The Tufts Daily - Monday, November 27, 2017

ExCollege gives students opportunity to teach on varied subjects see FEATURES / PAGE 5

MEN’S SWIMMING AND DIVING

Sophomore freestyler’s eight wins top off opening weekend success

Students, artists showcase their work at 35th annual SMFA art sale see ARTS&LIVING / PAGE 7

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 LXXIV, ISSUE 52

tuftsdaily.com

Monday, November 27, 2017

MEDFORD/SOMERVILLE, MASS.

Claiming defamation, lawyer for Anthony Scaramucci demands retractions from Daily op-eds On Nov. 21, the Daily received a letter from the law firm Sadis & Goldberg LLP, which was retained by former White House Communications Director Anthony Scaramucci. The letter demanded that the Daily retract parts of two op-eds pertaining to Scaramucci's position on The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy Board of Advisors and issue a public apology, or legal action would be pursued.

The two op-eds, which appeared in print on Nov. 6 and 13, are still published in their original form on the Daily's website. The text of the letter, which was signed by Samuel J. Lieberman and also sent to op-ed writer Camilo Caballero, is reproduced on this page and page 2. see LETTER, page 2

Tufts Marathon Team given 50 bibs for 2018 Boston Marathon

by Jenna Fleischer Staff Writer

Medford reaches municipal energy reduction milestone

by Hannah Uebele News Editor

The city of Medford was recognized by the Massachusetts Department of Energy Resources (DOER) for reducing municipal energy use by 20 percent since 2009, according to a statement released on the city’s website on Nov. 2.

Mayor Stephanie Burke accepted a certificate from DOER for this achievement at the beginning of the month.

She described Medford’s commitment to continue down a path of increased sustainable energy use.

“I am pleased that the City of Medford remains a leader throughout the Commonwealth in protecting our environment by using resources more efficiently, educating our community and developing renewable and sustainable energy projects,” Burke said in the statement. “Our Energy and Environment

Please recycle this newspaper

Sunny 45 / 25

/thetuftsdaily

Office, led by [Director of Energy and Environment] Alicia Hunt, works diligently to implement energy improvements throughout our community and continues to advocate for instrumental initiatives throughout the City.”

Medford was required to measure, track and reduce its municipal energy use after joining DOER’s Green Communities program in 2010, according to Hunt.

Hunt explained that municipal energy is strictly energy usage under city control, which includes municipal buildings and municipally owned vehicles. Electricity, natural gas and oil usage are the specific quantities reduced, she added.

A spokesperson from DOER explained that the main mission of the Green Communities Designation and Grant program is to help cities and towns in Massachusetts reduce municipal energy see ENERGY , page 3

For breaking news, our content archive and exclusive content, visit tuftsdaily.com @tuftsdaily

tuftsdaily

tuftsdaily

This year Tufts will have 50 community members running in the 2018 Boston Marathon, according to Don Megerle, coach of the Tufts Marathon Team (TMT).

According to Megerle, who became the team’s coach in 2003 after former University President Lawrence Bacow started a running group the year prior, 50 participants is a large increase over the past two years.

“Last year Tufts had 35 bibs and the year before that 25,” Megerle said.

“This year, 25 of the bibs will go to students across all Tufts schools, while the other 25 go to staff, alumni, parents and friends of the university.”

This year, John Hancock, a financial group that sponsors a marathon non-profit program, has allotted these 50 bibs for runners representing Tufts, Megerle said.

With a large cohort of regular runners who take part in the TMT training runs, which take place on Sunday, Tuesday and Wednesday, Megerle said making a decision about who gets a bib is never easy.

“I go to bed thinking about this, and I wake up thinking about this. I agonize over it,” Megerle said. “Ultimately, I select and distribute bibs based on year of graduation, running with the team and commitment, ability to raise the funds and eagerness to be a part of something special.”

According to Megerle, current Tufts students have to raise $1,500, while

Contact Us P.O. Box 53018, Medford, MA 02155 daily@tuftsdaily.com

all other runners must raise $5,000.

However, Megerle noted this is not nearly as much as other charity-affiliated runners, who often have to fundraise upwards of $10,000. A large portion of Tufts’ contribution comes from university fundraising.

For Claire Whitney, who graduated from the Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy in 2016 and ran the 2017 Boston Marathon, fundraising as an alumna was stressful given the $5,000 goal, but was also a worthwhile cause.

“It was helpful that the money raised went to the Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy [and adolescent obesity] research,” Whitney told the Daily in an email. “As a dietitian, it was an easy cause for friends and family to support on my behalf.”

During the 2017 marathon season, the team raised $382,219 and since its inception in 2003 has raised more than $5,639,358, according to the TMT’s fundraising page. The TMT is the largest known collegiate marathon program in the United States.

While Tufts’ bib allotment is limited, Megerle said things often have a way of working out for those who aren’t selected to represent Tufts, and sometimes those who train with TMT end up running the Boston Marathon for other charities or organizations.

As a first-year, junior Kayla Nicoletti was able to run the 2016 Boston Marathon for an organization called Golf Fights Cancer. Although she did not run

NEWS............................................1 FEATURES.................................5 ARTS & LIVING....................... 7

see TMT, page 2

COMICS.......................................9 OPINION...................................10 SPORTS............................ BACK

2

THE TUFTS DAILY | News | Monday, November 27, 2017

tuftsdaily.com

TMT runners credit Coach Don Megerle with continued success of program

COURTESY SCOTT TINGLEY / TUFTS UNIVERSITY

Students, alumni, faculty and administrators take part in the first organized long-distance run of the year with the Tufts Marathon Team on Nov. 12. The course of 10 miles took the runners from Tufts, around the Mystic Lakes, and back to campus for breakfast.

TMT

continued from page 1 for Tufts, Nicoletti trained with and is an active member of the TMT, which she considers a second family.

“I joined the Tufts Marathon Team my freshman year. I wanted to remain active without a sport in college, so I decided to try running long distance,” Nicoletti told the Daily in an email.

“Coach Don and the team embraced me when I was starting out and I try to introduce myself to as many new run-

ners as I can so that I can continue that welcoming legacy.”

For Nicoletti, Whitney and many other runners, whose photos cover the walls of Megerle’s office, running the Boston Marathon is an incredible opportunity, but so is having the chance to train with Megerle.

“Coach Don deserves so much credit for building this program into such a special experience for so many people from so many different backgrounds,” Nicoletti said. “He brings people together in ways that I did not know

were possible. Coach Don is the reason that I began running and the reason that I am still running.”

Both Nicoletti and Whitney emphasized Megerle’s role in helping them achieve their marathon goals and what an integral part he has been for their TMT experiences.

“Coach Don really made my time at Tufts a positive and memorable experience,” Whitney said. “He is a wonderful support system and getting to see him each Sunday is a highlight of my week-

Scaramucci ready to take legal action after op-eds

LETTER

continued from page 1

end. His positive energy, enthusiasm and encouragement are unmatched.”

Megerle also feels thankful for the more than 2,000 people he has trained to successfully complete the Boston Marathon over the past 14 years.

“To watch these kids running to me across the finish line blows me away,” Megerle said. “It’s an absolutely extraordinary experience. All the joy, excitement and tears, it’s off the charts.

Every day, I remind myself how lucky I am with these kids.”

News

Monday, November 27, 2017 | News | THE TUFTS DAILY

3

Medford recognized by state for reduced municipal energy use

SHANE WOOLLEY / THE TUFTS DAILY

The new Central Energy Plant, located on Boston Avenue next to Dowling Hall, looks to help Tufts in its sustainability goals.

