The Tufts Daily - Friday, February 21, 2020

Best Coast’s Cosentino discusses creative process, personal connections to duo’s latest album see ARTS&LIVING / PAGE 4

MEN’S BASKETBALL

Jumbos prepare for 1st seed NESCAC berth following back-to-back losses

Akira Oni shares inspiration for haunting fashion, monthly drag show at Coolidge Corner Theatre see ARTS&LIVING / PAGE 5

SEE SPORTS / BACK PAGE

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VOLUME LXXIX, ISSUE 18

Friday, February 21, 2020

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Holocaust survivor recounts personal journey, childhood trauma

NICOLE GARAY / THE TUFTS DAILY

Dr. Ludwik Szymanski speaks at an event titled “A Conversation with a Holocaust Survivor” in ASEAN Auditorium on Feb. 19.

by Robert Kaplan

Executive News Editor

Holocaust survivor Ludwik Szymanski visited Tufts on Wednesday evening, retelling his life story which began with his family surviving the Holocaust in his native Poland to his eventual career as a pediatric psychiatrist and professor at Harvard Medical School.

The Zeta Beta Tau (ZBT) fraternity partnered with Tufts Hillel to host Szymanski for his talk in the ASEAN Auditorium of the Cabot Intercultural Center, which counted about 70 people in attendance, including University President Anthony Monaco.

The event began with opening remarks from ZBT Vice President Sean Moushegian, a junior, and ZBT President Omar Badr.

“Now more than ever before, here more than anywhere else, we — Tufts University — need to have an event like this one to remind ourselves there’s no room for bigotry or hate when trying to maintain a safe and peaceful community,” Badr, a junior, said.

Badr later explained that the event is part of a series to increase inclusivity and promote connections between the Greek life community and the rest of Tufts.

“I’ve been trying to find ways to bridge that [disconnect],” Badr said. “One of them was opening up a heritage event …

I definitely think that’s a step in the right direction.”

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Before answering dozens of questions from the audience in a conversation moderated by ZBT Heritage Chair Sam Rabinowitz, Szymanski outlined his life journey that began with a Jewish middle-class upbringing in Wloclawek, Poland.

Szymanski recalled that one of the first policies of antisemitic discrimination the Nazis imposed in 1939 following their annexation of Western Poland, where he lived at the time, was to ban Jewish people from walking on the sidewalk.

“It was a very clever psychological ruse, because who was walking on the street, on the roadway? Nobody, except for horses,” he said. “This was part of the global design they had that Jews were not humans, really.”

At about eight years old, Szymanski escaped with his immediate family to German-occupied Warsaw. He recalled how his family survived by “hiding in plain sight,” narrowly avoiding detection by looking and acting like the rest of the predominantly Catholic Polish population of Warsaw.

“You might imagine how difficult it was, because [if ] you were going out to any place, you never knew if your family … would be still there,” Szymanski said. “Or if [my father] went out, I never knew if he [was] coming back.”

After the war ended and his immediate family reunited in their hometown, see SZYMANSKI, page 2 For breaking news, our content archive and exclusive content, visit tuftsdaily.com @tuftsdaily

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BU professor discusses migration, citizenship in Turkey

by Daniel Weinstein News Editor

Ayse Parla, an assistant professor of anthropology at Boston University, discussed her personal accounts in and research on the influence of hope and privilege on migration patterns and trends in Turkey in a book talk at 48 Professors Row on Wednesday evening.

Parla holds a Bachelor’s degree in Social Studies from Harvard University and a Ph.D. in Sociocultural Anthropology from New York University.

Parla compared aspects of her current research on the experiences of Armenians living in Turkey to those documented in her first book, “Precarious Hope: Migration and the Limits of Belonging in Turkey,” (2019) which focuses on the Bulgarian Turks, an ethnically Turkic group who migrated to the region of modern-day Bulgaria under Ottoman rule.

“The talk will track the unequal distribution of hope as [a] collective structure of feeling in relation to both the migration population and differentiated citizenship in Turkey,” Parla said.

Parla began the talk by describing the history of the Bulgarian Turks, over 300,000 of whom were expelled to Turkey following the fall of Soviet-controlled Bulgaria in 1989.

Parla noted that these migrants have a status in Turkey called “soydaş,” which connotes shared lineage. Compared to other migrant groups, the status carries certain privileges along with it.

