2009-11-16

THE TUFTS DAILY

Partly Cloudy 57/35

BY

TUFTSDAILY.COM

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 16, 2009

VOLUME LVIII, NUMBER 46

Winter Bash to move off campus, entry to cost $10

Title wave: Tufts grabs major wins Volleyball team beats Williams for first New England title

MATT REPKA

Daily Editorial Board

This year’s Winter Bash will barely resemble the crowded Gantcher Center event of years past.

As part of an extensive overhaul of the annual dance by Programming Board, Winter Bash will be held at the Sheraton Boston Hotel on Feb. 5 and entry will cost $10. The event will also have a new name, which will be chosen by the end of this month as a result of a renaming contest this week.

Office for Campus Life Director Joe Golia said the move came about after “significant problems” with the old format of Winter Bash, which is traditionally held in the Gantcher Center and features a DJ station and “pub section” for students 21 and over.

Though Gantcher has historically provided a sufficient facility for Fall Ball, cold winter weather complicates logistics, like providing bathroom facilities and busing students to and from the athletic facility, Golia said.

“Everything is different in the winter — it’s not as easy as saying, ‘Fall Ball worked there, so let’s do Winter Bash there,’” Golia said. “To do it as it had traditionally been done — the facility would not be able to handle it.”

Programming Board Co-Chair Sarah Habib, a junior, said that the off-campus venue would offer a welcomed change, making the winter event distinct from Tufts’ other dances. “Historically, Winter Bash has always been just another Fall see WINTER BASH, page 2

BY

BEN KOCHMAN

Daily Staff Writer

end, I think we came together nicely. It was a total team effort.”

Tufts began the weekend with a rain-soaked, 5-1 win over MIT on Saturday and followed by dispatching national No. 9 Skidmore 4-1 yesterday afternoon. Particularly against the Thoroughbreds, the Jumbos received major contributions from their penalty corner unit, led by junior defender Jess Perkins.

Her three weekend goals upped her postseason total to five, all off successful corner opportunities.

With the victories, Tufts advances to what promises to be a thrilling national semifinal next weekend in South Hadley, Mass. — which will feature each of the

For the last two years, the Tufts volleyball team has posted impressive regular-season records and earned the right to host the NCAA New England Regional Championship.

But while last year’s team faltered in the postseason, the 2009 Jumbos will be heading to Ohio and the NCAA Elite Eight.

On Saturday night, the Jumbos made history, capturing the program’s first New England Regional Championship in resounding three-set fashion over perennial rival Williams.

Last weekend in the NESCAC Tournament final, the Jumbos lost to the Ephs in three sets. On Saturday, however, with the right to represent New England in the Div. III national quarterfinals on the line, the Jumbos were able to flip the script, dominating by scores of 25-13, 25-16 and 25-23.

Saturday’s victory was Tufts’ 31st of the season — a program best — and improved the Jumbos’ record against Williams on the year to 4-1.

“Honestly it feels surreal right now. I couldn’t be more proud of the effort from every single player on our team,” coach Cora Thomson said. “Not only did they come out here knowing what they

see FIELD HOCKEY, page 15

see VOLLEYBALL, page 11

ANDREW MORGENTHALER/TUFTS DAILY

The field hockey team capped off a banner sports weekend at Tufts yesterday by clinching a spot in the Final Four. On Saturday, the volleyball team won its first New England crown.

Field hockey team to return to Final Four

BY SAPNA

BANSIL

Daily Editorial Board

With yet another offensive spark from an unlikely source, the field hockey team is one step closer to the ultimate prize.

Following runaway victories in the second and third rounds of the NCAA Tournament on Bello Field over the weekend, the nationally ranked No. 4 Jumbos are headed to the Final Four for the second consecutive season, where they’ll look to claim the first NCAA team national title by any squad in school history.

“It feels awesome,” coach Tina McDavitt said. “It’s been great the past two years the way the girls have developed and played as a team. This week-

In resolution, Senate suggests an alternative to university’s new alcohol policy The Tufts Community Union (TCU) Senate has broken its silence on the university’s new alcohol policy.

The Senate last night passed a resolution calling for revisions to the rules instituted this semester, after a heated discussion over what the resolution should say and how to word it.

The Senate voted 22 to zero, with three abstentions, to pass “A Resolution in Support of a Healthy Alcohol Strategy for Tufts.” Administration and Policy Committee Chair Bruce Ratain, a junior, authored the resolution.

The motion put forth a plan under which students written up for an alcohol offense would have the opportunity to complete an alcohol and drug program with Director of Health Education Ian Wong. Failure to complete this program would result in level-one disciplinary probation, or pro-one. A second offense would entail pro-one and a meeting with Judicial Affairs Officer Veronica Carter.

Under university policy adopted this school year, Tufts students are immediately put on pro-one after their first alcohol violation. Some have protested that this stringency would dissuade students from requesting medical attention for an overly intoxicated student, although recent data reported in the Daily suggests that calls to student

Where You Read It First Est. 1980

emergency services this year are on par with the norm.

In its resolution, the Senate “advocates for a fully supported social norms marketing campaign” aimed at increasing awareness of the extent of alcohol use and abuse on campus and dispelling misconceptions about drinking culture.

The resolution also calls for increased alcohol education programs and improved training for resident assistants and orientation leaders.

During the debate over the resolution, some senators objected to the wording, demanding more clarification and proposing additions. At one point, Senator Xavier Malina, a senior, moved to strike over a quarter of the text from the final version of the resolution.

But these motions were denied by majority votes.

Malina, sophomore Joel Greenberg and sophomore Tomas Garcia ultimately abstained from the final vote.

TCU President Brandon Rattiner, a senior, said during the meeting that he will present the final resolution to the policy subcommittee of the Alcohol Task Force at its scheduled meeting today. See tomorrow’s issue of the Daily for further coverage of the resolution.

— by Matt Repka

Inside this issue

Senate collaborates with political science class to create this year’s student survey BY

CARA PALEY

Contributing Writer

This year’s Tufts Community Union (TCU) Senate student survey, administered today, differs substantially from past surveys thanks to the work of political science Professor Kent Portney and his class.

Portney and his students helped design and analyze the survey using professional research methods.

Although the Senate has traditionally created its semesterly surveys internally, senators brought this fall’s project to Portney’s “Public Opinion and Survey Research” class, which teaches students survey methodologies. Students and senators collaborated to incorporate the techniques the students were learning into the questionnaire.

The Senate sought guidance in response to past administrative complaints about the survey, according to Portney. “I’ve been told that, from time to time, when the Senate survey has been presented to the administration, it is not uncommon for the administration to say, ‘that’s not a very well-done survey’ or ‘that survey is biased’ and sort of dismiss the results,” Portney said. “The senators wanted to do what they can to overcome any shortcomings.”

COURTESY TUFTS PHOTOGRAPHY

Political science Professor Kent Portney and his “Public Opinion and Survey Research” class collaborated with the TCU Senate.

In collaboration with Portney, the Senate has attempted to design the survey so that the results more accurately represent the Tufts population than in prior years.

“The goal is to understand what we’re trying to measure and to formulate balsee SURVEY, page 2

Today’s Sections

Not all students living off campus know about the disciplinary perils of throwing raucous parties.

A new TV show, “Sex Rehab with Dr. Drew,” borders on the voyeuristic, but it’s likely to hold a captive audience.

see FEATURES, page 3

see ARTS, page 5

News Features Arts & Living Editorial | Letters

1 3 5 8

Op-Ed Comics Sports Classifieds

9 10 11 15

THE TUFTS DAILY

2

NEWS

Winter Bash to be held at Sheraton

‘Office’ funny guy goes to school

WINTER BASH continued from page 1

EILEEN GUO/TUFTS DAILY

B.J. Novak, star of NBC’s “The Office,” performed on Saturday night at a comedy show in Cohen Auditorium. Programming Board sponsored the show.

Senate gets help from expert professor SURVEY continued from page 1

anced questions that we believe will measure those things,” Portney said. “We make sure there are no leading questions and that the format of the question is not going to exert … undue influence one way or another.”

By utilizing the new survey research techniques, the Senate hopes that the results from this year’s survey will better reflect student opinion and will be useful for future projects within the Senate, according to Faith Blake, a freshman and a member of the Senate’s Student Outreach Committee.

“The advantage of using [Portney’s] class is that we know it is going to be methodologically sound and representative of the student body,” she said.

“It will be an accurate gauge of student opinion and a way to initiative projects for the future.”

Portney offered the Senate a wealth of experience in survey administration. The professor has done survey research since the mid-1980s and has been teaching survey research courses since the early 1990s.

William Carpenter, a sophomore in Portney’s class who worked with senators in designing the survey, explained how senators and students within the class created a process to ensure that the results are representatives of the Tufts student body.

On the questionnaire, students must indicate their gender, major and class year. As the Senate receives responses, members will use mathematical techniques to compare the data to the results they would have received had the respondents been truly representative of the student body. If there are disparities, the Senate will then send out specific e-mails to those groups who have been underrepresented and ask them to respond.

“We want the survey to be balanced in proportion to the undergraduate population,” Portney said. “If it turns out that one or another group of people

Monday, November 16, 2009

is underrepresented, we will make special efforts to get more of those people to answer the survey.”

Carpenter cited engineers as an example of one group that has often not responded in full numbers to Senate surveys.

“Questions are raised when you see that engineers are underrepresented, for instance, even relative to their percentage at the school,” he said. “We are looking out for things like that.”

Portney said that political science majors are generally most likely to participate in the survey.

The student survey addresses a variety of current campus issues. It includes questions on Tufts’ alcohol policy, the advising process, Greek life, the environment and the possibility of going ‘trayless’ in dining halls, according to Carpenter.

Portney said that the survey addresses issues of concern to each Senate committee. Every committee compiled a list of issues and sent them to Portney’s classroom, where a questionnaire workgroup formulated questions around each committee’s proposals and sent them back for verification.

Students in the class and senators discussed the contents of the survey using a Web site on which students posted different wordings for questions and received feedback from one another, according to Portney.

“It was a really neat experience for the class,” Portney said. “It provided students with an interesting learning opportunity.”

Portney formerly managed the Citizen Survey Program headquartered at the Tufts’ Lincoln Filene Center, through which he conducted extensive research in methodology and designed his own surveys.

Blake, who led the effort to communicate potential survey items from each Senate committee, said that it was a “cool challenge” to coordinate between the numerous groups engaged in the process.

Carpenter said that though the Senate has no formalized plans to work with Portney’s class again, the body will aim to develop the survey in a similar fashion next semester.

Ball,” Habib said. “Now, it’ll be Winter Bash.”

Particularly rowdy student behavior, including public urination and reports of harassment toward student volunteers, marked last year’s event.

Habib said that alcohol-related concerns prompted a “big hesitation” among Programming Board members to move the event to an outside location, but hosting the dance in Boston proved an opportunity too good to pass up.

“We took a big risk in moving the event off campus,” she said. “We put trust in the students that they’ll behave off campus downtown.”

Habib cited social events such as the Leonard Carmichael Society’s Vegas charity night and the Senior Gala, which was also held at the Sheraton last year, as examples of events at which students behaved appropriately at a non-Tufts venue.

“I think when we take kids off campus and out of the environment, they act better because sometimes you treat things nicer when you’re away from your own home,” she said.

Habib said that if behavior similar to that of last year’s dance was to occur at the hotel, the university would be liable for all the damage.

“The school will have to pay for it [but] we don’t foresee that happening,” she said.

Golia echoed hopes that the new location would create a different atmosphere.

“This event can be amazing, and a lot of fun, and a great new tradition,” he said.

Still, not all students are pleased with Programming Board’s decision to move the venue to Boston.

“I think the most fun part of Winter Bash has been to go whenever you want and leave really easily,” senior Michelle Nguyen said. “It loses a little part of what Winter Bash has always been.”

Tickets to the event will be available at the campus center information booth.

Lines snaked around blocks in September when students vied for a limited number of tickets to Fall Ball, but there will be no limit on the number of tickets sold for the winter event.

“Whoever wants a ticket can get one,” Habib said.

