Monday, April 29, 2013

0 In Response to "The Daily is nobody's mouthpiece"

I appreciate back-and-forth exchanges in newspapers because they allow for the public to watch a battle of ideas between two perspectives that have the same number of column-inches to deliver an argument. If there was another issue of The Tufts Daily, I would have written this as a Letter to the Editor (and thus had to respect word limits).  Hopefully you will find this response and Craig Frucht's original letter titled The Daily is nobody's mouthpiece enlightening in some way.


I have been on the inside of a Daily meeting for an endorsement for TCU President and been witness to three others.  Last year, I met with the top of The Daily's masthead to discuss my vision for Tufts and what I hoped to advocate for the student body from the role of TCU President.  The other instances were as a peripheral member of the Sam Wallis campaign, a disinterested party as Tomas Garcia ran against Ben Richards, and then this year as an active member of Joe Thibodeau's campaign.  With that said, I would like to first of all say that I appreciate Craig's letter to the Editor.

The point that Craig raises is valid, that The Daily is not bound to any contract that obligates the editorial staff to endorse any candidate.  The Daily is its own entity and the staff are able to have their own opinions on the candidate they would like to endorse.  If there was, for example, an editorial board that actively believed that Tufts Quidditch needed more support for the student body to have some of its issues addressed, and there was a candidate championing that position, I would not be surprised if the editorial board endorsed said candidate.  I don't mean that with any backhandedness.  Genuinely, I believe that The Daily and its editorial board needs to have the freedom to formulate its own opinion.  As Craig says, they are not anyone's mouthpiece.

I absolutely agree with Craig when he says that, "the Daily was right to acknowledge that there are qualities worth considering in a candidate other than the extent to which he or she has advocated on behalf of marginalized groups."  That is spot-on because there certainly are other issues.  I never would have argued that we should exclusively pay attention to issues of marginalization and identity and I don't think any of these year's candidates, nor Wyatt, nor Sam, nor Tomas would say that the focus should exclusively fall upon these issues either.

I would however, and I think that the former TCU Presidents would likely agree with me on this point along with several of the Vice-Presidents, argue that policies, services, and projects need to better assess the ways they will affect students along lines of identity.  Socio-economic status, gender, sexuality, race, citizenship status, and ableism all complicate many of these initiatives because, let's be frank, there are differences to these experiences -- the recently-released Council on Diversity Progress Report makes that painfully clear when it writes, "Tufts ranks at the bottom of comparison schools in 
terms of frequency with which students report interacting with students diverse 
in race/ethnicity, nationality, and socio-economic background," or that, "The Retention Report from 2012 shows a significantly lower 6-year graduation rate for historically underrepresented students (Black/African American: 84.1%, Hispanic 82.7%) than White (94.2%)"

Something as seemingly universal as a safe, affordable, late-night shuttle from Boston will likely mean much more to a student from a lower income bracket who cannot afford the $40 cab fare from Boston back to Tufts.  Ensuring that Safe Rides can offer students transport from a wider radius will undoubtedly promote the safety of all students at Tufts -- but we cannot ignore the fact that an expanded Safe Ride system might more drastically improve the quality of life for women.  Improving relationships between Tufts students, TUPD, and our host communities will undoubtedly promote a friendlier climate for all Tufts students.  However, augmenting those relationships might do an especially significant amount of good for students of color who routinely bear the brunt of racial profiling and undue criminalization.

Yes, I agree with Craig when he writes, "The TCU president’s effectiveness working in concert with administrators impacts not just the work of campus activists but also the work of those who prioritize access to better research opportunities, more career resources and more outlets for community service." But, like I wrote in the preceding paragraph: race, class, gender, immigration status, and so forth complicate the effects of expanding research opportunities, career resources, and outlets for community service that Craig designates.  We cannot reasonably argue that a greater number of summer internship grants will affect the son of Larry Summers the same way as it will affect the life of a low-income student from DC or Chicago.  From my perspective, as the former Diversity and Community Affairs Officer on Senate and a member on the Executive Board of Pan-African Alliance, I do not think that "activist" elements are asking for issues of identity to be treated as superior to other causes; nor are they asking for issues of identity to negate other causes that seem more "universally relevant".  From what I can tell, the individuals who read Walker Bristol's column and who are engaged in arguing for the under-represented, under-resourced, and marginalized are simply asking that we account for the ways in which experiences, in fact, are not universal and the ways in which identities complicate our problems and solutions.  Think of something as seemingly mundane as the ramp that was constructed in front of President Monaco's house -- for a person who can walk, it offers an alternative route; for someone in a wheelchair, the ramp is the only thing allowing him or her to enter the house without much assistance.  

