The Tufts Daily - Wednesday, April 6, 2022

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VOLUME LXXXIII, ISSUE 40

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Wednesday, April 6, 2022

California man arrested after threatening calls prompted manhunt

Tufts moves to lift mask mandate, enters new phase of pandemic response

by Flora Meng

Deputy News Editor

NATALIE BROWNSELL / THE TUFTS DAILY

TUPD cars are captured in the basement of Dowling Hall on Feb. 15, 2022.

by Ethan Steinberg News Editor

A California man who claimed to be carrying a pistol in a female student’s dorm room last May was arrested on Thursday, U.S. Attorney Rachel Rollins’ office said, following an investigation from federal prosecutors that lasted more than 10 months.

Sammy Sultan, 48, of Hayward, Calif. was charged

with making threatening communications in interstate commerce, which could result in a fine of $250,000 and up to five years in federal prison, Rollins’ office said.

The investigation that resulted in Sultan’s arrest was prompted by threatening phone calls the Tufts University Police Department received on May 28, 2021, during Tufts’ summer session

of classes. Eight phone calls, which cumulatively lasted about an hour, reached TUPD between 6:38 a.m. and 8:35 a.m. and originated from a man who identified himself as “James,” according to charging documents.

The caller repeatedly claimed he was in a female student’s dorm room on the Tufts see MANHUNT, page 2

Tufts announced plans to lift the university mask mandate and shift from surveillance to symptomatic testing in an email to the Tufts community on March 16. Depending on case counts following students’ return from spring break, these changes will go into effect by the third week of April.

For the first time since the return of spring break, COVID-19 cases are showing signs of improvement on the Medford/Somerville campus.

Tufts reported 20 new cases on Saturday and the average number of positive COVID-19 tests on the Medford/Somerville campus has gone down nearly 28% over the past week.

Dr. Elissa Perkins, associate professor of emergency medicine at Boston University School of Medicine, explained why it is currently safe to lift mask mandates.

“In my mind, the goal of most interventions right now should be to prevent outbreaks of severe disease in a population,” Perkins wrote in an email

to the Daily. “At this point in the pandemic, we have a situation in which we can prevent outbreaks of severe disease even without mask mandates.”

She emphasized the strength of existing resources to combat the health risks of COVID-19.

“We have access to a vaccine that continues to be incredibly protective against severe disease/death even in the face of the variants that are currently circulating, and an [Emergency Use Authorization] for a pre-exposure prophylaxis medication for those who may not mount a sufficient response to the vaccine,” Perkins wrote.

Perkins added that testing is another important tool for the current stage of pandemic response.

“Additionally, we have readily accessible tests, so those with symptoms can quickly know that they are Covid positive, and can isolate appropriately and prevent further transmission,” she wrote. “We also have readily available medications that prevent disease progression if someone see CORONAVIRUS, page 3

BREAKING: Warby Parker co-founder Neil Blumenthal will deliver Class of 2020 Commencement address

by Zoe Kava

Deputy News Editor

In an email sent to the Tufts community on Tuesday, University President Anthony Monaco announced that Neil Blumenthal (LA’02) will be Tufts’ Class of 2020 Commencement speaker.

The co-founder and co-CEO of Warby Parker, Blumenthal was named a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum, and Fast Company has listed him as one of the 100 Most Creative People in Business.

The ceremony will take place on May 27 and will welcome back the Class of 2020 graduates, who were only able to attend a virtual degree conferral ceremony two years ago during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Blumenthal’s message, as the leader of a well-known and deeply impactful socially conscious business, is especially timely and one that

will inspire our graduates,” Monaco’s email read.

Blumenthal earned a Bachelor of Arts in history and international relations from Tufts in 2002 before attending Wharton Business School.

Blumenthal then ran a nonprofit, affordable eyeglasses organization called VisionSpring, and he launched Warby Parker in 2010.

Along with Blumenthal, who will receive an honorary Doctor of Business Administration, five others will receive honorary degrees at the commencement ceremony. Economist Lisa Cook will receive an honorary Doctor of Science, and public health advocate Sandra Cotterell, community leader Ruth Moy, 16th NATO Supreme Allied Commander and former dean of The Fletcher School at Tufts James Stavridis and businessman and philanthropist Jonathan Tisch will each receive an honorary Doctor of Public Service degree.

