Monday, September 19, 2016

Professor Tendulkar makes community health research collaborative see FEATURES / PAGE 5

TUFTS TENNIS

Tennis prepares to serve up fiery fall season

One-track mind: hot new singles on a radio near you see ARTS AND LIVING / PAGE 7

SEE SPORTS / BACK PAGE

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T HE T UFTS DAILY

VOLUME LXXII, NUMBER 7

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Monday, September 19, 2016

MEDFORD/SOMERVILLE, MASS.

Tufts Student Services releases new mobile app

by Jesse Najarro

Assistant News Editor

Tufts Student Services released the Tufts Mobile app earlier this fall in collaboration with Tufts Technology Services ( TTS) and the Tufts Community Union ( TCU) Senate. The app was created in order to better provide students with resources on their mobile devices.

Tufts Mobile’s current features include a showcase of dining hall menus, a university shuttle tracker, a university calendar, a laundry machine monitoring system and links to other online Tufts resources such as Trunk and SIS. According to Student Services Communications Specialist Caitlin Felsman Pfitzer, the application was officially launched on Aug. 30 in order to coincide with the arrival of incoming first years.

“We wanted to try to get it out by orientation week because when people go through their first year, they develop habits in terms of the things they know to use to guide them around Tufts,” TCU Senator Adam Rapfogel, who took on the project within the TCU Senate, said. “We were able to make sure first-years had access to MAX LALANNE / THE TUFTS DAILY

see APP, page 2

TCU Senator Adam Rapfogel, a sophomore, holds up his phone, displaying the new Tufts Mobile app in Tisch Library on Sept. 18.

Tisch College launches Civic Life Lunches initiative

by Kathleen Schmidt Executive News Editor

The Jonathan M. Tisch College for Civic Life is launching Civic Life Lunches, a new event series in which distinguished speakers from fields including journalism, politics and the non-profit sector will host informal lunchtime discussions with students and faculty, according to Director of Policy, Planning and Strategy Jennifer McAndrew.

The initiative was born from the student roundtables included in the Tisch College Distinguished Speaker Series, according to Jessica Byrnes, special projects administrator at Tisch College.

“Part of the reason we launched this civic lunch series is [that] we got such great feedback from students about how valuable that roundtable was,” Byrnes said. “A lot of times when you have a high-profile speaker it’s great to hear them speak, but students don’t really

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get a chance to interact with the speaker and. . . hear their career path and how they ended up where they are, or to ask them about issues students are grappling with today.”

Speakers will include Douglas Alexander, Harry Boyte, Peter Flaherty, Joe Trippi, Joelle Gamble, David Axelrod, Nicolle Wallace and David Simas, according to a list Byrne provided to the Daily.

Dean of Tisch College Alan Solomont said the goal of the initiative is to provide a new way for students to engage in civic life.

“With the Civic Life Lunch series, we hope to provide more opportunities for students to interact with leaders from across the political and public policy spectrum — in smaller, more informal settings,” Solomont told the Daily in an email.

The launch of this initiative coincides with the start of classes taught by David Gregory and Simon Rosenberg, called “Race for the White House in a

For breaking news, our content archive and exclusive content, visit tuftsdaily.com @tuftsdaily

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Modern Media Environment” and “Changing America, Changing Politics” respectively, McAndrew said. Gregory and Rosenberg will both be having several high-profile guest speakers visiting their classes and Tisch College wanted to expand the number of students able to meet and interact with those guests, McAndrew added.

“Our goal is really to expand participation . . . for more students and for more speakers [and] different kinds of speakers,” McAndrew said. “We’ll have great opportunities — everyone from Harry Boyte, who’s coming next week, to David Axelrod and Nicolle Wallace.

Those are really great opportunities for students to interact with these folks and . . . really get their own questions answered.”

Both McAndrew and Byrnes stressed that Civic Life Lunches were in their beginning stages and that they would be looking for feedback from students on how to alter and improve the event

Contact Us P.O. Box 53018, Medford, MA 02155 617 627 3090 FAX 617 627 3910 daily@tuftsdaily.com

in the future.

“We’re launching it this semester and we’re looking for a lot of participation and also a lot of feedback from students on who they want to see, how it’s going [and] ideas for the spring,” McAndrew said.

The events will be open to all students, faculty and staff, according to Byrne.

“We’d love to have a wide cross-section of students attend, from undergraduates to Fletcher [students] and our other graduate partners as well,” McAndrew added.

The structure of the event will vary from speaker to speaker, according to Byrne. Some speakers will give lectures while others will be introduced and launch directly into a question and answer session, before opening up into an informal discussion, she said.

One of the goals of the Civic Life Lunches is to provide students with

NEWS............................................1 FEATURES.................................5 ARTS & LIVING....................... 7

see LUNCH, page 2

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

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THE TUFTS DAILY | News | Monday, September 19, 2016

T HE T UFTS D AILY Arin Kerstein Editor-in-Chief

EDITORIAL Sophie Lehrenbaum Jake Taber Managing Editors

Evan Sayles Associate Editor Kathleen Schmidt Executive News Editor Gil Jacobson News Editors Melissa Kain Robert Katz Liam Knox Catherine Perloff Jei-Jei Tan Hannah Uebele Joe Walsh Kyle Blacklock Assistant News Editors Juliana Furgala Jesse Najarro Danny Nelson Miranda Willson Executive Features Editor Constantinos Angelakis Features Editors Nina Joung Becca Leibowitz Siddharth Divakaruni Assistant Features Editors Justin Krakoff Executive Arts Editor John Gallagher Arts Editors Merilla Michael Eran Sabaner Isaac Brown Assistant Arts Editors Jocelyn Contreras Alison Epstein Elliot Storey Emma Henderson Executive Op-Ed Editor Shannon Geary Cartoonists Stephen Dennison Allie Merola Miranda Chavez Editorialists Aneurin Canham-Clyne Frances DeFreitas Anita Ramaswamy Noah Weinflash Phillip Goldberg Executive Sports Editor Yuan Jun Chee Sports Editors Alison Kuah Maddie Payne Eddie Samuels Maclyn Senear Max Lalanne Mia Lambert Caroline Ambros Ray Bernoff Maria Eduarda Ferraz Henry Hintermeister Kevin Ho Thaw Htet Leila Li Julia Press Evan Sayles Alexis Serino Angelie Xiong

Executive Photo Editor Photo Administrator Picture Tufts Editor Staff Photographers

PRODUCTION David Westby

Production Director Allie Merola Executive Layout Editors Sebastian Torrente Jewel Castle Layout Editors Leila Li Brianna Mignano Mandip Pokharel Emily Sharp Astrid Weng Petrina Chan Creative Director Allie Merola Executive Graphics Editor Petrina Chan Graphics Editors Juliana Furgata Dana Pek Ashton Stephens Rena Tang Sebastian Torrente Belinda Xian Zach Hertz Executive Copy Editors Jei-Jei Tan Norrie Beach Copy Editors Arthur Beckel Caroline Bollinger Alison Epstein Gil Jacobson Melissa Kain Sharon Kelmar Bibi Lichauco Kathleen Martensen Netai Schwartz Nihaal Shah Arielle Sigel Liora Silkes Dan Strauss Maxwell Bernstein Executive Tech Manager Nitesh Gupta Online Editor Mia Lambert Social Media Editor

BUSINESS Josh Morris Executive Business Director

tuftsdaily.com

Tufts mobile app strives to make resources accessible APP

continued from page 1 it… and that they would make it part of their Tufts experience and use it throughout all four years.”

