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THE TUFTS DAILY

VOLUME LXI, NUMBER 35

Where You Read It First Est. 1980 TUFTSDAILY.COM

Friday, March 18, 2011

Agler wins Wendell Phillips, will speak at commencement by

Martha Shanahan

Daily Editorial Board

Senior Brian Agler is the winner of this year’s Wendell Phillips Memorial Scholarship, giving him the opportunity to speak at the Baccalaureate Commencement Ceremony in May, the Office for Campus Life announced yesterday.

The Committee on Student Life (CSL) presents the award each year to a junior or senior who demonstrates public speaking ability and a commitment to public service. Agler beat out four other finalists for the award, juniors Michael Hawley, Nan Lin, Melissa Reifers and Tomas Valdes.

The finalists delivered speeches on Wednesday before a panel of judges chose Agler as the winner, according to CSL Co-Chair and Associate Professor of Economics Thomas Downes.

Downes remarked that the overall caliber of the students’ presentations was particularly high this year, making the judges’ decision difficult.

“All the finalists were truly excellent, so … for the committee it was a pretty hard decision,” he said.

“I think what struck the committee about Brian’s speech was how effective his delivery was, how well constructed the speech was, that … how effectively he used humor, and how good a job he did making a deep and important point,” Downes said.

The Wendell Phillips Memorial Scholarship, first awarded in 1896, is one of two prizes given by the Wendell Phillips Memorial Fund Association in honor of the Boston preacher and abolitionist for which it is named.

The field was narrowed down to 19 see AGLER, page 3

Bruce Wang/Tufts Daily

Two members of the TCU Senate are helping draft a constitution for the Boston Intercollegiate Leadership Council.

Bubs sing on ‘Glee’ album Senate to help plan constitution to be released next month for intercollegiate council by

Rachel Rampino

Daily Editorial Board

The Tufts Community Union Senate is one of five members of the Boston Intercollegiate Leadership Council (BILC) selected this month to help draft the body’s constitution, an attempt to further legitimize the organization and help it move from discussion to action.

BILC is a network of college and university student government associations from the Boston area founded to encourage intercollegiate cooperation.

“We look at it as a UN of student governments in Boston. … Right now, it’s just a conference and we don’t do anything after that,” Boston College (BC) sophomore David Thorpe, a BILC rep-

Michael Marks

An album to be released by Columbia Records next month will feature songs performed by the Tufts Beelzebubs on the current season of Fox’s “Glee.”

The album release marks the first time the Bubs have been featured on a major record label, according to junior Evan Powell, the Bubs’ business manager.

“Our motto is fun through song, and this has been a great way to spread our music — not just the [Bubs’] music but a cappella in general,” Powell said.

“We have been really thrilled with the response.”

On this season’s program, the Bubs provided background vocals for the by

Daily Staff Writer

resentative, told the Daily. “We decided to form a constitutional convention where two representatives from each school come together to draft the constitution.”

A constitution will create a structure by which BILC representatives can vote on these topics, Thorpe said.

Representatives from the Tufts Community Union ( TCU) Senate will join students from BC, Boston University, Bentley University and Suffolk University in drafting the constitution over the next two months, according to freshman Allie Can Lei, one of the two TCU Senate BILC representatives. They expect to have the constitution ready for the council’s fall see BILC, page 2

show’s Dalton Academy Warblers, accompanying lead vocals performed by “Glee” cast member Darren Criss.

The yet-to-be-named album is set to be released before the end of season two of “Glee” sometime next month, according to Powell. Songs to be featured include covers from the show of Train’s “Hey Soul Sister,” Maroon 5’s “Misery,” Destiny Child’s “Bills, Bills, Bills” and Katy Perry’s “Teenage Dream.”

The album release comes on the heels of several recent public appearances by the Bubs, including a stint on NBC’s reality show “The Sing-Off” and a performance at the White House in December. see BUBS, page 3

Medical students meet their match at ‘Match Day’

Northeastern sees greater pool of applicants, selectivity by

Margaret Young Daily Staff Writer

If you can reach back into the recesses of your memory and recall the days of college applications, you may remember the term “safety school,” that institution you were sure would overlook your sub-par SAT II score or that one C+ you got freshman year before understanding what a GPA was. Schools that high-school seniors even recently relegated to the “safety” list, however, have seen a surge in applicants over the past year, perhaps none more so than Tufts’ neighbor across the Charles River, Northeastern University.

Although many colleges in the Boston area, including Tufts, Harvard and Brandeis, have had an increase in applications in the past year, Northeastern has experienced the most drastic jump — 15 percent since last college application season, according

to the Boston Globe. For an institution of Northeastern’s size, that constitutes a formidable horde of interested students.

Ronne Turner, associate vice president of enrollment and dean of admissions and marketing at Northeastern, explained just how formidable this increase is.

“We had 43,250 applicants and admitted 35 percent,” Turner told the Daily. “[Last year] we had an entering freshman class of 2,800, and that has been our goal for the past 10 years.”

Not only has the number of applicants to Northeastern skyrocketed, but the caliber of Northeastern’s applicant pool has also has also increased, Turner said.

“We have students who were the strongest in their high school applying, and that is a change,” she said.

Additionally, Turner said that the diversee NORTHEASTERN, page 3

Inside this issue

Meredith Klein/Tufts Daily

Fourth-year medical students at Tufts School of Medicine react yesterday morning during national “Match Day,” when medical students throughout the country learn where they will serve their first medical residencies. The 177 medical school seniors were sorted into teaching hospitals nationwide after starting the application process in the fall.

