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Columns

Keeping-up-with-the-617
Columns

Keeping up with the 617: A harsh reality check

By Matt Goguen | September 30

It's stretches like these that make me contemplate why I cheer for the Red Sox. In the most important part of the season, the Red Sox have failed to play disciplined baseball; there is no passion, no effort and no emotion on this baseball team. This weekend's series against the New York Yankees underscored the Red Sox's season: uninspiring. With their most recent loss to the last-place Baltimore Orioles, the Red Sox perilously hold the second-place wild card spot in the American League, with the spunky Seattle Mariners and dangerous Toronto Blue Jays nipping at their heels.

TheStrikeZone
Column

The Strike Zone: Music and identity in Israel and Palestine

By Eli Striker | September 30

During the formation of Israel, aspects of two distinct cultural groups — European Ashkenazi Jewish people and Arabic Mizrahi Jewish people — were fused to form a shared national identity within the supposed Jewish homeland. However, Israeli society remains hierarchical; many Ashkenazi Jewish Israeli individuals have long suppressed both Mizrahi Jewish individuals and Palestinians, who claim indigeneity over much of Israel but have long been confined to the margins of Israeli society by the government.

A-Better-Consensus
Column

A Better Consensus: The importance of civic education

By Jacob Fridman | September 29

Everyone has suggestions for how national politics should be run, but with my background in independent journalism, civic education and opinion and interview podcasting, I have the experience of explaining complex topics, starting conversations, and promoting new ideas. This is “A Better Consensus.”

Potty-Talk
Columns

Potty Talk: Tisch Library

By David Wingens and Sam Russo | September 29

For the last three semesters, many buildings and facilities on campus have sat either empty or at severely reduced capacity. Scores of Jumbos have never seen Tufts' campus in all its glory, with students milling between classes and avoiding that person whom you haven't spoken to since they shared their deepest secrets with you during “Bridging the Herd.”

brandswhodeserveyourdollars-1
Columns

Brands who deserve your dollars: Unspun

By Colette Smith | September 29

Denim jeans are an item that most people have in their closet, but they are also one of the worst offenders in the apparel industry when it comes to polluting the environment.To grow just enough cotton to make one pair of jeans, 1,800 gallons of water are required. Furthermore, the additional dyeing process and machine washing used to make jeans means that one pair uses around 9,982 gallons of water. So while it is clear the industry needs to change to help the environment, it is sometimes unclear what steps in the production process can be changed to make improvements. 

ON-DEMAND-1
Column

On Demand: An ode to 'Halt and Catch Fire' and the glory of new beginning

By Raga Chilakamarri | September 28

Wishing my life was a TV show has the same energy as romanticizing trips to Costco and pretending The Sink baristas are the archetypal “popular kids.” Although I don’t need it, I just want an excuse to battle through song ("Glee," (2009–15)) and speak in an Irish accent ("Derry Girls," (2018–)) and drink coffee for lunch ("Gilmore Girls," (2000–07)). Instead, this column is my chance to ramble, uninterrupted, about TV shows I love and to imagine myself as the Athena to Ryan Murphy’s Zeus (i.e. a screenwriter’s brainchild).

Democracy-in-The-Daily-Banner
Columns

Democracy in The Daily: Fighting a nasty hangover

By Brendan Hartnett | May 11

Head is pounding, sunlight hurts, body aches and there’s a mysterious bruise. Sitting in bed with a Pedialyte and a treat from Magnificent Muffin won’t fix it — it’s a hangover that can’t be slept off. It’s not going away unless we fight it off. It’s not from The Pub, the Burren or Mike’s; it’s from Belarus, Algeria, India, Hungary, Egypt, China, the United States and even the United Kingdom. Maybe we should call TEMS? Democracy’s down bad.

Tales-of-the-T-Banner
Columns

Tales from the T: New train just dropped

By Kevin Zhang | May 11

I think by now it’s time to address the elephant in the station — and I don’t mean Jumbo’s flattened corpse. Let’s talk about the Green Line Extension, or GLX: What is its history, what will it bring, why did we spend $2 million to name one station, I mean seriously, who on Earth thought that was a good idea?

The Setonian
Column

Beyond the Underneath: Starting from an empty dance floor

By Ramona Meng Xi | May 7

A DJ once told me that mixing techno or house during a set is easier than mixing pop or hip-hop songs due to the similarity in beats and repetition, as well as the anti-teleological nature and layering characteristics of house and techno tracks. The difficult part is how to perfectly master the grand rhythm of buildups and drops in order to keep the audience hooked to the evolving repetitions. If the whole night of music is graphed in terms of its excitement, then it should look like a flow of slowly ascending waves.

Unknown-1
Columns

Wonder Women, Tufts edition: Catherine Lawliss

By Nicole Setow | May 5

Imagine a long stretch of sand basking under a bright sun, with picturesque lighthouses dotting the distance. Whether she’s reading a book on the beach or wading in the water, Tufts graduating senior lacrosse attacker Catherine Lawliss has her happy place in Nantucket, Mass. Perhaps this is where we’ll find Lawliss this summer after she and her senior teammates lead the women’s lacrosse team to what will hopefully be another deep NCAA tournament run.

Screen-Shot-2021-03-08-at-8
Columns

A Fantastic Voyage: The End

By Drew Weisberg | May 4

I have noticed a common notion that fantasy and science fiction are easy genres to write for, simply because it comes down to making things up as you go. I would argue, though, that it carries the unique challenge of not just rounding out a character, but finding them a place in the strange world you create.

The Setonian
Columns

Coffee Talk: Uncommon Grounds

By Casey Cummings | May 4

Following a 7 a.m practice, nothing sounds better than a fat stack of pancakes. Luckily, Uncommon Grounds (which is on the way back from Tufts’ indoor practice tennis courts) in Watertown offers a fun selection of pancakes, waffles and french toast on their menu. Being the great students that we are, we placed our breakfast orders the night before so we would have enough time to eat our pancakes and make it back in time for our morning classes. Yet, choosing what to order off a menu where everything made my mouth water resulted in my scrolling through Uncommon Grounds’ menu for almost an hour. 

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