2011-12-01

THE TUFTS DAILY

Sunny 48/30

WinterFest to take form of weekendlong series of events by

Mahpari Sotoudeh

Daily Editorial Board

The university on Dec. 9 will host the first annual WinterFest, a fourday series of campus events and performances which will serve as a replacement to the now-banned traditional Naked Quad Run (NQR) and reduce the stress of final exams.

Citing safety concerns, former University President Lawrence Bacow in March decided to ban the icy run, a move that has received support from the university’s new president, Anthony Monaco. Dean of Student Affairs Bruce Reitman last month announced plans to suspend any students participating in the nude sprint around the Res Quad.

WinterFest will feature food trucks, a nighttime pancake breakfast hosted by Monaco, a winter carnival and performances by campus music and dance groups including B.E.A.T.s and Cheap Sox. The main event will be a midday carnival on the Residential Quad on Saturday featuring rides, carnival food, prize giveaways, food trucks and music, according to Programming Board co-Chair Leo Greenberg.

“The centerpiece of the weekend … is the carnival that is happening on the campus on Saturday, which is sort of a winter version of Tuftonia’s Day, sort of similar in concept,” he said.

Organizers have envisioned the event as a weekend-long sequence of campus activities, according to Greenberg, a senior.

“The concept for the event … is sort of a weekend full of fun and entertaining events all around campus, which is why we have a hypnotist coming on Friday night and we also are advertising with several see WINTERFEST, page 2

TUFTSDAILY.COM

Thursday, December 1, 2011

VOLUME LXII, NUMBER 54

Where You Read It First Est. 1980

YouTube star discusses social media for change

by Shana

Friedman

Contributing Writer

Shirtless sensation, gay rights activist and YouTube celebrity Davey Wavey last night explored the role of social media in creating positive change and promoting greater acceptance of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community during a lecture hosted by Tufts’ Queer Straight Alliance.

Wavey’s primary YouTube profile has received close to 60 million total views since its creation in 2006 and has nearly 130,000 subscribers. His Internet presence spans four channels and boasts approximately 400 videos.

His videos address topics that he describes as controversial and are, in his words, “pretty gay.”

“He’s really an icon for a lot of people in the gay community,” event organizer George Murphy, a sophomore, said as he introduced Wavey. “He’s been instrumental in helping LGBT people with developing and coming to terms with their identities.”

The presentation was interspersed with screenings of Wavey’s YouTube videos, which cover issues such as coming out, self-acceptance, love, dating and fitness. Most of the videos also feature him shirtless.

“I’m surprised you guys recognized me!” he said, “[The shirtlessness] has become a trademark.”

He explained his rise to Internet fame several years ago as an accidental occurrence.

“I’d love to say that helping people has been my plan all along, but that’s not really how it happened,” he said.

After posting a video online and witnessing it attract thousands of viewers, he realized the vast communicative power of the Internet.

“I realized that I had a great captive audience, so I had a great responsibility, so I started making videos about other topics,” he said.

Wavey strives to employ a humorous tone in his videos, which nonetheless convey sincere messages.

Scott Tingley/Tufts Daily

Gay rights activist Davey Wavey last night discussed his use of social media in promoting greater acceptance and understanding of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community.

“If you can tackle something that’s complex and hard to talk about in a way that’s humorous, people will watch it,” he said.

Wavey hopes that his videos serve as tools to help other LGBT individuals.

He recorded and posted online part of his own coming-out experience in a highly personal and emotional video of him telling his grandmother about his see WAVEY, page 2

Ladies hit the gym tonight for Girls Night Out by

Brionna Jimerson

Daily Editorial Board

Virginia Bledsoe/Tufts Daily

The African Students Organization and the Leonard Carmichael Society’s HIV/AIDS Initiative last night commemorated World AIDS Day 2011 with student performances and an open mic to reflect on the ongoing epidemic. The event was part of a week-long commemoration of World AIDS day, which is observed on Dec. 1 every year.

Inside this issue

Balance Your Life (BYL), a healthy lifestyle campaign run

by Tufts’ Department of Health Education, will host Girls Night Out At The Gym tonight in an effort to encourage female gym attendance and raise awareness of the importance of self-maintenance through exercise and healthy eating, according to BYL President Samantha Carle.

The event, hosted in the Gantcher Center, is designed to acquaint female students with gym equipment and teach women new exercises, Carle, a junior, explained.

The evening will center on demonstrations and practices on cardio machines, the indoor track and weight-lift machines, she added.

BYL, which also hosts free

cooking and exercise classes on campus, was started last semester by Kathryn Sweeney, a graduate of the Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy, as an internship requirement for her graduate degree program. Sweeney is an intern at the Health Education Department and in that capacity encourages collaboration between Friedman students and BYL programs at Tufts.

“We have Friedman students who come and help cook with the cooking demonstrations; they teach Gym Comes to You classes and contribute to the student blog. One of our missions is to collaborate with the Friedman School with whatever we do,” she said, adding that some Friedman School students will attend the event see GYM, page 2

Today’s sections

The Daily profiles Tony Maws, star chef at Craigie on Main.

Torn Ticket II this weekend presents ‘Merrily We Roll Along.’

see FEATURES, page 3

see WEEKENDER, page 6

News Features Weekender Editorial | Letters

1 3 5 8

Op-Ed Comics Classifieds Sports

9 10 15 Back

The Tufts Daily

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News

Thursday, December 1, 2011

New end-of-semester event aims to become annual tradition WINTERFEST

continued from page 1

other groups which are performing on campus,” Greenberg said.

WinterFest is sponsored by Programming Board and the Tufts Community Union Senate with the support of the Board of Trustees, Office for Campus Life (OCL) and the Office of the Dean of Student Affairs.

Programming Board co-chair Meredith Dworkin explained that Programming Board’s intention was not to create a single event to replace NQR, but rather a string of weekend activities designed to help students de-stress in light of the upcoming exam period.

“We know it’s not a replacement,” Dworkin, a senior, said. “NQR was a really unique event and nothing will be able to replace it, and our goal was not to replace it but to create a series of events so people can have a little fun and blow off some steam. We created a lot of events throughout the week so people just have a chance to relax with their friends before they are stuck in [Tisch Library] all week.”

Planned events differ from the original conceptualization presented to students in a May email, which explained that WinterFest was slated to include a smores station and sledding. These preliminary ideas were dropped, Greenberg explained, due

Virginia Bledsoe/Tufts Daily

Plans for WinterFest include a midday carnival similar to Tuftonia’s Day, which will feature a mechanical bull for students to ride. to warm weather that precluded the possibility of snow as well as a lack of sufficient funds.

“What was conceived of last year … did not have much behind it in terms

of a logistical framework or a budget to work it, and as we tried putting that event together, there were a lot of roadblocks, specifically snow,” he said.

“There was no way to guarantee snow,

especially with the weather we’ve been having. We decided we had to go with something that would be doable with or without snow.”

OCL Assistant Director David McGraw explained that Programming Board wanted to only advertise plans that they could guarantee would be carried out regardless of the weather.

“Everyone who’s been a part of it is disappointed that snow is not a part of it, but we’ve done everything we could to still give the essence of a winter theme,” McGraw said.

Programming Board anticipates that WinterFest will become an annual campus tradition, Greenberg noted, although it may change from year to year depending on the desires of Programming Board members.

“It won’t necessarily be in this exact form, but it certainly is the intention that WinterFest will continue annually,” he said.

McGraw added that student feedback after the event will also influence Programming Board’s plans for next year.

“I do have high hopes that some type of event that happens on the last weekend will be around annually,” he said. “Whether or not it will look like the model that we created, we’ll be able to see a lot from this year. We’re going to listen to the students and see what they thought of it.”

Girls Night Out aims to improve wellness, reduce stress GYM

continued from page 1

tonight.

Carle began planning Girls Night Out last semester, and partnered with the Athletics Department, the Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy and Department of Health Education in order to acquire expanded resources for the event.

“Last semester, we determined there’s a need and want for this event. Girls from our group and girls we spoke to said they didn’t like going to the gym and wanted to learn to use the equipment to get a good workout,” Carle said.

If the event is successful, Carle said a possible “Guys Night Out” equivalent event could occur in the spring semester.

A number of exercise experts, including sports team captains and Fitness and Individual Development at Tufts pre-orientation leaders, will be on hand to answer attendees’ questions throughout the night. Student trainers with the Tufts Personalized Performance Program (PPP) will also guide attendees through several of the evening activities, according to Daniel Kopcso, head strength and conditioning coach and manager of PPP. “The trainers will be there to give people an interactive hands-on tour of the equipment, and introduce them to

Daily File Photo

Tufts women will head to the gym tonight for Girls Night Out, an opportunity to learn more about gym equipment, exercise routines and healthy eating. exercises and routines they can try,” Kopcso said. “It’s a perfect opportunity to work in a one-on-one environment.”

Kopcso hopes that the predominately female environment tonight will help women enjoy their time more at the gym.

“We are excited about it,

because the gym is still a predominately male place,” he said. “This is an opportunity for women to not have to worry about guys being on every piece of equipment.”

Academic and social stressors can lead to poor eating and workout habits of students, Carle explained, adding

Police briefs LEAST INTERESTING WAY TO SET OFF A FIRE ALARM Two students at 6:26 p.m. on Nov. 24 set off the fire alarm in Wren Hall. Tufts University Police Department (TUPD) responded to the alarm and discovered the students had been cooking in the kitchenette on the first floor.

NIFFLERS ON THE LOOSE! Sometime between 3:00 p.m. on Nov. 28 and 9:00 a.m. on Nov. 29, more than $250 worth of copper was stolen from the construction site in front of Cousens Gym.

IT WASN’T ME TUPD at 1:18 a.m. on Nov. 30 responded to a fire alarm at the Alpha Epsilon Pi fraternity house on 45 Sawyer Ave. When the officers arrived at the house, they could see a haze of smoke and smelled what appeared to be burnt marijuana.

The officers went to the room where the alarm was activated and questioned the occupants, who stated that they had not been smoking marijuana in the room, but others had been. The officers also discovered a 30-pack of Natural Ice, with 20 remaining beers, in the room. Because the students were not 21, the beer was confiscated.

—compiled by Marie Schow

that tonight’s event will help show students that revamping these behaviors can reduce stress.

“It’s the first time the majority of us are living on our own, and a lot of people don’t know how to eat healthily or exercise,” she said. “It’s about showing people how they can

fit fitness into their daily routine and why it’s beneficial.”

Camille Littlefield, a junior, sees the Girls Night Out as a potential social networking scenario, bringing together females interested in health.

“It looks really fun, I’ll probably be there and try not to be too over-eager,” Littlefield said.

Gay rights activist uses YouTube WAVEY

continued from page 1

sexuality over the phone.

“My own coming out experience probably would have been a lot easier if I had something like my own YouTube videos, or the It Gets Better project,” he said. “For gay people to see and hear the coming out experiences of other people can be a really powerful experience.”

Wavey’s videos are designed to reach members as well as non-members of the LGBT community. He feels it is crucial for straight individuals to view his videos in order to gain a greater understanding of certain issues that face members of the LGBT community.

“For [straight people], seeing the emotion and seeing how raw and emotional that [coming out] is, it’s really eye opening for them,” he said.

Wavey charged attendees with the responsibility of using their online social media presence to promote positive change.

