2010-04-29

THE TUFTS DAILY

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TUFTSDAILY.COM

THURSDAY, APRIL 29, 2010

VOLUME LIX, NUMBER 57

Where You Read It First Est. 1980

Sam Wallis elected new TCU President BY

ELLEN KAN

Daily Editorial Board

Studying abroad on a different continent did not stop junior Sam Wallis from becoming the new Tufts Community Union ( TCU) president in the early hours of the morning.

“I’m really, really excited and really humbled because I’ve never seen people who’ve supported me in this way,” Wallis said after hearing the results of the election.

He beat out his only opponent, Senator Lauren Levine, a junior, with a campaign that emphasized its grassroots nature and a platform centered on making tangible and sought-after improvements to students’ lives.

“We built a campaign around great student ideas and not around me and what I wanted to do … and I’m really proud of that,” Wallis said. “We had a very big team, and we roped a lot of people into it and made a huge effort into getting the message out.”

Wallis thanked his campaign team and credited its members for his victory.

“I think the campaign was a lot of fun, and the team just worked so hard and I’m really happy to have won for them, because all the ideas and all of the

designs and the advertising just came from them, and I’m really happy that we could win it for them,” Wallis said.

According to Tufts Election Commission Chair Sharon Chen, a sophomore, 47.79 percent of undergraduates participated in the election — only a slight drop from last year’s turnout of 48 percent. Chen said that the election went smoothly.

The ballot also contained four referenda, all of which passed, according to Chen. The first two referenda concerned changes to certain procedures and committees specified in the the TCU constitution.

The third and fourth referenda were competing proposals on reforms to the Senate’s community representative position, with the former motioning for community representatives to be granted full voting rights — something for which the current system does not provide.

Since the two referenda cannot both be simultaneously implemented, it will now be up to the TCU Judiciary to determine how to proceed, according to Chen. Referenda 3 got more votes than Referenda 4, but that might not be the deciding factor.

“Three got more votes, but that does not necessarily mean it will be put in place,” Chen said, adding that the Judiciary would be considering the matter.

After flying back to campaign, Wallis

TIEN TIEN/TUFTS DAILY

Junior Sam Wallis celebrated his win with the rest of his campaign team. will be returning to Israel tomorrow, where he has been studying abroad this semester. He expressed his excitement about continuing the momentum of the election.

“I think the first thing is just to talk to all the people who’ve helped the whole way

and just to thank them,” Wallis said. “We set a very ambitious agenda, and now we’ve got the rest of the school year and the rest of the summer to prepare for fall, when we’ll hit the ground running.” see PRESIDENT, page 2

Teach for America increasingly chosen over teaching colleges

BY JENNY

WHITE

Daily Editorial Board

TIEN TIEN/TUFTS DAILY

Course evaluation forms may be moved online in an effort to improve effectiveness.

Course evaluation reform on hold as faculty debate opt-out policy BY

HARRISON JACOBS

Daily Editorial Board

The Educational Policy Committee (EPC) at an April 14 Arts, Sciences and Engineering (AS&E) Faculty meeting presented a resolution addressing changes to the course evaluation system, which was eventually tabled due to unresolved debate about some of its provisions.

The resolution, which was passed on March 9 by EPC, called the current course evaluation system obsolete and asked for an online system that maintained student anonymity.

The move to an online course evaluation system has been in discussion for some time. The administration has begun the process of moving course evaluations online in an effort to encourage more

thoughtful student involvement and to simplify the current process, in which handwritten evaluations must go through a computer scan and also be transcribed.

“There is some potential for that to provide better input for students than what we’re presently getting,” Dean of Undergraduate Education James Glaser said.

While there appears to be a general consensus on the benefits of moving to an online system, sophomore Nunu Luo, previous chair of the Tufts Community Union (TCU) Senate’s Education Committee, said debate exists over whether the course evaluations should be made public for use by students.

According to Luo, faculty discussed three possible options for making course evaluations availsee EVALUATIONS, page 2

The state of New York on April 20 approved a new pilot allowing programs such as Teach for America (TFA) to grant masters degrees in education, something that has long been the exclusive prerogative of universities and teaching colleges.

This decision continues the recent trend of both educators and graduates seeking out alternative paths to teaching certification. A record number of recent graduates are choosing to delve

SCOTT TINGLEY/TUFTS DAILY

see TEACH, page 2

Teach For America’s surge in popularity has presented an alternative to traditional teaching certification.

New alumni trustees elected to serve on board BY

CORINNE SEGAL

Daily Editorial Board

Tufts University Alumni Association (TUAA) on April 14 announced that Alison “Sunny” Breed (J ’66, G ’72) and David Rone (LA ’84) had been elected as the newest alumni trustees and will sit on the Board of Trustees for a five-year term.

Breed and Rone beat out two other candidates — Michael Fung (A ’79) and Kathleen O’Loughlin (D ’81) — in the election that took place between

Inside this issue

Feb. 16 and March 29.

There are 10 alumni trustees on the Board of Trustees and approximately 30 charter trustees. The board holds an annual election to fill two alumni trustee seats, while charter trustee spots are filled by invitation.

All alumni could vote online or through a paper ballot in the winter issue of Tufts Magazine.

Mini Jaikumar, associate director of alumni relations, said that Breed has the necessary experience to prepare her to serve as a trustee.

“Sunny has worked on nonprofit organizations in leadership positions for a number of years, but also has been on the board of several nonprofit organizations for a number of years,” Jaikumar said.

“She’s been very involved with the alumni association and with the university in a number of roles for a number of years.”

Breed from July 2006 through June 2008 served as president of TUAA. She also participated in attaining the Alumni Council’s see TRUSTEES, page 2

Today’s Sections

Three French exchange students adjust to life at Tufts.

Tufts students participate in slam poetry.

see FEATURES, page 3

see WEEKENDER, page 5

News Features Weekender Editorial | Letter

1 3 5 10

Op-Ed Comics Sports Classified

11 12 13 19

THE TUFTS DAILY

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Thursday, April 29, 2010

NEWS

Wallis excited to put ideas into practice as TCU president PRESIDENT continued from page 1

Outgoing TCU President Brandon Rattiner, a senior, had nothing but praise for the new president-elect.

“I think the school made a great choice; I think Sam Wallis is one of the smartest, most talented and most genuine people I’ve met in my entire life,” Rattiner said. “From both a personal and professional level, Sam has done nothing but impress me for years. I always knew he had it in him, and I think the school is going to be a much better place for allowing him the opportunity to lead.”

Rattiner also applauded Levine for her campaign and platform.

“I think that Lauren Levine

ran a really great campaign,” he said. “I think she is a smart and talented woman, and I look forward to seeing what she can do on campus.”

Wallis, likewise, commended Levine. “I think Lauren did a great job on her campaign,” he said.

Levine expressed her satisfaction with her campaign and extended congratulations to Wallis. “I thank my supporters for believing in me, I’m proud of the campaign I ran, and I congratulate Sam,” she said.

Addressing a campaign season that was at times marked by controversy, Wallis said that when it came to the crunch, both campaigns focused on what really mattered.

“Toward the end of the cam-

Debate continues on opt-out policy EVALUATIONS continued from page 1

able to students: making them available online with an opt-out policy for professors who choose to exercise it, having an opt-out policy for entire departments and, finally, putting all course evaluations online with no opt-out policy.

It was disagreement over the opt-out policy that contributed in part to the tabling of the resolution, according to Luo. “The reason it was tabled was because there was not enough conversation to make an accurate decision on it,” Luo said.

The EPC resolution proposed allowing for both department and individual opt-outs, although it also acknowledged that there existed differing views on the committee itself.

Representing the views of the Senate — which on March 7 unanimously passed its own resolution opposing a faculty opt-out option — Luo and freshman Alice Pang presented to the faculty at the meeting.

“A no-opt policy in the new course evaluation system shows the students and the community that every single course evaluation is going to have an impact and has value in advancing the educational standard at Tufts,” Pang and Luo told the faculty. “This will empower students, showing them that their ideas and thoughts matter to the faculty.”

Glaser noted that he is not in favor of an individual opt-out policy, although he believes the faculty’s eventual decision on the matter should be respected. Glaser added that he understands the desire for the option of a departmental opt-out.

“I actually think that the departmental opt out is okay. [The] English department has long objected to quantitative process; this is a philosophical stand, and I respect that,” Glaser said.

Luo believes that making course evaluations available online would have significant benefits for students’ academic lives. “[Students] don’t take them seriously,” Luo said. “We want to put them online because if you are able to go online and see that this course by this teacher is rated this for enthusiasm, this for presentation, you will have a better idea of the course. Students will be able to go to a much more legitimate source to see course reviews.”

While the debate on the matter remains open, no final decision will be made until the fall, as the EPC resolution was presented at the last faculty meeting of the semester, according to Luo. Glaser noted that regardless of the final decision, two groups of faculty will not be subject to having evaluations of their courses being posted publicly; namely, new teachers and graduate students.

“It takes a couple of years to get courses running fully, and it’s not right to expose the faculty who are teaching these courses to the pressure of having their evaluations posted online,” Glaser said.

The push to move course evaluations online was initiated in the fall by incoming TCU President Sam Wallis, who was then sitting on the EPC, according to Luo. It led to the passage of a Senate resolution in December supporting moving course evaluations online.

Luo and Pang took over the project this semester and sat on EPC, providing student input on the project.

Ellen Kan contributed reporting to this article.

paign, Lauren and I really got down to it and made it about the platform and that’s how it really should be,” Wallis said. “We just set all the campaign issues aside and, especially in the last debate, Lauren and I were really able to go face-to-face and make it about our ideas.”

Wallis believes that many of the questions that arose were results of the unique nature of his bid for the presidency.

“I think we ran a campaign in a way that had never been done before because I was running from abroad,” he said. “Because it had never been done before, everything had to be figured out, but in the end, I think everything is going to work out in a good way.”

TIEN TIEN/TUFTS DAILY

Wallis credited his campaign team for his victory.

New York recognizes TFA masters degrees TEACH continued from page 1

directly into classroom teaching after college through TFA, in lieu of pursuing the traditional path of education schools.

Harvard University this year hit a record high in terms of the percentage of the graduating class applying to join the TFA corps.

This trend of increasing interest in TFA was also seen at Tufts, according to TFA Regional Communications Director Kaitlin Gastrock. She said that there are currently 30 Tufts graduates working as TFA corps members, and over eight percent of the senior class applied to join TFA. This trend is welcomed by proponents of alternative education training, who view it as a positive revival of the teaching profession, allowing students to apply their knowledge in a meaningful setting.

“TFA allows them to make an impact directly in the classroom,” Gastrock told the Daily. “A lot of students are thinking more broadly about their career and are looking for what they think they can have the biggest impact doing.”

Matthew Wilder, a spokesman for Boston Public Schools, welcomed the increase in the number of options for schools.

“We’re looking to use all of the resources available to us to bring teachers into our classrooms,” Wilder told the Daily. “We want teachers who are willing to be part of a team and who are excited to be in schools where there is a lot of room for growth. So we’re excited to partner with these programs that are using innovative ways to bring teachers to the class.”

TFA began as a program aimed at bringing high-quality, new teachers into low-income, urban school systems as a means of instigating reform in deteriorating classroom settings and providing genuine education to struggling students in poor communities.

The cornerstone methodology of TFA, which was unique and unfounded in the

education community, was to plant teachers without certification and prior practice in classrooms.

“There are many great ways of training teachers,” Gastrock said. “But we have found that our method of hands-on training has been very effective.”

Others, however, have voiced reservations that TFA hinders the hiring of longterm, quality professionals.

Coming from the more traditional philosophy of training teachers, Lecturer of Education Steven Cohen believes that while having classroom responsibilities is needed to learn how to teach, a more pragmatic approach would be to undergo an extensive and prolonged period of training without simultaneously having to be the sole teacher for an entire class.

Cohen cited Tufts’ Masters of Arts in Teaching (MAT) degree program, a oneacademic year curriculum split between taking courses and student teaching at local partner schools, as a stronger model for teacher training.

“The year of doing the MAT really allows teachers to get experience while not being in charge of a classroom all the time,” Cohen said. “They have time to reflect; they’re not thrown in with all the responsibilities from day one. This makes a major difference.”

Cohen said that TFA training is thorough, but he doubts that it can provide adequate preparation for interaction with students.

“What our students are doing over the course of 10 months is what Teach for America tries to do in just [five] weeks over the summer,” Cohen said. “Over time, it’s a real strength to work with a cohort for a year and realize if you are really committed to teaching.”

Gastrock, however, highlighted TFA’s extensive application process for college graduates interested in joining the corps, noting that TFA searches for very particular qualities in its applicants.

“We have a very rigorous selection process,” she said. “We recruit college grads that show the traits that we have found over our years of experience and research that indicate success in the classroom.”

To emphasize the effectiveness of TFA’s recruitment strategy, Gastrock cited a 2008 study by the University of North Carolina Charlotte Urban Institute that examined seven years of data from high school exams in the state.

“Exam data found that Teach for America corps members were, on average, more effective than other teachers in all subject areas, especially in math and science, even when [TFA] teachers were compared with experienced, fully certified teachers,” she said.

Despite statistics like these, educators like Cohen remain skeptical that successful teachers can be identified before they have any real exposure to teaching.

“I have been teaching for 35 years, and there are still only some days when I feel like I know what I’m doing,” Cohen said. “It takes three to four years to really know how to teach in a classroom. A [TFA] teacher is only in a school for two years.”

Ideal qualities in a teacher take time to develop and are difficult to predict in a person, according to Cohen.

“Just enthusiasm and straight A’s in college doesn’t mean you’ll do well as a teacher,” he said. “To create new teachers that will last in the profession, we see clearly that that’s not the case.”

Gastrock noted the program’s surge in popularity and called it an indicator of growing public recognition of and familiarity with TFA’s goals.

