Features

Features

Exceptional pass/fail raises questions about equity in grades

By Kevin Du | February 3

As a first-year at Tufts and an international student from Costa Rica, Isaac Rodriguez Zuniga has faced many challenges in college life during the COVID-19 pandemic. With English as his second language, Rodriguez Zuniga often encounters language barriers in class; the muffling effect of masks and Zoom lectures with over 200 participants do not make things easier. 

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Features

Jonathan Kenny, late chemistry professor, leaves lasting impact on environmental studies and his students

By Kayla Butera | February 1

As a mentor to those who participated in his research, Kenny’s friendships with students blossomed outside the scope of chemistry. He made an effort to reach beyond the classroom walls to get to know students and guide them along their paths.

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Features

Young people shift national politics through activism, community organizing

By Saya Ameli Hajebi | December 11

The Center of Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement (CIRCLE) shows an increase of almost 10% in youth turnout across the country. Young people as defined by those between 18-29 years old, made up 14%, 15%, and 21% of the voting population in Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Georgia respectively, and their overwhelming support for Biden helped secure his victory by a razor-thin margin.

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Video

Letter from the Editor in Chief: Thank you, Tufts Daily

By Alex Viveros | December 11

If the past year has taught us anything, it’s that we’ve all been reminded of the importance of stepping back and counting our blessings when we are able to. On my last day as Editor in Chief of The Tufts Daily, I’d like to share this letter in the hopes of counting mine.

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Features

Fletcher students cover pandemic's effect on global affairs in 'TwentyTwenty' podcast

By Olivia Tan and Julia Greco | December 11

Elizabeth Dykstra-McCarthy, a student at The Fletcher School seeking a Master of Arts in Law and Diplomacy with an environmental policy focus, as well as the executive producer and host of the podcast, first got the idea for Fletcher TwentyTwenty during a conversation with her friend during lockdown.

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Features

Students report noncompliance with university guidelines amid COVID-19 surge

By Madeleine Aitken and Ethan M. Steinberg | December 10

Although Tufts has mostly done well with controlling the virus through frequent testing, social distancing guidelines and a hybrid learning model, the past several weeks have shown a spike in cases on the Medford/Somerville campus, as well as an increased number of students in quarantine as a result of contact.

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Features

Campus sees spike in waste due to COVID-19 guidelines, takeout dining

By Raga Chilakamarri | December 10

This semester has seen an observable increase in waste on the Medford/Somerville campus, particularly as it relates to Tufts Dining’s adaptations in response to the COVID-19 guidelines.

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Features

Professor Eitan Hersh invites grandparents of students to attend course virtually

By Madeleine Aitken | December 9

Hersh first got the idea to invite his own grandfather, who is 96 years old and lives alone, to class. He said he thought it would give his grandfather something to do, who had never had the chance to see him teach before. The pandemic, and the ways academia has become more technology-based as a result, changed this.

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Features

How to enjoy art during the pandemic

By Sophia Costa | December 9

As with so many other businesses in the COVID-19 era, art has found a way to move online. Old and new galleries have adopted online viewing, sales transitioned to e-commerce and streaming services saw a surge in demand. And there appears to be demand for virtual art appreciation models: Google searches for “online art gallery” in the United States surged 455% between March and May this year.

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Columns

Since You Last Saw Me: When writers carry pitchforks

By Owen Bonk | December 9

I love Pitchfork because its writers are “poptimists” and rap enthusiasts; they take the things I enjoy seriously, but always leave room for melodrama and Camp. For these reasons, I couldn’t give it a more glowing review.

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Features

Reflections on first semester: First-years talk about college experience

By Emily Afriyie | December 8

This year has presented a number of challenges for everyone, as students and faculty adjust to the experience of college education amid a global pandemic. This job has proved to be a special challenge for first-year students, who are adjusting to college in a pandemic while also adjusting to college for the first time in general.

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Columns

Tuff Talks: Moving forward with new friends

By Jenny Lu | December 8

Dear J: How can I deepen my communication with new friends without being weird?

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Features

What’s up with winter?

By Katie Furey and Keira Myles | December 7

The first snow of the fall semester came the day before Halloween. Spirits were high. Tufts students rejoiced in celebrating the snow’s descent, embracing the joy of their inner child. Jumbos snowboarded, inner-tubed and sledded down President’s Lawn’s winter wonderland of a hill.

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Columns

Little Bit of History Repeating: Hawaiian pizza

By Lena Leavitt | December 7

Only a creature as invasive and unnatural as the human being could have set off the string of events required to invent such a dish.

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Features

Class of 2020 shares difficulties with post-graduation job search

By Kevin Du | December 3

With no grand ceremonies, formal goodbyes, best friends’ hugs or just one more time walking down the President’s Lawn, seniors nevertheless had to seek jobs while COVID-19 dramatically changed the labor market.

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Features

Police reform: How is it achieved? 

By Chris Duncan and Abby Stern | December 2

Americans are demanding systemic change in the policing system, and protests for police reform have become national news. How exactly is police reform achieved? Here are four approaches.

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Columns

Since You Last Saw Me: On time traveling and uncertainty

By Owen Bonk | December 2

Whenever I return to my parents’ house, it’s like traveling back in time. My childhood room, filled with personal artifacts I can’t bring myself to throw away, seems to shrink every time I enter it. The whole setting doesn’t seem quite right. This new life I’ve been living on my own feels incongruous with everything here.

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Features

ella jane makes indie pop music with a little bit of 'What is this?'

By Juanita Asapokhai | December 1

Meet first-year student and singer-songwriter Ella Roth. As she describes in a TikTok video posted in early October, Roth, like many, started quarantine with isolation taking a toll on her mental health. But after her English teacher assigned her Advanced Placement Literature class a creative final project about any book they’d read that year, she emerged from her rut with an ear-wormy indie pop song inspired by the titular character of the classic novel “The Great Gatsby” (1925).

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Columns

Tuff Talks: Dealing with Family

By Jenny Lu | December 1

Dear J: How will I cope with being home for at least two months and not coming back to campus until February? Also will we even have a spring semester?

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Features

Getting cozy with comfort food

By Emma Bittar | November 30

When you think of comfort food, you may think of macaroni and cheese, soup or some other kind of warm food, but it is so much more than that. To some, eating comfort food is an act of self-care. To others, it is a reminder of their home or family. Regardless of how you think about it, each of us has food that brings us comfort in some shape or form.

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