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THE TUFTS DAILY
TUFTSDAILY.COM
Wednesday, march 4, 2015
VOLUME LXVIV, NUMBER 29
Where You Read It First Est. 1980
Local residents learn urban farming by Sophie Lehrenbaum Assistant News Editor
The 2015 class of the City of Somerville-sponsored Urban Agriculture Ambassador Program (UAAP) will admit 20 new participants this March, Program Coordinator Kim Schmidt said. According to Schmidt, UAAP makes up a segment of the Mayor’s Urban Agriculture Initiative, which focuses primarily on imparting residents with the basic skills central to growing food in urban areas. Green City Growers, a Somerville-based business, shares its expertise with the 20 people who are admitted into the UAAP through a four-week-long series of all-day classes held on Saturdays. In return, urban agriculture ambassadors are expected to invest 30 volunteer hours back into the community by donating their services to local nonprofit organizations and programs related to urban agriculture. Training is intended to begin during the last week of April and carry through the first three weeks of May. “This is its third year in existence … and it is mostly about educating residents about how to safely grow their own food in an urban environment,” Schmidt said. “Somerville was the first city in New England with an urban [agriculture] ordinance … so this all sort of works together with supporting the city. The city is paying for this program.” Schmidt explained that some of the issues discussed by Green City Growers during instructional periods include overcoming gardening hurdles inherent to city-spaces, such as limited space and light, as well as highlighting and addressing concerns that are associated with urban farms, such a lead content in soil. “[Our goals include] keeping residents healthy [and] educating them about food sources,” Schmidt said. “Last year, [ambassadors] worked at different mobile farmers markets, getting fresh local produce to local residents. [ Within the city services, this is] a lot of overlapping and working together.” UAAP goes along with the Mayor’s Urban Agriculture Initiative, which aims to act as an impetus for the wider implementation of local agriculture in order to ultimately promote a healthier community. According to first-year student Kinsey Drake, who is the secretary of the on-
campus organization Balance Your Life, there is potential for collaboration between UAAP and Balance Your Life. Balance Your Life aims to “improve nutrition, increase physical activity, and improve overall wellbeing of Tufts undergrads,” according to its website. “I could see members individually becoming ambassadors based on the common interests of the club,” Drake said. “It could be a great way to connect our goal to promote a healthy lifestyle with the origins of our food … In the summer and fall months, I could definitely see the club volunteering to work on a weekend or for a similar event.” Shape Up Somerville, another of the city’s programs and a predecessor to UAAP, stems from the similar goal to promote a healthier community in which differences in socioeconomic background do not translate into disparities in the attainability of balanced lifestyles. According to Shape Up Somer ville Coordinator Erica Satin-Hernandez, the program came to fruition 15 years ago through funding from Tufts University. She explained that while the scope of the program was initially narrowly focused on childhood obesity prevention in local students in the first through third grades, the lens of the organization broadened with time, as did its aspirations for the greater community. “A lot of the focus was individualized … but this was different,” Satin-Hernandez said. “This was the first study at the time that showed how community-based environmental changes can have a huge impact on obesity rates. Now our scope has broadened a great deal, and we’re looking at the social determinants of health as well as … physical activity, nutrition and things that take place outside of the doctor’s office.” The city is trying to better understand and manage the roles that social factors such as poverty and racism play in health-related issues, SatinHernandez explained. Their mission, she explained, is put into action through three primary programs that have been instituted for longer periods of time, as well as smaller programs that occur on a year-toyear basis. Through ‘Systems Change’ programs under Shape Up Somerville, the city works to engage individuals from all corners of the community see FARMING, page 2
Nicholas Pfosi / The Tufts Daily
Facilities workers clear snow from various campus locations.
Snow cleanup, icicle removal continues across campus by Isha Fahad
Contributing Writer
Successive bouts of snowfall in the wake of Winter Storm Juno, which hit New England at the end of January, have left large deposits of snow on rooftops across campus, causing an increased risk of leaking and damage to facilities. Director of Facilities Operations David Nelson explained that the periodic melting and refreezing of snow on rooftops drives water back under shingles. This water then finds its way under built-up
roofing and into the building. “As much as we try to eliminate roof leaks, there are times when, due to the melting and re-freezing of the snow, ice dams can form,” Nelson told the Daily in an email. Tufts Facilities Services Department is trying its best to counter problems pertaining to roof leakage or damage, according to Senior Director of Facilities Steve Nasson. For example, due to the accumulation of snow and ice on its roof, Tisch Library has experienced some leaking around its skylights, accord-
ing to Director of Tisch Library Laura Wood. “We are reporting issues to university operations for their assistance and repair,” Wood said in an email. “Pragmatically we are attempting to catch any active dripping with containers. This is quite an extraordinary winter.” The safety of the students, faculty and staff is the number one priority when dealing with storms and their aftermath, Nasson noted. “We were very lucky, if you see SNOW, page 2
Somerville passes ordinance, mandates list of off-campus students by Kathleen Schmidt News Editor
The Board of Aldermen of the City of Somerville recently voted unanimously to pass the Ordinance Regulating University Accountability. The ordinance requires Tufts to supply Somerville with a list of addresses of students living off campus each semester, as well as the number of students at each address and the graduating year of each student. The ordinance will go into effect on Sept. 1, according to Alderman at Large Mary Jo
Inside this issue
Rossetti. Names will not be included on the list. This ordinance was passed to enforce a previously existing zoning ordinance, which states that no more than four unrelated adults may share an apartment, according to Rossetti. The new ordinance came about after Boston passed a similar ordinance regarding university accountability in ensuring the safety of students living within city limits, Rossetti said. “Residents in mostly the West Somerville area through-
out the years have had some disturbances that really irritated them, worrying first and foremost about the health and safety of the students, knowing that some landlords were [renting] apartments to students beyond what our city’s ordinance stated,” she said. Tufts Community Union ( TCU) President Robert Joseph said that while the Board claims this ordinance is geared toward student safety, the ordinance could lead to student evictions. see HOUSING, page 2
Today’s sections
Spoken Word Alliance at Tufts is sending a team to a spoken word competition later this month.
THEESatisfaction combine witty rap lyrics with atmospheric melodies on “EarthEE.”
see FEATURES, page 3
see ARTS, page 5
News 1 Features 3 Arts & Living 5 Editorial | Letters 8
Op-Ed 9 Comics 10 Sports Back
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The Tufts Daily
Wednesday, March 4, 2015
News
Snowy roofs, icicles pose risks to structural integrity SNOW
continued from page 1
Caroline Ambros/ The Tufts Daily
Icicles, like those shown above on the Mayer Campus Center, are being removed to avoid the risk of serious injuries.
consider extreme cold lucky, during these storms as the cold has kept the consistency of the snow light and fluffy,” he said. Both Nasson and Nelson confirmed that over the past few days, Facilities Services has relied on assistance from qualified and certified roofing contractors to avoid potential problems, including roof leaks, ice dams and equipment obstruction. “We have engaged the services of a professional structural engineer who will validate the Tufts building design and structural loads of existing conditions in order to determine what actions, if any, need to be taken,” Nasson said. Doug Fernald, manager of Walnut Hill Properties, a property management company that is part of Tufts University Operations division, also noted the danger of the long icicles that have formed around campus. “Pedestrians must use their common sense [and know] not to stand under them, [or] else they might get hurt,” he said. The management of Walnut Hill Properties started dealing with the icicles as soon as they became apparent on their university-owned rental apartments, according to Fernald. “We immediately hired a contractor, and he assigned
Students express concern over potential side effects of Somerville’s new ordinance HOUSING
continued from page 1
“I think that this ordinance was done with safety in the title but more so constricting students in the intent,” Joseph said. “I think neighborhood grievances definitely played a role, and I think complaints from neighbors definitely encouraged and enabled the Board of Aldermen to push this ordinance forward.” According to Barbara Rubel, director of community relations, the city is concerned with safety hazards that may result from a violation of the four-person zoning ordinance, but that quality of life concerns from Somerville residents cannot be ignored as motivation for the new ordinance. “While it remains to be seen if reducing the number of students in any single apartment will make a neighborhood quieter, ensure that there aren’t too many cars on the street, are fewer disruptive parties, etc., neighbors are entitled to expect peace and quiet around their homes,” Rubel told the Daily in an email. “I’m not convinced that fewer people mean fewer disturbances, but we will see.” Joseph agreed that the ordinance would not effectively reduce noise complaints. “I think that it doesn’t matter whether there are three or four or five students living in an apartment; if they’re going to be noisy they’re going to be noisy, if they’re going to be quiet … they have ways to be quiet,” he said. “You can live in a completely legal apartment and still get a noise complaint — it happens all the time. I don’t think that cutting down one or two people
from an apartment is really going to reduce the noise or the garbage that neighbors are worried about.” The first step of the process, according to Joseph, is for Tufts to collect addresses from students. Students will enter their address into SIS, and this information will be compiled into a directory, which the university will give to the city, he said. From there, the city will consult the list to see if more than four unrelated adults are living in an apartment, Rossetti said. She said that if it is discovered that the zoning ordinance is being violated, the city will contact the offending landlord, and it will be up to the landlord and the students to make changes. She added that neighbors also had the right to report any uncertainty about possible ordinance violations. “Well of course citizens of the community, if they are suspicious, I’m sure they would call the city and bring to the attention that they have a concern and that would be investigated,” she said. Tyler McCullough, a sophomore who will be living off campus next semester, said he was concerned about the ordinance and possible violations of privacy that could result from it. “Say I was in a house with more than four people in it — that would definitely make me nervous,” he said. “You know you’d have to be much more concerned about your privacy and much more suspicious of your neighbors. I think that’s another thing that’s not going to help university/community relationships — I think it’s just going to lead to more suspicion and more harsh feelings.”
