The Tufts Daily - Friday, February 9, 2018

MEN’S SWIMMING AND DIVING

‘Lysistrata’ a modern take on bawdy classic see ARTS&LIVING / PAGE 3

Jumbos dominate the field at Middlebury Invitational

Women’s swimming and diving tunes up for NESCAC Championships at Middlebury see SPORTS / BACK

SEE SPORTS / BACK PAGE

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VOLUME LXXV, ISSUE 11

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Friday, February 9, 2018

MEDFORD/SOMERVILLE, MASS.

Textbook Exchange saves students an estimated $77,000 this year

by Isaiah Kane

Contributing Writer

The Tufts Community Union (TCU) Textbook Exchange allows students to buy and sell used textbooks without relying on the bookstore, according to Philip Miller, TCU Senate Education committee chair and the founder and executive director of the Textbook Exchange. Miller, a sophomore, said that the exchange has provided students with a much easier way to buy and sell textbooks at reasonable prices.

Miller said that the textbook exchange was set up as an alternative to selling books back to the bookstore, which is often costly, and selling used books on sites like Amazon, which can be labor-intensive.

“The benefit for the student is they just drop their textbook off with us, they fill out a form and then they don’t have to worry about it,” Miller said. “They’ll be Venmo’d automatically or they’ll be emailed telling them to pick up their cash.”

According to Miller, the Textbook Exchange has sold $97,283.45 worth of textbooks since opening in the fall, out of $165,417.75 worth of textbooks listed. This money is entirely exchanged between students, as TCU does not take fees or cuts, according to Miller. He also said that the price listed is exactly what the seller receives.

“Basically, we facilitate the communication between the buyers and sellers of text-

books,” Miller explains. “It’s mainly getting the money from the buyer to the seller and having a physical location for the textbook exchange.”

Miller said the exchange has saved students $77,000 so far this year, an estimate based on the prices of used books sold at the bookstore.

It is unclear whether the textbook exchange has affected sales from the Tufts Bookstore, Boon Teo, manager of the bookstore, said.

“Our textbook sales are consistently impacted by many outside factors that can cause increases and decreases in sales. There are usually student groups or outside competitors that pop up each year which deter some sales from the store, but since it is always a factor, it’s tough to say whether it is a factor in comparative sales,” Teo told the Daily in an email.

Teo says the bookstore’s main concern is making sure that it can provide every book required in the course catalog, while keeping them affordable for every student. He believes that the bookstore will remain the primary source of textbooks for the Tufts community.

The Director of Technology and Data Analytics for the Tufts Textbook Exchange Emerson Wenzel, Assistant Director of Technology and Data Analytics Kevin Bae and Allen Zhou, all sophomores, are already working on implementing new technologies. Their new spreadsheet design serves to help sellers decide how to price their listings

KIRT THORNE / THE TUFTS DAILY

Philip Miller, the founder and executive director of the Tufts Textbook Exchange, poses for a portrait in Tisch Library on Feb. 1. and show them the prices at which other sellers have listed the same book.

“There is a graph of the price of a book versus the date it was sold, and the color indicates how long it has been on the market,” Wenzel told the Daily in an electronic message. “The idea is you would price your book where the green dots are if you want to sell your book quickly, and price it where the red dots are if you want more money.”

Miller noted that 800 books have been sold this year, out of close to 1,300 listings. This num-

ber is only rising as more and more students become aware of the service, he explained.

He added that he was hopeful that the exchange would expand.

“I hope it does grow as people get the word out,” he said.

Miller added that he believes the availability of relatively inexpensive textbooks will help attract student interest. He said he is also open to expanding the service to other schools, though he wants to streamline the system at Tufts before implementing it elsewhere.

Our Revolution Somerville looks to campaign locally, focusing on affordability

Professor Kendra Field discusses post-Civil War migrations at Royall House

by Joe Walsh

by McKenzie Schuyler

News Editor

Somerville’s chapter of Our Revolution, a nationwide progressive political action group, has begun planning its priorities for 2018, following the victories of all nine Our Revolution-endorsed candidates for Board of Aldermen in last year’s elections.

Our Revolution, which emerged from Senator Bernie Sanders’ 2016 presidential campaign, looks to support progressive candidates “across the entire spectrum of government,” according to its website. The group’s Somerville members discussed local priorities at a meeting this January. Their primary areas of focus will include housing affordability, immigrant rights, public education, organized labor and environmental justice, Our Revolution

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Somerville steering committee member Monica Achen noted.

“We’re really trying to build a coalition for a broad progressive agenda in Somerville,” Achen said.

Last year, the group chose candidates to endorse based on several factors, including making a commitment to decline campaign contributions from for-profit real estate developers, according to Achen and Jon Leonard, another steering committee member. Following that, volunteers went door-to-door to promote their slate, an effort that Alderman Matt McLaughlin says was an asset to his Our Revolutionendorsed re-election campaign.

“Half the battle is just getting the message across,” McLaughlin said. see OUR REVOLUTION, page 2

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

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The Royall House and Slave Quarters in Medford hosted Kendra Field, assistant professor of history and director of the Center for the Study of Race and Democracy at Tufts, to discuss her new book, “Growing Up with the Country: Family, Race, and Nation After the Civil War”, on Wednesday evening. The Royall House was once home to Massachusetts’ largest slaveholding family and is now a museum. Penny Outlaw, co-president of the Royall House Board, introduced Field.

The event took place in what Peter Gittleman, the other co-president of the Royall House Board, called the meeting room of the slave quarters’ building, which is detached from the

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main building. A plaque in the room states that the building is the only surviving detached slave quarters in the northern United States.

Around thirty people were in attendance, including Tufts staff and members of the Royall House and Slave Quarters.

“Growing Up with the Country: Family, Race, and Nation After the Civil War” documents the lives of African Americans and Native Americans, particularly Thomas Jefferson Brown, Monroe Coleman and Alexander “Elic” Davis and their families, who migrated to settlements with both African-Americans and Native Americans in Oklahoma after the Civil War and participated in the Back-toAfrica movement in the early 1920s.

NEWS............................................1 FEATURES.................................4 ARTS & LIVING.................... 45

see KENDRA FIELD, page 2

COMICS.......................................6 SPORTS............................ BACK

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THE TUFTS DAILY | News | Friday, February 9, 2018

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Progressive Somerville organization hopes to address housing prices OUR REVOLUTION

continued from page 1 Canvassers for Our Revolution worked to target intermittent voters and other residents who were less likely to be on the lists compiled by the official campaigns for positions on the Board of Aldermen, Leonard explained. Their goal, Leonard says, was to act separately from the campaigns’ efforts rather than to replicate their work.

