The Tufts Daily - Wednesday, March 4, 2020

EDITORIAL

15 student groups share cultural dishes at food fair see FEATURES / PAGE 3

Tufts must offer broader range of postbaccalaureate preparedness courses

Diaz’s poetic activism explores hope, suffering through variety of formats in ‘Postcolonial Love Poem’ see ARTS&LIVING / PAGE 4

SEE OPINION / PAGE 6

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T HE T UFTS DAILY

VOLUME LXXIX, ISSUE 27

Wednesday, March 4, 2020

MEDFORD/SOMERVILLE, MASS.

Medford residents drop effort to halt Cummings Center construction

ALEXANDER THOMPSON / THE TUFTS DAILY

Chair Scott Carman (right) leads a meeting of the Medford Zoning Board of Appeals during its meeting at Medford City Hall on Feb. 26.

by Alexander Thompson Staff Writer

Two Medford residents withdrew their appeal for an enforcement action against the Tufts’ Joyce Cummings Center last week just hours before a Wednesday session of the Medford Zoning Board of Appeals (ZBA) that would have resolved the matter.

Laurel Ruma and Mike Korcynski, two Burget Street residents, had pursued an administrative appeal of the Medford Building Commissioner’s approval of a structural permit for the Cummings Center because they believe that the six-story building slated for completion in spring of 2021 would leave their street in shadow much of the year and put a dent in property values.

Ruma and Korcynski explained that they withdrew their appeal on advice of counsel, but declined to go into further detail.

Director of Government and Community Relations Rocco DiRico wrote in an email that the university is pleased that their appeal was withdrawn and will press ahead with construction.

The last-minute withdrawal did seem to come as a surprise to the Tufts administration, which had dispatched DiRico, Ruth Bennet, the director of strategic capital projects, one of the project’s architects and a lawyer to fight the appeal at Wednesday night’s meeting of the ZBA in Medford City Hall.

The delegation from Tufts quietly filed out of the meeting after ZBA Chair Scott Carman announced the withdrawal.

The original plans for the Cummings Center violated the Medford zoning code in a number of ways, but the university received

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exemptions, called variances, from the ZBA in 2017 and the Medford Building Commissioner granted the building’s permits.

After the Massachusetts Bay Transit Authority pulled out of plans to combine the Green Line Extension stop with the new academic building, Tufts underwent a redesign in 2018. New plans in hand, the university went back to the City of Medford to request if further variances or new permits were necessary, but the city building commissioner certified that they were not, DiRico wrote.

Ruma and Korcynski were appealing the building commissioner’s decision to grant a structural permit to the Cummings Center by arguing that the variances should not have been granted for the new plans, ZBA Secretary Denis MacDougall confirmed in an email to the Daily.

Had the appeal been upheld by a unanimous vote of the ZBA, it would have halted the already advanced construction of the Cummings Center, though the university could have appealed that decision to the Massachusetts Land Court.

Ruma explained she did not see a way forward for the appeal.

“This was the last gasp and we were the only petitioners still in it,” she said. “We worked very hard for more than a year to come to a better outcome with Tufts, but it became clear that we couldn’t find common ground.”

DiRico rejected claims that the university has not worked with its neighbors on the project. The university has held eight community meetings with residents since the design plans see APPEAL, page 2

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Tufts leads among US colleges in financial aid generosity

by Natasha Mayor News Editor

Tufts ranked 12th most generous to students with financial need in a list of private 958 colleges published at the end of January by the Chronicle of Higher Education, based on 2017–18 data of private nonprofit colleges in the United States.

Ruth Hammond, who was a senior editor at the Chronicle of Higher Education until her retirement at the end of February, explained that she created the list based on publicly available data from The Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS).

Hammond said that colleges have to report this data yearly and that the report only reflects grant aid — not loans that have to be paid back.

She found that Tufts was one of only 11 colleges at which students from the highest income groups generally paid 10 times more than students from the lowest income groups.

Associate Dean of Financial Aid Patricia Reilly explained that the university uses the College Board’s formula to determine each student’s eligibility for institutional aid, which is coupled with the federal financial aid a student receives.

“Based on those, we compare what the cost of education is for each year, how much a family can pay, and the difference between those two is your financial need,” Reilly said.

“That’s how we determine the amount of your financial aid.”

Reilly said the university meets the full amount of every admitted student’s demonstrated financial need.

“In the last couple of years, Tufts has made a really concerted effort to look at the lowest income students and the challenges they face beyond paying their bill,” Reilly said. “We’ve been trying very deliberately to address some of those additional financial needs.”

This comes in the form of $500 transitional grants offered to students with no family

see FINANCIAL AID, page 2

Nierenberg to retire from Tisch College

by Sam Klugherz

Contributing Writer

Mindy Nierenberg, the senior director of programs at Jonathan M. Tisch College of Civic Life since 2002, will retire from Tufts later this spring, leaving behind a legacy of student programs that have provided thousands of Tufts students with transformational learning experiences.

Nierenberg’s career has been marked by the expansion of the Tisch Scholars, Tisch Summer Fellows, Tufts 1+4 Bridge Year, Tufts Civic Semester and Community Service Learning programs.

When Nierenberg first arrived at Tisch College, which was then called the University College of Citizenship and Public Service, the only program offered for students was Tisch Scholars. She was tasked with developing new programs and initially created what is known today as the Tisch Summer Fellows program.

“There was a sentiment that so many students at Tufts would really be interested in the work at Tisch and that we needed to engage students more broadly,” she said.

The initial Tisch Summer Fellows program had students undertake internships in community organizations in

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MENGQI IRINA WANG / THE TUFTS DAILY

Mindy Nierenberg, senior director at the Jonathan M. Tisch College of Civic Life, poses for a portrait on Feb 28.

Somerville, allowing students to learn more about the community through the lenses of different people.

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

see NIERENBERG, page 2

FUN & GAMES.........................5 OPINION.....................................6 SPORTS............................ BACK

2

THE TUFTS DAILY | News | Wednesday, March 4, 2020

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building permit. At the ZBA’s November meeting the board members voted 2–1 in favor of an appeal of the building permit, but lacking a unanimous vote, it failed, MacDougall confirmed.

