Issuu

THE TUFTS DAILY

Rain 56/40

VOLUME LXVIV, NUMBER 39

Where You Read It First Est. 1980 TUFTSDAILY.COM

Thursday, March 26, 2015

Literary magazine Parade provides space for marginalized voices by Miranda Willson Daily Staff Writer

Hoping to provide a creative outlet for people of marginalized identities, first-years Sandy Yin and Jennifer Lee recently founded Parade, Tufts’ newest and currently unrecognized literary magazine, this semester. While open to all identities and perspectives, the magazine intends to prioritize submissions from students of marginalized backgrounds and perspectives, including students of color, students with disabilities and gendernonconforming students, according to Parade’s website. “Jennifer and I are both very interested in systems of oppression and the way they shape how people of marginalized identities live their lives and see themselves represented in media, politics and society as a whole,” Yin said. “We both had experiences working with publications before, so we decided that creating a magazine that showcases marginalized identities would be a good way to voice the voices that aren’t being heard.” The executive board is composed entirely of first-year students, according to Yin, Parade’s editor-in-chief. Lee serves as the the creative director, and other executive board representatives and

editors include Priyanka Padidam and Ray Bernoff, the prose editors, Morgan Freeman, the poetry editor, Miranda Perez, the magazine’s spokesperson and Y-Binh Nguyen, the treasurer. The magazine allows students of all identities and backgrounds to submit, striving to avoid tokenization of minorities and other students, Yin said. Parade is now accepting poetry, prose and visual art submissions, according to its website. “We’re interested in how systems interlock,” Yin said. “We’re interested in white supremacy playing off with gender politics, how race and class play off each other … basically anyone who doesn’t see themselves represented in mainstream media, we’re trying to liberate their voices.” Padidam emphasized that the magazine does not select which submissions to publish based on the subject matter they address. “We aren’t creating any bounds for people’s identities,” she said. “No matter the topic, it’s still a way to push back against mainstream media, because it’s coming from those voices that are usually silenced.” “We’re not policing anyone’s identity,” Yin added. “As a literary magazine, of course we want to have quality content, but first and foremost, our goal

is to be a platform, so whatever narratives the people who are submitting want to tell, that’s what we want.” Yin emphasized the importance of creating a space that does not simply tolerate or accept different identities, but actively emphasizes those perspectives. “In general, if you look at what some people think of diversity, it’s just a way of checking off that you have someone of each identity in the room,” Yin said. “But it’s not enough to say, ‘We welcome people of all identities,’ because when you say that, you’re still allowing dominant voices to take over. This is a space where we are intentionally amplifying the voices of people who aren’t heard. Their voices are still silenced, unless you intentionally make them heard.” Padidam said that she thinks the presence of first-years on Parade’s executive board is beneficial for the magazine’s future. “We’re going to be on campus for longer; we will have time to dedicate ourselves to this publication,” Yin added. “And of course we have upperclassmen who are helping us, who have more connections and are more experienced.” The executive board intends to publish the first issue of Parade, which will be in the form of a shorter zine, in early April, Yin said. It hopes to

publish a longer literary magazine when it receives additional funding and enough submissions. The executive board members have also created a Tumblr and Instagram to advertise the publication and are organizing a second writing workshop for March 25, according to Yin. While the executive board members will select pieces for the magazine based on each issue’s theme, they intend to publish every submission they receive online, according to Bernoff. “Unless it’s hate speech or truly awful in some other way,” he noted. While Padidam hopes to gain a large readership, she also thinks that Parade should primarily stick to its mission statement: “To act as a creative forum and space for people of marginalized identities to tell whatever stories they feel are worth telling.” Yin emphasized the importance of Parade’s mission statement as the magazine moves forward. “I think success for us is defined by how people perceive our space, whether people feel we’re coming forward with what we’re trying to do,” she said. “Success isn’t about how much money we get, how much advertising we get to do. This isn’t something we’re trying to appeal to the majority, because the majority has a space on this campus.”

Students embark on microfinance trip through ExCollege course by Daniel Bottino News Editor

A group of students spent their spring break on an Experimental College-led trip in Bucerias, Mexico. The goal of the trip was to give students a better understanding of microfinance. The trip’s attendees included sophomores Lara LoBrutto and Sara PearceProbst and senior Gabriella Zoia, who is also an assistant news editor at the Daily. The students were accompanied by Adam Grenier, a lecturer in the Experimental College, and Elly Rohrer (LA ’11), who is the director of Human Connections, a nonprofit dedicated to leading educational and academic tours for college students. According to Grenier, Rohrer pitched the idea for the trip. She expressed interest in organizing a microfinance tour for Tufts students. “[Last fall] we started building out what the itinerary would look like for Tufts students, with a focus on microfinance, which is what I teach here,” Grenier said. “We’d basically be embedded with three different microfinance institutions while we’re there for the week.” Grenier explained that microfinance can be defined as financial services for the poor. “[Microfinance] is most commonly connected with the distribution of micro-loans — that’s how it was popularized — but it entails a lot more than loans. It’s about loans, savings programs, insurance programs, education … financial education,” he said. “It’s much bigger than just loans.” Financial services, including loans, are relatively easy to obtain in the United States, Grenier said, where someone in need of a loan to start a business can request one from a bank. In contrast, he noted that microfinance operates at a more informal level.

“These [microfinance] institutions are able to target those that don’t have easy access to the commercial [and] formal sector,” he said. In Bucerias, the students were able to interact with clients of microfinance services and learn how microfinance loans work in the culture of the local community, Grenier said. Students were able to get handson experience with several aspects of microfinance, including meeting loan clients, members of microfinance institutions, people in remittance programs and people involved in lending circles, as well as more recreational activities, he said. “[Lending circles] are even more informal than the traditional microloans,” Grenier said. “These are circles that are established in villages [and are] very locally built.” Pearce-Probst said she was extremely pleased with the outcome of the experience, emphasizing that the trip helped her gain an understanding of microfinance that she could not have gotten through her engineering studies. “Learning about what microfinance actually is was a highlight, but more than that, the most interesting, fun and also awkward part to me was actually visiting people’s homes,” she said. “You don’t get that just going as a tourist by yourself … to really meet these people and have them welcome you into their homes is a very special experience.” She added that since Rohrer had previously established connections with the people they interacted with, the visits felt more comfortable despite the personal nature of the financial questions being discussed. Pearce-Probst believes that the trip was also valuable in that she was able to find a connection to her classroom studies at Tufts.

Inside this issue

Courtesy Adam Grenier

From left to right: Lara LoBrutto, Gabriella Zoia and Sarah Pearce-Probst admire the artisan work of Human Connections client Leonarda, especially the Tufts Jumbo elephant inspired by Leonarda’s indigenous Huichol culture. “I wasn’t expecting anything related to my studies when I went … but the community center was by far my favorite place because they combined social entrepreneurship with engineering: How they designed the building, how they made it energy efficient and environmentally friendly and combined that with strong community building and bringing together people of American descent and Mexican descent,” PearceProbst said. LoBrutto added that the trip enabled her to learn about the importance of communities in Mexican microfinance. “I learned that the reason for microfinance’s relative success in Mexico is the existence of strong communities,” she told the Daily in an email. “Speaking to real-life microfinance participants was a hundred times more valuable than learning about it in a classroom.”

In addition, LoBrutto explained that the stories she heard from the residents of Bucerias left a major impression on her. “The families we visited had incredible stories to share, from Leonarda’s perseverance as a single mom to Don Carmelo’s rise from an orphan to a successful restaurant owner raising 10 children,” she said. “They will stick with me for a long time to come.” These experiences allowed LoBrutto to gain a new perspective on microfinance and its related questions, she noted, as well as stimulating her interest in future career paths. “I believe that the discoveries and realizations that this trip facilitated will have an invaluable impact on my future,” she said. Although this trip is the first of its kind, Grenier hopes that similar trips can be made, perhaps on an annual basis.

Today’s sections

Granoff All Night Music Festival promises a night of great tunes from Tufts musicians and a variety of activities and food.

The women’s tennis team went 2-2 against some of California’s top teams.

see WEEKENDER, page 5

see SPORTS, back

News 1 Features 2 Weekender 5 Arts 6

Editorial 10 Op-Ed 11 Sports Back

Features

tuftsdaily.com

Lex Erath | Sugar & Spice

Adulthood

Caroline Ambros / the tufts daily

Tufts Mock Trial’s A and B teams pose with their trophies from the Opening Round Championship Series at State College, Pa.

Tufts Mock Trial's 'best' team yet heading to nationals by Yuki Zaninovich Assistant Features Editor

Tufts Mock Trial (TMT) continued its streak of recent successes this spring as it earned a bid to Nationals for the sixth consecutive year, according to TMT President and senior Nick Teleky. TMT’s road to Nationals began with the Regional competition, where over 600 different schools competed for 192 bids to the Opening Round Championship Series (ORCS), the nationals-qualifying tournament for the American Mock Trial Association (AMTA). Though Tufts earned three bids to ORCS this year, AMTA regulations only allow a school to send up to two teams to ORCS. TMT sent an A and a B team that both consisted of the club’s most experienced members. The A team, captained by Teleky and senior Anna Lyons, faced off against teams from Suffolk University, Rutgers University, Yale University and Columbia University, and ultimately earned a bid to Nationals with six wins, one loss and one tie. Additionally, Teleky won an Outstanding Attorney award, and Lyons won an Outstanding Witness award. “This season has probably been the best that Tufts Mock Trial has ever had,” Teleky told the Daily in an email. “The freshmen this year are [some] of the best we’ve ever had … and the seniors are also particularly strong.” The B team, captained by juniors Sara Weiss and Katie Grosch, competed against teams from Harvard University, University of Rochester, Cornell University and Washington & Jefferson College to finish with a record of four wins and four losses, which wasn’t good enough to qualify for Nationals. However, Teleky still views the team’s experience at ORCS to be invaluable. “They hit some of the best teams in the country, and really did a great job,” Teleky said. “The experience of competing against other Nationals-quality programs in particular will be really useful for the program for the years to come.” The A team will be competing against 47 other teams in Nationals this year, which will be held in Cincinnati, Ohio from April 17-19. However, the team will have to adjust to a new rule introduced this year that stipulates that teams will have to compete with a brand new case at Nationals which was released on March 22.