Although voter participation is traditionally low in municipal elections, last November’s race was unusually busy, with the number of ballots cast increasing by more than 145 percent between the 2015 and 2017 elections, according to city voting data.

Our Revolution Somerville’s local organizers and candidates say concerns about housing affordability have helped to drive this recent spike. According to Achen, many Somerville residents with whom the group spoke during last year’s canvassing brought up concerns and anxieties about housing.

“In a lot of ways, Somerville is becoming a place where it’s increasingly difficult for lower- and middle-income people to afford to live,” Achen said. “We’re at risk of losing diversity of people in this city as it becomes more and more unaffordable.”

McLaughlin agreed that the city’s dearth of affordable housing helped to drive political participation last year. In particular, he cited the Planning Board’s controversial decision last spring to waive the city’s 20-percent affordable housing rule for the Federal Realty Investment Trust development at Assembly Row. Leonard says the run-up to the decision, and its fallout, catalyzed some of Our Revolution’s activism. “[The process] was laid out in front of a lot of people who previously thought, ‘This is the most progressive city in America,’” McLaughlin said. “They saw firsthand the influence that developers have on us.”

Somerville’s inclusionary zoning ordinance currently requires developers to price at least 20 percent of any new units at a rate affordable for lower-income residents. The Assembly Row deal, however, requires Federal Realty to make only 16 percent of the project’s 500 units affordable, many of which will be supplied through purchases of homes in other parts of the city rather than on-site units, according to the Planning Board’s decision document.

In a June 2017 Boston Globe letter, Mayor Joe Curtatone argued that Somerville would risk losing the development if it insisted on 20 percent affordability, especially because permits were approved several years ago, when the city’s inclusionary zoning rule was set at 12.5 percent.

Regardless, McLaughlin views this compromise as insufficient, and noted that the off-site affordable units might not be purchased by the city’s 100 Homes project, an affordable housing program established

COURTESY RAND WILSON

A group of community members canvasing for Our Revolution is shown. in 2014 with the goal of creating 100 affordable units, for several years.

“By the time we get these units, the [Assembly Row] building is going to be totally built,” he said. “We could have had 20 percent of 500 units, and now we’ll get six percent and maybe housing in the future.”

Newly elected Alderman-AtLarge Wilfred Mbah, whose campaign was endorsed by Our Revolution Somerville, says his personal experiences with housing affordability pushed him to run. He moved to Somerville shortly after immigrating to the United States in 2010.

He said he feels drawn to the city’s community, though he has had to relocate frequently because of rising rents. He chose to run for Alderman to help mitigate the situation directly, and though he is not opposed to real estate development, he wants to craft more favorable deals with developers in the future, he explained.

“This is not an investment city,” Mbah said. “This is a community.”

Local organizers and politicians have proposed a slate of policy options to help address housing prices. McLaughlin, Achen and Mbah all mentioned real estate transfer fees, which would pay for affordable housing through a fee assessed on real estate transactions, as well as tenants’ right of first refusal, which would give renters an opportunity to buy their residence if their landlord decides to sell. Both of these ideas will require approval or passage by the state legislature, they said. In addition, Mbah suggests forming a community land trust and cleaning up brownfield sites to build affordable housing.

“The status quo isn’t working anymore,” Mbah said. “We need to push our boundaries to see how we can make the community more inclusive [and] more affordable.”

While affordability is a major local issue, Our Revolution’s organizers believe that displeasure with the national political climate has pushed people to become more

involved. Last October, Sanders visited Somerville and Cambridge to support candidates endorsed by Our Revolution, an effort that McLaughlin says was appreciated. Mbah believes the connection with national politics is natural, invoking former U.S. House Speaker Tip O’Neill’s famous “all politics is local” mantra.

“Almost everything that we see at the national level has a lot of impact at the local level,” Mbah said.

Alderman Jesse Clingan, who was also endorsed by Our Revolution, said that the national climate and affordability issues both drove enthusiasm for local politics last year. He noted that it is difficult to estimate the extent of Our Revolution’s impact on his election, but he is confident that the association with Sanders likely brought out people who may not have voted otherwise.

“It definitely had to do with people turning their focus locally [and] feeling like they have some control,” Clingan said.

In Ward 2, where Alderman JT Scott won a contested election, the ballot count nearly quadrupled between 2015 and 2017.

Scott said he believes this increase is partially due to the longstanding lack of contested elections in his ward, as well as efforts to lead a grassroots-based campaign emphasizing affordability and transparency. He said Our Revolution assisted with that approach. “[Our Revolution’s greatest impact] was the ability to help people understand how some of these national issues translate directly to their lives here in Somerville,” Scott said.

Likewise, McLaughlin believes last year was marked by the engagement of people who were previously politically inactive. As a result, he added, the voting base was infused with new people, even though municipal election voters usually tend to be more conservative and are more likely to own their homes.

“This election showed that people who are very much at risk will vote in city elections,” he said.

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Professor Kendra Field discusses her new book at Royall House KENDRA FIELD

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continued from page 1 In the book, Field draws on family stories and archival research collected on research trips to Oklahoma, Mississippi and Alabama.

While writing the book, she would test the veracity of family stories against archival research, which highlighted undertones of shame and pride relating different aspects of family history, Field explained.

“I am interested in how and why certain stories were retold and remembered, and others buried,” Field said, as she read from the preface of the book.

Field said that her research unearthed “hidden transcripts” in her family history.

“The oral versions of these stories rang with pride and self-determination, while pointing to a haunting underside of worry, vulnerability and trauma they attempted to leave behind,” she said.

Field talked about Coleman’s and Davis’ reactions to the restrictions, such as Jim Crow laws and oil speculation, that African Americans faced when Oklahoma became a state in 1907.

She also discussed the men’s participation in the Back-to-Africa movement and their involvement at the headquarters of

the movement at the “tent city” known as South Gold Coast, Oklahoma.

The event ended with a question-and-answer session, followed by a book signing.

In an interview with the Daily, Field said that she hopes readers came away from the event with a greater understanding of the importance of storytelling.

“I heard many of the bits and pieces of these stories growing up from my grandmother, and later on I discovered that those things were not disconnected from the history I was learning in textbooks,” she said.

THE TUFTS DAILY | NEWS | Friday, February 9, 2018

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In lieu of holding an election, ECOM appoints senators, CSL member

by Seohyun Shim News Editor

The Tufts Elections Commission (ECOM) appointed four senators to the Tufts Community Union ( TCU) Senate and one member to the Committee on Student Life (CSL), a committee made up of faculty and students, on Tuesday, according to ECOM chair Ethan Mandelbaum, a sophomore.

