If the #MeToo movement didn’t expose the dark and twisted side of stardom for you, the past month certainly should have. When Kate Middleton went missing, conspiracy theories flooded TikTok accounts, claiming that the Princess of Wales was killed in a Diana-esque incident, had a mental breakdown or even had a Brazilian butt lift.
Perhaps the most notable oddity of former President Donald Trump’s business career is the diversity of his ventures. Besides real estate, the former president has sold NFTs, wine and golden “Never Surrender” high-top sneakers. Most recently, Trump has embarked on his newest scheme: Bibles. For $59.99, the “God Bless the USA” Bible, which holds the King James translation, the Pledge of Allegiance, the U.S. Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, can now be purchased online. While the “God Bless the USA” Bible is another laughable odyssey of Trump’s business career, it’s more importantly emblematic of his dangerous codependent relationship with Christian nationalism.
On Thursday, April 18, the Tufts Community Union Elections Commission voted to disqualify a candidate from the election for president of Tufts’ student body. In response, the candidate filed an appeal to us, the TCU Judiciary, on the basis that they were denied due process, substantial information was not provided to them at the time of resolution and the consequences were unduly severe.
I’ve spent the last year writing columns about how U.S. public policy can be improved. From housing to public transportation to education to climate change, there are many areas where we can do better. For my last edition of this column, however, I wanted to write about beneficial public policies that have been passed and that are often missed or ignored in a media consumption environment with a strong negativity bias.
American progressives have long derided the right for its attacks on education and schools; however, it is long past time for the American left to look at itself in the mirror and realize its own hubris. This is not to let the hard right off the hook when it comes to education, but it is necessary for the left not to lose sight of its own failures.
The American education system is in crisis: a shortage of teachers, post-pandemic declines in learning and lack of proper funding plagues an already battered education sector. Instead of helping to reform this crumbling system and helping America’s youth, political figures on both sides of the aisle seem more willing to engage in culture war nonsense. While the left isn’t innocent in any of this deadlock, the main failings when it comes to the politicization of education still belong to the right.
National Public Radio, previously one of America’s most trustworthy news sources, had a major lapse in judgment. Uri Berliner, formerly an NPR senior business editor, recently authored an eloquent piece in The Free Press, where he detailed his career at NPR and the media outlet’s prolonged ideological decline. He discussed how NPR gradually became more liberal throughout his 25-year-long career at the business desk.
On Wednesday, Russian missiles killed at least 18 people in Chernihiv, a Ukrainian city located 60 miles from the border with Russia. Over 60 people were injured in the aftermath of the attack, which happened in the morning as people were rushing to work and school. The country’s capital, Kyiv, is considered to be relatively safe; despite the frequency of attacks, missiles are often intercepted with the Patriot missile defense system, lowering the number of casualties. Other Ukrainian cities, especially the ones closer to the Russian border like Chernihiv and Kharkiv, are under a higher threat of another tragedy due to the lack of advanced protection equipment.
On April 1, Tufts students and staff woke up to an email from a seemingly official Tufts announcements address with the subject, “Very Sad News.” The email announced the tragic, unexpected death of University President Sunil Kumar. After revealing the news, the email offered a standard list of support resources, including Ears for Peers, Counseling and Mental Health Services and the Student Support team. At the very bottom of the list, there was a message to Tufts Technology Services that called out their failure to prevent email scraping, explained how said failure has led to countless spam and phishing emails and suggested that TTS implement CAPTCHA services in the Tufts directory to prevent scraping and further spam. The email simply ended with “April Fools.”
Last week, the Labor Department reported that the Consumer Price Index, a common measure for inflation, rose 3.5% in March compared to last year. This comes as traders have grown more conservative about how many interest rate cuts they anticipate for fiscal year 2024. When the Federal Reserve raises interest rates, many forms of debt, including student loans and mortgages, become more costly for consumers. For context, inflation for February was 3.2%. The 0.3% increase has called into question whether the Federal Reserve is in a position to cut interest rates at all, especially since doing so could cause an economic slowdown if inflation were to rise. Furthermore, this inflation report marks the third straight month of hotter-than-expected inflation rates, which erodes any chance of the Fed cutting rates in the near term. Regarding the economy, the Fed appears just as confused as consumers.
