The Tufts Daily - Wednesday, December 2, 2020

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VOLUME LXXX, ISSUE 50

INDEPENDENT

STUDENT

N E W S PA P E R

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UNIVERSITY

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T HE T UFTS DAILY

MEDFORD/SOMERVILLE, MASS.

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Wednesday, December 2, 2020

Half of undergraduate student body completes Marriage Pact, almost 3,000 receive matches

by Flora Meng

Contributing Writer

Tufts students participating in the school-wide Marriage Pact were notified via email on Nov. 23 of their most optimal “match” on campus. A “marriage pact” is considered to be an agreement between two people in which they decide to marry each other, if they do not marry within a certain period of time.

A document reviewed by the Daily provides details about the Marriage Pact.

“Based on your values, the Marriage Pact algorithmically ‘interviews’ all other participants at Tufts on your behalf to find the best person with whom you could make a marriage pact,” the document reads.

Anne Lau, a senior working on the initiative at Tufts, see MARRIAGE, page 2

EMMA BOERSMA / THE TUFTS DAILY

Students are pictured together on the Tisch Library roof on Oct. 18.

Green Line Extention project to move forward amid MBTA proposed budget cuts, service changes for 2021

FEATURES

Police reform: How is it achieved?

by Chris Duncan and Abby Stern Staff Writer and Contributing Writer

EVAN SLACK / THE TUFTS DAILY ARCHIVES

A sign promoting the MBTA Green Line Extension project is pictured on April 17, 2018.

by Chloe Courtney Bohl Contributing Writer

The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) is proposing budget cuts and service changes in response to unprecedentedly low ridership during the COVID-19 pandemic.

According to the MBTA website, the Red, Blue, Green and

Orange Lines and many bus routes will operate at reduced frequency, while the Green Line Extension (GLX) project and other already-underway capital projects will continue as planned.

Bus routes deemed “non-essential” will operate at reduced frequency, be consolidated or be eliminated. All changes are meant to be temporary, and fares will not be raised.

The proposed service changes would be phased in beginning spring 2021.

The MBTA is holding a series of virtual public meetings to gauge support and collect feedback from its host communities in the greater Boston area on the subject of the upcoming service changes. On Nov. 17, the see PROJECT, page 2

Calls for police reform have erupted across the country in the wake of the murders of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor among many others. Americans are demanding systemic change in the policing system, and protests for police reform have become national news. How exactly is police reform achieved? Here are four approaches.

Defund the police At almost every rally across the nation following the murders of unarmed African Americans at the hands of officers, a cry to “defund the police” can be heard. However, people often mean different things when they say “defund the police.”

Some urge to abolish the police completely, advocating that to create a new model of community-led public safety is to start the system from scratch.

Many supporters of defunding believe divesting from police can help end cruelty within the criminal justice system. Starting a new system where first responders include mental health professionals, social workers or community members could help end violence and hostility across the nation and lead to more edu-

cation, jobs and mental health services for members of marginalized communities.

Others advocate to partially defund the police. Many support taking money police use to buy weapons and investing it in social and mental health services.

David Art, professor who teaches the course Political Perspectives on Race, Policing, and the Demonstrations in the U.S., prefers the latter definition.

“Policing serves a very important function, and I can’t imagine a society without something that resembles policing, particularly in this country while we are awash with guns,” Art said.

“Major reforms need to happen, many of which will involve a shift of resources … The answer will be putting resources in different directions.”

Instead, Art proposes reallocation of training resources and increasing funds for mental health resources. Being a police officer is a middle class job that does not require a college degree. Police officers in America only train for about four months, while European officers train for at least a year and attend university. To generate better police officers, Art says see REFORM, page 3

ARTS / page 5

SPORTS / page 9

NEWS

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FEATURES

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Miley Cyrus’ newest album proves her art has no boundaries

MLS prepares for COVID-19 finals

ARTS & POP CULTURE

5

FUN & GAMES

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OPINION

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SPORTS

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THE TUFTS DAILY | News | Wednesday, December 2, 2020

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Marriage Pact team addresses data, privacy concerns MARRIAGE

continued from page 1 described her role as a school ambassador for the event.

“The Marriage Pact team wanted to launch at Tufts and so they reached out and tried to find people to serve as seeds to spread the word about the [Pact]. So my housemates and I are like the seeds for it,” Lau said. “We put the posters up, we created the Instagram and talked to our friends about it.”

By the end of the week, after the Pact was released, up to 50% of the undergraduate student body participated and over 2,950 individuals received matches, according to Lau. Emai Lai, a senior who collaborated with Lau in bringing the Pact to Tufts, explained that the initiative originated from Stanford University as a project for a marketing design class three years ago.

“They’ve continued doing it at Stanford every year since, and they’ve started branching out to other schools like UVA, Columbia, Yale and Northwestern,” she said.

Please rec ycle this newspaper!

Given strict guidelines for social gatherings during the pandemic, Lai said that the Marriage Pact could serve as a unique social opportunity for students.

“I think the Marriage Pact came to Tufts at a very important and useful time because with the new COVID rules coming out … everyone’s being isolated in their dorms or some, even in quarantine,” she said.

“Everyone’s just been feeling a little lonely to some extent and missing social interaction and human connection, whether that’s in person or digitally.”

