Thursday, February 23, 2017

MEN’S TRACK AND FIELD

Econofact offers approachable, objective analysis see FEATURES / PAGE 4

Jumbos claim NESCAC title, defeat then-No. 2 MIT

Netflix’s ‘A Series of Unfortunate Events’ stays true to novels’ dark comedy see ARTS&LIVING / PAGE 5

SEE SPORTS / BACK PAGE

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VOLUME LXXIII, NUMBER 18

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Thursday, February 23, 2017

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Graduate students consider unionization following NLRB decision

by Catherine Perloff News Editor

A group of Tufts graduate students in the School of Arts and Sciences, the School of Engineering and the School of the Museum of Fine Arts has been working toward forming a union for graduate students, following the National Labor Relations Board’s (NLRB) ruling last August that graduate students at private universities, as paid teaching and research assistants, have the legal right to unionize.

Last semester, the Graduate Student Council started an ad hoc committee to gather information about unionization. Starting in February, this committee transformed into an organizing committee, ready to take the necessary steps to create a union, according to organizing committee member and English Ph.D. candidate James Rizzi.

Many on the organizing committee, such as Eric Fields, a Ph.D. student in the Department of Psychology, see the union as a positive step for graduate students, both practically and philosophically.

“Unions give more people power and voice in their workplace. Given how much work structures our life … when people can have more of a voice in a workplace, that leads to a more democratic society,” Fields said.

Yet not all Tufts graduate students share this vision. Some students see a union as unnecessary, with the potential to undermine the benefits graduate student employees already have, according to Piers Echols-Jones, a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Mechanical Engineering.

“Most people I speak to are wary [of unionization],” Echols-Jones said. see UNIONIZATION, page 2

RAY BERNOFF / THE TUFTS DAILY

Computer science Ph.D. candidate Sam Burck, English Ph.D. candidate James Rizzi and psychology Ph.D. candidate Eric Fields are part of the group of graduate students pushing for a graduate student union at Tufts.

Fletcher School holds fourth annual Innovation Week

Tufts’ religious groups celebrate interfaith month this February

by Tashwita Pruthi

by David Nickerson

Contributing Writer

The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy held its fourth annual Tufts Innovation Week last week. Titled “Innovate Tufts – Fletcher Disrupts,” it consisted of four events and conferences aimed at finding inventive solutions to current challenges.

Miriam Freeman, one of the three organizers and a student in the Fletcher School’s Master of International Business program, explained that both Fletcher students and undergraduates at Tufts would be able to contribute to the event’s theme.

“This has always been a collaboration between Tufts and Fletcher and so we wanted to find a title that would bring those two things together,” she said.

“What we tried to do is pick topics for the different days of the conference that reflect issues where Fletcher really has sort of a competitive advantage in terms of tackling some of the big problems.”

Freeman explained that panelists were selected based on both their expertise in the subject matter and their relationships and connections to the local area.

“We tried to keep a lot of our speakers and moderators local, both because of weather considerations and because we think it is really important that since we are up on this hill in Medford, we want

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people here at the university to have the opportunity to connect with what’s going on in the Greater Boston community,” Freeman said.

The events began on Feb. 12 with a workshop-style conference on the international refugee crisis. Speakers included Eric Aronson, who works with Amnesty International USA, Liza Ryan, the organizing director of the Massachusetts Immigrant and Refugee Advocacy Coalition, and others. After the speeches, participants worked in groups to develop solutions to current refugee issues. Audience members discussed a number of questions, such as how refugees should be seen as assets to society.

The second event was a demo day called “Dusting Off Diplomacy,” during which participants pitched ideas to a panel. Freeman explained that the demo day worked in conjunction with the Monday’s session, as participants were able to display their ideas developed from the day before.

“We had some TEDx-style presentations by experts and then we had demos by entrepreneurs, whether they were local or international, and they were able to sort of demo their ideas about different ways of looking at diplomacy,” Freeman said On Feb. 15, organizers held a third event called “Colombia’s Struggle for see INNOVATION, page 2

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Staff Writer

The Interfaith Student Council (ISC) and the University Chaplaincy are sponsoring Tufts’ second annual Interfaith Awareness Month this month, which focuses on the theme of “Strength in Unity.” ISC has organized and promoted diverse faith-based events on campus to encourage collaboration among religious groups, according to ISC member Maretta Morovitz.

“We really wanted to focus this month on … recognizing that all of our [faith] groups have differences, but in coming together with those differences, it’s a stronger whole than any of the individual parts,” Morovitz, a senior, said.

Morovitz explained that the events associated with Interfaith Awareness Month are planned and organized by student representatives from each faith group.

“We each have our own individual [executive] boards, and we sort of plan events there,” she said. “When we come to the council, every group sends one or two representatives to the council and we discuss events, and if there’s anything they need help with, we’ll bring that up.”

A few of the events that have been held include an interfaith Shabbat at Hillel, an interfaith Jummah with the Muslim Students Association, an interfaith Catholic Mass, an interfaith Protestant

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evening worship service and a number of panels and discussion events on religious issues, according to the University Chaplaincy website.

Morovitz said that one of the biggest challenges in promoting interfaith events this month has been getting students to show up to the events and ask questions without feeling culturally insensitive.

“We’re trying to get over the initial hump of nervousness to becoming a part of the community you might not know much about,” she said. “You don’t want to ask questions that might sound ignorant or might be interpreted poorly, but all these [faith] groups are welcoming that.”

Celene Ibrahim, the Muslim chaplain, said she is glad that Tufts students and administrators invest time and resources in interfaith work, because she believes awareness about other faith traditions is an important part of being an educated person.

“Even if one does not come from a particularly robust faith background or have an identity that involves a faith commitment, being informed and educated about the role of faith in, for instance, the history of the United States … I think that’s highly important,” she said. “So this investment in the experience of students of faith and students seeking to be in dialogue is very special, and I commend the

NEWS............................................1 FEATURES.................................4 ARTS & LIVING.......................5

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THE TUFTS DAILY | News | Thursday, February 23, 2017

T HE T UFTS D AILY Kathleen Schmidt Editor-in-Chief

EDITORIAL

Jei-Jei Tan Miranda Willson Managing Editors Joe Walsh Executive News Editor Zachary Hertz News Editors Gil Jacobson Robert Katz Liam Knox Daniel Nelson Catherine Perloff Emma Steiner Hannah Uebele Ariel Barbeiri-Aghib Assistant News Editors Charles Bunnell Emily Burke Daniel Caron Aneurin Canham-Clyne Juliana Furgala Elie Levine Natasha Mayor Jesse Najarro Minna Trinh Costa Angelakis Executive Features Editor Becca Leibowitz Features Editors Jake Taber Emma Rosenthal Emma Damokosh Assistant Features Editors Zach Essig Elie Levine Jessie Newman Sean Ong Hermes Suen Grace Yuh Eran Sabaner Executive Arts Editor John Gallagher Arts Editors Cassidy Olsen John Fedak Assistant Arts Editors Libby Langsner Setenay Mufti Paige Spangenthal Anita Ramaswamy Executive Op-Ed Editor Stephen Dennison Cartoonists Shannon Geary Noah Kulak Lydia Ra Miranda Chavez Editorialists Julia Faxon Hannah Kahn Lena Novins-Montague Lanie Preston Eddie Samuels Executive Sports Editor Yuan Jun Chee Sports Editors Maddie Payne Maclyn Senear Josh Slavin Liam Finnegan Assistant Sports Editors Savannah Mastrangelo Brad Schussel Sam Weidner Sam Weitzman Ray Bernoff Executive Photo Editor Scott Fitchen Staff Photographers Lilia Kang Max Lalanne Rachael Meyer Zachary Sebek Alexis Serino Seohyun Shim Angelie Xiong Ezgi Yazici Executive Video Editor Olivia Ireland Executive Video Admin.