ENERGY

continued from page 1 use and costs, along with greenhouse gas emissions.

“The Baker-Polito Administration has made strong state and municipal partnerships a top priority,” the spokesperson told the Daily in an email.

“Providing resources to municipalities for projects that reduce their energy use, carbon footprint, and bottom line while at the same time improving their facilities, not only has a great impact locally, but it is also a vital part of achieving the Commonwealth’s overall emissions reductions goals of 25 percent by 2020, and 80 percent by 2050, as described in the Global Warming Solutions Act (GWSA).”

William Moomaw, co-director of Global Development and Environment Institute at Tufts, expressed doubts about Massachusetts’ ability to reduce overall emissions by 25 percent by 2020, but praised Medford’s commitment to doing so.

“Medford has really been serious about this, and they’ve had a sustained push to reduce their emissions for at least more than fifteen years,” he said.

Moomaw explained that former Medford Mayor Michael McGlynn catalyzed the energy efficiency and sustainability movement in Medford, and

noted that Burke has continued in the same direction. “[McGlynn’s] successor, [Burke], picked up on it and really believes in it and is pushing as hard,” Moomaw said.

When a city is certified as a Green Community, it receives a grant that must be used on energy efficiency, according to Hunt. Cities are eligible to continue applying for grants once they spend this amount, which Hunt said Medford has done. As a result, Hunt explained, Medford received $235,935 in 2017 from Green Communities grants.

“Every project that I do, I either have to find grant funding from somewhere, or else it’s competing with other municipal needs, like filling potholes, fixing sidewalks and hiring policeman, so I try really hard to find grant money to pay for the work we do,” Hunt said.

The city is currently in the process of building a new police station and is working with energy consultants to make the building as efficient as possible, Hunt explained.

Hunt also described how Medford schools have converted lights to LED and how plans for a new library will also include energy-saving measures, which will reduce the city’s energy consumption.

Community outreach and education about energy-saving practices seem to have had the greatest effect in reaching

their goal of minimizing energy use, according to Hunt.

“What I found to be the number one thing was to work with the occupants and the facility managers to understand how they’re using the building and how they’re turning things off and setting temperatures to manage their building well and doing maintenance on their systems,” Hunt said. “So some of our biggest savings have actually been from the occupants being smart about their energy use on the buildings.”

With a 20-percent reduction achieved, the city wants to continue reducing its energy use further, and not just maintain, according to Hunt. She added that the city wants to reduce not only municipal energy use, but citywide use as well.

“It’s absolutely something that we want to keep doing. In this past year, Mayor Burke signed an agreement with the 14 communities around Boston, including Boston, to go carbon-neutral by 2050,” Hunt said. “That’s a regionwide agreement and that’s for everything — it’s not just buildings and stuff we control.”

Other than being part of the Green Communities program, Medford is also a part of the U.S. Department of Energy’s Better Buildings Challenge, as well as a signed member of the Global Covenant of Mayors, a UN effort to sup-

port the Paris Climate Agreement, Hunt explained. “[ The Pa r i s Climate Agreement] required that we create a greenhouse gas inventory for the city,” Hunt said. “As soon as you start measuring something, you’re more likely to reduce it, and that requires us to do a climate vulnerability assessment, which is something that I’m actually working on with Tufts graduate students.”

As a part of the Medford community, Tufts’ energy practices and usage affect the city’s overall use.

Hunt said that energy used by Tufts buildings, and by Tufts students living in Medford, contributes to the city’s greenhouse gas inventory.

Hunt explained how students living in off-campus housing in Medford should encourage their landlords to get energy audits on their buildings.

“Asking your landlords about getting an energy audit of the building really does help contribute in a very tangible way,” Hunt said. “We would like every homeowner and property owner in Medford to get an energy audit and to consider the recommendations, so pushing landlords [to do so] is great.”

Tina Woolston, director of the Office of Sustainability at Tufts, said the school is supportive of the work of Medford’s Department of Energy and the Environment.

“Alicia Hunt, the director of Medford’s Office of Energy and the Environment, is a wonderful advocate for the environment and energy programs in Medford and we have a great relationship with her,” Woolston told the Daily in an email.

“We’re proud to be part of a community that takes action on climate change. ” Woolston noted how Tufts has partnered with Medford in the past.

“Tufts students often intern in her office and we collaborate on initiatives where possible, such as when Tufts installed solar panels on Dowling Hall as part of the Solarize Medford campaign, which allowed the residents of Medford to benefit from the lowest price tier available for residential solar,” Woolston said. “Tufts has been the recipient of the Medford Green Award and often participates in the Harvest Your Energy Festival.”

Even with the progress made so far, Medford can still continue to reduce energy usage, according to the DOER spokesperson.

“DOER hopes to see Medford continue to build on their impressive accomplishments by reducing energy use further, pursuing renewable energy opportunities, and expanding programs to their residents and businesses,” the spokesperson said.

EVENTS ON THE HILL: WEEK OF NOV. 27 MONDAY “Childhood Trauma and Violent Extremism” Details: Dr. Heidi Ellis, director of the Boston Children’s Hospital Center for Refugee Trauma and Resilience, will speak about her research on how youth refugees’ experiences post-settlement may lead some to violent extremist ideology. The event is co-sponsored by ALLIES and the Child Development Association.

When and Where: 6 p.m.; Cabot Hall Room 206 WEDNESDAY “Donuts with (Howard) Dean” Details: The Jonathan M. Tisch

College of Civic Life is hosting an afternoon of donuts and discussion with Howard Dean, the former governor of Vermont, 2004 presidential candidate and former chair of the Democratic National Committee.

When and Where: 2–3 p.m.; Rabb Room, Tisch College “Art and Storytelling in our Current Political Moment” Details: Obie award-winning playwright Kirsten Greenidge, and filmmaker and Tufts Lecturer Khary Jones, will be discussing art and politics at this Center for the Study of Race and Democracy-sponsored event.

When and Where: 4:15 p.m.; Austin Conference Room, Tisch Library

“Junior Sendoff” Details: The Tufts University Social Collective ( TUSC) is hosting a juniors-only event celebrating the end of the semester and sending off those going abroad in the spring. There will be free food and giveaways.

When and Where: 5–8 p.m.; Alumnae Lounge “Women of the Wall with Lesley Sachs, Executive Director” Details: The Tufts for Two States Coalition is hosting Lesley Sachs, the executive director of Women of the Wall, an organization that seeks to achieve gender equality in religious expression at the Western Wall in Jerusalem.

When and Where: 8 p.m.; Tufts Interfaith Center FRIDAY “The State of Immigrant Justice at Tufts: Honoring 5 Years of UIJ” Details: Tufts United for Immigrant Justice (UIJ) is celebrating its fiveyear anniversary as a student group on campus, with reflection on what the group has accomplished and what it has left to do. Food from local immigrant-owned businesses will be available for purchase, with proceeds going toward hurricane and earthquake relief efforts in Puerto Rico and Mexico.

