TuftsDaily10-03-2012

THE TUFTS DAILY

Cloudy 68/63

Somerville weighs raise for non-union workers by

Audrey Michael

Daily Editorial Board

The Somerville Board of Aldermen is deliberating on a salary raise for 150 non-union workers that will total over $1.1 million — the first compensation adjustment in six years, Director of Communications for the City of Somerville Thomas Champion said.

To determine the amount by which non-union workers’ salaries should increase, the City of Somerville’s Municipal Compensation Advisory Board (MCAB) hired the Edward J. Collins, Jr. Center for Public Management at the University of Massachusetts, Boston to analyze non-union workers’ job descriptions and salaries.

Comparing this to similar positions in other communities, MCAB created a report that rates positions based on job difficulty, responsibility and qualifications.

“It became clear that as a general rule, the salaries in Somerville were well below the average of the comparable municipalities,” the report states.

“One consequence of paying under the market is high turnover, which costs the City

in loss of efficiency, knowledge and training.”

The Somerville Committee on Legislative Matters met to pursue the recommendations on Sept.

10. Aldermen were assigned to pursue individual aspects of the recommendations, which remain in committee.

“Not only have they proposed salary adjustments, but they have also proposed a new classification system,” Champion said. “The last time that this was done, it was based on a different classification system, and it was based on a very different era for compensation.”

The Collins Center also recommended a multi-step program for future salary increases, with raises being tied to performance.

In an open letter to the Board of Aldermen, Somerville Mayor Joseph Curtatone endorsed the MCAB’s report and recommended the Board approve the salary raises for non-union workers.

“We need a compensation system that rewards the productivity of this extraordinary workforce while allowing us to recruit and retain the best possible professionals to mansee SOMERVILLE, page 2

TCF’s group recognition on hold pending constitutional changes

by Jennifer

White

Daily Editorial Board

Tufts Christian Fellowship ( TCF), a student group with a history of controversy, is coming under scrutiny again with the suspension of its official recognition this semester by the Tufts Community Union ( TCU) Judiciary over clauses in its constitution that violated the TCU Constitution’s non-discrimination policy.

The Judiciary decided last month to suspend TCF after, while conducting its re-recognition process, it found that TCF’s governing document excludes students from applying to leadership positions based on their beliefs.

Under the clauses in question, the TCF constitution requires that any organization member who wishes to apply for a leadership role must adhere to a series of tenets called a Basis of Faith.

This requirement violates the TCU Constitution’s nondiscrimination clause by excluding students who do not share this belief system, according to Judiciary Chair Adam Sax.

South Hall renovation includes recycling measures

by Sharon

Lam

Senior Staff Writer

To increase sustainability efforts on campus, South Hall installed FreeCycle stations and other recycling measures over the summer, according to Dawn Quirk, Facilities Services Department recycling coordinator for Tufts Recycles!.

“Before, the recycling bins were behind either closets or nooks, which made recycling very difficult,” sophomore Christopher Ghanny, an EcoRep in Bush Hall and summer intern at Tufts Recycles!, said.

“We didn’t know where the bins were because they were closed off.”

The stations promote the use of the three Rs — reduce, reuse and recycle — on campus, according to Quirk.

“Encouraging people to reuse is more effective if a mechanism to do so is offered,” she said.

Students can drop off and pick up unwanted reusable items at the FreeCycle stations at any time, an improvement from last year when they could only exchange items during move-in and move-out, according to Quirk.

Construction crews removed built-in desks and closets in see RECYCLING, page 2

TUFTSDAILY.COM

Wednesday, October 3, 2012

VOLUME LXIV, NUMBER 19

Where You Read It First Est. 1980

Kyra Sturgill / The Tufts Daily

Renovations to South Hall over the summer included the installation of FreeCycle stations, which allow students to exchange reusable items.

Inside this issue

Zhuangchen Zhou / The Tufts Daily

The Tufts Community Union (TCU) Judiciary last month suspended Tufts Christian Fellowship’s (TCF) status as a TCU-recognized group until TCF makes amendments to its constitution.

“This is a matter of freedom of religion as we’re looking at it,” Sax, a senior, said. “The parts that need to be changed are parts that [should say] anyone of any faith can be

part of this group and attain any leadership position.”

The Judiciary advised TCF leaders at the beginning of see TCF, page 2

Investigation underway of volleyball game harassment allegations An attorney hired by the Office of Equal Opportunity (OEO) is conducting an external investigation of allegations that Tufts students yelled racist and sexist insults at players during a varsity women’s volleyball game between Tufts and Smith College last month.

The OEO launched the investigation in response to a complaint that was filed the day after the Sept. 21 game through a reporting mechanism on the OEO website, according to OEO Director Jill Zellmer.

In addition to the complaint, an account of the incident in the form of an op-ed by junior Rose Barrett published in the Daily on Sept. 25 also detailed allegations of offensive speech at the game.

The attorney hired by the OEO, Djuna Perkins, specializes in cases of sexual harassment and discrimination. Since Saturday, she has been interviewing Tufts students, faculty and staff who may have information regarding the allegations, Zellmer said.

Zellmer said the OEO decided to hire an external consultant, a frequent practice in the OEO, because of the seriousness of the allegations and because they involved students from another university.

“We take those things very seriously because it just adds

another level of liability if these things are found to be true,” Zellmer said.

Perkins will compile a report to submit to the OEO, which will then be handled by the appropriate staff or administrators.

When the report will be completed has yet to be determined.

“It depends on how long it takes to identify the individuals who may have made these comments,” Zellmer said.

Dean of Student Affairs Bruce Reitman said that, depending on the investigation’s findings, action could either be taken by the Office of Student Affairs, the Athletics Department or the Committee on Student Life.

“There are a bunch of different ways that it could go depending on what they are able to determine happened at the game,” he said.

Zellmer said students have historically underutilized the OEO’s online complaint filing system.

“This is an excellent way for people to file if they don’t want to be known and if they want to notify the university that things have gone on that they don’t like or want fixed with respect to sexual misconduct and discrimination or harassment allegations,” she said.

—by Martha Shanahan

Today’s sections

A new group strives to create a community for mixed-race students on the Hill.

No Doubt’s latest is none too inventive, but it’s still “Hella Good.”

see FEATURES, page 3

see ARTS, page 5

News Features Arts & Living Editorial | Letters

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Op-Ed Comics Classifieds Sports

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News

Wednesday, October 3, 2012

New compensation system under consideration SOMERVILLE

continued from page 1

age and deliver municipal services,” Curtatone said. “This plan meets that challenge while, at the same, striking a balance with our need to manage scarce public resources as efficiently as possible.”

If the Board of Aldermen approves the salary raises, they will begin retroactively on July 1, 2012, the beginning of the fiscal year, Champion said.

“It is customary in collective bargaining for many government agencies for the contracts to lapse for a period before a new agreement is signed,” Champion said. “The core principle here, the orienting principle of this process, is to allow the city to recruit and retain the best possible workforce.”

MCAB’s report also included a recommendation to increase the mayor’s salary by $20,000, but the mayor did not endorse this element.

“While I urge you to support all the other findings of this study, and make them law, I therefore hope you will exercise your own best judgment when it comes to accepting or rejecting any recommendations concerning my compensation and that of future mayors,” Curtatone said.

—James Pouliot contributed reporting to this article.

Nick Pfosi / The Tufts Daily

The Somerville Board of Aldermen is considering a pay raise for 150 non-union workers whose salaries have not seen an increase in six years.

TCF leadership to consider constitution revision, group identity TCF

continued from page 1

this semester that unless the clauses were changed, the group’s TCU recognition would be put on hold and their funding would be frozen, Sax said.

TCF is the Tufts chapter of InterVarsity Christian Fellowship/USA (IVCF), an evangelical Christian mission on college campuses across the country.

The Basis of Faith doctrine included in TCF’s most recently published constitution is identical to the IVCF Doctrinal Basis that the national organization followed prior to 2000. IVCF has since updated the Doctrinal Basis, while TCF’s Basis of Faith clause has remained the same.

The chapter’s relationship with IVCF, as well as its leadership choice process, were called into question last year when four students filed a complaint with the Judiciary that IVCF staff members wield undue influence over the student group and that both organizations conducted discriminatory practices.

In 2000, TCF gained national attention when the Judiciary ruled that TCF and an IVCF representative had denied a Tufts student and TCF member a leadership position on the basis of her sexual orientation.

The Judiciary suspended TCF because of the concern that clauses related to the Basis of Faith did not reflect openness to all potential stu-

dent leaders, regardless of their religious beliefs, Sax said.

Sax added that discussions between the two groups are ongoing, and it is up to TCF leaders to decide whether to make the recommended changes, extend the negotiations or accept derecognition by the Judiciary.

Junior Jessica Laporte, a member of TCF’s Vision and Planning Team, said TCF’s leadership is considering each of these courses of action and is open to negotiation.

