The Tufts Daily - Tuesday, March 23, 2021

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Tuesday, March 23, 2021

Tufts first-year initiates program to connect students with Medford Senior Center

Million Meals Mission launches 1 of 2 university pilot chapters at Tufts

by Marianna Schantz

by Arielle Galinsky

al experience as a call coach to senior citizens at the height of the pandemic.

The Tufts Public Health “In this role, I called 50-60 Society recently announced senior citizens weekly to check that it is collaborating with the on their wellbeing and engage Medford Senior Center to run a in thoughtful discussion,” new program called Community Galinsky said.

Connections. The program aims Galinsky expanded on to create relationships between her work as a call coach and Tufts students and the Medford explained how it inspired her to senior community while com- start this initiative. bating isolation due to the “Through my experience, I COVID-19 pandemic. The orga- learned the value of developing nization connects student call- and maintaining intergeneraers to individuals at the Medford tional connections, especialSenior Center. ly during a time when there Arielle Galinsky, a first-year was (and continues to be) a who started the program, wrote high prevalence of social isoin an email to the Daily that lation for both senior citizens the idea came from her person- and teenagers alike,” Galinsky Assistant News Editor

said. “Having had such a positive experience myself, I wanted to spearhead a similar program upon arriving to Tufts for others to be immersed in.”

Galinsky created the program to decrease loneliness and isolation in the senior community as well as in the Tufts community.

She added that being on the board of the Tufts Public Health Society gave her the platform to do so, especially since the program is focused around feelings of loneliness and isolation, which is considered a public health issue.

“The program was ultimately designed and created to build a see SENIORS, page 2

AARON APOSTADERO / THE TUFTS DAILY

The garden of the Medford Senior Center, where people can sit, relax and listen to performances.

Contributing Writer

Million Meals Mission, an organization committed to raising money and providing meals to impoverished communities, with the ultimate goal of achieving a world free of global and systemic food insecurity, has launched a chapter at Tufts.

MMM was founded by Samay Bansal, a senior at Cornell, during a pre-college gap year. He met Tufts student Uzair Sattar, director of education at MMM, on the first day of their Global Orientation pre-orientation program. Bansal attended Tufts before transferring to Cornell. “[Samay and I] exchanged hellos, and I asked him what he wanted to do in college (expecting a simple ‘I major in XYZ’ answer like all the other students I had asked),” Sattar, a senior, wrote in an email to the Daily.

“But to my surprise, he replied, ‘I want to feed a million people.’”

MMM became a 501(c)(3) nongovernmental organization in the summer of 2020 and is now piloting university chapters at Tufts and Cornell.

Arjun Padalkar, one of two executive directors of strategy at MMM, has been part of the efforts to get a chapter established at Tufts.

“One of those nine departments [of MMM] is called campus relations,” Padalkar, a senior, said. “Its purpose is to set up these chapters across the country. [We currently have chapters at] only Tufts and Cornell as pilot organizations and then hopefully we [will] roll it out to anybody who wants to start one of these drives in their university.”

Padalkar expanded on what the goal of the Tufts chapter is.

“The purpose of the Tufts chapter is specifically to combat local food insecurity in the Medford/Somerville or local Massachusetts area [and] build that conversation at Tufts about the larger mission … that the HQ level is doing,” Padalkar said.

Padalkar explained that the organization is currently working under the Leonard Carmichael Society, as well as the MMM headquarters, but has plans to be an independent organization in the future.

“Hopefully within a year we’ll become independent; the chapter becomes independent of the HQ organization,” Padalkar said.

“It just uses the advice of the HQ and then deals with its own donations.”

Cymroan Vikas, the other executive director of strategy at MMM, shared her optimism about the success of the first two pilot chapters and plans for further expansion.

“We are very keen on expanding the Chapter program so that we can get more people involved,” Vikas wrote in an email to the Daily. “We expect to use the Tufts and Cornell chapters’ success as a benchmark or an example for future chapters.”

The Tufts MMM chapter does not follow a one-size-fits all approach, but rather, allows students to tailor their experience to their own interests to work on projects that are directly pertinent to their academic areas of study or future career aspirations.

TCU Senate Services Committee continues commitment to providing free menstrual products in campus bathrooms

by Alexis Enderle Contributing Writer

The Tufts Community Union Senate Services Committee is taking steps to make menstrual products free and accessible to students on campus, based on a previously established initiative. Services Committee Chair Avani Kabra has been working on this project in collaboration with Class of 2023 Senator Caroline Ross.

“We are very passionate about women’s reproductive

health, and it is important that Tufts provides these products for their students, especially those who are low-income since they impose a significant financial burden,” Kabra, a sophomore, wrote in an email to the Daily. “These menstrual products in public bathrooms are for people to take as needed and will help those who need it the most.

TCU President Sarah Wiener echoed Kabra’s sentiments.

“People who menstruate shouldn’t be taxed for their

bodily functions,” Wiener, a senior, wrote in an email to the Daily. “The services committee saw this need to support students who menstruate. This project had begun in years prior and the Services Committee wanted to make sure it continued generally and during the pandemic.”

Kabra expanded on why the program is important to her.

“We are very excited to see it finally come to fruition,” Kabra said. “For me personally, I was shocked when I came

to campus and saw that there were condoms available to students for free but not menstrual products. I knew that this was a project that I cared deeply about and wanted to see happen on campus.”

According to Kabra, a source of motivation for this initiative was seeing other institutions begin to provide free access to menstrual products on campus.

