2010-03-10

THE TUFTS DAILY

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TUFTSDAILY.COM

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 10, 2010

VOLUME LIX, NUMBER 28

Where You Read It First Est. 1980

Tufts study’s findings motivates congressman to take action

BY JENNY

WHITE

Daily Editorial Board

DANAI MACRIDI/TUFTS DAILY

The Women’s Center hosted a lunch discussing the accessibility of TUPD officers.

Students express concern about TUPD accessibility BY

CORINNE SEGAL

Daily Editorial Board

The Women’s Center on Friday hosted a forum for students to meet with Tufts University Police Department ( TUPD) Capt. Mark Keith in response to students’ concerns about the accessibility of TUPD officers.

The forum was intended to improve communication between TUPD and students and was part of a yearlong series of Friday guest lunches that the Women’s Center hosts to explore a variety of topics.

Director of the Women’s Center Steph Gauchel explained that students have voiced concerns about their expectations of TUPD officers, particularly with regards to procedures surrounding the safety escort, a round-the-clock vehicle and walking escort service.

“It just sounded like there was a lack of clarity in terms of what the students should expect,” she said.

Gauchel explained that some students have raised questions about the demeanor of dispatchers for the escort service, who they say seem less friendly than necessary.

These concerns were raised at the meeting.

“People brought up concerns about negative interactions with police with the perception that police officers weren’t as friendly as maybe they would like,” Keith said.

Worries that this would compromise campus safety motivated the decision to invite Keith to the lunch discussion, according to Gauchel.

“Even if it was just a small percentage of people who were having negative experiences, I was worried that that was becoming a rumor on campus and becoming a barrier to safety,” she said. “At that point, I felt that in my role as the Women’s Center director, it was important for me see POLICE, page 2

U.S. Rep. Maurice Hinchey (D-NY) is pushing for U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regulatory changes based on the results of a recent study by Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy researchers that showed that the food industry tends to misrepresent calorie counts on nutrition labels.

Hinchey wrote in a Feb. 24 letter to FDA Commissioner Margaret A. Hamburg that the FDA should reexamine its policies to ensure more stringent monitoring of the food labels that manufacturers publicize.

The study released on Jan. 6 measured the actual calo-

rie content of samples of 39 commercially prepared dishes, including packaged frozen foods and foods from national sit-down chains and fast food restaurants. Researchers then compared this information with the reported calorie counts.

According to Lorien E. Urban, a Ph.D. candidate at the Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy and the primary author of the study, the selection of nutrition labels her team scrutinized underreported caloric counts by an average of 18 percent.

Urban explained that current FDA policy allows for packaged food products to contain 20 percent more calories than listed.

“That doesn’t sound like a lot, but it can add up,” Urban said.

This permissible margin of error is of particular concern for Hinchey, especially since this limit appears to be frequently exceeded, according to Jeff Lieberson, Hinchey’s chief of staff.

“The American people have no idea what they’re consuming,” Lieberson told the Daily.

“There has not been any real enforcement of that allotment for margin of error. The congressman is calling for stronger oversight, as the oversight has been lax on the FDA’s part.”

Lieberson noted that the food industry has the capacity to ensure that its nutritional labels are more accurate.

“Technology has advanced so see CALORIES, page 2

Tufts recognized for partnerships with local schools BY

BRIONNA JIMERSON Contributing Writer

Tufts on Feb. 26 was given the Outstanding Community Partner Award by the Massachusetts Association of School Committees (MASC) for its ongoing partnership with Medford public schools.

The award honors Tufts’ involvement with the Medford school district, and the many community involvement initiatives spearheaded by the university.

Medford Public Schools District Superintendent Roy Belson presented the award at the eighth annual Presidential Symposium, which annually brings together community partners and Tufts personnel to strengthen town-gown relationships.

“Medford schools have been

great beneficiaries of everything Tufts has done,” Belson said at the event, as quoted in The Boston Globe. “We’re deeply indebted to the university in so many ways.”

This year’s symposium, entitled the “Presidential Symposium on Community Engaged Research,” gathered approximately 100 Tufts and community representatives to discuss community-based research.

This focus was motivated by the increasing recognition of the importance of community input to ensuring that research conducted is successful at having an extensive impact on the public. There was a roundtable discussion and opportunities for networking.

At the event, University President Lawrence Bacow pointed out that Tufts was

never intended to be a bubble.

Belson and Medford Mayor Michael McGlynn nominated the university for the award.

The award is given based on a long-term relationship with public schools, according to Glenn Koocher, executive director of MASC. “We recognize a school that has provided meaningful, sustained and valued support for the public schools,” Koocher said.

Koocher explained that the recognition is not often awarded to a university, making the honor even more remarkable.

“We recognized Amherst College six years ago,” Koocher said. “It is rare that a college is recognized, but Tufts has a history of supporting Medford.” see SCHOOLS, page 2

Somerville launches community reading program BY

KATHERINE SAWYER

Daily Editorial Board

Mayor of Somerville Joseph Curtatone and Executive Director of the Somerville Public Library Nancy Milnor last month announced the city’s upcoming launch of the “One City, One Book,” campaign, which encourages the community to collectively read a selected book.

“We just hope to get a bunch of people from different walks of life to get together and talk about a common book,” Milnor told the Daily.

The campaign, called “Somerville Reads,” will launch on March 28, and will also feature a series of events including a book discussion led by Tufts Lecturer of English Michael Downing.

The book chosen is “The Things They Carried” (1990) by Tim O’Brien, an anthology of stories about American soldiers in the Vietnam War. Milnor said a committee of library staff and members of the Somerville community last fall chose the book

because of its widespread readability as well as its appeal to young people.

“We decided on this book because it’s been widely read throughout the country,” she said. “It’s on high school reading lists, so we thought it would be a good book to bring young people into the discussion.”

Chris Strauber, Tisch Library humanities reference librarian, agreed, saying that O’Brien’s book is a common choice for reading programs and that the writing is clear and accessible.

“It’s pretty popular in first-year writing programs,” he said. “I myself read it in college in freshman English, and it was also assigned at the college where I most recently worked at.”

Milnor also believes that the book will foster good conversations in the community about common experiences with war.

“It’s about war and different perceptions of war, and we have people in TIEN TIEN/TUFTS DAILY

see READING, page 2

Inside this issue

The Somerville Public Library is part of a citywide reading campaign.

Today’s Sections

Greta Cottington turned her Senior Honors Thesis into a gallery in the SlaterConcourse.

The Daily looks ahead to the start of the men’s lacrosse 2010 season.

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THE TUFTS DAILY

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Wednesday, March 10, 2010

NEWS

Hinchey pushes for better FDA regulation of calorie listings CALORIES continued from page 1

much that food agencies should be able to do a much better job measuring nutritional content than they are,” he said.

Hinchey further believes that the FDA should require food companies to print information about the acceptable margin of error for nutritional content information clearly on the product label so that consumers are aware of potential discrepancies.

“People are being misled about what they are eating,” Lieberson said. “For a country that struggles with health and weight issues, this is a problem. If those labels are not accurate, then that’s something we need to change.”

Meanwhile, there are no FDA regulations concerning the accuracy of nutritional information published by restaurants, which were responsible for some of the largest discrepancies in reporting, with errors of as much as 200 percent on some dishes.

“Americans are eating a third of their meals out,” Urban said. “But currently restaurant foods do not fall under [FDA] regulation.”

Lieberson agreed that the FDA should extend to restaurants its regulations on the margin of error allowed for published nutritional information.

An FDA spokesperson, Ira Allen, explained that the agency has procedures in place to take action against food manufacturers that produce misleading labels.

“If a product is deemed misbranded … we can take an advisory action, letting the firm know the product does not meet the regulatory requirements,” Allen said in an e-mail to the Daily. “The next step

would be a warning letter … ultimately we can also take action through the court system.”

Allen added that the FDA at the end of February issued warning letters to several prominent national companies.

According to an official March 3 press release from the FDA, 17 food manufacturers have been instructed to amend their imprecise labels.

Hinchey, however, said that the action taken by the FDA has been minimal considering the ubiquity of misrepresentation by the commercial food industry The FDA press release also indicated that the FDA commissioner sent an open letter to the entire food industry that emphasized the agency’s dedication to ensuring that members of the public receive accurate information regarding the food they purchase. Allen reiterated this sentiment.

“The accuracy of nutritional labels is absolutely one of the major concerns of the Commissioner and food safety is a top priority of the Obama administration,” Allen said. “The agency looks forward to working with industry and consumer groups to make sure consumers know what they are eating and drinking.”

The FDA plans to soon address the misbranding of calorie content on labels.

Urban added that researchers are currently in the process of conducting a second, more comprehensive study of calorie contents in restaurants. The study will test over 300 restaurant foods in the hopes that the outcomes of the research might prompt the FDA to expand its regulation of commercial eateries.

Hinchey and his office are optimistic about the FDA’s response to his let-

SCHOOLS continued from page 1

COURTESY THE OFFICE OF CONGRESSMAN HINCHEY

Congressman Hinchey is seeking more stringent regulations from the FDA on published nutritional information. ter, especially considering the Obama administration’s focus on improving health and nutrition in the country, according to Lieberson.

He added that Hinchey expects that the FDA will give more details about the agency’s future plans.

“The congressman spoke to the FDA commissioner last week,” Lieberson said. “Over the next few weeks, we’ll get a sense of how the FDA would like to handle the issue. At that point, [Hinchey] will seek to work more collaboratively with the FDA and other members of government.”

City of Somerville to read Vietnam War book together READING continued from page 1

Somerville who have experienced war all over the world, and we thought it would bring in all these people and get some good discussions going,” she said.

Somerville Deputy Director of Communications Jaclyn Rossetti agreed that the program would facilitate a beneficial conversation on the subject.

“Not only is it a great way to increase the number of people reading the book, it’s a great topic that is important to discuss,” she told the Daily. “It will hopefully bring a large segment of the population together … with a lot of different programs on an important topic.”

Strauber added that the book provided an interesting way of looking at the Vietnam War. “It tends to be good for cultural studies and the Vietnam angle, which is popular,” he said. “What’s interesting about the work is that it’s very personal … it’s the story of soldiers in Vietnam

and the things they have in their backpacks … it’s a way of approaching a difficult subject.”

Milnor expressed her long-standing desire to bring the “One Book, One City” program, which has for over a decade been implemented in communities nationwide, including other cities in Massachusetts, to Somerville.

“Somerville’s never done it before, so since I arrived here, I’ve wanted to bring one to Somerville,” she said.

“They’ve been very successful all over the country, and people have come out in large numbers for the programs, so I thought it would be successful here too.”

A federal grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services will fund the program, providing money for the library to acquire multiple copies of “The Things They Carried” for members of the community to check out from any Somerville Public Library.

English, Spanish and digital versions of the book will be available.

Milnor hopes the program will help people increase their knowledge about

LCS groups highlighed at symposium

the library and facilitate increased community interaction.

“We hope that a lot more people will be familiar with the library,” she said. “We hope this will generate other kinds of discussion in the community, and we hope to do this program annually with a different book each year.”

Strauber explained that such programs, which encourage participants to read one book together, are relatively common.

“They’re very popular with libraries; public libraries have been doing them, and a lot of college campuses frequently do a similar program,” he said.

The Somerville Reads program will begin with a kick-off event at 4 p.m. on March 28 with a concert at the Center for Arts at the Armory, featuring a band playing Vietnam War-era music.

More events including exhibits, lectures and book discussions will be held throughout April, most of which are free and open to the public.

