Tuftsdaily11.20.13

THE TUFTS DAILY

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VOLUME LXVI, NUMBER 49

Where You Read It First Est. 1980 TUFTSDAILY.COM

Wednesday, November 20, 2013

Student struck by vehicle on Latin Way Tufts University Police Department (TUPD) yesterday responded to the second accident involving a student cyclist and a motor vehicle this month.

According to Sgt. Robert McCarthy of TUPD, officers received a report at 1:09 p.m. that a student on a bike had collided with a vehicle while turning onto Latin Way from Professors Row. The driver of the vehicle, an SUV, saw the cyclist approaching and stopped the car. “[The SUV] was stopped and the cyclist went into the vehicle straight on,” McCarthy said.

According to McCarthy, the student landed on the car’s windshield, cracking it.

While the student reported pain in his leg, he was not badly harmed.

McCarthy said the student was transported to Lawrence Memorial Hospital for treatment and returned to campus around 3 p.m.

“I think he was pretty lucky,” McCarthy said.

McCarthy urged students to be mindful when traveling around campus.

“You’ve just got to be careful because there are other cars on the road too,” he said.

—by Abigail Feldman

Coordinators declare Cage Rage concert successful

by Sarah

Zheng

Daily Editorial Board

Despite long waits between musical acts, event organizers consider last Friday’s fourth annual Cage Rage concert, featuring indie band Grouplove, a success.

The sold-out show, held in Cousens Gymnasium’s Carzo Cage, came to Tufts as part of the Campus Consciousness Tour, according to Concert Board cochairs Mark Bernardo and Julia Stein.

Students also enjoyed performances by electronic music duo The Knocks and alternative rock and pop band Saints of Valory before Grouplove took the stage.

“Cage Rage this year was definitely a success,” Stein, a junior, said.

“Everyone was raving about it, and when we chatted with Grouplove afterwards, they said Tufts was their favorite show of the tour.”

In total, this year’s Cage Rage sold 1,350 tickets to Tufts students and

their guests, according to Bernardo.

“Tufts didn’t just sell out,” Bernardo, a junior, said. “We also added a hundred more tickets to the initial tickets, and those sold out too.”

He believed people responded well to Grouplove because of the familiarity of the band.

“I’m really happy that everyone had fun,” Bernardo said. “Last year’s show wasn’t as lively, and there were a lot less people. This year there were more people, which was more fun, and everyone was just dancing and raging and it was great.”

Event attendees like sophomore Evelyn Kim shared the Concert Board’s enthusiasm about the show but commented on the long wait between the music acts.

“I thought Cage Rage was really awesome and a definite improvement from last year, but the show was a bit long,” Kim said.

see CAGE RAGE, page 2

Nick Pfosi / The Tufts Daily

While the university will no longer host the annual Winter Bash, the Sophomore Class Council is currently planning a new event to take place off campus.

Tufts to host new event instead of Winter Bash by

Alexander Spring

Contributing Writer

In light of unruly behavior during last year’s annual Winter Bash celebration, the Sophomore Class Council will hold a new winter event instead of Winter Bash this year.

Vice President of Social Programming for the class of 2016 Mauri Honickman confirmed the changes, stating that Programming Board is still intent on hosting a wintertime gathering.

“Yes, Winter Bash isn’t happening, but this [new event] isn’t a replacement,” Honickman, a sophomore, said.

“It’s a different type of event altogether.

It’s going to be very fun.”

Although Honickman was unable to

Meredith Braunstein Daily Staff Writer

Nick Pfosi / The Tufts Daily

Inside this issue

see WINTER, page 2

Tufts Medical’s Bianchi joins Institute of Medicine by

Cage Rage organizers announced that, while students complained about long wait times between acts, last Friday’s show featuring Grouplove was a success.

reveal many details about the new event’s format, she believes the event will likely be held in a downtown Boston location — at either a club or a hotel — and that ticket prices will remain $10.

One certainty is that only a limited number of students will be allowed to attend, Honickman said. This is consistent with ticket sales for this semester’s first Fall Gala, which were limited to 1,200 spots rather than the usual 2,500 tickets available for Fall Ball.

Honickman estimates that there will be space for about 1,500 students.

Office of Campus Life Director Joe Golia explained that the number of

Diana Bianchi, founding Executive Director of the Mother Infant Research Institute (MIRI) at Tufts Medical Center, was elected to the Institute of Medicine (IOM) on Oct. 21.

The IOM was founded in 1970 by the National Academy of Sciences and is used as a national resource for independent scientific analysis, according to Bianchi. The non-profit organization provides guidance to government and private sector bodies making informed healthcare decisions.

Election to the IOM requires a long track record of focused academic accomplishments, generally in a specific research area, as well as evidence of service to one’s community, Bianchi said.

According to Dean of Tufts University School of Medicine (TUSM) Harris Berman, Bianchi’s election speaks to both her accomplishments and the reputation of TUSM. “She’s a wonderful person, and we’re proud to have her on our faculty,” Berman said. “She certainly deserves this and will represent us well. She really does groundbreaking research there and

does real service to patients as well.”

According to the IOM website, 1,753 active members elect a maximum of 70 new members each year based on performance in their professional field. Ten of those members are currently affiliated with TUSM. While Bianchi said that she is thrilled to have received such a tremendous honor, her foremost goal continues to be using her clinical experience to aid in her research with genetics and neonatology.

“The things that I’ve been able to achieve in my career are nice, but really the goal is always to improve patient care and then understanding of diseases so that we can help people in the long run,” she said.

Bianchi explained that she was medically trained in pediatrics, medical genetics and newborn intensive care and has a particular interest in prenatal diagnosis and fetal treatment.

Through her research, Bianchi hopes to more effectively utilize prenatal diagnosis as a way to reduce consequences of genetic diseases.

“On a day-to-day basis I’m doing research that’s generally directed towards see BIANCHI, page 2

Today’s sections

Research shows that social media use may lead to unhappiness.

Lady Gaga’s ‘ARTPOP’ is an adventurous and entertaining album.

see FEATURES, page 3

see ARTS, page 5

News Features Arts & Living Editorial | Op-Ed

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Op-Ed Comics Classifieds Sports

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Wednesday, November 20, 2013

Nabhan lectures on food production in face of climate change

by Victoria

Leistman

Daily Editorial Board

Gary Nabhan, the W.K. Kellogg Endowed Chair in Sustainable Food Systems and professor at the University of Arizona, spoke in Barnum Hall last night on how climate change will dramatically affect food production during the next half century.

The lecture, titled “Tapping Into the Wisdom of Traditional Farmers: Sustainably Growing Food in the Face of Climate Change and Water Scarcity,” addressed how crop variety will drastically change as farmers deal with declining chill hours, extreme summer temperatures, changing frequencies of tropical storms and extended droughts.

“I want to talk about climate change and food in a different way than most people talk about it,” Nabhan said. “When I talk about climate uncertainty, I’m not just talking about warming and drying trends.”

Nabhan discussed the importance of looking to traditional farming techniques to accommodate food crop diversity to changing environmental conditions.

Farmers who have occupied one place for extended periods have an accumulation of what he called, “time tried, place based knowledge.”

“A lot of their adaptation has been making better use of biological and natural resources, but [is] also place based,” Nabhan said. “Everything

that worked in the past may not be working in the present.”

Nabhan said that not all of this knowledge is transferable, and some runs the risk of unethical cultural appropriation. At the same time, he said, it is valuable in looking at histories and strategies for adaptation in the face of uncertainty.

The indigenous and traditional farmers Nabhan has worked with have employed a variety of strategies, including initiatives to reduce water and heat stress by increasing soil carbon and water-holding capacity. Other strategies include water retention to stabilize the flow of rainwater in lands, locating fields where water and nutrients accumulate and increasing the diversity of forage, food plants and livestock breeds that are adapted to environmental stresses.

Thinking about food production is significant because food is a crucial part of what makes us who we are, Nabhan said.

“Food just isn’t calories, it’s linked to our identities,” he said.

Nabhan said that the impact of environmental changes on agriculture was evident during the droughts of 2011 and 2012.

“Climate uncertainty is increasingly linked to food insecurity,” he said.

According to Nabhan, national food prices are climbing as a two-fold result of both corporate control and climate changes.

Caroline Geiling / The Tufts Daily

Gary Nabhan, W.K. Kellogg Endowed Chair in Sustainable Food Systems and professor at the University of Arizona, delivered a lecture last night about the influence of climate change on food production.

“Despite the incredible system of food banks in this country, since 1990, America has had more people on food relief than ever before, including during the depression,” he said. “We know climate is contributing to that.”

