2010-9-17

THE TUFTS DAILY

Chance of Rain 65/54

Tufts e-mail accounts begin transition BY

TUFTSDAILY.COM

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 17, 2010

VOLUME LX, NUMBER 6

KATHRYN OLSON

Daily Editorial Board

Freshmen transitioned to Microsoft Exchange — an e-mail system new to Tufts that will replace Tufts Webmail — during Undergraduate Orientation this month as part of University Information Technology’s (UIT) larger initiative to migrate the entire university to the new e-mail platform.

UIT began switching freshman students in the School of Engineering to Microsoft Exchange on Sept. 2 and first-years in the School of Arts and Sciences on Sept. 3, the evenings prior to their respective registration times for the fall semester, according to Dawn Irish, director of communications and organizational effectiveness for UIT. UIT chose to install a new e-mail system after a general consensus emerged among faculty and students that Tufts Webmail was outdated, Irish said.

“Webmail didn’t have the modern functionality people are used to in commercial products such as Gmail, Hotmail, or Yahoo!,” Irish said. “We were looking for something that had more features, was easier to use and was more compatible with mobile devices.

The old e-mail functioned well but lacked new technology available.”

Irish said that the new system would promote greater collaboration between students and faculty, as students would be able to view a faculty member’s calendar through the program and book office hours online.

UIT decided to migrate freshmen to Exchange because they had a relatively small amount of information stored in their accounts and had only been using Tufts Webmail for a few months over the summer, Irish said.

“For a student that just moved here, they and most of their family had probably been using an e-mail system other than Tufts, such as Gmail or Yahoo!,” Tufts Online Supervisor Judi Vellucci said. Tufts Online is a student-run group that provides computer support.

The migration of faculty and staff e-mail accounts to Exchange began in July but is not expected to be completed until June, due to the large volume of e-mail messages and calendars their accounts typically hold, according to Irish. The transition for the e-mail accounts of all undergraduates who are not members of the Class of 2014 will begin in the spring, but Irish offered no estimates on when the entire process would be concluded.

In order to transition to Exchange, UIT see EXCHANGE, page 2

Where You Read It First Est. 1980

Students get more say in roommate selection BY

AMELIE HECHT

Daily Editorial Board

The Office of Residential Life and Learning (ResLife) implemented this year a new online roommate-pairing system designed to give incoming freshmen greater input and to reduce administrative hassle in the process.

Likened by participants to online dating database Match.com, the new system allows students to view classmates’ online profiles and questionnaire responses and extend roommate invitations based on that information.

“This system gives students a chance to make a better connection, which should limit the number of moves that happen in the first few weeks of housing,” Associate Bursar of Systems and Programs James Moodie said.

“Students have made the connection themselves and are therefore more married to staying together.”

All of this year’s newly matriculated students were asked to create an online profile by answering a series of questions formulated by the Tufts Community Union Senate, according to ResLife Director Yolanda King.

After filling out the questionnaire, students had four options: They could allow the system to match them randomly based on their responses, they could ask the system to show possible matches of students who were most compatible given their answers to the questionnaire, they could specifically request someone with whom they had a prior relationship or connection, or they could power search the database, asking the system to find a roommate who met certain specific criteria.

The system’s implementation is an attempt to involve students more in the selection

VIRGINIA BLEDSOE/TUFTS DAILY

Twenty-one percent of the class of 2014 selected their own roommates using Reslife’s new roommate-pairing system. of their roommates, as well as to update an antiquated process.

“In the past, we had students fill out a very simple questionnaire with only a couple of questions, and it was all done on paper,” King said. “It was a fairly painful process.”

Students who wished to be involved in the process wrote short personal introductions.

Those who found an appropriate match through the program could extend a roommate invitation; if both parties agreed to the pairing, the system would provide the students with each other’s e-mail addresses to continue their conversations.

Tufts students’ use of the Internet to choose their roommates had been taking place long before the university made the transition this year, according to Moodie.

“A lot of people were already involved in this sort of pairing through social media sites,” Moodie said. “This system just offers

them a safer, more controlled space in which to do it.”

In spite of the program’s attempt to involve students more in the selection process, only 21 percent of the incoming class self-selected their roommate through the invitation process, according to Moodie.

The remaining 79 percent accepted the matches generated by the housing software system. A total of 142 roommate invitations were declined, he said.

Freshman Claire Dunivan decided to let the system match her with a roommate rather than selecting one herself.

“I decided to fill out the questionnaire and then pretty much left the rest of it up to fate and let whatever was going to happen, happen,” Dunivan said. “I looked through the profiles of a couple of the people it suggested see ROOMMATES, page 2

PROFILE

Ecologist explores rainforest canopies, the final biotic frontier BY

ROMY OLTUSKI

Daily Editorial Board

2003 was a busy year for ecologist Nalini Nadkarni; she spent three months attending religious services at twelve churches, launched a line of Barbie clothing, designed a set of baseball cards and grew moss with inmates at a Washington state prison. Nalini is not exactly a typical forest canopy researcher.

But that is all a part of her professional methodology, which is to involve people in the study and appreciation of trees using a medium that appeals to them.

Today, she’ll be bringing her ideas to Tufts at 4 p.m. in Barnum 104.

When she’s not working in prisons and elementary schools or teaching at Evergreen State College, Nadkarni spends her time in the tree canopies of Costa Rica and Washington, some 200 feet above the forest floor, where she eats, sleeps and lives alongside the wildlife she researches.

Sometimes referred to as “the last biotic frontier,” canopy treetops have only become a viable subject of research over the past few decades as a handful of pioneers — Nadkarni among them — began to develop the technologies necessary to safely elevate humans to the canopy.

“People have been living and working in forest ecosystems forever. But it’s been only recently, within the last 30 years, that

they’ve figured out how to get up into the canopies and study them close up,” Nadkarni told the Daily. “Once people began applying mountain-climbing techniques to get up into the forest canopies in a safe way, this whole field opened up.”

The slow-to-emerge field became an immediate gold mine, though, uncovering previously unknown mini-ecosystems.

