2010-11-18.pdf

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THE TUFTS DAILY

TUFTSDAILY.COM

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 18, 2010

VOLUME LX, NUMBER 48

Where You Read It First Est. 1980

Tufts is second most Snyder to call for unconventional expensive Mass. school methods of human rights promotion BY

ALEXANDRA BOGUS

Daily Editorial Board

By a slim $50 margin separating it from first place, Tufts this year ranks as the second most expensive school in Massachusetts, according to a report released last month by The Chronicle of Higher Education.

Nationally, the university comes in as the 30th most expensive institution in the nation, according to the report, marking a drop from last year’s No. 20 ranking in spite of a price tag that continues to rise.

Tuition, fees and room and board are $52,866 this year, a 3.5 percent hike from the 2009-2010 academic year. Total costs rose by the same rate last year as well.

Leah McIntosh, executive administrative dean of the School of Arts and Sciences, said that as the individual components of tuition and fees go up, administrators are forced to raise total costs. These factors include financial aid, technology, maintenance of university facilities and employee salaries.

“We know students and their families are concerned about the cost of an education,” she said in an e-mail. “We work hard to control expenses with-

out sacrificing the quality of the educational experience that our students expect.”

Senior administrators within the Schools of Engineering and Arts and Sciences, including the two deans of the school, the university provost and the president, determine the cost of tuition, which is later approved by the Board of Trustees, according to McIntosh.

Sarah Lawrence College in Bronxville, N.Y., took the No. 1 spot for highest tuition nationally, while Babson College, at $52, 916, ranked as the most expensive school in Massachusetts, a designation Tufts held last year.

Tufts is joined this year by a considerable number of new members of the “$50K Club,” the group of schools with total costs over $50,000. The “club,” according to the Chronicle report, now boasts 100 members, a significant rise from the 58 colleges and universities that comprised it last year and 20 times the size of its five-school membership the year before.

Scott Carlson, a senior reporter at the Chronicle who authored last year’s report, said that there is no universal reason why insti-

AND

BY NINA FORD ALEXANDRA BOGUS

Daily Editorial Board

Columbia University Professor of International Relations Jack Snyder tonight will offer students atypical routes to promoting human rights efforts internationally.

Snyder, a leading scholar in security studies, will deliver this year’s Frank C. Colcord Lecture, titled “Pragmatic Approaches to Promoting Human Rights,” at 7 p.m. in Ballou Hall’s Coolidge Room.

Snyder said that the tactics typically used by human rights organizations are of limited utility and plans to share alternative routes that may more effectively advance human rights endeavors.

“What I want to talk about is ways in which people might try to advance human rights that would be different than the tactics that the activists have traditionally promoted, even while trying to accomplish the same objectives,” he told the Daily.

Activists, he said, have generally employed approaches to human rights that emphasize legal routes — such as signing treaties and illegalizing certain behavior — and moral avenues,

COURTESY JACK SNYDER

see SNYDER, page 2

Jack Snyder, a professor of International Relations at Columbia University, will speak tonight on pragmatic approaches to advancing human rights.

see TUITION, page 2

Journalist Hoffman brings a Students to ‘REACH’ for message of optimism from Israel Rwandan awareness BY

MATT REPKA

BY

Daily Editorial Board

MARTHA SHANAHAN Daily Editorial Board

Israeli journalist Gil Hoffman yesterday afternoon offered a positive take on Israel’s future in a discussion that addressed the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Hoffman, a political correspondent and analyst at The Jerusalem Post, delivered his lecture, titled “Reasons For Optimism: Why Americans Should Be Confident About Israel,” in Eaton Hall. In front of a full classroom, Hoffman praised the achievements of the Jewish state, criticized U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East and offered a positive outlook for Israel’s future.

“I’m proud to be here in a liberal atmosphere on a college campus,” Hoffman said. “More than ever, being a liberal American today means being pro-Israel.”

Tufts Friends of Israel hosted the talk, which was co-sponsored

by Emerson College Students for Israel and the Hagshama Department of the World Zionist Organization.

In his talk, Hoffman praised the values shared by the United States and Israel, adding that the latter may have a leg up in certain areas.

“Israel takes pride in empowering its minorities, in being the only

JUSTIN MCCALLUM/TUFTS DAILY

see HOFFMAN, page 2

Gil Hoffman, a journalist for The Jerusalem Post, offered a positive outlook for Israel’s future in a speech yesterday in Eaton Hall.

Inside this issue

Tufts Hillel tonight will host a discussion aimed at bringing the genocide-marred history of Rwanda and its revitalized culture to Tufts.

A group of Tufts students who went on Hillel-sponsored service trips to the Agahozo Shalom Youth Village (ASYV ) in Rwanda in the summers of 2009 and 2010 organized the event, titled REACH (Rwanda Extravaganza of Arts, Culture and Hope) for Rwanda.

ASYV houses Rwandan youth orphaned during and after the country’s 1994 genocide, aiming to rehabilitate them and teach them to become constructive members of society.

“The goal is that these kids will come out as more complete individuals and be able to contribute to their communities,” junior Matt Davis, a member of the Hillel Student Board who went on the trip in 2010, said. “They give them a complete education.”

As part of this education, Davis said, the village equips the youth with valuable skills, such as how to farm effectively, how to construct sustainable farms and how to repair bicycles.

“They emphasize the idea of … repairing the world,’” Davis said.

Students who went on the trips will be on hand at tonight’s event to share their experiences, according to junior Hillary Sieber, the student coordinator of the 2009 trip.

“The general goal of the event is to raise awareness about the village,” Sieber said.

“We’re trying to act as ambassadors for the village because it needs local and international support to sustain itself.”

Sieber hopes students attending the event will learn more about the legacy of the nation’s 1994 genocide, which resulted in the deaths of approximately 800,000 people.

“I hope they come out of it with a brightened understanding of what Rwandan culture is like and also a greater understanding of … the consequences of the Rwandan genocide.”

Senior Lauren Levine echoed Sieber’s sentiments, expressing her hope that the event will help spread awareness of the country’s history to Tufts students.

“Everyone will be able to benefit from learning about see RWANDA, page 2

Today’s Sections

Jumbos strut their stuff and show off their fashion sense.

The MFA’s new wing gives viewers a comprehensive take on the art of the Americas.

see FEATURES, page 3

see WEEKENDER, page 5

News Features Weekender Comics

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Editorial Op-Ed Classifieds Sports

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Thursday, November 18, 2010

NEWS

Tufts increases financial aid budget to account for tuition increase TUITION continued from page 1

tutions across the country raise their costs.

“Some have real needs in terms of programs to support what the endowment is not covering or other programs are not covering,” he told the Daily. “In other cases, it’s maintenance issues. In some cases, it’s a projection of what they might need down the road.”

Yet the swarm of new and old “$50K” members, he warned, may misrepresent the burden actually placed on students.

“The number you see, the sticker price, is different from what people actually pay,” he said. “It’s one measure of a college’s price, but it’s not the perfect measure.”

The average aid award for a Tufts student, including grants, loans and work study at the federal, state and university levels, was roughly $33,000 for this academic year, according to Patricia Reilly, the director of financial aid and co-manager of Student Financial Services. Roughly 50 percent of Tufts undergraduates

receive some form of financial aid, McIntosh said.

Meeting the full demonstrated financial need of all undergraduates, McIntosh said, was a critical piece of the “Tufts mission.”

To address this need, the university has increased financial aid at more than twice the rate of the tuition increase, a reflection of the lagging economy as much as anything else, according to Reilly.

“It’s partly rising to take into account the increase of tuition, partly to account for the impact of the economy on our families,” she said.

Between the 2008-09 and 200910 academic years, the financial aid budget increased by 9 percent, according to McIntosh. This year, the budget has increased by an additional 10 percent.

Martha Savery, director of community outreach at the Massachusetts Educational Financing Authority, a nonprofit, state-led organization that provides college savings plans to

Massachusetts students, said that colleges across the nation worked harder to meet student need when the economy turned sour.

“In 2008, when things really started to get more turbulent in the economy, I think colleges did make a very concerted effort to broaden their offerings to families,” she told the Daily. “It’s a very individual process because there are colleges that have significant institutional dollars to be able to award to families, and there are colleges and universities that don’t have that.”

Even as the financial aid budget continues to rise, it remains uncertain whether Tufts’ tuition will ever hit a breaking point.

“I think that would be asking to predict economics in a way that I certainly don’t feel qualified to do,” McIntosh said.

Savery was similarly unsure if and when college tuitions would stop rising but said that meeting tuition costs today, no matter the figure, may prove challenging for some.

TOSTIE14 VIA CC

Babson College is the most expensive institution in Massachusetts, according to a report in The Chronicle of Higher Education. Tufts ranks second in the state.

“I don’t know what that tipping point is, and I don’t know that there is one,” she said. “Being where we are today in the most difficult and most challenging

economic times that we’ve ever had, the reality is that what might have been affordable for a family four years ago ... may have a very different definition today.”

‘REACH’ event to highlights Rwandan genocide, youth rehabilitation RWANDA continued from page 1

Rwanda’s culture and history,” she said.

Levine in 2009 traveled to Rwanda, an experience that she said helped open her eyes to the travesty of the genocide. “I saw the Rwandan genocide through the eyes of survivors that

were near my age,” she said.

The event will include a display of photographs taken by students who visited the village in May, according to Davis. “Their pictures are absolutely gorgeous, and that’s going to be really cool,” he said.

The photographs will be sold off in a raffle, the proceeds of which will go

toward supporting the village’s efforts, according to Sieber.

“Our big goal is to raise support and raise awareness of ASYV at Tufts,” Davis said. “The goal is to take the inspiration we saw there and bring it back to Tufts … and advocate for the village.”

Tufts a cappella groups S-Factor and

sQ! will perform at the event, as will the student African percussion and dance group Kiniwe. Sieber said that traditional African food, dancing and a video about the village will be featured at the event.

The event will be held in the Alumnae Lounge in Aidekman Arts Center tonight at 7 p.m.

Hoffman: American-Israeli ties strong, but room for improvement

Snyder lecture reflects legacy of scholarship, faculty members say

HOFFMAN

SNYDER

continued from page 1

country in the Middle East with full women’s rights, with rights for gays,” Hoffman said. “America is in many ways a generation behind Israel when it comes to these kinds of things.”

The journalist rejected the notion that Israel must choose between Jewish and democratic identities.

“In the Knesset, they’re working to make Israel more democratic all the time, but they’re trying to have this balance between Israel being a democratic state and being a Jewish state,” Hoffman said. “Those things don’t have to contradict each other, though they’re constantly redefining how they fit together.”

Hoffman termed the United States’ actions in the Middle East a “mishandling” of the situation.

“Barack Obama has admitted he has made mistakes in how he has handled the Israeli-Palestinian conflict,” he said.

Hoffman criticized the U.S. president for not visiting Israel when he delivered his Cairo address to the Arab world and for comparing the plight of Palestinians to the Holocaust. Obama also accused Israelis of being responsible for the loss of American lives in the Middle East, according to Hoffman.

“That was a statement so offensive to Israelis,” he said.

Above all, Obama’s insistence on resolving the status of Jerusalem has hamstrung peace talks, Hoffman said. “The one issue that’s really prevented things from moving forward is that Obama has put such an emphasis on the Jerusalem issue,” he said.

Despite these missteps, Hoffman said the Americans must still play a critical role in the peace process. “It’s up to the Americans to make sure the Palestinians come back to the table,” he said.

On the subject of the Iranian nuclear program, Hoffman detailed four methods of engagement with Iran — political, diplomatic, economic and military. The first two approaches have failed, and the third is currently being pursued, according to Hoffman.

“The United States and Israel are on the same page regarding how to handle Iran.

That’s something that definitely gives hope for the future,” Hoffman said.

“Obama realizes that you cannot allow [Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad]

to get the bomb. He’s starting to think about his legacy,” Hoffman said. “If Iran gets the bomb, that’s what people are going to remember … that it happened on his watch. But if he succeeds in preventing the nuclearization of Iran, then he might even be worthy of the Nobel Peace Prize that he’s already won.”

Hoffman praised Israel’s performance in the face of perpetual regional tensions.