When we, as an institution, fail to interrogate the ways in which someone's race affects their interactions with their pre-orientation group, or their sexuality affects their experiences in fraternities, or their socio-economic status affects their ability to participate in all that Tufts has to offer, we are only coding for and investigating a small sub-set of the full picture -- and that blindness does a disservice to both the "activists" and the "kids who couldn't care less."

Also, and this may work very well with the preceding point, is that I think much of the noise made about The Daily's endorsement of Christie Maciejewski was misinterpreted by those who heard it.  I cannot speak for Walker but I can comment on the frustrations that I heard from others and the frustrations I felt.  I recognized Christie's contributions as a Senator and her long list of accomplishments.  Frankly, I think that Christie made a very compelling case for The Daily's editorial staff and was an absolute stand-out in the debates.  Christie knows the extent to which I admire her for everything she has done on Senate and the way she conducted herself during the campaign.  And, frankly speaking, if it could not be Joe Thibodeau who was endorsed by The Daily, I think that Maciejewski is the next-best fit.

For me, I think that much of the frustration supporters of Joe Thibodeau felt was that The Daily described Thibodeau as being little more than the activists' mouthpiece.  Joe Thibodeau, undoubtedly, had sweeping support from activist communities who were willing to chalk, design, rally, and mobilize in his defense and to help him win this election.  However, that does not mean that Thibodeau did not possess broad support from the non-activist community (a group that has been described without any real data as "the majority of Tufts students").  Thibodeau was not simply "the activist" candidate that The Daily described him as.  If anything, Joe Thibodeau was the coalition candidate, the person who brought together students who never would have been in the same room prior to the Thibodeau campaign.  Even I was surprised to find myself hugging a champagne-soaked Stephen Ruggiero on the night of Thibodeau's election.

And this characterization underpins much of the ground on which people made objections.  For one, "activists" are not a monolithic mass equally committed to all causes, tactics, and arguments.  I have been active in the push for Africana Studies and for racial equity on this campus.  I have also been committed to making Tufts a more affordable and livable place for students here on financial aid.  I have worked on issues pursuant to sexual assault and consent but not nearly as much as I have worked on issues of inclusion and marginalization.  I understand the argument for climate justice and to curb CO2 emissions but I will be the first one to tell Tufts Divest that what they did at that info session was really rude, ill-advised, and that they should have just apologized instead of issuing a meandering op-ed that failed to say, "I'm sorry.  We did something bad.  We will try not to do that again.  Climate justice is still important but we get it."  There is certainly a community of progressive-minded people here at Tufts who have a general sense of one another's battles, at the very least.  It tends to be that way among groups that aim to address structural inequalities.  However, we are not all equally committed to all the same causes because we are all different people with different histories and different points of entry.   Believe it or not, there is no secret cabal that dictates a progressive agenda outward.  Activists are actually just people!

Second, lumping all the "activists" into a group of individuals who do not have lives or concerns or cares beyond the issues they advocate for is especially problematic.  I have a housemate who has worked diligently to promote autism awareness but that does not erase her life as a member of Alpha Phi.  One of my closest friends founded Tufts Gun Club and annually fundraises for cancer research.  One of the new Co-Presidents of Pan-African Alliance is a Synaptic Scholar, professional photographer, and has starred in theater productions at Tufts -- while still making time to play intramural futsal.  These identities don't negate one another and it is unfair to define people as if they are "activists" alone -- or that even if they were, that being an "activist" is something outside of the range of what the "mainstream" or the "majority" of Tufts would care about. These "activists", just like the 27 lacrosse players, just like the Primary Source, just like the kids who play ping-pong on Saturdays instead of hitting-up Pro Row, are all part of the Tufts community.  I, or we, or you, or they, may be disappointed by, or disagree with, or resent, or try to wish-away, any of these components but the truth remains that any notion of "Tufts" is realized by assessing the sum of these constituent parts as opposed to the negation of one for the other.  We are allowed to have complex, and at times contradictory, identities because, well, because we can.

So I hear where Craig is coming from in some senses but I have to caution him against falling into the same false-dichotomy that perpetuates the issue.  For example's sake, Joe Thibodeau wasn't "the activist candidate".  
He is a student who enjoyed deep and far-reaching support from activist communities because of his history engaging matters related to identity and his commitment to problematizing and complicating in favor of fighting for the illumination of more complete truths.  
He is a student who enjoyed deep and far-reaching support from the staff of WMFO and students involved in drama productions because he performed in Over the Rainbow.  
He is a student who enjoyed deep and far-reaching support on Senate because he demonstrated, time and time again, the bona fides to be taken as a capable and inspiring leader.  
He is a student who enjoyed deep and far-reaching support among the student body because, well, if he didn't he would not have received 47% of first-place votes in a three-way race and won the TCU Presidency by a significant margin.

