The Tufts Daily - Thursday, September 20, 2018

Media scholar Aymer Jean Christian re-envisions TV as intersectional in a digital age see WEEKENDER / PAGE 4

WOMEN’S TENNIS

Jumbos open season with Tufts Invitational

Men’s cross country kicks off 2018 season with win at Bates see SPORTS / BACK PAGE

SEE SPORTS / BACK PAGE

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Congressman Joaquín Castro discusses foreign policy, midterm elections

MADELEINE OLIVER / THE TUFTS DAILY

Rep. Joaquín Castro answers an audience question in the Cabot Intercultural Center’s ASEAN Auditorium on September 19.

by Charlie Driver News Editor

Rep. Joaquín Castro, a leading Democrat in the House of Representatives, discussed foreign policy and domestic issues at the Cabot Intercultural Center’s ASEAN Auditorium Wednesday night. The event was co-sponsored by The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy and the Jonathan M. Tisch College of Civic Life.

Castro, who has represented Texas’ 20th Congressional District since 2013, was introduced by Ian Johnstone,

interim dean of The Fletcher School.

Johnstone listed Castro’s committee assignments, which include seats on the Foreign Affairs and Intelligence Committees, and highlighted his roles as vice chair of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus and as chief deputy whip in the House Democratic Leadership.

Castro then delivered some introductory remarks. He highlighted the fact that 70 million people are currently displaced from their homes around the world, whether fleeing ethnic conflict, like the Rohingya in Myanmar, escaping war in Syria or avoiding famine in

Africa. Castro used the cases of Central and South American immigrants, who arrive at America’s borders fleeing persecution, to demonstrate the convergence of foreign and domestic policy.

Castro explained that in all of these crises, the United States is seen as a leader, the protector of world order. He expressed concern that the Trump administration is leading America away from that role.

“If the U.S. isn’t seen as the leader of nations and the leader of NATO, what does it mean for us?” Castro asked.

After Castro’s remarks, Johnstone asked him two questions about this criticism of President Trump’s foreign policy — one about the administration’s expression of policy, and another about its content and results.

Using an anecdote about conflicting statements on Israel that Trump and former Secretary of State Rex Tillerson gave within hours of each other, Castro explained that one of the biggest problems with the White House’s foreign policy is its lack of clarity.

“Sometimes you’ll get two answers [on a policy question] from the president himself,” he said.

Castro explained that this confuses both American and foreign lawmakers. He described a diplomatic trip to Japan and South Korea during which he was repeatedly asked to indicate which White House official reliably speaks for the president.

Castro expressed concern that, as a result of this muddled foreign policy, countries would simply avoid dealing with the United States.

“When I hear the president start to back away from [America’s commitments abroad], that makes me wonder how long it will take for some of these countries to start moving around the United States,” he said.

In a conversation after the talk with reporters from the Daily and the Fletcher Forum of World Affairs, the Fletcher School’s student-run international relations journal, Castro explained that countries like China have attempted to leverage these foreign policy deficiencies to get closer with traditional U.S. allies like Mexico.

“Like it or not, they’re starting to move around the United States and make new alliances,” he said.

Castro also stressed that, for the time being, America’s pre-existing alliances remain strong — despite all of the uncertain rhetoric.

“Many of our allies are still hoping for the best; they’re hoping that the President’s words are mostly words,” he said.

Castro, who co-chairs the Congressional Association of Southeast Asian Nations Caucus, discussed geopolitical events in Southeast Asia, as well as Trump’s policies toward North Korea and China. While he praised the thaw in relations between the Koreas during Trump’s time in office, Castro criticized the president’s denuclearization policy.

“If the goal was to make sure that North Korea did not further its nuclear power, on that score I think the president has failed,” he said. see CASTRO, page 2

Computer science department announces cybersecurity focus area

by Kunal Kapur

Assistant News Editor

The Department of Computer Science has introduced its first-ever focus area in cybersecurity, according to Senior Lecturer Ming Chow. The rollout of the focus area, which is available to all class years, is being done under the leadership of Chow.

The new focus comes as Tufts has seen a surge of popularity in computer science degrees. The number of students graduating with bachelor’s degrees in computer science has more than tripled since 2012 in the School of Arts and Sciences, and more than doubled over the same period in the School of Engineering, according to Tufts’ 2017–2018 Fact Book.

Chow explained that cybersecurity is not a new field, but has grown in importance in recent years.

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“The idea of security is not new,” Chow said. “The problem is we have reached a point in our lives where we have grown dependent on technology, and now we’re seeing all this [technology] being broken into.”

The introduction of cybersecurity is also a result of a call from graduating computer science seniors for the department to support more focus areas in the major, according to Megan Monaghan, academic resource advisor with the computer science department.

“We’ve recently had many comments about tracks or focus areas to help guide coursework in the major,” Monaghan said.

Monaghan explained that in response, the department solicited ideas from faculty for new focus areas. Chow suggested cybersecurity.

Chow, who has taught an “Introduction to Computer Security” course since 2011, noted

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that students who took that course recognized that the field of cybersecurity was too broad to be examined in a single semester. This, he said, demonstrated the need for an expansion of the curriculum.

He also noted a demand for more robust cybersecurity-related classes from prospective students. Cybersecurity classes, he added, can help give Tufts a competitive edge.

“Why not do this now when the competition is so fierce, especially in cybersecurity?”

Chow said.

Tufts has recently been promoting the study of cybersecurity, especially through The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy.

The Center for International Law and Governance at the Fletcher School hosted a two-day conference on cybersecurity last weekend. The university also hired Susan Landau as a bridge professor of cybersecurity and policy at both the Fletcher School

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and the computer science department in the School of Engineering.

Chow said that the department’s new cybersecurity focus area will complement this effort. He also noted the myriad careers that studying cybersecurity could open up.

“You can work in malware, cryptography, political science [or] cyber warfare,” Chow said.

Monaghan elaborated on what the cybersecurity focus area could accomplish for students.

“We hope that it will provide students with a road map to follow if they are interested in pursuing a career in cybersecurity, or just want to learn more about how systems, applications, algorithms and protocols work and fail,” she said. “Security is an important topic in just about every area of computer science.”

NEWS............................................1 WEEKENDER..........................4 FUN & GAMES......................... 7

see CYBERSECURITY, page 2

OPINION.....................................8 SPORTS............................ BACK

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THE TUFTS DAILY | News | Thursday, September 20, 2018

THE TUFTS DAILY Seohyun Shim Editor-in-Chief

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CASTRO

continued from page 1 As for the escalating trade war with China, Castro was uncertain of the policy’s goal but clear on impact.

“It has started to take its toll on American companies,” he said. “It’s also taking a toll on China and Chinese companies.”

The conversation then shifted to cybersecurity. Johnstone cited that Castro recently introduced the Secure America from Russian Interference Act. Castro explained that he sees protecting elections as one of the major challenges facing the United States today.

“There isn’t a single federal law that establishes a minimal level of cybersecurity protection for our voting systems,” he said.

“That’s a frightening place to be for American democracy.”

Asked more about that point during the question-and-answer portion of the event, Castro advocated for large-scale international cybersecurity policy.