Menstrual products such as pads and tampons are often subject to a “luxury” tax. In

ARTS / page 4

FEATURES / page 3

SPORTS / back

How the fashion industry perpetuates anti-Asian racism

Equity learning assistants promote social justice in engineering

Senior Ryan Daues discusses baseball team culture, hopes for spring season

see MMM, page 2

Massachusetts, menstrual products are included in sales tax exemptions because they are considered medical products. However, there are 30 states where menstrual products are subject to a sales tax — states make over $150 million annually from menstrual product taxing.

The funding for the program comes from Health Service.

“It has always been part of our mission at Health Service see PRODUCTS , page 2 NEWS

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THE TUFTS DAILY | News | Tuesday, March 23, 2021

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Tufts Public Health Society organizes connections with Medford Senior Center SENIORS

continued from page 1 bridge between the Tufts student body and one of the university’s host communities, as well as actively combat feelings of isolation for all those involved,” Galinsky said.

Arlene Carroll, volunteer and community outreach manager of the Medford Council on Aging, expressed enthusiasm for Community Connections. The Medford Council on Aging also collaborates with other Tufts programs, including Tufts Zoom Book Club, Public Harmony, the FOCUS pre-orientation program and a community outreach assistance program through the Tufts Graduate Student Association, according to Carroll.

Carroll added that the council feels fortunate to be close to Tufts, in both proximity and connectivity.

According to Galinsky, Community Connections hopes

to create intergenerational bonds between Medford senior citizens and Tufts students and use respectful conversation as a tool for combating social isolation.

Galinsky said that all Tufts undergraduates are eligible to sign up for the program, in which they are matched with a member of the Medford Senior Center.

“Members of the Medford Senior Community are currently signing up to be called by a student on a rolling basis,”Galinsky said. “Thus, as the names of interested residents are received, they are allocated and matched with a student volunteer based on the order in which the volunteers signed up.”

According to Galinsky, student volunteers are responsible for calling their Medford senior match at least once a week to engage in discussion.

“The student should be prepared to provide resources and redirect the senior if further

assistance is required,” Galinsky said. “The students will also be required to take notes on the conversations, which will be forwarded to Medford Senior Center so they can better understand their strengths and weaknesses.”

Because of an overwhelmingly large number of responses from the student body and a lack of demand from the senior center, it is currently unknown whether all students will receive matches. However, Galinsky noted that there are a number of similar activities offered for students looking to engage in the senior community. Students also have the option to join the “Geek Squad” to help senior citizens with questions about technology.

Alexandra Shapiro, a member of the Tufts Public Health Society, has volunteered to participate in the program.

“I’m most excited to make a connection with an elderly member of the community and

brighten their day,” Shapiro, a first-year, wrote in an email to the Daily. “I will engage with my senior in thoughtful discussion by letting them lead the discussion topics and learning more about their interests.”

Shapiro explained that she chose to volunteer with Community Connections because public health is a topic that is important to her.

“Everyone I know is experiencing loneliness during this pandemic [and] it is especially difficult for elderly members of the community who can’t leave the house right now,” Shapiro said. “Volunteering to call a senior is something so easy that I can do to help make a senior’s day and ease some of the loneliness we are all facing right now.”

Editor’s note: Arielle Galinsky is a contributing writer at The Tufts Daily. Arielle was not involved in the writing or editing of this article.

MMM administration emphasizes importance of students in its mission MMM

continued from page 1 “The responsibilities mainly are dependent on the kind of skills that you want to bring to the table,” Padalkar said.

Padalkar also emphasized the seriousness of commitment to MMM, especially since it is all volunteer-based.

Vikas spoke to the importance of the issue MMM is trying to combat.

“I think we should care about food insecurity because it is a global challenge, whose impacts span several geographies and multiple socioeconomic and political systems,” Vikas said. “Food insecurity occurs when people are unable to access safe, sufficient, affordable and nutritious food.”

She added that food insecurity is present not only in impoverished regions of the world, but also in higher-income countries, and that the COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated food insecurity around the world.

COURTESY UZAIR SATTAR

A promotional image for the Million Meals Mission is pictured.

Sattar echoed Vikas and further explained food insecurity.

“Today, there is more food available on earth than our collective population’s requirement, meaning that food security isn’t so much an issue of absolute scarcity but rather, a misdistribution and misallocation of resources,” Sattar said.

Sattar also mentioned that MMM works in U.S. dollars, a currency with a much greater relative value than some currencies in other parts of the world and spoke to how MMM can use this to its advantage in the work it’s doing.

“What this tells us is that students can leverage their

position in relative wealthier countries (such as the US) to fundraise much more effectively than organizations [in] relatively poorer countries,” Sattar said. “Therefore, just the fact that we live in the US allows us to have a far greater impact in alleviating global food insecurity than what we may realize.”

Vikas expanded on the importance of students to the advancement of MMM’s mission.

“The [organization] was started by a student, continues to have students and ex students who have recently graduated as volunteers,” Vikas said. “It is so often the case that university students

have both the time or interest and an amazing willingness, determination and passion to make an impact on the world around them, especially those who have/have had the privilege of going to university and learning about global systemic challenges.”

She pointed out that MMM’s progress as an organization thus far is completely attributable to the work of students.

“The success of MMM so far has been underpinned by university students’ passion and interest, and we want to fan that flame to achieve our vision of eradicating global, systemic food insecurity,” Vikas said.

Services Committee hopes to expand its distribution to include dorm bathrooms PRODUCTS

AVA IANNUCCILLO / THE TUFTS DAILY

Free menstrual products are currently available in several locations.

continued from page 1 to listen to the students about what they feel is important and to try to help them achieve their goals,” Marianne Coscia, nurse manager at Health Service, wrote in an email to the Daily.

Michelle Bowdler, executive director of Health and Wellness Services, said that the products are not expensive.