“Right now as a group we’re open to all possibilities,” Laporte said. “Our ultimate goal is to be a recognized group on campus, but we also desire to take the time to really be true to who we are.”

Because this is the first instance in which the Judiciary has issued a temporary suspension period for a student group, the Judiciary is still in the process of determining the exact protocol of such a suspension, according to Sax. “We did not feel that they merited de-recognition for this,” he said. “This is something that the group and we can work out and come to an understanding on.”

Laporte said that since its suspension, TCF leadership has carefully considered its course of action, including soliciting input from TCF members and the Tufts community.

“We really appreciate the Judiciary

not really putting some time stamp on us,” Laporte said.

“We are able to have a productive conversation as a group, and also really desire to hear more from the campus.

Right now, we’re trying to take the time to include the members of the group in the decision making.”

Laporte added that the role of IVCF in TCF is often misunderstood.

“The Christian Fellowship is first and foremost a student group,” she said. “[IVCF] isn’t in control of us.”

TCF reconsiders its association with IVCF on an annual basis and this semester decided to maintain its partnership with the national organization.

As campus staff minister for IVCF, a designated advisory role under the university Chaplaincy’s supervision, Charles Skold (LA ’11) said TCF’s decision to reaffirm its relationship with IVCF was a beneficial one in that it has given them a unified place to work from as they now consider the group’s direction.

The university Chaplaincy has also provided TCF with non-monetary support during their suspension.

University Chaplain ad Interim Patricia Budd Kepler said she recognizes the diversity of religious beliefs in the Tufts community and that the Chaplaincy plans to consider how these differences may take shape not just on campus but in society at large.

“I think the Chaplaincy needs to look at the relationship between how

Facilities considers further recycling projects RECYCLING

continued from page 1

South to install shelves and a clothing bar for the stations.

Other changes made to South include repainting walls a “gecko green” color and adding LED lighting to hallways on the first floor, according to Quirk.

Tufts Recycles! and Facilities spearheaded the initiative to implement permanent FreeCycle stations in partnership with the Massachusetts Architectural Access Board, Quirk said. The idea came from the success of previous FreeCycle giveaway events in South.

“For three years in a row we’ve had [a] FreeCycle giveaway where the items for

move out were collected and stored in the summer,” Quirk said. “Items deemed reusable are stored in the summer and given to the freshmen, and that event was well received.”

Director of Facilities Technical Services Betsy Isenstein explained that Tufts Recycles! worked closely with the construction crew to integrate the new recycling areas into the building.

“Dawn [Quirk] worked with Tim Smith, the project architect, to make relatively small changes that will make a big difference. Dawn also worked with Cyr Sign to design clever and attractive signage that can be used elsewhere on campus,” Isenstein told the Daily in an email. “We

look at this as a prototype for future residence hall renovations.”

Quirk noted that plans for a recognizable Jumbo recycling logo are also underway.

“We’re trying to unify the logo and the color scheme so no matter what the dorm space looks like, everyone sees the green and sees that it’s a recycling station,” Quirk said.

Tufts Recycles! is considering replicating the South model in Haskell and Wren Halls during the next summer break, according to Quirk.

“We hope that the redesigns we implemented in South Hall can apply for other dorms,” Ghanny said. “It’s basically our pilot program to make

discriminations of all kinds intersect,” Kepler said.

“We want to make sure that no one is being discriminated against for race, gender, sexual orientation or anything, and we want to make sure that nobody is being discriminated against for their religious beliefs.”

Laporte said TCF, in trying to include the opinions of the greater student body in its considerations about the group’s mission and constitution, has partially drawn on opinions relayed in an op-ed by senior Brandon Archambault published in the Daily on Sept. 4.

The op-ed called for immediate derecognition and de-funding of TCF on the grounds that its affiliation with IVCF needs to be severed.

“We really wanted to talk about some of the issues brought up in the op-ed as a community to make sure that our whole community was talking and considering this opinion about our group,” Laporte said.

Though it is unclear how TCF will decide to address its suspended status, Laporte said the group’s leadership seeks to strike a balance.

“It can be difficult because for some of us we feel that our beliefs are misunderstood in the dialogue. [ We’re considering] how we balance those different voices and different concerns and how we really respond in a way that we feel reflects our faith,” Laporte said.

Tufts’ dorms greener.”

Isenstein said that Facilities will reproduce the stations in other dorms in a way that fits the specific features of each building.

“Other halls will have different configurations and challenges, but the same themes can carry through, so the installations become familiar as students move through the halls during their time at Tufts,” Isenstein said.

Similar green initiatives have also been undertaken this year in BromfieldPearson Hall, Dewick-MacPhie Dining Center, Cousens Gymnasium, Tisch Library, the Aidekman Arts Center and the Science and Technology Center.

Features

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Alexa Petersen | Jeminist: A Jumbo Feminist

On the volleyball game s my column is meant to address

A

Tobias Reeuwijk for the Tufts Daily

Students on campus attend the first event of new organization Tufts Hapa, the only group at Tufts for mixed-race students.

Tufts Hapa reaches out to mixed-race students

Among the more than 300 student organizations at Tufts, there are many geared toward specific ethnicities and cultures.

Tufts Hapa, a new group on campus, is working to become the only one intended to represent mixed race students.

In 2000, the United States Census was changed to allow citizens to check multiple boxes of racial identification, and the 2010 Census showed a 28 percent increase in interracial households. Tufts Hapa hopes to reflect these changes on campus.

Tufts Hapa aims to create a community of mixed race peoples of part Asian descent, according to President Joseph Wat, a senior. The club is currently in the process of receiving recognition by the Tufts Community Union (TCU) and has the support of the Asian American Center.

Tufts Hapa executive board member and senior Stephanie Howell explained that the start of her involvement in Tufts Hapa stemmed from the instability of past multiracial organizations on campus.

“There was a multicultural group at Tufts before, [Multiracial Organization of Students at Tufts (MOST)], but it kind of fell apart. So we really want to make sure that this is a more permanent group,” she said. “I met [Wat] very early on my freshman year.

There were a few of us in Houston [Hall], and it was just so exciting to meet other Hapas. I wanted to make sure [the group] was something that did get off the ground.”

The term Hapa loosely refers to a racial mixture that is part Asian, but continues to evolve and be redefined. Wat explained the origins of the word.

“Hapa originally came from an ultimately pretty racist system in Hawaii,” he said. “It originally meant someone from elsewhere or half-Asian or Pacific Islander, half-white. It was part of the term Hapa Haole, where haole meant foreigner, and hapa was used as a phrase that is an additionally defining adjective.”

Wat attests that the phrase has developed over time.

“It means a different concept now,” Wat said. “You can be half-Asian, half-black and be Hapa. It’s important to recognize it’s being used in a new way. It’s not a reappropriation but a re-contextualization.”

Other Tufts Hapa members also appear to have a flexible approach in defining the term.

“I think it’s any kind of mixture of culture,” senior Tobias Reeuwijk said. “You can be completely white, but if you love Japanese culture and are accepting of other cultures, then that’s Hapa to me. I don’t think you have to be half-white, half-Asian.

Hapa is not exclusionary.”

Reeuwijk believes that there is a misconception that exclusion is a byproduct of ethnic clubs and this leads to resistance by

Alexandria Chu

Daily Editorial Board

to such organizations, including a mixedrace club.

“People feel almost alienated from us because they’re not like us. That’s not what we’re trying to do at all,” Reeuwijk said.

“We’re about accepting culture, accepting differences. We’re interested in all these other cultures ... It’s about how we’re all similar because we’re different and it’s about accepting your differences.”

Tufts Hapa’s faculty support, Assistant Professor of Economics Arthur Chiang, commented on the difficulty of achieving the balance between maintaining pride in ethnicity and solely defining oneself by it, which is particularly tricky for people of a mixed-race heritage.

“I think the basis of [your] social life shouldn’t be based on your race ... It’s certainly a concern, everyone just fracturing into their own little [ethnic] groups.

Of course, at the same time, no matter what background you have, you should feel some pride in your culture,” Chiang said. “It’s a little bit harder if you’re mixed, so I think a good thing for this club is the celebration of Hapa culture. It’s not an exclusionary thing, but more about learning about our experiences.”

Chiang is eager to become more involved now, as he has talked in past semesters to Hapa students throughout the process of forming the group.

“I hope to be a resource and encourage other students to aspire to be whatever they want to be,” Chiang said.

Likewise, group members are passionate about the club and its future, especially since it carries personal meaning for many executive-board members.

“Being Hapa has always been an identity struggle,” Howell said. “Just kind of trying to figure out what you are when you don’t look like either of your parents.”

The question of identity is consistent among other students as well.

“I had wanted to start this group for a long time. It was about recognizing this self identity that I had grown for myself,” Wat said. “I struggle to call them struggles but at the same time ... I had never filled a space where I felt like a majority. That doesn’t even exist inside my own house, so finding that space and creating that space is very important to me.”