Joseph said that a number of students have raised concerns to him regarding privacy and the dangers associated with having a directory of every student’s address. “If there’s a director y of where students live off campus, it’s essentially a map for anyone who wants to rob a few homes, so I was very concerned about that,” he said. “I raised that in the Legislative Matters Committee. It was essentially shaken off, and the ordinance was pushed through committee anyway.” Joseph said he would have preferred a solution that emphasized students’ respect for their neighbors through community engagement. He said he believes that if students simply meet their neighbors and have conversations with them, students will be less likely to be careless toward them. According to Rubel, if students and landlords start to abide by the legal occupancy, and if there are many apartments housing more than four students, then more apartments will be needed to house students. “I believe the apartments are there, but not all are going to be within a block of the campus,” Rubel told the Daily in an email. “Students may have to look a bit farther away but may also be surprised with what they find — sometimes better places to live.” Joseph believes that this ordinance will make already limited housing more scarce by taking more rooms out of circulation. “Those rooms are there — in most cases those rooms are safe,” he said. “I would rather see the City of Somerville adopt a zoning
ordinance that is smart in respect to safety in houses, that isn’t based on an arbitrary number — four — and that is based on real health and safety standards.” McCullough said that the ordinance made housing more expensive for him because now rent may only be split four ways instead of five, as landlords are still expecting the same total income. “It priced me out of a lot of places that previously I probably would’ve been able to afford had there been five people … and now it’s made me live farther away from campus,” he said. “And honestly if Somerville is worried about noise complaints and students kind of overstepping into the community, having students live farther and farther away is not going to help their cause.” According to Rossetti, the university has to be more accountable for providing housing to students. “They have land that they could supply … and perhaps that’s an area that Tufts is looking at,” she said. “They have grown in the number of students they’ve accepted over the years without increasing the amount of housing they supply.” While Joseph wants to continue to cooperate with Somerville, he is hesitant about the new ordinance and how the city will use it against students who do not live on campus. “I think there are opportunities for us to work with the City of Somerville, but we’re kind of holding our breath to see what happens with this ordinance, and hopefully it won’t be used antagonistically in a way that’s just used to kick students out,” he said. “That’s my concern.”
his team to clean off icicles and snow off roofs,” he said. “At this point, we have a lot of icicles under control, so the progress is satisfactory.” According to Fernald, his contractor’s team mainly used snow rakes and snow melt for snow-capped roofs. “Icicles normally do not cause any building structural damage,” Nelson noted. “Obviously, they can cause bodily injury if they fall and hit someone.” Nonetheless, Facilities Services has been working to do its best to ensure no one is hit by a falling icicle, according to Nasson. “What we have been doing is proactively removing icicles from areas where pedestrians could be harmed,” he said. Facilities Services has procured the use of a bucket truck so that it can respond immediately to any reported issues of excessive snow and ice accumulation, according to both Nelson and Nasson. Beyond Tufts, the Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency (MEMA) received 153 reports of collapsed and damaged buildings across the state between Feb. 9 and Feb. 23, according to their website. In a joint public safety report issued on Feb. 19, MEMA advised all citizens of the state to take the necessary precautions to prepare for the storm and manage the aftermath.
UAAP one of city’s many food and health initatives FARMING
continued from page 1
to facilitate city-wide policy changes. One of the more enduring of these projects undertaken by Shape Up Somerville is its work with Somerville Public Schools, according to Satin-Hernandez. “I’ve been working closely with food and nutrition services looking at healthy options that they can have at the cafeterias and making sure students can get the amount of food they need,” Satin-Hernandez said. “Somerville public schools are nationally recognized for having healthful and really good school lunches … [we are able to be] healthy and tasty on a budget.” Sa t i n - He r n a n d ez a l s o mentioned the mobile farmers market run by the City of Somerville. “[The market] stops in four different locations across the city … and what is unique about our market is that we offer half off for anyone using food assistance programs, and 80 percent of our customers use this program. [The] goal of this market is to increase affordability and accessibility of fresh produce and food in types of areas where it is really hard to get that type of fresh food,” Satin-Hernandez explained. Ultimately, Satin-Hernandez emphasized that both programs share the common goal of empowering the local community to make sound health decisions and place citizens in the unique position of ownership and leadership when it comes to their well-being.
Features
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tuftsdaily.com
Spoken Word Alliance sees growth, competes in national poetry slam this month by Mengqi Sun Features Editor
While poets of the page may publish their writing in the Canon, Tufts’ literary magazine, spoken word poets work outside and beyond the written word. Many write, practice and compete within the Spoken Word Alliance at Tufts (SWAT). Since the group came together in the fall of 2013, it has seen rapid growth. This March, six group members will compete in an annual national poetry slam tournament, according to SWAT President Jonathan Moore. Before entering college, Moore wanted to gauge interest in spoken word at Tufts — it “came as a shock” to him that Tufts did not already have such a group. The summer before his first year, he posted in the Tufts Class of 2017 Facebook group to look for partners in starting a group. “I made a Facebook group and had a meeting during the fall that year,” he said. “We had a group [comprised of] mostly seniors and juniors, who had tried to do something similar … before I got to campus, so we got together and elected an [executive] board.” Moore, a sophomore majoring in American Studies, explained that the goal was to provide an opportunity for people to learn about the art form, as well as an opportunity for those who are passionate about it to perform. “Basically, we got started because there needs to be a stage for spoken words,” he said. “There needs to be a stage where students could perform this art in front of others; there needs to be a space for people who are interested in spoken words to go and learn from people that have been doing this.” Moore said that since its establishment, SWAT has held events including open mics and collaborative slams, which has involved much of the Tufts community and facilitated the group’s success so far. “[The] reality is that it’s really free form and a very open art form that encourages being different and being you,” Moore said. “We have [had] great success, we had a lot of
people engaged in spoken words. We’ve had a great time so far.” He noted that the group is focusing more on performance this year, as there are several organizations for written poetry on campus. “Last year there were people in SWAT who did not do spoken words — they were just writing poems, but they didn’t actually read their thing[s],”Moore said. “But in the beginning of this year, in the fall, we made a mandate for us to focus on spoken words, because … there are already spaces for those writers who aren’t looking for spoken words.” In order to perform poetry in a competitive fashion, a team of slam poets from the Tufts community in and out of SWAT — whose members were chosen from a Grand Slam event held earlier in December — has been busy practicing and preparing for the 15th College Unions Poetry Slam Invitational (CUPSI) later this month, according to Moore. CUPSI is put on by the Association of College Unions International (ACUI), and focuses on three core competencies: “communications, intercultural proficiency and student learning.” Held at different locations each year, this year the four-day competition will take place in Richmond, Va., where the SWAT team will be competing against more than 60 other teams. According to senior Amber Rose Johnson, SWAT programming director and CUPSI team coach, whose expertise and knowledge from previous competitions and performances Moore credited as crucial to the team’s formation, the focus of CUPSI is more on the art itself than the competition. “There are also workshop opportunities and these community-building opportunities and opportunities to do social justice work,” she said. “It’s a full festival [with] an entire purpose [for] a bunch of poets to get together and share their work and share the love of what they do.” There are no specific judges and no criteria other than the spectators’ opinions, Johnson said. “The judges in any slam are just random people that come to slams [who] don’t know anybody that is performing,” Johnson said.
