2011-2-28.pdf

THE TUFTS DAILY

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TUFTSDAILY.COM

Monday, February 28, 2011

VOLUME LXI, NUMBER 21

Where You Read It First Est. 1980

Local nonprofits weigh impact of proposed budget cuts by

Amelie Hecht

Daily Editorial Board

Danai Macridi/Tufts Daily

Yesterday was the final day of the EPIIC symposium, titled ‘Our Nuclear Age: Peril and Promise.’

At final panel, experts imagine a world after nuclear attack by

Corinne Segal

Daily Editorial Board

Speakers at the final panel of the 25th Anniversary Norris and Margery Bendetson EPIIC International Symposium yesterday discussed the scenario of a world following a 21st-century attack involving nuclear weapons.

At the panel, “The Day After: 21st Century Nuclear Attack,” Jim Walsh, of the nongovernmental Fissile Material Security Working Group, said that a response to a nuclear attack could threaten democratic principles.

“If there was a nuclear attack here, I think there’d be a strong impulse to centralize authority, to go on alert, to look for enemies [and] to punish the guilty,” he said.

In spite of this risk, Walsh was optimistic that the popular response in the event of a nuclear attack would be a cooperative one.

“The question for me is would the world rally, or would it retract?” he said. “I actually am optimistic about this particular question … When bad things have happened, it has been followed by a collective will to improve the state of affairs.” He cited the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis and the 1964 Chinese tests of

nuclear devices as cases in his argument.

Panelist Matthew Bunn, the co-principal investigator for the Project on Managing the Atom at Harvard University’s Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, considered how global powers could prevent further attacks while upholding order following a nuclear crisis.

He described a scenario in which the volume of victims affected by radiation from a nuclear attack would cripple the country’s medical resources.

Bunn was optimistic about the world’s ability to prevent a nuclear attack.

“We have managed to prevent the use of a nuclear weapon in anger,” Bunn said. “We have managed to keep a situation where there are no more states with nuclear weapons today than there were 20 years ago.”

Rolf Mowatt-Larssen, former director of intelligence and counterintelligence at the U.S. Department of Energy and former chief of the Central Intelligence Agency’s Weapons of Mass Destruction Department, discussed al-Qaida’s motivation for obtaining nuclear arms. see EPIIC, page 2

A Congressional vote to cut $61 billion from the federal budget could threaten nonprofit service organizations that serve the Medford and Somerville communities and engage many Tufts student volunteers and graduates.

The budget, which passed in the House of Representatives Feb. 19 and is still under consideration in the Senate, would eliminate funding for both the Corporation for National and Community Service (CNCS), which oversees AmeriCorps, and the Title X Family Planning program, which has since 1970 ensured public access to contraceptive supplies, services and information.

While the budget cuts might stem from the federal government, its effects will be felt close to home, many say.

National organizations may face major cuts AmeriCorps provides funding for national and local service organizations like Jumpstart, LIFT, Teach for America, Youth Build and City Year.

Jumpstart, a nonprofit that works to prepare preschoolers in low-income communities for kindergarten, serves 45 preschools in the greater Boston area. The organization, which receives roughly 40 percent of its funding from AmeriCorps, employs between 50 and 60 Tufts students each year, according to Jumpstart Northeast Region Executive Director Susan Werley Slater.

Slater said the federal budget cuts would have local implications.

“The cuts would dramatically affect the dollars that go towards social services in our communities,” she told the Daily. see BUDGET, page 2

Justin McCallum/Tufts Daily

A crowd at a rally on Saturday protested against Congressional budget cuts passed by the House. The cuts would eliminate funding for programs supported by Americorps and Title X.

Chat service will allow students to Genocide survivors collaborate, socialize on TuftsLife recount experiences by

Rachel Rampino

Daily Editorial Board

Students now have yet another way to stay in touch online, this time through a new chat room service run by TuftsLife.

TuftsLife last week launched the technology as a way to facilitate online communication between students, according to TuftsLife Chief Operating Officer Michael Vastola, a senior.

“It’s a way for students to collaborate and to talk to each other across campus and across the world,” Vastola, who is also the technical director for the Daily, said.

The chat rooms run on a program called Internet Relay Chat (IRC), which enables users to connect via topics, according to freshman Nicholas Davis, a member of the TuftsLife development team.

“There’s a lot to it, obviously, and it’s actually a powerful and diverse type of communication, but at its most basic, it’s almost like a chat

room,” Davis said. “You set up different channels based on topic. It’s a topic-based type of communication.”

While the chat rooms’ features are initially starting out small, offering simultaneous chat among multiple students, Vastola hopes to expand its use to university departments to attract a wider user base.

“We’re in the process of reaching out to various departments and trying to get this feature used,” Vastola said. “We just launched, so it hasn’t really caught on yet.”

Vastola is considering possibilities to enhance the chat rooms, such as invited “speakers” to answer students’ questions online and hopes to encourage students studying abroad to use the chat rooms to stay connected to Tufts.

Though the new TuftsLife feature may lend itself to academic purposes more than its online-chat counterparts, like Google Chat and Skype, the service still offers a social component, Vastola said.

“I just thought it would be cool because you can connect with people that you wouldn’t normally connect with,” he said.

Vastola envisioned Tufts Chatrooms this year and quickly brought it to life. TuftsLife downloaded IRC from the Internet and modified and configured it to best serve Tufts, he said.

“It didn’t take long from conception to implementation,” Vastola said.

One feature allows users to send computer-generated insults to each other, and the chat rooms can even be used for online dating, according to Vastola.

Vastola described the chat rooms, which are restricted to members of the Tufts community and require a Tufts e-mail address to use, as a less-anonymous version of the website CollegeACB. He hopes IRC’s added accountability will help the feature avoid the crudeness often associated with

Inside this issue

see CHAT, page 2

by

Marie Schow

Contributing Writer

Four survivors of genocide recounted on Thursday night their experiences before an audience in Cabot auditorium in an event sponsored by Tufts Hillel.

The program focused on the universal and contemporary nature of genocide. The speakers were survivors of four different genocides, all from the last century.

Maurice Vanderpol, who faced persecution in the Netherlands when the Nazis invaded the country in 1940, said that lessons learned during his time in hiding have stayed with him.

“You will never really be able to detoxify,” Vanderpol said in his remarks. “It has been so important to me and my wife to … live a life that has meaning.”

Sayon Soeun, a survivor of the Cambodian genocide of 1975-79, recounted his experi-

ences as a child solider. He was abducted by fighters from the Khmer Rouge.

“The government told me … my soul belonged to them,” he said.

Soeun decried discrimination based on nationality.

“It’s just pitiful when we judge each other by the cover,” Soeun said in his speech.

Jasmina Cesic, who lived through the Bosnian civil war in the early 1990s, during which most of her family was killed, spoke of her hopes for Serbia’s future following last year’s apology from that country’s government for the 1995 Srebrenica massacre.

“My only hope is such an apology will open the doors to a brighter future for the next generation” Cesic said.

Eugenie Mukeshimana, a survivor of the genocide in Rwanda in 1994, said that the see GENOCIDE, page 2

Today’s Sections

NPR, PBS and local outlets are facing budget cuts from the Republican House majority.

In tribute album, Jeff Beck masterfully blends styles for his fresh-sounding new album.

see FEATURES, page 3

see ARTS, page 9

News Features Editorial | Letters Op-Ed

1 3 6 7

Arts | Living Comics Classifieds Sports

9 12 13 Back

The Tufts Daily

2

News

Monday, February 28, 2011

Visiting the Hill this Week TUESDAY “The Science of Kissing: What our lips are telling us about us with Sheril Kirshenbaum” Details: Science writer Sheril Kirshenbaum will discuss her book about the history and future of kissing.

When and Where: 6:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.; Barnum 008 Sponsor: Environmental Studies Program WEDNESDAY “Goddard Chapel Forum: Religion in America” Details: Harfort Seminary Professor of Islamic Studies and Christian-Muslim Relations Ingrid Mattson will speak about the American Muslim identity.

When and Where: 6 p.m. to 7 p.m.;

Goddard Chapel Sponsor: Office of the University Chaplain THURSDAY “A Film Unfinished” Details: Documentarian Yael Hersonski will screen his “A Film Unfinished,” a documentary on a 1942 Nazi propaganda film.

When and Where: 7 p.m. to 10 p.m.; Pearson Chemical Laboratory Room 104 Sponsor: Communication and Media Studies Program “Environmental Studies Program Lunch and Learn: Tom Gloria, Industrial Ecology and Consulting” Details: The managing director of IE Consultants, a firm focusing on issues of immigration and education, will hold a

discussion on the value of higher education in his field.

When and Where: noon to 1 p.m.; Lincoln Filene Center Rabb Room Sponsors: Environmental Studies Program “The Art of Justice: A Judge’s Perspective” Details: Former judge and law scholar Ruth Herz will give a lecture on the role of judges and justice in television.

When and Where: 3 p.m. to 4:30 p.m.; East Hall 016 Sponsor: Peace and Justice Studies Program FRIDAY “The Clash of the Titans: Hitler, Stalin and the German invasion of Russia” Details: Tel Aviv University Russian Historian

Gabriel Gorodetsky will discuss the debate over whether Hilter and Stalin planned to attack each other in 1941.

When and Where: 1:30 p.m. to 3 p.m.; Cabot 206 Sponsor: International Relations Program, Peace and Justice Studies Program “Tufts 4th Annual U.S.-China Relations Symposium” Details: Foreign policy experts will speak in five panels on various aspects of U.S.-China relations and on China’s relationship with its neighbors.

When and Where: 2 p.m. to 6 p.m.; Cabot Intercultural Center Sponsor: Institute for Global Leadership —compiled by Rachel Rampino

Congressional budget cuts would affect locally significant programs BUDGET

continued from page 1

LIFT, a national AmeriCorpssupported organization that trains college students to address the immediate needs of its lowincome clients, uses approximately 45 Tufts student volunteers in its Somerville office, according to LIFT Communications and Media Relations Manager Colleen Flynn.

LIFT would suffer if the proposed bill were to be enacted, Flynn said.

“From what we understand right now, the budget cuts would completely eliminate the Corporation for National and Community Service, which houses AmeriCorps,” Flynn told the Daily.

“All of our full-time site coordinators who run the day-to-day operations at our local offices are funded by direct grants from AmeriCorps, so the cuts would be a direct hit to our funding,” Flynn said.

LIFT and Jumpstart representatives said while the budget cuts would not result in their programs being shut down, they would significantly diminish the organizations’ ability to deliver their services and could force them to close some service sites.

“We still have a diverse funding base, so it wouldn’t entirely eliminate Jumpstart as an organization,” Werley Slater said. “When we get the budget numbers back, we would of course fight to keep

Tufts in our network, but if the budget cuts are significant, there is a chance the Tufts program might need to get cut.”

