The Tufts Daily - October 3, 2017

Students from Tibet, Botswana make home wherever they go see FEATURES / PAGE 4

WOMEN’S SOCCER

Jumbos topple Mammoths in overtime battle

‘Beach Rats’ incorporates themes of identity, violence see ARTS&LIVING / PAGE 6

SEE SPORTS / BACK PAGE

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VOLUME LXXIV, ISSUE 18

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Tuesday, October 3, 2017

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Lt. Gen. Luckey discusses potential threats, preparedness in future

by Sarah Minster

Contributing Writer

Lt. Gen. Charles D. Luckey addressed more than 50 people on national security as part of the International Relations (IR) Program Speaker Series on Sept. 2 in Alumnae Lounge. He spoke about the security challenges facing the United States and the world today, focusing on the importance of military readiness and risk management to handle future threats.

The event was co-sponsored by the Fletcher School of Law & Diplomacy International Security Studies Program and Tufts Alliance Linking Leaders in Education and the Services (ALLIES).

Luckey, chief of army reserve and commanding general in the United States Army Reserve Command, spoke to the domestic military challenge of constantly keeping reserves ready but not necessarily active. He emphasized that those in the service must be ready to provide aid quickly and efficiently while still maintaining civilian jobs and families.

Luckey said that if the American general public had a greater “service ethic,” they might better understand the military’s sacrifice to this country, and as a result, would more fully support the military.

“I think we should have a national conversation about service. Not

military service, I wouldn’t limit that conversation to this domain,” he said ,referring to civil service. “It is a conversation that we don’t have much.

And I think it’s a conversation that America might benefit from having.”

Luckey also listed international security risks today and how the military is addressing them. He said the general public and the military are often too dependent on technology and that to combat this, he trains those he commands in the field to be less reliant on it.

He also listed the development of artificial intelligence, management of the national debt and the impending dangers of rising sea levels as other pertinent security threats.

Luckey said that every conversation in international relations is about risk: how to identify, manage and accept responsibility for it. He spoke about the importance of careful risk allocation and distribution of resources, focusing on addressing the military’s mobilization and preparedness against future threats from adversaries or new challenges.

IR Program Manager Karen Notch invited Luckey to speak because of the constant relevance of international security, currently and in the future. see LUCKEY, page 2

VINTUS OKONKWO / THE TUFTS DAILY

At the Tufts IR Speaker Series 2017, Chief of Army Reserve and Commanding General, Lieutenant General Charles D. Luckey, explains the logistical and strategic issues in mobilizing US Army Reserves around the globe.

Tufts Disorientation Guide content, removal spark backlash from Tufts community

by Anar Kansara New Editor

The Tufts Disorientation Guide was removed from the official Tufts University Class of 2020 and 2021 Facebook pages on Sept. 3 in response to complaints received by the administration about some of the content of the guide, according to Patrick Collins, Tufts University executive director of public relations.

According to a letter sent to the Tufts community by University President Anthony Monaco and Provost and Senior Vice President David Harris

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via email, the guide was removed on the grounds of “contain[ing] some deeply disturbing characterizations with respect to groups and individuals on campus.”

The letter goes on to explain that the guide contained “divisive and offensive assertions” about Tufts Hillel, which were not in line with the values of the university and did not meet university expectations about respectful civil engagement on campus.

“We do not believe it is in accordance with the values of the university to impugn the integrity and good will of the many Jewish students on campus who are engaged in Hillel,”

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Monaco and Harris said in the letter.

Unnamed contr ibutors to the Disorientation Guide posted a response to the guide’s critics on Sept.

13, countering that its statements about Hillel, which only represented a small section of the over 100-page publication, did not justify the guide’s removal from the class Facebook pages.

“Censorship by university administrations should alarm everyone, and censorship of a 115-page document because of ONE SENTENCE is downright terrifying,” the post read.

While the statement by Monaco and Harris said the guide was “misleading

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about some student organizations,” Hillel was the only example cited.

When asked for comment, a writer of the Disorientation Guide declined to be interviewed.

Dean of Student Affairs Mary Pat McMahon also published a response critiquing the guide on the Student Affairs website. “[The] broad and disparaging characterizations of some campus organizations runs counter to our values as an inclusive community,” she said.

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

see DISORIENTATION , page 2

COMICS.......................................8 OPINION.....................................9 SPORTS............................ BACK

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THE TUFTS DAILY | News | Tuesday, October 3, 2017

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Lieutenant General addresses civil-military relations at IR Program Speaker Series LUCKEY

continued from page 1 “International relations is vitally important in today’s world, and there’s a bunch of different aspects —[ideas] you wouldn’t traditionally think of as international security,” she said.

While this talk focused on security, each talk in the series focuses on a different topic to paint to a broader picture of international relations in the world today, Notch said.

Luckey ended his talk by emphasizing the military’s role in protecting the

people of the United States.

“At the end of the day, we’re on this team together. We [the military] support the people of the United States,” he said. “Fundamentally, it’s about us being together as one team. If you’re an American, this is your army.”

Hillel students and Disorientation Guide writers react to guide's criticisms of Hillel DISORIENTATION

continued from page 1 McMahon also responded to questions that had been raised about free speech.

“Although we respect students’ rights to free speech, we have always reserved the right to remove unauthorized content from official University Facebook pages and groups, especially when leaving the content posted could be interpreted as an endorsement,” McMahon wrote in the statement.

Rabbi Jeffrey Summit, the Neubauer executive director of Tufts Hillel released a response to the guide on the Hillel website on Sept. 12.

“Tufts Hillel is deeply disturbed by the language in the unofficial ‘2017 Disorientation Guide’ that has been circulating on our campus that implies that Hillel supports white supremacy.

We do not believe that a group of students should make defamatory and false claims against other students on social media,” Summit said.

In his statement, Summit alludes to a section of the Disorientation Guide that calls Hillel “an organization that promotes a white supremacist state.”

Summit wrote in an email to the Daily that many students had reached out to the administration on their own in response to multiple aspects of the guide.

Paulina Ash, the president of the student executive board of Hillel, told the Daily in an email that she also disagreed with the characterization of Hillel in the guide.

“I, along with many other students, was uncomfortable and disturbed by the fact that the Disorientation Guide called Tufts Hillel an organization that promotes a white supremacist state,” Ash, a senior, said. “These words are false and I believe that they were harmful and hurtful to many students on campus.”

Ash disagreed with the guide’s portrayal of Hillel as exclusively pro-Zionist.

“Hillel is a Zionist space at Tufts, equating anti-Zionism with terrorism and not allowing anti-Zionist students to join the charter,” the guide reads.

Ash countered that Tufts Hillel is a place where people can gather to talk regardless of their beliefs. “[Tufts Hillel] is open to having conversations with people with a wide range of opinions and beliefs about Israel,” she said.

Writers of the Disorientation Guide responded to what they felt was an inappropriate assumption that the guide’s statements about Hillel were inherently anti-semitic.

“There have been critiques on campus and beyond saying that tying Hillel to White supremacy is inherently antisemitic,” they wrote in the statement. “We, writing this as two White

COURTESY TUFTS DISORIENTATION GUIDE / ISSUU

The cover of the Tufts Disorientation Guide 2017 issue, which was taken down from the Tufts Facebook student class page by the administration. The content is claimed to reflect a more negative image of Tufts than typical first year material.

