Columns

Columns

In the Crease: More NHL standings predictions

By Zachary Gerson | November 9

Now, we shift our focus to the Western Conference. The Arizona Coyotes are continuing with their rebuild, but for the first time in many years, there seems to be a light at the end of the tunnel. Arizona has a plethora of young talent in forwards such as Clayton Keller, Nick Schmaltz, Logan Cooley, Barrett Hayton and others. For the time being, the Coyotes are not ready to compete for a playoff spot due to below-average defense and goaltending. However, with the young talent the Coyotes have brought in, the future is bright in the desert, but the club will have to wait another year or two before they are ready to compete for a playoff berth.

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Columns

The Power of the Pen: The talks go on

By Odessa Gaines | November 9

Editor’s note: This article was written before SAG-AFTRA and studios reached a tentative agreement to end the actors strike. SAG-AFTRA and studios met again on Monday to negotiate on contracts regarding actor residual payments and the use of AI to recreate actor likeness in future productions. As always, the biggest point of discussion has been the studios’ desire to use AI. Big studios proposed their “last, best and final offer” to reuse AI scans of deceased actors without needing to ask for the consent of the actors guild or the deceased actors’ estates. The studios also proposed to pay a one-time fee to secure AI scans of living actors who make more than the minimum earnings in the guild; however, SAG demands that studios compensate these actors for every use of their likenesses.

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Columns

A Jumbo’s Journey: Spanish music ensues

By Ben Rachel | November 9

“La Mamá de la Mamá” (2020). “Danza Kuduro” (2010). Bad Bunny. Spanish music has become a staple of my short tenure here at Tufts. It’s reached the point where I learn more Spanish on the weekends than during my classes throughout the week. Whether it be in some poor soul’s basement, a fraternity or a dorm, Spanish music is a guarantee.

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Columns

The Hard Count: C.J. Stroud continues to defy expectations in stellar rookie campaign

By Reece Christian | November 9

The Houston Texans aren’t exactly a historically successful franchise. They’ve only made the playoffs six times out of their 21 full seasons of existence, and are the only franchise to have never played in a conference championship game. As a result, when there’s finally a hope for the future, it’s a big deal.

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Columns

Attack of the B-Movies: New York’s crime-riddled ‘Bad Lieutenant’

By Ethan Essner | November 8

When we take a step back and look at how cinema depicted sprawling urban metropolises in the 1970s through the 1990s, we can uncover significant traits. For one, films started to look into the setting as much less of a backdrop and more of a character in itself. Films like Spike Lee’s “Do the Right Thing” (1989) and John Carpenter’s “Escape from New York” (1981) are prominent examples from this era featuring New York City. These movies transcended their genres as they shaped the city around them into storytelling devices in bold new ways. More esoteric showings of this same style are incorporated in almost every work by B-Movie icon Abel Ferrara. “Ms .45” (1981), “King of New York” (1990) and — arguably his magnum opus — “Bad Lieutenant” (1992) are prime examples of how big cities and their cinematic facades can be reshaped like Play-Doh to fashion some of the most crafty narrative concertos.

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Columns

Extra Innings: The greatest teams of the 21st century

By Henry Blickenstaff | November 7

We all love a good underdog story, and both the Texas Rangers and the Arizona Diamondbacks had one this year. But we also love to witness greatness — teams that dominate, break records and win awards. These teams, the five greatest of the 21st century, did just that.

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Column

The Policy Perspective: Evaluating Bidenomics

By Keshav Srikant | November 7

Over the past year, the Biden administration has repeatedly been leaning on a new term in their messaging, Bidenomics, to describe President Biden’s economic policies. The Biden administration promotes Bidenomics as growing the middle class and the economy as a whole.

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Column

The Budget Line: Late nights without Late Nights

By Justin Hong | November 6

It’s that time of year again — the part of the semester defined by whiplash between midterms and your Halloweekend plans. No matter what those may be, on Fridays and Saturdays we can all count on Late Night at Commons to be the cherry on top of a raucous night out or for a midnight snack.

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Columns

Compost in the Daylight: Small-town ghosts

By Sadie Leite | November 6

“I’m here with my friends at the graveyard.” One of my favorite books growing up wasNeil Gaiman’s “The Graveyard Book” (2008). It’s about a boy named Nobody Owens who is raised by ghosts in a graveyard after his entire family is murdered.

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Columns

Moments ‘til Madness: The best games to open the season

By Owen Short | November 6

The months of waiting have finally paid off. It’s officially time for the first tip-offs of the 2023–24 college basketball season. With many fascinating storylines and loads of new talent to be displayed, here are my favorite games for each day this week in college hoops.

