The Tufts Daily - Tuesday, October 30, 2018

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Jonah Hill’s ‘Mid90s’ grinds on teen struggles, rebellion see ARTS&LIVING / PAGE 4

FIELD HOCKEY

Tufts advances to NESCAC semifinals

Wild and free: ‘Studio 54’ explores rise and fall of New York icon see ARTS&LIVING / PAGE 4

SEE SPORTS / BACK PAGE

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T HE T UFTS DAILY

VOLUME LXXVI, ISSUE 37

tuftsdaily.com

Tuesday, October 30, 2018

MEDFORD/SOMERVILLE, MASS.

Tufts’ Jewish community grapples with anti-Semitism at Tree of Life memorial service by Daniel Nelson

Executive News Editor

Mourners poured into the Granoff Family Hillel Center Monday to remember the lives of the 11 Jews murdered during Saturday’s mass shooting at the Tree of Life – Or L’Simcha Congregation in Pittsburgh, Pa. The attack was the deadliest single targeted act of anti-Semitism ever committed on American soil, according to the Anti-Defamation League, and of a violent nature that American Jews have grown accustomed to hearing out of France or Germany — but not the modern United States. Its aftermath sent pangs of fear, shock and uncertainty through the American Jewish community, and Tufts was no exception. Rabbi Dr. Naftali Brawer, Tufts’ Jewish Chaplain, led the late-afternoon ceremony. He opened with a reflection upon life, which, like the yahrzeit candles he invited students to light for the victims, he said can be whisked away in a single moment. “When we light a candle in memory of those who passed on, it’s a meditation on the fragility and the beauty of human life,” Brawer said. “In some ways, it invites us to mourn the life that has been extinguished and to cherish the life all around us.” Brawer explained that he learned about the attack after sundown Saturday, once Shabbat, a day of rest on which observant Jews abstain from electronics, had concluded. He and the

other members of the Tufts chaplaincy quickly began to coordinate a response. “We wanted to do something that would honor the memory of those who were murdered and bring comfort to the community,” Brawer said. Part of that effort came through a Sunday night vigil hosted by the Chaplaincy in the Goddard Chapel, according to University Chaplain Reverend Greg McGonigle. Brawer and Rabbi Tzvi Backman, director of the Rohr Chabad House serving Tufts, organized Monday’s memorial service. Backman grew up in Squirrel Hill, the neighborhood where the Tree of Life – Or L’Simcha Congregation is located. He retains close ties to the area through his mother, who still lives there, and his daughter, who attends a nearby yeshiva high school. “Her high school building is just a few blocks from where this all happened,” Backman said. “It struck very close to home.” Backman also described the emotional toll that Saturday’s shooting had on his mother. “I spoke to my mother yesterday and she said to me she’s getting calls — people wanting to know if she’s okay,” Backman said. “She said, ‘Well, I’m alive, but I’m not okay.’” Backman said that Pittsburgh is a closeknit community where neighbors look out for one another and where Jews can go to synagogue and pray without fear of persecution or retaliation. He lamented the loss of that sense of security.

Former representative, Tufts alumna discuss guns, politics

by Noah Shamus Staff Writer

community at Tufts, and we stand against the anti-Semitic hate that fueled this tragedy. I urge all members of the Tufts community to remain committed to working toward positive change that prevents further incidents of violence targeting any identity group.” Reverend Greg McGonigle told the Daily in an email that the Chaplaincy, which coordinated the Sunday vigil, is fearful of the resurgence of anti-Semitism in the United States. “We were devastated to hear of this unspeakable attack against the Jewish community,” McGonigle wrote. “It is the latest in a series of anti-Semitic rhetoric and actions in this country and the latest deadly hate crime targeting a house of worship—a place of holiness, safety, refuge, and community.” The service concluded with a reading of the names of the dead by Rabbinic Fellow Ilana Zietman: Joyce Fienberg, 75 Richard Gottfried, 65 Rose Mallinger, 97 Jerry Rabinowitz, 66 Cecil Rosenthal, 59 David Rosenthal, 54 Bernice Simon, 84 Sylvan Simon, 86 Daniel Stein, 71 Melvin Wax, 88 Irving Younger, 69

by Natasha Mayor

tumor. The most common cause of death for almost all breeds of dogs is cancer.” Clinical Trials Veterinary Technician and Coordinator Diane Welsh said many of the medicines used on dogs are the same ones that are used for humans. She explained the benefits of testing cancer treatments in dogs as opposed to artificially infecting rats with cancer in a laboratory. “[The cancer] is naturally occurring in the dogs, the same way it would naturally occur in a human,” Welsh said. “We’re trying these new therapies out to see if it’s going to work, and then if it does work in the dog population, there’s hope that it would then translate to the human side and be as effective.” Welsh said that patients are often referred to the Clinical Trials Office as a result of emergency room visits, regular oncology appointments or by learning

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Former Rep. Steve Israel, author of “Big Guns,” a satirical critique of America’s gun lobby, poses for a portrait. see GUN CONTROL, page 2

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First-year student Sophia Friedman then led attendees in a recitation of Kaddish.

Cummings clinical trials test canine cancer treatments News Editor

Former Representative Steve Israel and Sarah Ullman (LA ’10), co-founder of the super PAC One Vote at a Time, discussed issues surrounding gun control and how to inspire change at a Jonathan M. Tisch College of Civic Life-sponsored event at 50 Milk St. a small venue in downtown Boston. Israel, a former chair of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, House Democrats’ fundraising arm, is currently a Tisch College visiting fellow. His satirical take on the gun lobby in his new book, “Big Guns: A Novel,” was scheduled to be the focus of the event. However, much of the discussion centered on America’s current political climate. Lurking over the event were the recent events that took place in Pittsburgh on Saturday. Alan Solomont, dean of Tisch

Mostly Sunny 50 / 35

“All of the sudden, a senseless act of hatred. All of the sudden, when we walk out of our homes and we go to a space that is safe and comforting and uplifting — and now we think twice,” Backman said. He offered tradition — from the hanging of a mezuzah on a doorpost to the lighting of a candle on Friday night, Shabbat — as a means for Jews to remain resilient. A sense of deep solidarity also flowed through the service. Rabbi Jordan Braunig, director of Tufts Hillel’s Initiative for Innovative Community Building, told the crowd that all of the university’s religious community stands behind those of Jewish faith. “When parents come in with a high schooler and [ask] about anti-Semitism on campus, I’d like to show them this picture,” Braunig said, motioning to the standing-room-only crowd. “I’d like to show them the messages that I’ve received from Muslim students, from Christian students, from Buddhist students, humanist students — this is what it is to feel like someone has your back.” University President Anthony Monaco attended the ceremony. He expressed the university’s solidarity in an email statement to the Daily, in which he called upon Tufts to fight back against identity-based hatred. “It’s heartbreaking to see families and communities torn apart yet again by the hatred and violence of a mass shooting,” Monaco wrote. “We stand with our Jewish

The Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine at Tufts University is running a number of clinical trials on oncology patients, according to Clinical Trials Director and Research Professor Cheryl London. According to London, dogs are the primary patients. She said that many of the trials are focused on dogs not only because they experience a wide variety of cancers, but also because those illnesses are closely related to human cancers. She said the trials are also focused on dogs simply because the veterinarians know much more about cancers in dogs than in other species. “The actual annual incidence rate is higher in dogs than it is in people,” London said. “Generally, one in four dogs over their lifetime will get cancer, and then if they live beyond 10, at least half of them will get some kind of

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

see CLINICAL TRIALS, page 2

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


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