The Tufts Daily - Monday, September 21st, 2020

RUTH BADER GINSBURG • 1933 - 2020

T HE T UFTS DAILY Monday, September 21, 2020

VOLUME LXXX, ISSUE 6 MENGQI IRINA WANG / THE TUFTS DAILY

The Tufts cannon, painted in commemoration of Ruth Bader Ginsburg, is pictured on Sept. 20.

Students hold vigil in honor of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg

by Madeleine Aitken Deputy News Editor

Members of the Tufts community gathered on the Residential Quad on Sunday evening to mourn the death of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.

The event was organized by junior Max Price and senior Caroline Wolinsky.

“The night that the news came out was definitely a crushing blow to me and to a lot of other people, so I felt like I had to do something,” Price said.

Ginsburg died at her home in Washington, D.C. on Friday after

a multi-year battle with metastatic pancreatic cancer. She was 87.

Price said he got the idea for the vigil the morning after he heard about Ginsburg’s passing.

He connected with Wolinsky, and they worked together to spread the message over Facebook.

More than a hundred students attended the event to reflect on Ginsburg’s life, work and accomplishments.

“All that I’m trying to do is create a space for people to grieve, whatever way is appropriate to them according to their beliefs,” Price said.

At the vigil, a few students, including Price and Wolinsky, shared their thoughts on Ginsburg and reflected on what she meant to them.

“Ruth was a visionary for her time, and she was the hero of every girl’s political aspirations” “Being a Jewish American, having someone like that on the forefront of the law of justice, working towards equality,

who has overcome obstacles her entire life, has broken every single glass ceiling that was set for her, it’s honestly inspiring,” Price said.

The common theme among students who spoke and were in attendance was Ginsburg’s impact, not only as a Supreme Court justice, but also as a woman who completely transformed a male-dominated field. In recent years, she has become prominent in pop culture and is widely known as the “Notorious RBG.” Ava Autry, a sophomore who plans to go to law school after she graduates, said she admires

Ginsburg both personally and professionally.

“I admire her strength and her resilience, and she will always be a role model for me, especially as I hope to pursue a similar path,” Autry said.

As a key player on the legal side of the fight for women’s rights beginning in the 1970s, Ginsburg repeatedly proved she was ahead of her time.

Ginsburg’s death will have great consequences for the future of the country and U.S. Supreme Court.

“Ruth was a visionary for her time, and she was the hero of every girl’s political aspirations,” Autry said.

Tufts experiencing lower Institute for Global Leadership than expected COVID-19 announces conversation series on infections racial injustice

by Anton Shenk News Editor

Comprehensive testing, effective isolation and quarantine measures have been successful in slowing the spread and transmission of COVID-19 at Tufts, as university officials continue to take action against the ongoing pandemic.

Michael Jordan, the university’s infection control health director, explained that a wide range of elements, including testing and education, have contributed to the absence of large outbreaks on campus.

“The results to date have been on the low end of expectations based on our modeling,” Jordan wrote in an email to the Daily.

“The University has undertaken an extensive education and social norms campaign to reinforce … the need to adhere to the testing regimen and the importance of mask wearing, social distancing, good hygiene, and related behaviors.”

One such educational effort, Healthy@Tufts, summarizes key behaviors, guidelines and policies for collective health this see TESTING, page 2

by Liza Harris News Editor

The Tufts Institute for Global Leadership (IGL) recently launched a conversation series titled “Global Perspectives on Race, Justice, and Equity.” The series was announced over the summer in light of the Black Lives Matter movement.

The conversation series held its first event on Friday, July 24 with The Honorable David Lammy, who is the Shadow Secretary of State for Justice in the United Kingdom.

According to IGL Director Abiodun Williams, the institute

is seeking to add to the global conversation on systemic racism with this series.

“We launched the series to contribute to the long-overdue global conversation about racism which is deeply embedded in the political, economic and social structures of many societies,” Williams wrote in an email to the Daily.

Williams added that this program intends to foster equitability and justice.

“We also hope that these conversations will challenge everyone to take action to address the destructive legacy

FEATURES / page 3

ARTS / page 4

SPORTS / back

Chimpanzees, conservation and chocolate cake; meet Zarin Machanda

Designers implement fashionable, sustainable solutions to pandemic problems

Field Hockey co-captain Beth Krikorian’s four years of athletic excellence

of systemic racism, and promote a just and equitable world for all,” he said.

John-Mark Gladstone, a student studying international business at The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, emphasized the importance of the series in bringing attention to racial injustice.

“The tragic and unjust death of George Floyd brought to the forefront of our consciousness a fresh wound that many students and faculty of color try to suppress,” Gladstone wrote in an see IGL, page 2 NEWS

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THE TUFTS DAILY | News | Monday, September 21, 2020

THE TUFTS DAILY Alex Viveros Editor in Chief

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TESTING

continued from page 1 year. The program includes video modules that outline coronavirus protocols and strategies for online learning.

