Issuu

Is this the year? Iñárritu’s beautiful, harsh ‘The Revenant’ may get DiCaprio his Oscar see ARTS AND LIVING / PAGE 10

Tufts community gathers to honor Martin Luther King Jr.

Tufts defense proves dominant against Conn. College and Emmanuel, extending winning streak to 11 games see SPORTS / BACK PAGE

SEE PHOTO / PAGE 8

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T HE T UFTS DAILY

VOLUME LXXI, NUMBER 3

Wednesday, January 27, 2016

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New Perkins Loans provisions increase borrowing costs for students by Catherine Perloff Assistant News Editor

Changes made to the Federal Perkins Loan Program with the passing of an act through Congress last year on Dec. 17, will raise borrowing costs for students in the Class of 2020. The loan program, which would have expired on Sept. 30 last year, was extended through fiscal year 2016 with the passing of the Higher Education Extension Act of 2015. In addition to the program’s extension, new stipulations were made that mandate borrowers to first exhaust Federal Direct Loans before taking out a Perkins Loan, a type of federal higher education loan. Perkins Loans, which are awarded to students with exceptional need at Tufts, offer benefits for students such as a fixed interest rate and a nine-month post-graduation grace period before students are expected to begin repayment, according to the Tufts Financial Aid Office’s website. As subsidized loans, Perkins Loans do not not accrue interest while students are in college. According to Director of Financial Aid Patricia Reilly, the act will not likely affect current Perkins Loans recipients, who make up 25 percent of the financial-aid receiving population of undergraduates at Tufts. However, new students receiving loans in the Class of 2020 will have to borrow up to the limits of a Federal Direct Subsidized Loan and a Federal Direct Unsubsidized Loan before taking out a Perkins Loan. “The Unsubsidized Loan is a much inferior loan, especially for freshmen, because the interest accrues when they’re in school,” Reilly said. “If you give an Unsubsidized Loan to a freshman, they are going to accrue four years of interest.”

by Isha Fahad News Editor

er killed 32 people, according to April 13 CNN article. “We think it is critically important to be prepared to respond and to save lives when deadly force is being used against members of our community,” Romprey told the Daily in an email. According to Deputy Director of Public Relations Patrick Collins, TUPD works regularly with state and municipal law enforcement agencies to best utilize

Members of the Tufts community participated in the second annual Martin Luther King, Jr. (MLK) Day of Service, volunteering at four different locations in the surrounding area this past Saturday. The MLK Day of Service, hosted by the University Chaplaincy, brought volunteers from Tufts to serve at the American Red Cross Boston Food Pantry, the Cambridge Zen Center, the Harvard Square Homeless Shelter and the Mystic Learning Center, according to the University Chaplaincy website. “The goals for the MLK Day of Service were to provide an opportunity for Tufts students, staff and faculty to build relationships with local community organizations, provide needed assistance for these organizations and the people they support and to learn about systemic issues that impact our community and the Greater Boston area,” Zachary Cole, the University Chaplaincy’s program and outreach specialist, told the Daily in an email. According to Cole, the Day of Service was planned by a committee of students and staff from student organizations and departments across the university. “For the University Chaplaincy, the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday is an opportunity to work collaboratively with other staff and students, reflect on the life and teachings of Dr. King and educate on spiritual and ethical issues in our society and the world,” Cole said. Volunteers were asked to sign up for one of six shifts led by trained facilitators, according to Cole. Shift leaders included staff from the Africana Center and the University Chaplaincy, as well as student members of the Interfaith Student Council, the CAFE (Conversation, Action, Faith and Education) Pre-Orientation Program and the Jonathan M. Tisch College of Citizenship and Public Service. Before and after each shift, group members were given the chance to reflect and discuss their experiences, he said. Sophomore Adam Zoll, who helped pack bags of food at the American Red Cross Boston Food Pantry in Roxbury, MA said that there were seven Tufts volunteers on his shift. “As our group debriefed after volunteering, we all decided that the most rewarding part of the experience was seeing how apprecia-

see PATROL RIFLES, page 3

see MLK, page 2

PETRINA CHAN / THE TUFTS DAILY

Reilly explained that before the changes to the loan program were enacted, the Tufts Financial Aid Office typically awarded eligible first-year students a Federal Direct Subsidized Loan, followed by a Perkins Loan, and would only award an Unsubsidized Loan if there was still a gap in meeting the student’s full demonstrated need. “It appears that we only need to take Subsidized Loans into account when making loans to continuing students, which aligns with our current policy,” Reilly told the Daily in an email. “The regulations are a bit ambiguous on this point. We will await further clarification from the U.S. Department of Education before beginning to make awards to continuing students for the 2016-2017 academic year.” Reilly also said the Department of Education is very responsive and the ambiguity would most likely be resolved before her office begins awarding loans in May. She explained that the Financial Aid

Office has not decided how it will finance students who would have normally relied on Perkins Loans. Reilly said that her office is currently talking with the Budget Center to discuss various potential solutions, including issuing more Tufts Loans, a needbased, institutional subsidized loan, and increasing the amount of grant money for students in need. She said the university may attempt not to regularly award Perkins Loans to first-years in light of the program changes. “My guess is that we won’t be giving many Perkins Loans to [first years] because the only way we can do that is if we first give them an Unsubsidized Loan and we don’t think that’s a very good idea,” Reilly said. Reilly said that her office will know more about how it will handle a decrease in Perkins Loans in the spring when accepted students receive their financial aid packages. see LOANS , page 2

Northeastern joins Tufts, other area colleges in arming campus police by Joe Walsh

Assistant News Editor

Northeastern University became the fifth Boston-area university to allow its campus police officers to work with semiautomatic rifles last December, following a similar policy that has been in place at Tufts since 2008. According to Deputy Director of Public Safety Leon Romprey, all sworn Tufts University Police Department (TUPD) officers have been trained to use semiauto-

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Second annual Day of Service held in honor of Martin Luther King, Jr. Day

matic rifles, also known as patrol rifles, to be deployed when needed. He explained that necessary situations for their use include those where deadly force is being used with the intent to injure or kill. TUPD officers have never had to deploy patrol rifles in response to a real situation before, he said. The decision to arm TUPD officers with patrol rifles was made in 2008 in response to the Virginia Tech shooting in 2007, Romprey said. During the Virginia Tech incident, a single shoot-

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T HE T UFTS D AILY Sarah Zheng Editor-in-Chief

EDITORIAL Nicholas Golden Mengqi Sun Managing Editors Nicholas Pfosi Associate Editor Arin Kerstein Executive News Editor Marianna Athanassiou News Editors Isha Fahad Abby Feldman Melissa Kain Sophie Lehrenbaum Safiya Nanji Emma Steiner Ariel Barbieri-Aghib Assistant News Editors Kyle Blacklock Gil Jacobson Robert Katz Liam Knox Catherine Perloff Vibhav Prakasam Hannah Uebele John “Joe” Walsh Kendall Todd Executive Features Editor Nicole Brooks Features Editors Nina Joung Jake Taber Diane Alexander Assistant Features Editors Constantinos Angelakis Emily Cheng Emma R. Rosenthal John Gallagher Executive Arts Editor Lancy Downs Arts Editors Justin Krakoff Josh Podolsky Jonah Allon Assistant Arts Editors Cassidy Olsen Eran Sabaner Hannah Hoang Dorie Campbell Eva Kahan Emily Karl Erin Sifre Abigail Feldman Shannon Geary Allison Merola Fury Sheron Ian Clarke Steven Honig Anita Ramaswamy Noah Weinflash