The university relies on a 1950 Massachusetts law known as the Dover Amendment, which prohibits local authorities from regulating land-use by education institutions to defend itself from zoning appeals.

MacDougall wrote that this has been the case for the Cummings Center. The law does allow municipalities to regulate a number of basic items like height, setback and parking.

The story gained attention on campus when the Tufts Observer ran a feature covering the dispute in its Feb. 24 issue.

However, the magazine erroneously asserted that the Cummings Center construction proceeded without the proper “variances and approval” and relied on expired variances.

DiRico explained that Tufts did in fact receive all the necessary permits and variances before ground was broken and, though the variances are from 2017, the building commissioner approved their use for the new plans. Carman, the ZBA chair, confirmed this.

The Observer also reported that the building will be 135 feet tall; it will be 94 feet, according to DiRico.

The university also took issue with the Observer’s characterization of a disagreement about the use of Stearns Estate Field as a construction staging area last summer, whose article reported that the ZBA forced Tufts to relocate the staging area. DiRico said that the university did so voluntarily.

All of the structural steel for the building will be completed this month, according to the latest project update available online from Tufts’ Operations Division.

Tufts financial aid ranking encouraging, student says continued from page 1 support to help with expenses before they begin college, as well as programs through the FIRST Center, which helps students cover various out-of-pocket expenses.

Reilly explained that only 10% of financial aid comes from the university’s endowment, and that the other 90% is allocated from the yearly operating budget.

“If we had more money, we would love not to be need-aware,” Reilly said. “It takes a lot of money. At this point, we’re not there.”

Based on the IPEDS data, Duke University was ranked as the most generous private nonprofit college to students with financial need. The reported data showed that the average net cost for students from the lowest income group to attend Duke University was negative for the 2017–18 school year.

“When I corresponded with a public relations person [at Duke], it seemed as

NIERENBERG

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APPEAL

continued from page 1 were modified in 2018 and DiRico regularly meets with a community working group.

These efforts have resulted in a number of modifications. DiRico cited the removal of windows on the back of the building, the addition of a pedestrian path connecting Burget Street to College Avenue and the removal of a proposed bridge over Boston Avenue.

“At each and every step, we made sure that this process was transparent and that our neighbors’ concerns were being addressed,” he wrote.

Korcynski took aim at the City of Medford, saying that they handled the dispute poorly.

“I think that the City held Tufts to no zoning restrictions at all,” he said. “They could’ve, but they didn’t.”

This is not the first time Ruma and Korcynski have tried to appeal the center’s

if they really had very strong intentions to help the students from the poorest families,” Hammond said. “I would say it’s definitely a reflection of a policy decision there.”

Hammond noted that this ranking was also a reflection of Duke’s endowment, which was more than four times larger than Tufts’ as of June 2019.

Hammond added that in some cases, private nonprofit colleges could be more affordable than public universities based on the financial aid offered.

“There is a misperception sometimes that it’s totally unaffordable for a lower income person to go to a private nonprofit college,” she said.

“Expanding the socioeconomic diversity at private nonprofit colleges is beneficial for everyone,” Hammond said.“For a richer classroom experience for everyone, I think colleges are very conscious that they should be more diverse in terms of income, family background, race and ethnicity.”

Despite the fact that the university matches each student’s demonstrated need throughout their time at Tufts, Reilly noted that college is still very expensive whether students receive financial aid or not.

“For most students, it’s a big expense and most of them and their families are still working really hard to be here. We try as hard as we can to support students as best we can, but it’s not easy,” Reilly said.

Junior Sam Livermore said that if she were a prospective student, seeing this data would make Tufts seem more appealing to her.

“The sticker price of Tufts is pretty shocking, and then to see that it can get as low as roughly $4,600, I think is a pretty encouraging number for a prospective student,” she said.

Livermore added that in her own experience, her financial needs have consistently been met.

“As my needs have changed from year to year, Tufts has continued to match that and to evolve with those needs,” she said.

Nierenberg speaks about time at Tufts, relationships with students

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DiRico refutes claims that Tufts lacks proper approval, ignores community concerns

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continued from page 1 One of Nierenberg’s longer-term projects was to develop connections and programs for the graduate and professional schools at Tufts. Nierenberg coordinated with faculty at Tufts University School of Medicine, Tufts University School of Dental Medicine and the Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine to create the Community Service Learning program for graduate students.

At Tufts University School of Medicine, for instance, the program takes the form of a course that requires students to do 50 hours of community-based work addressing health disparities.

Nierenberg also spearheaded the design and development of the Tufts 1+4 Bridge Year program. When Dean of Tisch College Alan Solomont came to Nierenberg with the idea, she identified service partners in other countries and went out to inspect them to pick the strongest programs to work with, according to Solomont.

“One of the most amazing and gratifying aspects of my work has always been taking an idea and [turning] it into a reality,” Nierenberg wrote in an email. “It’s always about figuring out who the other stakeholders are or who the resources are on campus, what they have to offer, and thinking about what we have to offer, and to build something together.”

Nierenberg emphasized the importance of diversity and inclusion in the work done at Tisch College. This served as a key inspiration for the Tisch Summer Fellows program.

While the programs that Nierenberg has built from the ground up are the most tan-

gible part of her legacy at Tisch College, she also recognizes that the most important aspect of her work has always been working with students and developing relationships with them.

“The reasons that people want to be engaged in a community, whether it’s local or global, oftentimes it stems from a place deep inside. It could be [an] influence of their childhood and life circumstances, or it could be something deeply personal or something from family history,” she said. “You get to know that person deeply, and I think that’s a privilege to be a receiver of stories from students.”

Nierenberg taught a course for the Tufts Civic Semester in Peru last semester, giving her another opportunity to build meaningful relationships with students.

“Through that, I’ve gotten to know many of those students in a way that, at the end of my career, has really brought me back to what I love so much,” she said.

Nierenberg said these students would present their experiences in the program on Thursday.

One student, Justin Mejia, had the opportunity to develop a relationship with Nierenberg throughout his time at Tufts.

Mejia, a senior, has been involved in many Tisch programs, including 1+4 Bridge Year and Tisch Summer Fellows.

