Opinion

Viewpoint

Collapse of two Libyan dams should be a major conversation in America

By Matthew Rampe | October 2

Early on Sept. 11, two dams built 50 years ago in Libya broke due to large amounts of rainfall from Storm Daniel. One of them, the Derna dam, held 4.76 billion gallons of water. Much of Derna was positioned within the water’s path of destruction, leaving as much as a third of the city destroyed. This catastrophic event has led to the deaths of over 11,300 and left more missing. Many Libyans are now left completely stranded without food, water and shelter.

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Viewpoint

The need to codify Title IX

By Evan Wang | September 29

​Earlier this year, the Connecticut Supreme Court passed down its ruling concerning the immunity of rape victims in Title IX cases on campus. Title IX is the law that governs how sexual assault cases are supposed to be handled on college campuses. In a 7–0 vote, the court concluded that due to certain lacks of fairness, full immunity could not be extended to a Title IX victim of rape at Yale, and that a defamation case against her could continue.

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Viewpoint

The Atlanta Police are attacking democracy. It’s time to fight back.

By Ben Choucroun | September 29

On Jan. 18, 2023, just outside of Atlanta, Georgia, an environmental activist named Manuel Terán, known to most as Tortuguita, was shot 57 times by police officers. Police claimed that Tortuguita, who died on the scene, had shot and injured an officer immediately before his death. However, a subsequent autopsy showed that Tortuiguita had likely died sitting cross-legged, with his hands (which contained no gunpowder residue) in the air. Additionally, police body cam footage contained audio of an officer saying that the injured police officer was wounded by friendly fire, not Tortuguita.

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Editorial

Editorial: An open letter to University President Sunil Kumar

By The Editorial Board | September 28

The question — “Is college worth it?” — emboldens the Daily to outline our short- and long-term priorities prior to President Sunil Kumar’s Oct. 6 inauguration. Our list is neither extensive nor prescriptive, but we hope it can serve as a guidepost to President Kumar as he envisions the legacy of his light on the Hill.

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Viewpoint

Why do a comedian’s lies feel like a betrayal?

By Reya Kumar | September 28

Last week, reporter Clare Malone published a New Yorker article that exposed the lies that litter comedian Hasan Minhaj’s popular Netflix specials. At first glance, this appears to be a nonissue. Why should we expect truth from comedians? In fact, comedy idol Jerry Seinfeld has said that all his jokes are made up. Comedians are not journalists, activists or educators. And yet, Minhaj has fashioned himself as all three.

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Viewpoint

Is nuclear proliferation back on the negotiating table?

By Talia Wilcox | September 28

It’s not that hard to build a nuclear bomb. Get your hands on some uranium and materials for enrichment, and you’re golden. While that’s a gross oversimplification, I was able to learn the steps to build a nuclear warhead by spending two hours with a YouTube lecture; and in 1999, two University of Chicago students built a working nuclear reactor in their dorm room. For a weapon with unimaginable consequences, that’s a frightening statement to be able to make. In fact, the U.S. has spent the last 78 years tailoring its international security policy to ensure that other countries can’t take advantage of widely available information on how to construct a nuclear bomb. Specifically, the U.S. has focused on keeping nuclear weapons out of high-tension areas, including the Middle East.

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Column

Ukraine at War: Navigating daily challenges and massive disasters

By Mariia Kudina | September 28

To better introduce intricate software as a solution tool, one of my professors asked the class to name a problem we encounter in our daily lives. My first thought was, “There is a war in my country.” I stayed silent for that part of the class, as a simple solution for this kind of problem does not exist. We talked about ways to free up space on iPhones and moved on to learning the program further.

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Column

misCONceptions: Which way, conservatives?

By Trent Bunker, Nicholas Rishi, João Ribeiro and Katherine Brown | September 27

The photograph that will live in infamy: equal parts indignant, humiliating, resolute and spray-tanned. In many ways, the recent mugshot taken of former President Donald Trump in the wake of his fourth indictment is a poignant analogy for the future of American politics.

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Viewpoint

Pushing the borders: What Jordan’s retrenchment of free speech means for them and us

By Miryam Onstot | September 26

In Jordan, the satire page “Al-Hudood,” which literally translates to “borders” or “limits” in Arabic, did what almost every political comedy group has done at one point — they released cartoons poking fun at the grossly rich. Al-Hudood’s cartoons and articles centered on the recent Jordanian royal wedding, a display of opulence in a country pervaded by wealth inequality. One comic replayed the dynamics of the wedding but in the context of Jordanian social division whereby the wedding guests, clad in rags, threw their last pieces of bread to the new couple. But it seems the only people who found it funny were the Jordanian public. Unsurprisingly, the rich and powerful friends of the newlyweds looked askance at this humor. Within days, “Al-Hudood” was shut down and journalists were arrested.