“They have a very different microclimate and a huge, diverse group of animals that you just never find on the forest floor. We were finding new species that no one had ever discovered before, seeing pollination systems going on that we had no idea see TREES, page 2

Faculty considers moving course-evaluation system online BY

BRENT YARNELL

Daily Editorial Board

Faculty members this semester will consider moving the university’s course-evaluation system online and are debating the possibility of making the results available to the student body.

The Education Policy Committee (EPC) passed a resolution on March 9 that calls the current paper system “antiquated” and “obsolete” and says an online system would improve processing speed, reduce the potential for errors and better preserve student anonymity.

Under the current system, the university requests that all students complete a written evaluation at the end of each of their courses. The evaluation consists of a generic bubble section that quantifies students’ opinions on various aspects of the course, as well as a freeresponse section that allows for more detailed comments.

The resolution proposes that the quantitative data from the bubbled section — but not the free-form comments — become accessible to students on the Internet, with individual

departments and faculty members able to opt out of making these results available.

The EPC is planning a faculty forum this fall to discuss the resolution, which was presented at an April 14 Arts, Sciences and Engineering faculty meeting, according to EPC Chair Jack Ridge, a professor of geology.

The Tufts Community Union (TCU) Senate last year supported opening up evaluations to students online, passing a resolution in December that opposes granting the choice to opt out.

This fall, the EPC intends to

Inside this issue

adjust its resolution based on faculty input before a final version is submitted for a full faculty vote, according to Ridge.

Thus, he said, the document’s opt-out proposal may change.

“This has all yet to be decided,” Ridge said in an e-mail. “Some faculty would like to wait and see what a new evaluation instrument looks like before going public with the results.”

The Senate worked with the EPC last year to brainstorm changes for the existing course evaluation system, which, in turn, led to the EPC resolution.

TCU President Sam Wallis said he had planned to work on bringing course evaluations online for student viewing — a move overwhelmingly approved by senators he polled at a Senate meeting last year — at the same time Dean of Academic Affairs for Arts and Sciences James Glaser initiated discussions within the EPC about digitizing course evaluations.

“They were looking at changing the system because of some technical things and because they wanted to make the tool see EVALUATIONS, page 2

Today’s Sections

‘Easy A’ stands out from other romantic comedies, with stellar cast and clever plot.

Women’s cross country looks to recover from last year’s injuryplagued season.

see ARTS, page 3

see SPORTS, back page

News | Features Arts & Living Comics

1 3 6

Classifieds Sports

7 Back

THE TUFTS DAILY

2

THE TUFTS DAILY BENJAMIN D. GITTLESON Editor-in-Chief

EDITORIAL Managing Editors

Ellen Kan Carter Rogers Matt Repka Executive News Editor Alexandra Bogus News Editors Michael Del Moro Nina Ford Amelie Hecht Corinne Segal Martha Shanahan Brent Yarnell Jenny White Daphne Kolios Assistant News Editors Kathryn Olson Romy Oltuski Executive Features Editor Sarah Korones Features Editors Alison Lisnow Emilia Luna Alexa Sasanow Derek Schlom Jon Cheng Assistant Features Editors Maya Kohli Amelia Quinn Emma Bushnell Executive Arts Editor Zach Drucker Arts Editors Mitchell Geller Rebecca Goldberg Benjamin Phelps Anna Majeski Assistant Arts Editors Rebecca Santiago Matthew Welch Rachel Oldfield Laura Moreno Devon Colmer Erin Marshall Lorrayne Shen Louie Zong Rebekah Liebermann Seth Teleky

Executive Op-Ed Editor Op-Ed Editors Cartoonists

Editorialists

Philip Dear Executive Sports Editor Lauren Flament Sports Editors Jeremy Greenhouse Claire Kemp Ben Kochman Alex Lach Alex Prewitt Daniel Rathman Noah Schumer Ethan Sturm Assistant Sports Editor Aalok Kanani Meredith Klein Danai Macridi Andrew Morgenthaler Tien Tien Josh Berlinger Virginia Bledsoe Kristen Collins Alex Dennett Emily Eisenberg Dilys Ong Jodi Bosin Jenna S Liang Meagan Maher Ashley Seenauth

Executive Photo Editor Photo Editors

Assistant Photo Editors

Staff Photographers

Mick B. Krever Executive New Media Editor James Choca New Media Editors Kerianne Okie

PRODUCTION Leanne Brotsky Production Director Andrew Petrone Executive Layout Editor Sarah Davis Layout Editors Adam Gardner Jason Huang Jennifer Iassogna Alyssa Kutner Steven Smith Sarah Kester Assistant Layout Editor Zehava Robbins Executive Copy Editor Alexandra Husted Copy Editors Isabel Leon Vivien Lim Assistant Copy Editors Linh Dang Si Kyun Im Ammar Khaku Andrew Paseltiner Melissa Roberts Elisha Sum Darcy Mann Executive Online Editor Audrey Kuan Online Editors Ann Sloan Ammar Khaku Executive Technical Manager Michael Vastola Technical Manager

Benjamin Hubbell-Engler Executive Business Director Dwijo Goswami Receivables Manager

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

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

Friday, September 17, 2010

Ecologist explores undiscovered rainforest ecosystems TREES continued from page 1

existed,” Nadkarni said.

When she was in college, many of Nadkarni’s professors cautioned her against a career in canopy research because of the logistical difficulties it poses, but there was only one direction she was interested in: up.

How she gets there is slightly more complicated.

Step one: She shoots a crossbow with a fishing line attached to a two-ounce weight over a branch a couple hundred feet high and waits for the weight to land.

Step two: She ties a thicker cord to the end of the fishing line and reels it back over the branch to replace the line.

Step three: She ties an even thicker climbing rope to the end of the cord to be pulled over the branch, ties one end to a nearby tree and leaves the other dangling, ready to be climbed.

Step four: She gets into a harness and leg loops and attaches them to an ascender, a clamp that can hold up to 2,000 pounds.

Step five: She climbs.

According to George Ellmore, an associate professor of biology at Tufts, Nadkarni’s perseverance has led to several major ecological breakthroughs. “[She’s] learned how to climb these 200foot trees and lived in them and discovered life in them that no one has ever observed from below. She didn’t have to look up; she was actually on level with the animals and plants,” Ellmore said.

