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THE TUFTS DAILY

Sunny 14/7

TUFTSDAILY.COM

MONDAY, JANUARY 24, 2011

VOLUME LXI, NUMBER 2

Where You Read It First Est. 1980

New ‘hydration stations’ Textbook rentals now an facilitate reusable bottle use option at campus bookstore BY JENNY

WHITE

Daily Editorial Board

Facilities Services over winter break installed two new Brita Hydration Stations on campus in an attempt to encourage the use of reusable water bottles. The stations’ water dispensers are specifically designed to fill reusable containers and their installation aims to encourage students to rely less on bottled water, according to Director of Dining and Business Services Patti Klos. One of the two stations, located beside the plasticware and paper goods for the Commons Deli & Grill in the Mayer Campus Center, is the result of a joint effort between former Tufts Community Union (TCU) Senator Alice Pang and Tufts Dining Services. Pang, a sophomore who is currently abroad, said concerns about the detrimental impact of bottled water last spring led her to launch a project through the TCU Senate’s Services Committee that focused on increasing student access to water dispensers around campus. “I wanted to explore how to reduce the number of plastic water bottles used on campus, as they are a terrible waste of resources,” Pang said in an e-mail to the Daily. “The alternative to bottled water is obviously a reusable one, but I found that there was a lack of places for students to fill their reusable water bottles.” Office of Sustainability Program Director Tina Woolston said that the dispensers are a preferable alternative to water fountains or bathroom sinks for students who are trying to adopt greener drinking habits. Pang said that she decided on Brita Hydration Stations as a practical option for Tufts students after researching the emerging trend of similar stations appearing on college campuses around the country. The wall-mounted Hydration Stations dispense filtered water and are touch-free, activated by a motion sensor. Brita markets its filtered water

as a healthier drinking option to standard tap water. Klos said that the Campus Center was chosen as the location for one of the dispensers because of its centrality to student activity and an insufficient number of existing free drinking water options in the building. Facilities over the winter break also installed a second Hydration Station in the lobby of Hodgdon Hall, which receives frequent foot traffic as an entrance to Hodgdon Good-to-Go. Senior Director of Health and Wellness for Health Services Michelle Bowdler has noticed a decreasing number of drinking water fountains inside campus buildings over the last two decades. “For the past several years, there has been more of an interest in students drinking bottled water, so they weren’t as interested in having public access to water fountains,” Bowdler said. “But that’s really shifted over the past couple of years.” She added that increased access to drinking water on campus would also encourage healthier lifestyles among students. “There’s no substitute to drinking water in terms of overall impact of health,” Bowdler said. Klos emphasized that the campus center Hydration Station is a pilot initiative, and that student response and usage will determine whether more like it will be installed elsewhere on campus. Woolston further emphasized the importance student feedback. “If students really like it and use it, it could lead to more around campus,” Woolston added. Last semester, Woolston co-taught an Experimental College class entitled Environmental Action: Shifting from Saying to Doing, which concentrated on a semester-long campaign to reduce bottled water waste. Though the class poster campaign was not directly involved with the

RACHEL RAMPINO

Daily Editorial Board

School of Engineering Dean Linda Abriola was recognized as one of 500 influential 20thcentury women in the sciences with an entry in a recently published encyclopedia. “American Women of Science since 1900,” (ABC-CLIO/ Greenwood), published in October of 2010, honors women whose achievements may have been previously overlooked or undervalued, according to a Dec. 31 press release. “I’m very honored to be included in this encyclopedia with so many remarkable people; it’s very humbling,”

CORINNE SEGAL

Daily Editorial Board

Students shopping for textbooks this semester now have a new way to get their books on campus. The campus bookstore is piloting a yearlong textbook rental program that will allow students to rent books for many large, entry-level classes at up to half the price of a new book, according to Director of Dining and Business Services Patti Klos. Klos and sophomore Meredith Goldberg, chair of the Tufts Community Union (TCU) Senate’s Services Committee, hope the program will help the bookstore compete with online textbook sales. “I think it’s an amazing draw,” Goldberg said. “The bookstore is now being competitive with the online market again.” Sophomore Orli Gottlieb rented textbooks from the bookstore for this semester’s Introduction to International

Relations class. She found that the program saved her money and time. “It was less expensive,” Gottlieb said. “It seemed easier to deal with than buying them and trying to sell them back to someone or sell them back to the bookstore — it was just simple.” Students who rent books are required to return them to the bookstore during the final exam period. Barnes & Noble, the distributor for the campus bookstore, piloted textbook rentals at 25 other schools last January, according to Karen DiScala, manager of corporate communications for Barnes & Noble. She said that the rental program aims to provide students with more options while shopping for textbooks. “From our perspective, we just want to give students another option in terms of how they get books,” DiScala said. “One of the things we’re committed to is see TEXTBOOKS, page 2

DANAI MACRIDI/TUFTS DAILY

see WATER, page 2

Dean ranked among top women in science BY

BY

Abriola said. The website of the encyclopedia’s publisher describes the two-volume book as a record of the achievements of modern female scientists despite their being underrepresented in science professions. The encyclopedia provides “a rich historical context for understanding their achievements and the way they changed the practice of science,” according to the publisher’s description. Abriola said she has a personal understanding of the value of female leaders in science. “As a young person, I never

Students can now rent textbooks from the campus bookstore thanks to a pilot program.

Sophomore senator, QSA rep resign from TCU Senate Sophomore Tufts Community Union (TCU) Senator Tabias Wilson announced his resignation from the TCU Senate yesterday in an e-mail to the body citing personal reasons, according to TCU Historian Tomas Garcia. “My time in Senate was well-spent and quite insightful,” Wilson said in an e-mail to the Daily. “However, I believe it is time for me to focus more earnestly on issues of personal import. I wish Senate the best of luck.” A special election will be held to fill the seat, although Garcia said that the Senate’s executive board and Tufts Election Commission (ECOM) will first meet to determine the details of

the election. “It has to be discussed by the exec board and ECOM,” he said. “We were just informed of the resignation today.” Sophomore Alex Lis-Perlis at last night’s Senate meeting also announced her resignation as the Senate’s community representative for the Queer Straight Alliance (QSA), also due to personal reasons. Lis-Perlis assured those present of her ability to find a competent replacement for the position and said that she will continue collaboration with the Senate on future projects. “I plan on staying involved with a lot of projects that overlap with Senate,” Lis-Perlis said. She will be replaced in an internal election within the QSA. Lis-Perlis said she would attempt to include a larger seg-

ment of the student population when attempting to find her replacement. “Usually in the past, only active members of QSA have attended, but I’m planning on reaching out to the larger community and let related groups know the position is open if their members are interested,” Lis-Perlis said. Lis-Perlis added that her service with the body has been a positive experience. Also at the meeting, the body elected Senator Joe Donenfeld, a freshman, to replace Senator Dan Pasternack, a senior, as the chair of Allocations Board Council IV, which oversees the budgets of religious groups. —by Kathryn Olson, with contributed reporting from Martha Shanahan

see ABRIOLA, page 2

Inside this issue

Today’s Sections

Tufts Mock Trial is looking to cash in on its freshman talent this spring.

‘No Strings Attached’ makes for an unimaginative and sparkless romantic comedy.

see FEATURES, page 3

see ARTS, page 5

News Features Arts | Living Editorial | Letters

1 3 5 8

Op-Ed Comics Classifieds Sports

9 10 12 Back


THE TUFTS DAILY

2

NEWS

Monday, January 24, 2011

Visiting the Hill this Week WEDNESDAY “UBS Investment Banking Presentation” Details: Josh Rosenbaum, co-author of “Investment Banking: Valuation, Leveraged Buyouts and Mergers & Acquisitions” and a managing director of UBS, will speak about the banking industry and provide advice for students interested in a career in banking or finance. When and Where: 8:00 p.m., Cabot 205 Sponsor: Tufts Economic Society

“Deadly Embrace: The State of US-Pakistani Relations” Details: Bruce Riedel, a Senior Fellow in Foreign Policy and the Saban Center for Middle East Policy at the Brookings Institution, will discuss his new book. When and Where: 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m., Cabot 205 —compiled by Martha Shanahan

Bookstore implements pilot program to rent textbooks to Tufts students TEXTBOOKS continued from page 1

giving students as many … options and choices as possible.” Klos proposed the idea of the rental program to the Executive Administrative Dean of the School of Arts and Sciences Leah McIntosh this fall, she said. She also researched the logistics of the program and its possible effects on the university. While renting textbooks can potentially represent significant savings for students, according to Klos, the rental option could potentially cut into the university’s commission from the sale of textbooks. “We’ve reached a concession that we can cope with what the financial impact could be,” Klos said. “The university is not trying to profit [from textbooks] so much as there are budgets that have been estimated that are expecting a certain amount of commission,” she said. Barnes & Noble’s campus bookstore rental program has undergone considerable expansion in recent months. In September, the program was in place at approximately 300 schools; that number has since grown to over 430 schools, according to DiScala. The company piloted the rental program at all different sizes and types of universities with great success, DiScala said. “We got tremendous feedback,” she

said. “Every place we launched it, it was very successful and well-received.” Barnes & Noble made the program available to all of the campus bookstores represented by the company this fall. The university will evaluate the rental program’s success next spring and decide whether to continue it, Klos said. “We’re doing this for this year and we’ll evaluate in the spring and if we feel that it is working well then we can continue to do that,” she said. “We wanted to be sure we weren’t locked into something in the event that we didn’t think it was in the campus’ best interests.” The bookstore will submit financial data to the university next month detailing the program’s initial impact, Goldberg said. She added that piloting the rental program in the spring allows the university to address problems more easily than at the beginning of an academic year. “In the spring, we’re able to see the problems and identify them so they don’t happen again in the fall,” Goldberg said. The program has received positive feedback so far, according to Goldberg “There’s been a huge response,” she said. “I’ve heard students talking about how they’re thinking about renting now. Right now, it looks like we’re on track to be very successful.”