Communities will be major victim, advocates say The reproductive health-care provider Planned Parenthood is the largest recipient of Title X funding, and the removal of federal support would dramatically curtail the services it offers, according to senior Lydia Mitts, a Tufts Voices for Choice (VOX) executive board member.

VOX is associated with the Planned Parenthood League of Massachusetts and aims to raise awareness about reproductive rights and sexual health.

The cuts to Planned Parenthood funding would widely affect access to family-planning services.

“Planned Parenthood is an important point of contact for students, and Tufts students often use its services,” she said. “The cuts are going to impact anyone who uses Planned Parenthood — local community residents and Tufts students.”

Flynn cited several other federally funded social-service programs whose low-income-area clients would suffer as a result of the proposed cuts. In particular, the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program, a federal program which helps

Director of IGL ‘ecstatic’ about caliber of conference EPIIC

continued from page 1

“We need to understand, particularly as we talk about a nuclear terror phenomenon, that the deeper aspects of the problem are, in fact, moral and ethical,” MowattLarssen said.

Al-Qaida’s goal, he said, is to break the trust between individuals and their governments and bolster a narrative of the Western powers as corrupt.

“The key to denying al-Qaida … is to ensure that we’re not provoked into the very actions that will prove their point,” Mowatt-Larssen said.

Director of Policy Studies at the University of Notre Dame’s Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies David Cortright appealed to students to follow their ideals as civil servants.

“You are already leaders and you will be, in coming generations, the people who will be making decisions about these issues,” he said. “As you enter government service, hold on to those ideals of truth and justice that you have as young people.”

Cortright pointed to recent revolutions in North Africa as positive indicators of the spread of democracy.

“What happened in Egypt and Tunisia and other countries is the largest manifestation of people

power we’ve seen in that part of the world,” he said.

Cmdr. Robert Green, author of a book about nuclear deterrence, condemned the use of nuclear weapons as a political tool.

“I think nuclear weapons are being used as a fetishistic currency of power,” he said.

Green called for the cessation of nuclear proliferation, arguing that it is ineffective in providing security and exacerbates political tension.

“It is worse than useless against terrorism: It stimulates hostilities, mistrust and arms racing,” he said.

“It provokes proliferation, it creates instability, it is immoral and implicitly unlawful and there are safer, more cost-effective, humane and lawful alternatives.”

The ideology of nuclear deterrence is flawed, Green said, encouraging a shift in the global mindset regarding nuclear weapons.

“You’ve got to find another way,” he said. “The best prevention is to shift the mindset.”

Director of the Institute for Global Leadership Sherman Teichman said he was “ecstatic” about the quality of the five-day symposium.

“The quality of the education is really what it’s about,” he said.

“Hundreds of hours of preparation have yielded a tremendous outcome. People think extremely highly of what is happening here.”

low-income family fund their home-energy needs, would be eliminated, she said.

“People who are in need of financial assistance to get heat for the winter — the low-income and the elderly — would be without resources for that,” Flynn said. “It’s a necessary program for a lot of our clients.”

The disappearance of educational programs would equally pose major challenges for educators who have come to rely heavily on AmeriCorps services, according to Werley Slater.

“We have become an integral part of the preschools and the communities that we serve,” Werley Slater said. “Where schools have become used to having extra help being able to provide quality service to children, we would see additional stress to teachers, parents and other providers.”

Nancy Wilson, the director and associate dean of the Tisch College of Citizenship and Public Service, said that the budget cuts would only marginally impinge on the college’s core projects, given that most of its funding comes from private endowments and annual gifts. The cuts, however, could impact the university’s involvement in certain endeavors, like the Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement and the Massachusetts Campus

Compact, according to Wilson.

Tisch College Program Coordinator Rachel Szyman said the college would work to fill the void that a removal of federal support for nonprofit organizations and social services would create.

“The proposed budget cuts facing many of our community partners makes the work of Tisch College and Tufts faculty, staff and students across all our campuses more important than ever,” she said in an e-mail.

Complicating the job search The elimination of AmeriCorps funding could limit job openings for graduating seniors, as many look to join service organizations like Teach for America, YouthBuild USA and City Year, all of which rely on AmeriCorps grants, she said.

“The cuts would impact the post-graduate opportunities that many students seek,” Wilson said.

“There is a whole range of organizations that get AmeriCorps funding that our graduates go into.”

Students looking for volunteer and paid service jobs before graduation might also find limited options were the budget cuts to be approved, according to Wilson.

“The loss of Jumpstart and LIFT would mean a loss of a huge number of really high-quality community-engagement opportunities for students at Tufts,” she said.

Students fight to stem budget cuts Grassroot efforts sprung up across the nation last week to combat the proposed cuts, according to Flynn.

“Right now there is a huge groundswell in the nonprofit sector that relies on public funding,” she said. “Groups are doing a lot of publicity and outreach, trying to explain the importance of CNCS and AmeriCorps.”

Slater said service organizations throughout the country have formed coalitions in order to speak out against the budget cuts.

“We are in full-fledged advocacy and education mode,” she said. “We want to make sure all of the members [of Congress] are very much aware of the types of services service organizations provide.”

VOX members have organized petition-signing campaigns and have urged Tufts community members to reach out to their congressional representatives, according to Mitts.

“We have been in Dewick and Carmichael and the [Mayer] Campus Center getting people to call their representatives and senators and tell them we don’t want them to pass the current budget,” she said.

“This is an all-hands-on-deck call to save service,” Werley Slater agreed.

Speakers express hope, advise awareness GENOCIDE

continued from page 1

word “genocide” has a broader definition than is typically understood.

“Genocides are not just about killing people. If you look at every one of them, there is a high level of torture involved,” Mukeshimana said.

It is important that we recognize genocides as such when they occur, Mukeshimana said, especially by meeting with survivors. “It’s important for people to put a human face on the tragedy,” she told the Daily following the event.

The survivors were joined

by Khatchig Mouradian, editor of the Armenian Weekly and a

Ph.D candidate in Holocaust and Genocide Studies at Clark University. Mouradian spoke about his grandfather, who survived the Armenian Genocide of 1915-23, and urged the audience to take an active role.

“There’s never a better time to stand up against human rights violations than here and now,” Mouradian said.

Hillel Executive Director Rabbi Jeffrey Summit expressed in his introduction to the event that in order to prevent genocide in the future, awareness must be raised about it now.

“We hope this program will sensitize us to early warning signs,” he said in his speech.

Senior Annie Lobel, one of the coordinators of the event, was pleased with how it went.

“Seeing like-minded students has been remarkable and rewarding,” she said.

Lobel urged students to participate in a matching gift challenge, initiated by the Cummings Foundation, to create a Cummings/Hillel Program for Holocaust and Genocide Education to foster the study of genocide prevention at Tufts.

“I would love to see a more formal educational program related to the topic at Tufts,” Lauren Levine, a senior who helped organize the event, said.

Students now able to chat through TuftsLife CHAT

continued from page 1

the website.

“It’s somewhat like CollegeACB but there’s no real anonymity,” Vastola said. “If someone’s libeling someone, we’re in a position where we have peoples’ names.”

Senior Ryan Orendorff, a biomedical engineering major, said he has already used the Tufts Chatrooms to discuss projects with fellow engineers.

“It’s an interesting way for stu-

dents to talk to each other, but it isn’t necessarily popular yet,” Orendorff said.

Still, Vastola insisted that Tufts Chatrooms, which doesn’t require users to download any programs, is relatively accessible to students who may not be completely comfortable with technology.

“We think once people get the hang of it, they’ll really enjoy it,” Vastola said. “We know it might be a little hard to use at first, but at the same time, you can just go in and

start typing.”

Davis said students’ opinions and participation would be integral to the future of Tufts Chatrooms.

“I hope it goes beyond our reach, that students realize its potential and take it places that we at TuftsLife haven’t even thought of yet,” Davis said. “We have ideas of what it might become, but that doesn’t mean it will. We want students to take control and make of it what they will.”

Features

3

tuftsdaily.com

Stephen Miller | Counterpoint

My final question marks

E

Jodi Bosin/Tufts Daily

A new Congressional budget proposal may endanger programming for public broadcasting stations, including NPR.

Public broadcasting stations threatened by proposed Congressional budget cuts

by Vicky

Rathsmill

Daily Staff Writer

The future is precarious for one of the most-beloved television shows for countless American children and their parents: “Sesame Street.”

This month, the Republican House majority introduced a budget proposal that decreases federal spending by billions of dollars. Included in the plan is the elimination of all federal funding for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB), which

funds and supports programs like the Public Broadcasting System’s (PBS) “Sesame Street” and “NewsHour,” as well as National Public Radio’s (NPR) “All Things Considered” and “Morning Edition,” among others.

Congress founded the CPB in 1967 as a federally funded source of news and entertainment. Beyond PBS and NPR, more than 70 percent of the funding for the CPB goes to local stations around the United States, at times providing the only source of local news in poor and rural areas.

Nonetheless, Professor of Political Science Jeffrey Berry said that the budget-cut proposal may not have as large an impact as one would think.

“The proportion of the network’s budget from federal dollars is relatively small at this point, so it wouldn’t have a dramatic effect,” Berry said.

Indeed, according to ABC News, NPR receives only about two percent of its funding from the federal government. For PBS, it is about 15 percent. But local NPR see BROADCASTING, page 4

Forecast muddled for horoscope followers by

Margaret Young

A change in zodiac signs is written in the stars — or is it?

According to the National Science Foundation, 15 percent of Americans read their horoscope on a daily basis to chart their personality traits and to foresee future events as predicted by star positions.

In an interview last month with the Minneapolis Star Tribune, however, astronomer Parke Kunkle claimed that scientists have known for centuries that there is actually a 13th zodiac sign called Ophiuchus.

The wobble of the Earth’s orbit, Kunkle said, has caused the zodiac signs to shift.

But when a series of astrologers rejected the validity of the new sign, the story went viral, setting off panic among those who rely on astrological charts to “predict” their futures.

Kunkle, an astronomy instructor at Minneapolis Community and Techincal College, said in the interview that knowledge of Ophiuchus’ existence is hardly a recent development.

Joyce Levine, an astrologer in Cambridge, agreed.

Contributing Writer

meagan maher/Tufts Daily

see ZODIAC, page 4

A shift in the Earth’s orbit caused commotion among astrologers and horoscope devotees.

nter the flashback machine. It’s Aug. 27, 2007. I’m sitting on the academic quad listening to a man — whose name is remarkably similar to my favorite breakfast meat — talk about the opportunities I have to look forward to in the coming four years.