Felsman Pfitzer said that the app’s launch was successful, noting that the app had the same number of downloads as tufts.edu had visitors on the first day of Orientation Week.

According to Service Marketing and Communications Manager Christine Fitzgerald, who worked on the new mobile app’s development and launch, students will see new added features as time progresses. Future additions include a section for the Office of Sustainability and opportunities for personalization, they said.

“One of the things that we’ve been working on [is]… looking at what we can do with meal swipes at dining halls so that people can really get a real-time look at how many meals they have and what their declining balance is,” Felsman Pfitzer said.

“We’re exploring what we can do with login so it can be more personalized.”

Fitzgerald added that in addition to new features for students, new perso-

nas for the app might be developed for Tufts staff and faculty.

“I’m sure we’ll be looking at administration and faculty as we go along, and possibly even researchers,” Fitzgerald said.

These updates are all part of an effort to keep the app updated for students, according to Felsman Pfitzer.

“We’re committed to keeping it fresh and relevant for students so we’re actually really looking for student feedback,” Felsman Pfitzer said. “There’s a feedback button on the app so you can tell us what you like and what you don’t like.”

The new app has been in the works since April 2016, when junior Max Hirsch first proposed the idea, according to Rapfogel.

“It was actually Max who reached out to Student Services, and they were very, very receptive to the idea and extremely helpful with everything,” he said. “The final product was very much a collaboration, and the administrators who coded it did all the work for it.”

According to Felsman Pfitzer, iJumbo, the student-created resource app for Tufts students, has not been main-

tained since its creator graduated from Tufts.

“Often what happens is we have undergrads with great ideas, and they start working on a project and launch things sometimes like iJumbo or Tufts Life, and then somebody goes abroad or graduates and then the leadership isn’t there to sort of keep things moving along so we get the benefits of an innovative idea [working] for a couple of years, and then it’s not sustained,” Felsman Pfitzer said.

Overhauling iJumbo would have been an expensive endeavor, so the new Tufts Mobile app was built on an existing third-party platform called Modo Labs’ Kurogo platform, according to Felsman Pfitzer.

“Starting from scratch would have been really costly. What we did here is we created a persona on an app that already exists, [and] Tufts Mobile is something we already paid for,” Felsman Pfitzer said. “To create a persona is in the seven [to] eight thousand dollar category rather than starting from scratch, which is much more than that.”

Students to interact with speakers in informal, small setting LUNCH

continued from page 1 a more structured schedule for small speaker events by creating a branded and continuing series, booking speakers in advance and hosting the events during the open lunch block, Byrne said.

“Something that I’ve noticed, just inviting students to round tables the past two years, is that we try to give as

much notice as we can, but it’s really hard for students to go by the speakers’ availability,” Byrne said. “A lot of them are really bummed to miss these speakers so I feel like part of the hope with [Civic Life Lunches] is [that] scheduling it during the lunch break . . . makes it easier for students.”

Byrne said she was enthusiastic about the variety of speakers booked for the events.

“I’m really looking forward to Peter Flaherty and Nicolle Wallace simply because it’s really hard to get a well-rounded variety of political ideologies and they’re more on the Republican side,” she said. “I think I’d love to see this spur the rebirth of Tufts Republicans and for there to be more of a conversation rather than for it to be so overwhelmingly Democratic. I think that conversation is really valuable.”

Events on the Hill this week MONDAY “The Perpetual Crisis of American Higher Education: Colleges, Universities and the ‘Real World’ of American Political History” Details: Boston University Professor of Political Science Virginia Sapiro will speak about the role of education in the American political system and the approaching challenges with higher education. Pizza will be served.

When and Where: 12:00-1:30 p.m., Crane Room, Paige Hall Sponsor: Department of Political Science TUESDAY “Mortal Things: Portraits Look Back and Forth” Opening Reception Details: The Tufts University Art Gallery will host a reception for its fall exhibition, “Mortal Things: Portraits Look Back and Forth.” Light refreshments will be served.

When and Where: 5:00-7:30 p.m., Aidekman Arts Center Sponsor: Tufts University Art Gallery “An Evening with Popo Fan: Film and the Queer Experience in Modern China” Details: Popo Fan, a queer independent filmmaker based in Beijing, will lead a discussion following the screening of two of his films, New Beijing, New Marriage and Mama Rainbow, both of which examine gay and lesbian fami-

lies in Chinese society.

When and Where: 5:00-6:30 p.m., Cabot 206, Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy Sponsor: Fletcher LGBTQA WEDNESDAY: Flu Shots at the Health Service Details: The Health Service will be providing free flu shots for Tufts students who paid a Health Fee. Students should wear a short-sleeved shirt and bring their student IDs. When and Where: 12:00-5:00 p.m., Health Service Conference Room, 124 Professors Row “Doing Time in Education: The School-to-Prison Pipeline with Anna Deavere Smith” Details: Playwright, professor and actress Anna Deavere Smith will delve into issues of community, character and diversity in the country.

When and Where: 7:00-8:30 p.m., Distler Auditorium, Granoff Music Center Sponsor: Tisch College of Civic Lifeww

THURSDAY Civic Life Lunches: Douglas Alexander Details: Douglas Alexander, senior fellow at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government, will lead an informal conversation and exchange over lunch. Alexander was the United Kingdom’s Shadow Foreign Secretary from 2011 to 2015 and managed Tony Blair’s 2001 campaign for Prime Minister. Lunch will be provided, no RSVP required.

When and Where: 12:00 p.m., Tisch College, Lincoln Filene Hall Sponsor: Tisch College of Civic Life FRIDAY VoteFest Details: Local bands Aüva, The Novel Ideas and Pale Hands along with New York based Asoh Black will be performing on the Academic Quad, with food provided from Taco Party, Rhythm ‘N Wraps and Frozen Hoagies food trucks. Volunteers will be registering event attendees to vote and entering them in a raffle for Waka Flocka Flame tickets.

When and Where: 5:00-8:00 p.m., Academic Quad Sponsors: JumboVote, Tisch College of Civic Life, WMFO, Midnight, AppleJam, Civic, Tufts Progressive Alliance, Tufts Democrats, Tufts Republicans, Department of Sociology, Department of Political Science

— ­­ by Kathleen Schmidt

Monday, September 19, 2016 | News | THE TUFTS DAILY

News

What is The Tufts Daily Semester Scholarship?

