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THE TUFTS DAILY

VOLUME LXVI, NUMBER 41

Where You Read It First Est. 1980 TUFTSDAILY.COM

Wednesday, November 6, 2013

Students discuss Prism Run, cultural appropriation

by Sarah Zheng

Daily Editorial Board

Students gathered in the Crane Room last night to discuss the Tufts Prism Run, hosted on Oct. 27 by Theta Chi, after the event sparked controversy about religious and cultural appropriation.

During the event, co-sponsored by the Tufts Hindu Students Council (HSC) and the Asian American Alliance (AAA), students gave their thoughts on the Prism Run and whether it undermined the cultural and religious importance of the Hindu festival Holi.

According to the Prism Run Facebook event page, the fundraiser was said to be “inspired by the Indian festival of Holi,” as both events involve throwing colorful powder.

“The Color Run was being used as a secular event,” a student at the event said.

“This is different from including everyone in the event, since a religious event became secularized.”

The Prism Run, previously called the Tufts Color Run, was hosted by the Theta Chi fraternity and co-sponsored with Alpha Phi, Kappa Alpha Theta, Leonard Carmichael Society and Tufts Association of South Asians, according to the Facebook event. All proceeds from the event went to Direct Relief, a non-profit organization that provides medicine and supplies to local health providers nationally and internationally.

President of Theta Chi Alex Kolodner apologized for offending students with the fundraiser.

“We feel badly that we could’ve hurt somebody in any way, and that was obviously not our intent in creating this event,” Kolodner, a senior, said. “On the positive side, this has allowed a discussion to take place that didn’t before. We

are appreciative that we can be a part of this discussion and that moving forward, we want to both learn from that discussion and be part of it.”

HSC President Sharada Sant explained how the Prism Run borrowed from Holi.

“The Color Run and Holi are essentially the same event, and the resemblance is so similar that it is beyond being just inspired by it,” Sant, a senior, said.

Moderators from HSC and AAA spoke about the backstory of the Holi festival, explaining how it celebrates the beginning of a new spring season. They also spoke about its connection to the Hindu deity Krishna, who is believed to have celebrated Holi with his friends and devotees.

Sant also discussed the key features of Holi, which involve throwing brightly colored powder with people of different social classes, genders and other social groups, and elaborated on its message of the triumph of good over evil.

Krishna Soni, one of the Theta Chi philanthropy chairs and the person who initially came up with the idea for the Color Run, explained that he did not mean to exploit Holi.

“I genuinely just wanted to spread my culture,” Soni, a senior, said.

Students discussed whether or not the Color Run was a form of cultural appropriation or cultural exchange heatedly, raising examples of culturally insensitive Halloween costumes, the origins of blackface, the use of Native American headdress in fashion and the widely appropriated Christian holiday, Christmas.

“One of the big issues is the power dynamics in play,” AAA President Diana see APPROPRIATION, page 2

Zhuangchen Zhou / The Tufts Daily

A student on a bike was struck by a Joey shuttle at the intersection of College Avenue and Talbot Avenue on Friday. The cyclist sustained minor injuries.

Student cyclist hit by Joey

by Abigail Feldman

Daily Editorial Board

A Tufts student sustained minor injuries after being struck by a Joey shuttle around noon on Friday at the intersection of College and Talbot Avenues.

According to Tufts University Police Department (TUPD) Sergeant Robert McCarthy, officers received an emergency call at 12:02 p.m. on Friday alerting them that a female student on a bike had been involved in an accident. Both TUPD and the Somerville Police Department responded to the call.

One student, who wished to remain anonymous, explained that he had been onboard the Joey at the time the cyclist was struck and called 911 following the collision.

“I was looking out the window ... and as we got to the intersection of Talbot

Avenue and College Avenue, I saw a girl on her bicycle coming close to the Joey, and she wasn’t wearing a helmet,” he said. “The driver realized, I think, at the last second that [the cyclist] wasn’t stopping, so she slammed on the brake.”

Before the Joey could stop, however, the vehicle collided with the cyclist and knocked her to the ground. According to the source, the cyclist hit her head against the windshield.

Luckily, the Joey was already moving relatively slowly as it approached the cyclist, according to the witness. After hitting the student, the Joey driver opened the doors, and the witness, along with others, ran out to help the victim. After putting a coat over the cyclist — as it was raining — and discovering that she was conscious, the see ACCIDENT, page 2

Tufts to host 10th annual Break the Stage competition

by Yan Zhao

Contributing Writer

The 10th annual Break the Stage competition, an intercollegiate step dance contest organized by the African

Student Organization (ASO), will take place this Saturday at 7 p.m. in Cohen Auditorium.

The event, which will feature performances from Tufts step teams ENVY and BlackOut, is the result of two

Courtesy Justin McCallum

The African Student Organization will bring a number of step teams from New England universities to campus this Saturday for the 10th annual Break the Stage competition.

Inside this issue

months of preparation, according to coordinator Yolaine Cherie.

“The African Student Organization has been planning this event since our return to school,” Cherie, a sophomore, told the Daily in an email. “This is a unique year because BlackOut and ENVY, our very own step teams, have been working hard in collaboration with us to ensure that this event is successful.”

Although the Tufts groups will not compete, 10 other New England institutions, including Boston College and Southern Connecticut State University, will participate in the competition.

“It [will] always be on our turf,” Cherie said. “Because we own the competition, our own elite step teams do not participate. It is a tradition for ENVY to open the show and for BlackOut to close it.”

The annual Break the Stage competition started 10 years ago during the fall of 2003, according to Cherie. ASO, along with members of BlackOut and ENVY, hoped that starting an annual step competition would help to promote step-dance culture at Tufts and in the greater Boston area.

Cherie believes that Break the Stage has made great strides since its inception a decade ago.

“The event with time has become one of the biggest in the area, and it allows teams from all over to showcase their skills and earn bragging rights,” she said.

This year’s competition will remain true to its traditional format, Cherie explained.

“Since it’s the 10th anniversary of Break the Stage, we are not looking to make significant breaks from the tradition of the event,” she said.

“However, since this is an important year for the competition, it comes with an eclectic mix of old and new teams with even more passion and intensity than before.”

Menbereselassie Kebede, a freshman member of ENVY, said she has enjoyed being on the team and bonding with her fellow dancers in preparation for the event.

“We put a lot of hard work into everything that we do, but at the end of the day, it’s also a group of great people that not only step together, but also hang out together,” she said. “We have team lunches and have team bonding time too.”

While ENVY will not compete, Kedebe hopes that the team’s efforts will be rewarded on Saturday night. see STEP, page 2

Today’s sections

The Tufts Children’s Theater encourages young students to pursue acting.

‘Blue Is the Warmest Color’ may be the best film of the year.

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 12 15 Back

The Tufts Daily

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News

Wednesday, November 6, 2013

Police briefs Caught orange-handed The Tufts University Police Department (TUPD) between 10:30 p.m. on Oct. 30 and 12:09 a.m. on Oct. 31 caught 16 students trying to place pumpkins on the roofs of various locations around campus. All students were dressed

entirely in black and carrying pumpkins in backpacks. Group sizes ranged from one to five individuals. One male told officers he had received an email advising him to place a pumpkin.

Students attempting to place pumpkins were stopped by officers near Cabot Auditorium, Blakeslee House,

Mugar Cafe, the fire escape of Barnum Hall and Talbot Avenue.

TUPD at 3 p.m. on Oct. 31 received a call from Tisch Library reporting a pumpkin stuck on the beak of the ostrich sculpture outside. Paint was also discovered on the top of the ostrich’s

head. Officers filed a report.

A pumpkin was also later found on the gazebo of Carmichael Hall.

—compiled by Menghan Liu

University officials hope to decrease number of pedestrian accidents ACCIDENT

continued from page 1

Courtesy Justin McCallum

ENVY, Tufts’ all-female step team, will deliver a performance at this Saturday’s Break the Stage competition.

BlackOut, ENVY to perform at annual competition STEP

continued from page 1

“We have been preparing for this since basically the beginning of the year,” she said. “It’s our first big show. Our goal is to go out on the stage and have a great show that the audience enjoys.”

Quinesha Tillman, a member of Rhythm Nation Steppaz at the College

of the Holy Cross, expressed confidence in her team’s ability to put on a good performance at Break the Stage.

