Columns

Columns

Evanescence and the Beautiful Foolishness of Things: Spring snow

By Isabella Jin | February 13

According to the traditional Chinese calendar, on Feb. 4, we officially transitioned into spring. The first season in the 24-term solar calendar, Lichun (立春), marks the start of the new year and the beginning of harvest. It is also known as risshun in Japanese, ipchun in Korean and lập xuân in Vietnamese. Lichun doesn’t mark the immediate defrosting of snow, yet it is felt as and symbolizes the first marks of blooming life. In fact, the present snow is often seen as a contributor to the joys of the season because, as snow gradually melts, it nourishes the ground underneath to bring a strong, lucrative harvest. Beyond its practical role, snow also holds powerful symbolism and aesthetic meaning in East Asian thought. 

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Columns

Moments ‘til Madness: An abysmal year for the Big East

By Owen Short | February 12

Coming into the 2025–26 college basketball season, the Big East was projected to earn five to six bids in the NCAA Tournament. With about a month remaining until the conference tournament, the league is now projected to receive just three. Last year, the Big East had five teams in March Madness and appeared relatively strong compared to the rest of the Power Five. This year, however, the conference is rated comfortably last among the five in most metrics. What happened to the so-called ‘basketball-first’ conference?

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Columns

A Jumbo’s Journey Abroad: Turning around

By Ben Rachel | February 12

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!

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Column

The Death of Education: Follow Mississippi

By Evan Wang | February 12

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.

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Columns

Sharper Advice: Has my girlfriend lost interest?

By Harper Stone and Sophie Penenberg | February 11

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.

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Columns

The Bright Side: Lessons from my friend, Alysa Liu

By Sera Kwon | February 11

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.’

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Columns

Road to the World Cup: A contentious 2026 World Cup

By Antonia Toro | February 5

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.

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Column

Through Indigenous Eyes: Let’s talk about ICE

By Sorsha Khitikian | February 5

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.

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Columns

An Everyday Art Tour: A unique statement

By Sophie Herron | February 5

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.

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Columns

Sharper Advice: Help! Breakup advice needed ASAP…

By Harper Stone and Sophie Penenberg | February 4

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?

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Columns

Boston Bookcrawl: More Than Words

By Emily Sullivan | February 2

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.

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Columns

Worth Going Broke?: Hot or cold?

By Eloise Bernstein | January 30

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.

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Columns

Moments ‘til Madness: The season of the first-year

By Owen Short | January 28

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.

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Columns

Sharper Advice

By Harper Stone and Sophie Penenberg | January 28

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.

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Columns

A Jumbo’s Journey Abroad: Hungry, tired, hungover, saying yes

By Ben Rachel | January 28

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).

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Columns

Road to the World Cup: Boycotting FIFA

By Antonia Toro | January 26

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.

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Columns

Evanescence and the Beautiful Foolishness of Things: East Asian art in global auctions

By Isabella Jin | January 26

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. 

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Columns

The Intangibles: Luka Dončić and the murky world of foul-baiting

By Jonah Cowan | January 22

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.’

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Columns

Road to the World Cup: New year, new updates

By Antonia Toro | January 16

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.

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Columns

A Jumbo's Journey Abroad: What the f$#% is a kilometer?!?!

By Ben Rachel | January 16

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.

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