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Graduate students debate benefits, potential risks of unionization UNIONIZATION

continued from page 1 In contrast, both Rizzi and Fields said most people they spoke with were receptive to unionization.

The differing views of these graduate students reveal the core debate around forming a union at Tufts as well as the uphill battle organizers face as they strive to obtain enough support to hold a union election.

Rizzi said that, fundamentally, the key advantage of a union is its ability to give graduate students both the ability to bargain their own contracts and an opportunity to more clearly define their roles. “[A contract] would stipulate things that we don’t have now, like grievance procedures or the ability to negotiate for different benefits or better pay,” he said.

“We would have a much more defined set of priorities, benefits and salary and responsibility as well.”

In addition, a union could also help ensure graduate students are paid fairly, Rizzi said, especially as the cost of living in the Boston area rises.

Fields noted that a union could help procure summer funding for graduate students, which Fields said is currently not guaranteed for his colleagues in the Department of Psychology.

“You’re expected to do research over the summer. You’re not going to finish your degree in the allotted time if you don’t, but you’re not guaranteed to have funding,” Fields said.

Additionally, Rizzi said that, with Congress likely to repeal the Affordable Care Act, a contract could help ensure graduate students have quality health insurance. Fields noted that, as of now, Ph.D. students who take more than five years to finish their degree are not given health insurance.

“In my department … about half of students [take] more than five years to finish their degrees so that’s pretty normal, but you no longer get health insurance in your sixth year and you have to pay for it yourself which is pretty expensive,” Fields said.

However, Echols-Jones believes that Tufts graduate students are already paid fairly well compared to other students in the area and that a union would be unnecessary.

“For the most part, everyone seems really satisfied,” he said. “We recognize that as grad students we don’t have a lot of spending money. Our stipends aren’t huge, but it’s something we volunteered into.”

Echols-Jones worries that unionization may actually undermine the benefits he said he and other science, technology, engineering and mathematics students already have. He noted that a rise in graduate student pay could take money

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away from other important areas such as research or hiring quality professors.

“If they’re paying their grad students more, that’s siphoning off money for something else,” he said.

Fields said that, while he understood Echols-Jones’ concern, in practice, students would not lose anything, especially when looking at other graduate student unions in the country.

Graduate students have long been able to unionize at public universities in certain states, and the August NLRB ruling allowed Columbia University students to form a union.

“If you look at places where grad students got unions, nobody has ever lost anything,” Fields said. “The goal is to bring up people who don’t have it as good and never to bargain away something that someone already has.”

However, Echols-Jones expressed concern that students supported by outside grants could lose their funding if stipends become too large for these organizations to pay.

“Students who are funded by grants rather than departments have a concern because if there’s a stipend increase, that’s a higher cost on everything,” Echols-Jones said. “There’s a concern if that’s affordable with grants or if a grant can meet that requirement.”

Fields noted this as a concern but felt that students who receive grants would not need to worry. According to Fields, research has shown that unionization has not harmed students’ ability to do research.

A 2013 study cited in the August NLRB case found that unionized graduate students at public universities reported more faculty support and equal levels of academic freedom compared to their non-unionized counterparts and were found to be paid at higher levels. The study did not specifically discuss the impact of unionization on research grants.

Even if the concerns of students like Echols-Jones are not met out in reality, Echols-Jones said that by forcing workers to opt out rather than opt in, unions can undermine individual freedom. “[The union] decides everyone is in the bargaining unit and you have to opt out of it rather than opt in … If you vote no [on unionization], you’re forced to be part of a union, [if] it passes,” Echols-Jones said. “This is, in my opinion, a really anti-liberal thing to do. It’s not good to force someone to be in an organization they don’t want to be in.”

Rizzi said that if individuals opt out, they will be entitled to the benefits of the contract the union organizes, but they will not have a voice at the bargaining table.

“You are still part of the bargaining unit, you don’t negotiate on your behalf, you still get all the advantages of the contract that is ratified and you pay a lesser fee to the union,” Rizzi said.

Those who choose not to be part of the union must pay 1.27 percent of their salary to the union, whereas union members must pay 1.5 percent, Rizzi said. Rizzi noted that these fees are mandated by the federal government, not the union itself.

Currently, graduate students are working with representatives from Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Local 509, which currently represents the adjunct faculty at Tufts. Meg Tiley, a SEIU organizer working with the graduate students, declined to comment for this article.

Starting last semester and continuing into this semester, union organizers have been collecting union cards, which indicate individual members’ interest in holding a union election, according to Rizzi. Federal laws state that an election can be held once 30 percent of employees sign union cards indicating their support to form a union. Rizzi and Fields said they are not sure if an election will happen this semester, because they first want to ensure unionization has broad support.

“You want mandates. You want overwhelming support for moving forward.

You want people to be actively involved.

You don’t want one group of 10 people making decisions for thousands of students,” Rizzi said.

Tufts Executive Director of Public Relations Patrick Collins told the Daily in an email, “We are aware of interest among some graduate students in the possibility of unionizing and look forward to working with them on this issue at the appropriate time.”

The future is particularly uncertain given the current political climate.

President Donald Trump has made antiunion statements, and he has the power to appoint people to the five-member NLRB when its current members’ five-year terms end. These appointees could potentially overturn the August decision.

While Rizzi said they are working to adjust to the changing political climate, he is hopeful that progress will continue.

“I think the overall tide in academia is moving towards recognizing graduate students as essential employees to the university,” Rizzi said. “Even if this current effort were not able to make progress towards its goals, we’ve made headway and been able to put in place an organization structure that could be used in the future.”

Panelists discuss innovative approaches to conflict resolution at Fletcher Innovation Week INNOVATION

Assistant Copy Editors

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continued from page 1 Peace,” in which panelists examined Colombia’s peace-building process.

Speakers included Elizabeth Hoffecker from the International Development Network (IDIN) at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Roxanne Krystalli from the Feinstein International Center at Tufts and Luis Alberto Villegas, the director of rural development organization VallenPaz. Participants in this event explored the role of social development in rural areas, what it means to have women and feminist groups at the center of peace-building and how to innovate past

political standstills in Colombia. Villegas explained that better support for rural residents could play a role in resolving the nation’s political conflicts and building sustainable peace and that rural development problems have been long-standing in Colombia.

“The small farmers in Colombia didn’t have the opportunity and weren’t being provided the legal opportunities that they needed,” Villegas said.

The last event of the conference, held on Feb. 16, was a networking event that allowed participants to develop and discuss their thoughts on the main questions that were brought up during the week. Freeman said she

believes Innovation Week, particularly the networking event, was successful in encouraging people to think about creative solutions to commonly-asked questions.

“We pulled out some of the questions that came up throughout the week and we thought that was a really interesting way of integrating the different themes and being able to answer some questions that came up,” Freeman said. “Part of the innovation process is that you’re not going to get definitive solutions to all of the topics that you tackle, but I think that we definitely got people thinking about new ways of doing things and new ways of thinking.”

Thursday, February 23, 2017 | News | THE TUFTS DAILY

News

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Campus religious groups look to promote unity due to divisive political environment INTERFAITH

continued from page 1 university for investing in those sorts of resources.”