When and Where: 5–7 p.m.; Alumnae Lounge

4

THE TUFTS DAILY | News | Monday, November 27, 2017

THE TUFTS DAILY Gil Jacobson Editor-in-Chief

EDITORIAL

Eddie Samuels Joe Walsh Managing Editors Zachary Hertz Associate Editor Catherine Perloff Ariel Barbieri-Aghib Emily Burke Aneurin Canham-Clyne Daniel Caron Melissa Kain Anar Kansara Robert Katz Arin Kerstein Liam Knox Sophie Lehrenbaum Elie Levine Natasha Mayor Jesse Najarro Daniel Nelson Seohyun Shim Emma Steiner Hannah Uebele Juliana Furgala Kat Grellman Simran Lala Nina Joung Costa Angelakis Emma Damokosh Elie Levine Jessie Newman Sean Ong Emma Rosenthal Grace Yuh Michael Shames Fina Short

Cassidy Olsen John Gallagher Alison Epstein Justin Krakoff Libby Langsner Setenay Mufti Eran Sabaner Antonio Bertolino Tommy Gillespie Jack Ronan Arman Smigielski Maria Fong Shannon Geary Lydia Ra Rebecca Tang Deeksha Bathini Miranda Chavez Hannah Kahn Joseph Lim Sarah Nechamkin Madeleine Schwartz Maddie Payne Yuan Jun Chee Liam Finnegan Phillip Goldberg Savannah Mastrangelo Brad Schussel Caleb Symons Sam Weidner Sam Weitzman Liam Knox Angelie Xiong Ray Bernoff Ben Kim Rachael Meyer Vintus Okwonko Alexis Serino Seohyun Shim Ana Sophia Acosta Olivia Ireland

Executive News Editor News Editors

Assistant News Editors Executive Features Editor Features Editors

Assistant Features Editors Executive Arts Editor Arts Editors

Assistant Arts Editors Executive Opinion Editor Cartoonists

Editorialists

Executive Sports Editor Sports Editors

Investigative Editor Executive Photo Editor Staff Photographers

Executive Video Editor Staff Videographer

PRODUCTION Evan Sayles Production Director Ellah Nzikoba Executive Layout Editors Alice Yoon Betty Cao Layout Editors Connor Dale Julie Doten Kenia French Maygen Kerner Omeir Khan Clair Li Nasrin Lin Olivia Markowitz Aidan Menchaca Isabella Montoya Julie Murray Steven Schwab Seohyun Shim Emily Thompson Sebastian Torrente Astrid Weng Ezgi Yazici Astrid Weng Executive Graphics Editor Peter Lam Graphics Editors Allie Merolla Rifat Ralfi Salhon Belinda Xian Mary Carroll Executive Copy Editors Liora Silkes Norrie Beach Copy Editors Caroline Bollinger Alison Epstein Madhulika Gupta Anna Hirshman Tess Jacobson Melissa Kain David Levitsky Katie Martensen Jack Ronan Arielle Sigel Netai Schwartz Nihaal Shah Seohyun Shim Hannah Wells Jiayu Xu Vanessa Zighelboim Deepanshu Utkarsh Rachael Meyer Alexis Serino Asli Akova Anna Hirshman Mitch Navetta Seohyun Shim Ercan Sen

Executive Online Editor Executive Social Media Editors Social Media Editors

Assistant Social Media Editors

BUSINESS Rayane Haddar Executive Business Director Hannah Wells Receivables Manager

tuftsdaily.com

Monday, November 27, 2017

Features

Students and ExCollege describe motivations, benefits of peer-teaching

by Sidharth Anand Staff Writer

What brings a student to get up out of their seat and in front of the classroom to become a peer teacher is not a certain amount of expertise, but rather, a desire to create a classroom around a topic of interest. As architects of their courses, students take the reins on what is taught while receiving guidance on how to teach as peer teachers through the Experimental College (ExCollege).

Since its inception, the ExCollege strives to bolster Tufts’ academic offerings by giving students the opportunity to take courses that often diverge from the beaten path.

According to its website, the ExCollege was founded in 1964 by former University President Nils Wessell, with a board composed of students and faculty working together. In the following decades, the ExCollege developed the Explorations and Perspectives program, taught by juniors and seniors who would serve as the advisors for incoming first-years. In addition, the ExCollege offered peer-taught ExCollege courses in the spring, which are open to students in all years.

ExCollege Director Howard Woolf said that the college has been working to meet three main goals since its formation.

“When Wessell first started the program in 1964, it aimed to get courses into the curriculum that were beyond the scope of the main Tufts curriculum, to bring lecturers and teachers from the larger Boston community and to get a board with equal numbers of students and faculty,” he said. “The main idea was to be student-centered, above all else, and this is something we have worked towards since then.”

According to Woolf, the courses are based on topics that students want to be discussed in the community and often reflect the broader societal climate at the time they are offered.

“I like to think of the courses each semester as empty vessels,” Woolf said.

“This is not a doctrinaire organization that determines what goes in them and there is no exact definition as to what can and cannot be taught. Often, the culture of the time and what’s going on in society determine what the students decide to teach, but we encourage anybody who thinks they can teach to apply and get their ideas out there.”

Woolf also mentioned that the ExCollege is unique because it is one of the only programs in the nation where students can design and create their own courses on the topics they wish to teach, allowing them to spread discussion and intellectual curiosity throughout the university. He said these pass/fail courses are primarily designed to increase awareness on a topic on which an instructor — either a visiting lecturer or a student — has a level of expertise.

He mentioned that students have a large amount of leeway with which

they can decide upon their topic, and this often contributes to the interdisciplinary nature of the ExCollege.

“We do have to be careful with how we approve the topics, [though], to make sure that we are not stepping on the toes of any of the departments,” Woolf said.

Another defining factor of the college is the Explorations and Perspectives program, which combines seminar courses for first-years with an advising component. The Explorations and Perspectives courses are taught on a wide range of topics, but differ in their primary focus. Both types ultimately seek to further discussion in the Tufts community, but the Perspectives courses are centered mainly on the study of different types of media and their societal implications.

“When the first-years who take the Explorations/Perspectives courses start their courses, they also get an advisor,” Woolf said. “Many programs in the academic map of the United States have these programs that try to cater to first-year students, but they often fall apart halfway through because there’s nothing that is tied to those advising programs. Our program has the course component, which allows students to see the passion of the instructor, get excited about the course and engage with their advisors for the full semester.”

The process of teaching these courses is intense, but it involves close interaction with the ExCollege board and equal involvement from both teachers and students, according to Woolf. Woolf explained that prospective peer teachers must submit a 13-week syllabus along with an application stating their interest in teaching. After this, they must go through an interview with the ExCollege administrators, followed by a meeting with the board. This must all occur during the semester before the intended course.

“Once they start teaching, the teachers of the Explorations/Perspectives courses and the open classes in the fall must [also] take a seminar with either me or Amy Goldstein, the associate director of the ExCollege. During these courses, we cover pedagogy and techniques for peer teaching.”

Woolf said.

The courses taught thus far have been instrumental in furthering the original goals of the ExCollege, fostering discussion about topics that don’t fit directly into the standard academic curriculum. The topics of this spring’s peer-taught courses vary greatly in scope and focus. Courses include Disr upting Education: The Future of K-12, Activism in Authoritarian States: A Global Perspective, Tech Trends and Careers: Tufts and Beyond, and Persuasive Science: Writing for Skeptics.

This is also evident in a course taught during the fall semester of the 2016–2017 academic year by current seniors Pranav Menon and Kyle Paul.

Their course, Introduction to the Force:

Star Wars in Pop Culture, looked at the Star Wars movies in the context of film and media at large. Paul said that the class stimulated conversation about the themes, motifs and details of the Star Wars movies.

“It was great to talk about the Star Wars movies in a lot of detail with freshmen for whom we were also like second advisors,” Paul, who is majoring in film and media studies and child study and human development, said. “We talked about all sorts of things regarding the movies, watching clips, exploring the narratives again and seeing the connections of the stories to religion, politics, gender and media today.”

