Opinion

The difference between criticism and attack

There is an importance difference between informed, constructive criticism and insulting, inflammatory critique of personal religious beliefs. In his response to Tim Lesinski's critique of his op?ed regarding contraception and the Catholic Church, John Lapin writes, "I want to make explicit from the start that I have no animosity for anyone who has chosen to find comfort or community in the form of religion." Unfortunately, both his original op?ed, "Get your rosaries off our ovaries," and his response, "Defense of the indefensible," use provocative language to articulate what does feel like animosity to some of us who practice the religion he criticizes.

Jacob Passy and Alex Kaufman | Sassy Cinema

T he Hunger Games" (2012) went down in the history books this weekend with the highest opening weekend earnings for a non?sequel film, bringing in over $155 million in ticket sales. While it ultimately did not outperform "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2" (2011), comparisons are being drawn left and right between the franchises. Since debuting, "The Hunger Games" has been hailed as a skilled and truthful re?envisioning of Suzanne Collins' bestselling novel.

No one at this school is racist

As I'm sure most of you are aware, a group of students has spawned the "Tufts Memes." The Tufts Memes page on Facebook has nearly 2,000 likes and a plethora of student?generated memes. My favorite so far has been the Dwight Schrute one about the school's official colors.

A new place for activists: math

Remember the unit circle? Of course you don't. It's a bunch of numbers lost in the fog of high school geometry. But it's not your fault. It's pi's fault. Pi is wrong, and I want you to help make it right.

Letter to the Editor

Dear Editor, I am writing this letter as a direct response to an op-ed published in The Daily on March 8, titled "KhaderAdnan and the Islamic Jihad." This piece, written by Tufts senior AriellaCharny, conflates Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) with terrorism in Palestine. This is not only unwarranted and offensive, but also indicative of a larger trend in the fight to suppress the Palestinian voice. SJP held an event called "Hungry for Freedom," which was an event in solidarity with those protesting non-violently against Israel's unjust detention laws. The following is an excerpt from the event's Facebook page. "Someone who is held on the pretense of being a terrorist should be put in front of a judge. If he is found guilty, put him in prison; if he is found innocent, release him. We believe that an institution that holds individuals without trial is the antithesis of democracy." Originally, the name of our event included KhaderAdnan's name, as he had just finished a 66-day hunger strike. We highlighted him to promote nonviolent resistance to the injustice of the Israeli legal system. However, when the video Charny references in her article was brought to our attention, we immediately removed his name from the event title. We did this because we didn't want to glorify someone who endorses terrorism. We were not, as Charny claims, "minimiz[ing] or ignor[ing] Adnan's role as spokesperson for Palestinian Islamic Jihad." There is a second reason that this is troubling: We receive these kinds of hateful accusations all the time. In the past week alone, we have been called terrorist sympathizers, dividers of campus and enemies of dialogue. At SJP, we acknowledge this vitriol as a sign that our movement is threatening the status quo that has been unopposed for far too long. I ask the Tufts community to look past the efforts meant only to divert and distract by those who are fearful of the moral compass that is slowly but surely moving in the direction of justice. Sincerely, Dylan Saba Class of 2015

Invest, baby, invest!