“What makes me optimistic about Israel’s future is that even though we don’t know where our final borders are going to be, and even though we’re still facing the existential threat that’s being developed in Iran, that Israel’s accomplished so much, in spite of it all,” Hoffman said.

Students in attendance had differing perspectives on Hoffman’s remarks.

“It’s always nice to hear a refreshing voice, and I thought that obviously he was representing the Israeli perspective,” freshman Erica Feldman said. “But I like how he accounted for the Palestinian perspective, too, and how he was positive about both ends of the spectrum. That’s the only way to make progress — to be aware of both sides.”

Senior Tala Kayyali, who asked Hoffman a question about the rights of Palestinians living in areas controlled by Israel, felt that the presentation did not provide a multifaceted view of the conflict.

“The presentation had some good things and, in my view, some bad things about it,” Kayyali said. “Obviously, it’s clearly one-sided. It’s basically an act of propaganda stating how Israel’s the most fantastic thing in the world, and it didn’t really go into the politics of the other side as much as I had hoped.”

“Students here are brilliant,” Hoffman said in an interview after the lecture. “They are eager to find out what’s really going on behind the scenes in the Middle East.

They don’t take for granted what they read in American media, which might be a little bit shallow.”

“My job as a political correspondent for The Jerusalem Post is to inform people around the world about what’s going on in Israel, and this is part of it,” Hoffman said. “I’ve seen colleges that have a little more tension between Jews and Muslims.

Here, I saw a Palestinian student sitting next to an Israeli, and that gives hope for the future, doesn’t it?”

continued from page 1

which involve the “naming and shaming” of those who violate moral principles and international standards of behavior.

These tactics, Snyder said, often neglect the nuances of individual countries.

“Social scientists have been studying these tactics, asking what causes human rights to be good or bad in a country,” he said. “They are finding that the tactics that the activists use have limited impact. The things that really matter for human rights are whether the country is at peace, whether the country is a democracy — structural factors.”

Future endeavors to advance human rights, he said, should take a less heavyhanded approach — one that recognizes different cultural norms and offers more conciliatory alternatives to the parties involved.

Among his suggestions is granting amnesty to war criminals, as opposed to trying them in court, as a way to encourage them to step down from power and surrender their weapons. Child labor, another domain in which human rights are widely neglected, can be eradicated through economic change and public education improvements, rather than legal bans, he said.

Snyder, whose research focuses on the intersection of domestic and international politics, has written four books and numerous articles. His most recent book is “Electing to Fight: Why Emerging Democracies Go to War,” published in 2005.

Faculty members from the Department of Political Science praised Snyder as a top scholar in the field of International Relations.

“Jack Snyder is one of the foremost International Relations scholars working in the United States — really in the world — today,” Associate Professor of Political Science Jeffrey Taliaferro said. “He is a scholar who has a very, very wide range and made a very wide range of contributions and is one of the most influential people in the discipline, both because of his publications … [and] also because of his teaching.”

Chair of the Department Robert Devigne echoed similar sentiments.

“Many people in the department know Jack Snyder. We have great respect for him,” Devigne said. “We had him give

a talk here five years ago, and it was very well-received, and we’re very excited about him being here.”

Taliaferro said that Snyder has significantly impacted his own work in the field.

“Professor Snyder has had a profound influence on my work over the last 15 years,” Taliaferro said, adding that he first read Snyder’s work in graduate school.

Snyder’s legacy, as it pertains to International Relations, Taliaferro said, includes his core argument about the influence of domestic politics on International Relations, specifically the degree to which the government is beholden to domestic institutions and interest groups.

Taliaferro said that he had met Snyder on a number of occasions, and with the approval of the Department of Political Science, he invited Snyder to speak at Tufts while at a conference in Beijing last spring.

“I think it’s going to be a provocative lecture; I think it’s going to be a very thoughtprovoking lecture,” Taliaferro said.

Snyder spoke at Tufts five years ago and said that his colleagues on the Hill were “very persuasive” when they invited him back this time around. “They promised me a good, lively audience,” he said.

The department expects between 75 and 100 people to attend the lecture, according to Jeannine Lenehan, communications coordinator for the department.

Lenehan said that the department had extended invitations to political science alumni, members of the faculty and staff, and political science majors. She added that the event was open to all members of the Tufts community.

Taliaferro emphasized the importance of an undergraduate student presence at the event. “It’s always a pleasure to be able to invite such people to campus to share their expertise and their knowledge with students,” he said.

The Frank C. Colcord lecture series is funded by a bequest made to the university by Colcord when he passed away in 2006 and is administered by the political science department, according to Taliaferro. Colcord served as a professor and chair of the department and as dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences during his time at Tufts.

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Welcome to the future: Commercial spaceport makes space tourism a reality

BY JON

CHENG

Daily Editorial Board

Children have dreamed for decades of growing up to be astronauts and traveling to the final frontier — fantasies that, for most of these children, were brought to an end by adolescence. But the sky is no longer the limit for customers willing to pay the price to travel to Earth’s stratosphere as once-inaccessible outer space becomes just another space for commercialism.

Anyone with $200,000 to spare can now board either Virgin Galactic’s or Space Adventures’ suborbital space flights. Both companies allow viewers to experience four to six minutes of weightlessness and a grand view of Earth as the shuttle soars 62.5 miles up.

Commercial space travel took a giant leap forward last month when Virgin Galactic CEO Sir Richard Branson unveiled the first-ever commercial spaceport, Spaceport America, in Upham, N.M. Essential to the spaceport’s launch was New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson (A ’70, F ’71), who earlier this year signed the “New Mexico Space Flight Informed Consent Act,” which set up liability protections for commercial space companies. He has expressed his commitment to the development of the commercial spaceflight industry.

With a higher degree of accessibility and newer spacecraft on the rise, com-

mercial space travel will become a reality not only for Virgin Galactic but for other companies as well. Space Adventures, a Virginia-based private company founded in 1998, has been offering flights to the International Space Station (ISS), a space station in low Earth orbit, for private customers at a $40 million price tag and, since 2008, an additional 90-minute spacewalk during their “mission” for an additional $15 million.

While the deal has attracted few customers thus far, Space Adventures’ vice president of communications, Stacey Tearne, believes a new program the company is developing will attract a wider customer base.

“Space Adventures plans to provide suborbital spaceflights through a partnership with Armadillo Aerospace announced in April 2010, with a ticket price of $102,000,” Tearne told the Daily. “[We] already have over 200 reservations for this flight profile.”

Despite the difference in price, Space Adventures’ suborbital spaceflight is similar to the one Virgin Galactic offers — both are vertically launched, approach the same height above earth’s surface and will commence flights in 2011.

Tearne added that it is just a matter of time before the company’s clientele begins to grow.

“When the cost of accessing space decreases, the availability of more people that can afford to fly will increase,” she said.

A bill signed by President Barack Obama in September also helped to usher in the age of the space industry. The NASA Authorization Act of 2011 will add another space shuttle to NASA’s fleet, extend the life of the International Space Station until at least 2020 and appropriate $58.4 billion, part of which will go toward commercial space programs.

Assistant Professor of Astronomy Danilo Marchesini believes that the advent of space tourism can have positive effects on the population’s attitudes toward environmentalism.

“Who never wanted to be an astronaut? I think going into space and seeing the Earth from up there, from a completely different perspective, will actually increase the awareness of how fragile the Earth is and that we really need to act to preserve it and make it a better place to live,” Marchesini said.

Professor of Astronomy Kenneth Lang echoed this sentiment but said that any effect on space travelers will be minimal, given the small size of the population able to afford commercial space travel.

“Space tourism could increase public interest in space science … [but] space tourism is a good idea for the very rich who might not know what to do with their money,” Lang said. “Even the well-off middle class are not going see SPACE, page 4

Street Smarts: Tufts’ sartorial scene Ever notice the Jumbos on campus who put more into their wardrobes than a momentary thought about which pair of sneakers doesn’t clash with their sweatpants? We have, and some of their sartorial styles caught our eye in particular.

COMPILED BY ROMY OLTUSKI PHOTOS BY JUSTIN MCCALLUM

ANNA CHRISTIAN | THE COLLEGE SURVIVAL GUIDE

There’s no place like home?

I

n college, it’s easy to forget about the hassles that come along with living at home. Thanksgiving means seeing family, an abundance of home-cooked meals and a chance to do free laundry (if you live close enough).

Thanksgiving also means reunions with old frenemies and that same loving family nagging you to get off the couch — who says watching a day’s worth of movies is a bad thing? The important thing to remember is that nothing should get in the way of you lounging around and watching holiday specials to your heart’s content. Here are a couple of tips that will help you combat the fast-approaching Turkey Day break: 1. Avoid any unnecessary friend drama.

Maybe this only applies to girls, but I’m sure everyone can understand what this one’s about. Coming home from Tufts, you may forget those things that used to drive you crazy in high school. WHY can’t your friend ever drive herself anywhere? WHY does she always interrupt you mid-sentence?

The fact is that the break is a short one.

These same annoying qualities may reveal themselves during your few visits, but don’t forget that petty annoyances are a high school trap. Try to keep your energy focused on the positive — and emphasize how much fun your school is — and, if all else fails, you can sneak out early and “help your mom with the stuffing.”

2. Fake patience with parents. It does seem somewhat ridiculous from an outsider’s perspective how lazy college students are on breaks. It makes sense given that people are usually preparing for a string of exams or relaxing after one. No, parents, we didn’t miss helping you unload a car full of groceries, nor did we miss having to call you at 1 a.m. to let you know we’re going to be home late.

Unfortunately, telling them all the things they do that we love not having to deal with at school won’t generally work in our favor. The best thing to do is usually to comply with their requests, and then they’ll probably be more willing to comply with your requests, even when you start to push the boundaries. Think of it as a practice in negotiation.

3. RELAX. It sounds simple. Why wouldn’t we relax at home? It’s not always so easy. Some professors obnoxiously assign things due the first few days back from Thanksgiving break. However, if you are efficient at the beginning and end, there is plenty of time for tranquility in between.

Making these few days stress-free will seriously help your productivity when you get back. Don’t go into reading period already exhausted if you can help it. I see sleep as the Band-Aid for all wounds, and I intend on getting plenty while I’m home.

I’m sure many of you already plan on doing so — especially anyone who’s been through reading period and finals before.

“I would classify my look as NorCal. I love my boots. I wear them every day. They were something I probably shouldn’t have bought, but it needed to happen.”

—Kexin Chen, Class of 2011

“This is definitely a relaxed mood right now. I’m wearing vintage boots from London from Brick Lane. The pants are Rugby Ralph Lauren, and the shirt’s Purple Label Ralph Lauren.”

—Kieran Lewis, Class of 2013

“I’m currently into mixing military with French Bohemian themes. My favorite color is gray, so when I feel good, I wear gray, and I felt good today. I have a fashion blog, and this week’s theme is, ‘All that glitters is in gold,’ so I’m wearing mostly silver but a little bit of gold.”

—Avantha Arachchi, Class of 2013

See Jumbo Slice at blogs.tuftsdaily.com for the full shoot.

Thanksgiving is the start of the holiday season and precedes the notorious Christmas, Hanukkah and New Years holidays. It is a fantastic tradition filled with delicious food, football and parades. I suppose on the downside, it’s also one of the few times a year that you have all your extended family sitting at one table … at one time.

Things can get hectic. Try to maintain composure; if you just have fun and relax, then nothing can faze you.

Rest up, and be ready to squeeze in everything you can at Tufts between Thanksgiving and winter break, especially those of us going abroad. With these tips, your holiday should flow seamlessly. Now all that’s left to do is feast!

Anna Christian is a junior majoring in psychology and community health. She can be reached at Anna.Christian@tufts.edu.

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FEATURES

Thursday, November 18, 2010

Commercial space travel to become relatively more affordable next year SPACE continued from page 3

to climb on board in great numbers with a lower price, but there will be some — we did send John Glenn Jr. back into space at the age of 77. The older, wealthier might jump at the chance to feel young again.”

“Who never wanted to be an astronaut? I think going into space and seeing the Earth from up there, from a completely different perspective, will actually increase the awareness of how fragile the Earth is and that we really need to act to preserve it and make it a better place to live.”