“Mindy has had one of the biggest impacts on myself as a student here at Tufts just with being a person that I can come to for anything,” Mejia said. “[Nierenberg] has been someone that I know has influenced the lives of many students here at Tufts,

and I see that with the relationships that she had with the programs and different students that come in and out of Tisch College.”

Mejia expressed gratitude for Nierenberg’s work, reflecting on the timing of her departure from Tufts.

“I’m so happy to have gotten the chance to know her and I think it’s very bittersweet and maybe even poetic that I’m graduating and leaving Tufts at the same time that she is,” Mejia said.

Solomont also reflected on Nierenberg’s influence at Tisch College.

“The passion that she brings to the mission [of Tisch College] is sort of infectious,” Solomont said.

Tisch Scholars Program Administrator Sara Allred also praised the passion and energy in Nierenberg’s work at Tisch College.

“She is guided by genuine interest in students’ civic goals and ideas, and leads the student programs staff with compassion and care,” Allred said.

After she retires from Tufts, Nierenberg intends to continue to pursue her passion as an artist and designer, in addition to spending more time with her family.

Looking forward, Nierenberg shared some hopes for Tisch College after her departure.

“One hope would be that any student who wants to be engaged in meaningful work to address social change, to make this world a better place, will have the support, the advice, and the resources through Tisch College to make that happen, which is a huge dream, but that would be amazing,” she said.

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Features

Students share culture through food at International Food Festival

t

,

e by Alexandria Hwang , Staff Writer

What better way to kick off the start of , the Parade of Nations weeklong celebration than the International Food Festival, a lively e and vibrant celebration of cuisines from the t numerous cultures that make up the Tufts a community. e The event, headed by the International o Club (I-Club) at Tufts, strives to provide an e opportunity for students of a diverse range of backgrounds to share their culture. And g what better way to introduce others to your o culture than through trendy and mouth-wam tering dishes.

“The main objective is for students, whether they are from a culture house or whether they are from a recognized culture group or not, to make food and share it with the community, talk about what it is, where it comes from and what types of ingredients you used,” Sara Torres Raisbeck, the president of I-Club, said.

Raisbeck has been involved with the club since transferring to Tufts in her sophomore year.

“One of the reasons why I wanted to come to Tufts was because of the international community here,” Raisbeck, a senior, said. “It was so much more diverse than where I was at before, and I wanted to meet people from all around the world.”

I-Club is an active organization on campus, dedicated to creating a stronger sense of community for students through events like the International Gala and the Parade of Nations Week. It strives to provide platforms for students to showcase their cultures in ways they feel is more representative of themselves and who they are, Raisbeck said.

“Our main objective on campus had originally been to be a space for international students and the international community,” Raisbeck said. “But in the past few years we have definitely tried to widen this space and t be a lot more inclusive of students who aren’t t necessarily international because we think h that there are people from many different cultures who should have a space to share s their cultures.”

This year marks the 36th year that I-Club has hosted the Parade of Nations event on e campus. t “I hope this event definitely also has a simg ilar impact on others as it did for me, showing e students that there is a very diverse community of backgrounds, cultures [and] interests, s and that everyone is a part of it. If you want, you can also be a part of it and engage with it - and learn from it,” Raisbeck said. ” Despite the many years of hosting the Parade of Nations event, this is only the r second year I-Club has organized the - International Food Festival.

Arjun Padalkar, I-Club’s treasurer, was - part of the small group of students who e helped launch the idea of a food festival for d the Parade of Nations week last year. The event grew to be even greater than Padalkar, g a junior, expected. s “Last year we had regular TCU student - groups, but the real interesting part was that we also had student groups that reale ly weren’t student groups per se,” Padalkar said. “They were just a bunch of friends in a t dorm that got together and cooked. We had l the Peruvian Students Association, which s [wasn’t] an official culture group, but they , were just three friends that reached out to h us saying they have Peruvian food that they a wanted to share with people.” ” In the first year, about seven groups volunteered to cook food. This year, that

SOPHIE ELIA / THE TUFTS DAILY

Students partake in various international cuisines at the Alumnae Lounge for the Parade of Nations Food Festival on March 1. number increased to fifteen groups, including organizations both recognized by TCU and not. The groups included the African Students Organization, Bengali Student Association, European Students Association (ESA), Filipinx Student Union (FSU), French House, German House, Hawai’i Culture Club, Korean Students Association (KSA), Persian Students Association, Singapore, Indonesia, and Malaysia Student Association (SIMSA), Students of Turkey (SOFT), Taiwanese Association of Students at Tufts (TAST), Thai Students Association (TSA), Tufts Association of South Asians (TASA) and the Tufts Eritrean-Ethiopian Students Association (EESA).

The spread of savory dishes and flavorful finger foods drew in a large stream of students, all eager to get a sample from each table. Each station, manned by a different organization or group, was colorfully embellished with the flag of its respective country or culture.

While the event showcased the unique dishes of various nations, there were also unifying threads between countries. Both ESA and TSA brought their own variations of an egg-based dish.

ESA’s dish, Tortilla de Patata, included potato and an option with onions, while TSA added a special ingredient to strengthen the taste of their dish, Kai Jiew.

“If you were to ask Thai people what their favorite comfort food is, it would either be this or phat kaphrao. Everyone has a different take on it. Our take is to put fish sauce to add the flavor and the color, and we also topped it with some scallions and some milk to it to make it more fluffy,” junior Deena Bhanarai, a member of TSA, said.

One of the student favorites was the spam musubi made by the Hawai’i Culture Club.

“It’s kind of like the iconic Hawaii local snack, because back in World War II when Hawai’i and Pearl Harbor all happened, spam was the rations that were given out, so people had to kind of figure out different ways to eat it,” sophomore Jonah Apo, a member of the club, said.

Members of the club all came together prior to the event to make the dish themselves within one of their dorms, Apo added.

While some clubs brought one or two culturally significant dishes, SOFT went the extra mile and prepared three notable treats to share with visitors: baba ghanoush, kibe (kibbeh) and hummus.

“All these three dishes exist in Turkey and are very popular, but they are also food from the Mediterranean and the Middle Eastern

region in general,” senior Ezgi Yazici, club co-president, said.

The German House brought Kartoffelpuffer, a German-style potato pancake, accompanied by sweet and savory options for toppings, like sour cream and applesauce.

