Issuu

Student groups hope to spark new friendships through conversation see FEATURES / PAGE 3

FOOTBALL

Jumbos suffer brutal loss to Bantams after long pick-six

Japanese Breakfast serves somber, sunny-side up songs see ARTS&LIVING / PAGE 5

SEE SPORTS / BACK PAGE

THE

INDEPENDENT

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T HE T UFTS DAILY

VOLUME LXXIV, ISSUE 26

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Monday, October 16, 2017

MEDFORD/SOMERVILLE, MASS.

Same Roots, Different Soil explores African diaspora with weekend-long conference

MIKE FENG / THE TUFTS DAILY

Members of S-Factor perform at the closing ceremony of the Same Roots, Different Soil conference in Barnum Hall 008 on Oct 15. by Anar Kansara News Editor

“Same Roots, Different Soil”, a three-day long, student-run conference held this past weekend, explored the art, religion and politics of the African diaspora through speakers, panels, art shows and a workshop. The event, which spanned from Oct. 13–15 at different locations on campus, was hosted and organized by the African Students’ Organization (ASO), Caribbean Student Organization (CSO) and the Cape Verdean Student Association (CVSA).

According to junior Caila Bowen, the director of events for CSO, a total of 113 tickets were sold for the conference and 500 were sold for the after-party. The conference was attended by students from a wide variety of colleges and universities in the Northeast, including Yale University, Brown University, Vassar College, Harvard College and others, according to CSO Director of Public Relations Kella Merlain-Moffatt. The conference’s main purpose was to explore the different backgrounds of the African diaspora and bring students who

identify with those backgrounds together through the various events, MerlainMoffatt, a sophomore, said. “Same Roots, Different Soil is a conference of exploring blackness through the context of Africa and the Caribbean,” MerlainMoffatt said. “We truly believe that this conference will be able to bridge gaps and that our participants will be able to leave with new knowledge.” According to Merlain-Moffatt, the idea of the conference was conceptualized in the spring of this year by a group of friends who felt there was a lack of spaces that

explored blackness through the African and Caribbean lens. Rebecca Antwi, president of ASO, agreed, saying there was a need to look at the African and Caribbean perspective among area college students. “We wanted to have a conference exploring blackness, not only through the American perspective but through the Caribbean-African perspective because a lot of people here are either international students or first-gen students from the Caribbean and Africa,” Antwi, a senior, said. “We have clubs, we have meetings, but we haven’t had a chance in the Northeast to come together and have a conference, specifically talking about our roots, our culture, the similarities and differences we have while being black in America at the same time.” According to Antwi, this conference was the first of its kind and involved months of careful planning and coordination. She mentioned how it was important for her and other executive board members of ASO, CSO and CVSA to strike a balance between fun and educational events. Desmond Fonseca, the treasurer of CVSA, said that organizers also worked to ensure the conference reflected the various identities present in the African diaspora during the planning process. “We’d have meetings that would go on for two or three hours just about what we want the conference to look like,” Fonseca, a sophomore, said. “The name of the conference is [Same Roots, Different Soil] — so this idea of roots being a very powerful one — just so that we can be stronger as a community, whatever community means in terms of the African diaspora.” Fonseca added that professors and other advisors assisted in the planning of the conference. Antwi said the conference was an important avenue to start conversations see ROOTS, page 2

TCU Senate discusses plans for upperclassmen village, housing lottery reform by Seohyun Shim News Editor

The Tufts Community Union ( TCU) Senate met last night in the Sophia Gordon Multipurpose Room to discuss themed housing project Capen Village, review the social scene around homecoming and hear a presentation from Associate Director of Housing

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Operations Matthew Austin of possible changes to the housing lottery system. TCU President Benya Kraus opened the meeting, reporting on the progress of Capen Village, the university’s housing renovation plan to increase on-campus housing opportunities for upperclassmen, first suggested by the Residential Strategies Working Group. Kraus said that the plan will entail conFor breaking news, our content archive and exclusive content, visit tuftsdaily.com @tuftsdaily

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verting Tufts’ owned houses, especially the ones located between Winthrop Street and Fairmount Street, into junior and senior dorms. She noted the first houses will become available in fall 2018, and the project will be complete by fall 2019. Kraus also introduced the developing concepts for “identity housing,” and other themed housing arrangements

that will open in Capen Village. She said the village will give upperclassmen a housing solution, with a current shortage of on-campus housing for upperclassmen and rising rents in the area. Later in the meeting, Kraus shared additional details on the plan for Capen Village. The tentative blueprint of the plan presented showed 145 see SENATE, page 2

NEWS............................................1 FEATURES.................................3 ARTS & LIVING.......................5

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

THE TUFTS DAILY | News | Monday, October 16, 2017

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Over 100 students attend weekend-long conference on African diaspora ROOTS

continued from page 1 about stigmas that are present among different groups. “There are stigmas between tribes, between countries and if we can break down some of the stigmas and have some of those conversations, [we can] realize we’re not as different as we seem,” she said. The event started Friday with a meetand-greet dinner and a film screening. The majority of the conference’s events were on Saturday, including three panels on religion, politics and art and later in the day, a poetry workshop, talent exhibition, traditional dinner and after-party at Harvard College. The conference

concluded with a closing ceremony on Sunday. The first panel, entitled “De-stigmatization of indigenous African and Caribbean religions,” featured speakers Néité Décimus, a “chosen vaudou priest” with a master’s degree in mental health counseling, and Elana Jefferson-Tatum, assistant professor in the Department of Religion. “Exploration of what politics are and how Black individuals move through that space in the search of unity,” the second panel of the day, included panelists Aminah Pilgrim, senior lecturer of Africana studies at the University of Massachusetts, Boston; Michael Woldemariam, assistant professor of international relations and political science at Boston University and

Selwyn R. Cudjoe, professor of Africana studies at Wellesley College, according to Merlain-Moffatt. The final panel, on arts, was titled “Exploration of cultural histories and traditions through art forms, specifically through linguistic forms,” featuring panelists Josephine Tavares, who developed a Cape Verdean Creole-to-English dictionary, and Silas Pinto, a musician and lecturer at Tufts in the Department of Education. According to Fonseca, the panelists were invited through connections of ASO, CSO and CVSA. He said the event’s ultimate purpose was understanding black identity in the African diaspora. “Tufts specifically has the Africana Center, and that’s supposed to be a very

broad organization with this base that we are an African diasporic people, so I think the root of this conference is trying to get to that center … of what it means to be black and what it means to come from the African diaspora,” he said. “These are conversations [that are] prioritizing blackness and for black people to talk to black people.” He added that the timing of the conference, which coincided with parents weekend, was critical. “[There’s] a weird dynamic where this conference is happening and we’re having parents weekend, which are very white spaces, but this is a black space,” Fonseca said. “I think it’s very important to have this black space, especially in the midst of things that are happening at Tufts.”