Danilo Marchesini assistant professor of astronomy But space travel does not come without repercussions, as commercial space tourism can be detrimental to the Earth’s environment. An estimated 1,000 suborbital flights per year will result in over 600 tons of soot, which will trap heat in the stratosphere and lead to a one-degree centigrade increase in global temperatures, according to researchers.

Tearne does not believe that Space Adventures’ flights will contribute to environmental problems, though.

“Unlike solid rocket motors, hybrids and some other rocket propellants which produce a lot of particles, Armadillo’s engine will be using a combination of liquid oxygen and ethanol, and these produce principally water vapor and carbon dioxide in any quantity,” Tearne said.

“Space Adventures’ customers will be

able to purchase carbon credits to offset the impact of their spaceflight.”

In addition, Lang explained that the environmental costs of human activity on Earth’s surface, coupled with the damage done by non-commercial space missions, are much more detrimental than space tourism.

“Check out how many satellites are now up there orbiting Earth — all doomed to eventual decay,” he said. “There is a possibility, though, that many of the proposed advancements in commercial space travel will simply not pan out.”

“There is … a chance that the entire idea will go the way of Trailblazer, a commercial lunar spacecraft that was supposed to be launched by a private U.S. company,” Lang said. “Trailblazer was supposed to take high-resolution video images of the moon’s surface for use in video games and movies and would have crash-landed a hardened capsule that delivered personal items to the moon — like a picture of a loved one or the wedding ring of someone now divorced. The cost was $2,500 a gram. But the spacecraft never happened.”

Another problem facing commercial space companies, Marchesini said, is that the available expertise lies in the hands of NASA. “NASA has already decided that private companies need to get into their hands a good chunk of NASA business; perhaps private companies will be able to transform this into a business,” Marchesini said. “But who knows? Research will always be in the hands of NASA, so the space missions related to astrophysics will not go to private companies, as they have no financial return.”

Safety issues and financial problems aside, Tearne is confident that many new customers will jump on the space exploration bandwagon, no matter the consequences.

“It’s mankind’s inherent desire to explore, and there are infinite resources in space that can benefit all people of Earth,” Tearne said.

Introduce new Jumbos to the Tufts Experience Applications Due 2/4

Innovative and Energetic Leaders Needed to Coordinate Orientation 2011!

Positions in Major Events, Leadership, Training & Academic Programs, and Logistics & Communications (3 Full-Time Paid Summer Positions…June, July, August)

more information &application at: http://studentservices.tufts.edu/orientation or stop by Campus Life in the Campus Center.

Weekender ARTS & LIVING ARTS & LIVING

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MFA’s new wing paints full portrait of American history BY

ANNA MAJESKI

Daily Editorial Board

Even some of the most treasured landmarks need a facelift, and if we’re speaking in terms of magnitude, this Saturday marks the opening of the Heidi Montag of transformations for the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (MFA).

On Saturday, in the culmination of 10 years of planning and construction, the MFA will open its brand new Art of the Americas Wing to the public and will hold a free Community Open House to celebrate.

The addition to the old structure doubles the number of works previously displayed, and an impressive 5,000 works are housed in the 53 new galleries. Covering a three-millennia stretch of North and South American history, the encyclopedic span of the collection documents the development of the art of the Americas, stretching back to Olmec and Incan works and through the late 20th century.

The new addition is itself a work of art.

Designed by Foster + Partners, it is actually a freestanding structure housed in the courtyard of the older building. Norman Foster, founder and chairman of Foster + Partners, said the goal was to create a building with “clarity, orientation; making something more accessible but at the same time respecting the dignity…[of ] the institution, enhancing its civil value.”

The actual gallery spaces are distributed over four floors, but the most striking part of the new structure is the beautiful indoor Shapiro Family Courtyard, a juxtaposition of smooth marble and glass and a replication of the old façade. The space is clean and full of light.

This melding of the old and new is not just a model for the design of the new wing, but for the entire collection. One of the main goals of the new structure was to create a space more in line with the one envisioned by the MFA’s original architect, Guy Lowell, in 1907. Lowell’s vision was of a structure united by two intersecting axes, allowing for the visual and thematic harmony of the museum’s diverse collection.

Careful acquisitions during the past 10 years have created a more complete and exciting collection for visitors. The huge span of time that the wing covers allows visitors to get a truly comprehensive look at the art of the Americas, but development of specific areas ensures that the collection’s depth does not suffer.

The actual layout of the gallery space is carefully constructed to acknowledge the broad range of cultures that have contributed to the arts of the Americas. As can be expected, Boston’s revolutionary history figures prominently in the version of America the museum presents, but the nation’s cultural debt to the many civilizations that preceded it does not go unnoticed or unrepresented. The dangers of presenting a teleological vision of such a large historical period notwithstanding,

the collection’s homage to our predecessors presents a broader vision of America’s cultural evolution.

The basement level starts off this tour de force of American history. Represented are the various great empires of South and Central America, Native American cultures of North America both ancient and modern, and examples from post-colonial New England. One work from these galleries is an Olmec jade mask from 1150-500 B.C. Blackened over time because of its use in a ritual involving fire, the mask is a beautiful naturalistic depiction of a man’s face, possibly an Olmec ruler. Its smooth carving and expressive features provide a window into an ancient civilization’s image of power.

Also in these galleries is a burial mantle made by the Paracas people of Peru, dating from 1-100 A.D. Its state of perfect preservation is due to the burial practices of the Paracas, who buried their deceased in the arid desert wrapped in these mantles. The mantle shows multiple rows of ecstatic shamans against a deep red background and green border. Shamans were believed to travel from the world of the living to the realm of the dead during their trances, making them fitting company for the deceased in their passage into the afterlife. These lively figures play across the incredible reds, oranges, greens and yellows that are still vibrant despite the fact that nearly two millennia have passed since the mantle’s creation.

The move from the ground floor up to the first floor is a time warp to revolutionary America. Fittingly, the objects placed front and center in the first gallery are a silver bowl crafted by none other than Paul Revere and a portrait of Revere by John Singleton Copley from 1768. A number of Copleys are in the first gallery of this floor, providing a comprehensive view of some of the nation’s most important early figures.

The entire back wall of the second gallery is taken up by a massive painting of George Washington’s famed crossing of the Delaware.

Thomas Sully’s monumental “Passage of the Delaware,” an oil painting from 1819, is exactly the type of painting one would expect to see featured on a floor devoted to revolutionary America.

A triumphant figure on horseback, Washington looks back from the right of the painting toward his troops as they struggle toward the decisive see MFA, page 8

PHOTOS, FROM TOP, BY NIGEL YOUNG/FOSTER + PARTNERS, CHUCK CHOI AND MUSEUM OF FINE ARTS, BOSTON DESIGN BY LEANNE BROTSKY

THE TUFTS DAILY

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Thursday, November 18, 2010

WEEKENDER

WEEKENDER INTERVIEW | BRIAN ROSENWORCEL

Guster drummer and Tufts alum Rosenworcel talks about his journey from Bush Hall to stardom BY

ALLISON DEMPSEY Daily Staff Writer

Reemerging from a short recording hibernation, Guster’s latest album, “Easy Wonderful,” dropped in the beginning of October. Tufts alumni Ryan Miller, Adam Gardner and Brian Rosenworcel (all LA ’95) have remained the three core members of the group since its inception here on the Hill.

The band has gone through many changes in the past few years, including but not limited to having children, swapping members and pushing the boundaries of their

musical styling on their new album.

The Daily spoke with drummer Rosenworcel via e-mail about all of Guster’s recent developments, the band members’ lives on the road and their experiences as Jumbos 15 years ago.

Allie Dempsey: What about your music appeals so much to our generation?

Brian Rosenworcel: Maybe it’s because when you listen to our music, you can tell that we’re just piecing together chords we learned in a dorm room. Or maybe it’s

because we’ve played like a zillion Spring Flings over the last 15 years.

Somehow we fly under the radar of the mainstream enough that people call our following “cultish” — R.E.M. was a “college band” for years before “The One I Love” [1987] became a huge hit and everyone discovered them. Now we just need to write a song as good as that one.

AD: Hand drums have been a Guster staple for a really long time, and on “Easy Wonderful,” they are conspicuously absent. Was this a

AMAZON.COM

see GUSTER, page 7

Guster’s Brian Rosenworcel, center, spoke to the Daily about his Tufts experience and life as a rock artist.

MOVIE REVIEW

THEATER PREVIEW

3Ps brings production of Chekhov’s ‘Uncle Vanya’ to Balch Arena Theater BY

REBECCA SANTIAGO

stir up conflict and painful emotions for the characters.

“Uncle Vanya” discreetly addresses complex subjects through an existential lens. The play tackles relationships, mid-life crises, regret and even environmentalism. “[‘Uncle Vanya’] is about trying to find some sort of center or orientation, something to hold on to when it feels like everything is unstable,” Sigel-Epstein said. “The purpose of life and how to deal with sorrow are at the center of the play.”

Sigel-Epstein expects audiences to identify with that struggle to find an anchor in a constantly changing world and stresses the topical nature of the play. “The play was written about 110 years ago, but to me, the characters are very much relevant,” she said. “[‘Uncle Vanya’ also] deals with beauty and the problems it causes — [that’s] certainly a timeless issue.”

The director also hopes Tufts students will appreciate “Uncle Vanya’s” activist strain. “One of the really important characters in the play is a doctor who is really concerned about the environment, the depletion of

Daily Editorial Board

ROTTENTOMATOES.COM

The leading ladies of ‘For Colored Girls’ come together, each representing a distinct, vibrant pastel.

Perry’s ‘For Colored Girls’ delivers blissful solemnity in visual medium BY

BRIONNA JIMERSON Senior Staff Writer

The fundamental first step toward understanding director, producer and writer Tyler Perry’s film adaptation of Ntozake Shange’s

For Colored Girls Starring Janet Jackson, Whoopi Goldberg, Thandie Newton Directed by Tyler Perry 1975 choreopoem stage play, “For Colored Girls,” is to dispel a major misconception about the film: It is not directed solely at black females.

The subject matter of identity and the African American experience is hardly new ground for Perry, creator of wildly successful stage plays-turned-feature films such as “Madea’s Family Reunion” (2006) and “Diary of a Mad Black Woman” (2005), but

never has he explored the issue of race with such tenderness and unabashed attention to emotional detail.

The plot follows the multifaceted and interweaving lives of several African American women, each with a distinct chromatic identity: brown, blue, red, orange, green, purple and yellow. Perry added two additional characters who were not in Shange’s original work — “lady in white,” depicted by Oscar-winner Whoopi Goldberg, and a character known only as Gilda, played by Phylicia Rashad of “The Cosby Show” (1984-1992) fame. Actress Kimberly Elise and singer/actress Janet Jackson team up with a brazen construct of personalities and larger-than-life characters to round out the vibrant cast.

Connections between the characters span a wide range of interpersonal relationships, from mother-daughter to casual encounters amplified and dissected throughout the film.

The story begins in an apartment building in Harlem, N.Y, where several of the “colored see GIRLS, page 8

TOP TEN | THINGS THAT HAVE COME TO AMERICA With Thanksgiving coming up, we are reminded that our ancestors were once immigrants to this country. Here is a list of other things that have since washed up on our shores.

10. Justin Bieber: Remember that song “Blame Canada” from “South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut” (1999)? Yeah. Sing that, Bieber.

9. Emma Watson: We don’t know who this chick is, but apparently Hermione Granger goes to Brown!

8. The Beatles: They came. They played a few concerts. They left.

7. Mario: He’s a Japanese stereotype of an Italian. Mario: the double-immigrant.

6. Superman: There’s no getting around it: The Man of Steel is literally an illegal alien. His spaceship just landed in the middle of Kansas without going through customs or anything. And no matter what he says, heat vision is not a substitute for a green card.

5. Elian Gonzales: He floated his way into Miami — and into our hearts.

4. Fievel Mousekewitz: Why wouldn’t he come here? “There are no cats in America, and the streets are paved with cheese!”

If you did not get this “An American Tail” (1986) reference, then please take a moment of silence for your lost childhood.

3. Horses: Fun fact: Despite the patriotic images we often associate with cowboys and their companions, our fine four-legged friends are hardly an American exclusive.