To promote it, Lai explained that the team began numerous advertising initiatives both online and across campus.

“In addition to meeting with the official Marriage Pact people at Stanford, we’ve done a lot of calling up our friends, texting any club group chats that we’re a part of,” Lai said.

“We have pushed out platforms on Instagram and created a Facebook event … and printed out dozens of posters and put them up around campus.”

She also emphasized the team’s efforts to promote safe ways to socialize during the pandemic.

“We came up with six date ideas for meeting your match for the first time in a COVID-safe way. Some of them were play Among Us with your roommates and their matches, or show your match around your hometown on Google Maps,” Lai said.

Because students must complete a questionnaire to indicate their values and preferences, some users have raised questions regarding data use. In response to these concerns, Lai said that the Marriage Pact team does not have access to individuals’ data.

“I, nor even our launch Pact team, can go in and see the actual data or answers. I can’t see who got matched with who, I can’t see anyone’s individual responses. [The Marriage Pact] makes a clear point in their privacy policy that they’ll never sell the data or use our information against us,” she said.

She noted that the Marriage Pact team specifically included a

privacy policy at the bottom of its website to ease such concerns.

Ashley Jones, a first-year, spoke about her own experience filling out the questionnaire and privacy concerns with the Marriage Pact.

“At first, I was [concerned about privacy] because you obviously are divulging very private information about yourself and your preferences, but then I was reaffirmed by a friend who was active on the project that … even the people who were pairing up partners didn’t have the opportunity to look at your details, so that was reassuring,” Jones said.

Lai expressed excitement at the Marriage Pact’s ability to connect students with others on campus.

“It was really cool that we were able to provide some sort of connection and excitement to people on campus, especially freshmen and sophomores who, like a lot of them have expressed, haven’t been able to make friends because they aren’t really leaving their dorms,” she said.

Community members concerned over proposed MBTA changes PROJECT

Sruthi Kocherlakota Executive Sports Editor Tim Chiang Sports Editors Matt Goguen Jeremy Goldstein Aiden Herrod Pranav Jain Ananda Kao Delaney Tantillo Arpan Barua Assistant Sports Editors Jacob Dreyer Henry Gorelik Ethan Ling Arnav Sacheti Alex Sharp Eric Spencer

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continued from page 1 MBTA held a public meeting for members of the Brookline, Cambridge, Newton, Somerville and Watertown communities.

After a brief presentation explaining the specifics of the proposed changes, attendees were encouraged to offer their input.

In the meeting, MBTA Assistant General Manager for Policy Laurel Paget-Seekins said that the proposed service changes were designed with the goal of maintaining service to “transit-critical” riders, seniors and riders with disabilities.

“We created a framework for thinking about two different axes. One was transit-critical population. So where are the riders who are most dependent on public transit, which includes low-income populations, communities of color and zero to low vehicle households. And [the MBTA did] an additional screen for seniors and people with disabilities,” Paget-Seekins said.

Routes that serve these populations and have retained a high proportion of pre-pandemic ridership will be largely preserved. These routes include the Red, Blue, Green and Orange Lines, many bus routes and the Fairmount commuter rail line.

Once the changes are phased in, many of these routes will operate at lower frequencies, varying by route and by time of day, according to the MBTA’s website.

Paget-Seekins also explained that the MBTA is planning to stop ferry service beginning March 2021, given that the ferry’s ridership has decreased substantially during the pandemic.

During the meeting, both Paget-Seekins and Monica Tibbits-Nutt, vice chair of the MBTA’s Fiscal and Management Control Board, expressed awareness of the strain the service changes may place on MBTA users.

“We are not raising fares. I recognize the financial burden these changes would create for families, and I do not take that lightly,” Tibbits-Nutt said.

Paget-Seekins also stressed that the proposed cuts to service are a “last resort” that the MBTA is undertaking only after it attempted to reduce internal costs and reallocate capital funds to alleviate the strain on its budget.

Local government representatives and community members who attended the public meeting were critical of the proposed changes and expressed concern during their testimonials.

Mayor Ruthanne Fuller of the City of Newton described how cuts to MBTA service will hinder post-pandemic economic recovery.

“Without frequent public transit, reviving our economy will be even more difficult, and doing it equitably will be near impossible,” Fuller said.

Fuller’s concern over the service cuts was echoed by State Rep. Tommy Vitolo, who represents Brookline.

“No matter how hard the MBTA works to minimize the harm — and I believe that the T really is seeking to do just that — the harm will be real and considerable,” Vitolo said.

Destina Agar, a community member whose bus route home from her hospital job would be eliminated under the MBTA’s proposed service changes, said the service cuts will have a disproportionate impact on certain communities.

“It’s going to hit people that are low income, and it’s going to hit communities of color and black and brown people, and it’s just going to make things worse for these people,” Agar said.

The MBTA Deputy Press Secretary Lisa Battiston confirmed that this includes the GLX project.

“The construction of GLX remains on schedule at this time,” Battiston wrote in an email to the Daily.

The GLX is currently on track to be completed in December 2021, according to the MBTA website. When finished, it will extend the Green Line northward from its current endpoint at Lechmere up to College Avenue in Medford, near Tufts’ Medford/ Somerville campus.