When asked about the origins of this dish, sophomore Temple Miller-Hodgkin gave a brief history lesson.

“In the [18th century], Frederick the Great instituted this program where potatoes, which were brought over from the New World, were planted in mostly Eastern Germany. So potatoes became a staple diet for Germans. They’re also known as latkes which are a traditional German-Jewish dish,” Miller-Hodgkin said.

First-year Angelica Cheng helped to operate the FSU’s station, which prepared a notable and popular treat: turon.

“It is one of my favorite desserts, and it’s basically a spring roll with banana in it” Cheng said.

The students from FSU made an enormous batch of the turon together prior to the festival.

“Usually you’re supposed to use plantains, like a special kind of southeast Asian plantain, but we couldn’t find it here so we had to get regular bananas. Plantains and bananas are such an important food staple in the Philippines, like it’s pretty common in a lot of desserts,” Cheng said.

SIMSA also shared two of their favorite dishes: chicken satay and Indomie.

“Indomie is very very famous, not only in Asia, but around the world. It originated from Indonesia, hence the name,” sophomore Shawn Tjahaja, logistics head of SIMSA, said.

Tjahaja added the significance of having chicken satay as well.

“We also have chicken satay because we feel like chicken satay is a national dish in Singapore, Indonesia and Malaysia, so it encompasses all our different nationalities and is very delicious as well,” Tjahaja said.

Neighboring SIMSA’s station was the KSA, who brought two dishes to share: kimchi fried rice and Korean sweet pancakes.

“We chose these dishes because they have a lot of cultural and historical background for each of them,” Jacob Choi, a first-year member of the KSA executive board, said. “Like for example, the Korean sweet pancakes originated from the Chinese merchants, which is something not a lot of people know about.”

Maureen Kamanu, a senior, stood as the representative for the Tufts African Student Organization at the food fair. Kamanu shared how the dish they brought, Mandazi, held a lot of cultural significance.

“Mandazis are typically an East African food … Basically it’s just a little bit of wheat, dough, and some sugar … then you put it in a fryer,” Kamanu said.

Kamanu added that food is a big part of any culture experience.

“You know, food is culture, so it brings us all together, and we just hope that everyone else can experience what we get to experience” Kamanu said.

The International Food Festival was the leading event commencing the Parade of Nations week, which will culminate in the Parade of Nations day on Friday.

Raisbeck emphasized the Parade of Nations week as a way to create community on campus.

“This is a way of building community and showing students in the audience the different nations that are represented in the Tufts community,” Raisbeck said.

3

Wednesday, March 4, 2020

Alice Yoon and Madeleine Schwartz Bite-sized stories

Leona’s quick ‘n easy beans

W

e have featured ambitious bakers and seasoned chefs, but even these people, like most of us, sometimes need a quick and nutritious no-fuss meal. We can’t all be pro-chefs for three meals a day, seven days a week, four weeks a month, all the months in a semester.

Luckily, Leona Tu is a pro when it comes to packing in healthy calories in just a few minutes, for now and for leftovers.

Right now, her new go-to is beans.

Leona was always the typical avocado toast-er first thing in the morning before hitting the reading room. Efficient and practical, she almost has her breakfast down to a science. Whole wheat bread gets popped into the toaster oven as she boils one or two eggs, all while still getting ready for the day. But now, as a second semester senior, her migration pattern is all out of whack; she’s still in her natural habitat, with her head buried in her books in Tisch Library, but now she’s spending more time in the kitchen too, taking a few minutes to cook beans.

She’s even added more seasonings to her avocado toast, including everything bagel seasoning and sriracha.

Thankfully, it’s easy enough to repurpose all the same spices — cayenne, oregano, garlic powder, salt, peppercorn — used to accompany fresh avocado to season legumes. The recipe Leona uses to cook her beans originated from senior Jaclyn Tsiang, who started the whole bean trend just by bringing beans to a potluck brunch a year ago.

The beans start simply, with olive oil in a non-stick pan. As the pan heats up, Leona grabs her can of beans and pops open the pull-top; some people swear

by Goya beans (Alice) but the most bang for your buck comes from using dried beans (Maddie) that can be bought in bulk. Since Leona likes her beans more whole than mushy, she drains most of the water out of the can and pours them all into the now sizzling skillet.

Stirring constantly to both prevent the beans from sticking to the pan and evenly heat them all, all the spices go in, simply to personal taste. After a couple minutes, the beans are soft,cooked through and ready to be enjoyed! Leona usually serves them alongside spinach, chicken breast and microwave-steamed vegetables.

Maybe you’ve guessed it by now, but Leona specifically cooks with black beans. However, just because she hasn’t ~bean~ adventurous with other legumes yet doesn’t mean you can’t! The ambiguity of our star, the bean, is a testament to the fact that a pinto or cannellini bean could easily take its place. Choice of bean aside, you could also throw in some additional onion, or even bell pepper. As her first foray into cooking, beans have quickly become a staple in Leona’s diet, which hopefully encourages others to start cooking more dishes out of their norm!

Madeleine Schwartz is a senior studying computer science. Madeleine can be reached at madeleine.schwartz@tufts.edu.

Alice Yoon is a senior studying chemistry. Alice can be reached at alice.yoon@tufts.edu.

4 Wednesday, March 4, 2020

ARTS&LIVING

Peter Lindblom Oldies But Goodies

R

‘Good Will Hunting’

ewatchability is one of the more important differentiators I use in evaluating films. “Good Will Hunting” (1997) certainly fits into that “rewatchable” category. Its basic premise is well-known: a “wicked smart” janitor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology gets recognized for solving complicated math problems on a chalkboard. But what makes the film eternal is how it is able to explore the themes of mental health and love in a light-hearted yet profound way.

The film immediately exhibits the complexity of the main character, Will Hunting (Matt Damon). We see him solving graduate-level math problems in one scene, and in another, we see him in a brawl with one of his bullies from kindergarten, which leads to his arrest. The juxtaposition of that inner rage and his intelligence is a key theme throughout, and it becomes even more apparent in the scenes that follow. Eventually, Will is released from prison with the help of Professor Lambeau (Stellan Skarsgård) — who had taken a notice to the brilliant janitor — under the condition that he both works on challenging mathematical proofs with the professor and sees a therapist on a weekly basis.

