Columns

Columns

Winkler's Weekly Symphony Guide: Film and classical music

By Matthew Winkler | March 29

Classical music can be a daunting genre for beginners to enter. I believe this is because it is a completely foreign way of approaching music compared to what our society teaches us — see one of my previous columns for more thoughts on this. But, surprisingly, most people have already been subconsciously listening to, and loving, classical music! Whether you like to whistle along to the theme of “Indiana Jones” (1981–) or tense up to the pounding harmonies of “The Dark Knight” (2008), chances are that film music is an integral part of your life. But most people do not realize that film music is also fundamentally classical music. Much of American film music comes directly from Western classical music, and I believe that the popularity of classical music has not died but rather shifted and obscured to the more programmatic medium of film music. 

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Columns

Kolumn: Destigmatizing giving up halfway

By Koloris Wu | March 28

On my computer, there is a folder in which I put my writing pieces. Simply judging by the number of Word documents that exist in that folder, I appear to be a writer who is welling up with ideas. But in fact, one hand is enough to count the finished ones. I gave up on all the others halfway. 

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Columns

The Final Whistle: Eight dreams, one reality

By Bharat Singh | March 28

As domestic leagues move into their title-deciding weeks, Europe’s Elite Cup competition boils down to eight. Matchups filled with storylines from coaches taking on their previous teams and repeat fixtures from last year’s edition guarantee another historic round of Champions League football. 

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Columns

Medford’s Carrie Bradshaw: Visiting friends at college

By Megan Reimer | March 28

Are you considering visiting your significant other, sibling or unrelenting friend who keeps asking you to “come and see what their life is like” at their respective university? Do you wonder what another college is like, especially one that is starkly different from yours? If you are, I am here to tell you about my experiences taking the leap and booking that ticket.

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Columns

Let’s Talk Art: Photography and filmmaking with Farah Al Qasimi

By Carmen Smoak | March 17

On March 10, Tufts’ School of the Museum of Fine Arts hosted photographer and filmmaker Farah Al Qasimi in its Artist Talks series. A storyteller at heart, Al Qasimi uses her art as a language to communicate social and environmental issues in her home country, the United Arab Emirates. This language, both visual and auditory, allows the viewer to adeptly switch between different ways of seeing and knowing a singular story.

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Columns

What I Wish I Knew: Moms are meant to be missed

By Abby Stern | March 17

At this point in my adult life, I don’t live with my parents. I haven’t spent more than a month and a half consecutively at their house since before college. So I expected to miss them when I went abroad. In fact, I expected to miss them a little more than usual based on the physical distance between us, but not by much. What I didn’t realize is that what makes me miss my parents is not the physical distance — it’s the constant lack of familiarity in my current surroundings.

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Columns

Las Letras Encubiertas: ‘Mis Plenos Poderes’

By Andrés F. Arévalo | March 17

Throughout literary history, we’ve seen numerous authors delve into other occupations outside of writing. However, there are few like Cristina Reyes. Originally born in Guayaquil, Ecuador, Reyes has not only published several volumes of poetry, but has also had a successful career in pageants and in Ecuadorian politics. As a pageant contestant, Reyes came in as a runner-up in ‘Miss Ecuador,’ and eventually went on to compete in one of the major international pageants, ‘Miss Earth.’ As a politician, Reyes has held multiple positions in different branches of the government, including representative for the national assembly for the Social Christian Party. 

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Columns

Extra Innings: Top 10 MLB players for 2023

By Henry Blickenstaff | March 17

I won’t waste too much time on a long introduction since the title should be pretty self-explanatory. Here are my top 10 players in the MLB for the 2023 season. 

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Columns

Sports and Society: Race and the NBA MVP

By Oliver Fox | March 16

The NBA MVP Award has always been completely ridiculous. It is the most confusing award ever conceived with zero agreed-upon criteria with which voters can even begin to formulate an opinion. Surely this hasn’t caused any problems over the past few weeks.

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Columns

Queeries: Drag Me to Tufts

By Jack Clohisy and Saba S. | March 16

Mark your calendars because Friday, March 31 is International Transgender Day of Visibility. This is an annual awareness day that allows the accomplishments of transgender people to be spotlighted and offers schools and communities an opportunity to create and celebrate more trans-inclusive spaces.

