The Tufts Daily - Wednesday, November 7, 2018

Students share experiences of coping with Hurricane Harvey, Merrimack Valley gas explosions see FEATURES / PAGE 4

FIELD HOCKEY

Jumbos drop conference title game, clinch NCAA berth

Rami Malek salvages ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ from its lack of focus, poor story line see ARTS&LIVING / PAGE 6

SEE SPORTS / BACK PAGE

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VOLUME LXXVI, ISSUE 42

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Wednesday, November 7, 2018

MEDFORD/SOMERVILLE, MASS.

J Street U Tufts petitions to include Palestinian speaker on Birthright trip

by Alexander Thompson Staff Writer

The Tufts chapter of J Street U began circulating a petition on Oct. 18 that calls for the inclusion of Palestinian speakers on Tufts Hillel’s Birthright Israel trips. At press time, the petition had garnered 255 signatures, 192 of which were provided by students who indicated that they were eligible to go on a Birthright trip.

The petition, addressed to Tufts’ Jewish Chaplain and Neubauer Executive Director of Tufts Hillel Rabbi Naftali Brawer, addressed the need for diverse perspectives on the trip.

“On a trip to Israel, we should experience the country’s history and culture, but we should also learn about the Israeli occupation of the West Bank and hear the voices of Palestinians living under occupation,” the petition reads. “As those of us who have been on Birthright and similar trips can attest, shielding us from these truths creates a ‘connection’ to Israel that feels fragile at best.”

The petition was written by the national J Street U organization and provided to various colleges, according to Channah Powell, chapter president of J Street U Tufts. J Street U Tufts described itself as “pro-Israel” and “pro-peace.” Powell, a sophomore, said that she participated in the discussion and drafting of the petition. The petition requests that Birthright participants get to “meet with Palestinians see BIRTHRIGHT, page 2

COURTESY HALLE YOUNG

J Street U students from universities on the East Coast, meeting at Tufts for J Street U’s Regional Workshop, pose for a photo on Oct. 14.

TCU Senate hears funding requests, receives updates from trustee representatives

by Noah Richter

Assistant News Editor

The Tufts Community Union (TCU) Senate met Sunday night in the Sophia Gordon Multipurpose Room to hear supplementary funding requests, an Allocations Board (ALBO) appeal, project updates and updates from Trustee Representatives, according to Senate’s meeting minutes.

TCU Treasurer Izzy Ma, a sophomore, began the meeting by introducing a funding appeal from the Korean Students Association (KSA). The student group was appealing the prior ALBO recommendation to not fund the KSA request, instead hoping to receive $1,056 from the Senate.

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According to documents provided to the Daily, KSA appealed for $1,056 to cover the costs of a kimchi-making event with families in the community who have Korean adoptees as part of its Big Brothers Big Sisters program, as well as funds to cover their intramural soccer team.

Members of ALBO and the Senate body, however, argued that the allocation of funds to KSA would have been an unfair and irresponsible allocation of TCU funds.

“ALBO’s sentiment behind the $0 was that KSA is an organization whose budget is already 70% food, and requesting an extra $1000 seemed fiscally irresponsible,” TCU Historian Rebeca Becdach told the Daily in an electronic message. “Another

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part of the KSA appeal was soccer supplies for their KSA intramural soccer team.

ALBO voted to zero out those line items because it is not fiscally sustainable to fund soccer teams for student organizations, considering we give $150,000 to club sports and Tufts has an intramural soccer league, and they did not see those costs as essential to KSA’s mission.”

After a close vote, the body stood by the initial ALBO recommendation and rejected the appeal.

The body then approved supplementary funding requests for the following groups: $350 to Tufts Engineers without Borders for access to online resources, $56 to TuftScope for access to online resources,

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$2,676 to Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) for National SJP Conference costs, $520 to Tufts Animal Welfare to cover an updated FY19 budget request and $3,256 to TEDx Tufts to send one representative to a TED conference for the licensing of the TEDx chapter.

The body voted to decline the $623 funding request from Another Option for increased transportation for an event, citing the lack of necessity for the proposed increased transportation.

The TCU Senate body allocated $2,550 to itself to cover the costs of the Turkey Shuttle, a shuttle service that see SENATE, page 3

NEWS............................................1 FEATURES.................................4 ARTS & LIVING.......................6

FUN & GAMES.........................8 OPINION.....................................9 SPORTS............................ BACK

THE TUFTS DAILY | News | Wednesday, November 7, 2018

THE TUFTS DAILY Seohyun Shim Editor-in-Chief

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J Street U Tufts’ petition calls for Palestinian voices on Birthright trips BIRTHRIGHT

continued from page 1 who can speak to the realities of life under military occupation.”

A meeting between members of J Street U Tufts and Tufts Hillel took place in the Granoff Family Hillel Center on Oct. 25, according to senior Talia Inbar, the Northeast regional co-chair for J Street U. Claire Trilling, a senior and J Street U Tufts member, was present at the meeting.

“I believe there was some misunderstanding on the part of Hillel staff as to our intentions, but we were able to share our goals with the petition and our hopes that Hillel staff will work with us on an issue that clearly matters so deeply to our community,” Trilling told the Daily in an email.

However, Trilling said that Tufts Hillel made no commitments and that J Street U Tufts is still waiting for a response beyond Tufts Hillel’s public statement.

In their statement, Tufts Hillel said it felt its values were “misrepresented” by the petition. They defended their previous Birthright trips, citing the fact that they have worked with students from J Street U to organize pre-trip orientations in the past.

The statement added that trips have, in the past, heard from Israeli Arab individuals, while also pointing to its Visions of Peace program, which organized a trip to Israel and the West Bank to meet with people active in peace work.

Sara Legasey and Rachel Eilbaum, the former and current Tufts Hillel Birthright coordinators, told the Daily in an email that while every Birthright trip differs in itinerary, all Tufts Birthright trips feature multiple narratives.

“All of our trips have included Israeli Arab and/or Palestinian speakers, or encounters with another minority group in Israel,” Legasey and Eilbaum wrote.

“Each trip itinerary is different, and for various reasons, we aren’t able to guarantee any particular speaker. Over the years we have always brought a diverse array of narratives, including Palestinian narratives, into our Birthright trip educational program, and we will continue to do so.”

Legasey and Eilbaum also said that including those narratives were a priority for the program.

However, Powell said that participants on Tufts Birthright are unable to get a nuanced view of Israel. According to Powell, in 2017, the national Birthright Israel organization canceled a geopolitical module that facilitated interactions with speakers from an Israeli minority community, such as Arab Israelis or Ethiopian Jews.

Powell said that the petition does not call for the resurrection of the geopolitical module, since, as she claimed, the sessions never included a Palestinian speaker.

“It’s an example of omission and erasure of Palestinian narratives from the Jewish community, which I think is really unjust,” Powell said. “If we want our children to understand Israel — understand Judaism — it’s important for them to learn that you can’t just listen to one side of the story.”

In an email to the Daily, a spokesperson for Birthright Israel offered a different explanation for what happened to the geopolitical module. The spokesperson said that in November 2017, programs focusing on co-existence, including between Jewish and Arab citizens of Israel, were postponed and later reintroduced in December 2017 as the “Social Diversity” module.