While his counseling sessions with therapist Sean Maguire (Robin Williams) get off to a rocky start, the ebbs and flows of their relationship take center stage from there on out. While patient-doctor relationships are typically one-sided, both men benefit from challenging each other’s philosophies and actions.

Love becomes a frequent topic of discussion in their meetings. One scene that stands out is a session where Will mentions he had gone on a date but had not called the girl back, even though the two had hit it off. His reasoning is that the girl, Skylar, was still perfect to him at that moment and he did not want to ruin that, to which Sean points out: “I think that’s a super philosophy, Will. That way you can go through your entire life without ever having to really know anybody.”

Sean’s retort is exactly the advice Will needs to hear — if he wants to become intimate with someone, he will have to put himself out there.

The following meeting, the two discuss love again, except this time they focus on Sean’s experience with his now-deceased wife. In describing the moment when he knew his wife was “the one,” Sean tells a story of how he chose to spend the night getting to know her instead of attending game six of the 1975 World Series with his friends — a famous night in Boston Red Sox history.

Will cannot believe that he missed it.

But, as Sean explains, love is much more important than a “damn game.”

Do not worry, I will not spoil the ending for those who have not seen it. All I will say is that the main reason “Good Will Hunting” resonates with me and is so rewatchable is because it shows how we all must allow ourselves to be vulnerable with the people we care for to feel fulfilled in life.

Peter Lindblom is a sophomore studying international relations. Peter can be reached at peter.lindblom@tufts.edu.

tuftsdaily.com

Natalie Diaz’s highly anticipated collection ‘Postcolonial Love Poem’

by Devina Bhalla

Assistant Arts Editor

Natalie Diaz’s highly anticipated second collection of poetry, entitled “Postcolonial Love Poem” (2020), was released on March 3. Diaz is a Mojave American poet, and her debut poetry collection, titled “When My Brother Was an Aztec,” was published in 2012. Diaz is also an educator and activist, along with being a former professional basketball player.

Her collection was published by Graywolf Press, an independent, nonprofit literary publisher focused on amplifying new and diverse 21st century American voices and transnational literature. According to the organization’s mission statement, Graywolf is committed to giving platforms to marginalized and underrepresented voices within the American marketplace, and Diaz’s collection fits right in among its diversity of publications.

“Postcolonial Love Poem” is linguistically gorgeous. Diaz deliberately places each word, making political and socially important statements and beautiful poetry all at the same time. The opening poem, “Postcolonial Love Poem,” talks about how “the war never ended and somehow begins again,” which frames her whole collection.

Diaz illustrates the multifaceted elements of this “war,” the harm it has done and continues to do, and her hopefulness for the future throughout “Postcolonial Love Poem.”

A lot of her poems are concerned with bodies: bodies of Latina, black and brown women. But also bodies seen in nature: vast expanses of land and water. Her deep connection to the natural world is palpable, one that has been passed down from her ancestors and exists as a vital element of her blood. Diaz connects her own body to natural areas like the Colorado River in “The First Water Is the Body.”

Other than her connection to nature, Diaz also takes back elements of American society that inherently belong to her culture.

Her poem “Manhattan Is a Lenape Word” asks “Where have all the natives gone?” while pairing urban and natural elements to show the void that was created from the near wiping out of Manhattan’s native people. Diaz is protesting the erasure of her body and the bodies of her people from history. She does not let the reader shy away from the truth behind the foundation of the United States and the blood it is built on.

She is a master of poetic activism.

The poem after “Manhattan Is a Lenape Word” is entitled “American Arithmetic.”

This poem begins with statistics outlining the way that Native Americans have been targeted and oppressed. She pairs nature with politics, matching bodies of the earth and bodies of the oppressed. There are so many stunning lines that force you awake, like “We do a better job of dying by the police than we do existing.” Diaz is pleading to “let me be alone but not invisible.”

She also includes prose among her poetry, like in “Run’n’Gun” and “Ink-Light.”

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The cover of Natalie Diaz’s “Postcolonial Love Poem” (2020) is pictured.

There is an additional poem titled “Top Ten Reasons Why Indians Are Good at Basketball.” Each of these poems is distinct from her more lyrical ones, though they are still very poetic in their use of language and expressive nature. Her sarcasm found elsewhere in the collection is heightened in “Top Ten Reasons Why Indians Are Good at Basketball.” This poem, along with others on historical genocide and oppression, are steeped in sarcasm.

Diaz’s poem,“exhibits from The American Water Museum,” is also distinct from the collection’s other pieces. Diaz lists for pages all sorts of captions that you might see for elements in a museum, playing on what might seem like reverence in a museum but showing the ways that our museums are doing the opposite. There are also connections to real historical events, as she includes the prayer of a Navajo Elder who was shot while protesting the construction of a pipeline. The coupling of both serious, freeform and lyrical poems with prose gives

the reader multiple formats through which to understand her message.

The end of the collection features a notes section. Here, Diaz gives insights into the creation of different poems, allowing the reader to peek into the stories behind some of her pieces. This not only features the different influences that helped or inspired her for various poems, but also the historical connections to social events and other poetry that played a hand in her collection.

Diaz is begging not only to be heard, but to also be clearly and bluntly seen in “Postcolonial Love Poem.” Being vaguely heard is not enough. Diaz is not allowing anyone to make her “invisible.” At the same time, she is loving herself and her fellow Native Americans, Mojave or not. Her love for her Native American culture and people is obvious. Each of these elements comes together to build a future for herself and for her people. Diaz focuses on the suffering, while also focusing on the hope.

TRASHING ONE EGG WASTES 55 GALLONS OF WATER

Wednesday, March 4, 2020 | FUN & GAMES | THE TUFTS DAILY

tuftsdaily.com

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F &G FUN & GAMES

LATE NIGHT AT THE DAILY Jake: “Don’t look at me with yo crusty ass.”

SUDOKU

LINDA C. BLACK ASTROLOGY

Pisces (Feb. 19–March 20)

Enjoy peaceful domesticity. Mercury retrograde enters Aquarius for a quiet phase. Explore a passion with Venus in Taurus. Write about what you love.

Difficulty Level: Doing layout after swearing you wouldn’t last semester.

