The Tufts Daily - Wednesday, November 14, 2018

Waste Less Dinner targets food waste in dining halls, raises awareness for sustainable eating see FEATURES / PAGE 4

ATHLETE SPOTLIGHT

Gelfand dives into collegiate, paralympic competition

Sticky subject: Despite intriguing characters, ‘The Girl in the Spider’s Web’ falls prey to spy film banality see ARTS&LIVING / PAGE 6

SEE SPORTS / BACK PAGE

THE

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T HE T UFTS DAILY

VOLUME LXXVI, ISSUE 46

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Wednesday, November 14, 2018

MEDFORD/SOMERVILLE, MASS.

Post-election panel discusses voter registration, gerrymandering, recounts

RACHEL HARTMAN / THE TUFTS DAILY

Panelists Richard Eichenberg, Aidan Kestigian, Paul Joseph and Deborah Schildkraut discuss the results of the recent midterm elections at an event in the Sophia Gordon Multipurpose Room on Nov. 13.

by Noah Shamus Staff Writer

A post-election panel, sponsored by JumboVote and the Jonathan M. Tisch College of Civic Life, was held in Sophia Gordon Multipurpose Room Tuesday night. The event focused on student questions in an effort to process and understand the results of the recent midterm election.

The panel consisted of Associate Professor of Political Science Richard Eichenberg, Professor of Political Science Deborah Schildkraut, Science, Technology, and Society Program Manager Aidan Kestigian and Professor and Interim Chair of the Department of Sociology Paul Joseph.

JumboVote member Caroline Enloe, a junior, opened the event by asking the panelists what their expectations were

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going into the midterms. Schildkraut spoke first, saying that she had confidence in the polls leading up to Nov. 6.

“One thing that often gets lost a lot is that national polls in the 2016 election were actually pretty good,” she said.

“It just so happened that the polls in Wisconsin, Pennsylvania and Michigan were the bad ones.”

Joseph then said that President Donald Trump’s pre-election rhetoric jeopardized democracy.

“The politics of fear, the politics [of ] white nationalism, the politics of attacking the media, attacking science, attacking information — I add all these things up and there’s this real threat to our democracy,” Joseph said.

Following Joseph’s comments, Kestigian noted that state legislatures are usually responsible for congressional redistricting. This made last Tuesday’s results, in which several state legislatures saw shifts

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in power from one party to another, all the more critical, Kestigian added.

Eichenberg said that despite the Democrats’ retaking the House of Representatives after eight years of a Republican majority, there remain obstacles to their policy goals. “[In the Senate], there is a long-term structural advantage on the side of the Republicans,” he said.

Schildkraut noted one of the House Democrats’ top policy goals: to improve nationwide voter registration.

“The [Democrats] in the House are saying they want to have national automatic voter registration,” she said. “We know that this increases voter turnout because some states have experimented with it.”

Schildkraut also discussed the outsized impact that third-party candidates can have on electoral outcomes, affecting both Democrat and Republican candidates. She added that these results

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can lead to bipartisan support for the implementation of a ranked-choice voting system, in which voters rank candidates by preference, such as the one introduced in Maine.

The discussion then turned to gerrymandering, including its prevalence in the U.S. electoral landscape and recent efforts to combat it. Kestigian, who is also program manager for the Tufts/MIT Metric Geometry and Gerrymandering Group, said she was pleased to see some states address gerrymandering directly in the midterms.

“I was heartened to see more of these independent commissions [on redistricting] gaining traction in some of the states,” Kestigian said.

When asked by Schildkraut if there is empirical evidence supporting such independent commissions, Kestigian

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

see ELECTION PANEL, page 2

FUN & GAMES.......................10 OPINION...................................12 SPORTS............................ BACK

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THE TUFTS DAILY | News | Wednesday, November 14, 2018

THE TUFTS DAILY Seohyun Shim Editor-in-Chief

EDITORIAL

Sean Ong Caleb Symons Managing Editors Alexis Serino Associate Editor Daniel Nelson Executive News Editor Jessica Blough News Editors Connor Dale Charlie Driver Jenna Fleischer Juliana Furgala Kat Grellman Liza Harris Zachary Hertz Gil Jacobson Anar Kansara Liam Knox Natasha Mayor Cathy Perloff Minna Trinh Hannah Uebele Shantel Bartolome Assistant News Editors Austin Clementi Conor Friedmann Abbie Gruskin Noah Richter

Jessie Newman Executive Features Editor Constantinos Angelakis Features Editors Emma Damokosh Kenia French Ameenah Rashid Michael Shames Grace Yuh Sidharth Anand Kevin Doherty Assistant Features Editors Jacob Fried Justin Yu Tommy Gillespie Executive Arts Editor Antonio Bertolino Arts Editors John Fedak Libby Langsner Setenay Mufti Julian Blatt Assistant Arts Editors Stephanie Hoechst Christopher Panella Ruijingya Tang Deeksha Bathini Jesse Clem Maria Fong Shannon Geary Nasrin Lin Lydia Ra Rebecca Tang Emily Burke Carrie Haynes Yuan Jun Chee Ryan Eggers Liam Finnegan Savannah Mastrangelo Arlo Moore-Bloom Maddie Payne Haley Rich Brad Schussel Tim Chiang Sejal Dua Jeremy Goldstein David Meyer Josh Steinfink Ethan Zaharoni

Executive Opinion Editor Cartoonists

Editorialists

Executive Sports Editor Sports Editors

Assistant Sports Editors

David Nickerson Investigative Editor Rachel Hartman Executive Photo Editor Anika Agarwal Photo Administrator Erik Britt Staff Photographers Andrea Chavez Allison Culbert Mike Feng Kenar Haratunian Ben Kim Max Lalanne Christine Lee Julia McDowell Madeleine Oliver Evan Slack Ana Sophia Acosta Executive Video Editors Annette Key Asha Iyer Video Editor

PRODUCTION Alice Yoon

Production Director Aidan Menchaca Executive Layout Editors Daniel Montoya Amanda Covaleski Layout Editors Anna Deck Jordan Isaacs Maygen Kerner Omeir Khan Isabella Montoya Katharine Pinney Executive Graphics Editor Luke Allocco Executive Copy Editors David Levitsky Caroline Bollinger Copy Editors Mary Carroll Myshko Chumak Anna Hirshman Rachel Isralowitz Katie Martensen Ali Mintz Nihaal Shah Liora Silkes Hannah Wells Jiayu Xu Avni Ambalam Assistant Copy Editors Allie Morgenstern Yuval Wolf Ani Hopkins

Executive Online Editor Senior Online Editor

Ercan Sen Executive Social Media Editors Amy Tong Asli Akova Social Media Editor Elisabeth Blossom Assistant Social Media Editors Shaivi Herur Asha Iyer Lillian Miller

BUSINESS Joe Walsh

Executive Business Director

tuftsdaily.com

JumboVote, Tisch College host panel to discuss midterm elections ELECTION PANEL

continued from page 1 said that the sample size of states was still too small to produce any measurable data. She also spoke to the difficulty of extrapolating data from different states, given their widely divergent electoral rules.