Rabbi Jeffrey Summit, the Neubauer Executive Director of Tufts Hillel, said that Interfaith Awareness Month is especially important this year given the current political and social climate of the United States.

“I think we’re living in a country right now that is increasingly xenophobic, where people are scared of difference,” Summit said. “The government, I think, is making us scared of immigrants and refugees, and I think it’s incredibly important now to be able to celebrate narratives of difference on campus.”

Both Summit and Morovitz agreed that this year’s Interfaith Awareness Month was more energetic than last year’s, and both attributed part of the energy to the divisive 2016 presidential election.

Additionally, Summit noted that there is a growing consensus among religious leaders at universities to promote reli-

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gious diversity and interfaith awareness, given the political and cultural situation.

“When I talk to colleagues across the country, I think we realize we have really important work to do now in our culture,” he said. “I also think that this is a really important time in our country to … look at the values that unite us.”

In the long term, Morovitz said that she hopes Interfaith Awareness Month will improve religious awareness on campus and forge connections between members of different religious groups.

“Our long-term goal is really to promote religious and philosophical literacy on campus as well as to the larger student body and to provide connection between the [religious] groups,” she said.

Summit encouraged all members of the Tufts community to participate in interfaith events with an open mind.

“I really think we need to go for it when we have opportunities like Interfaith Awareness [Month],” he said. “We need to really take a step into the room and be willing to talk honestly and listen deeply.”

COURTESY ZACHARY COLE

Students attend the Interfaith Jummah put on by the Tufts Muslim Students Association at the Interfaith Center on Feb. 17.

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Rebecca Redelmeier Tufts by Numbers

A hunt for study space

W

eekday evenings between 4 p.m and 10 p.m are rush hour for study territory on campus.

Where to go to inspire prime productivity is at the height of most students’ needs from Sunday night to Thursday night.

The Mayer Campus Center and Tisch Library serve as the two prime central study spaces for Tufts’ undergraduates. But, as 4 p.m rolls around, tables and space in these locations quickly fill up. Backpacks and coats mark territory during dinner breaks and friends squeeze in chair after chair around small Rez tables.

I wondered how the space availability of these study spots fluctuated during one randomly-chosen evening on campus. To find the trend, I tracked the availability shifts in the different parts of the Campus Center and Tisch throughout the evening of Tuesday, Feb. 21.

On the hour each hour from 4 p.m to 9 p.m., I counted the number of available multi-person tables in the Hirsch Reading Room in Tisch, Tisch Group Study, Tisch Quiet Study, Tisch basement, lower Campus Center, upper Campus Center, Hotung Café and the Rez. Only independent tables that were completely empty of people or possessions were counted as open.

The overall trend signified that the total availability of all study space in the Campus Center and Tisch peaked at 5 p.m. and dipped at 8 p.m. However, the trend lines of availability in each building varied greatly throughout the evening. While the Campus Center had a trend of increasing availability from 4 p.m. onwards, the availability in Tisch grew from 4 p.m. to 5 p.m. but then diminished from 5 p.m. onwards.

In the data breakdown of each building, the Rez was the most unavailable space with zero tables available from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. and Hotung had the largest number of available tables throughout the evening. Of the Tisch subset, Group Study had the highest availability of study space.

Notably, the variance of availability in each space, signifying how much the availability changed throughout the evening, varied greatly. The highest variance existed in Tisch Quiet Study, which had nine open tables at its height and zero at its lowest. The space with the least variance was the Rez, which remained consistently fully occupied throughout the evening.

A step back from the numbers allows for speculation about greater Tufts trends during weeknight evenings – meal times, study times and social times. This is exemplified in the dip of space availability at Hotung at 6 p.m. due to students eating meals. Additionally, the trend of decreased available space over the course of the evening in the Reading Room points to an increased need for focused study as the weeknight evening progresses.

As seasons change from syllabus week to midterm-packed March, these numbers are prone to vary across the board. But overwhelmingly, weekday evenings are busy in Tufts’ main study spaces, and seeking out multi-person tables in the Campus Center and Tisch will only occasionally provide the desired study spot. At the end of the day, the trick to finding the perfect study space is what our professors have always been telling us: start early, don’t procrastinate – if you start early, the perfect table is much more likely to be waiting for you.

Rebecca Redelmeier is a sophomore majoring in English. Rebecca can be reached at rebecca.redelmeier@tufts.edu.

Features

Thursday, February 23, 2017

New Fletcher publication Econofact aims to reintroduce facts in economic analysis

by Michael Shames Contributing Writer

This past election cycle has put the integrity and veracity of journalism in the spotlight, with rhetoric about “alternative facts” abounding. In response, the Edward R. Murrow Center for a Digital World at The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy announced the advent of Econofact in January. The website, directed by William L. Clayton Professor of International Economic Affairs Michael Klein and Murrow Center Director Edward Schumacher-Matos, is an online economic publication aiming to combat “alternative facts” with reliable, evidence-based analysis.

Klein said that after the election, he found himself wondering what steps to take next.

“Recently, we have seen people on both sides willing to make arguments that resonate but are not necessarily based on facts,” Klein said. “After the election, I asked, ‘What can people do? What can I do?’”

Klein, who also worked as Chief Economist in the Office of International Affairs of the U.S. Department of the Treasury from 2010 to 2011, decided to ask friends, professors and economists around the country to participate in his publication. According to Klein, the ever-growing Econofact network currently has over 35 members, ranging from education experts to macroeconomists to immigration experts and everything in between.

These members contribute memos on various topics related to economics issues.

Klein brought on Miriam Wasserman (F ‘97) as managing editor for Econofact. Wasserman said that she aims to connect people with knowledge to which they may not otherwise have access.

“I see my work as a bridge between the academic community and the general public,” Wasserman said.

Wasserman, who previously worked as an associate editor at the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, agreed that a lack of accurate journalism helped inspire the idea.

“The main driver for [the publication] was the sense that news coverage and political discourse have shifted away from facts,” Wasserman said. “We wanted to bring a solid evidence base back into discussions.”

Each memo is structured in a specific manner, with an objective summary of the issue at hand, followed by a robust compilation of pertinent facts and capped off with the author’s conclusion, Klein said.

“We intentionally give our articles a pretty strict structure,” Klein said. “We want people to understand the frameworks we have for economics in approaching data and statistics.”

Klein noted that the “What this Means” section of each memo — where the economist can give their own take on the facts — is a way to give the author a designated place for their voice, which is inherently absent in the rest of the article so as to maintain objectivity.

“It puts an exclamation point on what was presented before it,” Klein said.

From his work at previous jobs, including time at the U.S. Treasury, Klein has experience writing memos very similar to the ones found on the Econofact website.

According to Klein, the website is trying to be very forthright about where it gets its data from.

SEOHYUN SHIM / THE TUFTS DAILY

Fletcher Professor Michael Klein, William L. Clayton Professor of International Economic Affairs, poses for a portrait on Feb. 21.

“The arguments that are made are not assertions, but rather they are stats based on well-regarded facts,” Klein said.

Much of the data comes from publicly available sources that are hyperlinked or referenced in each article, according to Klein. He added that the economists in the network are all proficient in basing arguments and analysis in well-researched fact.

“The people in the network are academics with very high standings and are used to publishing in a way where if you submit something, it is subject to a very stringent process,” Klein said.

Klein mentioned several types of people and groups as the target audience of Econofact. First, he hopes that the general public will take advantage of the breadth of the memos available.