Today’s Sections

Character development in latest season proves “Fringe” deserves a second chance.

“Paul” may not do well at the box office, but it’s funny start to finish and is sure to become a cult favorite.

see ARTS, page 5

see ARTS, page 5

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News | Features

Friday, March 18, 2011

New scholarship is exclusive to white males

Sponsoring nonprofit says its cause is unrelated to white supremacy by

Angelina Rotman

Daily Editorial Board

Scholarships come in a myriad of shapes and sizes. There are scholarships based on gender, ethnicity, geographic location and even height. The one demographic lacking in scholarship opportunities, according to a Texas nonprofit organization, is — believe it or not — white males.

The Former Majority Association for Equality, founded last March, is looking to fill this gap. The group takes its name from data reported by the U.S. Census stating that non-Hispanic whites now make up only 45 percent of Texas’ population.

Colby Bohannan, founder and president of the organization, first came up with the idea for an ethnically based scholarship for white men when he himself was a student looking for scholarship opportunities.

“It really started back in 2002 when I was working full-time and going to school, as was my cousin,” Bohannan told the Daily.

“We were trying to find scholarships, and we did find a couple we could apply to. We kept coming across all these ethnically or gender-based scholarships. There were no scholarships out there racially based for our demographic.”

Others, however, like sophomore Eliza Ziegler, do not share Bohannan’s opinions about the necessity for exclusively white, male scholarships, given the demographic’s already high presence at most universities.

“I think the point of having minoritybased financial aid or minority-based scholarships is to raise attendance rates of these racial groups and ethnic groups, which are disproportionately low,” she said. “Should everyone be allowed to go to college? Yeah, if they want to. If the purpose of scholarships is to help equalize, then I don’t think they’ve accomplished that yet.

Especially looking at Tufts — it’s mostly white, upper-to-middle-class, privileged individuals.”

Still, others feel that granting scholarships based on ethnicity alone — white or otherwise — is nonsensical.

“You give a scholarship for being poor, for being physically or mentally disabled or a merit scholarship,” sophomore Ben Van Meter said. “Rewarding being white doesn’t make much sense.”

Bohannan is aware that he is walking a social tightrope and maintains that his reasons for founding the organization have nothing to do with white supremacy.

“We weren’t naive going into this,” he said.

“We knew we were going to get some attacks from different people who didn’t understand who we are and what we’re trying to do.”

While Bohannan says the feedback he has received in person has been largely positive, national media attention has been a different story.

“The feedback has been a big thing.

They either love you and your idea, or they hate you and your idea. There have been TV pundits who’ve called me a racist to my

Daily File Photo

The Former Majority Association for Equality has established a scholarship open only to white males, a demographic that often gets overlooked for scholarship opportunities, according to its founder. face, and that’s tough to hear,” Bohannan said. “What we’re trying to do has absolutely nothing to do with white supremacy or racial bigotry.”

According to Van Meter, the problem with Bohannan’s cause is not one of racism; it’s one of senselessness.

“I don’t think the scholarship itself is racist,” Van Meter said. “But I don’t think the people behind it are progressive. I just don’t understand the justification. If you’re appealing to fairness, it doesn’t make any sense.”

According to Bohannan, the dearth of scholarships for white males is due to the sensitivity associated with the United States’ racial past.

“If you hear the term ‘white only’ or ‘white man only’ it brings back the embarrassing episodes of our country’s past,” he said. “Not only slavery and segregation — these are embarrassing atrocities. Maybe no one wanted to ruffle up any feathers.

Maybe they didn’t want to appear [like] they were a racist.”

For Ziegler, the issues presented

by Bohannan and the Former Majority Association for Equality point not to a case of racism but rather to a larger, problematic societal mindset.

“The thing that’s really poignant and striking to me is the ‘us against them’ mentality that pervades in our society that claims to be post-racist,” she said. “It’s not productive to think in that context because the point of scholarships and financial aid is to even the gap between the educated and the not educated. It’s not about race or gender.”

Bohannan himself echoed this point, stressing that the real minorities and majorities in the United States are not defined by their ethnicities but by their socio-economic situations.

“The true minority in this country are

those who have money set aside for tuition, books, room and board,” he said. “The real majority are the people who have to work to sustain themselves and borrow money and go into debt to afford an education. I think we need scholarships all across the board for every student, both genders.”

While Ziegler agreed that scholarships are lacking all around, she noted that those most in need are often non-whites.

“I think a much fairer way would be to do it purely need-based. It’s also true that a large percentage of those not having enough income to attend institutions of higher education are disproportionately black or Hispanic,” she said. “I sort of see it like the upper-middle class. Even if we’re claiming to be a post-racial and post-gender society, there’s still a sense of entitlement for white men, as I see it, but it’s not so limited or explicit that the thought process is ‘I’m a white man; I deserve this.’”

Currently, the Former Majority for Equality is offering five $500 scholarships for the fall 2011 semester and plans on increasing that amount to $1,000 for future semesters. While $500 is not a huge sum in the scope of educational expenses, Bohannan hopes to continually augment the scholarship over time, taking the Ron Brown Foundation, which provides African-American scholars with $40,000 of scholarship money over the course of four years, as his model.

“We’ve done a lot of research on other ethnically-based scholarships. My ultimate goal is to get as close to the Ron Brown Foundation as possible,” Bohannan said.

“I would love to be able to change the lives of 10 to 12 hard-working, low-income students — give them an opportunity to change their lives, make a difference in their community and succeed.”