“I think that all of us can use social media to improve the lives of LGBT people, and all people,” he said. “It’s very powerful. You all have audiences on Facebook or Twitter; use them for good. It doesn’t matter if you have a huge platform or a small platform.”

“It’s important to use these incredible tools to build up the world rather than tear it down. I invite you to take part in that process,” Wavey said.

Features

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tuftsdaily.com

Cambridge chef’s career has grown from dishwashing to haute cuisine Jon Cheng

Daily Editorial Board

Tony Maws, chef at Craigie on Main in Cambridge, Mass., has almost too many accolades to count. Some of these include “One of America’s 10 Best New Chefs” by Food & Wine Magazine in 2005, a “Best Chef” honor by Boston Magazine three years later and most recently, the coveted James Beard Award for “Best Chef: Northeast” this summer.

Unlike his colleagues in the area, however, the 41-year-old Newton, Mass., native cites his first, eye-opening culinary experience not as a stint in Paris or with a glorified home kitchen experiment, but as a dishwasher during the summer after his freshman year in high school.

“My parents were like, OK it’s time to get a summer job,” Maws said. “At the time, I didn’t want to work in a mechanical shop, so I sent in a resume to my local restaurant.”

Within minutes, the restaurant called him back, and the rest is history. During that summer Maws learned the ins and outs of the kitchen, thereby dispelling the notion that a dishwashing job is inherently trivial and unrewarding.

“The idea of washing dishes was actually kind of fun. I saw some crazy s--t as a 15-yearold,” Maws said. “I worked with college kids, servers and cooks — it was wild. It was kind of what you read about in Anthony Bourdain’s first two chapters [of Kitchen Confidential].”

Maws also found camaraderie with the staff in the kitchen. The bonding aspect, Maws said, was appealing and drew him back to the kitchen the following year.

“Things sort of steamrolled for me,” Maws said. “I started helping on the line and I thought, ‘This is kind of cool. I could do this!’”

The prospect of a career in culinary arts was quickly becoming a reality for the high school student who helped out in his grandmother’s kitchen and experimented with cooking on his own. However, when he graduated high school, the idea of going to college made sense to him.

“I went to school,” Maws said. “At [University of Michigan] I had to pick a major.

I took a psychology 101 course and really enjoyed it … I learned about how to formulate an opinion, how to debate and [about] the general roundtable process.”

Even with the B.A. in psychology Maws received from Michigan, the summer of 1992 held few job opportunities, and he found himself back where he began. “[After the ceremony,] I was at the corner of South Station and I didn’t know what the f--k to do,” Maws said. “I [had] been working at restaurants the entire time since I was 15, so going back seemed logical.”

Maws’ post-graduation years were spent making nachos at a local bar in Cambridge, followed by a yearlong backpacking trip to Europe. After his return, he was hired at a restaurant on Martha’s Vineyard, waiting tables and helping around in the kitchen. It was during that time when he began to realize where his true passion lay.

“By the time I was 25, I tried to do different things: waiting tables, working back of the house,” Maws said. “I became friends with the chefs and then it hit me: One of them was like, ‘You work in kitchens. Have you ever thought you could do this?’ I was like, ‘I can?’

I didn’t know someone would need to give

Courtesy Jessica Rodriguez

Tony Maws is the award-winning chef at Craigie on Main in Cambridge. me permission to do this.”

At the suggestion of his friends in the kitchen, Maws sent off resumes yet again. He received good news from Chris Schlesinger, who at the time was at the forefront of the Boston culinary scene, Maws recalled.

“That’s what sort of set me on my path,” Maws said. “This means something to me.”

Schlesinger, who now helms the famous East Coast Grill in Cambridge, became a valuable mentor for the emerging line cook.

From then on, Maws worked his way up the ranks and found himself under the tutelage of Clio chef Kenneth Oringer as a sous-chef.

Still, though, Maws felt that something was missing. “[Clio] was very important for my career,” Maws said. “But I’ve always been attracted to France and at the time there were still some important cooks there. I was going to go [apprentice] under [three-Michelin starred] Marc Veyrat for free, but there were still some issues at Clio, so I didn’t go.”

As a compromise Maws traveled to Lyon, France, months later, where he apprenticed at a small, one-Michelin starred restaurant.

“The food wasn’t spectacular, but I learned a lot,” he said.

Maws would go to the market almost every day to source ingredients, a habitual practice that would later become a hallmark of his restaurant. With two days off, he was also able to travel to other parts of France, learning techniques, flavor combinations and pairings that would later influence his refined yet rustic style and his seasonal menus.

Armed with knowledge and a newfound interest in the locavore movement, Maws returned to the United States in 2003, where he set up Craigie Street Bistrot in Cambridge. Five years and countless accolades later, he moved the restaurant to another bigger space within Cambridge,

renaming it Craigie on Main.

The restaurant reflects Maws’ love for seasonal, local and exotic ingredients. They are directly sourced from all over Massachusetts, whether from farms or local inns.

“I work with 15 different farmers, maybe more,” Maws said. “I do what I do because I believe in the product and I have a relationship with these people, and at the end of the day, that’s what’s important.”

Maws’ emphasis on forage-driven produce has proven a success, and he cites consistent loyalty as the key ingredient.

One entree he offers on the menu this week, for example, is a whole-roasted Misty Knoll chicken garnished with Vidalia onions, pea greens, forked potatoes and chanterelle jus.

Some of his dishes are also inspired by his travels, most notably in Southeast Asia. One appetizer on the prix fixe menu features pig’s tails, which are fried crisp and served with pickled peanuts, cilantro and nuoc cham — a Vietnamese citrus dipping sauce.

Another of the main courses has its roots in Japanese cuisine: a northern fish like wild sturgeon is marinated in miso and sesame, accompanied by fresh rock shrimp, barley couscous, fingerling potatoes and daikon broth. His dishes demonstrate the careful effort Maws puts into finding and sourcing ingredients, as well as the thought he puts into pairing those ingredients together. Some dishes, Maws said, were worked on for years before they were put on the menu.

That focus on quality of ingredients combined with Maws’ strict and relentless discipline is why Craigie on Main is considered one of Boston’s top restaurants.

“The thing I would tell anyone is probably, ‘Shut up,’” Maws said. “If you’re concerned about money, you’re doing it for the wrong reason, or ego, or prowess.”

Grilled Eggplant and Roasted Rapini with Spiced Pumpkin Puree Serves four 2 Japanese eggplants (or whatever eggplant is available at your local farmers market) 1 fresh rapini, cleaned 1 small Long Island Cheese pumpkin (another pumpkin or butternut squash will do) 1 Spanish onion, diced 1 tbsp. grated fresh ginger 2 tbsp. Muscovado sugar 1/8 tsp. grated nutmeg 1/8 tsp. ground mace 1 tsp. ground curry powder good quality extra virgin olive oil

2 tbsp. Pedro Jimenez sherry vinegar Sweat onions, ginger and pumpkin in a covered pot or casserole on medium-high heat.

Season with salt and pepper.

After five minutes, add the spices and sweat another 10 minutes until the pumpkin is soft.

Add muscovado sugar and continue cooking another 5 minutes. Add water to cover, bring to a simmer for another five minutes.

Transfer to a blender and puree until smooth.

Cut eggplant on a bias into slices 1/2 inch thick.

Toss in a bowl with extra virgin olive oil, sherry vinegar, salt and pepper.

Light the grill 30 minutes before you plan to start cooking.

Grill until well-colored and cooked through.

Toss rapini in the same bowl and grill until crispy and slightly charred.

Serve the eggplant, rapini and pumpkin puree together on a plate. Drizzle with extra virgin olive oil and eat with some grilled country toast.

—Recipe courtesy Tony Maws

Chelsea Stevens | Loud Noises

Not NQR

F

lashback to April 2010: April Open House. For most of the day, overly exuberant students raved about the Bridge Program and the Leonard Carmichael Society in order to hoodwink prospective students like myself into believing that we could feel at home at Tufts by puttering around for an afternoon at an event that is really a total sham.

But on that day, during a no-parents panel, the charade of bulls--t was at long last dropped. And that’s when I first learned about the Naked Quad Run. Just maybe, despite the overwhelming percentage of students of below-average attractiveness at this particular AOH, this school could still be wildly fun.

December 2010. It was finally my turn to participate in one of the most talked about Tufts traditions — it would be an unbridled celebration, a liberation, an opportunity to finally let loose and embrace the very essence of Tuftsiness.

However, through an unforeseen succession of events, I ended up missing the infamous Nighttime Quad Reception entirely — a major disappointment to say the least. After wallowing in self-pity for several days, I cheered up and told myself “It’s OK, three more years!”

Then, last March, former University President Lawrence Bacow dropped a bomb that shattered my aspirations, canceling NQR on the grounds that the administration could “no longer manage the run.” A few hospitalizations and an absurd student arrest and the whole event is canceled — no ifs, ands or nude butts.

Now, I’m not one to dump all over LB for his decision. I get it. Everyone is trashed and some students over-indulge. People get all scraped up, and it attracts some sketchy publicity for the school. But after the event, when everyone is reminiscing on the truly unforgettable night of letting loose in the flesh and taking part in an irreplaceable celebration of freedom, it’s easy to see that when you set aside the few hospitalizations, NQR isn’t about the drinking; it’s about embracing the invigorating, innocuous fun of running buck naked during a New England December.

So in essence, Bacow didn’t want our new pal Tony to have to watch a student die during his first semester as president because of an absurd event endorsed — albeit reluctantly — by the school. Fair play, Larry. I feel that. Flipping through archives of the Daily and seeing all the feisty responses kind of surprised me.

“How is it,” I asked myself, “that students, prior to Bacow’s cancellation of the event, were not more disillusioned with this event being sanctioned in the first place?”

I’m not surprised that students were upset when it was cancelled. I just don’t quite understand why they were so shocked.

On the other hand, I do empathize with those who think that including the ban on NQR in the Code of Conduct is over the top. Let me get this straight: if you’re naked on the quad on the last day of fall classes, you get suspended for a semester — a little extreme, don’t you think? So, what if I’m naked on the quad say … tonight? Catch me if you can, TUPD! As if the administration hadn’t crushed our NQR dreams, they had to give us the big middle finger too.

I guess what I’m trying to say is this: NQR is gone, and that sucks. The freshmen and I will never get to run, and that sucks too.

Bacow made a decision intended both to preserve the integrity of our fine institution and to protect our new president from a tragedy. OK. So let’s view this as an opportunity — and no, I’m not talking about WinterFest, NQR’s far-inferior spawn. I’m talking about taking NQR back to the roots on which it was founded and having some unsanctioned, harmless, shameless, possibly naked fun for no reason in particular.

Chelsea Stevens is a sophomore majoring in psychology. She can be reached at Chelsea.Stevens@tufts.edu.

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The Tufts Daily

Features

Thursday, December 1, 2011

Street Smarts: Tufts’ Sartorial Scene As finals draw near, the urge to run to class in pajama pants and a sweatshirt is stronger than ever. Non-essential tasks like doing your hair, wearing form-fitting jeans and even brushing your teeth often get cast to the wayside in favor of an extra 15 minutes of sleep. But in the midst of finals havoc, there are a few Jumbos who rise to the sartorial challenge and come out shining. This week, we searched out the students who ignore the snooze buttons on their alarms in favor of arranging presentable ensembles.

