TuftsDaily10.15.13

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Tuesday, October 15, 2013

VOLUME LXVI, NUMBER 27

Where You Read It First Est. 1980

Biomedical professor made Pew Scholar for nerve research by

Adam Kaminski

Contributing Writer

The Pew Charitable Trusts last March named Assistant Professor of Biomedical Engineering Qiaobing Xu a Pew Scholar for his biomedical research on a new method of promoting nerve growth.

Xu will receive $240,000 over the next four years to further his research on collagen, a protein essential for cell growth. He believes the research will have a profound impact on the health care sector.

Implanting collagen is a procesee COLLAGEN, page 2

Students learn about civic involvement in new video game

by Jei-Jei

Tan

Contributing Writer

Students were invited to play Civic Seed, a video game developed by the Jonathan M. Tisch College of Citizenship and Public Service in conjunction with the Engagement Game Lab (EGL) at Emerson College, to provide feedback about the game’s effectiveness on Oct. 8 in the Lewis Hall lounge.

According to Mindy Nierenberg, the senior program manager and director at Tisch College, the multi-player interactive online game aims to prepare college students for effective and collaborative civic engagement by allowing them to better retain information on the subject.

The premise of this role-playing see SEED, page 2

TCU Senate update The Tufts Community Union (TCU) Senate meeting yesterday evening opened with an address from Provost David Harris, who spoke about Tufts’ Strategic Plan and the White House’s upcoming college rating system. Harris said he would host a roundtable about the rating system on Tuesday.

Harris added that the final version of the Strategic Plan will be submitted to the Board of Trustees on Friday. According to Harris, the administration gathered considerable student input as the plan was drafted.

Addressing concerns raised by some senators that student voices were lacking in the drafting of the plan, particularly on issues of diversity, Harris strongly defended his assertion that students had been involved. He pointed to the administration’s many engagement events with strong student turnout.

Responding to an inquiry about the omission of need-blind admission from the plan, Harris said that need-blind admission would be extremely difficult for Tufts to implement. He explained that if Tufts were to fund needblind admission, others areas of Tufts would suffer greatly.

After Harris’ presentation, senators officially opened the meeting. In his President’s Report, TCU President Joe Thibodeau, a senior, proposed starting a Senate “working group” that would meet during open block on Wednesday in the TCU Senate office. According to Thibodeau, the group would serve as place for senators to record their reactions to guest presentations at Senate meetings.

The Senate then considered several student groups’ requests for funding. Students for Justice

in Palestine (SJP) requested $2,967 to fund a trip to the SJP National Conference at Stanford University. The request was amended to $2,757 after Allocations Board recommended removing $210 for registrations fees. Senator Christie Maciejewski, a senior, argued that Stanford would be providing the students with the majority of their meals, and that the Senate did not need to allocate $180 for meals. However, Senate approved the $2,757 budget — including money for the meals — by a vote of 14-12-5.

The Senate next considered giving $750 to Action for Sexual Assault Prevention, approved by a vote of 24-5-2. The body unanimously approved a $1,950 request from Tufts VOX: Voices for Choice to pay to invite Megan Andelloux to campus.

This was followed by debate on a request of $500 from the Irish Dance Team. Eventually, the Senate voted 26-3-2 to give $331 of funding.

The body allocated $940.35 to Tufts Tap Ensemble for tap tiles and $4,845 to the Muslim Students Association to attend the 28th Annual Islamic Conference of New England.

The Senate next considered a resolution submitted by Senators Dylan Saba and Bradley Friedman, both juniors. The resolution called for the Senate to recommend that Tufts join the Institute of International Education Syrian Consortium for Higher Education in Crisis, which would involve giving aid in the form of tuition assistance or scholarships to Syrian refugees. After debate, a slightly amended version was passed by a vote of 29-1-0.

—by Daniel Bottino

Courtesy Esther Kim

University President Anthony Monaco and Director of the Asian American Center Linell Yugawa, pictured here, spoke at the center’s 30th anniversary celebration last Sunday in the Aidekman Arts Center.

Asian American Center celebrates 30 years on campus by

Nitya Agrawal

Contributing Writer

The Asian American Center hosted its 30th anniversary celebration in the Aidekman Arts Center on Sunday to commemorate the center’s success and its active alumni network.

During the event, which began

at noon, students, alumni and faculty were invited to speak about what the Asian American Center means to them and how it has had an impact on their lives at Tufts. University President Anthony Monaco spoke in particular about Tufts’ Strategic Plan and how it pertains to the center, as well as overall campus

diversity. He stressed the importance of a diverse student body and faculty, and commented on the progress that has already been made.

Jayanthi Mistry, an associate professor of child development, said the center is an intellectusee ANNIVERSARY, page 2

Honk! returns to Somerville

Tyler McCoullough for the Tufts Daily

Somerville this past weekend celebrated the eighth annual Honk! Festival across locations in Boston, Somerville and Medford. More than 500 musicians from around the world performed at the festival, demonstrating the importance of music in building community.

Inside this issue

Today’s sections

Changes in the Greek community at Tufts have faciliated conversation on diversity in Greek life.

Justin Timberlake’s most recent release builds upon its successful predecessor.

see FEATURES, page 3

see ARTS, page 5

News Features Arts & Living Editorial | Op-Ed

1 3 5 8

Op-Ed Comics Classifieds Sports

9 10 15 Back

The Tufts Daily

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News

Tuesday, October 15, 2013

Visiting the Hill this week TUESDAY “Humanitarian Aid and Technical Assistance in Historical Perspective: Near East Relief (1915-1929) Details: Associate Professor at the Graduate Institute of International Development Studies of Geneva Davide Rodogno will present the final event in the 2012-2103 Tufts Seminar Series: Exploring the History of Humanitarianism and Development.

When and Where: 11:45 a.m. to 1:15 p.m.; Fung House Sponsors: Center for the Humanities at Tufts (CHAT), the Department of History, the Department of Religion and Tufts Collaborates

THURSDAY Spending Time or How I Won the Cold War: Reflections on Innocence and Revolution Details: Péter Zilahy, author and winner of the ‘The Book of the Year Prize’ in the Ukraine, will deliver a lecture, followed by a question-and-answer session and reception.

When and Where: 4:30 p.m.; Fung House Sponsors: Center for the Humanities at Tufts (CHAT)

Between Patient Ambition and Imprudent Self-Delusion: Turkish Foreign Policy in the Wake of the Arab Revolts Details: Dr. Soli Özel, professor of international relations and political science at Kadir Has University, will speak. Students must RSVP and arrive in business casual attire.

When and Where: 5:30 p.m. to 6:45 p.m.; Cabot Intercultural Center Sponsor: Institute for Business in the Global Context FRIDAY The Road

Ahead

for

Planetary

Video game to be distributed for campus use SEED

continued from page 1

game, which lasts about two hours in its entirety, is a world where all color has vanished, and players must help recolor the world using “color seeds.” These are earned through watching video clips, reading messages, answering question and collaborating with each other as well as the game world’s inhabitants.

Nierenberg, who began the project two years ago, explained that she wanted to test the game with Tufts students in their living environment in order to see how well the game held student’s attention in a casual setting.

“Getting feedback about the game is important,” said Nierenberg. “We beta-tested this in May in a computer lab [where] students ... were able to focus much more easily,” she said. “I wish that there were more people here ... but I was pleasantly surprised that people did focus as much as they did.”

Many students had positive comments for the game team. Freshman Adam Montenegro said that the animations and videos were a good way to get the game’s message across, and would appeal especially to younger students.

Sophomore Daniel Bozovic expressed similar views, saying the game was well done. It reminded him of the Pokémon video games, as there was a deeper message in addition to the gameplay.

Student Aahlad Gogineni, however, said that although he liked the game, he felt there would be a problem if students were trying to win.

“You won’t be learning much because you’d just click through it,” Gogineni, a freshman, said.

Nierenberg explained that there are filters in place to ensure players give real responses to questions about the material.

“Plus, the people who are going to be doing this want to be involved in the community,” she said. “They’re not going to be gamers who are trying to win a game.”

Nierenberg explained that Civic Seed takes players through four levels. Players are first asked to consider their own values and identities. Next, they are exposed to their communities assets and what it means to work as an outsider. The game explores Tufts’ partner relationships with the Somerville, Medford and Boston’s Chinatown communities.

The third level explores collaboration with partner communities toward a common goal of mutual benefit, while the last level offers lessons on sustaining the work toward that goal through connecting it with courses and careers and involving others.

According to Nierenberg, who wrote the game’s content based on input from a committee of students, faculty members and community partners, the video game is the first aimed to prepare students for civic engagement.

During the development meetings with the EGL, members of the Tisch College and the game lab faced some creative tension, Nierenberg said. The EGL — which developed the game’s narrative while Tisch College produced its content — created a character named Honey Boo Boo, which

Nierenberg later changed.

“They emphasize the fun part of it, which is good, but they have a different sensitivity than [Tisch College],” Nierenberg said.

“Emerson students would just think that was funny ... There’s a difference between the seriousness and the ability of students to pick up on things like what is offensive, what goes against the ethos of what we are trying to convey. Hopefully we end up at a balance where there is fun and enjoyment in it for the students but it also conveys ... what we’re trying to get across.”

Civic Seed is slated for tentative release in the spring of 2014, Nierenberg said. It will first be distributed within the Tufts community through groups like Jumpstart, the Leonard Carmichael Society and some classes. It will also be featured at conferences and in papers and journals. Later, the game team plans to distribute Civic Seed to other schools across the country.

Campus Compact, an organization of colleges interested in promoting civic engagement at institutions of higher education, has expressed interest in promoting Civic Seed to its member schools. These other schools would replace the Tufts-specific sections of the game (about Chinatown, Somerville and Medford) with either a generic version of the game or a version including information about their own communities.

“Eventually, our community partners ... are interested in knowing whether students completed this game before they volunteer in their organizations, because then they know that they are better prepared,” Nierenberg said.

