2012-04-25

THE TUFTS DAILY

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TUFTSDAILY.COM

Wednesday, april 25, 2012

VOLUME LXIII, NUMBER 56

Where You Read It First Est. 1980

Cadley Elected TCU President President-elect hopes to make vision of ‘One Tufts’ a reality

Laina Piera

Daily Editorial Board

After a week of frenzied campaigning that saw slogans plastered across campus and lengthy debates between the two candidates and their supporters, Tufts Community Union (TCU) Vice President Wyatt Cadley’s “Think Big” platform propelled him to victory over Senator Logan Cotton, a junior, in yesterday’s TCU presidential election.

Minutes after receiving the news of his victory while surrounded by his campaign staff, Cadley, also a junior, said that he was honored to have the confidence of the student body.

“I’ve said it once, I’ll say it again — this has been a campaign about ideas, and more so than anything else. I’m very blessed to have the opportunity to try to put these ideas into action,” Cadley said following the announcement.

“Running for president is a very humbling experience.”

The turnout of 2,574 undergraduates (49.79 percent of the student body) was nearly 1,000 votes greater than last year’s turnout. Cadley won with 60 percent (1,494 votes) of the total, while Cotton received 40 percent (1,013 votes). Sixtyseven students abstained.

Cadley’s campaign platform focused on the quality of student life at Tufts and on unifying the campus into a single community — in his words, “One Tufts.” His campaign slogan, “Think Big,” alluded to his platform, which included a spontaneous activity-packed day off called “Jumbo Day,” a re-evaluation of the Resident Assistant system and a student bill of academic rights.

“I think when people looked at my platform, they saw problems that they faced every day,” Cadley said. “Whether it was the lack of school spirit that we talk so much about, or whether it was academic inconveniences or academic limitations and not being able to pursue

scott tingley / the tufts daily

Wyatt Cadley was mobbed by his supporters after the results of the vote were released last night. your own interests to the best of your ability, I think that really resonated with people. “‘Think Big’ wasn’t just a slogan, it was a call to action for the community, and I think that’s what people got,” he added. “People want to feel like they’re heard, and they want to know that someone’s listening, and I think we showed that we’re a team that is going to listen and continue listening moving into the future.”

Cadley enters his position with three years of Senate experience, having served as a senator since September of his freshman year.

He has also worked as Allocations Board chair, representative to two student-faculty committees and co-chair of the Senate’s Services Committee and task force on alcohol and other drugs, along

with his vice presidency this year.

Cadley credited his website, which was designed by Senator Mike Vastola; a YouTube video created by sophomore Pike Hughes; and his campaign manager, sophomore Kara Lillehaug, with strengthening and inspiring his campaign.

“I’m enthusiastic, and that’s an understatement,” Lillehaug said. “I think he totally deserves it, and I think we worked really hard, and I’m just thrilled with the results. I think we did a great job just really letting people know who he was through the stickers [and] the postcards which had a lot of information and let people be really informed. … Wyatt did a great job. I think he’s very personable, very friendly, always willing to take people’s questions and

always willing to answer.”

Cotton’s platform focused on reforming the culture of the Senate and addressing issues of discrimination on campus. He and his campaign team encouraged students to “GoLoCo.” Cotton said he will continue to serve as a senator next year in addition to taking on leadership roles in other student groups.

“I feel like the traditional trajectory is someone runs, doesn’t get it and runs for [vice president.] I’m not trying to pad a resume,” Cotton said.

“I can pursue the activist leadership role the way I promised to do as TCU president.”

Cotton noted that he and Cadley had an amicable relationship throughout the campaign and frequently communicated with each other.

Proposed changes to marijuana policy removed from election ballot

A referendum previously slated to be on yesterday’s election ballot concerning Tufts’ marijuana policy was not included because of concerns about a loss of federal funding if the policy were to change, according to Dean of Student Affairs Bruce Reitman.

The proposed policy would have imposed a $100 fine if a student was found with one ounce or less of marijuana. The change would have made Tufts policy consistent with Massachusetts state law.

The goal was to separate Tufts’ marijuana and alcohol policies, Reitman said.

However, the referendum did not make it on to the ballot after the Committee on Student Life (CSL) failed to approve by

Nina Goldman

Daily Editorial Board

the policy change, Reitman said.

“It was found to be inconsistent with the federal mandate in the DrugFree Schools and [Communities] Act [(DFSCA)], which ties federal funding to schools and institutions of higher education in compliance with the act, which includes enforcement regarding illegal drugs,” Reitman told the Daily in an email. “This inconsistency made it impossible for the referendum to go forward.”

Up to that point, the change had been approved by a Tufts Community Union Senate resolution from last year, student petitions, Reitman and the Tufts University Police Department, according to Lauren Traitz, president of Tufts Students for Sensible Drug Policy (SSDP).

Inside this issue

Massachusetts currently levies the $100 fine without legal consequences, and the federal government cannot technically enact legislation restricting illegal drug use. The university, though, falls under the jurisdiction of the DFSCA and could thus face repercussions.

The DFSCA states, “As a condition of receiving funds or any other form of financial assistance under any federal program, an institution of higher education must certify that it has adopted and implemented a program to prevent the unlawful possession, use or distribution of illicit drugs and alcohol by students and employees.”

“We’re not limited by law; we’re limited by legal extortion,” Traitz, a

“Wyatt and I communicated to make sure there was no animosity between us,” he said. “Wyatt and I have two different approaches on how to lead a student body. When you recognize that, it’s a sobering reminder it’s a difference of opinion. … I’m glad that [we] were able to remain steadfast friends throughout the process and I think Tufts and Tufts’political engagement is stronger for it.”

Cadley said that he is looking forward to working with Cotton on the Senate next year.

“Logan ran a great campaign and I’ve gained an incredible amount of respect for him, for the work he’s done and the passion that he’s excited in this community, and I really genuinely look forward to working with him in the future,” he said.

The total turnout in this election was significantly higher than last year’s presidential election, when 31 percent of the student body voted and elected TCU President Tomas Garcia. Garcia won with 78 percent of the vote.

“I think it’s very telling that we got turnout to jump very high given where it was last year, and it was because both sides were able to turn out a lot of people and inspire a lot of people,” Cadley said.

Cadley encouraged students to “keep thinking big.”

“Even though the campaign is over, it doesn’t mean people should stop thinking critically about this university,” he said. “It was a call to action, and it remains a call to action. There are so many ways people can be agents of change on this campus, so I think that’s one of the really key lessons that we learned from this election, and that sort of general mantra and spirit is something that needs to continue moving into the future.”

— Brionna Jimerson and Melissa Wang contributed reporting to this article.

Senate unanimously backs support for entrepreneurs

by James

Pouliot

Contributing Writer

At the final Tufts Community Union (TCU) Senate meeting of the semester on April 15, the body unanimously (23-0-0) passed two resolutions that address entrepreneurial initiatives and resources at Tufts.

The first resolution, “A Resolution Calling for the Creation of the Tufts Innovation and Ideas Mentorship Program (‘The Incubator’),” calls for the creation of a physical infrastructure and mentorship council made up of Tufts faculty, alumni and area business leaders to support and help students’ entrepreneurial ideas. The resolution was submitted by junior Senator Meredith see ENTREPRENEURSHIP, page 2

see MARIJUANA, page 2

Today’s sections

Despite significant progress, Asian and Asian American students still face discrimination on the Hill.

Guster will perform at Saturday’s Spring Fling on the heels of a successful show at the Paramount Theater.

see FEATURES, page 3

see ARTS, page 5

News Features Arts & Living Editorial | Letters

1 3 5 8

Op-Ed Comics Classifieds Sports

9 10 13 Back

The Tufts Daily

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News

Wednesday, April 25, 2012

Senators seek residential environment to nurture entrepreneurship ENTREPRENEURSHIP continued from page 1

Scott Tingley / The Tufts Daily

Tufts Trustee and Reverend Gloria White-Hammond (M ‘76, H ‘06) yesterday afternoon was presented with the Light on the Hill award, the highest honor that a Tufts graduate can receive from the student body. White-Hammond is a retired pediatrician, a pastor at Bethel AME Church in Boston and Executive Director of My Sister’s Keeper, a humanitarian women’s group that partners with Sudanese women in working toward reconciliation and reconstruction of their communities.

Goldberg and Trustee Representative Josh Kapelman, a senior.

The second resolution, “A Resolution Calling for an Entrepreneurial Initiative and Environment for Undergraduates at Tufts University (‘The Initiative’),” calls for the creation of an environment — such as a lounge, living space or work facility — that supports students’ entrepreneurial initiatives. The resolution was submitted by Kapelman and junior Albert Nichols, the president of Tufts Entrepreneurs Society.

Kapelman described “The Incubator” as a mentorship council that will advise student entrepreneurs on how to launch their ideas.

“In the business world, no one really cares about a student’s ideas because they don’t have a track record,” Kapelman said.

“We have to figure out how we can create an ‘A-Team’ made of students and backed by industry professionals, professors and people with a track record of performing.

That’s how the idea of ‘The Incubator’ came to be.”

“Five years down the road, as [the Tisch College of Citizenship and Public Service] is for citizenship, we’ll create something for entrepreneurship,” Kapelman said.

“You can’t just throw money at someone and say ‘OK, now be successful.’ You have to give them mentorship and put together an advisory committee. That’s what we’re aiming to do.”

Kapelman, who founded two start-up companies before matriculating at Tufts, plans to use his industry experience to help other students realize their own ideas.

Kapelman enlisted Goldberg’s help to co-submit the resolution for “The Incubator.”

“My mom was the director at the [Entrepreneurial Leadership] department at Tufts, so the ideas of Tufts and entrepreneurship were very linked in my mind,” Goldberg said. “I had the background with the Senate and [Tufts Entrepreneurs Society], so [Kapelman] wanted advice about how to push it forward and not only get the support of the Trustees but get support within the Tufts community as well.”

The two resolutions are part of an ongoing effort to create a collaborative environment that will foster student entrepreneurship at Tufts.

Nichols co-submitted the resolution calling for “The Initiative” with Kapelman in hopes of creating a social and residential space for budding entrepreneurs to brainstorm ideas and build networks with like-minded students.

“We hope to create a residential environment in which students are encouraged to create businesses and cool ideas that will improve Tufts and the world,” Nichols said. “There are thousands of students at Tufts who are working on their own projects, and it’s time that we leverage each other to accelerate the individual projects that we’re working on. We’re focused on creating that environment as part of the undergraduate experience.”

The next step for both projects is contingent upon the support of the Board of Trustees. Kapelman, who acts as a liaison between the Senate and the Board of Trustees, anticipates that the projects will be successful.

“Right now, the Entrepreneurial Leadership Program is going through a big transition,” Kapelman said. “Director Pamela Goldberg left, so throughout the year the program has been interviewing new applicants. One of the things that the Board of Trustees said to the Provost was ‘We’d like to add [‘The Incubator’] as one of the things we look at when we hire this new person.’”