Compiled by Ashley Wood Photos by Justin McCallum

“It’s nice to go to class like a bum, but it’s nicer to go to class looking like a real person.”

—Ashley Scarfo, sophomore

“I try to look nice all the time. I was abroad in Spain last semester, and people just look nicer there, so now I try to not look like a slob.”

—Connor Ferguson, senior

“I focus more on my outfit during finals.

I have a lot of leggings, and I’m kind of short so I love mini-skirts — and leather.”

—Erin Yoon, senior

“I keep to very basic colors, but I like playing around with texture. I try to be as presentable as I can be, but feel the urge to wear sweats and a hoodie out, but I can’t. I just can’t. Although in my room is another story.”

—Saman Nargund, sophomore

Weekender Arts & Living

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tuftsdaily.com

Weekender Feature

The quest for Boston’s best burger

by Calvin Hopkins and John-Michael Sequeira

Contributing Writer and Senior Staff Writer

I

t is written: “Man does not live on bread alone.” Man lives on bread, meat and cheese stacked mightily, the pinnacle of American culinary brilliance — the cheeseburger. Often seen in its basest form, the cheeseburger has populated the menus of diners, fastfood joints and taverns for decades.

In its most highly evolved form, this mouthwatering creation pummels the Hulk to the ground, outsmarts Sir Isaac Newton and beats Zoolander in a walkoff. In the epic quest for cheeseburger glory, these two reporters ventured from your friendly neighborhood food truck to city-wide restaurants in their search for Boston’s best burger.

We laid down a few ground rules before commencing our hunt. Rule #1: It’s all about the burger. Sides are just a bonus. Rule #2: There’s no such thing as too much cheese. Corollary to Rule #2: We mean it. More cheese. Rule #3: Although the milkshake-burger combo is highly regarded, this is strictly a burger affair.

Let us start by dispelling one pervasive burger myth. Mr. Bartley’s and Boston Burger Company cannot contend with the true heavy hitters. These restaurants are a great starting point for burger enthusiasts but don’t deliver the same caliber burger as do the best Boston establishments.

Instead of perfecting its signature burger taste, Mr. Bartley’s opts for a variety of flavor combinations. There exists no consistent level of quality among their options; some fall well above the mean, others are terribly misguided creations. Although a clever naming system (The Viagra, The Oprah, etc.), tasty frappes and a kitschy atmosphere make dining here an enjoyable experience, the basic components of their burgers just don’t make the cut.

Their giant patties and massively piled

toppings dwarf an otherwise unremarkable bun, leaving you with a mess of food that doesn’t resemble or taste like the burger you wanted.

Boston Burger Company does a better job of vetting their menu, with each combination of flavors equally capable of sating your burger-lust. Unfortunately, where the toppings solidly impress, the meat never quite reaches that same standard. Toppings for The King (peanut butter, bacon, fried bananas) and the Green Monstah (guacamole, pico de gallo) score points as successful, bold arrangements, but without an expertly cooked patty beneath them, the final product leaves you wanting. Though the progeny of Mr. Bartley and “Mrs.” Boston Burger Company would truly be a force to be reckoned with, we don’t expect a marriage any time soon.

At Five Guys, UBURGER and Flat Patties, a few bucks will buy you an overcooked, unimaginative and largely forgettable burger. Want unlimited free toppings? Five Guys. A burger and milkshake in under 15 minutes? UBURGER. An East-Coast attempt at a West-Coast burger? Flat Patties.

Upscale alternatives, including Eastern Standard and 5 Napkin Burger, deliver higher-class ingredients and more creative flair, but their execution leaves something to be desired.

Eastern Standard attempts a traditional, no-nonsense burger but fails to set itself apart from the competition. 5 Napkin’s flagship burger sounds delicious on paper, but the patty’s conspicuous lack of flavor detracts from its potential greatness.

Attempting to claw their way up to prestige-burger glory but falling just short are entries from the Bristol Lounge and Craigie on Main. The former plays its hand a touch too predictably, while the latter ventures out into dangerously uncharted waters. Coming in at a whopping $20, the Bristol’s punch to your wallet doesn’t quite match the one to your taste buds, but it does take the concept of a classic cheeseburger

to new heights. The finest of toppings — a thickly sliced tomato, rich butter lettuce and sharp aged cheddar, all nestled within a fluffy brioche bun — brilliantly execute a standard burger, but imagination is lacking.

On the other hand, Craigie on Main’s burger features a unique blend of short rib, flap meat, brisket and bone marrow topped with aged cheddar, onions and crisp watercress, served with a side of house-made ketchup.

For true meat lovers, in-house smoked bacon is also available at an additional cost. In reality, all of these toppings are overwhelmed by the astoundingly bold flavors of Cragie’s patty. This incredible asset is also its undoing, as it throws the overall composition terribly out of balance.

The path to burger glory is littered with the remains of weak and strong alike, but there are only three spots on the podium. Third place is typically reserved for those who have beaten many opponents, only to vanish in the wake of two superior competitors.

The burger at Russell House Tavern in Harvard Square deserves more credit.

It nails the pairing of beef and bacon flawlessly. Seasoned with a rich blend of spices, which highlights the flavor of the meat itself, this burger is impeccably grilled to your specifications. Each bite of bacon floods your senses with smoky euphoria; it’s strong enough to taste through the beef, yet subtle enough to let the precisely layered cheddar and charcoal-grilled onions shine. This powerful medley sits excellently between two thin, griddled English muffins which beautifully frame the dish. A smear of garlic aioli provides the finishing touch on an outstanding burger.

One stop further on the train to Delicious-Town brings us to Sel de la Terre, sister restaurant to haute cuisine powerhouse L’Espalier. Sel de la Terre creates an ingenious riff on the idea of the standard burger. Where others have a single primary flavor, each bite

at Sel de la Terre presents a different sampling of its component ingredients, individually planned to accentuate the burger as a whole.

The delicately seasoned beef coupled with rich, buttery pancetta generates an ever-changing dominance in the melded flavors of the meats. The aged Vermont cheddar is sharp enough to compete with the other tastes; this is the only burger that successfully balances the quantity and flavor of meat and cheese so both are always noticeable. The spicy aioli solidifies this burger’s spot in the top three, but we can’t stress enough their essential inclusion of a spectacular cheese.

We began this journey knowing there could only be one, and at long last, we arrive at the piece de resistance, an offering from Radius simply dubbed The Burger. The Burger, which weighs in at 9 oz, is first seared, then oven-roasted perfectly to your specifications. The patty contains a mixture of salt, pepper and olive oil. Not only is the meat a tremendous culinary achievement, but the cheddar is pristinely melted atop it, drastically improving both the flavor and beauty of the dish. It’s also loaded with lightly fried onion strings that maintain their crispy texture despite their proximity to such a juicy patty.

Turning the flavor up to 11, the bun’s spread of horseradish sauce is extremely creamy but not exceptionally heavy or overpowering. The sauce adds a smooth layer and another contrasting texture to this already-heavenly creation. Where our second and third place finishers have burgers with isolated and particular elements of genius, Radius’s burger delivers the highest level of artistry throughout.

We set you now on the path to glory: when the quest seems too treacherous, always remember: Where good cheese goes, a great burger shall follow.

ART COURTESY OF VECTORPORTAL AND THECULINARYGEEK VIA FLICKR CREATIVE COMMONS

The Tufts Daily

6

Arts & Living

Thursday, December 1, 2011

Restaurant Review

True Grounds brings laid-back vibe to Somerville by

Charissa Ng

Daily Editorial Board

Inconspicuously tucked across the street from popular local spots Sound Bites and Lyndell’s Bakery, True Grounds

True Grounds Coffeehouse 717 Broadway Somerville, MA 02144 617-591-9559 $ Coffee House can best be described as the little coffee shop that could. With its unassuming storefront in the less frequented Ball Square, which locals affectionately refer to as the “breakfast square,” True Grounds is the ideal Somerville coffee shop. Combining the eclectic, laidback vibe of Diesel Cafe in Davis Square with the quaint, inviting ambiance of Medford’s Danish Pastry House, True Grounds is the perfect combination of cozy and cool.

Co-owner Amy Thibeault told the Daily, “We wanted to have a community atmosphere. A warm, inviting spot for Tufts kids, young professionals and everyone who walks through the door.”

Starting with the staff bidding you a warm “hello,” True Grounds has the feel of hanging out in a friend’s living room: chalkboard menu boards, red curtains draping the windows, simple brown wooden chairs set next to a couch and a bookshelf of worn books and local artwork hanging from rustic walls of deep purple, red and green. In many ways, the young owners embody the very place they created.

Thibeault’s warm, personable nature is well-balanced with co-owner Rhett Richard’s soft-spoken, more under-

ashley seenauth/Tufts Daily

With an eclectic and laid-back atmosphere, Ball Square’s True Grounds is an ideal spot for coffee. stated demeanor as both work fluidly behind the counter.

Thibeault explained that the concept behind True Grounds came about when she and Richard met while working together at another chain bakery in Massachusetts. Hoping to get out of the city and return to their roots in Somerville, the pair spent four months converting and renovating two storefront spaces in Ball Square before True Grounds welcomed its first customers in March 2004.

Originally conceptualized as an espresso and juice bar, the juice bar was scratched due to a lack of customer interest in the area. “After our juice machine broke, we decided not to even try again,” Richard said. “It was

a learning curve along the way. The cafe itself morphed in its own way with what people wanted or requested. We moved to doing what was desired.”

By focusing their attention on the espresso bar, Thibeault and Richard set out to make quality coffee a priority. “We were always going to have good, local coffee. Something that we would want to be drinking,” Thibeault said. But what’s a cup of coffee without something sweet to go with it? That’s where the scones come in. While it’s no question that people need their daily caffeine fix, it’s also the scones that keep locals coming back to True Grounds for more. From the classic blueberry and strawberry to the buttery, icing-laden lemon-cranberry,

scones are a huge draw for the locals for reasons unknown to the owners.

“When I first moved down to the area, I didn’t really think much of scones,” Thibeault admitted. “But every cafe that I had either worked in or visited, they all had scones. It works here.”

In addition to the generous baskets of scones and pastries behind the counter — nearly all baked fresh in-house, of course — many people come in for the sandwiches. Whether it’s grabbing a traditional egg breakfast sandwich with your morning coffee or a more sophisticated grilled panini with your afternoon tea — try the Pearson made with turkey, pesto, fresh mozzarella and slices of Granny Smith apples — True Grounds brings quality and care to the drinks and baked goods they serve.

Thibeault and Richard place an emphasis on customer service and community above all else. Going on their eighth year in the business, Thibeault and Richard’s greatest strength — particularly during the economic downturn in 2008 and 2009 — is arguably their loyal customer base and close relationship with True Grounds regulars.

“We’ve watched some of our customers’ kids grow up in this place.

Getting to know our customers — that’s definitely one thing that we’re proud of,” Thibeault said with a grin.

“What I enjoy most is the people that we work with and the people who come through the door. They’re just like our neighbors. It’s great being part of the community.”

And many locals in the neighborhood could say the same about True Grounds. With its welcoming ambiance, good coffee and even better company thanks to owners Thibeault and Richard, True Grounds is a humble oasis that has slowly but surely established its well-earned place in the small local business scene in Somerville.