COURTESY WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

Blumenthal is pictured at The Next Web USA in 2014.

Arts / page 5

NEWS / page 2

SPORTS / back

‘Dune’ steals the sci-fi story show

Chaplaincy nourishes community with ‘Food & Faith’

Baseball hits a home run with opening series

NEWS

1

FEATURES

4

ARTS & POP CULTURE

5

FUN & GAMES

6

OPINION

7

SPORTS

BACK

2

THE TUFTS DAILY | News | Wednesday, April 6, 2022

THE TUFTS DAILY Alexander Janoff Editor in Chief

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Chaplaincy ‘Food & Faith’ event offers reflection, community building

by Madeline Mueller Assistant News Editor

On Monday night, the University Chaplaincy offered an opportunity for graduate and undergraduate students to gather in Barnum Hall for dinner and small-group discussion in an event called “Food & Faith: A People’s Supper.” The event, organized by the Interfaith Student Council, was co-sponsored by the Interfaith Community of Faith, Exploration, and Engagement; the Palmier; and the Fletcher Initiative on Religion, Law, and Diplomacy Shelby Carpenter, chaplaincy program coordinator and Interfaith Student Council advisor, noted that the event was designed to be as accessible to students of different faith backgrounds as possible.

“We have catered the food from Zhu Pan-Asian Vegan in Arlington, MA, which is an all vegan and kosher certified kitchen,” Carpenter wrote in a statement to the Daily. “As we had to reschedule this program after the loss of a community member in March, we also adjusted the program’s timing so that it occurs after sundown. … We hope that this adjustment will make space for anyone observing Ramadan to break their fast with us and take part in the event.”

The event began with a brief welcome and introduction from Carpenter. Dr. Preeta Banerjee, Hindu advisor at Tufts, led participants in a centering breathing exercise before sharing a reflection on modakas, a food appearing in Hindu tradition in the story of Ganesh and the moon. University Chaplain Rev. Elyse Nelson Winger then reflected on how she views breaking bread and eating with people that may have been viewed as outside of society as part of the radical acts of Jesus in the Gospel.

After hearing these reflections, participants were invited

AVA IANNUCCILLO / THE TUFTS DAILY

Goddard Chapel is photographed during snowfall. to continue their meals and begin discussions with each other in small groups, centered around discussion questions provided by the Interfaith Student Council.

The discussion followed a model established by the organization The People’s Supper.

Arielle Klein, Sam Gulley and Lydia Kresin were the Interfaith Student Council members in charge of organizing the event.

Kresin explained why they used this model.

“The People’s Supper model is something that we had for a retreat for the Interfaith Student Council, and that model of bringing people together with food [was what] we wanted to replicate,” Kresin said.

Carpenter elaborated on the model’s utility for celebrating multiple cultures at once.

“This dialogue style centers bridging differences as a main function of its model, uplifting food as a key entry point of honoring differences and seeing similarities between different religious and cultural communities,” Carpenter wrote.

Discussion questions guided participants to think about memories of food at family religious or cultural holidays as well as stories from their faith traditions about coming together over a meal.

Participants also had a chance to reflect on times when food made them feel connected to the world around them and ways they felt that food, food access and food justice may connect.

After wrapping up their discussions, participants were invited to fill out a card with a “food memory” (a drawing, story, recipe or other artwork based on their memories and discussions) to be included in a book of communal artwork.

“We wanted something that was kind of an artifact of this,” Kresin said. “I think recipe books, in the various ways people have them in families, can be meaningful for generations, and so we thought it’d be a cool way for people to share recipes or just memories and stories, drawings, anything. … We will assemble [the food memory book] this week, and then I believe it will be

in Goddard Chapel. So anyone can stop by.”

Sponsoring clubs offered announcements at the end of the event, offering future opportunities for participants to continue to engage in community through food or through faith.

“The Palmier always tries to give a platform to anyone who wants to tell their story and how it relates to food,” Megan Houchin, editor in chief of the Palmier, wrote in an email to the Daily. “Food really does bring people together, so we are really thrilled to be included in tonight’s event.”

Based on the volume of conversations in the room, student organizers felt their goal of fostering discussion between community members of different backgrounds was achieved.

“I think it was cool for people to see how they’re actually all so similar but then also how much those individual foods mean to you across cultures,” Kresin said.