Tufts Director of Government and Community Relations Rocco DiRico expressed excitement at the GLX project’s moving forward.

“We were delighted to see that this important project is moving forward. The Green Line Extension and the Medford/Tufts station in particular will be an incredible asset for our students, faculty, staff, and neighbors,” DiRico wrote in an email to the Daily. “The new station will connect our Medford/Somerville campus to our Boston campuses, increase access to public transportation, and serve as a new gateway to Tufts University.”

The MBTA will continue conducting public meetings through Dec. 2, and the Fiscal and Management Control Board will vote on the proposed changes on Dec. 7.

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Features

3 Wednesday, December 2, 2020

Public opinion shows support for police demilitarization in Medford, Somerville REFORM

continued from page 1 there should be a longer training period for police officers. This would provide resources to allow more social welfare programs and more in-depth deescalation training.

“Part of the reason we see all these things in this country has to do with our genuine underfunding of a lot of social services, police being one of them,” Art said.

To make sure that police forces become more diverse in terms of gender, sexuality and race, Art says defunding the police should mean taking money away from weapons and militarization and reallocating it toward systemic social change.

In Art’s class, guest lecturers come to speak to students about their perspectives on police reform. Political science professor Brian Schaffner, who is currently researching the public opinion of Medford and Somerville residents regarding policing, visited Art’s class to discuss his findings.

“Even in very liberal communities like Somerville and Medford, a pretty large majority of residents are not supportive of defunding the police,” Schaffner said.

Schaffner found that residents of Medford and Somerville prefer the idea of reallocating funds rather than defunding police completely.

“From a public opinion perspective, people are more likely to support defunding the police if you tell them that it’s going to go to something they like,” Schaffner said.

This can include improving mental health services, paying social workers and bettering social welfare programs.

Community policing and civilian review boards Another way many Americans think of police reform is through community policing. Community policing is the idea that officers should interact more with community members through developing relationships, solving problems with the community and creating partnerships with local businesses and community members. This way, community members will have more of a say in how they are policed and will be familiar with police officers.

In this system, police can act proactively by getting community members mental health services or social welfare programs rather than fighting crime in the community reactively.

Art said community policing is difficult to understand because there is no clear definition of how this would work.

“There’s a lot of talk about it, but it’s not very specific,” Art said. “Ideally, what I think community policing almost means is an outcome. It’s a situation in which there is a high level of trust between society and police.”

One way this level of trust between community and police can be achieved is through the implementation of citizen review boards. Schaffner’s research has found that residents of Medford and Somerville widely support the implementation of these boards made up of average members of the community.

“This board would review police actions, review discretions by the police, and could even be involved in hiring and firing decisions,” Schaffner said.

According to Art, community policing can only become mainstream once other problems within the policing system are already remedied. Funds have to be reallocated, police have to undergo racial bias training, and trust has to be developed between police officers and their communities before a system like this can be implemented.

Art recommends taking concrete steps like ending no-knock raids and reforming use of force policies before expecting a system of community policing right from the start.

“I tend to see it as an outcome rather than a model or paradigm,” Art said. “It points to trust, and that’s really what is lacking.”

Until that trust is established, a system of community policing is unlikely to be fully implemented.

Police force disarmament When the people of Ferguson, Mo., took to the streets in 2014 to protest the killing of Michael Brown, they were met with a police force in riot gear and troops from the Missouri National Guard that looked as if they were going to war. Such striking responses to protests have not stopped since then and have become more pronounced this year since protests erupted in the wake of the killings of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor. Police forces from Boston to Los Angeles have had long histories of militarization, believing that such force may be necessary to confront mass mobilizations that could turn violent. Art traces the roots of police militarization to the birth of SWAT teams.

“Many of these [police] departments began to acquire more of this technology and at the same time were incentivised to use it really with … in the guise of SWAT teams,” he said.

Over time, Art said, SWAT teams began to respond less frequently to the situations they were intended for, namely hostage and shooter situations, while beginning to serve drug warrants more often.

Public opinion in the Medford and Somerville areas mainly supports the demilitarization of police, according to Schaffner.

“There’s also a lot of support for de-weaponizing the police,” Schaffner said. “A lot of residents think police officers should only have limited weaponry, including maybe not having hand guns.”

COURTESY WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

The Massachusetts State House is pictured.

Police forces’ underlying perceptions of themselves, as Art notes, are a factor that should not go ignored.

“People who point to militarization say it’s not only the technology, it’s also the culture,” Art said. “It’s the sense of performing a warrior duty.”

Evan Horowitz, director of the Center for State Policy Analysis (CSPA) at the Jonathan M. Tisch College of Civic Life, echoed this sentiment.

“It’s tied into a notion of how police departments see themselves, as embattled, and potentially needing this equipment to fend off the most heinous criminals and crimes,” he said.

The CSPA released a report in July on the two bills passed in the Massachusetts House and Senate and key differences between them. Horowitz explained the bills’ different approaches to purchases of military equipment by local police.

“One of the bills, I believe it is the Senate bill, limits the purchase of [military equipment], or would require greater authorization to allow local police departments to purchase military grade equipment,” Horowitz said. “The house bill, as I recall, is silent on the issue.”

The one consolidated bill has made it out of its committee and is ready for review by the House and Senate.