Michelle Bowdler, executive director of Health and Wellness Services, thanked students for adhering to COVID-19 health and safety measures prior to arriving on campus.

“We’re grateful that students took seriously the university’s request that they avoid situations that might put them at risk of contracting COVID-19 before arriving on campus, which has led to a low number of positive tests upon arrival,” she wrote in an email to the Daily.

Bowdler also expressed gratitude at the Broad Institute’s ability to provide COVID-19 test results in a timely manner.

“We also have benefitted from the Broad Institute’s ability to

turn around test results quickly.

That has helped us to identify positive cases early on,” she said.

The local research institute has partnered with over 100 colleges and universities to provide testing, with many results coming back within just 24 hours, according to its website. The institute has also conducted over 415,000 tests for colleges and universities.

University President Anthony Monaco celebrated the success of Tufts’ reopening plan thus far and recognized students’ efforts to limit the spread of the virus.

“The biggest reason for the testing program’s good performance to date is the commitment of students — they’re taking all of this very seriously,” Monaco wrote in an email to the Daily. “So far, our community is doing what we need to do to keep each other safe, which I think speaks volumes about who we are.”

Junior Dash Wedergren indicated that he has seen overwhelming compliance with the university’s health policies by the student body.

“Tufts students have been expectedly compliant with all COVID precautions. Positive social norms have developed around distancing and mask wearing and students seem united in a common mission to keep us on campus this semester,” Wedergren wrote in an electronic message to the Daily.

Christopher Sedore, Tufts’ vice president for information technology and chief information officer, explained that the university’s COVID-19 Dashboard is a critical source of data for community members. The dashboard provides metrics on testing by school, including the number of tests conducted and unique positive individuals.

“We are committed to being transparent with our testing data and, at the same time, protecting the privacy of our students, faculty and staff,” Sedore wrote in an email to the Daily.

He also noted that Tufts plans to continue providing testing data to the community through the rest of the semester.

However, despite early success, university leaders have continued to caution community members against an extensive spread of the virus.

“We are encouraged by the early results but we also realize that we must remain vigilant,” Jordan said.

Bowdler echoed Jordan’s statement.

“Our results are only as good as our compliance, so we need everyone — students, faculty and staff — to continue to do everything they can to keep each other safe and healthy.”

IGL confirms former Secretary of Defense Leon E. Panetta as speaker IGL

continued from page 1 email to the Daily. “This series is an attempt to help move the needle of racial justice and equity to where it needs to be.”

At the inaugural event, Lammy discussed the global relevance of the Black Lives Matter movement.

“The inaugural event … was phenomenal and insightful because it gave the Tufts community a deeper look at the effects of colonialism and structural racism across the globe to highlight the work of those who have been in this fight for much longer in their own ways,” Gladstone said.

Additionally, Gladstone noted that Lammy addressed the false perception that racism is not as serious a problem in the United Kingdom as it is in the United States.

In his talk, Lammy highlighted “the desperate need for racial justice across around the world for Black and Indigenous People of Color,” Gladstone said.

The series held a second event in August, in which Lieutenant General Nadja West, who is the first African American surgeon general of the U.S. Army, spoke to the Tufts community. She is also the first African American woman three-star general and the highest ranking woman graduate of West Point, according to the IGL’s website.

Over the course of the semester, the series will continue to bring speakers to campus virtually.

“The series will feature policy makers, public intellectuals, scholars and writers. Sir Hilary Beckles, 8th Vice-Chancellor of The University of the West Indies, a distinguished academic, and

global public activist will speak on October 23,” Williams said.

Gladstone said that the IGL also confirmed The Honorable Leon E. Panetta, former secretary of defense, as a speaker and that the series hopes to include former Ghanaian President John Kufuor, former National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan, and tennis coach Patrick Mouratoglou, who has taught many high-profile players, including Serena Williams and Coco Gauff.

Atrey Bhargava, a senior who is involved in the IGL, said that the series covers issues that are not commonly spoken about.

“The series focuses on highlighting conversations about race, justice and equity,” Bhargava wrote in an email to the Daily. “These concerns, while often mentioned, have scarcely been the focus of an entire series, and this is the novelty.”

Bhargava spoke of his support for the series and his belief that it will bring attention to critical issues.

“I think this series is a great way of continuing the conversation about racial equity and consistently remembering it to ensure that it is not left out of focus for it cannot be anymore,” Bhargava said.

Gladstone stressed the need for the Tufts community and people all over the world to work together to defeat racism.

“Issues such as racism and anti-Semitism are cancers that fall on each and everyone of us to help combat,” Gladstone said.