During the upcoming spring semester, senior Kinsey Drake, a biochemistry major, will teach a course called Food Chemistry: Exploring Cooking Through the Lens of Science. She said she has had preparation and support from the ExCollege in designing her course.

Drake mentioned that the guidance from the website and the ExCollege staff gave her a sense of what the classes typically entailed, what she needed to have prepared in order to teach a course and how to set up a course that is relevant to different audiences.

“Taking a course [in the ExCollege] before deciding to teach mine was useful because I could see what worked and what didn’t. I was able to learn what it was like to cater to many different interests and majors, and how to keep an interdisciplinary focus in the courses,” Drake said. “Though the ones I took were taught by visiting professors and not other students, I [learned that] the classes depend pretty heavily on what the class is like and what the students are like.”

Paul added that being a Perspectives leader allowed him to gain valuable skills and experiences through teaching, which have helped him prepare for other leadership roles.

“I never envisioned myself as a teacher before this course, so for me to be able to be an advisor and a teacher with Pranav [Menon] was different,” he said. “It was cool to have a leadership position where freshmen looked up to us … and the experience being a Perspectives leader also helped me this year in my position as a Community Development Assistant.”

Woolf said that peer-taught courses, like those taught by Drake, Menon and Paul, are important because they encourage questioning.

“The students who teach the course are not Master’s students, or PhDs. They don’t have the experience big lecturers at Tufts do, and we don’t expect them to have complete mastery and knowledge of their topics.

They are encouraged to ask questions, not give explanations, and the syllabus they give us reflects this,” he said. “This creates the sense of thinking about the topic together, rather than lecturing, and this allows the ExCollege to stimulate discussion in the community.”

5 tuftsdaily.com

Henry Stevens The Weekly Chirp

Birds in history

T

he bald eagle holds a special place in the hearts of the American people, birders and non-birders alike. While the exact reasoning may vary slightly from person to person, the major reason underlying Americans’ love for bald eagles is their elite status as our national bird. Once hunted to near extinction, bald eagles now inhabit rivers and lakes across the United States in healthy numbers, safely protected under the Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act passed originally in 1940. Soaring above in the sky and pictured on the quarters in our pockets, they follow and watch over us no matter where we go. Since the bald eagle became our national bird in 1782, it has symbolized the freedom associated with our country, and will do so for years to come. But have you ever wondered why, out of the 800plus species that inhabit the United States, the founding fathers chose the bald eagle?

Turns out, the decision to use the bald eagle as the national bird was not straightforward. Benjamin Franklin, among others, was adamantly against choosing the bald eagle, and thought that the wild turkey was a more appropriate choice. Franklin highlighted the scavenging behavior exhibited by some eagles, pointing out that it would be inappropriate to associate the values of America with a scavenger. In this argument, Franklin was most likely referring to instances where eagles opt to grab chunks of dead meat from deer or fish carcasses instead of killing the animals themselves. Eagles have also been known to rob meals from other raptors, allowing them to conserve energy and still reap the final reward — not a particularly valiant behavior.

Franklin also noted that flocks of smaller birds could drive eagles away, implying that the eagle was a coward at heart and could not be used to represent the bravery and independence of Americans. This phenomenon, known as mobbing, happens when a group of smaller birds (usually corvids, like crows and jays) fly repeatedly at raptors, crossing through their territory in an attempt to divert them to another area. While Franklin’s assessment is technically accurate, mobbing happens to all raptors, not only eagles. From the perspective of the raptor, this feels less like an attack and more like a nuisance, and they tend to leave to avoid the incessant pestering of the smaller birds. This doesn’t mean eagles are cowards — it just means they don’t like being annoyed. Sounds fair to me. Ultimately, the bald eagle’s beauty, seeming omnipresence across the country and overall dominance as a raptor were enticing enough to the majority of founding fathers, and so it became the national bird. Many still contest this decision, and will continue to do so (as is our right!).

If not the eagle, then what? Franklin proposed the turkey, mainly due to its native origin and widespread occurrence across the country. Furthermore, turkeys can be aggressive to those who overstep their bounds. There were accounts of turkeys attacking British redcoats in the 1700s, stories that were especially pleasing to Franklin. But while native and bold, the turkey is also fat, relatively stupid and ugly. Now that I think about it, maybe the turkey should be the official bird of the Trump presidency.

Love, Henry Henry Stevens is a junior majoring in biology. Henry can be reached at henry. stevens@tufts.edu.

Interested in birds? Email me at tuftsornithologicalsociety@gmail.com.

6

THE TUFTS DAILY | ADVERTISEMENT | Monday, November 27, 2017

tuftsdaily.com

Tomorrow is‌

1/4

Special Student Challenge!

If 500 students make a gift of any size to anywhere at Tufts, a $15,000 challenge gift from generous Tufts alumni parents will be unlocked! Join in and create possibilities for current and future Jumbos to share in the unique experience of a Tufts education.

1/8

AND If 5,000 people make a gift to Tufts tomorrow, we will unlock $500,000 in challenge funds f rom generous alumni and parents to support f inancial aid, faculty, and the student experience.

How YOU can help: 1. Make a gift (of any size!) givingdays.tufts.edu 2. Be on the lookout for a #GivingTuesday table (Campus Center, Dewick, Tisch Library, and other locations 10am-9pm) 3. Spread the word via social media

1/2

#GivingTuesday #TuftsGivingTuesday

7 tuftsdaily.com

ARTS&LIVING

7

Monday, November 27, 2017

SMFA supports student and professional artists with annual art sale

by Ellie McIntosh

T

Contributing Writer

Walking through the doors of the School of the Museum of Fine Arts (SMFA) at Tufts, one felt a strong sense of community during the school’s annual art sale, which took place this year from Nov. 16 to 19.

The SMFA Art Sale, which began 35 years ago, is the largest contemporary art sale in New England, featuring nearly 3,000 works in a variety of media by almost 700 up-and-coming and world-renowned artists, according to a TuftsNow article. The artists are often seen around the gallery space and range from current students to former faculty members and other affiliated professionals. The sale allows them the opportunity to interact with visitors and customers interested in buying their works.

Former metal-working professor Yoshiko Yamamoto, who taught at the SMFA for 35 years, sold her own pieces of jewelry as part of the sale. A customer earlier in the day had looked at one of the pieces in Yamamoto’s case, but the artist hadn’t arrived at the sale yet. The potential buyer came back later and was so excited to meet the artist behind the piece of jewelry, she bought the piece and took a photo with Yamamoto while wearing the necklace.

The sale also benefits from the school’s affiliation with the Museum of Fine Arts, just steps away from the school’s main buildings. The museum gives prestige and recognition to the artists and provides a source of inspiration for current students. However, the museum can also complicate how international artists participate in the sale. According to some artists at the sale, the restrictions on transporting antiquities into the state as well as the costs of insuring pieces over international travel can deter many former SMFA students or faculty living abroad from participating.

COURTESY ANNA MILLER / TUFTS UNIVERSITY

Visitors catch a preview of the annual SMFA Art Sale at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts at Tufts University, on Nov. 9.

However, these restrictions do not appear to have a major impact on the number of pieces submitted, and the sale rotates throughout the weekend to exhibit all of the works. This system also encourages people to come to the sale more than once over the weekend.

While the sale showcases artists affiliated with the SMFA, it also has several professional artists’ works for sale, put up by collectors or institutions as opposed to the actual artist.

