Opinion

Column

Ukraine at War: Oscar-winning film shines a light on the darkest parts of Russia’s aggression in Ukraine

By Mariia Kudina | March 14

On March 7, the International Relations Program at Tufts hosted an intimate screening of the Oscar-winning documentary “20 Days in Mariupol.” The film reveals a unique first-person perspective of the siege of a Ukrainian port city of almost 500,000 residents by the Russian army in the spring of 2022. Director Mstyslav Chernov, photographer Evgeniy Maloletka and producer Vasilisa Stepanenko were the last remaining journalists who stayed in the area during the initial stages of the full-scale invasion and were thus able to capture the war crimes committed by the Russians in Ukraine.

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Viewpoint

The compromised ethics of the TCU Senate, Part 2: What it means

By Kevin Golub | March 13

As the “main governing body for Tufts undergraduate students,” the Senate has an obligation to uphold proper procedure, ensure equal treatment of all speakers and guarantee the factual accuracy of the proposed resolutions to facilitate representative and respectful dialogue. March 3 proved that the Senate is nothing more than an ethically bankrupt cohort of students.

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Viewpoint

The compromised ethics of the TCU Senate, Part 1

By Kevin Golub | March 12

On March 3, I watched in horror as students packed into the Joyce Cummings Center ballrooms to support the vehemently antisemitic resolutions proposed by the Coalition for Palestinian Liberation at Tufts before the Tufts Community Union Senate.

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Viewpoint

Alabama’s IVF saga illuminates GOP hypocrisy

By Reya Kumar | March 12

Last Monday, France became the first country in the world to enshrine the right to abortion in their constitution. Here in the United States, we are regressing on women’s rights following the 2022 Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization decision which found that the U.S. Constitution “does not confer a right to abortion.” In the aftermath of this decision, 14 U.S. states with Republican-controlled legislatures have passed laws banning abortion in all or most circumstances, while an additional seven have placed gestational limits.

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Viewpoint

The Policy Perspective: Don’t fall for degrowth

By Keshav Srikant | March 11

The idea behind the degrowth movement is simple: Economic growth and increased consumption is fueling the climate change crisis and to truly tackle climate change we need to decrease our levels of production and consumption. Though degrowth can be intuitive, the movement’s fundamental premise lacks evidence and the actions it advocates for are completely unfeasible.

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Guest

Op-ed: A response to the Office of the President’s message regarding the March 4 TCU Senate decision

By Yael Krifcher, Amaia Elorza Arregi and Erin Norris | March 11

As students at The Fletcher School, we are deeply disappointed by the administration’s response to the three resolutions passed by the Tufts Community Union Senate on the morning of March 4. While we are aware that the administration is not obliged to comply with resolutions approved by the Senate, its response has been grossly inadequate. As graduate students, we were not permitted to attend or participate in the March 4 Senate meeting; we write this letter in affirmation of the fact that we too have a stake in university proceedings and in the financial impact this institution makes on the world.

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Viewpoint

The overdiagnosis and overmedication of ADHD: Shortage or shortcut?

By Gretta Goorno | March 8

When I was five years old, I would climb onto my family’s circular oak table and hoist myself into the air, miraculously dangling – and swinging – from the faux-crystal chandelier. My third grade teacher can thank me for her fashionable rubber-band “bracelets.” She tallied my “blurt-outs” on them, granting me a prize if I was under ten by the end of the week. 

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Column

The Casual Death of Education: Publicly funded private schools

By Evan Wang | March 8

American politicians often lambast so-called shadow governments and praise the necessity of accountability in politics. Yet, what if I were to tell you that there is a parallel system in the U.S. primarily supported by the rich and powerful, with little transparency and actively funded by the U.S. ...

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Viewpoint

The MBTA deserves a true investment

By Kunal Botla | March 7

“Boston doesn’t work if the T doesn’t work;” the title of a single Boston Globe article echoes the critical importance of the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority to Boston and its surrounding metropolitan area.

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Viewpoint

To the Tufts administration: Do you think we’re stupid?