This scholarship schola aims to provide funds to first-year students with demonstrated financial need so they may be able to pursue their interest in journalism and media through the Daily.

Who qualifies?

F irst-year students at Tufts who qualify for federal work study or have demonstrated financial need. Students with serious interest in journalism or media. No prior journalism experience is necessary, but it is preferred.

What is expected of me?

Complete a set number of projects every month. Meet weekly with your section executive editor to assess your work and discuss opportunities for growth.

H ow am I paid?

The scholarship is worth $500. You will receive two installments of $250, one midway through the semester and the second upon completion of the scholarship at the end of the term.

Apply at : tinyurl.com/dailyscholarship

Applications due at noon on September 30th!

AA Alcoholics Anonymous

MEETINGS on Campus Tuesday & Thursday Campus Center 218 12 pm to 1 pm Tuesday Interfaith Center (58 Winthrop St) 7 pm to 8 pm For more information contact Ian Wong, Health Promotion Ian.wong@tufts.edu 617 627 5495

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Non-Credit Chinese Classes through the

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●10 sessions ●Dates & Time: Tuesdays, 4:30 PM to 5:30 PM September 27–December 6, 2016 (no class Nov. 22) ●Location: Confucius Institute ●Registration & Fee: $200.00

Beginning Chinese for Adults ●10 session ●Dates & Time: Wednesdays, 6:00 PM to 7:30 PM September 28 –December 7, 2016 (no class Nov. 23) ●Location: Confucius Institute ●Registration & Fee: $200.00; Free for Tufts faculty & staff

One‐on‐One Tutoring

●Date & Time: Register & make appointment at http://as.tufts.edu/confuciusinstitute/ ●Location: Confucius Institute ●Cost per session: $50; $25 for Tufts faculty & staff

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Website: h�p://as.tu�s.edu/confuciusins�tute/ Address: 112 Packard Avenue, Medford, MA 02155 Phone: 617‐627‐8888 E‐mail: CI@tu�s.edu

Classes offered through the Confucius Ins�tute at Tu�s University are non‐credit courses. They cannot be used to fulll any Tu�s course requirements.

Monday, September 19, 2016

Features

Professor Shalini Tendulkar teaches community-centered approach to research in year-long course

by Hannah Shin

Contributing Writer

The Tufts School of Arts and Sciences’ mission statement says that the school educates students to take on “transformational leadership in communities around the world.”

In many ways, community health Professor Shalini Tendulkar takes that message and applies it not to communities throughout the world, but to the communities closest to Tufts through her year-long research course, CH182: Community Health Theory and Practice.

According to Tendulkar, the course approaches research through the lens of Community-Based Participatory Research (CBPR), which she described as a collaborative, equitable approach to research that includes the input and expertise of everyone involved in the research process.

During the course, students participate in a year-long research project in direct partnership with local community organizations. Additionally, Tendulkar said the course’s structure forces students to think outside of a traditional academic research mindset that values outcomes and results over the entire research and academic process, starting with the course’s syllabus.

“As a student, you come into a class, and you’ve got your expectations, your syllabus and your exams … this [class] is not necessarily one that aligns well with that mold,” Tendulkar said. “So students who come into CH182, this theory and practice yearlong class, have to be willing to let that go a little bit because I am not going into the class with a well-defined syllabus. The syllabus is co-constructed.”

“As a student, you come into a class, and you’ve got your expectations, your syllabus and your exams … this [class] is not necessarily one that aligns well with that mold,” Community Health Professor Shalini Tendulkar said.

According to Tendulkar, when approaching community health research through the lens of CBPR, the researcher’s role is not necessarily to solve public health issues, but to identify the most prevalent issues in specific communities by paying attention to the concerns of those who live and work there. They then try to increase awareness of and access to existing organizations that are already working to address these public health concerns.

CH182, she explained, is therefore not just an opportunity to interact with the community around Tufts or to single-handedly “solve” a community’s problems. Rather, she views it as a chance for the students, herself and community partners to co-construct an experience for the benefit of all parties involved.

“It’s not like there’s one solution necessarily [to the chosen issue],” she said. “Because there are other forces in the community, like history and politics, that kind of also feed into how things happen.”

Tendulkar highlighted that the nature of these issues is why she approaches community members with receptiveness and an open mind, stressing that being able to adapt previous assumptions or hypotheses is key to CBPR’s success.

“You can’t just dive in and say ‘I’ve arrived and I have the answers,'” she said. “You need to be willing to listen, and you have to be mindful of who you’re listening to, who the partners are, who the gatekeepers are [and] whose voices are being heard.”

During last year’s section of CH182, students conducted CBPR in Medford, working on a project entitled Medford and Tufts Community Health (MATCH) Research Collaborative, Tendulkar said. They contacted 52 partners from Medford to assess the city’s prominent health needs, according to a report compiled by students in the course.

Diane McLeod, the director of diversity for the city of Medford and a previous Tisch College of Civic Life board member, was one of last year’s partners, and said that one of the biggest contributions made by students in last year’s CH182 was updating the Medford Welcome Book. The booklet lists several health and financial resources in different languages for people who are unfamiliar with Medford’s resources.

The booklet had been outdated for a few years, and McLeod said that help from CH182 students was vital in keeping it relevant, adding that she would not have gotten around to updating it herself without them.

Junior Ravali Mukthineni, who was a student in CH182 last year, said she appreciated being able to use the knowledge she gained from the course to address local community health issues based on actual input from Medford residents.

“What’s great about CH182 is that we apply what we’ve learned,” Mukthineni said. “In CBPR, the community members play a large role in shaping the research process.”

She added that she learned the importance of determining the focus of research based on direct input from community organizations.

“Even though as a class we were discussing what we’d like to focus on — things like mental health — it wasn’t until when we started talking to the organization leaders in Medford and listening to some of their health

concerns based on the people that they worked with that we shifted our research process,” she said.

This year, Tendulkar said CH182 is partnering with the Medford Family Network, a program run through the Medford Public Schools that aims to connect families with young children to community resources, other families and community agencies, according to the network’s website.

“You need to be willing to listen, and you have to be mindful of who you’re listening to, who the partners are, who the gatekeepers are [and] whose voices are being heard,” she said, Tendulkar has a long history of engaging with communities to address public health concerns. After completing her undergraduate degree at Wellesley College and obtaining a Masters and a Doctorate degree in Maternal and Child Health from the Harvard School of Public Health, she began working for a research and evaluation organization called the Institute for Community Health (ICH), an organization based in Cambridge at the time that has since relocated to Malden, MA. She said she spent seven years there conducting community-based research and evaluation before becoming a professor at Tufts.

“I had a real interest in always doing more community-engaged work,” she said. “I did not want to use the skills I gained through my doctorate to necessarily do work that wasn’t placed in or at least engaged with communities.”

Now having served as a lecturer in the community health department for three years, she said she still sometimes feels like a newcomer here.