“There is no specific criteria, every judge is every person’s own opinion, and that’s what makes it really fun, and what makes it also very arbitrary.” Tufts’ team consists of five members and an alternate who have slam poetry experience varying from four years to three months. During its practices, the team writes, edits and performs poems, according to sophomore Rachel Steindler. Members also practice writing with other people to work on group pieces. All told, each person on the team will bring three pieces to CUPSI, including individual and group pieces, Johnson explained. “[The team] writes the most, but it’s not always producing the work,” Johnson said. “You write something, and then decide to commit to that poem, and then we will keep editing the poem for several practices until it gets to a good place, and then write something new, as opposed to writing something new every day.” According to first-year Azmina Karukappadath, the stories of people in her family are inspirations for her. “My poem is dedicated to my mother … she has an accent and [it] is basically her struggle with [that],” she said. Junior Kaitlin Pang said she shares a similar motivation for writing and performing. “My poems I am working on right now [are] also about my mother, and her mother and her mother,” Pang said. “So it’s about intergenerational inheritance of trauma. And how I carry the trauma of my ancestors, and how I will pass that down to my grandchildren.” Based on these and other poems, the team is developing a mission called “Disrupting White Spaces,” according to team member Rajah Reid. “[The mission means] kind of reclaiming things that either white people have appropriated or distorted,” he said. “And as a Black and Asian team, I think it brings something that’s needed and that’s very unique and very powerful. Johnson commented on the importance of the mission for the team. “I think it’s really cool, and I think this
should be a thing that happens every year for different teams, and they should write a mission and that should be documented, because every group of people is gonna have something different,” she said. Unlike other spoken word groups, SWAT was not started for the purpose of activism. However, as the group grows, it has became important to them to provide a place for their members to share their stories, Moore said. “Although SWAT was not started with the intention to be a safe space for people of marginalized identities, particularly students of color, [with] the first e-board that we elected last year, it became important to us and to the members of SWAT,” he said.“Last year and this year, the majority of e-board members are students of color, so we really try to lead the organization in a way that respects everyone’s identity and embraces their identity, but encourages them to utilize this art form to activism if social justice is important to them.” Although SWAT does not have a political agenda as a group, it aspires to create a respectful place for people to learn from each other. “We don’t have a political agenda by any means, but it would also be [non]sensical to say that we are apolitical,” he said. “It’s definitely a space that we encourage people to disagree but we encourage it in a way that is loving and respectful of one another, so it is not really a place for opinions to pile up and not a place for people to wage wars against one another.” Moore also stressed the importance of listening in this process. “It’s really a place for us to explore and for us really to share stories and also being able to listen, [which] I think [is] a huge part of SWAT,” he said. “And the biggest thing we get out from people that never came to SWAT meetings [but] come to SWAT open mics [and] SWAT shows was their listening, and that’s really important to us. We stress the importance of it, [as] it takes a certain type of love for someone to listen to them; if you are a stranger, to listen to their stories, that’s something that is super powerful.”
Tufts, Groundwork Somerville collaborate on maple syrup project by Natalia Kastenberg Daily Staff Writer
Since the early 2000s, Tufts’ sugar maple trees on the Medford/Somerville campus have been a local source for sap. In 2008, Groundwork Somerville, a local organization whose mission involves sustained regeneration and bringing the community together to enact positive change in the environment, took charge of the sap collection in Somerville. Chris Mancini, the executive director of Groundwork Somerville, elaborated on the group’s aims. “The ultimate goal is to connect people to the food cycle system,” Mancini said. “Most of our programming is around healthy eating and doing cooking demonstrations with students, but [maple syrup] is so unique to New England, and even though it’s sugar based, it’s a great way to see the full process in a microcosm.” According to its website, each winter, Groundwork Somerville works with the Somerville Community Growing Center, the
nicholas pfosi / The tufts daily
Maple syrup is still a major source of income for many New England farmers.
Somerville Public Schools, Tufts University and local volunteers to collect sap from local sugar maple trees. Mancini said that this year, Groundwork Somerville located 41 sugar maple trees at Tufts that had the potential to produce sap. However, Mancini and Sarah Lindsay, a MassLIFT-Americorps service learning coordinator for Groundwork Somerville, pointed out that some trees on campus might produce little or no sap due to urban stressors, like being near construction and being shaded out by other trees, as well as general stressors, including climate, pollution and soil compaction. This winter’s extreme cold and record snow levels have also caused the trees to produce little sap, and has made it difficult for the group to gather enough sap for their annual boil down festival, according to Mancini and Lindsay. This year, the boil down will be held at the Somerville Community Growing Center on Saturday, March 7. Mancini said that to prepare for the boil down, the group puts sap-collecting buckets on the south-facing side of the trees they have selected during the last week of January, and leave the buckets up until the first week of March, usually a period of six weeks. Typically, the buckets collect between 260 and 300 gallons of sap, which boils down to only six to seven gallons of maple syrup, according to Mancini. Groundwork Somerville also works with local second grade students through a fourweek curriculum about the process behind making maple syrup, culminating in an opportunity for students to witness the process first-hand. “It’s fun to do something that appeals so directly to kids,” Lindsay said. “They all know what maple syrup is and none of them really know where it comes from and how to make it, so they get really excited.”
nicholas pfosi / the tufts daily
Sap is sourced from many of Tufts’ maple trees for local syrup production. The maple syrup project at Tufts brings to the fore several intriguing concepts, according to Cathy Stanton, a senior lecturer in the department of anthropology. Stanton in particular remarked on the unique role of maple syrup in New England. “[Maple syrup] creates some interestingly blurred lines,” Stanton told the Daily in an email. “We tend to think of maple sugaring as quintessentially rural, but here it is within one of the most densely-built urban environments in the U.S. And maple syrup is a food that falls somewhere between the wild and the cultivated. A lot of people associate it with indigenous foodways and ‘olde tyme’
New England, but it’s still big business for a lot of farmers in the region, as both a food product and a tourist attraction.” Stanton also noted Tufts’ important role in the project. “[The project] highlights the fact that Tufts has the biggest stand of tappable maple trees in Somerville, which reflects our large share of the city’s open green space,” Stanton said. “This makes our campus a unique resource for a project that’s trying to connect people in the city with locally-produced foods.” Together, Tufts and Groundwork Somerville have worked to create a project that celebrates community, the environment and the cultural heritage of New England.
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Wednesday, March 4, 2015
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Arts & Living
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Album Review
THEESatisfaction's 'EarthEE' experiments with atmospheric soul by Anjali Nair
Assistant Arts Editor
SubPop Records is well-known as a paradisiacal label for alternative and indie bands, filling its roster of artists with
EarthEE THEESatisfaction Sub Pop Records everyone from Nirvana to Sunny Day Real Estate to Fleet Foxes. The label has not done much to belie this reputation, and its most famous artists tend to fit nicely into the alt-rock box. So it comes as something of a surprise to stumble upon R&B duo THEESatisfaction on SubPop’s list. One listen through the pair’s latest album “EarthEE,” which came out Feb. 24, though, and it becomes clear that SubPop probably wanted to snatch up the self-proclaimed “Empresses of Time” before someone else did. Comprised of rapper Stas Irons and singer Cat Harris-White, THEESatisfaction creates spacey, rhythmically irreverent songs that stand outside the realm of today’s mainstream hip-hop. Throughout the album, their lyrical wit adds to the atmospheric songs, weaving layers of soulful melodies and sharp raps. The album opens with a thumping bass drum, introducing the listener to “Prophetic Perfection,” a brief foray into the duo’s futuristic sounds. A strange synth melody joins the syncopated beat to create a disorienting feeling for the listener. Harris-White’s smooth vocals come in, grounding the music with her calming words: “Said the bird to the water / May I take a sip? / May I dip my toes in it?”
Eric Phipps via Flickr Creative Commons
THEESatisfaction includes singer Catherine Harris-White and rapper Stasia Irons. Harmonies join her intermittently to add a reverberating lull. It’s apparent right from this first track that the album is not meant for those looking for mindless dance beats. This is not to say that the music isn’t accessible to the casual music lover. The avant-garde edges don’t estrange listeners with dissonance or overly erudite musical references. Instead, they create a contemplative air that demands attention. In addition, the brevity of the songs makes them far more enjoyable for those who are not used to the abundant MIDI effects that permeate the record. “No GMO” shifts the pace of the album, upping the tempo with modulated synths and quick raps. Off-kilter solos later lead into quiet interludes in which the vocals take precedence. The drums drop out
Eric Phipps via Flickr Creative Commons
THEESatisfaction includes singer Catherine Harris-White and rapper Stasia Irons.
during these sections, as peculiar chords support Harris-White’s effortless vocals. Almost startlingly, the song ends during one of these interludes in an absence of drums and a refusal to resolve. Another highlight, “Blandland,” features rapper Ishmael “Butterfly” Butler, who brings new dynamism to the track. His lyrics are clever and pointed, criticizing the dilution and appropriation of black culture: “A story loosely based on us / Without no pain and thus, the main essence / Essentially a booze or a misfocus / An absence of style where it should be must.” The importance of the content is placed against a mellow backbone of passive rhythms and dark synths, a stark contrast that brings more attention to the words. Although the album soon picks up speed, many of the subsequent tracks still follow this shadowy musical quality. The weighty “Sir Come Navigate” opens with a sinister synth arpeggio that flourishes into a more euphonic riff. There’s a sense of elevation in the track, as the vocals swell into a self-assured delivery. The addition of Egyptian musical motifs to the song make it seem spiritual, to an extent. The same divine confidence is expressed in the lyrics: “Don’t you dare try to deceive me / I have sight therefore I perceive / You perceive me as an entity of life.” Approaching the end of the album, the bizarrely crowded, spoken-word chaos of “Recognition” and the rich instrumentation of “I Read You” bring the album to an innovative close. With its pulsing beats and lyrical brilliance, THEESatisfaction has produced a beautiful, thought-provoking album. While it’s certainly not the catchiest album of the year, it deserves recognition for its space-age exploration of new rhythmic and musical horizons.
TV Review
ABC comedy 'Fresh Off the Boat' portrays Asian American life with complexity, warmth by Lilly Lu
Contributing Writer
In the months leading up to its premiere, “Fresh Off the Boat” (2015 – present) was met with ambivalence.