This is quite a change for the team, which is used to using the same case from September to Nationals. However, TMT hardly sees this as a problem, according to External Affairs Officer Eve Feldberg. “Time might be our number one challenge, but it’s kind of cool because it’s a level playing field for everyone,” Feldberg, a sophomore, said. “If anything, [the time constraint] will motivate us to practice more and stay on top of things.” Despite its recent successes, TMT has not always been a powerhouse, according to Teleky. Teleky believes that attending invitational tournaments allowed the young TMT to gain competitive experience and get it to where it is now. “A lot of the growth in the club can be accredited to going to these invitationals tournaments, which don’t count toward going to nationals, because they give a feel for what the actual tournament rounds are and allow us to train our new members,” Teleky said. “It’s essentially a sandbox for freshman and sophomores who want to try out new things, and it doesn’t really matter much if they take risks that don’t work out.” As a result, the club has been able to produce competitive teams with strong chemistry, according to Teleky. “As a team, we gel together a little bit better than past teams,” Teleky said. “Some used to have fights or get into disagreements over silly things, and we haven’t had a whole lot of problems with that yet. We just work better together.” For this reason, TMT is both an academic and social club for members like first-year Caroline McBrien. “Sometimes [TMT] feels like an academic club because of all the public speaking and long practices,” McBrien said. “But at the same time, I enjoy being in a community and team with supportive members.” Another unique facet of this club is that it’s entirely student-run. Though the lack of advisors and coaches forces members to learn on their own and from each other, Teleky sees this autonomy as a plus. “We’re one of the highest ranked teams in the country that doesn’t have any coaching staff at all, and one of the few studentrun teams to make it to Nationals,” Teleky said. “That can present a challenge — we have to spend more time understanding the law, assigning the best people to roles that suit them and practicing on our own. But it does give us more creative flexibility, which is a huge benefit.”

There are some points the team hopes to improve on, however. One aspect has to do with keeping its members’ enthusiasm high throughout an entire trial, according to Teleky. “It’s hard to keep judges, who are often giving up their weekends to judge us, interested and excited about what can quickly become a dull trial,” Teleky said. “At a competitive level, you want to focus on making your trial entertaining, something the judges would want to watch and be interested in.” Another aspect involves dealing with mistakes made in competition, according to Teleky. “I feel like a lot of teams try to focus on not making mistakes, but a team’s skill shows most with how they deal with these mistakes,” Teleky said. “The difference between a good team and an excellent team is the ability to make imperfection look perfect.” However, TMT faces a challenge that practice can’t overcome: funding. There was not enough money in the TCU supplementary fund to cover travel expenses to nationals this year, and the team’s national travel expenses have been cut for next year, according to Teleky. The decision by the TCU Senate to cut travel funding is especially detrimental to clubs like TMT, whose primary objective is to compete by travelling, according to Feldberg. “[TCU Senate’s decision] affects everything, especially because as a competition team, we have to travel to compete, and if we can’t compete, there’s really no point in us existing,” Feldberg said. Additionally, since the trip to Nationals is normally subsidized through the supplementary fund, which Teleky explained senate uses to fund trips or projects that weren’t planned for at the beginning of the year, TMT will have to act entirely independently from the senate for the rest of this year. The club was able to use the crowd sourcing website GoFundMe to get its members to Nationals this year, according to Feldberg. “People on the team shared [the GoFundMe page] on their Facebook page and emailed their relatives, and the response was just overwhelmingly positive and great,” Feldberg said. After facing these dilemmas, and with a hard-working and talented team, TMT is optimistic about its performance at Nationals this year, according to Teleky. “This is probably one of our best shots at winning a trophy at Nationals and bringing it back to Tufts, which is really cool,” Teleky said.

ometimes the universe likes to play cruel tricks on you, and I was its most recent victim. A couple of weeks ago, I wrote a column called “Odyssey,” comparing venturing across campus in a Boston winter to Homer’s epic poem about a 20-year return home. Little did I know I would soon be experiencing a real Odyssey of my own. Ever heard of Murphy’s Law — that everything that can go wrong does? That’s exactly what happened to me when I was attempting to return from Spain last weekend. After a five-hour bus to Madrid, I found out late Friday night that my Saturday morning flight was canceled. The next morning at the airport, I was told that the next available flight to Boston was Tuesday night, so I cried at my thoroughly male ticket agent a bit until he was so alarmed he helped me figure out something else. Long story short, I ended up having to stay in Madrid an extra night, flying to JFK Sunday morning, taking a 90-minute Uber from JFK to Penn Station and taking a four-hour train from Penn to South Station to finally arrive home late Sunday night. Whew. This is all a rather long lead-in to the fact that as exhausting as that whole ordeal was, it made me realize that I am sort of an adult — I was stranded in Madrid, and I figured everything out and got myself home. Of course, I’m still a baby adult; I will always call someone else to kill spiders for me, and I have no clue how to change a tire. But what is the turning point from kid to baby adult? Look no further — here’s your breakdown. You’re still a kid if: You don’t know how to do your laundry. The excuses are over — you’re in college. You’re a baby adult if: You know how and don’t do it anyway. (As long as you know.) You’re still a kid if: You expect the Joey to show up on time. Seriously. You should have learned this the first week of first-year orientation. You’re a baby adult if: You’ve started Ubering to the gym. At least you’re going, right? You’re still a kid if: You get freaked out when you see a bug in your room. Some of you might even immediately flee the premises. You’re a baby adult if: You have a designated bug-killer on speed-dial — outsourcing is your MO. You’re still a kid if: You occasionally pull all-nighters to finish your work and simultaneously brag/complain about it the next day, all while downing Red Bulls galore. You’re a baby adult if: You pull all-nighters on the reg but only occasionally to do work. You’re still a kid if: You get excited about going grocery shopping (food!). You’re a baby adult if: You get excited about going grocery shopping at Carm or Dewick (free food!) á la partially clean Tupperware you stole from your housemates. You’re still a kid if: You show up to the GIM of a club you have no interest in joining because your friend begged you to come. You’re a baby adult if: You show up to the GIM of a club you have no interest in joining because they promised food (free food!). You’re still a kid if: You don’t like coffee. You’re a baby adult if: It’s your lifeblood. So you see, it doesn’t take an international stranding to test your mettle and determine if you’ve finally left childhood behind. Of course, there’s nothing wrong with dragging your heels a bit — the world does need children — but until you start drinking coffee, I think we all know who’s coming out on top. Lex Erath is a junior majoring in economics and biopsychology. She can be reached at alexandra.erath@tufts.edu.

Thursday, March 26, 2015

The Tufts Daily

Thursday, March 26, 2015

PASSOVER APRIL 3â€“11, 2015 APRIL 2 6:30PM Pre-Passover Pizza Party!

APRIL 3

APRIL 4

APRIL 5

6:30PM Traditional Seder & Shabbat Dinner*

10:30AM/12PM Passover Shabbat Services & Lunch

10:30AM/12PM Passover Services & Lunch

Alternative First Night Seder & Shabbat Dinner with Raechel*

6:30PM Second Night Seder Slam*

APRIL 6

APRIL 7

APRIL 8

12PM Free Passover Community Lunch

7:30PM Free Passover Community Dinner*

12PM Free Passover Community Lunch

Living Between Slavery & Redemption Lunch & Learn

Vitality Lunch & Learn: Medical Ethics

APRIL 9

APRIL 10

APRIL 11

6PM Matzah Pizza Party!

10:30AM/12PM Passover Services & Lunch

10:30AM/12PM Passover Shabbat Services & Lunch

7:30PM Farm to Table Passover Shabbat Dinner*

CELEBRATE AT TUFTS HILLEL Visit tuftshillel.org for more information

* Registration is required and must be made in advance through our website. Space at FREE dinners is limitedand is available on a first-come-first serve basis. Please print your confirmation email and bring it with you to all meals.

Thursday, March 26, 2015

The Tufts Daily

Thursday, March 26, 2015

PASSOVER APRIL 3â€“11, 2015 APRIL 2 6:30PM Pre-Passover Pizza Party!

APRIL 3

APRIL 4

APRIL 5

6:30PM Traditional Seder & Shabbat Dinner*

10:30AM/12PM Passover Shabbat Services & Lunch

10:30AM/12PM Passover Services & Lunch

Alternative First Night Seder & Shabbat Dinner with Raechel*

6:30PM Second Night Seder Slam*

APRIL 6

APRIL 7

APRIL 8

12PM Free Passover Community Lunch

7:30PM Free Passover Community Dinner*

12PM Free Passover Community Lunch

Living Between Slavery & Redemption Lunch & Learn

Vitality Lunch & Learn: Medical Ethics

APRIL 9

APRIL 10

APRIL 11

6PM Matzah Pizza Party!

10:30AM/12PM Passover Services & Lunch

10:30AM/12PM Passover Shabbat Services & Lunch

7:30PM Farm to Table Passover Shabbat Dinner*

CELEBRATE AT TUFTS HILLEL Visit tuftshillel.org for more information

Weekender

courtesy Evan Sayles

BEATs is set to play as one of many varied music acts at the Granoff All Night Music Festival, which will take place this Friday starting at 9:00 p.m.

Granoff All Night Music Festival to include a range of Tufts musicians, performance groups this weekend by Dana Guth Arts Editor

The second annual Granoff All Night Music Festival will be held this Friday, March 27. The event, which features over 30 student groups performing back-toback, will run from 9:30 p.m. Friday night to 3:30 a.m. Saturday morning in various spaces within the Granoff Music Center. The festival will be free and open to the general public. Its performers span all genres from a capella — Tufts groups Amalgamates and Enchanted, for example — to the New England Conservatory Afrobeat Project and The Jumbo Knish Factory. A few independent acts, like student bands Shark Saddle and Like Wolves, will also be taking the stage. “It’s a good place for all the performance groups to come together and play under one roof,” said Mika Sanger, a sophomore in Tufts Wind Ensemble. “We don’t only perform for ourselves, but to interact with the other musicians. It’s also just a fun excuse to listen to music all night.” Though the Tufts Department of Music is hosting the event, the night isn’t limited to musical acts only. A full range of performers, including HYPE Mimez troupe and improvisational group Cheap Sox, are featured in the lineup. “We’re planning on rehearsing and performing some of our best older skits,” said Dominik Doemer, a secondyear member of HYPE, which is scheduled for a 1:30 a.m. timeslot. He mentioned that some of the more theatrical student groups, like the mimes, tried to incorporate the event’s musical theme into their show.

