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THE TUFTS DAILY

TUFTSDAILY.COM

Thursday, february 27, 2014

VOLUME LXVII, NUMBER 25

Where You Read It First Est. 1980

Tufts selects new dean of student affairs by

Kathleen Schmidt

Daily Editorial Board

Caroline Geiling / The Tufts Daily

Google’s Eric Schmidt (center) and Jared Cohen (right) discuss the new digital age and the increasing role technology will play in everyday lives.

Google executives discuss increasing role of technology

by Justin

Rheingold

Daily Editorial Board

Google Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt and Director of Google Ideas Jared Cohen spoke about technological advancements and the increasing importance of Internet connectivity during a discussion in Cohen Auditorium yesterday as part of The Fletcher School’s Hitachi Center for Technology and International Affairs Speaker Series.

Provost David Harris introduced Schmidt, Cohen and moderator Bhaskar Chakravorti, explaining that much of the discussion would be based on Schmidt and Cohen’s new book, “The New Digital Age: Reshaping the Future of People, Nations and Business.”

“They describe the new age of globalization where digital platforms are breaking down bar-

riers and creating an unprecedented level of connectivity,” Harris said. “Individuals have more power. Innovations are coming increasingly from the edges and individuals, not just the technology industry.”

Chakravorti, who serves as senior associate dean for international business and finance at the Fletcher School, asked Schmidt and Cohen how they would define the new digital era.

“Your book talks about these two parallel civilizations ­— the analog civilization that has developed for thousands of years ... and then the digital civilization that is relatively young,” Chakravorti said. “The new digital age — how is this different from the old digital age?”

Cohen explained that the “new digital age” will be defined by an incredible increase in global connectivity.

“You’re going to add five billion new people into that global connected populace, but they’re going to be coming online in parts of the world that are autocratic, incredibly poor, violent [and] unstable,” he said. “What they do with those devices is going to be earth shattering to all of us that think that we understand how our devices work.”

The role of technology in international affairs and conflict was a big theme of the discussion. Both Cohen and Schmidt said they believe it will fundamentally alter the way revolutions occur.

“In the future, revolutions will be easier to start and happen faster, but they are going to be much harder to finish,” Cohen said. “It’s very easy for people to organize in virtual town squares

Mary Pat McMahon, currently the associate dean of student affairs at Bowdoin College, will become Tufts’ new dean of student affairs on April 1.

According to Dean of Undergraduate and Graduate Students John Barker, McMahon’s duties will include overseeing judicial affairs, medical issues and interventions, as well as the Office of Residential Life and Learning (ResLife) and the culture centers.

“Through the strategic planning process we looked at how we needed more focus on the structural look of our programs and how they impact our stu-

dent population, and [we] really review[ed] how our judicial policies and ResLife ... merged in,” Barker said. “So we decided to separate those two, which is why [McMahon] is coming — to really focus on our judicial policy and look at ResLife and how we can change our residential life model.”

According to acting Dean of Student Affairs Bruce Reitman, McMahon’s presence will allow other administrators to expand their roles.

“Tufts is a little understaffed, [so] now there’s an extra person to add to this effort,” Reitman said. “A lot of great work gets done at Tufts because a lot of see McMAHON, page 2

CEO of Latino newspaper speaks with students by

Dana Guth

Daily Editorial Board

The Department of Romance Languages hosted a talk yesterday evening by Alberto Vasallo III, the President and CEO of Boston-based newspaper El Mundo. The discussion, which took place in Barnum 008, addressed Vasallo’s activism for the local Latino community.

The event began with an introduction from Lecturer in Spanish Nancy Levy-Konesky, who described the importance of Vasallo’s close relationship with the Boston Red Sox to promote outreach toward Latino students in the city.

“He has done such wonderful work to maintain creative and original programs, and has incredible future plans for these communities,” LevyKonesky said.

Vasallo then spoke about his various outreach programs and events, including Latino Youth Recognition Day and Latino Family Festival, which take place annually in Boston’s Fenway Park.

“We’ve been hosting Latino Youth Recognition Day since 1995 as a response to a high dropout rate in local schools,” he said. “These events have see VASALLO, page 2

see GOOGLE, page 2

Professors discuss Mandela’s legacy on South African politics

by Josh

Weiner

Daily Editorial Board

The International Relations (IR) Program’s Director’s Leadership Council continued its crash course lecture series last night, with a commemorative event entitled, “Nelson Mandela’s Legacy and the Future of South African Politics.”

Associate Professor of Political Science Pearl Robinson and Associate Professor of History Jeanne Penvenne spoke at the event, moderated by Director of Africana Studies H. Adlai Murdoch.

“The series has been around for at least four years,” Leadership Council member Anna Troein, a senior, said.

“It’s a chance for IR students to learn something which they want to learn about but may know nothing about.”

In his introduction, Murdoch spoke about how extraordinary it was that Mandela, an international world peace icon, spent 27 years in prison.

“It is difficult, if not impossible, to conceive that,” Murdoch said. “Many of us did not expect to ever see Nelson Mandela walk out of jail — we

thought he would die in prison.

All three of us were watching it live as Nelson Mandela walked out of jail.”

Penvenne explained that Mandela’s freedom was a widely celebrated event.

“I wept with the news that Nelson Mandela was going to jail and I wept at the sight of him walking out,” she said.

“I was one of 250,000 people there on the Boston Commons, watching him walk out.”

Pe n v e n n e outlined Mandela’s emergence in

Inside this issue

see MANDELA, page 2

Ethan Chan / The Tufts Daily

President and CEO of El Mundo newspaper Alberto Vasallo III speaks about his accomplishments within the Latino community at an event hosted by the Department of Romance Languages.

Today’s sections

Tufts’ Wellness Center launches new approach to employee health care in higher education.

Numerous close races, incredible performances mark this year’s Academy Awards.

see FEATURES, page 3

see WEEKENDER, page 5

News Features Weekender Editorial | Op-Ed

1 3 5 10

Op-Ed Comics Classifieds Sports

11 12 13 Back

The Tufts Daily

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Schmidt, Cohen: Tech can’t replace human ability to reason GOOGLE

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with a common idea ... but that seems to be the only thing that people can agree on and after the dictator is unseated, the expectation that change and transformation will happen just as quickly is not met, and then what happens is societies become unraveled.”

The difficulty of finding new leaders has slowed the resolution to these revolutions, according to Cohen. Yet social media has helped bring celebrity-status to new leaders despite their lack of aptitude, Cohen explained. The Internet can also work against these politicians, Schmidt added.

“If every aspect of a person’s life from birth is fully known, including the inevitable mistakes they make at the ages of 10, 15, 20, 25, 30 ... how do you ever emerge above the cacophony?”

Schmidt asked. “How do you actually become a true hero? Do you have to lead the military? Do you have to be in prison for 20 years? Do you have to have some special narrative? I don’t think we know yet.”

Schmidt and Cohen both expanded upon this issue of “data permanence” and discussed its potential drawbacks.

“The core problem of data permanence, with a life lived online, is that [for] humans there is a physical maturity,” Schmidt said. “They’re not going to grow up that much faster and you’re still going to make mistakes as a 14-year-old, but now they’re [going to be] there forever.”

Based on these concerns, Chakravorti asked Schmidt and Cohen if the world is bound for a more utopian or dystopian future

than was once expected.

“We had this debate and what we concluded was that for the mature-ish democracies [they] will have these crises, like the Snowden example, and they’ll find some balance for these issues,” Schmidt said.

However, Cohen added that less developed countries, including North Korea, could see change if technology infiltrated the region.

“What’s interesting about North Korea is you have a country of 24 million people under horrific conditions and it’s probably the most censored society and certainly the least connected society on earth, but ... it’s the only cult of personality left on earth,” he said. “The notion of cults of personality and totalitarianism that we saw during the Cold War — the Internet has eliminated them like small pox.”

Cohen and Schmidt also answered over 20 questions from audience members, including professors, students and a sixth grader. Many asked questions about how technology will affect middle class jobs.

Despite the increasing presence of technology in everyday lives, Cohen said people will not lose their ability to reason, and companies like Google will not be able to tell them exactly what is right and wrong.

“Human beings are argumentative and opinionated and I think what’s important to us is that, just because we have information about the past available to us, doesn’t mean that we agree on it,” Cohen said. “History itself is interpretive just as the present is and just as the future will be.”

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people put in huge amounts of effort, and they’re dedicated so they get it done, but this is an opportunity to have an extra person to add to that effort and give all of us some time to get out from behind the desk.”

While the dean of student affairs position has traditionally been responsible for overseeing the Office for Campus Life (OCL) and the Office of Fraternity and Sorority Affairs, those duties have been transferred to the recently created dean of campus life and student leadership position, which Reitman is filling.

“We never have time, it seems, to get ahead of the curve and do proactive work that really is facilitating community,” he said. “What I’m feeling very good about is having the time to be able to focus on that sort of thing, rather than [having to] react to situations that have happened.”

While some of McMahon’s responsibilities are already established, more will be developed, according to both McMahon and Reitman.

“We haven’t worked it all out yet, so when [McMahon] gets here I think it’s going to be a good conversation between us with [Barker] about what it is we ought to look down the road to accomplish and who does what piece of it,” Reitman said.

McMahon added that her role will evolve when she arrives.

“I’m still learning about the structure and oversight of things at Tufts, and there will be certain aspects that — when I get [here] — we [will] be determining what [it] means,” she said.

According to Barker, the search process for the new dean took three or four months and involved a cross section of campus, which included undergraduates, graduate students and faculty.

“We wanted to make it as public [of a] process as we could, while holding up confidentially for the applicants,” Barker said.

According to Barker, the search com-

Thursday, February 27, 2014

Mandela seen as an icon for unity, peace MANDELA

continued from page 1

the greater history of South Africa. She spoke about the history of the African National Congress, the political party whose military wing, the Spear of the Nation, was formed in response to the Sharpeville 1960 massacre in which the South African police killed 69 protestors. Mandela was one of numerous South African activists who was imprisoned or exiled for his role in militant groups like this one.

“So much injustice was going on,” she said. “People who said, ‘This is not right, we will pursue our rights’ ­ they met jail, they met exile and they met banishment.”

The struggle Mandela and his peers led against South African apartheid was extremely important, according to Penvenne. She said she hopes their deeds will be remembered after Mandela’s death.

“If we reflect on his life and his words, his human dignity and his ethical posture, we’ll all do very well indeed,” she said.

Robinson spoke of her experiences as a young demonstrator during South Africa’s apartheid. She attended rallies on the Boston Commons and traveled with her family and fellow activists to attend national demonstrations.