For the better part of the spring 2024 semester, the Daily’s investigative team examined evidence alleging that the Tufts University Police Department mistreated pro-Palestine protesters on Nov. 17, 2023. The evidence presented clearly demonstrated serious mistakes on the part of the TUPD and Tufts administration, which hypocritically venerates past social justice movements on campus while violently repressing the ones happening today.
If you’re reading this article right now, you might be a newly admitted student to Tufts University. First of all, congratulations! As the Tufts Daily Editorial Board (that’s us), we hope to make your years at Tufts better by providing our infallible wisdom as students slightly older than you. Even if you aren’t an admitted student, we hope the quick tips and tricks we’ll lay out for you in this guide are still helpful.
When I applied to Tufts, the Daily was not even remotely on my radar. In my application essays, I indicated interest in a few different clubs and organizations. I thought: Maybe I’ll join an a capella, musical theater or Indian dance group, all of which I’d done in high school.
Congratulations on your acceptance to Tufts! I will always remember the feeling of joy I experienced when I opened my Tufts acceptance letter. Getting into Tufts is an amazing achievement and you should be extremely proud. Tufts is filled with hard-working, bright students. We study a wide variety of subjects and are members of over 350 clubs. We do work all over campus, everywhere from our dorms to the library. If you decide to attend Tufts, you will need to know the best study spots on campus. As a second-semester senior, I have spent my time studying in many locations, and I hope to provide insight into my favorite spots so you can be prepared for your arrival in Medford.
On March 29, Beyoncé dropped her latest album, “COWBOY CARTER.” This sprawling, 79-minute epic has been the subject of constant talk since she first teased it during the Superbowl with singles “TEXAS HOLD ‘EM” and “16 CARRIAGES” The record was immediately termed Beyoncé’s ‘country album.’ Some theorized that the album would be a reaction to her performance of her song “Daddy Lessons” with the Chicks at the 2016 Country Music Association Awards, which created intense, racially charged backlash for not being “country enough” (despite the clear bluegrass genre of the song). Beyoncé set the narrative straight, however, in the days leading up to the album’s release, posting, “This ain’t a Country album. This is a ‘Beyoncé’ album.”
Clean energy is a core part of the Democratic Party’s platform. The 2020 Democratic Party platform calls for building a “globally competitive clean energy economy”[a]. Yet in 2024, the state with the most installed solar infrastructure is not New York or California, where Democrats dominate state government, but Texas, a Republican-controlled state[b]. This isdespite billions of dollars spent by California’s state government to invest in solar[c].
My grandfather was a proud alumnus of Harvard University. Upon graduating, he went to medical school and subsequently entered military service in World War II, serving in India as a captain in the Medical Corps. He went on to have a distinguished career in medicine and a lengthy retirement in South Florida before passing away in January 2020 at the age of 102. My grandfather was a constant mentor: He inspired me to pursue classics in college and instilled in me core values that I will hold for the rest of my life.
A recent article published in the Daily argued that Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion efforts are detrimental in a variety of ways. Particularly, it argued that DEI in the medical field prioritizes diversity over merit, disadvantaging patients. However, evidence indicates that DEI improves medical care for minority communities without affecting the overall quality of care. Furthermore, DEI initiatives across all professions work to create more equitable outcomes and combat systemic biases inherent in society.
Tufts’ dining establishments are an integral part of the university. Students rely on them for meals primarily because Tufts’ location is suburban enough that walking elsewhere is not always a viable option. These establishments are most important for first-year students, who are mandated to enroll in the Tufts Premium Meal Plan despite its absurdly unrealistic expectation that students will actually use anywhere near 400 swipes.
Public education isn’t all about math and reading. There are many other topics students need to experience and learn about to become healthy and functioning members of society. With discourse around sex education becoming increasingly common, we must understand what adequate and competent education concerning sex looks like for America’s youth. However, the state of sex education in our public education system is in shambles and the public must take notice and address the ever-expanding problem.
Op-ed submissions are an integral part of our connection with you, our readers. As such, we would like to clarify our guidelines for submitting op-eds and what you can expect from the process.
Read More
