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The Tufts Daily
Where you read it first | Wednesday, November 29, 2023
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Opinion

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Viewpoint

Royals celebrate climate progress in Boston, but Earthshot is still out of reach

By Maxwell Shoustal | December 8

Boston was recently honored with a royal visit from Prince William and Princess Catherine for the purpose of announcing the winners of their Earthshot Prize Awards, which go to individuals across the globe who are working on solutions to repair the planet by 2030. The awards were presented in partnership with the Boston-based John. F Kennedy Foundation, which is how the city was chosen as the host of this year’s awards. The concept of “Earthshot” is reminiscent Kennedy’s “Moonshot,” the commitment he made during a speech at Rice University in 1962 to put a man on the moon. Earthshot emphasizes the urgent need for global climate action. 

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Opinion

It's Happened Before: The battle for America's soul

By Asher Berlin | December 8

In 1892, an immigrant from the Russian Empire stepped off a ship into the bustling city of Boston with nothing but the clothes on his back. He did not come to the country by choice: Indeed, when he was younger, he did not imagine that he would ever leave his village, much less Europe. The situation in Russia had changed, however, and those of his Jewish faith faced increasing violence and attacks by mobs, while the state hardly lifted a finger to stop them. In the United States, he worked hard and brought his family still in Russia over, one by one. It was a good thing too: If they had remained, they would in all likelihood have been murdered by the Germans in the Holocaust. The U.S. saved his life, and the life of his family. It also saved the life of his unborn descendants, who came to prosper in a way inconceivable in the “old country.” That man’s last name was Berlin — he was my great-great-great-grandfather.

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Opinion

Letter from the Editors: Announcing the inaugural Tufts Daily Diversity & Inclusion Report

By The Tufts Daily | December 7

The Diversity & Inclusion Report embedded below represents The Tufts Daily’s first comprehensive effort to gather insights into the composition of our staff and their experiences in our organization. The report was compiled by a group of the Daily’s current and former student leaders under the purview of the paper’s Intentionality & Inclusivity Committee. 

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Opinion

Ukraine at War: Coping with trauma

By Mariia Kudina | December 7

The majority of people, including those whose countries are not affected by wars, are stressed before the holiday season. As everyone is wrapping up a year of work and a semester of studying, let’s explore how Ukrainians cope with psychological tension from the war ahead of the harsh winter. In the past few months, missiles from Russia demolished more than half of Ukrainian energy infrastructure.

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Opinion

The End of the World Has Just Begun: A new way forward

By Daniel Chung | December 7

The next three decades — at least — in global politics are bound to be a wild ride. Even if my previous columns are incorrect in their predictions — and I do hope that the scale of the global collapse and regional conflicts to come will not be as devastating as I fear — the major trends of depopulation, deglobalization and the result of the regionalization of economics, politics and security remain certain. Another almost-certain constant, though, is the United States’ primacy. What should the United States do with all this remaining power, and its relative position in the international system?

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Viewpoint

Nuclear war is closer than we think

By Justin Solis | December 6

Fans of the 1983 blockbuster “WarGames” will likely recall the game-turned-reality threat of “Global Thermonuclear War.” I do not in any way look forward to nuclear war, yet, in today’s current international climate, we are advancing dangerously close to such a case. It is evident from recent rhetoric and conflicts in the Russia-Ukraine War that Russian President Vladimir Putin could likely detonate a nuclear weapon, but this fact seems to be largely ignored by mainstream media. 

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Viewpoint

The dark side of the lottery

By Maxwell Shoustal and Julieta Grané | December 5

Many Tufts students may have opened their e-bill and wished the lottery ticket in their pocket would win them a few hundred thousand dollars; however, digging into the origins of the lottery and the aftermath for the rare few who actually win often exposes the dark underbelly of an institution that falsely promises a shot at the American Dream. 

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Viewpoint

Why the holiday season may not be so cheery for college students, and what to do about it

By Bela Silverman | December 5

Part of the appeal of attending a New England university is experiencing the seasons — the bright fall foliage and white snow blanketing campus. I came further up north for college fully expecting a picturesque winter. I imagined holiday lights, sledding down President’s Lawn and lots of hot chocolate — something straight out of a Hallmark movie. Snow and hot beverages are sure to arrive in the coming months, but currently, as temperatures are dropping and the ground lays bare with dead grass and fallen leaves, the winter blues are upon us.

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Viewpoint

Young voters fortified the blue wall, but there's more to build

By Toby Winick | December 1

The 2022 United States midterm elections have been seen as one of the most consequential in recent history. Of course, every House seat was up for election, putting a Democratic majority in question amid newly drawn districts, though many were non-competitive. Moreover, Republicans were favored to win the Senate leading up to the election, overturning predictions for a Democratic victory. Surprisingly, the election results did not mirror these predictions. Despite the history of poor incumbent party performance in midterm elections, Democrats came out retaining at least an even Senate, featuring key victories in Pennsylvania and Nevada. As it turned out, the foreseen “red wave” was stopped with a “blue wall.”

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Opinion

Ukraine at War: Russia violates international law by kidnapping Ukrainian children

By Mariia Kudina | November 30

Freezing during the first weeks of the war in a village in the western part of Ukraine — I had to flee there from Kyiv on Feb. 24 — I thought about the war stories that are not yet being told. Since the full scale invasion, journalists in Ukraine have revealed a solid amount of reports, helping to see the conflict through human eyes. Due to the scale of the war, however, the international community hears only a fraction of Ukrainian tragedies. The kidnapping of Ukrainian children is one type of the Russian war crimes that is often overlooked.

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Viewpoint

Polarizing prospect: The rise of Ron DeSantis against Donald Trump

By Henry Murray | November 29

As President Joe Biden nears the halfway mark of his term, we begin to look toward the next presidential election. One of the biggest stories so far has followed one of the Republican Party’s most promising new candidates, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis. After a decisive gubernatorial reelection victory, DeSantis could capitalize on his momentum and avoid missing his opportunity like others have in the past. However, a familiar face stands in the way of DeSantis’ path to the nomination: former President Donald Trump announced his campaign for the 2024 presidency on Nov. 15, following his failed 2020 reelection bid. While DeSantis’ win in Florida will give him a solid boost to launch a possible campaign, Trump’s loyal base and stubborn attitude ensure that the race for the 2024 Republican nomination will be closely fought.

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Opinion

Op-ed: Why Djokovic isn't the GOAT despite Federer's departure

By Kevin Golub | November 22

During his trophy acceptance speech at the 2017 Australian Open, newly crowned champion Roger Federer acknowledged the competitive nature of the match against longtime rival, Spain’s Rafael Nadal in a simple yet meaningful way: “Tennis is a tough sport, there are no draws. But if there was going to be one, I would have been happy to accept a draw tonight and share it with Rafa, really.”

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Opinion

It's Happened Before: With social media, it actually hasn’t

By Asher Berlin | November 22

Public speech has traditionally been, well, public. Before the advent of the internet and social media, if one wished to make their voice heard they merely had to find a printing press or, failing that, climb up onto a soapbox and speak. The great movements of history have often been sparked by public speech. Martin Luther, for instance, kicked off the Protestant Reformation by nailing (or maybe pasting) a pamphlet to a door; likewise, Thomas Paine made a significant contribution to the American Revolution with his pamphlet. Contemporary political campaigns also produce public speech in the form of speeches and posters. The beauty of all of this is that, at least in this country, it is free. Speech does not have to be popular to be heard. We can criticize our leaders and their policies; we can even criticize each other. We might find the speech of others horrendous or untrue. Yet their speech has an opportunity to provoke, challenge and perhaps even sway other minds.

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