Capen Village plan to offer seniors alternative to off-campus housing SENATE

continued from page 1 beds in 13 existing and two new houses, with a total of 35 housing units and four Graduate Residence Director apartments. Kraus’ presentation noted that one of the principles of the plan is to “establish meaningfully inclusive and attractive alternatives to current social life options.” Kraus then gave the floor to Austin for a brief presentation on possible housing system reforms within the Office of Residential Life and Learning (ResLife). The reform’s main objective is to shorten the housing lottery process from its current length of two and a half months to two and a half weeks. In particular, Austin suggested requiring that all students apply for housing in December to activate their lottery numbers. Austin then explained that students will receive either a lottery number or waitlist number, and that students who are given waitlist numbers will know they should search for off-campus housing earlier than in the current system. “We want to shorten [the housing lottery process] … but still give the students the feeling that they are able to know exactly what’s available to them,” Austin told the Daily in an interview before the meeting. Austin added that if all students interested in living on campus apply in December, ResLife can better estimate how many people are participating in housing selection. In the past, ResLife had no way of knowing which students

were deciding to move off campus and therefore not participating in the lottery system until much later. Another reform is that students will go into the housing lottery with multiple options, instead of having to restart the process for quads, doubles and singles. In addition, Austin presented a plan to reform the lottery process for suite-style style living: in a group, only the highest lottery number will be counted in the process, instead of averaging all four. Austin said the intent was to minimize the chance of separating friends simply because they have low lottery numbers. After Austin’s presentation, there was a roughly 25-minute-long question-and-answer period. Kraus then took the floor again to share her observations on homecoming weekend. She said that she talked to students about how they socialized during homecoming and her conversations revealed that Greek life remained the dominant organization of the Tufts social scene, at least on that day. In particular, Kraus mentioned that Greek life organizations have advantages in space, location and funding. Next, Associate Treasurer Finn McGarghan introduced supplementary funding requests. Tufts Hillel previously came to appeal Allocations Board’s (ALBO) initial recommendation to provide $510 of Hillel’s requested $1,500 for the organization’s future events geared toward non-first-year members. Senate tabled the appeal at its Oct. 1 meeting due to a lack of information. At this meeting, Hillel came back with a more specified

SEOHYUN SHIM / THE TUFTS DAILY

Associate Director of Housing Operations Matthew Austin gives a brief presentation on housing lottery system reform before the Senate during its regular meeting on Oct. 15. and itemized appeal, detailing how it will spend the funding. There was a brief debate on the appeal, and then the body then voted to provide $1,051. Tufts Financial Group (TFG) had appealed ALBO’s initial recommendation to provide $2,375 in funding for its upcoming networking trip to New York. However, TFG withheld its appeal and didn’t make its scheduled appearance before the body today. The body matched ALBO’s recommendation to provide $2,375 in funding to cover the transportation cost. Next, the body voted to match ALBO’s initial recommendations for following groups: $2,120 in funding to

oSTEM for their travel to the oSTEM National Conference in Chicago, $225 to Partners in Health Engage for its film screening and $110 to French Society for biweekly coffee meetings. After supplementary funding, Vice President Anna Del Castillo shared there were no significant updates from the committees according to their chairs. Finally, TCU Senate Parliamentarian Adam Rapfogel encouraged senators to come up with resolutions, noting that the Senate has not heard any since the beginning of the current year.

EVENTS ON THE HILL: WEEK OF 10/16/17 Monday “From Love Canal to Flint: Fighting for Clean Water” Details: Environmental activist Lois Gibbs and toxicologist Stephen Lester will speak about environmental activism as part of the Civic Life Lunch series at Tisch College of Civic Life. The two are famous for fighting for the community of Love Canal, NY, a town built on a toxic waste dump. When and Where: 12 p.m.; Rabb Room, Tisch College “Art and Immigration: One Artist / Several Paths” Details: The Fall 2017 Knaster Artistin-Residence Wen-ti Tsen will discuss the politics of immigration and how his

art expresses the immigrant experience. The Center of the Humanities at Tuftssponsored lecture will be followed by a reception and tour of Tsen’s exhibits. When and Where: 4:30 p.m.; Alumnae Lounge Tuesday Dr. John Park on North Korea Details: Dr. John Park, a North Korea expert who directs the Korea Working Group and is an adjunct professor at the Harvard Kennedy School, will discuss North Korean nuclear policy. The event is cosponsored by Tufts Sino-U.S. Relations Group Engagement (SURGE) and the John Quincy Adams Society of Medford/ Somerville. When and Where: 7 p.m.; Crane Room

Wednesday “Ladino Culture and Literature” Details: Professor Devin Naar of the University of Washington will discuss the rise and fall of Ladino language, culture and literature; Ladino is a once-widely spoken Sephardic Jewish and Spanish language. Sephardic food will be served. The event has many sponsors, including the Department of International Literary and Cultural Studies and Tufts Hillel. When and Where: 7 p.m.; Laminan Lounge, Olin Language Center Thursday “Life, Lust and Liquor: How House of Cards Wrote Itself” Details: Michael Dobbs (F ’77), British politician and author of the “House of

Cards” book series which inspired the popular television show, will give a talk at The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy. When and Where: 5:30 p.m.; Ginn Library Reading Room Friday “Reworking Labor” Details: This year’s Tufts Graduate Humanities Conference will feature students from across the country sharing research on the theme of “Reworking Labor.” The keynote address will be given by Ann Stoler, professor of anthropology and historical studies at The New School for Social Research. When and Where: 8 a.m.–7 p.m.; Breed Memorial Hall, 51 Winthrop St.

