Opinion

Column

Ukraine at War: The adverse environmental impact of Russia’s war

By Mariia Kudina | November 7

The connection between the war in Ukraine and climate change might not be evident at first glance. Discussions of environmental damage brought upon by Russian warfare rarely appear on the front pages of major newspapers. Yet, recent scientific studies highlight that the war not only deteriorates ecosystems in Ukraine, but also accelerates global warming by emitting heat trapping greenhouse gasses into the atmosphere.

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Column

The Death of Education: Stop getting rid of educational standards

By Evan Wang | November 7

On Tuesday, Massachusetts voters considered a slate of ballot questions. Ballot Question 2 stood out in the midst of the four other questions as the only ballot initiative asking about education. Question 2, which passed with 59% of the vote, simply asked about the “Elimination of MCAS as a high school graduation requirement.” While this might seem great from the perspective of a graduating high school student, it is part of an alarming trend toward the elimination of educational standards.

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Viewpoint

Your ballot is biased, and it’s your fault

By Sorsha Khitikian | November 5

When I was eight years old, I accompanied my grandpa (Papa) to the polls for the 2012 general election. This was the first time I ever “voted.” I remember watching him get his ballot, and going with him into the voting booth. He had a list with him of the candidates he wanted to vote for. However, once he got to the local elections, he started asking me which name looked better. Whichever name I said, he voted for.

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Viewpoint

The Democratic coalition is fracturing. Is there still hope to save it?

By Evan Wang | November 5

Regardless of who wins today’s presidential election, the Democratic Party needs to do some serious soul-searching on their handling of this election cycle. Kamala Harris is the current vice president, a former senator from California and a former prosecutor. Her Republican opponent, former President Donald Trump, is a race-baiting, idiotic and egotistical man who continuously spews conspiracy theories out of his mouth. Yet, the race is somehow tied, with Republicans predicted to sweep both chambers of Congress. How could this possibly be happening? 

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Viewpoint

It’s not complicated

By Rory Myers | November 5

America has a problem with passivity. It’s not the kind of passivity that prevents us from responding to threats — many attacks on our country are met with a disproportionate, violent response. American passivity has to do with an unwillingness to address (or even acknowledge) injustice, especially the type of injustice that benefits those in charge.

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Guest

Op-ed: Democracy really does die in darkness

By Reya Kumar | November 5

Mere weeks before the 2024 election, several major newspapers, including The Washington Post and the Los Angeles Times, have announced that they will not be endorsing a presidential candidate this cycle. This flies in the face of tradition for both of these widely read publications and was met with consternation and resignations from their own organizations.

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Viewpoint

A time when conspiracy theories are … perhaps good?

By Gretta Goorno | November 4

On Sept. 16, after 10 months of public accusations, larger-than-life hip-hop rapper and executive Sean “Diddy” Combs was arrested at a New York City hotel. The next day, his indictment was unsealed. The 14-page document charges Combs with racketeering, sex trafficking and transporting individuals for use in prostitution. Although his trial is not set to occur until May 5, 2025, the sheer number of men and women who have come forward against Combs makes his conviction seem very likely.

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Viewpoint

What’s the value of a Tufts education?

By Gian Luca Di Lenardo | November 4

Over the past few years, whenever someone outside the Tufts bubble asks me what I am majoring in, I usually glibly respond “economics.” This is only a half, or maybe a quarter, of the truth. I am not an economics major, but I have taken enough courses in the discipline to know that my interests lie elsewhere. Responding in this way allows me to avoid the raised eyebrows and back-and-forth discussion that occurs when I say that I am a philosophy and international relations double major. These experiences have made me reflect upon the value of a college education.

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Column

Ukraine at War: Russia purposefully bombs Ukrainian schools, but schools like KSE grow despite the attacks: The case of the Kyiv School of Economics (Part 2)

By Mariia Kudina | November 4

One out of every seven schools in Ukraine has been destroyed by Russians since the start of the full-scale invasion in 2022, leaving over 5 million Ukrainian children deprived of a traditional education. Statistics for higher educational institutions are even more depressing with one out of five universities and colleges in the country having suffered physical blows to their infrastructure as a result of the bombings. Despite these attacks, the Ukrainian educational system continues to develop, with schools adding opportunities to their institutions.

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Column

Forgotten Fronts: Why British colonial policy was the bane of Muslims in Myanmar

By Alexander Degterev | November 4

Last week I wrote about the Rohingya, an ethnic group in Myanmar who have undergone intense persecution from both the military and local Buddhist nationalist groups, concluding my article with what could be done to help lessen the burden on these civilians. To fully understand the situation, though, we need to consider the premodern history of Muslim groups in Myanmar, acknowledging that British colonialism is the primary cause of the tensions that are present today.