Jewish students at Tufts who worked on the Disorientation Guide this year, want to reframe this conversation to focus on how White Supremacy and anti-Semitism are linked and, for that reason, our liberation as Jewish people — White Jews and Jews of color alike — is bound up with the destruction of White Supremacy.”

Ilyssa Silverman, a member of the Tufts Hillel student board, thought the argument linking white supremacy and anti-semitism was particularly illogical.

“That [argument] would then be calling Hillel an anti-Semitic organization,” Silverman, a sophomore, said.

“Additionally, if they’re claiming Israel is a white supremacist state, they’re calling the state of Israel anti-Semitic.”

Silverman thought the removal of the guide from the official Facebook pages by Tufts administration was

appropriate, as having the guide bear the university’s name on an official page could give the impression that the guide represented the university community’s opinion as a whole, calling the language used that of “buzzwords” and “lies.”

“I think just as [the writers of the guide as Jews] would not want Hillel making broad statements about the Jewish community at Tufts, there are many Jews on this campus who do not appreciate these [writers] making broad accusatory statements on behalf of the Tufts community,” she said.

Silverman also mentioned that she would like to see an open conversation on campus rather than one-sided rhetoric on a social media platform.

“Tufts claims to be a community all about dialogue and I’d love to see that happen.”

News

Tuesday, October 3, 2017 | News | THE TUFTS DAILY

3

The Left Unity Project seeks to connect leftist students

by Charlie Driver

Contributing Writer

Disclaimer: Liam Knox is the executive investigative team editor at the Daily and an organizing member of the Left Unity Project. He was not involved in the writing of this article.

A new leftist coalition, the Left Unity Project (LUP) has united on campus and seeks to increase communication, unity and solidarity among left-leaning political groups that already exist on campus, Edwin Jain, one of the organizers of the new coalition, said.

“The point of [LUP] is to unite the varying strands and groups and tendencies on the left,” Jain, a junior, said.

According to Jain, the groups in the coalition share anti-capitalist sentiments. They believe capitalism enforces inequalities and is inherently unfair.

Paul Sevilla, a sophomore and another organizing member, and Jain said that once the group’s identity is solidified, the intention is for it to become an educational and supportive force for the left on campus.

In particular, LUP aims to be a support structure to leftist groups’ activism.

“If there’s a rally or another event, we can help any group that works with us amplify their messaging,” Sevilla said. He noted that the LUP would not take an active role in planning its own actions, instead focusing on supporting other issue-specific groups.

In terms of education, the members of the group hope to bring light to different economic and political theories.

“To sustain any movement, you need to be able to understand things theoretically and practically,” LUP member and senior Elisa Cabral said.

LUP member and junior Nate Krinsky said this educational component is important because many people have not been exposed to leftist economic and political theories.

One of the education initiatives, which the organizing members began

: Step 3: Profit After falling for a sublet scam, a student reported the incident to the Tufts University Police Department ( TUPD) at 9:15 p.m. on Sept. 28.

The student said they had received an initial payment with an excess amount of money from the scammer in the form of a fake check. They were asked to return the extra money and emailed numerous questions asking

working on over the summer, is a zine explaining what it means to be a leftist, which Sevilla said he hoped to see distributed around campus this fall.

As an organization, LUP is built similarly to Tufts Progressive Alliance ( TPA), an organization that seeks to further progressive goals on all levels of U.S. politics, according to the mission statement on its Facebook page.

Ann-Marie Lee, a sophomore who is a member of both groups, explained that the primary difference between the two is that TPA is more issue-oriented, while LUP is centered on anti-capitalist ideology.

Krinsky, also in both groups, believes that TPA’s work will complement that of LUP. TPA primarily works within the bounds of the political system, while LUP seeks to fight oppressive systems from the outside.

“Both groups work off each other; they help each other achieve their goals,” Krinsky said. “[Both types of action] are important and crucial for change to happen in our society.”

Sevilla and Jain did not foresee the same relationship with the other major multi-issue organization on the left side of the political spectrum, the Tufts Democrats. Though sharing a similar commitment to social issues, this club does not fall inside the LUP’s definition of the left, due to its perceived support of capitalism.

“If the Tufts Democrats want to meet LUP where they are … the members will be happy to work with them,” Krinsky, who has attended Tufts Democrats meetings in the past, said.

Sevilla and Jain agreed that they would be happy to work with Tufts Democrats if their priorities aligned but did not see a close partnership being likely.

Ben Kaminoff, vice president of Tufts Democrats, disagreed with this sentiment.

“The Tufts Democrats are excited and willing to work with anyone who shares our values in resisting the Trump administration and trying to get more

RACHAEL MEYER / THE TUFTS DAILY

Sophomore Paul Sevilla, an organizing member of the Left Unity Project, poses for a photo on Oct. 02.

Democrats elected around the country,” Kaminoff, a senior, told the Daily in an electronic message.

Despite the organization being new, LUP’s members are excited about the possibilities for sparking change, especially on a campus that has been galvanized by the election of Donald

Trump last November.

“I think for a long time people have been content with going to a poll booth and having a voice for five seconds, and I think what we are trying to say, and what people are asking now, is how do we have a voice for more than five seconds every four years?” Jain said.

POLICE BRIEFS: WEEK OF 10/3 about the property to make everything seem legitimate. Most of the contact occurred through email. The scam, which involved a third party sending the renter a check, resulted in the renter losing money equal to the excess amount from the check. The TUPD recommends students verify the identities of their fellow renters and subletters, preferably in person.

[Exit] TUPD officers responded to a call at Harleston Hall at 12:36 a.m. on Oct. 1.

When they arrived, they noticed that a fire exit sign had been maliciously damaged. TUPD is investigating the incident.

Brownie Points On Oct. 1 at 1 a.m., TUPD officers observed a student walking back and

forth crying at the corner of Professors Row and Packard Avenue, appearing to be in distress. She attempted to get into the police cruiser. The officers conducted a well-being check on the student and discovered that she had been at a party where she had consumed edible marijuana. She was transferred to a hospital for further treatment.

by Juliana Furgala

TRASHING ONE EGG WASTES 55 GALLONS OF WATER

4 tuftsdaily.com

Features

Tuesday, October 3, 2017

Far-flung homes: Two students speak to diasporic identity, borderless sense of home

by Sean Ong Features Editor

This is the third part of a three-part series centering the experiences of students who are the only ones from their home countries to be at Tufts.

This series has previously discussed how students identified with physical spaces both inside and outside of their home countries. In this final installment, the Daily features the stories of Olive and Faith, two undergraduates for whom home refers to the people — rather than the places — they care about.

Olive Olive, who requested that their last name not be published due to safety concerns, is a sophomore from Tibet. They spent their early schooling years in a boarding school in mainland China and returned home to Tibet every summer.

“I was trying so hard in school … it was always in the back of my mind that I had to try extra hard to prove to my Chinese classmates that Tibetans were not barbarous or uneducated,” they said.

Olive’s parents lived in the United States at the time. They recounted that there were difficult times in school when they would break down and cry on the night before a parent-teacher conference.