Theater Preview

Torn Ticket II tackles Sondheim’s challenging score by

Zoey Turek

Daily Staff Writer

There are two things every good musical needs in order to be successful: a talented cast and a dedicated director.

Musical theater group Torn Ticket II’s upcoming production of “Merrily We Roll Along,” directed by senior Elizabeth Sharpe-Levine, has both of these elements and more.

Before extolling the virtues of the cast, it’s necessary to say a few words about the show’s music. “Merrily We Roll Along” was written by Stephen Sondheim, who composed

some of the most notoriously complicated and confusing musical theater of our age.

“I love Sondheim and I walked into this show knowing music because I’ve listened to all his shows for years, just for fun,” Sharpe said. “I cannot possibly imagine what it must be like to have to learn a Sondheim score that you’ve never heard before. So the fact that they pulled it together is stunning.”

With 12 cast members, this show is larger than a typical student-run performance. The cast includes six fresh faces to the Tufts theater scene, includ-

ing four freshmen.

“Some shows here, it’ll be 10 people who’ve done six shows together before, which can be great because you have a working relationship,” SharpeLevine said. “You don’t always get this chance to have a group of people where you’re building from scratch, so that’s been really fun and unexpected.”

However, “Merrily We Roll Along” is unique in more than just its music. The show opens at the end of a rocky relationship between three professionals and proceeds backward in time, revealing the characters’ stories and how each one got to the

What’s Up This Weekend Looking to make your weekend artsy?

Check out these events!

SoC Presents: Durty Dancing: Nobody puts Spirit of Color in the corner. Check out the Tufts dance group’s semesterly show. Thursday at 9 p.m. and Friday at 8 p.m. in Cohen Auditorium. Tickets are free with Tufts ID at Balch Arena Box Office.

Mac Miller at House of Blues Boston: Riding the coattails of his first LP, “Blue Slide Park” (2011), Mac Miller will take the stage in Boston for one night only.

The 19-year old Pittsburgh native sprung onto the rap scene with his mix-tape “Best Day Ever” (2011) and promises to put on a great show. Saturday at 8 p.m. at House of Blues Boston. Tickets cost between $20 to $32.50, and can be purchased at Ticketmaster.com.

“Merrily We Roll Along”: Come watch Torn Ticket II’s rendition of Stephen Sondheim’s renowned musical about the life of a wealthy and bitter composer.

Tonight, Friday and Saturday at 8 p.m. at Balch Arena Theater. Tickets are free with a student ID and can be purchased at the Balch Arena Box Office.

Matsuri Culture Show: The Tufts Japanese Culture Club presents the Matsuri Culture Show. Stop by DeWickMacPhie Dining Hall for a night of interactive games, prizes and live performances. Plenty of free Japanese food will be available. Saturday at 9 p.m. Admission is free with a Tufts ID. “Bio Feedback: Ecosystems, Psychoacoustics, and Other Musical Phenomena”:Come see the Tufts New Music Ensemble give an avant-garde performance involving music generated by numerous unlikely sources like brain waves. Tufts alumnus Alex Chechile (LA ’03) will perform as a guest. Friday at 8 p.m. in Distler Performance Hall.

Admission is free.

—compiled by the Daily Arts Department

point at which we meet them.

Depending on how you interpret the musical, it can be either heartwarming or heartbreaking.

Focusing for a minute on the student director, SharpeLevine chose “Merrily We Roll Along” herself and went into production after being approved by the voting members of Torn Ticket II. “Stephen Sondheim is my personal god,” Sharpe-Levine told the Daily. In order to direct a production in Balch Arena Theater, students must have taken at least two semesters of

ASHLEY SEENAUTH/TUFTS DAILY

see MERRILY, page 7

‘Merrily We Roll Along’ brings fresh faces on stage at Tufts.

Top Ten | Other ways to celebrate nudity in December Like the rest of you, we at the Daily Arts Department had quite some time to mourn the loss of Naked Quad Run (NQR) — so much time, in fact, that we’ve decided to stop whining and start being constructive. With WinterFest approaching, we compiled a list of fun activities that, if done in private or off-campus, should allow you optimal use of your birthday suit without running (get it?) the risk of suspension.

6. Nude Polar Bear Club: Cold: Going for a winter swim in the Atlantic with Coney Island’s Polar Bear Club.

Colder: Going for a winter swim in the Atlantic with Coney Island’s Polar Bear Club swim in the buff.

10. Naked mechanical bull riding: Combining the best of WinterFest and NQR.

4. Naked snowmen: You know what they say about a big carrot nose...

9. Human Centipeding: Is this a verb yet?

5. Nude polar bear clubbing: There’s nothing quite as exhilarating as harvesting precious blubber for the harsh winter with pure grit and a blunt instrument.

3. Hypothermia: Is cured by...

2. Snuggling: See: “hypothermia.”

8. Mimic snow owls: Have you ever seen an owl wear pants? Neither have we.

1. Reading the Daily naked: You read it naked, we write it naked.

Deal?

7. Naked Christmas decorating: ‘Tis the season to be naked. Warning: Pine needles and sensitive areas don’t mix.

—compiled by the Daily Arts Department

Thursday, December 1, 2011

The Tufts Daily

Music Review

Kate Bush’s ‘50 Words for Snow’ casts mystical wintry enchantment by

Kate Griffiths

Daily Staff Writer

Attention to anyone who craves a winter-themed album but despises traditional Christmas music: Kate

50 Words for Snow Kate Bush

Fish People/EMI Bush’s “50 Words for Snow” is what you seek. Releasing two studio albums in one year for the first time since 1978, Bush continues to make mystical, surreal and hypnotizing music.

The album would be perfect to listen to in the midst of a snow-laden landscape. In the opening song, “Snowflake,” the rhythmic, tinkling piano evokes the muffled sounds produced by snow drifts. Bush’s son, Bertie, contributes his choral, soaring vocals to “Snowflake” as the voice of a snowflake who falls to Earth and comments on what he sees. He speaks, rather than sings, “We’re over a forest/ There’s millions of snowflakes/ We’re dancing,” and Bush responds, “The world is so loud/ Keep falling/ I’ll find you.” As Bertie intones, “In a moment or two/ I’ll be with you/ Be ready to catch” toward the end of the hefty, nine-minute opener, there is a lingering sense of sadness. The song gradually quiets down, mimicking the manner of a falling snowflake melting on impact.

Bush certainly does not deliver traditional winter-themed songs. Instead, she has always been known for her unapologetically bizarre way of making music and her unique, pseudooperatic vocals. Influencing people from John Lydon, aka Johnny Rotten of the Sex Pistols, to Florence Welch of Florence + the Machine, Bush has consistently been making the music scene a more interesting place for 33 years.

While there are only seven tracks on “50 Words for Snow,” the entire

KateBush.com

Kate Bush’s latest furthers the artist’s ethereal sound. album has a running time of 65 minutes. “Lake Tahoe,” the second track, is an 11-minute story of a ghost who haunts the title lake, searching for her lost dog. Bush conjures poetic descriptions of the stereotypical, lovebeset woman, but those are almost parodied by the fact that the woman is only looking for a lost pet. The lyrics poignantly illustrate the ghost’s story: “Tumbling like a cloud that has drowned in the lake/ Just like a poor, porcelain doll.” Her imagery is haunting at turns, revealing the gothic influences on Bush’s songwriting. This artist has a tale to tell in each track on the album, and she creates a welcome contrast to the tiring, repetitive songs that clog up the airwaves.

“Misty” is probably the album’s most intriguing track. The story here is of a woman who sleeps with a snowman and wakes up to find him, inevitably, melted. The concept is ridiculous, and yet, somehow, the track’s pathos is great. Bush manages to blend a surreal romance — “And when I kiss his ice-cream lips/ And his creamy skin/

The Artsy Jumbo

Weitzman experiments with electronic music

His snowy white arms surround me” — with slightly grotesque images — “His crooked mouth is full of dead leaves” — and the effect is incredibly evocative.

Bush’s encounters with supernatural creatures continue in “Wild Man,” in which she recounts the tale of the abominable snowman. She alternates between a whisper and a forceful cry in the chorus, demonstrating her impressive vocal range.

The story follows a group of travelers who find the yeti’s footprints in the snow, and, in an act of incredible compassion, brush them away so it cannot be hunted down. This is one of the shortest songs on the album, and though it runs over seven minutes, it does not feel even a second too long.

The ability to not lose momentum over the course of such a long track further proves Bush’s skill and validates her deserved confidence in her songwriting ability.

Bush teams up with her teenage idol, Elton John, for “Snowed in at Wheeler Street,” a sci-fi love story that spans the ages. Bush and John play a timetraveling couple. They meet at certain points in their lives, including the fall of Rome to when “We met in ’42/ But we were on different sides.” The song builds up from a circular rhythm to a crescendo from both vocalists; drums clash as they declare, “I don’t want to lose you again.”

The penultimate title track is exactly as advertised: Stephen Fry monotonously rattles off 50 poetic synonyms with snow as Bush counts each one.

Included among those 50 are “blackbird Braille,” “shimmerglisten” and the Klingon “pedtah ’ej chis qo.” The song, which demands a sense of humor, certainly lightens the evocative mood created by its preceding tracks.

The magic of Bush’s latest lies in her powerful lyrics — specifically in the mood they conjure — and their simplistic musical accompaniment.

“50 Words for Snow” is a cohesive and beautifully tied-together album that encapsulates winter’s sense of mystery and grandeur.

Torn Ticket II takes on a Sondheim classic MERRILY

continued from page 6

Natalee Birchansky/Tufts Daily

As both a member of the group Handsome Presidents Club and a solo artist under the name Truth Spherum, junior Ben Weitzman has found himself dabbling in the world of electronic music during his time at Tufts.

According to Weitzman, it was only recently that he was introduced to electronic music. As Truth Spherum, Weitzman has even created his own unique genre called “dumb ‘n bass.” “It’s sort of a parody of drum and bass, another form of electronic music,” Weitzman said. “I enjoy experimenting and creating sounds, playing around with it and learning how to do it.”

What drew Weitzman to this genre of music was the ease and improvisation of the creative process. “Anyone who has a computer can mess around and do it.

I can make it sound good without having to invest a lot of money and time,” Weitzman said.

Also including juniors Ali Berger, Marshall Moutenot and Thomas Cahill, the Handsome Presidents Club has selfreleased a total of eight albums, each running for about 40 minutes to an hour long. “All of The Handsome Presidents Club stuff is improvised with no editing,” Weitzman explained. “We play it, record it and that’s it.”

Weitzman’s personality mimics the offthe-cuff improvisation of his music: He’s a humble musician and doesn’t take himself too seriously. Or, in his words, “We’re just doing it for fun.”

—by Charissa Ng

7

Arts & Living

directing through the Department of Drama and Dance. “Since [the department is] really protective of this space, which they have the right to be, they want to make sure that people are not in over their heads when they get here,” she said.

One of the most challenging aspects of a production in Balch is staging for a theater in the round.

Sharpe-Levine said, “It’s interesting, because there are all these concerns you have when you’re in the round. It’s been frustrating. You’re supposed to be thinking, ‘What do you get to see?’ But I also have this other level in my brain that thinks, if I have someone sitting in one section, what are they not seeing?”