With constitution, college council hopes to gain legitimacy BILC

continued from page 1

conference, she said.

Thorpe said the new constitution will help legitimize the council, boosting its ability to turn conversation into action. It will give member schools equal representation to vote on projects, he said.

“I think all the schools should be equally represented so that everyone has a fair say,” Thorpe said.

The five groups of representatives were invited from schools that have been active on the council since its beginning and have attended a minimum of three consecutive conferences, Thorpe said.

“These are the five core schools that have been with the council since the beginning,” Thorpe said. “They’ve been to all the meetings and conferences.”

Thirteen colleges and universities with five representatives each attend-

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ed the most recent conference this month at Suffolk University, though not all of these schools are official members yet, Thorpe said.

Representatives working on the organization’s first constitution will take the drafted version back to their respective schools for approval, but they have the official final vote, Lei said.

“After we draft the constitution, we will ask all schools to take it to their senates to approve it. Then we will have a meeting to discuss what to do from there,” Lei said.

Tufts was one of the three founding members of the council, according to senior Edward Chao, who was involved in the BILC’s creation in 2009. The first conference was held at BC, and Tufts hosted a conference in the fall of 2009. Creating a constitution was a goal from the beginning, he said.

“There’s always been discussions to formalize the BILC, to make it more of a day-to-day council than a group that

meets once a semester.” Chao said.

“The goal is to formalize actions and make meetings more frequent.”

Thorpe agreed that a governing document is a priority for the council.

The constitution needs to be drafted before the council can begin to act on policy suggestions, he said. A constitution will allow students to do something with the conversations and ideas from the conferences, he said.

“We need a constitution to cement things in place,” Thorpe said. “It’s great to come together and talk but unless something comes out of it there’s no point.”

Once a constitution is in place, the council plans to put on its agenda support of the reinstatement of an MBTA-run Night Owl bus service and discussion of housing rates in downtown Boston, Thorpe said.

“A constitution will make the council a more formal body that can offer things it couldn’t before,” he said.

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Award-winner Agler to speak at baccalaureate ceremony AGLER

continued from page 1

semi-finalists in February, and the committee chose five finalists based on a résumé, a writing sample, an initial short speech and list of activities.

The speech prompt for Wednesday’s final presentation asked applicants to describe a situation they have faced while at Tufts that exemplifies the consequences of the gap between self-perception and real-life ability.

Caroline Howe, a freshman student representative on the CSL involved in selecting the winner, was impressed with Agler’s interpretation of the question.

“He talked about the fact that those two things don’t have to be separate,” Howe said. “It was really creative and I think everyone was blown away.”

“I got the sense from him that no matter what topic he decided to write about, no matter what he did … would be really creative,” Howe said. “He’s a really good public speaker — he tied everything together in a really interesting way.”

In his speech, Agler said that people’s perception and real-life ability may not be so separate.

“People who do great things do so when other people are telling them they can,” Agler told the Daily.

Agler cited to the Daily an experience he had while working as a video editor on a political campaign. When the campaign’s manager asked him to leave during a private campaign-related discussion, Agler said he realized he had overestimated his importance.

“I got a little ahead of myself, I thought I was higher up in the campaign than I really was,” he said.

Downes said the applicants’ public service experience was an important consideration in choosing the finalists.

“When we received the applications … we asked them to both submit a résumé and a general statement of activities. Part of the process of coming up with the finalists is balancing off what we learn about students’ activities both within and outside of Tufts… with their answers,” Downes said. “All of the finalists [were] strong in the area of activities,” he added.

NORTHEASTERN

continued from page 1

justin mccallum/tufts daily

Senior Brian Agler is the winner of this year’s Wendell Phillips award and will speak at the Baccalaureate Commencement ceremony in May.

With new album, Bubs call national exposure ‘surreal’

BUBS

continued from page 1

The Bubs have been surprised by increased publicity resulting from their involvement in “Glee,” despite the fact that the show’s producers have generally refrained from specifically identifying the group, according to Powell.

“Oftentimes, we’ll be advertised [for a gig] with something like ‘As heard on “Glee”’ without us even knowing,” Powell said.

Despite increased publicity, the Bubs managed to keep the recording process relatively subdued, according to freshman Bubs member John Kwon.

Northeastern sees spike in applications, reputation

“It was really a pretty low-key, underground process. To see our work in the studio broadcast on national television was pretty surreal,” Kwon said. “To have an exclusive Warblers album is even more special.”

The group recorded all of their songs for “Glee” in September at Q Division Studios in Davis Square. Although it may have been easier to record with Criss and the rest of the “Glee” cast in New York or Los Angeles, the Bubs had academic obligations to fulfill, according to Kwon.

“We could go out there, but it would be a hassle. We are students first,” he said.

The Bubs met at the studio between

classes in the fall to record the songs for the show, following directions from the producers, Powell said. The recordings were then sent to Los Angeles where they were synced with Criss’s vocals.

Kwon said the Bubs have never met Criss or any of the other “Glee” cast members and have only interacted with one of the show’s producers.

The group is looking forward to the release of the album, Powell said.

“We’re all really excited for the album,” Powell said. “This year has been a surprise and a wild ride for us, but we are glad it gets to go on for a little while longer.”

Courtesy Jared Charney

The Beelzebubs will appear on a new “Glee” album featuring music from the show’s Dalton Academy Warblers.

sity of Husky hopefuls is increasing.

“There has been a significant increase in international applicants — 40 percent — and we’ve seen increases from the West and Midwest regions [of the United States].