DANAI MACRIDI/TUFTS DAILY

Two newly installed filtered water dispensers on campus make using reusable bottles easier.

‘Hydration Station’ a clean, hightech alternative for bottle filling WATER continued from page 1

Hydration Station project, the two efforts are complementary, showing Tufts students’ increased interest in greener drinking practices, Pang said. Pang said that Dining Services’ contribution to the dispensers’ installa-

tion was a step towards a more ecofriendly campus. “Their involvement really displays Dining Services’ continual initiative to be more environmentally sustainable,” Pang said. “[ The Hydration Station] is a visual symbol that Tufts places value on environmental sustainability.”

Dean Abriola earns entry in encyclopedia of 20th-century women in science ABRIOLA continued from page 1

had any female role models in engineering and I just had to persevere because I thought it was possible,” she said. “It’s great that they’re trying to identify more women because I think as women we need more role models who have contributed and succeeded.” Abriola was the only woman in the civil engineering department in her graduating class at Drexel University. She worked as a project engineer for Procter and Gamble following her undergraduate studies, and received her Ph.D. and masters degrees in Civil and Environmental Engineering at Princeton University. Her teaching career began at the University of Michigan as an assistant professor in 1984, where she was the first woman on staff in her department. She later became the Horace Williams King Collegiate Professor in Environmental Engineering at Michigan, and joined the Tufts faculty as Dean of Engineering in 2003. Abriola’s colleagues praised her achievements as a scientist and as an administrator. “She’s an excellent engineer and an excellent scientist,” Associate Dean of Civil and Environmental Engineering Lewis Edgers (E ‘66) said of Abriola. “The honors she’s receiving are wellearned and as dean she brings a very strong vision to the field of engineering and excellent administrative skills.” Abriola has been a member of many academic councils and committees, and was the first female professor inducted for civil engineering into the governing council of the National Academy of Engineering. Abriola’s research centers on the development and testing of mathematical equations that describe the movements of contaminants in the environment. Abriola’s interest in the topic was inspired by the Love Canal disaster of the 1970s, in which a community built over a Niagara Falls, New York landfill

faced a public health disaster after it was found to be heavily contaminated with toxins. “Love Canal was a really serious problem that happened while I was in graduate school, and that’s how I got interested in this field,” Abriola said. Abriola has continued to work on

her research at Tufts. Matt Becker, a masters of science candidate who works in Abriola’s lab, said that much of the fundamental literature and basic concepts in the field came from Abriola, her students and her labs. Becker stressed the dual importance of Abriola’s contributions to both the

scientific community as a whole and the engineering student body at Tufts. “Not only is she a great influential scientist but she’s also a really great teacher. It’s been a really great privilege working with her,” Becker said. “Every time I talk to her is an opportunity to learn more.”

TUFTS UNIVERSITY PHOTOGRAPHY

School of Engineering Dean Linda Abriola is one of 500 scientists written about in the new encyclopedia ‘American Women of Science since 1900.’


Features

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tuftsdaily.com

Betting on grades results in real-life payoff for students Website provides cash incentive for undergrads to study harder and improve GPAs BY JON

CHENG

Daily Editorial Board

If you’re so sure you’ll ace that class, why not bet on it? That’s the principle behind Ultrinsic. com, a recently formed website that allows students to put their money where their mouths are when it comes to academic achievement. Wagers on class grades between friends or rewards from parents may be fairly common, but Ultrinsic is formalizing the process and upping the stakes by allowing students to predict their grades for individual classes over a period of a semester or throughout their entire college career. The website then provides “incentives” for hitting a target grade, either in a single course, multiple courses, a complete semester or an entire college career. For example, a student who bets $20 as a freshman that he’ll graduate with a 4.0 average will receive $2,000 at the end of senior year. Previously operating via pilot programs at New York University and University of Pennsylvania (UPenn), the website now offers its services at 36 colleges, including Harvard and Boston Universities (though not Tufts), as of last August. According to CEO Steven Wolf, the idea was sprung from a simple bet he made with a friend while both were undergraduate students at UPenn. “My partner Jeremy [Gelbert] and I were hanging out one Sunday,” Wolf told the Daily. “He had a test to take and he really didn’t want to study, so I was like, ‘Listen, would you study for $100? How about if you study and do well, you get $100, but if you don’t study and you don’t do well, you give me $20.’ He agreed to do it. So he did that, got an A and ended up getting money from me.” Ultrinsic operates under the same notion, Wolf said. “Basically if a student says that he is going to get an A, and if he’s a B student, he has to put in his GPA so we know how much he’s pushing himself in order to do better,” Wolf said. “If he says he will put in $20, we’ll give him $60 if he gets the A. If at the end of this semester he confirms it, he gets his winnings.”

ULTRINSIC.COM

Ultrinsic compares a student’s GPA with the difficulty of his or her current courses to set goals; if the student meets the goals, he or she gets money. According to Wolf, each member starts the process by uploading his or her class schedule and giving the company access to previous transcripts. After doing so, Ultrinsic will gauge the performance of the student based on previous grades and upcoming courses, as well as research the difficulty of the courses based on school statistics and from websites like RateMyProfessors. com. Finally, the student will be able to wager a first-time bet maximum of $25

for the grade he or she will receive. While it may sound complex, Wolf insists that the process is relatively simple, which he says is proven by the site’s current popularity. An estimated 8,000 users have signed up to date, Wolf said, a number that he anticipates will increase as the site expands. The current roster of schools for which Ultrinsic is available is dictated by several factors, according to Wolf. “A lot of it is logistics,” Wolf said. “We

look to see how it can do in certain kinds of places, [with] student body size, religious affiliations, sports teams, etc. We put all these factors together and come up with this list of schools.” Wolf attributes the speed of expansion to the fact that he doesn’t liaise with school officials prior to giving a student body access to Ultrinsic. “We’re not affiliated with the schools, see ULTRINSIC, page 4

Tufts Mock Trial gains momentum with successful fall semester TMT banks on recent tournament wins in national championship this spring BY

ANGELINA ROTMAN

Daily Editorial Board

Tufts Mock Trial ( TMT), an extinct program as recently as eight years ago, has established itself as a regional force after a remarkable string of victories in the fall following an appearance at the elite American Mock Trial Association (AMTA) National Championship Tournament last April. The team placed 46th in the AMTA’s 2010-2011 “Bonus Bid” Rankings, up from 83rd for the previous year, according to the AMTA website. Re-established in 2003 after a lapse in popularity ended the club’s first run in 2000, the program won two invitational tournaments, placed in two others and racked up 13 individual awards in the fall semester — without outside help. “The program has an entirely unique feel to it, mainly because we’re entirely student-run without a coach, unlike almost every other competitive program out there,” junior Tomas Garcia, the program’s co-president, said. “That underdog feel, combined with an excellent team atmosphere and great successes in the past few years, keeps me involved with the program.” Mock Trial members are uniquely sitCOURTESY TOMAS GARCIA

see MOCK TRIAL, page 4

Tufts Mock Trial credits the talent from its freshman members, along with a more competitive tryout process, for its unprecedented success this year.


THE TUFTS DAILY

4

Monday, January 24, 2011

FEATURES

Website provides forum for grade gambling based on skill

Surge of freshman talent drives Tufts Mock Trial toward national championship

ULTRINSIC

MOCK TRIAL

continued from page 3

[so] we don’t have to deal with them. We just follow whatever the market dictates,” Wolf said. Tufts students currently cannot become Ultrinsic users, but Wolf believes that his creation could be hitting the Hill by as early as the fall. “I think the next expansions will be in the hundreds, and maybe the whole country,” he said. “I definitely see it going international.” Bypassing administrative approval for the website, however, could cross legal boundaries, according to Tufts Lecturer of Economics Peter Kronberg, who teaches a course on business law. “[Administrators] are entrusted in caring for students in certain ways,” Kronberg said. “Universities can be seen as helping illegal activity by releasing private information, so they have every right to be cautious about releasing this information.” Another source of controversy is whether or not Ultrinsic’s practices should be considered online gambling, which is illegal under federal law. “Everyone asks about [the gambling issue],” Wolf said. “We’re not the first guys to take advantage of [the law] — it’s legal. Our thing is to say that your grades are a skill, and people pretty much agree to that.” Kronberg does not think that the legality of gambling is the Ultrinsic’s primary issue; instead, he is more concerned with the website’s mode of

acquiring funds. “Insurance companies have actuaries to determine what the odds of anyone’s death or property loss might be,” Kronberg said. “If they price the insurance so that it brings in more than they have to pay out, the insurance company makes money. They also provide a service by spreading the cost of a loss [or a] death among many people.” Kronberg added that Ultrinsic’s policy of gauging students’ past grades and determining the odds for individuals obtaining their anticipated grades is a major factor in this process. “Once they have enough data, they can make successful bets, [and] they have a cushion to hedge against bad bets because they also receive the registration fee and can earn money on the student’s bets that are on deposit with them and that they hold, interest-free, until the end of the semester,” he said. Issues aside, Kronberg feels that the service may not become as widely popular as Wolf anticipates. “I think after a while — college students are smart —they’re going to see it and drop it,” Kronberg said. “What’s the real upside? If you get a 4.0 GPA in college — which is statistically very difficult to achieve — then big deal if you get $2000. You’re going to get more money in job offers. Tufts students are pretty darn smart, but I don’t think it’s going to be terrifically popular.”

continued from page 3

uated to benefit from both the aggressive environment and legal skills learned throughout the process, according to senior Jonathan Lautin, the program’s other co-president. “I love the competition aspect that is similar to any sports team, but at the same time we are developing skills that will help us for a lifetime,” Lautin said. Those skills — including the ability to problem solve and think on one’s toes, as well as knowledge of the legal process — have contributed to heretofore-unprecedented early success for the team. “For the fall semester we do not stack our teams, meaning each of our four teams is selected to have the same amount of talent … and, as a result, our performances during the fall semester have been mediocre in the past,” Lautin said. “However, this year, even without stacking our teams, we have had tremendous success.” The main difference, according to Lautin, has been the induction of a more competitive tryout process than in previous years. As a result, a stronger collection of nine freshmen has hit the ground running as productive team members, he said. “Our new members began adding to the success of the program from the first day,” Lautin said. Garcia also considers the new blood as pivotal to the team’s success thus far.