“It is important for people of all groups to be aware that when one group ails, the human race is also afflicted and that such injustices have dire spillover effects on us all.”

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Features

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You Gotta Know: Primatologist Zarin Machanda does not monkey around

by Kayla Butera

Assistant Features Editor

As far as 5-year-old Zarin Machanda was concerned, she had found her dream job: becoming an astronaut veterinarian. Fascinated by animals, she had seen a documentary of chimps in space with primatologist Jane Goodall and astronaut John Glenn.

“The way that I interpreted what I saw was that there are chimpanzees up in space, and someone needs to go there and take care of them,” Machanda, an assistant professor in the anthropology department, explained.

“I mean it’s not a job and there aren’t chimpanzees in space, but that’s when I had that idea that you can study wild animals — that’s super cool — and in space?

Oh my god!”

Growing up in Toronto, Canada, Machanda went to a small all-girls school from grades 1–13. She credits her teachers at that school with having a profound impact on her life, particularly in her scientific interests.

“For me, it was really beneficial to be in an all girls environment and studying science, and being told that I could do this, and I was good at this,” she shared.

In addition to her teachers, Machanda’s family instilled the importance of an education both in and out of school from a young age. She remembers her mom going out to her backyard and getting objects for her to “dissect” and take apart in the home kitchen. Further, Machanda was exposed to the world of research and academia through her uncle, a biologist at the University of Calgary. While her parents did not force her to go into science, they were certainly supportive. As her parents framed it, “education is important, working hard is important, and science is interesting.”

With an interest in animals and her parents’ teachings in mind, she headed off to McGill University on the path to become a wildlife veterinarian. Unlike most American liberal arts colleges which often have a lot of distribution requirements, as a biology major at McGill, she took mainly biology classes, from genetics to courses on lizards.

“So I was very much on the pre-veterinary track,” Machanda noted. “But then a couple of things happened.”

Every so often, she had space for an elective. One semester, one of the electives that fit was Human Evolution, which was in the anthropology department.

As Machanda described it, “Human evolution is the history and prehistory of our history, but it’s based in biology. It’s kind of applying theories of evolution to understand our own species. It opened my eyes to how there are

RONAN DONOVAN / KIBALE CHIMPANZEE PROJECT

A chimpanzee is pictured in Kibale National Park, Uganda. these fields in the world where you can have this deep love of biology, and deep dive into the past that I loved about history.”

As it turns out, in the United States and Canada, people who study primates like chimpanzees are closely linked to anthropology and biology departments.

“The elective turned on this light that there is this field that I really loved, but because I was focused on being a vet, I knew that I needed hands on experience with animals before applying to vet school,” Machanda reflected.

Luckily, just outside of Montreal is the Fauna Foundation, an animal sanctuary, or “retirement home” as Machanda worded it, that housed 15 chimpanzees at the time that had been retired from biomedical research. At the foundation, she familiarized herself with their behavior and volunteered by taking care of the animals and creating enrichment packages for the chimpanzees.

Reflecting on her experience, Machanda likened it to an organic culmination of passions.

“It was almost this perfect storm of getting to know this species from captivity, taking coursework on animal behavior and then having this experience of having classes in biological anthropology, which turned this biological lens onto humans,” Machanda said.

As she compared the behaviors of captive chimps with those in the wild that she was reading about for class, however, she questioned how power was related to gender depending on the nature of where the chimp had spent time.

“What was interesting to me is that female chimps in captivity have more social power than what I was reading about in the wild,” Machanda said. “I was wondering if there was a lot of data about female male relationships out there. And it turns out there wasn’t.”

So after majoring in biology and anthropology, her road to a Ph.D. began. Machanda did her Ph.D. in human evolution-

ary biology at Harvard University under Richard Wrangham, a “primatologist extraordinaire.” As part of her Ph.D., she went to collect data at Wrangham’s field site in Kibale National Park, Uganda, which he had founded in 1987.

“I was in Uganda for about 18 months collecting data, so it’s a country that is very near and dear to my heart,” Machanda said. “It’s kind of like a second home at this point.”

Upon graduating with a Ph.D., Wrangham was looking to step away from the field project, and Machanda, along with two others, took over the operations of the Kibale Chimpanzee Project in 2009. The Kibale Chimpanzee Project has been documenting the lives of more than 150 chimps over the course of 33 years in great detail. Every so often, a Tufts undergraduate gets to go to Uganda.

How Machanda found herself at Tufts University was thanks to another wave of perfect timing.

“I lived in Porter Square and I would drive by Tufts,” Machanda said. “I would think ‘Wow this is such a beautiful school, wouldn’t it be amazing to get a job there?’”

