2010-03-05

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THE TUFTS DAILY

TUFTSDAILY.COM

FRIDAY, MARCH 5, 2010

VOLUME LIX, NUMBER 25

Where You Read It First Est. 1980

Norman critiques financial industry BY

HARRISON JACOBS

Daily Editorial Board

Professor of Economics George Norman last evening warned that the recent bank collapses could occur again due to persisting structural problems in the financial industry.

Norman in his lecture cautioned against thinking that the crisis would not repeat itself.

“You have a simple model that tells you how things should be,” he said. “Yet we have a situation where the world repeats itself. It’s going to happen again. We see some elements of that already.”

Norman spoke in Brown and Brew at the Tufts Community Union (TCU) Senate-sponsored After Hours, an informal conversation series featuring lectures and question-and-answer sessions aimed at promoting intellectual life on campus.

Last evening’s event was titled “Are Corporate Scandals Inevitable,” and Norman spent the lecture portion of the event explaining the problems within the financial industry. He covered topics ranging from the massive trading losses at Barings Bank and the Bernard Madoff scandal to the more macro issue of the contradictory structure of corporate banks and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Norman explained that there is a huge conflict of interest that exists between those analyzing financial markets and the banks doing the trading.

The problem, Norman said, is that financial analysts are paid on an incentive-based structure and beyond that are paid bonuses based on the amount of business they attract for a particular bank.

This means that if they do not project high business levels for a particular bank, they will not receive large bonuses.

“The outward analyses say ‘buy, buy, buy,’ but the internal e-mails say that they’re wrong,” Norman said. “That’s like me being paid for the grades that I give you. If that was the case, I’d give all of you A-pluses. That’s the conflict of interest.”

The second half of the event was a question-and-answer session, which elicited many questions from audience members.

Among the questions asked was why Madoff was able to get away with his illegal financial dealings for so long. Responding to the question, Norman said that the Madoff scandal was illustrative of the larger problem that still exists in the financial industry.

“The problem was that, aside from the fact that the SEC investigators were most certainly incompetent, most guys that start working at the SEC go from being gatekeepers to being poachers,” he said. “You don’t want to push too hard, because you might want a job with Madoff some day.”

Junior Liam Clegg felt the conversation was extremely helpful see FINANCE, page 3

JENNA LIANG/TUFTS DAILY

The Fletcher School is hosting an exhibition aimed at promoting a culture of peace.

Fletcher School event promotes culture of peace BY

facilitate conversation on how to promote a culture of peace.

The event, running from March 5 to 11, is titled “From a Culture of Violence to a Culture of Peace? A Week of Reflection” and is centered on a major photographic exhibi-

ALISA KHARAKOZOVA Contributing Writer

The International Law Society (ILS) at The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy today kicks off a week-long capstone event intended to

Musician demonstrates Latin American music

BY

SCOTT TINGLEY/TUFTS DAILY

Inside this issue

see EXHIIBIT, page 3

Program helps international graduate students adapt to American life EMILIA LUNA

Daily Editorial Board

Héctor Martínez Morales yesterday gave a presentation on traditional Latin American music. He sang and also played and explained a number of different instruments. The event, “La música del folklore latinoamericano,” was sponsored by the Department of Romance Languages, Toupin-Bolwell Fund, the Department of Music, the Latin American Studies Program, the Latino Studies Program and the Latino Center.

tion brought to Massachusetts for the first time. The programming climaxes on Wednesday with a roundtable discussion bringing together experts from different fields.

Adjusting to the American collegiate lifestyle is difficult for any arriving student, but for some international graduate students, the adjustment can be quite a challenge.

To help out these students, every year the International Center directs the Intercultural Conversation Program, through which incoming international graduate students are paired up with English-speaking faculty, staff and students to help them practice English and adjust to life in the United States. For most of these students, it is their first time coming to the United States and entering an American university setting.

The program started in 1996 as a response to the needs of international graduate students. “The program is for students to get acculturated, to have an English speaker help them with adjusting and asking day-to-day questions,” Jane Etish-Andrews, director of the International Center, said.

In order to participate, international graduate students and the undergraduate English-speaking students fill out a survey at the beginning of the year. “We try to pair them with someone that has

similar interests, and we have had very good pairs that have become very good friends,” Fletcher student Barbara Bravo Flores, the program coordinator of the Intercultural Conversation Program, said.

The English-speaking students participate in the program because of different motivations. The program is a requirement for the residents of the International House (I-House). “It is their community service contribution,” EtishAndrews said. The International Center also recruits returning study abroad students for the program.

Sophomore and I-House resident Kia Widlo said that participating in this program was a rewarding experience.

“It is a program where I can meet someone that I probably wouldn’t meet otherwise, and it is an exchange of culture, understanding and views,” she said.

“It is a way to gain a friend and build a relationship that you otherwise might not be able to.”

For sophomore Christina Aguirre, the program has gone beyond the weekly one-hour meetings. “[My partner] has become an older sister to me,” Aguirre said. “She is always there, and we have a true friendship. We see INTERNATIONAL, page 3

Today’s Sections

Saya Woolfalk transforms Tufts Art Gallery into a fictional utopia.

The ice hockey team ends the season with its best record since joining the NESCAC.

see ARTS, page 5

see SPORTS, back

News | Features Arts & Living Comics

1 5 6

Classifieds Sports

7 Back

THE TUFTS DAILY

2

THE TUFTS DAILY KERIANNE M. OKIE Editor-in-Chief

EDITORIAL

Managing Editors

Carter Rogers Executive Features Editor Marissa Carberry Features Editors Robin Carol Emily Maretsky Mary Beth Griggs Assistant Features Editors Emilia Luna Alexa Sasanow Derek Schlom Catherine Scott Executive Arts Editor Jessica Bal Arts Editors Adam Kulewicz Charissa Ng Josh Zeidel Michelle Beehler Assistant Arts Editors Zachary Drucker Rebecca Goldberg Niki Krieg Crystal Bui Nina Grossman Laura Moreno Andrew Rohrberger Devon Colmer Erin Marshall Alex Miller Louie Zong Vittoria Elliot Rebekah Liebermann Marian Swain