He talks about the things I’ll learn, the curiosity I’m encouraged to bring and the appreciation I will acquire in the process. Now flash forward 3 1/2 years.

I’ve seen a historic presidential election, an economic collapse and, in the past two weeks, about 45 feet of snow. And, oh yeah, I learned a couple things too.

I’ve learned the statistic impossibility of failing an English class, the cost-effectiveness of various alcohols and how to drive in Boston (ignore laws and everyone else’s safety).

This column, however, is not about the things I’ve learned, but rather those that still remain a mystery to me, though I’m far too lazy to actually investigate. And so here are a couple of the things I haven’t learned here and my entirely baseless beliefs about them.

Ballou Hall: I think I have most of this campus figured out. Anderson is for engineers, Tisch is for attractive women and Fletcher is for the clinically insane and masochistic. However, I still have no idea what goes on at Ballou. Look at that building. Look at it! It is huge. It has enormous columns. Like Parthenon big.

And as far as I can tell, it has exactly one big, fancy room designed for me to fall asleep in while some old person jabbers away and a bunch of similarly old people nod pensively. So what is Ballou really for? Clearly it houses the Tufts Initiative for Poor Money Management run by Bernie Madoff and former Director of Student Activities (and convicted felon) Jodie Nealley. I mean, if you’re gonna walk off with hundreds of thousands/ millions of dollars, you might as well do it from a building with some big freaking columns.

The Leonard Carmichael Society: Things that I know about the LCS: 1) They throw a ballin’ fake Vegas party and 2) everyone and their mother is somehow a member. That’s it. Everything else is a mystery. Look, I like a good secret society as much as the next guy. “The Skulls” (2000) ... great film. It starred Paul Walker and Pacey from “Dawson’s Creek” (19982003). They had European cars, big bank accounts and a complete lack of actual acting talent. What do you have, LCS? Goodwill and friendship? Not gonna cut it in this dog-eat-dog world. Do less.

Public Safety: Hey, nice RAV4. Now get a real job. You don’t even do the fake police work that TUPD prides itself on.

You don’t arrest drunk, naked students.

You don’t sit in Carmichael for hours on end. So what do you do? Oh, that’s right; you give out fake parking tickets. About those: Please continue to shower my car with them. I use the slips to write my grocery lists on. That’s about as useful as you will ever be.

Entering Gifford House: This is one of the most puzzling things about my college career: Four years, hundreds of trips up and down Packard Ave., and not once have I seen anyone come in or out of Bacow’s mansion. Seriously. Never. This leads me to speculate more seriously on the tunnel theory. Yes, there is a tunnel that runs from Gifford House to the underground parking lot by South. It’s like the Batcave, except less Christian Bale and more Larry and Adele. Also, fewer Batmobiles and more environmentally friendly hybrids.

TUTV: Really, guys?

Stephen Miller is a senior majoring in English. He can be reached at Stephen.

Miller@tufts.edu.

The Tufts Daily

4

Features

Monday, February 28, 2011

Children’s programming, local news outlets at risk if new budget comes to fruition BROADCASTING

continued from page 3

stations are more dependent on federal and state appropriations; on average, about 10 percent of their funding comes from the federal government. For many PBS stations, federal and state grants comprise as much as 40 to 50 percent of their budget.

Julie Dobrow, director of the Communications and Media Studies Program, expressed her worry over what detrimental effects the budget cuts could have.

“I am really concerned about further stripping away funding for public TV and radio. These entities provide quality programming and do not have the same kind of commercial base as other TV and radio in this country,” Dobrow told the Daily in an e-mail. “Longer term, this could have devastating effects on

the amount of original programming they produce and … will mean the closure of some [NPR and PBS] outlets.”

Berry agreed that without federal funding, the quality of programming could be negatively affected.

“If it gets to the point where no federal money goes to the networks, what makes them public broadcasting would be questionable. They may just become other television stations that focus on news programming,” he said.

According to a recent statement by NPR President and CEO Vivian Schiller, released on NPR.org, the budget cuts would “diminish stations’ ability to bring high-quality local, national, and international news to their communities, as well as local arts, music, and cultural programming that other media don’t present. Rural and economical-

ly distressed communities could lose access to this programming altogether if their stations go dark.”

Dobrow said that educational programming for children would also be adversely affected.

“If you look at children’s programming in particular, a huge amount of the truly educational TV shows that are based on research are produced here in Boston at WGBH and at the Sesame Workshop in New York,” Dobrow said.

“I worry that if funding is cut, that these last bastions of excellent programming will suffer.”

This is not the first time that members of Congress have tried to eliminate funding for public broadcasting. Many conservatives believe that public broadcasting has a liberal bias; for decades, primarily Republican congressmen have

attempted to cut funding. Most recently, in November 2010, House Republicans attempted to cut federal funding for NPR, after the organization fired commentator Juan Williams over controversial remarks he made about Muslims while appearing on Fox News. Also in 2010, the federal government provided about $420 million to the CPB, amounting to about one one-hundredth of one percent of the total budget.

According to Dobrow, the potential effects of the federal budget cuts for NPR and PBS should be a source of concern for the millions of Americans who benefit from the services provided by public broadcasting.

“In my personal opinion, public radio and television are national resources and should be supported and protected,” she said.

‘New’ zodiac sign part of original framework, will not affect horoscope readers ZODIAC

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“This is nothing new,” Levine told the Daily. “The earth is an ellipsoid, and that creates a wobble in the orbit, so as the earth revolves around the sun each year, it doesn’t hit the same place when it gets back. This is called the ‘precession of the equinoxes.’”

Astrologers have long been acutely aware of this phenomenon, but consider it irrelevant to tropical astrology, which is used in the Western world, according to Levine.

“Basically, we know about the precession of the equinoxes,” she said. “It’s just not based on the system that we’re using.

That’s the bottom line.”

The signs in tropical astrology correspond to the beginnings of seasons, with two “intermittent” signs between the start of a new seasonal solstice or equinox.

The other school of thought in astrology, called sidereal or vedic astrology, is used predominantly in the non-Western world and is based on the position of the

sun relative to the zodiac constellations (Leo, Virgo, Gemini, etc.)

Sidereal astrology marks the start of each zodiac sign by the time of year when the sun is in the given zodiac constellation, according to Levine. For example, people born during the part of the year when the sun is aligned with the constellation Sagittarius would have Sagittarius as their zodiac sign.

The 13th sign, Ophiuchus, Levine said, was used by the Babylonians, but later discarded for an even 12 zodiac signs.

To make a long story short, horoscope devotees need not panic — their entire lives have not, in fact, been based on a lie. Precession has no bearing on zodiac signs in tropical astrology.

“Ptolemy said that [precession] will slowly change the way we see the constellations, and therefore the system ought to be corrected for that,” Professor of Physics and Astronomy Kenneth Lang said. “The version that corrects for that is tropical and the one that does not is sidereal.”

Assistant Professor of Physics and Astronomy Anna Sajina points out that most casual zodiac devotees do not understand the distinction between tropical and sidereal astrology.

“Even though [tropical astrology] might be what professional astrologers look at, the vast majority of people base their horoscope on the month they were born in and what sun sign is traditionally attached to that month,” she said.

“People still think of it as what was the sign that the sun was in when they were born, and that’s not true.”

As Kunkle said, the sun’s relative position to different constellations changes slightly each year, causing the precession of the equinoxes referred to by Levine.

Lang elaborated upon the concept.

“What precession is … is that the earth is not exactly spherical; it’s more like an egg, and the moon and the planets both pull on that aspherical shape and cause the earth to wobble in space,” he said.

“This causes the rotation of the earth to wobble like a top.”

Sajina attributed this phenomenon to the significance of Earth’s rotation on its axis. Since the earth rotates on an axis and around the sun, the axis is oriented 23.5 degrees off north, she said, and slowly traces a circle around north.

“To complete the circle takes 26,000 years. Because of this, the sun signs change over time,” Sajina said. “Since it’s only been about 4,000 years since the zodiac was invented, we’ve only gone one-tenth of the way around the circle.

It’s going to take 22,000 years to get back to the original configuration.”

Minneapolis Star Tribune staff writer Bill Ward, who interviewed Kunkle and initiated the media blitz, noted that just because these facts were available doesn’t mean that the ideas were disseminated.

“Most of our readers didn’t know about [the distinction between tropical and sidereal astrology],” Ward said. “It’s in the public domain, like old books or old music are public domain, but that doesn’t mean that everybody takes advantage of that.”

GODDARD CHAPEL FORUM ON RELIGION IN AMERICA SPRING, 2011 Wednesday March 2, 2011

6 PM Goddard Chapel

Professor Ingrid Mattson Islamic Studies and Christian-Muslim Relations Hartford Seminary “Counterculturalism and the Formation of American Muslim Identity” Cosponsored by The Chaplain’s Office, the Fletcher School, and The International Center Tufts University, Medford, MA 02155 – (617) 627-3427 Website: www.tufts.edu/chaplaincy

The Tufts Daily

Monday, February 28, 2011

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Arts, Sciences, and Engineering Dean of Student Affairs Office

February 28, 2011

Dear Members of the Tufts Community, Many of you will recall receiving an e-mail just before the break discussing a Dean of Students’ Community Conversation that was held in December to address concerns about two Safety Alerts that had been issued by Tufts Police. In that e-mail, I said that we would follow up on the issues that were raised by participants at the Community Conversation; issues that included the protocols that govern Safety Alerts from TUPD, but also important issues about the perceptions, feelings and experiences about the racial climate and implicit bias at Tufts, the classroom and curricular environment, and about sexual assault on campus.

As promised, I am announcing three in-depth meetings to address the concerns we heard. Students, faculty and administrators are invited to attend. The dates for these meetings will be: Wednesday, March 2nd 7 PM Classroom Environment and Curricular Issues (Alumnae Lounge) Tuesday, March 15th 7 PM The Campus Climate and Implicit Bias (Terrace Room in Paige Hall) Tuesday, March 29th 7 PM Campus Safety Alerts and Sexual Assault on Campus (Terrace Room)

The meetings will provide an opportunity to voice your concerns, share efforts that are already underway and to discuss additional potential solutions. I look forward to seeing many of you there.