Demilitarization of police is one area of reform that, in theory, can expect bipartisan support on Capitol Hill. U.S. Senators from Rand Paul to Ed Markey support similar measures to disarm police of military-grade equipment, and legislation has been introduced to ban the use of weapons like tear gas and rubber bullets by federal law enforcement and incentivize state and local police forces to do the same.

Racial bias training Providing officers with racial bias training would be a seem-

ingly simple measure to alleviate racial bias in policing. Such an approach has garnered widespread support from mayors all over the country and even former President Barack Obama.

Training, supporters say, will help make police officers aware of their own implicit bias and better able to check themselves in the line of duty.

Art says, however, that police departments have been doing these trainings for years.

“A lot of police departments in the wake of Ferguson did that on their own … they brought in and had members of the community talk about the history of racial injustice and systematic racism,” he noted. “You can find examples of a lot of police departments that did that on their own, almost as a matter of course.”

But since Ferguson, police violence has not stopped, and some research suggests that training to reduce police bias does not have significant effects.

One thing that may help improve racial bias training, according to Horowitz, is collecting more information on what training works and what doesn’t.

“There is lots of training for police officers, and some of it is dedicated to reducing complaints and improving performance, but there has not been a systemic effort to connect what we know about who is doing the training with what we know about who is getting complaints or having interactions,” Horowitz said. “We could do that with the right data.”

On the horizon The CSPA’s report was released in July, much closer to the killings of Ahmaud Arbery, George Floyd and Breonna Taylor that permeated the popular consciousness this year.

Some of this fervor has since subsided, especially among lawmakers, giving an advantage to those opposed to reform.

“There was this sense of urgency that was tied to the protests and looked like it was going to propel this bill forward,” Horowitz said. “But, obviously, some of the energy around that has faded, and that has given time for groups that oppose this bill to better organize, so I think that will complicate efforts to push this over the finish line.”

However, the bill likely remains a high priority for lawmakers on Beacon Hill, and hope remains that it will come out of conference committee before the current legislative session ends.

At the federal level, efforts at police reform have stalled time and time again. Democrats have put forth a number of small bills on the matter, none of which have shown any signs of moving or really present any chance of being passed into law. Senate Republicans, however, posited their own bill, which failed to pass the Senate back in June and effectively killed any discussion of the issue since then. In the meantime, the House passed the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act of 2020 in June, but the bill has not yet come up for a vote in the Senate.

For now, action can only be realistically expected at the state level, which means many states will inevitably do little or nothing.

However, Art said the most important development this year has been the increased scrutiny that the public has given police forces around the country.

“It’s been interesting … and quite satisfying to see that referendums in various states have picked up and have changed outcomes in [policing] policy,” he said. “Because for 30 or 40 years, police had kind of not been under a major lens whatsoever and had been running things as … institutions tend to do in ways that suit them and their interests.”

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THE TUFTS DAILY | Features | Wednesday, December 2, 2020

Owen Bonk Since You Last Saw Me

On time traveling and uncertainty

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henever I return to my parents’ house, it’s like traveling back in time. My childhood room, filled with personal artifacts I can’t bring myself to throw away, seems to shrink every time I enter it. The whole setting doesn’t seem quite right. This new life I’ve been living on my own feels incongruous with everything here, and reincorporating myself into the comings and goings of life at home feels like new skin being grafted onto an old frame.

Maybe that’s a slightly overdramatic comparison. This is only my second year coming home for Thanksgiving break, after spending the second half of last semester at home. I’ve spent far more time here than the average college-going student in a non-pandemic year. It’s something that tops off my already-towering list of worries about the future: Is this allowing me the space to say goodbye? My current relationship with my childhood home is not the one I envisioned having in college.

For much of my high school career, the college process loomed insistently, ominously over my head. I was afraid of it for a number of reasons, the most prominent of which was my lack of knowledge. I knew that I was good at school, and that if I applied myself, I could accomplish things outside of it, but being intelligent and knowing what you want are two entirely different things. And I had no idea what I wanted. So I did what was required, and not a lot more.

In an extremely unsurprising manner, future uncertainty draws you toward the things that are already certain, familiar. The house had that effect on me. I knew that no matter what stressors school brought, whatever crises I was having, stepping over its threshold could give me some semblance of respite. I could make myself a cup of tea and watch a vacuous Netflix show, forming and fortifying a temporary barricade against tough questions.

In hindsight, I can see that my juvenile self-protective procrastination made me miss a lot. I didn’t find my school’s forensic speech and debate team, one of the only extracurriculars I actually enjoyed, until my senior year.

I chose my first early decision application poorly, just to have something pinned down. I didn’t pursue independent writing, one of the activities I’m now most passionate about, in any meaningful way. That’s what feels uncomfortable about my return: alternating feelings of pity and frustration toward my past self.

I don’t wish to return to that persistent hesitancy. I’d like to think of my current self as much more certain and driven, not someone who merely punches the clock. And yet, uncertainties still loom: a pandemic, an undecided major, the unplanned expanse of next summer. Sometimes I find myself feeling just as unsure as this past version of myself. Nonetheless, tempting as it may be, I’m resolved not to shrink back into my shell. If I can’t resolve uncertainty, I’ll find ways to live with and interrogate it. I owe it to myself.