“First, there’s a general increase in interest in service among college students,” Gastrock said. “Second, TFA has gained a strong reputation for teaching students. We see any increase in the number of dedicated teachers as a positive thing.”

New trustees have history of involvement with the university TRUSTEES continued from page 1

pledge of raising a gift of $20 million for the Beyond Boundaries capital campaign and served in the Los Angeles Tufts Alliance, according to Executive Director of Alumni Relations Timothy Brooks.

“She’s had a lot of experience,” Brooks said. “I think a lot of people knew her ... She was someone who was a good candidate and a popular candidate.”

Breed is a recipient of the university’s Distinguished Service Award and the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences Outstanding Service Award recognizing her continuing involvement with Tufts. She noted her strong commitment to Tufts.

“Tufts’ trustees are expected to make the university their top priority for both time and financial commitments,” Breed said in a statement released to alumni. “Through serving and contributing to the fullest of my ability, I have demonstrated that Tufts has been my top priority for some time.”

David Rone is the current chairman of the Board of Overseers for the School of Arts and Sciences and has guest lectured at Tufts. He established a challenge grant to establish the Gerald R. Gill Fund, honoring the memory of the Tufts history professor.

He is the co-head of Creative Artists Agency (CAA) Sports, the sports division

of the talent agency CAA. Rone has previously been executive vice president of Fox Sports Network and general manager of Fox College Sports.

Rone highlighted what he believes to be the strengths and the successes of the university.

“I’ve been able to witness first-hand the results of Tufts’ attempts to distinguish itself as the institution for creating graduates who are leaders for our global society, armed with a superior academic foundation and a commitment to active citizenship,” Rone said in a statement released to alumni.

Jaikumar noted that Rone has been actively involved with the university as an alumnus, which she credited for his successful election.

“I think that David’s involvement with Tufts has certainly been a very big part of his being elected to become a trustee,” Jaikumar said. “He has been involved quite a bit with Tufts University.”

TUAA’s nominating committee last October began short-listing candidates for the election and invited all alumni to submit nominations. The committee selected four of 44 possible candidates to stand for election, according to Jaikumar.

“One of the big functions of the nominating committee is to nominate qualified and good candidates to support

elections,” she said.

Secretary of the Corporation Paul Tringale said that it is useful to the board to have trustees who come from a number of different fields of expertise.

“In the aggregate, all of their experiences together makes for great governance and great governing of the university,” Tringale said. “Making the connections is really an important aspect of what they can bring to the university.”

Jaikumar said the role of alumni trustee has existed since the early 1900s.

“I think at that point, the university wanted to give the alumni a voice in electing the leadership of the university,” she said. “The alumni wanted a voice in electing these people who were going to be leading the university.”

Jaikumar said that alumni trustees and charter trustees hold the same responsibilities. “It’s a pretty significant thing, and I think that there are several universities that give alumni this privilege,” she said.

“Certainly, Tufts is one of them,” she said.

Tringale applauded the dedication and commitment of the trustees.

“They are very involved in the decisionmaking of the university,” Tringale said.

“They’re giving a lot of time to Tufts, and I have to say I’m humbled by the amount of time they put in.”

Features

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tuftsdaily.com

BEN KOCHMAN | BETWEEN THE SLICES

Introducing the ‘zap’

A

JODI BOSIN/TUFTS DAILY

While many Tufts students head to Paris to study abroad, several Parisians spent the year on the Hill.

Students study abroad — at Tufts

Three French students experienced culture shock at first on campus BY

MARISSA CARBERRY

Daily Editorial Board

On move-in day for freshmen, Margaux Roberge, Irène Fossé and Pierre-André Clément, three French students from Sciences Po, a university in Paris that has an official exchange program with Tufts, arrived at Tufts to begin their year-long studies on American soil. Looking to improve their English, explore the United States and enjoy the American college experience, the trio said they selected Tufts because of its picturesque campus and proximity to Boston.

“I think that Tufts offers the best balance, with the campus and being close to Boston,” Roberge said. “Weather-wise, it’s pretty awesome. In September, we went to the beach, and in February, we were skiing. The opportunity to take a class at [The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy] was an incentive as well.”

After almost eight months on the hill, they say that they are still thrilled to be here.

“In general, everything is so great, it’s

hard to find something bad,” Fossé said.

This year, there are five exchange students from France and about 20 to 25 total exchange students studying at Tufts — both undergraduate and graduate — from other universities around the globe, including the University of Chile, the University of Ghana, the University of Hong Kong and the Autonomous University of Madrid, according to Sheila Bayne, the associate dean of Programs Abroad Bayne said that exchange students’ academic advisors typically give her great feedback.

“These students are usually the best in their class,” Bayne said. “We usually get excellent students.”

Exchange students are guaranteed oncampus housing. For Clément, Roberge and Fossé, living in a dorm — Lewis Hall for Clément and Roberge, and Carmichael Hall for Fossé — has been a new and exciting experience. In France, very few students live at school, particularly those in Paris. All three said that save for the occasional inconvenience of living with

rowdy freshmen, they have loved the dorm experience and are pleased with the quality of the dining halls.

“The first week, we went crazy over the dining hall,” Roberge said. “We had unlimited for like a week. After a week, we were already sick of it. But it’s still good.”

French colleges also don’t offer the wide range of activities available at American schools. “[Tufts is like] an all-inclusive resort,” Roberge said.

“In France, we are all commuting,” Clément said. “Our school is just a place where you can take classes, nothing more.”

Fossé added that she has loved the Tufts environment and had a hard time readjusting to life at home over winter break.

“When I went back to France for winter break, it was really hard to be around old people again,” Fossé said. “Even my professors here seem young.”

Clément, Fossé and Roberge have taken full advantage of the opportunities on campus, ranging from running the Naked Quad see ABROAD, page 4

Community Corner: Ball Square Food and feuds minutes from Tufts

BY JON

CHENG

Staff Writer

Though Tufts students usually first think of Davis Square when they think of offcampus dining and cafes, another square also offers a collection of eateries and coffee shops: Ball Square.

Located just past the Powderhouse Rotary and lining the intersection of Boston Avenue and Broadway, Ball Square is only a few minutes from campus and is actually closer to campus than Davis Square, which explains why many Tufts students are already regulars at the handful of Ball Square cafés, bars and delis.

Even the recession does not seem to have affected some businesses, like True Grounds, a café on Broadway that is popular with many Tufts students who live in the area.

Even at a quiet time, the cafe, adorned with mahogany varnishes and homey furniture, is

home to many customers. One might attribute its popularity to its imported Terroir coffee, which boasts exotic blends from across the globe — anything from “La Flor Del Café” from Antigua to “Golden Mandheling” from Sumatra.

Although coffee is True Grounds’ forte, the café also has a selection of foods. It serves five varieties of breakfast burritos, while those looking for a fuller meal can opt for salads or sandwiches.

It is the café’s mix of homemade, eclectic food, coffee and reasonable prices that seem to draw many residents and Tufts students alike. Tufts senior Rebecca Safier, a regular at the café, attributes her frequent visits to its location and relaxed atmosphere.

“It’s really close by to where I live, and they let you sit and study as long as you want,” Safier said. “Not to mention that the pastries are great, and they provide you with an endless supply of caffeine.”

Also in the area are Sound Bites and Ball Square Café. From afar, they are two establishments that look very similar, separated only by a wall. But, there is a controversial history behind these two cafés.

Yasser Mirza, the owner of Sound Bites, originally worked in the space occupied by Ball Square Café, which did not exist at the time. In 2007, after ten years of business, landlords increased the rent for the space, forcing Mirza to move to the adjacent space to start over. As soon as Mirza made the move, the landlords’ son, Mike Moccia, jumped on the opportunity to open his own establishment, now known as Ball Square Café. It is now housed in a smaller space and has been given a modern treatment: exposed brick walls, a new glass front, tiled floors and granite tables.

Despite the renovation, however, the café has not exactly been a start in a new direcsee BALL SQUARE, page 4

s with most Americans, my familiarity with the Polish fast-food genre is not anything to write home to your matka about. I have, from time to time, enjoyed a flavorful kielbasa, or Polish sausage, with mustard at a barbeque. I have also dabbled in the consumption of pierogi, which are basically the Polish version of a dumplings or potstickers.

But this week, at the restaurant ZAPS in Allston, I tried a Polish delicacy that was entirely foreign to me and defied conventional logic of what a sandwich could be.

America, say hello to the “zapiekanka.”

This unique, slightly unwieldy and above all delicious Polish snack just might be coming to a town near you.

The best way I can describe the “zapiekanka,” which affectionately goes by the nickname “zap,” is this: a baguette of around 16 inches in length sliced in half, covered with a combination of shredded cheese and mushrooms, and then topped with foods (besides the cheese and mushrooms, I’ve gathered that this can be flexible) ranging from ham and corn to jalapenos. The bread is run through an oven at a scorching 600 degrees, allowing the cheese to fully melt and the bread to become crispy.

After it emerges from the oven, the zap is placed in a plastic carton reminiscent of the container a Hot Pocket comes in and can be drizzled with a variety of condiments, including ketchup and garlic sauce.

According to the server I talked to at ZAPS, as well as my Polish friend Joanna (a fierce enthusiast of the zap), these open-faced delights are ubiquitous on the streets of Poland. The zap, which runs for about $5 total, is in Poland a food of the masses, served, like a hot pretzel in New York, on street corners into the wee hours of the morning.

These Poles must have tremendous hand-eye coordination. Alas, one of the zap’s potential flaws is that it is a bit awkward to eat, being narrow and hard to hold. When I received my order of the “Farmer” zap, which features cheese, mushrooms, ham and corn, I stared at for a while, unsure of how to begin my assault.

The server then informed me that the zap should be eaten “like a push pop,” with one hand pushing the bread toward the mouth. The melted cheese here does a surprisingly good job of alleviating my concern that the toppings would fall off the bread, and all in all, once I got the hang of it, I came to enjoy eating my zap.

It was a novel experience, and this uniqueness will help zaps find success with a large audience in the States.

While I have always sternly opposed calling any open-faced sandwich legitimate, the zap treads a treacherous line between being a sub and a French-bread pizza. I don’t know if it qualifies as a sandwich or not, but at least the zap tasted fresh and flavorful. The crunch of the bread and the chewy texture of the cheese worked well together, as did the saltiness of the ham with the sweetness of the corn.

The owners of ZAPS present a tasty, cheap food option that is fresher and more unique than its competitors, and that thus has the potential to do very good business.

The Allston location has the commercial look of a place looking to become a franchise, and we can expect a second ZAPS to pop up near Boston University in the coming months.

Hopefully, ZAPS will make its way to Tufts at some point in the next few years.

I think students here would embrace these open-faced sandwiches with open arms, as a different, fun and fresh latenight treat.

Ben Kochman is a freshman who has not yet declared a major. He can be reached at Benjamin.Kochman@tufts.edu.

THE TUFTS DAILY

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Thursday, April 29, 2010

FEATURES

Students studying abroad at Tufts travel across America ABROAD continued from page 3

JAMES CHOCA/TUFTS DAILY

Ball Square offers a wide variety of eateries for students on any budget.

Ball Square offers a wide variety of restaurants and cafés BALL SQUARE continued from page 3

tion. The menus and prices of both restaurants are similar. Pancakes, which are Sound Bites’ specialty — Boston Magazine rated their pancakes as the “Best of Boston” in 2003 — come in exotic creations such as chocolate-chip coconut and triple-berry. Ball Square Café, however, offers the same variations of pancakes.

If one is tired of long waits and avoiding the potential feuds between restaurant owners, Kelly’s Diner is just up the street.

It is a traditional ’50s diner with the works: a retro decor in a faux train car with wrought iron and chrome finishes.

At the end of the block is Eat at Jumbo’s, a small restaurant

offering takeout and delivery that accepts Jumbocash and serves pizza, calzones, wings and sandwiches. Owner Grover Taylor, who started the business a year ago, said that the eatery still receives “excellent business” despite being in the midst of a recession.

“We have an excellent location, so we pretty much own Ball Square at night,” Taylor, who hopes to open more outlets in the future, said.

Besides these four restaurants, there is also Victor’s Deli, which serves similar fare, and Lyndell’s Bakery, a 123-year-old establishment that boasts a cake-decorating business, as well as pastries that are baked fresh everyday.

For those over 21, Ball Square Pub and Grille is right next to

Kelly’s Diner. Ball Square also features a fine wines convenience store that holds bottles with values up to $300. General Manager of Ball Square Fine Wines Dan Lech said that the store also offers fine food products such as cheeses and olive oil, but the alcoholic beverages are usually the most frequently bought, especially from the Tufts community.

“Lots of graduate students come here, and we have never gotten any underage attempts,” said Lech, who insists that he checks the IDs of the students who come to his shop.

With the diverse shops offered by the neighborhood, one should not be left with the excuse not to venture out of Tufts because Davis Square is just too far away.

Run to attending the musical “Kiss Me, Kate” to participating in the International Club’s “Parade of Nations” show.

They have also grown accustomed to American television.

Though Roberge said that she is still irritated by the number of commercials, Clément said that he enjoys them.

“I’m a very big fan now,” Clément said. “During commercials, it’s OK, I’ll do something, or I’ll turn on mtvU.” His favorite shows include “American Idol,” “Glee” and “16 and Pregnant.”

The students’ adjustments to American culture have not been seamless. Clément first witnessed provocative American dancing at Fall Ball and still hasn’t gotten used to the sight.

“Everyone was so drunk before coming, and making love on the dance floor,” Clément said. “I don’t really like it.”

He said that he was also stunned by his first experience at a fraternity party.

While looking to use a restroom, he was privy to a sight that American frat-party attendees are used to.

“There was someone peeing in the shower, peeing in the sink,” Clément said. “I myself was peeing in the toilet.”

