The Tufts Daily - Thursday, March 12, 2020

TUFTS ATHLETICS

Local hospitals, cities prepare for potential outbreak see FEATURES / PAGE 4

Spring sports cancelled, winter sports to continue postseason play

Letter from the Managing Board: Daily to continue coverage see OPINION / PAGE 6

SEE SPORTS / BACK PAGE

THE

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T HE T UFTS DAILY

VOLUME LXXIX, ISSUE 33

Thursday, March 12, 2020

MEDFORD/SOMERVILLE, MASS.

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Tufts Mutual Aid steps up to assist students amid move out orders

by Robert Kaplan

Executive News Editor

Tufts students are rallying to provide financial and in-kind assistance to students facing difficulty in the wake of the administration’s decision to continue classes online beginning on March 25.

In response to growing concerns about on-campus transmission of the novel coronavirus, COVID-19, University President Anthony Monaco announced on Tuesday evening that students living on campus should move out of residence halls entirely

by March 16, though some students with extenuating circumstances would be permitted to stay with approval.

Monaco also announced that classes on Friday would be cancelled to allow

students more time to depart, and that its undergraduate spring break would be extended to smooth the transition to online classes.

Junior Marley Hillman organized Tufts Mutual Aid that same evening, which is coordinating the resource distribution efforts. Within hours, Hillman posted a Google form on Facebook for interested students to list resources they wish to offer to those in need — from storage space and food to frequent flyer points and transportation to the airport, among others — which are in turn compiled on a centralized view-only spreadsheet for all Tufts students to view and request listed resources directly from those offering them. see MUTUAL AID, page 2

Uphill power outage overshadows penultimate day of in-person classes

SAM RUSSO / THE TUFTS DAILY

Seniors gather in the evening on March 11 before Ballou Hall to participate in the annual Illumination ceremony two months earlier than anticipated, following Tufts’ decision to suspend in-person classes amid concerns about transmission of COVID-19.

Tufts student being tested for COVID-19, three positives in Somerville, Medford

by Alexander Thompson Staff Writer

SAM RUSSO / THE TUFTS DAILY

A class meets outside of Goddard Chapel on the morning of March 11.

Most of the buildings on the Upper Campus were thrust into darkness yesterday morning as students and faculty began their second-to-last day of face-to-face classes of the spring semester.

The power outage struck the Hill less than 24 hours after University President Anthony Monaco announced in an email that most students would be required to not return to campus after spring break amid concerns surrounding the transmission of the novel coronavirus, COVID-19.

National Grid, a multinational energy utility company that operates in much of Massachusetts, was to blame for the outage, according to an email sent to the Tufts community. While Tufts operates its own micro-grid powered by the newly constructed Central Power Plant, it is connected to National Grid’s network, which experienced a failure near the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority’s Wellington station.

Buildings that went without power until being restored in the early afternoon included: Tisch Library and Goddard Chapel, as well as Carmichael, Wren, Miller, Houston, Eaton, East, Braker, Lincoln-Filene, Miner and Paige Halls. Ballou Hall and the Olin Center for Language and Cultural Studies were not affected by the outage.

- Robert Kaplan

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The university tested a student for COVID-19 on the advice of the Massachusetts Department of Public Health (DPH), Executive Vice President Mike Howard announced in a community-wide email yesterday afternoon.

The test results were unknown at press time, but Howard reaffirmed that the university will make an announcement if a community member tests positive. The email added that the university remains

in close contact with public health officials and that the student is receiving care.

The student had recently returned from abroad and a number of individuals with close contact with the student have been asked to self-isolate as they await the results of the test, the Daily has learned.

Just hours after the university made its announcement, the City of Somerville informed residents that two residents have also been declared presumptive positives for the virus by DPH.

see TESTING, page 2

Somerville, Tufts deadlocked over tax payment

by Alexander Thompson Staff Writer

Somerville Mayor Joe Curtatone said that negotiations with Tufts over a new payment in lieu of taxes (PILOT) agreement have reached an impasse despite some points of progress in the year-long talks.

At a community meeting held last Thursday evening in the Tufts Administration Building, the mayor and the other members

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of the city’s PILOT negotiation team were blunt in their appraisal of the talks.

“We did not come to an agreement that we feel is acceptable to bring back to the community, and we have reached an impasse, though we had made some, albeit incremental, progress,” Curtatone said.

Tufts Director of Community and Government Relations Rocco DiRico, who

NEWS............................................1 FEATURES.................................4 FUN & GAMES.........................5

see PILOT, page 3

OPINION.....................................6 SPORTS............................ BACK

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THE TUFTS DAILY | News | Thursday, March 12, 2020

THE TUFTS DAILY Ryan Shaffer Editor in Chief

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TCU Senate donates $50,000 to Hardship Funds, Mutual Aid encourages donations MUTUAL AID

continued from page 1 The resource allocation effort was met with an outpouring of student support — the spreadsheet received more than 500 responses, as of press time. According to Hillman, student responses “exploded” in the short time between them going to sleep at 2:30 a.m. and waking up the next morning.

“People are wondering, ‘Well, what do we do now?’ We have to leave [on March 16], we’re not coming back,” Hillman said.

“We said, ‘Here’s something you can do.’

So I feel like that’s been part of why we’ve gotten so much material support — we’re offering an avenue for action.”

The organizers initially introduced a separate form to provide and request donations via Venmo as a more liquid and measurable resource to students in need.

Hillman reported that $1,300 had already been redistributed overnight, and a total of $5,130 had been distributed to students in need by Wednesday evening.