“She’s discovered species of birds and insects that no one has ever seen before,” he added. “She’s seen that many birds live in a horizontal world; they stay on one level, moving right and left rather than up and down, as not to interfere with other

species at other levels.”

For Nadkarni, though, discovery on its own was never enough. Her objective was to dissolve the gap between humanity and the canopy layer, both physically — by climbing it — and intellectually — by disseminating her canopy research to a general, nonscientific public. With that in mind, she founded the International Canopy Network in 1994, which began as a network for scientists involved with forest canopies. In 2001, while conducting research funded by a Guggenheim Fellowship, Nadkarni realized she needed to spread the word about her work.

Nadkarni’s network at first focused on acting as consultants to the media and helping with documentaries and exhibits.

“I thought, what about kids whose parents don’t automatically turn on a documentary? How can I reach non-traditional audiences?” Nadkarni said. “I started giving sermons on trees and spirituality. I started working with rap singers to try and get urban kids interested. I started collaborating with prisons in Washington State, planting seeds and bringing nature to the population that is probably most underserved on environmental education.”

One of Nadkarni’s recent projects, the Research Ambassador Program, aims to provide young scientists with the tools necessary to incorporate outreach into their own work. Another in development, Tree Links, will allow people to “tag” trees on an interactive map online and share the personal significance those trees may hold.

The message behind Nadkari’s outreach is simple, Daniel Dennett, professor of cognitive studies, said: One doesn’t have to climb 200 feet in order to be connected to trees; as a human, they already are.

“The message is that humans and nature are inextricably entwined,” Nadkarni said,

E-mail accounts move to Exchange EXCHANGE continued from page 1

temporarily shut down Webmail accounts on the evenings of Sept. 2 for freshman engineers and Sept. 3 for liberal arts freshmen. The office reopened access to their e-mail accounts the following day during registration, according to Irish.

UIT attempted to limit confusion by transitioning the e-mail accounts of Tufts Online staff to Exchange.

“I moved my Tufts Online student staff … to show that the process was proven and to provide my staff with hands-on experience with the new environment in case freshmen needed help during registration,” Vellucci said.

Despite these attempts, coupled with instructional e-mails and handouts explaining how to set up Exchange accounts, freshmen expressed frustration with the difficulty of the transition.

“I was unclear about what I had to do to set up my account and my friend had to set it up for me,” freshman Elizabeth Keys said. “The whole process didn’t really happen sequentially. A lot of people didn’t know what was going on.”

Some freshmen believed that they did not have to set up their new Exchange accounts immediately because their old Webmail accounts still appeared to be working, according to freshman Meg Young.

“The e-mail transition was confusing because you could log in to Tufts Webmail and send e-mails, but you couldn’t receive e-mails,” Young said. “It took me a few days to realize I wasn’t getting important e-mails

from a cappella groups I had auditioned for and that I had to set up a new account.

It was really irritating in the moment because there was so much going on.”

Young conceded, however, that UIT attempted to make the switch to Exchange a smooth one.

“If I had read all of the informational e-mails, I probably could have figured it out,” she added.

Despite her initial frustration with setting up the new e-mail account, Young prefers Exchange to Webmail.

“It was a little haphazard setting it up, but I much rather prefer the new system to the old one,” Keys said.

Others, like Associate Professor of Political Science Richard Eichenberg, had only positive feedback about the new system.

“The system works great for me,” Eichenberg said in an e-mail to the Daily.

“The new version of Exchange is a much better system than what we had before.”

UIT launched a student e-mail preference survey on April 12 in order to gauge what features students would want to see in a new e-mail system. Responses from the 1,555 students who participated in the survey indicated that online document collaboration, document storage, folder sharing and file transfer were the most important qualities of a new e-mail system, according to Irish.

The university is currently in contract negotiations with Microsoft to ensure that its terms and conditions match Tufts’ needs in areas such as security, privacy and storage space, according to Irish.

ResLife changes roommate system ROOMMATES

BUSINESS

NEWS | FEATURES

continued from page 1

and then just decided to leave it to the system to decide.”

Freshman roommates Andrew Turk and Andrew Berman found each other through the system’s compatibility search.

“The computer told us that we were 72 percent compatible, so we got on Facebook and started talking,” Berman said. “We learned that we had similar schedules and interests, and figured it would be a good match.”

Turk was pleased with the new system and the opportunity it offered him to choose his roommate.

“It was really nice to know that I am

coming into this year with someone I am already comfortable with,” Turk said. “I felt like I was showing up to live with a friend rather than a stranger.”

Moodie agreed that the system allowed students to start creating a community before even arriving on campus.

“Tufts has a large international population and this new system allows them to more actively participate in the Tufts community over the summer,” Moodie said.

“Before this, there was no real opportunity for community building before getting to school.”

The system will be used again next year, according to King, though some modifications may be made to the questionnaire.

echoing Dennett. “We all depend on trees, whether for oxygen, shade or medicine derived from rain forests.”

Dennett, who met Nadkarni at a conference hosted by Technology Entertainment and Design, a nonprofit organization devoted to spreading ideas, encouraged her to help bring tree consciousness to Tufts. Her talk will be the first campus event to promote tree appreciation, but Dennett implored students to embrace trees in their personal lives, as well. To get students involved beyond the talk this afternoon, Dennett plans to hold a contest challenging students to find and measure the tallest tree on campus.

According to Ellmore, they should be pleased with what they find along the way.

“While many people are chopping down large, majestic trees and replacing them, for safety reasons, with smaller ones that will never be a fraction of the size, Tufts still has that old forest look about it,” Ellmore said.

“The sheer size of the trees is very unusual for a college campus. We have full-sized, 120-180-year-old trees here.”

The variation of species is also impressive for a New England campus, Ellmore said.

Some of the more distinctive trees include a dawn redwood by Goddard Chapel, several large oaks behind Braker Hall, a tulip poplar — the tallest of the North American deciduous trees — by Ballou Hall and a female Gingko — an exceptional rarity, whose fruit taste of shrimp and walnuts —

by Miner Hall, he said.

“Our trees provide a huge number of services for us — a place for people to stand in the shade, a place for people to congregate comfortably outside,” Ellmore said. “Imagine what this campus would be like with no trees. That’s happened on some campuses already.”