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Maclyn Senear Executive Sports Editor Ray-Paul Biron Sports Editors Ross Dember Phillip Goldberg Alex Schroeder Josh Slavin Chris Warren Yuan Jun Chee Assistant Sports Editors Maddie Payne Eddie Samuels Noah Smith Sofie Hecht Executive Photo Editor Alex Knapp Caroline Ambros Picture Tufts Editor Ray Bernoff Staff Photographers Jeremy Caldwell Katlyn Kreie Nora Nord Nicholas Pfosi Julia Press Evan Sayles Ana Sofia Amieva Wang

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Executive Business Director Qinyue Yu Receivables Manager Evan Sayles Online Advertising Eva Sachar Ad Managers Jay Hayes

Students in the Class of 2020 to face increased borrowing costs LOANS

continued from page 1 However, replacing Perkins Loans with Tufts Loans would increase the cost of borrowing for students, as Perkins Loans have a fixed interest rate of five percent, compared to seven percent for Tufts Loans, according to the Tufts Financial Aid website. Additionally, borrowers have 10 years to pay back a Perkins Loan but only five years for a Tufts Loan. Loan Manager Patricia DeVellis, who works with other financial specialists to disperse and collect student loans, including Perkins Loans and Tufts Loans, said the Perkin’s Loans have special provisions that help borrowers pay back their loans in times of financial hardship. “I think [the Perkins Loan is] much more user-friendly to the population of students,” DeVellis said. Although the new provisions restrict the amount of aid the Financial Aid Office can award students through the Perkins program, Dean of Admissions Lee Coffin said that the changes in the loan distribution process will not affect admissions decisions. “The changes to the Perkins Loans will not have any impact on Tufts’ admissions process,” Coffin wrote to the Daily in an email. The loan program changes will also affect graduate students. Even though graduate student borrowers who received a Perkins Loan prior to Oct. 1, 2015 can continue receiving the loan until Sept. 30, 2016, the final stipulation of the Extension Act makes graduate students ineligible for Perkins Loans, according to the legislation. Reilly explained that the Financial Aid Office will help graduate students make up for this loss by awarding larger Graduate PLUS Loans. Unlike Federal undergraduate loans,

which set a limit on the amount a student can borrow, Graduate PLUS loans allow students to finance up to the full cost of the education. “This Grad PLUS program has almost a seven percent interest rate so it’s not as good a deal, but at least they’re not going to be short of money,” Reilly said. According to Reilly, the extension of the Perkins Loan Program is a temporary fix as student and financial aid professionals wait for the mandatory reauthorization of the Higher Education Act. The Higher Education Act was extended through 2015 and Congress will likely include issues of college affordability and access, according to the American Council on Education website. “Every seven years they’re required to review all financial aid policies and either renew them or change them,” Reilly said. “They were supposed to get that done last year; it’s been delayed a year or possibly two, considering the Presidential Election [is] coming up. Our expectation is that within one-tothree years, we’re going to be looking at some really significant changes in student loan programs overall.” The amendments to the Perkins program stipulated in the Extension Act stem from an effort by Senator Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) to simplify student loan programs overall and to transfer funds spent on Perkins Loans to Pell Grants for needy students, as described in a Sept. 30, 2015 Washington Post article. According to Harrison Wadsworth III, the executive director of the Coalition of Higher Education Assistance Organizations, an interest group who led an initiative to save the Perkins Loans program, Alexander was the main force behind the changes to the program.

“The great majority [of Congress] didn’t want to [end the Perkins Loan Program]; they wanted to extend it,” Wadsworth said. “[Alexander] blocked it for a couple of months but he negotiated a compromise with the supporters of Perkins loans.” This compromise involved some of the loan’s new restrictions, he said. Rep. Katherine Clark, a co-sponsor of the extension bill, said many senators fought for the Perkins Loans program. “Perkins Loans are critical to making college affordable, and I’m glad we fought to continue funding the program,” Clark, who represents the fifth district of Massachusetts, including Medford, wrote to the Daily in an e-mail. “Now, it’s up to Congress to strengthen Perkins Loans and other programs that help our students pay for college.” However, Alexander’s push towards simplification may be characteristic of trends in higher education federal loans, according to Reilly. “The federal government is running a bunch of different loan programs, many of them with different terms and conditions,” she said. “So one of the things that is being talked about in Congress and in the reauthorization panels is one loan program … with possibly higher levels that students can borrow.” According to Reilly, these changes could bring a replacement of the Perkins program, altogether. “If they achieve that goal, one of their thoughts is that we won’t need the Perkins Loan Program,” Reilly said. “[They could] fold [it] into a new, bigger, better student loan program.”

University Chaplaincy coordinates service activities across Boston area MLK

continued from page 1 tive many of the clients were, as well as how grateful all of the volunteers were to have the opportunity to give back to the community,” he said. While the MLK Day of Service also fell on the same day that a blizzard hit New England, Zoll said the volunteers were able to avoid the snow. “Luckily, it hadn’t started snowing until we were headed back to Tufts in the afternoon,” he said. Sophomore Nicole Morris also volunteered at the American Red Cross Boston Food Pantry, where she helped distribute food, translate for clients, help clients apply for Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) food stamps and direct clients to the nutritional advice and brochures offered by the pantry. “I am really excited to be participating in this year’s MLK Day of Service because I value Martin Luther King Jr.’s words and contributions to addressing civil rights for Black Americans in America and how he emphasized the importance of overall wellness for humans regardless of skin color,” Morris told the Daily in an email prior to the event. “The organizations we are volunteering with promote wellness in a variety of ways for all people.” Another group of about 10 volunteers visited the Mystic Learning Center (MLC), a Somerville organization that aims to improve the lives of families living in the Mystic Public Housing Development by offering childcare and education programs. Volunteers were introduced to some of the school-age kids involved with the center, according to MLC Executive Director Florence Bergmann.

“Mystic kids and Tufts students spent three hours getting to know one another, participating in cool activities and sharing lunch,” Bergmann said. Bergmann said the student volunteers, who serve as mentors to the MLC youth, were important. “It is important to us, as a community group, to have a good collaborative relationship with Tufts,” she said. “The university has so many resources that it can share and we have a setting in the community to share as well.” According to Cole, the University Chaplaincy faced several challenges while planning this year’s Day of SOFIE HECHT / THE TUFTS DAILY ARCHIVE Service. Tufts University Chaplain Greg McGonigle makes a care pack“Due to the later start of age of sanitary items at the BAGLY center during the MLK Day spring semester this time, of Service on Jan. 19, 2015. we were not able to tap into the established MLK Day service programs donation drive is collecting donations of in the Boston area as we did last year and winter clothing items, first aid supplies and we needed to find our own service sites,” notebooks. Cole said. “But we were still able to find some Morris said that many of King’s great community partners and are expecting words — some of which were shared 40-50 students, staff and faculty to participate at yesterday’s Annual MLK University throughout the day.” Celebration: “Moving the Movement The University Chaplaincy is also orga- Forward”, held in Goddard Chapel — are nizing an MLK Youth Homelessness Drive still relevant in describing the role of between Jan. 26 and Feb. 6 for one of their race in America today. service site locations, Youth on Fire, a “drop“I am inspired by how MLK and other in center for homeless and street-involved leaders like Malcolm X were inspired and youth in Cambridge, MA.” According to intertwined their activism with the tenets of the Chaplaincy website, the campus-wide their beliefs,” she said.