In light of the Senate’s unanimous passing of both “The Incubator” and the Initiative, Kapelman urged students to consider entrepreneurial training as a core aspect of professional life.

“It’s really important to understand that entrepreneurship is not business,” Kapelman said. “It touches every place in your life: It creates you, it makes you a leader, it develops you as person.”

Nichols also emphasized that entrepreneurship does not solely entail beginning business ventures.

“Our biggest thing is to encourage all students — whether you’re a musician, a computer scientist or you’re studying international relations — to take an entrepreneurial approach to what you do,” he said. “It doesn’t have to be a business, you don’t have to start your own company, but just say, ‘I can do it myself, I can do it better, and I can use the smart people around be to create the world we live in.’ That’s what we believe in.”

Reitman, university administrators concerned about violating DFSCA

MARIJUANA

continued from page 1

sophomore said. “This is an issue of our federal government not respecting us.”

The referendum would have proposed that the $100 fine be excluded from the tuition bill and instead be sent in a separate statement to the student, according to Traitz. Students would have also needed to speak with a Health Service representative but not with Judicial Affairs Officer Veronica Carter, as current policy requires, she explained.

Traitz said the referendum was proposed because marijuana and alcohol violations should not be treated equally at Tufts since the state does not treat them the same way.

“If you drink yourself into the hospital, you’re clearly abusing a drug,” Traitz said. “[Under current policy,] that’s treated the same as smoking a joint.”

“From [University President Anthony Monaco] to every person I’ve met, no one thinks marijuana is a problem at Tufts,” she added.

Traitz said that the final issue with the DFSCA that the CSL identified was the only step in the process during which she felt the referendum was threatened. She said that, from the start, Reitman was open to discussions about a new marijuana policy.

“It was probably one of the

more positive steps of this experience,” Traitz said. “It really made me feel that my school is on my side.”

“My state decriminalized it, my school’s ready, my police department’s ready,” she added.

“What we’re asking for isn’t anything radical.”

The process of turning last year’s Senate resolution into a referendum happened in a matter of weeks, according to Policy Director of SSDP Evan Gale. SSDP members could not find another school with a similar policy, though, meaning that Tufts would have been the first to propose a change, Gale, a senior, explained.

The next step for SSDP is to launch an inquiry into whether the fine would truly be a problem and speak with other Boston-area schools about forming a coalition to approach the change.

Although the university and SSDP are not certain that the $100 fine would fail to meet DFSCA requirements, they are wary of running into legal trouble.

“It’s really scary for an institution to kind of take the first dive,” Traitz said.

“Tufts and Dean Reitman were pretty concerned about being the guinea pig,” Gale said.

Juan Carlos Montemayor Elosua, a junior from Mexico who signed the most recent SSDP petition, does not think

James Choca / The Tufts Daily Archives

The university is looking into ways of changing its marijuana policy without violating the Drug-Free Schools and Communities Act. the proposed changes would be controversial.

“For me as a foreigner, that’s very confusing,” he added.

“Something that’s not illegal in the state wouldn’t be illegal in the country.”

SSDP will continue to work toward separating Tufts’ alcohol and drug policies and providing a less restrictive marijuana policy, Traitz said.

“I don’t know if the treatment of alcohol and drugs will always

be addressed in a single policy,” Reitman said. “I know that the entire policy will periodically be examined and adjusted as societal and campus values change. That has been its history and will no doubt continue to be the case.”

Features

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tuftsdaily.com

Jasmin Sadegh | Engin-nerd

Fallout of bias incident still relevant on the Hill three years later Amelia Quinn

Often touted for the diversity and open-mindedness of its community, Tufts makes great efforts to provide for the variety of minority groups on its campus. But for Asian and Asian American students on the Hill, the university continues to fall short of its goal to be free of discrimination and stereotyping.

Most prominently, the bias incident involving the Korean Student Association (KSA) in 2009 has remained on the mind of the Asian and Asian American communities on campus.

“This drunk fraternity brother was in Lewis, where the Korean Student Association was practicing for a culture show,” senior William Huang, who has served as the Tufts Community Union ( TCU) Senate Asian American Community Rep for the past year, said. “He mocked them, and they asked him to get out, and then they restrained him when he started fighting them. He started yelling ‘you [ethnic slur], go back to China.’”

Although the issue began with that incident, it only intensified after the confrontation.

“The worst part was that the administration did not react right away.

They waited a week, even though there were so many eye witnesses, and even though the students performed all the right measures, like going through the RA system,” Huang said. “The students felt disillusioned and that Tufts was trying to protect its reputation.”

Although he was not present when the fight occurred, Huang still felt its effects.

“After the incident, I felt angry and isolated … the institutional response was very disappointing,” he said.

Huang added that the administration did not immediately condemn the actions of the drunk student but instead conducted a lengthy investigation. The entire situation led Huang to question the university’s efforts to understand the Asian and Asian American communities.

“I definitely think that the campus is missing an educational component when it comes to issues relating to diversity, privilege and marginalization,” he said. “It’s important to put into context that the slurs uttered by the drunk freshman are consistent with the idea that Asian Americans are viewed as ‘perpetual foreigners’ and not authentic Americans.”

Huang said that after the KSA incident, he didn’t feel welcome at Tufts because other students were saying that the Asian community on campus was overreacting.

“After the incident I felt a little threatened, with no one to turn to besides the Asian American center, which was a good resource,” he said.

Junior Alex Chan, program assistant for the Asian American Center’s peer leader program, also mentioned the far-reaching impact of the KSA incident. According to Chan, sensitive topics like race are often sidestepped on campus.

“The first thing that was really shocking for me when I came to Tufts is that everything has to be so politically correct,” Chan said. “There is some merit to that, but I think that it really shields Tufts from being completely open to a lot of issues, especially race.”

Chan added that being an Asian American on campus is difficult because there are underlying racial issues and struggles that people don’t recognize.

“One thing that was hidden was the KSA incident in 2009 and the fallout from it,” Chan said. “The way the by

Daily Editorial Board

dilys ong / the Tufts Daily

The 2009 KSA bias incident is still fresh on the mind of senior William Huang, the Asian American community rep for the TCU Senate. administration handled it reflects how the campus deals with racial diversity.”

According to Chan, the fallout from the 2009 KSA incident is a reflection on the administration and its difficulties in dealing with with issues of diversity on campus.

“We say we embrace [racial diversity], but at the same time there’s so much friction, and I think that’s how it can be different,” he said.

Chan also discussed the impact of an op-ed that recently appeared in the Daily that downplayed issues of race at Tufts.

“There was that Daily op-ed before Spring Break about how no one on this campus [is] racist, and I know from personal experiences that this is not the case,” Chan said. “The feeling of getting on campus and not feeling completely safe, not feeling like you’re

home, really points to that.”

Sophomore Samuel Daniel’s March 14 op-ed entitled “No one at this school is racist” set off a flurry of responses from minority groups on campus as well as from individual students.

“The day that people saw that article, we had a meeting of many different communities getting together, brainstorming what is an effective way to respond to an article like that,” Chan said. “Seeing so many people come together so quickly, that they had similar thoughts, that we need to do something about this but in a respectful and well-thought-out way I thought that was a very good way to respond.”

Chan said he found the article so see ASIAN, page 4

An honest evaluation

W

hen I fill out the orange course evaluation forms, I darken some bubbles, flip over the page and draw a picture of a snowman or a flower, depending on the season. While I suggest that almost any question would be better than the ones on the evaluation forms, below are three questions that I would suggest putting on next year’s forms. Four juniors, Amy Harrington, Cameron Yu, Ben Harwood and Andrew Summerfield, graciously answered some of my new course evaluation questions in relation to the civil engineering classes we had this semester.

Question 1: Where do you sit in class and why?

One of them responded that his seat in class depends on how much the class is worth his attention. When he sits in the front, like he does for Steel Design, it’s because the professor demands his attention. When he sits in the back, he is letting the professor know that his daydreams are more interesting than the lecture. Another student agreed but then added that his poor vision prevents him from sitting as far toward the back of the classroom.

This question has its own exceptions. One of the students is the perpetual kid in the back of the class.

“I am a chronic nose picker,” he admitted.

Question 2: What does it take for you to raise your hand in class?

For this question, the consensus was generally that besides a tickle under the arm, students raise their hand in class when they have a question. However, there were a few honest responses. Someone said they raised their hand to help bail the professor out of a poor situation, like an uninspired, unanswered discussion question. In contrast, some of the students added that for other classes, they had to check their bowels and be fully confident that their question was worthy before raising their hand.

Question 3: Would you rather have a beer with this professor or take another class with him?

This question clarifies question numbers 8 and 15 on the standard evaluation form: How do you rank the professor and the class?

Clearly there are some professors that are just cool. You know they were the cool kids in school, they dress well, etc. Other professors might be super geeky but taught you to love a class that you thought you would hate. If you have found a professor that you would do both with, then you’ve probably found a great mentor at this school.

But what happens to these course evaluations? Some complainers post them on Jumboaccess and RateMyProfessors.com, but do the professors even read them? Is there room for improvement in the confined curriculum in an engineering course? Associate Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering Christopher Swan, who blushed a little when he found out he had a chili pepper for hotness on RateMyProfessor.com, proved that he receives our transcribed course evaluation forms. One of the evaluations even had a clipart picture of a snowman.

Professor Swan examines his evaluations to look for a small change in ratings that give an indication whether a new project should be continued for next year. He said, generally, if the evaluations are too low, the chair of Civil Engineering has to figure out how to deal with the course and the professor. But Professor Swan also acknowledged that some of the courses topics are just dry, and we just have to deal with it.

Well if we get to rank the professors, I thought it would only be fair if Professor Swan could rank the students. Although he technically couldn’t rank the goodlooking-ness of the students or the fun-ness of the class, I think we should add a component to the evaluation process so that he can have the opportunity to give us a chili pepper, too.

Jasmin Sadegh is a junior majoring in civil engineering. She can be reached at Jasmin.

Sadegh@tufts.edu.

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The Tufts Daily

Features

Wednesday, April 25, 2012

Students continue to push for Asian, Asian American Studies programs ASIAN

continued from page 3

offensive because of how broadly it reached and because it attempted to speak for all communities at Tufts.

“I think what was so infuriating was that he made a generalization about the Tufts community. He felt like he could say … something about somebody else,” Chan said. “I feel like that’s incredibly offensive, and I feel like that’s silencing and taking the power away from someone else.”

The op-ed also frustrated sophomore Jen Wang, who plans to live in the Asian American House, also known as the Start House, next year.

“I recently was agitated by [the op-ed] … regarding race and racial humor on campus,” she said. “The ignorant headline didn’t help the content of the article itself.”

Wang added that the op-ed was representative of commonplace naiveté surrounding issues of race.

“The article was filled with some lazy assertions about post-racial spaces as well as a ‘get over it’ type of attitude,” she said. “I was not fond of it.”

The Asian and Asian American community at Tufts has been proactive in forming support systems for students, including the Asian American Alliance (AAA), the Chinese Students Association and the Hong Kong Students Association, among others.

