Michaela Loughran

Crossword: Giving Thanks

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

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.

Look up! You never know what you’ll see

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.

Improvement or imprisonment: Mental hospitals, prisons in the US share scary similarities

People tend to believe that prison is one of the worst places one can end up in America. Little do they know, psychiatric hospitals are eerily similar to prisons. Like prisons, the food is unappetizing and flavorless; the mattresses are stiff as boards and not at all conducive to sleep; and the showers have minimal privacy and tiny towels that come nowhere close to covering one’s full body. Both healthcare professionals and patients characterize the inpatient hospital environment as carceral in a way that, according to the AMA Journal of Ethics, is “not conducive to well-being or recovery.” Yet the websites for inpatient programs still tout “exceptional care” with false promises that patients will get better.

‘Clique culture’ has come to dominate clubs at Tufts

Have you ever walked into a club meeting and immediately felt unwelcome? Maybe it was because your fellow club members were already so engaged in conversation with one another that they didn’t pause for a brief moment to greet you. Maybe you tried to say a friendly hello, only to continue being ignored. If something like that has ever happened to you, you are certainly not alone, nor are you at fault. Experiences like this are most likely due to something much bigger — the toxic “clique culture” that has come to dominate countless organizations at Tufts.

Trigger warnings are necessary — we shouldn’t have to just ‘stay triggered’

Some conservatives are known for using simple-minded but harmful vocabulary in their rhetoric, especially online. They have a schoolyard bully-like tendency to simply cry ‘snowflake’ and mockingly ask “Why are you so triggered?” in response to many of the serious arguments liberals attempt to make on the internet. This enables them to disregard any of the substance of their liberal opponent’s arguments, while simultaneously attacking them as being ‘too weak.’ According to these right-wingers, it is impossible to form a logical argument while incorporating one’s personal feelings, and cold-hard facts alone should be the only evidence appealed to. I happen to believe this is completely false. In fact, empathy has been shown to be key to conflict diffusion, and thus, online conflicts, particularly political arguments, could stand to benefit from increased civility if both participants were to attempt to be more empathetic. Additionally, growing research is linking empathy to liberal political views, while failing to do so for right-leaning views, indicating a clear empathy gap among the parties.

The return of fascism: Musk proudly invokes Nazism in infamous salute at presidential event

As the head of these organizations, Musk has often been at the head of public controversies. One of the most recent pieces of problematic news to come out about Musk was that the openly appeared to give a Nazi salute at an event held for President Donald Trump’s inauguration. This news was naturally deeply alarming and frightening to many. How could a gesture most commonly associated with the fascist, antisemitic regime of Adolf Hitler be reappearing at a nationally televised event in the U.S. nearly a century after WWII?

CEO of Boston Metal talks decarbonizing the steel industry

Tadeu Carneiro, chairman and CEO of Boston Metal, gave a lecture in the Hoch Cunningham Environmental Lecture Series on March 16 about a new electrochemical process for decarbonization that his company recently pioneered. The process, known as molten oxide electrolysis, has the potential to make an industry which produces 10% of global carbon emissions greener, Carneiro said.

City tells Somerville Media Center to relocate by April 30

The City of Somerville is requiring Somerville Media Center to relocate from its current home in Union Square by April 30. Formed in March 1983, SMC produces local radio shows and TV shows as well as youth programs that seek to educate children in the use of media tools to tell their own stories. 

Juniors Thomas Hershewe and Asher Smith win award for their political research

Tufts juniors Thomas Hershewe and Asher Smith won the Best Student Paper Award, given out yearly by the New England Chapter of the American Association for Public Opinion Research, for their political research. Along with the award, they received $100 in personal funding each and a free trip to Philadelphia in May, where they will have the chance to present their research at the annual AAPOR conference.