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Columns

The Wraparound: Be bad for Bedard

By Timothy Valk | March 16

It’s not often that the race for last is as intense as the race for first, but this NHL season has toppled that trend. All eyes — owners, general managers, coaches and fans — are on 17-year-old Connor Bedard, the crown jewel of this year’s entry draft. Bedard is considered to be not only the best player in his draft class but also a rare, “generational” prospect. Many believe he is the best since Connor McDavid entered the league in 2015 — and the two of them share more traits than just a first name.

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Columns

Personal Praguenosis: Wake up, the Earth is flat

By Sacha Waters | March 15

As an American abroad, you hear a lot of stereotypes: Americans are loud, narcissistic, obsessed with guns and can’t even point out another country on a map. There’s a whole host of often unflattering adjectives that come with the territory of “American.” 

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Columns

Caffeinated Commentary: 1369 Coffee House

By Natalie Bricker | March 14

I was very excited about this week’s coffee shop because many people recommended it to me! I ventured over to 1369 Coffee House, which has been rated “Best Coffeehouse in Cambridge” by Scout Magazine three times according to their website. The original shop is located at 1369 Cambridge St., hence the name. I went to their Central Square location, the second shop they’ve opened. For Tufts students, it’s a quick ride on the T (three stops from Davis Square to Central) and then a four minute walk from the Central Square T stop.

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Columns

Medford’s Carrie Bradshaw: What it’s like to be a transfer student (at Tufts)

By Megan Reimer | March 14

According to the National Student Clearinghouse, just over one-third of college students transfer schools before earning their degree. Then why does it feel like such a big deal?

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Columns

Kolumn: When without feet

By Koloris Wu | March 13

The martlet is a mythical bird found primarily in English, French and German heraldry. Depending on the country, there is some dispute as to which bird species martlets belong to.

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Columns

K-Weekly: There’s no shame in liking K-Pop

By Odessa Gaines | March 13

Without fail, one of the first questions I always get asked when I tell people I love BTS or that I write this column is, “How long have you listened to K-pop?” Most people are shocked when I tell them the truth — I grew up listening to K-pop because my mother listens to it, but I really started getting into the fandom nature in 2015 when BTS dropped their single “Dope.” Since then, I’ve been an avid listener and fan.

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Columns

What I Wish I Knew: There is never enough time and never enough money

By Abby Stern | March 10

If you’re preparing to study abroad, don’t do what I did and make a list of pretty much every single country in Western Europe and say, “these are all the places I want to visit.” That’s unrealistic, and unless the person reading this is Rockefeller himself, it’s not affordable either.

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Columns

Las Letras Encubiertas: 'Páradais'

By Andrés F. Arévalo | March 10

From the many female literary talents that Mexico has produced in the last few decades, the public eye has failed to acknowledge one of its greatest fiction talents — Fernanda Melchor. Melchor was born in Veracruz, where she also got her journalism degree before becoming a novelist. Although she has works published in prestigious journals like “The Paris Review” and has published four books, she had her first breakthrough with “Temporada de Huracanes” (2017), which was shortlisted for the International Booker Prize and won the Haus der Kulturen der Welt. 

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Column

The Strike Zone: Mitigating the threat of Ukraine fatigue

By Eli Striker | March 9

Ukraine’s unyielding resistance to Vladimir Putin’s autocratic aggression has improved the country’s reputation on the international stage and led to a powerful alliance between Presidents Joe Biden and Volodymyr Zelenskyy. However, the greatest test of this partnership has yet to come. There is no end in sight to the Russia-Ukraine conflict, and Ukraine’s military is highly dependent on U.S. aid. Although the Biden administration has supported Ukraine rhetorically and politically, it is not surprising that Ukrainian leaders may worry that American politicians will not support a foreign war indefinitely. This strategic partnership is currently at a high point after decades of ups and downs, but future military aid could be jeopardized by a lack of support on Capitol Hill. Therefore, Kyiv faces external pressure to achieve sustained military success, as they must prove to Washington that military support is a worthwhile investment.

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Columns

Queeries: Queer women have always been icons

By Jack Clohisy and Saba S. | March 9

Here in Queeries, we love talking about and reflecting on our queer history. The intersection between LGBTQ+ history and women’s bravery is an interdisciplinary field that explores the history of identity in the United States. March is Women’s History Month, when we commemorate and celebrate the women in America who have played a crucial role in our history. As we continue to talk about queer history, we want to acknowledge the transgender women at Stonewall who paved the way for LGBTQ+ rights, yet were pushed out of the gay rights movement. We owe Women’s History Month to them and could all stand to be better allies in a world that continues to be a dangerous landscape for Black LGBTQ+ individuals.

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