“We hope people interested in events and data that want a reputable source come to Econofact,” Klein said.

Beyond the layman, Klein feels that journalists can benefit from the website as well, noting that many journalists writing about economics are not traditionally trained in the field. He also thinks politicians and policy makers could find Econofact useful in a time crunch.

“Politicians and their staffs need a way to quickly inform themselves about very complex issues,” Klein said.

Wasserman agreed with Klein’s ambitions, but pointed out some potential challenges with having a broad audience as well.

“There is definitely a tricky balance between making something that is approachable by a general audience and at the same time conveying some ideas that can be very complicated,” Wasserman said.

In the week following its launch, Econofact accrued 57,000 page views and 27,000 unique visitors, according to Klein.

The website, which is continuing to gain followers and visitors each day, does not charge any fees or have advertising.

Klein noted that various human tendencies have gotten in the way of people’s abilities to base their arguments in fact and logical reasoning.

For example, he spoke about how news sources tend to give roughly equal space and time to opposing sides of issues, although those sides may have stark differences in the amount of evidence supporting them.

Furthermore, confirmation bias, the idea that people search for information or angles on information that suits their existing opinions, is also prevalent in current political discourse, Klein explained.

“The proliferation of ways that people can get information is such that people can move to the places that confirm their own views and beliefs,” Klein said.

Wasserman also acknowledged the growing prevalence of confirmation bias.

“It is a worrying trend that people only tend to look at certain sources of information,” Wasserman said.

This is where Klein feels Econofact can be a trustworthy alternative, based in statistics and evidence.

“What we are trying to do at Econofact is give a non-partisan resource for people interested in learning the facts and economic analysis, so they can come to their own conclusions about important economic events and policies,” he said.

Klein, Schumacher-Matos and Wasserman are still looking for ways to improve the publication. According to Wasserman, Econofact hopes to improve interaction with readers through a weekly newsletter.

“We want to alert our readers whenever we have new information coming out,” Wasserman said.

Klein also talked about how, with more and more memos each week, he hopes to establish an archive of various economic issues and policies.

Klein believes that this publication is congruent with the values that Tufts promotes, in that it reaches beyond the university for the greater good of the nation.

“The idea of civic engagement is central [to] Tufts,” Klein said. “I am proud to be part of an initiative going beyond the academic community and one relying on the expertise of experts in a way that will be beneficial for the country.”

ARTS&LIVING

Thursday, February 23, 2017

Tufts alumnus and best-selling author Christopher Golden talks writing with the Daily

Ori and the Blind Forest

“O

by John J. Gallagher Arts Editor

COURTESY SHIVOHN KACY FLEMING

Christopher Golden (LA ‘89) has written dozens of novels.

Jay one or two semesters, and the rest of the time I had Alan Lebowitz. Alan was fantastic. The great thing about Alan was that even though he was a literary writer and I wrote weird stuff, he was incredibly encouraging. He never judged me for what I did, although he did think that I should go write movies and television because of my more commercial sensibilities.

TD: With a pair of literary writers for mentors, what was it that inspired you to go in a different direction and write science fiction and fantasy?

CG: I was always attracted to the weird stuff — as a kid, “The Twilight Zone” (1959-1964), Marvel Comics, and see GOLDEN, page 6

TELEVISION REVIEW

‘A Series of Unfortunate Events’ is grimly charming

NETFLIX

Violet Baudelaire (Malina Weissman) and her siblings must live with their distant relative Count Olaf (Neil Patrick Harris).

by John Fedak

Assistant Arts Editor

Netflix frequently demonstrates an ability to produce watchable and largely enjoyable content, and it has moved to the forefront of original content in recent years. So when it announced that it would be adapting “A Series of Unfortunate Events” (1999–2006), the novel series published by Daniel Handler under the pseudonym Lemony Snicket,

tuftsdaily.com

Fury Sheron E for Everyone

INTERVIEW

Author Christopher Golden is nothing short of prolific. Since graduating from Tufts in 1989 and releasing his first novel “Of Saints and Shadows” in 1994, he has published dozens of novels and graphic novels. He also leads River City Writers, which according to its website is “a company offering book-and-writing-related events, workshops in all areas of writing and publishing, focused and intimate writing retreats and, by popular demand, premium editorial and consultation services.” Golden is a third-generation Jumbo, a former writer for The Tufts Daily and father to Nicholas Golden, one of the Daily’s spring 2016 managing editors. Golden spoke to the Daily about his career over the phone while traveling to the science fiction convention Boskone.

The interview has been edited for clarity and brevity.

Tufts Daily (TD): What in your Tufts experience had the biggest impact on you as a writer?

Christopher Golden (CG): In my first year and my sophomore year, I did write some entertainment stuff for the Daily. I reviewed films and books and a couple of shows in Boston and quite enjoyed that. But there’s no question that the biggest impact on me writer-wise came from the two creative writing professors I had while I was at Tufts. One of them was Jay Cantor, but I only had

5

there was reason to celebrate — but also reason to fear, given the terrible film adaptation “Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events” (2004). However, even if it is not a tale of happy endings, the Netflix adaptation proves to be a success by closely following the spirit of the books, leaving viewers satisfied with its dissatisfaction.

A major problem with the 2004 movie was its lack of dark comedy, a part of what made the books so great. The

movie tried too hard to be funny and ultimately lost most of the charm the books contained. Thankfully, Netflix has remedied this problem, and the show is both grotesque and enjoyable in its selfaware mockery. Indeed, the theme song that plays during the opening credits includes the lyrics, “This show will wreck your evening, your whole life and your day. Every single episode is nothing see UNFORTUNATE EVENTS, page 6

ri and the Blind Forest” (2015) is designed by Moon Studios, a collection of ex-AAA developers gone indie. The game functions as a “love-letter to 2D” by combining the simple pleasures of an explorative platformer seamlessly with unobtrusive cinematic elements and the most gorgeous and enchanting artwork, sound design and soundtrack.

You are Ori, a protective spirit who has fallen from The Spirit Tree and must bring light and life back to a dying forest. The game falls under Metroidvania, a game genre in which players must navigate a set space to find new powers that will allow them to access new areas. As such, the game is naturally set up for tutorial, teaching the player one new concept at a time and ensuring they will not move on to a new area until they have completed the challenges of their current power. The story — a simple one of loss, inner-strength, restoration, mercy, altruism and forgiveness — complements the gameplay perfectly.

I love this game mainly because it’s not trying to be anything more than what it is. It doesn’t try to be some revolutionary game with a million new features never seen before. In fact, it’s obvious that most of the gameplay elements in “Ori and the Blind Forest” are standards taken directly from other platformers — including, but not limited to, “Rayman” (1995), “Metroid” (1986) and even “Portal” (2007). What it tries to be is an atmospheric achievement with really tight, satisfying controls, which takes place in a stunning parallax world with incredible depth and movement, set to one of the most enrapturing soundtracks since “Journey” (2012). The vastness of this world created with the Unity engine is really nothing short of inspired.

If that isn’t compelling enough for you, let’s talk about what makes “Ori and the Blind Forest” special from a gameplay standpoint. When the player dies in one of the many challenges in this rather difficult game, they are instantly revived to the last place they formed a Soul Link, which is basically a checkpoint that players insert manually into the map for some of what is essentially mana currency. Since the player decides the location of the save points, the world is theirs to explore at whatever pace they choose — as long as they remember to save. The player can easily get caught up in the many flow elements of this movement-oriented platformer, only to die in a new challenge and respawn back to the Soul Link they created 10 or even 20 minutes ago.