“We performed last year, and had some live music, as well,” he said. “Some of the mimes play piano and the drums, and it went over really well, so we’re going to do it again this year. It’ll be a good time.” According to the Department, one of the primary goals of the festival was to be an inclusive event for student ensembles. With the exception of a few clubs with time constraints, even those groups on the waitlist were able to join the show. The artists set to perform include: Enchanted, Am algamates, “Weird Jeff” Rawitsch, HYPE Mimez, Kiniwe & Agbekor Society, Baby Grand Quartet, Shir Appeal, Elizabeth Reian Bennett, A Doll’s House, Strings ‘n’ Things, Tufts Wind Ensemble, The Jumbo Knish Factory, Cheap Sox, Like Wolves, Tufts Monday Night Small Jazz Ensemble, New England Conservatory Afrobeat Project, James Roseman, GRIZZY, Plastic Minx, Peter Stone, i-nu, Shark Saddle, Rob Wallace, Maevey, The Drunken Noodles, Paul Lehrman, Conor Hearn and Steven Manwaring, Wakana, Gamelan Laras Tentrem & Tufts Javanese Gamelan Ensemble, B.E.A.T.s and more. “All groups are welcome to perform,” said Music Department Administrator Lucille Jones, who started the festival last year. “Ultimately, we were able to include everyone who submitted their act for consideration …we really tried to make sure that everyone who wanted to participate was offered a slot.” This is all part of a broader effort to get the greater student body involved with and excited about Tufts’ flourishing music scene, which is rife with an incredibly wide range of dedicated performers. Before putting the festival together, the Department

of Music noticed a dearth of support for (and even knowledge of) these many student groups. “As we found out last year, many students didn’t even know what Granoff was,” said Jones. “This is an opportunity for anyone and everyone who wants to play or just listen to different types of music to come and enjoy this space.” The All Night Music Festival also offers a lively alternative to the usual Friday-night party scene, which Jones predicted students might often see as their only option. “Last year, one student said that he didn’t know he could have this much fun without alcohol,” she said. “It was definitely a real alternative to ‘clubbing’ because we had a room dedicated to dancing and live music.” Music Department Staff Assistant Danna Solomon, who helped coordinate the festival, emphasized the department’s goal to facilitate this lively, communal atmosphere. “It’s a fun chance for students to come together to make and enjoy music, and it will absolutely be a party,” she said. “Maybe they’ll even discover a new group or genre that will become their favorite.” Solomon added that she thinks it’s vital for students to come out and see the results of their friends’ and peers’ hard work, especially on a night when everyone is onstage together. “It’s important that the students support each other in their artistic endeavors, so we hope students come to watch their friends perform, hang out and dance,” Solomon said. The festival will also be co-sponsored by the Office of the President and catered by a slew of local eateries: Nick’s House of Pizza,

Ethan chan / the tufts daily

The improvisation group Cheap Sox is one of the non-musical groups that will perform at Granoff All Night Music Festival.

Island Creations, Wingz n Thingz, Pinky’s Pizza, True Grounds and Espresso Pizza, to name a few. “President Monaco thought it would be a good idea to have it as an annual event,” noted Jones. “A special thanks goes to the President for helping us fund [the festival] this year.” The music festival’s coordination required a full planning committee, made up of student volunteers hand picked by the Music Department who have been meeting for a month or so leading up to this weekend. “Their creativity and drive has been totally invaluable to this process, and they’ve been working really hard to make sure this event is awesome,” said Solomon of student committee members: senior Maeve Bell-Thornton, senior Ruben Sonz-Barnes, junior Sedef Seker, senior Peter Atkinson, senior DJ Joseph and sophomore Nia Hamilton. Also helping out are Coordinator of Music Public Relations and Events Anna Griffis, Chair John McDonald and Manager of Events Jeffrey “Weird Jeff” Rawitsch, who sings with the Concert Choir and will be performing himself. “A hobby of mine is to write song parodies à la my idol, ‘Weird Al’ Yankovic, for friends, family and co-workers,” Rawitsch said. Rawitsch has performed these songs at different venues. “[This includes] a set of songs about child development theories that I have performed for classes in the Child Study and Development Department,” he explained. Rawitsch mentioned that he will be starting off with an original parody about the festival, to the tune of “a pop song that came out a couple of years ago.” “I can say hands down that the All Night Music Festival is the most exciting event we put on all year, because it is the only music department-sponsored event that incorporates non-department performing groups and student bands and solo musicians,” he added. “Last year, the music building had this great buzz and energy from the beginning of the festival and into the wee hours, and it was a quite a sight to behold.” “It is a massive team effort,” said Jones, who, alongside Solomon, Griffis and Rawitsch, will be overseeing the festival all the way up until 3 a.m., or however late the event ends up going. “We split all of the duties, from publicity and catering to organizing the 50-plus volunteers and staff who will work the event,” she said. Solomon and Jones agreed that the entire department is very much looking forward to seeing how the night unfolds. “I am excited to see what spontaneous music-making happens on Friday,” Solomon said. “Last year, we had a lot of people bring their instruments and jam together, and the results were really exciting and magical. I can’t wait to see what the students come out with this year!”

The Tufts Daily

Arts & Living

Thursday, March 26, 2015

What's up this weekend Looking to make your weekend artsy? Check out these events! Not Your Mother’s Monologues: Tufts students perform a show comprised of pieces written and performed by femaleidentifying Tufts students. Inspired by Eve Ensler’s “Vagina Monologues,” the Tufts production “Not Your Mother’s Monologues” seeks to expand the narrative and increase the multiplicity of voices presented in this show, focusing on the stories of Tufts female-identifying students. (Friday at 8 p.m. and Saturday at 5:30 p.m. and 8 p.m. at 51 Winthrop St. Tickets are free but a suggested donation of $5 to BARCC is appreciated. Tickets to all shows are currently sold out.) Arts MOVEment Weekend: Tufts Vox: Students for Reproductive Justice and the LCS HIV/AIDS Initiative present the first Arts MOVEment Weekend, a three-day event dedicated to celebrate and recognize art used as a tool for reproductive justice work

and liberation. See below for details on each night’s events. (Thursday at 7 p.m., Friday at 8 p.m. and Sunday at 1 p.m. Various locations on the Tufts campus. Admission is free for all events. No tickets required.) Justice MOVEment Gallery: As part of Arts MOVEment Weekend, student artwork will be presented in a pop-up gallery. The work featured is created by Tufts students and addresses themes of the weekend’s events, which include reproductive justice and liberation. (Tonight at 7:00 p. m. in SoGo. Admission is free. No tickets required.) Rhythm of the MOVEment: As part of Arts MOVEment Weekend, Tufts Vox presents performances from Tufts performance groups including BEATs, S-Factor and the Ladies of Essence, as well as work performed by Spoken Word Alliance at Tufts (SWAT). Songs and poems address feminism, gender identity and their intersec-

tionality with social justice topics. (Friday at 8 p.m. at Brown and Brew. Admission is free. No tickets required.) Create the MOVEment: As part of Arts MOVEment Weekend, Tufts Vox presents a day of creative workshops led by Tufts groups. Come and make artwork, and join Tufts performance groups to create original performance pieces. Tufts BEATs and Tufts Burlesque Troupe will host workshops in Eaton. Students are also invited to create their own work in the Crafts Center. The event will conclude with students sharing their artwork that they create. Students are encouraged to create work inspired by and relating to issues of gender and sexuality, which are the focus of the weekend’s events, but are also free to create their own work. (Sunday at 1 p.m. in Eaton 206. Light refreshments will be served. At 1:30 p.m., workshops will take place in classrooms in Eaton and in the Crafts Center. Admission is free. No tickets required.)

Granoff All Night Music Festival: The Department of Music presents a night of jam sessions and quality tunes. Come listen to Tufts musicians perform, featuring a capella groups, student bands, Tufts DJs, Tufts music ensembles and many others. Free food and refreshments will be provided courtesy of a plethora of local restaurants including Nick’s House of Pizza, Wingz N’ Thingz and Noor Mediterranean Grill. The event will feature music, a photo booth and a variety of activities all night long. (Friday at 9 p.m., Granoff Music Center. Admission is free. No tickets required.) Surprise! It’s an Institute Show!: The Institute Sketch Comedy group is holding a free sketch comedy show this Friday. Special guests and music will be featured. (Friday at 10:30 p.m. Doors open at 10:15 p.m. Braker 001. Admission is free. No tickets required.)

—by Nika Korchok

Movie Review

'The Gunman' misses its mark

by Grace Segers Arts Editor It is surprising how little noise “The Gunman” (2015) made as it underwent production, with not much being

The Gunman Directed by Pierre Morel Starring Sean Penn, Jasmine Trinca, Javier Bardem, Ray Winstone known about the film until its recent release. Googling the movie provides only a vague description. One result from Fandango sells it as a “new action thriller from Pierre Morel, the director of ‘Taken’ (2008), starring Sean Penn…” Hardly an exciting tagline. After watching the film, it is easy understand why it made such a small splash. This movie is forgettable and tepid. Its quality explains how the preceding description was the best pitch the marketing team could come up with. “The Gunman” is, unfortunately, a failed attempt at recreating the box-office magic of “Taken” (2008). Directed by Pierre Morel and starring a faded Sean Penn trying to make a comeback, the film revolves around a morally ambiguous protagonist killing an unreasonable number of people for a more honest reason. For “Taken” fans, Penn’s, “They’re gonna come for us now,” will sound almost identical to Neeson’s famous “Taken” line: “But if you don’t, I will look for you, I will find you, and I will kill you.” “The Gunman” tells the story of Terrier (Sean Penn), a supposedly reformed mercenary who is suddenly being hunted while he works with an NGO in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Eight years earlier, he assassinated the country’s Minister of Mines and was forced to flee the country when the assassination led to political unrest, leaving a clueless girlfriend behind. Determined to find out who is trying to have him killed and how they know about his involvement, Terrier sets off on a trigger-happy quest throughout some of Europe’s hottest locales for the man behind the curtain. Along the way, Terrier meets up with a friend from his mercenary days, Felix (Javier Bardem), who happens to be married to his ex-girlfriend, Annie (Jasmine Trinca). Both fall into the action as Terrier fights for their lives. Penn’s character, although much more developed and slightly more intriguing than that of both Bardem and Trinca, presents similar issues. His personality is bland and his backstory stays unexamined, creating an unremarkable protagonist. Instead of developing his character throughout the two hours, the writers decide to exile Terrier’s moral transformation, attributing the shift to the eight years the audience doesn’t get to see, and thus missing the opportunity to give the story any emotional weight. As his love interest, Annie is one of only two women in the entire film with lines (the other woman in the cast, Rachel Lascar, says a total of two lines and appears only once). Annie is a one-dimensional,

Keith Bernstein/Open Road Films/TNS via MCTDirect

Sean Penn as Jim Terrier in “The Gunman.” While bringing brute strength, he lacks depth of characterization, failing to evoke meaningful emotion. unrealistically idle character who is prepared to have children with a man one minute and escape with a different one the next. The movie brazenly fails to give audiences a break from the action movie damsel-in-distress trope, and suffers for it. The film does have a few redeeming qualities. Ray Winstone’s performance as Stanley, the loyal friend who risks everything to help Terrier, provides a crisp sense of verisimilitude that the other characters lack. Javier Bardem is good in his portrayal of a strange, and somewhat crazy, man

of little scruples and big ambition. The music by Marco Beltrami does a good job of pacing the action and setting the tone. The rest of the film, however, is sadly uninspired. Perhaps what killed this movie was the fact that it was almost impossible to empathize with any of the characters. As much as Morel and Penn tried to make audience feel sympathy for the reformed mercenary and his hit-men friends, they do not provide enough likability or a good reason to stir up this sympathy. Without the little vulnerabil-

ities that make them human, the hit-men remain remain flat characters who deserve no respect or compassion. Had the characters been interesting and relatable, audiences may have developed some sense of attachment to them and been able to feel tension when bullets were flying past Terrier and Felix or when Annie was in danger. Maybe if the story had been clearer and fresher, it would have been easier to care who made it out alive. But without those elements the film falls flat and does not deliver on its premise.