“Soydaş is a choice category of kinship but it is also a legal category,” Parla said.

“In [Turkish] laws, a ‘migrant’ is someone of Turkish origin and has ties with Turkish culture. What we’re seeing here is that a migrant under Turkish law is not defined on mutual terms but defining someone who is already soydaş. Others are considered ‘foreigner.’”

Parla elaborated, explaining that Bulgarian Turks hope to assimilate into Turkish culture and obtain Turkish citizenship, which they are not automatically granted. On account of cultural and economic factors, however, they continue to face difficulty in accomplishing both of these, according to Parla.

“I frequently heard them say, ‘in Bulgaria, we were persecuted for being Turkish, while in Turkey we’re persecuted for being Bulgarian,’” Parla said. “Citizenship, even when attained, did not bring economic security.”

Parla then shifted to discussing the experience of Armenians in present-day Turkey, whom she described as the most marginalized group from an ethnic and religious standpoint, lacking even the privileges of the Bulgarian Turks. Focusing on the politics of hope, Parla said that hope is not equally distributed.

“I turn to a vignette from the election landscape to complicate the hope versus despair dichotomy and to unsettle this competent assumption that all citizens see PARLA, page 2

NICOLE GARAY / THE TUFTS DAILY

The Department of Anthropology sign is pictured in Eaton Hall on Feb. 20.

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

FUN & GAMES.........................6 OPINION..................................... 7 SPORTS............................ BACK

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THE TUFTS DAILY | News | Friday, February 21, 2020

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Szymanski encourages students to embrace identity, challenge beliefs of antisemites SZYMANSKI

continued from page 1 Szymanski reflected on the difficulty adapting to life in post-war Poland.

“From a large family, that we had hundreds of neighbors, thousands of Jews, hardly anybody came back,” he said.

“Clearly, I was out of the war, but there was still my own private war.”

Frustrated with institutional antisemitism in Poland, Syzmanski immigrated to Israel to complete his studies to become a doctor. Without any knowledge of Hebrew, however, he was forced to learn quickly during his first five months in the country.

“When you are young, when you are in a place that nobody speaks to you in any language but Hebrew, you learn it fast,” he said. “It was really fun.”

He added that interacting with native Israelis as a Holocaust survivor was different than his interactions in Poland or elsewhere, even given the civil unrest and violence frequent at the time.

“They were sympathetic, but they treated you not as a victim, they treated you as one of them,” he said. “But, you felt that you were killed, if you were killed, not because you are Jewish but because you are Israeli.”

After a brief career as a medic in the Israel Defense Forces and as the personal

physician to Israel President Yitzhak BenZvi, he decided to immigrate again to the United States in order to study pediatric psychiatry, which wasn’t a field available in Israel.

Szymanski later attributed his interest in pediatric psychiatry, and the empathy he employed in his practice, to the abrupt abbreviation the Holocaust imposed on his childhood.

“It started probably having your antenna very sensitive, because you’re afraid someone recognizes you are Jewish. Now, have you learned to recognize what people want to say? Or, how do they feel about you without them saying,” he said. “I think that that sensitivity I learned during the war, and then I found out it was essentially part of psychiatrists’ tools.”

Szymanski is now an associate professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School and director emeritus of psychiatry at Center for Autism and Related Disorders.

In response to a later audience question, Szymanski refuted explicit comparisons between current events and the Holocaust.

“The special thing about the Holocaust is that is the only [time] I could think about that there was a government-sponsored

project that took a very long time, well-prepared or well-organized, using all industrial might to get rid of Jews or certain groups, not just from Germany or in Poland, but all over the world,” he said.

He also observed that his experience as a Jewish person and Holocaust survivor is much different in the United States than in Poland, due to the history of immigration to the United States.

“In this country, nobody is 100% American. Everybody came from someplace and they lived here because they accepted the culture and the language. So you’re just like everybody else,” he said.

“The only differences are when and where from your ancestors came.”

To stem the tide of rising antisemitism in the U.S., especially in light of antisemitic incidents at Tufts in February and September last year, Szymanski urged students to embrace their identity and share it actively with others, though others may still harbor antisemitic views.

“You may be often baited by some other people. Don’t spend your time … defending yourself and telling them that what they feel is wrong,” Szymanski said.