For incoming freshmen, there is an Asian American peer leader program, in which sophomores and juniors can address both general college concerns and issues related to growing up as an Asian in America.

In addition, the Start House provides a space for learning about the Asian American experience and hosts activities including art exhibits, food fairs, informal afternoon gatherings with faculty and discussions and talks on Asian American issues.

“I feel that AAA has done such great work in being active in regards to discussing Asian American identities,”

Wang said.

She added that one event that served to address issues pertinent to the Asian American community was an open mic night on April 18 that discussed the KSA incident.

“By continuing to reflect and discuss incidents such as the 2009 bias incident, the Asian American community maintains campus awareness surrounding issues of racism and ethnicity,” Wang said.

She also discussed the AAA’s involvement in improving the curriculum that Tufts offers.

“They’ve also been integral to the implementation of the Asian American studies program,” Wang said. “It’s been a lengthy struggle for Asian American studies and AAA’s work in generating a dialogue about the importance of ethnic studies as a whole [being] recognized.”

Several students also stressed the importance of the uphill battle to move the focus of Tufts curriculum away from an overly Eurocentric focus.

“I worked on a resolution in Senate to focus on Hindi,” Huang said. “We actually have a center for South Asian studies, so why don’t we offer Hindi?”

The only new programs confirmed so far are an Africana studies major and minor and an Asian studies minor, according to Huang.

He said that although change is happening, it is not occurring quickly enough and that the administration has not been active enough in the process.

“The push has been going on for decades now. Sometimes it’s frustrating to see the administration reacting,” Huang said. “I’d like to see them proposing.”

According to American Studies Lecturer Thomas Chen, it is important in the discussion of implementing new programs at Tufts to know the difference between Asian studies and Asian American studies.

“Asian American studies is an interdisciplinary academic field dedicated to the examination of all aspects of the

historical and contemporary experiences of Asian Americans,” Chen said.

“A crucial distinction is that Asian American Studies is focused on the histories, communities, cultures and experiences of a radicalized minority population in the American context while Asian studies is focused on Asia and the study of Asia.”

Chen explained that the foundation of Asian American studies as an academic discipline can be traced back to the national movements for racial and social justice during the 1960s and 1970s.

“In this tradition, Asian American studies also has a focus on addressing social disparities in the U.S. and the world as they relate to Asian Americans,” he said.

In terms of bringing a robust Asian American studies program to Tufts, students like Chan are still working tirelessly.

“We’re trying really hard to put this together because we think it’s important for Tufts to have an Asian American studies program,” Chan said. “Right now we’re only talking about a minor, and to only look at it as a minor is a big issue.”

Despite the progress that an Asian American studies minor represents, Chan is disappointed that the administration has put more effort into implementing an Africana studies program, while only using enough resources to establish an Asian American Studies minor but nothing beyond it.

“I’m sad that Tufts is doing this to just check a box, when there’s really more than just that,” he said. “It’s not reflective of the passionate students that are here … we are 17 percent of the student body, and we’re very underrepresented in terms of education, the course work that’s available [and] support services.”

Chan added that these support services are necessary so that they can cater to specific issues that students face, such as international students who have a difficult time adjusting to

Tufts’ culture.

However, Prashant Shah, a freshman from Nepal, reflected on his first year at Tufts positively.

“I guess a lot of other people already knew other people here, but I was by myself,” Shah said. “Of course it takes time to make new friends at a different place, but now it’s pretty good.”

Shah is one of only three Nepalese students who currently attend Tufts, although there are two more freshmen coming next year. He said that he and his friends here speak lightheartedly about race, culture and stereotypes but without being offensive.

“Once we acknowledge the differences and joke about it, it’s good to talk about it. It creates a more open atmosphere,” Shah said. “I’ve met a bunch of people who’ve asked me if I’ve been to Mount Everest, but that’s just the more unaware people. At Tufts people are generally pretty aware and educated.”

Shah said that most Tufts students tend to form tight-knit groups after the first month or so of freshman year. He said he has tried to keep his circle of friends open and accepting, but that he misses the attitude that permeated Tufts in September.

“The first couple weeks, every person going up Packard Avenue to class was saying ‘hello’ to everyone else, but then that was gone,” Shah said. “I got the hang of talking to random people, and by the time … I did, it was gone.”

This idea of connection between groups, of stepping outside of one’s comfort zone, is a concept vital to promoting understanding between different racial groups on campus, Chan said, and he believes that Tufts has not yet reached this point.

“I feel like everything is so split up at Tufts, although we’re a small campus, and we’re supposed to be really interconnected,” Chan said. “I feel like a lot of things block people from interacting with each other and getting an understanding of people’s communities.”

2012 Senior Honors Thesis Exchange Wednesday, April 25, 2012 ASEAN Auditorium, Fletcher 12pm—1:20pm Lunch is Served All are Welcome to Attend!

Congratulations to the 2012 Senior Honors Thesis Exchange Students: Sarah Carpenter Allison Fisk Ryan Long Ella Kipervasser Nicholas LoCastro Michelle Wilson Zachary Laub Kathryn Russell David Maas Tomas Garcia Amanda Chuzi Richard Ammerman Renee Gagne Anne Mendes

Emma Morgenstern Christopher Walczyszyn Paulina Ziolek Dana Burton Hannah Will Daniel Rosenblum Sara Miller Sadie Lansdale Tori Elliott Cory Faragon Edmund Gallese Stephanie Phoutrides Emma Holliday Allister Chang

Please Come to Listen & Celebrate Senior Honors Thesis Writers in History, International Relations, & Political Science

Sponsored by: Department of History | Department of Political Science International Relations Program | Office of Undergraduate Education

Arts & Living

5

tuftsdaily.com

Music Review

Guster charms at acoustic show with Jeff Garlin at Paramount Theater Dan O’Leary

Daily Staff Writer

While Guster is sure to deliver a crowd-pleasing set at this year’s Spring Fling, this past weekend the group of Tufts alumni treated fans to a unique and energetic performance as they closed their acoustic tour at the Paramount Theater in Boston. Billed as “Guster and Jeff Garlin Present a Night of Acoustic Music and Comedy,” Saturday’s concert deftly combined music and comedy in the intimate setting of the 550-seat theater.

While the pairing of the band with Garlin (of “Curb Your Enthusiasm” fame) may seem odd at first, his brand of comedy blended well with the comedic sensibilities present in the group’s live shows. Following a short opening set by comedian Mat Edgar, Garlin delivered a 45-minute stand-up set that was heavy on crude humor and audience participation. At the end of his set, Garlin introduced Guster over the cheers of the sold-out crowd, who then proceeded to play a 24-song set spanning nearly two hours.

Joining the founding trio of Adam Gardner (LA ’95), Ryan Miller (LA ’95) and Brian Rosenworcel (LA ’95) was the newest Guster member Luke Reynolds, a violinist. The tour was promoted as the first entirely acoustic tour Guster has done, and with the exception of an electric bass, no electric instruments were used at all during the performance.

Mark Trammell via Flickr Creative Commons

Guster, a group made up of Tufts alumni, will almost certainly rise to the occasion for Spring Fling this Saturday.

Much of the band’s catalogue lends itself well to an acoustic treatment, and the group stretched the limits of the setting, from hushed whispers over a light guitar accompaniment to energetic takes

TV Review

on songs that generated enough noise to overcome the volume drop often associated with unplugged sets. see GUSTER, page 6

Gallery Review

Multimedia art takes over Tufts Gallery by

Anna Majeski

Daily Editorial Board

As the year wraps up, Tufts students brace themselves for the coming onslaught of finals: where their learning — or habit

MFA Thesis Exhibition

southparkstudios.com

‘South Park’ relies on a diverse cast of hilarious characters.

Cartman, satire salvage 16th season of ‘South Park’ Dan O’Leary

In a television landscape filled with shows that struggle to complete a few seasons before being canceled, it is by

Daily Staff Writer

South Park Starring Trey Parker, Matt Stone, Mona Marshall, April Stewart Airs Wednesdays at 10 p.m. on Comedy Central a testament to the success of “South Park” that the show recently began its 16th season on Comedy Central. While on the surface the show may seem to be about toilet jokes and the ridiculous exploits of four foul-mouthed boys, the strength of “South Park” lies in its ability to mix absurd humor with satire on current events and pop culture.

Unfortunately, not all recent episodes

have completely capitalized on these strengths, and the latest season has developed a decidedly hit-or-miss feel to it. This could be attributed to a variety of factors, but two main ones that stand out are co-creators Matt Stone and Trey Parker’s tendency to choose easy targets to lampoon and rush storylines so certain episodes repeat the same joke throughout.

In spite of these drawbacks, the latest season of “South Park” has still been able to deliver occasional episodes where the comedy is firing on all cylinders. A perfect example of this is the episode “Faith Hilling,” which serves as a send-up of meme culture and the pace at which pop culture fads come and go. The episode begins with the boys infiltrating a Republican presidential debate to strike a naughty pose for a popular meme trend called “Faith Hilling,” which is quickly replaced by a different meme pose: “Taylor Swifting.”

see SOUTH PARK, page 6

At the Tufts University Art Gallery, through April 29 Aidekman Arts Center 15 Lower Campus Rd. 617-627-3084 of checking Facebook — will be put to one last test before summer internships and jobs take the place of the classroom.

Happily, the School of the Museum of Fine Arts (SMFA) is also testing its MFA candidates, and the result of this final exam is a wonderfully varied show, now on display at the Tufts University Art Gallery.

The MFA Thesis Exhibition, at the university gallery through April 29, displays the work of nine artists: Eunice Yoon-Seon Choi, Sammy Chong, Amy Mae Flaherty, Heidi Hogden, Helena Hsieh, Jee Min Kim, Arhia Kohlmoos, Kate Rapin and Kimberly Ruth. The artists’ work shown in the exhibition includes representational painting, painted Plexiglas reliefs, graphite drawing, experimental film and installations. The vast array of works emphasizes the variety of techniques employed by today’s artists. Themes vary considerably as well, ranging from explorations of time to the role of media in constructing the modern global citizen.

One of the first groups of work, found in the first room of the Tisch Gallery, is that of Chong, “So Close, So Distant.” Chong creates striking multidimensional paintings using layered sheets of Plexiglas displayed as a single work. Each of the Plexiglas pansee MFA, page 6

Elizabeth Landers | Campus Chic Report

The short of it

D

uring fashion week in September, one of the last shows I saw during the Spring 2012 collections in New York was Preen by Thornton Bregazzi. The collection brimmed with pixilated prints of color overlaid with lace prints. It was like Virginia Woolf met computer graphics for the first time. The shapes of the clothes were high-waisted, with formal-looking, flat-front pants and pencil skirts. Amazingly, they were paired with crop tops. They were printed and plain, three-quarter length sleeve and fancy. They were, in short, perfect.