“We have been preparing since October, since that is when our entire team was formed,” Tillman, a senior, told the Daily. “However, we had been thinking about the concept since September.”

witness called both Somerville police and TUPD, he said.

“We stayed with her until they came, and then I waited until the ambulance took her away,” he said.

Although the victim seemed to have only a minor scrape on her hand and tried to stand, the students insisted that she stay on the ground while waiting for medical assistance in case she had a neck injury.

According to Director of Public and Environmental Safety Kevin Maguire, the student will be okay.

“Her injuries were minor, and we are most thankful for that,” Maguire said.

The anonymous source added that the female student returned to campus a few hours after the accident.

TUPD officers stated that the accident is currently under investigation by Somerville police. Somerville officers did not respond to interview requests before print time.

According to the student witness, reasons for the collision seem unclear.

“What I think happened is that [the cyclist] thought that the Joey driver was going to stop and the Joey driver thought [the cyclist] was going to stop, and so she kept going in front of the Joey,” he said.

This incident comes in the wake of two motor vehicle accidents involving pedestrians last year, including one student who suffered major injuries when a car struck him at the intersection of Powderhouse Boulevard and Packard Avenue.

The student witness said that, despite these other accidents, he is hesitant to conclude that this incident indicates an ongoing threat to student safety, as a number of specific factors may have contributed to the collision.

“There were cars parked on the side of the road, so it was difficult to see the turn,” he said. “It was also raining out, so there was low visibility.”

Student-TUPD liaison Becky Goldberg, however, said she believes there is an issue of pedestrian safety which students, drivers and university members must work to combat.

“It’s a really big problem,” Goldberg, a junior, said. “Even though, yes, we’re on a college campus and people driving through this campus should be wary of the fact that this is a college and people are walking, as students we don’t feel like these are real streets, but they are.”

Goldberg, who helped host Safety Awareness Week last year in order to promote pedestrian safety, said she plans to bring the event back this year as well.

Through partnering with Medford and Somerville, Tufts has begun a number of projects to improve pedestrian and crosswalk safety that will continue into the future, Maguire said.

These projects include repainting crosswalks, replacing crosswalk signage with ones made of highly reflective material, pruning foliage that inhibits crosswalk and sign illumination and fixing broken street lights.

The university has also made changes to intersections such as the one between Powderhouse Boulevard and Packard Avenue by adding four-way stop signs and adding a “speed table.”

“In order to reduce the number of incidents involving motor vehicles and pedestrians in and around campus, we continue to engage in a concerted effort to improve pedestrian safety using engineering, education and enforcement,” Maguire said.

While College Avenue has not been a source of issues in the recent past, Maguire said that the street was identified as a problem area for pedestrian and bike safety in two surveys conducted by the university. As part of a project to improve walker and biker accessibility to the tobe-renovated 574 Boston Ave. warehouse, a traffic engineering firm will also visit College Avenue and other surrounding streets in order to make recommendations about making the area safer.

Maguire emphasized the importance of remembering that pedestrians and motorists need to work together to ensure safety.

“We’d like to remind the Tufts community that motorists need to be vigilant of pedestrians and pedestrians need to be vigilant of motorists,” he said. “Although motorists have more responsibility under the law when operating a motor vehicle on city streets, pedestrians have more at stake if struck by a motor vehicle.”

Students and drivers can also be mindful of situational details that may increase accidents, McCarthy said.

“During inclement weather — it was raining at the time [of the accident]— you need to take extra caution, no matter whether you’re driving, riding a bicycle or walking,” he said.

Goldberg, too, called on students to take part in ensuring their safety.

“It really is important to adhere to the sidewalks,” she said. “It’s important to look at the cars — make sure they’re stopping before you walk. Don’t text while you’re crossing the street. It can wait literally five seconds. And if you’re on the phone, which I urge you not to be, be conscious of your surroundings, especially at night.”

Students talk about cultural appropriation APPROPRIATION

continued from page 1

Wang, a senior, said during the discussion.

“We have to think about who the dominant group is and whether or not they are taking advantage of a marginalized group.”

Problems with the Prism Run arose because the run was advertised as the Tufts Color Run, which associated the event with the national for-profit Color Run organization, AAA Vice President Jasmine Lee, a senior, said at the discussion.

The fact that the national event used Holi as an inspiration for profit makes it a form of cultural appropriation, according to Lee. Theta Chi will reflect internally about whether the Prism Run was successful and if continuing the event will cause

further harm before putting plans in motion to organize another event next year, Kolodner said.

Some attendees of the discussion felt like the talk was still not entirely productive, as some students felt attacked for being offended by the run.

“We want to apologize for the unsafe space that was created,” Wang said.

“AAA wants to stress that it is never okay to culturally appropriate, and it must be kept in mind that everything must be contextualized to reflect the power dynamics that are in place in the United States and how it is reflected in the Tufts community. We would like to hold another discussion about what happened in this discussion for voices that were unheard, and who felt that their voices were delegitimized.”

Sofia Adams / The Tufts Daily

Students discussed cultural and religious appropriation in Tufts Prism Run in the Crane Room last night at an open session.

Features

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tuftsdaily.com

Ben Zuckert | Straight Out of the Bible

Hair is everything

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Courtesy Rose Lincoln

Through the Collins Players program with Tufts Children’s Theater, young actors are starting to prepare for a performance of ‘Willy Wonka Junior.’ The program is an extension of the Magic Circle Theater summer program, whose participants are pictured above.

Tufts Children’s Theater looks to inspire young actors with Collins Players program

by Dana Guth

Daily Staff Writer

Collins Players, a Tufts Children’s Theater group for students in grades seven through 12, has once again begun rehearsals for the 2013-2014 academic year. The children and young adults in the program will showcase their work with a full-length performance of “Willy Wonka Junior” this March.

Founded in 1995, Collins Players aims to inspire creativity and confidence among young actors by focusing on improvisation and character development. It began as an offshoot of the now-defunct Tufts Scene Study group, according to Joanne Barnett, theater manager and executive director of Tufts Children’s Theater.

Collins Players also serves as an extension of the Magic Circle Theater summer program, which lasts for six weeks during the summer and culminates in three public performances of students’ work. When the summer is over, Collins Players fills the gap in children’s theater-related programming at Tufts.

Barnett described the impetus for creating the program.

“It [started] at a time when there were a lot of cuts to local high school theater and art departments,” she said. “There was virtually nothing in public schools for middle school kids.”

A lack of funding for arts programs in schools continues today, according to Luke Jorgensen, the artistic director and one of two teachers for Collins Players.

Almost all of the students participating in the program come from different schools, he said, but many of those schools do not provide any type of artistic program or outlet for their students.

Even though most participants in Collins Players live in close proximity to Medford, Somerville and Cambridge, there is no lack of diversity within the group.

“The students are all from different backgrounds; some of them have learning situations, some of them don’t,” Jorgensen said. “We use theater as a method to reach those various groups, and the end result is often a really great play.”

Jorgensen explained that the group prepares the final showcase in an organic way.

“Every Wednesday, for the past 20 years, I’ve been working with students here,” he said. “We do children’s theater, but we play with it. Right now we’re investigating ‘Charlie and the Chocolate Factory’ and ‘Willy Wonka,’ and we’re going to read a bit from the book.”

Students generally work together to choose their final performance, which is

usually an hour-long play or a musical rewritten with younger kids in mind. Last year’s piece was called “Alive! On The Inside,” a play written by Jorgensen and a graduate student who had gotten her start in Collins Players.

According to Jorgensen, the goal of the classes and rehearsals is not necessarily to put on a final, polished performance, but to enhance the artistic skills of the children.

“Collins Players is about the empowerment of the students, so the foremost thing isn’t ‘We’re going to do a show,’ standing in the right place and that kind of thing,” Jorgensen said. “It’s about getting them to come out of their shells.”

Jorgensen said that the program provides a community for students to help each other build confidence in a highly supportive and artistic environment.

“They get a sense of using these theatrical tools to try on different hats and develop their personalities,” he said.

The 25 members of Collins Players — ranging from 13 to 17 years old — were admitted by auditions held on Oct. 2, Barnett said. Soon after, they began meeting in Tufts Performance Hangar, where they have been rehearsing since.

