Opinion

Column

The End of the World Has Just Begun: Western Europe goes under

By Daniel Chung | April 25

President Donald Trump’s actions towards the United States’ Western European allies, such as his mocking of German energy policy at the U.N., left relations strained, with a lasting impact even under President Joe Biden, but this may have been because of a structural reason that no one saw. Namely, Western Europe’s place and significance in the international system has declined since the beginning of the 20th century, leaving not only its future relationship with America, but also its future as a whole, ambiguous.

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Viewpoint

US college rankings: Do they measure what matters?

By Talia Wilcox | April 20

If you’ve been through a college application cycle, then you’ve surely heard of the U.S. News Best Colleges Rankings report, which prides itself on having “expert advice, rankings and data to help you navigate your education journey and find the best college for you.” But how accurate is this ranking? How heavily should we rely on its advice? The U.S. News ranking uses 17 “measures of academic quality” such as class size, faculty salary and graduation rate, which are then weighted on a 100-point scale. These factors do impact a student’s college experience. However, the report's focus misses critical aspects of what makes a school a good fit for its students, such as successful job placement in a field relevant to a student’s major, student happiness and a feeling of belonging on campus.

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Guest

Letter to the Editor: Data can help us talk about gun violence

By Nicoleschuller | April 19

I applaud The Tufts Daily Editorial Board for calling on the university to establish a Center for the Study of Gun Violence in its April 6 editorial, “Tufts should step up to fill the gun violence research gap.” The board raises excellent questions detailing our lack of understanding about gun ownership and our culture, as well as mental health and access to firearms, and how we can collectively work toward gun safety that can’t fall prey to the trappings of politics — by looking at data.

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Viewpoint

When politics override science: Another attack on abortion access

By Esma Erdem | April 18

On April 7, another step was taken to restrict abortion access. Matthew Kacsmaryk, a federal judge in Texas, put the Food and Drug Administration’s 20-year approval of a commonly used abortion pill, mifepristone, on hold. 

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Column

The Strike Zone: Brasilia — a modernist utopia?

By Eli Striker | April 18

Brasilia, the capital of Brazil, completed its construction in 1960 with the intent of using modernist architecture as a tool to forge a futuristic utopian society. The city was designed around urban planner Lucio Costa’s airplane-shaped “Plano Piloto.” A series of residential “superquadras” along the plane’s wings contained dwellings, hospitals and schools and were connected to government buildings in the airplane’s cockpit through central highways. Brasilia’s designers hoped to create an egalitarian city which could be inhabited by government ministers and blue-collar workers alike. 

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Column

Ukraine at War: Ukrainian women rescued 31 children kidnapped by Russia, many more still cannot return home

By Mariia Kudina | April 14

This spring, a team of Ukrainian women took a dangerous trip to Russia and Russian-occupied Crimea to bring home some of the Ukrainian children who were illegally kidnapped from the other regions occupied by the Kremlin. Although around three dozen rescued kids are now able to reunite with their families, thousands or even hundreds of thousands of Ukrainian children and teenagers still cannot return to Ukraine.

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Editorial

Editorial: The Daily’s declassified Tufts survival guide

By The Editorial Board | April 13

At a tier-one research university full of econ bros, political activists and long dining hall lines, The Tufts Daily — that’s us — tries to do the impossible: create a guide that will help you survive four years at Tufts University.

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Editorial

Dissent: The case for living uphill

By Faye Shen Li Thijssen and Brendan Hartnett | April 13

Fundamentally, we disagree with the Editorial Board’s decision to endorse downhill living but respect the deliberative process which led five of our seven board members to argue in favor of lower campus life. As such, we have decided to write a dissenting opinion in response to the Board, with whom we could not reach an agreement.

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Editorial

Editorial: Bring back Tower Café

By The Editorial Board | April 13

As the Tufts Dining website states, “There’s no place like Tower Cafe.” Unfortunately, that is true: This year, there has been no Tower Café — at least not an open one.

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Viewpoint

How to make the most of campus life at Tufts

By Riley Hemsi-Walters | April 13

For most Tufts students, the Medford/Somerville campus is a central part of life. I have compiled a list of some great places, buildings and businesses around campus which you may not know about, and which hopefully can help you get the most out of your time on campus. 

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Viewpoint

The sinister side of Spring Fling

By Justin Solis | April 13

“Low” (2007), “Right Round” (2009), “Good Feeling” (2011). Most people can recognize the melody or lyrics of these songs even if they may not attribute them to Flo Rida. At first glance, Flo Rida being selected for Spring Fling seems like an ideal choice: easily recognizable songs that match the energy and spectacle that Tufts tries to achieve at Spring Fling — a day filled with live music and energetic Tufts students celebrating in order to forget the looming threat of finals season. However, underneath the seemingly harmless surface of Flo Rida lies a more ominous truth.