Fresh Off the Boat Starring Randall Park, Constance Wu, Hudson Yang, Forrest Wheeler ABC/Eric McCandless via Flickr Creative Commons
Hudson Yang plays Eddie Huang, who grows up in Florida with his family in the ‘90s.
Airs Tuesdays at 8 p.m. on ABC
The trailer had a lot of elements to absorb: the neon, Candy Land-esque hues of the ’90s, the decade’s radio music and the fact that the show was the first Asian American family sitcom on primetime television in twenty years. There were also multiple chances for the series to go awry. In the wrong hands, the portrayal of an Asian American mother might fall into the Tiger Mom trope, the father could be subject to an effeminate portrayal, see BOAT, page 6
Emily Gruzdowich | a CAFFEINATED cRITIC
The Mysterious and Manicured Met Braving the bus, the long blocks and the masses of people, I stood in front of the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s monumental neoclassical facade after a trying four and a half hour bus ride. This Saturday, I was determined to view the Met’s Asian Art Centennial in its entirety. The museum’s comprehensive displays — capturing five millennia of Asian artworks — inspired my journey. Encompassing the history, geography and cultural richness of Asia, the Met’s collections of Asian Art enables an audience to revel in the wide-ranging traditions. Coinciding with the centennial, the Japanese Sackler Wing, home to the museum’s Japanese Art collection, has reopened after reinstallation. Justifying the trip as a research endeavor for my seminar class Japanese Narrative Pictures, I momentarily escaped from the stress of midterms and into the mysterious and manicured world of Japanese art. The range in media and subject matter currently on view is astounding. Accenting the works under observation, the displays are crisply executed and create a seamless viewing process. Logically progressing, the wing follows a mostly chronological order, beginning with monumental Buddha statues, transitioning to ornamental screens, flowing through vertical hanging-scroll landscapes and culminating with ukioy-e prints. Interspersed throughout the wing, fine porcelain wares and trinkets complement the larger neighboring works. This ordered progression reinforces the guiding strands that link Japan to the Buddhist tradition; this connection is explicitly referenced through the inclusion of the Buddha, Bodhisattvas or deities, as well as implicitly through the artists’ refined themes and chosen stroke types. Further personalizing the wing, each room was fitted with a placard describing the American patron who bequeathed the works under observation. I found this interchange between the American connoisseur and the Japanese object illuminating. During the mid-19th century, Japanese art came into vogue. Heavily influencing the trajectory of European art, Japanese culture disseminated through Europe by way of the wood block print. The westernization of Japanese art is termed Japonisme. For reference, the famed impressionist artist Edward Degas created a series of bath scenes that mimicked the Japanese woodblock prints. While the Japanese wing at the Met does not explore the coinciding artistic interaction of Japanese art with the West, it highlights the monetary exchanges that occurred via the art market. The Met’s substantial Japanese wing and flanking Chinese and Korean collections owe their existences to highly motivated American businessmen in the 1880s. Providing short biographies, the newly renovated wing emphasized the American passion for Asian art. The meticulously organized — and surprisingly spacious — Sackler wing is a testament to the continued American interest in non-Western art. Akin to these famed collectors, I am intrigued by the concept of otherness that characterized Japanese art across mediums. However, there is an inherent irony in the American fervor for collecting Japanese art. Especially at its apex in the 19th century, the United States along with the West termed the isolated people of Meiji Japan uncivilized. Yet these allegedly barbaric people managed to create refined, highly palatable works that mirrored the sublimity of nature. The American people became enamored with the visual concept of a people, but not the people themselves. These ironic parallels are rife within the history of art and, in my belief, make the study of art a worthy subject of scholarship. I was determined to find visual examples to contextualize my final paper topic: religious courtesans (both saints and whores); the dichotomy makes my paper topic ironic. However, when viewing the works in the Japanese Wing, I began to question and connect universal themes. While not endorsing the frustratingly long bus ride to New York, I still encourage you to intimately place yourself in relation to a real work of art. Step away from computergenerated images and allow creations from the past to influence your view of the present. Emily Gruzdowich is a sophomore majoring in political science. She can be reached at emily. gruzdowich@tufts.edu.
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The Tufts Daily
Wednesday, March 4, 2015
Arts & Living
Series review
'VGHS' sets gold standard for tech-y TV, emotive storytelling by orlando economos Contributing Writer
If you’re a nerd, you’ve probably thought about how cool it would be to do all the amaz-
Video Game High School Starring Josh Blaylock, Ellary Porterfield, Johanna Braddy, Jimmy Wong All seasons available to watch online
ing things you can do in video games in the real world. Drive the fastest cars on the planet on some of the most famous tracks in the world? Save humanity from an invasion of aliens who have an obsession with some great big ring in the sky? Rescue a princess from the clutches of an oversized turtle that had too much sriracha for breakfast? All in a day’s play for a gamer. This is the premise of “Video Game High School” (2012 – 2014). The web series tells the story of BrianD (Josh Blaylock), a teenager who is admitted to the prestigious “Video Game High School” after he (inadvertently) kills the best player in the world: The Law (Brian Firenzi). There, he meets his best friends, Ted (Jimmy Wong) and Ki (Ellary Porterfield), and pursues the girl of his dreams, Jenny ( Johanna Braddy). But this world isn’t at all like ours. In it, video games take the place of spectator sports. Instead of NASCAR drivers, you have Drift Kings; instead of rock stars, Axe Legends. The most popular game, though, is “Field of Fire,” a first-person shooter. It takes the combined place of football and soccer to become the
Liz O. Baylen / Los Angeles Times / MCT
Filmmakers Brandon Laatsch and Freddie Wong, right, on the set of their successful online series “Video Game High School.” world’s most prestigious sport and most riveting show — and BrianD just took center stage. As the world of technology has advanced, the film industry has had to keep up. How do we portray technology? The internet? When someone receives a text message, how do we read it? In shows like “Pretty Little Liars” (2010 – present) we get slow, dull cutaways to tiny phone screens. In others like “House of Cards” (2013 – present) and “Sherlock” (2010 – present) you have onscreen messages, allowing for uninterrupted screen time for
the actor and tighter narratives. So the relevant question is, how do we portray video games? And it is here that “Video Game High School” excels. In the show, whenever a student sits down to play a game, they literally enter the game. When Brian sits down at his computer and puts his fingers to his keyboard, he simultaneously wraps his hand around the handle of a gun. When his best friend, Ted, picks up a controller to race drift cars, he gets behind the wheel of a 2012 Mustang. It is the realization of every gam-
er’s dream: to become a part of the worlds of the games we love. Beside the fact that this is incredibly entertaining and that it is wish fulfillment at its best, this mechanic allows the filmmakers at RocketJump (the company that produces the series) to show off their production value. For an indie production that airs on YouTube and their own site, “VGHS” is ridiculously well done. The visual effects are not only convincing but, in many cases, invisible, which is the goal of every VFX artist. Action sequences are more entertaining than most
studio films, and even better, they are emotionally satisfying. In fact, what “VGHS” does best is emotional storytelling. Season one has a gorgeous story arc of redemption, finding one’s place, proving oneself and (of course, because this is a show about high school) getting the girl. All this sounds cliché — and it is — but what “VGHS” manages to do that other shows do not is embrace the clichés. It takes the trope of “she’s out of your league” and makes her literally out of his league — Jenny is the FPS JV captain, after all, and Brian only (sort of) wins her over after he proves himself on the Field (of Fire). Jenny isn’t just a placeholder, the prize for doing well, though. She is a fully realized character with depth and a backstory that develops over three season. She is flawed, and is just trying to figure life out; she is a real teenager. “VGHS” is brave, audacious and silly. It allows its characters to be children, to be ridiculous caricatures, but it also lets them deal with very human issues: insecurity, broken relationships, sexism, addiction and loss. True, it doesn’t go as far as “Degrassi” (2001 – present) — will any show ever be Degrassi? — but it takes its own route to finding humanity in its characters. Fair warning: this show will break your heart. And it will mend it again, and make you laugh and cringe and wish you could go to Video Game High School. And at the end of three seasons, unlike high school, you’ll wish it wasn’t over. “Video Game High School” is a web series by RocketJump that runs three seasons long, and wrapped in fall 2014. It is available to stream online.