“What was going on in South Africa was a global travesty, and everyone in the world should understand the ways in which they might be implicated,” she said.

Robinson said that Mandela’s life has been widely celebrated.

She said she hopes this memory will not decline as his death

McMahon’s work will focus on residential, judicial issues McMAHON

News

mittee used a firm to gather an initial group of names. The committee eventually narrowed that list down to four applicants who were invited to campus where they participated in all-day interviews with students and presented policies they had enacted in their previous institutions.

“We think that during the interview process [McMahon] stood out as the person who engaged with students the best, was passionate about having a vision and really connecting to the community and [had] all the other qualities we were looking for,” Barker said.

McMahon explained that she has held multiple positions during her time at Bowdoin. Currently, she is the director of residential life and the associate dean of student affairs for student conduct, student support and student leadership development. Prior to her current role, she was served as dean of first-year students and as an assistant dean of student affairs.

“I was the kind of point person for sexual misconduct board, sexual misconduct policy, and I oversaw the judicial board ... all of which, I think, will help me coming into the dean of student affairs role at Tufts,” McMahon said.

Barker said this experience will be an asset to Tufts.

“It’s in her background with Title IX, her sexual assault policies — all the things we’re having critical conversations about right now,” Barker said.

“She has a wealth of information and expertise, and I think she’ll just add to an already improving process.”

McMahon said she is eager to begin in her new position. “[I’m] really excited at this opportunity to be at Tufts,” she said. “I’ve been really taken with the people that I’ve met [here] ... It’s a community where people are really global, and they think about all kinds of ideas and engage on so many different levels with one another and with their scholarship and with their community.”

Ethan Chan / The Tufts Daily

Professors Jeanne Penvenne, Pearl Robinson and H. Adlai Murdoch discussed Nelson Mandela’s legacy during an event sponsored by the International Relations Program Director’s Leadership Council. becomes increasingly distant.

“As a leader who believed in political and social equality, he saved South Africa from a bloodbath,” she said. “He’s a symbol of [a nation] having significant social transition, especially in terms of racial equality, without having this bloodbath.”

Mandela deserves to be remembered because of his ability to unite people and for the cause he represented during his lifetime, Robinson said.

“I see Nelson Mandela as the face of numerous Africans, famous and not so famous,

ordinary as well as extraordinary, who spend their lives in big ways working for peace,” she said. “Having a person like Nelson Mandela, who was both an icon but also quite humble, a man who was prepared to sacrifice his own life as well as his family’s ... reminds us that we don’t want to always study conflict. We want to study the peacemakers. How many of them might be looking for partners in solidarity? ... As we learned from Nelson Mandela, sometimes you have to be a terrorist in order to be a peacemaker.”

Vasallo’s work seeks to expand opportunities for Boston-area Latinos VASALLO

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meaningful social value, but they are a lot of fun.”

Vasallo described Latino Family Festival as the largest event put on by El Mundo, one that takes approximately eight months to plan each year.

“It took 10 years for me to get the Red Sox to agree to a family celebration where we completely take over Fenway Park,” he said. “It was going to be a one shot deal, but it was such a success that the mayor wanted to do it again and make it bigger and better.”

The festival’s aim is to create a welcoming environment to celebrate Latin American culture in a setting integral to the Boston area, according to Vasallo, who explained that all of these events are open to the entire community.

“We want to identify the culture, but anyone can come,” he said. “It’s a very diverse event and very different from a Red Sox game. We want it to be a true reflection of Boston.”

Vasallo showed the audience a series of videos in which students, children, parents and vendors spoke about their participation in the events at Fenway Park. The segments, which alternated between English and Spanish, also featured diverse speakers including a Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital doctor and Carlos Casanova from “Project Runway” (2004-present). All expressed gratitude for El Mundo’s promotion of community health, education and unity.

In addition to the annual festivals, El Mundo launched the Latino Career Expo Series, which Levy-Konesky described as the largest and most diverse Latino job fair in New England. Vasallo said this is part of the newspapers’ ongoing effort to connect big American businesses directly to Latino populations.

“We’ve been able to pierce that wall of corporate America,” Vasallo said.

“El Mundo will visit CEOs around the

country to break down barriers and show the significance of the shifting population demographic.”

He referenced the increasing proportion of youth in America that is of Hispanic heritage — while the mean age of a person living in Boston is 41 years old, the mean age of a Latino in Boston is 28, according to Vasallo.

“I consider myself in the new generation of bicultural Latinos,” Vasallo said. “For [El Mundo], this is a niche to reach out to by large-scale event marketing and putting clients together with the market.”

Vasallo also fielded questions from the audience, welcoming them in either language. One student asked about how El Mundo will adapt to an increasingly digitized media landscape.

“Our smaller community niche still looks for the newspaper, and our business model is to deliver news to the entire Latino community in the next five years,” he said. “We use more English in our digital mediums, because it appeals to our younger readers. We will also be using more social media to reach out.”

Vasallo also explained that learning Spanish will give students a competitive edge in today’s market, despite English’s prominence.

“English will always be the number one language here, but jobs are based on skills,” he said. “Why can’t we be like Europe, and learn to speak and accept more than one?”

Vasallo ended the talk by addressing discrimination and prejudice towards Latinos in the workplace.

“Often, you have to work twice as hard for half the credit,” Vasallo said.

“That’s why these events are bigger and better, and, in the end, having to raise the bar has served us well.”

The discussion was followed by a Cuban dinner reception, during which students were invited to enjoy Cuban cuisine and continue a dialogue with Vasallo.

Features

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Eva Batalla-Mann | Valuable Delusions

Musicals and tapioca

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MCT

The creation of the Tufts Wellness Center is an initiative within higher education to address and improve employee health.

Wellness Center offers health care to employees, spouses, partners by

Helen Schmidt

Contributing Writer

The Tufts Wellness Center opened last year to provide free health services and consultations to university employees. Founded last May, the center partners with Marathon Health, a company that works with employers to provide affordable healthcare for their staff.

“This [program] is very new and unique, and it is kind of revolutionizing health care,” Wellness Center Director Karam Yoo, who also works as a nurse practitioner, said. “It’s really about having healthy and happy employees, and also making them productive because they’re happier and healthier.”

On the Medford/Somerville campus, the Wellness Center is located inside the Steve Tisch Sports and Fitness Center. Comprised of a reception area, staff offices, a conference room and two examination rooms, the Wellness Center provides Tufts employees with immediate, convenient health care that is highly accessible.

“The first [benefit for employees] is that there’s no copay to see us,” Yoo said. “Second, all of the health visits here are confidential. That means we can’t share any health information with anybody without there being written consent. Third, these benefits are not only available to the employees, but also to their spouses and their samesex domestic partners, regardless of insurance status.”

According to the Wellness Center website, Tufts provides this health care without employee copays because the university sees the center as an investment to the community, and in the long run, it will reduce the cost of health care.

According to Mercy Bashir, nurse practitioner at the Wellness Center, employees can use the center for both urgent and primary care.

“For the short period of time we have been here ... we average approximately 107 patients [per] month,” Bashir told the Daily in an email.

The majority of the services offered are intended to check for and track

health problems that may be overlooked at regular medical checkups or appointments, according to Yoo. A typical employee who comes in for either a checkup or health concern is first examined for his or her overall health status through biometric screening. “[We get a] snapshot of somebody’s health,” Yoo said. “We get a total cholesterol, height, weight, body mass index and also a waist circumference.”

The center also offers health coaching to all Tufts employees, according to Carine Corsaro, a registered nurse who works as the main health coach on the Medford/Somerville campus.

“Health coaching is used to inspire people to make changes in their life by offering support, guidance and resources,” Corsaro told the Daily in an email. “This is achieved by having the patient identify what changes they want to make and what is realistic given their current work and life responsibilities.”

The program works to improve a variety of health habits with staff members. Coaching services are offered weekly on the Boston and Grafton campuses, and daily on the Medford/Somerville campus.

“Health coaching is successfully used to help with weight management, smoking cessation, stress management, fitness programs, illness and conditions of a chronic nature and other lifestyle-related issues that may negatively impact your health,” Corsaro said.

Yoo also noted that the center is able to treat patients quickly. She said that each acute care visit, an appointment to receive short-term treatment, lasts about 15 minutes, while a physical lasts no longer than a half-hour.

“We really can dedicate the time to speaking with our patients and to gauge our patients, and they can come as frequently as they want,” Yoo said.

According to Yoo, the development of the Wellness Center moved quickly. Since its opening, the center has initiated programs focused on weight management and healthy living. Their primary weight loss plan, which is

offered on all three campuses, is called Winning at Losing.

“It’s just a support group for an hour during lunch,” Yoo said. “People come together — there’s a voluntary weighin, and staff will review any topics the participants wish to learn more about.”

The Wellness Center also focuses on day-to-day programming and spreading knowledge through informative seminars.

“We have a walk in weigh-in, walk -in blood pressure check ... We have a mindfulness meditation and a walking group, as well,” Yoo said. “These are helpful on a day-to-day basis, but we also have seminars that we do periodically.”

Yoo said that the feedback from employees about the center has been overwhelmingly positive. In just over nine months, the Wellness Center has seen 642 employees for health checkups and specialty programs, according to Yoo. “I’ve heard a lot of people say that, since we started, the people who really utilize our services are happier, and they feel healthier knowing that there’s somewhere to go,” Yoo said.

Yoo also noted that there is no difference between benefits of full-time and part-time employees — anyone can use the center as long as they are Tufts employees, in addition to their spouses or same-sex domestic partners. She said she hopes to spread the benefits to employees who aren’t conscious of the center’s presence.

“I would say we’re really hoping the weekly programming catches on and that the weight management program catches on,” Yoo said. “[We also hope] to increase participation in the health education seminars.”

While the Wellness Center has served the employees at Tufts for a little less than a year, its goals to improve health care, prevention and affordability mark the university’s commitment to the future of those who dedicate much time and service to the Tufts community.

“All in all, we’re reducing the costs of health care and focusing on health and wellness,” Yoo said.

oving away from home is scary. But then bit by bit you learn how to make decisions on your own. Every day we manage to conduct our lives and ourselves as autonomous individuals.

The nest gets smaller and smaller in the distance. But then flu season hits.

And, at that time, calls to mom made by scared and weepy 20-year-olds can be heard throughout the land — yes, Mom, I promise I did get my flu shot.

No, Mom, I swear I’m not lying.

