TuftsDaily10-04-2012

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THE TUFTS DAILY

Medical Center to develop new state healthcare system by

Patrick McGrath

Daily Editorial Board

Tufts Medical Center, the Boston teaching hospital affiliated with the Tufts School of Medicine, last month announced that it has entered into exclusive negotiations with Vanguard Health Systems to create a new system of healthcare for Massachusetts.

Tufts Medical Center and Vanguard Health Systems are working together with Tufts’ physician’s group, New England Quality Care Alliance (NEQCA), to revise the way many hospitals in the state are managed.

Tufts Medical Center Physician-inChief Deeb Salem explained that one of the goals of the collaboration is to create a high-quality healthcare system for Massachusetts patients that is also affordable.

“That’s what not only the country needs, but particularly Massachusetts, where healthcare is so expensive and is driven by institutions that are large and that have very high rates that the insurance companies pay,” Salem said.

“We’ve certainly worked hard to do so and continue to be one of the highest-

TUFTSDAILY.COM

thursday, october 4, 2012

VOLUME LXIV, NUMBER 19

quality centers in the county.”

Negotiations for the system will be completed sometime this fall, according to Senior Vice President of Strategic Services at Tufts Medical Center Deborah Joelson.

Joelson explained that integrated systems like this already exist in Massachusetts.

“We know that with the world changing and how reimbursement is happening for healthcare, we want to be wellpositioned to manage populations and participate in Medicare shared savings programs and global payment contracts to be able to develop the infrastructure to do that well,” Joelson said.

Tufts Medical Center, Vanguard Health Systems and NEQCA will also sponsor the Minuteman Health Initiative, a non-profit health plan that recently received an $88.5 million loan from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, according to the Tufts Medical Center website. “[The loan] will be available as we are constructing the company,” Salem said.

“You just can’t open up an insurance see HEALTHCARE, page 2

Monaco and Harris outline details of new university strategic planning effort

Kyra Sturgill / The Tufts Daily

University President Anthony Monaco and Provost and Senior Vice President David Harris held a town hall meeting yesterday afternoon in Cabot Auditorium to discuss the university-wide strategic planning initiative, called “Tufts: The Next 10 Years,” with students and faculty.

Debate Coverage

Over 350 pack Cabot to watch first presidential debate Students squeezed into the seats and aisles of Cabot Auditorium last night to watch the first debate between presidential candidates Barack Obama and Mitt Romney at a screening hosted by the Tufts Institute for Political Citizenship (IPC).

Both candidates’ zingers and talking points drew cheers, laughs and occasionally boos and grumbles from the more than 350 students that gathered to see Romney and Obama debate domestic issues.

Lines like Romney’s opening joke about the debate being a “romantic” setting for Obama’s 20th anniversary and the former Massachusetts governor’s mentions of his education record in the state resulted in loud reactions from the crowd, as did a quip from Obama that he “doesn’t mind [the term] Obamacare because, it’s true, I do care.”

Students lingered in Cabot after the lights came on to discuss the debate, which pitted the candidates against each other but also left moderator and former PBS news anchor Jim Lehrer trying to keep both Obama and Romney on topic and within the time restrictions.

“I think Jim Lehrer lost the debate,” Michelle Cerna, a junior, said.

Sam Zuckert, a junior, agreed that the candidates overpowered Lehrer.

“I think it was pretty normal,” Zuckert said. “They were so general and walked all over the moderator.”

“I think it was rather lackluster; they didn’t say anything new,” Graham Starr, a sophomore, said. “I feel this was a better night for Romney because he had more blunders, but he got more positive reactions.”

The large turnout at the viewing was unexpected, IPC president Eric Peckham said.

“We’re excited that so many students are interested in the election and came out to talk about the issues and about the debate,” Peckham, a senior, said.

The debate was heavily followed on Twitter nationwide and on campus, with multiple accounts on the Hill contributing to the online conversation. See the Daily’s blog, Jumbo Slice, for Tufts students’ reactions on Twitter throughout the debate.

—by Martha Shanahan

Kyra Sturgill / The Tufts Daily

Students gathered in Cabot Auditorium last night for a viewing of the first presidential debate hosted by the Tufts Institute for Political Citizenship.

Inside this issue

Where You Read It First Est. 1980

Fraternities hold open recruitment this fall by

Kyle Weller

Contributing Writer

Recruitment for the six Tufts fraternities that participated in the fall rush season concluded last week with numbers holding strong from last year.

A total of 56 students received bids from Zeta Psi, Delta Tau Delta, Theta Chi, Zeta Beta Tau, Sigma Epsilon and Sigma Nu. The bids went out after a weeks-long process that began with “informal rush,” where fraternities welcomed potential pledges into their houses during the first few weeks of the semester.

For the six of Tufts’ eleven fraternities that decided to conduct fall recruitment, the turnout was similar to that of last year, according to Director of Fraternity and Sorority Affairs Su McGlone.

“All those six had really good turnouts,” McGlone said.

Although spring recruitment typically draws more pledges, Interfraternity Council (IFC) President Tommy Castle said the informal rushing platform used in the fall gives fraternities more flexibility in how they meet pledges.

“There is not one scheduled rush week,” Castle, a senior, said. “Chapters are free to open their houses to dinners, or whatever type of events they want to have.”

This year’s events included

barbecues hosted by fraternity brothers and a marshmallow-eating contest at the Tufts Alpha Tau Omega (ATO) chapter house at 134 Professors Row. “It is creative things like that that a lot of the groups like to hold,” McGlone said.

The fall recruitment format gives fraternities a relaxed opportunity for brothers and potential pledges to get to know each other, an especially good set-up for returning students who did not rush as freshmen in the spring, Zeta Psi president Luke Sutherland, a junior, said.

Sutherland said Zeta Psi held a casual event on a Sunday afternoon during the rush period in which prospective pledges came over to watch football and eat wings with the brothers.

“There is an advantage to both [fall rush and spring rush],” he said. “Some of the guys who come in the fall thought they were transferring, some guys didn’t have time in the spring then realized it was something they wanted to be a part of. The advantage to sophomore fall is you get another semester to make that decision.”

Sutherland said that Zeta Psi extended six bids this year, twice as many as last fall. The numbers vary from year to year based on specific cirsee FRATS, page 2

Today’s sections

Vice’s Hamilton Morris has pill popping down to a science.

Alumnus To n y Massarotti discusses Tufts’ influence on his career in sports journalism.

see WEEKENDER, page 5

see SPORTS, page 13

News Features Weekender Editorial | Letters

1 3 5 10

Op-Ed Comics Sports Classifieds

11 12 13 14

The Tufts Daily

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News

Thursday, October 4, 2012

UIT develops study group app

by James

Pouliot

Daily Editorial Board

Nick Pfosi / The Tufts Daily

The Massachusetts Cultural Council last month gave the Tufts Art Gallery a $2,500 grant, which will fund the Gallery’s project to build a smart phone application.

Art Gallery receives grant from state council by

Melissa Mandelbaum Daily Editorial Board

The Tufts University Art Gallery late last month received a grant of $2,500 from the Massachusetts Cultural Council (MCC) for the development of a mobile application that will take smart phone users on a tour of art installations around the Medford/ Somerville campus.

The tour will likely include pieces such as the garden on the Tisch Library roof, the mural by the lower patio of the Mayer Campus Center and the Colossal AcornHead sculpture between Tisch and the Campus Center, according to Director of Galleries and Collections at the Art Gallery Amy Schlegel.

“We want this to be really dynamic,” Schlegel said.

Although the app is currently in production, the Gallery hopes to make it available to the public by May 2013, she said.

To gauge student interest in the resource, the gallery in November will release a student survey through the Office of Institutional Research and Evaluation, according to Schlegel. The survey will also help the Gallery decide which works to include and whether to develop the app for iPhones or Androids, she added.

Students will be the target users of the app, Schlegel said, but she hopes campus visitors will utilize the app as well.

“The Art Gallery is more than just a resource for the university but for the community,” Gregory Liakos, MCC communications director, told the Daily. “I think it’s very worthy of public funding.”

The grant for the app will be automatically renewed next year, providing the gallery with another $2,500, Liakos said.

Phillippa Pitts, a student in the Graduate

School of Arts and Sciences and a curatorial assistant at the Gallery, will develop the app drawing from her previous experience building mobile tours for museums. She hopes to design the app so that Gallery staff members can easily update its content without a background in technology.

Pitts believes that mobile technology can increase accessibility to art, allowing users to choose what they want to learn more about.

“If you’re using technology, suddenly it becomes so much more possible just to have more options,” she said.

The Gallery is also contemplating adding Quick Response (QR) codes to some of its pieces around campus so that members of the Tufts community can scan the codes with smart phones to learn more about the works, according to Schlegel.

“We’ve really been assessing how we can integrate technology more [into the Gallery],” Schlegel said.

The Art Gallery applied for the grant last winter, Schlegel said, noting that they have received regular grants from the MCC since 2001.

“The grants are quite small,” Schlegel said.

“That’s really the story for the arts in general.

For this particular project, it’s enough.”

Ninety percent of the MCC budget comes from an appropriation from the Massachusetts state government and the remaining 10 percent comes from the National Endowment for the Arts, according to Liakos.

The Medford Arts Council, a local arts organization, received a $15,440 grant from the MCC this year as well, according to Liakos. “[The grants] exist so that we can help our nonprofit cultural organizations fulfill their mission and deliver public programs that benefit our communities,” he said.

University Information Technology (UIT) is in the process of developing a pilot version of a program called Jumbo Study, which will assist students in the creation of study groups for classes with large enrollments.

Students will be able to access Jumbo Study through Trunk, according to Senior Solutions Specialist of Educational and Scholarly Technology Services (ESTS) David Grogan.

“If you’re in Bio 13 and you want to create a study group, you’d click on a location, a date and a time, and that would be published as a study group that is looking for members. Another student enrolled in Bio 13 can choose to join that group or create a new one,” Grogan said.

The software will also allow students to directly link online resources, such as study guides from a research librarian, to their online study groups, according to Grogan.

Grogan said the pilot version of Jumbo Study will be completed by the end of 2012 and officially introduced to the student body during the spring semester.

After the pilot version is released, he hopes to add a feature that will automatically notify a research librarian of upcoming study groups so that students will be able to request the librarian’s presence upon creating the group.

Though Jumbo Study is not intended to broadcast the creation of study groups outside of Trunk, Grogan is considering implementing an RSS feed system, which delivers constantly updated online content, for that purpose.

Grogan worked with Head of Library Information Technology Support Thomas Cox to integrate this program with Tisch Library’s systems, which are also undergoing development.

“There’s some cross-system integration that we’re looking at as we work with all these new technologies,” Grogan said. “These are open-source software platforms, so we’re reaping the benefits by putting out custom apps that can talk across these systems.”