Memoir adaptation documents trials of growing up in ’90s America BOAT
continued from page 5
and, in his obsession with hiphop culture, the young main character could potentially be read as making a mockery of black culture, taking racial representations leagues backward. Yet, thankfully, despite immense pressure to both represent and nuance the narrative of Asian American experience, “Fresh Off the Boat” manages to be rather selfaware of its responsibilities and, gradually it finds its personality. Based on a memoir of the same name by chef Eddie Huang, portrayed in the show by Hudson Yang, the show chronicles Huang’s childhood move from Washington, D.C. to Orlando with his TaiwaneseAmerican family seeking the elusive American Dream. Spearheading this journey are the idealistic Louis Huang (Randall Park), who wants to make it big with his cowboy-themed restaurant, and his wife, the ebullient Jessica (Constance Wu). Jessica is less than happy to leave D.C.’s Chinatown, where she would casually haggle for food in outdoor markets and flaunt her gorgeous raven locks, then untouched by Florida humidity. In tow are Eddie’s grandmother (Lucille Soong) and his two younger — and more socially accepted — brothers, Emery (Forrest Wheeler) and Evan (Ian Chen). Indeed, the first few episodes of the series are clunky. Most of the jokes center on, well, making fun of white people. At school, Eddie’s peers drink Capri Sun, eat Lunchables and mistake noodles for worms. Back at home, Jessica encounters a legion of clone-like white moms who want her to join their ranks, but not before say-
ing they’re surprised her name isn’t “more exotic.” These jokes about ignorance can become tired and gimmicky, but here, they are well-placed. To open up with straightforward, if not overt, commentary on how people of color were spoken to in the ’90s — and, sadly, how they are still spoken to — is bold. This is, at first, spoon-fed comedy: “Haha! The white people are going to ask where Eddie is really from.” But when repeatedly packed into the space of twenty minutes, it becomes hard to digest. These jokes demand attention. They demand further contemplation. They call for action. In one especially poignant scene, Eddie is deemed momentarily “cool” by his white peers because of his Notorious B.I.G. t-shirt. His black classmate remarks how strange it is that he sits alone while the other children, none of whom are black, form camaraderie over a black artist. And, in the end, he and Eddie — the only children of color — are turned against each other. The system is flawed, a Catch-22 for those who are in the wrong place, of the wrong race. “Fresh Off the Boat” is audacious enough to start this discourse right off the bat. By last week’s sixth episode, the writing had become more self-assured. The show dialed back the jabs at whites and shifted its focus to discussing and complicating the Tiger Mom trope. This discussion progressed into an examination of the Huangs’ specific family dynamics both in tandem with and separated from their Asian American identity,
including a scene with a newand-improved “the talk” about how sex works and how it must be consensual. The open communication that Jessica and Louis have with their children is something that has been a long time coming in depictions of Asian American families. There is no doubt that there is genuine love between Mr. and Mrs. Huang. The tough love Jessica gives her kids is only a manifestation of just that: love. Louis’ love is expressed by his continued work despite his repeated business failings; Louis continues working because he truly does want a better life for his family. Many, including the real-life Eddie Huang, have expressed concern about hip-hop’s place in TV Eddie’s life. But as the show has aired more episodes, critics have written that the relationship between Eddie and hip-hop is one of solace; he turns to it when he feels like an outcast either at school among his peers, or at home, between his more academically and socially successful brothers. Thus, the show is not just about Eddie being Asian American; it’s about who he is in many contexts, in his multi-layered identities. “Fresh Off the Boat” is still fresh, undergoing growing pains. It is awkward at times; some of the jokes fall short, and the audience still has not seen any development in the character of Eddie’s grandma, yet she is an adorable addition to the family dynamic. But this show is doing something important, and — dare I say? — something right. “Fresh Off the Boat” airs Tuesdays at 8:00 p.m. on ABC.
ABC/Kevin Foley via Flickr Creative Commons
Forrest Wheeler, Ian Chen, Randall Park, Hudson Yang and Constance Wu star as an Asian American family chasing the American Dream in ABC’s new comedy “Fresh Off the Boat.”
Wednesday, March 4, 2015
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Wednesday, March 4, 2015
Editorial | Letters
Editorial
When dealing with Molly, Tufts must educate on harm reduction
The recent events at Wesleyan University, in which a dozen people apparently overdosed on the drug Molly — a form of the more widely know Ecstasy or MDMA — has reignited debate here at Tufts and at other NESCAC schools on how to handle drug use on campus. With four Wesleyan students arrested (they are now set to be tried in court), two students in critical condition and a national news story, it is no wonder that posters on Molly and MDMA have began popping up on our campus and Tufts University Police Department (TUPD) has tweeted about the issue. There is clearly a dire need for a deeper understanding of drug usage among students. In addition to educating on the dangers of drug use, however, Tufts University Department of Public and Environmental Safety should also recognize that, regardless of how many posters are put up, students who want to engage in drug use will still do so. Accordingly, educational posters should also feature harm reduction guides for drugs such as MDMA and Molly. Molly, containing MDMA (3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine), offers its users feelings of euphoria and other hallucinatory effects. Molly often contains a combination of unknown chemicals that imitate the effects of “pure Ecstasy,” but are far more life threatening. These sensations are induced by hundreds of hazardous substances that are difficult to track
down. Therefore, Molly users do not have to overdose to be hospitalized. One single dose of “Holy” Molly can lead to severe dehydration, a spike in temperature up to 107 degrees, kidney failure and seizures. In 2013, several colleges, including the University of New Hampshire, Plymouth State University, University of Virginia and Texas State University at San Marcos, reported student deaths due to Molly consumption. There is no such thing as absolute drug safety, but there are ways to mitigate possible deaths and injuries. Currently, safety tips come only from word-of-mouth or information given by student groups; they are not offered in any official capacity in a highly accessible and widely advertised manner. If a student is interested in trying Molly, that student may be deterred from doing so by looking at the risks on posters that have been placed in dorms on campus. But there are also those who — knowing the risks — will choose to engage in drug use anyway. Tufts University Police Department’s website has, perhaps unintentionally, only one harm prevention guideline on Molly and the dangers of mixing it with other drugs, but nothing on things such as proper dosage, the dangers of dehydration or the things with which it may be mixed. Some argue that providing safe dosage information and tips on how
to remain unharmed while on Molly acts as an invitation to use the drug, and sends a message that Molly use is totally acceptable. They claim that a student on the fence about trying Molly may decide to use it if given harm prevention guidelines from an official campus organization. Yet that person would be using Molly in a manner that is, while still not totally safe, safer than if they were to have no idea about proper dosage or warning signs. When weighing the potentially life-saving benefits for students who will engage in drug use regardless, it is better to have two students who use Molly in a safer manner than one sober student and one dead student. College officials across the country need to use as many strategies as possible to prevent future incidents like the ones at Wesleyan. TUPD and Tufts do not need stop touting the dangers of drug use, providing facts on how drugs can negatively impact a person’s life and explaining the legal ramifications of being arrested for drug use; in some circles these are considered valid tactics in deterrence that can save lives. However, those who decide to use drugs such as Molly anyway should be using it in an informed way. Having TUPD and Tufts educate students about safe drug use in addition to promoting anti-drug messages is not an endorsement, but a life saver.
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Letter to the Editor regarding El Tit op-ed
On behalf of the TCU Judiciary ( TCUJ), I would like to respond to Madeline Bacchus’ March 2 op-ed “El Tit fills the gap other publications can’t.” In determining the recognition status of new and existing groups on campus, the TCUJ relies on a stringent set of bylaws that require, among other criteria, three proofs of activ-
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.
ity and being active on campus for at least a semester. When El Tit applied for recognition this past fall, they did not meet some of these criteria and therefore the TCUJ was obliged to vote not to recognize them. However, I absolutely agree with Madeline’s assessment that El Tit is an “important and necessary” voice on cam-
pus. The TCUJ strongly encourages El Tit to re-apply for recognition next fall, when it is able to fulfill all of the requirements for recognition with what I am sure will be hilarious and flying colors. -Jonathan Zfira
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Wednesday, March 4, 2015
The Tufts Daily
Op-Ed
Caitlin Thompson | Oppressive Regimes
TCU Senate: Save our teams
by Brian Pilchik
The tournament director peered across the room, his reddish beard crinkling as he grinned. “Where are the Jumbos of Tufts University?” his voice boomed, amplified by the microphone. Three hundred competitors turned in their seats to look at us. “Jumbos,” he said, “Do the elephant thing you do!” We glanced at each other, laughing nervously. We stood, and in a low whisper, “Ready? Jumbos on three. One, two, three … BPPRHHHFF!” Students and coaches from around the nation cheered as we trumpeted. We were in Washington, D.C. It was my junior spring. Tufts Mock Trial had brought not one, but two separate teams to the National Championship Tournament — unprecedented in our history. We were welcomed as two of the top 48 teams in the country by none other than Supreme Court Justice Elena Kagan. And then, after arguing our case in federal courthouses against schools from as near as Brown and as far as the University of California, San Diego, we were making elephant noises in the nation’s capital. That moment, I remember. Calculus II? Not so much. As a graduate of this university, I can say with complete confidence that the opportunities I was afforded to compete with Tufts Mock Trial meant more for my Tufts experience, and more for my post-graduate trajectory, than anything I ever did in a classroom. These teams create student communities, provide role models and mentors and, in the case of mock trial, plop undergraduate students down in courtrooms and expose
Op-Ed
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Op-Ed
them to the practice of law. Without those key support systems and extraordinary experiences, I would have neither the confidence nor the incredible privilege to be writing this op-ed from Harvard Law School, urging the TCU Senate to save our teams. The Senate is now considering a radical policy shift which would strip all student activity groups of any funding used to travel and compete. For groups engaged in debate, dance and a myriad of other competitions, this would mean the end. If we cannot compete, we cannot exist. The problem is not that Senate is simply cutting budgets. If, as TCU Treasurer Adam Kochman notes, the budget surplus has been “depleting” over the past several years, it is understandable that we need to start spending more responsibly. Rather, the problem is that the proposed solution — cutting all travel expenses — has a disproportionate impact. For our travel teams, travel funding is everything. In one fell swoop, Senate is positioned to destroy Tufts’ ability to compete on intercollegiate circuits, telling students they can only compete if they can fund their own tickets to the competitions and pay for the university’s registration fees. It is one thing to require student contributions to competition costs; it is another to shift the entire burden to the students. Kochman hopes that the move could mean “There will be more money available, hopefully, for events on campus.” What about the events that transform our students’ experiences outside of the borders of Medford and Somerville? Why are these
student activities suddenly, for 2015-2016, unworthy of support? If the Senate was to suddenly halt all funding used to take students off campus, it would prevent Tufts from competing with other universities. It would seal Tufts into a bubble which no student organization could independently afford to escape. It would strip away the learning and growth that our teams provide far beyond the classroom, and far beyond this hill. Every year, over 500 mock trial teams strive to secure a spot at that coveted National Championship Tournament. Since before I matriculated to this campus, Tufts has consistently stolen those spots from our rivals, making a name — and an elephant noise — for this university in our small corner of the national student activities space. We are not alone. We see the same success in our Model UN teams, our debate teams and our dance teams. The year Tufts stops winning national recognition should be the year our Jumbos stop earning it, not the year the Senate stops valuing what we bring to the Tufts community. Senators, we can continue to succeed if you continue to believe in us. Don’t ground us now. Senators, save our teams. Brian Pilchik (A’ 14) is a past president of Tufts Mock Trial and a current J.D. candidate at Harvard Law School. He can be reached at bpilchik@jd17.law.harvard.edu.