“My dormmates would be scared about the conference, scared that their parents would be mad at them because they got bad grades. For me, I got really good grades, but my parents could never come,” they said.

Being so far away from their parents pushed Olive to learn how to live and deal with their emotions independently from a young age.

“My mum would ask me, ‘Why can’t you tell me you miss me or you love me?’ I just can’t say it, it makes me feel so uncomfortable,” they said. “Because I trained myself really well to never think that I miss [my parents], then it won’t bother me.”

In 2008, unrest broke out in Tibet during commemorations for the anniversary of the 1959 Tibetan uprising.

Amidst this unrest, Olive’s friends from school bombarded them with discomforting questions about their birthplace and their political affiliations.

“I was only nine years old,” they said.

“It was really hard because they were all my classmates, my friends, and suddenly they ask me really uncomfortable questions that I never thought about. I would tell my friends jokingly that I was not one of those ‘crazy Tibetans.'”

When Olive returned to Tibet that summer, they witnessed its street violence and started to rethink their identity as a Tibetan. While they sympathized with the cause of Tibetan independence, they were also unsure if a free Tibet would do more to destabilize the region.

“On one hand, I think Tibet should be free from China, because we had always been our own country, and have our own language and culture,” Olive said. “On the other hand, I wonder what will happen when Tibet is free … how people in Tibet will survive. The first time I heard or saw gunshots [in 2008], that’s when it really shook me to rethink my identity.”

Olive moved to New York in 2009 to continue their education. Because they had lived in mainland China, they found it difficult to interact with the Tibetan diaspora in the United States, many of whom

MIKE FENG / THE TUFTS DAILY

Junior Olive, a student at Tufts University originally from Tibet, talks about their home country and some of the issues they faced. had previously lived in Nepal or India.

“When they see me, they feel like I’m a Tibetan from China that doesn’t understand their struggle. For me, it’s like they don’t understand what we are going through in China as well,” they said.

They explained that as a Tibetan Chinese citizen, they have faced questioning by immigration officers at Chinese borders about their travel history and political affiliations.

Growing up in the United States has also prompted Olive to reevaluate some of the cultural norms that they grew up with in Tibet and China, which has caused disagreements between them and their family in China. They struggle between wanting to live their own life and not wanting to anger their family members. “[My family] would tell me that girls shouldn’t wear shorts in the streets … even during the summertime. That really bothers me, because I feel that this is my body and it’s my freedom to wear what I want to wear,” they said.

Before coming to Tufts, Olive spent a gap year working in Madrid and traveling around Europe. It was during this time that they truly learned to embrace spontaneity and new experiences, after years of struggling with their identity while living overseas.

“If somebody tells me that this city is cool, on Friday I would just book a ticket and leave,” Olive said. “I was doing couch-surfing, and I always travelled alone. You are forced to meet new people, and I really enjoyed that.”

As a result of their new open-mindedness, Olive is relatively unfazed whenever someone asks them about Tibet or their Tibetan identity, even if the question reveals a level of ignorance.

“I used to get really offended and very defensive. Now, I don’t really care anymore — I’m trying to see where they come from and understand if they were [brought up] … where they don’t have a lot of access to information about Tibet. I don’t want to hold that against them,” they said.

Currently, Olive is a part of the Tufts chapter of TableTalk, an initiative to facilitate conversations between people on campus. They see this as part of their broader desire to meet people who are unlike them. Rather than be caught up in trying to figure out exactly where their home is and what they identify as, they have chosen to make themself at home with friends they enjoy spending time with. “[My friends and I] never talk about identity. What actually makes us closer is that [our identities] are not a big part of our conversations or how we see each other,” they said.

Faith Ocitti Faith Ocitti, a junior studying biomedical engineering, grew up in Botswana but has never had a rigid definition of where home is. Her parents moved to Botswana from Uganda and Sudan to raise Ocitti and her siblings, and she learned from her parents how to make a home wherever she went.

“You carry home with you and the people around you. Once you reached a place where you were comfortable, it becomes home to you,” Ocitti said.

A stark contrast exists between the cultures that are practiced inside and outside of Ocitti’s house. This difference means that she would say that she is the sole student from Botswana at Tufts, but back home in Botswana, it feels easier for her to say that she is from elsewhere.

“In my house, my parents speak Arabic, we eat Sudanese food, it’s a whole different ambience. We have things typical of Sudanese and Ugandan culture. But as soon as I step out of my house, they speak a different language, and they have a [slightly] different value system,” she said.

In response to questions from others about Botswana, Ocitti describes it as “the most magical place.” However, she is unable to explain more beyond that, mostly because of a language barrier that limits her from truly feeling like she is a part of the Botswanan community.

“I don’t speak Setswana, so there’s

such a huge language barrier. It makes me feel as if I will never be a part of Botswana, until I speak the language,” she said. “Even if I live there my whole life, I feel that there is no way to connect enough to be from Botswana.”

While Ocitti has only experienced Ugandan and Sudanese culture through stories from her parents and grandparents, it still remains as much a part of her identity as Botswanan culture does.

“I almost feel like a fraud calling [Uganda and Sudan] home and a part of me,” Ocitti said. “If someone asks me if I would ever move there, I’d say yes in a heartbeat, but it’s also foreign to me.”

Ocitti has observed that her initial conversations with new people in the United States can be substantial but fleeting, while her connections with new people in Botswana are gradually nurtured to a point where deep conversations can be had and relationships can be maintained. “[In the U.S.] it’s very in-depth in the moment, but there’s a possibility that it will be the only conversation you’ll ever have with [that person]. However, in my experience of the people around me [in Botswana], because you’ve built up to that [depth], the relationship is more easily sustained,” she said.

Nonetheless, Ocitti’s strong curiosity, cultivated by her experience in a high school that embraced learning for learning’s sake, has driven her to build lasting friendships with new people in everything that she is involved in. “[In high school], you were expected to go out of your way to connect to people, you had to be empathetic, sympathetic and compassionate to others,” Ocitti said. “That has definitely taught me to be curious, especially with the people who I meet.”

This has held true in college, where Ocitti has used her familiarity with unfamiliar spaces to discover new experiences and meet new people.

“Even though my concept of home isn’t solidified like most people, it kind of adds see FAR HOMES, page 5

F e at u r e s

Tuesday, October 3, 2017 | Features | THE TUFTS DAILY

Two students look beyond borders to find "home"

5

Kristen Moran Failing Big

Retreat yourself

T

Junior Faith Ocitti, from Botswana, poses for a photo on Oct. 2.

FAR HOMES

continued from page 4 to how easily I can feel at home. With my different identities, I can connect to a larger group of people,” she said.

For instance, in the midst of a hectic fall semester in her first year, she discovered Tufts Mountain Club and the Loj as a place where she could relax and make deep connections with people, and is currently its first ever student outreach director.

“That was very important to me, because I am not the biggest extrovert out there, and it’s hard to be overstimulated all the time,” Ocitti said. “The rea-

son I’m still involved is because I want that for other people. I want them to find a space that they can feel comfortable in and that they can use to retreat if they wanted to.”

This sense of curiosity about other people and new experiences feeds into Ocitti’s reluctance to discuss her own sense of home and identity with others.

