The Tufts Daily - Friday, October 27, 2017

Mathematics professors help bridge STEM, social sciences see FEATURES / PAGE 3

TUFTS FOOTBALL

Jumbos set sights on second win against Mammoths

Jazz artist Terence Blanchard looks to effect change with compositions see WEEKENDER / PAGE 5

SEE SPORTS / BACK PAGE

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VOLUME LXXIV, ISSUE 35

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Friday, October 27, 2017

MEDFORD/SOMERVILLE, MASS.

ResLife proposes new changes to housing lottery

by Melissa Kain News Editor

Changes to the Tufts housing lottery system were proposed at the Oct. 15 Tufts Community Union (TCU) Senate meeting by Matt Austin, associate director for housing operations in the Office of Residential Life and Learning (ResLife).

Austin, who started in his position in April, said that he was hoping to present a menu of options for change, based on the student population and system capabilities. ResLife plans on announcing the official changes to the lottery system in the next few weeks.

Austin’s biggest priority is shortening the housing lottery process.

“Length of time was one of [the student complaints], because there’s a lot of uncertainty about what the options were going to be at the end of the lottery and then if you didn’t receive housing … and there isn’t anything left or available, [you] wouldn’t know that for sure until mid-March,”Austin said. “That’s really tough when you then need to go and look for off-campus housing based on that.”

Austin added that Tufts’ peer institutions have much shorter housing lotteries. The current Tufts lottery system takes about two and a half months to complete, and based on peer institutions and student feedback, Austin hopes to shorten that timeframe.

“The process of actually selecting rooms and choosing who your roommates are and all that stuff would stay generally the same, just on a quicker timeline. Instead of a week to find your roommates and select a room in Haskell, for instance … that would all happen in a day or two,”Austin said. “The system can certainly handle a whole lot more than we are doing.”

Austin also mentioned the possibility of changing how the lottery numbers themselves worked. Students would have to apply for housing to activate or receive a lottery number. This would ensure that good lottery numbers are not wasted on students already planning to live off campus.

Additionally, instead of averaging numbers among roommates or suitemates, the highest number would represent the entire group. Austin said the current system of averaging lottery numbers will continue for this academic year, however, and it still has not been determined whether his proposal will be implemented in the future.

Austin has been speaking with housing database specialists to discuss changes in the timeline and other schools that have a similar process to Tufts.

“I’m trying to work with our software folks to say ‘Alright, what’s possible and … what’s going to make sense for our students?’ That’s really my number one priority,” Austin said.

“I want to make sure it makes sense for Tufts.”

Jamie Neikrie, a senior who serves as the chair of the Administration and Policy Committee on TCU Senate, said that Tufts students get off-campus housing very early, to their own disadvantage.

“By [getting off-campus housing] in September or October, we’re just allowing the landlords to jack up the price on us,” he said.

By changing the Tufts housing lottery timing, students will have a better idea of what their on-campus options are before looking for off-campus housing, Neikrie said. Neikrie thinks that the new housing system could shift the off-campus housing process to start a bit later for students, putting Tufts students in the real estate market with non-Tufts students and young professionals, who tend to look for housing closer to December or January. He said that, if Tufts students are part of this larger market, landlords will be less able to rent students homes at unreasonable rates.

Benya Kraus, TCU Senate president, said that the shortened timeframe will be positive because it will prevent extended stress for students going through the housing lottery process.

Kraus, a senior, also echoed Neikrie’s concerns about the off-campus housing system, saying that some rising juniors sign leases as early as September.

COURTESY MATTHEW AUSTIN

Associate Director of Housing Operations Matt Austin is creating a plan to change the lottery system, cutting down on the lenth of the process.

“That is such an artificial, really exploitative system and landlords are taking advantage of that,” she said. “Under this new system, you would find out if you have a lottery number that would be good enough to enter the lottery system and live on campus in the fall semester.”

Financial Aid Student Advisory Board set to convene, continue dialogue on transparency

by Arin Kerstein News Editor

The Financial Aid Student Advisory Board (FASAB) met yesterday for the first time this academic year to provide feedback and input to the financial aid office on its communication and outreach efforts. The board was reinstated in January 2017; it had existed in the past and disbanded over five years ago, according to Director of Financial Aid Patricia Reilly.

According to Reilly, the decision to reinstate the board was partially attributed to a student push for transparency in the financial aid office from Tufts Student Action’s #HaltTheHike campaign in November 2016, along with discussions with Tufts Community Union (TCU) Senators.

“We had two groups both talking about transparency in services so it seemed like a good time to beef that up,” Reilly said.

“We decided [to] talk to the students to

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find out … what isn’t working and could be better.”

Assistant Director of Financial Aid Wenimo Poweigha oversees the FASAB, which is composed of students who have volunteered to serve on the board following a public call for participants. He explained that the board meets monthly, in addition to providing feedback as requested on specific communication efforts by the financial aid office.

Poweigha noted the positive impacts of last semester’s board, such as improvements to the financial aid website’s informational resources, the ability to schedule meetings online, communication efforts with incoming first-years on issues related to financial aid and input on development of new campus programming. An orientation session focused on financial aid was also held for the first time this fall.

