TUFTS OBSERVER TUFTS’ STUDENT MAGAZINE
SEPTEMBER 21, 2007
Kaleidoscope:
Designing Diversity?
Featured Articles
NEWS
8
| Cashing in on diversity
NEWS
Through the Kaleidoscope
ARTS
Boston Fashion Week
2 28
OPINION
Scare tactics of the RIAA
EXCURSIONS
Take a hike
The Observer has been Tufts’ weekly publication of record since 1895. Our dedication to in-depth reporting, journalistic innovation, and honest dialogue has remained intact for over a century. Today, we offer insightful news analysis, cogent and diverse opinion pieces, and lively reviews of current arts, entertainment, and sports. Through poignant writing and artistic elegance, we aim to entertain, inform, and above all challenge the Tufts community to effect positive change.
21 31
O
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Timothy Noetzel
Contents
MANAGING EDITORS Lydia Hall Mara Sacks Olivia Saucier
Volume CXV, Issue 2 The Observer, Since 1895 www.TuftsObserver.org
Editors
EDITORIAL EDITOR Peter Shaeffer NEWS EDITOR Duncan Pickard OPINION EDITOR Daniel Rosen ARTS AND EXCURSIONS EDITORS Josephine Chow Anna Feldman CAMPUS EDITOR Molly Posner ART DIRECTOR Natalie Polito PHOTO EDITOR Erin Baldassari ONLINE EDITOR Scott Silverman ARTISTS AND PHOTOGRAPHERS Diana Barger Julia Bourque Samuel DuPont Trey Kirk Sarah Leenen Ryan Stolp EDITOR EMERITUS Michael Skocay
Staff Writers Brian McLoone
Contributors Ezra Furman Jonah Gold Matt Koulouris Emily Maretsky Mary Jo A. Pham Brandon Rattiner Chase Webber
21 September 2007
News 2 Through the Kaleidoscope: A New Class of Jumbos, by Olivia Saucier 8 Cashing in on Diversity: How the Capital Campaign Helped Shaped the Class of 2011, by Mary Jo A. Pham 11 Beating Bias with Education, by Emily Maretsky 13 Diversity, Across the Institution, by Chase Webber Opinion 21 RIAA: Recording Industry Assholes of America, by Daniel Rosen 22 Changing Grades, Transforming Identities, by Brandon Rattiner 24 Digital Dorm Deckouts, by Matt Koulouris Arts and Excursions 26 A Look at the Scene: Hey, Hollywood Wasn’t So Bad This Summer, by Brian McLoone
27 28 30 31
Graduation v. Curtis: The Kanye and 50 Showdown, by Jonah Gold Imagination At Work: Boston’s Fashion Week 2007, by Mara Sacks Channeling Shakespeare: All’s Well that Ends Well, by Natalie Polito Middlesex Fells Reservation: A Transcendental Experience, Closer Than You Think, by Anna Feldman
Poetry and Prose 33 Small Rewards, by Mara Sacks 34 Birth of a Metaphor, by Ezra Furman 35 Getting Old, by Timothy Noetzel In Every Issue 14 Ticker Tape 15 Editorial 16 Interruptions 36 Campus
COVER IMAGE: ERIN BALDASSARI PARTING SHOT: MARA SACKS
NEWS
ERIN BALDASSARI
Through the Kaleidoscope: A New Class of Jumbos Has Admissions redened what it takes to succeed at Tufts? Or has it just shufed the line-up in the unchanged applicant pool? BY
OLIVIA SAUCIER
T
ufts has taken a giant leap on the road to an alternative, more inclusive admissions program. We have all read about the Kaleidoscope experiment and its successful implementation. This month, we greeted the rst class accepted under the new selection system. Kaleidoscope has been making noise in the eld of higher education across the country. From coast to coast, admissions ofcers have been watching Tufts redene itself in a new era. There has been an increase in the proportion of accepted African-American and Hispanic students, while changes in demographics and SAT scores are negligible. Was the purpose of this project to open the doors of learning to applicants who otherwise would have been pushed away? What, if anything, has changed? Another important question concerns 2
THE OBSERVER
September 21, 2007
the changes being made inside the University. Tufts is making strides in rewriting the rules of who is getting in to college, but are changes being made in the classroom as well? Admission is one thing — what students learn once inside is another. For the benet of the new Jumbos who may not know their privileged status as guinea pigs, and for other students who only marginally follow admissions news, Kaleidoscope is something to be aware of. It could have a lasting impact on admissions at Tufts and at schools around the country. The Kaleidoscope Project The Kaleidoscope Admissions Pilot — as it is formally known — is based on the work of renowned psychologist Robert Sternberg, dean of the Tufts School of Arts and Sciences. Dean Sternberg has spent much of his career researching intelligence and
its place in academia. Through his research, he has found ways to improve the University’s admissions process, which is usually determined by measuring applicants’ analytical skills with the SAT and other standardized tests. He argues that other forms of intelligence — such as creative and practical skills, and wisdom about promoting the common good — can be just as successful at measuring candidate’s potential. Kaleidoscope is not meant to replace the SAT, but rather to complement it. (Admissions has stressed that Tufts will in no way abandon the SAT as a measurement of candidate potential.) It is by combining the SAT with Dean Sternberg’s nontraditional measures that Tufts says it can best predict success in candidates. The 2011 application contained an optional essay section designed to measure these non-traditional skills in applicants
The Effect on 2011 Studies have shown that SAT results improve with higher family income as well as with the
level of parental education. Additionally, Caucasian and Asian students generally fare better on standardized tests than African-American and Latino students. By expanding the admissions process to test for creative and practical knowledge as well as analytical skills, Tufts will decrease differences in social standing and, consequently, ethnic background. The entering class this year has the highest ever proportion of Latino and black students, the latter demographic coming in at over 13 percent of the class, up from under 11 percent in the class of 2010. It also boasts the largest number of Boston public high school graduates.
diversity, I’m talking about diversity in a very broad sense; it’s not just ethnic diversity or religious diversity or geographic diversity. It’s diversity in the way people think. Who they are as people.” Dean Sternberg’s research broadens the very denition of intelligence — at least in the way the admissions board perceives it. He stresses the need to improve upon the current college screening process, especially in the generally-accepted nality of SAT scores and their predictive validity. The argument is that the SAT is too narrow an assessment because it tests what students have remembered. Rarely does a high schooler have to exercise his or her imagination to perform well on standardized tests. Students can practice endlessly for them, while the answers they give to Kaleidoscope questions will be unlike other prompts they’ve had in their application process. Lee Coffin, dean of admissions, was pleased with the quality of the new applications, which he calls “completely refreshing,” as opposed to the standard common app fare. Indeed, the usual essays students submit that deal with a signicant experience in their life or the person who matters to them most are all extremely similar. “I read [a Kaleidoscope essay] and I read the common app essay and it’s like two different people had written it,” he says. “The common app was often a sample of safe writing.” “Students told me last year: ‘Your essays gave me permission to take a risk. My mother didn’t want me to take the risk.’ That’s the underbelly of college admissions right now,” says Dean Cofn. “There are so many people looking at everything, that the student’s voice gets muted. We just want to say: Let it rip! Tell us what you want to tell us. Don’t worry if it’s naughty or nice! Just say it! Tell us what you’re thinking. Let us build the class with that.” “I was really struck by how good they were,” he adds. “We just got more excited when we read them, because we saw this really dynamic thinking coming out.” Twenty-ve percent of applicants in this upper-middle group were admitted. Depending on what question they chose to answer, applicants were given an analytical, DIANA BARGER
[see sidebar on page 4 for 2012 essay questions]. The important point made by Dean Sternberg in his research is that students with stronger practical and creative skills can be just as successful in a college environment. Admissions is looking beyond grades and SAT scores for qualities that can really bring success in school and in life. Kaleidoscope is the successor to the Rainbow Project, which Dean Sternberg instituted at Yale. Rainbow project collaborators devised a test to quantify the three types of intelligence: analytical, practical and creative. Dean Sternberg’s team used statistical techniques to measure predictions of student success based on grades and SAT scores. Their ndings supported the idea that adding measures of non-traditional skills to a prediction greatly increases its accuracy. Kaleidoscope adds the measure of wisdom to the mix. Wisdom comes into play in the idea that wise leaders think about the common good in their decision-making. According to Dean Sternberg, wisdom is the most important quality in a leader, but it is also the rarest. What was the spark that ignited his interest in the study of intelligence? Dean Sternberg admits that when he was young, he did poorly on IQ tests. “I decided from when I was in elementary school that this was the kind of thing I wanted to do,” he says. “When I worked at the admissions ofce at Yale, one thing that impressed me is that sometimes you would have kids [arrive], and you would feel that either they had cheated on the test, or they had someone else take it for them, or they had brain damage over the summer. On paper they looked great, but the person who came, it was like: Who the heck is this?” It became clear to Dean Sternberg that test scores do tell admissions ofcers something, but there’s a lot they don’t tell. Nonetheless, analytical skills are still most valued in the academic world today. As Dean Sternberg points out, “our whole education system is driven by tests that measure really narrow skills.”
Interestingly, the class of 2011 has set a new SAT mean record of 1440, showing that non-traditional abilities and analytical skills are not at all mutually exclusive. “You could decrease ethnic group differences, so that the traditional patterns you see among ethnic groups are disrupted,” Dean Sternberg says. “Diversity is important on a college campus because a lot of what you learn, you learn from people who have different backgrounds. Many schools could ll their classes with applicants from New York or California. You might have very good students, but they would not have that much to learn from each other because they all had similar backgrounds.” He continues: “When I talk about
September 21, 2007
THE OBSERVER
3
practical or creative rating. It is not a scale, but a label that will help admissions ofcers distinguish among candidates. Fifty-ve percent of those with a practical label were admitted, as were 53 percent of those with a creative score and 58 percent of those with a wisdom score. Are students who choose not to answer a Kaleidoscope question putting themselves at a disadvantage? “It’s not that they’re disadvantaged,” Dean Cofn says. “It’s that they haven’t given themselves the opportunity to show one more side of themselves. We didn’t negatively respond to students who didn’t have a rating. If you think of it as a marathon, they stayed in the pack.” Many students got in (or not) based on everything else that was in their folder. Creative, practical, or wisdombased skills came through in other parts of their application. “It wasn’t just the essay that generated the realization that this student is practical,” says Dean Cofn.
enroll and pass all the courses.” About 8,000 applicants fall into this middle pool. “They’re highly qualified,” he says. “They’re kids who have been in the honors and AP courses. They’re getting A’s and a few B’s here and there. They have SATs in the 700-range. When we go to committee, those are the ones we argue about, because they’re all the same, by the numbers.” He continues: “They’re our prole; and there are thousands of them. Thousands of them. Academic achievement is always the rst cut. But it doesn’t cut out very many people. 11,000 [students] made it over the rst hurdle. That’s a lot of people. How do we take that collection of candidates and start to squeeze it and shape the class?”
“We didn’t always see [that attribute],” says Cofn, “everyone is not creative. You weren’t punished if you didn’t have it, but if it was there, we documented it. When we got to committee, and we were looking at folders, we were able to point to a data point.” Dean Sternberg has underlined the scientic basis of the program, an important part of any admissions reform. Instead of rating candidates on their list of extracurriculars, Kaleidoscope uses real variables—not impressions—to test these skills. According to Dean Cofn, a ubiquitous college essay prompt such as: “What’s the most inuential book you’ve ever read?” is a valid question. Yet in the 20 years he has worked in the admissions field, it was never posed with the understanding that the answer requires analytical thinking. In that sense, Kaleidoscope gave Admissions ofcers a new and different framework to work with. Half of the incoming freshmen class answered one of seven Kaleidoscope prompts. Freshman Evan Chiacchiaro from East Northport, New York, chose Question 3, which probed for creative and analytical skills: History’s great events often turn on small moments. For example, what if Rosa Parks had given up her seat on that Montgomery bus in 1955? Using your knowledge of American or world history, choose a dening moment and imagine an alternative historical scenario if that key event had played out differently. He imagined what would have occurred had Pickett’s Charge never happened during the Battle of Gettysburg. In his short answer, the Confederacy wins the battle and the war, and remains an independent nation. He carried it through to the World War I, where he theorized that Mexico would attack the confederacy and take over half of what was once the United States. “I happened to really like this essay process because the varied options gave me an opportunity to really distinguish myself in an area in which I have an interest,” Mr.
“They’re getting A’s and have SATs in the high 700s. There are thousands of them. How
do we squeeze them and shape the class?”
The Selection Process The admissions procedure should be explained for all the skeptics out there who do not quite value songwriting as enough of a qualication for acceptance to Tufts. First, all applicants (over 15,381 for the incoming class, 27 percent of whom were accepted) are assigned a score between one and seven based on their potential to achieve academic success (read: grades and SAT scores). Students in the lowest tier (with scores ranging from five to seven) are quickly eliminated. Similarly, the best candidates will be accepted no matter what their “nontraditional” talent. Kaleidoscope really comes into play for the students with scores of three and four, the overwhelming majority of whom have identical academic attributes. The skills measured by the new system will allow outstanding students in this middle range reveal themselves. “In any given year,” says Dean Cofn, “about three-quarters of the applicants have the right academic credentials to come to Tufts. They could be admitted, 4
THE OBSERVER
September 21,, 2007
Admissions has always evaluated and searched for qualities belonging to the “gluekid,” the student who maybe isn’t president of a lot of clubs, but who comes to the meetings and makes things happen. They don’t want the spotlight, but they make the class work. Thanks to Kaleidoscope, Admissions now has a discreet way of asking for nontraditional abilities, documenting them and evaluating them. Dean Sternberg’s theory gave Dean Cofn a mechanism to remap the application to capture those qualities “deliberately as opposed to serendipitously.” According to Dean Sternberg, “Kaleidoscope is about a different way of seeing the applicant. The focus is not just on the essays.” Cofn agrees: “It gave us a way of saying: As we read this folder, do we see evidence that this is a creative thinker? Maybe they did the optional essay that had the creative prompt. And we read that and we said: this is a very witty piece of writing and it suggested a clever way of answering the question. The teacher recommendation says this is a very clever kid, very witty and very nimble. You start to see a theme running through this folder.” Up until this year, there was no actual category in the evaluation to take into account creative skills.