Wednesday, January 27, 2016 | News | THE TUFTS DAILY

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News

Northeastern makes controversial decision to arm university police offers PATROL RIFLES

continued from page 1 their patrol rifles. All TUPD officers receive active shooter training twice a year, he said. Last summer, TUPD officers underwent an active shooter drill termed “Spartan Shield” with the Massachusetts State Police, the police departments of Medford and Somerville and several other public safety organizations, according to Collins. “[Tufts] involves appropriate local and state agencies in emergency preparedness planning and training exercises in order to best provide for the safety and security of its community,” Collins wrote to the Daily in an email. Lieutenant Paul Covino of the Medford Police Department echoed this sentiment, stating that TUPD follows standard training guidelines and works well with Medford police. He agreed that patrol rifles are important tools to respond to an emergency quickly. “Given the dynamic of the crimes that are going on in the world these days, they’re a necessary instrument to have,” Covino said. Several other Boston-area campus police departments, such Boston University’s police, have patrol rifles, but their strategies vary in scope, according to

a Dec. 8 WGBH News article. While TUPD trains every officer in the use of semiautomatic rifles, Northeastern’s police department plans to train only 20 of its 65 officers to respond to active shooter scenarios, according to Northeastern University Director of Communications Matthew McDonald. “Like other universities with police departments, [Northeastern’s] officers are trained to employ a number of capabilities to protect the campus community, including the use of tactical rifles if necessary,” McDonald told the Daily in an email. Although TUPD has patrol rifles available for deployment at any time, the police departments from the University of Massachusetts, Boston and Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) keep patrol rifles in their police cruisers at all times, according to a Dec. 9 Boston Globe article. Boston-area colleges are not alone in their decision to arm their officers with patrol rifles. According to a Dec. 10 article from Inside Higher Ed, over 60 other campus police departments in the United States own “military-style tactical rifles.” A report by the Bureau of Justice Statistics, a division of the U.S. Department of Justice, found that 75 percent of four-year colleges with more than 2,500 students utilized armed

officers in 2012, an increase of seven percent since 2004. However, Northeastern’s decision generated controversy from students, the Boston Police Department (BPD) and community members. An online petition asking Northeastern to reconsider its decision has attained 7,400 signatures at press time. In addition, about 60 Northeastern faculty members signed a letter of opposition addressed to the university’s president, according to a Dec. 11 Boston Globe article. Both petitions claim that patrol rifles are unnecessary, risk-laden and could serve to make the Northeastern campus feel less safe. BPD commissioner Bill Evans told WGBH that the officers from BPD can respond to an active shooter on the Northeastern campus within minutes, since the area is under the department’s jurisdiction, making armed campus officers excessive. Rev. Jeffrey Brown, associate pastor at the Twelfth Baptist Church in Roxbury, told the Boston Globe that he is also opposed to Northeastern’s plan. “I could understand if the college was in a rural area, a remote place, but it’s right in the middle of the city,” Brown said. “We have a police department, and they’re quite capable of handling these incidents should they occur.”

However, Michael Davis, Northeastern University Police Department Chief of Police, was quoted in the WGBH article saying that these weapons can help the police respond quickly in an emergency. According to a 2013 study by the U.S. Department of Justice, 70 percent of active shooter incidents in the study ended in five minutes or less. Davis explained in an interview published on the Northeastern website that campus police officers are well-trained and that their familiarity with the campus makes them better able to respond to incidents than neighboring police departments. “Of course we are surrounded by a huge public safety infrastructure, and we work well with Boston in that regard, but we are here on campus and we need to be prepared,” Davis said in in the interview. Romprey said that patrol rifles are important to TUPD’s ability to respond to emergencies. “Unfortunately, universities and colleges throughout the world are not immune to these types of incidents, and history reveals that they do occur,” Romprey said. “TUPD, as a full-service police department, must be prepared to deal with these types of incidents.”

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Wednesday, January 27, 2016

Features

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ALEX KNAPP / THE TUFTS DAILY

The New York Times published a crossword puzzle created by Tufts sophomores Duncan Kimmel (left) and Clara Williamson (right).

Tufts students’ crossword puzzle published in New York Times by Constantinos Angelakis Features Assistant Editor

Duncan Kimmel’s fascination with crosswords began during his long commute to high school, when he would pick up a local paper and do a crossword puzzle to pass the time. Soon, he said, he got pretty good at them, so he started working on the New York Times puzzles, and later submitted his own puzzle. At the same time, watching her father complete the Boston Globe and the Times crosswords, Clara Williamson became interested in crosswords and was inspired to work on them herself. These two Tufts sophomores, who met during the Pre-Orientation program FOCUS, achieved a shared goal by jointly creating, submitting and ultimately publishing a crossword puzzle, entitled “The Big Feller,” in the Nov. 25, 2015 Times. Prior to meeting at Tufts, Kimmel and Williamson both grew up with interests in completing and creating crossword puzzles. Although their friendship initially had little to do with crosswords, they worked on crosswords together, and eventually decided to try actually creating one. They submitted two puzzles unsuccessfully to the Times before having their third submission published, with a theme of television. One example of the clues was “House of Cards,” to which the corresponding answer was “Hallmark Store.” Kimmel explained that he and Williamson almost always use this type of wordplay as well as puns in their clues. “I think it’s the theme first, is what we generally do,” Williamson said. “We text each other ideas all the time.”

Kimmel agreed, saying that he and Williamson bounce ideas off of one another almost constantly. “Even if we’re not trying to think of a theme, I’ll read something [ Williamson] writes out loud … and it snowballs until it’s something actually good,” Kimmel said. After they submitted their third puzzle, the pair waited to hear back from the Times. Kimmel initially expressed some uncertainty that their puzzle would be accepted. “I remember saying to [ Williamson] … ‘I don’t know about this one, [ Williamson],’ and she was like, ‘I feel good about it,'” Kimmel said. According to Kimmel, early in the Fall 2015 semester, the Times sent them a message, stating that the paper was very interested in their puzzle, which Williamson said, the duo “took that as a yes.” Ultimately, the puzzle needed a little more editing. The Times suggested some changes, and Kimmel and Williamson complied. “They liked the themed clues except for one of them,” Kimmel said. “I think we had ‘paperweight’ for ‘Schoolhouse Rock,’ and it was kind of outdated, so they didn’t like that.” While corresponding with the Times, Williamson and Kimmel interacted with several notable individuals, including Will Shortz, the Times Crossword Editor and self-described enigmatologist – or puzzler. “He wanted to get to know us,” Kimmel said, “So we would send little blurbs about ourselves.” Despite the fact that both were teenagers at the time of their submission, Kimmel and Williamson noticed that

the Times took them quite seriously. As both of them will turn 20 in 2016, editors hastened to publish the puzzle in the fall, to ensure both Williamson and Kimmel could be recorded as teens published in the Times puzzle section. “They really expedited it,” Kimmel said. “It was like two-weeks notice.” Kimmel and Williamson are not the only successful contributors to the Times crossword puzzles on campus, as junior Ben Pall had four puzzles published while he was in high school. Pall submitted his first crossword to the Times when he was 12, and was published when he was 14. “I became the youngest in the modern history of the Times to have a crossword accepted,” Pall said. “And I started meeting [Shortz] and other prominent people in the crossword community.” Pall believes the fact that there are three successful crossword constructors at Tufts is not such a random phenomenon. “I think that Tufts is a place where you get a lot of people who are interested in doing weird things, and also people who are very motivated,” Pall said. “And I think that those are two qualities that really define a crossword maker.” The future of crosswords among young audiences seems to be a positive trend, according to Kimmel, Williamson and Pall. They pointed to the more recent Buzzfeed crosswords being published as an opportunity for a younger audience to participate in puzzling. “It’s a whole different animal, it’s actually really cool trying to write a crossword for that kind of audience,