Ellen Kan contributed reporting to this article.

Belson in presenting the award cited programs such as the Leonard Carmichael Society’s Kids to College initiative and Tufts Literacy Corps ( TLC) as programs from Tufts that enhance the lives of many Medford public school students.

Kids to College attaches volunteers to local sixth grade classrooms to motivate high schoolers and teach them how to start preparing for college. TLC is a tutoring organization for children in Medford and Somerville that also runs innovative programs to support child development.

“The work TLC does is worth recognition,” freshman Angel Thompson, a former TLC employee, said. “They are relentless in helping these kids realize their full potentials.

Thompson believes that the high school students benefit from the chemistry with college volunteers.

“The Medford district does a great job with the students, but I think they respond extremely positively to our presence,” Thompson said. “We are the same age as some of their siblings. We are not as daunting as teachers can sometimes appear.”

Thompson expressed her excitement that Tufts garnered this honor. “It is excellent that Massachusetts recognizes how hard Tufts works, how committed we are to improvement,” she said.

Other Tufts initiatives highlighted at the symposium include a partnership with the Brazilian Women’s Group to establish a cooperative for Brazilian housecleaners that supports healthy work habits. Tufts faculty and students have also recently worked with the Welcome Project, an organization that seeks to empower immigrant communities, on an oral history and photography project.

Shape Up Somerville, a healthy living program that originated from Tufts research, has also recently taken the national stage for its success at tackling youth obesity.

Freshman Marian Younge, who attended the Presidential Symposium, highlighted Tufts’ commitment to serving the university’s partner and host communities.

“What drew me to Tufts at the beginning was how involved and invested the university is in the community,” Younge said. “It is not as if we are just a campus sitting in a city, minding our own business and thinking big thoughts in solitude. We are the community.”

Younge also noted the long-term impact of the university’s involvement with children in the community.

“By setting examples like this as a university, we are setting examples for kids in Medford,” she said.

Women’s Center discussion centers on TUPD escort service POLICE continued from page 1

to make sure that Capt. Keith knew about that information.”

Keith also noted that a number of attendees expressed their satisfaction with the escort service. “There were also several students who said that they use the system all the time, and they’ve had nothing but positive interactions,” he said. “My guess is there’s a balance.”

He pointed out that there has over the past year been a significant increase in student usage of the service. From Sept.

1, 2008 through March 2009, TUPD received 1,625 requests for escorts between the hours of 3 p.m. and 11 p.m. This academic year, from September to the present, TUPD has already received over 2,800 calls.

TUPD Sgt. Robert McCarthy said that he was aware that one issue students sometimes

complain about is the time it takes for the service to respond to calls. He explained that students often call during weekend nights when officers are especially busy.

“Sometimes it might take a while to get there,” he said “We can’t get there in four minutes sometimes. We try to, but we can’t.”

According to Gauchel, another issue that was raised was the accessibility of the service to students of all genders, with students citing incidences when they were asked to identify their gender upon requesting to be escorted.

Freshman Amy Wipfler, who participated in the forum, said that the service should be gender-blind. “If a guy feels unsafe on campus, he should be able to get a ride just as much as a female who feels unsafe on campus,” she said.

Gauchel noted that the cur-

rent system is in theory meant to be gender-blind.

“Captain Keith very explicitly said that it’s an open service, that there shouldn’t be questions about gender,” Gauchel said. “He hadn’t heard that complaint before, but I have heard other students say it.”

Keith highlighted the importance of bringing such issues and complaints to TUPD’s attention promptly by filing a report.

“It would be helpful if I were aware of it in a timely manner,” he said. “If I hear about it weeks or months later, it’s difficult for me to follow up on.”

Gauchel agreed, saying that in the future students should be comfortable working with TUPD to clarify these issues.

She also suggested making more information available online.

“For me, its really about, how can we make it a bet-

ter line of communication between TUPD and students?” she said. “Because TUPD has the best intentions, otherwise they wouldn’t offer the service at all. I just want to make sure that students feel like they have a right to use the service, they know how to use the service and they aren’t scared to use the service.”

Wipfler said that the atmosphere of the meeting was conducive to having a beneficial conversation with TUPD. “I feel it went really well because it wasn’t confrontational,” she said. “We want a discussion, and we want everyone to feel like their voice can be heard without being judged, and I think that was accomplished.”

Gauchel said that Keith was open to listening to students’ concerns and opinions.

“He was really receptive to hearing the stories,” Gauchel

said. “I think what was best was students really had the chance to voice any situation that didn’t register with them right.”

Wipfler agreed and commended Keith’s efforts to encourage an open environment. “[Capt.] Keith did a very good job of making sure that students were able to voice their issues,” she said.

It was important for students to be able to speak directly with Keith instead of working through a faculty member or administrator, according to Gauchel.

“I think that’s one of the most valuable avenues, when students get the chance to give their feedback firsthand,” she said. “It’s empowering for students, and it gives the person who’s receiving it a better perspective, and it’s just more meaningful if it’s coming from the students.”

Features

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MCT

JetBlue hopes a student-designed marketing campaign can fill seats on its flights to and from Boston.

Tufts student group takes on JetBlue marketing campaign BY

AMELIA QUINN

Contributing Writer

This summer, JetBlue Airways will be launching a guerilla marketing campaign right here in the Boston area, one which might be designed by Tufts students.

“Student groups submit their proposed campaigns, and after an elimination round in April, selected groups are invited to New York City to pitch their ideas to JetBlue execs in person,” freshman Valerie Dorer said.

“The winning campaign will be launched by JetBlue in collaboration with the winning group this summer.”

Dorer is one of a group of students in Imaginet, a pre-

professional marketing and communications organization at Tufts. The group is currently working furiously to create a plan that will catch the eye of the JetBlue executives.

“Imaginet is a relatively new ad/marketing club on campus … we essentially run a real ad agency,” Imaginet president and senior Antonella Scarano said.

“I’m a little nervous; we’re a relatively new and small club. We posted [an ad about the JetBlue promotion] on Tuftslife[.com], and we’ve had a great response from kids around campus. We just launched it two weeks ago at our Monday meeting,” she said.

To tackle the campaign, Imaginet has formed three inter-

nal teams, according to sophomore Nancy Wang, “guerilla marketing that will deal with creative ideas, brand management/finance that will deal with understanding JetBlue in and out and planning the finances of the events we will propose, [and] market research that will do the preliminary research on who we are targeting through surveys, focus groups.

“We are now running in full speed for the competition,” Wang added. “We just designed a survey to understand our audience and their air-travel behavior. Very soon, we will conduct a couple of focus groups on campus. At the same time, our creatives are coming up with awe-

some marketing plans.”

Although JetBlue is headquartered in New York City, it wants “to become the airline of Boston,” Dorer said. In light of this, the company created an ad competition for all of the colleges near Boston.

“We have until April to put together a marketing plan and e-mail it to the JetBlue rep, who will look at all the marketing plans and decide who goes on to the final round,” Scarano said.

“If we make it, we pitch it to the JetBlue executives, and the one plan that they like they will host this summer.” The target group of the campaign is 18- to 35-year-olds. Imaginet will have to present a full-fledged market-

ing plan, finances and all, if they hope to win the competition.

AdU, a company that matches clients trying to reach students with student-run advertizing agencies, organized the competition.

“JetBlue is expanding into Boston. They’re having a 20 percent increase in flights in April … They want to work with a local source that’s familiar with the ins and outs of Boston,” AdU founder Dmitriy Katsel said.

Katsel founded AdU network in 2008 while at UC Santa Barbara.

“In many ways, students can be much more creative than professionals … they have the tools see JETBLUE, page 4

University’s relations with surrounding communities enhanced thanks to Tot Lot playground BY

DEREK SCHLOM

Daily Editorial Board

No, the kids climbing all over the yellow and orange equipment and futzing around in a sandbox in the small, fenced structure on Powder House Boulevard are not Tufts students indulging in the latest trendy piece of ironic nostalgia. They are, believe it or not, actual children, utilizing the Tot Lot, a little-known feature of the Medford-Somerville campus for more than 30 years.

The Tot Lot was originally conceived in partnership with the city of Somerville and the Tufts administration based on ideas “from a couple of different directions,” Director of Community Relations Barbara Rubel said.

“First, we have open space on campus, and Somerville is a very densely populated city. Second, we have children’s programs and we have other Tot Lots for the [Tufts Educational] Daycare Center and the Elliot-Pearson School, and it wasn’t too far a leap for the community to think that we could provide one to residents as well.”

The city of Somerville, led by then-Mayor Eugene C.

Brune, approached the university around 1975, according to Rubel, to create the play structure and struck an agreement in which Tufts would provide the land for the lot and the city would bankroll the construction and the initial equipment.

Local parent Jennifer Flint frequently takes her children to the Tot Lot, and its connection to Tufts is one of the main reasons why. “My husband went to Tufts, and at one point he lived in [South Hall]. He had a window facing the playground and knew the sound of the swings pretty well. I have a couple of babysitters who go to Tufts who bring the kids here — at least one of them didn’t know about this place until I asked them to bring the kids here,” Flint said.

The Tot Lot is a prime model of the fulfillment of the Office of Community Relations’ responsibilities, according to Rubel.

“We are here to be a bridge between the campus and its host communities,” Rubel said.

“It would be irresponsible not to be engaged with our neighbors. Our job, one of our missions, is to help the community see the university as a resource.

Not everything here is available

SCOTT TINGLEY/TUFTS DAILY

The Tot Lot has been a playground for neighborhood children for over 30 years. as a resource, but a lot is, and we want the community to be aware of that and to take advantage of that.

“The Tot Lot is here for neighbors and their families,” she added.

Another duty of the Office of Community Relations is to foster relationships between the university and the municipal governments of Medford

and Somerville, an effort that Rubel appreciated when the Tot Lot required renovation in late 1990. “We do a lot of business with the cities. We need permits to operate our dormitories, for example, and we rely on them being willing to work with us when things like that come up, and you have to really have a relationship,” she said.

A small group of Somerville

parents approached the university after noticing that “some of the stuff in the Tot Lot at the time was out of date,” Rubel said.

“There have been sort of trends in playground development, and they wanted a change.” The asphalt and concrete surface of the playground was replaced with sand and grass, and much see LOT, page 4

THE TUFTS DAILY

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FEATURES

Wednesday, March 10, 2010

Club imagines innovative ad campaign for JetBlue Airways

Tot Lot part of university’s efforts to engage families in local community

JETBLUE

LOT

continued from page 3

that they love to learn in school, but they’re not really socialized into the marketing industry. [Students are] definitely an emerging source for creativity and innovation,” Katsel said.

“It’s much more creative marketing, not your standard TV ad or poster,” Scarano said, referring to guerilla marketing. “You can go completely crazy with guerilla marketing; it’s kind of underground. It’s more about creating buzz.”

Imaginet’s ideas are currently oriented toward the athletic scene in the city. “Boston’s a huge sports city, so we’re looking at what events we can play off this summer,” Scarano said.

“We want to see how we can interject JetBlue there. We’re incorporating summer and tropics and JetBlue and the T and the Common. JetBlue’s a really fun brand.”

The group will spend time working out the details of its plan after its members finish the creative brainstorming process. “In drafting the campaign we have been asked by JetBlue to plan everything as if it were being executed in the real world,” Dorer said. “This includes obtaining price estimates from local vendors, contacting the city of Boston and asking permission to hold certain events and researching the logistical feasibility and legality of any given idea. Our goal, of course, is to have our campaign implemented in Boston this summer.”