Professor of History Gary Leupp notes a feeling of alienation throughout the history of people of mixed-race descent. He gives an example of an epitaph written in 1680 by Pieter Hartsinck, the son of a Dutch merchant and a Japanese woman.

According to Leupp, the epitaph is in St. Jakob’s Church in Osterode, Lower Saxony, Germany, detailing that Hartsinck and his mother were born in the East and his father in Europe.

Leupp quoted Hartsinck, “My destiny varied from the beginning ... I left my homeland early in life to find my father’s country.

But I could not find my true home.” Leupp explained that Hartsinck accomplished much in his life, even translating Descartes’ work into Latin from French, but his identity struggles are evident in his epitaph.

Yet Hartsinck was not alone. Leupp, who has mainly focused his research on Japan, points out that the history of Japanese Hapa culture dates back to as early as 1543, originating from a relationship between a Portuguese man and a Japanese woman.

“Looking at the relations between Portuguese and Japanese, I found that there was essentially a surprising relationship of respect in that although the Japanese regarded the Portuguese as barbarians, they still wound up not only having relations with Japanese women, but marrying women of status and having children with them,” Leupp said. “The Portuguese recognized the Japanese as equals to themselves, or near equals.”

Reflecting on Hartsinck’s emotional epitaph, Leupp attests that there have been periods of discrimination against Japanese mixed-race peoples and relationships throughout history.

“In the 1630s, first when the Portuguese were expelled, several hundred Portuguese men and their Japanese or half Japanese wives or children were deported to Macau,” Leupp said. “And then, a few years later, the Dutchmen who were married to Japanese women and their children were expelled to Batavia, what is now Jakarta in Indonesia. It was a kind of ethnic cleansing to get rid of these half-Japanese children.”

This line between acceptance and rejection seems to be characteristic of Leupp’s study of Hapa history. In modern times, this history is still being written and leaning toward acceptance, according to Leupp.

Chiang agrees that trends are moving toward multiculturalism.

“There are more interracial couples.

Internationally, the global economy is much more linked,” Chiang said. “But at the same time, a lot of your experience will depend on where you’re from, not just geographically but socioeconomically. Some parts of the world have more diversity than others.”

The West Coast, for example, has a large population of Hapas, especially in Hawaii.

Reeuwijk references the significance of this diversity on his own experiences.

“Being in Hawaii helped me be more comfortable with my multiculturalism,” Reeuwijk said. “Everything there is so multicultural ... There is a lot of cultural crossover.

That made me okay with my identity, and accepting of everyone else’s.”

Wat hopes the group will be a forum to discuss these complex and emotional topics.

“It’s easier to say you don’t look like me than you do look like me,” Wat said. “Because of that I feel like no one has ever walked up to me and been like, ‘You, you belong here.’

I want to build something to do that.”

women’s issues, I feel compelled to address the incident reported at the women’s volleyball game last week. Briefly, there was a group of students at the volleyball game who were allegedly verbally harassing the Smith College volleyball players and the Tufts volleyball players and coach with sexist, racist and xenophobic comments. The Tufts Daily published an op-ed on Sept.

25 written by Tufts student Rose Barrett addressing the incident, and on Oct. 1, the Daily reported that the Office for Equal Opportunity (OEO) launched a third-party investigation of the accusations. The OEO has not yet reached a conclusion.

Hearing the quotations of verbal harassment documented in Barrett’s op-ed, many of us can’t help but cringe.

We are disappointed that these students represented our school and so gravely disrespected the female players and coaches. Many of us feel anger directed specifically toward these perpetrators — we cannot imagine what could have possessed them to say those things.

Despite this anger, I want to remind Daily readers that somewhere in time, somewhere in these perpetrators’ lives, someone showed them that their behavior was okay. Someone showed them with their silence. Someone showed them with their laughter. It takes a village to raise a child, and it also takes a village to create expectations for how that child acts. I doubt this is the first time they have made comments that belittled groups of people, jokingly or otherwise.

The power that we have as bystanders is astronomical. We have the power to speak, to act and to advocate. We have the power to show someone why they shouldn’t disrespect someone else on the basis of gender, race, origin or otherwise. And if a critical mass of people, somewhere along the line of those perpetrators’ lives, had given them legitimate reasons for not saying the things that they said, maybe — just maybe — they would not have said them.

We have the power to ask someone to stop when we see them catcalling a female Tufts student walking on campus.

We have the power to ask our parents to rephrase their statement when they tell us that we should marry a “rich guy” — because it shouldn’t matter if he’s rich and it shouldn’t matter if he’s a guy. We have the power to call out someone in our anthropology class who assumes that a low-income person means a person of color. We have the power to say something when someone tells a person of Hispanic origin to go back where they came from.

Barrett’s op-ed exemplifies the power of the bystander — she has helped bring attention of this incident to the entire student body. Her advocacy will no doubt affect how Tufts Athletics — and the Tufts University Police Department — addresses the protection of their athletes and coaches at sporting events and in general. She did not just say something — she did something. And the campus is better off because of it.

There are those on campus who may feel antagonistic toward this cause or may feel that being an active bystander is simply unnecessary. To those students, I implore you to consider that treating others with respect and dignity is not a radical or liberal idea. It is not a Tufts idea. It is a human idea — an idea that deserves our attention because it means treating others with the respect and dignity that we, ourselves, expect to be treated with.

We must never abandon or trivialize the power we have as bystanders — to say something and to do something. To never stand idly by.

Alexa Petersen is a senior majoring in political science and peace and justice studies. She can be reached at Alexa.Petersen@tufts.edu.

Arts & Living

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tuftsdaily.com

Album Review

Highly anticipated ‘Push and Shove’ shines

“Get-get-get in line and settle down!”

Gwen Stefani instructs listeners on the opening lyric of No Doubt’s new record,

by Josh

Weiner

Daily Editorial Board

Push and Shove No Doubt Interscope Records “Push and Shove.” Stefani has good reason to call for a crowd: This is the first album by the celebrated Anaheim rock group since its 2001 release of “Rock Steady.” Like other signature ’90s group ’N Sync, No Doubt’s 10-year hiatus saw its lead singer releasing solo albums and staring in occasional films while the rest of the band undertook less limelightworthy career ventures. The band first hinted at a resurgence with a 57-date concert tour in North America in the summer of 2009 — the rare comeback tour sans accompanying album for the group to promote — but its comeback has now officially come full circle with the recent release of “Push and Shove.”

Thankfully, the group’s chemistry remains on-point and their music is as lively and colorful as ever. No Doubt’s instrumentalists — Tom Dumont, Tony see DOUBT, page 6

Wikimedia Commons

No Doubt fans will find “Push and Shove” comfortingly familiar, if lacking experimentalism.

TV Review

Dark Dark Dark Interview | Nona Invie

Dark’s frontwoman discusses life on the road, pirated music by

Travis Petersen

Contributing Writer

Wikimedia Commons

Fox’s hit comedy returns with charming drama aplenty .

‘New Girl’ is eccentric emotional rollercoaster by

Akshita Vaidyanathan Contributing Writer

The hour-long season premiere of Fox’s “New Girl” reunites viewers with the notoriously adorkable foursome. The two-epi-

New Girl Starring Zooey Deschanel, Jake Johnson, Max Greenfield Airs Tuesdays at 9 p.m. on FOX sode premiere has everything — emotional highs, emotional lows, genital reincarnation and salacious alter-egos. What more could we ask for?

Last season, “New Girl” brought a mix of awkward and cute humor to television

screens everywhere. Audiences were introdcued to Jess, a quirky middle school teacher (Zooey Deschanel), amicable bartender Nick (Jake Johnson), unemployed ex-basketball star Winston (Lamorne Morris) and the lavish Schmidt (Max Greenfield). The group’s hilarious interactions made the first season of “New Girl” great.

Season one ended with Schmidt and Cece (Hannah Simone) breaking up despite becoming an endearing couple. We also saw the glimmer of a possible relationship between Jess and Nick, something we’ve all been waiting for since the show began.

This season’s premiere centers around an unexpectedly serious event: Jess gets fired from her job as a teacher. Luckily, this sad incident is balanced by a few sillier bits, including the rebirth of Schmidt’s manhood. see GIRL, page 6

Dark Dark Dark is on an international tour and putting Minnesotan music back on the map. Sometimes folky, sometimes jazzy, sometimes poppy and always boundary breaking, the Minneapolis-based band uses a huge variety of instruments to create its signature sound. The band’s most recent album, “Who Needs Who?” (2012), uses a piano, an accordion, a banjo, a clarinet and a trumpet along with other eclectic sounds.