The office plans to continue to build resources for students based on this feedback by building additional frequently

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asked questions pages, the first of which was created based on feedback from the board, specifically for topics such as studyabroad programs and off-campus housing, Poweigha said.

Reilly explained that feedback from the board allowed the office to better organize information in a way that corresponded with student perspectives.

“A lot of what this is is information that was out there but was just not easy to find and so a lot of this is not creating new information, but pulling it together and organizing it in ways that makes more sense, and that’s where having student input is really valuable because they’re the ones looking at it,” she said.

While the office does not consult with the board about all projects, the board’s input continues to have indirect influence on other areas concerning financial aid, Reilly said. She explained that the FASAB’s input has also increased collaboration with the Office for Student Success and

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Advising, the First-Generation Student Council and TCU Senate to contribute to a more holistic conversation on financial aid issues at Tufts.

Poweigha said that the group’s influence has extended to the production of new informational packets to be mailed out to accepted students in the spring regarding financial aid, which have traditionally been text-heavy and impersonal.

“It informed the way that we’re writing this update, to … get into the mind of ‘what is a student coming in looking for, what do they need, what’s the most important information’ and organizing it that way,” he said.

Parker Breza, a junior who served on the board in the spring, agreed that the changes spurred by the board’s discussions are important, but feels that they are insufficient. Breza said he will not continue to serve on this board because he wants to

NEWS............................................1 FEATURES.................................3 WEEKENDER..........................5

see FASAB, page 2

COMICS.......................................6 SPORTS............................ BACK

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THE TUFTS DAILY | News | Friday, October 27, 2017

THE TUFTS DAILY Gil Jacobson Editor-in-Chief

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Students on FASAB give mixed reviews on board's roles to make change FASAB

continued from page 1 devote his time to causes outside of the scope of the board.

“The change is happening on too long of a timeline and it’s happening on too small of a scale,” he said. “From my time on the board, the sense that I got was that there were a massive amount of problems that students with financial aid were facing that the financial aid office was acutely unaware of, [such as] why students found the office unapproachable and unhelpful in the first place.”

While he stressed the importance of student feedback on the office’s communication efforts, he expressed a desire for the university to prioritize other issues, such as changing the way that full need is calculated and defined, along with increased outreach and aid opportunities for low-income and high-need students.

Reilly noted that such issues are outside the scope of the board, because they mostly relate to changes within the breakdown of the university budget.

“The role of FASAB is to work with the aid office to help us improve the student experience with the aid office … The FASAB is solely a financial aid office initiative and was not designed to be a vehicle to deal with [these] larger issues.” Reilly told the Daily in an email. “The larger issues are primarily University budget issues and are not typically issues dealt with within our office.”

Sophomore Olivia Kahn-Boesel, who served on the board last spring and plans to continue serving on the board this academic year, acknowledged both the board and office’s limitations in influencing university budgeting and policy.

“We don’t have much power to change financial policies, but making resources more accessible to students and clearer to find on the website is definitely a positive change,” Kahn-Boesel told the Daily in an electronic message.

She noted that further productive change requires dialogue with those able to influence larger issues related to financial aid distribution.

“I would love to meet with the person actually responsible for these policies and discuss how they disadvantage students with financial aid,” she said.

Breza was also displeased with the self-selection setup for the group because it did not bring in enough perspectives into the room.

“I think the financial aid office needs to prioritize reaching out to students on financial aid who are students of color, and students who are on financial aid who are first-gen students, because I think that in addition to a variety of other groups, those specific profiles of students are uniquely impacted by … financial aid at Tufts,” he said. “Noticing that and prioritizing that specific outreach is really important and wasn’t a central focus of this board.”

Junior Spencer Perry, who served on the board last spring and plans to continue serving on the board this year, agreed that the university could increase their outreach efforts to bring in new voices.

“I think it would be great if we could represent more voices by crowd sourcing opinions from those outside the board as well,” he told the Daily in an electronic message. “This points to a larger issue at hand, but I think Tufts could do a better job of getting these types of voices on campus in the first place.”

According to Reilly, all students were sent an email inviting them to participate earlier this month in an effort to maximize the potential pool for student input.

“One of the things we talked about is how do we choose who’s going to be

on the board, and we had some thought about inviting students … and made a conscious decision not to,” Reilly said.

“We wanted to let anybody who felt that they had something to say be able to be on the board.”

Breza feels that the board is unproductive in addressing these larger issues, necessitating the continuation of discussing these issues through the #HaltTheHike campaign, for which he is a central organizer.

“I don’t think this drastically changes the way that [students organizing the campaign] see ourselves in relation to the university,” he said. “I’d encourage students that have the energy and desire to provide this feedback in this way to pursue that,

but I don’t think that changes the necessity of the whole #HaltTheHike campaign to continue.”

While Kahn-Boesel feels that there is much more to be done to improve the state of financial aid at Tufts, she noted that the existence of FASAB is an important first step.

Perry agreed that the FASAB will play an important role at Tufts if the financial aid office remains committed to taking student perspectives into account.

