THE TUFTS DAILY
Sunny 79/67
Seven freshmen elected; soph. resigns Seven freshmen were elected to the Tufts Community Union Senate yesterday, while sophomore Senator Faith Blake resigned yesterday morning, leaving her seat open. Lia Weintraub, John Asare, Joe Thibodeau, Christie Maciejewski, Allie Can Lei, Laura Lasako and Joe Donenfeld were elected to freshman Senate seats, Elections Commission Public Relations Director Will Yu said early this morning. They beat out six other candidates. In the vote for the Freshman Class Council, Emma Rosenbluth was elected president, Simmone Seymour as vice president of academic affairs, Nick Hwang as vice president of social programming, Yihao Li as treasurer and Noha Ahmed as secretary. Sixty-three percent of the
freshman class voted in the elections, according to Yu. Yu said Blake’s seat will be filled in a special election within 15 academic days of her resignation. Blake informed the Senate of her decision in an e-mail yesterday morning. “Recent decisions regarding my academic career have necessitated adjustments in my extracurricular activities,” Blake told the Daily yesterday. Blake spoke fondly of her experience on the Senate. “I really enjoyed working with all of the other senators, and I have a lot of respect for them,” Blake said. “It was a great learning experience.” —by Matt Repka and Brent Yarnell
Funding can’t be conjured up for Tufts Quidditch team BY JON
CHENG
Daily Editorial Board
Colleges in the United States may only admit muggles, but that doesn’t mean that students can’t get their wizard on from time to time. Since 2005, a real-world adaption of Quidditch, the famous school sport of the Harry Potter books, has been taken up by 400 collegiate teams nationwide, represented by the International Quidditch Association. At Tufts, however, Quidditch will need to work its magic if it is to stay afloat through the coming year. The one-year-old Tufts Quidditch team is running into financial problems because the Tufts Community Union (TCU) has declined to provide it with sufficient funding for equipment, tournament fees and travelling expenses. According to team co-president Carly Boxer, a sophomore, Quidditch has been denied funding from the TCU because it is only considered an activity within the Harry Potter Society, which itself falls under the umbrella of the officially established Beyond the Light: Sci-Fi and Fantasy (BTL) Club. This year, the BTL allotted $517 to the Harry Potter Society, according to the treasury budget report. Boxer said that only a small portion of that sum is given to the team, and equipment alone outweighs its allocated budget. According to TCU Treasurer and junior Kate de Klerk, one of the reasons the Harry Potter Society was allotted such little funding is because they did not include Quidditch in their reported budget. Thus, the TCU could only supplement the club’s original budget with a one-time funding grant, which was used last year to purchase the team’s broomsticks. De Klerk added that the Quidditch team’s predicament is
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FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 24, 2010
VOLUME LX, NUMBER 11
a singular situation, and the club differs from other clubs and organizations, which, in contrast, are funded through a regular budgeting process. “If groups are coming in with new events, then we try to get estimates from them, and we try to allocate funds according to those estimates,” De Klerk said. “If they say a certain amount is going to cost this much, then we take their word for it. ... If during budgeting, there are costs they can’t estimate, they submit buffer funding requests for unforeseen expenses during the next fiscal year.” The Quidditch team, however, is not the only sub-group that has run into financial problems. Activities under the Leonard Carmichael Society and the Asian Student Union have requested budgets that were rejected by the Treasury. Besides funding, Boxer said, TCU refuses to recognize Quidditch as an official club under its control due to Quidditch’s status as a physically violent sport, which could be a liability. TCU decided that the Quidditch team would be better suited as a club sport under the Athletics Department. “[TCU] suggested that Quidditch go to club sports because they are funded in a completely different way,” De Klerk said. “We have strict procedures for yearly purchases, and the same goes for tournaments. We have a lot of procedures that limit the flexibility of funding that clubs use to pay for lodging and transport.” With regard to Quidditch posing a potential liability, De Klerk believes that the athletics department has more appropriate procedures for insurance and consent forms than does TCU, making it a better place for the Quidditch team. Boxer, however, disagrees, stating that Quidditch see QUIDDITCH, page 3
Where You Read It First Est. 1980
Univ. to welcome neighbors to Hill BY
AMELIE HECHT
Daily Editorial Board
The Office of Community Relations will on Sunday welcome residents of Tufts’ neighboring Medford/Somerville communities to the Hill for Tufts’ eighth annual Community Day. The event, hosted in conjunction with the Cities of Medford and Somerville, will feature free lunch, activities and performances by student groups on the Academic Quad from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Director of Community Relations Barbara Rubel expects 1,500 guests to be in attendance. “The idea of the day is to open up the campus and be generous and hospitable and welcome people,” Rubel said. “We hope that this event opens doors for people and they realize there is a lot to take advantage of on campus.” Rubel said that Community Day was designed to appeal to local residents who live near the Tufts campus. “We hope we are reaching out to people who have never been here before,” Rubel said. “Its always really interesting to run into people who live near campus but have never actually seen the campus. We try to make people aware of all the resources available.” Representatives from approximately 30 departments and student groups will staff tables at the event, as will 36 community organizations in Somerville and Medford, Susan DeAmato, the administrative assistant in the Office of Community Relations, said. “They will each be explaining what they do and have some
AALOK KANANI/TUFTS DAILY
Medford and Somerville residents participate in Community Day 2009 at Tufts. fun sort of activity or giveaway,” DeAmato, who is the main organizer of the event, said. More than 10 campus groups will perform on the main stage, and several others will teach dance lessons or perform on a side stage throughout the day, according to DeAmato. “We will also have two large kids’ activities tents with things like pumpkin painting, face painting and cookie decorating available,” DeAmato said. Organizers will place more emphasis this year on highlighting the achievements of faculty and academic groups on campus, Rubel explained. “This year we made a real push to get more faculty groups to come and display their research,” Rubel said. “A number of members of the engineering department are going to be on hand as well.”
