2011-09-08

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THE TUFTS DAILY

VOLUME LXII, NUMBER 3

Where You Read It First Est. 1980 TUFTSDAILY.COM

Thursday, SEPTEMBER 8, 2011

In memory of Fred Rothbaum

by Saumya Vaishampayan

Daily Editorial Board

Professor of Child Development Fred Rothbaum, an innovative researcher specializing in parent-child and family relationships, and beloved professor, died of a heart attack on Aug. 24 while biking on vacation in Maine. He was 61.

Rothbaum joined the university in 1979 and during his tenure served two terms as chair of the Eliot-Pearson Department of Child Development, from 1986-1989 and from 2003-2006. He had co-chaired of the

Arts, Sciences and Engineering Executive Committee since 2010 and for the past five years had served as director of the graduate program at Eliot-Pearson.

Child Development Department Chair Jayanthi Mistry highlighted Rothbaum’s dedication to the department and his willingness to serve on departmental committees.

“He was always ready to step up to the plate and work, whether it was serving on a committee or any service responsibilities,” she said. “He had a commitment and a passee ROTHBAUM, page 4

Fall Ball tickets sell out quickly with new online ticketing system All 2,500 Fall Ball tickets made available Monday afternoon were sold out just over 12 hours later, according to Office for Campus Life (OCL) Assistant Director David McGraw.

Programming Board and OCL switched to online ticketing for this year’s Fall Ball, the university’s annual fall dance, which is being held tomorrow night in the Gantcher Center, after last year’s ticket distribution process led to very long lines at the Mayer Campus Center’s Information Booth, which were an inconvenience for students, according to Programming Board co-chair Leo Greenberg.

“It used to be in the past that for Fall Ball when tickets were on sale at [the information booth], lines would form that were all the way down the street and people had to spend hours waiting in line if they wanted a ticket, and it was just very inconvenient,” Greenberg, a senior, said.

Programming Board will continue to use the same online ticketing system for other events in the future, including the fall concert, Winter Bash, Spring Fling and the four Senior Pub Nights that occur during Senior Week, according to Greenberg.

Tickets for Fall Ball were made available for free on TuftsTickets.com on Monday at noon and would have been available until Friday at noon or until they sold out, whichever came first. Attendees will be required to show a Tufts ID and a printed e-ticket to enter the dance.

McGraw said that because all students were able to get tickets online at the same time, the ticket distribution process was accelerated, though he cannot compare the rate to that of previous years.

“It’s difficult to really estimate whether it was quicker or not since we took a totally different route on how we distributed tickets this year,” McGraw said. “Due to students’ requests the last few years to move the ticket sales online, obviously it’s going to expedite the process by which students can get tickets because they no longer have to wait in line for two or three hours just to get one ticket, but multiple people can access the website at the same time.”

McGraw was pleased with the ticket distribution process.

“We were very happy with this first run on it and we hope to continue its success throughout the rest of the year,” he said.

—by Laina Piera

Courtesy Ralph Alswang/Clinton Foundation

Former U.S. President Bill Clinton will deliver the Issam M. Fares Lecture in November.

Clinton to deliver Fares Lecture by

Ellen Kan

Daily Editorial Board

Former U.S. President Bill Clinton will be coming to the Hill to deliver this year’s Issam M. Fares Lecture on Nov. 6, the university announced in a statement to the press.

The lecture series first started in 1993 and is dedicated to bringing influential public figures to Tufts to share their views on international contemporary issues, especially as they relate to the Middle East.

The Fares Lecture last took place in Feb. 2009, featuring former British Prime Minister

Tony Blair. Other speakers have included dignitaries like then-Senator and current Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, former Secretaries of State Madeleine Albright, Colin Powell and James Baker, former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and former U.S. President George H. W. Bush.

“We are privileged that President Clinton, who delivered the Fares Lecture at the dedication of Tufts’ Fares Center for Lebanese and Eastern Mediterranean Studies almost 10 years ago, will be returning to Tufts,” see CLINTON, page 4

SigEp loses house in wake of Senior Week damages by

Elizabeth McKay

Daily Editorial Board

Virginia Bledsoe/Tufts Daily

Brothers in the Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity will not be able to return to their house this year because the real estate company that owns the property refused to extend their lease after an unsanctioned Senior Week party caused damage to the building.

Inside this issue

After an unsanctioned party during Senior Week resulted in extensive damage to the house occupied by the Sigma Phi Epsilon (SigEp) fraternity, the group will not be allowed to return to its residence at 114 Curtis St. this fall.

As a result of the damage to the house, which included holes in walls and piles of garbage on the floor, Walnut Hill Properties, the local real estate company that owns the Curtis Street property and most other Tufts fraternity and sorority houses, declined to extend leases to SigEp members, according to SigEp President Stephen Gurdo.

The brothers involved in the incident, who have since graduated, were not supposed to have access to the house, as there were no fraternity members living there at the time, Gurdo, a senior, said.

Though Gurdo reports that Walnut Hill has not initiated any legal action against the perpetrators, SigEp is saddled with the bill

for the required repairs. Graduated brothers who admitted to being involved have been working together to raise the required funds, he added.

The seven current brothers who anticipated living in the house this year were unable to return, according to Gurdo. Four of them were given university housing, while the three others found rooms off campus.

The decision not to extend leases to SigEp members came after an assessment of the harm done to the house last May, according to Walnut Hill General Manager Bruce Ketchen.

“It just wasn’t appropriate to offer accommodations to an organization that didn’t take care of the property,” he told the Daily.

In an attempt to bargain with Walnut Hill to remain in the house, Gurdo said that SigEp offered several concessions, including instituting harsher punishments for damage to the house, but was unsuccessful.

Though the Curtis Street property, which see SIG EP, page 4

Today’s Sections

A YouTube star shows some Jumbo pride.

‘Shark Night 3D’ is a joyless onscreen massacre.

see FEATURES, page 3

see ARTS, page 5

News Features Arts | Living Editorial | Letters

1 3 5 8

Op-Ed Comics Sports

9 10 Back

2

The Tufts Daily

News & features

Thursday, September 8, 2011

The Tufts Daily

Thursday, September 8, 2011

3

NEWS & features

Tufts reflects on a decade since Sept. 11 Most members of the undergraduate Class of 2015 were only in third grade when the United States and the world were rocked by the events of Sept. 11, 2001, but it was a day whose repercussions have shaped the past 10 years of every person on the Hill in some way. Here is a selection of the reflections we received from members of the Tufts community on their memories of that day and how it has affected them.

Fifth grade, 15 miles from New York; the fire department came into our classroom at around 10 a.m. “There’s a gas leak; you all have to go home. Call your parents.” Slowly the principal started pulling those of us who he knew had parents in New York in to call them to see if they’re okay. Now I know my dad works in Midtown, but at the time though, New York was in danger and I wanted my family as far away from it as possible. I didn’t know what was wrong, but I got through to him and learned he was fine. Later that day the mom of another fifth grader told us what really happened. “Someone attacked the United States. They flew planes into buildings. You’re old enough, you should know.” And we thought the 4th graders were old enough, so we told them too. In the end, everyone was fine. … Well, no, that’s not right. Nobody’s parents died, but nothing was really fine. I still get worried when I see a plane close to a building. I still fear travel on Sept. 11. I guess you could say nothing’s really been fine either.

Yulia Korovikov, junior

The tragic events of Sept. 11 were felt around the world. I vividly recall when I heard the news in England. We all felt paralyzed while we tried to make sense of the catastrophe. Now that I am at Tufts, I can understand the personal sense of connection to what happened. The Tufts community lost family members, alumni and friends. The recent reflections in the local newspapers have also brought home how everyone in the Boston area was touched in one way or another given the connection to Logan Airport.

True to the spirit of Tufts, the community took the deepest of tragedies and found ways to continue on our mission to make the world a better place. With that tradition, we must all join together on this 10-year anniversary to support our colleagues and friends who lost loved ones. This Sunday afternoon, at 4:00 p.m. in Goddard Chapel, members of the Tufts community will gather to remember the tragedy. I hope students, faculty and staff will join us as we pay our respects but also look forward to a brighter future where tolerance and understanding of differences between individuals and societies are celebrated.

University President Anthony Monaco

Sept. 11, 2001 was my 10th birthday. I remember waking up with a feeling of accomplishment for exiting the land of single digits, finally able to proclaim I was 10. I remember walking to school with my mom and sister, and I remember the confusing announcement made over the school intercom system at about 10:30 that morning. My fourth grade class and I didn’t really understand what we were hearing. I vividly recall thinking that our moment of silence was in remembrance of an historical event, making me wonder how I had never known that I had such an “important” birthday — but slowly the events of Sept. 11 became somewhat clearer to me and my class. I think my most vivid memory of that day was leaving school and seeing both my mom and my dad outside to pick me up. My dad worked during the week and was never around to get me from school — something about seeing my dad, so out of place in the student pickup line after school, struck me with apprehension and made me realize that whatever had happened that morning was seriously beyond anything I could imagine. We celebrated my birthday that night with my Nana; I don’t remember the dinner, the cake, or the presents, but I know that my parents did as best as they could — while the rest of the world was in shock, fear, and grief — to help me to have a happy birthday.