Chiacchiaro says. “The other applications gave very vague essay topics, where I really felt like I had no idea what to write about. The Tufts choices felt like they had something for everyone; for me the history essay was a perfect way for me to express my knowledge and creativity about a subject for which I have a passion. It made the process more enjoyable, and I felt as if I was giving a better sampling of myself to Tufts.” Sydney Thiam, from EABJM High School in Paris, France, answered the same question. He believes the new system allows students to express themselves in more challenging ways. He also approves of the variety of questions, as some didn’t leave him inspired. “Overall,” he says, “I was satised and I think that these account for a lot more in my acceptance at Tufts than a number of other factors. I took advantage of the liberty to expose elements I wouldn’t have placed anywhere else in my application, which should be what is expected of us.” Dean Cofn explains that this question — which he believes to be the hardest — was designed for students with good grades in history. “You got the A in AP history. You demonstrated mastery of [the subject]. We see the transcript,” he says. “Now, show us how you use what you learn. And the ones who did that question really well really hit a home run. I see that A and you did absorb something. Now I’ve got another way of thinking about this transcript.” Dean Cofn was also impressed with responses to a short story prompt. “I’d never worked in an admissions process where we invited students to do a short story,” he said. “The kids who chose that one tended to really emerge in a much more creative way.” On the 2012 set of questions, the one dealing with human narrative is in his view the most difcult. Yet he emphasizes that if Tufts is trying to enroll “a crackerjack freshman class, the hard questions shouldn’t intimidate them.” This year Admissions was careful to include questions that appealed more directly to engineers, something that was omitted in last year’s set. “Think about some scientic issue that faces us. That’s a wisdom prompt,” explains Dean Cofn. “Creativity in engineering is the hallmark of the degree. How do you nd new solutions with technology? The math scores are really big, but how do you use that quantitative ability to answer
Dening Intelligence Analytical intelligence “involves skills used to analyze, evaluate, judge, or compare and contrast. It is typically used when processing components are applied to relatively familiar kinds of problems that require abstract judgments.” Practical intelligence “involves skilled used to implement, apply, or put into practice ideas in real-world contexts. It involves individuals applying their abilities to the kinds of dailiy problems they confront on the job or at home. Practical intelligence is the application of the components of intelligence to experience to (a) adapt to, (b) shape, and (c) select environments.” Creative intelligence “involves skills used to create, invent, discover, imagine, suppose, or hypothesize. Tests of creative intelligence go beyond tests of analytical intelligence in measuring performance on tasks that require individuals to deal with relatively novel situations.” Wisdom “is in large part a decision to used one’s intelligence, creativity, and experience for a common good. Wise leaders skillfully balance interests of varying kinds, including their own, those of their followers, and those of they organization for which they are responsible. Giftedness in widsom is a matter of balance: skillful balance of the various interests and of the short and long terms in making decisions.” a riddle? How do you make China clean? That’s active citizenship, it’s creativity, it’s analytical.” Why Here? Dean Sternberg arrived at Tufts in 2005 after a long career at Yale. He wanted to continue his research at an institution that completely suited the themes he was studying. Tufts is arguably the best place to be asking Kaleidoscope’s founding question: How do you admit people who are interested in and have a great probability of being future leaders? An important thing to remember about Kaleidoscope, according to Dean Cofn, is that it is in harmony with the rest of Tufts’ mission. “I couldn’t point to anyone and say they got in because of Kaleidoscope,” says Dean Cofn, “It was more nuanced. It was part of our work, no more than you can say: Who got in because of their perfect math score? We don’t make decisions like that. There are a lot of different layers; Kaleidoscope becoming another layer.” “Part of what Tufts is about is innovation and transformation, and there are many other things going on too,” says Dean Sternberg. Increased scholarship aid [see article on page 8], expanding the faculty size, enhancing standards for hiring, as well as Kaleidoscope’s new vision are all part of a larger picture of how to make Tufts a leading
institution beyond where it is right now. According to Dean Sternberg, one is not born a gifted leader; rather, it is our environment that inuences to what extent we use and develop the natural abilities we have. “Tufts’ strength is developing people for positive leadership roles in the world,” he says. “Different schools attract people with different kinds of visions of where they want to go. And it’s not that one vision is more valid than the other, it’s just different.” He continues: “What we tend to attract is people who are interested in leadership positions dened in a Tufts way. We look for people who have the motivations and the skills for leadership, realizing that these are modiable. Abilities are things that you can improve through education. They come here to improve their skills and motivations. Kaleidoscope is just a special case of what Tufts is about. It’s part of the fabric of what makes Tufts what it is. It’s also a way of sending a message that we, as a school, believe that there’s much more to a student than just SATs and grades. That’s the beginning, but it’s not the end.” Tufts has been praised for focusing on its true purpose. If colleges are meant to open students up to the world around them and teach them to be intelligent in many different ways, why does the very process that screens for candidates rely solely on September 21, 2007
THE OBSERVER
5
their ability to nd grammar mistakes? In this sense, Tufts has moved closer to the real objectives of higher learning. Dean Sternberg repeatedly stresses that a good analyst does not equal a good leader, and that under times of stress, experience (i.e., practical intelligence) serves a person better than analytical skills. Gifted leaders do not necessarily have high SAT scores. For this reason, Dean Sternberg argues that we should expand our conception of what makes a person gifted and we should do so at a young age. “It’s not a story about high SATs and GPAs,” he says. “But that’s not to say that these things don’t matter. You need some
level of academic analytical ability to do the work here or anywhere else. I’m not one of those people who’s against grades and tests. I just think that it’s a pretty limited story.” The Kaleidoscope method may help to better probe for that quality oh-sospecial to Tufts: leadership potential. According to Dean Sternberg, “the purpose of undergraduate education is to produce the next generation of leaders, where you dene leaders as people who make a positive difference in the world, so the world is a better place for them having been in it.” Leadership, he says, is not necessarily about being a CEO or a president.
Kaleidoscope Questions for Next Year 1. In The Happy Life, Charles Eliot called books “the quietest and most constant of friends…the most accessible and wisest of counselors, and the most patient of teachers.” What work of ction or non-ction changed the way you live or the way you see the world? Why? 2. Thomas Edison believed invention required “a good imagination and a pile of junk.” What inspires your original thinking? How might you apply your ingenuity to serve the common good and make a difference in society? 3. The human narrative is replete with memorable characters like America’s Johnny Appleseed, ancient Greece’s Perseus or the Fox Spirits of East Asia. Imagine one of humanity’s storied gures is alive and working in the world today. Why does Eric the Red have a desk job? Would Shiva be a general or a diplomat? Is Quetzalcoatl trapped in a zoo? In short, connect your chosen gure to the contemporary world and imagine the life he/she/it might lead. 4. Engineers and scientists like astronomer Edwin Powell Hubble discover new solutions to contemporary issues. “Equipped with his ve senses,” Hubble said, “man explores the universe around him and calls the adventure Science.” Using your knowledge of scientic principles, identify “an adventure” in science you would like to study and tell us how you would design an investigation to address it. What solution do you hope to nd and why? 5. Create a short story using one of the following topics: a. One Way Ticket b. “Do Not Push” c. Toast d. The Back Seat on the School Bus e. Something’s Not Right... 6. Every day, people make decisions that force them beyond their comfort levels. Perhaps you moved to a different country or left behind your neighborhood friends to attend a school outside your home district. Maybe you have a political, social or cultural viewpoint that is not shared by the rest of your school, family or community. Where did you nd the courage to create a better opportunity for yourself or others? How did you nd the voice to stand up for something in which you passionately believed? Why did you persevere when the odds were against you? 7. Use an 8.5 x 11 inch sheet of paper to create something. You can blueprint your future home, create a new product, design a costume or a theatrical set, compose a score or do something entirely different. Let your imagination wander. 8. What is more interesting: gorillas or guerillas? 6
THE OBSERVER
September 21, 2007
Tufts’ vision marks the difference between being good in a certain subject and being a leader in that eld. Dean Sternberg argues that great leaders inherently possess a synthesis of creative skills, practical and analytical intelligence, and wisdom (known in his theory as WICS: Wisdom-IntelligenceCreativity-Synthesized). In accordance with its mantra, Tufts is selecting students with abilities that will help them become new leaders for a changing world. For Dean Sternberg, a truly great leader must possess these four attributes. “You want people who have the creativity to have a vision, to see where their society should go,” he says. “Second, the academic analytical ability to be able to say whether the vision is a good one. Hitler had a vision, Stalin had a vision. They were just bad ones. So you need to be able to ask yourself: Is this good? “The third thing you need is the practical ability to execute your vision and to persuade others of its value,” he says. “The last thing you need is the wisdom to ensure that your ideas are for a common good and not just for you or your family or people in your profession.” Dean Coffin echoes this statement when he asks: “What is active citizenship if not wisdom?” Leadership in the Classroom Dean Sternberg’s theories encompass successful intelligence in the classroom: students should build on their strengths and learn in ways that develop and boost non-traditional thinking. In his view, intelligence bears a broader denition: teaching for successful intelligence in the classroom builds students’ capabilities for more success in life. This method goes far beyond “teaching for the test” (emphasizing analysis and remembered knowledge). He is quick to state that there is no one way of teaching, or of dening intelligence and even measuring it in a student or his or her performance. What has been shown is that students taught in expanded and more creative ways do better on all exams, on average, than students taught within the traditional system—even exams that test remembered knowledge. He encourages educators to teach analytically, creatively, and practically. Students must develop critical thinking, but also their imaginations, their desire to innovate, and their practical knowledge.
His experiments showed that groups of more creative and practical students were more ethnically and socioeconomically diverse than those who achieved in the analytical category. Minority populations were thus able to prove themselves as potentially successful leaders once the criteria was expanded to include other “intellectual strengths.”
in African-Americans accepted, an increase in Hispanic-Americans, an increase in SAT scores, an increase in class rank, and you have people showing that they can write really creative or practical or wisdom-based essays,” he says. “I don’t think that’s just rearranging the same chairs. And [we are coupling] Kaleidoscope with the CELT program to design our teaching to help
“I have followed Tufts’ new admission project with great interest as I have always thought that it was important to nd different ways of assessing a student’s intellect, abilities and potential beyond the usual testing, grades and essays,” says Martha Merrill, the dean of admissions at Connecticut College, in an e-mail. “I will be interested in learning the results of the admission ofce’s work in the
“The purpose of undergraduate education is to produce the next generation of leaders.” In July 2006, the Center for the Enhancement of Learning and Teaching (CELT) opened with the goal of helping faculty improve their teaching skills. “Part of what the program entails is learning how to teach in ways that respond to creative learners, practical learners, analytical learners,” says Dean Sternberg. The Psychology of Abilities, Competencies, and Expertise Center (PACE) is the other institution at Tufts spearheading Dean Sternberg’s theories. As its website explains, the center was built on the idea that a person’s abilities, competencies and expertise are connected and their study should be also. PACE follows the principle that all three social constructs are “exible and modiable in nature.” The investigative part of both the Kaleidoscope and Rainbow projects took place there. Their current projects all relate in some way to Dean Sternberg’s research. PACE will also be responsible for monitoring the performance of the class of 2011. They will compare those who were admitted due to high Kaleidoscope ratings to those who may have been overall as strong but who were accepted for other reasons. Kaleidoscope’s Critics There hasn’t been very much criticism of Tufts’ methods. Nonetheless, some academic websites and blog postings have referred to the fact that this will only “reorganize the chairs in the room,” meaning the end result will be more or less the same pool of incoming freshmen. Dean Sternberg is not preoccupied. “Anyone can say anything they want, but the data is the data, and I believe that we have data that show a 30 percent increase
kids capitalize on strengths and develop their weaknesses.” As someone who has spent so many years studying creativity, Dean Sternberg has some wise words. “If you do anything and everyone likes it, then the one thing you know is that it is not very creative,” he says. “Creativity always involves defying the crowd. I don’t see criticism as a bad thing, sometimes from criticism you get the best suggestions about what you’re doing.” Dean Cofn is certain that Kaleidoscope’s methods helped Admissions a great deal. “Even if, from a social science standpoint, Dean Sternberg’s research didn’t do anything, I would say that it added a really valuable dimension by introducing fresh writing and a voice that helped the admission ofcers understand a student in a new way,” he says. The common application in the electronic form has made it very easy for applicants to apply to too many colleges. The 2011 freshman class is bigger than Tufts expected in part because it is impossible to calculate how many accepted students will choose to attend. In such a situation, more information about a candidate is almost always better. “Many high schools are dropping class rank,” Dean Cofn says. “They don’t report a GPA; some places have eliminated the SAT. When all of those traditional markers get removed, what’s left? You take all that away and it’s more subjective, not less.” The scientic aspect of Kaleidoscope has given the program credibility and has admissions ofcers at many universities awaiting the experiment’s results.
coming years.” Her views echo those of her peers around the country, as Tufts prepares for the next round of applications. There are no plans for the questions to become mandatory, though Dean Cofn believes that something like Kaleidoscope will quickly become a fundamental part of university admissions policy. “I like the idea of keeping it open-ended, saying to students: if you want to do it, do it,” he says. As for the feedback from applicants, it has been overwhelmingly positive. “The kids told us: ‘These were hard questions, but they were fun,’” he says. “What we didn’t anticipate was the idea that these essays said something really important about
JULIA BOURQUE
Tufts. That we wanted smart kids who are able to think outside the box. That was the unintended message that came through. The guidance counselors told us that, the parents told us that. They said: ‘You made me think.’” O September 21, 2007
THE OBSERVER
7
Cashing In on Diversity How the capital campaign helped shape the class of 2011 BY MARY JO A. PHAM
T
ufts looks a good deal different than it used to. The University is going “Beyond Boundaries” with President Lawrence Bacow’s capital campaign to raise $1.2 billion, and need-blind admissions stands out among the top funding priorities. As a result, the incoming freshman class is more diverse than any in the school’s history. The campaign was officially announced last November. Already, the class of 2011—the largest in Tufts’ history—has begun to reap the nancial and diversity benets of nearly need-blind admissions. A full need-blind policy would allow the ofce of undergraduate admissions to review applications and grant acceptance without factoring in whether or not a prospective student can afford tuition at Tufts. As of now, however, the University’s ofcial admissions policy status is “need-aware.” It is hopeful that the “need-aware” admissions policy will soon change to “needblind” for good. Of the 1,375 students that matriculated in 2007, nearly 40 percent are receiving nancial aid grants. Ten percent 8
THE OBSERVER
Septmeber 21, 2007
of the freshman class was granted a Pell grant, the federal government’s education program for low-income families. In this rst-year class, 27 percent are students of color and there are over 37 countries represented. University ofcials do not see these gures and the money that has poured in as coincidental. “On a scale of one to ten, with one being little to no nancial aid and ten being completely need-blind, I would say that we’re at an eight. We’re almost there,” says dean of admissions Lee Cofn in a recent interview with the Observer. Students: Feeling the Difference Many current freshmen appreciate the change in nancial aid policy. “I think it’s one of the most important things for a university to give to its students,” says Noriko Aizawa (A’11). “The majority of students can’t afford a full tuition bill. I know so many people who didn’t go to a university that they wanted to go to and were accepted because the university didn’t give them enough money.” Ms. Aizawa related a question that
some students ask: “What has our world come to, when college tuition is so expensive that only those who [are] privileged have the money to go to college?” Classmate Adham B. Azab (A’11) agrees. “Of course, the efforts to ensure need-blind admissions are completely necessary,” he says. “As far as my nancial aid package goes, Tufts was one of the most generous and fairest of all universities.” “They were willing to discuss my aid package with me and make adjustments as necessary,” he says. “Without Tufts’ efforts to increase their nancial aid endowment, I probably wouldn’t even be going to college.” Others, however, have a more negative experience. One freshman, who preferred to remain anonymous, talked about how an attempt to negotiate the fall tuition invoice with the nancial aid ofce proceeded. “I felt like there wasn’t any negotiation,” the student says. “When I called, I found out that I was missing information. I felt like I didn’t receive a response from them. They told me to submit some more papers, but it wasn’t like they called me to tell me so.”