Jumbo Study will be a mobile- and desktop-friendly web application, Grogan said, adding that subsequent versions of the software may also be available as an application for smartphones.

The program began development in the spring 2012 semester, as ESTS brainstormed new ways to serve Tufts students through mobile apps, according to Grogan.

The project was then pitched to the Academic Technology (AT) Fellows, a group of hired students who assist with ESTS’s tools and services.

“People responded very positively to the idea,” senior Rebecca WoodSpagnoli, an AT Fellow, told the Daily in an email. “There were concerns, as with any new product, but as we involved our target audience from the get-go, we were able to address any issues before the launch.”

Grogan’s team then used the students’ responses to design the product.

“Based on those students, we developed a wireframe sketch of what this application might look like,” he said.

“Then we sent it up to the developers, and that’s what they’re working on.”

Study groups at Tufts have typically depended upon knowing other members of the class beforehand, senior Daniel McNeely, a chemical engineering major, said.

“We survive by forming study groups for everything,” McNeely said. “[ Jumbo Study] allows you to do that from the get-go. Rather than feeling out the class for the first two weeks or so, you can just say, ‘Hey, we should all study together.’ I feel like it really eases up that process.”

Tufts Medical Center joins with Vanguard, NEQCA HEALTHCARE

continued from page 1

company without any funding. But it’s a loan that gets paid back as the insurance company succeeds.”

Tufts Medical has a three-year relationship with Vanguard Health Systems through MetroWest Medical Center in Framingham and Natick, which Vanguard owns.

“I think the success and trust that we’ve developed working together in those projects have led to this,” Salem said.

Joelson explained that each of the three groups will bring different strengths to the collaboration.

“NEQCA ... has expertise in care management, contracting with insurance companies, data and analysis and a lot of the infrastructure that is needed to manage care in the future, and that’s the expertise that Vanguard was interested in supporting in the market,” she said.

Tufts Medical Center will help by providing high-end services in a cost-effective manner, according to Joelson.

“Vanguard really brings to the table a presence in Massachusetts through their

ownership of MetroWest Medical Center and Saint Vincent’s Hospital, as well as the management expertise that they have in running hospitals nationally,” she said. “So we will look to them as we think about ways to be more efficient.”

Joelson noted that there is an academic component of the collaboration through developing relationships with community hospitals and examining how future physicians will work in the community.

“A lot of the academic medical centers are accused of sucking patients out of the community,” Salem said. “A lot of what we’re doing is helping the community build services that are equivalent to what you’d get in an academic medical center by having our own faculty actually work there.”

Joelson said that Tufts Medical Center is excited about the collaboration.

“We like to say that you don’t have to build a system by owning everything, and so this is an attempt to be creative and keep Tufts as an independent hospital in certain ways,” she said. “We’re looking forward to it.”

Virginia Bledsoe / The Tufts Daily

Six fraternities participated in fall recruitment this year, extending a total of 56 bids.

Informal fraternity rush boasts steady turnout, larger numbers FRATS

continued from page 1

cumstances and the composition of each pledge class, he added.

“It’s up and down from year to year,” Sutherland said. “This year there were just more guys who missed out on it their freshmen year.”

The informal rush format in the fall is an alternative for potential pledges who may not be comfortable with the formal style of rushing that

takes place in the spring, Inter-Greek Council (IGC) president Anthony Ferlan, a senior, said.

“It can be less intimidating for some guys who don’t want to be going from chapter to chapter with 40 or 50 other people, whereas now they can meet people individually and make the determination on their own without the influence of the people around them if they want to join the organization,” Ferlan said.

Features

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tuftsdaily.com

Changes to student programs reflect fluctuating social landscape Campus traditions made safer to adjust to shifting behavior by

Martha Shanahan

Daily Editorial Board

Debauchery, it would seem, has lost a friend in Tufts.

Effective for the first time at Spring Fling in 2010, the steering committee banned alcohol from the notoriously sloppy concert that had flooded the Hill in previous years with Universitysanctioned alcohol.

The following March, outgoing University President Lawrence Bacow put an end to the decades-long Naked Quad Run (NQR) tradition that, for one night a year, made it socially acceptable for Jumbos to shed their clothes and stampede the Residential Quad in naked glory.

This summer, 239 incoming freshmen spent two weeks in the woods with a Tufts Wilderness Orientation ( TWO) that had discarded its traditionally raunchy games, songs and general enthusiasm for nudity in lieu of professional leadership and firstaid training.

And this year, Tufts Dance Collective will take the stage with fewer dances and participants as a measure taken by the Office for Campus Life (OCL) to prevent the kind of destruction intoxicated dancers wreaked on Cohen Auditorium last year with spray paint.

As wild times are inhibited by new restrictions, student backlash against regulation has ranged from the civilized — see: Excessively Overdressed Quad Stroll — to the outraged — “Begone, Bacow. You are a teetotaler and a bore,” one commenter wrote on the Tufts Daily website amid threats from alumni to withhold donations.

Within the short span of time that most undergraduates spend on the Hill, this quick succession of changes could seem to indicate a tilt of the scales towards conservative, good-clean-fun at the expense of the kind of debauchery that life in college used to promise.

“I do realize when you put them together ... new students could come in and hear from upper class students, ‘You know, not so long ago there was this and this,’ and they would get the idea that ... there’s [been] a moral crackdown,” Dean of Student Affairs Bruce Reitman said.

But administrators agree that these alterations, as well as the overall taming down of Tufts’ student activities, are part of an overall growing sensitivity to the problem of excessive alcohol consumption and the risks of letting loose in a more dangerous society.

“It’s not an effort, it’s not a structural strategic plan of any sort — it’s a more complex world,” Reitman said. “Some of it is just coincidence, [but] it’s not just chance that these things happen in these years. You just have more people thinking about these things, and parents are quicker to call when they hear about something.”

Each of the recent decisions to change these traditions was a reaction to specific incidents of student misbehavior, Office of Campus Life Director Joe Golia said.

“There certainly wasn’t some administrator saying, ‘Let’s get rid of [the Naked Quad Run (NQR)]’, for instance,” he said. “The reaction was based on stuff that happened during those years.”

Overall, though, a more extreme approach to alcohol consumption is a big part of the equation, Golia said.

“I went to college in the ’80s [and] it was not like this. People did not drink to the extent that they do now, and I didn’t see the damage like you see now,” Golia said. “I never saw such hard-core drinking. I was shocked to see that. I never heard about transports

Annie Wermiel / Tufts Daily Archives

At Spring Fling 2008, alcohol was permitted for of-age concertgoers. or people ... going to the hospital.”

Golia commented on the past Spring Fling policy that permitted alcohol and its inappropriateness on today’s college campus.

“In this day and age, that they were still allowing six-packs to be brought into an event with underage people at it, that’s total 1980s college,” Golia said.

“With so many problems with alcohol at colleges and universities, the fact that we were still doing that is actually kind of embarrassing.”

Questions like these were the driving force behind the decisions to remove alcohol from Spring Fling and to cancel NQR, according to Director of Alcohol and Health Education Ian Wong.

In the case of NQR, a tradition with origins on the Hill in the 1970s, Wong found that the demeanor of the event had changed.

“What originally was, ‘Let’s get naked and run around the quad,’ suddenly turned into these standoffs between the police and students,” Wong said.

A similar transformation occurred in the behavior of students at Spring Fling. In the year before the show went dry, emergency calls for dangerously intoxicated concertgoers overwhelmed local ambulance services, and at least 10 students were sent to hospitals in what was declared a mass casualty incident.

“Over the years, we’re seeing more and more incidents ... we almost had a student die,” Wong said. “It wasn’t that that made us say no more alcohol at Spring Fling. It was a slow and kind of steady increase in problems ... and if you kind of figure out where this is going ... is the next thing going to be a death?”

According to Reitman, beyond dangerous drinking, schools like Tufts are part of a society generally more sensitive to issues of safety in the wake of increased reporting of sexual assault and dangerous behavior.

“We’re more likely to learn about these things that any school would address when presented with them,” Reitman said. “All schools are more likely to learn about them now. You see similar things happening everywhere.”

It’s a phenomenon taking place in the social fabric of the country, according to Reitman.

“It’s not just at Tufts — it’s all over the country. Anything you think is new here, it’s pretty unlikely it’s unique to Tufts,” Reitman said. “You see new Title IX people, new programming to combat either substance abuse or sexual safety.”

The changes to the guidelines for leaders of Tufts Wilderness Orientation this year — which Golia noted resulted in a highly successful program — were made in the interest of participants’ well-being, not as an attack on the traditions that had characterized the program in the past.

Reading through the leader applications, an external program advisor that OCL hired to coordinate TWO this year found references to inappropriate activities, such as sexually-themed games and songs. The advisor worked with Golia, Reitman and TWO’s coordinators to revise the process of training leaders and the program’s standards for acceptable behavior.

“If the favorite part of Wilderness was some of the stuff we read, you shouldn’t be in Wilderness,” Golia said. “The program is sold as an outdoor education program for students ... not so much the nudity and things like that.”

Adapting to these new circumstances means seeking a balance between the preservation of beloved traditions and moderation of unsafe or unacceptable behavior.

“There is no plan to change who we are at heart,” Reitman said. “I think we all rue the loss of some of the things that students see as the traditions of Tufts and this community that make it special.”

Programming Board Co-Chair Christopher Blackett, a senior, agreed.

“As a student, I loved the tradition,” he said. “It’s hard to balance students’ expectations about what college should be like and what administrators and officials expect it to be.”

In the case of NQR, though, he said as a student leader that it had too many risks involved and was an unsustainable tradition.

“The administration is incredibly flexible ... they know students will drink — it’s inevitable about being young, reckless and in college,” Blackett said. “But they also make sure that we’re safe, and they don’t condone underage drinking.”

To move forward, Reitman said the university encourages the kinds of new traditions that emerge spontaneously and eschew the sense of danger in the events they replace.

“It is easy to replace old traditions with new versions of their old traditions or with new traditions entirely? No, it’s not so easy,” he said. “If [the OCL] or my office plans them, they’re doomed.

Because that’s anti-spontaneity, they’re not student-owned initiatives. It has to come from the students to work.”

Jacob Passy | A Bit Off

True-ly delicious in Teele

I

know, I know — this isn’t a column about food. But when the going gets tough, my stomach gets going. As midterms creep closer and closer to being a reality — seriously, when did it become October? — sometimes, you just need a good meal to keep the study-fueled crazies away. People use many things to fill those comforting cravings. My vice is waffles, undoubtedly a takeaway from my time studying abroad in Belgium, the land of the waffle.

The discussion over the best place for breakfast is something of a contentious debate for most Tufts students. It doesn’t help that the typical contenders in this battle happen to be right next to one another: SoundBites and Ball Square Café.