Owen Bonk is a sophomore who has not yet declared a major. Owen can be reached at owen.bonk@tufts.edu.

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ARTS & POP CULTURE

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Wednesday, December 2, 2020

Miley Cyrus reborn as rock diva in ‘Plastic Hearts’

by Christopher Panella Arts Editor

“I’m the type to drive a pickup through your mansion / I’m completely naked but I’m makin’ it fashion,” Cyrus declaims on “WTF Do I Know,” the 2000s alternative rock-sounding opener of “Plastic Hearts” (2020). It’s an interesting moment for listeners. On the first of 15 tracks, Cyrus immediately defines herself, particularly after her divorce from longtime lover Liam Hemsworth.

With the remainder of the song exploring her life in the wake of newfound independence, “WTF Do I Know” sets the stage for Cyrus’ seventh studio album to explore who she’s been and who she is. But that’s fairly difficult for an artist who’s always changing, especially sonically; it makes “Plastic Hearts” a statement of self-reflection.

For audiences who grew up watching “Hannah Montana” (2006–11), Cyrus’ career feels like whiplash. She’s been a Disney Channel icon, an actress, a shorthaired wrecking ball rider and a mellow Malibu minimalist. She’s embraced pop, country, hip-hop, psychedelic rock and electronic pop. Heck, there’s even been a Britney Spears collaboration.

It has earned her praise and scorn — her Video Music Awards twerking with Robin Thicke and widely criticized 2017 comments on hip-hop are burned into our memories. Controversy, it seems, is part and parcel of growing up under the spotlight.

But throughout it all, Cyrus has reinvented herself: nNew looks, fun hairstyles and bright colors fill her music videos and performances. She has tried to fit into every box possible, exploring her artistry.

While it feels acceptable to call Cyrus a chameleon — like Stevie Nicks did — or an artist who can simply do everything, we want more. There must be a sound, genre or role that feels comfortable for her. On “Plastic

Hearts,” Cyrus finds herself in that sweet spot. She’s embraced a sort of glam-rock, ‘80s pop sound — with a raspy voice and mullet to match. It’s a vibe that feels nicely related to the resurgence of ’80s music we’ve heard in 2020.

That nostalgia reaches a height on the album’s lead single “Midnight Sky,” a swirling statement of sexuality and independence. Catchy and vibrant, the chorus’ lyrics “I was born to run, I don’t belong to anyone” feel akin to a sort of rebirth or recognition.

Cyrus accepts who she is — a free rider in the night, doing as she pleases — in a way that is much less abrasive than anything on “Bangerz” (2013) and much more authentic than anything on “Younger Now” (2017).

And that’s not necessarily a controversial opinion; like the rest of us, as Cyrus gets older, her messaging becomes clearer.

She was 21 when she released “Bangerz” and had much to prove to the general public outside Disney Channel. Now 28, Cyrus can release “Plastic Hearts” with little to prove.

The album’s lyrics center around relationships and breakups. But the focus isn’t how nothing breaks like the heart — Cyrus already made that song with Mark Ronson in 2018. Rather, it is about how Cyrus defines herself in these situations. “Angels Like You” follows the singer separating herself from a lover, making it clear that the two are completely different. She blames herself: “I brought you down to your knees / ‘Cause they say that misery loves company / It’s not your fault I ruin everything / And it’s not your fault I can’t be what you need.”

It’s a recurring discussion.

On “Never Be Me,” Cyrus claims she’ll never be stable or faithful to her lovers. That’s connected to “Bad Karma (feat. Joan Jett)”: the album’s sexy duet with thumping bass and enticing “uh, uh” repetition. Its message is about living a double life: When the moon’s

COURTESY WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

The cover of Miley Cyrus’ album “Plastic Hearts” (2020) is pictured. up, sneak out and do bad things.

Don’t think twice.

Nighttime fun is a constant on “Plastic Hearts.” The aforementioned “Midnight Sky” comes directly after “Night Crawling (feat. Billy Idol),” the album’s biggest ‘80s pop bop. It has a synth chorus perfect for dancing in nightclubs. Along with “Prisoner (feat. Dua Lipa),” the album feels like it’s ready for dancing, driving through the city and getting up to no good. Add on extra tracks like “Edge of Midnight (Midnight Sky Remix) (feat. Stevie Nicks)” and Cyrus’ live cover of “Zombie” and you’ve got a party.

We could speculate what all this nighttime freedom and these double lives means for

Cyrus. And we might joke that the “Hannah Montana” star has always existed between the realms of two identities. But it’s more fruitful to acknowledge the acceptance of duality on “Plastic Hearts.” Rather than keeping her gallivanting and pleasure to herself, Cyrus airs out her mistakes and grievances. She is proud of herself, no matter what others think (see “Golden G String,” a song with the important lyrics, “There are layers to this body / Primal sex and primal shame / They told me I should cover it / So I went the other way”).

All of this is especially fulfilling, given her newfound glam-rock persona. It is similar to what we’ve seen before: col-

orful, glittery, loud, vibrant and risqué. But whereas “Bangerz” was a calculated public image reset, “Plastic Hearts” doesn’t seem interested in what the public thinks. It’s comfortable with itself. Cyrus seems happier, too. The performances are stronger, her voice is perfectly low and raspy and her looks are ripped right from the world’s most famous rock bands.