Habib said she expects between 3,000 and 3,500 students to attend, an estimate based on figures from previous years.

This will also be the first time the annual event has a fee, which will go toward paying for the off-campus venue.

The ticket cost is not final, but both Golia and Habib expect that tickets will be no more than $10.

Habib believes the ticket price is “very inexpensive for what you’re getting.”

Approximately 40 buses will be on hand to provide service to and from the event, according to Habib, and a buffet with various hot and cold appetizer and dessertstyle food will also be available.

Despite these amenities, Nguyen still found the ticket cost to be a deterrent.

She said she would definitely go to the dance if it were free and held on campus, but is reconsidering after hearing about the changes.

“It’s going to discourage a lot of people from going,” she said. “It’s a little bit of a

deterrent to have to pay and know that it’s going to be kind of a trek to get there.”

The event at the Sheraton will stretch across two rooms. The main room will be alcohol-free and feature music by GrooveBoston, the DJ company that has provided music for past Fall Balls and Winter Bashes.

A smaller room across the hallway will have a pub area for students 21 and over and a student DJ. Tufts University Police Department officers will provide security on campus during the bus departure process. Once at the Sheraton, Boston Police Department officers and Tufts Emergency Medical Services will be on hand throughout the night to ensure safety, Habib said.

Despite measures to separate the pub area from the main event room, sophomore Alex Stein voiced concerns about student safety. “I’m not sure that it can be as easily controlled” as it would be if held on campus, Stein said.

Upon hearing about the room separation planned for the Sheraton, Nguyen speculated that it would be similar to the design of former Winter Bashes and would do little to cut down on intoxication.

“I think people will drink a lot either way,” she said.

Habib said ideas to overhaul Winter Bash had been circulating since last year’s event, but the revamping process officially began over the summer. Programming Board finalized the contract with the hotel last Monday. Habib said the board intentionally waited until the contract with the Sheraton had been finalized before publicizing the event.

Golia said the timing of the release of information is not out of the ordinary. “We wouldn’t even start talking about Winter Bash until now anyway,” Golia said.

In the meantime, a number of rumors circulated about planned changes.

“I heard there was going to be a different dance for swine flu people in a tent on the Res Quad,” junior Sharon Cho said.

As part of the efforts to change the event, Programming Board will host a renaming contest for Winter Bash this week.

Junior Royi Gavrielov, a member of student marketing communications group Imaginet, approached Programming Board with the idea for the contest. Habib said the board intended to change the name early on but was struggling to come up with a title when Gavrielov suggested the contest.

Programming Board will be accepting student submissions for new names until Nov. 24. The winner will receive two free tickets to the dance.

Golia said that he expects some negative reaction to the changes. “When things change, people don’t like it. But change is good, and trying something new is exciting.”

Programming Board member Meredith Dworkin, a sophomore, said she was enthusiastic about Winter Bash’s new look.

“It’ll be a fun change,” Dworkin said. “It’s going to be an exciting event.”

Junior Han Chen agreed. “That sounds way more classy than it usually is,” he said, referring to the dance’s new location. “And I’m all about being classy.”

Alexandra Bogus contributed reporting to this article.

Visiting the Hill this week MONDAY “COSTA RICA’S VISION ON SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT AND CLIMATE CHANGE” Details: Ambassador Jairo Hernandez Milian (F ’90), permanent representative of Costa Rica to the UN, will discuss Costa Rica’s goals for international environmental policy.

When and Where: 12:30 p.m. to 1:45 p.m.; Cabot 206 Sponsored by: Tufts Energy and Climate Forum, the Center for International Environment and Resource Policy, Tufts Institute of the Environment, Department of Economics TUESDAY “WORD OR IMAGE: LEXICOGRAPHY, FACTOGRAPHY AND THE VISUAL CULTURE OF STALINISM” Details: Anna Wexler Katsnelson (LA ‘99), a Mellon postdoctoral fellow, will speak

about her research on Stalin.

When and Where: 12 p.m. to 1 p.m.; Center for the Humanities, 48 Professors Row Sponsors: Center for the Humanities at Tufts “MIXED AND ASIAN - A DISCUSSION ABOUT IDENTITY, ASSUMPTIONS AND ALL OF THE POLITICS” Details: Jen Chau, founder of Swirl, Inc., an organization that confronts society’s ideas about race, will speak about multiracial identities. The event is followed by a free reception dinner at the Start House.

When and Where: 6 p.m. to7 p.m.; Pearson 104 Sponsored by: Asian American Center WEDNESDAY “CAN PRESIDENT OBAMA AVOID WAR WITH IRAN?”

Details: Juan R. I. Cole, professor of history at the University of Michigan, who has worked for years chronicling the relationship between the West and the Muslim world, will speak about the future of relations between the United States and Iran.

When and Where: 5:30 p.m. to 7 p.m.; ASEAN Auditorium Sponsors: The Fares Center for Eastern Mediterranean Studies, Tisch College of Citizenship and Public Service, the International Security Studies Program “GUANTANAMO BAY, NATIONAL SECURITY AND IMMIGRATION IN THE COURTS” Details: Lee Gelernt, (LA ‘84), deputy director of the American Civil Liberties Union’s Immigrants’ Rights Project, will speak about the changing role of a public defender in the aftermath of the Sept. 11 attacks and his time as a public defender at the ACLU.

When and Where: 7 p.m. to 9 p.m.; Braker 001.

Sponsors: Experimental College, Peace and Justice Studies Program, Department of History, International Relations Program THURSDAY “SIXTH ANNUAL DEBATE ON ENERGY AND CLIMATE” Details: William Moomaw, professor of international environmental policy, and Bruce Everett, adjunct associate professor of international business, will discuss climate change and clean energy in an annual debate.

When and Where: 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.; ASEAN auditorium Sponsors: Center for International Environment and Resource Policy —compiled by Katherine Sawyer and Saumya Vaishampayan

Features

3

tuftsdaily.com

JESSE BORKAN | COLLEGE IS AS COLLEGE DOES

Emoticoncerned

Too many Jumbos can lead to a jumbo fine JAMES CHOCA/TUFTS DAILY

Off-campus party policies aim to limit noise and please community

BY SARAH

BLISS

Senior Staff Writer

For many Jumbos, throwing roaring parties in the absence of vigilant resident assistants (RAs) marks the transition to off-campus housing. Gone are the days when hosts kept the music down and stood on the lookout for RAs. Attention, though: This freedom may come at a price. If off-campus festivities become too disruptive, residents could be handed a $200 university fine.

According to Carrie Ales-Rich, assistant director of judicial affairs at the Office of Residential Life and Learning (ResLife), her office has handed out approximately 10 off-campus noise disturbances this semester, each one carrying a $200 fine. Several of the house groups that received it were unaware that the fine existed, AlesRich said.

“Some students don’t even know

about the fine until they come into my office,” she said.

Senior Madeline Soule, who has not received a violation, was unaware that the fine system existed.

“I’ve never really been in a position where my housemates and I would receive a fine,” Soule said. “We live on Powderhouse Circle and are surrounded mostly by college students. If we were more residential, it might be something that would make me worry, in the event that we were to have a party.”

Junior Yael Stern said she has not received a noise violation but knew it existed. She was not aware, however, about the magnitude of the fine.

On its Web site, the Office of Student Affairs states that “off-campus activities that create a disturbance because of noise emanating from a residence or from a large number of students gathering on a porch, sidewalk, or yard may generate a neighborhood complaint.

A documented violation of the noise ordinance will result in a $200 fine by the university for the first offense and may result in disciplinary action.”

Upon receiving the noise offense, students must meet with Ales-Rich to discuss the events that led to the violation and are automatically issued the fine.

“Most often, it is a loud noise complaint from an outside source that has been called in [by campus police],” Ales-Rich said. “We do have some of our TUPD officers patrolling the area.”

While students have the ability to appeal a noise violation, Ales-Rich said that very few choose to do so, especially if the police report states that there was excessive noise coming from the house when officers arrived.

Some students have expressed discontent with ResLife’s process for see NOISE, page 4

MIT program teaches engineers to be leaders Interpersonal relations stressed as key to engineering success

BY WILLIAM C. WINTER AND WILLIAM K. WINTER

Daily Staff Writers

While the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is internationally known for educating scientists, engineers and mathematicians, the university hopes to add one more title to that list: leader.

Established last spring, the GordonMIT Engineering Leadership Program teaches its students the importance of innovation. The selective program, which accepts roughly 25 junior and senior students, was funded by a $20 million donation from MIT alumnus Bernard Gordon (H’92).

On the program’s Web site, Dr. Charles Vest, the President of the National Academy of Engineering, states that he believes the program “is an example of how MIT is working to empower today’s engineering undergraduates with critical leadership skills that will help them to become tomorrow’s engineering leaders.”

According to Bruce Mendelsohn,

the program’s director of communications and outreach, most of the problems recent MIT graduates encounter in the workplace don’t involve their knowledge of engineering, but rather interpersonal relations.

“People believe that if you take 10 smart people and let them work without a boss, something is going to happen. But the fact is that someone needs to be in charge,” Mendelsohn said.

Like Mendelsohn, Tanya Goldhaber, a senior at MIT who is currently participating in the program, believes that graduates from even the most elite universities often enter the “real world” without knowing how to work with others.

“We’re so used to functioning in a group with incredibly competent people,” Goldhaber said. “In industry, you might be on a team where some of the members may not even be engineers.”

With the goal of training undergraduates to work cooperatively in vastly diverse groups, the leadership

program consists of lectures at MIT’s Sloan School of Management and a weekly lab.

According to Goldhaber, the seniors enrolled in the program work together to plan the lab activities for the juniors participating. At the end of each lab, the students review each group’s performance and provide constructive feedback.

Some Tufts students see the value of such a program.

“The whole purpose of a college education is to prepare you for the real world. Since most graduates won’t be working in isolation, one of the most important skills undergraduates can take away is how to work with people that have different personality types and working strategies,” sophomore Stephen Meno said.

Sophomore Brian Sheehan stressed that, to be successful, engineers need to be able to make their ideas accessible to others.

“Engineers need to be able to explain see ENGINEERS, page 4

Emoticons are a phenomenon I have never quite been able to stomach. Nothing bodes worse for a potential friendship with me than a smiley face with a wink or a disjointed heart that has mathematical significance. It usually goes something like this: I am making plans with someone via text message. We decide to meet in Davis at 7. I say that this sounds good to me, and this is the reply I get: ;P What?!

I just don’t get it. Why is that an acceptable response to or expression of anything?

People rarely stick their tongues out in real life, so why anyone would delegate that facial task to a random capital letter is a mystery to me. Furthermore, it is really hard to wink and stick your tongue out simultaneously. Have you ever seen someone do that? I made all my housemates try it. It looks really stupid.

I’m not sure how I missed the boat on this surprisingly enduring trend; AIM’s heyday coincided exactly with my angsty preteen years (perhaps this is no coincidence), but still, sending me any kind of punctuation that is supposed to look like a face is the kiss of death if we are going to have even a semblance of a lasting relationship. Perhaps it’s because I graduated high school a cell phone virgin and arrived at Tufts sans texting capabilities on my new bedazzled Razr. All of sudden, my new college buddies were bombarding me with texts filled with happy faces and sad faces and the enigmatic face with an “X” for a mouth, the meaning of which I will never understand. Everyone I have asked is dead set on a different connotation: from kissing to vomiting to having just been poisoned (that one’s mine) to a close mouthed expression of “there are no words.” After a month’s worth of overage charges, I gave in and got a texting plan, but part of me has regretted it ever since.

It’s not just the emoticons. Don’t get me wrong: I hate them with a fiery passion.

When it comes to writing, I am a punctuation whore, and I hate to see my favorite technical devices debased by being forced to contribute to a world of virtual flirting and excessive bubbliness. This issue alone has ended relationships before they have begun, but there is also something inherent in texting that bothers me, semi-colon or not.

Texting is easy, and I think for most types of human interactions, it is too easy. It makes sense for a quick transfer of information, a one-liner, a reminder or a prelude to an actual conversation. Outside of these, I find texting to be a totally inappropriate means of communication when it comes to real life.