“The entire program has stepped up as a whole, driven by a surge of talent and dedication from the freshman members,” Garcia said. Tufts Mock Trial is not just about the competition, however. For both co-presidents, it has been an integral part of their experience at Tufts. Last March, the program’s “A” team upset squads fielded by Harvard, Yale and Dartmouth in the Opening Round Championship Series, earning itself the nickname “Weed Whackers” in the process, according to Lautin. “It’s always fun to beat the Ivies, especially Harvard,” Lautin said. Sophomore Jessica Wolff, who plays the role of a lawyer on the team, similarly considers mock trial victories particularly pleasing. “There is nothing like the process of discovering a legal argument and the thrill of owning the opposing counsel with it in trial, she said. “[It’s] very thrilling.” Still, Lautin values the team’s interpersonal relationships more than success in competition. “My favorite part of TMT is the camaraderie the program shares,” Lautin said. “Although we work hard and at times it can be incredibly stressful, we always manage to have fun together.” Because the team travels often, overhead costs are significant, and each member pays $100 in dues in order to compete, though the fee is waived when a student lacks

the means. “I’m proud to say that no student who wants to do Mock Trial has not been able to due to financial reasons, though funding our rapidly growing program is a concern going into the future,” Garcia said. Lautin also voiced concerns about funding, which is provided by outside donors and contributions from the Tufts Community Union Senate. “We have a pretty extraordinary track record of being underfunded the past four years because our success requires us to travel to more tournaments that are further away from Tufts,” he said. “Fortunately, we have always found a way to make it to every tournament, but sometimes we are forced to spend our time fundraising when we should be practicing.” Financial matters aside, both Garcia and Lautin believe that the program has the opportunity and the talent to become an elite force on the national mock trial stage. “Our long-term plans for Tufts Mock Trial are to become a top-10 program in the country and return year after year to the AMTA National Championship Tournament,” Lautin said. For Lautin, law will continue to be a part of his life once he graduates from Tufts this spring; partly due to his experiences on the team, he has decided to attend law school. Garcia, on the other hand, explains the role of Tufts Mock Trial in his life in simpler terms: “I’m here for the fun, the team and the win.”

Introduce new Jumbos to the Tufts Experience Applications Due 2/4

Innovative and Energetic Leaders Needed to Coordinate Orientation 2011! Positions in Major Events, Leadership, Training and Academic Programs, and Logistics & Communications (3 Full-Time Paid Summer Positions…June, July, August)

more information &application at: http://studentservices.tufts.edu/orientation or stop by Campus Life in the Campus Center.


Arts & Living

5

tuftsdaily.com

MOVIE REVIEW

‘No Strings Attached’ unoriginal, actors lack chemistry BY JOSEPH STILE

Daily Editorial Board

The romantic comedy genre is one that is usually filled with cliches and tired ideas; “No

No Strings Attached Starring Natalie Portman, Ashton Kutcher, Ludacris Directed by Ivan Reitman Strings Attached” is no exception. The film stars Natalie Portman and Ashton Kutcher and features a storyline that most people could easily figure out from the title alone. That predictability does not mean the entire movie is awful, as Portman and Kutcher keep things light with goofy smiles and some charm, but weak situations and unfunny jokes dominate the movie. The premise of “No Strings Attached” is a comedy staple: the belief that you can have sex with a friend without getting emotionally attached or making the relationship awkward. In these films, it is always easier said than done. It does not

take much foresight from the audience to know that when Emma (Portman) and Adam (Kutcher) agree to keep their relationship at just sex, someone will have difficulty with it. What sets this film slightly apart, but also makes it more off-putting, is that it does not shy away from raunch. What at first glance appears to be a goofy film often becomes uncomfortable as it pushes jokes beyond where most romantic comedies would go. Portman is not given much to do with her thinly drawn character, an overworked doctor who simply wants sex and has no time for a relationship. She has great appeal as an actress, but even that cannot help the clumsy and unentertaining writing. It is surprising to see Portman in this role, as she is usually featured in less-mainstream, more thought-provoking films. It is especially jarring because the movie is in theaters at the same time as “Black Swan” (2010), the critically acclaimed film for which Portman is garnering considerable Oscar attention. She will not be receiving the same notice for her work here.

DALE ROBINETTE/COURTESY ALLMOVIEPHOTO.COM/MCT

Sparks are absent between Natalie Portman and Ashton Kutcher in the romantic comedy ‘No Strings Attached.’ enough to be likable when he is on screen. Kutcher plays well in the sillier scenes, but anytime any real emotion or connection is needed from his character he falls rather flat. It gives Adam a very one-dimen-

Though moviegoers may expect more from Portman, this film is right up Kutcher’s alley. Unsurprisingly, he plays an underachiever who has below-average intelligence but is good-natured and goofy

ALBUM REVIEW

Vino flows freely at the annual Boston Wine Expo ALLISON DEMPSEY

Daily Editorial Board

CAGETHEELEPHANT.COM

Cage The Elephant trades in youthful anger from its last album for a wider range of emotions.

Cage the Elephant adopts a more mainstream approach MELISSA MACEWEN Contributing Writer

Matt Shultz likes to scream. He screams, and he makes it sound good — in fact, it is his writhing, climbing

Thank You Happy Birthday Cage the Elephant Jive/Relentless and general theatrics that have gained Cage the Elephant a large fan base. History has shown that the band’s raw, almost psychotic energy can mesmerize fans and draw impressive crowds to their shows. A fan of Cage’s first album will definitely notice that the band’s new album, “Thank You Happy Birthday,” departs from the trend set by its predecessor. Though some of Cage’s original sound shines through occasionally, many of the songs on this album blur together and seem more generic than the band’s previous work.

see NO STRINGS, page 6

EXPO PROFILE

BY

BY

sional feel and drains much of the film’s chemistry. The supporting cast does not fare much better than the film’s leads. Actors such as Ludacris,

As Tufts students celebrated the beginning of the semester with popular beverages such as Natural Light and Rubinoff, a more refined crowd gathered at the Seaport World Trade Center in downtown Boston this weekend for the 20th Annual Boston Wine Expo. The expo, which is sponsored by the Boston Guild of Oenophilists, unites wine vendors and enthusiasts for a weekend of tastings and educational seminars. Due to the high ticket price, the majority of the crowd consisted of young professionals and middle-aged couples rather than enthusiastic college students. The largest event of its kind in the entire country, the expo featured 300 wineries from all over the world and

over 1,800 different wines available for sampling and for purchasing. Upon arrival, visitors received a free engraved wine glass for samples during the event. To prevent the mixing of red and white wines in the same glass, water was available at every table to rinse out the dregs of one wine before trying a new sample. The average financially-aware student, however, had no need to be daunted by the presence of expensive wines at the expo. Barefoot Wines, a common staple in collegiate kitchens, occupied one of the largest tables at the event. The company handed out free bags and bottle stoppers as well as samples of their more unusual varieties of wines, such as the Moscato and a few bubbly flavors. see WINE, page 6

With its lush, psychedelic-rock chords and swaggering guitar, Cage’s first album was the kind of music that you might listen to when going to Vegas or fleeing the cops. Cage’s second album instead possesses more musical variation and emotional vulnerability that might make it good homework or post-breakup music. Cage the Elephant has its roots in Perfect Confusion, the band three of its members, Jared Champion and brothers Matt and Brad Schultz, formed while still in high school. They released one self-titled album in 2005 before breaking up. Cage the Elephant formed shortly after the breakup and signed with Relentless Records after playing South by Southwest, an annual arts festival in Austin, Texas, in 2007. With their 2009 hits “Ain’t No Rest for the Wicked” and “Back Against the Wall,” Cage gained a devoted fan base that embraced the smooth blending of punk, rock, blues and funk from the band’s debut album. Matt Shultz’s rapid-fire vocal delivery and devil-may-care attiALLISON DEMPSEY/TUFTS DAILY

see CAGE, page 6

Big crowds came out for the Boston Wine Expo this weekend at the World Trade Center.


THE TUFTS DAILY

6

ARTS & LIVING

Monday, January 24, 2011

‘No Strings Attached’ fails to elicit love, laughter

Shift in musical genre sure to alienate old fans

NO STRINGS

tude were unique and made for an engaging, upbeat album. Considering the individuality and cockiness of the band’s first album, its sophomore production is a bit unexpected. For one, the album’s second track, “Aberdeen,” sounds awfully like a Pixies song. Any recovering Nirvana fan could appreciate this nod to Kurt Cobain’s hometown, but “Aberdeen” hardly sounds original. “Around My Head” is similarly infused with a Pixies feel. On a positive note, Cage’s wit is back for this album, mixed with a fair helping of paranoia. “Indy Kidz,” the album’s third track, for example, pokes fun at indie and hipster culture with a spiteful glee and some deliciously neurotic lyrics like “I don’t watch TV ’cause it’s just a box of lies.” One of the crowd-friendly highlights of the album is “Shake Me Down.” The start of the song is brooding and pensive, with Shultz’s voice sounding intimate and alone as he softly sings, “Shake me

continued from page 5

Kevin Kline and Greta Gerwig are given stereotypical roles for romantic comedies. Ludacris plays Adam’s friend, who has nothing better to do with his life than listen to Adam talk about his relationships. It is a particularly worn part that is seemingly featured in every single romantic comedy. None of the supporting actors is particularly bad; it’s just that they are all rather forgettable and do not help elevate the story, jokes or main characters. It’s a shame, because the supporting actors are actually talented, but are given very little to

work with and end up looking lame on screen. Director Ivan Reitman seems content in making “No Strings Attached” a carbon copy of previous romantic comedies, which is unfortunate. Reitman has made some hilarious — and unique — films in the past, including “Ghostbusters” (1984), a film that has certainly stood the test of time, but he does not repeat that magic in this picture. Not even close. The bland situations and bad jokes that hinder “No Strings Attached,” despite its talented cast, make it forgettable and weak. You know immediately what you are getting coming into this film, and it isn’t much.