“I was saying to one of my students today that I still need to do a campus tour because I don’t know where some of the buildings on campus are,” she said.

In addition to CH182, Tendulkar teaches a few research-based courses at Tufts, but because of her values and research background, she said that she tries to incorporate hands-on research experiences into her theory-based classes as well. In addition, she makes a point to treat her students as equal collaborators in the research process in all of her classes.

“I feel like one of the things I’m really committed to at Tufts through my classes is helping students understand the value of community engagement, so when I engage [with them] it’s kind of just an extension of that,” she said.

“I think in many ways, I see students as potential research partners. I see them as myself, but just earlier on in their training.”

5 tuftsdaily.com

Rainbow House 2016 On Queer

O

On Pulse

n June 11, my mother walked into my room, gently woke me up and gingerly sat at the foot of my bed.

“Christina Grimmie was shot,” she told me, granting me some silence afterward to internalize the news. She knew I had followed Christina for years, tracking her career and supporting her music, and that her murder would be hard for me to swallow. I was touched that my mother cared enough to make sure that I heard it from her. After all, I was human, and death is hard. It’s reasonable for anyone to grieve.

But the next morning, there was no wakeup call. There was no gentle conversation at the foot of my bed — just a post on Tumblr lamenting a “massacre.” I didn’t fully comprehend what had happened until I had checked my notifications. And I read about how, less than a year after it became legal for me to marry another man, 50 members of the LGBTQ+ community (including the shooter, who many consider a victim as well) were murdered and another 53 wounded at an Orlando nightclub because someone allowed a radical homophobe and known threat access to a gun.

I spent two hours straining to compose myself before I walked downstairs to see my parents watching CNN, oblivious to how this tragedy was affecting their closeted son.

“ISIS,” a newscaster cried, quickly met by the nods of her peers. Less than 12 hours after the shooting, I watched as the deadliest hate crime against the LGBTQ+ community in American history was turned into a terrorist attack on a “dance club.” I watched as the identities of 103 queer victims (the majority of whom were Latinx and several whom were trans) were swept under the rug as tabloids tried to dissect the alleged links to terrorism.

I found it hard to believe that in the 29 years of his life, nobody had challenged the shooter’s blatant homophobia. Nobody had taught him acceptance or respect, nobody had found issue with the hatred in his heart.

But perhaps that’s the society we live in — one where homophobia is not acceptable, but also not worth challenging or correcting.

Even worse is that in the days following the attack, I felt the need to hide my grief, fearing that my parents might be concerned by my over-attachment to these “strangers.”

As if you have to be queer to care about other members of the community. As if my gayness is the only reason I would be affected by such a horrible act. Why is it that one woman holds more weight than 50 queer men, women and non-binary humans in terms of sympathy, in terms of grief, in terms of respect?

So here’s my response to the Pulse shooting: You do not have to be queer to sympathize with us. You just have to be human.

At the same time, do not take this away from us. It isn’t about terrorism, or the Middle East, or inexplicable motives. It’s about a country that, 47 years after the Stonewall riots, still hasn’t figured out how to protect our community. It’s about the fact that seeing two men holding hands can enrage a man to the point of massacre. It’s about the fetishization of lesbians, the use of trans men and women as entertainment, bisexual erasure and the fact that non-binary people are dismissed as confused or pretentious. We are humans. We are a community. And it would be absolutely fabulous if we could get some basic human respect in the wake of this tragedy.

Have a suggestion for an article, a question, or a topic you’d like us to cover? Email us at rhousecolumn@gmail.com!

This column was written by an anonymous resident of the Rainbow House.

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Monday, September 19, 2016

ARTS&LIVING

7 tuftsdaily.com

FALL MUSIC REVIEW

The singles bar: getting back in the swing of things edition

Nikki Margaretos Is This Thing On?

by Justin Krakoff

Executive Arts Editor

T

With the first full week of school finally out of the way, the time has come to dissect the deluge of new music that has coincided with this back-to-school madness. Here are some of the biggest songs that will be inescapable by the time Thanksgiving rolls around.

“The Greatest” 3/5 As the old saying goes, “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” Australian singer/songwriterturned-pop-star Sia has certainly adhered to this wise maxim on her latest single “The Greatest,” which was released on Sept. 6.

Reportedly the lead single for her upcoming eighth studio album, “We Are Your Children,” the track sees Sia returning to much of the same territory she has previously explored.

In terms of production, the influence and success of “Cheap Thrills” (2016) can be felt all over the track, with a fast-paced tempo that somehow still feels relaxed thanks to its island influences. The song’s lyrics also retread past Sia hits such as the uplifting “Titanium” (2011), with the powerhouse vocalist belting, “I’m free to be the greatest here tonight, the greatest.” A strong but all-too-short verse from hip-hop sensation Kendrick Lamar adds a little unexpected edge to this otherwise by-the-books number. That being said, the radio is going to play “The Greatest” within an inch of its life, mainly due to its generic but well-executed qualities, which, coupled with streams from the heart-wrenching video that alludes to the tragedy in Orlando this past summer, will have this song playing at every pregame this fall.

PHOTO BY CARLOS DELGADO

Calvin Harris performs in Rock in Rio Madrid 2012.

“Perfect Illusion” 3.5/5 Simply put, it is quite odd that this is where Lady Gaga is in her career right now. After all, the pop icon is not even a decade into her career, and yet, at times, it feels like she has gone through more reinventions than most artists have in their entire careers. This brings one to “Perfect Illusion,” out Sept. 9, the lead single to her upcoming fifth studio album “Joanne,” which is due for release on Oct. 21. This is a song that is another reminder to never underestimate Lady Gaga. Completely bucking current radio trends, it evokes

DOUG PETERS FOR PA WIRE/ZUMA PRESS/TNS

Lady Gaga attends the Met Gala 2016 in New York on May 2.

the glam rock and disco of the 1980s.

Working with a new slate of collaborators, including Mark Ronson of “Uptown Funk” (2015) and Amy Winehouse fame, as well as Kevin Parker, the frontman of Tame Impala, Gaga has succeeded in offering up a defiant slice of pop music, with the ferocity of her vocals fully on display when she sings, “It wasn’t love, it was a perfect illusion,” during the chorus. The song’s key change toward its end is a wonderful throwback to the pop music of yesteryear, offering a thrilling climax instead of just fading away. The only criticism that can be lodged toward “Perfect Illusion” is that the track relies too heavily on nostalgia to succeed and sounds too much like an album track from Gaga’s own “Born This Way” (2011), which previously explored rock sounds.

While only time will tell whether this reinvention will succeed in reigniting Gaga’s commercial prospects, the track will surely go down as one of 2016’s most memorable releases, notwithstanding one’s own personal opinion.