“The Health Service is funding this program right now, and it is very inexpensive,” Bowdler wrote in an email to the Daily. “Buying in bulk

is much less expensive than retail costs for these products, and we spend less than $1,000 a year to support the program.”

She also explained how the system works.

“The students check the baskets in certain bathrooms and let us know when it’s time to stock,” Bowdler said. “They let our clinical manager know and she places an order.”

Kabra noted that student workers from Project SHARE, a group that works to create equitable access to health care, will distribute the products biweekly.

“These [products] will be in all the bathrooms, including women’s, men’s and all gender, so that this project is as inclusive as possible and to make sure that everyone who requires menstrual products has access to them,” Kabra said.

According to Wiener, in order to safely distribute these products during the pandemic, they will only be available in the Meyer Campus Center, Tisch Library, Steve Tisch Sports and Fitness Center and the dining halls. In the future, the Services Committee hopes to expand this project to dorms as well.

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Features

Fighting the social-technical divide in undergraduate engineering

Tuesday, March 23, 2021

Marco Sheng Transferable Skills

Loneliness kills

by Jillian Collins

I

Features Editor

What does it mean to be an engineer?

Honestly, what does an engineer really do?

After the countless hours spent in latenight labs throwing together calculus problem sets or that one semester when they gave their lives to the computer science department, what are they qualified for?

The answer is, many things — but not everything.

According to Chelsea Andrews, a postdoctoral researcher at the Center for Engineering Education and Outreach, a new initiative is coming to the School of Engineering. The program, “Piloting a Learning Assistant model for a Justice-based Engineering and Data science Initiative in ES-2,” received funding at the beginning of this year. Starting this semester, Introduction to Computing for Engineers (ES 2), a course that fulfills the computing degree requirement for engineers, is undergoing a renovation. Alongside the original computer coding-based content, there will be new content on social justice issues. Instead of only professors leading the course, equity learning assistants are coming into the classrooms and facilitating conversations around these topics, according to Andrews.

All equity learning assistants have taken first-year engineering requirements.

In addition, they participate in a seminar with Andrews and Desen Ozkan, another postdoctoral student at the Center for Engineering Education and Outreach, in preparation of facilitating conversations around justice topics in the ES 2 classrooms, according to Ozkan.

“The whole project has two components. Developing these justice-based engineering and data science modules for ES 2, and then facilitating in-class discussions on engineering justice topics,” Andrews said. “The equity learning assistants, or we call them ELAs, they help with both parts, but mostly they’re involved in facilitating the discussions in class.”

According to Andrews, in the ES 2 course, students read articles about engineering justice topics, and then the ELAs facilitate small-group and class discussions.

“The first activity was about various stakeholders that had to do with a technology that was going to make a shopping cart or shopping queue more streamlined,” Ozkan said. “With the learning assistants, the ES 2 students started thinking about who’s going to be impacted by this new technology … who has power in making decisions like this in kind of propelling productivity and efficiency … and if it’s the engineer’s responsibility to take that into consideration.”

In another activity, they discussed the process of engineering for individuals with physical disabilities.

“We talked about who gets to be at the table of design, or at the computer when they’re creating code or making decisions about other people,” Ozkan said. “It’s important to think about power dynamics there.”

Nashielli Diaz, an ELA and junior studying biomedical engineering, explained the need for conversations like these in the engineering field.

“A lot of what goes into engineering is designing for other populations or trying to help other groups of people that oftentimes aren’t considered,” Diaz said.

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RACHEL HARTMAN / THE TUFTS DAILY ARCHIVES

Community members construct Lego structures at the table for the Center for Engineering Education and Outreach on Community Day on Sept. 24, 2017.

“Because the field isn’t as diverse to begin with, you end up designing for people who just look like you or who you are taught to design for, which is usually [cisgender], white [heterosexual] men.”

Alongside discussions, the ELAs are planning on creating assignment modules for ES 2 students that use sociology data, according to Katie Castor, an ELA and sophomore studying mechanical engineering.

“We have a database of MBTA data and it’s a ton of information [on] income, gender demographics [and] like everything on all the different lines and buses,” Castor said. “We’re working on setting up a problem for students to combine the data from that source in coding.”

Knowing the demographics you are designing for is an important skill in engineering, Diaz explained.

“There’s such a big disconnect between a designer and the people that you’re designing for, or you’re trying to help,” Diaz said.

Within engineering there is a stigma around justice-based learning, in that to be a “real” engineer, your education has to be centered around technical skills. Andrews explained why this is not the truth.

“Even when you’re doing thermo, even when you’re doing dynamics, [social justice] matters … [You can’t think] ‘Oh, those courses are the social ones and these courses are the technical ones,’” Andrews said.

“The social-technical divide is a really big problem in undergraduate engineering.”

Jalen Little, an ELA and sophomore studying human factors engineering, echoed this view, which was cemented in his experience in the engineering department.

“Too often we take a very supplementary view of equity and social justice in terms of engineering. It’s something that we learn maybe in one unit or we take one ethics class on it,” Little said. “In reality, [social justice] is really something that’s intertwined and ingrained in every step of learning that we do when it comes to engineering.”

In addition to creating better problem-solvers, the ELA program makes engineering a more inclusive space. Little reflected on how he would have felt if he had this opportunity in his first-year experience.

“For me personally, it would’ve made me feel more welcome in my classes. I think it would’ve made the data feel a little closer to things that I am personally passionate about,” Little said. “It would have

made me feel better knowing that people are trying their best to include these things and create an environment that is actively fighting to create change at Tufts.”