“Ask them to defend their own wrong ideas and prove it to you. And they usually cannot.”

Parla compares experiences of Bulgarian Turks, Armenians PARLA

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continued from page 1 have the same investment in the same way for a country’s future,” Parla said.

Parla recalled that an Armenian citizen of Turkey voting on the day of a referendum expressed frustration on social media, decrying that her voting location was a school named after one of the perpetrators of the Armenian genocide.

In light of her accounts of Armenians and Bulgarian Turks, Parla concluded the talk by praising hope’s ability to mobi-

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lize people such as the Bulgarian Turks.

However, she warned that it could lead to overconfidence, considering the experiences of other migrant groups.

“Why must we oscillate between overconfidence and resignation?” Parla asked.

In response to an audience question regarding Bulgarian Turks’ choice to migrate to Turkey instead of other European nations, Parla highlighted linguistic, historic and cultural similarities. She restated, however, the paradox of inclusive exclusion faced by this group.

Amahl Bishara, chair of the anthropology department, explained that she hopes students consider their own situations while reflecting on Parla’s discussion of hope, migration and precariousness and think about our own environment.

“I think she brings all this together in a great way,” Bishara said. “In addition, it’s great to have students hear an author talk about her work, as her work on migrants and hope present dynamics that we can see in our own society.”

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Features

3 Friday, February 21, 2020

Emma Rao Revisiting introversion and extroversion

A reflection on starting college, making friends

O

rientation week might have been one of the most stressful and draining weeks of my first semester. Not only was I adjusting to a new place and gearing up to start college, but I was meeting new people all the time. It felt like I always had to be “on,” ready with a “My name is” or “Where are you from?” With a class of over 1,600 students, there was always a new face to greet.

At the end of the week, part of me wanted to crawl into my bed with a book and not leave my dorm for a day.

It isn’t that I don’t like meeting new people — I actually love it. It’s that, to the extent that it happened during O-week, it was emotionally and physically draining.

As an introvert, it was too much stimulation altogether. But it was the first week — I couldn’t hole up in my dorm room, I needed to meet new people. Right?

Needless to say, I’ve found that being an introvert in college can be kind of difficult.

The balance between meeting new people, creating relationships and maintaining those relationships while making time for yourself is precarious. In a place where, from the start, you’re always surrounded by people doing something, seeking solitude can feel wrong — if not challenging — to do.

So, here are three things I’ve come to realize about being an introvert within the “always on” environment of a college campus: One: Understand where you thrive. I do much better one-on-one and with smaller groups than in big groups. Understanding this as something that is better suited to my personality, I try to incorporate it into what I do with my friends, whether that be grabbing meals, attempting to cook in a dorm kitchen or trips into Davis or Boston.

Not that I don’t or won’t do things in large groups, but I know that smaller group situations are important for me in establishing solid connections.

Two: Introverts, make time for yourself.

If you need it, take it. You’ll be in a better place after you’ve had time to recharge than if you walk into a social situation already drained. Too much stimulation plus already feeling drained does not equal a recipe for success. We’ve all been there; it’s not fun.

Three: Don’t compare yourself to others. I know, easier said than done. It’s easy for me to look at other, more extroverted people and be jealous of (what I perceive as) their relative ease at making friends.

But I know that such comparisons don’t do anything for me; instead of fighting my personality, it’s better and more productive to capitalize on my strengths. It’s a constant work in progress all around.

In no way do I mean to suggest that college is a bad place for introverts. As many friends and family members have probably told all of us, at no other time in your life do you have as much freedom to explore and are surrounded by so many great people and opportunities than when you are in college. There are important pros to introversion: knowing how to be alone, appreciating staying in and giving your friends 100% when you’re with them, even if it isn’t as often as some other people.

Emma Rao is a first-year who has not yet declared a major. Emma can be reached at emma.rao@tufts.edu.

4 Friday, February 21, 2020

ARTS&LIVING

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Cosentino talks ‘Always Tomorrow,’ how Best Coast has changed

a e c C f e f p i

Bethany Cosentino (left) and Bobb Bruno (right), better known as the duo Best Coast, are pictured.

by Yas Salon Arts Editor

This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.