“My reality, to me, is so mundane. It’s one of the most boring things I could possibly talk about,” she said. “I’ve lived in and with me for 20 years. While I think there are a lot of conversations about identity here, usually it’s me on the ask-

MIKE FENG / THE TUFTS DAILY

ing end, prying into people’s lives and their backgrounds, learning more about their lives.”

Having occupied a liminal space all her life in Botswana and the United States, Ocitti does not value being able to definitively label a home or a community for herself, because it’s not something that she has ever had.

“It’s more about connecting with people one-on-one, or connecting with activities and thoughts, and then moving from there. Home has meant something to me, but it really hasn’t,” Ocitti said. “The people around me are more important than the physical location that I call home.”

his past weekend I had the opportunity to go on not one but two retreats for Tufts clubs: TCU Senate and Tufts University Social Collective ( TUSC).

The Senate retreat was a 24-hour, overnight trip to Nature’s Classroom, while the TUSC retreat was a shorter trip to Dave & Buster’s — starting just two hours after I returned from Senate.

Being off campus from 8 a.m.

Saturday through 8 p.m. Sunday was a huge time commitment, but I was determined to make it work. This was my chance to bond with the other members of these clubs outside an academic setting. Maybe this was the key to finding the community I was looking for.

I was excited and optimistic getting on the Senate bus at 8 a.m., but over the next hour and a half, my emotions fluctuated. What if everyone on Senate was already friends and didn’t want to add anyone else to the circle?

I was not only new, but also not even a senator — would being a trustee representative put up some weird divide?

I sat alone on the bus ride there, filled with too many emotions to sleep like everyone else.

We arrived and had an awkward (for me) 30 minutes of free time while the executive board set up their activities.

I babble when I’m nervous, so I spent that half hour rambling about nothing in particular, mentioning at several points how nervous I was. It wasn’t a good look.

But then team building activities started, and people seemed open and excited to meet me and all the other new members. I made solid connections with people throughout the day and felt a bit more secure in my position.

But what really kicked it off for me was receiving my Senate mentor. All the new members were paired up with an experienced member. My mentor and I discovered we both had John Mulaney stickers on our water bottles, and from there it was history. While most pairs split up after the required meeting time, we continued to chat, even going so far as to perform the classic “Stacy’s Mom” for everyone at that night’s bonfire.

Waking up the next morning, I realized I had lost all my nervousness. I had someone to sit with on the ride home, which meant someone to sit with at our weekly meetings. I was more sure than ever that this journey for community had already led me to an amazing group of people that I looked forward to being a part of.

Though exhausted from the Senate retreat, I hauled myself out of bed after an hour nap to go to the TUSC retreat, where I was so tired that I considered leaving early. But, on a much smaller scale, this retreat functioned the same: I met a lot of new people who I look forward to getting to know better.

It was a crazy weekend, but it just might have kickstarted the best semester so far.

Kristen Moran is a sophomore who has not yet declared a major. Kristen can be reached at kristen.moran@tufts.edu.

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Arts & Living

Tuesday, October 3, 2017

MOVIE REVIEW

The neon haze of ‘Beach Rats’

by Tommy Gillespie Assistant Arts Editor

Roughly midway through writer-director Eliza Hittman’s multilayered Brooklyn drama “Beach Rats” (2017), protagonist Frankie (Harris Dickinson) shaves off most of his floppy blond hair. The new look he takes on and what it says about his character is rather difficult to read.

Does it suggest that he has hardened? Is it a stripping down of Frankie’s various facades and turmoils? Or is it simply an opportunity for French cinematographer Hélène Louvart to allow a new look for filming the hot sun and neon lights of Brooklyn’s boardwalk glistening off his sweaty forehead in grainy 16mm? Perhaps there is not a larger reason. Perhaps it is simply because, as Frankie explains in one of the film’s most revealing scenes, he simply does not know what he wants.

“Beach Rats” follows the late-teenaged Frankie through a summer of upheaval in the eastern outskirts of Brooklyn as he deals with various personal crises.

He struggles through the final days of his long-ailing father and clashes with his mother (Kate Hodge) over his lack of ambition. In the midst of his familial issues, he starts an ambivalent relationship with Simone (Madeline Weinstein) while also connecting with older men for trysts on remote beaches and at motels.

Since its Sundance premiere in January, Hittman’s film has attracted headlines for both its moody, atmospheric style of filmmaking and its rather startling depiction of anti-gay violence. “Beach Rats” is her second feature; her 2013 debut “It Felt Like Love” also garnered attention for its sexually-charged content.

Plot takes a backseat in the film; Hittman seems more concerned with placing Frankie in a specific context, despite the character’s resistance to categorization. He tiptoes on the boundaries

between widely different worlds for much of the film, always retreating back to the muddled safety of his various doubts. He meets Simone under the fireworks on the boardwalk, but when he can’t perform in bed he mocks her and she storms out. He meets an older man online and they have sex in the low light of a dingy motel, but when they talk, he tells the man, “I don’t think of myself as gay.”

Hittman and Louvart expertly craft an ebbing atmospheric ambience out of the deep-seated confusion and contrast surrounding the protagonists’ world in “Beach Rats.” Neon lights emanating from the marquees of the boardwalk booths and convenience stores illuminate the characters’ faces in shades of blue and red as they obscure the shifting masses of people just behind them. The use of 16mm is particularly effective, illuminating each of the characters’ moves with a sense of confusion and closeness reminiscent of a home movie.

The mood of “Beach Rats,” however, is made all the more palpable by the mature, absorbing performance of British newcomer Dickinson as Frankie. In a film that relies so heavily on its protagonist to guide the film’s shifts in tone and emotion, Dickinson takes on the burden with the confidence and commitment of a wellheeled veteran. Each of his deliveries, movements, and looks conveys something more than itself and belies Frankie’s sometimes banal world.

As for Frankie’s banal world, it is one of white tank tops, seething testosterone, and boredom, as is so often seen in depictions of white working-class urban life. The disconnect between Frankie and his friends’ pursuit of girls, weed and occasional theft is beautifully melancholic to watch, especially as he flees from the truth about who he is and retreats back to the familiarity of his friends.

COURTESY FRANK SCHRAMM / MONTCLAIR FILM

see BEACH RATS, page 7

Harris Dickinson, who plays Frankie in the movie Beach Rats, is pictured at the Montclair Film Festival.

FASHION

In response to “Does Milan Matter?”

by Antonio Bertolino Assistant Arts Editor

This article was written in response to Vanessa Friedman’s article “Does Milan Matter?” published in The New York Times on Sept. 24.

Medford, Mass. It was 9:30 a.m. on Thursday, the garbage truck was finishing its round of collecting the recycling on Boston Avenue and a common Tufts student was het up.

Was he late to class? Was the water pressure not good enough in the shower? Did he — oops — not like what he was reading in The New York Times? Most certainly.

His morning had been ruined by an article defining the runways of Milan Fashion Week as “out-of-focus” and deeming Italian brands and designers “confused about their own roles in the greater fashion ecosystem.” Infantile vnationalistic pride aside, he believed such a claim was unfair and unjustified vis-à-vis the breathtaking and awfully photogenic moments provided by Jeremy Scott for Moschino, Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana for their eponymous brand and Donatella Versace’s star-studded tribute to her late brother Gianni.