Bruce Reitman Dean of Student Affairs

419 Boston Avenue, Medford, MA 02155 |

TEL:

617.627.3158 |

FAX:

617.627.3059

The Tufts Daily

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THE TUFTS DAILY

Keep guns off college campuses

Editor-in-Chief

Managing Editors Martha Shanahan Executive News Editor Michael Del Moro News Editors Nina Ford Ben Gittleson Amelie Hecht Ellen Kan Daphne Kolios Kathryn Olson Matt Repka Corinne Segal Jenny White Brent Yarnell Elizabeth McKay Assistant News Editors Laina Piera Rachel Rampino Minyoung Song Derek Schlom Executive Features Editor Jon Cheng Features Editors Sarah Korones Emilia Luna Romy Oltuski Alexa Sasanow Falcon Reese Assistant Features Editors Angelina Rotman Sarah Strand Amelia Quinn Ben Phelps Executive Arts Editor Emma Bushnell Arts Editors Mitchell Geller Rebecca Santiago Matthew Welch Allison Dempsey Assistant Arts Editors Andrew Padgett Joseph Stile Ashley Wood Rebekah Liebermann Bhushan Deshpande Larissa Gibbs David Kellogg Rachel Oldfield Jeremy Ravinsky Daniel Stock Elaine Sun Devon Colmer Erin Marshall Alex Miller Louie Zong Craig Frucht Kerianne Okie Michael Restiano Joshua Youner Ben Kochman Philip Dear Lauren Flament Claire Kemp Alex Lach Alex Prewitt Daniel Rathman Noah Schumer Ethan Sturm Matthew Berger Aaron Leibowitz David McIntyre Ann Sloan Meredith Klein Virginia Bledsoe Jodi Bosin Danai Macridi Dilys Ong James Choca Lane Florsheim Meagan Maher Justin McCallum Oliver Porter Ashley Seenauth Aalok Kanani Andrew Morgenthaler

Executive Op-Ed Editor Op-Ed Editors

Monday, February 28, 2011

Editorial

Alexandra W. Bogus Editorial Mick Brinkman Krever Saumya Vaishampayan

Editorial | Letters

Lawmakers in Arizona, and several other states, are considering legislation that would permit faculty and students to carry concealed firearms on public university campuses. This means that students and professors who already have a firearm license would be allowed to bring guns on campus if the weapons were hidden from view. Currently, Utah is the only state to allow firearms at all public universities.

The proposal in Arizona has gained the most attention. That state already has some of the loosest gun laws in the nation: last year, it became the third state in the nation to eliminate the requirement that a permit be obtained to carry a concealed weapon. Proponents of the most recent piece of legislation argue that arming students and faculty would protect them in the event of a shooting.

We at the Daily emphatically oppose these thoughtless proposals, in Arizona and elsewhere. Allowing weapons on public university campuses would utterly fail at the task of protecting students and faculty. In fact, such measures would likely increase gun violence.

The irony of introducing a bill to loosen gun restrictions in the same state where one of the worst political shootings in American history took place just last month is not lost on Arizona’s Senate

president, Republican Russell Pearce, an ardent supporter of the proposal. He remarked that had someone at the shooting in Tucson been carrying a weapon and “been there prepared to take action,” lives would have been saved.

The absurdity of Pearce’s statement is overwhelming. The last thing that would have saved lives during the Tucson massacre would have been another terrified, untrained citizen firing into a crowd of nearly three dozen who were all fleeing for their lives. One of them clearly did enough damage.

The same holds true for shootings on college campuses. In an interview with The New York Times, the police chief at the University of Arizona in Tucson said that more firearms would greatly hinder the police’s attempts to apprehend the assailant. Victims would likely end up firing at each other, and the police wouldn’t know at whom to shoot.

The justification for bringing guns to college campuses is that “guns save lives.”But the evidence opposing this claim is endless: In the hands of citizens, guns don’t save lives — no matter how much sloganeering the National Rifle Association or other progun advocates may push. According to a 1998 Emory University report, guns are 22 times more likely to be used in a suicide, homicide or criminal assault — or be fired

at someone unintentionally — than they are to be used in self-defense or in a legally justifiable manner. And according to a 2010 study by the Violence Policy Center, states with low gun control and high gun ownership have a significantly higher gun-death rate than states with high gun control and low gun ownership.

There are countless more studies attesting to the danger of weak gun laws, but the underlying point is clear: Guns kill far, far more people than they save. In addition, guns pose a particular danger on college campuses, where they would inevitably to be combined with drugs and alcohol, which dramatically increases the likelihood that they would be used in an accidental injury or fatality or as part of an assault. Even without those aggregating factors, an argument between two people is much more likely to be fatal if one or both of them is armed.

What’s needed, then, to prevent violence on college campuses is proper training for administrators, faculty and students to deal with an emergency. Procedures should be in place to inform students and lock down buildings as quickly as possible if a gun-related incident were to arise.

There is no way to eliminate the risk posed by school shootings, but arming students and faculty would do nothing but exacerbate the danger.

Prior to removing any student from the network or supplying the student’s information in response to a subpoena or settlement offer, University Information Technology makes certain that the offending machine did in fact hold that address at the time specified in the infringement notice. The information available in these notices is always shared with students. The accused individuals rarely deny that they downloaded files or that they had file-sharing software on their computers that could have uploaded files to others. The only issue, therefore, is the amount of damages.

The reason few cases go to trial nationwide is precisely because most defendants do not dispute that they engaged in file sharing. The two file-sharing cases that have gone to trial — one involving a Minnesota woman, the other involving a Boston University graduate student — were both won by the Recording Industry Association of America (although a judge substantially reduced the damages assessed against the graduate student).

While we agree with the Daily’s lament that damages claimed by the recording

industry in infringement cases may be seen as excessive, the fact remains that the law entitles plaintiffs to make such claims. It is unreasonable for the Daily to suggest that the university should shield its students from accountability for their actions.

As Daphne Kolios’ article pointed out, the university is legally required under the Higher Education Opportunity Act of 2008 to have a policy that deters unauthorized peer-to-peer file-sharing and to have plans that effectively combat unauthorized distribution of copyrighted material.

We do everything possible to warn students not to engage in illegal file-sharing.

In the end, it is the responsibility of every student to understand the risks and consequences of violating the law.

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BUSINESS Benjamin Hubbell-Engler Executive Business Director Laura Moreno Advertising Director Dwijo Goswami Receivables Manager P.O. Box 53018, Medford, MA 02155 617 627 3090 FAX 617 627 3910 daily@tuftsdaily.com

Letter to the Editor Dear Editor, We read with interest the article “Filesharing at Tufts leads to record number of copyright complaints” and the editorial “Copyright holders should not strong-arm students” printed by the Daily on Feb. 15, both of which highlighted the fact that the number of students facing disciplinary and legal action for copyright [infringement] has increased. We would like to respond to several matters included in the editorial.

We agree that the university has a responsibility to educate students on copyright and ownership of creative and intellectual property. Tufts does so through a number of channels, such as making all students aware of the university Information Technology Responsible Use Policy and requiring that any student who is found to have engaged in unauthorized file-sharing take and pass a course on copyright as a condition to continuing to use the Tufts network.

Each copyright-infringement claim sent to the university contains the specific Internet Protocol (IP) address of the user as well as the time of the alleged infraction.

Sincerely, Martin A. Oppenheimer Senior Counsel for Business and Corporate Affairs Judi Vellucci Tufts OnLine Supervisor

Correction

Friday’s article “Tufts Student Fund to head up third year of campaign” incorrectly identified senior Daniel Slate as a TCF Committee co-chair. Slate is a co-chair of the Tufts Student Fund (TSF) committee.

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.

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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.

Monday, February 28, 2011

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Op-Ed

To the future, and beyond by

Ashish Malhotra | Follow the Leader

Micronation madness

Will Shira

Let’s just take a step back and look at the times we live in for a second.

First of all, some of you are reading this op-ed on a device that also takes phone calls, plays music, keeps a calendar, has a calculator and has an abundance of games and “apps” meant to entertain.

This same device can hook up wirelessly to a larger system through which it can access satellite photos of where to get the best fresh duck in rural Japan. It can then send those photos to the viewing portals of friends, family or strangers.

Our food no longer has to be grown on farms, as most of it is produced in a manufacturing process requiring very few (if any) natural ingredients.

Companies around the world are making awe-inspiring breakthroughs: Researchers recently hacked a fly’s brain and forced it to do their bidding by putting it into a virtual-reality matrix. Scientists have built and designed interactive holographic systems. Pick up any tech magazine and read its “year in review” issue and try not to freak out. Seriously people, we’re taking the first steps into “The Future.”

Remember “The Future?” It was that crazy ideal utopia that everyone in the ’50s believed the year 2000 would be: flying cars, floating houses and maybe even a sassy robot maid. Well unfortunately, that prediction was all bollocks (at least thus far). Still, though lacking flying cars, our generation is the generation of the future.

So it is up to us how this age is to be written and how “The Future” will be remembered once it is called “The Past.”

What do we have to thank for this foray into the future? Nuclear weapons. Their development and deterrent effect resulted in a time of relative international peace.

This has allowed a new generation of scientists to work together with unsurpassed security to design the incredible world that we live in today. I see it as two teams: “Team Freedom” (NATO) and “Team Communist” (the Warsaw Pact). “Team Freedom” installed quite a few puppet governments in the place of legitimate, elected democracies. And “Team Communist” had the most classist system since the caste system of ancient India.

But these hypocrisies were all done “in the name of progress.” This was a war of science. Scientists on each side banded together to outdo each other for glory. The

T

MCT

United States built an atomic bomb, the Soviet Union built an atomic bomb. The Soviet Union launched Sputnik, the Unite States made it to the moon. Grand international competition is the oft-discussed legacy of the Cold War, but this era was also the world’s first period of international scientific cooperation. The exponential technological developments are proof of this.

Today’s day and age is quite different from the one that called for the development of nuclear weapons. Fifty years of unprecedented conflict led to the atom bomb. Since then, most of the conflicts that followed have been the result of the posturing of the United States and the Soviet Union during the Cold War. Nuclear weapons brought an era of cooperation and scientific development to our world, and now they may be the very cause of its destruction.

Currently we have no efficient method of dealing with the spent waste of nuclear energy, nor the highly toxic byproducts that make up the radioactive “tailings” of uranium mining. They are currently indestructible. Terrorist groups have sought nuclear weapons since their creation and get closer every year. Much has been gained, but due to hubris and ego there have been many environmental and humanitarian tragedies.

So then where does that leave us? What is the end chapter of our nuclear age? Is it

a comedy? Tragedy? Some kind of amazing Jason Bourne action movie with a spy who saves the world from annihilation at the last second? No one knows. We have yet to finish the chapter. The direction of the future is actually our decision. What our parents once hoped for we must work to make happen and then improve upon.

The time for mere hope is done. Now is the time to work.

And work to what ends? Well, that’s for you to decide. I’m not going to tell you what to believe. But I will tell you that whatever you believe you need to act on.

Write your congressman. Become involved with local advocacy groups. Above all, continue to learn. No opinion is complete unless someone has all the facts. No one, besides God and that machine that just won jeopardy, has all the facts. No matter how smart you think you are, there is always more to learn. And considering we still don’t have flying cars or a resilient global nuclear non-proliferation regime, there is still work to be done.