Thursday, March 26, 2015

The Tufts Daily

Artsy Nugget

'Game of Thrones' season 5 to diverge from plot of books Fans of Westeros rejoice: Popular HBO television show “Game of Thrones” (2011-present) is returning in just a few short weeks. The fifth season of the series, which is based on the fantasy novels of the same name by George R.R. Martin, will premiere on April 12. Devotees of the books should take note, however, because the newest season is going to make some deviations from the original story. In an interview with Entertainment Weekly on March 17, show creators Dan Benioff and David Weiss and producer Bryan Cogman discussed how the fifth season of “Game of Thrones” will differ from its book counterpart. Benioff noted that while the first season was extremely faithful to the source material, each successive season has deviated more and more from the story laid out in the novels. “It’s always been about adapting the series as a whole and following the map George laid out for us and hitting the major milestones, but not necessarily each of the stops along the way,” said Benioff in the article. This assertion is further bolstered by George R.R. Martin’s recent reveal that certain characters who don’t die in the books will die in the fifth season. “There are always going to be some people who want everything to

Kirk McKoy/Los Angeles Times/MCT

“Game of Thrones” (2013-present) showrunners David Benioff, left, and Dan Weiss, right, discuss the difficulties of pacing their show as the publication is slow for the books by George R. R. Martin’s best-selling “A Song of Ice and Fire”(1996- present) series. remain exactly as in the books,” continued Benioff in the interview with Entertainment Weekly. Benioff said, “For us, it was never a choice.” There have, furthermore, always been fears amongst fans that the television show will surpass the publication of books, as exemplified in a recent article in Vanity Fair. Martin

Top 10 ways to cure your apathy

1. Go to the gym What a good way to motivate yourself — you can get something important done (you know, being healthier) while procrastinating! And as our good friend Elle Woods (“Legally Blonde,” 2001) would say, “Exercise gives you endorphins. Endorphins make you happy. Happy people just don’t shoot their husbands.” Right, happy people do their homework. 2. Take a nap Alternatively, if you’re not feeling the gym, just don’t do anything at all. If the cause of your apathy is fatigue, take a 15-30 minute power nap. Just make sure you get out of bed eventually.

Nikki Blank | A SWUG's Life

SWUG-et list

is notorious for taking years to write his novels, whereas HBO releases a season each year. The fifth season will combine the plots of the fourth and fifth books, and so the show will be caught up with the source material. Martin has yet to finish the sixth book in the series, which will be titled “The Winds of Winter.” The author has cancelled several upcoming appearances at conventions for the purpose of completing this novel. But even if Martin finishes “The Winds of Winter” before the sixth season of “Game of Thrones” is released, it is still likely that the ultimate end will be seen on TV in the show’s seventh season before it’s read in the seventh book. Benioff and Weiss apparently know how the series ends, so they will write a finale accordingly. As stated in the Vanity Fair article, in an address at the Oxford Union on March 20, Benioff even confirmed that the saga’s ending will be spoiled in the seventh season. While the impending fifth season premiere is exciting, fans of the books and the show will have to recognize the differences between the two, and Kirk McKoy/Los Angeles Times/MCT “Game of Thrones” (2013-present) showrunners David Benioff, left, and Dan Weiss, right, accept that the ending of “Game of discuss the difficulties of pacing their show as the publication is slow for the books by Thrones” will not come initially by the original author’s hand. George R. R. Martin’s best-selling “A Song of Ice and Fire”(1996- present) series.

Whether you went on vacation, went back home or stayed on campus over break, you probably are not ready to get back into the swing of things. In fact, if you’re anything like the people I’ve been talking to, you’re not doing your homework at all. That’s okay — you’re not alone, and with the last month of the semester coming up fast, it’s going to be really hard for you to concentrate. The apathy is overwhelming! However, it is important for you to get that work done — you do want to graduate eventually, after all. My advice? Take a break and do something for a while to reboot your brain. Here are the top 10 easiest and most effective things to do during that break.

Arts & Living

3. Take a bath/shower Someone recently told me that this works to motivate them. I can’t attest to it (showers make me sleepy) but you can try it if you like. Showering is said to help your creativity, after all. Plus you’ll smell much nicer.

SelfControl; others will put themselves in a location that doesn’t have WiFi. However you want to do it, just don’t get sucked into the social media vortex. The internet is a rabbit hole that might seem fun at first, but you will definitely regret it after.

4. Go to the sauna in the gym Once arriving at the gym, you might want to just give up right away. That’s fine — go downstairs into the sauna and chill (or rather, sweat) there for a while. Motivational? Maybe. Relaxing? Definitely.

8. Tidy your room This is another way to be productive while procrastinating. Let’s face it, your room is probably a mess. Pick up your dirty laundry and listen to some music for five minutes. If you live in an apartment, wash the dirty dishes that your roommates are probably annoyed at you for leaving in the sink (YEAH, YOU KNOW WHO YOU ARE).

5. Watch one episode of a show This isn’t that thing where you go on Netflix and get sucked into the mindless abyss by the 15-second automatic transition into the next episode and binge watch forever and ever. Find a show — preferably a half hour one — and just watch one episode. JUST ONE. I said just one! Goddammit. Netflix, you’re a cruel mistress. 6. Have a snack Munching isn’t the worst idea, especially if you have a healthy snack. Grab some carrots and hummus and crunch away. 7. Do NOT go on Facebook, Tumblr, Yik Yak, Tinder, Twitter, etc. You will never stop scrolling/swiping if you do this. Some people will block the sites using a productivity app, like

9. Talk to an old friend They’re also probably looking for any excuse to avoid work. Call them up, or send a text, or whatever form of communication you prefer, and reminisce about the old days. Or, if that makes things too awkward, just stalk them on Facebook (but set a timer so that you don’t stay on Facebook – see number 7). 10. If all else fails … coffee, coffee, coffee Sometimes none of these work, and you end up just spending the day procrastinating. Well, maybe instead just feed your addiction to caffeine to boost your mind. —by Jessica Mow

y dearest Tufts students (and Nana), I am SWUGging out over here!!! Apparently there are only five weeks left of school, meaning that for one-quarter of the Tufts population, there are only five weeks left of college. BRB while I go curl up with my body pillow and cry to the sweet sound of Joni Mitchell à la “River” (1970). “I wish I had a river so long / I would teach my feet to fly / Oh, I wish I had a river I could skate away on / I made my baby cry.” OK, I’m back. And I brought with me a brand new attitude and a fair amount of Trader Joe’s wine. Five weeks is enough time to cross everything off of my SWUG-et list before Graduation night. Who’s with me?! Joni?? 1. Graduate with a job 2. Confess your love to your first-year crush 3. Paint the cannon 4. Ride Jumbo (when/if he comes back) 5. Trick Turn one last time 6. Meet Helen 7. Have a sleepover in Tisch 8. Host a murder mystery theme party 9. Run the (Netflix) marathon 10. Have a drunk Dewick meal 11. Eat in the meeting room in Dewick 12. Combine #10 and #11 13. Eat a five-course meal at the pub 14. Make out with Froggy 15. Go on a run with barefoot lady 16. Collect cans with the can couple 17. Drive the Joey 18. Scream back at the creepy late night study voice 19. Play Pac-Man in the stacks 20. Complete a paper more than a day in advance 21. Sober Moe’s 22. Make your own coffee at the Rez 23. Go on stage at an SOC show 24. Take a selfie with Prez Monaco 25. Get on stage with Scatter Shot 26. Sext your TA 27. Go to the Crafts House 28. Get a free coffee at the Tower with your professor 29. Steal a composite off of a frat wall 30. Wear a Snuggie to class 31. Have a picnic on the floor in Dewick (BYO blanket and basket) 32. Get drunk with the Rabbi 33. Pay your parking tickets 34. Eat dinner at Monaco’s house 35. Turn the Joey into a party bus 36. Skinny dip in the pool 37. Hookup with a campus cutie 38. Go to the Loj 39. Eat a full Hodgdon cake, by yourself 40. The stacks…. 41. Wear sunglasses through an entire class 42. Drop a cup down the stairs at Dewick 43. Go on a tour and ask ridiculous questions 44. Fit into all of your first-year fall clothing 45. Give the “captain my captain” speech in your last class ever 46. Do your own Naked Quad Run 47. Jump into a Quidditch match, bludger on 48. BYO whistle to a hockey practice and recreate the scene from “Miracle” (2004) 49. Beer mile on the track 50. Touch the shoes of the Fling performer (Sean Paul!?!?!?) We’ve got five weeks, SWUGs. Are you ready for this?! Tweet your SWUG-et listicals to @A_ SWUGs_Life. XOXO, SWUG

Nikki Blank is a senior majoring in English. She can be reached at nicole. blank@tufts.edu

The Tufts Daily

Thursday, March 26, 2015

EVENTS: Today, Thursday, March 26 for more information: tuftsgloballeadership.org, x73314

Where Is Israel Going:

The Consequences of the Israeli Election with

BENJAMIN POGRUND Benjamin Pogrund has lived and worked in Israel for the last 15 years. He is the founder of the Yakar Center for Social Concern, which is dedicated to fostering dialogue among Israel’s many different religious communities. He has also written for Haaretz. While and INSPIRE Fellow at the Tufts Institute for Global Leadership, he began his work on his most recent book, Drawing Fire: Investigating the Accusations of Apartheid in Israel. Pogrund is also a recipient of the Dr. Jean Mayer Global Citizenship Award from the Institute. For 26 years, Pogrund was a journalist in South Africa. He was the deputy editor of the Rand Daily Mail, South Africa’s leading anti-apartheid newspaper, and he was jailed and persecuted as an enemy of the state and denied a passport for five years. Pogrund was the first non-family guest in twenty years welcomed in prison by Nelson Mandela. He became a biographer of both Mandela and Robert Sobukwe. When the publisher of the Mail ceased publication due to government pressure, Pogrund went on to work for the Sunday Times, the Boston Globe, the Independent, and the WorldPaper before moving to Israel.