Powell criticized Birthright Israel for calling itself apolitical while also receiving funding from what she called “rich rightwing donors.” She cited the billionaire Sheldon Adelson, a frequent donor to the Republican Party.

“What we’re pointing out is that by ignoring [Palestinian] narratives you’re actually being explicitly political,” Powell said. “You can’t just go to Israel and party in Tel Aviv, go to the Bedouin tents and completely ignore the military occupation that’s being done by the Israeli army.”

The Birthright Israel spokesperson wrote that the organization would always remain apolitical and did not support the dissemination of one-sided political or social agendas on their trips.

“Certain political activist groups choose to politicize Birthright Israel by leveraging the longstanding success and good reputation of our organization to generate publicity for their causes,” the spokesperson wrote.

Carolyn Hitelman, a sophomore who participated on a Tufts Birthright trip last spring, said that while the group did not hear from any Palestinian speakers, they did visit The Haifa Center for Dialogue and Conflict Management.

Hitelman said the group elected to talk about the basics of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. She went on to state that the trip also visited a Druze hospitality center where they learned about the Druze community.

Leonard Saxe, the director of the Cohen Center for Modern Jewish Studies at Brandeis University, studies the effects of Birthright trips on their participants. He said that the data does not show a change in participants’ attitudes about Israel, the status of Jerusalem or related hot-button issues as a result of the trip.

“I think that there’s no evidence that they’re getting a Zionist perspective,” Saxe said. “One of the goals of the program is to enhance the connection people feel with Israel, but that doesn’t mean supporting a particular government.”

Saxe compared Birthright participants to international students.

“They might come to love the U.S., love what we stand for, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that they will love, appreciate, support the government of the U.S. or the leadership of the U.S,” he said.

Compared to those who applied for a Birthright trip but were rejected, Birthright participants are 22 percent more likely to feel at least “somewhat confident” in explaining the geopolitical situation in Israel, according to Saxe’s research published in 2012.

Tufts Students for Justice in Palestine issued a statement about the petition, saying that an additional Palestinian speaker on a Birthright trip would be no more than a token and political tool.

“Birthright is free to American Jews, but the price is paid by Palestinians in the form of stolen lives, homes, and hope,” the statement read. “We call on J Street U at Tufts not to invest further in an institution that ignores and upholds the oppression of Palestinians.”

Ben Shapiro, co-president of Tufts Friends of Israel, declined to comment on the petition but said that the group partners with both Tufts Hillel and J Street U Tufts.

“Tufts Friends of Israel is proud allies with both Tufts Hillel, the Jewish chaplaincy center on campus, and J Street U,” Shapiro, a junior, told the Daily in an electronic message. “We are happy to be in the Tufts Students for Two States (TS4TS) coalition with both groups, and consider us all to be part of a single pro-Israel community.”

Max Price, a first-year who identifies as Jewish, has not signed the petition.

“Birthright is intended to provide a cultural heritage experience for American Jews, not a political perspective,” he told the Daily in an email.

Price said that from his experience, Tufts Hillel works to incorporate Palestinian and Arab voices into its programming, and that publicly confronting Hillel was not the best way to create dialogue.

First-year Brett Sachs, who signed the petition, spoke to the importance of Palestinian voices on Birthright.

“It’s important to inform any college community about both sides of the IsraeliPalestinian conflict and it’s even more essential as Birthright is such a key moment in the life of any young Jewish person. Adding a Palestinian speaker would broaden participants horizons on what is usually sure a narrow issue,” she said.

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News

Wednesday, November 7, 2018 | News | THE TUFTS DAILY

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Senate allocates $2,550 for Turkey Shuttle, future Senate projects SENATE

continued from page 1 transports students to Boston Logan International Airport and South Station for Thanksgiving, as well as to replenish its discretionary fund for future projects.

In addition to the supplementary funding requests, the body allocated significant amounts of money to several Tufts University Social Collective (TUSC) groups. Among them, the body matched ALBO’s recommendation to approve the following: $14,500 to TUSC Concert Board for Spring Fling expenses including facilities cost increases, loss in ticket sales and additional water;

$16,000 to TUSC Entertainment Board for Spring Fling supplies including water, food, activities, lowering ticket costs and more buses; and $20,000 to TUSC Senior Class Council for a variety of Senior Week events including Senior Gala, Lucky Strike, Lawn on D and Last Night on the Hill.

Following the funding allocations, the body moved to hear reports and updates from various TCU Senate members.

TCU Vice President Adam Rapfogel, a senior, opened the floor to Trustee Representatives Connor Goggins and Noah Weinflash for an update from his

meeting with the board, the minutes indicate.

Goggins, a sophomore, met with the Administration and Finance Committee.

He shared that the administration believes that talks with dining workers are going well, that up to 400 beds have been added to campus from fiscal year 2017 to FY19 and that class size should stay the same as the Class of 2022 in upcoming years.

Weinflash, a senior, shared that he discussed community relations with members of the board, emphasizing that there have been more sexual assault reports in recent months as discussed during his meeting.

TCU Parliamentarian Sharif Hamidi, a sophomore, then introduced a new upcoming resolution to the body. The resolution is titled “A Resolution Calling on the Tufts University Board of Trustees to Prioritize the Construction of a High-Capacity Residence Hall,” authored by Rapfogel, TCU President Jacqueline Chen, Class of 2019 Senators Jonah O’Mara Schwartz and Shane Woolley, who is also a leader in Tufts Housing League.

Finally, TCU Diversity & Community Affairs Officer Grant Gebetsberger, a sophomore, ended the meeting by urging members of the body and the greater Tufts community to vote in the upcoming elections.

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Features

Wednesday, November 7, 2018

Coping with Disasters, Part 1: Students speak on their experiences, university response

by Justin Yu Staff Writer

Disasters are an unfortunate but all-too-common part of life. For those affected, the days, weeks or even months after the disaster can be trying times. For Tufts students on campus, it can be especially hard, given their inability to be with family.

According to Dean of Student Affairs Mary Pat McMahon, her office is the main branch of support for students affected by such incidents.

“A place like Tufts has students from all over the world, students from all over the country and connection points to almost every major event that happens,” McMahon said. “We’re the primary people that coordinate across different areas and try to provide support to individual students if something’s going on at home.”

When disaster strikes, the Office of the Dean of Student Affairs first sends out a message, signed by McMahon, to every student who may be affected. This message contains the sentiment that Tufts is thinking about them during the difficult time. It also provides several contacts for the student if they require further support.

McMahon said that the university understands the difficulty of coping with disasters and how disasters pose challenges to full-time students’ academic well-being. She said her office works closely with the Advising Deans to secure a nurturing academic environment for the affected students.

“Typically speaking, we coordinate with the Advising Deans,” McMahon said. “A very standard thing that we would do is let faculty know that the student might need some flexibility on deadlines … [and] papers.”

This initial contact is intended to reassure students of the university’s awareness of their situation.

“I think our main objective is to make sure, whenever possible, we help students feel like they’re seen as [they navigate] what’s happening at home while they’re here and supporting them on this side of the experience, as far as support for academic flexibility,” she said.