Overall, however, the exchange students said that they enjoy the social life on campus and have been pleased with Tufts students’ welcoming nature.

“I’ve discovered that Americans are really welcoming and really nice,” Fossé said.

Just as Tufts students travel often while studying abroad, the three have visited different cit-

ies across the United States. Over winter break, Fossé and Clément travelled to New York; Washington, D.C.; Atlanta; Memphis; and New Orleans.

The group said that they most enjoyed New Orleans.

“It was so different — just a great experience,” Fossé said.

Clément said that travelling around the country has changed his conception of the United States.

“When you are living in France, you see the U.S. as one,” Clément said. “But when you live here, you see that all the areas are so different. And every part of the U.S. is so proud of its identity.”

After finals end, they are planning a month-long trip that will take them to Chicago, Las Vegas, California, Portland and Seattle.

When asked whether they will miss America when they return home, they all said that it is a certainty.

“I think we will have a down period for a while,” Roberge said.

“When people will ask us how America was, it will be impossible to sum up.”

Next year, in an effort to more quickly integrate exchange students into the Tufts community, the International Center plans to implement a buddy system whereby Jumbos who studied abroad will be paired with their programs’ exchange students.

Bayne says that when exchange students arrive every year, she is reminded of why their presence on campus is important.

“You look around the room and hear from them and see they’re from all over the world,” Bayne said. “It’s really very inspiring. It’s great to see who’s coming to us, and it’s a reflection of where our own students are going.”

Weekender ARTS & LIVING

5

tuftsdaily.com

Activists, performers and poets: Youth slam poets are a triple threat BY

CHARISSA NG

Daily Editorial Board

A slam poet, or spoken word artist, can be a social activist, a stage performer and, above all, a passionate poet at the core. Slam poetry is a fairly new, unique form of expression that began with older generations performing their pieces in dingy, Chicago lounges in the ’80s. Since then, spoken word has grown to include a large youth slam poetry scene, as students trade in paper for the power of their voices, soap boxes for open mics and claps for snaps, proving they’ve got something to say to the world.

What is slam poetry?

Unlike traditional poems, in which meaning is drawn from visual wordplay and spacing, slam poems are written to be performed in front of an audience.

Sophomore slam poet Jesse Welch, whose slam poetry team in Chicago was featured in the youth slam poetry documentary “Louder Than A Bomb” (2009) — also the name of the world’s largest high school poetry slam — loves the call-and-response between the poet and the crowd.

“No one is Emily Dickinson sitting writing a notebook, and then after they’re dead, someone publishes it. This is written to perform it next week,” Welch said.

“There’s catharsis, there’s art, there’s a lot I get out of writing, but my poem is designed for someone else to hear. I write my poems to change how someone thinks, make them think about something new or impact them emotionally.”

Junior James Nan Lin, a newcomer to the slam poetry scene who won his first open mic competition at this year’s Tufts FUSION event judged by veteran Def Jam poet Beau Sia, finds empowerment in this form of expression.

“Slam poetry is a more visceral way of communicating your ideas and thoughts,” Lin said. “Poetry can be very [nuanced], as abstract or as specific as you want it. Everyone can take away what you may not intend for them, but with slam poetry, it’s very in-your-face.”

Poetry is often viewed as too abstruse and highbrow to be appreciated by the masses. One of the reasons why slam poetry has caught on with youth is the accessibility of the emotions tied to performances. “I could never understand poetry, but when I went to a slam for the first time, I felt like I knew what was going on,” Welch said. “Even if I didn’t catch the layers and layers of subtext, there was a top layer of emotion and meaning that anyone can get.”

Welch has been writing slam pieces since the age of 12 when his sister took him to a youth slam. “I kept going to slams after that first one because it really spoke to me,” he said.

While Welch started at an early age, many students are first exposed to slam poetry in college. Junior Matthew Seto of UMass Boston and junior Judy Lei of Smith College got involved in spoken word when they took a poetry class and have been dabbling in it ever since.

“For me, it’s about advocating an issue out there that the audience has not heard [of ]. It’s a way of expression, a way of activism,” Seto said.

“I enjoy it because it gives me a voice. As a student, I can’t find other outlets for me to express what I’m feeling,” Lei said. “I enjoy performing for other people, and I feel a connection whenever I hear another poet speaking about the same issues that I’m speaking

about. I don’t want to lecture people, so poetry is a way for me to let out my feelings.”

The inspiration

Though it’s been around since the ’80s, slam poetry reached new heights with the introduction of HBO’s show “Russell Simmons Presents Def Poetry” in 2002.

In the past, slam poets were often confined to cities where slam poetry had a big presence, and they performed in places like Chicago’s Green Mill Cocktail Lounge and New York’s Nuyorican Poets Café. But Def Poetry Jam became a platform for spoken word artists to have their voices be heard on a much broader scale, exposing audiences to the slam poetry scene beyond these city hotspots.

According to Welch, when most slam poets start writing, they mimic the style of famous poets like Buddy Wakefield and Saul Williams of Def Jam. Once slam poets delve deeper into their artistry, it’s only a matter of t i m e

freedom within writing and performing poems.

Similar to the famous slam poet Saul Williams, much of Seto’s inspiration is grounded in his ties to the hip-hop culture. “I like hip hop, and hip-hop songs are about performance. So a lot of that is the same technique [of ] writing rhymes in my performance pieces.”

For Lei, writing a slam poem isn’t much different than writing any other kind of poem. But what makes slam poetry so unique is that writing the piece is only half the battle, and the performance is key.

“I really feel like it’s two sides of a coin,” Lin said.

“Ultimately, a lot of my friends asked to read my poem before performing it, and I said, ‘No, you can’t read my poem because by reading it you won’t be able to fully grasp the message I’m trying to convey.’ But at the same time, the performance aspect is nothing without the words that go behind it.” see SLAM POETRY, page 7

before they boldly pull a Picasso and dare to be different in order to have their voice stand out in the crowd.

“One of my favorite poets in his piece writes, ‘If you sound just like another poet, then we don’t need both of you.’ So over the years, you develop a recognizable aesthetic that I think is really valuable commercially and artistically,” Welch said.

According to Welch, one of the biggest divergences among slam poets is the distinction between those who write about themselves and those who write about the world. “Theme-wise, I’m very much a politicized poet. I write about a lot of world issues, whether it’s because I think it’s important or because I’m not comfortable enough about myself, I’m not sure,” Welch said.

On the other hand, poets like Lei and Seto often write pieces that focus on their race and personal identity as Asian Americans. Pieces on identity — ranging from sexuality, gender, class and race — are common because one of the things that draws people to slam poetry is the poignancy, vulnerability and power with which performers’ raw emotions come forth on stage.

“With slam poetry, I think it’s the closest you can get to standing in front of a mic and just telling people how you feel about things,” Lin said. “I think it’s actually pretty close to stand-up comedy in [that] you’re very vulnerable. If they kill you, then they kill you. But if they like you, then they really like you.”

The writing process

Slam poetry is a fluid form of expression that does not necessarily have a formal structure. Thus it allows for experimentation and

DESIGN BY ALLY GIMBEL

THE TUFTS DAILY

6

Thursday, April 29, 2010

WEEKENDER

WEEKENDER INTERVIEW | OK GO

Member of Spring Fling headliner talks about the band’s songwriting, music videos BY

CATHERINE SCOTT

Daily Editorial Board

This Saturday, the rock band OK Go will headline Spring Fling, playing to thousands of Tufts students. The band, started in 1998, has released three albums, the most recent one entitled “Of the Blue Colour of the Sky” (2010), for which they have been touring the past few weeks. Damian Kulash (vocals, guitar), Tim Nordwind (bass, guitar, vocals), Dan Konopka (drums, percussion) and Andy Ross (guitar, keyboards, vocals), who replaced Andy Duncan in 2005, make up OK Go. The band is best known for its hit single “Here it Goes Again” (2006) and the accompanying YouTube.com video in which its four members conducted an elaborately choreographed dance routine on treadmills. This video has become one of the most popular YouTube videos of all time and skyrocketed the band into a pop cultureicon position.

OK Go was also recently in the news when it left the EMI Group and Capitol Records to form its own independent label, Paracadute Recordings. Kulash wrote an op-ed in the New York Times last February, claiming that record labels serve an important function for bands that are just starting out because they can be a “risk aggregator” — meaning they take on 20 bands that could be famous and the money made from the one successful band makes up for the 19 that don’t turn a profit. However, according to Kulash, once a band become successful, the label then only serves to suppress and stifle the group’s creative impulses. In other words, the members of OK Go wanted to continue being able to make their own viral videos — like the treadmill video — a process of which their record label didn’t approve.

Nordwind talked to the Daily about the upcoming Spring Fling show, the band’s new album, the shift to its own label and the art of viral video-making.

Catherine Scott: What were your initial reactions to being asked to play the Tufts show? What do you like/dislike about

VOLUMEONE.ORG

OK Go: Always classy. All the time. Now and forever. playing to an all-college audience?

Tim Nordwind: In general, going and playing at colleges is fun because you really never know what’s going to happen, even more than a regular club show, because you college kids get so godd--n drunk. One of them might use a guitar as a stripper pole, someone may dress up in an all-green, all-encompassing outfit. When we got the offer from Tufts, we were pretty psyched to come play.

CS: Do you change your set in any way, or are you just playing the same set that you’d play on your tour?

TN: We kind of have to get up there and

read the crowd. We often call audibles when it comes to university shows.

Sometimes they [the students] really want nothing but party music. We will often tailor the set to please everyone as best we can. It may be a slightly more upbeat event, but it really depends on how we’re connecting with the crowd. It’s still a party every time we hit the stage.

CS: How do you feel about your new album? What do you think makes it special?

TN: It’s definitely my favorite of the three we’ve made. On the first two records we were a little bit more goal-oriented in

terms of sitting down and writing a song. We’d say to ourselves, ‘We want to make a good stadium anthem. We haven’t heard one of those in a long time.’ And that would be the goal.

This time around, working that way just wasn’t exciting for us anymore.

We threw ourselves into a new ocean of mystery as far as songwriting goes.

We would make bits and pieces — so write a theme or come up with a chord progression — that had emotion to it.

If it seemed like there was some magic there, we would try to build from that.

We didn’t know where the song was supposed to go. We just tried to call magic see INTERVIEW, page 9

ALBUM REVIEW

Rafter’s album makes animalism danceable Eclectic arrangements, spontaneous lyrics express ‘Animal Feelings’

BY JESSICA

BAL

Daily Editorial Board

Rafter Roberts — a man who skillfully splits his time between mixing for artists like Sufjan Stevens and Fiery

Animal Feelings Rafter

Asthmatic Kitty Records

AMAZON.COM

Sly lyrics characterize Rafter’s eclectic new solo record.

Furnaces, playing in the band Bunky, writing ad jingles and producing his own solo albums — seems to be having a ball. If the riotous, eclectic material on his most recent solo record “Animal Feelings” is any indication, that is.

On the titular track, Rafter (his artist name) claims he has “animal feelings, animal thoughts.” It seems true; the song, as well as the entire collection, sounds like a stream-of-consciousness rampage through the ears — one that insists on celebration and tomfoolery.

While Rafter’s hodgepodge arrangements parade, they never trample.

“Animal Feelings” proves to be a wild but enjoyable ride.

The album opens with “No F-----g Around,” a slick R&B electronic jam whose title suggests the exact opposite of what Rafter’s music represents. Rafter “f---s around” plenty with talk-box backdrops, playful handclaps and what might be a cowbell. The track manages

to groove while breaking the rules.

The album as a whole is a medley of styles and instruments, managing to experiment with and layer sounds while still remaining a collective musical work. While the opening track tends toward R&B, Rafter later leans toward soul in “Feels Good” — a slow jam with a robust background beat and flickering guitar accents to his words. A later track titled “Love Makes You Happy” mixes bright lyrics with insistent, rough guitar riffs and interspersed spoken word. The combination of rowdy rock and trilling tambourine match the bittersweet chorus, which proclaims “Love makes you happy/ when it’s not making you sad.”

In songs like “Beauty Beauty” and “Timeless Form, Formless Time,” Rafter’s circuitous arrangements include elements of jazzy horns. One constant that keeps the mélange of songs strung together is Rafter’s penchant for clanging pot-and-pan percussion. In tracks like “A Frame,” the kitchenware beats enter near the end, allowing an otherwise smooth sound to come undone.

Lyrically, Rafter seems to pull thoughts from thin air and toss them onto the tracks. He bounces between love, lust and banalities throughout the album, but it’s more entertaining than irritating. On “A Frame,” Rafter cleverly quips “I’m doing counting/ ‘Cause there’s safety in numbers.” His voice suggests see RAFTER, page 9

THE TUFTS DAILY

Thursday, April 29, 2010

What’s Up This Weekend?

Want to make your weekend artsy? Check out these events!

Spring Fling: In case you’ve been living under a rock, Spring Fling is this Saturday! OK Go, Drake and Sam Adams headline on the main stage, with Lori and Andy’s 10th Avenue Supergroup playing on the side-stage during set changes. (Gates open at 12 p.m.

Tickets are free for Tufts undergraduates, $20 for guests. No re-entry, no bags. President’s Lawn.)

tary “Food, Inc.” followed by a discussion with chef Jody Adams and President of the Boston Public Market Donald Wiest. The talk will be moderated by Annie B. Copps, senior food editor of Yankee magazine. (Tonight from 6:30 p.m. to 8 p.m. in the Main Function Room, Suffolk University Law School, Boston. Free admission.)

Sea Wolf: Sea Wolf’s soft sound graces the Paradise Rock Club this weekend. If you need a musical warm-up to Spring Fling, spend Friday night checking out the tunes of Sea Wolf and The Album Leaf. (Friday at 8 p.m. at the Paradise Rock Club, 976 Commonwealth Ave., Boston. Tickets are $13 general admission.)