Although final performances of “Willy Wonka Junior” will take place on March 21 and 22, 2014, the friendships devel-

oped and benefits gained from these students’ participation in the program will not end with the show.

Barnett noted that many Collins Players actors end up enrolling at Tufts, and many choose to work with the Children’s Theater summer programs as counselors and helping hands.

“Especially in the summertime, we have Tufts students working with these guys — some in the costume shop or as camp counselors,” Jorgensen said.

“Which is great, because the fact that [the students] can [learn] from a college student is exciting.”

Barnett pointed out that Collins Players oftentimes facilitates the formation of lifelong relationships among its members.

“There have been a lot of Children’s Theater marriages over the last 20 years,” she said. “These kids stay together for the rest of their lives.”

The age group of the actors explains why members of Collins Players develop such long-lasting friendships, Barnett added.

“Especially with middle school kids, the social dynamics can be so hard and upsetting that when they find a community like this where they feel wanted and loved and everyone is inclusive, it’s very good for them,” she said.

Former NBA management professional revisits alma mater

Kyra Sturgill / The Tufts Daily

Ed Tapscott (A ‘75), a former basketball player at Tufts who has been a team president, agent and coach in multiple National Basketball Association (NBA) organizations, talked to students about his experiences in the NBA last night in Barnum Hall.

ovember is here and winter is on its way. What does that have to do with the Bible? I have no idea, but I feel like everyone can relate to the weather.

This week, we’re dealing with Samson from Judges 14-16. Samson, an Israelite, falls in love with a Philistine. The only problem is the Philistines are the Israelites’ enemies. His parents object, saying, “Isn’t there an acceptable woman among your relatives or among all our people?” Incest is obviously the better option. Then they ask him, “Must you go to the uncircumcised Philistines to get a wife?” I’m pretty sure the only thing differentiating groups back then was foreskin.

He marries her and sometime later goes to visit her, but her dad won’t let him see her and offers his younger daughter instead. In a fit of rage, he ties 300 foxes together tail to tail with torches in between them, and the foxes scorch the Philistines’ fields. All I have to say to that is one word: damn. The Philistines get mad, some other stuff happens and then Samson slaughters 1,000 of them with the jawbone of a donkey. That kind of seems impossible, but if it’s in the Bible it has to be real.

Later, he falls in love with Delilah, another Philistine (how hot were these Philistines?), and their gods tell her to seduce him and figure out his weakness.

The first three times he tricks her, but the fourth time he breaks down and finally reveals his Achilles’ heel: “If my head is shaved, then my strength will leave me, and I shall become weak and be like any other man.”

Only one question remains: did Samson use conditioner? Also, how many times a week are you supposed to condition? Is it three?

So Delilah now knows his weakness and makes him “sleep on her knees.”

Okay, that’s a serious red flag. If a girl makes you sleep on her knees, you should know something is up. Anyway, a dude comes over in the middle of the night and shaves his head. Samson cries, “Use a number seven razor, not a six!”

Then he loses his power.

Now, who at Tufts would be powerless without their hair? The lacrosse team.

Tufts Lax is the modern-day Samson.

There’s no doubt about it.

Here’s how I see it. The best Tufts lacrosse player meets a girl from Conn.

College on OkCupid and they start hooking up. He has the most beautiful flow on the team and doesn’t even use conditioner. The thing is this girl is secretly in cahoots with the Conn. College lacrosse team, but the Tufts player has no idea.

The night before their playoff game, she stays over at his house. In the middle of the night, she wakes up and grabs scissors from her bag and does the unthinkable: cuts off his flow. The next morning, he wakes up and she’s gone. He scratches his flow-less head and realizes it was all a setup. “It was all a setup!” he shouts, but he doesn’t have time to dwell on it; he’s got a big game to play.

When he gets to the field, a player asks him, “Dude, what happened to your flow?” He starts to cry, but pulls it together. During the game, he’s incredibly disoriented. In the final 20 seconds, he scores on his own goal and Tufts loses the game. Everyone is in shock. Monaco gives an impromptu press conference announcing that he’ll be expelled from the university.

Two months later, his flow has grown back and for that he’s grateful. It’s the little things in life. Win or lose, flow will always grow back.

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

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Wednesday, November 6, 2013

Arts & Living

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Movie Review

Nimarta Narang | Hello U.S.A.

‘Blue Is the Warmest Color’ depicts incredibly candid love story

Halloween and Ghostbusters

by Anthony Martinez

Contributing Writer

“Blue Is the Warmest Color” (originally titled “La Vie d’Adèle”) is possibly the best film of 2013. Having won the Palm d’Or

I

Blue Is the Warmest Color Directed by Abdellatif Kechiche Starring Adèle Exarchopoulos, Léa Seydoux, Salim Kechiouche at the Cannes Film Festival, it has already achieved remarkable acclaim for its director, Abdellatif Kechiche, and its two lead actresses, Adèle Exarchopoulos and Léa Seydoux. Its release into mainstream theaters has been highly anticipated and was well worth the wait.

Three hours long and rated NC-17 for graphic sex scenes, “Blue Is the Warmest Color” is a brutally intimate film, sparing absolutely no aspect of its protagonist’s emotional or physical life. The film is composed almost entirely of close-up shots of Adèle (Adèle Exarchopoulos). Throughout the film, the viewer sees every blemish and stain on her face: splatters of pasta grease left un-wiped on her chin, tear tracks and snot streaking into her mouth and slick strands of hair framing her face. Watching her take a drag from a cigarette, viewers can practically feel the smoke seeping through her teeth as she exhales. The overall effect of this stylistic choice leaves the audience feeling almost like they know Adèle. Any shot that contains a background or even Adèle’s whole body feels like a deviation — a breath of fresh air from the claustrophobic focus on the film’s protagonist. The film accomplishes this in other ways, as well: the sound, the

Courtesy Sundance Selects

Adèle Exarchopoulos plays a 15 year old who becomes infatuated with an older art student, Léa Seydoux’s Emma. lighting, the acting — everything is tailored to familiarize the audience with Adèle’s life.

Adèle is a 15-year-old high school student who aspires to become a teacher. One day she passes a blue-haired art student named Emma (Léa Seydoux) and becomes inexplicably enamored with her. From this moment on, the film traces the rise and fall of Adèle and Emma’s relationship. One of the movie’s most shocking elements is its graphic depiction of Adèle and Emma having sex. Nothing is left to the imagination — Adèle and Emma’s first sex scene alone is a nearly 10-minute marathon of contorted limbs, full-on nudity and a medley of pants

and moans. Still, even through this, the film maintains its signature proximity to its characters’ faces and mouths — one of the most controversial aspects of the film.

The inclusion of such explicit scenes has prompted several critics to ask whether this is a legitimate demonstration of the characters’ humanity or simply glorified pornography.

In any case, it would be difficult to discount the rest of the film based on these assertions alone — it is simply too well done.

The dialogue is natural, understated and

see BLUE, page 6

Gallery Review

Album Review

Newbury Street gallery impresses

by Carolina Reyes

Contributing Writer

and styles that originally endeared listeners to the English-Sri Lankan rapper. Featuring compelling hooks and probing lyrics, “Matangi” is an exciting addition to M.I.A’s already stellar repertoire. With music that is irreverent and dripping with disdain for authority, M.I.A is clearly not trying to make friends or reach mass audiences with “Matangi.” Instead, the album is an exercise of pronounced resistance to the status quo through musical experimentation.

Educated in London but retaining strong ties to her Sri-Lankan heri-

The International Poster Gallery — located across the street from Zara and French Connection on Newbury Street — provides visitors with breathtaking visuals and food for thought. The gallery was founded nearly 20 years ago by Jim Lapides, a businessman whose search for decorations for his home and office turned him into a collector of rare works of art — vintage posters.

The exhibition “Posters a la Carte” showcases nearly 50 original vintage Food & Drink posters, ranging from the Belle Époque (Europe’s “Beautiful Era,” which lasted from 1871 to 1914) to the 1960s. The show features posters produced by the food and beverage industry, including preeminent brands such as Absinthe, Coca-Cola and Perrier, as well as other companies marketing products such as wine, champagne, cheese, foie gras and Jello.