At the time, there was only one biological anthropologist at Tufts, so she didn’t believe her dream job was a possibility.

When the biological anthropologist retired in 2016, the dream became a reality.

Machanda is in charge of the long term data from the Kibale Chimpanzee Project and has her own digitized lab at Tufts.

“In terms of my own research, because we have these long term chimpanzees, when people ask me what I study about chimps, the answer is everything,” Machanda said. “If you think of a question about chimps, chances are that we have data on it or have looked at it or want to look at it.”

Specifically, Machanda has a longstanding interest in studying how and why chimpanzees form strong bonds. In her research, she has noticed that despite male-female bonds being important and a multifaceted relationship across many human cultures,

this type of relationship was not as important in chimpanzees.

“We have this strong evolutionary relationship towards chimpanzees, but it’s different with them, and it suggests that this strong male-female relationship evolved more recently,” she said.

When studying social rankings between male and female chimpanzees, Machanda has found interesting results.

“If you look at wild populations of chimps, adult males always outrank adult females,” Machanda said. “In captivity what you see is more overlap, and that some females dominate the males.”

Why the difference? Machanda believes the answer lies in females’ opportunity to form coalitionary power in captivity.

“In captivity where [competition over food] is reduced, females can spend time together and form bonds with each other,” she explained. “When a male gets stroppy, the females can bond together and go ‘No I don’t think so.’”

Machanda has also been looking at how age affects social bonds: She has noticed that as chimpanzees age, the males tend to have stronger social bonds. According to Machanda, similar to humans, chimpanzee males rely on their friends more as they age.

As for future research, she is focused on studying the evolution of leadership and dominance hierarchies. Machanda has several questions she hopes to address, including “Why are there some chimps that just have that [charismatic] appeal, where other chimps will just follow them?” The study will allow researchers to not only combine decades of behavioral data, including personality traits and intelligence levels, but also over 30 years’ worth of physiological data that can be investigated for biomarkers of health, such as testosterone and cortisol levels.

From there, she’ll work on making multifaceted, in-depth leadership profiles.

So what about free time? As Machanda lightheartedly puts

it: “Free time is a funny term.”

With two children under the age of three, Machanda plays with trains. An avid baker, she is also on a tireless pursuit for the best chocolate cake.

“If anyone wants a good recipe for chocolate cake, let me know!” she said.

Despite her family and cooking time, chimpanzee-related affairs make up a large portion of her time off. According to Machanda, chimpanzees take up a good chunk of not only her academic time, but also personal time.

“For those of us who study chimps, it becomes a default passion that you become very interested in conservation,” she said.

To that end, Machanda has been passionate about The Kasiisi Project, which was created to improve the lives of the people outside the park. Since starting at one school in 1997, The Kasiisi Project has spread to 16 primary schools within five kilometers of the park. Machanda says the hopes are that if the project can make the lives of the kids around the national park better, then some of them can grow up to not rely on deforestation as their livelihood.

“It has this holistic quality — there are things that you do that have nothing to do with conservation to make the lives of these kids better, and that in itself is conservation,” Machanda said.

“But in actuality, it means making sure girls stay in school by providing menstrual products for them or doing teacher training, and making sure they have classrooms to go to.”

While The Kasiisi Project has provided many opportunities for Tufts students, Machanda is quick to mention that “we really, really try to avoid this idea of voluntourism.” The students work on projects that the staff of Ugandans have developed and are directing, and once the students leave, the project continues.

“The fact that these projects have been going on for decades really builds trust for these stakeholders — they know we’re coming back,” Machanda said. “But at the same time, we know we’re not Ugandans, and we don’t have the local knowledge of either the forest or culture to know what people really want or need.”

To say that Machanda is grateful of how her path has extraordinarily unfolded would be an understatement. Her life and career can be traced to not only the Jane Goodall and John Glenn documentaries, but to that one off-the-cuff anthropology class.

“Thinking about my own story … it just so happened that I took this extracurricular activity that changed my life,” Machanda said. “And that’s the magic of college.”

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ARTS & POP CULTURE

tuftsdaily.com

Monday, September 21, 2020

COVID-19 protection, but make it fashion

by Colette Smith Arts Editor

Wearing masks has become the new normal; according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), masks “help prevent respiratory droplets from traveling into the air and onto other people when the person wearing the mask coughs, sneezes, talks, or raises their voice.” The CDC came to their recommendation of wearing masks because of the large role that respiratory droplets play in the spread of the infectious disease. Additionally, there has been evidence from clinical and laboratory studies that shows that wearing masks is an effective tactic for reducing the spread of the droplets. In response to CDC’s recommendation, Tufts is requiring all students “to wear face coverings that cover their mouth and nose at all times when another person is within six feet of them, in both indoor and outdoor spaces, both on and off campus,” according

to the Fall 2020 Campus Guide for students in the School of Arts and Sciences and the School of Engineering. Since people are now wearing masks for a large portion of their days, there has been an impressive response from the fashion community to aid in the production of masks and provide masks that have elevated style from the average blue medical masks.