The last native horses died out in North America over 15,000 years ago and we have the Spanish conquistadors to thank for reintroducing them to this land.

2. Smallpox: Bubonic plague was all the rage in Europe, so of course America had to get on that gravy train. Ten points for doing it with blankets instead of rats.

1. Barack Obama: Too soon?

—compiled by the Daily Arts Department

Senior Eliana Sigel-Epstein, director of Pen, Paint and Pretzels’ (3Ps) fall major show, “Uncle Vanya,” is the first to admit that the play is of a very different mettle from, say, a James Cameron movie. “Not much happens in this play,” Sigel-Epstein said. “It’s pretty much a day in the lives of [the main characters].”

For Sigel-Epstein, the draw of Anton Chekhov’s “Uncle Vanya” lies not in the story, but in the storytelling. “A lot of people think Chekhov’s plays are about boring people sitting around, talking about how sad they are. But the play is more than that to me,” SigelEpstein said. “It answers the most basic question: How does one live amidst troubles that occur?”

In the show, which opens tonight, Professor Serebryakov (sophomore Jacob Passy) and his beautiful wife Yelena (freshman Kelly O’Hara) return to their family estate at the beginning of the summer after a long hiatus.

The arrival of these two outsiders creates friction between them and the people who already live on the farm and spend the year maintaining the land. Filial ties and romantic interests

see VANYA, page 7

What’s up this weekend Looking to make your weekend artsy?

Check out these events!

Sarabande Fall Show: Break up your weekend with Tufts dance group Sarabande’s fall semester show, “Planes, Trains, and Dancing Girls.”

Sarabande will be joined by several other dance groups from both on and off campus. (Tonight at 9 p.m., Saturday at 8 p.m. in Cohen Auditorium. Tickets are free with a Tufts ID, $5 without.)

The Smoking Jackets concert: The all-Tufts band, The Smoking Jackets, performs its first headlining show in Cambridge, Mass. (Tonight at 11:30 p.m. at the Middle East Upstairs.

18-plus, tickets are $10.)

“Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1”: Harry Potter mania gets back in full swing tonight, three and a half years after the final novel was released. The film, which has been split into two parts — “Part 2” is due out next summer — follows Harry, Ron and Hermione on their final quest to defeat the evil Lord Voldemort.

(Midnight screenings begin tonight at theaters everywhere.)

14th Annual Boston International Fine Art Show: New England’s premier show and sale of contemporary and traditional fine art returns to Boston for its 14th anniversary. The

show features 40 outstanding galleries from the United States and Europe. Information on special programs can be found at fineartboston. com. (All weekend, hours vary, at the Cyclorama at the Boston Center for the Arts. Admission is $15 for the general show.)

Tufts Third Day Gospel Choir: Christianity is optional for the Third Day Gospel Choir, one of Tufts’ most robust musical ensembles, directed by David Coleman. The tribe will congregate to perform a show titled “He’s Able,” in support of triumph over adversity. (Tomorrow at 8 p.m. in Cohen Auditorium. Tickets are $7.)

Tufts Symphony Orchestra: Class up your weekend with a full string section. Gil Rose conducts Tufts Symphony Orchestra as it performs pieces by Beethoven and Brahms. (Saturday at 8 p.m. in Distler Performance Hall.

Admission is free.)

Community Day at the MFA: The Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, celebrates the opening of its new Arts of the Americas Wing with free admission for all. Explore the collection, which includes over 500 new acquisitions, and admire the beautiful new wing.

(Saturday from 10 a.m. to 9:45 p.m.)

—compiled by the Daily Arts Department

THE TUFTS DAILY

Thursday, November 18, 2010

7

WEEKENDER

Despite the play’s age, 3Ps’ staging of ‘Uncle Vanya’ puts a comedic spin on relevant issues

Guster: Change over the years

VANYA

GUSTER

continued from page 6

continued from page 6

forests and earth turning into a wasteland,” Sigel-Epstein said.

“He tries his best to create forest preserves and to conserve.”

Senior and dramaturge Troy Bedik has worked with the cast and crew to incorporate and highlight these ecological themes in the production. Most immediately obvious are the tall, birch-like trees that stretch from the stage to the ceiling, which, in their simultaneous scarcity and majesty, correspond to the threat of deforestation that the doctor, Astrov (played by senior Jack Esposito), laments so frequently.

In one of his many tirades, Astrov says, “You all recklessly chop down forests … the same way you recklessly destroy a human being.”

Citing Astrov, Bedik acknowledges the link between environmentalism and the interpersonal exchanges in “Uncle Vanya.” Since Bedik wrote a paper last semester on ecofeminism in Chekhov, she is particularly interested in the parallel Chekhov draws between man’s treatment of nature and women. Her favorite quote from the play is listed in the program.

“It basically says that men destroy nature the same way they destroy women,” she said.

She added, “The beauty of Chekhov is that so much happens [without seeming to]. So much of the play is subtext and what isn’t said.” Thus, audiences should have no problem discerning the undercurrent of hostility and frustration behind the characters’ rapidly collapsing mask of quotidian civility.

In response to a mundane comment about the lovely weather, the show’s titular

conscious decision to move toward a new sound? You have your first song that uses a synth. Is electropop the future of Guster?

BR: I’ve been leaning on the traditional kit since “Keep It Together” came out in 2003, when we realized that there were lots of exciting places we could take our music if we got rid of the “rules of instrumentation” that governed the first chapter of our band. Still, I try to use hand drums whenever I can, but ultimately I remove them if they sound forced.

AD: Has having children influenced and shaped the new style of your sound?

BR: We all made the first batch of babies within a three-month window — I know, that’s creepy — so we were all going through the same thing, and we adjusted the way we write in small spurts rather than one excruciating chunk. As for the kids, I don’t think they really affected the music that much. We went more upbeat on this album, and the lyrics aren’t “dad-rocky” at all. I think we consciously wanted to avoid that.

AD: What are the best and worst parts of living on a bus while you’re on tour?

SCOTT MIMNAUGH/TUFTS DAILY

In 3Ps’ production of ‘Uncle Vanya,’ sophomore Jacob Passy portrays Professor Serebryakov and freshman Kelly O’Hara plays the role of his wife, Yelena (in background). character (played by senior Alex Cook) snarls back, “Lovely weather for hanging yourself.”

This juxtaposition between half-hearted efforts at normalcy and frustration birthed by a feeling of futility is a common

motif in “Uncle Vanya.” Many times the contrast has a comedic effect, like the deliberately long pauses characters take to portray situational awkwardness. At other times, the disparity is poignant, revealing the

seamy underbelly of daily life.

The 3Ps’ “Uncle Vanya” will be showing at the Balch Arena Theater at 8 p.m. tonight, tomorrow and Saturday. Tickets are $7 and can be purchased at the Balch Arena Box Office.

BR: I think when you’re in your 20s, and after four years touring in a van, you finally earn yourself a tour bus, you hit a state of euphoria that never really wears off. It’s a great way to tour because you drive/sleep overnight, and then you have your day to yourself. It gives you your life back. That being said, when you’re entering your late [30s] and your back hurts every morning, and you need pills to sleep, and there are 11 people farting above and below you in a small bunk environment, the euphoria is sometimes more elusive.

AD: Lots of rumors float around the Tufts campus about how you all met and where you lived. Care to debunk those?

Week in Review | TV The biggest TV news this week came in the form of NBC’s midseason schedule announcement. The struggling network, in the midst of a takeover by cable giant Comcast, will try to improve its standing in January by adding several new series to its lineup, bringing back some old favorites and shuffling some current underperformers.

Most notably, in a nearly unprecedented move, NBC decided to expand its Thursday night comedy block to three hours. The current installment of “The Apprentice” is struggling in the 10 p.m. timeslot, and the network had too many comedies to fit in, so the new arrangement looks to be a winwin — especially as counter-programming to CBS’ “The Mentalist” and ABC’s “Private Practice.”

Plus, it means that “Parks and Recreation” will finally be back on

the air after a (too) long hiatus, with Adam Scott and Rob Lowe joining the cast full-time. (You can read more about the announcement and see the full midseason schedule at blogs.tuftsdaily.com.)

In other news, AMC decided to cancel “Rubicon” on Nov. 11, ending the cable network’s record of multi-season, original series success stories.

The conspiracy thriller, centered on a team of intelligence analysts, was slow-paced and took several episodes to establish itself. Once it did, though, it turned into a smart and sleek drama. The finale was widely regarded as a letdown, however, and with the success of “The Walking Dead” — which has already been renewed for a second season — the network must have decided it didn’t have to settle for low ratings.

In terms of content, NBC’s “Community” continued its strong creative streak last Thursday with a “bottle episode,” where the entire cast is contained on the main set to save production money. After several elaborate parody episodes chock full of pop-culture references, it was a nice change of pace and a terrific character study.

“Glee” also had a pretty good episode this week, which, relative to its usual standard, is saying something. Gwyneth Paltrow proved a fun and lively guest star — her rendition of Cee-Lo Green’s “Forget You” was a highlight — and there was actually an attempt at continuity and character development.

Oh, and watch “Terriers.”

—by Ben Phelps

BR: I used to get emails from people saying, “I toured Tufts, and the tour guides mentioned you!” — which was flattering. Ryan and I decided to room together sophomore year in 217 Bush Hall, which was cool because it was attached to the dining hall without requiring that you walk outside. When we got a house together off campus, it was 139 College Ave., right on the Powder House rotary. We had ridiculous parties and did pre-production for the album “Parachute” [1995] in that house. As far as how we met, I remember talking with Ryan and Adam on the bus home from our Tufts Wilderness Orientation trips 19 years ago.

AD: Did you ever imagine you would be where you are today?

BR: None of us expected to be musicians. We weren’t good at our instruments, and none of us had aspirations beyond making a demo tape or playing some campus parties.

But we did really hone in on songwriting together, and by the time we graduated in ’95, it became clear we had something going.

AD: Any chance we can get you guys to play at our Spring Fling this year?

BR: I’d do it. Even though Spring Fling is “Ignore The Band Day” at Tufts and I wrote a road journal about how the crowd was more inebriated than most community college Spring Flings last time we did it, I think it’d be fun. Maybe we just need to drink more next time.

THE TUFTS DAILY

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Thursday, November 18, 2010

WEEKENDER

MFA wing marries new and old, allowing for stunning display of American artwork MFA continued from page 5

battle. Washington is bathed in light in the dark winter scene, confidently perching hand on hip and looking out of the painting toward what is no doubt a bright American future.

A virtuoso mural-sized painting, it is a masterpiece of America’s idealized values.

Though perhaps a little predictable, the Sully is no doubt suited to pride of place in a Boston institution’s survey of American history.

Not to be missed on this floor are other examples of a less picture-perfect American history. The darker side of colonialism is on display in a set of four castas paintings from the 1740s. Castas paintings document the kinds of children resulting from unions between different inhabitants

of Mexico in the 18th century.

Depending on one’s lineage, different work opportunities, levels of taxation and other choices were all made for you.

The second floor opens with an entire room of works by John Singer Sargent. An American painter who happened to spend most of his career in Europe, Sargent insisted on his essential American nature.

His masterwork, “Daughters of Edward Darley Boit” (1882), is featured on the central wall in the first gallery. Recently returned from a trip to the Prado in Madrid, where it was displayed with its oft-referredto thematic partner, Diego Velázquez’s “Las Meninas” (1656), this painting still has a haunting beauty about it that doesn’t wear off.

Trumping traditional portraiture conventions of his

day, Sargent shows the daughters dispersed around a room, two standing in a darkened doorframe in the background, one girl by herself to the left of the doorframe and a smaller girl sitting on a large carpet with a doll. All but one of the daughters stare hauntingly out at us, the image less one of childhood than of the emptiness and silence that occupies the space around the sisters.

Also on this floor are works by a number of important American Impressionist artists such as Mary Cassatt and William Merritt Chase, some painters of the Aesthetic period like James Abbott McNeill Whistler, and the staple of turn-of-the-century decorative art, Louis Comfort Tiffany.

The final stop on the third floor brings visitors to the arts of the 20th century. Covering

a broad range of modern American art, the galleries exhibit painters like Edward Hopper and Georgia O’Keefe, who represent painting from American Regionalism to the modernist style par-excellence, Abstract Expressionism.

