National Collegiate Individual Championships.

Joshi was seeded 12th out of the 16 competitors in the Holleran Cup South division. In her opening match, she took on 5th-seeded first-year Lujan Palacios Benitez of Trinity College on Friday, March 4.

Palacios Benitez, who was named to the all-NESCAC second team, jumped out to an early lead, claiming the first two games 11–7 and 11–8. Joshi fell behind in the few two games before going on a big run to take back a game 11–7.

Palacios Benitez took a hard-fought fourth and final game, winning 11–8.

Palacios Benitez advanced to the

tournament quarterfinals, while Joshi took on 13th-seeded Brown University first-year Danielle Benstock in the consolation bracket quarterfinals later that day.

In this match, it was Joshi who jumped out to the quick start. Two extremely tight games resulted in two narrow 11–9 victories, putting her in the driver’s seat for a spot in the consolation semifinals. Benstock did not go down without a fight, tying the match up with a pair of 11–7 and 11–8 victories.

Joshi put the match away with an 11–7 victory, advancing to the consultation semifinals of the Holleran Cup to take on 8th-seeded Ciara Richards of Drexel University, who had fallen to 9th-seeded Rachel Mashek in the round of 16.

The next day ended with a frustrating result for Joshi, who fell in an extremely competitive match 10–12, 9–11, 6–11.

The close scores show that this match truly could have gone either way.

Joshi’s appearance capped what was likely one of the best seasons in program history for the Jumbos’ women’s squash team, while coach Joe Raho was named Conference Coach of the Year.

Sophomore Caroline Chin joined Joshi on the all-conference first team, while first-year Aleezah Burhan was named to the second team.

This was the second time since 2019 that the team has had three players named to all-conference teams, and its second-place finish in the NESCAC tournament was the school’s best team performance ever in conference history.

Though the team will lose three departing seniors next year, the Jumbos will keep seven out of their nine players who competed at the NESCAC Championships, returning next year to pursue the team’s first NESCAC conference championships.

COURTESY CAROLINE CHIN

The Tufts women’s squash team is pictured at the Harvard Murr Squash Center on Feb. 26.