The Tufts Daily

01/28/2025

OP-ED | The Tufts Community Union Senate, representing the undergraduate student body, stands in support of the full-time lecturers and Professors of the Practice in their priorities for livable salaries and manageable workloads. We stand in support of a change in workload policies and more transparent responsibilities related to their role. The undergraduate students of Tufts University hold a direct interest in all faculty members being fairly compensated so that they can retain their remarkable and world-class faculty.

TCU Senate writes.

The Tufts Community Union Senate, representing the undergraduate student body, stands in support of the full-time lecturers and Professors of the Practice in their priorities for livable salaries and manageable workloads. We stand in support of a change in workload poli...

01/28/2025

ARTS | Over the winter break, I spent far more hours than I care to admit on my couch, starting up a borrowed home projector to watch film after film. Some of what I watched were recent winners at the Golden Globes, some were childhood favorites, some were classics I had still not seen.

One of these classics, set in 1973, tells the story of a teenage journalist and music fan who finds himself on the road with rock band “Stillwater” for a once-in-a-lifetime assignment from Rolling Stone magazine. Unabashedly full of unrestricted fun while something dark and sinister lingers in the corner of the screen, this film is perhaps one of the most interesting, comforting and confusing coming-of-age films I’ve seen in recent years. And this is perfectly reflected in a single scene.

Odessa Gaines writes.

Over the winter break, I spent far more hours than I care to admit on my couch, starting up a borrowed home projector to watch film after film. Some of what I watched were recent winners at the Golden Globes, some were childhood favorites, some were classics I had still not seen. 

01/28/2025

FEATURES | In the third and last installment of this mini-series, we will hear from two science-focused majors who found unique ways to fill their summers.

Elizabeth Chin is a sophomore majoring in biomedical engineering on the pre-med track, and she took up a position at a physical therapy and sports medicine clinic last summer. Chin had been a patient at the clinic for a previous injury and was able to build a relationship with one of the physical therapists there.

Ella Sanders writes.

In the third and last installment of this mini-series, we will hear from two science-focused majors who found unique ways, other than the conventional internship, to fill their summers.

01/28/2025

NEWS | The Tufts Community UnionSenate covered committee work, handled supplementary funding requests and voted on critical policy issues during a packed meeting Sunday night.

During the president’s section of the meeting, senators approved an updated attendance policy and discussed the Jan. 27–28 walk-out of Tufts full-time lecturers as they negotiate with the University for a new labor contract.

Spenser Walsh reports.

The Tufts Community UnionSenate covered committee work, handled supplementary funding requests and voted on critical policy issues during a packed meeting Sunday night.

01/27/2025

NEWS | About 80% of full-time union lecturers in the School of Arts and Sciences are walking out on Monday and Tuesday in an effort to bargain for a third contract with Tufts administration. The full-time lecturers will not be working for two days in support of livable salaries and manageable workloads.

A total of 122 of Tufts FTLs are represented by the Service Employees International Union Local 509 union. The FTLs plan to rally at 10 a.m. at the Mayer Campus Center to start the two day walkout. Students are still expected to attend classes taught by tenured faculty, part-time lecturers and professors of the practice, according to an email sent by Dean Brizuela last Friday.

The FTL Union demands adjustments in salaries and workloads to keep up with the rise in the cost of living in the Greater Boston area and increased student admission. The union has been bargaining for their third contract since April 2024.

Michael Onysko writes. Link in bio for more.

About 80% of full-time union lecturers in the School of Arts and Sciences are walking out on Monday and Tuesday in an effort to bargain for a third contract with Tufts administration. The full-time lecturers will not be working for two days in support of livable salaries and manageable workloads.

01/27/2025

OP-ED | We write to you as members of the Tufts University Full-time Lecturers and SMFA Professors of the Practice unions to provide critical information on the status of our contract negotiations. We are communicating with you directly, as these negotiations have significant implications for Tufts’ mission of being a “student-centered research university” delivering “transformative experiences for students and faculty.” We remain willing to bargain with the university’s designated representatives.

We welcome the opportunity to meet and talk with any and all of you. If you have any questions or would like more information, please contact [email protected].

Our working conditions are our students’ learning conditions. Unfortunately, there are significant salary and workload challenges that make it increasingly difficult to deliver on Tufts’ mission of providing transformative experiences. In our bargaining sessions with the administration that ...