This program doesn’t only affect firstyear students, but also teaches ELAs. “It’s a very reflective process, which I like a lot better because it’s not just that you have a class and you go in and you discuss readings at a very surface level. I think we kind of get really deep into some of these readings,” Diaz said. “I feel like it better prepares me for going into the classroom and knowing what kinds of questions to ask students … The thing that surprised me the most is how much I’m still learning.”

Over time, the justice-based engineering and data science initiative hopes to incorporate social learning into all parts of engineering at Tufts, and not just in the ES 2 classroom. “[One] big long-term goal is that this would be really integrated throughout the curriculum through all four years,” Andrews said. “So no course is being considered to be too technical to include the social aspects.”

Andrews hopes that the integration of justice topics into engineering courses will serve undergraduate students well after graduation, and help them in their careers.

She explained how she envisions Tufts alumni using their social-technical engineering education. “[Tufts graduates] will hopefully push their teams to consider [the social aspects] a little bit more,” Andrews said. “To be thinking about that in the job search. Like, ‘I don’t want to work for a company that is ignoring all of these issues, because I know it’s really important.’”

Castor summarized what she had taken out of the articles she’d read and the semester so far as an ELA. “It really stuck with me … It’s that we think of engineering as being purely numbers, like math and science, but it’s never existed outside in its own realm without all of the social issues and things like that, because the decisions that we make do affect people and it’s easy to forget that everything that engineers do has an impact, and it is exclusionary to some extent,” Castor said.

The justice-based engineering and data science initiative would like to acknowledge Tufts SpringBoard for funding this program, as well as the additional leadership of Dr. Ethan Danahy, Dr. Jennifer Cross and Dr. Ellise LaMotte.

’ve spent a lot of time in this column being self-absorbed, doling out advice that can be hard to act on. If you’re at all like me and often feel stuck or overwhelmed, my telling you to be more self-compassionate or less perfectionistic isn’t exactly helpful. So I’m going to turn to a subject that I think all of us can agree is vital, not just during COVID-19, but for human existence and overall well-being.

That subject is, of course, community.

We all know that relationships are key, and science appears to back that up. Data from the Harvard Study of Adult Development, one of the longest-running studies of adult life, demonstrates the importance of quality relationships.

According to Robert Waldinger, the director of the study, good relationships have a significant effect on health, brain functioning and life satisfaction. Others, like Vivek Murthy, the former surgeon general of the United States, and Brené Brown, an author and professor at the University of Houston, have also written about the power of connection and relationships.

It’s one thing to know, intellectually, that relationships play a vital role, but it’s another to internalize that in our everyday behaviors. I’m far from a social butterfly (in fact I’m quite socially anxious), so I’m probably not the best person to tell any audience how to have better social skills.

But I’m also telling this advice to myself, and I feel that through therapy and reflection, I’ve learned some things. So I hope you’ll join me in trying to cultivate more moments of connection: Volunteer. Volunteering is a great way to meet new people with similar interests and values and get social practice.

Whether it’s working in a community garden, at a soup kitchen or for a political campaign, a lot of volunteer events provide a structure that makes it easier to talk to people, plus an activity to do so it’s not as awkward. Even if you don’t meet your next BFF, you’re still helping others and practicing your social skills.

Joining a group. Going out of your way to volunteer can be difficult. We more naturally encounter formations of groups, such as when we’re at a dinner party or company networking event. In my case, the avoidant part of my mind puts all these fears and obstacles in front of me so that joining a group can feel untenable. The hardest part is entering the conversation, but there is a “skill” to help you do it. Based on Marsha M. Linehan’s 2014 dialectical behavior therapy skills training manual, a great way to join a conversation is to find a more “open group,” and during a break in conversation, ask a friendly looking group member: “Mind if I join you?”

A final trick. One thing that’s nice to try if you’re afraid of being embarrassed in a social situation is this: Ask yourself how many times you’ve remembered someone doing something embarrassing or worth judgment. If you’re as self-absorbed as me, the answer is probably zero, meaning that others probably aren’t as focused on your social “gaffes” as you might be. According to one BBC article, embarrassment actually increases likability and trust!

Marco Sheng is a senior studying psychology. Marco can be reached at marco.sheng@tufts.edu.

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Tuesday, March 23, 2021

Canceling Teen Vogue’s Alexi McCammond won’t end antiAsian hate

COURTESY EMILYWARDWELL

The inside of a Teen Vogue magazine is pictured.

Phoebe Wong

Assistant Arts Editor

Content warning: This article references racial and sexual violence.

The fashion industry plays a key role in recent violence toward the Asian American and Pacific Islander community, but it goes far beyond the latest controversy over Alexi McCammond, who was set to be the next Teen Vogue editor in chief. Asians have faced an onslaught of racism and violence over the past year of the pandemic. Just last week, eight people — six of whom were Asian and seven of whom were women — were shot and killed at three massage parlors in Atlanta.

In response to the ongoing violence, brands such as Valentino, Nike, Adidas, Converse, Tommy Hilfiger, Benefit Cosmetics and U Beauty have expressed condolences and declared their support of the Asian American and Pacific Islander community over the past few months.

However, the controversy over McCammond alone seems to have received as much coverage as each of the brand solidarity announcements put together.

Soon after Condé Nast announced McCammond’s hiring as editor in chief of Teen Vogue at the beginning of March, racist tweets that McCammond posted in 2011 resurfaced, such as “Outdone by Asian #whatisnew” and “now googling how not to wake up with swollen, asian eyes…” Just days after her hire, more than 20 members of the Teen Vogue staff expressed concern to management in a joint letter.

Despite McCammond’s repeated apologies, disapproval of her position increased until she finally relinquished the role last week.

This came just two days after the Atlanta shootings and before she had officially started the job.