The Moschino Spring 2018 Readyto-Wear show began with Kaia Gerber, daughter of supermodel Cindy Crawford who made her runway debut at Raf Simons’ Calvin Klein Collection earlier this year, strutting down the runway in a leather jacket and light blue tutu. The first look, which was completed by a “My Little Pony” t-shirt, set the tone for the entire collection. Jeremy Scott was serving everything fashion audiences have become accustomed to in his shows: glamour, wackiness and a healthy mix of naiveté and sex appeal. Hence the biker ballerina looks paired with “My Little Pony” accessories, including lunchboxes you might have seen in primary school, except these were in leather and cost over $900. Scott also delivered a truly showstopping moment about halfway through the show, when model Anna Cleveland strolled down the catwalk wearing a flower-shaped dress, detaching petals from it and throwing them into the crowd. Gigi Hadid and again Kaia Gerber closed wearing trompe l’oeil dresses resembling floral bouquets, wrapping and all.

Dolce & Gabbana’s Spring/Summer 2018 show was also a celebration of fun, playful and tongue-in-cheek fash-

ion, with a collection made of flashy prints, borderline-kitsch accessories and kooky headpiece symbols of ‘Italian-ness,’ like headpieces made with miniature Fiat Cinquecento cars, cabbages and vegetables evocative of Italy’s agricultural past and patterns inspired by Sicilian ceramic tiles. It definitely seemed like the D&G brand, which now earns more than 50 percent of its profits from handbags alone, is still a force on the Italian and international scenes. The garments were self-referential, some even reminiscent of the iconic show in Naples that was dedicated to actress Sophia Loren — coherent with the brand yet original and contemporary.

Dulcis in fundo, it would be impossible to write a Milan Fashion Week 2017 roundup without at least mentioning the Versace Spring 2018 Ready-to-Wear show. The collection, which was designed by the company’s creative director Donatella Versace, was entirely a tribute to Donatella’s late brother, who popularized the brand and the prints for which it has gained immense international recognition. Kaia Gerber and the Hadid sisters also graced this catwalk with their confi-

dent walks and the social media buzz with which this generation of supermodels is often associated.

The soundtrack of the show was interspersed with recordings celebrating Gianni Versace’s contribution to the world of fashion, and the garments that were sent down the runway were tangible proof of it. From the Baroque golden leaves to the pastel sweaters and miniskirts from one of the most iconic advertisements from the 1990s, every single piece and pattern spoke to the aesthetic of the Italian fashion house.

The fashion show also provided a closing moment that will be hard to forget for fashion aficionados, when Donatella walked down the runway with five of the muses her brother used to tailor his clothes after. Carla Bruni, Cindy Crawford, Helena Christensen, Naomi Campbell and Claudia Schiffer all wore stunning golden lamé gowns as the people who were lucky enough to attend the event pulled out their iPhones to record their Instagram stories.

Because of the breathtaking moments delivered by this Milan Fashion week, see MILAN, page 7

Arts & Living

Tuesday, October 3, 2017 | Arts & Living | THE TUFTS DAILY

Hittman's 'Beach Rats' is a study in the complexity of identity BEACH RATS

continued from page 6 This contrast is what eventually leads the film to its violent conclusion, in which Frankie passively facilitates his friends’ beating and robbery of Frankie’s only suitor his own age. The ending has been criticized as predictable and cliché, following an age-old pattern in which queer characters’ narratives are eventually defined.

However, this criticism ignores Hittman’s decision to give a queer character like Frankie the agency to either allow or prevent this violence, which, of course, he squanders. It is somewhat of a shock to the audience, as Frankie’s friends are never presented as anything more malicious than a minor annoyance beforehand.

But it is Frankie’s complicity in this violence that leaves the most powerful

impression. After lending such a degree of deference and compassion to Frankie in his constant waffling through different worlds and identities, the film finally forces him to make a choice, and he makes the wrong one. Behind the last shot of Frankie’s face, at a loss to understand his actions, is a uniquely tragic implication: that the pressure for anyone, not just Frankie, to claim a singular identity is enough to drive them to violence.

Italian designers make a case for Milan's enduring fashion influence

COURTESY GIORGIO MONTERSINO / FLICKR

A female model wearing the new line of Giorgio Armani at Milan Fashion Week 2013.

MILAN

continued from page 6 people claiming Italian fashion houses were “out-of-focus,” or that there is confu-

sion in any measure in the Italian fashion realm, are simply confused themselves.

Although the state of Italian politics might not be as prosperous, the runways of

Moschino, Dolce & Gabbana and Versace were evidence that people will still have to look to Milan for creative inspiration.

Milan does (still) matter.

7

Nikki Margaretos Is This Thing On?

Is This Thing On? The power of musical activism

H

ow would you feel if your best friend told you they didn’t vote in the last presidential election? Confused, maybe upset?

Some might even ask, “Don’t we have a responsibility to use our voices?” I was reading a Tufts Observer article which asked a similar question: Do artists have a duty to be political? This could be the economics major in me speaking, but I don’t think there is a right or wrong answer. However, I think we have to consider just how these stars got to be in such a position of power in the first place. They excelled at what they set out to do: create music. However, the unfortunate reality is that as artists gain fame, their careers become so much more than their talent. If you think about indie musicians like little start-up companies, stars like Beyoncé and Taylor Swift are multinational corporations.

They have public relations departments, sales and marketing teams, millions of fans to consider with each strategic decision. And while I applaud artists who go the extra mile and use their stardom to see tangible results, I don’t think it’s fair to criticize those who choose to focus on their artistry. That being said, let’s take a look at an example.

A friend of mine shared a remix of “Mi Gente” (2017) that hit the internet last week, completely unannounced. The new edition features Beyoncé alongside J Balvin and Willy William, who are Colombian and French singers, respectively. According to her Instagram post, Beyoncé will donate her “proceeds from this song to hurricane relief charities for Puerto Rico, Mexico and the other affected Caribbean islands.”

The original song has enjoyed mainstream success since its debut in June 2017, yet the Bey-infused track has already racked up millions of Spotify plays since last Thursday and basked in the spotlight of celebrities sharing it online, including soccer player Cristiano Ronaldo, DJ Steve Aoki and social influencer Lele Pons. It’s too early to tell how much philanthropic success we’ll see from the song, but I’m certain its impact will be significant.

All things considered, I was disappointed to learn that the collaboration was not Beyoncé’s idea, but that Balvin and William approached her. Still, her participation will definitely strike a chord with victims of the disasters and the global community alike. Over the past 35 years, only 15 non-English songs have made it to the Billboard Hot 100, with the last being “Despacito” (2017). With the percentage of U.S. Spanish-speakers on the rise, it certainly didn’t hurt to have the name recognition of Justin Bieber on the remix cast with Daddy Yankee and Luis Fonsi. Taking a play from their book, could Beyoncé’s pull on “Mi Gente” earn the track a coveted spot? We’ll keep an eye on it.

In other news this week, our childhood icons Miley Cyrus and Demi Lovato each released their sixth albums last Friday.

As two grads of the Disney singer-actress pressure cooker, Demi is now enjoying her recent ‘glow up,’ while Cyrus appears to have left her twerking days behind for good. Check out my highlights along with a few throwbacks on Spotify.