Nabhan spoke on “ethnomimicry,” or a way to design agro-

ecological practices to create climatically buffered microhabitats for food crops. There are 22,000 varieties of heirloom seeds and heritage breeds adapted to U.S. eco-regions, he said.

“We’ve had a tremendous increase in interest in these things,” Nabhan said. “It’s really opening the floodgates to biodiversity.”

Twenty-five percent of the nation’s carbon footprint results from agriculture, according to Nabhan. He said it is better to come up with strategies for adaptation than to become victims of climate change.

“If we turn to local resources ... we can really turn around that 25 percent, at least, of agriculture’s footprint,” he said.

Fourth annual Cage Rage event sold out with extra tickets CAGE RAGE

continued from page 1

Stein acknowledged that she had heard criticism about the concert’s length but added that she wouldn’t change anything.

“We had a good two different genres of music, and Grouplove was just super fun,” she said.

“Hannah [Hooper], the lead singer, had bronchitis but was a trooper and performed anyway. If the only complaint was that the show was long, then this was definitely a success.”

According to Bernardo, Concert Board implemented major changes to this year’s concert layout.

“Instead of having the stage right in front of you when you walk

Courtesy Jeremy Lechan

Founding Director of the Mother Infant Research Institute at Tufts Medical Center Diana Bianchi was elected to the Institute of Medicine.

Institute of Medicine elects Tufts Medical Center member BIANCHI

continued from page 1

better understanding of different conditions that affect fetuses: namely, genetic conditions,” she said. “And then [I’m] working to develop treatment strategies so that when these babies are born, they are not as sick as they currently are.”

Upon receiving notification of her election, Bianchi said that she received an outpouring of support from both personal and professional contacts.

“I got literally hundreds of congratulatory emails and letters from people that I have known and worked with throughout my career, and that was a wonderful feeling to know that they recognize that it was

an honor as well,” Bianchi said.

“And many of the people are also members of the [IOM], so I was very humbled and heartened by their responses.”

Despite the honor, Bianchi claims that her number one achievement is being the mother to two adult sons. She also takes pleasure in hearing about the professional accomplishments of those she has taught in the past.

“Nothing makes me happier than finding out someone whom I’ve trained, worked with or mentored has gotten grant funding or gotten a promotion or was invited to give a very prestigious lecture or had an important paper accepted,” Bianchi said.

in, it was on the left so the space seemed smaller,” he explained.

The smaller space made the concert area more intimate, Bernardo said. While last year’s event also drew around 1,000 students, the setup of the stage made the concert space seem very empty, he explained.

According to the Cage Rage event page on Facebook, the Campus Consciousness Tour aims to educate and mobilize students about environmental issues in an electric music atmosphere.

“Eco-Reps from Tufts and student volunteers helped to staff booths at an ‘Eco-Village’ that promoted environmen-

tal consciousness,” Stein said.

“They broke down before Grouplove went on, but up until then, it was a good balance between people jamming to music and people learning about the environment.”

Planning for the tour began last May, and according to Stein, the choice to invite Grouplove was an easy one.

Both co-chairs expressed their appreciation for their 50-member Concert Board as well as other individuals who worked with students to make Cage Rage happen.

“Now we’re getting ready for planning for Spring Fling,” Bernardo said. “But I still have that post-concert glow.”

New winter event to take place in downtown Boston location WINTER

continued from page 1

attendants is very important in predicting an event’s success. The size and location of campus, too, can make it difficult to host large events.

“We’re in a very weird spot,” Golia said. “We’re a big school, but not that big. When you go to a school with 20,000 people, no one ever talks about a campus-wide event.”

Golia added that Winter Bash has always been limited to a certain number of students.

“It just happens that, in the past, we were able to accommodate the 2,800 to 3,000 students that wanted to attend,” he said.

Student Allison Reid likes the recent changes to annual events, saying that the smaller events add to a better sense of community.

“Having smaller, more formal events makes it more special than a crowded dance, [which sets it apart from] most other college parties,” Reid, a sophomore, said.

Honickman added that more details about the event will be released in the near future.

“We will have a big announcement with all the details in the coming weeks,” she said.

Golia hopes students will see this new gathering as a typical Programming Board event and encourages other student groups to host activities on the same night.

“In the past, no one wanted, or could, do anything on campus that night because our resources were dedicated to Winter Bash,” he said.

“However, not every student will be able to attend this event, and it shouldn’t be seen as the ‘be all and end all’ of Tufts events.”

Golia explained that Programming Board has also restructured the way it hosts festivities. Large-scale events hosted by the university were oftentimes planned without help from specific student organizations, thereby causing difficulties.

“We took four of the major annual events and gave them a home and a group of students to take charge,” he said.

According to Golia, the Junior Class Council was made responsible for Fall Gala, the Senior Class Council was put in charge of Homecoming and the Freshmen Class Council was directed to host Tufttonia’s Day. The Sophomore Class Council will manage this new winter event.

Golia is content with the new planning strategy. “[The restructuring] has proved to be very successful because you have multiple students working on each event, rather than just two chairs and an advisor,” Golia said.

Honickman hopes students will enjoy the changes that the Sophomore Class Council has in store.

“Even though it’s a different type of event, we hope people are still excited about it,” Honickman said.

Features

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Ben Zuckert | Straight Out of the Bible

Doctor’s orders

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caroline geiling / the Tufts Daily

Using social media sites like Facebook can increase the amount of envy we feel, according to research at Humboldt-University in Berlin, Germany.

Social media impacts happiness, research says

by Julia

McDaniel

Daily Editorial Board

While sites like Facebook, Twitter and Instagram were created to connect users and enhance social interactions, many research studies show the opposite is occurring — people who use social media heavily throughout their day can experience detachment, boredom and even loneliness. Even looking at pictures of food on Instagram can decrease satisfaction gained from actually eating the same food, according to research published in the Journal of Consumer Psychology this September. Should Tufts students be worried about their social media use?

According to Julie Ross, director of Tufts’ Counseling and Mental Health Service, the effects of social media on students’ mental health can change how we connect with one another in person, making relationships more superficial.

“Having a constant focus on what is happening somewhere else effectively removes people from staying connected in the face-to-face interactions they could be having, or are having at the moment, as those interactions get constantly interrupted by electronic signals from the phone or computer,” Ross told the Daily in an email. “Social media can provide the appearance of connection without an authentic connection.”

A study conducted by Timothy Wilson, the Sherrell J. Aston professor of psychology at the University of Virginia, showed that college students rely on social media and technology to an unhealthy degree, according to a 2013 article in the New Yorker by Maria Konnikova.

“College students start going ‘crazy’ after just a few minutes in a room without their phones or a computer,” Konnikova wrote.

This phenomenon occurs all over campus, with students sitting around tables in the Dewick-MacPhie Dining Center aimlessly scrolling through Twitter and perusing Facebook during lectures instead of taking notes.

“One would think we could spend the time mentally entertaining ourselves ... but we can’t. We’ve forgotten how,” Wilson said.

According to sophomore Eyob Sharew, some Tufts students focus on social media more than others.

“Everyone has a smartphone, so people use it heavily, definitely more in some circles than others,” Sharew said.

“Some circles will do the thing where

everybody is on their phones at dinner, and they’re not talking to each other.

We’re just of that generation.”

Student groups at Tufts, however, see Facebook and other social media outlets as an important way of promoting student groups and events.

Junior Dan Jubelirer is an active Facebook user but does not spend the majority of his time perusing other people’s pages. He said that he sees Facebook as a resource, as opposed to a replacement, for social life.

“I use Facebook mostly for organizing, for work with Tufts Divest [for Our Future] and Students for a Just and Stable Future and to connect with people all around the country who all are on Facebook,” he said. “It’s just a tool. You can use it well, you can use it poorly, you can use it productively or you can waste time on it.”

Sharew found that the time he spends online can usually be better spent studying or spending time with friends.

He explained that he deactivated his Facebook account about one year ago.

“I cut out Facebook because I realized the time that I was spending on Facebook was making inroads into the time that I should’ve spent studying and connecting with other people,” he said. “Time spent with real people or time spent doing things I was supposed to be doing was much more valuable time spent than the time spent on Facebook.”

A 2010 article in The New Yorker examined various studies linking Facebook use and mood and found that the way in which people use the site — and not the duration of use — was the deciding factor in determining whether there was an increase or decrease in level of happiness. According to the article, researchers from Carnegie Mellon University observed positive mood changes when participants directly engaged with others through messages, wall posts or “likes,” but there was an increase in loneliness and disconnect when people passively browsed content.

According to Konnikova, another study at Humboldt-University in Berlin, Germany has suggested that envy, too, increases with Facebook use.

“The more time people spent browsing the site, as opposed to actively creating content and engaging with it, the more envious they felt,” Konnikova wrote.