The panelists then discussed the electoral recounts currently underway in Florida and their implications for the future of American politics. Schildkraut began by expressing fear that portions of the electorate may reject the eventual outcomes of the recounts. “[Recounts are] one area where I would say I’m not so optimistic,” she said. “[It] has the biggest risk of people just not accepting [results]. One of my biggest fears was that there would be a contingent of Trump supporters who do not accept the election outcome because of all the talk of election rigging.”

She added that the United States has not yet faced a situation in which people do not accept election outcomes.

“It’s a miracle that in our country … when one side loses, if they are an incumbent, they move out of the White House or the governor’s house,” she said. “But we haven’t really been tested with the person who currently occupies power not accepting that they lost.”

Eichenberg, in response to Schildkraut, said that provisional ballots, which are cast by voters unable to prove their identity at the polls pending later verification, are not always counted by the media on election night, leading to misperceptions of the outcomes of contentious races.

“The need to cast a provisional ballot is concentrated among the young and people of color,” Eichenberg said. “So when we are talking about counting or recounting, there are issues there that [risk] alienating whoever happens to be ahead.”

Drawing on Eichenberg’s comment, Schildkraut said that the media’s election reporting can sometimes misrepresent how many ballots are actually left to count.

“Part of the problem is you get these reports [from the media] saying its ‘99 percent reporting’ or ‘100 percent reporting,’ so it makes it seem like the vote is counted, and so if these new votes come from somewhere, it must be fishy,” she said. “The media can do a better job of educating people on what it means on election night to say a certain percentage of the votes are in.”

JumboVote member Dani Musoff reflected on the elections.

“While everyone was looking forward to 2018 and what it was going to show, that there are still a lot of questions out there and [2020] is still a big, even bigger, question,” Musoff, a junior, said.

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THE TUFTS DAILY | News | Wednesday, November 14, 2018

THE TUFTS DAILY Seohyun Shim Editor-in-Chief

EDITORIAL

Sean Ong Caleb Symons Managing Editors Alexis Serino Associate Editor Daniel Nelson Executive News Editor Jessica Blough News Editors Connor Dale Charlie Driver Jenna Fleischer Juliana Furgala Kat Grellman Liza Harris Zachary Hertz Gil Jacobson Anar Kansara Liam Knox Natasha Mayor Cathy Perloff Minna Trinh Hannah Uebele Shantel Bartolome Assistant News Editors Austin Clementi Conor Friedmann Abbie Gruskin Noah Richter

Jessie Newman Executive Features Editor Constantinos Angelakis Features Editors Emma Damokosh Kenia French Ameenah Rashid Michael Shames Grace Yuh Sidharth Anand Kevin Doherty Assistant Features Editors Jacob Fried Justin Yu Tommy Gillespie Executive Arts Editor Antonio Bertolino Arts Editors John Fedak Libby Langsner Setenay Mufti Julian Blatt Assistant Arts Editors Stephanie Hoechst Christopher Panella Ruijingya Tang Deeksha Bathini Jesse Clem Maria Fong Shannon Geary Nasrin Lin Lydia Ra Rebecca Tang Emily Burke Carrie Haynes Yuan Jun Chee Ryan Eggers Liam Finnegan Savannah Mastrangelo Arlo Moore-Bloom Maddie Payne Haley Rich Brad Schussel Tim Chiang Sejal Dua Jeremy Goldstein David Meyer Josh Steinfink Ethan Zaharoni

Executive Opinion Editor Cartoonists

Editorialists

Executive Sports Editor Sports Editors

Assistant Sports Editors

David Nickerson Investigative Editor Rachel Hartman Executive Photo Editor Anika Agarwal Photo Administrator Erik Britt Staff Photographers Andrea Chavez Allison Culbert Mike Feng Kenar Haratunian Ben Kim Max Lalanne Christine Lee Julia McDowell Madeleine Oliver Evan Slack Ana Sophia Acosta Executive Video Editors Annette Key Asha Iyer Video Editor

PRODUCTION Alice Yoon

Production Director Aidan Menchaca Executive Layout Editors Daniel Montoya Amanda Covaleski Layout Editors Anna Deck Jordan Isaacs Maygen Kerner Omeir Khan Isabella Montoya Katharine Pinney Executive Graphics Editor Luke Allocco Executive Copy Editors David Levitsky Caroline Bollinger Copy Editors Mary Carroll Myshko Chumak Anna Hirshman Rachel Isralowitz Katie Martensen Ali Mintz Nihaal Shah Liora Silkes Hannah Wells Jiayu Xu Avni Ambalam Assistant Copy Editors Allie Morgenstern Yuval Wolf Ani Hopkins

Executive Online Editor Senior Online Editor

Ercan Sen Executive Social Media Editors Amy Tong Asli Akova Social Media Editor Elisabeth Blossom Assistant Social Media Editors Shaivi Herur Asha Iyer Lillian Miller

BUSINESS Joe Walsh

Executive Business Director

tuftsdaily.com

JumboVote, Tisch College host panel to discuss midterm elections ELECTION PANEL

continued from page 1 said that the sample size of states was still too small to produce any measurable data. She also spoke to the difficulty of extrapolating data from different states, given their widely divergent electoral rules.

The panelists then discussed the electoral recounts currently underway in Florida and their implications for the future of American politics. Schildkraut began by expressing fear that portions of the electorate may reject the eventual outcomes of the recounts. “[Recounts are] one area where I would say I’m not so optimistic,” she said. “[It] has the biggest risk of people just not accepting [results]. One of my biggest fears was that there would be a contingent of Trump supporters who do not accept the election outcome because of all the talk of election rigging.”

She added that the United States has not yet faced a situation in which people do not accept election outcomes.

“It’s a miracle that in our country … when one side loses, if they are an incumbent, they move out of the White House or the governor’s house,” she said. “But we haven’t really been tested with the person who currently occupies power not accepting that they lost.”

Eichenberg, in response to Schildkraut, said that provisional ballots, which are cast by voters unable to prove their identity at the polls pending later verification, are not always counted by the media on election night, leading to misperceptions of the outcomes of contentious races.

“The need to cast a provisional ballot is concentrated among the young and people of color,” Eichenberg said. “So when we are talking about counting or recounting, there are issues there that [risk] alienating whoever happens to be ahead.”