“Certainly, we refer people to counseling, we remind people about the [Counseling and Mental Health] Services and the [University Chaplaincy] service.”

McMahon said her focus after the initial contact is establishing a connection with the student.

“More than anything else, we just try to be humans and talk to people,” McMahon said. “And that means making people feel seen.”

When Hurricane Harvey hit the southern coast of Texas in late August last year, McMahon sent out 42 emails to incoming first-years who had home addresses in Texas.

“We wrote very specifically to firstyear students who were delayed for orientation,” McMahon said. “We reorganized orientation with them, provided make-up sessions for them and then made sure there was a person waiting [at Tufts] who knew that they were coming in after [being affected by the hurricane].”

This was the case for sophomore Saherish Surani from Corpus Christi,

ALEJANDRA MACAYA / THE TUFTS DAILY

Sophomore Saherish Surani, who is from Corpus Christi, Texas and faced delays in getting to campus for pre-orientation after Hurricane Harvey, poses for a portrait on Oct. 17.

Texas. With the threat of Hurricane Harvey looming, the city of Corpus Christi issued a mandatory evacuation.

However, Surani said that her family decided to stay behind with her father, who felt a responsibility to remain in the city as a doctor.

“My dad is a doctor at the hospital, so he had this moral obligation to stay with his patients because he does lots of critical care [work],” Surani said. “It was important to stay as a family.”

Once the decision was made, Surani said her family began to prepare for the storm by buying food and water, bringing out an emergency kit and electric stove, unplugging their appliances and boarding up all their windows.

When Hurricane Harvey hit, Surani, her sister and her mother took turns watching out for damage to their house.

While there was no structural damage, Surani said that her house did lose power for three days, while other households in Corpus Christi were without electricity for up to three weeks. Surani added that, with some cell service, her family was still able to communicate with her father, who was working at the hospital the night when Hurricane Harvey hit.

Surani said that while she felt safe in her house, the experience was nerve-wracking.

“The scariest part was the sounds of the wind, especially at night, hitting the wood that was boarded up,” she said.

The next morning, when the storm had passed, Surani and her family drove around the city to see the damage caused by the hurricane.

“It was eerily peaceful,” Surani said.

“I hated that feeling.”

An incoming first-year then, Surani had planned on participating in

the First-Year Orientation Community Service (FOCUS) pre-orientation program. She said, however, that her family decided to have her not participate in the program and instead move in during the regular move-in day on Aug. 30, due to the threat of Hurricane Harvey.

“I was … uncertain about moving in,” Surani said. “I remember they were like, ‘Parents can help move in from 9–1 p.m.’ … and I thought that if I moved in late my parents wouldn’t be able to help me, because I thought everything was so rigid.”

Surani said the email from McMahon helped alleviate much of her concerns.

“I think that helped ease some of the anxiety I was feeling at the time,” Surani said. “I think the university, especially the [Office of the Dean of Student Affairs], does a really good job of making sure that students’ needs are met, and also being that extra hand, to reach out even when we don’t reach out.”

Another disaster that affected a significant number of Tufts students was the gas explosions earlier this year in several Merrimack Valley towns in Massachusetts. McMahon said she sent out approximately 70 emails to students from Andover, North Andover and Lawrence who may have been affected by the explosions.

Gavin Smith, a junior from Andover, was one of the recipients of these emails. Smith found out about the gas explosions in class when he received a text from his mother saying that his family had to evacuate their house.

Smith said his house had lost access to gas but did not sustain any damage from fires or explosions.

“They say ‘don’t worry,’ but obviously you’re worried,” Smith said.

According to Smith, Columbia Gas, the main supplier of gas for the towns of Andover, North Andover and Lawrence, originally projected that gas would be restored by Nov. 19. However they recently pushed the deadline back to Dec. 16.

“Our gas stove, our gas dryer and our gas water heater were all condemned, so we don’t have those anymore, for now,” Smith said.

Smith said that his family was forced to take cold showers for weeks before they had an electric water heater installed. Smith said Columbia Gas covered expenses for the electric water heater, as well as other items such as an electric griddle, space heater and heated blankets. According to Smith, the gas supplier also offered to pay for some families to stay in a hotel.

Smith has returned home a couple times since the gas explosions and he noted the extraordinary number of construction workers he sees in his town.

“When there’s a construction project, there’s maybe five to 10 workers in the street. It’s like that but every street in the whole town,” he said. “It’s crazy. There must be hundreds and hundreds of workers all across town.”

Smith said he welcomed the email he received from McMahon.

“I appreciated the sentiment, absolutely,” he said. “There are definitely some people who lost their house, and having that support system [is really] nice.”

Editor’s note: This is the first part of a two-part story. Part 2 will be published in print, and the full story will be available online tomorrow.

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ARTS&LIVING

Wednesday, November 7, 2018

Zachary Hertz and Brady Shea Cheeses of Suburbia

MOVIE REVIEW

‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ is musical fun but muddles Dear Mozzarella, its material count me in

Z

achary Hertz (ZH): This week, we’re with senior and senior citizen Mary Carroll, whose most pop punk moment came when she tried to burn her Catholic school skirt after graduation.

Mary Carroll (MC): I’d like to reiterate my disappointment that Trader Joe’s did not have mozzarella sticks because I worship at the altar of Trader Joe’s frozen food, and today it let me down.

ZH: Luckily we’ve been saved by ordering from Mike’s Food & Spirits.

Brady Shea (BS): They’re so well-defined!

Impeccable shape, well-breaded and the stringiness is on point. If I gave the hotzerella sticks a 10, these are a 9.2/10.

ZH: They look and feel good, and they taste great: garlicky and juicy with perfectly soft cheese. I’m giving these 9.4. They’re everything I want from mozzarella sticks.

MC: That cheese pull, though. However, the sauce is a little watery. I also want to highlight the packaging of these sticks. It’s very charming. A on execution but I’m going to say 8.5 because they could’ve been hotter.

ZH: Sounds like these were an ‘All Time High’ for us. And now — All Time Low’s “So Wrong, It’s Right” (2007). This might be the only time I know something pop punk that Brady doesn’t: “Six Feet Under the Stars” is a sequel to an earlier song.

MC: What a title — whimsical, yet morbid.

BS: I love it. I constantly played the acoustic version from the deluxe version of the album in eighth grade.

MC: Yeah, if I heard this in the gym, I’d be super into it.

BS: “The Beach” is disgustingly pop punk.

They’re talking about how they don’t want the summer to end while hitting every stereotype.

ZH: Romanticizing the past while criticizing Them with a capital T, doing so while somehow yelling and singing at the same time, all over heavy guitar chords — yeah, that’s pop punk.

BS: It’s not just the song. All Time Low hits every stereotype about pop punk. They’re like “F*** my town, I’ll eat this pizza.”

MC: That’s my vibe — maybe I should listen to more pop punk.

BS: “Dear Maria, Count Me In” is on every Spotify pop punk playlist — it’s All Time Low’s “Sugar, We’re Goin Down.”

ZH: It makes sense. It has an ear worm melody, and the song’s harmonies are simple but so satisfying.