“It’s not that bad/And I have no reason to be sad/But I find a way/Almost every day to stay this way/ When will I change?” asked Best Coast’s Bethany Cosentino nearly five years ago on the indie rock duo’s album “California Nights” (2015). Now, with the release of the band’s fourth record, the reflexive, poignant and above all hopeful album “Always Tomorrow” (2020), it is clear that Cosentino has finally found the answer she was looking for. As the title of the lead single “Everything Has Changed” suggests, change has come for Cosentino. According to her, “Everything has changed/I like it this way/Everything has changed/I’d like for it to stay.”

During an interview with the Daily, Cosentino explained that the album’s multiple reflexivities, as in the case of “When Will I Change” and “Everything Has Changed,” are partially intentional and partially the organic result of her songwriting style.

“I do a lot of self-referencing on this record. I’m going back to old lines, and I’m sort of keeping them, and I talk to myself a lot in this record

… Some of the lines are meant to be tongue-in-cheek,” Cosentino said.

“But I never really sat down and said ‘I need to answer those old questions that I ask myself.’ It just naturally kind of came out in that way … It’s very cathartic for me, so I think it makes sense that a lot of the stuff sort of ends up tying back together because it’s all coming from this same place of self-reflection.”

Since her early songwriting days, Cosentino has employed music as a method for coping with and confronting her problems — calling songwriting her form of “therapy,” and on “Always Tomorrow,” it’s clear that this is still very much the case.

The album lyrics, which Cosentino wrote after deciding to become sober in 2017, demonstrate striking emotional maturity and self-knowledge on the part of Cosentino, all while maintaining Best Coast’s signature surf-y vibe. It’s an album that you can both reflect to and jam to, and it’s this duality of “Always Tomorrow ” that makes it some of Best Coast’s best work yet.

However, Cosentino isn’t in it for the praise. One of the biggest lessons Cosentino has learned in the band’s 10-year, highly public career(the duo’s debut EP “California Nights”

(2010) garnered mainstream success due to fortuitous internet attention) is setting boundaries between critics and herself.

“I think when you’re in any sort of position of having a public platform, you’re always gonna receive [criticism].

I think now I’ve developed a lot of very actual[ly] healthy coping mechanisms.

It’s easier for me to digest in a way,” Cosentino said. “I also try not to pay attention to a lot of that stuff. I try to pay attention to what’s directly in front of me and the content I can release myself and things that I can do. At the end of the day, I make art and if I’m happy with it and I’m content with it and I’m proud of it, then that’s really what matters.”

Regardless, Cosentino is still excited for longtime fans to get a hold of the album and connect with it.

“The way in which you decipher it and the way in which you relate it to yourself — I’m totavlly cool with you doing that,” Cosentino said in regard to fans using her art as a tool for themselves. “I really think that [fans] will walk away with a message of hope for [themselves] because anybody who’s been around since the beginning can recognize that I’ve changed a lot and the band has grown in different ways, and I’m just excited for people to have

s e d O A COURTESY GRANDSTAND MEDIAf S B it in their possession and to digest ita and to relate to it.”

S Following the album’s release, thep duo is embarking on a month-long U.S.c tour supported by punk rock groupW Mannequin Pussy. Cosentino men-a tioned that while the setlist will focus primarily on new tracks, there will bee some “classic, old school BC songs,”l that make an appearance. p “It’s weird when you get to a placet where you have four records becausea you’re like, ‘Oh, okay, I have to some-f how try to fit this all in one set,'”b Cosentino explained. “It’s funny, when we were touring for ‘Crazy For You’ (2010), we were playing these big headline shows and we only had one record, so our sets would be so short.

It was just like, this is all we have! And now we have an arsenal that we can go into and pick from. It’s a really cool spot to be in but it’s also really overwhelming.”

Whether you’re a fan who’s been around for the past decade or are just hearing about the duo for the first time, “Always Tomorrow” is an invigorating must-listen that proves Best Coast will continue dominating surf-rock for a long time to come. Best Coast will be performing on March 16 at Royale in Boston.

“Always Tomorrow” is available now.