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Columns

Munching with Max: Late Night at Commons

By Max Druckman | November 6

In the infinitely wise words of legendary New York Yankees catcher Yogi Berra, “it gets late early.” Whether this Yogi-ism is true or not, it feels factual that some of our hungriest moments come after dinner — especially on the weekend. Dewick-MacPhie and Fresh at Carmichael Dining Centers close at 8 p.m. on Friday and Saturday evenings. So before October, Jumbos craving a late-night treat were forced to order costly meals from DoorDash or Uber Eats or raid their emergency snack stashes.

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Columns

Inside the MFA: What’s on view?

By Claire Wood | November 3

With over 500,000 works of art throughout the Museum of Fine Arts, navigating the galleries can be overwhelming. Luckily, the MFA is divided into several collections, making the viewing experience more digestible. The MFA has 13 collection areas in total. They are as follows: Art of Africa ...

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Columns

Weekly Wellness: Life Alive Organic Cafe in Davis Square

By Katie Pflieger | November 3

This charming, brightly-colored, nutrition-focused cafe is the perfect place for a light bite or a filling healthful meal. With a variety of acai bowls, wraps, salads, and bowls, it’s hard to find something at Life Alive that isn’t delicious and packed with vegetables and nutrients. Although to some, the cafe’s mostly plant-based menu may seem a little daunting, I can attest that each time I’ve gone, even the pickiest of eaters have found something they enjoyed. The butternut squash soup was a highlight of my last trip, one of their fall seasonal items, and the simple hummus and pita plate ended up being a favorite of the table. With substitutions of cashew-based cheeses in some of their salads and bowls, Life Alive offers an allergen-friendly menu, with options for those that are dairy-free, vegan, vegetarian, and gluten-free.

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Columns

The Power of the Pen: Becoming a screenwriter is really f---ing hard

By Odessa Gaines | November 2

One fun fact about myself: I love to write. Maybe that’s not a surprise considering this is an article for my weekly column — but it’s true. Novels, short stories, articles — I love to write them all. And recently, I have started to fall in love with writing for film, partially because of this column and partially because of my screenwriting class.

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Column

Antisemitism Unpacked: A Jewish face of power

By Ben Choucroun | November 2

When we envision racism, many processes come to mind: impoverishment; underrepresentation in government; theft of land and resources; mass incarceration. These are all insidious methods of oppression enforced by the settler-colonial, white supremacist system that characterizes the modern-day U.S. But ...

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Columns

The Hard Count: Broncos end multiple streaks in upset against Chiefs

By Reece Christian | November 2

Nobody beats the Denver Broncos 17 times in a row. Certainly not after the Broncos ended a 16-game losing streak in a 24–9 victory against their division rival, the Kansas City Chiefs. The victory also ended Patrick Mahomes’ NFL record 16 straight divisional away victories. 

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Columns

Confessions of a Cooking Fanatic: Fruity favorites

By Elizabeth Foster | November 1

My cooking origin story begins with the first phase of the COVID-19 lockdown, between March and June of 2020. As a high school senior, I was (very validly) going through a bout of self-isolation. I barely left my room during those first few months of the pandemic. What was I doing with my time? Watching cooking videos: primarily Bon Bon Appétit’s YouTube content.

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Columns

MisCONceptions: Come to ‘The Spectator’

By Trent Bunker, Nicholas Rishi, João Ribeiro and Katherine Brown | November 1

Editor’s note: MisCONceptions is a column with four contributors. This article was written by João Ribeiro. The MisCONceptions column was founded to allow students to articulate positions not generally shared on campus. Since its founding, groups beyond conservatives have struggled to have their ...

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Columns

T Time: Kendall/MIT

By Jeremy Bramson | November 1

Over the weekend, I had a friend’s birthday dinner in the vicinity of Kendall Square and thought it would be a perfect time to review the station. For those interested in visiting the station and the area, it is located on the Red Line of the MBTA. It took me about 20 minutes to get there from the Davis station (the Red Line, unfortunately, does not put the “rapid” in “rapid transit”).

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Column

The Policy Perspective: The case for deprioritizing high-speed rail

By Keshav Srikant | October 30

It’s easy to see the appeal of high-speed rail. One only needs to consider the success of the Shinkansen bullet trains in Japan to see the benefits. A 2021research paper found that the Shinkansen reduces travel times and increases job opportunities.

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