MCT

The Jonathan M. Tisch College of Citizenship and Public Service, along with the Engagement Game Lab (EGL) at Emerson College, have developed a video game called Civic Seed, meant to encourage civic engagement. Students were invited to play the game and offer feedback last Tuesday in the Lewis Hall lounge.

Professor uses collagen bands to repair nerves COLLAGEN

continued from page 1

dure that has been commonly used throughout medical fields to treat a wide range of injuries, according to an Oct. 7 Tufts Now article.

The substance’s tough fibrils, however, make collagen difficult and costly to shape into the necessary biological structures.

Xu said he has discovered a simple, cost-effective solution. By layering thin slices of collagen, shaved with an instrument called a microtome, he is able to form structures that are more adaptable and better suited for medical use.

Using this new technology, Xu is able to construct artificial tissues and nerves, he said.

Kyle Alberti, a third-year graduate student in the School of Engineering who has worked with Xu since June 2011, explained how they can use the collagen to connect nerves.

“Say you were in a car accident or explosion and a section of the nerves in your arm was destroyed,” Alberti said. “Your nerves aren’t going to grow on their own. What doctors can do now is implant a nerve guidance conduit, a tubular structure and connect the two ends of the broken nerve in order to help the nerve grow. We’re trying to build a conduit that works better, faster and is made of natural material — collagen.”

Another benefit of collagen, Alberti

explained, is that it is dissolvable.

“Once nerves reconnect, the collagen will break down,” he said.

Xu believes his method will vastly improve health care for patients with nerve and brain injuries. The next obstacle is determining when the technology will be ready for public use.

“Of course this will take time to happen,” Xu said. “When you apply things to humans, you have to first go through a series of trials to make sure that it is safe ...

All biomedical research, when it is applied to humans, will take some time.”

Although it is difficult to predict when Xu’s technology will be taken out of the lab,

Environmentalism: An Appreciation of Bill Moomaw Details: Robert Socolow, professor emeritus at Princeton University, will deliver a lecture celebrating the career of Professor William Moomaw of International Environmental Policy at The Fletcher School.

When and Where: 3 p.m. to 6 p.m.; Cabot Intercultural Center Sponsor: The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy —compiled by the Tufts Daily News Department

Students, alumni share experiences at center ANNIVERSARY

continued from page 1

ally engaging space in which students and faculty hold conversations on diversity issues. Tufts was the fourth university to establish an Asian American center, she said, making it one of the earliest universities to do so.

Director of the Asian American Center Linell Yugawa spoke last about the center’s history. In 1985, there were 200 Asians at Tufts in total; now there are 203 Asians within the class of 2017 alone, she said. Yugawa also commented on the addition of the new Asian American programs, such as the creation of the Asian American studies minor in 2012.

Students and alumni were then welcome to enjoy refreshments and performances by student groups such as BEATs, Pulse, Tufts Bhangra and the Jackson Jills.

Junior Jessica Wu, who led the organization of the event, said the center became a very important space for her upon her arrival at Tufts, as she met most of her friends there. At the center, she is able to speak freely about her identity, she said.

“It’s a safe space for me,” Wu said.

“People understand me without any explanation.”

Junior Molly Chirunomula, a peer leader at the Asian American Center, echoed similar sentiments — that the center was the first place at Tufts where she felt she really belonged.

“I can go to Start House [the Asian American Center] and will feel like I’m at home,” Chirunomula said.

Buckley Yung (LA ’86), who was an active member at the center during its early stages of development, said he lived in the Asian American House at Tufts for two years. He remembers petitioning for the Asian American Center, and enjoyed seeing old friends at the celebration.

“I’m happy to be back and see how beautiful everything is,” he said.

Yoko Sano-Taylor (LA ’84) explained that efforts to create an Asian American Center were initiated after a racial incident at Start House. Sano-Taylor was present when the incident occurred.

“Rather than take the route of blaming ... we decided to create something positive,” she said. “It’s great to come back and see something positive. It’s nice to see how [the history of the Asian American Center] is remembered.”

research can take about a decade, he said.

The money awarded from the Pew Scholars Program — $60,000 annually for four years — may help expedite the process, Xu said. Research costs can be oppressive and practical administration research may take years, but Xu said this new source of income will be of great assistance.

“You can hire students and buy chemicals or articles to help conduct research [with the money],” he said.

Nerve re-growth is only one application of Xu and his colleagues’ new science. With increased funding, Xu hopes that his research will lead him to other breakthroughs.

Features

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tuftsdaily.com

Scandal in Alabama, new sorority at Tufts spark evaluation of diversity in Greek Life by

Kendall Todd

Contributing Writer

The addition of the sorority Kappa Alpha Theta on the Hill has brought a flurry of excitement and discussion to the Greek system as it welcomes its new charter members. As Greek leaders view Theta’s colonization on campus as a fresh start for the entire Greek community, many hope that this will challenge the student body’s perceptions about Greek life.

On a national scale, one visible issue in Greek life is diversity. This September, the University of Alabama was rocked by a scandal involving racially segregated sororities, prompting protests at the university.

The incident in Alabama opened a discussion here on campus about diversity in Greek life.

Though Tufts’ Greek community is much smaller than the University of Alabama’s, increasing diversity remains an area for potential improvement. In past years, for example, there were members of multicultural Greek letter organizations at Tufts; now, however, there is only one student on the Multicultural Greek Council (MGC) — less than the three needed to actually make the council active according to Tufts policy.

According to Hayley Keene, graduate assistant for the Office of Fraternity and Sorority Life, the office is supportive of spreading the word about the multicultural council.

“Across the board I know that IFC [(Interfraternity Council)] and Pan-Hell [(Panhellenic Council)] have been huge supporters in helping the one student that we have in the multicultural council with her organization, as well as helping her in her efforts to spread the word on creating and making the council actually active,” Keene said.

Elyse Galloway, a member of Chi Omega and president of the Inter-Greek Council pointed out the recent Oct. 8 Multicultural Greek information session, where representatives from multicultural organizations presented the histories of their organizations at Tufts.

“This past week we had an info session where various chapters of multicultural backgrounds — Latino, African American — came and presented,” Galloway, a senior, said. “Each chapter basically gave a summary of their organization, their history and their location within the greater Boston area. What was great discussionwise was that a lot of the chapters brought up how important the organizations were to them as multicultural students in their own communities.”

Keene explained that the impetus for the event was students’ curiousity about these organizations and their presence on and off campus.

Galloway said she thought that Greek life at Tufts has been improving in terms of diversity.

“I think that [the community] is becoming more diverse,” Galloway said. “But there’s always room for progress.”

Multicultural chapters throughout the greater Boston area were present at the information session, including Alpha Phi Alpha and Delta Sigma Theta, a historically black fraternity and sorority, Galloway said.

“A lot of the chapters brought up how important the organizations were to them as multicultural students in their own communities,” Galloway said. “Being able to provide that on this campus is essential.”

Greek leadership is adamant, however, that the Greek community at Tufts is not as homogeneous as it may seem. Jaime Morgen, a member of Alpha Phi and president of the Tufts Panhellenic Council, said that Tufts has a different type of Greek system compared to those of other schools.

“I think sometimes people come in with a perception of Greek life that it’s one very stereotypical type of girl or guy that is involved,” she said. “That’s what the media portrays, that’s what bigger schools often are. People don’t realize that it’s a very different culture at Tufts. We really do

Matthew Schreiber for the Tufts Daily

Members of the Greek community at Tufts gathered at a barbeque to welcome each other back to campus this year. want anyone and everyone.”

According to Keene, no actual data is available regarding representation of minority groups in the Greek community at Tufts.

Despite this, there is some consensus among Greek leadership that Tufts welcomes everyone. Barton Liang, the Theta Chi philanthropy co-chair who is also a New Media editor for the Daily, emphasized that peoples’ perceptions of Greek life at Tufts are not based on reality.

“A lot of people just need to get to know Greek life at Tufts more,” Liang, a sophomore, said. “Because [often] people pre-select themselves out of it without even trying to get to know brothers.”

Morgen agreed that students may have more in common with members of the Greek community than they think.

“We come from different places, but we’re all bonded under something, as well,” she said.

Of course, diversity is multifaceted, and race is only one factor. The financial aspects of joining Greek life can be a big concern for students, since joining a Greek organization is expensive.

Keene said that the Office of Fraternity and Sorority Life is not very involved in funding members of organizations on campus.

“Each organization has its own financial component; however, from our office there is no financial piece,” Keene said.

Morgen added that the expenses should not be a deterrent to students’ consideration of joining Greek life.

“It is a financial commitment, but I know all chapters make it very easy,” Morgen said. “We have payment plans available ... we don’t want finances to be a problem or a barrier.”

Students in the Greek community on the Hill have also extended the conversation on diversity issues to include sexual orientation.

“The stereotype of Greek life tends to be a very straight, white, male-dominated kind of thing,” Liang said. “A lot of students are turned off of even considering joining Greek life if they’re not part of that specific stereotype as a whole.”

In an open forum on Sept. 23, Liang and other Greek members discussed the implications of identifying as lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender and Greek. One question that arose was whether the Greek community should actively seek out LGBT individuals during recruitment. Liang didn’t think so, and most in attendance agreed.

“Just because someone is LGBT doesn’t mean they’re necessarily going to be a good fit for the house,” he said. “I think it’s definitely not something we should discriminate against, but it shouldn’t be a factor at all in deciding whether a person is a good fit to become a new member of a group.”

He emphasized how LGBTQ-friendly the fraternity system is and that it is well established that fraternities are full of welcom-

ing and open-minded brothers. Liang was unsure, though, whether or not the sorority system was as welcoming. At the open forum, he said, he didn’t hear much from the two sorority representatives in attendance.

“It didn’t really sound like they were very welcoming, or at least in the same way as the fraternity system is,” he said. “I think the sororities need to do their part in really getting the word out that, ‘Yeah, this is a safe place, if you don’t identify as a straight woman.’”

Galloway strongly disagreed.