By Liam Chalfonte | March 6

Early Monday morning, the Tufts Community Union Senate voted to pass three resolutions pertaining to the Israel-Hamas war, calling for divestments from many companies with ties to Israel, an apology and a change in rhetoric from the administration.

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Column

From Classroom to Clinic: Is medicine a calling or a job? Why not both?

By Deeksha Bathini | March 6

This week, I attended a Grand Rounds lecture centered around Dr. Lisa Rosenbaum’s New England Journal of Medicine piece titled “On Calling — From Privileged Professionals to Cogs of Capitalism?” In this paper, Rosenbaum highlights the intergenerational shifts occurring in medical training wherein medical trainees are viewing medicine as a job rather than a calling.

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Viewpoint

Nex Benedict and Tufts’ next steps toward true inclusion

By Alex Lin | March 4

The tragic death of Nex Benedict, a 16-year-old nonbinary high schooler from Oklahoma, has ignited national conversation on the safety and rights of LGBTQ+ students. Benedict passed away on Feb. 8 following an altercation with classmates in a school bathroom. The altercation, detailed in a police-released video interview with Benedict, involved a physical confrontation initiated after Benedict retaliated against mockery from three girls.

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Column

The Casual Death of Education: Lots of children left behind

By Evan Wang | March 1

Imagine that you are a kid in middle school, and you are struggling with algebra. You go in, take a midterm and score a C. Not bad, but also not great. To improve your next test score, you’re hoping to receive some extra attention from the teacher and maybe some out-of-class tutoring. Now imagine if none of those things happen. Instead, your school is closed, your teachers have been fired and you must move to another school. Unfortunately, this isn’t an imaginary situation, it is the reality being lived by millions of American students and teachers at this very moment.

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Viewpoint

Capitol Hill is turning into an assisted living facility and Biden is the most ‘senior’ resident

By Kevin Golub | February 29

Voters in America are complacent. For years, we have elected and reelected politicians who, despite their supposed experience, are far too old to be serving at the highest levels of politics. Senior politicians have devolved into senior citizens. 

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Column

Ukraine at War: Two years since Russia’s full-scale invasion

By Mariia Kudina | February 29

The past weekend saw the two-year anniversary of the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine. Earlier last week marked 10 years since the beginning of the illegal annexation of Crimea.

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Viewpoint

Copyright protections are too strict

By Rory Myers | February 29

With the addition of Disney’s 1928 short “Steamboat Willie” into the public domain, discussions surrounding copyright law have once again become relevant. A large point of debate is over the necessity of restrictions on the public domain.

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Viewpoint

Recent strikes show need for change within rideshare, food delivery industries

By Matthew Rampe | February 29

As a college student, food delivering services and rideshare apps have become essential to daily life. Although these apps are convenient and make life for the people using them easy, we must examine the human cost these apps have had on the people providing these services.

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Viewpoint

How polarization kills progress — and wolves

By Liam Chalfonte | February 28

In today’s America, polarization is seemingly everywhere: in a gridlocked congress, in knock-down drag-out election campaigns, in city council meetings. While ideological divides will always exist, the level of vitriol aimed at the political other can conceal the fact that Americans are often more closely aligned on issues — such as gun rights and abortion — than we are led to believe. Why, then, do we feel so divided?

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Viewpoint

What is diversity, anyway?

By Alex Lin | February 28

Today, diversity has become a buzzword, tossed around in corporate boardrooms, university public commitments and one of the latest opinion articles in the Daily. But when educational institutions tout their commitment to diversity, what does that mean? A closer examination reveals a complex and historically rooted issue.

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Column

The Policy Perspective: What caused the inflation crisis?

By Keshav Srikant | February 27

In June of 2022, inflation hit a 40-year record high, with consumer prices rising 9.1% over the course of one year. It surpassed economists' expectations and captured rising costs in everything from rent to automobiles, particularly in food and energy. Understandably, the magnitude of the inflation spike sparked a debate as to what was responsible for such high levels of inflation.

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