Dorer estimated the valuable experience that Imaginet’s members will gain from the effort. “Because this is the same campaign development process used by professional ad agencies, it’s also a great opportunity to take an inside look at the way the industry operates,” she said.

Although this may be the biggest opportunity that Imaginet has had so far, the marketing club is no stranger

to putting together promotions. “We develop marketing campaigns for other student groups and local businesses,” Dorer said. “The club is run just like an ad agency, so at any given meeting we will have a client come in, and as a group we brainstorm ideas according to their needs. Sometimes that’s all they want. Other clients might ask us to design a logo, flyer or poster.

Sometimes the goal is just to give that group or company exposure. Other times, campaigns are meant to promote certain events.

“Even if we don’t make the final round, this is still going to be a great experience, whether you’re interested in finances or marketing.”

Antonella Scarano Imaginet president “Every campaign is tailored to fit what the client needs. There are so many aspects to it that everyone and anyone can get involved. It’s a very interactive club.”

Previous clients of Imaginet include the TCU Senate, Boston Burger Company, Tufts Hillel and Pen, Paint and Pretzels the organization of Tufts performing arts groups. Imaginet was responsible for everything from the marketing of the rebranded “Break the Ice” Winter Bash last month to the new logo for Tufts Programming Board.

Imaginet is in the competition for more than the win. “Even if we don’t make the final round this is still going to be a great experience, whether you’re interested in finances or marketing,” Scarano said.

Carter Rogers contributed reporting to this article.

continued from page 3

of the wooden equipment was replaced with plastic-coated metal.

“For a while, climbing structures everywhere were being built out of presstreated wood,” according to Rubel. “After a few years, that fell out of favor because the treatment apparently was not really something you wanted your children climbing on.”

Students walking to and from Davis Square can often see toddlers and their guardians in the Tot Lot, but Rubel said that no official record or tally is kept of exact usage figures. “We haven’t kept track of anything like that,” Rubel said.

“My office is not anywhere near there.”

Instead, Rubel relies on Somerville residents and people who utilize the Tot Lot for information about potential hazards or complaints. “Neighbors have kept an eye on it for us,” Rubel said. For example, “there were people bringing dogs there, so we were informed of that, and now there is a sign that says that no dogs are allowed because we are concerned about keeping the sandbox as sanitary as possible.” Tufts maintenance workers also clean the lot on a regular basis.

Somerville parent Jack Coughlin remembers a recent improvement made to the Tot Lot. “They put the wood chips in pretty recently — before that one of my neighbors nicknamed [the Tot Lot] the Sahara; if it was a windy day, you’d get blasted by sand,” Coughlin said.

Use of the lot ebbs and flows, according to Rubel. “I know that [Clarendon Hill Church] on the corner of Curtis and Powder House brings kids there, but it just depends on when there are families living on Powder House,” Rubel said.

“People have kids, and then the kids grow up and obviously they don’t use the Tot Lot anymore, so if there is a slow period you just have to wait for the next wave of young families to move in.”

Though crime has not been infrequent on Powder House Boulevard in the past,

Rubel said that she is not concerned about the safety of the Tot Lot. “I’m not aware of any reported crime on the actual lot. In fact, every once in a while when I go by I see a lot of toys on the ground, so obviously people feel comfortable enough to leave toys there and not fear that they’re going to be gone.” The lot is also entirely enclosed by a fence.

“The students used to put plastic pails and shovels on the side of [South Hall] for the kids, but they don’t any more. There’s still two of whatever — pails, shovels — in the sandbox,” Coughlin added.

Rubel said that the Office of Community Relations doesn’t specifically target children in its efforts to engage with the community at large. “It’s about families,” Rubel said.

Michelle Strong is one of those local parents who has found the Tot Lot to be a great place to bring her kids. “This is the closest [playground] to my house, and it’s the safest for my kids. I have a five-year-old and a one-and-a-halfyear-old, and there’s stuff for both of them. The sandbox is her favorite, and my son just likes to run anywhere. [The Tot Lot has] been here since I was a kid; I never realized it was Tufts’ until recently. I’ve been coming here since I was my daughter’s age. It’s definitely calmer and safer here than a lot of other colleges,” Strong said.

Other endeavors by the Office of Community Relations to foster relationships with Medford and Somerville families include Kids’ Day, run by the Leonard Carmichael Society for 46 years.

“That’s a very important event in terms of the university’s relationship with the community, and we help LCS in any way we can,” Rubel said. “There are folks who bring their kids to Kids’ Day, and the parents came to Kids’ Day themselves when they were young. Multiple generations — it’s pretty amazing when you think about it.”

Alexa Sasanow contributed reporting to this article.

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Arts & Living

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ARTS FEATURE

Communities defined by ‘Who We Love’ Student tackles aging and homosexuality in Senior Honors Thesis

BY JESSICA

BAL

Daily Editorial Board

A stroll through the SlaterConcourse Gallery in the Aidekman Arts Center might yield some surprises. Most of the wall space is occupied by panels of text and quiet portraits of elderly couples or single subjects.

A few curious mementos — letters, family photographs, legal documents — set in gold frames beg viewers to ponder their significance and their stories. Against all of this, at one end of the hallway, a cluster of sequins and a shimmering Santa Claus coat glint under the spotlights.

The Santa costume belongs to Frank LaPiana, a 68-year-old gay man and one of 12 subjects chosen for Greta Cottington’s undergraduate Senior Honors Thesis — a project that has spilled over into the gallery space in the form of an exhibit entitled “Who We Love: Older Lesbians and Gay Men on Life, Aging and Love.”

“Who We Love” began as a research endeavor for the Provost’s Summer Scholars Program in June 2009, after Cottington, an anthropology major, read up on studies showing an increase in STDs among elderly residents living in care facilities. As someone interested in working with the elderly and in sexual health, the reports caught her attention. Cottington, whose mother came out as a lesbian when Cottington was nine years old, has long been interested in lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) advocacy and

COURTESY LAURA HILL

Greta Cottington looks over photographs and mementos with Camille Bourque, a subject of her senior project. wanted to find a way to combine this exploration of aging and sexuality with the gay community in Boston.

“You have queer theory and gerontology [the study of aging], and the two have almost no overlap,” Cottington said. “We talk about all forms of diversity within the identity of LGBT but we so rarely talk about different generations.”

After some background research on issues of aging within the LGBT community — regarding topics such as marriage rights, care taking, health care and other civil liberties — Cottington began networking within two social groups in the Boston area: The LGBT Aging Project and the see LOVE, page 7

MOVIE REVIEW

‘Ajami’ provides glimpse at cultural conflicts BY

LAUREN HERSTIK Daily Staff Writer

“Ajami” (2009) is titled after a neighborhood in the Israeli city of Tel AvivJaffa that is a point of tension where

Ajami Starring Shahir Kabaha, Ibrahim Frege, Scandar Copti Directed by Scandar Copti & Yaron Shani

— a darker, stranger version of Wonderland. Lewis Carroll’s classic novels practically beg for an interpretation by Burton, who delivers it in his signature style. His imagining of a young girl’s coming of age is delightfully weird and visually stunning. He pays his respects to film adaptations that came before, while adding an interesting new chapter to the now145-year-old tale.

Alice (Mia Wasikowska) is an easily likeable female lead. And while the film will inevitably find a home with angsty teenagers, Alice is decidedly not one of them. She is plucky without being insolent and perceptive without being touchy. As she meanders from one mad scenario into the

cultural tectonic plates of Muslim, Christian and Jewish people meet. To experience the film, which was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Foreign Language film at this year’s Oscars, is to have a jarring sensation of a collision; it opens with violence and stages an emotional assault for a harrowing two hours nonstop.

The film tells the interlacing stories of different neighborhood residents.

Nineteen year-old Omar seeks to protect his family from revenge-fueled attacks by members of a Bedouin group in the wake of his uncle’s violent encounter with the group. Malek, a young Palestinian refugee, is working illegally in Israel to help pay for a lifesaving surgery. Binj, a wealthy Arab, seeks to find a way to settle down in Tel Aviv with his Jewish girlfriend. Dando, an Israeli-Jewish police officer, must deal with the search for his missing brother.

Each character has his personal drama played out in one of the film’s

see ALICE, page 9

see AJAMI, page 9

ASSETS.NYDAILYNEWS.COM

An older Alice returns to Underland to slay the Jabberwocky.

Tim Burton puts his own mad spin on classic tale of ‘Alice in Wonderland’ LAUREN HERSTIK Daily Staff Writer

Alice has fallen down the rabbit hole once again, but not everything is exactly as before. In Disney’s new

Alice in Wonderland Starring Mia Wasikowska, Johnny Depp, Helena Bonham Carter Directed by Tim Burton take on the children’s story “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland” (1865) and “Through the Looking-Glass, and What Alice Found There” (1871), director Tim Burton transports a now 19-year-old Alice to Underland

Word on the Streep

T

MOVIE REVIEW

BY

ZACH DRUCKER AND CHRIS POLDOIAN | BAD SAMARITANS

his past Sunday, millions of Americans watched the 82nd annual Academy Awards for films made in 2009 on ABC. For those of you who didn’t watch, “The Hurt Locker” won just about everything, and its director, Kathryn Bigelow, double-fisted gold men while her ex-husband, “Avatar” director James Cameron, went home empty-handed and looking blue. Hosts Steve Martin and Alec Baldwin roasted many of the actors, including the big winners — Jeff Bridges for “Crazy Heart,” Mo’Nique for “Precious,” Christoph Waltz for “Inglourious Basterds” and Sandra Bullock for “The Blind Side” — all of whom popped their Oscar-winning cherries.

While the Oscars are meant to be a night celebrating movie-making in general, the entire show seemed like a glorification of Meryl Streep, nominated this year for her portrayal of Julia Child in “Julie and Julia.” And while it is widely accepted that Bullock shone in her role as Leigh Anne Tuohy (not to be confused with former Daily columnist Devin Toohey, though they share the same affinity for Juicy Couture), there’s no denying that most will remember Bullock for “Miss Congeniality” (2000). She’s best known for her romantic comedies, while Streep is best known for, frankly, being the best.

A little background on these two actresses: Streep has a record-breaking 16 Academy Award nominations and two wins, in addition to her record-breaking 25 Golden Globe nominations and seven wins.

Meanwhile, Bullock has been nominated for five Razzies. This year, she won Worst Actress for the film “All About Steve,” making her the first to be named best and worst actress in the same year.

The Cult of Meryl Streep is both powerful and prevalent. People pray facing Meryl Streep, maintain that they will have no other god but Meryl Streep and even drink cyanide-laced Kool-Aid in the name of Meryl Streep. Ever since “The Deer Hunter” (1978) put a 29-year-old Streep on the map, critics and fans worldwide have adored her. She consistently churns out award-winning roles and dazzles fans with her versatility and acting prowess. Meryl Streep is an enigma in the world of film: She doesn’t make bad movies. Moviegoers everywhere view Meryl Streep’s performances in one of two ways — she is either the talented spark that anchored a fantastic movie or she is the sole bright spot in an otherwise subpar film.

Think of “Mamma Mia!” (2008). No one liked this movie, and even if they said they liked it, they only said that because there were pretty colors and Pierce Brosnan’s singing sounded hilariously like the “Chocolate Rain” guy’s. Yet Meryl Streep got a Golden Globe nom and even won the Irish Film and Television Award for Best International Actress. And she’s from Jersey!