“We have to move more quickly toward mutual cyber-defense treaties,” he explained.

Castro elaborated on his vision for

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cybersecurity policy during the post-event discussion.

“Until recently, we’d never dealt with challenges like this in cyberspace on such a large scale, where our democracy was challenged,” he said.

In explaining the need for reform, he noted that NATO’s current cybersecurity policy gives limited options and does not sufficiently protect against election hacking.

Johnstone’s final question, which concerned Texas’s growing Latino vote and how it may change the state’s political representation, allowed Castro to discuss domestic politics. Castro explained his belief that the Democrats need to engage nonvoters, rather than flip Republicans, to start winning races again in a state that used to be reliably blue.

“Part of the challenge in Texas is historically, we’ve been one of the states that has one of the lowest rates of voter participation,” he said.

Castro explained two causes for this lack of participation, the first being a lack of voter education. Sharing an anecdote about a time he did not vote for low-level races because he lacked information and worried about making

a bad choice, Castro said that to non-voters, the same problem exists for all races.

“When you’re somebody that hasn’t voted, I really believe there’s a paralysis that takes place because there’s a lack of information,” he said.

Castro told the Daily that a lack of diversity in candidates for office has also limited voter participation among women and minorities.

“I think that also stunts political participation,” he said. “It’s a challenge because you have communities that don’t see themselves reflected in their elected leaders.”

He expressed hope that this year, which has already seen high-profile primary victories by women of color including Ayanna Pressley, Congress will be more representative.

During the Q&A session, Castro spoke about the emphasis he places on constituent correspondence and in response to the final question of the evening, explained the crux of his view of America’s role in the world.

“The United States should remain a nation that tries to keep the world safe,” he said.

Medford arts groups push for community center

by Austin Clementi

Executive Sports Editor Sports Editors

PRODUCTION Aidan Menchaca Daniel Montoya Amanda Covaleski Connor Dale Anna Deck Jordan Isaacs Maygen Kerner Omeir Khan Isabella Montoya Katharine Pinney Luke Allocco David Levitsky Sara Bass Caroline Bollinger Mary Carroll Myshko Chumak Zachary Hertz Anna Hirshman Will Hollinger Rachel Isralowitz Tess Jacobson Maria Kim Katie Martensen Lillian Miller Ali Mintz Netai Schwartz Nihaal Shah Liora Silkes Hannah Wells Jiayu Xu Avni Ambalam Leah Boisvert Sarah Crawford Dylan Koh Allie Morgenstern Abbie Treff Yuval Wolf Ani Hopkins Ercan Sen Amy Tong Asli Akova Elisabeth Blossom Shaivi Herur

Castro expresses concerns about lack of US leadership

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Medford Mayor Stephanie M. Burke has approved the formation of a feasibility study to investigate the creation of a new community arts center. The center would be located at the current site of the city-owned Hegner Center on 15 Maple Park Ave., according to Medford City Councillor Michael Marks.

Approval is the latest step towards the creation of Medford’s first arts center, a goal the city’s arts community has set. The formation, funding and organization surrounding the feasibility proposal is being spearheaded by a coalition of area arts groups called Arts Collaborative Medford (ACM), Marks said.

“We don’t have a place that we can call a home for the arts [in Medford], so this has been long overdue,” Marks said.

The estimated cost of the study is between $20,000 and $50,000 according to Gary Roberts, representative for ACM and chair of the Medford Arts Council. Tufts, as a member of ACM, has contributed $500 of the $10,000 ACM has raised for the study so far, according to the proposal submitted to Mayor Burke.

Roberts told the Daily in an email that the feasibility study will help determine whether the Hegner Center building will meet the community’s needs as an arts center.

In the past, the Hegner Center housed a nonprofit of the same name which provided services for children and adults with learning disabilities, according to Marks. It was later taken over by another organization, Bridgewell Inc., that operated under the same service-oriented mission. But Bridgewell outgrew the building; it vacated the Hegner Center in 2013. Medford acquired the property deed in 2016, according to WickedLocal.

The Hegner Center would work well as an arts center, according to ACM’s proposal requesting a feasibility study, submitted to Mayor Burke. “[The Hegner Center has a] mix of smaller rooms that could be used for many activities, from studio space to offices, and a large main room that

could be used for ongoing exhibitions of artwork and performances or lectures,” the proposal states.

Marks added that the feasibility study would assess what potential arts services the center could provide, review Americans with Disabilities Act compliance rules and estimate overall cost. “[A feasibility study would] look at program and space planning, capital cost estimates, a business plan, a market analysis [and] a finance strategy,” Marks said.

Marks said the feasibility study would need to be conducted before any programming within the center was finalized, but he underlined several key components that members of ACM want to see.

“Studio space is definitely something we’re looking to build. Art classes will be something that I think we all see within the building itself … and eventually … some type of community and meeting and gathering space so people can have art exhibits and storytelling and a makerspace,” he said.

Roberts also emphasized the economic aspect of building an arts center, saying that the renewed interest in the arts causes people to think of Medford as “more of a destination.”

Part of that vision could come through the formation of a state-sanctioned cultural district around the arts center and other existing Medford landmarks, according to Marks. He mentioned the Chevalier Theater, an auditorium in Medford, and the historic Royall House and Slave Quarters as potential destinations.

“If [we’re] able to capitalize, find some connectivity [between the locations], we may be eligible for funding from the state, which would be a big asset to the city,” Marks said.

Medford residents view a potential arts center favorably: 66 percent of 79 respondents to a 2018 survey by the Medford Arts Council “indicated an affirmative desire for an arts center, and another 30 percent indicated an interest in there being one” according to ACM’s proposal for a feasibility study.

“I think that people realize that arts and

culture play a vital role in building a strong community, and not only does it improve the attractiveness and visibility of our city, but it contributes to the strength of the local economy,” Marks said.

He added that the center would help serve to keep artists in Medford, whereas previously, there wasn’t a lot of effort in reaching out to local artists.

“There hasn’t been a lot of effort to try to tap into that broader community [of artists],” he said. “There are a lot of professional artists who reside in Medford — classical composers, nationally recognized journalists, photographers — lots of people who have their whole career in the arts who [work] in Boston, or New York or Somerville or Cambridge.”

Tufts’ Director of Community Relations Rocco DiRico said that the university stands by local artists.

“Tufts University is a proud supporter of many art organizations in our host communities and a proud supporter of the arts in general,” DiRico told the Daily in an email.

DiRico, who also represents the university at ACM, said that the Hegner Center’s close proximity to Tufts will benefit the Tufts community.

“If the Hegner Center is chosen as the location for the ACM, it will be very close to campus and be a terrific asset for our students, faculty, and staff,” DiRico said.

Roberts, a former assistant provost at Tufts, stressed that he hopes to see the Tufts community get involved in the center in any way they can. He added that he would like to see members of the Tufts community join ACM member organization Medford Arts Council, which he now chairs.

“I would love to see some Tufts faculty or Tufts students, who have great ideas and are in a position to execute them at a high level, do their [work] in Medford,” he said, Marks said that ACM will attempt to raise the remainder of the funds without the help of Medford — he says this will prevent the study from becoming a “burden” on the city. However, Marks also emphasized that the city is still an option for funding if needed.