ECOM appointed Jo n a h O’Mara Schwartz and Steven Honig to fill the two of the four Class of 2019 Senator openings, according to Mandelbaum. ECOM also appointed first-years Kathleen Lanzilla as the LGBTQ+ Community Senator and Maya Velasquez as the Latinx Community Senator. Nicholas Anyaegbunam, a sophomore, was appointed to the CSL. Mandelbaum said that these were all uncontested seats.

The appointments came after an amendment on an ECOM bylaw, allowing the group to appoint all the uncontested candidates to the Senate, TCU Judiciary and the CSL. The bylaw change passed unanimously within ECOM, and was approved by the Senate executive board and the Judiciary, Mandelbaum said.

These appointments were made after the special election, which was scheduled to take place on Feb. 7, was

cancelled and postponed until further notice due to a lack of candidates running for open seats and a lack of contested seats. ECOM had previously received only two candidate petitions for four open Class of 2019 seats, one for two open CSL seats and two for one First Generation (First-Gen) Community Senator seat and one each for the rest of the open community senator seats, according to Mandelbaum.

The TCU Constitution stipulates that when class senate seats are not filled, the open seats slide down to the next class year. Since ECOM received only two petitions for four 2019 seats on Jan. 29, two Class of 2020 senator seats are now open.

Mandelbaum said that holding an election with open seats left and only one contested position, the First-Gen Community Senator seat, was not a practical option.

“It didn’t make sense to run an election for one [seat] when we still need three more,” Mandelbaum told the Daily in an email.

Mandelbaum added that the bylaw change allowed ECOM to avoid running two special elections. He explained that ECOM would hold a special election for the remaining seats later in the semester.

TCU President Benya Kraus, a senior, said the Senate Executive Board passed the ECOM bylaw change after a thorough discussion and added that

she hopes the change will expedite the election process.

“I expect this bylaw change to make the elections process easier, allowing uncontested senators to begin their work sooner and without unnecessary bureaucratic hoops, and saving us the cost of having to run double elections when half of the seats are uncontested,” Kraus told the Daily in an email.

Newly appointed senators will begin their roles immediately and join the body at the regular meeting this coming Sunday, according to Kraus. She said that filling these seats will lead to a more democratic and effective decision-making process for the Senate.

“The senators filling these vacancies have presented themselves to me as being extremely passionate and committed, and I’m excited to help support and work with them in channeling these passions to further enhance student life at Tufts,” she said. “Having more perspectives in the room to work on committee projects, vote on budget allocation, and debate resolutions helps make our decisions stronger and more representative of what the student body wants and expects out of its student government.”

One of the new appointees, new Class of 2019 Senator Jonah O’Mara-Schwartz, said he is thrilled at the prospect of beginning his role in the Senate.

“I am sure it will take some time to learn all of the ins and outs of the Senate, but I am confident in my ability to pick those up and get to work,” O’Mara-Schwartz told the Daily in an email. “I am excited to work with the Senate to improve the lives of students in meaningful ways. I think there are a lot of challenges facing the Senate and I look forward to putting in the hours to solve them.”

O’Mara-Schwartz added that ECOM had been helpful throughout the process and kept in touch until his official appointment on Tuesday.

“ECOM let us know [on Jan. 31] after the candidates meeting that the election was uncontested and that we would be appointed. My appointment was finally confirmed [on Feb. 6],” O’Mara-Schwartz said. “ECOM was pretty good about remaining in communication with us and letting us know what was going on.”

According to Mandelbaum, while a date has not been set for the postponed special election, it will likely happen in late February or early March at the latest.

Running for First-Gen Community Senator, the only contested position so far, are first-years Erick Martinez Camacho and Alejandro Baez.

Call for Submissions!

Beyond the Classroom Student Forum for Research on Women, Gender, and Sexuality to be held on

Friday, April 6, 2018 12:00PM – 4:30PM Paige Hall, Crane Room

1/4

Open to all students

This forum is an opportunity for students to share their work on women, gender, and/or sexuality with the wider Tufts community. Undergraduate and graduate students from a range of majors present abstracts of research papers or creative projects done in classes or independent studies this year.

• Students each present for 5-7 minutes.

• We welcome submissions of any length.

• Please consider submitting your work!

Submission Deadline: Thursday, March 1, 2018 ***Decisions will be announced: Monday, March 26, 2018*** **Applications should be submitted to the WGSS office at 111 Eaton Hall or by email to wgss@tufts.edu**

To download application, please visit: http://ase.tufts.edu/wgss/newsevents/beyond.htm

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Sports

Friday, February 9, 2018 | Sports | THE TUFTS DAILY

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Women's swimming and diving set for NESCAC Championships WOMEN’S SWIMMING

continued from back priately for the meet … [and] we had a number of lifetime bests. For them it gives them an opportunity to see improvement from one year to the next, [to see] adjustments to their stroke technique and whatnot.”

The Jumbos have also been focused on a larger objective for the last few weeks: the annual taper. “Tapering” is a staple of championship season, founded in the notion that success in the pool requires a measured training regimen, rather than a heavily intensive one; there is extra emphasis on rest and recovery leading up to important meets.

“The concept [of tapering] is very basic,” Hoyt said. “We work very hard through the season to train for one or two meets at the end of the year. All the work that our women do … over the summer, during the preseason

and during the season is leading up to the taper. Taper in the most basic sense is getting people healthy. The amount of time they’re spending in the pool and at practice is less in hope that they … can let their body rest and lower their stress level leading up to championships.”

Evans explained the practical aspects of the team’s tapering period.

“For the two weeks before [the meet], practices get shorter and shorter,” Evans said. “Sleep well, eat well, walk less [and] hydrate more.”

For the team’s first-years, a methodical taper is likely different than one they experienced in high school. Hoyt, nonetheless, expressed how impressed he has been with the performance of the new class both in and out of the pool, regardless of any differences in routine.

“Our [first-year] class has been a special [addition] to the team. They’re

talented swimmers and divers but importantly they’ve just been great teammates,” Hoyt said. “It’s tough to know how they will perform at the biggest meet of the year with [extra] rest, but everything I’ve seen in them leads me to believe that they’re going to do great. They’re going to swim fast for us, they’re going to score points for us and they’re going to be a big part of our success at the NESCAC Championships.”

With the Middlebury Invitational now in the rearview mirror, Tufts will focus on the conference championship meet, which commences Feb. 16 at Williams. The Jumbos are confident that they can improve on last season’s eighth-place finish.

“We saw a lot of people who tapered swim really fast this weekend,” Evans said. “That kind of got us all excited because that will be us in two weeks, hopefully.”

Hoyt explained how the conference championship meet presents a particular challenge every year.

“NESCAC weekend is a marathon,” Hoyt said. “It’s six sessions, and each is three-plus hours in length.

To be able to keep your energy up, to keep your attitude where it needs to be [and] to keep your level of focus up is probably the biggest challenge for teams competing that weekend. That is the goal I will be looking for us to achieve that weekend. I know the effort will be there. If we can put together six sessions of high energy, high focus, the results will be there, as well.”