One of these pieces is a small James Turrell print. Turrell is an installation artist who focuses his work on light and how it interacts with space. The artwork was donated by Pace Prints, associated with Pace Gallery, and proceeds will be split between Turrell, Pace and the SMFA. Donations like these allow fledgling student artists to display their work among renowned names in the art world.

The art sale brings current students and experienced artists togeth-

er to support their institution. Joanne Tarlin (MFA ’15), an alumna of SMFA and a volunteer at the sale, remarked that the sale is a “friendly and helpful” community, one that brings together the artist and the buyer.

Tarlin is selling her work in the sale this year and has sold works in past sales as well. Tarlin was able to speak with and meet the buyers of one of her pieces when she was a student and said that, as a new artist, this experience was special and part of what brings her back to the sale year after year.

The SMFA’s art sale is not only an opportunity for students to sell their works, but an opportunity for the entire art community to participate in and support an institution that brings together artists of all ages and backgrounds. The sale showcases major pieces and truly demonstrates the powerful works of art and artists that the SMFA is producing and supporting.

MOVIE REVIEW

‘Three Billboards’ mixes revenge, grief and humor into one

by Setenay Mufti Arts Editor

COURTESY IMDB

The poster of ‘Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri’ (2017), a black comedy-drama film co-produced by Film4 and Fox Searchlight Pictures, is shown.

Mina Ghobrial Thoughts from Places

Content warning: this article mentions sexual assault.

A murderer is on the loose, racial tensions are climbing and the beloved police chief will die from pancreatic cancer within the month. But one thing’s for sure: Mildred Hayes has had enough.

Mildred, played by Frances McDormand in her best performance since “Fargo” (1996), is the toughtalking star of “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri” (2017). The film was written, produced and directed by Martin McDonagh, who has established a cult following for his dark comedies “In Bruges” (2008) and “Seven Psychopaths” (2012). “Three Billboards,” released in the United States on Nov. 10, is one of

the darkest and funniest dark comedies in recent memory. The cause of Mildred’s epic fury, and the catalyst for the chaotic plot, can be summed up on the three titular billboards. They read, in succession, “Raped while dying”; “And still no arrests”; “How come, Chief Willoughby?”

Seven months prior to the film’s action, Mildred’s teenage daughter Angela was brutally assaulted and lit on fire, but no suspects or DNA matches were found. The rest of the town seems to have moved on. In the first shot of the film, a man reads Flannery O’Connor’s “A Good Man is Hard to Find” (1953) — a bad omen if there ever was one. This is a world where nothing has changed or grown and senseless violence looms in the past and present. Mildred is the one see BILLBOARDS, page 8

Jersey City

ufts has become a de facto home for more than a thousand fresh faces over the past few months.

Despite the occasional instantaneous zeal to remain a renegade while on campus, every so often it is time to pay a visit to family. This break was the perfect opportunity to take an eight-hour journey (which should have taken four and a half hours) home.

Jersey City had been my home for the 16 years leading up to my trek to the Medford campus. For over a decade, I have wandered across the waterfront, where, just across the Hudson, gleaming Manhattan skyscrapers rested. It’s a silently kept belief that our most attractive asset as a city is our relative distance to the center of the world, whether you consider that to be Wall Street or Times Square.

Some refer to JC as the sixth borough of New York, and although the title has been met with both agitation and disapproval, in many ways it is. The sharpness of drivers willing to run red lights to end up four feet closer to the next bumper, the unavoidable presence of virtually unused Citi Bike racks and indignation over proper pizza-making techniques all lend to this conceptualization. In fact, there are points of entry into Manhattan from Downtown Jersey City that are significantly faster than transporting from Long Island or Queens. But Jersey City is not New York.

One of those two cities is known for never sleeping, while the other has shops that begin to close at around 8 p.m. One boasts $50 million celebrity penthouses, and the other has an average property value of about 0.06 percent of that figure.

One hosts most of the news stations, late night hosts and televised events on this coast, and the other simply watches.

Jersey City is home to most of my friends, family and memories, and it remains the birthplace of my dreams, education and drive. It is not the socioeconomic tycoon that New York is, but it has beauty in its early nights, traffic-free streets and, above all, its tacit humility.

From the waterfront, the most beautiful thing about the skyline is not how grand it stands, or how far it stretches. It is, instead, how incomplete it is. Despite being recognizable in almost any nation, New York views itself as eternally incomplete. Every few months another crane is erected, another skyscraper is pieced together until it pokes the clouds and the seemingly unchanged spectacle glows just a trace brighter against the night sky.

There’s a cliché internalization of this metaphor, and as we approach the mushy, feel-good month of December, this column can surely express yet another one of these sentiments. There will be always room for improvement.

Others may not notice, or if they do, they might not point it out. But in the coming weeks there is plenty to be thankful for, and a chief component of that is the ability to procure the changes you want to see in yourself.

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.

8

THE TUFTS DAILY | Arts & Living | Monday, November 27, 2017

tuftsdaily.com

Frances McDormand gives best performance since 'Fargo' in 'Three Billboards' BILLBOARDS

continued from page 7 to tear it all down with wild, increasingly illegal acts in the name of vengeance.

The targeted Sheriff Bill Willoughby, played by Woody Harrelson, has enough on his shoulders. He’s battling an increasingly debilitating illness, has to constantly run after the incompetent, dull Officer Jason Dixon (Sam Rockwell) and harbors genuine sympathy over the Angela case. Despite all this, he finds himself in, as he puts it, a chess match with Mildred. He has the support of the town on his side, but she’s getting the media’s attention.

Mildred won’t pull any punches; as her son points out, she couldn’t just write that her daughter died or that her daughter was raped. No, the sign had to read, “Raped while dying.” Who could drive by without a deep twinge in their gut?

The painful lesson of “Three Billboards” is that injustice cannot always be redeemed with justice, nor bad with good. Mildred is hardly a perfect character. She is insensitive and aggressive with her son and, in the past, with her daughter. She refuses to accept that the DNA from the crime has matched no records in the state, and the police can look no more. She is rude and ableist to the local man at the bar with dwarfism played by Peter Dinklage, who just wants to have dinner with her. She is violent and impul-

sive, but justified. Like Sophocles’ Antigone, she puts her world and reputation on the line to fight the law in the name of justice. The problem here is that there’s no real justice to be had.

Well, no justice in Angela’s case at least. It is clear from the beginning of the film that the police force, Officer Dixon in particular, picks on and harasses the town’s black residents. When Dixon first sees the billboard and demands an explanation from the worker putting up the signs, the worker, who’s black, spits in front of the police car. It’s a small act, but it gives the impression that certain members of the community are getting fed up along with Mildred. As she says on local TV, “The police department is too busy torturing black folks to solve actual crime.” But what makes “Three Billboards”’ treatment of race issues so different from other socially conscious movies is that it has its moments of biting, brilliant humor, like when Dixon responds to the worker by stuttering and trying to invent a reason to arrest him.

In “Three Billboards,” the jokes are insensitive and the characters mock almost every demographic in the United States — politically correct, it’s not. But just as fire is fury and destruction, it can also be cleansing. Despite its brutality, the film has real, raw moments. It’s not a Tarantino-style revenge movie. It’s a movie about grief and tenderness and toughness all in one, with rough, welcome satire in between.

Narcan Training: How to Prevent, Recognize and Respond to an Opioid Overdose Wednesday, November 29th 7-­‐8 PM Jackson Hall room 5

S tud ent Org ani zati on Award s Ceremony A pril 25, 2018 | 7pm | Alumnae Loung e

Monday, November 27, 2017 | Comics | THE TUFTS DAILY

tuftsdaily.com

Comics

9

LATE NIGHT AT THE DAILY Sam: “I ate a two inch wider.”