“Ideally this board is a constant source for the university to hear student voices on the topic,” he said, “and its reach and impact will only continue to grow so long as the university continues to honestly listen.”

(EVAN SAYLES / THE TUFTS DAILY)

Tufts Student Action hosts a teach-in about their #HaltTheHike demands in Eaton Hall on Wednesday, Nov. 16, 2016.

Sophomores:

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Applications due Feb. 1 (Oxford: Dec. 1) http://go.tufts.edu/studyabroad

Friday, October 27, 2017

Features

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Professors Boghosian, Duchin apply mathematics to social problems

by Constantinos Angelakis Features Editor

Applied mathematics students at Tufts may have the opportunity to cross over into social science. Two professors are pushing the boundaries of interdisciplinary math by investigating problems in social sciences through their research.

Professor Bruce Boghosian has been working on modeling wealth inequality for about five years, beginning during his time as president of the American University of Armenia. The country, which became independent after the breakup of the Soviet Union in 1991, underwent drastic liberalization and, like many other former Soviet states, quickly became an oligarchy, according to Boghosian.

“Unfortunately, it’s easier to create an oligarchy than it is to break loose from it,” Boghosian said. “It is an unfortunately stable form of government.”

Boghosian’s work now sets out to model the inequality that results from free markets over time. His model illustrates the increasing trend of asymmetry in the economy as wealth becomes concentrated in fewer and fewer hands.

“The accuracy with which we’re able to match the wealth distributions is remarkable,” he said. “To my knowledge, no other first-principles theory is able to achieve the same accuracy. That’s what grounds it in reality, somehow, and makes it more than just a mathematical model.”

He explained that the belief that the current economic system will result in equilibrium dates back to the Enlightenment, during which freedom of transaction was embraced following a period of restricted economy in Europe.

“You can understand why people regarded the opportunity to engage in transactions of one’s own free will as a sort of freedom from that, but there’s a bias that’s hidden in it.

There’s an asymmetry, and it’s not the least bit obvious,” Boghosian said. “I wish that it didn’t require so much mathematics to describe.”

Boghosian noted that his work takes a different approach than traditional economic models of equilibrium. However, economics professors at Tufts have been generally receptive to his work.

“They’ve all been really encouraging, in fact, and supportive of it,” he said. “I’m not sure they believe it, but they’re welcoming to an outsider who is really just learning about economic issues.”

Boghosian has also taught two courses in the Department of Mathematics regarding wealth inequality, which he said generated significant levels of student interest.

Senior Chengli Li, an applied mathematics major, has worked with Boghosian on his research, including as part of the summer scholars program this year.

“I think it’s really interesting to solve economic problems from a math perspective,” Li, who is also an economics major, said. “I think from the math perspective it’s a really interesting new way of looking at it.”

Li said that she enjoyed the opportunity to apply her knowledge of mathematics across

SOPHIE DOLAN / THE TUFTS DAILY

Mathematics Professor Bruce Boghosian, who was featured by Tufts Now for his research on wealth inequality, teaches the popular course ‘introduction to wealth inequality’ at Tufts, is pictured on Oct. 23. disciplines and toward issues which she has observed in the world.

“I’m an international student, I’m from China, so the place where I came [from] was a mixture of really poor people and really wealthy people,” she said. “So I know there’s an issue, and this research is really able to apply what I’ve learned to the things that I’ve heard at school or the things that I’ve seen.”

Ultimately, Boghosian said, there must be some outside intervention to counter the continued concentration of wealth.

“One thing that we found clearly is that redistribution is the only thing that keeps an economy stable,” Boghosian said. “I mean, there can be many mechanisms for redistribution, but a redistributive term in the wealth distribution evolution equation is important.”

Boghosian said this redistribution could be done through a variety of mechanisms. He added that transparency was of critical importance because many people hide their wealth.

“There’s an advantage to taxing wealth directly, even if it’s a tiny tax, not enough to hurt anybody, but it would oblige people to declare their wealth in the same way they declare their income,” he said.

He hopes that by presenting his data, the political will of people may be more easily impacted to make changes.

“In my opinion, one of the things that can influence political will is the clear demonstration that the system we have now, even though it may seem fair, isn’t,” he said. “It is inherent and endogenously unfair and biased.”

While Boghosian’s work has vast implications on pragmatic economic policy, he said he is focused primarily on using his model to analyze current data from around the world.

“It would be wonderful in the future to be able to connect our models with real public policy, but that will take years,” he said. “That’s something that we are working on, and people are beginning to think about, but it’s not ready for implementation yet.”

Elsewhere in the mathematics department, Associate Professor Moon Duchin is also addressing social issues through her ongoing research in gerrymandering. Her work uses geometry to look into the potential unfair drawing of U.S. districts in order to benefit particular political groups, also known as gerrymandering. Duchin said that she is on sabbatical this semester while pursuing her gerrymandering research full-time.

“Because [voting] is done by districts, it depends really heavily on what those districts look like, and so the question is, ‘What should be the rules about the shapes of districts?’” she said. “If you have some rules about what the [districts] can look like, that limits the power of the map-drawer.”