Part of Meryl’s appeal is that she is all about the acting. Unlike her contemporaries, you’ll never come across her in a tabloid. She’s had a pretty scandal-free career, which has worked to her advantage. People see her as a serious actress with the chops to back it up. Keep that in mind Lindsay Lohan, wherever you are…

Deep down, we do love Meryl Streep.

She’s definitely been in some great films. We (and by “we” we mean “Chris,” who even went so far as to drag it up as Julia Child in order to win a Wii in the AEPi costume contest) thoroughly enjoyed “Julie and Julia.”

But believe it or not, Meryl Streep is capable of doing wrong every once in a while. Just don’t tell her we said that. We don’t want to get on her bad side. That’s why the dinosaurs are extinct.

Zach Drucker is a sophomore majoring in International Relations, and Chris Poldoian is a sophomore who has not yet declared a major.

They can be reached at Zachary.Drucker@tufts. edu and Christopher.Poldoian@tufts.edu.

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THE TUFTS DAILY

ARTS & LIVING

Wednesday, March 10, 2010

Are you frustrated by months of searching for a great summer job opportunity?

Look no further.

WORK AT TUFTS THIS SUMMER Tufts University Conference Bureau & Summer Programs employs approximately forty college-aged individuals in over nine different positions. We offer you the opportunity to gain experience and skills necessary to effectively perform in a professional working atmosphere. Our positions are designed to strengthen your communication and interpersonal skills, as well as your ability to solve problems, manage multiple tasks simultaneously, and think on your feet. In addition, we strive to offer you a summer full of excitement and fun. We emphasize working in teams and several social events are offered throughout the summer months.

Several summer positions are still available in conference facilitation, office administration, and residential counseling. Many positions include housing on campus and duty meals.

For more details and an application, please come to our office at 108 Packard Avenue. For questions, drop by, call us at x73568, or visit our website at http://ase.tufts.edu/conferences/employment.

Free meals, housing and $$$

Wednesday, March 10, 2010

THE TUFTS DAILY

ARTS & LIVING

7

Cottington delves into LGBT community for Senior Honors Thesis and finds love, heartbreak LOVE continued from page 5

Boston Prime Timers, a social group for mature gay men.

Through luncheons and other gatherings, Cottington met a dozen Boston seniors who agreed to be interviewed for her project. Some of the interviews, like the one with LaPiana, the outgoing Secretary for the Prime Timers with a passion for colorful drag costumes, were easy.

Others, such as her interview with Richard Cassidy, 69, were more challenging.

Cassidy spent 18 years in therapy, with his doctor trying to cure him of his homosexuality through electroshock therapy. He shared all of this with Cottington, crying at times during his story and surprising her with his honesty and openness.

“My questions seemed so insignificant,” Cottington said. “I was forced to learn very quickly how to react to someone’s very personal story.” Cottington said that after her session with Cassidy, she immediately memorized her questions and began looking to have conversations with her subjects rather than trying to fit them into a formulaic study.

“I felt like every time I looked down at my sheet of paper [with questions on it] that I was insulting the conversation,” Cottington added. “You have to honor that person’s honesty by really experiencing their story.”

In addition to experiencing stories that were at times deeply personal and painful journeys, Cottington also had the opportunity to observe the

sweeter side of some seniors’ histories. While interviewing Lois Johnson, 79, and Sheri Barden, 82 — a lesbian couple who have been vocal advocates and organizers within the LGBT community in Boston for many years — Cottington was struck by the way in which the two women structured their stories around each other.

“It was a really special experience to get to be around two people who have been together so long and are more in love than ever,” Cottington said.

Though the thesis project is largely dependent on oral narratives, Cottington’s advisor, Dr. Jennifer Burtner of the Department of Anthropology, suggested that she find a way to visually display her research. The result is the collection of personal keepsakes and portraits that makes up “Who We Love.” Of the 12 seniors interviewed, nine are represented on the walls of Slater-Concourse, accompanied by photos taken by five student photographers. The inclusion of student photographers, Cottington explained, was also a way to create more links between the college community and the senior community in Boston.

“We sometimes shut ourselves off to the possibility of having social relationships with people much older than ourselves, and that’s such a waste of knowledge and experience,” Cottington said.

Laura Hill, a senior who photographed Camille Bourque, 83, for the exhibition, claimed that the portrait session — and the search for an image that proved to be candid and genuine — was both fun and chal-

lenging. “It was a really great experience as a photographer to have someone facilitating, with a completely willing subject who just sort of opened [her] door to us,” Hill said.

Senior Erin Baldassari also contributed several of the portraits that fill the gallery, including the vibrant images of LaPiana and his costumes.

“I thought Greta did a great job of picking people who represented a wide spectrum,” Baldassari said. “The people interviewed have survived a lot of persecution and won a lot of battles, so now they’re finding ways to enjoy their lives and be who they are.”

This Friday, Cottington celebrates the project with an open reception from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. in the gallery. She expects many of the interviewees and their friends to attend, as well as her mother.

“It was amazing to get to know this community,” Cottington said. “What I’ve learned is what people really need and want and have a right to is a community and companionship.”

Cottington, in exploring the connections between the LGBT and elderly communities, discovered not only a fascinating academic topic, but a worthy cause to fight for.

“Discrimination against the elderly and against LGBT people is still very much an issue,” said Cottington. “This is an example of optimism and hope, but it’s important to keep in mind that the reason why this is so special is that it’s not the case for a lot of people.”

The exhibit will be on display through March 31.

COURTESY ALYSSA IRIZARRY

Senior Greta Cottington talks with partners and vocal advocates of the GBT community Lois Johnson and Sheri Barden.

COURTESY ALYSSA IRIZARRY

Lois Johnson and Sheri Barden were key organizers for Daughters of Bilitis, one of the first national organizations for lesbian rights.

COURTESY LAURA HILL

Camille Bourque is one of the subjects of “Who We Love” and a well-known socialite at the Boston Prime Timers, a mature gay men’s club.

8

THE TUFTS DAILY

Wednesday, March 10, 2010

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Wendell Phillips Award Finalists Presentations Wednesday March 17, 2010 11:50 am in Alumnae Hall, Aidekman Arts Center The presentations are open to the Tufts Community.

All are welcome to attend.

Each Finalist will present a 3-5 minute response to the following topic: “Focusing your life solely on making a buck shows a certain poverty of ambition. It asks too little of yourself. Because it's only when you hitch your wagon to something larger than yourself that you realize your true potential.” Barack Obama Discuss a situation in which you hitched your wagon to something larger and what you learned from doing that.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The finalists for the 2010 Wendell Phillips Award are:

Michael Hawley Elizabeth Herman David Mok Daniel Wolf Arun Yang THE WENDELL PHILLIPS SCHOLARSHIP AWARD The Wendell Phillips Memorial Scholarship is one of two prize scholarships (the other assigned to Harvard College) established in 1896 by the Wendell Phillips Memorial Fund Association, in honor of Boston’s great preacher and orator. The award is given annually to the junior or senior who best demonstrated both marked ability as a speaker and a high sense of public responsibility. Coordinated by the Committee on Student Life

Wednesday, March 10, 2010

THE TUFTS DAILY

9

ARTS & LIVING

Depp and Bonham Carter steal scenes in ‘Alice in Wonderland’

Cinematic style adds realistic perspective to gripping ‘Ajami’

ALICE

AJAMI

continued from page 5

next, she maintains her calm and discovers her sense of self.

Burton distinguishes Alice by making her uncomfortable in her own society. The movie opens with her receiving a horribly awkward and clearly unwelcome marriage proposal in front of an absurd-looking Victorian crowd.

Alice arrives at what she learns is her own engagement party and is quickly battered with one ridiculous piece of advice after another from her tightly wound, corseted relatives. In a way, it seems altogether logical that Alice should excuse herself from the scene of a wedding proposal to follow the white rabbit into the woods after the morning she’s had.

While Burton maintains the integrity of the characters, he takes some creative liberties with the story. Caroll’s original plot often got caught up in word games and logic puzzles, which was the source of a certain charm. Burton’s re-imagining of the story is purposefully driven: Alice has returned after 10 years to Underland where it is foretold that she will slay the Red Queen’s (Helena Bonham Carter) dragon-like Jabberwocky and restore the White Queen (Anne Hathaway) to power.

“Alice” purists may cry foul as the plot is twisted and molded to fit the expectations of action-hungry audiences, but Burton pays homage to the original in a deftly employed flashback sequence to Alice’s first visit 10 years prior.

The plot is, at first, a bit murky and unfocused. The audience is occasionally offered a crumb of back story that isn’t fully developed or an explanation that doesn’t quite make sense. It is somewhat frustrating to be thrown into such a visually vivid world without an equally vivid explanation of what exactly is going on. But the pieces slowly fall into place, and it becomes apparent what Alice is doing in Underland, who

is on her side and who isn’t. Some characters warrant a bit more development than they’re given, but that’s largely a function of the fast-paced plot, which steadily gains momentum as it becomes more enthralling.

Johnny Depp is, as expected, brilliant as the Mad Hatter. With his first appearance, it is easy to worry that he might just be Captain Jack Sparrow with a clown wig, but the Hatter is delightfully mad in his own right. He suffers from wild mood swings and an uncontrollable tongue; he is often caught up in a whirlwind of words as his crazy ideas overtake him. Depp employs adept restraint, and the Hatter becomes more than the one-dimensional archetype of previous versions of “Alice.” He has a history, and he places his hope with Alice to restore the life he once had.

That history includes the Queens, both Red and White, who are interesting characters in their own right, though not as nuanced as the Hatter. Bonham Carter is at the height of her usual insanity. The Red Queen is a loose cannon, offing heads with reckless abandon. She is needy, vain and impossible to please. She’s the perfect foil to the White Queen, an airy pacifist with a few personality tics of her own. The Red Queen is a scene-stealer, her acerbic wit pouring from her overlarge head.

Children might be frightened and purists might be miffed by this surrealist take on “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland.” But most everyone can find something or someone to like in Underland. It is a place populated by interesting creatures and many “Harry Potter” alumni (Bonham Carter, Alan Rickman and Imelda Staunton, to name a few) who are good for a laugh and some excitement. Taken with a grain of salt — and a willingness to let Burton do his thing — “Alice in Wonderland” is a reminder of the wonderful, impossible things in the world.

continued from page 7

five chapters. Just when one story seems too much, the plot is wrenched from one point of view and thrust upon another.

In employing a nonlinear plot structure — telling the story out of order and flashing back and forth in time — the filmmakers force the audience to make assumptions about the different characters’ arcs, reserving key details until the very end. This method of storytelling is a keen commentary on the way that reality is understood in and about the Middle East. Assumptions are made and positions formulated on half-truths before the whole story is finished.

Directors Scandar Copti, a Jaffa-born Christian Arab, and Yaron Shani, an Israeli Jew, use “Ajami” as a vehicle to toy with the notion of identity. With this multilayered narrative, they effectively separate entrenched cultural conflict from personal trauma. In a story about people, Copti and Shani rearrange identity — an area of interest in which order often matters.

In an Israeli film about Tel Aviv-Jaffa, it’s easy to approach the characters as Muslims, Christians or Jews, as Israelis or Palestinians. But as the story circles back on itself and the audience must watch and re-watch powerfully upsetting drama, the approach changes. The characters are just people; their constructed identities are easily forgotten as they face incredible trials and suffering.

With a riveting story and rich characters, Copti and Shani may have achieved something very near groundbreaking in “Ajami” — assuming people go to see it.