Given that the current pandemic has thrust masks into the spotlight as one of the most commonly worn accessories, the designers at New York Fashion Week responded by featuring masks heavily. Christian Siriano’s socially distanced show at his home in Westport, Conn. displayed beautiful designs that were accompanied by equally stylish masks. Although the mix of Siriano’s voluminous, colorful and dramatic gowns and masks felt very unconventional, it oddly felt like a celebration of things that are still possible in a time when so much is being restricted. It should be noted

that Siriano was one of the first designers to aid in the production of masks all the way back in March. He reassigned many of his seamstresses in New York in an attempt to make a few thousand masks a week. Collina Strada was another designer that featured masks heavily in her spring 2021 collection which was displayed in a film called “Change Is Cute” (2021). The brand included a side-tie, tiedye mask designed by Hillary Taymour that has been on the market for a little bit and a new satin style that was shaped like a flower. Finally, one more designer which included masks in their spring 2021 collections was Alice + Olivia by Stacey Bendet. Alice + Olivia announced on April 6th that they would be donating 5,000 face masks to medical centers all around the country.

They also announced that they would be selling fashionable masks and donating a mask to the medical community for every mask that was purchased.

For their spring 2021 collection,

Alice + Olivia added even more options for masks by displaying a coordinating mask for nearly every look.

One of the many side effects of the COVID-19 pandemic is that there has been a drastic increase in the usage of disposable face masks. There has been some concern that the increase in usage of these products will result in increased ocean pollution. While there are certainly times that the safest and best option is a disposable, single-use mask, some consumers may want to purchase a more environmentally sustainable option. Mentioned earlier, the eco-conscious brand Collina Strada offers masks that have sustainability in mind, since they are made from deadstock material. For every purchase of one face covering, Collina Strada will provide three masks to Seeding Sovereignty, an organization that is running a mask drive for Indigenous communities in and outside of New Mexico that are underserved

and especially at risk. However, with the Collina Strada masks costing $100, they are certainly not the most affordable option.

But there is no need to worry because there is no shortage of affordable and environmentally sustainable mask options. One option is the Nisolo Upcycled Linen & Cotton Lined Mask. This face covering is minimalist in appearance and is made by a local Nashville artist using deadstock linen, cotton and hemp fabrics. Onzie offers a stretchy and quick-drying option that they make from upcycled fabrics from their yoga clothing. These are just two brands of many options for affordable masks.

With so many options for face coverings, there is really no excuse for not wearing one to protect yourself and your community as everyone battles through these trying times together. With so many fashion brands offering stylish options, there is no reason to ruin your wonderful outfit with a less-wonderful mask!

A r t s & P o p C u lt u r e A&P

Monday, September 21, 2020 | Arts & Pop Culture | THE TUFTS DAILY

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“Every Angel is terror:” Neon Genesis Evangelion reconsidered

VIA IMDB

A promotional poster for “Neon Genesis Evangelion” (1995-96) is pictured.

by Yiyun Tom Guan News Editor

Content Warning: This article discusses trauma, suicide.

There are many reasons for me to revisit “Neon Genesis Evangelion” (1995–96), or “Eva,” and its canonical film “The End of Evangelion” (1997). The opening credits — the quixotic drawings of the beginning of the universe and the Kabbalistic tree of life, the familiar characters appearing perfectly according to the drumbeat of the always divine theme song “A Cruel Angel’s Thesis,” the silhouettes of naked bodies, the gory images of Evangelions — end with Shinji Ikari’s innocent smile. What drove me back to watching Shinji Ikari driving a giant robot into the end of the world was, of course, not just the series’ spectacular visual and auditory features. Beyond the guises of a sci-fi apocalypse of giant robot fighting monsters or a voyage into JudeoChristian mythologies, “Eva” at its core is about trauma and guilt, and our capacity to transcend them.

The main storyline follows Shinji Ikari, an introverted teenage boy who loses his mother, Yui, at a young age and is virtually abandoned by his father, Gendo Ikari, the commander of the organization Nerv. The two do not live in the same city until Shinji is summoned by his father to Tokyo-3 for a surprise mission: to pilot a massive robotic entity called Evangelion-01” along with the mysterious Rei Ayanami and the seemingly-pompous Asuka Langley Soryu, to defeat monsters

named “Angels” who seem to be interested in the destruction of humanity. As Shinji discovers his natural synchrony with Evangelion-01, his experience with piloting gradually becomes intensely spiritual and indescribable.