Then the trend blossomed. The usual sexy suspects like Dolce & Gabbana and Versace showed printed bustier and studded white versions. The man who knows what women want to wear, Alexander Wang, fashioned leather, long-sleeved versions. Short, belly-baring sweaters even made it into Oscar de la Renta’s evening wear, paired with voluminous, silk ball gown skirts.

This is one of those rare, organic times in fashion when street style influenced high fashion. How long have high school and college girls been running around in flowy LF tanks with half the shirt lopped off at the bottom? How many Coachella festivalgoers wore vintage, artfully cropped tees with faded jean shorts? The look is youthful, casual and, most of the time, sexy.

As much as I loved seeing the trend on the runway, I had to wonder how appropriate crop tops really are, especially in the sort of dressy ways flaunted by the models. As daring as I like to think I am with my clothes — remember those palm-print leggings? — I cannot fathom a formal setting in which a ball gown and crop top are permissible. Just, no. Even the Versace studded shirt, which has barely enough fabric to be considered a bra, would probably be a stretch for the yacht docked off Capri. So where do we wear these new-fangled clothes?

Well, more casual places like Tufts, not the ballroom or the boardroom.

Crop tops are a staple around Tufts and can be spotted at the gym, the nearest pub and in class. With the weather so balmy last week, I saw a number of girls sporting these tops around school. As a member of the Tufts track and field team, I have jokingly (but seriously) petitioned that Thursdays be “Crop Top Thursdays.” Crop tops aren’t limited to the ladies: Certain ’80s-themed parties around campus have produced a few guys in cropped neon tanks. I’ll let you be the judge of that trend…

Unfortunately, crop tops bring about the debate of not only appropriateness but also flattering qualities. I had a debate with a friend a few days ago about who should wear crop tops. She said that around 50 percent of the girls our age try out the cropped look and thoughtfully added that only 10 percent of these people should actually be wearing them. I don’t know if I entirely agree with those statistics, but I do think that crop tops are not universally flattering. If you’re not comfortable with this style, I always think that something unexpected in the back of a shirt, such as a deep V or cut out, adds instant pizzazz and a subtler hint of sexiness.

With that said, though, no matter your body type or your ab circuit in the gym, there is a certain amount of confidence and swag that one needs to pull this look off. If the weather holds up for Spring Fling, I imagine there will be a lot of crop tops around. Just keep it classy (read: no micro jean shorts and wedge sandals) and you can think to yourself, “I was wearing this trend before Mr. Gabbana put it on his runway.” Cheers!

Elizabeth Landers is a junior majoring in political science. She can be reached at Elizabeth.Landers@tufts.edu.

The Tufts Daily

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Arts & Living

Wednesday, April 25, 2012

‘South Park’ still worth watching despite down season SOUTH PARK

continued from page 5

Many of the episode’s jokes provide a clever take on the recent Twitter trends such as Tebowing, and the plot takes a turn toward the surreal when humans threaten to go to war with cats over the use of memes. This absurd humor manages to generate laughs on its own, and it also serves as an effective backdrop for commentary on the fickleness of the Internet age.

The episode even ties in political commentary to the events at the beginning of the episode, with a TV anchor implying similarities between the shallow nature of memes and the perceived pandering by Republican presidential nominees during this year’s debates.

While this particular installment is an example of the capacity that “South Park” has to create strong episodes at this late point in its run, last week’s episode, “I Should Have Never Gone Ziplining,” represents all that is wrong with the current state of the series. The episode tries to satire elements of the Animal Planet show, “I Shouldn’t Be Alive,” but fails because of a meandering plot and jokes that mainly hinge on whether you’ve watched the spoofed series. The end of “Ziplining” goes so far in its satire as to feature a liveaction reenactment with actors assuming the roles of the juve-

Scott Hurst via Flickr Creative Commons

Trey Parker and Matt Stone have been making episodes of ‘South Park’ for 16 seasons. nile protagonists. Meant to echo a style reminiscent of survival shows, this prolonged gag falls short with little comedic payoff.

The decision to lampoon an Animal Planet show that is not

widely viewed is indicative of one of the major flaws of this season.

Too often, Stone and Parker pick satire targets that are either too simple or irrelevant. While “South Park” has proven that it can still

address controversial topics, such as the Joseph Kony video and the debate over the MPAA rating for the documentary “Bully” (2011), provocative and hysterical subject matter has started to become the

exception rather than the rule.

For every episode this season that has satirized a contentious topic like Kony, there are many more that hone in on effortless targets — such as home-shopping networks — or dated ones, such as the Transportation Security Administration. Subjects like these have still provided some laughs in their respective episodes, but one gets the sense that these topics are all too easy for Parker and Stone, who in the past have taken on taboo subject matters like Scientology and WikiLeaks.

It should be noted that even the weakest of “South Park” episodes are generally salvageable due to the character of Eric Cartman, who is a constant source of humor and delivers some of the funniest and most politically incorrect lines on television. Cartman’s crude language and extreme narcissism never fail to entertain and are often the saving grace of certain episodes with particularly weak plot setups.

In spite of the staying power of “South Park” and its ability to still deliver humorous episodes laced with satirical commentary and hilarious characters, many of the recent episodes suffer from a lack of originality and creativity. “South Park” is undoubtedly still capable of great episodes, but these are becoming fewer and farther between with each subsequent season.

Exhibit displays variety of student work MFA

continued from page 6

Tom E. Canavan via Flickr Creative Commons

Guster incorporated strings into its first acoustic tour, a decision that helped flesh out the band’s sound.

Enthusiasm, audience participation made Guster show memorable GUSTER

continued from page 5

The set list choices included some of the band’s popular hits like “Satellite” (2007) and “Barrel of a Gun” (1999), as well as rarely played deep album cuts like “Rise and Shine” (2007), ensuring that the set covered nearly all of their albums.

This is the first time Guster has used a string section in their shows, and the string players greatly enhanced and fleshed out the songs that may have otherwise sounded slightly sparse in acoustic form. The strings’ contributions were used to great effect during the concert, lending a lush background to certain songs while playing a prominent role in others, such as a frenzied violin solo in the song “Come Downstairs and Say Hello” (2003). One highlight of the show was the string treatment on “Satellite,” which replaced the song’s synthesizer riff with a beautiful violin melody.

Guster also capitalized on the evening’s intimate setting by adding a request section to the middle of the concert with Garlin serving as emcee, allowing audience members to either place their song requests in a bowl prior to the show or

use Twitter to submit their choices in real time. The band even went so far as to take requests from people shouting their choices down from the balcony, and this led to a total of seven request songs being played including crowdpleasers “Eden” (1995) and “Architects & Engineers” (2010).

After the request portion, the band completed the remainder of their main set. They displayed an infectious enthusiasm and visible joy from playing that was reciprocated by the crowd’s response to each song. Following the end of their main set, Guster came back for one encore song, a heartfelt rendition of The Band’s “The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down” (1969) in memory of drummer Levon Helm, who died on April 20.

All you could hear when exiting the theater were audience members exclaiming how much they enjoyed the concert, a testament to the energy and enthusiasm Guster brought to the Paramount Theater. If this high-energy performance was any indication of what the group’s concert this weekend will be like, Tufts students will be treated to a fantastic performance by a dynamic band at Spring Fling.

els is painted with different parts of a single everyday scene: people standing in line at the grocery store, a crowded subway car, a laundromat. Each layer is a fragment of the scene, separated from the other parts of the painting, yet visually unified by the viewer’s perspective.

One painting in oil and acrylic, entitled “Permanent Press” (2011), shows five people in a laundromat. The space is detailed, but Chong has eliminated the faces of the individuals, leaving instead a clear Plexiglas outline of their faces or profiles. Figures relate to one another only through their physical accoutrements: their clothing, the laundry baskets they carry and the physical space they share. Chong mobilizes the properties of Plexiglas to signify the invisible barriers that exist between individuals in public spaces, and he explores the anonymity and detachment from self-experience by the modern individual in the crowded public spaces of urban landscape.

Another striking work is the installation piece by Rapin, entitled “New York Times TV Listings.” Rapin’s piece dominates the small, cube-like space in the back portion of the gallery. Rapin has covered the floor and walls of the room with brightly colored lines made of blue, black, green, red and yellow tape. Looking closer, you see that the tape covers TV listings from The New York Times.

Rapin’s work was created in the aftermath of the death of a family member, a time when Rapin was grappling with the fleeting and uncontrollable nature of time. In an effort to reconcile herself with the uncontrollable and ineffable, Rapin started to explore different ways to organize time visually. She turned to TV listings, which she taped over with differ-

ent colors to form patterns of “time blocks.”

Although Rapin’s exhibit, with its myriad rows of color, is at first confusing, patterns eventually appear in the rows of tape. Still, no single pattern can be discerned. Here is time, compulsively organized, visually laid out for the viewer, who must attempt to order and organize for himself the mass of colors and patterns.

The work of Heidi Hogden, “42.88ºN — 88.01ºW,” presents a memory-portrait of Hogden’s hometown, Franklin, Wisc., through a series of hyper-detailed graphite drawings. The five drawings depict wildflowers silhouetted against a sky, a large-scale image of a hunter carrying a crossbow, two stags fighting and two other, smaller images of deer. The dreamlike images, each named only by a specific date and time, are based on photographs the artist took of different spots around her hometown. The “portraits” of Franklin are thus twice removed, mediated by the lens of a camera and reworked by the artist at a later time.

One striking image, “10/15/2011 4:35 PM” shows a male hunter grasping a crossbow and dressed in camouflage. He stands in a field edged with trees, and though he faces us aggressively, grasping his weapon behind his back, the viewer cannot discern the true direction of his gaze, and his face itself remains hazy and indistinct. His portrait, like the others in Hogden’s work, is foggily rendered and gestures towards Hogden’s own perception of her town and the relationship between townsperson and landscape.

The MFA Thesis exhibition incorporates a wide variety of works, themes and media, which both display the talent of the SMFA’s students and exemplify the variety of ways each artist interacts with and characterizes the world.

sammy chong, ‘Laundromat,‘ 2011, courtesy tufts art gallery

Chong’s use of plexiglass is key to many of the themes in his work.

Wednesday, April 25, 2012

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THE TUFTS DAILY

Heavy-handed federal drug policies hit the Hill

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Wednesday, April 25, 2012

Editorial

Daniel J. Rathman Craig Frucht Ethan Sturm

Editorial | Letters

Students yesterday voted in the election for Tufts Community Union president but did not, as planned, vote on a proposed referendum that would have shown student support for amending the school’s code of conduct. The proposed amendment would have lessened the penalty for possession or use of one ounce or less of marijuana to a $100 fine and a required meeting with the Tufts Department of Health Education.

Recurring offenses would not have faced escalating penalties.

Currently, students found using or in possession of small amounts of marijuana face the same penalty as underage students caught drinking alcohol.

The logic behind this referendum was sound. It would have brought the punishment for possession or use of marijuana in line with Massachusetts law, as a 2008 voter referendum decriminalized possession of less than one ounce of the drug. Marijuana use is not a problem on campus and should not be disciplined as though it is.