I agree with Craig, that activism needs to take its criticism when it deserves it.  The example of Tufts Divest's gaffe at the info session is just one of them.  I believe that, if anyone, the people who are criticizing should be prepared to take criticism.  I just want us to criticize "activists" in a way that doesn't frame them in opposition to the rest of the student body instead of as students who are engaging a different, equally valid, more politically-inclined component of their identity.

Thank you to Craig for allowing conversation to continue.


Thursday, April 25, 2013

0 Central Park Five

Joy James delivered a lecture on this at Tufts University back on February 20.  I didn't fully understand everything she was saying at the time but I do much better now -- she is one smart lady.

I won't be able to write for a while because of papers I have to write for school but here is a documentary to watch, at least.

Watch The Central Park Five on PBS. See more from Central Park Five.


Tuesday, April 23, 2013

0 Through Thibodeau, the Tufts that We Deserve -- for All Students

Through Thibodeau, the Tufts that We Deserve -- for All Students
by: Jon Bird, Co-Chair of Programming Board


The very first time I heard Joe Thibodeau’s name was months before I matriculated on the Tufts’ academic quad. In May 2010, I was an excited high school senior who was eager, yet nervous, to graduate. I clearly remember having a conversation with my friend, Valerie Grim, who had just attended her boyfriend’s graduation. She told me that she had met another senior who would also be going to Tufts. As the class-elected speaker, Joe Thibodeau gave a rousing speech at his graduation, and afterwards Valerie told me that Thibodeau was an “awesome kid. He will be President one day.”

When I came to Tufts and met Joe Thibodeau at our work-study job in Ginn Library, I instantly knew what Valerie was talking about. Simply seeing Joe interact with other Jumbos in the library, seeing how he greeted everyone with a genuine smile and was always willing to help with research, made me see that Joe truly is someone special. He is a charismatic, kindhearted friend and co-worker, a natural leader, and an inspiration to his peers.

And now here we are. Today, Joseph Thibodeau, along with fellow candidates Joseph Donenfeld and Christie Maciejewski, are seeking your vote for TCU Senate President. It is with the utmost degree of confidence that I endorse Joe Thibodeau as the next TCU Senate President.

A common and valid criticism of Senate is that it is a representative body that does not represent Tufts students effectively.  With Thibodeau, this grievance would be addressed.  Thibodeau’s involvement with a variety of organizations – from FOCUS, to TDC, to his work-study job at Ginn, to WMFO, and in theater at Tufts – indicates a strong capacity to engage students from a variety of backgrounds and to keep the concerns of Tufts at large in his mind.  In conversations with members of Greek Life, the Group of Six, the SMFA, and the Engineering School, Thibodeau has consistently stressed the importance of finding points of common interest and then had the fortitude to see through projects that enhance collaboration among the groups.  In the impressive five semester that Thibodeau has spent on Senate, he has made certain that his committee (Culture, Ethnicity, and Community Affairs) addressed all components of its title.  Under Thibodeau, CECA was a committee of responsive action, thoughtful consideration, and sensible and easy access for Tufts students who were far from the “Senate kid” mold.  He has always been diligent to remember the students around him – even those who do not agree with him – and has found ways to facilitate understanding among groups that are often at odds.

As a Co-Chairman of next year’s Programming Board, I am very excited about Thibodeau’s record and his enthusiasm for effective programming at Tufts.  With the coming year, many events that P-Board organizes, like Winter Bash and Fall Ball, will fall under increased scrutiny from administrators.  With Thibodeau as TCU President, I am confident that the Senate and P-Board can host events that will maintain all the excitement and energy of Winter Bash and Fall Ball, while finding solutions to the risks that such large events run.  I truly believe that a vote for Thibodeau is a vote for a better Fall Ball and Winter Bash that will be more thrilling and better organized.  Thibodeau’s track record on collaborations makes it clear to me that he will help us enact a smarter alcohol policy by working with Health Services while still empowering groups to deliver the traditions we love.  These events can and will unite campus and make our favorite activities, new and old, more sustainable and more enjoyable for us and for future Jumbos.