“So many people came, and it seemed like conversations were lively, which is really exciting.”

Previously unidentified caller claimed to be armed and hiding under a student's bed MANHUNT

continued from page 1 campus, hiding under a bed after escaping a hospital and in possession of a Taser and several pistols, according to a 14-page affidavit from the FBI. The caller is also said to have named several residence halls on campus, which alarmed TUPD officers.

“If the lady comes back into the room and tries to look under the bed, I have to tase her,” the caller reportedly said to Tufts police.

The threats prompted university police, along with authorities from local law enforcement agencies, to clear the residence halls near the Reservoir Quad, according to emails sent to the Tufts community that day, and to con-

duct a “room-by-room search of numerous buildings,” according to the affidavit.

The caller, who repeatedly requested to speak to a female officer, “engaged in an extensive discussion” about slippers and shoe-shining and simulated what authorities believed were Taser and pistol sounds in the background during his calls, according to the affidavit.

University police later reported to the FBI that they were seriously concerned the caller would commit violence, but after searching the campus, authorities were unable to locate any signs of the caller.

Police activity in the area near the Reservoir Quad concluded by 12:30 p.m., according to an email sent to the community.

Subsequent investigation by TUPD and the FBI led officials to believe the calls were made

by Sultan near his Hayward, Calif. home. An FBI special agent, who had listened to more than 20 hours of Sultan’s phone calls from a previous investigation, recognized Sultan’s voice on the phone recordings.

“We’re gratified that the excellent police work of our TUPD officers helped lead to this arrest,” Yolanda Smith, Tufts’ executive director of public safety, wrote in a statement to the Daily. “The threatening communications that day caused a great deal of worry and disruption within our community and among our neighbors, and the actions of our TUPD officers who took immediate steps to protect the Tufts

community, aided by support we received from our local and state law enforcement partners, was critical in ensuring the safety of our campus.”

Sultan has a criminal history that dates back to at least 2017, when a federal investigation found he had made hundreds of “obscene and harassing” phone calls to law enforcement agencies throughout the United States, Canada and Great Britain, according to the affidavit. Sultan was sentenced to two years in prison after pleading guilty to the charges.

He was released in June 2019.

Sultan appeared in federal court in the Northern District of California on Friday, Rollins’ office said, and he is expected to appear in federal court in Boston at a later date.

News

Wednesday, April 6, 2022 | News | THE TUFTS DAILY

3

Perkins: Prioritize hospitalization over caseload in public health decisions CORONAVIRUS

continued from page 1 does test positive and is at risk of severe disease.”

Perkins suggested that the greatest risk to public health now is being unvaccinated.

“There are definitely populations that are at higher risk of severe disease, and at this time the most significant risk factor for severe disease is being unvaccinated,” she wrote. “It is imperative, as we move back toward normalcy with a lifting of pandemic restrictions, that we continue to encourage vaccine uptake among all populations that are eligible.”

She discussed the effectiveness of one-way masking for immunocompromised and elderly individuals.

“As restrictions such as mask mandates are lifted, those individuals can continue to be safe by practicing one-way masking if they are in situations which may put them at risk of getting disease,” Perkins wrote.

Perkins suggested that COVID-19 policies should primarily be guided by rates of severe hospitalization, rather than positive case numbers, moving forward.

“I would argue that we should not be following case numbers of Covid-19 at this time, as we create policies,” she wrote. “Fortunately, vaccines have decoupled cases of Covid-19 from severe disease and hospitalization. Those are the metrics that are more important than simple caseload at this time and I would recommend that we base our policies on rates of hospitalization for Covid rather than cases themselves.”

Michael Jordan, Tufts’ university infection control health

director, explained how Tufts decided to move toward lifting masking restrictions.

“To some extent the fact that the omicron variant is less virulent, on average in highly vaccinated populations, compared to other variants of SARS-CoV-2 does figure into our decision making,” Jordan wrote in an email to the Daily.

“However, possible changes to our masking requirements are also highly influenced by the number of incident Covid-19 cases in our local communities and on campus.”

He discussed why the university chose the third week of April to lift its mask mandate.

“With students having returned from spring break on March 28, the third week of April allows time for us to assess for any potential postbreak surge and to fine-tune guidance based on available evidence and perceived risks at the time,” Jordan wrote.

Jordan described what the transition from surveillance testing to symptomatic testing will look like.