The Office of Community Relations also focused this year on publicizing the event extensively, according to Rubel. “We have really tried to get the word out,” she said. “It’s been in the newspapers, and there was the mailing of postcards to several thousand Somerville and Medford residents.” Rubel said that she had seen enormous growth in attendance since the event’s inception seven years ago. That year, only 200 residents came to campus. “It has definitely grown over the years both in the number of groups presenting and in the number of residents attending,” DeAmato said. “A large part of the success is thanks to the student volunteers who are just willing to help out.” Besides the students from see COMMUNITY, page 3
James Glaser moves to different deanship BY
DAPHNE KOLIOS
Daily Editorial Board
James Glaser is no longer the dean of undergraduate education, but he hasn’t gone far. Dean of Arts and Sciences Joanne Berger-Sweeney appointed Glaser over the summer as dean of academic affairs for arts and sciences. Glaser succeeds Vickie Sullivan, a professor of political science who has returned to the faculty full-time. In an e-mail to faculty members, Berger-Sweeney praised Glaser’s experience and expertise, calling him “the perfect choice” for his new position. “Overall, under Dean Glaser, Undergraduate Education, Student Affairs and Student Services … [were] forged into a better and more unified organization,” BergerSweeney, who came to the university from Wellesley this summer, said. Glaser’s successor as dean of undergraduate education has yet to be announced. An interim dean is expected to fill the position soon. Glaser will now focus primarily on faculty affairs. He will split the responsibilities of overseeing departments in the School of Arts and Sciences with Andrew McClellan,
Inside this issue
who holds the same title. Glaser will also be responsible for hiring faculty members, giving promotions and determining tenure, among other obligations. Academic affairs deans provide a liaison between the administration and departments and interdisciplinary programs, McClellan said. In his old position, Glaser helped University President Lawrence Bacow establish the President’s Task Force on the Undergraduate Experience. That task force is credited with initiating the Summer Scholars Program, the Snyder Lecture Series and a revision of the dean advising system, among other projects, Berger-Sweeney said. Glaser also oversaw the Retention Task Force, which supported lowincome students. This task force led to the creation of the Health Career Fellows Program, new advising for recipients of federal Pell Grants, health insurance for students without coverage, a fund for disability testing for needy students and programming for first-generation college students, according to Berger-Sweeney. Glaser said that he had achieved his objectives as dean of undergraduate education. “I had come in with a set of
goals and aspirations and I had accomplished all I hoped to accomplish,” he said. “It was nearing the end of my tenure, and the [academic affairs] position fortuitously opened up.” As the process to replace Glaser as dean of undergraduate education continues, other members of the administration have assumed some of his old responsibilities, according to McClellan. “[Glaser] will retain some of those jobs — a few central ones that he wants to keep — and I, and others, have added to their administrative load to enable him to move into the new job and to make sure that the functions of his former job are addressed without any loss,” McClellan said. McClellan has worked previously with Glaser and said he looks forward to working with him again. “I have tremendous faith in his ability to do this job and enormous respect and admiration for him as an administrator,” McClellan said. Glaser professed that he loved working as the dean of undergraduate education and said his new position is a positive change. “It’s a new, interesting opportunity for me to grow personally,” he said.
Today’s Sections
Some say questions asked during the ROOTs program made students unessessarily uncomfortable
A review of a new film about Allen Ginsberg and an interview with the directors.
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THE TUFTS DAILY BENJAMIN D. GITTLESON Editor-in-Chief
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BY SMRITI
CHOUDHURY
Daily Staff Writer
Undergraduate Orientation leaders added a new program this year, intended to give freshmen the chance to discuss what they had learned over orientation week. But some people involved in the program found it created uncomfortable situations for first-year students when it came to discussing personal issues. ROOTs, which stands for Reflecting on Orientation at Tufts, was held on Sept. 3 and was mandatory for the Class of 2014. Designed to give first-years an opportunity to link their personal experiences with the information presented during orientation, the program’s agenda garnered criticism for probing into what many believed to be overly personal details. The program, led by student orientation leaders and resident assistants, was the brainchild of Steph Gauchel and Linell Yugawa, the directors of the Women’s Center and the Asian American Center, respectively, according to Orientation Coordinator Kate Carpenito. “The objective of the program was to give first-year students the opportunity to talk about some of the themes that were discussed during the orientation program,” Carpenito said. In groups of 20 to 30, freshmen discussed themes such as friendship, diversity and the roles of alcohol and intimate relationships in college life. The program raised issues ranging from study habits to sexual health and sought to inform freshmen about oncampus services, including the Academic Resource Center and Health Service. The program’s script, written by Yugawa and Gauchel, drew ire for several questions regarding sexual pleasure, satisfaction and consent in intimate situations. “Student leaders, including myself, felt that there were many awkward questions regarding hook-up culture that made firstyears uncomfortable as they were amongst a group of strangers and not friends they have shared their lives with,” Orientation Leader Amanda Huang, a senior, said. When presented with the questions on
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Some freshmen felt that the questions posed in the ROOTs program during Undergraduate Orientation were more invasive than helpful. Above, Matriculation 2010 intimate relationships, some Orientation Leaders departed from the program’s script, skirting discussion topics they felt were too sensitive for the environment. “ROOTs was a good idea to recap all the panels demonstrated during orientation as it created discussion within the first-years about how to make friends, the importance of diversity, and academic and social life at Tufts,” Orientation Leader Rachel Winnall, a senior, said. “But on the other hand, I felt that first-years and student leaders were overwhelmed by the selection of inappropriate questions regarding sexual history, and, as a result, student leaders altered these questions into a more appropriate format.” According to Carpenito, orientation leaders were instructed to focus on the topics that stimulated the greatest interest and discussion among participants. Students were not required to respond to any question that made them uncomfortable. “The questions were meant to create discussion,” Carpenito said. “Students were never asked to share information that they weren’t comfortable sharing.” Still, some freshmen said they felt uncomfortable with the experience as a whole.
“I did not really enjoy my experience at ROOTs because, in addition to being scheduled very late, I felt like the student leaders and freshmen had no direction in guiding the discussion, and I felt uneasy with the questions specifically targeted to hook-up culture,” freshman Abby Niesen said. Despite the array of awkward personal questions regarding hook-up culture and sexual history, many students highlighted the program’s merits. “ROOTs touched upon many important issues of discussion such as alcohol, drugs, mental health, academic aid and social life at Tufts, all of which provide valuable information to first-years,” Winnall said. “I thought it was very successful. We received lots of positive feedback from orientation leaders, RAs and students that the program went very well,” Carpenito said. Freshman Lola Yu also called the program informative and helpful. “I had a lot of fun meeting new people,” she said. “I liked the interactive nature of the program because we could ask the upperclassmen any questions we had.” Michael Del Moro contributed reporting to this article.