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Guest

Op-ed: On the image of warfare today

By Alessandro Carleton | October 30

This year has seen images of slaughter in Gaza amass, and, yet, the public’s interest thereof has seemingly only waned. And not for a lack of published material. It seems that in spite of the deaths of over 41,000 Palestinian people; in spite of the mounting Lebanese civilian casualties; in spite of the numerous crimes against humanity that the Israeli state has committed, photographic documentation has done little to inculpate the American government and citizens at large. Depictions of senseless slaughter, to which our eyes should otherwise gravitate toward and of which should warrant political action, have been cast to the social wayside as byproducts of a region that, in American eyes, only knows death and strife.

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Column

Rooted Reflections: We can't all go vegan

By Justin Solis | October 30

In recent years, a global movement towards vegan diets has risen to prominence, driven by the idea that going vegan can help save the planet. Researchers have identified that vegans produce an environmental footprint that is at least one-third lower than those who eat meat. They are also responsible for 93% less methane, a greenhouse gas responsible for 25% of global warming.

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Column

Coffee Table Socioeconomics: Upward mobility is becoming obsolete

By Linda Huang | October 29

Upward mobility has long been held up as a defining factor of generational success, especially in the U.S., where the notion of rising above one’s parents in socioeconomic status is central to the “American Dream.” Traditionally, this concept meant climbing the social stratum — gaining wealth, status or both, often through education or hard work. In practice, upward mobility is sometimes reduced to a simple metric: whether the next generation earns a higher income than the previous one.

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Viewpoint

What we can learn from the defeat of David Duke

By Keshav Srikant and Sadie Roraback-Meagher | October 28

In 1991, Louisiana voters were faced with two unfavorable options for governor: Democrat Edwin Edwards and David Duke, a white supremacist and former KKK grand wizard. Edwards had a history of gambling, corruption and scandalous affairs. In 1985, Edwards even admitted to taking $1.9 million to sell state hospital and nursing home permits. Nevertheless, faced with the choice between Edwards and a white supremacist, Lousianians chose Edwards as the lesser evil. 

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Guest

Op-ed: The role of publishing opinions on Tufts’ campus

By JR Roche | October 28

Delivering an opinion requires a certain awareness of how that opinion will land with its audience. This is to say, when someone delivers an opinion in a public forum, it is accompanied by a rhetorical goal. We are an opinionated student body, and the Daily provides a wonderful forum ...

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Viewpoint

Fire alarms need to be less stupid

By Rory Myers | October 25

It was February of my sophomore year when I woke up to a blaring noise. The Harleston Hall fire alarms were going off at 2 a.m. My roommate and I sluggishly put on our coats and begrudgingly left our abode. As we walked outside into the freezing winter air, we noticed a significant lack of urgency. No one who was walking outside with us believed that there was an actual fire. Some people even remained behind in their dorms, putting pillows over their heads to suppress the noise while they waited for the inevitable false alarm announcement. Suffice to say, if there was an actual fire, we’d be in serious trouble.

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Guest

Letter to the Editor

By Matt Leming | October 25

Ballot Questions 6, 7 and 8, which will be put to the voters of Medford on Tuesday, Nov. 5, would fund the building of a new fire headquarters, level-fund and invest in the Medford Public School System and hire additional staff in the Department of Public Works for street repairs. Medford has been systematically ...

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Viewpoint

Our conversations about mental health: helpful or harmful?

By Rowan Chetner | October 25

Over the summer, I listened to an intriguing podcast titled “Are We Talking About Therapy Too Much?” In it, host Jerusalem Desmas talks with Dr. Lucy Foulkes, a researcher at the University of Oxford, who is concerned that movements around mental health awareness are not unilaterally beneficial. After listening to Foulkes’ argument, I began thinking more critically about the ways mental health is discussed in our generation and specifically at Tufts.

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Viewpoint

We are cooked: ‘Brain rot’ has gone too far

By Linda Huang | October 24

As an avid TikTok scroller and Instagram Reels watcher, I get sucked into hours of mindless entertainment everyday, with short yet meaningless videos fueling my daily dose of “brain rot.”

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Viewpoint

Is it feminist to own a gun?

By Monica Reilly | October 24

On July 21, 1919, a young Black woman named Carrie Johnson shot and killed a white detective. She was tried for murder in the first degree, but the charges were eventually dropped because the incident happened in the midst of one of the mobs of “Red Summer,” a series of extremely violent white supremacist mobs that struck 26 U.S. cities. As her attorney argued, Johnson’s use of a gun was not a random act of violence — it was an act of self-defense, and, some may argue, of feminist resistance. 

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