But Sharpe-Levine explained that it’s also liberating to have 360 degrees of stage to work with. She said, “Now it’s almost impossible to imagine [the performance] restricted to just one direction. One of the greatest things about in the round is that you don’t have to cheat out [an acting term referring to always facing towards the audience]; you’re always facing someone. But, then, the downside is that you always have your back to someone.”

“Merrily We Roll Along” runs Thursday, Dec. 1 through Saturday, Dec. 3 at 8 p.m. each night. Tickets are free, and can be picked up at the Balch Arena Box Office.

Tai Frater | Chewing the Fat

Giving thanks

T

he season of good will is upon us. And, rather delightfully, you U.S. folk have decided to slot in another holiday just before Christmas. Although my love of the TV series “Friends” (1994-2004) means I was aware of Thanksgiving, my knowledge of the holiday was somewhat limited.

Unsurprising, really, since the very same TV show once led me to believe that “Chrismukkah” was a genuine holiday.

Anyway, I did know that this holiday positively encourages the sin of gluttony, and I was enthusiastic about this new addition to my culinary calendar.

My first Thanksgiving experience was at the International Thanksgiving Dinner, at which we enjoyed the traditional delights of turkey, pumpkin pie and, erm, bingo. Yup, bingo — as in, the cross-out-numbers, win-big-prizes game. I love it when your first experience of a new tradition is governed by the mentality that “this is the way things are supposed to be,” whether it’s true or not — hence people’s staunch defense of ludicrous family traditions.

(OK, so my family has pork pie for Christmas breakfast every year — I think that’s normal and the rest of you are weird.)

Therefore, my initial Thanksgiving experience meant I could dismissively look down on all future Thanksgivings as insufficient without a jolly good game of bingo. And what a game it was: presented with great humor and charm by a veteran Tufts lecturer with an impressive array of bingo calls.

The International celebration had many other merits: a gorgeous setting, wonderful food, a great crowd and a really moving reading by two children on the true meaning of Thanksgiving. My American friends had been somewhat vague on this subject, so it was nice being enlightened by a four-year-old where the adults had otherwise failed.

The next event on my Thanksgiving calendar was a feast organized by my roommate’s mother, Mrs. B. Now, when I was first told that Mrs. B. was planning on cooking us a Thanksgiving meal, I could not have possibly envisioned what was to follow. Mrs. B. arrived with an entire car full of ingredients, including a sack of sweet potatoes, huge bags of beans and carrots, appetizers and a 25-lb turkey. She even had seasonal table cloths, disposable tableware and decorations — my personal favorite was a concertina turkey. After mixing frozen margaritas to get us all in the festive spirit, Mrs. B. assumed the role of head chef, and we began to prepare a huge feast for all to enjoy.

The plentiful appetizers and traditional Thanksgiving supper were so delicious that it was hard to believe they were catered en masse. Unbelievably, despite feeding the 15-or-so hungry souls present, there was enough leftover soup and salad that we enjoyed the spoils for several days.

Two Thanksgiving celebrations down, and there was still time for the main event — Thanksgiving Day. For this, my U.S. family whisked me down to Philadelphia to join in their family’s celebrations. I enjoyed two more delicious turkey dinners with family and friends and, once more, I felt the need to go on a serious diet and exercise regime after all my experiences.

By now, I have the menu down-pat, and though I have a newfound love for turkey, cornbread stuffing and green bean casserole, these were not my personal highlights of Thanksgiving.

For me, the very best thing about Thanksgiving was the opportunity to share food and spend time with friends and family. It made me realize how lucky I am to have all these wonderful new people in my life, and for that I am truly thankful.

Tai Frater is a graduate student studying occupational therapy. She can be reached at Tai.Frater@tufts.edu.

The Tufts Daily

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Thursday, December 1, 2011

A lukewarm WinterFest

Carter W. Rogers Editor-in-Chief

Editorial | Letters

When former University President Lawrence Bacow announced last March that the Naked Quad Run (NQR) would not continue, a committee of Programming Board members and Tufts Community Union (TCU) Senators set to work selecting an event to celebrate the end of fall semester classes. The event decided upon, WinterFest, was to feature a tubing course, a snow sculpture competition, a smores station and a heated tent featuring a DJ. Obviously, no event could hope to take the place of NQR, in all its frozen and irreverent glory, but WinterFest promised to be a fun and relaxing way to end the fall semester. Unfortunately, the schedule the Programming Board has published for next weekend’s event bears little resemblance to WinterFest as it was originally envisioned.

The main problem is that there really isn’t anything wintry about it. The tubing course, sculpture competition, and smores station have all been axed.

Instead, the cornerstone event, the Winter Carnival, will feature a mechanical bull, a rock-climbing wall, laser tag, rides and Boston food trucks. Don’t get us wrong — it sounds like fun, but it’s a disappointment compared to the event that was originally planned.

It was said last semester that WinterFest was modeled after the annual winter carnivals at Dartmouth and Middlebury Colleges. But the highlights of those carnivals include skiing and human dog sledding contests, gingerbread castle building,

and a chili contest. By comparison, our own WinterFest seems pretty sparse. And without any winter-themed activities, our carnival is really just a watered down version of Tuftonia’s Day, except that it takes place in the cold, in the middle of the day on perhaps the busiest academic weekend of the semester.

Programming co-chair Leo Greenberg, a senior, said the event had to be scaled down because of unseasonably warm weather and insufficient funds. These are inadequate excuses.

The Programming Board and TCU Senate could not seriously have been so shortsighted that they didn’t have a backup plan in case snow was not yet on the ground by the second week in December.

We live in Medford, not Montreal. We frequently don’t see snow cover on the ground until the end of the month.

Also, the original plan for WinterFest called for a snow machine to help construct a tubing course on the President’s Lawn. If the TCU Senate just allocated an additional $40,000 to this year’s Spring Fling, it should be able to afford a snow machine for WinterFest.

And if it can’t, that’s very disappointing, because the TCU Senate promised last semester to make funding WinterFest a priority. At the beginning of this semester, it was sitting on a surplus of at least $170,000.

The Programming Board is advertising WinterFest as a series of events throughout the weekend of Dec. 9-11, including a B.E.A.T.s performance, a hypnotist show,

Big Prize Bingo, and the Annual Pancake Breakfast Study Break with University President Anthony Monaco. Many of these events, such as the B.E.A.T.s show and the nighttime pancake breakfast, would have been occurring anyway.

While all these events are worth attending, they don’t seem to be in the spirit of WinterFest. They have nothing to do with winter, for one thing, and few of them are special occasions.

Many of these events usually occur during orientation week, and for good reason: Nobody has any work to do. The last weekend of the semester is one of the busiest academically, so it’s unlikely much of the student body will be able to make it to many of the festivities.

Unlike Spring Fling, these are not marquee events for which people rearrange their schedules.

We know that Medford and Somerville aren’t exactly winter wonderlands. Many traditional winter activities, like skiing or polar bear swimming, simply aren’t possible, no matter how innovative the Programming Board is. But there’s a lot more they could have done to make the inaugural WinterFest an exciting event.

Sledding, tubing and snow sculptures are all possible if people are willing to put in the time and resources to make them happen.

We aren’t looking for an event that can replace NQR. We’re looking for a new tradition to memorably celebrate the end of the semester, and WinterFest — in its current form, at least — isn’t it.

anna christian

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Off the Hill | University of South Carolina

Pizza not a vegetable, unacceptable

BUSINESS Laura Moreno Executive Business Director Christine Busaba Advertising Director Saanya Gulati Receivables Manager P.O. Box 53018, Medford, MA 02155 617 627 3090 FAX 617 627 3910 daily@tuftsdaily.com

by

Cassie Stanton

The Daily Gamecock

Recently there has been uproar about Congress accepting pizza as a vegetable for school lunches. In my personal food pyramid, pizza definitely falls into the vegetable category. Granted this is mostly because I don’t have time to prepare nutritional home-cooked meals or the money to pay for healthy restaurants.

So yes, on a day where breakfast consists of a cereal bar, lunch is a fast food burrito and a frozen pizza is dinner, the pizza counts as my vegetable.

But I’m an adult and what I choose to eat is completely my decision. Young students don’t have this same control, and the laws that dictate their menus need to consider more nutritional options.

In contrast to my college diet, healthy options are essential for K-12 students who are limited to lunch in their school’s

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.

cafeteria. According to the Los Angeles Times, more than 31 million students receive free or low-cost meals. These students depend on the education system to provide them with quality options.

In an environment that caters to learning and education, younger students don’t need to be filled with fatty foods.

They should instead be taught how to lead healthy lifestyles.

The Los Angels Times also said half a cup of tomatoes make an eighth cup of tomato paste. Therefore the amount of tomato paste in pizza constitutes a serving of vegetables. In addition the article said, “an eighth cup of tomato paste has more vitamins A and C than a half cup of canned green beans.” But the students aren’t eating plain tomato paste.

They’re eating tomato paste, smashed between cheese, processed bread and often topped with an often hard-to-identify meat substance.

The article said “critics say legislators acted at the behest of giant food companies looking for an inexpensive way to deliver meals that count as having a serving of vegetables.” If this is the case, then lawmakers need to place priority on future generations instead of financial incentives of large corporations. The health of our nation’s youth is important in overcoming the obesity rates that plague America.

Healthy eating habits start early on and the foundation should be built when students are in school so healthy children can become healthy adults (though food habits may falter a little during the college years.) Ultimately, pizzas don’t grow from the ground, aren’t green and don’t come from a plant; so, pizzas are not vegetables. If you throw cheese, meat and bread into a salad, it’s still a salad, albeit an unhealthy one. Adding a vegetable as an ingredient in a pizza doesn’t make the pizza a vegetable.

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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.

The Tufts Daily

Thursday, December 1, 2011

9

Op-Ed

From the director of Public and Environmental Safety regarding NQR by

Kevin Maguire

An open letter to Tufts University students regarding important information about the ban on the Naked Quad Run (NQR) and possible consequences for violations: As director of Public and Environmental Safety, my primary responsibility at the university is to keep our community safe. I write to you, our students, today to do just that: to provide you with information that you can use to keep yourself and your friends out of harm’s way. Also, many have asked for more detail regarding the consequences of violating the ban on the NQR. As you know, Tufts University has ended the NQR. University President Anthony Monaco and the senior administration have recognized the dangerousness of this event and, in order to prevent serious injury or worse, support the actions of the Committee on Student Life (CSL), the Dean of Student Affairs and the Tufts University Police Department ( TUPD) to enforce the ban and to impose significant sanctions on those found to be in violation.

Though I am still relatively new to Tufts, I know from talking with members of the TUPD that most of you don’t need the information in this message; you are hard-working, respectful students who want to successfully and safely complete your studies and move on to accomplish great things. Still, there may be very few students who are

contemplating violating the university’s decision to end NQR. Since these students cannot be identified ahead of time, I must address this generally to the entire student body. The CSL policy regarding the ban on the NQR states that any student who violates the ban will face a one-semester disciplinary suspension from Tufts, which would be imposed immediately, disqualifying the student from enrollment in the spring 2012 semester. This suspension would also be noted on the student’s permanent transcript.

The CSL policy gives university officials the authority to determine what will constitute nudity under the ban.