Tuesday’s Solutions

CROSSWORD

5

6 Wednesday, March 4, 2020

Sarah Kaplan Funding Our Future

Feasible fitness

I

n my first few columns, I have focused on several areas where Tufts can improve its student financial accessibility: need-sensitive admissions, meal swipe donations, tiered housing and laundry costs. This week, I want to bring attention to a topic that is already in the process of positive change: access to free fitness classes.

Last week, the Daily called on Tufts to expand its free fitness class offerings to encourage healthy student lifestyles. As they noted, Tufts only offers some free physical education classes for credit each semester. These classes often fill up quickly, not allowing students to practice the healthy habits they so desire. But there is a group on campus that is actively addressing this problem: Tufts Student Resources (TSR) Fitness. This effort to expand access to free fitness at Tufts is largely student-led rather than promoted by the Tufts administration. Tufts should partner with the existing backbone of student fitness offerings and build a coalition that puts students’ health needs first.

Upon returning to campus in January, I was thrilled to learn that TSR Fitness is now offering weekly fitness classes free of charge.

Since 1981, TSR has offered student-led fitness classes for students. Until this semester, classes were $5 for a drop-in class, $20 for five classes, $30 for ten classes and $50 for an unlimited number of classes each semester. The group offered a week of free classes every semester so that students could try classes before committing to a payment. Now, TSR requires no payment. Students need only show up to the Hill Hall Aerobics Room at one of their class times to exercise with their peers.

TSR Fitness offers a bootcamp, kickboxing, Zumba and yoga class each week. Tufts should recognize TSR Fitness’s efforts to expand student access to fitness and partner with TSR to increase the number of free classes offered to students. As student schedules vary by time and location, it should follow that free fitness classes be offered at a wide array of times and locations.

Tufts can take several steps to demonstrate its commitment to student access to fitness. To offer more free classes, Tufts would either need to subsidize the program to compensate instructors or recruit volunteer instructors so that students donot have to pay. To meet the demand for instructors, Tufts could establish a set of classes whereby students could earn certifications to instruct group fitness classes. For example, Tufts could offer a six-week mini-course to certify students to instruct group fitness classes through the American Council on Exercise.

The Steve Tisch Sports and Fitness Center should collaborate with TSR Fitness to offer free classes in its facilities, such as the second-floor multipurpose room. Students have already begun the work to increase access to fitness classes; Tufts should commit to building upon these existing efforts.

If you wish to work out with TSR Fitness in the Hill Hall Aerobics Room this semester, here’s the schedule: Tuesday Bootcamp with Claudia from 4–5 p.m., Tuesday Kickboxing with Bronwyn from 5–6 p.m., Thursday Zumba with Andres from 5–6 p.m. and Friday Yoga with Katherine from 12:30–1:30 p.m.

Sarah Kaplan is a first-year who has not yet declared a major. Sarah can be reached at sarah.kaplan@tufts.edu.

Opinion

tuftsdaily.com

EDITORIAL

Tufts must pursue post-graduation preparedness by adding ‘adulting’ courses to its curriculum Although some regard academia as an environment detached from the pressures of the “real” world, graduation and the complex challenges presented by adult life linger on the horizon and minds of undergraduates. For many Tufts students, topics such as financial management, budgeting, taxes, retirement planning and other practical concerns seem unmanageable and intimidating. The lack of practical preparation for post-university life falls at odds with Tufts’ values: “creating and sustaining an environment that prepares to launch all our students into the world fully prepared to chart a course for success.” Although some Tufts resources provide practical guidance, Tufts must extend efforts to champion these values by creating more classes focused on practical skills and thus better preparing students to navigate adult life.

While Tufts provides some resources that teach “adulting” skills, these offerings prove insufficient due to time-constraints, limited space, inadequate frequency of programs and content limitations. Although the economics department offers some finance classes, such as Introduction to Finance, these courses present too large of a time commitment for non-economics majors and only cover corporate topics rather than applicable personal finance.

However, the less time-consuming courses, such as the Hillel “Adulting 101” sessions, hold disadvantages as well, for they run inconsistently, do not offer students SHUs, fill up quickly and are only available to seniors. Additionally, the two Experimental College economically practical courses running this semester hold severe content limitations; they solely focus on finances, ignoring countless other skills vital to living a productive adult life. Despite the clear applicability and value of financial knowledge, these courses fail to discuss equally as important topics such as workplace cul-

ture, salary negotiations and retirement planning.

As a consequence of these deficits, students must turn to Tufts services, such as Tufts Debt Management services and the Career Center, which hold significant time limitations and therefore transmit minimal knowledge compared to full courses.

The #Adulting program, which was hosted by the Career Center over the course of the 2018–19 school year, engaged students with practical skills such as understanding workplace rights; however, these events concluded in April 2019. Thus, as oneand-a-half-hour events or simple appointment-based sessions hold severe time constraints and can only cover minimal material, they lack the necessary scope to have a true impact on students’ post-graduation lives.

Moreover, Tufts must expand its resources to help students build the skills necessary for adult success. The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley) achieves this mission, for it offers an “adulting” class that discusses the various facets of living a successful post-graduation life. In order to more holistically prepare students for post-university life, Tufts should implement courses similar to that of UC Berkeley that not only discuss finance but other important aspects of adulting as well. Ideally, these courses would also help achieve graduation requirements by holding SHU credit and fulfilling the math distribution requirement; in this form, more students would have the space in their schedules and thus the ability to learn the valuable skills covered in the courses.

These offerings would fulfill an intense student demand for more practical, preparedness-based courses, as shown through student responses to other campus resources. According to Sarah Tessler, the senior representative of the Hillel

Board and organizer of the “Adulting 101” sessions, there has been great interest and turnout at the two sessions held so far this semester, and she commented on the associated benefit of increasing practical course offerings.

“I’d really love to see Tufts capitalize on offering classes like these for credit,” Tessler wrote in an email to the Daily. “There’d definitely be a huge demand and I’m sure they could make them feel more academic in some capacity, especially for finance.”

