Opinion | Column

Column

Forgotten Fronts: Why British colonial policy was the bane of Muslims in Myanmar

By Alexander Degterev | November 4

Last week I wrote about the Rohingya, an ethnic group in Myanmar who have undergone intense persecution from both the military and local Buddhist nationalist groups, concluding my article with what could be done to help lessen the burden on these civilians. To fully understand the situation, though, we need to consider the premodern history of Muslim groups in Myanmar, acknowledging that British colonialism is the primary cause of the tensions that are present today.

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Rooted Reflections: We can't all go vegan

By Justin Solis | October 30

In recent years, a global movement towards vegan diets has risen to prominence, driven by the idea that going vegan can help save the planet. Researchers have identified that vegans produce an environmental footprint that is at least one-third lower than those who eat meat. They are also responsible for 93% less methane, a greenhouse gas responsible for 25% of global warming.

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Coffee Table Socioeconomics: Upward mobility is becoming obsolete

By Linda Huang | October 29

Upward mobility has long been held up as a defining factor of generational success, especially in the U.S., where the notion of rising above one’s parents in socioeconomic status is central to the “American Dream.” Traditionally, this concept meant climbing the social stratum — gaining wealth, status or both, often through education or hard work. In practice, upward mobility is sometimes reduced to a simple metric: whether the next generation earns a higher income than the previous one.

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Rooted Reflections: What Tufts isn’t teaching (and what it should)

By Justin Solis | October 17

Every Tuesday at 1:30 p.m., I lead groups of prospective students around Tufts as a tour guide. Last week, I was asked “If you ran Tufts, what would you change?” At the time, I responded with a surface-level answer: streamlining class schedules. Yet this question sat with me throughout the rest of the week.

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The Death of Education: Bring back PE classes

By Evan Wang | October 16

It is not a mystery that childhood obesity has become a crisis within the United States. With increased screen time, unhealthy foods and high levels of stress, America’s children are becoming increasingly at risk of obesity from a younger and younger age. Indeed, this public health crisis has evolved and compounded into many more issues. From mental health to student test scores, childhood obesity is now posing a serious threat to America’s future; however, it is a crisis that could have simple solutions if the government is ready to act quickly.

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Ukraine at War: How Ukrainian universities and students adjust to the war: The case of the Kyiv School of Economics (Part 1)

By Mariia Kudina | October 15

The full-scale war between Russia and Ukraine has brought plenty of challenges for schools throughout the nation. In 2022, institutions had to rapidly switch to online classes, adjusting programs for temporary remote teaching while helping their now geographically scattered students navigate a dire new reality. At the same time, to prepare for a future return, these schools had to build shelters or equip already existing basements for hiding during missile and drone attacks.

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Coffee Table Socioeconomics: Why you should care

By Linda Huang | October 15

I have been putting this off for a while, but this semester I’ve finally decided to start my long-overdue column on socioeconomics. I decided to write this column because too many people at Tufts seem to be confused or completely unbothered by the impacts of our economy and how it’s intertwined with social issues. Socioeconomics, by definition, is a branch of economics that explores the relationship between social behavior and economic activity. My goal with this column is to break down these concepts and show how economic forces shape everything from education and inequality to social justice and identity. In this introductory piece, I hope I can convince you of why you should start caring.

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Forgotten Fronts: Cox’s Bazar and the flight of the Rohingya

By Alexander Degterev | October 15

The Rohingya people have long been inhabitants of the Rakhine State, also known as Arakan, in present-day Myanmar. Throughout their winding history in the region, the Rohingya have routinely faced discrimination and aggressive opposition from both the Myanmar military and Buddhist nationalist groups. The Rohingya, amongst other minority groups, have also been denied citizenship since the country’s independence, reinforced by a 1982 Citizenship Law.

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The Death of Education: Affirmative action is taking up too much of our time

By Evan Wang | October 8

As some readers might know, I have a weekly column titled “The Death of Education” in which I recently published an article defending the Supreme Court’s decision to outlaw affirmative action in college admissions. A few days later, the Daily published a Letter to the Editor that responded to my argument. The letter argued that affirmative action was still important to help underprivileged students catch up to more well-off students who might not suffer from the same social disadvantages. Since receiving criticism and having a healthy debate is important, I decided to write this response to address some of the points brought up and expand upon my original argument.

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Forgotten Fronts: Welcome to the frontlines

By Alexander Degterev | October 8

A report published by The Institute for Economics and Peace concluded that at the end of 2023, there were 56 ongoing conflicts in the world — most of which are still ongoing in 2024. In addition, the Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project concluded that over 170,000 lives were tragically lost in 2023, and nearly one in five of these casualties was classified as civilian.