Junior Grant Gebetsberger, who joined the organizing efforts early on along with fellow organizer junior Monique DuBois, indicated that Tufts Mutual Aid planned on coordinating its financial donations with the FIRST Center and its director,

Medford case awaiting CDC confirmation

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Medford Mayor Breanna Lungo-Koehn leads an emergency management planning meeting to adress the COVID-19 epidemic with city officials and representatives from Tufts in Medford City Hall on March 11,

TESTING

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continued from page 1

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The university tested a student for COVID19 on the advice of the Massachusetts Department of Public Health (DPH), Executive Vice President Mike Howard announced in a community-wide email yesterday afternoon.

The test results were unknown at press time, but Howard reaffirmed that the university will make an announcement if a community member tests positive. The email added that the university remains in close contact with public health officials and that the student is receiving care.

The student had recently returned from abroad and a number of individuals with close contact with the student have been asked to self-isolate as they await the results of the test, the Daily has learned.

Just hours after the university made its announcement, the City of Somerville informed residents that two residents have also been declared presumptive positives for the virus by DPH. Both cases are linked to a strategy meeting that occurred at the Cambridge-based biotechnology firm Biogen in late February, the city said in a statement.

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Aid, the Tufts Community Union (TCU) Senate announced later on Wednesday that it would also donate funds to the FIRST Center’s Hardship Fund. “$50,000 are being transferred, and the funds are available to the FIRST Center effective immediately,” TCU Treasurer junior Sharif Hamidi wrote in an electronic message.

While Tufts Mutual Aid will continue to support students by coordinating non-financial resources, TCU Senate’s donation will support the FIRST Center’s assistance efforts significantly, according to Cardamone.

“We are … extremely grateful to TCU Senate for transferring money to the unexpected hardship fund so we can aid students who can not afford to fly home with this short notice,” Cardamone wrote in an email.

Gebetsberger reflected on the ramifications and legacy of Tufts’ decision and the community’s response to the developing situation.

“We’re living through human history — this is unprecedented,” Gebetsberger said.

“How we respond to this is going to define us for so long going forward, and it’s go[ing to] say so much more about our community than I think we ever knew we were going to find out.”

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Margot Cardamone. Following about a day of mediated Venmo transactions, Tufts Mutual Aid then announced that they would instead encourage donations to the FIRST Center’s Unexpected Hardship Fund for Student Needs.

Gebetsberger was impressed that the group of organizers managing the project grew from only Hillman to 18 people within hours, including Cardamone.

“It’s been really incredible to watch the mobilization,” Gebetsberger said.

In a FIRST Center newsletter, Cardamone suggested Tufts Mutual Aid as an additional resource for first-generation, low-income students to employ as they cope with the significant costs and obstacles of departing from campus on short notice. The newsletter further comforted students amidst the quickly changing circumstances following the university’s announcement.

“These conditions have shown us how strong, reliant, and thoughtful you all have been in supporting one another,” the newsletter read. “We are proud and will continue to be here as we figure out next steps together.”

Following student suggestions on Facebook that student organizations donate their unused funds to Tufts Mutual

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Seventy-seven of the 95 cases that have been confirmed in Massachusetts are linked to Biogen, state health officials confirmed on Wednesday.

One of the presumptive positives was the spouse of a West Somerville Neighborhood School teacher, as well as a parent of a student at the same school which is on Powerhouse Boulevard, a short walk from Tufts’ campus.

All three members of the family are being quarantined and the school underwent deep cleaning yesterday evening, the statement said. The school will also be closed today.

Meanwhile, the City of Medford announced on Tuesday the first presumptive positive case of COVID-19 in the city as the number of cases nationwide mounts.

The city received confirmation of the positive test from the DPH, but the test must still be sent to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to be verified.

“We are sharing this information with the public in the interest of transparency, not to raise alarm,” Mayor Breanna Lungo-Koehn said in a statement. “I understand everyone’s deep concern surrounding this issue and am committed to sharing whatever information we can with the public as we get it.”

Despite the presumptive positive test, the statement said that schools would

remain open and community events would go ahead as scheduled, as the situation remained “low-risk.”

The statement said officials determined with “a high degree of certainty” that the person contracted the virus at an event to which other cases have been traced.

MaryAnn O’Connor, the director of Medford’s Health Department, told the Daily in an interview Wednesday morning that she could not confirm whether or not the case was linked to the Biogen meeting, citing privacy concerns.

O’Connor said that the person is currently under quarantine at their home and “doing well.”

Additionally, the individual was not a case of community spread and had little contact with others meaning that no one else is currently being quarantined because of the presumed positive case, according to O’Connor.

News of the presumptive positive case came just four days after the city had announced that two Medford Public Schools educators were undergoing self-isolation following travel to a heavily affected country.

O’Connor confirmed that the two educators had not shown symptoms of the coronavirus and were cleared. They are both back teaching.

News

Thursday, March 12, 2020 | News | THE TUFTS DAILY

3

Tufts, Somerville reach standstill in PILOT negotiations

PATRICK MILEWSKI / THE TUFTS DAILY

A Somerville community meeting is held at the Tufts University Administration Building on March 5.

PILOT

continued from page 1 has been leading Tufts’ negotiating team, reaffirmed the university’s dedication to the talks in an email to the Daily.

“The university is a committed partner to our host communities and we strive at all times to be the best neighbor possible,” he wrote.

The meeting came after the city submitted its final partnership agreement to Tufts on Feb. 11 and the university presented its amendments and additions to the proposal on Feb. 28.

PILOTs are voluntary payments which untaxed nonprofits pay to their host communities to compensate them for some of the property taxes they would pay were they not tax-exempt.