Friday, February 21, 2020 | Arts & Living | THE TUFTS DAILY

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Akira Oni’s horror drag invades Coolidge Corner Theatre

COURTESY AKIRA ONI

Arts Editor

Last Saturday night, as the moon approached its midnight zenith, an ashen-faced apparition with jagged horns crept onto the stage at Brookline’s Coolidge Corner Theatre. As the screen behind this figure sprouted shadowy giants and generated psychedelic images of germinating flora, the audience, barely audible over the percussive boom of the speakers, overcame its bewilderment and found its voice.

The audience’s response to this frightful scene, however, sounded much closer to exhilarated whoops than to bloody murder. Because this horror show — Haus of Oni’s monthly horror drag show at Coolidge After Midnite — was exactly what they paid for. Led by Akira Oni, the Haus of Oni’s Saturday show at the Coolidge featured Boston-based queens Binx and Bruiser and newly-minted Providence, R.I., queen Sheik. Saturday’s performance, which preceded a screening of 1996 cult horror classic “The Craft” in commemoration of Women in Horror Month, was the fourth in a series that began in November.

A self-described “infectious psychic entity,” Oni’s singular artistic perspective led them to the Coolidge in search of a platform free of the traditional drag scene’s technical constraints. Few venues in the area have a projection screen large enough for the intricate narrative backdrop that has become one of the Haus of Oni’s hallmarks.

“My partner … makes all the visuals that go to our performances,” Oni said. “We’re both very into horror movies and handdrawn animation and Japanese animation, and I’d say the visual we try to go for is more like … acid demon.”

The striking visuals and meticulous detail characteristic of Oni’s drag belie the fact that they have no formal training in any visual arts.

“Up until I started drag … I was always bad at drawing and all of the stereotypical art forms,” they revealed. “But I was a performer my entire life; I was a theatre kid and I was in a lot of choral programs.”

In the four years Oni has been doing drag, they and their partner have picked up a multidisciplinary crash course in drawing, makeup and costume construction. For Oni’s trademark armor, they found practical inspiration in the world of cosplay.

“With the headpieces, we’ve both started learning the medium of 3D sculpture together while I was in drag,” Oni explained. “We make all the armor out of EVA foam, which is traditionally used by cosplayers.”

A lifelong horror geek, Oni’s drag persona emerged naturally, marrying a love of performance with that classic drag proclivity toward shock and awe. Their heritage and associated pop cultural influences also play a key role in shaping Akira Oni. “I’ve always loved horror movies … I used to watch them with my mom all the

time,” Oni said. “My mom is Hawaiian and Chinese and Japanese, so a lot of the cultural inspiration that I pull is from that side of myself … and I’ve always been very influenced by anime and animation in general — I’m trying super hard to be a cartoon character!”

Working within the Coolidge After Midnite programming has afforded Oni an unusual level of artistic autonomy. Oni not only designs the program’s pre-screening drag shows but also selects the movies that screen following the Haus of Oni’s productions. The ability to design a continuous narrative experience for the audience has allowed Oni to explore their creative ideas in greater depth.

“I’m heavily inspired by ritual … I try to envision all my performances as spells or witchcraft on stage,” they said. “With [the 2018 version of] ‘Suspiria’ (1977), the choreographer Damien Jalet is very into ritual experimental dance … so I tried to model my performance after the kind of lines he uses in his dance.”

That seductive limbo between religion and occult and divinity and sorcery has become Oni’s foremost artistic fascination.

Oni sees their drag drawing its transformative power from stepping into that uncertain space and from the potent, turbulent energy of horror.

“The things I’m very interested in are darker,” they said. “It comes from ritualism — art is the closest thing I can get to magic.”

ION OF STA IAT TE OC

TERS RES FO

NATIONAL A SS

by Tommy Gillespie

Colette Smith and Madison Lehan Love It or Haute It

Bootcut Jeans

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A performance of Haus of Oni’s horror drag show is pictured at the Coolidge Corner Theatre in Brookline, Mass.

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he bootcut jean look has made a strong comeback. Many have jumped on board enthusiastically and the look can be seen everywhere, including our very own campus. The bootcut offers a fresh new denim option and many retailers have started specific bootcut lines.

Today, we will discuss whether we think the bootcut resurgence is a good move or not.

Beans: I love the bootcut jean look.