“I have never experienced or heard of anyone being discriminated against or treated differently because of sexual orientation within sorority life at Tufts, which I think is amazing,” she said. “It’s a pretty positive and welcoming environment.”

Jenny Cook and Madison Cannon, the two first-year consultants for Kappa Alpha Theta at Tufts, said they see the establishment of the new sorority as a way for the entire Greek system to recharge and make the changes they have wanted to make for some time. They also described Theta as a haven for students who have not wanted to be part of the Greek system in the past. “[Charter members are] creating their own identity,” Cook said. “They’re not just joining something that’s already been established.”

“The rest of Greek life is very excited for all of us to come,” Cannon added. “I think that there’s going to be a great shift during recruitment ... I know some of the organizations have mentioned stereotypes, but that is going to change. It’s going to make the campus more welcoming.”

Cook and Cannon are thrilled for the new members of Theta to help improve diversity in the Greek community at Tufts.

The charter members get to build a legacy — for example, by participating in committees that essentially run the chapter and having the opportunity to hold officer positions immediately. “[It’s] unique that our members can have those leadership positions right away,” Cook said.

Theta has already received an overwhelmingly positive response from the existing Greek community, according to Cannon. Cannon said they hope this will lead to more positive changes throughout the Greek community.

“People are really going back to their values and reassessing what they’re all about,” Cannon said. “Fraternities and sororities push their members to be better in so many different ways.”

Galloway said that she sees the Greek community evolving in a constructive way in terms of diversity.

“Tufts Greek life is going through a great amount of positive change,” she said. “We want to welcome the entire Tufts community — we would like to extend a hand to the entire community and foster discussion with everyone.”

Petar Todorov | Lab Notes

TEDx BeaconStreet

I

t’s a common sight that I’ve grown accustomed to at Tufts as I walk through the Campus Center or pass through Tisch: students taking a break from their work to watch a brief TED Talk.

Hardly a day goes by without a talk appearing on my social media feed. These eclectic videos are intellectually stimulating, and we naturally want to share their messages with our friends. After all, TED is a place to see and hear “ideas worth spreading.” As someone who follows science and technology closely, I yearn for the chance to attend TED someday.

But of course, YouTube is as close as most students can get to the global conference: The audience is selected by application, and those who make the cut have the opportunity to buy tickets, starting at $7,500. As of late, TED has started to work with individuals and grant licenses to host events modeled after the intellectual exchange, which happen at the esteemed gathering.

TEDxBeaconStreet is a free local event on Nov. 16 and 17 in Brookline, offering an opportunity to experience a range of speakers in an intellectually charged environment.

Over the weekend, I spoke with John Werner, the event’s founder and executive director, who offered additional insight. Mr. Werner took the name for the event from the fact that there are 490 Beacon Streets connecting towns in Massachusetts. In addition, Boston’s Beacon Street is the longest thoroughfare in the city, linking it to the surrounding towns, their people and their history.

Indeed, this TEDx conference taps directly into the rich diversity of the greater Boston area for its content. A small cross section of those who will take the stage offers a look at the wide gamut of speakers, including Nikolai Begg, an engineer of safer medical devices for surgeons; Susan Colantuono, the CEO and founder of Leading Women, a premier consulting firm working to close the gender gap in the workplace; Adam Medros, vice president of global product development for TripAdvisor; Juan Enriquez, a leading scholar on the intersection of life sciences and their economic impact; Rick Smolan, a photographer whose works have been featured on the covers of TIME Magazine and Fortune Magazine; Harvard theoretical physicist and author Lisa Randall and artist Kate Riegle-van West, who has explored the use of poi as a method of therapy.

It should also be noted that although the conference is local, it brings in 100 organizers who have hosted TEDx events around the world, making it a truly global gathering.

TEDxBeaconStreet differentiates itself from other TEDx events in multiple ways, thus offering a unique experience. It is the first TEDx to partner with Google Solve For X, featuring talk segments about Moonshot ideas and using breakthrough technologies to tackle challenging problems.

TEDxBeaconStreet also aims to engage the whole family in order to build an audience spanning all ages: The first morning of the conference is dedicated to youth. Mr. Werner indicated that TEDxBeaconStreet is novel in its aim to put “Ideas in Action,” as well as disseminating “Ideas worth spreading” like the global TED conference.

Furthermore, unlike other TEDx events, BeaconStreet continues beyond Nov. 17, as some speakers act to catalyze community involvement by organizing Adventures, which last until the following spring. Past examples include learning physics while sailing on the Charles River or playing with Google’s Glass heads-up display.

So, how can you sign up? Registration on the TEDxBeaconStreet website is free and only requires that attendees give their contact information, state a fun fact about themselves and nominate a few friends. The event will also be simulcast at Google Boston, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Media Lab and on the Internet for those who want to attend but cannot be present at the Lincoln School in Brookline.

I hope I see some of you there!

Petar Todorov is a senior majoring in chemistry.

He can be reached at Petar.Todorov@tufts.edu.

The Tufts Daily

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Tuesday, October 15, 2013

A Multidisciplinary Faculty Panel Discussion

Join us for

Jumbo Mountains

Earthquakes: Seismic Science and Disaster Response

October 16th 12:00pm - 1:15pm Academic Quad

Featuring Tufts faculty with expertise in natural sciences, engineering, human security, and disaster response

Free apple cider and cider donuts for the first 100 Come join the raffle for a chance to win cool TerraCycle products

Wednesday, October 16, 2013 1:30 PM to 2:30 PM Dowling Hall 745A Refreshments served Presented by the Office of Emergency Management as part of the 2013 ShakeOut. Visit emergency.tufts.edu/shakeout for more information.

waste zero

TM

challenge

You are cordially invited to Tufts Dining’s Annual

STATION HOUSE CHILI FEST At Carmichael Dining Center, Tufts University

Wednesday, October 16, 2013 Anytime between 11:00 a.m. - 2:00 p.m.

Tufts Dining welcomes YOU, the Medford & Somerville Police, Firefighters & EMS teams Come have lunch with us so we can serve those of you who serve us Join us as we honor your bravery, dedication and outstanding efforts to keep our community safe!

MENU 5 Fire House Style Chilis Station House Pizzas Mini Sliders & Wrap Sandwiches Bourbon Glazed Chicken Thighs Chicken & Penne in Cajun Cream Sauce Meatballs in Bullseye BBQ Sauce Felony & Smokin’ Fries Blue Light Sandwich Bar Special Themed Dessert

Arts & Living

5

tuftsdaily.com

Theater Review

Megan Clark | Where’s the Craic

Boston Lyric Opera creates modern retelling of ‘Magic Flute’ by

‘The Snapper’

Drew Robertson

T

Daily Editorial Board

Men in tuxedos and women in evening gowns flocked to the Citi Performing Arts Center Shubert Theatre the night of Oct. 4 to attend the opening night gala for The Boston Lyric Opera’s (BLO) premiere of “The Magic Flute.” The black tie affair lent an air of easy elegance to the cool, early autumn evening. When four jean and hoodie-clad figures trooped in, the newcomers — to an outside eye — must have appeared hopelessly underdressed.

However, these four informally dressed characters were actually part of the night’s entertainment. An English adaptation of Mozart’s classic work, the BLO’s production of “The Magic Flute” features a modernized plot and up-to-date lyrics. In this rendition, college student Tommy (a role traditionally called “Tamino,” here played by Zach Borichevsky) and his friends travel to the Mayan ruins together. When Tommy is bitten by a venomous snake, his hallucinations take over, sending the group into the mysterious and magical world of gods and legends.

While this may seem like a dramatic and possibly blasphemous rewrite of a beloved opera, it is definitely not the opera’s first adaptation. BLO dramaturge Magda Romanska noted in a post on the company’s blog, “In The Wings,” that since its creation in Vienna during the Age of Enlightenment, “The Magic Flute” has seen many transformations.

According to Cornell Professor Neal Zaslaw, who was interviewed by Romanska, the first changes were likely made almost immediately after its creation. Emanuel Schikaneder, who wrote the libretto of “The Magic Flute,” periodically made changes to the work for around two decades after Mozart’s death, which occurred almost exactly two months after the opera’s premiere.

“The Magic Flute” has been continu-

Courtesy Roger Farrington

BLO General and Artistic Director Esther Nelson and Soprano So Young Park (‘The Queen of the Night’) were both integral to the success of ‘The Magic Flute.’ ously re-worked since the 18th century, although basic elements of the text have been preserved — such as the Enlightenment ideals of careful moderation and the pursuit of reason, and a more sinister set of rituals thought to be

Album Review

associated with the Free Masons. Though a history of change perhaps invites a liberal interpretation of the term “creative license,” for the BLO, the production of see FLUTE, page 6

Movie Review

‘Machete Kills’ exhausts viewer amusement by

Anthony Martinez Contributing Writer

Robert Rodriguez’s “Machete Kills” begins with a mock preview of an even more ridiculous sequel, “Machete

Machete Kills

Caroline Bonarde Ucci via Wikimedia Commons

‘The 20/20 Experience — 2 of 2’ features several lengthy collaborations with hip-hop artists and producers.

a fairly mediocre film career in the interim between “Future Sex/Love Sounds” (2006) and March’s “The 20/20 Experience” (2013). Infallible JT hits that once dominated middle and high school dances, like “SexyBack” (2006) and “Rock Your Body” (2003), started to feel pretty distant as time wore on.

Waiting a mere seven months between Timberlake releases, though?

Much better. “The 20/20 Experience” proved to be a promising return to form, and Timberlake recently fol-

Kills Again ... In Space.” That should tell you everything you need to know about this film.

“Machete Kills,” starring Danny Trejo as Machete, is the second and latest installment in Rodriguez’s overthe-top “Mex-ploitation” series. Like its predecessor, “Machete,” (2010) Rodriguez delivers a B-film with A-quality action — all in the service of parodying the action movie genre.