Nikki Margaretos is a senior majoring in economics. Nikki can be reached at nikoletta.margaretos@tufts.edu.

8

THE TUFTS DAILY | Comics | Tuesday, October 3, 2017

tuftsdaily.com

Comics

LATE NIGHT AT THE DAILY Joe: “Why am I bleeding?”

Comics

SUDOKU

GARFIELD

BY JIM DAVIS

NON SEQUITUR

BY WILEY MILLER

Difficulty Level: Picking a pair of salmon shorts out of the crowd in your IR lecture

Monday’s Solution

LINDA C. BLACK ASTROLOGY

Libra (Sept. 23-Oct. 22)

Work done today has long-term benefit. Physical actions get more graceful and skillful with practice. If you want the results, put in the time.

FOR RELEASE OCTOBER 3, 2017

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

ACROSS 1 Carpet thickness 5 Crowbar, basically 10 Vanishing ski lift 14 Preemptive rescue op 15 Wear down 16 MasterCard rival 17 *Boot camp newbie 19 Not fer 20 Slap in the face 21 Play the hand you were dealt 23 Smooth engine sound 25 __-Locka, Florida 26 Aetna’s bus.

27 Michelin product 31 Ancient vase in a museum, say 33 Fuel-efficient Chevy 34 Physics work unit 36 Starts the kitty 39 Truth stretcher 40 Nebula Award genre 43 Undiluted 44 Untrue 46 Acquired 47 __ Minor: Little Bear 48 Chinese menu promise 51 Company co-founded by J.P. Morgan 53 “The Simpsons” disco guy 55 Sport-__: 4 x 4 56 90 deg. at the North Pole, e.g.

57 Overly long and generally unproductive activity 60 One of Santa’s reindeer 65 “SOS” pop group 66 *Defensible alibi 68 Baked desserts 69 Latest craze 70 Ointment additive 71 Tortoise racer 72 Spiritual guardian 73 Identity hider DOWN 1 Prefix with scope 2 Hall of Fame catcher Rodriguez

CROSSWORD

By Roland Huget

3 Newton’s motion trio 4 Color of raw silk 5 Professors’ talks 6 Boot the ball 7 “Parlez-__ français?”

8 Manuscript fixer 9 Make another recording of 10 Promo on the tube 11 *Grand scheme of things 12 From China, say 13 Tirades 18 Pre-college, briefly 22 Simba’s playmate 24 Defunct Ford division, for short 27 Baby whale 28 Sports shoe brand 29 *It may be rational, in math 30 Sculptor’s subject 32 Data to be processed 35 Band tour booking 37 Highland tongue 38 Close tightly 41 Basketball transgression

10/3/17

Monday’s Puzzle Solved Monday’s Solution

©2017 Tribune Content Agency, LLC

42 “Agreed!” ... and what can be said about the start of the answers to starred clues 45 Grounded Aussie birds 49 Mark of disgrace 50 Columbus, by birth 52 Lay’s chips-in-acan brand

10/3/17

53 Dangerous bacterium 54 Knee-to-ankle bone 58 Lessen, as pain 59 Skull Island ape 61 Rip-off 62 Island dance 63 Those, in Mexico 64 Cause serious nose-wrinkling 67 Stop working, as an engine

Tuesday, October 3, 2017

Opinion

9 tuftsdaily.com

EDITORIAL

TCU should create more initiatives like Textbook Exchange Amidst talk of tuition hikes and increased housing costs, it’s refreshing to finally see a headline about saving students money. The TCU Senate’s Textbook Exchange, which took place from Sept. 4–12 saved students an estimated $30,000 in total. The event will hopefully be the first of many events geared toward saving students money.

Philip Miller, TCU senate education committee chair, originally proposed the idea of a textbook-purchasing platform other than the bookstore and Amazon.

“I was hoping to save Tufts students money,” Miller told the Daily in an email.

“On top of that, students on financial aid, as of now, do not have [another] source to get their textbooks from (other than the Tisch textbook reserve) without paying excessive prices.”

Following the success of the event, Miller is already brainstorming ways to reform and expand it. “Right now, everyone who works the exchange, codes the UI, or manages the data is unpaid,” he told the Daily in an email.

“Ideally we will find some way to pay students for the time they put in.”

Additionally, Miller wants to stream-

line the process and enhance the physical shopping experience.

Despite the success of the TCU Textbook Exchange this year, and the improvements the Senate wants to make, the initiative is met with multifaceted challenges. Due to complexities concerning class material, the rise of affordable alternatives, and university contracts with official book suppliers, TCU needs to respond with creative reform to expand the initiative.

One main problem is that course material may change annually.

Publishers constantly release new editions of essential course textbooks to prevent programs like the Textbook Exchange from harming their profits.

Recently, professors of introductory classes — e.g. language and economics — have also been opting to teach students through these publishers’ online platforms because of their effectiveness in tracking students’ academic progress. This change is in line with the Schools of Arts and Sciences and Engineering expanding approval of credited massive open online courses (MOOCs) in 2014. Students purchase

membership and access to such platforms and courses through websites, which usually include online textbooks as well, and such memberships are almost always personalized for a specific student and cannot be reused for the same course.

Amazon and other alternative platforms have posed as friendly competitors to the Textbook Exchange as well.

Amazon’s services range from Prime Student, a two-day shipping service, to Kindle textbooks and textbook rentals, which allow a student to borrow a book for 150 days. Barnes & Noble, Chegg and Bookbyte also allow for price comparison, flexible rent options, and even highlighting on some pages. These companies understand that most students don’t have an incentive to keep their textbooks over selling or renting them. Students tend to use these platforms not only because of the services they provide, but also because they are unsure whether textbooks listed on the syllabi for their courses are actually required, and whether they will stay in their courses for the entire semester. It is therefore important for the Textbook

Exchange to communicate its benefits to students and open its supplies early in the semester.

These are significant challenges for the Textbook Exchange, which relies on a consistent curriculum to maintain its pool of textbooks. Because of the obstacles this specific event faces, TCU Senate should continue to implement similarly oriented initiatives. TCU Senate’s success in implementing the Book It Forward initiative with the Tufts University Social Collective (TUSC) and Tisch Library’s piloting of a new textbook reserve system in collaboration with the Office for Student Success and Advising show how cooperation between institutions can help achieve the goal of reducing financial burdens for students.

The Textbook Exchange could further benefit by sharing online material through its Facebook platform, by introducing a rental service or by extending its open periods. Whatever means it does end up using to enhance its quality, Tufts Textbook Exchange should be an example to other initiatives, with hopes of saving the Tufts community money wherever possible.

CARTOON

MARIA FONG

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.

10

THE TUFTS DAILY | Opinion | Tuesday, October 3, 2017

Shantel Bartolome and Conor Friedmann Bored & Confused

Why is avocado so popular?

“Millennial: your generation got houses and jobs Boomer: yes but we lived with constant fear of nuclear winter Millennial: hold my avocado” —Twitter user @kennethn en Norton’s tweet may be the ultimate embodiment of the millennial generation: one fraught with worries about future employment and stability, yet comforted by the promise of a rich, creamy avocado to quell its fears. Americans eat a whopping 80 million pounds of avocados on Super Bowl Sunday, and the average American eats five pounds of avocados a year, surpassing the apple. While it’s a no-brainer that avocados are delicious, one can still ask: why are avocados so popular?