It takes away so many elements that make a conversation great, or at least real: subtlety, irony, sarcasm... emotion. The latter is why, I’m sure, emoticons came to be in the first place. The problem is that in our world, texting, like being drunk, also takes away the accountability factor. You can send words that are coy or abrasive or passive aggressive or otherwise completely loaded, and you don’t even have to look the person they are directed at in the face. You never have to address them again if you don’t want to, because while they may be saved on a SIM card somewhere out there, they are impersonal and removed from you, having gone right from your brain into existence, bypassing your voice and your mouth completely.

Emoticons might be meant (and used) as a literal representation for an actual smile, but really? Isn’t a real smile better?

This might be news to some, but those very same devices that you use to text people can also be used to call them. And talk to them, with your voice, which could then be used to find a way to see each other for real, in person. So if you haven’t seen a friend in a while, or have something hard to tell your mom or think you like someone, or know you do, don’t use T9 to express that, and pleeeeease don’t use parentheses. Use your words, but use them coming out of your mouth instead of your fingers. ;) Jessie Borkan is a senior majoring in psychology. She can be reached at Jessie.

Borkan@tufts.edu.

THE TUFTS DAILY

4

MIT program works to improve interpersonal skills continued from page 3

to the average person what they’re doing because most people don’t have an advanced background in science,” he said.

According to Goldhaber, a major objective of the program is to teach students how to finish projects under strict time limits.

“The entire academic system is based on partial credit. You need to be able to make some decisions and forego some creativity [because] there isn’t partial credit in real life” Goldhaber said.

The program is unique in that it is designed to evolve over time.

“We’re constantly changing the curriculum and we have the flexibility to change the activities that we offer based on trends or emerging science or leadership,” Mendelsohn said.

MIT isn’t the only school focusing on engineering leadership. This September, Tufts’ School of Engineering received a $40 million donation from Bernard Gordon to further leadership studies.

According to Linda Abriola, dean of the school of engineering, her faculty and staff are in the midst of preparing a proposal for the leadership studies curriculum.

“We’re going to be working over the next year to develop a plan for expanding [the] engineering leadership program,” Abriola said.

Dean Abriola is confident that Tufts’ emphasis on a well-rounded liberal arts education gives graduates an advantage in the workplace.

“We like to think that our students are really successful,” Abriola said.

“Our students tend to rise to leadership positions because they have a broad educational background and the ability to convince people that what they’re proposing makes sense.”

Monday, November 16, 2009

Students faced with noise violation fines differ on whether ResLife’s policy is fair NOISE continued from page 3

ENGINEERS

FEATURES

administering the fine.

One student, who wished to remain anonymous because she was discussing her disciplinary record, received a violation this summer. She said that she and her housemates were given the noise violation fine after their second reported disturbance, the first of which was not due to a party but rather several students conversing on the porch outside.

“We honestly probably deserved the second violation,” she said. “We told all of our neighbors that we were throwing a party, but apparently five people called the cops. We had to pay a fine to Tufts and are currently on probation with both Tufts and Somerville.”

Although she said the noise violation was warranted, the student left the situation unconvinced that her fine had been entirely fair.

“Our first offense wasn’t justified,” she said. “I feel like Tufts is forced to side with whomever makes the noise complaints, whether or not they are justified. It’s more like protecting the community from us, more than anything else.”

According to Ales-Rich, the goal of the policy is to ensure that Tufts students are respectful of those living around them.

“It’s important to those who have to go to bed early, wake up early, or those with very young children because it is difficult to live in an environment where there is constant noise at night,” Ales-Rich said. “We do think it’s very important to foster those good relationships because we have a number of residents living in surrounding communities. We try to make sure our students are being good citizens in the communities.”

Ales-Rich believes most members

of the community are cognizant of their proximity to campus, despite the occasional noise complaint.

“In general, my impression is that many community members in the vicinity of Tufts understand that they are living around college students.

Some people, I think, may have a lower tolerance for it and may be apt to call the municipal police department or TUPD,” Ales-Rich said. “Every year is a little bit different, though, because there are different students living in the area.”

According to Ales-Rich, the noise ordinance violation is an effective offcampus policy instrument.

“I do feel that the fine is somewhat of a deterrent because I rarely see multiple offenses of the policy,” she said.

Stern, while agreeing that the policy is likely effective as a noise deterrent, said she is wary of its capacity to improve town-gown relations.

“I don’t think it’s a good way to foster a positive relationship with neighbors,” Stern said. “It just separates college students from the community.” She added that “Having parties is just part of the college lifestyle.

Clearly, the community doesn’t want loud parties late at night, but there has to be a friendlier way.”

The noise-disturbance fine for off-campus residents is separate from municipal tickets issued by the Medford and Somerville Police Departments, both of which can fine students up to $300 for noise violations, according to Ales-Rich. These fines are independent from the university charge, and therefore it is possible that a particularly loud party could warrant both fines.

While Tufts’ fine may strike some as excessive, some other colleges and universities require students to pay fines in excess of $200 for the first off-

campus noise offense.

Students at Loyola College in Baltimore, Md. are issued a $500 fine and disciplinary probation for their first community-standards violations — which can include noise disturbances — and $750 and deferred suspension for the second violation. According to the Web site of the Off-Campus Housing Service at Rutgers University in New Brunswick, N.J., “Anyone who violates the Noise Ordinance is subject to a fine for each offense of up to $500.”

The money collected from noise disturbance violations at Tufts is funneled into a student life fund that is used to sponsor campus-wide programming efforts, Ales-Rich said.

After receiving a second fine, the anonymous female student and her housemates have no plans to host any gatherings that could lead to further disciplinary consequences, at either the university or the municipal level.

Receiving a second offense or more can result in a $400 fine or further disciplinary action.

“If we get in trouble again, it will be a lot of trouble,” she said.

According to Ales-Rich, the university’s intention is not to prevent students from hosting parties off-campus but to promote doing so in a less disruptive fashion. She makes a point of discussing this issue in talks with students who have received noise violations.

“Students always need to be mindful of those living around them. If they are going to have some sort of social event, they need to let neighbors know and give them a contact number in case there is a problem,” Ales-Rich said.

“They should limit the number of students hanging out on the porch or front yard area, keep the windows shut, and be mindful of how loud the music is,” she added.

Want to learn more about Sororities at Tufts?

Just follow the yellow brick road to...

We have a fun-filled recruitment planned for this January and would love to have you join us!! Come meet and talk to sisters, learn about our chapters, events, and philanthropy, and find out what it really means to be a sorority woman at Tufts.

Delicious Greek food will be served!

Any questions? Email Gaby Brito at gabriela.brito@ tufts.edu or Jillian Joseph at jillian.joseph@tufts.edu

Date: Monday, November 16th Time: 7-9pm Place: Campus Center Lounge

Arts & Living

5

tuftsdaily.com

TV REVIEW

‘Sex Rehab with Dr. Drew’ simultaneously attracts and repels viewers BY

CHARLES C. LAUBACHER| EARS OPEN

A case for live music

ROBYN LINDENBERG Contributing Writer

“Sex Rehab with Dr. Drew” floats somewhere between exploitative voyeurism and a chance for sick people to get bet-

I

Sex Rehab with Dr. Drew Starring Dr. Drew Pinsky Airs Sundays at 10 p.m. on VH1 ter. Audiences watch with bated breath as celebrities discuss childhood molestation, rape and crippling sex addiction.

Dr. Drew Pinsky has been drawing listeners, readers and viewers for over two decades as he has straddled the worlds of medicine and pop culture. With the nationally syndicated radio show “Loveline” (1984) and celeb-reality shows “Sober House” (2009) and “Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew” (2008), “Sex Rehab with Dr. Drew” could be just another notch on his belt.

The show opens with a collage of porn footage and pulsing pop music. Eight celebrities, including an ex-Playmate, a porn star, a professional surfer and a director, are welcomed into a Pasadena rehabil-

VH1.COM

Dr. Drew has become just as narcissistic as the other “celebrities” on his show. itation center, where their therapy occurs.

Viewers essentially sit in on group and individual therapy sessions and get to ogle at voluptuous people denying themselves sex, masturbation and pornography in an attempt to recover from sex addiction.

A posh, esteemed director confesses

INTERVIEW | THE COOL KIDS AND BROTHER ALI

Hip-Hop heavyweights discuss music, influences, history and fame BY

to having spent days in his house watching porn without interacting with another human being. A bedraggled surfer admits to masturbating to the point of causing himself physical injury. Two minutes later, see DR. DREW, page 6

ALBUM REVIEW

NICK GANG AND MITCHELL GELLER

Daily Staff Writer and Daily Editorial Board

SMH.COM.AU

Last Thursday, Nov. 12, Tufts Concert Board brought Brother Ali (Ali Newman) and The Cool Kids (Antoine “Mikey Rocks” Reed and Evan “Chuck Inglish” Ingersoll) to campus for a performance in the cage at Cousens Gym. Before the show, the Daily got a chance to speak with all three artists. Though Ali and the Cool Kids come from different places stylistically, they presented a fascinating picture of where hip hop comes from, where it is today and where it’s heading in the future.

Far from rapper Nas’ bleak declaration on his 2006 album that “hip hop is dead,” these artists showed hip hop to be very much alive and kicking. For a full transcript of the interview, check out Tuftsdaily.com.

Brother Ali rocked the house (or Tufts campus) on Thursday night.

see INTERVIEW, page 6

THEATER REVIEW

Boston Lyric Opera presents stunning production of ‘Carmen’ BY

AMAZON.COM

Weezer’s latest, ‘Raditude,’ disappoints BY

ANDREW MILGROOM Contributing Writer

Weezer has come a long way from its days on the indie rock scene of the mid-’90s in L.A. As word leaked out

Raditude Weezer Geffen Records

EMMA BUSHNELL

Daily Editorial Board

Georges Bizet may not have received many congratulations on his new work when the curtain fell on “Carmen’s” pre-

Carmen Written by Georges Bizet Directed by Nicholas Muni At the Boston Lyric Opera through November 17 Tickets start at $35, student discounts available miere at the Opéra-Comique in 1875, but the Boston Lyric Opera deserves many for their fresh and exciting take on one of the most-performed operas in history.

“Carmen” is the story of a gypsy woman see CARMEN, page 6

BLO.ORG

Boston Lyric Opera’s production of ‘Carmen’ is innovative in set and direction, but conveys the passion of the original.

about the chic geek from the underground, Weezer evolved to a national alternative rock poster child. Now, with the release of its seventh album, “Raditude” (2009), the band continues to evolve — into exactly what, fans don’t know. And it seems entirely possible that front man Rivers Cuomo doesn’t know either.

Devoted Weezer fans from the days of “Weezer” (1994) and “Pinkerton” (1996) will not be pleased with “Raditude” — rather, they will feel betrayed. After waiting four years for the L.A. geek-rock band to make its exultant return with eccentric licks and introspective lyrics, fans will feel an emptiness in their stomachs as they try to figure out why 40-year-old Rivers Cuomo is singing about how ill the mall is, about how fun it is to see WEEZER, page 7

n last week’s column, I reflected on some current trends in the music industry and ended by lamenting the imminent demise of the album.

This week, in order to prove just how out of touch and behind the times I am, I’d like to address another worry I have about the changing tides of the music world: I don’t think we’ve made enough room for live music.

A century ago, there was no “live” — there was just music. Before recording, all music happened live. In its early stages, recorded music was meant to convey the impression of live music, but around the middle of the last century there was an interesting shift; new technologies allowed recording artists to create works that were not merely meant to give the impression of a group playing live, but were original musical works in and of themselves.

Since then, artists’ focuses have been moving steadily away from playing live and toward recording.

Around the same time that recording began to dominate the music culture, there was a similar shift in dance clubs across America. One sad night, the first jukebox was installed in a local jive joint. Since then, gigging musicians have been steadily losing work to DJs, who offer a greater range of music.