She said that, while members of the mathematics department do not often do research into social issues, applied math does have a strong presence in some more traditionally related fields.

“One thing that’s cool about the mathematics department at Tufts is that it has both pure and applied mathematicians in the same department,” she said.

However, Duchin herself does not have a background in applied mathematics. She said that she became interested in the topic of gerrymandering while preparing to teach the math of social choice class at Tufts, after noticing that work on the geometry of districts was out of date.

“For me, this is a turning point, because my background is in theoretical, pure mathematics,” Duchin said. “This is the first time I’ve gotten into something so applied. And I didn’t fully realize in the past that cutting-edge math could be applied to politics instead of the traditional crossover fields like physics, chemistry and biology.”

Duchin said that the type of mathematical work associated with social sciences like economics and political science is often called quantitative social science. Although Tufts does not have a program in that field, Duchin pointed out the Science, Technology, and Society (STS) major, of which she is the director, as an example of bridging the gap between social science and humanities.

“For students who are interested in crossing over between STEM fields and books and real life, that’s exactly what niche STS is trying to fill — to be a bridge between math and engineering and other technical areas and the practical application in human culture,” she said.

Duchin said that Tufts’ encouragement of interdisciplinary and civically engaged work has been a positive influence on her own endeavors. For example, she has worked with professors in the political science department as well as members of the Jonathan M. Tisch College of Civic Life.

“As you see, Tufts is an amazing place to be,” Duchin said. “It’s exciting to be here because there are really not that many places that are as serious about interdisciplinarity as Tufts, and the Tisch College focus on integrated civics is unique. So for me, it’s been a real treat to be here and work with people in so many other fields.”

TRASHING ONE EGG WASTES 55 GALLONS OF WATER

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Friday, October 27, 2017

WEEKENDER

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Grammy-winning composer Terence Blanchard talks film, jazz and the genre’s future

by Alison Epstein Arts Editor

This week, Tufts welcomed jazz trumpeter and composer Terence Blanchard for a two-day residency. The multi-Grammy award winner — who has recorded over a dozen studio albums and written scores for more than 50 movies, including several for director Spike Lee — had two events scheduled at Tufts: a lecture on composing for film on Oct. 23 and a masterclass on Oct. 24. Unfortunately, due to a flight delay, the lecture was canceled, but Blanchard made it in time for the class on Tuesday.

The Daily had the chance to sit down with the socially conscious artist to talk about his residency at Tufts, how he uses art to effect change and what he thinks of the future of jazz, as well as listen to his words of wisdom for young aspiring artists.

The Tufts Daily (TD): I wanted to ask how this partnership with Tufts came to be and if you could tell me a little bit about what you’re doing for this program.

Terence Blanchard (TB): The school called me, and when they talked to me about the partnership, I was excited by it because I love working with students.

I love sharing the experiences that I had growing up as an artist and the experiences that I’m still having, just to give people an indication of what it is we do, and show them a pathway that would allow them to discover their own artistic gifts. So once we talked about that, then the rest of it was just about scheduling and trying to figure out times to do certain classes. And today we just had a discussion with some students, and I hope it was productive. We talked about a lot of different issues, and they were very attentive.

TD: I know that we didn’t get a chance to hear from you last night [at the lecture], but could you just give me an idea of what you were going to speak about? I know it had to do with composition and composing for Spike Lee films primarily.

TB: Well with film, one of the things that I try to talk about a lot is structure.

I’ll have preliminary conversations about compositional techniques, obviously. But in film, it’s really about how to look at the entire film and create a plan to help tell the story. For example, some films may slow down in a certain spot, so if that happens, do you want the music to push through that, do you not want to have music? Other films may have a payoff in a different part of the film. How do you build up to that? Other films, you may use a recurring theme and you have to look at the recurring theme as a piece that evolves over the entire film, not just scene to scene. So a lot of times those are structural things that I talk about.

And [I also focus on] intent, which is probably the most important. How do you want to tell a story? What is the meaning of a scene?

TD: So I know your most recent album, “Breathless” (2015), was inspired a lot by Black Lives Matter and [the death of ] Eric Garner. Could you just

COURTESY TERENCE BLANCHARD

Terence Blanchard, an American jazz musician from New Orleans, poses for a portrait with his trumpet. speak a little bit about creating music to effect change, [and] whether you think that’s important?

TB: I think it’s important, [although] it depends on the artist. Some artists are comedians, some artists are romantics, so I don’t think everybody should follow the same path. For me, I’ve just always been socially sensitive to certain things.

Maybe because I was hurt in some form or fashion as a kid, I feel a need to help other people heal their hurt. And [I read an interview of an artist] where he said, “Man, I’m not trying to prove anything anymore; I’m just trying to help people heal.” And I went, you know what?

That’s what my life needs to be about.

I’m not trying to prove anything anymore. That doesn’t do anything. And that happened to me a long time ago, so my life has been committed to that.

I think the most interesting thing about it, though, is if you’re sincere about it, people feel it.