Were Tufts a tax-liable entity, it would have paid roughly $6.7 million in property taxes to the City of Somerville in fiscal year 2019, according to numbers provided

by Ward 7 City Councilor Katjana Ballantyne during the meeting. Instead, the university paid $450,000: roughly 7% of the estimated full bill. This was an increase from fiscal years 2013 to 2018, when the university was paying even less, handing in $275,000 annually.

Had Tufts paid its full estimated property tax bill in 2018, that payment would have represented around 2.5% of the city’s total revenue.

At the meeting, Ballantyne announced that Tufts has conditionally offered to maintain its annual payment at $450,000 a year increased by 2.5% every year to account for inflation. This plan is projected to bring in a nominal sum of just above $5 million for the city over the decade.

The negotiating committee has not accepted the offer and is currently in discussion over the proposal and soliciting community input, Ballantyne said.

In a break with previous agreements, the committee is also seeking to include provisions in the agreement which govern off-campus housing, a

contentious issue in Tufts’ surrounding community.

About 65% of Tufts undergraduates live on campus, leaving nearly 2,000 to find housing in the surrounding Somerville and Medford neighborhoods.

Edward Beuchert, who sits on the West Somerville Neighborhood Association Board of Directors, said that overcrowding at Tufts pushes rents up and forces residents out. The committee proposed aggressive targets to the university to tackle the housing crunch, including commitments to house all undergraduates on campus by 2030, and a yearly reduction in the number of undergraduates in off-campus housing.

The university refused both provisions, and has maintained in negotiations that it does not have the money to construct a new dormitory, Beuchert said. Instead, the university proposed a commitment that it would “continue to add beds for undergraduate students.”

The mayor expressed disappointment that the committee has not been able to get the university to agree to any “hard goals” on housing.

“I didn’t think that goal was too hard; we don’t want to set them up for failure or push them out,” he said. “But suffice to say we’re not close on housing.”

DiRico, the Tufts spokesman, disputed the committee’s claims that Tufts has done little to curb the housing shortage. The university has added 437 beds on campus, the equivalent of two dorms, in the last three years, through what the university has branded “bed optimization” and the conversion of wood-frame houses in the Community Housing project, DiRico wrote.

“While we cannot commit to housing 100% of our students on campus at this time, we will be using the lessons learned these past few years to continue to add more beds on campus in the years ahead,” he wrote.

The university also refused a proposal to create a housing joint working group of community members and three Tufts representatives, including a member of the Tufts

University Board of Trustees’ Administration and Finance Committee, that would meet as frequently as necessary.

The university responded with a proposal calling for a community advisory group that would meet quarterly and would not include a trustee.

Tufts argues that it gives the community far more than the PILOT payment alone would suggest in the form of non-monetary benefits like field access and economic impact.

Some of the non-monetary benefits Tufts provides are educational services for Somerville Public Schools (SPS) students.

In the previous agreement, Tufts waived the application fee for Somerville High School students and the Dean of Admissions read each of their applications personally. The university also organized a series of college readiness programs for students and paid for test prep.

The negotiating committee has worked to enhance the university’s contribution to SPS. Andre Green, the Ward 4 member of the Somerville School Committee, said that the city and the university had already reached agreement on a number of points, including the expansion of existing college-readiness efforts and placing more Tufts students as tutors in SPS. The university also agreed to give Somerville residents 80% off the price of auditing courses at Tufts, which was higher than the rate proposed by the committee.

However, the two sides have stumbled over the target acceptance rate for Somerville High School students.

Green explained that Tufts provided data showing that the acceptance rate for SHS students from 2015 to 2019 was 25%, 10 points higher than the national admissions rate for Tufts. The committee proposed that the university maintain that 10-point difference above the national average over a fiveyear period.

The university rejected that proposal, pledging only to continue to report acceptance data to the city.

“Our position is that keeping … the same shouldn’t be difficult especially with all the things we’re doing to increase the pipeline of students into Tufts,” Green said. “Tufts is very leery of making any serious commitments there.”

DiRico emphasized that the two sides have found agreement on 22 education provisions, but that the university is unable to agree to the acceptance rate commitment because Tufts admissions decisions are determined by a “holistic and highly selective process.”

Green also said that differences remain as to how many SHS students will be allowed dual enrollment at Tufts each year.

The university proposed three, but the committee would like to see more.

Residents at the meeting were largely hostile to the university’s conduct in the negotiations.

Marianne Walles, a candidate for mayor of Somerville in 2019 who made PILOT a central part of her campaign, accused Tufts of being a bad neighbor, a common refrain on Thursday evening.

“You want all the advantages of being in Somerville and Medford and you want to displace our families, but you don’t want to be responsible in any way shape or form to the community,” she said, addressing the university leadership directly.

Other residents told the mayor and the other members of the committee to take a more public stand against Tufts, while one even suggested selling the Somerville side of campus to Medford — only half-jokingly.

The mayor said that the committee is focused on coming to an agreement in the next couple of weeks and will soon be back in talks with Tufts.

“We didn’t walk away from the table because we reached an impasse. We’re having to go back and pound away at these things and report back to you in a short time,” Curtatone said.

Patrick Milsewski contributed reporting to this article.

4 Thursday, March 12, 2020

Features

Local governments, hospitals accelerate Responses to crises preparations for coronavirus

tuftsdaily.com

Aadhya Shivakumar What's next

F

ull disclosure: The connection between this week’s news event and episode of “The West Wing” (1999– 2006) is rather tenuous. It is less an episode or plot point of the show and more just a quote that reminded me of something Donald Trump said a few weeks ago.