“The effect, suggested Hanna Krasnova and her colleagues, was a result of the well-known social psychology phenomena of social comparison.”

Ross said that self-image issues for teens and college students are often brought about or heightened through viewing others’ Facebook pages. She cited the work of Sherry Turkle, Abby Rockefeller Mauzé Professor of the Social Studies of Science and Technology at MIT, who wrote the book, “Alone Together: Why We Expect More from Technology and Less from Each Other.”

“As Dr. Turkle points out in some of her work, people manipulate their images on social media to project whatever they wish to, so that the image that is being ‘connected’ to by others may not represent the authentic person behind the image,” Ross said. “If others ‘like’ this false image, it does not necessarily feel like a real connection and leaves people worried that if they were known more fully, they would not be liked or accepted.”

Sharew noticed the same phenomenon here at Tufts and said that, in part, his decision to leave Facebook was based on this fact.

“I realized that with Facebook, I was always presented the shiny presentation of people’s lives as they wanted it to be presented,” Sharew said. “Despite my knowledge that those were not real representations of people, I would still find myself comparing myself to other people’s lives, and that’s a really horrible way to think about yourself. It’s a very quick road to unhappiness.”

To prevent Facebook from taking over his life, Jubelirer did not delete his account. He said that he instead monitors the amount of time he spends on the site and on other social media outlets.

“I try to take intentional breaks from [Facebook] and technology in general and try to put things in perspective, to realize that it’s just a website, it’s not life in any way,” he said.

Since quitting Facebook, Sharew has found that he is not as reliant on it as he once thought, and he believes he is not missing out on much.

“People talk about the things that they talk about on Facebook that are most important to them in real life anyway,” he said. “It’s cool to keep up with people from the past, but I think it’s always more important to keep up with people who are at Tufts, in your dorm, that kind of thing. Sometimes I think that Facebook can put people from your past in your face all the time and distract you from what’s going on in your real life.”

ver the past few weeks, I’ve been reflecting on cultural appropriation. Over Halloween, I saw someone dressed as a Tufts Daily columnist. I didn’t approach the student, but I was deeply offended.

This week, we’re dealing with 2 Kings 5. Naaman, which is one of the best names of all time and will be the name of my first born, is an army commander.

The problem is that he has an undescended testicle, I mean, leprosy. His wife’s servant tells him to go to the prophet Elisha who can cure him. When he gets to the prophet’s house, a messenger comes out and says, “Go, wash yourself seven times in the Jordan, and your flesh will be restored.” Naaman says, “Nah, man, that ain’t right. I travel all the way here and Elisha sends out a messenger who tells me to just go in a river?” He leaves and complains to his servants, but they say to him, “Dude, just jump in that goddamn river.” So Naaman agrees and dips himself in the Jordan seven times. Miraculously, his flesh becomes “clean like that of a young boy.” Am I the only one who feels weird about that description?

So, what’s the modern-day equivalent of leprosy? I guess leprosy. But I’m going with mononucleosis.

You wake up one morning with no energy and your lymph nodes are the size of Nebraska. You think you might have mono and try to remember all the people you’ve hooked up with during the semester. Then you realize you haven’t hooked up with anyone. You go to Health Service anyway and they run some tests. It turns out you’ve got mono. The doctor tells you to get plenty of rest, avoid alcohol, but then you say, “Hold up, Doc, I think I know what to do.” The doctor says, “Just listen to me for a second.” You shake your head and say, “Don’t worry, Doc. I’ve got this under control,” and walk out the door.

That night, you go to the Charles River and dip yourself in it seven times. You feel absolutely horrible and think you might die. You call your friends to pick you up and when they get there they ask, “Why didn’t you listen to the good folks at Health Service?” You say, “They told to me to avoid alcohol. What kind of advice is that?”

That night, you sleep it off and the next morning you go back to Health Service. “You did what?” the doctor asks.

“I was just following the Bible, Doc.” you reply. “Isn’t that what you’re supposed to do, Doc?” The doctor says, “First of all, stop calling me ‘Doc.’ Second of all, that was possibly the stupidest thing you could have done.” You finally listen to what the doctor says: you get plenty of rest, take some ibuprofen, drink a lot of fluids, avoid alcohol, excessive masturbation and start to feel better.

Four weeks later, you go to a party at DTD and talk to a cute girl by the bar.

You comment on the fish tank and it turns out she’s a pescetarian. Things are going great. But then you ask yourself, am I still contagious? You start to think back to the Bible. Nah, man, you tell yourself, don’t think about Naaman.

You hear the doctor tell you, “Wait at least six weeks.” You wait two more weeks, see her again at an incredible party at 288 Boston Ave., sparks fly and she gets mono because you can be contagious and not know it. But you bring her chicken soup and leave a note on top: whatever you do, don’t take a dip in the Charles.

Ben Zuckert is a senior who is majoring in political science. He can be reached at Ben. Zuckert@tufts.edu.

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Arts & Living

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Album Review

‘ARTPOP’ offers just enough entertainment Despite lack of innovation, new record succeeds

by Josh

Weiner

Daily Editorial Board

A solid half-decade has passed since producer RedOne and songwriter Akon laced the vocals of an unassuming NYU-

ARTPOP Lady Gaga Streamline and Interscope Records dropout named Stefani Germanotta onto one of the most infectious synthpop beats ever crafted. The result was an inescapable party jam that confidently assured us all, “[It’s] gonna be okay, da-doo-doo-mmm / Just dance.”

The result: a smash sensation of 21st century radio and global icon otherwise known as Lady Gaga. The hype and hysteria generated by her three megahit albums — not to mention the outfits, music videos, world tours and pa-papaparazzi scuffles — need no introduction. It’s common knowledge that this woman has conquered the world.

However, in the two years since her last album “Born This Way” (2011), the flames of Gaga madness have been reduced to a simmer. Gaga found herself facing tough competition from rival pop divas like Adele, Katy Perry, Rihanna and Miley Cyrus, who were all vying to become the new radio queen. The singer finds herself at a creative crossroads. Should she experiment with new styles at the risk of failing miserably or stick to her defining musical style — the one that transformed her into a star — even if critics

Jason H. Smith via Flickr Creative Commons

‘ARTPOP’ sees Lady Gaga sticking to old styles. cried artistic standstill?

In “ARTPOP,” the answers to this question are varied. Lyrically and thematically, the songs of the album rarely stray from the standard set by their predecessors. Gaga’s most recognizable lines are tweaked only slightly: “We live for the fame, fame, baby” (from 2008’s “The Fame”) is reiterated as, “I live for the applause-plause,” on her new lead single, “Applause.” Meanwhile, “You and me could write a bad romance,” (from 2009’s “Bad Romance”) has been modified to, “Let me be the girl under you that makes you cry,” on the puzzling sex track “G.U.Y.” And of course, listeners will hear the syllable “ah,” three-times-repeated, on numerous occasions — and who would have it any other way?

Movie Review

‘Charlie Countryman’ marred by poor, frivolous characters by

Anthony Martinez Daily Staff Writer

“Charlie Countryman” feels a lot like an elaborate music video. The movie’s soundtrack — sonic and sparse, like

Charlie Countryman Directed by Fredrik Bond Starring Shia LaBeouf, Evan Rachel Wood, Mads Mikkelsen, Til Schweiger an easy-listening electronica album — fills every emotional moment. This is nothing new — after all, movie soundtracks have been cuing viewers

on how to feel for a while. In “Charlie Countryman,” however, so many of the scenes are transformed into slow motion epiphanies set to ethereal compositions that it often feels like the movie is showcasing the music.

Initially, the movie’s plot seems promising: “Charlie Countryman” is a love story wrapped in a gangster film, sprinkled with a coming-of-age dressing.

Titular character Charlie Countryman (Shia LaBeouf) finds himself on a plane to Bucharest, Romania, after being prompted to do so by his mother’s ghost (not half as interesting as this description makes it sound). On the journey, Charlie’s neighboring passenger dies quietly on see CHARLIE, page 6

Courtesy Millenium Entertainment

Shia LaBeouf’s titular character is both melodramatic and lackluster.

The record’s lyrical topics are distinctly familiar. Gaga urges her fans, critics and suitors to believe that while over-the-top excesses of celebrity life are sometimes too readily embraced, love will always trump money in the end. She taps into masturbatory fantasies on “X Dreams” and “G.U.Y.,” two tracks reminiscent of previous hits like “So Happy I Could Die” (2009) that question whether such perverse desires can ever be meaningfully realized.

