In August 2020, President Donald Trump ordered ByteDance — the parent company of TikTok — to sell their American assets. That order would prove to be a death knell for TikTok: Four and a half years later, in January, the Supreme Court upheld a law to ban it. On the app, and among the generation that uses it most, panic ensued.
Hobbies — any activity engaged in for pleasure ranging from crafting to gardening — are a scarce delicacy for college students, whose day-to-day lives don’t often allow for leisure time. The mental, emotional and physical health benefits of hobbies are frequently overlooked and treated as luxuries in a schedule packed full of academic and personal endeavors.
JoJo Siwa is undoubtedly one of the most cringey — and hated — artists of our generation. Her music video for “Karma” earned the most dislikes of any YouTube music video by a female artist in 2024, and the comment sections on her songs are constantly filled with animosity, with comments such as, “Gonna play this at my funeral so people would be jealous im in the coffin” under her most recent music video for “Choose Your Fighter.” Although I agree Siwa is eminently cringy, I believe people are often too quick to judge her. Too many allow their discomfort with her persona to overshadow any attempt to understand her.
On his first day in office, President Donald Trump announced an executive order ending birthright citizenship under the 14th Amendment, which granted citizenship to formerly enslaved Black people after the Civil War. Almost immediately, the executive order was temporarily blocked by a federal judge in Washington, D.C. Attorneys general from 22 states agreed that the order is unconstitutional and violates the 14th Amendment. Even so, Trump is arguing that the exceptions in the 14th Amendment, such as the Indigenous exception, don’t allow for birthright citizenship.
Trader Joe’s is beloved by all. By all, I mean students, soccer moms, snack fanatics — and me. I’ve been to every single Trader Joe’s you can get to by the T. The best: the one in Allston, where you cross the bridge and walk by the HarvardStadium. It’s giant, has countless products and features a beautiful walk that guides customers into its wonderful doors. The worst: the one off of Copley, which happens to be the smallest Trader Joe’s in the U.S. Guess why it’s the worst!
History is littered with the remains of our innate desire to escape the monotony of everyday life and seek adventure. As humans, we reject notions of impossibility and obligation, dreaming of a day when we can break free from the status quo through sheer passion and curiosity, carving our own paths to greatness.
In 2023, a study found that young people’s voting habits are heavily influenced by the voting patterns of where they grew up. That has certainly been the case for me. I grew up in Oakland, Calif., which belongs to the most Democratic-leaning congressional district in the country. I went to a high school with a very progressive student body, and now I’m at Tufts with a similarly progressive student body.
In the weeks since he reassumed office, President Donald Trump’s actions on the global stage have shocked observers, both internationally and domestically. Most recently, the U.S. State Department froze nearly all foreign aid for 90 days, subjecting foreign aid projects to a review based on which projects, in the words of Secretary of State Marco Rubio, serve to make America “safer, stronger and more prosperous.” This move has set off alarms, especially among Latin American countries, with some pointing out that a decrease in U.S. support is likely to result in increased immigration to the United States.
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.
Over winter break, I was back home in Beijing, China, where I was once again struck by the stark income inequality that defines so much of our society. This inequality does not hit me as hard when I’m in Medford, where the visual uniformity of the suburbs– where differences in wealth are more subdued – allows me to often overlook it. But in Beijing, the contrasts are impossible to ignore. The sight of Bentley cars just about everywhere I go, coupled with delivery workers who are sprinting tirelessly to their destinations just to make a living, leaves me grappling with difficult questions: how should I view income inequality, not just as an abstract economic concept, but as something more personal? What kind of lifestyle should I strive for in a world where privilege and deprivation coexist so seamlessly?
Every president makes mistakes while in office, no matter the overall achievement of their term. Former President Barack Obama famously left office having failed in his campaign promise to close the Guantanamo Bay facility, and former President Woodrow Wilson exited the White House unable to convince the United States to join the League of Nations, which he created. Now after four hard years at the helm, former President Joe Biden has also left office with a black mark on his record:Venezuela.
Though some of us prefer Apple Music and others prefer Spotify, we all have soft spots for the artists and genres that get us through our busy lives, accompanying the wide array of experiences we undergo. Among my own playlists lie folk acoustics for evening walks around campus, upbeat melodies for summer drives to the coast and high-energy classics for a night out with friends. Even in times of grief, hopelessness or contemplation, music can enhance our feelings, change our perspectives and allow us to relive memories. Although we all have different tastes in genres or artists, music universally helps us feel.
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 started in April 2024, we have repeatedly stressed the need for livable salaries and fair, equitable workloads so that we can continue to provide an exceptional education for our students.
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.
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.
Generation Z craves community. It’s why we almost exclusively prefer relatable content curated specifically for us — tailored to our interests, dislikes and opinions. In fact, the majority of Gen Z gets news at least daily from social media platforms that capitalize on our desire for this community, in place of traditional news sources.
Dear readers, Welcome back to another semester on the Hill! My name is Arghya Thallapragada, and I am the Editor in Chief of The Tufts Daily for the spring 2025 semester. I’d like to take this opportunity to introduce you to the Daily and tell you about our intentions for reporting this semester.
“Auld Lang Syne,” we sing as we clink champagne flutes and bid each other a happy new year; “Old Long Since” — when translated — suggests one final recognition of and reflection upon the year past. And yet, even before the cheers die down and the clock strikes 12:01 a.m., we turn our attention to the year ahead and make our New Year’s resolutions, pledging to change ourselves for the better.
At Tufts, I am surrounded by curious students and knowledgeable professors. I have never been more cognizant of the inner dynamics of American politics, the countless Constantines of Byzantium, or the various dynasties of pre-modern China. Outside the classroom, I have long conversations with my friends about politics and social dynamics.
In recent weeks, the H-1B visa program has faced an onslaught of criticism. Intended to encourage skilled immigration to the United States, H-1B visas allow companies to hire temporary foreign workers in specialized occupations. Today, most H1-B visa holders hail from India or China and the biggest beneficiaries of the H-1B visa program are tech companies like Amazon, Google and Microsoft.