I also just wanted a reason to talk about the coronavirus, or COVID-19.

At a rally in Manchester, N.H., on Feb. 10, President Trump claimed that the coronavirus would “miraculously” disappear as soon as the weather began to warm up. He also said, “I think it’s going to all work out fine. Rough stuff, I tell you, rough, rough stuff.”

In the season 3 finale of “The West Wing,” a Secret Service agent is shot and killed in a convenience store robbery. President Bartlet (Martin Sheen) tells his Republican opponent, Governor Robert Ritchie (James Brolin) of Florida, about this, and Ritchie’s response is, “Oh. Crime. Boy, I don’t know.”

Over the past few years, many people have drawn parallels between Ritchie and Trump: The faux folksiness and ineloquence are just two points of comparison. Ritchie’s inadequate response to the news that a Secret Service agent has died seems very similar to Trump’s unsatisfactory take on coronavirus. He has undermined and contradicted the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention officials who have been trying to warn the public about the spread of the coronavirus. He has dismissed the World Health Organization’s reported global fatality rate of COVID-19 as false. He has compared the virus to the flu, something experts say is wrong.

Even though you are more likely to contract the flu than COVID-19 right now, the fact is that this is a global pandemic, and the coronavirus currently has no vaccine.

This is not reason to panic, but it is reason to be cautious. Trump’s handling of the COVID-19 health crisis is telling. It reveals him as a president who does not support citizens with paid sick leave laws so people with coronavirus don’t have to worry about their next paycheck and who refuses to provide citizens with accurate information about a pandemic.

The way this administration is dealing with COVID-19 is terrible for public health.

It also emphasizes the need for a new administration that doesn’t treat medical experts’ warnings like suggestions and isn’t so cavalier with the truth. Bartlet ends his conversation with Ritchie with, “In the future, if you’re wondering: ‘Crime. Boy, I don’t know,’ is when I decided to kick your ass,” and ultimately beats Ritchie in a landslide. I’m hoping that “rough stuff, I tell you, rough, rough, stuff” will lead to Trump losing the White House in November.

Aadhya Shivakumar is a sophomore studying political science. Aadya can be reached at aadhya.shivakumar@tufts.edu.

by Alexander Thompson Staff Writer

Local health departments and hospitals around Tufts have shifted into high gear to prepare for the growing spread of COVID19 in the United States., as the number of coronavirus cases in Massachusetts has grown in past weeks.

The Somerville and Medford Boards of Public Health have been planning for the novel coronavirus and how it could affect residents’ health, schools and city services.

At the same time, local hospital systems have been preparing for the potential increase in patients.

Every morning for weeks, Dr. Steven Sbardella, the chief medical officer at MelroseWakefield Hospital, and his team set a coronavirus preparedness goal.

Yesterday’s objective was to ensure that the hospital’s off-site practitioners were adopting standards to prevent the spread of the virus at their offices.

Once he gets to work, Sbardella says he spends the next eight to 10 hours in meetings and on calls trying to achieve that day’s goal, checking in with his crisis team at noon.

“We’re trying to look at every scenario possible and planning just in case we have to adjust to different levels of capability,” Sbardella said.

For local hospitals this is the new reality: a race against time.

Right around when Sbardella was checking in with his team at MelroseWakefield Hospital yesterday, 15 minutes down the Fellsway, police officers, firefighters and city officials were filing into the city council chambers at Medford City Hall for an emergency management planning meeting with the mayor.

MaryAnn O’Connor, the city’s director of public health, assisted Mayor Breanna Lungo-Koehn in leading the meeting on the administration’s preparations for the coronavirus.

“We’re being cautious; we’re taking it very seriously, but we believe that we’re ready,” O’Connor said.

The first presumptive positive case of COVID-19 in the city was announced on Tuesday, but O’Connor has been having daily meetings with the mayor on the city’s response to the crisis for more than a week.

One of the key concerns is what the city would do if it needed to ask nonessential municipal workers to work from home and deciding which services can be performed remotely.

For instance, if Medford were to see a rise in cases, the city would temporarily suspend routine inspections and permitting to protect staff and citizens, O’Connor said.

The fire department has also changed its protocols in response to the coronavirus pandemic. From now on, if someone with symptoms is reported, only a single firefighter or paramedic will enter the home to reduce the possibility of exposure.

The city is also working on a system for screening 911 calls to immediately collect information on possible symptoms, O’Connor said.

Medford Public Schools is also bracing for closures that could be triggered if a member of the faculty, staff or student body tests positive for the virus. O’Connor said that the chief concern would be providing food for the students that rely on school breakfasts and lunches. One option under consideration is to have grab-and-go stations around the city.

On the other side of the Hill, Somerville is facing its first virus-related school closure today. Following two presumptive positive cases, all schools and district buildings will be closed for the remainder of the week for deep cleaning.

In an interview on Tuesday evening, Doug Kress, the director of health and human services for Somerville said that the city has been doing contingency planning for the virus for weeks.

“This is going to be an effort on all of us to make sure that we slow or stop the spread of this virus,” Kress said.

In a joint statement yesterday, Somerville Mayor Joe Curtatone and Superintendent of Somerville Public Schools Mary Skipper rolled out a series of strict new guidelines to prevent the spread of the virus, including postponing all events sponsored by the city or the schools with over 50 attendees until at least April 30.

Events under that total will now be required to implement “social distancing” — requiring attendees to maintain six feet of space between them. Attendees are also

“strongly advised” to sanitize doorknobs and railings before and after the event, avoid shaking hands and replace buffets with packaged food.