Monday, October 16, 2017

Features

Open Call, TableTalk provide alternative ways to interact on campus

COURTESY TUFTS TABLETALK

Members of Tufts Table Talk meet with founders of TableTalk from the University of Pennsylvania, Harvard and Brandeis at Harvard University on Oct. 9. by Derek Castle

Contributing Writer

Disclaimer: Hayley Oliver-Smith is a columnist at the Daily. She was not involved in the writing or editing process for this article. For college students, as the newness of the community fades, students often forgo new relationships and experiences, gravitating towards the familiar. Student organizations like Open Call and TableTalk Tufts have formed to bridge the gaps between people. These two groups focus on finding common ground between individuals who might not initially seem to share much in common. Olive Baerde, a sophomore, started TableTalk at Tufts last year. Baerde was looking for a way to recreate the atmosphere of first-year orientation in an experience for all grades. “I realized that people are very friendly during orientation week and everyone wants to know new people, but once orientation week ended, they [started] forming their own friend [groups] and people are less likely to branch out,” Baerde said. Baerde started the group to extend friendships beyond the internet. “I realized how I have so many Facebook friends that I see every day on campus, but I never talk to them,” they said. TableTalk was founded at the University of Pennsylvania in January 2015. The organization’s web-

site states that TableTalk provides an opportunity for Penn students to engage one another in meaningful and intentional conversation. Baerde is hoping to provide similar services at Tufts by way of a multipronged approach. Through three initiatives — Couch Talk, Group Talk and Table Acts — Baerde hopes to spark discussion among people who might not otherwise meet. According to Baerde, the Couch Talk initiative will allow people to sit down at a couch placed on the academic quad or Res Quad and have a spontaneous conversation with a stranger. TableTalk facilitators will also be present. Group Talk centers around a shared meal between larger student groups to facilitate conversations. “I feel that at Tufts there is lots of [conflict] between groups and many times those groups don’t talk to each other. They just talk to each other on Facebook or social media which just makes the conflict even worse,” Baerde said. For the final initiative, Table Acts, Baerde suggested posting questions at elevators or shuttle stops. These questions would be unique to each location. Open Call, another organization on campus, has a similar aim to TableTalk but uses a very different approach. Khuyen Bui (LA ’17), a founding member of the organization, explained what he has tried to accomplish with Open Call.

“[Open Call is] an experiment in cultivating meaningful human connection through shared novel experiences,” he said. Bui said that the group’s foundation was prompted by the divisive atmosphere during the presidential election last November, explaining that he saw division at Tufts as well as in the United States at large. He said he founded the group in an effort to bring people together. “I see the same problem, a smaller problem, at Tufts with the divide between one camp and another camp. It’s the same problem with America; it’s just magnified,” he said. “I want to contribute my piece to this and I am starting small.” Since November of last year, Open Call has hosted events almost every week. The largest group, Bui said, was about 40 people. He also said that about one third to one half of each event consists of newcomers. Most new people come to an event because someone they knew attended one previously, he added. Open Call recently hosted an event at the Mayer Campus Center to showcase their unique experiences and to raise awareness. “We had a sale booth at the Campus Center and we had a menu of experiences. Like get a massage without hands, or have an interesting conversation or stare at someone. My favorite one is getting baptized without water,” Bui said. see DISCUSSION, page 4

3 tuftsdaily.com

Henry Stevens The Weekly Chirp

Fall plumage

lthough our calendars proclaim Sept. 21 as the official first day of fall, any New Englander will tell you that it doesn’t really begin until the humid summer days are replaced with crisp afternoons and cool evenings. With this transition in climate arrives perhaps a more conspicuous change: the abrupt emergence of leggings and flannels. Yes, when fall has truly fallen, there is a noticeable shift in fashion. Students around campus replace their light sundresses with dark leggings, or their thin tank tops with sturdy flannels. Some do it to warm their extremities against the chilling fall days, while others simply seek to exploit a new section of their wardrobe. Whatever the motive may be, this pronounced alteration in temperature bestowed on us by Mother Nature is indubitably the cue that drives it. Some migratory birds respond to this cue as well, both behaviorally and physically. One of North America’s best-studied migratory songbirds, the white-throated sparrow, is a wonderful example of how temperature can affect migratory behavior. When this species decides to migrate south from its breeding grounds in Canada is mainly determined by weather patterns — as the temperature declines and summer turns to autumn, white-throated sparrows realize that it’s time to fly south. Just as cooler days steer us towar our flannels, they steer these charismatic sparrows towards the southern United States. Fall weather also marks the transition between plumages for many birds, such as in songbirds like warblers. The term “plumage” refers to all of a bird’s feathers as a collective unit, and a bird’s plumage can change multiple times over the course of a year — from breeding plumage to fall plumage to winter plumage and back again to breeding plumage. As warblers conclude the breeding season and begin fall migration, the exuberant reds, oranges, yellows and blues of their breeding plumage give way to dull olives and pale browns. However, unlike humans, this is not in response to temperature. The primary interest of warblers shifts from breeding in the summer to migrating in the fall, and the bright colors of their breeding plumages attract undesired attention from hungry hawks and falcons. Replacing those colors with drab pigments allows the warblers to remain secretive and focus exclusively on survival. While birds in the New England area acquire their dull pigments and prepare for migration, birds in the Southern Hemisphere do the exact opposite. Because the seasons are flipped between hemispheres, birds in places like South Africa and Patagonia have love on their mind — November marks the return of migrants in these areas and therefore the breeding season. Song and sexual angst will saturate the air as males display their alluring colors and females flirt, until that moment when two soulmates encounter one another through the midst of commotion and attempt to produce a new generation. Alas, in the Northern Hemisphere, one thing is certain: Humans and birds alike, our fall plumages are an exhibition for the world to admire. Love, Henry Henry Stevens is a junior majoring in biology. Henry can be reached at henry. stevens@tufts.edu. Interest in birds? Email me at tuftsornithologicalsociety@gmail.com.

THE TUFTS DAILY | Features | Monday, October 16, 2017

tuftsdaily.com

Campus discussion groups encourage in-person interaction DISCUSSION

continued from page 3 Bui said that, instead of charging money for these novel experiences, he charged Facebook likes. “Open Call is like going to an island on campus,” Bui said. “When you get there, you can temporarily suspend everything.” The first time Hayley Oliver-Smith, a senior, went to an Open Call event last December, she was invited as one of two artists to direct two art activities. The activity aimed to have people think creatively and work together, according to Oliver-Smith. In one artthemed activity, participants part-

nered up and discussed their problems with each other “One partner described an issue they’ve been having and the other person had to draw it and make a visual representation of the problem,” OliverSmith said. “Then, the two collaborate to draw out what the solution would look like, or one way of thinking about the problem as a new way to consider it.” This semester, she has been at Open Call every week along with a core group of about six or seven other students. According to Oliver-Smith, she has transitioned into more of a leadership role and works to increase the outreach

of the group, despite the group’s lack of formal leadership or hierarchy. “There’s no president or secretary,” she said. “It’s a group of people that get together, many of which [are part of ] a leaderhip-ish team.” For the group’s future, Oliver-Smith hopes to have Open Call be a Tufts Community Union ( TCU) Senaterecognized organization by next semester. For now, she hopes to continue the unique space Open Call creates for students each week. “I hope that enough people get to experience Open Call that they learn from it and it influences the way they

live, even just a little,” she told the Daily in an electronic message. “Many people can’t come every week, but if they can take some of the silliness and spontaneity we try to inspire and live their lives with a little more curiosity and fun, the mission of the group is alive.” There will always be different ways that people will interact, get to know one another and make friends. According to Baerde, even the most mundane act could be a chance to make a new friend. “People always sit by themselves when they get on [the] Joey, but that 10-minute ride may be 10 minutes of meeting a new person,” Baerde said.