Unfortunately, the referendum was killed before it even saw the ballot, as

a review by the Committee on Student Life found the proposed policy change might have conflicted with the Drug Free Schools and Campus Act (DFSCA).

The act requires educational institutions receiving federal funding to certify that they have taken action to prevent the use of illegal drugs on campus. Since there were concerns that the policy could not be implemented because it failed to meet DFSCA standards, the referendum was left off the ballot.

The fact that the DFSCA prevented students from showing their support for a sensible policy perfectly in line with Massachusetts law exemplifies just how illogically heavy-handed U.S. federal anti-drug policy is.

The antiquated, puritanical notions driving current drug policy have no place in the 21st century.

The War on Drugs has been an unmitigated disaster. The vigor with which the U.S. government has pursued illegal drugs has done nothing to reduce drug use or violent crime; Director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy Gil Kerlikowske admitted as much two

years ago. Instead, decades of misguided U.S. policies have led to a violencefueled black market for drugs that in turn has led to hundreds of thousands of violent deaths, much like how prohibition of alcohol in the 1920s facilitated widespread organized crime.

As Tufts has experienced firsthand, federal drug policy also encroaches on states’ rights. Growers in 16 states that have legalized medicinal marijuana find themselves caught in legal limbo between state and federal law, a situation made even more frustrating by the federal government’s selective enforcement of drug policies.

The question of drug legalization is a separate issue, but it’s an entirely legitimate one to discuss. It’s hard to argue that drugs like marijuana are more destructive than alcohol or cigarettes, and the billions of dollars spent each year to fight the drug trade could almost certainly be more effectively spent on drug education and addiction treatment programs.

What is certain is that no logical person can honestly argue that current U.S. anti-drug policies are effective or just.

driven by Brian Williams’ schedule more than anything else.

Communications and Media Studies is committed to our students at Tufts, and despite a very small staff and no designated faculty, we try to provide students with a full and rigorous academic program, vibrant internship opportunities and lots of cool events. We promise to think about

ways to make next year’s Murrow Forum more accessible to more students, as well as the general public. But rest assured, students come first with us and always will.

Editorialists

Devon Colmer

Aaron Leibowitz Executive Sports Editor Matthew Berger Sports Editors Lauren Flament Claire Kemp Kate Klots David McIntyre Alex Prewitt Alex Baudoin Assistant Sports Editors Zachey Kliger Connor Rose Justin McCallum Jodi Bosin William Butt Ashley Seenauth Scott Tingley Caroline Geiling Takuma Koide Misako Ono Oliver Porter Andrew Schneer Kyra Sturgill Kristen Collins Alex Dennett Dilys Ong

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Ellen Kan New Media Multimedia Editor Saumya Vaishampayan New Media Blog Editor Josh Berlinger New Media Photo Editor

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Production Director Jen Betts Executive Layout Editor Jason Huang Layout Editors Shoshanna Kahne Sarah Kester Elliot Philips Emily Rourke Matthew Cardarelli Gabrielle Cella Assistant Layout Editors Sarah Kee Adrian Lo Danny Macdonald Nancy Pritzker Reid Spagna Sara Eisemann Executive Copy Editors Drew Lewis Ashley Cheng Copy Editors Ben Considine Patrick Donnelly Nina Goldman Katrina Knisely Niki Krieg George Le Andrew Paseltiner Olivia DelloStritto Assistant Copy Editors Joshua Dower Adrienne Lange Patrick McGrath Lauren Schonberger Gregory Witz Audrey Kuan Executive Online Editor George Brown Online Editors Andrew Braren Stephanie Haven Quan Lin Darcy Mann Justin Rheingold Ben Schwalb Webmaster Ammar Khaku Executive Technical Manager Daniel Kotin Technical Manager

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Letter to the Editor Dear Editor and Tufts Community, In response to your editorial “Making students the priority,” those of us who organized yesterday’s Edward R. Murrow Forum just have to say that you’re right and we’re sorry. The timing of this year’s event coinciding with the Admissions Office’s Jumbo Days was not intentional; the date and timing of the event were

Sincerely, Julie Dobrow Director, Communications & Media Studies Program

Correction The photograph accompanying the April 19 Features article “SPIRIT fund creates opportunities for student-professor interaction” was incorrectly credited to Jodi Bosin. In fact, the photograph was provided to the Daily courtesy of Professor of Mathematics and Chair of the Department of Mathematics Boris Hasselblatt.

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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The Tufts Daily

Wednesday, April 25, 2012

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Op-Ed

Pledging to never rush: a criticism of Greek life at Tufts by

Lauren Border

As Spring Fling season approaches at Tufts, I’m reminded of how members of Greek life always wear shirts with their Greek letters to this school event — and when about 10 of my nonGreek girlfriends and I mockingly donned “Kappa Kappa Gamma” shirts at Spring Fling my freshman year. Two years later, I’d like to take the time to publicly reflect on this act — even though it is now a trivial thing of the past.

It appears our shirts started quite the controversy. A day after the concert, I was made aware that a thread was started on the popular anonymous website, “College ACB,” specifically to discuss our shirts. As KKG is not currently a sorority chapter at Tufts, numerous students expressed their opinions about our attire, leading to 200-plus posts on the subject. The general reaction to the shirts was overwhelmingly negative, yet many students were simply interested in what our intentions were in creating them.

Although I cannot speak on behalf of my fellow “Kappas,” I personally didn’t think up designing, paying for and wearing a KKG shirt for the giggles, because, well, I didn’t think it was funny. To be honest, I thought we looked like idiots.

But that was my point.

I didn’t think pulling that stunt was funny because I didn’t mean it as a joke. I meant it to be satirical, because I wanted it to serve as an overt criticism of Greek Life.

Let me be clear from the start: I do not dislike people involved in Greek life, and I visit sorority and fraternity houses to have fun with friends. But that doesn’t change how I feel about the establishment of Greek life itself.

To begin with, fraternities and sororities are inherently anti-feminist. They are largely based upon the principle that men and women are biologically and emotionally different and therefore should form separate spheres. I dismiss this concept of biological determinism, which is to say that I believe my personality and interests are no closer to a woman’s in a sorority than to a male’s in a fraternity simply because I was born with a vagina.

Separating the sexes implies they are fundamentally different, and we have all learned by now that

“separate is never equal.” This continued categorization by sex further contributes to women’s implied inferiority and weakness.

Not convinced? Think of the cliches of the sorority girl versus the fraternity guy. What comes to mind? A “hot,” incredibly stupid girl who is always ready to service frat guys, versus a macho dude who chugs beers real good, constantly finding more ways to prove how tough he is. I’d even go so far as to argue that these stereotypes fully represent the hegemonic “female” and “male,” (i.e., what patriarchy has established to be “proper behavior” for the sexes).

Which brings me to my next point: The hazing of sororities and fraternities is also extremely gender-specific, perpetuating these stereotypes. I’ll admit I’ve mostly formed this opinion based on what I’ve heard about different sororities’ and fraternities’ hazing processes. I’ve found that girls are often screamed at, being told they are “fat,” “ugly” or “worthless,” whereas men are forced to prove their masculinity by performing disgusting or dangerous tasks. I take issue with the fact that the hazing is largely determined by gender, because it is once again assuming a precedent of biological determinism, and hazing techniques would be considered ineffective if they targeted the “wrong” sex. But the large gender division within hazing is only the beginning of the problem — the effects of hazing on individuals are most concerning to me.

While I’ll admit it is common knowledge that both sororities and fraternities incorporate drinking into their hazing, it is also common knowledge that fraternities usually take this to a greater degree, forcing pledges to prove their “toughness.” We can see these excessive displays of masculinity not only through the number of drinking-related tasks but also through other tasks pledges do to prove their physical, athletic endurance or simply their endurance for raw pain. At Tufts, I think it’s fair to say that men would argue they have a more “difficult” time pledging fraternities than women do sororities. But women, I’d argue, are the ones who get the short end of the stick when it comes to pledging.

I think the effects of women’s hazing are more obscure than

men’s pledging and have the potential to be much more damaging to the pledges’ sense of self. Hazing of women pledges is insidious: It attacks their selfworth, pushing for them to unite as one because they are too weak as individuals. While men may leave feeling like they have “proven” something part of the time, it seems women often leave feeling insignificant — or however you feel after being verbally and emotionally abused for hours. And who knows if this sense of selfdegradation will heal when the hazing stops?

To turn to the question that baffles me the most: Why would you ever want to go through pledging, knowing what you’re getting yourself into? At Tufts, it seems that many are looking for the “benefits” of being in Greek life afterward. What are these?

Popularity, if that even still exists in college? An active social life?

An odd connection to a future job? Again, I ask, how much of yourself are you willing to scrape away at to join a sorority/fraternity: your pride? Your health? Your overall sense of self-worth? And is that a fair trade?

What are the reputations of fraternities and sororities at Tufts anyway? Some say they’re known for their sense of “brotherhood” or “sisterhood,” but why can’t you have the freedom to find close friends on your own? Some say they’re known for philanthropy, and, well, really? I’ve even heard the argument that sororities specifically can be used as a “feminist” form of female empowerment — but a true feminist would realize that sex alone is not something that merits founding an entire organization, which then (ironically) uses the sex of someone to discriminate against potential members. So what are fraternities and sororities really known for?

Do you happen to be in the “gay” fraternity? The “hot b---h” sorority? The “date rape” fraternity? The “ugly … but-don’t-worry-they’reREALLY-nice” sorority?

Greek life has become so integrated into our campus’ social life that it’s hard to imagine it without it. I am the first person to admit that men at Tufts who do not pledge a fraternity or who are not on a sports team may feel as if they cannot lead a mainstream social life. Perhaps if more and more “chill dudes” choose not to pledge, joining a frater-

MCT

nity would become less of a Tufts social requirement.

But ladies, I find you to be in a completely different situation at Tufts. Is being a part of that group worth the personal sacrifice? You WILL make friends if you are not in a sorority. And here’s a secret — those “super-exclusive,” “Greek-life-only” events magically open up to non-Greeks much of the time. There are so many alternatives to joining a sorority that could potentially benefit you more (or even just harm you and your sex less). Follow your own individual interests, as opposed to joining a group that literally reflects the way in which you conform to a collective identity.

Let your campus activities speak

about who you are, personally.

Are the Greek life organizations at Tufts known for their sense of community, philanthropy and member empowerment? Or has their major presence on campus been reduced to the occasional “charitable” party and Spring Fling shirts? In all, I am convinced that Greek life usually does much more harm than good. I hope that if more students come to view them in the light that I do, their impact on the social scene at Tufts will fade.

So for now, opt to be a Tufts “Kappa.”

Lauren Border is a junior majoring in Spanish.

To strike, or not to strike, Iran?

by Shawyoun Shaidani

While Israeli opposition to a nuclear Iran is not a new phenomenon, it has been articulated with increased urgency in recent months. This stems from the suspicion that Iran’s nuclear program is entering a “zone of immunity”— that all relevant facilities are being moved to underground fortifications, safe from any potential attack. And with Iran’s supreme leader describing Israel as “a true cancer tumor on this region that should be cut off,” a pre-emptive strike on Iran might appear to be an obvious necessity. But further investigation paints a far more ambiguous picture.