[There have also been] strong increases in African-American, Asian and Hispanic [applicants]. Application increases have been reflective of the type of environment we’re trying to create.”

As the quantity, caliber and diversity of applicants increases, Northeastern can afford to be more selective, hence the relatively slender 35 percent acceptance rate of this past year.

So does this increase in selectivity indicate an increase in the prestige and value of a Northeastern degree?

“As Northeastern has become more well-known, as those outside entities think about us and rank us, and people look at us differently, then it helps our graduates in getting into graduate school and getting jobs,” Turner said.

Still, she added, Northeastern’s increased selectivity might not be the most important aspect that employers or headhunters consider when they encounter a graduate.

“Employers would say that it’s the education that they get here and the co-ops program,” Turner said. “That is what further develops the value of the degree. Your reputation is based upon how well your students do.”

The Cooperative Education (co-op) program is precisely what draws students to Northeastern, according to Turner.

Northeastern’s two unique programs — a five-year, three-co-op program and fouryear, two-co-op program — requires students to intersperse their classroom studies with practical experience gained by doing up to three “co-op”-style internships with organizations pertaining to their area of study.

“Experiential learning and co-ops are becoming more appealing in this economy and folks are realizing the benefits of being out in the real world and having experience,” she said.

Northeastern freshman Anna Neumann agreed.

“The vast majority of Northeastern students do up to three co-ops — six months of working somewhere related to your field,” Neumann told the Daily. “I think that if Northeastern wants to maintain their prestigious rep, then the co-op program should be their biggest focus. It’s a big reason why a lot of kids come here.”

Jean Papalia, director of Career Services at Tufts, also emphasized the importance of prior practical knowledge in finding a job after college.

“We find that gaining experience through internships, volunteer work, extra-curricular activities, class work and part-time jobs has a great impact on a job search and helps students be competitive candidates,” Papalia said in an e-mail.

Colin Riley, executive director of media relations at Boston University, which in the past year has seen a nine-percent increase in applicants, agreed.

“Employers are very aware of the preparedness and achievement level [of alumni],” Riley told the Daily. “That reflects more on the school than this notion that if you get more applications, you are more desirable. [Employers] are looking at how strong employees are — are they able to make a transition.”

Whether the prestige of a university matters to employers is one thing, though.

Whether it matters to prospective students is an entirely different story.

Neumann thinks it does. “[Prestige] definitely was a big factor,” she said. “I definitely considered that specifically because of Northeastern’s reputation, even though I was offered better financial aid and such at other universities.”

Tufts freshman and tour guide Joe Thibodeau thinks otherwise.

“That didn’t really matter to me,” he said. “It was more about the vibe that I was looking for. I didn’t really pay attention to ranking because I thought that each school is different for each person, so what would be the best school for me might not be the best for somebody else.”

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Second Chances

On the bubble for cancellation, ‘Fringe’ deserves a second shot Fox series proves to be more than just sci-fi with character development, mythology by

Ben Phelps

Daily Editorial Board

This article is the latest edition of “Second Chances,” a semi-recurring feature that looks at TV shows that deserve a second chance from viewers. Their ratings may be low, but their quality is high, so if you tuned out early on, here’s our case for why you should give each show another try. Up this time: Fox’s “Fringe.”

Fringe Starring Anna Torv, Joshua Jackson, John Noble, Lance Reddick Airs Fridays at 9 p.m. on Fox Sci-fi is a tough genre to get right, especially on television. Scientific jargon about aliens and other dimensions doesn’t sit well with the average audience, so scifi shows have to carefully balance their genre roots with more exciting action and characters to rope viewers in and keep them watching.

“The X-Files” (1993-2002) did it quite successfully (though arguably less so in its later years), and “Lost” (2004-10) was ABC’s flagship series for the duration of its run. But then there are cases, like “Firefly” (2002-03), which barely last a season. Even “Lost,” well, lost a good chunk of its viewership once it embraced its sci-fi side and revealed itself to be as much about

time travel and electromagnetic energy as about its characters.

All of this is to say that “Fringe” has had its work cut out for it since it premiered in fall 2008. The series follows the FBI’s Fringe Division, which is responsible for investigating out-of-the-ordinary cases relating to fringe science. This includes everything from shape-shifting to stolen dreams to vanishing buildings due to a riff between our universe and a parallel one, where each person in our world has an alternate version of themselves, where Sept. 11 never happened and where a copper Statue of Liberty houses the Department of Defense.

Olivia Dunham (Anna Torv) is the field agent who leads the team, which includes Dr. Walter Bishop (John Noble), a brilliant if somewhat crazy scientist, and his son Peter (Joshua Jackson). Phillip Broyles (Lance Reddick) is the special agent in charge, while Astrid Farnsworth (Jasika Nicole) stays primarily in the lab to assist Dr. Bishop.

When the series began, it assumed a fairly straightforward procedural identity.

There was some overarching mythology involving a string of events dubbed The Pattern, but most episodes featured a caseof-the-week storyline that was neatly tied up by the end of the episode.

By the end of the first season, though, more important pieces of mythology started to be inserted. It was revealed that, as a child, Olivia had been a test subject of Walter’s for

Courtesy Fox

Lance Reddick, Anna Torv, John Noble and Joshua Jackson star in Fox’s sci-fi gem ‘Fringe,’ airing Fridays at 9 p.m. the drug Cortexiphan, and by the middle of the second season, the groundwork had been laid for the parallel universes. The story became much more serialized, and

Movie Review

‘Paul’ as out of this world as Hollywood allows

Pegg and Frost deftly combine action and comedy in this sure cult hit by

Mitchell Geller

Daily Editorial Board

“Paul” has all the hallmarks of a cult hit: It’s a road-trip movie starring, and written by, fan favorites Simon Pegg and Nick Frost

while there were still cases each week, the writers took care to link them all back to the see FRINGE, page 6

Opera Review

‘Agrippina’ offers a gripping opera experience by

Emma Bushnell

Daily Editorial Board

It is a popular saying in theater that “dying is easy, comedy is hard.” In Boston Lyric Opera’s (BLO) “Agrippina,” the actors have to do both.