This makes “Plastic Hearts” feel like it’s bookending two chapters in Cyrus’ career. And let’s hope that the glam-rock persona stays. It fits Cyrus more than any of her previous eras and allows her to be the largerthan-life diva she was always meant to become.

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THE TUFTS DAILY | Arts & Pop Culture | Wednesday, December 2, 2020

Julian Levy Keep the Cameras Rolling

The Oscar race

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‘Jaws’ screenwriter Carl Gottlieb participates in fin-tastic FMS discussion

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elcome to possibly the strangest year ever for the obligatory “Oscar race.” Now I know what you’re thinking: How can there be the Academy Awards if there are no movies to give awards to?

And that’s a fair question, because if you were to have the Oscars today, it would be a pretty underwhelming year indeed.

But by virtue of a growing number of streaming services, you can watch much of 2020’s prestige cinema from the comfort of your own home. Here are a few you can expect to see released over the next few weeks.

“The Trial of the Chicago 7” is one of the only contenders that has been released at this point. While it’s well-written, well-acted and a fun watch all around, it’s not the kind of the movie that will leave you stunned on your way out of the theater (metaphorically of course).

It’s a pretty run-of-the-mill courtroom drama that’s elevated by its quality. It’s worth a watch, but in my opinion not “Oscar gold.”

And then there’s basically everything else. These films are currently somewhat unknown because of their lack of wide releases, but they have been receiving acclaim from critics who have had the chance to view them.

“Nomadland” is the favorite of many for this year’s Best Picture category.

Directed by Chloé Zhao, who is also at the helm of one of the next entries in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, “The Eternals” (2021), the film follows a woman traversing America in the aftermath of the 2008 recession. With Frances McDormand in the starring role, it’s sure to offer a tour de force performance. The film, however, stands alone among many of the other potential nominees as it is still only intended as a theatrical release, for the time being at least.

“Mank”, which will be premiering in Netflix in early December, checks a lot of boxes when it comes to a best picture win. It features an Academy favorite, Gary Oldman, in the role of an obscure but notable historical figure. He stars as screenwriter Herman Mankiewicz, the man responsible for writing film-school-favorite Citizen Kane — it’s a movie about movies! Plus, the choice to style the audio and visuals after period-appropriate equipment is just the kind of nostalgia that the Academy loves.

What has become one of the most anticipated movies of the year is “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom”. A new movie starring Viola Davis is enough to get people excited, but it is the performance of Chadwick Boseman that is getting particular attention. Boseman tragically passed away earlier this year after a hard-fought battle with colon cancer. This is the last movie that he ever filmed, with many reviewers noting that he is a highlight of the film. An Oscar win for Boseman would be a perfect way to reward an acclaimed career taking on some of the biggest roles in Hollywood. This will be released on Netflix even sooner, currently set for Dec. 18.

So, if you’ve been missing those classic Oscar movies, don’t despair. We’re about to get a bunch of them really soon, albeit not in the manner that would be expected. Who’s ready for some virtual Oscar parties?

Julian Levy is a first-year who has not yet declared a major. Julian can be reached at Julian.Levy@tufts.edu.

COURTESY CARL GOTTLIEB

Carl Gottlieb is pictured in 2009.

by Drew Weisberg Assistant Arts Editor

“When good actors start reading your words, you go, ‘Holy s—, listen,’” Carl Gottlieb, the screenwriting veteran behind the world-shifting blockbuster “Jaws” (1975), said in a Q&A session on Nov. 19. The discussion, which was organized by the Film and Media Studies program and hosted by Jennifer Burton, was as frank, humorous and intriguing as the aforementioned quote, while also serving as a poignant reflection on a storied journey beginning in the “golden age” of Hollywood and extending into the modern day.

Gottlieb’s career began as an improvisational comedic performer, to which he accredits many of the skills he’s utilized throughout his career. “I am better equipped than most writers to judge how effective my dialogue is gonna be in another actor’s mouth,” Gottlieb said.

He also noted that the training made him a much more adaptable screenwriter, as he remembers a period working on the film “Doctor Detroit” (1983) that

he “was getting well known for being able to fly in and fix a script.” Despite his successful work as a “script fixer,” though, Gottlieb notes the film as a point of regret. “I got to read the source material,” Gottlieb said, “[I said,] ‘why didn’t you give me this to adapt? I would have loved to have worked on this.’”

Gottlieb’s most famous work (and another adaptation) is, of course, the “Jaws” franchise, of which Gottlieb has been a torchbearer.

“After the success of Jaws, it became obvious [there] was going to be a sequel,” Gottlieb said, but ultimately noted that the increasingly franchised nature of studio filmmaking might be detrimental in the long term.

“It’s kind of the death of the independent screenplay,” Gottlieb said.

“Unless you’re James Cameron … Every other movie is a remake, a sequel, a prequel, or a reboot, or a comic strip … Sometimes it’s just utilitarian and, you know, your job is to service the project, not your idea of what the film should be.”

This spirit of collaboration was vital, in Gottlieb’s assessment, to the ongoing

creation of great films and detrimental if poorly executed.

“The auteur theory — a term in film theory wherein the director’s vision stands above all others — [is] not good for movies, and it gave directors a swelled head for a generation,” Gottlieb said before quickly pivoting to the irony of this in the current cinematic day. “If you think about superhero movies, and tentpole movies and all that, can you name the directors of the Marvel films?