The two central galleries feature one of Alexander Calder’s famous mobiles, “Mobil Blanc,” a painted steel example from 1971. It floats above the other paintings in the room, providing a counter-point to the flat, 2-D forms that are the staples of modernists like Frank Stella by expanding them into 3-D space.

One of my favorite works from this room is “Untitled,” an oil painting by Mark Rothko from 1970. Rothko’s large canvas is a beautiful harmony of colors: two organically painted rectangles in layered blacks

and browns over a vibrant violet. The combination of colors is vibrant: the rectangles of black floating over the striking purple. Rothko’s paintings are incredibly spiritual despite their simplistic forms. This particular piece, executed in dark colors in the year that he died, is particularly emotive.

The MFA’s new wing unites the old and the new, both in architecture and in its impressive survey of the arts of the Americas. The wing certainly projects this image of unification, both in the works it houses and the architecture itself. One hopes the welcoming space will work to open up the museum to the surrounding community, allowing the MFA to shed the stigma that art museums are needlessly elitist and become a real part of the Boston community.

Adroit cast of ‘For Colored Girls’ excels under Tyler Perry’s direction GIRLS continued from page 6

women” reside. Kerry Washington’s character, Kelly (Blue), arrives to investigate a possible case of child abuse in Crystal’s (portrayed by Elise as Brown) apartment at the hands of her war veteran, live-in boyfriend.

Meanwhile, Loretta Devine as Green, in no uncertain fashion tells off her ex-lover, and the stories of the individual women begin to unfold and meld into each other as the plot expands itself over the course of a few weeks.

Viewing and appreciating “For Colored Girls” requires a certain degree of openness and a willingness to be uncomfortable. Some

viewers will approach the film as though they are bracing themselves for a natural disaster or preparing for a social and mental construct overhaul due to the graveness of the content. Yet the film, true to its choreopoem origins, brings to the forefront interesting points of introspection about the portrayal of women of color, especially African American women, in film and media.

While a previous knowledge of the choreopoem would serve the viewer well, it is not necessary for a complete appreciation of what Perry and the cast are trying to convey through the highly stylized — though bitterly sympathetic — telling of the journey of American

women harnessing the strength to move past the pain and dealing with grief, hope, the loss of innocence and relationships.

It appears as though Perry has been working his way toward this film for years, practicing and honing his cinematic and artistic skills in his stage plays while exercising his maximalist production style in his newest endeavor, complete with over-the-top lighting and costume contrasts amid understated yet pivotal scenes.

The film is universal in its meaning and does justice to the original medium. Perry takes poetic and creative license in mixing up the original choreopoem between the characters, which serves to

enhance the fluidity of the work.

The portrayal of pain is specific and clean, and it could have gone awry very easily. Perry successfully treads the line between soap-style implausibility and reality.

“For Colored Girls” is an emotionally charged film, but it’s not so daunting as to be written off as insurmountably deep and depressing. Its intentions are clear, and Perry and his cast and crew should be applauded for taking on such a largely influential work and translating it into a feature film.

Such a task may have ended the career of a less seasoned director more concerned with pleasing the masses than remaining true to his own artistic integrity. Perry truly

forges his own road to the end of his own rainbow in “For Colored Girls” and unapologetically and beautifully exposes the joys, sorrows and soul-moving realities that make us appreciate our individual rainbows.

The emotional trail of “For Colored Girls” ventures deeper than some viewers may be willing to explore and, for this reason, should not be missed. The earnest acting by the more-than-capable cast, combined with the creative freedom Perry assumes and explores, transforms what may otherwise be written off as “another film about race” into a study of the themes of friendship, self-knowledge, selflove and sisterhood.

d n e i r f r u o t e e m

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Thursday, November 18, 2010

DOONESBURY

THE TUFTS DAILY BY

GARRY TRUDEAU

NON SEQUITUR

BY

9

COMICS CROSSWORD

WILEY

WEDNESDAY’S SOLUTION

MARRIED TO THE SEA

www.marriedtothesea.com

SUDOKU Level: Breaking into Gringotts

LATE NIGHT AT THE DAILY Wednesday’s Solution

Leanne: “It would be such a sad room if someone lived on our server.”

Ben: “That doesn’t get you the Late Night.”

Carter: “Thats like ‘Tron’ ... [silence] ... What, you don’t know ‘Tron’? It’s one of the biggest flagship movies of the fall.”

Please recycle this Daily.

THE TUFTS DAILY

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

EDITORIAL Managing Editors

Ellen Kan Carter Rogers Matt Repka Executive News Editor Alexandra Bogus News Editors Michael Del Moro Nina Ford Amelie Hecht Corinne Segal Martha Shanahan Brent Yarnell Jenny White Daphne Kolios Assistant News Editors Kathryn Olson Romy Oltuski Executive Features Editor Sarah Korones Features Editors Alison Lisnow Emilia Luna Alexa Sasanow Derek Schlom Jon Cheng Assistant Features Editors Maya Kohli Amelia Quinn Emma Bushnell Executive Arts Editor Zach Drucker Arts Editors Mitchell Geller Rebecca Goldberg Ben Phelps Anna Majeski Assistant Arts Editors Rebecca Santiago Matthew Welch Rachel Oldfield Bhushan Deshpande Larissa Gibbs Dave Kellog Kevin Luo Jeremy Ravinsky Daniel Stock Elaine Sun Devon Colmer Erin Marshall Lorrayne Shen Louie Zong Craig Frucht Rebekah Liebermann Ashish Malhotra Josh Molofsky Michael Restiano Alexandra Siegel

Executive Op-Ed Editor Assistant Op-Ed Editors

Thursday, November 18, 2010

EDITORIAL | LETTERS

EDITORIAL

Investigating Guantanamo abuse imperative British Justice Secretary Kenneth Clarke on Monday announced that the government will compensate 16 British citizens and residents who were interned at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, including six men who filed lawsuits against the British government. Clarke stressed that the settlements, which will result in substantial payments, should “not be taken as any admission of liability.” Instead, resolving these lawsuits against the British government could pave the way for an independent investigation into torture allegations.

While this is an important first step in assuming responsibility for the alleged torture and human rights violations carried out at Guantanamo, financial compensation alone is insufficient, and the British government must proceed with its investigation and take accountability for its actions.

Following suit, the Obama administration must take steps to investigate reported and alleged abuse at Guantanamo Bay and accept its culpability where necessary. Until now, the United States has repeatedly attempted to shut down cases that Guantanamo detainees have brought against the gov-

ernment, claiming that the evidence brought to light by such trials would damage American national security.

While high-profile lawsuits may not be the best way for the United States to deal with allegations of human rights abuses and torture, or to bring justice to those wrongly imprisoned or abused at Guantanamo, the United States must take action.

The first detainees were imprisoned at Guantanamo in January 2002 following a U.S. Justice Department ruling that the prisoners would remain outside of American jurisdiction, classifying detainees as enemy combatants without prisoner-of-war protections under the Geneva Conventions.

Since that time, there have been many reports and allegations of prison abuse, and the U.N. expert on torture recently urged the United States to conduct a full investigation into torture allegations of detainees under the Bush administration. Although the Obama administration pledged to close the prison by January of this year, this deadline has long since passed, and the process has stalled. Obama certainly has his plate full, but he must

not continue to allow the Guantanamo issue to fall by the wayside.

Not only do the United States and Britain have a moral obligation to investigate alleged violations, but doing so is a national security imperative.

Behaving in a manner that clearly runs counter to international human rights norms hardly allows the United States and Britain to effectively fight their global “war on terror” or to “win the hearts and minds” of Muslims worldwide. More ominously, evidence of inhumane treatment of detainees at the hands of the Americans and British may serve as a rallying cry for extremist groups and leaders who seek to portray the United States and Britain as hypocritical aggressors.

While investigating the actions at Guantanamo will not end anti-American or anti-British sentiments, continuing to ignore or skirt allegations and evidence of human rights violations and torture will damage reputations and the national security objectives of both nations. Britain must proceed with its investigations, and the United States must ramp up its efforts to do the same.

ERIN MARSHALL

Cartoonists

Editorialists

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

Executive Photo Editor Photo Editors

Assistant Photo Editors

Staff Photographers

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OFF THE HILL | BOSTON UNIVERSITY

The new McCarthyism

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BY

THE DAILY FREE PRESS EDITORIAL BOARD The Daily Free Press

The controversy surrounding the website WikiLeaks, which has leaked thousands of confidential military documents to the public throughout the last several months, intensified when FBI agents allegedly attempted to intimidate supporters of the man who is reportedly a major contributor to the WikiLeaks campaign earlier this month.

David House, a 23-year-old Massachusetts Institute of Technology researcher and Boston [University] graduate, was returning from vacation in Mexico on Nov. 3 when he was reportedly stopped and interrogated by men who identified themselves as Homeland Security officials. The men took his cell phone, laptop computer, digital camera and USB flash drive. He said he was later informed that one of the men was an agent for the FBI Joint Terrorism Task Force.

House has [allegedly] never been accused of a crime and had not been told that he was under investiga-

EDITORIAL POLICY Editorials that appear on this page are written by the editorialists, and 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.

tion for any reason. His supposed transgression? Helping to set up an organization that raises funds for the legal defense campaign of Bradley Manning, the man accused of leaking the documents that were subsequently published on WikiLeaks.

The interrogation of House is a clear example of the agents involved circumventing the law in order to get what they want. Although the federal government has the legal right to search anyone entering the country without a warrant, the situation screams of an abuse of power. Had House remained in the U.S. he could not have been searched because the FBI had no warrant to do so and no basis to acquire one. They reportedly used his entrance into the country as a pretext to gain information that they otherwise would have had no right to obtain. By going through this legal loophole, the agents were obeying the letter of the law, but not the spirit of it.

House committed no crime. He has every right to provide support for a cause that he believes in. Whether the government finds that cause damaging or not, it is wrong to so blatantly attempt to

intimidate a man who does not appear to have broken the law in any way.

It is a shame that the news media has drastically underreported this situation. If it had been given more national attention, this incident might have raised some eyebrows about the legality of the agents’ actions. Although it may have been technically legal to search House at customs, seizing his laptop with no evidence that he has ever done anything illegal is wrong.

The government is merely attempting to intimidate people from being involved with WikiLeaks in any way.

These blatant scare tactics are vaguely reminiscent of Sen. Joseph McCarthy’s attempts to intimidate suspected communists in the 1950s, convicting people of disloyalty or treason with very little evidence on which to base those accusations. This sort of alleged behavior by agencies of the federal government is a completely inappropriate abuse of the Constitution and should be ceased immediately. Investigating Manning is one thing, but intimidating his supporters with no basis for doing so crosses a dangerous line.

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Letters must be submitted by 4 p.m. and should be handed into the Daily office or sent to letters@tuftsdaily.com. All letters must be word processed and include the writer’s name and telephone number. There is a 450-word limit and letters must be verified. The editors reserve the right to edit letters for clarity, space and length.

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Thursday, November 18, 2010

THE TUFTS DAILY

Third World Order versus New World Order BY

FATHI EL-SHIHIBI

If you have been wondering about the main reason behind President Barack Obama’s 10-day visit to Asian countries including India, Indonesia and South Korea, the answer is the rising concern among Western states regarding the growing power of China and particularly her efforts to rally third world countries to the cause of a “Third World Order” as a counterbalance to the “New World Order” championed by the United States of America.

Since the collapse of the Soviet Union and with it the Berlin Wall, this New World Order led by the United States had been gradually taking shape unchallenged. It had been gradually gaining worldwide acceptance due primarily to the dominance of Western economies augmented by Western and particularly U.S. military superiority. While Western militaries have been at the forefront of paving the way for the establishment of a more cooperative and amiable political order, the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund and the World Trade Organization have been expanding their economic outreach to facilitate the expected mergers of the global diverse economies. However, despite the display of confidence in the ultimate triumph of the New World Order, it appears that there will be a challenge to its supremacy by a new order championed mostly by Third World countries.

This alternative order is called the “Third World Order” and is advocated and supported by countries as diverse as China, Libya, Venezuela, Zimbabwe and Iran. What is the Third World Order, you may ask? It is a proposed order to economically unify Third World countries to prevent their absorption into the Western-dominated global economy. The Third World Order is not a new idea but is in many respects a continuation of the anti-imperialist and anti-Western sentiments that originated during the periods of colonialism and continued through post-colonialism and neocolonialism.