Faculty members move to bring course evals online EVALUATIONS continued from page 1

more effective,” Wallis, a senior, said. “The goals overlapped.”

The converging ideas prompted the Senate and the EPC to work together to amend most of the faculty’s complaints about the course evaluation process.

Junior Nunu Luo, who chaired the Senate’s Education Committee last year, said the course evaluations would be an accurate and objective resource for students to use when thinking about registering for classes.

“That information is what students need to assess the class they are going to take,” Luo said.

She added that students currently rely on the professor ranking website RateMyProfessors.com, which she believes lacks objective measures. Generally, she said, only students who either loved or hated a class are motivated to post, causing the site to lack moderate views. “[RateMyProfessors.com] is not serious at all,” Luo said. “It’s not a very thought-out type of evaluation.”

The Senate resolution cites a study by three senators last year that found that eight of Tufts’ peer institutions, including Boston College, Brandeis University, Carnegie Mellon University, Duke University, Hamilton College, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Northwestern University, all have online evaluation systems. Of those that have online systems, all but Hamilton make the results available to students.

Ridge said the EPC did not consider evaluation systems of other schools when planning changes for Tufts.

“Student course-evaluation systems vary tremendously, with all of them having some weakness,” he said.

The online system’s use of averages for the quantitative responses will keep students’ identities secret. And Ridge said moving the course-evaluation system online would also present an opportunity to change the format of the survey.

“Many, if not most, faculty think [the current survey] is ineffective,” Ridge said.

“There were many suggestions from faculty as to how to improve questions on the form and improve written responses.”

Arts & Living

3

tuftsdaily.com

MOVIE REVIEW

‘Easy A’ earns namesake letter grade and stands out in its genre with clever story and a charismatic cast BY

REBECCA SANTIAGO

Daily Editorial Board

It is certainly tempting to clump Will Gluck’s “Easy A” with the heaping stack of idiosyncratic, indie-

Easy A Starring Emma Stone, Penn Badgley, Amanda Bynes Directed by Will Gluck meets-mainstream flicks destined to feature in the “Favorite Movies” section of far too many Facebook profiles. Replete with offbeat characters, lightning-fast witticisms, parents in need of parenting and situational absurdity, the film seems a paragon of nouveau-popular quirkiness. Yet to focus on the formulaic aspects of “Easy A” is to do the charming film a great disservice: Imaginative and plucky, it is less a followed recipe than a composite work, piggybacking off the very best

elements of eccentric comedy.

“Easy A” documents Olive Penderghast’s (Emma Stone) whirlwind metamorphosis from brainy nonentity into school tramp. To elude an undesirable camping trip with her best friend, Rhiannon (Alyson Michalka), Olive contrives a fictitious date with an equally fictitious college man. Upon Rhiannon’s return, she misinterprets Olive’s vague cover story and accuses her of having slept with her older beau. Pleased to have overshadowed spirited Rhi for once, the extra-virgin Olive concedes that she did in fact do the deed. Word of her confession, overheard by prissy and religious Marianne (Amanda Bynes), spreads through the student body like wildfire.

Olive embraces her new risqué image, reveling in the attention, but admits to a select few that the tale is false. The truth wreaks more havoc than her lie. Boys desiring to boost their macho stature seek her aid, swapping gift cards ROTTENTOMATOES.COM

see EASY A, page 4

Amanda Bynes and Amanda Stone make up part of a talented an engaging cast.

TV REVIEW

ALBUM REVIEW

Papa Roach’s new album repeats same old sounds

‘Nikita’ reboot puts fresh spin on familiar material BY

CATHERINE SCOTT Senior Staff Writer

This fall’s television lineup feels overwhelmingly recycled.

There’s J. J. Abrams’s “Undercovers,”

Nikita Starring Maggie Q, Lyndsy Fonseca, Shane West, Melinda Clarke Airs Thursdays at 9 p.m. on The CW a rip-off of “Mr. and Mrs. Smith” (2005), on NBC. ABC has a family-friendly action show called “No Ordinary Family” that is a cross between “Heroes” (2006-10) and a live-action version of “The Incredibles” (2004). And then there’s “Nikita” on The CW, a remake of an old television show that itself is based on two older Nikita movies.

While “Nikita” may seem unnecessary at first glance, the show actually brings a much-needed action kick to an otherwise fluffy network. While the program does follow The CW’s classic trashy dialogue and hot-babes shtick, it somehow manages to create a fun experience that showcases many actresses’ talents in strong female characters.

“Nikita” is based on a 1990 French film of the same name, which then spawned an American film remake and, most famously, a Canadian television series, “La Femme Nikita” (1997-2001). While previous “Nikita” incarnations focused on the origin of the titular character, this show throws viewers right into the present, with Nikita having escaped her secret government division and now trying to bring it down.

Maggie Q plays Nikita, a spy assassin gone rogue, as a tough, smart and incredibly sexy woman. She has a lot of baggage, most of which the writers haven’t even begun to touch — except for the fact that Nikita left the assassin program because her superiors organized the death of the man she loved.

Tracking her down is Michael, played

by Shane West, one of those pretty boys from the last decade who was all but forgotten over the past five years. Michael is training a new recruit, Alex (Lyndsy

Fonseca), a young girl who he thinks could be the next Nikita.

The other characters mostly consist of a homogenous bunch of old men who run Division, but in their midst is Amanda (Melinda Clarke), a psychologist who provides her services for the young assassins; Amanda is actually more manipulative than therapeutic.

The plot is fairly simple and routine: Division plots a kill; Nikita foils it. Where the show really excels is in its action sequences. In the pilot episode alone, at least three pristinely choreographed fight scenes demonstrate that despite her slight figure, Maggie Q has the talent to be an action star.

It’s not just Maggie Q bringing female power, but also Fonseca and Clarke, who add an air of authority and mystery to their roles.