“Symptomatic testing is used to identify infection in individuals who have signs and symptoms consistent with COVID-19,” he wrote. “Once we switch to symptomatic only testing, routine surveillance testing will not be available.”

Although Tufts is lifting key pandemic restrictions, Marie Caggiano, the medical director of Health Service, explained why the university is maintaining its “test-out” policy for COVID-19-positive students in isolation.

“The testing out of isolation policy is an extra measure to ensure that students who tested positive are no longer shed-

MINA TERZIOGLU / THE TUFTS DAILY

A mask station is pictured in the Science and Engineering Complex on March 16. ding the virus and potentially infectious before they leave isolation,” Caggiano wrote in an email to the Daily.

Caggiano explained that Tufts is taking necessary steps

in the new stage of the pandemic and will continue to monitor trends.

“These steps are appropriate and responsible given the data we are seeing,” she wrote.

“Having said that … we’re proceeding cautiously and are prepared to reinstate measures if we see the number of cases increase or a new variant emerges.”

4 Wednesday, April 6, 2022

Chris Duncan Talking Transit

How Tufts could get students to take the T

W

e’re lucky enough to be offered discounted T passes through the university, so if you want to have unrestricted access to the T for a semester, I’d encourage you to check that out. However, you might want to make sure you ride the T enough to justify the price tag.

Features But things could be much nicer. What if you could use your student ID just like a CharlieCard?

And what if, instead of having to pay for it separately, it came with your tuition and fees?

The MBTA first unveiled its university pass program in 2019 and began offering it that fall semester. It basically allows for a system in which T passes are loaded onto every student’s ID card, granting them unlimited transit access across the MBTA network. The university would be billed for rides taken at the end of every month. This is a big change from the LinkPass system, which levies a flat fee of $90 per month. This allows the program a lot more flexibility. Obviously, it would cost

a bit more for the university and, potentially, the students during months of heavy transit usage, but it would also save a lot of money during months of lower usage, like January and December, when students are away for long periods of time.

That part is what the T controls; the program notably leaves a lot of room for universities to pass on costs to students.

Universities can either subsidize the costs or cover them via extra fees. The only thing they cannot do is charge students individually per ride.

This could be pretty cool! It’s a great way to get kids who are commuting via bus or train to school and back, and it’s a great way to get kids living near cam-

pus out into town and spending money. On top of that, by centralizing costs, the program saves universities and students — depending on how much of the cost the university actually passes on to students — a lot of money.

If the university passes on all of the costs to students through some kind of fee scheme, then it provides a decent transit discount for some. Ultimately, what would likely emerge is a system where the people riding the T the least — presumably those who take the T for recreation every once in a while — subsidize those taking the T the most: commuters. It would end up being pretty progressive.

Conversely, if the university just swallowed the cost —

tuftsdaily.com though who knows how much the cost would be, accounting for induced demand and such — the effects could be pretty transformative. You could induce a whole new wave of Tufts students going out and spending money along the Red — and soon Green — Line in addition to the bus routes along Tufts’ campus. This would be a big boom for local businesses, and there would be a lot of fun to be had for Tufts students without the burden of a car. Tony Monaco, if you’re reading this, give the university pass program a look.

Chris Duncan is a junior studying political science. Chris can be reached at christopher.duncan@ tufts.edu.

Arts & Pop Culture

tuftsdaily.com

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Wednesday, April 6, 2022

Analyzing ‘Dune’ in light of the Oscars

by Carl Svahn

Assistant Arts Editor

Fear is everywhere in Frank Herbert’s “Dune” (1965). It’s there when the members of House Atreides arrive at their new and hostile home, the desert planet Arrakis. It’s there when Paul Atreides, the protagonist of the book, questions what his role in said story will be. Most importantly, however, it surrounds the book and franchise itself. Though “Dune” is the best-selling sci-fi book of all time and has influenced other giants in the genre like George Lucas, William Gibson and Neal Stephenson, it carries a reputation as an overly complex and even boring story on its own, which has turned many a casual reader away.

With the new film adaptation sweeping the recent Oscars and gaining the franchise more public attention than ever, there has never been a better time to try and make sense of this far-reaching mess of a book. So let’s discuss the book which has spawned such a successful movie. “Dune” is sprawling, it is overly detailed, and it is devoid of nearly any sense of character. It is by far the best sci-fi book this author has read in quite some time.