“I don’t believe I asked for much. Something had just happened in my family, and if they had reduced the bill even by $1,000, it would’ve helped a lot,” the student says. The student, however, does approve of the need-blind admissions initiative. “The individual is a part of the school, and when you don’t meet the individual’s needs, you hurt the individual and in some part, you hurt the school,” the student continues. “Going for need-blind admissions is a big stepping stone for such a small university like Tufts. It’s a good initiative. I have beneted from it in some way, and I understand. The student worries, however, that the fact that so many students were accepted and a lot were given nancial aid means that not everyone can get enough nancial aid.” Making the Difference: Social and Economic Dynamics The campaign’s primary objective is to raise more money for nancial aid, and there have been new changes in the admissions process to attract low-income applicants. A comparison between the current incoming class and last year’s can put this year’s increased nancial resources into perspective. “Out of the class of 2010, 431 freshmen received grants. In the class of 2011, there are 529 grant recipients,” says Dean Cofn. “That’s 98 more students receiving grants, a big increase in one year.” An improved nancial resource pool is also one of the greatest reasons the class of 2011 is of record size—the largest in the University’s history. To explain the signicant differences in the admissions process for the class of 2011, Dean Cofn outlined the three indispensable elements that contributed to such a diverse freshman class. “Two years ago, we did a comprehensive market and communication study, which lead to the current view book we have now. The way we talked about Tufts would be different—is different,” and for the better, Dean Cofn explained. In addition to the new view book, Dean Cofn discussed on the inuence of a new Tufts supplemental application, which included the new Kaleidoscope component [see article on page 2]. The third and nal element was the
increase in nancial aid resources. The campaign kicked up and really started with a $25 million gift from Pierre Omidyar (A’88), Tufts alumus and founder of eBay. “The gift was invested in our endowment, to pump resources to the admissions ofce,” says Dean Cofn. The interest from that gift is used directly for nancial aid grants. Consequently, for the class of 2011, there was a substantial increase in the nancial aid resources. More than $12.5 million was available in grant money in comparison to the $10 million that was available to the class of 2010 two years ago. More money from the capital campaign means that the admissions selection process will be less restricted by economic status. “Recruiting classes means not having to ask, ‘can we afford this?’ This past year, there were so many more resources to accept more students,” Dean Cofn says. The Old “Ugly Hoops” The previous years of admissions differ radically from the most recent two. Boundaries were tight when the admissions ofce reviewed applications for this year’s graduating class, the class of 2008. Dean Cofn recalled how difcult it was to admit those students, as they presented particularly increased nancial aid needs. Over 50 percent of the applicant pool required nancial aid; the admissions ofce had to jump through what Dean Cofn called “ugly hoops.” “We had to see and review which student was less competitive. Of the students, we had to see if there was a quality match between their interests and ours.”
Many colleges and universities in the country separate admissions applications into two piles — those with nancial aid needs, and those without. With the admissions procedures of the past two classes, the Tufts admissions ofce hopes to move away of such methods and join a handful of schools, including Swarthmore, Yale and Brown, that offer need-blind admissions. The formal admissions policy is “needs-sensitive,” says Dean Cofn. In the past two years, his team has managed to read applications with a near need-blind policy. Even so, the University accepted the class of 2010 essentially need-blindly. Dean Cofn says it cannot be announced publicly because the endowment is not sufcient to sustain such a claim. With the addition of a need-blind policy, will the admissions ofce raise its expectations for prospective students? It seems that the caliber will always be high. “We want smart kids,” says Dean Cofn. “Academic achievement by far is the most important criterion, it’s the common denominator. But there are a lot of smart kids. From the smart group, we’re searching for intellectual citizenship, my spin on active citizenship. These students are active in the classroom, and outside of the classroom. They ask ‘How can I contribute to progress?’” The Sobering Part of the Campaign Tufts prides itself on its commitment to meeting four years of need-based aid for undergraduate students. “Financial aid is
RYAN STOLP September 21, 2007
THE OBSERVER
9
denitely a commitment, where we meet 100 percent of a family’s demonstrated need,” says Dean Cofn. Currently, Dean Cofn estimates that all undergraduate class years are sharing about $42 million in nancial aid. When it comes to raising money, the university has the challenges of securing enough aid endowment devoted to aid for now and the future. “That’s the sobering part of it,” says Dean Cofn. Such a commitment, he notes, requires endless work and fundraising. The obvious question is: Why work so hard to campaign for nancial aid funding when there are smart and worldly students who can and are willing to pay the full price? “ I t ’s t h e mission of Tufts,” Dean C o f f i n s a y s, smiling. “Our mission says that we will accept the sons and daughters of those from different backgrounds, for broad diversity. Such goals are consistent with the 1852 charter of our school. It’s the right thing to do.” The Ofce of Undergraduate Admissions has a goal of raising at least $200 million for admissions resources by the time the campaign ends in 2011. The money raised will further ensure the university’s commitment to meeting 100 percent of students’ demonstrated need. Even with increased resources, the admissions and nancial aid ofces overspent. “We still spent every penny,” says Dean Cofn, grinning. “We went over [by] about $500,000 in nancial aid.”
be divided and allocated for priorities like “supporting the student experience, fostering an outstanding faculty, building and enhancing the physical infrastructure, annual support for current initiatives and supporting academic innovation.” Of the $1.2 billion, $200 million is needed for the University’s endowment fund. The amount would directly fund undergraduate admissions. The proceeds from the capital campaign will benet “endowed professorships, new centers and programs, facilities across campus such as new residence halls, athletic facilities and laboratory space, and improved classrooms.”
the dean remarked. “But, it’s a long term goal, a very long term goal. That is something that the international overseers on the board are hoping to promote and implement. That would be the ultimate.” While the university may be close to being need-blind, it is also far from lowering its tuition costs. Dean Cofn estimates that the price tag for college and university tuition generally increases by 3 percent to 5 percent per year. If the minimum estimated increase were to occur, in ten years, Tufts would cost about $63,440. Changes in winter weather, renovations of older buildings, and the rising cost of living have much to do with tuition increases. Perhaps that should be the next step: lowering tuition costs across the board. Before another plan can be realized however, the Beyond Boundaries campaign is at hand and is scheduled to be ongoing until 2011, when the freshman class graduates. “When you can attract great faculty and outstanding students and give them great facilities in which to interact, you forge innovative answers to serious human challenges,” says Mr. Simoneau. “You can push the boundaries of knowledge and impact generations of leaders. You can work across disciplines to address compelling problems. You can balance the intellectual intensity of a major research university with the warm, inspired teaching of a college that celebrates the liberal arts. You can ingrain the passion of active citizenship, propelling leaders across the global landscape to share the values of Tufts.” Need-blind admissions is quite a goal to aspire to, considering that Tufts has the smallest endowment out of the U.S. News and World Report’s top 30 universities. But regardless of rankings, there has been progress. The university has more than halfway met the challenge as of August 2007: over $683 million had been raised. There is a reason, says Mr. Simoneau, why the campaign has the name it does. As he explains, “You can go beyond boundaries to offer Tufts’ true potential in service to the world.” O
“Without Tufts’ efforts to increase their nancial aid endowment, I probably wouldn’t even be going
Meeting the Benchmark for Success “The goal is to raise $1.2 billion by 2011,” says Chris Simoneau, Tufts’ capital campaign manager, in an e-mail. The pressure to provide more resources and opportunities for students and faculty is high. Also, “Many leading institutions of higher education are needblind in their admissions process, and this is what Tufts hopes to accomplish during this campaign,” says Mr. Simoneau. According to the Beyond Boundaries campaign website, the $1.2 billion will 10
THE OBSERVER
September 21, 2007
to college.”
Mr. Simoneau noted that “Tufts has a range of needs across all of its schools and programs.” He adds,“The Beyond Boundaries campaign objective is to achieve the resources to make the vision of the president, provost, and deans possible.” A Need-Blind Future Campaign leaders believe that in order to remain a leading research university, Tufts must constantly invest in its people and infrastructure. With more nancial resources, the university hopes to continue instilling values of global scholarship and citizenship. In order to secure such global citizenship, wouldn’t Tufts prioritize installing need-blind admissions for international students, a process already in place at MIT and Harvard? When asked about need-blind admissions for international students, Dean Cofn explained that “nancial aid for international students is different, since, legally, they cannot receive any of the federal grants U.S. citizens can receive, and they can’t get work study grants and more. So it’s difcult, it would have to be a full grant of about $48,000.” Despite being difcult though, it is possible. “There are a few of those grants,”
Beating Bias with Education
ERIN BALDASSARI
BY EMILY MARETSKY
F
or many students, college is the rst time they have ever come into contact with people from different races, socioeconomic backgrounds, or even political afliations. For quite a few of them, the transition isn’t easy. So many students, for example, throw around the word “ghetto” when describing their beat-up microwave or their old car from home. But what if someone overheard their conversation? If they happened to grow up in low-income area, how would they feel about that description? That’s where BEAT Bias comes in: to teach fellow students to be more aware of the respective backgrounds of others. The goal of the Bias Education and Awareness Team — BEAT Bias — is to educate Tufts students about tolerance and diversity. The group’s role is not to be confused with that of Judicial Affairs, as it deals solely in preventing bias incidents and is not involved in the punishment of perpetrators. Within the BEAT Bias framework, dedicated students lead open dialogues and perform skits with the goal of generating awareness amongst their peers. Members aim to unite
the Tufts campus and educate students about diversity. Many incoming freshmen have so far only experienced their own homogenous upbringing. “This is the rst time that some people have met a group of gay people, a group of Jewish students, or other people different than them,” says senior and BEAT Bias member, Michael Richardson. Often, students make comments, tell jokes, and call each other names, not realizing that it is potentially hurtful to other people. BEAT Bias hopes that through its work, students will become more aware of what they say and how they act. “In my opinion, incidents of bias occur because of hate, ignorance, little understanding of the experiences of people who are different from us, fear — when you fear something or someone you may be more likely to strike with words or actions,” says Marisel Perez, associate dean of students and a BEAT Bias advisor. “Ignorance plays a role in not understanding or realizing how one’s words and actions affect others.” BEAT Bias is the product of the evolution of several campus groups with similar goals [see inset on page 12]. “The Bias Initiative began when I was hired in 2001,” says Ms.