Welcome to the future. Start learning.

Start listening. Start working. Now. Will Shira is a sophomore who has not yet declared a major. He is a member of this year’s Education for Public Inquiry and International Citizenship (EPIIC) Colloquium.

Off the Hill | University of Michigan

Protect NPR, it protects us by

Nick Clift

The Michigan Daily

In the weeks and months following Sept. 11, Americans turned to National Public Radio [(NPR)] by the millions. It was a scary time, and people needed trustworthy information and analysis as they struggled to make sense of something that seemed senseless.

So worthy of respect was their coverage in the aftermath of the Sept. 11 attacks that many of the new listeners NPR gained in 2001 became committed new fans, and 9/11 became a turning point for public radio. Over the last decade, as the audience for nearly every other traditional news source has sharply declined, NPR saw its audience grow 50 percent — with nearly 30 million listeners of every political affiliation now tuning in every week and millions more downloading NPR podcasts.

Yet despite NPR’s popularity — due to its success at creating a product which the American people have deemed worth funding — public radio finds itself in jeopardy. Last [month], House Republicans announced a budget proposal that would completely eliminate the Corporation for Public Broadcasting [(CPB)], which is partially responsible for funding NPR. I have no doubt that sharp cuts to the federal budget are necessary. The Republican plan would slash education, pulverize the Environmental Protection Agency, eliminate AmeriCorps, cut funding for Great Lakes cleanup in half and

reduce nutritional support for infants. I’m willing to accept the fact that some of those cuts may be necessary to get federal deficits under control.

Americans, though, cannot accept cuts to the institutions […] that allow them to check the power of their government. The CPB, while accounting for a laughably small portion of the federal budget, plays an important role in holding the government accountable. Cutting the CPB, let alone eliminating it entirely, would be fundamentally inappropriate and irresponsible. That’s why strict policies exist for British lawmakers interested in adjusting the funding of the government-supported BBC. Admittedly, the elimination of the CPB would not affect countless commercial media sources. But NPR’s 30 million listeners would argue there’s a significant difference between the service provided

by NPR and that of other broadcast sources like MSNBC and Fox News. It’s a difference important enough to cause huge numbers of private citizens to donate to public radio stations like Michigan Radio here in Ann Arbor.

That difference is all about trust. When I head to the gym at 5 p.m., most of the televisions are tuned to Glenn Beck’s show on Fox News, and while I find his style especially obnoxious, my feelings apply to many of the programs on modern cable news. They’re focused on political extremes, and like Keith Olbermann before his departure from MSNBC, Beck

concentrates on entertaining his audience. It’s an unavoidable condition of [commercially funded] media that he makes money, not based on the merit of his analysis, but based on his ability to entertain and retain viewers.

That’s what makes NPR’s business model so special and its cause so important. NPR reporters take home money only if they can convince listeners their report was so well composed, so unbiased and so important to the general population that it warrants a donation or a CPB grant to sustain future reports. The built-in emphasis on quality over entertainment is what makes public media unlike any other form of media on the planet. The only way I manage to survive 30 minutes on a treadmill listening to Glenn Beck is the knowledge that I’ll soon climb into my car and hear those calm, sane words, “From NPR news in Washington …” They’re words that say, “Go ahead, Nick, make up your own mind.”

Forty years ago this April, NPR began its broadcasts with live coverage of the Senate hearings on the war in Vietnam.

Since then, NPR and its journalists have accumulated hundreds of awards, including 53 George Foster Peabody Awards. Far more importantly, though, it has gained the trust of the American people as an even-handed source for news and analysis. For 40 years, as an independent government watchdog and source of topquality journalism, NPR has been protecting our freedoms through its reporting. Now it’s our turn to protect NPR.

his morning I read a hilarious article in The New York Times from Feb. 1 entitled “Rewards for Rebellion: Tiny Nation and Crown for Life,” and it has inspired this week’s column to be slightly unorthodox. I’m going to write about leaders of countries that do not actually exist. Huh? Apparently, an Australian man named Leonard Casley in 1970 decided to form his own country in the middle of the state of Western Australia. Cassley’s micronation, officially known as the Principality of Hutt River, exists on 18,500 acres of farmland and seceded from Australia 41 years ago as a form of protest against a government wheat-production quota.

I remembered once reading of other similar micronations in the United States on my favorite website, Wikipedia. So I decided to do a little bit of research. It turns out there are over fifty such micronations around the world with names such as Freetown Christiana, Conch Republic, Haye-on-Wye and British West Florida. These micronations have flags, currencies, passports, national anthems and sometimes declare war on other micronations. Are you laughing yet?

Oh wait, I forgot to mention — sometimes they declare war on real nations. Surely you must be laughing now.

I’d love to tell you about all of these nutcase “world leaders,” people who clearly have been playing a bit too much Risk. But alas, a 630-word column would not do them all justice. Instead I will just pick one.

Here’s a good one. At 88 years old, Paddy Roy Bates, the Prince of the Principality of Sealand, must be one of the oldest micronation leaders in the world. Maybe he is senile.

But if he is, he has been since 1967, when he founded Sealand by occupying a Maunsell Army Sea Fort in the North Sea. The British established these forts during World War II, and pictures, which I strongly encourage you to check out, indicate that they are no larger than the Tisch Library roof. Which makes me wonder…

But I digress. Let me complete my brief history of Sealand for you. After the war, Army Sea Forts were re-appropriated as pirate radio broadcast stations. Prince Roy was a pirate radio broadcaster (maybe his eccentricity was already clear — I mean, who in their right mind is a pirate radio broadcaster?) and one fine day, he decided to make the HM Fort Roughs his own.

Bizarre. Contemporary politics in Sealand are fascinating. Will Prince Roy’s son, Prince Michael, ascend to the throne upon his father’s death, or will one of Sealand’s citizens (according to Answers.com, the population rarely exceeds five) speak out against this undemocratic transition of power?

As ridiculous as his claim to sovereignty may be, however, this “world leader” has won several rather impressive minor victories of recognition. After a brief skirmish (let’s refrain from calling it a war) between Sealand and the British Royal Navy in 1968, a British court adjudged that it could not make a ruling on the case, as it extended beyond British territory. The implication of this ruling was recognition of Sealand’s sovereignty. A famous day in the nation’s rich history.

Admittedly though, the 1968 triumph pales in comparison to the unforgettable events of August 1978. Dutchmen working for a German businessman stormed Sealand and kidnapped Prince Michael. However, brilliant military tactician that he is, Prince Roy responded with a counterattack that ended with Germany sending a diplomat to the principality to win release of its citizen.

This week’s column was in no way, shape or form was intended to offend the citizens of Hutt Province, Sealand or any other micronation. I feel I must say this, because if I were to get captured by the brute strength of a micronation’s security apparatus, I would not be so sure the Indian Government would engage in crisis talks to win my release. E Mare Libertas! (The National Anthem of Sealand. Duh.) Ashish Malhotra is a senior majoring in international relations. He can be reached at Ashish.Malhotra@tufts.edu.

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.

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Monday, February 28, 2011

Arts & Living

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tuftsdaily.com

Album Review

Jeff Beck fuses unique aesthetic with traditional rockabilly in Les Paul tribute by

Matthew Welch

Daily Editorial Board

Jeff Beck is one of the guitar world’s biggest chameleons. His solo albums and work with groups such as The

Jeff Beck Rock ‘n’ Roll Party (Honoring Les Paul) Jeff Beck

Atco Records Yardbirds show his aptitude for molding his personal style to a slew of different genres. Beck has covered everything from proto-metal to electronic fusion since he became famous in the ’60s.

Beck’s latest album, a recording see BECK, page 10

gibson.com

Jeff Beck playing the guitar model Les Paul invented and made famous.

Movie Review

‘I Am Number Four’ fails to deliver; interesting premise falls prey to sci-fi cliches Alex Kaufman

If you’re looking for sci-fi, action, romantic comedy, high-school social commentary and a coming-of-age story by

Daily Staff Writer

I Am Number Four Starring Alex Pettyfer, Teresa Palmer, Dianna Agron Directed by D.J. Caruso

all in one, then I’ve got a movie for you.

And if the above confuses you and seems a bit too much for one movie to handle, your sentiments mirror mine exactly.

“I Am Number Four,” directed by D.J. Caruso (“Disturbia” (2007)) and produced

by Michael Bay — of the “Transformers” (2007, 2009) franchise — tells the archetypal story of a teenage alien named Number Four (Alex Pettyfer) who has fled his home planet, Lorien, to escape extermination by an invading species, the Mogadorians.

He and eight others are the last of the Loriens and are assigned guardians

‘The King’s Speech’ takes the gold at Oscars

who not only protect them but also help them discover their supernatural powers, known as legacies. As we discover through unnecessarily serious and unclear dialogue, the remaining members of the Loriens have been given numbers and will be killed in sequential order.

The movie begins just as Number Three is killed.

In order to save themselves, the Loriens flee to Earth. Number Four attempts to fit into human society, going by the pseudonym John Smith. The real plot begins see NUMBER FOUR, page 11

TV Review

Tyra, and a few models, return for 16th ‘ANTM’ season by

Natasha Jessen-Petersen Daily Staff Writer

The 16th season of The CW’s “America’s Next Top Model” (“ANTM”) kicked off last Wednesday, and this

America’s Next Top Model Starring Tyra Banks Airs Wednesdays at 8 p.m. on The CW

MCT

“The King’s Speech” was the big winner at the 83rd Academy Awards last night, winning Best Picture, Best Original Screenplay, Best Director for Tom Hooper and Best Actor for Colin Firth.

Other major winners were Natalie Portman for Best Actress in “Black Swan” and Christian Bale and Melissa Leo for Best Supporting Actor and Actress, respectively, in “The Fighter.”

time around, the show is doing all it can to differentiate itself from previous cycles without losing its essence.

Tyra Banks fans, never fear: The show still utterly revolves around her. Tyra even goes so far as to point out to her new residents that the house has been fully decorated — with photos of herself. The viewers are further reminded of this with a self-centered, albeit amusing, Tyra-focused introduction.

In the opening of the episode, Tyra plays the part of the spoiled rich girl who “will do everything but cut my hair,” the incredibly confident girl “not here to make friends” and the naturally talented artsy model who starts off by saying that she “doesn’t want to be here.” The stereotypes will be familiar to veteran viewers. see ANTM, page 10

Eugene Kim | Alleged But Not Convicted

My filthy dirty pleasure

I

LOVE comic books. I LOVE movies. But comic-book movies? Here’s the way I look at ’em: They are like scratch tickets. You throw down some money, do a bit of gambling, and you are either slightly surprised or you just feel swindled. “Iron Man” (2008)? AWESOME. “X-Men: The Last Stand” (2006)? I had to take a shower to wipe off the grime.