Besides this position relapse, however, there is no consequence to dying in this world, which is a feature that forces the player to save often and take bold risks if only to keep moving. It is ingenious.

“Ori and the Blind Forest” proves that a bunch of people who worked for companies like Blizzard can come together remotely to create something out of genuine love for a genre. Not all AAA-quality games are created out of sheer want for profit. For once, this is a game made out of love for adventure and pure human kindness.

The game can be purchased for PC, Xbox 360 and Xbox One for $19.99.

Fury Sheron is a junior majoring in Japanese. Fury can be reached at lahna. sheron@tufts.edu.

6

THE TUFTS DAILY | Arts & Living | Thursday, February 23, 2017

tuftsdaily.com

Golden talks about writing process, own work GOLDEN

continued from page 5 really the tipping point for me was Stephen King. But even prior to first reading Stephen King, I was already gravitating toward strange things. I started writing my first weird short stories when I was a junior or senior in high school, and my mother used to say, “Why can’t you write something good?” and by that she meant something nice. I had written western stories and science fiction stories and romantic stories, but somebody always dies. Science fiction and horror and mystery were always more interesting to me, but I always

make sure that I am writing about the fears of real people and the experiences of real people within the context of those weird stories.

TD: A lot of your writing has not just been novels but also comic books.

How does your writing process differ depending on the medium that you’re writing for?

CG: They’re all really different. Screen writers assume that they can write comics because they’re close cousins, but just like writing a screenplay or a television script is a separate discipline because they each have their own specific structure, comics are structured

differently. In a way, comics are the most structured form of writing that I do, because you have to be concerned about the visual experience, which is rigid. Each one of these mediums is a separate discipline and requires learning different tools.

TD: Out of all your work, what is the piece you are most proud of?

CG: That is tough. Most writers would always say the most recent thing, but there’s a difference between what piece you think is the best and what your favorite is. The book that has been best received over the past decade or so is a novel called “Snowblind ” (2014), and that’s definitely

one of the better books of mine and one of my favorites too. But my true favorite is a novel called “Strangewood” (1999), which came out 17 or 18 years ago, and that’s my favorite because that was the novel in which I proved to myself that I could write more maturely than I had been writing up to that point. I came of age in a way with that book.

TD: What advice would you give to someone who is hoping to break into writing fiction?

CG: People try to make writing sound more romantic than it is. It is true that this is not for the faint of heart. It has to be how you’re wired to write.

Netflix show breathes new life into familiar characters UNFORTUNATE EVENTS

continued from page 5 but dismay.” An opening monologue

by Lemony Snicket (Patrick Warburton) himself directly tells viewers, “If you are interested in stories with happy endings, then you would be better off somewhere else … This story will be dreadful, melancholy and calamitous, a word which here means dreadful and melancholy,” immediately capturing the grim charm of the book series.

This continues throughout the pilot episode, titled “The Bad Beginning: Part One,” which begins to tell the story of the Baudelaire children: Violet (Malina Weissman), Klaus (Louis Hynes) and Sunny (Presley Smith). The plot begins as the

three children are informed by banker Mr. Poe (K. Todd Freeman) that their parents have perished in a terrible and sudden fire, leaving them orphans. While their parents left behind an enormous fortune, the children do not have access to it until Violet comes of age, and they must be placed in the care of their nearest living relative until then. After a brief and unwelcoming stay at Mr. Poe’s house, they find themselves under the care of distant relative Count Olaf (Neil Patrick Harris), and in spite of the kind neighbor Justice Strauss (Joan Cusack), the Baudelaires must deal with Count Olaf’s incompetence and obvious ulterior motives, while Snicket, as narrator, consistently makes asides hinting at the orphans’ tragic fate.

I’VE NEVER UNDERSTOOD WHY MY HUMAN WON’T LEAVE THE HOUSE WITHOUT HER LEASH. I THINK SHE’S AFRAlD OF GETTING LOST. BUT IT’S OK, I KIND OF LIKE SHOWING HER AROUND. — HARPER adopted 08-18-09

The show is filled with the aforementioned dark comedy, and it is hard not to laugh out loud at times, only to be hit with depressing reality a moment later. Whether the orphans are forced to watch Count Olaf’s hilariously bad acting troupe or deal with the equally incompetent Mr. Poe, their misfortune is so over-the-top that it balances quite well with the macabre humor sprinkled throughout bits of dialogue or in the plot itself. A personal favorite is hearing the adults in the show frequently explain different words to the children, only to have Klaus contemptuously explain that they know what it means.

In all, the story and comedy are handled very well, closely modeling the books

and also breathing new life into familiar characters in a way the 2004 movie utterly failed to do.

Alas, just as Snicket professes that the story is not a happy one, all is not well in this review either. The show takes few risks, resulting in a good show — but not a great one. And while the bad acting of Count Olaf and co. is intentional, the acting of other characters can be a bit stale at times. Coupled with effects that seem a bit outdated, the visual and auditory experience suffers as a whole. Nonetheless, Netflix has managed to provide a show anyone with a taste for wry humor will thoroughly enjoy… unless, of course, you are fond of happy endings.

7

Thursday, February 23, 2017 | Comics | THE TUFTS DAILY

tuftsdaily.com

Comics

LATE NIGHT AT THE DAILY Ezgi: “I feel like a stalker.”

Comics

SUDOKU

SUDOKU

Difficulty Level: Getting a single in Carmichael

Difficulty Level: Getting your Latin Way suite

Wednesday’s Solution

Wedneday’s Solution

FOR RELEASE FEBRUARY 23, 2017

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

ACROSS 1 Oldest U.S. capital 8 Spade creator 15 Melodic movements 16 Ancient region now part of France 17 Is serious 18 Impulse conductors 19 Much toothpaste 20 U.S. neighbor 21 “Picnic” dramatist 22 Letter between November and Papa 25 Singer’s warm-up syllables 26 Indy-winning family name 27 Swears by 29 66, e.g.: Abbr.

30 Metaphor for jobs 31 Lav, in London 32 Singer Kitt 36 “... __ quit!”

37 Kind of bath 39 “Just like that!”

40 Sign-off words 42 Director Lupino 43 Corny state?

44 MSN, for one 45 “I’m good” 47 Jazzy Jones 50 Miracle Mets manager Hodges 51 Frozen fruitflavored drinks 52 Slanted piece 53 Sounds at spas 54 2017 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee 55 Enchant 57 Blog comment format usually interpreted as the word spelled by eight aptly circled puzzle letters 61 Norse explorer 62 Daughter of Agamemnon 63 End of a baseball game, usually 64 Like siblings DOWN 1 __ Adams 2 “Who __ you kidding?”

3 Actress Vardalos

CROSSWORD

2/23/17

By Don Gagliardo and C.C. Burnikel

4 Polynesian archipelago natives 5 State as fact 6 Impede, as a plot 7 Guinness suffix 8 __ Her Way 9 “A Clockwork Orange” narrator 10 2015 Big Ten champs: Abbr.