With a boon from the first-years, to add to the already-impressive performances from upperclassmen at the Middlebury Invitational and previous meets, the NESCACs could be the successful culmination of a Tufts season that commenced with hard work in the summer and ended with a taper in the winter.

ICE HOCKEY

Men’s hockey set to take on Amherst, Hamilton this weekend

by Liam Finnegan Sports Editor

On Feb. 2 and Feb. 3, the Tufts men’s ice hockey team played Conn. College (9–9–2, 8–4–2 NESCAC) in back-to-back fixtures, with the first at home and the second on the road in New London, Conn. The Jumbos came away with a tie and a loss against the Camels, bringing their record to 3–8–3 in the conference and 4–12–4 overall. Now, the team is looking ahead to the weekend, when they will face off against a pair of conference opponents: Amherst on Saturday and Hamilton on Sunday.

While the Jumbos were disappointed with the results against the Camels, they are staying optimistic about the future.

“Any loss in this league hurts, but the season is incredibly short,” senior goaltender and co-captain Nik Nugnes said. “So we need to have short term memories and keep moving forward.”

Tufts Head Coach Pat Norton echoed the sentiments of his starting goalie, who registered his fourth career shutout in the scoreless draw against Conn. College.

“I think we were disappointed with the outcome of the Connecticut College weekend,” Norton said. “I believe we felt as though we had played strong hockey for most of two games, and to come out of it with only a point was disappointing. We could have made better decisions at the lines in the third period. We had too many turnovers, and we got ourselves back on our heels. Games are usually won or lost on turnovers at the lines. For two periods we were very good, [and] in the third, we got a little sloppy.”

The first game between Tufts and Conn. College was a defensive deadlock, as neither team was able to score a game-winner. The match ended 0–0, Tufts’ first scoreless draw in program history. In their second meeting, the two teams were level in scoring at the end of the game once more, and the game went into overtime tied 3–3. Unfortunately for the Jumbos, junior forward William White scored less than a minute into the extra period to seal the victory for the hosts. After the disheartening results, Tufts looks to pick up a couple of late-season victories against Amherst and Hamilton.

COURTESY DAVE DECORTIN

First-year forward Brendan Ryan brings the puck forward in the men’s ice hockey home game at Valley Forum against Wesleyan University on Jan 20.

The Jumbos may face an easier task this weekend, as both of their opponents have worse conference records than the second-place Camels. Amherst is 6–4–4 (9–7–4 overall) and fourth in the NESCAC, while Hamilton is 7–6–1 (13–6–1 overall), good for fifth in the conference. However, the Jumbos will definitely have their work cut out for them. Hamilton has a couple of standout offensive talents who will no doubt give Tufts a tough contest. Junior forward Rory Gagnon and sophomore forward Nick Ursitti rank second and tied for fourth in the league for goals, respectively. Gagnon has 13 goals to his name, while Ursitti has 10.

Hamilton also boasts the third- and

fourth-highest point contributors in the NESCAC in junior forward Jason Brochu and Gagnon. Brochu has eight goals and 12 assists for 20 points, while Gagnon’s 13 goals and six assists tally 19 points.

Hamilton and Amherst also have rock-solid defenses, another obstacle Tufts will have to overcome to get victories. The Hamilton defense has allowed 38 goals this season, an average of just 1.90 goals per game. The Amherst defense is not much worse, letting in 45 goals, an average of 2.25 per game.

Hamilton’s defense is ranked second in the conference, and Amherst’s is ranked third. Tufts, on the other hand, ranks eighth out of ten NESCAC teams in scoring, with 44 total goals and an

average of 2.20 goals per game. The Jumbos may struggle mightily to find the net against their defense-minded opponents.

Tufts will be looking to its top point-scorers for a spark. Specifically, senior forward Brian Brown, the leading point-getter for the Jumbos (eight goals and six assists on the season), will be relied on after scoring on Saturday against the Camels. “[Against Amherst and Hamilton], we will try to execute the same game plan as the last time we played them,” Norton said. “We need to force both teams to play 200 feet, be strong on the lines and get shots with traffic. Both teams have good goaltending and are good in transition.”

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Sports

Friday, February 9, 2018

MEN'S SWIMMING AND DIVING

Swimmers close regular season on high note at Middlebury Invitational

by Haley Rich

Assistant Sports Editor

After a decisive 180–112 win over Wheaton on Jan. 20, the Tufts men’s swimming and diving team enjoyed a week off from competition before gearing up for its final race of the regular season. The Jumbos then faced off against the Middlebury Panthers and the Williams Ephs in the Middlebury Invitational on Feb. 2–3.

Although there was no team scoring, Tufts clearly dominated the pool at Middlebury, taking home first-place finishes in 16 individual and relay events.

Highlights include capturing the top six places in the 100-yard butterfly, the top five spots in the 100 freestyle and the top four places in the 50-yard freestyle and 200-yard backstroke.

The team made a bold statement right out of the gate on Friday night, with three of its 200-yard freestyle relay teams touching the wall before any from Williams or Middlebury. The trend continued, as first-years JJ Batt and Connor Doyle and senior Zach Wallace swept first, second and third places, respectively, in the 200yard individual medley relay. The Jumbos didn’t let up for the rest of the meet.

For about half of the athletes, the Middlebury Invitational represented their championship meet, since only 24 Tufts swimmers will compete at the NESCAC Championships in two weeks.

“Those of us who aren’t competing at NESCACs were tapered and shaved in preparation for this meet,” first-year Dawson Stout said. “We reduced our yardage and rested a lot. As the meet got closer, we didn’t even walk to classes — seniors would drive us.”

For many of those seniors, the meet marked the end of their swimming careers.

“During the 400-yard freestyle relay, I got to be a part of seniors Tyler Shapiro and Kai McGuire’s last race ever,” Stout said. “After they got out of the water, it was pretty emotional.”

Stout himself had a breakout performance this weekend, winning the mixed 1000-yard freestyle in 9:48.76 and the 200-yard butterfly in 1:53.57, while also racing the third leg of the Jumbos’ winning 800-yard freestyle relay. Stout, a native of Newtown, Conn., achieved personal bests in all his events. Other stellar performances included sophomore Timothy Gronet, who took home two individual wins and three relay wins, as well as Batt, who added two individual victories and three relay wins to his aforementioned triumph in the 200-yard freestyle. For his efforts, Batt was named Tufts Male Athlete of the Week.

“The team’s performance this weekend was one of the more impressive performances I’ve seen them achieve since I started coaching at Tufts,” coach Adam Hoyt said. “There were over 60 lifetime-best times, which was very special. The attitude was up there, the effort was there — I couldn’t have asked for much more.”