French Cinema Screening: Visit the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (MFA) this Friday for a screening of the classic French film “Mississippi Mermaid” (1969). According to the MFA’s website, “This Hitchcock-style romantic thriller stars JeanPaul Belmondo and Catherine Deneuve in an exploration of sexual obsession and betrayal.”

(Friday from 8 p.m. to 10 p.m. in the Remis Auditorium at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.

Tickets are $8 for students.)

“Food, Inc.” (2008): Head over to Suffolk University for a screening of the documen-

—compiled by the Daily Arts Department

7

WEEKENDER

Boston college students pour emotion into their slam poetry performances SLAMPOETRY continued from page 5

Similarly for Welch, the writing process is very much about how the piece will be interpreted by audiences.

“When I write a slam poem, I put on some instrumental track on my iPod, and I just walk. I’ll walk for miles,” Welch said. “I hear the poem as I’m writing it. There’s no aspect of trying to convert it from the page to the stage. I’m writing it as a performer.”

The common threads in slam poetry are the raw emotion and expressive nature of the pieces, which all slam poets, young and old, novice and experienced, must convey through every performance.

“A lot of people would say I have different tones of anger in my voice,” Seto said. “My voice knows pain, and that’s how I perform and convey the messages in my poems.”

Similarly, Lei says she often writes when she is angry, channeling this anger into her pieces and performing her pieces

as something of an emotional release.

“You pour everything into your performance. You have to have a level of intensity. No matter whether you’re whispering or you’re screaming, you have to have every bit of your emotion behind that and that’s a difficult thing to do,” Welch said, about the generalized emotion that runs through every slam poet during his or her performance.

Youth in revolt and the future of slam

Young slam poets like Welch are ready to have their voices be heard and have high expectations for the evolving slam poetry scene.

“I’m part of the first generation of poets that has been doing this since they were little,” Welch said. “I have more training than most national champions, and that’s not to say that I’m better, but that’s a hope that by the time our gen-

eration gets to their age, we’ll be better than what anyone has ever seen.”

Luckily for those interested in slam poetry, there are little pockets throughout Boston where poets can get their open mic fix. Some of the best places in town are the East Meets West Bookstore, the Lizard Lounge (21 and over) and The Cantab Lounge.

But slam poetry has yet to really hit Tufts, and Welch is hoping to change this with the Jumbo Poets Society. In its first year running, the group has held four slam poetry events and is hoping to work with groups who have held open mics in the past like the Asian American Alliance, the Association of Latin American Students and ONYX, to co-host future events.

“If you go to Emerson or Brandeis, their slams and open mics are college-wide events the same way we do a cappella shows,” Welch said. “We don’t have that here, and I’m hoping that by the time I graduate to at least start building it.”

FROM THE OFFICE OF THE TUFTS DAILY

Dear Insane Clown Posse, How’s it going, Violent J and Shaggy 2 Dope?

Congratulations on your recent mainstream “success!” The hipster corners of the Internet have been exploding with ironic, detached enjoyment of your “horrorcore” brand of hip hop and your crazy, exuberant fans, the Juggalos. “Saturday Night Live” even parodied your new video for “Miracles,” a contemplative ditty in which you marvel at many of life’s joys, including giraffes, magnets and childbirth.

We really admire your amazement at things you call “miracles,” which are really just natural occurrences that science explained centuries ago, like “f--king shooting stars” and “f--king rainbows after it rains.” In Monday’s New York Times Arts Beat blog post about the Juggalo parody phenomenon, Violent J, you said, “To me, I’d rather be the dumbeddown guy appreciating everything than the guy who knows everything and doesn’t appreciate s--t.” But as disillusioned college students, we’d like to add another dimension to the discussion and share some things we’re completely neutral about.

Like being asked to choose between paper or plastic at the grocery store or whether or not to accept a receipt from an ATM. And what about “CSI” and the films of Ridley Scott? We could take or leave hot water and saltine crackers. And our Div. III Tufts Athletics. (Go Jumbos?)

Maybe you guys can connect with your new hipster audience and just be, like, totally blasé about magnets in your next single. Next year, you might be seeing a lot more Wayfarers and fancy scarves at the Gathering of the Juggalos.

Don’t try to thank us for the career advice. The wisdom is free.

Sincerely, The Daily Arts Department LAST.FM

Scary, bad, horror rap. Look at those clowns.

P.S. Your music is just awful. Like, irredeemably bad. Sorry.

TOP TEN | THEMES FOR ‘GLEE’ The recent Madonna-themed episode of teenage musical-drama series “Glee” might have been the best yet. Sue Sylvester sported a medley of fabulous hair styles in a “Vogue” (1990) homage, three characters settled between the sheets in a montage to “Like a Virgin” (1984), and the dynamic duo — Kurt and Mercedes — broke it down for a halftime performance of “4 Minutes” (2008). That got us thinking about other themes that might keep the show fresh: 10. Nickelback: Oh, wait. No. Not once. Not ever.

9. Dexy’s Midnight Runners: Who doesn’t love “Come On Eileen” (1982)?

This might be a short episode.

8. Enya: Wait, have we changed songs yet?

7. Mozart: There’s nothing we like better than a little “Eine kleine Nachtmusik,” and we think that the “Glee” cast would totally own a Mozart medley. The thought of a whole episode of this virtuoso’s music truly excites our classical sensibilities, and we are, frankly, amazed that Fox hasn’t thought of this yet.

6. Shania Twain: Shania’s accessible pop-country would kill on “Glee.”

We’re thinking a rendition of “Man, I Feel Like a Woman!” (1999) by Sue Sylvester with the entire crew in the background dressed in “men’s shirts, short skirts.” O-woah-oh-oh!

5. Michael Jackson: A King of Pop episode of “Glee” would be such a “Thriller” (1983), we don’t think anything could “Beat It” (1982). It’s as easy as “ABC” (1970).

4. Miley Cyrus: Miley’s shamelessly addicting pop songs will fit in perfectly with a TV show that succeeds by being cheesy. This combination will make you want to break it down and put your hands up (or together).

3. Wu-Tang Clan: Watching the “Glee” kids try and master the rhythmic flow of the likes of U-God and Ghostface Killah will be comic gold. A capella ain’t nothing to f--k with.

2. George Michael/Wham!: He puts

the boom boom into our hearts, and so does Mr. Schuester. Perfect match for a cover? We think so.

1. “All Out” by Lights Out: “Glee” is all about the underdogs, so here you go: a whole painful episode backed by the electro-pop tracks of two awkward, self-absorbed college boys desperately trying to live out their dreams as 3OH!3 posers. Love ‘em or hate ‘em — it’s two against six in the Arts department — lyrics like, “You say that I’m a loner, and you’re godd--n right,” pretty much sum up the cast of “Glee.”

—compiled by the Daily Arts Department

8

THE TUFTS DAILY

Thursday, April 29, 2010

WEEKENDER

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“Sounds like a Job for THE 99” An evening with Tufts alumnus Dr. Naif Al-Mutawa, creator of THE 99, the world's first superhero comic books based on Islamic culture and society.

Will THE 99 emerge as the next powerhouse of children’s entertainment? Come and meet the man who hopes to create the next Pokemon by creating a market that few global media companies have tackled head on.

Kuwaiti Dr. Naif Al-Mutawa is CEO of Teshkeel Media Group and the creator of THE 99-the first group of superheroes inspired by Islamic culture and history. The series promotes universal themes of tolerance, teamwork and appreciation of diversity. Since its creation, THE 99 has received universal acclaim of the worldwide press with FORBES identifying THE 99 as one of ‘The Top 20 Trends Sweeping the Globe’.

The creator of THE 99 has received countless accolades and has been awarded a UNESCO prize for literature in the service of tolerance. Dr. Naif Al-Mutawa is also the recipient of The Festival Internacional de Humour e Quadrinhos Comics Award presented at Cartoons & Comics Festival in Brazil, The Ecademy Award from Columbia University School of Business, The Eliot-Pearson Award for Excellence in Children’s Media from Tufts University, The UN Alliance of Civilizations “Marketplace of Ideas” Award and “The Schwab Foundation Social Entrepreneurship Award”, 2009 presented at the World Economic Forum on The Middle East, Dead Sea, Jordan. Recently, Dr. Al-Mutawa was named one of the 500 most influential Muslims in the World and one of the 36 most influential Muslims in the media.

During the lecture Dr. Al-Mutawa will share his entrepreneurial journey with THE 99 from idea, to comic book series in 8 languages and counting, to a theme park that has opened its doors in Kuwait to a global animation series co-produced by media giant Endemol and written by the top names in Hollywood.

www.t he 99 .o rg

www. the99. org

Moderator: Jonathan Wilson, Fletcher Professor of Rhetoric and Debate, Director of the Center for the Humanities (CHAT) Co-sponsored with: CHAT, the Middle Eastern Studies Major, and the International Relations Program

Thursday, April 29, 2010 at 5:30 pm Coolidge Room, Ballou Hall, Tufts University Open to the Public :cf acfY ]bZcfaUh]cb WcbhUWh. \hhd.##ZUfYgWYbhYf"hiZhg"YXi

7\f]g NmaUf]g 4 *%+!*&+!*)*$

THE TUFTS DAILY

Thursday, April 29, 2010

9

WEEKENDER

OK Go talks about decision to leave its record label, discusses songwriting process

Rafter makes multifaceted, fun music

INTERVIEW

continued from page 6

continued from page 6

a chuckle at the tail end of his statements, as if he’s in on the joke.

In “Timeless Form, Formless Time,” Rafter layers a tropical beat with simplistic, almost childlike verses like, “I don’t care for original thought/ Because I like you, I love you a lot.” That innocent profession of adoration is juxtaposed with a sensual, more primal one in the catchy, funky “Fruit,” when Rafter pleads, “I know that you love me/ if you would share your fruit with me.”

Still, the chorus in “Paper” is the one that sticks. The danceable song is layered with a repeated call of “You motherf-----s, you motherf----s/ where did you go.” While the track might otherwise have been a poppy, playful tune to swing one’s hips to, Rafter’s lyrics imbue it with a punchy sense of flippancy.

Remember, Rafter is having a good time.

Rafter’s sly, stream-of-consciousness verses, paired with

RAFTER out of these little moments. We ended up with a fairly different-sounding record this time.

It’s one of the groovier, more upbeat records we’ve made. And although there are many melancholy moments, the happiest moments of the album are some of the happiest we’ve ever written. So, it’s kind of a record of extremes in that sense.

CS: What’s your favorite song on the album?

TN: That’s a hard question to answer. It’s sort of like asking to choose your favorite child, or something. I love each one for different reasons. I’m sometimes drawn to some songs over others. This week I really like the song “Needing/Getting” and “Skyscrapers,” because of its slightly epic, melancholic mood. Those are my favorites this week ... but probably not next week.

CS: How do you come up with the concepts for your music videos (because you’re known for having interesting and innovative videos)? Do you have creative control over them?

TN: We have complete creative control over our videos. A lot of bands, especially from the MTV generation, they often farm out the creative aspect of videomaking to directors and writers and other actors. But we really like doing that stuff! It’s definitely part of the art of what we do. It falls under the same category of the music we make and the concerts we play. We look at it as an artistic pursuit and not an advertisement for the band. We’ve tried to steer clear of the traditional filmmaking community when it comes to our videos, because there is such a set idea of what a music video is supposed to be — like a commercial for the band where the band looks awesome and everything is beautiful and glamorous! But that’s not the type of video we’re interested in making.

As far as coming up with the concepts, they come from anywhere. As long as we’re excited about a concept, we’re happy to chase it down. For example, [the video of “This Too Shall Pass”] came from seeing a high school marching band doing a recording of “Here it Goes Again.” We thought that was awesome, and we wrote them and said, ‘Hey, you guys are great. If you’d ever want to collaborate, we should do it.’

VIRGINMEDIA.COM

OK Go plans to rock out at Spring Fling this Saturday.

And they did, so we did. With the Rube Goldberg machine, it was something Andy Ross had found of a YouTube clip of the machine that had been made in an office with nothing but office supplies. He thought that was awesome and thought it would be fun to make something like that on a really grand scale. We found these engineers to volunteer their time to build it, and it was this Herculean, epic effort that luckily came to fruition.

CS: What is going to be logistically different about working under your own company instead of an established record label like you have been?

TN: In terms of our path, we’ve often been the captains of our own ship for the most part.

We looked at our label as a business partner, rather than a place to go for any sort of aesthetic or creative consulting.

In that sense, we’ve been on our own. Basically, what we’ve done is start our own business that can take care of the distribution of our ideas. In fact, that’s really exciting for us because there aren’t any middlemen anymore that we have to deal with. We just now have to figure out how to distribute these things instead of a corporate company [doing it for us].

We’ll see how it works. I think it will work like when we were on the label.

CS: Would you think leaving the label is a good move for all bands, or was it only good for you specifically because of your viral success and your need to stay true to your band and your fans?

TN: I don’t think a record label is the right place for everyone.

Young bands need to go to

record labels for the funds to go on tour for six weeks, make their records, produce their t-shirts and everything else.

For us, it seemed like the right decision because we are a little bit more self-sustaining at this point. It was a good point for us to go our own way because we needed to figure out other ways of distributing and selling our music, as well as other ideas we had. At some point, the label wasn’t very helpful for us, and for bands who have reached a certain level of success, labels really aren’t all that helpful for them.

a range of instruments and styles, keep his work from seeming stale or redundant.

The songs tend to repeat lyrics over and over again — like when one song breaks down until it’s a steady stream of the words “a frame” repeated for a minute or so. While it sometimes feels like these interludes could be cut down, the sounds beneath the brokenrecord phrases keep the sections engaging enough.