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Rooted Reflections: Not all conservation is equal

By Justin Solis | October 3

In a previous Tufts Daily article, I advocated for summer jobs that are intrinsically linked to the local community and ecosystem. This was not merely out of a desire to create a generation of fishermen and farmers. In isolation, it is too easy to believe idealistic rhetoric that disregards practical solutions to tackling environmental issues. I believe that those emotionally removed from the land around them place undue value on preservation rather than conservation.

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The Death of Education: In defense of the humanities

By Evan Wang | October 2

When I first began to apply to college, one seemingly easy question haunted me for many nights: What do you intend to major in? Even from a young age, I was drawn to the allure of history. From the tales of knights in shining armor to the details of gruesome diseases that ravaged the land hundreds of years before me, history was my passion. But when it came time to pick a major, I was hesitant.

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Ukraine at War: Russia attacks hospitals in Ukraine

By Mariia Kudina | September 26

When I was leaving Boston this May to spend the summer break back home in Ukraine, I was certain that there would be opportunities for me to visit various Ukrainian cities, including Kharkiv and Odesa. However, the Russian offensive severely intensified, making these trips far too dangerous. Even staying in Kyiv, which is typically considered a relatively safe city compared to other places in Ukraine due to its air defense systems, I experienced a few dire attacks.

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The Death of Education: The final defeat of affirmative action

By Evan Wang | September 25

Ever since the Supreme Court struck down the use of affirmative action in Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard, colleges and universities across the country have been scrambling to address the fallout of this decision. Major newspapers and non-profits decried the decision as disastrous for diversity and inclusion in America’s higher education system. Yet, after the release of admission data for the year 2024, it has become abundantly clear that the dismemberment of affirmative action has not proven to be damaging for diversity in most colleges and will allow Americans to put a divisive issue behind them. 

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The Policy Perspective: Reasons to hope

By Keshav Srikant | April 22

I’ve spent the last year writing columns about how U.S. public policy can be improved. From housing to public transportation to education to climate change, there are many areas where we can do better. For my last edition of this column, however, I wanted to write about beneficial public policies that have been passed and that are often missed or ignored in a media consumption environment with a strong negativity bias.

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The Casual Death of Education: The constant assault on education by the American Right

By Evan Wang | April 19

The American education system is in crisis: a shortage of teachers, post-pandemic declines in learning and lack of proper funding plagues an already battered education sector. Instead of helping to reform this crumbling system and helping America’s youth, political figures on both sides of the aisle seem more willing to engage in culture war nonsense. While the left isn’t innocent in any of this deadlock, the main failings when it comes to the politicization of education still belong to the right.

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Ukraine at War: Ukraine desperately needs more air defense systems

By Mariia Kudina | April 19

On Wednesday, Russian missiles killed at least 18 people in Chernihiv, a Ukrainian city located 60 miles from the border with Russia. Over 60 people were injured in the aftermath of the attack, which happened in the morning as people were rushing to work and school. The country’s capital, Kyiv, is considered to be relatively safe; despite the frequency of attacks, missiles are often intercepted with the Patriot missile defense system, lowering the number of casualties. Other Ukrainian cities, especially the ones closer to the Russian border like Chernihiv and Kharkiv, are under a higher threat of another tragedy due to the lack of advanced protection equipment.

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The Policy Perspective: Blue states are floundering

By Keshav Srikant | April 8

Clean energy is a core part of the Democratic Party’s platform. The 2020 Democratic Party platform calls for building a “globally competitive clean energy economy”[a]. Yet in 2024, the state with the most installed solar infrastructure is not New York or California, where Democrats dominate state government, but Texas, a Republican-controlled state[b]. This isdespite billions of dollars spent by California’s state government to invest in solar[c].

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The Casual Death of Education: The failures of American sex education

By Evan Wang | April 5

Public education isn’t all about math and reading. There are many other topics students need to experience and learn about to become healthy and functioning members of society. With discourse around sex education becoming increasingly common, we must understand what adequate and competent education concerning sex looks like for America’s youth. However, the state of sex education in our public education system is in shambles and the public must take notice and address the ever-expanding problem.

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From Classroom to Clinic: Massachusetts and mental health parity

By Deeksha Bathini | April 4

During my psychiatry rotation at Tufts Medical Center, I found myself in the emergency room, helping determine whether a patient should be involuntarily hospitalized. The task of committing someone against their will is riddled with ethical dilemmas. Throughout my medical education, the notion of patient autonomy stands paramount to any other ethical principle. But, in the ER, the tenet completely unravels.

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