Perez. Prior to that, past University president John DiBiaggio formed a task force on race. Ms. Perez explains the shortcomings of that rst group, mainly the fact that it was “purely based on race…there wasn’t an institutional response to other bias issues.” The need to create ways to educate the community about tolerance and diversity (as opposed to just punishing perpetrators) remained. Soon after, a group called the Bias Response Team was formed, mainly composed of administrators like Ms. Perez, as well as two representatives from the TCU Senate. “Still,” she says, “Tufts needed more.” The Bias Response Team just documented bias issues instead of educating the Tufts community, as was its original intention. “We thought, ‘What can we do to be more proactive?’” She began brainstorming ideas for a new group and eventually realized that “having students speak to other students would be more effective than administrators giving lectures.” She proposed the idea of a peer education program to the Diversity Fund, and soon enough, BEAT Bias was born. The current group of seven students is involved in a variety of events. They help with RA training by leading an activity called September 21, 2007
THE OBSERVER
11
The Prosecution of Bias A bias incident, or any incident that violates a Tufts policy, needs to be reported to one of the following “campus judicial mechanisms”: The Residential Judiciary Board consists of two RDs and three student residential judiciary board members, and is convened by the Assistant Director of Community and Judicial Affairs. The body looks at issues within residential facilities and can make resolutions that affect housing eligibility. It can refer cases to University Judicial Affairs Ofcer for further punishment. The Fraternity and Sorority Judiciary Board consists of members of the Tufts Greek community. It holds hearings when a University or fraternity/sorority policy has been violated. They cannot impose disciplinary action, but can refer individuals to the Judicial Affairs Ofcer. The TCU Judiciary hears cases concerning the TCU Constitution. Complaints can be brought against individuals or student organizations. It cannot impose University disciplinary action on individual students, but may refer cases to the Ofce of the Dean of Student Affairs is action is appropriate. Members are elected by the student body. The Dean of Student Affairs Judiciary hears cases from individuals or groups of students (but not student organizations). The DoSA approves a panel’s determination of a violation and usually is guided by the panel’s recommendation for consequences. This panel is made up of 3 Tufts administration/faculty and two student members from the TCU Judiciary. The Committee on Student Life has jurisdiction over complaints against student organizations (except Greeks) and appeals of decisions made by the TCU Judicial and Dean of Student Affairs Judicial or the Judicial Affairs Ofcer. The CSL hears cases regarding behavioral violations and/or violations of University, state or federal laws. It imposes its own consequences. This committee DOES NOT take initial disciplinary action. The Dean of Undergraduate Education hears appeals of decisions made by the Committee on Student Life. Behind Closed Doors, in which they expose RAs to potential bias situations by acting out scenarios in dorm rooms. The RA learns to appropriately respond to situations that could arise during the school year. BEAT Bias also performed skits relating to diversity during freshman orientation at the Many Stories, One Community event. The themes they addressed ranged from misinterpretations of culture, to political issues, to emphasizing the fact that cultural houses on campus are open to all students, regardless of background. Mr. Richardson explains that these houses, such as the Africana House or Start House, and groups like Hillel or the Filipino Cultural Society, often have open events, but only students associated with those cultures attend. These culture groups don’t exist to segregate people, but rather to try to introduce students to other cultures and traditions. Mr. Richardson, who is also the president of Multiracial Organization of Students at Tufts (MOST), is trying to team up with other frustrated group leaders. The new group would be comprised of cultural group leaders working together to promote each other’s events. 12
THE OBSERVER
September 21, 2007
BEAT Bias attended Tufts’ town meetings about diversity in hopes of promoting an open forum about race and bias. After the uproar following the Primary Source carol, the group was asked to intervene and talk to students at the town meeting. Members acted out mini-segments on diversity and talked with students offended by the publication. In the future, they expect to continue their work while also looking to do more outreach projects. Incidents on campus aren’t limited to Primary Source articles or blatant racial slurs. “I would say that there is little [intentional] bias on campus, but a lot of ignorance,” says Richardson. He gives as an example an incident that occurred at Hotung Café once, when a group of students dressed up like pilgrims and Indians walked in and shouted war cries. They didn’t see the Native American student who was sitting nearby, or realize how they made her feel. The students probably did not intentionally try to offend anyone, but they never stopped to think about who they were affecting. “[Bias incidents] remind people that
they’re different,” Ms. Perez says. “They ask, ‘Is this my community?’” She also highlights the “lack of awareness; not understanding that the n-word, while used in music, means something different when written on a dorm wall.” She continues: “It’s like when you step on someone’s toes by accident, unintentionally, it does not mean it did not hurt them. Ignoring or labeling the act as accidental or meaningless only makes the pain worse and hurt on a much deeper level.” Through their skits and discussions with students, BEAT Bias tries to make them aware of the effects of their behavior, as well as the need to empathize with others. The group stresses that they are not the “bias police,” as they are not involved in reporting or prosecuting reported incidents. According to the ofcial denition in the Pachyderm, “A bias incident is dened at Tufts as any act directed against a person or property that includes the use of slurs or epithets expressing bias on the basis of race, gender, religion, national or ethnic origin, sexual orientation, gender identity and expression, age or disability.” Reports of bias in the Primary Source are usually submitted through Web Center, and judiciary action is taken from there. However, bias incidents at Tufts do not always go through Judicial Affairs. According to Judicial Affairs ofcer Veronica Carter, “The judicial affairs ofce will only accept complaints or concerns about behavior that violates university policy or state or other law. A bias incident may or may not meet these criteria.” Different incidents go through different adjudicatory bodies on campus, but all go through “same basic process and procedural guarantees.” Whether or not punishments educate the perpetrators or deter additional incidents is debatable. In the future, BEAT Bias would like to work with perpetrators who have committed bias offences. By continuing their goal of education, the group wants to show offenders that their behavior or comments negatively affect those around them. “We don’t want people to be on edge, but just to think about things,” says Ms. Perez. “We’re committed to making sure when you do express yourself, you do it with respect.” In the meantime, BEAT Bias will continue brainstorming new ways to create space for students to talk about diversity issues. Ms. Perez also encourages all students to check Web Center to report any bias incidents and to check the list of all bias incidents reported on campus. O
Diversity, Across the Institution BY CHASE WEBBER
F
or Jumbos who grew up with Spin Zone shock talk and Crossre cajolery, another day of red and yellow ashes on TV news tickers is nothing special. That is, until this blurb comes rolling across the bottom of the screen: PARODY THAT MISFIRED: RACIST XMAS CAROL IN STUDENT MAGAZINE AT TUFTS UNIVERSITY. After more than a month of heated on-campus discussion over diversity and free speech surrounding the carol, President Larry Bacow sent a special e-mail announcement to the entire Tufts community. His message heralded the creation of a new centralized ofce to coordinate diversity-promoting efforts throughout the entire university — the Ofce of Institutional Diversity — and its rst executive director, Lisa Coleman, the director of the Africana Center for the past eight years. How will the Ofce of Institutional Diversity (OID) serve the Tufts community? Dr. Coleman, at the helm of the OID, meets and works directly with members of the administration who have the biggest say when it comes to Tufts’ current course and mission. She meets with the deans of all of the schools and reports to the president on how the University supports multilateral diversity. “My ofce signals the University — staff, students and faculty — on ways to improve,” she says. Dr. Coleman sees promising organizational strength already in diversity programs in many of the Tufts schools individually. Her work involves linking together what’s already there. “Most institutions have the undergraduate and graduate [diversity] student groups,” she says. “You have the funding opportunities, such as the diversity fund or other grants.” She explains that, because many of these programs are disconnected, her job is to identify them and link them throughout the university. But just because her ofce encompasses many programs does not mean that Dr. Coleman takes the same approach to all components of the school. She says part of her job is to answer certain important questions: “Here’s the scope of diversity, and what are
we trying to say? Are we saying the same thing with students, faculty, and staff? Do we want to say the same thing?” The OID may play its largest role in how it shapes the administration’s perspective on race and diversity, forming one strong voice out of many, silencing none of them. The effects of Dr. Coleman’s work on behalf of institutional diversity will most likely reach individuals at all levels of the Tufts community, directly or indirectly. What is Diversity? How exactly does the OID dene diversity? Dr. Coleman stresses the distinction between compliance, or the legal aspect of diversity, which takes its cue from federal court decisions, and the educational component that promotes openness and diversity of thought in the classroom.
According to Dr. Coleman, the OID’s legal working denition of diversity is contained in the University’s non-discrimination policy, which says that the University will not “discriminate on the basis of race, color, national or ethnic origin, age, religion, disability, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity and expression, or status as a veteran.” However, Dr. Coleman has something broader than this in mind for the future. “We are in the process of developing a more comprehensive denition,” she says. “Do we want to dene it differently for the undergrads, than for the graduate students, or for the faculty and staff? Historically, that’s what we’ve done.
We have varying definitions within each school. I want to keep some of that, but I also want an over-arching denition. But I don’t want it to just come from me. I want it to come from the pieces that are already out there, [which is why] I have two committees that are looking at those denitions across the schools.” Dr. Coleman believes that the OID will largely look within Tufts to learn how to broaden that denition, from the protection by law of underrepresented groups to the development of dynamic educational approaches to diversity. At a Crossroads Dr. Coleman takes the lead at the Ofce of Institutional Diversity at a critical moment for diversity at Tufts. Trying to forget what Dr. Coleman calls the “debacle” of last December, the administration has made considerable efforts to regain the trust of African-American students and essentially everyone whom the article offended or hurt. Postsecondary institutions have been working to address both the legal and educational facets of diversity. According to Dr. Coleman, many — if not all — of the top 25 schools in the country have opted for a more centralized approach, appointing a senior ofcer to work directly with the upper level administration in the interest of campus-wide diversity. But what is the state of Tufts when it comes to diversity, seven months after the establishment of the OID? Dr. Coleman is optimistic. “We’re doing really well, and there are some things that are challenging that we do need to work on,” she says. “You look at issues of gender, you look at what we’ve done with LGBT constituency groups. Are we doing the best job? No. But we’re doing a pretty good job. I’m not saying that people don’t experience discrimination based on their gender, their sexual identity, or sexual orientation. But I think we have really made strides.” She is proud of successful measures in diversity enrollment on the undergraduate level [see related articles on pages 2 and 8]. Twenty-six percent of students enrolling in the Class of 2011 described themselves as “students of color,” not including internaContinued on following page September 21, 2007
THE OBSERVER
13
Bite-size news you might have missed since our last issue. The Money Points Left ufts faculty members have donated over $6,000 to current Democratic presidential candidates over the course of the campaign, according to the Federal Election Commission and the Center for Representative Politics. Hilary Clinton and Barack Obama have garnered the most funding, although President Larry Bacow has given to the campaign of Tufts alum and board member Bill Richardson.
T
Tufts Employee Arrested enneth Hall, a former employee at the Ofce of Residential Life and Learning, was recently sentenced to two to four years in a state prison after being convicted as a sex offender. He was arraigned in 2004, but hired by Tufts some time after that. Mr. Hall’s position did not require a background check.
K
Fresh Senators reshmen Manny Adumbire, Katy Simon, Sam Wallis, Chas Morrison, Yin Lin, Lauren Levine, and Laura Pacici were elected to the student Senate. Twenty-seven candidates ran for the seven spots, the most
F
competitive election in Tufts history. Also, a record number of students voted in the election. New Campus Crisis Reponse n September 19, Tufts will launch Send Word Now, a safety program designed to notify students of widespread campus emergencies. Administrators pursued this program in response to the Virginia Tech massacre. Students are advised to register their cell phone numbers and preferred e-mail addresses into a secure online database. In case of a campus emergency, a message will be sent to all of these mobile devices, instructing those registered about what to do.
O
Prof. Gill’s Memorial he Tufts community will gather on September 24 to celebrate the life of Gerald Gill, the longtime history professor who passed away suddenly this summer. The service will be held at 12:15 p.m. in Cohen Auditorium.
T
- Compiled by Kate Schimmer
TCU Watch The rst Senate meeting will be held on September 23 at 7:00 pm in Sophia Gordon Hall. Judiciary Challenges Election Process he Tufts Community Union (TCU) Judiciary passed a resolution last week that called on the TCU Elections Commission (ECOM) to “begin normal election procedures” and “move all election deadlines forward” if a seat drops down to another class because not enough candidates submit the appropriate paperwork to run for election to the Senate. The Judiciary adopted this resolution after Antonella Scareno, a junior, walked onto the Senate (after collecting the required number of signatures to run for the spot) when no seniors applied to ll the vacancy. ECOM did not re-advertise the position when no seniors applied. The resolution passed unanimously on September 12.
T
The Ofce of Institutional Diversity Contined from previous page tional or LGBT students. The applicant pool for the class of 2011 included 25 percent more African-Americans and Latinos than the numbers for the class of 2010. But despite these recent advances in diversity among accepted applicants, the fact remains that just slightly more than seven percent of the Tufts undergraduate student body is African American. Black enrollment here dropped from 90 students in 2005 to 52 in 2006, a 42% drop months before the Christmas carol controversy even started. “Student leaders, keep doing what you’re doing,” she says. “For the most part, when I looked at the response to the Source [incident], I looked at the response across the board on these issues, and they’ve just been doing a tremendous job. So, kudos, keep doing it. For students at large, do that thing that makes you uncomfortable. College is a time to challenge yourself. Diversity will help you build skills for later. I do think it makes us live better together,” she says. “It helps you to deal with people, it doesn’t matter if they’re diverse or not.” The good things Dr. Coleman and the OID accomplish in the future may not make the 24-hour TV news ticker. But Dr. Coleman aims for something more meaningful and enduring than recognition. “We live better together if we know more about one another,” she says. “And that’s both at the individual and collective level.” O 14
THE OBSERVER
September 21, 2007
T
he admissions department at Tufts has the goal of “preparing students to be committed public citizens and future leaders.” An integral part of building “active citizens” is nourishing an academic environment where diversity is sought and students are vigorously seek to learn not only from their professors, but from the experiences of each other. Recent changes in the admission process were hoped to facilitate the development of such a community. In reality, little has been done in the admissions department to prepare students for committed citizenship. Preserving diversity on college campuses is not an enviable task. Admissions ofcers cannot simply ensure that the student body represents all races; true diversity must include differences in geography, socio-economic status, sexual orientation, political leaning, and a multitude of other factors. Afrmative action and need-blind admissions help universities secure limited diversity, but admissions departments struggle to construct incoming classes that have variation in the way students will think, act, and contribute while on campus. The Tufts’ Kaleidoscope Admissions Program aims to promote an expanded denition of diversity. Beginning with the class of 2011, applicants can write an additional essay to showcase talent, ingenuity, or other characteristics that may not be conveyed through their academic les. The optional essay, along with the normal components of the application, allows admissions ofcers to label applicants as possessing creativity, practicality, or wisdom.
Initial admissions statistics imply that the program was a modest success. The percentage of African-American and Latino students rose from the previous year, and SAT scores were the highest ever for an incoming class. These statistics notwithstanding, did labeling students as practical, creative, or wise help the admissions department build a robustly diverse class? As reported in the feature news article, demographic factors besides race remained virtually unchanged in the class of 2011. Even while acknowledging that the Kaleidoscope program is in its developing stages, it is not clear that the addition of an optional short essay can better identify or assess an applicant’s creativity, practicality, or wisdom. Practicality can be identied in a teacher’s letter of recommendation, creativity with an audition tape, and wisdom through a student’s experience and background. This codication of attributes may only be “rearranging the chairs” of a new class. The goal should be increasing the number of active citizens seeking admission who may not have previously considered Tufts as a viable or compatible school. The Kaleidoscope program does not even begin to remedy the real problem behind diversity on campus. Even if it were possible to admit a thoroughly diverse class by tweaking the admissions process, the gains made would be lost if there were not mechanisms in place to promote interaction among students with various backgrounds, opinions, and talents once they matriculate. Tufts has a diverse student body that, in general, remains segregated. Having diversity on campus is more than students being recognizant of differences. It is more than tolerance. It is more than sitting in classrooms or working in groups together. True diversity is achieved when students branch out and actively engage with others who hold conicting opinions, have dissimilar experiences, or possess varied strengths and weaknesses. Sometimes complacency or fear prevents students from seeking exposure to different ways of life. What our campus needs are more students willing to take the rst step. The admissions department could facilitate engaged diversity on campus. Greater emphasis should be placed on applicants willing to absorb and learn from each other’s differences. Admitted students with leadership credentials could arrive early for seminars and workshops designed to promote active diversity in their class. Essay questions in applications could address how a student denes diversity, and ask what he will do to seek out new people, opinions, or experiences while at Tufts. Admissions ofcers can and should continue to seek and reward students who display special talents, have unique histories, or have shown a willingness to embrace opposing views, but that process alone is not enough. Tufts should not only promote a tolerance of diversity, but a willingness to engage it. Until then, any steps taken to matriculate a diversied class will be for naught. O September 21, 2007
EDITORIAL
Admitting Diversity
THE OBSERVER
15
BITCHIN’: What pisses you off most?