I was eight years old. I remember my mom waking me up that morning before school, saying, “Someone just attacked America.” At school, everyone knew that something big had happened, but the teachers weren’t allowed to turn on the TV or talk about it. When I got home, I pressed my mom for details, and she said that very bad people had taken over some planes and crashed them into buildings, and that a lot of people died, but she wouldn’t elaborate beyond that. She said third graders like me should be more concerned about things like, “Where is Japan?” (We were learning about Asia at the time). I answered that I already knew where Japan was, but she still wouldn’t add anything. I later picked up pieces of the story from friends, but we weren’t allowed to talk about it in class. When the weekly magazines came, the teachers cut out the parts about Sept. 11 so we couldn’t read them. I heard that some kids my age were having nightmares or developing extreme paranoia because they had heard rumors that World War III was about to start, and I now know my mom was afraid that would happen to me, but I knew it never would. I just wanted the truth, but no one would give it to me. The events of Sept. 11 taught me that having the truth of a situation is the only way to come to understand and learn from it.

Matthew Dowd, sophomore

Audrey Michael, freshman

For freshman YouTube sensation, Crimson aspirations turn to Jumbo loyalty by

Falcon Reese

Daily Editorial Board

Large groups of people often exhibit a collective personality. Tufts’ approximately 5,000 undergraduates are no exception, and their communal eccentricities are some of the reasons freshman Grace Oberhofer gave for choosing to attend Tufts. “It came down to personality. I like the quirkiness,” she said.

Oberhofer’s passion for music recently snowballed into a story perhaps oddly fitting to the personality of the school she ended up attending.

Though her final decision led her to the Hill, Tufts was not Oberhofer’s first choice. For years, she had dreamed of attending Harvard University.

“Harvard was the first college I’d ever heard about,” she said, adding that its music department was a particular draw. For Oberhofer, music has been an important part of her life for as long as she can remember. “My mom was an opera singer,” she said, and this parental influence led to an interest in opera.

For her senior project at the Tacoma School

of the Arts in Washington, the performing arts high school Oberhofer attended for three years, Oberhofer composed a four-part-voice operetta based on Snow White. Oberhofer also studied vocal music, audio recording and songwriting, the last of which drove her to what some would call drastic action when Harvard put her on their waitlist during the college admissions process.

After composing a song extolling all the virtues of a Harvard education, Oberhofer proceeded to record a video of herself performing the song on piano — fully decked out in Harvard apparel — and then post it on YouTube.

“In veritas I must admit that Harvard’s grand/Advancements every day; let’s give her a hand,” Oberhofer sang, assuring the admissions office of her allegiance to the school and her intention to stay far away from the John Harvard statue’s left foot. With the letter of interest she sent to the Harvard admissions office explaining why she wanted to be taken off the waitlist and accepted, Oberhofer included a link to the video, entitled “Dear Harvard,” and hoped for the best.

“I felt like doing something bold and daring would be fun,” she said. In addition to YouTube, Oberhofer also posted the video on Facebook with a message to her friends, writing, “Hey guys! I’d like to get 1,000 hits!”

The video soon became a minor viral success; it had about 50,000 hits within the first week, according to Oberhofer, and has now been viewed almost 90,000 times.

Along with all the attention the video received, there came an onslaught of comments and reactions from YouTube viewers.

The comments, Oberhofer said, ranged from encouragement from friends to people cussing her out. She said that her favorite comment declared: “Damn hipsters think they can be artistic and get in anywhere they want to.”

She recalled with amusement that her video caused “a lot of YouTube battles.”

The video also garnered attention from several news outlets.

“Fox 25 in Boston did a Skype interview with me, and Q13 Fox in Seattle,” Oberhofer said, adding that she also did interviews with several local radio stations, a generally positive experience for her.

“All of the radio shows, except for one, were all incredibly supportive,” she said. Oberhofer explained that being in the spotlight following the posting of “Dear Harvard” was also a vital learning experience.

“I learned a lot about how to properly handle yourself for interviews,” she said. “[I learned] how important it was to say exactly what you mean.”

The video was first posted in April, and months later, Oberhofer is still a bit bemused by the strong reaction “Dear Harvard” triggered.

“I’m kind of confused on that myself,” Oberhofer said with a smile when asked what she thought made the video so popular. For her, posting the video was never about getting the attention she received.

“I think the main reason [for posting the video] was to let off steam after the whole application process,” she said. Oberhofer added that whether she’s tense or happy, composing is a way for her to express what she’s going through. see OBERHOFER, page 4

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The Tufts Daily

Clinton to lecture on contemporary issues in the Middle East

CLINTON

continued from page 1

University President Anthony Monaco said in a statement. “This lecture series brings to Tufts some of the world’s most influential leaders, and we know that President Clinton will once again challenge, engage and inspire our students and the broader Tufts community.”

The Fares Center for Eastern Mediterranean Studies sponsors the lecture series, which is supported by an endowment from the Issam M. Fares family that seeks to promote Middle Eastern studies in multiple disciplines, shedding light on the region’s history and contemporary challenges.

“Our mission at the Fares Center is to bring exceptional leaders to campus who can offer different viewpoints for us to consider through their informed perspectives on international issues,” founding Director of the Fares Center for Eastern Mediterranean Studies Leila Fawaz said in an e-mail to the Daily.

Fawaz noted that Clinton’s first address, delivered in 2002, was well received by the Tufts community and expects the same this year.

“Clinton delivered the Fares Lecture almost 10 years ago and we look forward to hearing the thoughts of a public figure of his stature once again,” she said.

“Students loved his lecture and we thought a new generation of students would enjoy having an opportunity to hear a president of the U.S.A.”

Clinton served as the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001.

During his presidency, Clinton sought to address the Arab-Israeli conflict, most notably at the Middle East Peace Summit at Camp David. After leaving the presidency, he established the William J. Clinton Foundation with the goal of building capacity to meet the challenges of global interdependence in areas such as health, climate change and global poverty.

“Students and faculty as well as everyone in the Tufts family and its supporters are eager to hear what he has to say as he has accomplished so much in the U.S. but also overseas since he left office,” Fawaz said.

The Fares lecture did not take place the last two academic years, and administrators explained that it not necessarily an annual event but rather depends on a confluence of factors.

“The timing of the lectures varies depending upon speaker schedules and availability,” Fawaz said. “Given the extremely high profile of Fares lecturers, the complexity of organizing such an event is, it’s not unusual to skip a year. We’re thankful that President Bill Clinton has been accommodating with his incredibly busy schedule and will once again be returning to Tufts.”

She noted also that the reputation of both Tufts and the lecture series itself made it possible to engage such high profile leaders to deliver the address.

Tickets will be made available to the Tufts community at a later date.

‘Dear Harvard’ singer, now a Jumbo, stays ‘sane’ through songwriting

Justin McCallum/Tufts Daily

Grace Oberhofer, a freshman who created a small sensation by posting a video of herself singing her song ‘Dear Harvard’ when she was placed on the waitlist, now sings her praises of Tufts.

OBERHOFER

continued from page 3

“Writing songs is my way to keep sane,” she said.

Eventually, Oberhofer got a response from Harvard.

“I found out I got rejected on graduation day, which kind of stung,” she said. However, she noted that it was something she was expecting in the back of her mind.

“I live with the motto, ‘Hope for the best, prepare for the worst,’” she said. She added, however, that although rejection hurt, the experience was positive in a way.

“It made my future plans set, so it was comforting in a way,” Oberhofer said.

Her future plans now included admission to and attendance at Tufts, something that Oberhofer embraced with a passion the best way she knew how.

“I wrote a new song about a week after I found out [I was rejected from Harvard],” she said. Again decked out in her school’s regalia — this time Tufts’ — Oberhofer filmed her new video, called “Dearest Tufts” on a friend’s laptop while at camp in Colorado, all the while loudly singing about everything that she thinks makes Tufts wonderful.

Although her boldness didn’t quite bring the result she was expecting, Oberhofer was no stranger to watching the success that can come from taking a chance when she posted her first video.

“I was going to a college prep high school,” she said, adding that she did four hours of

homework a night there before transferring to Tacoma School of the Arts. Oberhofer explained that while the prep school was a fantastic school, it didn’t quite provide what she was looking for.

“It didn’t satisfy my craving for the arts,” she said, a craving that she’d had since sixth grade when she first got into acting, singing and dancing, the perfect complements to her passion for music. After watching her brother attend the same school, Oberhofer was excited to apply there. “[My brother] just totally blossomed as an artist and a person there,” she said. So, she took the leap and enrolled at Tacoma School of the Arts.

“I’m so incredibly glad I did it,” she said, and as a result, she’s found new passions to pursue.

“I got into more songwriting, singing and classical music in the last few years,” Oberhofer said. Her YouTube videos were a direct result of these interests.

Although the passion for singing and songwriting — and risk-taking — she conveyed in her first video may not have gotten her into Harvard, and although she is now a firmly committed Jumbo, Oberhofer has only positive things to say about her experience and the two schools from which her videos provoked such fervent responses.

“Through these two videos, I’ve learned a lot about both of these communities,” she said. “There were a lot of kind words, support and outreach. It’s heartwarming.”

NEws & features

Thursday, September 8, 2011

Events commemorating the 10-year anniversary of Sept. 11 A number of events on campus in the coming days will commemorate the tenth anniversary of the September 11 attacks.

Friday, Sept. 9 9/11, Ten Years Later: A Reporter Looks Back Boston Globe Correspondent Peter DeMarco (LA ‘93) will discuss his experience covering the attacks as a New York Daily News reporter.