BS: Yeah, the way that Juliet Simms belts on “Remembering Sunday” gives me chills every time.

MC: This music makes me want to drive more so that I can yell sing it alone while driving in the dark.

ZH: I’m more of a shower singer, but I get that. Overall, this album is a lot of what I like from pop punk but it also stays very safe. I’ll give it a 7.5/10.

MC: I liked the album a lot. It’s so 2007, which I appreciate in any art form. I’ll give it a 8/10.

BS: I love the album, but it’s actually my second least-favorite All Time Low album: it’s a little too much and cringey at times. It’s a 7/10 for me.

Zachary Hertz is a senior studying political science. Zach can be reached at zachary. hertz@tufts.edu. Brady Shea is a senior studying computer science. Brady can be reached at Brady.Shea@tufts.edu.

by Christopher Panella Assistant Arts Editor

The stories of the British rock band, Queen, and the life of its lead singer, Freddie Mercury, are ones of personal identity, professional struggle and musical creativity. They are too many mountains of material for one film to climb, and “Bohemian Rhapsody” was destined for mediocrity when it decided to take on the challenge. Helmed by the insanely talented Rami Malek as the larger-thanlife Mercury, “Bohemian Rhapsody” misses the mark, as it is a good movie musical but crumbles under historical inaccuracies, a storytelling identity crisis and a sanitization of Mercury’s past.

The film begins with Mercury, birth name Farrokh Bulsara, discovering the local music scene and his own vocal talent. It flows through Queen’s history like a greatest hits album, following the band’s professional success and behind-the-scenes struggles to the paramount 1985 Live Aid benefit concert. The best of “Bohemian Rhapsody” is colorful, loud and outrageous, with hairstyles to match.

It is a fittingly colorful era for “Bohemian Rhapsody” to tell its story, and with scenes from live performances, recording studios and Mercury’s personal life, it has the tools to do it well. Yet, it does not. “Bohemian Rhapsody” simply glosses over the issues, gives a good song-and-dance and calls it a night.

Somewhere in its effort to dramatize Queen’s story, “Bohemian Rhapsody” loses itself. Specifically, the film gets some of its history confused, from its subtle smearing of Mercury’s decision to pursue a solo career (something drummer Roger Taylor did years before Mercury’s 1985 solo debut album, “Mr. Bad Guy”) to its inaccurate depiction of the band’s reunion and its out-of-touch approach to Mercury’s sexual identity and romantic life.

In the film, Mercury’s HIV diagnosis unifies the band ahead of its Live Aid performance. However, according to Mercury’s partner Jim Hutton, the singer did not know of his HIV diagnosis until April 1987.

Sure, there are scenes devoted to Mercury’s sex life and drug use, but not enough of them give audiences a comprehensive look into his life. It handles Mercury’s sexuality and identity struggles in a frivolous and dismissive way, almost shaming Mercury for his promiscuity. “Bohemian Rhapsody” seeks to focus on Mercury, but it does not delve into the icon deeply enough.

Despite this, Malek was indisputably born to play Mercury. He carries the film, inhabiting Mercury in a way that is raw and intentional. He breathes life into a figure that, now almost 27 years dead, might have felt hard to reach. It is for this reason, as well as the Live Aid sequence and its stellar costumes and setting, that “Bohemian Rhapsody” salvages some success.

VIA IMDB

A promotional poster for ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ is pictured.

This may be because of the developmental hell “Bohemian Rhapsody” found itself in. The film was originally announced with British comedian Sacha Baron Cohen attached as Mercury, later losing Cohen before considering a few replacements and finally settling on Malek. Director Bryan Singer was removed from the project in 2017 (though he still received directorial credit), forcing Dexter Fletcher to take over.

With all of this comes a possible muddling of visions. Cohen reportedly wanted to make the film far more outrageous by focusing on Mercury’s life of highs (parties, performances) and lows (loneliness) — something the surviving members of Queen did not support. One cannot help but think that this version of the film would have given Mercury his rightful cinematic ode.

Malek, however, makes the best of the situation he is in. Every performance, spe-

cifically the Live Aid sequence, is gorgeously shot, placing audiences in the front row, and with Malek on stage, they will want to watch him as closely as possible.

“Bohemian Rhapsody” presents an identity crisis. The film cannot decide if it is a Mercury film or a Queen film and ultimately does both unsuccessfully. Perhaps the stories of these subjects are simply too large to combine without losing too much from both. The film cannot showcase its material in its raw and unfiltered form, deciding to sanitize Mercury’s life and twist history for dramatic storytelling. It is saved by its focus on the music and Malek’s electric and undoubtedly award-worthy performance. “Bohemian Rhapsody” is made for the movie musical-loving audience, and it makes for a good movie musical. But that is not what it should have been.

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The untold story of the City of God: Gender, politics, and non-violence in Rio de Janeiro’s most dangerous favela Co-Sponsored by Latin American Studies, the Leir Institute for Human Rights, the Department of Sociology and the Tisch College of Civic Life

Wednesday, Nov. 7th from 6-8pm in Cabot 206 The Fletcher School The City of God may be known for its brutal drug wars, but this is not the full story.

Between 2014 and 2017, Dr. Anjuli Fahlberg conducted extensive fieldwork in the City of God documenting the ways in which local activists— mostly women—not only survived violence and poverty but constructed a counter-sphere of nonviolent political action to fight for their rights and their neighborhood. If activism can emerge even in the City of God, where else might it be possible?

Dr. Fahlberg is Full-Time Lecturer in the Department of Sociology at Tufts University and Co-Director of the research collaborative “Building Together."

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THE TUFTS DAILY | FUN & GAMES | Wednesday, November 7, 2018

F& G

tuftsdaily.com LATE NIGHT AT THE DAILY Daniel: “I hope my tummy explodes.”

FUN & GAMES

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CROSSWORD

Wednesday, November 7, 2018

Opinion OP-ED

A call for moral leadership and solidarity ‫ש ִּיִמ תַחַא ׁשֶפֶנ ד ֵּבַאְמַה ל ָּכ ד ֵּבַאְמַה ל ָּכ‬ ׂ ְ ‫לֵא ָר‬, ‫אֵלָמ םָלֹוע ד ֵּבִא ּוּלִא ְּכ בּות ָּכַה ויָלָע הֶלֲעַמ‬. ‫ש ִּיִמ תַחַא ׁשֶפֶנ ם ֵּיַקְמַה לָכ ְו‬ ְׂ ‫לֵא ָר‬, ‫אֵלָמ םָלֹוע ם ֵּיִק ּוּלִא ְּכ בּות ָּכַה ויָלָע הֶלֲעַמ‬

“To kill one person is as if the entire world has been killed. To save one life is as if an entire world is saved.”

— Mishna Sanhedrin 4:5 ָ‫ מ ֵל‬by Eitan Bloostein and Talia Inbar On Oct. 27, 11 people who were praying in the Tree of Life synagogue on Shabbat morning were murdered in the deadliest attack against Jews in American history. We are writing as students who have served on the Tufts Hillel Executive Board and who believe that we, as Jews, need to think about how we mourn within Jewish institutional frameworks. To us, it is clear that our mourning must include a political analysis of the environment in which this event took place.

