Opinion

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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Viewpoint

A horrifying double femicide in Turkey, the hundreds before and why you should care

By Derin Icinsel | October 24

On Oct. 4, I woke up to the news of yet another gut-wrenching story from back home in Turkey: A 19-year-old, Semih Çelik, savagely killed Ayşenur Halil and İkbal Uzuner, by decapitating one of them before committing suicide by jumping off of the Theodosian Walls in Fatih. He had been admitted numerous times to psychiatric facilities in the last year and was known to be disturbing towards Uzuner, but as usual, little precaution had been taken. My social media was swarmed with photos of the event from passers-by and long paragraphs of outrage from my friends and family.

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Editorial

Editorial: Our guide to the Massachusetts ballot questions

By The Editorial Board | October 24

On Election Day, Massachusetts residents will be voting on five state ballot questions. These questions cover a wide variety of topics, including standardized testing, restaurant wages and psychedelic drugs. The Daily’s Editorial Board has taken a position on each of the five questions.

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Guest

Op-ed: Why I’m voting ‘Yes’ on Questions 6, 7 and 8 to ‘Invest in Medford’

By Jessica Taddeo | October 23

On Tuesday, Nov. 5, Medford voters have a historic opportunity to invest in our public schools and city government by voting yes on ballot Questions 6, 7 and 8. These questions include a debt exclusion to build a new Fire Headquarters and two overrides that will invest in our schools and fund the Department of Public Works to carry out street repairs.

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Guest

Letter to the Editor

By Lizzie Charbonneau | October 23

Nick Giurleo’s op-ed opposing the override and debt exclusion misrepresents the facts. Voting “yes” on ballot Questions 6, 7 and 8 is essential for Medford’s future — protecting our schools, public safety and city infrastructure.

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Viewpoint

Safeguarding the humanities as an obligation to ourselves

By Max Lerner | October 17

Steve Jobs said that among the most impactful classes he ever took in college was a class on calligraphy. It may be easy to turn one’s nose at this statement, writing it off as foolish or performative, or conclude that Big Calligraphy lobbied Jobs to share it. It is especially easy to do so if one subscribes to the idea that all education must provide a specific set of skills that one can lift straight from the classroom to a job site — or at least a graduate school application.

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Editorial

Editorial: A letter to Tufts parents

By The Editorial Board | October 17

If you’re reading this, you may be a parent or guardian of a Tufts student. Maybe you’re even the parent of a first-year, in which case this letter could possibly help you all the more. Or possibly you’re just a Tufts student trying to spy. Whatever the case may be, your child’s transition to college is certainly hard, and we feel for you. Remember, it’s hard for us too! As the Editorial Board, we hope reading the Daily can help you feel more connected to what’s going on in your student’s world.

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Column

Rooted Reflections: What Tufts isn’t teaching (and what it should)

By Justin Solis | October 17

Every Tuesday at 1:30 p.m., I lead groups of prospective students around Tufts as a tour guide. Last week, I was asked “If you ran Tufts, what would you change?” At the time, I responded with a surface-level answer: streamlining class schedules. Yet this question sat with me throughout the rest of the week.

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Guest

Op-ed: Keeping Medford affordable: The need to vote ‘No’ on Questions 6, 7 and 8

By Nick Giurleo | October 17

This election day Medford residents will vote on three ballot questions determining the future affordability of the city. If the referenda are approved, the City of Medford will be authorized to assess an additional $7.5 million in property taxes and fund an estimated $30 million bond for a new fire station. While these issues, at first glance, may seem distant from the everyday struggles of the average Tufts student, trying to keep up with courses and navigate the social rollercoaster of college, approval of Questions 6, 7 and 8 will have a direct impact on them and the community in which they live.

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Column

The Death of Education: Bring back PE classes

By Evan Wang | October 16

It is not a mystery that childhood obesity has become a crisis within the United States. With increased screen time, unhealthy foods and high levels of stress, America’s children are becoming increasingly at risk of obesity from a younger and younger age. Indeed, this public health crisis has evolved and compounded into many more issues. From mental health to student test scores, childhood obesity is now posing a serious threat to America’s future; however, it is a crisis that could have simple solutions if the government is ready to act quickly.

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Viewpoint

Indigenous Peoples’ Day serves as a reminder that Tufts should be comfortable being uncomfortable

By Sorsha Khitikian | October 15

In a meeting about Indigenous Peoples’ Day a couple of weeks ago, I introduced myself, saying, “Hi, my name is Sorsha Khitikian, and I am Yurok, which is located in modern-day California.” After the meeting, I was approached by one of my Indigenous peers, who told me that my use of the word “modern” was problematic. As they explained, the word implies that my Indigenous culture is stuck in the past, contributing to the problem of cultural erasure. My culture is modern, and I can make sure it isn’t forgotten through my word choices as an Indigenous voice. You know what? They’re exactly right.

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Column

Ukraine at War: How Ukrainian universities and students adjust to the war: The case of the Kyiv School of Economics (Part 1)

By Mariia Kudina | October 15

The full-scale war between Russia and Ukraine has brought plenty of challenges for schools throughout the nation. In 2022, institutions had to rapidly switch to online classes, adjusting programs for temporary remote teaching while helping their now geographically scattered students navigate a dire new reality. At the same time, to prepare for a future return, these schools had to build shelters or equip already existing basements for hiding during missile and drone attacks.

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Column

Coffee Table Socioeconomics: Why you should care

By Linda Huang | October 15

I have been putting this off for a while, but this semester I’ve finally decided to start my long-overdue column on socioeconomics. I decided to write this column because too many people at Tufts seem to be confused or completely unbothered by the impacts of our economy and how it’s intertwined with social issues. Socioeconomics, by definition, is a branch of economics that explores the relationship between social behavior and economic activity. My goal with this column is to break down these concepts and show how economic forces shape everything from education and inequality to social justice and identity. In this introductory piece, I hope I can convince you of why you should start caring.

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Column

Forgotten Fronts: Cox’s Bazar and the flight of the Rohingya

By Alexander Degterev | October 15

The Rohingya people have long been inhabitants of the Rakhine State, also known as Arakan, in present-day Myanmar. Throughout their winding history in the region, the Rohingya have routinely faced discrimination and aggressive opposition from both the Myanmar military and Buddhist nationalist groups. The Rohingya, amongst other minority groups, have also been denied citizenship since the country’s independence, reinforced by a 1982 Citizenship Law.

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Viewpoint

The rise — and fall — of a Midwest princess

By Talia Wilcox | October 10

2024 Video Music Awards Best New Artist recipient Chappell Roan has transformed the music industry. Roan, born Kayleigh Rose Amstutz, rose rapidly to fame with her album, “The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess” (2023). Roan embraced a unique drag aesthetic, and her lyrics and image have catapulted her to icon status in the LGBTQ+ community. But with this unprecedented rapid rise to fame, Roan has taken to social media to let us know how she feels. 

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Viewpoint

Seeking policy change in Indonesia under Prabowo

By Theodorus Ng | October 10

Indonesia will be swearing in its eighth president Prabowo Subianto on Oct. 20, following his landslide election victory in February of this year. Prabowo will inherit the world’s fourth most populous country, with the third largest surviving area of tropical forest, and an economy poised to become the world’s sixth largest by 2027. Yet, he will also be inheriting a legacy of fossil fuel dependence, with 81% of the country’s energy derived mostly from burning coal, and persistent deforestation, with Indonesia’s annual forest losses remaining the fourth largest in the world. This means that Prabowo is faced with a thorny policymaking dilemma between encouraging economic growth and maintaining long-term environmental health for Indonesia.

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