Tufts senior performs hypnosis show, discusses bene- Carolina Panthers and Den- fits of his art ver Broncos set to battle see FEATURES / PAGE 3 for Super Bowl title Sunday Rihanna’s eighth studio album ‘ANTI’ a refreshing SEE SPORTS / BACK PAGE artistic transition see ARTS AND LIVING / PAGE 4 THE INDEPENDENT STUDENT NEWSPAPER OF TUFTS UNIVERSITY EST. 1980 THE TUFTS DAILY VOLUME LXXI, NUMBER 9 MEDFORD/SOMERVILLE, MASS. FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 5, 2016 tuftsdaily.com Tufts Armenian Club participates in national Dr. Carla Martin protest against denial of Armenian Genocide discusses politics by Arin Kerstein Executive News Editor of chocolate Several protestors from the Tufts by Abigail Feldman Armenian Club participated in a nation- News Editor al “Stain of Denial” protest in the Mayer Campus Center yesterday afternoon Tufts Culinary Society hosted Dr. to urge recognition of the Armenian Carla Martin who offered a presenta- Genocide. tion titled “Chocolate, Culture and the During the two-hour long protest, stu- Politics of Food” and chocolate sam- dents displayed posters with expressions ples in Pearson Hall last night. Martin such as “Stop Genocide Denial” and is the founder and executive director of “Recognize the Genocide.” The protes- the Fine Cacao and Chocolate Institute tors also distributed information sheets and a lecturer in the department of describing the genocide while playing African and African American studies at Armenian music and speaking about the Harvard University. historical context of the genocide, which President of Tufts Culinary Society was carried out by the Ottoman govern- Allie Wainer, a senior, introduced ment during and after World War I. Martin, known as the “chocolate pro- Ari Kazanjian, a leader in the Tufts fessor” on Harvard’s campus, whose SOFIE HECHT / THE TUFTS DAILY Armenian Club, said that at least 50 peo- The Tufts Armenian Club hosted an action in the Campus Center for the annual worldwide interdisciplinary research focuses on ple stopped to observe the demonstra- “Stain of Denial” silent protest against the Armenian Genocide on Feb. 4, 2016. the politics of chocolate in global per- tion, many of whom stopped to speak spective. with protestors about the genocide. al protest, according to All-ASA Chair the Armenian government as Armenian Chocolate represents a huge indus- Sophomore Nairi Krafian said that Mikael Matossian. Genocide Remembrance Day. try full of vast inequalities, Martin said. the protestors were also joined by Matossian explained that the nation- “One of the main purposes of this In 2015, U.S. consumers ate about 12 many members of the Armenian com- al protest has three main areas of focus: campaign is to stress that genocide pounds of chocolate per person, spend- munity from the Greater Boston area. educating students about the histo- denial happens year-round, and it’s ing a total of about $22 billion. Though Fifteen Tavitian scholars who came from ry of the genocide, raising awareness not something that should be fought purchased mostly in Europe and North Armenia to study at the Fletcher School about consequences of the genocide [against] for one day, but year- America, chocolate is largely produced of Law and Diplomacy were also pres- and inspiring students to take action round,” Kazanjian said. on smallholder farms in West Africa— ent, along with University Special Event against genocide denial by taking action As part of the national protest, the indi- particularly Ghana and Cote d’Ivoire. Coordinator Tamar Kanarian, she said. through student government. vidual Armenian student groups across These farmers earn the smallest share While the protest was planned to According to Krafian, the Tufts the country used the same basic structure of revenue in the chocolate industry; be a silent protest in order to make a Armenian Club primarily focused on for their events, according to Matossian. the average farmer in Ghana earns bold statement, only Armenian Club the first two goals with this protest, “This year, we are really trying to about 50 and 80 cents per day, she said. member Shant Mahrokhian kept tape emphasizing the importance of educa- make a push for consistent messaging According to Martin, cacao’s ori- covering his mouth for the duration tion on this topic. across the board, in contrast to each gin and prevalence in the northwest of the event, so that the other pro- “The big goal [was] for us to get ASA doing their own thing…we real- Amazon region had a significant cul- testors could engage in conversation people to know what happened, what ly wanted to have a strong collective tural impact on the nearby Mayan and with passersby, Krafian, one of the [the genocide] was and to get people voice that’s visible on social media and Aztec empires, where cacao beans were protest organizers, said. uncomfortable with the fact that our online,” he said. used as currency. Texts written in Mayan “We decided not to have everyone country is denying