In addition to being an unmatched leader outside of Senate, Thibodeau has a sterling record on the body.  Thibodeau has helped budget and fund groups through the Allocations Board, was the Senate’s first ever Diversity and Community Affairs Officer, and chaired CECA.  Joe has supported initiatives to protect student safety, to increase access to sexual health resources, and the ability for students to get home in time’s of emergency through grants from the Dean’s office.  Thibodeau gets Senate and he gets things done.  In Thibodeau, there is a candidate of conviction, courage, and character.  Thibodeau is a champion of students, all students, to administrators who respect Thibodeau’s sincere commitment to serve and enhance the student experience.  Last year, at a TCU Presidential Debate, Wyatt Cadley identified Thibodeau as one of the most admirable Senators he has ever known despite the fact that Thibodeau was supporting Cadley’s opponent, Logan Cotton.  Thibodeau’s work transcends divisions.

For example, one of his ideas that most appeals to me is his plan to work with Tufts administrators to offer more grants for unpaid internships. This summer, a friend of mine is taking an unpaid internship that requires that the student receive college credit. Not only will he move away from home and pay for housing, he also will pay Tufts $1,200 in order to register for summer classes to receive the credits the internship requires. For many students, this situation is unfeasible. Though Tufts already offers some funding for interns, Thibodeau will increase this funding for summer internships – vital experiences for a difficult jobs market

Another facet of Tufts life that Thibodeau aims to improve is club sports. Club sports face many hurdles, the highest of which tends to be issues with budgeting. Personally, I know a club sports team that has faced several difficulties while trying to schedule games because their budget has been so limited. Athletes of all skill levels should be able to compete and at no point should cost of an activity be the thing to disqualify them – especially considering that Senate rolled-over upwards of $80,000 of student money this past year.

Looking at today’s election, we have three candidates for TCU President, each of whom has served as a senator since freshman year, and each of whom has showed that they are dedicated to serving the student body. However, Thibs gets us.

Thibodeau is the only candidate with the charisma, experience, character, and bona fides to connect distinct communities.  Thibodeau has already and will continue to facilitate important conversations, enfranchise communities we often ignore, and deliver on his promises.  Thibodeau will be a student leader who puts students before the administration.  This is why there is a strong, enthusiastic, and committed group of students who are here campaigning for him even while he is abroad in Spain.  With Joe Thibodeau as TCU President, there will be no limit to the positive change we will see – in small, tangible projects, and greater shifts of climate, culture and community.  I invite you to inform yourself but, before you stop reading, would like to proudly declare that I unequivocally support Joe Thibodeau for TCU President, the one candidate who can deliver the Tufts that we deserve.




Wednesday, April 17, 2013

0 The Usual Suspects: A Tale of Two Marathons; of Two Terrorisms

** This is a post written by my very good friend, Suyu.  Suyu is one of my closest friends at Tufts and, as of Monday, has run the Boston Marathon twice.  He shared his thoughts on Facebook and gave me permission to post this Facebook note that he wrote for us here at Snakes on McCain.  Props to you, Suyu. **

_______________________________________

Shannon Stapleton/Reuters

My name is Suyu Zhang, and I am a senior at Tufts University.  I was meters from the first blast of the bomb that went off on April 15th 2013 and one of the last runners to have crossed the finish line. This is my account of the 117th Boston Marathon.

I have participated in two Boston Marathons; as a freshman and a foreigner in 2010, and then as a senior and an American in 2013. Both times, I woke up on the morning of the marathon not knowing that I would be running in the race. Both times I have walked away from the Boston Marathon with a heavy heart.

The spring of my freshman year, I was a foreign student studying in the United States. The morning of the Boston Marathon, I was woken up early by my pledge educator to go and observe the race after an especially heavy night of celebration at the fraternity. My pledge brothers brought backpacks filled with homework and textbooks to balance the day between catching up on work and cheering on our friends. On a whim, we decided to join the race. Foolishly, I decided to help carry a friend’s backpack full of textbooks after the 10-mile mark. Foolishly but proudly, I carried that weight and the weight of my hangover through the rolling hills of suburban and urban Boston. While the experience was painful, it was also unforgettable. The energy, sportsmanship, and the camaraderie of the race and especially that of the Greater Boston communities was unbelievable. There was not a single moment during the race that I felt alone, weak, or unsafe. While I had been in the Greater Boston area for close to a year at that point, I’d never known or appreciated its character, its community. For the first time I saw and felt a glimpse of this city’s beauty. I finished the marathon in 5 hours, heavy legged, and exhausted. Aside from the physical pain, however, I felt proud, my heart heavy but filled with joy and confidence. I was beginning to love Boston.

