Opinion

Column

Ukraine at War: Ukraine desperately needs more air defense systems

By Mariia Kudina | April 19

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.

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Viewpoint

The April Fools’ email was a call to action — and it was funny

By Rory Myers | April 17

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.”

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Viewpoint

The current economic frenzy and its political implications

By Kevin Golub | April 17

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.

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Editorial

Editorial: Moving forward from TUPD misconduct

By The Editorial Board | April 12

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.

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Editorial

Editorial: The Daily’s 2024 declassified Tufts survival guide

By The Editorial Board | April 11

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.

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Viewpoint

The Daily has been the highlight of my time at Tufts — it can be yours, too

By Reya Kumar | April 11

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.

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Viewpoint

A senior’s guide to Tufts’ best study spots

By Kevin Golub | April 11

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.

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Viewpoint

Cowboy Carter ain’t a country album — it’s a treatise on genre we badly need to hear

By Liam Chalfonte | April 8

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.”

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Column

The Policy Perspective: Blue states are floundering

By Keshav Srikant | April 8

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].

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Viewpoint

Harvard’s errors leave an uncertain future

By Kevin Golub | April 8

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.

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Viewpoint

How DEI can change society — and save lives

By Liam Chalfonte and Reya Kumar | April 5

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.

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Viewpoint

Keep dining halls open longer

By Kevin Golub | April 5

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.

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Column

The Casual Death of Education: The failures of American sex education

By Evan Wang | April 5

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.

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Viewpoint

Conquering Utah’s ‘Mighty Five’ … and their tourists

By Bela Silverman | April 4

Over spring break, my friend and I joined a school trip to hike Utah’s iconic national parks of Arches, Bryce Canyon, Capitol Reef, Canyonlands, and Zion. Collectively known as the Mighty Five, their reputation upheld, as I bore witness to some of the most beautiful landscapes and geological features of the world. Up for a challenge, I spent ten days driving from Nevada to Colorado, waking up at dawn to lace up my mud-caked boots and hiking until dusk with hopes of beating the crowds and maximizing my tour of the national parks.

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Viewpoint

Love Island: Prison or Paradise?

By Derin Icinsel | April 4

When it comes to guilty pleasures, nothing quite compares to “Love Island” (the U.K. version, obviously). Whether it’s the idea of a romance between two people on a summer holiday or the strong urge to imitate their British accents, there’s something about it that lures you in, no matter how critical you might be of reality TV. For me, it differs from other successful shows such as “The Bachelor” or “The Real Housewives” because of how real everything feels — a feature that deserves praise as much as it does severe critique on the production side.

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Column

From Classroom to Clinic: Massachusetts and mental health parity

By Deeksha Bathini | April 4

During my psychiatry rotation at Tufts Medical Center, I found myself in the emergency room, helping determine whether a patient should be involuntarily hospitalized. The task of committing someone against their will is riddled with ethical dilemmas. Throughout my medical education, the notion of patient autonomy stands paramount to any other ethical principle. But, in the ER, the tenet completely unravels.

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Opinion

Have books become obsolete to university libraries?

By Juliet Chehade | April 2

Libraries are central to university life. They supply students with numerous resources, ranging from books and online databases to study locations. Every time I enter the library, I’m greeted with shelves upon shelves of books as I make my way to my usual study spot. I’ve noticed that these books remain largely untouched; many are covered in a thin layer of dust.

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Column

The Casual Death of Education: As students vanish, so does the future

By Evan Wang | March 29

When I was in middle school, I became seriously sick due to an asthma attack. While I recovered relatively well, I continued to use my sickness to persuade my parents to let me stay home which resulted in me missing weeks of school. While I felt great about not having to listen to my teachers or learn algebra, the results were predictable: I failed most of my classes during the last quarter of seventh grade. The ramifications of my actions continue to this day, as I struggle deeply with math because I skipped so many days of class back in seventh grade. My experience is not unique; chronic absenteeism, as this phenomenon is called, is a persistent problem for millions of American students.

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Viewpoint

We need to say goodbye to DEI

By Kevin Golub | March 29

The U.S. is no stranger to political polarization. Polarization has grown over the last several decades and shows no signs of stopping. Though much of this polarization is fueled by divided opinions on recent presidents, I believe there is another major culprit: diversity, equity and inclusion. Despite the COVID-19 pandemic’s impact on the job market, corporate DEI positions increased by 123% between May and September 2020, seemingly in response to the tragic death of George Floyd. Since then, DEI has been injected into many facets of life, from medicine to artificial intelligence.

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Guest

Op-ed: Defending Ukraine and combating Russian aggression

By Cosmo Curtatone | March 29

It has been over two years since Russia launched its full scale invasion of Ukraine and despite the gloomy outlook of animminent Ukrainian defeat back in February, 2022,Ukraine has withstood the Russian onslaught and defended their nation and people. However, the war rages on as Russian troops are on the march across the more than 620 mile frontline as they attempt to subjugate more of Ukraine to destitution and darkness.

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