CAGE continued from page 5

down/ Not a lot of people left around.” The song abruptly swells as drums and guitar join him, gaining an almost anthem-like quality. Just after the song crescendos, it scales down to a dreamy, sweet bridge that gradually leads back to the song’s refrain: “I’ll keep my eyes fixed on the sun.” The song possesses a sincere sweetness and provides a nice break in the album. Though the change in the album’s overall tone will almost certainly alienate some of the fans of Cage’s previous album, judging whether the album is actually good is more difficult. Undoubtedly, Cage is in the process of exploring different moods and approaches to its music, and is probably trying to expand its overall fan base in doing so. The tenderness of songs such as “Shake Me Down” and “Rubber Ball” is barely found on the band’s first album, and it provides a nice contrast to louder, more aggressive songs such as “Sell Yourself” and “Sabertooth Tiger,” which are more reminiscent of the pre-

vious album. More variety is found in the beachy, soft-rock feel of “Right Before Your Eyes” and the thrash-punk verses of “Japanese Buffalo.” Though some of the youthful rebellion of Cage’s first album is gone, it seems to have been replaced by a fuller range of emotions. This sophomore album may feel more mainstream, but once Cage the Elephant becomes better acquainted with the styles it is currently exploring, it is likely that more of its debut’s originality will return.

AMAZON.COM

Cage the Elephant shows a more vulnerable side with its new album.

Celebrity chefs are a major highlight of Expo WINE continued from page 5

DALE ROBINETTE/COURTESY ALLMOVIEPHOTO.COM/MCT

After her star turn in ‘Black Swan,’ Natalie Portman deserved better than the lazy romcom role she was given as Emma in ‘No Strings Attached.’

A highlight of the expo was the availability of food to accompany the wine. Experts doled out pieces of chocolate or cubes of cheese and recommended a specific wine to complement the sample. Additionally, many restaurants from the Boston area set up tables to distribute some menu highlights; lines wound around the corner for a sample

of Zocalo Cocina Mexicana’s freshly made guacamole and Morton’s Steakhouse gave out decadent cakes by the dozen. Stages lined the edges of the convention center, where a number of celebrity chefs gave live demonstrations, shared recipes and contributed an element of local flavor. Most notably, renowned chef Ming Tsai of the restaurant Blue Ginger in Wellesley, Mass., cooked in

front of the largest crowd. All in all, the Boston Wine Expo was a great way to spend a Saturday afternoon. The sleepinducing nature of wine aside, it was an excellent opportunity to learn about wine and also a great way to explore some of the local offerings of this rich and diverse city. Should bank accounts allow, the next Boston Wine Expo would definitely be an event worth attending.


THE TUFTS DAILY

Monday, January 24, 2011

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Tufts Hillel presents:

LISA LING As the field correspondent for The Oprah Winfrey Show and contributor to ABC News’ Nightline and National Geographic’s Explorer, Lisa Ling has reported from dozens of countries; covering stories about gang rape in the Congo, bride burning in India and the Lord’s Resistance Army in Uganda, among other issues that are too often ignored.

FEBRUARY 1, 2011 8PM IN COHEN AUDITORIUM Tickets available at the Cohen Box Office on January 24.th Tickets are free but Tufts ID is required for pick up. Up to 2 IDs per person. For questions, call 617-627-3242 or visit www.tuftshillel.org.

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EDITORIAL

Reflecting on the Tucson Massacre

ALEXANDRA W. BOGUS Editor-in-Chief

EDITORIAL Mick Brinkman Krever Saumya Vaishampayan Managing Editors Martha Shanahan Executive News Editor Michael Del Moro News Editors Nina Ford Ben Gittleson Amsie Hecht Ellen Kan Daphne Kolios Kathryn Olson Matt Repka Corinne Segal Jenny White Brent Yarnell Elizabeth McKay Assistant News Editors Laina Piera Rachel Rampino Minyoung Song Derek Schlom Executive Features Editor Jon Cheng Features Editors Sarah Korones Emilia Luna Romy Oltuski Alexa Sasanow Falcon Reese Assistant Features Editors Angelina Rotman Sarah Strand Amelia Quinn Ben Phelps Executive Arts Editor Emma Bushnell Arts Editors Mitchell Geller Rebecca Santiago Matthew Welch Allison Dempsey Assistant Arts Editors Andrew Padgett Joseph Stile Ashley Wood Rebekah Liebermann Bhushan Deshpande Larissa Gibbs David Kellogg Rachel Oldfield Jeremy Ravinsky Daniel Stock Elaine Sun Devon Colmer Erin Marshall Louie Zong Craig Frucht Ashish Malhotra Josh Molofsky Kerianne Okie Michael Restiano Ben Kochman Evan Cooper Philip Dear Lauren Flament Claire Kemp Alex Lach Alex Prewitt Daniel Rathman Noah Schumer Ethan Sturm Matthew Berger Aaron Leibowitz David McIntyre Ann Sloan Meredith Klein Virginia Bledsoe Jodi Bosin Danai Macridi Dilys Ong Lane Florsheim Meagan Maher Justin McCallum Oliver Porter Ashley Seenauth Tien Tien James Choca Aalok Kanani Andrew Morgenthaler

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Monday, January 24, 2011

EDITORIAL | LETTERS

It took less than a day for the Tucson shooting on Jan. 8 to turn into a political battleground. Only hours after the tragedy unfolded, news stations were airing on repeat an interview from last March in which Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-Ariz.) herself warned that the heated rhetoric of the right could have violent consequences. Sarah Palin was vilified by the liberal blogosphere, and searches for her “crosshairs map” surged on Google and Yahoo search engines. Republicans immediately took the defensive, arguing that the shooter, Jared Loughner, was a mentally unstable conspiracy theorist and likely schizophrenic who idolized Karl Marx and whose views aligned no more with conservatives than they did with liberals. There is no evidence, they said, that Sarah Palin’s or any other Republican’s rhetoric influenced Loughner, or that he had even seen the now-infamous map she made in the 2010 midterm elections, which used crosshairs to identify the districts of 20 House Democrats who voted for the health care bill’s passage. In a way, the Republicans are right. Loughner’s obsession with Giffords appears to date back to at least 2007, when he attended a “Congress on Your Corner” event, a gathering similar to the one held on Jan. 8. According to a friend of Loughner, he approached Giffords at the 2007 event, asking her, “What is government if words have no meaning?” and was furious at her inability to answer the question satisfactorily.

Loughner is a man more concerned with his own convoluted political ideology than with conventional bipartisan rancor, more concerned with Giffords’ participation in a government he believes to be evil and corrupt than with the particulars of her voting record. In all likelihood, no one will ever know what factors contributed to Loughner’s descent into violence or whether the rhetoric of either political party played a role, but Republicans are correct that there is no evidence directly linking any politician to the shooting. But this hardly absolves Sarah Palin or anyone else who uses violent language to score political points, such as Rep. Michelle Bachmann (R-Minn.), who urged fellow Republicans to become “armed and dangerous on this issue of the energy tax,” or Jesse Kelly, Giffords’ opponent in last year’s election, who held an event at a shooting range during the campaign, where he invited supporters to “[h]elp remove Giffords from office. Shoot a fully automatic M16 with Jesse Kelly.” Or Glenn Beck, for that matter, who told viewers last year that in order to stop the Democrats’ “communist” agenda, “You’re going to have to shoot them in the head.” Where does this kind of pandering to right-wing blood lust leave us? With a room full of armed and angry constituents on one hand and a gravely wounded congresswoman on the other. The fact that no evidence exists to link Kelly’s words with

Loughner’s actions does not mean a serious re-evaluation of the tone of political language in this country is not needed. It is not a stretch to imagine that imagery like Kelly’s, Bachmann’s or Palin’s could potentially drive angry and desperate supporters to acts of violence. We should not wait for that day to make a change. The recent shooting is only one of many acts of violence that have occurred in the current environment of heightened vitriol. Shortly after health care reform’s passage in March, democratic offices around the country became cites of vandalism, including Giffords’. Sharron Angle, Sen. Harry Reid’s (D-Nev.) opponent in last year’s election and a prominent Tea Party activist, denounced those who cast blame on her and other Republicans, saying their efforts were no more than a “media ploy.” But an analysis of what factors may contribute to acts of political violence in America is not only an inevitable consequence of the Tucson tragedy, but a beneficial one, if it leads politicians to employ less bombastic, less blood-tinged and more level-headed campaigns. Such a change would decrease the odds of assailants targeting political figures and could lead to a more accessible and honest political landscape. That heated rhetoric may not have played a part in this particular tragedy does not mean we should hesitate to change the nature of our political discourse for the better.