In 2013, I was a mere 20 meters from the first blast of the bomb that went off on April 15th. I woke up early in the morning as an American citizen (having attained citizenship in 2011).  I felt an undeniable urge to run, to see the rolling hills of Hopkinton and to hear the cheering crowds in Wellesley, and to conquer Heartbreak Hill in Newton. I wanted to see this city and community, which I have grown to appreciate and love, one last time before the uncertainty of graduation. I hitched a ride with a close friend who was also planning to run that day. On a whim, once again, I had decided to run the Boston Marathon.

Around 2:50 p.m., just after I had crossed the finish line and exchanged words of excitement with a friend over the phone, I heard a deafening blast, deep into the ground. Confused and surprised, I turned around. It had sounded like a cannon blast and although my memory from 4 years ago was hazy, I was certain that this was not part of the planned celebration. Then I saw smoke, slowly but menacingly rising from the Fairmount Copley Plaza Hotel; the flags of different countries blowing in the complete opposite direction of the wind.  Stunned and silent my fellow runners and I stood still. A race official grabbed me by the shirt and yelled,  “Go!” Before I had time to react, a second but distant boom echoed across the finish line. Boston, media would later confirm, was struck by terrorism and the rest is history.

I left the race that day with a heavy heart, just as I had four years ago. This time not filled with pride or joy, but with fear. Fear for the lives and safety of my friends. Fear for the pain and suffering of beloved college town, my community. But also, fear that I would never run through Hopkinton, Ashland, Framingham, Natick, Wellesley, Newton, Brookline or Boston again. Fear that I would be lost. Fear that Boston will grow to reject me.

I do not mean to take away from the significance of Boston’s pain or its trauma, nor the sadness of the families that have lost loved ones. The city is traumatized, its people hurt but Bostonians are strong, resilient and united. I believe that in time Boston, my city, will recover, get on its feet, and find its stride. Runners will come back, perhaps in even greater numbers to show solidarity and resilience for those that lost their lives in 2013.

 An act of terror like this, however, has so many more implications, both visible and invisible. Immediately after the detonation a Saudi man was tackled by bystanders, falsely accused, apprehended and searched by the police. While you cannot criticize the police’s reaction in handling a suspected culprit, you can and should criticize why this particular innocent man, injured by the same blast as others around him, was targeted.

People of color are likely to be targeted after alleged terror attacks. We are treated like refugees, without official protection or guarantee of our safety, or our rights. These individual rights are too easily and too often waived to protect “America.” But this begs the question - whose America? This frightens me; it is the root of my nightmares. Why? Because I do not feel like I am part of this America that the government is protecting. This frightens me because even after having finished 26.2 miles, I felt the urge to run.

When the Unabomber, Ted Kaczynski, sent 16 bombs between 1978 and1995 targeting innocent Americans, we were under threat from a domestic terrorist who was simply “crazy, deranged, twisted.” But when Seung Hui Cho massacred 32 at Virginia Tech it was tied to an entire race. When Al-Qaeda attacked the Twin Towers, immediately a group of Americans lost their liberty and rights. Soon, being of a certain color, wearing certain clothing, speaking a certain language, or even being a socially awkward person of color at a university meant inescapable scrutiny. In the eyes of the government and the public, we were no longer Americans. We were simply suspects.

What if this terrorist is another person of color? How would the public react after being brainwashed by films like “Olympus Has Fallen”? The aftermath of Virginia Tech was tough for me as an Asian American, but Boston is a place I call home. What if by default I become an “enemy,” a “dangerous threat” due to the action of a single twisted individual? What if I become hated and feared by the same children that gleefully shared high-fives, smiles and orange slices along the marathon course? Will I have to leave? What will happen to my younger brother in the 6th grade? This is the unseen terrorism that struck on April 15th 2013 – on September 11, 2001. This is the unseen terrorism that grips the lives of people of color in the United States daily; especially those of Arab Americans.

While all Americans suffer from the immediate and visible impact of acts of terror, there is another wave of terrorism that stirs in its wake. Hatred and racism makes these moments of fear especially unbearable for people of color. While many of us are emotionally and physically equally affected by these traumas, we are often stripped of our rights to speak, our rights to mourn, our rights to cope. It is during periods of terror that our beloved communities, friends, neighbors, teachers, and city turn us away. Our only crime: being born a certain way. In moments like this, I try to remember that humanity is common across all races, and that love and compassion must be universal. These deranged individual uses the tools of evil to distort our minds and turn us against each other. But they do not represent their race, ethnicity, or religion. If Unabomber doesn’t represent all Harvard graduates, all Michigan Alums, all whites, then Al-Qaeda should not represent all Arabs, all Muslims. It is moments like this that we must remind ourselves: united we will stand but divided we fall. It is moments like this that we must remember that a marathon is not over until all its participants cross the finish line.