While it is good that companies are trying to combat racism, their steps seem largely performative considering the Asian stereotypes perpetuated by the fashion industry as a whole. The Atlanta shooter, Robert Aaron Long, admitted that he was motivated by “sexual addiction” and “temptation … that he wanted to eliminate.” This reflects a larger dehumanizing effect of Orientalism upon Asian women, who are seen as both appealing and threatening, exotic and sexually submissive.

“The Orient was almost a European invention, and had been since antiquity ‘a place of romance, exotic beings, haunting memories and landscapes,[‘]” a pioneering theorist of Orientalism, Edward Said, explained in his book, “Orientalism” (1978). “The Orient is not only adjacent to Europe; it is also … one of its deepest and most recurring images of the other.”

In the United States, Asian women face dual stereotypes as both a fetishized “other” as described by Said and a submissive model minority. For several who work in spa services, this leads to assumptions that they are involved in sex work and creates a constant danger of harassment and assault.

Far from just being incidentally involved through McCammond’s individual racism, the fashion industry actively furthers these stereotypes. It frequently hypersexualizes models and appropriates cultural clothing, while depicting female garment workers as impoverished yet industrious laborers.

Designers and brands have long appropriated styles such as the Chinese qipao, Vietnamese Áo

Dài and Japanese kimono to represent a sexual, undifferentiated Asia. This phenomenon traces back to the first travels of Europeans to Asia, and to the resurgence of “Asian chic” in the 1990s and early 2000s — see Sandra Niessen, “Re-Orienting Fashion: The Globalization of Asian Dress” (2003) — as well as the embroidered qipao dresses of Urban Outfitters and other fast-fashion retailers today.

This matters because fashion is key to how we see ourselves and others. A recent study suggests that even accessories as simple and necessary as face masks make it easier to see each other as threats and harder to recognize shared humanity. With racist assumptions connecting Asians to Donald Trump’s dubbed “Kung flu” and “Chinese virus,” Asian Americans are made even more susceptible to violence. And while some Asians feel so embarrassed by monolids that they opt for double eyelid surgery, other non-Asians see no problem following the recent “fox eye” makeup trend which gives a more slanted eye appearance.

As the Thai celebrity makeup artist Nick Barose explains, “People’s eye shapes are not

trends. We’re not handbags of the season.” Both the fashion and beauty industries thus have extensive histories that persist today of capitalizing on Orientalism for economic profit and commodifying Asian people in an extremely harmful way.

Brands posting about standing in solidarity with the Asian American and Pacific Islander community without mentioning this context come off as shallowly attempting to maintain face.

Indeed, according to the firms McKinsey & Co. and Bain & Co., China has been the world’s largest fashion market for the past two years and will be responsible for nearly half of luxury goods purchases by 2025. As increasingly important consumers, consumers provide a financial incentive for brands to at least appear to be aligned with Asian communities.

By contrast, Asian American designers, editors and business people speaking up about Asian hate are much more genuine. Renowned designer Phillip Lim recently moved his studio to New York’s Chinatown and began raising funds and awaresee FASHION, page 5

A&P

Tuesday, March 23, 2021 | Arts & Pop Culture | THE TUFTS DAILY

How the fashion industry perpetuates anti-Asian violence FASHION

continued from page 4 ness for grassroots American Asian and Pacific Islander organizations. “I can’t separate a world of fashion with the reality of what’s happening to our people,” Lim explained in an interview with the Wall Street Journal.

Sister designers Jessica and Emily Leung similarly explained their commitment by stating, “Fashion is the front lines of raising awareness; it’s the first thing others see when forming their impressions.” While there were only two Asian women on Allure’s cover of the more than 300 issues before Michelle Lee became editor in chief in 2015, she has since used her position to feature Asian people more prominently.

Moreover, in conversation with Instagram’s director of fashion partnerships, Eva Chen, civil rights activist Amanda Nguyen argued, “If there are structures that have systematically locked the Asian American Pacific Islander community out, we will turn to other platforms like social media in order to democratize our voices … We have choices now. No one is invisible when we demand to be seen.”

As just one example, the Instagram account @chinatownPretty posts photographs and stories of various elderly Chinatown residents in their everyday outfits, showcasing not only their incredible style but also their complex humanity and defiance of simplistic stereotypes.

These efforts are inspiring, but the comparatively minimal commitments of most non-Asian industry leaders reveal that fashion still has a long way to go. McCammond’s racist comments deserved to be interrogated no matter how long ago they were made, but spending too much time sensationalizing the Teen Vogue drama glosses over deeper issues at hand. McCammond’s exit was not a solution to fashion’s complicity in violence against Asians and, beyond silencing racist voices, we need to recenter Asian voices challenging stereotypes.

In addition to voicing their support, non-Asians with power in the industry can open their platforms to help others be heard. As consumers, we need to think twice when buying clothing that

may be appropriated or when relying on Asian workers at salons for our own beautification. Asian garment workers are just as integral to clothing production as designers who are normally credited with all the creative genius — see Thuy Linh N. Tu’s “The Beautiful Generation” (2010) — and Asian beauty includes everyday Chinatown residents as much as the occasional runway model. Above all, Asian people are more than just a subservient model minority to serve the West or an exotic, sexual plaything to entertain its fantasies.

David Yi, co-founder of Very Good Light, is one of many more voices expressing these sentiments, and I’d like to leave you with his poignant words here: “Silence is violence … Are you going to stand up for us? Are you going to see us? Or are you going to further make us invisible like we’ve always been in this country? You love our K beauty, our J beauty. You love our ancient healing practices, but you don’t love us. You can’t have it both ways … You can’t love the innovation that comes out of Asia without loving us.”