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PRE-HEALTH MEETING If you are thinking about medicine, dentistry, public health, or …

Come and hear from the health professions advisors and a panel of seniors.

WHEN:

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Ming Chow, senior lecturer of computer science, poses for a portrait beside his favorite poster inside Halligan Hall on Sept. 17.

University continues to promote study of cybersecurity CYBERSECURITY

continued from page 1 Chow explained that the cybersecurity focus area was “soft-launched” so that the department could hear feedback from students and improve the focus area. He noted that feedback so far has been extremely positive.

Sophomore Ryan Sheehan, who is studying computer science, expressed excitement about the interdisciplinary

nature of the new focus area.

“I think if you have more interest in the liberal arts, [cybersecurity] is a particularly great place to go in computer science,” he said.

Sheehan also stressed the critical thinking skills needed to approach cybersecurity from both the offensive and defensive sides.

“You need to be able to think about how a hacker would assess your own vulnerabilities and counteract that,” Sheehan said.

“It’s like a big game of chess, really,” he added.

While cybersecurity is currently the only official focus area in the computer science major, others, such as data science and algorithms, are in the mix as well. Data science is currently available as a major for engineering, but not liberal arts, students.

“We do plan to introduce more over the coming semesters,” Monaghan said.

“These will be posted to our website as soon as they’re developed.”

Sheehan added he would like to see a machine learning focus area be developed in the department.

Chow summed up the benefits of the cybersecurity focus area.

“Having the cybersecurity focus area now shows students that there’s a lot more to being in computer science than constant programming,” Chow said.

“This is an opportunity for students to build not only depth but specialization into a certain area.”

4 tuftsdaily.com

WEEKENDER

Thursday, September 20, 2018

‘Queer Art of Scale:’ Aymar Jean Christian on web television, intersectionality

Alexi Reich Movie Theater Butter

‘Juno’

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COURTESY LENNY GILMORE

Aymar Jean Christian, assistant professor of communication studies at Northwestern University and founder of Open TV, poses for a portrait.

by Stephanie Hoechst Assistant Arts Editor

Tufts’ Film and Media Studies Program, the Department of Drama and Dance and the Boston Cinema/Media Seminar will host a lecture by Aymar Jean Christian called “The Queer Art of Scale: Producing Indie Pilots for Web TV” this evening. Christian is an assistant professor of communication studies at Northwestern University, as well as the founder and head of development at Open TV (OTV), an online platform dedicated to streaming intersectional programming.

“We think about television as a medium that’s just for writers, primarily, but as television has expanded, it has become more interdisciplinary,” Christian said in an interview with the Daily. “We’re really only beginning to see how important other art forms are to the distribution of television.”

Tasha Oren, associate professor of drama and dance, invited Christian as part of a speaker series she started last year in an ongoing effort to bring more visibility to the oft-overlooked area of television scholarship. Oren hopes that thanks to the speaker series, more people will learn to appreciate television as a growing art form and viable area of scholarship, especially since film often dominates the field.

Christian’s area of study focuses on smaller-scale television production primarily designed for the web.

“I look at how digital technology and independent production shape and change creative industries,” he said. “My focus is on television.”

At Northwestern, Christian teaches both undergraduate and graduate classes on television and the TV industry, including “Power In Entertainment,” “Intersectionality & New Media” and a course that focuses on television in the cable and Internet eras.

In addition to his work as a researcher and scholar at Northwestern, Christian founded the Chicago-based streaming platform OTV in 2015, creating a space to provide visibility to stories that are generally left on the margins of popular entertainment — especially stories that negotiate multiple identities at once.

“I started the project asking the question, ‘How does queer television develop?,’” Christian said. “I was looking at scholarship that associated queerness with intersectionality — the idea that identifying as queer would have to interrogate multiple subject positions from the margins of race, gender, sexuality, class, religion, disability … Now

I have specified my question to ‘How does intersectional TV develop?’ because I’ve found that using the word ‘queer,’ folks associate queerness really with LGBTQ and the other identities.”

Christian explained that the question is an important one because society must acknowledge that there has never been a television network or channel that consistently and intentionally developed artists with multiple identities.

“The networks we have are single-identity networks — they’re black networks, Latino networks, women’s networks, gay networks — but in fact, identity is complex,” he said. “So many people have multiple identities. And so it’s an important question to ask because we don’t actually know how a network or how a distributor would develop intersectionally. So it’s something we have to practice to learn and understand. Algorithms are designed to separate and sort different kinds of users from each other so that we can be targeted, and one of the things intersectionality can do is bring communities together.”

To that end, OTV focuses exclusively on local artists rather than spreading to a broader community of creators.

“I wanted to see what value developing locally in a global digital context might arise,” Christian said. “I had a hunch that you would get a lot more efficiency on the small scale, with a local focus, than trying to go national without millions of dollars in investments. Being locally focused, we can recommend all kinds of people for artists to meet to help their projects get done, and it really is very much a community effort.”

Instead of forcing storytellers into a contractually binding agreement, Christian and his team at OTV provide resources to producers, writers and directors so they can get their project off the ground and move on to bigger providers if they desire. Christian explained that this guidance is a crucial part of his role at OTV. “I really am more of an indie development executive … My relationship with artists is that I’m the person who’s interested in showcasing your series, so I’m going to help you as best I can, as best as my team can, make the series so that I have it to release. But it’s very important that the artists actually produce the shows themselves … They keep their intellectual property, so they own the show, they can sell the show wher-

ever, they can show it wherever after we premiere it.”

Christian stressed that he tries to act as a resource for the artists who work with OTV, empowering them financially or providing a team as they try to grow their projects.

OTV also provides marketing consultation for artists who are looking to publicize their works. Christian asserts that this low-stakes agreement — in which the artists keep their intellectual property — actually leads to much more efficient and effective storytelling.

“As a scholar, my question is would a looser, more artist-friendly contract actually be more engaging, better indie TV? There are other short-form distributors that are corporate, that make web series from bigger budgets than us, but the sacrifice you make for getting that bigger budget is typically all of your [intellectual property] — your story, basically.”

“One of the things that I hypothesized is that if I was an artist, and I had a passion project that really was very much connected to me, like my realest, truest story, would I sell that to a new corporation?” Christian said.

“You know, these corporations aren’t HBO or ABC, they’re younger — with the understanding that yes, they might make it, but they might sit on it. Or if they do make it, this company might go out of business, and my story goes down with them. I really do think that one of the reasons why our programming stands out in the indie TV marketplace is the fact that we don’t have as much money as any of the other players because we really are just helping artists get where they need to go … I think we are releasing the best indie TV in the country. Not the best diverse indie TV, not the best queer or indie TV for people of color, but I think it’s just the best, period. Because we have the most diversity, and we also have the most honest storytelling.”

Christian also stressed the need for these diverse artists in Hollywood because they are better-equipped to write or produce diverse stories. The event tonight will focus on his experience with queer TV and experimental pilots.

“I’m looking at queer-identifying producers telling their own stories, and trying to figure out what are the ways in which their relationship to that community informs how they produce that work, and then can we see that giving us potentially more sincere — [that’s] the word I use, some people use the word authentic — stories.”