Executive Op-Ed Editor Op-Ed Editors

Cartoonists

Editorialists

Alex Prewitt Executive Sports Editor Sapna Bansil Sports Editors Evan Cooper Jeremy Greenhouse David Heck Ethan Landy Daniel Rathman Michael Spera Lauren Flament Assistant Sports Editors Claire Kemp Ben Kochman James Choca Executive Photo Editor Josh Berlinger Photo Editors Kristen Collins Danai Macridi Tien Tien Virginia Bledsoe Assistant Photo Editors Jodi Bosin Alex Dennett Dilys Ong Scott Tingley Anne Wermiel Mick B. Krever Executive New Media Editor

PRODUCTION Jennifer Iassogna Production Director Leanne Brotsky Executive Layout Editor Dana Berube Layout Editors Karen Blevins Adam Gardner Andrew Petrone Steven Smith Menglu Wang Sarah Davis Assistant Layout Editors Emily Friedman Jason Huang Alyssa Kutner Samantha Connell Executive Copy Editor Sara Eisemann Copy Editors Lucy Nunn Ben Smith Ammar Khaku Assistant Copy Editors Katrina Knisely Isabel Leon Vivien Lim Ben Schwalb Executive Online Editor Audrey Kuan Online Editors Emily Wyner Muhammad Qadri Executive Technical Manager Michael Vastola 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

Friday, March 5, 2010

Mixed Martial Arts club works to gain recognition of relatively new combat sport BY

Caryn Horowitz Grace Lamb-Atkinson Ellen Kan Executive News Editor Michael Del Moro News Editors Harrison Jacobs Katherine Sawyer Saumya Vaishampayan Marissa Gallerani Assistant News Editors Amelie Hecht Corinne Segal Martha Shanahan Jenny White Brent Yarnell

NEWS | FEATURES

BRIAN WOLF

Contributing Writer

Mixed martial arts is emerging as a popular sport across the country, and Tufts is no exception to this trend as members of the Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) club are working to increase recognition of the sport on campus.

Tufts’ MMA club is far from a gritty underground “fight club,” as safety precautions and rules are of the utmost importance, according to its members.

The students who participate in this club vary in background, but they all share a love of martial arts and releasing pent-up aggression.

MMA is a full-contact combat sport that features an assortment of fighting skills in competitions. The rules allow the use of striking and grappling techniques, either while competitors are standing or sitting on the ground.

The four staples of MMA are boxing, wrestling, muay thai (a martial art from Thailand focusing on kickboxing) and jujitsu (a Japanese martial art focusing on grappling techniques).

Although mixed martial arts competitions date back to the early 20th century, modern era MMA competitions — like the ones practiced by the club at Tufts — emerged in 1993 with the advent of the Ultimate Fighting Championships (UFC).

“The idea was, ‘We’ll try and bring together all these different fighters and we’ll try to make a really open system of rules so that we can kind of see once and for all which style can prevail over them all,’” sophomore and former MMA club member Jeff Prevost said.

Later, competitors started mixing aspects of various styles, realizing that rigidly sticking to one style like karate or judo was ineffective during a bout.

The original matches had minimal safety regulations. Senator John McCain once called the UFC “human cockfighting.” However, as the UFC has increased in popularity in recent years, so have regulations.

Members of the MMA club come together three times a week to practice. For a typical session, students go to either Gantcher Center or Sophia Gordon Hall. In the beginning of the session, students warm up by stretching and doing calisthenics. After warming up, they learn new moves and practice old ones depending on which type of martial art is being taught. One session might be devoted to muay thai and the next focused solely on jujitsu. For the remainder of the session, members spar with one another.

At the beginning of the school year, freshman Nadav Ariel-Joel joined the MMA club and has been an active participant ever since. “I discovered the club at the activities fair. They

JAMES CHOCA/TUFTS DAILY

The Mixed Martial Arts club has found a more permanent practice space in Gantcher Center. said that it would be fun and I should try it out just to see what it was like,” he said. “By joining this club, I have learned a great deal about different fighting techniques. When I’m standing up, I know what to do; when the fight goes to the ground, I also know what to do.”

The group first came to Tufts when senior Sajeev Popat decided to start an unofficial club to practice MMA during his freshman year. Popat wanted to bring the sport to a wider audience in a controlled environment.

“In the beginning, I was teaching some classes in the basement of South Hall,” he said. “Although most people associate MMA with skinheads and thugs, many of the UFC fighters are actually college-educated. I really wanted to introduce and educate students to this growing sport in a safe environment.”

To broaden the reach of the club, Popat decided that he wanted Tufts to formally recognize the organization.

“As a sophomore, I decided that this club should be properly acknowledged and went to the Tufts Community Union Judiciary [(TCUJ)] to register as a club. The TCUJ thought the club was too violent and wanted us to prove that the club was not dangerous,” Popat said. “Afterwards, I went to the insurance lawyer on campus and the school, which, after researching, later recognized the club.”

Despite the formal acknowledgement, the MMA club makes do without any TCU-appropriated funds, Popat said.

“The school does not give us funding which they give to other clubs,” Ariel-Joel said. “We have had issues about where we can train; it’s a bit of give-and-take.”

According to TCU Treasurer Aaron Bartel, a sophomore, this is because the MMA club is registered as a club sport. “Athletics is now in charge of taking care of the finances for club sports; MMA is a club sport,” Bartel said. “We figured we should probably have professionals in charge of funding and dealing with these groups when they want to punch and kick each other in the face. It’s just not something you want students in charge of funding.”

Recently the club has undergone some turmoil due to changing venues.

“For the past two years, the club had been using the Hill Hall lounge. There were no problems, and everything was going well,” Popat said. However, the group has had to find new venues due to regulations on the use of the lounge.

The club now uses the multipurpose room in Sophia Gordon Hall, which has been working well, Popat said.

Ariel-Joel feels that the confidence that the managers of the club exude makes up for the changing venues.

“The way that the club is managed is done in a professional manner,” he said.

He added that it is important to have a core group of people who are dedicated to mixed martial arts. “I want the future of the club to continue as it is,” he said. “To maintain this club, it is needed for students who want to get involved to show an interest in learning self-defense. It is also good exercise and builds confidence.