I recently experienced my first flu away from home. I have had colds away from home and worked my way through the stuffy noses and sore throats. But this was a whole new level of sick. As my fever rose and my body ached, I once again became the fiveyear-old girl who insisted that “The Sound of Music” (1965) be popped into the VHS player at any sign of illness. Since then, I’ve been pretty much convinced that “How Do You Solve A Problem Like Maria” and a generous portion of tapioca pudding is all you need to regain your health.

But there I was, so far away from home with none of the above. I started watching “West Side Story”(1961) in the hopes that a musical of a different name — but that still contained a heroine songstress by the name of Maria — would help my symptoms go away.

I had no such luck. Yet luckily for me, even in the absence of my parents, I am not lacking a support system. Armfuls of fruit swiped from Dewick showed up at my bedside along with stories from the outside world, because sometimes missing even one day of social interaction can seem like an eternity.

Several calls to my parents and episodes of “Girls” (2012-present) later, I started to feel better. I also never knew about grocery delivery services until this point. My dad mentioned he called to have a thermometer and a few things delivered. I wasn’t really sure what he meant and was expecting for someone to pull up in an old Camry with “Rite Aid” plastered on the side of it and hand me a small plastic bag. Instead, what pulled up was something analogous to a moving truck. If there hadn’t been a logo on the side of it that looked somewhat legit, I probably wouldn’t have approached a big moving truck after dark, but none of my internal alarms were going off. I approached the truck, and I was then handed a bunch of bags stuffed with fruit, cold medicine and, of course, tapioca.

For me, being sick away from home is one of those things that reduces me to the kid I was before I started to gain my independence. Just having the presence of my parents around when I’m sick is enough to make me feel better and to keep me from making rash decisions like getting a Twitter account — something that I blame on my immuno-compromised feverish state. But it’s nice to know that, away from home, I feel like I have a group of people supporting me — even in my flu induced tweeting endeavors (by the way, my follower-to-following ratio is way off ). It’s nice to know that even when I’m all the way across the country from my family, I have one here that is like having my own viewing of “The Sound of Music” and a little bowl of tapioca.

Eva Batalla-Mann is a sophomore majoring in peace and justice studies and community health. She can be reached at Eva. Batalla_Mann@tufts.edu.

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And the Academy Award goes to...

( ( The Daily’s guide to the 86th Oscars

‘12 Years A Slave’ is one of the major frontrunners for this Sunday’s Academy Awards ceremony. by

Dan O’Leary

Daily Editorial Board

W

ith the current dearth of quality entertainment in theaters, it can be easy, at times, to overlook the fact that 2013 delivered one of the strongest and most enjoyable years for film in recent memory. From the surprising blockbuster success of “Gravity” to the controversy that erupted over Martin Scorsese’s “The Wolf of Wall Street,” this past year has seen a variety of engrossing and memorable performances, along with films that have pushed the boundary of cinema and contributed to the cultural dialogue. The packed field has led to a highly competitive race throughout the awards season, and it all comes to a close this weekend with the 86th Academy Awards, to be hosted by Ellen DeGeneres. And just in time for those last minute Oscar pools and bets with friends, the Daily has your guide to picking the winners for this Sunday’s ceremony, complete with an analysis of the six major fields.

Best Picture “12 Years A Slave” “American Hustle” “Captain Phillips” “Dallas Buyers Club” “Gravity” “Her” “Nebraska” “Philomena” “The Wolf of Wall Street” Will Win: “12 Years A Slave” Should Win: “12 Years A Slave” Heading into awards season, it seemed like the Best Picture category would be a two-way race between “Gravity” and “12 Years A Slave.”

While “American Hustle” gained enough momentum to be the only other major challenger from the nominees (thanks to critical acclaim following its December release and a major win at the Screen Actors Guild (SAG) Awards), the race still boils down to the two main contenders. After winning Best Motion Picture — Drama at the Golden Globes and a slew of top prizes at numerous critics’ awards, it’s likely that “12 Years” will end up coming out on top at the end of the night, although it is possible that “Gravity” could win out if enough voters end up being turned off by the intense violence of the film.

“Gravity” is a spellbinding crowd-pleaser and an impressive technical achievement (more on that later), but there is no doubt who should be taking home the Oscar on Sunday. “12 Years A Slave” is a haunting yet powerful film that depicts the brutalities of slavery and forces viewers to directly confront this dark period of United States history. Some of the other nominees may be more creative (“Her”) or more entertaining (“American Hustle”), but what sets “12 Years” apart from the pack is its ability to masterfully deliver a heart-wrenching emotional journey that cuts straight to the core. Is it a pleasant film? Absolutely not, but some great works of art are meant to challenge their audience,

and by doing so “12 Years” has already earned its status as a cinematic landmark.

Best Actor Christian Bale (“American Hustle”) Bruce Dern (“Nebraska”) Leonardo DiCaprio (“Wolf of Wall Street”) Chiwetel Ejiofor (“12 Years A Slave”) Matthew McConaughey (“Dallas Buyers Club”) Will Win: Matthew McConaughey Should Win: Chiwetel Ejiofor Out of all of this year’s major races, the Best Actor category is easily the most competitive and unpredictable. Receiving a nomination alone was a struggle, with many actors who would have been a lock in weaker years (Tom Hanks, Robert Redford) being snubbed entirely. It’s possible that there could be an upset by Dern — many hail his performance as a career best — or DiCaprio, who is destined to win one day, but probably not for his slimy but charming portrayal of Jordan Belfort. In an ideal world, Chiwetel Ejiofor’s subtle yet gut-wrenching performance as Solomon Northup would win; he serves as the emotional anchor throughout all the brutality in “12 Years.” But the buzz has been solidly in favor of McConaughey, whose momentum has only increased thanks to big wins at both the Golden Globes and SAG Awards.

McConaughey’s turn as AIDS patient Ron Woodroof marks a high point in the actor’s career renaissance, and is certainly deserving of praise, but falls just shy of the emotional blows that Ejiofer delivers.

Best Actress Amy Adams (“American Hustle”) Cate Blanchett (“Blue Jasmine”) Sandra Bullock (“Gravity”) Judi Dench (“Philomena”) Meryl Streep (“August: Osage County”) Will Win: Cate Blanchett Should Win: Cate Blanchett This year’s Best Actress race is nearly the opposite of that for Best Actor, with just one actress who has dominated the other awards events and has been the heavily favored frontrunner throughout the season. Blanchett has swept nearly every awards ceremony, and justifiably so. Her portrayal of a socialite’s fall from grace in “Blue Jasmine” is a multilayered bravura performance and simply a marvel to behold. While there is a slight chance that Dench’s affecting performance as a mother searching for her son in “Philomena” has the potential to pull an upset, this is Blanchett’s race to lose, and all signs point to her coming out the victor at the Dolby Theatre.

Best Supporting Actor Barkhad Abdi (“Captain Phillips”) Bradley Cooper (“American Hustle”) Michael Fassbender (“12 Years A Slave”) Jonah Hill (“Wolf of Wall Street”) Jared Leto (“Dallas Buyers Club”) Will Win:Jared Leto Should Win:Jared Leto Just like the Best Actress race, this is another category where there has been a clear front-

Courtesy Jaap Buitendijk / Fox Searchlight Pictures

runner since day one. Leto’s comeback to acting has been widely acclaimed, thanks to his complete disappearance into the role of transgender woman Rayon in “Dallas Buyers Club.”

Even more so than lead star McConaughey, Leto serves as the film’s emotional core and brings a sense of tenderness to the relationship between Ron and Rayon. Similar to Blanchett, Leto has swept all the major awards this season and looks poised to repeat that at this weekend’s ceremony. While there are certainly other deserving performances in this category (newcomer Abdi brought an impressive level of depth to what could have been a one-note role in “Captain Phillips”), nobody has the critical adoration behind them like Leto does.

Best Supporting Actress Jennifer Lawrence (“American Hustle”) Lupita Nyong’o (“12 Years A Slave”) Julia Roberts (“August: Osage County”) June Squibb (“Nebraska”) Sally Hawkins (“Blue Jasmine”) Will Win: Jennifer Lawrence Should Win: Lupita Nyong’o This might be the trickiest race to predict out of all the major categories this year. While this category has two clear frontrunners, there are very plausible scenarios in which both main contenders could win — making the battle for Best Supporting Actress fairly unpredictable. Nyong’o certainly deserves the trophy: Her performance as Patsey in “12 Years” was a haunting embodiment of the psychological effects of slavery’s atrocities. And Nyong’o’s victory at the SAG Awards, along with her wins and nominations from numerous other critics’ groups, would make one think that she has a solid lead in the category. But it’s impossible to ignore the other major competitor — Lawrence for “American Hustle,” whose riotous performance stole every scene she was in.

Lawrence certainly has support: she picked up a Golden Globe for the role and is still riding a wave of goodwill from her Best Actress win last year. And that’s not to mention her celebrated turn in “The Hunger Games: Catching Fire” (2013). All these factors make choosing a winner a toss-up, but Lawrence has a slight edge, if only because she likely represents the best chance for “American Hustle” to win a major category, and voters might look to reward the film that way.

Best Director Martin Scorsese (“The Wolf of Wall Street”) David O. Russell (“American Hustle”) Alfonso Cuarón (‘Gravity”) Alexander Payne (“Nebraska”) Steve McQueen (“12 Years A Slave”) Will Win: Alfonso Cuarón Should Win: Alfonso Cuarón Along with Best Actor, this category is filled with nominees each highly deserving in their own right. With three returning nominees and two first-time ones, the achievements here are remarkable: Scorsese’s dark and satire-laced study of corporate greed in “The Wolf of Wall Street,” Payne’s bold choice to film “Nebraska” entirely in black and white and McQueen’s fearlessness in confronting the brutalities of slavery in “12 Years A Slave,” to name a few.

But one director stands above the pack, if only because after watching his film, incredulous moviegoers left the theater asking, “How did they do that?” Cuarón managed to suspend audience disbelief with “Gravity,” utilizing special effects to their utmost potential in order to deliver a thrilling and engrossing experience in space. The technically stunning masterpiece brought back a sense of escapism to theaters, and after sweeping most of the major awards so far, he will certainly be rewarded this Sunday.

Courtesy Julio Hardy / Warner Bros. Pictures

Alfonso Cuarón deserves to win Best Director for his dazzling technical achievements in ‘Gravity.’

The Tufts Daily

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Thursday, February 27, 2014

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

Check out these events!

Frisky Food Night: Tufts Culinary Society and Tufts VOX are joining together for Frisky Food Night. The event will serve as a fundraiser for Network/La Red, a local organization that works to end partner abuse in LGBQ/T relationships. There will be desserts and a chocolate fountain, along with a raffle for erotic-themed good-

ie bags. (Friday at 7 p.m. in Remis Sculpture Court. Admission is free, but donations are encouraged.)