When & Where: 11:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.; Experimental College 2nd-floor Conference Room, 95 Talbot Ave. Sponsor: Communications and Media Studies Program Sunday, Sept. 11 Ten Years Later: Musical Responses to 9/11 Tufts Composers will present a commemorative concert featuring a world premiere of Diana Dabby’s entire “September Quartet” and guest performances.

When & Where: 3:00 p.m.; Distler Performance Hall Sponsor: Department of Music Interfaith 10th Anniversary Remembrance Service. All are welcome.

When & Where: 4:00 p.m.; Goddard Chapel Sponsor: Office of the University Chaplain Screening of the documentary “Saints of 9/11” (2006), a film about Rev. Mychal Judge, a priest who is considered the first recorded victim of 9/11.

When and Where: 8:15 p.m. to 9:45 p.m.; Sophia Gordon Multipurpose Room Sponsor: LGBT Center —compiled by Martha Shanahan

Rothbaum was an ‘exceptional’ teacher

ROTHBAUM

continued from page 1

sion for an issue that he took on. He really put his all into it.”

Professor of Child Development Richard Lerner credits Rothbaum with fostering a sense of community during his tenure as department chair.

“As chair, he was very concerned that faculty at all levels and staff all get along as colleagues in a caring community,” Lerner said. “He devoted much of his time as chair to building that sense of community among faculty, staff, and students.”

Mistry also remembers Rothbaum’s thoughtful personality, which he often demonstrated by bringing back chocolates from a trip or buying flowers for the staff, she said.

Rothbaum has numerous publications in the field of parent-child and family relationships and conducted research on depression in youth. He co-founded the Child and Family WebGuide in 2001 in order to collect credible information about child development from various websites for parents and professionals.

Lerner described Rothbaum’s work on the WebGuide as “visionary.”

“He really was ahead of his time in recognizing the potential of the web as a source of great information for parents and families for child development,” he said.

Rothbaum made a deep impact on his students as well.

“He really was exceptional,” Natalie Rusk (GSAS ’11) said. “I’m learning more and more as I talk to more students [about] just how big

of an impact he had on people.”

One of his signature attributes was identifying students’ strengths and pushing them to take on more responsibility, according to Rusk, who worked extensively with Rothbaum while completing her PhD. “He often empowered students to take the lead on projects that they didn’t think they were capable of,” Rusk said, adding that Rothbaum was always ready to provide support and advice.

His belief in students’ abilities naturally extended into the classroom, where he challenged his students to think creatively and critically, according to Becky Phillips (GSAS ’10).

“I have never seen a teacher believe in his students as much as Fred did,” Phillips, who served as Rothbaum’s teaching assistant for two years, said. “He really wanted the students to feel like they were really learning, growing as students of child development.”

Rothbaum always created opportunities for his students to get more experience, whether it was working on the WebGuide or taking a larger role in an existing project, according to Phillips.

But above all, Phillips said, Rothbaum was a great advocate and friend.

“He was probably one of the best listeners that I’ve ever met,” she said. “There is usually a student-teacher boundary, but I could always go to him and he would listen and be supportive.”

The university memorial service will take place on Sept. 24 at 10 a.m. in Cohen Auditorium.

Alumni held responsible for damage SIG EP

continued from page 1

is currently empty, will not be available to SigEp members this year, Ketchen does not preclude the possibility of the group returning to a Walnut Hill property in the future.

“We will in all likelihood be working with them at some point in the future,” he said.

“We will have the discussion subject to the collection of the bill. … When that’s been resolved, we’ll discuss how we’ll work with them moving forward.”

Gurdo anticipates that he will begin to coordinate with Dean of Student Affairs Bruce Reitman and Director of Fraternity and Sorority Affairs Su McGlone soon to find a new house for the fraternity.

As SigEp’s official status as a fraternity on campus has not changed, members will still have full access to university resources as they adapt to life without a house, according to McGlone.

“We’re definitely going to be providing them a lot of support and assistance in the process of not having a house, and the challenges that go along with not having a house,” she said. “We’re definitely going to help them try to find new housing after this year.”

In the meantime, the fraternity plans to continue fall and spring recruitment, though the lack of an official house may lower the number of recruits the group accepts, Gurdo said.

“It’s going to be a little bit different,” he said. “We’re hoping to find an address that we can actually recruit towards in following years as a promise that ‘this is what we’re going to have.’ … It’s pretty apparent how hard it is to recruit on this campus without an actual house.”

Gurdo anticipates that SigEp will need to step up its efforts because of its lack of a house.

“It’s going to take a stronger recruitment effort, I think, because we’re going to have that weighing us down,” he said.

The loss of the Curtis Street house has resulted in anger among current brothers toward the graduated seniors responsible for the damage, according to Gurdo.

“Somebody [who walked in the next day] sent pictures … and everybody was pretty much shocked by how the place looked,” he said. “[The brothers have expressed] a lot of resentment … and general disgust towards those that caused the damage. There was no respect for the building.”

Though the SigEp members responsible for the wreckage have graduated, Gurdo reports that the group is considering administering consequences beyond payment for the repairs.

“It’s been brought up as a possibility to revoke their membership from the actual national fraternity on a permanent basis,” he said.

Arts & Living

5

tuftsdaily.com

Posto serves delicious, upscale pies for a cost by

Ashley Suarez

Daily Editorial Board

Living near a college campus, it’s not difficult to find a pizza joint. The portion of Boston Ave. that borders Tufts’ campus

Posto 187 Elm Street Somerville, Mass. 02144 (617) 625-0600 $$ alone has a handful — Pizza Days, Nick’s House of Pizza and Helen’s Roast Beef all serve up hot, greasy slices late into the night. But while cheeseburger pizza from Pizza Days may fill the void at two in the morning, it doesn’t seem quite right to order when the sun is still up.

Enter Posto, a relatively new and marginally more elegant pizza joint located in Davis Square. The unassuming Italian restaurant with a wood-fired oven occupying the southern portion of Elm Street has already stolen the hearts of Bostonians, winning Best of Boston in the Gourmet Pizza category for 2011. However, it is still unclear whether it will stir the cravings of local college students, who may not be convinced to pay just under $20 for a persee POSTO, page 6

‘Shark Night 3D’ bites off more than it can chew by

Zach Drucker

Daily Editorial Board

Plunging into previously charted waters, “Shark Night 3D” (2011) resembles, at first glance, a hybrid of the classic “Jaws” (1975) and

Shark Night 3D Starring Chris Carmack, Alyssa Diaz, Dustin Milligan, Joel David Moore, Sarah Paxton and Sinqua Wall Directed by David R. Ellis last summer’s shockingly successful “Piranha 3D” (2010). “Jaws” delivered unadulterated fear that made beachgoers everywhere say 10 Hail Marys before wading onto a simple sandbar, whereas “Piranha 3D” embraced its intrinsic ridiculousness and carved out a niche as an excessively blood-soaked spoof/ remake of a ’70s B movie.

Unfortunately for audiences, “Shark Night 3D” seems to take itself seriously, but lacks the plausibility and character depth that seduce audiences. For example, a great white with an insatiable hunger for human flesh seems possible in the fictional beachside town of Amity Island (as in “Jaws”), but a flurry of man-eating Jurassic fish in a Louisiana bayou seems like a stretch. In fact, the story line of “Shark Night 3D” is so idiotic that the viewer yearns for the film to self-satirize and employ hyperbolic gore as “Piranha 3D” does.

Furthermore, in “Jaws,” audiences were captivated by Martin Brody’s (Roy Scheider) sense of responsibility for his family and fellow

Brevity meets versatility in Cymbals Eat Guitars’ impressive sophomore album by

Matthew Welch

Daily Editorial Board

Cymbals Eat Guitars was one of 2009’s most promising newcomers.

Their self-released debut, “Why There

Lenses Alien

Cymbals Eat Guitars Barsuk Records Are Mountains” (2009), quickly rose to prominence for its intricately struc-

tured songs, impressive instrumentalism and versatile vocal work. The group’s latest release, “Lenses Alien,” continues this trend, seeing the band expand its sound to encompass darker themes and more involved production.

Like the tracks on the group’s debut, “Lenses Alien” boasts songs which frantically shift genres within the span of several seconds. For example, the track “Keep Me Waiting” starts out with a psychedelic noise-rock riff that see CYMBALS, page 6

cymbalseatguitars.com

Despite the dreamy cover, this is not a post-rock album.

Steve Dietl/image.net

The producers of ‘Shark Night 3D’ tried and failed to make sex and violence even more titillating underwater. island dwellers and by Sam Quint’s (Robert Shaw) Ahab-like quest to dominate oceanic nature. The average viewer will certainly not experience the same affinity toward the caricatured college kids in “Shark Night 3D.” “Shark Night 3D” follows a simplistic, hackneyed horror movie formula. The film centers on a group of spirited college students who travel to a friend’s lake house for what promises to be a fun-filled weekend of partying and joy-riding in a speedboat. The characters are all from different walks of life; among them are the archetypal popular girl, the medical

student, the offbeat friend, the nerd and the star athlete.