This year, we have a lot of big-budget comic-book movie adaptations coming our way; “Thor” is hitting screens in May, the X-Men prequel movie is due out this summer and Captain America’s movie is right behind. Now, these are three different comic-book franchises that I adore.

I heart them. I have a Captain America shirt, I got Straczynski’s run of Thor on my bookshelf, and you don’t want to know the depths of my fanboy love for X-Men. But I’m really nervous.

Thor, the Norse god of thunder, son of Odin and the (disputed) leader of the Asgardians, has an air of authority, to say the least. He’s a big deal. But how can you throw that on a movie screen? Heck, when Thor and other Asgardians talk in the comic books, their speech bubbles have a special font to show how awesome they are. The “Thor” movie production team has its work cut out for it. They will need to have some really sweet costumes, big sweeping sets — think more “Lord of the Rings” (2001, 2002, 2003) than “Chronicles of Narnia” (2005, 2008, 2010).

But in essence, the movie will have to use the Norse iconography and storylines to immerse us and spin one hell of a yarn about a proud and upstart son finding his place in the universe, not just show us some awesome battles and explosions (see the 2005 “The Fantastic Four”).

Kenneth Branagh (the director of many acclaimed Shakespeare film adaptations), Natalie Portman, Anthony Hopkins and Captain Kirk’s dad? That’s a good pedigree, and I’m hopeful. But … that’s the way I always feel before I hit that lotto ticket. I can promise you this: I will be hooting and hollering in that movie theater the same way I was for “The Punisher” (2004, 2008) movies because we comic-book nerds ride together and die together.

And the Captain America movie?

Sheesh, I’m very worried. Captain America has been an established character in the Marvel mythology for more than half a century. His origin story has been told so many times over that it’s assumed the reader knows it by now. But hot dang, they are gonna make a whole movie about Cap becoming Cap? Captain America is the literal embodiment of America: the voice of liberty, the shield of justice and the furious fists of awesome. The transformation from wimpy Steve Rogers to awesome Nazidestroying Amurrican will be a difficult one to see because I want to see the Cap I’ve grown up with. Does anyone want to see another Superman origin story? Or the new Spider-Man reboot? I want to win the lotto without playing.

In all of this, I guess Marvel has a lot to learn from Pixar — an animation studio that waits for the right script and the right story before pushing ahead to make a movie. Once that happens, it goes into production, not the other way around. Pixar could’ve made a boatload of money from a crappy version of “Toy Story 3” (2010), but instead it waited for a heartbreakingly excellent movie because that’s how much it loves its franchises. I offer the example of that steaming mess “X-Men: The Last Stand” to show the difference between Marvel and Pixar — I think it speaks for itself.

NERD OUT. Eugene Kim is a senior majoring in biology. He can be reached at Eugene.

Kim@tufts.edu.

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Arts & Living

Monday, February 28, 2011

In keeping with tradition, Cycle 16 emphasizes juicy drama over actual talent ANTM

continued from page 9

The contestants’ personalities immediately present themselves. Several in particular stand out, including Alexandria, a girl with immense confidence and littleto-no reserve about sharing her fashion knowledge; Sara, whose androgynous looks, awkward demeanor and bizarre rattail cause her to stick out among the perfectly coiffed girls; and Jaclyn, who, at 20, is one of the oldest girls in the house but whose sweet drawl causes her to be cast as the baby.

Perhaps in an attempt to retain longtime viewers and garner new ones, “ANTM� has implemented small but significant changes. After a season that only included petite models, followed by one with huge designers, “ANTM� is raising its stakes by changing the format. Gone are the casting episodes, replaced instead with a horrific prank. Told that they had been eliminated, several of the girls began to cry, only to be informed by Tyra that she was teaching them the first lesson of modeling: handling rejection.

To keep up with the high fashion of last season, Cycle 16 began with an Alexander Wang fashion show. But the presentation of the runway served to remind viewers that this is a show dedicated more to illustrating drama than showcasing talent. The girls, many about to walk in their first-ever fashion show, are told they will be walking in giant plastic bubbles over a pool. Oddly enough, no Bubble Boy or immunodeficiency disease jokes ensue, but uncomfortable-to-watch walks and even two dreadful tumbles do come to the fore. “ANTM� itself is a brilliantly crafted model. Though it boasts only a few contestants who have been successful in the long run, it still manages to acquire large viewership. Unlike reality shows such as “American Idol,� “ANTM� entices its viewers with drama and interesting challenges. The viewers do not feel like they are playing a part in determining the fame of future stars, but rather like they are watching a well-orchestrated soap opera.

Fourteen girls in one house: Drama inevi-

cwtv.com

The Rainy Day Women: America’s hopeful ‘next top models’ pose for Cycle 16. tably ensues.

Their first photo shoot is one of the few things that is not overly planned on the show. Rather than have the girls deliberately pose in artificial lighting on a fashioned set, the models are shot behind the scenes as they both physically and mentally prepare for the runway. Some girls take it as a moment to smile and act “natu-

ral,� while others showcase their fiercest pouts. Almost as a metaphor for the show, the behind-the-scenes, seemingly natural shoot is manifested in a simulated act.

Though the show veers often toward the superficial, deeper and bigger issues are addressed. From depictions of body image to drug addictions, “ANTM� has worked to educate its viewers. Rather than call

the contestant Kasia “plus-size� or “fullfigure,� Tyra confidently refers to Kasia as “real-size.� “ANTM� may fail to deliver America’s next top model, but ultimately it achieves much more. Within its drama-ridden roots, even when superficiality reigns supreme, real issues are tackled and serious topics addressed.

New Jeff Beck album pays tribute to Les Paul without impersonating him BECK

continued from page 9

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of a tribute concert to the recently deceased guitar god Les Paul entitled “Jeff Beck Rock ’n’ Roll Party (Honoring Les Paul),� is another gem for Beck to add to his eclectic catalogue.

Beck’s foray into the rockabilly genre isn’t a first, but it is a nice break from albums like “Emotion & Commotion�

(2010). Early rockabilly and blues guitarists like Cliff Gallup and Les Paul have always influenced Beck, and he continues to bring his unique aesthetic to the material.

While Paul’s style has always been characterized by an underspoken virtuosity, Beck brings his incendiary playing to the forefront. The result is an album that features a bevy of Paul’s classic tracks with a new, different edge.

Anyone who listens to “Bye Bye Blues� will realize how readily Beck’s playing transfers to these rockabilly tunes. Singer Imelda May lends suitably nostalgic guest vocals in rockabilly tradition, singing live over her prerecorded backing tracks. Beck’s idiosyncratic phrasing gels with the track, fusing his more modern approach with a traditional song form to make an interesting hybrid that will definitely appeal to new listeners as well as rockabilly fans.

At 20 tracks, “Jeff Beck Rock ’n’ Roll Party� is a longer-than-usual listening experience, but the short songs keep the album flowing. Beck and his phenomenal tribute band cover Paul’s hits like “The World is Waiting for Sunrise,� “How High the Moon� and “Vaya con Dios� with remarkable precision.

Support from Beck’s phenomenal backup band, which includes keyboardist Jason Rebello and saxophonist Leo Green, makes the songs even more charged than their original versions.

A particularly lively rendition of “New

Orleans� allows Green to explore the high range of saxophone to explosive effect.

Even though Beck can play in the rockabilly genre with remarkable adeptness, he still sounds best when he plays closer to his native style. When Beck puts down the Gibsons in favor of his signature Fender Stratocaster, he immediately takes on the edgy, challenging style he is known for. Tracks like “Walking in the Sand� and “Please Mr. Jailor� show Beck playing with his characteristically jaunty style. His biting, angular phrases cut through the horn sections and the vocals with equal force.

Beck’s opening solo on “Walking in the Sand� bends notes and runs virtuosic licks over an anthemic chord progression. May’s confident vocal entrance shifts the mood of the song slightly before an uproarious climax. A blaring horn section mixes with May’s impassioned vocals and Beck’s aggressive playing to make “Walking in the Sand� one of the album’s strongest tracks.

The secret to the success of “Jeff Beck Rock ’n’ Roll Party� is Beck’s ability to pay tribute to Les Paul without trying to impersonate him. This feat allows Beck to sidestep one of the biggest pitfalls of tribute concerts: redundancy. If an artist is legendary enough to warrant a tribute concert, it usually takes an equally talented figure to present that legend in a new light.

In that sense, Beck succeeds remarkably well.

Throughout “Jeff Beck Rock ’n’ Roll Party,� Beck manages to blend his talent with Les Paul’s more traditional playing. Despite the considerable differences between Beck’s and Paul’s approaches to guitar playing, this album proves that Beck’s devotion to his predecessors has made him more than worthy of paying tribute to them.

Monday, February 28, 2011

The Tufts Daily

Arts & Living

11

‘I Am Number Four’ unsuccessfully takes on too many movie genres at once NUMBER FOUR

continued from page 9

when Henri (Timothy Olyphant), John’s guardian, moves him to Ohio to avoid the Mogadorians.

Here John attends high school as a regular student. Love, friendship and exaggerated bullying ensue. And just as we finally begin to grow close and relate to the characters, we are abruptly reminded of the prevalence of violent invader aliens in a midmovie genre shift.

The advertisements for this film were promising and left the audience wanting more. The movie, however, didn’t bother to elucidate the necessary rules of the world it created. The lack of exposition was incredibly detrimental to the film as a whole.

Certain portions of the movie which are intended to be serious are unfortunately met with laughter due to the lack of background information. Audience members who haven’t read the book upon which the film is based will find themselves out of the loop.

The performances given by Dianna Agron, Callan McAuliffe and Pettyfer prove to be nothing out of the ordinary, but given the script, it’s doubtful that these young actors could have done more with their characters.

Still, Pettyfer does find chemistry with Agron, who plays Sarah Hart, a talented, pretty and envied girl at their high school.

This performance is certainly a change from her role as Quinn Fabray on “Glee.”

As much as the audience buys into the chemistry between the two characters, it is so hard not to scoff at the corniness induced by the script and its endless stream of oneliners. Every moment feels needlessly urgent, keeping the audience in a lurch throughout much of the film.

“I Am Number Four” also struggles with character introduction. Toward the beginning of the movie, for example, we see a young woman enacting the explosion cliche: a main character walking away from a building in slow motion as it explodes. But this cliche generally occurs at the end of a movie, when we understand the character’s motives and who they are. “I Am Number

www.imdb.com

Number Four discovers one of his hidden powers: shooting blue light out of his hands.

Four” decides to ignore this rule, depicting the explosion and then moving on with the plot as if nothing special happened.

The background information needed to set the stage and lend importance to a particular scene is left out, as the simply attempts to wow the audience with special effects.