I take no issue with DJs. I think at its best DJing is a vibrant form of live music. It does seem to me, though, that we have divorced live music from dance music. You go to a club to dance to dance music and to a show to listen to serious music. Try to remember the last time you heard live music, not something like the Gamelan ensemble, but at a bar, a club or in the basement of a frat. See if you can recall anyone really dancing. Not jumping up and down or slamming into each other, not just standing there, but actually dancing. I could count on one hand the number of times I have seen real dancing to live music. It seems we only allow ourselves to move to something pre-recorded that we’ve heard on the radio or our iPods.

So we go out to dance to tunes we could hear in the comfort of our dorm rooms. I know it’s not the same; it’s about the vibe right? Well, imagine the same vibe, the energy of the room, the moves, the sweat, fortified by an incredibly tight live band, laying down the dirtiest, funkiest grooves you’ve ever heard.

There is simply a certain energy to live music that a recording can never quite capture. Recorded music can convey the power and beauty of a piece of music, but there is something magical about witnessing music happen in front of you. To get an idea of what I’m talking about, first listen to MGMT’s hypnotic “Electric Feel,” then head over to Youtube.com and watch them play it on the BBC’s “Live at Abbey Road.” I think you’ll see what I mean.

Live music is vital now more than ever. We spend so much of our lives glued to a screen, communicating through proxies. We all need live music to wake us up to the incredible possibilities that stem from human collaboration. If you haven’t seen live music that changed your life, I implore you: Go see your favorite artist. Through recordings, music can be appreciated, but only through live performance can it be truly experienced.

Charles Laubacher is a sophomore who has not yet declared a major. He can be reached at Charles.Labaucher@Tufts.edu.

THE TUFTS DAILY

6

Monday, November 16, 2009

ARTS & LIVING

‘Sex Rehab’ brings up questions regarding Dr. Drew’s fame-driven motives DR. DREW continued from page 5

the patients dish about crushes they have on each other and how badly they just want to get out and get some.

The show isn’t bereft of poignant moments, each set to a soundtrack straight out of “Dawson’s Creek” or “Grey’s Anatomy.” Porn star Penny Flame uses her original name, Jennie Ketcham, for the first time in years, and with tears running down her unmade-up face, calls herself a monster for the way she has treated men. She pleads to the camera, “Why can’t I just f-cking connect with anyone?”

Dr. Drew, his celebrities and the viewers are torn between being good and being bad. Audiences could be good and dismiss the show for its exploitative absurdity, or could indulge their bad sides and watch on.

Maybe the draw of “Sex Rehab”

lies in the viewer’s ability to simultaneously relate to the celebrity’s obsession while enjoying a feeling of superiority. During commercial breaks viewers will no doubt ask themselves, “How could these people be so stupid as to go on a show like this?”

Is Dr. Drew guilty of the same reaction?

Dr. Drew, along with his colleague Dr. S. Mark Young, published an article in 2006 about a study the two conducted on the relationship between narcissism and celebrity. The two doctors used the Narcissistic Personality Inventory (NPI) to assess narcissism in celebrities. They found that, “Across celebrity types, reality television personalities had the highest narcissism scores (27% higher than Foster et al.’s average U.S. score), followed by comedians, actors and musicians.”

The study (available online at

Sciencedirect.com) concludes that “reality television has provided an outlet for narcissistic individuals, many with limited abilities, to believe that they can succeed in the entertainment industry. This desire to enter the industry may be fueled by the types of fantasy feelings of success, power and glory that narcissists seem to exhibit (Raskin & Novacek, 1991).”

Was Dr. Drew aware that he himself would be a reality television personality in just two short years? One can only speculate as to the connection between the Amherst graduate’s fascination with celebrity narcissism and his own attention-seeking career.

“Sex Rehab with Dr. Drew” approaches serious content with all the trappings of your average reality TV voyeurism. The show publicizes the struggle of its celebrity participants to work through unhealthy obsessions and, per-

VH1.COM

That’s a good idea – watch people as they battle sex addiction! haps because people keep watching and bolstering its ratings, the show also publicizes a crisis of obsession for its viewers.

Is it horrifying? Perhaps. Is the doctor doing good work? Maybe.

Will audiences keep watching?

Definitely.

Rappers show hip hop to be a constantly evolving genre INTERVIEW continued from page 5

Nick Gang: You guys both talk a lot about your influences from the “golden age” of hip hop like Eric B & Rakim, KRSOne, Brand Nubian, etc. What did you guys try to take from that music and what makes you different?

Evan Ingersoll: I know it’s 25 years down the road and we’re supposed to sound more advanced, but the feeling shouldn’t change. This is who we’ve been the whole time.

I didn’t have to throw [these clothes] on, you know. This isn’t just an act. I didn’t have to buy a new pair of shoes for the show, this is what I was gonna wear anyway. I felt like [the old school rappers were] doing that. They didn’t have to go out and throw on the super expensive stuff for the club.

They [were] probably wearing what they put on that morning to go to the store.

Antoine Reed: And ended up at the party at night, that’s all.

tic. It had to be. You were the punk kid who was rapping over what they didn’t even think was music. So what you had on you didn’t even know was the uniform. And then you get the second generation that [have] seen it happen and didn’t know anything else so they emulated and it ends up being a couple steps short. And then you got the generation that watched everybody whack do it and that’s where we at. We had a lot of bad examples of the stuff to stay away from. We want to stay away from anything fake.

MG: Your video dropped yesterday for “Knocked Down.”

MTV compared it to a modern Chicago hipster version of [Snoop Dogg and Dr. Dre’s] “Nothing But a G’ Thang.” How do you feel about that? You release it, twitter about it a couple hours ago,and then MTV is already talking about it a few hours later. Four years you’ve been in the game; how are you dealing with your fame?

Ali Newman: After touring with Rakim twice, the whole country, I can attest that that man is “crispy.”

AR: Yeah I don’t even know, man. It’s hard to sit back and look at that. It’s dangerous to do that anyway, man, so I’m just going to keep moving forward.

Mitchell Geller: What’s it like to have experiences like that? You grew up listening to [Rakim].

He must have been a big influence on you, and now you can say you’ve kicked it with him.

EI: It’s cool when people like your music, and I do appreciate that, but the whole fame — like “are they going to let me in because I’m famous?” — I’ll kick it out with everybody else.

AR: It’s crazy, it’s like meeting your super heroes, man. It’s like some comic book stuff.

Especially when you’re like a shorty looking at them and it all looks like magic when you’re little and you don’t understand it. It’s like meeting a superhero.

AR: Behind the rope like a zoo animal and stuff, you don’t even get to hang out with everybody else. It’s not all it’s chalked up to be. It’s not what you should get into music for because you will be disappointed. If you get in for the fame you will be disappointed and you will be taken advantage of.

EI: It’s a double edged sword, though, because you can meet some people and they can be everybody you thought they [weren’t], and you’ll just be like “Damn, for real? This is who they are? I wish I didn’t even walk [into] this room.”

AN: The thing that I always try to remember is that these people could’ve started out as great dudes, but they didn’t have the benefits that we had: It was uncharted territory. They didn’t have it as easy as we had it.

EI: Yeah, because it was a generational thing, like when it first started it had to be authen-

MG: So you’re just trying to keep it real?

AR: It’s keep it real to you … if it ain’t real to you it’s not something you should be doing nine times out of 10.

EI: And sometimes people don’t know, man, they just don’t know any better. You got like VH1’s “Celebrity Baller Special” and whatever, and how much you [have got to] pay to get into this club, and you should just go to the bar down the street. You’ll probably find cooler people there.

BLO.ORG

Carmen (mezzo-soprano Dana Beth Miller) swears she will love Don José (tenor John Bellemer) if he releases her from prison.

BLO’s production of ‘Carmen’ as strong and beautiful as its title character CARMEN continued from page 5

who falls in love with and seduces a soldier, convincing him to desert his regiment and fiancée and join her and her band in their lives of crime. With time, the soldier, Don José (John Bellemer), is driven mad by jealousy as the free-spirited Carmen’s (Dana Beth Miller) affections for him begin to wane.

When Carmen leaves Don José for a famous bullfighter, not even the erstwhile soldier’s ever-patient and pure fiancée can console him, nor can she prevent the story’s tragic ending.

Boston Lyric Opera’s (BLO) rendering of Bizet’s masterpiece is entrancing from the beginning notes of the overture, conducted

by Boston Pops’ Keith Lockhart.

It is when the curtain is first raised, though, that the audience sees the unconventional set that portends the originality of this production.

In the first act, a series of low platforms span the stage, allowing for pleasing movement and variation without any ornate distractions. The floor is covered in gravel and overhanging the entire scene is an enormous panel with the remains of a fresco of the Last Judgment from medieval Spain.

The partially destroyed Christian image echoes the battle between Don José’s Christian piety and Carmen’s pagan belief in the tarot.

The opera opens dramatically with Don José illuminated by side lighting, in profile and kneeling in prayer on one of the platforms. With the word “innovation” usually denoting

excessive uses of technology and distracting ornamentation in opera, it is refreshing to see simple ideas in direction used so effectively.

Dana Beth Miller makes her BLO debut as Carmen and proves to be a strong centerpiece in the performance. Both her voice and manner are as commanding as Carmen’s should be.

Other highlights of the cast include Carmen’s two lovers: Daniel Mobbs as the bullfighter Escamillo and John Bellemer as the tortured Don José. Though the story of “Carmen” is fraught with jealousy and anger, it is not the consummate downer that other grand operas are — many hilarious lines and characters are woven into the storyline, making the production an incredibly enjoyable experience. Mobbs greatly adds to this enjoyment — his portrayal of the flashy Escamillo becomes so beloved that when the audience hears him sing the famous “Toreadora” offstage, everyone laughs and is delighted by the prospect of his imminent reappearance on stage. Though she is overshadowed by the strongly-acted characters around her, Hanan Alattar’s voice adds a beautiful element to the performance as Don José’s faithful fiancée, Micaëla. In fact, her duet with Don José rivals Carmen’s legendary “Habanera” for the most pleasurable moment in the first act.

The quality of the singing in this production is consistently high, and the dynamics are wellbalanced with the strength of Lockhart’s orchestra, which allows

the visual elements of the direction to shine without upstaging the human performances. Real torches cast beautiful shadows on the back panel during Escamillo’s “midnight parade,” and the tobacco factory girls contemplate real smoke from their cigarettes as they lounge on their platforms. These small touches lend an earthy and realistic feel to the performance.

Unfortunately, not every visual innovation works well. A dark red scrim covering the stage for an entire scene in the second act is an addition the production should have gone without. The prolonged obscuration of activity onstage is more frustrating to the viewer than it is visually interesting.

Similarly, though the placement of Escamillo in the background of Carmen and Don Jose’s final confrontation in the last scene is a brilliant addition, for some reason director Nicholas Muni decided to have Don José strangle Carmen instead of stab her — not only blatantly ignoring the libretto, but also shunning the wealth of imagery and metaphor available from the theme of bullfighting and other dramatic uses of blades throughout the show.

Complaints such as these are few and far between for this performance. At the end of this inspired production, it is clear that BLO has successfully fused the advantages of innovation with the strengths of a classic in its rendering of “Carmen.” Whether this is a viewer’s first time to the opera or seventh viewing of Bizet’s classic, BLO’s production is worth a trip into Boston.

Monday, November 16, 2009

THE TUFTS DAILY

7

ARTS & LIVING

Sophomoric lyrics don’t do justice to skilled musicians on Weezer’s latest album WEEZER

STARPULSE.COM

In their spare time, the members of Weezer moonlight as topiaries.

continued from page 5 “Take the elevator to the escalator/ [and] ride it down and start again.”

Weezer is the cool kid now. It ditched its old friends in line at Sbarro to hang out in the parking lot with the other cool kids.

Departing from the borderlineemo days of “Pinkerton,” Weezer has sacrificed all lyrical merit and controversial melodies to pander to the lowest common denominator. Most of the new songs seem to revolve around the fun, superficial aspects of life to the point where it’s unclear if Rivers Cuomo is just plain hyphy, or is playing a joke on us all through his insincerity.