7:00pm || Cabot 205

Fairyland

A Memoir of My Father a lecture by

Alysia Abbott

Alysia Abbott is the author of Fairyland, A Memoir of My Father, A beautiful, vibrant memoir about growing up motherless in 1970s and ’80s San Francisco with an openly gay father. Her book was a New York Times Book Review Editors’ Choice and an ALA Stonewall Award winner and was a finalist for the Lambda Literary Awards. As a journalist and critic, she has written for The New York Times, Real Simple, Vogue, Marie Claire, OUT, Slate, Salon, TheAtlantic.com, TriQuarterly and Psychology Today, among other publications. Alysia is also co-founder of The Recollectors Project, dedicated to remembering parents lost to AIDS and supporting the children they left behind.

7:00pm | | Barnum 104 A Lecture of the IGL’s Program for Narrative and Documentary Practice, sponsored by the kNOwTHEM Initiative combatting the most dangerous four-letter word || www.kNOwTHEM.org, www.dicksimon.com

Thursday, March 26, 2015

The Tufts Daily

TUFTS SUMMER SESSION 2015 prepare. eXpaND. Develop.

School of arts and Sciences | School of engineering

Three SeSSioNS: May 20–JuNe 26 | JuNe 30–auguST 7 | May 20–auguST 7

go.tufts.edu/summer

Summer Online Courses: Take Tufts home with you this summer, or to work, or around the world. Wherever you are, online courses give you more options.

Join Student Government! Spring TCU Elections:

COME TO THE GIM TODAY!

GIMs: Braker 001 Thursday, March 26th @ 9 pm Sunday, March 29th @ 9 pm

Where: Braker 001 March 26 @ 9:00 PM

Pizza provided!

Can’t make it? Email ECOM@tufts.edu with any questions!

Don’t forget to vote!

Tues 4/7

@ ecom.tufts.edu/vote

ECOM

@tufts.edu

twitter.com/

TuftsECOM

ecom.tufts.edu/

calendar

The Tufts Daily

THE TUFTS DAILY Drew Z. Robertson Editor-in-Chief

Editorial

Jacob Indursky Reena Karasin Managing Editors

Audrey Michael Executive News Editor Daniel Bottino News Editors Jenna Buckle Shana Friedman Nina Goldman Stephanie Haven Patrick McGrath Justin Rheingold Kathleen Schmidt Jei-Jei-Tan Melissa Wang Roy Wang Meagan Adler Assistant News Editors Marianna Anthanassiou Melissa Kain Arin Kerstein Safiya Nanji Sophie Lehrenbaum Aaron Pomerance Emma Steiner Roy Yang Gabriella Zoia Jake Taber Executive Features Editor Lily Sieradzki Features Editors Hannah Fingerhut Jessica Mow Mengqi Sun Nicole Brooks Greta Jochem Arin Kerstein Assistant Features Editors Becca Leibowitz Yuki Zaninovich Nika Korchok Executive Arts Editor Dana Guth Arts Editors Grace Segers Nitesh Gupta Assistant Arts Editors Jessica Mow Anjali Nair Joshua Podolsky Jennifer Straitz Ross Dember Marcus Budline Alex Connors Wil Glavin Sam Gold Steven Hefter Alison Kuah Tyler Maher Alex Schroeder Maclyn Senear Chris Warren Ray Paul Biron Phillip Goldberg Josh Slavin Scott Geldzahler Susan Kaufman Olivia Montgomory Ruchira Parikh Ty Enos Fury Sheron Jennifer Lien Hannah Hoang Katie Matejcak Natasha Khwaja Bailey Werner

Executive Sports Editor Sports Editors

Nicholas Pfosi Evan Sayles Caroline Ambros Sofie Hecht

Executive Photo Editor Assistant Photo Editor Picture Tufts Editor Section Liaison

Thursday, March 26, 2015

editorial | op-ed

Editorial

Boston should listen to residents when considering 2024 Olympic bid

Only a third of Bostonians support a bid for the 2024 Summer Olympics, according to recent polls. Boston 2024, the group that organized the bid, is now pushing for a statewide referendum on the issue. This unexpected move has spurred debate regarding the importance of public opinion with respect to Boston’s bid. Thus far, construction magnates have gone to great lengths to try and ensure public support, even hiring ex-Governor Deval Patrick to be the figurehead of the movement. More recently, Mayor Martin Walsh has started organizing grassroots support for the bid in hopes of a successful referendum in November. Clearly, a lot is being invested in garnering public support. Hosting the Olympics is a great honor, and will undoubtedly result in significant economic growth to the city. However, construction magnates will likely receive the majority of the benefits of this economic growth growth, at the expense of Bostonians. Nevertheless, the hosting Olympics would be a great opportunity for Boston to build up on the popular “Boston Strong” movement, showcasing the city’s

resilience. Furthermore, the U.S. National Olympic Committee has already voiced its support for Boston as the top choice city for America’s bid, so if Boston doesn’t submit a bid, the U.S. will likely not host the games. So why aren’t Bostonians on board? Why is the Daily Editorial Board still skeptical? The simple answer is something that has been of constant concern for Bostonians these days: the snow. Before crying, “But the 2024 Olympic games are in the summer!” one should take a look at the numbers. In January, polling showed that a majority of residents supported the bid, but as the winter progressed, the number dropped from 51 to 36 percent. This winter, the Boston area received an unprecedented amount of snow, revealing many major flaws in the city’s infrastructure. The MBTA went out of service for days at a time, and it still isn’t fully functioning. Several structures were on the verge of collapsing. And let’s not forget the uncertainty over where to actually dump the snow. Additionally, with the

overstretched Big Dig finally coming to an end, Bostonians could do with a decade of no construction (or at least, minimal roadwork). These cracks in the system caused by something as simple as crystalized water make hosting an event as challenging as the Olympics a frightening prospect. Imagine this same system trying to support the hordes of athletes and spectators that would flock to Boston for the Olympic Games. It’s just not feasible. As the push for Boston 2024 moves forward, the importance of public opinion cannot be underestimated. Currently, the majority seems to stand against the economic interests of industrial magnates, along with the politicians they influence. While short-term economic interests are often prioritized because they make more headlines, good campaign slogans and have great political pull, the best way to decide upon Boston hosting the Olympics now seems to be by consulting its residents. Their support and voice must be given due attention. The greater community should be empowered to make an informed decision.

Jennifer Lien

Assistant Sports Editors

Executive Op-Ed Editor

Cartoonists Editorialists

Blair Nodelman Executive Jumbo Beat Editor Rachel Sheldon Senior Jumbo Beat Editor Aastha Chadha Jumbo Beat Editors Ethan Chan Jade Chan Kristie Le Tanay Modi Nimarta Narang Grace Segers

PRODUCTION

Jewel Marie Castle Production Director

Molly Harrower Hannah Fingerhut Kathy Lu Lily Hartzell Reid Spagna David Westby Jonathan Heutmaker Joe Palandrani Arthur Beckel Aastha Chadha Nina Goldman Serena Kassam Michael Rubinstein Julia Russell Rachel Salzberg Jei-Jei Tan Caroline Watson Yan Zhao Andrew Kager

Executive Layout Editor Layout Editors

Executive Copy Editors Copy Editors

Ted Cruz's long-shot bid won't succeed by Ben Turner

The Daily Gamecock

Andrew Stephens Creative Director Shirley Wong Graphics Editor Nitesh Gupta Executive Online Editor Max Bernstein Executive Tech Manager Qinyue Yu Caroline Talbert Suhyun Evelyn Kim Vera Masterson

Off the hill | university of southern carolina

Marketing Director Media Coordinator Social Media Manager Social Media Manager

BUSINESS

Chris Chininis

Executive Business Director Li Liang Receivables Manager Ariel Gizzi Ad Managers Kristie Le Ad Director Joshua Morris Amanda Saban Yiran Xu Daphne Zhao P.O. Box 53018, Medford, MA 02155 617 627 3090 FAX 617 627 3910 daily@tuftsdaily.com

On Monday the first major candidate, Ted Cruz, officially started his campaign. Cruz is in his first term in the U.S. Senate representing Texas, and it’s a term that’s been filled with controversy and headline-grabbing political maneuvers. Highlights include helping to shut down the government, accidentally confirming Obama’s surgeon general and becoming the most hated Republican in the chamber. John McCain even called him a “wacko bird,” and I’m inclined to agree. Whether it’s comparing Obamacare to Nazi Germany, accusing the secretary of defense of being bribed by North Korea or telling a three-year-old girl the world is on fire, Cruz is kind of out there. There’s no denying Cruz is smart. He’s a graduate of Princeton and

The Tufts Daily is a nonprofit, independent newspaper, published Monday through Friday during the academic year, and distributed free to the Tufts community. EDITORIAL POLICY 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. The content of letters, advertisements, signed columns, cartoons and graphics does not necessarily reflect the opinion of The Tufts Daily editorial board.

Harvard Law School. He was editor of the Harvard Law Review, clerked for Chief Justice William Rehnquist and argued several cases before the Supreme Court. But Cruz has several problems on his path to the presidency. Aside from his bridge-burning tactics in Congress, he has several land mines in his personal and political lives. Cruz was born in Canada to an American mother and a Cuban father. Though Cruz was born with American citizenship, no person born outside the U.S. has ever won the presidency, and it remains an open legal question whether he is eligible. This is ironic considering the supporters Cruz would most likely gain are the same people who called out President Obama — when he was actually born in America. Cruz’s father is … colorful. Every president has an eccentric relative they want to sweep under the rug, but Cruz’s

father has an especially long record of saying crazy things. Most of all, Cruz’s scorched-earth rhetoric may play well in a Republican primary but would crash and burn in a general election. For all the ultra-conservative elements in the Republican Party, the party wants to win the presidency. Cruz is smart enough to realize this. His campaign is all about grabbing headlines, attention and praise. That comes as no surprise, as Cruz has spent his time in the Senate chasing these things rather than governing. The reality-be-damned actions of Cruz in Congress may be applauded on Fox News but are not indicative of a leader. I admire Cruz’s strong belief in his principles, but obstructionism and hot air do not make a president. In the end, it’s highly unlikely that the party will nominate Cruz, which is good for them and the country. After all, he is a wacko bird.