The movie tells the story of Machete, a former Mexican federal agent gone rogue. After his partner is shot and killed by a mysterious man in a Mexican wrestling mask during a shootout, Machete is ordered by United States President Rathcock (played by Charlie Sheen, here credited under his birth name, Carlos Estévez) to assassinate Mexican revolutionary Marcos Mendez

see TIMBERLAKE, page 6

see MACHETE, page 6

Timberlake’s new album delivers hits despite flaws

by Josh

Weiner

Daily Editorial Board

Waiting seven years between Justin Timberlake albums? Not so great.

Let’s be honest — it was a bit rough

The 20/20 Experience – 2 of 2 Justin Timberlake RCA seeing one of pop music’s most innovative stars largely abandon music for

Directed by Robert Rodriguez Starring Danny Trejo, Michelle Rodriguez, Mel Gibson, Demian Bichir

he Snapper” (1993) is based on the 1990 Roddy Doyle book of the same name — the second installment in the Barrytown Trilogy — which follows the Rabbitte family. The film focuses on a fatherdaughter relationship and its strengths and limitations.

The film opens with Sharon (Tina Kellegher), an unmarried 20 year old who still lives at home, telling her parents Dessie (Colm Meaney) and Kay (Ruth McCabe) that she’s pregnant. Despite their Catholic background, the family quickly adjusts to Sharon’s pregnancy, with the gruff yet gentle Dessie acting as her constant defender.

After Sharon breaks the news, Dessie and Kay discuss in their garden how to explain Sharon’s pregnancy to their younger daughters. Though their discomfort is evident, they eventually circle back to the subject at hand.

Kay even wonders how Shannon could never have heard of contraceptives — a fairly taboo subject. Sharon’s outrageously vulgar friends take the news similarly well.

The largest sticking point for family and friends is Sharon’s refusal to admit who the father is. They feel, as Dessie describes it, that fathering a child without taking any responsibility is “cheating.” About halfway through the film, they learn that Sharon’s reticence stems from the fact that the baby’s father is George Burgess (Pat Laffan), the much older, married father of one of her friends. As news of the scandal spreads through the tight-knit Dublin community, some of her friends and neighbors begin to turn against her. However, Sharon’s family and her closest friend Jackie (Fionnuala Murphy) close ranks around her — defending her honor with obscenities and sometimes violence.

Making the situation more painful, Sharon’s “affair” with Mr. Burgess wasn’t consensual — it was a rape. Sharon never reveals this to anyone and pretends that she actually had a fling with a Spanish sailor to conceal the truth. The film’s treatment of Sharon’s rape is rather problematic because of the nature of the crime — Mr. Burgess takes advantage of Sharon while she is very drunk. Though this is technically true, the situation still constitutes a rape and the tone of the film makes it seem like the writer and director do not consider the circumstances to be as serious as they are. Nonetheless, the film does explore the unfair burden of blame placed on women who engage in sexual affairs and how traditional Catholic families adapt to situations that do not fit entirely within the bounds of their moral framework.

The most interesting element of “The Snapper” is the relationship between Sharon and Dessie — a stereotypical tough guy with a sensitive side who is incredibly compassionate toward his daughter. Tina Kellegher and Colm Meaney have wonderful chemistry as a father-daughter pair. Their fights, reconciliations and tender moments are all very believable and touching, despite both of their characters’ reluctance to express vulnerability.

“The Snapper” is one of Kellegher’s only major roles, but she does a fantastic job portraying a tough but wounded young woman. Meaney is a prolific character actor who often portrays the token Irishman, Scotsman or Welshman in British movies, but also plays more nuanced characters in Irish films.

Initially, when Dessie discovers that Mr. Burgess is the baby’s father, he responds by feeling sorry for himself and acting out. Once he realizes this and admits it to Sharon, he turns over a new leaf and even begins reading a book called “Every Woman” in order to better understand what Sharon is going through.

His bumbling attempts to adjust to a more modern approach to pregnancy bring the audience and Sharon much amusement.

Ultimately, “The Snapper” is a story of familial love and — despite the serious subject matter — is very funny. I loved it and hope you will too.

Next week’s film: “Once” (2006).

Megan Clark is a senior who is majoring in English and history. She can be reached at Megan.Clark@tufts.edu.

The Tufts Daily

6

Arts & Living

Tuesday, October 15, 2013

Cameos from Lady Gaga and Antonio Banderas cannot salvage ‘Machete Kills’ MACHETE

continued from page 5

(Demáin Bichir), who is preparing to launch a nuclear missile at Washington, D.C. “Machete Kills” does not even attempt to show any substance as a film. Rodriguez is an auteur of tacky, grindhouse cinematography, and the sole pleasure of the film is watching him seamlessly handle retro, action film conventions.

The movie touches on all the typical action movie tropes — people jump out of helicopters, cars and speedboats; the United States and by extension, the world, is threatened with annihilation and the protagonist emerges unscathed from wave after wave of machinegun fire. Needless to say, oneliners abound.

However, this is exactly what the movie is going for — it is actually trying to parody these action clichés and in this respect, it is relatively successful. “Machete Kills” treats the action genre the same way the “Austin Powers” film trilogy (1997-2002) treats the spy movie genre — exaggerating every detail with juvenile glee. Everything is reduced to a series of breakneck plot developments. The movie is well aware of just how superficial it is, and it wields this self-

Courtesy Rico Torres / Open Road Films

Danny Trejo is at it again, playing the stoic Machete in the second installment of the ‘Machete’ series. awareness deftly. Flying gore and cheesy, tough-as-nails dialogue are the sorts of things that “Machete Kills” does best.

Rodriguez plays up these conventions shamelessly, exaggerating them until they become perfectly, uproariously tactless.

But the movie has far too little going on for this to happen time and time again and still be effective. Although “Machete” tries to make this ironic, action movie bravado sustainable throughout the entire film, after a while it ultimately ceas-

es to be entertaining.

Demáin Bichir gives the most notable performance as the Mexican revolutionary, Mendez, amidst a cavalcade of overwrought acting. Bichir demonstrates some actual versatility as he oscillates among

at least three schizophrenic personalities, all the while dishing out manic humor. The only character who can contest Mendez in terms of on-screen hilarity is El Camaleón, the wise-cracking, face-changing bounty hunter played by no less than four different actors: Walton Goggins, Cuba Gooding Jr., Lady Gaga and Antonio Banderas (in that order). If this line-up isn’t preposterous enough, the on-screen transformations should be.

Danny Trejo, on the other hand, is every bit as stoic as a cardboard cutout, rattling off oneliners with almost no inflection: “Machete don’t tweet,” “Machete don’t smoke.” Well, apparently Machete don’t act, either.

At 107 minutes, “Machete Kills” is absurdly long, especially for a film that is nothing but a series of violent gags. As hinted at by the opening trailer, there are potential plans for a third Machete installment, and the film certainly leaves itself open to another sequel. Whether this is actually necessary — or if it will actually happen — is uncertain.

In any case, “Machete Kills” is so beautifully terrible at times that it might just have a place in the hall of iconic cult films, because otherwise, it doesn’t have a place anywhere.

Lyrical weakness drags down Timberlake’s LP

TIMBERLAKE

continued from page 5

Courtesy Roger Farrington

Baritone Andrew Garland (‘Papageno’) and Corrine Lesieur-Garland enjoy the Opening Night cast party.

Modern retelling of opera oversimplified, still spectacular FLUTE

continued from page 5

this iconic work was not without its own set of difficulties.

“The challenge of retelling Mozart’s ‘Magic Flute’ for today’s audience is to find the story’s context in contemporary society,” stage director Leon Major said in an article on onedgeptown.com. To his credit, the BLO’s production did a reasonably good job of making “The Magic Flute” relatable.

The plain English feel of the lyrics, complete with the occasional slang term, made the plot easy to follow, and the revamped premise was both believable and humorous. By removing obstacles of context and language, the didactic themes of the work — which urge viewers to think critically about and value knowledge and emotion — shone through loud and clear.

One downfall of this simplified approach to “The Magic Flute,” however, was a lack of complexity that likely left those already familiar with Mozart’s work disappointed.

At times, informal lyrics gave audience members the impression that the opera was being “dumbed down” instead of modernized, and the somewhat distilled plot of the piece sagged slightly in the second act.

Ideally, a production should not have to

sacrifice content in order to be avant-garde.

Most contemporary audiences are capable of understanding complexity, even if a work is more than 200 years old.

Despite some changes, this production of “The Magic Flute” did include certain standard elements of traditional opera. In these aspects, the BLO delivered completely. Borichevsky’s wonderful voice provided a solid foundation, and Andrew Garland (Papageno) added a delightful playfulness with his light song. So Young Park (Queen of the Night) stole the show, thrilling the audience with her extraordinary vocal range.

The accompanying orchestra was flawless as it played Mozart’s recognizable score, identical to his original written in the 1700s.

Rich costumes and lush, turquoise and gold scenery were wonderful visual treats. The set, in particular, became a character itself as it shifted with the action of the opera, captivating the audience’s interest throughout.

Overall, the BLO’s “The Magic Flute” was a delightful and adventurous production, and anything but expected. As stated by general and artistic director Esther Nelson in the same edgeptown.com article, the BLO’s production aimed to be “not only relevant to the human experience, but to our youth,” and in this, it succeeded immensely.

lowed it up with a well-timed sequel: “The 20/20 Experience — 2 of 2,” whose 11 tracks build nicely upon the partintrospective, part gotta-get-the-ladies theme of its predecessor.

As always, Timberlake’s charm, vocal range and production team are what serve his music best. The record borrows elements from all types of artists and genres, while hip-hop music is infused to terrific effects — something that is certainly typical of this musician’s catalog. Drake delivers an infectious, 24-bar verse on “Cabaret,” while “Murder” finds Jay-Z, though not quite in peak form, reviving the chemistry that caused his and Timberlake’s other 2013 collaborations, “Suit & Tie” and “Holy Grail,” to reach such great heights on the Billboard Hot 100 chart earlier this year.

