My initial idea for this publication was going to be me complaining about the heinous weather out here in Barcelona. I’ve been here for a month now and it’s only been over 60 degrees, like, five times! It’s been getting pretty cold, with last night dropping to the high 40s. I’m not sure what it’s like back at Tufts, but I bet it’s better than here!
As the spring semester picks up, it’s important to remind ourselves that the average National Assessment of Education Progress scores in math, reading, science, civics and U.S. history for students in the United States are now back to what they were in the 1990s. This decline in student performance has been occurring since 2013; it has only been exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic and the post-pandemic inability to curtail chronic absenteeism. Presently, 74% of tested countries outperform U.S. students in science, and a staggering 86% outperform them in reading.
Q: I’m worried my girlfriend isn’t into me anymore. How do I know for sure?A: Well, if you have to ask, buddy (I’m assuming you’re a man because most women would already know), you might already have the answer. Crowdsourcing information about your relationship is rarely a sign things are running smoothly.
There are times when the world just feels overwhelming. There’s this persistent desire to stay informed — to keep up with current events, to understand what’s happening beyond my own small universe. But opening the news now elicits a familiar sinking feeling. Another headline about human rights being rolled back. Another policy undoing years of climate progress. Another reminder of democracy eroding in broad daylight while a billionaire purges a newsroom in the name of ‘efficiency.’
In our last edition, we discussed a possible German boycott of the 2026 World Cup, proposed by a senior member of their football federation in response to President Donald Trump’s criticism of European alliances and his attempts to acquire Greenland.This past week, the German Football Federation met to discuss the boycott. The conclusion: A boycott will not happen.
On Jan. 8, an Indigenous man named Jose Roberto ‘Beto’ Ramirez was dragged from his vehicle in Minneapolis by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents. Despite insisting on both his U.S. and tribal citizenship, he was beaten, detained and then sent to an ICE detention center for questioning. After being told he would facecharges for assaulting a federal officer, he was released over six hours after his initial encounter with ICE.
Ellie Ayati Jian began her career as a milliner by coincidence. Originally trained as an architect and interior designer, she stepped into the world of hat-making when a friend asked her to enter the contest for the Longines Prize for Elegance at the Belmont Stakes, a fashion contest in New York. When Jian couldn’t find a fascinator to match her outfit, she decided to make one instead, ultimately winning the prize for most elegant look of the day.
Q: I’ve been with my boyfriend for 7 months now and honestly I’m starting to think we’d be better off as friends. … He’s a really nice guy but I’m just not sure how into it I am anymore. All this to say, I need to know, how do I politely break up with someone?
Welcome back to my bookstore review column! I hope my brief, semester-long hiatus gave you enough time to explore the last few stops on our book crawl and that you are now itching for your next bookstore recommendation. The good news is that I’ve returned to give you my keen evaluations of the various book-buying experiences that Boston offers us.
On Martin Luther King Jr. Day, I had the pleasure of giving a friend of mine, Sae, a tour of Tufts. It was a perfect day to tour campus since it had snowed the night before, blanketing everything in a shining layer of white. The tour went great, but by the time we got back to Mayer Campus Center, we were both frozen to the bone. In a moment of genius, I pulled her onto the shuttle to Davis Square, promising her warm food just one bus stop away. With faces bundled into scarves and hands shoved into gloves, we made the trip to Yume Ga Arukara.
Saturday marked a historic day for first-year in college basketball. At 2 p.m, Houston’s Kingston Flemings dropped an absurd 42 points. An hour later, Illinois’ Keaton Wagler broke the first-year single-game scoring record with 46 points on just 17 shots, followed by BYU’s AJ Dybantsa’s 43-piece at 5:30 p.m. This marked the first time in at least the past 30 years that three first-years scored 40 points or more on the same day. It then feels like the perfect time to rank the first-years performing best at this point in the season.
For life’s most absurd, wild and confusing moments, sometimes you need to turn to a stranger for unbiased and honest advice (unbiased is the key word here). I know your friend said it was totally fine to text him back, but she’s a people pleaser who will say what you want to hear. I’ll tell you the truth.
For those who are wondering if I’m still alive, I can confidently say I think I am. I’m going on my third full week in Barcelona, and my stats have been pretty crazy: 10 nights out past 3 a.m., 50 bocadillos, 100 cafés sin leche, 574 Google Maps searches and one Instagram post (on my spam, because I’m still thinking up a caption for my real account).
After German politician Jürgen Hardt raised the possibility of Germany boycotting the World Cup, Oke Göttlich, a vice president of the German Football Association, publicly expressed his support for the idea. Against the backdrop of growing tensions between the United States and Europe — discernible during the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting in Davos — both figures argue that a boycott could be justified by concerns over European autonomy and the threat posed by the United States.
The spectacle of the New York Sales auctions at Sotheby’s last November, which were headlined by Gustav Klimt’s “Bildnis Elisabeth Lederer” (Portrait of Elisabeth Lederer, 1914–16), sold for $236.4 million, is a great opportunity to introduce East Asian artworks that have set records at international auctions.
Luka Dončić is the master of the most abominable art form in the game of basketball. He worms his way into the mid-range, tricks his defender into jumping into his shot fake, jumps upwards into them, hears the ref’s whistle, hangs in the air and, on the descent, drains the shot for an ‘and-one.’
This weekend, FIFA announced it received approximately 500 million ticket requests through its World Cup pricing system. The most sought-after matches include Mexico vs. South Africa, the tournament’s opening match, as well as Colombia vs. Portugal, Mexico vs. South Korea and the final match on Sunday, Jul. 19 in East Rutherford, N.J. Participants in FIFA’s ticket lottery who requested specific matches will receive notification of their allocation no earlier than Feb. 5.
Cakes and candles to 2026! Wow, just like that we are staring at another clean slate. A whole new year full of memories, stories and experiences waiting for us.
If you need proof that time flies, consider that it’s already been 11 months since Nico Harrison dealt Luka Dončić to the Los Angeles Lakers in what was, for my money, the biggest trade in NBA history.
We are now almost halfway through the college basketball season and there has been no shortage of storylines up to this point. With every team well into conference play, the top contenders are becoming clearer, while bubble teams are striving to build their resumes before Selection Sunday. So far, these are the most important questions regarding the state of college basketball as I see it.