Although many may not consider commercial posters to be art, “Posters a la Carte” refutes this notion. The gallery chronicles how advertisers have harnessed the universal power of art to sell their products throughout several distinct historical eras, including the Art Deco period of the 1930s and World War II. According to their website, the show features posters mostly from European nations like France, Germany and Switzerland, which use “humor, sex, caricature, fantasy, charm and eye popping tromp l’oeil affects” to mesmerize and capture the attention of consumers.

One of the first pieces in the exhibit is a classic poster for the French wine tonic Vin Mariani (1894), by Jules Cheret. The central figure of the poster, a beautiful “Cherette” dressed in a revealing bright yellow dress, gracefully rushes toward a prospective cus-

Rasmin via Flickr Creative Commons

M.I.A. brings creativity and a willingness to experiment in her new album, ‘Matangi.’

Rapper M.I.A. takes artistic risks with new album

by Veronica Little

Daily Editorial Board

After releasing her first studio album in three years on Nov. 5, M.I.A appears to be back and better than

Matangi M.I.A. Interscope Records ever. Her latest record, “Matangi,” showcases some of the same themes

see MATANGI, page 6

see POSTERS, page 6

t is 3 p.m. and I look up from my reading desk at Tisch Library. I see someone covered fully in a white sheet, perhaps attempting to look like a ghost in the middle of broad daylight. At 4:30 p.m., I am walking down the steps of Tisch and see a professor with a green hat and purple shoes — definitely going for the witch look.

Later, at 6:05 p.m., I see the Powerpuff Girls emerging from Dewick. I chuckle to myself, thinking that any moment now, The Professor will show up, and just like that, he follows the girls out the door. By 7:45 p.m., when I enter my residence hall, it seems like the entire cast of “The Walking Dead” (2010present) is prowling the hallways, looking for human flesh. It is now 8:30 p.m., and as I leave my dorm, I see a campus covered with various creatures walking around in the night. I’m sure I even hear a scream. I take my poorly constructed bow and arrow and head out to the arena of “The Hunger Games” (2012).

The holiday I have been looking forward to the most truly lived up my expectations.

Unfortunately, Halloween crept up so quickly that I did not even have time to prepare for it. A weekend that seemed so far away suddenly arrived and sent me scrambling for any outfit whatsoever. I did feel incredibly like Katniss Everdeen, however, when I had to rely on my undeniably quick wit and creativity to construct a bow and arrow out of a hanger and a belt. I was a bit disappointed, to be honest, because I had assumed that I would spend at least a week contemplating my costume and make-up in order to transform into character completely. Instead, I made use of my conveniently long hair and tied it into a Katniss-like braid, adding a black jacket, cargo pants and black boots to my ensemble — not too bad in itself.

As the night progressed, I saw more and more people dressed up as various characters. A creature from “Avatar” (2009) with orange hair was waiting after me in line to take a picture with our very own President Monaco, who was dressed as a zombie version of Dipsy from the infamous Teletubbies (1997-2001). A dog passing a group of gothic-dressed students with his owner seemed scared and began to bark in their direction. The movies were right — people do go all out during Halloween. As a scantily clad Miley Cyrus walked by me, I heard the “Mean Girls”(2004) voiceover in my head, saying, “In Girl World, Halloween is the one day a year when a girl can dress up like a total slut and no other girls can say anything else about it.”

The night got even better when I went trick-or-treating around my residence hall and received a bunch of mini Reese’s and other types of candy. The true horror came when our movie marathon opened with the absolutely fabulous classic, “Ghostbusters” (1984). Strangely, Halloween was not as festive as I was anticipating. I had thought I would be more preoccupied with planning for the day, but instead, I stumbled into it barely prepared. As I gazed out the window, I continued to see hoards of college students dressed in crazy outfits doing crazy things. Then I realized that Halloween is not just about wearing different clothes — it’s about giving yourself a break for a day by channelling another persona, regardless of if you put the effort in or not. The night did, however, confirm one expectation I had of the college Halloween experience: People go crazy. I sat back and relaxed to watch the movie, when the door behind me opened and slammed shut without anyone entering.

“If it’s somethin’ weird an’ it don’t look good. Who ya gonna call? Ghostbusters!” a voice yelled.

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

The Tufts Daily

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Arts & Living

Wednesday, November 6, 2013

French film portrays young lesbian relationship with striking realism BLUE

continued from page 5

always poignant. Indeed, nothing the characters say is trivial or cliched — you won’t hear any refrigerator magnet quotations here. Their lines build meaning slowly and subtly from one exchange to another, relying heavily on innuendo and facial expressions.

In this and other ways, the film is effortlessly subtle. Throughout the movie, a series of thematic milestones are introduced through culture, art, philosophy and literature.

Classroom scenes depicting literary discussions indirectly mirror the turmoil of Adèle’s life. Yet, the movie never throws these moments in the viewer’s face. Instead, it allows them to linger in the background.

There are no “a-ha!” sequences; no labored epiphanies — the thematic resonance is fluid throughout the film, played out from conversation to conversation.

One of the most satisfying transitions in the film occurs when Adèle finally becomes the teacher. In her first grade class’s basic lessons, the importance of spelling a word cor-

rectly illuminates just how deeply rooted our notions of correctness and normality really are (a concept that is even more resonant in French, where words are notorious for containing letters that remain unpronounced when spoken).

While “Blue Is the Warmest Color” deals with queer issues, it never preaches about them. Adèle’s struggle is not solely with her sexuality — rather, the movie is about a relationship. The power of the film lies in its genuine treatment of the two girls — it never detracts from the dignity of its characters. It fully acknowledges both the underlying and obvious pressures a gay relationship faces within a heteronormative society without indulging in excessive sympathy or judgment.

Unflinchingly candid, “Blue Is the Warmest Color” regards a marginalized perspective with humanity and complexity. The triumph of the film is the universality it demonstrates within such an intensely personal struggle.

Both Exarchopoulos and Seydoux’s performances are exquisite, especially given the

Courtesy Sundance Selects

Shot mostly in close-ups, ‘Blue Is the Warmest Color’ depicts an intensely intimate relationship between two young women. film’s relentless focus on their expressions and the level of vulnerability their roles demanded.

Much more could be said, but it is

easier to suggest that you should see this movie for yourself. No matter how you view it — ideologically, artistically or cinemati-

cally — its quality is undeniable.

Simultaneously raw and elegant, “Blue Is the Warmest Color” is an excellent film.

‘Posters a la Carte’ discusses history of art, food POSTERS

continued from page 5

tomer — ready to elegantly pour a drink into the awaiting and unseen glass. This highlights the playfulness, sexuality and gaiety of the Belle Époque, which is reinforced by the text that reads “Popular French Tonic Wine: Fortifies and Refreshes Body & Brain / Restores Health and Vitality.”

The headliner of the exhibition is a Coca Cola Poster (artist unknown, 1950). The poster features a giant, frosty, hyper-realistic Coke bottle, brightly emerging from the grip of a snowy drift.

A large red logo located in the bottom right corner reminds consumers that this is, of course, a Coke product, and an optical illusion is created by a faux frame surrounding the image.

Like many Swiss posters, this one communicates virtually without words — something that is critical in a country like Switzerland with four national languages.

The International Poster Gallery’s largest drawback is its lack of wall space. Its prime, yet

small location on Newbury Street makes it difficult for the gallery to display its entire collection — most posters are neatly piled on tables or in drawers, making it difficult for visitors to see many of the gallery’s treasures.

Despite this, the “Posters a la Carte” exhibit — funny, colorful and thought provoking — is most definitely worth a visit.

Gallery staff will be more than happy to answer any questions visitors may have about “Posters a la Carte,” the history of the lithograph poster or any of the other works. The gallery’s permanent collection provides those hoping to find beautiful works of art for their own walls with many options available for purchase.

“Posters a la Carte” will run through Dec. 1. Gallery hours are Monday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., and Sunday from 12 p.m. to 6 p.m. The gallery is located at 205 Newbury St., Boston. Call (617)-375-0076 or visit www.internationalposter.com to learn more about the exhibit, the gallery and the history of poster making.

NRK P3 via Flickr Creative Commons

Rapper M.I.A. presents a unique female voice in an overwhelmingly male-dominated musical genre.