CORRECTION “Tentative agreement reached between part-time faculty and administration, walkout cancelled,” which ran in print on Oct. 11, stated that Tufts was the first school in the Greater Boston area where adjunct faculty unionized. However, Tufts is the first Greater Boston school with faculty unionized through SEIU. Before Tufts’ faculty voted to unionize, adjuncts at a number of other schools unionized through different unions, including Emerson College, Suffolk University, University of Massachusetts Boston and the area’s community colleges. The article has been updated online to reflect this change. The Daily regrets this error.

Monday, October 16, 2017

ARTS&LIVING

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Japanese Breakfast takes a playful approach to sad songs at The Sinclair

COURTESY JAY BREITLING / FLICKR

Japanese Breakfast, the solo musical project of Michelle Zauner of Little Big League, take the stage at The Sinclair, Cambridge, MA, on Oct. 5, 2016. by Cassidy Olsen

Executive Arts Editor

On Oct. 11, indie act Japanese Breakfast took the stage at The Sinclair at the tail end of their first-ever headlining tour to promote their sophomore album, “Soft Sounds from Another Planet” (2017). The solo project of Big Little League’s Michelle Zauner, Japanese Breakfast has performed twice at the venue as a supporting act, but never before as the main attraction. Zauner emphatically thanked The Sinclair throughout her sold-out show, emphasizing her love of the venue and the significance of the city of Boston to her husband and bandmate Peter Bradley, a Berklee School of Music alumnus.

Philadelphia-based opening acts Mannequin Pussy and the spirit of the beehive. were each met with real energy by the growing crowd, although their musical styles and performance approaches couldn’t be more different. While spirit of the beehive. jammed slowly and steadily through their guitar-heavy indie rock set, Mannequin Pussy brought the noise, piling shoegaze on top of punk and death metal songs to jolt the audience awake. Wearing a loose silver dress and her Joan Jett shag, lead singer Marisa Dabice made loops around the stage while alternatingly screaming and shredding on her guitar. The band’s sound is wildly different from the experimental indie rock/pop of Japanese Breakfast, but the audience didn’t seem to mind. Even after experiencing a difficult mic

malfunction, Mannequin Pussy brought the in-your-face showmanship and quality punk sound promised by its name. Despite the success of the show’s openers, the audience was audibly thrilled to see Zauner and co. finally make their way onto the stage around 9 p.m., taking their positions at the orange Japanese Breakfastbranded equipment. Almost immediately the twangy, sci-fi sounds of “Planetary Ambiance” (2017) filled the theater. Wearing the light-up sneakers from her “Machinist” (2017) music video and a white two-piece that she later joked was ripping because of her “giant cans,” Zauner greeted the audience and dove directly into “Diving Woman,” the opening track off “Soft Sounds from Another Planet.”

For those expecting a moody, dark show to match Japanese Breakfast’s more mature second album, Zauner’s playful energy must have come as a surprise. The artist bopped around the stage, her sneakers flashing a rainbow of colors, with a soft smile on her face as she crooned highlights from both “Psychopomp” (2016) and “Soft Sounds.” But this hopeful, playful approach to music, even music that deals explicitly with pain and trauma, has always been characteristic of Japanese Breakfast. With lyrics like “I can’t get you off my mind / I can’t get you off in general” in “Boyish” (2017), an adaptation of an earlier Big Little League song, Zauner acknowledges how funny and sad life can be at the same time. see JAPANESE BREAKFAST, page 6

TV RECAP

‘Riverdale’ returns for equally wacky, significantly darker season 2 by Alison Epstein Arts Editor

Content warning: this article mentions sexual violence and suicide. Welcome back to “Riverdale” (2017– present), home to exactly one restaurant, a hospital that apparently hasn’t been renovated since the 1950s and everyone’s favorite sad breakfast club. Last season’s finale of the show, based on the Archie Comics, left Pop’s, the aforementioned sole restaurant in Riverdale, bloodied after a masked man burst into the restaurant and shot

Fred Andrews (Luke Perry), Archie’s father. Last Wednesday’s premiere dealt with the immediate aftermath of the shooting and laid the groundwork for this season’s mystery through a slightly uneven but ultimately satisfying return to the world of Archie (K.J. Apa), Veronica (Camila Mendes), Betty (Lili Reinhart) and Cole Sprouse, who for some reason is demanding everyone call him Jughead. The episode starts off with an unlicensed Archie tearing through the streets in his dad’s truck, trying to get to the hospital in time to save Fred. They miraculously make it to the hospital, where Fred

is rushed through two double doors and immediately operated on. Did these doctors even scrub in? Also, somehow Archie is able to see the surgery through those doors, which cannot be regulation. This hospital is certainly no Seattle Grace. Archie then informs the gang of the situation, interestingly calling Betty first, rather than his girlfriend Veronica. At the end of last season, Archie was happy with Veronica, and Betty and Jughead were almost-but-not-quite losing their virginity to each other, but maybe season two means a shakeup? But if we’re switching partners, can Archie give Cheryl (Madelaine

Petsch) a chance? That is the couple no one deserves but everyone needs. Speaking of the queen of “Riverdale,” Cheryl doesn’t appear in this episode until nearly the 30-minute mark. No wonder the first half seems kind of blah. At least once she did arrive, she was in full Cheryl form, dressed to impress in all white with a pop of red on her shoe (and her signature lipstick, of course). She arrives at the hospital with her mom, who is covered in third-degree burns after apparently running back into their burning house to save a family portrait. see RIVERDALE, page 6