In general, that determination will in most cases be made by the Dean of Students office and/or TUPD based on the definitions in the laws of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.

Public nudity is not only a violation of the ban on the NQR but also a violation of the Massachusetts General Law against indecent exposure, a crime that is defined as exposing one’s genitals and/or buttocks and/or breasts in a public place where others are present and may witness the act. In addition to the one-semester suspension, violators subject themselves to possibly being charged criminally with indecent exposure, the penalties for which include up to six months in jail, fines of up to $200 and probation. Simply being arrested and charged with indecent exposure, regardless of the final

verdict, results in a permanent court record of arrest.

The Dean of Students and TUPD will determine what constitutes alcohol intoxication consistent with our current policies. Generally, students will be considered intoxicated if as a result of alcohol consumption, they are incapacitated, behaving in a disorderly manner, are unconscious or otherwise in need of medical attention, or appear to be likely to cause property damage or physical injury to themselves or others.

Students who are determined to violate the ban on the NQR by being intoxicated or engaging in indecent exposure will be processed in one of two ways, depending on the conduct they exhibit. Students who are disorderly and remain so, or who become violent during or after being placed into custody, subject themselves to arrest for the charges of disorderly conduct and/or assault and battery.

The penalties if one is found guilty of disorderly conduct include a fine of up to $150 and probation. Being arrested and charged with disorderly conduct results in a permanent court record of arrest whether or not there is a final guilty verdict. The penalties if one is found guilty of assault and battery include up to two-and-a-half years in jail and fines of up to $1,000.

Students who are not disorderly or violent but who are in need of services based on intoxication will be placed into protective custody, identified for

further action by the Dean of Students Office in accordance with the new CSL policy, and transported to the nearest medical facility for evaluation.

Students who refuse to provide their name to the Dean of Students office and/or the TUPD subject themselves to potentially harsher disciplinary consequences. Students who give a false name to police subject themselves to arrest and possible criminal charges.

The penalty for giving a false name to the police includes up to one year in jail and a fine of up to $1,000. In addition, it is likely that students charged with giving a false name to the police will be held without bail until arraignment in court.

We sincerely hope that none of these actions will be necessary. We do not want to arrest or place any student into protective custody, but we also do not want to see any students injured. The NQR endangered our students. It had to end.

I strongly urge you not to engage in activity that would result in disciplinary action or subjecting yourself to arrest in the event that you violate the law. If you know of someone considering running in violation of the ban, I urge you to counsel him or her as a peer that this action is not in his or her best interest, and to reconsider.

Kevin Maguire is the director of Public and Environmental Safety at Tufts University.

Off the Hill | University of Virginia

The right reaction Cavalier Daily Editorial Board The Cavalier Daily

Syracuse fired Bernie Fine, its longtime associate head basketball coach, Sunday night amid allegations that he had molested several ball boys while they were involved with the program. The university’s action came after a third individual stepped forward to accuse Fine last weekend and a taped phone conversation between Fine’s wife and another accuser was released in which Fine’s wife acknowledged having concerns about her husband having sexual contact with boys.

In addition to prompting Fine’s firing, these developments caused the university’s head basketball coach Jim Boeheim to apologize for comments he made earlier this month in which he said one of Fine’s accusers was “lying” and that “the kid behind this is trying to get money.” Although a police investigation of Fine’s conduct is still ongoing and he should be presumed innocent until proven guilty in accordance with due process, the response that the allegations elicited from Boeheim is a sad follow-up to the recent revelation that Joe Paterno failed to notify law enforcement authorities about allegations of child molestation lodged against Jerry Sandusky, one of his assistant football coaches while at Penn State. These two situations are evidence that major institutions such as colleges and universities need to offer better guidance to employees about how they should handle allegations of sexual misconduct that are filed against their colleagues so as to ensure that accusations are properly investigated and victims are not intimidated into silence.

Chief among the recommendations should be that

MCT

employees refrain from publicly commenting about allegations of which they lack direct knowledge out of deference for the potential victims of abuse. One of the greatest hurdles to successfully bringing child molesters to justice is that victims often are unwilling to come forward because of the backlash they fear from friends, family and other

members of their communities. This concern is amplified in cases such as the one at Syracuse, where the alleged perpetrator is a person of prominence who has a strong public reputation and many resources available to defend himself. Institutions should make clear to their employees that while they are entitled to defend themselves as Boeheim

did when accused of knowing about Fine’s alleged misconduct, it is wholly unacceptable to impugn the motives of those who accuse their colleagues.

Moreover, institutions should make clear that employees have a duty to report any credible complaints of sexual misconduct to law enforcement officials in addition to their superiors within the

organization. Even when the proper internal procedures are in place for handling such accusations, those charged with carrying them out may be influenced by personal desires to protect their friends or institutions. These shortcomings were on vivid display at Penn State, where members of the athletic department are alleged to have covered up the accusations against Sandusky in the interests of sparing the university a potential scandal.

They are evident to a lesser extent at Syracuse, where Boeheim demonstrated a significant bias in favor of his assistant coach by immediately calling into question the character of those accusing him of abuse. Although no evidence yet exists to suggest that Boeheim had knowledge of the allegations beyond what the university and police investigated in 2005, his attitude suggests that had complaints been brought to his attention alone he might have viewed them with skepticism and been hesitant to take action.

Fortunately, Univerisity of Virginia has already indicated a willingness to review its own approach to addressing allegations of misconduct in light of these scandals. “I want U.Va. to learn from negative events that happen at any university … and to model for our students how we can continue to learn and improve,” President Teresa A. Sullivan told the Board of Visitors shortly after Paterno’s firing at Penn State.

Although it is far too late to rectify the injustices done to past victims of child sex abuse, Sullivan should follow through on her pledge to engage in institutional selfreflection so that members of the university community will know how to react should such distressing incidents occur here in the future.

Op-ed Policy The Op-Ed section of The Tufts Daily, an open forum for campus editorial commentary, is printed Monday through Thursday. The Daily welcomes submissions from all members of the Tufts community; the opinions expressed in the Op-Ed section do not necessarily represent the opinions of the Daily itself. Opinion articles on campus, national and international issues should be 600 to 1,200 words in length. Op-Ed cartoons are also welcomed for the Campus Canvas feature. All material is subject to editorial discretion and is not guaranteed to appear in the Daily. All material should be submitted to oped@tuftsdaily.com no later than noon on the day prior to the desired day of publication; authors must submit their telephone numbers and day-of availability for editing questions. Submissions may not be published elsewhere prior to their appearance in the Daily, including but not limited to other on- and off-campus newspapers, magazines, blogs and online news websites, as well as Facebook. Republishing of the same piece in a different source is permissible as long as the Daily is credited with originally running the article.

The Tufts Daily

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Comics

Thursday, December 1, 2011

Doonesbury

Crossword

by

Garry Trudeau

Non Sequitur

Tuesday’s Solution

Married to the Sea

www.marriedtothesea.com

SUDOKU Level: Coming to town

Late Night at the Daily Wednesday’s Solution

Carter: “My opponent was puking his guts out while I walked out triumphantly with my stuffed animal.”

Please recycle this Daily.

by

Wiley

Thursday, December 1, 2011

The Tufts Daily

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The Tufts Daily

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Thursday, December 1, 2011

The Tufts Daily

Thursday, December 1, 2011

13

Sports

Editors' Challenge | Week 13 Fire up the grill, people. It’s our first sponsored Editors’ Challenge, brought to you by Boston Burger Company! We’re selling this space for free, but just this once. Next time we want some grub in exchange from BBC, the place for you and me! BBC, tasty treats and scrumptious eats! Or how about BBC, Big Black Counters on which we serve burgers! Just think about it.

To the BBC fried picks...

In first place once again is Daniel “The King” Rathman, who continues his reign over both the sports section at large and the BBC Eds Challenge. Like the Elvis-inspired burger, which has fried bananas, peanut butter and bacon, Rathman is a risk-taker. He may seem quiet sometimes, but that’s just because his hips are doing all of the talking.

Behind Rathman is David “Mac Attack” McIntyre, because ... how cute is that? There’s nothing cheesy about Mac Attack’s 10-6 showing last week, though, which puts him two games behind the leader.

Just one game behind D-Mac is Kate “Killer Bee” Klots, who is leaving a pile of beer-battered fellow editors in her wake. Last week, Klots went a cutthroat 14-2, though you’d never guess it from her Honey BBQ smile. Behind Klots is fourth-place Ethan “The Pilgrim” Sturm, who went an impressive 11-5 last week even though he was, you know, busy.

OVERALL RECORD LAST WEEK

Daniel 126-63 10-6

David 124-65 10-6

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

Next up is Aaron “Burger Bomb” Leibowitz, whose 10-6 performance was not nearly as explosive as he would have liked. After Leibowitz it’s Lauren “Black and Bleu” Flament, whose ego must be bruised after a Ben “Hot Mess” Kochman-esque 9-7 week. Flament’s had her share of injuries this season, but that’s nothing a good ol’ Cajun rubdown can’t fix.

Like a refreshing pineapple-and-ham burger served up on one of BBC’s big black counters for just $8.50, Alex “Waikiki Beach Burger” Prewitt wrote a refreshing story today that says nice things about somebody. How quaint, though we think Prewitt should be less interested in humans and more in picking NFL games correctly.

Behind Prewitt, it’s Matt “All-American” Berger, who feels — no surprise — at home this week after going 13-3 last week. After Berger, we have Kochman, whose discombobulated demeanor and picks — he picked Minnesota this week, “ironically”— have again put him near last place. Rounding out the field are a couple of spicy dames: Claire “Jalapeño Burger” Kemp and Annie “The Inferno” Sloan. Sadly, these burgers have more bite than these chicks’ picks.

Guest-picking this week is features editor Martha “Bahama Mama” Shanahan. Will she be consumed by the sports section, or will her exotic-ness — what’s the Features section, anyway — keep her intact?

Kate 123-66 14-2

Ethan 120-69 11-5

Aaron 120-69 10-6

Lauren 119-70 9-7

Alex 118-73 11-5

Matt 117-72 13-3

Ben 115-74 10-6

Claire 111-78 10-6

Philadelphia Tampa Bay Buffalo Pittsburgh New England Chicago NY Jets Miami Houston Denver Baltimore San Francisco Dallas Green Bay New Orleans San Diego

Philadelphia Tampa Bay Tennessee Pittsburgh New England Chicago NY Jets Oakland Houston Denver Baltimore San Francisco Dallas Green Bay New Orleans San Diego

Philadelphia Tampa Bay Tennessee Pittsburgh New England Chicago NY Jets Miami Atlanta Denver Baltimore San Francisco Dallas NY Giants New Orleans San Diego

Philadelphia Tampa Bay Tennessee Pittsburgh New England Chicago NY Jets Oakland Houston Denver Baltimore San Francisco Dallas NY Giants New Orleans San Diego

Philadelphia Tampa Bay Tennessee Pittsburgh New England Chicago NY Jets Miami Atlanta Denver Baltimore San Francisco Dallas Green Bay New Orleans San Diego

Philadelphia Tampa Bay Buffalo Pittsburgh New England Chicago NY Jets Oakland Atlanta Denver Baltimore San Francisco Dallas Green Bay New Orleans San Diego

Philadelphia Tampa Bay Tennessee Pittsburgh New England Chicago NY Jets Oakland Atlanta Minnesota Baltimore San Francisco Arizona Green Bay New Orleans San Diego

Philadelphia Tampa Bay Tennessee Pittsburgh New England Chicago NY Jets Oakland Atlanta Denver Baltimore San Francisco Dallas NY Giants New Orleans San Diego

Annie 110-79 10-6

GUEST Martha Shanahan

Philadelphia Seattle Tampa Bay Carolina Buffalo Tennessee Cincinnati Pittsburgh New England New England Chicago Chicago NY Jets NY Jets Miami Miami Atlanta Atlanta Minnesota Denver Baltimore Baltimore San Francisco San Francisco Arizona Dallas Green Bay Green Bay New Orleans New Orleans San Diego San Diego

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The Tufts Daily

Sports

Thursday, December 1, 2011

Improvement in distance events will help Tufts reach elite status WOMEN’S T & f

continued from page 15

last few years coming out of the fall, and that will really benefit us later in the year.”