01/24/2025

PHOTO | On Sunday evening, Tufts received the largest snowfall of the winter yet, with several inches piling up in just a few hours. Throughout the evening, dozens of students layered up and braved the cold to build snowmen, sled down the slopes of Tufts’ hilly campus and throw snowballs at each other for hours.

Photos by John Murphy.

On Sunday evening, Tufts received the largest snowfall of the winter yet, with several inches piling up in just a few hours. Throughout the evening, dozens of students layered up and braved the cold to build snowmen, sled down the slopes of Tufts’ hilly campus and throw snowballs at...

01/24/2025

SPORTS | Tufts dictated the pace and rhythm of each game while forcing opponents to play catch-up. Now riding a six-game win streak, the No. 9 Jumbos are 16–2 overall and a perfect 4–0 in NESCAC play.

Friday night in Williamstown, Mass., the Jumbos turned Chandler Gymnasium into a showcase of defensive brilliance. They dismantled the Ephs with a 59–46 victory that felt even more lopsided than the score suggests. Williams shot just 30.8% from the field, stifled by a Tufts defense that smothered everything in its path.

Luke Fredericks writes.

The Tufts men’s basketball team just wrapped up a weekend of hoops that could only be described as dominant, securing back-to-back road wins against Williams and Middlebury. Tufts dictated the pace and rhythm of each game while forcing opponents to play catch-up. Now riding a six-game win streak, ...

01/24/2025

OPINION | Starting on Jan. 7, our screens became filled with harrowing images of the California wildfires. Near-dystopian videos of fires raging through neighborhoods that had never before been at risk of burning spread online. We all watched as the environmental disaster-filled future climatologists have been warning us about for decades finally arrived.

In the wake of such a devastating environmental crisis, there have naturally been many headlines sensationalizing the events of the past few weeks. However, much of this media coverage focuses on bureaucratic issues like insufficient water supply or inefficient movement of firefighters, ignoring the major environmental implications of the fires that extend beyond California.

Monica Reilly writes.

Starting on Jan. 7, our screens became filled with harrowing images of the California wildfires. Near-dystopian videos of fires raging through neighborhoods that had never before been at risk of burning spread online. We all watched as the environmental disaster-filled future climatol...

01/24/2025

ARTS | After going dark on Saturday night, the app is back online following President Trump's executive order extending the ban.

What does the future of TikTok look like? Unfortunately, the answer seems even more uncertain than it did just a week ago. Trump’s executive order does not mean TikTok is no longer banned. While he seems committed to finding a solution, he could face resistance from his own party. Republican Senators Tom Cotton and Pete Ricketts released a joint statement expressing firm opposition to delaying the ban. There are also questions about the legality of Trump's decision. Does the president even have the authority to issue an extension on a ban that has already gone into place?

Annika Pillai writes.

If you tried to open TikTok late on Saturday night, chances are you were blocked from your typical never-ending doom scroll. At around 10:30 p.m. — just hours before the impending ban — the app went completely dark for users, only displaying a brief message: .....

01/24/2025

FEATURES | In this multi-part series, four students with majors across economics and computer science reflect on their internship experiences. From future investment bankers to technology wizards, these students have jumped at the opportunity to try out their passions.

Yashica Nagpal, a junior majoring in quantitative economics and minoring in finance and entrepreneurship, will have completed a total of six internships by the end of her undergraduate career. In preparing for these internship opportunities, she has been involved in a number of organizations, such as Recalc Academy, which have helped prepare her for these opportunities.

Ella Sanders Writes.

01/24/2025

NEWS | The Somerville Municipal Employees Union ratified a new contract with the city of Somerville on Jan. 9. Mayor Katjana Ballantyne and union leadership signed a tentative agreement that includes wage increases across the board and family leave, among other benefits.

"Halloran emphasized that the union is agreeable to the contract in good faith. 'It’s never going to be a perfect contract, but this is probably one of the best contracts I’ve seen in my 32 years working for the city,' he said."

Aaron Gruen reports.

01/23/2025

AD | Join us for the 2025 Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Celebration and RSVP by clicking the link in ‘s bio.
This year’s theme, Where Do We Go From Here? The Promise of Freedom, Democracy, and Justice, reflects Dr. King’s call to use love and justice as tools for transformation.
The event will feature performances by musicians, poets, dancers, and storytellers from the Tufts and Boston communities, as well as the presentation of the MLK Student Voices Awards.