M.I.A. teams up with The Weeknd to create new, experimental sound MATANGI

continued from page 5

Courtesy International Poster Gallery

Joseph Stall’s lighter-than-air imagery evokes the celebratory side of champagne.

tage, M.I.A brings a unique perspective to the rap world — a world that is particularly conducive to the stories of oppression and redemption that she is so wont to tell. After her underwhelming 2010 album, “Maya,” M.I.A seems to have found her voice again, producing tracks that will resonate with fans of both hip-hop and electronica.

“Matangi” can most readily be compared to Kanye West’s “Yeezus,” which was released last June. Peppered with unique sampling and assaulting percussion, both “Yeezus” and “Matangi” provide angst-ridden music that feels urgent, powerful and relevant. West and M.I.A both insist on addressing challenging topics through their music. Each album is charged with the realities of racial and cultural stigma in the artists’ respective cultures, prompting reflection and self-awareness from audiences.

“Matangi,” by incorporating experimental sampling and oftentimes, bizarre production, manages to remain both perplexing and engag-

ing. The track “Bad Girls” is an archetypal M.I.A tune that includes droning synth, an infectious hook and lyrics romanticizing the flippant lifestyle that rappers so often assume. This number harkens back to M.I.A’s 2008 single “Paper Planes” — a song that brought her considerable attention and credibility.

Another notable track is “Y.A.L.A.” A clear reference to Drake’s YOLO (you only live once) maxim, “Y.A.L.A” is a tongue-in-cheek exploration of the contemporary rap game.

Beginning with a pounding beat and heavy synth, the song quickly digresses into an electronic breakdown, with M.I.A drawing the audience into a dialogue about the absurdity of the modern condition. At the end of the song, M.I.A says “YOLO? I don’t even know anymore, what that even mean though / If you only live once, why we keep doing the same shit?”

The album also includes two tracks, “Exodus” and “Sexodus,” that feature grassroots R&B sensation The Weeknd. By collaborating with this up-and-coming artist on her album, M.I.A once again showcases her willingness to

experiment with new sounds and styles. The highlight of “Mantangi,” however, has to be “Boom Skit.” On this track, M.I.A blatantly addresses the serious and pervasive problems of prejudice and cultural discrimination. Over a halting track, M.I.A declares, “Brown girl, brown girl / Turn your s*** down / You know America don’t wanna hear your sound.” The song eventually progresses into a fastpaced dance tune, complete with sirens and blasting bass.

“Matangi” is everything that M.I.A fans have been waiting for since “Maya.” Replete with M.I.A’s sophisticated musical sensibilities and proclivity for derision, “Matangi” is the perfect example of successful risk-taking and respect for the craft. M.I.A has consistently demonstrated her resilience and relevance in a fiercely competitive and fiercely masculine genre. By unapologetically asserting her point of view time and time again, M.I.A’s career continues to be marked by considerable success and a singular voice.

Whether you’re a fan of hiphop or just good, thoughtprovoking music, “Matangi” — and M.I.A — is for you.

Wednesday, November 6, 2013

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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 Denali Tietjen

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Wednesday, November 6, 2013

Acknowledging appropriation

THE TUFTS DAILY Hannah R. Fingerhut

editoral | op-ed

Internationally minded universities like Tufts pride themselves on diversity.

Students are encouraged to share their own cultures and experiences with those of their peers. Such exchanges can often be of a sensitive nature: When is this sort of discussion appropriate? In what context? Who decides?

These are some of the questions that were raised in the open discussion on cultural appropriation last night, inspired by the debate provoked by fraternity Theta Chi’s recent Tufts Prism Run. The event, which was earlier called the Tufts Color Run, was apparently inspired by the Indian festival Holi. The “color” of the run, an element which some consider to be cultural appropriation, came the from Prism Run organizers and volunteers throwing colored powder (an important component of

the Hindu festival of Holi) at participants. Some students have argued that, while encouraging others to enjoy Holi, this particular event failed to provide appropriate and nescessary insight into its cultural background.

Theta Chi’s initiative was based on a nationwide color run that is intended to promote “healthiness and happiness” while raising money for charity. The fraternity adopted some aspects of the event and added to it an association with Holi.

It is clear, however, that there was little desire to seriously replicate the festival, which is celebrated in the spring, not the fall. Therefore, the casual reference to Holi seems to be an attempt to raise the appeal of the event by forging a connection to the colorful and enjoyable aspects of the religious festival.

However, it is important to remember that Holi, although having a rich

theological history, is also an occasion for fun-loving celebration. Festivities such as this one can be approached in different ways — religiously and secularly — and cannot be guarded by any one group. Theta Chi’s initiative can, at most, be blamed for being careless, but it is unlikely that they meant to rob or tarnish a cultural practice that is as diverse as this one.

Ultimately, this event reveals the different interpretations of culture that are increasingly prevalent today. It is necessary to be sensitive to every community’s fundamental practices, and campus organizations and the Daily should and will strive to do better.

Appropriation, by itself, is not the problem. Careless or seemingly thoughtless appropriation is, and critics of the way the event was handled are justified in their concern.

Benjamin Boventer

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Off the Hill | Harvard University

Free speech and the academy

by Gram Slattery

Harvard Political Review

“He who knows only his own side of the case, knows little of that.” — John Stuart Mill The student body of Brown University embarrassed itself yesterday in a truly flagrant display of ideological intolerance.

The occasion was a speech — or at least a planned speech — by New York City Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly, who was to address a group of undergraduates on the virtues of Stop and Frisk.

Before he could begin, a group of dozens of protestors, supported by hundreds outside the lecture hall, stood up and chanted anti-Kelly slogans in unison, refusing to yield the floor. Brown Vice President of Student Life Margaret Klawunn and Vice President for Public Affairs Marisa Quinn asked the protestors to cease shouting, so that Kelly’s views might be heard and questioned by the students present. Ultimately, their appeals were unsuccessful, the lecture was cancelled and the Brown

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.

University Police Department was called upon to clear the premises.

Video and photographic coverage is available via the Daily Herald.

If there’s anything that can be learned from this failed attempt at dialogue, it’s that a large chunk of university students — at least at Brown — believe that the only opinions worthy of articulation are the ideas they agree with. Those ideas with which they disagree are to be shunned and silenced, as if their campus were a hermetically sealed ideological habitat for establishment liberals and no one else.

Let me be clear. I oppose Stop and Frisk and “indirect racial profiling” of most kinds, and I dislike Kelly. But that doesn’t mean I don’t care what he has to say. When the HPR interviewed National Review Washington editor Robert Costa the other day, our core of largely liberal staff writers didn’t rush to the Institute of Politics on JFK Street, call him down, accuse him of racism and force him to leave Cambridge, all while yelling catchy, ad hominem phrases. There’s an implicit belief among many of us that

listening to opinions with which we disagree can add nuance to our own opinions, that reasoned dialogue can add nuance to the opinions of our ideological foes as well. We don’t purport to have the answers in their absolute finality; apparently, a few hundred students at Brown do.

To be fair, this mass of protestors likely does not reflect Brown’s student body at large. On October 28, the Daily Herald’s editorial board called upon students to let Kelly speak. While the board conceded that “Stop and Frisk created a culture of fear in New York for certain marginalized groups,” it proffered that students “who challenge Kelly on factual grounds will meet greater success than those who focus on trying to keep the event from taking place.”

Insofar as the battle over Stop and Frisk is a war of opinion, these statements are incontrovertibly true. Those Brown students decided to silence Kelly because of his heavy-handed treatment of minorities, but at the end of the day, it was the students themselves who came off as the totalitarians.

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Wednesday, November 6, 2013

The Tufts Daily

Feasibility and imperative of raising minimum wage

by Gabriel Rojkind

Here’s a claim I’d like to make: the minimum wage should be raised.

Here are a few facts. First: corporate profits as a percentage of gross domestic product (GDP), as a percentage of this country’s economic activity, are larger than ever in U.S. history. CNN noted at the end of 2012 that “just four years after the worst shock to the economy since the Great Depression, U.S. corporate profits are stronger than ever,” bringing third quarter after-tax profits in 2012 “to their greatest percentage of GDP in history.” Which coincides with a second point: wages as a percentage of the United States’ GDP are lower than they’ve ever been. This means that companies are paying employees less than they ever have as a share of national income. Third: unemployment in this country is still higher now than before the recession, not including that many who would prefer to be working full-time are working part-time instead, and that many have given up trying to find a job altogether. And fourth: on average, 25 percent of workers in any sector receive some form of public assistance which is in effect a transfer of public money to subsidize the wages companies do not pay. In fact, according to UC Berkeley’s Labor Center, more than half of front-line fast food workers are on at least one public assistance program at a cost of $7 billion a year, and the figure is higher if you include subsidies to their children and families.