Christian’s lecture will be held at the Center for Humanities at Tufts at 48 Professors Row from 6–8 p.m. tonight.

’m willing to bet one of my allotted 10 daily meal swipes (you read that right, all of Tufts’ firstyears are being charged over $3000 in exchange for the oh-so-necessary ability to enter Dewick or Carm up to 10 times a day) that you, the reader, have at least one film that you love inexplicably. A film that for whatever reason — whether it’s because of who you watched it with or when it found its way into your life — you love unconditionally. This film isn’t necessarily your current favorite film, but it is one that will always cheer you up. For me that film is “Juno” (2007).

The 2007 film is a collaboration between director Jason Reitman and writer Diablo Cody, with this project being Cody’s writing debut. The film follows 16-year-old Juno MacGuff through an unexpected pregnancy during her junior year of high school. Ellen Page stars as the story’s knocked-up hero, with incredible supporting performances delivered by Jennifer Garner, J. K. Simmons and the incomparable Allison Janney.

I saw “Juno” for the first time when I was nine years old. My mother showed it to me on a whim suspecting I would like it, and boy, did I. Despite our fairly large age gap and difference in circumstance (my commitment to Model United Nations allowed me to narrowly avoid the threat of teenage pregnancy), I really related to Juno. On my first viewing I saw a witty, thoughtful, smart young woman seamlessly navigating the world. Juno became the woman I hoped to one day be.

Movies have an unbelievable ability to shape us and our beliefs, and it wasn’t until recently that I realized that my preference for graphic t-shirts and plaid could be traced back to that initial viewing of “Juno,” which is why I believe that it’s important to go back and watch the movies that impacted us.

In my most recent viewings of “Juno,” my reading of the main character has changed. I can see past some of her tough exterior. I can hear the fear and worry that hide behind some of her wittiest quips. I can see the careful balance that she is sometimes unable to keep up, and to me, this makes it all the more powerful.

Now when I watch her, she feels even more real. I am comparing my experiences against hers rather than holding her up as a goal. I’ve found even more humanity in her as I’ve been able to recognize her flaws and fears. Now, I can’t promise that whichever movie you hold near and dear from the 2000s will hold up, but I urge you to take the risk: go back down memory lane and watch it anyway. You may just learn a bit about yourself.

Alexi Reich is a first-year who has not yet declared a major. Alexi can be reached at alexi.reich@tufts.edu

Arts & Living

Thursday, September 20, 2018 | Arts & Living | THE TUFTS DAILY

Haruka Noishiki El Centro

MOVIE REVIEW

‘Operation Finale’ squanders its history

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VIA IMDB

A promotional poster for ‘Operation Finale’ is pictured.

by Tommy Gillespie Executive Arts Editor

The first impression that “Operation Finale” (2018) gave was that it has a Hollywood problem. Or maybe a history problem. Or perhaps a little bit of both.

Regardless of semantics, it definitely has a problem. The Nazi-hunting thriller, produced by and starring Oscar Isaac, is a perfectly serviceable addition to the long line of similar post-World War Two thrillers before it. Frustratingly, however, director Chris Weitz cannot decide if he wants to make a film like George Clooney’s “The Monuments Men” (2014) or like Steven Spielberg’s “Munich” (2005).

The real-life hunt for escaped Nazi war criminals in South America has lent itself to films both complex and sensitive, as well as exploitative and hackneyed over the years. Recent additions to this genre, such as 2013’s “Wakolda,” an Argentine speculative thriller about the Auschwitz “Angel of Death,” Josef Mengele, have also managed to strike a balance between thrills and historical drama without really delving into the horrific crimes of their antagonists.

But “Operation Finale,” which details the Mossad’s 1960 mission to capture Holocaust architect Adolf Eichmann from Argentina and take him to Israel to stand trial, seems to want to tick all these boxes at once. It’s balanced and thought-provoking, except when it’s cheap and sanitized. It’s sensitive, rivet-

ing historical drama, except when it’s every forgettable espionage film you’ve ever seen.

Perhaps to its own detriment, “Operation Finale” is by no means a bad movie. In its moments, it achieves everything such a film should aspire to: sensitivity, delicateness, tension, drama and emotion. Alexandre Desplat delivers a simmering, halting score; the camerawork is fluid and exciting when it needs to be and stark and unflinching at other times.

The acting in “Operation Finale” is somewhat of a mixed bag. Beyond star Isaac, the film’s ensemble cast features names as diverse as Mélanie Laurent of “Inglourious Basterds” (2009), Nick Kroll and the venerable Ben Kingsley as Eichmann. Rising stars Joe Alwyn of “Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk” (2017) and Haley Lu Richardson of “Edge of Seventeen” (2016) feature as the trademark petulant Nazi spawn and his girlfriend — in cahoots with the Mossad — but nonetheless fail to make much of an impression. Isaac diligently lends his varied, worldly persona to real-life agent Peter Malkin, but ultimately doesn’t set the world alight.

More memorable is Kingsley’s chilling performance as Eichmann, which is rather poetic given his famed role as Itzhak Stern in “Schindler’s List” (1993). He portrays the infamous SS officer with a bone-rattling intensity constantly belied by the mundanity of his incognito factory foreman life in Argentina.

However, the frankness and insistence that he was only following orders are undercut by the cold, calculating hatred seething beneath

5

his surface. In a particularly intense scene, Kingsley’s Eichmann taunts Isaac’s Malkin about his murdered loved ones, trying to induce Malkin to kill him. Yet, when Eichmann constantly inquires about his family’s safety, we are reminded of the squirm-inducing fact that these infamous war criminals are, on the surface, perfectly ordinary people with families and worries of their own.

If “Operation Finale” had spent more of its creative energy on moments like that and less of it on throwaway office politics humor back at the Mossad’s headquarters, it would have been an exceptional film. It also squanders other opportunities for a more nuanced, complete narrative. Agent Moshe Tabor (Greg Hill), for example, would much rather Eichmann get retribution than be brought back to Israel for the fair trial his six million victims never received, yet this tension never really goes anywhere. The film’s pacing is also rather strange: The climactic capture of Eichmann happens less than an hour into the film, and Weitz fails to recreate anything approaching its weight for the remainder of the film.

“Operation Finale” is a perfectly fine movie, and that is its worst offense by far. The film does its job, featuring rare moments of brilliance and a fine performance by Kingsley.

But it never really goes beyond that, which is supremely disappointing for a film that details such a momentous occasion in the aftermath of World War II and the Holocaust. What could have been a truly great film winds up being just okay.

Remembering

was born and raised in Japan. I say this when meeting someone for the first time. That is true; there is no other country that I would call my own, for and of which I am grateful and proud. It’s also true that American culture raised me too.

Most of my peers back home surrounded themselves with Japanese idols and TV shows while I adored “Wizards of Waverly Place” and “The Magic Tree House.” I did have hobbies in common with my peers: I read “Harry Potter,” too, just in English, and I watched the same historical drama show with which my friend group was, oddly enough for eight-year-olds, infatuated. Still, four out of five conversations I took part in — or rather, observed, due to lack of knowledge — consisted of songs that I didn’t sing in the shower and TV characters that I didn’t recognize. It was as if I were a non-native speaker of this language my peers shared, trying to grasp onto a few familiar words to get a sense of the topic of the conversation.