rather than the Times, which has people as young as 15 to 16 trying to solve them and as old as 80,” Pall said. He also noted that he created a Buzzfeed puzzle which was published on Oct. 20, 2015. In the future, Williamson and Kimmel hope to continue submitting puzzles to the Times, although they are uncertain about the possibility of a long-term crossword-creating career. Professional crossword-making is a very selective profession, Pall explained. “Very few people manage to do it,” he said. “You have to really spend all your time working on puzzles.” However, for submitting a crossword to the Times, it’s possible to earn $300, and Sunday puzzles come with a payoff of $1,000, Pall said. There are also individuals who offer private individualized crosswords, and some constructors publish whole books of puzzles. “When you think of crosswords, you don’t think of a big community,” Pall said. “But there’s a whole bunch of people who all know each other who all create and collaborate and make and enjoy and love these cool puzzles.” In the past, schools including Brown and Yale have had crosswording clubs, according to a Dec. 6, 2010 Times article. Pall hopes that the news about Williamson and Kimmel’s successful crossword will draw the attention of other Tufts students. “I hope that Tufts becomes a breeding ground for crossword writing,” Pall said. But do these word puzzle aficionados ever do the Daily crossword? “Oh yeah, we do them every morning,” Williamson and Kimmel said.

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Wednesday, January 27, 2016

Opinion EDITORIAL

Reform the Oscars–and the Studios One of the most anticipated events in cinema will take place in a little over a month. The Academy Awards this year include films like “The Revenant” (2015), “The Martian” (2015), “Mad Max: Fury Road” (2015) and “Carol” (2015), a familiar allotment of obscure and Oscarhunting movies, with the crucial caveat that for a second year in a row there are no people of color nominated for any of the acting awards. As reported in The Daily on January 15, the hashtag #OscarsSoWhite resurfaced as soon as the nominees for the 2016 Oscars were announced. Prominent black members of the film community such as Jada Pinkett Smith and Spike Lee will boycott the ceremony in an attempt to draw attention to the issue. For one thing, the Academy should have taken note of impressive performances by stars like Michael B. Jordan in “Creed” (2015) and Idris Elba in “Beasts of No Nation” (2015). The greater problem, however, is that the Academy must recognize that systemic disadvantage for actors and actresses of color necessitates more than just altering the makeup of

the Academy voters, who are overwhelmingly white. The awards-seeking studios must cast and hire more than just white, straight, men and women for their films. As some are trying to push the Academy to change, others are pushing back hard. While some applaud those who will boycott the ceremony, others find the boycott unnecessary and controversial. Among this latter group is white Oscar nominee Charlotte Rampling, who went so far as to call the boycott “racist to white people.” While the comment may seem extreme, Rampling is not alone. Several people stand behind her in the belief that “perhaps the black actors did not deserve to make the final list.” Actors who have spoken in support of this position, such as Rampling and Michael Caine, both of whom are over the age of 65 and white — ignore that the exclusion of people of color from the Academy Awards is not based on individual ability, but on the systematic disadvantage they face at the top and bottom of the film industry. The backlash to #OscarsSoWhite recalls the case of Abigail Fisher, a young, white woman who sued the University

of Texas at Austin because she believed she was rejected for the color of her skin. The court case garnered a lot of attention because it questioned the importance of racial diversity in the college admissions process–and the precarious position of affirmative action. This sentiment is seriously flawed and pernicious–the belief of many white people that racism is a non-factor, or, even more ludicrously, “reverse racism” against white people, goes against measurable historical and contemporary facts and statistics. Such purposeful ignorance is more than a widely-shared blind spot but a choice to perpetuate a media industry that trades in stereotypes instead of stories that can affect us as only the best art can. The Academy has a lot more power in this than its timid offering of change suggests. Films that cast people of color do so because there are people from all walks of life in all parts of the film process–writing, directing, producing and funding, all before acting. As viewers and consumers, it’s our part to hold studios and the Academy to high standards of film and storytelling.

EDITORIAL CARTOON BY SHANNON GEARY

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

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LETTER FROM THE EXECUTIVE OP-ED EDITOR

On Writing Op-Eds

Dear readers, When I first took on the new role as an Executive Op-Ed Editor, my first challenge was recruiting new staff for the Opinion section. I was worried that not a lot of students would want to apply to be regular writers. Why sign up for more deadlines on top of our unceasing flow of assignments and social commitments? Writing is hard. Writing for deadlines is even harder. I was a weekly editorialist during my first semester at The Tufts Daily, the same time I enrolled in two political science classes. I remembered constantly working on elastic deadlines and exploiting the kindness and awesomeness of my former Executive Editor. Though I always write mentally, I rarely feel like doing the actual writing. When I successfully force myself to sit down in front of the computer, I procrastinate after every few words: browsing Facebook, watching forecasts on weather.com, or refilling my water bottle… The “right” feeling only kicks in at the third or fourth paragraph, and by that time, I want to scratch the first two. Unfortunately, most writers like me are perfectionists. The last period of the conclusion paragraph is only the start of an endless process of editing. “Rewriting is the essence of writing well – where the game is won or lost”, William Zinsser said. However, I am really encouraged to have received a high volume of applications for the Opinion section. I enjoyed reading the writing samples over winter break. They helped me stay informed and updated, called my attention to the issues I neglect, opened my mind to new perspectives and allowed me to put myself in another person’s shoes. The pride the applicants put in their writings is contagious. It makes me proud to be a part of a socially active student body who are not afraid to raise their voices, always seeking to be heard, and most of all, fighting for the unheard. This is the reward of writing that trumps all of its challenges – the reward of understanding: to understand ourselves and to help us understand one another. This is why I am grateful for my job at The Tufts Daily that lets me be a part of this greater movement. Every issue published is like a memento that testifies to the talents, courage, passion and vibrancy of the Tufts community. Therefore, on behalf of The Tufts Daily, I would like to encourage you to keep writing Op-Eds to us, whether you are on staff or not on staff, freshmen or alumni, students or faculty, on-campus or in the greater Medford/Somerville area… The Opinion section wants to catch up with your emotions, your thoughts, and the pace of your daily lives. For those who would like to join our larger team, The Tufts Daily is hosting General Interest Meetings at Eaton 201 at 8 p.m. on Wednesday and Thursday, Jan. 27 and Jan. 28 respectively. Numerous positions are open in different sections (news, features, arts and living, sports). We are still looking for writers, copy editors, layout editors, columnists, photographers, bloggers, videographers, social media gurus, marketers, web designers, business people and more. We hope to see you there. Sincerely, Hannah Hoang Executive Op-Ed Editor

THE TUFTS DAILY | PHOTO | Wednesday, January 27, 2016

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Tufts community celebrates legacy of Martin Luther King Jr. “Isn’t it ironic that the least amount of racial progress can be found at King Drive?” -Cameron Flowers, (LA’ 16)

“I prefer to think of [King] as an ordinary man who was called to do extraordinary things.” - Katrina Moore, Director, Africana Center

By Joe Walsh

Assistant News Editor

Students and faculty remembered the legacy of Martin Luther King Jr. in an event entitled “Moving the Movement Forward” held yesterday at Goddard Chapel. This year’s celebration surrounded five themes: faith and hope, equality, unity and collective action, justice as well as action. The event began with a spoken-word performance by senior Cameron Flowers, who urged for unity and continued progress in combatting racism. Next, University Chaplain Greg McGonigle introduced the program, discussing the presence of racism in society and on campus. University President Anthony Monaco said that Tufts has made progress in addressing racism on campus, but the university must continue to act to eliminate its presence. He referenced the #TheThreePercent movement as an example of sustained activism on campus. His speech was followed by a series of speakers, including Africana Center Director Katrina Moore and Chief Diversity Officer Mark BrimhallVargas. Students also spoke about the themes of the event, shared personal experiences and called upon the university to take action. Student speakers and performers included first-years Eitan Bloostein and Jonathan Innocent, sophomores Nicole Morris and Fatima Ajose, juniors David Ferrandiz and Yonas Dinkneh and seniors Isabel Obrien, David Asamoah-Duodo and Avram Ellner. During an interlude, male a capella group S-Factor performed songs written by slaves, sharecroppers and other victims of racism. The ceremony concluded with a closing speech by Denise Phillips, coordinator of programs and special projects at the Africana Center, followed by a candlelight vigil.

