Opinion

Viewpoint

We need to make queer media accessible to children

By Liam Chalfonte | February 14

Beliefs about queerness being dangerous to children are not new. Ever since the gay liberation movement began gaining traction, accusations of corrupting children and pedophilia have been hurled at people in the LGBTQ+ community. Today, these boogeymen manifest in many ways, such as bans on books and drag shows, and “Don’t Say Gay” laws like the one infamously passed in Florida in 2022. It can be easy to write these issues off as disturbing quirks of deep-red states like Tennessee and Florida, but these issues can and do occur everywhere, even in more liberal states like Massachusetts.

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Viewpoint

It’s time to rethink our relationship with grass

By Reya Kumar | February 13

In the U.S., we have nearly as many acres of lawn as we do acres of national parks — 40 to 50 million. Green grass lawns were first popularized in Europe, in the landscaping of elegant properties such as the palace of Versailles. These lawns were mirrored by American elites like Thomas Jefferson, who had turfgrass installed at his Monticello estate in Virginia.

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Viewpoint

Politicizing fishing

By Dylan Tanouye | February 13

The Supreme Court’s popularity has reached an all-time low following a series of tumultuous decisions. In June 2022, the long-standing legal precedent of Roe v. Wade was overturned in the high-profile Dobbs v. Jackson case. Since then, the six conservative justices who hold the majority on the bench, have weakened the Environmental Protection Agency and gutted affirmative action in college admissions.

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Column

The Policy Perspective: Fund the IRS

By Keshav Srikant | February 13

If there’s one thing that many Americans can agree on, it’s that they dislike the IRS. The Internal Revenue Service is a federal agency responsible for collecting and administering federal taxes. The IRS primarily ensures that everyone pays their taxes, often by auditing individuals or businesses, and processes requests for tax refunds. It’s understandable the IRS is not popular, especially as 56% of Americans feel their tax burden is unfair and a majority state that the complexity of the American tax system “bothers them a lot.”

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Viewpoint

Las Vegas is the epitome of rational water usage

By Kevin Golub | February 13

In recent years, the “Marriage Capital of the World” has managed to divorce itself from excessive water use. Las Vegas, the Nevada city known globally for opulent casinos, luxurious hotels and superb restaurants, has championed water conservation as a major item on its agenda. Despite its desert geography, Las Vegas has stood out for recycling water since the early 2000s.

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Viewpoint

Gutting Greek life: A call for reform over abolition of campus fraternities and sororities

By Bela Silverman | February 9

When my parents dropped me off at Tufts, they did not give me the run-of-the-mill advice to “make new friends” and “study hard,” but they did tell me to stay away from the frats. As professors who live a block away from their university, my parents have seen the drunken aftermath of college parties, and worse, the risk Greek life poses to the safety structure of college.

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Viewpoint

Hope on the horizon?

By Sam Habib | February 9

The jets whistled over south Beirut on Jan. 2, 2024. For the first time since 2006, Israel had bombed Lebanon’s capital. Israel broke the rules of the game, going beyond southern Lebanon and targeting Beirut in an operation reminiscent of the 1982 and 2006 Israeli-Lebanese Wars. Since Oct. ...

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Viewpoint

Our future depends on young people running for office, so I’m running

By Kunal Botla | February 8

In the past decade, we’ve seen the median age of politicians in Congress climb. At the same time, however, we have seen influential younger members of Congress, including Gen Z Rep. Maxwell Frost, D-Fla., and millennial Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y. Overall, the House is getting younger. Young voters were instrumental in generating Democrats’ success in the 2022 midterms. In future elections, young candidates should be at the forefront.

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Viewpoint

Tennis commentators need to commentate, not opine

By Kevin Golub | February 8

Jannik Sinner conquered all at the Australian Open last month. The 22-year-old Italian dominated the lower-ranked players and overcame challenges in the later rounds to win the title, his first Grand Slam. With this crowning achievement, Sinner moved closer to the coveted title of world No. 1 — currently held by Novak Djokovic — and cemented his reputation in the tennis world.

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Column

Diet drugs: A paradigm shift in weight management?