In addition, it is also important that the club continues to provide good instructions, or else you could get hurt more easily. Safety comes first.”

Carter Rogers contributed reporting to this article.

Healthy Week unites health-related organizations on campus BY

MARISSA GALLERANI Daily Editorial Board

This year’s Healthy Week, which started on Monday and concludes today, has brought together health-related groups from across the Tufts campus to foster discussion between organizations and raise awareness.

Healthy Week is an annual week of events and lectures designed to promote healthy living and to raise awareness about a number of public health issues.

“The goal of Healthy Week is to bring together as many health-oriented groups as possible to provide a lot of beneficial events for members of the pre-health community and to promote health awareness to every-

one else on campus,” senior William Sokoloff, vice-president of the Tufts Premed Society, said.

This year’s participants include Public Health at Tufts (PHAT ), FoodTalk, the Women’s Center, the Premed Society, the Pre-Dental Society, Sharewood Project, the HIV/ AIDS Initiative and Active Minds.

Senior Nadine Kesten, president of PHAT, highlighted the chance that Healthy Week provided to foster interaction among the different groups on campus working on health issues.

“It is a great opportunity for all of the health groups to get together and collaborate,” Kesten said. “A big part of Healthy Week is advertising and collaborating on bigger events; there are a lot of interesting people

involved in health and a lot of interesting events going on this week.”

Healthy Week kicked off with a University of New England College of Osteopathic Medicine presentation on the philosophy behind osteopathic medical schools.

Sokoloff highlighted last night’s event, “An Evening in the OR: Real Surgeries from the Premed Society,” which involved the presentation of video footage of real surgeries, as an attempt to do something more original. “[‘An Evening in the OR’] is more eccentric than a normal Premed Society event,” Sokoloff said. “We saw Healthy Week as an opportunity to see HEALTH, page 3

Correction The March 3 article “Dining Services to pilot ‘going trayless’” incorrectly identified Alex Shapiro as male. The error occurred during the editorial process.

THE TUFTS DAILY

Friday, March 5, 2010

3

NEWS | FEATURES

I-Center Program helps international grad students settle into Tufts

Tufts hosts nonproliferation exhibition

INTERNATIONAL

The ILS aims to promote a multidisciplinary understanding of international law and its applications and to consider issues pertinent to humanity.

This capstone event, which members have been planning since October, furthers this goal.

Sarah Riley, ILS co-chair and Master of Laws (LL.M.) candidate, said that organizers sought to be more innovative with this year’s event.

“This year, we wanted to try to revise it and do some different kinds of events, as opposed to the traditional social hour or movie night,” she said.

Soka Gakkai International (SGI), a non-governmental organization whose members practice Nichiren Buddhism as a path to peace, provided the photo exhibit entitled “From a Culture of Violence to a Culture of Peace: Transforming the Human Spirit.”

SGI is a lay Buddhist organization with 12 million members in 192 countries whose goal is to advance peace through human transformation, according to Tanya Henderson, a chairperson for the event and an LL.M. candidate. “[SGI promotes] peace, culture and education through personal transformation and cultural contribution,” she said.

The exhibit asks viewers to consider the abolition of nuclear weapons and, in particular, seeks to engage youth, featuring a series of panels thematically tied to the anti-nuclear sentiment.

“It is focused on nuclear nonproliferation and disarmament and really on what constitutes peace, not just an absence of war,” Henderson said.

The panels make up an exhibit of a total of 1,200 feet. The visual component will be complemented by quotes on the subject of peace. Viewers can expect to see quotes from thinkers like Ralph Waldo Emerson, Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King, Jr., according to Henderson.

The exhibit was first presented in September 2007 and in 2008 was shown to the United Nations in Geneva. It is this week making its first appearance in Massachusetts. Henderson, an active member of SGI, provided the link that eventually led to the exhibit being brought to The Fletcher School.

Though the event opens today, the formal opening ceremony and reception will be held on Monday. Howard Hunter, a former Tufts University Emeritus Professor in the Department of Religion, will deliver the keynote address, while Gerard Sheehan, executive associate dean at The Fletcher

continued from page 1

are always exchanging our cultures.”

Aguirre got involved in the program through the student activities fair last year. After their successful pairing, she and her partner decided to keep participating this year.

“We still wanted to meet, and we decided to still be a part of the program and the events,” Aguirre said. “I’m actually surprised more people don’t do that.”

Most of the graduate students who sign up for the program speak Asian languages. “They are very talented in their subject fields, but they don’t have the conversational day-to-day English,” Etish-Andrews said.

Bravo Flores explains that through the program, there are significant improvements in the students’ English skills.

“For them, it’s really important to feel more comfortable speaking English,” she said. “Probably in their classes they can speak, but the program gives them a way to improve their English without feeling a pressure of being in the class.”

“My oral English is not perfect, and through the program, Kia taught me a lot,” Feiting Cheng, a graduate student who has partnered with Widlo in the program, said. “[Now] I know more about how native young people use language through cell phones or e-mail, which has helped me make friends,” she said.

The conversational aspect is not the only benefit of the program. “The undergraduate students know what the lifestyle here is like, and they can give [international students] tips on where to shop and where to socialize,” EtishAndrews said.

“It’s very valuable for me to know how native young people live in this country, so sometimes I ask Kia about what I learn or hear from American people,” Cheng said.

The program not only benefits graduate foreign students, but the English speakers as well. “For the undergraduate, it gives them insight into graduate education, what it’s like to come on your own and what the person might be studying,” Etish-Andrews said.

Although the International Center initially sets up the pairs, the functionality of the program depends entirely on the participants. “The English speaker should start the contact, because probably the new student doesn’t feel that comfortable writing an e-mail or speaking on the phone,” Brave Flores said. “They decide when to meet, and then an evaluation is done every semester to see how much they are meeting.”

Although the majority of the meet-

ings are organized by the pairs, the International Center tries to organize group gatherings throughout the year.

“One of the objectives of the program is to help the graduates feel more comfortable in this new culture,” Bravo Flores said. “We have pumpkin carving, and a Thanksgiving dinner organized by the [International Center], where we invite all the people in the program because they do not know the meaning of the holiday.”