“In our time together today, we will journey into the future by recollecting our past.” -Mark Brimhall-Vargas, Chief Diversity Officer

PHOTOS BY SOFIE HECHT / THE TUFTS DAILY

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ARTS&LIVING

Wednesday, January 27, 2016

Film Review

González Iñárritu’s ‘The Revenant’ is beautiful yet exhausting by Abigail Feldman News Editor

If there’s one thing Alejandro González Iñárritu’s recent films do not lack, it’s vitality. Whereas “Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)”’s (2014) relentless pulse propelled the film to success at last year’s Academy Awards, González Iñárritu’s latest release, “The Revenant,”(2015) instead draws energy from the sound and rhythm of breath. It’s the first noise the audience hears sitting in the darkness of the opening sequence. “As long as you can still grab a breath, you fight, you breathe … keep breathing,” an unknown voice commands. They are good words to keep in mind as the turmoil of the film unfolds. Released on Dec. 25 2015, the survival epic is based on the true story of Hugh Glass (Leonardo DiCaprio), an 18th century American fur trapper who, after being mauled by a grizzly bear, crawled more than 200 miles through the wilderness to return to civilization and find those of his companions who left him for dead. Doubly haunted by the death of his wife and the murder of his son, Glass literally drags himself out of the grave, propelled by his thirst for vengeance. Though “The Revenant” leads its Oscar competition with 12 nominations, includ-

ing a nod for Best Picture, the movie is neither easy to recommend nor necessarily enjoyable. The film’s riseand-fall rhythm is characterized by frequent bursts of brutal violence — many of which make the bear attack look tame in comparison. The fact that González Iñárritu’s stark portrait of human nature is endurable at all is a credit to the artistry of the filmmaking. What makes “The Revenant” so taxing to watch is not so much the excessive gore but Leonardo DiCaprio in “The Revenant.” the intimacy of the violence — a product of cinematographer and spit is real and close — so close, in fact, Emmanuel Lubezki’s skill with a camera. that DiCaprio’s breath fogs the camera. If Lubezki’s characteristically claustrophobic the director’s goal was to make his audishots (see “Birdman” and “Gravity”(2013)) ence suffer alongside Glass, he certainly preclude distanced observation. The blood succeeded. What’s not certain is whether

20th Century Fox via MCT Direct

the film’s conclusion is so profound that it warrants more than two and a half hours of numbness and fatigue. see REVENANT, page 11

TV Review

In “Shades of Blue,” Jennifer Lopez is a cop guilty of corruption and unoriginality by Justin Krakoff Arts Editor

Zelig Shaul via Tribune News Service

Actress Jennifer Lopez on the set of the new TV show “Shades of Blue” on Nov. 10, 2015 in New York City.

Amidst the deluge of midseason television premieres, Jennifer Lopez’s new NBC police crime drama “Shades of Blue” (2016) seems to have gotten lost in the shuffle. Starring in and producing the show, Lopez is clearly the main draw, but, unfortunately, it is hard at times to praise anything other than her. Many tend to forget that Lopez got her big break in Hollywood, not as a musician, but instead as an actress, beginning with her role as the famous Tejano

singer Selena in the film of the same name. In a sense, “Shades of Blue” represents a valiant effort by Lopez to reclaim some of the film cred she lost after a string of bad movies, including the box office bomb “Gigli” (2003) and critical failure “Monsterin-Law” (2005). The show is largely successful in this goal, as Lopez reminds the audience why she is a star in every scene. From her subtle New York accent to her convincing emotional portrayal of a single mother that would do anything for her daughter, Lopez fills her character, Detective Harlee Santos, with much believability in a show that mostly lacks it. Even though Lopez plays a corrupt cop in a precinct full of them, the viewer can feel her character grapple with the consequences of her decisions, and that nothing in this television world is as clear cut as any of the characters want it to be. Without giving away too much of the plot, the show mostly revolves around the struggle of what it takes to be a good cop in a rough part of New York City, as

this group of officers does whatever it takes to keep the peace. In fact, the show literally opens with Santos and her rookie partner Michael Lowman, played by Dayo Okeniyi, dealing with a drug bust gone very wrong. The opening scenes do a decent job establishing the premise of the show by quickly introducing the viewer to this harsh reality. However, “Shades of Blue” struggles due to an underdeveloped plot and a cast that lacks imagination. While Lopez’s character is supposed to have razor-sharp instincts, she gets busted by machinations that seem too simply contrived to succeed. Even worse, Special Agent Robert Stahl, played by Warren Kole, fails to stand out as the FBI agent responsible for bringing in Lopez’s character. These jarring inconsistencies dampen the appeal of “Shades of Blue” because they take away see shades, page11

TV Review

Netflix’s ‘Making a Murderer’ provides absorbing look at murder case by Jonah Allon

Assistant Arts Editor

Truth, as the well-worn cliche goes, is often stranger than fiction. In “Making a Murderer”(2015), a new Netflix documentary series that premiered on Dec. 18, 2015, truth and fiction are virtually indistinguishable – in more ways than one. Despite the fact that it recounts true events, the show has all the elements of a good novel – a compelling premise, complex characters and enough moral ambiguity to put

Graham Greene to shame. Additionally, the dueling narratives of the horrific crime that transform the story from bizarre to downright Kafka-esque, blur the line separating the real and the fabricated. If that all sounds a little disorienting, do not worry: “Making a Murderer” is not primarily concerned with abstruse epistemological questions about the nature of reality. The show is, however, fixated to an almost obsessive degree on the thorny issue of justice, and in particular on how petty human prejudices can override and compromise more noble ideals about

equality and fairness, often resulting in irrevocable consequences. The series thrusts that uncomfortable reality into the audience’s face from the get-go. The story centers on Steven Avery, a man from blue-collar Manitowoc County, Wisconsin, who was wrongfully convicted of rape in 1985, only to be exonerated by DNA evidence and released from prison in 2003. Suspecting judicial malfeasance in that case, Avery filed a federal lawsuit against Manitowoc County, the former sheriff and the former district attorney, seeking a hefty settlement. As the trial proceeds, however,

Avery is charged with the murder of a photographer, Teresa Halbach, when she goes missing after visiting the auto salvage yard Avery’s family owns. By this point, we are only two episodes into a 10-episode season, and plenty of revelations bound to drop your jaw are still in store. Some reviewers have suggested that the series, which released all 10 episodes at once, is binge-worthy. But that is only if you can stomach it all in one sitting. Between the lurching twists of the story, the grisly details of the case and the moral see murderer, page 11