BY OLIVIA TEYTELBAUM
This week’s installment of Bitchin’ nds Tuftonians resentful of one of the few free services provided by our administration: the delightfully dubious “Joey.” As ungreatful adolescent scum, we nd it within our rights as students to look this gift horse in the mouth and say with condence, “What the heck is up with the freakin’ Joey?” Didn’t your Mommy teach you better than to complain when given a gift? Then again, if they’re trying to do us a favor, why not do it right? Here’s what a few ingrates say about our shifty shuttle:
I think it’s disgusting that they can’t hire, like, four more drivers, or something. And it never goes often enough on the weekend, either.
• “If you have an evening class [at the Museum School] you have to get going like, two whole hours before the class starts.” -Angry Artist • And last but not least, the following was said in a phone conversation in Davis Square:
“Hey Mom. Yeah, you know, everything’s great about this school, except for one thing — the Joey never comes on time.” -Punctual Prepubescent
WHAT’S YOUR FLAVOR? This week’s JP Licks Flavor of the Week is Apple Crisp, according to a peon of the JP Licks ice cream empire. She cites it as her personal avorite, claiming it “tastes just like apple pie!” The avor is “great for fall, when it’s starting to get cold,” and will really hit the spot with its “hint of cinnamon, and crushed oatmeal cookies for a little bit of crunch.”
PARTY LINE: “What is one thing you wish you were better at?”
Lee Cofn, Dean of Admissions, who incidentally bought his rst cell phone last year, wishes he could “keep up with the times: “Whether it’s Facebook, blackberries, whatever—I’m still a Luddite. I miss the person to person contact. But I’m feeling old. I went on Facebook for the rst time last week just because there was a news story about it and I didn’t know what it was, so I went on a colleague’s prole, and I said, ‘Oh, weird.’” Don’t worry, though, Tufts applicants. Dean Cofn won’t be checking your Facebook prole anytime soon… he’s asked the admissions ofcers to avoid the networking site altogether. Joe Curtatone, Somerville Mayor, wishes his desk (and his mind) was more organized: “It’s very cluttered. But you know, someone said to Einstein, ‘A cluttered desk is the mark of a cluttered mind. So what’s an empty desk?” I’m not saying I’m Einstein, but I always liked that.” 16
THE OBSERVER
September 21, 2007
Samuel DuPont
Trey Kirk
Anna Feldman
The tactics the recording industry uses against music lovers are driving customers away. To stay relevant, argues DANIEL ROSEN, the RIAA needs to embrace the internet and recognize the futility of lawsuits. BY
I
DANIEL ROSEN
n September 2003, the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) led its rst lawsuits against its own customers. Suing individual Americans for downloading music illegally, RIAA launched a fury of lawsuits and a storm of controversy. The RIAA is the industry group of American record companies, from large names like Sony to small labels like Prosthetic Records. According to its own statistics, members create over 90% of legitimate sound recordings in the United States, so chances are that your iPod library is filled with RIAA recordings. The chances are also high that some of your music was illegally obtained—recent statistics show that more than half of all American college students have downloaded music illegally. In response, the industry has begun targeting college students in droves. According to the Electronic Freedom Foundation (EFF), a non-prot dedicated to protecting Americans’ rights online, the RIAA sues over 400 college students a month, including a number of students at Tufts. Unfortunately, there is little students can do if they are targeted by the RIAA for downloading music. When Tufts receives a notice that there is le-sharing occurring on university networks, the university is required by law to turn over the names of offending students. Regardless of how Dean Reitman or other university ofcials claim to feel about cooperating with the industry, Tufts will not provide any legal assistance to students, short of turning over records if they claim they did not actually download any music. The music industry has come under intense criticism over the lawsuits—and rightfully so. In an attempt to bolster prots, the industry resorts to scare tactics reminiscent of extortion. Furthermore, the RIAA does
OPINION
RIAA: Recording Industry Assholes of America not discriminate when ling lawsuits—it will sue music lovers regardless of their age, income status, or how frequently they have downloaded. It has even led lawsuits against the deceased. Despite the lawsuits, illegal music downloading continues to increase. Since the lawsuits began, the number of Americans downloading music has more than tripled. At the present time, however, it seems unlikely that the RIAA will stop suing, even if their tactics remain
be transferred to an iPod or other portable music device. Despite the availability of Ruckus and services like iTunes, students will continue to illegally download music. It is important then, to look at the effects of music piracy. Here the numbers vary greatly. According to a report by the Institute for Policy Innovation, music piracy costs the United States $12.5 billion in lost output, and 71,060 jobs. However, a report published in the Journal of Political Economy found the effect of piracy to not be statistically indistinguishable from zero. The variation in such studies is due to a difcultto-answer question—just because someone downloads a song, would he or she have purchased the song legally if no illegal options were available? With the number of songs in iTunes libraries typically in the thousands, the answer to that question is probably no. Is there a reasonable, final answer to the music industry’s troubles? The EFF suggests a voluntary collective licensing regime as a method that would fairly compensate artists and labels for MARA SACKS file-sharing. Music fans would pay a reasonable, monthly fee to unsuccessful and drive public opinion of download music from wherever they want, the record companies even lower. whenever they want. The fee would then Instead of continuing to sue at be distributed among artists and labels random, the industry must innovate and based on the popularity of the music being embrace the challenges of the internet. downloaded. Despite the potential benets Other entertainment entities, such as the of such a program, it is unlikely that the TV and lm industries, have recognized the major record labels, in their greedy quest power of the internet as a new distribution for greater prots, would ever agree to medium and have provided free content such a deal. The answer, then, may lie in online supported by advertising revenue. Congress. But, the United States governThe major networks, for example, provide ment is unfortunately closely tied to record many of their shows online for free on industry lobbyists with deep pockets. Until their website, provided that viewers watch reasonable attempts at reform in the indusa few short commercial spots during shows. try are made, only two things are for certain. Ruckus, a free service for college students, Music lovers will keep downloading, and the provides one free, legal avenue for students industry will keep suing. O to get their music, but songs can only be Daniel Rosen is a sophomore studying political listened to on the computer and cannot science.
September 21, 2007
THE OBSERVER
21
Changing Grades, Transforming Identities A move to college requires serious personal reection and a reanalysis of the true meaning of home, observes BRANDON RATTINER. BY
BRANDON RATTINER
I
t looked like the sky was on re. The red and orange clouds dominated the horizon while a hint of yellow peaked over the snow covered Rocky Mountains, the colors so vibrant it seemed reasonable to think the sky would never again turn blue. This particular sunset was stunning but not particularly unique, as the altitude and mountains to the west of Denver ensure picturesque evenings are the norm. The overabundance of beauty does little to diminish it though. Every time I think about my home in Denver, the sunsets and mountains come to my mind before anything else. I take great pride in my city, and look forward to going back often, but I have to say I am glad I don’t study there. Going to a school away from home is hard, but leaving my comfort zone was something I thought I had to do in order to maximize my college experience and grow. Before I even came to Tufts, I knew
22
THE OBSERVER
September 21, 2007
I would eventually call it home despite its distance from Denver. But the reality and gravity of that concept didn’t really hit me until this summer. Out of all the experiences I had freshman year, I really believe that the most important and insightful was returning to the place I always thought was my home. Coming to college, I knew that I wanted to make the best of it, so I made an effort to be as outgoing as I could. It was important to me to make friends and try different things. At the time I never really knew what I was doing; I had no real plan of action. I didn’t think about growth; I just kind of tried to survive and manage the situation the best I could. Although I really was in no hurry to leave Tufts, returning to Colorado after the completion of my freshman year seemed refreshing. I would get to see all of my old friends and nally have the time to sit back and reect on what the hell actually happened my freshman year. My high school friends
and I immediately got back in our old routine, and it seemed as if we had never left. Yet something had denitely changed. Initially I couldn’t quite put my nger on it, but after watching hours of Ari Gold on Entourage, it nally clicked. To succeed in college, one has to become socially and personally assertive, simultaneously maintaining a level of internal sense of which choices are benecial. Part of the challenge of freshman year is grasping the importance of being proactive. It's not just about trying odd clubs and new classes to ght boredom and monotony—true pro-activism is consciously pushing your own limits for the sake of growth. Freshman year gave me the freedom to choose my own friends with values and lifestyles similar to mine, and that same freedom forced me to become much more active in the scripting of my own life. Reective assertiveness became key part of my individual personality — in high school, it wasn’t really. Nothing had changed with my friends besides my capacity to recognize change — the maturation I underwent freshman year allowed me to view my high school and home life with a new, critical eye. I now realize that I was very reactionary in high school. I overextended myself in many clubs and groups, and allowed those to dictate the direction of my life. In high school my personality was contingent on what I was doing. I was never fake or disingenuous; rather I was not very condent and passive in the forming of my personality. This summer helped me realize that formation of character is a DANIEL ROSEN much more complex con-
cept than I anticipated. I may have grown up physically and emotionally in Denver, but my intellectual and social formation was catalyzed here in Boston. This assertiveness, now a staple of my personality thanks to Tufts, has allowed me to consolidate my personality into one denitive character rather than a multiplicity of personas. Over the course of freshman year I was able to take all the qualities that I liked about myself and shape them into my new singular life. I don’t believe any of my core values or mannerisms have really changed but they have denitely been rened and empowered by my time at Tufts. Returning to campus has been everything I expected and more. Sophomore year has been great so far, but it’s more than already having a group of friends and waiting a shorter time for beer at parties. Being back at Tufts has again instigated rapid intellectual and social maturating. Now no longer oblivious to my formative experiences, I am able to enjoy them so much more. With my personality now relatively consolidated, I can enjoy Tufts without the baggage of my home life and
independently express myself here. I am noticing that I am slowly becoming more comfortable here than in Denver, and I think the shift of homes that I once antici-
true, singular personality surfaces here on campus. This summer has shown me that I can be myself here better than anywhere else in the world, even better than in
To succeed in college, one has to become socially and personally assertive, simultaneously maintaining a level of internal sense of which choices are benecial. pated is beginning to occur. Home is more than familiarity and friends; it’s where you feel that your essence is best manifested. At home one knows when one’s character is true, and home is the place where personal spirit can be revealed without fear or restraint. By leaving Colorado I have not just left my comfort zone, I have changed it. The power and importance of my social and intellectual formation has allowed me to better represent and reect on myself in Boston and made this my home; my
Colorado. That truth may be a little scary and unnerving, but more than anything it’s exciting. I love my college experience and cannot wait to see what the next three years will bring. Tufts is my home now, and although the sunsets may not be as pretty, the view from the top of the hill is equally unforgettable. O Brandon Rattiner is a sophomore and has not yet declared a major.
September 21, 2007
THE OBSERVER
23
Digital Dorm Deckouts Everyone has a laptop, but do you have a homemade TiVo? Matt Koulouris has a few suggestions to complete your dorm room. BY
MATT KOULOURIS
T
he year is officially underway. Classes have gotten through their introductions, and it‘s time to get down to business. In your dorm room, the same thing is happening. The glitter of move-in has worn off, and you’re starting to settle down into a regular schedule. But is your dorm room everything you hoped it would be? Well, for those of us who still feel like something is missing, here are a few choice tech gadgets to help make your dorm life a little more luxurious without annihilating your bank account. It's 12:30 AM. You're two thirds of the way through your favorite cult classic Donnie Darko, when your roommate announces it's time for bed, because he has 5:40 AM crew practice. What are you to do? Sure, you could give in and turn the
TV off, or you could tell your roommate to “shove it” and deal with the silent treatment for the next week. But there is another option. Enter the Sennheiser RS130 wireless headphones (around $110 from www.Newegg.com). With the freedom of wireless headphones, you can watch the movie from anywhere in your room, all without disturbing your roommate. And with the sound quality that Sennheiser is known for, you can listen to your favorite guilty pleasure album (Hillary Duff) with rich, full sound on your bed while you do your Political Science reading. Just be careful you don't start singing along. Unfortunately, you might pick up some interference from other devices like your illegal microwave, but the headphones include a frequency-jumping feature to help prevent this problem. One major aw with wireless headphones is that they require batteries
to run. Luckily, the RS130 has an internal battery that changes whenever you place it on its base. Finally, these headphones don't have as much bass as some may be used to, but are ne for casual listeners. The RS130 also has a surround-sound feature for computer gamers who want full environmental sound. If you are a total audiophile, however, you might want to opt for the Sennheiser HD 500 ($90 from topdjgear.com), which trades in wireless capability for superior bass and sound reproduction, and comes with a ten-foot cord, which still gives you decent mobility from your TV or computer. Both models are stylish full-ear headphones, which provide great sound, but are open-air, making sure you aren't totally separated from the outside world—unless you pump the volume and mentally disappear into your game of Halo. Now, what could be better than being
Do you have something to say but nowhere to say it? The Opinions Section is looking for writers! We seek columnists and occasional writers...no permanent commitment required. For more information, contact Daniel.Rosen@tufts.edu 24
THE OBSERVER
September 21, 2007
able to watch your favorite movie or TV show without disturbing your roommate? Being able to watch it whenever you want. Sure, there are services like TiVo that allow you to record live TV, and those are great, but what about those of us who want a little more exibility than TiVo offers, and without the subscription cost? If that appeals to you, then take a name from me: Hauppauge. Hauppauge makes TV tuners for your computer. They make two kinds of tuners. The rst is a PCI card, called the WinTV-PVR-150 ($70 from www.newegg. com), which is a card that ts right into the motherboard of your Desktop PC. Of course, if you didn't lug your desktop to college (which I suspect most of us didn't), they also make an external tuner that plugs into a USB port on your computer. It's called the WinTVPVR-USB2, and runs about $120, again from www.newegg.com. These PVRs (personal video recorders) come bundled with WinTV software, which is packed with features that allow you to record live TV and save it right to your hard drive, which enables you to share it with your friends or whatever else you want to do (like make a compilation of Randy Moss's touchdown catches this year). There is also an included electronic TV guide that allows you to see what's on and to schedule recordings. Unfortunately, the bundled software is Windows-only, so those of you who own Macs are going to have to either dual-boot to use the software or look elsewhere. Hauppauge cards also work with Linux-based applications like MythTv. Check out the MythTV website for more information, and hopefully you too can start enjoying your favorite TV shows whenever, and wherever, you want. One downside of saving video to your computer is that it takes up a lot of space. And when you have no option but to have every episode of Grey's Anatomy, House, and Lost saved on your computer at the highest possible quality, you might nd that you need to expand your storage capacity. The easiest way to do this is to invest in an external hard drive, which is simply a drive sitting in an enclosure that connects to your computer via a USB or Firewire cord. The price of this kind of computer storage has been falling pre-
cipitously of late, and many previously absurd hard drive sizes are regularly available. There are a large number of hard drive manufacturers out there, and when trying to nd the right balance between size, price, and reliability, it can be hard to make the right selection. The best manufacturers are Seagate, Western Digital, and Maxtor (which all come with higher price tags), though some other, lesser-known companies also getting excellent reviews. A little searching revealed a steal from LaCie (a rather reputable manufacturer) — The LaCie F.A. Porsche Designed 500 GB USB2.0. You read that right—the hard
people will nd a smaller drive more than enough if they don't plan on saving too much video on it. With summer ending and fall on its way, it's hard not to see another Boston winter just coming over the horizon. Winter means many a cold, miserable walk to the other end of campus for that math class you wish you didn't have at 8:30 in the morning. However, winter also means shorter days, leaving everyone without the benet of the sun. This can lead to a condition called Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD). Our bodies are affected by the changing of the seasons, and some of us can experience hormonal changes in the winter when there is little sunlight. These can manifest themselves as sleep problems—like not feeling rested after a full night's sleep, and general feelings of depression. SAD seriously affects about 2.5% of Americans, but around 10% are more moderately affected. Lucky for Boston students, there is a treatment other than moving to a sunnier part of the country. Simulating bright sunlight with a high-powered lamp has proven effective in combating the disorder. There are special lamps and light-boxes designed to simulate the sun’s rays and fend off SAD, but these are generally very expensive. A less expensive alternative is to put a highpowered, bright bulb in your desk lamp A high-powered bulb MATT KOULORIS could run you around $10-$20 at your local hardware store, but it can de nitely make a difference if you are drive was designed by Porsche. Don't ask affected by SAD, or at least make doing why, just know that it's a massive USB homework easier by reducing eye-strain by external hard drive that'll work with any lighting up your desk more fully. computer with a USB port, and it looks There you have it: four ways to add a pretty sleek to boot. This hard drive has little luxury to your dorm room without received good reviews, and 500GB is breaking the bank. And whether it adds more than enough to store anything you freedom to listen to music, to watch TV, can think of from TV shows to music to to save les, or to release yourself from the movies. The best part about this drive is its price, which at $110 puts the drive at darkness of another Boston winter, all of about $5 per gigabyte, which is almost these gadgets will help make this school unheard of in an external drive. Of year the best ever. O course, you can save some greenbacks Matt Koulouris is a sophomore and has not yet by buying a smaller drive, and although declared a major. you'll pay more than $5 a gigabyte, most September 21, 2007
THE OBSERVER
25
ARTS
A LOOK AT THE SCENE:
Hey, Hollywood Wasn’t so Bad this Summer BY
BRIAN MCLOONE
“A Look at the Scene” is a bi-weekly column that explores the hidden cultural facets of current cinema.
