Columns

Columns

Anthro Talks: The intersection of race and gender with COVID-19

By Keira Myles | March 25

Though a “we’re all in this together” mentality attempts to boost national morale in battling COVID-19, it shrouds the structural inequities faced by Black, Indigenous, Hispanic, Latino and other marginalized groups who bear disproportionate effects of COVID-19, not to mention HIV/AIDS, hypertension, poverty, diabetes, climate change disasters, unemployment, mass incarceration and more. 

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Beyond the Underneath: Some thoughts on being a video jockey

By Ramona Meng Xi | March 25

VJs are visual artists who create and improvise videos for performances and live music events. My VJ project was abandoned, but I started to pay more attention to visuals during music events. Some of them were sublime in terms of design, composition, meaning and even beat-matching; some of them raised questions in my head. 

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The Strike Zone: Vaccine nationalism

By Eli Striker | March 24

This phenomenon of “vaccine nationalism” is politically advantageous, but proponents of vaccine nationalism are lacking in moral and epidemiological merit. Although it theoretically makes sense for countries to vaccinate their own citizens before helping others, this action unfairly exacerbates socioeconomic disparities between wealthy and developing countries, and opens the door for vaccine-resistant COVID-19 variations to emerge.

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Comfort Cartoons: Campy classic 'Scooby-Doo, Where Are You!'

By Christopher Panella | March 24

The “Scooby-Doo” franchise is possibly the prime example of an intergenerational cultural touchstone. The Mystery Gang,their iconic outfits and their groovy Mystery Machine have remained something most audiences can connect with in some way. That’s partially thanks to the various installations of “Scooby-Doo,” which have spanned a handful of animated films, video games, television shows, merchandise and live-action movies.

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Columns

Coffee Talk: The Scoop N Scootery

By Casey Cummings | March 24

What do I miss the most about pre-COVID-19 campus life? Easy: Sundae Sunday. First-years cannot understand the pain I have every Sunday night when I leave Dewick-MacPhie Dining Center without a fat bowl of ice cream. So once I found out about the Scoop N Scootery, which delivers massive ice cream sundaes to your door until 2 a.m., I was immediately a fan. 

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Columns

Off the Gridiron: Winners of free agency

By Henry Gorelik | March 24

The Cleveland Browns were a 14-yard run by Chad Henne and a gutsy fourth down call by Andy Reid away from having a shot at playing in the AFC championship game. The Browns are not only back, but their tenacious running game and potent play-action passing have also made them legitimate contenders in the AFC. In order to seriously challenge the Chiefs, Browns general manager Andrew Berry needed to shore up the secondary. 

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Building Blocks: Preemptive support

By Elizabeth Buehl | March 23

While much research has been done on the avenues that have impacted students, not as much attention has been paid to the ways that the pandemic has affected teachers. Therefore, while I agree with Cardona that we must prioritize reopening of schools, I believe that we must simultaneously institute a plan to support many of our nation’s educators who have been overlooked during the past year.

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Power to the Players: Inequities in the NCAA bubbles

By Isaac Karp | March 23

March Madness got off to a rough start last Friday after Sedona Prince, a forward on the University of Oregon's women's basketball team, released a TikTok video that exposed the disparities between the men’s and women’s facilities in the college basketball tournament bubbles. 

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A Fantastic Voyage: 'Fantastic Four' #573

By Drew Weisberg | March 23

A good way to ease yourself into this portion of the Fantastic Four saga would be to accept the following: It’s going to get even weirder real quick, so best prepare yourself for the wackiest and strap in tight. In a total departure from last week’s entry, we begin with Johnny Storm and Ben Grimm going on vacation to the bizarre Marvel fixture, “Nu-World,” built as a backup Earth by the mad genius Ted Castle.

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Transferable Skills: Loneliness kills

By Marco Sheng | March 23

It’s one thing to know, intellectually, that relationships play a vital role, but it’s another to internalize that in our everyday behaviors. I’m far from a social butterfly (in fact I’m quite socially anxious), so I’m probably not the best person to tell any audience how to have better social skills. But I’m also telling this advice to myself, and I feel that through therapy and reflection, I’ve learned some things.