Drawing on Eichenberg’s comment, Schildkraut said that the media’s election reporting can sometimes misrepresent how many ballots are actually left to count.

“Part of the problem is you get these reports [from the media] saying its ‘99 percent reporting’ or ‘100 percent reporting,’ so it makes it seem like the vote is counted, and so if these new votes come from somewhere, it must be fishy,” she said. “The media can do a better job of educating people on what it means on election night to say a certain percentage of the votes are in.”

JumboVote member Dani Musoff reflected on the elections.

“While everyone was looking forward to 2018 and what it was going to show, that there are still a lot of questions out there and [2020] is still a big, even bigger, question,” Musoff, a junior, said.

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Features

Wednesday, November 14, 2018

Waste Less Dinner promotes sustainable eating on campus

ANIKA AGARWAL / THE TUFTS DAILY

The promotional table for the ‘Waste Less Dinner’ at Carmichael Dining Hall is pictured on Nov. 1.

by Grace Yuh

Features Editor

Sustainable eating at Tufts has increasingly been a combined effort between the administration and the student body. One result of these efforts has been Waste Less Dinners. Hosted

by Tufts Dining, Tufts Eco-Reps and the Tufts Food Rescue Collaborative, Waste Less Dinners have been a part of the larger campaign for sustainability at Tufts. According to Tufts Dining’s Julie Lampie, nutrition and marketing specialist, and Lyza Bayard, communications specialist, although the structure and format of Waste Less Dinners has changed over the years, the end goal has remained the same.

“We want students to know what they’re consuming, what that looks like in a more thoughtful way, and how that fits into a larger system at Tufts,” Bayard said.

Eliza Hilfer, an Eco-Rep in Harleston Hall and area leader for Tilton and Metcalf Halls, said Waste Less Dinners provide a way for the Tufts community to adapt for sustainability.

“Our main goal was to raise awareness and let people know how much food they were wasting and show how food insecuri-

ty plays into the lives of students at Tufts,” Hilfer, a junior, said. “On a college campus, you can’t really control where your energy comes from. You can’t control how much heat is being used or how much electricity is being used, but food is something you can tangibly make a difference in. I think it enables people to take a part in what they can be doing to help the environment on a day-to-day basis.”

This academic year’s first Waste Less Dinner was held on Nov. 1 at both Carmichael Dining Hall and DewickMacPhie Dining Hall. According to Lampie and Bayard, information regarding data and statistics around food waste was available at both dining halls. Tufts Eco-Reps and members of the Tufts Food Rescue Collaborative were present at tables near dish disposal areas to promote the event. If students presented plates in which no food was left, they were entered into a raffle for JumboCash.

Additionally, there were disposal bins where students could scrape leftovers to demonstrate a visual representation of the waste that occurs at dining halls every meal.

In data provided by Tufts Dining, this most recent Waste Less Dinner yielded 1.61 oz. of waste per person in Carmichael and 1.78 oz. of waster per person in

Dewick-MacPhie. This was a relative decrease in comparison to data from previous Waste Less Dinners, which yielded numbers ranging from 1.5 oz. to 3.16 oz.

Lampie said leftover food from dining halls are donated to underserved populations through Food For Free, a Cambridgebased non-profit organization, noting that scraping the plate can reduce food waste and increase the amount of food donated.

“Food that has been left on students’ plates cannot be donated and must be composted. While composting is good and something that Tufts Dining has been doing for years, students are encouraged to only take what they need [so] we are able to give more to the community and … better analyze how much food Tufts students consume,” she said.

Hilfer also noted that the activity could bring more mindfulness surrounding the labor that goes into food production and consumption, resulting in more awareness about the economic implications of sustainable eating.

“The idea is to remind people that food doesn’t just disappear,” she said.

“It’s someone’s job to scrape it off at the end of the day. This coincides with how food, people and the environment are really intrinsically linked.”

Bayard said she believes that student feedback is crucial in promoting sustainable eating at Tufts.

“We really care about student input.

We aren’t the ones eating in dining halls every day, and so we want to know what the students think and to work with them,” Bayard said.

Hilfer said that she and several other Eco-Reps are focusing on sustainable eating habits this year and that she hopes to educate students on ways that food impacts the environment.

“We think about the types of events that we want to run, and sustainable eating is a really fun way to run events. People like going to events where there’s free stuff, and our main goal is to engage with as many people as possible,” she said. “I think that there are people who really care and we want to work with other students.”

For Lampie and Bayard, it all rests in how the administration can better support student initiatives. This includes Tufts Dining’s existing partnerships with Tufts Eco-Reps and the Tufts Food Rescue Collaborative. In particular, Bayard noted the Swipe It Forward program, an opportunity for students on meal plans to donate meal swipes to students in need, as an example of how student-led ideas can become university-wide initiatives.

F e at u r e s

Wednesday, November 14, 2018 | Features | THE TUFTS DAILY

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Matt Rice The Tide

Sharice Davids

T

AT FIRST I WAS EMBARRASSED. ME, A CAT, LIVING WITH A SINGLE GUY. BUT WHEN I WATCH HIM PICK SOMETHING UP WITH HIS HANDS AND EAT IT, I CAN’T HELP BUT LOVE HIM. — MARU adopted 01-10-10

uesday’s election was historic for many reasons. The Democrats picked up the highest number of seats in the House of Representatives since the post-Watergate election in 1974, and Republicans gained crucial seats in the Senate. But the real story of last week’s election is that of a changing America.

On Jan. 3, 2019, there will be more women, more people of color and more LGBTQ people sworn into Congress than ever before. In districts from New Jersey to Maine, Florida to South Carolina and California to Oklahoma, Democrats rode a wave of enthusiasm to repudiate President Trump. That excitement on the left rippled through the least likely of states: Kansas.

Kansas has been a Republican stronghold for decades. It hasn’t elected a Democrat to the U.S. Senate since 1932 and hasn’t had a single Democratic representative in eight years. Former Governor Sam Brownback spent his tenure slashing taxes to the most minuscule levels while gutting public education and infrastructure spending.

Due to a lack of public services, affordable housing and decent schools, businesses were forced to leave the state or simply shut down, thus causing the Kansas economy to crater. On Tuesday night, Democratic State Senator Laura Kelly defeated voter fraud conspiracy theorist Kris Kobach in the race for governor. But the highlight of election night in Kansas came out of the 3rd Congressional District.

Sharice Davids is a member of Ho-Chunk Nation, an indigenous tribe located mainly in Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa and Illinois. She graduated from Cornell Law School and spent eight years as a mixed martial arts (MMA) fighter. After her professional MMA career, Davids was awarded a prestigious White House fellowship in late 2016, working for the Obama administration as Trump prepared to take office. After her fellowship, Davids returned to Kansas and announced her intention to run against incumbent Representative Kevin Yoder.