Wednesday, January 27, 2016 | Arts & Living | THE TUFTS DAILY

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ARTS&LIVING

‘The Revenant’ is worth the pain REVENANT

continued from page 10 Completely at odds with its tight shots (at least for the audience) are the film’s dreamy panoramas of the wilderness where the movie was made. Having chosen to shoot the film entirely with natural light, González Iñárritu and his team endured months of harsh winter conditions and short filming windows. The decision brought the film way over budget and led one crew member to describe the experience as “a living hell.” Luckily for the crew, their labor paid off; the film’s beauty alone justifies paying the extra bucks to see it in a theater. It would be disingenuous to praise the

film’s triumphs without mentioning DiCaprio and his co-star, Tom Hardy, who plays the film’s antagonist. Ever hopeful for an Oscar, DiCaprio in particular rose to prove his ability to fill a demanding role with little dialogue. Less impressive is the film’s depiction of racism against native peoples — an unfortunate fact considering the movie’s apparent focus on societal commentary. Despite the filmmakers’ attempts to portray native peoples in a sympathetic and historically-conscious way, reviewers — notably Gyasi Ross for the Indian Country Today Media Network — have pointed out how little “The Revenant” deviates from “white savior” tropes.

“The only time we’re not helpless in [Hollywood] movies is when we’re dead and a white man is learning a lesson from beyond our graves,” Ross writes. Indeed, very few of the native characters who aid Glass on his journey live unscathed to see the end of the movie. Sadly, the fates of many of the characters are bound to be tragic in this realist vision of humans, as the characters are separated from the control of peaceful society. “We did what we had to do” Glass’ betrayer says, untroubled by his own willingness to sacrifice another man’s safety for his own. This theme is further complicated by the film’s tendency to blur

political and bodily boundaries between animal and human, between wilderness and civilization. Glass is just as beastly as the bear whose fur he wears and the horse whose carcass shields him from hypothermia. It’s no surprise that, by the end of the movie, Glass demonstrates as much skill trapping people as he did trapping moose. As brutal as the film may be, its conclusion is not necessarily bleak; there may just be a sliver of hope for justice and human strength as the screen finally goes black, again to the sound of steady breathing. For those willing to put themselves through the pain, “The Revenant” may be worth the journey.

Lopez shines in uninspired ‘Shades of Blue’ shades

continued from page 10 from the show’s few strengths. Yet it is not all doom and gloom, as Ray Liotta takes on exactly the kind of role one would expect him to play. Normally, this would not be a compliment, yet Liotta does such a good job at playing the tough but

morally questionable leader that it is possible to forgive the offense of unoriginality. Like most characters on the show, Liotta’s Matt Wozniak is later revealed to have a deep secret that only further enhances the show’s tendency to question basic morality. Emmy-winner Drea de Matteo also stars as another corrupt detective, though her

character seems too underutilized for an actress of de Matteo’s caliber. “Shades of Blue” is by no means a terrible show. It is just not a particularly good one. The show comes off as Lopez’s pet project and completely delivers on this front, because Lopez reminds the audience why she is one the most successful

entertainers of this generation. If the show can overcome the many hurdles it currently faces, then “Shades of Blue” stands a chance at being not just another guilty pleasure but a stellar cop drama combining the moral ambiguity of a Shonda Rimes show and the impact of a beloved drama such as “The Wire (2002-2008).”

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A&L

ARTS&LIVING

‘Making a Murderer’ engaging yet morally ambiguous murderer

continued from page 10 indignation the show is designed to inspire, it is more likely you will conclude an episode feeling somewhat queasy. Credit has to be given where it is due: writer-directors Laura Ricciardi and Moira Demos, who spent 10 years laboring on this project, manage to fashion a narrative that is at once urgent, necessary and, above all, absorbing. Part of this is thanks to the wealth of visual and audio materials they have at their disposal. Where the paucity of such invaluable resources is often the most vexing problem for documentarians, in the case of Making a Murderer, the challenge is culling the most pertinent footage – phone recordings, deposition tapes and interrogation and courtroom videos – while maintaining at least the pretense of impartiality. However, Ricciardi and Demos masterfully spliced together raw footage with more traditional interviews with people both intimately and peripherally involved in the case. The score lends a menacing atmosphere to what otherwise might seem as bloodless bureaucratic proceedings, allowing us to see how minor incidents build into a profound miscarriage of justice. But this is also where the show runs into trouble. In the wake of its release, “Making a Murderer” has come under fire for omitting crucial facts about the Halbach case. And while the controversy swirling around the show is outside the scope of this review, it is indisputable that Ricciardi and Demos are tilting the viewer toward a narrative of systemic failure

and even malice, rather than individual turpitude, by giving more weight to those inclined to see the whole thing as rotten. Given the host of troubling details they do include, including a heart-wrenching plotline involving Avery’s nephew, Brendan Dassey, a mentally challenged

teenager accused of being an accomplice to his uncle’s crimes, it is hard not to be swept along on their tide of righteous outrage. Ultimately, it depends on what you want to take away from the series – a sweeping indictment of the American criminal justice system, or a tender, tragic

portrait of a hapless family and the tribulations they endure. No matter what, though, “Making a Murderer” leaves you with some unsettling questions: can justice ever truly be blind? And if it can, how does the equation change when you introduce a camera?

Stephen Matthew Milligan via Wikimedia Commons

The Manitowoc County Courthouse in Manitowoc County, Wisconsin. The show “Making A Murderer” features Steven Avery, who was convicted of crimes here.

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tuftsdaily.com LATE NIGHT AT THE DAILY Nick: “I can’t believe I’m living in the same body I was ten years ago.”

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Wednesday, January 27, 2016 | Sports | THE TUFTS DAILY

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Sports

Defensive stand propels Jumbos past No. 24 Camels WOMEN'S BASKETBALL

continued from BACK as part of her game-high 15. Tufts’ execution on offense at the end of the third quarter, however, kept it within striking distance. North took over down low and scored seven points in the paint and at the free throw line. Hicks drilled a 3-pointer right at the end of the period to knot the score at 39 with one period left in regulation. “I just knew, at some point, our shots are gonna fall,” Berube said. “You know, Michela was posting up so strong in [the paint] and we were getting her the ball and she was making plays. Yeah, we just hit some big shots. I thought Katy Hicks hit a huge shot and [sophomore] Lauren [Dillon] hit a big one. So it’s just making plays, chipping away.” While the Jumbos’ execution on offense came through in the end, their defense stole the show in the fourth quarter. Down 47-41 with just over five minutes to play, Tufts turned to a full-court press which stifled the Conn. College offense for the remainder of the game. The Jumbos outscored the Camels 15-0 and forced 10 turnovers in a five-minute stretch, making steals, taking

charges and pressuring Conn. College into tough spots to disrupt their offensive sets. Tufts’ goal is always to hold a team under its season average for points per game, and it succeeded here, keeping a Conn. College team that normally scores almost 75 points to just 47. While Tufts may have been out-rebounded and out-shot in terms of shooting percentage, the telling statistic was turnovers. The Jumbos forced the Camels into 28 turnovers and also scored 22 points off of those takeaways. “This week was really spent focusing on our defense, as always,” Roberson said. “The first time we played them our defense just wasn’t there. We didn’t really get stops when we needed to, so this week we focused on knowing the personnel of the teams and knowing the scout and what the players’ tendencies are and how to stop them.” Dillon and Baptista stepped up big for Tufts on both sides of the ball in the last five minutes. Baptista guarded the inbounds passes in the press and forced multiple turnovers. She also scored five in a row to put Tufts up 48-47 with just over three minutes to play. Dillon took over from there, scoring