By Deeksha Bathini | February 7

Ever since Ozempic took center stage, it’s been hard to look away. In my family medicine clinic, it seems like every patient is inquiring about weight loss drugs. These drugs seem like little miracles stuffed in once-per-week injectable pens, boasting weight loss of up to 34 pounds after about a year of treatment. We know that obesity is dangerous. I recall the exhaustive lectures on how excess adiposity increases your risk of stroke, heart attack, Type 2 diabetes and death. Now, we have this drug that seems like a cure for obesity, an issue that ravages about 2 in 5 adults in the United States.

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Viewpoint

Cities are sprawling and it’s only going to get uglier

By Sadie Roraback-Meagher | February 7

If I had to pinpoint my favorite thing about living in the Boston area, it would have to be the architecture: Victorian houses in pastel hues, cobblestone paths leading up to charming high rises and quaint cafes sprinkled throughout bustling neighborhoods. And how can you forget the magic of New England’s fall foliage transposed on these architectural wonders?

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Viewpoint

The Republican Party should support Haley after the New Hampshire primary

By Matthew Rampe | February 6

With a turbulent primary underway, the Republican field of eight candidates has been whittled down to just two: former President Donald Trump, who’s battling four criminal indictments, and former governor of South Carolina Nikki Haley. After two state primary elections and looking at current polling, Trump is vastly outpacing Haley. He recently polled 26 points ahead of Haley in South Carolina, the state of the next primary and Haley’s home turf.

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Viewpoint

The job of a college president: Education, not edicts

By Gretta Goorno | February 5

Given the current political turmoil and societal tendency to attack an individual for one verbal slip-up or ill-informed decision, being the president of a university is a virtual death trap. Often seen as the face of the university, a college president represents hundreds of thousands of students, faculty and alumni. As they make decisions and statements, they juggle both approval and morality. 

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Guest

Op-ed: Diversity and inclusion is on the March 5 ballot

By Justin Klekota | February 5

On March 5, Massachusetts Democrats will have the opportunity to renominate U.S. President Joe Biden and elect local Democratic State, Ward and Town Committee members. Students nationwide are a vital part of the Democratic coalition, and through voting and volunteerism, Tufts University students can help elect local fair-minded, forward-looking leaders.

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Viewpoint

Sustainability is more than a buzzword — it’s our only option

By Reya Kumar | February 1

Last year, $13 billion was pulled from Environmental, Social and Governance funds, marking a significant downturn in contributions to these ‘sustainable’ investment options. ESG investing targets companies that value environmental awareness, social impact and effective governance. They rely on the idea that these companies involve less long-term risk than companies deemed most profitable by traditional investment analysis.

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Column

Ukraine at War: Visiting ‘Flying Trajectories’ exhibition in Kyiv

By Mariia Kudina | February 1

“Attention! Attention! An air raid alert has been announced in the city! Please proceed to the nearest shelter!” We heard as we entered the PinchukArtCentre exhibition hall in Kyiv. In the middle of the room, there was an installation by contemporary Ukrainian artist Zhanna Kadyrova.

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Guest

Letter to the Editor

By Asaf Grofman | February 1

Maya Roman’s “Critical Conversation” on Jan. 24 was incredibly meaningful and powerful. The Tufts community must know the full extent of her dialogue, much of which was omitted from the Daily’s coverage. Especially in the international, national and campus-wide moment we are in, a voice that is reasonable and humane should be amplified, not suppressed.

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Viewpoint

A critique of summer internships

By Justin Solis | January 30

There’s a quiet grace in the evenings, when the auburn sun gently rests on the horizon, casting the fields in a dusky glow. Every hour or so, the rustling of crops in the wind is disturbed by the sound of a passenger train in the distance, cutting swiftly through the fields.

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Viewpoint

Course registration is broken: Here’s how we can fix it

By Linda Huang | January 30

For students at many universities, the first week of a new semester is often filled with exhilaration and curiosity. Students add all the classes that interest them to their schedule, sometimes enrolling past the credit limit temporarily to figure out which ones suit them the most. For students at Tufts, however, the scene is quite different. The first week of school is stressful and hectic: Students worry about finding the best combination of classes, maneuvering through plans to drop unwanted classes and add new classes, all while trying to fit into an 18-credit limit and not lose a vital position on a waitlist.

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Viewpoint

Why I don’t use AI

By Liam Chalfonte | January 30

One of the more dystopian aspects of the beginning of this semester has been learning professors’ policies on artificial intelligence. The development of these new policies follows that of AI itself, as generative models like DALL-E 2 and ChatGPT have exploded into the public consciousness.

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