For example, we were playing in Cleveland, and this guy came to the show … expecting to hear my music from [the Spike Lee film] “When the Levees Broke” (2006), which is all orchestral stuff and very lush and pretty, and he said when he got to the show to hear us play, he said, “Man, you sounded angry.” He said, “And then you got up and you said what the music was about. And I have to tell you, I figured if a guy that played that beautifully [before] is so angry now, it made me rethink my position on police brutality.” And this was an elderly white man in Cleveland, Ohio. And that was a very profound moment for me because sometimes you feel like you’re out here and you’re doing this stuff, and nobody really gives a damn. But when he said that, it reinvigorated me, because peo-

ple are paying attention. And people do need to hear it … The way this country is going right now, there’s a lot more of coming together that we need than the division that’s being spread. So I want to be the antidote to that negativity.

TD: And when you sign onto movies, do you keep the same things in mind when you’re composing for movies and choosing what movies to do as when you’re creating your own music?

TB: Sometimes. I mean, some movies are just fun to do, and then there are other movies that really make a statement. I’m not trying to have an agenda.

I’m really there to help the director tell a story. Now when the stories align with my personal beliefs, I mean, that’s a twofer as they say. And for the most part, they do, because of the things that get offered to me and the things that I choose.

When I first got into the film business, because I was black, you should’ve seen the films that they offered me.

It was insulting because I know other white composers weren’t being offered those movies. And [the movies I was offered] were all blaxploitation silly movies. And I’m like, “No, that’s not who I am.” And my career suffered for it. [Now], it’s gotten to the point where people kind of know [what I’m interested in], but it’s not something that I have to put out there. Nothing really stupid has come across my desk in a long time … So I’ve been really good.

TD: And just sort of looking forward with jazz, do you have any ideas about what the future holds for the genre and … keeping jazz modern, but also bringing it into the future?

TB: Depends on the artist you listen to. There are a lot of progressive things that are going on. I think the future of the music is extremely bright,

but I think it’s gonna be one of those things that happens all too often in jazz, [where] it’s not gonna come from where you expect it. Because one of the things about art is that you can never predict the future of it. [But this is] one of the reasons why I teach, you know? I teach to encourage young artists to find their voice and not be afraid to speak their mind. That’s the most important thing that we need in this country right now.

TD: So along those same lines, do you have any advice for the students here who are looking to pursue music or jazz? As they try to break into the industry?

TB: Well, the main thing you have to do is be honest. You have to be honest.

You’ve gotta ask yourself what it is you like, what it is you don’t like, and be honest with yourself about the amount of time and effort that you’re putting into it. And you know, do your homework. Study.

You know, I was telling the kids earlier today, there’s no magic to this. There’s no magic pill that I could give you that is gonna make you a great artist. It’s like anything else. How do you get muscles?

By doing push-ups. So it’s the same kind of thing. It’s the exact same principle.

The more time and effort you put into it, the more you’re going to reap the benefits of it.

The problem is that everything is instant in our society today. Well, art doesn’t work that way. Art wants to see, “Are you dedicated? Don’t come spend a little time with me, kiss me on the cheek, and leave, no. Come over and spend some real time with me.” And the more you do that, the more you reap the benefits.

Editor’s note: This interview has been edited for clarity and length.

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THE TUFTS DAILY | Comics | Friday, October 27, 2017

Comics

tuftsdaily.com LATE NIGHT AT THE DAILY Danny: “You can’t smoke chicken. Wait, actually you can.”

Comics

SUDOKU

GARFIELD

BY JIM DAVIS

NON SEQUITUR

BY WILEY MILLER

Difficulty Level: Trying to have a breakup talk on the Joey without having someone you know overhear.

LINDA C. BLACK ASTROLOGY

Thursday’s Solution

Scorpio (Oct. 23-Nov. 21)

Today is a 7. Home and family have your attention. Others appreciate your decisiveness. Resist being impulsive, especially if others are tempted. Keep to your budget.

FOR RELEASE OCTOBER 27, 2017

Los Angeles Times Daily Crossword Puzzle Edited by Rich Norris and Joyce Lewis CROSSWORD

ACROSS 1 Apples on a desk 6 Unattached 10 Ruler meas.

13 Two-sport Sanders 14 Texas city 15 Leave work 16 Braugher of “Brooklyn NineNine” 17 Maker of Swift laptops 18 Waiter at a stand 19 Watch a musicstreaming app?

22 Garden State city 24 “__ be the judge of that” 25 Make the call 26 Organize circus performers?

30 Afflicts 31 Where Spike Lee earned his MFA 32 Louisville Slugger wood 33 Answered counterpart 35 Little devil 37 Brazilian music genre 41 Up to, for short 43 Blanc with “That’s all folks” on his gravestone 45 Punch or file 46 Rationalize one’s need for duel assistance?

50 Actress Aniston, in tabloids 51 Afternoon social 52 “Mean Girls” actress Seyfried 53 Worship at the altar of buttercream?

57 Declare openly 58 Streaming on Facebook 59 Tantalus’ daughter 62 Manage 63 Over 64 Further out there 65 Start of something?