Fortunately for audiences, they do it well.

Paul

Agrippina

Starring Simon Pegg, Nick Frost, Seth Rogen, Kristen Wiig Directed by Greg Mottola

Written by George Frideric Handel Directed by Lillian Groag At the Citi Performing Arts Center Shubert Theatre through March 22 Tickets $34 to $195

(“Shaun of the Dead” (2004) and “Hot Fuzz” (2007)), about two nerds who team up with a wiseacre alien while traveling through the American West. It has a stellar cast, great special effects, strong jokes and a clever plot. But it will almost definitely fail at the box office, and it’s a damn shame.

Following a visit to Comic-Con, two British nerds, Graeme Willy (Pegg) and Clive Gollings (Frost), continue a geek’s dream vacation by renting an R.V. and trekking to various sites of UFO-related significance in the United States. On their adventure, the Brits happen across Paul (Seth Rogan), an alien on an escape mission. After 60 years of helping the government and influencing pop culture (a great subplot involves Paul lending Spielberg — who literally phones in a cameo — ideas for his movies, mainly 1982’s “E.T.”), Paul finds out that the government plans to harvest his brain. So naturally he chooses to escape.

Cue dramatic tension.

Hot on the heels of Paul and his new friends are government agents and angry citizens, including Zoil (Jason Bateman), the lead agent, and his incompetent underlings, Haggard (Bill Hader) and O’Reilley (Joe Lo Truglio). Wacko Christian Moses Buggs (John Carroll Lynch) joins the chase too, thinking he’s trying to save his daughter Ruth (Kristen Wiig), who was originally kidnapped by Paul and Co. (by accident) but eventually joins their cause.

The plot is fairly simple and straightforward, but the cast — a veritable who’s-who

The opera is one of composer George Frideric Handel’s firsts and often considered one of his best. The baroque composer is known for putting music above plot and libretto — his operas sometimes nonsensically pair a story with a piece of music simply to showcase his work and the incredibly acrobatic and impressive vocals he puts his singers through.

“Agrippina,” however, is incredibly plotdriven, and the libretto is just as rewarding as the accompanying music.

BLO’s production offers stunning visuals, tightly polished music and hysterical comedy. Despite its legendary and epic characters, “Agrippina” is essentially a bedroom farce that is saved from banality by a satiric, dark twist.

The plot, minus all its twists and turns, is this: Agrippina, the mother of Nerone, does everything in her power to put her son on the throne.

The twists and turns along the way make the opera intensely enjoyable.

True to its status as a comedic opera, director Lillian Groag has included physical comedy and little quirks and jokes to great effect.

It is a somewhat anachronistic production.

One could place it roughly in the 1930s, but whatispaul.com

see PAUL, page 6

Simon Pegg and Nick Frost team up again for a new action-comedy.

see AGRIPPINA, page 6

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The Tufts Daily

Arts & Living

Friday, March 18, 2011

Although unlikely to be a commercial win, ‘Paul’ hits all the right marks PAUL

continued from page 5

Jeffrey Dunn for Boston Lyric Opera © 2011

Agrippina (Soprano Caroline Worra) prepares to crown her son Nerone (Countertenor David Trudgen) the new emperor of Rome. Pallante (Baritone David McFerrin) and Narciso (Countertenor José Álvarez) cower on either side.

Lillian Groag’s direction, talented cast bolsters the BLO’s ‘Agrippina’ AGRIPPINA

continued from page 5

masked servants appear in attire more fitting with Handel’s own 18th-century garb.

The playful costumes and modernizations serve to suit the show’s humor to a modern audience and almost never cheapen the product itself. There may be some cheap laughs in the stage direction, but on the whole it is a very self-aware production — any liberties taken are done out of love, and an overall feeling of great respect for the piece remains.

The production — imported by BLO from Glimmerglass opera — is beautiful not only to hear but also to see. John Conklin’s simple and bold sets, Jess Goldstein’s whimsical yet appropriate costumes and Robert Wierzel’s cerebral and effective lighting all combine to display cinematic visuals over fine-tuned baroque music. Indeed, much of the production feels a little borrowed from the cinema: Some of the slapstick, particularly in the bedroom scenes, is reminiscent of the antics seen in musical comedies such as “Top Hat” (1935) or “Singin’ in the Rain” (1952).

Though “Agrippina” is a very physical production, it is certainly apparent that it has been directed by someone who knows what it’s like to be directed. Groag’s experience directing straight plays are clear in her effective and humorous additions, but it is also evident that she does not demand too much of her actors. The singers are asked to be more physical than one usually sees in an opera, but they are not put upon to be impossibly so. Instead, they are chal-

lenged to give a complete performance rather than rely on beautiful vocals and musicality alone.

Groag also knows when to rein in the humor in deference to moments of poignancy. One of the best moments was in fact not comical at all. Act two’s second aria, “Voi che udite il mio lamento,” features the good-hearted General Ottone (Anthony Roth Costanzo) as he despairs that he has lost everything and does not know why.