Like, who cares?”

If nothing else, it’s fascinating to hear that one of the men responsible for the modern blockbuster is nevertheless disappointed with its current trajectory.

“Things crash and burn and explode,” he continued. “The nuances of character and the development and relationships, they’re not important and the directors don’t care.”

The final segment of this extended thought seemed to summarize, for better or worse, the mix of joy and sorrow over Gottlieb’s decades-long career in the business that he still watches over today: “It’s an evolving business; it’s always changing.”

NICOLE GARAY / THE TUFTS DAILY

Carl Gottlieb discusses his career in an event organized by the Tufts Film and Media Studies program on Nov. 19.

Wednesday, December 2, 2020 | FUN & GAMES | THE TUFTS DAILY

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F& G

LATE NIGHT AT THE DAILY Alex: “Calories are a hoax”

FUN & GAMES

SUDOKU

DATING ADVICE FROM AN ENGLISH MAJOR

Difficulty Level: 3 projects for due for 1 class across 5 days.

By Matthew Hixson

Tuesday’s Solutions

SEARCHING FOR HEADLINES...

CROSSWORD

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8 Wednesday, December 2, 2020

Opinion

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Caroline DePalma Philosophy in Focus

I

Tell my dog I miss her

t has been an exhausting week. It is stressful enough to be a student nearing final exams; it is a whole other ordeal to try to be focused on anything while COVID-19 cases increase and new restrictions are put in place.

Friedrich Hayek wrote in “The Road to Serfdom” (1944) that “We are ready to accept almost any explanation of the present crisis of our civilization except one: that the present state of the world may be the result of genuine error on our own part.”

Perhaps he’s right. Perhaps everything we did to try to make being on campus safe for everyone simply wasn’t enough, or we just didn’t prepare well enough.

There is no doubt that the intentions of the administration and the student body were in the right place, and that everything the students and faculty did to make being here as safe as possible prevented the situation from getting much worse, much sooner.

Nevertheless, we are now faced with increasingly difficult circumstances. While the choice between staying on campus through the end of the semester and finishing the semester at home was a more difficult one than I had anticipated, I am here for the long haul. So despite the unconventional holiday I had last week, I still have tried to think about what I’m thankful for — the things that make me want to stay here for as long as I can.

For the classes I am still attending in person, I am reminded of what would have been lost if we could only see each other as tiny boxes on a screen. Every time I pass a new friend on the stairs, I think about the connections I might have missed if we had only known each other through Instagram.

But something about eating every meal in plastic containers makes me miss a home-cooked dinner. Sitting six feet apart in every class makes me look forward to a hug from my parents and my best friends when I get home, and it has been far too long since the last time I pet my dog.

In spite of that, I am still excited to be here and making the most of it in any way I can. Hayek’s words are a sobering reminder that sometimes the search for something great leads us somewhere we didn’t expect. A year ago, I had no idea that the search for the best academic experience possible would come at the expense of so much. I still have no idea now what that search will look like next month, never mind next year.

But Hayek also wrote that the only thing to do when a good plan goes awry is to try again. So tell my dog that I miss her, and take a moment to think about the things you’re thankful for that could have made the decision difficult (or effortless, as the case may be) to stay on campus, and let’s try again.

Caroline DePalma is a first-year who has not yet declared a major. Caroline can be reached at caroline.depalma@tufts.edu The Tufts Daily is a nonprofit, independent newspaper, published Monday through Friday during the academic year, and distributed free to the Tufts community.

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Sports

Major League Soccer approaches conference finals

9 Wednesday, December 2, 2020

Jenny Lu In the Paint

What the NBA can learn from the NFL season

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RYAN KNAPP / WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

Sporting KC and the New England Revolution are pictured during a game in 2011.

by Michael Wallace-Bruce Contributing Writer

The Major League Soccer (MLS) playoffs began on Nov. 21. The first game of the playoffs featured Orlando City SC and New York City FC (NYCFC).

Orlando took the lead in the fifth minute with Nani’s penalty kick, but central defender Maxime Chanot headered in a goal to level the game for NYCFC during the eighth minute. In the 87th minute of the game, Ruan received a red card for a hostile challenge on an NYCFC player. The rest of the game went back and forth with both teams taking many shots on the goal. Nonetheless, the match finished 1–1 after 90 minutes.

During the penalty shootouts, Pedro Gallese, the goalkeeper for Orlando, received a controversial red card for encroaching on his line during a penalty kick. In spite of that, Orlando won the penalty shootout 6–5 to move on to the next round.

Within the Eastern Conference, the New England Revolution defeated the Philadelphia Union 2–0 in a stunning win. Favorites to win the playoffs, Philadelphia had the best record within the Eastern and Western Conferences.

They finished the year with 14 wins, five draws and four losses. The team also had the best goal differences within both conferences.

New England, on the other hand, played against the Montreal Impact to gain entry into the playoffs and are the eighth seed in the playoffs. Although seasonal team statistics illustrated their unlikeliness to win, New England won the game due to a persistent attacking effort in the first half. Philadelphia, on the other hand, simply lacked attacking creativity to trouble the New England keeper.