Other hip-hop frontmen also helped to produce the album. While Timbaland’s best material may have been on past records, he still delivers on “20/20” with tracks such as the album’s excellent opener, “Gimme What I Don’t Know (I Want).” J-Roc, who co-produced every track along with Timbaland and Timberlake, also does his part to keep the album sonically riveting.

The lyrical department — never Timberlake’s strongest suit — is probably where the album suffers most.

Nothing here is quite so glaringly forced as Timberlake’s attempt to rhyme “looking” with “oven” in “Suit & Tie,” but there are still a series of noticeable slip-ups. “I got you saying ‘Jesus’ so much it’s like we are laying in the manger” on “Cabaret” is one especially bad offender, and others are unfortunately peppered throughout the record’s nearly 75-minute runtime.

Fans may also grumble about the album’s limited (i.e., non-existent) range in subject matter — although, minus his 2006 heroin addiction ballad, “Losing My Way,” what has Timberlake ever really sung about except women, sex and love? Once audiences get past this, the listening experience will become all the more enjoyable.

Those who struggled through a whole album of super-long cuts the last time around — seven of the 10 tracks from “The 20/20 Experience” cracked the seven-minute mark, a fact not lost upon short-tempered critics — will prob-

Antonio García Rodríguez via Wikimedia Commons

Justin Timberlake has returned to the music scene with two new releases this year. ably not find this venture much easier.

Nearly half the songs here are just as long and, occasionally, the record does feel a bit slow moving, especially during the excessively lengthy and creepy oddity, “True Blood.”

That being said, Timberlake pulls off an excellent final cut on “Not a Bad Thing,” which at over 11 minutes, lasts longer than anything he has ever recorded. In the future, though, JT would be wise to stick to his “Future Sex/Love Sounds” formula, where he kept most of the songs at a radio-friendly length while occasionally extending a couple of the tracks, like “What Goes Around ... Comes Around” (2006), in order to achieve extra emotional wallop.

In the end, few people in the world do what they do as well as Justin Timberlake. His charisma and willingness to experiment have helped him remain relevant in the music industry long after virtually every other member of the late ’90s boy band craze has faded into obscurity. While far from flawless, “The 20/20 Experience — 2 of 2” still manages to capture enough of the energy, fun and musical diversity that have made Timberlake’s music so globally successful throughout his hugely impressive career.

Tuesday, October 15, 2013

The Tufts Daily

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HOST FOR THE ADMISSIONS OFFICE The Voices of Tufts Experience An overnight program for prospective students interested in learning about diversity on campus

October 24th Sign up to host at: https://tac.admissions.tufts.edu/outreach/ hostsignup.asp?voices If you have any questions, please contact Greg Wong at Greg.Wong@tufts.edu

Announcing R ush TickeTs foR

february 26, 2011

The perry and marty Granoff music Center Distler performance Hall

Saturday, october 19, 2013 at 8 p.m.

photo by brigitte LaCourbe

8:00 p.m.

Come and en joy an evenin g with award-winnin g TV, film and Broadway star Mandy P atinkin in Ma ndy Patinkin: Dress Casual with Paul Ford on piano.

A limited num ber of rush ti ckets will be made availab le to the Tuft s Community on Saturday, October 19 b eginning at 7:45 p.m. (wh ile tickets last ) at the Granoff Music Center Box O ffice. Any member of th e Tufts Comm unity, who presents his o r her own Tuft s I.D. at the ticket win dow, can get two rush complimenta ry tickets per I.D. (no “proxy I.D .� will be acce pted.)

The line for ti ckets will form at 5 p.m.

A simulcast o f the event w ill take place in the Varis L ecture Hall fo r anyone unable to gai n entry to Dis tler Hall.

The Tufts Daily

8

THE TUFTS DAILY Hannah R. Fingerhut Editor-in-Chief

Editorial Jenna Buckle Melissa Wang Managing Editors Abigail Feldman Executive News Editor Daniel Gottfried News Editors Victoria Leistman Menghan Liu Melissa Mandelbaum Annabelle Roberts Mahpari Sotoudeh Josh Weiner Sarah Zheng Daniel Bottino Assistant News Editors Alexa Horwitz Hunter Ryan Denali Tietjen Shannon Vavra Executive Features Editor Lily Sieradzki Features Editors Charlotte Gilliland Emily Bartlett Vicky Rathsmill Emma Arnesty-Good Assistant Features Editors Caitlin McClure Sabrina McMillin Julia McDaniel Caroline Welch Executive Arts Editor Dan O’Leary Arts Editors Veronica Little Drew Robertson Assistant Arts Editors Brendan Donohue Lancy Downs Grace Hoyt Alexander Schroeder Executive Sports Editor Marcus Budline Sports Editors Aaron Leibowitz David McIntyre Zachey Kliger Jake Indursky Claire Sleigh Kate Klots Matthew Berger Tyler Maher Assistant Sports Editors Ross Dember Jason Schneiderman Alex Connors Elayne Stecher Bhushan Deshpande Tom Chalmers Matthew Crane Nick Golden Jehan Madhani Keran Chen Denise Amisial Benjamin Boventer Scott Geldzahler Drew Lewis

editorial | Op-ed

Tuesday, October 15, 2013

Forum merits reconsideration of approaches Last week, the administration hosted an open forum for students and faculty to discuss and ask questions about the most recent draft report from the university-wide Council on Diversity.

The report, now a year and a half in the making, is meant to acknowledge the concerns of students on campus, as well as seriously evaluate Tufts’ current position and future direction with regards to how we approach the diverse, intersectional identities on campus.

The forum ended up turning into a heated discussion and culminated in select groups of students leaving the room. Although this report is certainly a worthwhile and commendable endeavor, both the administration and student body need to change their approach in these discussions.

To clarify, this is not an attack on either the students or the administration. Indeed, the administration should be applauded for its efforts to address the issue of diversity. It has devoted countless amounts of time, money and human resources to the cause, and University President Anthony Monaco has pledged to hire a high-ranking Chief Diversity Officer for the university. The student body’s input is always

an important part of any issue — especially if it is an issue so intertwined with Tufts’ identity.

Students must recognize that not all of their requests are realistic and that proffered solutions to problems are not always practical. That being said, with voices being raised and students visibly upset, there are obviously still issues that must be re-examined.

It is the nature of these open forums that they have habitually been dominated by a small number of students.

The document will almost certainly be flawed if more students do not read and give their opinions on how the university should address these issues. The administration also needs to recognize that an open forum may not be the best way to solicit a large amount of student and faculty input. Instead, focus groups or other more intimate discussions attended by various high-ranking members of the council could be more effective. If the administration reached out to student groups on campus, it would serve to attract greater representation in these sessions.

Above all, though, it is high time to see some actual progress. If we can’t have that, let us at least be able to

understand why there has yet to be any. Students have felt as though their requests and concerns are not being heard to such an extent that they have felt the need to grill President Monaco in a public forum. There needs to be a better source for everyone — students and faculty alike — to get their facts straight. If members of the council believe that specific concerns have been addressed, show students where changes were made in the latest form of the document to integrate their opinions. Beyond that, if the administration is to credibly claim that student input is being considered, it must also be more transparent as to why other changes were not included.

Students cannot know what demands are unreasonable and why their concerns have been unaddressed if issues of budget, manpower and time allocation are unknown.

Nonetheless, it is important to remember the depth of this issue. By agreeing to tackle a topic as complex as campus diversity, the university has shown its commitment to the wants of students. They just need to let everyone know what the issue is in getting from point A to point B.

Jehan Madhani

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Off the Hill | Iowa State University

‘What ifs’ in choosing a major

Elliot Philips

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by

Zachary Neuendorf Iowa State Daily

It was senior year in high school, and all who were college-bound had to decide one important thing: what to do with the rest of their lives.

By this, I am referring to choosing a major. I am referring to the endless late nights Googling potential majors and laying all the options on the table, inspecting each one with an itchy, blind eye. These aimless escapades reek of anxiety, for the next 60 years stand on the students’ backs. What major will break bank? What major will lead to a career that doesn’t involve a lifetime of fake smiles? What major can my brain handle?

Jumping from Wikipedia page to Wikipedia page, a major-hunter tries to find out what exactly an anthropologist does and what one can do with a major in women’s studies. And soon enough (or more accurately, when time runs out) a future will be decided, and a path will begin to be paved. The further one walks along this path, the more those questions haunt every action. Uncontrollable outside forces — like the economy and parental opinions — drive into our conscience that the future we chose to walk is crumbling. We think that our future will welcome us with no jobs, no success and — probably the most frightening —

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.

a student loan debt that is not worth it.

Some are blessed with a vocational sixth sense that steers them with little or no second thoughts, and for that instinct, we with fickle minds are forever envious.

But for the majority, it is impossible to successfully complete this daunting task of choosing the right major the first time around. Countless students change majors in their first year, and indecision is high enough to necessitate an “open option” major. The mix-and-match game played with minors and majors is a result of this struggle. Finding the perfect balance between something financially stimulating and passionately fulfilling is tricky, and it becomes even more complicated when a balance is unforeseeable and a winner must be made between either head or heart.

This indecisive tendency is not healthy for a student who, thanks to the switching of majors, is more likely to spend an extra year or two in college, which results in an unexpectedly high tuition.

Yes, it is gratifying that we are able to play dress-up, to an extent, with all of these possible degrees, yet at the same time, it feels limiting. Maybe it is because all the possibilities are overwhelming, and there is a temptation to want to try out anything that might be a nice fit.

This can be exemplified when a chap-

ter in sociology captures your attention and unlocks a sense of wonder that you have yet to discover in any of your journalism classes, which happens to be your established major. What doesn’t help are the occasional jabs that hint you might not be cut out for your degree.

Does this constitute an opportunity to rethink everything and possibly change it all and set down a brand new road? A lot of other factors need to be considered before a reshaping takes place, but is there any time for reconsideration, or are the extra two years of education too high a price to pay?

I look at all of this with naive, scared, freshman eyes. I am unable to provide any sort of solution because I am not even sure this is a problem. It might be more of a process we are all required to go through. It is a decision in which I will live alongside for the rest of my life, but in particular these vital four years at Iowa State.