The grief we have felt from this tragedy awakens us to the reality that while white Ashkenazi American Jews have been assimilated into definitions of “whiteness” and have therefore benefitted from the white supremacist movement, that privilege does not guarantee our safety within a system that still upholds antisemitic rhetoric and physical violence.

The tragedy at the Tree of Life synagogue was a political event and happened in the context of a political environment that encourages violence. Trump’s violent rhetoric empowered a white nationalist to murder Jews during prayer. The lack of action to enact policy combating gun violence is a political and moral failure. Jews are not safe in this country. In the past week, seven Jewish schools and synagogues in Brooklyn were set on fire. Of course, Jews are not the only people facing violence. It is unsurprising and deeply disturbing that on the day of the Tree of Life shooting, a white man murdered

two black people at a Kroger grocery store in Jeffersontown, Ky. Students are not even safe on our own campus. On the night of Oct. 31, four days after the shooting, white supremacists placed signs around Tufts that said “It’s okay to be white.” In the face of this violence, we need bold leadership.

We have been disappointed by the failure of Jewish students and formal leaders of Jewish institutions at Tufts and in our country to say that this antisemitic act is tied to institutional white supremacy that is dangerous not only to Jews. Leaders have refused to raise a unified voice naming Trump as an instigator of violence. To ensure the safety of Jews, institutional Jewish spaces must name and condemn with audacity all acts of white supremacy. We must understand that white supremacy is slippery and interconnected, manifesting itself differently against different marginalized groups. In our grieving, we have been touched by the many acts of solidarity from other faith communities. We ask our Jewish community: Are we ready to stand in solidarity with other marginalized groups in their times of need?

Anti-Jewish oppression is never the fault of Jews, but the silence of Jewish leaders plays into a cycle of antisemitism in which Jews, searching for security, make themselves close to those in power. Jews, later scapegoated by the powerful, fall victim and once again search for security. When our Jewish leaders are silent about the politics contributing to violence, they fail to protect us. We have also seen Jewish com-

munity leaders and organizations, such as the Campaign Against Antisemitism that coined #TogetherAgainstAntisemitism and its associated popular Facebook photo frame, act quickly to conflate criticism of Israel with antisemitism to bolster their blind support for Israel. This shallow frame of antisemitism hurts Jews by preventing us from developing a deep understanding of the real threat of antisemitic violence and rhetoric.

We believe that our Jewish institutions must change to better protect the people whom they represent. For us, it is clear that last week’s massacre must serve as a wake-up call to the active antisemitism in our country and that it is inherently linked to white supremacy. We don’t want to see this situation de-politicized because to be silent is a political statement. Protecting ourselves from further violence requires Jews to de-isolate ourselves and act in solidarity with other marginalized groups as they heal from the traumas inflicted on their own communities. The Jewish tradition teaches that one life is worth the entire world. Our Jewish institutions must recognize that we live in a world that is dangerous for Jews and uphold our moral imperative to build a community that protects life.

Eitan Bloostein is a first-year who can be reached at Eitan.Bloostein@tufts.edu.

Talia Inbar is a senior who can be reached at Talia.Inbar@tufts.edu.

CARTOON

BY RUIJINGYA TANG The Tufts Daily is a nonprofit, independent newspaper, published Monday through Friday during the academic year, and distributed free to the Tufts community.

The content of letters, advertisements, signed columns, cartoons and graphics does not necessarily reflect the opinion of The Tufts Daily editorial board.

EDITORIALS Editorials represent the position of The Tufts Daily. Individual editors are not necessarily responsible for, or in agreement with, the policies and editorials of The Tufts Daily.

OP-EDS The Op-Ed section of The Tufts Daily, an open forum for campus editorial commentary, is printed Monday through Thursday. The Daily welcomes submissions from all members of the Tufts community; the opinions expressed in the Op-Ed section do not necessarily represent the opinions of the Daily itself.

Opinion articles on campus, national and international issues should be 600 to 1,200 words in length and submitted to opinion@tuftsdaily.com. The editors reserve the right to edit letters for clarity, space and length. All material is subject to editorial discretion and is not guaranteed to appear in the Daily. Authors must submit their telephone numbers and day-of availability for editing questions.

ADVERTISING All advertising copy is subject to the approval of the Editor-in-Chief, Executive Board and Executive Business Director.

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Nesi Altaras Takeaways

I

Disarm Tufts

n defense of the new protest policy that tries to muffle student activism by creating obstacles like prior registration, Director of Community Standards Kevin Kraft said that the policy was created for “safety concerns” and that it would “assist the university in coordinating police presence on campus.” But is it desirable to have police at student protests?

Let us be frank: The presence of TUPD does not make us safer. I am not comforted to see TUPD show up, above all because they are armed. I am scared that people walk around this campus with guns. I say this as a student with white skin from Turkey. How does Mr. Kraft think black and brown students feel when police officers arrive to take care of “safety concerns”?

I grew up in a society where carrying and displaying weapons designed and used for killing is not as normalized or common as it is in some parts of the United States, so I am afraid to see guns on my campus. I shudder seeing guns on TUPD belts on my way to class. It is a scary thought that TUPD passes me on the street with the capability of killing a student if they are suspicious. And of course, it is scarier for people whose communities are often targeted by police.

It is an indisputable fact that bringing in weapons designed for murder to any situation worsens outcomes; it does not improve them. The ‘good guy with a gun’ argument promoted by the National Rifle Association, and other arguments that claim that arming people will resolve a situation, are wrong.

Guns often do what they were made to do: kill. They escalate situations.

Unfortunately, it is all too easy to imagine the scene from the Netflix show “Dear White People” (2017–) happen at Tufts where a party is being shut down and in the commotion a police officer escalates the situation by pointing a gun at a black student. Guns do not resolve conflict. They end conflict through killing or maiming or by displaying the threat of these. Bullets are final, and people make mistakes. We are fallible. We are especially prone to mistakes because we have biases. Like all people, police have biases too. But unlike all people on this campus, they carry tools of murder on this campus.

Police in various places, including the United Kingdom, have demonstrated over decades that community policing does not require firearms. The same level of safety, if that is actually what is desired, can be achieved through non-lethal means like various sprays or tasers, which can inflict as much pain on a person to get them to stop whatever undesirable action they are engaged in without ending their life.

If Tufts really cares about the safety of its students, it should stop putting up obstacles to student activists for their support of dining workers’ unionization and instead seriously reconsider its position on having guns on our campus. This is an issue beyond the protest policy: It concerns the everyday safety of all students.

Do we really want to live in a community where guns are ever-present? I know I don’t, and I suspect many Tufts students will agree.

Nesi Altaras is a senior studying international relations and economics. Nesi can be reached at nesi.altaras@tufts.edu.

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THE TUFTS DAILY | Sports | Wednesday, November 7, 2018

tuftsdaily.com

Tufts falls in NESCAC title game, secures NCAA berth FIELD HOCKEY

continued from back ner in the sixth minute: from Salamone, to Hamilton, to Schoeni and finally to Tutoni for the early score. The teams traded chances for the rest of the half, but only Tutoni’s shot found the back of the net, giving the Jumbos a 1–0 halftime lead.