Unfortunately, because this is her fourth album to focus on the same type of themes, the effect is simply not as thrilling as before. On her debut album, “The Fame” (2008), it was fansee ARTPOP, page 6

Gallery Review

‘Rembrandt the Etcher’ showcases impressive prints by

Hadley Gibson

Daily Editorial Board

The Museum of Fine Art’s exhibit, “Rembrandt the Etcher,” displays the intricate prints of 17th century Dutch artist Rembrandt van Rijn. Rembrandt is known for personally revolutionizing the art of etching with his development of different techniques and styles, allowing him to elegantly depict even the tiniest of details.

The practice of etching — the process in which image is created by pouring acid over a metal plate and then covering the plate in ink to be pressed onto paper — began in the early 16th century in Germany and Italy, but it wasn’t until after 1630 when Rembrandt took up the craft that it became a more esteemed artistic medium. The MFA describes his contributions to printmaking as “defin[ing] the technique’s full creative potential.”

From his simpler portraits of peasants to his incredibly meticulous renderings of biblical scenes, Rembrandt never fails to deliver a profound and impressive image. Some of his etchings are so ornate they almost seem like actual paintings — a testament to Rembrandt’s talent.

Over the course of his 31-year relationship with etching, Rembrandt produced nearly 300 works which covered a wide range of subject matter and varying levels of complexity. The exhibit displays 45 of those prints, most of which are from the MFA’s personal collection.

Rembrandt experimented with three similar types of printmaking: etching, see REMBRANDT, page 6

Nimarta Narang | Hello U.S.A.

Placards of identification

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ne of the biggest reactions I’ve received from others is the one I get when I tell people that I’m from Thailand. Also when I tell them that I don’t have a favorite color — but let’s get back to the Thailand thing. Immediately, their eyes will widen in shock as they look at me with a heightened sense of curiosity.

Not really looking at me — mind you — but rather observing, as if trying to fit me into the schema they have for Thailand. I then administer a double shock when I reveal that I’m actually Indian, but was born and raised in Thailand. At this point, they are utterly bewildered and just don’t know what to make of me.

I may have exaggerated this reaction just a bit. But this is essentially the response everyone has when I talk about my background. Someone at Tufts once told me that I should to learn how to condense my background into a sentence when introducing myself during the initial weeks of university. At first, I felt mildly offended at the prospect of compressing my life into a convenient short pitch for people in order to hold their attention. But then when I arrived at Tufts and experienced the whole craziness of Orientation week, I realized that this convenience wasn’t intended for the other person — it was actually benefitting me. Relaying my entire history time and time again was almost dull for me. My go-to explanation for my ethnicity quickly became, “Indianborn and raised in Thailand, so ThaiIndian.” Short and sweet.

This all changed when I went on a Model U.N. trip to Philadelphia this past weekend. I met college kids from all over the country and even some from the University of Tokyo. It was a frenzied environment, packed with people who were teeming with excitement at the chance to enter a debate and show off while they had the chance. However, here we didn’t immediately exchange names. Instead, we introduced ourselves according to the countries we were representing for the conference.

I was no longer the girl who was ThaiIndian, but part of a dual delegation from Australia. It was strange being thrust into a setting where no one wanted to know your name just yet. Being Thai-Indian wasn’t so fascinating anymore in comparison to a delegate who was representing Somalia or Belgium.

For the rest of the conference, each person’s identity developed according to the nation he or she was representing, especially since we had to hold a placard with our country name the entire time we were there. Acquaintances were formed based on national alliances — our country had friends and we made ours accordingly. It was only during the penultimate committee session when actual names started flying around and we were finally able to learn something about the real people behind the placards.

Imagine holding a board with the name of where you’re from at all times. If I had a sign saying Thai-Indian when I first came to Tufts, who would approach or talk to me? That guy from Vietnam? That girl from Myanmar? Or maybe that guy from Connecticut? Instead, we internally carry these identifiers. I still get a kick every time I see someone who is surprised that I am from Thailand. But that effect eventually wears off because just like in Model U.N., we realize that there are actual people behind the placards.

Nimarta Narang is a freshman who has not yet declared a major. She can be reached at Nimarta.Narang@tufts.edu.

6

The Tufts Daily

Arts & Living

Wednesday, November 20, 2013

Rembrandt explored contrast of light, darkness through his work REMBRANDT

continued from page 5

drypoint and engraving. Different combinations of these forms can be seen throughout the prints in the exhibit, and these various techniques allowed him to depict incredibly elaborate prints, as well as very simple ones.

Rembrandt also experimented with light and shade, creating varying degrees of darkness through the density of his lines. The closer the lines were to each other, the deeper the darkness would be.

This process is evident in his spectacular “Saint Jerome in a Dark Chamber” (1642), which relies on a combination of his three printmaking techniques. In the print, Saint Jerome is seen working in his study — a pose likely inspired by an earlier work by another artist, which depicted the saint in a bright, sunny room. In contrast, Rembrandt renders the saint in near darkness, so that the viewer must strain to find his form through the shadows. The one source of light is a window high above, which sends out faint rays into the darkness. The etching itself, upon very close inspection, is a dense web of layered lines, which helps to produce the deep darkness surrounding the saint.

Rembrandt’s work with lighting is also apparent in “Jan Cornelis Sylvius” (1646), a portrait of the eponymous preacher.

Sylvius appears to be leaning out of his portrait’s frame, gesturing to the viewer and inviting them to fully engage with him. The portrait gives a stone-like quality to the frame and plays with the lighting, with Sylvius’ face illuminated through the darker adjacent tones that surround it.

In “Male Nudes Seated and Standing (The Walker)” (1646), Rembrandt uses etching to obtain clean lines and defined cross-hatchings to create depth. The original copper plate is displayed next to the print — a mirror image of the piece, which allows the viewer to see the delicate and complex web of lines that the artist painstakingly etched into the metal.

In his over three decades of working with etching, Rembrandt covered a wide array of subject matter. He worked with portraits, such as “The Great Jewish Bride” (1635), likely inspired by his wife, Saskia, and his “Self-Portrait Leaning on a Stone Sill” (1639), in which he gazes daringly out at the viewer, dressed in elegant Renaissance-esque garb. Rembrandt also created biblical scenes such as his “The Three Crosses” (1653) and “Christ Crucified Between Two Thieves” (1660), both of which depict Christ being crucified. These last two are especially notable in the collection, because they highlight Rembrandt’s practice of revising his earlier works. His initial version of the print focuses more on the individual, drawing Christ into the light, while the later versions experiment more with the overall use of light and darkness.

The exhibit covers Rembrandt’s most basic prints to his most complex, playing with different techniques in order to produce a wide array of results. Despite their diversity, each print reflects the impressive revolution that Rembrandt brought to the printmaking medium.

“Rembrandt the Etcher” will run in the MFA through Feb. 17. For more information call (617) 267-9300.

Courtesy Museum of Fine Arts

Rembrandt’s ‘Self-Portrait Leaning on a Stone Sill’ is striking, as the subject seems to stare directly back into the eyes of the viewer.

Uncertain direction makes film a tedious watch CHARLIE

continued from page 5

TJ Sengel via Flickr Creative Commons

Collaborations in production and performance keep ‘ARTPOP’ interesting.

Eclectic production leads to musical diversity on ‘ARTPOP’ ARTPOP

continued from page 5

tastic to aurally accompany Gaga on her ride in the fast lane. Five years later, though, the same ride is beginning to feel stale.

Thankfully, Gaga is noticeably more adventurous on the sonic level. With “Aura,” the singer kicks off “ARTPOP” by inviting two international electronica acts — Russian-German electro house master Zedd and Israeli psytrance duo Infected Mushroom — for a sound unlike any she’s ever concocted before. Gaga later teams with veteran hip-hop producer Rick Rubin on the unexpectedly moving electronic rock lament “Dope.” Other capable producers, including France’s Madeon and Chicago’s DJ White Shadow, keep the record musically engaging for most of its 15-track duration.

Having only ever invited one rapper for a guest verse on her first three albums — Flo Rida on “Starstruck” — Gaga branches out by bringing forth three emcees on a single track. A selfparody, “Jewels N’ Drugs,” features T.I., Too $hort and Twista. R. Kelly does

more of his signature pro-baby-making crooning on “Do What U Want,” an “ARTPOP” highlight and one of Gaga’s lone ventures into the field of R&B. However, Gaga has yet to make an album with more than two nonsolo cuts. Given that her duets have often been among her most enjoyable songs — including “Telephone” with Beyoncé and the one that started it all, “Just Dance” with Colby O’Donis — perhaps Gaga should consider making room for more collaboration on her future discs. “Cheek to Cheek,” her upcoming joint release with jazz singer Tony Bennett, represents a trend that she should have initiated at least one record earlier.

In the end, “ARTPOP” lacks the innovation that made Lady Gaga a sensation at the start of her career.