Steve Rannazzisi: Stand-up comedian Steve Rannazzisi will bring his set to Boston this weekend with a show at the Wilbur Theatre. Rannazzisi is best known for the role of Kevin on the hit comedy “The League” (2009-present). (Friday at 7:30 p.m. at the Wilbur Theatre, 246 Tremont

Street, Boston. Tickets are $28.50 and can be purchased at ticketmaster.com.)

Tufts/NEC Dual Degree Concert: This weekend, students enrolled in the dual degree program between Tufts and New England Conservatory will perform in a concert. The program will feature original compositions, as well as classical and jazz ones. (Saturday at 8 p.m. in Distler Performance Hall. Admission is free.)

Tufts Wind Ensemble: In the latest edition of the Sunday at Tufts Community Concert Series, the Tufts Wind Ensemble, under the direction of John McCann, will perform a concert entitled “Stretching Our Ears: New Sounds 1905-1942.” The program will feature works by Stravinsky, Ives, Barber and more. (Sunday at 3 p.m. in Distler Performance Hall. Admission is free.)

—compiled by the Daily Arts Department

Theater Preview

3Ps’ newest production brings comedy to Tufts by

Drew Robertson

Daily Editorial Board

If you are in the mood for a good laugh tonight, you should consider heading down to Balch Arena Theater for the opening night of “The 39 Steps” (2005).

One of the minor productions developed this semester by Pen, Paint and Pretzels (3Ps), the student-run musical theater group on campus, “The 39 Steps” uses spies, murder, intrigue and romance to win hearts and create humor. The story follows Richard Hannay, a dashing bachelor living in London who goes to the theater one night and witnesses a murder. When Hannay is persuaded to help the murderess, he becomes entangled in an elaborate plot.

This show has a long history of entertaining audiences, though it was not always a comedy. “The 39 Steps” was originally an adventure novel published in 1915 by Scottish writer John Buchan.

Revered film director Alfred Hitchcock then repurposed the tale for the screen in 1935. Hitchcock made Hannay’s story serious, suspenseful and glamorous, and the film remained untouched as part of his prestigious canon until the theater community reinvented “The 39 Steps” as a play ... and a comedy.

In 2005, playwright Patrick Barlow adapted the “The 39 Steps” into a fourperson farce. The show opened on Broadway three years later, where it enjoyed a tremendous amount of popularity, becoming one of the longest running comedies in Broadway history. The play is conscious of its elaborate background, and references not only its cinematic predecessor, but also includes subtle allusions to other Hitchcock films, including “Strangers on a Train” (1951), “Vertigo” (1958) and “Psycho” (1960). Barlow’s “The 39 Steps” plays with Hitchcock tropes and stereotypes typically surrounding the dramatic hero to enhance the humor of the piece,

Shelby Carpenter / Courtesy Pen, Paint & Pretzels

Alex Kaufman plays and parodies a dramatic hero in his role as Richard Hannay in ‘The 39 Steps.’ while still being respectful of the film.

“You take ‘Casablanca’ (1942), you take Humphrey Bogart’s character and you place him in the world of farce,” senior and Daily editor Alex Kaufman said, describing his role as Hannay.

“Hannay is aware that he’s supposed to be this dashing hero, but also [is] making fun of it at the same time,” he said. The result is a light and playful evening full of Horatian satire.

Natalie Girshman, the director of “The 39 Steps” and a Daily columnist, credits the humor of the show as one of the reasons that she chose it.

“I thought it would [be] great to do

something that is light and fun, and something that the audience can really enjoy,” Girshman, a sophomore, said.

Girshman also noted that “The 39 Steps” is a show about the nature of theater itself; there are only four cast members, but many are called upon to play multiple characters — even in the same scene. Quite a tall order, but Girshman says everyone has contributed greatly to the show.

“My actors have worked very hard, and I’m very proud of everything that they’ve done,” she said.

While this creative aspect is one of the biggest challenges of the piece, it

is also one of the greatest draws for Girshman.

“I think that this show really does celebrate the transformative power of theater and the way it can sweep you away even with, you know, [just] a chair and a hat and the [talent] of the actors,” she explained.

Two showings of “The 39 Steps” — one at 7 p.m. and another at 9 p.m.

— will be performed this evening in Balch Arena Theater, and tickets are not necessary. Only here for one night, “The 39 Steps” is a must-see for anyone who believes in the philosophy “tragedy tomorrow, comedy tonight!”

Top Ten | People who should host the Oscars instead of Ellen DeGeneres In our first Top Ten since 2013, the Daily Arts Department would like to honor the pageantry and glamour of the upcoming Academy Awards. This year, Ellen DeGeneres will be hosting the show. Though DeGeneres is a fanfavorite, we all pray for the day that Amy Poehler and Tina Fey host every event ever. However, since the planets have not aligned to that end just yet, we’d thought we’d share our master list of ten better hosts for the 2014 Oscars.

10.) Vladimir Putin: As genteel as a Russian lynx and fearless as a person who poops in public bathrooms, Putin has really come out flamboyantly as a true showman during the Winter Olympics in Sochi. Charming and horrifying all at once, the crowd will cheer his name during the show and huddle hopelessly together during commercial breaks so as to not upset the KGB. 9.) Nicholas Cage: Because bees, witches and the Declaration of Independence.

That is all.

8.) Leonardo DiCaprio: Even if the guy doesn’t win an award, at least he can be on stage.

Shelby Carpenter / Courtesy Pen, Paint & Pretzels

Tangled romance, along with mystery, helps to drive the plot of ‘The 39 Steps.’

7.) Jonah Hill: Only if he’s wearing the veneers from a “Wolf of Wall Street” (2013) the entire time.

6.) BuzzFeed quizzes: So, we’re not quite sure how this would work, but c’mon, tell us that those BuzzFeed quizzes don’t have all the qualities of an Oscar host: They’re clever, topical and probably totally arbitrary.

5.) Miley Cyrus’ dad: ... Or just his mullet. Or maybe even just that facial hair.

4.) Shia LeBeouf: He could just read the same script that Seth MacFarlane did!

3.) Bill Nye: Just try to thank God in your acceptance speech; you’re going to have a bad time, we guarantee it.

2.) Frank Underwood: “I cannot abide, I cannot abide. Jennifer Lawrence, that simple actress with eager eyes and an ungainly obsession with food, has been nominated again. Tsk, tsk, tsk. Though she could not hold a candle to Claire, I must present her with this award.”

1.) Ellen Page: They’re both hip, witty and beloved lesbians named Ellen.

Page, however, is simply funnier. Make the change, guys! You don’t even have to mess with the posters.

—compiled by the Daily Arts Department

Thursday, February 27, 2014

The Tufts Daily

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weekender

TV Review

NBC adapts Hugh Grant film into new series Jason Katims’ ‘About a Boy’ is pleasant yet predictable

It may be unfair to judge an adaptation by its source material, but it is also inevitable. NBC’s new sitcom

by Stina Stannik

Contributing Writer

About a Boy Starring David Walton, Minnie Driver, Benjamin Stockham

Airs Tuesdays at 9 p.m. on NBC “About a Boy” tries — and, so far, fails — to live up to the high expectations set by the beloved 2002 film of the same name, itself an adaptation of Nick Hornby’s 1998 novel. NBC’s version has been remodeled for television by Jason Katims, who has also worked on “Parenthood” (2010-present) and “Friday Night Lights” (20062011) — both of which, incidentally, are themselves adapted from movies.

Unfortunately, Katims’ latest endeavor struggles to find a balance between honoring the original film and venturing out on its own, ultimately failing to do either.

The pilot opens with Will (David Walton), the show’s resident smarmy bachelor, watching in horror as a married friend struggles with a fussy baby. We quickly recognize that Will not only fears responsibility, but is also a pathological liar: he says he is a single parent in order to win the affections of an attractive woman named Dakota (Leslie Bibb), who is

Greg Hernandez via Wikimedia Commons

David Walton’s portrayal of Will fails to live up to previous actors’ renditions of the character.

headed to a single parents’ meeting.

In the group-healing session that follows, he continues to escalate the lie, inventing a son named Jonah who had leukemia but was cured in Africa.

Dakota seems skeptical — but in the next scene she and Will are tearing off each other’s clothes.

Before they can sleep together, though, Dakota is called away on a parental emergency. Will dashes out into the street in his underwear to secure her number. It is thus that he meets his new neighbors, Fiona (Minnie Driver) and her 11-year-old son Marcus (Benjamin Stockham).

The contrast between Will and Fiona is instant: for example, he is a grill enthusiast, while she is a vegan. Their initial snippy exchanges seem to establish some chemistry despite their obvious incompatibility and may hint at a future romance — but for now they appear entirely uninterested in each other.

Marcus, meanwhile, is sweet, intelligent and close with his mom — making him a prime target for the school bullies, who one day chase him to Will’s back door. When Dakota arrives for a date with Will, she immediately assumes Marcus, who is taking refuge in Will’s bachelor pad, to be the fabled Jonah. Marcus catches on and plays along, quietly telling Will, “I own you.”

Dakota, Marcus and Fiona all eventually interact later in the episode and recognize that Will has been using Marcus to sleep with Fiona. In what is supposed to be a dramatic climax, Marcus begs Will to explain to Fiona that it is not true and that they are really friends — and Will, of course, cannot.

Forced to return to hanging out with friends his own age, Will mopes around until one friends calls him out on his fears of commitment (gasp!).

In a cosmically well-timed opportunity, Will — desperate to prove his friend wrong — realizes that Marcus is preparing to sing an a capella version of a One Direction song and hurtles across town to try to stop him.

Marcus, no longer willing to trust Will, decides to perform anyway, only to struggle in front of the crowd and be saved by Will on guitar. Will is immediately returned to everyone’s good graces. It is all a bit too neat, lacking the realness and rawness that Katims encourages on his critically acclaimed “Parenthood.”

The acting is strong in its own right, but leaves something to be desired in contrast to the film. Hugh Grant, who plays Will in the movie, was simultaneously grumpy, aloof and endearing.

In NBC’s version, Walton fails to bring the same charm as leading man. Part

Justin Hoch via Flickr Creative Commons

Minnie Driver delivers a confident performance as Fiona, an overprotective and depressed mother. of the disconnect could arise from the lack of voiceover, which helped make Will more accessible in the film.

And while Driver’s confident Fiona is a pleasant contrast to the unbelievably gullible Dakota, Toni Collette’s starkly different portrayal of Fiona was a highlight of the original movie.

Collette offered a sensitive take on the irrational, paralyzing nature of depression. In the show, other characters talk about Fiona being depressed, but viewers never see it or feel it.