The actual plot of “Dune” is surprisingly not that complex, at least in the beginning. Set approximately 20,000 years in the future, the book follows Atreides, the heir to a great house in the

Odessa Gaines K-Weekly

BTS gives a stellar Grammy performance, again

B

TS once again showed the world why it’s on top on Sunday night with its performance on the Grammy Awards stage. The seven-member boy band has seen overwhelming amounts of success since it debuted back in 2013, breaking records with regularity in South Korea and abroad. The band members are known not just for their comedic timing, good looks and charisma but for their beautiful lyrics, lifting vocals and mind-blowing dance moves.

Galactic Padishah Empire, as he and his family fight the rival House Harkonnen for control of their new home, Arrakis, also known as “Dune.” It seems, at first, like a standard good versus evil epic in a futuristic desert but quickly evolves into something much more wide reaching and strange. Years pass, languages and cultures change and the plot slowly slinks into the background as Frank Herbert’s eye for detail takes center stage instead. Unfortunately, this does no favors for the book’s massive cast.

There are few real characters in “Dune.” Sure, there are hundreds of names and people in this multiyear saga, but most serve only to advance the story in incremental ways. Among Paul’s great love, Chani of the Fremen; his father, the Duke Leto Atreides; the evil Baron Vladimir Harkonnen, none have the distinct traits that turn figures into characters. Paul serves more as a vessel for the audience than as a distinct voice of his own. And yet, it is this seemingly massive flaw that the great genius of “Dune” as a book is revealed.

The irony in the book’s focus on the little details serving only the big picture is what makes it so interesting on the face of its lack of plot.

Organizations, not characters, are the stars of the story here. Every faction is given a full and clear picture through the way the story is told and by focusing on concepts bigger than the personality of a singular person. This book

is not at all what it first appears to be, even down to its most base elements.

Dune is not a story about good versus evil or even one of people. It’s a legend about the danger of messiah figures and how ecological collapse is not an unavoidable reality but a curse to overcome. It’s a study on Abrahamic religions, specifically Islam, and how they might evolve in the future to control and uplift humanity. That’s not to say there’s no straight-up fun to be had here; some characters ride giant sandworms into battle. On the contrary, every detail has been handcrafted by Herbert to fit his world while simultaneously conveying some kind of message or insight into modern life. The book even has an almost 50-page long index and appendix for the history of this universe.

This story is a masterclass in worldbuilding at the direct expense of interesting characters, and yet, by the end of Paul Atredies’ journey you still feel like you understand him and his world better than most stories can hope to achieve. All of this from a nearly 500page book about alien desert worms with walls of sometimes excruciatingly dull text.

You might hate this book, and you might love this book. The tale it tells is long, complex and boring, but the feeling you get upon finishing it and understanding it is unlike any other I’ve experienced before in a sci-fi book.

The name BTS, which stands for Bangtan Sonyeondan and translates to Bulletproof Boy Scouts, seems always to constantly be followed by “the first to,” a clear representation not only of the band’s impact and power but also their passion for music and art. Their sheer arrival at the Grammy red carpet this year had the entire ARMY Twitter sphere cheering and screaming into our pillows.

During the main ceremony, BTS burned up the dance floor with its performance of “Butter” (2021). The Grammy-nominated group’s art heistthemed performance had us all wishing we were Olivia Rodrigo, screaming along with the song lyrics, and — if you were me — kicking your feet in excitement in the back room of your job, hoping no one would come asking you for printer paper. Somehow managing to make taking off a jacket while singing about a fatty substance look cool and sexy, BTS truly showed up and showed out.

The group’s performance ran with the second line from “Butter,” “like a criminal undercover,” with Jin working the heist headquarters, Jungkook rappelling down onto the stage, and V, RM, Jimin, J-Hope and Suga operating from the crowds. With multiple dance breaks, a straight black wardrobe and eventually being joined by The Lab Studios dance crew, the boys truly made our hearts melt in two.

A bad performance doesn’t seem possible for BTS — the band continues to shine on every stage. Using Jin’s unfortunate hand injury to its advantage and playing to the cameras, it was a clear — if not the clear — highlight of the dragging three-hour program.