In the song “Can’t Stop Partying,” Cuomo is joined by Lil’ Wayne to let the world know that he’s “gotta have a lotta girls around [him]” and he’s “gotta real big posse, yeah [he’s] deep”.

Good for you, Rivers. There’s no need to tell us 12 times how it’s impossible to stop partying.

The song’s simplistic lyrics go well with the equally simplistic guitar progressions. For the most part, the band has abandoned the darker, flat key-tuning often heard in their older albums. Songs like “The Girl Got Hot,” “I’m Your Daddy” and “Turn Me Round,” are comprised of uncontroversial, pop-flavored power chords peppered with generic solos. The titles of the songs alone are a testament to the new, “radically cool” vibe of the album.

Of course, the album does have a few gems that breathe life back into it. The single released several weeks before the album, titled “(If You’re Wondering If I Want You To) I Want You To,” is a poppy but catchy tune that takes the listener back to a hot summer night from the good old awkward

teenager days. Hints of Cuomo’s true self shine through in songs like this and “Underdog.”

A deluxe version of the album is available for a few extra bucks.

It includes four bonus tracks, but they ultimately fall in line with the other songs on the album as far as maintaining its upbeat rambunctious sensation.

The lyrics sputtered throughout the songs of this album don’t do justice to a Harvardand Berklee-educated writer who has composed and recorded hundreds of songs. The two solo albums released by Cuomo (“Alone,”2007, and “Alone II: The Home Recordings,”2008) reveal his true disposition, teetertottering between depression and ecstasy. “Raditude” was his moment to talk face-to-face with the fans and rekindle the flame of an old friendship Unfortunately, the latest album is just another example of the homogenized, corporatepleasing rock that Weezer has been producing for the past seven years. Overall, the album is easy to listen to, but only a few songs are catchy enough to find yourself humming the melody after the stereo’s turned off.

What’s more likely to be stuck in your head is the question of whether all the songs were written by a pubescent 16-year-old.

“Raditude,” whose name was actually suggested by former Tufts student Rainn Wilson (Dwight from NBC’s “The Office”), is an homage to good times with no repercussions. It is a radio-friendly album and will most likely get its fair share of playtime, but will soon be forgotten amongst the scores of other indistinguishable pop jams. As for the Weezer legacy, this album will be a blemish that will sting for years to come.

Have something you want to sell?

Advertise with the Tufts Daily!

SANDWICHES WINE & BEER SPECIALTY GROCERY LOCAL PRODUCTS

Web and print ads are available.

E-mail business@tuftsdaily.com

81 Holland Street Davis Sq. Somerville 617-623-0867 davesfreshpasta.com

THE TUFTS DAILY

8

THE TUFTS DAILY GIOVANNI J.B. RUSSONELLO Editor-in-Chief

EDITORIAL Naomi Bryant Managing Editors David Heck Alexandra Bogus Executive News Editor Nina Ford News Editors Tessa Gellerson Ben Gittleson Christy McCuaig Matt Repka Ellen Kan Assistant News Editors Harrison Jacobs Katherine Sawyer Saumya Vaishampayan

Robin Carol Executive Features Editor Marissa Carberry Features Editors Meredith Hassett Alison Lisnow Emily Maretsky Kerianne Okie Romy Oltuski Christina Pappas Charlotte Steinway Julia Zinberg Sarah Korones Assistant Features Editors Carter Rogers

Jessica Bal Executive Arts Editor Emma Bushnell Arts Editors Mitchell Geller Adam Kulewicz Catherine Scott Josh Zeidel Charissa Ng Assistant Arts Editors Benjamin Phelps

Michelle Hochberg Executive Op-Ed Editor Vittoria Elliott Editorialists Nina Grossman Opinion Editors Andrew Rohrberger Molly Rubin Erin Marshall Editorial Cartoonists Alex Miller

Monday, November 16, 2009

EDITORIAL | LETTERS

EDITORIAL

Tufts spirit should extend to sporting events This past weekend Tufts had the honor of hosting not one but two NCAA Tournaments: the New England Regional Volleyball Tournament and the NCAA Field Hockey Tournament.

To top it off, the women’s volleyball team won the regional tournament, defeating Williams, a team that had taken down Tufts in the NESCAC finals.

The women’s field hockey team, ranked fourth in the nation, reached the final four in their own tournament.

Those are momentous triumphs.

The one outstanding factor that doesn’t seem to correlate with the level of achievement displayed on the field and court this weekend is the level of attendance.

On many other campuses, students demonstrate school spirit and pride at sports events. Tufts students do not follow this pattern. At Tufts, it is no secret that athletics are not a central focus of campus life. Theater, a capella, improv comedy, charity events and a multitude of other activities often draw more of a crowd than our sports games do. And that’s laudable — it shows the diversity of interests and opportunities that characterize Tufts as a school.

That said, while sports may not be the nexus of the university’s student community, that doesn’t mean that athletes’ accomplishments should go ignored by the majority of the Tufts

community, as happened this weekend. Counsens Gymnasium, which in the past has seen a turnout of as many as 1,500 fans, was hardly full on Saturday, with only 350 people attending the women’s volleyball regional tournament, many of whom had come from Williams to support their team. Field hockey, likewise, saw dismal attendance.

While this lack of interest could be attributed to the $4 fee charged by the NCAA for admission to the sporting events or, in the case of field hockey, the rainy weather, it is the Daily’s view that the issue runs deeper. If it had been just another game and just another tournament, this lack of attendance might have been understandable. But these were out of the ordinary.

So what was the roadblock that deterred students from supporting Tufts’ sports teams? In large part, it was that the tournaments, especially that of field hockey, were not wellpublicized on campus and were thus overshadowed by B.J. Novak’s appearance and the Laughs of Love student comedy festival. It could have been that people simply felt no personal connection to the teams. It could just be that, unlike so many other schools, athletics isn’t the avenue through which Tufts as a community expresses school spirit.

But showing up to a sports event isn’t just about school pride. Just as attendance at a concert or theater production is an acknowledgement of performers’ work and dedication, so too is attendance at sporting events — and this is what makes this weekend’s low attendance so disappointing.

Whereas student performance groups often have Tufts Community Union Senate-conferred funds to disburse as they wish, and they often do so by advertising their events with flyers, the Athletics Department is in charge of promotion for sporting events. The Athletics Department should put more effort into advertising games, promoting them as a fun, social form of entertainment instead of something reserved for only the die-hard fans of a particular sport.

The department could also partner with clubs and organizations, especially those looking to do fundraising, to have them set up booths at big games; this would create an inclusive, festive atmosphere while attracting more people — booth proprietors and their friends, to name a few.

How Tufts as a community approaches its extracurricular activities is part of what establishes the unique character of the school; the university owes it to its teams to more actively solicit student interest in sporting events.

those who are now the current public editor and Media Advocacy Board (MAB) chair, made this very argument last year in their (successful) efforts to reduce the stipends for the TCU president and treasurer, even though these positions are more akin to full-time jobs than extracurricular activities.

The Daily’s editorial correctly argues that the ombudsman position at major national newspapers is paid, but so is every other columnist and staff person on a major publication. There are other student organizations that budget stipends in varying amounts for certain positions, and many (but not all) of those are as misguided as paying the public editor.

While I understand the MAB’s argument to pay the public editor, if the public editor needs to be paid in order to be effective, then the MAB and the Senate really should be discussing the merits of the position itself, one year of precedent notwithstanding.

That being said, I strongly believe in the need for the public editor itself to “referee” media on campus. I am disheartened to hear that Duncan Pickard, who is uniquely qualified for the job, will not be continuing in that role next semester.

LOUIE ZONG

Ethan Landy Executive Sports Editor Sapna Bansil Sports Editors Evan Cooper Philip Dear Jeremy Greenhouse Alex Prewitt Michael Spera Alex Lach Assistant Sports Editors Daniel Rathman

Annie Wermiel Executive Photo Editor James Choca Photo Editors Aalok Kanani Danai Macridi Andrew Morgenthaler Josh Berlinger Assistant Photo Editors Kristen Collins Alex Dennett Emily Eisenberg Rebekah Sokol Tien Tien

Arlin Ladue Executive New Media Editor Jessica Bidgood New Media Editors Kyle Chayka

PRODUCTION Karen Blevins

Production Director Steven Smith Executive Layout Editor

Dana Berube Layout Editors Caryn Horowitz Andrew Petrone Amani Smathers Menglu Wang Adam Gardner Assistant Layout Editors Brian Lim

Grace Lamb-Atkinson Executive Copy Editor Rachel Oldfield Copy Editors Ben Smith Elisha Sum Ricky Zimmerman Sam Connell Assistant Copy Editors Sara Eisemann Katherine Evering-Rowe Ammar Khaku Niki Krieg Luke Morris Lucy Nunn Regina Smedinghoff

Ben Schwalb Executive Online Editor Christine Jang Online Editor

Michael Vastola Executive Technical Manager Muhammad Qadri Technical Manager

BUSINESS Kahran Singh

Executive Business Director

Benjamin Hubbell-Engler Brenna Duncan Dwijo Goswami Ally Gimbel

Advertising Director Online Advertising Manager Billing Manager Outreach Director

The Tufts Daily is a nonprofit, independent newspaper, published Monday through Friday during the academic year, and distributed free to the Tufts community.

P.O. Box 53018, Medford, MA 02155 617 627 3090 FAX 617 627 3910 daily@tuftsdaily.com

LETTER TO THE EDITOR Dear Editor, I want to express my disappointment that the Daily’s Nov. 12 article “Senate denies funds for public editor” and related editorial showed little sympathy toward the Tufts Community Union ( TCU) Senate for choosing the fiscally and morally sound position relative to paying student stipends with the Student Activities Fee. At the risk of sounding hypocritical (having served as TCU treasurer last year, a position with a not-insignificant TCU-funded stipend), I think that generally speaking students should not be paid to participate in student activities. Some senators, including

EDITORIAL POLICY Editorials that appear on this page are written by the Editorial Page editors, and 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.

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Letters must be submitted by 4 p.m. and should be handed into the Daily office or sent to letters@tuftsdaily.com. All letters must be word processed and include the writer’s name and telephone number. There is a 350-word limit and letters must be verified. The editors reserve the right to edit letters for clarity, space and length.

Sincerely, Matthew Shapanka, LA ’09 TCU Treasurer, 2008-2009 ADVERTISING POLICY All advertising copy is subject to the approval of the Editor-in-Chief, Executive Board and Executive Business Director. A publication schedule and rate card are available upon request.

THE TUFTS DAILY

Monday, November 16, 2009

9

OP-ED

OFF THE HILL | WESLEYAN UNIVERSITY

The wages of professionalism

BY JONATHAN

CUTLER

The Wesleyan Argus

There is something strangely — but significantly — slippery about the idea of a “profession” and what it means to have one. There is, no doubt, a lot of symbolic status that comes with professional identity, and sometimes considerable money. But I’m wondering if it is worth the bread. Professionals seem to work without end — long hours that stretch into night, workweeks that infiltrate weekends, and obligations that vitiate vacations. If all that work is simply the unavoidable path to a fat paycheck, so be it. But there may be signs that professionals aren’t even in it for the dough so much as an identity. That is, professionals don’t do a job — they are a job. This may be a symptom of privilege, but it might also turn out to represent a pretense for profound exploitation, class dogma that masks an increasingly raw deal.

In some contexts, professional activity appears to be all about getting paid, as in the distinction between the unpaid amateur and the professional.

The world of professional sports and entertainment seems to be unabashedly about big money and neither professional athletes nor media celebrities are particularly shy about it. Many sports professionals hire agents and/or belong to labor unions with the understanding that both agent and union are supposed to drive a hard bargain to win the big money. It’s Jerry Maguire’s, “Show me the money.”

You remember.