When I share the full story of where I’m from, I always attempt to give the name of the city in which I spent a year leading up to 9/11 — and I always, without exception, fail to recall it and frantically text my mother in confusion. It may be that I have such difficulty remembering El Centro because I don’t speak Spanish.

It may be because my family and I were only there for a year. It may also be because I often forget the impact that having been at El Centro had on my upbringing.

El Centro is a small city in the Imperial Valley of California, coincidentally loaded with the history of Japanese-American incarceration. My father was assigned to work in Mexico and live in the U.S. All I really recall of El Centro are little freckles of the hot sun reflecting off the mild blue outdoor pool, being grilled alive in the backseat of a car parked at Costco and feeling our Korean neighbor’s carpet on my hands. Today, I recognize El Centro as a starting point: where I find my roots of being the odd one out, the one who cannot stop carrying two English books at a time, the one who doesn’t own any J-pop CDs, nor idol posters. If it weren’t for El Centro, my mother says, she would not have taught me English. Without El Centro, I wouldn’t be here today in every way imaginable.

This column is about the El Centros of mine and El Centros of others; things that are so special yet we may not pay much mind to, or even remember, in our daily lives. Through personal reflections and communicating with people involved in fields that are new to me, I hope to further my understanding of bubbles around campus brimming with fascinating stories I haven’t yet heard. If you have your El Centro that you always forget, or if you know all your Spanish and have an amazing memory, I hope you’ll explore unfamiliar territory with me this semester.

Haruka Noishiki is a sophomore who has not yet declared a major. Haurka can be reached at haruka.noishiki@tufts.edu.

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Release Date: Thursday, September 20, 2018

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By Paul Coulter ©2018 Tribune Content Agency, LLC

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8 tuftsdaily.com

Opinion

Thursday, September 20, 2018

OP-ED

Professor Thomas Abowd on his class ‘Colonizing Palestine’

by Thomas Abowd “The fundamental characteristic of the Israeli society is that it is a society of immigrants actively involved in a colonization process to this very day, which continues to base itself on a territory not its own and to live by the sword …”

It was not I who penned these words linking the Israeli state with colonialism, but rather the brilliant Israeli-Jewish feminist intellectual, Tikva Honig-Parnass. As a young woman, Honig-Parnass served in the Haganah in the late 1940s and has described quite feelingly — and with intense regret — the role she played in Israel’s expulsion of more than 700,000 indigenous Palestinians from their country in 1948. In her writings she has detailed how the state she has been a citizen of her entire adult life and Labor Zionism, of which she was once a strong adherent, have been implicated for many decades in the violent appropriation of Palestinian land and resources.

In the quote above, Honig-Parnass was, in turn, summarizing the perspectives of another Israeli intellectual, the late Baruch Kimmerling. He also wrote in detail about the various ways in which Israel was built overwhelmingly upon the land and even within homes stolen from those Palestinians made refugees. These two scholars, like thousands of others fighting for justice and equality in Israel and Palestine, have inspired my own intellectual pursuits and, indeed, the course I am teaching this semester at Tufts, “Colonizing Palestine.”

The hostility to my class began to erupt in July 2018. Efforts to get Tufts to cancel the course and threats to my person have been generated both by those within this university as well as by members of outside hate groups. These include white supremacists and anti-Semites associated with Steve Bannon who, not so oddly, combine hatred for Jews with love for Israeli military occupation. It has emanated from bizarrely reactionary Zionists like those involved with Daniel Pipes’ Campus Watch and, of course, from the anonymous smear artists at the shameful and discredited Canary Mission. Much of these folks’ antagonism appears to be driven by the title of my course, as well as what these critics imagine “Colonizing Palestine” would incorporate this semester.

In late August, on the website of a notorious anti-Arab and anti-Muslim hate group, there were calls for Tufts to suppress my freedom of expression and to “take measures to greatly

reform or retract” this class. Such efforts, I submit, are more appropriate for a Gilead-like fascist society — not a democratic one. Attempts such as these are in the proud tradition of the late Joseph McCarthy and Richard Nixon, Benjamin Netanyahu, Marine Le Pen and, yes, the orange-headed misogynist who rules us all today.

The author of the Tufts Daily op-ed of Aug. 29, “Where’s the Inquiry?,” is a member of Tufts Friends of Israel, a tragically misguided organization affiliated with Tufts Hillel. I have neither the space here nor the interest in answering many of the assertions made in that piece. To do so would be difficult not least because, after digging through its clutter of myths, inaccuracies and sentimental claptrap, I could not locate even one cogent argument.

But let me respond to just one of the author’s assumptions with a question or two: Does Mr. Zeff actually believe that because some members — not all — of one religious faith feel a connection to a particular territory, that they therefore have the right to displace and dispossess its indigenous populations? To deliberately and cruelly uproot a people whose existence in Palestine goes back hundreds of years before the rise of modern Zionism and its settlement programs? Palestinian Christians, Muslims, atheists and those of many other communities across the globe possess connections to this land — spiritual, territorial, national, familial, etc. Palestinian attachments, however, unlike so many others, are generally based on actual ownership of and historical presence in this land.

There is nothing wrong, let me be clear, about possessing or expressing religious attachments to a particular place. However, asserting a primacy of rights to a country already inhabited by and belonging to another people based on one’s spiritual beliefs, sacred texts and solipsism is, itself, a deeply colonial attitude. Attempts to represent biblical stories and myths as incontrovertibly historical (e.g. the myths around the so-called King David) and then to deploy them to legitimize the expulsion and denigration of another people in the 21st century are examples of classic colonial ideology. The very Native American lands upon which we all reside today have been — and continue to be — colonized with the aid of similar ideologies and parallel chauvinisms. Edward Said, one of the brilliant Palestinian thinkers taught in my class, “Colonizing Palestine,” long ago identified what he referred to as a “nexus of knowledge and power,” a set of cultural forces that has fueled

colonial conquest for centuries, from New Delhi to New Mexico.

Several of my Jewish colleagues and fellow professors who read the op-ed

by Mr. Zeff, conveyed to me that they were not a little repulsed that the author would speak in such essentialist ways about Jews — as if they were generally of one, unified view on questions like Zionist claims to Palestine, or, that all or most shared the idea that Palestine has always been principally the homeland of Jewish communities the world over.

To those on this campus and on hundreds of others who have sought to stifle academic freedom and who, in some instances, have physically threatened critics of Israeli colonial rule, I would want to say this: Let’s remember that we at Tufts are not living under Israeli militar y rule, where Palestinian freedom of expression has not only been brutally suppressed, but where Palestinian universities and schools have also been closed down for months and even years (e.g. in the late 1980s during the First Intifada). Though most of us live in and are citizens of arguably the most violent settler-colony in the history of modern settler-colonialism, the vast majority of us do not (yet) live under conditions where students and professors can be tortured, beaten and killed for expressing political views, as Palestinians as young as 10 and 11 have been for many decades.

It should be possible in the US and elsewhere, particularly on college campuses, to debate the relevance and appropriateness of colonial governance, colonial racism and colonial urbanism in the context of the Palestine-Israel conflict.