“My Way” 2.5/5 Unfortunately for Scottish DJ Calvin Harris, sometimes one’s formula can begin to grow a little stale, which is all too evident by the overwhelming meh-ness of his new single “My Way.” Released this past Friday, the follow-up to his summer smash “This Is What You Came For” (2016) comes across across as reductive and fails to reach the highs of Rihanna’s sheer charisma on Harris’ summer hit. Harris, who sang prominently and fairly well on most of his early material, comes off on this breakup anthem sounding unedited and too relaxed. Although this may be an attempt to cater to radio’s sound du jour of breezy pop, “My Way” ultimately becomes nothing more than house-inspired mediocrity for the masses, especially since the song is built around the refrain of “You were the one thing in my way.” However, Harris has seemingly scored major public relations points with regards to the song purportedly being about his superstar ex-girlfriend, Taylor Swift. Even though he has denied said rumors, this is probably enough to keep people interested in what should instead be a footnote in the career of one of EDM’s most prominent figures.

The college drop-in

his is where a college drop-in will attempt to teach you something once a week about the pop music we know and love and will be embarrassed to show to our children someday. In the spirit of another semester already underway, I found it most appropriate to revisit the original Big Man on Campus himself, Kanye West. Now I realize that, for some, the mention of Yeezy might conjure words like “ass—,” “complete douchebag” or “f–king crazy as s—.” Yes, we all watched the 2009 MTV VMAs. Yes, we’ve ironically retweeted his tweets. But despite his outrageous personality, Mr. West remains one of the most critically-acclaimed artists of the 21st century.

Let’s set the scene: it’s a Friday night. You’re in some dirty Boston Avenue basement party, wondering if it’s time to head home and order Helen’s with a side of “30 Rock” (2006 – 2013).

Then the DJ, who is really just some kid with a MacBook and an Aux cord, decides to throw it back to old faithful: “Gold Digger (feat. Jamie Foxx)” (2005). Just like that, people are breaking out their best Jamie Foxx impressions, and your friends are breaking it down. You probably would have seen this exact reaction from a crowd of Aeropostale-clad tweens when the clean version was played at your middle school dance seven years ago.

But hold up for a sec; that killer beat you’re hearing deserves a little more credit.

It’s actually a sample from a song over fifty years old: “I Got A Woman” (1954) by Ray Charles. Adapted from the gospel record “It Must Be Jesus” by Bob King (released by The Southern Tones in 1954), Ray’s track is full of wholesome lines about a very different kind of woman than the one in Kanye’s tale.

Instead of “taking [his] money,” Ray’s girl “gives [him] money when [he’s] in need.” Not a “trifling friend indeed” but “a kind of friend indeed.” This woman “saves her lovin’ just for [him]” and is “never runnin’ in the streets leavin’ [him] alone.” In “Gold Digger,” Jamie’s derivations of Ray’s chorus create a comical juxtaposition between the loyal girlfriend and one who’s just after ‘Ye’s money.

In the lyrics, Kanye introduces his lady friend with a baby Louis Vuitton under her underarm — an immediate Ralph Lauren satin red flag. She quite literally cradles a handbag like an infant; until Kayne says “Vuitton,” it almost sounds like he’s referring to an actual baby named Louis. She explains to ‘Ye that she can tell he rocks “by his charm,” a word play on the riches she’s really after. The problem is, Kanye’s looking for “the one.” Despite his concerns about her, however, he still is interested, so is it love or is it lust? Now I’m not sayin’ she’s a gold digger, but boy you better hold onto your JumboCash.

Want to hear what I’m talking about for yourself? Check out the original and the sample; while you’re at it, give the “Gold Digger” music video a watch for a young John Legend cameo.

Song: “Gold Digger (feat. Jamie Foxx),” by Kanye West (2005) Sample: “I Got A Woman,”

by Ray Charles (1954) Nikki Margaretos is a junior majoring in economics and international relations.

She can be reached at Nikoletta.Margaretos@tufts.edu

8

THE TUFTS DAILY | Comics | Monday, September 19, 2016

Comics

tuftsdaily.com LATE NIGHT AT THE DAILY Jake: “There’s something at the end of the rainbow, and it’s not a pot of gold”

Comics

SUDOKU

DOONESBURY

BY GARRY TRUDEAU

NON SEQUITUR

BY WILEY MILLER

Difficulty Level: Responding to a Tufts acceptance letter.

Wednesday’s Solution

FOR RELEASE SEPTEMBER 19, 2016

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Send your resume and cover letter to jamiere.abney@tufts.edu by Monday, Sept 19

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ACROSS 1 Dangerous wind for small boats 5 “You’re gonna need a bigger boat” movie 9 Barbecue rod 13 Actor Sharif 14 Verbal exams 16 Actress Lollobrigida 17 Ship-fouling organisms, on Talk Like a Pirate Day? 19 Lights-out tune 20 Horse hue 21 Spyglass component 23 With 48-Down, mediocre 24 “Alas ... ” 26 Cry of fright 27 Burning 29 Key lime __ 30 Pigpen 31 Story surprises 32 What kids ask on a long trip, on TLAP Day? 36 What George Washington could not tell, according to folklore 37 Oregon Trail wagon pullers 38 Ship’s right-front section, on TLAP Day? 43 Sends to the Hill 45 Agrees to 46 Wonderment 47 Wood-shaping tool 48 Urgent distress signal 49 When right turns are sometimes permitted 51 Tax agcy.

52 Dire fate 54 Two of a kind 55 The color of tropical seas 57 Cold northern region, on TLAP Day? 61 “The Sopranos” actress Falco 62 Human trunk 63 Ring of light 64 Flatfish sometimes served stuffed

9/19/16

By Grant Boroughs

65 Recipe amts.

66 Online auction site DOWN 1 Dollop 2 Doctors’ org.

3 Food storage area, on TLAP Day? 4 Swashbuckler Flynn 5 __ of 6-Down: French heroine 6 5-Down of __: French heroine 7 Minnesota’s state fish 8 Like a smoothsailing clipper ship 9 Rank above cpl.

10 One tickling the ivories 11 Sitting at the dock of the bay 12 Tries a bite of 15 Taxpayer ID 18 Dissenting vote 22 Fictional Tom or real-life Diane 24 Massage facility 25 Balloon filler 26 Old anesthetic 28 Wicked one 30 Mixes

Saturday’s Puzzle Solved Wednesday’s Solution

©2016 Tribune Content Agency, LLC

31 __ Hold ’em 33 Enjoy, as television 34 Overjoyed 35 Chess castles 38 Shove off 39 Post-WWII babies 40 Bill for drinks, on TLAP Day? 41 Be indebted to 42 Married 43 Upper crust groups

9/19/16

44 Rio Grande city 48 See 23-Across 49 Rowboat propeller 50 Specialized market segment 53 Giants slugger Mel 54 All in favor 56 Director Ang __ 58 Deadly snake 59 Dockworkers’ org.