Fonseca plays Alex as a scared young girl new to Division, but she displays more motivation than one would expect. Clarke is thankfully back on television after playsee NIKITA, page 4

BY

PAUL REILLY

Contributing Writer

To be frank, Papa Roach is just phoning it in with its new album, “Time for Annihilation.” To even call it an album

Time For Annihilation Papa Roach

Eleven Seven Music would be a stretch. Of the 14 total tracks, only five are unreleased originals, amounting to an EP’s worth of new content. The rest of the tracks contain mostly true-tostudio renditions of their so-called greatest hits, occasionally interrupted by brief clusters of generic banter that border on pandering. The audience and the band certainly sound like they’re having the time of their lives on the live tracks, but anyone who buys “Time for Annihilation” will soon discover that it’s a waste of money.

Chances are, however, that many, many people will buy this album anyway. Of the band’s previous six albums, four have sold over a million copies worldwide and another is inching extremely close to that

mark. This nearly flawless commercial streak has done little to earn the band much critical acclaim, though.

Since their major label debut “Infest” (2000), the band has adopted a sound that leans toward alternative metal while blending elements from its dated nu metal roots. While this sound has earned the band mainstream popularity, it does not evolve in any of their previous albums.

When listening to “Time for Annihilation,” it becomes evident that Papa Roach is still stuck in creative limbo.

The album makes a modicum of positive progress by abandoning many dated conventions of the dying genre of nu metal, but it is not wholly successful in this attempt. The first seconds of opening track “Burn” feature a warped fade-in intro, violent lyrics and relentless power chords, leaving listeners questioning whether they accidentally popped in their old Linkin Park CD. The parade of familiar alternative metal sounds and sentiments continues on the equally dull “One Track Mind.”

Thankfully, this is followed by “Kick in the Teeth,” the only new track with replay value. Wisely chosen as the first single, it see ROACH, page 4

CWTV.COM

Guns and little red bikinis are Nikita’s weapons of choice.

BILLBOARD.COM

Papa Roach, I think you missed a spot.

THE TUFTS DAILY

4

Friday, September 17, 2010

ARTS & LIVING

Despite some formulaic mechanisms, ‘Easy A’ is clever and humorous EASY A continued from page 3

for rumors of steamy encounters. Olive obliges their requests, padding her bra and bank account with wry enthusiasm; yet her seemingly harmless lies soon entangle her in a sticky web of unforeseen drama and very real consequences.

The wonderfully strong cast sets “Easy A” apart from its compatriots in the high school romcom canon. Every character is best described as utterly peculiar, and the actors prove admirable vessels for their wacky roles. While the credits boast big names like Amanda Bynes and Penn Badgley, whose respectively hyperbolic and endearingly stoi-

cal performances are laudable, the rising stars truly steal the show.

Emma Stone, already established as an object of desire in “Superbad” (2007) and “Zombieland” (2009), reveals a proclivity for sincere and sympathetic performances in this film. Her spirited performance in “Easy A” foreshadows greater things to come for this talented actress.

Of course, Bert Royal’s strong script provides Stone and her coworkers with a rocksolid foundation. Smartly written, “Easy A” is something of an intersection between the swift pithiness of “Gilmore Girls” (20002007) and the saucy vulgarity of “Mean Girls” (2004). Admittedly, the script relies on the

now tried-and-true combination of beguiling awkwardness and preposterous situations. Its throwbacks continue with the cheesy ’90s sitcom mechanism of mirroring Olive’s alleged promiscuity and ostracism in the book she is studying in her literature class (what else but Hawthorne’s 1850 novel, “The Scarlet Letter”?).

Yet a wealth of crisp one-liners saves these elements from feeling canned. At the very worst, they are partially recycled — and what could be so reprehensible about recycling?

Without a doubt, unconventional romance has been beaten to cinematic death with blockbusters like “Juno” (2007) and “(500) Days of Summer” (2009), but as far as the silver screen goes, “Easy A” is the

first of this genre to venture into the realm of pseudo-harlotry. The unusual subject matter provides the film with subtle instances of hilarity, which are absent from comparatively mainstream comedies featuring awkward young adults in love.

Altogether, “Easy A’s” mild thematic redundancy in no way detracts from its sparkling cleverness. The cast’s dynamic brings a real heartiness to an already-superb script, creating a film that is both wickedly funny and empathetic. Perhaps some of the elements have been used before, but never with the delightfully tangy precision that elevates this film from a free-movie Tuesday consideration to a Friday night must-see.

Papa Roach brings nothing to the table with new album

The CW’s ‘Nikita’ remake showcases powerful female performances

ROACH

NIKITA

continued from page 3

pulls out all the stops and broadcasts the rage and frenzy that the first two tracks couldn’t effectively convey.

Just when “Kick in the Teeth” starts to build up momentum, “No Matter What” immediately shatters any semblance of hope for the album. If there’s one thing that Papa Roach should not write, it’s a ballad. The track features lead singer Jacoby Shaddix singing in a pop-metal croon how he’d take a bullet for his love for three grating minutes.

The final new track, “The Enemy,” would need to be a bona fide masterpiece to redeem Papa Roach’s new material. Suffice it to say, it is not.

A collection of live songs that effectively doubles as a greatest hits collection follows these new releases. None of the live tracks are offensively bad, but they add nothing new to the originals. Very few

qualities differentiate these songs from their studio versions. The only noticeable difference in “Forever” is the addition of an extended guitar introduction, which lengthens an already overlong track. That leaves the high-pitched blaring of the audience as the most notable addition to the live tracks, adding a sound more Jonas Brothers than Disturbed. The endless cheering is often mixed at the same volume as the band itself, a troubling indication that people out there still really, really enjoy these songs.

For a band that has the potential to rock fairly hard, a live album should be an opportunity to showcase the talents that studio productions limit. Instead, they pad the songs out with requests to jump and audience sing-alongs. They pulled brawn out of pop on “Kick in the Teeth,” but Papa Roach couldn’t get much else right on “Time for Annihilation.” Getting from the first track to the last is the only thing that’s brutal about this album.

continued from page 3

ing the scheming Julie on “The O.C.” (2003-07), and she is magnificent as usual as a caring yet icily calculating caretaker of the young assassins.

It’s West’s performance that really brings the rest of the cast down. He is too pretty to portray a tough agent, and for some reason, he prefers to have his character growl his lines in order to appear more grown-up.

It’s not clear yet which is more ridiculous: 100-pound Maggie Q taking out grown men, or West leading an entire division of assassins.