66 Gets some sun 67 Sparkling wine choices DOWN 1 Mont. neighbor

10/27/17

By Andy Kravis and Erik Agard

2 “White __ Can’t Jump” 3 Charity fundraiser since 1985 4 Vital business holdings 5 Villainous visages 6 Exchange 7 Folded Mexican fare 8 Vinegary, as acid 9 Brute 10 Oscar-winning “Gravity” director Alfonso 11 Mistakes 12 Stretch on the job 15 Invoice abbr.

20 Parchment source 21 Dental visit freebie 22 Org. that fills bowls?

23 Bulldog fans 27 “Just an update” letters 28 Delish 29 “Need my help?”

34 Catchy tune 36 Edible orb 38 Selene and Luna 39 No foe 40 Only actor to appear in every episode of “M*A*S*H”

Thursday’s Puzzle Solved

©2017 Tribune Content Agency, LLC

42 Become prostrate 44 Future atty.’s exam 46 Valet in Wodehouse stories 47 Labor parties?

48 Oatmeal alternative 49 Key of Dvorák’s New World Symphony

10/27/17

50 Singles network logo with a partly outlined Star of David 54 Chain email abbr.

55 It may be selfcleaning 56 Works with threads 60 Pollen carrier 61 Hectic hosp. zones

Sports

Friday, October 27, 2017 | Sports | THE TUFTS DAILY

7

MEN'S TENNIS

Tennis closes out fall season with strong showing at Bates

by Onat Tarimcilar Staff Writer

The Tufts men’s tennis team traveled to Lewiston, Maine this past weekend for their final matches of the fall season.

The Wallach Invitational was hosted by Bates College and featured eight schools playing on Saturday and Sunday. Tufts competed against Amherst, Bates, Bowdoin, Brandeis, Colby, Trinity and Wheaton.

The invitational was broken into six flights, A, B, C and D singles, and A and B doubles. The Jumbos came out of the weekend winning three of the six brackets, two singles titles and a doubles title. First-years Boris Sorkin and CarlHerman Grant won singles titles in the B and D divisions respectively, while Sorkin and sophomore Ethan Bershtein teamed up to win the B doubles bracket.

Sorkin was dominant in his run to the finals with every victory coming in straight sets. His toughest test came in the finals against sophomore David Aizenberg of Brandeis, but even this match was comfortable for Sorkin, capturing the title with a 6–4, 6–4 win.

The same could be said about Grant in the D division, advancing easily to the semifinal then mowing through two Bowdoin opponents in the semifinals and finals 6–3, 6–2 and 6–2, 6–4 respectively.

The Wallach Invitational was the last chance for the team to get prepared for the spring with match play.

“The Bates invite was our last event of the year and we felt our results thus

far hadn’t been representative of the type of team we are capable of being,” senior Zain Ali said.

“By winning half the flights this weekend we have proven that we are a force to be reckoned with.”

The most notable result from the weekend was the strong play of the underclassmen. The firstyears have yet to play a spring season at the collegiate level but have already proven that they can be successful against some of the best teams in the NESCAC. “[Grant and ANGELIE XIONG / THE TUFTS DAILY Sorkin] have both Sophomore Zach Shaff prepares for a forehand during a double competition at the MIT Invitational on Oct. 17. been off to extremely hot starts,” sophomore Zach Shaff said. “Carl hits an and build chemistry that will prove to Gupte said. “Even though it is just the fall, extremely heavy ball, has a massive serve be very important in the offseason. The there is no doubt that this team has more and has great volleys which really helps tone is set by a new group of seniors and confidence and belief than ever before.” our team from a doubles perspective. the returning players are responsible for As for the spring season, the goal is The amazing part about Boris is that he implementing the first-years and mak- clear for the Jumbos: make the NCAA not only had to adjust to college tennis ing them an integral part of the unit. tournament. Match play starts up again but also to life in the U.S after going to Senior Rohan Gupte acknowledged in March, and Shaff is confident they school in Spain. He is a pretty fearless the importance of the fall for building can capitalize on a golden opportunity. kid and … has already proven he is one team chemistry.

“This year is absolutely massive. We of the better players in the NESCAC.” “The fall is always interesting too will be graduating our top three after In addition to getting a tune-up on because our team sees how the culture the spring so if there is a year for us the court throughout the fall, the goal of changes without last year’s seniors and to qualify for NCAAs, this is the one,” the fall season is to establish a culture the addition of incoming freshmen,” Shaff said.

senior commencement speaker

NOMINATIONS The Wendell Phillips Award

Each year, one graduating senior is chosen to be the class speaker at Commencement, and the speech takes place during the Baccalaureate Service. Established in 1896 and named for Wendell Phillips, the speech is intended to deliver a social justice message for our time.

Faculty, staff, and students may nominate seniors to apply to be the Wendell Phillips Speaker, and seniors many self-nominate. Nominees will be invited to apply by January with a resume of leadership and service activities and a recorded speech.

Applications are reviewed by the Committee on Student Life (CSL), who will invite finalists to audition at an open forum in March before selecting the winner. This award also carries a cash prize of approximately $900.