11 Siren’s victim 12 Waist-length jackets 13 Faint trace 14 Trademarked weapon 20 One-piece beachwear 22 Former #1 golfer Lorena who hosts an annual Guadalajara LPGA event 23 Heads up 24 Adorable one 25 Screen __ 26 Four Corners state 28 Openly enjoy, as soup 29 Convened again 33 Rib eye alternative 34 Ethan of “Boyhood”

Wednesday’s Puzzle Solved Wednesday’s Solution

©2017 Tribune Content Agency, LLC

35 Gather up 37 John who composed the “NBA on NBC” theme song 38 Much-followed star 41 Gorge crosser 43 Former Chrysler head 46 Early Jewish scholar 47 116-year-old prize

2/23/17

48 Philip Glass’ “Einstein on the Beach,” e.g.

49 Kelly’s ex-partner 50 Belgian treaty city 53 Jesus of baseball 54 She, in Cherbourg 56 Bar opening?

57 __ Lingus 58 DIRECTV parent 59 Ante- kin 60 Bummed out

8

THE TUFTS DAILY | ADVERTISEMENT | Thursday, February 23, 2017

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Thursday, February 23, 2017

Opinion EDITORIAL

Tufts should not raise tuition without transparency Although Tufts has not yet published its finalized tuition costs for the 20172018 academic year on its website, many students opened their Student Information System (SIS) accounts last week to the shocking news that Tufts’ official sticker price has crossed the threshold of $70,000 per year (including room, board, books and personal expenses).

This comes in the wake of fierce student activism this past fall as part of Tufts Student Action’s #HaltTheHike campaign against rising tuition costs. In particular, the campaign demanded a stop to tuition increases for the 20172018 academic year, greater financial transparency and improved financial aid resources.

This approximately five percent increase from current tuition, room and board costs from the 2016-2017 academic year comes without justification from the university as to how the

funds are being allocated or why the current tuition, room and board costs are not sufficient to maintain university activities. Until Tufts can show how its money is allocated and defend its need for significantly higher costs, students should not blindly accept the rise in tuition.

Furthermore, Tufts is open about the fact that it is not need-blind in its admissions process, although it does claim to meet 100 percent of demonstrated financial need for admitted students.

When overall costs for the university exceed the average American household’s annual income, Tufts further establishes itself as a university geared towards high-income families, dissuading talented low- and middle-income students from applying.

In light of the recent New York Times article indicating that Tufts is one of the least economically diverse colleges in

the country, it is clear that Tufts needs to do more to encourage a wide variety of backgrounds and perspectives on campus. By increasing costs, Tufts is further distorting representation on campus. Tuition increases can sometimes be justified and necessary, but the university has failed to show why its rising costs can be classified as either.

As long as Tufts continues to increase tuition without transparency, it puts pressure on current students to keep up with tuitions higher than when they entered Tufts and limits the diversity of the campus community. Transparency is the first step in an open dialogue between students and administrators about how to balance the financial demands of the school with more reasonable tuition costs. As such, it is important that we continue to demand accountability from the Tufts administrators and protest mounting costs.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY

LYDIA RA 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

Anna Tolette The Elephant in the Room

Musings on being a trash person

O

n Saturday, I went to the gym (a feat for a Saturday before noon, let me tell you) and intended to shower and then go to the library to get some work done. I sat down in the sad fluorescent light and probably spent about half of the time that I was there looking out the window. I took out my books and everything and laid them all out to trick the people around me into thinking that productivity was occurring, but in actuality, my mind was not on pronominal verbs: It was on the sunny day outside. All in all, I lasted about 20 minutes and then walked right out and promptly ate a bunch of cookies that my roommate’s grandma had made.

Shoutout to Judy Bittens; please adopt me as your granddaughter.

On Sunday, I had a very specific plan to get up, get my life together and work before the light of day faded once more. However, I was tricked into forgoing my responsibilities and instead enjoying the beautiful spring-like day in February. After getting back from hiking around in the snow and mud in the Fells, I told myself that I was going to finally get some stuff done. That was before my two-hour nap. I had my fingers crossed that the next day, I would be able to muster enough productivity to start the projects that I had looming in a week and a half. We all have that one killer week with a French exam, followed by a film analysis assignment, followed by a statistical profile and essay, followed by another exam, all one right after another. Every day I see the assignments in my calendar get a day closer, and every day I seem to tell myself that if I really work hard tomorrow, I’ll get it all done in time.

The reality of the situation is unfortunate: that I will be in the library for the entire week during the crunch period. I know that, and I foresee that as I write this article, and yet I am still allowing that panic to manifest itself later rather than taking care of it now and getting a head start. I tell a lot of stories about myself being an unproductive trash person, but I am not the only one. Even my suitemate, whom everyone believes to be the most together woman on the planet, has somehow managed to watch all five “Twilight” movies in the past two days.

Another suitemate finally rolled out of bed at 4:45 p.m. My roomsssmate once almost slept through a final at 3 p.m.

We are all thriving, and really, I promise we’re doing our best. I think we all need to learn how to balance more.

I’m not sure what the mental block is between seeing the obscene amount of deadlines that all pile up on top of each other and the ability to get started, but just know that you’re not the only one playing Mario Kart instead of starting that looming essay.

Anna Tolette is a sophomore majoring in film and media studies. Anna can be reached at anna.tolette@tufts.edu.

10

THE TUFTS DAILY | ADVERTISEMENT | Thursday, February 23, 2017

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The World of Tomorrow Order and Chaos in the 21st Century February 23-25, 2017 The 32nd Annual Norris and Margery Bendetson EPIIC International Symposium

For a full program and registration: 617.627.3314 and tuftsgloballeadership.org

Thursday, February 23 The Economy of the Future

Rear ADM David Titley (U.S. Navy, ret.), Professor of Practice, Department of Meteorology, the Pennsylvania State University; Founding Director, Center for Solutions to Weather and Climate Risk

David Dapice, Economist, Ash Center for Democratic Governance and Innovation, Harvard University

Identity, Integration and the Future of the Nation-State

7:00pm, ASEAN Auditorium

Dieter Ernst, Senior East-West Center Fellow; Author, Toward Greater Pragmatism? China’s Approach to Innovation and Standardization Manuel Muñiz, Professor of the Practice, The Fletcher School; Rafael del Piño Professor of Global Transformation and the Director of the Program on Global Leadership, Rafael del Piño Foundation

Friday, February 24 Keynote Address: “Twenty-First Century Security: Challenges and Opportunities” 10:30am, ASEAN Auditorium

ADM James Stavridis (U.S. Navy, ret.), Dean of The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University; 16th Supreme Allied Commander at NATO, where he oversaw operations in Afghanistan, Libya, Syria, the Balkans

Climate Change: A Threat to International Stability 12:30pm, ASEAN Auditorium

Paul Berkman, Professor of Practice in Science Diplomacy, Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, Tufts University; Chair, Foundation for the Good Governance of International Spaces Paul Kirshen, Academic Director of the Sustainable Solutions Lab and Professor of Climate Adaptation, School for the Environment, University of Massachusetts, Boston; Co-founder, Water: Systems, Science, and Society (WSSS), Tufts University

2:00pm, ASEAN Auditorium

Michael Bröning, Head of the International Policy Department of the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung, a political foundation affiliated to the Social Democratic Party of Germany Randy Kluver, Professor of Communication at the Texas A&M University, looking at geopolitics and media; Co-PI, Media Monitoring System Project Yascha Mounk, Fellow, Political Reform Program at New America Foundation; Author, The People versus Democracy: How the Clash Between Individual Rights and the Popular Will is Undermining Liberal Democracy (forthcoming) Farah Pandith (F’95), Chair, Subcommittee on Countering Violent Extremism, Homeland Security Advisory Council; Inaugural Special Representative to Muslim Communities, U.S. Department of State Benjamin Sacks (A’10), Ph.D. candidate in history, Princeton University; Inaugural Graduate Fellow, Center for Digital Humanities