However, there’s still plenty of delicious, syrupy goodness to be had beyond the confines of Ball Square.

Now, I should make a confession for those who don’t know me: I have allergies to milk, eggs, peanuts and tree nuts.

So the breakfast debate, for me, was a bit insufferable. I cannot express the number of times people have been shocked that I haven’t been to either breakfast joint.

To be fair, I’ve never tried to — when you’re allergic to as many things as I am, you tend to grow a bit pessimistic. The likelihood of any of the food on those menus being edible for me was slim.

So when I moved to my current house near Teele Square, I was delighted to find True Bistro, a tiny restaurant that serves a mean breakfast. That said, it’s time for another disclaimer: True Bistro is a vegan restaurant. Perfect for me — less perfect for all-things-animal aficionados.

Nevertheless, I’m surprised that the restaurant is never mentioned. Clearly, True Bistro’s entry into the Somerville/Medford breakfast battle goes unnoticed. Perhaps that’s because the square is known for other culinary adventures, such as the Indian food at Masala or the sordid beverages at Teele Square Liquors.

Of course, the restaurant’s location doesn’t help much. It’s pretty non-descript, tucked away into a deep recess on Broadway. Curtains in the main entrance further obscure the dining spot’s outward appearance. I’d passed by the place many times before I thought to even take a peek inside.

But when I walked inside, I was taken aback by the amazing waitstaff. My waitress knew the menu backward and forward and was quick to replace the menu in my hands when I told her about my nut allergy. She was very careful to confirm the severity of my allergy before letting me order anything from the menu — while the restaurant has nut-free dishes, it warns that there is a chance for crosscontamination since they are prepared in the same part of the kitchen.

I determined that it was not going to be too risky for me after firing off a few questions. And I can say I’m truly glad that I was able to enjoy True Bistro’s food for one reason: The Belgian waffle that I had there was amazing. Straight from the nut-free menu, it came with a great berry compote, warm maple syrup and coconut-based whipped cream. In short, yum.

There are, of course, reasons to go to the restaurant beyond eating a waffle, though.

The menu is filled with all sorts of delicious bites, running the gamut from breakfast to post-dinner cocktails and desserts. True Bistro also provides diners with an additional feast — for the eyes. The eatery features artwork from local artists — this month it’s the work of Martina Marek.

If you go, be sure to grab some info on how to lead a vegan lifestyle. I’ll admit, I still love meat, but eating their food nearly had me convinced to make the switch.

Jacob Passy is a senior majoring in international relations. He can be reached at Jacob.Passy@tufts.edu.

The Tufts Daily

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Thursday, October 4, 2012

Self-Study for Accreditation: Call for Comments September 25, 2012 Dear Members of the Tufts Community, I am writing to invite members of the University community to comment on the self-study that Tufts has conducted as part of its process for reaccreditation by the New England Association of Schools and Colleges (NEASC). Tufts has been accredited by NEASC’s Commission on Institutions of Higher Education (CIHE) since 1929 and is evaluated for continued accreditation every 10 years by the Commission. The self-study is the foundation of CIHE’s review. This process calls on us to address qualitatively eleven educational standards through review and evaluation, in order to strengthen education at Tufts and to assure the public of institutional quality and integrity.

The self-study document was prepared by the Steering Committee and 11 working groups consisting of faculty, administrators, students, and trustees. Input from additional members of the Tufts community—especially in the areas of assessment, faculty and research, planning and budgeting, students, and technological and physical resources—was invaluable in evaluating the university’s compliance with CIHE standards. A draft of the self-study was disseminated over the summer to deans and administrators who provided additional information and insight into the quality and effectiveness of our educational programs.

The final self-study will be submitted to the Commission in January 2013. The full visiting team is scheduled to be on campus for the comprehensive evaluation March 10-13, 2013. A final decision by CIHE about Tufts’ accreditation status is expected in fall 2013.

Tufts’ accreditation self-study is posted online. To access the 100-page draft report, go to http://provost.tufts.edu/institutionalresearch/accreditation/selfstudy/.

Corrections and comments can be submitted using an online feedback form no later than mid-day on Tuesday, October 9, 2012. I encourage you to review the self-study and know that the Steering Committee looks forward to your comments.

Best wishes, Tony Monaco The Tufts Community is also invited to provide feedback at Open Hearings on the report: Tuesday, October 9, 2012 12:00 – 1:00PM Coolidge Room, Ballou Hall !

Wednesday, October 10, 2012 12:00 – 1:00PM Crane Room, Paige Hall

Weekender Arts & Living

5

tuftsdaily.com

Weekender

Talking drugs with the king of psychedelia

P by

Journalist Hamilton Morris blends substances, science

Melissa MacEwen

Daily Editorial Board

lenty of people do drugs, but a comparative few try to understand them.

Hailed by his internet following as the new Hunter S. Thompson, Hamilton Morris has built a name for himself as the reigning king of all things psychoactive. From Sapo frogs in the Amazon rainforest to Haitian zombie powder, Morris has tried it all, written about it and spawned a loyal band of fans who follow his writings through Harper’s Magazine and Vice, among others. Both a scientist and a journalist by trade, Morris examines drugs and drug culture through an academic lens. His travels have taken him around the world and through a mind-boggling array of alterations in consciousness.

On a sweltering August afternoon, I met with Mr. Morris in his Williamsburg apartment to learn about the murky world of gray-market drugs and just what it means to explore psychoactive substances. Witty and hyper-articulate through his trademark gravelly baritone, Morris was unflinchingly straightforward throughout our hour-long interview, and he even took the time to show me his assorted cacti — some of which were from Morris’ hero, pharmacologist and drug pioneer Alexander Shulgin, himself.

Though shamans and the like have led their flocks to chemical enlightenment for time immemorial, the 20th and 21st centuries have witnessed the rise of the modern day “psychonaut,” an individual who uses psychoactive drugs with the intent of expanding and exploring his own consciousness. Morris is often branded as such by his readers, but he is quick to deny this classification.

“The vast majority of people who call themselves ‘psychonauts’ are just people who do a ton of drugs that are actually very well-explored,” Morris said.

According to him, only the first people to test the limits of a new substance really deserve to be labeled psychonauts. Most drug users hardly fit this description.

However, my conversation with Morris quickly moved to the throngs of people worldwide who have unwittingly become a peculiar breed of guinea pigs-cum-psychonauts as they consume substances that are almost completely untested.

The rise of the Internet spawned a vast online market for “research chemicals” in the late ’90s, and the market thrives to this day. Though these compounds are marketed as “not for human consumption,” most are actually taking advantage of perceived governmental loopholes.

The thinking goes that the government can ban individual substances, but it can’t ban every substance that produces a specific effect. Consequently, designer drugs are born and made widely available on the Internet as gray-market alternatives to substances that are illegal in the United States.

Unfortunately, as highly publicized mephedrone — commonly known as bath salts — and synthetic cannabinoids like Spice and K2 have repeatedly demonstrated, the general public does not always fare well when presented with experimental substances it knows little to nothing about. The Wild West of the chemical market has little to no regulation, and though governments can ban substances, it would be impossible eliminate the complex network of buyers, sellers and the new kinds of products it constantly churns out. It’s a

dangerous environment to be sure, but Morris doesn’t think the market should be treated as a public hazard.

“Just because [the research chemical market] is dangerous doesn’t mean it should be prohibited or should be regulated in such a way that people don’t have access to it,” Morris said. “People will doubtlessly die in the future, and many people have died in the past [as a result of the market].”

He admitted that irresponsible decisions can often result in tragedy, but Morris did see an unexpected upside to the chemical market’s nearly complete lack of regulation: The circumstances provide scientists with a wealth of information that would be impossible to gain from ethical studies.

“We ... learn a huge amount about toxicology as a result of those people overdosing,” said Morris.

As an example, he cited Alexander Shulgin and his Aleph series of drugs.

After he synthesized the Alephs, Shulgin carefully and safely experimented with the series on his own. However, once the Alephs reached the research chemical market, people began to overdose and die after taking them in conjunction with other substances.

“It was discovered that they have this enzyme inhibition effect, which is really interesting, and which never would have been discovered if [they] were only used by responsible people,” Morris said.

Morris himself fell headfirst into the rabbit hole of research chemical culture when he read about Shulgin in The New York Times Magazine’s 2005 article.

Though Morris was scientifically interested in drugs throughout high school, his chemical experimentation never went beyond salvia and the extraction of salvinorin A. Teenage drug culture didn’t appeal to him, and he found his school’s druggie population off-putting.

His horizons expanded greatly after his college-age exposure to Shulgin and once he started to monitor the on-line research chemical market.

“That’s when I

really became obsessed,” he said.

He continued his independent research, began writing for Vice and quickly gained a reputation for his unconventional twist on scientific writing. As his monthly column/film series “Hamilton’s Pharmacopeia” reflects, Morris is particularly interested in psychedelics. Hallucinogens’ effects on the brain are poorly understood, and Morris believes they still have a vast amount of information to offer the scientific community about the “mindbrain connection.”

He also finds psychedelics intriguing on a more anthropological level.

Whether they use mushrooms or toads or vines, many disparate cultures are bound by their mutual respect for the properties of psychedelics. In addition to causing euphoria, psychedelics can also bring about a profound, mystical experience.

“I think with the classical serotonergic psychedelics there’s this luminous, spiritual, holy quality to them,” he said.

“You feel very connected to the world. It feels like a healthy, beneficial thing.”

This same emotional experience has proven beneficial in therapeutic contexts: both MDMA, a component of ecstasy, and psilocybin, magic mushrooms, have been used to help patients struggling with post-traumatic stress disorder and anxiety. Morris referenced a recent Johns Hopkins University study that helped bring some positive media to the two drugs and their effects. Still, he finds studies like this one somewhat indicative of America’s problematic perceptions of drug use. For any sort of psychedelic experience to “work,” Morris stressed that people must be open to the host of complex psychological effects caused by the drugs.

“In America, you take drugs to feel good and that’s it,” he said. “And if it doesn’t make you feel good, then why would you be using the drug?”

Even a bad experience can be meaningful, Morris continued, and shouldn’t necessarily be categorized as different from other “bad”

things that people encounter on a dayto-day basis.

“In some cultures, part of being alive is taking ayahuasca and [encountering] death. It’s not comfortable, it’s scary, but that’s okay,” he said.

Despite his support of drug legalization, Morris was pessimistic that change will happen anytime soon. Vocally favoring legalization is a risky political strategy and most legalization activists’ arguments do little to curry favor with non-supporters. He acknowledged that the effects of Reagan’s War on Drugs can still be felt around America and added that he also believes the media is also to blame for the United States’ puritanical views on drug use, especially in comparison to other developed nations.