The Jumbos’ momentum continued in the latter period, as their defense

held the Ephs without a shot over the final 35 minutes. For good measure, Tutoni scored her 12th goal of the season off of another penalty corner, putting her fifth in NESCAC goal-scoring this year. She now sits a single goal behind fifth place all-time in program history.

“This whole week, we focused on Williams and how to beat their press, and how to

execute our corners and beat their corner defense,” Tutoni said. “We really brought everything we learned and talked about that week into the game, and it really worked.”

Another penalty corner later in the half found the stick of first-year midfielder Gillian Roeca, who gave the Jumbos their third goal of the game.

The rest of the match proceeded with a few more attacks from Tufts, including

a missed penalty shot by Hamilton, but the team could not pad its lead, instead wrapping up a 3–0 win.

Despite not winning the conference tournament, the Jumbos’ 16–2 campaign was enough to earn an at-large bid, and a first-round bye, in the NCAA Tournament.

On Saturday, Tufts will face the winner of Wednesday’s matchup between Montclair State and Smith College in Salisbury, Md.

Softball coach steps down after 15 years in charge, three national titles

by Yuan Jun Chee

Executive Sports Editor

Tufts softball coach Cheryl Milligan has decided to step down from her position after 15 years at the helm of the program.

Milligan said her decision to leave her post was not an easy one and was made based on the interest of her fiveyear-old son, Henry. Milligan’s husband, Jamie Pinzino, is the pitching coach at Army.

“I have been at Tufts since 2003, and my husband has been in Rhode Island, in Eastern Virginia, in Oklahoma, in Western Virginia and now at West Point. We’ve been commuting back and forth in this scenario for about five years since my son was born,” Milligan said. “He’s a little bit more aware of time and place, so I think last year we just told him that we were going on vacation and we moved to Massachusetts for four months. So he’s just a little bit more involved socially at school. It’s just hard having him in two schools, and he deserves a little bit of stability too … In choosing between that and being in two places and two different schools and life being a little too hectic, it was time really to put Henry first.”

Senior infielder Christian Cain recalled the moment when Milligan broke the news to the Jumbos.

“She sat us down in the film room, and I didn’t expect any of this. She told us that she has a son, Henry, who is five years old, and he’s been having to move back and forth … so it’s been really difficult for him,” Cain said. “She made the decision around him. She’s been putting softball as her first priority for a while, and now it was time for Henry to be that priority. Everyone understood that was the right choice.

Everyone was sad but very understanding that her intentions behind the decision were really pure.”

The Jumbos saw much success during Milligan’s tenure, including a perfect 51–0 record in 2015. Milligan led the program to five NCAA title games, winning three in a row from 2013 to 2015 — the first team to ever accomplish such a feat. Milligan and

COURTESY PAUL SWEENEY

Retiring softball coach Cheryl Milligan poses for a portrait. her staff were awarded the National Coaching Staff of the Year in all three of those years.

Instead of highlighting her teams’ on-field accomplishments, Milligan pointed to the intangibles that have come with coaching the program for 15 years.

“Obviously, we’ve got a bunch of wins under our belt. That’s great and

all, but I think what’s most important to me, though, is just the family that we’ve been able to create and maintain,” she said. “I just think that we managed to do what we set out to do — we’ve managed to take a bunch of really smart kids that nobody thought could ever win a national championship and [we won] a national championship and, at the same time, [main-

tained] the academic excellence that is expected of a Tufts student-athlete.”

Milligan also spoke of the coaches and student-athletes she will miss.

“We’ve had some tremendous lifelong friends in the athletics department amongst my peers, certainly [volleyball] coach [Cora] Thompson and [baseball] coach [ John] Casey, other people who have been at my wedding, at my son’s christening — these are people that are part of our family for a long, long time,” Milligan said. “I’ll miss our student-athletes the most.”

Cain spoke to the legacy that Milligan will leave behind in the Tufts softball program.

“Our program is a winning program.

We don’t settle for not being great, and I think she’s embedded that into our culture and that’s never going to change,” Cain said. “She set our tone and she set the culture, telling us to always have each other’s back.”

Temporarily succeeding Milligan will be associate head coach Lauren Ebstein. Ebstein graduated from Tufts in 2007, having played for Milligan as a pitcher during her four years on the Hill. She has been on Milligan’s staff in two separate spells, first as an assistant for two seasons and then returning to the same role in 2013.

Milligan joked that with the quality of the team that is returning this season, the Jumbos should perform at their typical high standards. Ultimately, she wished the team all the best going forward.

“Coach Ebstein has been at my side for quite some time now, and, obviously, I wish her the very best and hope that she will continue to take the program to new heights,” Milligan said.

“It’s nice for the kids to have the stability going forward that they don’t have to wonder for a month, a month and a half while we do a search in terms of what’s going to happen [and] what their new coach is going to be like.

For our athletes, it is a very big part of their lives and their Tufts experience, so it’s nice for them to have that pretty smooth transition. I will miss them dearly and I know that coach [Ebstein] is going to give 100 percent into making the team great.”

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Sports

Wednesday, November 7, 2018 | Sports | THE TUFTS DAILY

Jumbos prepare for postseason play

by Tufts Daily Sports Staff Men’s Soccer A stellar undefeated season granted the No. 2 Jumbos a first-round bye in the NCAA Div. III Tournament. The team will begin its campaign for its third NCAA title in five years on Sunday when it faces off against the winner of Saturday’s matchup between Stevens Institute of Technology (17–2–1) and Gordon College (12–6–1).

Tufts’ 13–0–3 overall record earned them the No. 1 seed in the NESCAC and a No. 1 regional rank, but the team lost in the NESCAC quarterfinal on penalty kicks to the eventual NESCAC winner, Colby College.

Tufts has relied on its strong defense, allowing only nine goals throughout the entire season. Meanwhile, the Jumbos’ offense is the most dangerous it’s been since 2014, averaging 2.06 goals per game. It is led by junior forward Joe Braun, who led the NESCAC this season with eight goals.

“We’re thrilled to get a bye,” coach Josh Shapiro said. “We were rewarded for our success in the season but also the strength of our schedule … We are certainly excited but at the same time we can’t wait to get playing — two weeks off between games feels like a long time and we want to get back out there and compete together.”

Despite their lower seeds, both of the Jumbos’ potential opponents will carry momentum from postseason success in their conferences — Stevens won the Empire 8 Athletic Conference while Gordon won the Commonwealth Coast Conference. Stevens ended the season as the 22nd-ranked team in the country.

Tufts will host the Stevens–Gordon winner on Sunday at 1 p.m. on Bello Field.

Field Hockey Despite not winning the NESCAC, the Jumbos’ 16–2 campaign was enough to earn an at-large bid into the NCAA tournament as well as a first-round bye. Tufts will await the results of Montclair State University and Smith College tonight — the winner takes on the Brown and Blue in Salisbury, Md. on Saturday.

“I think the bracket is really balanced this year,” coach Tina Mattera said. “There are a lot of tough teams at every site. I just really love getting out and playing new teams — teams we wouldn’t normally get to see. I’m excited.”