Bibi Netanyahu’s one way street by Nick Golden
Israeli President Benjamin Netanyahu’s decision to speak in front of Congress — without a Presidential invite — in the middle of his own campaign at home is worthy of admiration only for sheer boldness. In every other sense, Netanyahu’s decision to intervene in American politics to benefit his campaign while feigning obliviousness to the disrespect that his speech represents is deplorable — a slap in the face for the President of the United States and for America’s foreign policy interests. “My speech is not intended to show any disrespect to President Obama,” he said, speaking at an AIPAC event. Many Congressional Democrats, some of whom sat out his speech, did not necessarily agree. House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi called the speech “an insult to the intelligence of the United States,” while Massachusetts Democrats Katherine Clark and Mike McGovern did not attend. The Republicans, meanwhile, were caught up in their usual storm of apocalyptic, melodramatic rhetoric, with Senator Ted Cruz describing the Iran nuclear deal being negotiated as “reminiscent of Munich in 1938.” What really frustrates me, however, is not the riling up of the usual suspects in Congress, nor the fact that Mossad analysts have claimed that new sanctions on the table in Congress would “tank the Iran nuclear negotiations,” according to the Wall Street Journal, nor even the utter disrespect for both the office of the President of the United States and the man himself. No, what angers me the most is the ridiculously unbalanced nature of the alliance between Israel and United States, and the danger that unbalanced alliance causes for American foreign interests and, ultimately, the lives of American soldiers. The United States spends a ridiculous amount of its resources helping Israel for remarkably little gain in return, made possible by the political activity of groups like AIPAC and, even more unbelievably, the Israeli president, in person. In a paper titled “The Israel Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy” (2006), University of Chicago Professor of Political Science John Mearsheimer and Harvard
University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government Professor Stephen Walt, both respected voices in the study of international relations, argue that the “extraordinary generosity” of the United States “might be understandable if Israel were a vital strategic asset or if there were a compelling moral case for sustained U.S. backing. But neither rationale is convincing.” They offer a few key cases. While acknowledging Israel’s key role in defeating Soviet proxies in the Six Day War (Syria and Egypt), they point to U.S. aid to Israel during the October War as the cause of the infamous 1973 OPEC embargo and oil crisis which devastated the American economy, the need for the U.S. Army to devote Patriot Missile Batteries to “keep Tel Aviv from doing anything that might fracture the alliance against Saddam” and finally the fact that Israel could not commit any resources in 2003 to combat Saddam Hussein as evidence of Israel’s being a liability, not a help. Even further, though many argue that today the United States and Israel share military aims against terrorists, Mearsheimer and Walt disagree with the foundational reasoning: “Saying that Israel and the United States are united by a shared terrorist threat has the causal relationship backwards,” they write. “Rather, the United States has a terrorism problem in good part because it is so closely allied with Israel, not the other way around.” Although it is not the sole source of terrorist anger, allying with Israel — and not doing nearly enough to limit its slow process of colonizing the West Bank and destroying Gaza — has gone a long way towards painting a big red target on American backs, with little for Americans to reap in return. Now, all of this would seem very cold, and perhaps, many would say, cowardly, to drop an erstwhile ally in such a way (the two scholars are classified by many as Realists). It would seem that way if one didn’t realize the depth of Israel’s disloyalty to the United States. Returning to Mearsheimer and Walt, Israel has not only had the “most aggressive espionage operations against the U.S. of any ally,” it has also been accused of providing “sensitive U.S. military technology to potential
U.S. rivals like China, in what the U.S. State Department Inspector‐General called ‘a systematic and growing pattern of unauthorized transfers.’” That doesn’t sound like an ally that I want. The role of foreign lobbies in American politics is growing, and will only continue to grow, it may seem, with reports of think tanks such as Brookings and the Atlantic Council taking foreign funds. Yet the amount of leverage that Israel can muster in American political circles has not only stymied debate on our relationship with Israel, it has actively damaged American interests. Making a nuclear deal with Iran and bringing it back into the international community is a fine goal, one that is clearly better than the only alternative, one which President Netanyahu almost seems to want: war with Iran. I recognize personally that discussion of Israeli influence in the United States can tack far too closely towards anti-Semitic arguments about power, control and Jewish conspiracy. I want to be clear in saying that at the end of the day, if Israel were attacked, as inheritors of FDR’s legacy of halting interstate aggression, we should defend it. Of course we should — only true monsters willingly ignore the legacy of the Holocaust. A United States not allied with Israel, however, not required to pay billions to a country that refuses negotiation on the international scale, that gets the sweet end of the deal every time for little return, that builds settlements into territory of an oppressed people, can also stand up to defend Jewish lives and culture with respect to the amount of hurt they have experienced. Outside of that case, I do not see the benefits of American soldiers going to war and going to die in Iran because Bibi Netanyahu thinks he can bully his way into our politics and override our better interests. Nick Golden is a junior majoring in international relations and minoring in english. Nick served as the opinion executive editor for the Tufts Daily in Spring 2014, and is currently abroad in Paris. He can be reached at nicholas.golden@tufts.edu.
Failure in Chechnya
T
he Russian region of Chechnya has a volatile history, and while President Ramzan Kadyrov has brought stability to the region, he has failed to promote human rights. In the past few years, attention has turned to the restrictions placed on women requiring them to wear Muslim dress in public. Such controls have increased since President Kadyrov passed a law in 2007 that kept bareheaded women from entering state buildings. In 2009 and 2010, more places were added to this list, and women who go in public without a burka have been brutally attacked and harassed. For the most part, there is no law governing such dress, but it has become an unspoken, or in this case, highly vocal, social norm. Both the restrictions and the attacks bring up questions about women’s rights in Chechnya. “The enforcement of a compulsory Islamic dress code on women in Chechnya violates their rights to private life, personal autonomy, freedom of expression, and freedom of religion, thought, and conscience. It is also a form of gender-based discrimination prohibited under international treaties to which Russia is a party,” says the Human Rights Watch. The nature of the restrictions is a secondary concern to where the authorization of the laws stems from. These de facto restrictions and attacks on women come at the endorsement of President Kadyrov. Even more troubling, Kadyrov has gone so far as to praise the attackers that assault women for dressing outside of Muslim tradition in public. “When a public official like Ramzan Kadyrov praises this cruel violence, he is openly encouraging physical assault and public humiliation of women. It’s time the federal government stood up for the rights of Chechen women,” says Human Rights Watch Russia researcher Tanya Lokshina. The support gets worse. Because Chechnya is a region within Russia’s influence, the Kremlin has been blamed for perpetuating these violations. Without the support of Kadryov, Russia would have to contend with an unstable region in its southern territory. As a result, the Kremlin does nothing to improve women’s rights, and instead continues to back the Chechen government. This support means Kadyrov is under no pressure to lessen restrictions or ensure women’s safety. But even more shocking than the rules on women’s dress that survive with government support are the aggressive ways in which these traditions are being enforced. As part of the “virtue campaign,” women not wearing headscarves began to be attacked in public places in 2010. Armed with paintball guns and threats, men try to intimidate women into wearing headscarves. Such attacks escalated when Natalya Estemirova, a Russian rights activist who spoke against the dress campaign, was found dead in Ingushetia. Kadyrov actively supported the attackers, saying that “even if it was done with my permission, I wouldn’t be ashamed. It turns out that the girls who were sprayed with paint had been warned several times previously. After such an incident, a girl should just disappear from the face of the earth, lock herself in the house and not go out because she behaved so inappropriately that such a thing happened to her.” The President’s words show the large extent of the institutional problem and violation of human rights in Chechnya. Overall, Kadyrov may have brought security to Chechnya, but he has failed to grow human rights, and women remain disproportionally affected. If women’s rights are to improve in the region, it is crucial for women to be able to dress as they like without facing physical danger. President Kadyrov and the Kremlin must cease support for such a virtue campaign in order to grow the region. Caitlin Thompson is a sophomore who has not yet declared a major. She can be reached at Caitlin.Thompson@tufts.edu.