Dark Dark Dark’s first full-length album can be found on YouTube under the Supply and Demand Music Channel, yet, perhaps more excitingly, the band will be playing a show in Boston tantalizingly soon, at the Great Scott at 1222 Commonwealth Avenue in Allston Oct. 9. At $12 a ticket, the show’s a great chance to see some of the best music the Midwest has to offer, for cheap.

In anticipation of Dark Dark Dark’s arrival in Bean Town, the Daily conducted an interview with Nona Marie Invie, the band’s pianist, lead vocalist and accordion player.

Tufts Daily: So, you guys are coming out to Boston soon; I’m looking forward to going out to your show. I want to know: How did all of you end up meeting?

Nona Invie: Well, a couple of us met in Minneapolis and ended up doing a lot of touring together. We sort of picked up more people along the way.

TD: You are about to release a new album on Oct. 2. What were your hopes for the new album? What direction did you want to take it in? see DARK, page 6

Megan Clark | Where’s the Craic?

“Perrier’s Bounty”

T

he black comedy/chase film “Perrier’s Bounty” (2009) focuses on an everyman hero named Michael McCrea. When we first meet Michael, he is having a rough go of things. He’s in love with a woman who is in love with another man who’s cheating on her, he’s estranged from his parents and, oh yeah, some mobsters are going to break his legs if he doesn’t repay his loan to their boss, Perrier, within 24 hours.

Twenty minutes in, Michael’s love interest is suicidal and depressed, his father has appeared with news of his impending death and he is on the run from both the mobsters, who now want to kill him, and the police.

Filmed in 2009 and directed by Ian Fitzgibbon, “Perrier’s Bounty” stars Cillian Murphy as Michael. Murphy has played supporting roles in several American movies — he was the creepy Dr. Crane in “Batman Begins” (2005) and the also kind of creepy object of dream tampering in “Inception” (2010). In Irish films, he usually has a starring role, is not at all creepy and even appears drastically different — dare I say handsome? “Perrier’s Bounty” also features Jim Broadbent as Michael’s father and Brendan Gleeson as Perrier. While Murphy plays the straight man character very well, the real comedic genius in this movie is Broadbent, who plays Michael’s father, Jim, as a confused and oblivious man who is full of surprising insights.

Most of the comedy in the film is created by the addition of more and more problems in Michael’s life until the confluence of all these problems becomes ridiculous. Michael is eventually forced to go on the run with his father — who is convinced that he was visited by the Grim Reaper and is going to die if he falls asleep — and his love interest, Brenda, who is distraught over her break-up with her boyfriend.

While the high speed of the movie contributes to its humor and suspense, the quieter moments of the film establish the voice of the characters to hilarious effect. For instance, during a scene in which Michael, Brenda and Jim are hiding out in a barn, Jim describes his visit from the Grim Reaper. When asked why he did not try to solicit clearer answers from the Grim Reaper, Jim responds that “certain things, [the Grim Reaper] likes to leave obscure and enigmatic.” Jim then quotes the Grim Reaper’s explanation for his vagueness: “That’s my way, man.” This line is repeated frequently throughout the film.

The movie is narrated by a straightforward individual who sounds like a guy you would encounter at a pub. He speaks directly to the audience, as if we were his drinking buddies. The revelation of the narrator’s identity at the end of the film contributes an extra layer of humor to previous scenes.

Eventually, things come to a head and Michael is forced to face Perrier in order to rescue the people he loves. In some ways, all does not end well — this wouldn’t be a proper Irish movie if it did — but in other ways, Michael’s life is greatly improved, as the events of the chase have changed him for the best.

I do take issue with the flippancy with which this film handles suicide. Brenda’s depression is portrayed as more of an annoyance to Michael than a serious issue and dissipates just as quickly as it appeared. However, I like the film as a whole and, due to the film’s humor and pacing, I can recommend this movie to anyone who appreciates dark humor and action.

Next week we will switch our focus to drama in order to cover the biopic “Michael Collins” (1996).

Megan Clark is a junior majoring in history. She can be reached at Megan.Clark@ tufts.edu.

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Arts & Living

Wednesday, October 3, 2012

Nona Invie discusses influences on her music DARK

continued from page 5

NI: The main thing that I wanted to accomplish was to make everything more collaborative, getting input from everyone in the band. We had a lot more time together to flush out songs and more time in the studio to make a full composition.

TD: Yeah, that’s good. I know labels can sometimes force a time frame. A recent study reported that pop music was becoming louder and using more of the same pitch and instrumentation. What’s your take on that?

NI: I think that all of us have selected instruments outside of the traditional guitar-pop music. It’s really great to play them for people, even though it’s not necessarily what you’d normally expect to hear at a rock concert. Except people are into it, and I think it’s refreshing to know that people want to listen to it.

TD: Neil Young stated recently that piracy is the “new radio.”

As a smaller band, this can affect you a lot if it affects sales, and that’s a problem for you. What do you think about that?

NI: I guess I’ve been thinking about piracy, but I’m excited that people can hear the music. And it was never about the money, you know? That was never part of the reason to play music. At least not that I know. All I know is that the more people that hear it, the better. There’s a lot more to playing music than money.

It’s a lot more than that.

TD: Yeah, it’s nice just to play music to express yourself.

NI: Anyway, I listen to a lot of pirated music. [Laughs] What am I supposed to say — that people shouldn’t when I do? I do it too. I try to go and support bands, in ways that I can.

Everybody should do that now.

TD: Anyway, you guys definitely travel around a lot. Any good stories from being on the road?

NI: Hmm, any good stories?

Not really. [Laughs] No, I don’t really have any good stories.

But I just love the little idiosyncrasies of people. The different ways of driving. It’s so true. The people from New York drive differently from the people in Pittsburgh, from the people in LA and Minneapolis.

I just absolutely love discover-

Azra Abertish via Flickr Creative Commons

Dark Dark Dark challenges conventions of traditional guitar-pop with its instrumental array. ing those little things about the regions of the earth.

TD: What are your big influences when writing?

NI: Well, recently I’ve just been

trying to channel something new.

[Laughs] I don’t really know if that make much sense. I’ve just been trying to be inspired by the world around me in a new way, rather than just playing something I’ve already done. I’m trying to discover

something new about my music.

TD: Well, that’s about it. Any final thoughts?

NI: Nope, that’s it. See you on the East Coast!

Zooey Deschanel’s quirky comedy returns to TV GIRL

continued from page 5

Wikimedia Commons

At long last, No Doubt returns with an ear-pleasing album.

Stefani’s side projects haven’t kept her from No Doubt DOUBT

continued from page 5

Kanal and Adrian Young — manage to fuse rock, pop, reggae and ska punk to exhilarating effects on standout tracks like “Looking Hot,” “Easy” and “Heaven.” While Stefani still doesn’t have the most powerful pipes in the business, she has grown as a vocalist and displays sound confidence while singing songs like the power ballad “Undone.” Thanks to these many assets, the California quartet has successfully recreated the gleeful energy of its best-known music, most notably its 1995 blockbuster “Tragic Kingdom.”

As with “Rock Steady,” guest appearances on the album are minimal and a bit obscure — and it pays off. While the two featured artists, Jamaican reggae singer Busy Signal and dancehall duo Major Lazer, are confined to the album’s title song, both craft some of the album’s finest moments. With high-octane lines about Jamaican street life, Busy Signal gives the track the same kind of playful boost that his fellow Jamaican reggae star Bounty Killer gave through his guest verse on 2001’s “Hey Baby,” another of No Doubt’s signature songs.

Lyrically, this record largely sticks to the familiar territories of romance, feminism and fun in the sun. Eleven years ago on “Rock Steady,” for instance, Stefani confided to her romantic interest, “You’re really lovely ... and I’m really lucky underneath it all.” In 2012, on “Gravity,” this sentiment gets an update: “We’re so lucky, we’re still holding on/ Just like Venus in the morning sun/ You and me got gravity.” A nifty metaphor, to be sure, but it doesn’t seem like the gist of the subject matter — that Stefani and her lover will always stay together, even through tough times — has evolved much in the last decade. Still, considering that No Doubt has never been known for exceptionally sophisticated lyrical content, there’s not much on the album to complain about, especially when the lyrics are complemented by impressive instrumentals.

There may not be much lyrical or thematic growth on “Push and Shove,” but there’s no decline in the group’s chemistry or musical creativity, either. The result is a thoroughly engaging album that should satisfy fans and position the band for a bright third decade in the mainstream music industry.

The show stays true to its nature by slipping humor into less-than-humorous moments and building up the tension — a trick that keeps audiences on their toes.

The thing that makes “New Girl” so much more entertaining than most sitcoms is its unconventional sense of humor. The show gets the audience to laugh even during the most solumn situations. This is unlike most other popular sitcoms like “Friends” (1994-2004) or “How I Met Your Mother” that usually lose the comedy when dealing with more serious issues. In this way, the show’s creator, Elizabeth Meriwether, takes some serious risks. She isn’t afraid to get a laugh out of unhappy situations like a character’s break up or new unemployment. On a more philosophical level, by having the characters on the show make fun of their difficulties, “New Girl” suggests that viewers follow suit and also laugh at themselves and their misfortunes.