“Some of these measures, like postponing events, may cause unwanted disruptions to our daily lives and we will seek to minimize those where possible, but our top priority is protecting the health and safety of all who live, work, and visit here,” the statement says.

Dr. Helen Boucher, chief of the Division of Geographic Medicine and Infectious Diseases at Tufts Medical Center, explained that these sorts of measures are crucial for slowing the spread of respiratory viruses like COVID-19 that only require one contaminated droplet to spread.

“That method of transmission along with the fact that none of us have ever seen it before makes it highly infectious,” she said.

Boucher said that social distancing and public health campaigns by local authorities, like those in Medford and Somerville, are extremely successful epidemic mitigation strategies.

Mitigation efforts aim to slow the spread of the virus, as opposed to containment efforts, which are intended to prevent spread outright, she said. The goal is to prevent a sudden increase in cases that could overwhelm the healthcare system before medications or a vaccine can be brought onto the market.

Marc Lipsitch, a Harvard epidemiologist, recently projected that anywhere from 40–70% of the world’s adult population could fall ill with COVID-19. Boucher said that is largely in line with rates from prior epidemics.

These projections have local hospitals working overtime to find space for the potential patients. David Cecere, a spokesman for Cambridge Health Alliance (CHA), which operates Somerville Hospital, said that the clinical team is currently searching for “non-traditional” spaces to accomodate a potential rise in cases.

CHA is also developing the capacity to perform its own COVID-19 tests, Cecere said.

Though Somerville Hospital and the rest of the CHA system are not yet treating any cases of coronavirus, they have seen an uptick in calls to their primary care centers from people worried about the virus, according to Cecere.

That public concern is not just manifesting in calls and emails, Sbardella said.

In recent days, the hospital began storing safety supplies, like masks, in a central location and requiring staff to call in requests.

“We did that to make sure that those supplies weren’t being overused, or even taken home as people panic or get concerned about how to protect themselves,” Sbardella said.

With this new system in place, Sbardella is confident that the hospital has adequate supplies to handle the projections. But just like at CHA, space is also an issue of concern, and if need be, the hospital can convert rooms used for elective procedures to treat COVID-19 cases.

However, Sbardella exuded confidence in the weeks of planning and innumerable meetings he has put into the hospital’s response.

“I am optimistic,” he said. “The promise will be we will do the best job possible with whatever we’re faced with.”

Thursday, March 12, 2020 | FUN & GAMES | THE TUFTS DAILY

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F &G FUN & GAMES

5

LATE NIGHT AT THE DAILY Robert: “If I’m getting things through my butt right now, it’s not coronavirus”

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Pisces (Feb. 19–March 20)

Invest for the future. Well-considered financial actions taken now can have far-reaching impact. Avoid arguments or controversy. Handle paperwork, insurance, taxes and payments.

Difficulty Level: Saying goodbye to the Daily (Aidan Menchaca)

Wednesday’s Solutions

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6 Thursday, March 12, 2020

Opinion

LETTER FROM THE EDITOR

This community still has a voice Dear Tufts Community, Unrest, uncertainty and shock settles throughout our campus as we say our goodbyes and pack the semester away much too soon. As the Managing Board discussed, the Daily is no exception to these feelings, faced with the sudden need to adapt to these radical circumstances. Following our community’s clear commitment to its core values of kindness and selflessness during this trying time, the Daily remains bound to its mission — to connect, inform and catalyze conversation. Like the rest of the Daily, the Opinion section remains committed to the preservation of our actively engaged community; regardless of our dispersed physical locations, we remain whole in our dedicated spirit to the editorial process, engaged citizenship and serving our “small town.”

Ramifications of this drastic situation lie in tandem with the breaking news of the present moment. Thus, the Daily’s Editorial Board remains as important as ever in the creation of widespread discussion on the issues that matter to us. As the university provides updates on the dining and housing reimbursements, the potential on-campus housing deficit and the associated impacts on international and low-income students, the Daily’s editorial board remains empathetic and available to express its opinions and vision of how our community should be. The Board exists to serve this function — although not anticipated in this situation — and we stay fully committed to following through on this vocation.

In this form, we unite our physically fragmented campus in our shared passion for bettering our university and recognizing its inherent value as well.

However, not only the Editorial Board holds this power, for it lies in the voices of our diverse community. We encourage active engagement as we move forward in the form of Op-ed and Letter to the Editor submissions; the Opinion inbox remains open and ready to share our community’s perspectives, with Op-eds expressing thoughts on specific issues and Letters to the Editor responding to our rest-of-semester content. Thus, the Opinion page not only unites the campus in its duty but in its content as well, an interconnected mosaic of our “small town” thoughts, passions and — of course — opinions.

While these changes press on, know that the Opinion section as well as the entire Tufts Daily remains a dedicated constancy, both a representation and manifestation of our community’s solidarity, hope and unfaltering engagement. Ultimately, I see this challenging situation as a test — and one in which we will undoubtedly succeed — for while we diffuse across the world, we remain one in actuality, secured by the values at our community’s core. I look forward to being a part of the expression of this success, with the Opinion section staying at the forefront of the fervorous participation that will fuse our shuttered campus with forward movement and togetherness.