THE TUFTS DAILY | Arts & Living | Monday, October 16, 2017

Mina Ghobrial Thoughts From Places

The North Reservoir in Winchester

enturing off campus is a natural phenomenon for the new college student, and this week’s column reflects that. New England is known for its mark on U.S. history, its ‘chowdah’ and its brief stint with beautiful fall foliage before devastating winters. With the viewing window for this sight being as brief as it is, I took the opportunity to venture into the wood of a nearby town with a dormmate who happens to be a local. The promise of a red sunset over an orange forest was enough to prompt the spontaneous Friday night excursion. Coming from a sizable city that overlooks the American mecca of New York City, the faintest trace of nature strikes me as fascinating. The looming trees with their dangling branches, the various critters eager to make their presence known but their exact whereabouts undetectable and the supposedly still waters of the reservoir that rock to and fro, all give the wood a rustic charm that the concrete jungle simply does not have. However, the allure of a nature untouched by human hands is shattered upon a closer inspection. The sins of a species begin to tally up. The obvious intrusions — the bulky signs, marked trails and safety ramps — are easy to accept. They make it possible to coexist alongside the wood without having to drag Mother Nature into more courtrooms. She’s done her time over the last handful of centuries. The more striking differences are made clear when eyes are left to wander: beer cans propped up against tree branches, discarded maps, crumpled tissues. No value is added to the journey by these items. The onetime convenience of not having to lug around a few extra ounces imprints in a more or less permanent manner on the site. It is not until I arrive at the peak of Bear Hill (the highest point in this particular wood) that a third-tier offense makes itself visible. A stone tower, dripping in enough graffiti to remind me of the subways at home, protrudes against what would have been a stunning view. The walls of a spiral staircase reveal the insignia of local gangs, the initials of star-crossed teenage lovers and general signs of wear from what has to be dozens of years of exhaust. The intrusion here feels personal — snatching the intense sense of seclusion that brought me here right out of my fingertips. From the top of the turret, the whole body of land is visible. The final sin is the most disturbing. Although all of the online calculators have deemed this weekend to be the ‘peak’ of the fall season, roughly half of the deciduous trees are bare. The other half are still a vibrant green, with only a few having a portion of their branches kissed by autumn. Fall fell but their leaves did not. The promise of an orange forest fades into obscurity as an undeniable casualty of climate change. This is the wake of human destruction — the price nature pays for allowing us to exist. Mina Ghobrial is a first-year who has not yet declared a major. Mina can be reached at mina.ghobrial@tufts.edu, and this column can be followed on Instagram @ thoughtsfromtufts.

tuftsdaily.com

Indie artist Japanese Breakfast comes to Boston for first ever headlining tour JAPANESE BREAKFAST

continued from page 5 Zauner wrote “Psychopomp” in the weeks after her mother died of cancer, and all her music since has used aspects of fantasy, humor or disassociation to confront trauma and grief. “Soft Sounds” uses scifi elements to explore these experiences in songs like “Machinist” and the titular “Soft Sounds from Another Planet,” and its namesake tour and promotion haven’t abandoned Zauner’s characteristic humor and spirit. In

September, Zauner even unveiled an 8-bit online RPG called “Japanese BreakQuest,” where players must assume the roles of her bandmates to battle aliens aboard a spaceship. The game, complete with a soundtrack of 8-bit MIDI versions of every song from “Soft Sounds,” complements the album the same way Zauner’s light-up shoes do: by complicating sadness and pain with childhood nostalgia and fantasy. Through the course of the performance, Japanese Breakfast moved from more up-tempo songs like “Road Head” (2017)

and “Heft” (2016) into the slower “tenderoni” tracks, as Zauner called them, including “This House” (2017) and the emotional “Till Death” (2017). She closed the show with their indie pop hit “Everybody Want to Love You” (2016) and the artfully robotic, half-spoken “Machinist” (2017). Beaming, Zauner thanked the supporting bands, The Sinclair and the audience before bouncing off stage. The 14-song set seemed to come and go too quickly, but held an undeniable power over the half smiling, half teary-eyed audience nonetheless.

(FRANK MICELOTTA/PICTUREGROUP/SIPA USA/TNS)

The cast and executive producers of “Riverdale” speak at a panel at the CW 2017 Winter TCA Tour at the Langham Hotel on Jan. 8 in Pasadena, Calif.

Season 2 premiere of 'Riverdale' is packed with chemistry RIVERDALE

continued from page 5 Maybe there was more heroin behind it. Cheryl then drops a bomb, informing her mom that if she tells the truth about how Cheryl had purposefully burned down the family mansion (classic Cheryl), she would reveal what “actually happened in the barn with Daddy.” Maybe it wasn’t a simple “shoot your own son, then get discovered for that murder plus the fact that your maple syrup business was a cover for selling heroin so you hang yourself in the barn” type situation after all, huh? Sounds like Penelope Blossom definitely killed her husband and framed it as suicide. Please, someone call Child Protection Services for Cheryl. A different secret of the episode that does not pay off surrounded Archie and the actual shooting. All episode, Archie is acting fishy about what happened in the immediate aftermath of the shooting and flipping out because his dad’s wallet is missing. But the ‘big reveal’ just turned out to be that Archie was ashamed that after his dad was shot, he froze with his eyes closed, giving the shooter a chance to presumably steal his father’s wallet and make an escape. Archie, chill, it’s not your job to tackle someone when they have a gun to your head. But this does mean that the shooter probably does have the seemingly significant wallet. Although, what could Fred possibly have in there that’s so important? A paternity test? No one should put it past this show to pull something like that. Now, for the most controversial part of the episode: that shower scene. Basically, while Archie’s dad is in surgery, Veronica takes Archie home to get cleaned up, since he has been sitting in the hospital in bloody clothing. As Archie stands in the shower, watching

his father’s blood wash away into the drain, Veronica thinks it would be a brilliant idea to strip out of everything besides her pearl jewelry (which really should not get wet) and get in the shower with Archie. What started off as a painful scene of a son in despair over the life of his father ended as some soft-core CW porn. This is definitely supposed to illustrate what Veronica had said earlier about not being able to deal with grief and therefore she leaned on what she’s most comfortable with, her sexuality, to help Archie, but this seems like a pretty clear no-no. Speaking of couples, a Bughead update. Sprouse and Reinhart are rumored to be dating in real life, and this episode just proved that these rumors are almost certainly reality. Their on-screen chemistry had definitely shifted, and watching them kiss felt documentary-like. Anyway, plot: After walking into Pop’s — the unlocked scene of the crime — to find Pop himself mopping up the blood (okay, mere hours later, this is apparently no longer an active crime scene?), Betty voices her concerns to Jughead about his being inducted into the Serpents, a gang of which his father (now in jail) is a part. He expresses that this — along with his new, very sexy habit of riding a motorcycle — is his way to feel close to his dad, even when he’s away. Aw, Juggy. Can’t wait for your sister, Jellybean, to arrive. Except Jellybean better actually be a ‘he,’ ‘he’ obviously being the one and only Dylan Sprouse. When Veronica isn’t busy jumping into showers with emotionally vulnerable boyfriends, she’s accusing her parents of murder. That’s right, the end of this episode saw the arrival of the infamous patriarch Hiram Lodge, and Veronica wastes no time insinuating that they were the ones behind