With the purpose of exchanging cultures equally, a Chinatown dinner was planned before winter break so that the Chinese graduate students could contribute to the cultural exchange.

“I really liked to share Chinese food with Americans,” Cheng said. “I was surprised that Kia liked it. It’s the first time I know that some Chinese values or traditions can be shared with somebody else and that they can appreciate it.”

Furthermore, Bravo Flores emphasized that the weekly meetings do not have to be a burden. “You don’t need to have strict meetings,” she said. “We suggest [the pairs] to have lunch, shopping or go anywhere.”

Exploring the Boston area and helping the graduate student get to know the city is always helpful, according to graduate student Arash Ahmadzadegan, a participant in the program. “The first time we went to downtown Boston, we went to a shop because I wanted to try some shoes to find out my size in American standard,” Ahmadzadegan said. “When I tried one of them, [my partner] Lauren sat down to tie it for me. It was so kind of her, and I didn’t expect it, not in my culture I wouldn’t have.”

This year, the International Center also granted the program participants free passes for the Dining Around the World events organized by Tufts Dining Services.

“It is another way that we try to get them together so they can experience different cultures,” Bravo said.

Many colleges and universities have similar programs for international students, but the Tufts program is unique in that the English speaker is not necessarily always American.

“You could have a non-native English speaker paired with an incoming firstyear graduate student who won’t have the same language skills as the undergraduate international student does,” EtishAndrews said. “It’s not just an American that they are placed with, but it’s with a good English international speaker. It’s interesting, and it works.”

Currently, there are around 17 pairs meeting regularly, but Bravo said that there is more demand for English speakers, since many graduate students are interested.

EXHIBIT continued from page 1

School, will also give a speech introducing the capstone week to the Fletcher community and its guests.

The roundtable discussion will take place at 6 p.m. on Wednesday in the Asean Auditorium. Guest speakers will be joining The Fletcher School faculty to represent the roles of their respective fields in the discussion.

Henderson described the purpose of the roundtable as a means of facilitating the integration of a variety of perspectives in a conversation on achieving a culture of peace.

“We’re able to really bring together people from very distinct sectors that aren’t always talking to each other, and actually having them at the same table engaging in dialogue is very exciting for me as a student to be able to witness,” she said.

Professor Michael Glennon, director of the LL.M. program at Fletcher, will be delivering the welcoming address, and Professor of the Practice Eileen Babbit, director of the International Negotiation and Conflict Resolution Program, will be facilitating the discussion.

Riley added that the roundtable would include speakers such as Michael Zee, Google’s Asia/Pacific legal director, who will present a legal sector perspective on human rights. Meanwhile, Fletcher student Godfrey Otobi will offer a viewpoint on children and youth in armed conflict, derived from his own fieldwork. Senior Legal Advisor of the Office of Legal Affairs, United Nations Secretariat Arnold Pronto will also be present to discuss applying and enforcing international law.

“We’ve brought together a pretty diverse group of panelists,” Riley said.

Henderson agreed, saying the roundtable reflected the interdisciplinary nature of The Fletcher School curriculum and was made up of speakers from different sectors who will likely engage in stimulating dialogue.

“It takes all of those components to be really integrated to be able to create peace,” she said.

Riley expressed her hope that the week-long event will spark a dialogue that continues long after the exhibition ends. “We’re hoping we can build off the momentum this exhibit will bring,” Riley said.

Ian Davis, assistant director of international media relations at The Fletcher School, told the Daily that the capstone event is open to the larger Tufts community, including undergraduate students.

The photographic exhibit will be located at The Fletcher School Hall of Flags starting today.

Financial crisis could occur again, professor says

Organizers happy with this year’s Healthy Week

FINANCE

talk to a lot more students about health-related issues and to have a little bit more fun. Healthy Week is a great idea because it reaches out to two communities, the prehealth community and the larger Tufts community.”

A panel providing advice on finding public health internships took place Wednesday, featuring speakers Program Administrator Pamela Schoenberg Reider and Lecturer Linda Martinez from the Community Health Program. Kesten, who was involved in organizing the panel, expressed her satisfaction with how the event turned out. “[The panel] was very successful,” she said. “We had a great turnout, and Pamela discussed tips for finding public health internships,” Kesten said. “We also had students discuss their past internship experiences and opened it up for questions. It went really well.”

Healthy Week at Tufts concludes today with a number of events, including a First

continued from page 1

in enhancing his understanding of the subprime mortgage crisis and larger banking issues.

“He makes an incredibly complex story understandable without oversimplifying it, and I think he gave us all something to think about,” Clegg said.

TCU Senator Yulia Korovikov, a freshman, agreed that the discussion was very accessible to all members of the audience.

“I thought it was a really interesting talk, even for someone [who’s] not an economics major,” she said.

Sophomore Brian O’Reilly welcomed the fact that Norman went beyond providing an excellent explanation of the inherent problems in incentive structures, offering some solutions as well.

“I think he offered some really good ideas on how to minimize their impact and regularity,” O’Reilly said.

TIEN TIEN/TUFTS DAILY

Professor George Norman discussed corporate scandals at yesterday’s After Hours conversation.

HEALTH continued from page 2

Friday Lunch at the Women’s Center with Tufts University Police Department Capt.

Mark Keith.

Another event taking place tonight has attracted strong interest from the student body. Five dollar tickets for “Eat Your Way to Better Health” have all sold out.

The event features a talk by Joy Bauer, NBC’s “Today” show nutritionist and health expert, with an accompanying gourmet healthy dinner and cooking demonstration.

Senior Arielle Carpenter, founder of FoodTalk — a club collaborating with Dining Services to promote healthy eating — expressed her eager anticipation for the event.

“We’re really excited to bring her to campus; the 150 tickets sold out within the first week,” Carpenter said.

“People are interested in hearing her speak, and it is a great opportunity to eat really good, healthy food.”

Tufts Dining Services, Tisch College of Citizenship and Public Service, Tufts Culinary Society, the Community Health Program and the

Provost’s Office are sponsoring the event.

Carpenter praised the Dining Services staff at Tufts for their help in orchestrating the event. “I also wanted to mention and emphasize that Tufts Dining Services was crucial in the success and implementation of this event,” she said.