Although I was never able to pull this look off as a child, I am glad they are making a comeback so I can have a second chance. You see, I was more of a sporty kid than a horse kid, so the go-to look for me was a pair of basketball shorts and a t-shirt. The horse girl from my middle school, on the other hand, wore flared jeans and a nature-themed shirt. While little has changed for my fashion since then, I truly believe my horse girl energy has recently begun to manifest. I find myself neighing at my friends when I pass, and crunching on raw carrots while finding my rhythm cantering across the grass on the President’s Lawn. I take this look’s resurgence in popularity as a chance to do it all again. To relive the glorious times of second through fifth grade, when it was encouraged to explore your weird fashion senses and to gallop between first and second period.

Coco: As usual I do not think Beans has any idea what she is talking about, as bootcut jeans are definitely not what is worn to ride a horse. Therefore, it makes zero sense for a horse girl to be wearing bootcut jeans. Although I disagree with her whole premise and do not understand her story, I will agree that bootcut jeans are a look. I welcome the return of bootcut jeans, as they provide another denim option that is quite distinct from the other denim cuts like mom jeans and skinny jeans. Wearing bootcuts makes me feel like I should be heading to the disco, which is an amazing vibe when I am actually just going to statistics. The other great thing about bootcut jeans is that they can come in a ton of different variations, so there is a subtype for everyone. The full-length bootcut jean with the stars on the back and huge flare bottoms is the classic choice for sorority girls. There is also the more ankle-cut, mild-flare type which is a personal favorite of mine for going to class because it is more casual. There really is a type for everyone. This accessibility is no doubt the reason that the bootcuts have come back so strongly.

I think it is also important to note the accompanying resurgence of low-rise jeans which has come, as many bootcut jeans are low-rise. While I was initially undecided on low-rises, I think that when they are paired with bootcuts, they create a look that will make anyone feel like Christina Aguilera (aka the undisputed Queen of Low-rise Bootcut) in the early 2000s.

Colette Smith is a sophomore who has not yet declared a major. Colette can be reached at colette.smith@tufts.edu.

Madison Lehan is a sophomore who has not yet declared a major. Madison can be reached at madison.lehan@tufts.edu.

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Friday, February 21, 2020

Matt Rice Primary Colors

I

Pete’s test

n the final months of 2019, media narratives describing the presidential primaries were consistent and simple: Senators Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren were battling to be the progressive standard bearer taking on the Goliath moderate former Vice President Joe Biden, who was being distantly trailed in his own “lane” by former South Bend, Ind., Mayor Pete Buttigieg and Senator Amy Klobuchar. Now that the first two primary contests have taken place, the new dynamics are clear. Sanders is the man to beat. Klobuchar caught fire at just the right moment. Warren is fading, and fast. Biden is on the ropes but might be saved by his black support in South Carolina. And the moderate 38-year-old former Mayor of South Bend, Ind., is punching above his weight. But can he really last?

I am being completely honest when I say I, in early 2019, never thought Pete Buttigieg had a chance. I thought he would end up in the low single digits in Iowa with the potential to last until New Hampshire before gracefully bowing out with an elevated profile and the opportunity to challenge Senator Todd Young (R-IN) in 2022. But — buoyed by money from high-dollar fundraisers and media adulation — Buttigieg surprised me. Biden’s consistently unimpressive debate performances coupled with Buttigieg’s schmooze and ability to sell himself to dozens of America’s billionaires (who see politics as a betting man’s game) brought him to second place in New Hampshire and a single-delegate lead in Iowa.

Buttigieg is undeniably running on Barack Obama’s 2008 playbook: optimism without realism, rhetoric without specificity and generational change without meaningful experience.

I’ll admit that he has the slickness of a veteran candidate, but he lacks two critical demographics in his quest for the Democratic nomination: support from people of color and support from young Americans.

When questioned about Buttigieg’s lack of support among black Americans in South Carolina, a surfaced campaign memo suggested that “being gay was a barrier” to his support with black voters. This explanation, however, is overly simplistic. Mayor Pete’s real problems with the black community are of his own making: firing South Bend’s first black police chief, gentrifying black and Latinx neighborhoods in his city and fraudulently claiming black support for his “Douglass Plan.” As the Nevada caucuses linger at the end of this week and the all-important South Carolina primary looms in the weeks ahead, Buttigieg has shown little progress in gaining support from people of color in the next two contests.

