Tufts for Warren prepares for upcoming presidential election see FEATURES / PAGE 4
MEN’S TENNIS
Sorkin wins 2nd straight ITA Cup
Additional safety measures should be taken on Boston Avenue, College Avenue see EDITORIAL / PAGE 10
SEE SPORTS / BACK PAGE
THE
VOLUME LXXVIII, ISSUE 33
INDEPENDENT
STUDENT
N E W S PA P E R
OF
TUFTS
UNIVERSITY
E S T. 1 9 8 0
T HE T UFTS DAILY Wednesday, October 23, 2019
MEDFORD/SOMERVILLE, MASS.
tuftsdaily.com
Disability activist Fries shares life experiences, reads from written works by Madeleine Aitken Staff Writer
Kenny Fries, an author and disability rights activist who mainly writes on his experiences as a disabled, gay, Jewish man, visited Tufts yesterday to read from and talk about his recent memoir, “In the Province of the Gods” (2017), as well as preview his forthcoming book, “Stumbling Over History: Disability and the Holocaust.” The event was organized by Health and Wellness Services and Student Accessibility Services as part of Disability Awareness Month. Michelle Bowdler, executive director of Health and Wellness Services, opened the evening by introducing Fries and speaking about his illustrious career as a writer. Fries has published memoirs, poems and essays and teaches in the MFA in Creative Writing Program at Goddard College. He’s the recipient of numerous awards and grants and has been a Fulbright scholar twice. “We were undergrads at Brandeis [University] together, and I swear I remember him saying to me ‘I think I want to be a writer,’” Bowdler said. Fries began by reading from his first memoir, “Body, Remember” (1997). “Those afternoons I did not take the bus, and chose to walk home from high school, I would find this boy, maybe 10 or 11 years old, sitting on the stoop of the semi-detached house where I imagine he lived. Every time I passed this boy
asked, ‘Why your legs the way they are?’ And I would answer, ‘I was born that way,’ never stopping or slowing down,” he read. This memoir was Fries’ first foray into writing about his intersecting identities. “I was born missing bones in both my legs. I need specially designed orthopedic shoes, as well as a cane, to get around,” Fries said. Fries then read the prologue and part of the first chapter of “In the Province of the Gods.” Fries’ memoir tells his story of being a disabled foreigner in Japan. He moved to Japan with no specific interest in the country or the culture, but in retrospect, he says it affected the course of his life. “I hadn’t lived abroad since I was a junior in college, and I wanted to live abroad and I thought the time that I would be able to do that was shrinking. So I decided to apply for all these international grants. And I knew nothing about Japan. I had no interest in Japan, and I got the grant to go to Japan, which was not an easy thing to get. And off I went, and it totally changed my life,” Fries said. Fries spoke of his struggles adjusting to a new culture, especially as a person with disabilities. He also explained the differences he observed between the way people treated him in the U.S. and the way people looked at him in Japan. see FRIES, page 2
COURTESY LARRY MOORE VIA WIKIMEDIA COMMONS
Author Kenny Fries is pictured at the 2017 Texas Book Festival.
New pool development still in fundraising stages by Hannah Noh
Contributing Writer
The Tufts administration is advancing plans to replace the Hamilton Pool with an Olympic-sized pool in hopes of providing the Tufts, Medford and Somerville communities with an updated facility for swimming use. However, the university has not yet finalized a specific timeline and budget since the initial announcement of the project in 2018. “The [Tufts] student body, the faculty and the staff deserve world-class facilities, and right now, the standard in American swimming, and even in Division III athletics, is an Olympic-size pool. [A new pool] would put us on par
Please recycle this newspaper
Rain 67 / 45
/thetuftsdaily
with many of our counterpart universities,” Adam Hoyt, head coach of the men’s and women’s swim teams and the director of aquatics programs at Tufts, said. The creation of a new aquatic center will primarily rely on alumni and other donors who are supportive of health and fitness on campus, according to Eric C. Johnson, senior vice president for university advancement. Johnson said his team and Tufts Director of Athletics John Morris’ team have been making efforts to cultivate interest in the project, which Tufts’ Brighter World Campaign has identified as a priority in the athletics sector of fundraising. Hoyt also mentioned that University President Anthony Monaco supports the construction. For breaking news, our content archive and exclusive content, visit tuftsdaily.com @tuftsdaily
tuftsdaily
tuftsdaily
However, there is not yet a fixed timetable for the completion of either the fundraising or the construction of the facility. Johnson said in an email to the Daily that current estimates say the pool would require $30 million and two years to complete. Also, annual operating expenses have not yet been established, and the estimates are subject to change, according to Johnson. Likewise, no final location has been determined, but Johnson hopes the new pool would be as close as possible to the Steve Tisch Sports and Fitness Center and Cousens Gym. He underscored the steps needed to take before settling on a location, including a comprehensive discussion with the local community and city officials.
Contact Us P.O. Box 53018, Medford, MA 02155 daily@tuftsdaily.com
According to Morris, the swim team travels to and rents the pool at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology for training every day because of the limiting size of Tufts’ pool. “A new aquatic center would enable our teams to practice and compete in our home pool, and might permit more student groups to use the pool and more programs to be offered as well,” Morris told the Daily in an email. “[The pool] would provide our teams with facilities that are on par with our competitive peers across the country,” Morris wrote. “And it would benefit our recruiting efforts greatly by enabling
NEWS............................................1 FEATURES.................................4 ARTS & LIVING.......................6
see HAMILTON, page 2
FUN & GAMES.........................9 OPINION...................................10 SPORTS............................ BACK