The biggest problem with “About a Boy” is that it’s hard to imagine a future for it. A movie can hinge on one major change in a character, but television relies on characters that are continuously developing. The film follows Will’s personal development as he comes to comprehend that relationships are a privilege, not a burden.

Yet the show has already seen Will embrace relationships and responsibility, so with the entire movie plot covered in the pilot episode, where will the series go from here? Not even NBC’s sparse promotional materials can offer clues. “About a Boy” is certainly not bad, but the jury is still out on whether it has the legs to make it to the end of a single season.

Freshman Josh Brown invests in campus music scene very casual hangout. “[Some friends and I] reserved a room in Granoff one time,” he said. “We practiced and tried playing some songs and said, ‘This is kind of fun.’”

Ultimately, the friends decided to start

Denzel, Denzel and more Denzel

S

The Artsy Jumbo

An engineering student and a volunteer for the Leonard Carmichael Society, freshman Josh Brown is also the cofounder and drummer of an up-andcoming band on campus, Like Wolves.

Brown says the band started from a

Nash Simpson | Throwblack Thursday

a band, and, already, it’s clear from their rapid line-up of recent shows that these freshmen have chops.

While music was not a major part of Brown’s life in high school, he says Tufts has definitely changed his outlook: in addition to founding Like Wolves, he is considering a minor in music engineering. Brown also said that he hopes to continue playing in bands as a pastime once he graduates college.

Other Like Wolves members include freshman Andra Pan, who plays lead guitar; freshman Josh Insler, who plays rhythm guitar; freshman John Sirota, who plays keyboard and lead singers Paul Matthews and Hunter Howard, both freshmen. While Brown is reluctant to classify his band as part of one genre, he describes their sound as rock/alternative-based with ska and soul influences.

Although Like Woles is young, Brown has high hopes for its future.

“For now, it’s more just for fun, but we definitely want to try and play as many shows as possible,” he said. “Our ultimate goal would be to open for Spring Fling by the time we leave Tufts.”

—by Nika Korchok

o this past weekend I watched “The Green Mile” (1999), an ostensibly classic black movie. Even though I thoroughly enjoyed it, something about the film made me feel uneasy.

Initially, I couldn’t pinpoint what it was.

I tried pushing my reservations aside as I excitedly brainstormed possible article topics: “Ooh, I should write about this! No, forget it, I should write about that!” Then I thought, “Maybe I should just screw it and watch a Spike Lee Joint instead.”

You see, what bothered me about “The Green Mile” went beyond what I saw on the screen. It wasn’t until I considered watching another movie altogether that I was finally able to conceptualize what had been bothering me. While searching for a second film, I noticed two disturbing patterns.

The first pattern is that most of the critically acclaimed, Oscar-nominated and/ or high-grossing productions that can be considered “black movies” are ones that star black actors or actresses playing only a handful of different roles. The second pattern is that almost all of these movies star the same few black actors. Whether or not there is a causal relationship between these two related patterns may be indeterminable. However, the fact of the matter is that they both exist, and they have always existed in American cinema.

So what are these typical roles for black actors? The first is exemplified by the late Michael Clarke Duncan’s character in “The Green Mile:” John Coffey, a godly figure of sorts — one that is all-knowing, completely trustworthy and utterly flawless. This character is often boldly paralleled with Jesus. Think Morgan Freeman’s God from “Bruce Almighty” (2003), Mufasa (James Earl Jones) or even Morpheus (Laurence Fishburne). Note that these three actors have played very similar or identical characters in other movies.

A second role designated for black actors is the funny sidekick — but not the funny main character. Because that would, of course, be too bold for Hollywood (unless you’re Eddie Murphy or Martin Lawrence). A third character reserved for black males is the depraved, scary and violent gangster, thug or petty criminal. Ironically, this third role often overlaps with the first one I mentioned.

Think Denzel Washington from “Training Day” (2001) or “American Gangster” (2007) or “Flight” (2012) or “John Q” (2002) or ... really anything else he’s done. This brings me to the second pattern I noticed, which is that there are a depressingly small number of black actors in Hollywood. Try naming five black actors that aren’t comedians. You’ll likely find that it’s difficult to do.

So where are black women in all this?

There aren’t very many black women in Hollywood movies, which is a whole other issue in itself. Nevertheless, black women who do make it to the screen typically get pigeonholed into roles that paint them either as domestic figures or perpetual victims of society. Examples include any woman in any Tyler Perry movie or the maids in Tate Taylor’s “The Help” (2011).

Movies that stray away from these bona fide norms rarely, if ever, seem to get recognition. More specifically, they just don’t get nominated for Oscars or other significant movie awards.

Exceptions to these unspoken rules are few and far between. The awards come when casting directors, producers and actors alike, make films that conform to patterns. For instance, Denzel Washington received his first Oscar for Best Actor when he brilliantly portrayed a merciless thug, while Halle Berry won for her role in “Monster Ball” (2001), which depicts her character’s victimsavior relationship with a racist white man. Perhaps the diversification of the roles that black actors and actresses are asked to play in Hollywood is imminent. Or perhaps it’s a lost hope.

Nash Simpson is a senior majoring in English. He can be reached at Nash.

Simpson@tufts.edu

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Brewer veto an important victory, undeserving of praise

Editor-in-Chief

Editorial Managing Editors Justin Rheingold Executive News Editor Daniel Bottino News Editors Jenna Buckle Abigail Feldman Daniel Gottfried Alexa Horwitz Victoria Leistman Annabelle Roberts Denali Tietjen Josh Weiner Sarah Zheng Meredith Braunstein Assistant News Editors Dana Guth Kathleen Schmidt Jei-Jei Tan Charlotte Gilliland Executive Features Editor Emma Arnesty-Good Features Editors Emily Bartlett Hannah Fingerhut Caitlin McClure Sabrina McMillin Jessica Mow Shannon Vavra Maya Blackstone Assistant Features Editors Sophie Laing Jake Taber Kendall Todd Lancy Downs Executive Arts Editor Brendan Donohue Arts Editors Veronica Little Dan O’Leary Drew Robertson Dana Guth Assistant Arts Editors Nika Korchok Wakulich Anthony Martinez Jake Indursky Alex Baudoin Alex Connors Ross Dember Zachey Kliger Kate Klots Aaron Leibowitz Tyler Maher David McIntyre Jason Schneiderman Alex Schroeder Sam Gold Alison Kuah Jorge Monroy-Palacio Maclyn Senear Chris Warren Nicholas Golden Tom Chalmers Matthew Crane Scott Geldzahler Susan Kaufman Benjamin Boventer Amy Bu Keran Chen Jehan Madhani Kyle Allen Jorge Monroy-Palacio Jonathan Moore Bailey Werner Caroline Geiling Sofia Adams Ethan Chan Matt Schreiber Christie Wu Caroline Ambros Maya Blackstone Alexander Knapp Annie Levine Nick Pfosi Kyra Sturgill Mitchell Katz Rachel Sheldon Alexander Kaufman Jake Hellman Aastha Chadha Ethan Chan Jade Chan Kristie Le Tanay Modi Blair Nodelman Joshua Podolsky Grace Segers

Thursday, February 27, 2014

Editorial

Caroline A. Welch J.L. Hoagland Stephanie Haven

Editorial | Op-ED

Arizona Governor Jan Brewer vetoed SB 1062 last night, after days of national attention and activist scrutiny toward the bill, which sought to “protect any individual, association or corporation from discrimination lawsuits if their actions are based on sincerely held religious beliefs,” according to a Feb. 26 The New York Times. Brewer, a Republican who has previously signed laws that are morally questionable, declared that vetoing this bill was in accordance with Arizona values. While the veto is a victory for anyone who has paid any attention to the long histories of discrimination in this country, Brewer’s intentions here should not win her any praise.

While SB 1062 has come under intense scrutiny, as it would have essentially legalized discrimination

against the LGBT community, it is simply an upgrade of a law currently in place in Arizona. The Religious Freedom Restoration Act, created in 1999, currently prevents the imposition of any “substantial burden” on churches or religiously observant individuals. That is to say, Arizona is by no means sinless. Brewer’s attempt to brush away criticisms of her state’s record is moot while this law remains on the books.

She is not alone in her attempts at avoiding valid criticism. The Republican senators from Arizona, John McCain and Jeff Flake, both stood up early against the bill, as did former Governor and Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney. While their attention is refreshing, their intentions are not blameless. Midterms are only seven months away, and the

Republican establishment is not looking to provide Democrats with material to help stave off the GOP’s campaign to retake the Senate. Are they really so strongly opposed to the bill on a moral level? Or simply a political one?

Juxtaposing the failure of SB1062 with the ruling that called out Texas’s gay marriage ban as unconstitutional seems to suggest a week of victories for equal rights in the U.S. Yet the fact that a bill like this one could go so far is unsettling; that it inspired at least one other similar proposal, in Ohio, is worse. SB 1062’s failure is arguably an important milestone in the fight against discrimination toward LGBT members of society, and a victory for “common sense” fairness. More remains to be done, however, in order to protect the advances that have been made.

Keran chen

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Off the Hill | University of Wisconsin, Eau Claire

Stem out from STEM by

Elizabeth Jackson

At my high school there wasn’t much of an emphasis on the sciences. The basics (biology and natural sciences) were required, and that was where most of my classmates stopped.

At age 16, my interests were pretty much the same as they are now — history and writing. But that didn’t stop me from taking the upper-level science classes like physics (which I still love — I’ve forgotten it all, but I still love it), chemistry and an advanced biology course. I understood the importance of these, even if I knew they weren’t what I was going into.

Recently, science, technology, engineering and math education, or STEM education, has gotten a push from a number of schools, states and even President Obama himself. At the White House Science Fair in April, Obama said, “One of the things that I’ve been focused on as president is how we creThe Spectator

ate an all-hands-on-deck approach to science, technology, engineering and math. We need to make this a priority to train an army of new teachers in these subject areas, and to make sure that all of us as a country are lifting up these subjects for the respect that they deserve.”

STEM education is great. There’s a very good chance that these fields are going to take over a lot of the job force (if they haven’t already). But, STEM can’t be the sole focus of schools, especially high schools. Arts — which not only include visual arts, but also history and writing — are just as important for students.

The thing is, the arts teach skills other than knowing which color looks good with which other color, or which historical figure died in what year.

The arts are about creativity — which is important for engineers and software developers. And, perhaps a little less known, the arts are about analytical thinking. As a history major,

I’ve found I need to know less about dates, and more about the analytics of trends in history. My critical thinking skills are probably just as good as a physics major’s even though I’m studying history. The same principle applies to political science and similar fields.

