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Columns

Outside of the Boot: What has happened to Barcelona?

By Ryan Schneiderman | April 21

One month ago, Barcelona were atop La Liga, nine points clear of second place Atletico Madrid and in the quarter finals of the Champions League after defeating Arsenal 5-1 on aggregate.It had been 39 games since they had lost in any competition. In their previous 20 league games, they had won 19. In their next game, Barcelona would face their most bitter rival, Real Madrid in the biggest event in Spanish football: El Clásico. In the first meeting between the two sides this season, the team from the Catalan region left the Spanish capital victorious after a dominating 4-0 display at the Bernabeu. Their second meeting would go a little differently. Despite taking a 1-0 lead on 56 minutes, Barcelona went on to lose for the first time in just under six months. Since then, Barcelona have lost four out of their last five, with their only win coming against a 10-man Atletico Madrid side. They have been eliminated from the Champions League in the quarterfinal, and their lead over their La Liga rivals has disintegrated. Their dramatic and sudden loss of form seems as though it has out of nowhere, however hindsight provides indications that their success was hard pressed to last.

Columns

Style Spotlight: Georgia Kay

By Parker Selman | April 21

Georgia Kay is a junior at Tufts who spoke with me about Melbourne style, her slight obsession with cravats and what she thinks are the biggest fashion faux pas.

Columns

Flashes of Brilliance: Lemonade stands and Marathon Monday

By Eric Smiley | April 21

Patriots’ Day is a wonderful day. Those of us lucky enough to attend college in Massachusetts are gifted a three-day weekend. Some of us use it to catch up on schoolwork, some of us make up for lost sleep and some of us attend (or even participate in) the delightful Boston Marathon. Each of my four ...

Columns

Channeling Ina: Food and identity

By Kinsey Drake | April 21

Food is one of the great cultural universals: it transcends geography, age and race. Everyone, no matter their background, feels content after a hot meal and the warmth in which delicious food envelops your body. Yet the details of what we cook and eat, from the moment we pick or purchase our food ...

Columns

After Years: Chapter 10

By Stina Stannik | April 21

Editor’s note: This column is part of a fictional weekly serial.Alicia got out of the car first, keeping the gun trained on her father, as she carefully shut her door and walked around to his side. He made no move to escape before or after she opened his door and gestured for him to get out; rather, ...

Columns

NYSD: One Tufts Hill

By Rebecca Solomon and Pooja Sivaraman | April 21

Pooja: Lately I’ve been watching a lot of "One Tree Hill" (OTH) (2003-2012) — and by a lot I mean I just got to 100 episodes. It’s definitely a bit strange to start watching now, seeing as most of the songs and references are circa 2002. However, watching OTH lets me live through the ...

Columns

A flawed meritocracy

By Nicole Brooks | April 20

The reasons why we like sports can vary on a spectrum, but for the most part, our attraction to sports comes from three things, one of which is its unpredictability. Without this factor, the essence of competition would be completely lost. Not to say that people don’t like for victories to be planned, ...

Columns

Marathon Monday

By Rayn Riel | April 20

The Boston Marathon is supposed to occur only once a year. But for many in the region, it’s a marathon to get to school or work on time every single day. Boston is facing an identity crisis: is it a global city with ample night life opportunities or a New England town shutting down the MBTA before ...

Columns

'Let’s touch God'

By Vidya Srinivasan | April 20

For the show that inspired me to apply for this column slot in the first place, it’s sure proved difficult to write about "Friday Night Lights" (2006-2011). Seriously — I put it off for months, hoping I’d eventually be able to pinpoint just what makes this show so damn great. But here ...

Columns

Earth On Fire: Free trade, continued

By Luke Sherman | April 20

No issue has roiled this year's Democratic presidential contest more than free trade.At a debate last week, Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont) charged that during her tenure as a senator former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton “voted for virtually every disastrous trade agreement, which cost ...

Columns

The Story of Stories: Who owns a story?