eight in a row including a big shot from beyond the arc to lift Tufts to a win. Dillon and North both finished with 13 points, while Baptista added nine, one shy of a double-double along with her 10 rebounds. Baptista and Roberson had four steals apiece, and Dillon added 10 assists. Ouimette finished with 12 rebounds for Conn. College, and sophomore Mairead Hynes pitched in 10 points and eight rebounds for the Camels. Against Wesleyan the night before, Tufts took care of business in a much easier manner. Though the Cardinals started the game with high energy and tight pressure on defense, it was only a matter of time before the Jumbos broke loose and put the contest out of reach. Despite leading by just three at the end of the first quarter, the Jumbos took control in the second, outscoring the Cardinals 14-4 in the quarter. North had 15 of her game-high 17 points in the first half, and Baptista pulled down five boards in the opening quarters. In the third quarter, Tufts took off on a 10-0 run, boosted by a 3-pointer from Dillon and an and-one basket from Roberson, to push the lead beyond 20. Wesleyan could not

recover, however, only cutting Tufts’ lead to 17 at the fewest. The most positive note of the game was how effective Tufts could be all the way down the bench. All but two players contributed on the scoring end and all three of Tufts’ first-years converted baskets. Senior tri-captain Nicole Brooks, who started both games for Tufts, had five points and three steals while classmate Maura Folliard posted three blocks and five points. First-year Jacqueline Knapp led the Tufts reserves in scoring with six points, all of which she scored in the fourth quarter. “We had a lot of players get a lot of minutes, and I think being able to go nine, ten, eleven, twelve people deep into our bench — we can really wear teams out, we can really run on them, which will be important for us going forward,” Roberson said. Tufts proved the depth of its roster and displayed how effective its defense can be at taking over games this weekend. After a 57-41 win last night in a non-conference matchup against Emmanuel College, the Jumbos will look to continue their consistent performance in a game at Bates College on Saturday.

Harrison leads way for the Jumbos with new school record WOMEN'S TRACK AND FIELD

continued from BACK place PR in the race after MIT’s Maryann Gong, a multiple time All-American, took off and finished nearly 50 seconds ahead of her. Sophomores Eliza Lawless, Margot Rashba and Olivia Nicholson (who was returning from an injury that kept her out of the cross country season) also ran well, placing fourth through sixth in 10:38.77, 10:39.00 and 10:39.55, respectively. Senior quad-captain Sydney Smith also got after it in the 1,000, taking fourth in 3:04.63. The team also showed some serious promise in the field events. Junior Keren Hendel placed sixth in the pole vault, launching herself over the bar at 10 feet even. Senior Mary Ellen Caruso took the victory by an inch in the triple jump, bounding out 35 ft., 6.75 in. And first-year

Brita Dawson was sixth in the high jump, just missing the five foot barrier with her 4 ft. 11.75 in clearance. “It has been really good so far,” Dawson said about her time on the team at this point. “I really like all of the people on the team and I’m excited to get to know everyone better as the season progresses. The level of competition is different from high school which pushes me to work harder.” “I’ve had more time to build up strength and focus on specific events this year than I did in high school,” she added. “I haven’t been performing as well as I would like, but it’s early in the season so there’s still time. I hope I can hit some PRs this season and qualify for the post-season meets.” The Jumbos saw strong performances from their veterans the weekend before at the Tufts Invitational. Among the highlights was senior Audrey Gould’s return to the

team after spending last spring studying abroad, punctuated by her 5:16.21 time in the mile to put her at 24th on the national list. Seniors Olivia Beltrani and Caruso also broke the top 30 nationally with their performances in the 3000 meters and the triple jump, respectively. Tufts also took home wins in the 1000 meters — courtesy of Noble — and in the 4×400 and 4×800 meter relays. In the much less competitive official season opener at Dartmouth on Jan. 10, Smith was the lone point scorer among the four Jumbos competing, taking sixth in the 3000 meters. Harrison believes the full squad is already shaping into a well-oiled NESCAC machine, even with its 15 first-years. “I think the team is looking really great this year,” she said. ” I’m seeing a lot of hard work and effort put forth in practice and

the attitude overall is one of a team that’s ready to prove itself in every aspect. The [first-years] are showing a lot of potential and passion which is really refreshing. You can definitely tell that they want to make an impact on the team and are prepared to work hard in order to do so.” The Jumbos will return to action next weekend, as some athletes will compete at Boston University’s John Thomas Invitational, while most others will be back at Gantcher for the Stampede Invitational. “We have a handful of athletes competing at BU and the rest at Tufts,” Harrison said. “Some of the BU competitors will come back to compete again at Tufts the next day. The plan for next week is to build on this great momentum that we have going right now. As always, we want to stay focused and driven towards our goals.”

Jumbos bounce back from tough overtime loss to stay competitive in the NESCAC MEN'S BASKETBALL

continued from page BACK rebounds with eight, while sophomore guard Vincent Pace, who has often led the Jumbos in scoring, managed only six points on the night to go along with his five rebounds and team-leading six assists. “We were moving the ball really well,” sophomore guard Stefan Duvivier said. “Our offense was flowing. It was what we were doing all break—just playing as a team.” The win over the Camels was a much-needed rebound after the Jumbos lost to the Wesleyan Cardinals just the night before in overtime, 78-77. The Jumbos jumped out to an early lead in the game, which they maintained through the first half to take a 33-28 score into the break. The largest lead of the game would come in the second half, as the Jumbos were able to move ahead by as many as 11 points, thanks to an incredible run by Palleschi. Palleschi scored all of his team-leading 18 points in the second half, including 14 in the first 8:22 of that half. Up by two with just three seconds left in regulation, the Jumbos fouled senior BJ Davis who made his two shots and carried the Cardinals to overtime, where they would outscore the Jumbos 8-7. Davis had an impres-

sive night for Wesleyan notching 22 points and 12 rebounds. “One thing that really hurt us in the Wesleyan loss was rebounding,” Duvivier said. “We got out-rebounded by a more athletic team, but we’ve got to be smarter than that, focus on boxing out, all the fundamentals.” With just over two weeks left in the regular season, the Jumbos will be turning more than ever to their bench, looking for players to step up and make the most of the minutes they are given. “Seeing these guys play is really rewarding,” Spadaford said. “They work really hard all year. It’s good for them to get a couple of starts and show that their hard work is paying off. Everyone is playing together, which is really good.” Coming off a streak over winter break during which they dominated almost all of their opponents, beating most by double-digit margins, the Jumbos have faced a much tougher stretch of their schedule. Tufts, a team not used to being down at the half, has led by an average of just 1.75 points at the half in their last four games. The Jumbos have struggled to go on the same runs that proved successful for them early in the season. While some of the Jumbos’ struggles can be attributed to injury, there is no question

EVAN SAYLES / THE TUFTS DAILY ARCHIVE

Sophomore guard Everett Dayton drives to the hoop in a game against Amherst on Feb. 21, 2015. in Spadaford’s mind that the most important thing the team can improve is its passing. “We had a few people hurt,” Spadaford said, “I was hurt for the first weekend back. It’s good to sort of gather ourselves and get healthy; we’re finally starting to get back to playing basketball the way we should’ve been playing. I think when we move the ball we’re

at our best. We need to stay together and share the basketball, or that’ll be our downfall.” The Jumbos will no doubt be looking to secure a win Thursday at Newbury before facing NESCAC foe Bates on Saturday. With four losses already, the Jumbos will need a strong finish to their season to achieve their goal of making the NCAA tournament.