This episode both tickles the funny bone and tackles more sensitive issues. Meriwether spends a significant amount of time in both episodes building up the sexual tension between Nick and Jess as well as between Schmidt and Cece, though in very different ways. Jess’s promiscuous alter-ego finds

a new man, while Nick watches from the sidelines and we, the horrified audience, are incredulous that she is persuing this random guy and not Nick. Schmidt tries his absolute hardest — and literally juggles fire at one point — while attempting to get Cece back after he totally blew it last season by “white-fanging” her. Fortunately, none of the relationships are finalized or tied up — there are several ropes hanging loose, leaving the audience itching for more drama and resolution in coming episodes.

However, this double-premiere does sometimes feel like it overloads the audience with too many new plot lines, characters and questions, while leaving many other questions unanswered. These mistakes make the premiere a lot less satisfying than it could have been. Nevertheless, “New Girl” is definitely a show to watch this year. It’s short and sweet, and context is definitely optional when you first start to watch this show. You can choose literally any episode to watch and you will feel the same emotions as a person who is already obsessed with the show. Still, a little context never hurts, so starting with the first season is probably a good idea. With its endearing characters, hilarious incidents and an intriguing plot, “New Girl” will play with all of your emotions at once and leave you wanting much, much more.

Wikimedia commons

Zooey Deschanel brings her kitschy humor back to Fox.

Wednesday, October 3, 2012

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THE TUFTS DAILY Rebecca K. Santiago Editor-in-Chief

Editorial Ben Kochman Falcon Reese Managing Editors Jenna Buckle Executive News Editor Shana Friedman News Editors Lizz Grainger Stephanie Haven Amelie Hecht Daphne Kolios Patrick McGrath Laina Piera Martha Shanahan Melissa Wang Jenny White Menghan Liu Assistant News Editors Melissa Mandelbaum Audrey Michael James Pouliot Josh Weiner

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Editorial | Letters

Wednesday, October 3, 2012

Editorial

A recognized TCF must abide by Tufts’ values Tufts Christian Fellowship (TCF), the Tufts chapter of the InterVarsity Christian Fellowship (IVCF), is currently straddling a line between two incompatible sets of values.

TCF’s Basis of Faith Clause in its constitution is fundamentally at odds with the non-discriminatory values of the Tufts community, represented in the policies of the Tufts Community Union (TCU).

TCF’s status as a TCU-recognized group was suspended in September by the Tufts Community Union Judiciary (TCUJ). The TCUJ has also frozen TCF’s Student Activities Fee funding, money taken out of the tuition of all Tufts undergraduates. TCF’s now-suspended funding was projected by TCU to be $7,440 this academic year.

TCF’s suspension is due to claus-

es in its constitution that demand that any Tufts student applying for a TCF leadership position “advocate for and strive to conform their lives to the letter and spirit of TCF’s Basis of Faith and Characteristics of a Leader.”

Yet TCF’s Characteristics of a Leader violate TCU’s non-discrimination policy by discriminating against potential TCF leaders based on whether they strictly follow the tenets of traditional evangelical Christianity. Any organization member that applies to be part of TCF’s executive leadership team must, according to TCF’s current constitution, obey “traditional evangelical Christian norms of personal moral behavior,” among other requirements.

The Daily believes that evangelical Christianity has a place and should be represented with an official organization

in the Tufts community. But the presence of such an organization should not come at the expense of freedom from discrimination based on religious beliefs.

The Daily agrees with the TCUJ that any TCF member, regardless of his or her specific religious belief, should have the right to apply to be on the TCF leadership board.

In order to exist in the Tufts community, TCF must abide by Tufts’ values.

The TCUJ has given TCF the opportunity to reapply for official recognition and funding.

TCF’s status as an organization receiving funding from the entire undergraduate body and publically bearing the Tufts name should not be restored until TCF chooses to revise its constitution to operate squarely within the bounds of the TCU non-discrimination policy.

and pervasive talk among members of Iran’s spiritual, military and political leadership.

But it’s not just talk that Israel fears.

Consider Hamas and Hezbollah, two groups that the U.S. — as well as the U.K., Canada, etc. — classifies as terrorist organizations. It’s no secret that Iran provides both with money, political support and weapons. Both groups’ leaders have called for the destruction of Israel and both groups have carried out numerous bombings against the state.

Iran isn’t just talking about attacking Israel: It’s funding it.

I’m not suggesting that Israel or anyone else should take military action against Iran. But I am suggesting that this issue is far more serious than one of simple rhetoric.

At the end of the article, Azzam seems to suggest that if Israel wishes to decrease Iran’s threat, it should “pursue a policy dramatically different” from “its history of volatile relations with its neighbors.” Israel, it seems, is responsible for its own predicament, as its own policies “make

Iranian rhetoric so popular among the Arab people.”

But every student of Israeli history knows that Israeli-destruction rhetoric — and matching military action — was popular among the state’s neighbors from the day it declared independence.

If “Iranian rhetoric” calling for the destruction of Israel is well-received, it must not be because of, but rather in spite of, any attempts at diplomacy over the last sixty years.

Perhaps the onus, then, should be on Iran to take a road less traveled.

Recognizing Israel, ceasing to fund the bombing of its civilians and halting an offensive military rhetoric can “inspire a positive reaction.”

Playing off historic rivalries may make Iran popular with its friends, but it can’t go down that road without making some serious enemies. And when it starts lining that road with nuclear reactors, it’s not just talking tough anymore.

denise amisial

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Letter to the Editor Dear Editor, I sincerely enjoyed reading Hani Azzam’s op-ed, “The road not taken.”

There were, however, certain elements of the discussion left out that may be valuable to address.

Throughout the piece, Azzam argues that Iranian calls for the destruction of Israel are “catalysts rather than contracts,” that is, rhetoric to make Iran more popular, but nothing to be taken seriously. That’s certainly a legitimate perspective. Then again, there is some important history between the two states to consider.

The Islamic Republic of Iran has severed all diplomatic and economic relations with Israel, which it does not recognize as an actual country.

Spiritual leader Ayatollah Khamenei calls Israel a “cancerous tumor,” wording repeated by Commander of the Revolutionary Guard General Mohammad Ali Jafari.

Meanwhile, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad says Israel should be “wiped off the face of the map.” If that’s all just talk, it’s pretty unified

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.

Sincerely, Brian Pilchick Class of 2014

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Op-Ed William Shira | Horrifyingly Hilarious

Voters frauded

T ZApthedingbat via flickr creative commons

Off the Hill | Boston University

by

The Daily Free Press Editorial Board The Daily Free Press

Images of women were removed in the Saudi Arabian version of an IKEA catalog, according to article in Time magazine Monday.

A spokesperson for the Swedish furniture retailer said that “IKEA Saudi Arabia is run by an external franchisee who created the catalog” and that the company “should have reacted and realized that excluding women from the Saudi Arabian version of the catalog is in conflict with the IKEA group values,” according to Time.

Removing women from its catalog’s

Vanishing act pages is a reflection of Saudi Arabian culture. Saudi Arabian women are prohibited from engaging in certain activities. It’s understandable that the country would want a catalog that reflects those beliefs.

Does it mean deleting women from the catalog’s pages was right? No. Many people would argue that prohibiting women from fulfilling certain roles is unjust. However, are we in the place to tell Saudi Arabia what is and isn’t just?

No. We are not.

Whether or not IKEA should condemn the Saudi Arabian catalog for printing a “women-less” issue is a gray area. If the images in the catalog conflict with IKEA’s values, then it seems the

company would be justified in asking them to print images that do adhere to IKEA’s beliefs.

It is interesting that the furniture company has responded the way it has.

Sometimes with large companies money takes precedence over morals. While allowing “women-less” pages may preserve its customer base in Saudi Arabia, IKEA has emphasized that it goes against company beliefs and is wrong.

Would this scenario occur in the Western world? Would an American business condemn an alternate, “women-less” issue? Or would it go to all lengths to please another customer base for the purposes of making a buck? It’s hard to say.

Off the Hill | University of Minnesota

Reshaping the ‘ism’ debate by

Derek Olson

Minnesota Daily

One can hardly think of two more contentious words in the American political lexicon than “socialism” and “capitalism.” Nor can I think of two words as highly misused and misunderstood. In the aftermath of the recent financial crisis, just as in the aftermath of every deep recession, there is heightened discussion of these concepts. If these concepts were understood more clearly, perhaps we could have more constructive conversations about the size and scope of government.

There is some confusion surrounding the meaning of socialism. In the economics discipline, these colloquial “isms” are generally not used.

Economic systems are described as market economies or command economies, roughly analogous to capitalism and communism, respectively.