As always, the group brought its distinct, special energy to the awards show as its members jammed out to the performances, made small talk with the iconic Silk Sonic and Megan Thee Stallion and — to no surprise of ARMY — caught the eyes of most of the internet.

COURTESY WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

The first edition cover of “Dune” (1965) is pictured.

To fear reading a book so strange and even uninteresting is natural, but on that note, I’ll leave you with perhaps the book’s most famous passage, the Litany Against Fear: “I must not fear. Fear is the mind-killer. Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration. I will face my fear. I will permit it to pass over me and through me. And when it has gone past, I will turn the inner eye to see its path. Where the fear has gone there will be nothing. Only I will remain.”

This author couldn’t have described “Dune” better if they’d tried.

Completing the night by hopping on V LIVE for its usual live post-awards show, and inevitably making the entire app crash once again, BTS continues to remind everyone why it is on top.

Later this week, BTS is set to perform in Las Vegas at its sold out “Permission to Dance On Stage” concerts, which sold over 200,000 tickets in just a few hours of presales.

This year’s Grammys is just another addition on the belt of success and passion BTS and ARMY wear together, yet another thing to celebrate.

While the group lost its category of Best Pop Duo/Group to the Doja Cat and SZA collab “Kiss Me More”(2021), it made a clear showcase of who it is to the Grammys and all its viewers. BTS may have lost the Grammy, but it is the definition of a winner in any book.

Odessa Gaines is a first-year studying child study and human development. Odessa can be reached at kgaine01@tufts.edu.

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THE TUFTS DAILY | Fun & Games | Wednesday, April 6, 2022

F& G

tuftsdaily.com LATE NIGHT AT THE DAILY Alex: “It’s such an invasion of privacy (referring to Jumbo).”

Julia: “Yeah the dog is really gonna tell all of our secrets”

Fun & Games

SUDOKU

LINDA C. BLACK ASTROLOGY

Aries (Mar. 21–Apr. 19) Communications channels are wide open. Stay connected. Share support with someone experiencing bad luck, broken dreams or hearts. Listening is more powerful than speaking.

SEARCHING FOR HEADLINES...

Difficulty Level: Finding Senator Warren in Commons.

Monday’s Solutions

CROSSWORD

I’VE NEVER UNDERSTOOD WHY MY HUMAN WON’T LEAVE THE HOUSE WITHOUT HER LEASH. I THINK SHE’S AFRAlD OF GETTING LOST. BUT IT’S OK, I KIND OF LIKE SHOWING HER AROUND. — HARPER adopted 08-18-09

tuftsdaily.com

Daniel Chung Managing Multipolarity

Turning to Tojo

W

elcome to the second installation of a two-part series on Japan’s grand strategy and future as a great power.

The first part can be found here.

The rise of China explains Japan’s increasingly assertive foreign policy for the next few years, as I detailed in my first part. The receding role of America in maintaining liberal hegemony is the main factor that guarantees not only this increased emphasis on defense but also possible military expansionism in the far abroad.

Since the end of World War II, the United States has been acting as the guarantor of global trade.

But this is ending, especially

Opinion with relation to Japan due to the shale revolution, which decreased America’s dependence on foreign energy sources, rendering the Middle East less relevant in the long run to American interests.

This will have immense ripple effects; reduced American influence in the Middle East has already rendered other oil supply chains, which depend on the Strait of Hormuz, vulnerable to partial, if not total, disruptions, as indicated by Iran’s seizure of a South Korean tanker last year, which the United States did not rescue.

This contrasts its more immediate response to an attack on a Japanese-owned, Panamanianflagged tanker in 2019.

In terms of Japan, the most obvious military impacts have already been put into motion; in 2019, Japan assigned an escort ship to the Arabian Sea for the first time to protect merchant vessels. As a nation dependent on oil from the Middle East, this

trend is likely to continue, except that as global trade becomes ever more uncertain, Japan will send more escort ships for longer periods of time, and they will not be there to defend the merchant vessels of anyone but Japan.

Given Japan’s lack of oil and gas resources on the homeland, they must choose between expansionism or a severe degradation of living standards in Japan, and the choice from a state’s perspective is obvious. This is also likely to play out in Southeast Asia, where Japan will maintain secure supply routes in order to benefit from oil and gas deposits.