60 Playfully shy

Monday, September 19, 2016

Opinion EDITORIAL

The patriotism of protest There is no doubt that the majority of American people feel some degree of patriotism. The United States is known abroad for its national pride, its reverence of the Constitution and its supreme respect and admiration for its military and veterans. Furthermore, the United States is known for upholding, with greater fervor than most, the notion of individual liberties and freedom. This sense of freedom — be it of speech, religion or assembly — is deeply ingrained in American culture, to the extent that younger children often appeal to the phrase, “It’s a free country,” to justify their actions. And yet, the respect of these freedoms recently came into question when a notable football star faced backlash after deciding to exert his rights by protesting the national anthem.

Colin Kaepernick drew the attention of various media outlets when in late August, instead of standing and putting his hand over his heart — as is customary for players to do before every game — he sat down for the entirety of the anthem.

Kaepernick refused to, in his words, “show pride in a flag for a country that

oppresses black people.” His protest was later imitated by other players, such as Brandon Marshall of the Denver Broncos and Arian Foster of the Miami Dolphins.

By some, these players are being celebrated for bringing much-needed attention to the Black Lives Matter movement and the issues that people of color face in the United States. Even President Obama commented on the matter, saying it was well within these players’ rights to protest the national anthem, and that they were bringing important topics of conversation to the mouths and minds of many, especially younger people.

However, many others became angered and offended by the way these players protested the anthem. Some thought it was unprofessional of the players to use their high-profile jobs to protest something so personal. Nonetheless, this is not the first time that football players have used their spot in the public eye to lobby for social justice or personal causes.

When NFL players participate in a campaign to end domestic violence or when they wear pink on the field in October for breast cancer awareness, no one calls

them unprofessional. Yes, the Black Lives Matter movement is more controversial than any of these campaigns, but the notion of saving innocent lives is commonly shared by all three.

The most common criticism of their protest was the fact that it was unpatriotic — an Iowa congressman even went so far as to say that it was sympathetic to ISIS — and that these men were being disrespectful to a country that had given them so much. Yet, by protesting the national anthem, Kaepernick and others were exerting the individual freedoms that make so many Americans proud of their country. In that sense, their protest hardly seems un-American.

If we are taking issue with football players straying from standard procedure during the anthem, should we not also take exception to the institutions in our country disregarding ‘American’ standard procedures of equality and justice? If the government is not fulfilling its duty by working to protect black men and women, then it is certainly within these players’ rights — some may even say it is their duty in a democracy — to protest.

BY SHANNON GEARY 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 oped@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.

9 tuftsdaily.com

Aren Torikian The Arena

The home stretch

Everybody at The Arena would like to welcome our newest Jumbos to Tufts. You’ll find rather quickly that there’s nothing quite like a college campus around election time. And to everybody who won’t be going home to vote, please request your absentee ballot! From the top of the ballot down to your local elections, your vote matters.

Websites like www.vote.org can help you figure out how to make sure you get a vote.

Around the time of my last column in the spring, prediction markets gave Hillary Clinton a 65 percent chance of winning the presidency.

As of writing, those same markets give her a 64 percent chance of winning. After everything that happened this summer — from hackers sparking a vicious email scandal at the Democratic National Committee to Donald Trump insulting the parents of a deceased U.S. Army captain of Pakistani descent — odds have barely moved.

Of course in the interim, odds did fluctuate significantly. By the end of July and the Republican National Convention, Donald Trump had caught up to Clinton. Coming out of a brutal primary process and mired in her own email scandal, Clinton needed a strong convention of her own to reverse the trend. The Democrats didn’t disappoint.

With a superstar cast led by the Obamas (First Lady Michelle Obama gave the best speech of the convention,) Vice President Biden and of course President Bill Clinton, the Democratic National Convention snatched momentum back. In just a week, Clinton’s lead in the polls popped to 7 percent, according to FiveThirtyEight. But the Clinton lead has started to slip. As of the time of writing, she has maintained a 1 to 2 percent advantage in the national polls – too close for comfort.

Many analysts have waited for a “pivot” from Trump to wrestle back the lead. After winning the nomination, candidates tend to pivot toward the ideological center in order to attract independent voters. You could point to Trump turning on his view that President Obama was not born in the United States.

But on policy, namely immigration, Trump has held on staunchly. Admittedly, Trump is no longer claiming that Mexico is sending its criminals across the border, but he is still clinging to his proposed border wall and hardline on those already in America. After visiting Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto (who tweeted out afterwards that Mexico would not be paying for any wall,) Trump gave a two-hour speech on immigration in which he pivoted in a 360-degree circle. He is doubling down on the rhetoric that got his campaign to this point.

Clinton, however, isn’t doing herself any favors. While we can’t blame her for catching pneumonia, Clinton certainly blundered when referring to half of Trump’s supporters as the “basket of deplorables” in a recent speech.

Sure, she was referring to those supporting Trump for the most onerous reasons, but using the word “half” was always going to be perceived by voters as too broad a generalization.

One is of course reminded of Mitt Romney’s famous quote implying he did not care about the 47 percent of Americans who were certain to vote for President Obama in 2012.

It says something about our system that for a third straight semester, the Daily is running a column on the presidential elections; at every turn, this election has provided ample material. Editors have come and gone (and graduated) but The Arena is still here, providing hot takes and hard-hitting analysis on the greatest American dramedy since “Desperate Housewives.” It’ll be a fun semester.

Aren Torikian is a junior majoring in Economics and International Relations. He can be reached at Aren.Torikian@tufts.edu.

10

THE TUFTS DAILY | Opinion | Monday, September 19, 2016

tuftsdaily.com

LETTER FROM THE EDITOR

Introducing our columnists This issue marks the first day of fullfledged production for The Tufts Daily, meaning that the Daily is finally printing daily! As we jump into our regular schedule, we have a series of new contributors joining us in our pages. I have the privilege of introducing you to this new group of people who have impressed us with their insights, perspectives and humor: our weekly columnists.

The Features section will open the week with members of the Rainbow House drawing on their individual experiences to discuss queer issues in “On Queer.”

Next, juniors Natasha Khwaja and Faryal Jafri hope to juxtapose their different upbringings by sharing their perspectives on a variety of topics in “Karachi versus Kansas.” On Wednesdays, senior Kevin Lawson will provide readers with a satirical monologue taking you through the top stories of the week in “The Tufts Daily Show.” Sophomore Amanda Lillie will finish off the week by helping readers focus on enjoying life at Tufts despite being surrounded by stressors in “Maintaining Your Tuftsanity.”

Junior Nikki Margaretos will start off the week in Arts & Living, with “Is This Thing On?” She plans to examine pop songs each week, both current and throwbacks, and discuss their place in the context of college life. Next, first-year Tommy Gillespie plans to tell the story of his first year at Tufts as told by movies in “The Reel World.” On Wednesdays, Senior Emily Friedlander and Junior Ana Antolin will dissect the most recent episode of Project Runway, featuring insights from the Tufts arts community in “Runway Roundup.” Finally, sophomore Parker Selman will wrap up the week by dishing out a restaurant roundup to help you get

2016/5777

ROSH HASHANAH SU N D AY, OC T OBE R 2, 2016 • Reform Service 6:00 pm | 51 Winthrop Street • Conservative Egalitarian Service 6:00 pm | Hillel Center • Dinner 7:00 pm | Hillel Center $15 Online registration required.