Comics

SUDOKU

GARFIELD

BY JIM DAVIS

NON SEQUITUR

BY WILEY MILLER

Difficulty Level: Being a ‘Bama fan right now.

LINDA C. BLACK ASTROLOGY

Tuesday’s Solution

Sagittarius (Nov. 22-Dec. 21)

Today is an 8. Create harmony at home with color, delicious fragrances and music. Make a long-term improvement to raise your family’s comfort level.

Share the coziness.

RELEASE DATE– Monday, November 27, 2017

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

ACROSS 1 The “m” in E = mc 2 5 Put into force 10 Wood-shaping tool 14 Severely damaged sea 15 Morning show featuring Al Roker 16 Drubbed or whipped 17 Calf-length skirt 18 Lady’s canine love 19 Omar of “The Mod Squad” 20 Seaside shade provider 23 Bone: Pref.

24 Second person 25 Grammy category 28 “Don’t play” music symbols 32 “I’ll do that!”

34 Opposite of pos.

37 Philatelist’s volumes 40 Soothing succulent 42 Inclined 43 Sitter’s nemesis 44 Practice that develops a variety of employee skills 47 Letters after ems 48 “Not __!”: “Quiet!”

49 Macho guy 51 Not agin 52 Musician’s gift 55 Curriculum __: résumé 59 Kid’s imaginary companions, and what’s literally found in this puzzle’s circles 64 Remove a rind from 66 “Ask me if __” 67 Pigeon banter 68 Drops the ball 69 Country south of Egypt 70 French I verb 71 Path behind a ship 72 Poet’s muse 73 Taken in, as a movie

DOWN 1 Cuban dance 2 Spring zodiac sign 3 ’70s-’80s Egyptian president Anwar 4 Deli machine 5 Caesar’s ides-ofMarch words 6 Good name for an average guy 7 Not much (of) 8 Top-selling Toyota 9 Blood bank spec 10 Second son 11 Act of leaving 12 Microwave 13 Sci-fi beings 21 Long-handled garden tools 22 Break in the action 26 Capital of Jordan 27 Annoying types 29 “Now!” in the OR 30 Brit’s sign-off 31 Northampton women’s college 33 Flow back 34 City south of Baghdad

35 Wed on the wing 36 Lose it big-time 38 Ballet dip 39 Tiny physics bit 41 Poetic palindrome 45 Oil gp. that includes Iraq 46 “Avatar” race 50 Nephews’ sisters 53 Come to light 54 Happen multiple times

56 Govt. security 57 Love dearly 58 German steel city 60 Beyond that 61 “Look what I did!”

62 Group with pledges 63 Nevada gambling city 64 Church bench 65 Notable time

Tuesday’s Solution ANSWER TO PREVIOUS PUZZLE:

xwordeditor@aol.com

By Mark McClain ©2017 Tribune Content Agency, LLC

11/27/17

11/27/17

10 tuftsdaily.com

Nesi Altaras Looking out

Jews still exist outside America and Israel

I

usually introduce myself as being from Istanbul, where I spent my first 18 years.

This introduction leads to the reasonable assumption that I am Muslim, since 99.9 percent of Turkey is Muslim. So, it is surprising when later I mention that I am Jewish.

This confuses Americans, with little understanding of the Middle East as an Islamic region. This prompts questions on whether my family recently moved to Istanbul, which is not the case.

When I share this critical part of who I am, there is a visible change in how I am perceived. First of all, I am absolved of all the negative stereotypes associated with Muslims.

While being Muslim is seen as “weird,” problematically othered, being Jewish in America is “normal,” even pedestrian. This normalization goes so far that it seems to devalue this identity that has been so central to my life.

Saying that I am Jewish at Tufts is perceived as saying I am left-handed or gluten-free: a minor curiosity. As a generic Turk, assumed Muslim, my background seems “exotic” and my hometown merits the question “Is it safe?” but those questions wash away when I say I am Jewish.

What does not translate is that, while being Jewish, I am still also from Turkey. You cannot compartmentalize these identities. Being Jewish does not suddenly mean I am from New Jersey or Westchester. Jews of Turkey are simply different from most American Jews, in life experience and heritage. My community of 10,000 people (four of whom go to Tufts) is almost exclusively Sephardic. We trace our roots to Spain, Portugal and Italy. The way we pray, the architecture of our synagogues and most importantly our cuisine, is different from the Ashkenazim, Jews of Northern Europe who make up the majority of the U.S. Jews. A useful term here is “ashkenormative,” pointing out that Jewish discourse and culture treats Ashkenazis as the default and marginalizes all other Jews.

The Turkish-Jewish experience is one of an openly hated minority, slandered in the media, even by the Turkish president.

Culturally accepted hatred for Jews is shocking to many at Tufts, especially American non-Jews, who know of anti-Semitism only in the context of the Holocaust and do not have a comparative framework to understand the Jewish experience in Turkey. In their view, in their American-centric view of the world, Jews are well-treated, privileged white people who face no marginalization.

It is as if any understanding that living in Turkey is no easy task disappears when I tell people I’m Jewish but my life is not that of an American Jew; it is laced with employment, educational and social discrimination on top of immigration concerns that I face while I live in the United States.

The American-based view of Jews decontextualizes and delegitimizes non-American, non-Ashkenazi Jews at Tufts. This should be unacceptable. This mindset is dismissive of the fact that my community is treated as an internal fifth column in my country of birth.

Tufts Jewish organizations need to question their ashkenormativity while gentiles need to rethink their American-based preconceptions of Jewish identity.

Nesi Altaras is a junior majoring in international relations and economics. Nesi can be reached at nesi.altaras@tufts.edu.

Opinion

Monday, November 27, 2017

OP-ED

Scaramucci on Board of Advisors: Short-term benefits vs. long-term costs

by Camilo A. Caballero

Disclaimer: Ambassador Roberta Jacobson’s son is Gil Jacobson, the editor-in-chief of The Tufts Daily. He was not involved in the editing of this op-ed in any way.

Two weeks ago in his remarks to students, Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy alumnus and current Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Joseph Dunford reminded us of the importance of our moral standing.

“When the United States goes to war, we go with our values, and I’m proud of that,” General Dunford said. “A source of our strength is our moral authority, and we have to maintain that.”

As the Anthony Scaramucci issue continues to unfold, it is important not to lose sight of the larger picture and the fundamental choice for Tufts and The Fletcher School this moment represents. Taking a stand when the institution’s values are challenged by its own actions can be difficult, but the long-term consequences of indifference may outweigh any short-term benefits. Money comes and goes, but moral values live forever.

Fletcher’s administrators are focused on one of the key responsibilities they hold — ensuring the current and future financial strength of the college. This is an important and valid responsibility. The challenge is to balance the financial responsibility with the more intangible responsibility of strengthening and protecting the reputation of the college as espoused in its mission and values.

There is a long-term opportunity cost to keeping Scaramucci on the board. This cost is the potential loss of loyalty and pride among current and former students in becoming a member of the so-called “Fletcher mafia.”

There are currently 290 individuals who signed the petition whose long-term support could be in question — all at the expense of keeping one man on the Board of Advisors for a five-year term. We don’t know how many other current students and alumni have reservations as a result of this appointment.

Certainly it would be helpful to the school’s institutional advancement and development office to conduct a survey to determine if there are negative consequences that could affect support by these two groups.