Tisch scholars work to improve communities beyond campus BY
Mick B. Krever Executive New Media Editor James Choca New Media Editors Kerianne Okie
Friday, September 24, 2010
Orientation session too personal, some say
EMILIA LUNA
DAILY EDITORIAL BOARD Staff Photographers
NEWS | FEATURES
Most students at Tufts hope to make some sort of contribution to their community during their four short years on campus. Approximately 60 Jumbos known as Tisch Scholars, though, sit down with professors and members of the surrounding communities at the start of their college careers to map out exactly how. The passionate students who elect to participate in the Tisch College of Citizenship and Public Service Scholars Program, a leadership program, strive to improve the communities surrounding the Tufts campus by collaborating with local organizations to effect positive change. To do so, they take a course designed to help them develop the social and leadership skills necessary to solve community problems, and they each plan and carry out a personally designed annual public service project — the capstone of the program. Each of the following four students has a different goal as a Tisch Scholar, but they all share the common belief that public service is an essential part of their educational careers. Chela Surum: Lawyers for low-income immigrants Sophomore Chela Surum is still drawing up the blueprint for the Tisch project she plans to take on. She is working with LIFT-Somerville, a non-profit organization that provides housing, legal and professional resources to disadvantaged people, particularly to low-income immigrants. Surum is specifically concerned with the shortage of quality legal advice available to those living in poverty — which is why she wants to organize a group of lawyers who will offer legal services to the people who turn to LIFT. “Some of the problems these people face can’t be solved by student volunteers and require a lawyer they can’t afford,” she said. “Law firms are required to work some pro-bono hours a year, so [I am] looking to work with that.” To strengthen her initiative, Surum
has decided to involve the Tufts Lawyers Association, a group of Tufts alumni who have gone on to build legal careers and — through its partnership program with Tisch College, the Tisch Citizen Lawyers — continue to contribute to the Tufts community. Surum was first drawn to Tisch College and its variety of programming when she happened upon its brochures in Kenya, where she grew up. “I knew it was something I wanted to do,” she said. “Active citizenship has been a part of my life, and it is something that I always want to incorporate in my education. For an education to be well-rounded, there should always be an aspect of active citizenship.” Being a Tisch Scholar has allowed Surum to accomplish far more than just her work with the immigrant communities in Somerville; the program has helped her examine all issues in a critical way, she said. In addition, it has brought to her attention the vast civil work her generation — and her nation — still has ahead of it. “My concept of America has developed, and I have realized that there are still lots of problems that people face here,” she said. “Getting to meet these people has really changed me. I hope to apply these things when I go back home.” Alon Agai: Health education Junior Alon Agai is beginning his second year as a Tisch Scholar and hopes to expand upon the project he worked on last year, the Somerville Committee of Suicide Prevention and Mental Health, the main objective of which is to increase awareness about the importance of mental health. Previously known as the Mayor’s Taskforce of Suicide and Mental Health, the organization strives to educate the local community, especially youth, about emotional health by arranging activities and events through which they can feel personally connected with the issue at hand, Agai said. “We put together the‘Making Connections’ campaign, where we have [held] monthly workshops for adults and children and met with youth groups around Somerville,” he said. “We are doing art workshops with them to teach them about mental health, and this
month, we are putting art pieces together in the Somerville Museum.” Agai explained that the Tisch Scholars program has not only allowed him to help members of surrounding communities learn about health, but has also helped him reach his own maximum potential while at college, allowing him feel productive beyond the classroom. “It is very empowering to [work on a project] like this during college because you really feel like you are making a difference in whatever sense you might take that,” he said. “Tisch is another community at Tufts where I feel comfortable; we all help each other go through these [projects] and depend on each other for advice.” Sasha deBeausset: The interpreter Like many participants in the Tisch Scholars program, junior Sasha deBeausset joined because she was itching to get involved with the communities beyond the Hill, “to go beyond our little bubble at Tufts and see the issues our next-door-neighbors are having,” she said. And deBeausset plans to do so on their terms — specifically, in their language. This year, she will be working with the Welcome Project, an immigrant advocacy and education organization in Somerville. She plans to focus on one of the organization’s offshoots, the Liaison Interpreter Program of Somerville and, with a small group of bilingual members, will help the community with language interpretation. DeBeausset also plans to integrate her academic interests into her civic work and research the communities with which she works. “My personal interest is nutrition and obesity among the immigrant population, so ideally I will also be doing research and developing some sort of curriculum to work with the Welcome Project people,” deBeausset said. In the next few weeks, the bulk of deBeausset’s efforts will be channeled into working with Centro Presente, a Latin American immigrant rights group in see TISCH, page 3
THE TUFTS DAILY
Friday, September 24, 2010
Tisch Scholars effect change near Tufts TISCH continued from page 2
Somerville, with which the Welcome Project will hold a joint forum to discuss the Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors Act — the piece of legislation in favor of student-immigrants that was recently held up in Congress — in conjunction with the Welcome Project. But despite all the work she continues to put into the project, deBeausset insists that the return is always greater. “I don’t hesitate to say that I’ve gained more than I’ve given, [and] I think that is what the program is about,” she said. “People find their passions through Tisch and discover what they want to do for the rest of their lives.” Tomas Valdes: Spreading the census For his Tisch Scholars project last year, senior Tomas Valdes worked
on increasing participation rates for the 2010 U.S. Census, specifically in the community of Somerville and other nearby neighborhoods. Valdes attempted to get the most accurate count he could in hopes that the community would be rewarded with more government funding to be spent on education and other social services. A political science major with an interest in economics, Valdes decided to employ the tools he learned in the classroom to benefit society. “I was particularly interested in applying the economics I had learned when it came to sustainable development in the surrounding neighborhoods,” Valdes said. “The project targeted Somerville’s two hard-to-count populations: immigrants and college students, which align with my areas of interest.” With the help of the Somerville’s Office of Strategic Planning and Community Development, Valdes
helped to coordinate events throughout the year to promote the census and met with non-profits, NGOs and private companies that might be interested in supporting his cause. Together, they created the Complete Count Committee, through which they worked to get the word out on the importance of participating in the census. And with the completion of his project, Valdes experienced the satisfaction the Tisch Scholars program aims to help its students achieve — that of effecting real change. “Not only did the project align perfectly with my areas of interest, but I was also able to use my Spanish and other skills I possessed in a real-world situation in order to make a change in the community,” Valdes said. “Looking at the high return rates for the areas that were made up of hard-to-count populations let me know that my work had made a difference.”
Area residents have chance to explore the Hill COMMUNITY continued from page 1
performing groups, over 70 student volunteers participate in Community Day, helping run the activities tents and manage other logistics, according to DeAmato. University President Lawrence Bacow is expected to appear at the event, Rubel said. She credited Bacow with helping initiate the original Community Day. “Larry Bacow started this event … and it’s because of his desire to make this happen that it does,” Rubel said. “He spends a lot of time at this event and gets to know the neighbors.” Rubel said she has heard positive feedback from members of the community who have participated in Community Day in the past.
“We hear from people who are making this a tradition and want to come every year,” Rubel said. “We hear from people who staff the community tables that it’s an effective way to get their message out to the campus.” Some campus groups are intent on making their participation in the day an annual tradition. “We make sure we do it every year; it’s definitely a priority of ours,” senior Malcolm Kearns, a member of the percussion group BEATS, said. “Kids have the most fun watching us, so it’s always a great experience.” Another group that will be performing is the Beelzebubs, commonly referred to as the Bubs. Having appeared on the NBC singing competition “The Sing-Off” in
the winter, the Bubs have newfound, broader name recognition and are likely to draw a crowd, Rubel said. “The whole purpose of the day is to bring the outside community into Tufts,” Beelzebubs Public Relations Representative Sam Cantor, a sophomore, said. “What better way to do that than to perform and really make them feel welcome? It’s a good gig. It feels good to perform at a day like Community Day.” Rubel encouraged students to attend the event and take advantage of the free activities, food and performances as well as the opportunity to meet area residents. “We love the idea of having students wander through and get to know the neighbors,” she said.
Achieving Your Student Group’s Goals through Financial Stewardship
Unsure about how to best manage your student group’s finances and operations? Pre-registration is required and space is limited! All participants will receive a certificate upon completion of the workshop Pizza and beverages will be provided!
This one hour workshop will give you the skills to effectively manage your group’s operations and use basic management best practices to ensure your student group achieves its goals. Learn some easy tips and detection tools to help you identify when your group’s financial status is not what you think it should be – due to clerical or accounting error, theft, or fraud. We will be happy to address any questions or concerns that you may have about managing your group’s finances or operations. Please join us! Pearson Hall, Room 104
Audit & Management Advisory Services
Tuesday September 28 8:00 — 9:00 PM or Wednesday September 29 12:00 — 1:00 PM
Sign up today for this important financial stewardship workshop! Choose a session and return this form to the Office for Campus Life: I will attend Tuesday, September 28 8 PM
Or send an email to ocl@tufts.edu Subject: Financial Stewardship Training Be sure to indicate which session you plan to attend!