I suppose it is human nature to constantly ask “what if,” but it could become distracting and disrespectful to the current major if I am perpetually daydreaming about nine others.

Be sure that your search doesn’t stress you out too much; deciding on your major is important, but remember that in the end, time will tell what you really want to do.

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The Tufts Daily

Tuesday, October 15, 2013

9

Op-Ed

Why Tufts needs The Primary Source by

Austin Berg

My name is Austin Berg, I want to bring back the Primary Source and I am not stupid, crazy or mean-spirited.

While I was studying abroad last year, I watched the Source make another in a long series of hurtful mistakes. Last December, the former Editor-in-Chief Chris Piraino accidentally copied and pasted a horribly misogynist Christmas Carol from the 1999 Holiday Issue.

Humiliated, Chris self-imposed a semester-long suspension on the publication.

Discouraged, he failed to take the necessary steps to keep the Source recognized as an active student organization. In June, I was informed that the Source had been completely de-recognized. I was sad about it.

Chris’ mistake is exemplary of what the Source has meant to me since I came to a general interest meeting during my second week at Tufts. It’s an institution that I value, with a past that I am embarrassed by. This summer, I made the decision to rectify that unsettling, deeply personal dialectic I’ve carried with me throughout my time here. I wanted to make that publication something the Tufts community could disagree with, yet still be proud to have. Then, as most of our generation are wont to do, I secondguessed myself. A lot. The Primary Source carries a brutally negative connotation on this campus, and I thought that maybe it deserved to die that way. Six weeks into this semester, I’m convinced that it shouldn’t.

Tufts’ adjunct faculty unionized, Tufts Divest passed a referendum and Justice Scalia came to speak — these were three undoubtedly “major” events on our campus, yet not a single unified voice in opposition to the majority opinion on these issues was heard. At a university that prides itself on critical thinking, that is deeply unsettling. Here’s what you, a student of Tufts University, were afforded in the way of political dialogue on those issues: A highly motivated Tufts Labor Coalition voiced grievances to the administration, believing that unionizing this group of professionals was something to be accepted and encouraged, while failing to address the practical consequences (for example, higher tuition) of such action. The administration responded, failing to address the real issue at hand: unprecedented growth in administrative costs at universities nationwide while faculty resources continue to flat-line. The vote to unionize passed overwhelmingly.

Tufts Divest, which made headlines by interrupting a prospective students’ infor-

Caroline Geiling / The Tufts Daily

mation session last spring, published multiple op-eds to encourage students to “Vote Yes to Divest,” though The Daily opposed the referendum in an editorial. Seventy-four percent of voters went on to support a formal request for Tufts to divest its holdings in fossil fuel-related enterprises, provided it does not adversely affect the financial status of the university.

Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia came to speak on “Interpreting the Constitution.” The Justice’s presence was met with derision and protest (both totally legitimate expressions of opinion) due to his knowingly restricting the rights of minority groups because of their identities. Whether or not that is an accurate description of Scalia’s constitutional reasoning doesn’t matter. What does seem to matter is that the man who came to speak at Tufts near this time a mere two years ago, Bill Clinton — the man who signed into law both DOMA and “Don’t ask, don’t tell” — heard barely a peep from these students. Why? I’d venture to guess that it speaks to an intolerance and double standard that has greatly harmed political dialogue on this campus.

Whether or not we agree with the opposing views in a debate, if we consider an issue important, we must at least know what they are. Tufts does not currently have a publication designed to serve as a space to engage with those views, views shared by a portion of our student body that is not insignificant, views that are discouraged from being voiced.

Let me be clear. You, the reader, have

every reason to be critical of The Primary Source. You have every reason to be critical of me. You have every reason to be suspicious of claims to engender “postpartisan, rational dialogue.” (You know that’s where I’m headed with this, right?)

With that in mind, I propose a deal. The Primary Source will publish articles worth your time and emotional investment. They will be insightful, reasoned and respectful — not partisan, insulting or controversialfor-controversy’s-sake.

Here’s your end of the deal: Recognize the humanity of your peers. That’s it. It’s really easy. Here’s how easy it is. Treat everyone whom you disagree with like they’re your best friend and they just told you what they think about an issue. You don’t really care about your best friend’s political label or the connotations therein. You don’t care about the talking points surrounding that idea. You don’t care about phrasing your response in a way that cuts the deepest. You care about your best friend.

Our general interest meeting is tonight at 9 p.m. in the Mayer Campus Center, room 112. If you feel like your views don’t fit into the dominant political dialogue on campus, please come and write for us. If you have any personal questions or concerns about this revival process, email us at tuftsprimarysource@gmail.com.

Austin Berg is a senior majoring in economics and political science. He can be reached at Austin.Berg@tufts.edu.

Checking my privilege by

Max Beck

I have had, by many standards, a very easy life. That’s not to say I never worked, never experienced failure, never felt rejection or regret — you can be familiar with all those things and still live an easy life. I’ve just never really had to overcome anything significant.

My whole childhood went very smoothly.

My parents were accommodating to me and I to them, because that’s just how I was.

School was never very difficult — so long as I paid attention and did my homework, classes were a breeze. Finances were never much of a problem either.

But let’s get one thing straight: This says zero about my character or personality.

Here’s the truth: I’ve had, since I can remember, a horrid work ethic, minimal motivation and almost zero direction — because I haven’t needed any of those things to be successful. And I’m honestly just a little ashamed of that.

The one decision that defined my life’s direction most was what to study. Even then, I only did it because I was good at it. Every other choice I made was just to do what I was supposed to do. I took tough courses because you were supposed to challenge yourself. I did homework because you were supposed to do homework. I applied to colleges that my counselor recommended

Check the basement

T

Off the Hill | Columbia University

Columbia Daily Spectator

Eloise Libre | Frankly Candid

because you were supposed to take their advice. And, admittedly, I did pretty well for myself by just doing what I should. Then I went out into the real world.

Here’s what did not happen: I did not stumble into the real world and find it to be cold and unforgiving. I did not learn that I needed to work hard to succeed. I did not learn that people could tell the difference between a hard worker and a good worker.

The truths I learned were more uncomfortable than that.

A little over half a year ago, I made plans to assist in scientific research in my department over the summer — because, as a student in my field, that’s what you’re supposed to do. My situation was pretty lax — the gig was purely coding, so I got to set my own hours and often worked from home. As long as I got whatever I was assigned done, I was doing enough. And so, I did exactly what I was supposed to; never mind that there was a whole host of relevant science behind the numbers I was crunching and that I was working with some of the smartest people in New York City. I didn’t need any of that to do my job. I just needed to crunch. So I crunched. And it was it easy.

Three summer months went by, and at the end I felt like I had accomplished nothing with my life. Three months of weekly grind with no beginning, no end, just output. Three months with nothing to show for it but a few esoteric skills, a fistful of dollars

and a block of text on my resume. Three months of missed opportunities.

I wish I’d done worse. I wish someone would have told me I’m not working fast enough, or even threatened to fire me. At least then I would’ve had reason to change something. I would’ve tried harder. I might have even felt like I had actually accomplished something by the end of it all.

In general, there are two kinds of virtue: internal and achieved. But I’ve only ever known the first. I find myself viciously jealous of the people who can achieve, because those are the extraordinary people. For them, there is no “good enough,” but only “better.” So for the first time in my life, I understood what it meant to live for “good enough,” to live a complacent, boring, ordinary life. That frightened me — to think that I might spend 50 years being pretty good at something but never feeling fulfilled, because “pretty good” is enough to keep me sedate.

Seeing what an “easy life” is like taught me how I could end up if I didn’t change my attitude, like a ghost of ennui future.

Since coming back to school, I’ve reworked my personal standards, trying to fashion myself into the extraordinary person I want to be. But I’m still terrified that it might just be who I am. I’ve spent two decades living an easy life, essentially preparing myself to be boring. Should I be surprised if I end up just settling?

is the season ... for seeking offcampus housing! These days, Tufts is abuzz with sophomores and juniors coordinating living arrangements for next year. Many people have already signed leases or determined their roles as subletters, while others remain frazzled in choosing a group of friends suitable for cohabitation or lost in a sea of foreign legal jargon presented by future landlords. Well, dear readers, if you’ve come today in search of advice on off-campus living, please look elsewhere. Though I boast no wisdom comparable to that of JumpOffCampus, I do have an important saga to share on offcampus housing — one with a message worth heeding.

It was a bright, spring morning on Boston Avenue. The sun was shining, the birds were chirping, Dunkin Donuts was brewing and Nelly was warming up his vocal chords. Indeed, ’twas the dawn of Spring Fling. My housemates and friends awoke from peaceful slumbers, recovering from the previous evening of gallivanting at a Macklemore show. Little did we know, however, that there would be one other housemate — this one not so much a friend — waking up in our home that day as well.

Spring Fling kicked off to a great start.

Everyone was excited to share each other’s company and enjoy the experience.

Early on in the course of the day, one of my housemates ventured down into our basement in search of a missing item. As he descended the stairs to our grimy cellar, he encountered none other than an unfamiliar, scraggly man who appeared to be in his mid-50s coming up the stairs — a most peculiar circumstance.

Though surprised, my brave housemate stood his ground. He interrogated our visitor on his precise motives for emerging from our basement on this fine Spring Fling morning. It quickly became evident that this character was, in fact, homeless. He began ranting about his existence, bouncing from one place to the next and “riding the wave of life.” My housemate nodded and smiled but told our new friend that, unfortunately, the wave of life could no longer deposit him to reside in our basement.

To this, the hobo innocently insisted that he had only been sleeping there on bad-weather nights! In case you cannot recall — the night before Spring Fling 2013 was both warm and clear, certainly not qualifying as a “bad-weather night.”

The man then went on to reveal the most shocking one-liner, one that we have quoted tirelessly since: “This house has been a godsend since 2000.” 2000?! We were shocked and concerned. There had been a homeless man sleeping in the basement of our home for the last 13 years.