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Letters must be submitted by 2 p.m. and should be handed into the Daily office or sent to letters@tuftsdaily.com. All letters must be word processed and include the writer’s name and telephone number. There is a 450-word limit and letters must be verified. The editors reserve the right to edit letters for clarity, space and length.

ADVERTISING POLICY All advertising copy is subject to the approval of the Editorin-Chief, Executive Board and Executive Business Director. A publication schedule and rate card are available upon request.

Thursday, March 26, 2015 Op-Ed

Op-Ed Contributer

On March 21, Judith Shulevitz, a contributing op-ed writer for the New York Times, published an article titled “In College and Hiding From Scary Ideas.” In this article, she discussed the various actions students on college campuses have taken against speeches and published writing that they have found offensive and disturbing. Some of these actions include having a safe space available for students during triggering discussions and protesting against offensive published writings on campus. While at first it seems as thought Shulevitz is praising students for their efforts toward making their campuses safer places for all students, the tone quickly changes as she patronizes them and deems their actions not only unnecessary but childish and a threat to the academic environment. In one of the most offensive articles she’s written for the publication, Shulevitz invalidates the experiences and trauma of those who have suffered from varying levels of violence and completely misinterprets the purpose of safe spaces and protests in college. People need safe spaces and trigger warnings not to suppress free speech or prevent certain topics from being discussed in class, but because they deserve respect, consideration and validation for their experiences. Some people have traumatic experiences relating to certain topics and the discussion of them forces them to relive such suffering — which is not only detrimental to their mental health, but also can have physical repercussions ranging from headaches to panic attacks. Shulevitz discredits the experiences students have faced, offering nothing but disrespect to those who deeply deserve to be respected. Safe spaces exist because other spaces inherently are not. Other spaces not intentionally made safe foster an environment in which those of marginalized identities can be attacked. They cannot express their concerns with complete faith that they will be respected. This goes beyond just creating a therapeutic space, but creating a kind environment for everyone, not just victims, to

feel comfortable in. That begins with the simple act of being kind and taking into consideration the fact that you cannot possibly know the experiences every person in the room has had just by looking at them. You cannot know who has gone through what and how it has affected them. Until the whole world has become a universal safe space, where everyone has mutual respect for one another, the creation and designation of certain safe spaces is necessary so that everyone can feel safe from sexism, homophobia and other attacks. Insulating students does not make them insular. Obviously, if some students feel threatened by certain topics or need certain support systems in place that they may access when triggered, they have already experienced trauma pertaining to certain topics. Safe spaces aren’t erected to prevent discussing threatening topics, but to provide support for those who have suffered at the hands of such dangerous ideas. Mental health services is extremely important for any and every age group. To say that creating a mentally safe environment for a set of people is childish is absolutely disgusting. Mental health issues are not just problems only children have and need grow out of when they “mature.” Students “ask for things like mandatory training sessions and stricter enforcement of existing rules” because they want to prevent harmful ideas from existing on campus in the first place. If you strengthen supervision of hate speech, its after-effects and the protests it would inspire would not need to happen. Yes, today we have Title VII and Title IX, but they are so loosely enforced that students still need to push school administration to take them seriously. Even here at Tufts, Title IX was not taken seriously until quite recently. Students today are fighting the same battle that students a few generations ago fought. Our generation focuses on prevention, others focused on reaction. Shulevitz obviously misunderstands the motives behind protesting certain events and writings deemed dangerous to students. She seems to believe that the primary reason behind such opposition is the need to prevent “emotional peril.” It’s so much more than that.

Protesting people and speeches of hate or that promote ideas that students are offended by does not show that the students are sheltering themselves from the real world, but the opposite. It shows that they are so in touch with the conflicts of the outside world, conflicts that they personally relate to, that they are willing to take an active stand against them. They believe that such hate does not belong in their schools. Protesting certain events shows that students see the world as other people do and see the harm in their views. The majority of the topics opposed are those not of different viewpoints, but those that are essentially dangerous. There is a distinct difference between unfamiliar ideas and harmful ideas. Saying that a campus population that is sensitive to sexual violence has become sexually paranoid is harmful. Choosing to use “the n-word” over a euphemism even with perceived good intentions is harmful. Shaming a student for speaking out against a presenter who she felt targeted her and her culture is harmful. As she noted by another college student in the article, if a school “‘is unsafe for one student, it is unsafe for all students.'” Even in an intellectual environment, telling students that they need to toughen up and get used to offensive terminology teaches them that their negative experiences are worthless. Their strong feelings against topics such as racism, sexism, transphobia and more are not to be silenced for the sake of education. Education is supposed to give us a voice, to strengthen the voices already present. When you tell students to be complacent while their community is being invaded by ideas they find harmful and unacceptable, you are quieting their voices. You are taking away the power you claim to give them. Ensuring the safety for the student body goes beyond taking care of one another, but also shows the outside world that this generation will not tolerate hatred. This generation will not quietly accept your words and your ideas out of fear of being labeled “childish” or “overly sensitive.” This is a strength we will carry with us after we graduate, out into the greater world. So keep your patronizing tone to yourself, because we are sick and tired of it. We will not be complacent with your verbal violence.

Bibi wins, but change is afoot by Zach Shapiro Op-Ed Contributer

I’m sorry to say that Prime Minister Netanyahu’s tenure will continue. Despite considerable Israeli and American surprise at this news, this victory was to be expected. This election is being characterized in a number of different ways, most prominently called “The Referendum on Bibi.” I prefer to call it a de-facto “Referendum on the Israeli Left.” The Israeli Left fell short yet again. Despite mounting a persistent, lengthy campaign against the incumbent and forming an ambitious joint list, the LivniHerzog-led Zionist Camp fell to Netanyahu by a margin of six seats. If it is any consolation, while the Left lost when it mattered, controversial ultra-Right winger Avigdor Lieberman lost big time. Ironically enough, Lieberman was a persistent advocate for recent electoral reform in Israel, namely raising the electoral threshold to 3.25 percent. Many suggest that this was done to dilute the influence of the fragmented Arab parties going forward. Winning six seats in the 2015 elections, it looks like Lieberman barely made it into the new Knesset. As reflected in a recent Ha’aretz article, Lieberman “[got] the sting he deserves.” At the same time, former Likud stalwart Moshe Kahlon’s new Kulanu Party accrued nine seats, making him a key player in the coalition-building pro-

cess. A bitter rival of Prime Minister Netanyahu, it seems Bibi will swallow his pride and award Kahlon a major cabinet post (rumors are Finance Minister) in exchange for his loyalty. Changes in the Arab Israeli political establishment are of equal note. Setting a new precedent, divided Arab parties elected to form a joint list and run together. That move paid off as Arab voter turnout increased and this new Arab Joint List gained an impressive 13 seats. Though it would be somewhat right to argue that this election constitutes a maintenance of the general Israeli political status quo, there is a lot to be gleaned from the results. First, Netanyahu’s resounding victory in the face of such sharp and sustained criticism, shows that the Israeli voters continue to prioritize security. In the wake of the Second Intifada, an era of suicide bombing after suicide bombing in major Israeli cities, it’s no surprise that a plurality of Israelis lean right. It is for this reason that Bibi Netanyahu, self-dubbed Bibi-sitter, Mr. Security and Mr. Status Quo, won on St. Patrick’s Day. It looks as if vowing not to create a Palestinian state and employing horrific race-baiting helped him quite a bit. As the age of Bibi continues, expect U.S.-Israel relations to get a lot worse. The two nation’s leaders’ mutual contempt will only grow as Netanyahu continues grandstanding and President Obama pursues dubious negotiations with the Iranian government over its nuclear program.

Op-Ed

In college and protesting harmful ideas by Madeline Bacchus

Op-Ed

The Tufts Daily

As Israel becomes more diplomatically isolated and more distant from its closest and most reliable ally, the Left has some soul-searching to do. One can only hope that Livni and Herzog have learned that it is not enough to be against Bibi. This is especially true given the fact that in the eyes of many Israelis, the Oslo Accords (signed by Labor Party leader Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin) were a poor strategic choice. Furthermore, not since Rabin has the Left been led by a dynamic personality with a strong security background. For better or worse, this is what the Zionist Camp will need when the next elections roll around. It is not enough to run an ex-general or Mossad Chief in the third or fourth slot on party lists. Lastly, and perhaps most interestingly, the Arab Joint List now holds the third largest contingency in the new Knesset. As far as I’m concerned, this marks a serious window of opportunity for the Arab List to exert renewed legislative influence. It is a chance for them to be the swing vote on key bills and measures. I am curious and interested to see how their new strategic position affects their legislative agenda. It’s still hard to believe that Bibi Netanyahu is prime minister again. Here’s hoping the Left at long last learns the difficult lessons of defeat and uses the next couple years to reinvigorate, revitalize and strengthen its leadership. Whatever happens in the next few years, it better prepare for another tough, close election.

Pooja Sivaraman and Rebecca Solomon | New York Style Delhi

Cha brah

ooja: The week back after spring break is not a pretty one. People are either coughed up on infection, homesick or making snarly faces at the minority few that came back with beautiful tans. While most people are preoccupied with such issues, I seem to have a slightly more pressing problem. Over my spring break I went to visit two of my best friends who are studying abroad in Paris (I know, I really should have no complaints whatsoever). During the first day of my trip, my friend and I came across a group of people known as the Hare Krishnas, who are an International Society for Krishna Consciousness. Now I myself am a Hindu and do know and follow the prayers of the Hindu religion; however, seeing a group of French people dressed in saris chanting on the streets of Paris was quite an interesting sight. The group took my friend and me and danced with us, without letting us go, for about 20 minutes. My friend and I laughed at the oddity of it all and then forgot the whole incident. Three days later, in a completely different location across the city, we were sitting at a small café and heard the distant sound of drums. We knew immediately — it was the Hare Krishnas. Just as we expected, it was the exact same group of people, in the exact same outfits, chanting away. So, dear readers, I think I am being followed by a Parisian group of Hare Krishnas. If you hear any distant drumming or singing in Medford, please give me a warning. So for this week, if you could send in any of your strange spring break queries to our forum, we will give you our expert advice. Being followed by a group of religious chanting women? A little bit too tan on one side of your body? Convinced you found the love of your life over spring break but not sure if you remember their name correctly? No question is too bizarre, so send them in and we will get back to you. Dear NYSD, My coworker is super cute, but I only see him once a week. How do I make him love me? Rebecca: Dear Reader, I completely believe that seeing someone once a week is enough exposure to make him love you. The exposure effect argues that one develops a preference for things that one sees often, so if you become one of those things, maybe he will start to prefer you. Moreover, I have a horrible habit of falling in love with people before I even know their names. If he is anything like me, this will be a cakewalk. In fact, I spent the majority of my undergrad years completely smitten with a boy who would only skateboard past me and throw the occasional “Cha Brah” my way. Who knows, maybe you’re his aloof skateboarder. So, reader, just flirt and make sure that during your weekly interactions your hair and your personality are on point. We here at NYSD believe that most of life is showing up — and because he is contractually obliged to show up for work, this seems very viable. Dear NYSD, Should I make out with one of classmates? Rebecca: This is a slippery slope. If it goes well, you could have a flourishing relationship; if it does not, you could have the most awkward class of you life, at least twice a week. However, the semester is almost over, so I would advise you to throw caution to the wind and make out with whomever you see fit. That’s all we have for this week! Keep submitting your questions to our Google doc, otherwise we’re going to have to make them up. Pooja Sivaraman is a junior majoring in economics. She can be reached at pooja. sivaraman@tufts.edu. Rebecca Solomon is a junior majoring in economics. She can be reached at rebecca.solomon@tufts.edu.