Iran’s fiery rhetoric stands in stark contrast to its actions — which have been downright pragmatic at times.

Indeed, the regime has proven perfectly willing to bend its own rules in the name of self-preservation. When Chechen rebels called on “fellow Muslims” to help secure their independence, the Islamic Republic dared not antagonize its greatest ally, Russia. At the start of Operation Enduring Freedom, Iran provided aid

to the so-called “Great Satan” to fight a regional threat — the Taliban. Iran even cooperated with the “Zionist regime” to help destroy Saddam’s nuclear program.

Thus, they’ve proven themselves to be as shrewd as they are hostile.

Now, surely Iran knows that a nuclear attack on Israel would be met by a far greater response from Western powers.

That would spell the end of the regime, and being pragmatists, it makes no sense for them to create that possibility. But if that is the case, why would Iran want nuclear weapons at all? The answer is simple: Iran wants nukes for the same reason why every country wants them — deterrence. Seeing that Western nukes discourage them from nuking Israel, the Iranian regime wants the same protection for itself. And considering that two of its neighbors have been invaded in the past 11 years, it is not difficult to see why.

But even if there is no existential threat to Israel, you may argue that it is still inherently bad for the Islamic Republic to possess nuclear weapons — so Israel should strike anyways. I agree with the first part, but consider the con-

sequences of the second part. Iranians clearly have grievances with their current government (read: 2009), but their grievances with the West have not been forgotten either. It was the United States which overthrew the democratically elected Mossadegh in 1953, supported an oppressive Shah up through the 1979 Revolution and supported Saddam in what Iranians call the “Imposed War.” Iranians see their nuclear program as a matter of national pride, and so an Israeli attack could become just the latest of these perceived wrongs. This “injustice” would play right into the narrative of the regime, galvanizing the nation as a whole.

Indeed, an attack could spark a fervent Iranian nationalism not seen since the Revolution — a nationalism which would serve as the perfect distraction from the political divisions and economic hardships currently plaguing the regime. And make no mistake about it: those difficulties are real. The latest EU/U.S. sanctions have caused inflation to reach 21.5 percent, the depreciation of the Iranian rial by roughly half (vs.

the U.S. Dollar) and soaring food prices.

Indeed, these are unprecedented circumstances for the Islamic Republic, and may present a long-term threat to its nuclear program — as demonstrated

by Iran’s more conciliatory tone in the latest Istanbul nuclear talks. And considering the events of the Arab Spring, I would even argue that these internal hardships are a threat to the regime’s existence altogether.

That is why giving Iran an external distraction right now would be a tactical mistake — and given the lack of an existential threat to Israel, one that hardly seems necessary. That is why I agreed with former Mossad chief Meir Dagan when he called a pre-emptive strike “a stupid idea.” Israel should simply let these latest sanctions continue to run their course, and try to push for more.

After all, there would be no worse irony than for Israeli actions to help prolong the Islamic Republic.

Shawyoun Shaidani is a junior majoring in chemistry and computer science.

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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Comics

Wednesday, April 25, 2012

SUDOKU Level: Stuffing your sorries in a sack

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is the Last Day to get your Spring Fling Tickets Tickets Are Available at:

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E-mail the Office for Campus Life at ocl@tufts.edu

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Karl Rove FREE Lecture Wednesday, April 25 – 6 PM Cohen Auditorium

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SPRING FLING 2012! Please Read.

Dear Students, As Spring Fling approaches, we want to take this opportunity to remind you of a few important things. As you undoubtedly know, no alcohol will be permitted into Spring Fling.

Event staff, TUPD, and municipal local police will be evaluating students as they enter the venue and will deny entry to anyone who is visibly intoxicated. In addition, there will be monitoring within the venue and overly intoxicated individuals will be removed.      

Tickets are required for entry and are non-refundable and cannot be replaced.

There is no re-entry.

A guest of any Tufts student is the responsibility of the Tufts student, who may be held accountable for the guest’s behavior.

No bags are permitted.

No food or beverage is permitted. Water and pizza will be provided throughout the day.

All attendees are responsible for adhering to the Spring Fling Social Policy which can be found at www.ocl.tufts.edu.

SPRING FLING FREE BREAKFAST!

The Office for Campus Life and the Office for Residential Life and Learning, are sponsoring BREAKFAST FOR ALL in two locations on Saturday morning from 10 am – noon; one uphill on the Carmichael Patio and one downhill between Lewis and Tilton. Please stop by for some coffee and pastries before coming to the concert.

We strongly urge you to exercise good judgment. Please don’t engage in irresponsible or disorderly conduct, or any activity that may jeopardize your participation in future events or the future of Spring Fling itself. Please be aware that Spring Fling is no exception to state laws or the University's standards of conduct. If you do choose to drink, use common sense: drink in moderation, be aware of your limits, and surround yourself with friends.

Throughout the day, members of TEMS and TUPD will be available for help in case of emergencies. Please do not hesitate to ask for assistance if you or someone you know needs help. Take care of yourself – take care of your friends.

Please enjoy the concert responsibly.

Bruce Reitman, Dean of Students Joe Golia, Director of the Office for Campus Life All information on Spring Fling, Ticket Information and the Social Policy can be found on the Office for Campus Life Website. ocl.tufts.edu

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Wednesday, April 25, 2012 Wanted $$ SPERM DONORS WANTED $$ Earn up to $1,200/month and give the gift of family through California Cryobank’s donor program.

Convenient Cambridge location.

Apply online: SPERMBANK.com

Services CHILDCARE JOB. Local Tufts alum (close drive to Tufts) seeking responsible, patient, loving, energetic, non-smoking full or part-time nanny and/or babysitter. Hours and scheduling flexible. Salary commensurate with experience.

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CHAPLAIN\’S TABLE - Religion & International Relations April 26th - 5-7 PM MacPhie/Dewick Rev. Patricia Budd Kepler, Univ.

Chaplain ad Interim \”Travelling the World Without Leaving the US\” Dinner is free for those not on meal plan.

NOONTIME CONCERT GODDARD CHAPEL April 26th - 12:30 PM Jayoung Kim, Piano Quartet FREE CONCERT; ALL ARE WELCOME

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Men’s Crew

Jumbos focus on dropping time after winless regular season by

GJ Vitale

Senior Staff Writer

This past Saturday, the men’s crew team hosted Middlebury College under near-flawless rowing conditions on the Malden River.

Unfortunately for the Jumbos, their men’s varsity eight was unable to take advantage of the beautiful weather, losing to the Panthers’ varsity squad, 6:09.320 to 6:27.326. The loss marked the Jumbos’ sixth in as many tries this spring season. Meanwhile, the novice eight continued its successful season with a 6:33.593 to 7:05.852 victory.

The Jumbos did not have much time to dwell on their loss, as they were back at it the next day on Lake Quinsigamond in Worcester, Mass. It was the first event of the season in which the team raced more than one boat at a time; the men’s novice eight racing an “A” and a “B” boat.

The novice “A” team finished in second place with a time of 6:22.2, only four seconds behind the winning team from WPI, while the “B” team came in fourth out of four with a time of 6:57.5. In the varsity eight race earlier in the day, the Jumbos finished last out of four teams, behind WPI, RIT and Skidmore — in that order — with a time of 6:24.21.

On Saturday, the boats had been staggered to account for the bend in the Malden course, while on Sunday they were lined up bow ball to bow ball as a volunteer on a floating dock held the shells until the race began. Still, the change in structure didn’t have much effect on the Jumbos.

“Apart from the convenience of the 10 minute commute to our boathouse, the team is equally comfortable home or away,” sophomore Jeremy Rosenblatt said.

As they have all season, the varsity rowers remained levelheaded after the losses, knowing that they are taking steps in the right direction.

“Crew is really a race against yourself, a sport in which your biggest competitor is the voice inside your head telling you that you’re tired, you’re sore and that you can’t possibly pull another clean stroke,” sophomore Lex Clary said. “As far as that

Josh Berlinger / The Tufts Daily

The men’s crew team lost a head-to-head race to Middlebury on Saturday and placed fourth out of four teams on Sunday to close out its regular season. competition goes, our boys have proven that they have as much guts as any other crew, if not more.”

The Jumbos will now focus on the New England Rowing Championships (NERCs), which will take place May 5 on Lake Quinsigamond. Last year, many of the current varsity rowers were a part of the novice team that made it to the finals. This year, NERCs will take place during the last weekend before finals at Tufts, though the team has become used to such conflicts.

“We’ve all gotten used to balancing aca-

demics and rowing,” Clary said. “Academics are always the priority, and our coach knows this and actually stresses it. We know how to be efficient with our time, and I know our guys will be competitive both on exams and on the water.”

Some of the rowers even believe there will be benefits to the crew and school seasons reaching a simultaneous peak.

“Rowing during finals is a great way to stay efficient,” Rosenblatt added. “It adds structure to your day. I think most of our guys are looking forward to the

As Jumbos keep winning, Maggiore provides the beat MEN’S LACROSSE continued from Back

have in lacrosse I try to take into my music career,” he said. “Every day we talk about going out and attacking, being dialed in for every practice. And I feel that every time I go into a studio session or into writing a new song, when I sit down with my headphones at my computer, I just have to be dialed in so I can produce the best quality music possible.”

A lot of Maggiore’s work is drawn from sheer pride for Tufts and dedication to his teammates. On “The SKLife, Vol. 2,” Maggiore includes a track, “Jumbo City Pt. 2,” that references “baby blue and brown,” referring to Tufts’ school colors. “Tell the ’Cac ‘get back,’” he raps, referring to the NESCAC conference. “Believe this year we’re coming for the ’ship.”

Maggiore followed up the Soundcloud release of his second album with a single, “Cac City,” released on YouTube on April 19. The song references all 11 NESCAC schools and even includes new addition Hamilton: “Hamilton’s real lucky that we added another, so that kind of makes you the NESCAC’s little brother,” he says.

Within 24 hours, the video received over 1,000 views on the site, and the buzz is only growing: Maggiore was recently profiled on the student-run website “In The ’Cac,” and online bloggers have started to pass his work around.

The second album, Maggiore says, was a huge evolution from the first, which featured solely beats and instrumentals he found on the Internet. “The SKLife,

Vol. 2” features more mature vocals and unique instrumentals.

“Progressing, I try to get better every time I write a song,” Maggiore said. “I probably have 50 songs that I’ve written that I’ve thrown out. I’m not about to put anything out there that I don’t like, that’s not my best quality.”

So what exactly is the SK life?

“A lot of people ask me what the SK stands for,” he said. “The two letters themselves don’t actually stand for anything — it’s not [senior co-captain] Sean Kirwan, by the way.”

Ultimately, it is about the approach that Maggiore tries to take in his music and everywhere else.