Only a couple episodes into the season, “Nikita” has a lot of room to grow — and it should. It fills the void that “Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles” (2008-09) left, in that it caters to women who want to watch action television but do not want to

Interested in StudentFaculty Committees?

Positions are now available for various student-faculty committees for the 2010-2011 academic year.

Student-Faculty Committees deal with everything ranging from athletics, educational policy, and campus development to undergraduate admissions, financial aid, and research.

For more information and to access the application, please refer to www.senate.tufts.edu, or contacttomas.valdes@tufts.edu.

Applications are due September 21st.

be alienated by an overly masculine protagonist.

While it is not exactly appropriate for young girls, the show does send a positive message to

teenage girls that even though they probably do not have Nikita’s martial arts moves, they can still use their brain and skills for good.

CWTV.COM

Pretty boy Shane West is a misfit in the cast of ‘Nikita.’

Seeking representatives to the Board of Trustees!

Trustee Representatives are three undergraduate students that represent the undergraduate student body to the Board of Trustees.

They are also members of the Tufts Community Union (TCU) Senate.

Past Trustee Representatives have spearheaded initiatives such as the projects leading to the Campus Center renovations.

There are three positions available, one for each Trustee Representative Committee: Academic Affairs, Administration and Finance, and University Advancement.

Anyone is eligible to apply! Please refer to senate.tufts.edu for the full application, or email tomas.valdes@tufts.edu for more information.

Applications are due September 17th at midnight.

Friday, September 17, 2010

THE TUFTS DAILY

ADVERTISEMENT

Learn how to recruit your friends, acquaintances or others to give their time to your cause or organization. Also, learn the critical skill of managing these volunteers, scheduling appropriate assignments and strengthening their level of commitment. Through hands-on activities, participants in this workshop will develop the skills needed to‌

Recruit Manage Volunteers and

September 20 6 – 7:30 pm Rabb Room, Lincoln Filene Hall Open to all students interested in developing their leadership skills.

Please RSVP at http://activecitizen.tufts.edu.

Pizza will be served.

Upcoming Leaders for Change workshops: Grant Writing, October 26 Public Speaking, November 8 & 9 Make the Greatest Impact, February 2011 Grant Writing, March 15 Building a Sustainable Organization, April 19

For more information visit activecitizen.tufts.edu In collaboration with:

CEEO | Institute for Global Leadership | Jumpstart | Office for Campus Life | Peace and Justice Studies | Student Affairs Social Justice Initiative | Tufts Hillel

5

THE TUFTS DAILY

6

COMICS

Friday, September 17, 2010

CROSSWORD

SUDOKU Level: Being a Lions fan

SOLUTIONS TO TUESDAY’S PUZZLE

WEDNESDAY’S SOLUTION

Wednesday’s Solution

LATE NIGHT AT THE DAILY

Carter: “I was going to just shut off the computer, but I’ll toss the salad while I’m at it ... Ugh...”

high-quality, slightly used furniture and home furnishings… reasonably priced

Back to School Sale

FIND YOURSELF ABROAD Internships> Liberal Arts> Language> Science> Engineering

Tufts students with ID get 10% off entire purchase august and september

www.bu.edu/abroad 416 salem st (route 60 – bus #101) medford 781-219-4927

Financial aid is available.

THE TUFTS DAILY

Friday, September 17, 2010 Wanted

-

-

$$ SPERM DONORS WANTED $$ Become a California Cryobank donor and earn up to $1,200/ month, receive free health and infectious disease testing, and help people fulfill their dreams of starting a family. Convenient Cambridge location. Apply online: SPERMBANK.com

-

continued from page 8

act as a tune-up for us,” Wilfert said. “The actual race is not super-important because we’re not racing there again this season, but it’ll be critical to see where we stand.”

At last year’s season-opener, a 4k race hosted by Trinity College, Wilfert helped the Jumbos achieve a second-place finish out of nine

teams by winning the race, crossing the finish line an impressive 16 seconds before second-place finisher Michelle Wallace of The College of New Jersey. Juniors Bryn Kass and Anya Price both contributed to the Jumbos’ success at the opener by finishing in the top 10 as well.

Heading into this season, which begins this weekend, the captains highlighted the impor-

tance of increased leadership and organization on the team in order to see any improvement.

“But with more leadership and more upperclassmen, we’re moving in the right direction,” Yih said. “People are still getting to know each other. But considering some of us have only been running together for two weeks, people have made really good progress.”

FOOTBALL

Bring the noise: Jumbos open season with scrimmage The commuter rail rumbled past on the nearby train tracks, the filming tower’s motor simultaneously emitting a deafening whir.

Moments later on the football team’s adjacent practice field, a roar went up from the baby-blueand-white-clad players, an audible sign that football season is near.

With last season’s 2-6 record all but erased from their collective memory, the Jumbos will hit the field tonight against Bowdoin in their first scrimmage of the year.

It will be their first time facing another team and an important step to forgetting about 2009.

“You kind of see that change where people aren’t getting sick of practice but are getting more excited for a game,” senior quarterback Anthony Fucillo, who broke his leg during the first series in last season’s scrimmage against

-

-

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.

Wilfert leads Tufts in season-opener at Bates WOMEN’S XC

7

SPORTS

the Polar Bears, said. “It’s a new year. We put 2-6 behind us.”

Throughout the past week, the team has been all business, treating the days leading up to Bowdoin as if they came during the regular season. In their minds, this one counts.

“We haven’t hit anyone in a long time, so it’s good that we can get out there and do that against someone else,” junior defensive lineman Donnie Simmons said.

An injury-depleted defensive unit provided much of the backdrop for last year’s disappointing season, as the Jumbos ended the year with some of their most experienced players — including safety Tom Tassinari (E ’10) — on the sidelines. The upside, however, was that young players — members of the team who this season will assume starting roles — got the opportunity to step into game situations.

“Especially the young guys are very excited,” Fucillo said. “They can’t wait to put pads on in a college atmosphere. I think we have some really good young players, kids who know how to play the game of football and kids who are confident and have proved themselves in practice.”

With the Sept. 25 season opener at home against Hamilton looming, the scrimmage against the Polar Bears will, above all else, allow the Jumbos to prove how far they’ve come in camp and in the offseason.