“Animal Feelings” is easy listening, but that doesn’t mean it’s simple. Rafter manages to maintain a sonically diverse and layered presentation while emphasizing his raucous spirit and spontaneous lyrics. While the album as a whole could be an energetic soundtrack at the gym, each song can also be dissected into its parts: trumpet blares amid groovy beats and lyrical musings over spoken word.

The epitome of cool is being able to pull it off while looking like one isn’t trying too hard, right? If that’s the case, Rafter is one cool guy.

CS: What would you say to college bands who are looking to make music their career?

TN: I wouldn’t say they need labels, but they need some kind of financial backing. Oftentimes that is a label, but not every young band needs a label. They just need to put their best foot forward. Something else that’s important is to make sure you like each other because you’re going to be spending a s--tload of time together. You’ll find out how the other [bandmates] breathe and chew gum and everything. It’s like a marriage.

CS: Where do you think the music industry is headed with the now readily available Internet to put music out there, making the record labels more and more obsolete?

TN: Everything in the world is headed towards the Internet now. It’s become part of the fabric of our world now, so music will certainly find a space online. It’s another space for art to exist, but not the only space. It’s hard to know, though; I don’t really know. And I don’t think anyone does.

ASTHMATICKITTY.COM

Rafter Roberts produces playful tunes that are as multifaceted as his music career.

Graduating?

Give yourself the extra edge in today’s competitive job market.

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THE TUFTS DAILY

10

THE TUFTS DAILY KERIANNE M. OKIE 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

Thursday, April 29, 2010

EDITORIAL | LETTERS

EDITORIAL

ECOM handled TCU election poorly With the many criticisms and claims that Tufts Elections Commission (ECOM) has had against this spring’s Tufts Community Union (TCU) presidential candidates’ campaigns, ECOM has left a somewhat ugly trail of its own. While the Daily has supported some of the outcomes of controversial decisions made by ECOM this campaign season, we are unwilling to condone the processes by which these judgments came about.

ECOM’s major criticism of this year’s presidential campaign was of incoming TCU President junior Sam Wallis’ exceeding of the campaign expenditure limit of $750 by purchasing a plane ticket to fly back to Tufts from Israel — where he has been studying abroad — in order to participate in the presidential debate against opponent Lauren Levine, also a junior. In a statement posted on the ECOM website, ECOM Chair Sharon Chen, a sophomore, explained that while ECOM understands Wallis’ reasoning for overspending, it must take action against his campaign in order to eliminate the possibility of creating an unjust precedent. But if ECOM is going to be stringent about following procedures, it must also act in accordance with its own.

Thus far in the election, ECOM has managed to pay no heed to some of its own bylaws, as well as implement some questionable, though not outright illicit, prac-

tices. The controversy over Wallis’ purchase of a plane ticket back to Tufts was only the start of the lack of information provided to those involved in the campaign process.

Wallis should have been informed immediately of ECOM’s decision to prohibit him from spending any more on campaigning; instead, he found out five days later.

More recently, voters found out only upon opening the online ballot for the TCU election that four referenda would be voted on yesterday instead of during a May 3 special election — which ECOM previously said would be the case. After considering the implications that this move would have on voter turnout for the referenda, we supported the proposal to include the referenda on the presidential ballot instead of holding a special election.

However, we remain galled by the fact that this decision was not announced to students ahead of time. While putting the referenda on the ballot may have been the right move, deciding to put the referenda on the ballot at the last minute without informing the student body at all was not. In ECOM’s defense, the decision was made quickly and supported by both the TCU Judiciary and outgoing TCU President Brandon Rattiner. Still, there seems to be no excuse for not at least placing the relevant information on the ECOM website days ahead of time in case this decision

was reached. The language of the referenda was decided on long before the election, and the Senate agreed even before that on what the referenda would include. There seems to be no reason for not having posted at least the content of the referenda on the website sooner.

Additionally, when the referenda were added to the ballot, it was not made clear that referenda 3 and 4 were opposing referenda, and both were passed during yesterday’s vote. Now the TCU Judiciary must make a ruling regarding which of the two referenda actually passes, if any. If ECOM had been more clear about the fact that these referenda could not both be passed, this problem would not have arisen.

Since one of ECOM’s major responsibilities is facilitating the TCU presidential election each year, it is ludicrous that its website is not kept up to date during the week leading up to the election. While basic information on the election, including candidates’ photos and links to their websites, have been available, the page titled “Current Election” states, “there are no elections at this time.” As ECOM has stressed over and over again that its goal is to maintain a fair election, perhaps its members should consider practicing what they preach and communicating with the student body and with the candidates.

DEVON COLMER 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

OFF THE HILL | UNIVERSITY OF HOUSTON

Plan to fix Wall Street on right track BY

ANDREW TAYLOR The Daily Cougar

President Barack Obama outlined his requirements for Wall Street reform for the kingpins of Wall Street on Thursday in New York. Obama presented principles aimed at preventing financial catastrophes such as the recent recession from happening in the future. His speech was timely, coming one day before the Securities and Exchange Commission filed suit against Goldman Sachs & Co. for fraud.

The first of Obama’s desired reforms was the institution of a system to protect taxpayers from future bailouts when large institutions show signs of failure. This system would establish a Consumer Financial Protection Agency (CPFA), the purpose of which it would be to protect consumers and regulate providers of financial products and services. The second requirement was the imposition of the Volcker Rule, which applies restrictions on banks that prohibit sponsoring, ownership and investment in risky trade operations and funds without relation to the banks’ customers. Obama’s third requirement was to set standards of transparency upon finan-

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.

cial tools such as derivatives, credit default swaps and other complicated financial innovations. A fourth requirement was the assurance that consumers and investors would be protected from financial abuse. In cooperation with the creation of the CFPA, Obama’s plan would strengthen the Financial Services Oversight Council and establish a Financial Consumer Coordinating Council. Finally, the fifth requirement would restructure the powers investors and pension holders have on the people who run their companies and how they are compensated.

Republicans were going full-speed in efforts to block any debate of reform almost immediately after Obama finished his speech. Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) led the efforts to filibuster the reform debate. The battles regained their usual tones, with Republicans accusing Democrats of speeding through vote processes and Democrats accusing Republicans of obstructing or stalling progress.

One of the problems McConnell addressed was the proposal of a $50 billion fund he referred to as a bailout fund.

The truth of the matter is that it is not a bailout fund paid for by the government

— the fund is paid for by corporations in order to provide protection to consumers during banks’ demise. Moreover, the fund is something the Obama administration opposes as well due to fears that it could further complicate the bankruptcy process.

The debate over potential legislation seems to get more bipartisan support than the debate over health care primarily because the effects of the recession are still fresh in the minds of Americans everywhere. The charges against Goldman Sachs have also energized debates amongst members of Congress who are trying to appeal to voters for the upcoming midterm elections.

Wall Street reform needs to be passed, and it needs to address the concerns of the taxpayers — safety from fraud and protection against bearing the burden when the financial industry screws up.

The plan Obama outlined accomplishes many issues related to those concerns.

Any legislation should establish laws that protect the economy from the types of catastrophes America suffered in 2008 and 2009 and will hopefully provide a lesson for companies on Wall Street on excessive risk taking.

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.

Thursday, April 29, 2010

THE TUFTS DAILY

The dry policy at Spring Fling is full of flaws BY

KARL LINDEMANN

Since March 12, when it was announced in The Tufts Daily that Spring Fling would be dry, I have been reading a lot about the issue.

And I must say that, once again, the members of the administration have astounded me with their ill-founded policies. The alcohol policy in general at this school is so misguided — with the added problem of alcohol culture spiraling out of control — that I will not possibly be able to address all of the issues within one op-ed piece, but I will give it a shot.

There are two incidents of policy that I think are relevant here, and I will go in reverse chronological order. The first, obviously, is making Spring Fling dry. I am a bit surprised that there has not yet been an op-ed specifically focusing on the faults of the policy, so I will summarize them. It is completely amazing that, in response to last year’s catastrophe, this is all the administration can think of to do. Last year, from what I understand (I was abroad at the time), was complete chaos. In addition to some dehydration issues, there were a huge number of people that were far too drunk to function, and obviously this did not sit well with the bigwigs.

Their response, though, is ineffective at best, counterproductive at worst. They have enacted a policy that punishes most juniors and seniors — less than half of the population at Tufts. What is more, not only were a significant number of those punished not even here last year (myself included), but they are also, by virtue of being older, largely more experienced with drinking and thus less likely to cause problems.

It seems apparent that Dean of Student Affairs Bruce Reitman and his cohorts simply do not understand how a college-aged brain works. I think this is best exemplified by his quotation in the Daily from March 12, “The fact that there won’t be alcohol for five hours … does not mean that therefore people should drink more in the neighborhood or dormitories. That’s

just stupid.” I almost couldn’t believe this when I read it the first time. Has working as the Dean of Student Affairs at Tufts not taught Reitman that college students will drink and will risk being punished, regardless of the punitive policies enacted upon them? I wonder if it is even worth writing this piece based on the blindness of this statement. The basis for this kind of thought completely eludes me.

This new policy, regardless of what should or should not happen, will do nothing but worsen the problems.

Essentially the entire 21-plus population that wants to get drunk is now being forced to pre-game heavily, adding to the already heavy pre-gaming being undertaken by those under 21.

What’s more, the vast number of perpetrators from last year along with the new freshmen will go completely unaffected. To them, this year will be exactly the same. Where is the change in that? No one drinks in an attempt to get seen to by Tufts Emergency Medical Services (TEMS), so calls for people to do so to prove the administration wrong are silly. However, it obviously does happen, and is more likely to happen, the more pre-gaming takes place. This policy was supposed to make Spring Fling an alcohol-free event, but instead it will make it one marred by alcohol poisoning.

The second incident of policy is from September and has to do with the immediate level-one disciplinary probation status of anyone caught drinking underage (the most common cause of which is TEMS-ing). I suppose I should not have been as baffled at the administration’s draconian policies regarding Spring Fling with this previous policy as background. It really seems the only thing that they are creative enough to come up with are punitive measures. I guess we are heading back to the Middle Ages.

This goes back to what I said above, which the administration needs to learn: No one drinks in order to get TEMS’d. Quite the contrary, most people believe they can avoid getting

TEMS’d if they drink and, especially the inexperienced drinkers, have a vastly inflated perception of their alcohol limits. So punishing someone for calling for help when sick, which is in effect what this policy does, seems completely ridiculous when getting sick never happens on purpose.

What is more, this policy endangers students themselves. I know that the administration says that numbers of TEMS calls have not gone down since the policy has been enacted, but to me that does not matter at all. What matters is that someone, when dealing with a potentially alcohol-poisoned friend, should never hesitate to call help based on potential punitive consequences. I fear that it will take a real alcohol-related catastrophe involving a student unwilling to call TEMS before this policy is changed. It’s just more punishments being added on.

What needs to happen is the creation of a safe environment for drinking so kids can actually learn how to drink without killing themselves — because those kids will drink regardless of the policies surrounding them. There are surely alternatives to the ineffective and misguided policies here.

Another problem that arises from these policies is the alienation of the student body. It gives the impression that the administration is simply too lazy to really address our concerns.

Honestly, I don’t really care that much about drinking at Spring Fling. But these policies are on the level of abstinenceonly education. It doesn’t work to not give kids all the resources that should be available to them regarding safe sex, and the same holds with safe drinking.

If no one drinks trying to get TEMS’d, but will drink regardless of what policies are in place (have I said that enough times yet?), wouldn’t it make most sense to enact policies to teach people how to drink safely, rather than trying in vain to stop drinking altogether?

Karl Lindemann is a senior majoring in psychology and Arabic.

Raising issues of environmental justice

BY KELLI FARRINGTON, SHREYA GANDHI, AUDREY MILLER AND STEPHANIE WIESELER

An important social-environmental movement that we don’t hear about as much as the mainstream environmental movement is that of environmental justice (EJ). The EJ movement combines environmentalism and social justice into a single theory that calls for equality in the sharing of benefits and burdens of the environment. That is, no group should disproportionately bear the brunt of environmental harm while other groups reap all the benefits. Traditional environmentalism focuses much less on complex internal social issues, rather on ameliorating environmental problems as a whole.

EJ aims to empower and advocate for those with lower socioeconomic statuses and members of minority groups.

According to the environmental justice scholar Rev. Benjamin F. Chavis Jr., “Millions of African Americans, Latinos, Asians, Pacific Islanders, and Native Americans are trapped in polluted environments because of their race and color. Some Americans do not have the same opportunities to breathe clean air, drink clean water, enjoy clean parks and playgrounds, or work in a clean, safe environment.”

Environmental injustice is undeniably a global issue, wherein entire nations are unfairly burdened while others reap the benefits.

One major area of concern for the environmental justice movement is workers’ rights and safety. Many victims of environmental injustice find themselves subject to environmen-

tal job blackmail: when the fear of unemployment forces people to take jobs that pose risks to the health of themselves and their environment.

Residents of poorer communities are often faced with the choice of either working in potentially harmful jobs or not working at all.

Yesterday was Workers’ Memorial Day, which is held every year to commemorate the thousands of workers who are killed and the millions more who are injured or diseased each year because of their jobs. Environmentally harmful jobs can be among some of the most dangerous for workers.

Consider for a moment the health risks of merely living in close proximity to environmentally harmful factories and businesses. Famous real-life cases like those portrayed in the films “Erin Brockovich” (2000) and “A Civil Action” (1998) are no doubt familiar to most and have helped many citizens come to understand the real health and environmental impacts of environmentally hazardous businesses. Working in these conditions can put employees at significant risk for serious health problems each and every day. We must be aware of the conditions many workers face and work to promote better safety and greater rights for workers, keeping in mind the importance of environmental justice.