In 2008, Obama trailed Hillary Clinton in South Carolina until he won the Iowa caucuses and showed nervous black voters that he really could win. In the general election against John McCain later that year, Obama won 95% of the black vote. In 2016, Clinton’s loss to Donald Trump could be attributed to low turnout among black individuals in critical states such as Michigan, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Florida and Ohio.

In short, the black vote can make or break any Democrat vying to be president, and considering Buttigieg’s lack of support from the black community, his candidacy is likely doomed if serious changes are not made.

Matt Rice is a junior studying political science. Matt can be reached at matthew. rice@tufts.edu.

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Sports

8

Friday, February 21, 2020

Henry Gorelik Off the Gridiron

Grading NFL’s newest head coaches

tuftsdaily.com

Men’s basketball suffers 1st conference losses before NESCAC tournament

W

ith the conclusion of the Super Bowl, the 2019–20 NFL season is over and the 2020–21 NFL season has immediately begun. I will begin my preview of the upcoming NFL season by grading teams’ head coaching decisions.

Carolina Panthers: Matt Rhule In a move to put his own stamp on the franchise, owner David Tepper signed Matt Rhule, the former Temple and Baylor head coach, to a seven-year deal worth $60 million. Not a typical young college coach known for offensive creativity, Rhule’s most attractive quality is his ability to turn teams around and create a winning culture, as seen at Temple and Baylor. I do question the Panthers committing such a large sum of money to somebody with no NFL head coaching experience, but Rhule will be a breath of fresh air for this Panthers squad.

Grade: B+ Dallas Cowboys: Mike McCarthy Owners of one of the most complete and talented rosters in the NFL, the Cowboys did not need to make a huge splash with their new head coach, but rather find somebody who would be marginally better than former head coach Jason Garrett. By hiring former Packers head coach Mike McCarthy, the Cowboys are getting an experienced coach who led the Packers to eight straight playoff appearances and a Super Bowl Championship in 2010.While McCarthy is by no means a sexy hire, he might just be exactly what this Cowboys team needs to getoverthehumpandmaximizetheirtalent.

Grade: B+ New York Giants: Joe Judge In hiring former Patriots wide receivers coach and Special Teams Coordinator Joe Judge, the Giants win the award for most shocking hire of this year’s coaching carousel. While general manager David Gettleman was potentially drawn to Judge’s learning experiences under legendary Patriots head coach Bill Belichick and Alabama’s Nick Saban, Judge’s lack of experience as an offensive or defensive coordinator should be a concern for Giants fans. Furthermore, Judge’s commitment to creating an “old school physical mentality” and reflecting a “blue collar” attitude, as well as Gettleman saying that “the top four rushing teamswereintheplayoffs,”revealsanorganizationthat is grossly out of touch with the reality of today’s NFL. Grade: D Cleveland Browns: Kevin Stefanski After the grand failure of the Freddie Kitchens experiment, the Browns are moving on to former Vikings offensive coordinator Kevin Stefanski. In line with the league-wide trend of hiring young and creative offensive thinkers, 37-year-old Stefanski will look to implement his extensive knowledge of West Coast and zone-run schemes to maximize all of the talent on the Browns’ roster. While his football intelligence is highly regarded, Stefanski lacks NFL head coaching experience and could have a difficult time managing all of the big personalities on the Browns’ roster.

Grade: C + Washington Redskins: Ron Rivera By hiring ex-Panthers head coach Ron Rivera, the Redskins were the winners of this year’s coaching carousel. Rivera led the Panthers to the playoffs in four out of his nine seasons in charge, one Super Bowl appearance and two Coach of the Year awards. Rivera willlikelybeabletobuildhisdefensearoundOhioState defensive end Chase Young and continue to develop the team’s young offensive nucleus which includes Dwayne Haskins, Terry McLaurin and Derrius Guice.

Known for building formidable defenses and a very professionalcoach,theRedskinsarehopingthatRivera can bring order to a franchise characterized by Bruce Allen’s and Dan Snyder’s messy management.

Grade: A Henry Gorelik is a first-year who has not yet declared a major. Henry can be reached at henry.gorelik@tufts.edu.

RACHEL HARTMAN / THE TUFTS DAILY ARCHIVES

Senior Eric Savage shoots a 3-pointer in a home game against Hamilton in Cousens Gym on February 2, 2018.

by Liam Finnegan Sports Editor

The men’s basketball team finished up its regular season this weekend after losing to Williams and Middlebury on the road. The losses were unfortunate for the Jumbos, but the team had already clinched the No. 1 NESCAC seed last week.

