Columns

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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Columns

Let’s Talk Art: Photography with Tommy Kha

By Carmen Smoak | March 9

Howdy! My name is Carmen, and I know very little about art. Last semester I was lucky enough to take a course at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts and attend the Artist Talk Series that they host every semester. The art world can feel like a black box, but listening to artists describe their thought process and the meaning behind their work makes art more universally approachable. For this column, I invite you to join me as I learn about art through the SMFA artist talks.

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Columns

Keeping Up with the 617: Unexpected panic

By Matt Goguen | March 9

Following their incredible second-half surge where they won 26 of their final 32 games, the Boston Celtics finished the 2021–22 season with an NBA Finals berth and two wins away from the prized Larry O’Brien trophy. The Celtics continued their dominance into 2023, where they led the league for most of the season. However, they are currently in a short slump, losing four out of their last six contests. While many Celtics fans hit the panic button immediately following a tough loss, there wasn’t much need for hysteria — until now. Following their brutal overtime defeat to the Cleveland Cavaliers on Monday night, stress is building in Boston.

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Column

The End of the World Has Just Begun: A pivot to Africa?

By Daniel Chung | March 9

For the past few years, there has been increasing discussion in the foreign policy community about Washington’s role in the Global South: an often neglected part of international relations. With the primacy of the United States waning in institutions like the United Nations and in the Global South —17 African states abstained from a vote condemning Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and one voted against it — the necessity for Washington to regain soft power influence over the region has been under a spotlight, as the United States seeks to preserve the global liberal order. Now, the time has come for a coordinated Africa strategy.

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Columns

Winkler’s Weekly Symphony Guide: BSO Festival centers marginalized voices

By Matthew Winkler | March 8

The Boston Symphony Orchestra is in the middle of a festival titled “Voices of Loss, Reckoning, and Hope” that started March 3 and will run until March 18. The festival features a wide array of guest composers, conductors, speakers and performers, and explores themes of legal inequities, racism and the equal rights of women. In addition to regularly scheduled paid concerts, the BSO is also offering a host of free performances and lectures for the festival. One of these free lectures featured Tufts professors Dr. Kerri Greenidge and Dr. Kendra Taira Field alongside Northeastern professor Dr. Kabria Baumgartner as panelists on a discussion about African American musicians in Boston’s classical music history.

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Columns

Medford’s Carrie Bradshaw: ‘The End of the English Major’

By Megan Reimer | March 7

The New Yorker says it is “The End of the English Major.”

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Columns

Extra Innings: 2023 MLB award picks

By Henry Blickenstaff | March 7

Opening day is just a few weeks away, so it’s time to make some predictions. These are my picks — as well as some dark horse candidates — for the 2023 MVP and Cy Young awards in each league. 

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