Safe workplaces are not a remote concept; Tufts employs hundreds of workers whose environmental safety we can advocate for. Although Tufts has switched over to Green Seal-certified cleaning products, which is certainly a step in the right direction, this does

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OP-ED

not eliminate the risks to employees on this campus. Even though a cleaning product may be labeled “green,” it can still pose significant health hazards, including corrosive effects to the eyes, nose, throat and respiratory tract. Our janitors are exposed to these hazards every day. As they typically remain in their jobs for many years, janitors receive long-term exposure to these chemicals — exposure which is increased because our bathrooms are not especially well-ventilated. This risk is compounded by the fact that most janitors live in communities that experience more than their fair share of environmental injustices.

Today in the Mayer Campus Center from 10:30 a.m. to 11:45 a.m., our English class, Environmental Justice and U.S. Literature — taught by Professor Elizabeth Ammons — will be hosting a Social Activism Day to spread awareness about the environmental injustices faced by Tufts employees and residents of Massachusetts alike.

Come out and ask us questions about the issues, learn what we have to share about our semester in this class and share your thoughts and opinions!

Kelli Farrington is a senior majoring in political science. Shreya Gandhi is a freshman who has not yet declared a major. Audrey Miller is a sophomore who is majoring in English. Stephanie Wieseler is a sophomore who is a dual degree student with the New England Conservatory of Music. They are all members of the Environmental Justice and U.S. Literature course.

ELISHA SUM | OUR GENDERATION

Feminism at its core

T

ori Amos once sang, “Blood in the cherry zone when they pit [hu]man against feminist.”

Despite the varying definitions and meanings of feminism, egalitarianism fuels the heart of the movement, a reality that should not be easily dismissed in assessing the necessity of feminism in our modern world. It remains crucial everywhere, especially in the Western world, for the equality myth — continually perpetuated by the faulty framing of progress and advancement — still weaves itself into the mainstream narrative and claims legitimacy. The assumption that tomorrow brings any more perks than a new day can lead to apathy and ignorance, which are destructive and hinder social justice initiatives. Instead of looking forward to a brighter day that is not guaranteed, we can get our umbrellas out and deal with today’s rain — that is to say, focus on problems that persist and those that have arisen.

Just as an idealized conception of modernity destabilizes the conviction in the continual need for change, the myth of feminism’s exclusivity, reflected in the label and for which it is often criticized, furthers the division and weakens the movement. However, the roots of the movement which were planted in fighting women’s oppression on all levels of social life cannot be ignored when seeking to trivialize the movement. The name “feminism” thus arose from the preliminary struggles for women’s equal footing with men; it does not aim to purport that men deserve less than equality. Furthermore, a static representation that does not take into account the passage of time and the evolution of feminism serves only to erroneously reject an essential subset of egalitarianism. Of course, I do not intend to romanticize feminism, which rightfully has been criticized throughout the years for its lack of representation and concern for certain groups, such as women of color, women with disabilities and transwomen, but I hope to offer a more contemporary framing that can offer an actual positive portrait of an oft-slighted perspective.

Though the term at a superficial level excludes men, I believe in feminism’s ideals and do not feel the need to stay on the periphery. Personally, I subscribe to a concept of feminism that fits neatly into the egalitarian model; my feminism just focuses more so on gender, with the ultimate goal of freeing all genders from inequality. The existence of gender variation should be recognized and legitimized with the freedom of gender expression.

Our laws and societies need to combat gender inequality in order to improve the quality of life for all genders — that includes men, just in case you were wondering. In working toward such a goal, feminism often overlaps and interconnects with other social justice movements because of the plurality of identity, as several categories — such as sexuality, disability, age, class and race — all figure into who we are. These intersections inevitably connect us on the level of our complex humanity, a commonality which renders the demands for equality for all in all arenas of society just and expected.

Remember the multiplicity of feminism and its egalitarian roots the next time a sigh, an eye-roll or some other gesture of dismissal is about to manifest in response to any form of feminist discourse, be it scholarly, social, political, etc. Appropriating every single aspect of feminism, especially when many interpretations exist, is unnecessary in having a respectful regard toward its humane goals.

Finally, in terms of the power of language and the resultant framing of our understanding of the world, I eagerly await the point at which those subscribing to a pro-feminist philosophy and those with a feminist identity can coincide and have these separate identities intersect.

Elisha Sum is a junior majoring in English and French. He can be reached at Elisha.

Sum@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.

THE TUFTS DAILY

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COMICS

Thursday, April 29, 2010

DOONESBURY

CROSSWORD

BY

GARRY TRUDEAU

NON SEQUITUR

BY

WEDNESDAY’S SOLUTION

MARRIED TO THE SEA

www.marriedtothesea.com

SUDOKU Level: Trying to do work after Spring Fling

LATE NIGHT AT THE DAILY Wednesday’s Solution

Caryn to Ellen: “I will rain all over your f---ing lasers!”

Please recycle this Daily

WILEY

Sports

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tuftsdaily.com

THE WHEEL AND CHAIN

DAVID HECK | THE SAUCE

Appreciating the boss

T

COURTESY EVAN COOPER

Sophomore Evan Cooper, a member of the Tufts Cycling Team, competed on Sunday in L’Enfer du Nord, the Eastern Collegiate Cycling Championships, hosted by Dartmouth.

On race day, it’s peanut butter jelly time BY

EVAN COOPER

Daily Editorial Board

Editor’s Note: Evan Cooper is a sophomore, a sports editor for the Daily and an aspiring professional cyclist. He races for the Tufts Cycling Team and for the elite amateur squad Team Ora presented by Independent Fabrication.

This series will chronicle his season as he tries to make racing into more than just a hobby.

You probably wouldn’t try to run your Formula 1 car on low-grade, reg-

ular-octane fuel, and I haven’t seen any Lamborghini owners lately filling up their ego-soothers with any form of eco-friendly fuel. That’s just not the way things are done, and it’s not the way their engines run. These are high performance vehicles with high performance needs. So you would think that athletes work the same way, right?

Well, not exactly. Sure, we scarf down heaping plates of pasta and stuff our faces with oh-so-delicious energy gels (though vanilla and coffee aren’t all that bad, I swear), but

there’s more to it than that. I’m not saying that you can be an elite-level cyclist, or any type of athlete for that matter, and eat nothing but pizza and KFC, though you can certainly better afford the occasional Crave Case than the average American. But at the same time, you aren’t going to get there on nothing but brown rice and tofu either.

Let’s take this past Sunday as our test case. The race: L’Enfer du see THE WHEEL AND CHAIN, page 15

INSIDE THE NFL

GOLF

Recapping the winners and losers of the 2010 NFL Draft

Heffernan leads Jumbos at Rhode Island College Invite

BY

ETHAN LANDY

Daily Editorial Board

The NFL Draft looked a little different this year. The first round took place last Thursday night, and the whole event was spread over three days. But in the end, it was mostly the same.

Mostly.

Sam Bradford went No. 1 to the St. Louis Rams and will be entrusted with turning around a franchise that won just one game last season. Five cornerbacks and a pair of safeties went in round one, representing almost a quarter of the picks. There were reaches and there were free fallers, none more so than Jimmy Clausen, who went No. 48 to the Carolina Panthers.

And the New England Patriots and Bill Belichick continued to treat draft picks like they were on the stock market, gaining another second-round pick in the 2011 draft to bring their haul to four in the first two rounds. All in all, it was a fairly typical draft.

That’s not to say that some teams did not do better than others. The Daily breaks down three winners and losers from the NFL’s premier offseason showcase.

Winners: 1. Tampa Bay Buccaneers: The Bucs’ consolation prize at No. 3? Gerald McCoy, a player who quite a few scouts feel might be better than No. 2 pick Ndamukong Suh. McCoy gives the Bucs a player whom they can build

their defense around, much like Josh Freeman at quarterback last season.

Speaking of Freeman, Tampa Bay gave its second-year QB a new toy in the second round when it drafted Arrelious Benn. The former Illinois wideout did not have the best year, but he is a major talent and was not helped by his teammates around him. Benn has the chance to be a big-time target and a top-tier wideout in the league.

Couple that pick with another tackle in Brian Price, who had first-round value, and the Bucs’ second round was better than a number of teams’ firsts.

2. Seattle Seahawks: For once, Pete Carroll actually has a reason to be “pumped” and “jacked.” He will begin his first year as the Seattle coach on the heels of one of the best drafts of 2010.

Most people thought Russell Okung was the best offensive tackle in this draft, and that was a position of strength this year. Okung is an excelsee NFL, page 16 Listen in to the Tufts Daily Sports weekly podcast to hear editors Ethan Landy and Alex Prewitt discuss the NFL Draft, the NBA playoffs and more — plus a special surprise guest. Visit tuftsdaily. com/sports to listen.

The golf team wasn’t ready to call its spring season over after a 14th place finish in the Worcester State Invitational.

The Jumbos had one last tournament to close out their season last Friday at the Rhode Island College Invitational. Tufts finished in third place in the four-team field, finishing 12 shots behind the host Anchormen.

Junior Luke Heffernan paced Tufts with a strong finish, shooting a 37 on the back nine of the par-72 Triggs Memorial Golf Course to finish with a round of 80. That nine, which was the second best of the day behind tournament winner and Worcester State College junior Bob Bruso’s 36 on the back nine, was enough to tie Heffernan for third in the tournament.

Senior Brett Hershman was the second-highest finisher for the Jumbos in his last tournament. He shot an 83, including a 39 on the front nine, to finish tied for seventh. Fellow senior James Stone was next, just one shot behind his classmate. Junior Cal Shapiro’s 91 rounded out the scorers for Tufts on the day. Senior Jon Trott also competed for Tufts, shooting a 48 on both the front and back nine of the course to finish with a 96.

Elms College was the runner-up in the invitational, while Worcester State rounded out the participants with its fourth-place finish.

— by Ethan Landy

he words are well known in baseball circles. At the time, they seemed genuine. Now, they are simply infamous: “We plan absentee ownership. We’re not going to pretend we’re something we’re not. I’ll stick to building ships.”

Those were the remarks of George Steinbrenner back in 1973, when he purchased the New York Yankees for the now-paltry sum of $10 million — or about one third of what Alex Rodriguez will make this year.

Of course, Steinbrenner did not end up sticking to his shipping business. He went on to become one of the most divisive, controversial personalities in sports history. And no matter how you feel about the man, whether you think he’s ruined baseball or saved it, his impact on the game and unparalleled success are undeniable.

Everyone knows that the Yankees have a storied history: Ruth, Gehrig, DiMaggio, Berra, Mantle, Maris. The franchise won five straight championships between 1949 and 1953, and it had accumulated 20 World Series titles by 1962.

But then the Yankees fell into an oft-overlooked dark period. CBS purchased a majority stake in the franchise in 1964, and the following year, the Yankees finished second in the division for the first time in 40 years. In 1966, they finished last for the first time since 1912. The team was full of aging superstars — Mantle was a shadow of his former self, Maris became a bench player — and it was unable to restock its core of talent.

That is, until Steinbrenner came along.

When Catfish Hunter became the first modernday free agent in 1974, after an independent arbiter ruled that the team had failed to honor the terms of his contract, Steinbrenner was quick to snatch him up for five years and $3.5 million — a revolutionary signing that paved the way for the “Hot Stove” that generates so much baseball interest in the offseason.

Two years later, Steinbrenner signed Reggie Jackson, and the Yanks went on to win it all in 1977 and 1978.

Steinbrenner hit a slump of his own after that point. He overstepped the boundaries in interfering with team affairs, and that certainly had more than a little to do with the team’s struggles. He had public feuds with manager Billy Martin, firing and hiring and firing him again (all in all, Martin held the Yankees’ managerial position five separate times). He spent heaps of money on players who were aging and losing their skills (sounds familiar, doesn’t it?).

Steinbrenner got so meddlesome that the Yankees didn’t get back on track until he was suspended from day-to-day team operations for employing a private investigator to dig up dirt on outfielder Dave Winfield. It was at that point that the Yankees drafted and cultivated homegrown stars like Derek Jeter, Jorge Posada, Bernie Williams, Andy Pettitte and Mariano Rivera.

But even though Steinbrenner has had his troubles with the team, his triumphs greatly outweighed those setbacks. He’s won seven World Series and 11 AL Championships during his tenure as owner. He built a moneyprinting cable network dedicated solely to the Yankees. He helped to expand baseball interest in Japan and China. He turned his $10 million investment into a franchise that is now estimated to be worth over $1 billion.

If you’re not a Yankees fan, you probably view Steinbrenner as the Dark Lord of the Evil Empire.

But he hasn’t only improved the Yankees — he’s been a major reason for the rise in baseball interest and profitability over the past 30 years.

These days, Steinbrenner has ceded control of the teaxm to his two sons, Hank and Hal. And while Hank has earned a reputation similar to that of his father — a man who is sometimes brash with his comments — there will never be a true replacement for the figure simply referred to as The Boss.

He is arguably the most influential sports personality of my lifetime. And as my days as a Daily columnist come to a close, I felt it was about time to recognize him.

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

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THE TUFTS DAILY

SPORTS

Thursday, April 29, 2010

THE TUFTS DAILY

Thursday, April 29, 2010

15

SPORTS

INSIDE THE MLB

Years later, Yankees benefitting from rejecting Santana offer

BY SAPNA

BANSIL

Daily Editorial Board

On April 10, New York Yankees pitcher CC Sabathia flirted with baseball immortality, holding the Tampa Bay Rays hitless through 7.2 innings before Kelly Shoppach broke up his run at history.

Eleven days later, Sabathia’s teammate, Phil Hughes, carried a no-hit bid of his own deep into a start against the Oakland Athletics, only to watch Eric Chavez line the first pitch of the bottom of the eighth inning off his body for an infield single.

But two of the marquee pitching performances of this young baseball season — this side of Ubaldo Jimenez, that is — may have never happened had it not been for a fateful decision made

by Yankees general manager Brian Cashman in the winter of 2007.