Most of the time, however, the idea of the professional suggests the exact opposite: lofty indifference to the profane world of money and the market. Inside and outside of academia, all professionals are really professors; they profess a kind of sacred public vow, a religious or quasi-religious calling that implies a notion of service. Professional “ethics” trump the all-mighty dollar. Isn’t this at least one of the reasons why most professionals and professional institutions — unlike business-types and commercial enterprises — traditionally stay clear of advertising? Sure, there is Dr. Zizmor, the self-promoting NYC subway dermatologist, and all the ambulance-chasing attorneys who ply their trade on television. But everyone knows that these are the fallen angels willing to sell their professional birthright for a mess of pottage.

Professional status also signifies a collar color.

Blue-collar workers do manual labor; white-collar professionals engage in more cerebral activities and bring to bear advanced knowledge. Blue-collar workers join labor unions, at least in the iconography of the collar wars. Professionals go to college. Although the whole aloof orientation of college ostensibly abjures the instrumentalism of trade unionism, college may actually be the one place where professionals sometimes adopt some of the practices of traditional guilds. Trade unions issued member-

DESIGN BY EMILY COHANE-MANN

ship cards that afforded access to lucrative work, at least insofar as the unions were able to effectively limit the supply of membership cards on the market. Within the skilled trades, the difficulty is not getting paid so much as getting in; membership was necessarily exclusive because the whole market strategy required minimizing labor supply relative to demand. Admission was always the site of the greatest contention and bitterness, especially insofar as the easiest way to become a member of the guild is to be the child of a member. Contemporary colleges operate according to an almost identical logic: They issue membership cards (diplomas); admission is both necessarily and intentionally limited; admission is the site of the most contentious and bitter battles; and parental membership (“legacy”) remains a relevant admission criterion.

There is, however, one crucial way in which professionals depart dramatically from the strategic logic of the guild. Guilds always put tight controls on the hours of labor. They knew that a labor supply logic demanded shorter hours. Less work and more pay; it was the rallying cry of every trade union. Professionals don’t watch the clock. In fact,

professionals negotiate pay, but never even discuss hours. With great pride and fanfare, professionals boast about being paid an annual salary instead of an hourly wage. It is precisely the annual salary, however, that lays the foundation for endless work because pay is fixed even if work hours are dramatically inflated. This is hardly the stuff of trade unionism, although employers could be forgiven for being delighted.

In fact, within the United States, this attribute of professionalism is inscribed in law. The Fair Labor Standards Act features some very specific language about what it means to be a professional. According to the most recent Labor Department definitions, a professional must perform work “requiring advanced knowledge, defined as work which is predominantly intellectual in character and which includes work requiring the consistent exercise of discretion and judgment.” In order to distinguish between blue-collar skilled trades and white-collar professionals, the law also specifies that the advanced knowledge “must be in a field of science or learning” and such knowledge “must be customarily acquired by a prolonged course of specialized intellectual instruction.”

The government didn’t get in to the business of defining professional work in order to congratulate those who fit the bill. The Fair Labor Standards Act is the law that enshrines the forty-hour week as the social norm, but not for professionals. Professionals are special. They have the privilege of being exempt from the wage and hours law. Everyone else earns premium pay for any hours worked beyond the fortyhour weekly standard, a provision that effectively discourages endless work. Little wonder that employers are eager to “concede” professional status to anyone who will accept it.

As a technical matter, it wouldn’t be that difficult for professionals to get back into the trade union game. Although many professionals are exempt from the National Labor Relations Act that provides the legal framework for unionization, this isn’t even necessarily the key legislative domain. Formal recognition of professional unions would be an important step, but even more immediate consequences would flow from a few small amendments to the Fair Labor Standards Act: end the professional exemption and — just to take it out for a spin — amend the law to provide overtime after 30 hours, rather than 40.

Employer opposition to these amendments would be tremendous, and maybe professionals would lose more battles than they would win in a fight for shorter hours and higher wages. But the real barriers to change are neither technical nor political.

The battle cannot be won so long as professionals refuse to take up a cause that challenges the dogma of work and the cultural politics of disinterested professionalism. Work shmirk, job shmob. Show me the money.

FROM THE PUBLIC EDITOR

The public editor explained BY

DUNCAN PICKARD

The public editor is supposed to enlighten campus controversies, but this semester perhaps my most meaningful contribution has instead been to start one.

Last week, the Tufts Community Union ( TCU) Senate denied me the $500 salary I was supposed to earn this year as public editor. I have done my best to remain silent on coverage of the Senate this semester, since my perspective is clouded by my having served as TCU president last school year. I have also hoped to let my work define the public editor instead of doing so explicitly, since this role is still a Tufts experiment.

But since the spotlight has now turned away from the media and onto me, I will use this op-ed to share my view on the future of the position.

My goal as public editor is to elevate the level of discourse around campus media, both by reflecting on obvious controversies and exposing details that might otherwise be overlooked. We hold our student government leaders accountable through elections, and most students interact with their media far more than with the TCU — we read the Daily every morn-

ing, not Senate resolutions. How do we hold campus media accountable?

In the past, the only suggestion I heard was to cut a publication’s funding if it published something offensive. This is no way to solve problems. The public editor cannot and should not make campus controversies disappear, but he or she should be a constant watchdog who can contribute a wise, authoritative voice. As the Daily noted in its Nov. 12 editorial, this responsibility is a job unlike other those of columnists or editors, even if the time and energy requirements are smaller.

I am humbled by the Media Advocacy Board’s confidence in me. But I also know I would not feel comfortable in this position without the experience I have in media on and off campus, or without my deep connections to the Tufts community. With all respect to freshmen and sophomores, I believe only upperclassmen have the resources it takes to be an effective public editor. Many juniors go abroad, and seniors have little incentive to take on new activities unless they are paid — I never would have considered applying if there weren’t a paycheck.

I value the role of the public editor, and I know that

money adds value and prestige to the position. Now that the position is unpaid, I fear it will not be the authoritative voice on campus media it should be.

I have decided not to serve as public editor next semester. I am not resigning out of protest, but I am quitting after a semester because I think my voice has been heard on a number of important issues and I want to hear another perspective. These reasons are true, but it is also true that I would be more inclined to think harder about future op-eds if there were a check in it for me at the end.

If you want to be public editor next semester, stay tuned for applications from the Media Advocacy Board. I’ll post a link in an upcoming op-ed and on the Tufts Roundtable. But be warned: There are a lot of perks to this job, but money is no longer one of them.

Duncan Pickard is a senior majoring in history. He is the Public Editor of the Media Advocacy Board and his opinions are strictly his own. He can be reached at tuftspubliceditor@gmail.com or through his blog at www. tuftsroundtable.org/publiceditor.

LET THE CAMPUS KNOW WHAT MATTERS TO YOU. The Op-Ed section of the Daily, an open forum for campus editorial commentary, is printed Monday through Thursday. Submissions are welcome from all members of the Tufts community. We accept opinion articles on any aspect of campus life, as well as articles on national or international news. Opinion pieces should be between 600 and 1,200 words. Please send submissions, with a contact number, to oped@tuftsdaily.com. Feel free to e-mail us with any questions.

OP-ED POLICY The Op-Ed section of the Tufts Daily, an open forum for campus editorial commentary, is printed Monday through Thursday. Op-Ed welcomes submissions from all members of the Tufts community. Opinion articles on campus, national and international issues should be 600 to 1,200 words in length. All material is subject to editorial discretion, and is not guaranteed to appear in The Tufts Daily. All material should be submitted by no later than 1 p.m. on the day prior to the desired day of publication. Material must be submitted via e-mail (oped@tuftsdaily.com) attached in .doc or .docx format. Questions and concerns should be directed to the Op-Ed editors. The opinions expressed in the Op-Ed section do not necessarily represent the opinions of the Tufts Daily itself.

THE TUFTS DAILY

10 CROSSWORD

Monday, November 16, 2009

COMICS

DOONESBURY

BY

GARRY TRUDEAU

NON SEQUITUR

BY

FRIDAY’S SOLUTION

MARRIED TO THE SEA

www.marriedtothesea.com

SUDOKU Level: Ordering Chinese takeout for Thanksgiving dinner

LATE NIGHT AT THE DAILY

Prewitt: “You said I was an escalator to nowhere, and that upsets me.”

Heck: “You know what? You’re a popsicle-stick skyscraper — your entire foundation is just a house of cards.”

Please recycle this Daily

Friday’s Solution

WILEY

Sports

11

tuftsdaily.com

FOOTBALL

Tufts closes out 2009 with its fourth straight loss

Middlebury quarterback Donald McKillop tosses three TDs in victory BY

ZACH GROEN

Senior Staff Writer

Not only was the Tufts football team looking to close out the 2009 season on a high note when it trudged out onto a FOOTBALL (2-6 NESCAC) Zimman Field, Saturday Middlebury Tufts

7 6 0 0

7 7

6 --- 26 0 --- 7

muddy Zimman Field for the final time this year, but the Jumbos were also hoping to snap a four-game losing streak against the Middlebury Panthers.

But although Tufts kept it close for the first two quarters, Middlebury went on to score two touchdowns in the second half to end the Jumbos’ season with a 26-7 loss. The Panthers finished the year with a record of 5-3, while the Jumbos finished 2-6 — the worst record that Tufts has recorded since posting an identical one in 2005.

The Panthers entered the game with a modest record of 4-3 but still boasted one of the most prolific offenses in the NESCAC. Starting quarterback Donald McKillop had thrown for 19 touchdowns and was averaging 362.4 yards per game heading into Saturday’s matchup with the Jumbos.

Tufts knew it would not be easy to shut down McKillop and the rest of the Panthers’ offensive attack, but the task was made even more challenging when starting cornerback Andrew Elfman went

JAMES CHOCA/TUFTS DAILY

see FOOTBALL, page 15

Senior defensive end and quad-captain Dan Stebbins recorded a game-high 12 tackles on Senior Day, though the Jumbos fell to Middlebury 26-7, ending their season at 2-6.

Jumbos head to Ohio for national semifinals VOLLEYBALL continued from page 1

wanted to do and sticking to our strategy, but they went out there fearlessly, knew what VOLLEYBALL (31-4, 8-2 NESCAC) NCAA Regional, Championship Cousens Gym, Saturday Williams Tufts

13 16 23 — 0 25 25 25 — 3

NCAA Regional, Semifinals Cousens Gym, Friday Wellesley Tufts

20 20 19 — 0 25 25 25 — 3

NCAA Regional, Quarterfinals Cousens Gym, Thursday Ma. Maritime 14 10 16 — 0 Tufts 25 25 25 — 3

JAMES CHOCA/TUFTS DAILY

Senior co-captain Dena Feiger sets the ball during Saturday night’s NCAA Regional championship match against Williams. With their 3-0 victory, the Jumbos captured their first-ever New England crown and earned a trip to Thursday’s national quarterfinal in University Heights, Ohio.

they wanted and had an attack mentality from the get-go.”

The sweep of Williams was the third 3-0 victory in as many days for the Jumbos, who on Thursday dispatched Maine Maritime College in straight sets and then on Friday knocked off the Wellesley Blue in three sets as well. In last year’s tournament, the Jumbos fell to the Blue in five sets in the regional semifinal, but on Friday, Tufts never allowed more than 20 points in one set. NESCAC Player of the Year Dena Feiger, a senior co-captain, contributed 30 assists, while junior outside hitter and second team All-NESCAC honoree Dawson Joyce-Mendive led the team with 13 kills.

The Jumbos came into the final on Saturday well rested after the victory over Wellesley took only a cool hour and fifteen minutes. Williams, on the other hand, spent an hour and forty minutes on court in their semifinal against a tough UMass Boston squad that came into the match with the highest kill percentage of any team in the country. The Jumbos walked onto the court on Saturday motivated to cement their status as New England’s elite, and they exhibited frenetic defensive energy, cutting off angles and shutting down the powerful Ephs attack.

“Our energy was the difference,” said senior co-captain Brogie Helgeson, who tallied 13 kills in her final home game.

“Last weekend [in the NESCAC semifinal], the Amherst game that went to five sets was so exhausting.

This weekend the tables were turned. Williams really struggled against UMass [Friday], and we had a quick match against Wellesley which saved our bodies. Energy-wise, we were the team on top.”