Arts also teach communication and writing. Effective communication is, strangely, in an increasingly connected world becoming less and less of a skill many people know. Everyone, even those going into the STEM fields, needs to be able to communicate. In a way, arts are much better at teaching valuable communication skills.

This isn’t to say that I don’t think STEM is a good concept — especially for young women, who are underrepresented in the field. The point is that in addition to STEM, we (and students in K-12 schooling) need to keep the arts in schools. They are not just an afterthought, but a component that plays a part in STEM education.

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Corrections In a Feb. 24 article entitled “University will not divest from fossil fuels at this time,” former Tufts Dviestment Working Group member Katie Walsh was misunderstood as suggesting that 60 percent of the university’s investment is in fossil fuels. That is in fact incorrect and Walsh was instead referring to University President Anthony Monaco’s suggestion that 60 percent of the endowment would be impacted by divestment.

Fossil fuel investments only make up a small percentage of the impacted endowment.

In a Feb. 25 article entitled “University begins negotiations with part-time faculty union” the picture did not correspond with the article.

The Tufts Daily is a nonprofit, independent newspaper, published Monday through Friday during the academic year, and distributed free to the Tufts community. EDITORIAL POLICY Editorials represent the position of The Tufts Daily. Individual editors are not necessarily responsible for, or in agreement with, the policies and editorials of The Tufts Daily. The content of letters, advertisements, signed columns, cartoons and graphics does not necessarily reflect the opinion of The Tufts Daily editorial board.

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Op-Ed

Op-Ed

Jonathan Moore | Politically Erect

Oppression looks like Palestine

Remembering Vivien Lim

by Shan

Zhi Thia

Vivien J. Lim, (E ’13) an international student from Singapore, would have graduated from Tufts in May 2013. She was an engineer, but with a firm passion for design. The Class of 2013’s class banner, beautifully designed by Vivien, hangs in the campus center today. She was a dear friend to many at Tufts, stunningly talented and intelligent, and always patient and understanding.

Vivien was diagnosed with Myoepithelial Carcinoma of the parotid salivary gland, a rare form of cancer without a standard treatment, in May 2012. When the doctor asked her how she was feeling, she calmly replied, “We just have to deal with it.” That was the attitude she had always had and continued to embody in the final year of her life. Always stoic and always a fighter, she was at once both hopeful and realistic, while never feeling sorry for herself. In May 2013, after 12 months of “dealing with it,” Vivien even hoped to return to the Hill for the semester.

But on Sept. 26, 2013, Tufts lost one of our own. Vivien passed away in her sleep. She was just 24.

Many of us in the Tufts community, from the Class of 2013 and beyond, have fond memories of Vivien. She was incredibly smart and had a great (and dark) sense of humor. She was always glad to lend a listening ear and offer sound advice. She intently observed the world around her, and when she wasn’t painting she was reading Kate Beaton comics.

Vivien was also an avid baker. With friends, she once baked pineapple tarts from scratch. It was the Lunar New Year, and pineapple tarts were a small reminder of family and friends thousands of miles away. When the tarts emerged from the oven at 2 a.m., they tasted just like home.

Even while fighting cancer, Vivien continued to bake. A friend remembers visiting Vivien, who had lost a lot of weight and was no longer as energetic. Despite that, Vivien wanted “one of those crazy midnight baking sessions all over again.” They baked chocolate chip cookies and while she was visibly exhausted, she was also very happy. It was the beauty in the simple things, in hope, and in friendship, that Vivien truly loved.

In her final blog post, dated July 2013, Vivien gave us a look into the final days of the fight, of times both good and bad. She had completed her final chemo session the previous April, and felt well enough to apply to a summer architecture program. For six weeks, she was a student again, grappling with unforgiving deadlines and busy schedules. Architecture is at the best of times demanding work, but in that studio, wrapped up in her passions, Vivien felt at home.

Design, she said, was this “damned lovely soul-consuming discipline.”

She loved it, and she was also great at it. Her teachers at the program commended her strong sense of who she was as a designer, and recommended she apply to architecture school. For those six weeks, she lived among a community of people who understood her and who inspired her. In Vivien’s own words, she had been a “fish out of water” who had now truly “found the ocean.”

Unfortunately, her condition proceeded to take a turn for the worse.

Within a week, she was twice readmitted to hospital with an inflamed lung, and both times doctors had to drain fluid from it. Even in such a difficult time, her characteristic dark wit never left her side (“Nearly three pints of frothy, beer-like liquid in as many days! I’m a walking refinery.”)

Vivien didn’t let it stop her. “Poor health can’t stop anyone from doing what they love,” she said, and she loved to design and to create. So she carried on working, drawing both on paper and in Illustrator, simply continuing to create. Vivien pressed on stoically, soldiering through the pain and fatigue that were wearing her down.

As I read this final post, I saw the questions and uncertainty that had followed her since her diagnosis.

Vivien allowed us a glimpse of what lay beneath her usual strong and calm exterior. At the end of her post, she simply asks: “Where is my place in life? And why does my health keep getting in the way?” She offers no answers, and we don’t know if she ever did manage to answer them for herself.

While we don’t know what Vivien would have said, we have some answers of our own. Vivien, while your health may have ultimately

Courtesy Shan Zhi Thia

failed you, please know that you showed those who knew you what it meant to be truly strong. You gave us the gifts of your talents, but more importantly you gave us the gift of your friendship.

Vivien, you showed us how to “deal with it” with courage and grace. And for that, we thank you.

In memory of Vivien, the Tufts Singapore Students’ Association (SSA), LCS Cancer Outreach and the International Club have come together to organize a week of fundraising activities. The proceeds from these activities will benefit the Vivien J. Lim memorial fund at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. This fund is dedicated to research towards a cure for the cancer that took Vivien from us. No standard therapy exists at this time. These events will run from March 2 to March 8. For more details, please contact any of these groups.

We sincerely hope you’ll join us in remembering Vivien and doing our part towards finding a cure.

Shan Zhi Thia is a junior majoring in history and the vice president of the Tufts Singapore Students Association.

He can be reached at shanzhi.thia@ tufts.edu.

Off the Hill | Wake Forest University

Sensitivity is not necessarily a bad thing by

Zoe Gonzales

Old Gold & Black

“You’re too sensitive.”

“Don’t take it personally.”

“You really need to grow a thicker skin.”

Has anyone ever said these words to you? Growing up, I got them all the time, and I still do today.

What problem does our culture have with sensitivity? I’m really interested in this subject because I look around and see many naturally sensitive people, at Wake Forest and elsewhere.

Last semester I read the greater part of “Quiet” by Susan Cain.

“Quiet” is a book about introversion, but the topic of sensitivity comes up quite often, as introverted people tend to be very sensitive.

Assuming that one-third to half of the population is introverted, we can conclude that nearly one out of every two people is sensitive. Sensitive people are often better at empathizing with people and reading others’ emotions.

They also tend to be the artists and

innovators that we respect and admire.

While this article is one in which I’d like to defend sensitivity, I recognize the obvious negative aspects of it.

Sensitive people take criticism harder, are more likely to react strongly to emotionally-charged events and generally have a hard time living in a world that is “dog-eat-dog.” However, the central problem I see with eschewing sensitivity as a personality trait is that it makes it just that much harder for the collective population of sensitive people to feel comfortable in their skin.

Anti-sensitivity sentiment has become a fixed aspect of our culture, down to the language we use.

Case in point, the expression “be a man.” (On a side note, what is a man? Can anyone answer that?) We allow women to be sensitive more regularly than men, but we still mock all kinds of sensitive acts in our TV shows, movies and other forms of media. When we force individuals to change themselves for the purpose of “growing tougher,” we not only create a hostile environment for self-expres-

sion, but we also simplify the notion of sensitivity. Sensitivity is not solely about your reaction to others’ words or actions.

It has just as much to do with what you make others feel as with what you feel. How you treat people matters, and how you deal with your inner world directly affects how you treat others. If you constantly stuff away your feelings and grow your skin thicker and thicker until you are unable to be sensitive to someone else’s emotions, well then, that thick skin isn’t really helping out your relationship in the long run.

If the power of empathy doesn’t convince you of the merits of sensitivity, consider this: Psychology Today states that the most important trait to look for in a partner is responsiveness, “someone who is good at making you feel understood, validated and cared for.”

Sound familiar?

When placed in an accepting, healthy environment sensitive people will blossom. It’s up to us to create that environment.

As Israeli Apartheid Week on campus begins, tensions between students on either side of the Israeli-Palestinian divide are sure to rise. Words will have the power of knives, and passion will win out against ignorance. Yet, there will be many students either too uninformed or too indifferent to “pick a side,” preferring to wade in calmer waters by saying things like, “Everyone wants peace,” and “Well, you have to see the other side of the story.”

But in the vein of this column, let’s get real: one side of the story is called oppressed. The other side of the story is called oppression.

While it’s much more comfortable for many to straddle the divide, it would be a bit harder if that divide was not metaphorical. If, perhaps, an actual wall fortified it — separation and dehumanization solidified by concrete and steel — it would be easier to understand the outrage, to understand the madness. Yet still, many will find the age-old (not really) issue of Israel and Palestine too intractable, too obvious and too foreign for them to give a rat’s ass.

Once upon a time, I was that guy — uninformed and completely unaware of the internationally supported oppression and injustice being carried out against millions in the name of security and freedom for others. As an African-American and Latino, understanding how systems of oppression, economic starvation and dehumanization work to codify white supremacy and belittle black and brown bodies to the point of torture is not so much an academic pursuit as it is a tool for survival. As an American, I am disturbed that as we speak, Secretary of State John Kerry is acting in my name and the names of all Americans in brokering a deal between Israel and Palestine that would make 40 acres and a mule look like The New Deal. I am disturbed that, we applaud our relationship with Israel as if we’ve righteously befriended the nerdy kid on the playground, and then do nothing as he abuses the human rights and eradicates any potential for self-determination and self-governance of millions of human beings. What sick and twisted jungle gym will we claim as our own doing 100 years from now?

Outrage helps validate our emotions and provides context for what few words can manage to express. But outrage is useless if it does not spur action. Outrage is useless if it does not evoke words to rise out of the throats of the silent and the weak, as well as the loud and powerful.

Outrage is only what we can make it, and, sometimes, determining what that looks like is a lot easier said than done. I write all of this because not only do I personally stand in solidarity with Students for Justice in Palestine around the country this week, but also because our university’s own chapter remains indignant and unshaken in their pursuit to make us more conscious and more considerate of what is being done in our names and what modern day political enslavement looks like.