I grieve for Boston. I fume for Boston. But most importantly I hope and pray for Boston. I hope that the culprit will be brought to justice; I hope that the Boston community heals and unites against such an act of terror. But I also pray that Boston does not betray its character, dignity and greatness when the culprit is found. I pray Boston be better than and above the terror of racism and hatred that threatens to engulf this country. I pray that Boston remains true to its citizens and inhabitants. I pray that Boston remains….Boston. 

0 Boston Tradition

I woke up yesterday with a heavy heart and unable to articulate the overwhelming feelings that were occupying my brain. I was not at the race and thank God everyone I know is safe and healthy. However, I was not ready to move forward and rejoin the rest of Tufts campus. I was not ready to participate in discussions about the Islamophobia and the incorrect news coverage surrounding Monday's events. Instead I was in mourning for Boston.

I was in mourning for the families affected by the explosions. I was in mourning for the feeling of safety that used to exist on these streets. But more than that I was in morning for the traditions and our childhoods. 

The Boston Marathon is a part of all of our histories as Bostonians. We learned how to mulitask by listening to the Sox game and watch the Marathon at the same time.  Every year we would watch for the Hoyts: a remarkable father who pushes his son in a wheelchair through the entire course (and has completed 30 Boston Marathons). We would join the scream tunnel at Wellesley or Boston College. There would be BBQ's in High School and cheering on our future college marathon teams.
 



All of that was shattered on Monday. This year the Hoyt's were stopped a mile from finishing and had to abandon Rick's wheelchair to get out of the city as quickly as possible. This year college students spent the afternoon crying instead of cheering on the runners. This year a city spent the day glued to the news trying to find any information, trying to understand. 

Monday was supposed to be a holiday, a Red Sox game, and a marathon tradition.  That the soulless monsters responsible for this chose the Marathon, a holiday/city-wide block party that is wholly ours, suggests they were aiming for maximum casualty and chaos. They underestimated Boston and its strength. 


But the feeling of vulnerability and sadness will not be shaken for a while.

Tuesday, April 16, 2013

0 What We're Reading Today (4-16-13): Boston Marathon (UPDATED)

I have the early shift at work this morning and normally I try to toss together a "What We're Reading Today" for everyone when they wake up.  Today it's heavy on the information relating to the Boston Marathon.  Looking at my tabs now, I think everything except for one Russia Today update regarding a 7.8 earthquake in Iran is about the Marathon, different people who were there, heroes, photographs, and personal stories of people squaring themselves with a rupture in narrative.

(Getty)
Two if by Sorrow: Boston and its Losses - The New Yorker
Jill Lepore

'Please don't be a Muslim': Boston marathon blasts draw condemnation and dread in Muslim world - Washington Post
Max Fisher

The Boston Marathon Bombing: Keep Calm and Carry On - The Atlantic
Bruce Schneier

Photos of the Boston Marathon Bombing - The Atlantic

War Zone at Mile 26: 'So Many People Without Legs' - New York Times
Tim Rohan

The Boston Marathon: All My Tears, All My Love - The Nation
Dave Zirin

The Man in the Cowboy Hat: Meet Carlos Arrededondo, a Hero of the Boston Bombings - Mother Jones
Tasneem Raja

Boylston, and Cataloguing Bedtime - Who-Witz
Seth Hurwitz

When You Attack a Crowd of People, You Get a Crowd of Witnesses - The Atlantic Cities
Emily Badger

Patton Oswalt Pens Inspirational Missive on Humanity's Inherent Goodness in Wake of Boston Marathon Bombing - Gawker
Neetzan Zimmerman

Boston Marathon Explosions: The Heroes who Responded to the Blasts - The Daily Beast
Nina Strochlic

Boston Marathon Bombing Called 'a Madrid-Style Event' - The Daily Beast
Lloyd Grove

On Marathon Monday, Three Dead, Over One-Hundred Injured in Explosions - Tufts Daily
James Pouliot

Mainers describe 'war scene' and 'chaos' - Portland Press Herald
David Hench and Glenn Jordan

Boston Marathon: The Last 5 - Facebook
In light of today's tragedy, let's remember, honor, and stand up for all those affected by the incident that occurred at the 117th Boston Marathon. We invite everyone to join us on Friday, April 19 at 4:30pm to walk from BC to Boston to stand united. For anyone who did not get to finish, For anyone who was injured, and For anyone who lost their life...we will walk. We will walk to show that we decide when our marathon ends.