Expert-led, Small-Group Discussions Sessions 4:00pm, Rooms in Olin, Mugar and Cabot

Secularism, Extremism and Ethnic Cleansing with H. Zeynep Bulutgil, Author, The Roots of Ethnic Cleansing in Europe European Foreign Policy in the Trump Era with Mai’a Cross Geopolitical Narratives and their Impact with Randy Kluver Chinese and Russian Perspectives on Information Warfare with Alex Crowther

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Thursday, February 23, 2017 | ADVERTISEMENT | THE TUFTS DAILY

Germany’s Future in Europe with Michael Bröning Populism and Global Economics with Manuel Muñiz The Future of United Nations Peacekeeping with Joachim Koops

Keynote Address: The Shape of Things to Come 7:00pm, ASEAN Auditorium

Juan Enriquez, Managing Director, Excel Venture Management; Founder, Biotechonomy LLC; former Founding Director, Harvard Business School Life Sciences Project; former head, Mexico City’s Urban Development Corporation; former Peace Negotiator, Chiapas; former Member, Sorcerer II Expedition, a global circumnavigation, with Craig Venter, which doubled known genes from all species; Author, As the Future Catches You and The Untied States of America

The End of the Liberal World Order?

8:00pm, ASEAN Auditorium

Mai’a Davis Cross, Edward W. Brooke Professor of Political Science and Associate Professor of Political Science and International Affairs, Northeastern University; Author, The Politics of Crisis in Europe Joachim Koops, Research Professor for European Foreign and Security Policy, Institute for European Studies; Dean of Vesalius College, Vrije Universiteit Brussel Nikos Passas, Distinguished Inaugural Professor of Collective Action, Business Ethics and Compliance, International Anti-Corruption Academy, Vienna Victoria Zhuravleva, Senior Research Fellow, Institute of World Economy and International Relations (the Russian Academy of Sciences), Moscow

Saturday, February 25 The Changing Nature of Force 10:30am, ASEAN Auditorium

Alex Crowther (A’82), Senior Research Fellow and Director of Research, Center for Technology and National Security Policy (CTNSP), the National Defense University, specializing in Cyber Policy Daniel Feehan, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense (Readiness), Office of the Under Secretary of Defense, U.S. Department of Defense Oleg Svet (A’08), National Security Advisor, Armed Services Committee, U.S. House of Representatives; formerly based in the U.S Embassy in Iraq, where he led long-term strategic communications initiatives for the spokesman of US Forces-Iraq

The Future of Diplomacy 2:00pm, ASEAN Auditorium

Amb. Daniel Feldman (A’91), former Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan (SRAP), U.S. Department of State, the key diplomatic strategist for policy formulation and implementation, including the successful mediation of the Afghan presidential electoral impasse Philippe Leroux-Martin, Director, Rule of Law, Justice and Security, U.S. Institute of Peace; former Head, legal department, International Civilian Office in Kosovo Padraig O’Malley, John Joseph Moakley Distinguished Professor of Peace and Reconciliation,

John W. McCormack Graduate School of Policy and Global Studies, UMass Boston, involved in Track II diplomacy from Ireland to Iraq Rodrigo Tavares, former Head, Office of Foreign Affairs, São Paulo State Government, Brazil; Author, Paradiplomacy: Cities and States as Global Players

Expert-led, Small-Group Discussion Sessions 4:00pm, Rooms in Olin, Mugar and Cabot Science Diplomacy with Paul Berkman Hybrid Warfare and U.S. Responses with Alex Crowther U.S. Grand Strategy since the Cold War with Zoltan Feher, Foreign Policy Analyst and Press Attache at the Embassy of Hungary in Washington, DC Geography and Strategy with Benjamin Sacks The Role and Responsibilities of the National Security Adviser and the NSC with Oleg Svet

Russian-American Relations in a Changing World Order with Victoria Zhuravleva

Keynote Conversation: Diplomacy and American Foreign Policy 7:00pm, ASEAN Auditorium

R. Nicholas Burns, Roy and Barbara Goodman Family Professor of the Practice of Diplomacy and International Relations, Harvard Kennedy School of Government; former Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs, the State Department’s third-ranking official when he led negotiations on the U.S.–India Civil Nuclear Agreement; a longterm military assistance agreement with Israel; and was the lead U.S. negotiator on Iran’s nuclear program; former U.S. Ambassador to NATO; former U.S. Ambassador to Greece David Sanger, National SecurityCorrespondent, The New York Times; Author, Confront and Conceal: Obama’s Secret Wars and Surprising Use of American Power and The Inheritance: The World Obama Confronts and the Challenges to American Power; Member of two teams that won the Pulitzer Prize and has received numerous awards for coverage of the presidency and national security policy

Future Imperatives for American Foreign Policy

8:00pm, ASEAN Auditorium

Douglas Bandow, Senior Fellow, Cato Institute, specializing in foreign policy and civil liberties Jose Maria Beneyto, Professor of European Law and Politics, International Relations and International Law and the Director of the Institute for European Studies in Madrid Steven Feldstein, former Deputy Assistant Secretary, Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor Bureau, U.S. Department of State; former Director, Office of Policy, U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) Alexander Görlach, Founder, The European; former Deputy Spokesman, Christian Democratic Union, Bundestag

For a full program and registration: 617.627.3314 and tuftsgloballeadership.org

11

12 tuftsdaily.com

Sports

Vinny Donofrio Vinny's Variety Pack

MEN'S TRACK AND FIELD

Tufts wins fifth Div. III New England title

by Liam Finnegan

Assistant Sports Editor

Tufts hosted the New England Div. III Championships at Gantcher Center on Friday and Saturday. Tufts won the event with a total of 127 points and boasted a 35-point gap from second-place Williams. Tufts even beat out MIT, ranked No. 2 in the nation. This was also the Jumbos’ fifth Division III New England Indoor Championship, their first since 2008, and many runners broke school records along with the victory.

“We really tried to prioritize [New Englands] this indoor season,” senior tri-captain distance runner Luke O’Connor said. “It was nice to come together as a team to compete this early in the semester.”

On Friday, sophomore thrower/hurdler Henry Hintermeister competed in the heptathlon. He earned a total of 4,481 points in the event to finish fourth in the race and posted personal records (PRs) in six out of the seven events. Hintermeister’s success set the tone for the rest of the meet.

On Saturday, junior hurdler Peter Clark won the 60-meter dash in 6.99 seconds, breaking the school record for the event. The record was previously held by senior sprinter Blake Coolidge, who broke it earlier this season with a time of seven seconds flat. Interestingly, Clark was only seeded ninth for the event, but won despite the low seeding. Sophomore mid-distance runner Hiroto Watanabe won the 800-meter with a 1:54.13, just beating out Middlebury junior distance runner James Mulliken, who ran the event in 1:54.16.

Watanabe’s time currently ranks ninth nationally. First-year sprinter Robert Jones placed eighth in the 60-meter dash with a time of

7.13 seconds. Jones broke the first-year record for the 60-meter in the preliminaries with a time of 7.09 seconds and then ran the second fastest first-year time in the finals. Junior hurdler Andrew DiMiati also came away with a victory, winning the 600-meter with a time of 1:21.25.

Tufts also had a slew of second-place finishes to go along with its large number of first-

Sophomore Josh Etkind hurdles on Saturday, place victories. Sophomore hurdler/jumper Josh Etkind ran an 8.28 in the 60-meter hurdle event, placing second and bringing his national ranking to 15th. O’Connor ran a 14:55.54 in the 5,000-meter to come in second in the race. The distance medley relay team, consisting of sophomores Colin Raposo and Christian Swenson and first-years Jordan Abate and Jackson Mihm also came in second with a time of 10:22.54.