Following their win, New England beat Orlando 3–1 in a conference semi-

finals match. Orlando dominated the possession side of the game; they had about 61% of the ball throughout the 90 minutes while New England had 39% of the ball. Nevertheless, New England capitalized on their opportunities and scored an awarded penalty in the 17th minute. Striker Gustavo Bou also calmly finished a chance in the 25th minute to put New England up by two goals. Orlando responded with a goal in the 33rd minute and continued to look threatening when moving forward. However, their attacking midfielder, Mauricio Pereyra, received a red card in the 60th minute. The challenge was costly as New England utilized the advantage to score their third and game-sealing goal.

Sporting KC played the San Jose Earthquakes to commence the playoffs within the Western Conference. The game finished 3–3 during normal playing time. In the penalty shootout, the Sporting KC goalkeeper had three spectacular saves to propel his team into the conference semifinals. The penalty shootout, in all, finished 3–0 in favor of Sporting KC. Portland Timbers and FC Dallas’ game also ended in a penalty shootout.

As the winner of the MLS is Back Tournament, Portland finished third in the Western Conference and scored 46 goals within the season. Meanwhile, FC Dallas finished sixth in the Western Conference.

The match between the two teams was exciting and eventful especially during the penalty shootout. The teams shared a close amount of possession; Portland, however, had more shots on goal. Dallas scored the first goal of the game in the 32nd minute, but it was overturned as offside after video assistant refereeing counselled the referee.

The first half ended 0–0. Though the game was open, Portland’s attacking

and link-up passes paid dividends as they scored an exquisite goal in the 82nd minute. The game looked to be over until Ricardo Pepi scored from a ball ricocheting from the post in the injury time.

The game ended with a penalty score of 8–7 favoring Dallas.

Minnesota United FC defeated the Colorado Rapids 3–0. Though the score line hints at a different narrative, Colorado played well and forced six crucial saves from Minnesota’s goalkeeper Dayne St. Clair. However, Minnesota slotted their open chances to win the game.

In the ultimate game of the first round of the Western Conference playoffs, Seattle Sounders FC defeated Los Angeles FC (LAFC) 3–1. Seattle scored the first goal in the 18th minute. Following a skillful dribble, LAFC’s talisman Carlos Vela earned a penalty in the 21st minute. However, he shot straight into the keeper’s hand and the first half ended 1–0. During the second half, Seattle dominated the game; they hit the post three times and looked threatening with their attacks.

Consequently, the Sounders scored in the 66th minute. Although LAFC scored in the 77th minute to make it 2–1, the Sounders scored to seal the game in the 80th minute.

The conference finals are fixed.

The New England Revolution will play against the Columbus Crew in the Western Conference finals scheduled for Dec. 6. Columbus appears as the favorite, but New England, based on their recent displays, can upset the Columbus team. In the Eastern Conference, the Seattle Sounders defeated FC Dallas by a score of 1–0 yesterday for an Eastern Conference finals spot. Meanwhile, Sporting Kansas will play Minnesota United FC on Dec. 3 for a Western Conference finals spot.

ith previously injured players like Stephen Curry and Kevin Durant coming back, rookies from the draft looking to find their feet, free agent signings hoping to break through and ongoing trades changing the league, there’s a lot to look forward to in the NBA. Last season, the NBA went on an over fourmonth hiatus starting in mid-March due to the COVID-19 pandemic. There were many concerns over how the season would continue, but the league eventually settled on creating a bubble in Orlando, Fla. Twenty-two teams were invited onto the Disney campus to carry out the rest of their season, and 16 teams entered the playoffs.

Although there were a few instances of misconduct (*cough cough* Danuel House), most players and coaches adhered strictly to the COVID-19 guidelines within the bubble, which paid off as there were zero cases of infection on campus. Athletes across the campus behaved professionally; they were always photographed with masks on when not playing and coaches and reporters frequently urged others to do the same. Much like how the NBA addressed the Black Lives Matter movement, the league was a leader in how to conduct sports during COVID-19.

All fans were virtual, with the likes of former President Barack Obama and Lil Wayne lining the walls of the gym.

With another season coming up, the same concerns for COVID-19 have not gone away, although it’s hard to tell from the NFL season that’s going on right now. Back in March, the NFL announced that they would hold a full season without being in a bubble setting like the NBA or NHL. There is some kind of testing program for the players and staff, but with traveling and the admittance of fans, the season was doomed from the start. Although the stadiums will hold a reduced capacity of fans, the number for any game is still in the thousands.

As of Week 12 in the NFL, there has been a significant spike in COVID-19 cases and teams like the Denver Broncos and Baltimore Ravens are without key players. The NBA is going to have a similar plan come December, but what they really should do is learn from the mistakes of the current NFL season. It’s unacceptable for the NBA to hold playoffs and finals in a bubble back in July but have any other plan for the 2020–21 season, a season that will start amid the holidays when the pandemic is worse than ever before. Players will likely not want to transition back into bubble life as it means sacrificing time away from their families, making another NBA bubble far out of reach (although ideal).

Nonetheless, it’s not too late to make changes to the season that will protect players and fans alike by having empty stadiums and less traveling.

Jenny Lu is a first-year who has not yet declared a major. Jenny can be reached at jen.lu@tufts.edu