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FOR RELEASE MARCH 4, 2015
Crossword
Los Angeles Times Daily Crossword Puzzle
DOWN 1 Metalworking union 2 “Was __ hard on her?”
3/4/15
By Don Gagliardo
3 Crime scene clue 4 K2 is on its border: Abbr. 5 State secrets? 6 Cornstarch brand 7 Right hook setup 8 Noisy scene 9 “Mayberry R.F.D.” setting 10 Nearby 11 __ la Plata 12 Attends 13 Dik Browne pooch 16 Evaluation for creative types 18 Make a memo of 23 Yours, to Yvette 25 “Now I remember!” 27 Watch chains 28 Peter Fonda’s beekeeper 29 Medicine cabinet items 30 Suffix with malt 33 Low-budget pic, usually 34 Chief 35 Coach’s challenge indicator
Wednesday, March 4, 2015
wordart
Edited by Rich Norris and Joyce Lewis
ACROSS 1 Thin streaks 6 Influenced by, recipe-wise 9 Ones who deal with dealers 14 First name in furniture 15 Editor’s job 17 Seeking lodging 19 Unidentified Jane 20 Tugboat sound 21 Commodities dealer 22 Summit meeting goal 24 18-Down, with “down” 26 Rearing place 27 Pulling away 31 This and that 32 Deep gulf 33 Global financial org. 36 Mexican supermodel Elsa 39 Hardly transitory 41 Gig session 42 Venetian island 44 1998 Sarah McLachlan hit 45 More at dinner 48 Suffix with school 51 CIA predecessor 52 London home of Constables and Sargents 53 Block deliverers of yesteryear 55 Powerful lobby for seniors 57 Cape Canaveral’s st. 60 Stadium supporters, and a hint to their cry hidden in 17-, 27- and 45Across 63 Self-control 64 Felt poorly 65 “Golden Boy” playwright 66 “Hello, ewe!” 67 Mausoleums
Comics
Tuesday’s Puzzle Solved Tuesday’s Solution
Married to the Sea
©2015 Tribune Content Agency, LLC
37 StubHub offerings, briefly 38 Latvia neighbor 40 Spellbound 43 Baked, layered entrée 45 Clown Kelly 46 French I infinitive 47 Purring snuggler 48 Extremely tiny 49 Needed liniment
3/4/15
50 Creator of many pieces? 54 Writes the wrong zip code, say 56 Pooch in whodunits 58 Award-winning comic book writer Jeph 59 Additions 61 Pointed end 62 South-of-theborder uncle
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.
©2015 Tribune Content Agency, LLC All Rights Reserved.
YIRAN YARVOS
ERNTUU
Level: Knowing your superheroes: Being able to identify DC vs. Marvel comics.
Now arrange the circled letters to form the surprise answer, as suggested by the above cartoon.
Print your answer here:
-
Yesterday’s
SUDOKU
Check out the new, free JUST JUMBLE app
NHITN
(Answers tomorrow) Jumbles: ADULT SCOUR PAGODA MAINLY Answer: He didn’t buy the abacus because he wanted one without — ADD-ONS
Late Night at the Daily
Tuesday’s Solution
Jon: “We’ve gotta track in that loose butthole.”
Please recycle this Daily.
Wednesday, March 4, 2015
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Sports
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Tyler Maher | Beantown Beat
Boston’s bold strategy
O
CAROLINE AMBROSE / THE TUFTS DAILY
Tufts distance runners used winter season to pull ahead, posting several impressive times recently.
Jumbos post top times over weekend
MEN’S TRACK
continued from back
goals he had hoped to have achieved at this point in the season. Black said he is particularly excited about his relay team’s performance, and he is confident that its 4×400 time will be enough to qualify for Nationals. Meanwhile, the 4×800-meter relay team featured three first-years: Tom DePalma, Peter McCawley and Ty Enos. The trio was joined by junior Alex Apostolides and notched the team’s best time of the year with a 7:46.69 to finish in 11th place.
Considering the heavy impact of first- y ears at the meet, especially on the relay teams, Tufts has been rewarded for the trust it has shown in its relatively inexperienced athletes. “As a program we try not to rely on freshmen to score points at big meets,” Black said. “But these guys have really stepped up and put themselves out there.” The team is now looking forward to the Last Chance Meet, held at the Gantcher Center, with a great deal of excitement. Most of that excitement
Rohrer gears up for NCAAs
SWIMMING
AND DIVING
continued from back
Representing the women’s team at the meet, sophomore Kylie Reiman placed 22nd in the three-meter event and 25th in the one-meter. With his first- and third-place finishes, Rohrer has once again qualified for the NCAA championship, which will be held in Shenandoah, Texas from March 18 to 21. In his national championship debut last year, Rohrer placed tenth off both boards. “I don’t think all of my dives were necessarily perfect, but I felt very consistent and consistency is what wins dive meets so I’m really proud of myself for that,” Rohrer said. “Going into the one-meter competition, I was already guaranteed a spot to NCAAs so I was pretty relaxed and didn’t really feel like I necessarily had to put my all into the competition. But it’s always good to practice in a meet atmosphere so placing third while not totally in the meet mindset makes me really proud of myself and excited for what I might be able to do in the future.” For Reiman, the Zone Qualifiers mark the end of her season, as she will not be moving on to the NCAA meet. Still, she considers qualify-
ing for the zone championships an accomplishment in light of what it took to get there. “It was a challenging weekend to be sure,” Reiman said. “But I’m really proud of even being given the opportunity to qualify and compete in this meet. I came into the NESCAC championships earlier this month after a three-week foot injury and didn’t believe that I would even be given a chance to continue on in my season.” Reiman also noted that she had to contend with sickness — possibly a stomach virus or food poisoning — while competing in the one-meter on Friday, yet she still managed to execute all of her dives and put up a 388.60 score. At the women’s NESCAC championships Feb. 13-15, Reiman placed fourth in the one-meter and sixth in the three-meter. “This season as a whole has been a wonderful roller-coaster,” said Reiman. “I came to NESCACs after an injury not expecting to place high, but I had faith in my training and surprised myself by qualifying for the zones meet … I accomplished everything I wanted to and more this season, and I can’t wait to cheer for my teammate and close friend, Matt
will revolve around the surge for qualifying times for Nationals that usually occurs at this point in the season. Among others on the team, Bhalla is seeking a national qualifying time in the 800. Junior Michael Curley and sophomore Tim Nichols are also expected to be eyeing national qualifying times in the 5,000- meter run. The meet begins at 4 p.m., and the afternoon will be filled with Jumbos making their final pushes for Nationals.
Rohrer, during the NCAA championship meet later this month.” Rohrer will be looking to use the momentum he has built up with this weekend’s three-meter title — as well as the previous weekend’s one-meter title and second-place finish in the three-meter at the men’s NESCAC championships — as he competes against a national field. “For NCAAs I really want to get one or two more dives with higher degrees of difficulties so that I can really contest for a spot in the top eight,” said Rohrer. “Right now, with my current dives, I could definitely make it to the top eight if I dive really well, but I think that with some harder dives I would have a little more wiggle room and a better chance at making it there.” Rohrer could likely be the men’s top point scorer at NCAAs, and his performance will be critical to ensuring success for the team in Texas and in maintaining the Jumbos’ prowess in the diving events. “Honestly, just going to the meet itself is a big accomplishment for me and, while I would love to place top eight and dive really well, I’m gonna be really happy just competing with the best in the country and experiencing that kind of atmosphere,” said Rohrer.