Despite positive economic news in last week's jobs report, President Barack Obama has seen his approval rating slide in recent weeks. Rising gas prices are certainly a factor, and a recent Washington Post-ABC News poll found that 65 percent of those polled disapproved of the president's handling of gas prices. As the presidential election looms, gas prices and energy look to be hot-button issues. Obama has argued that he is largely powerless to combat rising oil prices, which, he says, are spiking due to increased demand from India and China and due to uncertainty about a war between Israel and Iran. Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney in turn said Obama's assessment is a thinly veiled attack on "muscular" Republican rhetoric about Iran. Romney further argued that Obama's opposition to the Keystone XL oil pipeline and drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge is indicative of an energy policy contributing to high gas prices. The arguments do not seem to have changed from four years ago, when, in support of offshore oil drilling, then-Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin made "Drill, baby, drill!" one of the campaign's most memorable catchphrases. Obama can't be accused of ignoring calls for increased domestic oil production, as in March 2010 the administration proposed opening up new areas for offshore drilling. Of course, only one month later, Americans saw the potential dangers inherent in offshore oil drilling when the Deepwater Horizon explosion left 11 dead and resulted in an estimated 205 million gallons of oil spilled into the Gulf of Mexico. None of this fiery rhetoric even begins to address global warming, which has been ignored in the public discourse in recent years - outside of attacks on the scientific evidence supporting it. With the economy still recovering from the Great Recession and gas prices rising 12 cents per gallon in two weeks, it's easy to look the other way when environmental and economic considerations collide. A recent study at the University of Connecticut found that public skepticism concerning evidence for global warming increases dramatically during tough economic times. Not only has discourse about global warming been lost recently, but so too has the discussion of a long-term energy policy that includes ample investment in green energy. Despite far-fetched claims like those of Newt Gingrich, who stated that his proposed energy policy alone can drive gas prices down to $2.50 per gallon, the fact is that high gas prices are a fact of life from here on out. Politicians need to shift away from playing the blame game about gas price increases and look to the future. It's supremely disappointing that political discussions about green energy have regressed so drastically since the 2008 campaign, when both Obama and Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) were praising the possibilities of job creation in the renewable energy sector. We understand that in economically unstable times, it is easy to push issues such as green energy into the background. But simultaneously helping the environment and reducing our reliance on oil is too good of an opportunity to pass up. In light of the rising gas prices, we urge politicians to stop allowing the issue to slip down their agendas and instead to do all they can to further facilitate innovation in the field.

Letter to the Editor

Dear Editor, The article published on Thursday in the News section entitled "Friends of Israel Ad Causes Controversy" was a striking example of questionable journalism, which has no place in the Daily's coverage of campus events. First off, let's start with the extremely misleading headline. While, granted, headlines are supposed to be somewhat sensationalist in order to grab readers' attention, this one went far beyond any reasonable level of journalistic accuracy. Anyone who read the article can clearly see that if anyone was at fault, it was the group of Senators who may or may not have acted against the Senate's bylaws. But this would have been just as true if they had signed any petition without a Senate vote. The fact that it was a pro-Israel petition had very little to do with the actions in question. So the fact that the Daily decided to publish this story under this headline is extremely confusing (not to mention that, while this letter was being written, the Daily's website has the article titled Friends of Israel Causes Controversy). The tactic of trying to capitalize on the recent pro and anti-Israel sentiment on campus following Israel Peace Week and Israel Apartheid Week, in order to hype up a front page story, is not surprising. Unfortunately, in this instance, it is particularly insensitive. One of the most common diatribes leveled against Pro-Israel American Jews is that, through organizations such as AIPAC, they are trying to "buy" Congressional support for Israel. By casting the Senators' actions through the lens of Friends of Israel's petition, rather than the Senators themselves, the Daily inadvertently invokes this falsehood. But my second issue with the article is its use of quotes from Cory Faragon, a member of Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP). The Daily's rash decision to go to a member of Friends of Israel's counterpart on campus reinforces the accusation implied by the headline. But even had FOI been at fault, the use of Cory Faragon's opinion in a non-opinion peace would have been just as absurd. Just the other day he co-wrote an op-ed voicing his strong opinions on Israel's supposed apartheid. He was also quoted last week in an article detailing an SJP event, where he also spoke out against Israel. If the Daily insists on consistently using what is very clearly a biased and anti-Israel opinion every time Israel is mentioned in an article you might want to consider adding him to the Masthead.

TCU Senate shouldn't fund discrimination

On Sunday night, the Tufts Community Union (TCU) Senate rejected a resolution that would have encouraged the TCU Judiciary and other on?campus organizations to interpret the university's non?discrimination policy in a way that gives groups leeway when selecting their leaders. Critics of the resolution on the Senate argued that the resolution was a reactionary measure prompted by the controversial complaint filed against the Tufts Christian Fellowship (TCF) in November alleging that the group discriminated against LGBT?affiliated candidates for TCF leadership.