5

Drew Weisberg A Fantastic Voyage

‘Fantastic Four’ #573

A

good way to ease yourself into this portion of the Fantastic Four saga would be to accept the following: It’s going to get even weirder real quick, so best prepare yourself for the wackiest and strap in tight.

In a total departure from last week’s entry, we begin with Johnny Storm and Ben Grimm going on vacation to the bizarre Marvel fixture, “Nu-World,” built as a backup Earth by the mad genius Ted Castle. Though it originally appeared during the preceding Fantastic Four run

by Mark Millar, writer Jonathan Hickman will go on to use the planet to great effect in this story and future ones.

The situation is as follows: Due to time dilation, eight years have passed on Nu-World while only a few weeks have passed on Earth, Nu-World’s sun has degraded into a black hole and has been set upon by the warring factions of Lightwave (the former herald of Galactus, the world eater) and Ultron, the semi-omniscient robotic threat. Also, there’s an omnipotent psychic named Natalie X, who unites the inhabitants through a psychic link and there’s an alt-universe version of the Hulk named Banner Jr. My editors are currently regretting allowing me to write this column, but the contracts have been signed and I have no intention of ending this madness now.

The plot otherwise is disappointingly straightforward. There’s an unmistakable feeling that Hickman would much rather write about Nu-World than the visiting members of the Fantastic Four (including the Richards children, Franklin and Valeria, who stowed away on the Fantasticar). The plot boils down to a need to fix a portal to the Baxter building to escape the coming apocalypse.

This issue exposes a larger problem with Hickman’s work: He has focused so much on world building that his characters end up explaining more than conversing.

Admittedly, this isn’t an issue for me, as I quite enjoy hard sci-fi in my superhero comics. It does baffle me, however, that Marvel continues to employ Hickman on high-action franchises, like “Avengers” and “X-Men,” as a monthly writer when his strengths would better fit in self-contained graphic novels. In these, he would be able to express his ideas without a monthly page count holding him back.

Be that as it may, the visuals by Neil Edwards on pencils, Andrew Currie on inks and Paul Mounts on colors bring a dark psychedelic aesthetic to Nu-World.

The dark shadows and heavy shading give the world an appropriate sense of coming darkness that feels right at home on a planet that teeters on the edge of total annihilation. One visual that sticks in my mind is the moment when Ted Castle converts Nu-World into a giant spacefaring vessel and attempts to pilot it away from the black hole as various ships flee in fear.

While not the most exciting event, “Fantastic Four” #573 is a brilliant piece of world building that shows exactly how much character Hickman can inject into a setting in just a single issue. It speaks to Hickman’s skills as a writer, taking enormous concepts and boiling them down so that anyone out of the loop can, at a bare minimum, follow the plot monthto-month.

Drew Weisberg is a junior studying film and media studies. Drew can be reached at mitchell.weisberg@tufts.edu.

6

THE TUFTS DAILY | FUN & GAMES | Tuesday, March 23, 2021

F& G

tuftsdaily.com LATE NIGHT AT THE DAILY Yanqing: “I’m surprised the computer has made it this far.”

FUN & GAMES

SUDOKU

HALF-LIFE

Difficulty Level: Office computer making it through a full night of production

By Matthew Hixson

Monday’s Solutions

SEARCHING FOR HEADLINES...

CROSSWORD

AT FIRST I WAS EMBARRASSED. ME, A CAT, LIVING WITH A SINGLE GUY. BUT WHEN I WATCH HIM PICK SOMETHING UP WITH HIS HANDS AND EAT IT, I CAN’T HELP BUT LOVE HIM. — MARU adopted 01-10-10

tuftsdaily.com

Opinion

7 Tuesday, March 23, 2021

OP-ED

Who really has a seat at the table? A discussion on representation in international relations EMILY WITHERELL What is the first image that comes to mind when you hear the word “politician” or “diplomat”? Seeing as the fields of international relations and political science lack diverse representation, you likely think of a white, cisgender man.

Our perceptions of who can be successful in these fields are skewed: women and gender minorities are often seen as less competent than their male counterparts, and are often excluded from having a seat at the table. The fact that these groups are sidelined in policy-making diminishes the effectiveness of policy and discounts the interests and needs of half the population. Underrepresentation and low levels of political participation among women and gender minorities remain significant issues, compounded by politically motivated violence against women and female activists.

Some of these barriers to women’s participation in politics and representation in international relations were discussed at a recent panel hosted by Tufts Women’s Higher Education Now and Tufts Women in International Relations. The panel, held in honor of International Women’s Week, included Dr. Anna Larson, Dr. Deborah Schildkraut, Agnieszka Fal-Dutra

Elizabeth Buehl Building Blocks

Preemptive support

W

e have now passed the oneyear mark since the majority of American public schools shut their doors and flipped to virtual formats due to the COVID-19 pandemic. While some students have been fortunate enough to return to in-person formats, there is still a substantial number of students who remain at home.

Three weeks ago, the Senate confirmed President Biden’s education secretary nominee, Miguel Cardona. Cardona has a long history in the education field; he began his career over 15 years ago as an elementary school teacher and principal and later rose through the ranks

Santos of the Global Network of Women Peacebuilders and Heela Yoon, founder and CEO of Afghan Youth Ambassadors for Peace Organization. Fal-Dutra Santos discussed the idea of having a meaningful seat at the table. She clarified that it’s one thing to have women on an advisory board, which is often the case, and another to have women and gender non-conforming individuals as part of the actual negotiating teams, a less frequent occurrence. Additionally, panelists spoke about the need for children of all ages to see powerful non-male diplomats and overall more diverse representation in the field of international affairs. Having a diverse array of perspectives and identities at the table is essential: it influences not just the decisions made, but also the public perception of who can be an influential diplomat.