Name Email Address
I will attend Wednesday, September 29 12 Noon
3
NEWS | FEATURES
Lack of TCU funding petrifies Quidditch team QUIDDITCH continued from page 1
has been rejected by the Athletics Department as well — and not to Boxer’s surprise. “We probably don’t get recognized because there is a lack of professionalism in [Quidditch],” Boxer said. “It looks like we’re a bunch of kids playing around.” Assistant Director of Athletics Branwen Smith-King said that the Athletics Department has denied the Quidditch team status as a club sport not only because of its unconventional nature, but also because the department has simply stopped adding to its list of club sports. “Our budget is really tight; we have a lot of limitations here,” Smith-King said. “We can’t give [Quidditch] money because they are a non-traditional activity.” The Quidditch team’s only other option is to join the Tier II club sport group, which allows an activity to bear the official Tufts name and utilize some Tufts facilities but does not allot any funding or allow the team to reserve facilities. So far, the Tier II level has housed many sports in recent years, such as tennis, soccer and ice hockey. If Quidditch were to pursue Tier II status, it would no longer have any funds to replace broken brooms or purchase extra ones for new players. “We are at that point where we need [players] to pay for their own entrance fees and their own equipment for tournaments,” Co-President and sophomore Howie Levine said. “Because of that, we have to reduce the number of players on the field at one time.” On top of financial woes, the
increased interest in the team is not all good news for Boxer and Levine. At least 50 more players are signed up to join their upcoming practice this Sunday, compared to a regular 25 to 30 members showup during the past year, they said. They will also need a significantly larger amount of money if they are to participate in the upcoming Quidditch World Cup on Nov. 13th in New York City. Entrance fees alone are $200, Levine said, and that does not include two-way transportation or lodging for the players. Still, the team is hopeful. “There will be at least 50 teams there, so we definitely want to go no matter what,” Boxer said. To raise extra money, the team has held T-shirt and bake sales. Although they were fairly successful, Boxer admitted that the funds are not enough to finance expenses, let alone equipment. Their brooms, for example, run from $10 to $15, and they have had to spend $100 for Quidditch goals made of PVC pipes from hardware stores. In comparison, Harvard University, Middlebury College and Emerson Colleges have their own intramural Quidditch leagues with official regulation brooms (which cost $40) and jersey uniforms, all financed by their respective schools, Boxer said. Looking forward, Levine and Boxer have high hopes for the team. They will continue to work to get funding despite its difficulties. “Hopefully, Harry Potter Society will get more money, and hopefully we can find a way to stay and operate under TCU,” Boxer said. “But either way, we’ll do the best we can for the team.”
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MOVIE REVIEW
‘Howl’ provides subtle examination of famed poet’s trial BY
MATTHEW WELCH
Daily Editorial Board
Allen Ginsberg’s poem “Howl” and the obscenity trial that surrounded it helped
Howl Starring James Franco and Jon Hamm Directed by Rob Epstein and Jeffrey Friedman shape America’s attitudes toward censorship. Directors Rob Epstein and Jeffrey Friedman’s latest film, “Howl,” draws upon records of these court proceedings, interviews and scholarly research to produce a dramatized retelling of the story in a compelling biopic of Ginsberg. James Franco plays the famed beat poet with uncanny precision, deftly mimicking his wistful mannerisms and his distinctive speech patterns. The supporting cast includes Jon Hamm as Jake Ehlrich, Ginsberg’s lawyer, and MaryLouise Parker in a cameo role. People going to “Howl”
expecting the usual celebrity biopic fare will probably be disappointed. Hollywood’s recent string of musician biopics has steered the genre toward sensational tales of life on the road, usually with copious amounts of drugs and sex in tow. What “Howl” lacks in visceral punch is more than made up for by its unique pacing and scope. Rather than paint a broad portrait of Ginsberg’s life from beginning to end, Epstein and Friedman focus on the years that surround “Howl’s” publication. The drama itself unfolds slowly, usually through dramatized re-enactments of interviews with Ginsberg. For the majority of the film, Franco sits on a couch with a lit cigarette, recounting his university days at Columbia and his formative years as a poet. Because of this, “Howl” lacks a conventional story arc. Though one could say the verdict of the trial is the film’s climax, it feels more like a gradual affirmation of the preceding themes than a bombastic declaration of them. The brilliance of Franco’s performance lies in his ability
to capture Ginsberg’s personality so subtly that the audience never wants him to leave the couch. Although parts of Ginsberg’s road days are chronicled, the setting of the film remains firmly rooted in New York City. Occasional shifts between the court case and Ginsberg’s interview occur only for variety. The script does call for some heavy acting from Franco in a handful of scenes, but his role demands more of a subtle and internalized performance rather than an active one. Franco brilliantly handles this dynamic, conveying the richness of Ginsberg’s own contemplations without relying on hyperbole or pretension. The court scenes in “Howl” reflect a similar dynamic. They mostly detail cross-examinations of various university professors arguing for the merit or depravity of Ginsberg’s poem. Jon Hamm plays Ehlrich with understated poise; he playfully alternates between passive listener and aggressive cross-examiner, giving the impression that every other question contains some clever trick. The moments when Ehlrich manages to trip up the haughtiest English professors are among
INTERVIEW | ROB EPSTEIN AND JEFFREY FRIEDMAN
‘Howl’ filmmakers talk youth culture, James Franco BY
LORRAYNE SHEN
Daily Editorial Board
The Daily sat down last week with acclaimed director-writers Rob Epstein and Jeffrey Friedman in a round-table interview to discuss their much-anticipated Allen Ginsberg experimental biopic, “Howl,” in theaters today. Epstein and Friedman have their roots in documentary filmmaking and are renowned for award-winning films such as “The Times of Harvey Milk” (1984), “Common Threads: Stories from the Quilt” (1989) and “The Celluloid Closet” (1995). Question: One of the striking things about the film for me was the visual style: how it was black and white and in color, how the story was structured, the courtroom drama and then with [Ginsberg] reading the poem. So I was wondering, [at] what part of the … creative process did you come up with that distinct style? Rob Epstein: Well we knew at the beginning
that we wanted to do something that would be challenging, adventurous in a way that would resonate with the way the poem was challenging and adventurous when it came out. We started from that point and then we just started looking at the poem from different angles and finding different ways of telling the story, or stories. We wanted to understand what went into making the poem and the creative process and what Allen had to go through as a person to get to the point so he could write the poem. We wanted the poem to live on its own in the movie, both as imagination, which we did in the animation, and as performance, which was how it was first presented to the world as the first spoken-word performance art. And how the world responded to it and the world that it was put out into, which is what we used the obscenity trial for. Jeffrey Friedman: To add to that a little bit, we knew we wanted the film to play in the see INTERVIEW, page 6
HOWLTHEMOVIE.COM
Rob Epstein and Jeffrey Friedman wrote, directed and produced the film biopic of the poet Allen Ginsberg, ‘Howl.’