As for the so-called legacies that are mentioned throughout the movie but never explained — “What do I do with all these powers?” — the ability to turn your palms into flashlights is unimpressive. To be sure, John later in the film unlocks the power to lift objects and people with the blue light shooting out of his hands, but in the

scheme of sci-fi/action movies, these powers don’t hold a candle to what Magneto or The Green Lantern can do.

Despite an interesting premise, the film’s genre confusion and overwhelming number of script shortcuts, making it safe to say that ‘Number Four’ will not be anybody’s number-one pick this season.

The Tufts Daily

12

Comics

Monday, February 28, 2011

Doonesbury

Crossword

by

Garry Trudeau

Non Sequitur

by

Wiley

Friday’s Solution

Married to the Sea

www.marriedtothesea.com

SUDOKU Level: The Academy not giving Best Picture to a movie about WWII and British royalty

Late Night at the Daily Friday’s Solution

Allie B.: “Most of what I say is perfect, so it doesn’t work for the late night.”

Please recycle this Daily.

The Tufts Daily

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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.

With star seniors graduating, Jumbos look to Steph Perez to lead the team

Women’s Lacrosse continued from page 16

(tri-captains Sara Bloom, Lily Colahan, and Tzipori), while 11 players are either in their freshman or sophomore year.

The team is also currently playing without Colahan, who tore ligaments in her leg during the scrimmage against Stonehill. The injury will require surgery and could cause the defender to miss the rest of the season.

“Lily Colahan’s injury caused a big shake-up to the lineup,” Lotz said. “But we have a lot of capable defenders and people who are ready to step up. That comeback [against Merrimack] showed that we have a team that knows how to win and knows how to play in the big moments.”

The youthful squad is in stark contrast to last year, when the Jumbos were led by a host of talented upperclassmen, including defender Alyssa Kopp (LA ’10), who was named a First Team All-American — the first Jumbo to receive that award since 1996. Kopp led the team with 26 caused turnovers and her presence will be sorely missed at the back of the Tufts defensive line.

“Kopp was such a great player and a great influence on the whole team, so it’s tough not having her around,” Lotz said. “But everyone is stepping up and we know that we can play well even without her.”

Kopp’s absence will be partially mitigated by junior attacker Steph Perez, who captured Third Team AllAmerican honors last season. Perez was the ultimate all-around player for Tufts last year, and in addition to leading the team in ground balls and draw controls, she caused 16 turnovers and scored 18 goals.

“Steph plays a huge role in our success and the captains really rely on her,” Tzipori said. “In the fall, when we were having captain’s practices, she really helped out with the entire team because she is such a versatile player. She is a great leader and a great player, and we all look to her during the season.”

Andrew Morgenthaler/Tufts Daily

Freshman Eliza Halmo leads a young Tufts squad this season.

Perez and the rest of the team will have to wrangle through a difficult schedule, especially in the early season, if they hope to return to the NESCAC

tournament. Tufts’ first four games are on the road, including critical matchups against conference foes Amherst and Colby in the first two games of the sea-

son. Then, after a home game on March 26 versus Williams, Tufts will hit the road again for two more vital games against Bates and Wesleyan.

Athletes of the Week Jeff Marvel, Men’s Track and Field Sophomore Jeff Marvel shattered a school record in the 800-meter on Friday night at the All-New England Championships, hosted by Boston University, breaking the previously 17-year-old mark.

Marvel’s time of 1:52.12 not only surpassed the 1:53.10 record and his personal record, but also automatically qualified him for NCAAs at Capital University on March 11-12. Marvel’s time on BU’s banked track converts to 1:52.72, narrowly sliding under the automatic qualifier of 152.80. The time currently ranks Marvel as the eighth-fastest Div. III competitor in the 800-meter nationally.

After taking second in his heat, seventh overall in the preliminaries and first in the division among 28 combined Div.-I, -II and -III athletes on Friday night, Marvel advanced to the finals on Saturday, in which he took eighth with a time of 1:55.78.

Earlier in the season, Marvel also provisionally qualified for NCAAs as a member of the Tufts’ Distance Medley Relay squad, running the 800-meter leg.

Junior Connor Rose, who is also a senior staff writer for the Daily, also broke the school record and ran a provisional national qualifier in a time of 1:52.44, just 0.24 seconds off the automatic qualifier, ranking him 10th nationally in the 800.

Marvel will race at the ECAC Championships this coming weekend, before heading out to NCAAs in Ohio the following weekend to come for his first collegiate national appearance.

—Lauren Flament courtesy tufts athletics

4x400 meter Relay Team, Women’s Track and Field The Tufts women’s 4x400-meter relay team posted a national qualifying time this weekend, helping the Jumbos to a 20th-place finish at this weekend’s NEICAAA Championships. Boston University hosted the competition, which featured 33 Div. I, Div.II and Div. III teams.

The Tufts relay squad — made up of sophomore Alyssa Corrigan, senior tri-captain Kanku Kabongo, junior Dayorsha Collins and freshman Jana Hieber — ran a combined 3:55.98 time on BU’s banked track, which converts to a 3:57.58. The relay finished ninth at the meet and second among Div. III schools.

The Jumbos’ time was comfortably within the NCAA provisional cutoff time of 3:59.50, a feat the team has attempted all season long. At the Feb. 11 BU Valentine Invitational, the same team finished in 3:59.11, but after this time was adjusted due to the school’s banked track, it was just over the provisional qualifying time. The Jumbos’ 4x400 team is ranked No. 17 in the nation.

—Ethan Sturm Justin McCallum/Tufts Daily

The Tufts Daily

14

Sports

Monday, February 28, 2011

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Daily File Photo

Senior attackman D.J Hessler, here in a game last spring, is key to Tufts’ hopes of defending its title as national champs.

Tufts’ new depth exciting for season and beyond; young defense packs a punch MEN’S LACROSSE

continued from page 16

and it was exciting to see them play.”

Overall, the day of competition was very telling of the possibility for another history-making season. But coming into the season at No. 1 in the nation is never easy. Though the Jumbos will have two weeks of practice to streamline their game before their season-

opener March 12 against Amherst, no scrimmages can perfectly replicate the brutal competition of NESCAC lacrosse.

“The next two weeks, we’re going to be focusing on Tufts,” Molloy said.

“We’re the only team that can hurt us in the country. … It’s going to be a long two weeks and a tough two weeks, but we’re just going to be focusing on us.”

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The Tufts Daily

Monday, February 28, 2011

15

Sports Ethan Sturm | Rules of the Game

Playoff picture perfect

A

James Choca/Tufts Daily

Quarterback Anthony Fucillo, then a senior, in a game last September.

Fucillo will likely start immediately for the 89ers’ 10-game season; will be in Denmark six months FOOTBALL

continued from page 16

upon arrival in Denmark. The 89ers run out of a traditional shotgun formation, similar to the spread offense that Tufts operated out of in 2010, but Fucillo said that he will have some influence in what AAB does on the offensive end.

After six seasons of college football, Fucillo is undaunted by the challenge of playing overseas. What he is nervous about, however, is the idea of living outside of the Boston area for six months.

“I’ve always been stuck in this area around Boston, so it’ll be good to get out and see other parts of the world,” said Fucillo, who added that he has only been out of the country once, and never to Europe. “Football comes naturally to me, whether it’s in Europe or here. I’m more nervous about getting used to living overseas. Six months is a long time.”

Fucillo benefited from a change in the offensive system at Tufts in his final season. After operating out of the I-formation and relying primarily on

310

the run game for years, Tufts switched to a no-huddle system, which, despite a disappointing 1-7 record, resulted in the NESCAC’s top pass offense.

Fucillo will depart the United States as arguably the most prolific quarterback in Tufts history. In 2010, he accumulated 2,475 passing yards, a new Tufts record and third all-time in the NESCAC for a single season. He now holds the single-game and single-season program marks for passing yards, attempts, completions and total offense. Plus, his 117.2 career passer’s rating is the highest of any Jumbo, ever, and his 503 passing yards against Amherst on Oct. 30 set a New England Div. III record.

For any Div. III athlete, playing professionally is no easy task. In recent years, former Jumbos Kevin Anderson (LA ’09) and Tom Tassinari (E ’10) each worked out at a Pro Day at Boston College, but their aspirations never materialized.

Civetti, though, is confident in his former quarterback’s capabilities to make it

DAILY DIGITS

3,532

at the next level.

“Honestly, with Anthony, any of his accomplishments won’t surprise me,” Civetti said. “He’s a hard-working guy, a student of the game, a fantastic leader.

I think he’ll get everything out of this opportunity that he can provide. The success he had this year and the records he left, it’s a true testament to the hard work and effort he puts in it. His heart and commitment to Tufts football is second to none.”

Until his flight to Denmark, Fucillo will bide his time, bouncing back and forth between Tufts and Winthrop to rehab and prepare himself for another season. But playing for the 89ers is hardly the punctuation note on an already illustrious career; rather, Fucillo views this chance as a springboard for future gigs.

“I’m not going over there just for a dead end,” Fucillo said. “I took the first opportunity that arose, but hopefully when I come back someone will pick me up.”

6

Consecutive conference games lost by Div. III Caltech basketball in Southern California Intercollegiate Conference play before the team’s 46-45 victory over Occidental College last Tuesday. The lengthy streak had spanned 26 years. The team has won five games total this season, the Beavers’ most since the 1994-95 season. Unfortunately for Caltech fans, the baseball team’s 412 game conference losing streak is still active.

Miles to Aalborg, Denmark, the city quarterback Anthony Fucillo will travel to in March to play for the Aalborg 89ers of the Denmark National League. After a prolific 2010 campaign that saw him set numerous program, NESCAC and Div. III New England records, Fucillo latched on with the 89ers, spurning other international offers. Fucillo, who has never been to Europe before, will likely start for Aalborg during its 10-game summer season.

Pistons players who dressed for Friday night’s game against the Philadelphia 76ers after seven players failed to show up for the team bus to the stadium or the mandatory pregame shootaround in protest of coach John Kuester. The list of absent players included Tracy McGrady, Tayshaun Prince and Ben Wallace. The team was unsurprisingly pummeled 110-94, with Kuester ejected in the second quarter as the icing on the cake.

28.7

7

3

Average margin of victory for the national No. 2 Amherst women’s basketball team, which won its third NESCAC Championship in four years by crushing No. 24 Bowdoin 72-35 yesterday. The squad, which returned all five of its starters from last year’s Final Four run, finished the season 26-1 and is all but a lock for one of the top seeds in this year’s NCAA Tournament, which kicks off next weekend.