These are, after all, conversations that are even had among scholars in Israel, including among the members of the group, “Academia for Equality,” which has written letters in support of my courses in recent weeks and in support of my job at Tufts, now under threat.

I would hope that we can all agree that denouncing a course would minimally require actually reading its syllabus before trashing it. Nearly every last critic of “Colonizing Palestine” who has publicly condemned it, including Mr. Zeff, does not know the first thing about its content. Those who would deride a course before it had even been finalized, before they had even seen its reading selections, are acting as foolishly and irresponsibly as those who would attempt to critique a film they have not seen or a speech they have not heard. They are, in fact, enacting textbook anti-intellectualism.

I stand behind the short blurb for the course, made available by the Tufts Race, Colonialism, and Diaspora Consortium in the months leading up to fall term and from which many of my detractors have been citing. But being only a few sentences long (by necessity) it could only have ever been a very partial — even provisional — sketch of the class. For those still under a different impression, please understand that descriptions of this sort never depict a course in its totality, nor can they serve as a substitute for its specific readings, lectures and requirements. Anyone who has ever taught and devised college classes (and so few of my critics actually have), know that they are typically works of continual and creative refinement. I had been preparing this new course for several months before the start of fall classes. It should surprise no one that over that period, its content evolved. Indeed, until early September, even I, the professor of the course, did not know precisely what “Colonizing Palestine” would ultimately encompass.

If opponents of this class had simply waited to read the syllabus, they would have seen a diverse range of Palestinian and Israeli sources. These are as varied as statements by the Israeli settler and terrorist organization, Gush Emunim, fine scholarly work by former Israeli Labor Party leader and historian, Shlomo Ben Ami (himself a Zionist), as well as the writings of anti- and non-Zionist IsraeliJews like Ilan Pappé, Jeff Halper and Ella Shohat. Palestinian texts and films for this are equally rich.

Having committed the unspeakable crime of choosing an “unnecessarily provocative” title for the course under consideration (as one organization on campus apparently referred to it), I end with what I hope is an even more provocative and incendiary intervention. Those who claim to “support Israel” and who do so by supporting the Jeff Sessionses, Steve Bannons and Mike Pences of Israel are actually doing precisely the opposite. Their behavior, I submit, is actually quite harmful to Israel — not just to the Palestinians.

Providing aid and weaponry to racist and chauvinist parties and elements in the Jewish state, rather than solidarity with Israelis like HonigParness, fighting to end the colonization of Palestine, is pushing that state ever closer to spiritual death and moral ruin.

Thomas Abowd is a senior lecturer of American studies and colonialism studies at Tufts University. Abowd can be reached at thomas.abowd@tufts.edu.

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Opinion

Thursday, September 20, 2018 | Opinion | THE TUFTS DAILY

9

Tys Sweeney Pretty Lawns and Gardens

Why public fossil fuel divestment is a long-term strategy

I CARTOON

Tufts 'quirky' in a nutshell NASRIN LIN

n “Pretty Lawns and Gardens” I will discuss political ecology, or the study of the ever-important relationships between political entities, economic forces and our shared world. Each week, I will be looking at an environmental issue from an economic or political perspective, with the understanding that what is best for the earth is often best for human society. In this week’s column: public fund divestment in favor of a greener future.

No public money ought to be invested in extractive industries — those companies whose profits come at the expense of the shared good. Sadiq Khan and Bill de Blasio clearly believe this, since the two mayors of London and New York City co-authored a letter in The Guardian on Sept. 10 describing each city’s strategy to divest public funds from non-renewables. “Divestment is a powerful tool and a prudent use of resources,” the mayors wrote.

I agree. Our society faces the consequences of centuries of bad environmental and economic policy; an important corrective step is divestment by public entities from fossil fuels. But it is vital to recognize that divestment is not a one-shot solution; it is a long-term strategy.

On the surface, divestment seems simple. The public sells off all assets involved directly in environment-devastating processes, like the production of coal, oil or peat. This is what Ireland chose to do this past July, jettisoning 3 € 00 million in fossil investments, and setting an example for what national divestment can look like. But this is a one-shot. The concept of selling off public investments in fossil fuels is a start, not a finish.

Combined, the pension funds of London and New York exceed the investment fund of Ireland. Their moves should be met with excitement, but should these public entities hold investments in companies like McDonald’s or Tupperware? McDonald’s sells industrially produced food in disposable packaging, which is rarely recycled. Tupperware is a producer of plastic products, and as much a petroleum company as ExxonMobil.

From this perspective it’s clear that a fossil fuel divestment strategy would be incomplete without considering downstream players.

It is a conceivable yet difficult goal to divest from planet-harming companies for the long run. Actively managing public funds with a conscious eye for sustainability will generate returns for the public in more ways than simple dollars, so when the opportunity arises to swap Tupperware for a producer of recycled container products, or an industrial farm for a growers collective, the public should take it.

In the long run, our society will be most successful if we work in concert with our ecosystems politically and economically, developing an ongoing strategy to allocate our economic resources to maximize our environmental health. Investing in cleaner air is an investment in public health, and investing in small farms is an investment in biodiversity and strong local economies.

Where economic power can be used for the common good, it should be done. To quote Khan and de Blasio, it is “a prudent use of resources.”

Tys Sweeney is a sophomore who has not yet declared a major. Tys can be reached at tys.sweeney@tufts.edu.

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THE TUFTS DAILY | Sports | Thursday, September 20, 2018

Bradley Schussel The Coin Toss

I

NFL Week 3

t’s back! After a one-year hiatus, The Coin Toss is returning to the Daily. If you haven’t read before, here’s how this works: I make three bold predictions every week about professional sports. Today we’re talking about Week 3 of the NFL season. Let’s start off with some Thursday Night Football.

The Jets UPSET the Browns?!

You read that right. The Browns are favored to win this game; Vegas has them at -3, the first time that the Browns have been home favorites since 2015. The weird thing is that this makes sense — the Browns are a better football team this year. They held their own against the Steelers and Saints and will now face arguably their worst opponent of the season so far.

So why do I have the Jets in this game? This is my team, so I may be biased, but I think they’re due for a bounce-back win after a loss at home to Miami. The Jets lost that game for a variety of reasons, but the big takeaway was that their defense typically only gave up points after turnovers that led to good field position for the Dolphins.

If Sam Darnold can limit turnovers (two interceptions last week), the Jets’ defense, which looked very good against the Lions in Week 1, should be able to hold the Browns’ offense enough to get the road win.

Blake Bortles is a top 10 fantasy quarterback (again) In case you didn’t realize, Blake Bortles put up 32.6 fantasy points against the Patriots last week. This wasn’t a fluke performance either; he was making throws and looking like an actual quarterback. Could he really be good? That remains to be seen, but I think he’ll put up some more numbers at home against the Titans in Week 3, at least enough to be a top 10 fantasy QB once again.

You might think the Titans will be ready for their divisional rival, but their defense allowed 22.8 fantasy points to Deshaun Watson last week, on 310 yards and two touchdowns.

Bortles is coming off of 377 yards and four touchdowns against New England.

I think he’ll ride that hot hand and put up another big performance.