Carpenter also noted that March is the American Dietetic Associationsponsored National Nutrition Month and that Healthy Week was a good chance to incorporate it on campus.

“Healthy Week is about creating awareness, and I think it’s good to take advantage of National Nutrition Month and use this week to really promote health on campus,” she said.

Kesten agreed and said that she hopes Tufts students have used this week as a way to broaden their exposure to a variety of fields.

“It’s a good opportunity to learn more about different fields and find something new and different that you’re interested in,” she said.

THE TUFTS DAILY

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Friday, March 5, 2010

TAKE YOUR PROFESSOR TO LUNCH DURING MAJORS WEEK

MARCH 8—12 2010 Ask your favorite or soon to be favorite teacher to lunch at Carmichael or Dewick-MacPhie Halls and SPIRIT will foot the bill. More information will be provided in an email to all undergraduates.

MAJORS WEEK OPEN HOUSES

Biology Information Session for the following Biology, Biopsychology, Biochemistry Friday, March 12 2:30-3:30 pm Barnum Elephant Lobby Chemistry Information Session for the following Chemistry ASC-Certified, Chemistry, Biochemistry, Chemical Physics Wednesday, March 10 12:00-1:00 pm Pearson Hall, Room P106 Computer Science 2nd Annual Robocode Tournament “Introduction to Game Development Class” Wednesday, March 10 Thursday, March 11 6:00 pm Economics Wednesday, March 10 12:00-1:00 pm Braker Hall Geology Monday, March 8 12:00 pm Lane Hall, Room 7

History Wednesday, March 10 12:00 pm East Hall International Relations “Breakfast with IR” Wednesday, March 10 9:30-11:00 am Cabot Mezzanine (outside of Cabot Auditorium) Mathematics Majors Week Reception Wednesday, March 10 4:30 pm Bromfield Pearson Conference Room Philosophy Wednesday, March 10 12:00-1:15 pm Miner Hall, Second Floor Political Science Wednesday, March 10 12:00-1:30 pm Eaton 206 Sociology Thursday, March 11 12:00-1:15 pm 102a Eaton Hall

Arts & Living

5

tuftsdaily.com

GALLERY REVIEW

Saya Woolfalk’s art creates fictional world in Tufts Art Gallery BY

CAROLINE DICZOK

Contributing Writer

People have long imagined fictional societies and ideal worlds more perfect than their own in which people live in harmony

Saya Woolfalk: The Institute for the Analysis of Empathy At the Koppelman Gallery through April 4 Tufts University Art Gallery 617-627-3518 and are free from conflicts. In writing of his ideal alternate world, Sir Thomas More used the term “utopia,” derived from the Greek and meaning literally, “no place,” suggesting that such a model society cannot exist.

It is this idea of a perfect society that inspired the exhibition “Saya Woolfalk: Institute for the Analysis of Empathy” currently in the Koppelman Gallery at the Tufts University Art Gallery. Working with a variety of media including film, installation, drawings and paintings, Woolfalk conceives a fictional world through which she examines what it means to live in harmonious existence.

Upon entering Woolfalk’s candy-colored world, one will immediately be transported to her dreamlike imaginary universe.

Transformed with bright hues and captivating installations and objects, the gallery space beckons visitors to wander through the room and absorb all that Woolfalk has to offer. The exhibition is a fictional research site for Woolfalk’s study of a species she calls the Empathics. This group, she claims, is connected to a future utopian world that

she calls No Place, and these Empathics are a unique chimerical species of both plant and animal material. Drawing from her exploration of this group, Woolfalk learns about the self and its relation to the surrounding environment and how such awareness ultimately leads to a harmonious existence.

The first part of the exhibition is a 30-minute film, titled “Ethnography of No Place,” which employs the anthropological research tool of ethnographic study, or the systematic study of a culture. A tour de force of animation and design, the film presents viewers with a vibrant dreamscape teeming with youthful symbols, scores of patterns and other designs. Though a bit long and dragging at times, the film succeeds at drawing viewers into its trance-like folkloric narrative, which Woolfalk narrates with the accompaniment of soothing sounds that create a sense of peacefulness.

After watching the film, viewers enter the main gallery space, which provides a highly multi-sensorial experience with its many colors and objects. Further developing the idea that the exhibition space is a research site for the study of the Empathics, the works in the gallery, much like the ethnographic film, have an almost scientific quality of investigation. One drawing, “No Placean Anatomy” (2008), recalls a segment of the film in which Woolfalk discusses the physical anatomy of the No Placeans.

Sculptures are used to represent models of the No Placean Self. In the center of the room is a large sculpture with the skeleton that Woolfalk found at an upstate New York burial site. Through these various works, the viewer gains an understanding of these No Placeans as a culture, as if they were just another contemporary cultural group.

COURTESY TUFTS UNIVERSITY PHOTOGRAPHY

The exhibit “Saya Woolfalk: Institute for the Analysis of Empathy” is currently on display at the Tufts University Art Gallery.

In imagining the world this group inhabits and being presented with a comprehensive study of the bodies, actions and landscape of No Place, viewers are totally immersed in this fictional world.

At the end of the exhibition is what Woolfalk calls the “Empathetic Dream Box,” which is a video installation where viewers are welcomed into an enclosed space to sit and listen to Woolfalk speak about her study of the Empathics. Sitting in this Dream Box, the viewer is wholly connected to No Place and its people. The viewer becomes a part of this alternate dream world and is able to understand its logic.

Woolfalk’s “Institute for the Analysis of Empathy” is a fascinating and thought-provoking exhibition. The exhibition, despite its wild Technicolor space, is not overwhelming and allows viewers to be completely absorbed into the space. In constructing this fictional, playful world, Woolfalk is able to tackle vital questions that ultimately relate to the human experience, our understanding of the self and how we grapple to connect the self to our surroundings and fellow beings. Woolfalk places significant weight on using observation and reasoning to understand our existence and the truths of our society.