On Saturday, Tufts faced off against Williams in Williamstown, Mass.

The game opened to a competitive first half, with each team going back and forth. Neither team was able to break away from each other, with only five points being the biggest lead for either team in the half. Junior center Luke Rogers led the way for the Jumbos, managing nine points and seven rebounds in the period.

The half ended in a deadlock, with Williams just edging out a two-point lead, 27–25.

The Jumbos came firing out of the gate in the second half. In quick succession, sophomore guard Carson Cohen made a 3-pointer followed by another 3-pointer, a jump shot and a layup from Rogers to give the Jumbos a 35–30 lead. The Jumbos maintained a small lead for the beginning of the second half, but the Ephs were able to catch up and leveled the score 40–40 about seven minutes in. The two teams entered a virtual stalemate once again, until the Ephs gained a small advantage with seven minutes to go and held the Jumbos at arms length for the remainder of the game, ultimately winning 71–66.

Despite a dominant performance from Rogers, who managed 26 points — a season best — and 12 rebounds, the Jumbos suffered their second NESCAC loss, finishing 8–2 in the NESCAC and 18–6 on the season.

“Hitting my season high against

Rogers said. “I definitely left the gym knowing that I could have done more on the defensive end. Scoring is something that our team is naturally gifted in and when everybody is shooting well we are a really hard team to beat. Scoring my season high in a loss really doesn’t mean much to me. A loss is a loss.”

On Fr iday, Tufts traveled to Middlebur y. In the first half, the Jumbos took an early 5–0 lead with a layup from Rogers and a 3-pointer from junior guard Brennan Morris.

Shortly after, Middlebury senior forward Matt Folger drained a 3 to make the score 5–3, to which Tufts responded with a layup from Rogers. Neither team was able to gain a sizable lead on the other until Middlebury took a six point, 44–38 lead at the end of the half.

Middlebury started strong in the second half, increasing its lead to 49–38 just 32 seconds into the period.

The Panthers capitalized from the free throw line, going 12 for 16 while the Jumbos only managed five from an attempted 14. Middlebury also capitalized on Tufts’ turnovers, scoring 17 points from turnovers in the game while Tufts only managed four points from turnovers.

Tufts had some impressive individual displays, notably Morris, who tied his season best with 23 points in the game, and Rogers, who put up 19 points and 13 rebounds. Despite good play, the Jumbos fell 86–74 to Middlebury, which was their first NESCAC loss of the season.

“Of course, losing games is always tough to cope with, but I think we were more disappointed in the energy and execution we had this weeke n d t h a n a n y t h i n g e l s e we d i d ,” junior center and co-captain Max Oppenheim said. “ T h a t b e i n g s a i d ,

behind us and just continued to f o c u s o n t h e c h a l l e n g e o f Ha m i l t o n this Saturday … I think the team is really determined to get back to our normal form and come out w i t h a w i n .”

Despite finishing level with Colby atop the NESCAC standings (8–2), Tufts gained the top seed for the NESCAC tour nament because the team defeated Colby previously in the season.

Hamilton — despite being the bottom seed in the tournament — gave Tufts a close game earlier in the season. Tufts edged out a 78–72 win, but were almost stopped by the 26 point, 10 rebound performance Hamilton’s senior guard and co-captain Kena Gilmour. There is also a history between the two teams in this tournament because Hamilton knocked out Tufts in the NESCAC semifinals last year with an 89–84 win.

“My friends and I are excited to get the chance to return the favor this Saturday,” Oppenheim said.

Rogers expressed the excitement the team has entering the tournament as the N0. 1 seed.

“This is going to be my first home playoff game at Tufts and I am looking for ward to playing in front of our home crowd,” Rogers said. “I am confident in my friends’ ability to shoot and find me the ball, but our defense as one cohesive unit is really something special. Ever y g ame in th e NE SC AC is competitive, especially in the tour nament … Hamilton has knocked us out the past two years so this game means a lot to us as a group. In the end we are just all really good friends who love the game. We want to play as long as we can and that means winning games.”

Tufts faces off against Hamilton on