The Jumbos tallied 66 digs on the night, with four players reaching double-digits in the category, compared to Williams’ 55. The Jumbos’ front-line defenders did a great job of getting their hands on the ball, racking up eight blocks and countless deflections that kept points alive.

The Tufts defense was able to contain first team All-NESCAC Williams junior Kate Anderson, who had a .340 hitting percentage in the matchup last week, to 13 kills on 44 attempts — a

hitting percentage of .205.

“We’ve played them five times now, and when you watch the film and see the stats, it’s pretty easy to read who it’s going to,” Helgeson said. “And as blockers, we became really familiar with that, and we knew who to block before they would set it.”

This year was the second straight in which the Jumbos fell to the Ephs in the NESCAC Tournament.

But while last season it was the Ephs advancing through the NCAA Regional, the Jumbos were able to reverse the trend and finally get the postseason victory over Williams that they had been working towards all season long.

“We really wanted to prove ourselves,” said junior outside hitter Caitlin Updike, who contributed 13 kills along with 11 digs on Saturday. “They’ve taken things from us, and we wanted to take it back. The win was great regardless, but it was awesome that it was Williams.”

With the victory, Tufts moves to 31-4 for the season and will head to University Heights, Ohio on Thursday to battle Hope College, the No. 6 team in the national Div. III coaches’ poll, in the NCAA Tournament Quarterfinals. After a highly competitive season of playing within New England, the Jumbos will test their mettle against some of the nation’s best teams.

“It’s been an amazing season, but it’s not over yet,” Updike said. “We’re so excited to go to Ohio and show everyone what New England volleyball is all about.”

12

THE TUFTS DAILY ADVERTISEMENT

Monday, November 16, 2009

Built to Last: Sustaining Social Justice Work for the Long Haul Presentation by: Ellen Somekawa Director of Asian Americans United in Philadelphia and Founder of the Folk ArtsCultural Treasures Charter School Date: Wednesday November 18 Time: 6:15 p.m.

Place: Tufts University, Sophia Gordon Hall Multi-function Room Battling for racial and economic justice can be both exhilarating and exhausting. It often feels like hard-fought gains won over years of struggle can be taken away in a heartbeat. How do we sustain ourselves and our work over the long haul?

We will discuss ongoing projects of struggle: fighting for quality education for our children, leadership development for the young people, intergenerational community building, anti-gentrification in our communities, fighting against racial violence and anti-immigrant violence, building coalition across social locations, and continuous educating and nurturing of aware activists.

Sponsored by the Diversity Fund and American Studies courses: Race in America and Active Citizenship in an Urban Community: Race, Culture, Power and Politics

How did we get here?

Where did Earth come from?

Is life possible on other planets?

Chem 0005 / Bio 0006 / Ast 0006 From the Big Bang to Humankind T/Th J+ block 3-4:15pm

x Interdisciplinary course - taught by a team of professors from astrophysics, geology, chemistry, biology, anthropology x Focus on understanding scientific evidence and arguments x No prerequisites x Satisfies science distribution requirement

THE TUFTS DAILY

Monday, November 16, 2009

13

SPORTS

INSIDE THE NBA

DAVID HECK | THE SAUCE

Resurrecting the Champs

P

MCT

Atlanta Hawks forward Josh Smith’s marked improvement in shooting this season has helped hoist the once-struggling franchise to the best record in the Eastern Conference thus far.

Hawks exemplify coming changes in NBA elite BY

ALEX SCAROS

Senior Staff Writer

Two full weeks into the NBA season, the divide between the elite and the dismal has already become apparent.

The bottom of the Eastern conference looks all too familiar as the New York Knicks, New Jersey Nets, Washington Wizards and Charlotte Bobcats — all lottery teams a year ago — are a combined 6-32. Out West, not much has changed either, as the Minnesota Timberwolves, Memphis Grizzlies, Los Angeles Clippers and Golden State Warriors boast a combined 10-33 record. But with the plethora of talent that enters the league every year, patient franchises have reason to believe that in five years the cream of the NBA’s crop will have a different look.

A great example of this is the Atlanta Hawks. In 2004-05, the Hawks completed one of the worst seasons in NBA history, finishing a striking 13-69. One year later, they finished 26-56. Since that time, they had four straight years with top 10 draft picks, selecting Josh Childress, Marvin Williams, Sheldon Williams and

Al Horford, respectively.

This season, the Hawks have sprinted out of the gates, and after beating the Boston Celtics 97-86 on Friday, they are sitting at with an 8-2 record, best in the Eastern Conference, and playing efficient, unselfish basketball. Atlanta’s veteran backcourt and athletic frontcourt have both hit their stride and are dismantling the team’s opponents.

The Hawks frontcourt is anchored by Josh Smith, who has always possessed otherworldly athleticism but has gradually developed a more solid all-around game since being drafted out of high school in 2004. Smith is averaging 15.8 points and 7.2 rebounds per game to go with his 2.67 blocks per game on the defensive end.

His size and speed make him a nightmare for opposing small forwards to match up against, and his supporting cast forces mismatches all over the court. The key to his progress has been an increased maturity and acknowledgement of the limits of his game. This season, Smith’s field goal percentage has skyrocketed to nearly 59 percent, while

his shot attempts are down. Perhaps most importantly, Smith has yet to hoist up a three-pointer this season, a major improvement for the Hawks considering Smith’s 27 percent career three-point shooting.

Power forward Al Horford, the Hawks’ 2007 draft pick, is already averaging 13.3 points and 10.8 rebounds per game.

Horford, 6-foot-10 and mobile, complements Smith’s size in the frontcourt, and together they form one of the fastest and most athletic forward tandems in the NBA. But the undisputed leader of these Hawks is found in the backcourt, in the form of three time All-Star Joe Johnson. Johnson is off to a great start himself, leading the team with an average of 21.3 points and 4.4 assists per game. Over the past three years, he has emerged as one of the NBA’s premier pure shooters and prolific scorers. The fast-paced Hawks offense revolves around Johnson, a career 37 percent three-point shooter, whose range see NBA, page 14

Athletes of the Week MICHELLE KELLY, FIELD HOCKEY Senior forward Michelle Kelly’s four goals went a long way toward bringing the Tufts field hockey team back to the NCAA Final Four.

In Saturday’s second-round matchup against the MIT Engineers on Bello Field, Kelly set the tone early for the Jumbos with an unassisted goal in the third minute of action. Seconds later, Kelly was back in the circle, netting Tufts’ insurance goal to make it 2-0. With MIT still scoreless, Kelly struck again just before the half ended for her first hat trick of the year.

Kelly was again instrumental against the Skidmore Thoroughbreds yesterday. With the score knotted at one in the first half, Kelly inserted to junior Jess Perkins, leading to a goal that put Tufts back on top. Making her mark one last time, Kelly scored her 13th goal of the season to edge Skidmore 4-1.

The two wins move Tufts another step closer to its first-ever NCAA championship.

ANDREW MORGENTHALER/TUFTS DAILY

DAWSON JOYCE-MENDIVE, VOLLEYBALL Junior Dawson Joyce-Mendive was named NCAA New England Regional MVP for her efforts over the weekend, and not without good reason.

In Thursday night’s victory over Maine Maritime, the junior hitter had 10 kills, followed by a teamleading 13 kills in Friday’s sweep of Wellesley. But Joyce-Mendive saved her best effort for last, leading the team with 14 kills in Tufts’ 3-0 NCAA New England Regional Final victory over Williams. She was the key component of the Jumbos’ success, as she had four kills and a number of crucial plays down the stretch of the match’s closest set, which finished 25-23.

The Joyce-Mendive-led victory was an extra-sweet one for Tufts, which lost to Williams last weekend in the NESCAC championship. Joyce-Mendive leads the team with 431 kills, meaning the junior hitter’s play will be crucial to Tufts’ chances as the team heads to University Heights, Ohio for the NCAA Quarterfinals, which will begin on Thursday versus Hope College.

JOSH BERLINGER/TUFTS DAILY

eople my age don’t really care about boxing. And why would they? It has been ruined by gambling, corruption and controversy over the past 20 years, and people of my generation have become fonder of a newer, more physical sport: ultimate fighting.

Because honestly, which would you rather watch: a sport in which the participants wear massive gloves and a jab counts for as much as a haymaker, or a sport in which just about anything goes and decisions are almost always made by knockout or submission?

Needless to say, boxing has fallen far from its once-proud place in American culture — when guys such as Muhammad Ali, George Foreman and Joe Frazier were the biggest stars in the country.

But boxing will not go off into the sunset quietly, and the Saturday night fight between Manny Pacquiao and Miguel Cotto was indicative of how the sport is attempting to make a comeback.

In the end, Pacquiao proved his dominance in the much-hyped fight, landing almost twice as many punches as Cotto (336 to 172) and beating his opponent to a bloody pulp. But that was not the most important thing that came out of this fight.

What is important about Pacquiao’s victory is what it could lead to. In the weeks and months leading up to the match, many pundits billed the event as the greatest and most exciting fight in years.

But a year from now, Pacquiao-Cotto could be remembered as little more than an exhibition.

That would be the case if the next major fight pits Pacquaio against Floyd Mayweather Jr. Both guys have been labeled as the best pound-for-pound fighters in the world — and for good reason.

With his latest victory, Pacquiao won the welterweight belt, making him the first boxer in history to win seven different titles in seven different weight divisions. His most recent bouts, all of which have come under the national spotlight, have not even been close. Before destroying Cotto, he forced Oscar De La Hoya to throw in the towel after eight rounds and he knocked out Ricky “The Hitman” Hatton (career 45-2 record) in just the second round.

Mayweather’s résumé is equally impressive. He’s won six different titles in five different weight classes and he’s undefeated at 40-0 for his career (with 25 of those victories coming via knockout).

Technically, Mayweather is retired, but he’s already come out of retirement twice to take part in his last two fights, and there’s no reason to think he wouldn’t again return.

If he did, it would be perhaps the greatest fight of this generation (and it would also be a battle of the great nicknames: Money Mayweather versus the Mexicutioner).

The only real contenders would be Micky Ward versus Arturo Gatti in 2002, which only the diehards will remember anyway, and Evander Holyfield versus Mike Tyson in 1996 — not the one with the ear-biting incident, the one before that.

I’m not what I would consider a huge fan of boxing, and I’m not a guy who feels impelled to purchase pay-perview events — the last time I bought one was for WrestleMania XV back in 1999 (which, by the way, was absolutely worth it. Among the highlights: Stone Cold beating the Rock for the WWF Championship and Kane giving Pete Rose, who was dressed in a full-body chicken suit, a tombstone piledriver).

If Mayweather-Pacquiao actually came to fruition, though, I would undoubtedly purchase the right to watch it live. There aren’t many household names left in boxing, if there are any at all, but those two guys are unquestionably the most capable in the world of carrying a fight — both in terms of promotion and in terms of the actual quality of the match.

Boxing is dying, but it’s not dead yet.

Maybe, just maybe, this once-great sport can still be resuscitated on the national stage.

David Heck is a senior majoring in philosophy. He can be reached at David.Heck@ tufts.edu.

THE TUFTS DAILY

14

Monday, November 16, 2009

SPORTS

2009 NCAA DIVISION III

VOLLEYBALL REGIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP at Cousens Gymnasium Tufts University, Medford, Mass.

First Round November 12

Regional Semifinals November 13

NBA

Regional Finals November 14

continued from page 13

3. Williams (21-8)

Williams 6. Emerson (30-6)

Williams 2. Mass.-Boston (29-4)

Mass.-Boston 7. Westfield St. (19-15)

Tufts National Quarterfinalist

4. Clarkson (28-6)

Wellesley

5. Wellesley (23-9)

Tufts 8. Maine Maritime (22-5)

Addition of Crawford gives Hawks scorer

Tufts

1. Tufts (28-4)

stretches the defense to the perimeter.

His backcourt mate is veteran point guard Mike Bibby, who was acquired from the Sacramento Kings in 2008 in a trade that has paid tremendous dividends for the Hawks. This summer, Bibby signed a contract extension valued at $18 million for three years. Bibby has never made an All-Star team, but he is one of the few true, veteran point guards left in the NBA. He knows how to run an offense and distributes the ball evenly to his talented supporting cast.