The Jumbos’ positivity wasn’t just a result of their strong performances, but an emphasis going into the Invitational.

“One of the seniors said his goal for this meet was ‘Smiles for everyone,’ and I think we achieved that,” Stout said.

For the divers, this meet was an opportunity to compete against some of the same teams who will present big competition at the NESCAC Championship in a few weeks. Senior Aaron Idelson placed second in the one-meter diving competition with a score of 419.10 points and third in the three-meter event with a score of 399.15.

(BEN KIM / THE TUFTS DAILY)

Junior Kingsley Bowen swims the butterfly in a meet against MIT on Jan. 15, 2017.

“One meter was definitely better than three meter for me personally,” Idelson said. “My back dives felt very clean. [First-year] Daniel Pascal had a solid meet, especially with three meter.

He did a bunch of new dives that he had just learned that week. But from this point out, we’re not learning anything new — we’re focusing on cleaning up our execution.”

Looking forward to the NESCAC Championships on Feb. 23–25 in Brunswick, Maine, swimmers who are competing will now begin to taper, shave and focus on staying healthy.

After Amherst narrowly topped Tufts for second place at the meet last year, 1,402–1,391, the team is cautiously optimistic in its quest to improve on its third-place finish and potentially to end Williams’ 15-year winning streak.

The Jumbos can expect a strong performance from junior Kingsley Bowen, who currently tops NESCAC rankings in the 50 backstroke (23.11 seconds), 100 backstroke (49.35), 200 backstroke (1:50.15) and 100 butterfly (49.54), as well as from sophomore Roger Gu,

who leads the conference in the 50 freestyle (20.26) and 100 freestyle (45.62). Additionally, Batt currently has the fastest time in the NESCAC in the 200 IM (1:53.89), while Wallace leads in the 400 IM (4:05.32). Finally, Idelson is ranked in the top six for both the sixand 11-dive competitions at heights of one and three meters, and firstyear Austin Pruitt — freshly recovered from an injury — also grazes the top of the ranks in the six-dive competitions. Nonetheless, the Jumbos can’t rely solely on individual performances.

“Our key to success is the relay teams performing their best,” Hoyt said.

The expectations for relays are high, as Tufts leads the NESCAC rankings in four of the seven relays: the 200 freestyle (1:23.28), 800 freestyle (6:52.62), 200 medley (1:31.99) and 400 medley (3:24.89).

When asked for the biggest performance to look out for, Hoyt couldn’t narrow it down to one.

“There are so many guys who can step up,” he said. “It’s impossible to choose one.”

WOMEN’S SWIMMING & DIVING

Jumbos make final postseason push at Middlebury Invitational

by Jeremy Goldstein Staff Writer

(COURTESY DAVID DECORTIN)

Senior co-captain Anna Kimura swims the breaststroke in a meet at Wheaton on Jan. 21, 2017.

The Tufts women’s swimming and diving team made one last splash ahead of the upcoming NESCAC championships, participating in the Middlebury Invitational over the weekend. With the Jumbos competing under a few different premises — some sought to prepare for NESCACs, while others looked to finish their seasons on a high note — there were many impressive results.

First-year Tara Zhou took home first place in the 100-yard backstroke, smashing her seed time by over three seconds with a mark of 1:00.96, while senior Kelsey Gallagher placed second in the event, less than two-tenths of a second behind her teammate. Gallagher later added a third-place finish in the 200 backstroke (2:12.85). Senior Lindsay Partin impressed by swimming her way into second place in both the 100 and 200

breaststroke (1:09.14 and 2:30.17, respectively). Junior Tessa Garces was also part of the brigade coming in second, finishing the 200-yard butterfly in 2:10.33.

The meet was especially noteworthy for Tufts’ young guard, with many underclassmen recording solid showings. In addition to Zhou’s performance, first-year Amber Chong impressed in the 1-meter diving competition, gaining 404.3 points to come in third place. First-year Abby Claus rounded out the Jumbos’ third-place finishes, taking third in the 500-meter freestyle (5:13.40), just ahead of fellow first-year Sook-Hee Evans, who placed in fourth with a time of 5:14.19.

“We had a number of women [for whom] this was their last meet of the season. It was a fast pool, it was a great opportunity for them to go fast,” coach Adam Hoyt said. “We rest them approsee WOMEN’S SWIMMING, page 7

4 Friday, February 9, 2018

Features

tuftsdaily.com

Hayato Miyajima Jumbo Exchange

I

Kick-off

n my columns this semester, I am going to write about exchange students’ experiences here at Tufts. I hope you will enjoy it and take an interest in Tufts’ exchange programs.

In addition, I would like you to know what kind of support and opportunities exchange students seek to make their experiences here better, as well as to make a more positive impact as members of the Tufts community.

Today, for my first piece, I am going to introduce myself and give some general information about exchange students at Tufts.

I am an exchange student from Japan. I am 21 years old this year. I was born and raised in a beautiful countryside city of Japan called Iida, located in Nagano Prefecture. Iida is surrounded by mountains and not by the ocean, but it has very little light pollution, so its night skies are notably starry. However, Iida city does not get many visitors from foreign countries.

Inspired by my high school English teacher, I decided to get out of this rural environment and enroll in Kanazawa University in Ishikawa Prefecture, Japan, well-known for its fulfilling exchange program. The university is located on a hill just like Tufts and has affiliations with many universities around the world. At Kanazawa University, I study international relations.

Out of a variety of options available to me, I — a country boy dreaming of U.S. college life — chose Tufts for my destination to study abroad. Of course, my primary reason for coming to Tufts was to enjoy the quality international relations education for undergraduates in the best environment. After my year abroad at Tufts, I will return to complete my senior year at Kanazawa University.

About exchange students at Tufts: in the 2017–2018 academic year, Tufts received more than 20 exchange students. Most exchange students stay at Tufts for an academic year, although some exchange students have returned to their home universities after the fall semester. We come from a range of universities in different countries: Chile, France, Germany, Ghana, Hong Kong, Japan and Spain. Given that there are more than 5,500 undergraduates (and around 11,500 students in total) at Tufts, you should feel lucky if you find one of us!

Jokes aside, since the number of exchange students is quite small, there are no clubs or organizations specifically designed for us on campus. It is such a shame, isn’t it? In order to help exchange students maximize the value of studying abroad, I want to build some organized mechanism of passing down experiences and knowledge to future exchange students. This includes asking my fellow exchange students to share their experiences, as well as Tufts students to build connections with the exchange students on campus. I envision that my column will be a bit of help in this regard. Stay tuned.

