Opinion

Opinion

Elisha Sum | InQueery

April 18

To branch off of my discussion of semiology and the unstable signifier "woman," this column will address transfeminism. Historically, various strands of feminism, from radical separatist lesbian feminism to Marxist to cyberfeminism, have all shaped today's version. Throughout the critiques and tweaks, the question of what is a woman comes up and results in the exclusion of trans women and leads to transphobic rhetoric leveled against them. The late radical feminist Mary Daly described trans people as "Frankensteinian" in "Gyn/Ecology" (1978), professor Janice Raymond asserts that trans women partake in a patriarchal intrigue to subvert feminism in "The Transsexual Empire" (1979), and Germaine Greer, a prominent voice of second−wave feminist discourse, characterized trans women as a "ghastly parody" in a 2009 Guardian piece. Need I continue?

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Editorial

Tufts should offer gender-neutral housing

April 18

Students Acting for Gender Equality (SAGE) earlier this semester submitted a proposal to the administration for the creation of gender-neutral housing at Tufts. The proposal, titled "Recommendations for Gender Neutral Housing at Tufts" outlined an "option in which two or more students may share a multiple-occupancy bedroom, in mutual agreement, regardless of the students' sex or gender."

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Opinion

The essential nature of laughter

April 13

The Light on the Hill seems a bit dimmer as of late. I see a lot of people on campus who appear to be struggling day to day just to get by. It may just be finals approaching, it could be the awareness of the weather irregularities and the general state of things or it could be the economic situation straining our personal finances. I get a sense that a lot of people are feeling the blues, ennui or, perhaps, nothing at all.

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Opinion

Once again, ECOM flouts its responsibilities

April 13

Following an inadequately advertised pre-election process, 17 students last week walked onto the Tufts Community Union (TCU) Senate uncontested. The Senate did not even manage to fill the 21 seats that were available to rising sophomore, junior and senior students, meaning that Tufts Elections Commission (ECOM) will have to organize another election in the fall to fill the empty spots.

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Opinion

Celebrating at 63: Revisiting the birth of Israel

April 13

More than 80 years ago, Albert Einstein famously declared, "Zionism springs from an even deeper motive than Jewish suffering. It is rooted in a Jewish spiritual tradition whose maintenance and development are, for Jews, the basis of their continued existence as a community." With Einstein's sentiments in mind, the Tufts community prepares once again to congregate in the Mayer Campus Center tomorrow to celebrate our annual I−Fest tradition as Israel turns 63 years old. Nonetheless, several questions have been raised regarding the legitimacy of celebrating the State of Israel's independence and its basic right to exist.

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Opinion

Setting the right precedent for journalism

April 12

Labor activist Jonathan Tasini yesterday filed a class-action lawsuit against The Huffington Post, the popular online news and opinion website, as well as HuffPost owner AOL and HuffPost co-founders Arianna Huffington and Kenneth Lerer on behalf of thousands of uncompensated bloggers. Tasini, a former HuffPost blogger himself, filed the $105 million suit on the claim that Arianna Huffington unjustly profited from the work of the site's regular bloggers and other contributors, which add up to over 9,000 writers. Beyond the legal bases of the suit, Tasini's case places upfront and center the question of author rights, a question that needs an answer as we move ever closer to the age of digital-only journalism.

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Opinion

Prashanth Parameswaran | The Asianist

April 12

Late last month, the World Trade Organization (WTO) reversed its past finding and ruled in China's favor on countervailing duty and anti−dumping measures in U.S.−China trade. The decision rankled the United States and validated the view among some Chinese that international rules can work in their favor. But it also points to the need for Washington to be more strategic about taking China to the WTO on trade disputes in the future and to think critically about the best approach to use.

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Opinion

The dark side of Israeli Independence Day

April 12

"If I were an Arab leader, I would never sign an agreement with Israel. It is normal; we have taken their country … There has been Anti−Semitism, the Nazis, Hitler, Auschwitz, but was that their fault? They see but one thing: We have come and we have stolen their country. Why would they accept that?" — David Ben−Gurion, founding prime minister of Israel.

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Opinion

Proposed financial aid cuts would hurt the Tufts community and the country

April 11

Late Friday night, the U.S. House leadership fought to cut financial aid for some nine million college students, including almost 700 of our peers at Tufts. As a small group of legislators and aides met on the fourth floor of the Capitol to negotiate a final budget proposal for this year, the fate of financial aid hung in the balance.

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Opinion

Safety alerts more noise than substance

April 11

In the past two weeks, the Tufts community has received two reports from Tufts University Police Department regarding vague, and in one case unsubstantiated, reports of wrongdoing. The first, on April 1, occurred when a student reported that a male peer may have poisoned a female student's contact lens solution with peanut oil in an attempt to trigger an allergic reaction; neither the male nor the intended victim were known to the police. TUPD later concluded that there was no credible threat. The second, on April 10, reported that the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) police had detained a suspect at the Davis Square T station for allegedly stealing an iPhone or iPod from an unidentified victim.