The trio joins Captain Misato Katsuragi to defeat more Angels, and — surprise, surprise — they gradually discover a larger conspiracy behind the appearance of Angels and the true nature of Evangelions they rely on. The appearance and the defeat of angels are incremental to the Human In s t r u m e n t a l i t y Pro j e c t , which purports to end human suffering as we know it by forcefully merging humanity into a single entity. “The End of Evangelion,” a dramatic redo of the much-criticized last two episodes of the TV series, features the process and aftermath of Instrumentality.

As I brainstormed this piece, I encountered a profile by the tremendously talented Elif Batuman of a theater company that transplants its productions of Greek tragedies onto Zoom.

I immediately registered for its next event, a production of “Oedipus the King” by Sophocles, which is also discussed by Batuman in her article. The early September rendition of the play, which casts “Billions” (2016–) star Damian Lewis as Oedipus, did not disappoint. “Eva,” of course, is a rich source for interpretation through the lens of the Oedipus complex.

There’s much Freudian about Misato’s role as a guardian and occasional babysitter of Shinji’s, about Rei’s origins and how it relates to Shinji,

about Misato and Asuka’s desperate needs for a father figure and about Lilith as the “Second Angel” and a “Seed of Life,” as well as the maternal “souls” of Evangelions.

Maternity, but also nakedness, permeates Shinji’s relationship with females.

Though he longs for care and love from Misato, Rei and Asuka, he also can’t stop picturing them naked. However, the nakedness also embodies a spectrum between sexual desire and divine motherhood, the latter of which Rei resembles the most in “The End of Evangelion.” A child’s need for love and a parent’s willingness to give love summarize most relationships in this complex series and serve as the foundation of much of its emotive power.

But as I reflected on the agony in Lewis’s roar when he first realizes the truths about his identity and reread Batuman’s piece, what struck me the most was this passage: “The reason Greek tragedy works for so many of our social issues is that virtually all the tragedies, like the social issues, dramatize the conservative, contagious impulse to deny trauma: to negate that anyone is a victim or that anything bad is happening. Then someone defies the impulse and screams horrifying stuff that nobody wants to hear, and the spell is broken.”

Batuman observes victim denial as the predominant reaction to traumatic memories throughout human history. She traces this tendency in human development as early as childhood, when we have to learn to distinguish between what we want and what is good for us — in other words, what our parents want.

We then project this double-consciousness onto other people, denying the validity of their lived experience at the expense of what we think is good for them. This tendency, Batuman notes, produces generations after generations of domestic abusers and strongmen worshippers. But there is hope: Citing psychiatrist Judith Herman, she notes the positive correlations between the acceptance of traumas as genuine human experience and progressive political movements. Progressive shifts in societal values enable the greater society to recognize the emotional strains done to the oppressed, such as women and ethnic and gender minorities. In this sense, the psychological is inevitably the political; instead of merely stemming from the individual, our perception of reality is necessarily encoded in the social environment we’re brought up in.

For all its religious and mythological references, “Eva” rejects a central tenet of most religions, especially those in the Judeo-Christian traditions: that of community.

“Eva” is extremely uncompromising in its view of personal healing. Childhood trauma — usually in the form of being neglected or terrorized by parents as seen in the cases of Shinji, Asuka and Misato — is ultimately unsalvageable. The treatment of this dilemma, especially in episodes 25 and 26 in the TV series, is circular; whatever emotional problems that arise later in the characters’ lives have to originate in their childhood nightmares.

Being ingrained in this line of thinking accentuates the self-doubt and self-hatred of the three characters. Misato walks away from her otherwise admirable relationship with Kaji because she believes he resembles her father too much, which isn’t true at all and perhaps stems from her fear of both being neglected and being left alone again.

Asuka’s bloated ego and hasty desire to be seen as an adult stem from her fear of becoming the doll of her suicidal mother. When she imposes this self-image onto others and inevitably fails to be recognized, all she can think about is the nightmarish image of her mother on her hospital bed. Shinji’s traumas are the most fleshed out: from witnessing his mother being consumed by Eva-01 (a memory the show suggests he has repressed), to the emotional negligence and abuse from his father, to the emotional damage he does to others due to his insociability and awkwardness. The cycle of being hurt and hurting others in return convinces Shinji that he’s pathologically unable to love and be loved.