Op-ed Policy 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. Op-Ed cartoons are also welcomed for the Campus Canvas feature. All material is subject to editorial discretion and is not guaranteed to appear in the Daily. All material should be submitted to oped@tuftsdaily.com no later than noon on the day prior to the desired day of publication; authors must submit their telephone numbers and day-of availability for editing questions. Submissions may not be published elsewhere prior to their appearance in the Daily, including but not limited to other on- and off-campus newspapers, magazines, blogs and online news websites, as well as Facebook. Republishing of the same piece in a different source is permissible as long as the Daily is credited with originally running the article.

The Tufts Daily

FOR RELEASE MARCH 26, 2015

Crossword

Los Angeles Times Daily Crossword Puzzle

Doonesbury

Edited by Rich Norris and Joyce Lewis

ACROSS 1 Big name in ATMs 4 Ten to twenty? 8 On fire 14 Worldwide workers’ agcy. 15 On __ with 16 Brooklyn Bridge features 17 “The Matrix” hero 18 Utah lily 19 Delivers an old standard, perhaps 20 *Last president who was a Founding Father 23 Not from a Scot 24 Fifth-century leader succeeded by his son Ellac 25 __ Aviv 26 Tent holder 27 Sportscaster Andrews 28 New Deal org. 29 Hustles 31 Smith students 33 “If only __ listened!” 34 Memo words 35 Smartphone buy 36 *Limp cause 40 Hold ‘em tell, maybe 41 Ingredient in Off! 43 Top-row poet on the “Sgt. Pepper” album cover 44 Remains at the campsite 46 Misses the mark 47 Party person 48 Spillane’s “__ Jury” 49 Org. that produces the magazines Highroads and Journey 50 The past, in the past 51 Risk being caught off base 54 Grisham hero, often: Abbr. 55 Fixer-upper, perhaps, and a hint to the answers to starred clues

Thursday, March 26, 2015

Comics

by Garry Trudeau

Non Sequitur by Wiley

3/26/15

By Frank Virzi

57 Only reigning pope to write an autobiography 59 Tiny bit 60 Gun, as an engine 61 Most irritated 62 Emptiness 63 T size 64 Baby’s outfit 65 Luncheon ender 66 Patriotic gp. since 1890 DOWN 1 Turtle in a 2014 film 2 Soccer shoe feature 3 *In the low 70s, usually 4 Bit of sibling rivalry 5 Hypothetical primate 6 Titicaca, por ejemplo 7 *Feature of most cars nowadays 8 Honor 9 Charge for a ride 10 Wall St. news 11 *On one’s own 12 Varied mixture 13 To be, to Ovid

Wednesday’s Puzzle Solved wednesday’s Solution

Married to the Sea

21 Cork’s location 22 Opposite of attract 26 Chi follows it 30 “Just a few __” 31 Dwyane of the Miami Heat 32 Mathematical process 37 Good thing to have before a meal 38 Dinero

3/26/15

39 Winning football coach’s surprise 42 Airport screening org. 45 Persian for “king” 48 “Of course!” 52 Greek finale 53 Piano keyboard component 54 Lhasa __ 55 Spanish ayes 56 Warning sound 58 His, to Henri

THAT SCRAMBLED WORD GAME

by David L. Hoyt and Jeff Knurek

www.marriedtothesea.com

Unscramble these four Jumbles, one letter to each square, to form four ordinary words.

MERGI NUCQHE

EARPAP

SUDOKU

Check out the new, free JUST JUMBLE app

TULOC

Level: Not calling your friend who is a Duke fan a douche.

Now arrange the circled letters to form the surprise answer, as suggested by the above cartoon.

A: Yesterday’s

(Answers tomorrow) Jumbles: YEAST BOGUS COSMOS NUANCE Answer: His pizza had arrived, and the computer programmer was enjoying — MEGA-”BYTES”

Late Night at the Daily

Wednesday’s Solution

Andrew: “Someday I’ll hit puberty and it will be great.”

Please recycle this Daily.

Thursday, March 26, 2015

The Tufts Daily

Distinguished Writers Series

Aleksandar Hemon My Chicago Coit-Phelps Lecture in the Humanities In Celebration of Saul Bellowâ€™s Centenary

Monday, March 30 at 5:30 pm Coolidge Room, Ballou Hall Aleksandar Hemon is the author of The Lazarus Project (2008), a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award and the National Book Award, as well as The Question of Bruno (2000); Nowhere Man (2002); Love and Obstacles (2009); and The Book of My Lives (2013).

The Tufts Daily

Thursday, March 26, 2015

The Tufts Daily

Sports

Wanted $$SPERM DONORS WANTED$$ Earn up to $1,500/month for less than 5 hours’ time. Help families through California Cryobank’s donor program. Apply online: SPERMBANK.com

classifieds policy All Tufts students must submit classifieds in person, prepaid with check, money order or exact cash only. All classifieds submitted by mail must be accompanied by a check. Classifieds are $20 per week or $4 per day with Tufts ID or $30 per week or $8 per day without. The Tufts Daily is not liable for any damages due to typographical errors or misprintings except the cost of the insertion, which is fully refundable. We reserve the right to refuse to print any classifieds which contain obscenity, are of an overly sexual nature or are used expressly to denigrate a person or group. Questions? Email business@tuftsdaily.com.

Golf team hopes to build momentum this spring GOLF

continued from back

“We are going to change our practice schedule a little so [that] we include more time on the range, chipping green and the putting green, rather than going out and playing 18 holes,” he said. “We are going to try practicing for two hours and then go out and play nine [holes] instead.” Elliot also mentioned the difficulties that come with golfing in the northeast. “Given that we are in Boston, it’s not like we can play right now; we

need to wait for the snow to melt,” he said. “In the winter it’s like this big cavernous black hole [without] golf, so if we qualify in the fall, [the TrackMan] will allow us to get ready for the bigger tournaments in the spring next year.” Nordan sees the extra practice time as making a major difference. He points to large schools on the west coast as having the advantage of being able to practice eight hours a day year-round, an impossibility in Boston. Also, Nordan believes that

Analytics offer insight into game INSIDE MLB

continued from back

ever. In general, incorporating only one statistic into a model is less accurate than including a few descriptive statistics. Think about buying a house. One does not only consider the number of bedrooms when considering houses. Other variables include the size of the bedrooms, the amount of bathrooms, the quality of the neighborhood, how recently the place has been renovated and perhaps most importantly, the price. In our everyday lives, we take in as much information as possible to try to make the most informed decisions possible, to extract the most objective knowledge possible. Why should this differ for sports analytics? Statistics in sports generally have two purposes. The first, as mentioned above, is to describe the game. How does on-base percentage relate to scoring runs? The second is predictive. What can we expect from a player who had an OBP of .380 this year at age 27 in Fenway Park in the following season? When a statistic more accurately represents the process of winning or is better at predicting future success, it is of value. The problem is that it is often hard for a statistic to both accurately describe run scoring and to be reliable as a predictor

for the future. That is why we like to use multiple statistics in our models to analyze the game, because both aspects are important for gaining objective knowledge. Events such as the Society for American Baseball Research Analytics Conference in Phoenix and the MIT Sloan Sports Analytics Conference in Boston are designed to get us to continue questioning how we can improve our existing models of the game and what new models we can create to further unlock objective knowledge. We will never completely understand the game, no matter how much data we use, what kinds of methods we use and how often we watch the game. Our goal is to continue closing the gap of subjectivity, and we often employ analytical methods to do so. So, to answer the question, “What role does analytics actually have in sports?” is most basically to understand the game better. Any player looking at video is just as much a “geek” as any “geek” with a computer open. They are both searching for objective knowledge of the game, and we can learn a lot from putting the two together. Front offices today are already integrating scouting and statistics to paint the more complete picture. We need to as well.

Jason Getz / Atlanta Journal-Constitution / MCT

Brandon Phillips hits a two-run single in the first inning against the Atlanta Braves at Turner Field in Atlanta, Georgia, on Friday, July 12, 2013. Phillips recently criticized the use of sabermetrics in baseball.

Tufts has a disadvantage relative to its NESCAC peers because many other NESCAC schools have golf courses or ranges nearby, while Tufts must rotate its practices between three country clubs. Although the team is currently young — there are only three upperclassmen on the roster, including senior captain Alex Zorniger — the Jumbos will have the opportunity to strengthen their already strong bonds and gain valuable experience for the fall semester.