Sports

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Wednesday, January 27, 2016

WOMEN'S BASKETBALL

Tufts avenges early-season loss to Conn. College, extends win streak by Alex Schroeder Sports Editor

The Tufts women’s basketball team updated its record over the weekend, moving to 16-2 (6-0 in the NESCAC standings,

WOMEN’S BASKETBALL (16-2 Overall, 6-0 NESCAC) Tuesday, Jan. 26 Emmanuel Tufts

6 8 16 11 23 10 13 11

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tied for first) with just a little over two weeks remaining in the regular season. Tufts suffered setbacks against Bowdoin and Conn. College in early December, the earliest losses they’ve picked up since the 2011-12 season. This past weekend, however, the team avenged one of those losses and extended its win streak to 11 games undefeated since Dec. 29. In its last home NESCAC doubleheader of the regular season, No. 9 Tufts emerged with two victories, downing Conn. College on Saturday and Wesleyan on Friday night. When Tufts and Conn. College first met this year in New London, Conn., the Camels took hold of the game and never looked back, turning a 14-0 run in the middle of the game into a deficit the Jumbos could not overcome. At Cousens Gym over the weekend, Conn. College looked poised for a similar outburst when it took a 25-14 lead midway through the second quarter. “We knew going in that it would be a tough game and we had kind of marked it on our calendars, especially after we lost to them back in December,” senior tri-captain Emma Roberson said. “But Conn. is always

tough and we always struggle with them and have had close games with them over the past couple of years.” Tufts, however, pulled within six by halftime after a 5-0 run to close the second quarter. Junior Katy Hicks hit one of two free throws, Roberson knocked down a jump shot and senior Michelle Wu hit a turn-around jumper at the buzzer. The Jumbos were able to fight through some foul trouble as well, as sophomore Melissa Baptista and junior Michela North were both sidelined EVAN SAYLES / THE TUFTS DAILY for stretches during Tufts guard Lauren Dillon, A18, keeps possession of the ball from Emmanuel defenders on Tuesday, Jan. 26, 2016. the first half with three fouls apiece. In general, Tufts and she’s on the bench, someone else is gonna were calling it very close, so in the post and Conn. College faced adversity not only from step up, and luckily we didn’t dig ourselves on the wings just being sure to slide your each other but in the form of stringent too big of a hole. I thought the couple of feet and get there and make it clear you foul calling from the referees. Both teams buckets we hit at the end of the first half weren’t fouling, because they were calling a ended the game with over 20 fouls com- were huge, so we had a little momentum really tight game both ways.” mitted. Regardless of the external factors, going into the second half and also chipped The game got even tighter in the third though, the Jumbos had to stay focused on away at that lead they had.” quarter as the Camels maintained some playing their game. “We might not have agreed with all of [the distance with a lead of as many as seven “You have to stay even-keeled, no matter referees’] calls but they were kind of calling points with around four minutes to play in if the chips are up or the chips are down and it both ways, so I think just adjusting to the the period. Conn. College first-year Payton fouls are being called and it’s a tight game,” calls that they were making,” Roberson said Ouimette scored nine points in the quarter coach Carla Berube said. “Whoever’s on the in regard to dealing with tight foul calls. “At court, whether Michela is in foul trouble or halftime we kind of talked about it too. They see WOMEN'S BASKETBALL, page 15

WOMEN'S TRACK AND FIELD

Tufts track and field opens season in good form by Chris Warren Sports Editor

The women’s track and field team’s season is in full swing after it traveled to Brunswick, Maine for the annual Bowdoin Invitational last weekend. Tufts placed third with 89 points, just one point behind second-place Merrimack and more than 100 points away from winner MIT (203 points). The team had officially opened their season when four Jumbos competed at the Dartmouth Relays on Jan. 10, tying for 17th, and the rest of the team began its season by finishing in a solid second place at home at the Tufts Invitational on Jan. 16. Of course, in the sport of track and field, early-season victories are not too crucial to a team’s overall success come the end of the campaign. So the fact that the Jumbos are still shaking the rust off and getting back into racing on a weekly basis is no cause for concern — especially given the strong performances they’ve received from a number of athletes. At Bowdoin on Saturday, many of coach Kristen Morwick’s athletes had the day off, but most others came in ready to perform. The highlight of the day for Tufts came in the 60-meter dash in a performance from senior quad-captain Alexis Harrison. Harrison ran 7.75 seconds in the final, breaking her school record that she set two years ago by 0.03 seconds. That year,

CAROLINE AMBROS / THE TUFTS DAILY ARCHIVE

Tufts runners race in the Tufts Stampede Invitational in the Gantcher Center at Tufts University on Jan. 31, 2015. Harrison also traveled to outdoor nationals as a qualifier in the 100 meter dash, meaning this result at Bowdoin could be a sign of big things to come. Harrison was also seventh in the high jump at 4 ft. 11.75 in. and first in the long jump at 17 ft. 8.25 in. “It feels amazing to break the school record again and see times like that this early in the season,” Harrison said. “In past seasons, it’s taken me a while to get to the point where I’m running PR’s but for it to be this early is really relieving and exciting.” Senior quad-captain Marilyn Allen, Tufts’ best 60-meter hurdler of all time and

a premier 200 runner, also competed well. Allen placed third in the 60 meter hurdles, running 9.24 in her season hurdle debut to qualify herself for the Div. III New England and Open New England meets. She also placed fifth in the 200 meters, running 27.58 seconds in a rust-buster. Sophomore Julia Prusaczyk also took home a W with her win in the 600-meter run, clocking in at 1:40.07. Prusaczyk crossed the line over four seconds ahead of second-place, Merrimack first-year Margaret Byrne. Prusaczyk’s wide margin of victory in the 600 was telling of her strong level fitness compared to the rest of the field. The distance runners also turned in solid performances on the track. The juniors and seniors displayed their fitness while the first-years and sophomores once again proved that the future for Tufts track and field is bright. In the 800 meters, first-year Julia Noble placed fifth in a strong field, running a time of 2:24.74. First-year Livvy Barnett also had a solid day, taking fourth in the mile in 5:19.89, while seniors Lily Corcoran and Michele de Mars placed seventh and eighth in 5:24.76 and 5:34.55 respectively. The Jumbos also scored four runners in the 3,000 meters. Sophomore Brittany Bowman had an impressive showing, practically soloing herself to a 10:29.92 second see WOMEN'S TRACK AND FIELD, page 15

MEN'S BASKETBALL

Tufts splits pair of tough road games by Eddie Samuels

Assistant Sports Editor

Tufts moved to 13-4 (4-2 in NESCAC play) over the weekend with an overtime loss at Wesleyan followed the next night by a win

MEN’S BASKETBALL (13-4 Overall, 4-2 NESCAC) Saturday, Jan. 23 Tufts Conn. College

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at Connecticut College. Both games came right down to the wire, with each result being decided by two points or fewer. Saturday’s 83-81 win over the Connecticut College Camels was a hard fought win, with the Jumbos struggling to make up for their 18 turnovers. The team relied on senior guard and tri-captain Ryan Spadaford for the points, as he put up 18 on the night, including three free throws that secured the Jumbos’ lead. The Jumbos, always looking to battle in the paint, won the rebounding game with 40 to the Camels’ 31. Senior center and tri-captain Tom Palleschi led the Jumbos in see MEN'S BASKETBALL, page 15