Wendell Phillips Nineteenth-century American lawyer, orator, fervent abolitionist, and advocate for women’s and Native People’s rights

Nominate today and learn more: http://chaplaincy.tufts.edu/wendellphillips For more information, please contact University Chaplain The Reverend Greg McGonigle at chaplaincy@tufts.edu or 617.627.3427.

Nomination Deadline: Tuesday, October 31, 2017 at 5 p.m.

8 tuftsdaily.com

Sports

Friday, October 27, 2017

FOOTBALL

Jumbos welcome Mammoth football challenge

by Sam Weitzman Sports Editor

On Saturday, the Tufts Jumbos (4–2) will look to do something they haven’t done since 2003 and 2004: beat the Amherst Mammoths (5–1) in consecutive seasons. In 2016, Tufts snapped its nine-year losing streak against Amherst with a 27–10 road victory. According to coach Jay Civetti, the Jumbos appreciate that last year’s triumph is no guarantor of this year’s success.

“Last year’s Amherst team was as depleted as they’ve ever been at that point in the season,” he said. “That’s not to take anything away from the win — that was a big win [for us]. I think regardless of who they have playing, they’re as well coached a team in this league as you’re going to find. They don’t make many mistakes, and you’ve got to play them for 60 minutes, because if you let your guard down or if you give them any opportunity, they’re going to capitalize.”

Just last week, the Mammoths demonstrated the resiliency to which Civetti referred.

Junior buck linebacker Andrew Yamin led Amherst to a come-from-behind 21–17 win over the Wesleyan Cardinals (4–2). The thirdyear Mammoth recorded an astounding 5.5 sacks during the game, just half a sack less than the NESCAC single-game record.

With his team trailing 17–7, Yamin ended consecutive Cardinal drives in the third and fourth quarters by sacking Wesleyan quarterback Mark Piccirillo on third down. These stops on defense provided the Amherst offense with the chance to rally, and with 2:43 left in the contest, a 51-yard touchdown run by senior tailback Hasani Figueroa gave the Mammoths the lead for good.

As last week’s NESCAC Defensive Player of the Week performance indicates, Yamin leads the Amherst pass rush. The Cheshire, Conn. native leads the conference in tackles-for-loss (15.5) and sacks (11.5), and he shares second place in fumbles forced (two). First-year defensive lineman Brett Bates also ranks in the top ten in the NESCAC in sacks with 3.5 quarterback takedowns.

Fortunately for the Jumbos, the Mammoths are not the only team with a reigning NESCAC Player of the Week. Tufts’ junior quarterback Ryan McDonald was named the conference’s Offensive Player of the Week last week after leading Tufts to a 21–13 win over the Williams Ephs (4–2).

McDonald set a personal record of 336 passing yards against the Ephs, including a 59-yard touchdown throw to junior wide receiver Jack Dolan on a post route.

Meanwhile, the Jumbos’ defense kept the Ephs to single digits until just before the six-minute mark of the fourth quarter, after which point McDonald and sophomore running back Jay Tyler were able to run out the clock. Additionally, in the third quarter, Tufts forced a safety for the first time since a September 2013 defeat to Wesleyan.

“I’m really proud of the team effort in a tough road win last week, bouncing back from a difficult loss two weeks ago,” Civetti said. “That’s a big signature win for these seniors, being able to [beat Williams] twice on the road and twice at home. I don’t know that there’s a group of guys in the history of Tufts football that necessarily have [done that].”

Turning to the other side of the ball, no NESCAC team has run fewer pass plays than the Mammoths. When he does drop back, however, sophomore quarterback Ollie Eberth makes it count, as the Andover, Mass. native ranks second in the conference in passing efficiency (164.7). Junior wide receiver Bo Berluti leads the Mammoths in receptions (27), while sophomore James O’Regan paces the team in receiving yards (428) and receiving touchdowns (four).

Amherst’s foremost rusher is junior tailback Jack Hickey, who ranks second in the NESCAC in rushing touchdowns (six) and third in yards per game (81.7). In last year’s engagement, Hickey managed only eight yards on three totes as the Jumbos held the Mammoths as a team to just 2.3 yards per carry.

Although Tufts’ prolific pass rush has received a large amount of praise this sea-

EVAN SAYLES / THE TUFTS DAILY

Sophomore linebacker Greg Holt closes in on the ball carrier in the game against the Trinity Bantams on Oct. 14. son (and justifiably so), the Jumbos’ run defense also merits credit for its contributions to recent victories. Last week, Tufts smothered Williams’ first-year running back T. J. Dozier. Apart from a meaningless 27-yard scurry to run down the clock at the end of the first half, Dozier managed just 2.4 yards per carry against the Jumbos’ formidable front.

Spearheading the Tufts run defense are sophomore middle linebacker Greg Holt and senior quad-captain linebacker Steve DiCienzo. Holt — the reigning NESCAC Rookie of the Year and a member of last year’s All-NESCAC First Team — ranks third in the conference in solo tackles (36), while DiCienzo is tied for ninth (30).