After his team had been eliminated from the playoffs in the divisional round for the third consecutive year, Cashman was rumored to be making an aggressive play for then-Minnesota Twins stud lefty Johan Santana. Cashman’s Twins counterpart, Bill Smith, reportedly put the following offer on the table: Hughes, outfielder Melky Cabrera and minor leaguers Jeff Marquez and Mitch Hilligoss in exchange for the two-time Cy Young award winner.

To the dismay of many Yankee fans, Cashman ultimately opted against pulling the trigger. At the time, it may have seemed difficult to rationalize a decision that kept a bonafide ace off a team that had counted on 44-year-old Roger Clemens as its fourth starter the year before. And indeed, when the Yankees missed out on the postseason in 2008 — in part because the likes of Sidney Ponson and Darrell Rasner were filling in the back end of their rotation — the second-guessing of Cashman only persisted.

It probably didn’t help matters that Santana was traded to the cross-town rival New York Mets and was thriving in the National League, where he finished third in the 2008 Cy Young voting.

But while Cashman’s decision may have cost the Yankees a playoff berth and a few backpage headlines in the very short term, it started to pay major dividends for the club by 2009, really for two reasons. First,

Cashman masterfully redistributed the resources initially earmarked for a Santana trade, thereby bolstering his team in several key areas. Second, Hughes began to live up to his promise as a highly-touted prospect, justifying Cashman’s refusal to trade him for even someone of Santana’s caliber.

One could thus conceivably argue that by not yielding to public demand for Santana, Cashman set the Yankees up for their World Series run of 2009 and their hot start to 2010. Here is a closer look at how the Yankee general manager’s then-unpopular decision paved the way for his team’s recent success: 1.

Signing Sabathia: Cashman’s decision not to bring Santana aboard was likely made with another much sought-after lefty in mind. One offseason after Santana was put on the trading block, Sabathia, then a Cy Young-winning southpaw for the Cleveland Indians, was slated to hit the free-agent market. Cashman thus had to figure out whether Santana was worth the prospect haul and lucrative contract extension it would take to acquire him, or whether he should wait a year and just throw boatloads of money at Sabathia instead.

He opted for the latter, and few would argue with the results.

The Yankees won the 2009 World Series in part because Sabathia was a workhorse for them in October, twice starting on three days’ rest and earning ALCS MVP honors. Santana, meanwhile, has never really been known for his durability. In two-plus seasons with the Mets, he’s lasted into the eighth inning just 11 times and pitched on short rest only once. Without relinquishing a prized prospect like Hughes, Cashman satisfied the Yankees’ need for an ace to lead their rotation — and arguably got more from him than he ever would have out of Santana.

2. Acquiring Swisher and Vazquez: As much as Cashman put the money that would have gone to Santana to good use, the prospects he held onto also turned into key pieces of the current Yankees squad. In November 2008, Marquez was dealt to the Chicago White Sox for Nick Swisher, who took over as the Yankees’ everyday

MCT

By turning down the Johan Santana deal, New York Yankees GM Brian Cashman was able to keep Phil Hughes, who is well on his way to a solid career in pinstripes. right fielder in 2009 and went on to post a career-best .869 OPS. Cabrera, meanwhile, was a major part of the deal that brought Javier Vazquez back to the Bronx last Christmas.

Hilligoss, too, is no longer in the Yankees’ system, as he was traded in January for Triple-A outfielder Greg Golson.

All in all, the resources the Yankees were originally going to devote to Santana were ultimately used to land an ace southpaw, a 30-home run right

fielder, a 200-strikeout righthander and some depth in the minor leagues.

3. Keeping Hughes: After he went 5-7 with a 5.15 ERA over his first two big league seasons, it wasn’t clear whether Hughes would ever live up to his billing as a frontline starting pitcher.

But after he was shuttled to the bullpen in June of last season, the former first-round pick finally began to blossom and, in the process, rewarded the faith Cashman showed by refusing to

make him the centerpiece of a Santana trade.

Over his last 69.1 innings of work, Hughes has racked up 83 strikeouts, an ERA of 1.56 and a WHIP of 0.88. It’s hard to imagine how the Yankees would have run away from the pack in the AL East last year had Hughes not been around to bridge the gap to Mariano Rivera. Now firmly entrenched in the Yankees’ starting rotation, the 23-yearold Hughes appears well on his way to superstardom.

Fuel for a cyclist is not what you’d think it would be THE WHEEL AND CHAIN continued from page 13

Nord. In layman’s terms: The Eastern Collegiate Cycling Conference (ECCC) Championships, hosted by Dartmouth College. The Men’s A race was 75 miles long, featured a pretty substantial amount of climbing and took somewhere on the order of three and a half hours. Oh, and we raced pretty hard.

I should probably mention that. And as you may know from your experiences cruising along the highway well in excess of the legal speed limit, the faster you go, the more fuel you burn.

The same applies.

So in order to survive a race like this, one thing is needed above all: calories, calories, calories. And yes, a calorie is a calorie, no matter where it comes from, but when you are trying to fill yourself with upward of 4,000, or even 5,000, of them, things get a little tricky. That plate of pasta isn’t going to cut it anymore, at least not on its own.

That’s not to say that you don’t eat it, because pasta is definitely a source of high-quality carbs and is probably still going to be one of your best sources of fuel, but it’s only going to get you so

far. This is where my peanut butter and jelly metaphor comes in.

The peanut butter and jelly sandwich serves both as one of the best ways to get that much-needed fuel, while at the same time symbolizing the balance that you need to strike in order to get in enough food without risking losing or gaining weight, both of which will hurt your performance.

The classic PB&J features the ideal ratio of foods for a cyclist: lots of carbs from the bread, some healthy fat and a little protein from the peanut butter, and some quick and tasty energy from the sugary jelly. It’s all there in a nice, neat package. You can wrap it up and put it in your jersey pocket, and it makes the perfect pre- or post-race snack. Personally, I never leave for any race weekend without my trusty Tupperware container filled with four premade and wrapped PB&J’s. And I would bring more too if they would fit.

But there is more to the PB&J than the sandwich itself. There is a lesson.

Like I said, healthy carbs and healthy proteins are all great. We need lots, and I mean lots, of them in order to train, recover and race. But there is a

time and a place for everything, and that means those “unhealthy” foods fit in somewhere too. If you’re going to get in enough calories, you’re going to have to get it from denser sources. This is where the fun begins.

Peanut butter, of course, is high on the list of approved foods. But right up there with it, and probably higher on most cyclists’ lists — including mine — is Nutella. This fatty, rich, chocolaty spread is pure energy in a jar, and it is calorie-dense and delicious. Did I mention that it’s chocolate?

It’s foods like these that help fill the caloric gaps in your diet that you just can’t account for with healthy foods alone. It takes cookies, French toast, hamburgers, ice cream, eggs, Snickers bars — you name it — to fill us up.

Especially when you’re on the lighter side and your stomach probably isn’t big enough to handle large volumes of food, the trick is to choose foods that pack a lot of punch in a smaller package. (Does anyone have some Oreos for me?)

Now, I’m not saying that by riding a bike you get free license to stuff your face with whatever you want whenever you want. Fueling right is absolutely

essential to performing well, and knowing when to eat that donut and when to opt for grilled chicken and a big salad is equally as important as any other aspect of your training. But it is a fine line between being a healthy, conscientious eater and being a little too neurotic. Eat too little, and you will suffer, possibly even more than if you eat too much. The key is balance. And that is why I always look to the PB&J. Now that the ECCC racing season has come to an end, there is one collegiate race left for me before I transition to the rest of my season with my trade team: collegiate nationals. The race is a week from Friday in Madison, Wisc. In the span of 72 miles, the course ascends 8,000 vertical feet, which is simply a whole lot of climbing by any standard.

For comparison, Mt. Everest ascends between 11,980 and 15,260 feet when measured from base to summit, depending on which face you start from.

Naturally, I like that. I like to climb, and this race does almost nothing but that. I’m not going to make any promises or predictions, but there is one thing I can guarantee: I’ll be bringing my PB&J.

THE TUFTS DAILY

16

Thursday, April 29, 2010

SPORTS

MCT

Former Notre Dame receiver Golden Tate was just one of a number of good picks in the 2010 NFL Draft by Pete Carroll and the Seattle Seahawks.

Broncos, Chargers pay high price to move up NFL continued from page 13

can step right in and replace the legendary Walter Jones.

The Seahawks then waited until No. 14 and picked up the second-best safety in the draft, Earl Thomas. Thomas is a playmaker on defense and has great cover skills. The one knock on him is his size, but he makes up for it in every other facet.

If that wasn’t enough, Seattle got some help at the offensive skill positions as well. Golden Tate might not have the measurables of other elite prospects, but he plays big and continually made big plays at Notre Dame. And Anthony McCoy, who played under

Carroll at USC, was a great value in the sixth round. When you factor in draft day trades for LenDale White and Leon Washington at running back, Seahawks fans have a reason to share their coach’s optimism.

3. Oakland Raiders: The Raiders finally had a good draft. What happened?

Some feel that Rolando McClain could have been had later in the first round, but he was the best linebacker in this draft and will be great in the middle of the Oakland D, playing with second-round pick Lamarr Houston.

The Raiders reverted back to their usual selves in the fourth round, picking up prospects with gaudy combined num-

bers. But instead of reaching for Bruce Campbell, Al Davis got his coveted man in the fourth round and got another intriguing o-line prospect in Edwin Veldheer in the third.

Davis also picked up combine speedster Jacoby Ford.

The Raiders got the players they wanted without making any questionable moves to do so. Just because of that, they are automatically winners. The trade for Jason Campbell at QB doesn’t hurt either.

Losers: 1. Jacksonville Jaguars: Like any other team could be here.

The decision to draft Tyson Alualu at No. 10 can only be described as a colossal reach, one that could go down as

one of the most memorable in draft history. Alualu was a fringe first-round player but wound up making a whole lot of money when the Jags could not trade down and bit on the player they thought to be the best fit.

Never mind that Gene Smith upset the entire city of Jacksonville by not drafting hometown hero Tim Tebow.

Smith did even worse. It wasn’t enough that he picked Alualu so high. He also spent his next three selections on defensive linemen, all after acquiring Aaron Kampman this offseason.

To be fair, the Jags did release John Henderson, so maybe that factored into their plan. But that defensive line

DAILY DIGITS

The Cleveland Indians’ rating on Neilsen’s “Sentiment Scale,” making the squad the most hated team in the MLB. According to the scale, which uses various keywords to find out whether people have positive, negative or neutral reactions to different brands and products, the Indians registered a 0.9, two-tenths in front of the second-most hated team, the Boston Red Sox. The Yankees rang in fifth, while the Reds and the Astros were a surprise third and fourth, respectively. No squad registered a negative on the-five-to negative five scale.

13 Total runs that the baseball team had allowed in its previous five non-conference games before getting blasted on Tuesday at home against Eastern Connecticut, 19-5. The Jumbos were also 12-2 outside of the NESCAC entering the game, but allowed 18 total hits, had four wild pitches and committed five errors. The 14-run loss was the second time Tufts had lost by that margin this year, the previous time on March 23 against Greensboro College.

.364

14

Batting average for senior outfielder Stefanie Tong of the softball team. Tong, who had entered this season with 13 career at bats — all of which occurred during her freshman year — has made the transition into an everyday player nearly flawlessly.

Most recently, Tong slugged the game-winning home run in a crucial 2-1 victory over Trinity which put the Jumbos in the drivers seat of the NESCAC East. On the year, Tong is second on the team with 16 RBIs and four home runs. She has started in 25 of the team’s 28 games.

The age of former Chinese Olympic gymnast, Dong Fangxiao, who competed in the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney. Ten years later, the Chinese were stripped of their bronze medal after it was deemed that Dong was 14 years old at the time of competition, and not 16 as was reported.

Dong had claimed to be born in 1983, but later dropped the pretenses and now claims she was born in 1985. The United States received the bronze instead.

50

9

Amount, in millions of dollars, that Atlanta Braves manager Bobby Cox believes St. Louis Cardinals superstar first baseman Albert Pujols is worth per year. Recently, the Phiadelphia Phillies’ Ryan Howard signed a five-year extension worth $125 million total, or $25 million per year. Cox, though, is reported as saying that the Braves would double that record salary for Pujols, a three-time NL MVP. Pujols is in the final year of a seven-year, $100 million contract.

16 43.20m 43.20m

0.9

Games, in a row, that the women’s lacrosse team had won before it lost on the road to Middlebury last Saturday. After dropping two of their first three, the Jumbos then went on a tear, capturing nine straight with a potent offense that scored in double digits throughout the streak. The 13-9 loss to the Panthers, though, marked Tufts’ lowest goal total since a March 20 loss to Colby.

will be full of untested players this season.

2. Denver Broncos: The sad thing about this is that the Broncos actually picked up two talented receivers: Demaryius Thomas, who might turn out to be the best wideout from this draft, and Eric Decker, a hard-nosed talent from Minnesota who has great hands. Even round-five pick Perrish Cox, the corner from Oklahoma State, was a great value.

But Tebow? Josh McDaniels already had one heralded college quarterback with a low NFL ceiling on his roster in the recently acquired Brady Quinn.

Now he has another project in Tebow. This is what Broncos’ fans get after the team traded Jay Cutler?

Tebow was a great college player, there is no denying that. But he doesn’t translate well to the NFL, and he might never become a starting quarterback. For a first-round pick who cost a second, third and fourth rounder, the Broncos cannot afford to have Tebow be a bust. But with questionable throwing mechanics, he very well may be just that.

3. San Diego Chargers: So long, LT. Hello, Mr. Mathews.

The Chargers traded up to the No. 12 spot to grab a new franchise back to replace LaDainian Tomlinson. But in a draft largely devoid of running back talent, Ryan Mathews felt like a reach that high up.