Respect and toleration are two very different things — I can respect my fellow man without signing off on his refusal to stand up for what is right.

I can respect my government (not even sure that I should) without rubber-stamping negotiations that stop at self-determination and freedom for millions. Surely, I can respect Israel’s existence without tolerating the crimes and torture against Palestinians it carries out daily, tolerating the blocking of virtually all exports from a devastated Palestinian economy, tolerating the legality of injustice in a land of oppressor and oppressed.

I’m not so sure I can tolerate how hauntingly silent many of us will become after this week is over, though.

Jonathan Moore is a freshman who is majoring in political science and American studies. He may be reached at Jonathan.

Moore581594@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

12

Comics

Thursday, February 27, 2014

Doonesbury

Crossword

by

Garry Trudeau

Non Sequitur

Tuesday’s Solution

Married to the Sea

www.marriedtothesea.com

SUDOKU Level: Leonardo DiCaprio winning an Oscar.

Late Night at the Daily

Wednesday’s Solution

Justin: “I’m really high maintenance when it comes to pickles.”

Want more late-night laughs?

Follow us on Twitter at @LateNiteAtDaily

Please recycle this Daily.

by

Wiley

Thursday, February 27, 2014

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The Tufts Daily

Sports

Tufts takes two of three tournament games WOMEN’S SQUASH continued from back

played the semifinals of the D Division against the University of Virginia, losing an incredibly close match by a score of 5-4.

In the No. 1 position, Stanco pulled out a victory in five games, 11-6, 13-11, 11-5, 12-10, 11-4. The Jumbos’ other three wins came from Bezahler, Cheng and Howe in the fourth, fifth and sixth positions.

In the No. 2 position, Dahlman lost a heartbreaking match that was

decided in five games, 11-8, 4-11, 11-6, 10-12, 11-9. Bellinger was defeated in four games in the third position. Rice, Griffiths and Laing also lost to their Cavalier opponents in the seventh, eighth and ninth positions.

“A lot of us showed that we improved individually which was really good,” Cheng said.

For the Jumbos, the tournament presented a unique challenge, as the team does not generally venture out of the New England region.

“I think the hardest thing was going in

knowing that we were the top seed, but only knowing [a few] different teams in our division and what they looked like,” Bellinger said. “UVA was definitely a wild card for us [because] we had no idea what they’d be like. Since they are a club team, they do not get to play many teams out of state, so it is really hard to gauge what they are going to be like.”

Tufts bookended its loss to UVA with its victory against Bucknell University, 7-2, in the D Division quarterfinals on Friday.

The Jumbos won in their first seven positions to breeze past the Bisons.

Thursday, February 27, 2014

Overall, the weekend was a microcosm of the season for the Jumbos, who have been up and down all year.

“I think we played really well [and] tried our best,” Cheng said. “We could have won in our division, though, because we were seeded first.”

The team championships were the last team competition for Tufts this year, but Stanco will get a chance to play for the Jumbos one last time this year when she participates in the CSA Individual Championships this weekend.

Thursday, February 27, 2014

The Tufts Daily

Tufts’ success will rely on depth, chemistry MEN’S LACROSSE continued from back

trust in our players,” McDermott said.

“It’s less about skill — there are a whole lot of skilled lacrosse teams in our conference and beyond — but it’s more about building a system that puts lacrosse players in a spot to succeed. When you have the ball in your stick, you’re on offense. When the other team has the ball, you’re on defense. It’s that simple, we play team offense and team defense.”

Senior tri-captain and long-stick midfielder Kane Delaney, who received Div. III All-America Honorable Mention nods in preseason polls, played in 19 games last season and was a valuable part of Tufts’ face-off and transition game. Delaney helped Tufts to several key possessions and finished 2013 with 77 groundballs, good enough for second on the team. His play from the wing and ability to force turnovers will be crucial to Tufts’ success.

Last season, the NCAA implemented a series of rule changes intended to speed up the tempo of games, many of which played into Tufts’ run-and-gun approach.

If the Jumbos have conditioned well in the offseason, they can take full advantage and begin to make up for the loss of Diss, LaBeau and Haas.

X marks the spot Another question mark remains at the face-off X, where Tufts lost top face-off man Brian Ruggiero (LA ‘13), who finished 2013 with a 0.471 win percentage.

Since Nick Rhoads’ (LA ‘12) departure, Tufts has worked without a dominant face-off specialist, though Ruggiero proved a reliable solution that earned the Jumbos many quality possessions.

Last spring, Daly tested a variety of options, alternating between one or two poles on the wings. It is probable, however, that Daly will choose an entirely new course. Joining the mix is sophomore midfielder Conor Helfrich. Helfrich is a composed presence at the faceoff X whose gritty play may prove valuable in high-pressure situations. After spending his freshman season sidelined with an injury, Helfrich is eager to make an impact and secure possessions.

Dodging bullets In 2013, senior captain Andrew Fiamengo (LA ‘13) led the charge from the offensive midfield, using speed and creativity to ditch defenders. He finished tied for fourth on the team in scoring, behind the Jumbos’ starting attackmen, with 34 goals and 18 assists.

Fiamengo’s departure left rising senior midfielder Peter Bowers as the predictable frontrunner for the start. Bowers saw time in 18 contests last spring, tallying 24 goals and an assist. He is a cunning player with strong dodging abilities, but as a senior he must also become a reliable feeder.

Junior Peter Gill, who stands 6’ 3”, and sophomore Garrett Clarke, who measures an inch taller than Gill, are big midfielders who make up for what Bowers lacks in stature. Clarke, just beginning his second campaign, came off the bench in 13 contests last year to log seven goals and an assist. An unorthodox yet innovative midfielder, Clarke can both bully through defensive pressure and rip shots from outside.

Gill played in 10 games last season, notching five goals and four assists. His style of play is a similar but slightly more disciplined version of Clarke’s, making the duo a dangerous complement to Bowers’ breakneck, dodging game.

Another senior emerged in 2013 as a formidable threat. Senior Dan Leventhal, who stands at 6’ 4”, experienced a breakout season, playing in 16 games and finishing his junior year with 20 goals and two assists, including an impressive four-goal performance in a close victory over Middlebury.

“Our depth at offensive midfield is definitely a strong point for our team,” Leventhal said. “From the freshmen to seniors, a lot of guys in this group have the ability to make huge plays. We have some great athletes and as a unit we will be able to create some definite matchup problems for opposing defenses.”

Fiamengo battled hamstring injuries for much of his career, but the midfielder always played with intensity. If Bowers, Clarke, Gill and Leventhal stay healthy, the Jumbos have a solid set of players to facilitate their notorious transition game.

“As a program, we constantly strive to push the ball and create transition offense,” Leventhal said. “That’s something we always drill in our high-pace practices. We do a lot of unsettled situations in order to prepare for our regular season games.”

On the hunt At the outset, it appears that Tufts’ most secure position is the offensive end. All three starting attackmen return this spring.

Cole Bailey is a highly explosive player.

R e c e n t l y named a preseason

KC Hambleton / Tufts Daily Archives

Tufts will rely on senior tri-captain Beau Wood to provide a stable source of leadership, and to man the middle of the field for a team in transition.

15

SPORTS

First-Team All-American by Inside Lacrosse, Bailey finished his sophomore season with 30 goals and 42 assists to lead the team in scoring. An AllNESCAC player in his first two seasons, Bailey is highly regarded by competitors who know him as a lights-out player in front of the cage but most dangerous working from behind. His freeform and selfless play is reminiscent of Tufts great D.J. Hessler (E ‘11). Bailey has a knack for creating scoring opportunities for teammates.

Senior tri-captain Beau Wood, a ThirdTeam preseason All-American, finished 2013 with 20 assists and a NESCACbest 47 goals. He also led the team and the conference in shooting with 169 attempts. With time and space no one is better at delivering strikes from the wing or from the top of the key.

Rounding out the starting trio is junior Chris Schoenhut, who stepped in last season to replace crease finisher Sean Kirwan (LA ‘12), now a Graduate Assistant with the Jumbos. Schoenhut took little time to adjust, ending the season with a .517 scoring percentage and finishing fifth in the conference with 52 points.

Complementing the starting three are sophomore John Uppgren and classmates Connor Bilby and Ben Andreycak, who factored into the Jumbos’ man-up offense last year. In Uppgren’s freshman campaign, the left-hander played in 21 games, finishing fifth on the team in scoring with 23 goals and 11 assists.

New arrivals The Jumbos’ youngest generation numbers 13, as Daly’s staff has outdone itself in picking up some of the nation’s top competitors.

The freshman class is highlighted by several standouts, including twin brothers Tyler and Austin Carbone, a package deal hailing from Summit, N.J. The duo were All-Americans and First-Team All-State players in one of high school lacrosse’s most competitive markets.

A crew of other first-years join the aforementioned duo, hoping to make an impact as Blake Wood, Uppgren, Clarke and others did last season. Although it is unlikely that any will assume a starting role, past years indicate that hard work and good mechanics do not go unnoticed by Daly.

Save the dates After starting the last two seasons against Hamilton, the Jumbos begin 2014 with a tilt at No. 18 Middlebury.

The March 1 start-date is nearly two weeks earlier than last year’s start, allowing NESCAC squads just two and a half weeks to prepare for the season following the conference-mandated Feb. 15 start of practices.

As always, competing in the NESCAC means a daunting in-conference schedule. Wesleyan, Middlebury and Conn. College proved to be tough challenges last year. Although teams like Trinity and Amherst appear to be on the downturn, the Jumbos are mindful that any given Saturday could bring a win or a loss.

“The NESCAC is the most competitive division in Div. III lacrosse,” Leventhal said. “There can be major upsets on any given day, and there are no ‘days off’ or easy games. This is why we as a team take it one game at a time and don’t look too far down the road.

Although everyone ultimately has a NESCAC championship and National Championship as their goal, right now we are strictly focused on coming out and getting a win in game one.”

That said, Tufts is confident that it has what it takes to bring home another conference title and ultimately hoist the Div. III trophy in May. If the Jumbos’ biggest problem is depth, it is a problem that Daly and his squad embrace with open arms.

“I think when you have 49 players that completely buy into a system, you’re going to have depth across the field,” McDermott said. “Our coaches do a remarkable job at recruiting ‘lacrosse junkies,’ or guys who flat-out love the game. It doesn’t necessarily matter who lines up on the field individually so much as they are doing their job for the team.”

Aaron Leibowitz | The Fan

30 teams, 30 sentences

T

he Angels will improve with Trout, Pujols and Hamilton, but they’ll still finish behind the Rangers and A’s.