The other bye in the Jumbos’ region belongs to Salisbury University, the host of the region’s semifinal and final, who will take on the winner of Washington & Jefferson College and Rhodes College. The winners of both semifinal matches will meet on Sunday, with the eventual victor heading to Manheim, Pa. for the Final Four.

The Jumbos will rely on senior forward and co-captain Gigi Tutoni, who has a team-high 12 goals, to lead the line. The team would also be looking to contributions from the rest of its offensive leaders, such as junior forward Rachel Hamilton, first-year midfielder Claire Foley, senior forward Hanaa Malik and sophomore midfielder Beth Krikorian.

There won’t be too many familiar faces in the bracket for Tufts, as it was the only NESCAC team to secure an at-large bid, leaving itself and NESCAC champion Middlebury as the only representatives of the conference in the tournament. Middlebury also happens to be the only team in the field that Tufts played during the regular season. The Panthers are on the other side of the bracket, meaning a matchup between the two would only occur in the title game.

Part 2 of the Jumbos’ season will kick off at 2 p.m. on Saturday.

Jeremy Goldstein The Anti-Bostonian

Women’s Soccer Tufts women’s soccer (10–5–2) kicks off its NCAA title bid on Saturday at 1:30 p.m. against Penn State Behrend at William Smith College in Geneva, N.Y. Tufts secured its second consecutive NCAA at-large bid after reaching the NESCAC Tournament for the seventh straight year, before bowing out in the semifinals to defending national champion Williams in a closely contested 3–2 loss.

The Jumbos started its season off with a 5–0 start. Though the team’s results soon cooled, the attacking duo of sophomore forwards Liz Reed and Sophie Lloyd struck fear in NESCAC opponents all season long. Reed finished as NESCAC’s assist leader with seven, and Lloyd finished as NESCAC’s third-best goalscorer with 10 goals and second-best point-scorer with 25. Reed was not far behind with eight goals. The two will look to continue their form into the tournament.

Senior goalkeeper Emily Bowers, meanwhile, secured the program’s career shutout record this season. Bowers secured her 25th shutouts by keeping a clean sheet against Trinity on Oct. 14, breaking Randee McArdle’s 1997-2000 career record of 24. Bowers has since extended her record with a 2–0 blanking of Wesleyan.

Coach Martha Whiting spoke to how the team has to prepare for a team it has never played.

“We’ve never played [Penn State Behrend] and we’ve never played someone who’s played them,” Whiting said. “We’ll have scouting reports by Friday. We’re getting a lot of touches on the ball and are trying to stay sharp and focused but also preserving bodies. It’s a delicate balance.”

Tufts faces a Penn State Behrend team (13–6) that is seeking its ninth win in a row. It is the Lions’ eighth consecutive appearance in the NCAA Tournament, but the team is still searching for its first tournament win.

Sophomore class paints bright future for men's club water polo

CWPA-CLUB VIA TWITTER

Tufts’ men’s club water polo team, which finished as the runner-up at the College Water Polo Association Club National Championship, poses with its trophy on Oct. 20.

WATER POLO

continued from back school, filled the shoes of former goalkeeper Hans Tercek (E ’18).

“I didn’t really want to [play goalie] in the beginning — I enjoyed not playing it last year,” Visani said. “But I got back into a groove and decided, ‘Yeah, I know what I’m doing, I enjoy it.’ People were saying [I am] good at it. If people like what you do, then you just keep doing it.”

Visani shined bright in the final against Washington University, stop-

ping three of five penalty shots, which are usually converted at an 80 percent rate. While frustrated to fall to the same team for the second straight year, Visani has thoroughly enjoyed his experience on the club water polo team.

“I’m loving it. I love the group of people,” Visani said. “We get so loud, so excited. We have a lacrosse player [and] a football player who used to swim. It’s a random group. Every time we go to a tournament, we go in with the mentality of ‘Let’s win this but have

11

fun doing it.’ When we have fun, we play well.”

Massik echoed Visani’s passion for the team, reflecting on his three-plus years in the sport.

“It’s pretty awesome to start a new sport and quickly, within a couple of years, become super invested in a team that’s trying to win a … national championship,” Massik said. “We have a group that’s really excited to play. Seeing people with that same enthusiasm is really cool and bodes well for the future.”

The case for a taste of humble pie

I

t’s an odd sensation, sitting quietly in a room full of animated and passionate friends and wanting them to walk away with their hearts broken. It’s even odder when it’s the 12th inning. Odder still is during the 15th.

Unquantifiable is the 18th.

Ignoring the shenanigans from last week’s ignominious charade on the back cover of last week’s Halloween issue, I do feel at least some sense of glee in seeing my classmates’ and teammates’ recent upturn in mood. In case you missed it, the Boston Red Sox are World Series champions, and along the way they somehow simultaneously managed to blow out and scrape by the New York Yankees. And after that, I wanted nothing more than for them to be humiliated, absolutely put into their duckin-boatin’ places. This would prove to be a dish best served cold. In college dorm terms, that’s yet-to-be-microwaved frozen mac and cheese. Icy indeed.

Before my heart would turn to frozen mac and cheese, I certainly embraced the villain role to the best of my abilities. From the depths of my wardrobe, I unearthed a Yasiel Puig T-shirt back from the eccentric outfielder’s 2013 breakout rookie year; it most certainly is a youth extra-large for the purpose of saving a couple dollars.

Aside from Puig, I defended the shenanigans and free-swinging antics of infielder Manny Machado, my own former AL East foe (and hopefully not future Yankee).

Heck, I even rooted against Brock Holt, pretty much the Texas equivalent of Matt Damon. And Matt Damon, you know, transcends borders.

So what did I get wrong? A laundry list, including one prominent Red Sox. David Price, whose postseason reputation has typically plummeted from ‘sale’ to ‘firesale,’ suddenly raised the ‘price’ of his name, becoming the best lefty in the World Series and the greatest southpaw since Sandy Koufax. In an unpredictable development, Nathan Eovaldi pitched out of the bullpen and holy, holy, how pitchers change when they only need to throw two pitches consistently instead of three — a trend for bullpenners vs. starters. He’s pitched himself to a contract that may ‘price’ him out of Beantown, ironically because David Price will likely opt into the remaining four years, $997 million left on his contract (it’s actually $127 million).

Totally tangential sidenote: Boston is called Beantown because of beans. I always assumed this was some urban legend and just assumed there’s no way it’s actually a bean thing, but the handy-dandy search engine known as Bing — just kidding, I use Google — claims that 17th-century sailors were referring to Boston’s baked beans, so good they gave the whole town a nickname.

At the end of the day, any nickname beats “Titletown.” Instead of humble pie, I’ll take my baked beans. Supposedly they’re pretty good. But hey, at least I still withhold my unpopular opinion of Manhattan clam chowder over the New England iteration. Give us the World Series of Chowder instead!

Jeremy Goldstein is an assistant sports editor on the Daily. He is a sophomore studying political science and film and media studies. Jeremy can be reached at Jeremy.Goldstein@tufts.edu.