Ottone’s tragedy, sung and acted with energy and wonderful attention to detail by countertenor Costanzo, is delivered with palpable feeling and cleverly restrained stage direction.

Emotionally gripping scenes, as well as Handel’s wicked little runs, are mercifully left, for the most part, without gimmicks.

Caroline Worra, who plays the titular mother, is most notably adept at these complicated, difficult and incredibly fun-tohear musical moments. Her commanding soprano and delicate trills fit the demanding role perfectly, and she delivers difficult arias such as “Pensieri, voi mi tormentate,” which the character deftly and expertly sings during her “mad scene.”

“Agrippina” is a funny little show — very darkly comic and not widely known. An extreme amount of care has gone into the creation of this production, though, and the result is something innovative and deeply enjoyable. For practiced opera-goers and newcomers alike, Boston Lyric Opera’s “Agrippina” is an appropriate and worthwhile production to make time to see.

of comedy — runs with the sharp script.

It is jam-packed with jokes, geeky-as-hell cultural references and some great reoccurring gags — a standout of which is Wiig’s character, a reforming born-again Christian, learning to curse.

Paul himself is computer-generated, but the effects are so well-done that it’s easy to suspend disbelief and forget that the cast isn’t actually interacting with a little green man.

Pegg and Frost play close to their triedand-true character beats, switching things up slightly to let Frost shine rather than play second fiddle. The biggest revelation of the film, however, is Hader as an action hero: Besides being achingly funny, he manages to run and gun with the best of them. Hader, a current “Saturday Night Live” cast member, has had small roles in a number of recent films, but his scene-stealing turn as Haggard in “Paul” proves that he has the chops to carry a movie.

The film strikes a good balance between action and comedy, allowing director Greg Mottola to expand his oeuvre. Things explode real good, cars drive quite quickly and many a gun is fired. The action feels akin to early Spielberg, clearly a major influence on the film (“Duel” (1971)) is seen playing at a movie theater, and a number of references are made to “Sugarland Express” (1974)).

They really don’t make movies like “Paul” anymore; it’s a deceptively simple affair. A lot happens but it isn’t an event of a movie. It’s fun the whole way through but isn’t necessarily the movie that people are expecting. The trailers, the concept, the actors involved: The package seems to promise one thing while “Paul” presents something else.

But it happens to be an equally enjoyable replacement, if not more so.

Courtesy Fox

Anna Torv turns in consistently stunning work on Fox’s ‘Fringe’ as Agent Olivia Dunham.

Strong acting and character focus thrusts ‘Fringe’ into upper echelon FRINGE

continued from page 5

Jeffrey Dunn for Boston Lyric Opera © 2011

Nerone (Countertenor David Trudgen) almost acts upon his love/hate relationship with his detached mother, Agrippina (Soprano Caroline Worra).

The greatest knock against “Paul” is no fault of the filmmakers, but rather an issue with roots in the current Hollywood system: “Paul” has earned an “R” rating. Its audience has been severely impinged on by this rating.

At heart it’s a family adventure movie as written by Simon Pegg and Nick Frost, two men who are definitely poster boys (emphasis on “boys”) for the concept of rejuveniles.

There’s a scene where Paul dances around the question of whether Graeme and Clive are lovers by pantomiming various sexual acts, and it isn’t hard to imagine that the guys made the movie just to be able to spend millions of dollars to have a CGI alien mime fellatio.

The alien-demonstrated B.J. and some salty language (the F-bomb is dropped far more often than the arbitrary two times allowed in a PG-13 movie) aside, “Paul” deserves a wide audience. It isn’t free of flaws — some segments feel superfluous, and the twist ending makes no difference to the preceding two hours — but it’s a fun, strong adventure comedy. I won’t go as far as to say that “Paul” is out of this world, but it’s pretty close.

I had the opportunity to talk to Pegg and Frost a week before the film’s U.S. release, and they were clearly proud of what they accomplished. I asked about the possibility of a sequel, to which Frost first jokingly responded “Pauls,” but then admitted that it probably won’t happen.

I’m not holding my breath either.

At the end of the day though, “Paul” is a nice movie. It’s lacking something, but its very existence is still thrilling. Pegg and Frost made the exact movie — or as close to it as possible in Hollywood — that they wanted to.

So go see “Paul.” But then, if you don’t, you’ll probably be able to catch it constantly on basic cable in a few years.

broader interuniverse struggle.

Reading this over, I realize I’m making “Fringe” seem like a hardcore sci-fi show, which has a tendency to turn people off.

But really, what’s special about “Fringe” is that it works best when it goes for broke.

In the early episodes, it was clear the show was struggling to find its identity, toeing the line between procedural and serial mythology. Once it committed itself to the latter, “Fringe” became an exponentially better series.

But it’s not the science-fiction concepts that make “Fringe” exciting (although it does make for some great action and visual effects). What makes it stand out as one of the best shows currently on network television is its devotion to its characters and the honesty with which it handles their relationships amid the impending war between Over Here and Over There.

Olivia, Walter and Peter always functioned as a quasi-family unit, but it has gone a step further this season. After Olivia got stuck on the other side during a mission, her alternate “Fauxlivia” assumed her identity and took her place Over Here. She and Peter began a romantic relationship

under the guise that it was actually Olivia, but when our real heroine returned, the reveal shattered their realities.

The relationship drama is heading toward soapy territory, as we recently learned that the fate of the two universes depends on which version of Olivia Peter ultimately chooses, but most of this saga draws on great acting work from Torv, as both versions of her character, and Jackson. Torv in particular started off as the weak link in the cast but has now developed into a strong leading lady who is just as adept at playing the action bits as the emotional notes.