American audiences may not know what to do with the film. Without a familiar celebrity face or an expertly mixed soundtrack to guide the way, “Ajami” is almost too real. Its cinéma vérité filming style is useful, if not somewhat overused.

That the filmmakers shot on-location, with non-actors, sometimes unscripted, lends a measure of credibility that counteracts the reliance on shaky camera han-

dling. It all adds up to a dark and grim human reality that American audiences may find hard to swallow. Viewers will soldier on, if only seeking the resolution of a well-written and gripping plot. They will find themselves more than a little disconcerted by an unrelenting, mildly horrifying parade of shocking twists that goes on just a little bit too long.

“With a riveting story and rich characters, Copti and Shani may have achieved something very near groundbreaking in “Ajami” — that is assuming people go to see it.”

Representative Israeli or Arab groups may have something to say about the portrayal of their constituencies, negative or otherwise. The argument could conceivably be made that the film portrays all Arabs as gang lords and drug dealers or all Jews as combative chauvinists. But this argument is largely irrelevant. The film portrays its characters simply as people in complex situations, and it becomes apparent that all of these personas are ultimately backed into corners based on circumstances.

It’s tempting to understand individual characters as representative of a whole group, but this film is not meant to represent synecdoche. While “Ajami” may serve as another useful addition to the world of commentary surrounding conflict in the Middle East, it is above all a good movie. Its characters are intensely human, and — if not all entirely likeable — they are relatable. The experience of watching the film is intense, often physically difficult. Like its characters, “Ajami” rises above the situation that inspired it, and becomes the inspiration.

Want to reach Tufts students?

You should advertise in the Tufts Daily.

Email business@tuftsdaily.com for more information.

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CAPTURED

Wednesday, March 10, 2010

SCOTT TINGLEY/TUFTS DAILY

Captured

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Pen, Paint and Pretzels’ Centennial Weekend Pen, Paint and Pretzels, the umbrella organization for most of the performance groups on campus, celebrated its 100 year anniversary this past weekend. Alumni and current students were treated to performances from a number of 3Ps’ members.

The weekend also featured the premiere of “subUrbia,” 3Ps’ major spring semester production.

SCOTT TINGLEY/TUFTS DAILY

“subUrbia”

The 3Ps’ major enjoyed a successful run March 4 through March 6.

JAMES CHOCA/TUFTS DAILY

Wednesday, March 10, 2010

THE TUFTS DAILY

CAPTURED

11

3Ps’ Centennial Celebration Torn Ticket II, Hype!, The Institute, Surprise Teeth, Major:Undecided, the opera ensemble, the Traveling Treasure Trunk, Sarabande and Cheap Sox all helped celebrate 3Ps’ 100th anniversary.

THE TRAVELING TREASURE TRUNK BY VIRGINIA BLEDSOE/TUFTS DAILY

THE INSTITUTE BY DANAI MACRIDI/TUFTS DAILY

HYPE! BY DANAI MACRIDI/TUFTS DAILY

SARABANDE BY VIRGINIA BLEDSOE/TUFTS DAILY

THE TUFTS DAILY

12

THE TUFTS DAILY KERIANNE M. OKIE

Wednesday, March 10, 2010

EDITORIAL | LETTERS

EDITORIAL

FDA needs to better regulate calorie labeling

Editor-in-Chief

EDITORIAL Caryn Horowitz Grace Lamb-Atkinson Managing Editors 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 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 Lorrayne Shen Louie Zong Vittoria Elliot Rebekah Liebermann Marian Swain Seth Teleky

Executive Op-Ed Editor Op-Ed Editors

A recent study by Tufts University’s Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy discovered a widespread trend in the food industry of significantly underreporting the amount of calories on nutrition labels. Specifically, the actual calorie count surpassed the stated count by an average of 18 percent, with some counts surpassing up to 200 percent on restaurant dishes and fast food.

The results of this study present a major problem for consumers. Even if cases of 200 percent inaccuracy are rare, an average 18 percent misrepresentation on each food package or meal becomes extremely detrimental given that most Americans have several food packages or meals a day.

Such misrepresentation, however, is permissible under current FDA regulations; the FDA allows a 20 percent margin of error on packaged foods’ nutrition labels, and it does not regulate restaurants’ labels at all (though several cities do have laws for restaurant labels). Moreover, even compa-

nies that exceed the 20 percent limit do not face significant consequences.

The current FDA system is clearly ineffective at both discovering inaccurate calorie counts and deterring them.

When questioned an FDA spokesperson conceded that the agency had only issued 17 warning letters to violators recently and did not disclose the number of court cases that have been initiated, in comparison to the hundreds of foods that the Tufts study found to violate government policies.

Fortunately, the problems uncovered by the nutrition study have not gone unnoticed. Rep. Maurice Hinchey (D-N.Y.) specifically cited the study as having prompted a letter of complaints and recommendations regarding the nutrition label policy that he sent to the FDA two weeks ago. His suggestions include reducing that 20 percent limit to a smaller amount, printing the margin of error on the nutrition label along with the calorie count, and strengthening inspection and enforcement mechanisms. All of these are excellent ideas

that should be promptly adopted — any misinformation about the healthiness of the food they eat is extremely harmful to consumers. Especially considering the obesity problems that the country’s population faces today, it is necessary that action be taken to end this problem.

The researchers at the Friedman School who conducted the study fully deserve the praise and attention they have been receiving as a result of their findings. They have helped Tufts University maintain its international reputation as a powerful and pioneering force among research institutions, continued its tradition of prominence in the field of nutrition science and have even raised its profile among politicians and policymakers. Most importantly, their research has benefited all Americans who are remotely concerned with the food they eat.

Hopefully, Hinchey’s suggestions will be heeded by the FDA, and Americans can look forward to a healthier future and increased awareness.

to provide an impartial third party to discuss decisions of campus media groups, explain their choices and, in some cases, critique their actions. We feel that the public editor position is both an important and admirable undertaking, and we do not doubt that Shabazz is more than qualified for the position.

The Daily, however, became concerned upon learning that Shabazz did not intend to step down as co-president of the Tufts Roundtable. Dealing with this dilemma was not easy for us, as we appreciate the function of the public editor and understand that finding a mid-term replacement would not have been easy for the Media Advocacy Board. However, our concerns regarding the potential threats to impartial-

ity brought about by Shabazz’s position on the Roundtable were too great, and we have thus decided to forego printing pieces from the public editor this semester. In our opinion, having a public editor who is also the co-president of one of the very media organizations that he is supposed to be analyzing is too much of a conflict of interest for us to ignore. Shabazz will instead be printing his public editor pieces primarily on the Public Editor Blog. The question of whether or not future public editors’ pieces will print in the Daily will be reassessed next semester.

LORRAYNE SHEN

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 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 Hena Kapadia Online Editors Audrey Kuan Darcy Mann Assistant Online Editors Ann Sloan 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

FROM THE EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Dear Readers, I hope that midterms aren’t making you all too crazy and that your semesters are going well.

I want to briefly draw attention to a topic that has been receiving a lot of attention from Tufts’ various media organizations this semester. As some of you may know, Shabazz Stuart was elected to the public editor position this semester by the Media Advocacy Board. However, you also may have noticed that no pieces from the public editor have printed in the Daily since Shabazz’s appointment.

The public editor position was created in order to provide an ombudsman for media organizations on campus. The role of the public editor is

EDITORIAL POLICY Editorials that appear on this page are written by the editorialists, 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.

Sincerely, Kerianne Okie Editor-in-Chief

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 450-word limit and letters must be verified. The editors reserve the right to edit letters for clarity, space and length.

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

Wednesday, March 10, 2010

A word from the public editor

BY SHABAZZ STUART The past three weeks — the length of my tenure so far as public editor — have given me a thorough crash course in Tufts media; an impromptu but necessary lesson in the nebulous and often factional world that constitutes our campus media.

This education began almost instantly. My appointment, still young, quickly came under the question of the managing board of The Tufts Daily. In a matterof-fact conversation, junior Kerianne Okie, the editor in chief of The Tufts Daily, conveyed to me several of her concerns about my role as public editor. Bluntly, the Daily was concerned about the fact that I had been appointed despite my leadership role within the Tufts Roundtable, a title I intended to keep. Unlike the two previous public editors, Jeremy White (LA ’09) and senior Duncan Pickard (the latter of whose term I am completing), I would be indelibly connected to a current campus media organization; to the managing board of The Tufts Daily, the implications of this fact — the promotion of a potentially impartial public editor — was simply unacceptable. A week later, The Primary Source too chimed in with their own call for me to make a difficult choice between my role at the Roundtable and my position as public editor.

The culmination of these tensions occurred two Fridays ago in a meeting hosted by Tufts Dean of Undergraduate Education James Glaser between the chair of the Media Advocacy Board (MAB), the managing board of The Tufts Daily and myself. Although the hourlong session led to a virtual impasse, it also produced a level of maturity, reasoning and negotiation that highlighted the very best of Tufts University. For its part, the MAB had reaffirmed its confidence in its selection of public editor given

the difficulty of finding people to fill the position and lack of time in the semester for another transition; The Tufts Daily meanwhile had cemented its concerns about printing work from a public editor to which the public might deem impartial and compromised. However, the cordial exchange had left all the participants with an abiding respect for each others’ work, a refreshing realization of the tremendous work, dedication and good faith to which we all invest into our work in campus media.

Since that meeting, I have often been asked if I bear ill will toward The Tufts Daily or The Primary Source for their resistance to my ascendance to the public editor position. The truth is, my respect and faith in these publications is stronger than ever. In a world where principles are often discarded, these campus institutions courageously refused to compromise on their definitions of the public editor’s role.

In an ideal world, the public editor would be completely detached from all involvement with third-party campus media organizations, residing in a bubble of insulation that would all but ensure fairness and partiality. However, as is often the case with life, circumstances present an all-too-inconvenient dose of complexity. In this community of about 5,000, it can be difficult to recruit the perfect person for the public editorship, especially in light of a sudden resignation. My selection as public editor does not represent the ideal situation, but rather the reality of such circumstances, the result of a difficult choice that was made by the MAB executive board given the inherent difficulty and time involved with finding someone to fill the position.

Going forward, I want to clarify several things. Firstly, as a public editor who admits that he serves in less than ideal circumstances, it will be my intention

to only complete the remaining months of Duncan Pickard’s term, the previous public editor whom my appointment was intended to replace. In the meantime, I will assist the MAB in finding a strong candidate for the next academic year.

From an administrative perspective, I will also go about enhancing the resources and support of the office. Finally, I will continue to comment on and critique on-campus media issues (albeit not in the Daily); my columns and op-eds can be found mainly on the Public Editor’s blog on the MAB Web site, as well as other publications and platforms.

During the past few weeks, given all the ups and the downs of the public editorship and the questions and controversy that have surrounded my tenure, I have tried to stay true to the one principle that has guided my career at Tufts thus far: to fundamentally leave our community in better condition than when I found it. It is with this spirit and ethos that I will serve as public editor for the next two months.

My hope is not simply to strengthen the office of public editor, but to do so in a way that enables it to be more relevant in the lives and issues of the Tufts media community and student body. Moreover, during the next two months, instead of just commenting and observing, I hope to engage in true dialogue. I encourage you to reach out to me via e-mail at Shabazz.Stuart@ tufts.edu or Facebook.com with your comments, questions or concerns on the state of campus media.

My name is Shabazz Stuart, and it’s truly an honor to be your public editor.