“I truly believe in going out there and being positive every day,” he said. “Life is too short for the negatives.”

This is the philosophy that Maggiore brings to the field and the studio, and not surprisingly, his teammates are his biggest fans.

“Cheese is definitely the heart and soul of our team,” sophomore midfielder Matt Montgomery said. “He’s so passionate about everything he does, from school to lacrosse to music, and his energy gives our team a huge lift whenever we need it.”

As a backup keeper, Maggiore embraces his role as one of the lacrosse team’s loudest voices, even from the sidelines.

“When it comes to my own role, I don’t have a very big one stepping in between the pipes come gameday — I play backup goalie and I love it,” he said. “[Sophomore] Patton [Watkins] is … a great goalie and

one of my best friends here. But my role is more that of a motivator. It’s more of just pushing my teammates to be the best that they can be through example.”

Maggiore’s graduated teammates are just as quick to support him as those still on the team. Attackmen D.J. Hessler (E ’11) and Ryan Molloy (LA ’11) have continued to support his career even after their departure, a testament to the lifelong brotherhood he and his teammates share.

“It definitely means a lot for guys like Ryan and D.J. to support me,” he said.

“It shows that even after people graduate and their time playing on the team is gone, it still is a family and a connection you’ll have for the rest of your life.”

The connections Maggiore has made as a member of the team also stand to push his career forward in a more direct way. Recently, he has been in talks with Drew Innis — the producer of the wildly successful “Tufts Lacrosse Documentary: Road to the Championship” (2011) — about producing video content.

Maggiore is looking to grow his brand, but as a student and an athlete too, it’s not always easy.

“It’s hard for me to balance,” he admitted. “It’s a lot of sleepless nights, as my roommate [sophomore midfielder] Peter Bowers will attest to. It’s hard to juggle all of the things I do, and lacrosse is definitely up there on my list of priorities.”

“Cheese works incredibly hard on his music — it’s actually unbelievable to me sometimes,” Bowers said. “One time,

outlet from studying.”

With only a couple of regattas remaining, the varsity squad has set a goal of breaking 6:20 by the end of the year.

“I think it is very doable,” Clary said.

“Our times will drop by improving the set, being more consistent in the middle 1,000-meter, getting hands away quickly and cleanly and staying together as a crew.

We’ll be really hammering the technical aspects in these last weeks of the season, and we look to be a competitive, efficient crew come NERCs and ECACs.”

we had just gotten back from a game and it was probably close to midnight, and I was about to go to bed when I saw him packing up his backpack to go to the studio to record some songs. It’s not unusual for him to stay up until four or five working on a music video or writing lyrics. It’s the only time he has between school and lacrosse.”

But if the sleepless nights, the brutal practices, the frustrating recording sessions and the loads of schoolwork ever feel like too much, Maggiore thinks back to the Endicott game to remember that he has no reason to complain.

“That game was probably a dream come true for me,” he said. “Everyone was so loud cheering for me, being so supportive. Then the whistle blows and the whole team’s trotting out to come get their goalie after the game, and sure enough [music supervisor] John Dame put my song on, and it was just all smiles from everyone I saw coming towards me. It was something I’ll keep with me for the rest of my life.”

On Saturday, the Jumbos, who clinched the No. 1 seed in the NESCAC last weekend, will host the quarterfinal round of the conference tournament.

You can bet that the pregame playlist will feature CheddaSK’s anthems, dedicated to his teammates.

“Everyone on the team is into his music,” Montgomery said. “We play his songs in the locker room, and a couple of us got to star in his music video [for “Smile”]. He works hard for it, and it pays off. I can’t wait for his third album.”

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Congratulations to the Winners of the 2012 Student Organization Awards Presented on 4/19/2012 Mount Olympus Award presented to Delta Tau Delta Herald Award

presented to Students

for Justice in Palestine

Imagination Award presented to Hype! Mime Troupe

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Want the most current campus news?

I wish I knew who won that women’s basketball game last night! And how active are Jumbos in the ROTC?

Jumbo Award

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and QSA for “Gay+Religious=?!”

Standing Room Only Award presented to One World and Synaptic Scholars for Tufts Idea Exchange New Organization of the Year Award presented to Quidditch Team Dot McAveeney Legacy Award presented to Mock Trial Student Organization of the Year Award presented to Pan African Alliance for a complete description of the awards visit ocl.tufts.edu

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Take a study break and dance for a good cause!

Tuesday, May 1st 2012 1:00-2:30 PM in Cousens Main Gym April 30, 2012, 5pm ¥ Last day for all students to WITHDRAW from courses and receive a “W.” Pick up an “add/drop” form in Dowling lobby and return to the front desk or your academic dean in Dowling.

Tickets can be purchased in the Athletics Office in Halligan Hall 2nd Floor M-F , 9-5 pm $3 in advance $5 at the door Free T-Shirts for the first 25 participants!

All proceeds will be donated to the Boys & Girls Club of Medford

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Wednesday, April 25, 2012

15

Sports

Women’s Crew

Sam Gold | The OT

A fragile World Peace

P

Courtesy Erica Parisi

The women’s crew team struggled against Middlebury on Saturday, but bounced back with a better showing on Sunday against some of the nation’s best teams.

After faltering Saturday, women’s crew comes back strong at Lake Quinsigamond

by Sam

Gold

Senior Staff Writer

This past Saturday, the Tufts women’s crew team hosted the Middlebury Panthers before traveling to Lake Quinsigamond in Worcester, Mass., on Sunday to take on RIT, Skidmore, No. 11 Washington College, No. 3 William Smith and No. 14 WPI. On Saturday, unlike their last tournament-style competition a weekend earlier, the Jumbos raced head-to-head against the Panthers.

Though the rowers were optimistic coming into the race after their spirited efforts the previous week, it proved to be for naught once they went out on the water.

The squad looked unusually out of sync, especially given that it viewed the past few weeks of training as not only a highly successful conditioning period but also as a boon for team chemistry.

“In the race against Middlebury, it felt very frantic and messy, and although we were able to row through each stroke even though it didn’t feel great, we still were unhappy with the race,” senior co-captain Erika Parisi said.

It was an off day for the Jumbos, as the

Panthers swept them across the board.

The first varsity eight endured the smallest margin of defeat, finishing in 6:55:78 to Middlebury’s 6:44:71, while the second four boat suffered the greatest deficit at 12.2 seconds.

On Sunday, though, the team bounced back with a gritty performance. Racing among a tough field that featured three top-15 squads, the Jumbos displayed their resolve and determination, an encouraging sign as the championship season approaches.

“On Sunday, we were re-focused and ready to get out on the water,” Parisi said.

“After taking 10 warm-up strokes to accentuate the backswing, [we] felt collected and together.”

The second and third eight boats both finished last in their respective races — the former against three boats, the latter against only one — but managed to race their fastest times so far this season.

The first varsity eight finished fourth out of six, one spot ahead of RIT and two ahead of Skidmore. It was arguably the boat’s most impressive showing of the season, and it culminated in a down-tothe-wire finish as Tufts and WPI crossed

the line less than two seconds apart.

For nearly the entire race, the two boats were neck-and-neck. Around the 800-meter mark, senior coxswain Gillian Hodes called for the boat to make what would be its most effective move of the season, moving past both RIT and WPI, but WPI regained the lead in the sprint portion of the race and held on by a thread to finish third ― one spot ahead of Tufts.

“Throughout the race, we went back and forth on who was ahead, and both crews fought hard to the finish,” senior cocaptain Kathleen Holec said. “Although we didn’t come out with the win, we learned how to push our limits a little farther, which is important and helpful for the coming weeks.”

Tufts appears to be peaking at precisely the right time, with the New England Rowing Championships coming up on May 5. According to Parisi, the top varsity boat is now seeded 12th out of 30 in the New England Rowing Championships coaches’ poll.

This coming weekend, Tufts will return home for Senior Day to take on Wellesley, Smith and Simmons at the Spirit Cup Regatta.

DAILY DIGITS

182-307

.630

Senior midfielder Nick Rhoads’ faceoff mark this season, which places him fourth in the NESCAC with a .593 winning percentage that is just behind Conn. College’s Chuck Czerkawaski, who has a .595 mark. For much of the season, Rhoads led the conference at the X, but Middlebury’s Brian Foster and Bowdoin’s Brendan Hughes have recently surged ahead, with each winning over 60 percent of his faceoffs. Tonight, Rhoads will get to face Hughes in a head-to-head matchup when the Polar Bears visit Bello Field for the two teams’ regular season finales.

Batting average for senior co-captain Matt Collins over the past week, as the team went 7-0 and Collins garnered NESCAC Player of the Week honors. Collins finished with at least two hits in all seven games, and collected 12 RBIs while scoring another dozen runs himself. In the doubleheader against UMass-Dartmouth, which Tufts swept, Collins went 4-for-5 with a double and a stolen base. The stellar week boosted Collins’ season batting average to .419, to go with a .471 on-base percentage and a .629 slugging percentage.

Doubles hit by senior co-captain Lena Cantone over the course of her career with the Jumbos. The mark — set in Sunday’s 10-5 trampling of Brandeis in Waltham, Mass., — makes Cantone Tufts’ all-time leader in doubles. Cantone has been among the Jumbos’ biggest scoring threats over the last three years and this season has been no different. The first baseman is currently batting .426 and leads the team with 30 runs scored, helping the Jumbos to stay a perfect 12-0 in the NESCAC East and 28-4 overall this year.

83%

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Saves by Boston Bruins goalie Tim Thomas in Game Six of their opening round matchup with the Washington Capitals, allowing center Tyler Seguin to fire a game-winner past rookie Brendan Holtby for a 4-3 victory in overtime. With Seguin’s goal, the Bruins managed to force a Game Seven in the Eastern Conference playoff series, which is now tied at three games apiece, and the two teams will return to Boston tonight for the deciding game.The Bruins are bidding to become the first team since the 1998-99 Detroit Red Wings to repeat as Stanley Cup champions.

4 2

Possession rate for FC Barcelona in the second leg of their Champions League semifinal against Chelsea yesterday.

Despite Barcelona’s typical domination of the flow of the game, Chelsea emerged with a 2-2 draw at Barcelona, meaning that they will advance to the Final in Munich after winning the first leg at home 1-0. Chelsea’s win was one of the most improbable in Champions League history, as the Blues had to play with 10 men for the entire second half after defender John Terry was sent off.

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Runs batted in by the Los Angeles Dodgers’ Matt Kemp thus far in 2012, tying him for the MLB lead. The center fielder also currently leads the majors with a .460 batting average (.560 in Dodger Stadium) and nine home runs. He also owns a .514 on-base percentage and .952 slugging percentage. Simply put, Kemp has been the hottest hitter in baseball this April, and his stellar performance has helped the Dodgers jump out to a 13-4 start and an early lead in the NL West.

lain and simple, Los Angeles Lakers head coach Mike Brown needs to monitor what’s in the water at the Staples Center. Granted, the BynumBarea encounter during last year’s playoffs did not occur during his tenure, but it must say something about the Lakers — admittedly rather unjustly — that the two most heinous on-court incidents of the past two seasons have involved their players.