f all the Boston Red Sox’s shiny new additions, none are more intriguing than Cuban imports Rusney Castillo and Yoan Moncada. What makes the duo so intriguing is the gobs of money Boston spent to acquire them despite their lack of major league experience. The Red Sox committed over $135 million to both before either played an inning of professional baseball in the United States. The last time Boston splurged so much for international talent was when it poured over $100 million into Daisuke Matsuzaka in 2006. The purported Japanese ace bombed, averaging fewer than 20 starts per season while compiling an ugly 4.52 ERA and 1.42 WHIP in six disappointing seasons with the Sox. But pitchers, by the sheer nature of what they do, are always risky investments. Castillo and Moncada are position players, and upthe-middle ones at that. Because they play demanding defensive spots on the diamond, they can still be key contributors even with so-so offensive numbers. Right now, it’s hard to predict what kind of impact they’ll have at the major league level. All we know is that they’re toolsy players on whom Boston spent a lot of money, so we should expect them to be good. (They better be good). The Red Sox made (presumably) their last big splash of a busy offseason not by trading for Cliff Lee or Cole Hamels to bolster their mediocre rotation, but by signing Moncada on Fed. 23. The 19-year-old Cuban infield prospect cost Boston $63 million — a huge investment in a teenager who’s never had a whiff of American baseball. But hey, it’s not my money. The Red Sox can afford to make these kinds of gambles. That’s the benefit of being one of the richest teams in baseball. If Moncada develops into the star many think he’ll become, then he’ll be worth every cent. By all accounts, Moncada is a physically gifted young man with a bright future ahead of him. An athletic switch-hitter, he’s capable of playing second base, shortstop, and third base as well as the outfield. That kind of versatility is ideal, for he can easily switch positions if Pablo Sandoval eats himself out of the league or Xander Bogaerts never pans out. It would also make him an attractive trade chip for a team in need of young talent (looking at you, Ruben Amaro Jr.). Moncada won’t be ready for some time, but Castillo may already be a finished product at age 27. With their season going south last summer, the Red Sox inked Castillo to a sevenyear, $72.5 million deal on August 23. He made a brief cameo at season’s end, playing in 10 of Boston’s final 11 games. Castillo shined in his cup of coffee, batting .333/.400/.528 with two home runs and six RBIs. Granted, it was only 40 plate appearances, but Castillo’s success was nevertheless encouraging. The center field job appears to be his after Jackie Bradley, Jr. proved incompetent at the plate last year, hitting an abysmal .198/.265/.266 and ranking dead-last in offensive value among players with at least 400 plate appearances, according to FanGraphs. Castillo can’t possibly be any worse than Bradley was last year, but that’s not saying much. He should be a serviceable player at the very least, with Steamer projecting him to be worth 2.3 WAR this year. That’s good, but hardly great. I would have rather seen Boston invest that money on established major league talent than risk it on a pair of untested prospects. $135 million is more than most teams’ payrolls, so I just can’t see how this was the best way to spend it. Tyler Maher is a senior majoring in economics and English. He can be reached at tyler.maher@tufts.edu.
Sports
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tuftsdaily.com
Tufts rebounds at Open New Englands by Jack Szumski Contributing Writer
Courtesy Tony Coniglio Photography
Sophomore diver Kylie Reiman ended her season at the NCAA Zone Qualifiers.
Rohrer leads divers again at NCAA Zones by Maclyn Senear Sports Editor
Claiming his second title in as many weeks, sophomore diver Matt Rohrer once again headlined the Tufts effort at last weekend’s NCAA Zone Qualifier meet in Springfield,
Mass. Both the men’s and the women’s swimming and diving teams sent a diver to the regional championships, and Rohrer placed first in the three-meter competition and third in the one-meter out of the field of 20 divers. see SWIMMING AND DIVING, page 11
This past weekend the Jumbos bounced back from their disappointing results in the New England Div. III Championships two weekends ago with impressive performances at the New England Intercollegiate Amateur Athletic Assocation Championships, colloquially known as Open New Englands. The competition, hosted by Boston University from Feb. 27-28, included schools from NCAA Div. I, II and III. “It was definitely better than the weekend past,” senior co-captian Marshall Pagano said. Going into the meet, the team’s approach was significantly different from its mindset going into the New England Div. III Championships. While the New England Div. IIIs was about a high team finish, Open New Englands focused more on improving individual times as opposed to individual or team placing. According to Pagano, the meet was a perfect opportunity for individuals to “focus on what [they] want to accomplish” and “really try to execute [their] race strategy or technique.” Despite minimal emphasis on the team standings, the meet was important because it allowed the Jumbos to compete against the top opposition in the area and run fast times.
On the first day, junior Veer Bhalla provided the highlight for Tufts, earning a seventhplace finish in the 800 preliminaries with a time of 1:52.54. Bhalla’s time was adjusted by 1.5 seconds due to the banked track at Boston University’s facilities. In the distance medley relay, first-years Sam Little and Chris Gregory joined seniors Sam Garfield and Pagano for a 14th-place finish with a time of 10:20.33. The second day of the competition contained significantly more action for the Jumbos. Bhalla again recorded a notable result, this time in the 800 final. His 1:54.36 time landed him in sixth for the event. Providing perhaps the most impressive and exciting results for Tufts were the 4×400-m eter and 4×800- meter relay teams. Not only did the 4×400 team place in fourth out of 25, but it also recorded a school record of 3:15.34, although it was ultimately altered to 3:18.47 due to the banked track, placing the team a little over three seconds slower than the school record of 3:15.35. The team consisted of first-y ear Andrew DeMaiti and juniors Francis Goins, Alex Kasemir and Mitchell Black. After winning the 1,000 at the New England Div. IIIs and performing well at BU, Black believes that he has been progressing well and reaching the see MEN’S TRACK, page 11
Tufts overcomes obstacles for successful season by Alexa Meltzer Contributing Writer
The men’s squash team entered the 201415 season with high hopes of finishing off the season with a higher ranking than its previous one, No. 34. The Jumbos were able to achieve this goal, which can be attributed to the team’s camaraderie, improved practices and hard work on and off the court. “This season was far better than last season,” senior tri-captain Elliot Kardon said. “Coach [Joe] McManus really improved our practices and the team had a better dynamic.” The team finished strong despite a shaky start to the season. Tufts started play in November losing to Wesleyan, Conn. College, Hamilton and Middlebury. The Jumbos were determined not to let these losses define them, and the team began working even harder on maintaining solid physical fitness. “Since we don’t have as much access to courts as other NESCAC schools do, the only thing we can focus on is getting stronger,” sophomore Owen Elliot said. Kardon agreed with this statement. “As a team, we improved our fitness early on in the season which really paid off,” he said. As a result, the team was able to regain confidence with wins against Vassar and MIT. Tufts won both matches in convincing fashion; it beat Vassar with a decisive 8-1 win, and took its match against MIT by a score of 6-3. When they returned in early January, the Jumbos were prepared to accomplish more of their team goals: staying mentally and physically tough, winning a match in the NESCAC Championship tournament and gaining a higher national ranking by the end of the season. They began working on their fitness and mental toughness in order to achieve some of these goals. “Over the course of the season, coach McManus emphasized the importance
of mental toughness and I think the team noticeably improved in that category,” senior tri-captain Hugo Meggitt said. The results didn’t follow immediately; Tufts resumed play on Jan. 13 and lost a tough match to Bates. However, determined to not let the loss to the Bobcats discourage them, the Jumbos went on a three-match winning streak. The streak contained some of the biggest moments of Tufts’ season. Not only did the Jumbos simply run of their longest winning streak of the season, but they did so decisively. Tufts beat Haverford at Belmont Hill on Jan. 16 and Brandeis the next day, both by scores of 9-0, before beating Boston College 8-1 on Jan. 20. The streak was arguably the biggest catalyst for the Jumbos’ rise to a higher national ranking than they had last year. The rest of the season leading up to the NESCAC Championship would not be as successful. The Jumbos were unable to come out with a win as they faced some of the toughest teams in the country. “The NESCAC division is some of the best squash in the country,” Kardon said. “So its not surprising that we have a hard time competing, considering the fact that every other NESCAC program has squash courts and we do not.” The Jumbos were still excited to have been invited to play in the NESCAC Championships, which were held at Williams College this year. Unfortunately for Tufts, it had a tough draw and faced its most competitive rivals, Wesleyan, Conn. College and Hamilton. Although the Jumbos were unable to accomplish their goal of winning a match in the tournament, they were pleased with their performance given the fact that they had players out with injuries and sickness. “We faced some really tough competition this year at NESCACs,” Meggitt said. “We came very close to winning but came just short. The other teams were slightly better.”
NICHOLAS PFOSI / THE TUFTS DAILY
The Jumbos built this season around experienced seniors and improving underclassmen. Meggitt is hopeful that with new players next year, the Jumbos will have a good shot at changing their results. The team continued to train in anticipation of the College Squash Association (CSA) Team Championships. The Jumbos practiced through the snow and geared up to reach their goal of a higher national ranking. Their hard work paid off, as the Jumbos were able to beat the Engineers of MIT once again this season with a score of 6-3 in the first round of CSAs. However, in the second round Tufts faced Hamilton and was unable to come out with a win. This time, the Jumbos played a much closer match, losing 6-3. In Tufts’ final match at CSAs, the team faced Stanford. The Jumbos fell in an extremely tight 5-4 match. Tufts’ strong performance against Stanford ended the season on a high note and provided the team with confidence heading into next season. Meggitt thinks that the team has a very bright future ahead of it.
“We see it all the time in squash, where a player trains exceptionally hard in the offseason and comes back the next season a transformed player,” Meggitt said. “I think [first-years] John Patrick, Alec Goodrich, Braden Chiulli, Sandeep Rishi and [sophomore] Danny Fischer all have the potential to be that guy. [Sophomore] Owen Elliot has already shown signs of beginning that process as well. I see a lot of potential in this team.” Kardon echoed Meggitt’s sentiments, and believes the team will benefit from a new influx of talent. “Coach McManus got a great recruiting class that is still shaping up,” he said. “We anticipate getting at least four players who will play in the top nine. We hope to be much deeper next year.” The Jumbos ended the year pleased with the direction in which the team is heading, and they should see some of their intangible improvements manifest themselves in the team’s record going forward.