MOND AY, OC TOBE R 3, 2016 • Conservative Egalitarian Service 9:00 am | Hillel Center • Reform Service 10:00 am | 51 Winthrop Street • Lunch 12:30–2:30 pm | Hillel Center $7 Online registration required.

• Tashlich–Shaping the Year to Come 3:30 pm | Meet at Hillel Center and walk together to the Mystic River • Conservative Egalitarian Service 7:00 pm | Hillel Center • Dinner 7:45 pm | Hillel Center $15 Online registration required.

off campus for a delicious bite every week with “All in Good Taste.”

Junior Aren Torikian is back with us in Opinion this semester with “The Arena,” where he will share his insights on the upcoming presidential election. Sophomore Jake Lawicki will share his advice on on everyday life lessons learned at Tufts in “Jumbo Steps” every Tuesday. First-year Daniel Lewis hopes to break through “The Echo Chamber” of a liberal university by offering both sides of debated issues in his weekly column. Clinching up the week, we have junior Anna Sossenheimer hoping to offer advice on navigating personal obstacles in “Jumping Hurdles.”

In Sports, senior Max Goder-Reiser will discuss unique and historically-relevant sports-world events every Monday in “Out of Left Field.” Next, first-year Nicky Shapiro hopes to help readers look at athletes through a new lens in “Under the Lights.” Sophomore Brad Schussel is looking into the crystal ball with “Brad’s Bold Predictions” every Wednesday.

Senior Vinny Donofrio will provide his predictions and advice for fantasy football in “Vinny’s Variety Pack” every Thursday.

We are looking forward to getting to know them all through their columns and we hope you are too!

Please don’t hesitate to reach out to any of the columnists with any questions or comments through their contact information listed at the bottom of each of their weekly columns. Also feel free to reach out to the Daily at any points with any questions or concerns at daily@tuftsdaily.com.

FRIDAY SEPT. 30 2016 COLLEGE NIGHT @ MUSEUM OF SCIENCE

FREE FOR STUDENTS W/ COLLEGE ID! $6 REDUCED RATE FOR SPECIAL EXHIBITS

Best, Arin Kerstein Editor-in-Chief

Rosh Hashanah October 2–4 Yom Kippur October 11–12 TUESDAY, OCTOBER 4 , 2 0 1 6 • Conservative Egalitarian Service 9:00 am | Hillel Center • Lunch Following Services Approximately 1:30 pm Hillel Center | FREE

• A Jewish Journey: A Walking Discussion with Rabbi Jeffrey Summit 3:00 pm | Meet at Hillel Center Wear comfortable shoes.

• Break-the-Fast Dinner 6:48 pm | Hillel Center $15 Online registration required.

YOM KIPPUR TUESDAY, OCTOBER 1 1 , 2 0 1 6 • Pre-Fast Dinner 4:15 pm | Hillel Center $15 Online registration required.

• Reform Service 6:00 pm | 51 Winthrop Street • Conservative Egalitarian Service 6:00 pm | Hillel Center WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 1 2 , 2 0 1 6 • Reform Services 10:00 am | 51 Winthrop Street 5:45 pm | Yizkor and Neilah 51 Winthrop Street • Conservative Egalitarian Services 9:00 am | Hillel Center 5:00 pm | Yizkor Interfaith Center (58 Winthrop Street)

SUKKOT BEGINS SUND AY, OCTOBER 16, 2016 • Services and Activities Please visit www.TuftsHillel.org for a complete listing of services and activities.

WANT AN ALTERNATIVE EXPERIENCE? OCTOBER 2–12, 2016 Looking for an alternative to services as a way of connecting during the High Holy Days?

Students will be creating a third space for yoga, music, writing and learning during the holidays this year. Drop-in for as little or as much as you’d like, and make the holidays a meaningful start to your year. Times and locations to be announced.

For more information or to be on our email list, email Rabbi Jordan at jordan.braunig@tufts.edu.

5:15 pm | Neilah Interfaith Center (58 Winthrop Street)

Tickets are required to attend meals. Buy holiday meals quickly and easily! www.tuftshillel.org

Monday, September 19, 2016 | Sports | THE TUFTS DAILY

Sports

Nichols and O'Connor finish first and second at Bates MEN'S CROSS COUNTRY

continued from back was only 4.5 seconds slower at 26:54.7.

Gregoire finished in the middle of a pack of five runners who all finished within two seconds of each other.

Despite individual Jumbos racing well, many on the team were not satisfied with the team’s performance.

“We know we can do a better job as a team, but it is early in the season so there is a lot of time for us to improve and be the squad we know we can be,” Jones said. “The results are not as important yet, so this race served as a good indicator of where we currently are.”

S o p h o m o r e C h r i s t i a n Swenson was unperturbed by the final

result, electing to take the long-view of the season.

“We can’t be too disappointed,” Swenson said. “We are training hard and are more concerned about some of the meets later in the season and are happy with where we are at right now.”

Despite the second-place finish, the coaching staff is confident that this year’s young squad will improve throughout the season.

“I am satisfied with the effort as a first-race rust buster, but expect most, if not all of the Jumbos to come into stronger racing over the next couple weeks,” Schmidt said. “We have lost our first race for the past couple [of ] years now, so the chip on their shoulder should help them

be extra hungry and motivated for the next couple meets.”

The conditions of the race were fair and the temperature settled around 75 degrees. Although the weather was nice, the course itself was challenging.

“The course is an honest New England one with rolling hills and uneven terrain, much like we will face later on at Williams and Colby,” Schmidt said.

“It’s a really tough course,” Jones said.

“The turns are reminiscent of Rainbow Road [from Mario Kart]. You always felt like if you turn too tightly you will fall off the edge of the course.”

The Jumbos’ next meet is the Purple Valley Classic at Williams College in Williamstown, Mass. next Saturday.

Resurfaced indoor courts provide edge for men's tennis MEN'S TENNIS

continued from back the common goal to try and get better,” Battle said.

Battle also pointed out that a quirk of college tennis, especially among NESCAC schools, is the need for indoor courts. While outdoor courts are relatively standardized, every indoor court plays slightly differently. Battle made note of a certain home-court advantage teams have when playing on their own surfaces.

“I think [the new Gantcher courts] will be a great training tool for us,” Battle said. “The previous courts were really fast and the points were much shorter on those old courts. These new ones are a little slower, it makes the rallies longer, they’re great training conditions. It will magnify what we can do in the offseason to prepare for the spring.”

The new indoor courts may be an excellent training aid, but Tufts does

not play at home during the fall. In fact, their first home game is not until April 1 against Amherst.

“The slower courts [in Gantcher] help us work on more realistic timing with the ball coming at you,” sophomore singles player Ethan Chen said.