The Chargers beat the Rams in battle for L.A. This would be an upset. Not because the Chargers are a bad team; they’re not. The Rams are just stacked, and it’s no coincidence that they’re 2–0 at this point. However, this is their toughest opponent yet. They faced the Raiders in Week 1, beating them 33–13 in Oakland, then shut out the Cardinals at home (34–0) in Week 2. The Chargers will put up more of a fight than those teams.

They have a high-powered offense led by Phillip Rivers, who has put up 680 yards and six touchdowns while completing 73 percent of his passes this year. The Chargers’ defense has been solid as well, save for what Patrick Mahomes did to them in Week 1. This L.A. team has what it takes to beat its crosstown rivals, and I predict it will pull off the upset.

Bradley Schussel is a sports editor at the Tufts Daily. He is a senior studying biomedical engineering. Bradley can be reached at bradley.schussel@tufts.edu.

tuftsdaily.com

Golf team ties for 10th at Duke Nelson Invitational

EVAN SAYLES / THE TUFTS DAILY ARCHIVES

Senior co-captain Justin Feldman hits an approach shot on the 13th hole of the NESCAC Qualifier at Indian Hill Golf Club in Newington, Conn. on Sept. 30, 2017.

by Ethan Zaharoni Assistant Sports Editor

Tufts traveled to Middlebury’s Ralph Myhre Golf Course over the weekend to compete in the Duke Nelson Invitational in its second tournament of the fall season.

The Jumbos tied with the Springfield College Pride for tenth place in a field of 22 teams over the tournament’s two rounds. The Duke Nelson Invitational is a staple of the team’s fall season, with the Jumbos competing in it every year since 2005. Tufts finished with a two-round total of 608 strokes, while NESCAC foe Williams finished with a winning score of 584. Trinity (588) and NYU (590) rounded out the top three finishers.

Representing the Jumbos were senior co-captain Justin Feldman, junior Brandon Karr, sophomore Henry Hughes, sophomore Harry Theodore and first-year Mac Bredahl.

Bredahl led the Jumbos on Saturday, finishing with a 2-over-par 73, followed by Hughes, who finished with a 75. The team’s first round scoring was capped by Karr (78), Feldman (79) and Theodore (80) for a total of 305. The Jumbos went into Sunday’s final round in 11th place, right in the middle of the pack.

Despite competing in his second-ever collegiate tournament, Bredahl is already contributing to the team’s success.

“Being able to contribute to our team is an honor with the amount of talent we have,” Bredahl said. “As a [first-year], the older guys

have really helped all of us ease into the team and allowed us to play with confidence, regardless [of] our age. Going forward, both individually and as a team, we are looking to get better every week and continue to put solid scores up over the weekend.”

The team performed well in the second round, finishing at 303 strokes to move into a tie for tenth place. Feldman demonstrated why he has been one of Tufts’ top performers in past years, as he was able to improve considerably on his Saturday performance. The Longmeadow, Mass. native shot a 2-over 73, shaving off six strokes.

“Golf is funny in the way that your game can turn on and off so quickly,” Feldman said. “I actually played very well the first day but just managed the course poorly, and my score showed it. It was just a matter of managing the golf course’s front nine better. I improved eight strokes on the front nine, alone, from the first day to the second day. I improved only six shots on the full 18 [holes]. It’s always a battle to get out of a bad rhythm on the course, but once I did, I was much more comfortable and performed much better the second day.”

Hughes was able to shave off one stroke in the second round, as he shot a 74 to finish tied for 20th overall — the Jumbos’ top finisher. Bredahl and Karr rounded out Tufts’ scoring with scores of 6-over 77 and 8-over 79, respectively.

However, the team’s tied-for-10th finish at the Duke Nelson Invitational represented a step back from its performance in

2017. The Jumbos are used to seeing much lower scores on the Middlebury, Vt. course, as they finished fifth with an overall score of 595 last year.

Feldman noted the team’s disappointment, but indicated that it can use this year’s performance as an opportunity for growth and preparation before the season’s bigger tournaments.

“This invitational has been a favorite for our team. Usually, it is a big confidence builder and gets the team to see some lower scores,” he said. “The course is short, the weather and course conditions are usually still nice, and the course is relatively easier than the other ones we play. It’s definitely easier to feel comfortable in this tournament than most of the others we play.

Many teams came out to the tournament this year, and we learned that the other NESCAC teams have improved immensely just as we have. Our team now understands what we need to do in the next two weeks to be prepared for NESCAC qualifying.”

Tufts will travel to Williams’ Taconic Golf Club to compete in the Williams Fall Invite this weekend. The Jumbos are sure to face a tough challenge in the Berkshires.

Not only did the Ephs win the Duke Nelson Invitational, but they also boast its top scorer in junior Sam Goldenring, who was the only player in the field to shoot under par with a 3-under 139.

The Williams Fall Invite will be the team’s last competition before the NESCAC Qualifier in Middlefield, Conn. the following weekend.

Sports

Thursday, September 20, 2018 | Sports | THE TUFTS DAILY

11

MADELEINE OLIVER / TUFTS CROSS COUNTRY

Senior co-captain Colin Raposo chases down the competition at the Pineland Farms Super XC Shootout on Sept. 15.

Jones finishes first as Tufts emerges victorious in season opener MEN'S CROSS COUNTRY

continued from page 12

Indeed, the Jumbos can be very satisfied with their first showing of the season. The team saw some strong individual performances and an impressively cohesive team performance, given the absence of some top-seven finishers who are recovering from injuries.

“I think it bodes really well the fact that we had four in the top 10 and a couple of our top returners not even racing,” Raposo said.

In preparation for next weekend’s bigger meet, the Purple Valley Classic in Williamstown, Mass., Tufts hopes to continue its momentum while maintaining freshness.

“This meet, we are taking a little bit of a step back in training to make our

bodies fresher and just working on a few things that will help get us into that racing shape,” Raposo said. “The past few weeks have been a really heavy training block, so we are just really looking to freshen up.”

The Purple Valley Classic will also be a nice opportunity for Tufts to gauge the NESCAC competition this year and what will be in store later in the season.

In last year’s meet, Tufts finished 10th

of 26 teams, and will have to compete again with serious powerhouses like host Williams, whose athletes locked up five of the top six positions last year.

The meet should reveal Tufts’ season trajectory and which goals are feasible for the team with respect to its fellow NESCAC competitors. The Purple Valley Classic will take place at Mount Greylock High School (Williamstown, Mass.) on Saturday at noon.

Jumbos post strong performances against state rivals WOMEN'S TENNIS

continued from page 12 performances, and the first-years certainly helped us close some matches.”

Three doubles teams broke through the opening round, with Obeid and Garrido winning over Wesleyan’s sophomore Polina Kiseleva and first-year Venia Yeung 8–7 (7–2).

Meanwhile, first-year duo of Frankel and Dorr defeated MIT’s Rakocevic and first-year Amber Shen 8–6, while Keller and Iwasaki breezed past Wesleyan’s sophomore Zoe Klass-

Warch and first-year Megan Tran 8–2.

Unfortunately for the Jumbos, all three pairs fell in the next round.

