Opinion

Viewpoint

President Biden: A fighter for American progressive values

By Aaron Bolonick | December 9

During the early days of his term, some compared President Joe Biden’s goals to those of former President Franklin D. Roosevelt, a Democrat who enacted progressive legislation thats impacts are still visible today. But Biden had to contend with a different political landscape than Roosevelt, who enjoyed large Democratic congressional majorities. In contrast, during the 2021–23 legislative session, the Democratic majority in the Senate was so slim — split 50–50, with Vice President Kamala Harris acting as the tie-breaking vote — that two conservative Democrats successfully challenged efforts to introduce progressive legislation.

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Column

Forgotten Fronts: It’s time for the United States to take action in Syria

By Alexander Degterev | December 9

About a week after various armed groups began to move against the Syrian government’s forces in Aleppo, the conflict is spiraling into a befuddling mess of frontlines, with some rebel groups now turning their attention towards one another.   It seems that the recent violence has been brought ...

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Viewpoint

It’s time to prepare for Trump’s economy

By Keshav Srikant | December 6

In less than one hundred days, President Joe Biden will leave office, passing the baton to President-elect Donald Trump, who will reassume control of the presidency with Republicans in charge of both chambers of Congress. This governmental trifecta means the incoming Trump administration will have a significant amount of power with which to enact their economic agenda — an agenda that could both raise prices and increase deficits.

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Editorial

Editorial: Preserve and protect Lane Hall

By The Editorial Board | December 6

Lane Hall often goes unnoticed, tucked on the northeastern side of the Hill. While currently home to the Department of Earth and Climate Sciences, Lane has an uncertain long-term future as the department is slated to relocate to Bromfield-Pearson Hall and the renovated Bacon Hall. Per Tufts’ Director of Campus Planning, Lane’s “condition will be evaluated to determine whether it should be renovated or potentially demolished to make way for new development.”

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Viewpoint

Is Trump qualified to handle the economy?

By Grant Moore | December 6

President-elect Donald Trump proposed an economy that demonstrated his rather skimpish knowledge of economics. Despite being perceived as a financial wizard and gritty negotiator from his time on “The Apprentice,” Trump has famously filed for business bankruptcy at least four times, even managing to bankrupt his own casino.

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Viewpoint

Are the Democrats racist?

By Evan Wang | December 6

After Nov. 5, the Democratic Party was quick to point fingers at who lost them the election, with their targets ranging from vice-presidential pick Tim Walz to current President Joe Biden, to racist and sexist Americans. While the Democrats continue their endless blame game, it has become apparent to the rest of America that citizens are tired of Democratic governance. 

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Opinion

Did you really come up with that outfit?

By Olivia Zambrano | December 4

Seasonal fashion is no longer a way to express individual identity for women. Instead, it has largely become a competition to see who can emulate the chic, unique, “it girl” aesthetic the best. Often, this requires rapid accumulation of new clothing. Some pieces and materials are classic: suede, the ‘little black dress’ and ballet flats. Others aren’t: studded denim, Adidas Sambas and leopard print. While the definition of “classic” is fleeting, consumers often use it to label fashion that transcends time and is simple enough to be worn in a myriad of situations. A microtrend is the opposite: clothing that surges in popularity, is rapidly consumed and falls out of the trend cycle mere months later. Large corporations take advantage of microtrends to increase their sales by flooding the fashion market with replications of a few trending clothing items. The latter are the trends that large corporations have commercialized. I would say the popularization of these once-unique clothing pieces is charming, if not for the fact that they threaten to destroy our individuality.

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Viewpoint

American Girl dolls taught us how to be girls. Who's teaching us to be women?

By Sorsha Khitikian | December 4

American Girl dolls were the center of my elementary school life. I remember owning two, both the ‘make your own’ dolls. I named them both after Francis Hogden Burnett’s characters: Emily, after the doll in “A Little Princess,” and Mary, after the main character in “The Secret Garden.” I remember being so emotionally tied to my dolls, reading every American Girl book, watching the associated movies and playing the online games. I was truly obsessed with American Girl. And then, as every girl does, I grew up. I donated one of my dolls to my younger cousin and stored the other in the garage.

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Viewpoint

The good, the bad, the Kennedy

By Alexander Degterev | December 4

President-elect Donald Trump has managed to do something that hasn’t been done since his last time in office. His postelection Cabinet picks so far, specifically, his choice of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as secretary of Health and Human Services, have brought a seemingly bipartisan feeling of displeasure.

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Column

Forgotten Fronts: Why the Tatmadaw’s usage of anti-personnel mines is an egregious human rights violation

By Alexander Degterev | December 3

It was Sept. 29, 2022, and 57-year-old Daw Khin had just recently returned to her village in eastern Karenni State after being forced to flee due to attacks by Myanmar’s military junta, the Tatmadaw. Cleaning her now disheveled house, one of those still standing in her neighborhood, she stepped on a landmine which was placed right outside of her outdoor toilet.