“People think that the media is manipulating people and it’s this huge government agenda to make people afraid,” he said. “But what they don’t realize is that there’s no overarching authority saying, ‘You have to write about drugs in this way. You have to demonize them. You have to make people afraid of them.’”

Countless substances have been scheduled by the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) since its inception in 1973, even though genuine research chemicals like 2C-N and DOET were scarcely used outside of laboratories, if at all. Furthermore, it is easy to schedule a drug, but very few drugs in history have ever been de-scheduled.

According to Morris, this is a ridiculous blanket approach. Everything should be legal, as the DEA has hardly made the nation any safer by banning entire families of chemicals. Some of the most dangerous chemicals are barely regulated at all.

“You can get [scopolamine] at CVS,” he said. “[And] the research chemicals that are used as brain-lesioning agents, like ibotenic acid, are all readily available.”

Still, Morris is far from optimistic that drugs will ever be regulated more rationally.

America’s tense relationship with drugs will likely stretch on indefinitely, even if Americans grow more comfortable with the consumption of marijuana and other psychedelics.

“I think that everything has continued for this long already says that people are completely insane,” he said.

Melissa MacEwen / The Tufts Daily

The Tufts Daily

6

Weekender

Thursday, October 4, 2012

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

Check out these events!

Opening reception of “Girls!” exhibition: Tonight is the opening reception of “Girls!,” the October exhibition for the Slater Concourse Gallery. The exhibition is self-curated by students in the SMFA/ Tufts dual-degree program, and will run through Oct. 30. Tonight beginning at 6 p.m. in the Slater Concourse Gallery at

Aidekman Arts Center. Admission is free.

Dave Attell: Comedian Dave Attell will bring his stand-up act to Boston this Friday with a performance at the Wilbur Theatre. Attell is the former host of Comedy Central’s “Insomniac with Dave Attell.” Friday at 10 p.m. at the Wilbur Theatre, 246 Tremont St., Boston. Tickets are $31 on Ticketmaster.com.

ICA First Fridays: Fashion Forward: The Institute of Contemporary Art will be

hosting a special event to coincide with Boston Fashion Week. The event will feature a fashion show of clothing inspired

by Os Gemeos and a preview of Spring/ Summer 2013 collections by designers such as Daniela Corte and Michael De Paulo. Friday at 5 p.m. at the Institute of Contemporary Art, 100 Northern Ave, Boston. Admission is $15 for nonmembers, and the event is 21+.

Parallel Realities: The Nando Michelin

Group, led by jazz pianist Nando Michelin, will perform at Granoff Music Center this Friday. The group is known for performing original, South American-influenced jazz compositions, and features saxophonists Jerry Bergonzi and George Garzone. Friday at 8 p.m. in Distler Performance Hall. Admission is free, no tickets required.

—compiled by the Daily Arts Department

Concert Review

A$AP Rocky gives rocking House of Blues performance “The future of rap music” roars through Boston

by Sam

Capogrosso

Contributing Writer

The Boston House of Blues was buzzing with anticipation last Friday as Schoolboy Q and Danny Brown finished their opening sets. As their performances ended, the two welcomed friend and associate A$AP Rocky to the venue. Introduced as “the future of rap music,” Rocky bounded onto stage wearing camo, a Kevlar vest and a facemask amid the sound of machine guns going off and the roar of an appreciative audience. His dramatic arrival announced the peak of the show’s always high energy.

A$AP leapt right into action with “Thuggin’ Noise.” Having successfully roused the crowd, Rocky took a brief moment to address his listeners, preaching an electrifying message of acceptance. Rocky may be from New York, but his influences scan the country.

“We [A$AP Mob] look like we from Cali, we rap like we from Houston, we’re from New York and all we want is to be accepted,” he said to fans.

He encouraged the audience not to judge each other for their differences, but instead to consider that everyone there that night possessed the same common love for music. The message was welcome, particularly considering hip-hop’s tendency to promote competition and personal attacks.

Later in the set, A$AP also included a moment of silence for Pimp C, honoring the late MC by playing “Sippin’ On Some Syrup,” a popular Three 6 Mafia single featuring C. After the tribute, the lights dimmed to purple for the tune of the hit “Purple Swag,” and the crowd went absolutely wild.

This same energy remained for the duration of the show. Indeed, once Rocky took the microphone there was never a dull moment — by the third song he was crowd surfing and the audience was pulsing to the music. After his first two songs, he brought out the entire A$AP Mob, the most notable of whom was A$AP Ferg. Both Rocky and Ferg meshed together seamlessly, their dual stage presence riling the crowd even further. He later pulled Danny Brown back on stage for another special collaborative performance. Though other Harlem-born, facemask-donning members of A$AP Mob were slightly less talented lyricists, the entire crew put forth an impressive performance nonetheless.

Although Rocky appeased the rowdy audience with his newer A$AP Mob material, the real excitement happened when he performed his more well-known songs off his hit mixtape, “LiveLoveA$AP.” The likes of “Wassup,” “Peso” and “Brand New Guy” had spectators jumping up and down in unison and belting out all the lyrics to every song.

“Peso,” widely regarded as the first mainstream A$AP Rocky song, was a particular crowd favorite, but nothing compared to rampant enthusiasm when the beat of “Goldie,” his most recent release, began. The first single off his upcoming album, “Goldie” was more than well-received, foreshadowing good things to come for Rocky and the rest of the A$AP Mob. At times, the A$AP Mob’s lack of stage experience was fairly evident. When his fellow rappers first came on, Rocky

Brennan Schnell via Flickr Creative Commons

Despite their relative inexperience, A$AP Rocky and his Mob thrilled the House of Blues. became somewhat distracted and even live delivery from the other A$AP memthe simple task of keeping his lyrics on bers seemed almost like a distraction. beat seemed to be too much for him Overall, however, the concert was a to handle. During this segment of the success, especially considering that this show, the music was choppy and almost tour is one of A$AP Rocky’s very first difficult to keep up with. Without the mainstream appearances. Undoubtedly, clarity afforded by high production, the the quality of his shows will improve as

he performs more often. Regardless, A$AP Rocky is already making a name for himself in the hip-hop world. With a new album, “LongLiveA$AP,” set to debut later in October, A$AP Rocky is poised to become a solid contender in the realm of rap.

The Artsy Jumbo

Junior Hallie Gluk embraces technology and pure aesthetics Hallie Gluk’s visual artwork is quite distinctive: it is both innovative and so thoroughly embedded in her day-to-day life that she cannot separate her pieces for school from her more personal creations. She truly lives her art.

“It’s funny to try and articulate something about my “work” because that would require me to make a distinction between pieces I make...with some specific intention, [and] day to day adornment or craft,” Gluk, a junior majoring in International Letters and Visual Studies who is also in the combined degree program with the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, said.

Generally, Gluk’s work generally has an antique, eclectic style to it.

“In trying to peg my aesthetic, I can say that I love antiquated ornamentations: [especially those from the] Byzantine, Classical and Persian [Empires],” she said. “This overlaps with [my] historical and personal interest in symbology.”

She also emphasized the importance of technology as an influence in her work.

“The Internet...allows us to experience things in a...removed sort-of way,” she said.

“This opens up exciting potential to appropriate in a way [that is] both unfettered and conscientious. “ Gluk added that art has the power to make its own history instead of reflecting the meaning of events and objects. This is not a particularly unusual approach to art-making, but Gluk does embrace the purely visual components of her art more than most artists do.

“I’m afraid people shy away from strong aesthetics, or dismiss “visual” as a synonym for “shallow,” when the visual holds so much power,” Gluk said. courtesy hallie gluk

—by Joe Stile

The Tufts Daily

Thursday, October 4, 2012 Fashion Review

Merrily we flow along at Boston Fashion Week Collections by designers Yousif and Mendoza stood out by

Brionna Jimerson

Daily Editorial Board

Boston Fashion Week is not for the faint of heart. In the past few years, designers and show producers alike have upped the creative ante with an interesting mix of household name brands, Boston fashion titans and leftof-center fashion industry up-andcomers. This year’s shows featured surprisingly wearable pieces alongside artistic creations that could make even Meryl Streep’s Miranda Priestly crack a wince — or so we dare to dream. In particular, the Emerging Trends shows for Firas Yousif Originals and Sam Mendoza created an undeniable buzz both outside and inside the tent, due to their mix of ethereal pieces and shockingly approachable cuts that still managed to convey chic and whimsy.

Firas Yousif Originals is a force in the Boston bridal gown scene and beyond, with “bridal,” “evening” and “flirty” couture collections. At Emerging Trends, Yousif capitalized on a sense of manufactured nostalgia that’s done well in the fashion scene for the last couple of seasons, with side bouffants, patterned textiles and 1950’s Vargas Girls-esque silhouettes. Imagine what would happen if Paz de la Huerta’s character Lucy in “Boardwalk Empire” had a run-in with Christina Hendricks’ “Mad Men” persona and you’ll be in the ballpark.

In Yousif ’s designs, he looks to capture several unique fashion voices, but his strength lies in dressing brides in unparalleled couture gowns. Without question, the bridal aspect of the show was best. The standout was a flowing sheath dress with silver undertones and a sheer top layer with shimmering rectangular pieces. The dress was strapless, save for two triangular straps that sat far below the shoulders, on the top of the forearms and almost level with the underarms. The gown barely swept the runway, with the geometric silhouette of an elongated and slightly curved rectangle as the body and the upside-down triangles called attention simultaneously to the bare neckline and the carefully constructed body of the dress. The reconstructed dress was a welcome change from the parades of tulle-injected gowns of yesteryear. It was truly an emerging trend which Yousif had mastered and made his own.

Sam Mendoza’s runway collection was a break from the norm as it transitioned easily between edgy cuts and ovular lines. Like Yousif, Mendoza’s looks utilized a neo-nostalgic vibe, but he integrated it seamlessly with the ever popular fishtail, a staple at most of the Boston Fashion Week show. He also reworked the vibe by incorporating topknots and chignons.

Mendoza’s show featured a level of detail that marked this collection as a standout compared to his last few collections. The hemlines were carefully constructed with reds or blues at the

Justin McCallum / the Tufts Daily

Striking designs commanded the crowd’s attention at Boston Fashion Week. base, even on beige maxi skirts and color-blocked pieces.

When colors strutted down the catwalk, they fought with force. Bluelipped models with fishtail braid buns piled on their heads stole the show. It was a completely different look — and a more sustainable and interesting one ― than those found in other shows.

You can imagine the likes of Janelle Mon࣠or Solange Knowles rocking some of Mendoza’s fashion forward pieces.

The look emphasized energetic and robust sports-inspired cuts.

The usual fashion suspects were there in Mendoza’s line — little black dresses turned big with revealing necklines and full skirts, with a draping effect that’s hot for spring/summer 2013. The garments didn’t hang dreadfully on the models, but instead

sat upright and commanded the audience’s attention.