In the jump events, the Jumbos look to be in great shape with senior AllAmerican Nakeisha Jones returning. Last indoor season, she took sixth at the NCAA Championships in the triple jump, and she was seventh outdoors. Senior Heather Theiss returns to the team after making a trip to Nationals in each of last year’s two seasons for the pole vault.

Junior Kelly Allen and senior Ronke Oyekunle will lead the throwing crew, which has dominated the region for the last two years. Both throwers qualified for Nationals in the spring — Allen in the discus and Oyekunle in the shot put. Allen placed fourth at that meet, earning All-American honors for the second straight outdoor season. With another year of experience and

strength under their belts, the duo should again be among the best in the nation. Junior Sabienne Brutus, after spending this semester abroad, will also be a contributor for the Jumbos in the throwing events.

In order to improve off last year’s indoor campaign — during which the team was largely dependent on its field athletes to score big points — the Jumbos will need to perform more consistently in the distance races. Fortunately, with their leaders returning and underclassmen improving, the Jumbos are well-equipped to become a national powerhouse.

“In the past few years, our field events have been incredible,” Priscal said. “This year, we have the depth in the running events to be able to take another step forward and improve as a team.”

Tufts will compete at the Husky Invitational on Saturday, the team’s only meet before winter break.

The Tufts Daily

Thursday, December 1, 2011 Wanted $$ SPERM DONORS WANTED $$ Earn up to $1,200/month and give the gift of family through California Cryobank’s donor program.

Convenient Cambridge location.

Apply online: SPERMBANK.com

Wanted Admin/Assistant Clerk Needed.

Responsibilities include taking messages, preparing reports. Must be dependable, hard working, and self motivating. Inquiring applicants should reply to rullmanjoboffer@hotmail.com.

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Sports

Events

Housing

MONTHLY INTERFAITH CONVERSATION Interfaith Center, 58 Winthrop St. December 1, 2011 - 12 - 1:15 PM Duncan MacLaury Unitarian Universalists *Light Lunch will be Served*

Four bedroom apartment on Ossipee Road. Available June 1, 2012. Great condition. Call Maria (781)-942-7625

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

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

Women’s Track and Field

Ben Kochman | The Wackness

Jumbos strive toward new heights by

Connor Rose

Senior Staff Writer

The women’s track and field season gets started on Saturday, and with many key athletes returning from last year’s successful campaign, the Jumbos are looking to take another step forward as a team.

Led by head coach Kristen Morwick, the Jumbos will rely on both upperclassman experience and a strong core of freshmen and sophomores to continue to grow as a program. After graduating two of the team’s three captains, Kanku Kabongo (LA ’11) and Rosie Xia (LA ’11), the team’s core of leadership will come from senior tri-captains Anya Price, Kayley Pettoruto and Katherine Tang.

A strong group of fellow upperclassmen with experience at the national level will also aid the Jumbos.

Coming off a promising cross country campaign in which the Tufts qualified for the NCAA Championships for the first time since 2006, the core of distance runners look set to deliver outstanding performances during the indoor season.

“Our team had a great cross country season and our distance runners are in great shape,” senior Nicole Priscal said. “Even though we are losing a few girls that are going abroad, our young core should be able to pick up the slack and have a great season.”

Price will again lead the strong group of younger runners. Sophomores Madeleine Carey, Lauren Creath and Abby Barker, all of whom were members of the Nationals squad, made significant improvements over the cross country season and will be assets to the team.

Sophomore Laura Peterson is coming off

a superb finish to her cross country season in which she placed third for the Jumbos at the NCAA Div. III Championships. She will look to build off her strong cross country performance, as well as the experience she gained during her freshman indoor campaign.

Though the distance events look to be in good hands, the Jumbos will have to succeed without cross country tri-captain junior Lilly Fisher, as well as classmates Julia Hajnoczky and Lydia Jessup, all three of whom were key members of the fall team. Fisher placed first for Tufts at Nationals, and Hajnoczky finished among the top seven. The three runners, who all showed signs of marked improvement, will be abroad next semester.

Amy Wilfert (LA ’11), who graduated last spring, had been the frontrunner for the Jumbos for two years. As one of the best distance performers in the country, she was always counted on to produce points.

“Wilfert was our strongest distance runner for the past few years,” Pettoruto said. “She scored a lot of points for us and that is definitely a hole we will need to fill.”

The absence of Kabongo and senior Dayorsha Collins, who is still rehabilitating from knee troubles, will also be tough blows to the jumping and sprinting groups.

“Losing Kanku is definitely tough,” Pettoruto said. “She was a major player in the jumps, sprints and relays. She was also a great leader for us and we will miss her presence. Dayorsha is still trying to work back from a knee injury, and we are hoping she will be available during the spring to run for us.”

The sprinting core will bring back many of last year’s key members as well. Juniors Sam Bissonnette and Alyssa Corrigan, important

Regis College Invitational next up WOMEN’S BASKETBALL

continued from page 16 was at the heart of the Tufts surge, finishing the first half with nine rebounds, three blocks, two steals and four points. Morehead had eight points of her own, but the team as a whole struggled to find good shots, taking far too many shots from the arc and going just 3-for-17 from distance in the first half.

“It was a combination of things in the first half,” head coach Carla Berube said. “We were rushing things, taking the first shot we saw instead of working our offense, working the ball into the post, and then having them collapse on us to open things up outside.”

The Jumbos came out with renewed vigor in the second half, forcing six turnovers in the first six minutes and turning them into a 19-5 burst that put the game out of reach. Over the course of the second half, Tufts managed to turn 13 turnovers into 19 points.

“We kept our energy up, which is usually our mistake in the second half,” Morehead said. “We made sure to keep pushing through and to get shots on defense when our shots weren’t falling.”

“In the second half, we got more shots in transition, more layups in transit, and easy shots out of breaking their press,” Berube added. “It’s much easy to score that way then to shoot up threes all half like we did in the first half.”

As the half wore on, Berube was able to give more time to some of her younger players, who responded with strong play.

Freshman Hannah Foley finished with seven points, four rebounds and two steals, while classmate Hayley Kanner had six points and two boards. McClure had 11 points in her first collegiate start, while Morehead finished with a game-high 15 points while chipping in six rebounds of her own. Though she went down hard after a layup and briefly came out of the game, she still played the most minutes of any Tufts player. “[The freshmen] are an integral part of this team, and they have done a great job of coming right in and being confident,” Berube

Middleburied

S

Justin McCallum/Tufts Daily

Senior Nakeisha Jones placed sixth in the national triple jump competition last season, earning All-American recognition. members of last year’s successful 4x400meter relay team, will be back after narrowly missing a bid to Nationals last year.

The fall track program that the sprinters, jumpers and throwers went through while the cross country runners were competing was improved this year, resulting in better fitness and strength as the season approaches.

“Matt Capone, our new graduate assistant, was very helpful during the fall,” Pettoruto said. “He helped design great workouts for us in the fall in addition to getting us in the weight room for some quality lifts. I think we are in better shape than we have been in the see WOMEN’S T & F, page 14

Rising seniors form talented secondary FOOTBALL

continued from page 16

Alex Dennett/Tufts Daily

Freshman Kelsey Morehead (left) netted a game-high 15 points in Tuesday’s win over Salem State. said. “I’m very happy with how they have matured this early in the season.”

With the victory, the Jumbos are now on a three-game winning streak, their longest since February. Following two early losses, they seem to have hit their stride, winning all three since falling to Whitman by double digits.

“We are trying to get four more wins before winter break,” McClure said. “We have a lot of competition in January with the NESCAC season starting so we are just trying to get prepared for that, so four strong wins going into it would be great.”

The Jumbos are off for a few days before a short drive west to Weston, Mass., for the Regis College Invitational. Tufts will take on Saint Joseph’s on Friday and then face-off with the hosts on Saturday. After dropping both games in their first weekend doubleheader of the year, they will look to put up better results against a Pride side they have beaten in two consecutive seasons.

“We’ll be better prepared for these next two games,” Morehead said. “We know how important these two wins are for the rest of our season.”

his interim tag was lifted earlier this year, and the Jumbos have reportedly been taking a more aggressive approach to offseason activities, from team workouts to recruiting.

The offense will likely run the same system in consecutive seasons for the first time since the rising seniors arrived at Tufts, making it easier to focus on getting stronger in the offseason and build off the foundation laid this fall.

“There’s a lot of things that go on in the locker room that maybe fans don’t see as growth. We became much closer as the season went on, so I’m really proud of how the team stuck together,” Kline said. “It’s not going to get any easier, so we have to get back into it.”

There will surely be plenty of doubters. After all, the Jumbos are 1-15 over the past two seasons and 3-21 dating back to 2009. And the juniors know that wins won’t be gifted on a silver platter; only hard work and directive leadership will suffice.

“We don’t have the luxury of counting on just the program to get us where we need to go, we need to step up ourselves,” Crittenden said. “We worked hard last year and the year before, but we understand that we need to step it up to the next level, and that means being fully committed from now until August. You can kind of sense that mentality throughout the team. I’m sure everyone will be excited to prove people wrong, that’s the excitement.”

For the 21 juniors ready to take over, these days there’s nothing but.

uck it, Middlebury.

If you Midd Kids can hear me through the two-foot pile of frozen crud, hear this: You’re Tufts’ new rival.

Two weeks ago I explained why having a rival to superficially devote our hate to would electrify Jumbos sports events.

Since then, I’ve talked to athletes and friends around the NESCAC, and I’ve decided that our best partner in Hateville are those granola-munching, Nalgenetoting dweebs up in Vermont.

But why do the Middlebury Panthers suck? Let me count the ways: Tufts men’s lacrosse has beaten Middlebury five straight times over the last two seasons, often with thrilling late-game goals. If you don’t grasp the importance of this, you don’t know how essential lacrosse is on our campus. Two springs ago we won the Div. III National Championship!

For one gorgeous summer, Tufts was the best at something besides being the most dangerous campus in the nation. One lock of former senior quad-captain longstick midfielder Alec Biolosky’s flow goes for thousands of dollars on the black market.

But the fact that we own the Panthers in men’s lax will only take us so far in getting this rivalry off the ground. We need specific grievances against these Middlebury folks.

We need to make generalizations about the student body, alumni and mascot.

I’ll start with the mascot: a panther?