With just nine minutes left in Game Four of the Lakers-Mavericks Western Conference Semifinals matchup in 2011, the barely six-feet-tall J.J. Barea drove into the lane and had a rather infelicitous run-in with seven-foot Andrew Bynum’s right arm.

Maybe it was the horror of an impending sweep, or maybe it was because, as basketball fans know well, the moniker “Big Baby” suits the puerile giant far better than it does Orlando’s Glen Davis, but Bynum decided to turn an inevitable rout into a UFC ring — to no avail, of course.

Did it matter in the end, however, when he stopped Barea dead in his tracks and sent him crashing to the floor? No, and it shouldn’t have. Bynum was escorted off the floor by the infamous former firebrand Metta World Peace and, in the only remaining act of disrespect at his disposal, removed his jersey while still in view of everyone in the arena.

Fast-forward to Monday night. The third-place Lakers were taking on the second-place Oklahoma City Thunder when, with less than two minutes left in the second quarter, Metta World Peace relapsed into Ron Artest. Following a basket, World Peace knocked Thunder guard James Harden to the ground with a strong left elbow to the head, prompting his immediate ejection from the game. Such is the dichotomy of his persona: Posttransformation World Peace is at once a guy who walks Bynum off the court and a guy who needs to be walked off himself.

Among the myriad responses to this episode, the one put forth by J.A. Adande of the Los Angeles Times is the most interesting, the most commonsense and the most Hammurabi-esque.

“The NBA should suspend World Peace indefinitely, see how many games (if any) Harden will miss, then tack on two to that number,” Adande wrote yesterday on ESPN. com’s Daily Dime.

The idea that an eye for an eye renders the whole world blind does not quite hold in an NBA setting. Luckily for both Bynum and Barea, Barea bounced right up off the floor and resumed playing; for that, Bynum received a measly five-game suspension.

Now to the other end of the spectrum.

Not only will World Peace, who won the league’s J. Walter Kennedy Citizenship Award last season, likely pay a greater penalty for his actions, but he will also — and has already — galvanize the pitchfork-accoutered mob that haunted him throughout his more volatile days.

What’s more, in a side-by-side video comparison of the two incidents, Bynum irrefutably appears to have been intent on injuring Barea, while World Peace engaged in a particularly frenzied celebration of his dunk that lacked the ultimate goal of hurting an opposing player.

What NBA Commissioner David Stern has failed to do while presiding over this zoo of a sport is to strike a balance between intent and effect wrought. For example, should a player who inadvertently does his opponent more harm serve more or less time than one who deliberately targets another but does less harm? Or should they serve equal time?

Had Bynum professed any sense of wrongdoing, I might feel differently. Had World Peace not expressed concern for Harden first on the court and later on Twitter, I might feel differently. I agree wholeheartedly with Adande, but only from a standpoint devoid of the human factor.

Intent and contriteness matter in situations such as these, and suspensions will continue to be a contentious issue until Stern and his cadre of upper-level execs go about meting them out formulaically.

Sam Gold is a freshman who has yet to declare a major. He can be reached at Samuel_L.Gold@tufts.edu.

Sports

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INSIDE Men’s Crew 13 Women’s Crew 15

tuftsdaily.com

Men’s Tennis

Jumbos earn winning verdict against Judges by

Marcus Budline

Senior Staff Writer

Mired in a four-match losing streak and coming off a disheartening loss to Trinity, the men’s tennis team knew it couldn’t let another one slip through the cracks. The team entered its Monday afternoon matchup with Brandeis intent on ending that streak and rectifying the recent swoon.

“We said that we needed to turn this around,” sophomore Matt Pataro said. “We used that slide as fuel.”

The Jumbos rose to the occasion, finishing off the Judges, 6-3, in a match that has the team feeling far more confident heading into the final stretch of the season.

The players’ confidence had been shaken last Thursday by an 8-1 defeat to Trinity, a match that Tufts knew was key in its quest to qualify for the NESCAC tournament. Four of the six singles matches went to three sets in the loss to the Bantams, but the Jumbos struggled to convert their opportunities to put games and sets away.

“It was really disappointing because everyone was in every one of those matches, and for whatever reason none of us were able to pull through,” Pataro said. “We weren’t clutch enough.”

The sobering loss led to a somber team meeting after the match, where the players discussed ways to end their skid with a victory against the Judges.

The talk paid off, and the Jumbos came into Monday’s showdown in

Scott Tingley / The Tufts Daily

Senior co-captain Morrie Bossen (pictured) and junior Mark Westerfield staved off a pair of match points to win a thriller at the number-three doubles spot against Brandeis on Monday. the Gantcher Center feeling more composed. They immediately took a 2-1 lead in doubles play.

Throughout the season, the team has been plagued by an inability to finish off its most important points, but senior co-captain Morrie Bossen and junior Mark Westerfield bucked that trend at the numberthree doubles spot.

Down a break early, the duo staved off match points at 6-7 and

7-8 before sending the match to a tiebreaker that it eventually finished off, 9-8 (7). Bossen said it was one of the most exciting matches he had even been a part of.

Not only did the victory lift the players’ spirits, but it also swung momentum in the Jumbos’ favor, giving them a 2-1 lead heading into singles action.

“In singles, the main difference was that we came out really con-

fident,” Pataro said. “We knew we were better than them and that if we played how we’d been practicing we could beat this team.”

After Pataro and sophomore Austin Blau gave Tufts a 4-3 lead, freshman Brian Tan finished off the match in the number-six singles position, 6-2, 6-4.

“For a freshman, I was so impressed with Brian for being able to handle that pressure and play

such a focused match,” Bossen said. “He was so composed. It was very impressive.”

Senior co-captain Sam Laber also took his match, as the No. 3 through No. 6 players all notched wins to anchor singles for the Jumbos in a demonstration of the depth that the team has lacked in the past.

“Morale is pretty good after this one,” Bossen said. “It was a good win for the team.”

That confidence will be much needed for a team facing its two most important contests in the next week. On Friday afternoon, Tufts will travel to Bates with its back against the wall a match. A trip to NESCACs will be on the line against the Bobcats.

“The Bates match is our season,” Bossen said. “For me and Sam [Laber] we really want to extend our season into postseason play.

Recently, [the Bobcats] haven’t had their best results, so we’re hoping that we get them on a day where they’re not playing their best.”

If Tufts wins the match against Bates, it will still have to defeat Colby next week to secure a playoff berth.

Pataro noted that, against the Judges, the Jumbos made sure that their opponents had to work for every point. He stressed the need for that same energy against the Bobcats later this week.

Against Brandeis, Tufts was able to control the pivotal points in each match. Now, the Jumbos will need to come up big once again, this time with their postseason lives at stake.

Men’s Lacrosse

Mix master: Music, lacrosse one and the same for Maggiore by

Kate Klots

Daily Editorial Board

On the night of Tuesday, April 10, the lights shone bright upon Bello Field. As the stars came out and the final seconds ticked off the clock in Tufts’ 11-5 defeat of Endicott, the Jumbos rushed the field and collapsed into a dog pile in front of the cage. In the middle of the scrum was backup goalie Mike “Cheese” Maggiore, a sophomore who had just seen his first minutes of collegiate play.

But that wasn’t the top moment of the night for Maggiore. As the Jumbos lined up to shake hands with the Gulls and fans assembled along the fence, a familiar song came blasting through the loudspeakers. It was Maggiore’s own voice, and all of a sudden even the goal he’d let in that night couldn’t wipe the toothy grin from his face. The song, ironically, was called “Smile,” a track on the rapper’s second studio album, “The SKLife, Volume Two,” which he released this month.

Dubbed “Cheese” in middle school by his brother Matt because of a scene in the film “Old School” (2003), Maggiore prefers these days to go by his artist name, “CheddaSK.” And while his imprint on the stat sheet may be small, he has his eyes on something bigger: giving a voice to Tufts by representing himself and his team through music.

Last spring, Maggiore debuted his musical talent with his first mixtape, “The SKLife, Vol. 1,” and in April, his sophomore album, a 10-track collection of studio quality recordings produced by local talent Mike Irish, hit the Web. “I grew up around Tufts my whole life.

I went to a bunch of camps when I was little, and I loved it,” Maggiore said. “I have a lot of pride for Tufts, something that I feel our school lacks, and I want to bring that to our school. I want people to rally through my music and be like, ‘That’s a Tufts kid, he’s repping hard for us, he’s putting us on the map.”

Both Maggiore’s lacrosse and musical careers developed relatively late, and in some ways both were serendipitous effects of happy accidents.

“I didn’t start playing lax until eighth grade, and at first I was a d-pole,” he said.

“Then halfway through eighth grade ... our goalie was so bad that one day at practice I was like, ‘I bet I could do this better than you,’ and he was like, ‘All right, prove it.’ So I just started playing goalie from there and then all throughout high school.”

“I went to coach [Mike] Daly’s camp for like four or five years in a row, and I just got recruited by accident,” he continued.

“I was like, ‘Hey, can I give you my transcript?’ And he [said] ‘Sure,’ and then, ‘You have good enough grades to get in on your own, so you’re all set.’”

Maggiore’s music career began as a latenight hobby back in high school, where he boarded at Kimball Union Academy in New Hampshire.

“I used to play instruments when I was really little. I played the piano and the flute, but I obviously gave that up because it was lame to play instruments back in the day,” he said. “I really started rapping in high school, my sophomore year. … Me and my roommates were bored one night and just did a rap on GarageBand and made a bunch of those.”

“Then I got really into it, and I came to Tufts, where it was more acceptable to be into the arts and into music, so I tested the waters with my first mixtape last year,” he said. “That was more low-budget, low-quality, low-resource, and then I just stepped up my game this year, really getting serious with the music game and expressing myself through my songs.”

The middle child of a professional ballroom dancer and a former BU hockey player, Maggiore perhaps inherited his musical genes from his grandfather, a lifelong accordion player and band member for 40 years. In fact, Maggiore said, he still plays today.

“We all know how to dance — it’s just

in the blood. So we can feel the music real well,” he said.

But of course, more traditional musical influences also played a role in the development of Maggiore’s musical career.

“In rap, I’m heavily influenced by Lil Wayne, who was my favorite artist growing up. He’s crazy, so I try to go out there and be different just like him,” he said.

“Other than rap, Something Corporate, Jack’s Mannequin, Dave Matthews Band, Jimmy Eat World. … I [also] like a lot of old

school. I dig James Brown, and the oldies — my dad’s got me hooked on that.”

But perhaps Maggiore’s biggest influence of all has been his hometown. A Medford native, he embraces the “townie” role and draws from his local roots — and especially his experiences with the Tufts lacrosse team — when he sits down to write and record.

“Definitely a lot of the philosophies we see MEN’S LACROSSE, page 13

Courtesy Mike Maggiore

Sophomore Mike Maggiore gets to listen to his own tracks piped through the public address system on the field.