LOUIE ZONG

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OFF THE HILL | UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA

Wringing the Pell BY

CAVALIER DAILY EDITORIAL BOARD Cavalier Daily

Those who watched Democrats and Republicans in Congress agree last month to extend $858 billion worth of Bush-era tax cuts for another two years could be forgiven for thinking that the federal government is flush with cash. Unfortunately, the recent murmuring on Capitol Hill about cuts of up to $5.7 billion to the Federal Pell Grant Program shows that the fiscal situation remains dire in the wake of the nation’s worst economic contraction since the Great Depression. If Congress follows through on this proposal, then it will create another barrier toward an affordable college education. Federal Pell Grants are among the most direct and noncontroversial forms of public assistance to low-income individuals. According to the U.S. Department of Education, these benefits are “direct grants awarded through participating institutions to students with financial need who have not received their first bachelor’s degree or who are enrolled in certain post-baccalaureate programs that lead to teacher certification or licensure.” Recognizing the need for additional assistance as incomes declined

The Tufts Daily is a nonprofit, independent newspaper, published Monday through Friday during the academic year, and distributed free to the Tufts community. EDITORIAL POLICY Editorials represent the position of The Tufts Daily. Individual editors are not necessarily responsible for, or in agreement with, the policies and editorials of The Tufts Daily. The content of letters, advertisements, signed columns, cartoons and graphics does not necessarily reflect the opinion of The Tufts Daily editorial board.

and tuition rates skyrocketed, Congress voted last year to increase the maximum Pell Grant award to $5,550 from $5,350 for the 2010-11 academic year. Yet faced with an increased number of students qualifying for the Pell Grant, as well as a persistent budget deficit that has many calling for austerity, Congress may now roll back the maximum Pell Grant by more than 15 percent. Cutting the Pell Grant, however, would be a counterproductive method to reduce the budget deficit. The program’s recipients are overwhelmingly from low-income households, and reductions in financial assistance could force them to forego spending on personal necessities or to take on more debt than they can handle. The former effect could further reduce the likelihood of a strong economic recovery by stifling demand for consumer goods while the latter would create another fragile financial house of cards that could collapse if individuals are unable to pay off their student loans after graduating. Even worse are the long-term implications of Pell Grant cuts. Students unable to afford tuition costs without the present levels of federal financial assistance may have to drop out of college or forego it altogether, which would drastically reduce their earn-

ing potential in the future. This would in turn decrease their expected contribution to the U.S. economy, as well as the amount of revenue that the government would collect from them through taxes. There are two ways to avoid this dismal outcome. One would be for institution-specific financial aid programs such as AccessUVa to step in and make up for the lost federal assistance. Placing this additional burden upon the backs of colleges is both unfair and impractical, however. At the University, for example, there were 1,667 Pell Grant recipients who collectively received almost $7 million in aid during the 2009-10 academic year. With 16 percent of tuition already dedicated to financing AccessUVa and with continually declining levels of state funding, [The University of] Virginia simply cannot afford to absorb additional obligations of this magnitude. Therefore, Congress must fully finance the Pell Grant Program by either borrowing money or increasing revenue. Neither option is particularly appealing, but Congress must recognize that providing students with the ability to afford a college education is just as important as providing tax relief if the United States hopes to remain a competitive and highly productive economy in the 21st century.

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Monday, January 24, 2011

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9

OP-ED

Three thoughts concerning three events in 2010 BY FATHI EL-SHIHIBI As 2010 fades into the distance, I would like to offer my thoughts concerning three recent events from last year, which at first seem inconsistent with past historical decisions or which appear to contradict the goals of the actors involved. Upon closer examination it becomes evident that the complicated natures of these events are what make them so thought-provoking. The first event speaks of an invitation to the Russian Federation to attend the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) summit meeting in November 2010. This unexpected overture happened while many of our lawmakers, particularly Republicans, were still unsure about which way to vote for the second Strategic Arms Reduction (START ) Treaty between the United States and the Russian Federation. The treaty, which was signed by President Barack Obama and the Russian President Dmitry Medvedev (remember, the first START Treaty was signed by former President George H.W. Bush and Mikhail Gorbachev, president of the Soviet Union in 1991), has been ratified on Capitol Hill and is also expected to pass in the Russian State Duma (Russia’s lower house of parliament). Some have interpreted the invitation to Russia as an unofficial invitation to join NATO. As a matter of fact, advocates of a closer cooperation

with Russia believe that the passage of START II may pave the way for the Russian Federation to join NATO in the foreseeable future. While some sources even speculated that the American government would welcome such a turn of events, the U.S. NATO Ambassador, Ivo Daalder, went even further to lend credence to such speculations by reiterating his assertion that all European countries, including Russia, have the right to become NATO members. The second event refers to the antiSemitic, anti-United States speeches of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. In an article I recently read, these speeches were described as having done a great service to the State of Israel, rather than a disservice, as many would expect. At first my reaction to this piece of news was one of puzzlement — but not for long. Iran’s president had been and continues to be ostracized by many world leaders for his blatant anti-Israel, anti-Semitic rhetoric and his incessant threats against the West for opposing Iran’s nuclear ambitions. Contrary to his and his handlers’ expectations, all the angry words he uttered so far, whether directed at the West or at Israel, have indeed backfired. Ahmadinejad’s obviously unscripted verbal assaults calling for the annihilation of Israel not only caused many countries, including Arab states, to shudder at the spectacle of someone openly advocating genocide, but also

conjured up images of the genocide against the Jews planned and carried out by former German Chancellor Adolf Hitler and his Nazi patsies which led to a great loss of life. Furthermore, Ahmadinejad’s rhetoric and threats not only widen the fissure between Sunni and Shiite Muslims, but also convinced many Arab and Muslim states that Iran is more of a threat to their security and stability than the State of Israel is. The third event involved WikiLeaks’ mastermind Julian Assange being brought to justice, not because of his unleashing of an avalanche of classified and potentially damaging material, but because he was accused of having sex that, without the consent of his partner, was unprotected. What is mystifying to me is that this man became well-known to countless intelligence agencies that were eager to prosecute him for spilling the beans, particularly regarding their top-secret operations and reports, and yet all they could come up with was his engagement in allegedly consensual, yet unprotected, sex with two women — who now just want to make sure that he did not transmit any sexually transmitted diseases to either of them. This intelligent and dedicated man clearly knew full-well the ramifications of disclosing sensitive and obviously intriguing information and surely had taken the necessary precautions in anticipation of a backlash, yet he couldn’t take a few minutes from his busy schedule to

make sure that he would be protected sexually. Mr. Assange, of all people taking up residence in Sweden, should have known that Swedish law can treat certain cases of consensual sex in which one of the partners opts out of using protection at the detriment of the other as rape, plain and simple. So you see, Mr. Assange, high intelligence should be complemented with common sense. These three events in particular struck me because of the apparent contradiction between what people expected to happen and what actually occurred. The Russian/NATO rapprochement is particularly difficult to grapple with due to the nature of the foundation of NATO and its long history as a balancing organization to Russia. The Ahmadinejad speeches stand out as a rare bit of justice, as hate-filled words end up helping those at which they were aimed. Lastly, Assange’s arrest is confusing as it points out some of the strengths and weaknesses of the reaches of the legal system. Things are not always what they seem or are purported to be. Accordingly, there are times when veracity, along with curiosity, are needed to make sense of otherwise seemingly unrelated assumptions or conclusions. Fathi El-Shihibi is an adjunct professor in the Department of Philosophy and Religion at Northeastern University.

Hookup culture BY

CRYSTAL BUI

I’m not entirely against the “hookup culture” — a culture marked by casual sexual encounters, referred to as “hookups,” which are often accompanied by a nonchalant, no-strings-attached attitude — that is typical of our generation. I am an avid believer that it should always be “your body, your choice.” But I think a major aspect of “your body, your choice” is that whatever decisions people make concerning their own bodies, they should only get involved with partners who can respect their boundaries no matter if those boundaries are viewed as “prude” or “promiscuous.” I’ll admit that the current hookup culture does have advantages. Some genuinely do enjoy hookup culture and feel empowered by dictating the terms of intimate encounters. But there are also disadvantages. Because a dating culture is nearly nonexistent on college campuses, some students (male and female) are pushed into this hookup culture and have found it to be dissatisfying and degrading. The feelings of empowerment that many participants of the hookup culture describe are frequently contentious, at best, and are often disputed by sociologists, psychologists and those who are spectators to this foreign culture. While I do not completely agree or disagree with critics’ claims regarding the impacts of hookup culture, I do believe that there is one downplayed, but troubling, consequence: Perhaps we, as a generation, are failing to form functional and meaningful relations with others. Eavesdrop on Sunday brunch conversations and you’ll notice that many people in our generation have had countless sexual encounters, but few have had meaningful relationships. Most of us know how to race from first base to home plate before the night ends, but we don’t know how to ask someone out on a date (before hooking up), how to interact with someone (sober) that we’re interested in (after hooking up) or how to (tactfully) communicate our feelings. The problem is that having only casual, rather than meaningful, sexual experiences can sometimes damage people’s self-esteem and self-worth — male or female. Yet, hookup culture is utterly pervasive. How did it happen that when some of us decided that we “don’t do relationships” in college, we applied this reasoning to all relationships? Apparently, having anyone — a friend or a partner — care about us, depend

DANAI MACRIDI/TUFTS DAILY

on us, need us, love us, is just too much to handle. We’re in college, why care now? But if not now, then when do we start caring? And by then, will we still know how? This is why most students on college campuses have lots of “hang-out friends” — friends that they can drink with, smoke with, go out with — but only a handful of real friends that they actually trust and confide in. When I say most of us are lacking “real” friends, I don’t mean the friends to whom you would say, “I did horribly on that test” or “I got some this weekend.” I mean real friends: the people with whom you regularly interact and who understand your deepest fears and greatest desires; the people to whom you feel comfortable revealing yourself without fear of repercussion or reprimand. Perhaps it is because hookups often lack conversation that many of us have become mute in our own interactions — even with

basic friendships. We’ve forgotten how to talk to each other and how to share experiences with each other — heart- and gutwrenching experiences, like the time your girlfriend cheated on you. Like when you used to cut yourself. Like the night your loved one died. Like the day your parents divorced. Like the time you felt alone. We now avoid having serious conversations and sharing serious secrets, even with the people we call friends, in the same way that we avoid serious relationships. We stick to easy statements such as, “This is what I did today,” and “This is what we should do this weekend,” because these are socially safe topics. Discussing anything weighty would be too serious and consequently, by our generation’s standards, too much to deal with. I think that when we lose the ability to trust others with our secrets and

our sorrows, we lose part of ourselves. Maybe hookup culture is our own way of grasping at the safest alternative. After all, if you don’t reveal yourself and if you act indifferent, then you’re invisible, infallible and incapable of getting hurt. My suggestion is that maybe it’s time we, as a generation, start taking risks — whether it be by asking someone on a date or by sharing something embarrassing or even shameful with a friend. I challenge all of us to accept a bit of vulnerability in exchange for a meaningful connection with someone. I am glad the hookup culture has allowed us to be open with our sexuality, but it has taken away our ability to be genuinely open with each other. Crystal Bui is a junior majoring in English and Women’s Studies.