Similarly, Noble has always been terrific as the eccentric Dr. Bishop, but the alternate universe story has added another layer to his character. It was revealed late last season that Walter actually stole Peter from the other universe and raised him as his own after his own son died. That one action has colored all his others, and Noble is brilliant in showing the emotional toll his selfishness has had on him.

“Fringe” now airs on Friday nights, and its ratings have dropped since the move from Thursday. Its future does not look too promising. But whether you’re a fan of sci-fi, character-driven drama or just good television, give “Fringe” a chance because as of now, there’s really nothing else like it.

The Tufts Daily

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Young pitching staff should benefit from large outfield as A’s hope for playoffs INSIDE MLB

continued from page 8

ranked in the bottom half of the league in virtually every offensive category. Although Hideki Matsui, Josh Willingham and David DeJesus aren’t exactly superstars, they all bring a polished approach that was missing from the A’s order in 2010.

Because they play half of their games in the most pitcher-friendly ballpark in the American League, the Athletics place a premium on hitters who get on base. Matsui, Willingham and DeJesus are all likely to see their home run totals decline as a result of the Coliseum’s gigantic outfield but each had an onbase percentage over .360 last season. Those contributions should be unaffected and will make the middle of Oakland’s lineup much harder for opposing pitchers to contend with.

As much as the Coliseum’s generous dimensions hurt hitters, they help the A’s pitchers — a significant benefit given the youth of Geren’s pitching staff. Brett Anderson and Trevor Cahill, both just 23 years old, lead the starting rotation, which also features lefties Gio Gonzalez and Dallas Braden.

Despite injuries to Anderson and No. 5 starter Ben Sheets, this group had the best rotation ERA (3.47) in the majors last season.

The addition of Brandon

MCT

Outfielder Hideki Matsui joins an Oakland lineup poised to compete for a division title in 2011.

McCarthy brings even more depth to the impressive young quartet. Once a top prospect, the 27-year-old McCarthy flamed out after he was traded from the Chicago White Sox to the Rangers but appears to have resurrected his career. Armed with a new sinker, McCarthy has surged ahead of his competitors for the job at the back of Oakland’s rota-

tion, posting a 3.29 ERA over 13.2 innings in spring training while striking out nine batters and walking none.

Geren will also have the pleasure of managing one of the deepest bullpens in the majors, which already starred closer Andrew Bailey and now has lefty Brian Fuentes and righty Grant Balfour to handle setup duties.

Freshman diving champ Schmidt, veterans to make trip to NCAAs

The relief corps also boasts elite specialists in Craig Breslow and Brad Ziegler, both of whom hold like-handed batters barely above the Mendoza line.

And, if their own talents aren’t enough, the A’s pitchers will also benefit from having the best group of fielders in the league. Oakland ranked atop the majors in defensive

efficiency — the ratio of balls in play that are converted into outs — last season, and this year’s team once again boasts an above average defender at every position except left field.

The Athletics may not have the flashiest roster in the AL West, but they have more quality pieces than any other team in the division.

Oakland doesn’t have Felix Hernandez at the front of its rotation, but the Seattle Mariners lack any semblance of offense. The A’s can’t keep up with the speedy Los Angeles Angels on the base paths, but the Halos’ attempts to bring a slugger to Disneyland yielded only Vernon Wells and the four years, $86 million remaining on his contract. And while the Rangers’ heart of the order of Josh Hamilton, Nelson Cruz and Adrian Beltre may be the envy of the division, Texas lost No.1 starter Cliff Lee in free agency and has question marks throughout its pitching staff.

That gives the Athletics a golden opportunity to bring postseason baseball back to the Coliseum. After years of struggling with decreased attendance at a ballpark that could reasonably be described as a dump, the A’s are on the verge of landing a new stadium. And on the field, Oakland has all the pieces in place to ensure the “garbage” label won’t stick for long.

Tufts may be Div. III, but

THE SCORE is No. 1 Andrew Morgenthaler/Tufts Daily

Junior Owen Rood will race in the 50-yard freestyle at the Div. III Nationals meet next week.

SWIM and dive

continued from page 8

On the men’s side, the Jumbos will compete in nine events during the fourday meet. Debbaut, Del Moro, Rood and Testa will swim the 200- and 400-yard medley relays, where they rank 10th and 18th in the nation, respectively, while Jenkins, Meyer, Rood and Testa will take on the 200-, 400- and 800-yard freestyle relays. Their 200 free relay time entering the meet is 10th nationally.

In individual events, Rood will race in the 50-yard freestyle, and Del Moro, who is also a news editor at the Daily, will swim the 100-yard backstroke. Rood’s 50 free time was the fifth-best in the confer-

ence, and Del Moro’s 100 backstroke time was fourth in the NESCAC. The men tied for 18th place at last year’s National Championships in Minneapolis.

At that meet, Del Moro, Debbaut and Rood were on the eighth-place 200-yard medley relay and 14th-place 400 medley relay teams; Rood, Jenkins and Testa earned 11th place in the 200-yard freestyle relay; and Rood finished ninth in the 50-yard freestyle.

Jenkins is looking forward to his final NCAA experience.

“It’s a blast,” he said. “Tons of people, all the best swimmers in the country will be there. It really brings out the best in you.”

blogs.tuftsdaily.com/thescore The Daily Sports Department’s place for the latest info on all things sports

Sports

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tuftsdaily.com

Swimming and diving

Tufts to send eight swimmers to Tennessee for Nationals by

Aaron Leibowitz

Daily Editorial Board

Eight Tufts swimmers and divers will head to the University of Tennessee for the NCAA Division III Championships on March 23.

