Columns

Column

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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Columns

Weekly Wellness: Are seed oils scary?

By Katie Pflieger | October 30

In the past few years, there has been an increase in wellness-related fearmongering about seed oils, which raises the question: Are seed oils really scary? From canola and sunflower to grapeseed and safflower oils, what are seed oils, really, and are they harmful to our health?

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Column

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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Columns

Hey Wait Just One Second: Tricks and Treats

By Max Turnacioglu | October 29

Trick or treat. Smell my feet. Give me something good to eat. If you don’t, I don’t care. I’ll pull down your underwear. Woah — maybe I wouldn’t go that far, but I am ‘dead’ serious about Halloween. Among the dominant (American) holidays, Halloween sticks out like a sore pumpkin. It lacks a prototypical communal or religious element, like many other notable festivities, instead imbuing celebration with an individualistic and distinctively subversive tilt. To examine this proclaimed Christian and historically pagan holiday from a Jewish perspective: On all other holiday nights, we celebrate joy and contentment, but on this night we celebrate fear. Why is this night different from all other nights?

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Columns

T Time: Just around the Coolidge Corner

By Jeremy Bramson | October 25

This weekend, instead of watching the Head Of The Charles — which I regret not attending — I took advantage of the beautiful weather and took a trip to Coolidge Corner in Brookline. For those interested in visiting, you can take the Green Line from the Medford/Tufts station, transfer to the Green Line C branch between Government Center and Copley and take it to Coolidge Corner station. All in all, the trip took a little bit under an hour.

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Columns

Full Court Press: Why you should be rooting for the Lakers

By Noah Goldstein | October 25

If you’re among the loyal readers of this column (all three or four of you, by my estimate), you might be wondering why a series titled “The Full Court Press” has yet to cover any basketball. As you sat and read about Deshaun Watson or the Padres, you surely thought to yourself, “Does this idiot even know what a full court press is? He knows that’s a basketball term, right?”

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Columns

Minutia Matters: Baseball, semantic narrowing and language shift

By Leo Deener | October 24

The New York Yankees, my favorite team, won the American League Championship Series on Saturday and are therefore heading to the World Series. As right fielder Juan Soto caught the final out that sent them to the World Series, the announcer proclaimed that the Yankees had won the pennant for the first time in 15 years. What the hell is a pennant? 

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Columns

The Daily Drip: Soylent Green

By Dylan Fee | October 24

After last week’s hiccup, I am back on track. I wrote this column not one, but two days before it was due to make sure soy milk was in stock at the Sink. Since it was, the moment you have all been waiting for has finally arrived. Here’s a review of this week’s Sink-nature drink — the Soylent Green. 

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Columns

The Oxford Comma: Hurrah for humanities!

By Grace Nelson | October 23

Hello again! It’s Grace, coming to you live from Oxford! Now that the Michaelmas term has well and truly started, I can finally provide an opinion on the academics here.

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Columns

Hey Wait Just One Second: Bread

By Max Turnacioglu | October 23

I’m always stacking bread. And I don’t mean to suggest that I’m flush with dough — far from it — rather, I can never have just one slice of good bread. Whether soft and sweet or crusty and sour or the entire world of options in between, bread is as delicious as it is ubiquitous. We need bread, it seems. It is the “staff of life” to many Europeans, while, in Egyptian Arabic, “eish” (bread) originates from “y’eish” (to live). Peering through the thick crust of this universal, life-bringing force and appreciating all its wonder seems to be the yeast we can do. 

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Columns

A Jumbo’s Journey: Being nonchalant in Dewick (I’m 6 feet, 2 inches btw)

By Ben Rachel | October 22

This article has taken me unprecedentedly long to write. Normally, I can sit down, write a publication in less than an hour and then send it to the editors to clean up my inordinate amount of grammatical errors. This one, however, took me a long time to write. At first, when I came up with the title, I just wanted to let my fans know that I am 6 feet, 2 inches. However, I felt like that wouldn’t be up to par with my other publications. (My fanbase needs to be satisfied.) It was not until I was back in my hometown of Chicago (ranked by Condé Nast as the best big city in the United States for eight consecutive years) that I was struck with inspiration.

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Columns

Wanderlust: A less colorful autumn

By Carmen Smoak | October 21

Once again, the season of vibrant reds, yellows and oranges has come. There is a slight nip in the air and pumpkins are slowly appearing on windowsills. The seasons are changing as they always do, but there is something different about autumn in Germany.

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Columns

Adventures of an A-Lister: Reviewing the popcorn buckets

By Odessa Gaines | October 18

With many highly anticipated franchise releases, AMC Theatres often will release a limited edition popcorn bucket to eager fans. Although pricey, these buckets are a fun piece of memorabilia for collectors and movie-goers. Today, I will highlight some of the more recent AMC popcorn bucket releases.

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Columns

The Final Whistle: David De Gea’s golden gloves

By Bharat Singh | October 18

A collective wave of groans echoed throughout the Stadio Artemio Franchi as the referee pointed to the spot. A quick passing combination had released Christian Pulisic into space as he darted towards goal. Despite losing his balance, the American was able to swiftly direct the ball towards Tijjani Reijnders before he was fouled by Luca Ranieri — penalty to A.C Milan. Fiorentina’s early graft for a 1–0 lead now seemed pointless as Theo Hernandez steadied himself at the spot.

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Column

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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Columns

Read, Write and Be Merry: ‘Welcome to the Hyunam-Dong Bookshop’

By Merry Jiao | October 17

Disclaimer: This article contains spoilers for “Welcome to the Hyunam-Dong Bookshop” by Hwang Bo-Reum.You! Yes you, the person reading this article. You look like you need a hug. I’m imagining that movie clip from Migration, and I promise you will feel better after reading this. Apparently it’s midterm month over on the other side of the pond, so best of luck to all you poor unfortunate souls :)

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Column

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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Columns

T Time: Two stops down the Red Line

By Jeremy Bramson | October 15

After a brief hiatus, I’m excited to resume publishing T Time. Every other week, I’ll visit a new station on the MBTA and share a little bit about the station’s history, the neighborhood’s history and fun things to do in the area. As this edition’s title suggests, today I’m discussing a station two stops south of Davis Square on the Red Line: Harvard. For those interested in visiting, you can take the Red Line from Davis and travel two stops or you can take the 96 bus from campus, which makes stops at the corner of Winthrop and Boston Ave, outside the Dowling Garage and at the bottom of the Memorial Steps. The train takes about five to 10 minutes to get from Davis to Harvard while the bus takes between 15 and 25 minutes, depending on traffic. 

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Column

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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Columns

Hey Wait Just One Second: Cowardice

By Max Turnacioglu | October 15

I’m afraid of the dark. While it may be natural to fear what we cannot see, I can’t help but race to dive beneath the covers in the brief moment I have after turning off the lights, until my seemingly plain room is transformed into a den of shifting shadows. Maybe I am a coward for not simply enduring an ordinary fact of life. Or maybe, I’m a craven, a poltroon, even a dastard, to speak more boldly. Or maybe, by facing my fear and emerging triumphant in my bed every night, I am courageous. For words that, on their face, appear antonymic, cowardice and courage are often difficult to distinguish.

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