Still, Gaga begins the record by asking, “Do you want to see the girl who lives behind the aura?” and ultimately offers enough entertainment value across “ARTPOP” to make it a worthwhile proposition. She remains one of pop music’s most engaging figures, and for good reason.

his shoulder, and a peculiar sequence of events leads Charlie to later meet the dead man’s daughter, Gabi (Evan Rachel Wood).

Gabi has just the right blend of good looks and emotional vulnerability to make Charlie fall suddenly and passionately in love with her. There’s just one problem: Her ex-husband is a statuesque gangster with a seething demeanor and the jaw line of an Übermensch, and he wants Gabi back. What follows is a fairly common love-conquers-all struggle punctuated by uplifting moments of music.

The movie’s trite plot, which relies too heavily on its exotic details, is a fundamental flaw and especially disappointing given that some of the subplots are actually well done. One such strength is the portrayal of Charlie as a naïve, intruding American in a foreign country. When he insists on speaking in his trademark “I’m-a-good-guy” tone, some of the locals mock him. Charlie befriends two zany Brits at a youth hostel who drug him as a prank and eventually become embroiled in his conflict with the Romanian underworld. The general sense that Charlie is powerless and bewildered — as any foreigner might be — feels candid. In contrast, at the core of the movie, Charlie and Gabi’s love story seems boring and implausible, and the interplay of these elements feels both sloppy and gratuitous.

Another of these exotic subplots features Nigel, Gabi’s gangster ex-husband, who is far more fascinating than the film’s protagonist. Nigel, played flawlessly by Mads Mikkelsen, is calm, charming and

unusually eloquent, while Charlie is bumbling and puppy-eyed by comparison. The only thing Charlie has going for him is that he’s not a gangster. The brief reprisal of Nigel and Gabi’s romance is much more interesting than the love story that dominates most of “Charlie Countryman.” The film not only leaves the audience wondering how Gabi could ever fall in love with Charlie in the first place, but also makes the audience wonder, why not just make a movie about Gabi and Nigel instead.

In the end, a lackluster main character is the fault haunting most of “Charlie Countryman.” Although the film has good production value with moments of genuinely interesting cinematography, it always reverts back to its generic primary conflict: Shia LaBeouf tries — and fails — to convince the audience that his existential crisis will be resolved through love.

Indeed, the scene that perhaps perfectly encapsulates this is when the spirit of Charlie’s mother reappears on the street to speak with him.

“When I told you to go to Bucharest, I actually meant to say Budapest,” she says between repressed giggles.

“Well if I die,” Charlie responds, “at least I die for love. That’s a pretty cool way to die.”

This odd interaction, too melodramatic to be comical and too frivolous to be touching, completely captures the flavor of a movie that is earnest in all the wrong places. “Charlie Countryman” is a mediocre action and love story hybrid that conflates passion with love, chance with plot and good intentions with good quality.

Courtesy Millennium Entertainment

Mads Mikkelsen is a rare highlight as the wrong point on a love triangle.

Wednesday, November 20, 2013

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

Editorial Jenna Buckle Melissa Wang Managing Editors Abigail Feldman Executive News Editor Victoria Leistman News Editors Menghan Liu Melissa Mandelbaum Annabelle Roberts Mahpari Sotoudeh Josh Weiner Sarah Zheng Daniel Bottino Assistant News Editors Alexa Horwitz 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

editorial | op-ed

Wednesday, November 20, 2013

editorial

Subsidizing subway expenses for students

Over the past few weeks, the Tufts community has frequently discussed the affordability of transportation to and from Boston. The general consensus is that the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) offers a limited travel schedule and steep prices, discouraging students from making the most of the city. Despite recent discourse regarding the potential implementation of a weekend night shuttle to Boston, there is still a need for the university to address the constraints of day-to-day travel using the MBTA system.

The Tufts administration should facilitate travel to and from Boston for students with internships or jobs in the city and connections at nearby universities, as well as for those who simply want to explore Boston.

Those who hold internships and jobs, or who live a few subway stops away, have to cope with the minimum $4 round-trip cost

every day with a CharlieCard and $5 without. Yesterday, the Office for Campus Life announced the sale of $5 CharlieTickets for a discounted $4 — the same price that any student with a CharlieCard already pays.

Although it appears that the university is attempting to make travel more affordable, more needs to be done.

Tufts can look to other Boston-area universities for examples of well-devised MBTA plans for students. For instance, students at Northeastern University and Boston University can receive an 11 percent discount by applying for a semester MBTA pass, facilitating the commute for frequent travellers. Massachusetts Institute of Technology even subsidizes the purchase of MBTA monthly passes for students at 50 percent. Although it is true that these schools are more centrally located, it is still a point of frustration that Tufts offers little

assistance for students making the longer trip into town. Bentley University, which is also situated in the suburbs, offers students a shuttle service instead of discounted MBTA access. This could be a possible solution as well, and the Tufts Community Union Senate last week took major steps to address transportation issues by passing a resolution that calls for a weekend shuttle service into Boston.

The aforementioned need for subsidization of MBTA travel should in no way detract from Senate’s commendable initiative. Together, these plans address a dual issue — pricing and timing — that inhibits travel into the city. Although we cannot expect to see changes implemented immediately, the university should continue to work toward the ultimate goal of easy and affordable travel throughout Boston for students.

Benjamin Boventer

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 Susan Kaufman Anantya Sahney

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Off the Hill | Columbia University

Reshaping discourse on discourse

by Iman

Fears

Columbia Spectator

About a month ago, fellow [Spectator] columnist Leo Schwartz wrote a column titled “Discourse on discourse.” Schwartz uses the column as a vehicle to discuss his frustrations with having his opinions questioned by others solely because he is a white male. I take issue with a lot of what Schwartz has to say, especially with his implication that Columbians would react angrily and assume that his “inherent patriarchal colonialism has controlled every debate” he has ever been a part of and disregard everything he has to say in debates on race, sexuality and gender.

Characterizing people who are not straight white males as unnecessarily angry has long been a tactic used to discredit our opinions on debates that, yes, are closer to our experiences and closer to us emotionally, which means that we have a right to be angry (or sad, or just generally upset) when confronting racist, sexist or homophobic opinions.

Schwartz expresses distress at his opinions not being taken seriously because he is a white male: “In debates on feminism, I cannot deviate at all from the general consensus without having my opinion completely called into question for being a man. On questions of race, the same happens due to my ‘perceived whiteness.’”

It’s a good thing that people are calling Schwartz’s opinions into questions due to his maleness and “perceived whiteness.” Yes, there’s a lot more to someone than their

race, ethnicity, sexuality or gender identity — however, these factors do substantially affect how others perceive a person and how that person views the world. To say that one can form opinions grounded in “thought, rationality and the ability to empathize” that are independent of — or at least minimally affected by one’s identity — is to ignore an important reality: Being a straight white man, a non-white queer woman or any of the myriad identities represented by Columbia students profoundly affects the way that one experiences the world. And, because people base their opinions in personal experience, it makes sense for Schwartz’s opinions on feminist debates or questions of race to be called into question.

This doesn’t mean that Schwartz should be booted out of conversations. It just means that his voice and voices like his shouldn’t be the most important in the room — especially if said room is, for example, full of women of color whose ethnic and gender identities have allowed them to experience the world in a radically different way and have impacted their opinions on themes like sexual objectification of women. I sincerely doubt that people at Columbia want to silence straight white males like Schwartz in discussions on race, sexuality or gender. I do think that many of us non-straight white males would prefer for people like Schwartz not to speak over us in debates that we have more experience and/or emotional stake in. It would be wonderful if, instead of complaining about our acknowledgement of his straight white maleness, people like

Schwartz could direct that energy toward listening to the perspectives of people with different identities and then using those perspectives to inform their own opinions.

To reiterate: I don’t believe in silencing anyone because of their identity. People from more privileged backgrounds should, however, let their opinions take a backseat to those of people with firsthand experience dealing with race, gender or sexuality-based discrimination. Columbia is a unique environment in which I can develop my opinions and speak confidently without being called angry, irrational or simply being laughed at because I’m black and a woman (which isn’t something that really happens at Columbia, but it definitely happened to me frequently when I was growing up in conservative pockets of Michigan and Georgia). Columbia is not the real world.

Schwartz is an individual who clearly understands his own privilege (as everyone should), and his column is respectful and well thought out. However, it’s clear that he is frustrated by the fact that his opinion isn’t taken as seriously in certain circles at Columbia as it would be in the real world, where straight white males have almost unlimited opportunities to express their opinions. It isn’t difficult to be a straight white male at Columbia — it’s just slightly more difficult to have your opinions heard as a straight white male at Columbia than it is in the real world. And, if this slight difficulty allows for people from traditionally marginalized groups to have their opinions heard, then that’s a good thing.