What ties the three main characters together is that their childhood is the focal point of all their perceptions of the world. Whenever there’s a crack in their relationships with others, negative memories are always invoked, and instead of blaming the social fabric that created the conditions for atomization, they internalize the problem and see their own failings as the source of all miseries. In other words, this is a universe in which past wrongs can never be healed, in which the weight of personal responsibility trumps all possibilities for communitarian solidarity. If friendship and lovers are not enough to heal the pain suffered in the past, Nerv and Seele see technological advancement as the only method with which human beings can achieve self-actualization. The Human Instrumentality Project necessitates mass production of Evangelions and, subsequently, humanity’s conquering of nature. Instrumentality, which is supposed to heal the human soul, has to be implemented forcibly and against the human will using the power of Evangelions. The rest of humanity, in a Rousseauian fashion, is quite literally

forced to be merged into a general will and “forced to be free.” Gendo recognizes what he does as an act of sin, but he also seems to believe that this is a fundamentally humanistic project, a gesture of defiance against the gods, who cruelly created human lives and left them incomplete.

In this sense, “Eva” shares Oedipus’ fatalism about destiny, the idea that emotional toil is neither escapable nor redeemable; all the suffering souls in “Eva” are Oedipuses who can only passively accept their fate of loneliness and despair. Despite the grandness of Instrumentality, blame and guilt ultimately are infringed upon the individual who’s responsible for their own fault and has to rely on technocratic overlords to salvage them.

The way the major characters think about guilt parallels that of Oedipus, who in his cries of anguish sees himself as the source of his downfall and misery. But Batuman emphasizes why Sophocles inserts a plague into the story and that the idea of contagion ultimately dwarfs individuality because “we don’t normally expect whoever gave us a respiratory virus to be punished. Questions of personal responsibility are ultimately viewed as secondary to questions of cure and containment.” Loneliness is also a plague. A micro-level analysis of loneliness that solely focuses on the individual might end up replying upon victim-blaming instead of a bolder examination of the societal undercurrents that create atomized individuals.

There are ways to surmise the sociological underpinnings of the world of “Eva,” whether it’s the disintegration of traditional family values in postwar Japan, atomization encoded in liberal capitalism or the East Asian version of toxic masculinity — all are crude summaries but useful starting points nonetheless. One must suspect that it’s almost intentional for “Eva” to contain no discussion of politics at all, barring the power play between Nerv and Seele and the amusing invocations of the United Nations.

It never occurred to any of the characters to look around them; instead, they sink into further depression by focusing on the self.

Batuman suggests that to end the cycle of psychological abuse, we must “politicize and de-privatize” trauma and erode the hierarchical structures of most human relationships. It means choosing collective responsibility over individual ones, free will over determinism. If “Eva” offers any hope, it’s the final decision of Shinji and Asuka to reclaim human agency, to reclaim our right to suffer, but also our capacity to heal by having each other.

Perhaps that’s the Cruel Angel’s Thesis.

6

THE TUFTS DAILY | Fun & Games | Monday, September 21, 2020

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Alex, seeing a bunny on the Academic Quad: “Seeing one of those makes me hungry.”

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Sports

8 Monday, September 21, 2020

Alex Sharp Sharp from the Sofa

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Beth Krikorian – Senior fall athlete profile

What is that man doing on second base?

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by Ananda Kao Sports Editor

Finishing her junior year off by tallying 14 points in the last six games of the season last year, senior midfielder and co-captain Beth Krikorian was on track to have her most impactful year yet with Tufts field hockey this year. However, with the cancellation of all fall sports competitions, Krikorian, along with the rest of the field hockey team, will patiently wait and train for their next chance to compete in 2021.

While there are many things fall athletes will be missing out on this season, game days are at the top of the list of things Krikorian will miss the most.

“The whole day we spend together, so it’s super fun to just wake up knowing … you have all of this stuff to look forward to,” Krikorian said. “The actual game itself, there is all the excitement around pregame, during the game, and then after the game tailgating with parents.”

In addition to having the fall season cancelled, the field hockey team’s off-season in the spring and summer also looked different. After being sent home in March, the team did many Zoom calls with coaches, incoming first-years and returning players. Furthermore, the players had to find other ways to workout or play while in quarantine.

“Throughout the summer, a good amount of us upperclassmen lived in our off-campus houses so we’d be able to go to the field and hit together or do workouts together — so we could be in person, which was nice,” Krikorian said.

Krikorian also noted that the players were able to explore other types of work-

outs aside from the usual workout packet they follow leading up to their fall season.

With most of the team currently back on campus, they will be able to start playing, lifting and doing other team activities while following Tufts’ COVID-19 guidelines. These will consist of small-team training sessions and small-group limited time sessions in the weight room.

“We have practices or some sort of team activity five times a week, so throughout all the week days we’ll be able to see each other, which is pretty big for keeping everyone on the same page and together as well as integrating the freshmen, so that will be exciting,” Krikorian said. “Other than the actual field hockey, like the athletics piece of it, we’ve definitely as upperclassmen talked about connecting with different grades in whichever ways we can.”