Emerging Trends has marked itself as a launchpad of creativity for dozens of designers in the last few years.

Pumping, heavy music didn’t distract from the power and presence of Mendoza’s pieces — the focus was on the garments, worn ever so well by the models. Mendoza and Yousif shone among dozens of other shows, with both critical appeal and wearable wonders. If Mendoza is any indication of what we can expect in the spring, it will be an appreciation of fabric and garments with strappy elements that don’t confine the body. For expanded coverage on Emerging Trends, see the Daily blog Jumboslice for exclusive videos from the runway, interviews with the designers and more.

Top Ten | iPhone apps that don’t exist yet The recent release of the iPhone 5 spawned massive lines, emptied wallets and ensured a new wave of apps for nearly every possible desire. Unfortunately, the operative word is “nearly.” We at the Daily Arts Department believe there are still a few apps that the iPhone desperately needs, so here are the top ten apps we’re willing into being: 10. Tommy Lee Jones simulator: For those times when you need sage advice from a grizzled veteran actor — one who doesn’t randomly lecture empty chairs at certain national political conventions.

9. Thumbdrive, “Matrix” (1999)style: Because we’re moving towards a future in which we will eventually

become one with the iPhone.

8. A Moe’s BBQ Trolley app: All the deliciousness of a late night burger without any of the shame from drunkenly stumbling over to this weekendnight mainstay.

7. An app to hail a taxi: Because waiting in the street, in the rain, is a bit 2005.

6. Portkey app: You’ll never need to curse the JoeyTracker’s failures if you have a portkey in the palm of your hand!

5. Night vision app: To help you escape darkened frat basements on weekend nights.

7

Weekender

4. SkinnyBooth app: Like FatBooth, but the opposite.

3. Sex app: The headphone jack may suffice if you are particularly underendowed.

2. Swiss Army knife functions: Your iPhone can already give you whatever information you want; it might as well be able to cut bread and solve any other physical challenges you’ll encounter.

1. A telegraphing app: Vintage is in, and few things are more charmingly vintage — or self-indulgently hipster — than a telegraph.

—compiled by the Daily Arts Department

Mae Humiston & Sara Gardner | Let’s Talk About Food

A crash course in agriculture

A

griculture began at least 10,000 years ago, when Homo sapiens stopped chasing animals and foraging long enough to make the connection between seed and plant. This probably happened when our ancestors stared at feces, to be perfectly honest. After years of trial and error, humans in what is now the Middle East were growing the best of the wild. They selected the foods they liked most, picked out the seeds, planted them and began a lifestyle centered on these cultivated spaces.

This, most anthropologists argue, birthed the world’s first cities. Good growers began to focus solely on growing, good builders on building, good weapons makers on weapon making and so on. Agricultural specialization, however rudimentary, gave rise to our world’s first civilizations. And it’s been creating problems ever since.

While this new specialized agriculture system led to population booms, it also led to widespread nutritional deficiencies as many of the wild plants that people relied on for sustenance on were removed from everyday diets. Additionally, as populations increased exponentially, growing spaces were forced further and further away from city centers.

These spaces simultaneously expanded and diversified to feed more mouths. Expansion necessitated innovation, which gave rise to techniques such as weeding, slash-and-burn clearing, letting fields lie fallow and irrigation.

These seemingly intuitive techniques opened up a previously untapped world of agricultural production, the basics of which are the very foundation of modern industrial farming technology.

Skipping over the several thousands of years during which humans domesticated horses and maize (2000-4000 BCE), discovered tea (roughly 3000 BCE), created windmills (roughly 1000 CE), refined sugar (around 0 CE), traded coffee from the Middle East (roughly 1500 CE) and popularized greenhouses (0 CE), we arrive in the 1700s.

People had figured out how to seed, weed, harvest, fertilize, irrigate and store innumerable types of plants by then. Specialization was on the rise because intensive production of one unique product meant standardization, efficiency and increased profit.

We’re greeted by the British Agricultural Revolution, which fed an exploding population and resulted in the popularization of nitrogen-fixating crop rotation.

Chemical fertilizers arrived on the scene in the 19th century and scientists like Gregor Mendel started throwing ideas about genes around as well. Getting into the 1900s, we essentially arrive at the beginning of modern industrial agriculture and the infusion of agriculture into American policy-making.

According to Tim Griffin of the Friedman School — Tufts’ graduate school of nutrition — the development of the steel and railroad industries, the popularization of the tractor, the invention of hybrid corn and advances in food preservation were all necessary elements to forming modern industrial agriculture. These paved the way for a “Green Revolution” in the 70s that temporarily, yet dramatically, increased crop yields by using chemicals and genetically modified seeds.

The revolution ultimately pushed many small farmers out of business due to their greater financial demands.

We’ve come from nibbling wild greens to producing food on unimaginably massive scales. However, because of our agricultural “advances,” most farmland is in the hands of very few and it is cultivated using genetically engineered plants, chemical herbicides, pesticides and fertilizer. This land is largely devoted to monocultures of wheat, corn and rice. Its financiers — corporations — hold heavy clout with policy-makers. Despite improvements in technology, people are still suffering nutritionally, ecologically, financially and/or politically because of modern food production. It’s a complicated and convoluted history, and we’ve barely skimmed the surface. If you want to go deeper and engage with this incredibly important history, feel free to email us!

Sara Gardner is a freshman who has not yet a declared a major. She can be reached at Sara.Gardner@tufts.edu. Mae Humiston is a senior majoring in anthropology. She can be reached at Mae.Humiston@tufts.edu

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Thursday, October 4, 2012

Thursday, October 4, 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

Hannah Fingerhut Executive Features Editor Jon Cheng Features Editors Amelia Quinn Derek Schlom Lily Sieradzki Emily Bartlett Assistant Features Editors Alexandria Chu Jacob Passy

editorial | Op-ed

Thursday, October 4, 2012

Editorial

Policy changes should focus on reducing harm In our Features section today, the article “Changes to student programs reflect fluctuating social landscape” examines the changing face of campus traditions. Over the past few years, the Tufts community has seen many changes in administrative policy on certain social events, ranging from Spring Fling going dry to the end of the Naked Quad Run to an altered Tufts Wilderness Orientation to pared-down Tufts Dance Collective shows.

The administration seeks to curb what many agree is excessive alcohol consumption on campus. In order for these policies centered on binge drinking to be effective, we believe it is absolutely necessary that the administration continues to work on building a nonthreatening relationship with the student body while backing up that information with policy that focuses on harm reduction.

It is crucial that the administration is vigilant about student safety, and that has been its main motive in pushing these changes on Tufts’ social scene. Its concerns are legitimate — in past years there have been severe incidents, notably 2009’s Spring Fling, which was deemed a mass casualty incident after many students were hospitalized. The following year, Dean of Student Affairs Bruce Reitman told the Daily, “We cannot have a year like last year when there were close to 100 people taken to the hospital for consuming too much alcohol.”

But in its attempts to fix Tufts’ drinking problem and keep students safe, the administration must make sure to emphasize policies that do not push drinking to extremes and send it further underground. The administration must hone in on reducing the possible harm that comes from unsafe drinking tenden-

cies by keeping the conversation open and the system forgiving so students with drinking problems can get help without fear of hard-line disciplinary action. A focus on encouraging safe drinking for all students — as was emphasized to this year’s freshmen — is key.

Widespread misunderstanding of TEMS’ policy perpetuates a fear among students to TEMS a friend, even though their life may be at stake. Indeed, according to Dean Reitman, the number of TEMS calls remained static after policy changes that took place between 2010 and 2011.

In the end, changes to the social landscape are those deemed important for student safety. We do believe members of the administration have our best interests at heart when it engages in these policies, but we hope they remember that their policies can only truly be successful with a nuanced approach.

Keran Chen Melissa MacEwen Executive Arts Editor Kate Griffiths Arts Editors Alex Hanno Joe Stile Matthew Welch Alex Kaufman Assistant Arts Editors Dan O’Leary Caroline Welch

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Affirmative action still necessary to building inclusive, diverse university campuses by

Kristina Bui

Arizona Daily Wildcat

The Supreme Court will soon hear a case that could shake up the college admissions process.

Theoretically, affirmative action is no longer necessary. Perhaps it was 30 or 40 years ago, but society has evolved beyond discrimination, and now affirmative action only serves to discriminate against applicants who have enough merit but not the right pigment — or so critics of affirmative action policies say. Still, research shows that most minorities, primarily black and Hispanic students, lag behind their white peers in college enrollment, retention and graduation. Evidence also suggests that raceconscious admissions policies positively influence college graduation rates, enrollment in graduate and professional programs and job prospects.

The case, Fisher v. University of Texas, was filed in 2008 by Abigail Fisher, a white woman who wanted to go to U. Texas, Austin. After she was rejected, Fisher filed suit, saying that the university’s inclusion of race in its admissions process is unconstitutional.

Lower courts sided with U. Texas, citing the earlier decision of Grutter v. Bollinger.

The court’s opinion in the Grutter case

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.

established that a “narrowly tailored use” of race as a factor in admissions supports a “compelling interest” in diversity. Last week, the Obama administration filed an amicus brief in support of U. Texas, saying that the use of race in the admissions process furthers a “vital interest” of the government. The brief argues that having a “well-qualified and diverse pool of university and service academy graduates of all backgrounds” is critical to the future labor force.

But Fisher’s lawsuit against U. Texas and debate in other states makes it clear that Grutter, and earlier cases like Regents of the University of California v. Bakke, did little to clear up confusion. States have used ballot initiatives to remove race-based affirmative action in college admissions, such as California and Arizona. Arizona’s Proposition 107, which passed in 2010, banned the consideration of race, ethnicity or gender by units of state government, including public universities.

Prior to Prop 107’s approval, Robert Shelton, U. Arizona’s president at the time, vowed to find new ways to recruit diverse students if the measure passed.

In response, the “Yes on 107” campaign issued a press release, challenging Shelton to “walk his own talk” and give his job to someone else. The campaign argued that,

if Shelton were so interested in increasing diversity, he would seek it in all positions, unless he believed “discriminating quotas should only apply to other people, but not to him.”

But critics fail to realize two things.

First, people who suspect they are victims of reverse discrimination probably outnumber people who are actually victims. Colleges, especially schools with higher standards, often reject applicants of all races for reasons that don’t have anything to do with race. Second, affirmative action isn’t about reversing discrimination or its history. Minority students don’t get a free pass as reparations for discrimination leveled against their ancestors. Rather, a university must reflect the multicultural society that it will send its students into. Affirmative action is about making sure that a diversity of voices — shaped by experience and identity — contributes to the learning environment.

There’s no denying that affirmative action can be risky, as demonstrated by Princeton University, which is under federal investigation for allegedly requiring Asian-Americans to have stronger test scores and grades than other applicants.