In the former, prices are determined by markets and capital is privately owned. In the latter, prices are determined by a planning board and capital is publicly owned.

From time to time I hear befuddling discussion about the socialist economies of Europe. Many Americans seem to consider much of Europe, especially Scandinavian countries, socialist because of their expansive programs for wealth redistribution.

However, these are economies with private capital, successful corporations and prices determined by markets. If Norway, Sweden or Denmark had socialist economies, it would not be a stretch to say the same of the U.S. Among Americans, there is some ambiguity surrounding the term socialism, but for most of the world — and for much of history — the varieties of socialist theory have been recognized as roughly synonymous with communism.

This ambiguity resulting from conceptual discussion points to the sec-

ond major flaw in the debate between capitalism and socialism. These are theoretical concepts. They do not actually exist in reality.

Since the Constitution was written, the U.S. has operated a publicly financed post office. Milton Friedman even referred to the military as a socialist activity because its capital is owned by the state and proposed that the U.S. is 45 percent socialist. These examples illustrate how the United States’ economy has never consisted of complete private ownership of capital. In the 20th century, with the surge of entitlement programs, the economy shifted much further from strict capitalism.

We must recognize the inadequacy of simply labeling the U.S. as capitalist.

For real world observations, it is necessary to imagine a spectrum.

Consider a pure market economy on one side and a pure command economy on the other, from complete private ownership to complete public ownership, from markets to collective planning as the sole mechanism to determine prices.

Like the U.S., there are no pure market economies among developed nations. At no point in the history of the Soviet Union or any other planned economy was capital ever 100 percent publicly owned or markets completely abolished. What we must recognize is that there are no examples in modern history of an economy at either extreme end of these spectrums. In other words, all developed economies of the world consist of some mix of capitalism and socialism.

Has capitalism failed? Is capitalism in a crisis? These are not constructive questions. Pure capitalism is not the economic system of the U.S., or any country, for that matter. The real question we need to ask is this: Where is the optimal place on the spectrum between private and public ownership, between free markets and planned controls?

So how do we determine the optimal place? Economics is a relatively young science, and it is still clouded with some theoretical subjectivity.

Additionally, scientific experiments are impossible. It is not feasible to instruct two countries into a situation where all but one variable is held constant. However, data collection methods are improving, available data is expanding and every day we have more history to analyze.

For example, modern empirical evidence supports the incentives argument of neoclassical economics.

Edward Prescott, a former University of Minnesota professor and Nobel Prize-winning economist, has done substantive research comparing the tax rates of G7 nations. Americans now work more than Germans, French and British. This was not the case in the 1970s.

Prescott’s findings show that the large disparity in marginal tax rates that has arisen between the U.S. and other G7 nations since the 1970s accounts for the decreased productivity in Europe, Canada and Japan.

Prescott’s studies show that even relatively small moves along the spectrum from private to public ownership of capital can have large, disincentive effects on the productivity of workers. Workers are most motivated when they earn the reward for themselves.

While increasing equality is a noble goal, we must not forget the adverse effects of redistribution. When you try to cut the economic pie more evenly, the pie gets smaller, and there’s less to share.

Americans need to change the way they talk about capitalism and socialism. The appropriate discussion is not a debate of alternatives. It’s a question of balance. The next time you hear someone say “capitalism has failed” or “advocate socialism,” remind him or her that those economic systems don’t truly exist.

here have been dozens of recorded cases of voter fraud in the United States over the past decades.

Therefore, the elected representatives of battleground states like Florida and Pennsylvania have taken it upon themselves to pass legislation in order to protect the integrity of our republic.

Or, as House Majority Leader Mike Turzai of Pennsylvania said, the legislation “is going to allow Governor Romney to win Pennsylvania.” And therein lays the true voter fraud.

This fraud is quite different. It has a simple goal: to ensure the electorate has as little voice as possible in the vote. The tradition in the United States goes back to the early 19th century and one of our original political cartoons.

Gerrymandering redraws voting districts to change the balance of power in Congress without actually changing any opinions. A surprisingly effective strategy was addressed by the 1965 Voter Rights Act, though in 2004 the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights still had the audacity to criticize our electoral system and voice concerns that congressional elections may not be completely competitive.

This is not the only type of institutional fraud, nor is it particular to one party or another. Dead people voted for Kennedy in 1960 Chicago under Mayor Daley. Some of our Southern states have a not-so-proud history of Jim Crow laws and grandfather clauses under democratic regimes to prevent minority votes. But this 2012 campaign season has produced two new types of voter fraud: excessively stringent voter ID laws and falsification of voter registration.

Strategic Allied Consulting was hired by the Republican National Committee to run its voter registration drives in swing states like Florida, North Carolina, Colorado, Nevada and Virginia. It was founded in June of 2012 to gather Republican support and register voters. They have now been fired. A few problems arose, like a video of a woman in Colorado refusing to register anyone but Romney voters, and a criminal case in Florida involving hundreds of cases of altering documents after they were filled out, which has grown to include eleven counties. According to Nathan Sproul, advisor to the Republican Party and director of Strategic Allied Consulting, this was the doing of one individual. Then a few individuals. Then the volcano erupted. The Republican Party has sought to distance itself as far as possible from Mr. Sproul. The Romney campaign refused to even recognize him by name and simply referred to one of his advisors as a “vendor.”

GOP Governor Rick Scott of Florida, former co-owner of the Texas Rangers with President Dubya and crusader against voter fraud, has passed intense voter registration laws, including the time limit for a registration firm to turn in forms in order to prevent politicized voter registration groups from altering the democratic process. He has been strikingly silent, as has Fox News. Strange. Fox had no problem reporting on a manufactured story about ACORN tilting the scales for Obama in the 2008 election with no actual evidence.

When faced with reality, though, the pundits on the number one cable news network in America appear stunned.

I have a few $5 bets going around that neither candidate will personally touch this issue with a ten-foot pole in the debates today. Speaking of which, in most polls, President Obama has a slight edge entering into the debate. According to Congressman Paul Ryan, this advantage comes from the media. This bias may be due to the fact that the President doesn’t reply to questions with, “Well, I don’t have the time. It would take me too long to go through all of the math.”

William Shira is a senior majoring in peace and justice studies. He can be reached at William.Shira@tufts.edu.

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

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Comics

Wednesday, October 3, 2012

Doonesbury

Crossword

by

Garry Trudeau

Non Sequitur

Tuesday’s Solution

Married to the Sea

www.marriedtothesea.com

SUDOKU Level: Pronouncing the word “Arawak”

Late Night at the Daily

Tuesday’s Solution

Falcon: “F--k, I can’t go on the Edge of the City Bike Tour. I’m going to be farming. I hate being Jewish sometimes.”

Want more late-night laughs?

Follow us on Twitter at @LateNiteAtDaily

Please recycle this Daily.

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Apartments for rent on Ossipee. A 2, 5, and 4 bedroom apartment, 5 bathrooms in one house.

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Questions? Email business@tuftsdaily.com.

Tufts med student takes home vat of maple syrup as prize women’s crew continued from back

But even for Olympians like Stone, a race is still a race and requires hard work and determination. Now that the Olympics are over and medical school is in full swing, Stone has had to reduce her weekly workouts from about 20 hours to five.

“I was able to keep the rating up, which was good, and I didn’t die, which was good, and I won, which was good,” Stone said. “But it’s never fun to know that you’re going slower.”

Overall, Stone said that she enjoyed her time at the race, especially because the atmosphere of this particular regatta was so laid-back. The team enjoyed the relaxed atmosphere of the Green Mountain Head as well.

“Everyone was in it because they love rowing,” Ricard said. “You go to regattas where there’s tension emulating from everyone, but here there was a feeling that we’re all in it together.”

Stone will race a single in the Head

Young team grows men’s crew

continued from back

Kyle Flood, who rowed seventh seat on Sunday behind sophomore Sam Helrich, who stroked his first head race.

“They are good leaders and they have a great understanding of what it takes to row hard,” Britt said. “We’re young and strong, with the leadership we have I think that will go very well for us come spring.”

Tufts had originally entered a second men’s eight into the race, but had to scratch at the last minute because they could not find an experienced coxswain.

Several of the upperclassman rowers are abroad this fall season, most notably one of the coxswains, whose absence has made it difficult for all of the men to get on the water this fall, according to Britt.

If both new coxswains are prepared to hit the water by Oct. 13, the team expects to see multiple Tufts boats on Lake Quinsigamond, where the Jumbos plan to compete in the Snake Regatta in Worcester, Mass.

“We have two new coxswains but they hadn’t been on the water long enough to participate in this week’s regatta,” Britt said. “But their learning curve is pretty steep so we’re hoping that they’ll have mastered the art of coxing well enough that we can have all boats in the Snake.”