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Opinion

Elisha Sum | InQueery

April 11

Ferdinand de Saussure developed the field of semiology, which the Oxford English Dictionary defines as "the branch of science concerned with the study of [...] signs and symbols." The field looks at how signs work and how we use them. A sign is the sum of the signifier, which is the form of the sign, and the signified, which is the concept of the meaning or the actual thing itself (i.e. "cat" versus the actual animal). To clarify, here's an example: The word "open," in the context of it being hung on a shop door, is a signifier signifying that the store is operating business at this time. It is deceivingly simple and has theoretical potency.

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Editorial

Ethan Sturm | Rules of the Game

April 10

I have now spent three days digesting the news of Manny Ramirez's retirement, and my feelings on the subject remain conflicted.

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Opinion

Ashish Malhotra | Follow the Leader

April 10

A long with many others, I often wonder how the United States of America voted former President George W. Bush into office on two separate occasions. The man's blatant incompetence was displayed on a daily basis, his often incomprehensible jargon giving us an endless supply of memorable "Bushisms."

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Opinion

Two-act Spring Fling will do little to curb drinking

April 10

Spring Fling later this month will mark a mix between new and old. Like last year, the event will be dry. Unlike last year, and many years prior, the April 30 program will this year have only two headlining acts — The Roots and RJD2 — rather than its usual three.

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Opinion

From the Public Editor | On the Primary Source and journalistic integrity

April 10

Conservatives and liberals alike on this campus expect a baseline of journalistic integrity and fairness from our publications. In part, it is the job of the public editor to keep an eye on published material and to determine whether community norms and expectations have been violated, either due to shoddy reporting or discriminatory content. From time to time things fall through the cracks — frequent reports of botched quotes in the Daily, for instance — but for the most part Tufts media upholds its obligation to the readership with honest, good reporting. Yet when this obligation is not met, the public editor must respond to complaints from readers and investigate claims of inaccuracy, which is the reason for this column. In last week's issue, the Primary Source grossly violated Tufts community norms in its commentary "The ‘Social Justice' Requirement" by blatantly misrepresenting the truth with inaccurate conclusions, which it portrayed as fact. In doing so it damaged its credibility — even if you disagree with them, Source articles typically have substantial content and critical analysis. Worst of all, the Source undercut reasoned discussion in favor of hearsay and unfounded claims on an already-contentious subject.

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Opinion

Nonstandard text-messaging rates will apply

April 6

I don't know much about the Tufts Community Union (TCU) Senate; I'll admit that up front. I do know, however, the amount of money they allocate to various club budgets. It's right there on their website, senate.tufts.edu. It says, for example, that the Tufts Republicans received roughly $3,500 for 2011. Freshman class council gets $2,600. TuftsLife runs on $1,700. You get the idea; we're talking about a few thousand dollars for a typical student activity organization. Later this month, though, Senate will consider spending a whopping $20,000 on a new "service" for the university. That might sound a bit pricey for new hydration stations or extended hours at Tisch. It sounds even pricier when we realize what they're actually considering spending it on: text messages. So I wonder, is that really worth it?

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Opinion

Help advocate for a special convoy to the Great Lakes region of Africa

April 6

Last October a group called Falling Whistles came to Tufts as part of their national speaking tour to talk to us about the deadliest conflict since World War II. As some of you may know, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) is in the midst of genocide. Over a thousand people are being killed every day, and 1,200 women are being raped every month. The entire country is simply consumed by violence.

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Opinion

Marathon should not leave with Bacow

April 6

The already-selective President's Marathon Challenge (PMC) will next year have to turn away even more interested participants, as the event's primary sponsor has announced that it will be reducing the number of participants from 200 to 100 for the 2012 Boston Marathon. John Hancock Financial Services will cut in half the number of Tufts community members sponsored by the company in order to focus its charity efforts on other organizations. While it is regrettable that John Hancock chose to cut the team, it is understandable that the company would want to focus funding and efforts on other charity organizations in order to diversify the types of programs that it supports. Tufts, however, should do everything that it can to keep the team's numbers at their current level in spite of these cutbacks.

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Opinion

Prashanth Parameswaran | The Asianist

April 5

Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, the deified father of modern India, was quick to remind his followers that he was seduced by the same desires as they were. "I am of the earth, earthy. ... I am prone to as many weaknesses as you are," Gandhi is thought to have once quipped.

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Opinion

Thoughts on the liberal university

April 5

In its latest edition, The Primary Source criticized a proposal that would require Tufts students to take a course on social justice. The Source claimed it opposed the incursion of politics into the university, regardless of whether the politics were liberal or conservative. This first raises the issue of whether or not this proposal truly is liberal and then, even if it is, if that fact necessarily makes it a bad decision.

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