It must be exercised with caution. But diversity remains a compelling interest, no matter what year it is.

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Thursday, October 4, 2012

11

Op-Ed

Off the Hill | University of Oklahoma

Walt Laws-MacDonald | Show Me The Money!

Low voter turnout could be beneficial

by Storm

The election special

Dowd-Lukesh

Oklahoma Daily

Whichever candidate takes office in January will have plenty of people to thank, most notably the Americans who voted him into office. But more than a third of us won’t have participated. Fewer than 60 percent of registered voters have shown up to cast ballots in recent presidential elections, and attendance at midterm and local elections ranges from five to forty percent — certainly not encouraging figures for those who value democratic participation.

Low voter turnout has been a point of complaint of spirited citizens for decades. Civil-minded types will point to dismal returns from the ballot box as a failure to perform basic civil duties.

This is especially true at crucial local and state elections where a single vote carries much more weight than one vote in large national elections.

But registered voters staying home may be a sign of an improving and established democracy rather than a failing one.

On Nov. 6, millions of Americans will perform their “duties” and walk out of a polling place proudly displaying an “I Voted” sticker, proving to their communities that they care about their country. The “Get Out the Vote” and voter registration drives sprout up across the country in election years to preach that regardless of who you cast a ballot for, showing up to the polls is positive.

It’s not negative to feel good about participating in government or influencing others to do so, but isn’t it strange that a major motivation for influencing elections is personal pride?

More importantly, we should question whether pushing citizens to the polls at all costs is truly beneficial to our democracy.

Every vote cast should be made by an educated and informed citizen who has a stake in the effect of their selection. The most inconsistent voters — those who show up to one election but not another — are also the most likely to be less educated voters.

There are two reasons why low voter turnout can actually benefit govern-

T

MCT

ment and even representation.

First, those who aren’t motivated to show up to the polls are unlikely to be educated on or have an opinion about the issues and candidates on the ballot. Sure, apathy is never a good thing, but is ignorantly casting votes any better? Just the opposite: it’s worse.

Second, voting on any and every issue as a matter of civic duty means that voters will inevitably select between options on policy or platforms that don’t affect their lives, diluting the weight of every vote cast by an affected citizen.

In some cases, this is okay. An educated voter can choose an option likely to benefit the whole of society.

However, in most instances, an unaffected voter will find it hard to understand the reach of their vote and how

they are changing other citizens’ lives.

Voting is a citizen’s right, not a duty.

Those who choose to vote, however, ought to understand the civic duty of being an informed voter.

There are no points for bubbling in ballot choices without researching their meaning.

Sooners, show up to the polls this November. Being involved can, and should, be absolutely positive. Show up prepared and for the right reasons and you will be part of the most important part of our democratic system.

But, afterward, understand that the “I Voted” sticker on your chest doesn’t tell the whole story. Maybe that sticker should include a modifier in the form of an asterisk: “I Voted* *responsibly.”

Off the Hill | University of Notre Dame

The new wave of nuclear power by

Dan Reitz

The Observer

In the United States, there are 65 running nuclear power plants. There have been no new facilities built since construction of the final reactor began in 1977. That means the youngest of these facilities is approaching its 30th birthday.

Sounds like it’s time for an upgrade.

Only recently have plans for new nuclear facilities been drawn up, but these projects are still only in the preliminary stages of planning. Nuclear power provides about 20 percent of our nation’s electrical energy, and it is my firm opinion our goal should be to increase this number. I’m sure many of you are sitting over lunch shaking your head in disagreement.

You may be thinking of the disasters at Fukushima or Chernobyl as proof that nuclear energy is not safe. But in fact the meltdown of these facilities can be attributed to poor design. Just look online and you will find plenty of reliable sources outlining the causes of these meltdowns. However, I’m not here to change your mind about nuclear energy. Instead, I am here to introduce you to the up-and-coming nuclear reactor: The thorium-powered molten-salt reactor (MSR).

In an MSR, liquid thorium, a radioactive element, replaces uranium as the main fuel source of the reactor.

The benefits of this are immeasurable.

Thorium is four times more abundant than uranium, and the mining of this fuel is minimized by large stockpiles.

In fact, thorium is plentiful enough to satisfy the energy demands of the U.S. for thousands of years. One pound of thorium can produce as much power as 300 pounds of uranium or nearly 3.5 million pounds of coal. This means less waste than current nuclear facilities, and since this waste is less radioactive it will only remain hazardous for a few hundred years compared to the tens of thousands of years uranium waste remains radioactive. For those of you concerned with nuclear weapons, you can breathe easy.

Thorium is even harder to weaponize than uranium, which is pretty difficult to do in the first place.

Thorium plants can be much smaller than current nuclear facilities in both size and power production. Currently, nuclear facilities are generally built further away from large cities to minimize the potential damage of a worstcase scenario meltdown. Since thorium is already in a molten state, the chance of a meltdown occurring is slim to none. Because of this, smaller facilities can be built closer to cities, eliminating the portion of the energy lost due to transmission and bringing us cleaner, more affordable energy.

With the combination of safety fea-

tures, new designs and the physical properties of thorium, nuclear power plants of the future will become even safer. If this quells the fear of reactor failure, widespread use of these plants could usher in a new era of energy production. With no greenhouse gas emissions, safe production and disposal methods and cheap, reliable power, there can be a significant reduction in the amount of coal-burning plants and other less-clean forms of energy production, thus helping the environment.

If you’re thinking, “Yeah, that’s great, but this is all theoretical,” then think again my friend. In the 1960s, a thorium-powered MSR was built in Tennessee and ran for a total of 22,000 hours. We’re talking about a live reactor built and run by engineers. That’s some promising evidence MSRs could be the next best thing.

Now that I’ve got you anticipating the arrival of the first commercial MSR, I have some bad news: these facilities probably won’t be around in the near future. The amount of funding and planning for such a nuclear facility is at a minimum. Don’t expect to see one of these plants until after 2030.

That being said, there is only room for improvement. Thorium MSRs may be the — theoretical — energy of the future today, but the sky is still the limit for energy production possibilities.

uesday, Nov. 6, 2012. ObamaBiden, Romney-Ryan. ( Trump”You’re Fired”?) I usually try not to dip too far into politics, but when discussing economics it can sometimes be unavoidable. The 2012 presidential election is one of those cases.

The United States is slowly recovering from the worst recession since the Great Depression. Yes, the election has a lot more background than just that sentence and the candidates’ campaigns are built on a plethora of other issues, but I’m only going to talk about this one, because it’s really freakin’ important. I cannot emphasize that enough.

To horribly oversimplify the economic platforms of the two tickets, Mitt Romney says Obama has done a terrible job and Obama says he’s done a great job given the terrible circumstances.

The Obama administration’s economic platform focuses on its successes over the past four years: the bailout and recovery of the automotive industry, 30 consecutive months of job creation, the passage of the Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act and Obamacare.

Romney claims that few of these should be seen as successes. Though Obama has righted the ship, economic growth is sluggish, and the U.S. hasn’t seen the kind of surge that typically pulls a country out of recession. Obama’s goals for the next four years — aside from the standards of deficit reduction and job creation — focus on increasing exports, reducing our dependency on foreign oil and training a new generation of skilled workers.

Romney’s plan looks more at streamlining the economy, cutting both taxes and spending. As the former head of private equity giant Bain Capital, Romney has experience reorganizing business to make them more profitable. He doesn’t want to put any major regulations on Wall Street, and he wants to cut the corporate tax rate to 25 percent from the current 35 percent. None of these are drastic changes; to quote BusinessInsider’s Henry Blodget, Romney’s plan is “about as far right-ofcenter as Obama’s economic policy is leftof-center — which is to say, ‘not much.’”

Romney’s plan is pro-business, whereas Obama’s plan is pro-individual. That’s not to say you can’t have one without the other; Romney is simply taking a top-down approach and Obama is taking a bottomup one. In a much-publicized sound bite, Obama said “If you’ve got a business, you didn’t build that. Somebody else made that happen. The point is, we succeed because of our individual initiative, but also because we do things together.”

The Romney-Ryan campaign has used this statement to highlight a key point: Obama believes that the government should do as much as possible to aid the creation of businesses. Romney believes it should do as little as possible to hinder their creation.

Paul Ryan and Barack Obama are the only people on Capitol Hill to put out fullfledged budget plans in the past four years.

Neither was particularly well-liked, nor did they address all the issues the economy faces, but they were plans nonetheless.

I may disagree with aspects of both economic platforms, but I have to give credit to the two candidates for having not only the knowledge, but also the courage to create a budget with their name on it.

Both tickets have the vision to pull the economy into a period of real economic growth. As a voter, you should ask yourself if you believe they have the power to pull Congress — and the country — together and turn that vision into a reality. But, if all else fails, we can always just call the Donald. Welcome to the Trump House, Mr. President!

Walt Laws-MacDonald is a sophomore majoring in quantitative economics. He can be reached at Walt.Laws_MacDonald@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, October 4, 2012

Doonesbury

Crossword

by

Garry Trudeau

Non Sequitur

Married to the Sea

www.marriedtothesea.com

SUDOKU Level: Providing Queen Isabella with concrete proof that you’re not a loon

Late Night at the Daily

Wednesday’s Solution

Kochman: “So what I’m looking for is an increased level of betterness.”

Want more late-night laughs?

Follow us on Twitter at @LateNiteAtDaily

Please recycle this Daily.

by

Wiley

Sports

13

tuftsdaily.com

Distinguished Achievement Award

For Massarotti, it all started on the Hill by

Aaron Leibowitz

Daily Editorial Board

Twenty-three years ago, a pair of great Boston sportswriters sat down for a meeting in the Mayer Campus Center. One was longtime Boston Herald columnist Tim Horgan (LA ’49). The other was Tony Massarotti (LA ’89) — though he didn’t know it yet.

A senior at the time, Massarotti was simply hoping that someone would give him a chance. At their meeting, he showed Horgan — for whom the Athletics Department’s award for student sportswriting is now named — a couple of clips, including one from a high school hockey game. Not long after that, Horgan helped him land a job answering phones at the Herald.

And the rest is history.

“I would love to tell you that this was all some sort of grand plan, but it wasn’t,” Massarotti told Tufts athletes in Cohen Auditorium last Friday night. “I just took the first job that I thought I wanted, and it has led me to this particular place.”

It’s led him to 15 years covering the Red Sox for the Herald, a column in the Boston Globe, a radio show on 98.5 The Sports Hub, four books and two Massachusetts Sportswriter of the Year awards.

On Friday, it led him back to where it all began to accept the Athletics Departments annual Distinguished Achievement Award.