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Corrections In the Nov. 19 News article titled, “Tufts Mountain Club celebrates 75 years,” it was incorrectly reported that Tufts Mountain Club alumni were invited to stay at the Loj. In fact, alumni are always welcome at the Loj. It was also incorrectly reported that Edward Warren (LA ‘08) opened the anniversary event. In fact, he spoke midway through the event.

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

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Wednesday, November 20, 2013

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Op-Ed

Bhushan Deshpande | Words of Wisdom

Off the Hill | University of Houston

$1,700,000

I

MCT

Government oversteps boundaries on trans fats by

Emily Johnson

The Daily Cougar

On Nov. 7, the Food and Drug Administration announced that it intends to ban trans fats from the American diet.

According to FDA Commissioner Margaret A. Hamburg, “further reduction in the amount of trans fat in the American diet could prevent an additional 20,000 heart attacks and 7,000 deaths from heart disease each year.”

While this move by the FDA is for the good of public health, there is a looming question that is a little bothersome: why a government organization is allowed to decide what food products companies are allowed to produce, and therefore, what Americans are allowed to eat.

Certainly, trans fats are unhealthy.

According to the FDA, “because they raise bad cholesterol, lower good cholesterol and have no health benefits, there is no safe level of consumption of artificial transfat.” However, a comparison can be drawn to the use of tobacco. Tobacco usage can lead to a multitude of scary side effects — like that picture of a gross black lung from my middle school science book. But while the tobacco industry is heavily regulated,

American citizens can choose to partake in the use of tobacco.

Of course, this comparison is not a complete parallel, but if it is OK for Americans to get lung cancer from smoking cigarettes, it should be OK for Americans to have a heart attack from eating trans fats. One of the differences between the two is that the American government puts a large sum of money into education concerning tobacco use. Any school child can tell you that smoking is bad, but Americans are not as well-educated on what is in their food.

However, it is not the job of the government to make Americans healthier by banning certain ingredients — it is the job of individuals to become educated on what they are feeding themselves and their families.

It seems that Americans are getting an education on trans fats. The Grocery Manufacturers of America told USA Today that food manufacturers had already voluntarily lowered trans fats in their products by 73 percent since 2005. The Snack Food Association, another processed food lobby, told WebMD that 95 percent of its members have reduced trans fats in their products and a majority intend to eliminate them altogether. Furthermore, consumer intake

of trans fats has decreased from 4.6 grams a day in 2003 to 1 gram per day in 2012.

These statistics suggest that not only is the FDA ban a little late in the game, it is not needed. If consumers want the elimination of trans fats in their food, the free market will give them that option.

Just as food manufacturers have the option to eliminate trans fats from their products, they should also have the option to keep them, as long as they make their use of trans fats clear. Several small businesses have built their reputation on a product which contains trans fats; a ban would force them to completely reformulate decades-old recipes. The co-owner of Marquez Tortilla Factory in Dallas, Sally Venegas, said, “It’s almost like having to start all over again.”

While the FDA’s proposed ban of trans fats is in the spirit of promoting good health for the American people, it is not needed and does not give individual Americans free choice of what they want to put in their bodies. If the FDA really wants to change the American diet, the best route is to help educate Americans on health and what is in their food. That way, individuals can make conscious healthy choices for themselves and their families.

Off the Hill | University of Colorado

Opening up the bedroom

by

Caitlyn Zimmer CU Independent

For most of us, college is the ultimate age of exploration. It is the time when we get to decide what we want to do with our lives, explore different countries and continents, test our alcohol limits and, of course, explore our sexuality.

We have this time to decide what types of people and endeavors are worth pursuing. Maybe you discover the multiple functions of rope and that handcuffs shouldn’t just be reserved for detaining convicts. Maybe you find out that foot fetishism just isn’t your thing.

Unfortunately, relationships can sometimes get in the way of exploring these possibilities. We can find ourselves feeling isolated and stuck in overbearing relationships with no room to breathe. We want love, sex, romance and independence, but finding this balance can be difficult. Many of us turn to the hookup culture that permeates the college campus, but maybe you want to actually remember the name of that attractive fellow you woke up next to this morning.

Sometimes you just want to avoid that hollow feeling you get when you worry that the previous night might have been a drunken mistake.

I propose we open up relationships.

We can still pursue love while satisfying our sexual curiosity. We can still have trust with our lovers without tying ourselves down with a relationship.

The answer is polyamory: the practice of loving multiple people at the same time. Now, I know what you are thinking: open relationships don’t work because we are not capable of overcoming the very human emotion of jealousy. I dare to disagree. Sure, jealousy is present in many polyamorous relationships, but it is also present in many monogamous ones.

Senior women and gender studies and English major Ann Price, 22, has been involved in polyamorous relationships. “It was a relationship in which we experienced all the ups and downs that also happen in a monogamous relationship,” she said.

You can avoid any cheating or backstabbing if you are simply honest about your feelings. In fact, you might learn how to communicate with your partner better through polyamory. Many CU students have experienced successful, non-monogamous relationships.

“I don’t agree with an open relationship when you go out, and don’t tell your partner about who you are going to go see,” senior chemical engineering major Greg Russi, 22, said. “If you don’t say those details, you don’t care about those rela-

tionships because you don’t know what is happening with the other relationship.”

You need to say outright whether you are feeling jealous or insecure.

Otherwise, you will find yourself glaring at your partner when he or she enters the room, and you might find a formerly close relationship destroyed.

Russi’s best advice for people interested in open relationships is to “establish why you want to have an open relationship, and stick by that reason.”

There are many reasons to want to have a polyamorous relationship, whether it is to sexually explore another gender, experience a different type of sex or keep your options open.

Whatever the reason, stand by it, and be open about it with your partner.

Love is not a resource that you simply run out of. You do not have to give all of your love to one person, and he or she does not have to give all of his or her love to you.

“The fact that your partner cares about other people doesn’t mean they don’t care about you,” Price said.

You should never feel like somebody’s property. Although you need to show each other how much you love and care about one other, the fact that a person does not give all of his or her love and affection to you does not mean that you are an unworthy person.

Individuals have individual needs.

t has now been over two years since Tony Monaco was formally inaugurated as Tufts’ 13th president. If you don’t remember the ceremony, you didn’t miss much — it was just a series of speeches under a tent on the Res Quad, something that you see at Commencement all the time. Total cost? $1,700,000.

Why? Not because Monaco decided to give truffles and Italian wine to all the attendees. But instead, while this was happening, President Emeritus Larry Bacow was moving from Medford to Cambridge to set up shop as the President-in-Residence at Harvard’s Graduate School of Education. As he left, he took with him a seven figure check.

According to an article in the Boston Globe this Sunday, the money was given to Bacow as “end of service compensation,” and this is in line with a new trend for college leaders to receive exorbitant payments after retirement. The Globe reports that local university presidents, such as ones from Boston University, Brandeis, Harvard, Northeastern, Suffolk, the University of Massachusetts and Wellesley in addition to Tufts, have all received hundreds of thousands or even millions of dollars in compensation in exchange for doing ... nothing.

I imagine that some of these presidents might dole out the occasional words of wisdom to the current staff, but so did my grandfather after he retired as a mid-level employee from the community bank he worked at for decades, and he never received a severance package in the millions.

No, the reason for the extra pay has nothing to do with continued work for the university. I don’t know if Bacow was able to negotiate his severance pay into his contract when he was first hired, but considering that he began at Tufts when most of this campus was in early elementary school and large severance packages had not yet become a thing at universities, it seems unlikely that the Board of Trustees would authorize such a thing. To uninformed me at least, it seems more likely that Bacow’s friends on the Board of Trustees decided to give him a nice parting gift, a small token of their appreciation.

A token that was not necessary to secure additional work commitments from Bacow.

A token that was not necessary to compensate Bacow for his 10 years at Tufts — he received a more-than-adequate salary and benefits for that.

The first rule of financial accounting is that money is fungible. I’m sure no donor stepped up to offer a special contribution to the university to pay Bacow’s severance pay, so this was paid by general university revenue.

Or in other words, a token that was funded from student tuition money.

Applying a simple “We can afford to spend four percent of the endowment annually” metric, this $1.7 million should have been more than enough to pay full tuition and board for a student at Tufts in perpetuity.

It seems that every time the student body makes a reasonable request from the university, there just don’t seem to be the funds for it. Sexual assault victims’ advocates? Eh. Internship grant money? Not going to happen. Need blind admissions? “We’re trying hard, we promise.” But the moment that the administrators want extra pay, it is just tossed to them?

Some change would be nice. If we can’t have that, I’ll settle for transparency. I want more than just a single line in the Boston Globe, devoid of all context. The University of Massachusetts publicizes all compensation to all employees, as required by law. Why can’t Tufts do the same?