OP-ED POLICY The Op-Ed section of The Tufts Daily, an open forum for campus editorial commentary, is printed Monday through Thursday. The Daily welcomes submissions from all members of the Tufts community; the opinions expressed in the Op-Ed section do not necessarily represent the opinions of the Daily itself. Opinion articles on campus, national and international issues should be 600 to 1,200 words in length. Op-Ed cartoons are also welcomed for the Campus Canvas feature. All material is subject to editorial discretion and is not guaranteed to appear in the Daily. All material should be submitted to oped@tuftsdaily.com no later than noon on the day prior to the desired day of publication; authors must submit their telephone numbers and day-of availability for editing questions. Submissions may not be published elsewhere prior to their appearance in the Daily, including but not limited to other on- and off-campus newspapers, magazines, blogs and online news websites, as well as Facebook. Republishing of the same piece in a different source is permissible as long as the Daily is credited with originally running the article.


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Victories against Colby and Bowdoin vault Tufts into fourth place in NESCAC MEN’S BASKETBALL continued from page 16

quick 10-2 run, keyed by a threepoint play by Anderson and a 3-pointer by freshman guard Oliver Cohen. But the Mules, urged on by the crowd of 475 at Wadsworth Gymnasium, managed to cut the lead to six with 3:10 left on a lay-up by senior cocaptain Christian Van Loenen. From there, however, the Jumbos took over. A 14-2 run by Tufts over the next three minutes ballooned the visitors’ lead to 18 with under a minute to go. The Jumbos were led by sophomore guard Amauris Quezada, who scored 28 points on an ultra-efficient 11-for-14 shooting night, including 5-of-7 from 3-point range. “He was on fire,” Anderson said. “We needed someone to step up like that and I can’t say enough about how big that was. Everyone was tired and we needed someone who was going to score more than 20. It was impressive to say the least.” Tufts also received a boost from freshman Kwame Firempong, who scored 10 points, dished out five assists, and brought down four rebounds off the bench. Junior Alex Orchowski and Anderson also finished in double figures, with 10 points each. Tufts finished the game shooting 58 percent from the field and 54 percent (7-for-13) from beyond the arc, and also set a season-high with 20 assists. “I think in both games, both first halves were pretty lowscoring and I think it’s attributed to just not making shots,” junior forward James Long said. “The coaches told us at halftime that shots were going to fall, and they stressed that if we continued to play sound defense, the offense would come.” While Saturday’s game — particularly the second half — displayed Tufts’ potential on the offensive end, Friday night’s 64-55 victory over offensiveminded Bowdoin demonstrated Tufts’ ability to effectively shut down an opponent for long stretches of time. The Jumbos held the Polar Bears to a season-low in points, field-goal percentage (36 percent) and assists (seven), and managed to contain the conference’s leading scorer, junior forward Will Hanley, to 18 points on 6-of-14 shooting. “We were keying on Hanley,” Anderson said. “Every time he

ANDREW MORGANTHALER/TUFTS DAILY

Junior forward Alex Orchowski, seen here last December, scored ten points against Colby on Saturday, helping Tufts to a 78-66 victory. would get the ball, we would help off, and I would help off the other big guy, and sag off. … He still played really well, but we held him to his average, which is all we could ask for really.” Tufts got off to a slow start and trailed 14-4 early on, but with 7:42 remaining in the opening frame, Tufts clamped down on Bowdoin’s offense for the rest of the half, turning a 19-12 deficit into a 22-19 halftime lead. The Polar Bears hit on just 8 of 31 shots in

the period, though the Jumbos weren’t any better, shooting just 25 percent. Both teams’ offenses found better rhythms in the second half, but Tufts managed to slowly expand its slim halftime lead and keep Bowdoin at bay. In a three-minute span early in the second half, a pair of 3-pointers by Quezada and Cohen, combined with five points from Anderson, pushed the Jumbos’ lead to 11, at 40-29. From then on, the Jumbos did just enough

to hold off the Polar Bears. It has been a quick turnaround for the Jumbos, who, even after losing last year’s star Jon Pierce (LA ’10), have now surpassed their 2009-10 win total of six. Tufts aims to keep its momentum rolling in a home game Tuesday versus Wheaton. “The good thing is we have a game right away,” Long said. “Sometimes you get those long weeks of practice before NESCAC weekends where you can lose a little bit of focus,

but I think Tuesday’s a great opportunity for us.” This coming weekend could prove vital in Tufts’ quest to qualify for the NESCAC tournament for the first time since the 2006-07 season, a fact not lost on the Jumbos. “In the bigger picture, two NESCAC wins are huge,” Long said. “Every weekend, each game is huge if you want to make the playoffs. To grab two early in the season was huge for us.”

With losses in mind, Jumbos hope to move up rankings with wins next weekend WOMEN’S SQUASH continued from page 14

The Jumbos did, however, take their first match of the second semester over No. 27 Wellesley on Jan. 20. The Jumbos were a bit sluggish, coming off a late return to campus that allowed them little practice time compared to their competition, but they managed to rally, beating Wellesley in a 5-4 decision. It was the 14th consecutive loss for the Blue. “Coming back three days early when no one else is on campus definitely helps team chemistry and the feeling that you’re playing for every other girl on the squad,” Michael said. “It was

good to be back on the court together and helped us get our shots back. It’s unfortunate, though, that we were one of the very last squash teams in the league to come back, because we’re still getting back on our feet.” The Jumbos had previously beaten the Blue 6-3 on Dec. 2. This time around, Tufts received victories at No. 2 through No. 6 on the ladder. “Our 5-4 win was closer than it should’ve been, but considering that they had already been playing a lot of matches this semester, we did what we had to do and it got us on a good start,” Koo said. “We’re playing better and better each game, starting with the

Wellesley match. Everyone is improving with each match that they play.” Individually, No. 4 sophomore Jessica Rubine allowed Wellesley sophomore Marguerite Sulmont to score just five points in three games, while sophomore Ushashi Basu managed her overall victory in four games despite dropping the third game 11-8. Basu dominated the fourth game 11-2 to secure the win. At the No. 1 position, Michael lost to freshman Rosemary O’Connor in three games, after beating her in a close five-game matchup in the Dec. 2 match. The Jumbos’ usual No. 7 player, sophomore Hafsa Chaudhry, was out

of the lineup, forcing sophomores Risa Meyers, Caitlin Doherty and Chelsea Dickson to move up one spot in the ladder. Doherty and Meyers each lost their respective matches 3-1. Tufts has continued to beat lowerranked teams and lose to higher ranked teams, but it is preparing for matches this weekend against No. 21 Bowdoin and No. 20 Colby with hopes to steadily inch up the rankings. “We’re on the right track. We’re taking steps to get close to their level,” Koo said. “Up and down the ladder, we’ve won games against the schools we’ve played so far and that’s good considering we just got back from break.”


Monday, January 24, 2011

THE TUFTS DAILY

13

SPORTS

Men’s swim team has faced tough schedule since returning to campus MEN’S SWIM AND DIVE continued from page 16

stroke; Rood won both the 50- and 100-yard freestyles; and Testa won both the 50-yard butterfly and the 50-yard backstroke. Jenkins, Rood and seniors David Meyer and Andrew Altman also won the final event of the day, the 200-yard freestyle relay. “There were definitely some standout swims from a lot of people,” Lessard said. “A lot of freshmen really stepped it up and tried to show what all the training has been doing for them, and we had some veterans just go for it — win races, and just touch someone out. It was a great meet all around.” Tufts has been bombarded with tough competition since returning from its two-week training trip to Florida, beginning with a tri-meet against NESCAC foes Wesleyan and Williams on Jan. 15 and continuing with dual meets against MIT and Boston College on Saturday and Sunday, respectively. No. 16 Tufts swam circles around Wesleyan, winning 224-63, but was edged out 175-123 by the host No. 8 Williams Ephs, who have won eight straight conference titles and whom the Jumbos have never defeated in a dual meet. They then fell 200-98 to Div. III powerhouse No. 6 MIT before Sunday’s loss to BC. At MIT the Jumbos took on the No. 6 Engineers, who on Dec. 4 won the MIT Invitational in which Tufts placed third. Del Moro was the only Tufts swimmer to win an event, placing first in the 100-yard backstroke. Freshman phenom Johann Schmidt and senior Trevor Stack dominated the diving portion of the meet, finishing No. 1 and No. 2 respectively in both the 1- and 3-meter events. The Jumbos started and ended the day well. Testa, Jenkins, Rood and freshman Eric Douglas kicked things off with a second-place finish in the 200-yard medley relay, and Jenkins, Rood, Meyer and Altman came in second in the 200-yard freestyle relay to end the meet. Jenkins and Rood swam individual second-place races in the 100-yard breaststroke and 200-yard freestyle, respectively, while freshman Christian

DAILY FILE PHOTO

Junior E.J. Testa, seen here last January, took first place in the 50-yard breaststroke and backstroke yesterday at Hamilton Pool. Jones placed third in the 500-yard freestyle. Rood and Jones both swam season-best times. MIT won 14 out of 15 swimming events, asserting its dominance as it did at the MIT Invitational, where the Engineers won 17 of 20 races. The Jumbos received many strong performances at the Jan. 15 tri-meet as well. Testa had a great day all around, winning the 100-yard backstroke and the 100-yard butterfly and placing sec-

ond in the 200-yard medley relay with teammates Rood, Del Moro and senior Zed Debbaut. Tufts also saw victories from sophomore Brian Marko, who won the 200yard butterfly, and Lessard, who won the 500-yard freestyle. Schmidt continued his success, receiving national qualifying marks to win the 1-meter and 3-meter events. Second-place finishers included Del Moro in the 100-yard backstroke,

Debbaut in the 100-yard breaststroke, junior Alex Strittmatter in the 100-yard butterfly and Jenkins in the 50-yard freestyle. The team of Jenkins, Rood, Altman and Meyer closed out the meet by coming in second in the 400-yard freestyle relay. Still, Williams’ nine first-place performances and four one-two-three finishes were enough to defeat both Tufts and Wesleyan, while the Jumbos came away with a split.