Donald Trump narrowly lost the Kansas 3rd in 2016, so this district was always seen as a possible pickup for the Democrats, but Sharice Davids represents something more than just a purple congressional seat.

She, along with Deb Haaland of New Mexico, will be among the first two Native American women to serve in the U.S. House of Representatives, the first openly gay representative from Kansas and, at 38 years old, one of the youngest representatives in history.

The Democratic party is changing.

And on Tuesday night, it embraced the ever-changing America, one that is younger, more diverse and less entrenched in Beltway politics. For the first time in history, less than 38% of the House Democratic caucus will be made up of white men. Across suburban America, once seen as a GOP base, voters embraced the most progressive Democratic candidates in history, and even in the conservative suburbs of Kansas City, the message resonated.

Matt Rice is a sophomore who has not yet declared a major. Matt can be reached at matthew.rice@tufts.edu.

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ARTS&LIVING

Wednesday, November 14, 2018

MOVIE REVIEW

‘The Girl in the Spider’s Web’ gets caught in its own web

by Christopher Panella Assistant Arts Editor

A scene in Sony Pictures’ “The Girl in the Spider’s Web” depicts Lisbeth Salander (Claire Foy) after she has been captured, beaten and bruised.

She finds herself in a skin-tight latex bag with a vacuum that sucks the air from the bag, torturously suffocating her. With every move, the latex seems to tighten more until the scene becomes agonizing to watch. In many ways, “The Girl in the Spider’s Web” faces a similar problem: Plagued by its reliance on dull source material and audience knowledge, the film succeeds as a spy heist but fails to give Salander’s peculiar character room to breathe.

“The Girl in the Spider’s Web” is the fourth book in “Millennium,” a Swedish crime novel series. The first three novels of the series — “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo,” “The Girl Who Played with Fire” and “The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets’ Nest” — were written by Swedish author Stieg Larsson, who died prior to their publication. In Larsson’s novels, Salander is a character who can be felt through the pages. She is one thread in a story about political extremism, crimes against women, journalistic integrity and revenge. After Larsson’s death, Swedish author David Lagercrantz continued the series — a move “Millennium” simply did not need.

The best-selling trilogy was strong until Lagercrantz’s 2015 “The Girl in the Spider’s Web,” a novel that diluted the excellence of Larsson’s work, the characters of Salander and journalist Mikael Blomkvist, as well as their their wild world. A similar tragedy occurred with the film adaptations, as David Fincher’s “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” (2011) muffled the Swedish trilogy, which starred Michael Nyqvist and Noomi Rapace, with its seething gloom. Now, rather than letting the series rest, Sony’s soft-reboot is here to dig up the past once again.

This time around, Salander is a little less cold — Foy’s performance is

both strong and fascinating, building layers that make the character much more exciting than she is in the novel.

The plot is also less convoluted than its novelistic source, cutting the plot’s unnecessary confusion about a software program that can control the world’s missiles, the involvement of the National Security Agency and a deep dive into Salander’s past. “The Girl in the Spider’s Web” successfully employs all of the traditional spy movie tropes, with kickass action scenes and suspense to match.

But as a story about Salander, the movie does very little. The film, like the novel, sands down Salander until she is polished and clean, losing much of her mystery and vulnerability. She becomes a hero rather than an anti-hero. She goes through the plot like any greater-good protagonist would, following clues and saving people and punching bad guys. Larsson’s Salander, the Salander that deserves her own films, is far from that. She is gritty, rough and isolated. She acts out of self-interest. Sure, she has moments of selflessness — she is always the first to hunt down a man who has hurt a woman — yet these moments are mere flickers in Salander’s story.

As for Blomkvist, “The Girl in the Spider’s Web” tosses him into the backseat, making him a sidekick throughout the film’s action. It is a sad use of the character, especially given his history with Salander. This history, which spanned the first three novels, is something director Fede Álvarez assumes audiences know. While it is a safe bet that they might have read or skimmed the books, the film relies too much on backstory, hindering its otherwise solid action.

This is an inevitable product of Sony’s muted choice to start its reboot on the fourth book in the “Millennium” series rather than scrapping Fincher’s “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” altogether or just picking up where Fincher left off with the same cast. This decision prevents “The Girl in the Spider’s Web” from being more than just a good

VIA IMDB

A promotional poster for ‘The Girl in the Spider’s Web,’ starring Claire Foy, is pictured. spy movie. Fortunately, Foy is able to make Salander feel less one-dimensional: She stands out against previous Salander iterations, although her performance is not enough to redeem the film.

“The Girl in the Spider’s Web” was always going to get caught in its

own web. It is ultimately a good spy film, but it does not do justice to the “Millennium” trilogy. That said, how could it? Considering its source material is far from fantastic, “The Girl in the Spider’s Web” does its best to make something out of nothing. For that, it deserves a little love.

TV PREVIEW

‘RuPaul’s Drag Race: All Stars’ reveals season four cast

by Tommy Gillespie Executive Arts Editor

Friday’s reveal of the line-up for “RuPaul’s Drag Race: All Stars” season four, scheduled to begin airing on Dec. 14, set off a wave of giddiness throughout the pop culture circuit. In an hour-plus special, last season’s winner, Trixie Mattel, along with fan-favorite queens from season two, Katya and Detox, announced the 10 queens who will return to the work room to vie for their place in the Drag Race Hall of Fame, serving an exquisite silver-white ensemble of looks along with their reveal. After Trixie Mattel’s jaw-dropping and hotly-debated triumph in the finale of “All Stars” season three this spring, the stakes for the fourth installment of “All Stars” are higher than ever.

True to “All Stars” form, there are no clear frontrunners among the seasoned cast. The return of many of the originators of the best runway looks, performances and drama of seasons past has assured fans that the upcoming season will deliver some of the most iconic moments everyone has come to expect from television’s most “sickening” reality show.

“All Stars” season four will see the return of “Drag Race” season four Miss Congeniality and All Starsveteran Latrice Royale. Hailing from Hollywood Beach, Fla., Latrice Royale’s self-described “chunky, yet funky” drag has won her legions of fans with her whimsical and fierce style. Manila Luzon, a Los Angeles-based queen out of season three, also returns to “Drag Race” for the first time since her and

Latrice Royale’s double elimination from “All Stars” season one. Manila Luzon’s ethereal looks and boundless creativity will also prove difficult to beat.