Upon arriving at Lake Pontchartain, an ominous tone develops immediately that the group of friends disregards. Brawny Dennis (Chris Carmack) and his gap-toothed sidekick, Red (Joshua Leonard), begin to agitate the athlete, Malik (Sinqua Walls), at a gas station. The scene almost becomes violent, but beautiful Sara (Sara Paxton), Dennis’ ex-girlfriend, subdues with her sweet, ringing pleas, see SHARK, page 6

Tufts theater groups organize performance-packed semester by

Melissa MacEwen

Daily Editorial Board

Money never sleeps, and apparently, neither do Tufts’ actors and actresses. Though the drama season kicked off during orientation, more events will follow during the Parents Weekend Arts Festival from Oct. 28 to 30. Over that weekend, students and their parents can enjoy a variety of music and dance performances and will also have the opportunity to catch sneak peeks from the Department of Drama and Dance’s production of “Oedipus and Antigone,” 3Ps’ production of “Next Fall” and Torn Ticket II’s production of “Merrily We Roll Along.” The excitement also continues later in the semester.

“Oedipus and Antigone” will run from Oct. 27 to 29 and from Nov. 3 to 5. Downing Cless, chair of the Department of Drama and Dance and the director of the performance, decided to perform the two plays, normally performed separately, together. “[By] compacting the plays, I think they gain more power,” Hess said. The classic stories in this adaptation explore power, feminism and kinship while also addressing conflicts between loyalty to the family and the state.

Later in the semester, the department will honor World AIDS Day by joining forces with a variety of student groups to perform “Over the Rainbow” on Dec. 6. This cabaret-style benefit showcases the talent of a number of groups for a good cause. “Usually all [the acts] have some themes related to LBGT issues, sometimes more specifically to AIDS,” Cless said.

Last year’s event raised over $2000 for Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS and included performances by former University President Lawrence Bacow and his wife, Adele Fleet Bacow.

3Ps, a student-run umbrella organization that encompasses groups from mimes to improv, puts on one major production and two workshops each semester. The planning for 3Ps’ next

major production “Next Fall,” is well under way, and the production will run from Nov. 17 to 19. The show was nominated for a Tony Award in 2010, and will be directed by senior Ann Noling.

In “Next Fall,” all seems to be going well for gay couple Luke and Adam until Luke is hit by a car. The tragic accident shines a light on the glaring conflict between Luke’s Christianity and Adam’s atheism.

The group also organizes conceptbased workshops and an annual First-Year Show, with auditions open solely to freshmen and transfer students. Senior Jonathan Hendrickson, president of 3Ps, said, “The First-Year Show is a great way for a lot of the new theater freshmen to meet each other.

This is not to say that they can’t or aren’t in the major shows — because they always are — but it makes an easier transition.”

This year’s First-Year Show, “Are You Sure?,” will run on Nov. 10 and 11, and will be directed by senior Katie Welch.

The dramedy follows the puzzling tale of a protagonist who repeatedly falls asleep and wakes up later in a changed world, and both the protagonist and the audience need to piece together what is happening and why.

Though Torn Ticket II is included under the 3Ps umbrella, the musical troupe also puts on one major production and two workshops each semester.

This year’s major production, “Merrily We Roll Along,” will run from Dec. 1 to Dec. 3. This production will be directed by senior Elizabeth Sharpe-Levine and tells the story of Franklin Shepard, a Hollywood movie producer.

The show opens at the height of his success and then rewinds through a series of formative periods in Shepard’s life. It becomes clear that Shepard abandoned his friends and his true interest in musical composition to become the powerful man he is at the play’s start. The story questions not only his loyalty to his past, but also the true meaning of success.

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Arts & Living

Thursday, September 8, 2011

Ashley seenauth/Tufts Daily

Posto’s unusual pizzas delight restaurant-goers in Davis square.

Posto’s wood-fired pizzas, made of high-quality ingredients, worth the price pOSTO

continued from page 5

sonal pizza and a nicer setting.

Luckily, that’s where brunch comes in.

Ordering Sunday morning brunch at Posto gets you a pastry, a pizza, freshly squeezed juice and bottomless coffee for $10.95. It also means avoiding the crowds that Posto tends to amass during dinner hours. Convinced, I made a reservation to eat there with a few friends on a Sunday afternoon.

The first notable aspect of Posto is its incredibly friendly staff. Our server, after politely seating us, spent the next few minutes concernedly fretting over the slightly off-balance table. He immediately offered us another one, but we assured him that we could handle the inconspicuous wobble.

Despite the allure of the brunch menu, from which both of my friends ordered, I ended up

falling immediately for the fig pizza ($17.95).

Although this is a pricier option, I couldn’t help but drool over the thought of gorgonzola crema, applewood bacon and caramelized onions. With toppings ranging from oysters to goat cheese, Posto seems to be a good place for those seeking a richer-tasting pie.

I coupled my order with a glass of their also somewhat pricey Sangria Blanca ($9.95), which consists of orange and pineapple, prosecco and a hint of lavender. Although my taste buds had a hard time detecting the nuance of lavender, the light, bubbly beverage felt perfect for a humid afternoon. I had also heard raves about their Gin Gin Mule, but that option seemed much better suited for dinner than brunch.

My friends ordered the ham and egg pizza and the bacon and egg pizza from the brunch menu. Their orders came with cinnamon

With uninspired plotlines, ‘Shark’ viewers long for ‘Jaws’ SHARK

continued from page 5

and the gang forges ahead on their path toward seemingly uninhibited frivolity.

The film continues as advertised: The group frequently overlooks harrowing omens, creating dramatic irony and an obvious contrast between the carefree attitudes of the protagonists and the dangers that lurk underwater. Not until Malik’s arm is savagely gnawed off after an inexplicable wakeboarding accident does the gang actually recognize the perils of its situation. As they are forced to traverse the water to save Malik, the group must enlist the help of their previous tormentors, Dennis and Red, who seem to have slightly too much knowledge about the predatory species hunting the protagonists.

“Shark Night 3D” never definitively establishes its central villain.

Whether it’s a terrorist bent on fattening his bank account like Hans in “Die Hard” (1988) or the twisted machine, Agent Smith, who seeks the extinction of the human race in “The Matrix” (1999), good action films usually have one antagonist who embodies evil. “Shark Night 3D,” however, never truly identifies one antihero. Instead, it toys with several sadistic characters and dozens of ravenous sharks. The film would have been better served by one great white terrorizing the

central characters and impressing audiences with nightmares of aquatic-themed deaths.

Despite a valiant effort by Donal Logue as a goofy, small-town sheriff, sheriff, no single cast member truly distinguishes himself due to the restrictive script. Paxton remains dreadfully blasé as her supposed friends are picked off one by one by carnivorous fish.

She might have been better utilized as a cunning plot ploy, since no audience member expects the gorgeous blonde lead to become shark chum. Her male counterpart, Dustin Milligan (as the premed student, Nick), was equally unimpressive, provoking the viewer to feel apathetic towards his attempts to evade his impending, grisly demise.

Yet, the true blame lies on the shoulders of the director, David R. Ellis, whose incompetence as a horror moviemaker is unprecedented — he was responsible for critical flops like “Final Destination 2” (2003) and “The Final Destination” (2009). Ellis never builds enough suspense to terrify viewers, and the killing scenes are dragged out to the point that they become tiresome.

“Shark Night 3D” never understands its own place in Hollywood and, thus, does not deliver the cheap thrills and blood-curdling screams that are characteristic of teen horror masterpieces.

buns, and although that much sugar in the first meal of the day had always seemed wrong to me, just one taste of a bun had me rethinking my ways. The pastry, which was warm when it reached us, tasted more buttery than saccharine and was surprisingly enjoyable.

Both of my friends’ pizzas were relatively similar: They were topped with soft eggs that popped and oozed when cut, Vermont cheddar and home fries. Don’t expect a heaping plate of potatoes, though — Posto’s home fries consisted of no more than a few scanty pieces of potato.

My own pizza, however, had been healthily covered in each of the promised toppings and then hidden beneath a heap of fresh arugula. Although it was delicious, I found it difficult to finish more than half: Smothered in rich cheese, sweet caramelized onions, freshly diced figs and strips of savory bacon, the pizza

was best in small portions. My only real qualm was its sogginess, the consequence of heaping moist toppings onto a thin crust.

My friends’ orders were filled with heartier flavors and were easier to finish. The home fries were replaced by heaps of salty ham and bacon. The eggs were perfectly cooked, and although the ingredients themselves were not unusual, the fact that it was breakfast on a pizza made it feel adventurous.

Overall, our orders complemented each other’s well and gave us a decent idea of Posto’s wide range of flavors. The experience was enjoyable, the environment relaxing and the service accommodating. And although Posto is unlikely to substitute for those 2 a.m. cravings for greasy food, it is a welcome addition to the group of finer eateries in Davis Square, and a place Tufts students will surely enjoy when looking to change up their routines.

Group’s sophomore album mixes old strengths with a new direction CYMBALS

continued from page 5

quickly segues into a pop melody that catches the listener off-guard. The band’s musical variety is one of its most impressive traits, but it’s even more respectable that they can display the breadth of their versatility in two- or three-minute songs.

“The Current” is one of the most varied songs on the album, and it clocks in at just under three minutes.

The track oscillates between wall-of-sound shoegaze guitar work and more rhythmic new-wave guitar lines that keep the song from dwelling on any particular mood or aesthetic. The majority of the track is instrumental, building up to a short, isolated vocal line that concludes the song on an intimate note.

While “The Current” is one of the most contemplative, introspective tracks on the album, it is sandwiched between the poprock, Big Star-esque “Another Tunguska” and the acoustic “Wavelengths,” making for a unexpectedly confluent section of the album. For a band that varies greatly between styles and attitudes, Cymbals Eat Guitars has a knack for

piecing their albums together in a coherent, well-developed way that flows from song to song without a hitch.