Sincerely, Hannah Harris Executive Opinion Editor

tuftsdaily.com

LETTER FROM THE MANAGING BOARD

Covering our global community Dear Tufts Community, These are trying times. With heavy hearts, we will leave our Hill behind this weekend, many months too early. Nevertheless, our community has shown incredible resolve, facing these rapid and unprecedented changes in stride and coming together as the vibrant community we are. Kindness, support and generosity have poured forth for those students affected most — low-income students, international students, students with pressing health needs and those from impacted areas. Though we will be physically apart, we will remain close through our shared experiences and love for our community. Although circumstances have changed, the Tufts Daily will continue to publish regularly this spring, uploading articles online, releasing a weekly newsletter and maintaining our coverage of the Tufts community, wherever we may be.

Changes have been swift and disruptive, but nevertheless, over the past days we have seen student organizations step up to address the needs of all of those affected.

Tufts Mutual Aid, launched on March 10 after the initial announcement of changes to university operations, has organized the distribution of necessary food, cleaning products, storage space, funds and transportation services for students in need. In partnership with the FIRST Resource Center, its work has been admirable in managing multitudinous needs and resources during this difficult time. Yesterday, the TCU Senate announced that funds from the student activities fee will be allocated toward the Unexpected Hardship Fund for Student Needs led by the FIRST Center. We encourage students to contribute to these cam-

paigns in whatever capacity they can. In these times of uncertainty, the intentionality and coming together of these groups echoes the “light on the hill” values that this university was established upon.

Undoubtedly, the experiences that our community will face this semester are unprecedented. As one of many established publications on campus, we believe that capturing the spirit and experiences of our community is more important than ever.

With this in mind, the Daily intends to remain as an active platform to represent the voices of the entire Tufts community.

Moving forward, the Tufts Daily will continue to regularly publish online, covering the community as it navigates the changing situation and as it comes back together over the coming months. Our writers and editors are dedicated to documenting this campus and this community, although we will not be printing the Daily.

We encourage members of the community to use the Daily as a platform to express the student experience through letters to the editor and op-eds. As reflected in the Editor in Chief’s semester-opening letter, we think of the Daily as our own small-town newspaper. In the months to come, though our small town will be dispersed across the globe, the values of this community will continue to animate our coverage and spread peace and light to all corners of the world.

Sincerely, The Managing Board, Ryan Shaffer, Editor in Chief Alex Viveros, Managing Editor Nathan Kyn, Managing Editor Kristina Marchand, Production Director Tys Sweeney, Associate Editor

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.

Opinion

Thursday, March 12, 2020 | Opinion | THE TUFTS DAILY

OP-ED

ARTS COLUMN

Food security is about more than food

SMOKEYBEAR.COM

Cathy Stanton is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Anthropology. Professor Stanton can be reached at cathy.stanton@ tufts.edu. Kyle Burton is a sophomore studying Biology. Kyle can be reached at Kyle.Burton@tufts.edu. Madeleine Clarke is a senior studying Community Health.

Madeleine can be reached at Madeleine.

Clarke@tufts.edu.

Colette Smith and Madison Lehan Love it or Haute it

W

Fringe

hile fringe has never gone away completely, it was heavily featured in the Spring 2020 fashion shows and will likely become much more common than it ever was before. We do not like to discriminate here, so instead of focusing on specific fringed garments (think fringe jackets, fringe dresses, fringe purses, etc), we chose to take a more broad view and focus on the fringe as its own concept. So as you shop for your spring garments, we are here to let you know if you should pick up some fringe or not.

Coco: I was born a die-hard fringe fan and I think that I will die as one too. From my forest-green fringe dress for my kindergarten holiday recital to my fringe high school prom dress, those hanging strings just never disappoint! It really can do it all.

From looking like a cowboy who just caught some criminals in suede fringe to a rockstar in a classic leather fringe jacket, the trend has the power to transform you into the chic protagonist of a movie you always looked up to. Wearing fringe on an average day is a super bold move but it might make people think you are cool enough that they will actually talk to you (or they will think you are a freak, but that’s a gamble I would take). However, a more underrated use of fringe is how it can be so elegant in more formal styles. The Oscar de la Renta and Christian Siriano Spring 2020 Fashion Shows both displayed fringed looks and they were show stoppers. The way it sways as the model saunters up the runway shows why fringe is one of the most beautiful, and underutilized, textiles. The movement creates a feeling that the garment is alive. So, in conclusion, I hope to see fringe everywhere and on everyone this spring because it is magnificent.

Beans: While I know that I will never be able to pull off this look, I fully respect those who can. I have never owned any fringe but I have a strong attachment to the idea of fringe. I personally associate fringe with your cool aunt in a punk rock band with her high school buddies. The definition of badass. Electric guitar plugged into a vintage amp, blaring Blondie’s greatest hits. I aspire to have that kind of energy, that kind of confidence, to rock and roll on stage with my best homies in a fringe leather jacket.

To see the bits of leather blowing the heat of a crowded basement show is a privilege.

In trying times such as these, I think it’s important for us to hone this energy. We have a major life event to overcome. The only way to get through it is by washing our hands, sticking together and wearing fringe leather jackets. While we are feeling the pain of being ditched by our university, we should be with our best friends. We should be shredding guitar solos, forgetting about our husbands, and rocking out to 80s hits.

ION OF STA IAT TE OC

TERS RES FO

Only YOU Can Prevent Wildfires.

That’s a choice, but it is a choice many Tufts students never have to make. It can be alienating to face those choices when you’re at a generally very affluent institution. It’s why sociologist Anthony Abraham Jack argues in his 2019 book “The Privileged Poor: How Elite Colleges are Failing Disadvantaged Students” that “access is not inclusion.” Admission to a school like Tufts, even with a generous aid package, doesn’t address the many ways that disparities can make themselves felt in daily campus living.