Hayato Miyajima is an exchange student majoring in international relations. Hayato can be reached at Hayato.Miyajima@tufts.edu.

tuftsdaily.com

WEEKENDER

5 Friday, February 9, 2018

Tufts drama department’s ‘Lysistrata’ reinvents a classic

by Setenay Mufti Arts Editor

Gird your loins, Tufts.

The Tufts Department of Drama and Dance will premier the great Greek comedy “Lysistrata” on Thursday, Feb. 15. Directed

by Tufts’ own Sheriden Thomas — a senior lecturer in the department — and based on Ellen McLaughlin’s modern adaptation, this version of “Lysistrata” will take a time-honored tale of war, peace, sex and gender into the modern age.

Aristophanes, a famed comic playwright, wrote “Lysistrata” in ancient Athens in 411 BC. In the midst of the Peloponnesian War, a 27-year conflict between Athens and Sparta’s Peloponnesian League, Aristophanes premiered a play in which a plucky Athenian woman, Lysistrata, gathers women from Athens and Sparta alike into a united front to end the war.

Their plan? To withhold sex from their husbands until the men make peace.

Most of the play takes place outside the Acropolis and treasury, which the old Athenian women seize to prevent their husbands from funding the war.

The men attempt to stifle the revolt in an increasingly bawdy sequence of events, until sexual frustration from both genders brings the men and women together (wink-wink), and the long Peloponnesian war to a close.

“Lysistrata” remains a popular comedy to this day, and has been redone in modern contexts many times; famous versions include Spike Lee’s “Chi-Raq” (2015) centered around gang violence in Chicago, and “Is That a Gun in Your Pocket” (2016) about Texan gun culture. It’s easy to see why: Two consistent themes in human history are war and sexual desire. But this February’s “Lysistrata” reinvents the tale in more ways than one.

First, according to Thomas, this performance will be gender-flexible.

“We changed men and women to soldiers and spouses,” Thomas said.

“They’re also called geezers and crones.”

Instead of just women, all genders staying at home will be denying their partners sex. But that doesn’t mean the play will completely disregard gender, explained graduate student and dramaturge Bárbara Casseb.

“It’s not an egalitarian perspective,” Casseb said. “We did try that as a step of the process, but then we realized that [recognizing] gender was also helping us tell the story of how to subvert gender.

We do have a lot of playfulness about gender, gender neutrality and gender existing as a binary.”

To purists, this approach may seem inappropriate for a story all about the gender binary. A major theme of the original play is female lust, and the concept that women can suppress their urges long enough to end a historic

COURTESY CELIA GITTLEMAN

A promotional poster for ‘Lysistrata’ is pictured.

war is part of the comedy. But Anne Mahoney, a senior lecturer in classics who provided historical background for the play, disagrees.

“I like the approach they’re taking,” Mahoney said. “Aristophanes presents the women as lustful, and wants the audience to laugh at this. But of course by the end of the play we realize that men are exactly the same way, and that they’re all completely motivated by sex.” The only difference now is that Thomas’ version recognizes that from the beginning.

But gender isn’t really the point of Thomas’ “Lysistrata” anyway.

“Downplaying the battle of the sexes punches up the anti-war dimension of the play, and that’s much more useful in this day and age,” Mahoney said. “It’s an anti-war play. It has always been an anti-war play.”

According to Mahoney, the important thing is that peace wins out, and there’s some good vulgar humor along the way. It is a pacifist production, not a study in gender.

“My feeling is, Aristophanes wants the audience to laugh, and he wants the audience to think,” Mahoney said. “If

you can do that, than you’re being plenty faithful enough.”

That being said, Lysistrata is a powerful female role, and Mahoney is glad that the production is retaining the original gender of the lead.

“I would have dug in my heels over that one,” Mahoney said.

The other crucial element, Thomas emphasized, is the positivity in the humor and the experience. Thomas chose McLaughlin’s version particularly because of its humor. “[Mclaughlin is] very funny,” Mahoney said. “[Her version of “Lysistrata”] made me laugh. It’s bawdy, it’s contemporary.”

But Thomas also received special permission from McLaughlin to go her own way with the stage direction and casting. Although much of McLaughlin’s dialogue remains intact, there are some crucial additions that make the performance abstract and special. There will be an onstage band performing original music and lyrics to accompany the show, as well as helping with special effects.

Audience engagement will (hopefully) play a role in the show. The costumes and prompts will be bold. (“Look out for

the shoes,” Casseb said.) Instead of the dual choruses being men and women who reconcile in the end, the heads of the choruses will be Past and Present.

Because the production is contemporary, parallels to American culture and current events are inevitable. “[The play] points to our current political climate, both with the explosion of identity politics we’ve had recently,” Casseb said, “as well as to the actual political scenario of America. It’s not dragging the past into the present.”

Every time Past says “Athens,” Present will chime in “United States.” The war will obviously not be the Peloponnesian War, but instead the concept of war, particularly as it relates to the United States.

“We live in a world of wars right now, so any war will do,” Thomas said.

Despite the clear political subtext, this production will not be a “South Park” or Stephen Colbert-style takedown of the current rise of conservatism of America. Politics in general will be more of a nod than a plot point. “[The play] is political enough as is,” Thomas said. “Cynicism has a huge cost to your personal energy, and it does not bring solutions in my mind.” The production doesn’t want to point fingers, but to bring about solidarity and joy.

When Thomas approached McLaughlin for permission to reinterpret her script, McLaughlin emphasized the importance of maintaining the humor in the play.

“It was right after the [2016 presidential] election, and we were both very much in distress,” Thomas said. “[McLaughlin] said, ‘Don’t go dark. Stay bright with this, people need to laugh.’

Come join the party. Come have some laughs. Join the community, because this is a community. Community is what’s going to get us through this. We’ve got to find each other in all this darkness and have some fun, so that our creativity starts to see solutions.”

As Mahoney has said, Aristophanes would have wanted the audience to laugh and to think. He would have wanted subtle and not-so-subtle nods to current politics. He would have wanted the performance to be joyous and for all choruses and genders to come together in the end. He would have wanted an abundance of phallic jokes. Luckily for Tufts, the Department of Drama and Dance has promised to deliver.

“Lysistrata” will run Feb. 15-17 and 22–24 at 8 p.m. There will also be a panel discussion following the show on Feb. 22. Tickets are available at the box office and the Department of Drama and Dance website at $10 for students.

However, tickets for the Feb. 15 preview are available for $5, and all tickets for the Feb. 22 production are $1.

6

Friday, February 9, 2018 | Comics | THE TUFTS DAILY

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tuftsdaily.com LATE NIGHT AT THE DAILY Alison: “I’m always talking about STDs. You can just assume.”

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BY JIM DAVIS

Difficulty Level: remembering the private key to your bitcoin from 2012 that’s now worth $3,000.