An effective response would be to raise the minimum wage, if only because big companies can afford it and workers need it. A raise in the minimum wage does not provide an all-encompassing solution to these problems, but it would nonetheless represent a very tangible benefit to millions of working class people in this country, spurring consumption for recovery and helping people pay off debt.

I know that many see a contradiction between raising the minimum wage and increasing employment. But contrary to the ideations of economic orthodoxy, the U.S. Department of Labor clearly shows that increases in the minimum wage since 1935 have not affected GDP; real GDP per capita has increased even when the minimum wage has been increased. The past two decades of research have shown that an increase in the minimum wage leads to at most negligible job loss, partly because roughly two thirds of lowwage workers are employed by large com-

panies with over 100 employees, not small businesses, who can afford a wage raise.

Earlier this year, John Schmitt of the Center for Economic and Policy Research summarized this as follows: “The employment effect of the minimum wage is one of the most studied topics in all of economics. The weight of that evidence points to little or no employment response to modest increases in the minimum wage. The strongest evidence suggests that the most important channels of adjustment are: reductions in labor turnover; improvements in organizational efficiency; reductions in wages of higher earners (wage compression) and small price increases.

Given the relatively small cost to employers of modest increases in the minimum wage, these adjustment mechanisms appear to be more than sufficient to avoid employment losses, even for employers with a large share of low-wage workers.”

In a 2013 survey by the University of Chicago’s business school, leading economists agreed by almost four to one that the benefits of raising the minimum wage outweigh the costs. Otherwise, for you economics majors, if you’ve gotten past EC 5 you should have disabused yourselves by now of the mythology of perfectly competitive markets. According to economic textbooks, a raise in the wage is a raise in the costs of production — thus the argument that raising the minimum wage (raising the price of labor) results in a lower quantity of labor demanded (greater unemployment). But besides speaking of the lives of people as “labor,” simplified models miss a great deal, most significantly the turnover and “churning” at the lower end of the job-market because workers leave frequently attempting to get a better job. Consequently, according to economist Arindrajit Dube, “to the extent that the minimum wage makes the lowest paid jobs better, it tends to reduce turnover and reduce vacancies. So an increase in the minimum wage may not kill jobs but kill vacancies in a low-end labor market. This is consistent with the more realistic models of the labor market. Our new work shows this for the U.S., but there is evidence from other countries as well. So minimum-wage laws may make jobs more stable while raising wages.” As an example, Reich, Hall and Jacobs found in their study that raising the wage of security screeners at the San Francisco Airport reduced annual turnover from 95 percent to 19 percent.

On the other hand, the most cogent argument against raising the minimum wage

might be its effects on small businesses. This is a valid concern. It makes sense then that the National Federation of Independent Businesses has criticized raising the minimum wage. But according to their own survey, only about 3-5 percent of small businesses listed labor costs as their most important problem; since the recession, between 20 percent and 35 percent have listed poor sales as their most important concern. It would appear then that small businesses would benefit more from increased sales than low labor costs. Meanwhile, the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago has found that for every $1 increase in the minimum wage, minimum wage households increase spending by roughly $800 a year. Instead, opponents of raising the minimum wage have advocated extending the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC), a federal tax credit for low-income households.

While helpful, putting the EITC in opposition to a raise in the wage is a false choice: both are powerful tools for counteracting poverty. A minimum wage raise however has the direct advantage of addressing inequality as well.

So ultimately, it’s not that there aren’t costs to raising the minimum wage but that the benefits outweigh them. If you would argue that the competition engendered by globalization and that gains in productivity must necessarily consign American workers to poverty wages, then you’ve made up your mind.

But also acknowledge that the U.S. is slowly crawling out of a bad recession and unemployment remains high while corporate profits are counter-intuitively larger than ever.

The U.S. is currently in a liquidity trap: it can no longer stimulate the economy by lowering interest rates when interest rates are almost zero. Conversely, inflation is also almost zero meaning that a raise in the minimum wage would not have inflationary effects. Raising the minimum wage is then economically sensible, an effective measure for economic recovery and most importantly, provides a better standard of living for those who working but still struggling. It is in this spirit that Tufts Labor Coalition, Tufts Democrats and United for Immigrant Justice are holding a rally this Saturday in Davis Square in support of and to help gather signatures to raise the minimum wage in Massachusetts.

The Tufts Labor Coalition is co-sponsoring a rally on Nov. 9 at 2 p.m. in Davis Square to support a campaign called Raise Up Massachusetts which intends to raise the minimum wage and ensure earned sick time for workers. Raise Up MA is part of a national grassroots movement to ensure a livable minimum wage for Americans.

The minimum wage in Massachusetts has been held at $8.00 since 2008. However, the cost of living and inflation have increased since then, leading to a steady decline in the real wage and quality of living for workers at all income levels in Massachusetts but especially minimum wage workers. This conveys a trend, namely the long-term and continuous decline in the earning power of the minimum wage in America since the 1960s. In 1968, Massachusetts’ minimum wage was $1.60.

Adjusted for inflation, it would be $10.83 today. Instead, we have a dangerously low and stagnant $8.00 hourly wage.

To put this in perspective, the Department of Labor sets the poverty line of a threemember household at $19,530. However, a full-time minimum wage worker working 40 hours a week only makes $16,696, well below that threshold, so that a single mother or father with two children cannot reasonably provide for their family. This cannot stand in the world’s richest country.

Most arguments against raising the minimum wage focus on the health of the economy, citing that an increase would harm business owners and take jobs and money out of the market. But this obviates the economic logic that putting more money into the hands of the working poor is the surest way to sus-

tain a recovering economy. Otherwise, the failure to raise the minimum wage continues the allocation of government assistance to make up for the shortfall in wages in the form of food stamps, income tax credits, Medicaid, etc. A higher minimum wage would put less strain on the public sector while facilitating increased consumption and thus a healthier economy.

It is true that, for small business owners, a raise in minimum wage could amount to a significant business expense, but one that could likely be counteracted by an increase in customers with more money to spend. A livable minimum wage is vital to restoring the strength of a waning lower-middle and working-poor class, and in many ways, keeping the American dream alive.

However, the reasons we fight to raise the minimum wage are not primarily economic.

They are human.

While there are aspects of our government that we disagree on and argue over, we can all look back to the Declaration of Independence to find a few rights that we agree on. We all have the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, and it is our government’s role to protect these rights. But today’s minimum wage is not livable for a family with one breadwinner. These principles lead us to the conclusion that full-time workers have the right to earn a wage that allows one’s family to live safely and healthily.

It is our job to demand that our poorest neighbors still make enough to eat and provide for their children. A livable minimum wage above $10.00 helps ensure this.

Furthermore, earned sick time is a completely logical requirement for all workers.

A system in which workers earn an hour of

Bhushan Deshpande | Words of Wisdom

Time for class registration

I

sick time per 40 hours worked, for example, is beneficial to both employers and employees. Not only are sick employees not nearly as efficient and jeopardizing their health (as well as that of their coworkers), but allowing them to take a day off will enable them to recover and be more productive.

We demand an end to politicians who enjoy fantastic benefits (including sick time) while these are denied to so many working people.

Just as Tufts is an integral part of the Medford and Somerville communities, minimum wage workers are a vibrant part of our community, on and off campus. Many of the people that keep our campus running smoothly, as well as small businesses around Tufts that employ low-wage workers, and benefit massively from our patronage, would see part of the earnings from such a symbiotic relationship. If Somerville prospers, all of its citizens should do well, because each of us plays a role in this thriving community.

When there is more than enough to go around in Massachusetts, we ought to ensure that all of us have at least enough. We cannot allow ourselves to overlook the poorest people among us for what they are: people.

If people have the right to life and the pursuit of happiness, they have the right to a decent minimum wage and earned sick time.