Fred’s shooting, which, spoiler alert, he ends up surviving. And who is to thank for that? The one and only Cheryl, who gives him a kiss of life on the forehead, which she says was in return for the one Archie gave her at Sweetwater River last season. And sure enough, Fred awakes only minutes later. But what does Cheryl get from Archie? No “thank you Cheryl, thank you for literally saving my father’s life with your luscious, magical red lips,” nothing. Justice for Cheryl. Even if the rest of the episode had been a complete bust, the last moments would have made it all worth it. The “angel of death” makes its way across the river to a home with an old, light blue Volkswagen bug in front, which could only mean one thing — Grundy! This reviewer was about to quit this show, because literally not a single person in this world asked for the return of Archie’s music teacher/statutory rapist, but then, after kissing goodbye her newest student/ prey, Grundy gets very bloodily strangled. (Cue applause.) Seems like this killer is going after people close to Archie. This episode planted some great seeds for what definitely is shaping up to be another mystery-laden but even darker season two of “Riverdale.” Despite this more ominous tone, let’s hope in the next few episodes there still can be a return to Riverdale High — Archie being a modern day Troy Bolton is the best Archie, and there is nothing better than a classic River Vixen dance-off. Jughead’s narration is true that at its core, Riverdale is a “haunted town,” but that doesn’t mean there’s no time for a little fun too. “Riverdale” airs on Wednesdays at 8 p.m. on The CW. Full episodes available on cwtv. com and Netflix.

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Friday’s Solution

LINDA C. BLACK ASTROLOGY

Libra (Sept. 23-Oct. 22)

Today is an 8. Make personal plans for later action. Gain strength and options. Don’t waste effort on ephemeral ideas. Gather support, advice and suggestions from experienced friends.

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Friday’s Solution C A I N A A S T B A R E X P A L S T E D

I N D E R T I N H S E C T R E P C I A C E N T R E L T S E L E S S X M I S S B I S P R S T R A M I E R D A N D I N G O C N E R E D G E P

E L E G A N T

N S O L L I C T A W I R C K E A D U B A A V A T E O R I N

E S Y E N T C I O N P N E D R E D P L I N T I O N M C E

Monday, October 16, 2017

Nesi Altaras Looking Out

Suspended

ver since last year’s attempted coup, the Erdogan regime in Turkey has become even more sensitive to criticism and has increased its arrests of journalists, NGO workers and others who speak up against the authoritarian regime. Lately, these raids and longterm detainments have started to affect foreigners residing in Turkey. These foreigners included German, Finnish and U.S. citizens, many of whom were dual Turkish citizens or of Turkish origin. These arrests were extremely detrimental to Turkey’s relationship with its most important trading partner, Germany, and criticizing Turkey became a popular tactic in the general election campaign in September. However, the Erdogan regime was not phased by German criticism, in fact, it doubled down and called for Turkish-Germans to vote against the parties criticizing Turkey, which included almost all of them. Turkish media, after bouts of newspaper closures and mass arrests of journalists, could only find itself room to have discussions on why the Germans, a major ally, would abandon Turkey. On radio shows and news programs, reporters would try to come up with a reason; why would our friend Germany turn its back on us? The discussion wouldn’t mention that Erdogan recently referred to the German government’s stance on Turkey’s EU membership as “Nazism” or the fact that there are still German citizens in Turkish jails on political charges. A similar but even more detrimental crisis broke out this past week when the United States, in response to many issues straining its relations with Turkey, including the arrests of a U.S. pastor, a NASA scientist and other U.S. citizens, suspended the printing of non-immigrant visas. As with any international incident, reciprocity was important, so Turkey released the exact same statement regarding its visa services for U.S. citizens. Although Turkey was within norms by responding with equal treatment to the United States, it has been much less effective because the Turkish economy needs any tourist income coming from travelers ignoring the trumped-up State Department travel warnings; turning away tourists is not going to be economically beneficial. However, the most pertinent issue that has been in the discussions recently is the problem of student visas. Turkish students are the 13th largest student population in the United States and consistently in the top 5 most represented at Tufts. With visa services suspended in Turkey, many students getting accepted to U.S. colleges such as Tufts will find it hard to get student visas. So even though the United States closed visa services in Turkey, it also will not assist Turkish students trying to obtain visas at U.S. consulates in other countries. Once again, a dispute between governments has hurt the people. This quagmire could, if it is not resolved before the summer, lead to fewer Turkish students at schools across the United States, including Tufts University. And, once again, the news coverage of this diplomatic tussle is to the tune of “[the] United States and Turkey mutually suspend visa services” when that is only partially the truth. Nesi Altaras is a junior majoring in international relations and economics. Nesi can be reached at nesi.altaras@tufts.edu.

Opinion

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EDITORIAL

Tufts’ complex relationship with Title IX Tufts’ relationship with Title IX has been a complex one. In 2014 the university was found to be in violation of Title IX in its handling of sexual assault and misconduct cases. After this finding, the university revisited its sexual assault policy and took steps to reform it, including the creation of the Sexual Misconduct Prevention Task Force. But, although recent updates to Title IX are moving it into the national spotlight once again, Tufts’ Office of Equal Opportunity (OEO) has made the correct decision in not changing its policies in light of Education Secretary Betsy Devos’ updates. Last month, DeVos announced that she will roll back aspects of Obama-era guidance on the handling of sexual misconduct issues. This rollback will primarily raise the burden of proof for these cases; previously the burden of proof was a preponderance of the evidence, the lowest standard of proof in the United States. Now, DeVos is allowing colleges to raise the burden of proof, claiming

that the previous rules “lacked basic elements of fairness.” Despite this, the OEO has stated that the adjudication process will still be based on a preponderance of the evidence. Although this is the right decision, Tufts has skirted its responsibility in the past. In 2014, Tufts’ noncompliance with Title IX raised serious concerns about the adjudications of sexual misconduct cases. When found in violation of federal regulations, Tufts initially drafted an agreement to implement change. But, shortly after, the administration rescinded its signature. Admission of guilt in these circumstances is important as it both respects those whom the university has failed and acknowledges the university’s failure. Although Tufts had serious missteps in complying with the Obama-era regulations of Title IX, the school has since made progress in creating a safer community by revamping sexual misconduct regulations. The adoption of an anonymous, university-wide survey has increased the universi-

ty’s accountability and monitors students’ sentiments about this issue. This survey is one of many other changes in university policy such as mandated OEO trainings for first-years, hiring experienced staff in the Center for Awareness, Resources, and Education (CARE) and creating new specialist positions. Undoubtedly, these mandated steps are positive, but it is unfortunate that Tufts first required a stinging rebuke from the federal government. Devos’ changes have been favored by students accused of misconduct (mostly men), who believe that the process favors accusers. In an interview with the Daily Jill Zellmer, director of the OEO, stated that the OEO will maintain their current policies and continue to use the preponderance of the evidence standard in their adjudication process. Although Tufts has a complicated relationship with Title IX, we are glad to see that even under a different political climate it is maintaining its position and hope it continues to take steps to create a more equitable adjudication process.