T
ANGELA ROBINS
he leaves are dying, the clouds are looming, the chipmunks are hording nuts. I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but summer ends, as always, with a whimper rather than a bang. As usual, the season has slipped away without letting you notice it. You go to bed one night thinking you still have all the time in the world, and you wake up the next morning to realize that classes have started. What happened? Interesting enough, this question was one of the dominating motifs of this summer’s movie list, as Hollywood has become more obviously political, even in the “blockbuster months” during which it has in the past been famously crass. A collection of cinema that was uncharacteristically somber and didactic, this summer’s movies were more than just the standard fare. So before the daze of summer’s carefree bliss completely wears off, let’s take one last moment to remember those things that can’t follow us into the next season: Summer movies ’07, may they rest in peace. Like their 2006 predecessors, this summer’s movies weren’t “summer movies” ! those blockbusters whose explosion-todialogue ratio was set at a healthy 2:1. In the traditional sense, in fact, very little about this past season’s lms was reminiscent of the apocalyptic feel of the movies of summers past. There were aliens, to be sure, but they
26
THE OBSERVER
September 21, 2007
were passive-aggressive, sneaky aliens, not the good-old asshole aliens of “Independence Day.” True, there was action, and there were heroes as well. But the heroes always seemed less sure of themselves and of their causes; the action was always muted. Take a little indie lm called Spider-Man 3 as a prime example. In the lm, Peter Parker’s world is turned upside down (no Spider-Man pun intended, actually), as he nds himself unable to maturely control the overwhelming power he has rather arbitrarily acquired. To make matters worse, this new, self-conscious Spidey has to face three separate enemies. The political undertones couldn’t be more obvious. A divided superpower becomes evil and corrupt, faces more enemies than it can handle, and must acknowledge its mistakes and overcome its consistent drift toward sadistic nihilism. And that’s a kids’ movie. Even more blatant in its political message was The Bourne Ultimatum. The movie begins with our government assassinating a journalist who wouldn’t reveal his sources. Not long after, the spooks begin to chase Bourne around the world because he dares to question his government’s legitimacy. As Bourne jumps and jives across the globe, the NSA-CIA duo eavesdrops on a wide net of calls, with scenes of giant call centers picking up words and phrases here and there. This movie was released, keep in mind, as Congress heard testimony on the NSA wiretapping program. Bourne ultimately discovers that the CIA has been assassinating a wide collection of US citizens for several years now, and that he had served a central role in that gruesome process. In the movie, these assassinations come off as a warning of “what might come” if government power grows unchecked. In the United States of America, such a plot climax is shocking and unthinkable ! even though the lm is set in the 70s. I had the pleasant experience of seeing Ocean’s Thirteen in Argentina last month, when it was still a new release there. In Argentina, they called the lm Ahora Son Trece, (“Now There are Thirteen”), a clever name, since it combines the title with a promotional quote. It’s interesting to watch a movie about beating the Vegas Establishment in a country whose
population despises the U.S. Establishment. For we American viewers, Ocean’s Thirteen is about Vegas getting its dues. For the Argentines, it’s about the U.S. getting fucked in general. I had to slump in my seat as I laughed along with them. The Invasion is Nicole Kidman’s latest movie since completing her cinematic Axis of Evil: The Interpreter (bad), Bewitched (terrible), and Fur (unwatchable). Breaking from this trend, The Invasion is a truly provocative lm of the quasi-horror genre. Set in Washington, D.C., the lm centers around an evil virus that has made everyone inhumane. People, if we still want to use that word, no longer care about one another’s feelings and ! perhaps worse ! are really just quite boring. The only way to t into society is to pretend you don’t care either, walking through D.C.’s bland streets in mummied stupidity. Often, when a movie focuses on a virus, spirit or anything else infecting society, the victims are brain-dead and emotive, grunting as they walk blindly from place to place. In The Invasion, however, the victims are stoic and bureaucratic ! unchecked emotions could do them well. But the biggest theatrical event of the summer was no doubt the Republican Presidential candidates’ debate in May, where a giant Air Force One model hung awkwardly, phallically, and precariously over a group of probably the most pathetic politicians to share a stage in recent history. The moderator, Brit Hume, asked the candidates to imagine a scenario in which there have been three terrorist attacks on U.S. soil, a fourth attack having been averted, with the would-be terrorists sent to Guantánamo. “How aggressively,” he asked, “would you interrogate?” An obvious rip-off of an episode of 24, the question was nevertheless taken seriously, with former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney calling for “enhanced interrogation techniques” and the “double-[ing]” of the size of Guantanamo. At another debate, when Romney was asked what he disliked most about his country, he said, “Gosh, I love America, I’m afraid I’m going to be at a loss of words.” You just can’t nd bullshit like that in Hollywood anymore. O Brian McLoone is a junior majoring in philosophy.
Graduation vs. Curtis: The Kanye and 50 Showdown BY JONAH
GOLD
W
hen 50 Cent challenged Kanye West to sell more records then him, it pitted two of the rap industry’s biggest egos against each other. The following weeks featured the standard proclamations and grandiose statements of superiority. Similarly, on their albums Graduation and Curtis, it is safe to say that neither West nor 50 makes a real attempt at modesty. With song titles including “Champion,” “I Get Money,” “The Glory,” and “Straight To The Bank,” it is easy to see the kind of lifestyle that both artists are glorifying — one of money, women, drugs, and overall excess. The sales debate aside, these are two very different albums. While 50 primarily discusses his violent, excessive and druglled lifestyle, Kanye West reects on his own middle-class childhood and rise as a producer. However, while West’s work still feels relatable, 50 Cent’s seems to have truly become larger then life, his list of exploits growing larger and larger every day. Neither artist seems able to match their respective debuts, but both Graduation and Curtis are marked improvements over Late Registration and The Massacre, respectively. West’s Graduation is the last in his College Dropout trilogy. In this release, he nally seems to nd some closure. Unlike his last sprawling effort, West puts forth an album with very few, if any, weak tracks. He has traded in the strings of Late Registration for a synth-laden third album, and again, has brought a wide range of his fellow artists to the LP, from Coldplay’s Chris Martin to Lil’ Wayne and T-Pain. On previous efforts, West was often outdone by his featured guests, but on Graduation, he uses the other performers to create a vibrant album while still retaining the spotlight. Thematically, on Late Registration, West sounded stuck in his own past, but Gradu-
ation shows a man looking forward — and yet he seems to nd little of substance. West replaced his inner dialogue and sincerity with an ego that seems to grow larger with every track, especially “Stronger,” “Can’t Tell Me Nothing,” and “Barry Bonds,” with the self-obsession culminating with the track “Everything I Am,” in which West recognizes that “everything I am not maybe everything I am.” But can you blame him for his bloated self image? As Graduation proves, West is incredibly talented. The tracks “Flashing Lights,” “I Wonder,” and “Big Brother” may be his best songs yet. “Big Brother” provides terric insight into the relationship between West and Jay-Z, one that has gone through increasing turmoil since West wandered out of the producer’s booth. “Flashing Lights” and “I Wonder” assuredly will have their own time atop the charts. Curtis nds 50 Cent in a very different position, as he attempts to defend his status as the game’s “biggest” if not “best” rapper. Reviews have used Graham Greene references, and it’s easy to see why. 50 seems obsessed with the concepts of power and fear on the tracks “Moving On Up,” and “My Gun,” even opening the song “I’ll Still Kill” by stating that “Respect comes from admiration and fear.” 50 continually declares his dominance over everyone else, whether it is rapping
about selling drugs or doing a drive-by. He may be the only person alive, if his album is to be believed, who can shoot a gun, drink champagne, roll a blunt, and brag at the same time. What is missed is the personal reflection that 50 showed previously on tracks like “Hate It or Love It” and “Rowdy, Rowdy.” In fact, he seems more detached from the streets than ever. There are a few references to his past, but he focuses primarily on possible future exploits TREY KIRK and the grandiose lifestyle that he has enjoyed since the release of “Get Rich or Die Tryin.” Surprisingly, 50 may actually have more hits on his album than West does on his, even though 50’s rst two singles barely registered on the charts. The tracks “I Get Money,” “Ayo Technology,” and “Touch the Sky” are all radio-ready and feature artists such as Justin Timberlake, Akon, Timbaland, and Robin Thicke, ensuring that the songs will echo far outside the hip-hop community. Timbaland’s beat steals the show on “Ayo Technology,” and Akon’s falsetto creates a great change of pace on “I’ll Still Kill.” Nonetheless, 50’s overall production is repetitive, though acceptable. Too many songs use similar beat structures, and 50 is unwilling to change his lyrical cadence to compensate. Interestingly, 50 and West share several of the same faults. Both artists are so overly condent in themselves that they make surprisingly large mistakes; take “Can’t Tell Me Nothing” and “Straight To The Bank” as prime examples. Both artists are too self-involved and unwilling to change their ways, stylistically or otherwise. Yet, these two albums could not be more different, with West ultimately coming out on top as a stronger artist. Although neither is perfect, it ultimately seems obvious that while West may still be on his way up, 50 is simply treading water. O September 21, 2007
THE OBSERVER
27
Imagination At Work: Boston’s Fashion Week 2007 BY
MARA SACKS
H
ardly considered an epicenter of the fashion world, Boston joined Milan, Paris, and New York City this month in celebrating innovative styles and design trends in its eighth annual Fashion Week. From September 7 through 14, Beantown was alive with the sound of clicking heels and snapping cameras. Since 1995, the fall shows have generated anticipation among local fashionistas and socialites. Although the Boston Fashion Week Council recognizes its humble predicament as neighbor to New York City, they emphasized Boston’s emerging role in the fashion community on bostonfashionweek.com: “Fashion is art. Fashion is culture. Fashion is communication. And now in Boston, fashion is community. Above and beyond the hype and glamour that drives fashion, what really brings together the many artists who participate in ‘the Week’ locally is a sense of community.” With this notion of artistic signicance and community value in mind, I visited several fashion exhibitions and runway shows to uncover the rich culture of creative minds that ourish in Boston’s fashion community. Collegiate Visions Evade Reality: Consutura With winters that stretch endlessly and summers that replicate the Amazon climate, it is no wonder that few subscribe to the fashion-as-a-way-of-life philosophy in Boston. Beauty may know no pain, but subjugation to the elements is fundamental to the average New Englander. Ignoring climatic limitations, the work displayed by Consutura, the Massachusetts College of Art’s Fashion Design Department’s show at the Boston Public Library included more of the ornately whimsical than the physically feasible. Stressing form over function, Consutura designers produced the garments on display as fashion for art’s sake. Unlike the serious “high fashion” displayed in other shows, this 28
THE OBSERVER
September 21, 2007
exhibition included many pieces that celebrate decorative absurdity conceived through fashion design. When I first entered the BPL wing housing the show, I found the eclectic styles unsettling. There is no cohesive force to the handmade pieces, expertly sewn by College sophomores and juniors. Without the guidance of student bios or garment descriptions, the clashing artistic visions require scrutiny of each creation individually, banishing the colors and patterns that surround it. Without the assistance of tags and descriptions, I will dub my favorite dress the “Scarecrow’s Sexy Soul Mate.” The thought of ever slipping into a dress made entirely of straw is enough to make you break into a rash, but the scratchtastic piece is beautifully and skillfully rendered. If any woman were to brave the abrasive shell, she would likely enjoy its complimentary waistline and bustshaping straps. The tapering twisted cord skirt is elegant yet revealing. The zipper in the back taunts and dares the enticed viewer to believe it could really be worn. “Flower Pot Princess,” a short dress derived entirely of plastic owers, stuns with its sensual appeal. Delicate purple buds trail down the leafy bodice, drawing the eye along the would-be-Tuscan windowdisplay. The dress is backless, furthering the sensuality and femininity realized by the oral theme. The piece provokes consideration of the ephemeral immediacy of beauty and fashion alike. The last piece that draws a double take is “Cupcake Delight.” From a distance, the Easter pinks, yellows and blues that comprise the Versailles-inspired dress arouse salivation. Upon closer inspection, the dress is made entirely of paper cupcake shells. Clearly the most removed from the functional pursuit of fashion design, the delicate
Images courtesy of MARA SACKS
material is beautifully manipulated into the formation of a utopian female form. Consutura is on display at the Boston Public Library’s Northwest Corridor from September 7 through October 11, 2007. Avant-garde Design Students: Collection 2007 In contrast to the non-utilitarian straw and cupcakes, the dresses featured in Newbury Street’s School of Fashion Design show were sewn to be worn. This pragmatism does not stie the creativity of the styles, but instead offer cutting-edge fashion. Produced for the school’s spring show, the elegant cocktail dresses and evening gowns were created by second- and thirdyear School of Fashion Design students. Lined up as if they are prepared to walk the runaway, the garments are carefully cinched to emphasize the thin frames and idealized mannequin curves. Unlike the Mass. College of Art’s chaotic assembly of artistic visions, the School of Fashion Design show demonstrates a
similar interest and knowledge of contemporary style. Calling on a variety of inuences and historical references, the dresses expose the broad knowledge base of the designers. Individual visions ourish under this professional platform. Several students introduce innovative and daring design work. One memorable piece was a seemingly simple, short, silk gray cocktail dress with an elegant pink waistband. From the side, however, a large and beautifully rendered pink bow is revealed as the true focal point, accentuated by black embroidery and stitched owers. Although each evening dress deserves its own boutique window display, the most striking dresses are inspired by ethnic inuences. One dress infuses the grace of an Indian sari into a formtting Western evening gown. The pattern for this dress is delicately embroidered gold on pale lavender silk, and the sheer fabric is layered weightlessly. The result is stunning. Another dress similarly utilizes Chinese patterns in a tight ankle-length gown. The chic appeal of bridging Eastern and Western styles is a promising trend. Collection 2007: Multimedia Fashion Exhibition is on display at the School of Fashion Design at 136 Newbury Street.