Additionally, Kim Ruane, the current chair of the mathematics department, taught a practicality-based course titled “Financial Math” in Fall 2009 that focused on the basics of money management and the practical reasons for studying mathematics. The course was very popular among students, immediately filling up with a long waitlist; however, a lack of resources to support the large student demand for the course led to its discontinuation during the regular term. Considering this reasoning, the course’s cessation was truly unacceptable and highlights the current unfulfilled void of student demand for these practical, adult-preparedness courses.

Further, in order to more fully reflect its self-expressed values, Tufts must better prioritize the post-graduation preparedness of its students by creating more comprehensive “adulting” courses. Ultimately, if we cannot manage a checkbook, deal with communication issues in the workplace, create an investment plan or stand up to our bosses, we will not be successful in the long term despite the heightened essay-writing, textbook-reading skills cultivated throughout the university experience. Thus, this improvement to the Tufts curriculum is vital to the creation of responsible, prepared and successful adults, lying at the core of both students’ and Tufts’ ultimate goals.

EDITORIAL CARTOON

BY ANNABEL NIED

The Tufts Daily is a nonprofit, independent newspaper, published Monday through Friday during the academic year, and distributed free to the Tufts community.

The content of letters, advertisements, signed columns, cartoons and graphics does not necessarily reflect the opinion of The Tufts Daily editorial board.

EDITORIALS Editorials represent the position of The Tufts Daily. Individual editors are not necessarily responsible for, or in agreement with, the policies and editorials of The Tufts Daily.

OP-EDS The Op-Ed section of The Tufts Daily, an open forum for campus editorial commentary, is printed Monday through Thursday. The Daily welcomes submissions from all members of the Tufts community; the opinions expressed in the Op-Ed section do not necessarily represent the opinions of the Daily itself. Opinion articles on campus, national and international issues should be 600 to 1,200 words in length and submitted to opinion@tuftsdaily.com. The editors reserve the right to edit letters for clarity, space and length. All material is subject to editorial discretion and is not guaranteed to appear in the Daily. Authors must submit their telephone numbers and day-of availability for editing questions.

ADVERTISING All advertising copy is subject to the approval of the Editor-in-Chief, Executive Board and Executive Business Director.

Sports

Wednesday, March 4, 2020 | Sports | THE TUFTS DAILY

7

Herrod Women’s track and field places 3rd at New England Aiden The Turf Monster Div. III Championship Your 2021 NBA

champions… the Golden State Warriors

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ERIK BRITT / THE TUFTS DAILY ARCHIVES

Senior Julia Gake races at the Branwen Smith-King Invitational at the Gantcher Center on Jan. 27, 2018.

by Liam Finnegan Sports Editor

The women’s track and field team competed at the New England Div. III Championships held at Middlebury on Friday and Saturday, placing third place for the second year in a row.

First-year Lia Rotti tied the Tufts record in the long jump event, posting a distance of 18’ 6”, a mark set by Vera Stenhouse’s (LA’91) in 1991. Rotti’s 18’ 6” jump was also enough to earn her first place in the event and currently ranks her 15th in Div. III. “I’ve been slowly improving my marks all season thanks to some great coaching, but this was an especially big personal record for me,” Rotti said. “I’m also especially glad I seemed to have been at peak performance at Div. III New Englands to score some team points.”

Rotti also found success in the triple jump, posting a 38’ 9 ¾” mark to take third at the meet, which currently ranks eighth nationally in Div. III. The Jumbos had a slew of other racers post nationally ranking times. Senior Sabrina Gornisiewicz competed in the 3k and took third with a time of 10:02.12, which is currently good for 22nd nationally. Sophomore Hannah Neilon had an especially impressive performance at the meet, taking first place in the 800 meters with a time of 2:16.23. This

time is currently ranked 20th nationally in Div. III. Neilon’s first place finish was the second year in a row that she had won a New England Div. Championship title; she took first place in the 600 meters last year.

“It felt great to win the 800s at [the Championship] definitely like lots of hard work had paid off,” Neilon said. “I could hear my team cheering as I went around the track and it really helped me through the race. Once I crossed the line there were lots of hugs and high-fives being exchanged and it was a great experience.”

Other notable performances included sophomore Tara Lowensohn’s 2:59.54 in the 1,000 meters which earned her second place in the event and senior co-captain Julia Gake’s third place finish in the 600 meters with a time of 1:37.51.

Along with Rotti’s record-tying performance in the high jump, a number of other Jumbos also had success in the field events.

Sophomore Kathryn Ezeoha finished fifth place in the triple jump with a distance of 36’ 9 ¾” and first-year Jaidyn Appel took fourth in the high jump with a mark of 5’ 5”.

Overall, Tufts earned 88 total team points, finishing behind second place MIT (96.5 points) and first place NESCAC rival Williams (159 points). Out of the 26 teams competing at the event, the Jumbos finished third overall.

“Third place as a team was our goal, so we were definitely happy,” Neilon

said. “A lot of people stepped up and scored big points which was crucial. It’s also exciting that we weren’t too far off from second place. Based on this weekend, second place as a team at outdoor New England’s is definitely something we can shoot for.”

Now, the Jumbos are looking ahead to their next challenge — qualifying for the NCAA Div. III Championship. The last chance to qualify will be this weekend, when the team hosts the Tufts National Qualifying Meet on Saturday.

“We are trying to get some of our athletes healthy and prepared for the upcoming Tufts National Qualifier meet this weekend,” Rotti said. “Hopefully the team will turn out some more great performances so we can get more people to Div. III Nationals.”

Neilon remains optimistic about securing a spot at the national meet, which is scheduled for Mar. 13 and 14 in Winston-Salem, N.C. “It’s still not 100% certain that I’ll make nationals, since the rankings could switch this weekend, but so far it’s looking good and I’m very excited,” Neilon said. “We’re going to try to secure our distance medley relay [team] a spot at [Tufts National Qualifying Meet] on Saturday, and we have a great team with a lot of camaraderie. My plan is to continue to work hard, hydrate and get good rest so that I can do my part to help get us there.”

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eading up to this year’s hectic NBA season, we saw a major reshuffling of the league’s power dynamics. Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook, Kawhi Leonard and many more notable players all switched teams, leaving fans skeptical of the approaching season. The only real constant that people predicted was the continued dominance of the Golden State Warriors.