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Friday, February 9, 2018 | Sports | THE TUFTS DAILY

7

Women's swimming and diving set for NESCAC Championships WOMEN’S SWIMMING

continued from back priately for the meet … [and] we had a number of lifetime bests. For them it gives them an opportunity to see improvement from one year to the next, [to see] adjustments to their stroke technique and whatnot.”

The Jumbos have also been focused on a larger objective for the last few weeks: the annual taper. “Tapering” is a staple of championship season, founded in the notion that success in the pool requires a measured training regimen, rather than a heavily intensive one; there is extra emphasis on rest and recovery leading up to important meets.

“The concept [of tapering] is very basic,” Hoyt said. “We work very hard through the season to train for one or two meets at the end of the year. All the work that our women do … over the summer, during the preseason

and during the season is leading up to the taper. Taper in the most basic sense is getting people healthy. The amount of time they’re spending in the pool and at practice is less in hope that they … can let their body rest and lower their stress level leading up to championships.”

Evans explained the practical aspects of the team’s tapering period.

“For the two weeks before [the meet], practices get shorter and shorter,” Evans said. “Sleep well, eat well, walk less [and] hydrate more.”

For the team’s first-years, a methodical taper is likely different than one they experienced in high school. Hoyt, nonetheless, expressed how impressed he has been with the performance of the new class both in and out of the pool, regardless of any differences in routine.

“Our [first-year] class has been a special [addition] to the team. They’re

talented swimmers and divers but importantly they’ve just been great teammates,” Hoyt said. “It’s tough to know how they will perform at the biggest meet of the year with [extra] rest, but everything I’ve seen in them leads me to believe that they’re going to do great. They’re going to swim fast for us, they’re going to score points for us and they’re going to be a big part of our success at the NESCAC Championships.”

With the Middlebury Invitational now in the rearview mirror, Tufts will focus on the conference championship meet, which commences Feb. 16 at Williams. The Jumbos are confident that they can improve on last season’s eighth-place finish.

“We saw a lot of people who tapered swim really fast this weekend,” Evans said. “That kind of got us all excited because that will be us in two weeks, hopefully.”

Hoyt explained how the conference championship meet presents a particular challenge every year.

“NESCAC weekend is a marathon,” Hoyt said. “It’s six sessions, and each is three-plus hours in length.

To be able to keep your energy up, to keep your attitude where it needs to be [and] to keep your level of focus up is probably the biggest challenge for teams competing that weekend. That is the goal I will be looking for us to achieve that weekend. I know the effort will be there. If we can put together six sessions of high energy, high focus, the results will be there, as well.”

With a boon from the first-years, to add to the already-impressive performances from upperclassmen at the Middlebury Invitational and previous meets, the NESCACs could be the successful culmination of a Tufts season that commenced with hard work in the summer and ended with a taper in the winter.

ICE HOCKEY

Men’s hockey set to take on Amherst, Hamilton this weekend

by Liam Finnegan Sports Editor

On Feb. 2 and Feb. 3, the Tufts men’s ice hockey team played Conn. College (9–9–2, 8–4–2 NESCAC) in back-to-back fixtures, with the first at home and the second on the road in New London, Conn. The Jumbos came away with a tie and a loss against the Camels, bringing their record to 3–8–3 in the conference and 4–12–4 overall. Now, the team is looking ahead to the weekend, when they will face off against a pair of conference opponents: Amherst on Saturday and Hamilton on Sunday.

While the Jumbos were disappointed with the results against the Camels, they are staying optimistic about the future.

“Any loss in this league hurts, but the season is incredibly short,” senior goaltender and co-captain Nik Nugnes said. “So we need to have short term memories and keep moving forward.”

Tufts Head Coach Pat Norton echoed the sentiments of his starting goalie, who registered his fourth career shutout in the scoreless draw against Conn. College.

“I think we were disappointed with the outcome of the Connecticut College weekend,” Norton said. “I believe we felt as though we had played strong hockey for most of two games, and to come out of it with only a point was disappointing. We could have made better decisions at the lines in the third period. We had too many turnovers, and we got ourselves back on our heels. Games are usually won or lost on turnovers at the lines. For two periods we were very good, [and] in the third, we got a little sloppy.”

The first game between Tufts and Conn. College was a defensive deadlock, as neither team was able to score a game-winner. The match ended 0–0, Tufts’ first scoreless draw in program history. In their second meeting, the two teams were level in scoring at the end of the game once more, and the game went into overtime tied 3–3. Unfortunately for the Jumbos, junior forward William White scored less than a minute into the extra period to seal the victory for the hosts. After the disheartening results, Tufts looks to pick up a couple of late-season victories against Amherst and Hamilton.

COURTESY DAVE DECORTIN

First-year forward Brendan Ryan brings the puck forward in the men’s ice hockey home game at Valley Forum against Wesleyan University on Jan 20.

The Jumbos may face an easier task this weekend, as both of their opponents have worse conference records than the second-place Camels. Amherst is 6–4–4 (9–7–4 overall) and fourth in the NESCAC, while Hamilton is 7–6–1 (13–6–1 overall), good for fifth in the conference. However, the Jumbos will definitely have their work cut out for them. Hamilton has a couple of standout offensive talents who will no doubt give Tufts a tough contest. Junior forward Rory Gagnon and sophomore forward Nick Ursitti rank second and tied for fourth in the league for goals, respectively. Gagnon has 13 goals to his name, while Ursitti has 10.

Hamilton also boasts the third- and

fourth-highest point contributors in the NESCAC in junior forward Jason Brochu and Gagnon. Brochu has eight goals and 12 assists for 20 points, while Gagnon’s 13 goals and six assists tally 19 points.

Hamilton and Amherst also have rock-solid defenses, another obstacle Tufts will have to overcome to get victories. The Hamilton defense has allowed 38 goals this season, an average of just 1.90 goals per game. The Amherst defense is not much worse, letting in 45 goals, an average of 2.25 per game.

Hamilton’s defense is ranked second in the conference, and Amherst’s is ranked third. Tufts, on the other hand, ranks eighth out of ten NESCAC teams in scoring, with 44 total goals and an

average of 2.20 goals per game. The Jumbos may struggle mightily to find the net against their defense-minded opponents.

Tufts will be looking to its top point-scorers for a spark. Specifically, senior forward Brian Brown, the leading point-getter for the Jumbos (eight goals and six assists on the season), will be relied on after scoring on Saturday against the Camels. “[Against Amherst and Hamilton], we will try to execute the same game plan as the last time we played them,” Norton said. “We need to force both teams to play 200 feet, be strong on the lines and get shots with traffic. Both teams have good goaltending and are good in transition.”