Really? Middlebury is one of 33 schools in the country with a panther as its mascot. In a conference that includes a fighting chicken, a purple cow and a Jumbo elephant, the Panthers are incredibly boring. The NESCAC is about being original, and Middlebury is as vanilla as a Ben and Jerry’s ice cream cone.

If the Midd Kids aren’t already shaking in their Sperrys, take a look at the informative “Midd Kid” instructional video on YouTube.

Being a Midd Kid seems like so much fun.

Look at their lavish lifestyle! Look at all of the pretty ladies! All of the cheeses! Throw that granola in the air like you just don’t care!

A healthy inferiority complex is crucial to the development of this rivalry. The truth is, we can never be as cool as these posh Midd Kids. Besides wearing nicer clothes and being the champions of muggle Quidditch — a game that they invented the rules of, mind you — they also live in Vermont, where things, of course, are just nicer. They have delicious cheeses and real maple syrup in their dining halls, instead of the stuff in Dewick that forms into plastic-y ripples.

Stuff is expensive in Vermont, but that’s OK — those kids at Middlebury bathe in hundred-dollar bills, right?

Is that true? Maybe, maybe not. The point is that we have material to put on signs and bring into Cousens Gym while we scream at those sheltered Vermont losers.

Like us, Middlebury doesn’t have a natural geographic rival. Amherst has Williams.

Conn. College, Wesleyan and Trinity have their Connecticut thing going on, and as much as we’d like to be rivals with Harvard, we don’t play them in anything.

Tufts and the Panthers are like two dancers on prom night, and neither of us have dates. We see Middlebury across the floor.

They’re wearing flannel for no apparent reason and sipping a glass of maple syrup with their pinky out. There’s also a broom between their legs, just for funsies. Let us step to them, and spit on their boat shoes.

Because at least 60 percent of the time, these Panthers suck every time.

Ben Kochman is a junior majoring in English.

He can be reached on Twitter @benkochman or at bkoch.tufts@gmail.com.

Sports

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INSIDE Women’s Track & Field 15

tuftsdaily.com

MEN’S BASKETBALL

A big rebound for men’s basketball by

Claire Kemp

Daily Editorial Board

The Jumbos put their season back on track with a comfortable 87-75 win over Lesley University on the road Tuesday night, putting MEN’S BASKETBALL (3-1, 0-0 NESCAC) at Cambridge, Mass., Tuesday Tufts Lesley

47 40 26 49

— 87 — 75

last Tuesday’s heartbreaking home-opener — when visiting Regis overcame a second half double-digit Tufts lead to win 80-77 in doubleovertime despite 35 points from Jumbos senior forward Alex Orchowski — in the rear-view mirror. The win puts Tufts at 3-1 on the season, the best start the program has had since 2001.

“The Lesley game was huge for us,” senior tri-captain forward James Long said. “Especially after a tough loss against Regis where we really let up and let one slip away. Coming back [Tuesday] night and getting a win was really important for us as we try to keep moving forward this season.”

Tufts dominated from the start on Tuesday. Lesley struck first and jumped out to an 8-4 lead, but a layup from sophomore forward Tom Folliard sparked a 10-point run that gave the visitors the lead for good. By halftime, three three-pointers apiece from junior guard Alex Goldfarb and freshman guard Ben Ferris helped build a 21-point lead, 47-26. Goldfarb would go on to score a game-leading 16 points off the bench — an impressive performance from the Jumbos’ previous two-

year starter who saw just nine minutes in the season opener.

In the second, Lesley had hot hands and put up seven threes of their own at a 64-percent clip. With 9:13 remaining, the hosts had whittled Tufts’ lead to 11, but Goldfarb’s fourth three followed by a jumper sparked a 9-0 run — capped off by a layup from Ferris — that again put their lead at 20, 72-52. The Lynx never again closed within 10 as Tufts dominated the boards on the night 43-25 — led by junior tri-captain Scott Anderson’s 12 and Ferris’ seven — and allowed the home team zero second-chance points in the second half.

“We’re fine in the second half, we just need to bring the same energy as we do in first halves of games,” Long said. “[Tuesday] night I think we just had a couple shots that fell for us in the first half rattle out in the second. We’ll be OK in the second half of games as long as we keep the energy up and execute on offense.”

Overall Tufts’ guards earned the win on the day, shooting at over 46 percent from behind the arc in the first half. Goldfarb’s 16 points were followed by 15 from Ferris and nine from freshman C.J. Moss, who posted nine points and dished out six assists in his second start of the season. Sophomore Kwame Firempong assisted on seven while putting up eight points of his own.

“Generally we try to go inside out. Really pound the ball into our bigs,” Goldfarb said.

“Because when they’re scoring, it opens up opportunities on the perimeter. [Tuesday] we just did a good job of moving the ball and finding open shooters.”

However, there is no ignoring the problems Tufts had with defensive consistency and free throws. The Jumbos seemed to settle after their large halftime margin, and Lesley capi-

William butt/tufts daily

Junior guard Alex Goldfarb and the Jumbos are off to their best start to a season since 2001. talized with 63-percent shooting and caused nine Tufts turnovers which led to a 49-40 second-half Lynx upper hand. From the line, the Jumbos shot 54.2 percent — 13 for 24. These problems are not new to the Jumbos either. In last week’s double-overtime upset, Tufts had a 13-point halftime lead which slipped away late in the second. The Jumbos shot at only 47 percent from the line in the second half of that game, going just 8 for 17.

“A win always feels good coming off a loss, but I think one thing we need to focus on going into these next few games is making sure we play the full 40 minutes of every game,” Goldfarb said. “We looked good in spurts [Tuesday] night but that won’t always be enough.”

Tufts will have to address these issues quickly; they will have just two practices

in the next six days. Tonight, the Jumbos will travel to Wheaton for a non-conference showdown.

Last year, Tufts went on a 32-12 run in the final 10 minutes to top the Lyons 79-70.

This year, Tufts will look to avoid the drama and repeat Tuesday’s easy win before this weekend’s New England Big 4 Challenge at Salem State. The Jumbos will play Babson in the first round Saturday afternoon in pursuit of their second tournament title of the season. On Tuesday, Tufts will return home to welcome Plymouth State.

“We’ve had the tendency to let teams hang around once we go up,” Goldfarb said. “If we come out and play our game tomorrow night, get the ball inside, run the floor and play sound defense, we should be in good shape.”

Football

Offseason report: Junior class ready to take over by

Alex Prewitt

The junior class may have understandably found it difficult to discuss this past football season.

The future? Now that’s a frequent topic of conversation.

With all due respect to the team’s graduating seniors, those who helped spearhead the restructuring of the program’s fundamental framework, the past has long since evaporated into oblivion. It sure didn’t take long following the season finale on Nov. 12 — minutes, even — for the torch to be passed on to 21 juniors, whose on-field experience and leadership capabilities have Tufts looking beyond the intangible improvements and towards a more concrete goal: wins.

“It’s going to be really tough to fill their shoes, but of course we’re ready to step in as leaders,” junior defensive back Austin Crittenden said. “It’s ours now. We recognize it. We’ve been waiting three years for this. We’re ready. We’re ready to take the reins of this team absolutely. How could you not be excited? There’s no better story than going 0-8 and then turning the season around.”

Throughout the season, the Jumbos talked about an evolving mindset, a change instilled when head coach Jay Civetti took over the program. The harder practices, the more intense weight sessions — it all reflected a new era in Medford.

That ultimately never materialized in the win column, as the Jumbos found themselves in the NESCAC cellar for the second straight season, stuck in football purgatory: that frustrating space between effort and results.

Daily Editorial Board

Philippe Maman/Tufts Daily

Defensive back Sam Diss had one of the Jumbos’ four interceptions this season, and leads a promising 21-member Class of 2013.

“It’s time to lead and we know it’s our team now,” junior defensive back Tommy Castle said. “Last year’s seniors did a great job taking over and filling that role, especially with all the changes that were happening in the program. They set the tone for what’s really going to be a new era, and we’re looking forward in continuing that.”

Tufts held its first offseason weight-lifting session on Monday, which marked the official beginning for a junior class loaded with talent. And like this past season’s linebacking corps — senior tri-captains J.T. Rinciari and Nick Falk and classmate and NESCAC-leading tackler Zack Skarzynski — many of the rising seniors live together, and nine of them will live in the same house next season.

After the season ended, dur-

ing those couple of days without workouts, the juniors reflected on the program’s direction and their vision for the future as they replace the 16 seniors.

It’s their team now. Their turn to make a mark.

“It’s now our voices, and those need to be heard the loudest,” said tight end Nick Kenyon, who came on strong during his junior season after recovering from an ACL injury to lead the team with two touchdown receptions. “I think everyone can speak that we think the same way, we all have the same vision. We’re just one tight unit. We all just know what we need to do to move forward.”

No better example of the junior class’s overarching talent exists than in the secondary, where some of the team’s best playmakers have resided for the past three seasons.

Sam Diss is a two-time AllNESCAC player. Built like a fourdoor sedan, the 5-foot-11, 175pound Castle hits like a Mack Truck. Crittenden was fourth on the team in tackles and third in tackles for a loss. And Vinny Lee, according to Crittenden, is Tufts’ fastest player.

“It’s a great group in the secondary, obviously bringing a veteran group is great,” Civetti said. “They got better throughout the course of the year, but it’s important that they stay hungry and they want to get even better than they are right now.

But going forward, it’s great to head into a season with four or five starters back there, because they’ve all played.”

Couple that with a defensive line that, at least among juniors, returns Curtis Yancy (three tackles for a loss), Zak Kline (16 tackles) and Chris Toole, as well as an offensive unit featuring linemen Ralph Faia and Andrew Rayner, not to mention wide receiver/ punter Marty Finnegan, and there’s no reason for Tufts to not be intoxicated with the promise of returning to the field.

“Moving forward is the most important thing, because if we dwell on the things that happened whatever seasons ago, we’re not going to get where we want to go,” Crittenden said.

“We know that we have the talent, and as seniors we know that this program is going in the right direction. We have to build a winning program, there’s no other option.”

The pieces certainly seem in place to move forward. Civetti received a vote of confidence from the administration when see FOOTBALL, page 15

Women’s Basketball

Jumbos dehorn Vikings in dominant victory by

Ethan Sturm

Daily Editorial Board

The Jumbos earned their most dominant victory of the season so far, turning a low scoring first half WOMEN’S BASKETBALL (3-2, 0-0 NESCAC) Cousens Gym, Tuesday Salem State 15 Tufts 26

16 ­— 31 37 — 63

on both sides into a 63-31 victory that has the team above .500 for the first time.

Despite a three-pointer from freshman point guard Kelsey Morehead to open things up, the Jumbos got off to a slow start in the first half, missing seven of their next nine shots. But Salem State struggled as well, and after nearly nine minutes of play the score stood just 8-7 in favor of the Vikings.

Tufts finally found a rhythm, though, and the Jumbos’ end-toend runs began to pay dividends as they put together a 10-0 run to seize control. After exchanging baskets for the rest of the frame, the Jumbos took a 26-15 lead into the locker room.

“When we are struggling on shooting, we definitely focus our energy on defense and getting points off of that,” sophomore guard Caitlin McClure said. “That’s what we were able to do; really getting some transition points and that helps us really start our offense and get the flow going.”

Senior guard Tiffany Kornegay see WOMEN’S BASKETBALL, page 15