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Hot Take: ‘Midnight in Paris’ deserves more love

By Derin Savasan | March 22

In essence, this movie is not just an allegory for what happened to the Lost Generation. It’s about what happens to human beings, in general, when the world surrounding us seems hollow and meaningless. It’s about our inherent urge to create or experience art made by others to find comfort — comfort in knowing that we’re not alone.

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The Honeymoon Period: What's next for Biden?

By Matt Rice | March 22

The most immediate logistical challenge for Biden is what to do about the crisis on the southern border. As xenophobia helps drive some Republicans’ electoral successes, many have been trying to pin the crisis on Biden to better their chances in 2022. But an honest evaluation of the situation makes Biden look more hypocritical than pro-immigrant. 

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Tuff Talks: Food

By Jenny Lu | March 22

Dear J: I know the dining hall workers work very hard but I just can’t bring myself to enjoy the food at Tufts. What can I do? Tufts has to cater to thousands of students, so sometimes that just means that the food has to be simple and inoffensive. I don’t know what year you’re in, but as I’ll be a sophomore next year, I am looking forward to cooking more if I’m able to score an apartment-style dorm with a kitchen.

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Columns

Keeping up with the 617: 3 biggest moves of Patriots' offseason (so far)

By Matt Goguen | March 22

Three weeks ago if you told me that Bill Belichick would be overly aggressive in this year's NFL free agency period, I would've simply laughed in your face. Belichick's philosophy has long been to sign bargain players and build the New England Patriots from within, but he has taken the complete opposite approach this offseason. As of March 21, Belichick has signed 19 players, many of whom were ranked as top free agents in 2021. Although some of these signings were for depth and familiarity with the Patriots system, Belichick was playing chess with a few of his free agency moves in the past week.

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Soundtrack to the end of the world: Psychedelic pseudonyms

By Jessica Blough and Kristina Marchand | March 19

When asked about my music taste, whether during an awkward first date or during pre-orientation duck, duck, goose, my answer was always the same — “Anything but country, really.” But through the haze of the last year (carrying my clothes in trash bags and dozens of pies out of Latin Way), I found my music taste through much trial and error, not understanding what I liked, and chasing the goosebumps. So now, when asked what music I like listening to, I answer, “weird … psychedelic … funky.” I like my music to not sound normal, to put you on edge as much as it soothes you.  

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The Fast Break: The Eastern Conference in 5 years

By Aiden Herrod | March 19

A couple of weeks ago, I looked at what the NBA’s Western Conference could look like five years down the road. This week, I plan to do the same for the East, an admittedly far more difficult task. The talent distribution is more lopsided, and far more teams are in the uncertain phases of long-winded rebuilds. However, there are still plenty of franchises with bright, sustainable futures on the horizon. Let’s take a look at them now.

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Democracy in The Daily: Fascist? Populist? Neither.

By Brendan Hartnett | March 18

Fascism is characterized by uber-nationalism, anti-democratic ideals, the use of violence as both a means and an end and skepticism toward capitalism. Trump checks the first two boxes and dabbles in the third. But to assert that he is suspicious of capitalism would be a grotesque fallacy. 

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3-Point Play: All-Star Weekend recap

By Matt Chen | March 18

The second half of the 2020–21 NBA season is underway after an eventful All-Star Weekend. This year’s All-Star festivities were condensed into one night in Atlanta, Ga. The NBA pulled off playing without fans in a traditionally fan-focused event, though not without some obstacles. From an action-filled All-Star Game to some memorable performances in the Skills Challenge, 3-Point Contest and Slam Dunk Contest, let’s run through some of the highlights from this year’s All-Star break.

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Columns

Long Shot: Roger Mason

By Samuel Charlton | March 18

This week’s column is about Roger Mason, an 11-year NBA veteran and the current co-founder and CEO of Vaunt Media. Mason played for 7 NBA franchises, with the majority of his time spent on the Chicago Bulls, San Antonio Spurs and Washington Wizards.

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Beyond the Underneath: A world in the bomb shelter

By Ramona Meng Xi | March 18

The place is also much bigger than I imagined. It's not just a single room but almost a maze. The hallway connects several rooms together. From roaming in and out of rooms, looking at the style of the arches and the bricks on the wall, I was drawn to its structure. It's like a part of a bigger picture.

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