“I look at some of the recipients on the

Courtesy Tufts Alumni

Former Jumbo and current sports talk radio show host Tony Massarotti (LA ‘89) was honored at the Athletics Department annual awards last Friday. list, and I think — Red Auerbach, Joan Benoit, Nancy Kerrigan, John Hannah — which one of these doesn’t belong?”

Massarotti told the Daily after the ceremony. “Those people are all accom-

Volleyball

see MASSAROTTI, page 15

Inside NBA

Tufts unable to win third in row, drop match to UMass-Boston by

plished athletes or executives. All I ever did was really write about it and talk about it incessantly.”

Alex Schroeder

Contributing Writer

After two positive results against NESCAC opponents over Homecoming weekend, the volleyball team finally VOLLEYBALL (8-5 Overall, 3-1 NESCAC) at Boston College High School, Tuesday Tufts UMass-Boston

17 17 20 — 0 25 25 25 — 3

seemed to be reaching its goal of remaining consistent and constantly attacking the opponent. However, despite a highenergy weekend, UMass-Boston downed Tufts in straight sets on Tuesday in a non-conference game.

Prior to the game, Tufts was looking to use its Homecoming successes as a springboard but knew that the Beacons

would prove to be tough opposition.

“We were definitely amped up about our victories on Homecoming,” senior tri-captain Kiersten Ellefsen said. “At the same time, we knew UMass was good and that they were going to be a challenge. We wanted to bring in our mental stride from Homecoming, but at the same time we were bracing for [a] challenge.”

But the sharp mental edge that had contributed heavily to the Homecoming victories was nowhere to be found for Tufts against UMass. The Jumbos were unable to get going in the first set, losing 25-17, and could never recover despite showing flashes of quality play.

“We lost that sense of consistency and suffered,” junior libero Virginia Clay said.

“This really affected our confidence.”

Despite strong performances by sophsee VOLLEYBALL, page 15

Players to watch in new season by

Cameron Yu

Senior Staff Writer

With most NBA teams’ training camps starting up this week, the basketball season will be upon us soon. As squads start coming together, the Daily looks at a few players that have big years ahead of them and could play heavily in deciding how this season turns out: Andrew Bynum, Philadelphia 76ers Not satisfied with playing secondfiddle to Kobe Bryant for the foreseeable future, Bynum finally gets his wish: a fresh start with the Philadelphia 76ers.

The addition of Bynum changes the team’s dynamic drastically. Previously a young team playing tough defense to get out on the break, the 76ers will need to get away from their fast breaks if they want to play through Bynum. Because he is arguably the best post-up center in the league, the 76ers have to get him the touches around the rim to keep him happy. The transition to a more halfcourt oriented offense will pose problems for opposing teams in the Eastern Conference, as most of the top teams are looking to play small ball.

By moving East, Bynum not only becomes the best center in the conference, but he also becomes the biggest mismatch against most teams unwilling to play a true center. Changing the identity of the team will not be easy, but the responsibility and the opportunity to leave his mark on the league are what Bynum wanted all along.

But with his character called into question multiple times last season, it will be interesting to see how he handles all of this responsibility.

Oliver Porter / The Tufts Daily

James Harden, Oklahoma City Thunder Alongside Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook, and Serge Ibaka, Harden was able to help lead the young Thunder to the NBA Finals this past season, only to lose to the Miami Heat. This will no doubt fuel their motivation for the coming season, but the difference between Harden and

The volleyball team dropped to 8-5 overall after losing to UMass-Boston in straight sets on Tuesday.

see INSIDE NBA, page 15

Brian Tan | Now Serving

It’s Tebow time!

H

e’s a gamer. He’s a baller. He’s a playmaker and a shotcaller. All he does is win.

Skip Bayless is his number-one fan.

Mark Sanchez is his number-one competition. Hitting wide-open receivers is his number one challenge. Yes, he is Tim Tebow.

Sure, he is probably the luckiest quarterback in the history of the NFL, but it’s also been said that people create their own luck by working harder than others. I’m not here to convince you that Tim Tebow is an “elite” NFL quarterback. Because no, his last season’s 46.5 percent completion rate most certainly does not make him elite.

Tebow probably couldn’t hit water if he fell out of a boat — hardy har — but if anyone could turn water into Gatorade by touch, my money is on big Timmy Tebow. I’m going to try to convince you why you should be cheering for Tim Tebow, the Chosen One of the New York Jets.

“They said I couldn’t be a high school quarterback. They said I couldn’t get a Div. I scholarship.”

The same guy who said these words was part of two college football national championships, a Heisman trophy winner and a first-round draft pick. He put up 29 points to win an overtime playoff game against the Pittsburgh Steelers earlier this year.

As a Florida Gator, his college career was as well-documented — and well-decorated — as one could be. With much fanfare and debate over his competitiveness, throwing mechanics, leadership and arm accuracy, he entered the draft with experts debating over where he where he would land.

“With the 25th pick in the 2010 NFL draft, the Denver Broncos select Tim Tebow.

Quarterback, Florida.”

Selected ahead of supposedly “more NFLready” quarterbacks like Colt McCoy and Jimmy Clausen, Tebow has been proving his haters wrong as long as he has played the game of football.

It is undeniable that he has been on the favorable side of at least a few bounces. In a Week 14 game against the Bears, all Chicago had to do to close out a win was run the clock down by giving running back Marion Barber the ball. But for some divine reason, Barber ran out of bounds, stopping the clock. It was as if there was a supernatural force somehow pushing Barber out of bounds.

“C’mon,” you’re saying, “that’s ridiculous, right? ... Right?”

The truth is, in 2011, nothing was impossible for the Mile-High Messiah.

What happened next wasn’t exactly as incredible as Jesus walking on water, but it came pretty close to that. Tebow actually led the Broncos into range to hit a 58-yard field goal to tie the game. In overtime, Barber inexplicably fumbled the ball with the Bears in position to kick a game-winning field goal.

Tebow then marched the Broncos down the field again, with the kicker hitting another long field goal to win.

Coming off a 34-0 loss to the 49ers this past weekend and an abysmal performance

by Mark Sanchez, Jets fans have started to ask for Tebow to line up under center. If coach Rex Ryan believes that Sanchez is the franchise quarterback, then the Jets’ decision to spend a third round pick to trade for Tebow is certainly beyond me. The Jets must have known that fans would start clamoring for Tebowmania once Sanchez would predictably falter. I mean, is Tim Tebow really on the team just to run an option or two and play on special teams?

Sanchez is probably quaking in his boots — or cleats — in fear of the inevitable loss of his starting spot. If he wants to keep his job and attempt to intervene with God’s plans, though, he should probably keep working hard, get down on one knee and start Tebowing.

Brian Tan is a sophomore majoring in economics and Chinese. He can be reached at Brian.Tan@tufts.edu.

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Editors' Challenge | Week 5 Hop inside the Daily Sports time machine, everyone, as we take you back to the year 1999, when Nickelodeon was all the rage. Life was slime-tastic, and picking football games was as easy as taking candy from a baby.

Every editor had at least nine correct picks last week — even Kate “Angelica” Klots, who, well, didn’t pick at all, but used her bullying ways to steal the mediocre picks of last week’s guest and executive layout editor Elliot “Chuckie” Philips. She’s following in the footsteps of her mentor, Claire “Stimpy” Kemp, who was notorious for using her blue nose to push the other sports editors around.

Andy “Plankton” Wong went 13-2 and sits atop the standings, and his grand plan to take over the Eds’ Challenge universe by stealing the secret picking formula may finally be coming to fruition.

But David “Mr. Krabs” McIntyre knows that Wong’s efforts are in vain, and he won’t let some single-celled organism get the best of him. The greedy boss man went 12-3 last week and is quickly clawing his way toward the top.

Aaron “Kel” Leibowitz also had a strong showing, using an 8-0 start to go 12-3 overall. When asked to comment, he remarked: “I loooooove winning!” Which is odd, since he’s right in the middle of the pack.

Four editors went 11-4, including Ethan “Doug Funny” Sturm and Zachey “Dil Pickles”

Kliger. After the Giants’ loss to the Eagles on Sunday night, Sturm could be found in his room, writing furiously in his journal and listening to “Killer Tofu.”

Meanwhile, how Kliger managed to go 11-4 remains a mystery to the entire sports section — after all, he’s an infant and has no idea how to walk or talk and is named after a salted cucumber.

Marcus “CatDog” Budline had a solid week, though he’s still got his tails between his legs as he sits in sixth place. Alex “Otto Rocket” Baudoin’s gnarly moves and striking good looks left him at 11-4, but he’s still near the bottom of the pack. What a squid.

Ben “Helga” Kochman was too busy daydreaming about football head to succeed at picking football games, and he’s in seventh after a mediocre 10-5 week. The fall from grace for the former No. 1 has been dramatic, and almost as sudden as slime falling on a D-List celebrity at the Kids’ Choice Awards.

Jake “Clarissa” Indursky finally explained it all in Week 5, with his bizarre and bold picking ways helping him go 13-2. But will the magic continue as he begins to face all the typical problems that go with pre-adolescent life? Probably not.

And finally, there’s this week’s guest picker, Daily features exec and football mastermind Hannah “Sandy Cheeks” Fingerhut. We’ll see if she can survive once she removes her glass features helmet and swims with the big fish over in sports.

Zachey Andy David Ethan Aaron Marcus Ben Jake Alex Kate GUEST 38-25 40-23 39-24 38-25 37-26 37-26 36-27 35-28 34-29 33-30 Hannah OVERALL RECORD 11-4 13-2 12-3 11-4 12-3 11-4 10-5 13-2 11-4 9-6 Fingerhut LAST WEEK St. Louis St. Louis Arizona Arizona Arizona St. Louis St. Louis Arizona St. Louis St. Louis Arizona Arizona at St. Louis Miami Cincinnati Miami Cincinnati Miami Cincinnati Cincinnati Cincinnati Cincinatti Cincinnati Cincinatti Miami at Cincinnati Green Bay Green Bay Green Bay Green Bay Green Bay Green Bay Indianapolis Green Bay Green Bay Green Bay Green Bay at Indianapolis Green Bay Baltimore Baltimore Baltimore Baltimore Baltimore Baltimore Baltimore Baltimore Baltimore Kansas City Baltimore Baltimore at Kansas City Atlanta Atlanta Atlanta Atlanta Atlanta Atlanta Atlanta Atlanta Atlanta Atlanta Atlanta Atlanta at Washington NY Giants NY Giants NY Giants NY Giants NY Giants NY Giants NY Giants NY Giants NY Giants NY Giants NY Giants Cleveland at NY Giants Pittsburgh Philadelphia Pittsburgh Pittsburgh Pittsburgh Pittsburgh Pittsburgh Pittsburgh Pittsburgh Philadelphia Philadelphia at Pittsburgh Pittsburgh Carolina Seattle Carolina Carolina Carolina Carolina Carolina Seattle Seattle Carolina Carolina Seattle at Carolina Chicago Chicago Chicago Chicago Chicago Chicago Chicago Chicago Chicago Chicago Chicago Chicago at Jacksonville Minnesota Minnesota Minnesota Tennessee Minnesota Minnesota Minnesota Minnesota Minnesota Minnesota Tennessee at Minnesota Minnesota Denver Denver New England New England New England Denver Denver New England New England Denver New England Denver at New England Buffalo Buffalo at San Francisco San Francisco San Francisco San Francisco San Francisco San Francisco San Francisco San Francisco San Francisco San Francisco San Francisco San Diego San Diego New Orleans San Diego New Orleans New Orleans San Diego San Diego New Orleans New Orleans San Diego at New Orleans New Orleans Houston Houston Houston Houston Houston Houston Houston Houston Houston Houston Houston Houston at NY Jets

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The Tufts Daily

Thursday, October 4, 2012

15

Sports

Many young stars with something to prove this year INSIDE NBA

continued from page 13

the other three Thunder players mentioned above is their contracts. Durant, Westbrook and Ibaka have guaranteed big-money contracts, whereas Harden will be playing his final year of his rookie deal.