“We want to set the tempo from the beginning, beat them to the spot and start a trend,” Simmons said. “We just want to let [Bowdoin and the NESCAC] know who we are and that we’re here.”

—by Alex Prewitt

Cross country squad opens at Bates 8k this weekend MEN’S XC continued from page 8

had a few exceptions,” Welch, now an assistant coach, said. “We have a pretty good sense of what got us to there and what made us able to have those guys ready at the right time, and we’ll be looking to do those things again and tweaking a few of the things that we could have done better.”

Two seasons of track and a summer of training later, the Jumbos return to racing excited about what they will bring to the NESCAC and the region this fall.

“Pretty much across the board, every returning athlete has made a jump forward from where they were at this time last year,” Welch said. “A ton of the guys had breakout track seasons, and the freshmen we had last year were some of the best freshmen in the region. They’ve all come back after having run new PRs [personal records] in the spring, and everyone has taken a positive step forward from last year.”

“Everyone who is healthy who was on varsity last year had a better summer training than they have in the past,” EisenbergGuyot added. “They’ve been looking better in workouts than ever.”

Racing alongside the returning squad is a strong group of first-years, contributing 12 names to the roster of 37.

Prepare for the Fair How to Navigate a Career Fair

Wednesday, September 29 6-7pm, Dowling Hall, Room 745 Get tips from an employer on how to make the most of the Career Fair!

Resume Critique Week September 22, 23, 27,28 3-7pm, Dowling Hall, Resource Library Have your resume reviewed before the fair!

Bring a paper copy of resume. No appointments needed.

“We never expect much from freshmen, and then when they do incredible things, like they often do, it’s sort of a bonus,” Welch said.

“This year we have one of the best incoming freshmen classes that we’ve ever had, and they will definitely contribute. Our priority is to see the big picture of how they’ll contribute not just this season, but over the next few years. I haven’t a doubt that they will be huge contributors during that time.

“Last year we were able to have our freshmen adjust brilliantly to college cross country and have our returners develop from where they were the year before,” he continued. “That in a nutshell is the recipe for a successful program, and if we can keep doing that, then we’ll be in a pretty good place.”

The Jumbos open their season this Saturday with an 8k race at the Bates Invitational.

“We’re going to be ‘tempoing’ the first few miles and then pushing the last couple, and it’s going to get people used to running together and working as a pack and adjusting to racing again because we haven’t done it in a few months,” Eisenberg-Guyot said.

“It won’t [quite be] a full squad,” Welch added. “We’re going up to Maine really just to have fun and race hard. Beyond doing those two things we don’t have any specific expectations.”

Sports

8

tuftsdaily.com

WOMEN’S CROSS COUNTRY

Newly expanded team looks to improve upon last year Jumbos to begin 2010 with depleted roster because of injuries to key runners BY

ANN SLOAN

Daily Staff Writer

The 2009 season started off on the wrong foot for the women’s cross country team. Top runner Stephanie McNamara, a senior, was injured prior to the start of the season, leaving only two senior runners to lead the squad, neither of whom consistently scored points for the Jumbos.

The team pushed on without McNamara at the forefront but has expressed disappointment with the overall results.

“Last year there wasn’t anyone to get practices going or to get everyone psyched,” senior captain Jen Yih said.

“Everyone just did their own thing. There were also lots of random little injuries throughout the season. By the end, some people were racing well and others were just trying to hold it together. We just want to do much better than last season.”

This season, sophomore Julia Hajnoczky, an important contributor to the winter indoor track and field team, has already joined McNamara, who suffered a torn labrum in her left hip, on the sidelines after undergoing surgery this summer. Likewise, junior Sarah Boudreau exploded onto the running scene during last year’s outdoor track season but is now battling a shin injury.

The Jumbos were displeased with their results at last season’s NESCACs, where they finished seventh, and at the New England Regionals, where they ranked 12th out of 47 teams. The

DAILY FILE PHOTO

Senior tri-captain Amy Wilfert will look to improve on a terrific 2009 season by emphasizing the team’s goals over her own.

Jumbos had a stronger finish at the 2008 New England Championships, ending up fifth overall. Though McNamara is still unable to run for the 2010 season,

the team now features a good balance between veterans and rookies and is energized and hopeful for the upcoming campaign.

In addition to senior captains Amy Wilfert, Yih and McNamara, the team gained more than 15 new freshmen and sophomores who seem primed to help the Jumbos get back into top form.

“A lot of the new runners have a chance to make a big impact on the team,” Wilfert said. “Their excitement refreshed our feelings in a way; it reenergized everyone.”

Wilfert stepped into the role as the team’s leading runner last fall in response to McNamara’s injury. She earned two NESCAC Performer of the Week awards and was the only female Jumbo to participate in the 2009 NCAA Div. III Championship Race, joined by men’s qualifier Jesse Faller (E ’10). Despite muddy conditions, she was the 31st runner to finish the 6k course, with a time of 22:46.3. Wilfert, who suffered from hamstring problems this summer, plans to change her focus this season from individual goals to team goals.

“I’m not where I was at the beginning of last season because of the injury setback so we’ll see how things progress,” she said. “In order to help the team, I need to run my fastest, but I’m definitely going to be less focused on my individual times than I was last season.”

The team heads to Maine on Saturday to start off the 2010 season at the Bates Invitational.

“We don’t know how we compare to any other schools this season, so it will see WOMEN’S XC, page 7

MEN’S CROSS COUNTRY

Productive offseason leaves runners primed for success Freshmen, sophomores provide men’s cross country team with added depth BY

LAUREN FLAMENT

Daily Editorial Board

The men’s cross country team enters its season with what could be its strongest squad in history.

Between a powerful returning team of upperclassmen and a large, promising group of freshmen, the Jumbos are confident of their potential.

“We’re looking better than we ever have when I’ve been here,” senior co-captain Jerzy Eisenberg-Guyot said. “We have way more depth than we have before, and everyone on the team is working a lot harder.”

Though the squad graduated its frontrunner and three-time cross country All-American Jesse Faller (E ’10), the athletes returned this semester with

more depth than ever before.