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BY REBECCA TANG The Tufts Daily is a nonprofit, independent newspaper, published Monday through Friday during the academic year, and distributed free to the Tufts community. The content of letters, advertisements, signed columns, cartoons and graphics does not necessarily reflect the opinion of The Tufts Daily editorial board. EDITORIALS Editorials represent the position of The Tufts Daily. Individual editors are not necessarily responsible for, or in agreement with, the policies and editorials of The Tufts Daily. OP-EDS The Op-Ed section of The Tufts Daily, an open forum for campus editorial commentary, is printed Monday through Thursday. The Daily welcomes submissions from all members of the Tufts community; the opinions expressed in the Op-Ed section do not necessarily represent the opinions of the Daily itself. Opinion articles on campus, national and international issues should be 600 to 1,200 words in length and submitted to opinion@tuftsdaily.com. The editors reserve the right to edit letters for clarity, space and length. All material is subject to editorial discretion and is not guaranteed to appear in the Daily. Authors must submit their telephone numbers and day-of availability for editing questions. ADVERTISING All advertising copy is subject to the approval of the Editor-in-Chief, Executive Board and Executive Business Director.

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Defense shows strength in loss to Bantams FOOTBALL

continued from back play, so I picked it up and returned it to the house.” The Jumbos are no strangers to blocking kicks. Junior defensive lineman Nmesoma Nwafor prevented Trinity from scoring on a 36-yard attempt at the end of the first half and Preston blocked a kick against Wesleyan earlier this season. “I just think [special teams are] important to us,” Civetti said. “I think we stress it. We treat it like it’s another play. The same way we attack first downs, the same way we attack field goals. Sometimes I think at least our advantage is we’ve got good kids working hard. Sometimes we scheme it up the right way.” With roughly two minutes left in the second quarter, Puzzo connected with sophomore wide receiver Koby Schofer, who was left open on the right side, for a 24-yard touchdown. The drive began on Trinity’s 13-yard line and Tufts suffered two penalties throughout the drive — a personal foul and an offsides call. The Jumbos got on the scoreboard first on their first possession of the second quarter. The Jumbos faced a third and 15 situation backed up on their own 18-yard line, but McDonald threw a strike to Roche for a 16-yard gain. A few plays later sophomore running back Andrew Sanders broke an arm tackle at the line of scrimmage and made a defender miss in the second level to break off a 19-yard run. Suddenly the Jumbos were in Bantam territory and they made the most of the opportunity. McDonald faked a handoff and split the safety and defensive back to hit Roche, who came over from the slot, for a 39-yard touchdown. Alswanger nailed the extra point attempt and Tufts went up 7–0. “We thought we could attack the middle of the field against [Trinity],”

Roche said. “And so it was just a seam route by me and Ryan [McDonald] threw a great ball … and I just found daylight.” Roche played defensive back for the Jumbos his first two years but switched to wide receiver this summer. The transition, he said, allows him extra insight into defensive reads. “You try and get a pre-snap read of what the defense is looking at so you can kind of adjust to them and know what to expect,” Roche said. “But in terms of the adjustment personally making the switch it wasn’t too big of an adjustment. Just learning the plays and learning the playbook.” Neither the Jumbos nor the Bantams scored in the first period, as both teams locked up on defense. The ball mostly hovered around midfield as neither team even made it as far as the opponent’s red zone. Trinity’s offensive line is a strength as the team averages the second most rushing yards per game in the NESCAC. Senior offensive lineman Chris Simmons is a returning All-NESCAC first teamer for Trinity and a recipient of the 2017 National Strength and Conditioning Association Athlete of the Year Award. “You’re always aware of where [Simmons] is,” Civetti said. “Trinity probably could have had five Allleague players to be honest with you. Simmons obviously does a great job. He’s a great person, great kid. We didn’t necessarily game anything specific [for him]. They’re good at all those positions so our scheme did not necessarily revolve around him.” Despite Trinity’s offensive line strength, Tufts was accredited with six sacks against Puzzo. In reality Puzzo was hit far more often than that as the front seven generated consistent pressure on the quarterback. Senior linebacker Zach Thomas is tied for the

NESCAC sack lead, as he earned his fifth takedown against Trinity. Senior defensive linemen Micah Adickes and quad-captain Doug Harrison registered a sack and a half and a sack respectively, and they currently share fourth place in the NESCAC sack standings. The Tufts defense as a whole leads the NESCAC with 21 sacks to second place Wesleyan’s 17. “I think Micah Adickes in particular had a great game,” Civetti said. “Doug [Harrison] I think made some big stops. Zach Thomas did a great job pressuring. The four of those guys up front did as much as they can. We continue to talk as a staff and kind of evaluate the overall appearance of it, but from my vantage point, from what I saw of it, I think those guys pressed as hard as they could.” The Jumbos gave up 85 yards on eight penalties compared with 43 yards on four penalties for the Bantams; this has been a recurring issue for Tufts, as the Jumbos are the most penalized team in the NESCAC. Both Preston and Roche tabbed junior defensive back Alex LaPiana as someone who played well on Saturday. “They were definitely coming after him, throwing the ball at him, and he stood up to the attack,” Roche said. “He made a few plays on defense and punting the ball. He did a great job pinning them deep and giving them tough field position to work with.” Tufts now looks to an away game against Williams (4–1) while Trinity returns home to host Bowdoin (0–5). “Coach Civetti has a 24-hour rule,” Preston said. “We’ve just got to forget about Saturday and move on. We’ve got a big game coming up against Williams so everyone’s already watching film and getting prepared for that. They’ve got a young team, a lot of talent, so it should be fun.”

