Opinion | Viewpoint

Viewpoint

A lesson on taking your time

By Grant Moore | November 26

There are countless things in life that just take time. When I first arrived at college in the bustling area of Medford/Somerville, I was impressed with the university’s private campus embedded in a public suburb. The T lines, buses, cars (that arguably drive too fast), bikes and everyday people zig-zagged between the paths of college students alike. Once my parents departed with hugs and some wise words, it was off to orientation and the next chapter of my life.

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Project 2025 – A threat to democracy?

By Aaron Bolonick | November 25

On Oct. 24, the Tufts Federalist Society hosted an event entitled “Is Project 2025 a Threat to Democracy?: A Dialogue.” It was a debate between Samuel Gebru, a Tufts political science professor of the practice, and Jonathan Wolfson, chief legal officer and policy director of the Cicero Institute, a Texas-based think tank. Wolfson, who had served as policy director in the Department of Labor during the first Trump administration, argued that Project 2025 is not a threat, while Gebru argued otherwise.

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2028 will be the most important election of our lifetimes

By Daniel Chung | November 25

In the wake of the recent 2024 U.S. election results, many articles — including two published by the Daily — have circulated the internet as a preliminary electoral autopsy, examining the causes of Vice President Kamala Harris’ loss which ushered President-elect Donald Trump back into the White House. I do not intend to write such an article. Instead, I aim to look ahead to the 2028 elections. Those, I posit, will really be the most important elections of our lifetime, despite rhetoric going back years that every preceding election has fulfilled that role.

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Speech is free on college campuses — unless the administration doesn't like it

By Liam Chalfonte | November 21

I vividly remember last semester’s protests. I remember the encampment first appearing on the Academic Quad in early April just as I remember the messy aftermath of the Tufts Community Union Senate resolution votes. But most of all, I remember the chill in the air that came after Tufts’ administration first threatened to send in police to arrest the protestors — that icy April night on the eve of finals, being filled in my bones with the fear that many of my classmates would be leaving our campus in the back of cop cars.

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The intersection of AI and the downfall of long-form literature

By Max Lerner | November 21

Although it seems to be the argumentative equivalent of spilling a glass of water into the Pacific with the goal of flooding Sydney, I’m voicing my concern for the humanities in the ever-expanding face of artificial intelligence. The arguments against AI’s encroachment in academic settings, though prolific, have done nothing to mitigate it. A similar source of adversity facing English departments in particular, is the growing inability of college students to read long-form literature. Note my usage of the word in ability; students are not expressing boredom or a lack of time in response to being assigned novels, but rather a complete inability to read them.

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There is no one reason Harris lost

By Keshav Srikant | November 19

On Nov. 5, 2024, Democrats were handed their worst defeat in a presidential election since 2004. Donald Trump decisively defeated Kamala Harris, winning the popular vote by around two points and sweeping every swing state. The “tipping point” state in the election was Pennsylvania, which Harris lost by two points, roughly the percentage by which she lost the national vote. This was not a close election and Harris’ loss cannot be attributed to Electoral College bias or depressed voter turnout. On Election Day, American voters sent a loud and clear signal they wanted Donald Trump back in the White House.

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It’s time to cut the cord with your helicopter parents

By Bela Silverman | November 15

There’s a point in many people’s lives that we deem our parental “cut off” date — an official end to our reliance on our parents and their support. Some say it’s when we blow out the candles on our 18th-birthday cakes, others claim it’s when we walk across the stage at college graduation and some even declare independence when our parent’s medical insurance kicks us off the policy at age 26. For my family, there wasn’t a precise date on our calendars when my bags had to be packed and out on the front porch. Rather, my parents’ progressive withdrawal of themselves as my constant safety net through adolescence left me ready for college without the baggage of parental dependency.

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Europe’s tourism problem

By Daniel Chung | November 15

2024 has been one of the biggest years for tourism in history. As of September, 790 million people had traveled abroad, 96% of 2019’s numbers, signaling that tourism has recovered from both COVID and inflation. In southern Europe, tourism has boomed, with tourist spending in Portugal forecast to be 20% higher than 2019. This has led to recent efforts by European countries to dial back on tourism.

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Redefining the Tufts community

By Dylan Tanouye | November 14

If I had to describe why I chose to attend Tufts in one word, I would say it was for the community. I’m confident I’m not alone in this answer either; I hear the word “community” tossed around all the time when students or faculty are asked to describe Tufts. In fact, the first descriptor of the student experience at Tufts on the school’s website is the “welcoming and multidimensional community.” While I’m personally very happy with the community I’ve found here, I think that we need to redefine what the Tufts community entails. 