Meanwhile, six Jumbos vied for wins through the consolation matches on Saturday, but only sophomore Kiara Rose prevailed, topping Wesleyan sophomore Daniela Alvarez in a hardfought three-setter. Rose bounced back after a shaky start, taking the second set and tiebreak decisively at 3–6, 6–3, 10–6.

Despite falling short, Keller and Obeid played highly competitive consolation matches and were proud to support

their teammates. Keller fell to Amherst senior Camilla Trapness 6–7 (4–7), 6–4, 10–8 while Obeid lost to Wesleyan firstyear Alexis Almy 2–6, 7–5, 10–5.

While the Jumbos do not compete this weekend, they will nonetheless look to build on their performance at home at the ITA Regional Championships hosted by Williams in Williamstown, Mass. the following weekend. There, they will most likely face a full lineup of NESCAC rivals including Wesleyan, Bowdoin, Amherst, Colby, Trinity and Middlebury, among other competitors.

“ITAs are always a fun event to be a

part of and to get some official matches in before the spring starts,” Karamercan said. “With almost half of our team being first-years, I’m excited to see how people are going to perform.”

For Obeid, the ITA tournament will be an opportunity to showcase the team’s raw talent and rise above expectations to achieve success.

“Heading into the ITA tournament, we’ve been working mostly on strategic doubles and fitness,” she said. “We know we can compete with anybody, we just have to be fresh and in the right mindset.”

12 tuftsdaily.com

Sports

Thursday, September 20, 2018

Women’s tennis hosts season opener Tufts Invitational

BEN KIM / THE TUFTS DAILY ARCHIVES

Sophomore Patricia Obeid serves during a doubles match in Tufts’ 8–1 loss to Williams at the Voute Tennis Courts on April 28.

by Josh Steinfink

Assistant Sports Editor

Tufts opened its season at home this past weekend, slicing its way right into the thick of local competition against Wesleyan, Amherst and MIT in the Tufts Invitational.

Coming into this fall, Tufts embraced the challenge of rebuilding its team, having to fill several open spots.

“I’m really excited for [my] last year with Tufts tennis,” senior co-captain Julia Keller said. “We have lots of hard work ahead of us but I can’t wait to get started.

Even though we lost our amazing senior

players, we have a bunch of talented and promising [first-years] coming in. I have a good feeling about this year.”

The team features no juniors this year, though the other returners were more than happy to welcome in four new recruits, all of whom promise to make an immediate impact.

“Having four new recruits is really exciting, it feels like a new team to me,” sophomore Patricia Obeid said.

“Our goal over the next few weeks is to get the first-years in the groove and take care of our bodies with so many matches coming up.”

Newcomers include first-years Nicole Frankel, Caroline Garrido, Anna Lowy and Maggie Dorr. Keller and fellow senior co-captain Mina Karamercan look forward to helping the first-years settle in, and were fortunate to be able to introduce them to the competitive college environment on the team’s home courts.

Over the weekend, 32 singles players and 16 doubles teams served for supremacy on the Voute Courts. In fact, all teams present were ranked in the top 10 of the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) poll last season, amplifying the stakes of the competition.

“We have some really good firstyears and the tournament last weekend was a good first event. We definitely could have done better — we always can — but we noticed many things we need to work on,” Karamercan said.

Senior Tomo Iwasaki and first-year Garrido both advanced to the round of 16 in singles, winning their respective first-round matches. Iwasaki, despite dropping her second set, battled back for a 10–6 tiebreaker win against sophomore Alissa Nakamoto of Wesleyan.

Garrido pounced on MIT junior Lara Rakocevic in her college debut, winning 6–4, 6–1 in a straight-set sweep.

However, both lost their subsequent matches, with Iwasaki falling to Amherst’s first-year Jacqueline Bukzin 6–4, 6–0 and Garrido to MIT sophomore Libby Rickeman 6–2, 6–1.

While the two Jumbos were able to muster wins in the opening rounds, much of the team put in its best work in the doubles and consolation brackets.

“I think we showed that we do have potential, though the results weren’t what we were striving for,” Obeid said.

“The doubles teams put up impressive see WOMEN'S TENNIS, page 11

Men’s cross country starts season off on the right foot

by Sejal Dua

Assistant Sports Editor

On Saturday the Jumbos completed and won an 8,000-meter race at the Pineland Super XC Shootout to launch their 2018 campaign. The Jumbos registered a score of 124, edging the host Bates Bobcats, who totaled 128 points.

Southern Maine finished third.

“It was a sunny morning and … one of our teammates said [the scenery] looked like the ideal New England farm,” firstyear Joseph Harmon said.

Perhaps more enticing than their points total was the sweet, sweet smell of freshly churned maple butter, which was promised as an award to the top 10 finishers.

“For the past couple years, a bunch of guys in my class have just barely missed out. [Senior co-captain] Dylan Jones, the guy who won the race, got 11th for the past two years in a row, so he really

wanted that maple butter,” senior Rory Buckman said.

The course was no walk in the park, though. A rolling course with no flat ground, according to Buckman, the almost five mile race posed a tough challenge for the runners.

“You basically do one flatter loop,” senior co-captain Colin Raposo said.

“Then you do these two big loops where you go down a hill, into the woods and then back up, so the third and fifth miles are basically all uphill.”

It was a well-deserved jar of maple butter for Jones, who finished first overall with a time of 26:23.0. Three other Jumbos — Raposo (26:51.2), Buckman (26:54.4) and senior Hiroto Watanabe (27:04.4) — finished within the top 10.

“At the start, we went out pretty well,” Buckman said. “There were four of us all in a group together at the front of the race. Once we started to hit the big hills

towards the end, it spread out a bit more.”

Behind Tufts’ front pack were seniors Tom Doyle (27:18.5) and Andrew Doherty Munro (27:22.7), securing 12th and 13th for the team, respectively. The senior Jumbos certainly showcased their experience on Saturday.

“Knowing the course, because we’ve raced there every year and we had our NESCAC Championships there last year, was definitely an advantage for us upperclassmen because we knew how to race the course,” Raposo said.

As for new members of the team, it appeared as though many first-years made a seamless transition from high school to collegiate racing. First-years Philip Hempstead (27:24.8) and Joseph Harmon (27:30.1) impressed, finishing 17th and 19th, respectively. Sophomore Peter Horvath rounded out the top 20 with a time of 27:34.4.

Hempstead was pleased with his debut performance on the collegiate track.

“My time was actually what I was hoping to run by the end of the season,” Hempstead said. “When I came out of the woods and saw the clock, I was very surprised, so it’s exciting for sure.”

Buckman was impressed with the first-years’ performance in the first meet of their college careers.

“Seeing them cross the finish line, they both looked pretty strong,” Buckman said. “It’s really tough to adjust from high school running … those extra two miles are a world of difference. I’m excited to see a lot more [first-years] race this coming weekend.”

Other runners demonstrated their fitness, summer training and racing ability, including sophomore Joe Berrafati (28:24.0) and first-years Neerav Gade (27:41.2), John Pappo (28:43.6) and Deven Patel (28:45.9), all of whom finished with sub-six-minute average mile splits at the meet. see MEN'S CROSS COUNTRY, page 11