If you have been wondering about the reasons behind the frequent visits to Africa by Chinese Premier Hu Jintao or Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, or the numerous visits to Iran and Libya by Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, you now know the answer.

Along with the immediate objectives of expanding the economic cooperation between their respective countries, they are also drawing plans to enhance the prospects and the appeal of the Third World Order in order to increase the membership of their alliance. These leaders’ speeches at the United Nations not only betray semblances of their Third World ideology but also portray a rarely seen confidence in the righteousness of their cause. While Ahmadinejad challenges the moral premises of the New World Order, Hugo Chavez warned in 2006 against a possible world calam-

ity that can occur if plans for world economic hegemony by Western States come to pass.

Libyan President Moammar Gaddafi in his U.N. speech in 2009 not only accused the United Nations and the U.N. Security Council of doing the bidding of the Western States, but went as far as to demand the relocation of the entire United Nations from New York to a Third World country.

So now if you still think that the New World Order has the world arena all to itself, think again. It looks like the gauntlet that was thrown down by the Western powers at the feet of the former Soviet bloc has been picked up by another and unexpected challenger after all. The global transition from two superpowers to a lone superpower that was anticipated to have a smooth ride to world supremacy will still have to contend with bumps and potholes on the road to world domination.

Who could have imagined that a world that not that long ago resigned to the reality of an overreaching hegemonic unipolar system will now face the reality of a multipolar system championed by countries whose political, economic and social structures are in many ways a world apart, yet appear to unite around a world vision all their own?

Fathi El-Shihibi is an adjunct lecturer in the Department of Philosophy and Religion at Northeastern University.

OFF THE HILL | BOSTON COLLEGE

Despite U.S. inaction, Massachusetts passes global warming laws BY

ELIZABETH BARTHELMES The Heights

As the [United Nations’] 1997 Kyoto Protocol is set to expire in 2012, the international community has been busy debating the future of these policies that aimed to reduce the impact of climate change. With 186 signatories to the protocol, the key industrial nations of China and the United States have remained hesitant to commit, slowing potential progress in this arena.

The world watched in December 2009 as meetings of the UN’s Framework Committee on Climate Change failed to establish commitments beyond Kyoto, and again in July 2010, as the U.S. Senate eliminated cap and trade policies from the federal energy bill. While these events were disappointments for the environmental sector, such debates are expected to continue.

Greenhouse gases do not stem from a point source that can be easily marked and reduced, and cover most industrial processes, transportation, and agricultural pursuits. In addition, the impacts of greenhouse gases apply to everyone, but vary in their effect by region along with the political and economic conditions under which they take place.

With a multitude of factors that need to be considered for accurate and efficient climate policy, a cohesive international plan is necessary, but difficult to establish. As nations face a slow and complex process to achieving these goals, many are hopeful, however, focusing energy on the state level. The state has the ability to adopt plans that closely analyze the areas that need improvement while considering the local communities, economies and infrastructures.

Projects that are proposed can effectively work with existing legislation, making the most of the state’s resources and improving the overall quality of the state while reducing emissions. Massachusetts’s establishment of its own Global Warming Solutions Act (GWSA) in 2008, under Governor Patrick’s Administration, stands as a leading example of how this system

can work and could help our country to succeed.

Massachusetts was one of the first states in the nation to seriously address the challenges of climate change, by realizing not only the need to incorporate greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reductions in future planning, but to develop a “comprehensive regulatory program to address [C]limate [C]hange” through the GWSA. Speaking with Massachusetts Representative Frank Smizik, chairman of the new House Committee on Global Warming and Climate Change, he explained that the state needed a capstone to existing programs at the time, such as the Green Jobs Act, Oceans Act, Clean Energy Biofuels Act, and Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, which function throughout the Northeast states.

Building upon these policies, the GWSA established the implementation plan to reduce emissions “between 10 percent and 25 percent below statewide 1990 GHG emission levels by 2020” and “80 percent below statewide 1990 GHG emission levels by 2050.” These targets are aided with the Mandatory GHG Emissions Reporting Program under the Department of Environmental Protection for the state’s largest emitters.

Starting in 2011, entities emitting over 25,000 tons of carbon dioxide per year will need state verification and eventually must face limitations on their emissions. Three years into the act, a great amount of research has been conducted by the state to identify crucial areas for reduction and low cost reduction, which will allow them to reach these goals.

From such research, new programs have also developed, such as [GreenDOT] and the Low Carbon Fuel Standard, which aim to reduce transportation emissions while increasing smart growth and community access to public transit, walking trails, and bike paths.

Transportation is currently the largest source of carbon-dioxide emissions in Massachusetts, but through these initiatives and the goals of the GWSA it can be effectively targeted in ways that are beneficial to the state, unlike a federal program might. Lee Dillard Adams, manager of the GWSA Implementation

11

OP-ED

at Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection, explained that in addition to addressing the needs of the public, groups developing the GWSA also work closely with business and utilities to make the implementation plan comprehensive. Adams believes that “if we’re on the forefront of these issues, we gain an economic advantage as the nation begins to make these transitions,” and that hopefully by promoting green jobs and technology the state can grow within these areas. Amid an economic downturn, these programs are beginning to reveal that not only are they useful in emission reductions, but they drastically improve the quality of life for Massachusetts citizens. Smizik reiterated the importance of working with the business community, as “jobs and clean energy are ways of moving the environmental aspects of this forward — it’s a positive future for everyone, not just environmentalists.” Already, they are seeing job growth in the energy sector in terms of local and [statewide] conservation, increases in recycling and home retrofits, wind energy that will bring a variety of jobs building and selling turbines to other states, and innovative solar technologies.

Development within all of these areas inspires optimism among Massachusetts citizens about its future in reducing emissions by at least 10 percent in the 1990 baseline by 2020, if not going above and beyond. As these systems are implemented and economies grow in renewables, there will ultimately be a steady increase in the amount of emissions we are able to reduce, and hopefully, a transition away from our current modes of energy production. As these issues are inherently connected to a variety of sectors, Adams explained, “Political leadership is key to maintaining our progress and keeping these goals on track for areas of the state.” Massachusetts is raising the standards for state climate change policy, with hopes that others will learn from their models and establish [their] own plans. If they are lucky, however, federal policy might just happen to follow in their footsteps.

JOSHUA YOUNER | CONSCIENTIOUS AND CONTENTIOUS

Our wildest DREAMs

W

hat would you do if you lived each day with the threat of deportation on your mind?

Thousands of teenagers in this country must live like this, despite growing up here and knowing no other country. Even though they are American in every other way, this population must live and work with no legal status to protect them from this threat.

The Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors (DREAM) Act aims to mitigate this very pressing problem.

First introduced in the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives in 2001, the DREAM Act would provide a path to conditional permanent residency, and ultimately citizenship, for thousands of teens and young adults across America who show they deserve it.

Strict conditions must be met for these people to enjoy the benefits of the bill.

The bill, reintroduced in both houses of Congress in 2009, outlines the requirements one would need to qualify for the benefits: One must have entered the United States before age 16; have been present in the United States at least five years before enactment of the bill; have graduated from a U.S. high school, obtained a GED diploma or been accepted into an institution of higher education; and be between the ages of 12 and 35 at the time of application. The last and haziest requirement is that the applicant must have good moral character. As there is no specific definition of this in the bill, we can only presume that having “good moral character” entails not being convicted of a felony.

Once the requirements are met and the applicant is accepted, she or he would be granted “conditional permanent residency” for six years. This would allow the applicant to obtain freedoms enjoyed by other residents while putting him or her on a path to permanent residency. If the applicant completed two years of college or served for two years in a branch of the armed forces during the six years of conditional permanent residency, he or she would become eligible for legal permanent residency and could eventually apply for citizenship.

If met, the above conditions would show without a doubt that one is a productive, active and positive member of society. There should be no reason to deny such constructive people the benefits of permanent resident status in our country. Moreover, there are countless other reasons to support this bill, from revitalization of our economy, with more skilled workers entering the workforce, to expanding the capabilities of our armed forces. It would be wise for Congress to pass this bill and help thousands realize their full potential within the framework of American society.

This “pinko” is not the only one who supports the DREAM Act and this expansion of liberty. According to immigration reform advocacy group America’s Voice, a majority of all Americans support passage of the bill.

When broken down by party affiliation, the results are even more surprising. Majorities of Democrats (81 percent), independents (60 percent) and Republicans (57 percent) all support the DREAM Act. Of course, just because the herd likes an idea doesn’t make it the right thing to do. However, in this case, it is clear that it would be a sensible solution to an expanding problem.

Besides ordinary Americans, our leaders also want to see this idea come to fruition. President Barack Obama, in a meeting with the Congressional Hispanic Caucus on Tuesday, expressed support for the DREAM Act and requested that it come to a vote during the lame duck session of this Congress.

Despite all of its strong points, the bill has not been passed in the nine years it has been on Capitol Hill. This bill would be a great first step in the fight for comprehensive immigration reform, which a majority of Americans support. Obama desperately needs to make a strong policy achievement in the wake of the recent election.

Joshua Youner is a freshman who has not yet declared a major. He can be reached at Joshua.Youner@tufts.edu.

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

THE TUFTS DAILY

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Apt for Rent well located. available. 5 bedroom + 4 bedroom equals 9 bedroom in same building. Also, 6 bedroom+4 bedroom equals 10 bedroom same building. call 617-448-6233

Thursday, November 18, 2010

SPORTS

Housing

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It has hardwood floors throughout the apartment, a new fully appliance kitchen. Non-coin-op laundry and additional storage in basement. Off-street parking included. $2,800/month. Available June 1, 2011. Call Angela at 617-852-2215 or e-mail:angelam@darinassociates.com to set up for a showing.

Apts for Rent Well located. Available school year 2011-2012. 4 bedrooms. one 5 bedrooms. one six bedrooms. call 617-448-6233

Housing College Ave 5 BR Apt 2 1/2 Baths, kitchen, living room, off-street parking, w/d basement.

Available June 1, 2011. Rent: $3250. First and last month rent required. Tenants pay utilities.

Larger apts available. Call Guy (617) 590-7656.

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

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

Swimmers look to set the tone at tomorrow’s season opener against Bates MEN’S SWIMMING continued from page 16

Tufts finished second in last year’s NESCAC Championships, amassing 1,452.5 points but falling well short of host Williams’ total of 1,937.5. It was the Jumbos’ fourth runner-up result in the past five seasons, and they are hopeful that this might be their year to clinch the top spot.

“We’re looking to reach new heights this year,” Canter said. “We have one of the top swimmers in the conference in [junior] Owen Rood, and we definitely want to defend our title in the 200-yard medley relay, which we’ve won the past two years.”

Rood, who excels in freestyle sprints, was one of eight Jumbos who received All-Conference recognition last winter.

The Branford, Conn., native was honored in three freestyle events as well as the medley relay, giving him eight AllNESCAC credits in his first two years at Tufts.

But the Jumbos’ success isn’t the product of just a few swimmers — rather, the team’s depth and chemistry are what make it one of the best in the conference.

“We have the biggest squad in the NESCAC almost every year, and that really helps us stay fresh and compete with other teams,” Hoyt, who will field a roster of 46 swimmers and divers this winter, said.

“Having all those guys on the pool

deck encouraging and cheering on their teammates is really important to us,” Canter said. “We don’t have the best facilities, but we still have one of the biggest swimming and diving teams in the country, and we’re a really cohesive group that supports each other.”

Tufts will open the 2010 season tomorrow, with a home meet against Bates at 6 p.m. On Saturday, the Jumbos will travel to New London, Conn., where they will face off against Conn. College and Middlebury at 3 p.m. The Panthers finished fourth in last year’s NESCAC Championships, while the Camels came in sixth and the Bobcats ranked eighth.

“We know we can do well in these first couple of meets, and we’re going to have to work hard from the start,” Hoyt said. “Middlebury, Conn. College and Bates have some talented athletes, but we definitely expect to perform well against them.”