Teams that began the week in the NCAA Div. I AP Top 15 and lost over this weekend, including No. 1 Duke, No. 4 Pittsburgh, No. 5 Texas and No. 6 San Diego State. Similar stretches of parity have become typical of the season, in which no team has fewer than two defeats. The country’s No. 1 team will also likely change for the third time in three weeks.

Things will only get more interesting when conference tournaments start Wednesday.

Times that No. 8 seeds in the NESCAC Championships have defeated No. 1 seeds across all sports after Wesleyan upset Hamilton in men’s ice hockey Saturday.

The team will now enter the infamous company of Tufts women’s soccer, who fell this past fall, and Conn. College men’s lacrosse, who were defeated last spring.

No top seed had ever been beaten in the first round before last year.

couple of weeks ago, I was sitting around with a pair of UNC fans watching the Tar Heels take on Duke. Unsurprisingly, the conversation shifted to Carolina’s last title game in 2008-09.

One of the two fans commented that what made that title game great was that it matched up the best two teams in the country, something he wished could be guaranteed every season. When I asked (somewhat sarcastically) if that meant he liked the BCS, I got a resounding “no.”

But the idea of “what makes the perfect playoff system?” stuck with me.

First, we need to look at what doesn’t work, which brings us right back to the BCS. The BCS is a bit like “The Jersey Shore”: It exists to be a money grab, it serves no useful purpose, and its continued existence leaves us questioning our culture’s intelligence. I would wager that not even the people who make billions off the system like it.

Next up is the NBA, which grants 16 of its 30 teams entry into the playoffs (making it an easier in than Erin Barry).

This leads to some ridiculous scenarios.

Does 39-43 sound like a team deserving of playing for a title? Because the Pistons made the playoffs with that record in 2008-09. It’s bad enough that we tell our T-ball-playing younger siblings that every game is a tie and that nobody loses; we don’t need to baby our professional athletes, too.

(Side note: How does anyone watch the NBA regular season? If I wanted to watch a bunch of people half-ass it for the duration of their work day before putting in a little effort at the end to make their quota, I could just visit any office building in America.)

The NHL has the same problems as the NBA. Thanks to a playoff system that can have a team play up to 28 postseason games, Game 7 of the 2006 Stanley Cup Finals in Raleigh, N.C., was played while temperatures outside reached a high of 88 degrees. Hockey is not meant for summer; the only ice that sports fans should be associating themselves with at those temperatures is a tasty snow cone.

Which brings us to the MLB, which has the most appealing structure. Baseball allows only eight of its 30 teams in, forcing every team to actually try in the regular season., The playoffs start with a round that is only best-of-five instead of best-of-seven.

So to begin our modifications, we will shrink the basketball and hockey brackets to the size of baseball. We’ll even let them keep their best-of-seven first rounds to appease their love for things unnecessarily lengthy.

That leaves the NFL on the agenda.

At 12 teams, the league’s playoff pool is small enough, but the one-and-done nature of its tournament structure leaves much to be desired. In fact, only two No. 1 seeds have won the Super Bowl in the past 10 years, compared to four in each of the other three big four sports.

What’s the solution? I think football should take a page out of the book of its name-sharing brethren, European “football.” While American football cannot be played frequently enough to have series in the playoffs, the aggregate system, in which a game is played at each stadium and the higher cumulative score moves on, could be implemented.

Not only would this add strategy to the game (run out the clock while up 15 points at home, or try to add to your lead?), but it would eliminate most of the need for the NFL’s horrific overtime system, as in the event of an aggregate tie, whoever scored more on the road goes on.

Perhaps this is all a pipe dream, but maybe some day these are changes that could happen.

Wait … who am I kidding … we can’t even get rid of the BCS …

Ethan Sturm is a sophomore majoring in biopsychology. He can be reached at Ethan.

Sturm@gmail.com.

Sports

16

tuftsdaily.com

LACROSSE

ReLax: Lacrosse teams kick off preseason with scrimmages Defending NCAA men’s champs dominate in both weekend scrimmages by

Claire Kemp

Daily Editorial Board

It’s been a while since the No. 1-ranked men’s lacrosse team has taken to the turf at Bello Field, yet the Jumbos looked anything but rusty during Saturday’s two home scrimmages. Both the first-stringers, who played against Keene State, and the second-stringers, who played against Wheaton College, dominated the opposition. The Jumbos were explosive on offense, taking down the Owls 19-7 and dismantling the Lyons 15-8.

In the first game, though the team started slow, its returning talent on offense came out strong. Attackmen D.J. Hessler and Ryan Molloy and midfielder Matt Witko — all of whom are senior quad-captains — as well as juniors Sean Kirwan, an attackman, and Kevin McCormick, a midfielder, dismantled Keene State’s defense.

Kirwan led the team with six goals after tallying a team-high 49 in 2010.

“I think that we did a lot of good things,” Molloy said. “There’s still a lot we need to improve on, and it’s still early. We definitely are at an advantage returning five of us, but at the same time there are a lot of new faces. … We were happy, but we’re never satisfied.

We’re always striving for perfection.”

Perfect or not, the real story came from Tufts’ defense. At the end of last season, a rattling number of question marks remained in the backfield for the Jumbos after the graduation six defensive leaders — including defenders Eytan Saperstein (LA ’10).

But from the look of things Saturday, the defense has not lost a step.

Senior quad-captain Alec Bialosky, the only returning starting longstick midfielder, put up a solid all-around performance and led the defense while scoring a hat trick. Sophomores Sam Gardner and John Heard, junior Mark Findaro and freshman Dan

Alles, all defenders, also showed their value behind the midline. Alles’ performance — just two weeks into his collegiate career — was an especially welcome surprise.

The Jumbos will need their defense to stay strong, with junior starting goalkeeper Steve Foglietta and sophomore defender Matt Callahan — a transfer from Div. I Fairfield — both sidelined with injuries. Saturday was a good start.

“I thought we just played really well,” junior midfielder Nick Rhoads said.

“I think one of the keys to that is that our offense is so impressive. … Just the fact that we practice against such a good offense helps us when we play against teams that don’t have as much skill because we’re so used to playing against them.”

Against Wheaton just 30 minutes later, the talent and depth of the Jumbos’ 48-man roster became evident. Though several veteran Jumbos returned to the field sporadically, the minutes were dominated by less experienced players.

The change in personnel did little to slow the team’s strong play, as Wheaton fell behind 11-2 in the first half alone. By the fourth quarter, with fatigue undoubtedly playing a part and Tufts’ upperclassmen leaving the game, the Lyons had closed the gap slightly. Still, though no official score was released, the scoreboard read 15-8 at the end of regulation. “[Saturday] was just a great opportunity for everyone to get a chance to play,” Molloy said of the Wheaton scrimmage. “Those guys push the starters every day. … There’s no garbage minutes, so they’re out there trying to earn time, and I feel comfortable with any of them stepping on the field at any time. They’re all going to be really good when they’re older, see MEN’S LACROSSE, page 14

‘FITTFU’ in full swing at the Gantcher Center

Young women’s squad splits two scrimmages against Div. II schools by

David McIntyre

Daily Editorial Board

The women’s lacrosse team, coming off a season in which it went 11-4 overall and lost to Amherst in the first round of the NESCAC Tournament, began gearing up for its 2011 campaign over the last two weekends in early-season scrimmages against Stonehill College on Feb. 19 and Merrimack College on Saturday.

Tufts came away with a split against the Div. II schools, falling to Stonehill in a blowout before toppling Merrimack in a tight 17-16 victory. The Jumbos struggled in the first half of the Merrimack game but quickly turned around in the second, which including a game-winning goal in the final minute.

“In the first half [against Merrimack]

Andrew Morgenthaler/ Tufts Daily

Football

Fucillo signs contract to play professionally in Denmark by

William H. Butt V./Tufts Daily

see WOMEN’S LACROSSE, page 13

Snow be darned: The women’s lacrosse team weathered the elements to take on Merrimack in a scrimmage Saturday.

Alex Prewitt

Daily Editorial Board

The brisk Boston weather hasn’t stopped Tufts’ ultimate frisbee team from getting in some work before the spring season. Last Friday night the Gantcher Center was home to “FITTFU,” or “Friday Is The Time For Ultimate,” a 4x4 weekly indoor league that includes nearly 120 students. Check out tuftsdaily.com/thescore for more photos from this week’s matchups.

we were just not playing our best and not working well as a team, so they took a 13-6 at the half,” junior defenseman Katie Lotz said. “But in the second we came out firing, and came back really strongly and managed to get the victory.”

Senior tri-captain Yael Tzipori, a defenseman, attributed the turn around to increased intensity in the second half.

“We just upped our intensity level, especially in the midfield,” Tzipori said.

“Our attackers really worked hard at winning the ball back, and we were able to take over the game.”

Although both games were unofficial, the scrimmages were a chance for the young team to prove its worth. There are only three seniors on the current roster

Anthony Fucillo (LA ’11) has already conquered the football team’s record book. Now, he’s off to conquer Denmark.

Fucillo, who set program marks in four passing categories this past season at the helm of the Jumbos’ new high-speed spread attack, signed a contract on Feb. 20 to continue his career with the AAB 89ers, an American football squad based out of Denmark. Located in Aalborg, the 89ers, founded in 1989, compete at a semiprofessional level in the National League, the top-flight Danish conference for American football.

“It gives him the opportunity to travel and see the world and experience things in life and continue playing, and from what I understand there’s some great talent that plays in this league,” said interim head coach Jay Civetti, who served as the offensive coordinator during Fucillo’s three seasons with the Jumbos. “He can make all the throws. He’s as poised as they come in the pocket. And his understanding of the game is better than anyone I know. I would be shocked if he didn’t have a successful year.”

After graduating Tufts following the fall semester, Fucillo latched on as a full-time teacher of digital video produc-

tion at Winthrop High School, his alma mater. In the interim, he sent his tapes to professional teams and garnered substantial interest across the world. He got offers from teams in Finland, Germany and Slovenia, as well as a tryout with the Sacramento Mountain Lions of the UFL. Ultimately, pitches from current 89er Jonn Mathews, a former tight end for Div. II Grand Valley State, who will be Fucillo’s roommate in Denmark, and Richie Rosabella, Fucillo’s former teammate at Colgate who played for the National League’s Triangle Razorbacks, sold him on the idea of heading to Aalborg.

“I think it’s something that, on a personal level — whether you go 1-7 or 7-1 — this is a good opportunity to make me a better player,” Fucillo said. “I think that if I had taken a year off, I’d never play again.”

The contract, which runs from March 19 to Sept. 30 for the 10-game season, stipulates that Fucillo be compensated for all living expenses, including his apartment, food, Internet, health insurance and transportation. He will also receive a monthly stipend, the value of which Fucillo declined to comment on.

According to Fucillo, he will be given the opportunity to start immediately see FOOTBALL, page 15