ALBUM REVIEW

Jamie Cullum’s latest album ‘The Pursuit’ of melding pop and jazz together BY

LORI ALLEN

Daily Staff Writer

Jamie Cullum’s fifth studio album, “The Pursuit,” follows the patterns of his previous jazz-pop

The Pursuit Jamie Cullum Decca fusion albums and further narrows the gap between the two genres. Cullum still has the same jazz licks and slides over pop song structures, but he explores the pop genre even more by delving into hip-hop beats and distortion.

He’s a short bloke whose toolong suit sleeves and smallish hands make it hard to believe that he can play the piano effectively, but the London-born jazzpop star has a lot going for him.

Cullum has impressive improvisational skills; a low, buttery voice that is gritty, expressive and sexy all at once; and an unabashedly goofy personality that comes through on every track.

At only 30 years old, Cullum

already has five studio albums, a live album, various DVDs and more than a dozen collaborations with artists such as Rufus Wainwright.

While his first two albums focused on jazz standards, Cullum has been working to meld the genres of pop and jazz since his third studio album, “Twentysomething” (2003).

The tracks on “Twentysomething,” “Catching Tales” (2005) and “The Pursuit” all follow roughly the same formula: jazz standards, pop covers and jazz-pop originals.

These elements give each album a strange — but not unpleasant — vibe that is intriguing and far from boring for pop fans who aren’t fans of jazz.

“The Pursuit” is similar to its predecessors, going even further down the pop road while maintaining Cullum’s jazz roots. The album has as many covers as “Catching Tales” but fewer tracks, so listeners may wonder why Cullum doesn’t seem to be moving toward an all-original album.

However, they can forgive Cullum because his cover songs are never copies; they are usually only inspired by the original works, resulting in startling departures from the familiar songs.

ESTB.MSN.COM

In “The Pursuit,” Jamie Cullum explores more pop and less jazz.

The first single from the U.S. release, “Don’t Stop The Music,” is a slowed-down, jazzed-up, epic rendition of Rihanna’s Top-40 dance hit from 2007 and one of the strongest tracks on the album. Cullum gives the song some integrity, replacing Rihanna’s nasal whine and basic pop chord progressions with his paradoxically baritone croon and deliciously complex chords. This isn’t new for Cullum; he covered Pharrell’s “Frontin’” on “Twentysomething” in a similar fashion, but it never gets old.

The other covers on the album allow Cullum to continue to make

old jazz tunes relevant to pop listeners and put a modern spin on tired songs. Though his efforts seem a little forced at times, Cullum deserves some credit for teaching his listeners to appreciate a good piano solo. He also included the song “Not While I’m Around” from the musical “Sweeney Todd,” which is pretty, yet comes off as awkward next to the other tracks.

Cullum’s original songs really give the album its flavor and credibility. The album’s second single, “Wheels,” has a light but driving train-like beat under a recurring piano riff and a catchy melody that shows off Cullum’s impressive vocal range. “I’m All Over It” succeeds as a bouncy romp between minor and major modes with a chorus of singers half-shouting the song title in unison as though they are throwing their hands in the air and joining together in a sloppy, exuberant kick-line.

Cullum’s ballads aren’t nearly as effective at keeping the listener’s interest, but they are undoubtedly heartfelt and beautiful. These, as well as the jazz standards, are at least in part recorded live; the sound of Cullum’s mouth against

the microphone and the creaking of his piano bench give these tracks a special intimacy. “I Think, I Love” crawls along, saved by the unashamedly apologetic lyrics that have defined his style. He even manages to make condescending lyrics like, “You drunk too much wine/ And threw up in the taxi cab on the way home,” sound endearing.

The most impressive song on “The Pursuit” is “Music Is Through.” This is the final track on the U.K. release but is smothered by the two extra tracks on the U.S. version, which only serve to cushion the punch that this track packs. This song is a trance-housedisco-hip-hop hybrid that should be blasted on club speakers with subwoofers the size of small elephants. At first listen, it sounds as though Cullum has sold out and left jazz for dead. But his voice, personality and ever-jazzy style — and not the dance beat — are what make the track. The same can be said of the album as a whole.

The jazz tracks featured on “The Pursuit” are unmistakably Jamie, and even those that are packaged like pop songs contain plenty of Cullum’s jazz personality.

THEATER FEATURE

3Ps celebrates centennial this weekend Since its founding in 1910, Pen, Paint and Pretzels (3Ps) has established a remarkable history that predates the Tufts Drama Department in fulfilling student demands for theater. This year marks the independent student group’s 100th anniversary. In order to commemorate this special occasion, 3Ps will be throwing a Centennial Celebration this weekend.

The celebration is as much a reunion for 3Ps alumni as it is an opportunity for all of the group’s current members to demonstrate what they have accomplished.

“There is a huge element of thanking all of the alumni who are coming back [to Tufts], because without the work that they put in, we wouldn’t have this organization,” 3Ps co-chair sophomore Daniel Ferry said.

“It’s important to us to let them know that the legacy that they have left has not only impacted our lives, but hundreds of students’ for a hundred years, and hopefully for another hundred.”

3Ps co-chairs Ferry and sophomore Megan Sullivan have been planning this event since September of last year. The 3Ps Centennial

Celebration will host a variety of events throughout the course of the weekend, including Saturday workshops with many on-campus theater groups like Traveling Treasure Trunk, Bare Bodkin, HYPE! and Cheap Sox. The celebration is built around the 3Ps’ spring major “SubUrbia,” which is meant to showcase the best of what 3Ps has to offer.

Performances of “SubUrbia” will take place this Thursday, Friday and Saturday at 8 p.m., with a 2 p.m. matinée on Sunday. Tickets are $7 and can be purchased at the Aidekman

Box Office on weekdays from 9 to 5 p.m.

3Ps will also host a cocktail reception on Saturday night from 6 to 7:30 p.m. as an opportunity for Tufts students and alumni to reconnect. On Sunday morning, brunch is available at 10 a.m. or 12 p.m., followed by 3Ps’ Umbrella Supershow, which will highlight many theater groups at Tufts. Tickets to the cocktail reception and brunch are $10 and $15, respectively and can be purchased at the Aidekman Box Office.

—by Michelle Beehler

THE TUFTS DAILY

6 CROSSWORD

Friday, March 5, 2010

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Tufts hockey has room to improve for next winter HOCKEY continued from page 8

Invitational in late November.