10.7

josh berlinger / the tufts daily archives

The Green Mountain Head Regatta was filled with all types of rowers over the weekend, including nine members of the Tufts women’s crew team and Tufts medical student and Olympian Gevvie Stone. of the Charles Regatta, where the atmosphere could not be more different from this weekend’s race. But not even winning the Head of the Charles could top the first place prize of the

continued from back

more John Wawer and senior Ben Saperstein — each finished the weekend with a 167.

Koh’s dramatic improvement over the course of the weekend was reflected in the team’s split-score totals. Their Saturday score of 331 was the day’s second-worst round, only outdone by Wesleyan University’s 349.

The Sunday comeback, in which they shot a 319, moved Tufts from ninth to eighth, passing Bates College in the process.

Meanwhile, Trinity sophomore Greg Palmer won individual honors for the weekend with a two-day 147, edging out teammates and fellow sophomores William Burchill and Nick Buenaventura, as well as Middlebury senior William Prince, by one stroke. Palmer also managed the tournament’s best single-day round with a 71, one under par, on Sunday.

“The team showed promise again this past weekend by breaking 320 on the second day,” senior co-captain Michael McCarthy said. “I see everyone improving as the season goes on.”

While there is validity to McCarthy’s claim, the team certainly has some work to do before it can compete with the upper ranks of the NESCAC. Although the team has some mechanical changes it can work on in practice, one

DAILY DIGITS

6

The Wins Above Replacement (WAR) accumulated by Angles outfielder Mike Trout over the course of the 2012 MLB season, by far the most in the major leagues. The statistic indicates that if Trout were to be replaced by a league-average bench player, the Angels would have won almost 11 fewer games. Trout is currently locked in a battle with Tigers third baseman Miguel Cabrera for the AL MVP award, a contest made closer by the fact that Cabrera has a chance to be the first Triple Crown winner since Carl Yastrzemski in 1967.

Seasons since a member of the Tufts men’s soccer team was last named the NESCAC Player of the Week. On Sunday, sophomore forward Gus Santos broke the dry spell, garnering the award for notching a goal and an assist in a convincing 4-0 win over Bates. Santos, the reigning NESCAC Rookie of the Year, won the first such honor for the Jumbos since the 2005 season, when Mattia Chason (LA ’07) was given the award.

The national ranking of the Tufts field hockey team by the National Field Hockey Coaches Association. The 7-1 (4-1 in the NESCAC) Jumbos jumped from No. 13 to No. 9 in the NFHCA poll following a 4-3 overtime victory against Amherst on Saturday, marking their seventh straight win.

Meanwhile, the Lord Jeffs dropped to 14th in the poll, which means that there are now five teams from the NESCAC in the top 16 in the nation.

The franchise-record number of second -half points scored by quarterback Tom Brady and the New England Patriots in a 52-28 blowout against the Buffalo Bills on Sunday.

Pats wide receiver Wes Welker led the way with nine receptions for a combined 129 yards, while back Brandon Bolden carried 16 times for 137 total rushing yards and a touchdown as the Patriots improved to 2-2 and got themselves righted again in the competitive AFC East.

9

Green Mountain Head regatta — a vat of maple syrup.

“Left with maple syrup and I feel great about it,” Stone said. “It cannot be beat. It’s the best prize.”

Sunday comeback, Wong’s 156 not enough GOLF

45

Ethan Sturm | Rules of the Game

pressing issue it cannot easily fix is the team’s youth. With five freshmen on a roster of 11 golfers, growing pains are to be expected, and a symptom of the Jumbos’ youthfulness has been their propensity to fall well off their pace early in tournaments and not recover.

“We put ourselves behind the eight ball on the first day and unfortunately, that’s what you get,” sophomore co-captain Alex Zorniger said. “I’m still very confident in the ability and potential of this young team.”

The problem of starting slowing is directly related to the youth of the team; a large number of the Tufts players are seeing the tournament courses for the first time. The more experience a golfer has, the quicker he can become comfortable on a new course, and the next few weeks will not provide a respite from the problem, as Tufts will encounter two more unfamiliar courses in their remaining two tournaments.

However, those tournaments, especially the Johnson & Wales Fall Invitational in Cranston, Rhode Island on Oct. 12, will provide an opportunity for the team to bounce back. After taking a weekend off from golfing, the team will be looking to correct the inconsistencies that have plagued the team thus far this season.

“Our main focus is stringing two good days together,” McCarthy said. “If we are able to do that we can compete with anyone.”

41,257

The announced attendance at an unusually full Oriole Park at Camden Yards on Sunday. Baltimore fans came out to support the Orioles’ last home game of the season, and to witness the O’s clinch their first playoff berth since the 1997 season.

The Orioles suffered 14 straight losing seasons, but finalized their position among the MLB’s playoff contenders with a 6-3 victory over the Boston Red Sox, who have fallen as far as the Orioles have risen this season.

23

Kills by sophomore outside hitter Kelly Brennan for the Volleyball team in Tufts’ 3-1 victory over Wesleyan in Saturday’s Homecoming contest. Brennan posted six kills each in the opening and final sets to close out the win, and leads the Jumbos with 142 kills this season, averaging 3.23 a set. The Jumbos will look to continue their attacking ways this weekend, as they face a trio of away games against Bowdoin, Bates and Colby.

W

elcome, everyone, to the final day of the baseball regular season.

It’s been exciting and eventful, but despite all of the drama that Bud Selig’s gambit — an extra wild card team in each league — brought us this September, there isn’t a single playoff spot still up for grabs with a game left to play.

One of those 10 qualified teams is none other than the Evil Empire.

The Bronx Bombers will face the same level of extreme animosity in opposing ballparks this October that they experience all season long, because everyone wants to beat the 27-time World Champions.

And as a Yankees fan, I’m perfectly fine with that.

In fact, I relish the antagonism. But please, can someone try to be at least a little bit original?

Back in early September, the Yankees headed down to Camden Yards for a key four-game series with the Baltimore Orioles.

I remember tuning in and being so impressed with the crowd’s noise and excitement.

Camden Yards has turned into Yankee Stadium South in recent years, often full of more New York fans than their Baltimore counterparts, and to see a city rejuvenated in such a way excited me as a sports fan.

Then, the chants started “Yan-kees suck! Yan-kees suck! Yankees suck!”

There is nothing inherently wrong with the chant. The syllables fit nicely into the beat. It’s blunt. It gets its point across.

What’s not okay is that it’s ubiquitous.

In one of the world’s most well educated countries, the best anyone can come up with to insult the nation’s most disdained team is a two-word chant that isn’t even clever? And nobody is even going to try to come up with anything better?

It’s not like the Yankees lack targets of ridicule. They have a starting pitcher who’s approaching social security, a relief pitcher who missed most of the year because of a trampoline accident and, to top it all off, they win on the back of good old monetary advantage.

And don’t even get me started on Alex Rodriguez. The poster child of the post-steroid era, A-Rod shouldn’t be able to leave a stadium without tears in his eyes.

Instead, all he gets are some boos when he steps to the plate, which, if anything, bolster him. How about some clever chants about Madonna once in a while?

This wouldn’t be nearly as pathetic if we weren’t being constantly shown up by our sporting neighbors across the pond. European soccer fans know what they are doing.

They are organized, they are clever and they are original. They will dive through every last English tabloid — and trust me, there are a lot of English tabloids — to find the dirt that will make your life miserable.

Things are taking a turn for the better in the U.S. Major League Soccer supporters clubs are taking on the look and sound of European hooligans, creating a sports atmosphere rarely seen in American sports.

The crowds are at their best in the Pacific Northwest, where Seattle Sounders and Portland Timbers crowds rival anyone in the world with their chants and banter. Whether this can be extended into other sports, however, remains to be seen.

Even if we can’t ever emulate the likes of the Europeans, something needs to change.

Because if I have to hear “Yan-kees suck!” one more time this season, I might let steroid era A-Rod take a bat to my head.

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

Sturm@tufts.edu or @esturm90.

Sports

12

tuftsdaily.com

Women’s Crew

Nine Jumbos compete at Green Mountain Head by

Claire Sleigh

Contributing Writer

The annual Green Mountain Head Regatta in Putney, Vt., which head coach Brian Dawe described as a “flash mob” of 200 people, is a sight to see. In the span of four hours, rowing enthusiasts from all over the region showed up in their singles and doubles to participate in the race and enjoy a picnic on the Connecticut River afterwards.

The nine Tufts women’s rowers who participated showed up to a corn field that had been cut down into a parking lot for the occasion, and competed with athletes ranging from Social Security-eligible rowers to 2012 Olympian and current Tufts medical student Genevra “Gevvie” Stone.

Tufts fielded four doubles and a single in Sunday’s three-mile regatta, and although the Jumbos didn’t make it up on the podium to receive the prizes of syrup, apples or cider, they still had a strong showing against competitive scullers.

According to Dawe, the girls worked hard in the race and their work in technique over the past three weeks really showed this weekend.