This is where food insecurity is about a lot more than just food. Gathering more data about the issue on our own campus is an important first step toward a more productive discussion about it. Our class will be helping to analyze and share the survey data with the Tufts community through various media later in the spring.

But we’re also calling on students, staff and administrators to engage in deeper conversations around the issue. Tufts should adopt a policy that no student should ever have to sacrifice eating well in order to meet other needs. There should be stronger coordination and communication around existing resources on campus. In the future, it would help to have a designated point person and a unified program addressing food options. In the short term, updating and connecting the available online information would be a huge step.

We know that our nourishing mother faces a lot of demands for time and resources — but keeping everyone fed is surely at the top of the list.

NATIONAL A SS

by Cathy Stanton, Kyle Burton and Madeleine Clarke From preschool through higher education, schools have a responsibility to nurture both minds and bodies. Students can’t learn well when they’re not well-nourished.

After all, “alma mater” translates to “nourishing mother.”

On the whole, our own nourishing mother, Tufts University, takes this responsibility seriously. But we could and should be doing more.

You may have seen postings about a survey on food security at Tufts, with a chance to win one of 20 $50 Jumbo Cash prizes.

The study is being conducted by Health Services’ Department of Health Promotion and Prevention, and it aims to get a clearer sense of the extent and nature of food insecurity among undergraduates on Tufts campuses. We encourage all undergraduates to take the survey.

But along with students in our spring “Practicing in Food Systems” class, ENV190, we’re also calling on students, staff and administrators to recognize why this problem can’t be solved simply by providing more food.

Current efforts include financial aid that may include a meal plan. Students can also get support from various programs including the FIRST Resource Center, which works with low-income and first-generation students and those with undocumented status.

Most Tufts undergrads are familiar with the Swipe It Forward program, initiated in 2017 by Tufts Community Union (TCU) Senate leaders in partnership with Tufts Dining and the Office of Student Success and Advising (OSSA), which has now been integrated into the FIRST Resource Center.

According to Patti Klos, director of dining and business services, Swipe It Forward provided 1,672 meals in the 2018–19 academic year. The program is clearly continuing to grow. This year Dining donated 2,000

swipes each semester, and students can donate additional swipes — up to two for those on the Premium Plan and up to four for those on block plans.

Coordination and publicity around these resources could be stronger, but we assume that will continue to evolve along with the efforts themselves.

But there’s another layer to this issue that elite schools like Tufts are only beginning to come to grips with.

The standard definition of food insecurity — “limited or uncertain availability of nutritionally adequate and safe foods or limited or uncertain ability to acquire acceptable foods in socially acceptable ways,” according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture — doesn’t begin to get at the many reasons why a person might experience food insecurity.

In a university setting, this can manifest in many subtle ways. Reliable access to good food tends to wax and wane over the academic year and over the course of a student’s time at school. Juniors and seniors living off-campus in a high-priced housing market often find themselves juggling basic expenses once rent and utilities get added to tuition and books. Even for first-years and sophomores on meal plans, there are times, such as breaks, when the dining halls are closed. There’s some help available to cover those gaps, but it doesn’t necessarily reach or cover every student who might be experiencing food insecurity.

Even more subtle are the ways that social interactions around food can sharpen disparities. You often hear the phrase “food brings people together.” But food can also be divisive — for example, when a group of friends decides to go out to eat together, but students of more limited means can’t afford to say yes. Students may also opt to prioritize expenses other than food for family reasons — for example, turning a meal plan refund into rent to fill a gap during a moment of family financial crisis.

7

FO

U N D E D 192

0

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.

8 Thursday, March 12, 2020

Alex Sharp Game Day

I

Tourney time

was in the library last night when Tufts announced that classes will be moved online after spring break due to the global coronavirus pandemic. The library quickly went from a quiet study space to a hive of activity with kids making calls, embracing their friends and shedding tears. When I saw the email, I only had one thought: Please don’t let this affect March Madness.

Assuming the Div. I NCAA basketball tournament takes place, the next few weeks will be filled with some of the best and most exciting games of the year. This column is dedicated to preparing you for the game within the game: the bracket pool.

Bracketology is an extremely complicated science studied by thousands of Americans each year. Since Tufts currently doesn’t offer a class in bracketology to fulfill the science requirement, I’m here to give you some tips to help you win your pool and maximize the March Madness experience.

Only fill out one bracket. Everyone knows the guy who walks around telling everybody about how he “called” the big first round upset. What he really means is that he picked the No. 14 seed to win in two of his 28 brackets. Very impressive, right?

No. Don’t be that guy. Fill out one bracket and ride it to glory or to the dumpster fire.

Upperclassmen point guards win championships. Last year, University of Virginia rode junior guards Kyle Guy and Ty Jerome to the championship. In 2018, junior guard Jalen Brunson starred in Villanova University’s championship run, and in 2017, junior guard Joel Berry ran the point for University of North Carolina’s championship squad. The team you pick to go all the way should have guards with experience handling the ball when everything is on the line.

Pick teams that can hit free throws in crunch time. With so many tight games in the tournament, the ability to hit free throws can literally be the difference between victory and defeat. In evaluating a team’s free throw ability, it’s important not only to look at overall team free throw percentage, but also to check how teams perform from the line at the end of close games. Nothing can simulate the pressure of the tournament, but if a team shoots a high percentage and has been successful from the line at the end of close games, it’s a good sign.

Watch conference tournaments. All of them. Split screen if you need to. I’ve been filling out a bracket since I was seven years old, and last year I made the best pick of my life. I correctly took five seed Auburn to the final four because I watched them crush a very good Tennessee team 84–64 in the South Eastern Conference championship game. Conference tournaments shouldn’t be the only factor in your decision making, but they are a good indicator of how well a team is playing going into the NCAA tournament.