For these reasons we are co-sponsoring the rally on November 9th in Davis, along with Tufts Democrats and United for Immigrant Justice, in support of the Raise Up Massachusetts campaign.

accidentally walked into Pearson 104 the other day while looking for a noontime lecture. I immediately turned around and left that Chem 51 lecture, thinking as I did, “Damn, there are a hell of a lot of premeds on this campus.”

Chem 51, if you have had the pleasure of not having taken it during your time on campus, is the lecture component of the first semester organic chemistry course. It is required for chemical engineers, chemists, biochemists and of course, students intending to go to medical, dental or veterinary school.

When I took the course two years ago, it seemed basically impossible for the first two months. But slowly and surely it got easier as things just started to come together. The material also just became more interesting; alkyl-magnesium halides, aryl compounds and the basic biochemical building blocks are not necessarily the easiest thing in the world to wrap one’s head around, but to someone who has already voluntarily been taking the course for three months, it seems like it’s something that folks should at least be able to feign interest in.

I understand that not every course at Tufts is necessarily the most fascinating thing in the world. Besides physics at schools that don’t give their students the option of taking a non-calculusbased sequence, there is perhaps no class so universally feared by premedical students as organic chemistry. But I figured once we got further into the course, the whole “love of science” thing that most premeds claim to have driven them towards pursuing medicine would reassert itself and people would find their love for the subject.

Had that been the case for everyone, I wouldn’t be writing about this now.

Organic chemistry was just something to get through; another obstacle placed in their way by the writers of the MCAT and medical school admissions committees solely to prevent them from becoming physicians. And this went on all year.

It was something I really couldn’t understand. I complain about courses all the time to my friends, but I also know that every course that I take at college is almost three percent of the total number of courses you take. And if there is anything that I am learning in my final semester here, it is that college passes by way too quickly. As such, there should be no reason for you to ever take a course that you dislike.

Let me amend that statement quickly.

I get that there might be required courses for your major or future plans that aren’t your favorite ever. But presumably there is at least that kid in the course who finds it to be the most fascinating thing of all time. Or there’s your professor, who for some reason chose to spend a whole career on it. Figure out why.

There has been something that I gained from in each of the courses I have taken at Tufts. Much of which I understand only retrospectively. But it’s much nicer if you can figure it out while you’re still taking the courses.

If you really have to take them for whatever you think you want to do in life, then take the opportunity to evaluate whether that is something you actually want to be doing in the future, and whether that course or major is truly necessary to achieve your goals.

If you can find the ability to truly enjoy the classes you are taking now, regardless of your natural instinct towards the material, I’m sure that even they will become memories you will fondly look back upon after your four years on the Hill end all too quickly.

David Westby is a freshman who has not yet declared a major. He can be reached at David.Westby@tufts.edu.

Bhushan Deshpande is a senior majoring in quantitative economics. He can be reached at Bhushan.Deshpande@tufts.edu.

Gabriel Rojkind is a junior majoring in political science. He can be reached at Gabriel.Rojkind@tufts.edu.

Raising the minimum wage

by David Westby

9

Op-Ed

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

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Comics

Wednesday, November 6, 2013

Doonesbury

Crossword

by Garry Trudeau

Non Sequitur

Tuesday’s Solution

Married to the Sea

www.marriedtothesea.com

SUDOKU Level: Getting food stuck in your beard.

Late Night at the Daily

Tuesday’s Solution

Shoshanna: “I think it’s very important to know the shape of my head.”

Want more late-night laughs?

Follow us on Twitter at @LateNiteAtDaily

Please recycle this Daily.

by Wiley

Wednesday, November 6, 2013

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Friday, November 8 at 5:30 pm Cohen Auditorium, Aidekman Arts Center 40 Talbot Avenue Film Screening Followed By Q&A Discussion With Slavoj Žižek & Sophie Fiennes Moderated by Professor Lee Edelman, Tufts Department of English

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Jumbos’ underclassmen show promise WATER POLO

continued from back

Wood has high expectations for the team next season.

“There’s a lot more to Tufts Water Polo than just how we did at nationals, so I was happy with how we did overall, and I think they’re going to come out strong next year,” Wood said.

The seniors believe that they are leaving the team in capable hands.

Sophomores Harry Wood and Calvin Liang and junior Justin Choi, together with a group of underclassmen, have proven their ability to step up to the

challenge and make plays against the top teams in the nation.

“Although we’re graduating a good amount of seniors, three starting field players and a goalie, I’m sure that the juniors and sophomores and freshmen are going to lead the team to just as great feats as we have,” Fried said.

“This team is amazing, and the work that we put in this season to make the team like a family will remain for the next few years.”

One freshman in particular, Lordi, arguably shone brighter than the rest of his underclassmen teammates this

Tyler Maher | Beantown Beat

tournament, coming off the bench against Wesleyan to lead the Jumbos to victory and earning Rookie of the Tournament accolades. Despite this feat, Lordi downplayed his individual performance.

“It feels great to win, but it’s mostly a team effort; it wasn’t just me out there,” he said. “It’s always tough losing people that are that good — all three captains played a huge role in our success this year — but we should be able to step up to the challenge and hopefully move up [in the tournament] next year.”

First-round match against Camels set for Friday VOLLEYBALL

continued from back

out the match. She registered a season-high 12 kills, six of which came in the first set, while adding four solo blocks and four block assists to finish with a season-high 18 points. Senior tri-captain Virginia Clay, a defensive specialist who was honored before the game for her four years with the Tufts volleyball program, played well in her final regular season match, contributing seven digs, two service aces and an assist.

“We have to give a lot of credit to Colby for playing really scrappy defense,” Thompson said. “Our team had to stay disciplined long enough to outlast some great rallies. We also did a good job identifying Colby’s attack plans and adjusting to them defensively.”

Tufts was even sharper against Simmons College in the second game, sweeping the Sharks in three sets.

Though Simmons had also defeated

Colby earlier in the day in five sets, they were clearly outmatched versus the Jumbos. The first set went down to the wire, with Tufts pulling out a 30-28 win despite trailing for most of the game. The Sharks were unable to recover from the demoralizing defeat, falling to the Jumbos in the second and third sets as well.

Tufts finished the regular season on a season-high seven game winning streak — its longest since 2011 — to go 19-7 overall. Among NESCAC teams, only first-place Williams and secondplace Bowdoin won more games.

“It is nice to have something to be proud of going into the postseason,” junior tri-captain middle hitter Juliana Goodbar said. “But we worked hard for those wins, so we know that no win is ever going to come easy for us. We have to continue to hold ourselves to a high standard and stay focused.”

This is especially true as Tufts prepares for the playoffs, which begin Friday against Conn. College. The

Jumbos are the higher seed but won’t gain any home-court advantage, as the match is hosted by No. 1-seed Williams. The No. 5 seed Camels are a formidable opponent, having won eight of their past 10 games to cement a 15-11 overall record. When the two teams last played each other on Sept.

28, Tufts swept the Camels, 25-15, 25-20, 25-23.

The Jumbos would like to have a repeat performance on Friday, but they aren’t taking anything for granted. Conn. College was much improved in the second half of the season and figures to pose more of a challenge this time around. Accordingly, junior tri-captain outside hitter Jessica Ingrum is trying to keep things in perspective.

“In the playoffs, [regular season] records do not matter,” Ingrum said.

“The only thing that matters is beating [Conn. College]. We just need to focus on what is in front of us in order to succeed throughout the weekend.”

DAILY DIGITS 6

13.3

2009

Goals scored by senior tricaptain Austin Wood of the Tufts club water polo team in the Jumbos’ third-place match against Emory University. Three of Wood’s six goals came in the fourth quarter, boosting Tufts to an 11-8 win. Wood earned his second consecutive firstteam accolade with his performance at the Div. III National Collegiate Club Championship.

Assists per game for Los Angeles Clippers point guard Chris Paul through four games of NBA regular season play.

Paul, a six-time All-Star, and the Clippers are 3-1 with new head coach Doc Rivers at the helm.

Paul’s biggest contribution comes in the form of the 56.8 points per game he is contributing through either scored points or assists on made baskets.