The Jumbos cruised to two 5-2 victories with contributions from sophomore goaltender Scott Barchard and juniors Zach Diaco, Conor Pieri and Lindsay Walker, who all earned All-Tournament team honors.

This pair of tournament wins came in the midst of the team’s season-best, sixgame winning streak. Other notable games during this stretch included a 3-2 win over NESCAC foe Conn. College and a 4-3 overtime thriller against Saint Anselm College, in which Diaco picked up the deciding goal in the extra stanza.

Following the team’s strong start to the season, the Jumbos struggled in January with a 3-5-2 record. Three of those losses came against NESCAC teams, costing Tufts crucial points in the standings.

With their playoff hopes dangling by a string, the Jumbos righted the ship with four crucial wins in February, enough to clinch the seventh seed in the NESCAC Tournament.

Before this year, Tufts had never finished in better position than the eighth spot in the conference standings.

Unfortunately for the Jumbos, though, the hopes for their first-ever NESCAC

sed s o d-t a n a H Pizz

Tournament win were thwarted by a determined Middlebury squad last Saturday.

Barchard, who earned AllNESCAC first team honors, was the most valuable player on the team this season and single-handedly held up the Jumbos in many games. He eclipsed his impressive numbers from a year ago, raising his season save percentage from .927 to .939, which was the top mark in the nation, as well as setting a team record with 986 total saves this season. Aside from his strong play, Barchard knows that the team will need to improve moving forward.

“We want to get better in the offseason,” Barchard said.

“People are ready to put in the time and effort to take us to the next level.”

Barchard and teammate Tom Derosa, who was named to the All-NESCAC second team, are both semi-finalists for this year’s Joe Concannon Award, presented to the best American-born Div. II/III hockey players in New England.

Derosa’s 31 points tied him for second-best in the NESCAC while giving him the team lead in points for the second straight year. Derosa tied Diaco with 15 goals for the team’s scoring title.

Following his seven points in 19 games last year, Diaco

enjoyed a breakout season in 2009-10 with 27 points in 25 games played.

Other notable contributors include junior tri-captain Dylan Cooper, who notched 21 points two seasons in a row, as well as John, who also reached the 20-point plateau this year from the defensive end. However, Tufts will have to part with several seniors.

Among those leaving the team will be Antonelli and fellow tricaptain Myles Neumann.

“We lost a lot of leadership — people who did a lot for this program,” Barchard said. “It’s in the hands of the next generation of leaders now.”

“I’m happy with what we accomplished,” Antonelli added. “We made enormous strides since our freshman and sophomore years, and I’m fortunate to have been given the opportunity to play for this team and with such a great group of guys.”

Despite the disappointing end to the Jumbos’ 2009-10 campaign, the future is bright with players like Derosa, Diaco, Cooper and John all returning to the lineup in the fall, as well as Barchard’s return in the net.

After the team’s best season in the NESCAC era, Tufts will look to improve on its solid numbers and go deeper in the postseason next year.

No Ita rth lian En pa d sty sta l dis e he s

ANNE WERMIEL/TUFTS DAILY

Women’s squash tri-captain junior Valerie Koo and junior Alex Gross of the men’s team, left, will represent Tufts at the CSA Individual Championships.

Koo hoping for success in first visit to CSA Individuals SQUASH continued from page 8

CSA Individual Championship will serve as an added bonus for Koo and Gross, both of whom hold pride in their team records of 6-14 and 12-12 on the year, respectively. Nevertheless, the tournament serves as one last determinant of individual performance before the players head into the offseason.

“I was very happy with how this team performed at nationals ... losing to Amherst in the semis 5-4 and then beating GW in a very impressive match,” Gross said. “I’ve

personally played pretty well, I started off slow and came off from abroad a little rusty, but I’ve slowly gotten a little better with each weekend. I think this tournament will be kind of like a bonus. If I do well, great, but if I don’t, it won’t take away from my impression of this season.

“I think my performance will be a good indication of where I stand as a player and hopefully any improvement I’ve made as a player … I think it will be a fair indication of my performance this season,” he said.

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WOMEN’S BASKETBALL

NCAA Tournament tips off with tough first-round matchup Tufts will take on Muhlenberg tonight, with powerhouse Kean looming BY

ETHAN STURM

Senior Staff Writer

It was a tough end of the year for the women’s basketball team, and as it enters the first weekend of the NCAA Tournament, things will not be getting any easier.

The Jumbos travel to Union, N.J. to play the Muhlenberg Mules in the tournament opener tonight at 6 p.m.

A victory would most likely lead to a matchup with the tournament hosts, the Kean University Cougars, tomorrow evening.

The Mules, who earned an at-large bid after falling to McDaniel College in the Centennial Conference Championship, share much in common with the Jumbos.

Each team starts three guards and has one of the top scorers in its respective conferences. Junior tri-captain Colleen Hart (NESCAC-best 16.6 points per game) will most likely be trading shots with Muhlenberg sophomore Alexandra Chili (17.4 points per game) throughout the contest. Shutting down Chili could be key to the Jumbos’ success.

“Coach [Carla Berube] said today that everyone needs to know her and know what she likes to do,” Hart said.

“Our whole team is going to be responsible for her. We are going to do all we can to deny her the ball and not allow her to beat us.”

Both teams also lack height in their starting lineup. Senior Julia Baily and

Muhlenberg junior Sheila Cook will be the only two starters taller than 5-foot10 on the floor. Not coincidentally, both offenses focus heavily on outside shooting, so whichever player can win the rebound battle down low could give her team a serious advantage.

“The battle of the boards is definitely one of the keys to this game,” Hart said.

“We aren’t too worried about their size because all of their guards can rebound and love to crash the board.

“It’s going to be a team effort,” she continued. “We have been stressing that all week in practice. It has to be all five boxing out at all times. I think we can get it done.”

Muhlenberg enters tonight’s contest as the hotter of the two teams, having won its last four games before falling in its conference championship game.

Tufts, on the other hand, dropped three of its last four contests and was bounced from the NESCAC quarterfinals by Bowdoin in overtime on Feb. 20.