Although the name of this fashion event inspired painful visions of Spartan frames and pin-thin heels, the shoes exhibited looked alarmingly comfortable. The Sole Envie “Stilettos and Martinis’” fashion show offered a new take on the traditional no-pain-no-gain shoe world. Presented in association with Hello Stiletto Shoe Club and the restaurant 75 Chestnut, the Wednesday night show was housed in Beacon Hill’s Hampshire House. Featuring the work of shoe designer Monika Desai, the line exposed the diversity of options available on Desai’s online store, which launches in 2008. The backdrop to the design philosophy is Desai’s footwear predicament: she wears a size 4 ½, requiring custom-made shoes. As she explained before the models began showcasing her creations, Desai’s The spring show at Newbury’s School of Fashion need for specially-made shoes led Design features elegant evening gowns in creative styles. her to conceive a website that enables customers to select the style (stiletto, Some pairs were open-toed, others backless, wedge, or at), fabric (leathers, fabrics) and and some had ankle-ties. Inspired by the accessories (trims and embellishments) of 1920s’ apper, the 1960s’ psychedelic, and their shoes. the 1980s’ air for fun, each pair exhibited Again contradicting the show’s title, the a different inuence and appeal. Although Stilettos and Martinis, Oh My! shoes paraded down the red carpet varied in I cannot say I would actually wear any of style and platform. With the tone set the shoes presented (I’m admittedly unadby the comedic descriptions of two venturous), the comfort appealed to my Emcees (Robert Woo, and Randi Wig- personal stance on desirable shoes. When gins, both of whom happened to be I asked one of the models if her feet were Tufts alums), the show was playful in killing her, she emphatically professed how its content and presentation. Each of comfortable the shoes were, and insisted I the models wore a simple black dress, slip on the ower wedges she was wearing. maintaining the focus on the colorful I complied, and found that they were lined and blithe footwear. Models embel- with plush sock cushions and put little preslished their outts with belts, jewelry, sure on my arch, despite their height. and shawls, exposing the power of Like the shoes, the event was fun. With accessory coordination. a performance by Tufts’ Jackson Jills, and Each pair of shoes was modeled hors d’oeuvres circulating, the well-shod to a different song that appropriately socialites in attendance were entertained set the mood for the outt. When between shows, which ran throughout walking the carpet, the models often the evening. The show’s feature drink, the danced along to the music, again “Stilletini” was, however, a smoother title banishing the severity imbued in than concoction. Of the named ingredients, most runway events. Encouraged by (orange juice, Absolut Citron, and Crown the show’s lighthearted tone, several Royal), the vodka was the only discernable guests sat on the oor beside the car- avor. The kick outdid the spike. Always a pet to closely examine the footwear. dangerous risk in the shoe world. O This playful attitude seemed to Monika Desai’s Sole Envie Online Store, match the shoes on display. Several soleenvie.com, will launch in 2008. Contact Mass. College of Art’s “Cupcake Delight” had large fabric owers and bows. Monika Desai at monkia@soleenvie.com for dress takes avant-garde fashions to new heights. Others had tassels and leopard print. more information. September 21, 2007
THE OBSERVER
29
Channeling Shakespeare: All’s Well that Ends Well BY
NATALIE POLITO
W
illiam Shakespeare is perhaps the most referenced and quoted playwright of all time — his plays and sonnets are studied and performed throughout the world, and are seen as emblematic of the origins of the English language. Yet in spite of Shakespeare’s iconic status, his life outside of his career as a writer was left unaddressed for centuries. In recent years, however, both academic and creative communities have sought to illuminate the playwright’s personal life, which, as it turns out, was both provocative and debaucherous. The English Channel, a new play by Robert Brustein at the C. Walsh Theatre at Suffolk University, is indicative of this new wave of fascination with Shakespeare’s non-literary identity. Tom Stoppard’s Shakespeare in Love was perhaps the rst creative work to spark public interest in Shakespeare’s private life. But scholars have been researching it for years — Brustein’s English Channel is said to have been inspired by his own personal research, in addition to extensive studies by Harvard professor Stephen Greenblatt. The English Channel is a combination of research and ction; it addresses points of interest that appeal to both academic and popular culture, from the identity of Shakespeare’s lovers to the legitimacy of his authored works. Set in 1593 at the height of the Black Plague, the play has a small cast that includes several key gures in Shakespeare’s life: Christopher Marlowe (a fellow writer and competitor), Emilia Lanier (a lover and the assumed “Dark Lady” of his sonnets), and the Earl of Southampton (his patron). The play runs without intermission, and takes place solely in the bedroom of the bard himself. Shakespeare serves as a bouncing board for these characters, all of whom enter and exit his chamber unannounced. The plot moves quickly and erratically — in one scene, Shakespeare embraces Emilia, and in the next accuses her of being a whore. Ultimately, however, 30
THE OBSERVER
September 21, 2007
the plot focuses on political conspiracies in which Shakespeare was indirectly involved. As the Earl of Southampton plots to dethrone Queen Elizabeth, Shakespeare gets caught in the middle of Elizabethan politics. Complicating matters is the fact that his lover is a member of the court, and that his colleague Christopher Marlowe is regarded as an atheist and homosexual. In truth, the plot of the play itself is difcult to fully appreciate without a working knowledge of some details of Shakespeare’s works and personal life, as well as of English literature of the period. Brustein makes many obscure historical allusions, including several references to Thomas Kyd, another Elizabethan playwright. Furthermore, viewers unfamiliar with Sonnet 130 (“My mistress’ eyes are nothing like the sun…”), for example, would not fully appreciate Emilia’s character in the play. And even Christopher Marlowe’s persona is confusing if the viewer has no prior knowledge of his reputation as a heretic and homosexual. But in spite of these occasionally confusing plot twists and allusions, the play is enjoyable. Laden with sexual innuendo, the dialogue is both colloquial and Shakespearean, and there were several moments when the audience burst into laughter. Indeed, that was Brustein’s intention — he has described the dialogue as “pillow talk,” and introduces the viewer to a 29-year-old lighthearted Shakespeare — quite the opposite of the earnest, balding man that most people picture. The rapport between Emilia and Shakespeare almost always includes sexual undertones, and their relationship quickly moves towards the turmoil and emotional exhaustion of a Catullus-Lesbia bond that is so frequently found in Roman poet Catullus’ works. Marlowe even quotes Catullus as he gives Shakespeare romantic counseling — “Odi et amo” (“I hate and I love,” Catullus 85), a quote that seems to pertain to all of the characters in the play. Theirs are emotions of extremes, and such sentiments ultimately lead to their demise.
SARAH LEENEN
We generally do not associate Shakespeare with Elizabethan politics, but The English Channel sheds light on the playwright’s oft-overlooked role in court scandals. His patron was trying to dethrone the queen, and his colleague Christopher Marlowe both opposed the throne and had a terrible reputation in high society. Historically, Marlowe’s death remains a mystery, but Brustein kills him off in a bar ght that results in a stab wound to the eye. In the play, Shakespeare does not mourn Marlowe’s passing — on the contrary, he rejoices in the fact that Marlowe’s ghost returns to ask Shakespeare to “channel” his unwritten works. Hence the title of the play. In fact, many historians believe that Shakespeare stole ideas from Marlowe, but here Brustein strays from concrete historical fact. Ultimately, however, the play succeeds in humorizing some serious conicts in Shakespeare’s life, which is probably what Shakespeare would have done if he were writing his autobiography. Even though Marlowe dies and his patron, the Earl of Southampton, is sabotaged, Shakespeare is inspired to keep writing, and he continues as if nothing traumatic had ever happened. I suppose all’s well that ends well. O
Middlesex Fells Reservation: A Transcendental Experience, Closer Than You Think BY
T
ANNA FELDMAN
o all non-freshmen and freshmen alike: How many things did you put or are you putting on a list of “Things to do during my time living in the Boston area?” Now a senior, I cannot recall how many I hadto begin with, and how many I never checked off. I’d like to think that I explored a great many more places than the average college-goer, since writing for and managing the On the Town section of the Observer required weekly excursions on my part. However, having now entered my fourth year at Tufts, and thus the fourth and last possible year in which I have the opportunity to discover and experience both the city of Boston and all its surrounding areas, I have realized how much I still have left to do. This past weekend marked a checked box on my “to-go-and-do” list. My roommate, Sara, and I nally made our way to the Middlesex Fells Reservation, a 2,060-acre span of land that extends into the towns of Medford, Winchester, Stoneham, Melrose and Malden. Ridiculously close if you have a car or like to bike (you can also get there by bus), the Fells are an oasis from the noise and crowds of the city, not to mention of Tufts. The quiet hiking trails and old logging roads are suitable for walking, hiking, trail-running, and mountain biking, as well as bird-watching, ora and fauna identication, photography, picnicking, and snowshoeing and sledding in the winter. The variety of the natural terrain to be encountered at the Fells is unparalleled. On our morning hike, Sara and I climbed hilly
rocky outcroppings and traveled through forests of pine trees — their tops extending in heavenly ascent, their needles blanketing the oor beneath. We passed a lily-pad pond and trekked through an overgrown path with wetlands on each side. At one point, my peripheral vision bade me to stop in a small clearing into which we descended. The dizzying effect of the red, orange and pink leaves covering the ground around us was too much to pass by. It was ethereal, quieting, inimitable. As the hours passed, we discovered all of our senses were engaged. We harnessed
the physical exertion of our muscles. We felt the slowly dribbling rain on our faces and heard it as it gently slapped the leaves. We breathed hard as we climbed, our feet carefully nding footholds on the slippery ascending rocks. We smelled cinnamon, pine, and, for lack of better terminology, the scents of cleanliness and purity, entirely devoid of dankness, a familiar companion of rain-drenched wooded areas. At certain moments in our walk, the sheer beatic nature of our surroundings induced poetry from the mouth of my companion (Robert Frost’s Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening) and caused reflections on the writings of Emerson and Thoreau to trod gently through my mind. That I gained so much
pleasure out of my rst hike at the Fells on a dreadfully rainy day made the idea of returning on a bright, sunny one more than I could bear. Or better yet, after a rst snowfall — how lovely it would be. “We climb!” I proclaimed as we veered right out of the brush, the rst incline to be mounted ahead of us (Whip Hill, I believe), through a sparse forest of thin-trunked naked pines. Crystal Spring Trail was our guide, and a good route it was. The trail was sometimes inadequately marked and we got off track more than a few times. However, I found myself reiterating what became my mantra while I was living in Italy this past spring: the best way to discover a place is to get lost; even better (and certainly less nerve-wracking) to get lost with a map. That morning, we didn’t have a map, but managed to nd our way back to the car parked in the lot at Greenwood Park, one of the places from which you can start hiking. There are 11 hikes from which to choose, ranging from easy to moderate to difcult, and lasting anywhere from one hour to ve hours. The history of the Fells is, as with any natural park system in an area as geologically and culturally rich as New England, multi-faceted and long spanning. After the last Ice Age, when the glaciers retreated and the ice melted, plants and animals colonized the landscape. Humans followed, using and adapting to the environment as the climate warmed. As the kinds and numbers of ora and fauna increased in response to the rise in temperature, humans proted from the new abundance in food and resources. With time and technical evolution, came September 21, 2007
THE OBSERVER
31
the manipulation of the landscape to man’s advantage. Native Americans started using the land as hunting grounds, and thousands of years later, European colonizers converted the area into pastureland and farmland. They also sectioned off areas for rock quarrying and timber extraction, some of which was used in the fortication of Dorchester Heights by George Washington. Spot Pond was the site of ice production in the 1800s for worldwide export and an extensive rubber manufacturing industry took root towards the end of the 19th century in a town then known as Haywardville. In the 20th century, the landscape architecture movement that produced Frederick Law Olmsted and his Emerald Necklace in Boston affected the Fells area in an equally positive way. In 1892, with the establishment of the Metropolitan Parks Commision, Charles Eliot, a protégé of F.L. Olmsted, set out to plan the park system he had envisioned for the area. Various environmental transformations took place. Pleasure paths, or parkways, as we know them, were created to link the public with the parks; trolleys ran to and from the city. Pastoral scenery was maintained with the grazing of sheep, and trees were planted to improve aesthetics, as well as water quality. In the 1930s, the Works Project Administration (WPA) worked in the park and made improvements to the trails and roads. The recreational use of the Fells was augmented in the 1950s with the
32
THE OBSERVER
September 21 2007
addition of a soapbox derby track in the old sheep eld, a swimming pool, and a skating rink. The Fells Zoo, technically begun in 1900 to house local species, received enough visitors throughout the decades to merit the acquisition of non-native species and a breeding facility. The placement of Route 93 in the 1960s and several reservoir projects in later years mark the most recent developmental impacts on the landscape of the Fells reservation. In fact, hiking many of the trails requires you to cross one or more major roads (Route 28, South Border Road, Woodland Road and the Fellsway) in the course of the trek. Actual subdivision of the Fells did not occur until 1658, and the architectural ruins of the town lines are still present. Intact