The avocado’s popularity is, in fact, the result of tireless, decades-long work by avocado organization California Avocado Growers’ Exchange and public relations firm Hill & Knowlton. In the beginning of the 20th century, the avocado had a pretty bad rep. This probably had a lot to do with its former name: the “alligator pear.” The rough, dark green skin of the avocado did slightly resemble an alligator, but many were not keen on eating a fruit that reminded them of a swamp creature. “Alligator pear” was such a distasteful name that the California Avocado Growers’ Exchange accused it of causing the fruit’s devastatingly low sales. Thus, they advocated for a name change to “avocado,” suggesting a sort of exotic opulence to U.S. consumers.

And while the name change was ultimately achieved, the public still felt unsure on how or why they should eat such a foreign, unfamiliar fruit. Enter Hill & Knowlton.

Hill & Knowlton had a seemingly impossible challenge: to spread the joy of avocados to the then unbeknownst masses. The PR company first attempted to market the fruit as fun and relatable. So, naturally, they gave the avocado a mascot: Mr. Ripe Guy. Mr. Ripe Guy was a pretty cool dude, traveling in an avocado-colored car and bringing avocados (his favorite fruit, of course) wherever he went. He soon even had a female counterpart: Ms. Ripe. This piqued the interest of the American public, eager for another fun mascot and role model to join the iconic likes of McDonald’s Ronald McDonald and KFC’s Colonel Sanders.

Hill & Knowlton’s quest for avocado victory culminated in the Super Bowl, or more appropriately, the “Guacamole Bowl.” In 1992, the PR company presented guacamole samples to Super Bowl audiences and enlisted NFL players to publish their favorite avocado or guacamole recipes, reaching out to the vast American public. Its “Guacomole Bowl” tactics were a success. Soon after, the economic value of the avocado skyrocketed 70 percent from 1988 to 2000, declaring the avocado, Hill & Knowlton and the California Avocado Growers’ Exchange the true winners of the Super Bowl. Since then, avocados have become a staple in many millennials’ as well as many U.S. families’ diets.

So, next time you eat an avocado, stop and think about the unlikely, long-fought victory of the “alligator pear.” And then eat the avocado because it’s delicious.

K

Shantel Bartolome is a sophomore who has not yet declared a major. Shantel can be reached at natasha.bartolome@tufts. edu. Conor Friedmann is a sophomore who has not yet declared a major. Conor can be reached at conor.friedman@tufts. edu.

tuftsdaily.com

Sports

Tuesday, October 3, 2017 | Sports | THE TUFTS DAILY

First-years carry the team, scoring both goals against the Mammoths WOMEN'S SOCCER

continued from back — we have yet to lose in OT! If anything, I think it gives us some more motivation to finish games in regulation since we know how tiring overtime can be.”

The story of the game was one of grit and efficiency, but also called to attention the critical importance of the two new faces anchoring the Jumbos front line.

Reed and Lloyd carried the Jumbos’ scoring set this past Saturday and have worked in tandem at the forward positions all season, now adding Reed’s one to Lloyd’s five goals. The two firstyears already have 14 points between

them through the first eight games, a number they will surely look to expand upon as the second half of the season rolls around.

Tufts students and fans alike should expect to see much more of these two rising stars, who are joined by first years goalkeeper Ava McKane, defender/midfielder Hannah Isenhart and defender Rachel Brown.

Only time will tell how women’s soccer will fare in its eight final games of the season, but if the offensive explosion of its first-years and undefeated in-conference record are any indication, Ranalli believes that the outlook for the remainder of this season is bright.

“The team should be really proud of its performance,” Ranalli said. “We played a hard fought, back-to-front game, topping it off with a senior assist leading to a freshman goal. Coach Martha is a steady, strong force, and with her leading us, we fully expect to compete for a shot at this year’s NESCAC title.”

Led by Whiting and captains Ranalli and senior forward Alex Scheman, Tufts look to build momentum again as they prepare to welcome Middlebury (5–2–1) on Saturday, Oct. 7 at Kraft Field for Tufts’ homecoming weekend, before traveling to Hamilton on Sunday.

Jumbos will continue to take advantage of fall training at Head of Charles on Oct. 22

SOFIE HECHT / THE TUFTS DAILY

The Tufts crew team races Middlebury College on the Malden River on April 16, 2016.

MEN'S CREW

continued from back limiting factor in my rowing ability so this is literally the most valuable thing we can be doing right now even if it’s also one of the more frustrating ways of going about

it,” he said. “It’s a really worthwhile way to practice … and the most responsible way of teaching yourself how to row properly.”

That practice has already paid off for the Jumbos, who had three boats last season make it to the New England Rowing

Championships and had all three final in their respective events.

The squad will compete in several more sculling events this fall, the most notable being the Head of the Charles Regatta on Oct. 22.

11

Arlo Moore-Bloom The Equalizer

Shattering the glass ceiling in US soccer

F

C Cincinnati’s fans have a right to feel like their team is spinning its wheels in the mud. Although it averages over 20,000 fans a game and consistently reaches the United Soccer League (USL) playoffs, it can never compete with the top professional teams in the U.S. What’s the incentive to invest if there’s a glass ceiling stopping teams’ growth?

In the global soccer landscape, promotion/relegation promotes an open system that encourages innovation and competition. There are different tiered leagues, and at the end of the season, the bottom three teams from the top-tiered league are relegated to the league one tier below them, and the top three teams from that league are promoted to the league one tier above them.

Essentially, this open market allows for a soccer pyramid to prosper where the cream of the crop can rise to the top.

Teams must compete to stay afloat; if they don’t, they will be relegated and face revenue losses. In the current setup, Major League Soccer (MLS) favors mediocrity for the privileged few: franchises can play their worst season in history and won’t be punished for it.

Hold on a minute, some might say.

Other U.S. sports leagues don’t have pro/ rel systems, why does MLS need one?

Because of soccer’s ludicrously competitive global market, MLS always plays catch up. Leagues in Europe started in the late 19th century. MLS’s first game was played in 1996. For MLS to compete on a global level, the system must change to allow for higher stakes and more competition.

But what franchise owner would be willing to fork over tens of millions of dollars for a season and not be guaranteed access to the same market in the next one?

And that’s the problem. For pro/rel to be instituted, MLS must look past its long nose of monopolistic greed and see that better pastures await.

Implementing pro/rel would not be easy. The United States Soccer Federation (USSF) would have to restructure the division system, which currently is based on arbitrary factors such as population of the city the team belongs to. The North American Soccer League (NASL) recently filed a lawsuit against the USSF after it lost its Div. II status, arguing that these same arbitrary factors were only created to protect its business partner, MLS, from outside competition (i.e. the NASL).

The USL successfully held onto Div. II status, although many argue that USL’s affiliation with MLS through reserve or feeder teams forced MLS to protect them. Clearly, professional soccer in the U.S. is a chaotic landscape. It hasn’t helped that the USSF has had no comprehensive plan for the future.

A pro/rel system would also be good for the sport itself; every game matters, and MLS could finally differentiate itself from other American sports leagues.