HOWLTHEMOVIE.COM
James Franco’s subtle performance as Allen Ginsberg provides an intriguing portrayal of the famous poet. the most satisfying in the film. Friedman and Epstein splice the court and interview scenes with footage of Franco reading “Howl” in a Greenwich Village poetry club. Franco’s delivery of the poem is superb. Unfortunately, these scenes also contain the worst moments of the film. Rather than place the audience members within the atmosphere Ginsberg and his
audience were experiencing, Friedman and Epstein segue into long animated sequences that try to visualize the imagery of the poem. Over the course of the film, the audience is treated to images of a computer-generated version of beat poet Neal Cassidy having sex inside a comet, figures groveling through snow see HOWL, page 6
TV REVIEW
‘Diaries’ doesn’t suck the life out of vampire genre BY
NATASHA JESSEN-PETERSEN Daily Staff Writer
Amid the current vampire craze, it is becoming increasingly difficult for a creative piece to differentiate itself from
The Vampire Diaries Starring Paul Wesley, Ian Somerhalder, Nina Dobrev Airs Thursdays at 8 p.m. on The CW the masses. Yet “The Vampire Diaries” achieves just that. Falling somewhere between the Mormonism of “Twilight” and the vampire porn of “True Blood,” “Diaries” consists of an hour of teen angst fused with supernatural fantasy. The entire cast — an assembly of incredibly attractive actors — works hard to stretch within the confines of the stereotyped roles to add depth and dimension. And the script is not entirely unhelpful — Caroline Forbes (Candice Accola), the dumb blonde, has issues with her overprotective mother, while the Edward Cullen of the show, Stefan Salvatore (Paul Wesley), suffers from much more than mere sibling rivalry. The story’s plot is fueled by the tension between Stefan and his brother Damon (Ian Somerhalder) as they compete for the love of both Katherine Pierce, the vampire who turned them both into bloodsuckers, and the orphaned human Elena Gilbert (both played by Nina Dobrev). Stefan and Damon take the roles of good cop and bad cop, respectively, making Damon much more enjoyable to watch. As is common in many popular television shows, the secondary characters become more engaging than the primary ones. Despite having just met, Stefan and Elena resemble an old married couple, while the supporting cast, which includes the witch and best friend Bonnie Bennett (Katerina Graham), engages in all the fun. With every character, romances brew and rivalries are encouraged.
The show had a somewhat weak beginning. Starting off with a clichéd pilot — new and mysterious hot boy in town intrigues emotionally tortured pretty girl — the show appeared to be nothing more than a half-hearted effort by The CW to jump on the vampire bandwagon and attract more viewers. Granted, this strategy was a success, with the show scoring 4.9 million viewers for its series premiere — the most-viewed series premiere for any show on the network. Over time, however, the writers have worked to redeem themselves and turn the series into more than a flashy promotional ploy. The plotlines have become increasingly complicated and the characters progressively more complex. What started off as an unnecessarily scary show has slowly transformed into one with more depth and substance. This amelioration of quality has carried over to the second season, in which we see the return of Katherine and the introduction of more mystical characters to Mystic Falls, Va. Dobrev continues to have a juicy double role to play, as whatever Elena lacks, Katherine makes sure to compensate for. She is evil, manipulative, alluring and insane. While Elena seeks to make everyone happy, Katherine appears to crave everyone’s misery. Her destructive nature provokes Damon’s evil side and weakens Stefan’s will power. The series creates a carefully crafted balance between humorous and serious, often leaning more toward the somber side. It also approaches the mystical elements from a new angle: Vampires are more vilified than glorified, resulting in a setup that causes them to be ostracized from the community. “The Vampire Diaries” has become more than just another self-indulgent show, obsessed with satisfying the current craze. Based on a popular book series by L. J. Smith from the early ’90s, the show has the depth and detail to make it through several seasons. Though it may not receive many critical accolades, it should remain a reliable treat for those eager to satisfy their gossip and mystical cravings.
THE TUFTS DAILY
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Friday, September 24, 2010
ARTS & LIVING
‘Howl’ brings Ginsberg’s famous poem to life
Epstein and Friedman’s ‘Howl’ is intriguing backstory for Ginsberg’s infamous poem
HOWL
INTERVIEW
continued from page 5
leaving bloody shoeprints and stoic protagonists fending off stereotypical Wall Street automatons. Instead of adding insight to the poem, these efforts come off as feeling tired and pretentious. Even though these sequences undermine the aesthetic of the
film, they hardly damage the script or the strength of the performances. For those interested in Ginsberg or the beat generation, this film will provide an interesting back-story that will enrich future readings of the poem. For those who aren’t familiar with Ginsberg or “Howl,” this film is a great place to start.
continued from page 5
present tense rather than to do a historical documentary as if we are starting for the point of older people looking back on their younger selves. The film takes place in 1957 and then it flashes back to the early ’50s and late ’40s, so the flashbacks are in black and white and the present tense is in color. Metaphorically, the way that is supposed to work is the world transitions from black and white to color when [the poem] “Howl” is launched into the world and Allen finds his creative voice. So that’s kind of the deconstruction of those choices. Q: When did you decide that you wanted to make a film about “Howl,” and what persuaded you to go with this route rather than traditional straight documentary?
HOWLTHEMOVIE.COM
James Franco plays controversial poet Allen Ginsberg in ‘Howl.’
RE: Well, the project came to us from Allen Ginsberg’s estate. They wanted to do something for the 50th anniversary of the poem. And we didn’t quite realize that date … or quite feel the pressure of realizing that date. … That date was kind of arbitrary to us and to them until we had a concept that felt like it was complementary to what the poem was in its day. To come up with a concept that was different and unique from a standard, traditional documentary. And again, if we had done a documentary, first of all, there’s no material from that period that we’re depicting, so we would have had to create it anyway. We also felt like you all [college students] wouldn’t relate to it in the same way than if you were to see it as a narrative film. In fact, early on we showed some ideas to students and it was in talking with them that we came to see that we
had to find another way to tell the story instead of documentary. And that was a challenge we set for ourselves. JF: It’s a story about young people. They’re like college-age guys who were creating this new style of writing and ended up really having an effect on the culture. But it’s very much an expression of youthful creative rebellion that we wanted to capture. Q: What was the thought process behind the animation sequences? I did read that it was the same illustrator who had illustrated [Ginsberg’s] poems, but what made you decide to include them in that way? RE: Well the poem exists in so many different ways in the movie — it’s performative in the Six Gallery, with James Franco as Ginsberg performing the poem, so you have an opportunity to experience it as spoken word. It exists as analysis in the trial when it is being presented and deconstructed as evidence. And we wanted it to live as an experience as well. So the animation to us seemed like a way to create a cinematic experience that you wouldn’t have in any other form. So, why not? And it just seemed like we thought of animated films like “Fantasia” (1940) and Pink Floyd’s “The Wall” (1979) where it just takes you into a very trippy experience of somebody else’s mind creation. So we set it up that it’s emanating from Allen — Allen’s the source — but you come into another experience from it. JF: And we tried to make it elusive and not literal so that the audience can have their own experience of
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the words as they’re watching the images. But you know, it is a specific vision, and we thought of it as an adaptation in the way you adapt a novel. You have to make some character concrete, you have to make things concrete, things that people have their own idea about. Q: My favorite parts of the movie were the flashback scenes, especially where [Ginsberg] first met Jack, and I think you were really on point with the awkwardness of our age. So thank you for that. RE: Thank you. It’s not that easy to make James Franco seem awkward. JF: In that first scene, we had to tell him not to kiss so good. He said, “Oh, too good, huh?” We told him to turn it down: “You’re not comfortable kissing that girl!” RE: We had to trick him in the one scene. All the flashback scenes were improv. When [he] and Jack are on the park bench, where he’s reading his poetry and Jack thinks it’s garbage, we told him, “Oh, we’ll never use this footage.” Q: Do you guys have a favorite moment in the movie? RE: Well, there was a moment when we were filming when we knew it was a moment. And it was when James was performing the poem and does the live section about Carl Solomon and just works up to a crescendo. And we could just see in that performance, all the backstory, all of Allen’s backstory was there in that moment. That’s what you live for in any movie — you’re looking for those moments when it’s happening right then and you’re catching it on film. You really got it.