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Editorial

Editorial: Tufts community can help Kamile Wayit, other minority groups in Asia facing state persecution

By The Editorial Board | April 12

In the past few decades, reports detailing systemic oppression of minority populations in Asia have come into focus. From the genocide of the Rohingya people in Myanmar to China’s decimation of Tibetan and Uyghur communities, the magnitude of persistent human rights violations calls for increased attention and political advocacy from the international community. 

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Viewpoint

Ron DeSantis is no better than Donald Trump

By Maxwell Shoustal and Keshav Srikant | April 12

As Ron DeSantis has risen to fame as the governor of Florida, many moderates and centrists have urged “Never Trumpers” and Democrats to support him in his bid to win the Republican nomination. Some Never Trumpers are indeed backing Ron DeSantis, including prominent ones like David French. Conor Friedersdorf, another moderate conservative, summed up the reasoning behind this well in an Atlanticarticle:he believes Ron DeSantis is not immoral or authoritarian, unlike Trump. The reasoning goes that while DeSantis might do objectionable things or he might support bad policies, he isn’t a bad person or anti-democracy like Donald Trump is. However, the Lincoln Project, a prominent group of anti-Trumpers, doesn’t support DeSantis. They’re right to do so and other Never Trumpers should follow their lead. While DeSantis has a more respectable veneer, a close examination of his record shows he is just as authoritarian and immoral as Donald Trump is.

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Column

MisCONceptions: Don’t forget about local politics

By Trent Bunker, João Ribeiro, Katherine Brown and Nicholas Rishi | April 11

Editor’s note: MisCONceptions is a column with four contributors. This article was written by Nicholas Rishi.

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Viewpoint

Why hosting the G-20 is so important to India

By Rohan Vora | April 11

There has been plenty of buzz surrounding the G-20 ceremony in India this year. With huge billboards on the sides of roads in New Delhi and Mumbai, Indian President Narendra Modi’s government has increased domestic awareness of foreign policy. For India, the summit has turned into a public relations blitz where it can put forth the image of itself as a country that is ready to take on a larger power position on the world stage and one that is equipped to tackle the political and economical challenges that plague the 21st century. 

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Column

Ukraine at War: Russia to station nuclear weapons closer to Europe

By Mariia Kudina | April 7

The discussions around the Kremlin’s threats to utilize nuclear weapons in the war against Ukraine were seemingly fading, as for a few months, Russia limited its mentions of intentions to use them. On Saturday, March 25, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced an agreement with Belarus to store tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus. While Putin justifies the decision by stating that Russia follows the U.S. model of storing nuclear weapons around the world, Russia’s determination to relocate the weapons closer to Europe is concerning.

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Editorial

Editorial: Tufts should step up to fill the gun violence research gap

By The Editorial Board | April 6

Last week, in the wake of the massacre at The Covenant School in Nashville, Tenn., we wrote about the sorrow and collective trauma shared by our generation of students who have been left waiting in fear of being the next victim of a school shooting.

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Viewpoint

Asian American studies deserves better

By Justin Hong | April 6

The Tufts Asian Student Coalition called on the university to hire more faculty specializing in Asian American studies to fill an urgent gap in the race, colonialism and diaspora department. With Professor Courtney Sato going on leave, there will be no courses or full-time faculty in the Asian American studies concentration next fall, according to the coalition’s March 30 letter to the administration. I find this regrettable. I am not privy to the university’s finances, and expanding the department may not be financially tenable, but Tufts ought to reconsider this decision and try to meet student activists’ demands.

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Viewpoint

AI’s real threat to democracy comes from within

By Toby Winick | April 6

At this point, you’re probably tired of hearing about artificial intelligence. It has become increasingly clear that AI is going to change the way that many things are done. Its ability to write code, make art and learn from humans to hold conversations holds great potential in reimagining many aspects of society. However, such significant changes face pushback. There has been concern that the computer’s pace of development will be disastrous, as the human brain’s processing power won’t keep up with AI’s capability of limitless content generation. In short, AI could flood people with false information faster than we could remove it. This would bring catastrophic consequences for online discussion and political engagement. Access to the technology for malicious capabilities would be just as easy as access for education or artmaking.

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Column

The End of the World Has Just Begun: What inflation?

By Daniel Chung | April 6

Since the beginning of the year, the White House has been crowing about progress made against inflation, as recently as a few days ago. Unfortunately, even if the numbers do not lie — and there has certainly been discussion about the extent to which current calculations are truly representative of inflation rates — this story is not likely to remain true for much longer.

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