“It will be tough not having the guy that you know will score one or two points every meet, but I think [senior] Jeff Ragazzini and [sophomores] Matt Rand and Kyle Marks will be pretty close to where Jesse was last year,” Eisenberg-Guyot said. “We lost the upfront power of Jesse and Nick [Welch] (LA ’10) when he was healthy, but I think

we have so much depth that we will make it up in our fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh runners.”

The Jumbos had a strong showing last year, finishing just two points out of second place at the NESCAC meet. Though it took a disappointing eighth place at the New England Championships, shattering hopes to run at NCAAs, the team still had a strong season

with a deep squad, led by four athletes earning All-Region honors at New Englands.

“The funny thing about last year is if you just look at results from Regionals, it looks like a disappointment, when in reality we had the bulk of our guys running their best races at the right time. We just see MEN’S XC, page 7

Editors' Challenge | Week 2 Gather round, kiddies; it’s story time! Sit in a circle, snack on your graham crackers, sip your apple juice and perk up your ears so I can tell you a tale of the greatest football predictors in history. Once upon a time, in a basement far, far away, there were 11 editors for the Tufts Daily, who slaved away in front of typewriters and printing presses by day. But by night, this group of 11 researched the NFL, honing their picking skills in the hopes that one of them might become the Royal Prognosticator, a title far more prestigious and luxurious than Queen or King, Prince or LeBron James.

We’ll start today’s reading at Chapter Two, shortly after the completion of Week 1 in the NFL and, already, the true contenders for Royal Prognosticator are beginning to emerge, while others seem content with being relegated to court jester.

Noah “Goodnight, Moon” Schumer found inspiration from sitting in his house and staring up at the stars, gambling by picking all home teams and ending up at a week-best 12-4. Well, he actually didn’t have time to make real picks and just got really, really, really, ridiculously lucky.

Every person may have to go to the bathroom from time to time, but not everyone is as good at picking football games as Assistant Sports Editor Ethan “Everybody Poops” Sturm, who became the owner of an 11-5 record after Week 1.

OVERALL RECORD LAST WEEK Pittsburgh at Tennessee Baltimore at Cincinnati Philadelphia at Detroit Arizona at Atlanta Miami at Minnesota Kansas City at Cleveland Tampa Bay at Carolina Buffalo at Green Bay Chicago at Dallas Seattle at Denver St. Louis at Oakland Jacksonville at San Diego New England at NY Jets Houston at Washington NY Giants at Indianapolis N.O. at San Francisco

Noah 12-4 12-4

Ethan 11-5 11-5

Tennessee Tennessee Baltimore Baltimore Detroit Philadelphia Atlanta Atlanta Minnesota Minnesota Cleveland Kansas City Carolina Tampa Bay Green Bay Green Bay Dallas Dallas Denver Denver Oakland Oakland San Diego San Diego New England New England Washington Houston NY Giants Indianapolis New Orleans New Orleans

Alex P. 10-6 10-6

Jeremy 10-6 10-6

Phil 10-6 10-6

Tennessee Tennessee Tennessee Cincinnati Baltimore Baltimore Philadelphia Philadelphia Philadelphia Atlanta Atlanta Atlanta Minnesota Minnesota Minnesota Cleveland Kansas City Cleveland Carolina Carolina Carolina Green Bay Green Bay Green Bay Dallas Dallas Dallas Denver Seattle Denver Oakland Oakland Oakland San Diego Jacksonville San Diego NY Jets New England New England Houston Houston Washington Indianapolis Indianapolis NY Giants New Orleans New Orleans New Orlaens

Ringing in behind Sturm, bowel movements intact, at 10-6 were Alex “Green Eggs and Ham” Prewitt, Jeremy “Wuthering Heights” Greenhouse, Phil “Chicka Chicka Boom Boom” Dear and Steve “Harold and the Purple Crayon” Smith, four of the seasoned veterans of the staff and clear threats to snatch this year’s title.

A three-way tie for seventh place creates another log jam, with Alex “Curious George” Lach, Daniel “The Little Engine That Could” Rathman and Lauren “Amelia Bedelia” Flament now just three games behind first place at 9-7, a relatively surmountable difference, especially when compared to the two bottom-feeders, the proverbial Trolls under the NFL Picking Bridge.

Claire “Are You My Mother?” Kemp seemed as confused as the baby chick in the classic work of literature, going 6-10 in Week 1, including misfiring on her last eight games. But that pales in comparison to the “work” of Ben “Where The Wild Things Are” Kochman, who went with all the road teams and ended up at 4-12. Wild, indeed.

Joining the staff this week for guest picks is none other than Sapna “Clifford, The Big Red Dog” Bansil, who was nice enough to take time away from attending field hockey games and tweeting about Tufts athletics to make her selections.

Steve 10-6 10-6

Alex L. 9-7 9-7

Daniel 9-7 9-7

Lauren 9-7 9-7

Tennessee Baltimore Philadelphia Atlanta Minnesota Kansas City Carolina Green Bay Dallas Seattle Oakland San Diego New England Houston Indianapolis New Orleans

Tennessee Baltimore Philadelphia Atlanta Minnesota Cleveland Carolina Green Bay Dallas Seattle Oakland Jacksonville New England Houston Indianapolis New Orleans

Tennessee Baltimore Philadelphia Atlanta Miami Kansas City Carolina Green Bay Dallas Denver St. Louis San Diego New England Houston Indianapolis New Orleans

Tennesse Baltimore Detroit Atlanta Minnesota Kansas City Tampa Bay Green Bay Dallas Denver St. Louis San Diego New England Washington NY Giants New Orleans

Claire 6-10 6-10

Ben 4-12 4-12

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh Baltimore Baltimore Philadelphia Philadelphia Atlanta Atlanta Miami Minnesota Kansas City Kansas City Carolina Carolina Green Bay Green Bay Dallas Dallas Seattle Denver St. Louis Oakland San Diego San Diego NY Jets New England Washington Washington NY Giants Indianapolis New Orleans San Francisco

GUEST Sapna Bansil Pittsburgh Baltimore Philadelphia Atlanta Minnesota Kansas City Carolina Green Bay Dallas Seattle Oakland San Diego New England Houston Indianapolis San Francisco