Shabazz Stuart is a junior majoring in political science and sociology. He is the public editor and is co-president and founder of Tufts Roundtable, a non-partisan on-campus social media platform.

McCarthyite Zionism

BY IBRAHIM

KHWAJA

“Schuld” — it’s German for guilt. If certain German universities don’t feel some “schuld” for canceling Norman Finkelstein’s lectures, it may be because of McCarthyite Zionism. Norman Finkelstein is an internationally renowned scholar of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Finkelstein grew up in New York as the son of two Jewish Holocaust survivors.

His controversial views revolve around his idea that a “Holocaust Industry” exploits the Holocaust. This “industry” uses the Holocaust as a tool to further Israel’s interests along with other profiteering purposes.

Recently, four of Finkelstein’s lectures in Germany were cancelled. After Bak Shalom, a German neoconservative Zionist group, lobbied for Finkelstein’s appearances to be canceled, the group that was sponsoring one of the lectures, the Böll Foundation, stated, “In our judgment, Finkelstein’s behavior and his theses do not remain within the limits of legitimate critique.” This begs the question: Are there limits of legitimate critique? And if yes, what exactly are they?

It’s evident that freedom of speech is still not a value that everyone is very fond of.

Bak Shalom’s affiliate stated, “Finkelstein is internationally popular among anti-Semites” and went further to accuse him of being a revisionist historian who is an anti-Semitic Jew. Finkelstein earned his master’s degree and Ph.D. at Princeton

University, has taught at Rutgers, DePaul and New York University and has been praised by Jewish and non-Jewish scholars such as Avi Shlaim and Noam Chomsky.

It’s not surprising to find a neoconservative pro-Zionist group defame and label as anti-Semitic a scholar who speaks against their imposed status quo: a status quo that believes Israel can do no wrong.

While Bak Shalom may be an active group in Germany, rest assured that we have our fair share of neoconservative pro-Zionist groups here in America. It is not a coincidence that Israel, a country with a GDP per capita of approximately $27,000, continues to receive more foreign aid than almost any other country in the world. In fiscal year 2010 Israel received $2.775 billion, according to American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), and Egypt was the second-largest recipient of aid, receiving $1.71 billion. You can think of AIPAC as Bak Shalom on steroids, as it has significant leverage in both houses of Congress and in the White House with both Democrats and Republicans.

University of Lubeck (Germany) Professor Rolf Verleger, chair of the German section of the European Jews for a Just Peace, compared this phenomenon of accusing people of being anti-Semitic to the McCarthy era when U.S. Senator Joseph McCarthy accused Americans of being disloyal, communist or communist sympathizers.

McCarthyism, like this new trend in labeling people as anti-Semitic, is based

13

OP-ED

on demagogic attacks where the onus isn’t to prove a person’s links with communism, or in this case an inherent prejudice or hostility towards Jews, but rather to stir sufficient suspicion to ruin an individual’s reputation and credibility. In Senator McCarthy’s case, the heinous drama didn’t decline until McCarthy accused the army of being Communist. Public sentiment shifted against McCarthy, and his accusations were seen as illegitimate. A similar fate awaits McCarthyite Zionism if stubborn pro-Zionist groups continue to deny any wrongdoing on Israel’s behalf and react to those who seek justice by labeling them as anti-Semitic.

Finkelstein has repeatedly said that his parents’ experiences during the Holocaust taught him to help the Palestinians, as those who were oppressed 70 years ago have now become the oppressors. This age of McCarthyite Zionism is bound to end. At that point the adamant Zionists who have not learned their fair share of lessons from history ought to know that, although neither I nor any human-rights activists agree, Israel’s crimes against humanity are perfect fodder for those who still believe the Holocaust was justified. Israel must think of the consequences of its heinous actions beyond the short term — human persecution is never justified.

Ibrahim Khwaja is a junior majoring in International Relations.

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.

TEDDY MINCH | OFF MIC

Paying the price

T

he financial mess that exploded a year and a half ago exposed the massive housing bubble in the United States that had been steadily growing for years. As a nation, we still have yet to completely recover from its violent pop.

More frighteningly than the slow recovery, however, is the lack of a coherent response from the federal government to adequately address the very circumstances that allowed the housing bubble to grow as it did.

Though certainly not as intricate as bank reform, preventing another national mortgage disaster poses a unique challenge to economic policymakers. Unlike Wall Street, where dominoes fell sequentially, a few mortgage defaults won’t cause a crisis — gauging the mortgage crisis is more subtle. Imagine an ice cube tray: When the water spills over from one square to another, the potential for a flood increases exponentially. Once defaulted mortgages reach a critical mass, a crisis is born — the ice cube tray is flooded.

The response to mortgage defaults and the disastrous trading of mortgage-backed securities has been much more measured as a result of this subtlety and complexity.

That measured response, President Barack Obama’s $75 billion loan modification, “Making Home Affordable” program, has fallen short of expectations. As such, the administration announced Monday that it would endorse the short-selling of the nation’s most troubled mortgage assets.

That’s right: a federal short-selling program.

Under this new program, the lender will receive $1,000, and the government will not only step in and actually mediate the shortselling process, effectively strong-arming the lender into accepting a lower payment, but it will also offer up to $1,500 to the individual for “relocation assistance.” Not only does the borrower get to sell the property back to the bank for less than what was paid initially — rather than file for foreclosure — the borrower’s credit, the program stipulates, is more or less maintained. Furthermore, under the program, the lender can’t sue the borrower for breaking the terms of a legally binding contract — the mortgage agreement.

With this short-sale program Americans who irresponsibly spent well beyond their means are absolved of all responsibility. They have no legal obligations, and their credit remains intact, allowing them to do it all over again. The consequences are suddenly removed as a result of this program, and the individual has no incentive to change behavior or reckless spending patterns.

Now certainly, not all individuals struggling to make mortgage payments have been so egregious. With unemployment around 10 percent, people losing jobs and benefits are running out of ways to keep a roof over their heads. It is for these individuals that the “Making Home Affordable” act was intended — and on whose behalf the government is well within its rights to provide incentives for lenders to restructure contract terms, as it has done since November.

But the Americans who decided to enter into a mortgage agreement knowing full well they could not afford it must be held accountable for their choices. Though the solution to this problem lies outside the reach of the market’s invisible hand, these consumers deserve neither a decent credit rating nor $1,500 for “relocation costs” courtesy of the American taxpayer. Rather, they deserve to have their feet held to the fire, to bear the consequences of their reprehensibly irresponsible actions.

Furthermore, returning to the ice-cubetray analogy, with a massive spike in shortsales, our mortgage “tray” would flood very quickly. Even more rapidly decreasing home values would set the stage for real estate investors to swoop in once again and begin building the bubble anew. The government should keep a close eye on the mortgage sector, but it is most certainly overstepping its bounds with this short-selling program. It needs to let Americans learn a hard, valuable lesson: If you can’t afford it, don’t buy it.

Teddy Minch is a senior majoring in political science. He hosts “The Rundown,” a talk show from 3 to 5 p.m. every Friday on WMFO. He can be reached at Theodore.Minch@tufts.edu.

OP-ED POLICY The Op-Ed Op-ed section of the Tufts Daily, an open forum for campus editorial commentary, is printed Monday through Thursday. Op-Ed 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 Op-ed editors. The opinions expressed in the Op-ed Op-Ed section do not necessarily represent the opinions of the Tufts Daily itself.

14

THE TUFTS DAILY

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Wednesday, March 10, 2010

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Juniors Hessler and Molloy support each other both on and off the field MEN’S LACROSSE FEATURE continued from page 18

11, 2008. He never looked back after that point, racking up 23 goals and 23 assists that year for a team-leading total of 46 points.

Senior Keith Hinton, a former goalie for the Tufts lacrosse team and a native of Maryland, has a unique perspective on Hessler, having played with him at Tufts and against him several times in high school.

“He is one of the most complete lacrosse players I ever played with or against,” Hinton said. “He’s not the most physically talented — he’s not the fastest or strongest — but his field vision is incredible. I have not played with a lot of guys that see the field and the play developing so early. It’s like everyone else is playing checkers and he’s playing chess. He sees two passes ahead, and he knows when to get rid of it and when to take it to the hole. He makes every player around him better.”

While Hessler was being heavily relied upon from day one, Molloy took a little time to work his way into the rotation, not starting until the seventh game of the 2008 season against Trinity.

But once he got there, he proved that he belonged.

“We had a three-game losing streak, which we don’t tolerate and don’t expect, so we felt going into that Trinity game that we were making some changes,” Daly said. “We moved lineup to include Ryan, who was doing a great job against the first defense in practice. Defensive coaches said this guy needs to play, so we threw him in and he had four goals, and that’s how you make the most of your opportunity.”

“I was definitely nervous going into my first game, but then the first minute of the game D.J. found me for my first collegiate goal, so that kind of settled me in,” Molloy added.

Hessler and Molloy quickly developed a strong friendship during their freshman year, which has only grown

since. They currently live in adjoining rooms in the same off-campus house, and they joke about their fictional “dates” to J.P. Licks and Outback Steakhouse. That chemistry off the field has undoubtedly helped to improve their teamwork on it.

“Those guys have clicked from the beginning,” Daly said. “They’re just on the same page, and there’s times when as coaches you have a different angle, and we don’t even know how D.J. sees Ryan, but he just seems to know where he is all the time, which is a big part of their success.”

The Hessler-to-Molloy combination has become a common one for the Jumbos — and an effective one as well. In their sophomore season in 2009, Hessler broke the Tufts records for assists and points with 47 and 89, respectively, while Molloy accumulated 44 goals — including eight in a single game against Bates on March 3 — which ranks as the fourth-most by any Jumbo in a single season and was the most by any underclassman in the NESCAC. Both of them also shot over 40 percent while taking over 100 shots apiece.

“It’s just being a bit comfortable — I know what he’s going to do — and trusting each other,” Hessler said.

“What I look for is when [D.J.] first gets the ball, he looks up,” Molloy added. “And then when he goes to dodge — as soon as he initially looks up, he knows where I’m going to cut — so he, when he dodges, he’s dodging to set up where I’m going. So it’s like he’s dodging knowing he’s going to pass the ball to me.”

With Hessler and Molloy leading the way, the Jumbos advanced to the conference title game that year and earned their second-ever NCAA Tournament berth.

Additionally, Hessler’s phenomenal season, in which he had at least five points in nine games, earned him numerous accolades. He was named to

the All-NESCAC first team and won the Clarence “Pop” Houston award for best male athlete at Tufts. He also earned a large percentage of the vote for Lacrosse Magazine’s Div.-III Preseason Player of the Year. But despite all the individual honors, Hessler has managed to keep his focus on the success of the team.

“Awards are cool, but I just put them up on the wall and don’t think about them anymore,” Hessler said. “I’d love to say, ‘Yeah, I want to get more points than last year,’ but 89 points didn’t get us any titles. If I score 60 points and we win two championships, I’ll be happier than [if I scored] more points for nothing. I definitely want to play better, but does it really mean that I need more points to be a better player, or does it mean just being a better leader … and sometimes slowing the ball down?”

Meanwhile, Molloy was largely passed over for those honors, as he was overshadowed by record-breaking seasons from Hessler and former captain Clem McNally (LA ’09), who last year set the Tufts mark for most goals in a season.

But Molloy doesn’t seem to mind the lack of attention paid to him.