“We looked good,” he said. “We are making some progress in terms of how we row. I have this vision of what rowing should be and we are starting to fulfill that vision.”

Junior captain Caroline Ricard came in 15th with a time of 24:03 in the competitive 20-boat field, and was one of the youngest rowers in the 19-34 age group. Stone, who raced in London this summer

and just barely missed qualifying for the Olympic finals, captured first place with a time of 20:52. She came in first in the B-heat, one of the strongest showings of a US women’s sculler in recent years.

In their nine-boat field, Tufts doubles took fourth, fifth, sixth and eighth place. Senior captain Caroline Patterson and senior Kate Breame in fourth with a time of 22:50, a minute behind the third place finisher and 30 seconds ahead of fellow Jumbos senior Sheila Dave and junior Virginia Trumble.

Tufts was the only college at the event, which distinguished the experience from the one rowers will face in the spring. For the team, the goal of this weekend’s race was to get comfortable with the head race distance and to push each other to perform as well as possible.

“The point of this race was just to get some sculling practice in and focus on technique,” Patterson said. “In the next few weeks we will be facing our spring competition, but this weekend was more intersquad and less collegiate.”

According to Ricard, getting to race alongside an Olympian was a valuable learning experience.

Ricard launched for her race early and had some time in the warm up area to observe — and attempt to replicate — Stone’s technique.

“I’d notice something and try it for 10 strokes and be exhausted,” Ricard said. “Her stroke just had this rhythmic quality to it that I could only imagine replicating after years of practice.” see WOMEN’S CREW, page 11

Men’s Crew

josh berlinger / the tufts daily archives

The men’s crew team did well in the Textile Regatta, but the main purpose of entering the race was to get accustomed to the style of a head race.

Jumbos finish middle-of-the-pack in Textile Regatta by

Claire Sleigh

Contributing Writer

Despite getting off to a quick start, the men’s varsity eight lost energy halfway through its 3.6mile race to take sixth place among 13 entries and fourth among college boats at this weekend’s Textile Regatta in Lowell, Mass.

According to sophomore coxswain Kasia Gawlas, the team had trouble holding up stamina after being passed by Union Boat Club at the two-mile marker, but still had a strong showing.

“We did well for a first race,” Gawlas said. “The first half was a lot better than the second but it was not bad for a first race.”

The regatta was a head race, in which boats enter the race course staggered, with about 20 seconds in between each boat. At about the halfway point, Union, the team that started directly behind Tufts, caught up to the Jumbos and overtook them. For the Jumbos, there was a significant drop in morale after the Union boat passed them, which was a real turning point in race.

“We lost control and focus, we

were heavy in the water and we couldn’t get back in,” Gawlas said.

“Our minds were too much on the end of the race and not the fact that we were still in it.”

The Jumbos finished with a time of 20:08.146 to earn sixth place, approximately 45 seconds behind the first-place Wesleyan boat. The Union boat that passed Tufts came in second, followed by the Wesleyan B-boat, RIT, and the River Side Boat Club.

Meanwhile, the women’s novice eight, who also competed in the Textile Regatta, finished first out of six boats. They passed four boats on their way down the course and managed to hold off second-place finisher Wesleyan with a sprint at the end of the race that put 15 seconds between the Jumbos and the Cardinals.

But despite the disappointing finish for the men’s team, Gawlas believes that there was still a silver lining to the race. She said that the team maintained good boat speed and technique early on and was able to pull off a solid stroke ratio throughout the race.

“I was most impressed by us from the get go,” she said. “We

Sailing

Tufts breaks streak, struggles at Danmark by

Andy Wong

Daily Editorial Board

After consecutive weekends of coming out on top in team regattas, Tufts’ coed sailing team hit a stumbling block this weekend, falling into the middle of the pack during the Danmark Trophy, hosted at the U.S. Coast Guard Academy.

On the 70th anniversary of the event, conditions at the Thames River were much less friendly than what the team has experienced thus far this season, with increasingly ebbing winds challenging everyone wishing to sail on Saturday.

“The conditions were rough... It was just hard to get into a groove and be consistent with it,” junior crew Paula Grasberger said. “It was our first regatta with a lot of big players.”

Junior skipper and tri-captain William Haeger and Grasberger sailed as the team’s A-division entry once again, finishing with 79 points - good for eighth place in its division.

Haeger and Grasberger finished strong, coming in first and second place in their ninth and seventh races, respectively.

Their final race pulled them one point ahead of Yale’s A-division team, which finished with 80 points, and tied them with Hobart and William Smith’s 79 points. However, a headto-head tie-breaker loss gave the bump up to Hobart and William Smith.

“As a team we were not spectacular, but we had some really good moments,” Grasberger said.

Meanwhile, the team’s B-division was headed by senior skipper and team tri-captain William Hutchings, along with junior crew Kathleen Kwasniak. The pair finished with 86 points for tenth place in its division.

The pair’s highest finishes included third place in both their seventh and eighth races.

“We were a little disappointed, but it was our first nationals preview, and we still did well for the number of teams there,” Kwasniak said. “Every school had their A-team there,

Courtesy Ken Legler

Harsh conditions had an adverse effect on the Tufts sailing team at the Danmark Trophy in Connecticut.

which hasn’t always been the case the past few weeks, and they were ready to compete, so it was a tough competition.”

In total, the team finished its weekend with 165 points, good for ninth overall out of a field of 20 teams, and just eight points behind eighth-place Old Dominion University’s cumulative score of 157. The event was won by the Brown University Bears with 119 points. It was Brown’s first win since 1992, Elsewhere, freshmen Sarah Stubbs and Amanda Sommi represented the Tufts women’s team at the NEISA Women’s Single-handed Championship, hosted at Connecticut College.

Like the Men’s Single-handed Championship one week earlier, each school sent two sailors. The event took place in Laser-class sailboats for two days of non-stop individual competition.

Stubbs and Sommi finished in 16th and 17th place with 171 and 172 total points, respectively, out of a total of 18 sailors. Across the 13 total races, Stubbs cracked the top-10 twice, with her highest finishes being sixth place in the 10th and 12th races. Sommi’s highest finishes included eighth in her third race, and later ninth place in her 10th race.

The event was won by Boston College freshman Erika Reineke with a blistering total of 30 points. She, along with the remainder of the top-5 — including the Coast Guard Academy’s duo of sophomore Lauren Cefali and freshman Christina Frost and Yale’s senior duo of Claire Dennis and Emily Billing — will move on to the ICSA Women’s Single-handed Championships.

Both Tufts teams will get a shot at redemption this coming weekend, with the coed team participating in the New England Sloop Championship hosted by Brown University, and the women’s team heading to the U.S. Coast Guard Academy for the Olympians Trophy.

had crisp catches in the first mile, held pressure and the boat had good run.”

Although water and wind conditions make it difficult to compare times between regattas, coach Jay Britt said that this year’s showing was an improvement from last year’s performance based on the percentage of time off from first-place.

According to Britt, the feat was particularly impressive because of the relative inexperience of the eight rowers on the water. Five were sophomores, and two had never rowed a head race before, Britt said. For these newer rowers, understanding the distance of the head race will help for upcoming races.

“It was a learning experience for them, something they can build on for the Snake Regatta,” said Britt. “Now that they’ve had their first head race they’ve kind of caught up to the other guys in the boat.”

Britt also stressed the importance of the upperclassmen rowers, particularly senior co-captain see MEN’S CREW, page 11

Golf

Golf finishes eighth, fails to qualify for NESCACs by

G.J. Vitale

Daily Staff Writer

After battling through middling finishes this fall, the golf team came into the NESCAC Championship Qualifier over the weekend needing a substantial improvement in order to make it to the conference’s postseason tournament. But despite several impressive individual performances, the team only managed to finish eighth in a field of 10 at Hickory Ridge Golf Club in Amherst, Mass. Only the top 4 finishing teams go to the NESCAC championships, but the Jumbos’ two-day stroke total was 650, 37 strokes too many to clinch the fourth and last qualifying spot.

Running away with the tournament title was Trinity College, who carded an impressive 304 on Saturday and a scorching 288 on Sunday, finishing with a total of 592, the weekend’s only sub-600 total. Williams College, Hamilton College and Middlebury College followed to complete the list of qualifying teams. With their first place finish, Trinity also wins the right to host the conference championship tournament on April 27-28.

Freshman Jay Wong was the team standout, shooting a 77 and 79 on Saturday and Sunday respectively, finishing as the only Jumbo to shoot under 80 both days of the competition.

His efforts left him tied for 19th place overall in the individual standings.

Fellow freshman Brendan Koh had a weekend of extremes. His day-one 86 tied for the Jumbos’ worst Saturday round, but his daytwo 77 was the Jumbos’ Sunday best score.

Despite the inconsistency, Koh’s 163-stroke total tied for 33rd overall, while the remaining Tufts golfers — freshman Nick Dorian, sophosee GOLF, page 11