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Viewpoint

Drifting between China and the U.S. to find a middle ground

By Yilan Batista | September 26

In media reports on China’s political and economic matters, we can observe a growing fear and animosity toward the nation as its power expands to create an increasingly bipolar world. In my experience, this has created an emotional atmosphere for discussions surrounding U.S.-China relations, where deviations from this mainstream view on China are often taken as an existential threat to American liberalism, democracy, national security and prosperity.

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Viewpoint

Tufts should revert its meal swipe policy — again

By Toby Winick | September 21

Dining halls are one of the most quintessential parts of a college experience. Many first-years especially will be getting their meals through campus dining halls rather than cooking or eating out — a phenomenon more pronounced at Tufts, where first-years are required to purchase the premium meal plan. As a result, the quality and accessibility of student dining is often a significant factor in college decisions, and something that Tufts and other universities appear to actively advertise and pride themselves on.

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Viewpoint

Antisemitism in the Ivy League

By Kevin Golub | September 21

The University of Pennsylvania will host internationally condemned antisemite Roger Waters during the Jewish High Holidays. Waters, a former member of the rock group Pink Floyd, is scheduled to speak at Penn’s “Palestine Writes Literature Festival.” Celebrations of literature and culture, especially those of marginalized groups, are an important initiative on college campuses across the country. But let’s be clear — supporting one community cannot take place while employing violent language against another.

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Viewpoint

Living off campus? Check your energy bills ASAP

By Justin Hong | September 21

Massachusetts is one of only around a dozen states that has a market for electricity. Even though there are three electric utilities that control the power grid — Eversource, National Grid and Unitil — state residents can choose who supplies their energy: the electric utility, a municipality or a private company (so-called “competitive suppliers”). This well-intentioned policy was meant to protect consumers by giving them more choices, instead, it has let companies trample consumers’ rights.

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Opinion

Spanish women’s soccer controversy: unmasking gender inequality

By Esma Erdem | September 19

On Aug. 20, when the Spanish women’s national soccer team won the World Cup final against England, the nation should have been celebrating with triumphant spirit. However, the spotlight shifted dramatically from a prideful national victory to Luis Rubiales, the president of the Royal Spanish Football Federation.

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Viewpoint

While the DNC may want Biden in 2024, the American people don’t

By Kevin Golub | September 19

Joe Biden has not exactly excelled in his role as President of the United States over the past couple of months. Most recently came Biden’s “no comment” from Delaware, where he appeared to brush off questions about the death toll of the tragic wildfires in Maui. Once he finally made it to Hawaii, he compared the devastation to a bizarre and self-centered story about an insignificant kitchen fire, later departing after spending a mere six hours assessing the damage.

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Viewpoint

Maui's wildfires: Playing the climate blame game is fueling global ‘natural’ disasters

By Bela Silverman | September 19

For Hawaii, minor earthquakes — a 3.0-3.9 magnitude range — are considered typical, with locals habitually holding onto their free-standing lamps and chairs until the shaking concludes. Yet, on Sept. 8th, Morocco was struck with a magnitude 6.8 earthquake which killed over 2,900 people. Just a month prior to these earthquakes, Maui was engulfed in wildfire flames. Moreover, about a month ago, wildfires spread through swathes of North America, floods collapsed Libya’s dams and flash flooding exacerbated China’s monsoon season.

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Opinion

Letter from the Editor in Chief: Welcome back, Jumbos

By Aaron Gruen | September 5

To the Tufts community, Whether you’re returning to campus or stepping foot on the hill for the first time, it’s my pleasure to welcome you home. It’s traditional for the editor in chief of The Tufts Daily to introduce our paper and offer words of welcome and wisdom, but since you’re certain to hear plenty of advice during the first few weeks of the school year, I’ll keep this letter brief. To the newest Jumbos, the Class of 2027, first and foremost: Congratulations! To get here, you navigated not just one of the toughest admissions cycles in history, but a high school experience dominated by COVID-19 to finally arrive here at one of the top universities in the world.

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Viewpoint

Clean Your Room

By Maxwell Shoustal | September 5

As the new year of college begins, especially for those beginning their first year at Tufts, it may be helpful to remember Peterson’s principle of the importance of cleaning your room. He doesn’t exactly mean it literally; it’s meant to be a metaphor for taking control of your life. Before you solve any larger issues plaguing you, you can start by simply cleaning up your room.

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Viewpoint

Learning from our Mistakes: The Tufts housing crises, re-examined

By Kevin Golub | September 5

“History repeats itself, first as a tragedy, second as a farce.” — Karl Marx “According to housing director John Darcey … the university looked seriously into housing freshmen in nearby HOTELS (i.e. Sheraton Commander in Cambridge), or possibly purchasing new CONDOMINIUMS for the overflow. ...

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Guest

Op-ed: Women legislators are working together to support women across the Commonwealth

By State Representative Christine Barber | September 5

We are facing many challenges in Massachusetts. I continually hear from families and individuals around Somerville and Medford who are having trouble affording basic needs, worrying about health care and fearing their rights for themselves or their children.

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