“I don’t really think about it that often,” Molloy said. “It’s great motivation. It just motivated me to go out and prove that I was deserving, whether or not I won [an] award … Personal success is [not] anything I’m trying to gain. I think that’s more of a reflection of our team success, so if our team does really well then all of the other awards will fall into place.”

The team-first attitudes of both Hessler and Molloy are what Daly praises them most highly for — even more so than he does for their play on the field.

“They don’t care too much about this place or that place [in history],” Daly said. “They care about team success and wins, and I think they would give up their spots on the field if our team had a better chance of winning. And if

you look at D.J.’s box scores ... all of his big games were in league games where they mattered. That’s really where I think those guys see the value in the team and in team success, and they’re not just trying to get theirs or their points or worry about some of those things.”

With the graduation of McNally, Hessler and Molloy will now be counted on to step into leadership roles on the team. But Daly has no doubts that the two will easily be able to fulfill their newfound responsibilities.

“Both of them have grown as leaders, and [their confidence and consistency] has just grown as they’ve matured as men,” Daly said. “D.J.’s a little bit more soft-spoken; he brings everyone together and explains what’s wrong.

He gets his results by just his presence, whereas Ryan is completely comfortable speaking up and is not afraid to tell someone what everybody’s thinking. And he’s just real comfortable in that role and he’s a little bit more in your face about it, but he’s very effective. He’s not just a lunatic yelling and screaming — he speaks up when he needs to.”

Last time the team made it to the NCAA Tournament, it followed up with a disappointing season, going 9-6 overall and getting bounced from the NESCAC Tournament in the first round. But Molloy and Hessler are confident in the team’s ability to improve on last season — contending for both a conference title and for an opportunity to win the first NCAA game in program history.

“We were a young team [last year], so I think that’s definitely going to help us,” Molloy said. “We all have experience in the NCAA Tournament, so if there was any nervousness at all, it’s going to be gone. So I think we’re definitely going to improve on last season.”

“I know we have the pieces, the talent — everything we need to make a serious run,” Hessler said.

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THE TUFTS DAILY

18

Wednesday, March 10, 2010

SPORTS

MEN’S LACROSSE FEATURE

Remarkable duo leading Jumbos, each other into history books BY

DAVID HECK

Daily Editorial Board

When one has a conversation with juniors D.J. Hessler and Ryan Molloy, the only thing that stands out is what typical Tufts students they are.

Hessler, standing at 6-foot-1 and a generous 175 pounds, is a chemical engineer who graduated high school near the top of his class. Molloy, 5-foot-9 and tipping the scales at 180, is a quick-witted economics major who isn’t afraid to make himself the punch line.

One would never guess that the two of them compose one of the most dynamic attack tandems in the history of the men’s lacrosse program a tandem that has produced an unheard-of 218 combined points in just two years at Tufts.

But to those who know Hessler and Molloy — those who know how driven they are in all their endeavors, academic and otherwise — their success on the lacrosse field is less than shocking.

“It wasn’t much of a surprise, the impact [Ryan] had as a freshman,” said senior tri-captain Mike Droesch, who attended Ward Melville High School with Molloy. “He was a very talented player from high school; he was always a good finisher, especially on the crease, and that’s only gotten better since his time here.”

“I knew [D.J.] would make an immediate impact,” said Rick Brocato, Hessler’s high school coach. “And I believed in my heart of hearts that he was going to be an All-American … I knew with his drive and determination to be best, he would thrive, and I knew coach [Mike] Daly would work on the physical side of his game, getting him in weight room.

So you put all those factors together, and for me it was a no-brainer, and that he would be an instant success.”

JAMES CHOCA/TUFTS DAILY

Personal — Year: Junior — From: Monkton, Md. — Height: 6’1” — Weight: 175

THE

D.J. HESSLER FILE

see MEN’S LAX FEATURE, page 17

Tufts Men’s Lacrosse

THE

RYAN MOLLOY FILE

2009 Statistics — Assists: 47 (1st in program history) — Points: 89 (1st in program history) — Goals: 42 (6th in program history) —Games with at least five points: 9 Career — Finalist for Lacrosse Magazine Div. III men’s preseason Player of the Year — 2009 Second-Team All-America — 2009 First-Team All-NESCAC — 2009 First-Team All-New England — 2008 Second-Team All-NESCAC

Hessler graduated in 2007 from St. Paul’s, a private high school that boasts one of the most prestigious programs in lacrosse-crazed Maryland, as an Academic All-American.

Coming from a school that churns out Div. I prospects, Hessler developed not only the physical skills necessary to play lacrosse, but also the cognitive aptitude to excel at it.

“For lacrosse, it’s just such a good area,” Hessler said. “I’ve been playing since I was four maybe. They have great clinics there, everything set up, so you just go through the entire thing. Especially playing where it’s so popular and everyone’s been playing for so long, it’s completely different [than] going some place … that’s just starting a program. So playing all the time with kids who have a ton of skill, who know what they’re doing on the field, makes you not only a better player but a smarter player.” “[Hessler] grew exponentially, no doubt, over the course of his career,” Brocato said. “He made the team as a junior after leading JV to a championship … and we could see he was a real technician.

Everything he did was fundamentally really sound. We used to call him ‘Textbook.’ He would make the right read, the right pass. Senior year he was our quarterback. D.J. was the guy that made our offense go and opened it up for others.

He knew not only what his job was supposed to be, but what everyone else on the field was supposed to do as well.”

At Tufts, Hessler wasted no time impressing his coaches and teammates; in his first two games, he racked up 12 points — seven goals and five assists — and hit a game-winner in double overtime to defeat Eastern Connecticut on March

Personal Year: Junior From: Setauket, N.Y. Height: 5’9” Weight: 180 2009 Statistics — 44 goals (4th in program history, 5th in NESCAC) — 8 goals on March 31 vs.

Bates (2nd in program history) — 62 points (3rd on team) —.419 shot percentage (1st on team of starters) Career — Scored 4 goals in first game — 17 goals freshman year (3rd on team) — 3 career game-winning goals — 10 career postseason goals in 5 games

PHOTOS BY JAMES CHOCA/TUFTS DAILY

THE TUFTS DAILY

Wednesday, March 10, 2010

19

SPORTS

Williams looks to return to 2008 NESCAC glory

ETHAN LANDY | CALL ME JUNIOR

A broken nose and a black eye

NESCAC MEN’S LACROSSE continued from page 20

for Bates as it tries to climb out of the NESCAC cellar.

Bowdoin: With a 10-6 overall record (6-3 NESCAC), the Polar Bears roared to a No. 2 regular season finish in 2009.

Bowdoin’s season came to an end, though, with a 10-8 loss to Tufts in the NESCAC semifinal. But with junior Jake McCampbell back in goal and the number three through five scorers all back, Bowdoin cannot be counted out.

Colby: Finishing the 2009 season just above .500 (8-7 overall, 4-5 NESCAC), the Mules fell into the middle of the pack at No. 6 by the end of last season. With the loss of top-scorer Caddy Brooks to graduation, the team will look to senior Whit McCarthy, who placed fourth in the conference with 2.73 goals-per-game last season.

Connecticut College: Gaining the title of NESCAC cellar-dweller, the lastplace Camels sported just one conference win in the 2009 season and a 6-9 record overall. In goals alone, Connecticut College came in ninth place last season with 72 total, 42 fewer than first-ranked Tufts. This year, the team may look to rebuild with the help of a stacked roster of underclassmen as well as returning senior Steve Dachille, who led the team with 35 goals, and senior goalie Mark Moran, who was second in save percentage.

Middlebury: Despite finishing first in the regular season last year, the Panthers have not faced similar success in the NESCAC tournament, losing two years straight in overtime matches of the semifinals round when ranked No. 1 in the conference. Though Middlebury sat just behind Tufts in goals, assists and points last season, the Panthers may face difficulty this season offensively with the graduation of top scorers Skyler Hopkins, Tom Petty, and All-American Mike Stone.

Trinity: After a solid 6-2 record going into April last season, the Bantams squad (10-6 overall, 4-5 NESCAC) had some success in NESCAC action, but stronger conference teams like Middlebury, Wesleyan and Bowdoin eventually got the best of them. Though the team finished the 2009 season with quarterfinals elimination from the NESCAC Tournament, the Bantams have reason for optimism this year. Slated to return this season is senior Harper Cullen, who was third in the conference with 48 goals.

Tufts: In 2009, the Jumbos led the NESCAC in goals, goals per game, assists, assists per game, points and points per

“

JAMES CHOCA/TUFTS DAILY

Defending NESCAC champion Wesleyan is a likely contender for the conference crown, but the loss of the core of its starting staff will not makes a repeat easy. game. Finishing third in the NESCAC, they made it to the conference finals, where they fell to No. 4 Wesleyan. This year, led by juniors D.J. Hessler and Ryan Molloy, Tufts is ranked No. 9 in the nation and will look to claim the NESCAC crown it missed out on last year.

Wesleyan: The defending NESCAC champions, the No. 11 Div. III team in the nation and the sixth-best team of the past decade, according to Laxpower.com, the Wesleyan Cardinals have quite the pedigree. But the graduation of 14 seniors, including USILA Div. III Defenseman of the Year and first-team All-American Spike Malangone, the Cardinals may have some holes to fill. Chief among the returning players is senior quint-captain Jon Killeen,

Tufts faces rematch with Western New England

NCAA CHAMPIONSHIP QUALIFIERS

MEN’S LACROSSE

Men’s Swimming and Diving

who was last season’s second leading scorer for the Cardinals. With a season-opening, 8-3 win over Salve Regina on Saturday, Wesleyan looks to be well on its way to another successful campaign.

Williams: After winning the NESCAC title in 2008, 2009 was somewhat of a disappointment for the Ephs, when they bowed out of the conference tournament in the first round. Working against a Williams resurgence is the transfer of leading scorer David Hawley and the graduation of All-Americans goalie Michael Gerbush and midfielder Brian Morrissey. Featuring just one senior on attack this year, the Ephs will rely heavily on sophomore Sam Hargrove, who led all NESCAC freshman in goals last year.

On Monday, the NCAA officially released the names of the athletes who qualified to compete in its National Championship events. Nine members of the men’s swimming and diving team and one from the women’s team will be representing Tufts, while five from the men’s indoor track and field squad and two from the women’s will contest their own events. Here are the athletes who will be representing the Jumbos in the upcoming championships:

continued from page 20

to beat us.”

Things do not get much easier in the Jumbos’ out-of-conference schedule, with games scheduled against No. 20 Skidmore and No. 17 Western New England. The game against Western New England holds extra significance for the Jumbos, as they look to avenge a first-round loss to the Golden Bears in the NCAA Tournament last year.

“That game is definitely circled on the calendar,” Molloy said. “It is a huge game for our program, because they are always a good team. It is always a fun game, and it is a game we want to win year in and year out.”

While many questions remain in the Tufts locker room, there is no doubt that the team is set up for success. With a top-10 ranking and a lethal offense, the Jumbos have the tools to compete with any team in the country. But as they approach their season-opening game on the road against Amherst on Saturday, the team knows that this year, there is no room for error.

“Everyone has been doing a lot of work in the offseason preparing for this season,” Bialosky said. “I am looking forward to playing against someone with a different colored helmet this weekend and showing what we can do.”