Tufts confident for upcoming meets after close MIT battle WOMEN’S SWIM AND DIVE continued from page 15

ress they’ve made this season, forcing MIT to battle through the very last relay. Though the Jumbos ultimately lost to the Engineers 156-144, they were not disappointed with the result. “I was very pleased with how we swam, and I know that [Coach Nancy Bigelow] was as well,” Kono said. “MIT is undefeated this season, and they’ve faced a lot of great schools, so we knew this was going to be a really tough meet. But everyone’s been working hard, and even though we were still tired coming off the trip and the meet on the 15th, I thought everyone did really well.” Kono’s performance in the 1650-yard freestyle was the highlight of the day for Tufts, as she won the event in 17:59.20, nearly 30 seconds ahead of the second-place finisher, MIT freshman Alexandra Hall. Freshman Mia Greenwald earned a tie for first in the 50-yard freestyle sprint race, touching simultaneously with Engineers sophomore Nicole Wang in 25.96 seconds. And Bloom again excelled off the diving board, winning the 1-meter event with a score of 284.90. Tufts will now have a week off to prepare for its final home meet of the season, a dual event against Wheaton on Saturday, Jan. 29 at noon. This will be the last race in

Hamilton Pool for the team’s seniors, and going out with a win would be especially meaningful for them. “It’s really bittersweet for all of us, and it’s really important to come out and perform well in our last meet here at Tufts,” Kono said.

“There was a lot of emphasis this season on beating Wesleyan. ... They are really similar to us in terms of talent, and we weren’t able to beat them last year, so this was a big win for us.” Megan Kono senior tri-captain After Wheaton, the team will split up into two squads, one of which will spend most of its time preparing for the Wheaton Invitational on Feb. 4-5, while the other gets ready for NESCAC Championships, which will take place at Williams on Feb. 18-20. “We’re all really excited about how much we’ve improved,” Kono said. “I think everyone is really positive about what we can accomplish in the next couple of meets.”


THE TUFTS DAILY

14

Monday, January 24, 2011

SPORTS

WOMEN’S SQUASH

Momentum dwindles with weekend losses for Jumbos Team now has four-match losing streak after falling to Hamilton, Amherst, GW and St. Lawrence BY

ANN SLOAN

Daily Editorial Board

The women’s squash team went into winter break on the heels of a commanding 7-2 win over No. 31 Boston College on Dec. 5, armed with an even 4-4 record. But with two losses on Saturday and two more on Sunday, the team has now lost some momentum, dropping four matches in a row. Tufts had a busy slate this weekend, playing four matches in two days. On Saturday, Tufts lost to No. 17 Hamilton 8-1 and then to No. 12 Amherst 9-0. Junior Mercedes Barba, playing at the No. 3 position, had the Jumbos’ only win of the day. On Sunday at the Yale Round Robin, Tufts fell 9-0 to George Washington and 5-4 against St. Lawrence. Against St. Lawrence, the top four in the Jumbos’ ladder all won, but the No. 26 Saints used a strong effort at the bottom to upset the No. 23 Jumbos. Against the Lord Jeffs, every Jumbo except senior captain Valerie Koo and junior Alix Michael fell in straight sets. Koo snatched her first game 11-8, but managed only 14 combined points in the final three, while Michael salvaged a 13-11 win in the third set before sophomore Anne Piper closed out the match. Barba’s lone victory came in three games, including a hardfought 12-10 outcome in the third and deciding set. DAILY FILE PHOTO

see WOMEN’S SQUASH, page 12

Junior Alix Michael, seen here last January, led the team at the No. 1 position in Tufts’ win over Wellesley and subsequent four-match losing streak.

Physics 0016-02: Special Topics in Physics

Cosmology for the Curious Prof. Alexander Vilenkin F Block: TRF 12:00 – 12:50 pm Room: Anderson 206 Registrar's ID #: 04203

Join the

Spanish or French House! Improve your language skills in an informal setting! Applications to live in the Spanish or French Houses are now being accepted. To apply, please contact: FRENCH HOUSE

Explores recent developments in cosmology. Big bang and cosmic inflation; dark matter and dark energy; cosmic strings and extra dimensions; anthropic reasoning and the multiverse. The questions to be addressed include: How did the universe begin? How will it end? Why is it expanding? Are there parallel worlds? Because of remarkable recent progress in cosmology, we now have answers to these questions that we have some reason to believe. Prerequisite: No background in physics or math is assumed beyond elementary high school math.. Course is applicable to the Natural Sciences Distribution Requirement, but not towards the major or minor in Physics.

Professor Anne Poncet-Montange anne.poncet@tufts.edu SPANISH HOUSE Professor Marta Rosso-O’Laughlin marta.rosso-olaughlin@tufts.edu


THE TUFTS DAILY

Monday, January 24, 2011

15

SPORTS

WOMEN’S SWIMMING AND DIVING

JAMES CHOCA/TUFTS DAILY

Senior tri-captain Megan Kono, seen here in Feb. 2009, finished first in the 1650-yard freestyle on Saturday, nearly 30 seconds ahead of the second-place finisher.

Tufts shows vast improvement against Wesleyan and MIT BY

to improve their times for the springsemester portion of their season. The team’s hard work over break proved worthwhile, earning them a split in the Jan. 15 meet at Williams. Tufts defeated Wesleyan 157-142, but fell to the Ephs — widely considered the best team in the conference — 195.5-99.5. “Just about every team in the NESCAC has a conditioning trip like this over break,” senior tri-captain Megan Kono said. “It’s really important in helping us get ready for our spring meets, but it’s also really tiring, and we were pretty exhausted heading into the meet against Wesleyan and Williams.”

DANIEL RATHMAN

Daily Editorial Board

The women’s swimming team spent much of its winter break in Pompano Beach, Fla., but wading in the ocean WOMEN’S SWIMMING (3-4) at Cambridge, Mass., Saturday Tufts MIT

— 144 — 156

and sunbathing on the shore were not on the agenda. Instead, the Jumbos were busy with conditioning exercises

STATISTICS | STANDINGS

The Jumbos were pleased with their results, particularly against a team they were set on defeating. “There was a lot of emphasis this season on beating Wesleyan,” said Kono, who placed in the top three in four events in the meet. “They are really similar to us in terms of talent, and we weren’t able to beat them last year, so this was a big win for us.” Tufts also benefited from a stellar effort by freshman Jenny Hu, who had a pair of third-place finishes in the 200-yard breaststroke and was a part of the 200-yard medley relay team. Fellow freshman Sami Bloom added a couple of third-place marks off the

MON

Women's Basketball

Ice Hockey

(2-2, 8-8 NESCAC)

(12-3, 2-2 NESCAC)

(4-10-1, 3-8 NESCAC/ECAC East)

Middlebury Williams Amherst Tufts Bowdoin Colby Trinity Bates Wesleyan Conn. Coll.

OVERALL

W 4 4 3 2 1 1 1 1 1 0

W 15 17 16 8 11 9 10 10 8 8

L 0 0 0 2 2 2 2 3 3 4

L 0 1 0 8 4 8 7 9 9 9

Individual Statistics PPG S. Anderson 12.9 A. Quezada 11.1 A. Goldfarb 9.6 A. Orchowski 9.4 O. Cohen 5.6 J. Long 5.6 K. Firempong 4.8 M. Lanchantin 3.4 S. Mason 2.9 A. Dawton 2.2 T. Folliard 2.2 P. Saba 1.7 M. Galvin 1.2 Team

RPG 5.4 2.1 1.9 8.1 1.6 5.3 1.6 1.9 2.6 1.5 1.4 1.0 0.7

APG 0.4 2.4 2.7 1.8 2.4 0.8 2.4 0.7 1.4 0.3 0.5 0.1 0.5

69.9 37.2 13.2

NESCAC

W Williams 4 Amherst 3 Colby 2 Trinity 2 Bates 2 Middlebury 2 Tufts 2 Bowdoin 1 Conn. Coll. 0 Wesleyan 0

L 0 0 1 1 2 2 2 2 4 4

NESCAC

OVERALL

W 17 17 12 11 14 11 12 14 7 6

L 1 1 3 5 5 3 3 3 10 10

Individual Statistics RPG 5.1 7.4 3.8 3.1 4.6 2.0 2.7 5.0 1.4 1.6 0.7 2.0

see WOMEN’S SWIM AND DIVE, page 13

SCHEDULE | Jan. 24 - Jan. 28

Men's Basketball NESCAC

diving board, posting scores of 228.60 and 228.95 in the 1-meter and 3-meter events, respectively. If the win over Wesleyan didn’t serve as evidence of Tufts’ improvement, its performance against MIT on Saturday certainly should have. Early in the season, with just a few weeks of full practices under their belts, the Tufts swimmers managed only a fifth-place finish out of seven teams at the MIT Invitational on Dec. 3-4, trailing the hosts by over 600 points in the 42-event competition. On Saturday, however, the Jumbos showed the prog-

APG 3.4 2.8 0.4 1.3 0.3 0.8 0.9 1.6 0.3 0.3 0.6 0.0

Colleen Hart T. Kornegay Collier Clegg Liz Moynihan Ali Rocchi Kate Barnosky Bre Dufault Vanessa Miller C. McClure Sam Tye Lindsay Weiner Issy Cless

PPG 16.7 10.3 8.3 8.3 6.3 4.8 4.4 3.9 2.4 2.0 1.6 1.3

Team

63.0 39.1 11.1

W Williams 7 Bowdoin 8 Amherst 5 Hamilton 5 Colby 5 Conn. Coll. 5 Middlebury 4 Wesleyan 4 Trinity 3 Tufts 3

L 2 3 3 4 5 5 4 5 6 8

TUE

WED

THU

FRI

Men’s Basketball

vs. Wheaton 7 p.m.

vs. Conn. Coll. 6 p.m.