Tufts will have its most important meet of the regular season on Jan. 15, when the team will return early from winter break to visit the Ephs. This year’s NESCAC Championships will be held at Bowdoin on Feb. 25-27, while the NCAA Championships will take place at the University of Tennessee on Mar. 23-25.

“Last year, when we placed 20th at nationals, was our best result since I came to Tufts,” Canter said. “Our goal is definitely to improve on that this season.”

ANDREW MORGENTHALER/TUFTS DAILY

The men’s swimming and diving team will look to improve on last season’s second-place finish at NESCACs and 20th-place result at the NCAA Championships.

ADVERTISEMENT

THE TUFTS DAILY

Thursday, November 18, 2010

13

SPORTS

Freshman fencers forecast success FENCING continued from page 16

The meet allowed the new freshmen to get their first taste of collegiate competition. Julia Hisey earned a team-best 11th place in the sabre, Isabella Connelly finished 39th in the foil, and Laurel Hutchison placed 38th in the epee.

Sophomore Abby Hepworth also put in a good performance, finishing behind Hutchison in 41st place.

“It is always good to have new blood, and it brings a fresh dynamic to the team,” Ranes said. “This year, we have three fencers for each weapon who are experienced, and then we have two to three new girls who are freshmen and have never fenced before, and we are starting them from scratch. The experienced girls are learning from the team dynamic and from the older girls who have been fencing longer.”

The Jumbos have also focused on the development of more novice fencers, many of whom joined the team with little or no experience and are learning

from the more experienced team members.

“We have a really close team, and we have all been really supportive of each other,” Kolios, who is also an assistant news editor for the Daily, said. “The experienced fencers have helped the younger fencers, and they have really contributed to a great team dynamic regardless of their experience.”

Tufts’ season begins this weekend with a home meet against Stevens Tech and Yeshiva. Last year, the Jumbos posted one of their best outings against Yeshiva with a 16-11 win, and they are hoping that their strong outing at “The Big One” holds them in good stead.

“It was a good warm up, especially when the competition is so strong … with schools like Vassar, Brandeis and Brown,” Ranes said. “Those schools are great, but we can hold our own against them. Half of fencing is just being calm under stress and not losing your temper and staying focused, and I think every one of our girls has the ability to do that.”

Jumbos have regional title in sight WOMEN’S TRACK continued from page 16

petitor Andrea Ferri (LA ’10). However, sophomore thrower Kelly Allen, who repeatedly showcased her abilities last season by setting and resetting records, will step into a bigger role for the throwing squad. The team also boasts many new faces on its roster.

“The freshmen look really talented this year,” senior tri-captain Rosanna Xia said. “The freshmen on the cross country team this year have proven themselves in distance, and I’m excited to see the other freshmen compete for the first time in December. We have a lot more depth on the team this year, especially in the mid-distance group.

The sprint and jumping groups are looking really good as well.”

Yih thinks that the mix of strong

under- and upperclassmen will help lead the distance program to success.

“Our distance program is going to be a lot stronger than it was last year,” Yih said. “Last year at championship meets, we didn’t have strong showings.

Other than Wilfert, we didn’t have too many people who were bringing in points for the team. But this season, the freshmen are very fast and the returning runners are a lot stronger.”

Though the track and field team kicks off its season on Dec. 4 at Northeastern’s Husky Invite, the real competition does not fully start until 2011.

“We’re all going into the season very excited, the morale is high and the team dynamic is already awesome,” Xia said. “We just have to keep working to improve as individuals and as a team.”

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MEDICAL DOCUMENTATION POLICY TUFTS UNIVERSITY HEALTH SERVICE Health Service provides “Medical Notes” in only limited circumstances. Students who are too ill to take an in-class mid-term or final exam will be offered medical documentation. They must be seen prior to the exam and must notify their professor prior to the exam.

All other academic responsibilities that cannot be met due to medical illness should be communicated directly between student and professor, using the “Illness Notification Form” that is available in WebCenter for Students.

http://uss.tufts.edu/registrar/ Webcenter.asp Illness Notification Forms should be used for the following circumstance: x x x x x x x

Missed Classes Missed Labs Missed Seminars Missed Quizzes Papers That Need to Be Delayed Oral Presentations Take Home Exams Students having any issues with implementation of this policy, or problems making up work missed due to illness, should contact their academic dean for assistance. http://uss.tufts.edu/undergradEducation/assocdeans.asp

Before you run away and enjoy your holiday…

The holiday season recess is coming upon us very soon. It is a time when many residents on campus leave to visit friends or relatives. It is also a period when we are vulnerable to break-ins through ground level windows, and windows accessible from exterior fire escapes.

In en effort to reduce the opportunities for thefts resulting from break-ins, the Tufts Police Community Policing Unit offers the following suggestions: Before you leave, lock windows accessible from the ground level or exterior fire escapes. Engage the vent locks on these windows.

These devices allow the window to be opened for ventilation but prevent it from opening further for security reasons. Call the Facilities Department at X73496 or 617-627-3496 if you need to have your window adjusted.

Make sure security screens are closed and latched properly.

Pull the window shades down.

Make sure the door to your residence is locked!

If possible, take valuables such as jewelry, audio equipment, and computers with you.

Boston 617-636-6610 – Medford 617-627-3030 – Grafton 508-839-5303

The Tufts University Police Department wishes everyone a happy and safe holiday season.

THE TUFTS DAILY

14

Thursday, November 18, 2010

SPORTS

DAILY FILE PHOTO

Junior Valerie Eacret last year earned All-Conference honors in the 50-yard butterfly event.

Women’s swim team seeks early victory over rival Middlebury Panthers WOMEN’S SWIMMING continued from page 16

title hopes took a serious hit last winter, when every single junior on the squad left to study abroad. Now, those swimmers are back and ready to race.

“The leadership this year is great,” Macon said. “The vibe has been incredible.”

Joining the veterans are 17 quality first-years who competed on the collegiate level for the first time on Nov. 6 in the Batterman Relays scrimmage against MIT, Roger Williams and Wheaton. The A team put on a strong performance, finishing second in the 500-meter freestyle relay and placing in the top four of every

event. Freshmen made an impressive showing in the top relays.

“The freshmen are an awesome addition to the team,” Macon said.

This Friday’s season opener will pit the women against Bates, last year’s seventh-place finisher in the NESCAC Championships. Tufts has bested Bates in each of the last three years and hopes to do so again. Sperry noted that the Bobcats have similar talent to the Jumbos, which she says should make for an exciting meet. Tufts fans can expect a thrilling competition in their home pool.

“Usually the home meets are a lot of fun for us. The energy gets really, really

high,” Macon said.

The Jumbos are also hoping for a little home-pool advantage. Hamilton Pool’s lanes are narrower than most regulation pools, which can give an advantage to Tufts because the team swims in it often.

Tomorrow will not be the team’s only competition this weekend. The Jumbos will on Saturday head to Conn. College to face off with the Camels and archrival Middlebury. The Panthers, who finished third at last year’s NESCAC Championships, have been vying with the Jumbos for the third-place NESCAC spot in the past few seasons. Securing a win against Middlebury has become a

team goal, and Saturday’s meet will be an important opportunity to accomplish it.

But the team’s goals are not limited to securing wins.

“One of our biggest goals is supporting everybody’s swim,” Sperry said. “You really want everyone being invested in other people’s races.”

Macon added that the Jumbos strive to “steal the show,” which means having a presence that is impossible for competitors and spectators to ignore. This weekend’s home meet will offer an excellent chance for the team to do just that.

“We cheer louder than anything I’ve ever seen,” Macon said. “The girls are really passionate. It’s exciting to be a part of.”

Editors' Challenge | Week 11 Question: What kind of NFL picker is best?

That’s a ridiculous question.

False. The Daily’s pickers.

That’s debatable. There are basically two schools of thought...

Fact. Sports editors pick football games. Editors. Football. Battlestar Galactica.

Welcome to Week 11 of the Daily Sports Editors’ Challenge, where we’re about ready to sell some paper and waste a heck of a lot of time in the process, heading into the home stretch of the NFL season.

With his mad ping-pong skills and German vocabulary leading the way, Jeremy “Mose Schrute” Greenhouse vaulted back into first place and was far and away the most successful picker in Week 10, posting a 10-4 mark to move to 93-51 overall. He may not know how to use a phone and may own Jurassic Park pajamas, but that hasn’t stopped our reigning champ from taking a one-game lead.

Close on Greenhouse’s tail is Steve “Oscar Martinez” Smith, who will try to keep a level head after posting a 7-7 mark to push him back into second place. Smith can rest easy, though, because he is comfortably five games ahead of third place.

OVERALL RECORD LAST WEEK

In a tie for third place are Alex “Stanley Hudson” Prewitt and Ethan “Toby Flenderson” Sturm.

Prewitt was just the second editor this week to finish above .500 for Week 10, and the grumpiest editor finally caught Sturm, who maintained his third-place showing but fell farther back thanks to a 5-9 week. For some editors, this is slowly becoming harder and harder.

That’s what she said. Oh, please. That was coming from a mile away. That’s what she said, too.

Anyway, tied for fifth place is Phil “Michael Scott” Dear and Alex “Andy Bernard” Lach, reunited again at 85-59 overall. Alone in sixth, one game behind his fourth-year friends, is Noah “Darryl Philbin” Schumer. Dinkin’ flicka, homies.

Knotted at eighth place, once again proving that going to the bathroom isn’t the only thing women do together, are Claire “Pam Halpert” Kemp and Lauren “Angela Martin” Flament.

Ringing in at 10th, now a solid five games out of last place, is Daniel “Dwight Schrute’s Stapler Covered in Jell-O” Rathman.

In last place, and the first person to reach the 70-loss plateau, is Ben “Jim Halpert” Kochman.

Hey Kochman, if you sucked anymore, you’d be a vacuum. Boom, roasted.

Guest-picking this week, taking time out of his busy schedule of racing bulls on his bicycle and doing other European things, is Evan “Gabe Lewis” Cooper.

Jeremy

Steve

Alex P.

Ethan

Alex L.

Phil

Noah

Claire

Lauren

Daniel

Ben

93-51 10-4

92-52 7-7

87-57 8-6

87-57 5-9

85-59 6-8

85-59 6-8

84-60 7-7

81-63 4-10

81-63 6-8

79-65 7-7

74-70 7-7

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

Miami Miami Miami Miami Miami Miami Pittsburgh Pittsburgh Pittsburgh Pittsburgh Pittsburgh Pittsburgh Jacksonville Jacksonville Jacksonville Jacksonville Jacksonville Jacksonville Tennessee Tennessee Tennessee Tennessee Tennessee Tennessee NY Jets NY Jets NY Jets NY Jets NY Jets NY Jets Baltimore Baltimore Baltimore Baltimore Baltimore Baltimore Green Bay Minnesota Green Bay Green Bay Minnesota Green Bay Kansas City Kansas City Kansas City Kansas City Kansas City Kansas City Dallas Dallas Detroit Dallas Dallas Detroit Buffalo Cincinnati Cincinnati Cincinnati Cincinnati Cincinnati New Orleans New Orleans New Orleans New Orleans New Orleans New Orleans Tampa Bay Tampa Bay Tampa Bay San Francisco San Francisco Tampa Bay Atlanta Atlanta Atlanta Atlanta Atlanta Atlanta New England New England New England New England New England New England Philadelphia Philadephia NY Giants Philadelphia Philadelphia NY Giants San Diego San Diego San Diego San Diego Denver San Diego

Miami Pittsburgh Jacksonville Tennessee NY Jets Baltimore Green Bay Kansas City Dallas Buffalo New Orleans Tampa Bay Atlanta Indianapolis NY Giants San Diego

GUEST Evan Cooper

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

Thursday, November 18, 2010

THE TUFTS DAILY

15

SPORTS

MEN’S TRACK AND FIELD

Jumbos to rely on youth in 2010-11 Track and field must rally after losing three top performers BY

BEN KOCHMAN

Daily Editorial Board

It won’t be easy, senior co-captain Sam Read admits, for the men’s track and field team to replace what coach Ethan Barron in the spring called “one of the best classes to ever suit up” for the Jumbos.