Last time Tufts women’s soccer advanced to the semifinals of the NESCAC Championship as the team did Saturday after a 2-1 win against Bowdoin. The Jumbos took the lead in the 69th minute on a goal from junior Caitlin Brandman. Tufts will take on the Middlebury Panthers in the second round over the weekend.

1.948

4

7

On base plus slugging percentage in the World Series for Red Sox DH David Ortiz. The recently crowned World Series MVP had one of the best hitting performances in the history of the Fall Classic, reaching base in a record-tying nine straight plate appearances. Ortiz had two home runs and six RBIs in the six game series, and his remarkable OPS ranks seventh on the all-time list.

Tufts cross country runners who earned All-NESCAC honors after the championship meet Saturday.

On the women’s team, senior tricaptain Abby Barker was a first team selection for her fourthplace finish, while sophomore Olivia Beltrani’s 13th-place finish was good for a second team spot. On the men’s team, both senior Andrew Shapero and freshman Tim Nichols earned spots on the second team with finishes of eighth and 13th respectively.

Touchdown passes thrown by Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Nick Foles in the Eagles’ 49-20 win over the Oakland Raiders.

Foles became just the seventh passer in NFL history to reach the mark, which was also met by the Broncos’ Peyton Manning on opening night this year. Foles connected with wideout Riley Cooper on three of the touchdown passes and threw for 406 yards total on the day.

I

What’s next?

t’s been one week since the Boston Red Sox were crowned World Series champions. The champagne is flat. The Duck Boats have rolled through the streets of Boston. Those scruffy beards are about to meet their makers at local barbershops (if they haven’t already). Fenway Park is silent, bracing itself for a long, snowy, winter break, waiting for the sights and sounds of America’s pastime to return in April. Soxtober is over.

It’s weird. The baseball season is always like that. There’s a game almost every day for six straight months, not including spring training or, if you’re lucky, the playoffs. It’s a constant presence, dominating TV and radio and barstool banter.

There’s always another game, another pitch, another at-bat. Then, when the weather becomes too cold and the days too short, it disappears. The music comes to a screeching halt. And for the next four months: silence.

Boston’s magical, improbable and unlikely-to-be-repeated championship run of 2013 is history. Now, the Red Sox must turn their attention to 2014 and focus on putting the team in a position where it can contend again. The key pieces are already in place. Assuming nobody gets traded away, almost all the bearded heroes of last year will be back.

Unlike last winter, Boston doesn’t have to reshape its roster on the fly.

Still, that doesn’t mean general manager Ben Cherington can afford to sit on his hands for the next few months. No team has won consecutive championships in this millennium, which speaks as much to the parity of the sport as it does the sheer randomness of baseball. Cherington knows as well as anybody that in order to win it all, everything needs to break right.

Your starting pitchers have to stay healthy.

Young guys need to break out, and the veterans must ward off age. You must make the plays in the field, get big hits when you need them and have that unflappable reliever who can get you out of a tight spot in the late innings.

A lot of luck is involved — an unquantifiable amount of luck. The smartest GM in the world can’t prepare for that.

What’s more, free agency has made it impossible to keep entire teams together.

There’s a revolving door of complementary players plugging holes and rounding out the roster. The best GMs can do is commit to a core, like Boston did with Dustin Pedroia, David Ortiz, Jon Lester and Jacoby Ellsbury, all of whom played key roles on the 2007 championship squad. But even when you keep a nucleus intact, getting back to the Fall Classic is incredibly difficult. Injuries crop up, older players regress and prospects go bust. Look at the San Francisco Giants — World Series winners in 2012, but 10 games below .500 in 2013. You can’t predict baseball.

The Red Sox are going to be a different team next year. Maybe they’ll win the World Series again and become the first Red Sox team to win back-to-back titles since the 1915-16 editions. It depends on what they do over the next several months. Will they shell out big bucks for Ellsbury, a player as injury-prone as he is fast? Who else will they (or won’t they) re-sign? Who will they pursue in free agency? There’s not a whole lot out there, so maybe it makes sense to keep as many guys as possible and see if they can catch lightning in a bottle again?

With the offseason only a week old, the Red Sox have plenty of time to figure that out.

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

Maher@tufts.edu.

Sports

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tuftsdaily.com

Water Polo

Tufts finishes third at Div. III national championship

by Alison Kuah

Daily Staff Writer

The club water polo team closed its season with a thirdplace finish at the 2013 Div. III National Collegiate Club Championship hosted at Franklin & Marshall College’s Kunkel Aquatic Center this past weekend.

Senior tri-captain Austin Wood continued his dominant performance, earning a second consecutive first-team accolade by scoring six goals in Tufts’ third-place matchup, including a hat trick in the fourth quarter, to lead the team to an 11-8 win over Emory University.

“Everybody contributed [against Emory],” senior tricaptain Inbar Fried said. “We played a lot of subs, and we just tried to get everybody in, especially the seniors.”

The Jumbos started their nationals weekend with an 8-5 win over Wesleyan that saw freshman Michael Lordi score three goals in the first half, including back-to-back even strength tallies to overcome an initial 2-0 deficit against the Cardinals.

“We started this tournament by looking at [the Wesleyan game] as the only game we had,” Fried said. “We knew that if we lost the first game the tournament would be over.

We’d ... get no higher than fifth or sixth [place].”

The win propelled the Jumbos into the semifinals in a tough matchup against the 2010 national champions, the University of California-Santa Cruz Banana Slugs. Despite various drives by the Jumbos, who twice came within one

courtesy inbar fried

The Tufts water polo team capped off the season with a third-place finish at the 2013 Div. III National Collegiate Club Championship at Franklin & Marshall College. goal of equalizing against the Slugs, Santa Cruz held out for an 8-5 win, rallying behind Players of the Game David Brunner and Michael LeSueur, who each scored three goals.

The Slugs eventually beat Wa s h i n g t o n Un i v e r s i t y 13-9, behind tournament Most Valuable Player Sean Shughrou’s five scores, to

claim their second National Championship.

The Jumbos’ third-place finish marks the best result for senior tri-captains Wood, Fried and Chris Langbort as well as senior goalie Steve Lessard.

“I think [Lessard] was hands down the best goalie of the tournament,” Wood said. “It was great seeing him end his career playing at such a high level.”

The game against the Slugs was especially emotional for the graduating seniors, who had played that same team their freshman year. “[ The loss] was the right thing to happen,” Fried said.

“It was coming back full swing to play [the Slugs] again and see how we do and try to do our best against them.”

Tufts’ seniors hope to leave

a legacy of strong team cohesion that should lead to future success.

“Usually you see teams in our division with a decent group of players and one or two superstars that really carry them,” Langbort told the Daily in an email. “With us, no one would be as good as they are without the support of the other players.” see WATER POLO, page 15

Volleyball

Jumbos sweep doubleheader against Colby, Simmons

by Tyler Maher

Daily Editorial Board

Tufts volleyball finished its regular season on a high note by winning both games of Saturday’s double-

VOLLEYBALL (19-7 Overall, 7-3 NESCAC) at Cousens Gymnasium, Saturday Simmons Tufts

28 18 16 — 30 25 25 —

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at Cousens Gymnasium, Saturday Colby Tufts

20 25 17 24 — 25 22 25 26 —

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header, against Colby and Simmons, at Cousens Gym. “Colby and Simmons brought a lot of fight to our court this past weekend, and we were proud of our team’s effort to fight them point for point,” coach Cora Thompson said. “When our servereceive passing was on, we dominated offensively. We looked for our opportunities and capitalized.”

In their final NESCAC game before the playoffs, the Jumbos clinched fourth place in the conference by beating Colby in four sets. Tufts took the first set 25-20, but the Mules came right back to win the second set 25-22.

Christie Wu for the Tufts Daily

Junior outside hitter Hayley Hopper led the way offensively for the Jumbos in the second half of Saturday’s doubleheader, compiling 10 kills in the straight-set victory over Simmons College.

The Jumbos rebounded to take a commanding 10-2 lead early in the third and cruised to an easy 25-17 win.

The fourth set was a nail-biter in which there were 16 ties and five lead

changes. With the score knotted at 24-24, Colby committed a ball-handling error to give Tufts the lead, setting the stage for freshman middle hitter Elizabeth Ahrens’s match-winning

block on the following play.

The defensive stop punctuated Ahrens’ stellar performance throughsee VOLLEYBALL, page 15