Women’s Basketball

at Emmanuel 7:30 p.m.

vs. Conn. Coll. 8 p.m.

OVERALL

T W L T 1 10 3 2 0 11 3 0 3 7 5 4 2 8 6 2 1 6 8 1 1 6 7 3 2 6 5 3 1 5 6 3 1 5 7 3 0 4 10 1

Individual Statistics Tom Derosa Kyle Gallegos Dylan Cooper Zach Diaco Trevor John Mike Vitale Dylan Plimmer Andy Davis Nick Pappas Evan Story Team

G 8 10 7 1 3 2 1 1 0 1 41

A 13 7 7 9 3 3 3 3 4 2 63

Pts. 21 17 14 10 6 5 4 4 4 3 104

Goalkeeping Evin Koleini Scott Barchard Team

S 320 116 480

GA 38 9 59

S% .894 .928 .891

Ice Hockey

at Castleton 7 p.m.

Men’s Swimming and Diving Women’s Swimming and Diving Men’s Indoor Track and Field Women’s Indoor Track and Field Men’s Squash

Women’s Squash

Terrier Classic at BU 1 p.m. Terrier Classic at BU 1 p.m.

at Colby 5:30 p.m.

at Colby 5 p.m.


Sports

16

INSIDE Women’s Swimming and Diving 15 Women’s Squash 14

tuftsdaily.com

MEN’S BASKETBALL INTRAMURALS

Open gym time to debut tonight

ANDREW MORGANTHALER/TUFTS DAILY

Sophomore guard Amauris Quezada, seen here against Lesley, went for 28 points in the Jumbos’ 78-66 victory over Colby. The win sealed their first sweep of a NESCAC weekend on the road since 2007.

Bringing out the brooms: Jumbos sweep NESCAC road weekend for first time since ’07 BY

ALEX LACH

Daily Editorial Board

After a desperately needed week off to regroup from a tough opening weekend of NESCAC play, the men’s basketball MEN’S BASKETBALL (8-8, 2-2 NESCAC) at Waterville, Maine, Saturday Tufts Colby

28 24

50 — 78 42 — 66

at Brunswick, Maine, Friday Tufts Bowdoin

22 19

42 — 64 36 — 55

team triumphed in two crucial games this weekend at Bowdoin and Colby. With wins over both the Polar Bears and the Mules, the Jumbos snapped their four-game losing streak, evened their conference record to 2-2 and catapulted into fourth place in the NESCAC. “We knew from the beginning of the season that we needed these two wins,” sophomore forward Scott Anderson said. “They’re two NESCAC teams that aren’t ranked in the top-10 like Middlebury or Williams and definitely ones we should have gotten. We knew that if we wanted to make an impression on the NESCAC and everyone else in Division III, we needed to get these wins.” On Saturday afternoon, still riding the momentum from the win over Bowdoin,

Tufts defeated Colby 78-66 to complete the team’s first road NESCAC weekend sweep since Jan. 26-27, 2007. After heading to halftime with a 28-24 lead, the Jumbos exploded for 50 second-half points while shooting an otherworldly 77 percent (17-for-22) from the field. “We knew that we had to work through our plays,” Anderson said. “A lot of times in the first half, if we wouldn’t get that first initial pass we would kind of freak out and try and run a scramble. In the second half we would run through our plays and find open guys.” With 8:13 remaining in the game, Colby trimmed Tufts’ lead to just four, at 50-46, but the Jumbos responded with a

Full “open gym” schedule below: Mon., Jan. 24th — Basketball (9 p.m.10:30; town hall at 8 p.m.) Tues., Jan. 25th — Soccer (8 p.m.10:30; town hall at 8 p.m.) Wed., Jan. 26th — Basketball (9 p.m.10:30) Thurs., Jan. 27th — Dodgeball (8 p.m.10:30; town hall at 8 p.m.) Mon., Jan. 31st — Basketball (9 p.m.10:30; town hall at 8 p.m.) Tues., Feb. 1st — Soccer (8 p.m.-10:30) Wed., Feb. 2nd — Volleyball (9 p.m.10:30)

see MEN’S BASKETBALL, page 12

WOMEN’S BASKETBALL

—by Ben Kochman

MEN’S SWIMMING AND DIVING

A broken Hart, a split weekend for women’s basketball In a roller-coaster weekend, the women’s basketball team knocked off No. 13 Bowdoin on the road, suffered a crippling injury and fell to Colby, dropping down to .500 in the conference. Against the Polar Bears on Friday, the Jumbos played arguably the best game of their season. They held Bowdoin without a field goal for almost the first ten minutes, jumping out to a 12-3 lead in the process. While Bowdoin eventually got its offense together, Tufts held the lead for the entire first half and headed into the locker room with a six-point cushion. After the break, Bowdoin came out firing with an 11-4 run capped by five straight points from junior guard Amy Hackett and gave the Polar Bears their first lead of the night. The teams went back and forth for the next few minutes, with Tufts grabbing a fragile three-point lead. But senior guard Colleen Hart hit a pair of daggers — two 3-pointers in a 30-second span — to extend the lead to

Basketball players frustrated by the lack of a winter intramural season will be able to get their pick-up game fix tonight when “open gym time,” the Athletics Department’s replacement for winter intramurals, kicks off at 9 p.m. in Cousens Gym. In November, the Athletics Department axed the winter intramural season that, in years past, had been broken up by winter break and plagued by gym space issues and a flurry of athlete no-shows. Intramural diehards expressed doubts that the new open gym system would be as intense or fun as an official season. “There will be more people with less skill and less desire to win, that just want to goof around,” junior Jake Schiller said in December. The benefit to the open gym slots is convenience and ease, according to Director of Intramural Sports Cheryl Milligan. Tufts students need only to show up at the gym tonight between 9 p.m. and 10:30 p.m. with a Tufts ID to get in a game. Before the games kick off, Milligan and other intramural staff will be on hand at 8 p.m. to hold a “town-hall style” meeting at which students can voice their opinions on the new system. The open gym times will continue throughout January and February, until the spring intramural season, which includes badminton, basketball, dodgeball, lacrosse and indoor soccer, starts up on March 28. For more information on the new format, including pictures from tonight’s games, see Wednesday’s issue of the Daily.

nine with eight minutes remaining. Bowdoin never closed the deficit to less than six for the rest of the game. But it was not all smooth sailing for the Jumbos. Looking to close out the game with just three minutes to play, Hart landed badly on her ankle and was forced to sit out the rest of the contest. Hart was still out when the Jumbos traveled to Waterville, Maine the next afternoon to take on Colby. Tufts rode the momentum from the previous night’s victory and jumped out to an early 6-0 lead. But the Mules worked their way back into the game and after a closely contested first half led 30-27. With Hart sitting on the sideline, freshman guard Liz Moynihan scored first six points of the second half for the Jumbos and gave her team a 33-32 lead. But after a layup by junior guard Tiffany Kornegay, Tufts missed its next six straight shots. The Mules capitalized, going on a 10-0 run that put them in the driver’s seat. The Jumbos never

recovered and dropped just their third game of the season and second in NESCAC play. Despite the up-and-down results, Tufts had plenty of positives to take out of the weekend, especially among their younger players. Moynihan added 16 points against Colby to the 13 she had the day before in the team’s upset victory. Sophomore forward Collier Clegg also had a breakout weekend, with 14 points and five rebounds in the win and another 10 points and two boards in the loss. Senior guard Vanessa Miller took over at point guard with Hart out, and totaled four assists against the Mules. With or without Hart, the Jumbos will need to regroup quickly, as they travel to Emmanuel tomorrow for a non-conference matchup. They will then be playing host to Conn. College and Wesleyan this weekend. Both teams are 0-4 in the conference and below .500 overall. —by Ethan Sturm

Jumbos bring the noise against tough opponents BY

AARON LEIBOWITZ

Daily Editorial Board

Boston College may have squeaked out the victory over Tufts, 206-170, at yesterday’s MEN’S SWIMMING (4-3) Hamilton Pool, Sunday Tufts — 170 Boston College — 206 at Cambridge, Mass., Saturday Tufts MIT

— 98 — 200

dual meet at Hamilton pool, but the Jumbos came away with a sense of pride about their performance against the Div. I Eagles and their ability to create and maintain an absolutely electric atmosphere. “The atmosphere was incredible,” senior quad-captain Joe

Lessard said. “In my four years here, it’s probably the loudest I’ve ever seen our pool.” “We were so loud right out of the gates,” senior quad-captain Gordy Jenkins added. “We got a pool record in the first event [200-yard medley relay] and then we just tried to keep it going as much as possible. It helped so much being at home and having our crowd. We didn’t win, but I had so much fun and I know a lot of the other guys did too.” Jenkins, senior quadcaptain Mike Del Moro, and juniors Owen Rood and E.J. Testa formed the record-setting medley team, and also largely carried the Jumbos in the individual events. Jenkins won the 50-yard breaststroke; Del Moro, who is also a news editor for the Daily, won the 100-yard backsee MEN’S SWIM AND DIVE, page 13


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