“Lenses Alien” features tracks that are, on the whole, far shorter than “Why There Are Mountains.” While quicker songs usually capitalize on the concise verse-chorus structure, Cymbals Eat Guitars eschews this approach for the entirety of the album. One of the most enjoyable parts of the album is listening to it for the first time and not knowing exactly where the song is going. It’s almost like listening to the progressive rock bands of the ’70s, but without the ostentatious instrumentals and the extravagant, feathered hairdos that made groups like Yes so strangely alluring.

That’s not to say that Cymbals Eat Guitars is lacking in edge or instrumental ability — they have both in ample portions — but their approach to musical development and theme building is more understated and less contrived than their progrock predecessors.

Despite my praise, the album does have its share of shortcomings. The album’s opener, “Rifle Eyesight (Proper

Name),” is the only long song on the album, clocking in around eight minutes.

This sets up a kind of strange dynamic for the rest of “Lenses Alien” because it shows such a different, expansive approach to songwriting that the rest of the album eschews.

While “Rifle Eyesight” is a solid track, it sets up false anticipation for the rest of an otherwise confluent album.

The guitars rely a bit too heavily on fuzzed-out tones and wailing for either to retain its full potency. The same criticism can be leveled at a few other tracks on the album as well, but “Rifle Eyesight” displays this over reliance on thrash-out moments most clearly.

That being said, folks with a predilection for noisier music will hardly find this a bad trait, although fans of the group’s mellower tracks might find this trend a little unwelcome.

Regardless, “Lenses Alien” is a great album that shows Cymbals Eat Guitars is on the right trajectory. They’ve been able to keep the elements of their sound that made the initial album so appealing, while introducing new approaches and elements to keep the album innovative as well.

Thursday, September 8, 2011

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THE TUFTS DAILY

Editorial | Letters

EDITORIAL

Ten years later

Carter W. Rogers Editor-in-Chief

Editorial Niki Krieg Adam Kulewicz Managing Editors Amelie Hecht Executive News Editor Kathryn Olson News Editors Laina Piera Corinne Segal Saumya Vaishampayan Brent Yarnell Minyoung Song Assistant News Editors Elizabeth McKay Marie Schow Michael Marks Gabrielle Hernandez Brionna Jimerson Mahpari Sotoudeh Bianca Blakesley Martha Shanahan Executive Features Editor Jon Cheng Features Editors Maya Kohli Derek Schlom Falcon Reese Amelia Quinn Margaret Young Assistant Features Editors Victoria Rathsmill Rebecca Santiago Executive Arts Editor Zach Drucker Arts Editors Anna Majeski Charissa Ng Joseph Stile Ashley Suarez Matt Welch Melissa MacEwen Assistant Arts Editors David Kellogg Bhushan Deshpande Seth Teleky Louie Zong Devon Colmer Craig Frucht Michael Restiano

Thursday, September 8, 2011

It’s all too tempting to think of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks as a closed chapter in our history.

The U.S. military succeeded this year in tracking down and killing Osama bin Laden, the orchestrator of the deadly attacks, representing the most significant victory in the War on Terror in the decade since it began.

Construction of One World Trade Center, a 1,776-foot skyscraper that will stand near the former site of the twin towers, is set to be completed within the next two years. When it is finished, it will be the tallest building in the United States. The National September 11 Memorial will open on Sunday, the 10th anniversary of the attacks, on the exact spot where the towers once stood. An accompanying museum will open next year.

It’s been 10 years. The two wars fought in the aftermath of the attacks are winding down. The Taliban is severely weak-

ened. Where the smoldering debris of the World Trade Center once lay, a memorial and museum commemorating that terrible day now stand.

Is it time, then, to start thinking of the attacks not as a current event, but as a historical one? Ten years later, are the attacks still part of our present? Or are we ready, now, to refer to that day as “the past?”

Most of today’s college students were in elementary or middle school when they learned that America had been attacked, but we can remember exactly where we were and what we were doing when we found out.

Perhaps our young age insulated us from the enormity of the change that gripped the nation afterward.

Many of us can barely remember when boarding a plane didn’t require removing pocketknives from a carryon bag — when the threat of terrorism did not weigh on the national

consciousness. For us, it is difficult to think back to a time when we had never heard the name “Osama bin Laden,” when it did not cause hatred to pound through our veins, when his destruction and the destruction of the terrorists he commanded was not a cause for which thousands of Americans had given their lives.

For us, the pre-Sept. 11 world might seem like the distant past. That was half a lifetime ago. The details are hazy.

But for those who suffered directly that day — the people who lost loved ones, the police and firefighters who witnessed the destruction firsthand and suffered dearly for it — the recollections are anything but hazy. Dealing with them is very much a part of their present. The memory of that last conversation with a child or a spouse or a friend is sharp and clear, as clear as anything that has happened in the 10 years since.

DEVON COLMER

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Off the Hill | University of Texas at Austin

Should you teach for America? by

Egu Ramanathan The Daily Texan

Entrance into the “real world” is daunting for anyone, especially for those without job prospects. With employment particularly difficult to come by, Teach For America presents a promising alternative for new graduates.

In 1990, Princeton University alumna Wendy Kopp founded Teach For America (TFA). With ambitious goals in mind, Kopp established a two-year program for recent college graduates to teach at urban, low-income public schools scattered across the nation.

Because the program does not require participants to have degrees in education or the subject they teach, TFA is an option for a wide range of educated young people.

But, depending on your commitment to teaching, TFA might not be the job for you.

A college degree and an impressive GPA do not a capable teacher make, and being inspired by Hilary Swank’s character in “Freedom Writers” is not enough to ignite a genuine desire to educate. At the risk of sounding like a broken record from the Obama campaign, you must have the drive for change if you plan on entering this program.

The Tufts Daily is a nonprofit, independent newspaper, published Monday through Friday during the academic year, and distributed free to the Tufts community. EDITORIAL POLICY Editorials represent the position of The Tufts Daily. Individual editors are not necessarily responsible for, or in agreement with, the policies and editorials of The Tufts Daily. The content of letters, advertisements, signed columns, cartoons and graphics does not necessarily reflect the opinion of The Tufts Daily editorial board.

Unfortunately, not all TFA teachers seem to have this drive. The program has a 50-percent turnover rate after two years and an 80-percent turnover rate after three years, according to a study by education professors Julian Vasquez Heilig and Su Jin Jez. These findings imply TFA workers’ commitment to teaching is fleeting at best and self-serving at worst. While TFA hopes its teachers will make a lasting impact on their school system, an alarming percentage of the program’s members complete the required two years and essentially abandon ship for either grad school in unrelated fields, or to pursue a different career path altogether.

To be sure, TFA can open doors for those who care deeply about bridging the achievement gap that has plagued the U.S. public education system for decades. The statistics are undeniable. America, one of the world’s most powerful nations, lags behind a majority of the developed world in its public school students’ math and reading aptitude. Texas public school students rank 49th in verbal and math SAT scores and have the 36th-lowest high school graduation rate.

It is distressing that participating in a program with such noble goals is so difficult. TFA now accepts fewer than

20 percent of applicants, and an article in The New York Times compared TFA acceptance rates to those of Ivy League colleges. Perhaps for those genuinely interested in improving American public education, however, the stiffened competition for acceptance into TFA is a blessing in disguise.

With so much talk about TFA’s selectivity, [The University of Texas (UT) at Austin] has still has an impressive showing. [Eighty] students from the UT class of 2010 will begin teaching in the fall, and the program ranks UT [number one] among large colleges for our student contribution to the program. Such a strong representation in the program is beneficial for Longhorns with a genuine interest in working toward TFA’s goal.

Kopp once said, “In order to have a real impact, you have to influence the consciousness of the country. You will have to influence the priorities of a generation.” As TFA’s target audience, we must ask ourselves where our priorities lie. Do we want a moving 24-month experience before pursuing a completely unrelated career, or do we want to work beyond the twoyear commitment toward improving a flawed system? If our generation and its ever-increasing cynicism fails to follow up on our idealism, who will?

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Letters must be submitted by 4 p.m. and should be handed into the Daily office or sent to letters@tuftsdaily.com.

All letters must be word processed and include the writer’s name and telephone number. There is a 450-word limit and letters must be verified.

The editors reserve the right to edit letters for clarity, space and length.

ADVERTISING POLICY All advertising copy is subject to the approval of the Editorin-Chief, Executive Board and Executive Business Director. A publication schedule and rate card are available upon request.

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Thursday, September 8, 2011

9

Op-Ed

When the world’s problems bring you down, help your community

creative commons

by Shonak

Patel, Nathan Rothstein and Andrew Varley

Sometimes the problems facing our country seem despairingly large and complicated without any feasible solutions in sight. The gap between the wealthy and the impoverished relentlessly grows as more than 15 percent of citizens are unable to find a fulltime job. Small businesses face rising rents, growing health care costs and heavy competition from “big-box” and Internet retailers who offer cheaper prices to consumers while failing to pay a living wage to their workers. At the same time, “70 percent of school districts nationwide endured budget cuts last year [and] 84 percent anticipate cuts this year,” according to the Center on Education Policy.

As we grapple with such problems and uncertainties of the present and future, it can sometimes feel that it is beyond our capabilities as individuals to make a difference. The powers that be are too large, and the problems are inexorable, but the human spirit is more resilient. Instead of feeling discouraged we should seize this unique opportunity to address the problems in our own community. While problems abroad may be beyond our control (for now), we have a commitment to make our own communities stronger.