Do the short-term, potential financial gains of having this individual on the board outweigh the long-term costs? One could try to argue this point in the affirmative, by analyzing the money he has provided to Fletcher, either directly or indirectly through his outreach to contacts.

Another step the administration and Board of Advisors can do is research the financial results accruing to the school from Scaramucci’s seat on the board. The results could help them weigh both the financial vs. reputational benefits and negatives, both in the short and long term. This could inform any decisions they may decide to take regarding his continued service to the school as a member of the Board of Advisors.

As a student, it is an honor to see the list of current and former outstanding members of the Board of Advisors: those Fletcher alumni who have worked their entire lives, in private and public sectors, to achieve success, thanks in part to what they gained at Fletcher.

Surely there are potential candidates for the board who would enhance and strengthen both the financial and reputational assets of Fletcher. For example: • Ambassador Roberta Jacobson, an honorable stateswoman and diplomat who has worldwide connections and has been a successful public servant under both Republican and Democratic presidents.

• Reeta Roy, president and CEO of Master Card Foundation. Before joining the Foundation, Roy worked at the healthcare company Abbott and its corporate foundation. According to Stavridis, Roy “represents the best in us all. She is a global citizen and she puts her life on the line to create positive outcomes for those in need.”

• The Honorable Dr. Paula Stern, founder and chairwoman of The Stern Group, Inc. She also is the former chairwoman of the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC). Stern is a member of the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Advisory Committee on Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency, the Executive Committee of the Atlantic Council, the Committee for Economic Development of The Conference Board, the Council on Foreign Relations, the Inter-American Dialogue and the Advisory Council of the Wilson Center’s Women in Public Service Project (WPSP), according to her biography on The Stern Group’s website.

The list of reputable Tufts/Fletcher alumni

who can serve the board and represent our school with honor is long. It is easier to say what could or should be done than actually doing it. But if we are going to protect the long-term reputation and values of Fletcher, we need to act now in order to be able to say we did the right thing when it counted.

It seems that we have come to a point where the power of money is taking precedence over the power of values. The consensus amongst the petitioners — students, faculty and alumni — about Scaramucci’s seat on the board seems to be overwhelmingly negative.

Thus it is up to the administration and board to listen to what is being said, to conduct any research relevant to the issue and to use the information and their collective wisdom and experience to weigh the longterm costs against the short-term benefits of Scaramucci’s continued service on the board.

As General Dunford said, our values are critical and must always take precedence in our decisions and actions. I urge the Fletcher administration and board to place these values above money as they deliberate what, if any, course of action to take.

Camilo A. Caballero is a student at The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy pursuing his master’s degree. Camilo is the director of communications for the Harvard Kennedy School Journal of Hispanic Policy and a co-founder and co-leader of the Fletcher Students of Color and Allies club. He can be reached at camilo.caballero@tufts.edu.

CARTOON

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.

Sports

Monday, November 27, 2017 | Sports | THE TUFTS DAILY

CROSS COUNTRY

Cross country closes out seasons with top finishes at regional and national championships

11

Phillip Goldberg Bird's Eye View

No Redskins on Thanksgiving

F

EVAN SAYLES / THE TUFTS DAILY

Junior Dylan Jones sprints to the finish line at the Conn. College Cross Country Invitational at Harkness Memorial State Park on Saturday, Oct. 15, 2016.

by Delaney Tantillo Staff Writer

Both the men’s and women’s cross country teams ended their 2017 seasons on a high note, as the men finished eighth of 55 teams at regionals while the women finished seventh of 32 teams at nationals.

The men’s final race of the season was the New England regional championships hosted by the University of Southern Maine on Nov. 11. The Jumbos traveled to Gorham, where they competed against nearly 400 runners from 55 schools. Temperatures below 40 degrees combined with 10-mile-per-hour winds made for difficult racing conditions.

“The conditions last Saturday were pretty tough. Some gusty winds brought the wind chill into the 20s for most of the race,” junior Colin Raposo said.

However, such conditions did not prevent the Jumbos from holding their own among a talented and competitive field of runners.

“It didn’t seem to affect anybody running too much,” Raposo said.

The eight kilometer course featured a number of difficult hills, which proved to be a challenge for some runners.

“The course had a really hard, hilly fourth mile loop which was a make-orbreak point for many people,” Raposo said.

Being a championship meet, only seven members from each team competed in this race, with the top five runners’ places counting toward the team score. Raposo was the Jumbos’ top finisher, running the eight kilometer race in 26:13 to earn a 35th place finish. Raposo was followed by junior Dylan Jones, who finished in 51st place with a time of 26:22. Juniors Andrew Doherty Munro, Brian Reaney and Christian Swenson finished in scoring position for the Jumbos in the third, fourth and fifth positions, respectively.

Tufts’ eighth-place finish prevented them from earning a spot at the NCAA

Division III championship the following weekend, as the top two teams from each region qualify. Not being one of the additional sixteen teams selected to go to nationals by a committee, the Jumbos’ season ended with the regional race. Despite their season ending sooner than they hoped, the Jumbos walked away from the race with much to be proud of.

“Going into the meet, we knew that making nationals was probably a long shot this year, so we just went out there as a team and [saw] what we could do together in this competitive race,” Raposo said. “We all raced super loose and despite the finish, we had a pretty good day as a team. Of course the outcome was a disappointing end to the season, but we can still look back positively at the race.”

The team will have a short break before they begin training for their fast-approaching indoor track season.

The women’s New England Regional Championship was also hosted by the University of Southern Maine on Nov. 11. In this field of 393 runners from 56 colleges, the Jumbos finished second only to MIT. Senior co-captain Brittany Bowman stood out with her time of 20:44 to finish third in this large field of talented runners. Bowman was followed by Juniors Natalie Bettez (11th place) and Olivia Barnett (14th place).

The Jumbos’ second-place finish qualified them for nationals the following weekend (Nov. 18).

Tufts’ top seven runners traveled to Principia College in Elsah, Ill. to compete in the national championship on Nov. 18. A total of 32 teams competed in this race: the top two finishers from each of the eight regional championship meets as wells as 16 teams selected by a committee. The Jumbos proved themselves to be one of the fastest teams in the nation with their seventh place finish.

The difficulty of the course and poor conditions did not hinder the Jumbos as they recorded the second-highest national finish in program history.

“The course was tough given the weather conditions, but overall it was fine,” Barnett said. “There was one hill at the 5k mark which added a toll to the ending of the race.”

Bowman was the Jumbos’ top finisher for the fourth consecutive week, with a time of 21:04 to earn 11th place overall. Barnett was the second Tufts finisher (21:54) while Bettez was the third (22:02). Sophomore Lydia Heely was the fourth Jumbo to cross the finish line in a time of 22:24. First-year Johanna Ross rounded out the top five with a time of 22:42.

Barnett credits the team’s success to their pre-race mentality and collective decision to not hold back.

“We all just went for it. That was our strategy going in. It was the last race, we had nothing to lose, so the objective was to just get after it and give it our all. You can’t let yourself get nervous at the fact that it’s the biggest-scale meet you run in all year,” Barnett said.

Heading into the weekend, the team set the goal of finishing in the top four.

Despite falling just short of this goal, they ran an impressive race to conclude a successful season. The Jumbos finished in the top seven in all of their meets but one this season.

In the coming weeks, Barnett says that the team will focus on resting and recovering before the indoor track season.