7.8 Earthquake hits Iran, felt in New Delhi, Gulf States - Russia Today


UPDATE: 8:27 AM EASTERN TIME


London Marathon will go ahead as planned, sports minister says - Guardian
Owen Gibson, Peter Walker, Vikram Dodd

The Enemy-Industrial Complex - The Nation
Tom Engelhardt

Person of Interest's Apartment Searched - Politico
Kevin Cirilli

Politicians, pundits, debate the 'terror' label - Politico

A perfect Marathon day, then the unimaginable - Boston Globe
Kevin Cullen

Documenting Tragedy: Vine and the Boston Marathon - Society Pages
Whitney Erin Boesel

UPDATE: 4:08 PM EASTERN TIME


The Boston bombing produces familiar and revealing reactions - Guardian
Glenn Greenwald

The Many Amazing Ways Boston's College Community has Responded to Monday's Tragedy - BostInno
Lauren Landry

Boston Marathon bombings: Devices with pressure cookers, experts say - Chicago Tribune
Tribune Wire

Computer glitch: AA grounds all flights through 5 p.m. ET - USA Today
Ben Mutzabaugh

Security Is a Challenge for Sprawling Marathons - New York Times
Ken Belson

Boston the day after: More security; second victim named - USA Today
Melanie Eversley and John Bacon

Day after blasts, Back Bay 'looks like Armageddon' - Boston Globe
Casey Ross, Beth Healy, Jenn Abelson, Erin Ailworth

Investigation of Boston Marathon bombings continues - Boston Globe
Shelley Murphy, Chelsea Conaboy, Martin Finucane

You May Leave Boston, but Boston Never Leaves - The Atlantic
Andrew Cohen

The Promise of the Boston Marathon - The Atlantic
Colin Daileda

6 False Thing You Heard About the Boston Marathon - Mother Jones
Dana Liebelson and Tim Murphy

The Unfinished Race - New York Review of Books
Hugh Eakin

How the Boston Marathon helped the fight for equal rights - The New Republic
Nora Caplan-Bricker

UPDATE: 9:01 PM EASTERN TIME


Your Stories: Were You in Boston on Marathon Day? - WBUR

Boston Bomb Clues Surface - Wall Street Journal
Evan Perez, Devlin Barrett, and Andrew Grossman

FBI examines shrapnel from Boston bombs as nation mourns - LA Times
Richard A. Serrano, Shashank Bengali, and Michael Muskal

McManus: We're Safer than We Think - LA Times
Doyle McManus

Boston bombing 'used pressure cooker packed with metal' - Guardian
Ed Pilkington, Adam Gabbatt, Dan Roberts, Matt Williams

From Sandy Hook to the Streets of Boston, Terror Anew - New York Times
Peter Applebome

BU grad student was killed in Boston Marathon bombings - Boston Globe
Globe staff

Source: Investigators recover circuit board believed used to detonate Boston blasts - Boston.com
Shelley Murphy, Chelsea Conaboy, Milton J. Valencia, Martin Finucane

I watched the Boston Marathon from above. These are my photos. - Deadspin
Ben Levine

UPDATE: 12:30 AM (4/17/13)

The Saudi Marathon Man - The New Yorker
Amy Davidson

Share Your Story - Boston Globe
You


(Reuters)


Monday, April 15, 2013

0 42.195 km with Keith Haring on Boylston Street

I figured that I might as well put words to the page if I'm going to just sit around looking at Twitter and not doing my work -- at the very least this is artistic, to some extent.  This might not be the most constructive thing or reach any real "point" but it is more writing than I have done today -- 140-characters-at-a-time notwithstanding.

One of my favorite features of the Boston Marathon is the ability to track the runners.  This meant that for me -- and a bunch of my peers who were cooped-up reading the writing of crusty old guys instead of out getting drunk at BC, BU, or Northeastern -- we were able to feel some level of excitement for our friends who were running the marathon this year; even if only through a Google Maps portal, we could marvel at their accomplishments as they went hour after hour through Framingham, Wellesley, Newton, and right into Boston.

I was sitting in the Senate office with Andrew pretending to do work. In reality though I wasn't reading the aforementioned crusty old guys; I was watching the little Keith Haring-style icons pump their arms and legs across eastern Massachusetts, over the hills, along the Charles, past crowds of their friends and family.