A good example is the American civil rights movement. More than 50 years ago, ordinary citizens found their strength through boycotting segregat-

ed lunch counters and bus companies.

African-American citizens in Selma, Ala., did not ride the bus for more than a year after Rosa Parks was arrested, until the city finally relented.

Their leaders knew the economic impact of their purchasing decisions would translate into a larger social impact, and the community rallied around their collective pursuit for justice and equality. The current injustices may not be comparable to the evils of segregation, but we can learn from the lessons of a community working together to change the world.

We, the individual authors of this piece, having grappled with such issues for years like many other members of our generation, felt overwhelmed but also curious about what daily decisions we could make to help others. We thought back to our experiences visiting New Orleans, where small business owners returned to a very uncertain and fragile future in the aftermath of Katrina. And while the insurance companies and the government did not necessarily make that return easier, they ultimately did act as pillars of strength in the community.

We also heard from friends and family who are teachers about the amount of money they spend out of pocket every year for supplies. The problem seemed obvious — why is America asking the educators of its future labor force to do more with less? Kara Smith, an Idaho public schoolteacher, captures this sentiment in a recent Fast

Company article in which she said, “Public education right now is like telling doctors and nurses that they have to save lives without any materials …

We’re expected to produce great citizens after students go through 12 years of school, but we’re not given any tools to make that happen.”

A little less than a year ago, we started thinking of sustainable methods we could use to address some of these problems. We believed strongly in building a mission-driven for-profit company, a venture that would add value to society instead of decreasing it. While millions of people face years of economic distress because of the lack of regulation on Wall Street, we wanted to build something that could help Main Streets, rather than hurt them.

It is only fitting that we begin our venture in the Boston area, where the Main Street program was started. After many of the urban renewal programs of the 1960s did not achieve as much as has been promised, the state of Massachusetts looked for other ways to provide resources to the small business clusters in urban areas. Forty years later, the Main Street program is all over the country, and has succeeded in promoting and developing small business clusters. Somerville is a great example of the success of this program — consider the Union Square and East Somerville Main Street Associations.

At the same time, a quality education for all may be the best model for upward mobility. Nicholas Kristof, who

writes mostly about the third world, noted as much in a recent New York Times op-ed: “When I report on poverty in Africa and poverty in America, the differences are vast. But there is a common thread: Chipping away at poverty is difficult and uncertain work, but perhaps the anti-poverty program with the very best record is education — and that’s as true in New York as it is in Nigeria.”

Every day, people make a choice with their feet, such as walking to class or volunteering at a school, but also with their wallet, such as supporting their favorite local business or walking a little further to the fair trade coffee shop. These choices matter, and we want to create a platform that would give people the opportunity to make their dollar go further — not only to be able to shop locally, but to also be able invest in an education project they care about with that same purchase.

Here in Somerville, there are many great locally owned businesses, as well as many important education projects to support. As you look for opportunities to assist the community around Tufts, we hope to help further your support of local businesses and investment in education.

Shonak Patel, Nathan Rothstein and Andrew Varly all graduated from Tufts in 2006. They are the co-founders of Swellr. com, a website that advocates fundraising for education.

Off the Hill | Louisiana State University

Keeping your virginity doesn’t mean you’re losing your mind by

Gabie Bacques

The Daily Reveille

Twenty-year-old virgin? Don’t worry.

The pressures to have sex are just as prevalent as they were at age 15.

In our culture it’s widely accepted, and sometimes even encouraged, to engage in sexual intercourse before marriage. With the media and sexual movements of our generation, the ins and outs of uncommitted intercourse are often overlooked. We have grown to ignore the emotional and traditional role of sex and to portray it as a normal, healthy part of life as long as we use contraceptives. Not everyone agrees with this modern depiction of a very intimate bond, and they shouldn’t feel ashamed.

It may seem like virgins are extinct in the college community, but the numbers don’t lie. According to a study by Paula England of Stanford University, 24 percent of college seniors claim to be virgins. That may be a small

number, obviously the minority, but significant nonetheless. Times have indeed changed since the start of the sexual revolution, but many problematic aspects still remain. Young women still feel guilt and pressure about having sex, and double standards are still prominent. If women are equal with men, they can be just as promiscuous. But if women act promiscuously, they are portrayed as awful people.

We may be quick to judge women and give them bad reputations, but guys are equally responsible for maintaining their own integrity.

If you aren’t part of the norm and made it to college untouched, congratulations — though it’s pretty unlikely that you’ll leave that way. However, it is possible to remain sex-free throughout college and many students realize the benefits of doing so.

Dr. Joe S. McIlhaney told Congress that 5 to 6 million sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) are transmitted annually to people ages 20-24. In case you

didn’t know, Baton Rouge is a leading city in the country for HIV and AIDS, with New Orleans not far away on the list. Something most “Reggie Rats” don’t consider on a Thursday night is that many of these infections don’t show physical symptoms. The love just keeps spreading throughout our community.

Aside from STDs, the risk of bearing illegitimate children is enough for some people to skip a night of pleasure.

Though the physical consequences of premarital sex have been drilled into our heads since the fifth grade, people often overlook the most destructive side effect of casual premarital sex.

Psychologically, losing one’s virginity can take a toll on school, daily life and relationships, causing stress, distrust and jealousy. This may result from how we were raised, but studies also show the negative consequences of cohabitation. Couples who live together before getting hitched have a much higher divorce rate and are more likely to be involved in an abusive

relationship, according to the website MarriageRomance.com. If you aren’t financially, physically and emotionally stable to handle the consequences of sex, don’t do it.

Yes, there are ways to help prevent these things. However, contraceptives are not 100 percent guaranteed to protect against the endless negative effects of sex, not to mention the health risks involved with birth-control pills. Some people are not okay with taking those chances, and they will likely have more successful relationships because of it.

I’m not debunking protection or being responsible if you do decide to have sex, but there’s more to being safe than popping a pill. Being responsible and mature doesn’t mean using a condom and drugs to protect your body from the inevitable consequences of engaging in sexual activity. It means putting things into perspective.

Are you going to enjoy telling your future spouse about all the people you’ve slept with?

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10

Comics

Thursday, September 8, 2011

Doonesbury

Crossword

by

Garry Trudeau

Non Sequitur

by

Wiley

Married to the Sea

www.marriedtothesea.com

SUDOKU Level: Finding a Fall Ball ticket

Late Night at the Daily Tuesday’s Solution

Alyssa (to Niki): You just want an excuse to touch the printer.

Please recycle this Daily.

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12

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Sports

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Sports

Kenney becomes first female head coach of a NESCAC men’s tennis team MEN’S TENNIS

continued from page 16

the fall of 2010. But the tennis lifer who had meant to retire in 2005 had been appointed on solely an “interim” basis.

Even though Watson led the team to a stellar season last year, Gehling and the rest of the search comitee jumped at the chance to hire a coach they expect to be around for a long time.

“Watson agreed to step in and fill the void, and as always he did a great job,” Gehling said. “But we didn’t want to be in transition for longer than we had to.”

Kenney’s former players on the women’s team are sad to see her go, and they expect her to gain the respect of the men’s team quickly.

“She did a phenomenal job as head coach, especially considering how coach Bayard left at a key point in the season,” sophomore Sam Gann said.

“She knows how to take command and definitely gained respect of the whole team, but also had fun with us. She will do great for the guys team.”

Kenney met with the men’s team’s three senior captains — Morrie Bossen, Kai Victoria and Sam Laber — early in the fall, and she met with the rest of the team for the first time on Monday, when she went over her expectations and standards for the season.

“It might not be typical to have a female coach for a men’s team,” junior Andrew Lutz said. “But after meeting with her, we’re all confident that she’s going to help the team gel. She’s very organized and has tons of spirit.”

Kenney steps into a situation that brims with optimism. Last season, a young team moved back into the national Top 25 by the end of a season that included wins over No. 29 Vassar and No.15 NESCAC rival Trinity, before Tufts was knocked out of the NESCAC Tournament in the first round

by Bowdoin.

“I’m excited that we’re returning the core of our team from last year,” Kenney said. “We’re deep from top to bottom, and everybody showed up on the first day of tryouts in shape and ready to go.”

Courtesy Paul Sweeney

New head coach Jaime Kenney brings a wealth of experience at a variety of levels to the men’s team.

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Sports

Players credit second-year coach as one catalyst for team’s attitude change MEN’S SOCCER

continued from page 16

Wesleyan.

“We have two shutouts over 140 minutes, and our defense has looked really sharp,” Blumenthal, a midfielder, said.

“We haven’t given up too many chances overall.”

Anchoring the Tufts defense is Bernstein, the team’s starting goalkeeper last season. In 2010, Bernstein topped the NESCAC leader boards for goalkeepers, finishing second in the conference in save percentage and first in saves per game. The Jumbos allowed seven fewer goals in 2010 than they did in 2009, despite playing one more game last season.

Although the Jumbos’ new formation features only one forward, the Tufts coaches have implored midfielders and outside backs to take more offensive risks.

Last season, only Trinity scored fewer goals than Tufts in the NESCAC, a statistic the Jumbos are hoping to change with increased depth at many attacking positions.

“The style that Coach Shapiro wants to run is more attackminded than before,” senior defender Jesse Poon said. “The team is deeper than last year, so a lot of guys will be getting time and very few spots are set in stone.”

A new formation is just one change that Shapiro has brought to Tufts this year.