By Melissa Feito | April 19

Maybe it’s just the kind of publications I subscribe to on Facebook (The Mary Sue, Bitch Magazine, all that necessary stuff), but my newsfeed this week was inundated with pure rage over the first image of the upcoming American adaptation of Ghost In the Shell, one of my favorite films of all time. ...

Columns

The ABC's of Literature: Kate Atkinson

By Natalie Girshman | April 19

Last week, I wrote about an author who switches effortlessly between genres, and this week, I am focusing on an author with a similarly unique talent. Kate Atkinson's works cover a wide variety of genres, whether it be a coming-of-age story, a crime novel or a work of historical fiction set during ...

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Columns

On The Spot: The other “other” dark horse

By Yuan Jun Chee | April 19

When the full-time whistle was blown at the King Power Stadium, West Ham must have been wondering if it was one point gained or two points dropped. And when they lost their FA Cup quarterfinal replay against Manchester United, and when they let Arsenal score an equalizer last weekend, you could feel ...

Columns

Jumbo Steps: Drawing attention

By Jake Lawicki | April 19

The hallway walls leading into my and my roommate’s room has been recently adorned with two new masterpieces. We can’t really tell if the portraits we drew of each other look Picasso-esque, or if they seem like the product of a three-year-old’s after-school art project.But that’s precisely we ...

Columns

Style Spotlight: Sophie Krakoff

By Parker Selman | April 15

Sophie Krakoff is a junior at Tufts who talked to me about New York style, and her prized pair of Louboutin’s.

Columns

Bridge the Gap: Transit — What's the point?

By John Russell | April 15

It’s no secret — I am definitely of the opinion that we should expand transit networks in the Boston area and in the United States. The reasons for this are plentiful. Transit helps us reduce our carbon footprint. It helps make transportation within and between cities more affordable. It reduces ...

Columns

Outside of the Boot: A failed prediction and a happy fan — Manchester City advance

By Ryan Schneiderman | April 14

Last week, I predicted that Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) would advance past Manchester City to secure a spot in the Champions League semi-finals. As a die-hard City fan, it was not difficult to see that the team was in a bad run of form. When Pep Guardiola was announced to replace current manager Manuel Pellegrini, City was sitting in second, three points off the leaders Leicester City. In the nine games following the announcement, City won just four times, against Sunderland, West Brom, Aston Villa and Bournemouth, none of which are opposition of quality — those teams have averaged just 31 points this season. In the same stretch, City lost at home to title challengers Leicester City and Tottenham, as well as local rivals Manchester United. Manchester City has been the playground bully this year. Against smaller sides, they've looked confident, but when it comes to the big boys, it's been a different story. In fact, City has garnered just six points from a possible thirty six against top eight teams this season (their only win came against Southampton in November). With this in mind, and considering a history of underwhelming Champions League performances, I didn’t give City a chance against a PSG side that has been nearly unbeatable this year. Let me tell you, I have never been happier to be wrong.

Column

After Years: Chapter Nine

By Stina Stannik | April 14

Editor’s note: This column is part of a fictional weekly serial.The car and its passengers bounced so wildly in its speeding progress that Alicia worried that she would accidentally discharge the gun she held pressed against the steering wheel with one hand. Her father had thus far shown no intention ...

Columns

The Arena: Cruz missile

By Aren Torikian | April 14

Candidates like Donald Trump are exciting. Trump is guaranteed to bring out thousands to his events and generate copious decibels of noise. He has built a campaign on telling it like it is and refusing to be politically correct.Ted Cruz, on the other hand, is boring. He brings hundreds to his events ...

Columns

Nine dishes every college student should know how to make

By Kinsey Drake | April 14

Want to win friends and influence people? Just feed them. Cooking doesn’t have to always be spontaneous, elaborate or stressful, nor does it have to look like a scene out of "Bridget Jones’ Diary." With standby, reliable recipes in your toolbox, you can be equipped for any type of social ...