That week, another of our housemates bumped into one of our neighbors, a Tufts professor, in the academic department where she works. They got to chatting about life on our block, and she revealed the horror that was the Hobo of 13 Years.

The professor acted unsurprised and responded matter-of-factly, “Oh, was it Joel?” Apparently, when he had moved in during the ’90s, another character roamed from basement to basement on those badweather nights. But the descriptions of Joel and 13 Years did not match up. Thus, we determined that our neighborhood must be a stop on the proverbial underground railroad of homeless folk.

The following weekend, this same motley crew of housemates almost got evicted for another reason entirely (not our fault, we promise!) — but that’s a story for another week.

And so, dear readers, before you sign those leases, it is crucial that you heed this simple yet important piece of advice: Check the basement.

Eloise Libre is a senior majoring in history.

She can be reached at Eloise.Libre@tufts.edu.

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

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Comics

Tuesday, October 15, 2013

Doonesbury

Crossword

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Garry Trudeau

Non Sequitur

Friday’s Solution

Married to the Sea

www.marriedtothesea.com

SUDOKU Level: Seeing pumpkin spice lattes on the menus of local coffee shops.

Late Night at the Daily

Thursday’s Solution

Alex: “I’m not a prolific host ... I’m not that social.”

Want more late-night laughs?

Follow us on Twitter at @LateNiteAtDaily

Please recycle this Daily.

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Wiley

Tuesday, October 15, 2013

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Freshmen runners make strides in sub-varsity race WOMEN’S XC

13

Sports Aaron Leibowitz | The Fan

continued from back

The results do not sound very promising, but considering the level of competition at the meet, the team is encouraged.

“The competition and just sheer quantity of runners in our race was an important for our season. We had to be able to pick out our DIII competition from the crowd, as well as rise to the challenge that the DI runners brought to the table,” Beltrani said. “It was a challenge to be among such amazing runners, but also gave us important knowledge regarding competition in our division.”

Tufts runners also commented on how the style of running in races like this will prepare them for their important upcoming meets. “[The meet] was good practice for Regionals and NESCACs because we won’t be taking out the race, we will have to get out hard to establish our pace,” Creath said. “In meets like that, you have to get out fast because your positioning at the beginning has a lot to do with how you finish.”

All year, the team has stressed pack mentality, knowing that success in cross country comes from an all around team effort, rather than one or two star runners.

“Anyone can step up and win any race,” Creath said. “It’s important because it gives everyone the confidence that if they’re feeling good that day, they’ll go for it. It allows more people to step up and not be intimidated, and that pushes all of us.”

Gould, Barker and Beltrani managed to stay together for most of the race, with all three finishing within seven seconds. With Creath and Mirhashem finishing not too far behind, the team finished with a 39-second 1-5 spread, which is a similar result to the previous meets of this season. Even the next two finishers for Tufts weren’t far off the pack. Junior Caroline KimballKatz finished 143rd with a time of 19:31, and senior Laura Peterson finished 164th with a time of 19:42, just over a minute after Gould. The team draws its success from this strong core of veteran runners.

The Tufts freshmen runners, however, also have made strong contributions to the team. Running in the subvarsity race, freshman Lindsay Atkeson finished with a time of 19:10, and freshman Alice Wasserman finished in 19:29. Both freshmen would have been right in the middle of the Jumbo pack in the varsity race. Running in the subvarsity race allowed the younger runners to get the same exposure as the rest of the team, but in a less intimidating setting.

“The freshmen really stepped up,” Creath said. “Some of them even raced better than girls in the varsity race.”

The team will look to improve with this new experience at the Connecticut College Invitational in Waterford, CT on Saturday.

I

Andrew Morgenthaler / The Tufts Daily Archives

Tufts women’s cross country finished 12th overall and third among Div. III teams on Saturday at the New England Intercollegiate Amateur Athletic Association Championships.

Jumbos still searching for winning formula FOOTBALL

continued from back

in the first half, but we made some mistakes,” Trause said. “We all knew that if we just played our brand of football, we could have closed the gap.

But we didn’t come out as strong in the second half, and the score showed.”

In the third quarter, Trinity returned Doll’s third interception for a touchdown, effectively putting the game out of reach.

“You can’t expect to win games that way,” head coach Jay Civetti said.

“When [you make two mistakes] on special teams and you throw three interceptions, two of them for touchdowns — regardless of how well the defense played, it doesn’t matter at that point.”

For a team that has now lost 27 straight, turnovers and missed opportunities told the story. Civetti said he expects better.

“We’re evaluating everybody’s job on this team right now,” he said. “We’ve

got to find guys who are in positions to help us be successful.”

With Tufts trailing 34-7, freshman Liam O’Neil replaced Doll for the final five possessions and completed four of eight attempts. According to Civetti, Doll knew coming in that if he did not protect the ball, he would not stay on the field.

“I told him, ‘You’re starting the game, but if I feel like you’re putting things in a place where you’re not doing your job, I’m going to find somebody who will do what we’re asking of them,’” Civetti said.

“There’s a handful of positions where I could say that,” he added.

The typically pass-heavy Jumbos took to the ground Saturday, racking up 251 yards rushing, including career highs of 114 from Trause and 78 from senior Jon Sobo. They finished with 69 yards passing.

The 99-yard drive to open the game was masterful; the 64-yard drive that followed and brought Tufts to the goal

line was strong, but not quite good enough, and the remainder of the Jumbos’ drives were disappointing. On seven possessions, they traveled 10 yards or fewer.

Meanwhile, Trinity extended its winning streak to 13 overall and six against Tufts. Senior running back Evan Bunker was without his speedier teammate, banged-up classmate Ben Crick, but he still clawed his way to 104 yards on 31 carries. At quarterback, the Bantams stuck with the duo of sophomore Henry Foye and freshman Sonny Puzzo, who each attempted 16 passes.

With the season halfway gone, the Jumbos have yet to play 60 straight minutes of winning football.

“We haven’t had that complete game yet on both sides of the ball and on special teams,” Trause said. “We have the guys to do it. We just have to execute.”

Tufts will visit winless Williams on Saturday.

Start spreading the lose

f New York really is the greatest city in the world, as most of its inhabitants assert it to be, then its professional sports teams should probably start playing like it. Lately, and especially in recent months, we’ve seen the lights go out on Broadway: New York sports teams have been abominable.

I am from the Empire State, just outside the greatest city in the world — yeah, I said it; wanna fight? — and can admit that, at this moment, New York is near the bottom among cities with a franchise in all four major sports.

By Nielsen standards, there are 12 metropolitan areas with a baseball, basketball, football and hockey team: New York, Boston, Chicago, DallasFort Worth, Denver, Detroit, Miami, Minneapolis-St. Paul, Philadelphia, Phoenix, the San Francisco Bay Area and Washington, D.C. We’re not discussing which are the best, so Boston fans can just relax. We are discussing which, right now, are the worst.

Minnesota is a worthy candidate.

The Vikings are 1-4. The Twins finished 66-96 and the Timberwolves went 31-51. The Wild (it’s a hockey team, people) lost in the first round of the playoffs.

The nation’s capital has also become accustomed to disappointment, between the disastrous Wizards, the underachieving Nationals, the playoff-choking Capitals and the poorly named Redskins.

And Philadelphia — well, let’s just say Philly is the worst and leave it at that.

But who am I to talk trash? There is not a single championship-caliber team in New York. In the current or most recent season in the Big Four sports, the combined winning percentage of the nine New York teams (not counting the Bills and counting the Devils) is .523.

That’s not Minnesota bad, but it’s certainly New York bad.

Let’s break down the New York mess.

The Mets just completed their fifth straight losing campaign and followed it up by announcing their star pitcher won’t be, you know, pitching in 2014.

The Yankees had their worst season in 20 years, and now they find themselves hamstrung by long-term contracts and the pariah to end all pariahs, Alex Rodriguez.

The 0-6 Giants — bless Tom Coughlin’s soul — couldn’t beat my high school football team right now, while Jets fans are just thrilled their team is better than a team that couldn’t beat my high school football team right now. There’s not much hope for a Super Bowl, especially with the Patriots winning games.

In hockey, the Rangers are off to an atrocious start; the Devils have yet to win a game and the Islanders, though they reached the playoffs last year, are still the Islanders.

The one place where there’s some hope is on the basketball court. The Knicks are still too old, but they should be good enough to generate excitement and maintain a healthy rivalry with the Brooklyn Nets. The Nets should be good enough to convince their fans they have a title shot, and if Jason Kidd plays his cards right, they could become a legitimate Eastern Conference force.

Still, New York sports are in the midst of a dark period. In the recent past — that is, during my 21-year lifetime — when all else has failed, the Yankees and Giants have been there to pick up the slack. Now, they are in no position to do that.

How do you explain the decline?

According to Forbes, five of the nine New York teams are among the 50 most valuable franchises in professional sports.

But now more than ever, it’s not simply about having money; it’s about spending it wisely.

Lately, New York teams — many plagued by terrible ownership — have failed to do that. Now, they are paying the price.

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

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Women’s Tennis

Tufts eases past Brandeis in last dual meet of fall Jumbos bounce back from loss at MIT by

Alison Kuah

Contributing Writer

The women’s tennis team took down Brandeis 8-1 Friday, closing out its dual fall season 2-1. With the loss, Brandeis moves to 0-1 in its only dual match of the fall season.

The Jumbos surged to a 3-0 lead after wins in all three doubles matches.

Senior Shelci Bowman and freshman Alexa Meltzer beat Brandeis seniors Marissa Lazar and Ally Bernstein in the No. 1 doubles 8-4. True to head coach Kate Bayard’s decision to mix up the doubles pairing and try different combinations, the pair played together for the first time in a competitive setting.

“Shelci is a very experienced doubles player,” Meltzer said.

“She taught me a lot of things during the match.”

Bowman, who is regularly partnered with senior captain Samantha Gann, also valued the opportunity to play with Meltzer. “[Gann] and I call ourselves ‘the dream team’ because we love playing together,” Bowman told the Daily in an email. “I definitely missed Sam on the court, but playing with Alexa was so much fun. She’s not just talented — she is so supportive ,which helped me relax and play confidently.”