Date: Thursday, January 30, 2025
Time: 5:30 p.m. – 7:00 p.m.
Location: Cohen Auditorium, with a reception to follow in Alumnae Hall
The event will be live-streamed, recorded, and include ASL interpretation.
Join us as we reflect, celebrate, and honor Dr. King’s legacy. Contact [email protected] for more information.

01/22/2025

SPORTS | Last weekend, Tufts men’s ice hockey played two drastically different home games against Hamilton on Friday night and Amherst on Saturday. Tufts lost 6–1 against Hamilton, but returned to Malden Valley Forum on Saturday with a new energy to beat Amherst 5–2.

“It’s never good to be beat like that,” sophomore forward Trace Norwell said. “We were a little more fired up [on Saturday] … We wanted to prove that [Friday] was a fluke. I think that was the biggest thing, that we were more ready to play; we were engaged.”

Tara Wirtschoreck reports.

Last weekend, Tufts men’s ice hockey played two drastically different home games against Hamilton on Friday night and Amherst on Saturday. Tufts lost 6–1 against Hamilton, but returned to Malden Valley Forum on Saturday with a new energy to beat Amherst 5–2.

01/22/2025

OPINION | I spent the night before I left for winter break crying to my friends. I opened the floodgates, ignoring my anxieties and sharing my recent body image issues. I have come incredibly far with my efforts to eat and exercise in ways that nourish, not drain, my emotional and physical health. However, in the weeks leading up to winter break, whispers of inaccurate and harmful rhetoric about food and exercise from a little invisible creature had been getting louder, and its presence had been creeping upon my shoulder more frequently.

I shared with my friends that, despite this creature’s intimidation, I generally liked my body and felt confident in it. However, I also shared that if certain things about my body were to change, I would no longer like those parts of my body and my confidence would diminish. I was fearful of such potential changes.

Rowan Chetner writes.

I spent the night before I left for winter break crying to my friends. I opened the floodgates, ignoring my anxieties and sharing my recent body image issues. I have come incredibly far with my efforts to eat and exercise in ways that nourish, not drain, my emotional and physical health. Howeve...

01/22/2025

ARTS | Tufts University Art Galleries’ newest installation, “Impossible Music,” opened last Thursday with the goal of physically representing the transformative role that music plays in our lives. The exhibition consists of independent artists, collectives and innovators who use sound and performance to explore the interdisciplinary potential of music to communicate new ideas and concepts.

Raffaella Vogt writes.

I believe a world without sound is just as bad as a world without art. Why not mix the two to make our world a better place amid the chaos of it all? Music allows humans to explore the depths of perception, existence and identity. In theAidekman Arts Center’s Tufts University Art Galleries, t...

01/22/2025

FEATURES | My Crocs lost purchase on the vestal slurry carpeting the sidewalk. One foot slid forward while the other slid back, and I felt the entirety of my life with functioning hip abductors flash before my eyes. I was too young to strain a muscle walking in the snow and way too old to successfully hit the splits. Snow had descended upon Tufts and I was not prepared.

Miraculously, I managed to survive my near catastrophic fall and absconded back to my dorm unharmed, albeit embarrassed and with snow-laden shorts. Although I may not have been prepared, many students at Tufts certainly were. As the very first sprinklings of snow began to accumulate on the ground, I watched my jacketed peers emerge from the comfort of their heated dorms and begin hasty construction on those cold, cozy effigies of song: snowmen.

Max Turnacioglu writes.

My Crocs lost purchase on the vestal slurry carpeting the sidewalk. One foot slid forward while the other slid back, and I felt the entirety of my life with functioning hip abductors flash before my eyes. I was too young to strain a muscle walking in the snow and way too old to successfull...

01/22/2025

NEWS | Three community journalists are revitalizing local coverage in Medford with a new digital newspaper: Gotta Know Medford. This effort to produce more Medford news comes years after Gannett, the Medford Transcript’s parent company, forced the paper to merge with the Somerville Journal in 2022, leaving the city without a devoted paper of its own.

“The important thing is to have Medford residents have a place to show their voice, to have their voices heard,” President Nell Coakley said. “I think that’s the goal, to provide Medford news for Medford residents.”

Zoe Herrmann reports.

Three community journalists are revitalizing local coverage in Medford with a new digital newspaper: Gotta Know Medford. This effort to produce more Medford news comes years after Gannett, the Medford Transcript’s parent company, forced the paper to merge with the Somerville Jo...