According to players, Shapiro has brought an attitude change to the entire men’s soccer program by drawing on his experience as a Div. I assistant coach at Georgetown, and by forming a tight bond with his players.

“He’s completely changed the mentality of the program and has challenged each player individually and as a team,” Poon said.

Bl u m e n t h a l c re d i t e d

Josh Berlinger/Tufts Daily

Senior tri-captain Matt Blumenthal believes his team, with an especially improved defense, is ready to beat the NESCAC’s top squads.

Shapiro’s youth and ability to play many different roles as reasons for his close relationship with the team.

“He’s a young guy who can fool around with us, but when it comes down to it, we all respect him incredibly, and he

knows how to make us work hard.”

Tufts will be tested right away with a tough opening match at home against Middlebury on Sept. 10. The Panthers are ranked No. 12 in the nation by the National Soccer Coaches

Association of America and should be the favorites to repeat as NESCAC champions.

Although the Jumbos realize that a positive result will not come easily against Middlebury, the team feels that it is finally ready to compete in

a conference that many consider the strongest in Div. III. “We really think that we can make some noise and upset some of the top teams in the NESCAC,” Blumenthal said.

“We get a great chance to do that against Middlebury.”

The Tufts Daily

15

Sports

A changed team prepares to face Panthers this weekend to kick off season WOMEN’S SOCCER continued from page 16

sophomore Sophie Wojtasinski, and LoveNichols, who led the squad in points this past season — will be given more defined roles. In the past Whiting has given them free rein to roam around near the 18-yard box, but she feels that more set positioning and plays could help her players to create scoring opportunities.

“We had a system we used with our forwards and how they made their runs for the last two years, and it didn’t work as well as it could have,” Whiting said. “So this year we are defining roles more while still giving them [the players] the chance to improvise when necessary.”

The new-look offense was in full bloom this weekend, pummeling Bowdoin 5-1 in a pre-season scrimmage. But the score line came less from complete domination and more from the Jumbos making their chances count.

“We did a really good job capitalizing on our opportunities,” Love-Nichols said.

“I think if you look at shots on goals for both teams, it’s not really the differential that the goals ended up showing.”

The offense will also have the support of a veteran core of midfielders led by senior co-captains Lauren O’Connor and Olivia Rowse, plus Michael. While Michael has been an offensive threat for the team in the past with seven goals and five assists in her career, it may be the effectiveness of the trio’s end-to-end play — providing opportunities for the forwards while at the same time hustling back to support the young backline — that determines the team’s success this year.

Although much of the focus is on increased production up front, the youthful defense is more than capable of stepping into the large shoes of the Class of 2010. Sophomore Erin Stone has moved seamlessly into her job as a starting cen-

ter back after spending her first year in the midfield. She will be paired up there with one of the team’s fresh faces. The backline will be bookended with experience; seniors Cleo Hirsch and Laney Siegner will likely get the call to start at the fullback positions. While no one individual player matches the height of Sarah Nolet (LA ’10), the line may actually be taller across the board.

“We were able to drop [Erin] back into the back, and it’s like she’s a natural,” Whiting said. “I think as the four get together they will look better and better each time, but right now it looks really promising and I’m really excited about them.”

The Jumbos open the season with a quartet of home matches, including a pair of NESCAC tilts. It all begins Saturday afternoon against Middlebury, a team Tufts buried 3-0 almost exactly one year ago — setting the tone for their successful run. But the team has no doubts that this

DAILY DIGITS

227

6

Number of consecutive starts, including playoffs, made by Indianapolis Colts quarterback Peyton Manning. Manning, 35, had started every game of his professional career, but he will miss the Colts’ season opener against the Houston Texans due to his slow recovery from neck surgery in May. Manning has been the one constant on an otherwise annually changing team that has achieved 11 playoff appearances, two AFC Championships and one Super Bowl victory during his tenure.

15

The national ranking of the Tufts women’s field hockey team as it enters the fall season. Despite losing all-time leading scorer and two-time Player of the Year Tamara Brown (LA ’11), the team, led by senior co-captains defender Taylor Dyer and midfielder Lindsay Griffith, heads into the start of the season prepared for its first NESCAC opponent, Middlebury. The Panthers knocked Tufts out of the NCAA tournament last spring in a hard-fought 3-2 game.

The Arizona Diamondbacks’ magic number at the time of publication. Arizona has been the Cinderella story of the 2011 MLB season and now sits on the verge of clinching the NL West.

By doing so, they would eliminate the defending world champion San Francisco Giants.

Arizona has been the beneficiary of young players hitting their stride this season. Justin Upton is hitting .297 with 27 home runs, while Ian Kennedy is 18-4 with a 2.96 ERA.

17

57-2

8

Number of years that former head coach Bill Samko led the Tufts football program before stepping down last December, making room for new head coach Jay Civetti. Samko had a combined record of 57-79 with the Jumbos, navigating Tufts through a dismal 1-7 campaign this past fall. Civetti first joined the Tufts football program in 2008 as an assistant coach.

He previously worked for North Carolina State and Boston College.

Match record of Novak Djokovic as he awaits his quarterfinal tilt with Janko Tipsarevic at the U.S. Open. Djokovic already has two grand slam titles this year with wins at the Australian Open and Wimbledon, and remains on pace to eclipse John McEnroe’s 27-year-old record of match winning percentage in a single season. McEnroe finished that year 82-3, so even a single loss would end Djokovic’s chance at history.

Number of games the men’s soccer team led in 2010. Despite being able to consistently get ahead, the team only managed a 5-8-2 record. While that was good enough to earn them a spot in the NESCAC Championship for the first time since 2008, their poor seed led to a quarterfinal exit at the hands of Trinity.

Holding leads will be a focal point for the Jumbos this fall.

weekend’s matchup will be a tough affair.

“I think we are definitely stronger than Middlebury again this year, and I don’t see any reason that we can’t put up the same kind of result if we come ready to play, which I know we will,” O’Connor said.

Tufts has some big-time goals coming into its 2011 campaign, and the team has the talent to make them happen. They want to capture both the regular-season conference title and the NESCAC tournament.

For the senior class, it is the last chance to reach the NCAAs after three years of disappointing finishes.

“Since we’ve been here, we’ve always had the potential to win the NESCAC and really perform,” O’Connor said. “Unfortunately, we’ve hit some rough spots toward the end of the season back-to-back-to-back years. So we are definitely going to go into this postseason with a different attitude and take nothing for granted.”

Consistent scoring a priority for inexperienced Jumbos GOLF

continued from page 16

significant tournaments occur in the fall. The NESCAC qualifiers are on Oct. 1-2 at Wesleyan, and the New England Championships are on Oct. 16-18 in Brewster, Mass.

In 2010, Tufts faltered at both events, placing eighth out of 10 teams at NESCACs and 30th out of 37 at New Englands. Vik led the Jumbos at the conference match by scoring 79 on both days.

The top four teams at NESCACs play against each other in the spring, with the winner advancing to NCAAs, although the highest the Jumbos have ever placed is fifth. And while placing in the top four is always something the team strives for, Sheldon has a different goal in mind.

“We’d like to shoot 320 or below every match,” he said. “That’s an average of 80 [between the four scores that are counted]. That will put us in the top 25 percent pretty much in every match.”

Once the season gets started this weekend, Tufts will have matches every Saturday and Sunday until New Englands. The Jumbos also practice three days a week at Indian Ridge Country Club in Andover, Mass., typically playing 18 holes twice a week and going to the driving range once.

Editors' Challenge | Week 1 High on some football and experiencing those vicious late-night cravings for bone-crushing hits and electrifying touchdowns? Fear not, because the Tufts Daily has the fix for your gridiron munchies. The sports section returns for another year of the Editors’ Challenge, where we curl up on the couch, make perfect picks and laugh uncontrollably when the announcers say that Adrian Peterson “plowed through a huge hole.”

After the graduation of Jeremy Greenhouse and Steve Smith, two legendary gurus in their own right, the proverbial drive-thru window is open for business. First up on the menu is Daniel “In-N-Out Fries Animal Style” Rathman, this semester’s Executive Sports Editor, whose messy picking style and animalistic demeanor could steal the picking crown.

Veteran Alex “Panda Express Orange Chicken” Prewitt, whose early lead in 2010 rapidly faded into mediocrity, is back for one last shot at glory. Joining him among the ranks of senior editors are Lauren “McRib” Flament and Claire “Vanilla Frosty” Kemp. The former will look to her juicy, limited-time-only skills to bring her out of the cellar, while the latter’s pasty coldness could freeze out the competition.

After an embarrassing 4-12 Week One showing last season, Ben “KFC Double Down” OVERALL RECORD LAST WEEK

Aaron 0-0 N/A

Alex P. 0-0 N/A

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

Annie 0-0 N/A

Ben 0-0 N/A

Claire 0-0 N/A

Kochman spent much of 2010 in the Eds Challenge basement, but has vowed to exact redemption on all those who made fun of him for his historically awful performance. In other news, regardless of how good he may be, Kochman, like the Colonel’s chicken, will always be greasy, cheap and make you feel queasy.

Rounding out the list of returning pickers will be Ethan “White Castle Crave Case” Sturm, whose Harold & Kumar-esque Jersey roots might provide that 24-hour greatness the Daily sports section is seriously lacking.