Season nine claims the highest representation in “All Stars” season four, with three queens returning from the competition in which Sasha Velour snatched the crown. Trinity The Tuck, formerly Trinity Taylor, returns, as do her slick, daring runway get-ups and plastic couture aura. Farrah Moan and her ditzy girl-next-door drag also appear, doubtlessly seeking to claim a more forceful personal presence after charges that she lacked a distinct persona in her original run. The brunette bombshell that is Valentina will also make an appearance in her bid for redemption after her elimination after an infamous masked lip-sync moment.

Out of season six, the spunky Gia Gunn, hailing from the house of Alyssa Edwards, will be returning to the “Drag Race” main stage for the first time since she came out as a transgender woman in April 2017. Gia Gunn’s presence will be a story to watch this season after she — and many others — criticized RuPaul’s transphobic comments earlier this year.

Two queens out of season 10 — Monét X Change and Monique Heart — have made the brief turnaround from this spring’s competition. Monét X Change, the Bronx queen who famously sewed a dress of sponges last season, looks to improve upon her sixth-place finish.

Monique Heart, who finished eighth, returns after causing an uproar when see RUPAUL, page 7

A rts & L iving

Wednesday, November 14, 2018 | Arts & Living | THE TUFTS DAILY

'All Stars' brings back fan favorites Naomi Smalls, Jasmine Masters

7

Zachary Hertz and Brady Shea Cheeses of Suburbia

Cheese’s For Celebrating (I’ll Have A Mozzarella)

Z

VIA VIACOM MEDIA NETWORKS

A promotional photo for season four of ‘RuPaul’s Drag Race: All Stars’ is pictured.

RUPAUL

continued from page 6 she failed to memorize the lyrics to Carly Rae Jepsen’s “Cut to the Feeling” (2017) — a popular gay anthem — in her ill-fated lip sync battle with The Vixen.

Rounding out the field will be season seven’s Jasmine Masters and her iconic ‘jush,’ and season eight’s Naomi Smalls and her legendary legs. Jasmine Masters won numerous fans in her orig-

inal appearance for her witty quips and countless meme-worthy moments, even inspiring a Snatch Game impersonation

by Nina Bonina Brown in season nine.

After an unlikely runner-up finish in season eight that saw her transform from timid to tenacious, Naomi Smalls will surely bank on her sultry runway looks and her improved total-package slaying abilities to carry her all the way to the crown.

The lineup of celebrity guest judges also includes a cross-section of marquee names. “Grey’s Anatomy” (2005–) star Ellen Pompeo will strut down RuPaul’s runway, as will other names that include Yvette Nicole Brown of “Community” (2009–2015), Olympic snowboarder Gus Kenworthy, superstar musician Rita Ora, artist and model Frances Bean Cobain (daughter of Kurt Cobain and Courtney Love) and actor Keiynan Lonsdale of “Love, Simon.”

achary Hertz (ZH): Welcome back!

This week we have Jake Arnstein, a junior, whose most pop punk moment was running a Naruto fanfiction page in eighth grade.

Jake Arnstein (JA): It’s not strictly pop punk, but it’s part of the movement.

ZH: We’ve ordered from Davis Square Pizza, a restaurant so vaguely titled you’d think it doesn’t actually exist.

JA: These are the best I’ve had in a while. The cheese is firm and there’s a slight crunch — ideal qualities in mozzarella. It tastes like an 8.5.

Brady Shea (BS): I’d go 9. “Hotzarella” sticks are a 10, but these are very good.

ZH: I’m going with 8.5, too. They’re not as good as Mike’s but they’re definitely a cut above the rest. To fit the depressing mood of this week, where half of campus is either sick or pulling all-nighters, we’re listening to Mayday Parade’s “A Lesson In Romantics” (2007).

Any thoughts?

JA: I’ve always been an old head when it comes to music, because I have a good relationship with my dad. I used to knock pop punk as sappy garbage but, in retrospect, I really felt it and couldn’t come to terms with that. Pop punk helped open my mind.

BS: I have a very vivid image of listening to this album on shuffle while crying, and I still know all the words. Jason Lancaster left immediately after recording this and started Go Radio, but that’s pretty much all the fun facts I have.

ZH: This album starts off strong. From the opening riff, “Jamie All Over” is energetic, with a touching hint of nostalgic romanticism. This album’s strengths are in its power of imagery and maudlin sound — both themes that re-emerge in “Jersey.”

BS: Can we talk about how satisfying the “Jersey” key change is?

JA: Nut. ZH: But yeah, the 10th anniversary album tour was my very first concert. I’d just gone through a breakup and hearing this song, “Miserable At Best,” helped me externalize and realize how immature I was. It was a purge of angst.

BS: Oh God, I just panicked when I heard the first chord. When I was in eighth grade, my first crush was with someone else, and I listened to this so much.

JA: It’s the slow dance song at a seventh grade formal. If I had learned to play this on the piano, I would’ve been so much cooler in middle school.

ZH: Overall thoughts?

JA: The album’s definitely emo, but also anthemic and evokes the “Shut up Mom, I’ll drink two Red Bulls if I want” years. I’d give it an 8/10. It has everything you need — the piano song and the upbeat songs — and seventh grade me would’ve eaten this up.

BS: I can’t not love this album because of my nostalgic connection to it. As corny as “A Lesson in Romantics” is, there will never be a point in my life where I dislike it. Objectively, it’s a 7.5/10.

ZH: Yeah, there’s a lot here that can seem cringeworthy, but I think it manages to succeed musically and I’m super sentimental about it. 8.5 from me.

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

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Nesi Altaras Takeaways

Opinion

Wednesday, November 14, 2018

CARTOON

Not bad at all

T

he midterms were good. The defeatist rhetoric from Democrats needs to end because, at least this year, it isn’t true. Democrats did really well, flipping Senate seats in Nevada and Arizona. Florida’s Senate race is so unbelievably close that it has gone to an automatic recount.

It is true that losses in some Republicanleaning seats, in such a good year for Democrats, were disappointing. A sadder fact is that they weren’t even close.

In Indiana, North Dakota and Missouri, Democrats got trounced. It was already a heavy lift to keep winning in places that the president had won by 19 points.

People held out hope for Indiana and Missouri, though it was clear North Dakota was slipping. Yet, red state Democrats in West Virginia and Montana prevailed.

There is not much to despair over Beto.

A win would have been unexpected. He did better than expected, helping lift up down-ballot progressives. Unlike Texas, the Tennessee race was not close and showed the repeatedly failing strategy of recruiting Blue Dog former governors to run for Senate. It didn’t work in Indiana in 2016 or in Tennessee in 2018.

If absentee ballots, mail-in ballots and recounts don’t go well for Democrats in the Sunshine State, they will have lost North Dakota, Indiana, Missouri and Florida and gained Nevada and Arizona.