Finally, depending on the extent to which future demographic and trade crises degrade the power of the Chinese state, Japan may establish a patronage situation with coastal China from Shanghai to Hainan. These regions are isolated from the rest of China and are outward facing, with large populations

which would provide a commercial market for Japanese exports. They are already relatively inclined against the central government, with a history of varying degrees of support for independence from Hong Kong to Shanghai.

Japan’s strategic positioning along the First Island Chain, together with its access to a longreach, blue-water navy that can project power wherever it needs to, will allow Japan to take advantage of the coming disorder and maintain its influence on these regions of the world.

So far, I’ve discussed reasons for why Japan is likely to adopt a more assertive approach to foreign policy soon, including its geography predisposing it to favor this approach. But what about other challenges it faces?

Japan admittedly has the largest proportion of elderly citizens in the world and still refuses to accept many immigrants (other

7 Wednesday, April 6, 2022 than Ukrainians, as of late), presenting it with a demographic crisis that would, in any other case, be debilitating to great power ambitions.

Nevertheless, Japan has become the master of automation and has modified its industrial base accordingly. This allows for market gaps in manufacturing and even geriatric care, created by a refusal to admit foreign health workers, to be taken care of by automation and AI, which can certainly apply to other industries.

With all this in mind, Japan is absolutely primed to take advantage of the future and reestablish itself as a significant world power with a complicated series of networks ranging from suzerainty to partnerships within East Asia and the Middle East.

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

8 Wednesday, April 6, 2022

SPORTS

tuftsdaily.com

Baseball wins thrilling opening series

by Arielle Weinstein Staff Writer

Tufts baseball got the series win in its conference opener, beating Colby twice in a threegame set. Both teams were coming off of their respective spring break trips with strong records, with Tufts sitting at 12–1 and Colby’s record at 10–1.

Going into the series, both teams knew it would be a tough matchup.

“Colby is a great team. They were beating us most of the first game, and they took one from us the next game and we’re gonna learn from it,” sophomore third baseman Patrick Solomon said.

The Jumbos were ranked 24th in the nation in the Division III preseason poll and were coming off a 2021 season where they were only a game away from going to the division World Series. Last year, Colby finished third in the Eastern Division of the NESCAC with a conference record of 2–6.

In the first game of the series on Friday afternoon, the Jumbos found themselves in an early hole as the Mules took a 5–0 lead in the second inning.

The runs came from two RBI singles, a two-run double and an RBI groundout. In the third inning, they tacked on another run with a solo shot by catcher Cole Palmeri. The Jumbos were able to respond, however, notching a solo home run for themselves from senior first baseman Peter DeMaria.

Entering the fourth inning, the Mules led 6–1. They scored another run in the top of the frame on a sacrifice fly to increase their lead to 6. In the bottom of the fifth, DeMaria recorded another RBI, singling to score sophomore outfielder Ozzie Fleischer. The Mules answered once again with a run off of an RBI single in the top of the sixth to make the score 8–2.

The score remained the same until the bottom of the eighth inning, when the Jumbos mounted a ferocious comeback.

Senior outfielder Miles Reid

SOPHIE DOLAN / THE TUFTS DAILY

Tufts baseball plays Colby College on April 10, 2021. singled down the right field line and was brought around to score by a sacrifice fly from senior designated hitter Ryan Noone. Patrick Solomon was brought in as a pinch hitter and singled to score DeMaria.

Then, first-year outfielder Ben Leonard hit an RBI single, followed by another RBI single by Fleischer to make the score 8–6.

In the top of the ninth, Colby scored once more on another solo home run by Palmeri to put the lead back to three runs.

In the bottom of the ninth, the Jumbos found themselves with two outs and the bases empty. The team didn’t lose hope, though.

“We always have the mindset that we can come back and win a game, no matter what the situation is, even against a great great team like Colby,” Solomon said.

Two singles and a hit-bypitch loaded the bases for

Solomon. He got behind in the count 1–2 but then took the next pitch he saw over the left field fence to walk it off for the Jumbos, 10–9.

“My teammates did a great job, and we were able to get into a situation where we could make something happen. … It was a great, great team win,” Solomon said.

Both DeMaria and Fleischer went 4 for 5 on the day. The walk-off grand slam was the first home run of Solomon’s collegiate career.

Following Friday’s excitement, Saturday proved to be a different tune for the Jumbos.