Jacob Passy & Alex Kaufman | Sassy Cinema

Quirky, depressing, dramatic, horrid. Nowadays, many filmgoers write off movies with one-word descriptions like the above, immediately conjuring an image of the movie and having an immediate guttural reaction. "Oh, it's depressing? I'd rather not spend $10 on a ticket to be depressed for the rest of the night!" We, at Sassy Cinema, would like to take a stab at figuring out why people are so apt to minimize a movie to one word.

The shrinking humanities

What can you do with a Ph.D. in English? Or philosophy? Or history? It's a question that every undergraduate considering humanities graduate school has to ask him- or herself before filling out applications and taking the GREs. For the majority who would like to land a job in academia, the prospects are uncertain at best. Fewer than half of doctoral graduates with humanities degrees typically receive a job offer that ends up leading to a tenure-track position. And the outlook has only worsened in recent years, with about one open tenure-track position for every four candidates in 2011.

Alyson Yee | Odd Jobs

You've probably heard of ghostwriting — getting paid to write books and articles officially credited to another. Ghostwriting is almost as old as time. Early examples include the Bible (certain books have multiple anonymous contributors) and the 11th−century Japanese novel "The Tale of Genji," which was probably completed by the author's daughter. And of course, Shakespeare, if you believe the various conspiracy theories.

Act of Valor': Take another look

While it may not be Oscar material, "Act of Valor" deserves a chance at redemption in The Tufts Daily. "Act of Valor" needs to be seen for what it is: a recruiting film for the Navy SEALs with active duty Navy SEALs as actors. Of course the quality of acting in this movie will not be first rate, but what it lacks in acting it makes up for in accuracy in depicting how the SEALs operate, which in my opinion is the most important aspect of any movie about the military, an institution that most Americans know little about. That being said, "Act of Valor" is a quality movie not because of what it is, but because of what it is not.

Defense of the indefensible

Andrew Teal, Chaplain of Pembroke College at Oxford University, gave a sermon this week entitled "An Overdue Apology," spurred by the administration's decision to ignore a nearly−unanimous Junior Common Room decision to fly a rainbow flag in support of LGBTQ history month. Dr. Teal, who supports the motion, wanted to apologize for the complicity of the Anglican Church in the oppression of minorities and women. Though his church would not fight against birth control, it has a history of collusion and marginalization. Near Pembroke lies a plaque memorializing the 16th century "Oxford Martyrs," who were burned alive for the crime of being Catholic. Dr. Teal agreed that any defense of the Church must begin with a sincere, heartfelt apology.

Alex Arthur | King Arthur's Court

Every diehard sports fan has a bucket list. While it differs for various individuals, there are a few staples that should be universal among them. One of these has to be a trip to Cameron Indoor Stadium to witness a Duke vs. UNC basketball game, arguably the most intense rivalry in college basketball.

Jack Webster and Hannah Furgang | A Piece of Advice

Letters to the Editor

Why 3.11 still matters

Nearly a year ago on March 11, 2011, a magnitude-9.0 earthquake struck northeastern Japan, unleashing a massive tsunami and leading to widespread devastation across the region. It was the fourth-largest earthquake since 1900 and has left a staggering 15,000 dead with thousands more still missing. Japan continues to reel from the most expensive natural disaster in history and is struggling to cope with an alarming nuclear crisis. 

The Jewish and demographic state

'Hacktivists' had it coming

Limbaugh abandons reason, takes GOP

Rush Limbaugh is the ultra-conservative pillar of American talk radio. Even for a talking head, Limbaugh is often offensively verbose. After Georgetown University law student Sandra Fluke testified at a congressional hearing in favor of the Obama administration's mandate for employee insurance to cover birth control costs, Limbaugh called her a "slut" and a "prostitute."