Thursday, March 5, 2018

Page 1

@thefleshlightchronicles exposes sexism and racial fetishization on Tinder see FEATURES / PAGE 3

SAILING

Jumbos navigate packed weekend schedule

‘Death of Stalin’ is a simplistic look at Russian politics see ARTS&LIVING / PAGE 4

SEE SPORTS / BACK PAGE

THE

VOLUME LXXV, ISSUE 43

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 tuftsdaily.com

Thursday, April 5, 2018

MEDFORD/SOMERVILLE, MASS.

Justice Breyer speaks about role of courts, ‘breathing’ constitution by Sophie Lehrenbaum News Editor

SOFIE HECHT / THE TUFTS DAILY

U.S. Supreme Court Justice Stephen G. Breyer speaks in conversation with Dean Alan Solomont as a part of the Tisch College of Civic Life’s Distinguished Speaker Series on April 4.

Last night, U.S. Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer spoke before an audience of around 400 in a packed Cohen Auditorium as part of Jonathan M. Tisch College of Civil Life’s Distinguished Speaker Series. The event, which was also sponsored by the School of Arts & Sciences and the Department of Political Science, began at 6 p.m. and ran for an hour. Dean of Tisch College Alan Solomont acted as the moderator for the evening’s forum. University President Anthony Monaco delivered opening remarks about the Distinguished Speaker Series, explaining that the series has been able to bring voices and perspectives to campus to shed light on important contemporary issues such as the environment, partisanship in politics and reproductive rights. “Conversations like these are vital to the mission of the university … [and these individuals] compel us to follow their examples and to act to solve problem in our communities,” Monaco said. Monaco went on to contend that few civic institutions are more integral to the democracy than the judiciary. Shortly thereafter, Breyer and Solomont took to the stage. Before beginning to field questions, Breyer, who was both a graduate of and professor at Harvard Law School, recounted his friendship with former University President Jean Mayer, who also had a tenure at Harvard.

Solomont asked Breyer, who was appointed to the Supreme Court in 1994 under President Bill Clinton, how he had interpreted his predecessor Harry Blackmun’s message to him: “You will find this an unusual assignment.” Breyer said he concurred with the message. “You are always on duty … always. Here we are … [and I must remind myself to] be careful what you say … The job is an interesting job, and an important job … and you have to give what you have — you can’t let up,” Breyer said. Breyer stayed true to the principles of his role as a justice throughout the night, emphasizing the necessity for him to refrain from candidly expressing his opinions in public as a part of a central body based in impartiality. With Solomont guiding the questions, Breyer discussed impressions of partisanship in politics and in the court system as well as the role of the courts on the state level, and he spoke, as candidly as he could, about salient issues such as the cases on gerrymandering at the state level that the Supreme Court is reviewing right now. Breyer also summarized how a case ends up before the Supreme Court, highlighting that around 100,000 cases involve federal questions. From that pool, around 8,000 will appeal to the Supreme Court to have their case heard. The justices then have their law clerks scour through the cases and write memos, at which point the justice will analyze the overviews given to them. Ultimately, it see BREYER, page 2

Administrators share tentative plans for new swimming pool by Connor Dale

Contributing Writer

The university is tentatively exploring plans to construct a new pool facility, according to Barbara Stein, vice president of operations at Tufts. While there is no existing timeline for design and construction, the pool would replace the current Hamilton Pool, which serves the university’s aquatic teams, students and members of the Medford and Somerville communities. “To serve all of the many users’ needs, the university envisions an Olympic-size pool measuring 50 meters long by 25 yards wide. This is similar in size to pools at Tufts’ Academic and Athletic peer colleges and universities, and would enhance the ability of the university’s aquatic teams to compete while also making the pool more accessible to the members of the Tufts community and potentially enabling Tufts to host local high school [swimming] championships,” Stein told the Daily in an email.

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According to Stein, any major new athletics facilities will be funded by generous donors and the university is still in the early stages of generating interest for the project. However, Stein noted that recent planning has been undertaken to establish a target budget for capital costs as well as estimates for annual operating expenses in order to build donor interest. “We’re working to build excitement for the project among alumni and friends, and are encouraged by the enthusiasm of our supporters for this project and by the early gifts that they have pledged. The strongest driver of interest in a project like this is that we have a proud tradition of success among our swimming and diving teams but facilities that don’t measure up to that success. We still have a great deal of work to do to secure funding, but we are very optimistic,” Eric C. Johnson, senior vice president for university advancement, told the Daily in an email. Stein added that in current 2018 dollars, the new facility would cost in excess of $30 million to construct.

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Once funds are secured for the project, the construction of the new pool would take roughly two years to complete, according to Michael Skeldon of Tufts Facilities Services, project manager for the construction of the pool. While the exact location of the facility has not yet been decided, the area across from the Steve Tisch Sports and Fitness Center and Cousens Gym has been investigated as a likely site. “We want [the pool] to be near the athletic complex in order to work in concert with the other activities, for staffing purposes, for maintenance, and for the convenience of the student athletes, but exactly where still needs to be worked out — both because of permitting issues as well as very technical issues like dimensions and soil conditions,” Skeldon said. Stein emphasized that any project of this type would require significant consultation with neighbors and approval by city officials, a process that she said the university is committed to undertaking at the appropriate time.

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The university has maintained previous intentions to replace the Hamilton Pool, which is the oldest swimming pool of any school in the New England College Athletic Conference (NESCAC). According to a Daily article from 2002, a master plan of improvements to Tufts’ facilities created in 1990 included the construction of a new pool. However, the university had other financial priorities at the time, and no effort was made to pursue the new pool as a special fundraising project. Since then, Hamilton Pool’s current deteriorating conditions and usage constraints have largely necessitated the construction of a new facility, according to John Morris, Tufts’ athletic director. “As early as the 1980s, it was apparent that the Hamilton Pool was nearing the end of its useful life, both technically and functionally, and that its limited size was insufficient for a university with an enrollment as large as Tufts. In an effort to extend the life of this aging facil-

NEWS............................................1 FEATURES.................................3 ARTS & LIVING.......................4

see HAMILTON, page 2

COMICS.......................................5 OPINION.....................................6 SPORTS............................ BACK


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