That is a deep hole that they would have to dig themselves out of, and they probably would not be able to gain a Senate majority for at least two cycles or maybe, like some people argue, never again.

But all of that is about the Senate.

With all the doom and gloom surrounding the upper chamber, it’s easy to gloss over the fact that the Democrats now control the House. For the first time in eight years. That’s a big deal. Despite all the gerrymandering, Democrats captured a healthy majority. Not only will they be able to check the president’s power, but they’ll also have an easier time holding on to their seats next cycle and will hopefully use their majority to pass the agenda of the next Democratic president.

While the House is a major gain, Democratic gains at the state level are perhaps an even bigger deal. According to Vox, Democrats flipped seven governorships, six state legislative chambers, and more than 300 state Senate and House seats. They gained full control in some states and broke full Republican control — meaning control of the state house, senate and governorship — in many more. They finally broke Republican supermajorities in one, and maybe both, chambers in North Carolina. These legislatures and governors will preside over 2020 redistricting, expand Medicaid, invest in education, raise minimum wages and achieve goals that stalled at the federal level — not to mention enact similar measures to a Florida ballot question that enfranchised over a million former felons.

All in all, the 2018 midterms were good for Democrats, despite the Senate losses and coming up just short in Georgia and Florida.

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

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Sports

Wednesday, November 14, 2018 | Sports | THE TUFTS DAILY

13

Tufts wins first NCAA tournament game since 2007 WOMEN'S SOCCER

continued from page 15 for four years, gave her outlook on the season-ending game.

“It was an incredibly evenly matched game that could have gone either way,” Ranalli said. “It just happens this time it didn’t go our way. That is the great thing and the most devastating thing about soccer. It just doesn’t always go your way. Looking back at that game, as a team I think we realize there wasn’t much we would change. We battled, both offensively and defensively, and left everything on that field.

Unfortunately, they converted on an opportunity and we didn’t, and that was the difference.”

The hard-fought loss came on the heels of a convincing victory for the Jumbos the day prior against the Penn

State Behrend Lions, who have never won a game in the national tournament. Sophomore forward Liz Reed scored two goals in the first 15 minutes of the first half to effectively seal the game for the Jumbos. Both of Reed’s goals were assisted by her classmate and fellow sophomore midfielder/forward Sophie Lloyd. From that point on, the Jumbos maintained intensity to seal the win and look toward the second round of tournament play. The team’s refusal to get complacent, however, resulted in 13 shots on goal and six corner kicks.

Tufts’ dominant control of possession left Penn State Behrend with minimal touches and consequently, minimal opportunities to score.

“We really put the pressure on Penn State Behrend early and made it hard

on them from the start … It was a tricky game with the conditions, it was so windy and cold,” Ranalli said. “We struggled at times to play the soccer we like to play, but what we were able to do was finish the chances we had early.”

Saturday was the first NCAA tournament win for the Jumbos since 2007, making this team one of the most successful Tufts has had in the past decade, with five All-NESCAC honorees, the most since 2000. Despite the loss marking the conclusion of the season, senior defender Lexie Miller said she feels an immense amount of pride for how the team played this year.

“It was definitely surreal when that final whistle went off and I knew my Tufts soccer career was over,” Miller said. “But everyone is really proud of

this team, especially the seniors, with how far we have come.”

It has been a journey for these seniors who have been a part of the soccer program all four years: They lost early in the NESCAC tournament their first two years but recovered and improved enough to qualify for NCAAs and win a national tournament game in their final season. The stacked senior class is leaving behind many marks of success and a younger core that knows how to be successful.

“We are all incredibly proud to have put our hearts into this team and are so lucky to have gotten back all that we have from [the women’s soccer program],” Ranalli said. “Personally, I will always carry this team and the confidence and belief they have shown me wherever I go after this.”

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THE TUFTS DAILY | Sports | Wednesday, November 14, 2018

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Jumbos qualify for NCAA Championship in Wisconsin

MADELEINE OLIVER / TUFTS TRACK AND FIELD

Senior co-captain Kelsey Tierney charges ahead in the 5,000 meters at Springfield College on Feb. 17.

WOMEN'S CROSS COUNTRY

continued from back “We were hoping to get out faster than last time, which we all did, and we were exactly where we wanted to be,” Tierney said. “I think we were hoping for better than fifth, but at the end of the day, there’s a saying, ‘You survive and advance.’ And we survived and advanced.”

In recent years, the women’s team has regularly qualified for Nationals, but this year, its bid carries extra significance for the departing seniors: The men’s team also qualified for the first time since 2015. “[The men qualifying] was really exciting, especially because they weren’t really expected to qualify,” Bettez said.

“They weren’t ranked going into last

weekend, so it’s really exciting to be able to have them come with us. We’ll have a really big fan base and we’ll get to watch them as well. And they deserve it. They didn’t go last year, so it’s really nice to be able to see them go this year. And like us, actually, they have a lot of seniors going, so for a lot of us it’s our last year.”

Bettez said she looks forward to the teams’ traveling to Wisconsin togeth-

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er and noted that the race is an opportunity to realize the team’s full potential.

“Last year we got seventh,” Bettez said. “And I think every year we go in and aim to have our best race that we’ve had. I think we haven’t had our best race yet, and so I think we can go in and go for that. It’s really the icing on the cake.

There’s nothing to lose, so we might as well go for it and give it our all.”

Sports

Wednesday, November 14, 2018 | Sports | THE TUFTS DAILY

Gelfand eyes spot on 2020 Paralympics team GELFAND

continued from back has found solidarity in the paralympic community throughout years of traveling with and competing against other disabled athletes.

“Although swimming is an individual sport when you’re in your lane, and it’s only you who can get to the wall first, once you’re outside of the pool it’s really a team sport, whether it’s at Tufts, where I have 80 people behind my lane cheering me on, or at Paralympic meets, where I’m wearing the USA cap and I’m representing my country,” Gelfand said.

“Para swimming is definitely a tightknit community full of great people from all over the nation and world. We were in Sheffield, England for a whole week this past summer for the Para Swimming World Series and we were able to explore the city and really form a bond with each other.”

Gelfand admires athletes in the paralympic community whom, he said, inspire him to be the best version

of himself. He recalls rooting for Sarah Reinertsen, who also has PFFD, when she competed in “The Amazing Race” (2001–), as well as watching her feature on ABC’s “Nightline” in honor of her being the first woman on a prosthesis to finish the Ironman World Championship.

Through the help of the Challenged Athletes Foundation, Gelfand was not only able to meet Reinertsen but also had the chance to compete with her in a triathlon relay. Gelfand completed the swimming components and Reinertsen took the biking and running portions.