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Teaching winning habits top priority for players, coaches WIN THE DAY continued from page 8
tice,” senior wide receiver Billy Mahler said. “And as much as you’re getting ready for Hamilton or whoever you’re playing on Saturday, you’re taking it one day at a time. If we win each practice and are really focused in each meeting, we’re just going to finalize the outcome on Saturday.” Describing the concept is as difficult as conceiving of a world in which it’s tangibly possible to be victorious over a day, but the players show no hesitation in answering questions about the mantra. Though it’s cyclical and perhaps illogical to define a term with the term itself, they do so anyway: Winning the Day is about simply, well, winning. “Not tomorrow,” head coach Bill Samko, who pauses for emphasis and shakes his head at every negative, said. “Not the next day. Not Hamilton. Win the day. Win today. They’ve kind of embraced that. They understand that concept.” Since preseason began in early September, 13 logos have been plastered
on the calendar. According to the Jumbos, the tradition did not begin when the team held its first practice, or even when offseason workouts commenced in the spring. No, Tufts began to Win the Day when the clock ran out in the season finale against Middlebury on Nov. 14, 2009, when the Jumbos had a new slate — a new opportunity to start fresh. “Let me take you back to this offseason,” senior offensive lineman Tom Didio said. “We probably had one of our best offseasons since I’ve been here. We didn’t have many guys missing lifts or many guys injured in practice. I think, overall, guys are more focused on winning individual, smaller things and then looking at the big picture when it comes around.” “I think what we wanted to do in this offseason was focus on the task at hand, whether it was lifting, running, conditioning or getting in and watching film,” senior quarterback and tri-captain Anthony Fucillo added. “What you did, you want to win that task, and not just the first game. I think if we do all those
and you follow all those rules and you win each day, your chances of winning on game day are much higher.” Effort has always been a staple of Tufts football. Even while riddled with injuries and stuck with a season-ending, six-game losing streak, the Jumbos still managed to hold Trinity, the conference’s fourthbest offense, to 10 points on the road and were tied with first-place Amherst through three quarters. Though aligning determination and production was the difficult part, perfection in that realm falls under the all-encompassing umbrella of Winning the Day. “I think one thing is being right mentally,” Fucillo said. “It’s showing up, it’s doing the right things mentally. Guys are always going to give their best effort, but it’s making the right block, running the right route, throwing the right ball; it’s mentally being there. In the end, it’s the mental reps and it’s doing the right thing. Guys here are always going to have 100 percent effort; it’s being there mentally 100 percent.” It’s one thing to comprehend the mean-
Football offense gets comfortable OFFENSE continued from page 8
him on our side is huge,” the younger Fucillo said. “I hated preparing for him in high school, and now you love having him on your side, and I think teams hate preparing for him. “He’s a deadly weapon,” he said. “He can catch the ball as good as a receiver and he can run as well as any running back in the league. He looks like he weighs 150 pounds soaking wet, but the kid runs like he’s 200 pounds — he puts his head down and he runs hard.” Any discussion about offensive expectations begins with the line, Fucillo and offensive coordinator Jay Civetti insist. Fucillo’s protective unit returns senior Tom Didio, a two-year starter; sophomore Ralph Faia, who opened for six games in ’09; sophomore Andrew Rayner; and juniors Evan
Murray and Dave Lloyd, who all saw significant playing time for the injury-plagued Jumbos squad last season. “Without the offensive line, we don’t really get much going,” Civetti said. “Those guys have worked incredibly hard. I think that’s where a lot of the focus and attention need to be right now because they’ve done a really nice job so far.” A certain air of defiance exists within the Jumbos this year, one derived from what coach Bill Samko called the best offseason he’s ever witnessed in his 22 seasons with the program. The attitude extends back to a 2009 squad that, despite scoring under 10 points five times, nearly took down Trinity and brought undefeated Amherst to the brink. “I didn’t see anybody lay down or jump ship,” Samko said. “I wasn’t happy with the record, I’m
not going to lie. But effort levels and the way they would punch you back and not just roll over and die? You can write that down. That gives me tremendous hope. I was disappointed in the record — I was not disappointed with that team. I will go to the grave with that. They never backed down one time.” The door to Samko’s office, amid the jumbled mess of other papers, bears the offense’s slogan for the season: “Get comfortable with the uncomfortable.” With tomorrow’s opener against Hamilton on Zimman Field nearing, the Jumbos must settle into the unfamiliar and forget the pain associated with a losing season. “They’re very high,” Fucillo said, when asked about the offense’s expectations. “I don’t think the league thinks that, but we think that. We want to do some damage in the league.”
ing of the motto; it’s another to put it into action. Words, without points on the scoreboard, are just that: mere word vomit, a boisterous proclamation unsupported by action. The opportunity to merge anticipation and reality, however, has surfaced, buoyed by this new slogan. “The opportunity to win each day is a good thing, because it teaches winning habits,” said Civetti, the offensive coordinator. “It instills, in their minds, what they need to do on a daily basis to win a day.” A new season will bring new, fancy uniforms for the Jumbos, but the team still practices in its old jerseys, the unpleasantness of 2009 still lingering on the baby blue and white. As the team gathers around at midfield after a relatively light Tuesday workout, Samko delivers an important message: The preseason has been won, September nearly conquered. But that’s only a mile marker, a checkpoint on the year-long road trip to the top. So now, Samko says, it’s time to move on to winning the season. One day at a time.
Jumbos look to stifle weak Hamilton offense DEFENSE continued from page 8
last season. Another question the team has to answer is how the secondary will perform after graduating Tassinari, who worked out for NFL teams in March, and fellow All-Conference defensive back Alex Perry (LA ’10). “It’s hard to replace guys like Tas and Perry,” Albitar said. “But we have a lot of speed, and they’re coming along nicely.” Primarily a 4-3 defense, Tufts will need to combat the popular spread offense, which some teams in the NESCAC have converted to using nickel and dime packages that put extra defensive backs on the field. Though three players in
the starting secondary are sophomores, all have had game experience after stepping in last year because of injuries. Starting are Tommy Castle, Vincent Lee, Austin Crittenden and Nick Falk, the lone junior. The Jumbos defense will immediately have a chance to prove itself against a flawed opponent tomorrow when Tufts faces off against the Hamilton Continentals, a team that also finished 2-6 last year and was shut out twice. With an experienced linebacking corps, a speedy secondary and Simmons and the line bearing down on quarterbacks, the Jumbos’ defense has a good chance to wow the home crowd.