stonewalls, which originally functioned as town lines, can still be found in certain parts, and during our hike, I discovered a stone structure, which I took to be an old hearth or kiln, now bricked-in and overgrown with ivy. There is something peculiarly magical about stumbling across old relics of one kind or another. You somehow feel let in on a well kept secret — how many pairs of eyes have seen it before you? how many ngers have stroked the weathered contours before yours? For this reason, the Spot Pond Brook Archaeological District Self-Guided Tour is next on my list. Although I may be deprived of the giddy joy of unintentional discovery, anything archaeological is stimulating in my book. The self-guided trail brochure, describing 150 years of water-powered industry, is available for purchase at Recreation Headquarters, from where the hike commences. As amazing as the Fells is, there unfor-
tunately exists constant need to protect it from the environmental impact of nearby development. The Friends of the Fells, an organization that works to preserve and protect the natural and historic resources of the reservation, endeavors through community outreach and organized hikes to maintain the heritage, beauty, and recreational benets of the Fells, and increase public awareness and appreciation of the reservation. They are currently asking for help to stop the construction of a Super Home Depot in Stoneham that would lead to increased trafc, pollution and noise in the Fells area. Thanks to the efforts of the Friends of the Fells, who work in conjunction with the Department of Conservation and Recreation, we have this natural treasure so near by. It would be a shame to not take advantage of it while living in the area. Senior Judy Wexler, who has been going to the Fells since her freshman year, cannot imagine her life at Tufts without it. “The Fells provides a real retreat from the world of Tufts,” says Wexler. “Even though the park is only about two miles from campus, you can totally dive into your own world there, and it is incredibly refreshing to get some distance from whatever might be bothering you, be it work stress or simply too much time in a dorm. I used to go there just to run and walk (it’s very nice to bike to the Fells, lock up your bike, and go for a walk), but now I have started biking the trails there as well, something that lets me see a much larger portion of the park. I can honestly say that having the Fells nearby has had a positive and denite impact on my time at Tufts.” O Directions and more information can be found at fells.org.html. All photos by Anna Feldman. Trail maps are free to those who become members of the Friends of the Fells, or they can be purchased for $6.00 at different locations: Best Sellers Café 24 High Street Medford Square (781) 391-7171 The Globe Corner Bookstores 28 Church St. Harvard Square, Cambridge, MA (617) 497-6277
Mara Sacks is a senior majoring in psychology and art history. This prose is not part of the Fall Creative Writing Contest. Publication of winning entries will begin next week. BY
H
MARA SACKS
arold stared at the woman sliding his purchases through the scanner, trying to place her. Her round pale ears jutted out dramatically, and her small nose looked as if it were stuck on her face as an afterthough. She didn’t really seem to have lips, despite the marked slit of their purse. He bet if she pulled her earlobes and blew air into her cheeks, she’d make a great monkey. Before he could, she turned away from him to begin bagging. Her blond wispy hair fell from the tiny elastic onto the back of her shirt. The green apron was too long for her frame, and tied tightly at the base of her waist, framing her ass. She was ten years too young to have been in his class in Franklin High, and based on the way she shoved the baby wipes in with the carton of eggs, Harold doubted she was one of the moms he had seen at Gymboree. When she turned back from the bags to face him, Harold read “Charlene” on her Super Fresh nametag. The name didn’t ring any bells either, and the neutral way she looked at him made him think he didn’t know her after all. “Your total is $63.40,” Charlene said. “Do you have one of our rewards cards?” “Yeah, somewhere,” Harold said. He fumbled around the pockets of his jacket. “Don’t worry about it, I can just use mine,” she said, swiping the small piece of plastic attached to the lanyard of keys. “It doesn’t really make a difference whose card you use. You don’t build up points or anything,” she said, tapping the screen. “So what’s the point of lling out the form and getting the card?” Harold asked. He was intrigued by the condence in her
voice. “You get to be a member of a club that way. The exclusive Super Fresh club,” Charlene said lowering her voice. Her eyebrows danced a little as the sarcasm leaked out. “And here I thought all these late night diaper purchases were adding up to some big payoff. A free box of baby powder or something.” “Nope. It’s really just to keep you from going to the Fresh Grocer. Rewards cards help people stay faithful shoppers.” Harold ddled with his wedding ring, and laughed. He slipped the band off and
cock of her chin that said, we’ve already discussed that. “You don’t actually need to buy four boxes of soda cans to get the reduced rate; they come up as three dollars even if you just buy one,” Charlene said, banishing the image Harold had conjured of his wife. “Very interesting.” “So did you want to use cash or credit?” “Credit.” Charlene pushed a few buttons on the screen without looking up at him. “Slide,” she commanded. Harold grabbed the bags with his left hand and took hold of the cart with his right. He tried to think of a way to get the girl talking again, but she handed him the receipt. “Have a nice night,” she said. “Yeah, you too.” Harold started to push away and then turned back. “Try not to tell too many people about the rewards secret. There will probably be rioting or something.” She laughed a little. Not too enthusiastically. “Make my night more interesting,
POETRY AND PROSE
Small Rewards
“The most he ever got out of her was the ippant narrowing her eyes and the slight cock of her chin that said, we’ve already discussed that.” into his jean pocket. “Well you got me.” “Well now you know.” “Do you have any other top secret Super Fresh wisdom you’d like to share tonight?” “Hmm,” she said, leaning over the counter with her small ngers covering her thin lips. Harold c o u l d n’t r e member the last time he had gotten a similar thoughtful reaction out of his wife, Carol. Even when he asked questions that warranted thought. The most he ever got out of her was the flippant narrowing her eyes and the slight
September 21, 2007
THE OBSERVER
33
for sure,” she said. Harold smiled and pushed through the automatic doors. He put the bags in the passenger seat beside him; the only seat besides his that didn’t have a car seat strapped to it. Ben’s big boy chair sat directly behind him, and Sam’s infant harness, behind the groceries. Ben’s stuffed rabbit, had his own car seat as well, which sat bitch. Harold looked over the yogurts, instant macaroni containers and power ranger gures to see if there were anything he had forgotten to pick up. Maybe he should have gotten more binkies for Sam. Or Ninja Turtle gummies for Ben. Harold wondered if Charlene had any insight as to why the Ninja Turtle gummies were so much better than the Blues Clues variety he had mistakenly bought for Ben the night before. When he had asked Carol, she had done the narrow and cock routine. He considered going back in for the superior gummies, but remembered that would be a violation of Carol’s ban on indulging and legitimizing Ben’s threeyear-old tests of authority. Ben would have
to eat the Blues Clues gummies before he would get the Ninja Turtles, even though Carol seemed to agree that Harold had fucked up and bought the bad kind. Harold looked at the clock on the dashboard and decided to just go home. The lights to the family room were shut off by the time he pulled into the driveway. It was only a little after ten, but Carol was strict about bedtime, and must have tucked the boys in without him. Harold grabbed the plastic bags with one hand and nestled the large pack of diapers
Birth of a Metaphor
the smoke cleared and Lincoln disappeared there was only Marx, who had been to the opera that evening,
“Not really,” Harold said, fishing around the bags for proof. “I know sometimes they can be tucked away in the back, and they look just like the kind that gives Sam a rash.” “Well I got them.” Carol nodded, and returned to the newspaper in front of her. She looked tired. “Did you know that the rewards card at Super Fresh doesn’t build up points?” Harold said. Carol stared at him blankly. She glanced down to his bare left hand, but didn’t say anything. “Well they don’t,” Harold concluded. Carol nodded. “It’s not really a secret,” she said after a minute. “What?” Harold asked, unsure of what they were talking about. The adrenaline rose up in his throat a little and made his hands ush. “The rewards cards. They just lower the inated price of sale items to what they are supposed to be all along.” “Oh, okay,” Harold said. He nished putting the groceries away and walked upstairs. O
“Carol stared at him blankly. She glanced down to his bare left hand, but didn’t say
Karl Marx sat down at his desk with the twentieth century burning in his brow, starlight shooting beautifully, painfully, through his cerebral cortex. He opened up a vortex and stirred it with a pen, and then convulsions on the oor, Abraham Lincoln reaching his ungloved hand into Marx’s chest and pulling out the last bloody shred of childhood. You are a man now, boy, never ever to enjoy a handful of caramels again, and when
34
THE OBSERVER
September 21, 2007
anything.” under his arm. He nudged the sliding door open with his foot and once the space was big enough for his right elbow to wedge in, he made it inside. Carol was sitting at the kitchen table with a glass of wine. She looked up when he came in, but made no move to help unload the bags. “Did you have any trouble nding the right kind of baby wipes?” Carol asked in lieu of hello.
and felt music swell about his head and felt that last little bloody shred detaching from the bottom of his heart— and he thought to himself, like so many twentieth century kids in cars with the radio on to come: Something is happening to me —EZRA FURMAN
Getting Old My mother said Old age is the putting on of years Like shoes in the morning before breakfast — With each try, we get better. And, though I learned to tie the laces, I do not believe her now. I have seen the children of my daughters grow, But they do not understand me. Imagine, my granddaughter Did not take the sacrament at her wedding. And when my daughter cried for her, I cried, too, but she did not ask why. Or the death of my son, Who would not listen: I pretended not to hear when my husband Warned him of the Swift Hand of God. And though I curse the man who gave it to him, I do not blame the disease, for I know God is just. And my grandson, who sees Jewish girls, And votes Democrat. When I saw him at Christmas, he asked me, Grandma, tell me about when you were young. But I continued with the manicotti, And he did not ask again. If I see my mother when I die, I will tell her I know better: Old age is the loss of certainty. I no longer know my own body, Have not looked at it in the mirror for years. I do not know my sagging breasts, Or the folds of my stomach, And I shall not look again. It is not right to live this long. —TIMOTHY NOETZEL
Roxane Sperber (’09) completed all art displayed in Poetry and Prose this week. She is a combined-degree museum student majoring in Art History. TELL US WHAT YOU THINK! POETRY AND PROSE IS A NEW SECTION TO THE OBSERVER THIS SEMESTER. SEND YOUR SUBMISSIONS AND COMMENTS AT OBSERVER@TUFTS.EDU.
September 21, 2007
THE OBSERVER
35
CAMPUS
Thursday, September 13
Blotter
Police
Both TUPD and Somerville Police responded to a call of a noise complaint on College Ave. When the police ofcers arrived, they saw a sign on the front door saying please use the back entrance. So they did. When they arrived through the back door they found a party of over 150 people who they then asked to leave. Friday, September 14
A report was made to TUPD at 2:02 a.m. when a full can of beer was thrown at a police car on Sunset Road. It was determined that a student was involved, and criminal complaint of assault and battery with a dangerous weapon with damages over $250 was charged.
COLLEGE BULLETS West Virginia Senator Advocates for Financial Aid for College Students On Sunday, West Virginia Senator Jay Rockefeller announced to students of Shepard University that they would be receiving more nancial aid next year, under a bill that is going to increase Pell Grants. Under the bill, students will receive more nancial aid and lower interest rates on their loans. Also, if students choose to spend ten years in a public service job, all of their college loans will be forgiven. The president, according to Rockefeller, is expected to sign the bill, which is funded through increased cigarette taxes, into a law. Student Publication Offends University
Saturday, September 15 At 1:40 a.m. TUPD responded to a call reporting lights out in Tilton Hall. When ofcers arrived they ran into a student walking up the stairs with an open container of alcohol. Upon investigation into the students backpack they found two bottles of vodka and fake New York and Rhode Island drivers licenses. When the ofcers looked in the room of the student to investigate further, 15 cans of beer were found in the refrigerator. All of the occupants of the room were underage. The alcohol and the fake identications were conscated and a letter was sent to the dean. Sunday September 16 TUPD responded to a noise complaint at Teele Ave. Upon arrival they found a white man sitting on the front porch. When asked if he lived at the house he replied no, but when asked to go upstairs to get the residents he refused. The man then went on a tirade , saying “you guys have no right to go upstairs” and, when questioned about whether or not he was a Tufts student he ranted that he “had no right to answer that question”. When Somerville Police arrived the house was cleared and the deant male was escorted off of the porch.
—Compiled by Molly Posner, with the cooperation of 36
THE OBSERVER
September 21, 2007
the Tufts Police Department
The Recorder, a student run newspaper at Central Connecticut State University, has been accused of racism and sexism for a published cartoon featuring two characters that mention “locking a 14 year-old Latino girl” in a closet and urinating on her. The President of the University has vowed to refrain from advertising in The Recorder and a protest against the cartoon/publication has already been planned. This incident follows an episode of controversy last spring, where The Recorder published a satirical opinion piece titled “Rape Only Hurts If You Fight It.”
—Compiled by Molly Posner
Heard on the Hill “If everyone could get out of poverty there would be no capitalism.” Michael Patrick MacDonald, author of All Souls speaking to Tufts students on September 5, 2007.
PARTING SHOT
MARA SACKS
Tufts Observer Since 1895
www.tuftsobserver.org Tufts University P.O. Box 92, Medford, MA, 02155