“The Challenged Athletes Foundation sets up clinics and events for disabled athletes and helps raise funds for the athletes to compete,” Gelfand said. “Groups like the Challenged Athletes Foundation have been so important in allowing me to travel and compete at the level that I do. Not only that, but it makes such a difference for disabled people or new amputees when they see people like them competing. To give them the inspiration to say, ‘Wow, I don’t need to be sitting on the

Jeremy Goldstein The Anti-Bostonian

couch. I can run, I can do triathlons, I can climb mountains, I can do whatever I set my mind to’ is priceless.”

This year, Gelfand looks forward to racing at the Para Swimming World Series event in Indianapolis, Ind. from April 4–6, where he hopes to qualify for the national team that will compete at this summer’s World Championships in Kuching, Malaysia. The ultimate goal, though, remains to race in the red, white and blue at the 2020 Paralympic Games in Tokyo.

Beyond the records, podium finishes and global travels that swimming has brought Gelfand, perhaps the most important gift from the sport has been self-confidence.

“On a pool deck, there’s really no way to hide your disability, which has made it much easier to accept myself for who I am,” he said. “Yeah, I’m missing a leg, but I can still jump off the blocks, swim fast and maybe even beat the guy next to me.

It doesn’t limit me and I’ll never let it get in the way of accomplishing anything I want to do.”

Women’s soccer closes season with second round loss

by Onat Tarimcilar Staff Writer

The 2018 campaign for the Tufts women’s soccer team (11–6–2) came to an end after a second-round loss in the NCAA tournament to William Smith in double overtime. It was the second game of a back-to-back weekend, after Tufts defeated Penn State Behrend 2–0 in firstround action on Saturday afternoon.

This was the second straight season that the Jumbos had qualified for the national tournament. Senior goalkeeper Emily Bowers, who earned first team AllNESCAC honors for the second straight season earlier in the week, believes that tougher competition promoted growth for the Jumbos.

“I think the experience of playing in the NCAA tournament last year helped the team have more confidence going into our games this year,” Bowers said.

“We also play with nationally ranked teams throughout our season, so that experience was also important for us to know we can compete with any team in these games.”

Though the Jumbos came in with confidence and the belief that they can play with any team in this tournament, the inability to convert opportunities was a familiar hurdle that stood in their way on Sunday.

Tufts and William Smith traded blows for nearly 110 minutes in their double overtime dogfight, with neither team conceding a goal in regulation or the first overtime. If the seemingly mundane box score makes it seem like a a battle of unbreakable defenses, the game was anything but that. Rather, it was a pair of superb goalkeepers who consistently stifled promising breakfree attacks. Bowers and William Smith senior goalkeeper Veronica Romines had seven and nine saves, respectively, by the end of regulation.

Ultimately, it was William Smith who finally broke the tie. In the 108th minute, sophomore forward Amanda Adams had her shot blocked. The hosts managed to regroup quickly as sophomore forward Sheila McQuillen ended the game just twenty seconds later with a lofted shot that crept over the outstretched arm of Bowers.

Counting on Bowers’ heroics has proven effective for the Jumbos

BEN KIM / THE TUFTS DAILY

Senior goalkeeper Emily Bowers clears the ball in Tufts’ 3–0 Homecoming loss against Amherst at Kraft Field on Sept. 29. thus far, but on Sunday their opponents played well enough to convert a goal. Statistically, the contest was neck-and-neck throughout, making that game-determining goal all the more devastating. Tufts was able to put up 16 shots of its own, nine of them on goal, compared to William Smith’s 12. The team played its style of fast-paced possession soccer to move

15

up the field but was unable to find a way to break through a Williams Smith defense that has only allowed seven goals all season.

Senior midfielder and co-captain Emma Ranalli, who has starred for the Jumbos in the holding midfield position see WOMEN'S SOCCER, page 13

Brees over Brady

T

he illustrious careers of Drew Brees and Tom Brady are similar in many elements. Both make up for a lack of intrinsic athleticism with an eye for an open receiver, where they both nestle in dainty spirals in the smallest of windows against airtight coverage. They’ve both received individual accolades, tasted Super Bowl glory — of course, one more than the other — and have been cast as figureheads for their respective franchises and perhaps even regions. They inspire hope, passion, dedication and trust.

Both players have also lost at home in the playoffs against the still-quarterback-deprived New York Jets.

No, this is not a misprint. Brees was a young Charger who fell to a name only a Jets fan could love: Chad Pennington, 2005 edition. Brady’s defeat? Perhaps the wound is still fresh. Mark Sanchez deposed of him in 2011. Those pre-butt-fumble days were some to remember, huh.

A meme of a franchise (the Jets) aside, the Brees-Brady argument has finally begun to pick of steam this season. Why? For one, Aaron Rodgers is playing himself out of the conversation thanks to an uninspiring season that included a bleak loss in Foxborough earlier this month. Rodgers is younger than the counterparts in the conversation, but has a lot of legacy building to make up. The ‘pure talent’ card is starting to sound tired for the cheesehead.

But a similar narrative has consistently been used against Brees to dismiss his credentials. He has one ring, or he hasn’t made the playoffs enough, they chirp.

These claims aren’t false, but they’re just taken out of context. This context requires one to remove themselves from the notion that individuals decide the outcomes of team sports in isolation. More importantly, it must allow one to not treat championship rings as an end-all-be-all. Robert Horry, though charmingly known as Big Shot Rob, has seven NBA rings. Michael Jordan, the ultimate closer, has six. They’re important, but analytics should dim their universality.

The New Orleans Saints in the Drew Brees era have suffered systemic shortcomings. In 2012, the Saints had the worst statistical defense of all time by yards allowed. From 2014 to 2016, the defense never ranked higher than 28th in points allowed per game. A FiveThirtyEight study revealed that instead of a trio of 7–9 seasons, they would have won 10 more games over that period with even just an ‘average’ defense.

Over that same time period, Tom Brady with an average defense would have lost two more games. The net three-year total in terms of wins for Brees would have been 31, and 33 for Brady.

Now look at the Saints over the past two seasons with an above-average defense. Brees’ Saints are 8–1 this season and have surpassed the Patriots by Vegas’ estimation even before a 51–14 beatdown of the Bengals this weekend — mind you, the Patriots lost to the Titans. The Saints’ lone loss of the season? Brees put up 40 in Week 1 against Fitzmagic and the Bucs, and still lost.

Oh well.

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

16 tuftsdaily.com

Sports

Wednesday, November 14, 2018

ATHLETE SPOTLIGHT

Gelfand finds community, self-confidence in paralympic swimming

by Haley Rich Sports Editor

When he was young, sophomore David Gelfand’s first prosthetist put covers on his prosthetic leg to make it appear more human-like. They didn’t stay for long, though. Gelfand was comfortable with his appearance and thought the metal of his prosthetic was cool. So cool, in fact, that he is now pursuing a career as a mechanical engineer. But for Gelfand, even better than his prosthetic leg is the feeling of being free from it, as is the case when he swims.