“Right now, for those of us who ran at nationals, REST, right now,” Barnett told the Daily in an email. “It’s important to take time off because of the toll our body has taken. As a runner, being a 3 season athlete, it’s hard to stop running, but it is really important to take time to rest your body – especially between seasons and especially after a huge meet like Nationals.”

ootball on Thanksgiving is an American tradition almost as old as the holiday itself. Though the actual event from which we derive Thanksgiving occurred in 1621, when members of the Wampanoag Tribe celebrated a successful harvest with Plymouth settlers, it wasn’t until President Abraham Lincoln that the holiday was made official in 1863. Yale and Princeton played the first Thanksgiving football game in 1876 and the NFL’s long history of turkey-day football began with the league’s inception in 1920.

The Detroit Lions and Dallas Cowboys have hosted Thanksgiving day football games since 1934 and 1966 respectively. They were joined this year by the Washington Redskins, who eked out a 20–10 win over the hapless New York Giants in one of the ugliest football games of the year. Regardless of the quality of the football played, ceding the national stage to the Washington Redskins sends a message to the country that the NFL is tolerant of intolerance.

Campaigns to change the name of the Washington Redskins have been around for half a century and every decade or so another dubious survey blindly tosses a dart at Native American indifference and levels of offense. One survey reports that 90 percent of Native Americans are not offended by it. So why change the name? For one, it was intended to be offensive. Lyrics such as “Scalp ‘um, swamp ‘um … Braves on the warpath / Fight for old D.C.” are particularly choice segments from the team’s fight song.

It is possible that the phrase redskin has lost some power since its origins, but the derogatory name was the brainchild of the Redskins’ notoriously racist founder George Preston Marshall. This name is from the man who once said, “We’ll start signing Negroes when the Harlem Globetrotters start signing whites,” and refused to roster a black player until the federal government threatened to reclaim the Washington stadium.

So what is holding up the name change?

Native American activist groups have failed to convince their constituents that this should be a priority, and their bid to have the team’s federal trademark protections stalled this past June when the Supreme Court of the United States struck down an anti-disparagement clause in trademark law, ruling that restrictions on disparaging terms or logos violates First Amendment free speech protections.

The Washington Redskins’ team name is not changing anytime soon, as team owner Dan Snyder repeatedly emphasizes his unwillingness to compromise. If we are stuck with the Redskins for the foreseeable future, then the least the NFL could do is not force this distasteful and disgraceful slur onto a national audience on Thanksgiving.

Thanksgiving is the one day ostensibly intended to recognize a kernel of peace and understanding between settler and native — an acknowledgement of mutual humanity. The Detroit Lions represent America’s manufacturing legacy, the industriousness that turned this nation into a superpower.

The Dallas Cowboys, for all their flaws, are still America’s Team. The New York Giants, Minnesota Vikings and Los Angeles Chargers, the Thanksgiving Day visiting teams, each boast a unique character and spirit. In contrast, the Redskins are a weekly reminder that America fights progress with clenched fists and faces red with anger. A reminder wholly unwelcome on Thanksgiving.

Phillip Goldberg is a sports editor at the Daily. He is a senior majoring in political science and can be reached at phillip. goldberg@tufts.edu.

12 tuftsdaily.com

Sports

Monday, November 27, 2017

MEN'S SWIMMING & DIVING

COURTESY DAVE DECORTIN

Junior Kingsley Bowen swims butterfly in a meet on Tufts Senior Day against MIT on Jan. 15.

Hard work and new staff push Tufts past Coast Guard, Middlebury

by Haley Rich Staff Writer

The weekend of Nov. 18, the Jumbos made their debut in the pool with back-to-back wins against the Coast Guard Academy (170–126) at home on Saturday and away at Middlebury (175–100) on Sunday.

Against the Coast Guard Academy, Tufts tapped the wall first in nine out of the 16 races and took down three Hamilton Pool records: junior Kingsley Bowen won the 100yard backstroke by more than three seconds at 50.54, breaking his own Hamilton Pool record. Sophomore Roger Gu threw down an impressive 20.70 in the 50-yard freestyle, breaking Barrett Roberts of Wheaton College’s 20.89 record from 2007. Gu’s time in the 50 free ranks him fourth in the nation for Div. III. Finally, the 400-yard medley relay team of Bowen, Gu, senior Zach Wallace and sophomore Matthew Manfre executed a time of 3:27.16, taking down an MIT relay team time from 2010, and winning by a comfortable three-second margin.

In the anchor freestyle leg of the relay, Gu had what he considers his best performance of the weekend with a time of 44.91, only 0.2 seconds off his championship meet time from last season.

This was only one of the eight races that Gu won over the course of the weekend: in addition to the 400 relay win and his record-breaking 50-yard freestyle on Saturday, he also won the 50 free the next day with 20.72, the 100 freestyle against both Coast Guard and Middlebury, swimming times of 46.83 and 46.64 respectively, and helped three more relays earn first places.

He has earned the title of NESCAC Co-Performer of the Week, sharing the position with senior swimmer Tim Kostolansky of Williams College.

“It feels amazing,” Gu said. “The amount of support that I’ve gotten from my teammates and coaches has been crazy and I honestly can say that I could not have done it without every single one of them.”

But when asked about his performance over the weekend, Gu was nothing but humble.

“Right now it’s really a miracle that these times are showing up,” Gu said.

“My races are a little sloppy and I’m looking to fine-tune the little details as we progress through the season.”

After a sound win over Coast Guard, Tufts had less than 24 hours before their next meet against Middlebury, so recovery meant jumping on a bus for a three-hour trek up to Vermont.

When asked how he recovered, Gu responded that, in short, he didn’t.

“Sunday’s races did not feel good for sure, but that doesn’t matter,” Gu said.

“I tell myself that everyone is hurting and I just have to want it more than the guy next to me.”

During their win over the Panthers, the Jumbos achieved 11 first-place finishes, only losing one non-exhibition race in the 100 backstroke, won by junior Panther Brendan Leech with a 55.05. The team made a strong impression as soon as they dipped their toes in the water with their 200yard medley.

The same team of Bowen, Wallace, Manfre and Gu combined to win the race by over four seconds in 1:34.89.

Tufts B and C relay teams also topped Middlebury’s A team, who took fourth place with 1:40.16. Manfre was later swapped out for first-year 100-yard butterfly-winner Lomax Turner for the 400 freestyle relay, which again took first place with a strong 3:11.37 finish.

“It feels so much better to accomplish something with your team than to do it alone,” Bowen said. “The more we can swim [the 400 medley relay] and compete at a high level, the better it is for us at the end of the season when it really matters.”

By the time the final four events of the day rolled around, the Jumbos had already won the meet, so they competed as exhibitions.

Bowen believes the team’s hard-working nature played an important role in the team’s success this early in the season.

“This year’s team may be the hardest working team I’ve been ever been a part of,” Bowen said. “Attendance and work ethic have been remarkably high. At the beginning of our season, our main goal at every meet is to compete and win close races. Our times will improve as the season goes on and as we get in better shape, but we always expect to display a competitive mentality.”

In addition, the team boasts two new, experienced members to its coaching staff: Joe Acquaviva, 2014 Johns Hopkins swim captain, and Michael Winget, part of Tufts Class of 2016, a past tri-captain of the team and holder of many school records.

“The team has been very fortunate this year with its stellar coaching staff,” Bowen said. “This weekend was the first opportunity for the new coaching staff to see how the team competed, so each one of the new coaches has a unique perspective on how to move forward. As long as we continue to train with the same sense of purpose we’ve displayed so far, we’ll keep improving as a team.”

The Jumbos, now 2–0, will take the pool again Dec. 1 and 2 for the MIT Invitational.