When asked directly, Civetti swiftly rejected the notion that Amherst’s recent run-first tendency might lead Tufts to load the box — i.e., increase in the number of defensive players that are close to the line of scrimmage from the typical seven to a heightened eight or nine.

“No,” he said. “They’ve got talent everywhere. They’re good in every position, so no,

I don’t think it’s going to force us to load the box any more than we do already.”

Indeed, Civetti predicted that Tufts’ typical tactics were sufficient to force Amherst to throw the ball more.

“My guess is because of how we load the box [already], you’ll see those stats maybe a little bit different,” he said in reference to the Mammoths’ run-to-pass ratio. “I think they’re going to attack the perimeter more so than maybe they have the last couple weeks. I just think they haven’t had to throw the ball because of the running game that they have.”

Holt affirmed that the Jumbos’ tactics would not change.

“I don’t think we ever change things up too much depending on the team, because at the end of the day, we’re just going to play Tufts football,” he said. “The other team’s going to do what they’re going to do, but if we stay focused on ourselves and playing as a team and following what our coaches tell us, then whatever they do, we’re prepared.”

The Jumbos and Mammoths kick off at the Ellis Oval on Saturday at 1:30 p.m.

GOLF

Golf takes seventh at New England Championships

by Liam Finnegan Sports Editor

On Saturday and Sunday, Tufts golf competed at the New England Intercollegiate Golf Association (NEIGA) Championships held at the par-72 Captains Golf Course in Brewster, Mass.

The Jumbos competed well and earned a seventh-place finish out of the 19 teams competing at the tournament to end their fall season.

On Saturday, which was held at the Port Course, sophomore Brandon Karr led the scoring for the Jumbos, shooting a 76 for four over par. He ended the day tied for 13th.

Junior Justin Feldman finished the round one stroke behind with a 77 and tied for 20th.

Behind Feldman was senior Nik Nugnes from West Barnstable, Mass., shooting a 79 to finish tied for 33rd. Finishing out the scores for the Jumbos were first-years Henry Hughes, who shot an 80 (T38) and Alex Honigford, who shot an 83 (T61). The Jumbos finished the first day of the tournament with a team-total score of 312, which secured the team a spot in ninth place. Husson University took the lead on the first day, outspacing Tufts by 14 strokes and second-place Rhode Island College by five with their team total of 298.

On Sunday, the tournament venue was switched, and the round was played at the Starboard Course to the detriment of some of the golfers. Karr vastly improved his game from the first round and shot a 71, one under par, to take his two-day total to 147, pulling ahead of the pack to finish fourth in the tournament. Hughes also improved upon his previous score and shot a 76, bringing his total score to 156 to tie for 30th. The NEIGA Championships were Hughes’ first competitive tournament for the Jumbos, and even though he finished second out of the five Tufts golfers in the tournament, he thought he could have done even better. “[I wasn’t] satisfied with my first or second round performance,” Hughes said. “I had never seen either of the golf courses and didn’t play a practice round, so I had a hard time getting a feel for either course. Conditions were good. The golf courses were just very penalizing. We were thinking that if we played our best we could have won the event.”

Feldman did not improve on his previous score and shot an 81, dropping from tied for 20th to tied for 36th. Both Nugnes and Honigford finished tied for 54th with second round scores of 84 and 80, respectively.

Overall, the Jumbos performed better on the second day and posted a team total of 308 to bring their tournament score to 620. The Jumbos moved up the ranking ladder and ended the tournament in seventh place, just two points behind sixthplace Endicott College.

Coach George Pendergast was pleased with the result.

“With our two captains players Taylor Nordan and Aaron Corn unavailable this weekend, I thought we played very well,” Pendergast told the Daily in an email.

“Finishing seventh out of 19 D-III schools is very strong.”

Husson University continued to dominate the tournament on the second day and had four out of its five golfers finish within the top ten. Husson junior Daulton Wickenden placed first in the tournament with his score of 142. Husson brought its tournament score to 586, blowing out the competition. They finished a whopping 11 points ahead of second-place Rhode Island College.

The NEIGA Championships mark the end of the fall season for the Jumbos. There will be no more competitive play, but the team thinks the nice weather will permit

them to get a few more rounds in to keep their game up.

“The weather is good enough to continue playing for a couple more weeks,” Hughes said. “Team lifts will start, so we can get in good shape for the spring season. Our first time qualifying for NESCAC Championship means everybody is still really motivated to play their best.”

Looking back, the fall season was successful for Tufts. They posted great scores in tournaments like the Duke Nelson Invitational, where they finished fifth of 22 teams. They also qualified for the NESCAC championship for the first time since the tournament’s inception in 2007. The team placed third in the qualifier, only losing out to Trinity and Williams.

“We had a great season,” Pendergast said.

“Qualifying for the NESCAC playoffs was a major accomplishment. Our other tournament results were excellent as well. … We were very consistent with a top-10 in every tournament we entered. We will take some time off after the long fall season, which started immediately after school started, right after Labor Day. We then will take our annual trip to Arizona in the middle of March to get ready for the spring.”