There is something to be said about drafting for need, but why move all the way up to do it? Mathews does have good speed and explosiveness, but he struggled to stay on the field while at Fresno State, missing games in each season due to injury. He will work well in the backfield with Darren Sproles, but he cost San Diego an awful lot.

The decision to trade up for Donald Butler, the linebacker from Washington, was similar.

It cost the Chargers a sixthrounder and their fourthround pick next season. It wasn’t such a need for San Diego, but they felt compelled to trade up for him anyway.

THE TUFTS DAILY

16

Thursday, April 29, 2010

SPORTS

MCT

Former Notre Dame receiver Golden Tate was just one of a number of good picks in the 2010 NFL Draft by Pete Carroll and the Seattle Seahawks.

Broncos, Chargers pay high price to move up NFL continued from page 13

lent left tackle prospect who can step right in and replace the legendary Walter Jones.

The Seahawks then waited until No. 14 and picked up the second-best safety in the draft, Earl Thomas. Thomas is a playmaker on defense and has great cover skills. The one knock on him is his size, but he makes up for it in every other facet.

If that wasn’t enough, Seattle got some help at the offensive skill positions as well. Golden Tate might not have the measurables of other elite prospects, but he plays big and continually made big plays at Notre Dame. And Anthony

McCoy, who played under Carroll at USC, was a great value in the sixth round. When you factor in draft day trades for LenDale White and Leon Washington at running back, Seahawks fans have a reason to share their coach’s optimism.

3. Oakland Raiders: The Raiders finally had a good draft. What happened?

Some feel that Rolando McClain could have been had later in the first round, but he was the best linebacker in this draft and will be great in the middle of the Oakland D, playing with second-round pick Lamarr Houston.

The Raiders reverted back to their usual selves in the fourth round, picking up prospects

with gaudy combined numbers. But instead of reaching for Bruce Campbell, Al Davis got his coveted man in the fourth round and got another intriguing o-line prospect in Edwin Veldheer in the third.

Davis also picked up combine speedster Jacoby Ford.

The Raiders got the players they wanted without making any questionable moves to do so. Just because of that, they are automatically winners. The trade for Jason Campbell at QB doesn’t hurt either.

Losers: 1. Jacksonville Jaguars: Like any other team could be here.

The decision to draft Tyson Alualu at No. 10 can only be described as a colossal reach,

one that could go down as one of the most memorable in draft history. Alualu was a fringe first-round player but wound up making a whole lot of money when the Jags could not trade down and bit on the player they thought to be the best fit.

Never mind that Gene Smith upset the entire city of Jacksonville by not drafting hometown hero Tim Tebow.

Smith did even worse. It wasn’t enough that he picked Alualu so high. He also spent his next three selections on defensive linemen, all after acquiring Aaron Kampman this offseason.

To be fair, the Jags did release John Henderson, so maybe that factored into their plan. But that defensive line

DAILY DIGITS

The Cleveland Indians’ rating on Neilsen’s “Sentiment Scale,” making the squad the most hated team in the MLB. According to the scale, which uses various keywords to find out whether people have positive, negative or neutral reactions to different brands and products, the Indians registered a 0.9, two-tenths in front of the second-most hated team, the Boston Red Sox. The Yankees rang in fifth, while the Reds and the Astros were a surprise third and fourth, respectively. No squad registered a negative on the-five-to negative five scale.

13 Total runs that the baseball team had allowed in its previous five non-conference games before getting blasted on Tuesday at home against Eastern Connecticut, 19-5. The Jumbos were also 12-2 outside of the NESCAC entering the game, but allowed 18 total hits, had four wild pitches and committed five errors. The 14-run loss was the second time Tufts had lost by that margin this year, the previous time on March 23 against Greensboro College.

.364

14

Batting average for senior outfielder Stefanie Tong of the softball team. Tong, who had entered this season with 13 career at bats — all of which occurred during her freshman year — has made the transition into an everyday player nearly flawlessly.

Most recently, Tong slugged the game-winning home run in a crucial 2-1 victory over Trinity which put the Jumbos in the drivers seat of the NESCAC East. On the year, Tong is second on the team with 16 RBIs and four home runs. She has started in 25 of the team’s 28 games.

The age of former Chinese Olympic gymnast, Dong Fangxiao, who competed in the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney. Ten years later, the Chinese were stripped of their bronze medal after it was deemed that Dong was 14 years old at the time of competition, and not 16 as was reported.

Dong had claimed to be born in 1983, but later dropped the pretenses and now claims she was born in 1985. The United States received the bronze instead.

50

9

Amount, in millions of dollars, that Atlanta Braves manager Bobby Cox believes St. Louis Cardinals superstar first baseman Albert Pujols is worth per year. Recently, the Phiadelphia Phillies’ Ryan Howard signed a five-year extension worth $125 million total, or $25 million per year. Cox, though, is reported as saying that the Braves would double that record salary for Pujols, a three-time NL MVP. Pujols is in the final year of a seven-year, $100 million contract.

16 43.20m 43.20m

0.9

Games, in a row, that the women’s lacrosse team had won before it lost on the road to Middlebury last Saturday. After dropping two of their first three, the Jumbos then went on a tear, capturing nine straight with a potent offense that scored in double digits throughout the streak. The 13-9 loss to the Panthers, though, marked Tufts’ lowest goal total since a March 20 loss to Colby.

will be full of untested players this season.

2. Denver Broncos: The sad thing about this is that the Broncos actually picked up two talented receivers: Demaryius Thomas, who might turn out to be the best wideout from this draft, and Eric Decker, a hard-nosed talent from Minnesota who has great hands. Even round-five pick Perrish Cox, the corner from Oklahoma State, was a great value.

But Tebow? Josh McDaniels already had one heralded college quarterback with a low NFL ceiling on his roster in the recently acquired Brady Quinn.

Now he has another project in Tebow. This is what Broncos’ fans get after the team traded Jay Cutler?

Tebow was a great college player, there is no denying that. But he doesn’t translate well to the NFL, and he might never become a starting quarterback. For a first-round pick who cost a second, third and fourth rounder, the Broncos cannot afford to have Tebow be a bust. But with questionable throwing mechanics, he very well may be just that.

3. San Diego Chargers: So long, LT. Hello, Mr. Mathews.

The Chargers traded up to the No. 12 spot to grab a new franchise back to replace LaDainian Tomlinson. But in a draft largely devoid of running back talent, Ryan Mathews felt like a reach that high up.

There is something to be said about drafting for need, but why move all the way up to do it? Mathews does have good speed and explosiveness, but he struggled to stay on the field while at Fresno State, missing games in each season due to injury. He will work well in the backfield with Darren Sproles, but he cost San Diego an awful lot.

The decision to trade up for Donald Butler, the linebacker from Washington, was similar.

It cost the Chargers a sixthrounder and their fourthround pick next season. It wasn’t such a need for San Diego, but they felt compelled to trade up for him anyway.

Thursday, April 29, 2010

THE TUFTS DAILY

17

SPORTS

2010 Wellington Burnham Lecture Series presents

Simon Johnson

Ronald A. Kurtz (1954) Professor of Entrepreneurship Professor of Global Economics and Management MIT Sloan School of Management

Thursday, April 29, 2010 4:30—6:00 p.m.

51 Winthrop Street *A reception will precede the lecture

Tufts University Bookstore Sell your books back May 3rd – May 14th Get 50% back on books your professors are using again this summer and fall no matter where you bought them and up to 40% on all other books.

Please bring a valid Tufts ID p. 617-627-2061

THE TUFTS DAILY

18

Thursday, April 29, 2010

SPORTS

Studying abroad in fall 2010?

Be prepared for your semester or year abroad!

Upcoming required pre-departure meetings: Want to know what the “real world” is like?

Find Your Mentor Apply online by Monday, May 3rd Enrich your summer experience by connecting with alumni mentors through the CASE (Connecting Alumni and Student Experiences) Network.

Summer mentorships are available in: Boston, New York, San Francisco, and Washington, D.C.

For more information and an application visit activecitizen.tufts.edu/casenetwork or email Mindy.Nierenberg@tufts.edu

Programs Abroad staff and study abroad alumni will go over the pre-departure checklist, discuss health and safety issues, transfer of credit, cultural adaptation and much, much more!

Tufts Programs

Non-Tufts Programs

Tufts in China/Japan Tuesday, May 4th 1:30 pm

Africa/Asia/Caribbean/Latin America/Middle East Tuesday, May 4th 3:30 pm

Tufts in Madrid/Paris/Tübingen Mainland Europe Wednesday, May 5th Wednesday, May 5th 1:30 pm 3:30 pm Tufts in London/Oxford Australia/NZ/UK/Ireland Thursday, May 6th Thursday, May 6th 1:30 pm 3:30 pm

*All meetings will be held in Tisch 304* PLEASE NOTE: If you cannot attend your non-Tufts meeting, please attend an alternate non-Tufts meeting. If you cannot attend your Tufts meeting, please attend an alternate Tufts meeting.

Students studying abroad spring 2011 will be required to attend pre-departure meetings in December 2010.

Meetings are required.

Questions? Call x7-5871.

Want the most current campus news?

I wish I knew who won that women’s basketball game last night! And how active are Jumbos in the ROTC?

Follow us on Twitter! To stay in the know, follow @TuftsDaily and @TuftsDailySport

THE TUFTS DAILY

Thursday, April 29, 2010 Event

Housing HUGE 3 BR in Victorian 7 rooms on 2nd and 3rd floor. hardwood floors. d/w. w/d in basement. 6 blocks from campus off capen street. new kitchen. huge living and dining rooms. 2 porches. skylights in bedrooms. call 781956-5868. $1995/month. starts june 1.

Commencement What do you need to know?

COMMENCEMENT 2010 http://commencement.tufts.edu

2 BR on College Ave 2 large bedrooms on college ave off-street parking. newer kitchen cabinets and appliances. near campus and davis sq. $1200/month.

19

SPORTS

Housing

Housing

Services

WONDERFUL 3 BR 3 bedroom apt in 3 family on Boston Ave- Sunny clean hardwood floors, eat-in kitchen ,2 porches, off-street parking, large rooms W/D in basement- Available 6/1/2010-12 month lease- nonsmokers- $1595/month - call Rick at 781-956-5868 or email gosox08@mac.com please call Ed @ (617) 359-8216

Studio Apt For Rent Top-floor studio near Medford Sq. starting May or June. 1.5 miles from Tufts. $950/month includs HT, HW, internet, parking. Built in murphy bed, hardwood floors, dishwasher, laundry on floor. No smoking. 781-652-1039

McCarthy Self Storage 22 Harvard Street Medford, MA 02155.781-396-7724 Business Hours Mon-Fri 8am to 5pm Sat 9am to 2:45pm Sun 10am to 2:45pm Space available to students close to Tufts Univ. 5x5x3 $30.00, 5x5x8 $48.00, 5x8x8 $66.00, 5x10x8 $71.00, 5x12x8 $81.00 Please call for more information

Wanted Babysitting Job Local Tufts alum (close drive to Tufts) seeking responsible, patient, loving, energetic, non-smoking part-time babysitter. Hours and scheduling flexible. Salary commensurate with experience.

Please call Faith at (781) 258-9027 for details.

CLASSIFIEDS POLICY All Tufts students must submit classifieds in person, prepaid with check, money order, or exact cash only.

All classifieds submitted by mail must be accompanied by a check. Classifieds are $15 per week or $4 per day with Tufts ID or $30 per week or $8 per day without. The Tufts Daily is not liable for any damages due to typographical errors or misprintings except the cost of the insertion, which is fully refundable. We reserve the right to refuse to print any classifieds which contain obscenity, are of an overly sexual nature, or are used expressly to denigrate a person or group. Questions? Email business@tuftsdaily.com.

` SCHEDULE | April 29 - May 5 THU

FRI

Baseball

at Bentley 3 p.m.

Softball

at Rivier (2) 6 p.m.

SAT

SUN

vs. at Springfield Middlebury (2) (2) 12 p.m.

12 p.m.

at Colby 4 p.m.

MON

TUE

WED

Ultimate frisbee teams roll at Sectionals, ready for Regionals

at Bentley 3 p.m.

at Colby (2) 12 p.m.

Men's Lacrosse

vs. Bowdoin 7 p.m.

NESCAC first round TBA

Women’s Lacrosse

at. Bowdoin 7 p.m.

NESCAC first round TBA

Men's Track & Field

N.E. Div. III N.E. Div. III Championships Championships

Women’s Track & Field

N.E. Div. III N.E. Div. III Championships Championships

COURTESY WILLIAM H. BUTT

Senior co-captain Andrew Hollingworth and the Tufts E-men took home first place in the Metro Boston Sectionals in mid-April. To read more about how they and the E-women did, visit blogs.tuftsdaily.com/thescore.

ed s s -to d n Ha Pizza

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

20% Off All Orders for Tufts Students ($10 Minimum after the discount) Website: www.adamspizzamedford.com Phone number: 781-393-4442

THE TUFTS DAILY

20

Thursday, April 29, 2010

ADVERTISEMENT

UPDATE

The Tufts Student Fund

2 DAYS left to give!

Every gift to the Student Fund will be matched by $50*.

To make a gift:

t visit the Student Fund table in the Campus Center from 10 am to 2 pm; t return this slip with your contribution to: Tisch Library, or Hillel;

t call 627-4930 to make a gift by credit card; or t visit www.tufts.edu/givenow (check the “student” box, provide your contact information, and select the “Tufts Student Fund” in Gift Designation 3).

To learn more about the Tufts Student Fund, please email studentfund@tufts.edu or call 617-627-4930. *Through the generosity of two alumni, gifts will now be matched up to $35,000.

Complete this tear-off slip and return it with your contribution to a donation box in one of the following locations: Tisch Library Circulation Desk, Hillel Center Front Desk.

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