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The Green Line should be extended — again

By Liam Chalfonte | November 14

When the Medford/Tufts stop opened in December 2022, it marked the end of an almost 30-year project to extend the Green Line into the Medford and Somerville communities. Since then, the MBTA has had its fair share of problems — such as a plague of slow zones and even issues with the tracks that run through Medford and Somerville — that current CEO Philip Eng has mostly managed to navigate the T out of. Now, as the T looks forward, beginning new initiatives rather than fixing old mistakes and extending the Green Line to the West Medford Commuter Rail stop could be a great place to start.

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Study Abroad: The denouement

By Talia Wilcox | November 13

When I considered studying abroad in Paris, I pictured cafes, a trip to Dior, sightseeing and, somewhere lower down the list, my French university experience. As I prepared to depart, Tufts Global Education provided insight into immersing oneself into a new culture, seizing new opportunities and managing finances with too many spending opportunities and limited cash. Yet, what I wasn’t as well prepared for was a return to university life at Tufts and a rigorous academic schedule. Both proved to be more difficult than I had anticipated.

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Congrats, your degree is harder than mine!

By Linda Huang | November 12

I’ve lost count of how many times I have been “STEM-splained” by an engineer with a condescending undertone of how hard their degree is — a degree they chose entirely of their own free will. Each time, I am forced to entertain calculated complaints about their workload, fully aware that it’s a thinly veiled attempt to prove they have a more challenging degree than me.

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Getting real: An honest consideration of the college experience

By Max Lerner | November 7

College, as we think we know it before attending, is nothing more than the thirst-driven mirage leading us through the exhausting traverse of high school. It guides us through our teens to what is made out to be “the best four years of our lives.” Once we arrive, our own experiences inevitably fail to live up to the impossibly high standards that we have been conditioned to set.

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We need to say ‘No’ to a ‘Just Say No’ drug education approach

By Rowan Chetner | November 7

Dying, nearly dying or jail — these were my only outcomes, I was told, if I were to have a sip of alcohol or experiment with any other drug. In high school health class, I remember playing an online simulation in which I was a high schooler attending a house party. Every time I decided to drink, the simulation would either flash forward to my avatar rotting in jail or lying in the hospital on death’s door. Everyone in my class was told this. All our unique identities, backgrounds and futures — all reduced to the consequence of one “idiotic” decision.

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Your ballot is biased, and it’s your fault

By Sorsha Khitikian | November 5

When I was eight years old, I accompanied my grandpa (Papa) to the polls for the 2012 general election. This was the first time I ever “voted.” I remember watching him get his ballot, and going with him into the voting booth. He had a list with him of the candidates he wanted to vote for. However, once he got to the local elections, he started asking me which name looked better. Whichever name I said, he voted for.

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The Democratic coalition is fracturing. Is there still hope to save it?

By Evan Wang | November 5

Regardless of who wins today’s presidential election, the Democratic Party needs to do some serious soul-searching on their handling of this election cycle. Kamala Harris is the current vice president, a former senator from California and a former prosecutor. Her Republican opponent, former President Donald Trump, is a race-baiting, idiotic and egotistical man who continuously spews conspiracy theories out of his mouth. Yet, the race is somehow tied, with Republicans predicted to sweep both chambers of Congress. How could this possibly be happening? 

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It’s not complicated

By Rory Myers | November 5

America has a problem with passivity. It’s not the kind of passivity that prevents us from responding to threats — many attacks on our country are met with a disproportionate, violent response. American passivity has to do with an unwillingness to address (or even acknowledge) injustice, especially the type of injustice that benefits those in charge.

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A time when conspiracy theories are … perhaps good?

By Gretta Goorno | November 4

On Sept. 16, after 10 months of public accusations, larger-than-life hip-hop rapper and executive Sean “Diddy” Combs was arrested at a New York City hotel. The next day, his indictment was unsealed. The 14-page document charges Combs with racketeering, sex trafficking and transporting individuals for use in prostitution. Although his trial is not set to occur until May 5, 2025, the sheer number of men and women who have come forward against Combs makes his conviction seem very likely.

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What’s the value of a Tufts education?

By Gian Luca Di Lenardo | November 4

Over the past few years, whenever someone outside the Tufts bubble asks me what I am majoring in, I usually glibly respond “economics.” This is only a half, or maybe a quarter, of the truth. I am not an economics major, but I have taken enough courses in the discipline to know that my interests lie elsewhere. Responding in this way allows me to avoid the raised eyebrows and back-and-forth discussion that occurs when I say that I am a philosophy and international relations double major. These experiences have made me reflect upon the value of a college education.

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What we can learn from the defeat of David Duke

By Keshav Srikant and Sadie Roraback-Meagher | October 28

In 1991, Louisiana voters were faced with two unfavorable options for governor: Democrat Edwin Edwards and David Duke, a white supremacist and former KKK grand wizard. Edwards had a history of gambling, corruption and scandalous affairs. In 1985, Edwards even admitted to taking $1.9 million to sell state hospital and nursing home permits. Nevertheless, faced with the choice between Edwards and a white supremacist, Lousianians chose Edwards as the lesser evil. 

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