That is no slight to Harden, a rising star in his own right — he just came to the team one season too late. Harden deserves to get a max-contract, but whether he gets it from the Thunder or another team is yet to be seen.

The Harden contract debate also has huge implications for small-market teams. General Manager Sam Presti has laid an excellent blueprint for teams to collapse and rebuild through the draft in the hopes of avoiding luxury tax penalties, and has been rewarded with a wealth of young stars.

But now their rookie contracts are ending, and all of the Thunder’s picks have been hits. So the Thunder are faced with the tough decision of potentially keeping all of their picks and paying the luxury tax, which can be deadly for small-market teams, or let go of one of their stars — in this case, Harden.

Deron Williams, Brooklyn Nets Williams has never been on a team with a winning culture. He started in Utah, where an early-round loss to the Lakers was the norm, and moved on to New Jersey, long time Eastern-Conference bottom-feeders. But with owners Mikhail Prokhorov and Jay-Z willing to spend the big bucks, Williams’ patience and

resolve have been rewarded with a move to a flashy new stadium in the Mecca of street-ball and a skilled roster.

This will be arguably the most talented team Williams has been on, and it is time for him to step up as the leader. He has a starting five built perfectly for him: a great secondoption on the wing, an excellent perimeter defender, a tenacious rebounder and a 7-foot low post threat.

For once in his career, he will have nothing to complain about. He will be looked to as the leader in Brooklyn, and how he guides that team will dictate the pecking order in the Eastern Conference.

Kevin Love, Minnesota Timberwolves With a shooting touch to go along with his relentless rebounding ability, Love has cemented himself as the best power forward in the game last season. Over the summer, he rightfully complained about the lack of talent around him and has had his wishes fulfilled.

Though they didn’t make any flashy moves this offseason, the Timberwolves have built themselves a solid roster. The team’s success, though, relies on Ricky Rubio’s health. Last season with Rubio, the Timberwolves were a fringe playoff team, but without him, they were just another lottery-bound team that didn’t even have a draft pick from which to benefit.

Rubio will still be recovering from a torn ACL until December or so, and it will be up to Love to carry the team until then. A good

start from the Timberwolves will be extremely important if they want to make the playoffs in a competitive Western Conference. Having Love lead the team is already a step in the right direction, but now he must take that next step without Rubio.

Eric Gordon, New Orleans Hornets The centerpiece in the Chris Paul trade of a year ago, Gordon has missed a lot of time due to injuries — or in an effort to tank the season to gain lottery picks to attract a rich owner to buy the team, you decide. But because of his potential, he was rewarded with a max-contract in New Orleans. Gordon’s value comes with the fact that he is an absolute scoring machine at the 2-guard position and is still under 24.

With lottery picks Anthony Davis and Austin Rivers coming to the Hornets, Gordon now must play up to his contractual expectations, even though he hasn’t played close to a full season since his sophomore year in the league.

JaVale McGee, Denver Nuggets Regardless of if you follow him on Twitter, McGee is by far the most entertaining player in the NBA. His YouTube highlights are the funniest thing around — suggestions: “JaVale McGee disrespectful block,” “JaVale McGee runs the wrong way” — but make no mistake about it, McGee comes to play.

It’s hard not to watch a player who gives it his all day in and day out, even if he isn’t

After receiving award, sportswriter reminisces MASSAROTTI

continued from page 13

Though he was a writer for all four of his years at Tufts, Massarotti devoted much of his speech on Friday to selfdetrimental stories about his baseball career, which consisted of two years on the JV squad with limited success.

Coach John Casey, who introduced Massarotti at the ceremony, had high hopes for Tony after watching his older sister, Norma (E ’82), excel in track and field. But Tony was no Norma.

“Here I am in my third year of coaching going, ‘Oh, yeah, her little brother — this kid’s gonna be like Deion Sanders!’”

Casey joked in his speech. “Well, after seeing Tony play a couple of times, that notion was quickly dispelled.”

His sophomore season, Massarotti competed with freshman Matt Guanci (LA ’90) for the varsity shortstop position.

Guanci, it turned out, was an excellent player, and after beating out Massarotti for the starting job, he became a tricaptain of the 1990 team that went 21-9 and reached the ECAC New Englands.

By the end of his sophomore year, Massarotti knew he didn’t have a future at shortstop for the brown and blue. Still, he’ll never forget what Casey told him after the season.

“He said, ‘Look, I’m not gonna sugarcoat it: Guanci’s a better player than you,’” Massarotti said. “‘But if you want to stay here and play baseball and be on this team, as far as I’m concerned, you can stay as long as you want because of what you give me in practice every day.’”

To Massarotti, that was the ultimate compliment. His final at-bat as a Jumbo was a single to snap a 0-for-25 slump, though that’s not what really mattered.

“Some of my best friends still are guys that I played baseball with at Tufts,” he said. “I forged relationships here that will exist for the rest of my life.”

Still, where Massarotti truly excelled was in the basement of Curtis Hall. As a freshman, he began writing for the Daily, and by the first semester of his sophomore year, he was the editor of the sports section.

Massarotti had considered attending journalism school, but Tufts offered him everything he’d need.

“Back then, participation was an issue, so there was great opportunity there for someone like me to jump right in and start writing,” he said.

By the time he arrived on the Hill, Massarotti had started an internship at ABC 5 in Needham, Mass., where sports anchor Mike Lynch took him under his wing. For the Daily, he covered Tufts

football and had a weekly column, and as an English and classics major, he was pushed to refine his writing.

“My writing ability was really quite poor when I got here,” Massarotti said.

“The four years I was here, I think it improved quite a bit.”

English professor Michael Ullman played a big part in that improvement.

“His writing class really started to change my appreciation for writing,” Massarotti said. “Up until that point, I always thought of writing as, ‘Write a sixpage paper on the motifs of good and evil in Moby Dick.’ I looked at it as a chore.

But his class was very freeform — write about whatever you want, as long as it’s a certain length. All of a sudden I thought, ‘Oh, that’s allowed? You can write about stuff you like, other than sports?’”

By senior year, Massarotti’s love of writing had led him to a meeting at the Campus Center with Tim Horgan.

Ultimately, that meeting led to a career covering Boston sports.

“Little by little, one opportunity leads to another, and you just hope you’re in the right place at the right time,” he said.

“I was fortunate.”

Twenty-three years later, Massarotti makes it all sound as easy as snapping a 0-for-25.

SCHEDULE | Oct. 4 - Oct. 10 THUR

FRI

SAT

Football

at Bowdoin 1 p.m.

Field Hockey

at Conn. College 1 p.m.

Women’s Soccer

at Conn. College 12 p.m.

Men’s Soccer

at Conn. College 12 p.m.

Co-ed Sailing

Women’s Sailing

MON

TUES

wed

vs. Wellesley 5 p.m.

All New England Championships (at Stanley Park) at 1:30 p.m.

Cross Country

Volleyball

SUN

at Bates 7 p.m.

at Colby 11 a.m at Bowdoin 6 p.m.

at N. England Sloop at N. England Sloop Championship Championship 9:30 a.m.

9:30 a.m. at Olympians Trophy 9:30 a.m.

at Olympians Trophy 9:30 a.m.

vs. Endicott 4 p.m. at Suffolk 7:30 p.m.

MCT

Brooklyn Nets guard Deron Williams is one of the many players who have something to prove in the upcoming NBA season. the smartest guy on the court — or anywhere close.

But now that he has a fresh start in a system he was built for in Denver, where he doesn’t have to think and all he does is block shots, rebound and run the floor, maybe we will start to talk about McGee as a basketball player instead of a basket case.

Midweek nonconference game ends in defeat VOLLEYBALL

continued from page 13

omore Isabel Kuhel, who led the team with six kills, senior tri-captain Kendall Lord and Clay, the Jumbos could not bring together the sporadic successes into a unified and maintained effort.

“I think we had a lot of moments of brilliance, really great blocks and really great defense — little things that showed our technique is absolutely there,” Clay said. “We all know what was really taking away from our ability to seriously challenge them: mental fortitude, we’re lacking that.”

UMass was able to get a jump on Tufts at the beginning of every set in the match, and as a result, Tufts was constantly playing catch-up in an attempt to match the fast-paced style of play of UMass.

Although the Jumbos were able to keep it close in the third and final set, eventually losing 25-20, it was too little, too late as Tufts slipped to its fourth nonconference defeat of the season.

“This loss is another chip on our shoulders,” Ellefsen said. “We have now seen how we can fail to rise to the challenge of strong teams, but we have also seen how we can succeed.”

But while losing nonconference games in the middle of the week may be a blow to the team’s overall record, their importance pales in comparison to the NESCAC matchups that Tufts has remaining on the schedule.

In particular, the team will go on a Maine road trip this weekend, facing Bates, Colby and Bowdoin in the span of just 24 hours.

Three games in that short a time period is rare for the Jumbos, but the matches are critical if Tufts wants to improve on its NESCAC standing and get in the best possible position for the postseason conference tournament, while they will also provide an opportunity to correct what went wrong against UMass.

“When we face some challenging teams this weekend, we can look back at these games as a piggy bank of wins and losses,” Ellefsen said. “We want to take out and imitate the good mental energy and ... correct what we didn’t do so well.”

Furthermore, the majority of games left on the schedule are against NESCAC teams, meaning that Tufts will need to perform well over the rest of the season in order to hang on to a top-four spot in the conference and host a playoff game.

Though they are currently tied for third with Bowdoin, three victories this weekend would go a long way towards helping Tufts fulfill their ultimate goals.

16

The Tufts Daily

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Thursday, October 4, 2012

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