Until the USSF forges ahead and introduces plans for a merit-based system where hard work and innovation can rise to the top like the rest of the world, there’s little hope that MLS can become a top league.

Arlo Moore-Bloom is a first-year who has not yet declared a major. Arlo can be reached at arlo.moore_bloom@tufts.edu.

12 tuftsdaily.com

Sports

Tuesday, October 3, 2017

WOMEN'S SOCCER

Tufts wins in overtime battle at Amherst to remain unbeaten in the NESCAC

by Josh Steinfink

Contributing Writer

Tufts sealed the deal this past weekend, finally clinching a 2–1 overtime win at Amherst after three of the team’s first eight games resulted in double-overtime draws. With the win, Tufts now stands at 4–1–3 overall and 3–0–2 in NESCAC, placing the team third in the conference at the season’s halfway point. Williams holds the top spot, with a 6–0–1 conference record, and Conn. College lies not far behind at 4–1–1.

“Saturday was definitely a highlight of my season so far,” junior co-captain midfielder Emma Ranalli said. “It’s always great to beat Amherst and we’ve been successful there in the past. NESCAC is a crazy league, and you can go from eighth to third in one game, but it’s always a battle.”

Tufts’ victory this past Saturday comes after a disappointing 2–1 loss at MIT’s Steinbrenner Stadium Tuesday night, the team’s first and only defeat of the season. At Amherst, both the Jumbos and the Mammoths played with the intention to win in regular time, with a total of 28 shots taken over the full 92 minutes of play, 14 by either side. Despite multiple shots by Tufts’ first-year forwards Sophie Lloyd and Elizabeth Reed in the opening minutes and several more attempts by Amherst around the 40-minute mark, neither team was able to break through.

The Mammoths are off their game this season, standing at ninth in the NESCAC with a 1–4 record. They have finished in the top three every year but one since 2002, so this is unfamiliar territory for them. Their weaknesses showed on game day, as they recorded yet another loss on the season.

With 10 minutes remaining,

MATTHEW SCHREIBER / THE TUFTS DAILY

Sophomore midfielder Jenna Troccoli looks to turn away from a defender during Tufts women’s soccer’s 2-1 loss to Williams on a wet Kraft Field.

Amherst’s senior forward Hannah Guzzi broke the deadlock, leaving Tufts with little time to scramble back. In response, coach Martha Whiting sent on Reed and Lloyd and was rewarded.

With six minutes remaining, Reed, a Lynnfield, Mass. native, got her first collegiate goal of the season as she ripped a shot to tie the score at one apiece.

Ranalli said that the team’s ability to fight back demonstrated their resilience.

“It was really tough to go down with 10 minutes left, but we knew we had time and had real shot to work our way back,” Ranalli said.

However, neither team could manage another score in the final minutes. Right out of the gate in overtime, Amherst landed a corner kick and a subsequent shot on goal. Thanks to a solid save by Tufts junior goalkeeper Emily Bowers in the 91st minute, the Jumbos stayed alive, and like clockwork rallied the ball up to Lloyd at the forward slot. Taking Amherst by surprise, Lloyd booted the ball back for a second Tufts goal to clinch the 2–1 overtime win just two minutes after the end of regulation.

“Scoring the game winning goal was super exciting, especially since it was our

first goal in overtime play and I know how much it means to the team to beat Amherst,” Lloyd told the Daily in an electronic message.

The Jumbos have played seven periods of overtime across four games this season.

“The overtime play, a total of 62 minutes now, has definitely not been ideal. We are at the point in the season where bodies are fatiguing so every extra minute matters,” Bowers told the Daily in an electronic message. “Fortunately though our team is pretty resilient and rises to the challenge see WOMEN'S SOCCER, page 11

MEN'S CREW

Tufts opens 2017 fall season with impressive individual performances

by Ryan Albanesi Staff Writer

Competing in the very first race of its fall campaign, the Tufts men’s crew team traveled to Putney, Vt. for the Green Mountain Head Regatta, an elite sculling event. Facing off against mostly non-collegiate rowers in an unusual racing format where rowers each race in their own boat, the Jumbos focused primarily on improving their personal technique rather than coming home with a victory.

Going into the race, coach Noel Wanner chose the top 13 rowers on the team most confident in their sculling abilities, an event type the varsity team will not compete in once their season kicks into high gear this spring.

The regatta was unique in the Jumbos’ schedule for two reasons. First, most Tufts rowers are used to competing in boats with a total of eight rowers with one oar per person. At Green Mountain Head, 12 Jumbos raced in their own boats with two oars and one raced alongside an assistant coach in a double.

Even more unusual, the caliber of the competition at Green Mountain Head

was higher than a normal regatta, with the majority of racers rowing above the collegiate level. As such, the team was mostly looking to improve in their results compared to last year and to gain technical experience, according to senior Ashton Knight.

“The idea is by taking us to these races, we will improve the team as more technical individual rowers,” he said.

“It’s pretty low stakes for us, but with really talented competitors.”

Junior tri-captain Isaac Mudge echoed Knight’s sentiment.

“In some ways it’s a weird race because the competition is so high and the pressure isn’t necessarily on because we’re racing these elite level scullers,” he said. “It’s still tough to get beat by those guys by like a minute, so I never really leave this race feeling super pumped … but it’s a great race to come to.”

Despite the tough opposition, the Jumbos largely managed to hold their own against the older, more experienced scullers. Senior tri-captain Andrew MacMillen was the top finisher for Tufts in the 1x19-34 race, placing an impressive fifth with a time of 20:07.9.

“Our results are really indicative of the team becoming more talented and displaying more skill and confidence than we have in the past,” Knight said. “It’s not the kind of racing we’re going to be seeing in the spring, but it’s awesome that we have so many people that can hold their own against these guys.”

Including MacMillen, the Jumbos had five rowers place in the top 20 competitors, a clear improvement from last year’s results in the same regatta, when only three rowers placed as highly in the leaderboard. Knight finished in 15th place with a time of 21:04.1, junior Ryan Bell placed 17th in 21:21.2, senior Thomas Hendrickson raced a 21:24.5 and placed 18th and sophomore Paul Gelhaus rounded out the top 20 in 21:50.7.

While the team’s overall improvement in this regatta was certainly desired, the fall season itself is generally viewed as the perfect time for the crew team to improve on its technical skills and not worry as much about times or results.

“Basically the way it works in the fall is it’s more of a training season and our coach is a lot more focused on improving every rower… and the way he does that

is by having a lot more time in single and quad boats,” junior coxswain James Grant said. “I feel like every day in practice for at least a little we do single [boats].”

The benefit of sculling is clear to the rowers.

“Being in an individual boat allows athletes to feel how they are powering the boat, teaches them how to balance their bodies and creates a more controlled rhythm to rowing,” Grant said.

Sophomore Sam Agnew agreed that the single boats pose a unique challenge.

“It’s a little more difficult to balance the singles, and it’s a very sturdy boat when you’re in the eight guy boat so you can’t really tell when you’re making mistakes,” he said. “Towards the end of the race, I started technically falling apart, and it’s good to learn that you need to work on certain technical things.”

Mudge, who finished in 23rd with a time of 21:58.3, sees sculling as the single most important training exercise the Jumbos can do at this point in their season.

“For me personally, technique is the see MEN'S CREW, page 11