The three Jumbos who went to the NCAA outdoor championships in the spring were all seniors — Trevor Donadt (E ’10), Jared Engelking (LA ’10) and Jesse Faller (E ’10). Faller was a six-time All-American in both track and cross country, making him one of Tufts’ finest long-distance runners of all time. Engelking was an AllAmerican in the decathlon and took home the 110-meter hurdle title at last spring’s NESCAC meet.

Donadt earned two All-Conference awards during his career, including a first-place finish in the NESCAC 400meter hurdles in the 2009-2010 season.

Last year, the Jumbos had an impressive second-place team finish at NESCACs, and Barron won Coach of the Year accolades for the fourth time in five years. But staying consistent after losing so much talent to graduation will be an uphill battle.

“You can’t really replace someone like Jared, or Jesse,” Read said. “We lost a lot of good guys. But the younger guys are good, too. We had six freshmen last year who were All-NESCAC.” The team’s top performers last year were undoubtedly its seniors, but its depth laid with these underclassmen.

Of Tufts’ 12 All-NESCAC performers in the spring’s meet, seven will return to the team this year: the aforementioned six, now sophomores, and senior Alex Gresham.

Three of the four runners who made up a NESCAC-best 4-x-100 relay team — sophomores Gbola Ajayi, Lomie Cunningham and Vinnie Lee — return.

So do sophomores Brad Nakanishi and Michael Blair, in the spring top in the NESCAC in the pole vault and high jump, respectively.

Sophomore Jeff Marvel returns, as well, after placing third in the NESCAC 800-meter race as a freshman last year.

Meanwhile, Gresham looks to build on his third-place finish in the NESCAC hammer throw.

This team may not have the star power of last year’s squad, but it looks like depth will not be an issue.

According to Read, neither will focus and determination. The team has been gearing up since early September for the season, which starts Dec. 4 at Northeastern University’s Husky Invitational.

“The cross country guys have all had a great season, and this has been one of the best fall training sessions that I’ve ever been a part of,” Read said.

Read and junior co-captain Jeff Prunier have been leading captains’ practices this fall for the team’s sprinters. Many of the team’s long-distance

AVINASH ASTHANA | SWITCH HIT

World Cup 2011

T

JAMES CHOCA/TUFTS DAILY

After the graduation of several top runners, the men’s track and field team will turn to seven returning All-NESCAC performers to carry the Jumbos. Above, junior Tobias Reeuwijk. runners are also on the cross country team, which just missed qualifying for NCAAs at last week’s New England Regional meet.

Sophomore Kyle Marks will take his talents to Iowa for this weekend’s NCAA meet as the sole Tufts qualifier, while fellow sophomore Matt Rand — who finished just two seconds behind Marks at Regionals — is expected to help anchor the team’s long distance squad as well.

“It’s great to watch the results come in from cross country,” Prunier said.

“We get to kind of live vicariously through their results.”

Prunier said that he has been impressed with the intensity of the new group of first-years who have shown up so far at workouts. The

leadership of this team comes from the seniors, but the role of the hungry younger members is just as crucial.

“Our youth is really our strong point,” Prunier said. “We have a group of really talented sophomores and freshmen, with tons of energy. During the fall season, when we don’t really get to compete, they’ve done a great job of energizing the upperclassmen.

The freshman class came in great shape and really motivated, which was a great thing to see.”

The team will spend most of the year at road meets but will race at Tufts on Jan. 15 at the Tufts Invitational, Feb. 4-5 for the Tufts Pentathalon and the second Tufts Invitational, and the following week at the final Tufts Invitational on Feb. 12.

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he Cricket World Cup, which opens in February, just reached its 100day countdown mark last week, so I thought I would review the teams and give my predictions for the cup.

The World Cup will be held on the Indian subcontinent, co-hosted by India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. The kick-off match is between India and Bangladesh on Feb. 19 in Bangladesh.

The game has been dubbed a “grudge match,” as Bangladesh shocked India in the last World Cup, sparking the pretournament-favorite’s ignominious exit in the first round.

The format in this World Cup is slightly different from 2007’s, however. There will be two groups of eight teams, and four teams from every group will qualify for the next round. This is to ensure that the quality of the teams remains high during the later stages of the tournament and that one shock defeat will not result in elimination for a participating team.

Group A consists of Australia, Canada, Kenya, New Zealand, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe. Group B includes Bangladesh, England, India, Ireland, Netherlands, South Africa and the West Indies.

Upon looking at the two groups, picking four teams from them seems relatively straightforward, as the groups have been evened out pretty fairly. I concur with that observation and do not see any upsets arising out of the group stages.

I predict that from Group A, the top finishers will be Sri Lanka, Australia, Pakistan and New Zealand in that order, and from Group B, South Africa, India, England and Bangladesh.

Now here is where the fun starts, and I will give a more detailed analysis of the above-mentioned eight teams over the next two weeks.

Sri Lanka: The key for Sri Lanka lies in the team’s bowling attack. It has one of the most diverse bowling options and is bound to use its home advantage to the fullest. In Muttiah Muralitharan, the Sri Lankans have the most successful bowler the world has ever seen and one who can spin the ball practically anywhere, regardless of the conditions.

Lasith Malinga is the best bowler to have in the final few overs when the opposing batsmen are having a real go at you thanks to his deadly fast, toe-crushing yorkers — a delivery bowled by a fast bowler that is aimed right at the feet, not allowing the batsman to free his arms and hit the ball.

In Kumar Sangakarra, Sri Lanka has an astute captain and a very reliable middle order batsman providing some much-needed spine to the batting line up, along with Mahela Jayawardane. With the dynamic batting of Dilshan and its athletic fielding, Sri Lanka has to be one of the favorites for the cup.

The team’s weak point is probably its inconsistency, a lack of a back-up crew to help the main players of the team and a lack of a winning mentality.

Prediction: finalists.

Australia: Despite being a team in a crippling rebuilding stage and in apparent chaos, Australia is not to be underestimated. Having won the cup the past four times, Australia knows how to slug it out when the going gets tough.

It also has a powerful middle-order in the form of the big-hitting Cameron White and David Hussey. Mike Hussey is one of the most able finishers in the game, and one can never discount Ricky Ponting, one of the best players to ever come out of Australia.

Australia’s weakness is in its bowling, and the biggest question is whether it can make a big enough impact on the Indian sub-continental pitches, which lack pace and bounce. Their lack of a main spinner is also a cause of grave concern.

Prediction: semifinalists.

Avinash Asthana is a junior majoring in computer science. He can be reached at Avinash.Asthana@tufts.edu.

Sports

16

INSIDE Men’s Track and Field 15 Editors’ Challenge 14

tuftsdaily.com

WOMEN’S FENCING

Strong returning fencers, new coach lead ambitious team Jumbos hope to attain new heights, improve upon last season’s successes

BY JESSE

WEINBERG

COURTESY GEORGIA RANES

a new coach and we are working out and working harder than we ever have, and we think this is going to be a great season for us. We have really strong leadership this year, and our team dynamics are very good.”

In preparation for the coming season, the Jumbos entered “The Big One” preseason tournament at Smith.

The meet involved 19 schools, including Brown, Brandeis, Vassar, Boston College and MIT. While it did not count toward the Jumbos’ NCAA standing, the team used it as a tune-up for the upcoming season.

The meet was a great success for the Jumbos. Ranes and fellow senior quadcaptain Coryn Wolk put in outstanding epee performances, finishing in fifth and 11th place, respectively. Junior Brianna Smith and sophomore Daphne Kolios put in strong performances as well, finishing 22nd and 23rd respectively in the sabre event.

The Jumbos performed well in their preseason tune-up at Smith and will look to continue that success this weekend against Stevens Tech and Yeshiva.

see FENCING, page 13

Senior Staff Writer

The idea is simple: They’re good, and they want to get better.

The women’s fencing team — which last season had four fencers qualify for the NCAA Regional — is looking to build upon its recent successes.

Sophomores Kira Hoffman and Abby Hepworth, junior Sarah Danly and Amani Smathers (LA ’10) were the four fencers who last season made NCAA Regionals. And while Smathers graduated and Danly is abroad for the remainder of the fall, most of last season’s team remains intact, providing hope for an even more successful campaign this fall.

But not everything is the same as last year. The Jumbos have a new coach at the helm, Alina Klinkov, and a new crop of freshmen ready to help transform Tufts into a top team.

“We are a lot more serious this season,” senior quad-captain Georgia Ranes said.

“We are reformatting our team. We have

WOMEN’S TRACK AND FIELD

Jumbos looking to relive success of 2008 season Despite graduating key seniors, track and ield team anticipates strong performance BY

ANN SLOAN

Daily Editorial Board

The women’s indoor track and field team heads into the winter season with a team full of eager underclassmen and confident veterans.

After finishing third, behind Williams and MIT last winter for the second year in a row in the New England Div. III Championships, the team is looking to do even better this year.

The team won the regional title for the first time in the 2007-08 season, and the current seniors hope to find the same success this season.

“Every year we do as well as we can throughout the season, and we go out to win the New England Div. III Championships,” senior distance runner and tri-captain Jen Yih said. “It is more plausible this year than other years because we will have a strong throwing program and lots of strong distance runners.”

The winter season officially started on Nov. 1, though the cross country season had not yet ended for the distance run-

ners, who had their final meet on Nov. 13. These team members now face a short turnaround before joining the rest of the track and field team in practice.

The team has three official captains at the moment, though it is likely that a fourth will be named.

Senior cross country cocaptain Amy Wilfert will have to wait a bit longer to join the track ranks after qualifying for the NCAA Div. III Championships with a sixthplace time of 22:35.9 on the six-kilometer regional championship course. Wilfert will compete in Iowa on Saturday, alongside men’s cross country sophomore Kyle Marks.

Wilfert and junior jumper Nakeisha Jones both qualified for and raced in the NCAA Championships in the past two indoor track and field seasons.

The loss of five of last year’s seniors will hit the team hard, especially with the loss of sprinter and jumper Logan Crane (LA ’10) and multi-com-

JOSH BERLINGER/TUFTS DAILY

see WOMEN’S TRACK, page 13

Junior Sarah Boudreau and the rest of the women’s track and field team will kick off the winter season on Dec. 4 at Northeastern’s Husky Invitational.

MEN’S SWIMMING AND DIVING

Men’s team looks to inally clinch top spot this year BY

DANIEL RATHMAN

Daily Editorial Board

The men’s swimming and diving team in March sent nine of its members to Minneapolis, Minn., to compete in the NCAA Championships. That was the largest contingent the Jumbos had produced in coach Adam Hoyt’s sixyear tenure at Tufts, and Hoyt believes that there are even brighter things to come.

Only two of the Jumbos’ national championship-qualifying athletes were seniors, so seven of them will return to lead this year’s squad, giving Tufts an impressive group of veterans in addition to a promising array of first-year

swimmers. Even though league rules prevented the Jumbos from holding official practices until Nov. 1, the team was already hard at work earlier this fall.

“We are all very motivated this year, from the seniors to the freshmen,” senior quad-captain Brian Canter said.

“There were a lot more guys in the pool in September, and the freshmen came in excited from high school, so the whole team is in great swimming shape.”

The team’s three other captains this season will be fellow seniors Gordy Jenkins, Joe Lessard and Michael Del Moro, who is also a news editor for the Daily. see MEN’S SWIMMING, page 12

WOMEN’S SWIMMING AND DIVING

Team spirit key for women’s swimming and diving team BY

ELIZABETH MCKAY Daily Staff Writer

The women’s swimming and diving team on Friday will kick off its season against NESCAC rival Bates at home in Hamilton Pool.

The women are coming off a strong season, having finished fourth in last year’s NESCAC Championship meet.

The team has remained largely intact, losing only four seniors while adding 17 freshmen to an already-deep squad.

Senior tri-captain Cady Macon and classmate Sarah Sperry both believe that the team will improve on last season’s performance.

“I think we have a better attitude and we’ve trained harder from the getgo,” Sperry said.

The team began captains’ practices in October before resuming official team practices at the start of November. In addition to in-pool training, the women have been doing dry-land workouts since the beginning of the semester.

“This year we’ve been training at a higher intensity than we usually do in the beginning,” Sperry said.

The Jumbos have been blessed with a strong returning team that has plenty of experienced leaders. The team’s see WOMEN’S SWIMMING, page 14