8 tuftsdaily.com

Sports

Friday, February 9, 2018

MEN'S SWIMMING AND DIVING

Swimmers close regular season on high note at Middlebury Invitational

by Haley Rich

Assistant Sports Editor

After a decisive 180–112 win over Wheaton on Jan. 20, the Tufts men’s swimming and diving team enjoyed a week off from competition before gearing up for its final race of the regular season. The Jumbos then faced off against the Middlebury Panthers and the Williams Ephs in the Middlebury Invitational on Feb. 2–3.

Although there was no team scoring, Tufts clearly dominated the pool at Middlebury, taking home first-place finishes in 16 individual and relay events.

Highlights include capturing the top six places in the 100-yard butterfly, the top five spots in the 100 freestyle and the top four places in the 50-yard freestyle and 200-yard backstroke.

The team made a bold statement right out of the gate on Friday night, with three of its 200-yard freestyle relay teams touching the wall before any from Williams or Middlebury. The trend continued, as first-years JJ Batt and Connor Doyle and senior Zach Wallace swept first, second and third places, respectively, in the 200yard individual medley relay. The Jumbos didn’t let up for the rest of the meet.

For about half of the athletes, the Middlebury Invitational represented their championship meet, since only 24 Tufts swimmers will compete at the NESCAC Championships in two weeks.

“Those of us who aren’t competing at NESCACs were tapered and shaved in preparation for this meet,” first-year Dawson Stout said. “We reduced our yardage and rested a lot. As the meet got closer, we didn’t even walk to classes — seniors would drive us.”

For many of those seniors, the meet marked the end of their swimming careers.

“During the 400-yard freestyle relay, I got to be a part of seniors Tyler Shapiro and Kai McGuire’s last race ever,” Stout said. “After they got out of the water, it was pretty emotional.”

Stout himself had a breakout performance this weekend, winning the mixed 1000-yard freestyle in 9:48.76 and the 200-yard butterfly in 1:53.57, while also racing the third leg of the Jumbos’ winning 800-yard freestyle relay. Stout, a native of Newtown, Conn., achieved personal bests in all his events. Other stellar performances included sophomore Timothy Gronet, who took home two individual wins and three relay wins, as well as Batt, who added two individual victories and three relay wins to his aforementioned triumph in the 200-yard freestyle. For his efforts, Batt was named Tufts Male Athlete of the Week.

“The team’s performance this weekend was one of the more impressive performances I’ve seen them achieve since I started coaching at Tufts,” coach Adam Hoyt said. “There were over 60 lifetime-best times, which was very special. The attitude was up there, the effort was there — I couldn’t have asked for much more.”

The Jumbos’ positivity wasn’t just a result of their strong performances, but an emphasis going into the Invitational.

“One of the seniors said his goal for this meet was ‘Smiles for everyone,’ and I think we achieved that,” Stout said.

For the divers, this meet was an opportunity to compete against some of the same teams who will present big competition at the NESCAC Championship in a few weeks. Senior Aaron Idelson placed second in the one-meter diving competition with a score of 419.10 points and third in the three-meter event with a score of 399.15.

BEN KIM / THE TUFTS DAILY

Junior Kingsley Bowen swims butterfly in a meet against MIT on Jan. 15, 2017.

“One meter was definitely better than three meter for me personally,” Idelson said. “My back dives felt very clean. [First-year] Daniel Pascal had a solid meet, especially with three meter.

He did a bunch of new dives that he had just learned that week. But from this point out, we’re not learning anything new — we’re focusing on cleaning up our execution.”

Looking forward to the NESCAC Championships on Feb. 23–25 in Brunswick, Maine, swimmers who are competing will now begin to taper, shave and focus on staying healthy.

After Amherst narrowly topped Tufts for second place at the meet last year, 1,402–1,391, the team is cautiously optimistic in its quest to improve on its third-place finish and potentially to end Williams’ 15-year winning streak.

The Jumbos can expect a strong performance from junior Kingsley Bowen, who currently tops NESCAC rankings in the 50 backstroke (23.11 seconds), 100 backstroke (49.35), 200 backstroke (1:50.15) and 100 butterfly (49.54), as well as from sophomore Roger Gu,

who leads the conference in the 50 freestyle (20.26) and 100 freestyle (45.62). Additionally, Batt currently has the fastest time in the NESCAC in the 200 IM (1:53.89), while Wallace leads in the 400 IM (4:05.32). Finally, Idelson is ranked in the top six for both the sixand 11-dive competitions at heights of one and three meters, and firstyear Austin Pruitt — freshly recovered from an injury — also grazes the top of the ranks in the six-dive competitions. Nonetheless, the Jumbos can’t rely solely on individual performances.

“Our key to success is the relay teams performing their best,” Hoyt said.

The expectations for relays are high, as Tufts leads the NESCAC rankings in four of the seven relays: the 200 freestyle (1:23.28), 800 freestyle (6:52.62), 200 medley (1:31.99) and 400 medley (3:24.89).

When asked for the biggest performance to look out for, Hoyt couldn’t narrow it down to one.

“There are so many guys who can step up,” he said. “It’s impossible to choose one.”

WOMEN’S SWIMMING & DIVING

Jumbos make final postseason push at Middlebury Invitational

by Jeremy Goldstein Staff Writer

COURTESY DAVID DECORTIN

Senior co-captain Anna Kimura swims the breaststroke in a meet at Wheaton on Jan. 21, 2017.

The Tufts women’s swimming and diving team made one last splash ahead of the upcoming NESCAC championships, participating in the Middlebury Invitational over the weekend. With the Jumbos competing under a few different premises — some sought to prepare for NESCACs, while others looked to finish their seasons on a high note — there were many impressive results.

First-year Tara Zhou took home first place in the 100-yard backstroke, smashing her seed time by over three seconds with a mark of 1:00.96, while senior Kelsey Gallagher placed second in the event, less than two-tenths of a second behind her teammate. Gallagher later added a third-place finish in the 200 backstroke (2:12.85). Senior Lindsay Partin impressed by swimming her way into second place in both the 100 and 200

breaststroke (1:09.14 and 2:30.17, respectively). Junior Tessa Garces was also part of the brigade coming in second, finishing the 200-yard butterfly in 2:10.33.

The meet was especially noteworthy for Tufts’ young guard, with many underclassmen recording solid showings. In addition to Zhou’s performance, first-year Amber Chong impressed in the 1-meter diving competition, gaining 404.3 points to come in third place. First-year Abby Claus rounded out the Jumbos’ third-place finishes, taking third in the 500-meter freestyle (5:13.40), just ahead of fellow first-year Sook-Hee Evans, who placed in fourth with a time of 5:14.19.

“We had a number of women [for whom] this was their last meet of the season. It was a fast pool, it was a great opportunity for them to go fast,” coach Adam Hoyt said. “We rest them approsee WOMEN’S SWIMMING, page 7