Meanwhile, Gann had an easy 8-2 win, as she was partnered with freshman Chelsea Hayashi against Brandeis’ sophomore Maya Vasser and senior Alexa Katz at the No. 2 doubles spot. The first-year duo of Jacqueline Baum and Conner Calabro had the most challenging matchup at No. 3 doubles, but eventually topped junior Roberta Bergstein and sophomore Sarita Biswas of Brandeis 8-5.

Tufts continued its dominating play in singles with

easy wins by Meltzer, Calabro and Hayashi in the No. 2, No. 3 and No. 5 singles, respectively. Calabro disposed of her opponent Katz without conceding a game, 6-0, 6-0; Hayashi lost just five games in her quick dismissal of Biswas 6-2, 6-3 and Meltzer cruised through with her 6-0, 6-4 win against Vasser.

The Judges’ sole win came from sophomore Emily Eska at No. 6 singles, who fought a tough match against freshman Hanna Slutsky, coming back from a first set loss to win 4-6, 6-3, 10-5. Gann and Baum outlasted their opponents in two more closely contested matches at the No. 1 and No. 4 singles, respectively.

The Jumbos were coming off a tough loss to MIT earlier in the week and took that experience as an additional incentive to winning against Brandeis.

“I think the loss against MIT really motivated me to do whatever it took to win against Brandeis, and thankfully it paid off,” Bowman said. “I think that we just need more match experience, and [the loss] definitely got us fired up.”

Meltzer was a little more reserved when it came to comparing the victory against Brandeis with the loss against MIT, but she still acknowledged the importance of the win.

“The girl I played at MIT was a much better player than the girl I played at Brandeis,” Meltzer said. “But I definitely think that we needed this win as a team, just for our confidence and our morale, especially going into our tournament at Amherst this coming weekend.”

The Jumbos will close out their fall season with the New England Women’s In t e rc o l l e g i a t e Te n n i s Tournament hosted by Amherst from Oct. 18 to 20.

Virginia Bledsoe / Tufts Daily Archives

Tufts women’s tennis captured its second dual-meet victory of the season at Brandeis on Friday, 8-1.

Tufts looks forward to Connecticut College race MEN’S XC

continued from back

few loops around the storied course, including twice up the infamous Bear Cage Hill, a place where a runner’s guts can decide a race.

The Jumbos responded to this challenge at both the varsity and sub-varsity levels.

Senior tri-captain Ben Wallis again paced the Jumbos at the varsity level, as he finished 33rd overall with a time of 25:14 on the eight-kilometer course.

Senior Andrew Shapero was not far behind Wallis, as he ran a strong race to take 36th overall in 25:16.

After Tufts’ frontrunners finished, the rest of the Jumbos ran as a pack in impressive fashion, as the third through sixth runners were only spread apart by six seconds. Senior Jamie Norton and sophomore Nicholas Guarnaccia took 65th and 66th overall, with times of 25:44 and 25:45, respectively, while freshman Tim Nichols finished 69th overall also with a time of 25:45. Fellow

freshman Luke O’Connor finished 79th in 25:50, and senior Brian McLaughlin finished 127th in 26:21.

“As a team, we wanted to stick together. Some of us wanted to go out hard and take the risk to avoid the huge pack of runners, while others wanted to go out conservatively and pick people off near the end,” Shapero said. “We were trying to get a few guys under 26 minutes, and I think we accomplished that goal well.”

The Jumbos finished the meet with a solid 269 points and a 25:33 seven man team average.

“We were really pleased with our performance on the day,” Shapero said.

We beat MIT [formerly ranked first in Div. III] who had been racing very well and had beaten Williams [No. 5], so it shows we can hold our own against the best of Div. III.” The sub-varsity Jumbos also raced well, placing third overall in the eightkilometer race with 118 points. Four of the top five finishers for the Jumbos

were juniors, including Liam Cassidy, who led the way with his ninth place finish in 26:04.

Only 20 seconds later, junior Samuel Hansen finished 18th overall, followed closely by junior Marshall Pagano in 28th place. Junior Greg Hardy and sophomore James Traester rounded out the scoring for the Jumbos, as they placed 42nd and 45th, respectively.

“As a team, we tried to get out hard at the start so we wouldn’t get boxed in because we were lined up at the corner of the start line,” freshman Bobby McLaughlin, who placed 88th overall in a time of 27:21, said. “We planned to run a fast but relaxed first two miles, and then our goal was to work hard on those third and fourth miles through to the fifth mile, where the entire focus was to hang on.”

Throughout this race, the Jumbos utilized their pack running strategy, which has worked well for them in the past.

“Again, we gained more experience and learned how to run as a pack better

throughout the race, because we have found that we all run well together,” McLaughlin said. “Personally, I learned how to get out and race a hard, fast ‘8k.’”

The team’s well-executed strategy and their depth allowed them to place first among Div. III schools, and allowed them to defeat many top name Div. III squads schools as well.

“We were very happy with our third place finish,” McLaughlin said. “Our strong showing in the sub-varsity race demonstrated our depth as a team, and showed everyone that Tufts cross country can run right up with Div. III and Div. II schools.”

The Jumbos travel to Conn. College next weekend for the Connecticut College Invitational, but they do not plan on racing their full strength.

“We won’t be racing our varsity top seven or our sub-varsity top six next week [at Conn. College],” Shapero said. “These guys will be resting up for NESCACs [on Nov. 2], but they will be there cheering their other teammates on.”

Sports

16

INSIDE Women’s Tennis 15

tuftsdaily.com

Football

Homecoming loss leaves more questions than answers by

Aaron Leibowitz

Daily Editorial Board

The Jumbos have held a lead in all four of their games. They have scored first three times. They are 0-4.

FOOTBALL (0-4 Overall, 0-4 NESCAC) at Zimman Field, Saturday Trinity Tufts

14 7

13 10 0 0

6 — 43 0 — 7

Tufts’ opponents have made the plays that count. Saturday’s homecoming contest against Trinity, the top-ranked team in New England, was a case in point: The Bantams, after a sluggish start, made one big play after the next until the game spiraled out of control.

First, Tufts forced a three-and-out and drove 99 yards to take a 7-0 lead.

But Trinity scored the next 43 points to win 43-7, a turnaround reminiscent of Wesleyan’s 52-point barrage in the season opener.

After the Jumbos pulled ahead, Trinity sophomore Ian Dugger returned the ensuing kickoff 99 yards to tie the game.

Then came another special teams lapse, as the Bantams recovered their own kickoff at Tufts’ 30-yard-line.

On its next possession, Trinity drove 55 yards to make it 14-7. Tufts responded by moving the ball to the goal line, but Trinity denied diving freshman Chance Brady on 4th-and-1.

It was a golden chance to tie the game.

The Jumbos would not get another.

Junior Jack Doll attempted a screen pass on the next drive; senior defensive lineman Michael Weatherby tipped it, caught it and rumbled 30 yards to the end zone. Trinity led 21-7.

After 19 minutes of play, the Bantams

Ethan Chan for the Tufts Daily

Despite striking first and converting its first offensive possession into a touchdown on Saturday, Tufts football fell at home in lopsided fashion by a score of 43-7 against Trinity. had scored a special teams touchdown, an offensive touchdown and a defensive touchdown. Freshman Ben Rosenblatt followed with two short field goals, the latter coming late in the half after the

second of Doll’s three picks, and Trinity entered the locker room leading 27-7.

The Jumbos had more total yards of offense than the Bantams at halftime, including 106 yards rushing and a touch-

Men’s Cross Country

Jumbos impress against New England’s best by

Chris Warren

Contributing Writer

The men’s cross country team traveled a short distance to Boston’s historic Franklin Park this weekend for the New England Intercollegiate Amateur Athletic Association (NEICAAA) Championships to take

on the region’s best cross country teams from all divisions.

The Jumbos placed eighth overall in the varsity race (third among Div. III schools), and third overall in the sub-varsity race (first among Div. III schools), proving to New England they are a top-tier team.

Franklin Park, which has hosted

many high profile meets in its past, including the 1992 International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) World Cross Country Championships, is considered one of the more “neutral” courses in the region. The competitors must run a see MEN’S XC, page 15

Andrew Morgenthaler / Tufts Daily Archives

The men’s cross country team represented Tufts well at the nearby New England Intercollegiate Amateur Athletic Association Championships with finishes of eighth and third overall in the varsity and sub-varsity divisions, respectively.

down from junior Zack Trause. But the scoreboard indicated a blowout.

“We felt like we were the better team see FOOTBALL, page 13

Women’s Cross Country

Tufts’ strong performance leads to top 15 finish by

Alex Connors

Daily Editorial Board

The Tufts women’s cross country team competed in the New England Intercollegiate Amateur Athletic Association Championship on Saturday, placing 12th of 43 competing teams from all divisions of the NCAA. The meet, which took place at Franklin Park in Boston, featured the toughest competition that the Jumbos have seen this season, with Div. I schools such as Boston University, UConn and the University of New Hampshire all finishing in the top 10.

Tufts’ 12th place finish overall was the second best finish by NESCAC teams, with only Middlebury College finishing ahead, placing fifth overall. The Panthers’ score of 192 easily defeated the Jumbos’ 350 points.

The best race of the day for Tufts came from sophomore Audrey Gould.

Crossing the finish line with a time of 18:35, Gould placed 43rd overall and first on her team. Senior tri-captain Abby Barker and sophomore Olivia Beltrani finished not far behind, finishing with times of 18:41 and 18:42, respectively. The two placed 55th and 56th. Next to finish was senior tricaptain Lauren Creath, crossing the line in 18:56 for 81st place. Molly Mirhashem rounded out the scoring for the Jumbos, finishing in 115th place, with a time of 19:14.

“This race is always fast,” Creath said.

“It goes out hard and never slows down, there’s no settling in.” see WOMEN’S XC, page 13