Exactly how the new surface in Gantcher plays and its impact on the team’s performance this fall and into the spring will be worth keeping an eye on with the season around the corner.

Chen also said that this year’s tri-captains, seniors Austin Bendetson, Kevin Kelly and Battle, have fully embraced the culture shift that has taken place over the last few seasons.

Battle explained that even the captains’ practices that have taken place prior to the start of the season have been more intense than in the past, with the captains taking the work very seriously.

“We want to create a culture where [everyone on] the team can hold each

other accountable,” Battle said.

Both Chen and Battle were of one mind when it came to what the team expects to accomplish this year.

“We’re all excited to improve on last season, we know what it’s like to be competitive, we know what it’s like to be a top team,” Chen said. “[Gregor] has brought a new focus to the team, a new sense of purpose.”

The team traveled to its first invitational at Middlebury this past weekend. The first day of the competition saw the Jumbos put up strong performances. Chen and first-years Zach Schaff and William Gold each won two singles matches on Saturday.

Tufts went into the weekend with roster spots in flex and a desire to prove that it belongs with the best competition. With the players and coaches all dedicated to constant improvement, intrasquad play in the fall should prove as competitive as the race for the NCAAs in the spring.

11

Max Goder-Reiser Out of Left Field

Betts or bust

M

ike Trout, José Altuve, Josh Donaldson, and Mookie Betts, in some order, are the favorites for American League (AL) MVP this year. Using WAR (Wins Above Replacement) as a performance measure, it’s clear that all four have had incredible seasons. Trout (9.64) leads the bunch, followed by Betts (8.51), Altuve (7.74) and finally Donaldson (6.86). Despite Trout’s large lead in WAR, he has not been the AL’s most valuable player.

Mookie Betts is the best all-around position player in baseball. He is a potent offensive threat, excellent defender and the second best baserunner in the league. Looking at traditional stats for the season thus far, Betts has posted a slash line of .315/.356/.539.

He is second in total hits, two behind Altuve, and has hit 30 home runs so far, displaying his ability to hit for both average and power, which is rare for a player standing at 5’9’’. Betts is also ranked by Baseball-Reference as the seventh-best defender in baseball, ahead of his outfield dancing partner Jackie Bradley Jr. and everyone else in contention for AL MVP. Using FanGraph’s BsR, an all-encompassing base running statistic, Betts ranks second with a BsR of 9.4, where a value of 8.0 is considered “excellent.” Betts, again, ranks ahead of every other contender for AL MVP in BsR. Although he falls behind Trout, Altuve, and Donaldson in offensive measures of value, Betts supersedes them as an all-around baseball player.

With the Red Sox in the heat of a pennant race, it would not be unreasonable to assume that Betts could kick it into an even higher gear. Call it smaller sample size or an actual improvement, but he looks like a different player later in the year. In 2015 — his first full season — his on-base plus slugging (OPS) jumped from .774 (516 plate appearances) to .998 (138 PA). This season, Betts’ OPS from April to August was .926. If Betts experiences a jump like the ones he has experienced the past two years, it could push him into the lead of the MVP race.

Let’s face it, players on non-playoff teams don’t win the MVP. The last non-playoff player to win AL MVP was Alex Rodriguez in 2003, when he posted a WAR of 8.4. The runners-up all posted WAR’s of 5.0 or less, a pretty weak field of MVP candidates. As a recent example, in 2015, Trout, on a thirdplace Angels team, posted a WAR of 9.4 and finished second in MVP voting to Donaldson’s 8.8 WAR, who played on a first-place Blue Jays team, indicating that WAR isn’t the be-all end-all for deciding MVP. Even though Trout has played well this season, precedent gives Betts the edge.

In weighing all the factors that make a great baseball player, Betts is the clear standout. He’s a top-10 fielder, top-3 base runner, a top-10 batter and a top-3 dancer (see: #WinDanceRepeat.)

He is also in the middle of a pennant race with a first-place Red Sox team seemingly bound for October baseball.

History gives the edge to Betts, but we’ll have to wait until November to see if the baseball writers do too.

Max Goder-Reiser is a senior majoring in biology. He can be reached at Max.Goder_ Reiser@tufts.edu

Sports

12 tuftsdaily.com

Monday, September 19, 2016

MEN'S CROSS COUNTRY

Men’s cross country places second at Bates Invitational

by Ben Feinberg Staff Writer

Men’s cross country finished second out of four teams on Saturday at the Bates Invitational at Pineland Farms in New Gloucester, Maine. Tufts finished with 171 points, behind Bates’ 115 points but ahead of Worcester Polytechnic Institute’s (WPI) 196 and Southern Maine’s 397.

Senior co-captains Tim Nichols and Luke O’Connor led Tufts with first and second place finishes respectively.

Nichols ran a blistering 25:11.9 while O’Connor finished 23 seconds later in 25:34.9. WPI senior co-captain Austin Scott placed third in 26:11.7, almost a full minute after Nichols’ finish.

“Tim and Luke are always exceptional, but Tim in particular today was just four seconds off the course record, which was set by a former NCAA champion at a point much later in the season,” assistant coach Michael Schmidt said.

Sophomore Dylan Jones finished third for Tufts and 11th overall in 26:50.2.

“Tim and Luke killed it,” Jones said.

“They went out really strong and were able to keep an impressive pace the entire time.”

Sophomores Andrew Doherty Munro and James Gregoire finished in 14th and 18th respectively. Despite finishing three places behind Jones, Munro’s time see MEN'S CROSS COUNTRY, page 11

COURTESY ALYSSA RIVAS

Then-sophomore Luke O’Connor competes with the men’s cross country team at nationals in Mason, Ohio on Nov. 22, 2014 where he placed 80th.

MEN'S TENNIS

Men’s tennis embraces culture change

by Noah Schwartz Contributing Writer

Between resurfaced courts in Gantcher Center and coach Karl Gregor’s first recruiting class consisting of five new first-years, men’s tennis anticipates an exciting and successful fall 2016 season. The fall is traditionally when men’s tennis sets the stage for their spring season by playing in tournaments.

Tufts experienced great success last season; the team beat Amherst for the first time since the 2003-2004 season and defeated eventual national champion Bowdoin just weeks before its coronation. The Jumbos entered the NESCAC tournament as the fifth seed and ranked within the top 15 teams nationally. Despite improving substantially last season, the team believes its success was only the beginning.

After graduating five seniors including three captains — leaving three spots in the starting rotation vacant — Tufts will use the fall to round new contributors into form. Senior tri-captain Ben Battle played singles and doubles for the Jumbos last year and plans to return in the spring after fully recovering from an ACL injury.

“The goal for the year is for everybody to improve their tennis, no matter how good you are, from the top of our lineup to the bottom. The way our team will progress further is everyone having MAX LALANNE / THE TUFTS DAILY ARCHIVE

see MEN'S TENNIS, page 11

Sophomore Ethan Chen prepares a serve during an outdoor practice on March 8.