Gelfand was born with proximal femoral focal deficiency (PFFD), a condition wherein a child is born with a malformed or — as in David’s case — essentially missing upper thigh, resulting in legs of unequal length. PFFD affects one in every 200,000 children, according to the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, and its causes remain mostly unknown.

Growing up in Weston, Conn., Gelfand lived a typical suburban childhood.

Thanks to his parents, who sought out opportunities for him, he dabbled in running and played baseball and soccer alongside swimming. It wasn’t until his junior year of high school that he decided to take swimming seriously in preparation for the 2016 U.S. Paralympic Trials.

After raising the intensity of his training, Gelfand excelled at the trials in Charlotte, N.C., capturing first place in three events. Despite his success, Gelfand’s national ranking was not high enough to qualify him for the national team, which traveled to the Paralympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

Gelfand has since endeavored to represent the United States at the 2020 Paralympics in Tokyo, Japan. In the summer of 2017, Gelfand was selected to represent the U.S. at the Para Swimming World Series in Berlin, Germany, where he collected gold medals in a pair of relay races. Before graduating high school, Gelfand already held two American records in the 50 and 100-yard breaststroke.

Tufts’ combination of superb academics and quality athletics made it a top

RACHEL HARTMAN / THE TUFTS DAILY

Sophomore David Gelfand, who competes for the Tufts men’s swimming team and in paralympic competitions, poses for a portrait on Oct. 9. choice for Gelfand when it came time to decide where he wanted to attend college.

“As opposed to the programs at a lot of the other schools that I visited, coach [Adam] Hoyt was very open and willing to work with me,” Gelfand said. “He knew I wouldn’t be as fast as everyone on the

team but he was very excited about giving me the opportunity to compete with the Jumbos.”

Hoyt knew that coaching a swimmer with a disability for the first time would be a challenge, but he was eager to try something new.

“Our team environment is driven by character, not results,” he said. “Seeing what David had accomplished in high school was very impressive, and his drive and work ethic was exactly what I wanted our team to be represented by.”

Gelfand competes in all of the Jumbos’ regular-season dual meets. He has competed alongside able-bodied swimmers for his whole life, so being one of the team’s slower members has never bothered him. Instead, he appreciates playing a role in the team’s driven, tight-knit community.

“It’s so rewarding to be a part of something bigger than myself, bigger than me just competing in my own individual competitions without a team behind me,” he said.

When the collegiate season nears its end and the rest of his teammates take a well-deserved rest, Gelfand will shift his focus to Paralympics events. Since the most important meets are later in the spring, Gelfand completes most of his training on his own. Hoyt was able to obtain a waiver from the NCAA that allows Gelfand to train outside of the collegiate season, which has also extended his own coaching season.

“My job is to serve students as best as I can,” Hoyt said. “Yes, it means I spend some extra time at the pool, some extra brain space and effort each day. But all the effort I put in, he gives back to me through his own hard work and drive, so it’s definitely well worth my time and easy to make it a priority.”

The duo’s dedication paid off last year at the 2018 Intercollegiate Para Swimming Exhibition, hosted by Rutgers University in February, where Gelfand finished second in the mixed 100-yard freestyle and in the mixed 100-yard backstroke. Gelfand broke three American records in his classification at Rutgers: one in the 50-yard freestyle, in which he posted a personal best mark of 54.38 seconds, and two more in the 4 x 50-yard freestyle relay and 4 x 50-yard medley relay.

In addition to the camaraderie he has found among the Tufts team, Gelfand see GELFAND, page 15

Women’s cross country places fifth at NCAA Regionals, qualifies for national championship

by Tom Burnham

Contributing Writer

Tufts placed fifth of the 57 schools participating in the NCAA Regional Championships at Bowdoin College in Brunswick, Maine on Saturday. The Jumbos’ performance in the 6K event earned the team an at-large bid to the NCAA National Championship held in Winneconne, Wisc. on Nov. 17.

Tufts’ score of 159 put it in front of sixthplace Bates’ 187. MIT finished first overall with a score of 87, while Middlebury (108), Williams (115) and Brandeis (136) finished second, third and fourth, respectively. Senior co-captain Natalie Bettez finished fourth overall and first for Tufts with a time of 21:26.83. Coast Guard’s sophomore Kaitlyn Mooney crossed the finish line first as the only sub-21-minute runner, with a time of 20:43.74.

The race was important for the team, according to Bettez.

“This was a really big race for us as a team, so I just wanted to go out and really do my part,” Bettez said. “[The race] went out pretty fast, so I just went out and tried to keep some of the lead people in view. It spread out pretty quick up front and stayed that way for most of the race.”

Junior Lydia Heely clocked in next for the Jumbos, finishing 16th overall with a time of 22:25.86. Senior co-captain Kelsey Tierney finished third for the team and 34th overall with a time of 22:47.47.

Tierney explained how she and her team adapted to the race coming off of a fourth-place finish at the NESCAC Championship in October.

“We all really wanted to go out fast. That was our problem at NESCACs,” Tierney

said. “So I wanted to go out fast and basically hang on and keep the rest of our pack with me. And the past two years, I was our third [place finisher] once and our fifth [place finisher] once, and we usually get six people in the top 35. And usually that’s what it takes to qualify, so I know that going back further than that would be bad. I was hoping to keep up with them, and I had to step it up a bit at the end.”

The entire Tufts team finished in the top quarter of the 399 runners in the race.

First-year Anna Slager finished fourth for Tufts and 52nd overall with a time of 23:11.20. Just behind her were seniors Olivia Barnett (23:12.32) and Julia Noble (23:13.16) in 53rd and 54th, respectively.

Junior Jennifer Jackson capped the team’s strong performance with a 23:46.55 finish, good enough for 91st.

Bettez said the team was dedicated to getting a bid to Nationals.

“[The NESCAC Championship] was a hard race for us. People knew that we really needed to step up if we wanted to get that bid for nationals, and people really stepped up to the plate,” Bettez said. “I could tell going into it that people were dedicated. Everyone was exhausted at the end, but people really did their part.”

The team faced tough competition from its NESCAC rivals. Bettez and Tierney both said that they looked for the jerseys of teams like Middlebury, Wesleyan and Williams as targets to advance on in the course of the race.

Tierney said she was satisfied with the Jumbos’ earning a bid to run at the NCAA National Championship but noted that they could have raced better. see WOMEN'S CROSS COUNTRY, page 14