Editors' Challenge | Week 3 The second week of the NFL season is in the books, and once again very little has been determined among the ranks of the Daily sports staff. When the editors aren’t toiling away night after night, poring over statistics and match-ups in the never-ending quest to rise to the top, they are, above all else, sports writers. Leading the way heading into Week 3 is Ethan “Joe Posnanski” Sturm, a world-class journalist for a world-class selector. Sturm went a blistering 11-5 last week, upping his two-week total to 22-10, one game ahead of Jeremy “Jason Whitlock” Greenhouse, the reigning champion, who sits comfortably at 21-11 without having dealt his race card yet. A three-way logjam at third place exists between Daniel “Buster Olney” Rathman, Noah “Tony Kornheiser” Schumer and... Sorry, Pardon the Interruption. As we were saying, the aforementioned two editors and Steve “John Clayton” Smith are all tied at 19-13. Schumer came back to earth with a 7-9 Week 2, which more than balanced out his 12-4 Week 1. Rathman surged up the standings with a 10-6 slate, while Smith remained constant at 9-7. One game behind the Holy Triumvirate of third-place champions is Phil “Michael Wilbon” OVERALL RECORD LAST WEEK
Ethan 22-10 11-5
Cincinnati Cincinnati at Carolina New England Buffalo at New England San Francisco at Kansas City San Francisco NY Giants Tennessee at NY Giants Baltimore Cleveland at Baltimore Pittsburgh Pittsburgh at Tampa Bay New Orleans Atlanta at New Orleans Minnesota Detroit at Minnesota Houston Dallas at Houston Philadelphia at Jacksonville Philadelphia Washington Washington at St. Louis Indianapolis Indianapolis at Denver Oakland Oakland at Arizona San Diego San Diego at Seattle NY Jets NY Jets at Miami Green Bay Green Bay at Chicago
Jeremy 21-11 11-5
Daniel 19-13 10-6
Noah 19-13 7-9
Cincinnati New England Kansas City Tennessee Baltimore Pittsburgh New Orleans Minnesota Houston Philadelphia Washington Indianapolis Oakland San Diego NY Jets Green Bay
Cincinnati New England San Francisco NY Giants Baltimore Tampa Bay New Orleans Minnesota Houston Jacksonville Washington Indianapolis Arizona San Diego Miami Green Bay
Cincinnati New England San Francisco NY Giants Baltimore Tampa Bay New Orleans Minnesota Houston Philadelphia Washington Indianapolis Oakland San Diego NY Jets Green Bay
Steve 19-13 9-7
Dear and Alex “Bill Simmons” Prewitt, the former being a former Ed’s Challenge champion and the latter being, well, a person. Lauren “Jackie MacMullan” Flament stands alone at eighth overall, coming off an 8-8 week despite having a very baseline knowledge of the NFL. At least she’s doing better than whoever’s in last place. How embarrassing. Before we get to that cellar-dweller, we must address Alex “Stephen A. Smith” Lach and Claire “Ines Sainz” Kemp, currently tied at 16-16. Kemp redeemed herself after a 6-10 Week 1, flipping the tables with a 10-6 second slate. Lach, on the other hand, did the exact opposite, going 7-9 in Week 2 after posting a 9-7 Week 1 mark. Last, and least, is Ben “Jay Mariotti” Kochman, who probably should be arrested for the way he’s been picking lately. Granted, he did go 10-6 after hitting 4-12 in Week 1, but he still sits two games out in last place despite guaranteeing that he will finish ahead of Kemp. Put it in the books. Guest-picking this week, in a triumphant return from a sea of Busch Light bottles and depressing post-graduate life, is David “Jeremy Greenhouse” Heck. Alex P. 18-14 8-8
Phil 18-14 8-8
Lauren 17-15 8-8
Cincinnati Cincinnati Cincinnati Cincinnati New England New England New England New England San Francisco San Francisco San Francisco San Francisco NY Giants Tennessee NY Giants NY Giants Baltimore Baltimore Baltimore Baltimore Pittsburgh Tampa Bay Pittsburgh Tampa Bay New Orleans New Orleans Atlanta Atlanta Minnesota Minnesota Minnesota Detroit Houston Dallas Houston Dallas Philadelphia Philadelphia Philadelphia Jacksonville Washington Washington Washington St. Louis Indianapolis Indianapolis Indianapolis Denver Oakland Arizona Oakland Oakland San Diego San Diego San Diego Seattle Miami NY Jets NY Jets NY Jets Green Bay Green Bay Green Bay Green Bay
Alex L. 16-16 7-9
Claire 16-16 10-6
Ben 14-18 10-6
GUEST David Heck
Cincinnati Carolina Cincinnati Cincinnati New England New England New England New England Kansas City San Francisco San Francisco Kansas City Tennessee NY Giants Tennessee NY Giants Baltimore Baltimore Baltimore Baltimore Pittsburgh Pittsburgh Pittsburgh Pittsburgh New Orleans New Orleans New Orleans Atlanta Minnesota Minnesota Minnesota Minnesota Houston Dallas Houston Houston Philadelphia Philadelphia Philadelphia Jacksonville Washington St. Louis Washington Washington Indianapolis Indianapolis Indianapolis Indianapolis Arizona Arizona Oakland Oakland Seattle San Diego San Diego Seattle Miami NY Jets NY Jets Miami Green Bay Green Bay Green Bay Green Bay
Sports
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INSIDE Editors’ Challenge 7
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FOOTBALL OFFENSIVE PREVIEW
Jumbos get comfortable with the uncomfortable Fucillo, loaded WR corps return to lead offense BY
ALEX PREWITT
Daily Editorial Board
Anthony Fucillo doesn’t care if you call him Van Wilder. It’s no big deal. Seriously. Tufts’ starting quarterback is, after all, in his sixth season of collegiate football. So associating him with the graduation-averse title character of National Lampoon’s 2002 frat-boy flick only elicits laughs as he casually shrugs off the comparison. “He’s a cool dude,” Fucillo says. “I don’t mind.” Aside from the extended stays on campus, the resemblances between Ryan Reynolds’s creation and his real-life counterpart end there. Van Wilder stuck around because he was too lazy to graduate; Fucillo just wants another chance to get back on the field. The horror list of injuries began when Fucillo was at Div. I Colgate and continued once he transferred to Tufts, a destination closer to his Winthrop, Mass., home. He went down in the seventh game in ’08 and, after suffering an ankle injury during the first series in a preseason scrimmage with Bowdoin, he never made it into a regular-season contest in ’09. Now, he’s back for one last go-around, leading an offense that was secondworst in the NESCAC in 2009 but is now obsessed with proving the rest of the league wrong. “It’s been a while,” Fucillo said. “But you don’t lose that taste in your mouth of how it feels to go out there and play. I think that’s something you carry with the rest of your life. It feels good to be back.” For all intents and purposes, the 2-6 record and the 11.8 points per game last
ANDREW MORGENTHALER/TUFTS DAILY
Senior wideout Billy Mahler, right, and the rest of the Jumbos will look to improve on the NESCAC’s second-worst scoring offense in 2009 when the squad opens up with Hamilton tomorrow. season were humiliating, a statement the team isn’t afraid to make. But with the top three receivers all returning to line up alongside Fucillo, the league-leader in pass efficiency in ’08, it’s all a thing of the past.