Good luck Tufts bracketologists. There’s nothing better than college basketball in March. Let’s go.

Alex Sharp is a first-year who has not yet declared a major. Alex can be reached at alex.sharp@tufts.edu.

Sports

tuftsdaily.com

Spring sports canceled, winter NCAA competitions to continue

EVAN SAYLES / THE TUFTS DAILY ARCHIVES

The Steve Tisch Sports and Fitness Center is pictured on Saturday, May. 9, 2015.

All spring sports have been canceled, while winter sports teams still competing in NCAA postseason competitions will continue as scheduled, according to an email sent to the Tufts community on Tuesday evening by University President Anthony Monaco.

The announcement came as the university joined a growing group of institutions that have suspended in-person classes and closed residence halls for the remainder of the semester in response to the global spread of the novel coronavirus, formally known as COVID-19.

“We realize this will be upsetting to our athletes and their supporters,” Monaco wrote in his email. “We recognize the dedication and hard work of our student athletes, and we look forward to resumption of NESCAC competition in the future.”

The decision to halt all NESCAC spring sports seasons — including conference championships — came after a meeting of the NESCAC presidents, according to Monaco’s email and a NESCAC statement posted online on Wednesday. The Tufts women’s tennis, men’s tennis, women’s lacrosse and men’s lacrosse teams had already started their regular seasons.

Despite the developing situation on campus, winter sports will be allowed to compete in NCAA postseason competitions, which are expected to continue as planned. In the next two weeks, six teams are scheduled to compete in NCAA postseason events: women’s basketball, men’s basketball, women’s indoor track and field, men’s indoor track and field, women’s swim and dive and men’s swim and dive.

The NCAA announced in a statement on Wednesday afternoon that all championship events will be closed to spectators except for essential staff and limited family members.

NCAA events hosted at Tufts, such as the women’s basketball NCAA Sweet 16 and Elite 8 games this weekend, had already barred spectators, according to Monaco’s email and a Tufts Athletics press release earlier on Wednesday. No decision has been made yet on Tufts teams’ eligibility for spring NCAA postseason play.

The Athletics department informed the Daily via email that student athletes who con-

tinue to compete in postseason play will be allowed to stay on campus and use Tufts dining services while they remain open. If dining halls close, student athletes will be provided with meal money or meals by the department.

They will receive sports medicine services as needed for the remainder of the season.

In addition, a follow-up email sent to the Tufts community yesterday announced that the Tisch Sports Center and Gantcher Family Sports Center will be closed to the general public beginning on Monday, March 16. According to Director of Athletic Communications Paul Sweeney, these facilities will be open to athletes on the basketball and swim and dive teams should they continue on in their postseasons.

NESCAC officials declined to comment beyond the statement posted online upon request from the Daily and referred all questions to the Tufts Athletics Department. Tufts Director of Athletics John Morris also could not be reached for comment due to the urgent nature of the situation, but referred all questions to Sweeney.

Coaches and student athletes are still processing these decisions and the effects they will have, both for athletics and in their lives.

“We are very heartbroken,” senior co-captain Grace Fabryky of the women’s crew team said. “But I think we recognize that this is a much bigger issue that is happening and impacting our little corner of the world.

Head coach of women’s track and field and cross country Kristen Morwick will still travel to North Carolina this weekend with the athletes who qualified for NCAA Indoor National Championships, but she expressed sadness due to the cancellation of the spring outdoor season.

“I can say we are totally bummed for our team,” Morwick wrote in an email to the Daily.

“So, so sad right now.”

Rhemi Toth, a senior and co-captain of the track and field team, expressed mixed emotions regarding the continuation of the winter postseason and the cancellation of the spring season.

“I feel very lucky that we have one last opportunity to compete for Tufts,” Toth said. “Track has been a big part of my life, and it’s sad that I won’t have one last chance [in the outdoor season].”

John Casey, head coach of the baseball team and associate director of athletics, explained that although he understands the decision, it is still devastating for his team.

“I’m literally sick to my stomach for the seniors,” Casey said.

Casey also said it has been difficult seeing his team’s season canceled while the winter sports are still scheduled to continue.

“I’m having trouble figuring out how some teams are continuing to play while they shut down others,” Casey said.

Casey also said that he and all other coaches were notified via email of the cancellation of their seasons, and that he contacted his team via email before meeting with them later on Wednesday. With such a major decision, Casey questioned this process of delivering information.

“When it’s a really emotional thing for student athletes, [and] when they’ve invested all this time, I’m not sure that’s conveyed very well by an email,” Casey said. “The hard part for some of these kids is it feels like ‘someone took something from me, and I don’t know why.’”

Other coaches and student athletes of both winter and spring teams chose not to respond for comment.

Like the rest of the Athletics department, coaches and athletes ultimately are trying to maintain a positive attitude.

“We just have to stay focused and try to make the most of the week,” senior Roger Gu of the men’s swim and dive team said about the upcoming NCAA National Championships.

“As soon as we heard the news, we came together last night, and already people are so sad, but we are channeling our sadness to supporting each other and being together,” Fabryky said about her team. “I am so impressed that even in the face of existential crisis, my teammates are there.”

Casey had a similar attitude about how he will lead his team.

“One thing we’ve always prided ourselves on is we have total control on how we handle adversity,” Casey said. “I have to remind myself of that every two minutes right now, but we’re going to try to handle this the best way we can.”