I switched the to the live feed of the finish line when I saw that Jessie was nearing Copley Square with Riley keeping pace behind her.  At best, I figured, I could get a screenshot of her crossing the finish line since I had decided at the last minute not to go -- which sucks because there is no sweeter image in your head running down the last 1/2 mile with Cee-Cee, with Jen, with Jessie, with Alden, with whoever.  Well, I guess one sweeter image would be turning that last corner and seeing the finish line -- but still.  The point is that they do 26 miles on their own -- the least we could do is offer them our spirit for the last half-mile.

Disbelief replaced relief, though.  Disbelief that the Twitter feed on the side of the page had changed so quickly from people praising their friends' efforts, sharing InstaGram photos, and posting times. 

3:36:14

3:41:49

3:45:02

#BostonMarathon explosion heard near finish line

3:53:32

Explosions heard at finish line of #BostonMarathon

3:54:11

Grossly unsettling.  Internally disturbing.  Defying all sense of how and who and what should happen next, a complete rupture to the narrative.  There wasn't a jubilant scene but instead havoc and panic, police cars parking on the finish line and spectators darting away from the site of the explosion.  Runners streaming in confused, exhausted, and deprived of the jubilation that everyone is entitled to after 26.2 miles of feet-on-pavement ceaseless motion.  Everything pixelated and distorted.

Already late for work, I scurried down Professor's Row and into the gymnasium to sit behind a security desk and do work -- again, lies.  I sat down, plugged in my Macbook, opened Google Chrome, opened Facebook, the Associated Press, and two Twitter tabs and began retweeting.  How quickly this had all changed from waiting for the perfect instant to command-shift-4 the moment of triumph to going between police and EMT scanners, Reuters, Anonymous, and Boston Globe updates.  Thankfully, my friend, Alvaro, started a hashtag for all the Tufts students to coordinate the locations of their friends who were volunteers, runners, etc.: #TuftsRunners.  It was remarkable, absolutely, the speed with which Tufts students were together and tweeting back and forth the names and locations of missing-then-found loved ones, fact-checking and cross-referencing reports, and keeping everyone calm.

But even three hours later it's still all so unresolved -- and I don't mean the why and the who.  I can imagine those things, to be honest.  A right-wing terrorist, someone whose country has been defiled by US (cultural) imperialism, or any of the "usual suspects" (whatever that might mean when we look at the data and don't just stoke Islamophobia; I'm looking at you, New York Post).

The more irksome and pervasively disconcerting component to this is just how deprived and robbed and cheated I feel like so many people were, the runners and the spectators.  What were the statistics on the day?  

Jessie was .4 miles from the finish line.  Jen just over a half-mile.  Cee-Cee only a mile away.  Where is their re-run, or do-over, or chance to run those last 2,000 ft with their friends and loved ones cheering them on, elated at the feat of human endurance that was just achieved?  There isn't one. There isn't one and that really hurts.

Or how to square the reality that being one of the pictures in the news or being safely at home watching it all filter through was a stroke of luck -- that the T was delayed, you missed the Joey, or your friend pulled you to Newbury St. instead of Boylston to avoid the crowd.  That street corner is so tangible, touchable, and remembered; it was shopping with your bros; it was exploring Boston as a freshman; it was Winter Bash and where you took your family when they visited.  Any of us could have been on that street corner and so many of us were just feet away, saved by a lucky decision to turn left instead of right.

And I can't help but think about the kids in other parts of the world who deal with this even more routinely than we do here.  The drones that never leave, the explosions that kill 37 and injure 140, or the ever-present reality that each embrace might be the last -- how must it be to live like that.

This is just a reminder, I suppose, that violence, senseless or sensible (if that is a thing), doesn't need to seem rational, coherent, doesn't need to make sense.  It doesn't have to square with our vision of what should or shouldn't happen. It doesn't, in all honesty, need to be anything more than what it is: violence -- violence that injures, violence that hurts, and memories that last.

And meanwhile, the icons that represented where my friends were on the marathon course just keep going -- all nondescript bodies with arms and legs pumping, tirelessly, frozen at 42.195 kilometers but still having never crossed the finish line.

Made this on imgflip.com. Original post here


All of y'all are heroes.

Say when and where and I will toss on my Reebok running shoes and crush that last mile with you, any of you.

Sunday, April 14, 2013

0 What We're Reading Today (4-14-13) - Marathon Weekend

Friday, April 12, 2013

0 What We're Reading Today (4-12-13)

Thursday, April 11, 2013

0 What We're Reading Today (4-11-13)

 

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