In the seven-inning first game of a doubleheader, Tufts took a 3–0 lead in the second inning through a two-run single by junior catcher Connor Bowman and a sacrifice fly by junior outfielder Jackson Duffy. Colby then scored nine consecutive runs in the fourth

inning to take the lead 9–3.

Connor Bowman got one back for the Jumbos with a solo home run in the bottom half of the inning, but Colby ended up scoring once more to win the game 10–4.

In the second game of the doubleheader, Tufts took the lead in the first inning thanks to a run home run by junior left fielder Jimmy Evans. Second baseman Kyle Cortese scored off of an error.

The Mules scored on a sacrifice fly, and then the Jumbos scored on an RBI single by Fleischer. In the top of the fourth inning, Colby tied the game 4–4 by a walked-in run and a two-RBI single. Tufts scored on a fielder’s choice to retake the lead and then scored once more on back-toback RBI doubles by DeMaria and Cortese. DeMaria doubled in the eighth to make it 8–4 for Tufts. First-year righty pitcher

Connor Podeszwa finished out the game with a 5.1 inning effort, surrendering no runs on five hits. “[I wanted to] try to get the win for my team, just do my best, and I trust our bats just to get the job done,” Podezswa said.

Fleischer is leading the team in batting average, hitting .448, enough for the second best in the NESCAC. Tufts finished the weekend with a 2–1 conference record and a 14–2 overall record. The team looks in good shape to take on the rest of the teams from the NESCAC in the coming weeks, with crucial matchups against Bates, Bowdoin and Trinity.

“I think we showed a lot of teams in the NESCAC that we’re here to play,” Podeszwa said.

If the Jumbos can keep this energy going, they will have no problem sailing through the rest of the regular season.

COVID-19, the Jumbos dominated throughout, dropping only one doubles match.

“We had some guys out for [COVID-19], which threw a wrench in our typical lineup, but guys stepped in and performed really well under pressure,” senior Jack Moldenhauer said.

Trinity picked up their lone victory of the day in No. 1 doubles as seniors Ross DeRose and Dylan Powell defeated the Tufts duo of senior Niko Hereford and first-year Derin Acaroglu by a score of 8–6. Tufts swept the remaining matches, headlined by an 8–2 doubles win by sophomore Corey Marley and junior Josh Belandres.

Tufts swept all six singles matches, which included a 6–1, 6–1 victory from Moldenhauer over Jack Ginter in the No. 4 spot and a 6–1, 6–0 win by first-year Lachie Macintosh over Kartik Edodula.

Due to the COVID-19related lineup adjustments that Moldenhauer mentioned, Marley was thrust into a doubles matchup but attributed similar playing styles between him and Belandres to his ability to transition in seamlessly.

“Generally we’ve been trying to pair people who have similar strengths and weaknesses to each other,” Marley said.

On Sunday, Tufts visited Connecticut College and left

with a resounding 9–0 win.

Notable results included an 8–0 win in No. 3 doubles

by Marley and senior Dylan Glickman over Jules TaylorKerman and Aaron Fleishman and 6–0, 6–1 singles wins by Acaroglu and Moldenhauer over Julian Tien and David Poudrier, respectively.

Moldenhauer and Hereford, former high school teammates, paired together in doubles for the first time in their collegiate careers on Sunday.

“It’s really special,” Moldenhauer said. “Niko … and I have been really close friends for a really long time. … He’s one of the reasons why I came

to Tufts. … I know him so well.

We have really great chemistry just because we’re such close friends.”

The Jumbos’ No. 8 national ranking and No. 3 regional ranking is the highest ranking achieved by Tufts under head coach Karl Gregor, according to Marley.

Playing in his first full collegiate season, Marley has noticed a difference in the chemistry within the team.

“There’s really great camaraderie within the team,” Marley said. “It’s nice that we’re only kind of at the halfway point now, and we still have a lot of ways to go.”

Men’s tennis improves to 8–1, extends winning streak

by Matt Chen Sports Editor

Tufts men’s tennis continued its hot start to the spring season. The No. 8 team picked up wins over NESCAC rivals Trinity College and Connecticut College to extend its win streak to seven and improve its overall record to 8–1 and 3–1 in the NESCAC. Tufts opened the weekend with a trip to Hartford to take on Trinity. The Jumbos won convincingly with a final score of 8–1. Despite having to make some last-minute adjustments due to some team members being unavailable due to