Andrew Altman (400- and 800-yard freestyle relays) Zed Debbaut (200-yard medley, 400-yard medley relay, 100-yard breaststroke) Michael Del Moro (200-yard medley, 400-yard medley relay, 100-yard backstroke) Gordy Jenkins (200-yard freestyle relay) Patrick Kinsella (200-yard medley, 200-, 400- and 800-yard freestyle relay, 400-yard medley relay, 100-yard butterfly, 100-yard freestyle) Rob Matera (1- and 3-meter dive) David Meyer (400- and 800-yard freestyle relay) Owen Rood (50-, 100- and 200-yard freestyle, 200-yard medley, 200- and 400-yard freestyle relay, 400-yard medley relay) E.J. Testa (200- and 800-yard freestyle relay) Women’s Swimming and Diving Lindsay Gardel (1- and 3-meter dive) Men’s Track and Field Ben Crastnopol (Distance medley relay) Jared Engelking (Pentathlon) Jesse Faller (DMR, 5,000 meters) Billy Hale (DMR) Matt Tirrell (DMR) Women’s Track and Field Nakeisha Jones (Triple jump) Amy Wilfert (1 mile run)

I let my emotions get the best of me in a heated situation. I take full responsibility for my actions.”

That apology is from November, when New Mexico’s Elizabeth Lambert was suspended indefinitely after a series of rough plays, including pulling an opposing player down by her ponytail in a Mountain West Conference soccer tournament game against BYU. “I let my emotions get the best of me and I am deeply sorry for my actions.”

That is the beginning of Baylor star Brittney Griner’s statement after her punch broke Texas Tech’s Jordan Barncastle’s nose last Wednesday in her team’s 69-60 win. The situation, the apology and even the reaction are all strikingly similar to Lambert’s, with one major difference: the punishment.

While Lambert was removed from the team, Griner was suspended for two games, one mandated by the NCAA and a second added by Baylor for good measure. Well, that was not enough.

Assuming the Bears win their firstround game in the Big 12 Tournament Thursday, Griner will be back on the court Friday, barely a week after violently attacking an opposing player on the court. This sends the message loud and clear: Baylor is more worried about winning games than conduct on the court.

It is obvious that Baylor is not the same team without Griner’s 19 points, 8.8 rebounds and six blocks per game. And to be fair, Griner is just a freshman playing in her first year of college ball, and she came onto campus as somewhat of a celebrity, a 6-foot-8 dunking sensation and YouTube.com legend. She might feel entitled to act however she wants without any consequences. That is why Baylor’s inability to make her take real responsibility for her actions is deplorable.

What would be so bad about suspending Griner for the rest of the season? So, you probably don’t go all that far in the NCAA Tournament. While the team would suffer, one would hope that such a decision would at least show Griner something. Plus, she has not even finished one year at Baylor, so it is not like she cannot come back next season, when she would hopefully be mature enough to remember that basketball is a physical game that involves a little back and forth.

Instead, Baylor seems to be telling Griner that her conduct, while not acceptable, is not that serious. Coach Kim Mulkey has insisted that Griner is a “gentle giant” and that she is remorseful. Sure. As they say in “Tommy Boy” (1995), “I can get a good look at a T-bone by sticking my head up a bull’s ass, but I’d rather take a butcher’s word for it.”

I’d love to believe she is remorseful. After all, she is just 19 years old; I’d like to think that if I pulled a similar stunt, someone would say the same thing about me.

But come on. Realistically, Griner will barely have time to even let her actions sink in before she is back on the court.

If you ask me, Baylor should have given her the LeGarrette-Blount treatment.

The former Oregon back was suspended after throwing a punch at Boise State’s Byron Hout in his team’s season-opener. But after missing eight games of his senior season, he proved to coach Chip Kelly that he was mature enough to be reinstated. He hurt his own draft stock and his team, but he probably came out a better person for it.

The sad thing is, this space could have been reserved for lauding the accomplishments of Geno Auriemma’s Connecticut Huskies and their record 71st straight win on Monday night. Instead, I ended up talking about a black eye on the game, not its new gold standard.

It isn’t easy for women’s sports to get the recognition they deserve. All too often it is for the wrong reasons, as seen in the case of Lambert and Griner. I’m sorry to say, but Baylor’s treatment of this predicament just adds to that assessment.

Ethan Landy is a senior majoring in English. He can be reached at ethan.landy@ tufts.edu.

Sports

20

INSIDE Men’s Lacrosse Feature 18 Call Me Junior 19

tuftsdaily.com

MEN’S LACROSSE PREVIEW

Jumbos look to trample NESCAC with high-octane offense Squad has first conference championship and return to NCAA Tournament in its sights BY

ETHAN STURM

Senior Staff Writer

For the men’s lacrosse team, winning is no longer enough. The team has dominated regular season play year after year and has spent much of the past decade in the top 20 nationally.

Yet postseason success has continued to evade the Jumbos, who have never won the NESCAC Tournament and have never made it past the second round of the NCAA Tournament.

But this year, the No. 9 Jumbos look to change all of that.

“Winning games is obviously a big thing, but we are always geared to getting to our goal, which is winning the NESCACs and winning the NCAA Championship,” All-American junior attacker D.J. Hessler said. “In all of our lockers we have a goal sheet, at the end of the year; we need to be at our best.

Because just winning games isn’t what we set out to do.”

Two of the cornerstones of the Tufts offense that led the NESCAC in goals per game this past season, Hessler and fellow junior attacker Ryan Molloy, will be returning. Hessler led the conference in points and assists last year, while Molloy was second on the team in goals.

The Jumbos will also continue to retain the services of sophomore midfielder Nick Rhoads and senior tri-captain Mike Droesch. The two combined to take almost every faceoff for the Jumbos last season and won about 55 percent of them. Droesch was also a key to the scoring offense, finishing with the third-most assists on the team.

“The loss of Clem [McNally (LA ’09)] was hard, but the experience in our midfield is going to be huge, and some guys who didn’t get a chance last year are going to step up,” Molloy said. “Honestly, I think we are going to be better on the attack than we were last year.”

This could be vital to the team’s success, as the Jumbos defense is much less experienced. Brett Holm, who will be coaching the defense for his second year, will have to deal with the losses of Jordan Yarboro (LA ’09) and Danny Bialosky (LA ’09). The defense now has only four upperclassmen: junior Alec Bialosky and seniors Darius BittleDockery, Evan Crosby and tri-captain Eytan Saperstein. The young group will look to improve on last season, when the team allowed the second most shots in the NESCAC. “Communication is definitely the number one area we need to improve,” Alec Bialosky said. “As long as everyone is on the same page and going full speed, it shouldn’t be an issue. A young team is going to make some mistakes, but if we play hard the mistakes will make up for themselves.”

Tufts can ill afford a repeat of that high number of shots allowed, as for the first time in four years the Jumbos will not have the sure-handed Matt Harrigan at goal. Instead, junior Bryan Petillo, sophomore Steven Foglietta, and freshman Tyler Page will be competing to earn the starting job.

Between the three, they have spent fewer than 120 minutes in a collegiate goal, a sharp contrast to Harrigan. The defense will need to keep some of the pressure off of the young goalkeepers

VIRGINIA BLEDSOE/TUFTS DAILY

The Tufts offense, which led the NESCAC in all categories in 2009, is looking to reign supreme once again this year. until they can get better acclimated to the position.

“I feel any one of our goalies on the roster can step in and play,” Bialosky said. “I feel confident in every one of them and I’m not worried about it at all. They are all capable of stepping in and filling [Harrigan’s] shoes.”

The road through the NESCAC will be just as perilous as ever. The conference boasts four top-20 teams, including No. 19 Bowdoin, No. 11 Wesleyan and No. 7 Middlebury. Middlebury, the defending national semifinalist, should be favored to win the conference crown,

NESCAC MEN’S LACROSSE

but it is by no means out of reach for Tufts. Though the Jumbos have dropped four straight to the Panthers, two of the games were decided by just one point.

“When you play any team in the NESCAC, you know its going to be a game,” Hessler said. “Top to bottom it’s competitive all the time. Middlebury is a very good team, and they will always capitalize on your mistakes. We just haven’t put together a complete game, and if we make mistakes they are going

WOMEN’S TENNIS

Team helps local family transition out of homelessness

BY SAPNA

BANSIL

Daily Editorial Board

JOSH BERLINGER/TUFTS DAILY

After just barely making the NESCAC Tournament last year, Amherst will be looking to build on the experience of senior tri-captain Thomas McDonnell to make a better run in 2010.

Champion Cardinals, powerhouse Panthers lead conference BY

EVAN COOPER & MIKE SPERA Daily Editorial Board

As the men’s lacrosse team gears up for its season-opener this Saturday, and preseason Div.-III rankings place four NESCAC teams within the top 20 in the nation — Middlebury, Tufts, Wesleyan and Bowdoin — what is in store for the Jumbos this time around? The Daily has compiled a round-up of where each NESCAC team stands in

see MEN’S LACROSSE, page 19

one of the most competitive conferences in the nation: Amherst: After a promising 3-1 start to its 2009 campaign, Amherst soon fell off the pace, managing to compile just a 6-8 record on the year, getting dispatched by No. 1 Middlebury in the quarterfinals. This year, Amherst will be looking to improve, but with the graduation of nine seniors, the road won’t be easy. Fortunately for the Lord Jeffs, they retained their 2009

leading scorer in current senior tri-captain Thomas McDonnell.

Bates: With two wins already under their belt in the 2010 season, the Bates Bobcats are already off to a much better start than last year, when they began their campaign 0-4. Though last year’s leading scorer Tyler Moore graduated, the Bobcats still have their No. 2, 3 and 4 scorers from 2009 returning. That bodes well see NESCAC MEN’S LACROSSE, page 19

Thanks to the women’s tennis team, a local family has a new outlook on life.

In conjunction with Heading Home, an organization that provides housing and support services to over 1,500 homeless and low-income people in the greater Boston area, coach Kate Bayard’s squad spent a recent Saturday afternoon moving a working single mother and her three-year-old son out of a state-subsidized hotel room and into permanent housing.

The Jumbos became the latest volunteer group to participate in Heading Home’s “Up and Out” program, which has eased the transition from homelessness for over 20 families since its creation in 2005.

The team’s 11 players and two coaches participated in every facet of the Feb. 27 move-in, which included cleaning the apartment, building furniture, putting up decorations and even baking cookies so that the apartment would have a pleasant smell.

“It was definitely a moving experience,” senior tri-captain Laura Hoguet said. “To be able to see the mother and the three-year-old boy’s reactions was one of the most rewarding things that I’ve been a part of.

“At the end of the day, we were all exhausted from having worked hard, but then seeing their reactions when we handed them the keys — it was just really special to see that we could help improve their lives,” she continued. “There was a

lot of effort put in behind the scenes, but it was definitely well worth every ounce of energy that every single teammate gave to see their reactions and have that feeling of providing them with a home.”

The move-in was the culmination of a process that began in the fall, when the team was introduced to Heading Home through a friend of Bayard’s.

In the week prior to the move, some members of the squad team met with the mother, who had been struggling to balance a part-time job and community college, and her son to determine their needs and interests.

With the family’s suggestions in mind, the Jumbos used a $500 grant from Tufts University, money raised through an alum phone-athon and donations collected from friends to furnish the new apartment. Among the items they either purchased or received were lamps, tables, dressers, a television, a microwave, kitchenware and bedding.

The team was especially attentive to the requests and interests of the young boy.

“I think the team’s favorite part was decorating the threeyear-old’s room,” Hoguet said.

“He really likes sports, so we put a basketball hoop in his room, and when he saw it, he was so excited to use it and play with it. We also decorated the room with all sorts of sports things, like a sports comforter.

The kid’s room was by far the most exciting to decorate and shop for.”