The panelists also discussed the fundraising barrier many female activists face. While it is often assumed that women need training in public speaking or negotiation, many women’s civil society organizations will tell you, “We don’t need another training in public speaking … what we need is money.” Money helps sustain political campaigns, provide resources for those recovering from politically motivated violence and fund distribution of resources to keep girls in

school. Money sets the foundation for activism; without it, organizations are unable to reach their full potential.

Tufts Women in International Relations has recently been pursuing several initiatives to address these barriers, specifically the lack of representation and funding. We are attempting to gauge the diversity of authors represented in course readings in the international relations and political science departments here at Tufts. In a recent poll conducted with students who had taken Introduction to International Relations, 72.1% said they did not feel that the course’s curriculum included an adequate number of female or nonbinary authors, and 73.8% said they did not feel that the curriculum included an adequate number of authors of color.

These results indicate that action must be taken to ensure that a diversity of perspectives are represented in class material. The issue is not that there aren’t enough great works out there by women, people of color and nonbinary authors — it’s that convention and tradition are barring us from making necessary changes to the curriculum. Women in International Relations hopes to collaborate with other groups and individuals on campus, as well as professors and the departments, to enact meaningful change.

to become Connecticut commissioner of education. During the tumultuous past year, Cardona displayed his strong leadership skills and received praise for his prioritization of helping the students in his state return to in-person learning as quickly as possible.

During his tenure as education secretary, Cardona plans to use his experience serving schools during the pandemic. It is expected that he will incorporate his personal experiences in his advocacy for investing in public schools. As both a former public school attendee and Englishlanguage learner, Cardona has a diverse background that will serve him well while speeding up reopening plans and getting children back into the education environments they deserve.

While Cardona’s efforts are desperately needed, they may not be enough to combat many of the deficits students have experienced over the last year. In October, I wrote an iteration of my column, “Sobremesa,” that highlighted the effects

of pandemic-related school closures; in particular, it emphasized the emergence of relaxed educational standards and lack of proper nutrition. While much research has been done on the avenues that have impacted students, not as much attention has been paid to the ways that the pandemic has affected teachers. Therefore, while I agree with Cardona that we must prioritize reopening of schools, I believe that we must simultaneously institute a plan to support many of our nation’s educators who have been overlooked during the past year.

The general public has been fairly ignorant to the magnitude of many of the issues that teachers have faced over the last year. In March 2020, teachers were forced to switch to an entirely new virtual teaching modality. This, coupled with insufficient technological training, feelings of uncertainty, social isolation and an increased workload, has left many teachers in a fragile, if not broken, state of mental health. Furthermore, in addition

In regards to the issue of funding for women’s peace-building organizations and activist organizations in general, Women in International Relations is launching a Week of Fundraising for the last full week of Women’s History Month (March 21–27).

The club has chosen to donate all proceeds to the Afghan Youth Ambassadors for Peace Organization after hearing from Heela Yoon and other members of the panel. The organization works with women and youth to prevent violent extremism and advocate for more meaningful participation of women in the current peace process in Afghanistan. There will be different women spotlighted each day of the week to celebrate Women’s History Month and plenty of opportunities to donate to the fundraising campaign.

Check out the recording of the Women in the World Panel on the Tufts Institute for Global Leadership YouTube channel to hear these four incredibly inspirational panelists, and be sure to check out the Women in International Relations Instagram and Facebook for more information regarding the Women in International Relations Week of Fundraising!

Emily Witherell is a sophomore studying international relations. Emily can be reached at emily.witherell@tufts.edu. to the financial burden from technology costs, teachers face increased health care costs due to both mental health impacts and the higher likelihood of direct COVID19 exposure for those who have returned to the classroom.

Consequently, while the majority of Americans look favorably on Cardona’s reopening efforts, we must concurrently push for more robust support and resources for returning teachers. Teachers should receive compensation for the technological investments they have already made. They should also receive increased funding for mental health programs, as well as access to group support initiatives.

This preemptive support will allow for not only an enhanced classroom experience for our nation’s youth, but also a more empathetic approach to a return to in-person learning for teachers.

Elizabeth Buehl is a first-year who has not yet declared a major. Elizabeth can be reached at elizabeth.buehl@tufts.edu.

TRASHING ONE EGG WASTES 55 GALLONS OF WATER

8 Tuesday, March 23, 2021

Sports

tuftsdaily.com

Senior baseball player Ryan Daues reflects on his career, upcoming season

by Keila McCabe

Contributing Writer

Ryan Daues, a senior and third baseman on the Tufts baseball team, was sitting in his room when one of his teammates and housemates called him into their living room with great news. After over a year without competition, NESCAC cleared the way for a spring sports season on March 9.

Daues is from Palos Verdes, California and attended Palos Verdes Peninsula High School.

He has played baseball for much of his life, starting around the age of five and all throughout middle and high school. At Palos Verdes Peninsula High School, he was a First Team All-Bay League selection and was named offensive MVP of the team. As he started thinking about the college process, Daues cited baseball as a large part of why he chose to come to Tufts.

“I was looking at the options I had for college and I was like ‘OK this might be a serious look for me’ because a lot of the other schools that were looking at me didn’t have the kind of academic rigor that Tufts did,” Daues said.

“Part of it as well was the opportunity to get out of California and go do something else which a lot of my friends weren’t doing. It just checked a lot of boxes.”

Daues has been a reliable bat in the Jumbo lineup since he arrived in Medford four years ago. During his first year, Daues played in 21 games at second base and as a designated hitter.