The Jumbos had success in the field events as well. Junior jumper Stefan Duvivier cleared 6-foot-8-inch in the high jump to win the event. Junior jumper Linus Gordon finished second in the long jump with a 23-foot jump,

placing him 22nd in the country.

Coach Joel Williams thinks the victory was a complete team effort.

“I feel like the key to our success was the entire team contributing,” Williams said.

“Even guys that didn’t compete played a major part in this championship. They kept the momentum on our side through their unwavering support of their teammates.”

The Jumbos were happy with the result, but Williams said they are not done yet.

“We are constantly telling this team how great, how special they are,” Williams said.

“This meet is confirmation of that.

We won’t know who actually gets EVAN SAYLES / THE TUFTS DAILY into the NCAA Feb. 20, 2016. meet until March 5, so for the rest of the season we are focusing on getting more guys to the NCAA championship meet.”

O’Connor shared a similar sentiment while keeping the focus on the upcoming outdoor season.

“It’s nice to have a big team win early on, but we really gear up for NESCACs during outdoor [season],” O’Connor said. “I think Saturday was a great way to show what we are capable of achieving, but there is a lot of season left.”

The Jumbos will travel to the All-New England Championships at the Reggie Lewis Center in Boston on Friday and Saturday.

MEN'S SWIMMING AND DIVING

Jumbos cap successful season with third-place finish at NESCACs

by Bradley Schussel Staff Writer

A hectic weekend saw plenty of action from the 11 participating teams at the men’s swimming and diving NESCAC Championships at Wesleyan. In their last meet before the NCAA Championships, the Jumbos placed third in the conference with 1,391 points. Just 11 points ahead of Tufts was Amherst, which came in second with 1,402 points. The perennial NESCAC champion, Williams, won the championship for the 15th straight season.

The Ephs put together a dominant performance as they totaled 1,671 points, 269 ahead of the runners up.

Despite not finishing atop the NESCAC, Tufts tallied impressive performances and first-place finishes across the board. Tufts and Amherst were neck-and-neck all day, and that proximity motivated the team.

“It was a lot closer than we all thought it was going to be, and that just led to us swimming harder and swimming faster,” junior James McElduff said. “I think all the guys are proud of what we accomplished, so we’re holding our heads high.”

McElduff was a standout swimmer for the Jumbos in the championship meet. He won the 200-yard butterfly, earned runner-up honors in the 200-yard individual medley and was part of three top-three finishes by Tufts relay teams.

Despite his outstanding individual success, McElduff was quick to give credit to his teammates.

“It’s all due to the hard work of our team,” he said. “I wouldn’t have been able to do it without the guys cheering me on. The support that we show each other is something we take a lot of pride in. All 23 of those Junior James McElduff guys put their hearts and souls into this weekend and raced their hearts out.”

Senior tri-captain Matt Rohrer, threw a great amount of praise at McElduff as well as many of the other Jumbos.

“James McElduff stepped up and crushed it this weekend,” Rohrer said. “He was monumental to our success and contributed to our team points and our confidence. We were elated to see all of our guys swim so well.”

Rohrer is Tufts’ top diver, and he showed his prowess on the board this weekend.

He won both diving events, taking first place in the three-meter and the one-meter dives in his final NESCAC Championship.

“For the last three years, I had won one board and had been beaten on the other,” Rohrer said. “I knew this would be my last chance to get both titles in one meet, and I wanted it bad. I didn’t want to let anything stand in the way of that, so I gave it my all. I did everything I could, and it feels amazing.”

Along with McElduff and Rohrer, several other swimmers contributed to the Jumbos’

Thursday, February 23, 2017

COURTESY DAVID DECORTIN

swims at a practice on Jan. 16. total. Sophomore Kingsley Bowen came in second in the 200-yard backstroke, earning 28 points for his team and recording a program-best time of 1:46.63. Bowen also broke his own record in the 50-yard backstroke during a relay on the second day of the tournament.

Tufts’ next meet is the NCAA Zone Diving Qualifier, where Rohrer and junior Aaron Idelson will be representing the Jumbos.

Four-year standout Rohrer admitted that he gets a bit nervous about qualifying meets of this magnitude.

“I’m definitely pretty nervous,” Rohrer said. “This year might be one of the toughest years at the regional meet, just because there’s so many good divers in our region. In the last two years, I’ve qualified on the first day. It’s nice to go into the second day of a meet knowing your season isn’t resting on your performance, so I’d love to qualify on the first day again this year.”

The NCAA Zone Diving Qualifier will take place on Friday and Saturday.

Free agency, part I

W

ith free agency opening up on March 7, I’m taking a break from draft needs for the next two to three weeks to talk about the NFL’s biggest free agents. While this free agency pool is pretty weak, there are still some big names to talk about. I have a 540 word limit, so I’ll do my best to talk about all the major free agents at each position.

We will talk about possible teams they could go to and the most likely landing spot for them.

Kirk Cousins, QB, Washington: Possible Teams: Washington, San Francisco 49ers Kirk Cousins may be the most valuable free agent around this year. After being franchise tagged before last season, Cousins had another breakout year and is ready to get paid. Honestly, I don’t see any other teams pushing for Cousins. He obviously knows the Washington system and is a good fit there, and Kyle Shanahan, the new head coach for the 49ers, was once Cousins’ offensive coordinator. I wouldn’t be surprised if San Fran makes a huge push for Cousins if he doesn’t get the tag, but I still have to say…

Most Likely to Sign With: Washington Latavius Murray, RB, Oakland Raiders: Possible Teams: Jacksonville Jaguars, New York Giants, Minnesota Vikings Jaguars: I honestly surprised myself when I decided to include Jacksonville. I know they just paid Chris Ivory, and I know they drafted T.J. Yeldon a few years back, but that’s clearly not cutting it. They need a man who can get some rushing TDs, something that Murray (12 rushing TDs in 2016) is great at.

Giants: The Giants were one of the worst rushing teams in football. Is it their O-line or their RBs? I think the former, but who knows what GM Jerry Reese will want to do.

Vikings: The Vikings went from being one of the best rushing teams to the worst. Will the Vikings dish out enough money to keep the injured and old Adrian Peterson, or will they release him and seek out some young blood in free agency?

Most Likely to Sign With: Minnesota Vikings Eddie Lacy, RB, Green Bay Packers: Possible Teams: New York Giants, Carolina Panthers NOTE: There are definitely more teams seeking an RB, but not too many looking for a bruiser like Lacy.

Giants: seeking a replacement for Rashad Jennings. Paul Perkins had a great rookie season and is a shifty back with great speed.

Lacy would be a great compliment to the Giants run game.

Panthers: The Panthers just parted ways with their big back Mike Tolbert, and Jonathan Stewart is too injury prone to be fully relied on. The Panthers may seek out an upgrade in the draft or in free agency with Lacy. Carolina has relied on big backs for too long to function without one. Lacy is the solution.

Most Likely to Sign With: Carolina Panthers Le’Veon Bell, RB, Pittsburgh Steelers There is nothing to say here. Bell will be put on the exclusive franchise tag and will stay with the Steelers for at least one more year. Quote me on it.

Tune in next week for more on free agency.

Vinny Donofrio is a senior majoring in clinical psychology. Vinny can be reached at vincent.donofrio@tufts.edu.