Sports

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Phillip Goldberg Birds Eye View

Monday, October 16, 2017

FOOTBALL

Aristotle starves student-athletes

ast time, I wrote about how professional athletes’ pay is commensurate to the value they produce. It’s now time to take a harsh look at college athletics, specifically Div. I, and how these athletes suffer from the NCAA’s insistence that they do not deserve to be paid. I may be preaching to the choir at Tufts, but maybe not. Two-thirds of Americans don’t support paying college athletes. A notable exception are the 51 percent of non-white respondents who disagree. Former NCAA executive director Walter Byers invented the term “student-athlete,” which, since the 1950s, has remained at the core of the NCAA’s legal argument denying college athletes the rights of employees. The student-athlete is a living, breathing embodiment of Aristotle’s sound mind in a sound body. Athletes, the NCAA reasons, should play for loyalty to alma mater, love of the game and their own personal development. I retort that such high-minded ideals are nonsense when players go to bed hungry. After leading the UConn. Huskies basketball team to a national championship, Shabazz Napier revealed he sometimes couldn’t afford to eat. An average of 21.2 million people watched that game on TV, and just under 80,000 fans packed AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas. How many of them, I wonder, were aware their attendance fed the university’s bottom line while Napier starved? The NCAA’s response was almost immediate — it allowed players unlimited meals. Athletes are stereotyped to have voracious appetites, but even the Texas A&M football team can’t eat away its university’s $192.6 million dollar profit margin in FY15. Anything to protect the business model. After 40 years of service to the NCAA, Byers authored a disavowal of amateurism and his life’s work. In it, he attacked “the neo-plantation mentality that exists on the campuses of our country.” Byers stops short of comparing amateurism to slavery. His point is that sports — namely football — invented to preserve an elitist advantage are now disproportionately played by unpaid, socioeconomically disadvantaged athletes of color. It is on the backs of these athletes that the nearly $10 billion amateur athletics industry is built. The rationales for not paying athletes are as prolific as they are indefensible. Athletes already receive scholarships, it might interfere with their educations, playing sports is a choice, the Aristotelian ideal, universities will then have to pay other student groups and paying players might cause locker room strife. The list goes on. Limiting athlete compensation to scholarships is superficially sensible, until a deeper look reveals college athletes sign away their personal image rights and become walking corporate advertisements. Ask the University of North Carolina about athlete educations. Playing sports is a choice, but then again, so are most jobs. Most student groups don’t ask 40–60 hours a week and generate hundreds of millions of dollars. Locker room strife depends on the system of paying players — it’s irrelevant to whether the players should be paid in the first place. This isn’t an issue of greedy athletes. It’s a matter of providing basic economic rights and justice to lucrative students working for their universities. Phillip Goldberg is a sports editor at The Tufts Daily. He is a senior majoring in political science and can be reached at phillip.goldberg@tufts.edu.

EVAN SAYLES / THE TUFTS DAILY

Junior wide receiver Jack Dolan fights off a grabbing Trinity player in the game against the Trinity Bantams on Oct. 14.

Trinity seizes first place in NESCAC as Tufts falls to 3–2 by Phillip Goldberg Sports Editor

Trinity (5–0) defeated Tufts (3–2) by a touchdown on Saturday in a contest that featured an end zone to end zone interception returned for a touchdown followed by a blocked extra point converted for two points at the other end. The 23–16 final score hardly reflects the grinding defensive game played at Ellis Oval. With the score tied at 16, the Bantams received a 52-yard kickoff from first-year placekicker Matthew Alswanger and returned it 20 yards to their 33-yard line. With 12:44 on the clock, Trinity decided to put the ball on the ground and keep it there. Junior running back Max Chipouras ran for 165 yards on 29 attempts during the game. On this drive alone Chipouras rushed eight times for 45 yards. His final run was a 1-yard race to the front right pylon of Tufts’ end zone that sealed the contest 23–16. The game-winner was Chipouras’ only touchdown of the day. A luxury for Trinity at running back, Chipouras leads the NESCAC with 111.8 rushing yards per game and seven touchdowns. Trinity’s fourth quarter touchdown drive burned 5:42 off the clock, allowing just over seven minutes for Tufts to respond. The Jumbos did not move the ball, though, and were forced to punt a little over three minutes later. Though Trinity marched down to Tufts’ 26-yard line on its final drive, Tufts held them out of the end zone and forced a turnover on downs. Trinity senior quarterback Sonny Puzzo threw an incomplete pass that hit the ground with one second remaining on the game clock but the referees originally made the call that the game was over. Both teams lined up and began shaking hands at mid-

field, but after Civetti spoke with the officials, they decided to allow Tufts one last play. The Jumbos ran a hookand-ladder play, which involves short lateral passes just before being tackled to keep the ball alive, but the play quickly broke down with a fumble and a blatant forward pass. The contest ended with at least two yellow flags on the field. The teams shook hands for a second time. Tufts evened the score at 16 on a drive that began with 50 seconds remaining in the third quarter. Senior wide receiver Jack Dolan took the kick 41 yards out of Tufts’ end zone, earning excellent starting field position. First-year running back Mike Pedrini burst through a hole up the middle and bruised through the second level of Trinity’s defense for a 16-yard gain. The Jumbo drive appeared to be stalling a few plays later on third and 24, but junior quarterback Ryan McDonald tossed a perfectly placed deep ball to junior wide receiver Frank Roche, who high-pointed his defender and came down with a 40-yard gain. Pedrini sealed the drive with a 14-yard touchdown run. “I thought Andrew [Sanders] ran well,” Tufts coach Jay Civetti said. “I thought Michael [Pedrini] ran well. They’re continuing to develop as a nice one-two punch there. Mike [Pedrini] brings some physicality and Andrew [Sanders] brings some speed. I mean look, it’s a freshman and a sophomore. They’re learning their way and I think they’re doing a good job and I think we’ve got a bright future with both those guys back there.” Trailing 13–9 a few minutes earlier in the third quarter, Tufts received a touchback punt from Trinity. On what appeared to be a read-option play, McDonald and his running back miscommunicated and fumbled. Trinity recovered on Tufts’ 33-yard line.

The Jumbo defense held strong, however, and the Bantams were forced to kick a field goal after sophomore linebacker Tylor Scales sacked Puzzo on third down. Junior placekicker Eric Sachse’s 40-yard try sailed through the uprights, bringing the score to 16–9. The score was stuck at 7–7 early in the third quarter and Tufts marched all the way to the red zone on a drive that started at its own 20. McDonald’s throw to the back right corner of the end zone was picked off by senior cornerback Dominique Seagears who then bolted up the left sideline all the way for a touchdown. “We’ve just got to be better with the football,” Civetti said. “We need to do a better job with executing, especially down in the red zone. Whether it’s where Ryan [McDonald]’s putting the ball or whether it’s [on] the receivers, once that ball is in the air, sometimes you’ve got to go play defense. [On] an underthrown ball, you’ve got to be able to switch gears and go get the ball out of the defensive player’s hands.” The runback deflated the home fans but they had reason to cheer soon enough. On the extra point attempt, a Tufts player got a hand on the ball to deflect it as the kick went up. The ball bobbled back 10 yards behind Sachse, who scrambled to fall on it. Junior defensive back Tim Preston beat Sachse to the ball, scooped it up and ran the length of the field to score a two-point conversion. A red zone pick-six and a blocked extra point into a two-point conversion is a truly rare sequence, highlighting just how much effort the two teams brought to the contest. “I think it was Zach Thomas who had a big block there,” Preston said. “I was the scoop and score guy on that see FOOTBALL, page 11