The Globe article does end with what is, in context, a heartwarming story. When President Edward Parrish of Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) stepped down in 2004, all he asked for from WPI was moving expenses and continued access to computer software.

Maybe we will be so lucky when Tony Monaco retires.

Bhushan Deshpande is a senior who is majoring in quantitative economics. He can be reached at Bhushan.Deshpande@ 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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Last-second goal spells Tufts loss in season opener HOCKEY

continued from back

“Our top six has done really well in practice,” Randaccio said. “We have the tools; we just have to implement them.”

Fruchter also sees the need to rely on the guidance of Murphy over individual talent.

“We completely changed the way we run our penalty kill,” Fruchter said. “We are a lot more aggressive and will not let up any soft goals like we did last year.”

The game against Trinity on Saturday was supposed to be a bounce-back game, but it started off with another dose of bad luck for the Jumbos. Just eight seconds into the game, the Bantams took the lead, putting the puck past senior goaltender Brian Phillips, who had planned on splitting time with freshman Ryan Kellenberger. Phillips went down after a chaotic play in front of the net five minutes later and was removed from the game with an unspecified injury.

As of press time, his condition and return date were unknown.

Despite losing their starting goalie and falling to an early lead, the Jumbos kept the score close, taking a 3-2 lead early in the third period on a goal by Pantazopoulos.

Bell and White had scored in the ninth

minute of the first period and the eighth minute of the second period, respectively.

But Tufts failed to hold on, allowing a power-play goal to Trinity sophomore John Hawkrigg just over a minute later in the third. Still in position for a tie, the Jumbos looked like they would pick up the first point of their season, only to see Bantams freshman Ryan Cole slip a shot past Kellenberger with under four minutes remaining to finish off the scoring at 4-3.

It was a disappointing end for the freshman goalie, who made 43 saves and kept the Jumbos in the game despite being outshot 50-29.

“There is a lot of pressure now that [Kellenberger] has to start a lot of games,” Fruchter said. “But he is a really good goalie, and he knows how to play.”

Although Saturday’s loss was tough to swallow, Tufts’ season-opener at Wesleyan the previous day was even more heartbreaking. It was a sloppy game that featured 16 penalties, 13 total power plays and two shorthanded goals. Pantazopoulos, Edwards, Randaccio and Hartigan all netted their first goals of the season. The game was similar to the one against Trinity, with

Tufts falling behind early, keeping it close and almost forcing overtime.

However, the Jumbos had no answer all day for Cardinals freshman Elliott Vorel, who scored two goals and had three assists.

With 10 seconds remaining in regulation, a scuffle occurred in front of Kellenberger.

The puck was kicked out to Vorel, who, with four seconds left, sent a shot past a diving Kellenberger to seal the 5-4 win for the Cardinals.

While the two losses were painful, the Jumbos know they have grown stronger since last year.

“It is a completely different attitude,” Fruchter said. “Last year, if we went down, we would get frustrated. We fought until the very end, and that will be the biggest difference moving forward.”

Randaccio also saw the first two games as disappointing, but not crushing.

“When you look at the scores around the conference, you see that the NESCAC is even,” he said. “This is just a matter of tightening the screws and not letting up goals late in the period or spotting them early.”

Tufts looks to right the ship when they host Middlebury on Friday and No. 12 Williams on Saturday.

Winget wins second NESCAC Performer of Week Award MEN’S SWIMMING continued from back

Senior Christian Jones and a pair of freshmen — William Metcalfe and Greg Spiropoulos — also placed first in their individual events. Jones won the 1,000yard freestyle with 0.28 seconds to spare.

Metcalfe and Spiropoulos earned their first collegiate wins late in the meet by taking the 200-yard individual medley and the 200-yard breaststroke, respectively.

The duo headlined a formidable freshman class that helped carry Tufts to victory. Sophomore Cam Simko, impressed by his rookie teammates, praised their strong debuts.

“Seeing all the freshmen really race for the first time was my favorite part [of the meet],” he said. “They’re a vital part of the team, and they really stepped up this weekend.”

Winget received NESCAC Performer of the Week honors for his dominant performance — the first Tufts athlete of the winter season to bring home the award. Winget won both the 100and 200-yard backstrokes with times of 51.89 seconds and 1:57.51, respectively. He also finished fourth in the 100-yard butterfly and swam the opening leg of the 200-yard medley relay, which Tufts won with a 1:35.99 time.

In total, Winget scored 22.75 points for the Jumbos.

Winget, who also won a Performer of the Week award last season, thought his achievement reflected more on the team than it did on his own swimming abilities.

“I was very happy with my performances this weekend,” Winget said. “I am humbled and honored to have won the award, but all the credit goes to my teammates and coach [Adam] Hoyt. They all push me to do my best in practice, which in turn helps me swim my best at meets.”

The Jumbos look to remain undefeated when they host Keene State College at home on Saturday.

courtesy timothy peng

Tufts women’s swimming and diving went winless at the tri-meet hosted by Middlebury on Saturday, though strong diving performances highlighted the team’s potential for the remainder of the season.

Freshmen to continue playing large role in team’s success WOMEN’S SWIMMING continued from back

and underclassmen bodes well for the Jumbos, as this year’s strong group of freshmen already augments a talented group of swimmers and divers. Several freshmen and sophomores have played major roles already by not only performing well individually, but also stepping up to swim in relays.

The 200 freestyle relay team of Hu, Sliwinski, freshman Sophia Lin and sophomore Sarah Mahoney were less

than a second from first place, while the 200 medley relay team of senior tricaptain Emma Van Lieshout, Hu, Lin and freshman Cassidy Hubert finished fourth out of 13.

“It’s an individual sport in the sense that we all get our own times, but when we come together in the relay, you see how committed everyone is — they swim faster, and it’s fun to race with your teammates,” Hu said.

“There were two freshmen and two seniors in my first relay, and a person

-

from each year in the second, so it was fun to mix it up and create some chemistry with the underclassmen.”

As the team continues to incorporate its freshmen into the program and the team dynamic, several of the seniors are confident that Tufts can again finish at the top of the NESCAC and send swimmers to Nationals.

The next test of whether those hopes will become a reality comes this Saturday, as Tufts takes on Keene State at 1 p.m. in its home opener at Hamilton Pool.

Tyler Maher | Beantown Beat

T

Patriots overcoming injuries

he NFL better look out, because the New England Patriots are finally getting healthy.

Let me re-phrase that: The Patriots are getting healthier. Their injured reserve list is still littered with key contributors, such as Vince Wilfork, Jerod Mayo and Tommy Kelly. The defense in particular has been decimated by injuries, and injuries to vital offensive players have left Tom Brady with few passing options.

Superstar tight end Rob Gronkowski missed the first six games of the season and hasn’t fully returned to form yet. Top receiver Danny Amendola has been in and out. Subtract Wes Welker (free agency) and Aaron Hernandez (jail) from the equation as well, and it’s easy to see why Brady’s struggled so much this year. That the Patriots are 7-3 speaks as much to the organization’s depth as it does to Bill Belichick’s brilliant coaching ability.

For the most part, New England’s done a good job working around its various injuries. Players have been coming and going all year, forcing Belichick to fiddle with the roster and make constant adjustments.

He’s been able to plug most of the leaks on defense, keeping New England’s depleted D in the top 10 in points allowed per game.

On offense, he’s had to lean on rookies and get even more creative with his play-calling to compensate for his lack of firepower. In spite of Brady’s poor play, the Pats still field a top-10 offense in terms of point production.

The ever-resourceful Belichick has handled New England’s injury problems as well as one could expect. But he’s not the only coach short on personnel. Injuries are part of the game, especially when that game involves fully grown men ramming into each other at full speed for 60 minutes.

There are going to be concussions, broken bones and torn muscles. Every team suffers injuries. They’re unavoidable. As a fan watching your favorite players get pummeled in high definition every Sunday, you can only cross your fingers and hope they’re still standing when the game ends, or that they’re not done for the season when they get stretchered off the field. You hope that when your quarterback gets crushed, he’s able to get back up. You pray that luck is on your side.

For much of the year, luck hasn’t been on New England’s side. The Pats have endured their fair share of injuries and then some. But lately, it seems, their luck has started to turn.

That injured reserve list I mentioned is shrinking. Cornerback Aqib Talib and running back Shane Vereen returned to the gridiron against the Panthers on Monday night.

Talib, capable of shutting down opponents’ best receivers, is New England’s most important defender and will provide a big boost.

Vereen strengthens the Patriots’ ground attack by complementing Stevan Ridley, offering another explosive back for Brady to hand the ball off to.