That didn’t really pan out. Despite losing Kevin Durant to free agency, the Warriors received the up-and-coming D’Angelo Russel coming off of his first all-star campaign with Brooklyn as part of the sign-andtrade deal. They had lost Klay Thompson to injury, but Steph Curry and Draymond Green were expected to anchor the team’s core. Then the unexpected happened; Curry broke his hand and doomed the Warriors’ season for good.

Currently, they sit at an abysmal 13–48 record, the worst in the league by a wide margin. The roster is made up of an oft-injured Green, journeymen and G-League fodder. Sure, Curry should be back soon, but fans will see no comeback in 2020 for Golden State. I’m here to argue that, moving into next season, the Warriors are about to experience a turnaround unlike anything the league has ever seen.

The 2020–21 season will be the revenge tour of a lifetime. I expect the Warriors to return to a championship core that won 73 games in a season before Kevin Durant even joined the squad. Curry, Thompson and Green all still have it, and a year to rest up after so many deep playoff runs will do them some good. I expect them to match up well against the Los Angeles teams, both of which boast a mere two stars to the Warriors’ three.

This core swept the Portland Trailblazers in last year’s Western Conference Finals.

Steph, Klay and Dramond all have more than enough firepower to make a big run individually, but the three playing together again will prove to be unbeatable against any Western Conference power player.

However, it won’t be just those big three. The rather abysmal 2019–20 roster around them will look supremely different next year. First, let’s look at the mainstays. Eric Paschall has been a revelation this season, averaging 13.6 points and 4.7 rebounds per game, and is sure to be a main player for the Warriors moving forward. Kevon Looney is returning on a bargain of a deal and should augment the big three well after big minutes during the finals. But here’s the kicker: the Warriors have the resources to reload with another star or a war chest of role players, whichever the front office sees most fit. Their league-worst record could easily net them a top three pick in this upcoming draft lottery, and they can package that with some other pieces, like the recently acquired Andrew Wiggins, to revamp their roster. Golden State could dream big and go after a star like Bradley Beal, who would certainly make them a feared force in the West once more.

This is why, before the 2020–21 season even starts, I’m calling my shot. The Warriors will bring a championship to their shiny new arena in the heart of San Francisco, erase this year’s disappointing season and re-establish themselves as a dynasty.

Aiden Herrod is a sophomore studying film and media studies. Aiden can be reached at aiden.herrod@tufts.edu.

8 Wednesday, March 4, 2020

Sports

tuftsdaily.com

Men’s track and field places 3rd at New England Div. III Championship

ERIK BRITT / THE TUFTS DAILY ARCHIVES

Senior Matt D’Anieri runs the first leg of the 4x800-meter relay at the Branwen Smith-King Invitational on Jan. 27, 2018.

by Arnav Sacheti Staff Writer

The men’s track and field team competed at Springfield College for the second week in a row, this time at the two day New England Div. III Championship on Friday and Saturday. Placing third overall in the meet, with a total score of 67.5 behind Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Williams, Tufts was led by many top event finishes, as well as personal bests.

Saturday’s events were led by a thrilling win in the mile by senior Matt D’Anieri with a personal best of 4:14.43, which currently ranks 15th nationally in Div. III. D’Anieri also secured third place in the 1,000 meters with a time of 2:31.34.

“The MVP of our meet was easily Matt D’Anieri,” sophomore Nick Delaney said.

“He won one of the most dramatic mile races I’ve ever seen, coming out of the inside lane and taking the win in the mile for 10 points, which a Tufts runner hasn’t had in a very long time.”

A flurry of second place finishes were achieved by the younger members of

the team. Delaney ran a 2:31.20 in the 1,000 meters, first-year Evan Ensslin ran a 1:54.50 in the 800 meters and first-year Andrii Campbell posted a 1:22.10 in the 600 meters.

Delaney and Enslinn doubled events this meet as part of a 4×800 meters relay team that also consisted of sophomore Collin O’Sullivan and senior co-captain Danny Klain. The squad finished fifth in the event with a time of 8:01.87.

“We were all doubling, and we all had pretty strong individual events,” Delaney said. “So I’m certainly happy with our ability to come back less than an hour later after the 800 and the 1,000, for the squad of us, being able to execute the way we did and score some more points that helped us fend off Amherst for third.”

The team effort to accumulate points was the story for the Jumbos throughout the meet. The athletes who came first, second and third achieved 10, eight and six points, respectively, in their events. However, there were also other much needed point contributions that helped secure the team’s third-place finish.

The two day heptathlon event was led by sophomore Ben Stein, who finished fifth overall in the event with 4,656 points. The highlight of his performance was a first place finish in the 1,000 meters with a time of 2:45.13. Not only was this overall heptathlon score a personal best, but he also gave Tufts four much needed points in the overall team rankings and posted a top 25 national performance for Div. III. In other events, first-year Willy White finished in seventh place in the 60 meter hurdles with a time of 8.52, securing two points. Sophomore Neerav Gade finished in eighth place in the 5,000 meters with a time of 15:13.66, gaining one point for the Jumbos, while first-year Hunter Farrell scored 3.5 points in the pole vault with a jump of 14’ 5 1/4”.

“I think the team did really great,” Campbell said. “I have a lot of optimism about the team, and it gives me a lot of confidence to be a part of a team that is easily top three in [the meet].”

Optimism and teamwork were indeed themes that were present throughout the two days of competition. Despite the indi-

vidual nature of competing in track and field, the Jumbos still treated the meet as a team effort and were able to succeed with that mindset in the high-pressure environment that comes with competing in a championship meet.

“It’s important that we love hearing our teammates chanting ‘Go!’ on the sidelines, we love that, and it’s just special,” Delaney said. “The indoor track is such a tight space, and you hear everyone and see everyone, and it’s a great time.”

The Jumbos are now preparing for the Tufts National Qualifying Meet on Saturday at the Gantcher Center, where many of the athletes will have their last chance to qualify for the NCAA Div. III Championships that will take place the following weekend in WinstonSalem, N.C. The mindset going into these meets is unwaveringly team-oriented.

“These championship meets, we don’t care about the time,” Delaney said. “A lot of us don’t [get personal records], or don’t really think about it, and it’s all about the finish because at the end of the day, the title will almost always be more important than the [personal record].”

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