Jumbos split four matches in California WOMEN’S TENNIS continued from back

splitting the first two sets. Miller also pushed her opponent to the wire, losing 6-1, 7-6 (2). Finally, Hayashi and Baum lost 9-7 in their doubles match. Tufts did not leave empty-handed however, as its first two matches of the trip resulted in wins. On Thursday, Tufts defeated La Verne (also ranked 17th in the country) by a score of 6-3. Calabro defeated junior Andrea Madrigal, the 14th-ranked singles player in Div. III, 7-5, 6-4 at No. 1 singles, and Louks defeated sophomore Lauren Torres 6-2, 6-0 at No. 3 singles. “In my singles match against La Verne I was very focused throughout the match and was focusing on the things I needed to improve upon in my previous singles match that I lost against Denison — such as being more aggressive and waiting for the right shot to move in on,” Louks said. “I continued to focus on the same things in my singles matches against Claremont McKenna as well as against Redlands, but faced a really tough girl against Claremont McKenna.” In doubles, Meltzer and Miller defeated their opponents in the No. 2 spot, 8-5. Hayashi and Baum also won by a score of 8-0. “This was my first time playing competitive doubles with Alexa [Meltzer], and her team experience and motivational wisdom really boosted my confidence,” Miller said. “Our successes came when we played aggressively and utilized each of our different strengths.” In the first match of the trip, Tufts defeated Denison in a close match, 5-4. The Jumbos won all three doubles matches, which propelled them to victory. “I think that the team played much better in doubles in the beginning, which definitely contributed to our wins in the beginning,” Louks said. In addition to playing, the team was able to relax. Four of the eight team members are from California, so the members were able to visit each others’ houses and spend time together. “We mixed in some fun amongst the competitive matches to keep up high energy and positivity,” Miller said. “With a few beach days and a trip to the Indian Wells tennis tournament, everyone on the team was excited for each day and we had much to look forward to. There was a great balance of tennis and vacation that kept everyone happy.” The team resumes its season on Friday at home against No. 26 Brandeis, and then travels to Colby on April 3 for its first NESCAC match of the season.

Steven Hefter | The Association

Get off the bench

am Presti announced last week that Kevin Durant, the 2014 MVP award winner, has been “removed from basketball activities.” On Feb. 22 Durant had surgery on his foot, which had been nagging him since a screw was inserted in October as part of an operation to repair a Jones fracture. Long story short, Durant’s foot never fully healed. The former MVP has averaged 25.4 points, 6.6 rebounds and 4.1 assists in 27 games this season. I am going to venture to say that, even though the Thunder are in the thick of the race for the eighth and final seed in the Western Conference playoffs and Russell Westbrook is putting up historic numbers, more people would buy a ticket to a Thunder game if Durant were in the lineup each and every night. Just a hunch. Durant has a legitimate medical reason why he is not playing. There are other players, however, that do not have a “legitimate excuse” to not be suited up. The Spurs, for example, have popularized the “DNP – Rest” input in the box score, but even in those cases it has been acceptable because the Spurs were resting their many veteran players to gear up for a deep playoff run. The Warriors, currently sitting in first place in the West, have rested their stars for some games this year. Why is this accepted? As a fan, when I buy a ticket for an NBA game, I know I’m not seeing Durant this season, but I want to see Stephen Curry. I expect to see Steph run the fast break and hit 3-pointers. But when I show up to Oracle Arena, he’s not playing because of rest? What gives? Well, young fan, tough luck. With around 15 games left in the regular season, teams at the top of the standings have their eyes set on a bigger prize than winning a not-as-important weeknight game against a below-.500 team. Entertaining you is not an NBA team’s priority, as much as that fact might hurt you or make you feel less personally invested in your team’s well-being. The rest bug has now infected not only the contenders but also the common lottery team. On March 16, the Denver Nuggets rested three of their starters for their game against the Memphis Grizzlies. Now, if I am going to a Nuggets game at this point of the year, I want to see Kenneth Faried, Ty Lawson and Danilo Gallinari. The Nuggets are in 12th place in the West and have an extremely slim chance of making the playoffs. This I do not understand. To clarify, this was not the coach’s or players’ decision, but rather the front office. The team had beaten the Pelicans in overtime the night before, with each of the three aforementioned players playing at least 42 minutes. Every team in the league plays tough back-tobacks, and so using this as an excuse is weak and holds no water with me. The real reason that they rested is because they were having success. After firing coach Brian Shaw, the Nuggets had won six out of eight games and suddenly their draft position was getting worse. It comes back to our old friend, the concept of tanking. And whether I like it or not — I actually have less of a problem with tanking than just fatigue — it is the way of the league right now. I will opt to answer the same way Faried did when asked about not playing against Memphis: “No comment.” Steven Hefter is a junior majoring in economics. He can be reached at steven.hefter@tufts.edu.

Sports

tuftsdaily.com

Inside the MLB

Tennis

Stats in 2015: A sabermetrician's view

Women’s tennis team travels across country for spring

by Morris Greenberg Contributing Writer Brandon Phillips turned heads this past week with his thoughts on analytics departments. “I feel like all of these stats and all of these geeks upstairs, they’re messing up baseball, they’re just changing the game,” he said. “It’s all about on-base percentage. If you don’t get on base, then you suck. That’s basically what they’re saying. People don’t care about RBIs or scoring runs, it’s all about getting on base.” Phillips isn’t alone. Charles Barkley made headlines recently by similarly bashing analytics in basketball. Harold Reynolds has outwardly disregarded analytics for a while now. With ESPN recently publishing “The Great Analytics Rankings,” in which they ranked all 122 front offices across baseball, basketball, football and hockey, there is a question worth examining: What relevance does analytics actually have in sports? Bill James, often considered the father of sabermetrics, first defined sabermetrics in 1980 as “the search for objective knowledge about baseball.” Notice that this definition does not include any mention of statistics or data. The key word is “objective.” We use statistics and data today in order to search for objective knowledge, using unbiased modelling processes with these data to develop advanced statistics. We do this to eliminate as much subjectivity in our analysis as possible. With this in mind, let’s analyze Phillips’ comments. The

first thing to note is that overall, Phillips is right. Baseball is a game about winning, and the way to win is by scoring more runs than the opponent. We can think of runs as the currency that buys wins. Getting more gets you more wins. By looking solely at runs and RBIs, however, we lose the process of how we added runs to the team. Runs and RBIs merely credit the player who most directly contributed to scoring, but they do not consider the inputs that allowed for that situation to occur. Analyzing players based on just the end product ignores the context, which means there is more subjectivity in the analysis. For this reason, sabermetricians like to look at how an individual event, like a single, double, triple, home run, walk or out, contributes to run scoring. From there, we can analyze which events are most valuable, and specifically, how valuable in terms of runs. It does not stop there though. Sabermetricians often adjust for circumstance, such as in which ballpark the events occurred, or which pitcher was on the mound. These adjust for factors out of the batter’s control, ones that do not measure the batter’s true objective skill. On-base percentage happens to be a statistic that correlates a lot to total team run scoring and is easily adjustable for circumstances like different ballparks. That is why many prefer to look at onbase percentage over RBIs and runs — it just paints a more complete picture. We should not see “more complete” as “complete,” howsee INSIDE MLB, page 15

by Steven Hefter Sports Editor

The No. 17 women’s tennis team traveled to California over spring break to enjoy the warm weather and face off with Div. III competitors. The Jumbos played four matches in five days, winning the first two against Denison College and La Verne University before falling to Claremont-Mudd-Scripps and the University of Redlands. The team, comprised of firstyears and sophomores, gained valuable experience that will help it when it returns to play on the east coast. On Saturday, the Jumbos battled the No. 22 University of Redlands Bulldogs. Although Tufts won four out of its six singles matches, Redlands won all of the doubles matches to prevail 5-4. Sophomore Alexa Meltzer won her match in the No. 2 singles position by a score of 6-4, 6-0 over senior Ceara Sumida, while first-year Lauren Louks defeated junior Lauren Villanueva 6-2, 6-3 in the No. 3 singles position. Sophomores Chelsea Hayashi and Jacqueline Baum won their matches in the No. 4 and No. 5 singles positions, respectively. Sophomore Conner Calabro played in the No. 1 singles position and lost a tough three-set match, 6-2, 3-6, 6-3, to junior Natalie Etchegaray. The Jumbos’ doubles teams struggled against the Bulldogs, losing all three matches. Unlike the best twoout-of-three sets format for singles, the doubles matches were eight game pro-sets. Calabro and Louks played in the No. 1 doubles spot, Meltzer and first-year Zoe Miller competed in the second and Hayashi and Baum in the third.

Caroline Geiling / The Tufts Daily

Sophomore Jacqueline Baum has taken on a bigger role in her second year on the squad. Baum won her match against the University of Redlands on Saturday. “I don’t think it was that physically tough to play that many matches in a short amount of time, but it was mentally tough,” Louks said. “I think that these matches definitely helped us to prepare for the rest of the season.” The day before, Tufts took on Claremont Mudd-Scripps,

which is ranked fifth in the country. The Jumbos lost the match 9-0, but the score does not indicate the number of close matches that occurred. Meltzer lost her match in the No. 2 singles position in a 10-point tiebreaker, 10-4, after see WOMEN’S TENNIS, page 15

Golf

Tufts moves on after missing cut for NCAA qualifiers in fall by Phillip Goldberg Assistant Sports Editor

Thirteen strokes. That is how far the golf team was from placing in the top four in the NESCAC Championship qualifier. A remarkably small margin, yet just enough to drastically change the Jumbos upcoming spring season. As a result of placing fifth in the qualifier, the Jumbos’ will not compete in the NESCAC Championships, the winner of which earns an NCAA tournament berth. Since the qualifier’s first year in 2008, the Jumbos have never qualified for the conference championships. For Tufts, this spring season is now an opportunity to improve and gain experience for next year’s qualifier. There are three major tournaments that Tufts competes at in the spring: the Rhode Island College Invitational, the Hampton Inn Invitational hosted by UMass Dartmouth and the Johnson and Wales Invitational. While each tournament has an individual and a team champion, there is also an overall championship for both the team and the individual that score best across all three tournaments. When asked about his goal for the season, first-year Taylor Nordan had a clear mindset. “Win every tournament I play in,” he said. “I feel if I practice and play well, I

can do it. You have to believe before you can achieve. For the team also, to just play well. [Golf ] is an individual sport — you can only control what you do.” Sophomore Owen Elliott, who earned a place on the All-NESCAC second team in the fall, is disappointed that Tufts did not qualify for the NESCAC Championship. Elliott said that he was less concerned with his NESCAC honor in the fall than whether or not Tufts scored well enough to advance past the NESCAC qualifier. Since the Jumbos fell short, Elliott has decided to refocus on the spring tournaments as a means for improving. “We finished fifth out of the 11 teams in the fall, so we just missed out on the top four,” Elliott said. “If you finish in the top four, then obviously the spring is more important [than the fall]. We just have three tournaments, [and] we don’t have the option to get in [to NCAAs]. Obviously you are going to go out and try to win. Long term, I’d rather make NCAAs than win [the spring tournaments].” Elliot feels the focus for this spring should be improving, and he hopes new practice strategies and a new TrackMan simulator, which allows team members to practice their swings indoors, will help the team surmount its lack of winter practice time. see GOLF, page 15

Courtesy Owen Elliot

Sophomore Owen Elliot shot the Jumbos’ lowest score during September’s NCAA Qualifier.