Seven of the national qualifiers are from the men’s team, and six were at the national meet last year: seniors Zed Debbaut, Michael Del Moro, David Meyer and tri-captain Gordy Jenkins and juniors Owen Rood and E.J. Testa.

This is the third trip to NCAAs for Jenkins, Rood and Testa.

Freshman diver Johann Schmidt, who won the 1-meter and 3-meter diving competitions at the NESCAC Championships, will make his first appearance at Nationals. Schmidt won 14 of the 16 diving events he entered this season, placing second twice against Div. I BC. Meanwhile, senior tri-captain Megan Kono will represent the women’s squad for a third time. She made her first two trips to Nationals her freshman and sophomore years.

The men’s and women’s teams each finished third last month at the NESCAC Championships.

For a men’s squad that was fueled all season by team spirit and camaraderie, preparing for Nationals has been a strange experience.

“It feels very different,” Jenkins said.

“With such a big team like we had during the regular season, it’s kind of odd having so few people around. But it’s a lot of fun. It’s a little more relaxed, but we’re still focused.”

Kono qualified for NCAAs with a thirdplace 1,650-yard freestyle performance at the conference meet, which ranks her 13th in the country. In addition to swimming the 1,650-yard freestyle, she will compete in the 200- and 500-yard freestyles. She enters with the 22nd seed in the 500 free.

Andrew Morgenthaler/Tufts Daily

Senior tri-captain Megan Kono will be the lone representative of the women’s swimming and diving team at Div. III Nationals at the University of Tennessee.

“I think she’ll do really well. She’s the hardest worker on our team,” said sophomore Christine Garvey, who has been training with Kono every day in preparation for the national meet. “She’s a huge inspiration and role model. I think all the

hard work will pay off.”

Kono has twice come close to AllAmerican honors, which are awarded to the top 16 finishers in each event. As a freshman, she finished 19th in the 1,650 free, and as a sophomore she came in

17th. Her time at this year’s conference meet was eight seconds faster than her 17th-place time in 2009. see SWIM AND DIVE, page 7

Women’s Crew

Inside MLB

Teams use break to train, build camaraderie

Oakland ready to bring its ‘A’ game

by Samantha Jaffe

Contributing Writer

Far from a tropical locale, the varsity and novice crew squads will spend spring break doing three-a-days and eating team dinners. This week’s practices are crucial, because lineups for each boat are not set yet, and the chemistry necessary for a successful boat still needs to be formed.

Senior tri-captain Rachel Steward has been impressed with how well the team has done in practice so far even though they have only been on the water for two weeks.

“Already the boats are moving well together, which isn’t always the case this early in training,” she said. “Spring break training is an opportunity to relax, to focus on crew and just crew.”

Training week, which starts this afternoon, will offer the team a chance to make technical adjustments for the upcoming season, which kicks off with a home regatta on April 2 against Mount Holyoke, Simmons and the University of Vermont.

“This week is really good for technical changes, because if you mess up in the morning you can apply that immediately in the afternoon,” Steward said.

Spring break, Steward said, is also valuable as a bonding experience, especially for the sophomores who are new to the varsity squad and all of the freshman rowers, who row novice regardless of their skill level. Steward herself was a walk-on as a fresh-

by

Daniel Rathman

Daily Editorial Board

gillian hodes/tufts daily

The women’s crew team will be looking to use spring break as a boost for its long spring season. man after playing soccer in high school, and now, three years later, she is a varsity captain.

Steward’s goal for the season is to win more races leading up to the big regattas, which is important both for improvement and morale. Last year, the varsity team didn’t perform as well as it hoped, finishing eighth at the ECAC National Invitational Champions last spring and landing in the bottom half of the petit finals.

But things are looking up for

the relatively young varsity team, as the novice eight boat took first place and a gold medal at last year’s ECAC meet. Many of the Jumbos who excelled at this meet now make up the varsity team.

“I’m really excited to have some of our hard work pay off at the end of the season, and the new sophomore rowers will help us get there,” junior tri-captain Kathleen Holec said.

The team spent the offseason working out and staying healthy, doing its best to avoid the back

and shoulder problems that are common to the sport.

“I’m really proud of the girls for taking the time to understand what they needed to do for themselves, while still pushing to be competitive. We need to be ready to race in two weeks,” Steward said.

After the season starts on April 2, the team will have a regatta once every week to prepare for their two biggest regattas, the New England Rowing Championships on April 30 and the National Invitational Collegiate Regatta on May 8.

In the minutes after the San Francisco Giants won the 2010 World Series, Tony Siegle, one of the team’s front-office advisers, told the media, “We’ve just shown ‘Moneyball’ is a bunch of garbage.”

If there wasn’t already a frontoffice rivalry between general manager Brian Sabean’s Giants and Billy Beane’s Oakland Athletics, that quote certainly started one. And whether you agree with Siegle or not, he’s given the A’s executives some bulletin-board material.

Oakland quietly finished the last regular season second in the American League West division with an even 81-81 record, nine games behind the eventual pennant-winning Texas Rangers.

After a busy offseason — during which three solid hitters, a pair of reliable relievers and an under-the-radar starter joined the green and gold — the A’s are primed for their first division title and playoff appearance since 2006.

Manager Bob Geren struggled to put together a lineup that could score runs consistently last season, and Oakland see INSIDE MLB, page 7