Krikorian has made her mark on the team since she first stepped foot on the field in the season opener against Colby when she was a first-year. She competed on both the field hockey and lacrosse teams at Tufts as a first-year but later decided to focus solely on field hockey.

Three years later, she has played in 55 games, starting and playing in every game during both her sophomore and junior seasons.

“Beth is the ultimate athlete and perfect embodiment of a great teammate,” junior midfielder Sophie Schoeni said.

“On the field, she is a force to be reckoned with and puts our whole team at ease with her calm confidence and consistency.”

As a sophomore, Krikorian ranked third on the team in goals and shots as well as second in points and had three game winning goals, the second most on the team.

Her junior year, Krikorian was second on the team in goals, assists and points, and she fired off a team high 61 shots.

“As one of our leading goal scorers and contributors on the field, her legacy of hard work and dedication has been passed down through my class as well as the program for years to come,” Schoeni said.

Reflecting on what she has gained and will miss most about being a part of the field hockey team at Tufts, Krikorian said, “The people. I’ve made such good friends out of it my entire four years here, just meeting all the girls and all of their families. It’s so nice to have a huge network and support system of alums and current players.”

As a teammate of Krikorian’s for two years, Schoeni echoed this sentiment.

“Aside from her athleticism, Beth is an amazing friend to everyone she is surrounded by and has made my experience not just with field hockey, but also at Tufts as amazing as it has been … I look up to her as a leader on and off the field and am lucky to call her a friend,” she said.

Over the past three seasons, the field hockey team has been very successful, boasting an impressive record of 45–13.

They have competed in seven NESCAC playoff games and six NCAA playoff games, including competing for two NESCAC championships and one NCAA championship. Coming up just short in each of these championships, Krikorian was looking forward to one more chance at bringing home a title.

Krikorian plans on participating in the fifth year masters program offered by Tufts and therefore will be able to play with the team once more next fall.

ION OF STA IAT TE OC

TERS RES FO

Alex Sharp is a sophomore who has not yet declared a major. Alex can be reached at alex.sharp@tufts.edu.

COURTESY SPORTSPIX

Senior Beth Krikorian is pictured during a game against Wellesley on Oct. 16, 2019.

NATIONAL A SS

ajor League Baseball’s most historic rivals met at Fenway Park on Friday night. The Boston Red Sox led the New York Yankees 4–3 before Yankees catcher Gary Sanchez tied the game with a solo homer in the top of the ninth inning. In the bottom of the ninth inning, Yankees reliever Chad Greene faced JD Martinez. Greene struck Martinez out looking, sending the game to extras. So why in the world was Yankees outfielder Clint Frazier putting on a helmet between innings and jogging out to second base? Anyone who hasn’t tuned into MLB this season may be unaware of the atrocious new extra inning rule in which each team starts off every extra inning with a runner on second base. The rule was established as part of MLB’s effort to cut down on innings played during their full sprint 60 games in 67 days season. Putting a runner on second before an inning has even begun is wildly unfair to pitchers who find themselves in a jam before they even toe the rubber. I imagine the frustration I would have felt in little league watching the kid on the other team who hadn’t made contact with a ball all year trot out to second base with a big grin on his face, after doing absolutely nothing but chew his double bubble-sunflower seed concoction for three hours. If it would be an injustice in little league, it’s an injustice in MLB. Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw is one of many players to voice their displeasure with the rule, telling reporters “It’s not real baseball.

But it’s fine for this year, and I hope we never do it again.”

MLB’s extra inning rule got me thinking about rules that could use changing in some of the other major American sports. Younghoe Koo is a solid field goal kicker for the Atlanta Falcons but he has made a name for himself as the NFL’s best onside kicker. In a game last year against the Saints, Koo delivered three consecutive successful onside kicks, although one was negated by penalty. In his first game this year, Koo converted another onside kick against the Seahawks. In the NFL, Koo is the exception rather than the rule. In 2018 the NFL made a rule that the players on the team kicking off cannot get a running head start. As a result the percentage of successful onside kicks fell below 10%. The rule was made in an attempt to improve player safety, but it has made it nearly impossible to retain possession after scoring. To keep the conclusions of good football games exciting, the NFL should adopt some form of the fourth-and-15 rule proposal that would allow a team to retain possession if they convert a fourth-and-15 from their own 25-yard line.

The NBA recently joined MLB and the NFL in allowing coaches to challenge calls that they disagree with. The only problem is that each coach is limited to only one challenge, whether or not their challenge is successful. In MLB a manager only loses their challenge if they are incorrect, while in the NFL coaches get two challenges and are rewarded a third if their first two are correct. The NBA rule means that a coach could challenge a blatantly incorrect call in the first quarter, be correct, and still no longer have any ability to challenge a blatantly incorrect more consequential call that occurs in the fourth quarter. That makes no sense.

Rules, man.

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