Among the newbies are Aaron “Arby’s Reuben on Rye” Liebowitz, Annie “Flame-Broiled Whopper” Sloan, David “Big” McIntyre and Matt “Double-Bacon-Cheese” Berger, all of whom could eschew the drive-thru line, bash through the windows and hop the counter to rob the joint of football-picking fame. New to the ranks of both Eds’ Challenge and the Editorial Board is Kate “Cheesy Gordita Crunch” Klots.

Guest-picking this week, fresh off an abroad stint in one of those foreign countries, is Carter “Subway Veggie Delight” Rogers, the Daily’s esteemed Editor-in-Chief. He’s healthy, he’s famous and he’s only $5 for a footlong.

Daniel 0-0 N/A

David 0-0 N/A

Ethan 0-0 N/A

Kate 0-0 N/A

Lauren 0-0 N/A

Matt 0-0 N/A

GUEST Carter Rogers

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

Sports

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INSIDE Editors’ Challenge 15

tuftsdaily.com

Men’s Tennis

Men’s Soccer

Jaime Kenney hired as men’s head coach by

Ben Kochman

Daily Editorial Board

The men’s tennis team’s new head coach is a familiar face — Jaime Kenney, who spent the last two years as assistant coach of the women’s tennis team and who stepped in as women’s head coach during the final stretch of the 2011 spring season, which culminated in the team’s first-ever trip to the NCAA National Quarterfinals.

Kenney is now the only female coach of a men’s tennis team in the NESCAC, and she becomes the third Tufts men’s tennis coach in three years. She takes the reins from last year’s interim coach Jim Watson, who coached the team to an 11-7 record — the team’s highest win total since 1996 — and a berth in the six-team NESCAC Tournament.

“I’m a big believer in leadership skills, communication skills and understanding the role of coach as mentor,” Director of Athletics Bill Gehling said.

“She has all of the above.”

Those leadership skills were on display when Kenney fulfilled the duties of women’s head coach Kate Bayard after the latter went on maternity leave late in the spring season.

With Kenney serving as head coach, the team advanced to the NESCAC semifinals and ended up with its first-ever appearance in the National Quarterfinals after a 5-1 pummeling of Johns Hopkins in the NCAA Third Round.

This fall is Kenney’s first experience as head coach of a men’s team, though she does have head coaching experience with women’s teams at Hingham High School and Milton Academy and has coached men before at clubs in the Boston area.

But to Gehling, more important than Kenney’s credentials is the passion she brings to the job — a passion that he witnessed first-hand during her two seasons with the women’s team.

“I’m not a big fan of resumes. I’m more interested in what I think are leadership qualities,” Gehling said.

“Passion, an eye for the game, the ability to lead a group. So far she’s been everything I hoped she’d be.”

As tryouts and practices begin this week, the new coach welcomes the challenge of both her first collegiate head-coaching job and her first job coaching a men’s team.

“My expectations are the same, whether it’s women or men,” Kenney said. “When you work with studentathletes at Tufts you can expect highly motivated, exceptional communicators, with a work ethic second to none.”

The Athletics Department’s recruiting committee decided on Kenney in mid-August after a shorter-thanusual search process this summer, Gehling said. Watson, who coached the men’s tennis team from 1981-2004, had replaced Doug Eng as coach in see MEN’S TENNIS, page 13

Golf

Young golf team has big shoes to fill by

Aaron Leibowitz

Daily Editorial Board

For most Tufts teams, losing four seniors to graduation would be considered a minimal blow, one that can be overcome as long as upperclassmen improve as players and as leaders to fill the void.

Things aren’t that simple for the golf team, which is now without four of its top golfers from the past several years.

Coach Bob Sheldon — also the men’s basketball coach — carried nine players on his roster last season, but only five players are allowed to compete at matches. Three of those five were tri-captains in 2010-11: Luke Heffernan, Dan Moll and Cal Shapiro, as well as Lindsay Walker, all of whom graduated in the spring. Heffernan, Moll and Shapiro started every match for four years.

Now, the Jumbos are left with no seniors, one junior and four sophomores, in addition to three freshman recruits who are likely to make the team when tryouts end on Friday.

“We’re a pretty young team,” Mike McCarthy, the lone junior, said. “But this is definitely a year we should be able to build on, and hopefully we’ll do really well by the end of this year and going into next year.”

The returning golfers will be counted on to carry the squad. Sophomore Sebastian Vik, who was a starter last season, along with McCarthy,

who saw limited match time, will occupy two of the five starting spots. “[Mike] played a lot as a freshman, but last year, because of classes and because some of the seniors got a little better, he didn’t play very much,” Sheldon said. “But he’s ready to step into a big role this year to lead us.”

The final three spots are up for grabs. Sheldon hopes that sophomores Alex Friedman, Drew Lewis and Tim Martin will all step up, but there is certainly an opportunity for a freshman to snag a spot as well. Lewis is also a copy editor for the Daily.

Sheldon does not impose a specific offseason regimen, but he does encourage his players to enter tournaments over the summer.

“We had three or four freshmen last year and they’re all coming back,” he said. “And, depending on how their summers went, that will kind of determine how our season goes.”

It will be up to those returners to set an example for this year’s newcomers, according to McCarthy.

“Golf is definitely an individual sport,” McCarthy said.

“But at the same time, I think that we should be able to really instill some confidence in the freshmen and get them in the right mindset where they can go out and score well for Tufts.”

The Jumbos’ two most see GOLF, page 15

The future arrives with top crop of incoming freshmen by

Matt Berger

Daily Editorial Board

After finishing outside the top four in the NESCAC for nine consecutive seasons, the men’s soccer team finally believes that it is ready to not only compete with but also beat the conference’s top squads.

“I think last season was a step in the right direction,” senior tri-captain goalie Alan Bernstein said. “We’re looking to be much more competitive this year and compete for the NESCAC championship.”

The 2010 Jumbos went 3-4-2 in the league and finished sixth. The 2011 Jumbos, on the other hand, are a combination of 11 veterans who each appeared in at least 12 games this past season, and they have arguably the NESCAC’s strongest class of incoming freshmen — a group of nine that has already made a strong impression during the preseason.

“I think there’s more talent in this year’s freshman class than any other class right now,” junior midfielder Rafael Ramos-Meyer said. “They’re our future.”

One standout first-year has been midfielder Gus Santos.

In the Jumbos’ Sept. 3 scrimmage at Wesleyan, Santos consistently made runs at Cardinals defenders on the left wing, putting pressure on an otherwise stingy Wesleyan back line.

This assault finally paid off for Santos

early in the second half, as he darted through defenders on the left side of the box, found an opening and scored the scrimmage’s only goal.

Kento Nakamura is also likely to make an immediate impact in his freshman season. Despite his lack of collegiate soccer experience, he has shown a high level of maturity on the pitch.

“Kento is already very soccer smart and holds the ball well in tight spaces,” Bernstein said.

During the summer, the Jumbos spent a lot of focusing on a major formation shift. After spending coach Josh Shapiro’s first year at Tufts in a conventional 4-4-2, they will instead be playing with a lone striker in a 4-5-1 arrangement this season.

“We’ve been very focused on the new formation that we’re going to be playing,” senior tri-captain Matt Blumenthal said. “We also have worked on our defensive shape to make sure everyone knows where they have to cover when the ball is in certain areas.”

This stress on the team’s back line in practice and the height of Tufts’ young and talented center backs are two reasons why the Jumbos have defended well in the preseason. They did not concede any goals in two games, adding a scoreless draw with Conn. College to their 1-0 victory over see MEN’S SOCCER, page 14

Women’s Soccer

Alex Dennett/Tufts Daily

Senior midfielder Alix Michael is ranked third on the team with three goals last season.

Tufts to take pressure off defense Jumbos return three top scorers from 2010 by

Ethan Sturm

Daily Editorial Board

Tufts’ defense was awfully good in 2010.

How good? The team allowed just six goals and recorded nine shutouts, including a stretch of 574 straight scoreless minutes.

The nearly spotless backline led them to a NESCAC regular season title and an 8-2-4 overall record.

But as the fall wore on, the defense also began to serve as a crutch for the squad. The team put three balls in the back of the net in the first game of the season, but never matched that goal output for the rest of the year. In the NESCAC quarterfinals, 120 minutes of scoreless soccer led to a heartbreaking season-ending penalty kick shootout.

“I think that last year we had such a great defense that we were a very defensive-minded

team,” senior forward Jamie Love-Nichols said.

With the new season set to kick off this weekend, it is clear that things will be different in the year to come. Three of the four members of the 2010 edition of the backline are gone, and a young contingent of players is more than ready to take their place. Up top, the Jumbos will be returning their top three goal scorers from this past season with an extra year of experience and development under their belt.

“We are returning all of our offensive players that made an impact last year,” Love-Nichols said. “I think that having a more offensive mindset is going to be crucial to our team’s success.”

While the offensive personnel will remain largely the same, the system has gone through an offseason’s worth of overhauls. The team will stick with its familiar

4-3-3 formation, but little else will stay the same. In practice, the team has focused on short connecting passes and quick movement on and off the ball. Such play could allow for a steadier supply of opportunities to the team’s forwards, who only managed seven goals all season after then-freshman Maeve Stewart’s opening day hat trick.

“I know that [coach] Martha [Whiting] is really trying to encourage more combination plays and more team play instead of individual play,” senior midfielder Alix Michael said. “It’s going to be more formulaic this year, where we are going to run certain drills to practice certain combinations so that when those situations arrive in the game, we’ve already done them.”

In game situations, the strikers — including Stewart, her fellow see WOMEN’S SOCCER, page 14