If the Jumbos hope to beat the Mules, they are going to need to get back to the type of play that got them off to a 19-2 start this season. Tufts seemed to run out of steam at the end of the season, and, in its most recent loss to Bowdoin, shot poorly from both the field (28.1 percent) and the line (60.9 percent). The Jumbos have had almost two weeks off since that loss — ample time for them to renew the energy they

will need to keep up with the offensive firepower of a Muhlenberg squad that led its conference with 70.3 pointsper-game.

“We are really excited to get back and play a real game,” sophomore Kate Barnosky said. “We have had the past two weeks to rejuvenate and get back together both mentally and physically, so we are really excited and ready to go.”

The road will only get harder for the winner of the first-round matchup between the Jumbos and the Mules, as Kean, the nation’s second-ranked team, likely awaits in the second round. The Cougars are favored to make the Final Four for the second time in school history and have torn their way through Div. III this season, racking up victories over the likes of No. 9 William Paterson and No. 18 Scranton. Kean’s only loss came to Div. I Rutgers in the first game of the season.

The Mules are likely to make short work of Penn State, Berks (19-9) in the first round. They have the fourthhighest scoring offense in the country at 78.4 points per game and sit behind only No. 1 Amherst in terms of scoring margin, winning by an average of over 27 points per contest. Freshman Naimah Clemons, junior Tiffany Patrick and senior Melissa Beyruti all are averaging over 12 points per game, giving Kean a multifaceted attack.

The Cougars also have the height advantage on their side — all five start-

ICE HOCKEY

ers checking in at 5-foot-8 or taller — which could prove to be a real challenge for a Tufts team that only has two starters at that height. Some pressure will fall on Barnosky, who will have to matchup with forwards who have quite a few inches on her.

“We are going to try to take advantage of our strengths [against Kean],” Barnosky said. “Being a quick guard team, we can run on bigger teams, and we have learned to play strong post defense against teams that have a size advantage on us. We will just have to take advantage of our guards.”

Playing big games in the early rounds of the NCAA Tournament is not a novel concept for the Jumbos, who two years ago upset preseason No. 1 Mary Washington in the Sweet Sixteen. But to get by both Muhlenberg and Kean, Tufts is going to need to shoot the ball well and show resilience.

“We have a lot of experience,” Hart said. “We have been there before, and we know how to do what we need to.

We aren’t scared against either team.

We hung with Amherst, and if we can play with the best team in the country, we can play with any of these teams.

We just need to play our game.”

To catch all of the women’s hoops action from Kean University this weekend, follow the Daily’s Sapna Bansil on Twitter at twitter.com/tuftsdailysport.

SQUASH

Gross, Koo head to CSA Individuals

Championships last match for Tufts BY

MICHAEL SPERA

Daily Editorial Board

ALEX DENNETT/TUFTS DAILY

Seniors David Antonelli, left, and Joe Rosano, center, ended their Tufts hockey careers by helping the team to earn its best record in the team’s NESCAC era.

Tufts sees best season in NESCAC era

Barchard’s record-breaking campaign leads Tufts to playoffs BY

ADAM PARDES

Senior Staff Writer

Despite a season-ending 6-2 loss to Middlebury College in the NESCAC Tournament quarterfinals, the Tufts ice hockey team finished with its best campaign in nine years and a conviction that next year will be even better.

“I think in some ways, [the season] was definitely a success,” senior tri-captain David Antonelli said. “I think the best news is that people aren’t satisfied.”

Fully satisfied or not, the Jumbos’ 12 wins in 2009-10 were enough to give them their first winning record since the 2000-01 season, just one of the squad’s many accomplishments this year.

Some of the Jumbos’ highlights from the season included a thrilling 3-3 tie with Middlebury in their season opener, marking the first point Tufts earned against the Panthers in over two decades.

Just when it seemed that the Jumbos were about to surren-

der their 14th straight loss to Middlebury, freshman Trevor John buried a shot with 57 seconds left in regulation to knot up the score, helping the team start the season on the right foot.

Tufts also captured its first tournament victory since 2000 by beating defending-Div. III National Champion Neumann College and hometown-favorite Castleton State College to win the Rutland Herald see HOCKEY, page 7

In this weekend’s College Squash Association (CSA) Individual Championships, the country’s best talent will travel to Trinity College to compete for an individual crown. Among the competitors, juniors Alex Gross and Valerie Koo are expected to make the trip to represent Tufts in bracket play, which is divided into divisions based on individual national rankings.

“I won’t find out my opponent or where I am seeded until this weekend,” Gross said.

“The top 32 players play in the ‘A’ tournament and the next 48 play in the ‘B’ flight. That is where I’ll be, and I’m hoping that I will draw a high seed.”

Historically, Tufts has fared better in consolation matches than in the main bracket games. Last year, for instance, Gross lost in the first round in four games, but entering into the consolation bracket, he catapulted all the way to the semifinals, a run that included an impressive five-match victory in the quarterfinals against then-freshman Will Ahmed of Harvard. This year, the 2009 First-Team All-NESCAC player is hoping to find similar success if the main draw does not pan out.

“Last year I played a good first round match, but I did lose in four,” Gross said. “It was disappointing, but I was happy with how I did in the consolations, losing in the semifinals. This year, I’m real-

ly hoping to win that first round and move on, so that I’m in the top half of the second flight no matter what.

“Hopefully, the first round match will go well, but after that, who knows?” he continued. “It would be very difficult to pull off a second win, but if I don’t, I’ll shift my attention to competing in the consolations.”

Similarly, representatives of the women’s squad were eliminated early in division matchups last year, but senior Stefanie Marx also made a run into the semifinals in the consolation bracket. In the first Individual Championships appearance of her career, Koo shares a similar goal as Gross in edging out main-draw rivals but understands the importance of a strong showing even in the consolation matches.

“I think I’m going to face some tough competition in the first round, but the draws haven’t been released yet,” Koo said. “I’m pretty sure I’ll see players I’ve seen this year or the year before … If I lose in the first round, I should be playing people around my level in the consolation bracket, which should also be difficult, but I’m hoping I’ll make a run to the finals in consolation matches.”

After both squads showcased some of their best performances all season in nationals last weekend — with the men’s team making it to the semifinals and the women’s squad competing in the finals — the see SQUASH, page 7