Pen, Paint, and Pretzels’ fall production of ‘Eurydice’ presents iconic Greek myth with modern twist see WEEKENDER / PAGE 5
DON MEGERLE
From pool to course: 47 years at Tufts
Puerto Rican students, family, find community support at Tufts after Hurricane Maria see FEATURES / PAGE 4
SEE SPORTS / BACK PAGE
THE
INDEPENDENT
STUDENT
N E W S PA P E R
OF
TUFTS
UNIVERSITY
E S T. 1 9 8 0
T HE T UFTS DAILY
VOLUME LXXVI, ISSUE 43
tuftsdaily.com
Thursday, November 8, 2018
MEDFORD/SOMERVILLE, MASS.
Tufts community gathers for watch party on election night
COURTESY DANI MUSOFF
JumboVote members Laurel Bliss, Caroline Enloe and Dani Musoff pose for a photo at the election night watch party in Hotung Café on Nov. 6. by Bridget Wall Staff Writer
Members of the Tufts community gathered in the Mayer Campus Center’s Hotung Café Tuesday night to watch, discuss and celebrate the results of the
2018 midterm elections. Energy levels were high throughout the night, and many students stayed until 11:00 p.m., the end of the event. The event, entitled “Election Night Watch Party,” was planned and organized by JumboVote with the help of
the Tufts Democrats, Tufts Republicans, Jonathan M. Tisch College of Civic Life and Andrew Goodman Foundation, according to JumboVote member and event coordinator Caroline Enloe. These groups worked together to fund the event, as well as to spread awareness and draw a variety of students in, according to Enloe, a junior. She said that the goal was to give students a place to watch the election and a space to talk about the results and learn more about polling. Before the event, Enloe said that she was unsure about its turnout. “This is a midterm election and people aren’t going to be as excited,” she said. “People aren’t seeing [this election as being] as momentous as it was in 2016.” But Enloe’s concerns proved largely unfounded. Hotung was packed from 9:30 to 10:00 p.m., and those in attendance were heavily invested in the polls. Many students had their computers out and were looking up live results of key races, as well as those in their home states. Enloe stood at the front of the room and filled in a map of congressional districts in real time. Hotung’s televisions were tuned to CNN for the returns. First-year Parker Killenberg came to track the election results, especially the heavily contested gubernatorial elec-
tion between Brian Kemp and Stacey Abrams in her home state, Georgia. “I am from a state that has a really important election so I wanted to find out more about what other people thought and have some support as I watched the results,” Killenberg said. The Georgia gubernatorial race had yet to be called Wednesday night, though Kemp, a Republican, was leading with 100 percent of precincts reporting, The New York Times showed. Also present at the watch party was Brian Schaffner, Newhouse Professor of Civic Studies in Tufts’ Department of Political Science. Schaffner explained to students how polling works, clarifying some misconceptions. “[Schaffner] had a little presentation made up for the students to break down what polling is, how you can intelligently understand what’s happening, because polling is very confusing and people take it many different ways,” Enloe said. First-year Zosia Stafford attended to learn more about the elections and share her emotions with a group. “I felt like I wasn’t quite as educated about a lot of the races this year, and see ELECTION, page 2
Confucius Institute Review Committee hosts final open meeting by Alejandra Carrillo Contributing Writer
Disclaimer: Tys Sweeney is a columnist for the Daily. He was not involved in the writing or editing of this article. Tufts’ Confucius Institute Review Committee held its final open meeting in Eaton Hall on Oct. 31 to discuss the university’s relationship with the Confucius Institute (CI), which promotes Chinese language and culture and has financial ties to the Chinese government. A previous meeting was held on Oct. 16 in Coolidge Room of Ballou Hall, according to the committee’s email to the Tufts community. Tufts has been considering whether or not to renew its contract with the CI, which is scheduled to expire in June 2019, since June of this year. Debate regarding press attendance at the open meeting ensued, as the Review Committee was not in favor of media outlets being present. However, a reporter from the Daily remained at the meeting, which was attended by about 50 people, and conducted interviews with attendees after the event.
Please recycle this newspaper
Sunny 53 / 37
/thetuftsdaily
First-year Haitong Du shared his opinion that the university should maintain its relationship with the CI. “My experiences with the CI have been generally positive … many people are concerned that people working at the CI are spies of the Chinese government, but this is not the case at Tufts,” he said. Du noted that with rising tensions between China and the United States, events like the CI’s Mid-Autumn Festival celebration are beneficial because they familiarize Americans with Chinese traditions. “I believe that is what we need [in this] time of political confrontation between the U.S. and China,” he said. “People in the U.S. are generally hostile against the Chinese culture, and if the CI can facilitate this cultural exchange, it would be helpful.” He shared that the CI provides services that are not otherwise offered by Asian culture groups on campus, such as the Chinese Students Association and Singapore Students Association. “I have been to some of their events and, first, in comparison to the events
For breaking news, our content archive and exclusive content, visit tuftsdaily.com @tuftsdaily
tuftsdaily
tuftsdaily
CHRISTINE LEE / THE TUFTS DAILY ARCHIVES
The Confucius Institute at Tufts, located on Packard Avenue, is pictured on March 27. organized by the CI … they are loosely organized [and] very much based on friends’ invites, so they have a lot less impact, and they cost money,” Du said.
Contact Us P.O. Box 53018, Medford, MA 02155 daily@tuftsdaily.com
“These are some big factors that deter students from joining.” see CONFUCIUS INSTITUTE, page 2
NEWS............................................1 FEATURES.................................4 WEEKENDER..........................5
FUN & GAMES.........................8 OPINION.....................................9 SPORTS............................ BACK