12 tuftsdaily.com

Sports

Wednesday, November 7, 2018

Field hockey falls to Middlebury in conference title game

by Ryan Eggers Sports Editor

After a resounding 3–0 victory over Williams on Saturday, Tufts had just one team in the way of a NESCAC title: Middlebury. The Panthers handed the Jumbos their only loss of the season, 2–1, earlier in the year in a tight overtime affair.

Tufts failed to flip the script on Sunday, falling in the conference championship game, 1–0.

The teams were locked in a steady, defensive battle all afternoon, registering just nine shots each. The Jumbos edged out the Panthers in penalty corners, with a 10–4 advantage.

Four of those penalty corners came in the first 15 minutes, but to no avail. The Jumbos generated some good looks, but shots from the likes of junior forward Rachel Hamilton, first-year midfielder Sophie Scheoeni and senior forward and co-captain Gigi Tutoni were stopped by either Middlebury’s back line or goalkeeper.

“Middlebury’s defense is really tough,” coach Tina Mattera said. “Things weren’t bouncing our way, and I felt like we didn’t have the right attitude. I know we wanted that goal, but we weren’t able to show that.”

The rest of the half was dominated

by Middlebury, as Tufts failed to register another shot after its initial run of penalty corners. The Panthers, meanwhile, continued to attack, and flipped the game on its head with a penalty corner in the 31st minute. A behind-the-back pass from Middlebury junior midfielder Marissa Baker met the stick of junior midfielder Emma Johns, who had a clear path to the goal. Johns’ shot rifled past first-year goalkeeper Andie Stallman, giving the Panthers a 1–0 advantage at the half.

BEN KIM / THE TUFTS DAILY

Senior forward and co-captain Gigi Tutoni battles for possession in Tufts’ 4–2 win over Bates at Ounjian Field on Sept. 15.

Tufts’ offensive woes continued into the second half, with a single failed penalty corner to show for the first 24 minutes of action. The Jumbos’ most promising chance to equalize came in the 60th minute, when Hamilton and Schoeni got off a pair of shots, but both were blocked. The Jumbos had a handful of penalty corners in the final 10 minutes, but the Panthers wouldn’t budge and secured their sixth NESCAC title.

Despite the loss, Tufts’ has a strong final record of 16–2 heading into the NCAA Tournament, with both losses coming against Middlebury on the road.

“It was a really quick transition [from Saturday’s to semifinal to Sunday’s final],” Tutoni said. “I don’t think we had enough time to mentally prepare and switch gears, which is where we went wrong. So next week, if we win that first game [in the NCAA Tournament], we need to make a quick 180 and figure out what we need to do differently the next game.”

On Saturday, Tufts took on Williams in the NESCAC semifinals. The Jumbos got the best of the Ephs in the teams’ previous matchup, winning 2–0. After its 4–2 win over Middlebury late in the season, however, Williams had reason to be confident heading into the matchup with Tufts.

The Jumbos were unfazed by a two-hour rain delay, perfectly executing a penalty corsee FIELD HOCKEY, page 10

Men’s club water polo repeats runner-up finish at Nationals

by Arlo Moore-Bloom Sports Editor

For the second time in as many years, Tufts’ men’s club water polo team finished second at Div. III club nationals.

This year’s tournament was hosted by Wesleyan in Middletown, Conn. on Oct. 27–28. Tufts, which entered the tournament tied for second in the Div. III rankings, soundly defeated defeated No. 9 Grinnell College, 16–7, and No. 5 Bates, 13–9, on Saturday before falling to No. 1 Washington University in St. Louis, which won its fifth consecutive and sixth overall title, 10–6 on Sunday.

As the only Div. III team in its conference, the New England Division, Tufts automatically qualified as the sixth seed for the eight-team national tournament.

Before joining the New England Division last year, the team regularly finished in the top five at the national tournament, even winning it in 2009.

Last year, the team reached the final but lost 17–7 to Washington University in its inaugural season in the New England Division. This year, the team finished fifth overall in the final conference standings, picking up six wins and six defeats, beating teams like Yale and the UConn. Stacked with strong Div. I teams like BC, BU and Dartmouth, the new league immediately reaped benefits for Tufts.

“We left a really weak league a couple years ago with a bunch of Div. III

teams that honestly should be in innertubes,” senior co-captain Ross Wood said. “Playing better teams prepared us so much better against the Div. III teams we play at Nationals. Div. I teams have 12 guys from California who have played since middle school … If we can compete with that, we can definitely beat weaker Div. III teams.”

To underscore the relative weakness of Tufts’ old conference, the North Atlantic Division, its semifinal opponent and former conference foe, Bates, has racked up a 22–0 record in conference play over the last two years. However, Tufts has struggled to find a consistent level of competition between its former and current divisions.

“We pretty much know every game whether we’re going to win or lose,” senior co-captain Gabe Haddad said.

“We haven’t had a close game all year, really. We either get blown out or dominate our opponents.”

Washington University represented one of those blowout results. According to the Collegiate Water Polo Association, it is the only team to have won four consecutive men’s national championships at either the Div. III or National Collegiate Club level. Senior co-captain Abe Massik felt that Tufts was simply outplayed.

“We definitely tried to win it and keep our hopes up, but I don’t think [Washington University] was ever worried,” Massik said. “They had more play-

ers at a higher level than us. At the top end, we were balanced, but they were very consistent towards the end of their lineup.”

Plus, Washington University had coaches. According to Haddad, Tufts is the only self-coached team in its conference and was the only competitive team at Nationals without an adult calling the shots. In a touch of class by the tournament’s organizers, Tufts’ trio of co-captains was awarded “Coach of the Tournament.”

Wood, Massik and Haddad have the sole responsibility of teaching the team’s 28 members, many of whom join with no water polo experience, the ins and outs of the game. The team’s new members range from first-years to juniors.

Wood explained that for an aquatic sport like water polo, skills from other sports are not easily transferable — unlike rugby teams, which are populated by former football and lacrosse players.

“Our new players start at such a base level,” Wood said. “Literally, ‘this is how you keep your head above the water.’”

While the new players’ lack of experience can be frustrating, Wood loves seeing their development over the course of the season.

“The growth you see in a season is unreal,” Wood said. “People who couldn’t do the ‘eggbeater’ [treading technique] scored their first goals yesterday. It’s such a grueling sport because we work

so hard during practice, so it’s really nice to see it all come together.”

Water polo’s steep learning curve leads the team to practice for two hours a night, five times a week. Tufts’ practices are indicative of the sport’s physicality and grueling nature. According to Wood, the team swims about 2,000 yards — just over a mile — before continuing to other workouts and drills at every practice. Wood also highlighted “jug time,” in which players tread water while holding a five-gallon jug of water upside down over their head while all the water slowly streams out.

Before matches, referees check the players’ fingernails and toenails to ensure there is not excessive scratching under the water’s surface.

The team has bought into the practice schedule this year more than it has the past, helping to contribute to the team’s success.

“The attitude in the past was pretty lazy,” Massik said. “This year, everyone was working in the summer and excited to get back into the pool. We got really lucky with the [first-years] who came in last year. They all love water polo and are learning a lot very fast.”

Enter sophomore Gian Marco Visani, the Faenza, Italy native who stepped up to play goalkeeper this season. Visani, who played water polo throughout high see WATER POLO, page 11