The Astros are a disaster, but if prospects like Springer and Correa get called up they may become watchable in July.

The Athletics will win a third straight AL West title due to a strong pitching staff, a platoon-powered lineup and a ridiculously deep bullpen. The Blue Jays have basically the same team as last year, which, despite some pop, won’t be enough.

The Braves will earn a Wild Card spot with the recently locked up core of Freeman, Simmons, Heyward, Teheran and Kimbrel. The Brewers won’t be terrible if Ryan Braun rakes, but there’s no way they can match the Cardinals and Reds.

The Cardinals will win the World Series, not only because they’re talented, but also because they have remarkable depth at every position.

The Cubs will be waiting until next year — their specialty — unless Anthony Rizzo and Starlin Castro both become superstars.

The Diamondbacks could crack .500 if Paul Goldschmidt shines, Mark Trumbo hits 30 homers and Patrick Corbin improves. The Dodgers are loaded across the board, and they will win the NL West even if Yasiel Puig is not Superman.

The Giants will improve significantly after a down year and face the Braves in the NL Wild Card game. The Indians won’t approach 92 wins again without Ubaldo Jimenez and Scott Kazmir.

The Mariners may have Robinson Cano, but he’ll be lonely in a lineup with too many question marks. The Marlins will take a big step forward with a young core headlined by Giancarlo Stanton and Jose Fernandez.

The Mets — God bless their Harveyless souls — will win 74 games for a third straight year, or 76 if they sign Stephen Drew. The Nationals, if onpaper rosters mean anything, will reach 90 wins behind the best pitching staff in the NL. The Orioles boosted their chances by signing Jimenez and Nelson Cruz, but like the Jays, they’re doomed in the AL East.

The Padres feature exciting young talent like Jedd Gyorko and Yonder Alonso, but they lack a superstar — unless Chase Headley has a huge year.

The Phillies are way too old: They entered Spring Training with eight players 35 years or older and 17 players 30 years or older. The Pirates will be good for years to come, but their failure to resign A.J. Burnett suggests a repeat of last season’s results is unlikely.

The Rangers have an imposing lineup with Prince Fielder and Shin-Soo Choo, and they will battle the A’s down to the wire. The Rays will reap the benefits of re-signing David Price, winning the AL East behind four young pitching studs.

The Red Sox will challenge the Rays and become a Wild Card team as they lean a bit too much on youngsters like Will Middlebrooks and Jackie Bradley, Jr. The Reds, despite a stellar rotation and bullpen, feature a lineup with just enough holes to miss the postseason.

The Rockies might have a shot if Troy Tulowitzki and Carlos Gonzalez stay healthy, but don’t you dare count on it.

The Royals won’t make the playoffs, but they will compete into September as their young lineup progresses.

The Tigers will reach the World Series thanks to a trio of Cy Young candidates: Verlander, Scherzer and Sanchez.

The Twins will restlessly await the arrivals of Byron Buxton and Miguel Sano as the big league team continues to disappoint.

The White Sox may stink slightly less than the Twins if Cuban first baseman Jose Abreu lives up to $68 million worth of hype.

The Yankees will win zero games and lose 162.

Aaron Leibowitz is a senior who is majoring in American studies. He can be reached at Aaron.Leibowitz@tufts.edu.

Sports

16

tuftsdaily.com

Men’s Lacrosse

Jumbos have national title on their minds Despite turnover, team’s goals remain the same by

Kate Klots

Daily Editorial Board

As the 2014 lacrosse season draws near, the Jumbos, ranked No. 5 nationally, have set their sights on a fifth straight conference title in what is arguably Div. III lacrosse’s toughest top-tobottom conference.

Title Hunting But that title is not the ultimate prize. Since winning the National Championship in 2010, Tufts has fallen a game short of the Div. III title each year, including in 2013 when the Jumbos bowed out in the round of eight after a devastating 14-5 loss at the Rochester Institute of Technology.

For last year’s seniors, that loss marked the end of their collegiate careers. For the younger members of the team, May 15 marked the beginning of this year’s title hunt. Since then, head coach Mike Daly’s squad has worked harder than ever, determined to return to Baltimore and bring a four-year journey full circle.

“It just seems right for us to get back to Baltimore, back where it started for us four years ago,” senior tri-captain Dan Alles said. “[At that time] we were young and we weren’t able to really appreciate what an accomplishment it was. Coming in to the program when they had just won a championship probably spoiled us a little bit, but we have great coaching and great leadership that has certainly instilled in us that nothing is given, and that we have to earn every success.”

Despite significant losses in talent and experience, the team sees its roster as an opportunity rather than an obstacle. As the season approaches, players have battled to prove that they deserve the nod.

“I think every team has a different chemistry,” senior attackman Jack McDermott said. “The opportunities on the field have challenged players to compete everyday and get better. It brings out the best in our guys — we work hard and it’s no surprise why there are so many players that can make an impact on our team.”

Changing of the guard Now in his 16th season with the Jumbos, Daly maintains a positive disposition when it comes to replacing players.

There are several holes to fill: In 2013, the Jumbos graduated all three of their close defensive starters — Sam Gardner (LA ’13), John Heard (LA ’13) and Matt Callahan (LA ’13).

Despite the loss, the Jumbos are confident that they will put out a strong unit.

The situation resembles that of the 2011 season. Following the previous year’s championship run, Tufts rebuilt after graduating its three defensive starters and made it to the title game that year.

This spring, the Jumbos have formidable options in their returning classes.

Juniors Garrett Read and Cem Kalkavan possess menacing size and aggressive styles of play. Sophomore Blake Wood, who collected extensive playing time in his first campaign, also earned a reputation for playing solid fundamental defense and will complement his larger teammates.

The Jumbos also look forward to Alles’ return after a one-year hiatus.

Alles, who struggled with a shoulder injury, has worked to come back from tough odds. He returns intent to improve upon his sophomore campaign. In 2012, he played in 20 of 21 games, capturing 37 groundballs and causing 19 turnovers. At 6’ 3” and over 200 pounds, Alles bodies up against opponents with a trademark physical style of play that helps Tufts bring heavy pressure in front of the cage.

“I’m extremely excited to be able to suit up and play after missing last year,” Alles said. “It’s been a long road to recovery for me and I cannot wait to lace up my cleats and put on that jersey.”

Options between the pipes Although the close defense will undergo some big changes, Tufts remains deep at goalkeeper, meaning that goalie coach Scott Rynne has his pick as to who will back the defense between the pipes.

Senior Patton Watkins, who took over the starting position midway through his freshman year, returns focused on

the task at hand. However, Watkins, who traded starts with rising sophomore Alex Salazar last season, knows better than anyone that, despite making 171 saves over the course of more than 750 minutes last year, his spot is not guaranteed.

At his heels is Salazar, who split games with Watkins beginning in a March 24, 2013 tilt with Western New England University. Salazar later seized the starting role in April, booking 97 saves in just nine games and posting the conference’s fourth-highest save percentage before suffering a year-ending injury during an April 20 loss to Wesleyan.

It is probable that Rynne, the chief decision-maker, will opt to start the veteran Watkins for the first game. However, he has demonstrated a willingness to rotate keepers and will likely call upon Salazar or junior Brian Droesch as the season progresses. No matter what, the

Jumbos have the luxury of an incredibly deep and game-tested bench to anchor their defensive end.

A team in transition: Conditioning is key As the Jumbos look to rebuild, their defensive midfield also faces sweeping change. Last season, Tufts graduated short-stick defensive midfielder Sam Diss (LA ‘13), who played a thankless position to its fullest. The Jumbos also lost Dylan Haas (E ‘13) to graduation and suffered a massive loss in the departure of junior Tim LaBeau, who transferred to Cornell for the second half of his collegiate career. LaBeau recently made the Big Red roster and his tenacious work ethic, even coming off the bench, will be missed.

The defensive midfield is an important battlefield for the Jumbos, who have historically relied on their transition game to create quick-strike scoring opportunities. Fortunately, an injury to LaBeau last season forced Daly to address the vacancy earlier than expected. He has since worked on developing former longpole defender C.J. Higgins into a capable short-stick player who can fluidly alternate between positions.

Higgins will be accompanied by sophomore Chris Sawyer, junior Charlie Rubin and McDermott. Sawyer notched time in the Jumbos’ first two contests last year and played a strong scrimmage against Yale while McDermott, a veteran, has demonstrated versatility as a listed attackman who is capable of playing several positions.

“I think our versatility around the field reflects on Coach Daly’s see MEN’S LACROSSE, page 15

Virginia Bledsoe / Tufts Daily ARchives

Junior Cole Bailey will be the center piece of a highoctane Jumbos’ offense, as the attackman will look to live up to his First-Team Preseason All-American honors.

Women’s squash

Jumbos finish third in division at CSA Championships Steven Hefter Daily Staff Writer

The women’s squash team this past weekend earned the third spot in the D Division and a No. 27 national ranking, after Tufts beat William Smith College in the consolation round of the CSA Team Championships in Princeton, N.J. “I think we were hoping to come home with winning the D Division, but overall we’re happy that we stepped up and won our match on Sunday against William Smith,” junior Ann Bellinger said.

Tufts defeated William Smith 5-4 to end their weekend on a high note. The success started at the top of the ladder, with sophomore No. 1 Paget Stanco dispatching her opponent with scores of 11-5, 11-6, 11-2. Junior Paige Dahlman continued her dominant season with a decisive victory in the No. 2 position. She also defeated her opponent in straight games, 11-3, 11-3, 11-6.

In the third position, Bellinger won in three tough games, grind-

ing out scores of 11-8, 11-8, 14-12. The fourth Tufts win came from freshman Anna Bezahler, who cruised to a three game win at 11-8, 11-6, 11-4. Freshman Lynn Cheng won her match in the No. 5 position in three games as well, scoring 11-4, 11-6, 11-3 to seal the victory for Tufts.

In the No. 6 position, senior Caroline Howe pushed her match to four games but was unable to pick up the win against her Heron counterpart. Freshman Rowan Rice battled her opponent to a decisive fifth game, but came up short in her match, 11-8, 6-11, 11-5, 5-11, 11-5. Junior Charlotte Griffiths and sophomore Sophie Laing competed in the eighth and ninth positions, respectively, but were each unable to emerge victorious.

“I think I am most proud of our team rebounding after losing on Saturday and not letting that get to [us] and still coming out strong on Sunday and winning,” Bellinger said.

On Saturday afternoon, Tufts

Sofia Adams / The Tufts Daily

see WOMEN’S SQUASH, page 14

The women’s squash team finished off its season with a third-place finish in the D Division at the CSA Team Championships.