“Guys are more zeroed in,” Fucillo said. “People were embarrassed about what happened last year. We were lowest in the conference pretty much in total offense and scoring — we were awful. We’re not
FOOTBALL FEATURE
Mantra takes on greater meaning for rejuvenated team BY
ALEX PREWITT
The calendar sits just outside the cramped locker room of Cousens Gymnasium, carefully scribbled onto a white board in jet-black ink and framed by the lingering stench of moldy socks and stale jerseys. Much like a seven-year-old child pines for daily gold stars to validate completed chores or superb effort on homework, so, too, do these players strive for pieces of paper, a more age-appropriate form of commendation. For within the little box, resting inside the larger rectangle of dates, is the Tufts logo, that ubiquitous baby-blue “T,” framed by fierce elephant tusks, in little cut-out sheets of paper with an emphatic “W” slapped over the emblem: their own version of gold stars. There are 13 so far, but more will come. Surely, more will come. Like every calendar, the month is boldly emblazoned at the top: September. Attached to the front, though, just before the S, is the word “Win.” Win September. A strange phrase for a team traditionally obsessed with taking it one game at a time. It’s difficult to claim victory over an intangible object, to place one’s hold on an abstract set of days defined long ago by a 16th-century pope. But that’s exactly what the football team aims to do. It’s the mission — the never-ending goal. Pivot your head 180 degrees
across the narrow hallway and you’ll face the pale, empty door to the locker room, decorated only by the school insignia and a simple quote on a piece of paper: “Win the Day.” Win the Day. That phrase keeps coming up in any discussion with a member of the team, freshman or senior, coach or player. Because, as the other sign on the otherwise blank door says, “Not winning the war is not nearly as bad as not winning the battles.” Win the Day: The Medfordian version of carpe diem and the football proclamation of war. Summing up the eternal fighting spirit into three words when William Wallace needed 60. It’s a drawn-out process, a series of skirmishes. Each 24-hour period, whether consumed with weightlifting, practice or — cue the battle cries — a game, is a fight to the death, the ultimate test of endurance, of mind over matter, of erasing the past and rewriting the future. Win the Day. Though the slogan was born in the offseason shortly before preseason practices in late August, had the Cousens calendar been erected a year earlier, the Jumbos, realistically, won few days in 2009, at least on paper. Effort notwithstanding, it was a disappointing season, one marked by sweeping injuries, a stagnant offense and a 2-6 record, the program’s worst since 2005. “I thought that last year we looked at the bigger picture a lit-
see OFFENSE, page 7
FOOTBALL DEFENSIVE PREVIEW
New day, same goal Daily Editorial Board
afraid to say that, and we’re embarrassed about that, but we want to go out and prove differently this year.” In order to do so, the Jumbos will turn to an overflowing bevy of wideouts that includes speedster senior Steve Cusano, who sat out part of last season with a broken hand but still finished as the team’s second-leading receiver, as well as classmate Billy Mahler and sophomore Mike Howell. “I really think we’re going to move the ball prolifically this year,” Mahler said. “With our weapons, we have really great team speed on the perimeter, and I think we’re really going to run by a lot of guys. And Anthony can really put the ball wherever he wants it for the most part. If we get some time, I think we can be really dangerous.” And then there’s senior Pat Bailey, perhaps the most dangerous skill-position player on the team, if not in the league. You’d never expect it, looking at the 5-foot-7, 170-pound running back, who finished second in the league last year in all-purpose yardage, single-handedly accounting for 52 percent of the team’s receiving yardage, 37 percent of the Jumbos’ rushing game and 63 percent of return yardage. When Fucillo was a senior in high school, he played against Bailey, then a sophomore at Beverly (Mass.) High. Fucillo’s father — now Tufts’ wide receivers coach — directed his son, who had assumed kicking duties, to never let Pat Bailey get the ball on special teams. “He’s been a stellar athlete, a stellar player since he was younger, and to have
tle too often,” senior linebacker Matthew Murray said. “Just to focus on maybe getting better at something every single day, whether it’s not something huge, but it could just be like he said tackling one day or reads the next or offensive line blocking better or whatever it just is, or even knowing the assignments. It’s just … getting a little better every day. Being crisp.” Seizing the day is a triumph of mind over body, of one’s focus overcoming any physical shortcomings. Winning on the scoreboard is one thing; anyone can see that. But it’s another to emerge victorious in the minds of the coaches, the overseers and Lords of the Day. The criteria are simple: You either win the day or you don’t. No questions asked. It’s an impossible task, really, trying to capture something that can’t be grasped or held. It’d be like trying to own love or the air. But in this little world of Tufts football, the outermost boundaries somewhere around the Ellis Oval and Bello Field, winning the day suddenly becomes an attainable task. There are no other competitors, no enemies to snatch the day out of the Jumbos’ grasps. It exists solely for their taking. The day is theirs to win. “It means that it’s practice on Wednesday or on Thursday or whenever, and you’re focusing either on the meeting you’re in or the drill you’re doing at pracsee WIN THE DAY, page 7
Veteran linebackers spearhead defense
Young guns step in to fill void BY
BILLY RUTHERFORD Contributing Writer
The Jumbos’ defense may have lost an NFL-caliber safety in Tom Tassinari (E ’10), but with three seasoned linebackers anchoring the squad, Jumbos fans can expect a season of consistently stalwart defensive play. Senior Matt Murray and junior Ferras Albitar — who both finished in the top five on the team in tackles and sacks last season — form an imposing linebacker trio with senior Brian Danshaw that should give opposing offenses fits. The linebackers are confident that having a battletested group — all three were starters last year — will lead to improvement from last year, when the Jumbos had the worst rush defense in the NESCAC and dropped their final five games to end the year with a record of 2-6. “I think [our] experience is going to help, and hopefully we’ll have a better outcome this season,” Albitar said. In last year’s finale against Middlebury, Albitar demonstrated the kind of spark he brings to the team with an interception and five tackles. But the Jumbos ultimately lost that game 26-7, giving up 336 passing yards and three touchdowns through the air. The challenge this season will
be to be more consistent. “We’ve had a young linebacking corps, and now it’s getting older with Matt [Murray] and Brian [Danshaw] being seniors,” defensive coordinator Scott Rynne,said. “Those guys work very hard, and they’re close. The leadership’s there. Our big challenge was graduating three captains on defense, and I think that question’s been answered.” Another Jumbo filling a major leadership role is junior tri-captain Donnie Simmons, the energizer of the defense. Simmons exudes passion on the field through his upbeat and humorous personality, and the All-Conference defensive end leads by example on game day. “Donnie [Simmons] is a high-energy guy,” Rynne said. “He runs all over the place, between practices and to practices. He loves to play football. He’s downhill, he’s making plays on the edge. … He’s a great rusher.” Starting on the line with Simmons are senior Alex Gresham and juniors Nick Croteau and Phil Artis. Croteau was a tight end last year and notched six receptions and a touchdown. Gresham is a returning starter who collected 19 tackles see DEFENSE, page 7