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Personalized pricing: The biggest scam that you’ve never heard of

By Monica Reilly | November 25

At this point, many of us are fairly desensitized to media surveillance. We accept cookies on websites without a second thought, and rarely, if ever, read the fine print on how companies can use our data. In fact, our information is already being sold to companies in order to curate personalized ads based on our search history and website usage. In a media landscape full of data exploitation, it can be easy to lump in personalized pricing as just another way that our information is being sold, one that will not impact our day-to-day lives. However, personalized pricing poses a uniquely serious threat to our online selves. 

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It’s not just a Thanksgiving thing — we should practice gratitude year round

By Michaela Loughran | November 24

When there’s a holiday like Thanksgiving that is specifically dedicated to giving thanks, some might end up only explicitly doing so that one day out of the whole year. However, not commonly known to many people is the fact that the entire month of November is National Gratitude Month, giving us all an entire month to reflect on the positive aspects of our lives. It may sound a bit cliche to tell you to be more grateful, but I believe that a lot of people take the many blessings in their lives for granted.

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SNAP benefits went dark during the government shutdown — why should Tufts students care?

By Olivia Zambrano | November 20

Roughly 41.7 million people rely on assistance from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. When the government shut down on Oct. 1, the U.S. Department of Agriculture determined that maintaining SNAP benefits wasn’t a priority — leaving nearly 42 million individuals across the country unsure of where their next meal would come from.

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Tufts admin, it's time to rethink your graduation requirements

By Liam Chalfonte | November 12

Tufts’ graduation requirements are a behemoth. Without previous credit or double-counting courses, they make up about half of the classes students take at Tufts. This means Tufts has some of the most extensive requirements among peer institutions, with more courses needed than schools like Wesleyan and Northeastern — not to mention Amherst, which doesn’t have any required courses beyond the major. Between college writing, language and culture, world civilizations and distribution requirements, students spend many semesters completing required courses that may draw them away from classes they find interesting or that would benefit their lives or careers.

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Trump, the media and our desensitization to violence

By Monica Reilly | November 6

On Oct. 14, President Donald Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth posted a video on Truth Social of a deadly strike placed on a boat off the coast of Venezuela. With a highly active social media presence, Trump is known for his frequent communication with the public via sites like X and Truth Social. However, posting videos of a lethal mission is a new development and is indicative of a larger trend towards violence under the Trump administration.

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Look up! You never know what you’ll see

By Michaela Loughran | November 6

Let me ask you a question. Can you remember the last meal you ate: the texture of the food, the way it tasted as it slid across your tongue, the way it made your body feel? Or, were you doing an assignment, scrolling on TikTok or engaging in any countless other distractions while eating mindlessly, with no real thought of the food in front of you? If, as I suspect, you answered yes to the latter set of questions, I am not going to chastise you. In fact, I am literally multitasking right now, munching on a mozzarella and tomato sandwich from the Commons Marketplace while writing this article. Sometimes our schedules get too busy, and it honestly feels like we don’t have a choice.

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Is critical thinking a crime now?

By Linda Huang | November 6

A few weeks ago, I was doomscrolling Instagram and came across a Wall Street Journal post titled “Mamdani Is Promising a Cheaper New York. But Can He Afford to Pay for It?” When I opened the comments, I was disappointed but not surprised to see that the first comment said: “media propaganda is out in full force against him,” followed by over 1200 likes. 

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Where are the women?

By Brooke Li | October 28

The class of 2026 at Tufts School of Engineering is 49% women. Yet, the department faculty is only approximately 35% women. The distribution of faculty rank reveals an even greater divide, with each increase in professorial position leading to a decrease in the percentage of women faculty. Approximately 45% of Tufts SOE assistant professors are women, a percentage that drops to approximately 25% for associate professors and 23% full-time professors. This begs the question: Why are female-identifying professors underrepresented in the Tufts SOE?

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There is no acceptable amount of fascism

By Grant Moore | October 27

Only a few weeks ago, one of my roommates asked why people are calling President Donald Trump a “fascist.” My roommate wondered how, if American conservative ideals are so rooted in limited government oversight, free trade and the supposed ‘truth,’ Trump could ever be labeled as fascist. This made me think — are we too quick to judge, or should Trump’s tendencies really be flagged as the beginnings of a fascist regime?