With about a third of the season left to play, things are starting to come together for New England. Gronkowski looks healthier with each passing week, and Brady is showing signs of putting his disappointing first half behind him. The patchwork defense bends but rarely breaks. After Sunday’s upcoming showdown with Denver, the Patriots have a fairly easy schedule in front of them too.

Leading a weak division unlikely to challenge their current first place standing, the Pats are virtual locks to reach the playoffs.

Maybe by then, they’ll finally be healthy(-ier).

Tyler Maher is a junior who is majoring in economics. He can be reached at Tyler.

Maher@tufts.edu.

Sports

12

tuftsdaily.com

Ice Hockey

Jumbos lose first two games, look to turn program around by

Ross Dember

Daily Editorial Board

The men’s hockey team returned to the ice this past week, hoping to ignore last year’s 2-14-2 conference record. Despite improv-

ICE HOCKEY (0-2 Overall, 0-2 NESCAC) at Middletown, Conn., Friday Tufts Wesleyan

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at Hartford, Conn., Saturday Tufts Trinity

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ing in all facets of the game and boasting a much deeper lineup, Tufts dropped its first two contests of the year to Wesleyan and Trinity, once again putting the team in an uphill battle in the NESCAC. Still, the Jumbos are optimistic that its 2013-14 season will be different than the previous one. Tufts lost its team leader in points from the 2012-13 season, Dylan Plimmer (LA ‘13), but the Jumbos returned all but three players and maintained the backbone of a team that struggled late in games. Co-captains senior Cody Armstrong and junior Blake Edwards step in as the team’s leaders, and if the preseason was any indication, they have taken aim at some fundamental problems.

“Most of the change this preseason has been a culture change on top of the hard

alex dennett / tufts daily archives

Tufts ice hockey dropped two games on the road during its first weekend of competition against the Wesleyan Cardinals and Trinity Bantams. work,” sophomore forward James Randaccio said. “We built in some new preseason and summer workouts and revamped our preseason workouts to make sure everything was up to gear this year.”

At the forward position, the Jumbos are deep, mixing in freshmen with a solid core of veterans. Freshmen Matt Pugh and Conal Lynch play center for the first and second lines, respectively, a move that coach Brian Murphy hopes will spark some goal-scoring opportunities for a team that finished seventh in the NESCAC in scoring offense last year. Pugh is joined by soph-

omore Stewart Bell and junior Andrew White, the team’s second and fourth top scorers from last year’s campaign, respectively, while Lynch is surrounded by a pair of veterans in junior Tyler Voigt and senior Kyle Gallegos.

Through the first two games, however, the third line has been the strongest unit. Sophomores Luke Griffin and Keith Campbell have quickly developed chemistry with junior George Pantazopoulos, who is the team’s leading goal-scorer after netting a goal in each of the first two games.

The fourth line has also proven to be a perfect grind-it-out unit that combines hard-nosed play with a cohesive offensive approach. Randaccio and senior forward Tim Mitropoulous complement each other in size and style, while a rotating duo of freshmen Mike Leary and Patrick Lackey, two physical young forwards, will take turns on the wing.

“We have three great forward lines and a fourth line that really shows our depth,” senior defenseman Brandon Fruchter said of his teammates. “That is what makes us a really strong team this year.”

Fruchter is one of the Jumbos’ six defensemen who are looking to turn around last year’s unit, which allowed the most goals in the NESCAC. He is paired with sophomore Aidan Hartigan, and together they are perhaps the two most traditional defensemen on the team.

The duo of junior Shawn Power and freshman Sean Kavanagh, two of the team’s biggest skaters, gives the team much-needed size and physicality. The most impressive defensive pairing so far, however, has been junior Blake Edwards and sophomore Brian Ouellette, who have shown the chemistry and puck-handling prowess to be two of the best offensive defensemen in the NESCAC. While all six defensemen are as skilled as their counterparts throughout the conference, the success of the defense will depend on more than just individual players. see HOCKEY, page 11

Women’s Swimming and Diving

Men’s Swimming and Diving

Tufts opens season with pair Divers excel in seasonof wins opening losses by

Tyler Maher

Daily Editorial Board

The men’s swimming and diving team won its first two meets of the season on Saturday, beating Middlebury College and Conn. College in a tri-meet hosted by Middlebury.

“These two victories over [Connecticut and Middlebury] were big steps in the right direction for our season,” senior tri-captain diver Johann Schmidt said. “We had some amazing swims from a majority of the guys, so the scores were not very close.”

Tufts beat both opponents handily by winning 10 of 16 events, including two wins apiece by Schmidt and sophomores Michael Winget and Anthony DeBenedetto.

The Jumbos set the tone by winning the meet’s first four events and cruised from there, defeating the Panthers 216-84 and the Camels 170-124.

Beating Conn. College, which finished just ahead of Tufts at the NESCAC

Championships last year, was especially sweet for Schmidt.

“Losing to Connecticut at NESCACs last year was a big disappointment, but this weekend allowed us to regain confidence in our ability to beat them,” Schmidt said.

DeBenedetto was the first Jumbo to double, winning the 200-yard freestyle and the 200 butterfly with times of 1:46.50 and 1:54.50, respectively. He also finished second in the 500 freestyle. Schmidt took both diving events (the one-meter and three-meter), while freshman Matt Rohrer finished right behind him in each one.

With so many Jumbos pitching in, Winget was proud of what he described as a true team effort.

“I felt every team member was a major contributor in our victories,” he said. “We all worked really hard this offseason, harder than we have before, and it is showing off now.”

see MEN’S SWIMMING, page 11

courtesy gene buonaccorsi

Tufts men’s swimming and diving kicked off the season with two definitive wins over Middlebury and Conn. College at the tri-meet hosted by the Panthers on Saturday.

In an unfortunate start to its 20132014 season, the women’s swimming and diving team dropped its first event Saturday, losing to both Middlebury and Conn. College at a tri-meet at Middlebury. The Jumbos lost to the host Panthers by a score of 190-108 and fell to the Camels 186-102.

The result was disappointing for a team that finished third in last year’s NESCAC Championships and tied for 51st at the NCAA Championships. The team did lose to both Middlebury and Conn. College at the start of last year’s season as well.

There were, however, bright spots for the Jumbos. Tufts’ divers were dominant on Saturday as they swept their events.

Senior Sami Bloom took first in the one-meter event with a score of 210.98 and second in the three-meter with a 222.38, and freshman Kylie Reiman won the three-meter with a 224.93 in her collegiate debut.

“I was really nervous at first to see how I would measure up in my first real collegiate meet,” Reiman said. “I was completing a dive — a reverse 1 1/2 pike — that I had just recently learned, and I was not really confident about it yet. But when I got on the board and heard my teammates cheering for me and supporting me, it really made a big difference, and it ended up being my highest scoring dive of the meet.”

The swimmers did not fare as well as their diving teammates, but several still had strong performances. Senior Jenny Hu, defending NESCAC champion in the 100 breaststroke, took second in that event despite still recovering from an off-season injury. Junior Samantha Sliwinski took third in both the 50 and 100 freestyle, while freshman Amanda Gottschalk took third in the 200 breaststroke, earning the best showing of any of Tufts’ freshmen swimmers. Also contributing to the team score, sophomore by

Maclyn Senear

Daily Staff Writer

Samantha Swinton finished fourth in three different events: the 200 freestyle, the 200 butterfly and the 100 butterfly.

“I was happy with our performance,” senior tri-captain Ellen Gage said. “We had gone in hoping to beat Middlebury and Conn., and we are very competitive with both teams, so it was disappointing to lose. But there were some good swims and dives yesterday, and I think we carried some really good energy into the meet that will hopefully continue through the rest of the season.”

There is strong evidence that this early season setback will not be indicative of Tufts’ overall season.

The team has only been training and practicing at in-season level for just over three weeks, and several of the swimmers and divers cited this as a possible factor in the losses.

The team also battled through and overcame several injuries, such as Hu’s broken pelvis, sustained in September, and Bloom’s recently sprained wrist, which prevented her from performing all of her dives. Yet, these two still managed to notch impressive finishes for Tufts.

Saturday’s meet results, though unsuccessful at first glance, showed the potential of the team for the coming months.

“Our freshmen are great this year and are a big asset to the team,” Gage said.

“We have some really exciting talent coming in, and there’s so much potential when you have people coming into a new training regimen and, for many, lifting for the first time.”

The diving contingent appears even more poised for success this season, as their performance this weekend indicated.

“We had a lot of strong freshmen divers join the team, and nobody graduated last year, so we’re looking to have a good year,” Bloom said. “We’d like to have a clear impact in the NESCAC and prove what Tufts diving is worth.”

Such a balance between uppersee WOMEN’S SWIMMING, page 11