He hit two home runs, collected 15 RBIs and finished with a .262

Isaac Karp Power to the Players

Inequities in the NCAA bubbles

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arch Madness got off to a rough start last Friday after Sedona Prince, a forward on the University of Oregon’s women’s basketball team, released a TikTok video that exposed the disparities between the men’s and women’s facilities in the college basketball tournament bubbles.

She first showed the women’s training area, which con-

batting average and .425 on base percentage. Twelve games into his sophomore year, he broke his hand and took on a new role on the bench for the remainder of the season. In 45 at-bats that season, Daues had a .333 batting average, .475 on base percentage and .489 slugging percentage.

Now going into his senior year, Daues said he is excited for his role to change once again so he can re-assume a position on the field and lead some of the first-years.

“My role [on the team] has changed a lot. From my [first] year I was kind of a role player, doing anything I could to make an impact, to help the team win,” Daues said. “My sophomore year [I had] to step into more of a leadership role and assume a starting position, but it was only for a brief time. I ended up breaking my hand and I missed the whole year … That was a big shift for me because I learned how to not only be a player and how to support my teammates on the field but also how to support them off the field. Cheering for them, doing anything I can to make sure they can play at their best. I think that’s helped me into this year, developing relationships with some of the younger guys, being a senior.

Making them feel comfortable, especially right now.”

Beyond simply practicing and playing, Daues said he is grateful for the opportunity to play for the Tufts baseball team. He said his coaches and fellow teammates created a nurturing cul-

ture and have taught him valuable lessons. “[Tufts baseball program] has done more for me than just make me a better baseball player,” Daues said. “One of the big things our coach prides himself on is making us into better men. Honestly, I learned a lot of stuff: accountability, time management, picking up each other, working as a team, having a bigger goal other than yourself …

I’ve had the ability to make some of the best friends I’ve ever had and learn skills that I’ll keep with me for the rest of my life.”

Daues noted that the team has been challenged by the COVID19 pandemic over the past year.

Given the inability to socialize, Daues said the team chemistry is not as strong as it previously was. “[Baseball] is one of the closest teams on campus,” Daues said. “Especially heading into the season, we spend a lot of time down there at the field in the locker room doing a bunch of team building chemistry stuff that our coach has us do, but this year it’s tough. We haven’t had the opportunity to see as many of the guys as we would like to … The good thing is since the previous years we’ve had such good team chemistry, the sophomores, juniors and seniors are all really close so I think that team chemistry is still really strong. It’s just about finding ways to incorporate the [first-years] into that.”

In addition to creating a social divide on the team, Daues said that the COVID-19 pandemic also divided the players in terms of baseball work ethic.

sisted of one measly dumbbell rack and a set of yoga mats.

She then switched to a video of the men’s gym which contained plenty of dumbbell racks, training equipment and space to work out. The NCAA released a statement blaming lack of space as the reason for the disparity, but Prince wasn’t buying it. More pictures and videos surfaced of other inequities, including the differences in quality of food and the amount of gear distributed to the men’s and women’s teams.

But as South Carolina women’s basketball coach Dawn Staley said bluntly: “The real issue is not the weights or the ‘swag’ bags. It’s that the [NCAA] did not think or do not think that the women’s players ‘deserve’ the same amenities of the men.”

After backlash on social media and from the basketball community, the NCAA then released another statement acknowledging the mistake and affirming its commitment to gender equality. This wasn’t the first controversy in which the NCAA has found itself embroiled recently.

College athletes recently started a #NotNCAAProperty campaign in the hopes of acquiring guaranteed compensation and rights to their names, images and likenesses. The athletes lobbying for these and other major changes argue that all those under the NCAA umbrella deserve basic rights. The amenity issue has only underscored their point by exhibiting the paucity of care and thought the NCAA invests in student-athletes — especially women.

COURTESY RYAN DAUES

Senior and third baseman Ryan Daues is looking forward to being back on the field after an injury and the cancellation of last spring’s season. “[Last season’s cancellation] was a bit of a separator,” Daues said. “The guys that wanted to play and get better found a way to play, practice and get better.

The guys that were OK being OK, didn’t. For me, that was an advantage.”

Heading into his senior season, Daues said he is skeptical of a potential cancellation given the fragility of events in the pandemic. However, when asked about his expectations for the season, he still remained confident in his team’s ability.

“Win. Always predict we’re going to win,” Daues said. “The way they’re doing it is to have games here one day and then the following day is away. It’s a really unique way of doing it. It’s going to be tough — a lot of baseball packed into a short period of time. I think that’s something we’re actually really good at, outworking other teams. We are a lot tougher than other teams in the NESCAC, we handle adversity a lot better. We have expectations to win every game.”

On Thursday, Prince released another video revealing the refurbished women’s weight room filled with dumbbell racks and bands. Although she thanked the NCAA for its eventual response, the damage had already been done. Stanford women’s basketball coach Tara VanDerveer attacked the NCAA’s “blatant sexism,” while WNBA star A’ja Wilson tweeted “That [NCAA] bubble weight room situation is beyond disrespectful.”

Clearly, many who work both inside and outside of the college basketball world see the NCAA as a flawed organization that at times borders on negligent and abusive.

In one of the first steps toward rectifying the ingrained inequities in college sports, the California legislature passed

the Fair Pay to Play Act in 2019, which will provide players with the opportunity to make money off of their names, images and likenesses by 2023. In order to prevent teams in California from gaining an unfair recruiting advantage from this legislation, the NCAA board of governors submitted a plan to give all players similar rights going into the 2021–22 season.

But if the scandal over amenities is any sign of things to come, the NCAA needs to figure out how to address its problems over sexism and bias before any more practical reforms can prove meaningful.

Isaac Karp is a first-year who has not yet declared a major. Isaac can be reached at isaac.karp@tufts.edu.