Bibby is averaging 11.3 points and 4.6 assists while turning the ball over at the lowest rate of his career through the first 10 games this season.

The addition of swingman Jamal Crawford this offseason has bolstered the Hawks’ depth and given them a legitimate scorer off the bench. Averaging 17.7 points per game, Crawford’s mid-range ability keeps the pressure on opposing perimeter defenses when Johnson is on the bench.

During their current four-game winning streak, the Hawks have beaten the Denver Nuggets and Boston Celtics, two of the top teams in the NBA. Their opponents for the next five games consist of nothing but 2008 playoff teams in the Portland Trailblazers, Miami Heat, Houston Rockets, New Orleans Hornets and Orlando Magic. If it can continue its surprising run against such high-caliber competition, Atlanta will prove itself to be one of the East’s elite — and a serious contender for the NBA title.

2009 NCAA DIVISION III

FIELD HOCKEY CHAMPIONSHIP First Round November 11

Second Round November 14

Third Round November 15

Semifinals November 21

National Championship November 22

Messiah (19-0) Messiah Eastern (17-4) Stevens Institute* (17-3) Lebanon Valley* (17-3)

Eastern Anderson Field Messiah College Grantham, Penn.

Messiah

Lebanon Valley

Wittenberg (12-5) Lebanon Valley Rowan (14-4)

Mount Holyoke Turf Field Mount Holyoke College South Hadley, Mass.

Trinity (15-2) Trinity

Mass.-Dartmouth (15-6) Middlebury* (11-4) Lynchburg* (17-4)

Middlebury Eleanor Frost Alumnae Field Ursinus College Collegeville, Penn.

Ursinus Mount Holyoke Turf Field Mount Holyoke College South Hadley, Mass.

Lynchburg

Juniata (17-3) Ursinus Ursinus (17-2) Salisbury (16-1) Salisbury Hamilton (12-4) Wooster* (16-5) Christopher Newport* (15-3)

Wooster

Chris. Newport

Sea Gull Stadium Salisbury University Salisbury, Md.

Salisbury

Cabrini (11-10) Cortland St. Cortland St. (18-0)

Mount Holyoke Turf Field Mount Holyoke College South Hadley, Mass.

Skidmore (16-3) Skidmore

Husson (9-7) Amherst* (11-4) Nichols* (18-3)

Amherst

MIT

Bello Field Tufts University Medford, Mass.

MIT (17-4) Tufts Tufts (16-1)

Tufts *-denotes host institution for first-round games

NATIONAL CHAMPION

THE TUFTS DAILY

Monday, November 16, 2009 Housing Three to Six Bedrooms Available!

Available for next year`s school year, June 2010-May 2011. Shop now and get what you want. Very convenient to school. Call for appointment now: (617) 448-6233

Housing

-

Across from Professors Row! (2) 6 bedroom, 2 bathroom Apts. w/ living room, hardwood floors throughout, ceramic tile eat-inkitchen, dishwasher, refridgerator, washer/dryer, front and rear porches, 4 car off street parking for each apt. $4650/mo incl. heat and hot water. Avail 9/1/10.

Call (781) 249-1677

15

SPORTS -

-

-

CLASSIFIEDS POLICY All Tufts students must submit classifieds in person, prepaid with check, money order, or exact cash only. All classifieds submitted by mail must be accompanied by a check. Classifieds are $10 per week with Tufts ID or $20 per week without. The Tufts Daily is not liable for any damages due to typographical errors or misprintings except the cost of the insertion, which is fully refundable. We reserve the right to refuse to print any classifieds which contain obscenity, are of an overly sexual nature, or are used expressly to denigrate a person or group. Questions? Email business@tuftsdaily.com.

Tufts looks forward to 2010 after a disappointing 2009 campaign FOOTBALL continued from page 11

down with an injury in last weekend’s loss to Colby. With both Elfman and starting safety Tom Tassinari out for the team’s final game, the Jumbos’ normally solid secondary all of a sudden became extremely vulnerable.

“Those injuries definitely hurt because those guys provide a lot of senior leadership and experience out there,” senior quad captain and defensive end Dan Stebbins said. “Those guys have been starting for a few years now, so it definitely gives the opposing offense an advantage when we don’t have as much experience in the defensive backfield.”

“Those injuries definitely hurt because those guys provide a lot of senior leadership and experience out there. Those guys have been starting for a few years now, so it definitely gives the opposing offense an advantage when we don’t have as much experience in the defensive backfield.”

Dan Stebbins senior quad captain On a day when weather made passing conditions less than ideal, not even the torrential downpours could stop the Panthers offense, as McKillop threw for 336 yards and three touchdowns. “[McKillop] is good because he knows how to read defenses and always knows how to find the open guy,” Stebbins said. “We were trying to throw different coverages at him all game and trying to come after him and get some pressure.

When we blitzed, he was able to get the ball off quickly to the flats and make the proper adjustments.”

While McKillop capped his junior season with yet another impressive performance, Middlebury senior running back Eric Rostad had his best game of the year, recording 69 yards and a touchdown on the ground while also adding 123 yards and another score through the air.

“They have a lot of fast, athletic guys who can make plays,” senior quad captain Alex Perry said. “They are a hard

offense to contain, and obviously on Saturday they got the best of us.”

The game could not have started off any worse for the Jumbos, as senior quarterback Tom McManama was intercepted on the team’s first play from scrimmage. Although Middlebury did not score off Tufts’ early mistake, the turnover set the tone for the rest of the game. The Panthers defense shut down the Tufts offense on its following six possessions, forcing the Jumbos to punt five times and holding them on a fourthand-nine from the Middlebury 19-yard line. Despite Middlebury’s stifling defensive performance in the first half, Tufts was still in the game going into the second half, down only 13-0.

But the Jumbos were forced to punt once again after their first drive of the second half stalled at their own 33-yard line. As many people expected prior to the start of Saturday’s game, the rain finally played a factor in the turnover battle as Middlebury’s punt returner, senior James Millard, fumbled the ball on his own 33-yard line.

Tufts freshman Austin Crittenden jumped on the loose ball, giving the Jumbos another opportunity to close the gap on the Panthers. McManama wasted no time in making the Panthers pay for their mistake, hitting junior wide receiver Steve Cusano for a 33-yard score on the very next play. The touchdown trimmed the Panthers’ lead to 13-7 but proved to be the last points the Jumbos would score in 2009.

Middlebury would score twice more — once towards the end of the third quarter and once again early on in the fourth — to put the game away.

Saturday’s season finale marked the last time the Tufts seniors had the chance to put pads on and represent their university on the gridiron.

“There was a lot of excitement getting out there for our last game, but it was really sad having to leave that field,” Perry said. “I think it will really hit us on Monday when we no longer have to go through our normal practice routine for a game week.”

Although 2009 was certainly a disappointment, the future is bright for the Jumbos, according to Stebbins. The team will return a great deal of talent in 2010 — players that will want to avenge this season’s losses next fall.

“There are guys in the program who want to work hard and who want to win,” Stebbins said. “It’s all about the hard work in the offseason that will pay off next fall. I think next year, the team can definitely have success and younger guys are going to step up and become playmakers.”

School of Health Sciences Pursuing a career in the health care profession?

Consider the School of Health Sciences.

Why Simmons?

Over 100 years of providing quality education in the health professions ■ Located in the heart of Boston’s Longwood Medical area ■ An accredited and coeducational graduate school ■ Graduate campus housing available ■

Graduate Programs Nursing (MS for non-nurses) Nutrition (MS) Certificate in Didactic Program in Dietetics (post-bachelor’s) Dietetic Internship (DI) Physical Therapy (DPT)* *Application deadline for entry in summer 2010 is December 1, 2009.

Apply via www.PTCAS.org

School of Health Sciences • 300 The Fenway Boston, MA 02115 • 617.521.2605 www.simmons.edu/shs • shs@simmons.edu

SIMMONS

Learning with Purpose.

VIRGINIA BLEDSOE/TUFTS DAILY

Junior defender Jess Perkins controls the ball during the field hockey team’s rain-soaked NCAA Tournament win over MIT on Saturday.

Tufts and perennial powerhouse Salisbury to meet in national semis FIELD HOCKEY continued from page 1

top four teams in the most recent national coaches’ poll and four of the last six NCAA champions.

FIELD HOCKEY (18-1, 8-1 NESCAC) NCAA Tournament, Third Round Bello Field, Yesterday Skidmore 1 Tufts 3

0 1

— —

1 4

NCAA Tournament, Second Round Bello Field, Saturday MIT Tufts

0 3

1 2

— —

1 5

A year removed from the heartbreak of a double-overtime setback in the national title game, the Jumbos are looking to get over the hump.

“I think that last year, we were just really excited to be there,” Perkins said. “It was a whole new experience, and we were just excited. This year, we’re in it to win it. The goal is to win both games, and it’s a little more business this year. It’s not so new and we know what to expect. We’re really just excited to get out there and play.”

“The whole thing was new,” senior defender Emma Kozumbo added. “In a way, it was good to not know what to expect because we would just go out there with a blank slate and give it our all. But this year, having experience, we look at the whole thing as a business trip. We know what’s expected of us and we know what we have to do to win.”

The road to the Final Four began with a bit of déjà vu, as for the second straight national quarterfinal, the Jumbos converted on a go-ahead penalty stroke opportunity. This time, it came off the stick of senior co-captain Margi Scholtes, whose blast 1:27 into the game gave Tufts an immediate 1-0 advantage.

“For some reason, I thought it was going to come down to a stroke, and [yesterday] morning and [Saturday] night, I was definitely thinking about it a lot,” Scholtes said. “I knew that the stroke had to get in the goal because it would set the team off on the right foot.”

Skidmore responded with a tying goal roughly 15 minutes later, capitalizing on one of their three first-half penalty corner chances. But then the Tufts corner unit went to work, notching two tallies of its own between the

19:10 and 27:27 marks of the first half to put the Jumbos up for good.

Both scores came courtesy of Perkins, who entered the postseason with four goals in her previous 52 games.

“We knew [the Thoroughbreds] were a really strong team, so we had to take advantage of our numbersup situations,” Perkins said. “We’ve been really focused on our corners this year, so it’s great to capitalize on them.”

The Tufts defense denied Skidmore the opportunity to make a secondhalf comeback, thwarting seven Thoroughbred corner chances and yielding no shots on goal the entire period. For the game, Skidmore’s top two scoring threats — two-time Liberty League Player of the Year Christine Kemp and senior forward Elise Britt — were limited to one shot, none on goal.

Tufts advanced to yesterday’s quarterfinal thanks to a convincing second-round win over MIT. Playing under the remnants of Hurricane Ida, the Jumbos pulled away early after receiving a first-half hat trick from senior forward Michelle Kelly.

“We just did a good job of working the ball around the goalie,” Kelly said on Saturday. “I just got great passes from [junior forward] Tamara [Brown] and happened to be on that left side and got the job done.”

Up next for the Jumbos is a Final Four showdown against national No. 2 Salisbury, which handed previously unbeaten SUNY Cortland its first loss of the season in yesterday’s quarterfinals. A perennial powerhouse that won three consecutive national titles between 2003 and 2005, the Seagulls eliminated the Jumbos from the 2007 NCAA Tournament despite being outshot 20-7.

That season’s Tufts squad was relatively new to the national stage, appearing in the NCAA Tournament for the first time under McDavitt. But two years and six additional NCAA games later, the Jumbos have a far better sense of what it takes to win this time of year.

“I think we’re a totally different team,” Kozumbo said. “That game just gave us a lot to build off of, and from my sophomore year to my senior year, we’ve gained a lot more experience.” “[2007] was the first time anyone on our team had played in NCAAs,” Scholtes added. “They scored within the first two minutes on us, and then they got another goal, so from that, we learned that we need to come out ready from the beginning. When the whistle blows, we have to be ready to go.”

16

THE TUFTS DAILY

ADVERTISEMENT

Monday, November 16, 2009