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Tufts admin, leave the cannon alone

By Sorsha Khitikian | October 23

As a Tufts student, I am always paying attention to the cannon. A central part of student life, the cannon represents student voice, interests and activism. Whether you’re a member of the Tufts cheese club advertising the Cheese Ball or anonymous activists writing political messages, you can make your voice heard and seen by the broader community on the cannon. Every time I walk to Tisch Library or to a class near the Academic Quad, I stop by and see what students are up to. This is how I first noticed the cannon painted a blank sheet of blue by the Tufts administration.

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Everyone watches women’s basketball, even men who belittle it

By Olivia Zambrano | October 16

In 1996, after much struggle to prove that women’s sports are a viable business model, the NBA Board of Governors approved the concept of a women’s-only league. On June 21, 1997, the WNBA officially began competition. On Saturday, the WNBA capped its 29th season with the Las Vegas Aces crowned the 2025 season champions. Initially a league of only eight teams, the WNBA now boasts 13 active teams and recently announced expansion efforts to five new cities to accommodate the immense surge in viewership and attendance in recent years. In 2024, the WNBA set an all-time viewership record — its most-watched season in 21 years. Online viewership wasn’t the only statistic that improved during the 2024 season — in-person attendance also skyrocketed, shooting up 48% from the 2023 season and marking the highest total attendance in 22 years. All 12 teams saw an increase in home game attendance, with the Indiana Fever leading the pack with a 319% increase. Recently, WNBA officials announced that the league has already broken its single-season attendance record for 2025.

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The MBTA must crack down on fare evasion

By Keshav Srikant | October 14

In September, the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority, responsible for Boston’s public transit network, announced they would be cracking down on fare evasion — the practice of traveling on public transit without paying. This move comes after the MBTA has already lost tens of millions of dollars from unpaid fares. According to a 2021 MBTA analysis, the system lost between $5 million and $6 million in annual revenue from unpaid fares on subways, trolleys and buses. Including the commuter rail, the MBTA lost an additional $10–20 million each year. When an NBC investigative team scoped out several Green Line stations near Boston University, they found that almost every passenger boarded the train without paying.

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Zohran Mamdani and the power of leftist policies

By Monica Reilly | October 10

Ever since President Donald Trump was voted into office in 2016 — and arguably even before that — Democrats have scrambled to regain their voter base. We saw these efforts succeed in former President Joe Biden’s 2020 election but then falter in former Vice President Kamala Harris’ 2024 loss. In the midst of defeats among Democrats that followed, a politician by the name of Zohran Mamdani drew sudden attention.

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Let us not take inspiration from comrade Mamdani

By Evan Wang | October 10

As the New York City mayoral race enters its final stretch, it is looking increasingly likely that, without anything drastic happening, Zohran Mamdani will be crowned the eventual winner — and a lot of progressives are excited. Mamdani, relatively new to the political scene, is expected to shake up the Democratic scene with his youthful support base and socialist policies. While this might win him the election in overwhelmingly leftist NYC, it should not serve as a blueprint for Democrats across the nation as they try to win back Congress this midterm season. 

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To be human is to be chimpanzee: The legacy of Jane Goodall

By Kaashvi Ahuja | October 10

I remember little from my early years in central London, though the city still feels like an echo of home. I was 4 years old when we left, and my childhood memories exist mostly as fragments: my favorite park, the hum of traffic and a toy monkey. This monkey was about the size of a small bag of potatoes, poorly stuffed with uneven stitching, and it was my favorite thing in the entire world. I would sleep with it; I would eat with it. I was devoted to this humble lump of fabric and, as far as I was concerned, it was under my protection. We all remember our childhood object of affection, fiercely defended with disproportionate love. To protect something fragile simply because it cannot protect itself — this is, in retrospect, our first expression of selflessness and empathy, an instinct we too often unlearn as we grow and mistake detachment for maturity.

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Cat-didates or candidates? What a cat election tells us about the state of politics

By Jachin Lam | October 9

On Sept. 16, a new, special mayor was announced in Somerville: one who emerged from a tight, grueling race over the summer, in a campaign that had residents sitting on the edge of their seats. Oh, and the preliminary elections for Somerville mayor happened too.

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Reap the entrepreneurial benefits that Boston has to offer

By Linda Huang | October 7

On Sept. 19, I attended the Cross University Student Innovators Mixer at Tufts, hosted by the Derby Entrepreneurship Center, right after 2025 Startup Boston Week. While Elaine Chen, director of the Derby Entrepreneurship Center, kindly told me that I, too, am an “innovator” despite never having started a business myself, I knew I was part of the majority of Tufts students who have never seriously considered launching a startup at this stage in life. To put it bluntly: There are far fewer startups coming out of Tufts compared to many other universities, and I’m one of the reasons why there isn’t one more.

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