it,” Krafian said. Matossian said that there was a con- hieroglyphs, such as the Dresden Codex, [protest silently] because this for us Mahrokhian also echoed this sen- scious effort to maintain a large social and a record of mytho-historical narra- isn’t as much about making a state- timent, explaining the importance of media presence about the protest, in order tives known as the Popol Vuh reveal the ment as it is about informing people,” awareness about the genocide. to raise additional awareness about the importance of cacao in these societies, Krafian, a sophomore, said. “Denial is kind of the final step of a atrocities of the genocide, which helps to Martin said. According to Mahrokhian, the genocide,” Mahrokhian, a sophomore, hold the conflicts’ perpetrators account- “What we learn from the Popol Vuh demonstration coincided with several said. “This is the first step of bringing able for their actions. In 2014, protest- is that the Mayan people imagined that similar protests on university campuses those that are responsible to justice ers were able to get #ArmenianGenocide they were very spiritually linked with across the country. The national “Stain because a lot of people aren’t aware.” trending on Twitter, he said. produce, with the plants that they grew of Denial” protest was organized by Matossian explained that this was the Krafian said that, while the Armenian and that they ate to sustain their bod- the All-Armenian Student Association first time that the Armenian Club had genocide did not occur in recent history, ies, and that they had actually been (ASA), which serves as the umbrella participated in this protest event, as the she feels that it is still crucial for the geno- born of them,” she said. “They made organization for Armenian student fourth annual “Stain of Genocide” protest cide’s perpetrators to be condemned. sense of their world by linking them- groups in universities across the coun- became a national event this year for the “A lot of people will say ‘why do selves with the natural products that try, according to the organization’s web- first time and expanded beyond its roots you still care’ because it was so long they were cultivating.” site. The Armenian Youth Federation in universities on the West Coast. ago, but genocides have happened after Martin then described the process (AYF), the Armenian Revolutionary Kazanjian, a junior, said all-ASA this, and it’s setting a precedent for the of harvesting and processing cacao, Federation (ARF), Shant Student wanted to make a collective statement people committing these crimes that beginning with its growth within the Association, the Alpha Gamma Alpha outside of the month of April, when the it’s okay to do this and you won’t get thick, heavy pods on the trunks of theo- sorority and the Alpha Epsilon Omega genocide is typically commemorated in trouble and no one will hold you fraternity co-sponsored the nation- because April 24, 1915 is recognized by accountable for it,” she said. see CHOCOLATE, page 2 For breaking news, our content archive and Contact Us Please P.O. Box 53018, NEWS............................................1 recycle this exclusive content, visit newspaper Medford, MA 02155 COMICS ......................................6 tuftsdaily.com FEATURES ................................3 617 627 3090 SPORTS ........................... BACK Rain/Snow FAX 617 627 3910 /thetuftsdaily @tuftsdaily tuftsdaily tuftsdaily ARTS & LIVING ......................4 36 / 20 [email protected] 2 THE TUFTS DAILY | NEWS | Friday, February 5, 2016 tuftsdaily.com NEWS NEWS THE TUFTS DAILY Tufts Culinary Society hosts "chocolate professor" from Harvard SARAH ZHENG CHOCOLATE “In order to support this production, States Department of Agriculture Editor-in-Chief continued from page 1 Europeans relied on the transatlantic (USDA) Organic and Rainforest Alliance, EDITORIAL broma cacao trees. Once collected, slave trade and enslaved millions,” she when consuming chocolate. She also Nicholas Golden these fruits are sliced with a machete to said. “Twelve to 15 million Africans were distributed samples of big name and Mengqi Sun reveal a white mucilaginous pulp—the brought to the New World to work largely specialty chocolate products to event Managing Editors first tasting sample of the night—which in the production of things like sugar, cof- attendees, while describing the ways contains the cacao beans. After a pro- fee, tea. All of these things, which really are in which producers differed in terms of Nicholas Pfosi Associate Editor cess of controlled rotting and a week of drug foods—very intensely stimulating cacao content and trade policies. Arin Kerstein Executive News Editor drying in the sun, the cacao beans will foods that were designed to be luxuries.” “I think it’s important that, as much Isha Fahad News Editors Abby Feldman be ready for roasting and de-shelling, The last segment of the presentation as we celebrate and encourage choco- Melissa Kain she explained.