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Viewpoint

Should Thanksgiving be a day of mourning?

By Sorsha Khitikian | November 26

Since 1970, Indigenous people and their allies have gathered in Plymouth, Mass. on the fourth Thursday of November. This day, also the federal holiday of Thanksgiving, is known there by another name: National Day of Mourning. Those in Plymouth hear speeches, hold a protest and mourn for the millions of Indigenous people who died due to the genocidal tactics of European settlers.

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Editorial

Editorial: Boycott Israel’s scholasticide

By The Editorial Board | November 26

Israel has obliterated every single university in Gaza. Palestinian academics have been targeted, killed and kidnapped by Israeli forces in an attempt to wipe out Palestinian society that human rights groups have said constitutes “scholasticide.” These crimes have prevented 625,000 Gazan students from attending school. United Nations schools have provided shelter for many Palestinians displaced by Israel’s assault, but these schools have been repeatedly bombed and attacked by Israeli forces. The Israeli army has also become notorious for systematically targeting Palestinian school children, and 44 out of 53 American doctors who treated children in Gaza during the past year saw Palestinian children with sniper wounds to their head or chest.

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Viewpoint

A lesson on taking your time

By Grant Moore | November 26

There are countless things in life that just take time. When I first arrived at college in the bustling area of Medford/Somerville, I was impressed with the university’s private campus embedded in a public suburb. The T lines, buses, cars (that arguably drive too fast), bikes and everyday people zig-zagged between the paths of college students alike. Once my parents departed with hugs and some wise words, it was off to orientation and the next chapter of my life.

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Column

Coffee Table Socioeconomics: Let’s give corporate social responsibility more credit

By Linda Huang | November 26

I spent the entire past summer volunteering as a funder research assistant for a U.N. agency, where I researched over 300 Chinese corporations on their Corporate Social Responsibility indexes. From analyzing the key sectors of each company, I sought to identify those with the dual strengths of mission-driven goals and substantial social funding to support targeted initiatives.

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Guest

Letter to the Editor

By Paul Schlichtman | November 26

I am one of those people who believe trains are good, and more trains are better. However, as much as my heart cheers the Daily’s recent article (The Green Line should be extended — again), a Green Line extension to West Medford would be a challenging and expensive project that is unlikely to occur before current Tufts students visit their grandchildren on campus.

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Viewpoint

Project 2025 – A threat to democracy?

By Aaron Bolonick | November 25

On Oct. 24, the Tufts Federalist Society hosted an event entitled “Is Project 2025 a Threat to Democracy?: A Dialogue.” It was a debate between Samuel Gebru, a Tufts political science professor of the practice, and Jonathan Wolfson, chief legal officer and policy director of the Cicero Institute, a Texas-based think tank. Wolfson, who had served as policy director in the Department of Labor during the first Trump administration, argued that Project 2025 is not a threat, while Gebru argued otherwise.

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Viewpoint

2028 will be the most important election of our lifetimes

By Daniel Chung | November 25

In the wake of the recent 2024 U.S. election results, many articles — including two published by the Daily — have circulated the internet as a preliminary electoral autopsy, examining the causes of Vice President Kamala Harris’ loss which ushered President-elect Donald Trump back into the White House. I do not intend to write such an article. Instead, I aim to look ahead to the 2028 elections. Those, I posit, will really be the most important elections of our lifetime, despite rhetoric going back years that every preceding election has fulfilled that role.

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Column

Forgotten Fronts: Making a case for DAANES governance

By Alexander Degterev | November 25

My previous article was a call to President-elect Donald Trump to reconsider his stance on withdrawing troops from Syria. However, I do not feel as if I properly made a case for the Democratic Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria, which I so adamantly advocated for.

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Column

Ukraine at War: Russia targets Ukrainian children and families

By Mariia Kudina | November 22

I used to count the days since the start of the full-scale invasion. It seemed that such a brutal and bloody war could not last long and that the international community would soon find a solution to make Russian forces withdraw. I stopped the daily count sometime after the images from recently liberated towns around Kyiv and the news about the bombing of Mariupol Drama Theater were released in 2022. Though the world saw the atrocities of the Bucha massacre and the attack on the theater used as a shelter by civilians, including children, the war has only become more violent since then. This week marks 1000 days since the full-scale invasion, and after approximately 3900 days of the war, Russian attacks continue to intensify, increasingly targeting entire families.

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Guest

Letter to the Editor

By Tufts University Department of Political Science | November 22

In response to recent news attention to the Tufts University Department of Political Science and in order to clear up any confusion, the faculty in this department unanimously issues the following statement: We have never had any ideological litmus tests for helping students get internship opportunities. ...

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